***************************************
Blackwake Manor
Part Two
A Weiss Kreuz Halloween Fic
By Deena (deena_arashi@hotmail.com)
***************************************
The first room they set foot into was a living room of sorts. All the
furniture was covered with white sheets and it was cold, the wind
whistling in through the broken window. Omi shone the flashlight
around the room, setting light to the faded, peeling wall paper and
grimy paintings.
"Nope, nothing in here," Yohji quickly evaluated. "Let's head on to the
next room."
"Yohji kun!" Omi glared at him. "We have to search all the rooms
carefully! Do want Persia to send us back here a second time?"
A second time? Fuck no! Nervously, he glanced around. There didn't
seem to be anything that looked suspicious. Of course, that was
assuming that he was taking everything at face value, which he most
assuredly was not.
He took a step back and staggered over the edge of the rug. He fell
backwards onto the sofa, great hoards of dust billowing up all over the
place.
"Aaahhhh!! It's an evil swarm of mad bees!!!! Heeeellllllpppp-
ACHOOOO!" Yohji sneezed violently.
Omi quickly yanked the older boy into a standing position. "It's just
dust, Yohji kun," he explained, stifling his giggles. "Here." He handed
Yohji some tissues.
After six consecutive sneezes, Yohji was more than ready to go. They
trekked to the next room, another living room. It was pretty much the
same as the first room. Covered furniture, moldy smell, dust galore.
Yohji carefully avoided all furniture and stayed very close to Omi,
much to the younger boy's delight.
"Nothing in this room either," Omi declared after a few minutes of
searching. "I suppose we can-" he broke off, seeing Yohji staring at
something. "Yohji kun? What is it?"
He yanked the flashlight from Omi's hand. "Over there." He shone the
beam upon the fireplace that dominated the right side of the room. On
the stone tiles before the hearth lay a metal poker. Impaled upon the
poker was...something.
With a sudden desire to protect the younger boy, Yohji wrapped one
lanky arm around the boy's slim waist and drew him close. Cautiously
they approached the fireplace.
Now that they were closer, they could see that the object was human
shaped. It was about the size of a hand and made from cream-colored
cloth. The crude doll had black X's made of yarn for eyes and a twisted
piece of red yarn for a mouth. Fine blond hair was stitched to its head.
The left side of the doll was ripped open and what appeared to be a
bone was pushing out. The poker stabbed the doll straight through the
middle and the surrounding cloth was tinted a dull red, almost as if the
doll had actually bled.
"A voodoo doll," Yohji whispered, chills streaking up his spine. "With
real human hair and human bone. I'll bet that's even real human blood."
Omi reached for the doll. "Here let me-"
Yohji jerked him back violently. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "Who
knows what the fuck that thing can do! Don't you dare touch it! I'm
don't want anything to happen to you!"
The younger boy blushed in the dark, pleased that even though Yohji
was scared, he was still looking out for him. "Wakatta."
They hurriedly left the room and made it to the next room. It was a
dining room and everything was uncovered. Lavish mahogany china
cabinets were stocked full of elegant china dishes. A dusty chandelier
hung above the enormous dining table. It easily could have seated
about twenty people. The whole table was set, once gleaming silver and
china now caked with dirt and time.
"There's wine in the glasses," Omi pointed out quietly. "It's like
everyone vanished before they could eat."
"Let's move on," Yohji responded hastily. "This room is really giving me
the creeps."
Omi nodded. He felt the chilly vibes also. Both of them rushed out of
the room, failing to notice the soggy mass of rotting flesh that was
drooling out from behind the maroon brocade curtains.
The music room proved to be nothing more than a pile of dusty
instruments, books and sheet music laying carelessly about. No strange
instances of sin were asserting themselves so Yohji and Omi took that
to mean this room was safe. There was a bit of a scare when Yohji
accidentally bumped into the piano, sharp keys screeching suddenly.
Omi chuckled nervously as Yohji swore and hauled him off.
The kitchen proved to be another story.
~*~*~*~
The next few bedrooms were relatively normal. Aya was protecting me
thoroughly now. He held me close to him and he'd scan the room for
any abnormalities holding the candle away from me so that I couldn't
see. It was no secret that I loved children and seeing those bloody
dresses...I shuddered again.
Aya's hand tightened around me. I guess that was his way of trying to
reassure me. But at this point, I don't think I could be reassured. I
mean, that fucking merry-go-round had played all by itself!
