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
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside
I know you're still there"
Chapter III: Haunted
"Heero! What is it?" Duo rushed over to stand right next to Heero, but still could see nothing. "Heero, answer me!" Shaking Heero's shoulders, Duo spun him around so they were face to face.
"C-car…"
"Carl?"
Heero nodded.
"What about Carl?"
"He-he's dead."
"Yuy! I'm going to kick your ass." Wufei stood up and stomped over to the bed. "Of course Carl is dead! That's not a revelation, you know."
"No. He's…he's dead. HE'S RIGHT FUCKING THERE!" Heero pointed to the bloody corpse that lay on the bed, eyes rolled into his head and mouth hanging open.
Snickering. Heero could hear snickering. He turned accusingly at his friends but saw that none of them were the culprit of the almost taunting sound. Whoever was snickering had done this to Carl.
"Duo, Carl didn't just die here." Heero had now pushed himself against a wall. "He was murdered here."
And, suddenly, just as quickly as it all had appeared, Carl's corpse (along with the women at the door and the snickering) had vanished.
"He's gone."
"Oh, brother." Wufei rolled his eyes as he turned and walked back to Trowa and Quatre, mouthing words. "I really think he's gone nuts."
Quatre frowned at Wufei. No matter how unbelievable it was, Quatre always gave his friends the benefit of the doubt. If Heero thought he saw Carl, then Heero saw Carl. Besides, seeing a ghost is more believable than being possessed by one, which Quatre had been.
"What do you mean, murdered?" Duo took a few tentative steps towards Heero, who was still pushed against the wall.
"I mean, someone killed him on that bed. He was lying there, all bloody. I could see women, maids, at the door and someone was snickering. Whoever had killed Carl laughed about it. They were really happy."
"Who do you think—"
"Wait, wait, wait." The wheels in Heero's head began to turn and, as he stared into Duo's eyes, he knew he was on to something. "Hold on a second. It's not Carl Kallias is afraid of; it's the one who killed Carl. It would make sense, wouldn't it? He already killed Carl so—"
"Yeah, but aren't we assuming too much of a relationship between Carl and Kallias?"
"Nope!" Quatre called from the other side of the room. "Come over here and look at these photos."
Heero and Duo did as requested, taking a spot on the floor near the other three and their box.
Quatre had revealed another stack of photos of Kallias near the water fountain. However, in these photos, Carl was holding Kallias close to his chest possessively, looking into his eyes as he held one of his hands, dangling down next to the both of them.
"Okay," Duo began, "so, basically, they were lovers?"
"I'm not sure about that." Wufei reached for the pictures they were previously looking at. "See, here he doesn't look too happy. It's almost as if he's being forced to be there. And, the same in these pictures with him and Carl. I'm not sure he liked Carl all that much."
"That could be the case." Trowa reached into the bottom of the box. "We could always read these to find out." He brandished a few leather bound journals.
"Oh!" Quatre squealed with delight. "If it wasn't for you two being in a life or death situation, this would be really fun." Quatre reached for one of the journals and opened it, beginning to read.
"Thanks, Quat."
"Stop being facetious, Maxwell."
"You know, you could've just said sarcastic. You only like saying that word cuz it makes you sound smart." Duo stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at Wufei.
"You know, a little education wouldn't hurt you, Maxwell."
"Yeah, but too much could kill me."
"How do you—"
"Enough." Heero cut in with a wave of his hand. "Stop bickering. You two sound like an old married couple."
At this remark, Wufei's face lit up brighter than Times Square on New Years.
"I resent that! Maxwell and I—"
"We know, we know. Meilan, right?"
"Exactly, Barton. I am a mar—"
"Guys! Check this out!" Quatre began to read aloud. "'June twelfth, nineteen ten. Today marks the day that I have shamed my father's name. I did not intend to become attracted to a man, and I feel ashamed of it. However, every time he walks by I cannot contain my flustered self. He is an enigma.
At first I was not aware that he was male. In fact, not many are if he is looked at from afar. He has a very feminine physique. He is beautiful. I must distract myself from him, somehow. Until next time, Carl U. Baxter.'"
