Title: Left Behind
Chapter 1: Welcome to Eden.
Rating: T
Author's Note: First of all, this IS ChibiSamiSala. I got rather tired of this name, seeing as it was made by a friend of mine for me years and years ago when I was lacking Internet. Because I had no other choice, I stuck with it. Now that I've gotten the opportunity to change it, I have.
(EDIT) Well, I changed it back to the former CSS, although I dislike it, since people reconize it better. Thanks for dealing with it!
Oh, btw, just to sooth the beast of questions that are sure to follow this first part, what you are about to read, until the next separator, is a flashback. :P There will most likely be a lot of those, so prepare your time traveling clothing, for we shall be bounding through time quite a bit.
ENJOY!
------(OooOooO)------
Darkness seemed to seep into every corner of the room, thick and black and rotting. The blood was easy to see even without light, red, glimmering, wet; spread out on the walls like paint. The childlike paintings of clouds were now streaked with acid rain, dripping down in thick tendrils down the walls.
"Yes, Heaven is thine; but this Is a world of sweets and sours; Our flowers are merely - flowers, And the shadow of thy perfect bliss Is the sunshine of ours." The voice was eerie, thick, and gargling, pausing only once in a while to cough, adding more paint to the wall from its slit throat. For a moment the onlookers thought that they had not been seen, the smaller gripping her companion's arm until her knuckles turned white, focused on the still feet of their guide, a bright red that contrasted with the long black hair of the one crouched over her, mumbling insanities.
"Demon.." The man spoke, below his voice to his companion, who flinched and tightened her hold on his arm, blue eyes narrowing on the creature before her. "There is nothing human left in that spirit…. other then its need to kill…" He moved his strong arm out before her, taking slow and easy steps backwards as not to alert the gorging monster. The girl released his arm as he put it before her, twining her arms about her bulging stomach.
Neither were armed, there was no way to defend themselves, both wrapped up in dark black jackets to protect from the cold, the girl's shirt and scarf a pale blue tint. Her favorite color. His was Gold.
The creature didn't seem to mind them being there, not at all, not since she had slipped through the floor boards amongst thick black ooze and plopped her sagging body on top of the nice real estate agent that had slid open the door to the living room, speaking nicely about the fireplace. It was a lovely fireplace, even when stained with blood. It seemed though, that the demon wasn't quite satisfied with its paint job, pitch black eyes darting hungrily back at the receding figures before it craned its head backwards, until its bubbling, squirting throat opened up into a gaping hole, allowing its head to fall against its back, staring at the two off duty exorcists with a malicious gleam to its upside down smile.
"Honey…lovely…. You're home…I cooked dinner and everything…I'm sorry if it's a bit cold dear…" It gurgled, what was left of its torn mouth stretching into an inhuman smile, bits and pieces of the woman's intestines sticking between her twisted teeth. The younger cursed beneath her breath, while the older placed a hand over his mouth in disgust. Neither of them was happy with the situation. Both were quite ready to leave.
The monster stood, stretching its sinewy limbs to unseemly lengths, its stomach hanging down to its knees, split open in the center, so that what the monster had eaten came falling out in intervals, along with dark black ooze. One couldn't quite tell if it was focusing, but with a speed uncanny for the creatures of hell, the woman-thing screeched, leaping forward onto the smaller much to the surprise of both of the companions. The man Gasped, grabbing the creature by the hair and wrenching her off of his partner, a scream bubbling from its slit throat as he nearly ripped its head from its shoulders, black eyes watching him with fierce anger. It released the girl, who dropped with a sharp gasp, wrapping her arms about her stomach protectively, long gashes sliced through the nice blue material and into her taunt skin. Flesh wound, not much damage. Hurt like hell though, proven by the gasp she gave when the wounds were stretched, half the shirt a rather purple color now.
The woman-thing rotated her body about, having only a few strings of flesh holding one's neck together allowing such a violent movement despite the man's rock solid hold on its hair, viciously twisted nails digging into his chest, scrabbling for that life pulse that runs every living thing. He cried out, releasing the head and pulling back his fist as he slammed it into the collar bone of the demon, a sickening crack indenting its bones, the force forcing the claws from the man's flesh. Both landed on the ground with a thump, the man gasping as he held his hand to one of the deep wounds, shaking his head; the demon not wasting a moment to lunge back at him.