My body was suddenly cold, icy shivers dancing along my spine. I knew
that there was going to be something horrible in the next room, I
could feel it.
Aya must have sensed it also because he turned to me. "Stay close to
me, alright?"
I nodded, letting go to his hand to cling to his arm. He handed me the
candle and drew his katana. Seeing the buttery light shine off the
metal comforted me somehow.
Aya kicked open the door and the stale stench of vomity blood clotting
washed over us.
I gagged and Aya held his breath. We entered and I held the candle
high, my heartbeat crashing vehemently against my chest.
It was a lady's chamber, decorated in hues of pink and lavender and
white, flowers printed on the thick carpet and upon the walls. The
dresser was laden with jars and bottle of various cosmetics, as well as
hairbrushes and ribbons and hand mirrors. In front of the dresser was
a white chair and upon it was draped an old-fashioned petticoat. It
must have been white at one time but now it was yellow with age. The
hem was ripped off, leaving the garment jaggedly torn.
With a drowning sense of terror, I reluctantly raised the candle to
glow upon the bed.
It was awful. Beyond awful. I cried out, dropping the candle as horror
puddled deep in my gut. The flame was extinguished and we were
plunged into blessed darkness. But the image still burned brightly in
my mind.
On the bed, vulgarly sprawled out upon the flowered coverlet was a
rotting corpse. It had once been a women, for she was clad in a white
petticoat similar to the torn one draped over the chair near the
dresser. She'd been decapitated, blood splattered thickly over the
pillow where her head would have rested. Her decomposing arms hung
limply over the sides of the bed, her legs nothing more than sticks of
bone, coated with drying tissue. And near the bottom of her stomach
gaped a large, bloody hole. Spewing out from it was a long, thin rope of
flesh, a curved blob attached to it.
An umbilical cord with the fetus still joined to it.
I barely made it out of the room before I fell to my knees and vomited
all over the mucky carpet. Everything that I'd ever eaten was coming
out and tears stung at my eyes. What kind of place was this? Who
would desecrate a pregnant woman like that?
Aya knelt down beside me, the relit candle burning dimly in his hand.
He set it down and tenderly brushed my bangs away from my sweaty
forehead. He said nothing as he stroked my back, showing more
kindness in that one instant than he'd ever shown me before.
Finally I finished, coughing weakly. Dizzily I managed to stand, with
Aya's help.
"Are you okay?" he asked me softly, his arm wrapped firmly around my
waist.
I laughed woodenly. "You must think I'm so weak. I really am-"
"Don't," he interrupted, his hand coming up to brush against my lips.
"You and Yohji were right. This place is evil. But I won't let anything
happen to you, Ken. I promise."
I nodded, wishing I had some water to get rid of the sour taste in my
mouth. "I just hope Omi and Yohji are okay."
"They'll be fine and so will we. You understand that, right Ken?" His
gloved hand cupped my chin, forcing me to meet dark plum eyes. "We
have to finish searching this house. We don't want any innocent people
to come here and get hurt."
"I understand."
His mouth curved slightly. "I knew you would."
The silence was thick and foreboding, shattered only by the soft
thumping of our feet against the carpet.
I felt a hundred pairs of eyes watching us as we entered the library.
~*~*~*~
Omi marched towards the room after the music room, still smiling over
Yohji banging into the piano and scaring himself silly. Both he and Ken
were acting so scared and it really was funny! He hadn't realized that
Yohji and Ken were so superstitious. Ken, he could understand but
Yohji? That seemed weird. He hadn't thought that anything could
scare the older boy.
But he wasn't complaining. If it kept Yohji close to him, then he was
happy! He'd had a crush on the playboy for ages now and even though
he was only protecting him, Omi still liked it. So for now, voodoo dolls
or not, he was going to savor the moment.
"Keep close to me," Yohji ordered, scouring the hall.
Omi's smile grew just a little bit bigger. "Hai."
They crossed into the kitchen as Yohji shone the flashlight around.
Omi gasped loudly and Yohji nearly dropped the flashlight.
The kitchen was nothing like a modern kitchen. There were no modern
luxuries like a fridge or microwave or even a stove. There was a brick
fireplace tucked on one end, a huge black pot hanging above piles of
coals and ashes. The counters and cupboards were made of rotting
wood and rats were scurrying here and there. A long table stood in the
middle of the room, masses of molding food clinging to the wooden
surface. On the far edge of the table were four chopping boards
neatly lying side by side.
