...........................................................Disclaimer: The Gundam Wing boys aren't mine, as much as I'd want them to be.......................................

HAUNTING HUNTED HEARTS

Chapter 1: "THE CURSE"

"Would somebody please remind me why we're here again?"

There was a sound of something snapping, a bone, a vein, a nerve or more accurately, someone's brittle patience as the American ex-gundam pilot nonchalantly declared his impatience, disregarding the fact that all of his other companions are not in a fine mood as well.

"No, more like, would somebody PLEASE shove a cork on this idiot's mouth for sanity's sake." Surprisingly, the usually short-tempered Chinese youth was able to state his sarcasm calmly as he crossed his arms over his chest and quickened his pace, scowling due to the beads of perspiration forming on his forehead and on some parts of his body better not mentioned.

"We are here to prove to everyone once and for all, the non-existence of ghosts and otherworldly creatures. A fact that they failed to see which condemned the poor ancient manor to the point of being inhabitable due to false rumors and belief that it is, as they say, 'HAUNTED'." With an impassive face, the tall acrobat continued to walk in an even pace, his rigid posture and seriousness indicating his immunity towards the scorching heat of the sun as it glared down on the five youth whilst trudging in the seemingly endless thick forest of same-looking trees.

No, they're not lost at all. In fact, the Japanese brown-haired lad who was walking five steps ahead of them all seemed to act as their guide. He had the directions engraved in his mind alright, as expected, never go around readily accepting missions without fully getting the details perfectly clear, only a fool would rush head on to something without knowing what awaits on the other side.

"Well, this seems like a good excursion for all of us, busy and all. And I'm sure we're all quite excited to be doing something new for a change, ne?" The blonde Arabian, most conspicuous of the five, probably due to his innocent looks and the amiable air of friendliness he exudes making him the most easiest to approach, flashed the acrobat a pleading look, as though asking for a reinforcement of his statement to make it more believable. However, all he got was a blank stare, as usual.

'And here I thought this is going to be some sort of a romantic getaway for all of us. And I was even looking forward to spending some alone time with HIM. But they all appeared as bothered and alert as always, as though expecting for some ambush to happen anytime soon.'

There was a silent sigh as his shoulders slumped further.

'Once a soldier, always a soldier.'

"Is there a problem, Quatre?"

A concerned voice, Trowa's voice.

Without a minute's hesitation, the blonde immediately looked up and practically choked upon unexpectedly locking his jade orbs with the other's deep forest green ones.

"O-of course it is, I didn't say anything—I—You—The weather is really nice in here, the view is refreshing, nature is appealing—The-The stars at night in this place is particularly fascinating, you won't believe the constellations they formed in the skies—they're simply breathtaking, gorgeous, magical—Er…"

'Oops...My tongue slipped...?'

Quatre halted, as he ran out of excuses, he shut his eyes tight, afraid of being caught in the act and of facing his friends' wrath, especially the one standing closest to him right now. But instead of angry voices of reprimands, he was met with silence and incredulous stares, as though he'd been blabbering gibberish.

With an awkward smile, Quatre gestured for everyone to resume walking.

"Er—Is there a problem?"

It was his turn to ask. Trowa only blinked back at him. Heero resumed walking soundlessly, Wufei snorted in obvious annoyance. Duo made his way towards him with a sly smile on his face.

"Q-man, what's with that answer? Are you perchance, hiding something from us? You know we all hate being left in the dark. So, spill. What do you know about this little excursion of ours, eh? "

Without warning, Duo draped a heavy arm over Quatre's left shoulder, effectively ruining any chances of escape for the blonde. Yet Quatre refused to give in.

"I don't know what you're talking about Duo. If ever this was a set-up, I'm part of it too, a hapless victim just like you guys." Quatre tried to pry Duo's arms off of him but the other just won't budge. Trowa only gave them an unreadable stare, his V-shaped eyebrows indicating confusion, before finally following Heero and Wufei's lead into the forest, leaving Quatre mercilessly in the wild American youth's hands. Quatre practically sank to the ground as Trowa went further and further away from him, all the blonde Arabian could see was his back.

