Tumblr Drabble Meme – SaboLaw – Number 113: Ghost Hunter; For anjelleshadow

Word Count: 1013

The Haunted House

Law understood that the old house on the outskirts of their town was famous for being a haunted house, because the place was so run down and eerie that even he would say if there was any place where ghosts could truly appear then it had to be a place like this. Clichés and everything.

He also understood why his best friend's brother, who was only 15 at the time, was fascinated with the idea of exploring the haunted house at night. And he understood why he had been asked to accompany them, because of course someone had to look after the boy. That much was obvious.

But there was one thing he did not understand after all.

"Where's your brother, Sabo?" He groaned. They were standing in front of the house, all ready to get this over with and yet his friend had appeared without the brother with whom they had been supposed to explore the house. There really was no point in being here if he would not come with them. He himself had no intentions of exploring this place, no matter how scary it was supposed to be. He did not believe in ghosts and he had better things to do. Sleeping, for that matter, came almost instantly to his mind.

"Sorry, Law." The blond smiled at him apologetically. "He's been caught by gramps, because he wanted to get some snacks from the kitchen before coming here."

"Okay." Law acknowledged. "So he's not coming?" He inquired. "What are we doing here then? You could have just send me a text message saying we would do this some other day."

Sabo did not reply, but instead looked up to the house in front of them and then back to Law with a frown.

Law could only sigh. "By the way." He continued, his glance shifting to a weird, black object Sabo had been holding in his hand the entire time. "What's that supposed to be?" He asked, pointing at the object in Sabo's hand.

"Oh." The blond looked down to his hand as if he had only just remembered that he had been carrying something around with him all this time. "Uhm, well..." He started, visibly embarrassed. "It's a..." He started again and then, very quickly and flustered, said: "A small vacuum cleaner. It runs on batteries."

Law raised an eyebrow at his friend. "A... vacuum cleaner?" He asked, unsure if he had heard correctly.

"Yes." Sabo replied plain and simple.

"Were we going to clean the house?" Law asked again, still very much confused by what was going on.

"Uh..." Sabo started again. "See, there's this video game my brother plays a lot right now and in that game you sort of have to hunt ghosts... with a vacuum cleaner." He explained, embarrassment making his cheeks burn. "It's really stupid though." He finished mumbling, turning his head away to avoid Law's glance.

"I see." Law said simply. Although he did still not really understand what had made Sabo do something weird like this. He had probably let his brother talk him into it. Just that said brother was not here now. And Sabo looked really stupid standing here in the front yard of some old, abandoned house with a mini vacuum cleaner in his hands.

Stupid, but somehow cute, too. Being all embarrassed and not even looking him in the eye over something like this.

"So you were going to be real ghost hunters? You know, one would think your brother's a little old for this sort of stuff. But knowing him I suppose he would be really fascinated by it all."

He went over to the blond and reaching out with his hand, he brushed against Sabo's fingers for a second before taking the vacuum cleaner out of his friend's hand.

He gave the object that he was now holding a skeptical look. "I guess you could have sucked in a ghost with this." He paused momentarily and then added with a grin. "Only a really small one though."

Sabo finally looked up to him and punched lightly with his fist against Law's chest. "Oh, shut up, you." He said sulkily. "I was just trying to make him happy."

"Yeah." Law agreed. "I think that was really nice of you." He sighed again then. "Now, are we going home? Or would you like to go explore the house after all?"

Sabo cast his glance down again. "You know, we are already here after all..."

Law raised an eyebrow at his friend, but instead of teasing him again, he simply agreed. "Alright. If that's what you want."

Sabo nodded slightly and with a smile.

They went inside the house then. It was really dark inside, though the moon was providing at least a little light. Law wondered how Sabo could think about bringing a vacuum cleaner with him, but forget to bring a flashlight. But then again, he really did not care, at least they were not in complete darkness.

The floor was creaking beneath their feet as they moved forward and the few objects that were still scattered around in the room they were in did look rather eerie in the darkness, casting spooky shadows against the wall wherever the light of the moon could reach.

But of course Law was not scared of something like this and he was still trying to figure out the point of even going inside this house in the first place, when a sudden, loud noise from the floor above them made Sabo, who was walking behind him, jump and reach out for his hand.

He turned around and grinned at the blond. Carefully closing his fingers around his friend's hand he said "Don't worry, I'll protect you." He demonstratively lifted the vacuum cleaner in his other hand up as if to reassure Sabo. "I have a weapon after all."

Right, this was not so bad after all, he thought as he lightly squeezed his friend's hand.