Okay! This will be seperated in two parts. This was inspired, and a few parts taken out from the TokyoPop's manga, "The Dreaming" by Queenie Chan. I'm not good at horror, but I am re-watching Fatal Frame, but then again nothing good comes out of horror. I like to be different though. I don't know, you tell me how this first part went while I take some time getting the second part up. Enjoy!
I: The Start
###
Chapter I
The lush green valley view rushed pass out of the train's window, where a young boy of eleven was looking out with a lazy stare. Across him is a man in a black suit and sunglasses that made it difficult to tell if the man was asleep or awake, and the only way to know is to talk to the man but he didn't want to say anything.
The boy had light green hair and dark emerald eyes that looked black in a distance. And although he was young he has signs of a toned body from a certain work out that most boys his age don't get until much older.
He looked at the brochure in his hand that the man shoved earlier and saw the name of a school he was being sent. 'Little Garden Private Finishing School' it said in elegant yet easy to read writing and showed the building at an angle and it was huge by the look of it. He read a bit about the school and found out that it can hold the students ages ten to twenty-four. But since it's a private school, only the very rich or very gifted students go there. He was neither of those things.
He was an abandoned orphan that no one seemed to contain for long. And his opinion was that the people finally contacted the school and there was an agreement to take him in.
He would've escaped the place like all the others if not for the fact that the school was in the middle of nowhere and him having a horrid sense of direction he would be lost for all eternity in the vast woods that he could see. He knew that he was never going to escape the place as long as he was an orphan and because he was sold out to the school there was no doubt that the other kids would try to hurt him. He was never the kind to let others push him around.
=*---*=
When the train completely stopped, the man across from him seemed to be awake and grabbed him by the wrist. "We're here." He said as he dragged the kid out of the train car and up to a man holding up a sign saying 'Little Garden'.
"Yohohoho! Is this the new lad?" Asked the tall thin man who looked young for his age.
"Yes Brook. Now grab the bags and get the car."
"Yes sir!" Said Brook as he grabbed the bags and led the way to a shiny, old fashioned black Mercedes.
About an hour in, Brook turned on some music, thinking it will light the heavy mood, but was ordered to turn it off.
They were on a dirt road surrounded by trees that seemed to engulf them from behind as the boy stared out into the window.
"No music class today?" The man asked.
"Not today…"
"I see…"
The boy didn't really care much for music when another car sped pass them.
"Someone gone missing?" The man asked.
"Aye… they're here to pick up Ace and leave. They don't trust this school with their only heir now."
The boy looked at the men and wondered about what they were talking about.
"Well, if I remember correctly, that guy always been running off doing who knows what. I'm not surprised that he got himself lost in these forsaken woods."
Zoro looked behind him to the back window to see that the forest seemed to create a wall behind them while the trees looked dark and beckoning. He started to feel uncomfortable about the situation.
"We're here!" Brook announced as he drove pass through and old iron, Victorian style gate. "Welcome to Little Garden!"
The building was larger than what the brochure showed as it resembled a Sicilian church surrounded by more trees that seemed to go on for miles.
"How big is this place?" The boy asked, talking for the first time since he got here.
"Well, since this is a very prestigious school, there are about five to ten thousand students." Brook started. "Each room can hold two students, ten lecture halls, one dining room, and underground pool, an art gallery, a fencing room, five art studios, a library that takes up three stories, a kitchen, a music room, and a concert hall."
"Damn that's big." He said as he was bonked on the head. "What was that for?" He glared at the man in the suit.
"Foul language will not be tolerated in this school." He said as he dragged the boy up the small flight of stairs and through the dark polished doors. "Take his bags to his room."
"Hai…"
=*---*=
Inside showed signs that the interior hasn't changed for the last hundred years as the man went up the stairs, went down the hall and towards one door with a small gold plate labeled 'Vice Principal'. The man knocked on the said door and waited until it opened.
"Come in!" Called a man as the other man dragged the boy in.
"I brought the child." He said as he let go of the boy.
"I can see that."
The boy straightened as he looked up at the desk and the man behind it.
"Hello. I'm Crocodile. I'm the Vice Principle here. Would you kindly tell me your name?"
The boy knew the man knew, but he said his name anyway. "Roronoa Zoro."
"Well, Roronoa-chan, I would like you to welcome you to Little Garden."
Zoro didn't say anything.
"You know… not just any child your age can be at this school."
"That's a given…"
The man smiled. "A smartass are we? Well, I do believe you want to rest up from the long day's ride here."
"You called?" Asked a man of twenty-four years of age.
"Franky, take Roronoa-chan to his room."
"Right!" Said the man as he looked at the kid. "Follow me, Lil' Bro!"
"It's Zoro." He said as he followed Franky down the halls, down the stairs to the third level where they reached to room 11.
"Here it is!" Franky said as he opened the door to reveal a very Victorian refurbished room. "Supper will be done in a bit, so just relax and I'll bring it up. Okay?"
"I'm not hungry." Zoro said as he went onto a bed and just stared out the window.
"Oh… okay. That's super… Just holler if you need anything, but lights out at nine."
"Kay…"
Once the door closed he stared out at the window before closing his eyes and drifted to sleep.
