"You know what they say about this place?" Hikaru's low, mischievous tone rose above the slow, constant vrooming of the black Mercedes.
If the lonely forest road had not been thickly sheeted with darkness, the equally impish grin slipping over Kaoru's lips would have been apparent. In addition, both twins would have noticed the irritated, tired stare that Haruhi shot them from the back of the vehicle. Kyouya's soft, unnoticeable sigh and the way Hunny clutched his cousin just a bit tighter went undetected as well. But even through the pitch black,they all managed to spot Tamaki's pupils dilating fearfully, the whites of his eyes growing by the second.
"What do they sa-"
"Don't get them started, senpai." Haruhi groaned in a vain attempt to stop the disaster before it happened. Of course, as usual, her cries for common sense were ignored.
"They say," Hikaru started, eyes glinting with malice as he wrapped one arm around Tamaki's left shoulder.
"That these woods are haunted." Kaoru mirrored the gesture from the Host King's right.
"We shouldn't have let them all sit together." Haruhi stated blankly.
"Hm?" Hunny glanced up from beside her. "But you said you didn't want them back here with you, right Haru-chan?"
Haruhi frowned in defeat. She had said that. Spending a camping trip with the three of them had been enough trouble in itself. Tamaki had nearly burned their campsite to charred ashes in his attempt to cook things in the "commoner way"- which, apparently to him, meant throwing everything into the fire (including wood) which he would eventually try to put out with explosive liquids. Later that night, Hikaru and Kaoru took to poking around her tent in hopes that they could sleep there. Of course, when Tamaki learned of this, the battle began and it was all downhill and insomnia from there. At the least, she planned to enjoy herself quietly on the way back home. But did anything ever go as planned where the Host Club was concerned?
"H-Haunted?" Tamaki squeaked.
"Haunted." They both whispered in eerie unison.
"They say that loads of people disappear traveling through here every year."
Hunny gasped.
"And their bodies are never recovered again."
"The locals are contacted."
"The authorities search."
"But no one knows." They finished together.
Tamaki had paled to a ghost white now, his fingers trembling uncontrollably. "I-Impossible!" He crooked his neck around, wide terrified eyes searching the back seat for his "daughter". "Don't tell such lies! You're scaring Haruhi!"
"I think you're the one that's scared, Milord."
"I'm fine." Tamaki stated more firmly than before, clutching the material of his deep blue jeans to calm the trembling in his hands. "I know that you two bastards are just trying to scare me." He crossed his arms tightly. "And I know perfectly well that there are no such things as ghost stories... right?"
"Right." Kyouya and Haruhi started to sigh in relief, when the driver cut in.
"Wrong." The bearded man in the front seat had been quiet thus far, only responding to their antics with the occasional raised eyebrow or a tiny snigger. But now his grey blue eyes peered at them from the rear view mirror with a dead seriousness.
"Wr-Wrong?" Tamaki's voice leapt up the scale again.
"These woods have been haunted for quite some time now." He frowned, solemnly. "Even the animals don't come here anymore. Look around." He nodded towards the forest area looming on both sides. "Have you seen any?"
The twins' gaze moved to stare at each other and then to the windows. It was true. The forests they'd passed in other areas had been moving, noisy areas. Crickets chirping. Bushes rustling with the affairs of several small animals. A few raccoons had even darted out into the pavement. But now... They surveyed the roadside. The forest here mirrored a lifeless painting. No movement. No noise. It was interesting when they noticed it. Even beautiful in way. But even with all of its beauty, they suddenly wanted to escape from it as quickly as possible. They both swallowed hard as did Hunny and Tamaki. Mori and Haruhi stared curiously out of their windows. Kyouya's fingers slowed slightly over the keyboard of his laptop. But only slightly.
"Does..." Haruhi paused. "... anyone even live around here?"
"Not really." the man explained grimly. "After people started disappearing, everyone up and moved away." He motioned at something to the right. "You see that tower there?"
Everyone but Kyouya turned to peer over the highest treetops. It didn't take long to spot. There, somewhere in the far distance stood a tall, round, bricked structure. The very top had been carved into some sort of shape, perhaps gargoyles or dragons. It was impossible to tell, but obvious that the design had worn over time. It seemed out of place in the spookily beautiful forest.
"Before any of this started, that used to be a flourishing factory." he spoke into the now dead silence. "Until the workers began to vanish." His eyes jumped from one host to the next as he breathed each of the following words. "Every. Last. One of them."