On the first board was a scattered pile of shredded papers and an ink
jar. The second board was a bloody mess and resting in the middle of
the viscous liquid was a human brain. Numerous needles were
protruding from the fleshy, pink mass. Upon the third board was a
wooden cross wrapped in thorns. Scores of little, black bugs were
weaving their way through the thorns and feasting upon the fleshy
wood. And finally, the bones of what appeared to have been a cat
graced the last board.
Omi turned away in absolute revulsion. "Yohji kun..."
Yohji didn't waste a second. He hauled himself and his little teammate
the high holy hell outta there.
The younger boy was shaking violently, his body a mass of tremors.
Blue eyes were opened wide, his body numb with shock. "I didn't
see...that couldn't have..."
"This is something evil here," Yohji stated grimly. "And I've got the
feeling that this is only the beginning." He laced his fingers through
Omi's. "We'll tough it out together, 'kay kid?"
Omi had to swallow a number of times before he could reply. And even
then, his voice was still raspy.
A faint scratching sound came from the tiny area beside the kitchen.
It was a pantry, the wooden shelves crammed full with jars and bottles
of food.
"Looks normal in here," Yohji muttered quickly, turning to go.
Omi seized Yohji's wrist, forcing the flashlight to beam towards the
top shelf on the right. A row of large jars sat alongside each other.
Each contained a watery-yellow liquid and a various type of organ or an
animal. In the first was a mushy human heart, blue veins protruding,
aorta and superior vena cave still intact. The next was a pair of sullen
green eyes, staring brokenly eternally. A bat with its wings spread out
was in the third, a blue snake in the forth. So on and so on, each jar
holding a more repulsive object than the last.
In the last jar came the scratching sound. A pair of slender, wan
female hand were suspended in the thin liquid, a diamond ring still on
one finger. Long nails were painted crimson and slowly, steadily the
hands were scratching the glass.
"Oh God..." Omi whispered, staring in fascinated terror.
And then, all at once, things came to life. The eyes blinked, the heart
pumped. Bat wings spread, the snake hissed. Lips quivered, lungs
expanded, bones bent.
"They're still alive," Yohji muttered in disbelief.
Outside the wind screamed like the dead and both blonds jumped. It
didn't take them too long to flee.
~*~*~*~
The library was absolutely freezing. The huge window on the left side
of the room was broken and the cold night wind was rushing in, the
tattered curtains flapping violently. Shelves lined all the walls, stuffed
fully with leather bound, dusty books. There were a couple of
armchairs in the room, blanketed with white sheets. An oval shaped
table stood before us, littered with papers and books and candles.
We warily crept forward and approached the table. "I don't think we
should touch anything," I whispered apprehensively, glancing around.
Aya nodded, letting go of my hand. He moved around to the other side
of the table to examine the many books that lay open to various pages.
I took a closer glance at the papers that were strewn all over the
surface. The writing was something that I was unfamiliar with. I
guessed it was Latin because, well don't devils always write in Latin?
Most papers were covered with writing, a few even looked like they'd
been written in blood. Then there were also a few papers that had
strange symbols and drawings on them. Some were comprehensive
sketches of various parts of the human anatomy, others were maps..
I didn't see the four colored sketches at first because I'd been
studying a drawing that looked remarkably like the two, blond girls in
the painting I'd seen earlier. They wore the same haunted expressions,
the same shadowing ready to enfold them from behind.
I looked away, unable to bear looking at such a ghastly drawing. My
eyes fell on the next few papers that were carelessly scattered about.
The four colored drawings. The only drawings on the table that were in
color.
My body was frozen as I stared at them. Ice dripped into my veins, my
breath hitched. I must have made some small, startled noise because
Aya was at my side in an instant.
"Ken?"
Wordlessly, I pointed to the pictures.
He inhaled sharply, violet eyes opened wide.
The four pictures were detailed sketches of us.
~*~*~*~
"That's impossible," Omi was chanting over and over again. Living body
parts and animals in jars of fluid was impossible!
Yohji said nothing but simply walked in grim silence. "I'll protect Omi
no matter what," he promised himself. Nothing bad had happened so
far, there was just a lot of really creepy shit going on, but still. Omi
*would* remain safe as long as he was with him. He had to put his
fears aside for Omi, which was a lot easier thought than done. This
place was freaking him out.
