Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any character that has copyright. All I own are the plot and the dialogues. Some references are used, but they are not any stories published in .
Warnings: I will keep this one Rated T so maybe just strong language.
...
Across the Street
...
I woke up to see a foreign cat in my flat- a male cat that my cat could have invited inside. Soon, I found this old house where Hero could have come from. I tried to return him, but mysteries seemed to shroud that place.
After getting blown away by a strong gust, I rushed Camelot and Hero to the clinic. There, I learned that Hero had been in the city for days, and it seemed to me that he was looking for Camelot all along- thus, the affection.
On my way to get Hero's meds, I ran into this man named Alfred Jones who turned out to be Hero's owner. It was supposed to be a short stay for our inseparable cats, but his seemed familiarity with the black dog changed that.
Another morning will come to explore the house, more mysteries shrouded our way.
...
Across the Street
...
Heavy. I felt something very heavy was above me, pinning me down against my bed. I could also feel some fur of my leg- short and smooth, this must be Camelot. But since when did Camelot sleep on my bed? And when did he weigh so heavy?
I groaned in struggle to get the heavy matter above me, making my moveable arm grope what was on top of my stomach. Surprisingly, it was something furry as well- and it seemed like Hero was sleeping on me, too. I could only smile at my helpless situation under a very heavy cat. But then, I felt someone breathing beside me.
That was when I shot my eyes wide, and turned to my left- only to see Alfred cuddling me! He was so near and- and- "Bloody shits!" I threw myself up, trampling Hero and Camelot off the bed and Alfred off of me. The three other living creatures got shocked by my rage, Hero left scampering under the bed.
"W-Whoa, that's too much hormones in the morning, Arthur." Alfred murmured as he tried to wake himself up properly. He then yawned and sat up to stretch. He then grinned at me, "Anyway, good morning!"
"Don't you 'good morning' me, Alfred Jones." I grabbed his collar and glared at him at a close distance, "What the fuck are you doing in my bed? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping on the-" He interrupted me with a whining, "But the lilo hurts my back! Besides, you have plenty of room in your bed."
"I don't do bed-sharing!" I hissed at him, planning to chew him out for the next seconds. However, we felt the bed moved as if something was causing the tremor from underneath. My glare turned to a soulful look, as I wordlessly asked him to check it with me. We both moved to look underneath- only to find Camelot and Hero wrestling under the bed. Camelot seemed pissed, and Hero crying with some scratches on his face.
Alfred then chuckled as we sat back up on the bed, "Looks like your cat can take your anger out on my cat."
"I don't even remember when and where I got Camelot."
...
Across the Street
Rei Haruno -Sakura no Imooto
Chapter 2: Dog of Darkness
...
"Whoa, so this is the place." Alfred whistled as we decided to come back to the house where his Hero earned the gush on his foreleg, and where my Camelot got discoloured. (Luckily, we managed to wash it off earlier before coming here.) The cats were staring at it differently, Camelot having his ears fold again.
"You said you climbed this gate, got through the other side, got to the backdoor, and that was where the wind blew you away." Alfred spoke with a serious tone as he glared at the gate, holding a bar and shook it to test durability. I could only grunt in response, crouching to pet Camelot. Then I heard the gate creaking.
I shot to a standing position and looked around, "You git! You can't just climb up a gate! What if someone saw you!?" However, it was quite fascinating that he did it without difficulties, "Aw, c'mon, man, no one cares about an old abandoned house! C'mon!" He opened the latch as well- when I thought it's impossible to open that because of the rusting.
We entered- no, trespassed the property again, and headed through the backdoor. I carried Camelot and Hero before walking through the rotten leaves, Alfred commenting on the smell, "What's with this smell? This is so gross! It smells like some kind of dead ani-!" I thought he gagged by then, but the truth was that he felt like he stepped on something else.
Using a foot to scrape the leaves off, he started to dig what he stepped on. I went near him, "What are you doing?" He glanced at me without a word and continued, soon finding a dead animal underneath the leaves. It looked like a cat or just a small dog; either way, it was very uncomfortable to see. And to think that I didn't notice by the smell.
"This looks like it's been rotting for just more than a day." He spoke and finally covered it with the leaves again, "Looks like someone buried a dead pet in here. Meaning we may have company~ and some police might be on their way." I frowned at him, "Then why don't we just hurry up so we could check what we came here for before we get arrested for trespassing, git."
