A/N: Hey guys, I'm not dead lol, just been busy with other things. I think I've mentioned before that this isn't my main project but as a shameless self-advertisement if you want to check out the fic that's been eating up so much of my time- it's called "To Dream of Spiders". You can find it on my stories and it's a Hunter x Hunter Oc fic. I have no plans to abandon this story, so don't worry about that.

To pendora59: I'm glad that it's caught your interest! I hope you stick around despite my shitty update schedule.

To AxZi: I've got so much planned! I noticed the similarities between the Akuma and the Second Exorcists back when I was reading the manga, so what kind of author would I be if I didn't force everyone to see it too? CX Sorry for the unreliable updates, but hopefully part 2 of this will be up before the end of the month.

To Deacog: I'm glad you're liking it so far! I'm trying to keep an air of mystery about the future events of this fic but I can assure you that you won't know the exorcist coming along for the ride.

To sousie: Oh man, if Cross came along, then she would be majorly screwed! Maybe I can arrange a meeting between the two later on in the story since making my characters suffer is a hobby of mine lolol.

"There was something wrong with that little girl," Ethan told Liam seriously after the Spanish priest had agreed to shelter them both in the small rooms adjacent to the church and had left to speak to the other people still inside the building.

"You mean the one that looked terrified of us?" Liam turned to glance at the door the girl and the old woman had walked through minutes ago. He quirked a brow questioningly. "I don't know, Ethan. She just looked like a normal kid to me."

Ethan didn't move his eyes away from the large church door. His body was tense as if he was preparing for something to burst through it any moment. Small drops of sweat beaded on the edges of his hairline. He looked like he was about to be sick.

"No, Liam," He argued weakly, "You don't understand." His face was wan- complexion gone pale with horror. His breathing was quick. "You didn't see what I did. There was this terrible look in her eyes. She knew what we were, Liam. Somehow she knew-"

"Hey, hey, hey," Liam cut in soothingly, trying to calm down his mission partner before the man worked himself into hysterics. He placed a gentle hand on Ethan's shoulder and the other Finder flinched at the contact. "Let's go to the room and take a breather, okay? Whatever it is we'll handle it together, like we always do."

He led his partner towards the back rooms with a soft touch his upper arm. Carefully. As to not startle him with any unexpected movements.

The back of the church was just as the front of it, the walls made of slate-gray stone and built with arched ceilings tall enough to not feel suffocating. The hall to their borrowed room was lined with wide windows, the view from a glance showing the gardens lining the edges of the church and the silhouettes of townspeople on their way home in the distance.

Liam wondered if one of those figures was the little girl that had set his partner so on edge. Liam's mother had taught him not to pry into the lives of others, but every time Ethan pointed out another child that he thought 'odd', Liam had to force himself to hold his tongue and push back the questions that wanted to rush out of his mouth.

This kind of behavior from Ethan wasn't anything new.

It wasn't the first time he lost his composure over a child that had done nothing to warrant such suspicion, to begin with.

It's not like Ethan was the first Finder that had personal issues due to people that set them off. He could guess as to why Ethan was so jumpy around children- most likely the same reason he didn't feel comfortable in the presence of blonde girls with gray eyes- but out of all the Finders Liam had met, Ethan was the worst at hiding what kind of person he feared.

The communicators on their backs clanked with each step they took, filling the empty hall to their borrowed rooms with a metallic clang that ate up the silence their boots on the stone floor could not. Liam was grateful for the sound; it meant that he didn't have to talk in order to make the quiet lessen.

They reached the room without encountering anyone else.

Liam slid the door shut behind them and watched as the color slowly came back into Ethan's face. He shrugged out of the straps for the communicator and carefully placed it near the bed he decided he'd claim after an initial glance at the room.

The bedroom was modest.

Two nightstands; two twin beds, linens, and pillows already in place; wooden crosses nailed over each of the beds. A single window lay between the two beds, a straight-shot view to the church cemetery around the back of the building.

He sat on his bed, the frame creaking but settling after a moment.

It's not like he could complain- it was exactly what they had requested, a place to stay at while they waited for the Order to give them the location of the Exorcist they were to meet up with for their mission.

Ethan cleared his throat, his fingers tapping on his leg and more color present in his face. "I'm okay now," he murmured, taking off his own communicator after a moment and slowly sitting himself down on the bed. "I'm okay."

Liam nodded encouragingly.

