This is kind of sort of based off of Aleatoraye 's awesome Town of Salem AU, but at the same time, not really.

Warning: I wrote this through a time interval of 4:30 P.M. to 4:30 A.M. (because I was at a lock-in yesterday), so this might get bad towards the ending, I can't tell if it's bad or good, but yeah.

Note: In this short story, not everyone has a specific role.
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"I'm a bad person."

"No, you aren't. You're just...erm... confused."

Rage turned, staring at Curaxu. "Cura, I just killed four people."

Cupquake. Seto. Jason. Evanz.

Evanz.

Evanz, one of Rage's only friends, was gone.

Because of Rage.

Because of the mess Rage had gotten himself into.

"Rage, it's not your fault-"

"It's completely my fault, Cura! I'm the one who made the decision to join the god-forsaken Mafia!"

Rage was shaking. He couldn't figure out how he lived with himself.

"You were pushed into it. How could you say no, when the only reason they didn't kill you was because Fluke wanted you to join? You'd be dead now if you had said no."

"Yeah, well maybe I'd prefer being dead over this." Rage muttered, casting a look at the floor.

Curaxu placed a hand on Rage's shoulder. "Hey. Look at me."

Rage slowly looked up, and Curaxu could see how broken he was. It was like the happiness that used to be in those dark red eyes had been sucked out of him, leaving an empty soul behind.

"Don't you dare say that being dead would be better, okay? You never meant for this to happen."

"That doesn't matter anymore, Cura. It doesn't matter that I never meant for this to happen, and it won't matter to the rest of the town, either. What matters here is that Evanz is dead, and I'm the one holding the knife. That's all the town will see."

"Didn't I tell you already? I won't let them lynch you, I swore on my life I wouldn't."

"Why do you still trust me?" Rage asked. "You just watched me kill four people, one of them being one of my best friends."

Rage never really understood it. Besides, he wanted Curaxu to stay far away from him. He wouldn't be able to go on knowing he had killed Curaxu.

"Because I care about you, Rage." Curaxu said. "I want to make sure that no matter how deep you get into this mess, there'll be someone to pull you back. That person's going to be me, okay?"

Rage's heart felt five times lighter. "Okay."

And then he remembered who was next on the Mafia's list.

"Cura, I need to tell you something..."

"What?" Curaxu asked, and then he saw the look on Rage's face. "...It's me, isn't it?"

Rage slowly nodded. "They want me to frame you tomorrow, since I'm apparently "the best framer"..." He looked back at the ground, ashamed that he didn't know whether or not he was going to go through with it.

Curaxu was silent for a while. "Do it." He finally said, and Rage looked up, confused.

"What? But Cura-"

"Rage, I'll be okay." Curaxu gave Rage a half-smile. "The town trusts me. Just do the job they want you to so they don't hurt you. I can keep the town on my side, and protect you."

"And if it doesn't work?" Rage asked, shuddering at the thought.

Curaxu frowned. "We can't afford to think like that. But if this my last goodbye..."

Curaxu hugged a stunned Rage. "I want you to know I'll miss you."

Rage didn't know what to say, because he knew that he would break down if he even acknowledged the fact that Curaxu, the one person he cared about the most in this screwed up mess he made for himself, could be dead by the same time tomorrow.

But he couldn't stop himself from hugging him back. "I love you..."

Curaxu smiled. If this was the last goodbye, then it would be a good memory to hold on to in his final moments.

"I love you too..."

**********************

"Any leads?" Sky asked, as the rest of the town stared at the four dead bodies. Sky himself felt angry at whoever did it. Jason was gone, and Seto too. He couldn't believe it.

It pained Rage to raise his hand, but he forced himself too. The discreet glares of the others in the Mafia, telling him he'd better get on with it, or the understanding look from Curaxu, saying "It's okay.", forced him too.

Sky noticed his hand. "Rage?"

"I...I think it was Curaxu." The words hurt much more then raising his hand.

Sky raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah...I saw him last night... I saw him kill Evanz..."

Hollow, the Lookout of the town, turned to Curaxu with a horrified look on his face. "...You killed...how could you?"

"I didn't." Curaxu replied calmly. "Come on, why would I kill Evanz?"

"Then you're saying Rage is lying?" Fluke asked. He was in the Mafia, and knew fully well of the plan against Curaxu. He didn't like it, but he had always been loyal to Ty, the Godfather.

"No. There's a high possibility he could have been blackmailed. I wouldn't kill Evanz, or Seto, or any of them."

