WOO! 3236 words! *phew* I love this chapter. LOVE IT! I think I really sets the scene for the rest of the story... so i hope you like it!

~Lukia

~Friday, October 21st, Mizu residence, 3:07 p.m.~

"Kai? You home?" Naminé shut the front door behind her and let her bookbag fall from her hands. She secretly hoped her twin wasn't home; since that morning, being even within ten feet of Kairi gave her chills. But there was always a first for everything.

Silence.

The blonde shrugged and started up the straight path of stairs to her room. It wasn't shocking Kairi wasn't here – because she wasn't home Wednesday afternoon or Thursday afternoon either. In fact, she barely saw Kairi outside of school. Her assumed routine was simple – mornings, it was the bang bang shuffle screeeech, in which Naminé listened to the news; there was still no more news about the murder. She needed to hear the tape audio – to see if it involved Kairi. During school, it was curt glances and scowls thrown her way from her sister. After school, it was as it was now, her parents at work and Kairi mysteriously absent.

Naminé stepped through the open door of her dark room and collapsed onto her unmade bed, glad it was Friday. No homework, for once, all high grades – unlike her sister, but she didn't want to gloat – and a nice, peaceful evening to herself.

She had just started to drift off when she heard a paper rustle briefly.

What was that?

Sitting up, Naminé stretched and walked to the wide desk to the left of her bed where she kept her papers. A new paper was sitting on top of the neatly arranged other ones, its letters gleaming red even in the dark. She assumed it was probably a note from Kairi saying where she was…She could only hope.

She picked up the loose paper, turned on her desk light, and started reading. No, it wasn't from Kairi; it was from another person entirely.

It read:

My name is Aqua. I was murdered by my sister fifty years ago on October 31st. Naminé, I have so much to tell you, so much, but I can't stay in this plane long. If you remember nothing else from this note, remember this. Get that necklace away from your sister. Destroy it. Keep it. I don't care what you do with it. Just

The letter stopped abruptly, as if the writer had not known what to say next. A red line of ink trailed down the paper, all the way to the bottom, all the way to where one last sentence started. Naminé swallowed hard, reading the sentence with trembling hands.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The desk light shut off, leaving Naminé in complete and absolute blackness.

The door slammed closed, though no one had been there to close it.

The paper flew from her hands, landing back on the desk next to her drawing of the house – which seemed to have been altered some.

Naminé slid down onto the floor, her back on the desk's chair. Now I'm scared, she thought, as goose bumps rose on her arms from the room's sudden chill. The first thing she thought was: power outage. But that was impossible, because she could see the hall light on from the crack under the door. The next thought was: Kairi's home, and she's just playing a trick. But the she would have heard her come in the front.

To her surprise, her third thought was: ghost.

A whimper escaped her lips. Ghost? Ha! That wasn't possible. Ghosts don't exist. It a lie, all a pathetic lie.

But other explanation could there be? There was no breeze in the room to slam the door with such force. Papers just didn't fly out of people's hands; lights didn't turn off by themselves. And this Aqua person… wasn't anyone she knew.

Naminé, with shaking fingers, reached above her on the desk and grabbed the drawing and the – bloodstained— note. She put the note aside, afraid to look at it – blood—no, ink is running down my hands – and glared at the drawing. Everything was the same except the blood – it's ink! It can't be blood– prints made by her hands, and the downstairs bedroom, which she had refused to draw the inside just days earlier. The altered scene depicted a blue-haired girl, bloody hands pressed against the window. A shadow, possibly another person, stood behind her, a knife gleaming from that one's hands. At the bottom of the drawing the address of the house had been added in that same ink – no, blood, no, ink…

Naminé couldn't think. Couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Couldn't think. She could feel though – fear pervaded her body. She set the drawing down again on top of the note. She didn't know what to believe.

However, one thing was certain to her.

There's a ghost in my house. Probably named Aqua. She has something to do with that necklace.

And Kairi.

