Candles In The Dark

Part Two

By Birdie

A few days later, Zechs had to clean each room one by one. Lady Une said that some of the guest rooms were getting really dusty, and she was expecting guests by the end of the week. Zechs nodded slowly, taking with him a dust rag and a bucket of water.

As he walked up the stairs, he felt the wood beneath his feet creak. It wasn't very pleasant, but he bit his tongue and ignored it. This is a very old house, he thought again.

Wrong, this is a mansion.

Zechs started with the room closest to the stairs. He laid his candle on the table, before wiping the table down with his wet cloth. Lady Une had forbidden him to open any curtains, telling him if he opened another, she would sack him on the spot.

Why doesn't she like the light? Marimeia likes it...

He thought about the little redhead, and her father, the "so-called-dead" Treize Khushrenada. Treize... know started the rumour that he was dead? Why didn't Zechs see him anywhere else except that little room. Zechs had been to visit Treize a number of times, but Treize would only talk to him about literature and politics.

I wonder... Zechs thought about what Marimeia told him about "dead people fear the light". You think Lady Une is a......ghost?

"There are spirits here. Ghosts everywhere." Ron Shirin said that one night. Could he be right?

Suddenly, a little breeze came into the room. The candle went out. Zechs jumped in the darkness. Like a fool, he had closed the door so it was just pitch black. He didn't know which way was the door.

He looked around him. It was rather cold in this room, he could feel his hands shaking. Or was that from fear? He didn't know.

The was a flicked of light that caught the edge of his eye. It came through a corner of the room, near the floorboards. That must be the door.

Aha! Zechs thought. But he did not move. He watched the candle light move. The line of light under the door got brighter; bigger. It was getting close. So close, Zechs was sure the person with the candle was standing just outside the door. He held his breath, waiting for the person to come in.

The person didn't come in. It stood outside, the candle light flickered slightly.

Overtaken by curiosity, Zechs grabbed the door and swung it open. He stared at what stood in front of him.

Just...air. There was nothing in front of him. He looked at his feet. There was no light. He frowned, closing the door. The room was black again. No light crept from under the door. Zechs was in utter confusion. He opened the door again.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Lady Une asked sharply, glaring at him on the other side of the door.

Zechs screamed, jumping a metre into the air. "L-lady Lady Une!!" He grabbed his heart and fell onto the floor. He panted and looked up. She gave him a confused look.

"What's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I-I think I just have......." Zechs struggled to his feet. He point to the door. "I saw a candle light in through the door, when I opened the door, there was no one there." He tried to explained.

Lady Une looked at the door, putting her hand on the frame. ".......not again..." she muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Zechs asked, only catching a bit of that sentence.

His mistress sighed. "Take a break," she said quickly. "You're excused for the entire day. I'll sort this out myself."

Zechs nodded. "Thank you, ma'am." He picked up his things and hurried downstairs to the kitchen, where he put his things back into the big cupboard.

"Zechs? Are you alright?" Iria asked. She was cutting the meat for Sunday Lunch. "You look a bit pale."

The blonde seated himself on a chair. "Iria, can you tell me something," he asked. He had a million questions to ask, but he had to choose the right ones, so she would get suspicious.

Iria blinked. "Umm...what is the question?" she put the knife down.

Zechs sighed, looking at the wooden table. "Why doesn't the mistress like the light?"

The cook's eyes widen. She straightened herself, as if she had just suffered from the highest of shocks. "Well, you see..." she stopped. She thought about her response then picked up where she left off. "Ma'am is very superstitious, she believed that light cleanses the soul, the light shows all things." She stopped again. Iria looked into Zechs' eyes. "Like the Dead."

Zechs gasped. "You can the dead in the light?" he whispered.

Iria shrugged. She picked up her knife and began to cut again. "I don't know, Mr. Zechs. I have never seen them myself."

"But...Marimeia told me the dead fear the light!" Zechs cried, letting the information slip.

The knife fell from Iria's hand and onto the floor. She stared at Zechs, her face was as pale as a sheet. "Mr. Zechs!" she whispered, her eyes wide. "Miss Marimeia is dead! She died 5 years ago!"

