Thanks for reading my fic... ^__^ ...I'm happy to see you again...!

Disclaimer: None of these are mine, including the names Hecate (name of a goddess of darkness) and Diablo (taken from El Pollo Diablo, hehehe)... and off course Schuldig, Crawford, Nagi, Farfarello, Eszet (sorry, I just don't like to see it written as SS) and all other Weiss Kreuz characters both mentioned and unmentioned in this story belong to Koyasu Takehito/Tsuchiya Kyokou/Project Weiss.

"text" -- conversations
//text// -- telepathic conversation or thoughts from other persons
text -- Schuldig's mind talking to himself

Chapter Two: Ghost from The Past

I kept on wondering why Crawford said in the car then. We never talked anything about the matter. We were all busy with our tasks, and Crawford wouldn't like me to ask him about it in front of Nagi or Farf. These two juniors were not allowed to hear about this. I wouldn't like it either.

I put myself to sit at a corner of a noisy pub. The live band was a bit out of tune, but nobody seemed to notice. Everybody was busy doing their own business. I watched the crowd moving to the rhythm. I looked to left and right to see if our new drug, Delirium, had gained anything.

It was very much alike the way it was in Spain. Only, it's a fifteen year old Nagi who sat beside me now. No Hecate, and no Diablo. I recalled we sometimes sold experimental drugs from the Eszet. They're sold on bargain, very cheap, and we had to keep watch on our customer. We had to report about the drugs effect to the headquarter, off course through Crawford's hand. If the drug had been a success, it would be produced in bigger amount and sold through groups of higher rank, who were taking control over a certain country, just like the way Schwarz now, ruling over Japan.

Selling to the customer at the end of the chain was no more my concern. We had no smaller ranked groups, the trial groups, in Japan. Groups like Traumhändler were put only in Europe because it would be easier for Eszet to take control. Far away lands like Asia belonged to the second highest groups – the highest was the three siblings in the Alps. Each group handled one country.

My eyes rolled to Nagi. He just sat there calmly with a notebook on his lap, typing something I didn't want to think about. It's only the two of us here. Crawford was somewhere doing business while Farfarello was left in his chamber; he refused to take his tranquilizers. I watched the boy's fingers dancing on the keyboard. I could be mistaken but it sounded as if the click-clack sound from the keys were on the same beat as the music. I mused if it was the way Nagi enjoyed being here.

Although Crawford and I had not changed much, I suddenly realized that Schwarz and Traumhändler were far from being similar. Hecate and Diablo were the kinds of people who smiled a lot; they lighten up each moment with silly talks or deeds. The bungalow was never silent. We would go to the beach together and played Frisbee or buried ourselves in the sand waiting for sunset. And the three of us would dance all night long when we went to clubs to sell drugs.

I moved my eyes away from Nagi and stood up. "I wanna stretch my muscles a bit," I told the Japanese boy as I walked away. The boy only let out a slow mutter and he continued typing. I suddenly was in the middle of the crowd. For old time's sake, I thought as I blend my mind with the rhythm. For old time's sake….

"That was great!" I slumped myself on the couch. Hecate and Diablo followed my lead and took a seat. Crawford was already there. In fact, I supposed he never left the couch after we arrived here, except of going to the bar to get something to drink.

My body was sweating like hell and my heart beat fast. I grabbed my mug of beer and took a big gulp. "Don't you wanna hit the floor, Brad?" I asked, taking a cigarette Hecate offered me.

"No," answered Crawford in his usual business manner, "we're not here to have fun." I saw that he glared on our cigarettes. Crawford didn't smoke. But if someday he'd ever died of lung dysfunctions, I'd probably be the one to blame. I blew a puff to his face, merely to distract him from his serious attitude.

"Come on, you never have fun!" Diablo joined in, encouraging Crawford to take a step on the dance floor. "You're not gonna die only because of a dance." He laughed, "Or are you afraid of dancing, Crawford? Can you not dance?" The black haired asked menacingly.

"I don't dance because I don't want to," said Crawford calmly. He lifted his bloody marry and took a sip. "Now," he said slowly, "I've just got a new drug from the headquarter. They want us to get some samples for them." He took out a small Film tube from his shirt pocket and put it on the table. "There are only six of them tonight. We need to get at least three regular user for like, a month. I think you can handle it."

