Summary: Alright, Duo and Heero are "antique rescuers" for a museum that houses belongings of the socially "royal" deceased, meaning those individuals who had great social status and were important benefactors of the town in which they resided. However, the new house they are assigned to is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Carl Baxter, the deceased head of estate. Craziness ensues when Duo finds a mysterious painting of a boy, Quatre starts entering trancelike states and Heero starts hallucinating, or is he really seeing ghosts?
Warnings: AU. OOC. (Look, if it's AU there is going to be some OOC to an extent because they're no longer the same character). Yaoi (meaning gay relationships), 1x2x1 and implied 3x4 & 5xM, dark, angst, violence, implied sex (past-tense rape), death, language…Oh, and it's a song fic…but you don't have to read the song lyrics if you don't want to. And there's some original characters in there.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam boys, nor do I really want to. Honestly. Everyone says they wish they owned them, but then everyone would be coming to me to buy them from me. I wouldn't get a moments rest. So, no, I'm not making profit off this. And besides, borrowing them from time to time is just as fun as owing them, I would imagine. I also don't own the chapter titles. They're the name of the according song in the chapter, all owned by Evanescence. OH! And you may find traces of a small mini-series called Rose Red and a PlayStation 2 video game Fatal Frame (I and II). However, I do not own them, either. I don't even own legal copies!
HOWEVER, I do own my original characters. Any character that does not appear in any series, movie or manga is mine. Yes, that's right, all M-I-N-E.
Haunted Essence
By Praevisum
Until you find it there and lead it back home wake me up inside…
Call my name and save me from the dark…
Save me from the nothing I've become..."
Chapter II: Bring me to Life
"There is no logic to this." Duo slumped against the wall next to the doorframe, resting his head against the dresser next to him. He stared unblinkingly at Wufei, who was putting the used first aid kit on the study desk.
Quatre was seated with the injured Trowa on the couch near the bookshelf at the back of the room, one blanket shared between the two of them. Heero, who was in the chair he had previously occupied while packing earlier, looked from Duo to Wufei, who stood leaning on the study desk.
"Yes, but there must be some sort of—"
"Logical explanation?"
Wufei nodded.
"No. There's not." Duo lifted his head only to smack it against the hard wood surface next to him. "This house is haunted, and we're trapped in the middle of it. There's no logic in that."
"Did anyone else here what Quatre said when … when he was…"
"Possessed?" Duo interjected.
"Yeah." Trowa nodded. "It just sounds so … weird."
The other four nodded.
"Well, I heard it. We have until midnight to figure this out before … blood is shed and Heero and Duo possibly become a permanent fixture of this house." Wufei pushed off the desk. "I'd suggest just leaving, but that's obviously not an option."
"Really? I hadn't guessed that." Heero looked down to his newly bandaged hands. "But, you're right, Wufei. This is nothing more than a mere puzzle we have to complete. Only then will we see the way out of all of this."
"Agreed. Let's assemble all the pieces, shall we?" Earnestly, and obviously recovered, Quatre sat straightened up on the couch.
"Well, it started with the painting." Duo looked to Heero. "Yeah, yeah, it started with that."
"What painting?" Quatre inquired, his brows furrowed.
"It's, well … I'll just go get it. It's hard to explain." Duo stood and stretched, preparing to leave the room.
"Wait. I'll go with you."
Not entirely understanding the fear that crept over him at the prospect of Duo wandering these haunted halls alone, Heero stood and followed Duo.
Not wanting to admit he was relieved that he didn't have to venture off into the house alone, because that would mean he wasn't macho, Duo simply nodded as he led Heero down the hallway. Looking over his shoulder at the patch of wall where the door should have been, he shook his head.
"Hard to believe something is actually powerful enough to make the door disappear, even though I'm staring at it."
Unsure as to whether the powerful something Duo was referring to was the illusion Heero saw earlier, he turned his head sharply. Relieved, or rather, worried that he may have been hallucinating, Heero just nodded.
"What's a matter? You seem jumpy. Mr. Cold-and-Distant isn't losing his cool so quickly, is he?" Duo ascended the stairs at the end of the hallway.
"Losing my cool? Must I remind you, Maxwell, that you lost your cool when you found the painting and you're the one who freaked when the door disappeared."
"Oh, you were shitting bricks about the door, too."
"I'll admit I was alarmed, but not nearly as vocal as you were."
"Can it."
Heero smirked as they reached the upstairs landing. He found it highly amusing, though immature, when he got under Duo's skin like he was doing now.
Duo led Heero halfway down the hallway. Heero found it odd that there didn't seem to be any doors along any sides of the hallway. Duo stopped walking, however, and reached for a doorknob to the left that Heero, through all his abilities to care for detail, hadn't noticed.
