Ghost in the Darkness
Pairings: 2xH, 6x9 (not really important to the story)
Warnings: violence
Notes: I needed to take a small break from my other fic Drowning to give it time to stew in my brain. Besides, this fic just came to me the other day and it begged to be put down on paper, so here it is.
Why do I like messing with Quatre's past so much? Poor boy…
Disclaimer: can't say I really own much of anything…much less stuff from Gundam Wing
But psychoanalysis has taught that the dead…can be more alive for us, more powerful, more scary, than the living. It is the question of ghosts. -Jacques Derrida
It was the year AC 196 and four of the five Gundam Pilots found themselves gathered at Relena's vast country retreat in the hills of the beautiful Sanq kingdom. It looked like the world would finally be headed toward peace and the Gundams had been promptly destroyed.
The pilots themselves however were finding that perhaps they were not ready to face this new world yet. War and discord had been a part of their lives for as long as they could remember. Adjusting to the peace in the aftermath of the first Eve War had been nearly impossible for the young men.
Relena, having spoken on occasion with Heero over the past year, had come to the conclusion that after this latest (and hopefully last) war, the best way for the youths to be able to return to normal society was an extended stay at her secluded and luxurious home.
It surprised and pleased her that the Gundam pilots whole-heartedly agreed. They were more than willing to take some time away from the world to heal both physically and emotionally from the terrors of the battlefield.
The only pilot not there was Quatre who had promised to come as soon as he squared away his business and gotten everything ready for an extended leave of absence. His family had supported his decision to take a break from running the Winner Family. Being sixteen and running one of the largest and most affluent families and businesses in the world would be more than enough for anyone to long for a time to rest and relax.
So it was just the four pilots plus Relena, Hilde (who refused to be left behind when Duo told her he was going to Earth), Sally (who also needed some time off from the busy life of a Preventor), and Noin and Zechs who were only staying until their trip to Mars was finalized who were staying in the monstrous home. For such a diverse group of people, some of whom had fought against each other quite bitterly during wars past, they got along surprisingly well. In fact they had all marveled at how like a family they had all become to each other, even if Duo did run Wufei up the walls every once and a while. But hey? What are brothers for, if not to pester each other to death?
Nighttime after a particularly restful day found the whole "family" grouped around the large ornate fireplace in the living room, a cheery fire burning inside. Outside a fierce storm was blowing, obliterating the memory of the beautiful day that had just passed.
"What an awful night!" Relena said disgustedly, "I was hoping we could go star gazing."
"I love storms like this," Noin said quietly, snuggling back into the comfortable couch, her legs draped comfortably over Zechs's lap.
"I know what you mean! There's just something so fierce and wild about a night like tonight!" Hilde chimed in, her elfin face alight with the pleasure of experiencing Earth's natural elements.
The group sat in silence for a time, just listening to the storm bellow outside and to the logs crackling and popping in the fireplace. Zechs and Noin had laid claim to the love seat and were taking full advantage of their close proximity. Duo and Hilde were lounging together on the floor near the fireplace. The coffee table in the middle of the room had been pushed aside to allow more floor space and Trowa had taken it's place and was lying on his back, idly looking at the ceiling. Sally, Wufei, Heero and Relena were spread out on the expansive leather couch that formed an L shape around the perimeter of the room. The whole room gave the appearance of being closed off from the outside cold and one of keeping the inside area warm and intimate.
Pretty soon however, Duo got tired of merely sitting around. Never one for being still for long, he began a silent sneak attack on the unsuspecting Trowa. Or seemingly unsuspecting. In one fluid move Trowa used his long legs to pin a squirming Duo to the carpeted floor before he could continue his attack.
"Arg! Trowa, leggo!"
Trowa just smiled at him and squeezed all the tighter.
"Trowa! Stop it! He's my boyfriend!" Hilde squealed playfully.
With that Trowa let go and the two boys did their best to ignore the hearty laughs that came from all sides of the room.
"What should we do now?" Relena asked, ever the good host.
"Maybe we should play a game," Sally suggested.
"Or maybe just go to bed," Wufei said grumpily. He wasn't used to being around so many people all the time and was missing his alone time.
"Oh, Wufei. Don't be such a party pooper!" Sally said, giving him a shove that nearly toppled him off the couch.
"I know! I know!" Duo broke in, bouncing up and down on his toes, "Let's tell ghost stories!"
"Ghost stories? Why?" Wufei huffed.
"'Cause it's cold and rainy out, and that's what you do," Duo replied.