"And what kind of drug is this?" asked Hecate. She opened the tube and eyed six little yellow pills inside.

"It's basically amphetamines, but there are other substances there. They told me nothing."

"'Kay," Hecate divided the pills into four groups. Two groups consisted only one pill. "These are for you, Brad, and for you, Diablo," and then she handed me two pills, "Schuldig, you have to sell the two of these. It's an honor, because you sell more than them." She then put the other two pills inside her pocket. She always sold the more than anyone. "Let's go!"

We cared nothing when we dance. It's all within ourselves. When your reflects came into the same rhythm wit the music and you can feel euphoria from the people surrounding you. That's when you're starting to enjoy yourself with the movement. Letting you mind escape to a certain form of trance. Body brushed with body, tongue twisting with tongue. Suddenly I felt somebody slipped a piece of paper into my mouth.

Scheiß'!

I stopped and hurried spitting that paper away from my mouth. Acid. I knew it from the way it tasted. My body shuddered and I suddenly lost my appetite to dance. I dragged myself back to the leather couch where Nagi was still typing. He lifted his head. "You're back? I thought you're gonna be there for a long time."

I shook my head. "N-nein…. Das war genug." I didn't know why I became so nervous that I answered with my native language. The boy seemed to realize that I was a little bit shaky and he looked at me with concern.

"Are you OK, Schuldig?"

"Yeah. Don't worry." I sat down and soon enough I was already gathering myself together. It was the drug that made me nervous. I had promised Crawford I was never going to touch drugs anymore. But this time, it was not my fault, I didn't take it on a purpose and I had not sucked it enough to make such dangerous effect on me.

I touched my lips. The acid taste still lingered there. But it was not Delirium for sure. I knew how the drug tasted like. Although Crawford had threatened me not to get a try on it, he let me try to have a taste of it. That is only putting a very, very small amount on your tongue and then wash my mouth.

"You want me to get you something to drink?" Nagi asked again. I didn't notice that he was still looking at me with deep concern in his eyes.

Crawford didn't realize we sometimes took our own merchandise. I couldn't recall well who was the first to steal our own goods. Perhaps it was Diablo. We were having a party and being already high on alcohol, he suddenly asked if we wanted to liven up the party a bit. The next time I knew, the three of us was starting to nick on our own commodities.

It was a safe play and we even paid with our own money at first. Hecate, Diablo, and I used to party in our bedroom. It was the safest place. Crawford seemed to be disgusted to even peep into the room. Beside he got all the money he wanted. He wouldn't care.

We could take our shots as soon as Crawford locked himself inside his so-called office. The three of us had our own reasons to take the drugs but we never told one another. It's private business. What mattered most was we were having fun together. It was so damn good, when the chemicals started to affect our brains and soothed our thoughts. Either it made us feel numb or alert, it was just fine. Everything seemed to fine. And we had our peace.

We took safe dose every time. We didn't want anyone to know that we were taking them. The Eszet would definitely be pissed off if they knew that we took our own merchandise. And especially we didn't want Crawford to know. He would make a report to Eszet.

We covered our regular consumption perfectly at first, but not long after we began to crave for more. We just needed to get more. And the drugs had also affected our appearance. We just didn't care if we looked like shabby ragged doll every time we went to the pub, and we just hid ourselves from the sun. And it was the time for Crawford to notice what we did. He was furious when he interrogated us.

"You are taking drugs, aren't you?" he demanded for answer, but the three of us merely shook our heads. Nobody said anything.

"Damnit! You are clearly showing that you are…," he gritted his teeth out of his temper, "Look, I know how it looks like when somebody's taking them. I mean, look at yourself!" he spat through, "Are you saying that I misjudge you just because the three of you seemed to be malnutrition?" He struck his hair with his hand. "Merchandise is not for sale. Do I make myself clear?"

"Brad, we never take our merchandise," I answered lazily. Indeed we did not just take them, we bought them from ourselves.

"Schuldig's sayin' the truth, Bradley," Hecate said as she leaned back to the couch languidly. "And I am still the leader in this group, Brad. I don't wanna hear you braggin' about us takin' drugs behind yer back."

"You – cannot – fool me," he stated. There was a light in his eyes that told me, he was not going to buy what ever she said. "I'm an oracle, Hecate. I – know."