"I feel dirty somehow." Duo scrunched up his nose. "And offended. Do I look like a chick from afar?"
No one answered, and that did little to quell Duo's frustration.
"If it makes you feel better," Heero started as he noticed Duo's temper begin to rise, "I have never once mistaken you for a woman."
"Are you just saying that?"
Wufei made a loud sigh of annoyance, and rose to his feet.
"Back and forth and back and forth. No one can stay on task without breaking off and starting an
off topic conversation."
"It was closely correlated."
"See? Does it matter, Maxwell? We have a lot of work to do so let's just stop talking and get to it."
"And where are you going, then?" Duo looked rather indignant as he placed his hands on his hips, looking much like a sugar pot as he sat on the floor.
"If you must know, to relieve myself."
"You're going to jerk off—"
"Good god no, Maxwell! I have to use the facilities!"
Duo clutched his stomach in laughter as Wufei stormed out of the room.
"I knew what he meant, but I couldn't resist." He turned to Heero, laughing, and lightly punched his arm.
"You're terrible."
xx
Wufei walked along the corridor, stopping every once in a while to check doors he hoped would lead to the washroom. When no such room was revealed to him, he decided to descend the stairs and search the main level. He walked down the hall when his vision suddenly rippled, and the floor and the walls looked like a disrupted pond. Little waves flew all around him and ebbed down the corridor. Shaking it off as just another supernatural occurrence that would later be explained, he stepped foot on the landing and noticed a caramel coloured door to his left, where the dead end of the hallway was.
He knew this house liked to play tricks, or that forces behind the mischievous happenings of this house liked to play tricks, so, with a steadying breath, he pushed the knobless door open and wasn't exactly shocked to find a washroom. It was just the thing he was starting to expect from this house.
Closing the door behind him, he proceeded to complete his business, flush and wash his hands. With no towel to dry his wet digits, he unceremoniously wiped them on his pant legs, and pushed the door to leave. It opened and he gasped.
He was no longer facing the hallway, which held the stairs to where his four friends were. Instead, he was facing the Diana fountain on the front land of the house. Quickly, he jutted back inside the washroom and closed the door, hoping the next time he opened it he would be facing the hallway again.
No such luck. He stared for the second time at the fountain. How had this happened? How was he to get back upstairs? The window. With a displeased expression, and his eyes narrow, he marched out of the bathroom door and around the fountain to the large bay window he had previously used to enter the mansion.
"Oh, shit!"
The window was boarded up. Thick wooden sheets were nailed over the windowpanes. With a defeated sigh, he slumped against the tree trunk behind him. How was he going to get out of this one, and back with his friends? If only he hadn't left that bathroom.
"Well, Wufei, what are we going to do? Great. Talking to yourself. It's the first sign of insanity. Damn."
He looked around for anything that could break the wood so he could climb back through the window.
"Tools!" He jumped to his feet and ran towards the wrought iron gate where Trowa's Jeep had been parked. Rummaging through the back seat, he found nothing more useful than a screwdriver. "Well, it's better than nothing."
And with that he set away at trying to break the wood with the tip of the screwdriver.
xx
"Wufei's been gone a long time, ya know?" Duo rummaged through another box, one of many, that had been tucked far into the recess of the closet. "Maybe he really is—"
"Don't even say it, Duo." Heero scowled.
"I say someone should go look for him. Knowing this house, he could be stuck in a wall somewhere." Trowa stood, wincing from the pain that shot through his leg.
At that, Quatre stood as well, hands on hips and his lips in a tight pout while his brows furrowed at Trowa's state. There was no way he was going to let Trowa hobble off on his own in this house! And that was final.
"Trowa, first of all, you're not going anywhere in your condition. Second, I really don't think it's a good idea for us to split up. If Wufei is in a wall," at this his expression became perplexed, "then there's no use in all of us getting separated and becoming a permanent fixture of this house as well. What good would it do if we were all stuck in different walls?"
"I concur. There's no reason to split up. We should all go look for Wufei together," Heero turned to Duo, his eyes almost asking for him to make the vote three to one.
"No." Trowa shook his head. "You three should stay here and figure out a way to get us all out of this house. Keep reading those journals. If we all left, we probably wouldn't have enough time to piece together this puzzle. I'm going to look for Wufei."
