Law would have liked his uninterrupted sleep to remain that way, but it wasn't to be. The dark haired doctor was drawn from his slumber on the living room couch with a knock on the front door. Law sat up slowly, the comforter sliding down onto his lap as he yawned and stretched, before he frowned. From the looks of it, he'd been asleep for several hours, and it was getting later in the evening. Why would someone show up now? He didn't recall expecting anyone that day.
Law reluctantly left his place on the couch and exited the living room. Another knock sounded on the door, and Law answered it this time. The dark haired doctor stared silently at the people that were standing there, and realized that the only one he recognized was Hawkins. "Yes, what is it?" It was only after he'd spoken that Law realized that the other man that was standing there was likely Marco. The person that Ace had mentioned that he would call earlier that day.
Hawkins didn't seem too off put by Law's questioning expression, nor his apparent confusion, "I told you that help would find its way to you in my shop, didn't I? Did Ace not tell you that he had called an acquaintance?" Hawkins looked past Law, toward the upper floor and added casually, "The spell I used is still in effect, it seems. The spirit shouldn't cause us any problems for the time being."
Law took Marco's offered hand and shook it when the shorter haired man stepped forward, "I did talk to Ace about it, but he didn't mention that you'd be showing up so soon."
Marco nodded, looking abashed, "We would have come after I received Ace's call, but I thought he may have been exaggerating, so I didn't leave right away." Marco let go of Law's hand and stepped back, "Are you all right?"
Law nodded, "I suppose we all got lucky." In that Kidd hadn't managed to get him to murder anyone in the house, and that the dark haired doctor was still in one piece, if exhausted, from the possession.
Marco frowned, "What do you mean?"
"You didn't tell them what happened?" Law turned a inquisitive look Hawkins way.
Hawkins gave a light shrug of his shoulders, "I gave them the details, but not how Ace had been injured."
When he saw Marco glance at him for clarification, Law gestured over his shoulder, "If you want me to tell you about it, and what else has been going on in this house, can we do that in the living room? I'd rather not discuss it outside." Law looked past Hawkins and Marco to the younger pink haired woman dressed in an odd looking, ruffled dress that was there with them, "And who is she?"
"This is Perona. She's a psychic and a medium. She came and offered us her help, as she said that she's been sensing other spirit's unease in the area with this house." Marco answered, and glanced over his shoulder, "I believe that now would be the best time to try and make contact with the ghost. If it isn't at full strength, it shouldn't give you too much trouble." Marco turned his attention back to Law, "And we can talk while she does what she's best at. Is that all right with you?"
"Yes, that's fine." Law didn't particularly care one way or another how many people came into the house. It was more Kidd's house than his anyway. At this point, the doctor was willing to try anything to get Kidd to leave him alone.
"Sabo and the others will want to set their equipment up in the house. They wanted to come along as well. Anything potentially haunted in the area and they want to be there to investigate the claims. They prefer a more...scientific approach to investigating paranormal occurrences." Marco said, with a bit of a faint, laidback smile at the thought.
Law couldn't bring himself to smile in return, since he needed no more confirmation, scientific or otherwise, of the ghostly activities that had been taking place in and out of the house. Most of them had been centered around him anyway. The dark haired doctor stepped back to allow Marco into the house, and led the other man to the living room. Law wasn't sure how useful talking about what had happened to him in the past few months would be useful, but was willing to go along with it, for now.
Perona walked along serenely after them, before she paused and looked around the front entry way. She closed her eyes and let her senses drift, and soon enough, she was able to pinpoint the spirits that resided in the house. She hadn't wanted too much information from Marco before she came into the house, but he had been wrong about there being only one spirit in this house. Perona walked over to the small door that led to the cellar, and rested a hand over it.
The pink haired medium let slip a frown. She could sense a fainter spirit that was down there, but the other spirit that was upstairs was more noticeable with its overbearing presence, despite its currently weakened state. It drew her attention more than the spirit that was downstairs, though she felt she would try to communicate with both of them either way. Perona headed up the stairs, and after a moment's pause, slowly entered the master bedroom and held still. The spirit she was sensing was definitely in there, and whether she would be able to establish communication with it was entirely up to the spirit's willingness to speak to her.
Downstairs, a young blond haired man entered the house, and half turned, carrying a suitcase, "Be careful you don't drop those cameras too, Eustass."
"Shut the fuck up, man. That handheld camera wasn't my fault! That girlfriend of yours tripped me on purpose!" The red haired man growled in return as he shifted his grasp on the camera tripods and the suitcase in his hands, and glowered at the blond, "I don't see why the hell you need all of this shit to go looking for fucking ghosts. They're not even really real. It's all in your head."
