A/N: Just one quick thing, Hetalia Paint it White! Movie trailer is finally up! Yeys! I don't think I've made Dark!Spain scary enough...what do you think?
Hetalia: Axis Powers belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya. Idiot soldiers and nurse belong to me.
Warning: (like I need to say at this point) Character deaths, blood, BL.
xxx
This is the story of a man deeply in love with another. He was willing to do anything for said man, even if it meant getting rid of people in his way. Nothing seemed to be able to stop said man as he begun his lust for violence and pain. That is . . . till another man just as equally obsessed stepped forward.
xxx
"Hmm? What the?"
Francis looked around to notice he was all alone in the bedroom given to him as he stayed over at Ivan's home. The bedroom was dark and filled with paintings of flowers and landscapes in front of a dull, pink-colored wallpaper with white lines going vertical. As the Frenchman rubbed at his sore eyes he reached to the nightstand beside himself and turned the lamp on. His frown depend to see a wooden chair at the end of his bed facing him, sitting empty. A small book sat on it, a book Ivan had read to Francis to help the blond man sleep in a place he wasn't so used to visiting much less comfortable. He hadn't noticed when he had started to actually get sleepy from the poor french Ivan worded as he read the novel to the blond, and fallen asleep. He looked to his left at a window draped with thick, white curtains. He squinted to see it was still dark outside. Knowing he wasn't going to sleep any time soon, he put on a dark-blue robe, slipped on his slippers and proceeded to turn at his squeaky door's worn out knob and venture off into the dark hallway. Only, it wasn't so dark. He spotted Ravis and Toris, in their pajamas, talking to each other down the hall, the smaller of the two holding onto a flashlight, pointing it at his small, round and wet face?
"Oui, what's going on? Is something the matter?" asked the Frenchman as he stepped towards them. The two nations turned to the blond with petrified expressions.
"Oh Francis! You won't believe what just happened!" cried the little blond male as his tiny hands shook, causing the light to shake as well. Francis grabbed at the flashlight and steadied it, feeling dizzy at the dim, shaking shadow behind Ravis.
"What? What is so important that you had to wake up in the middle of the night?" the blond grumbled as he shielded his eyes. Ravis looked up at Toris nervously. Toris turned away and coughed into his shaking hand.
"Is it something private?" questioned the Frenchman, now curious, as he leaned on closer to the two men.
"As a matter of fact, it's not," answered someone behind the blond. Francis turned to see Ivan with a plain, straight face. The blond raised a brow, puzzled by the rare expression of seriousness the stoic Russian presented.
"Oh, then does it concern me?" Francis pointed to himself. He noticed Ivan still wore his uniform and smelled a little musty. He looked down to see his boots sullied in dirt and mud, as a matter of fact, all of him seemed to point at him being outside and doing something meticulous. But this late at night? What could the Russian possibly been doing?
"For your safety it does, but i'd rather not frighten you," murmured Ivan.
"Hey, I do not frighten easily! Now I demand to know!" stopped Francis, a little irritated. Toris and Ravis began to shake even more.
"N-no! Don't tell him! H-he'll get kidnapped!" cried Ravis.
"Yes, please don't tell him Ivan!" trembled Toris.
Kidnapped?
"W-what's this about being scared and kidnapped? Hey Ivan, answer me," uttered the blond, a little scared now. The Russian exhaled deeply as he pulled off his scarf and began to undo his coat.
"We've got a madman on our hands," mumbled Ivan as he dropped all the articles of clothing on the ground. Francis's eyes widen to see a large cut running down the Russian's whole upper body, fresh blood still seeping into the man's white shirt underneath.
"W-what...?"
Toris narrowed his eyes as he sadly looked at the ground, grabbing at Ravis' shoulder. The two stopped trembling and their cowering momentarely as the brunette looked back up at Francis.
"F-Francis, there's something you should know."
The blond took a step back as Ivan stepped forward. As he did so, the flashlight was shined at the Russian and behind him on the wooden planks of a floor sat a bloodied shovel.
"There's a killer among us," grinned the Russian with a nostalgic look as he presented Francis with Edward's bloodied and broken glasses.
In the halls of the quiet hospital, two soldiers stood guard by Antonio's door as directed by Ludwig. Despite the several outside locks and even going as far as putting a metal lock on the door, the soldiers had been carefully instructed to not let the man inside so much as even glance beyond his infirmary room.
