Hmm… yes. Another chapter. I'm still working on the AU oneshots. Also, the falcon's name is entirely a headcanon, as Zane calls him friend in the show and he doesn't have a definitive canon name.
Part Two: Accident or Murder?
The group met the next day beneath the huckleberry tree in the front yard. Kai and Nya were there first, and Nya had a pair of dreamcatcher earrings on. Kai had a book on Ninjas. Lloyd and Zane arrived next. Lloyd was carrying a bag of stuff from his Uncle Wu, and Zane had a falcon perched on his wrist. Jay walked over, clutching his monster manual as he dropped into a cross-legged position on the warm summer grass. Kai looked up as Jay and Zane approached, and gave a mildly surprised expression. "Is that a falcon?"
"Yes," Zane nodded, sitting down gently on the grass. The falcon, who was hooded, made a soft squeaking noise, and Zane reached up to touch it's soft, fluffy feathers. "He's my father's, but I thought we could use him to locate spirits."
"In the attic?!" Jay exclaimed, shuddering hard. "No way am I going up there again!"
"Not the attic," Zane answered. "The basement."
Kai tilted his head. "Why the basement? Is there something special down there?"
"The fusebox is in the basement, as are the primary power sources. I believe that spirits would be able to appear to us easier because of the increased electrical charge," Zane answered, stroking his falcon's breast feathers as it bumped his fingers with its beak.
"Well, that makes sense," Nya shrugged. "Should we head down?"
"Woah, woah, woah, slow down, sis," Kai jumped in. "Let's say, we go down into the basement, something spooky happens, and you all start blaming me. That wouldn't be fair."
"I don't really want to go there either," Lloyd added. "There are some… bad memories." He shuddered hard. The falcon chirped, sensing his anxiety.
"What do you mean?" Nya asked him.
"My cousin, Morro," Lloyd swallowed. "He… he was in the basement when he fell into a boarded-up well and died from asphyxiation when he couldn't breathe."
"That's…" Kai was at a loss for words. "That's terrifying." Nope, apparently, he wasn't.
Lloyd nodded, looking at the ground.
Everyone glanced around uneasily, unsure of how to respond until Zane held the arm with the falcon on it towards Lloyd.
"Would you like to pet Buddy?" He offered. "That makes me feel better."
Lloyd smiled slightly, stroking one of the falcon's wings. "His name's Buddy?"
Zane nodded. "My brother Echo named him," His smile faltered.
Kai and Nya made eye contact, but Jay tilted his head, confused. "You have a brother?"
Zane nodded. "Yes. We moved here so we could be closer to the hospital for his treatments."
"Zane, I'm," Jay watched him for a minute. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"You're okay," Zane nodded. "I should have explained when I brought him up."
An uncomfortable silence followed.
Nya finally broke it. "So, we headed down to the basement, or what?"
"I'm going down there," Kai noted, standing up with a cheeky grin. "Don't know about you guys, but I kinda want to see some ghosts."
"I'll come," Zane added. "I am the one with Buddy, after all."
"I'm coming," Nya added. "Jay?"
"Um," Jay shivered in the warms sunlight, glancing around the front yard. There was no way he'd tell any of the others how scared he really was. "Yeah, heh. I'll come."
Everyone looked at Lloyd, who took a deep breath and straightened his shoulder. "I'm coming too." He bit his lip anxiously.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Kai asked, hopping up off the grass.
"How… do we get into the basement?" Jay asked. "Is there a door or…"
"There's a cellar on the South side of the house," Kai answered. "C'mon. It'll be fine."
The group followed Kai across the wide, green, sunny lawn, under several cottonwood trees, and then alongside the house. Buddy chirped slightly, but Zane calmed the bird down, stroking its soft feathers. Nya kept watch for adults, but Lloyd was shaking, clutching his bag of stuff from his Uncle.
"Hey, Lloyd?" Jay asked, looking around the younger boy's fuzzy mop of blond hair. "What's in that bag?"
Lloyd shrugged. "My Uncle is super into like… Paranormal Investigations and stuff, and he let me borrow some of his things." He opened the bag and let Jay look inside. "There's an EMP detector and a laser thermometer. There's also a spirit box and a couple of flashlights."