The room was huge. The walls were a dirty yellow, but at spots, where Duo had moved some furniture, it was possible to tell that the walls were once white. Most of the room was packed away in box after box that littered the floor. Obviously, Duo had been working very diligently before his discovery of the painting. In the middle of the room, of which atop sat the painting, was an overly large canopy bed in emerald green, its curtains pulled back.
"This is … this is where they say the owner of the house died." Duo walked over to the bed and picked up the painting of his look-alike.
"Carl Baxter?"
Duo nodded, walking back towards Heero. "Yeah, that dude. That's why I said they say this place is haunted. Cuz, he died here."
"Well, obviously they are right. It's so creepy how he looks like you." Heero once again stared at the replica of Duo, amazed by its likeliness. "Right down to the eyes."
Duo looked at the painting that he held between himself and Heero. He had to admit, he didn't think it was possible for someone to paint anything remotely close to his eyes. There were just too many dimensions.
"They managed to catch every colour and angle and make them look deep, just like yours." Heero reached out and lightly touched the painting while all Duo could do was blush.
Was Heero hitting on him? He doubted it, though he couldn't contain the blush that crept over his face.
"Well, this room is creepy." Duo was glad for any excuse to get himself out of the position he found himself in. "We should get back downstairs before they send out a search party."
"Agreed, especially with Quatre's habit of worrying." Heero moved slightly out of the way in order to let Duo lead the two of them back downstairs, with the painting tucked carefully under his arm.
He wasn't quite sure why he suddenly didn't want to look Duo in the eye, but he was betting it had to do with the blush that flushed his cheeks. At first, the offhand comment about Duo's eyes was just him being truthful. However, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he probably spent too much time gazing into those amazing eyes.
Who could blame him, though? It wasn't as if Heero was gay, however, he wasn't blind. Gay or not, no man alive couldn't admit that Duo Maxwell was very attractive. With his dynamic and heart shaped face, exotic eyes as large as those of Middle Eastern women and hair as silken and radiant as any fair maiden in any fairy tale, Duo Maxwell was easily the most beautiful man Heero had ever known to exist. And, as strong as Duo was, his frame was never rough and masculine. Duo was not a box; he had curves. He had hips.
"Well, guys. This is it." Duo walked into the library, with Heero musing in tow. "I found this upstairs and … well, at first I thought Heero painted it as a joke." Duo flipped around the painting tucked under his arms and displayed it for his three friends to view.
Collective gasps filled the room.
"Duo!" Quatre squeaked. "It looks exactly like you!"
"We know." Heero's mind seemed to return to the topic at hand, and he joined the conversation. "But, there's a name plate on it. The person in the portrait is Kallias Tyrrell."
"I've never heard that name before. Maybe … I don't know, but perhaps he was of some relation to the head of estate." Wufei squinted his eyes in thought as he sat atop the corner of the study desk.
"But, then why do I look like him?"
"Think about it, Maxwell. He'd be awfully old if he were of relation to Baxter. What do you know of your own family?"
"Wufei, no way. If you're suggesting that I'm somehow related to this dude, you've flipped. Tyrrell, Maxwell. Yeah, they don't even … okay, so they sound the same but they're not!" Becoming disgusted with the painting, Duo placed it on the floor, propped up on the little desk by the doorway. "Besides, you're just speculating. We don't have any proof or evidence of anything right now."
"Well," Trowa shifted in his seat as he continued to speak, "if that's what started this all, I think we should trace it to its source. I'm sure there are more pieces of the puzzle. We just have to find them. You found that painting upstairs?"
Duo nodded.
"I bet there's a whole lot more upstairs where you found that. Any clue could help us figure out who he is."
"And what if the painting isn't all that important? Duo and I only have until midnight to sort this all out. If we waste valuable time—"
"No. No, Heero, Trowa's right. I have a feeling Trowa's right." Quatre tightened the blankets around him as he looked from Heero to Trowa. "I know you're right. Let's all go upstairs."
Heero sighed. "Fine. We'll all … go …" He blinked as his voice trailed off. He didn't feel right. He was suddenly aware of how loud he was breathing, and how, when he exhaled through his nose, it was cold against his upper lip. His skin became clammy as the hairs on the back of his neck rose, prickling. He vision began to blur as he turned to Duo. There were two of him. There were two Duos. One, who seemed of another era, was reaching out to the Duo he knew and … "HOLY FUCK! DUO!"
Startled, Duo jumped (as did the other three occupants of the room) as he began to panic from Heero's fear.
"What?" But, he suddenly felt coldness all around him, even though he was warm, and an icy grip clamped down on his shoulder. A soft wisp of wind fluttered past his ear as an ethereal voice filtered into it. Let me escape in you. Set me free within you. Please, do not let him harm me.