"Enough." Kyouya spoke smoothly, but with just enough to edge to make his word moot. This irresponsible driver was not the one who would have to deal with the rest of them tonight- specifically Hunny-senpai, the twins and Tamaki. It was not an ordeal that he looked forward to. "No more ghost stories."
"B-But Kyouya..." Tamaki stammered as he held on dearly to both twins, their shaky arms draped over him as well. "What if-"
"What if it attacks, Kyouya-senpai?!" Kaoru nuzzled his head deeper into Tamaki's shoulder, both hands grasping unrelentingly at his brothers.
Hunny blubbered into Mori's chest. "What if it likes cake?!"
"Yeah." Moru surprisingly agreed.
Kyouya turned on them from the passenger seat with cool eyes. "Nothing's going to attack anyone, children." He sighed. Honestly. "Do you think that all of sudden some mythical creature is going to spring out of no where and-"
BAM!
Something hard slammed against the side of the vehicle and their driver immediately veered in the opposite direction. Haruhi let out a small, involuntary shriek and the center three hosts erupted in hysterics.
"We're all going to die!" They cried together.
"Haruhi!" Tamaki turned around to face his daughter with teary eyes. "Run while you can!"
"Senpai!" Haruhi growled in a mixture of fear and irritation.
"Tamaki." Kyouya scolded.
"Kyouya-senpai!" The twins sobbed.
"Takashi!" Hunny whined.
"Ah."
"HELP!" A decidedly new voice called. They all turned to the direction of the noise to see a young man standing on the pavement, his expression panicked. "Help me please!"
"Go." Kyouya firmly demanded of the somewhat frazzled driver.
"Step on it!" Both twins yelled together.
"Does he want Usa-chan?!" Hunny cried.
"I'm going! I'm going!" The driver started to step on the gas when...
"WAIT!" They all spun around to see Tamaki and Haruhi motioning for the driver to stop. Possibly sensing that these were the only two that he could rely on, the stranger turned his frantic eyes interchangeably on both of them and, despite Kyouya's protests, Tamaki rolled his window down.
"Oh thank god..." The man heaved.
"What is it?!" Tamaki gripped his fingers tensely against the door. "Were you attacked by the ghost?!"
"Huh?" The stranger furrowed his brow. "No! My little sister got into a hit and run up the road!" He took the blonde by the hands and grasped them tightly. "Please! She's bleeding a lot!"
"Your little sister?" Tamaki's eyes grew wide with sympathy. Kyouya groaned.
"Tamaki. No."
The Host King spun around, features twisted in empathetic agony. "Don't you have any feelings, Kyouya?!"
"He's right, Milord!" Hikaru began shakily. "Haven't you seen those commoner horror movies about guys like this?!"
"He's obviously lying!"
"We could at least make a call for him, Kyouya-senpai." Haruhi frowned. She would have done anything to save her own mother. How could she remain apathetic when someone else's family was at risk? After all, the driver had probably just been trying to scare them with his "ghost story." Probably. "It'll be easy. And we won't have to leave the ca-"
Tamaki had left the car. "Show me the way."
The stranger nodded and he followed.
"Senpai!" Haruhi groaned in defeat before reaching for a group of towels and a pillow under her seat. "He could have at least brought something to help." She muttered before opening her own door and climbing out of the car to follow the two.
"Haruhi!" The twins shouted after her.
"Goddammit." Kyouya cursed, a rarity, before unbuckling his own seatbelt and climbing out of the car, flashlight in hand. The night was so black that it was almost impossible to make out the road before him. And the stillness, the lack of even the slightest breeze unhinged his already ruffled nerves. He pointed a firm finger at the remaining hosts. "Do not leave the car under any circumstances."
"What if the ghost comes for us?!"
"I'll be right back." He ignored them and slammed the door. The two idiots and the questionable young gentlemen scaled the very edge of the woodland now. Kyouya rushed to keep up with them. He expected this sort of foolishness from a bleeding heart like Tamaki, but Haruhi often surprised him with just how naive she could be. With one gullible "daddy" and a "daughter" with such questionable judgement, it seemed that Mommy had his work cut out for him.
"Haruhi!" Tamaki gasped when he caught sight of the short, wiry girl. "You should have stayed in the car! These woods are dangerous!"
She rolled her eyes, her long, baggy jeans dragging lazily over the dirty pavement. "I could say the same for you."
"Oh, were you worried about me?" He teased, taking the pillow from her hands. "Thanks! This will work perfectly while I serenade her."
"Serenade her?" The stranger called from the front of their group.