"What's a spirit box?" Nya asked as they arrived at a foreboding black door, halfway set in the ground, with a sturdy padlock on the front. Kai leaned forward, then observed the padlock for a second and began entering the three-digit code.
"It's like a word bank… I think," Lloyd explained. "You can talk to spirits and they talk back using the box."
"That's… really creepy," Jay answered.
"Yeah, it kind of is," Lloyd added. "But it's supposed to work super well. Mine's just a modified radio, but my Uncle Wu says it's worked for him before."
"I got it!" Kai exclaimed, holding the open lock with a proud grin on his face. "Ready?"
"Yeah!" Nya grinned at him.
Zane nodded, and Buddy chirped.
"Uh-huh," Lloyd swallowed.
"Yeah, heh," Jay smiled anxiously, squeezing his hands.
"Come on down," Kai explained, ducking down the narrow stairs to the bottom of the creepy basement. "Watch the spiderweb," he pointed it out for everyone else to see.
Jay was the last one down, and he shuddered, half because that spider looked like it was definitely about to eat him, and half because the basement was really, really cold. It didn't smell too good either… like… dead things and moldy dirt.
The room, however, looked exactly like one of the sets Jay had watched Cliff act on back in Hollywood. It was super similar to the set of Arabella, a movie about a demonic doll. Jay shivered and moved closer to Nya. Yikes. Hopefully, there were no demons down here.
Lloyd pulled a super-soaker from his bag and looked alert.
"What's the water gun for?" Kai asked, investigating a couple of rickety old chairs that looked older than the house.
"I got my dad to bless it," Lloyd answered, swirling around to point it at a stray shadow (that was most likely caused by Buddy, who was making horrid little squeaking noises at the spiders). "So it's full of Holy Water."
"Is that sacrilegious?" Nya inquired, peering at some old bottles that had probably held brandy at some point or another.
"I mean, he agreed to it, so… I don't know," Lloyd answered, grabbing an old fire poker and stabbing a couple of plywood planks on the floor.
"Why are you doing that?" Jay asked, observing an old crate that may have held sugar at some point.
"I'm trying to find where the well is," Lloyd answered. "So none of us join Morro."
"Wasn't Morro alone?" Zane added to Jay's question, holding Buddy up to a lamp in the shape of Christoph Sparrow, a character from Winnifred the Booh. "If any of us fell in, couldn't the others go for help?"
"I guess," Lloyd pulled a piece of chalk out of his bag and circled part of the wall. "Hey don't touch this, there are some rusty nails."
He stepped forward and immediately fell through the floor.
Nya shrieked, and Kai shouted, both diving to try and grab Lloyd before he fell into the well. Zane almost dropped Buddy, who squawked in protest, but Jay couldn't move. He stood, frozen in horror as his friend fell through the moldering plywood towards the bottom of the well.
Wind rushed through the basement, and Lloyd's hoodie stood straight up before he was dragged out of the well and halfway across the dingy basement floor. The same wind picked up Lloyd's forgotten piece of chalk and slowly drew a wide circle on the floor.
Fear spiked through Jay, but before he could do anything, a bright orb manifested on the ground, molding, and shaping, as if some unseen sculptor was forming it, finally the light faded, and in its place, stood a teenager.
He was around fourteen, with long black hair, dark green eyes and he was wearing a ghostbusters t-shirt. He also looked really annoyed.
Lloyd looked up at the ghost, trembling, and only managed to hoarsely whisper one word. "Morro?"
"The one and only," the ghost answered. "Hey, cuz, long time no see, huh?"
"B-b-b-but you died," Lloyd scrambled backward, but only managed to crash into Kai's shin, who was frozen in shock beside Nya. He scrambled for his Super Soaker, and shut his eyes, aiming it at Morro.
Morro hopped out of the way just as he fired. "JEEZ, Lloyd, watch where you're pointing that!" He glided to stand next to Zane and tried to pet Buddy, who was freaking out. "Is this how you greet the person who saved you from falling into a well?"
Nya snapped out of her horrified trance, shaking her head. "Wait, that was you?"
