A/N: Hello~ So I decided to write a story for Halloween because Halloween is awesome and I've wanted to write something involving ghosties for a while now. It most definitely won't be done before Halloween, since that's like…tomorrow. But I figured I could at least start it before Halloween!

There are going to be gen!flipped characters. Namely, America, Canada, the Italies, and Prussia.

A Haunting

Part 1: Preface

Sometimes, Arthur Kirkland thought back on his life. It wasn't like there was much else for him to do as a trapped spirit, never able to move on and damned to a repetitive, never-ending, hellish existence.

Unlike most spirits, he could still clearly remember what it was like to be alive. He could bring back the memories of his older brothers' cruel taunts, the physical sensation of his father's fist smashing against his cheek, the coldness that filled his heart when he gazed at the thing in the coffin that was once his mother. He remembered how he once thought that life was hell.

He'd been an idiot. Life wasn't hell. Hell was an existence without exit signs, as good old Sartre pointed out.

"Amigas! Amigas!"

The guy had also been right when he said that 'hell was other people'. In this case, however, those people were other ghosts...

That voice was one of the most irritating, because it was always interrupting him from his musings. Although, perhaps voice wasn't the correct word. The most pleasant thing about a 'voice' was that it could only reach so far; if a person was located in a room far away, you wouldn't be able to hear them. This was not a voice, because the idiot was two floors away and Arthur could still sense his excited emotions. His inner words bashed their way straight into Arthur's thoughts.

"Amigas, Arturo! Amigas in the house!"

Why? He just wanted to be left alone. Instead, he was forced to watch as the faint, shimmering spirit rose through the floorboards and hovered in the center of the empty, cobweb-filled room that Arthur long ago designated as his private space.

This was Antonio, a weak spirit who was barely able to keep his physical presence together. He probably remembered close to nothing from his past existence, but maybe that was better.

"What the hell is it, Antonio?" He didn't actually need to question him; Arthur was powerful enough to smell the sickly-sweet miasma of human life whenever it seeped into his home. There were five humans inside his house. One of the lives belonged to the annoying, constant presence that had set up residence within the house's walls. Four, however, belonged to new trespassing idiots.

Antonio's form blurred. The aura around him expanded and contracted as he 'stood' there. He was smiling, although Arthur doubted that any living being would be able to tell. They would probably be too distracted by the fact that half of his face was missing… Blown away by a shotgun blast, fifty or sixty years ago.

"People in the house!"He now switched to using actual words. Unfortunately, he was now in the same room and, therefore, impossible to ignore. His physical presence almost shimmered out of sight, but he caught himself and was able to keep himself together. He repeated, "Very cute amigas!"

"They'd better get out of here, if they know what's good for them." Arthur crossed the room and then paused, feeling a sudden pressing, smothering sensation in the air. He huffed out a breath of irritation and waited as the surroundings began to shift. After a few moments, he found himself standing in a room with yellow-patterned wallpaper and a large, over-stuffed, maroon armchair. That was a welcome change, at least. He crossed the now-polished floorboards and settled into the seat.

Antonio didn't appear to have noticed the change, unsurprisingly. Arthur realized long ago that the surroundings he saw and the ones the others saw weren't always the same.

"If they don't leave, you know what'll happen," he continued. "It's already too crowded around here."

Antonio frowned, but disappeared without any sort of argument or fanfare. Good riddance.

He waited for a few moments, trying to decide what to do now. The worst part of death was the complete and utter boredom. These trespassers could provide entertainment, but they might also prove too annoying to be worth it.

After a few moments, he finally gave in to his curiosity—and the knowledge that he had absolutely nothing better to do—and loosened his control over his aura. This released his physical form, so he could now sense what the house itself sensed. He could feel vibrations from the intruders' footsteps, feel the brush of their oily fingers against the walls, hear the echoes of unfamiliar voices, and feel the warmth from human bodies... Arthur felt a surge of anger and annoyance that didn't belong to him.

He followed the sensations. The humans were entering the great hall.

They needed to leave.

He could feel negative emotions begin to fill the house. This would soon attract the attention of the other spirits and while most were the Antonio-breed of ghost—stupid and harmless—that wasn't true for everyone.

Besides, there was also the overhanging danger that was more dangerous than any of the spirits.

Arthur pulled his aura together and made his way to the great hall. He wanted to take a look at the annoyances. He remained invisible, but stayed close to the ceiling.

They were girls. Teenage girls, which was a bit surprising. When the house was invaded, it was generally by stupid, drunk, teenage boys who were trying to prove their bravery. They always ended up pissing themselves at the first creak, which was rarely the result of any actual supernatural involvement.

There were two pairs of sisters, he would assume based on their appearances. Two of the girls were blondes who looked nearly identical, although one had shorter hair than the other. She looked terrified and was clinging to her sister—probably twin?—who looked rather exasperated. Arthur could understand that feeling.

The other two girls looked younger and were currently holding hands. The older of the two had dark brown hair and scowled at her surroundings, as if the house's current state personally offended her. The other girl had red hair—Arthur remembered that one of his older brothers had red hair, as well—and was clinging to her probably-sister's hand with a tight, child-like grip.

The brunette spoke up. "I can't believe we had to come with you, stupid hamburger bastard."

"Ve~" The younger girl tugged on the other's hand. "That's mean, Lovi!"

She received a scowl in response. "If she and the stupid Russian bastard weren't being idiots about this fucking contest…"

The shorter-haired blonde, who kept jumping at every slight movement of a curtain or an insect, took a nervous step forward before she cowered back against her sister's arm. "It's a—it's not a contest! I can't—can't let him become president! He's an evil—" And she yelped in terror as a mouse suddenly darted across the floor right in front of her.

Her sister sighed. "Ally, this is a really bad idea. We need to go home before we get in trouble."

"No!" She shook her head violently, curls bouncing around. "I'm not going to lose to that evil commie! The hero doesn't…"

The brunette girl interrupted her. "You're such a fucking idiot. I can't believe you dragged me into this... Those tomatoes better be the best fucking tomatoes that have ever existed."

And that was the exact moment when Antonio appeared in the middle of the group, beaming like the idiot he was…

"Amigas!"

Arthur didn't actually have ears anymore. Thank the non-existent God, because if he had, the girls' screams would have deafened him. The short-haired blonde screamed the loudest and instantly spun around and ran, leaving her sister behind. Who tried to run after her, but Arthur could see that she wasn't going to be able to follow her... The girl could've tried out for one of those Olympic track teams with that performance and been accepted.

The younger two girls ran off in the opposite direction, also very quickly.

Which left the two spirits alone. Arthur sighed irritably and glared at his fellow-ghost, who just looked befuddled.

Of course he wouldn't understand what this meant. Now Arthur was going to have to go and find each of the invaders, and then try to scare them away before anyone found them or they managed to trap themselves inside.

And Antonio wasn't going to be any bloody help, as he looked around the room for a few moments before his gaze moved up to Arthur.

"What happened, Arturo?"

A/N: Ahhh, not much to say. I like writing about ghosts. Although they're very tragic and make me feel sad inside.

I don't know why I decided to title it 'A Haunting'. I kept trying to think of awesomer things, but for whatever reason, that stuck in my mind and refused to be unstuck.

Anyway, please review~ Let me know how you like it!

[Edit:] So, I decided to rewrite this chapter to up it to my current standards and fix some inconsistencies. Since this is kind of mystery story and a mystery stories requires the clues to actually... be pointing toward the right conclusion. I'll be fixing the later chapters, as well. Although, this one had the most things I had to change.