"Says who?" Wufei retorted. Inwardly he was hoping Duo would just drop the subject. Though he could hardly admit it to himself, he was strongly superstitious and making light of the dead was no laughing matter. It seemed however that his hopes would be smashed because everyone else was excited about the prospect of telling ghost stories.
"Well who's going to go first?" Relena asked.
"I know lots!" Duo said quickly, "I'll tell you some that'll make your hair curl!"
"Why would we be afraid if our hair curled?" Heero asked, his face a picture of puzzlement. Sally, who was sitting beside him, patted him on the knee, explaining that it was just a saying.
"I know several as well, but I don't know if I could translate them well enough from Italian to be all that scary," Noin said.
"Same here, only they're all in French for me," said Zechs with a smile.
"Sooo! Looks like we get to hear about the pirate ship of death! No? Well I have others…how about the Bloody Hand! Come on guys! That one's really good!"
"Duo, sit down," Hilde said, giving her overly excited boyfriend's braid a sharp tug.
"Ow! Don't pull my hair! You people are no fun. My stories are the best," Duo said sitting down, still grumbling to himself.
The room went quiet as it's inhabitants tried to think of a ghost story that would be truly scary.
From the silence came Trowa's calm measured voice. "I have a story."
"Really Trowa?" Relena asked in surprise. The tall pilot was usually so quiet.
"I would like to hear this story," Heero said, knowing Trowa well enough to know that when the quiet pilot did speak it was always to say something important and thought provoking.
"Actually, I don't know if I should be telling you all this…" he said hesitantly.
"No! You have to tell us now! You can't just leave us hanging!" the others chorused.
"Well…alright. I suppose it couldn't hurt. He didn't tell me not to tell other people so…"
"Someone else told you this story?" Noin asked.
"Yes. Quatre. But it isn't really a story. It was something that happened to him when he was younger."
"So it's not really a ghost story," Duo said, looking disappointed.
"No, it is. But it's a true story too."
"A true story that's about ghosts? How can that be? Sounds like a load of…"
"Zechs! Be nice," Noin interrupted her incredulous boyfriend, "I for one believe in the supernatural."
"What? How can you believe that rubbish?" Zechs asked, looking offended at the mere thought.
"I didn't believe in it either until Quatre told me what happened to him," Trowa interrupted quietly. The focus of the group came back to him quickly at that statement.
"Well now you have to tell us what happened."
"Ya, make believers out of all of us Tro." Duo said cheekily, laying back down on the ground and turning large eyes at his friend in anticipation.
"Yes Trowa, tell us what happened. Oh, Sally? Can you turn off all the lights? It will give us a little atmosphere," Relena said in a spooky voice.
Trowa moved so he could face all of the people assembled. His back was to the fireplace, the only source of illumination left in the room, and dark shadows were thrown across his face. In a quiet and solemn tone the young man began his story.
"It happened when Quatre was ten years old…
---- AC 190, L4 colony cluster, the ancestral home of the Winner family ----
"Come on! This is going to be so lame if you don't get him to come with! Besides, you're always talking about how 'special' your stupid little cousin is. Now's your chance to prove to us just how special he really is."
The three middle-eastern looking boys were grouped outside the fabulous Winner mansion, talking in quiet, nervous tones.
Samir Qasim, one of the many nephews of the current leader of the Winner family, Ahmed Winner, was speaking with his two and only friends: Hassan and Hassan's younger brother Taslim. They weren't the best sort of boys to hang out with and Samir knew it, but still they were the only ones that ever spoke to him.
One topic of conversation that was very popular with them was Samir's ten year old cousin Quatre. Many relatives of the boy thought he was crazy. Those who knew him best knew this was not true that he was in fact quite special. It seemed that he had inherited his mother's psychic ability.
Those who heard this and wished ill for the family whispered and spread the rumors that Quatre's mother was a witch who had cast a spell over the honorable Ahmed bin Katib Winner. There was no way, after all, that such a power of Iblis could come from the upstanding Winner side of the family. It must have come from that Berber woman, Quatrina. 1
And so Samir found that by talking about his strange cousin he could become popular and interesting. Hassan and Taslim like anyone else were curious about the strange boy, but their curiosity sometimes took on a dangerous edge. That was why Samir was so concerned after their recent talk. Perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned Quatre at all. After all, he and his little cousin had always gotten along and they often played together during the long family reunions. Even though Samir was four years older than Quatre, he was the closest male cousin in age to him, so they had bonded right away.
"Come on! Just go get him already," Hassan said nastily.