"Oh yeah? And why should we trust you?" Fluke pointed out.

Rage grew more nervous by the second. He didn't want to watch Curaxu die.

Curaxu kept his cool. "You've trusted me the whole time, why would I betray you now?"

"Now that I think about it, you've gone missing for periods of time for the past week or so." Sky pointed out.

Rage stiffened. His fault. Curaxu had been missing for those "periods of time" because he had been making sure that Rage would be okay. Making sure Rage didn't go off of the deep end.

And now Curaxu was paying the price for it.

"What do you have to say to that, Curaxu?" Mitch, another Mafia member, pointed a finger at him.

"I say that I was helping a friend. I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Helping a friend?" Ty laughed. "Who's this friend you're talking about?"

Rage felt like punching Ty in the face. He was one of the reasons Rage had gotten himself into this mess to begin with, when he put Rage on his hit list.

"That's none of your business." Curaxu said, and kept his calm.

"None of our business?" Sky exclaimed. "Curaxu, that friend is your one ticket to innocence. You'd rather accept death then just tell us what friend that is?"

"I promised to keep secrets. I don't break my promises." Curaxu said, and Sky sighed.

"Fine then. Town, time for the vote. Ty, pass out the voting slips."

Ty went around the circle, passing out a slip of paper to everyone.

When he got to Rage, he pressed the slip firmly into his hand. "Don't disappoint. We overpower all of you." He muttered so only Rage could hear, and moved on.

With wide eyes, Rage looked around. Ty was right.

Sky wasn't in the Mafia, and neither was Curaxu or Hollow, but everyone else?

Mafia.

Rage slowly wrote the name in staggering letters. Curaxu.

Ty collected back the slips, shooting Rage a glare.

Sky looked at them, and nodded. "Curaxu. You're up for lynching."

Curaxu breathed in, but walked up to the noose calmly.

Ty tied his hands behind his back, so he couldn't try anything if the town decided to lynch him.

Suddenly, Rage just couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care about his consequences.

"Stop it." He said. "It wasn't him, it was me. I was forced to join the Mafia, I didn't want any of this to happen! Curaxu was gone because he was helping me. He was making sure I didn't go darkside!"

No one said anything for a while.

Then Ty stepped up. "Well, then. I never thought you would actually get up the...courage."

Sky stared at the betrayer. "...Ty? You..."

Ty sighed."Fluke, Mitch, you know what to do."

Fluke seized a confused Hollow and pinned his arms behind his back, making it difficult for Hollow to get away, while Mitch whipped out a knife as quick as lightning and held it to Sky's throat.

"...Fluke?!" Hollow exclaimed in surprise, struggling against his grip, but to no avail.

"Sorry, Hollow," Fluke said. "But I work for Ty."

Sky stared at Ty with hard eyes. "You traitor! I trusted you! How could you?"

Ty grinned sadistically. "I thought I told you. You can never trust anyone."

Ty nodded. "Go ahead, Mitch. He's nothing now."

Before Sky could get a word out, Mitch slit his throat, and Sky dropped to the ground, all life gone from him.

Rage knew he shouldn't just stand there, but it felt like he was paralyzed.

Curaxu couldn't move. Any movement would mean instant death, with the noose around his neck.

"Fluke, please..." Hollow begged. "We're friends. You can't do this..."

"Fluke, take him to the jail. We could use a Lookout like him." Ty ordered.

Fluke nodded, and pulled Hollow away, not listening to Hollow's pleas to let him go.

Ty turned to Rage. "And here we have Rage. The rebel."

Rage felt like his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.

"Mitch, grab him."

Mitch obeyed, and forced the paralyzed Rage onto his knees with his arms behind his back.

"The only reason we kept you around in the first place was because Fluke said you were trustworthy." Ty sneered. "After today, I'm sure he'll think otherwise."

"Why don't you stop it and just kill us, Godfather." Curaxu spat out the word Godfather like a curse word.

Ty laughed. "Alright then, since you're so eager..."

Rage finally felt able to move again. "No!" He shouted, straining against Mitch's grip, but he held on tightly.

Ty ignored Rage, and walked over to Curaxu, who closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

"Mitch, take him away. We'll deal with rebel later."

Mitch nodded, and began to drag Rage away, who immediatly began to scream.

"Curaxu! No! Please, Ty, don't do this! Please!"

Still, Ty ignored him, and with a malicious smile, kicked away the stool.

Powerless to do anything, Rage had no choice but to watch and scream as Curaxu took his last breath.

And tears stung those dark red eyes.