Fists, as well as flesh, flew.
The Girl struggled to stand, her front heavy body already aching as she backed into the hall, cursing her luck, fear dancing in her eyes over the state of her stomach. She needed something to help…something… Her fingers closed upon the fire-poker that relaxed against the wall amongst its partners, filling her with some type of bravery. The man cried out, something more painful then before, and the creature jittered in high tones, cackling madly.
That was until it found itself on the bad side of the fire poker, the girl's batter like swing cutting right into its mangled chest and sent it flying across the room, screeching as black ooze dripped from the holes, hair and limbs flailing about.
She dropped to the side of her companion, blue eyes worried and horrified at the blood that was everywhere. He struggled to get up, cursing under his breath. "Run…now…" There was no way that blow had completely stopped the creature's quest for death. Stumbled, pushing her along as she gave him a hopeless look, before curling one arm beneath her stomach and heading quickly for the door, cursing fluidly about the stupidity of men.
The Woman-thing Snarled, its black eyes focusing on the fleeing figure, her black jacket and blonde hair flapping as she headed for the door, and it shrieked in pure hatred, pulling back in itself, bones and meat crunching and squirting, before it shot forward, crashing into the man who threw himself in the way, and leaping over him as they fell, large hands barely missing its hold, and pure horror filled his mind.
"ROSETTE!"
The Creature smiled as the girl turned around, hesitating at the voice, one hand on the doorknob.
"YUAN!"
And then before her there was the blackness of the demon's eyes.
------(OooOooO)------
"True to its title, Eden is a town right out of heaven. Weather it was our lush forests, Friendly people, or deep historical buildings that attracted you, we are sure that Eden will be a place that you will come back to time and time again." Excited hands tightened on the brochure, before flipping the page. "Of course they don't say anything about the ghosts hat are inevitably in those old buildings right Rosette?"
"You never know," She replied tersely, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as she glanced over her shoulder at the teen. "There might be, but most likely there is only a few remnants of spirits left in the buildings, if even that. Ghosts just don't pop up out of nowhere you know, they have to have a reason." The young man grinned rather widely, squirming a bit where he was packed into the small corner of the car, equipment and luggage plastering him to the wall.
"N-Ne Rosette…" A soft feminine voice followed, belonging to the younger girl who was sitting rather haphazardly in the boy's lap, clinging to the door handle to keep herself from being jolted everywhere. "How much longer do you think it's going to be till we get there?"
" Once again Azu, I'm not quite sure…" A small bead of sweat dripped down the driver's cheek, having to do somewhat by their cramped quarters and the fact that the old bucket of bolts air conditioning had broken down an hour ago. She swatted her hand into the endless regions beneath her seat (the car swearing all over the road in the process) before she pulled out a raggedy old map and yanked it open with her teeth. "We're here…. and the town…" She ran her finger across the blue line, stopping at a tiny red dot not an inch away. "Is here. The time between those points are lost to me…. I think the damn clock went too now." She growled, chucking down the map before realizing she was driving in the wrong lane, and swerved back into hers, cursing like crazy.
"Gwah Rosette!" The pale haired girl squealed, crushing the boy she sat on quite decently against the large suitcase of ammunition that was pressed to his side. "Careful!"
"Damn it! Don't tell me to be careful I'm always careful!" She hollered, throwing the map back into the seat beside her, nicking the side rail enough that sparks flew out from the contact. "Ah shit!"
The two high schoolers in the back held back their screams as the car weaved about the road, before finally straightening out, the driver acting as if it had never happened. There was silence in the car for a moment, other then the jiggling of the hard luggage against the duffle bags that overtook the back of the station wagon and the entire right side of the vehicle. They contained a rather odd assortment of stuff, the first layer full of thick and heavy books containing information on exorcisms, others potions and spells, and once and a while the occasional dime store novel that Joshua had snuck along, nestled safely between the old frail bindings of the ancient books about it.
