Darkness Rises

Chapter 2: A Painting, A Drawing, A Memory

(Duo)

Heero and his friends were cool. They even blew off my weird behavior as just part of who I was. I liked them. I liked them so much that I'd actually been at this school for three months already. And you're saying three months, whoopee. But hey, that's a friggin' record for me. I usually don't stay at a school for more than a couple weeks at a time.

I'd even hung out with Heero and his friends outside of school. They'd never been to my house on account of all the creepy shit I kept. I really didn't think they needed to see that yet. That would scare them away for sure. Those little kids were still following Heero around. That one little girl had actually gotten more persistent. She'd actually come to my apartment, leaving Heero. She really wanted me to help him. She'd grabbed my arm one night and screamed at me. She actually threw a tantrum and left a bruise on my wrist. Heero and the others looked at me funny for the week it took for it to fade on account of it looked like a mini handprint. As for me, well I'd actually become obsessed with her. She was such a strange ghost. I knew she must have had some connection with Heero and sure enough when I checked the local library's databanks of old newpapers, I found tons of articles on the Aki Yuy kidnapping and how there were still no leads in the case. There was even an article that said there were suspicions that the older brother had killed the younger sister. Then the case went cold. There wasn't enough evidence to pin it on Heero, the older brother. He'd been twelve at the time. How could they have even suggested he'd killed his younger sister? Although that might explain why she would be following him now, but then why would she ask me to help him? It didn't make sense.

It was now a week after I'd photocopied all the articles I could find on the case. They were hanging on my walls along with drawings and paintings of the little Japanese girl, Aki, Heero's little sister. So that week I had to go up to my apartment for a few minutes before going over to Trowa's for movies. Heero was with me because he'd offered to give me a ride to Trowa's. Me, being the idiot that I am, I invited him up. He almost had a heartattack when he saw all the pictures of his little sister and all the articles on the wall. He glared at me.

"Why do you have these? What are these drawings? Where did you get them?" He asked in a cold tone. I watched him, biting my lip. He would have found out sooner or later. I'd've preferred later rather than sooner. Then I'd have had time to prepare. I didn't know how to tell him.

"I drew them. I drew them even before I had the articles. What happened to her Heero?" I asked. He looked angry.

"I'm asking the questions. How did you know what she looked like without seeing a photo? Do you know where she is? Please tell me" He began to get hysterical. I shook my head.

"She's dead Heero. I'm sorry." I said. It was harsh, but it was true and I wasn't about to lie to him. He needed truth.

"No. How do you know... Why wasn't it me? I tried to save her. I looked all over for her. She was so little. Why'd they take her, not me? It's not fair. There's not even a grave for her." he said in a stricken voice. He sank to the floor and put his head on his knees. His shoulders shook slightly. Then, she was there. She was trying her best to comfort him, but he couldn't see her at all. She touched his shoulder. He shivered. She looked at me sadly and then she glared. She looked just like him when she did that. She walked towards me and started screaming. Do you have any idea how high-pitched a ghost can scream?

"Stop screaming!" I shrieked, covering my ears. Tears stung my eyes. I knelt on the floor, willing her to stop. Heero looked at me, tears running down his own face. He crawled over to me.

"Duo? Duo, what's wrong? I'm not screaming..." he asked, alarmed at my sudden outburst. He couldn't hear her. I shook my head and bit my lip hard enough to bleed.

"She won't stop-She won't stop screaming." I ground out through gritted teeth. Heero looked around the room. Obviously if he couldn't hear her, he couldn't see her.

"What are you talking about? There's noone here." he stated.

"Aki stop it! I promise I'll help him, but you have to tell me what you want me to do." I exclaimed. The screaming stopped suddenly and she looked at me curiously. Heero looked confused.

"Duo?" he called.

"Hm?" I replied, recovering my hearing.

"How did you draw her if you've never seen her?" he asked slowly. I blinked at him. I licked my lips. it was time to tell another truth.

"Heero, do you believe in ghosts?" I asked. He nodded slightly, not understanding what this had to do with anything. "Well, I can see and speak to them. You probably don't believe me. That's okay. I wouldn't believe me either. I really can see them though." I said. Heero looked skeptical.

"Really? And you can see my sister?" he said. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and-

"Yeah, Heero, I can see her. She's right next to you. She's reaching for your hand. Do you feel the cold?" I said. Heero looked surprised. He nodded slowly.