"Of course!" Tamaki responded smugly. "My voice has been known to save people from disease and otherwise life threatening situations!"
"I somehow doubt that." Haruhi mumbled.
"So," Kyouya quickened his pace so that he could walk alongside the man. "You say your sister was swiped by a car."
"A van actually."
Kyouya nodded hesitantly. He faintly remembered a red van speeding pass. But that had been over an hour ago.
"A red van." The man went on. "A little more than an hour ago."
"Hm." Kyouya's lips tightened. Perhaps he was telling the truth after all. But this knowledge still didn't ease the biting feeling in his gut that urged him to grab Haruhi and Tamaki, turn on his heel, and drag them back to the car as fast as humanly possible.
"I'm so glad I found you." The man hastily brushed a few wisps of stark black hair from his deep green eyes. The color was especially alluring. Almost hypnotizing. "I didn't think anyone would ever come through. No one else did... Not after the van."
That much was true... "And where are the two of you coming from?"
The man turned to observe him. Kyouya's eyes narrowed. Had the faint flicker of amusement in his eyes been a trick of the imagination?
"Fishing." He finally responded. "Though I do admit that we slowed down around here."
"Why?"
"Haven't you heard?" The edges of his lips curved upwards. It was almost a smile. "It's supposed to be haunted." With that he turned back to stare intently down the road. Something about his movements made Kyouya's nerves jump. Something surreal and vaguely artificial. As if imitating actual life, but not quite capturing its warmth. It reminded him of the forests.
"This is it." They had come upon the crash site. The dark colored Toyota had swerved off of the road, barely missing a row of bamboo trees. A young girl lay on the ground, breathing slow, her arm held up to cover her eyes. One of her legs twisted at an odd angle, something wet and sickeningly yellowish white poking out where her knee should have been.
"K-" Tamaki stuttered and swallowed down the bile rising in his throat. "Kyouya."
"Hm?" Kyouya asked as he stood over the man's sister. She looked about their age and more than likely younger than her brother by at least a few years. Contrary to her sibling's thick, dark mane, the splay of disarrayed tresses around her shone sandy blonde, only a few shades darker than Tamaki's. It seemed natural enough. The two did, however, share similar bone structure. Almost Nordic. Were they foreigners, perhaps? But the man's Japanese seemed fluent enough... He gave an exhausted sigh, craving as much information on them as possible incase the situation went awry.
"Call an ambulance."
"Right." He lifted the phone to his ear, careful to survey both siblings' reactions at this command.
"Thank you." The man smiled appreciatively. "I really can't thank you enough."
"It's no problem." Tamaki smiled genuinely as he kneeled beside the wounded girl, Haruhi on the opposite side. She laid a white towel beside her on the pavement where a deep, dark liquid had been pooling.
"I didn't want to move her." The brother explained. "You see the way her bone is sticking out?"
"Yeah." Haruhi gulped as she propped the blonde's head up, placing the pillow underneath before dabbing lightly at the sweat coated skin that wasn't covered by her black jeans and t-shirt. A low moan escaped the girl's throat and Tamaki took her gently by the hand
"It's alright." He spoke soothingly. "The ambulance will be here any moment now."
Her lazy eyes opened partially to reveal two nearly black orbs before slowly closing over again. Slender fingers curled around Tamaki's in an unspoken trust.
"Are the two of you always so kind?" Her brother sat beside them, emerald eyes curious. "It isn't normally that easy to convince someone to stop on a vacant road."
"Do you usually convince people to stop on vacant roads, Ian?" Kyouya inquired.
The man spun around, expression not quite confused or questioning as the Shadow King might have expected. Instead, that glint of amusement sparked there again and vanished within the next instant.
"No, not often." He responded. "What did you call me?"
"I'm sorry." Kyouya bowed slightly. "You just remind me of someone I know."
"Really?" The man's eyes widened. "I don't get that often."
He wouldn't. Kyouya had never seen anything quite like him and he couldn't quite place a finger on what it was that made him so different. "This is your car?" He examined the inside. "It was banged up pretty badly."
"Yeah." He stared intently at Kyouya now. "I bought it last year. My first actually."
"Hm..." Kyouya nodded mechanically. "And you were driving?"
"I was."
"It's a miracle that you made it out alive."
"It is." Tamaki agreed, smiling. "You must be very lucky person, er..."
"Jason." He grinned back at the blonde. "And you are?"
"Tamaki." Tamaki motioned to his daughter. "And this is Haruhi."
