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

"Do you remember me

Lost for so long?

Will you be on the other side

Or will you forget me?

I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming

Am I too lost to be saved?

Am I too lost?"

Chapter VI: Tourniquet

"You're positive that we don't need these, that they're garbage?" Duo placed one of the floor-strewn diaries back in the box and folded the lid over it. "Cuz, we wasted a lot of time—"

"We really didn't waste that much time. It's important that we know Carl loved Kallias and that Kallias loved Parthenia." Heero placed a picture of Carl and Kallias back into a diary and into a box.

"But we spent so much time on those stupid diaries. If that's all we needed to know we could've ditched them hours ago."

"Well, I'm doing the best I can, okay?"

The truth was that Heero had run out of ideas. The diaries were an obvious dead end but he didn't have any other ideas. Heero promised Duo he wouldn't let anything happen to him and he was beginning to wonder how he was going to fulfill his promise when he had no ideas left.

"I...I need to look at things. Hey, hand me Carl's last diary...the half finished one." Heero reached his hand out toward Duo who held a couple books in his hands.

Duo, unsure, tentatively handed Heero a diary and continued putting the rest away. He wasn't sure what Heero was up to.

Taking a pen from the bottom of one of the diary boxes, Heero sat on the floor crossed legged and began a quick point form journal entry from the start of the day. He listed everything, starting from Une's phone call giving them the assignment to him sitting on the floor writing about it.

"Alright, look at this. Kallias is trying to contact you, and it's obvious why. You two are identical. He's giving us clues, I think, to help us out of the house. The only negative thing is, I'm positive, he wants us to bring him with us. He keeps trying to escape within you, right?"

"So, is this one of those corny moments where we call an exorcist because Kallias is tired of being an earth bound tormented spirit? Do we all sit around the Ouija board and—"

"That's the problem, Duo. There is no 'we all'...there's only us. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei are gone. We were in the house alone to begin with and whoever is behind this is making it so we're the only ones here when it ends...or...maybe..." Comprehension dawned on Heero's face as he then looked horrorstruck at Duo. "No way."

"What?" Duo eagerly abandoned the diaries in hand and sat next to Heero, peering at the page with Heero's tight and almost perfect writing. "What?"

"I don't want to frighten you, but maybe you're the only one who's supposed to be left. The wardrobe upstairs tried to crush me against the window."

"Yeah, you would've been flattened..."

"Or sent out the window-that's it! Duo, the others are okay. They're being kicked out of the house!"

"Are they alright, though?" Duo's wide eyes focused on Heero's and concern was laced there. "Heero, they're okay, though, right? I mean, they're not hurt, are they? Ghosts can't hurt us, can they?"

Heero looked down at his bandaged hand. When he had tried to escape the house earlier he had gotten hurt. It wasn't a ghost per se that actually hurt him, but he would bet that the apparition he saw in the hallway shortly afterwards was somehow behind it. "They can't hurt us but they can manipulate objects into doing so. The door. The windowsill. The wardrobe. I'm starting to think I was pushed down the stairs, by the way."

"When you tripped me?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"I'm sure of it, though, that you're the only one supposed to remain at the end of the night."

"You mean at midnight when I die?"

"Quatre didn't say anything about dying, Duo! He just said there was no escape..."

"And that there would be blood shed!"

"I know, I know! Look, I'm trying my damned hardest to figure this mess out, okay? I'm just running out of ideas, okay! Are you happy now? I'm at my wits end, Duo. I've been trying to stay calm and keep you calm but I just can't do it anymore! I made a promise to you, to keep you safe and stay with you, and now I'm not sure I'll be able to keep that promise...not from lack of trying. I'll try, but if something supernatural is controlling all of this then—"

"Yuy, relax. Please, you're scaring me." Duo reached a hand out and touched Heero's bandages. He let his hand rest there for a moment before speaking again. "I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you. I can't expect you to be my support pillar for so long without cracking a little. I shouldn't expect so much of you. You're always so composed and collected and I just wish sometimes that I could be that way so you don't always have to."

"Don't ever change. I love you the way you are

XX

"Quatre, just come sit down. There's nothing we can do."

"But—"

"Wufei was trying to break into the house and didn't even make a dent with that screwdriver."

"But—"

"Whatever is keeping Heero and Duo in there really wants us to stay out.""But—"

"Please, Quatre. It's out of our hands."

"But—"

"Quatre!" Trowa stopped ushering the young blonde towards the Jeep and turned him around. "What would it take to shut you up for two minutes and think about this? There's nothing we can do. I know you think we're turning our back on them, giving up, but we're not. All we can do is wait."

"Until when? Until midnight and they die?"

"No one said anything about dying—"

"I did!"

