Title: Haunted Melody
Rating: M
Summary: It all started with a harmless idea, investigate a possibly haunted hospital. It was hoped that they could stop fighting for a week and enjoy their vacation before heading back to work. If only they knew what exactly they were getting into and the horrors that they would uncover.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or the Old State Hospital, which is now owned mainly by one of the two towns it's located in. I only own the idea of this work of fanfiction and I am in no way making a profit.
Warnings: Language, mentions/descriptions of terrible conditions and treatments of patients, death, psychological themes, and content meant for those who are more mature and can tell reality from fiction.
Chapter One: Arrival and Investigation Starts
It was a humid September day, the sky bright but covered in gray clouds when a group of twelve individuals stepped out of a shiny black government van in front of an abandoned brick building that looked like it was about to fall apart at any minute. A shiver passed through several people in the fairly large group as they stared at the building.
"Are you sure this is safe?" A softly spoken voice asks, causing his brother to jump.
"Well, yeah. It should be, after all I cleared it with the right people so we don't get into trouble. You worry too much Canada." The loud American said his blue eyes dull as he looked at the building.
"What is this place anyways? You only told us to come here instead of going to our hotels." A British voice asks, annoyed from jet lag.
"He's right. Why did you ask us here?" A Chinese man asks, a bit more politely than the Brit. He wasn't the only one as various people muttered amongst themselves, all wondering the same thing.
"Well, this is a haunted hospital. I brought you all here so we could investigate it and see for ourselves if it's really haunted. Plus, I thought it would be a totally awesome idea!" America exclaimed, eyes bright.
"Haunted!" Italy exclaims nervously, glancing at the building in fear. He didn't want to intrude on the ghosts or whatever was in there.
"You told us to come here for a childish reason?" A threatening Russian accented voice asks, annoyed at the waste of time.
"We could have been enjoying our break somewhere nice." A Frenchman says, motioning towards himself and his two friends.
"I could've actually been training." Germany sighs, also annoyed at the thought of a missed opportunity.
"Hey! Wait!" The American exclaims as his fellow nations, except for Canada and Japan, turn their backs on him.
"What is it now?" England asked.
"We could use this as an opportunity to get along! It's a good team building exercise, plus all your bosses told mine that it would be good to try and promote international cooperation, and I came up with this idea because it seemed like it would be fun. Besides, I'm not sure if the rumors of it being haunted are true or not."
The nations look at each other and come to a mutual agreement. They would go along with whatever it is the American has planned, partly because they were curious if ghosts were real and partly because they hoped that in the end they would learn to get along.
"Well, can you give us a little bit of history or something about this place? After all, we can't go in blind." England asks, a weird feeling creeping into his heart.
"Well, there aren't many records that I know of, as I haven't been in this area in a long time." America begins.
"Wait, how long is a long time?" A certain Prussian interrupts, noticing a look of nostalgia on the American's face.
"None of your business," America snaps back, shocking everyone at the tone of his voice. His eyes glowed with an insane light as the blond remembered what exactly the hospital was like 100 years ago, "now the hospital itself was built in 1904 and held a lot of patients. In fact it was like a miniature city that had its own livestock and other necessities. It closed in 1996 due to financial reasons."
"Really?" Japan asks, eyeing the buildings that numbered over 100.
"Yup. There's even a network of tunnels underground that connects the buildings. They were mainly used for transporting patients and storage, but rumors say that the more violent patients were tortured down there. No one can confirm the rumors though." America waves his hand in a dismissing motion, shocking the others at how he brushes off the rumors like they are nothing, like the lives lost mean nothing.
"Well? Are we going to stand here all day?" Germany asks.
"Right. Well, let's get started. I need to get the equipment we'll be using, and then I'll explain what each thing does so you'll know how it works and what to do with it. But first, does everyone have their cell phones?"
The nations all nod and look at America like's he's crazy. Why would they forget something so important when they know there is a high chance of their boss calling with an emergency? It would be utterly ridiculous. England, France, and Canada all exchange a worried glance which doesn't go unnoticed by Prussia, Spain, Romano, and China.
"Good. If any of us get separated or lost, which is very likely with the tunnels, we can get in touch with each other and use it as a tool of investigation. Now, that's one tool we all know how to work," America begins his lecture on how to use the digital recorders, EMF devices, the various other devices used to communicate with ghosts, and the types of cameras they would be using outside of their cell phone's camera. He finally finishes and asks, "Now, any questions?"
"How do we communicate with spirits?" Russia asks, tilting his head slightly as he was curious about the proper way to speak with the spirits as he never once gave thought to it.
"Don't provoke them. That is very important, provoking stirs up bad energy and pisses off the spirits very quickly, plus you can never be too sure it's a human spirit so it's best to use kind words. After all you don't want to piss off a demon now do ya?" The blond drawls nearly slipping into a southern accent that he only used when he was starting to get irritated with someone.
"I wouldn't know, comrade. It would be interesting no?" Russia says almost childishly, a dark aura surrounding him causing the others to shiver and America to glare him down. It wasn't that Russia hated America per say, it's just that there was too much bad blood from the Cold War and he knew that the American would never let it go. Besides, he thought it was nice to see the true Alfred F. Jones that was a great challenge.
"Sure, if you want to be scratched, possibly possessed, or ruin your mental state go right ahead. It's better to be kind, and also try and respect the buildings because that will show the ghosts respect." Alfred states, glaring at the Russian before letting a dazed look cross his face.
"We'll try to be respectful, but that will be hard considering." France says while shooting a look at his rival hoping to get a reaction out of the silent man.
"Hey. Listen everyone," England starts uncharacteristically calm and a bit nervous sounding.
"What? You admit to being the Black Sheep of Europe that we all know you are?" France rolls his blue eyes as he says this.
"No, you stupid Frog! I was just wondering if anyone else feels like this place is trying to reach out to them or at the very least tell us something!" He snaps, rushing through what he was asking in his annoyance at Francis.
"Are you sure it's not just your imagination, Opium?" China asks, not admitting to feeling a certain allure to the place.
"No, it's not. I'm positive that this place, or at least something in there, is trying to say something."
"Let's just go!" the southern half of Italy shouts, tired of all the talking.
The nations quickly headed to the boarded up entryway that looked like it would collapse any moment, and carefully pulled the wood off the entrance. They entered in one by one with Prussia being the last one to enter, he took a moment to enjoy the view and he blinked rapidly at one spot. He could have sworn he just saw a matronly woman in an old nurse's uniform smile at him as if to wish him luck and Prussia shivered.
He had a sinking feeling as he stepped into the darkness and away from the light, uncertain if they would ever see the sun again.