BLEED WITH ME [ETHAN LANDRY]

TWENTY THREE - "Ethan, it's over."

TWENTY THREE - "ETHAN, IT'S OVER."

"Lyds come on!"

"Ethan-"

"We have to keep moving!"

"No!"

"Come on through here!"

"Ethan! I'm scared - I didn't mean to do it!"

"Be quiet!"

"I don't know w-what came over me! I have to go back, I have to-"

"Shut up L! Shut - up!"

You're not the old Ethan anymore.
Where did my Ethan go?

I'm not the old L anymore.
Where did I go?

She watched, utterly numb, ruined, as the body of her love leant upon his knees beside an old dumpster and fished within the gap beneath it's wheels. He lay there for a matter of few seconds, before standing back upon his feet with two black robes and two masks clutched in his cursed palm; one old, one new.

"Put this on!"

"Is that?"

"Mickey's. Yes. Now put it on."

Without hesitation the boy slammed the cloak and robe destined for the girl upon her arms, and she froze at the sight of them. She paid no mind as Ethan slipped into his own dollar store edition of what he'd once had; he didn't exist to her in that moment. The only thing the Altieri girl could think upon was a simple question; if she put that mask on, would she complete the cycle?

"Put it on!"

She could only stay frozen, stuck solid to the ground. The girl could barely even move her chest to breathe, let alone to force out the words Ethan begged her for.

"Put it on! You have to put this on for me!" The man shook her shoulders, "Lyds fucking listen to me!"

"What did I do?"

"We have to go sweetheart." He pleaded, "Now listen to me and put on the costume... I'll help you, okay?"

L remained wordless as she allowed Ethan to dress her, pulling the black robe over her head and over her arms. She let him slip her uncle's mask over her face, and she watched in numbness as he pulled on his own.