He then smiled at me before walking ahead to get to the backyard where the backdoor could be seen. Soon, we reached the place, seeing that the backdoor was still wide open. But we knew someone could be in there because of the dead animal underneath the leaves. We nodded at each other first before walking inside the house.
Alfred groped the wall to find the light switch, only to find it broken. He then pulled out a portable flashlight from his pocket to look around the dusty and dirty house. The cats began to struggle, and so I let them loose, Hero becoming alert- however, his funny-looking face made him harder to be taken seriously. Camelot was shivering in fright, but his ears were moving around to sense any movements. His head then jerked to a direction, making me look at it and see Alfred heading to that place. I called him with a furious whisper, "Hey! Alfred!"
I looked down at Camelot again, finding him gone wherever he was earlier. I flung to another direction, his whitish fur somehow shining under the darkness. He was standing next to Hero who was walking slowly towards a direction. Not knowing who to lock my gaze on, I look at the two sides alternatively, soon being relieved as Alfred walked back towards me, "Nothing's in the kitchen- where are they going?"
"I have no idea. But they're creeping so it could be where danger is." I answered as we walked to where the cats were. Alfred lighted the way, Hero advancing which was followed by Camelot. My cat then started biting the other cat's tail as if preventing him to just suddenly run off. Hero glanced at the other cat, trying to get his tail back. However, he gave up and walked slower.
Alfred reached out to tap my shoulder, and he gestured that he'll go ahead. I could stop him, but he went right away- though he just walked ahead of the cats. He then lowered his light, whispering, "There's something moving up ahead." He then glanced at me again before he walked faster. He then went up the stairs, Hero and Camelot quickly catching up with him. Barely reaching the top, we heard a brief scratch- something just jumped at Alfred!
But before it could hit Alfred, Hero suddenly jumped to interfere, resulting into a fierce cat fight between the two. It was a light-colored cat with a weird-looking scarf, and it's fighting Hero. I grabbed Camelot which tried to struggle so bad, crying to be let go. The two cats wrestled violently, both sending fierce scratches towards each other. But something really terrible happened. It was from a heavy scratch from Hero- that caused the other cat's face to be skinned badly.
"GILBERT!" A familiar voice broke sudden silence, and a piece of wood sent Hero flying. Alfred dropped the light and went to catch his cat from the blow. Camelot scratched me badly so he could jump off and get to Hero, leaving my arm bleeding. I grabbed the cut to put pressure on it, eyes locked at the image shown by the flash light.
"D-Dr. Hedervary?" I murmured a question as I saw someone resembling Dr. Hedervary snuggling the cat, her hand pressed against the cat's face. She looked at me, and I stared at her tear-stained face, "A-Arthur?" Her voice was a mess, both breaking and running out of sound because of prolonged crying. It seemed that she wasn't crying just because the cat's face was skinned. It was more than that.
Soon, I found Camelot rushing towards her, only to stop a foot away to hiss loudly at the white cat. The white cat extended a hand to scratch Camelot, but Dr. Hedervary took its paw and hushed the white cat, "Gilbert, stop. You'll just get hurt more. Please." The white cat stopped reacting to Camelot, and then the woman sobbed louder. She then got up and walked to a place unlit by the flashlight- until Alfred decided to pick it up to aide our eyes.
She was working inside a small cabinet, and it took her some seconds to close it. She then continued crying until a sudden pang hit all of us. Dr. Hedervary then wiped her tears and looked at us, "This is a dangerous place; you shouldn't be here." Alfred tried to fish for a hanky before walking towards her, "The same goes for you, miss."
"Not really. I've been cursed already. Nothing worse could happen." She wheezed and thanked him for the hanky. Soon, I felt the limping Hero raced to where Camelot was, both stared at the woman intently. She then looked at me more, "Arthur, you're bleeding. Come here, let me patch you up." Alfred pulled on his scarf and handed it to her, the vet responding with a smile.
I walked to them, and he lighted my arm as she worked on it. I mumbled as I threw a sharp glare at Camelot, "It was my cat's doing. I'm sorry about- Gilbert, was it?" She then stopped for a moment before continuing, her hands kept on shaking while dressing the wound to stop it from bleeding, "It always happens."
