A/n: Inspiration from the movie: Hocus Pocus cos it was always a favorite of mine (btw Sarah was my favorite witch) (:
Hi~ I'm alive, I've been a bit busy though. I didn't think I was going to get to this but I needed to vent the other day and yaaay it's Halloween! So… in the spirit of spooky-season, here you go. You can let me know if you like the idea and maybe I'll add more based on interest? Idunno yet. I'm kinda having fun with it (:
Gonna rate this M for language and other things.
Hocus Pocus
His brother's stupid grin widened on his stupid face. "Are you ready for a night in the haunted mansion?"
Axel snorted. It had been months since he'd been roped into this trip and Reno would not shut up about it. "Halloween… haunted mansions. What a bunch of hocus pocus."
xXx
Axel stared out his window blankly, grimacing every now and then as he watched the scenery fly by, sighing dramatically. This was so boring. B-o-r-i-n-g. With a capital B. And he was resenting every minute of it. His body jolted back and forth as his brother Reno's 1987 black Ford truck hit potholes and jerked violently; he really needed to fix his strut mounts. Axel was sure that it didn't help that they were on some abandoned, washed out, dirt road on their way to some abandoned mansion on the fringes of Twilight Town in the absolute middle of nowhere. Did he forget to mention how boring this was? Well, at least it was the last stop on their boring trip. Axel couldn't wait to go home. His left eye twitched when they hit a particularly bad spot.
"Jesus Christ, would you be careful!?" He snapped, sneering at his older brother coldly. Reno grinned back and hit another, this time on purpose. Green eyes narrowed. "Asshole," he snarled. The grinning idiot laughed back.
Reno was all about Halloween, much to Axel's chagrin. He'd been looking for good haunts at somewhere called Twilight Town, some obscure place that Axel had never even heard of, and thought it was thrilling to spend the night in abandoned 'haunted' places. He was the exact opposite of Axel, who only liked the idea of Halloween for the college parties he'd been promised he'd get to enjoy this year. Oh and the free alcohol. Which had been ruined by the way. By Reno.
Naturally, when Reno had begged Axel to go with him for a week long 'adventure' leading up to Halloween, convinced he was going to make him a believer, he had been met with skepticism and fair amount of resistance. Not one to give up when it came to converting those who scoffed at the supernatural, Reno had persisted none-the-less, promising him a good time, and so without fully realizing what he was in for, Axel had reluctantly agreed to some 'brotherly bonding' as Reno had promised it would be, knowing it would get his little brother to cave.
Axel, of course, didn't believe in any of it and had spent the better part of the trip angry about being wherever they were and disproving any of these places were haunted. That they were merely hoaxes, out of spite, much to Reno's displeasure. They had just come from the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town. It had been as equally lame as the rest of the trip, to Axel. Just some cheap tricks that had the tourists believing in the supernatural. Axel didn't expect this to be any different and had taken to muttering to himself irritably when he'd realized that they had no cell phone reception out here.
They drove by some old buildings, old parts of the town that had been forgotten to time. The town had been moved for some reason or another and there was a wall, as well as forest isolating the area, making it extremely hard to access. Axel had initially been excited about this. Until it hadn't stopped Reno from exploring poorly maintained dirt roads that were overgrown with weeds. The locals had promised they would get them to the old town, after all.
Bright green eyes wandered across the ghost town that they'd found. Reno had driven past an old cemetery on the way in with an old church that was collapsing in on itself. The abandoned houses and buildings were in a similar state. Overlooking it all, at the top of a winding hill was a massive building that also had fallen into disrepair. Reno's pride and joy of their trip: the 'phantom mansion'.
Axel scoffed at the decrepit building.
Apparently, the only people that came out here anymore were either thrill-seekers or believers in the paranormal, or both. People only came out here at their own risk and the brothers had heard plenty of stories about travelers that had never come back after venturing out here, when they'd been in Twilight Town. Unfortunately for Axel, he was neither a thrill-seeker nor a believer, but the idea had left Reno horribly excited.
Axel glowered at his older brother, despising every moment of this trip and kept reminding himself that in just a few days, everything would be normal again. He'd go back to his university in Hollow Bastion, Reno would go back to Radiant Garden, or preferably even further away from Axel until the next holiday, Christmas, and they would never speak of going on haunted thrill-seeking adventures again.
Finally, they reached the end of the road and the truck came to a stop in front of gates. The lock had been broken and the doors creaked, swaying eerily, almost as if they were inviting them in. Reno smirked at him and his sulking as they got out of the truck, and Axel shivered in the autumn wind, his feet crunching against the gravel. He lowered the tail-gate and rummaged for a minute, pulling out his bag with his gear, slipping it onto his shoulders. Reno leant back against his door, lighting a cigarette and gave his brother a satisfied smirk, triumphant that they'd reached the mansion on schedule.