"Do you think Aya kun and Ken kun are alright?" Omi wondered then,
his voice quiet and worried.
He managed a smile and affectionately ruffled the boy's soft hair. "I'm
sure they're both fine. If anything happened we'd have heard Ken
yelling all the way down here."
Omi grinned back. "Can you picture Aya kun waving his katana around,
yelling 'Shi-ne ghost'?"
Yohji had to laugh at the mental image Omi's words provided. "Poor
ghost. He'd experience death all over again."
"Ne, Yohji kun?" Blue eyes looked up at him as the boy nervously
chewed on his lower lip. "What do you think happened here?"
Sighing, he shrugged. "I have no clue. But something tells me that I
don't wanna know."
Omi nodded. "Me either."
There had been another hallway leading from the kitchen that
stretched out towards the back of the house. The first few doors
were locked and for that both of them were infinitely glad. The next
door that did open lead to a gentleman's sitting room.
And both of them were shocked.
The room was alive and filled with warmth. There was a fire gently
burning in the fireplace, the clock on the mantle was tick tock-ing. The
plants on the window sill were alive and healthy and a goldfish swam
placidly in a bowl upon a table beside the armchair that stood in front
of the fireplace. A lamp in the corner dimly cast a cozy glow upon the
room.
"I don't believe it," Yohji murmured. "There is someone living here!"
Omi emphatically shook his head. "No, Yohji kun." He gestured to the
carpet which was encrusted with a dense sheet of dust. "If anybody
had been in here than there would be footprints."
Frowning, he pushed down his sunglasses to study the floor. "What are
you saying then? That a ghost did this?"
"I don...Yohji kun look over there."
He followed the boy's finger. On the mantle, propped up against a china
figurine of a milkmaid was a pale blue envelope. Written upon the face,
in stark black ink were their names.
"A fucking envelope for us. Just fucking great." He rubbed at his
temples, feeling a headache coming on.
Omi looked up at him. "Should we take it?"
"Oh Lord," he grumbled annoyed. "I hate these kinds of damned if you
do, damned if you don't decisions. I mean it could be a trick. We could
die. Or it might be a clue to help us get out of this mess alive."
"But how could...whoever...*possibly* know our names? I mean, it could
just as easily have been Aya kun and Ken kun who came in here instead
of us." Omi scratched at his head. "This doesn't make any sense."
"It *never* makes any sense," Yohji told him. "Evil forces *always*
know your name."
Up until an hour ago, Omi would have scoffed at the idea of there
being evil forces. Now he wasn't so sure. He merely nodded. "Let's open
it. I wanna to know what's in it."
"Curiosity, the natural downfall of man," Yohji quipped.
Omi rolled his eyes. "Come on, we're wasting time. You probably want to
know what's in it as much as I do."
Well that he did. Yohji took Omi's hand and they slowly inched towards
the mantle, continuously scanning their surroundings for any menacing
creatures that might suddenly pop up. Nothing did but it never hurt to
be prepared, especially when you were in a goddamn haunted house.
Yohji hesitated for a few seconds and then swiftly snatched the
envelope. It didn't burn through his hands or burst into flames, so he
supposed it was safe. For the time being anyways. He ripped the letter
open, the envelope falling into the fire. The paper was cream colored
and folded in half.
He unfolded it and held it out so they both could read. There was only
one verse, written neatly in the middle of the page.
Twice fear instilling
Justice dimly burning
Dragon's door creaking
Leading to answers yearning.
Yohji read the lone verse three times. "What the fuck?!!!"
Omi took the paper from him and slowly read the verse out loud.
"How anticlimactic," Yohji muttered, raking a hand through his hair.
"At the very least I'd expected a death threat."
"Well the first two lines are pretty self-explanatory," Omi decided,
his brows coming together in a frown. "Twice fear would be you and
Ken kun. Justice is all of us since that's the purpose of Weiss. We're
dim because this house is making us scared and uncertain. As for the
last couple lines..." he trailed off, shrugging.
"I guess we're supposed to go through some door to find the answers,"
Yohji speculated. "But the thing is, do we do what it says or not?"
"Well we chose to take the envelope so we may as well follow this out.
But I doubt we'll like what we're gonna find our."
Yohji couldn't have agreed more. A flick of the wrist sent the letter
into the fire. "Let's go find this friggin' dragon door."