A short haired young woman nearly bumped into Eustass as she handed off a hat and a jacket to the blond. She completely ignored the red head behind her cursing, "Here Sabo. You forgot these."
"Ah, thanks, Koala." Sabo took the hat and jammed it on his head, and tossed the jacket over one shoulder, "You have the monitors set up in the van all right?"
Koala made a show of rolling her eyes, "Yes Sabo, I've only done this dozens of times. Don't worry, I'll be able to see everything wherever you decide to set the cameras up."
"Okay, okay, just checking." Sabo turned to Eustass, "Set up an infrared camera downstairs, would you? And take down an EMF reader and a digital voice recorder too, while you're at it."
Eustass scowled at the blond, before he set down a few of the tripods, and shouldered only one of them, "You're damn lucky I don't feel like killing you." The red head growled as he went to fish out a few handheld devices from the suitcase he'd been carrying.
Sabo set down the suitcase that he had been holding and opened it, revealing numerous amounts of sensitive electrical equipment, "And yet you were the one who stupidly tried to attack Dragon. It's really your own fault that you got stuck with us. We're supposed to keep an eye on you, so you don't do something like that again."
"You remember the person that set fire to my house? To my damn car? Remember that at all? What was his name again? Ace, right?" Eustass looked around as he straightened up and moved the tripod higher up onto his shoulder, "Too bad that pyro son of a bitch isn't around. I could've sent him to the hospital instead of the ghost. It's his fault that I'm playing caddy for you ghost hunting idiots in the first place."
Sabo checked one of the hand held camera's batteries, not paying the angry red head much attention, "And how is your situation Ace's fault?"
"I only attacked Dragon because I thought that he was that bastard's father, and I could shake him up for some money to get a new home. And a new ride." Eustass said moodily in response as he stuck the EMF reader and digital recorder in his jacket's pockets.
Sabo shook his head as he continued to sort through the equipment he'd brought in, "Koala, do we have any extra batteries? I'd hate for them to be drained and miss getting something on camera." Without turning, Sabo's hand shot up and caught a small bag that had been thrown through the air at him, "Thanks."
"No problem. I'm going to go back outside now. You boys try not to damage anything, okay?" Koala commented, leaving Sabo to figure out which battery went to which camera.
Eustass watched her go as he let out a snigger, "She's got you whipped, huh?"
Sabo finally looked up at the red head and gave him a dour, unimpressed glare, "No, I just know not to mess with her. She is a black belt." Sabo smiled at the change of expression on Eustass' face as he watched the young woman leave the house, "Really? But she's so small."
"And deadly. Don't even think about crossing her. She'll lay you out flat on the ground before you know it."
Eustass turned a grin on Sabo, "Speaking from personal experience?"
Sabo began to fiddle with one of the cameras, "No, I just saw her take down some would be muggers a few times. They all underestimated what they'd gotten themselves into." Sabo raised his eyes to meet Eustass', "Weren't you going to go take that stuff downstairs? I'd like to start gathering evidence soon."
Eustass frowned at being dismissed, but decided it wasn't worth it to argue. Besides, if he had, Sabo would have learned that the red haired man had had his ass handed to him by Koala already. Eustass had made the mistake of trying to coerce her into giving him the keys to her car late one night when he'd been fed up with being ordered around. He was taking the fact with him to the grave that someone much shorter and less muscular than him had taken him down so quickly. Eustass had been unable to look Koala in the eyes for weeks after that. Not because he was afraid, but because the red head would've been very tempted to prove himself better. Eustass had ultimately decided that he didn't want to risk being seen by someone else, as he was likely to only be thrown down again by the petite Koala if another attempt was made.
Eustass shook the unpleasant memory from his thoughts as he headed over to the small door to the cellar, and stooped slightly to head down after he'd opened it. Jokingly, the red head spoke as he went down the stairs, "If a ghost jumps me I'm gonna send your ass to the hospital, Sabo, before your girlfriend can stop me."
"Be careful not to drop the camera." Sabo smiled a little at the pointed curse aimed his way, but other than that, paid Eustass no more heed at the moment. However, if the blond had looked up, he would have noticed that the cellar door swung shut soundlessly several minutes after Eustass had been down in the cellar.
-x
Perona closed the door of the master bedroom behind her, and stood in the semi gloom. She could sense the spirit better now, and could tell that for now, it merely seemed to be curious with her presence. As if the spirit wasn't quite sure what to make of her. The longer she stood there without speaking, however, she could sense a change in the spirit's mood. It had gone to being suspicious, as well as distrustful and uneasy. Perona spoke calmly, not wanting to agitate it, "I can tell that you know that you are dead. Why do you still remain in this world? Why do you bother the living, and try to cause harm to others?"