"No you didn't. You said—"

"Blood shed, Trowa. My friends, our friends, are in great danger!" Quatre's azure eyes were pleading with Trowa to do something, to figure something out because he didn't have any ideas left.

"Quatre." Trowa's voice was calm and quite, almost begging. "Quatre, please. Just...let's go get something to eat and think about this. We'll come back, I swear. I won't leave them here, but you need to calm down."

"Trowa...I won't...I just can't..."

Growing frustrated, Trowa placed his hands on Quatre's shoulders and brought his face closer.

"I promise you that we'll come back. Let's go get some food, see how Wufei's surgery is going and then come back. But you, right now, need to leave this place. It's not good for you."

"You're always taking such good care of me." Quatre's lips attempted a feeble smile.

"I know."

And with that, Trowa closed the distance between them and captured Quatre's worried lips in his.

XX

"The surgery went perfect, no complications at all which is wonderful since he wound was so close to the artery. He's a little drowsy right now, but he keeps calling for you. Normally we ask that the patient be left alone for a while, but you can go see him if you wish."

"Of course I wish!" Meilan stood up and followed the doctor into Wufei's room.

Lying prone on the hospital bed, wrapped in thin, hard sheets in a blue and gray striped hospital gown was Wufei. His eyes were closed but his lips kept moving slightly, as if whispering to someone. Beeping boxes and bags dripped all around him as Meilan approached, clutching her purse close to her chest.

"Oh, Fei." She took the seat next to the bed and reached out for his hand. "It's okay now, don't worry. I'm here."

XX

"Heero, I'm STARVING! Omigaud, I'm so hungry I could eat my own leg." Duo reached for his ankle, pulling up his pant leg and exposing the white flesh underneath.

"That would end badly." Heero reached over and pried Duo's hands of his ankle before he damaged himself.

"But my stomach is eating itself! I'm so fucking hungry!" Duo's whining sounded very close to crying. "I'm never skipping breakfast ever again."

"Why? Just in case you get stuck in another haunted house that doesn't provide food?"

"Exactly!"

"Inadvertently, you just implied that there's life after tonight. But look at this," Heero smirked and drew his attention to the day's events he had written out when Duo gave him a nasty glare. "I used to think that Parthenia killed Carl, but now I'm not so sure. Looking at all of this, it just doesn't make sense. Carl's father may have killed him. He knew he was sick and dying and probably didn't want a gay son running the estate when he was gone."

"What evidence do we have for that?"

"Just as much evidence that I had for my previous theory. Nothing but these diaries and my guesses. We need another clue…something, anything. If there is a spirit in this house willing to help us, just give us another damn clue." Heero ripped his page out of the diary and then threw it into a box.

Then, as if some phantom actor was waiting for its cue, an apparition floated into the room. Heero went cold and rigid, still not used to the ability to "See."

"Heero? Heero, you okay? Is it happening again?" Duo scrambled over to his frozen friend and tried to make eye contact, but Heero's eyes were wide and almost unseeing.

Carl's semi-solid form took a seat at the end of his four-poster and seemed to be motioning for someone to follow. His raspy voice, being heard for the first time, was strange to Heero's ears.

"Come sit down...We need to talk...Don't walk away from me!" Angry now, Carl got to his feet. "Don't you talk to me like that you ungrateful slut!" Realizing the emotional pain he had caused whoever he was speaking to, Carl's eyes softened and he outstretched his hand. "...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it...Look at me."

The odd thing was, every time Carl's speech paused his lips still seemed to be moving, as if he was mouthing a word or a phrase without actually speaking it. Heero tried to read his lips, but they moved oddly, as if they were being visually distorted. It was as if Heero was watching a movie and there was a small crease in the reel. Then, just like every other phantom, Carl's glittering form vanished as quickly as it appeared and Heero could no longer hear him.

XX

"I'll have the chicken burger with fries and gravy, please, and he'll have the Quiche Loraine with a poutine." Trowa handed the menus back to the young plump waitress in a blue shirt while Quatre mournfully sipped on his iced tea.

"Sure thing." The waitress continued writing on her note pad as she walked away from the table, pacing the order on a spinning wheel behind the counter. "Order!"

Quatre seemed to slink further into the diner bench with every passing second. Every once and a while he'd glance guiltily out the window into the distance where he knew the Baxter Mansion, and his friends, were.

"Quatre, they have to figure it out on their own. We can't help them. I've been thinking about what happened before. We weren't meant to get into the house, that's why we got kicked out. Wufei was brave to join Heero and Duo by climbing through the window, but look what happened to him. He's being punished, and Heero was punished for trying to leave. You just have to have faith in them that they'll figure it out."