They both set off.
Blackwake Manor
Part Two
A Weiss Kreuz Halloween Fic
By Deena (deena_arashi@hotmail.com)
***************************************
The first room they set foot into was a living room of sorts. All the
furniture was covered with white sheets and it was cold, the wind
whistling in through the broken window. Omi shone the flashlight
around the room, setting light to the faded, peeling wall paper and
grimy paintings.
"Nope, nothing in here," Yohji quickly evaluated. "Let's head on to the
next room."
"Yohji kun!" Omi glared at him. "We have to search all the rooms
carefully! Do want Persia to send us back here a second time?"
A second time? Fuck no! Nervously, he glanced around. There didn't
seem to be anything that looked suspicious. Of course, that was
assuming that he was taking everything at face value, which he most
assuredly was not.
He took a step back and staggered over the edge of the rug. He fell
backwards onto the sofa, great hoards of dust billowing up all over the
place.
"Aaahhhh!! It's an evil swarm of mad bees!!!! Heeeellllllpppp-
ACHOOOO!" Yohji sneezed violently.
Omi quickly yanked the older boy into a standing position. "It's just
dust, Yohji kun," he explained, stifling his giggles. "Here." He handed
Yohji some tissues.
After six consecutive sneezes, Yohji was more than ready to go. They
trekked to the next room, another living room. It was pretty much the
same as the first room. Covered furniture, moldy smell, dust galore.
Yohji carefully avoided all furniture and stayed very close to Omi,
much to the younger boy's delight.
"Nothing in this room either," Omi declared after a few minutes of
searching. "I suppose we can-" he broke off, seeing Yohji staring at
something. "Yohji kun? What is it?"
He yanked the flashlight from Omi's hand. "Over there." He shone the
beam upon the fireplace that dominated the right side of the room. On
the stone tiles before the hearth lay a metal poker. Impaled upon the
poker was...something.
With a sudden desire to protect the younger boy, Yohji wrapped one
lanky arm around the boy's slim waist and drew him close. Cautiously
they approached the fireplace.
Now that they were closer, they could see that the object was human
shaped. It was about the size of a hand and made from cream-colored
cloth. The crude doll had black X's made of yarn for eyes and a twisted
piece of red yarn for a mouth. Fine blond hair was stitched to its head.
The left side of the doll was ripped open and what appeared to be a
bone was pushing out. The poker stabbed the doll straight through the
middle and the surrounding cloth was tinted a dull red, almost as if the
doll had actually bled.
"A voodoo doll," Yohji whispered, chills streaking up his spine. "With
real human hair and human bone. I'll bet that's even real human blood."
Omi reached for the doll. "Here let me-"
Yohji jerked him back violently. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "Who
knows what the fuck that thing can do! Don't you dare touch it! I'm
don't want anything to happen to you!"
The younger boy blushed in the dark, pleased that even though Yohji
was scared, he was still looking out for him. "Wakatta."
They hurriedly left the room and made it to the next room. It was a
dining room and everything was uncovered. Lavish mahogany china
cabinets were stocked full of elegant china dishes. A dusty chandelier
hung above the enormous dining table. It easily could have seated
about twenty people. The whole table was set, once gleaming silver and
china now caked with dirt and time.
"There's wine in the glasses," Omi pointed out quietly. "It's like
everyone vanished before they could eat."
"Let's move on," Yohji responded hastily. "This room is really giving me
the creeps."
Omi nodded. He felt the chilly vibes also. Both of them rushed out of
the room, failing to notice the soggy mass of rotting flesh that was
drooling out from behind the maroon brocade curtains.
The music room proved to be nothing more than a pile of dusty
instruments, books and sheet music laying carelessly about. No strange
instances of sin were asserting themselves so Yohji and Omi took that
to mean this room was safe. There was a bit of a scare when Yohji
accidentally bumped into the piano, sharp keys screeching suddenly.
Omi chuckled nervously as Yohji swore and hauled him off.
The kitchen proved to be another story.
~*~*~*~
The next few bedrooms were relatively normal. Aya was protecting me
thoroughly now. He held me close to him and he'd scan the room for
any abnormalities holding the candle away from me so that I couldn't
see. It was no secret that I loved children and seeing those bloody
dresses...I shuddered again.
Aya's hand tightened around me. I guess that was his way of trying to
reassure me. But at this point, I don't think I could be reassured. I
mean, that fucking merry-go-round had played all by itself!