=*---*=
About a few hours later, once the lights were out, he was suddenly awaken when he felt hands grab him, gagged him, and a pillow case over his head, and then carried out while hearing muffled chuckles.
"This is so evil." Whispered one guy.
"Have to teach this guy his place." Whispered another guy as he felt cold air on his bare arms as he could hear the muffled steps of foot to grass.
"Geeze…" Said the first one. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Relax. They already took that Monkey guy. And a good thing too! Otherwise we wouldn't be able to pull this off!" Said the second as he felt himself being thrown to the ground. "I bet the new kid is crying by now!"
The pillow case was removed and saw two guys no older than seventeen.
"Huh? The new kid isn't bawling." Said one with long pale blue hair.
"He will…" Said one with short dirty blond hair. "You know where we are kid?"
Zoro glared as he tried to get his wrists out of the hold that binded him.
"This is the forest that the students disappear in."
He glared but listened.
"This forest takes anyone and no one knows why."
The one with blue hair chuckled.
"Rumor has it that this place was cursed and in order to keep the peace, sacrifices have to be made." He had a maniatic look on his face. "And tonight, you're going to be that sacrifice! What do you say to that?" He removed the cloth that was used to gag the kid.
He stared at the guy, completely calm. "You're doing me one hell of a favor." He said.
"What's that?"
"No one wanted me from the beginning, and I never asked to be here. I was sold here to be rid of once and for all from anyone. But it would've been better if I just disappeared…"
The blond didn't expect this as he kicked the kid deeper into the forest. "You little jackass! You're more annoying than that Monkey brat!"
"Bellamy! Cut it out!"
"That kid is going to cry!"
Zoro got his breathing back as he felt another kick before being stomped on.
"Why won't you cry like normal kids!?"
"Bellamy! You're going to kill him if you keep doing that!"
"Shut up! Squall! The kid wants to be dead anyway! So what if he does! Everyone would think he just disappeared like the rest of them!"
"Not tonight…" Said a new, ghostly voice that echoed through the forest.
"W-What was that?" Said Squall when a powerful force knocked Bellamy away from the boy, who looked a little out of it.
"What the hell?!" Bellamy said as he looked up to see the boy and someone else behind him. "You… B-But you're-"
"Leave this forest now!" Called out the new voice.
Zoro was able to get his mind straight and looked behind him and saw a transparent figure of a young man, no more than seventeen when the forest started to shake.
"What the hell!?" Squall said as the transparent teen leaned down and embraced the boy.
"I'll protect you." He whispered.
Zoro didn't know what the hell was going on until he heard the two scream bloody murder and he dared look to see the two surrounded by tree roots and were being dragged into the earth as a black figure appeared.
The black mass stood upright like a human, but it's proportions were more gorilla-like, and when it turned, it's red eyes resembling burning flames were staring straight at the boy as the being seemed to smile, showing ivory razor teeth with blood dripping from the tips, as if it already ate the two men.
"Go away!" The ghost figure shouted as he started to glow. "You already took those two, there's no reason to take a third! Especially under my protection!"
The black mass seemed displeased as it screamed out an inhuman sound as the body started to look as if huge worms were crawling around it before disappearing.
"Listen." The ghost said to Zoro. "When I tell you to run, you better run and don't dare look back until you're inside the school. I'll hold it off for as long as I can."
Zoro nodded, his mind numbed and wanting to just wake up from this nightmare.
"Run!" The ghost ordered as he let the boy go, which he started to run straight to the door, slammed up against it, pounded his fists on the wood before someone opened the door, went in and slammed the door shut.
"O-Oi!" Franky said as he bent down to see the frightened and beat up boy. "You okay?"
Zoro couldn't answer as he fell into unconsciousness.
###
Chapter II
Zoro woke up the next morning and saw that he was in his room. "A bad dream?" He said as he looked out of the window to see the forest and thought he saw someone behind the trees, but it disappeared as he blinked. He tried to get up when he felt sore and saw the bandages on his arms before jumping when a knock was heard on his door.
"Mind if I come in?" Franky asked through the door.
"Come in." He called as the man came in with a tray of food.
"It's a good thing your class doesn't start until next week." He said as he put the tray down on the bed. "Just what were you doing outside?"
"So it wasn't a dream… Those two assholes were taken by the trees while that black gorilla thing was just staring at them as the trees ate them!"
"Gorilla? Man eating trees?" Franky questioned. "What did these guys do to you?"
"I'm serious! These two jerks took me from my room, beat me out in the woods, someone came in and protected me while this gorilla thing was watching the jerks get eaten by trees and it was about to come after me."
Franky just stared at the kid before holding up a spoonful of oatmeal. "You should eat something, Lil' Bro. We're going to see a doctor."
"I'm not crazy! I really saw it!"
"I believe you."
"No you don't! I'm not stupid! You're giving me that look that saying that I need help!"
"Calm down… Yeah I think what you're saying is farfetched, but there has to be some reason why you're banged up so badly. Jeeze! I actually thought you were dead, you were just a mess of cuts and bruises."
Zoro didn't know what else to say to the man as he willingly ate his oatmeal himself.
"Can you tell me who the two jerks' names? Did you catch that at least?"