Above that layer sat the lighter containers, black and silver as the weapons that they held within, ranging from pistols to machine guns, from grenades to heavy equipment for pulling unruly spirits from the bodies of the possessed. And on the very top lay the raggedy old duffle bags, some of which looked right about to explode over the duck tape and bad stitching. They almost seemed out of place amongst the expensive technology beneath them, but in truth they were far more important to the travelers then the other newer items.
Within the bags rested little knickknacks and memorabilia amongst the clothing and shoes, things that were worth far more then even the most expensive bit of machinery that they carried along wit them. Azmaria wasn't sure exactly why they had brought the equipment in the first place, seeing as they were supposed to be going on vacation, but knowing Rosette…she was sure there was a reason.
"AHAH LOOK!" The blonde crowed, lurching the car enough that they were forced to turn forward to catch themselves, looking up in the process. Before them stretched out a large billboard that stood upon two large poles, that looked surprisingly like a pair of trees that had been whittled down into posts, bearing the name of the town they had been looking for in large lovely letters.
"Wow…Eden…. Its so beautiful…" The young man whispered, his blue eyes wide as he stared at the scenery, tall trees standing heavily over top of them, wide branches shielding them from the sun. In the distance he could see some deer grazing, but only a few, in fact, there were very few animals at all in the woods they drove through.
"Joshua…" The albino girl whispered, pointing away from the side windows and towards the front, where around the bend small perfect buildings lined up in a row on either side of the rocky street, and it seemed as if they had just stepped back in time a good 200 years. He gasped in wonder, moving Azu slightly on his lap so he could lean forward and peer at their up and coming surroundings.
For the lack of animals, it would seem that the people made up for them. The Entire town was bustling with life, people moving too and fro across the little street, baskets in hand with groceries, and not a plastic bag in sight. Rosette whistled low as she slowed the vehicle down, chugging down the street at under 20 mph, turning a bit pink at the cheeks as everyone turned to stare at the new arrival. It was obvious that they knew they'd never seen the car before, and many of the women immediately clustered up, pointing and chatting under their wide brimmed hats.
A Visitor.
It was almost as if they hadn't had one in a while, and were nearly ravenous with glee over the fact that a new face might be joining them.
"What the hell…" Rosette said under her breath, so that only her companions could hear her. "With the amount they spent on that advertising, you'd think they'd be used to having people come through here."
"Dunno." Joshua replied, rotating the embarrassed girl on his lap once more so he could peer over the mountains of luggage and through the back window. "They seem awfully excited though."
"It might just be the car." Azmaria offered helpfully, looking up at the two confused siblings. "Ah, it doesn't seem that they have many here.."
As soon as the girl mentioned it, it became rather obvious. There were horse drawn buggies all over the place, like normal touristy towns, but there was only one or two cars dotting the landscape, and they seemed as if they hadn't been used in years.
"Huh…. that's funny." The blonde girl wrinkled her nose, her pondering suddenly cut off as she saw the words 'Magdalene Inn' flash in front of them, in the form of a sign they had just passed. "AH SHIT!" She screeched, the tires matching the pitch as she hit the breaks and swung the car about, plastering the two in the back against one another as they did a amazingly circular U-turn and shot into the street they had just passed, coming to a stop rather perfectly in a parking spot.
"…I think I'm going to barf…."
------(OooOooO)------
Ding The bells hanging from the frame jangled loudly as the door shoved into it, but it failed to wake the man who was sleeping rather deeply at the counter, his gray hair haphazardly spewed about his shoulders and drool coming from his mouth, grouping about the cheek he had sandwiched against the counter. His snores seemed to be well worked into the walls of the reception house, and Rosette couldn't help but grin slightly as she closed the door behind them.
What a sweet old man.
Azmaria smiled as Rosette tip toed up towards the sleeping elder and reached over him, pressing one finger to the bell sitting to his left, letting the sound reverberated through the room loudly.
The man snorted, sat up and slammed his hand outward, catching around a rather embarrassing part of the blonde girl, before squeezing almost wonderingly. What was this? Certainly it wasn't his alarm clock, nor was it Kate because she was a lot larger then what he was feeling right now, not to mention a lot soggier. It was almost as if he was holding some new girls b---
CRACK
"PERVERT!" Rosette screeched, nearly about to leap on the convulsing man again had Joshua and Azmaria not latched onto her arms, holding her back.
