For you, i will

chapter XI

"this week on buzzfeed unsolved, we explore the pirates house in savannah georgia as part of our ongoing investigation into the question, are ghost real?"
shane proceeded to do his iconic head shake.
"stayed tuned until the end of this episode for a very special and personal announcement." ryan concluded.
mark, the cameraman, raised his thumb in the air, indicating the scene was over. with the cameras off, both shane and ryan felt reality wash over them.
"are you sure you're ready for this?" ryan asked shane. "we don't have to say anything until you are." shane placed his hand on ryan's shoulder, reassuring him that he was ready to make their relationship public to their viewers, adding that most of them already guessed it anyway.
•••
the investigation had progressed like usual, with few wins for the boogaras and many eye rolls from shane—he felt like he'd insulted this 'demon' more than he had goatman. and ryan, knowing his boyfriend would protect him, had thrown in a few insults as well, agitating a creature he would soon wish he hadn't.

for the final part of the investigation, shane and ryan were planning on spending the night sleeping in the downstairs tunnels located under the restaurant. it seemed easy enough; shane had protected ryan so many times before.
under the covers of the sleeping bags, shane held ryan against his chest. several hours passed like that, with the two cuddled together, and shane occasionally whispering in ryan's ear to reassure him whenever he felt scared. it was silent aside from their whispers, and shane was glad he still had the power to dominate an area upon entering it—he hadn't lost his demon powers yet.

then the camera beeped.

it was a quiet sound and shane wouldn't have noticed it had he not been so focused on the silence. he figured to himself that it had run out of charge, as most of their equipment seemed to do, and rose out of bed to replace its battery. then he noticed it.
it was large in size, and it's shadow was darker than the darkness around him. a purple glow outlined its body, slightly illuminating the walls of the tunnel around it. under all that darkness, shane could make out the faces of its victims. it was a soul hunter. a powerful being, shane knew, as its energy had been enough to disturb their equipment even from such a distance.
it darted at him quickly, not even giving shane time to recognize the leap. it pinned shane to the wall, crushing his body with its weight. shane groaned from the pain, but managed his way out after some struggling.
in the distance ryan rolled around in his sleeping bag, and, noticing shane's absence, began to get out of bed. realizing this, shane ran over to ryan.
"ryan, i need you to close your eyes. can you do that for me?"
ryan, who had initially been trying to kiss shane, suddenly laid back, fear filling his eyes.
"shane what's going on?"
"i don't have time to explain. please, just trust me. close your eyes."
ryan did as he was told.
the figure charged towards shane again immediately after this, thrusting his body against the wall once again. shane knew he was growing incredibly weak. he was no longer fully a demon, and it was showing. he pushed with all his force but the figure still pinned him to the wall. he felt himself losing consciousness, his heavy breaths now slowing, and he knew the creature was feeding in his soul, or the little amount he had. he knew creatures like this. they hunted on human souls, but shane, being an emerging human, was not nearly as delicious of a meal as a full human.

the creature noticed this, and let shane out of its grip, who fell to the floor. it moved over to its next meal, who was shaking under a blanket, eyes still shut. the figure hovered it's hand over ryan's body, getting ready to feast on his soul. at this moment, shane looked up and saw the horrifying scene unfolding in front of him. it gave him an adrenaline rush, raising him to his feet all of a sudden. he charged towards the figure, his demon form emerging as he ran. his horns pressed out of his forehead and it made him cringe in pain, but he ignored it. he ran straight into the figure, pushing it off of ryan and pinning it to the ground, then running his claws down its chest. the figure shrieked in pain; the sound of a thousand souls echoed in the room as the spirits the figure had harvested escaped from their prison. the creature struggled as shane clawed it further and further. he knew it was unnecessary, but he couldn't stop. this thing had almost taken ryan from him.
•••
when it was all over, shane ran to ryan and pressed his shaking body into his chest. he held the man and hushed his quiet whimpers. they stayed like that for a while, all warm in the middle of a cold reality. but eventually shane had to pull away to look ryan in the face and make sure he was real. the thought of losing him had caused him an unimaginable fear.
"ryan" shane finally said, "we have to stop doing this."
"what do you mean?"
"i used to be able to protect you. at every shoot we had, i would fight off demons and ghosts and soul hunters without you even flinching in your sleep. i'm not able to do that anymore. i'm losing my powers ryan, i can't protect you."
ryan didn't have a chance to argue back, because shane had grabbed his face and pressed against his own, holding him because he couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had failed. his eyes began to sting, and soon they were tearing up. he hadn't cried in a long time.
"i can't lose you ryan. i can't."
"i'm right here shane. i'm not going anywhere." ryan held shane's body, for the first time feeling as though he was the one doing the comforting. and they sat there and they didn't let go, afraid they would lose each other if they did.