"Hey," one soldier said as he turned to the spiky-haired brunette besides him, "do you really think Antonio of all people is a lunatic? I heard that he attacked somebody."
The brunette soldier didn't glance at the man besides him. He only stood stiffer at the small talk as he tapped at his leather belt where a gun was strapped in it, fully loaded and ready to fire.
"Well, there's a reason they put him on lock-down."
"I guess."
"Shh, no more talk, we might wake him up," whispered the brunette as he shushed the blond soldier. The other redirected his face forward and continued to stand in the hallway. He swore, why was he always given the boring assignments. It's Antonio in there after all, the man wouldn't so much as harm a fly. Though he had heard rumours about the proud nation getting in a little fight with Gilbert, the Prussian leader, and being smacked so hard he fell off his feet. He gave a small sigh as he tilted his head in complete boredom. He fished something exciting would happen.
And sure enough, something did.
A loud alarm sounded sharply into both soldier's ears. They looked around to see where the sound came from.
"OH MY GOD, SOMEBODY STOP HIM" cried a nurse down the hall. he two soldiers ran down the hallway and sharply turned the corner. One of the two, the blond, slipped and fell on his stomach at the sharp turn and landed by somebody's bare feet.
"Ah-A-" the brunette uttered as his eyes widened, his now clumsy hands trying to pull the pistol from the tucked position it was in his green, military uniform. He only looked back up to find his face splattered by blood. His pupils dilated as a nurse's dead body fell into a bloody thud. he two soldiers couldn't look up at the brunette's face.
The brunette soldier was then knocked to the white, spotless floor, the loud screeching sound of the siren almost making him dizzy and sick now. He reached for his ears and covered at them as he heard other rounds of gunshots being fired, all of them in his fellow soldier's body. The blond's head fell into a straight line along with the rest of the soldier's body now, eyes and mouth widened as seven holes were made into his back. Unable to move, he slightly looked up at the corner of his eyes. His mouth pulled open as it shook. The black pistol that had now taken two lives was again raised up at the brunette soldier's face.
"R-Roderi-?"
Before he could finish, a final gunshot silenced him as it pierced from the back of his head.
As Lili and Elizabeta quietly sat in the porch of the Swiss and Liet's home, blankets around them and two mugs besides the two, they sat in complete silence, the sudden death of Vash haunting them. Lili had finally ceased crying and screeching; she only stared like a hollow zombie out to the horizon. Elizabeta however couldn't believe the harsh wish of wishing the Prussian's death led her to finding the Swiss's body that was, in fact, slashed all the way down by what later appeared to have been an axe. The police at the scene though had been unable to find the weapon. They had collected the flare gun and samples of blood on the ground.
Elizabeta clutched at her green pants, not really knowing what to say to the girl.
"I'm so sorry Lilli. I'm so sorry," is all she could think of whispered. A few seconds passed before the brunette turned to see the young blond begin to cry, her mouth fully wide open as she begun to let out another wave of sobs, her small hands not even coming close to wipe away at the new tears. Elizabeta only gave a deep sigh as she got up and walked off of the balcony and to the back of the home. She couldn't stand to see the small child crying, less weeping so hard like that. She leaned against the back of the home as she tried gathering her thoughts.
Who was it?
That is what bothered her most. Who in the world would want to end Vash's life?
She quietly kicked at the dirt on the ground. Maybe when the other's were alerted and got together at the World Meeting, they could all put their heads together to solve the horrid crime. The brunette gave a small smile to herself.
That's it! I should collected some more evidence for everybody to look at! Maybe i'll find something there besides an old corpse!
With her mind made up she dashed into the forest, ready to become handy. as the Hungarian left, Lili began to rub at her eyes, her throat stinging at the gurgling sobs she made. As she cleaned her face with her green uniform sleeve, she stared at the woods ahead of her home and that of her deceased brother.
Vash . . . why did you have to go out at night? the girl thought.
Was it something odd? You never go out of the house unless it's making a loud racket with your rifle. So why be so quiet about it this time?
Her eyes widened.
Was it something bad . . . happening in the woods?
Normally, a trail of blood and a flare gun don't just sit in the ground. Vash never carried such a gun, out of his enormous and prized collection, and would never call on others to help him. Maybe something in the woods went on that night, something that required a device to call for help instantly and intentionally catch people attention on purpose.
The girl shot up from her seat.
