Yay! The first second chapter I've ever posted.

Part II

In the old mansion the shadows gradually grew in numbers as night neared and the last of the sun's warm orange light shone through the grimy windows. The dark shapes swelled from each corner and angle of the withered house hungrily devouring the once sunlit space.

Jet was there, watching the shadows slowly advance, and so was Virginia. They were presently alone together, as they would be for the rest of the night. Alone and together. Two quite opposite words that, together in a sentence, made him feel the way most people with taste-buds feel about eating chocolate chip cookies with caviar: nauseated and mildly anxious.

A team building exercise, she had called it. Such ominous wording, Jet shuddered at the very thought. It probably meant they would actually have to talk. Him and Virginia talk about emotions and stuff. Just how had he gotten himself into this mess? Could it get worse? And why did he put up with such nonsense in the first place?

He was frightfully bad at conversations, to say the least. On the few occasions he would actually try he usually wound up uttering some hurtful remarks and thus prematurely ending the talk on a sour note.

Now that he could accept. Perhaps it was simply his lot in life to gain enemies through verbal inadequacy. What annoyed him, however, was the amazing ability to inflict guilt on him that Virginia, and Virginia alone, seemed to possess. Mix that with his own incredible gift of effortlessly hurting people's feelings and you ended up with the recipe for suffering. His suffering. It was going to be a horrendously long night.

What was it that Clive had said right before he and Gallows left? The two of them were going to camp somewhere in the outskirts of the large yard so as not to ruin the exercise. He had said something about the experience being good for him and teaching him the values of companionship.

Companionship? Just what the hell did he mean by that? Jet couldn't seem to get over the specific choice of word. It lingered and grew stronger inside his mind like body odor on a hot day.

He had never needed or wanted friends. Whether or not it was true didn't really seem to matter. It was what he had believed and how he had lived his life up until recently. Recently being when he met Virginia, his annoying opposite in many ways, as well as Clive and Gallows. They were now all his friends whether he liked it or not it sometimes seemed, but even after all the time they had spent together he still found himself just barely used to the idea.

Companionship… that means friendship, right? Jet was uncertain. Sure, as of late there had been lots of insinuations regarding him and Virginia circling around the campfire, but those were just jokes. Or so he always told himself. But if that was true then how come Virginia always blushed? And why would he feel so nervous around her? Could it be that the others had noticed something he hadn't? If she really liked him, how would he react? And if hereally liked her, how should he react?

"Jet?" the voice of the very girl on his mind reached him and shook him back into reality, away from the frustratingly many questions that remained unanswered. She had sounded heartbreakingly insecure. "…Do I really make you that uncomfortable?" She asked quietly, nearly whispering. Her anxiety was obvious even to him.

"…Yeah, kind of." Jet paused to take in her sorrowing look and realized that as in so many times before he was the direct cause of her distress, "…but that's hardly your fault." he added tentatively, struggling to overcome his insecurity with words. "I'm just sort of…uh, really bad at this kind of stuff… and it feels like I…I always end up hurting you some way or another…" his voice died out somewhat awkwardly.

The two young drifters sat next to each other leaning up against a wall in the lounge. Jet with his legs sprawled out before him gaze fixed on his hands that lay folded his lap. Virginia sat with her knees up underneath her chin, arms wrapped around her legs. Looking at her now she appeared visibly moved by his words. A sight that filled Jet with a rare sense of pride and accomplishment, he had by verbal means actually made things better. The age of miracles is not yet over.

Yet the success also made him a great deal uncomfortable. When it came down to it he was after all a pessimist and from here things could very well go steep downhill. For instance had he no idea of what to say or do next.

It was also very likely that he had now raised her expectations of him and thus paved the way toward future disappointment.

"So I guess…you could say you're really just being considerate?" Virginia dared a glance in his direction and their eyes met for a brief instant before Jet returned to stare at his hands.

"Who knows?" he muttered under his breath. "Let's not turn this into some kind of therapy session". It came out unintentionally harsh. Jet mentally scolded himself; he was already falling back into his normal pattern.

"I wasn't… I didn't-" Virginia stammered. As much as she wished to learn how Jet truly felt the last thing she wanted was to push him further away.