"Oh what now?" The younger of the two grumbled while he gathered the rest of his things. His brother's stupid grin widened on his stupid face.
"Are you ready for a night in the haunted mansion?"
Axel snorted. It had been months since he'd been roped into this trip and Reno would not shut up about it. "Halloween… haunted mansions. What a bunch of hocus pocus." The elder red-head grinned, inclining his head toward the place.
"Y'kno, Axe, they say there's a witch that was hung from that oak tree, right over there, three hundred years ago tomorrow. Legend says: on all Hallows eve, when the barrier between the living and the dead is at its weakest and when the moon is full and there isn't a cloud in the sky, he'll come back to exact his revenge on the descendants of those who had him killed," Reno said with a grin. Axel rolled his eyes. Every single place on this stupid trip had had a similar story that his brother had enlightened him with.
"Yeah right. Stop trying to scare me." Reno chuckled, shaking his head nonchalantly, walking towards him. A lanky arm wrapped around his shoulder lazily.
"All he needs is a virgin to bring him back." Reno's smirk widened and he leered at Axel. "Makes me glad I'm not you, yo'." Axel's face flamed and he shrugged his brother's arm off.
"Shut up!" Reno was laughing at his expense and Axel scoffed back. "It's probably a hoax, just like the rest of it." His brother smiled impishly.
"Nah, this' my ace in the hole, Axe. That's why I brought you here," he said, grinning. "You're going to be a believer after this, for sure." Axel huffed and shrugged him off to go look for a good place to set up for the night. He just wanted to get this over with.
"Whatever."
Reno gathered his things. His eyes were alight with mischief and impish delight as he watched his brother pout. He rummaged through his belongings, obviously looking for his research. He found what he was looking for, with a soft 'aha', making Axel sigh. Every single place they went to, Reno made a big deal out of the legend behind it.
"Do we have to do this?" He complained. Reno laughed around his cigarette.
"What's the matter bro? Afraid I'm right?" He snickered. Axel exhaled heavily in annoyance.
"Absolutely not," he snapped back, "but I am tired and want to go to bed. The sooner, the better." Reno rolled his eyes.
"Seriously Axe, it's not even dark, what gives?" Axel gave him a faux smile.
"It's been a long week. The sooner I go to sleep, the sooner I can go home," he replied with sing-song enthusiasm. Reno snickered, tugging on his backpack and clapping him on the back.
"You're such a wet blanket. Lighten up will ya?" he asked. Axel muttered under his breath. "C'mon, it's our last night. Have some fun with me."
"Fine, but after this I'm going to sleep," the younger red-head muttered grumpily. Reno visibly brightened.
"Great!" Axel quirked a brow at him, but rather than discourage Reno, it did the opposite. "Let's check out the tree the witch was hung under," he said excitedly. Axel scrunched his nose at him in disgust then sighed. He knew there was no talking his brother out of something like this. Shaking his head, he trailed behind, craning his neck as he observed the tree.
It looked innocent enough, as far as trees went. He certainly wouldn't have expected such a horrible thing to have happened, here. The thought made him cringe. Some poor innocent youth had probably been falsely accused and hung for a crime he hadn't committed. Man, people sucked. Especially when they got paranoid. He blinked, realizing that Reno was shifting through his papers about the legend of the 'phantom mansion'. Curiously he let his gaze wander toward the building in question. It certainly didn't look like people never made it out here, if the graffiti was any indication. He rolled his eyes when Reno began to speak.
"Yo, Roxas, are you still here? Can you give us a sign?" Axel shook his head at his brother's efforts to conjure up the 'witch's ghost', aware that he wasn't about to stop any time soon. "We mean you no harm," he promised, grinning at Axel impishly. "There's even a cute virgin here for you!" he teased, making his brother glower at him. Reno laughed outlandishly at his brother's expression.
"That's it, I'm done with this," he muttered, shoving Reno away from him and turning on his heel. An arm swung around his shoulders, stopping him short.
"Awe c'mon Axe, I didn't mean it like that! I was just kidding!" Green eyes sparkled dangerously as he glowered at his brother. If looks could kill, Reno would have combusted by now. "Besides, it's not like you'd mind if he came onto you," he said with an impish grin. Axel stared at him horrified. "Blondie was supposed to be pretty hot. Legend says he could seduce anyone with just one look. Just your type, yo. I bet you'd like him," he said with a wink.
"How the fuck would you know if I'm even gay or not?!" Axel asked, his voice involuntarily rising, to his complete horror. Reno just grinned like a satisfied cat.
"I'm your brother, I know all your dirty secrets, yo," he tittered. Axel stared at him speechlessly. "C'mon, let's go check out the mansion!"
xXx