"Bellamy and Squall."
"Damn! Those two started their raid again!"
"They've done this before?"
"Yeah, but they stopped when Monkey-Bro was making sure they never did things like that to you kids."
"Bellamy mentioned about Monkey, was he a student here too?"
Franky was silent before he got up. "Finish your breakfast… I'll bring up a doctor to check your wounds…" With that he left.
Zoro glared at the door as he finished his breakfast. "I know what I saw…" He said as he pushed the tray away from him and wrapped his arms around, which triggered the memory of the ghost of the boy that saved him. "Wait… he's a ghost… but he held me as if he was solid." He looked out of the forest from his window and wondered who the guy was.
=*---*=
After the doctor finished looking over him, Franky came in with a smile on his face. "How about a tour, Lil' Bro?"
He nodded as he was dressed in a uniform casual wear, which was a plain white shirt with the school's symbol above the heart and black pants, and followed the man around the school.
While they were walking, there were whispers of the two missing male students as they passed the crowded hallways.
"Oi, Franky-san…"
"You can call me Big Bro Franky!"
"Franky-san… tell me more about this Monkey guy."
Franky shushed him as he looked around before taking them to an area that was out of earshot of the other students. "Monkey-Bro was a student here about a few years before he went missing a month ago."
"Missing?"
"Aye. The fifth one missing this year."
"Fifth?"
"And with those two it makes missing persons six and seven." He sighed. "I hoped he would be one of the few lucky ones that make it through this school."
"Wait, you mean this happened before?"
"Since its opening."
"What's wrong with this school?"
He sighed. "That's what all of us would like to know. Even Monkey-Bro was interested in figuring it out. But it looks like he knew something and the forest sensed that…"
"It must be that gorilla thing I saw. It has to be…"
"I don't know for sure, I never chanced to see the forest at night. But I do agree with you that there's definitely something not human about what's going on."
"Then why have a school here?"
"Simple, it's the best school that's far away from any distractions and creates connections for future careers."
"That's so stupid to keep this school up!"
"Better keep your voice down."
"Why?!"
"Because, unlike most students here, you don't have a family to take you away from here, you don't have money to give you a certain status to those who do, and you're at this point alone without some people to help back you up."
"I don't need to be protected."
"You're a tough kid, but you're only one of a thousand who would love to see you break. To them you're not tough, but a penniless orphan."
"I don't care what they see me as… I know what I saw and that Monkey-san had saved me."
"Saved you? That's impossible. No one was able to be found."
"I saw him… and he's guarding the forest from whatever's in there out."
Franky sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "I'll pretend we didn't have this talk..."
"Why not?"
The man looked at the boy seriously. "You want to end up being number eight?"
Zoro bit his lip as he continued to follow the man throughout the rest of the tour.
=*---*=
It took the whole day and the boy ended up with keeping a map and wrote down small notes for him to remember where what was and know what to avoid. He learned about his class schedule and marked his classes on his map. He met some of his teachers and immediately decided who he can talk to for advice and who to avoid at all cost. By the time he got back to his room after dinner, his map was nothing but notes. Everything was marked except for the Vice Principle's room, which he crossed out with a red crayon, given to him by the man.
He looked out of his window and saw nothing but black as far as he could see. He took a photo out of his pocket and looked at the goofy looking teen that was deemed to be Monkey D. Luffy. 'He was a student here for five years before he went missing a month ago…' He thought as he looked out of the window again, but this time he thought he saw someone standing there, glowing faintly within the dark surroundings. 'Franky said that he was acting strange two months before he disappeared…' He focused on that faint light as he could make out human figure.
A chill went up his spine when he felt the figure's eyes looking at him, but he wasn't afraid when the figure moved deeply into the blackness. "Just what did you find out?" He whispered as he heard the lights out call and have to retreat for the evening.
###
Chapter III
The next morning he was about to head outside when Franky stopped him.
"Sorry, Lil' Bro, but we have to get you books and supplies."
"How long will that take?"
"Not long, but you also need to work on some assignments that you have to do to be at the same level as the others. Don't want them to think just because you're new doesn't mean you get special treatment."
"Like I asked?"
"We also need to work on your language."
"I didn't say anything offensive!"
"It's the tone you let out."
Zoro groaned.
"You'll have time to go out, and I'm here as your tutor until school starts for you."
"Lucky me…"
=*---*=
The whole day for Zoro was a bore to him. Franky tried to make it amusing, but soon realized that the kid wasn't the fun type which was a downer to him as well. He did the assignments, the other looks over and corrects the mistakes, and he did the corrections until he could complete the whole assignment.
Soon it was lights out and he reluctantly went to bed, but not before looking out at the window to see the faint light within the darkness of the trees.
=*---*=
This went on for the rest of the week and on his final non-class day, he completed his last assignment.
"Super!" Franky called out as he did a pose. "You're super ready for your classes!"
"Great, more work." Zoro said as he laid back in a lofty chair in the drawing room.
"Ah! Don't be like that, Lil' Zoro-Bro, I had to do it too."
"Am I going to be crazy then?"
The man laughed. "Nah! You'll be fine!"