"At least let me go with you. Please, Trowa? I don't want you walking around with that leg without someone. What happens if you trip and fall, eh? Heero and Duo can stay here and read though these journals together. You won't leave each other, will you?" Quatre directed his last question to Heero and Duo, wanting them to confirm his statement and put Trowa at ease.
"Of course not." Heero reached for another journal. "We'll be fine here for the time being, while you two go look for Wufei."
Defeated, Trowa sighed and looked to Quatre. "Fine, let's go." He then began to hop-step his way out of the master bedroom, Quatre close to his side.
Heero shook his head as he heard Quatre's worried squawkings all down the hallway. Opening the journal in his hand to the first page, his eyes lit with excitement. There, tucked away in the corner of the back of the cover, was a name in very small letters.
"Duo! This journal belongs to Kallias!"
"Really?" Duo scooted over so he was right next to Heero, hip to hip, as he read over his shoulder the first page. "'August seventeenth, nineteen ten. I want to marry Parthenia. However, he won't allow it. I cannot even pen his name, it disturbs me so.'"
"Damnit! How are we ever going to figure this out?"
Duo shrugged as he continued to read. "'He says a servant cannot marry into the family. I loathe this house and I want to leave. That is not allowed either, as I have no freedom.' Wait, is Kallias the servant or is Parthenia the servant?"
"Kallias, I'm assuming. Look at his clothes in these pictures compared to Carl's. Carl…Carl won't allow it! He's the head of estate, right? So, he's forbidding Kallias to marry…" Heero's voice trailed off as his eyes searched the page, "Parthenia because he likes him! That's why Kallias looks so unhappy in these pictures."
"There's more. 'I confessed my love to Parthenia and she was quite taken with it. However, she also knows the rules and dares not return my love even though she said if the circumstances were any different she would be my wife.' Parthenia loved Kallias back. But…who killed Carl?"
xx
"Where do you think Wufei could have gone?" Quatre's azure eyes sheepishly made contact with Trowa's deep forest greens. A light blush danced upon Quatre's porcelain skin as his skin heated.
"Honestly, I have no idea." Trowa had limped all the way down the staircase where, oddly, a brown door appeared that hadn't been there before. "But, all rational thought and logic begs me to check behind this door."
Quatre jumped as the brown door suddenly flashed into existence in front of him. "Yeah, I'm betting it has to do with that." With a bracing huff of air, he pushed on the knobless door and was lead into a lavish kitchen. "This wasn't here before, for sure."
Trowa nodded as he followed the blonde into the starving man's paradise. Gourmet dish after gourmet dish littered the room and, despite himself, Trowa found his mouth watering.
"Oh, we haven't eaten since breakfast. I bet you Heero and Duo are starving. Think we should bring a plate up to them?"
Trowa nodded as he reached for a stack of dishes and began piling up roast beef shepherd's pie, chicken cordon bleu, peach cobbler and other assorted pastries and desserts.
"Hmm, what's that?" Quatre pointed to a small brown scoop in a sundae dish.
"Tartoufo. Take some, trust me."
Quatre did as he was told, gaily piling up food upon food on three separate dishes (one for him, one for Heero and one for Duo). "Think that maybe Wufei came in here and got distracted?"
"Nah."
"Why?"
"Because he'd still be in here, wouldn't he?"
Quatre looked around the room that was, with the exception of himself, Trowa and the wonderful food, fairly empty. With a shrug, he continued to pile food upon three plates and, when he was done, situated them on his arm as a waitress would.
"Oh, the talent."
Quatre blushed at Trowa's deadpanned comment.
"Oh, shush you. C'mon. We should get this food up to the others."
"Without silverware?"
Quatre sighed as he walked towards the drawers, preparing to place the food back down and begin his search, when Trowa called his attention.
"Nevermind over there. There's some here on the table." He scooped up four forks and knives and held them tight as he grabbed the plate with his other hand and began to limp towards the door.