"Rosette! Sis! It was just a mistake!"
"Ahhh did she kill him!"
"What is going on in here?" A voice roared from down the hall, silencing the three companions as the tall woman stomped into the room, her short hair messy about her thin face and her glasses slipping off her nose. It was obvious she had just been cleaning, buy the way her dress was tied up and knotted into her apron. Her sharp brown eyes pinned down on the tangled group, all of which paused, staring at her in shocked embarrassment. "Ah you must be Ms. Rosette Christopher." She smiled slightly, calming down at the sight of them; after all, they were customers, the first they had had in a while.
"Ouuu? Ms. ROSETTE Christopher?" The old man popped his head back up from the counter, strangely uninjured. "The Rosette Christopher, the destructive whirlwind and daring Exorcist? You have a rather fine name made for you girlie." He leaned over the counter, peering at the now rather pale girl with obvious interest. "Didn't you use to work with Yuan Remington?"
"…." Joshua gulped at her expression, one of pain and hurt beneath her nice smile. Most wouldn't have noticed it, but he could have caught a glimmer of that look from a mile away. "I used too. Along time ago. " She said simply, tugging her arms free of her friends' hold.
"Really?" The old man didn't seem to know when to quit, only standing up and peering at her closer, a manic grin on his face. "You see I'm an inventor…on my spare time eheh…but I specialize on exorcist material. After all, we've had all these ghost spottin—"
"Ghosts?" Joshua asked excitedly, his eyes flashing as Azmaria squealed in amazement.
"Don't listen to Edward's Rubbish." The woman said quickly, stepping in front of 'the crazy old fool' as many called him. "He only wishes he sees ghosts. My name is Kate Valentine, and I'm the owner of this establishment." She offered her hand out to the exorcist, before shaking it firmly, Rosette thinking for half a second that her fingers were to be broken from her hand. "We're the very best here in Eden, you wont find another lodge of this quality for miles."
"Nor any so haunted!" Edward piped up, only to earn a rather painful kick from his boss.
"Now…" Kate's eyebrow twitched, a vein throbbing in her forehead as the old man curled over in pain (something he seemed rather fond of), and motioned for the three to follow her. "Leave your bags, Edward will see to them while I give you the tour."
"This lady's nuts…" Joshua whispered, the albino girl nodding in agreement as she twined her arms about his own, walking side by side as Rosette walked before them, her lips pressed in a tight line.
Stella had specifically looked into the little town the moment Rosette had thought of even dreaming of taking her brother and Azu to this place for vacation…she had told her that it was sighting free. The last thing she needed to deal with was some creature getting the best of her when she thought she was in the clear..
Memories of blood and black endless eyes flashed across her mind, and she grimaced, shaking her head to clear it of those thoughts. Suddenly she was glad that she lugged all that material along with them. Better Safe then sorry.
"You see, before I purchased this building, it was actually a catholic Convent, part of the famous Magdalene order when it first was put together back in the 1920's, I'm sure you have close ties with them seeing your career." Kate smiled down at her, only to be given a weak one in return.
"Oh yes…very close…" More like they hated her guts.
"Well then," Kate chuckled, catching none of the girl's sarcasm as she rounded the corner, the large French doorways opening to a covered corridor, the large courtyard empty other then the few workers who pulled weeds and raked through the lush green grass . "As you can see we restored the old building back to its rightful status, it was falling apart when I got my hands on it. No one would go in to the place, swore it was haunted, although what the problem was that it was falling apart. We've put all up to date technology in the rooms, including a Television and the Internet." She blathered on, the three companions not really paying attention to a thing she said, rather instead looking around the ancient building in amazement.
There was so much age to it… So much life that the walls had absorbed from its long occupants…
"Rosette…" Joshua shivered, his eyes wide as he curled his arms about himself, Azu sidling close to him as she stared around as well, pink eyes startled. One of the things that had attracted the two to each other was their ability to 'see', they didn't need high tech mechanics to see spirits, to see the trails of life twining through things, they could just see them.