"Of course," Morro scoffed. "Who else? Besides, I gotta look out for my little cousin. It's what Wu would want." He yanked his fingers away from Buddy's razor-sharp beak as the falcon snapped at him.
"You mean… you're really Morro?" Lloyd asked, pulling himself off the floor and crossing the room to stand before his ethereal cousin.
"Duh," Morro grinned at him. "You can ask a security question if you still want to know."
"Okay," Lloyd looked around the room, spotting a set of salt-and-pepper shakers in the shape of chickens. "What kind of animal does Wu have as a pet?"
"Your uncle has a pet?" Kai asked, spinning around to grin at him. Nya shushed him.
Morro shrugged. "A chicken, duh."
"You are Morro!" Lloyd exclaimed, trying to throw his arms around Morro to give him a hug but failing. Morro patted his head instead.
"Yup," the ghost added, fluffing Lloyd's hair. "Anyway, I better go back to being invisible. Being physical like this is… exhausting."
"Wait," Jay jumped in. "If you see a ghost named Cole, will you ask him to talk to us?"
"We were using an Ouija Board and talked to both of them," Nya added. "We were going to talk to Cole."
"And also a spirit named Yang," Kai added.
"NO," Everyone screamed at him, including Morro.
"Why?" Kai asked, folding his arms and pouting. "He's a ghost, it's not like he can do anything to us."
"Yang is dangerous," Morro warned. "But he can't do anything unless you invite him to. Ignore him and you'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" Nya asked, looking worried.
"Positive," Morro answered, before floating across the basement. "I'll get Cole. Seeya!"
He vanished.
"Really, Kai," Nya snapped at her brother. "There is no way we should communicate with Yang, that's crazy!"
"Please don't say his name," A deepish voice from across the room called. Lloyd scrambled for his EMP detector and turned it on, pointing it towards the sound of the voice. Hysterical beeping followed.
Out from the shadows emerged a ghost boy. He was about their age, with handsomely tanned ghostly skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair.
Moving silently across the floor, he adjusted the pale burlap tunic he was wearing and came to float before them. Buddy chirred, then flew off Zane's arm to perch on the shelving, chirping happily at the boy, demanding pats.
The ghost stroked the falcon's head, and the bird butted him in a friendly manner.
"Are you… Cole?" Jay asked, unable to take his eyes off the ghost.
"Well, yeah," he answered. "You're… Lloyd?"
"No," Jay's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm Jay."
"I'm Lloyd," Lloyd added, trying to wave but accidentally throwing the EMP detector across the room. He winced as it destroyed a moldy chair.
"Sorry," Cole smiled uneasily. "It's kind of hard to tell people apart without eyes."
"That is quite alright," Zane smiled. "I am Zane, and the falcon is named Buddy."
Buddy chirred again.
"I'm Nya," Nya introduced herself. "And this is Kai." She pointed to her brother, who was staring at Cole in awe. "We wanted to talk to you."
"You did?" Cole asked, moving to sit on a crate, watching them with his ghostly black eyes. "About what?"
"What's up with…" Kai paused. "Y-A-N-G?"
Cole's brow furrowed, but when he realized what Kai had said, his brow furrowed. "He's a spirit, like me." Cole shrugged. "We're both here. Anything else?"
"How'd you die?" Nya inquired.
Cole kicked his feet, looking at his legs. "I… um… I don't want to talk about it. I can show you where it happened, though."
"Would you?" Zane asked, tilting his head. Buddy flew to his shoulder. "We have yet to explore most of the basement."
Cole nodded, then stood, getting off his crate and leading the way towards a section of the wall that was boarded up. Pushing against it, the plywood and drywall partially melted in a showering stream of dust and debris.
As they walked through the cellar, Jay came to stand beside Cole, watching the ghost out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Cole," He finally asked, trying to attract the ghost's attention.
"Yes?" Cole asked, glancing around the dimly lit basement.
"What's your favorite food?"
Cole started in surprise, stopping suddenly and surprising everyone else. He glanced at Jay with wide eyes. "Why do you want to know?"
"Oh," Jay chuckled nervously. "I mean, we've been pestering you about, um, how you died and stuff, and I didn't think anyone ever asked you that before."
Cole sighed, his shoulder slumping. He began walking again. "No, no one's ever asked me that before. Most people just see me and scream."