He waited for Ethan to explain, for the hundredth time, why this little girl was just as evil as the other innocent children they've come across during the time they've been partners.

There was a part of him that wanted to let out the words bubbling in his chest, to stop Ethan's excuses before they began. Except, years ago, it was him in Ethan's place. It was him who felt the blood freeze in his veins at the sight of someone who looked just like she did and back then, there had been another Finder, one of his first friends to help him through the panic that wanted to claw its way up his throat.

And so, when Ethan began to speak; it was all Liam could do to prop his chin on his palm, draping his other arm across his knee and listened to his partner's excuses once again.

The sun rose from the east, entering through the window they'd forgotten to draw the curtains over the moment it peeked over the horizon.

The light brightened the room and Liam switched from unconsciousness to awareness in the space between a breath. He took a moment to blink the bleariness out of his eyes and sat upright. Ethan was still asleep. When he turned his gaze towards his partner, the only thing visible was black hair sticking out from a figure entirely wrapped in the blanket. He could hear his partner's soft snores, the sound breaking the silence in their borrowed bedroom.

Liam smiled at the sight before yawning and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, his bare feet coming into contact with the cool stone. The chill sent a shock through his nerves that woke him fully and had him quickly reaching into his pack for socks.

He supposed it would be easier to just sleep with his socks on if only to avoid touching the cold ground when he tried standing up. But the few times he had tried to do that were spent with him unable to sleep until the woolen abominations were kicked off. At this point in his life, Liam was resigned to the fact he was incapable of sleeping with socks on. It was something that Ethan, with his 'special sleeping socks', made jokes over when it was mentioned.

At least Liam didn't carry around socks specifically for the purpose of sleeping.

Now, that was weird.

He took his time rifling through his bag, sorting out clean clothes for the day ahead and making a mental note to ask the priest from yesterday, Father Antonio, about somewhere he could wash his dirty laundry. He examined his Finder cloak, deciding that it could use a wash as well considering the hem was freckled with mud and dirt from the journey here.

Quietly, Liam gathered his clean change of clothing and made his way to the bedroom door. The door, hinges recently oiled, swung open without so much as a squeak. Liam made sure that it did not slam shut behind him.

There was a bathroom behind the first door to the right in the hall. Liam found it there last night after Ethan had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep and he had spent some time searching for it.

By the time he returned to the bedroom, Ethan was awake and looking around the empty room in sleepy confusion. His expression cleared at the sight of Liam entering the room.

"Bathroom," Liam elaborated at Ethan's inquisitive stare.

"Was wondering where you went," Ethan said with a yawn, shooting Liam a grin after a moment. "Figures you'd take forever."

"It's not like we're in any hurry. Until the Order contacts us with our mission location I'm considering this a mini-vacation." Liam retorted. "God knows it's the only way I'm getting one." He added in a surly grumble.

Ethan rolled his eyes and unwound himself from the blanket he was tangled in. "You're starting to sound your age, old man." He looked better than he did the night before, face no longer pale, voice no longer trembling.

Liam was glad.

He didn't appreciate Ethan's idiocy though. Liam's brow twitched and the bundle of yesterday's clothing in his hands hit Ethan squarely in the face. "Shut up moron. You're only two years younger than I am. If I'm old what's that supposed to make you?"

"It makes me a youthful teenager," Ethan said brightly as his feet found the ground at last. He left the blanket in a crumpled pile on the bed, a complete opposite of Liam's own neatly folded blanket. The obnoxious yellow of his sleeping socks starkly contrasted with the gray stone floor. The wool making his steps silent as he walked to the end of the bed and dug through his bag for clothing.

"Youthful teenager, my ass," Liam muttered even as his lips curled upward. Technically, he supposed Ethan could be considered a teenager since Ethan's nineteenth birthday wasn't until August and Liam had already turned twenty-one that February.

"Keep that kind of attitude up Liam," Ethan wiped away imaginary tears, "And you might just hurt my feelings."

"Hurry up already!" Liam groaned loudly as his stomach tightened, "I'm hungry and we still have to figure out where we can buy food in this town."

"Fineee, no need to give yourself a heart attack, old man." With that said, the younger Finder marched off to the bathroom with a dramatic huff.

Liam's stomach gurgled again and he sighed.

Now, to wait for Ethan to take his time in the bathroom.