Rosette could remember when Joshua would wake up in the middle of the night crying because the little girl next door who had died of pneumonia wanted him to go swim in the lake with him in the dead of night, or something of the sort. Rosette herself was blessed with the talent to feel, but she was nothing like her brother…. her talented psychic brother… But it was that talent that kept him out of her field of exorcism. His body was just far to weak to contain his soul completely…He got sick so often.
"You seeing anything Joshua?" She asked softly, turning her eyes back to the two huddling teens, the blonde shaking his head a bit, his voice awestruck.
"No…nothing really substantial…but something big happened here…I can see the after trails…"
"There are spirits.." Azu piped up, pointing at a painting as they passed. "But just spirits…nothing big, nothing malicious… They're welcoming us…well if they could."
"Well well well…" Kate chuckled slightly, smiling as she stopped speaking long enough to catch part of what the two said. "Its nice to see some people who truly have the gift. We've had so called psychics come to Eden before, but nothing legitimate. The town will be a buzz when they find out."
"Only they wont find out." Rosette snapped quickly, her blue eyes boring into the woman, defiant. "The last thing we need is having people bugging them for card readings. We're here on vacation, not to become the town's new gossip."
"…" Kate frowned slightly, before nodding, spreading her hand to a door. "This will be your apartment."
"Thank you." The blonde exorcist nodded, moving past the woman and opening the door, slipping inside. Azu followed quickly behind but Joshua paused at Kate's side, blessing her with one of his smiles.
"Don't take Rosette wrong, she doesn't mean to be rude.. She's been through a lot." He patted her hand, closing his eyes slightly as he walked by. "We wont cause much trouble, Promise."
The dark haired woman just blinked in mild confusion as he trotted by her and waved, closing the door after him and leaving her alone outside.
"WOW LOOK AT THIS PLACE!" Azmaria squealed, throwing her hat off as she threw herself onto the couch, rolling onto her back as her friend ran into one of the three rooms that linked to the kitchen/living room. She giggled as he started to spout meaningless words, before sticking his head out of the door way.
"WE HAVE A HOT TUB!"
"Really?" Rosette asked, following him in, a grin sliding over her face. "Oh yes, I call dibs on this room!"
"Aww Rosette! But I found it first!"
"Hey I paid for the damn thing, I'm going to be living in it!" The blonde girl cackled, Shoving Joshua out and slamming the door after him.
"That's not fair! Rosette!" He whined, pouting as his voice was drowned out by the sound of the water filling the tub and Rosette singing off key. "Bah. She's so obsessive." He muttered, walking into the other rooms as the albino searched for the remote for the TV. "These rooms are nice too! No hot tub though…" He muttered, snatching the remote off the table and handing it to Azmaria before flopping down next to her. "Hey lets see what channels we get."
"There was a movie I wanted to watch that is supposed to be coming on in ten minutes…" the psychic girl smiled, pressing the power button and watching as the TV came to life.
Nothing but dead static reached their ears.
"Aww come on." Joshua grumbled, watching as Azmaria tried to flick through the channels, whimpering as nothing as the number 3 didn't move from the corner of the screen. "Maybe the things broken or out of batteries or something."
She frowned at that, flipping the remote over and pulled off the backing, shrugging as she checked for batteries, pulling one out and testing its strength. "They say they're charged.." She muttered, stuffing them back in before inspecting the front. "And it looks brand new…the only thing that is worn is the recall button." She lifted the remote and aimed it at the Tv, pressing that button for good measure.
The screen fluttered, the number moving from 3 but not pausing, flicking through quickly and with growing speed, dark flashes of something moving from behind the screen.
"Thgin lanrete dna, tisiv llahs uoht shtped s'lleh ot, thgif ruoy thguorb ssenmid, egaruoc eniht thguorb yllof." It whispered, broken and eerie, the hair on their arms pricking up at the sound.
There, a hand brushed across the inside of the screen, a flicker of teeth.
