"The ghost house they call it."
The humor in Sora's voice made Marluxia look up from the window of the car. He snorted in disdain.
"Are you trying to scare me of all people Sora? I thought you'd know by now that I am the one to inspire fear here."
Everyone in the van laughed. They were jazzed up, school had ended, and everyone was headed out for the trip of their lives. Their parents had somehow allowed all of them as a group to go on a sleep-over in this cottage that Sora had found. So the entire group had piled into the car, all relying on Saix's athourity as an "adult" now to get them where they were headed.
"I'm serious! The rumor is that it's haunted by the ghosts of the people that perished there!"
Sora pouted as everyone laughed again. They all knew that he'd been obsessed with ghosts since he was little, and they all knew that he was all too easily scared silly. Usually by himself.
Roxas laughed. " Sora you always say that. And every time you find some place, it's never actually haunted, remember?"
"But this one really is! I mean, if it weren't, then why would people abandon a big house like that-"
Saix hit the brakes, and he and Marluxia turned in their seats to face the now stuttering Sora, who just realized he'd made a big mistake. His twin sister and brother stared at him from either side of the back seat, and Demyx and Namine were turned around as well, everyone's eye's boring into his. Saix started softly.
"Sora, are you not telling me something."
Everyone shuddered at the conceilled threat in his voice. Sora began blabbering incoherently, which made everyone groan.
"Ok, stop," Started Xion. "We need to know what exactly is going on Sora. NOW."
"Ok, you see, this place… it's not a cottage in a hotel… in fact, it's about a mile away from the town-"
"We're going home." Saix said simply, and began to turn the van around.
Everyone burst out into groans. They'd finally convinced their parents they were old enough to go on a trip together- heck, they'd convinced them to let them out for the entire summer- and Sora had screwed it up, once again. They got about a mile down the road, when Marluxia sighed.
"Wait a minute Sai."
Saix pulled the car over, more gently this time, and turned to Marluxia.
"What am I waiting for exactly." He asked Marluxia. He turned to the blunette.
"Well, we're never going to get another chance to do a trip like this again if our parents find out what Sora did behind their backs. They'll freak, and then before you know it, you'll be off in college, and we won't see you until Thanksgiving, if we're lucky."
That pulled everyone short for a minute. Everyone had agreed that Marluxia's and Demyx's senior year was going to be tough on the others, but not as tough as Saix's impending departure. He'd be going across the country, and no one was quite ready to lose "Big Brother Sai" to the real world yet.
Marluxia began again quietly. "Besides, if we go back now, Kairi will kill Sora. And frankly," He turned to smile at the brunette, "I kinda like this Saarlane."
"Really, because I think Kiari wouldn't mind losing one of the boys at this point." Saix dead-panned, and everyone paused before the laughter set in.
Because honestly, while Kairi Saarlane loved all her kids very much, six of them was way more then a single mom should handle. Luckily for her, Ventus (called Ven by his friends) had gone off with Aqua and Terra to be an archeologist in Eygpt, and Vanitas had gotten into the army somehow; just what he had always wanted, the ability to shoot people without reprecusions. Sora was always causing her trouble, however, and he was constantly getting yelled at. Marluxia could only imagine what would happen if Kairi found out about this escapade.
"Besides, Saix, it could be a real adventure. Wouldn't wanna pass one of those up before you get all grown up on us, would you?"
Saix stared at Marluxia and started the car again.
"I'll give you one week in the house before I say if we go home or not, ok?"
Marluxia nodded and smiled, greatful at the chance to hang out with his friend one more time before he left. Everyone cheered Saix as he drove down the road once more. Sora perked up as they went along.
"And who knows Sora. You may get to have your own ghost story yet." Teased Marluxia.
" I mean it guys, I think this place is the real deal this time," His eyes shone with entusiam. "I just know it."
-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0-
'Well it certainly looks like the real deal,' Marluxia thought as they all un-packed their bags from the van. The house was three stories tall, and as Sora said before, completely abandoned. It didn't look completely horrible, but it wasn't in the best condition. Sora skipped enthusiastically towards the house, his bags in hand. Namine opened the trunk up to get the rest of the supplies out.
A few hours later, they had found a few rooms that could pass as bedrooms. They decided that a girls and boys room wouldn't work out really well probably, so they just put all the siblings in one, and Demyx, Marluxia, and Saix went next door.
"Easier all around, right?" Said Demyx, unfolding his sleeping bag on the bed. "Now when we want to hang out at night, and the kids fall asleep, we can just drag them back that way."
The others nodded, smiling at the thought. Saix and Demyx were notorious all-nighters- heck, if you went to a sleep-over with them, your parents didn't expect you back until the next night, since you'd slept from one p.m. until then when they let you crash finally. Marluxia had gotten used to their week long parties by now, but he was wondering how his body would react to staying up with the two of them all summer.
"I demand the coffee machine be set up in here." He declared as he and his new roommates came down to the kitchen to meet the others. Namine giggled. Marluxia smiled at her, glad that the little freshman had been allowed to come. Kiari was always over-protective of her littlest daughter, but then again, the girl was almost always sick. They'd convinced Kiari that Namine'd be safe with them however…
"Sora. If your little sister has an asthma attack in this house, I WILL kill you. With the car."
Sora paled as everyone laughed at Marluxia's over-protective comment.
"Lay off Marly, I thought you said you LIKED e-"
"Ah, but I like this one more, she draws pretty pictures for us."
Marluxia cuddled Namine around the neck as Sora fake whined. Their laughter was cut short though by the sound of glass breaking. Everyone turned to look up the stairs.
"…" Marluxia frowned and started towards the door to upstairs. "What the hell?"
He went upstairs, re-assuring the others he'd be fine. He went back to the hallway that led to the different rooms. He stepped in, confused, and heard shattering under his feet. He moved his foot to see mirror pieces.
He glanced around to see the mirror on the floor a few paces away. He walked to it, wondering how it fell in the first place. He lifted it, to see how bad the mirror had cracked. As he saw the reflected side, he noted how the cracks looked like someone had punched it to the floor. He stood upright and held it out from himself, viewing the hallway behind him.
And then Marluxia saw him in the doorway behind him.
A tall girl- no…a boy… maybe his age. Long blonde hair made his gender hard to determine, a problem Marluxia dealt with frequently. His stunning green eyes bored into Marluxia's in the mirror where they met, emerald hatred meeting with topaz fear. A second passed.
And Marluxia screamed and dropped the mirror. As he did, the boy's eye's went wide in the mirror, as if taken off guard by Marluxia seeing him. As Marluxia spun round to see the intruder, he found himself staring at an empty hallway. He backed to the wall, and slid down, holding his chest over his heart.
Feet pounded the floor, and Saix was suddenly where the intruder had been moments before.
"What's wrong?" He barked out, looking around, brandishing a kitchen knife. "Is there someone here?"
Marluxia took a moment to look at him before he quietly answered. "No…No one's here except us."
What Saix didn't realize as he helped Marluxia to his feet, and went downstairs with him was Marluxia hadn't been simply referring to the two of them alone.
-o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-
"Sora?"
"Hm?" The brunette looked up from his puzzle book to stare at Marluxia. It was much later, and Marluxia still looked pale. "What's up Marly?"
The pink haired man simply looked at him before he spoke again.
"…What were you saying about this place being haunted again?"