Somebody must have led him out on purpose!
She began to dash into the woods, with this new information, the police are sure to solve her brother's death!
As she hurriedly jumped and shoved at any small branches and tree roots, she went unaware of the man from behind stalking her, the man carrying a large, freshly bloodied axe over his shoulder.
Arthur quietly tapped at the wooden table with his pen, his other hand's fingers brushing through his blond hair. A stack of paper's sat on his desk that he'd looked over five times already.
"I can't believe the boy is dead," he whispered quietly to himself as he reached for his coffee mug. Just a few hours ago, he had received a call from his boss; Vash had been found dead near his and Ludwig's border. He had been slashed right down the middle of his body, aside from his eyes and blond hair, nothing of his face was recognizable. Pictures were faxed to him right away, along with important paperwork and investigation notes being collected as we speak by federal police. The other nations would be alerted soon too about what appeared to be a murder.
-Knock knock-.
"I'm very busy!" the Brit growled irritated as he nervously turned the pictures of the corpse around. He turned his chair to face the blond American that now poked his head through the office doorway.
"I'm sorry Arthur. I was wondering why you woke up so early. It's barely 8 AM," Alfred yawned as he rubbed at his eyes.
"I received important faxes around 7 AM," muttered Arthur as he neatly stacked his papers together and fully turning his chair around. He scanned the American in his pajamas. He crossed his arms; Alfred probably hadn't been told about the Swiss's death yet. He gave a small sigh, "it was something urgent I had to look at. Anyway why aren't you asleep and walking around here without your glasses? Do you want to fall down the stairs or something?"
"I'm not that blind! The light to your office shined through the crack of my bedroom door and I came to see what woke me up. So what's the urgent thing you were looking at?" the blond smiled as he tried peaking at Arthur's papers. Angry, the Brit opened his drawer and shoved the papers inside. He slammed it shut and shot out of his chair.
"You must be hungry, let me go make you some breakfast," the man grumbled irritated as he walked annoyed out of his office, "AND DON'T TOUCH ANY OF MY STUFF YOU BLOODY IDIOT!"
"I won't!" exclaimed Alfred smiling as he walked out of the room to follow the British man. A few seconds later, quiet footsteps made their way towards the Brit's office. The door was pushed slightly open and closed shut. Matthew, in full pajama clothes, quietly scanned the dark room. He paced towards the desk on the opposite side and turned the lamp on. As he did so his dull eyes focused on the drawer he had heard Arthur slam shut. He gently pulled on the knob to see the neat pile of papers inside.
"Hm?" he raised a brow as he saw the corner of a picture poke through the papers. His face expression remained indifferent as he pulled out a photographed image of Vash's body. Just at that moment he felt his cell phone in his pocket give a faint buzz. As he reached to grab it with his spare hand he heard somewhere downstairs Alfred give a loud scream.
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" the American shouted. Matthew flipped his phone open to see a message sent by his boss.
Vash of Switzerland was found dead near his home.
Under was the same image of Vash's corpse Matthew held in his hand. Downstairs he could hear Arthur trying to calm the American down as he flipped about the news. A crooked smile appeared on the Canadian's face.
"The game has begun."
As the three nations sat quietly in the German blond's vehicle, making an urgent trip to Antonio's home to check on Romano who hadn't answered any of Feliciano's calls or texts. The brunette didn't want to think that the horrible happened to his brother, after the display of violence Antonio had displayed just the night before.
Feliciano quietly sat behind Ludwig's seat, trying to register the text message he had received. He couldn't believe that Vash had been killed.
"It was Antonio, wasn't it Ludwig?" he quietly uttered as he rubbed his fingers at the phone's bright screen. Ludwig didn't respond as he focused at the long road ahead of him, Kiku sitting quietly next to Feliciano as he scrolled down the papers and investigation notes the officers in Switzerland on his laptop about the blonds' sudden death. Naturally curious to such things he was already thinking of different scenarios in his head. Maybe Vash was attacked from behind? Maybe it was an intruder?
"Elizabeta and Lili-kun found him hanging from a tree branch in a forest. He was slashed in half by a large object. You guys say you, Antonio, Gilbert and Roderich-san were the only ones there?" asked Kiku looking at Ludwig. The German only burrowed his eyebrows even further.