'Trowa…Don't leave me…No!...Wait!...I'm sorry…I didn't mean to—'

"Quat? Q-buddy? Qua-chan? Q-man? No Hey Quatre what's wrong?"

Two bulky duffel bags fell with a loud thud on the ground. One body lost its strength to keep standing, falling limply on the other active one's arms. Two youth walking ahead began to turn back at the sound of the usual cheerful American's voice, now reduced to near hysterics as he shouted his friend's name over and over, hoping to get a response. The last of the group stood there staring at the unconscious lad, who, just seconds ago was blabbering nonsense to him, answering his question wrongly.

"He just fainted, don't worry. Maybe it's heat stroke? Oh Q-man, don't scare us like this."

"Better hurry and find the cursed place then, before another one among us faints."

"Hey Fei, are you trying to pick a fight with me? Oh never mind, you make yourself useful and carry those bags, why don't you."

"Whatever. If this'll shut you up, I'd gladly do it. I'm so fed up of having to put up with you and your annoyingly high-pitched voice."

"High-pitched—?"

"Alright that's enough, you rowdy lot. Duo, you might want to carry him properly. We don't know what's wrong with him yet. Best be careful how you handle him."

"Duo, please, let me…"

Duo's jaw dropped, but just in time, he managed to bring it back to its rightful position. Wufei only stared with a bored look on his face, duffel bags in hand. Heero surreptitiously smirked, gesturing for Duo to do as Trowa said.

"Sure, no prob."

Trowa nodded as his form of thank you while gently collecting the unconscious Quatre in his arms, forest green eyes steadily watching the other's serene expression. He inwardly sighed in relief seeing as how the other doesn't seem to be in any sort of life-threatening danger.

"Alright that's enough drama. Let's get moving."

Heero's strong voice somehow penetrated through the thick atmosphere as the others followed suit, with Wufei mumbling incoherently to himself, something about him unceremoniously being turned into a nanny.

--

"Is this the place?"

The sound of their boots quickly dissipated into the air as the four of them halted, all eyes studying the old worn out manor standing in front of them, looking fragile and simply…dangerously inhabitable.

"What, you sound disappointed Wu-man. Been expecting a Five-Star Hotel I bet."

"Looks like this edifice could collapse anytime. Are you certain this is the said house we're supposed to stay at?" Wufei confirmed, turning to Heero and deliberately ignoring Duo's banters. But the other just won't give up.

"You mean, exorcise, Wufei. We're here to do some ghost-hunting and stuff, remember? So don't go expecting some grand, bongacious building to greet us."

"I'd hate to admit it, but Duo's right. And yes, I'm certain this is the place." Without another word, Heero proceeded to the porch, clearly intent on entering the house as though having an insatiable thirst to satisfy his curiosity.

"If you say so…"

With a shrug, Wufei followed, wanting to discard the burden in his hands as quickly as he could. A nice cold bath would be nice as well. Add a fine Chinese cuisine for lunch today and he's bound to keep his complaints to himself.

Smirking to himself, he stepped inside, obsidian eyes roaming on the first sight that greeted him, which was the house's living room. Somehow, it looked normal, not cramped, not spacey, it was filled with just the right number of furniture, adequately arranged in their proper places. The couch, though not looking cozy and clean, was inviting to the tired legs of Wufei. Taking out a hanky, the Chinese youth wiped a spot on the left end of the couch before settling himself comfortably, his leg muscles relieved.

"Well, I suppose it's safe to come in. Considering Wufei's weight and the house still standing in one piece, without any signs of crumbling, yes, I declare it safe for us to go." Flashing Trowa a toothy grin, Duo skipped merrily into the house, quickly spotting Wufei and rushing over to sit beside him. "Mind if I sit with you? Yes, thank you."

Wufei rolled his eyes, squirming away from the braided boy as the other sat himself a bit too close for comfort. "No one violates my personal space and gets away with it. So if you value your pathetic life, no, I mean, your beloved long braid, you'd best keep your hands to yourself, Maxwell."