With a little huff, Quatre rolled his eyes and followed Trowa. Using his bodyweight, Quatre pushed on the door to open it and gasped. Dropping the plates, he reached for something, anything, as he began to tumbled downwards. The hallway where they had entered had disappeared and Quatre was now falling. Quickly, Trowa grabbed his hand but to no avail. Both boys tumbled through the floor and fell out of the sky.
"AAAAAAHAHAAAH!" A painful, anguished cry split Quatre's tears open as he landed on something soft, Trowa having landed on him.
With no time to relish in the comforting feeling of contact between them Trowa and Quatre quickly got to their feet, rolling off the soft object, and noticed they were in front of the mansion. Taking in the surroundings, Quatre's eyes widened as he noticed Wufei on the ground, cursing and crying out as he trembled, a purple object wedged in his leg.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god!" Wufei closed his eyes, hissing, almost blind from the sheer pain. "There's a screwdriver in my thigh. There's a screwdriver in my thigh. Oh god. It hurts. It hurts a lot. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"Oh god, Wufei! Oh, Trowa!" Panicked, Quatre turned to Trowa, "What do we do?"
Trowa gave a light shrug as he reached down and snaked his arms around the injured boy. Ignoring the sharp pain in his leg, he hoisted the boy off the ground and began to walk towards the gate where his jeep was situated. "We're going to the hospital, hopefully."
"Hopefully? What do you mean hopefully?"
"I mean, hopefully, Quatre, this house will let us leave so we can seek some medical care." Trowa placed the boy he carried in the back of the jeep, lying on the two seats that sometimes served as a trunk. Rummaging in his pants pocket, Trowa pulled out a small set of keys and attempted to clamber into the drivers seat.
"Oh, I do not think so Mr. Macho. You are not driving in that condition. It wouldn't hurt to have you checked out either. I'm driving, thank you very much." And with that the little blonde ushered Trowa into the passenger seat. He then climbed into the drivers seat, crossed one set of fingers and turned on the ignition. With a cough and a hiccup, then a cachunk, Trowa's beat-up piece of scrap metal meandered to life.
"Honestly, with this piece of junk, you don't have to worry about the house stalling us. You have to worry about the actual—"
"Quatre, I know I know! And, I'll make you a deal. If we all make it out of here alive I'll buy a new jeep, okay?"
Quatre's smile brightened. "Okay, we might as well look for a new vehicle while we're on our way to the hospital. There's no way we're letting anything happen to Heero and Duo. They'll be alright until we get you two fixed up."
"Thhhh-then w-we're c-c-coming back, right?" Wufei's voice sounded distant and difficult, as if any second he would pass out, probably from the pain.
"Right. We're not leaving them in there."
xx
"What is it, Heero?" Duo tore his attention away from the journal he was reading.
"Probably nothing, but I thought I heard someone scream. Someone…far away I guess."
Duo shrugged his shoulders, now under the tingling sensation of someone watching him, the hairs on his neck stand up. Funny, now he swore he could almost hear snickering.
"Watching me wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you loving you
I won't let you pull me down
Hunting you I can smell you - alive
Your heart pounding in my head"
TBC.
Author's Note: I've concluded this should be a movie instead of a fic, that way the readers can properly view the special effects without my lack of vocabulary screwing it up. I hate myself. EVERYTHING SHOULD BE IN FINE DETAIL. You should know how everything moves, everything looks, everything feels to them. I'm failing. This is why I never post anything, or go through with anything.
Nobara: (Slaps!) Get a grip woman!
Praevisum: I didn't exactly need that, you know. All I need to do is steal Shakespeare's brain and…
Nobara: Good luck. Do you know how many people want that?
Praevisum: Well, I take more precedence.
Nobara: You're such a pretentious biotch sometimes, you know that?
Praevisum: I'm only letting you get away with that comment because you're family.
Continued Author's Note: Thanks to my beta, and my reviewers. Thanks to my muse. Thanks to my computer. Thanks to the Doritos company for making Rollitos. Thanks to Maxwell House Coffee and, lastly, thanks to all the little people who are searching for ways to make me all-knowing and all-powerful. I will take over the world, I promise you.
ON A SERIOUS NOTE: My uncle just recently passed away and that is another reason why this wasn't out earlier. Inspiration is hard to grasp when it likes to seep between your fingers in airy wisps.