"aed ecaf ro won eelf ,selkna ruoy ta si thgiM--"
A trembling finger lifted off the power button as Joshua closed his hand over the remote, flipping it over and taking out the batteries, before shoving the controller into the seat cushions, and depositing the batteries beneath the couch. He stood slowly, padding over to the television before pulling out the plug, and the cable connection, his breathing short.
"J-Joshua…"
"Don't tell Rosette Azu." He interrupted, blue eyes lifting to pink as he wrapped up the power cord, stashing it behind the curtains. "Don't tell her a thing."
"But!"
"We're on vacation Azu, the last thing I want is to scare her off because of a little haunting." He tried to calm his breath, running a hand through his hair. "It might just be the TV. We'll ask Kate to change it if she can, until then…I guess we're not having any TV." He smiled slightly, nervous, obviously less calm then he tried to seem.
The albino girl frowned though, curling up as he sat down beside her again, enveloping her in a hug, his nose buried into the bend of her neck. "Fine…." She sighed, "But if anything happens…"
"We'll tell her then." He said firmly, giving the television an uncomfortable stare, the only sound coming from the bathroom, where the blonde girl hummed in ignorant relaxation.
------(OooOooO)------
The sun cast long shadows across the streets, extending a person's self a good foot or two, the shadow either reaching forward impatiently or lagging far behind, never in tune with the rest of its self. The air was crisp, cool but not cold, and the blonde girl swatted at her scarf as it battled with her hair, a paper bag stuffed with groceries snuggled to her chest.
The street was lined with stores, little ones all around. The people were friendly, smiling and waving, a few even coming up to ask her name and offer her a few treats from their stores.. a bar of chocolate here, a pound of meat, and even a set of toothbrushes that she had mentioned she had forgotten. They all seemed so eager to please, their round country faces watching her eagerly as if waiting for her to produce something to give to them in return. Of course they didn't ask, only seemed slightly disappointed that she did not make birds appear from her sleeves or some such nonsense. Someone must have slipped about what she was…what her companions were…she doubted it was Kate though.
Damned old man.
She waved to a couple sitting on the bench before their book store, making a mental note to stop by there to get a few for Joshua on the way home. She smiled slightly as a boy on a bike rode by, staring at her in half amazement and nearly collided with a elderly couple who walked by, earning a good few smacks from the cane, before he hurried off, his ears bright red.
This was a comfortable town.
A flash of gold caught her attention from the corner of her eye, and she paused, peering through the dusty window of an antique Shoppe, at a fist sized pocket watch. Beside it was a pistol, and even a couple paintings that looked as if they had been there for years, covered in dust. "Huh." She said to no one in particular, pushing open the door and stepping inside, the bells jangling faintly as the door closed behind her.
"Is anyone here?" She asked loudly, stepping around a table of silver wear as she looked around. The inside of the store was as dusty as the outside, but the lights told that someone had at least been in here.. She let her fingers brush over the back of an old wooden rocking horse, blinking harshly as dust lifted and clogged the air, making her cough.
She waved her hand in front of her face, stumbling slightly and gripped onto a cloth covered item, the material falling off to reveal someone watching her from the depths of the glass, red eyes and long dark hair, towering over her reflection. "AHHH!" She screeched, swirling around in an attempt to run, only to skid to a stop an inch from a rather broad chest, an amused face staring down at her.
"Boo."
"AGHH!" She hissed, swinging her fist at him, which was easily avoided. "Its RUDE to sneak up on people!" Her heart was beating a mile a minute, not just from the scare, but at the embarrassment that she had been caught off guard. "What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me?"
"Sorry Sorry.." He laughed, backing up from her with his hands up, like he was confronting the cops. "I couldn't help it, you looked so spooked already. I'm the owner of this establishment, welcome to my store." He smiled lopsidedly, stepping out of the way so she could storm around him and out of the little path. "I apologize for the clutter."
"All antique stores are cluttered." She mumbled under her breath, her cheeks pink as she berated herself. She was far too jumpy for her own good. "At least all that I've seen …I'm just visiting for a while on vacation." She picked up a clay cross from one of the tables and inspected it, not making a move to offer her hand to shake.
Chrno made no move to take one.