Ayamonte was much more welcoming during the daytime than the dusk, that was for sure. There were people hustling about, flitting from stall to stall like bees flying from blossom to blossom. Voices clamored together as merchants advertised their goods. The air smelled like the ocean, crisp and fresh, with the faintest tang of sea-salt.

It was a good facade, he wouldn't have noticed anything was wrong had he not been a Finder. Liam could see that there was a nervous energy present in the people that spoke of fear and anxiety. There was something happening in this town. Something that was spoken of in whispers that vanished when they neared and hidden behind brittle smiles.

"Is it just me or is this town on edge?" Ethan asked; hands twined behind his head and blue eyes sharply taking in the sight of another group of villagers passing them by with their heads bowed. "There's something wrong."

"Yeah," Liam agreed, taking a bite of the grilled fish he had purchased a few stalls back. "We should figure out what it is before we leave."

The bells of the church tolled, marking the passing of time.

Ethan sighed but let a small smile curl his lips. He wasn't against the idea. "I thought you wanted this to be a mini vacation? What happened to resting your old man bones?"

"I keep telling you I'm not that old," Liam chastised, pointing the skewered fish at the younger man with a playful scowl before turning a wistful gaze to the spire of the church. "And though I haven't called Spain my home in years, it's still the place where I was born. I have a patriotic duty to help this town out."

"I didn't know you were Spanish," Ethan muttered and shot him a guilty look.

"And I absolutely knew you were English."

They wandered around the marketplace for a bit longer, peering at the wares on display and taking note of any they'd have to come back to purchase another day. Their mission of the day was finding a washerwoman to leave their filthy clothing with.

Their white coats would need to be washed too, Liam realized with a sigh. They couldn't keep on going around with bloodstained and mud-crusted coats without standing out more than they already did. And if there was something truly wrong in this town like they felt there was, then standing out more than they needed to was the last thing they needed.

Between getting lost in the winding streets of the small coastal town and losing the coin toss to determine who was going to ask for directions back to the church, Liam let out an exhausted sigh as he approached an older man sweeping the front of his home.

"Con permiso," ("Excuse me,") He called softly, taking care to not startle the man, "Me puede ayudar a encontrar la iglesia desde aquí?" ("Could you help me find the church from here?")

The old man jumped regardless, whirling around with the broom brandished like a weapon. The whites of his eyes stood starkly out from his ashen face. His mouth was curled in a soundless snarl. The broom was held aloft for a moment- long enough for Liam to jump back and out of reach of the makeshift weapon- before being slowly lowered when the two Finders did nothing more than raise their hands defensively and watch with sharp eyes.

"Quien son?" The old man demanded, his breathing less erratic than seconds before but the lines of his face deepened by the heavy frown he wore. ("Who are you?")

Ethan and Liam shared a wary glance, communicating without words until Ethan gave a small nod and Liam stepped forward. "Yo soy Liam, y este es mi compañero Ethan. Está bien señor? No fue nuestra intención asustarlo." ("I'm Liam and this is my companion, Ethan. Are you alright sir? It wasn't our intention to scare you.")

The man stared at them with careful eyes before he sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "Perdon," ("Sorry,") He mumbled in embarrassment, "Todos estamos agitados recientemente." ("We're all on edge recently.")

"Que ha pasado para tenerlos así?" ("What's happened to have you all like this?") Liam prodded carefully. It was clear the man was more willing to speak with them than the other townspeople.

Said man tightened his hold on the broomstick for a moment before he loosened his grip. He cast wary eyes at the people hustling on the streets around him and gestured for them to come closer.

"La maldición de las minas comenzó en nuestro pueblo," ("The curse of the mines began in our town,") He said when Liam and Ethan carefully stepped forward.

Liam saw Ethan's eyes widen and tried to hold back his own shock at the declaration. Of course, they had heard the rumors of the Rio Tinto mines, they were Finders after all and part of the reason they were waiting in Ayamonte, to begin with, was to gather more information about the events occurring all over the Huelva Province.

"Tres años atrás la primera persona desapareció," ('Three years ago the first person disappeared,")

In the distance, the church bells tolled.

"Su nombre era Teresa Castillo." ("Her name was Teresa Castillo.")

A/N: I know this chapter is deprived of our favorite angsty girl, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. I hope to have part 2 up by the end of this month so I'd love to hear what you think so far.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to tell me what you think!

-Love, MorteSangriz-