"No, Bradley, ye're wrong." Hecate smirked. Her eyes glinted and I felt her mind started to invade Brad's. She winked at me to ask for a help. Hecate was also a telepath, and she was very good. There was not many telepath who could gain trust from the Eszet oracle as her. These two powers never seemed to be able to work well together.

"We do not steal the drugs," I said while calmly invading his head.

"You are invading me," he muttered as he tried to seal his mind.

"Forget about the seal, Brad," Diablo voiced. He was no telepath, and he was not an oracle either. He was a fire starter, but he, just like any other people in Eszet, was also good in sensing when a telepath was about to invade someone. "Hecate and Schuldig are the strongest telepaths of our generation."

"You are not to erase my memory," Crawford noted. He looked more tensed than usual. Of course, taking care of two telepaths at the same time was not an easy matter. He kept on giving counter thoughts on what we tried to plant in his mind.

"Never mind about our business, Brad," Hecate voiced again, both in her mind and on her lips, "As long as you have the money, that shouldn't be a matter to you, no? Brad, we do not take our merchandise. Keep that in mind."

"No!" the short haired man insisted, "I can see it clearly that you are using them. You can't deny that. I have seen you, each of you, sneaking them behind my back and partied inside your room."

"We were not sneakin', Bradley. And it's legal."

"Don't you feel tempted to try?" I asked. My hand was moving out front and I waved a small packet of heroin before his eyes. "Don't you want to try, Brad?"

He slapped my hand and the packet flew to somewhere in the middle of the crowd. "I am not taking it. I'm not turning myself from a drug dealer into a drug abuser." His voice was rising into higher frequency. He jerked up.

Ha! Emotional person was always the easiest to handle. Hecate and I suddenly hurled him with thoughts and commands to make him forget our conversation and to make sure that he wouldn't notice anything despite of what we did. His eyes widened for a split seconds and he collapsed, making a loud bumping voice as his body hit the table and sending the bottles and glasses away from it and crashed on the floor.

"It's all right," I said to the curious crowd as I sent them my thoughts, "He's just drunk."

Crawford was unconscious for a couple of days before he came back to his senses. After then he hardly ever talked to us. There was a mix of fear and anger in his eyes that perhaps he couldn't understand himself. He hardly stayed in the bungalow. Or if he did, he would keep himself inside his room, while we were partying until morning came.

He kept himself straight. I wondered how he could survive our invasion. With two telepaths trying to break down your head and brain washed it, I can't believe any human being would survive. He still never touched drugs, and to be honest, soon he began to be our only source of income. The three of us were too busy with the clouds in our heads. We had enough supply of drugs. And slowly but surely, we started to steal our own merchandise and fell into rapid degradation.

I always felt terrible to remember those times. Each time the drug wore off, I would crave for more. It felt worse than hell. My body was shaking badly and I felt unease. There was always a feeling of nausea each time I moved myself and I felt like the voice I could hear through my telepathic ability became several times louder than usual. And these symptoms only ceased to occur when I had had my dose.

I knew Hecate and Diablo felt the same as I did. If not, they would have been able to stop. They were just as bad as I was, if not worse. Diablo was the worst user. He kept on increasing his dose. Hecate did try some of the experimental drugs. Some of these experimental ones were good when you're under its influence but most of them gave worse symptoms of withdrawal rather than the common ones.

I saw her kept on vomiting and had a nosebleed soon after the drug wore off. And she would soon grab another dose of any drugs to sooth her trouble. We seemed to be just fine when we were under influence. We could still go to pubs and sell several stuffs. But other than that, our world was closed into a 12x14 foot square room with dark draperies to avoid excessive light from outside, where we held our flights to transendence.

And everything was alright. Everything was alright….

"Schuldig!"

I felt a hand shaking my body. I tried to open my eyes but my head felt like tearing apart. There was a rush of panic going in and out of my head but I could tell that the thought didn't belong to me. I felt my body shook again and a loud voice rang through both my ears and my mind.

"Schuldig! Open your eyes, damnit!"

I forced my eyes to open and a wave of light started to pour into my sight. I saw a figure of man bending over me and I became aware of a burning pain on my cheeks. The man slapped me again while he kept on calling my name, trying to bring me into consciousness.