"Always happens?" Alfred asked the trembling girl- moments before she finished my dressing and sat down on the floor. We then crouched down to check up on her, seeing her break down again. This time, she was only sobbing louder and louder. Alfred manned the flash light so I had no choice but to try and comfort her with an embrace, "It's alright. It'll be fine."
"I don't think so. They'll be back next year- and they will just die again. They keep on dying- and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Gilbert, Ludwig, Roderich- they keep on dying." I could only look at Alfred in confusion, his soulful look returning the same to me. Soon, he began asking questions, "You said you were cursed already. What does that mean? What curse? Like curse-curse?"
By then, she cleared her tears and tried to compose herself already, "Oh, that. You should be wary as well. Once you enter this house, you'll get cursed. It doesn't even matter if you survive them or not. The black dogs: they'll come for you." Now, this is more confusing. I then asked, "How exactly did you get cursed, doctor? What is the curse anyway?" She looked at me, and gave a bitter smile.
"Once in a year, my friends that died that night comes back as cats. After a month, their health will decline, like bacteria eats up their flesh. After that, they die. Every month for the last ten years, I see them suffer, watch them die, bury them here where it all started so that they will always- always come back."
"Aw, c'mon, Eli! Just one night!" Mr. Jerkface pleaded with a smug smile. He was asking me if I would let Roderich go with them for something like a test of courage. He's getting really curious about the abandoned house in front of their apartment in the residential district. He said Roderich did say he will prove that he isn't scared of that house- and now, he's organizing a test of courage. That Jerkface didn't seem to care about his limits.
"No means no, Gilbert. You'll probably just make fun of him."
"Aw, c'mon! Aren't you curious? You know, what it looks like-" He began to whisper in my ear, "Roddie's- helpless- face."
I couldn't believe I lost at that. It was a simple thing that he needed to say. I decided for a split-second, and shot up, knocking him off-balance, "Fine! But I'm going, too!" And so we came. And so I made that stupid decision that led to the biggest mistake I made in my entire life.
That night, we went to this abandoned house. It was dark- and creepy- and suffocating. I was standing there next to Roderich, holding his hand while watching Gilbert pick the big lock in the gates. Ludwig was there, too; he was looking around for anyone, still trying to make his older brother reconsider. But Gilbert was stubborn about it; it sounded like it was his only chance to get inside that place.
We broke in the front gate and into the front door. As soon as Gilbert opened it, a fierce wind blew us away. We all got trampled by the wind; I'm just lucky that Roderich saved me from a bad fall. Though he complained to Gilbert about the bruises he got from it, he was all about asking if I'm alright.
"What was that?" Ludwig turned around attention back to the gust. Nothing in the front door could have done that. Gilbert then dusted himself off before announcing, "We're going in to find out then! Besides, what's the point of a test of courage if we don't go inside? Get your ass up, young master, and get inside!"
"I wish to see something really scary inside so you can run off in fear and scream like a woman, you fool." Roderich got up and helped me up as well, now talking with a smile, "You might be limping a bit, but I'll hold you."
We went in and looked around. There was nothing extraordinary about the house- just that gust that swept us. Feeling very dissatisfied, Gilbert went up the second storey, moving some cabinets that were barricading the hallway. Roderich started complaining to Ludwig, but the Jerkface's brother couldn't just leave his brother alone. Roderich refused to go to the second floor; it took me several minutes to convince him to do so.
When we were about to go upstairs, we heard rumblings from there. It was then followed by Gilbert and Ludwig's voices and partial screams. I clutched at Roderich's arm in fear- more when we noticed that shadows were already moving on their own. They then began to form into dogs, ready to jump out to eat us anytime.
"Elizabeta! Roderich! RUN!" We heard Ludwig from the stairs, and watched him hurriedly go down as he got chased by dog-looking shadows creatures. It was bewildering and bone-chilling; I swore my legs were frozen when I saw them all. Roderich just tugged me away and dragged me towards the main door where Ludwig was heading- however, more shadows jumped out of nowhere, isolating him from us.
I was the only one screaming in hysteria; the men were actually composed- but we all had it. We all had terror in our eyes. I could hear Roderich's voice trying to communicate with Ludwig, but my mind was too fazed to even comprehend what he was saying. I never thought it wasn't the worst that I would ever see.