Perona could feel herself being stared at, before she heard a ghostly whisper of air that accompanied the spirit's response. The response made her wary, and Perona waited a moment before she spoke again, "Who are you looking for, Eustass Kidd?" Perona could feel surprise from the spirit, but she'd already known as much. The pink haired medium was honestly shocked when she received a response. It gave her an idea of what Law had been through, at the very least, "The person you are looking for isn't in that man. You can't continue to torment him in the hopes that the person you're searching for will appear. Because he isn't there, Eustass. The Trafalgar Law that you're looking for has never been in him, and never will be."
Perona felt the room's temperature drop several degrees, and could sense Kidd's rising anger at being told the person he was trying to find wasn't where he thought he was all this time. Perona continued on, "You've been blinding yourself to the truth that's been around you. You've been blocking out the very person you've been searching for." Perona fell silent immediately when she felt Kidd gather up some energy, and started a little at the fact that the spirit managed to make himself audible to the human ear. Rough, furious denial laced his words.
"Shut the fuck up! You're lying! He's in there somewhere, and I'm going to find him! Don't interfere!"
Perona backed away slowly, and exited the room when some of the items on the nearby dresser were violently knocked off and thrown across the room, "Calm down. You're only wasting your energy. I will leave you, for now, but I wish to speak to you again later." Perona left the room entirely, and closed the door. She heard a scream of utter rage echo from within, but it was only her that heard it, as Kidd had used up the energy he'd gathered to say his previous words, and knock the items around.
Perona thought she ought to let the others know what little she'd learned. She had an idea forming in her mind of what was going on in the house, and was fairly certain of who the other spirit in the house was. Perona was left to ponder why Kidd didn't seem to notice the other spirit's presence. The house was obviously the red haired spirit's originally, so he should have been able to sense everything that was going on in his own home. But for some reason, Kidd was so fixated on Law that he didn't seem to realize that the person he was so desperately trying to find was already there, waiting for him.
The pink haired medium headed for the stairs. Perona felt that she had to mention to Eustass to stay away from the other spirit in the basement, since he resembled Kidd so much. Perona reached the bottom of the stairs and spotted Sabo setting up some of his equipment. She turned her head one way, and then the other, "Where is Eustass?"
Sabo glanced up, "Oh, hi Perona. Done communing with the spirit already?"
Perona gave Sabo a superior look, "Not yet. The spirit got a little overemotional, so I'll have to go back and speak to him later, once he's calmed down and in a somewhat reasonable mood." Perona fixed her gaze on Sabo, and repeated her previous question, "Where is Eustass?"
Sabo didn't question the medium this time as he responded, "I had him go downstairs to set up some of the equipment. Why?"
"Get him back up here, now." Perona's voice was clipped, worried.
"What's the problem?" Sabo wondered, and he stiffened as Perona was suddenly right up in front of him, all but glowering at him.
"Because the spirit upstairs looks like him, and the spirit downstairs is the one that he is looking for."
Sabo stared at the medium for a moment, before he realized what she was hinting at. The blond crossed out of the living room and to the closed cellar door. Sabo reached out to open it, but found that it was stuck fast. "What the...?" Sabo jiggled the door handle, but still couldn't get the door to open. "There's not a lock..." He mumbled, tugging at the door with more force.
It didn't budge.
Perona came up beside Sabo and reached out to lay a hand on the door. She held it there for a moment, before her eyes widened, and she whirled to face Sabo, "Get Hawkins. Now." As the blond went off to do as asked, the pink haired medium ran her hand over the cellar door again.
It seemed that she'd come back downstairs too late to give Eustass the warning, and Perona silently apologized for not getting there sooner. The energy holding the door closed was extremely malevolent, and the aura of the energy only seemed to grow with every passing moment.
-x
Eustass set up the equipment down in the cellar quietly, still sulking a little after being basically ordered to do it by Sabo. Eustass turned the camera so that the view would cover most of the cellar. The red haired man shook his head as he turned on the EMF reader and held it up. No matter how much he disliked Sabo, the blond idiot was right that he had basically gotten himself into this mess on his own. That didn't mean that he liked his situation any more than if it hadn't been his fault.
Eustass placed the EMF reader and digital recorder on a shelf in the storage area. Eustass felt a cool breeze briefly pass him, and held back a shiver at the sudden drop in temperature that followed. Eustass narrowed his eyes as he double checked the infrared camera. While he didn't believe in the paranormal, that didn't mean that he was not going to entertain the possibility of it. The cold that he was feeling right now certainly didn't seem to be natural, even if the cellar was underground. The red haired man glanced at a handheld temperature gauge in his left hand, and saw the temperature was steadily dropping from where it'd been earlier. It had been at 68 degrees, but it had dropped down to 60, and was steadily falling further.