Samir, though a kind young man, was easily influenced through peer pressure and went to fetch his young cousin. After all, nothing was really going to happen, was it?
Walking through the manicured gardens that surrounded the Winner estate with Quatre in tow, Samir tried to explain to the little boy what they were going to do.
"It will be really easy, ok? You just do what I say and then it will be over and we can go home. I'll take you to a movie or something," Samir said distractedly, pulling a worried Quatre along by the hand.
"Why do we have to do this? Can't we just go see a movie now? We just got some ice cream from Earth…we can go have that," Quatre said, feeling with his special sense that Samir was afraid and guilty.
Samir didn't answer and brought Quatre to where Hassan and Taslim were waiting. Quatre had always gotten a bad feeling from those two, and was even more troubled when Samir pulled him towards them like some sort of offering.
"Ok, I got him. Do we really have to do this? I mean, if his dad finds out we took him without asking I'll get in serious trouble!" Samir said, trying to sound brave but the little tremble in his voice ruined the effect.
"Stop being such a coward! If you wanna hang out with us you better not chicken out!" Hassan said, eyeing Quatre evilly.
"Ya! Don't be a wuss!" Taslim chimed in, his ugly face twisted up in a sadistic grin.
Samir merely nodded and the four left the safety of the Winner home.
"Samir," Quatre whispered to his cousin when the other two got further ahead, "What are we doing? Where are we going? I don't like this. I wanna go home."
"I know. I know! But I…I just gotta do this, ok? Besides it's not like anything bad is going to happen. This is just a stupid thing Hassan wants to do."
Still not convinced, but trusting that his cousin wouldn't let him get hurt, Quatre trailed after the older boys into the old section of the colony. The streets were littered with scraps of old metal and rabid dogs scrabbled and snarled amidst piles of debris and rotting trash. Only the insane lived in this part of town. The Winners prided themselves of taking care of the people. Anyone who needed help had a place to turn to. Only those who wanted to live outside of society stayed in this section.
Soon they were heading towards one of the massive colony walls where there were large cracks and crevices that led down into the inner workings of the colony. Formed by the constant twisting of the colony's movement, these crevices were anywhere from a few centimeters to several meters wide. Darkness seeped out and seemed to sop up the colony light that managed to reside amidst the crumbled buildings. Quatre suddenly realized where they were.
In the very early days of the colonies, wars were being constantly waged between them and Earth. There was an old story, more legend than fact anymore, about a family that had found their way into the bowels of the colony through the cracks to escape a killing spree brought about by soldiers from Earth. It was said that they lived there for several days before a crazed soldier found his way down, looking for civilians in hiding, and slaughtered the entire family before putting a gun to his own head and pulling the trigger. Ever since that day, the legend began to grow. Legend had it that at a certain hour of late afternoon one could hear the screams of the family as they were killed and that the mad soldier's ghost haunted the area. The only way to put the spirits of the family to rest was to light a candle for each dead person down in the crevice. Many people, especially young ghost hunters, had tried to accomplish this, but just before lighting the last candle all the candles would go out simultaneously and the presence of the mad soldier would be felt. No one had managed to free the spirits of the family in the many years the legend had existed. As such, this area of Quatre's home colony had become the most haunted place in space.
As soon as he saw the cracks running along the edge of the wall, he knew where they were going and what they were going to do.
"Samir! Samir! Please, I want to go home! Let's just forget this and leave!" Quatre said urgently.
Samir just kept walking straight ahead, never looking at his young cousin. His grip on Quatre' arm was so tight that all the blood had gone out of his hand. He was heading forward with a single minded intensity that brooked no argument.
Quatre had always been afraid of the haunted crevice. As his psychic abilities had grown as he grew older, he had been able to feel many things from this section of colony. Mainly fear, anxiety, and death. Over this hung a great web of terrible rage. Such rage as Quatre had never felt before feeling the crevice. It was so terrible that he had no doubt in his mind that something was down there. Something evil. Something no longer alive.
"Please Samir! Samir I'm frightened! We don't have to do this! I just want to go home!"
"Tell him to shut up!" Hassan snarled over his shoulder.
Samir tightened his grip even more on Quatre's arm and shot him a pitying glance.
As the group drew closer to the gaping hole in the metal the feelings became stronger. Images began impressing themselves upon Quatre's mind. Images that swirled around his brain with such ferocity that he feared he would go mad if he saw any more. Images of heart-wrenching pain, and endless sorrow. If there was a hell, surely it would have been there.
Too lost in the images to speak any longer, Quatre strained to hear what Hassan was telling Samir and Taslim.