My body was suddenly cold, icy shivers dancing along my spine. I knew
that there was going to be something horrible in the next room, I
could feel it.
Aya must have sensed it also because he turned to me. "Stay close to
me, alright?"
I nodded, letting go to his hand to cling to his arm. He handed me the
candle and drew his katana. Seeing the buttery light shine off the
metal comforted me somehow.
Aya kicked open the door and the stale stench of vomity blood clotting
washed over us.
I gagged and Aya held his breath. We entered and I held the candle
high, my heartbeat crashing vehemently against my chest.
It was a lady's chamber, decorated in hues of pink and lavender and
white, flowers printed on the thick carpet and upon the walls. The
dresser was laden with jars and bottle of various cosmetics, as well as
hairbrushes and ribbons and hand mirrors. In front of the dresser was
a white chair and upon it was draped an old-fashioned petticoat. It
must have been white at one time but now it was yellow with age. The
hem was ripped off, leaving the garment jaggedly torn.
With a drowning sense of terror, I reluctantly raised the candle to
glow upon the bed.
It was awful. Beyond awful. I cried out, dropping the candle as horror
puddled deep in my gut. The flame was extinguished and we were
plunged into blessed darkness. But the image still burned brightly in
my mind.
On the bed, vulgarly sprawled out upon the flowered coverlet was a
rotting corpse. It had once been a women, for she was clad in a white
petticoat similar to the torn one draped over the chair near the
dresser. She'd been decapitated, blood splattered thickly over the
pillow where her head would have rested. Her decomposing arms hung
limply over the sides of the bed, her legs nothing more than sticks of
bone, coated with drying tissue. And near the bottom of her stomach
gaped a large, bloody hole. Spewing out from it was a long, thin rope of
flesh, a curved blob attached to it.
An umbilical cord with the fetus still joined to it.
I barely made it out of the room before I fell to my knees and vomited
all over the mucky carpet. Everything that I'd ever eaten was coming
out and tears stung at my eyes. What kind of place was this? Who
would desecrate a pregnant woman like that?
Aya knelt down beside me, the relit candle burning dimly in his hand.
He set it down and tenderly brushed my bangs away from my sweaty
forehead. He said nothing as he stroked my back, showing more
kindness in that one instant than he'd ever shown me before.
Finally I finished, coughing weakly. Dizzily I managed to stand, with
Aya's help.
"Are you okay?" he asked me softly, his arm wrapped firmly around my
waist.
I laughed woodenly. "You must think I'm so weak. I really am-"
"Don't," he interrupted, his hand coming up to brush against my lips.
"You and Yohji were right. This place is evil. But I won't let anything
happen to you, Ken. I promise."
I nodded, wishing I had some water to get rid of the sour taste in my
mouth. "I just hope Omi and Yohji are okay."
"They'll be fine and so will we. You understand that, right Ken?" His
gloved hand cupped my chin, forcing me to meet dark plum eyes. "We
have to finish searching this house. We don't want any innocent people
to come here and get hurt."
"I understand."
His mouth curved slightly. "I knew you would."
The silence was thick and foreboding, shattered only by the soft
thumping of our feet against the carpet.
I felt a hundred pairs of eyes watching us as we entered the library.
~*~*~*~
Omi marched towards the room after the music room, still smiling over
Yohji banging into the piano and scaring himself silly. Both he and Ken
were acting so scared and it really was funny! He hadn't realized that
Yohji and Ken were so superstitious. Ken, he could understand but
Yohji? That seemed weird. He hadn't thought that anything could
scare the older boy.
But he wasn't complaining. If it kept Yohji close to him, then he was
happy! He'd had a crush on the playboy for ages now and even though
he was only protecting him, Omi still liked it. So for now, voodoo dolls
or not, he was going to savor the moment.
"Keep close to me," Yohji ordered, scouring the hall.
Omi's smile grew just a little bit bigger. "Hai."
They crossed into the kitchen as Yohji shone the flashlight around.
Omi gasped loudly and Yohji nearly dropped the flashlight.
The kitchen was nothing like a modern kitchen. There were no modern
luxuries like a fridge or microwave or even a stove. There was a brick
fireplace tucked on one end, a huge black pot hanging above piles of
coals and ashes. The counters and cupboards were made of rotting
wood and rats were scurrying here and there. A long table stood in the
middle of the room, masses of molding food clinging to the wooden
surface. On the far edge of the table were four chopping boards
neatly lying side by side.