"I may care about you to some extent," he spoke quickly, as if he was in a hurry to get the words out, "but there's still lot's of stuff I don't give a shit about. So don't get me wrong...." he paused for a moment then smiled and added, "I'm still a pessimistic asshole."

Virginia laughed. His own smile widened some at the pleasant sound.

"And I'm still obnoxiously upbeat, right?"

"Right" Jet agreed with a grin.

You know… they say opposites attract each other, Virginia couldn't will herself to voice the thought, but blushed fiercely nonetheless. Fortunately Jet didn't seem to notice.

"You know you really ought to smile more often. Makes you look cuter" she suggested tentatively, not quite sure how he would react.

Suddenly very self-conscious Jet ceased smiling and looked away.

"Whatever…" he muttered without quite getting that annoyed edge usually synonymous with the word, "Anyway, let's get the fireplace burning before it gets too dark." he rose from the floor then offered a hand to his female friend in a courteous manner very much unlike him. She gladly accepted the gesture.

Fortunately the previous house owners had left plenty of firewood behind and soon a warm fire sparkled in the great fireplace. Together with some from the heat slightly deformed candles they managed to light up the living room to their satisfaction.

Whilst absentmindedly tending to the fire Jet was suddenly overcome by an odd sensation. Something inside his mind calling for his attention but just barely staying out of reach. A strange feeling they had forgotten something... No matter how hard he struggled to figure it out his mind kept drawing a blank and he soon dismissed the peculiar sensation.

Virginia was the first to speak again, asking a question quite common among nightly visitors of haunted houses:

"Say, did you just hear something?"

Jet shook his head, "Can't say I did"

"I could've sworn I heard someone walking upstairs…" She looked up at the ceiling with growing apprehension. Jet followed suit, quietly waiting for some kind of noise. Nothing happened.

"I don't-"

Thud

He was cut off by the sound of a heavy boot hitting against wooden floor. A short silence ensued, then another thud, and another. The noise was somehow disturbing in its irregularity and devoid of any rhythm.

"…It's probably just Gallows." Jet shrugged in slightly forced indifference, "I mean that's what he had planned from the beginning, right? To scare me?"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure he gave that up…"

The sound of footsteps became slightly muffled as the person walked across a carpet. It also grew fainter as he or she moved further away from their location one floor down.

"Who knows? Who cares?" Jet asked no one in particular and returned to poke in the burning wood.

"Aren't you going to check it out?" Virginia asked, afraid she wouldn't be able to find rest unless the noise was fully investigated.

"Why should I? Let him have his fun. It doesn't really bother me"

"But-" She persisted.

"You're the one interested. Why don't you do go?"

"Hey, you're the guy! You're supposed to take care of stuff like this!" she exclaimed pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Since when is that an issue?" Jet wondered. To him Virginia had never really seemed very girlish. But then again he'd never really paid much attention to that kind of stuff anyway, "Are you really that scared?"

"Well, everyone's scared of something…"

"Perhaps, but it's just so illogical. I mean, we've fought monsters and demons five times our size, with claws and fangs dripping of foul poisons and other nameless fluids. You weren't scared back then, how can you be scared now?"

"You're the one to talk Mr. 'I'm too frightened to be around Virginia'!" she retorted with a victorious grin as she made an incredibly good point.

"Damnit, I keep telling you, I'M NOT AFRAID!"

Muttering words of grumpy disdain, Jet soon found himself walking the dark corridors, candle in hand, searching for the source of the footsteps. Virginia walked very close behind him one hand tightly clutching the fabric of his jacket.

With the house now quiet as ever, they could do very little else but walk around aimlessly waiting for the sound to reemerge.

How? Jet asked himself, How did I end up here? How do I always end up doing what she wants?

As he continued to search the hallways an annoying question presented itself inside his head: was there anything he wouldn't do for her?

Sure, there was a significant difference between agreeing to go on a ghost hunt and, for instance, to risk one's life to protect someone. But then again he'd probably sooner do the latter than, say, confess to his confusing feelings regarding her. In other words: his principles were kind of screwed up.