He looked to see that it was only three in the afternoon, but the tapping on the window was a reminder that it was raining outside. "I finally got my assignments done and I can't even go out."
"You'll get out tomorrow when you've got break."
'Yeah, only to be watched like criminals…' He thought as he got up from the chair. "I'm going to my room."
"You need me to take you there?"
"No, I think I know my way around."
"Okay, Lil' Bro, I'll come get you for dinner."
He nodded as he walked out of the drawing room and into the halls where other students were walking, chatting, standing, and he saw some kissing, but he walked through the maze until he found a library. 'Did I miss a turn somewhere?' He thought as he entered the area anyway and saw some older students looking through books and writing papers.
"Can I help you?" Asked a male librarian with a hair style that looked like clovers.
He saw the name tag 'Clover', and looked back up at the man. "Just looking for a quiet place to sit down."
"Well you've come to the right place." Clover said. "Take a seat wherever."
He nodded as he decided the back corner of the library was a good place to nap, at least he won't be disturbed.
=*---*=
When he got there he noticed that the area was covered in dust and it reeked in old books. He looked at the spines, which were thick with dust until he came across one book that looked as though it was recently used. He was never the kind who could be curious about something like that, but then the book was just out of place in such a state. He got a closer look at the spine to make out the faded and chipped gold lettering, but he couldn't make it out. He pulled it out and saw that the cover was in the same condition.
"Weird…" He said as he opened to see the cover page was covered in something that looked like dried ink, but he could make out a small note at the corner of the page: M.D.L. "M.D.L?" He turned the page and saw a blank page that was covered in notes with the similar handwriting as the initials.
'Franky said that Luffy-san was working on the disappearances.' He thought as he turned to see another blank page filled with notes. "Why is this book here?" He asked himself as he figured that he would borrow the mysterious book.
He went up to the desk and saw that Clover wasn't there. He looked around the desk and saw a stamp. He picked it up, opened the book to find the sticker with the recent dates, stamped the available spot, took a pen and note pad, wrote down some information, and walked out of the library and searched his room.
=*---*=
By the time he found it, Franky was right outside. "Oh! There you are, Lil' Bro!"
"I don't get this place…" He said as he reached for the knob.
"Dinner's ready."
"I just have to put this book away."
"Book?"
"Went to the library and found one." He entered his room, placed the book under his pillow and quickly walked out to follow the man to the dining room.
"What book did you get?"
"The historical samurai figures." He lied.
"Into that sort of thing, huh?" He said with a smile.
"I like swords…"
The man laughed, as if agreeing with the boy.
"Say, Franky-san?"
"What's up, Lil' Bro?"
"What kind of guy is Luffy?"
"Where to start!" He said as he laughed. "He was a crazy one! All smiles and laughs. Made the place easier to live in, even on his first day. The kids loved him and made his cousin adapt to this school easily."
"His cousin?"
"Oh, yeah. Ace! He's only a year older than you, but didn't get along with others too well unless he sees Luffy around. He got over that after a few days." He sighed. "Luffy-Bro was an all around good guy. When the news announced of his disappearance…" He sighed again. "I still think he would come out and make everything better." He chuckled a bit bitterly. "Well… If he were here, he would not leave you alone for a second until you smiled and laughed."
Zoro looked out of one of the windows and saw that it stopped raining.
=*---*=
After dinner, he went back to his assigned room, with Franky's help, and grabbed the book from under his pillow. He opened it, flipped a few pages and started to read the first page, which was the introduction but there were notes and underlined words all over the page. "Just what were you doing?" He asked himself as he looked out of his window to see the faint figure there once again.
"Lights out! Bros and Sises!" Franky announced and he turned off his light and looked out, only for the figure to not be there.
He glared at the darkness and started to get his uniformed jacket and his school shoes, before listening for anyone outside his door before walking out. 'I just have to go down and find a door that leads outside.' He thought as he quietly walked down the halls to find the stairs.
=*---*=
Once he was finally at the first level without being caught, he found the entrance doors, put his shoes on and grabbed the handle and opened it slightly for him to pass through. As he closed the door, he looked to see that everything was pitch black. He looked to see the moon was just a sliver crescent and hardly outlined the trees there.
He shivered a bit but he took a step out into the darkness and headed to the forest. He could sense something was watching him as he walked up to the black void before stopping short of the trees. He stood there for five minutes as he started to feel a chill up his spine, but not from the cold.
"Monkey D. Luffy!" He shouted, breaking the silence that surrounded the area. "If you can hear me, show yourself!" He was shaking as he held a tight grasp on the bottom on his jacket as he waited for something.
It almost seemed like an eternity before he saw a faint light moving towards him through the darkness. He stopped his shaking as he watched the light become brighter and in a human form. He could make out the faded black blue hair, the faint skin color, and the faded grey color of the school uniform, even the figure was close enough for him to see the faded brown eyes as the figure stopped.
"Hey." The figure known as Luffy said with an easy smile.
Zoro took a moment before getting himself together. "H-Hi… My name is Roronoa Zoro, age eleven."
Luffy smiled a bit more. "Monkey D. Luffy, age seventeen." He said as he bent down to be at the other's eye level. "Why are you out here so late? You want to disappear that badly?"