On the first board was a scattered pile of shredded papers and an ink
jar. The second board was a bloody mess and resting in the middle of
the viscous liquid was a human brain. Numerous needles were
protruding from the fleshy, pink mass. Upon the third board was a
wooden cross wrapped in thorns. Scores of little, black bugs were
weaving their way through the thorns and feasting upon the fleshy
wood. And finally, the bones of what appeared to have been a cat
graced the last board.
Omi turned away in absolute revulsion. "Yohji kun..."
Yohji didn't waste a second. He hauled himself and his little teammate
the high holy hell outta there.
The younger boy was shaking violently, his body a mass of tremors.
Blue eyes were opened wide, his body numb with shock. "I didn't
see...that couldn't have..."
"This is something evil here," Yohji stated grimly. "And I've got the
feeling that this is only the beginning." He laced his fingers through
Omi's. "We'll tough it out together, 'kay kid?"
Omi had to swallow a number of times before he could reply. And even
then, his voice was still raspy.
A faint scratching sound came from the tiny area beside the kitchen.
It was a pantry, the wooden shelves crammed full with jars and bottles
of food.
"Looks normal in here," Yohji muttered quickly, turning to go.
Omi seized Yohji's wrist, forcing the flashlight to beam towards the
top shelf on the right. A row of large jars sat alongside each other.
Each contained a watery-yellow liquid and a various type of organ or an
animal. In the first was a mushy human heart, blue veins protruding,
aorta and superior vena cave still intact. The next was a pair of sullen
green eyes, staring brokenly eternally. A bat with its wings spread out
was in the third, a blue snake in the forth. So on and so on, each jar
holding a more repulsive object than the last.
In the last jar came the scratching sound. A pair of slender, wan
female hand were suspended in the thin liquid, a diamond ring still on
one finger. Long nails were painted crimson and slowly, steadily the
hands were scratching the glass.
"Oh God..." Omi whispered, staring in fascinated terror.
And then, all at once, things came to life. The eyes blinked, the heart
pumped. Bat wings spread, the snake hissed. Lips quivered, lungs
expanded, bones bent.
"They're still alive," Yohji muttered in disbelief.
Outside the wind screamed like the dead and both blonds jumped. It
didn't take them too long to flee.
~*~*~*~
The library was absolutely freezing. The huge window on the left side
of the room was broken and the cold night wind was rushing in, the
tattered curtains flapping violently. Shelves lined all the walls, stuffed
fully with leather bound, dusty books. There were a couple of
armchairs in the room, blanketed with white sheets. An oval shaped
table stood before us, littered with papers and books and candles.
We warily crept forward and approached the table. "I don't think we
should touch anything," I whispered apprehensively, glancing around.
Aya nodded, letting go of my hand. He moved around to the other side
of the table to examine the many books that lay open to various pages.
I took a closer glance at the papers that were strewn all over the
surface. The writing was something that I was unfamiliar with. I
guessed it was Latin because, well don't devils always write in Latin?
Most papers were covered with writing, a few even looked like they'd
been written in blood. Then there were also a few papers that had
strange symbols and drawings on them. Some were comprehensive
sketches of various parts of the human anatomy, others were maps..
I didn't see the four colored sketches at first because I'd been
studying a drawing that looked remarkably like the two, blond girls in
the painting I'd seen earlier. They wore the same haunted expressions,
the same shadowing ready to enfold them from behind.
I looked away, unable to bear looking at such a ghastly drawing. My
eyes fell on the next few papers that were carelessly scattered about.
The four colored drawings. The only drawings on the table that were in
color.
My body was frozen as I stared at them. Ice dripped into my veins, my
breath hitched. I must have made some small, startled noise because
Aya was at my side in an instant.
"Ken?"
Wordlessly, I pointed to the pictures.
He inhaled sharply, violet eyes opened wide.
The four pictures were detailed sketches of us.
~*~*~*~
"That's impossible," Omi was chanting over and over again. Living body
parts and animals in jars of fluid was impossible!
Yohji said nothing but simply walked in grim silence. "I'll protect Omi
no matter what," he promised himself. Nothing bad had happened so
far, there was just a lot of really creepy shit going on, but still. Omi
*would* remain safe as long as he was with him. He had to put his
fears aside for Omi, which was a lot easier thought than done. This
place was freaking him out.