"And what if they don't?" Tears were brimming in Quatre's eyes as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What if we never hear Duo laugh again, or hear Heero's little grunts when he's agreeing with us? What if we never see Duo's smile or—"

"We will, because they're both smart. Heero is super intelligent, and you know that. Heero won't let anything happen to Duo." Trowa reached across the table and pulled Quatre toward him, looking him dead in the eyes. "We're going back to that mansion at midnight, and at midnight Heero and Duo will be outside waiting for us, got it?"

"But—"

"NO buts...at all!" Trowa was starting to get angry. Yes, he was worried, but he had total confidence in Heero and Duo. His main concern was getting Quatre to relax, and then the simple answer came to him.

"Trowa, I just—mmf!"

Slipping his fingers into Quatre's baby-soft blonde hair, Trowa pulled his head toward his own, silencing Quatre's concern with his lips, and slowly pulled away.

Quatre opened his eyes, not even remembering closing them, and blushed. He looked around the diner and, much to his embarrassment, saw a few people staring at Trowa and him.

The plump waitress, who had walked by them to clean a table, had stopped almost next to their table. "You just made my day."

Trowa, beginning to blush, turned away from her just as Quatre leaned in for another soft kiss, sending goose bumps to travel down his spine.

XX

"Woman...I'ng jusss fffine."

Meilan threw her head back and laughed. "Wufei, you're stoned out of your mind on painkillers and anesthesia! This is hilarious; I'm not going anywhere."

"There'ssss nothf-kin wrong wifff mee." Wufei attempted to roll over, turning away from Meilan, but his leg gave a sharp jab of pain and decided against it. He settled for a turn of his torso, and crossed his arms and looked away. He felt very indignant at the moment.

"Yeah? Say seven slippery snakes without slurring." Meilan couldn't help but grin.

"Sssshut-up! I'ng tired now, sssso go away!"

XX

"Heero? What was it?" Duo knelt in front of Heero, trying to look into his eyes as Heero continued to stare at some unseen apparition.

"Carl was talking to someone. He wanted to talk to someone, but they didn't want to. Carl called them an 'ungrateful slut'. I think they got into an argument then."

"But you don't know who he was talking to?"

"No. It's weird. I couldn't hear him speak when he said their name, and I couldn't read his lips either. They were distorted."

As soon as Heero said this Duo's eyes went blank and he could once again see a glimmering figure walking towards them. Kallias slid across the floor with his arms outstretched. Heero saw his lips move but heard nothing. It was weird, but he seemed incapable of hearing Kallias speak, which only meant one thing. He was talking to Duo and Duo alone.

"Duo?" Heero reached out for Duo's hand and tugged a little. Duo was nonresponsive and Kallias was getting closer.

Duo could feel the coldness surround him as his hair stood on end. He could hear nothing but silence, then someone spoke.

"Please. He was so cruel to me all the time. There was no escaping him. Please release me."

"Duo?" Kallias was getting closer still and Duo seemed not to even notice Heero. Seeing Kallias's fingertips reaching out for Duo, swiping at his braid, Heero reached out and pulled Duo toward him. The braided boy fell limply into his lap and Kallias vanished once again. "Duo? Can you hear me?"

"Nnnnn...wha?" Rolling over in the pillow-soft lap, Duo stared up into Heero's face. It took him a second to register than his head was resting on Heero's thigh before he sprang back up and uttered a quick apology.

"What did he say?" Heero asked urgently, waving Duo's apology aside.

"The usual." Duo blushed. His head had just been in Heero's lap and that was enough to get his schoolboy hormones raging. He felt the need to giggle, but resisted it. That sort of behaviour couldn't be explained away with a lie.

"What exactly?"

"Erm, well, you know, let me release him and shit about how Carl was mean to him—"

"That's it! That's who Carl must have been talking to!"

"But, Heero, we already knew Carl was mean to him. Carl could have been talking to anyone. He seems like he was a bitch. Anyway," Duo stood up, wanting to change the subject for a while. "Shall we poke around again and try to find food? I'm seriously considering eating my leg."

Heero shook his head while Duo grinned. In the face of adversity, all Duo could think about was food.

"Okay, we'll go look for food."

"Sweet!"

"My wounds cry for the grave

My soul cries for deliverance

Will I be denied Christ

Tourniquet

My suicide"

TBC

Author's Note: I know this one's super short, but it's a quick update so :P! Lol. I have so many reviews! Okay, well, not "so many" but it's more than I could ask for. I'm so super ecstatic that you people like my story! One more chapter to go! I know. Wow. I feel a great sense of accomplishment looming in the air, even though it's only seven chapters. I've never finished a story so this really is something for me.

Again, thanks to my wonderful beta who can walk now. (Knee surgeryouch!) Woot. Okay::goes off to finish the story:.