"It's not that! I wanted to see you!"
"See me?" He pointed at himself. "Why?"
"I heard from Franky-san that you're the closest one to find out about what's going on in this messed up school."
He blankly stared at the boy before looking back to see the forest as a sudden wind came out.
But to Zoro, the forest was moaning.
"Get back inside." He said as he stood up.
"Huh?"
"Trust me, Zoro, you don't want to be here." He faced the forest. "If you don't want to have bad dreams, light a candle."
"What?"
"Go now!" He shouted as a blood curling scream was heard within the dark.
It only took the boy to see the burning eyes for him to run back to the school.
Once he got to the door, he risked looking back and saw the faint light get brighter as the creature seemed to growl and hiss before he went inside the building. He took a deep breath as he walked back to his room through the dark.
=*---*=
Once he got into his room, he quickly went to the window and saw the other, leaning up against a tree, the light much fainter than the other nights. 'He fought off that thing…' He thought as he looked to see the other walk back into the forest. "Thank you…" He whispered as he went to bed, the book hidden securely under his pillow.
###
Chapter IV
Zoro found himself standing in the opening surrounded by trees. "Huh? Where am I?" He asked as he looked at the trees and saw something unusual. He went up to one of the trees and placed a hand on the dark red trail going down the bark. He then became horrified when he caught the scent of blood and saw the red substance as the same thing. He drew back as he felt something grab his foot. He looked down to see a hand out of the ground and heard a whimper. He followed the sound to see the scared and desperate face of Bellamy that was missing just a week ago.
"Help…" He said as he started to sink more under the tree.
He looked down at the captured foot only to quickly draw it back as he watched the hand turn into a root. He heard another strangled cry and saw the second meet the same fate. "W-What the-!?" He said as he heard some foot steps behind him. He looked back to see a few, shadowed figures coming towards him. He didn't know why but he felt scared and started to run deeper into the forest. 'Where's the damn school!?' He thought as he thought about Luffy.
"Luffy! Luffy!" He called out as he ran away from whatever was behind him. He ran into someone, knocked back to the ground, and looked up to see the burning eyes. He felt paralyzed and unable to speak as the thing moved closer to him.
"Zoro! Wake up!"
He heard Luffy say, but couldn't see the teen.
"Wake up! Just wake up!"
He closed his eyes as the thing's hand got close and quickly opened his eyes.
==!==
He sat upright on the bed and panted as if he ran a marathon and had to hold his nose when he smelled blood. 'The hell was that about?' He thought as he felt sick and dizzy. He looked out of his window to see the first rays of light were peeking out behind the trees. He laid back on the bed and sighed. "What a messed up nightmare." He said as he felt around the pillow for the book, opened it, and looked at the page with notes and saw one mentioning candles.
'These things repel when light is around. Light a candle to get nightmare free sleep.'
"That's why he told me to light a candle…" He said with a sigh. "Looks like I have to ask Franky-san about candles." He said as he stared up at the ceiling when he heard someone running down the hall outside his door. He didn't know what that was about as he put the book away and get a few minutes of sleep.
When Franky woke him up fifteen minutes later, got dressed, and finished his breakfast, he went to his classroom to meet his classmates for the first time. Needless to say he got everyone's attention by being new and having green hair.
=*---*=
When class started he heard whispers about him but also about missing person number eight.
"Is it a student?"
He heard one girl ask.
"No. It was the librarian, Clover-san."
"No way!"
"Yeah. I didn't believe either until I heard the teachers say the same thing."
"I hope I don't get snatched away."
"I just hope that one girl does. It's not fair that he gets snatched and not her. She's so mean!"
He tuned them out as the class seemed to drag on.
=*---*=
It was finally break and the class was let out to the bright sunlight. While the kids seem to enjoy running around, he looked around his surroundings and saw that there were three people watching them: his teacher, the gardener, and someone behind the window. He then looked towards the forest and remembered that night and the nightmare. He also remembered the librarian and wondered if the nightmare had something to do with the man's 'disappearance'.
And then there was Luffy. Just who is he? What is he? A ghost? That's a likely possibility, giving the fact that the teen's physical complexions are faint. A spirit? A type of ghost that can have a physical form at will and be able to interact. There are just so many things he wanted to understand about the teen who protected him twice… possibly three times if he counted the dream.
He looked at the surrounding forest again and saw a faint figure of Luffy in the shadows, who waved at him. He nodded to let the other know he saw him before break was done and had to get back in class.
=*---*=
When class was over he and the other kids followed Franky as they headed back to their rooms to work on their assignments and decided to go outside, since it was still light out and he didn't want to sneak out in the middle of the night again. He still had to make sure he wasn't spotted as he went down to the first level and tried to find the back door.
Once down he had to go through a maze of older students who were let out and even older students going from class to class. But he found the door he was looking for, checked to see if anyone was watching and went out.
=*---*=
He made sure no one was outside as he headed down the garden path, just in case, and went off the path.
"What are you doing?"
He jumped and turned to see Luffy sitting on an upturned root. "Looking for you…" He responded.
"Just call out my name next time." He said with a smile. "Unlike those things I'm not limited to coming out during the day."
"And the path?"