"Do you think Aya kun and Ken kun are alright?" Omi wondered then,
his voice quiet and worried.
He managed a smile and affectionately ruffled the boy's soft hair. "I'm
sure they're both fine. If anything happened we'd have heard Ken
yelling all the way down here."
Omi grinned back. "Can you picture Aya kun waving his katana around,
yelling 'Shi-ne ghost'?"
Yohji had to laugh at the mental image Omi's words provided. "Poor
ghost. He'd experience death all over again."
"Ne, Yohji kun?" Blue eyes looked up at him as the boy nervously
chewed on his lower lip. "What do you think happened here?"
Sighing, he shrugged. "I have no clue. But something tells me that I
don't wanna know."
Omi nodded. "Me either."
There had been another hallway leading from the kitchen that
stretched out towards the back of the house. The first few doors
were locked and for that both of them were infinitely glad. The next
door that did open lead to a gentleman's sitting room.
And both of them were shocked.
The room was alive and filled with warmth. There was a fire gently
burning in the fireplace, the clock on the mantle was tick tock-ing. The
plants on the window sill were alive and healthy and a goldfish swam
placidly in a bowl upon a table beside the armchair that stood in front
of the fireplace. A lamp in the corner dimly cast a cozy glow upon the
room.
"I don't believe it," Yohji murmured. "There is someone living here!"
Omi emphatically shook his head. "No, Yohji kun." He gestured to the
carpet which was encrusted with a dense sheet of dust. "If anybody
had been in here than there would be footprints."
Frowning, he pushed down his sunglasses to study the floor. "What are
you saying then? That a ghost did this?"
"I don...Yohji kun look over there."
He followed the boy's finger. On the mantle, propped up against a china
figurine of a milkmaid was a pale blue envelope. Written upon the face,
in stark black ink were their names.
"A fucking envelope for us. Just fucking great." He rubbed at his
temples, feeling a headache coming on.
Omi looked up at him. "Should we take it?"
"Oh Lord," he grumbled annoyed. "I hate these kinds of damned if you
do, damned if you don't decisions. I mean it could be a trick. We could
die. Or it might be a clue to help us get out of this mess alive."
"But how could...whoever...*possibly* know our names? I mean, it could
just as easily have been Aya kun and Ken kun who came in here instead
of us." Omi scratched at his head. "This doesn't make any sense."
"It *never* makes any sense," Yohji told him. "Evil forces *always*
know your name."
Up until an hour ago, Omi would have scoffed at the idea of there
being evil forces. Now he wasn't so sure. He merely nodded. "Let's open
it. I wanna to know what's in it."
"Curiosity, the natural downfall of man," Yohji quipped.
Omi rolled his eyes. "Come on, we're wasting time. You probably want to
know what's in it as much as I do."
Well that he did. Yohji took Omi's hand and they slowly inched towards
the mantle, continuously scanning their surroundings for any menacing
creatures that might suddenly pop up. Nothing did but it never hurt to
be prepared, especially when you were in a goddamn haunted house.
Yohji hesitated for a few seconds and then swiftly snatched the
envelope. It didn't burn through his hands or burst into flames, so he
supposed it was safe. For the time being anyways. He ripped the letter
open, the envelope falling into the fire. The paper was cream colored
and folded in half.
He unfolded it and held it out so they both could read. There was only
one verse, written neatly in the middle of the page.
Twice fear instilling
Justice dimly burning
Dragon's door creaking
Leading to answers yearning.
Yohji read the lone verse three times. "What the fuck?!!!"
Omi took the paper from him and slowly read the verse out loud.
"How anticlimactic," Yohji muttered, raking a hand through his hair.
"At the very least I'd expected a death threat."
"Well the first two lines are pretty self-explanatory," Omi decided,
his brows coming together in a frown. "Twice fear would be you and
Ken kun. Justice is all of us since that's the purpose of Weiss. We're
dim because this house is making us scared and uncertain. As for the
last couple lines..." he trailed off, shrugging.
"I guess we're supposed to go through some door to find the answers,"
Yohji speculated. "But the thing is, do we do what it says or not?"
"Well we chose to take the envelope so we may as well follow this out.
But I doubt we'll like what we're gonna find our."
Yohji couldn't have agreed more. A flick of the wrist sent the letter
into the fire. "Let's go find this friggin' dragon door."
They both set off.