"Please Kiku let's focus on one thing at a time right now. We have Romano to worry about," the man murmured quietly as he gripped at the car's steering wheel tighter. The sun was barely rising in the horizon of mountains to the east of them, all three passengers tired out from the long night. Of all of them Ludwig the most obviously in distress. He seemed to be gritting his teeth all the while as he tried not to show any of his stress.
Did Antonio really kill Vash that night?
"H-he was going to kill R-Roderich and Gilbert," uttered the Italian as he hunched his shoulders. Ludwig leered at the brunette from the rearview mirror.
"I said no more talking about it! We don't know what really happened! There's no point in discussing this any further!"
"But Ludwig, Antonio almost killed your brother!"
"I SAID NO MORE!" the man yelled.
The car came to an abrupt halt as the blond practically yanked the door handle and kicked at the car door open.
"Ludwig-san-?"
"I need air," the German grumbled as he slowly paced towards the pavement at the side of the road. They were in the middle of nowhere, the tall stalks of wheat and grass surrounding the lone road as the sun began to burn from the opposite side of where they came from. Feliciano began to tremble in his seat impatiently. Kiku peaked at the rear view mirror to see Ludwig leaning on the black vehicle on the trunk, both arms leaning on the car as he looked up at the cloudy sky. It seemed as if it would rain in a couple of hours. The Japanese male decided to get out and apologize for his rude behavior. As he walked towards Ludwig, the blond seemed to notice his approaching presence and turned away to the opposite direction.
"Ludwig-san, i'm sorry. I'm being very unruly and nosy," mumbled Kiku trying to look at Ludwig in the eye. The blond just sighed as he crossed his arms and turned to the smaller male.
"I . . . I'm just very stressed is all. First my brother runs off, then we find ourselves in a hostage situation, and now, somebody's dead. Feliciano is probably more scared right now that ever before given that his brother won't answer his calls and was last with Antonio. My brother . . . I don't even know the condition he's in. We didn't stay long to find out."
"I understand. It's just I have a natural curiosity about these things. I want to find out why Antonio is acting this way, and about Vash."
" . . . . Gilbert and Romano are going out."
Kiku turned to the blond rapidly.
"W-what? !"
"They tried to get us to think Gilbert was abusing Romano when we were catching on. Antonio was right, they were in a relationship. That must have driven him crazy."
"B-but . . . wait, what do you mean were?"
"I sort of overheard one of their private conversations before my brother ran off, and something about 'breaking it off'. At first I didn't understand what that meant but now it's clear that my brother broke it off with Romano and in the heat of the moment just ran off on us. That's when he disappeared in the woods. But, how does that drive someone to the point of malice and intent to kill? I don't understand."
"W-wait Ludwig-san! If it's true what you say, then maybe Romano isn't answering because he's upset! He might be in one of those funks. Maybe that's why he won't answer the phone!" said Kiku raising his finger. The German's face brightened as he also raised a finger.
"Then Romano isn't in danger! He's just sulking! I have my brother's phone; maybe Romano will answer us then!"
The two dashed inside the car.
"? What's going on?" muttered Feliciano as he sat up from the back seats. Kiku hurridly got inside and clicked on his belt likewise Ludwig as he turned on the car and pulled at the handle.
"We've got an idea why Romano isn't answering you. But first, we have to go somewhere where there's phone service!"
"W-we're turning back? We can't turn back now! We're so close!" cried Feliciano as he grabbed at Ludwig's car seat.
"I understand but the closest town out here is the one we passed back there. We have to hurry-"
"No."
"E-excuse me?" mumbled Ludwig looking at the palm that sat on his shoulder.
"We are not turning back. We are going forward."
"But Feliciano-kun, it'll be faster if we-"
"I don't want to hear it! We are driving to my brother's right now."
A/N: Hey. I'm alive. Sorry for the late update, i'm getting bored to death with textbook reading. Anyway, sorry for all the blood and dying going on, but what can I say? Dark!Spain writing will do that to yah. It took a long time to update because I have finally written up a chart for myself on who dies, how, and who killed them. Yep, that means more slaughter. Don't worry though, Dark!Spain is still going to be our main bad-ass. I'm glad to see all the favorites and story-alerts rising in number.
Body Count: 5. (Vash/Switzerland, Nurse, two soldiers and Edward/Estonia.)
Suspects: Antonio, Roderich, Ivan.
Definite Murders: -None so far-.
[I'll update those stats corresponding to what the characters think/know].