"Pleased to meet you." Jason bowed, but his eyes never left Tamaki. "I'm just sorry it had to be under these circumstances."
"The bleeding's slowed." Haruhi reassured him with a smile.
"Thank you." He slid a hand lovingly over his sister's forehead. "I can't believe how nice you are. To do this for a stranger."
"Well, I wasn't going to leave the car." Haruhi stated blankly, tactless as usual. "I just wanted to make sure that senpai didn't make things worse."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Tamaki cried, tears building at the corners of his eyes.
"Senpai?" Jason repeated. "Do the two of you go to school together?"
"Yeah." Haruhi sighed, sounding as if she wished she could say otherwise.
"How cute." His gaze fluttered between the two, eyes vigilant.
"Alright." Kyouya abruptly stepped away from observing the vehicle, expression calm as always. "Haruhi, why don't we get some more towels from the trunk? Those are all dirty."
"Right." She nodded and started to stand.
"Tamaki, you can help me carry the snacks." He gave a practiced smile. "I'm sure the two of you must be hungry after waiting here so long."
"You're too kind." Jason returned the smile, but Kyouya couldn't help but feel that there was something vaguely sarcastic about the gesture.
"Sure." Tamaki stood and started after his best friend, Haruhi not too far behind. "We'll be right back!"
"We'll be waiting."
Laughing, Tamaki fell into step with Kyouya, eyes bright and shiny and a little foolish. "See?" he exclaimed. "I told you there was nothing to worry about! They're really nice people!"
Kyouya remained silent, his walking steady and unhurried, though oddly tense.
"Do you think they're commoners?" Tamaki frowned, index finger tapping at his bottom lip. "That car did look ridiculously cheap."
The space between them and the crash site grew wider and wider, Kyouya's steps quickening with each stretch of land.
"If they are commoners, do you think they would mind letting me-"
"You idiot!" Kyouya growled in a low whisper, fists clenched at his side, eyes staring straight and narrow down the road.
"K-Kyouya?" Tamaki's eyes widened as he struggled to keep up. "What's wrong? And why are you walking so fa-"
"You've put us in grave danger." He took an IPhone from his jean pocket. "While the two of you were playing into their trap, I was doing research."
"Wh-"
"I had Tachibana run a scan on their license plate."
"So?"
"So the car isn't his," he hissed. "And what's more, it belonged to Ian Hatsumi." He turned venomous eyes on Tamaki. "Do you remember who Ian Hatsumi is, Tamaki?"
The blonde bit at his lip, the first traces of fear creeping into his eyes.
"Eh..."
"The college professor who disappeared just weeks ago."
A quivering hand crept over Tamaki's lips. "N-No."
"Yes." Kyouya snapped. "And if that isn't enough proof, I examined the car's condition." He licked at dry lips. "It was bent so badly that there's no way he could have escaped the front seat without some sort of hydraulic rescue tool. And even then, it wasn't likely that he'd have escaped alive."
"I..." Tamaki stared blankly ahead. "I can't believe it." His fingernails dug into his palm, surprise quickly transforming to anger. "What kind of-?"
"We can't worry about that now." Kyouya pushed his glasses a bit too harshly upon the bridge of his nose. "If I was able to figure them out so easily, it's either because they were too stupid to take the necessary precautions." He swallowed hard. "Or they were so confident that they felt they didn't have to."
"We have to get back." Tamaki said determinedly, his steps now wider and faster paced than Kyouya's. "Haruhi, I'm so sorry."
Silence.
"Haruhi?" They both stopped, joints frozen, and turned about slowly to find nothing but vacant road.
"Haruhi!"
Oooh. Trouble.
This is just a little... project I'm working on I guess. It's an outlet for my need to write dark, vampire stories I suppose. I haven't done so in four or five years. Also Ouran + Vampires could make for some hilarious moments. But also angst and drama. Those are fun too...
I had started another Ouran vampire story on this account. It may or may not still be up depending on when you are reading this, but I didn't really have a plot in mind for that one, sad to say. And then I couldn't really figure one out. So it's abandoned for now. For this, I DID figure something out so... yay!
So what do you think? Should I continue? Comments and suggestions are very welcome :D So please REVIEW.
Also, I've been a vampire fan for a very long time. Longer than Twilight has existed so please do not expect the vampires in this story to be like anything you've read from Meyer. I only read her first book and I have not seen the movies. It's not really my thing. If anything, my vampires might rip off Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton more than anyone else. Haha... So... I hope you enjoy so far and... REVIEW with your questions and comments and things you'd like to see happen :D