ALTERNATE ENDING CHAPTER! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
ALTERNATE ENDING CHAPTER! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Meep! *dodges frying pan*
I'm sorry I haven't updated! *runs with hands in air avoiding flying things*
Disclaimer: *tomato splat on writer's face* please see another chapter
Claimer: I claim being a procrastinator!
I fixed the alternate ending last chapter but here it is:
"Go right ahead." She said.
"How long has the house we're living in now been empty for?" He asked.
Selena looked over at the rickety house. "Hmm." She said thoughtfully, "Well my grandmother used to tell me stories that her grandmother told her about that house. And it was empty since my great great grandmother lived here. So it's been a very long time. Probably at least a hundred years or so."
"A hundred years?" Kurogane asked in astonishment.
Selena nodded. "It's good to have neighbors again." She smiled.
"I have to go." Kurogane said running back to the house, "Thanks for your help!"
"You're welcome!" Selena called after him, "Make sure that you come over and visit soon!"
.:.:.:.
Kurogane ran back through the door and hurried into the kitchen were Melanie was busy helping Fai make something.
"Hey," he said rather loudly making both Melanie and Fai look up at him, "I asked Selena about it and she said that the house had been empty since her great great grandmother had lived there."
"Hyuu~." Fai whistled as lightly swatted Mokona's paw that was reaching for the brown dough that was in a metal bowl, "You have to wait until they're done cooking. Then you can have one."
"What are you making anyway?" Kurogane asked curiously.
"Cookies." Melanie said not missing a beat as she molded the dough into various shapes and set them on the cooking sheet.
"Cookies?" Kurogane asked, "What kind?"
Fai shrugged. "I found the recipe in this book." He said tapping on an old book lying on the flour covered counter, "They're called 'chocolate chip'."
"Chocolate chip?" Kurogane asked, "I've never heard of it- WHY DO I CARE ABOUT SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS COOKIES!" he shouted.
Fai shrugged. "You're the one who asked about it Kuro-rin." He informed.
"I... WHATEVER!" he yelled and ran his hand through his hair, "The point is that Melanie hasn't been here for a year or two. It's been at least a hundred years since she lived here."
End of Alternate Ending for Last chapter.
Chapter 8:
Clang.
The metal cookie sheet that Melanie was holding crashed to the ground littering the floor with broken pieces of stars, hearts, and various other shapes. She stared at him her eyes wide and her pupils shrunken.
"I-It's," she stuttered, "it's not… it's not t-true."
Fai looked over at the ten year old girl who was starring at Kurogane with wide eyes.
"It couldn't be true." She said, "I'm ten not a hundred!"
"Her food supplies would have run out within a few months." Kurogane stated, "There's no way that she could have survived for long after that."
Fai looked at Melanie then back at Kurogane. She was ten! How could Kurogane look at her and even think that she was over a hundred years old?
"But we can see her." Fai said, "Only Sakura-chan can see ghosts."
Kurogane closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in frustration. "That's the part I don't understand." He said opening his eyes and looking at the girl, "Even Mokona said he can't see ghosts yet he clearly saw her the morning they met."
"Who told you this?" Fai asked.
"Selena did." Kurogane said moving his thumb over his shoulder in the direction their neighbor's house was, "I just asked her."
"Then she's lying!" Melanie shouted.
Both of the older men turned at the sudden outburst from the normally calm child.
Fai knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's alright Melanie, we'll figure this out." He said in an attempt to pacify her, "We just all need to calm down and I think it wouldn't hurt to get a good night's sleep."
Melanie pushed Fai's hands off her. "Fine." She said still fuming.
"I'll clean up down here." Fai offered, "Go and get some rest."
Fai tousled her hair before she walked away to her bedroom and started to clean up.
"What do you think about all of this?" Kurogane asked filling up the sink with hot soapy water to wash the dishes in.
Fai shrugged. "I can't help you there, Kuro-rin." The blonde said dumping the unused cookie dough into a plastic bag as well as the uncooked cookies that haven't met their fate on the floor, "I haven't a clue really."
He closed the bag and set it in the fridge the leaned his back against it and closed it. "I mean, isn't it somewhat farfetched that she's a hundred years old? She's barely four feet tall and she's that old?" Fai said looking at Kurogane with that fake grin on his face, "What you said about the food makes sense, but it's still not complete."
"What do you mean 'not complete'?" the ninja asked washing a bowl that was emptied of its cookie dough.
"Well if she's dead where's the body?" Fai asked before wiping off the counter with a wet cloth.
Kurogane set the bowl on a rack to dry and grabbed another dish. "She said she found some passageways around the house." He said stopping to look at the mage.
"Hmm," Fai said placing his index finger on his chin right below his lower lip and placing his other hand on his hip femininely, "She would have died in a place that can't be found easily and only a child could have fit in, how oddly convenient."
"Coincidence?" the dark haired man asked.
Fai let out a small laugh. "Now what have we learned about that?" he asked teasingly.
"You think it was murder?" Kurogane asked slightly surprised.
Fai shrugged. "It easily could have been. Whoever wanted it done could have just taken her food away little by little so she wouldn't have noticed." Fai explained, "She also could have been poisoned or just simply the murderer knew about the house and all its secrets and killed her possibly putting the body into one of the tunnels."
"That would work as well I suppose." The red eyed man said running a hand through his hair.
Fai's goofy smile turned into a small sly one. "I think we need Melanie to show us these tunnels. Maybe they'll lead us to Sakura-chan."
"Or maybe they'll lead us to a skeleton." Kurogane muttered.
Fai's smile turned goofy again, "Don't be such a downer, Kuro-pessimist."
"KUROGANE!"