"Oh, I'm deeply insulted, CHANG. What makes you think I'm interested with putting my hands anywhere near you? Dream on Dragon boy." Duo didn't bother to hide his snickers upon seeing his expected reaction, a scowling Wufei, almost fire-breathing, a murderous glint in his obsidian eyes. "You think you're irresistible when you pull that look? Oh please, can't you do better? That's not a nice enough turn on. Want me to show you how to do it the right way?"

With one last poisonous glare, Wufei rose from his seat, as dignified a posture as he could, and began to head for the stairs.

"Hey Wu-man, fun's just starting! Where're you going? Chickening out, are you? Ouch!"

Something hard was tossed in the American lad's direction, the plastic bag landing on his hands after bouncing on his head. "What's this?"

"Chicken. Since you're the king of gluttony among us, it is only fair you be the one to prepare the food." Heero answered calmly as he, too, began to ascend the stairs after Trowa, who was still carrying an unconscious Quatre.

"Riiiiight, and what would you do, Mister Self-Proclaimed Leader of our great Gundam Team?"

"It is not for you to know. Now start cooking or else I'll assume you're only scared to be left alone here downstairs for making those pathetic excuses." Without looking back, Heero soundlessly mounted the stairs, leaving a distressed Duo.

"Scared? Who's scared?"

With a nervous laugh and a single drop of sweat trickling down the side of his face, Duo slowly got up and hummed a happy tune, making his way to the kitchen, from time to time, glancing back to make sure he was indeed, alone.

--

'Cold…I'm feeling cold…Trowa…Where are you?'

The blonde's eyelids gradually flickered, until finally, it opened fully, jade eyes studying his surroundings precariously, as though half-expecting he was in a dimly lit dungeon with torches about to die, a captured prey about to be devoured alive by his unknown bestial predator. Yet where he found himself in was nowhere near his dreadful assumptions.

Quatre carefully sat upright, head turning towards the windows, examining the skies to determine the time. It was almost sunset, just how long was he out? And, more importantly, what just happened to him? His memories weren't that clear as to how and why he fell unconscious so suddenly. Clutching his chest, he discovered that his heart was beating in a fast pace, odd, does this mean he's nervous, afraid, uncomfortable?

'Someone's watching me…Someone's watching me…Someone's watching me…'

There was a hiss behind him, a cold breath touching the back of his neck. Quatre abruptly turned around with wide eyes, only to be faced with an unresponsive and non-threatening wall with cracks and scraping paint, its hue hard to distinguish due to old age. Yellow, beige, white. It was hard to tell.

Laughing somewhat aloud if only to disperse the accumulating tension that hung in the air of this small cramped room, Quatre swung his legs on the bed's side, finding solid ground and attempting to stand on it. He was halfway towards the door when his chest throbbed violently, sending painful jolts all over his body and making him lose balance that he tripped and plunged to the wooden floor. He gasped as he looked up to where his instinct was telling him to. Opposite the bed was a full-length mirror, something he failed to notice before.

Slowly lifting himself up from the floor, Quatre sat on his knees, jade eyes turning glassy and wide upon seeing an unfamiliar profile of a man staring back at him with equal surprise. Clamping his hands to his mouth, Quatre suppressed the strong urge to scream as he slowly whirled around to confirm the mirror's reflection. Yet there, on his bedside table, from where he saw an unknown man sitting before, only sat a battered looking rag doll the size of his arm. Its faded lifeless eyes , oblong shaped and hued black with two tiny spots of white, stared mockingly back at the startled blonde youth, its lips, merely made out of a thin red thread, slightly curved into an odd-looking smile, eerie and sympathetic at the same time.

"Wha…" was all Quatre managed to say. Without blinking, he unintentionally engaged himself in a staring contest with the battered rag doll. Until it spoke, in a cold, high-pitched tone, and it sounded as though someone desperately tried to act as its voice over. Yet Quatre paid no heed to the ludicrous thought of a speaking doll as what he had heard left him in chaos. And it said…

"KILL…KILL…KILL…"

--

A.N: Reviews would be very much appreciated! Especially constructive criticisms, anything to help improve my writing. As I'm new around here, I wish for everyone's support, and...guide? *sheepish smile*. I just love Quatre and Trowa so much, their pairing is the best! That's why I wanted to try my hand on them, see if I can write something...readable? Please people, I look forward to your responses.