"She's really here?" he asked incredulously. I nodded and lit a smoke. I was still alittle shaky after Aki's tantrum. I took a drag and ran my hand through my hair. Ahh, sweet nicotine.

"There's more too. They seem to like you. There are like twenty kids with you at all times. I don't know why. It's weird." I said, exhaling. Heero looked at me.

"So, is that why I'm always cold?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's them. They have that effect on people." I said. Heero thought for a moment.

"What does Aki say to you?" he asked. I sighed. I'd known he'd ask about her.

"She always tells me to help you, but I don't understand what she means. At first I thought she just wanted me to become friends with you, but that wasn't enough and let me tell you, she let me know it. Your sister throws one hell of a tantrum." I said, taking a last pull off my cigarette before stubbing it out on the bottom of my boot. Heero smiled a little at that.

"Yeah she always did when she didn't get her way." he looked dazed, as if he were lost in memories and I imagined he was.

"You didn't really kill her did you?" I asked, curiously. Heero looked at me abruptly.

"No, of course not. They thought I did because after she went missing, I stopped talking, and I wouldn't go near her room. I even got suicidal for a while. My parents even went so far as to put me in a mental institution for two years." A shiver went through him as he remembered. I could understand. I knew what went on in those places. They had some pretty weird treatments for crazy people.

"You know, as soon as I was out of that damn place and I found out that they'd stopped looking for her, I started to search for her, myself. I couldn't believe they'd just given up on her. I never found anything. It's like she disappeared. There were no clues. I gave up the search last year, a few months before you transferred to our school." he said. I nodded in understanding. This must have been really hard for him. Then it hit me. Aki wanted me to help Heero find her and put them both at peace. I looked at the little girl.

"Aki, where is it?" I asked. Heero looked confused, seeing as I seemed to be talking to thin air. She looked at me and smiled. She pointed out the window.

"No, no. Tell me. Can you write it down?" I asked. She blinked at me. Then she nodded. I offered my hand to her. She took it and I closed my eyes as she entered my body. It was always strange to be possessed by a ghost. Although, usually I was being possessed against my will. She opened her eyes and immediately ran to Heero. She flung herself at him, wrapping my arms around him.

"Oniichan, I've missed you so much." she said. Heero looked confused and then it dawned on him. He hugged her back. He began to cry.

"Don't cry Oniichan, Duo is going to help you. He likes you. A lot." she giggled. I looked at her incredulously. You little brat. Poking around in my private thoughts. She went over to a table and picked up a pad and pen. She wrote a number and a symbol. The symbol looked familiar. Heero looked at it. Aki said goodbye and vacated my body. I looked at the sybol with Heero.

"What is it? Some kind of tattoo?" Heero asked. Then it hit me. I unbottoned my shirt and pulled off my shoulders. I shifted my braid away from the back of my neck and heard Heero gasp.

"Where did you get that Duo?" he asked. I shook my head. I couldn't talk about it. When I was ten, my mother killed herself and I ran away before they could stick me in an orphanage. This guy found me and kidnapped me I guess you could say. He had other kids with him as well. Some of them were dead and some weren't. They were all around my age or younger. Both boys and girls. I should have figured it out then, but I didn't really understand what he was going to do to us until kids started to go missing from the rooms of the house he had let us live in. One night, I woke up to the sound of screaming. I crept out of bed and saw him. He had a little girl, Felisha had been her name. He had her strapped to a metal table and he was using this iron pole to make these weird burns on her. He was chanting in a weird language I didn't recognise and then he touched her. She screamed and cried the whole time he touched her. She was just a little girl. The creep was violating her in ways no child should ever be violated and I made a noise. I sobbed. I was so scared. He saw me and I ran. He caught me and that was the night he branded me with that weird pole with the symbol. He would have done more, but I'd pushed him into the fire and ran. I kept running until I couldn't run anymore. I never saw him or any of the other children again.

If that was where Heero's sister was, I wasn't so sure I could go back there. That was a place I never wanted to see again. There was way too much childrens' blood in that house. Heero just looked at me in concern. I could barely hear him as he spoke to me.

"Duo, what's wrong, you're pale as a ghost?" I heard him ask vaguely. His voice seemed far away somehow. Then everything went black.

TBC...

Ooh spooky... What's going on with Duo? Who is the mysterious child molestor from Duo's past? Will Duo be able to overcome his fear and help Heero and his sister? Read on in the next chapter to find out. There will be even more twists in the next few chapters. Enjoy!

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Angel