He laughed. "It's just a stupid hiking trail! There's nothing special about it!"
"Oh…" He blushed with embarrassment.
"So! What do you want to talk to me about?" He asked as he relaxed back against the tree and patted a spot next to him.
He walked up and sat next to the faint teen and took a moment to think about what he should say first. "Well… I heard from the other kids that the librarian is missing…"
"Yeah, he's here… somewhere…" He said as he looked into the forest. "I don't know where they took him though."
"Why would they take him though? I don't know the guy, but…"
"That's what I would like to know too. But if I didn't interfere, it would've been you."
"Me?"
"I told you to light a candle, but I guess you had no idea what the hell I was talking about."
"Yeah, I found that out from one of your notes."
"My notes?"
"Yeah, yesterday before dinner, I found the book you used in the library."
"You went to the back of the library?"
"Yeah… I did. I wanted to take a nap but then that book was out of place so…"
Luffy smiled. "That's good to know. I thought for sure Ace would find it and take it with him. Then everything would start from scratch."
"Your cousin?"
"Yeah… He was the only one who knew what I was up to and never stopped me. I was afraid that the book would fall into the wrong hands and so I hid it and I didn't want to tell Ace because he had enough problems already. He was adjusting to the school well, but… he could barely handle what was going on here. He would look at me and I would have to tell him that things were going to be okay as long as we're careful…" He sighed. "But then I thought I saw a student walk into the forest one night, left Ace with a note and followed… Next thing I knew I was here." He lifted his hand. "At least I'm not completely see through. That's a bad sign."
"So you're dead?"
"That's the strange thing."
"Huh?"
He smiled as he looked at the boy. "Don't you remember?"
Zoro blinked before the other embraced him, just like when the other saved him.
"Some ghosts can do physical things like pushing or tapping, but most of the time the ghost is characterized as cold as ice to the touch."
"But you're warm…" He was getting it. "So you can't really be dead then."
"I don't think I'm alive either."
"Huh?" Luffy backed away from the boy, but still has an arm around the boy's shoulder. "I'm not dead, but not alive." He said with a smile. "I'm somewhere in between."
"Is that even possible?"
"I'm proof of that."
"And you're real body?"
He sighed. "They hid it somewhere."
"You mean that gorilla thing?"
Luffy laughed making him look brighter. "Yeah. That thing."
"What is it?"
He sighed. "Well… I was trying to find that out before…"
"So you have no idea."
"Not one."
"Do you know why it's doing this?"
"You read the book, right?"
"Only a couple pages."
"Might want to start reading before firing off so many questions." He said as he looked back to the forest. "They're starting to wake up now."
"How do you know?"
"Another time, right now you have to get back to the school before the sun sets completely."
He really wants to know more, but he didn't want to face those monsters again either. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay."
He looked a bit surprised before smiling. "I'd love that."
=*---*=
With a nod he ran back down the man made path and found the school, go through the door and walked around the building to find Franky or anyone of his 'go to' teachers.
"Hello there."
He looked back to see his music teacher, Brook. "Hi Bonez-sensei."
"What are you doing out here?"
"Went for a walk, then I got lost."
"Yohohoho! I know how that is. I've been here for five years and I still have a time finding the toilet."
He couldn't help but smile.
"So! What can I do for you?" He asked.
"Well…" He said as he scratched his head. "Do you know where I could find some candles?"
"Candles?"
"Yeah, I heard it keeps the nightmare demons away."
"Did you have a hard time sleeping then?"
"Yeah. Made me feel sick too."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah…"
"Well… I do know where to find some, but they're in the vice principal's office."
He groaned.
"Tell you what! I know another place to get them, but they're used."
"That's okay." He said.
"I'll bring them by your room before lights out."
"Okay!" He said as both headed to the dining room, where a few students were there, chatting away.
=*---*=
After dinner Zoro went up to his room and started to read the book as he looked at each note the teen made.
'If I'm going to survive in this school, I have to know how to get those beings away from me.' He thought as he remembered the librarian. 'And I have to find a way so others won't be taken away as well.' He heard a knock on the door and announced to come in.
"Hello, Zoro-chan!" Brook said as he held a box. "Got the candles." He placed the box on the bed.
He looked to see five white candles that did look like they were used some time ago. "Thanks Bonez-sensei." He said as he picked one candle up.
"Zoro-chan… What was the nightmare you mentioned?"
He looked at the man and saw the worried look. "Did Luffy-san mentioned it too?"
"How did you know?"
"Franky-san said that Luffy was looking into the disappearances before he was too."
Brook sighed as he sat down. "Aye. Luffy-san did tell me about a horrifying nightmare that he would wake up feeling sick. But then he had to study one night and would do it by candle light to not bother Ace and fell asleep." He took a deep breath before continuing. "That's where he might've gotten the idea from because he looked well rested after that."
He looked at the box of candles. "Were these his then?"
The man nodded. "Yes, those were his. Ace would light the other candles for the fun of it, but Luffy never stopped him, he just laughed it off."
"Lights out now!" Franky said through the open door.
"Okay Franky-san." He said as he placed one candle with a stand on the night stand, grabbed a match from the match box, and lit the small wick in the center of the candle. He blew out the match and settled to bed. "Night." He said.