Those things had fangs and claws- and then they used them to butcher Ludwig right in front of us. That was Roderich's cue to drag me to where the backdoor could be. He slammed it open and we got out, him slamming the door closed and keeping the dogs inside. He pushed me away repeatedly, making me run to save myself. I couldn't leave him, but it was the only time I saw his face become so serious.
I ran.
I ran away and left my boyfriend to save myself. I knew it was a pathetic thing to do in the perception of love, but I did. But as I reached the gate and tried to open it, dogs were already out there by the front door. I was furiously trying to unlatch the rusted bar, but it would take another second. Another second could be too late- and I could accept my fate of dying right there. If only we didn't even go there in the first place.
The nearest dog in front of me jumped towards the poor prey, but a table lamp magically hit it in the head, making it miss and retreat for a while. I looked up at the second floor's window, only to see a bloodied Gilbert up there.
"Sorry" was all he said before being dragged away by the dogs. The gate finally opened, and I got outside- the dogs magically keeping themselves inside the property. They wouldn't go out- they wouldn't dare. Soon, they retreated back at a certain howl. I walked near the gates and called for my friends. No one answered back.
I spent two more hours waiting in front of the gate. No one came. No one else survived.
Morning came, and I came there equipped with a crowbar. I walked around the path where I escaped through- seeing a pool of blood before the back door. The pool was just there; no drag marks, just there. I knew it was Roderich's, and all I could do was to cry. I then walked to where we last saw Ludwig- the same pool right there. I walked upstairs and explored the place where Gilbert could be. I tried every room, but there was no blood anywhere. Soon, I noticed a moved tarp at one wall. Moving it again revealed a hole with a small room inside.
There were these scary-ass things- writings and markings that sent chills to my spine. I stepped back, and ran off- soon seeing that I missed a room nearby the stairs. I opened it and saw a pool of blood dripping from the cabinet. I went to open it- soon finding weird writings in it. 'One year', 'three weeks', 'rotting alive' and 'eternal cycle of deaths' were written inside, probably from the blood from inside it.
That was when I knew it. I knew that we were cursed the moment we walked in the front door.
...
Across the Street
...
It was a long story that she had to tell. But because of that, I felt scared of that incident where the wind breezed through me, Camelot and Hero. Would that mean that I was cursed as well? That was a question that I was bugging Alfred with, but the only answer I got was 'I'm hungry. Let's grab something to eat while here.'
We left with Dr. Hedervary and walked her back to her home in the commercial district. While we're here, Alfred wanted to eat something for a heavy snack. So we're stuck outside a fast food chain since we couldn't bring our cats inside. He was busy looking out at the streets while waiting, probably tired of listening to my doubts.
My heavy stare could have gotten through since he finally looked at me again, "You're still at it, are you?" I nodded and earned a sigh in response. However, this time, he smiled at me, "Look. You didn't come in after the wind blew you away. And there weren't shadow shits-"
"The black dog last night: it's getting nearer." That was all I answered. He then reached out to me, as if asking for something. Of course, I frowned at his hand and at his face. But his smile was making me do it- reach my hand out as well. And when I did, he held it firmly with both of his, "Listen, Arthur. If something bad is going to happen, I'll protect you, okay?"
"But you're leaving already tomorrow. How are you going to do that?" I stared at him, his smile not wavering, "Well, I can stay. I mean, it's still summer break, and I told my mom that I will be somewhere far." His kind smile then turned bitter in confusion, "Though I'm not really sure why I wanted to risk my life saving a stranger, or even just by staying by a stranger's side."
"What if you die? What will happen to your mother?"
"Then I won't. That's so easy- h-hey!" The serious talk got broken as Camelot suddenly jumped up his lap and then to his chest, sending licks to his face. Alfred started chuckling as my cat never wanted to stop. I then looked at the cat pawing my lap, and took him from the ground, "What's wrong, Hero? Getting jealous?"
Instead of doing anything funny, Hero was just sitting there, staring at me. I then started petting him, earning a purr at every touch. I felt my heart breaking for unknown reasons- just by staring at Hero's eyes of sky.
...
End of Chapter 2
...
Thanks for reading! Pleaser review! My anon review is on!