Heero, ignoring the gaping and confused expressions of Wufei, Quatre and Trowa, watched as the other era Duo leaned in closer from behind Duo and seemed to be whispering in his ear. Reaching out, Heero grabbed Duo by the forearms and tore him away from his other self. Knees going weak from the sudden forceful jerk, Duo collapsed into Heero's chest, knocking both boys backwards and onto the floor.
"Duo, are you okay?" Heero, concerned, cupped his bandaged hands around the face of the boy who still lay on his chest.
Slightly disorientated, Duo numbly nodded his head as he rolled off Heero's warm chest and sat. "I … could feel someone … and hear them." Duo blushed as he realized how banal he sounded. Odd things were happening, and it would only get worse. He had nothing to complain about, and no reason to make a fuss, when poor Quatre was practically reduced to seizures. Hearing a disembodied voice was no reason to fall to pieces, according to him. "But, I'm okay. Don't worry about it."
"I saw him."
Four pairs of eyes widened and focused on Heero as he, too, was sitting on the floor. Duo's mouth opened as if he was about to say something, but he closed it.
"I saw him. He touched your shoulder, and whispered into your ear. He looked like you. He looked like …" Heero's eyes focused on the painting propped up against the small side table near the doorway a few feet in front of him. "Fuck. It was him, Duo. It was Kallias."
Quatre squeaked with worry.
"Was it, Heero? Oh Duo, what was he saying to you?"
"He said …" Duo trailed off. He felt awfully stupid repeating what was whispered into his ear. It sounded too lame, too tragic, and he didn't want to further worry Quatre. "Oh, I … can't remember how he worded it. I … kinda froze. I can't remember what he said."
Heero, however, wasn't convinced.
"Well, shall we head upstairs, then?" All attention was diverted to Wufei as he walked over to the doorway of the library.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go." Duo stood up, extending a hand to help Heero.
Quatre entangled his arms around an injured Trowa to help him hobble towards the doorway. Wufei, shaking his head, walked over to Trowa and picked him up, one arm under his legs and one arm around his back as Trowa threw his arms around Wufei's neck.
"Ugh…thanks."
"Yeah." With a little smirk he followed Heero and Duo out of the library, Quatre in tow.
Walking down the empty hallway, Wufei couldn't help but wonder where he was being led. The hallways itself was a dead end, with no doors leading off to other rooms, and there certainly wasn't a staircase to lead them upstairs.
"Where exactly are we going?"
"Up those stairs," Duo pointed to the niche at the end of the hallway.
"Those…oh. Hey, they weren't there a minute ago."
"That's what I thought the first time Duo showed me the stairs, but they're there."
"What's there?" Quatre piped up from behind Wufei. "I don't see anything."
They had continued walking as they talked and were now in plain view of the staircase.
"Those stairs, Quat." Duo stood by him, grabbed his head, and turned it in the direction he needed to look.
"OH!" Quatre gasped out as a flight of stairs materialized in front of his eyes. "They weren't there and now…now they're there. How…I just don't…understand this at all. This is too creepy."
"Wait," Trowa spoke up from the arms in which he was being held, "if Heero didn't see them until he saw them…that doesn't make sense. If Wufei, Quatre and I only saw them after Duo revealed them to us then maybe…maybe you can't see them unless you are shown them, you know?"
Heero mused over this thought. Duo did in fact show him the staircase and he was certain it hadn't been there before. It would at least make a little more sense than the door disappearing and the window repairing itself. His musings, however, were cut short as Duo spoke up.
"Right now, in this house, that makes perfect sense, Tro. I just wanna figure this all out and get the hell outta here." Duo began to ascend the stairs with his friends in tow.
[x][x]
"What did he say to you, Duo?"
The five museum labourers had migrated to Baxter's bedroom where they had taken to sifting through closets, furniture and boxes for any clues to help them piece together the puzzle of which they only had approximately twelve hours to complete.
"I…ugh…" Duo's eyes scanned the room, checking to make sure no one else had heard or was trying to listen in to his conversation. Relieved that Trowa, Quatre and Wufei were working diligently on the other side of the room, Duo sat down on the corner of the four-poster and looked Heero in the eyes. "It's stupid. It's really, really stupid."
"I don't care if he told you that he likes to wear women's frilly panties. I want to know what he said to you."
Duo blinked, then laughed. That wasn't the type of thing someone said in a tone as serious as the one Heero always used.
"It's not funny. I want to know. We need to—"
"Yeah, yeah." Duo waved him off. "I know. It was just funny, what you said, about the panties."
"You're avoiding the subject." Heero took a seat next to Duo, legs slightly parted and wresting his elbows on his thighs.