"Night, Lil' Bro."
"Good night, Zoro-chan." Brook said as he closed the door.
"What's with the candle?"
Zoro could hear Franky through the closed door.
"Shh! He said he had a dream similar to Luffy-san's."
"Seriously? He hasn't been at this school for a month and he got that dream?"
He tuned them out as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
###
Chapter V
He woke up with Franky shaking him awake. 'No nightmares.' He thought as he looked at the candle and saw a small flame before going out. 'Wow, that thing didn't burn itself out.'
"Okay, Lil' Bro, time to get dressed." The man said as the boy quickly changed from p.j.'s to school outfit. "Super! Let's go!"
He grabbed his bag and the book, and followed the man to his class.
=*---*=
When break rolled around, he found a place to read the book while also keeping an eye out for Luffy, who was hiding in the shadows. With that he continued to read while thinking up questions to ask the teen later.
"Oi!"
He looked up from the book to see another boy his age with shiny blond hair, thing as a twig, and has an odd curly eyebrow.
"You the new kid everyone's talking about?"
"Depends on what they said." He wasn't a stupid kid, he knew what the other kids think.
"They said you look scary and that your hair looks like grass."
"What's your point?"
"Just wanted to know what kind of guy you are."
"And…?" He could feel the small bubble of annoyance rising.
The boy shrugged. "You look like any kid here, except that hair of yours. It reminds me of a marimo."
"You're eyebrow resembles a dartboard."
"Oi! Don't talk about my eyebrow!"
"Then don't talk about my hair!"
They glared each other for a moment before break was over, making the boy walked away.
"Marimo."
"Dartbrow."
And that was the start of their dislike of one another.
After class let out and sent to their rooms to do their assignments, Zoro worked on his assignment as well as have a sheet of paper to write down any questions that he would like to ask Luffy. When he was done with his assignments, he folded the piece of paper, shoved it in his pocket, grabbed his jacket, and headed down the bodily maze to the back door.
=*---*=
He went down to the end of the path and called out to Luffy, who only took a few minutes to find him.
"Hey Zoro, how are you?"
"I'm okay." He responded as he sat down on a small boulder. "What about you?"
"Not much to say about me." He said with a laugh. "But it was a good day." He leaned up against the tree. "What brings you here today?"
"A game."
"Game!?" He looked excited. "What kind of game?"
"A question game."
"Like 'Trivia' and '20 Questions'?"
"Kinda but it's a way for us to know each other."
"Sounds fun!" He said as he sat down on the ground. "What are the rules?"
"Each of us has to ask the other one a question and that person has to respond. If you're unable to answer in ten seconds, I have to ask you another one."
"How long can this game last?"
"Until you tell me I have to go. So, whoever is the last person to ask a question, then the game picks up tomorrow with the other."
"Okay, sounds easy enough." He said as he resembled an excited child than a teen.
"Since the game was my idea, I'll start first."
"Fair enough!"
"Okay… We'll start with the simple questions." He said. "How old are you?"
"I already told you, seventeen. Okay… what's for favorite color?"
"I don't have one."
"Really? You can't even think of one color?"
"That's two questions."
Luffy pouted. "Not my fault."
Zoro laughed a bit as they continued the game with asking about their favorites and hobbies before the teen suddenly stopped and looked at the forest. "See you tomorrow then." He said as he got off of the boulder.
"Okay. See you tomorrow. I enjoyed our game a lot."
He smiled. "Me too." He said as he ran down the path back to the school.
=*---*=
When he got to his room, he saw a strange book and pen on his bed as well as a note.
'Yo, Lil' Bro! Brook and I thought that you would like a journal to keep. If you need another journal, feel free to ask us! Franky'
He looked at the plain black cover and opened it to see clean blank pages. He looked at the time and saw that he needed to get down at the dining room soon or he will miss dinner. He placed the book and pen under his pillow and ran out.
=*---*=
When he came back, he put on his p.j.'s and climbed into bed. He lit a candle and took out his journal and pen to write.
'I've been in this school for a little over a week now, but at first I thought I was going to hate it because I'm going to be trapped here. I would've ran away like I did with the orphanages and foster homes, but there's nothing but trees for miles and miles. Though, I don't think anyone would care if I'm missing... my own parents tried to kill be before before just abandoning and disappeared on the face of the world. But then I met Luffy, who had a better life before he became, not a ghost... I don't know what to call it, but he's not really a ghost, but he's not here in the physical world either. But thanks to him, I have a reason to stay here. He's alone now, and I was alone to begin with. No one knows he's there no matter what I say, and he's the only person I can truly call my friend, for he'll be my secret until this mystery of this school is solved.'
When he was done, he heard lights out and placed the items back under his pillow as he closed his eyes. He waited for the sound of footsteps to go away before opening his eyes to look out at the window, where he could see Luffy walking along the border of the trees. He smiled as he made himself feel comfortable. "See you tomorrow, Luffy." He whispered before drifted off to sleep.
###
Chatper VI
"Oi! Zoro-Bro!"
He groaned as he got up, looking taller and showing signs of change from child to teen. It was two years since he came to the school and he was at the ripe age of thirteen, a time of change. "I'm up!" He called as he got into his hand-me-down uniform.