"…I've got the candles. Now all we have to do is lower him down with the rope."
"Why can't you do it? Or me? Look at him! He doesn't look very good…" Samir said turning to face Quatre.
"He has to do it 'cause if he's as special as you say he'll be able to tell if there really is any ghost down there. Then we'll know for sure and we'll be famous!"
"Can't one of us go with him at least?" Samir asked, desperation creeping into his voice.
"We won't be strong enough to pull him up if there's only two of us," Hassan said impatiently. "Now hurry up and send him down there!"
Samir turned sorrowful brown eyes on his fair-haired cousin. "Come on Quatre. Just go do this real quick and we'll pull you up right away."
Quatre just shook his head at his cousin, his hands going to his chest in a vain attempt to rub away the pain he felt there.
"Come on Quatre! Just do as I say!" With that, Samir grabbed him by the front of his white robe and hauled him over to the crevice. Before him stretched the grinning maw of steel, like some hideous mouth ready to swallow him up. Cold inky darkness welled up from the deep and spewed forth onto the twisted steel. Quatre felt as the rough rope was pulled around his waist and cinched up tight. Then there was an instant of utter disorientation as his feet left solid ground and his body was lowered into the depths.
In a moment of perfect clarity Quatre looked back up into Samir's eyes, felt his pain and fear and guilt, and became calm and still, almost as if he knew the horror that was coming and had resigned himself to it.
Soon even Quatre's bright hair, the color of spun gold, was swallowed up by the darkness. The line went slack and the boys above knew that he had reached the bottom. The rope was hauled back up and the small pack filled with matches and the five candles for each of the family members descended next.
Then upon bringing the rope back up, without the pack, there followed many minutes filled with the most terrible anxiety imaginable. No one knew what Quatre was doing or what was going on. Samir wanted to call down and ask if he was alright, but his voice didn't want to cooperate.
Finally a light from down below! One of the candles had been lit. Then two. Then three. Samir could feel the crawl of icy sweat down his back under his robe and more stinging his eyes, but he couldn't move his arms to wipe it away. The fourth candle had been lit and still nothing.
A light flared up from the darkness, flickered, caught. The fifth candle was lit!
At that moment several things happened all at once that would forever be ingrained in the minds of all three boys watching from above. A terrible cold descended upon them. All five candles went out at once. A terrible pressure was felt above and all around them.
The sound of a child screaming in mindless terror.
Then silence.
Trowa gazed at his rapt audience. No one had moved or even dared to breath as Trowa reached the climax of his tale.
"It took the rescue squad ten hours to find him," Trowa continued, "And when they did, they found him balled in a corner, his eyes wide open and staring at nothing, his little body trembling in terror, his clothes ripped open. There were horrible wounds all over his body, like he had been slashed with a serrated knife over and over again. His once golden hair had gone completely white. They took him to a hospital right away."
Complete silence greeted him from around the room.
"The strange thing was," Trowa said in conclusion, "They never found anyone down there. There was a thick layer of dust covering the ground and the only footprints were Quatre's. The wounds on his body closed up and healed themselves within a day. And Quatre swore to me when he told me this story that there was someone down there with him. Someone who punished him for freeing the souls of that family. He's never felt anything from that part of his colony again."
The fire had died down quite a bit until there was only the demonic glow of embers to light the room. Duo was clutching his braid hard in his hands and Hilde was holding onto his arm with a death grip. The other members of the group were similarly affected. There was a look of shock and horror on every one of their faces.
Suddenly a pounding sound was heard from the hallway. Relena and Hilde screamed. Heero whipped around, a firepoker brandished in one hand. Trowa cautiously got to his feet and headed towards the hallway.
"Trowa!" Relena squeaked, "Don't go out there."
He ignored her and continued out. He was soon lost to the darkness and all the group could hear was the sound of the front door opening.
Then all of a sudden the electric lights were flicked on, momentarily blinding everyone. Many people groaned and rubbed their eyes, trying not to panic in the sudden wash of light.
"Hi guys!" came a cheerful voice from the doorway, "I hope I didn't arrive too late…"
"QUATRE!" Duo screamed when he realized it was his friend standing there, and not something from his nightmares. He ran to his small friend and threw his arms around him in a huge bear hug. Soon everyone was crowded around Quatre, hugging, patting and kissing him.
"Wow! I guess I should be late more often," Quatre stammered with a small giggle, "So! What did I miss?"
Well! What did people think? I love ghost stories. I wish there would be more fanfics about them.
-NostalgieMalaak
1 Iblis is Satan in Arabic and bin is 'son of'