Eustass turned toward the stairs as he pocketed the temperature gauge. He wasn't about to stay and see if bullshit poltergeist or ghostly phenomena was going to happen to him. Although, if it did, it would give him an excuse to follow through on the threat he'd made to Sabo. Unfortunately for Eustass, the ghost in the cellar had had it's eyes locked onto him ever since he'd come down there, and it wasn't about to let him walk away so easily.
-x
Trafalgar had had to restrain himself from immediately leaping at the red haired man as soon as he set eyes on him. The dark haired ghost had watched Eustass set up the equipment he'd brought down with him, and had taken the time to admire the other with a hungry gaze as he gave the red head a once over. While Trafalgar had originally only intended to scare the other a little, he decided that he needed a way to let out some pent up aggression over Kidd being an oblivious idiot.
Trafalgar began to walk toward Eustass when it seemed that the other man was nearly finished with whatever it was that he was doing. The dark haired ghost smirked that it was only when he got almost got right up next to him that Eustass finally noticed his presence. Trafalgar almost laughed at the way the red haired man abruptly turned and headed for the stairs. The ghostly doctor's smile widened. He'd made up his mind with what he was going to do now, and he wasn't going to let Eustass leave so quickly. Trafalgar reached out and wrapped a hand around the red head's nearest wrist. The dark haired ghost loved the startled reaction that he received. It must be disconcerting for someone unseen to grab someone else. Trafalgar tugged at the wrist that he held in his cold grasp, and used the small amount of energy that he drew from Eustass in that moment to forcefully drag the other man away from the stairs.
Trafalgar waved his free hand at the door at the top of the stairs, and closed it without too much trouble. His actions drew an interesting sound from Eustass, who backed away toward one corner of the cellar after freeing himself of the ghost's touch. The sight Trafalgar was presented with reminded him of when he and Kidd had first gotten together. Kidd had seemed so confident when he'd met him, so arrogant and rude, that the sudden vulnerable side Kidd had shown him was so very fascinating to his potential lover. The nervous air hadn't lasted for very long when it became clear to the red haired man just how sick in the mind the doctor really was. Trafalgar had been able to be himself for the first time around someone else, and that first night with Kidd had been the most fun they'd both likely had in a very long time.
They had both had problems with being too extreme for their previous lovers.
The dark haired ghost reached out a hand toward Eustass teasingly, and laughed as the motion made the red head back away from him more quickly. It made Trafalgar think that the other man had perhaps been able to see him. Or at the very least sense that he was there. The expression of surprise that had crossed Eustass' face sure made the ghost think that it was one of the two things. Trafalgar smiled again. He was going to use this chance to draw out more energy from Kidd's doppelganger. And while he did that, he was going to muse about what he'd do with Kidd once he got his hands on his wayward lover. Even if he had had quite a lot of time already to think about such things.
Trafalgar edged even closer, backing Eustass into the storage area of the cellar. Which was just where the other wanted him to be. Trapped with nowhere to run. The dark haired ghost knew that he had more experience taking energy away from his surroundings and the living than Kidd did. And how to use that energy. With the red haired ghost's power lower at the moment, it made it all the more easy. With a few more steps, Trafalgar had Eustass trapped against the wall, and he was able to close the distance that had been between them.
Within a few moments, Eustass was overwhelmed by the prolonged exposure to Trafalgar's icy cold presence. The sensation of having his energy sapped from him made Eustass sway in place dazedly, until he was forced to sit down on the ground when his feet could no longer support him. The red head was shaking slightly and unable to do much else other than to let out a faint sound of utter confusion. What was going on?
Trafalgar half turned and his eyes were drawn up to the lights in the cellar. With a slight effort on his part, Trafalgar sapped the energy out of those lights and plunged the area into complete darkness. Not that it bothered him overly much, as he was quite used to it after being in the shadows for over one hundred years. He could see perfectly well with or without light. Trafalgar didn't want Eustass to get a very good look at him, but had wanted to be seen just enough to have Kidd overhear talk of another ghost in the house. Maybe that would get his attention.
The dark haired ghost crouched before Eustass, his mind swirling with different possibilities with what he was going to do with the man before him. While Trafalgar didn't particularly want to be zeroed in by the strangers that were currently in the house, he really couldn't resist the opportunity that had presented itself to him.
Trafalgar blamed his lover's lack of attention for what he did next. Not that he regretted it one bit, as twisted as he was to begin with. No, it was fun to him, and he was just disappointed that it wasn't his Kidd that he had cornered.
But he would make do with what he had.