Naminé stroked her – wet, dripping, bloody – hands across the scars Kairi had made on her arm. Could ghosts control people? Was this Aqua trying to get at Naminé through Kairi… for some reason? She didn't know. She didn't know anything about ghosts. But she thought she knew someone who might.

Riku.

The light came back on, and, suddenly, the blood she knew she had seen disappeared from her hands. Maybe I was imagining that, she thought, closing her eyes to calm her nerves.

The phone rang.

Naminé reached behind her again and picked up the cordless receiver, the caller ID reading "Roxas" as she had set it. Her heart skyrocketing, she clicked on the phone.

"Roxas?"

"Hey, Nami!" Her friend's voice sounded light and happy. "Sora and me are goin' to the mall, to, you know, walk around, enjoy Friday and such! We wanted to know if you wanted to come with us."

She tried to keep the shake out of her voice, successfully. "Is Kai there?"

"Kai? Nope. You know, I haven't seen her around much anyway." A small chuckle reached Naminé's ears. "But I'm sure she's fine. At least Sora's not worrying. She's not at your house?"

"No." Tension rose in her voice to replace the tremble of fear.

"That's odd." Roxas gave a hmph and continued, "So, you wanna come?"

Naminé weighed her options. She really didn't want to stay in the house, but then again she did – maybe to find out more about this assumed ghost. "Sure," she said without thinking.

"Great! We'll meet you in front of Entrance Three at four." He clicked off as Naminé put the phone to the floor.

She sighed. Physically and mentally, she was tired. Had Roxas called her fifteen minutes earlier, then maybe she would be a bit more excited about going. But no. The most ghastly experience yet had come to pass… and she just wanted... she didn't know what she wanted.

Against even her own will, Naminé stood up, ran her hands through her hair, stepped over the note and drawing, and walked out the door.

~Mirai-wa Mall, Destiny Islands Inner City, 4:02 p.m.~

Naminé reveled in the heat that hit her chilled body as she entered the bustling, loud mall. It was a long walk in the cold from her house to the mall, and she was glad she had gotten here without getting frostbite, or hypothermia, or having a mini panic attack over whether a car was going to hit her. Shoving her paled hands into her pockets, she walked a little farther away from the door, wondering why Roxas and Sora were missing in action. He had said Entrance Three, right…?

"Boo!" A voice scream-whispered from behind Naminé, causing her to jump and nearly trip over her own feet. Sora and Roxas laughed behind her, and she whirled around, red-faced from the biting cold she had just left.

"You two," she mock-scolded, giving a slight giggle.

Roxas stifled a chuckle, and threw an arm around Naminé, helping her walk forward as Sora followed close behind. "Aww, we love you too." With a wink, he gave her a dazzlingly bright smile.

Naminé turned away, her heart fluttering with the oncoming blush. She knew she didn't like Roxas in that way – but her friend never ceased to being such a flirt. "What are we doing here anyway?" She questioned.

"To check out all the hot girls, of course!" Sora threw in, appearing next to her and blowing a kiss some girls from their school as they passed the arcade. "Nah, I'm kidding. It's Friday, Nami," he nudged her, "Lighten up!"

"I wish," she mumbled under her breath as the trio continued to walk. But Kairi, and that note, and that necklace – it had taken control of the sensible part of her mind and wouldn't let go. Worry and fear clouded her thoughts so much so that she couldn't even think about anything else. It had only been a matter of days and her life went from totally normal to totally upside down…

Lost in her thoughts, Naminé hadn't even noticed Roxas stopped and pulled the three of them down onto a bench. He tilted her chin upward gingerly and, staring into his slightly darkened blue eyes, Naminé's world came back into focus.

"Nami, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, pulling away from his grasp. "Nothing." She swallowed, considering how much she should tell him. If she started rambling on about ghosts, it would be weird. "It's just Kairi…"

"You're worried because she's not home, is that it?" Sora interjected, giving a bright smile that Naminé could see out of the corner of her eye. "She's fine. As long as you see her in school, that means she's still alive, am I right?"