Once he was done dressing himself he went out to see Franky, at twenty six and a full time staff member of the school after one year of leaving the school work, which didn't turn out so well, and is now his teacher in repairing and mechanics.
"Ready for class?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Hey now, it can't be all bad."
"There's only one thing that makes this place worthwhile."
"What's that?"
He gave the man the 'like I would tell you' look and headed towards his first class of the day.
"Oi! Marimo!"
He looked up to see his worst friend in the entire school. "What is it, Dartbrow?"
"You got the notes from yesterday's class?"
"Why the hell should I give you my note? Just quit staring at girls and do your own shit!"
"What the hell!? What's wrong with me honing in my sense of finding girls attractive?"
"Simple, do it outside of class, you moron!"
"Don't tell me there's not a girl you don't like."
Zoro sighed. "You're hopeless!" He said as he sat down in his chair.
"So, the notes…?"
He glared at the blond. "You know you're living up to the 'dumb blond' thing."
"And you fall into the asshole section."
"Rather be that than a blond."
"Why you!"
"Blackleg-san! Please sit down!"
"Hai! Alvida-sensei!" The blonde said as he has a heart for an eye as a beautiful female teacher came in and started the class on biology.
"Today we're going to study some health. Since most of you are reaching to that age." She said as she most of the young teenaged men were hanging on her every word. All but Zoro who looked like he was ready to fall asleep. "Let's start with the changes of the human body." He went on to explain about sex.
Zoro already learned this ahead of time and started to write in his journal, at least he looked like he was taking notes.
'I'm in biology right now, but I already learned about today's topic sometime ago. It's about sex and the whole health thing about it. I know heterosexual sex, gay sex and lesbeian sex. So this is pointless and the fact that the teacher is a attention whore doesn't help much either. Geeze. And that stupid Dartbrow just fantisizes her all the time to the point that I'm begging Franky to lend me his crappy head phones, crank up the music, and hopefully not be able to hear anymore. I don't like the guy by any means, but someone has to drag him off of cloud nine.'
When the class finally let out he went to his other class, which was history, which bored him to being comatose, then it was English which he was doing great in, algebra, mechanics, music, then it was a short lunch break, and then it was his favorite class, kendo.
The class hasn't been available until a year ago, and he couldn't get enough of the class. His sensei, Mihawk, was impressed at his ability while the other students would rather run round the school than get beat up by a wooden sword. In the end it was just him and two older students that took the class.
=*---*=
By the end of the class day, he would sneak into the weight room, took a few weights, and ran out to see Luffy, who would count his recs before talking about the day's events.
"I don't know why I even bother with that prick!" Zoro said. "All he ever does is flirt with girls. Even when we met, he acted like he didn't give a damn, but put a girl in the picture and he acts like a moron and blames me for being rude to her when I didn't even do a damn thing besides breathing. It's not like I choose to be there! He was the one who dragged me to a place, only for a girl to show up and acts like a damn hero! I can talk to you better than him!"
Luffy laughed. "What can I say? I was never into girls either. Too weird."
"Yeah, but the worst case would be my biology teacher, Alvida-sensei. Practically every guy in the building wants to do her, while the girls either want to be her or kill her."
"So what? You want me to have the creeps take her?"
"Nah, that would make things difficult. Not mention that you've kept a close table at making sure no one disappears in the night these last couple years."
"Yeah, amazing isn't it?"
He sighed. "But I still haven't figured out about this thing. You figured the 'how' these disappearances happen, but I still can't find the 'why' this is so."
Luffy ruffled the growing teen's head. "You're doing great though."
Zoro, used to having his head petted, just looked at the other in a curious manner, a rare sight to anyone. "Don't you ever feel lonely?"
He blinked before chuckling. "That's a strange question coming from you." He said as he hugged the other with one arm. "I'm not that lonely. I have you… that's all I need."
"Until I have to go back to the building for the night."
"And I treasure every second of it."
"I don't get you."
Luffy laughed as he brought the other closer. "Oh well!"
The other couldn't help but smile at this as well and spent the rest of their time like that before he had to leave to return to his boring, prison-like world.
=*---*=
Once back into his room he took out the old weights that he hid under his bed. He would work out before lights out and then he well start writing in his journal, which he had a growing collection of.
'Well, after class I did my damn assignments as usual, and went to see Luffy. He likes to talk, but he's a good listener as well when he knows that I have something to let out. I don't know how he does it, but I think he knows me more than I give him credit for. And thanks to the candle thing, less students are getting nightmares, which is a sign they could disappear either on that night or sometime soon, and so far we have no disappearences for a year and a half. Well, I better get to searching these books on mythology.'
When he was done with the entry he put a line under the entry and opened the book on myths he could find and wrote down his summary as he read the book of myths. When he was done he lit the candle and turned off the light, but he went up to the window to see the teen at his usual spot, staring at his window and saw him wave. "Good night, Luffy." He said as he turned in and slept.
###
Yes, as you can see the first part mostly deals with Zoro as a child to his early teen years. The second part is when he's in his adulthood (19) and things get worse for him, his sort-of class friends, and Luffy. But that's all in the next part.