Zechs fell off his chair. He couldn't say anything. He struggles to his feet. What Iria said could not be true. He had to know the truth. He had to talk to Marimeia. He ran out of the kitchen, up the stairs. His feet beat on the wooden floorboards.

There and then, he saw another flicker. It was in front of him, around some corners. He stopped, frowning. He took a step that way, then another step. Picking up his courage, he walked to the light. He turned a corner, but the light was somewhere else. He had to turn another corner. But still, the candle light seemed to be distant. Zechs groaned. He ran, and turned the final corner.

It was pitch black. He looked around him, but could see nothing. It was like...it was like he was hallucinating. He just woke from a daydream, or a sleep-walking experience. Zechs felt the air suddenly chill, and he gave an involuntary shudder.

He turned and carried on walking back to Treize's room. He couldn't see which way he was going, as he did not have his candles. Suddenly, he tripped.

Above his head, he could see a candle. No, two candles. Slowly, he lifted his head up. Above him, stood two girls. They were teenagers, probably no older than 16 years. They were both blonde, though one was darker than the other. They had each other's hands, and with the free one, they each held a candle. They both wore the exact maroon school dress.

"Who...who are you?" Zechs asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Does that really matter?" they asked in unison. The girl of the left had a high-pitched voice, whilst the girl on the left had a low-pitched voice. It was a good contrast.

"What are you doing here?" another question.

"We are here because we are." Another rather pointless answer in unison.

Zechs sighed, and tried his luck with the next question. "Are you dead?"

"That answer will reveal itself soon." They told him. A little giggle, and the girls blew out the candles. Zechs put his hand where the girl's ankles should be, but all he felt was air.

The blonde man got up, brushed his uniform. He took confident strides to Treize's room. He opened the door, and light came flooding out. He had not see that much light for a long time.

Marimeia sat on the ground, her legs crossed. She was playing with a little rag doll, while humming to "Pop Goes The Weasel". Zechs felt anger bubble up in him.

"MARIMEIA!" he roared, slamming the door. The girl turned to him, confused. "TELL ME, PROVE TO ME, YOU'RE NOT DEAD!!"

The little redhead frowned. "Are you mad? Of course I'm not dead!"

"PROVE IT!!" Zechs was so confused. He didn't who to believe. He didn't know who was dead. Was Lady Une dead, or was Treize? Or are they BOTH dead?

Marimeia looked frightened at the man. She had never seen him so angry; it was scary.

"I want to know the truth, Marimeia. Who is the ghost of this house!!" Zechs fell onto his knees. He pulled the girl close and looked at her. "How old were you 5 years ago?" he asked.

"I was almost 6." Was the shaken reply.

Zechs looked at Marimeia. She did not look 6. She was 8 at the least, 12 at the best.

Can ghosts grow?

"Zechs, what's wrong with you?" asked Treize. He walked over and put a hand on Zechs' shoulder.

"I see things, candles, in the dark. Under my door, I saw one. Across the hall, I saw one. But when I followed it, when I opened the door, they're gone."

"I need to know," Zechs got up and allowed himself to be pulled into Treize's embrace. His voice was edging onto hysteria. "I want to know. Who is the dead one?"

Treize stroke Zechs' hair, trying to calm him down. "Why do you need to know? What have they ever done to you?" he asked soothingly.

The blonde never thought of it like that. "I don't know...I just want to find out......."

Treize looked Zechs in the eye. "The ghosts are those with the candles, Zechs. I don't know exactly who they are, but they'll show themselves. One day." He turned to the door. Zechs looked too. He could feel his heart beat against his chest, and he could feel Treize's too. The ginger-hair man's heartbeat matched his, it was rapid and fast.

Treize swallowed, his eyes never left the door. "They're coming, Zechs. They'll be here very soon."

To Be Continued....

PrincessCat: sorry I took so long to update! I've just been really busy with my fictionpress.com account! Sorry, sorry! Well, hope you like this part. It's not as long as the others, but I hope it's good, ya know? Well, review soon!

I'll probably have to search for my other reviewers. Where are they?!