Naminé nodded to hide her shame. That isn't what I wanted to say! I was thinking, maybe if I get this off of my chest… But I'm not sure enough. I need to talk to Riku.

Roxas stood, taking his strong warm hands in her wintered fragile ones. "It'll be fine. Don't worry yourself. If she really was in trouble, you'd know – it that twin thing you guys have, like we do." Roxas stuck out his tongue at his brother as he stood as well.

Naminé only kept silent, intertwining her fingers with Roxas's to physically show she was ready to go. A wan smile backed up her motion. "Okay. Let's keep moving. Who knows, we may even find her here in the mall."

"That's the spirit!" The twins said in unison, as Roxas tightened his grip on her hand and Sora slung an arm around her shoulder. They walked forward with her, nudging her every so often to remind her to keep her chin up.

And she tried. She really did. She tried to wave at the classmates she passed, to swoon at the pretty dresses in her favorite store, to giggle at how cute the plushies that put a warm smile on her face were. But as the sun started to go down, the hopeful illusions faded, and she was right back at square one.

Kairi, what's wrong with you?

~Mirai-wa Mall, Destiny Islands Inner City, 6:36 p.m.~

Her brightened façade was able to stay up for a bit longer, and Naminé even started to believe that everything was okay. She linked arms with Roxas and leaned onto him as they passed by Entrance Six, the sunset caressing her face with light and warmth as the movie theater bustled busily with evening showings. She thought she heard Roxas sigh with contentment at her motion.

Naminé stopped, pulling away from her friend and staring up at him. "What?"

"What what?" The teen tried to pull off as nonchalant, but even in the light, she could see his blush as he turned his face away. Sora stifled a laugh, leaning on the tall window of the videogame store they'd stopped in front of.

"Never… Never mind," Naminé uttered. She was being goofy. Goofy and extremely immature. What was it about Roxas that got her so flustered…?

A flash of silver passed her on her right as someone entered the game store. Naminé turned slightly, watching the person stride confidently over to the gaming magazine racks in the back. Just maybe…

Riku…?

She turned back around with a genuine smile at Roxas and Sora. "Can you guys give me a few seconds? I saw, uh, this… uh…" She was a bad liar, so she decided to make her explanation simple. "Can I go look in the video game store? Alone?"

Roxas looked appalled for a second, but his expression softened with a rough elbowing from his twin. With a sigh, he replied, "Sure, Nami. We'll meet up at the food court, 'kay?"

She squeezed his hand before heading into the store. "Alright!" She called back.

Loud, rock-inclined music reached her ears when she crossed the threshold; however, girls and boys alike seemed to crowd the store. She pulled down on her fuzzy white skirt, hoping not to seem out of place, and then pushed through the amassing bodies to the quieter back of the store where Riku stood by the racks of magazines, flipping through one of them.

"Hey, Riku!" She called friendly, walking up to him with a small smile.

Riku glanced up, green-blue eyes wide, shock of seeing her here plain on his face. "N-Naminé?"

"Not the person you'd expect, huh?" She joked as he closed his magazine.

"Not… at all." Riku was boring holes in her with his piercing stare. Naminé involuntarily flinched, hoping he could help her.

"I have a question to ask you."

"Mm," Riku nodded as a way of saying, 'continue'.

"Um, well…" This was awkward. What if she blurted out about the… ghost, and he just stared at her and thought she was crazy? What if he didn't even know about ghosts, despite how smart he was? This was a huge risk she was taking, but Naminé couldn't give up now. For Kairi. "Do you know anything about ghosts?"

Silence for a moment, and then Riku twirled a strand of his hair and flipped his bangs out of his eyes. "You came to the right person, Naminé."

Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest at that. Turned out Riku might just be as intelligent as he claimed to be. "That's good, because, well…"

"Start at the beginning," he urged kindly.