"So?" All mirth had vanished from Duo's face. "It was stupid, okay? I feel stupid saying it."
"Duo, this is important. We need to figure everything out to get out of here. I won't tell the others. Just tell me."
Their eyes locked and, just by looking into the deep perse pools, Duo could feel the urgency welling inside Heero. With a sigh he brought his legs up and crossed them under him, staring at the floor.
"He said…he said, 'let me escape in you. Set me free within you. Please, do not let him harm me', okay? Happy? I sound like a lunatic."
"This is serious, you know. It sounds like Kallias is trying to use you to escape his afterlife. It would make sense, as you both look the same. But, I just don't get it. If it was Carl who I saw…"
Heero stopped speaking when he saw the look on Duo's face.
"Look, I don't know how it's happening, and I wish it wasn't. But, I'm seeing them. When, when the others came in through the window Carl was standing in the hallway. I know it was him. I just know it. I only saw him for a few seconds, but I have this gut feeling."
"Okay, so Quatre is being possessed by ghosts. I can hear ghosts speak, and you can see them? Oh, this is crazy. I'm going insane. This is—"
"Relax. It's this house; it's not you. But, the point I was trying to get at is, if it was Carl was it him who was in control of the window? Was it him that caused the door to disappear, and me to burn myself on the windowpane?"
"Do you think it was?"
Heero nodded. It seemed the only logic explanation, though he knew they were beyond logic at this point. He was positive that Carl was behind all the mysterious and dark happenings that were occurring.
"And it would make sense. Kallias is afraid of him. That's why he wants to escape."
"Oh! Do you think Carl was the one who possessed Quatre?" Duo's eyes were wide with realization.
"I wouldn't doubt it."
"Are you two going to do some actual work or just sit there and chat? I didn't throw myself into this house to be trapped with you. I did it to help you get out."
"Wufei, shush." Quatre furrowed his brows at his friend before he turned back around to the bed where Duo and Heero sat. "Never mind him."
"But, Quatre," Trowa started, "Wufei does have a point."
"And that's why neither of you are romantic—"
"Hey! Meilan says—"
"It's very cute, you know, the two of them. Just leave them be." Quatre opened another box that was tucked in the closet.
"Cute?"
"Honestly, Trowa. They like each other. It's so obvious."
"Is it now Mr. Empathy?" Wufei raised both eyebrows. "Well, forgive us common folk for not catching on."
"Hey, look at all these." Trowa reached into the box that Quatre had opened, just as Quatre was reaching. Their hands touched and both boys blushed.
"For Christ's sake." Wufei rolled his eyes. "If anyone likes each other, it's you goons. Now, what do we have here?"
Biting his lip, Quatre lowered his eyes. It was true and he wouldn't deny it, but for Wufei to mention it right in front of Trowa? Well, now he was embarrassed.
"They're pictures, of Kallias."
"Hey, that's the water fountain out front." Wufei snatched a stack of pictures from the box and examined them.
Kallias was posed on the rim around the fountain, sitting at looking at the camera. He was smiling in most, but it was obvious it was forced.
"AHHHH!"
All five occupants of the room stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. None of them had screamed like that. It was high pitched and womanly. However, weren't they the only ones in the house? The door flew open and everyone jumped, except for Heero who just stared at the doorway with wide eyes.
"H-Heero?" Duo reached out and gently touched Heero's rigid arm.
Heero was unresponsive, for all he could see were women gathering at the door way with linen in their arms. One woman, a black woman with gray hair, dropped her linen and brought her arms up to her face and screamed once again. Dread filled Heero as he slowly turned towards the bed, his heart beating so fast he could feel it pound his whole body.
"Holy fuck!" His voice was paranoid and slightly shaken as he scrambled off the bed.
"What? What is it?" Duo looked perplexly at the bed, seeing nothing.
Heero just shook his head, not saying a word as he stared at the bloody corpse of Carl Baxter, sprawled out on the mattress.
"All this time I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without a thought without a voice without a soul
Don't let me die here
There must be something more
Bring me to life"
TBC
Author's Note: WOOT! Chapter two is done. I'd like to thank everyone I thanked in my last AN, especially my beta. I think this one is a tad bit shorter than the last one, but there's a lot of plot so no complaining. I'd like to thank my two reviewers Long de Yungi and Aquarius. I hope you'll come back and continue reading the story. As for people who read the story and don't review, thank you too. It's nice to know people actually read what I write.
I have NO idea when I'll get the next chapter out. And, even though this isn't like me because I'm such a perfectionist, I'm writing this story as I post it. So, if you find any continuity holes or such like that it's because I either wrote it and forgot about, or I've written myself into a corner and need a quick fix to get myself out. Thank you and goodnight!