"That's really sad," Jay answered, not knowing what else to say. He glanced at the dimly lit cellar as the group proceeded in awkward silence.
"Cake," Cole finally said, his voice making it final. "Pecan cake in particular. Mrs. Mystake, our cook, made a really good pecan cake. Once she made an entire one for my birthday."
Zane, always the intellectual one, came to join them. "What was life like for you in the manor?"
"Fine, I guess," Cole shrugged. "I didn't really like Mr. Y-A-N-G. My dad and I lived here as… domestic servants. His niece, however, her name was Seliel, she and I played a lot. It was fun."
"Whatever happened to her?" Kai came to join them, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I dunno," Cole shrugged. "I died at ten, and never saw her again. I don't even know if she lived through the war."
"Oh," Jay glanced aside sadly. "That's awful."
"Do you remember dying?" Nya added, peeking around Kai.
"No," Cole answered with a shrug. "I don't really remember a lot about my life before this whole ghost thing."
"Yikes," Lloyd used his small size to squirm between Kai and Zane. "How did you- um," He appeared to suddenly remember the silent agreement over not talking about how Cole died and bit his lip.
"How did I what?" Cole asked, looking over his shoulder at Lloyd.
"Um…" Lloyd scrambled. "How'd you… end up here?"
"I was born here, actually," Cole glanced at the must ceiling. "I think we're directly under the room I was born in."
Zane observed the ceiling for a while. "That's fascinating."
Cole nodded, then stopped suddenly. "We're here."
"Here… oh, where you died," Kai tilted his head, confused. "Are you sure?"
Nya rolled her eyes.
Cole squinted at the floor, then his whole body went rigid. "We have to leave."
"But we just got here!" Lloyd protested. "We were going to investigate-"
"NOW," Cole snarled. "We have to get out!"
He grabbed Jay and Nya's arms, dragging both of them back towards the basement doors, muttering frantically.
Nya fought against it. "OW! Let me go!" She squirmed, shoving his hand off and falling backward. "What's wrong with you!?"
"You don't get it!" Cole argued. "The- there's- arrrggg," He sighed heavily. "I can't say it. I can't tell you. Speaking about it only gives him power."
It was assumed by everyone that he meant Yang.
"I have a pen and paper," Lloyd offered, fishing a red pen and sketchpad from his bag, handing them to Cole. Cole scooped up the pen and jaggedly wrote out a few sentences before handing it back.
"Don't read this until you leave the basement," He instructed. "And don't come back."
He twisted around and disappeared. Everyone stared at the space where he stood for a long time before they all agreed that it might be best to abandon the basement.
When they reached the sunny side yard, however, they decided to read Cole's message. Nya took the paper from Lloyd and unfolded it gently.
There, written in Cole's jagged scrawl, was a list of six random words.
PENTAGRAM
I
DIED
MORRO
IS
YANG
Lloyd took the paper back. "What do you think it means? Morro's not Yang."
"I think Cole's trying to warn us about something," Zane added, petting a disgruntled Buddy. "But… What?"
Jay looked over Lloyd's shoulder. "What's a pentagram?"
"It's a five-pointed star with a circle around it," Kai answered, observing the paper curiously.
"It's sometimes associated with evil, particularly the devil," Nya added to Kai's statement.
"I do not believe that with our current knowledge level, we will be able to solve this mystery," Zane interrupted. "Pertaining to Cole's death and Morro's apparition.
"What do you mean, Zane?" Lloyd asked, folding the paper and sliding it into his bag.
"I think we should gather knowledge about the supernatural before continuing our investigation," Zane answered. "My father has an extensive collection of books. Would you all like to come over for lunch to investigate?"
"Sure," Nya answered. Kai nodded.
"Okay," Lloyd shifted his bag.
Jay swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry at the prospect of meeting his friend's family. "Um, yeah, heh."
"Come, then," Zane smiled, "I'll show you inside."
As the group walked away, however, no one noticed the ghost that was watching them from beneath a willow tree. He stroked his black beard with a thin, spindly hand. He smiled, showing his ugly, rotting teeth.
Then he flickered and disappeared into the shadows.