My vision came to focus for a few milliseconds before it blurred out again. It was Crawford. And the shaking became even harder. I felt another slap on my cheek and the voice became louder. The noises of panic rushing in and out of my head again, only this time it was so distinct that it made my head felt worse.

//Don't die on me! Damnit! Schuldig! Schuldig! I know you can hear me! Open your eyes!//

//Damn! What am I supposed to do? Call the emergency! Wait, I can't call the emergency. They would tell the police and the whole operation would be known.//

"Schuldig! Answer me!"

//Why is he not responding? Damn! Godamnit! Why is he not responding?//

//What have they taken? Damnit! What have they taken?! Schuldig! Answer me!//

I tried to open my mouth to tell him to shut up but instead I felt a severe cramp on my stomach and I suddenly had nausea. It made me choke that I just wasn't able to double over. The shaking I had made it all felt worse. I tried to cough to free my airways and I felt warm liquid flowing out from my mouth.

//God! He's throwing up blood! What am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to do now?//

//Wait… calm down… think of something….//

//Calm down... think... think... think....//

//Put him into a more comfortable position…. Clean his airways….//

I felt my body turned aside and I felt his fingers coming into my mouth to clean out my vomit.

//Now what? Now what?//

//Think, Brad… think!//

//What have they done? What did they take? If I know, I'll be able to do something. Now, look around… maybe there's something….//

The calmness suddenly disappeared again as I felt my ears grew warm.

//His ears are bleeding! Damn!//

//Call emergency! Call emergency!//

//Hide all evidence….//

//Call emergency and hide all evidence….//

//Don't leave me, Schuldig! Don't leave me!//

I heard his steps hurried away from me and his thought grew fainter and fainter.

Don't leave me…don't leave ... .

I opened my eyes. The TV in the living room was already sending out stripes of grey and white dots on its screen. And its light was flickering through the room, serving as the only source of light. I must have fallen asleep. I kept my head lay on the hand rest. I didn't have any intention to turn it off.

I sighed. It was only a bad dream. The acid gave me a bad dream. Hecate… Diablo… they both died for overdose and I was the only one to survive. I would have joined them if it wasn't for Brad.

I read from his report to Eszet that he hurried back to our bungalow just as he saw what was about to happen. He found the three of us scattered on the floor. Hecate was then already dead. Her body was all covered with blood. Bright crimson liquid was gushing from her mouth, ears, nose, and eyes. Her blood vessels were breached.

Diablo was barely alive though not yet dead then. But he was also bleeding and his skin was swollen. Soon after he lost signs of life. I was the only one showing distinct signs of life though my heart beat so fast and I was badly palpitated. He called the emergency number as soon as he realized that he could do nothing to help me. He cleaned everything, flushing all our merchandise down the toilette and making sure that at least his name was clean in front of the authorities.

I was put in jail hospital for several months treatment and was sent back to Germany, where I had to face detention from the organization. Not only that I was guilty of consuming our own merchandise, but also of misusing my ability to perform brainwash on our own member for personal desire. To my surprise Crawford stood behind me and asked for his detention because he neglected other members'safety and was not able to maintain the business well, in addition to his weakness of being controlled by other members.

And we were trained to work the filthiest – though being the most priced – job ever. We kill for other people, keeping their sleeves clean while our hands were stained with blood. Crawford was once again paired with me. And then we were joined by Farfarello, and then Nagi… and we moved to Japan....

Suddenly the front door opened and Crawford entered the room silently. He strode to the TV, reaching out to turn it off. "You'd better move to your room," he said. His voice was clear and deep as usual. There was no sign of weariness in him, even though he had just been away since very early in the morning. "I know you're not sleeping, Schuldig," he continued without even bother to stop and look at me.

"Brad," I got up from my position.

"Yes," he stopped at the stair.

"What will you do if I tell you I just had some acid?"

He turned around. "You did not take the acid. You spat it out. I saw," he said and then walked back to his room. "And I'm very glad you did so," his voice was barely audible when he said it and I was quite sure that it was his mind that spoke.

- The End -

So, what do you think about that? Please write a review.... Flames are welcome... it's pretty cold at night lately... yup... it's even warmer in the rainy seasons... hehe... ^__^