The beginning? Naminé blinked, not sure where the beginning was. However, she decided to start at the first signs of Kairi's weird actions. "Our family went to this beach house last weekend. When we left on Sunday, Kairi had started becoming fascinated with this necklace she found. She kept warning me not to touch it. And at school, she would have it with her, and she would just be… scornful to me. Like throwing me dirty looks and stuff. And then, there was this one time, Kairi didn't get home from the grocery store until late, and when she did get home, it was three in the morning, and she was trying to get me to 'come dance' with her, and I know I've heard that somewhere before, and… she hurt me…" Naminé rolled up her sleeve, showing Riku the fingernail marks.

"Hmmm…" Riku glared at the marks, but didn't make a move to touch them.

Trembling, she continued. "And then, I saw on the news about this murder at the hardware store, and you know what? Kairi had been there, and she'd bought all these weird things like paper clips and wood. I mean, not saying she's involved in the murder… but what really confirmed my suspicions was when I found this note from this dead girl named Aqua on my desk. She wanted me to get the necklace away from Kairi, and then at the end, the note said to be very afraid, and then the door slammed, and the light turned off, and I swear t-there was b-blood on my hands… And Kairi… Kai…" Naminé felt her eyes burn with tears. She felt like such a weakling for crying. Riku had to help her, he had to, or else things would never be the same again.

Riku took both his hands in hers, trying to calm her down. "It's okay, Naminé."

She shook her head, letting it droop. "No…"

Riku rubbed his thumbs on her palms. "I think you're right. It's probably a revengeful ghost. But…"

Naminé looked up into the sweet green pools that were his eyes. "What?"

"How old was that house you guys stayed in?"

"About fifty years old or so?" Naminé wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Did you hear about any murders in the house?"

Well, that was new. "No."

"The person you rented from must have been keeping secrets from you." Riku lowered his voice. "To me, it sounds like someone – presumably this Aqua – was killed in that house, and her spirit never got to leave the earth plane. She must have died a very painful death, as people who do tend to have more hostile specters. Ghosts can attach themselves to things, Naminé, so it seems your ghost must have attached itself to the necklace of Kairi's and is either possessing her or leading her to do her actions."

Possessed. "What's the difference?"

"Possessed is when the ghost actually takes control of his or her host. Leading, or 'spirit guiding' as some call it, is when the host makes his or her own decisions and the spirit 'helps' them with it, in turn twisting their thoughts. Either way, the host usually experiences some mental deterioration, like hallucinations and such. But it doesn't really matter, for you anyway – you just want to help your twin, right?" He gave a weak smile.

A curt nod from the blonde. "But why? Why is this happening?"

"There isn't enough evidence to tell. If you can't tell me the circumstances for the assumed death, I can't figure out why this ghost chose you and Kairi out of all the people who probably rented that house. You're going to have to do some research on the history of the event…" He smiled at her. "If you need any help, just call me."

Naminé nodded. Riku had been a big help already. If she could figure out the secrets of the house and Aqua's death, maybe she could save Kairi before things got any more out of control. "Alright, Riku. Thanks a bunch."

"No prob." Riku opened up his magazine to a page again, looking up at her from under the covers of his bangs. "See you Monday?"

"Monday," she concluded, walking away and waving to him as she did. Her soul soared with happiness; she was finally getting somewhere. She exited the store and started toward the food court. Things would be better. Soon, she hoped. Maybe she could even talk to Kairi tonight and see what else was up with her. For now, her life revolved around one thing – keeping her life. Because if she didn't hurry, Kairi might…

She shook her head, throwing that thought away and feeling amazed at how she had changed. Just days earlier ghosts were a fairy tale in her book; now she was trying to save her and Kairi from one. It was just weird, because she didn't know her views on life could change that fast!

Naminé was never one to believe in the supernatural. But now, she would have to suspend her disbelief to save them all – even if she had to go through hell and back to reach her goal.

Reviews are appreciated!