Anyway, if the answer were indeed 'no', what would it mean? Was it a sign of love, or one of friendship? He was far too inexperienced in the area to know the answer himself. The only way would be to ask Virginia. She might very well know but to actually come out and ask something like that would be very embarrassing. Besides it wasn't like him to start a conversation on his own accord like that.

Shaking his head Jet forced himself to stay focused on the current task. Life had been so much simpler before, back when he was flying solo. Now it was just one confusing question after another.

"Are you ok?" Virginia whispered from behind him, "You seem kind of spaced out"

"…I'm fine." Jet muttered as he moved the candle across another empty room, "Look, we're obviously not finding anything. Let's head back to the lounge."

"Yeah. I guess you're right" Virginia finally agreed much to his relief.

He should, however, have known better than to rejoice over the small victory, for before they had even taken a single step toward the warm lounge an all too familiar sound rang through the hallways.

Thud………thud……

He could feel Virginia tugging at his jacket. Turning to face her he caught her staring nervously in the direction of the noise. It was close, probably in the very same corridor as them. Before any of the two spoke a word a similar sound appeared from above them and then from the direction they came. While at the same time, somewhere below them, another person slowly limped forward toward an unknown goal. It would appear their ghost had multiplied.

Virginia stepped closer, grasping a hold of his arm. Jet made no effort to move away.

"Jeez, if that's Gallows he's good" Jet whistled in amazement, "To think he had any talents…"

"Jet!"

"Ok, so maybe it isn't Gallows. But that doesn't mean they're ghosts"

Just to prove him wrong the sound of chains rattling and a weary moan escaped the shadows behind them and found its way to their attentive ears. Jet swallowed hard, was this some sort of conspiracy against him?

Virginia stared at him expectantly. How would he explain this one, her look asked him.

"What? …Oh, come on! I mean, chains? Isn't that a bit clichéd?"

The cacophony of heavy feet wearily trudging around throughout the mansion seemed increase in volume now completely surrounding them. Virginia pressed closer hugging his arm tightly, successfully cutting off all blood flow.

"For crying out loud…" Jet moaned, "Don't look so damn scared. Whatever it is I'll…" he sighed, he hated the corny heroic stuff, "I'll make sure it doesn't get you, ok?"

Instead of looking relieved the way he'd hoped, Virginia eyed him quizzically.

"…How will you do that?" she asked.

Jet mumbled something incoherent.

"What? I didn't hear you."

"How am I supposed to know? I'm sure I'll think of something. Sometimes the best ideas are the ones you get, you know, in the spur of the moment"

"…I don't buy that. It's probably the same deal with really bad ideas."

"Whatever. I said I was going to protect you and I will! Just for once would you be grateful!?" Jet sighed, "Jeez, you can be so annoying… I swear, if I didn't think I was in love with you I'd have left a long time ago."

"W-What?" Virginia stammered not quite trusting her ears.

Jet froze. Had he spoken that part out loud? He opened his mouth to answer, to present a plausible denial, but his tongue lay paralyzed. She had to have heard him. How could he possibly explain this one? Was it even true? It had to have been, after all the confession had escaped him unconsciously. He began sweating, confused and nervous like never before.

"J-Jet?"

This is not the time!! A voice inside his mind screamed, willing him to act. Several footsteps were enclosing now accompanied by a strange animal-like scuttling. A low guttural growl slowly increased in volume, from barely audible to very much so.

"Uh, it's not important right now." Jet finally managed to speak. Squinting into the darkness he tried to make out shapes of the would-be assailants or ghosts or whatever it was they were up against. Once more he experienced the strangest sensation that they had forgotten something. Something very important. "Hey Virginia… why did we come here in the first place? I mean, we sure as hell didn't come here just so you and me could spend some quality time together."

It was now Virginias turn to freeze, momentarily forgetting all about Jet's earlier slip of the tongue confession.

"Oh jeez, how could we forget?" she slapped herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand, "We were supposed to check this place out because of all the missing persons reported in the area."

"Oh, right… now I remember" his voice remained completely dead pan, "Kind of a stupid thing to forget…"

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Ooh, the plot thickens… or not.

The next chapter will have fighting and action! Well, maybe (sadly I've never been very good at depicting that kind of stuff).