"Is there anything in particular you were looking for?" He asked nervously, scratching the nape of his neck as he leaned back on the table, crossing his legs at the ankles. His red eyes watching her with barely withheld curiosity as she set down the cross and turned around, braving a look into his face.
He was handsome, dark hair, almost purple in hue, toppling down his shoulders to stop straggly on his chest, a few pieces falling messily out of the bandana that was wound tightly about his forehead, three eyes staring back at her from the old red material. He smiled at her when he realized she was unconsciously scrutinizing him, a flash of canines showing as he stepped around her, leading her towards the window again. "You were staring at something up here weren't you?" He asked.
"Huh?" She snapped out of her daze, turning darker as she realized she had been too busy pondering over his appearance to notice that he had moved. "Oh. Yeah. I was." She shook her head, cursing herself in her mind as she hurried over and reached into the display case, lifting the weathered pocket watch from its mount, not noticing him flinch as she turned from the window, examining it. "Its really old…"
"Yes it is, 86 years old to be exact." He gingerly lifted the chain from where it hung down from her hand, pulling It from her hand. "Made in the 1920's. It's a precious heirloom." He smiled nicely at her, placing it back in its resting place. "Not for sale unfortunately, but… I thought I saw your eyes stray to this as well." He picked up the gun, turning it so its silver parts caught the light. "Its an original from when the Magdalene order opened, also in 1920. Still in working order. Its perfect for an Exorcist like you." He offered it to her, dangling it from the handle between two fingers. Rosette only frowned.
"Who told you?" She asked flatly, crossing her arms, the man blinking at her. "Come on, Spill it. It was that old man Edward wasn't it?"
"Can't tell." He smiled roguishly as he dangled the gun before her face a bit more, not at all put off by her attitude.
"And why not?" Rosette frowned all the more, pushing her eyebrows together as she realized how annoying a gun can be when it's being used as a pendulum before your eyes.
"I'm under a spell." He quipped, his smile sustaining.
"Oh really, what type of spell?"
"The type of spell that isn't broken until I'm invited over for dinner."
Damn.
She knew he was out for something; his handsome features were far too innocent to be truthful. "What type of dinners?"
"You know, the type with candles and microwave Spaghetti."
She was silent for a few moments, before uncrossing her arms and snatching the gun. "I think I can come up with that."
The shop owner's smile grew more, and the blonde could have sworn that he was blushing beneath those long strands of purplish hair. "There's one more clause to my spell."
Rosette instantly crossed her arms again, rolling her eyes.
"What is it this time? A muffin maybe? Or how about a full course breakfast?"
"Oh no, of course not. That would be intruding." He teased cheerfully, and tucked his hands within his pants. "What I need in exchange for a name is your own."
"You know I'm an exorcist but not my name? Not much of an investigator are you?" She arched her eyebrow at him, frowning when he turned his eyes downward and scratched nervously at his blushing cheek.
"Well you see, Edward doesn't normally relate to names…only to the size and weight of one's assets."
"AHAH! SO IT WAS EDWARD! I KNEW IT!" She crowed loudly, leaving the store keep looking befuddled until he realized his slip.
"Now wait a minute…that's not fai—"
"Rosette Christopher." She stuck her hand out to him, with a friendly grin. One that you could never be sure if it meant that she liked you, or that she'd enjoy filling you with bullets. He smiled fondly down at her completely obliviously and pulled the towel out of his back pocket, slapping it in her hand.
"Chrno Truth." He smiled at the curious look she had on her face over the transferring of the towel. "You got dust all over your face, I don't think you want to go out into public like that do you?"
She turned pink at the ears, glowering at his retreating figure as he went to gather a few items, and she turned back to the mirror, rubbing her face in the towel so that the few black smudges that had found their way upon her skin disappeared under the unrelenting touch of the cotton.
It had a funny smell to it, sort of like crisp cool air.
That was, if crisp cool air did have a smell.
"Now. Are we going to go have dinner or what?" The tall man asked over her shoulder, startling her again, not only from his silent approach, but because she had been caught sniffing his towel.
"Right now?" She asked, straightening up and stuffing the towel behind her back in an attempt to hide what she had just been doing. "I mean…"
"Why not? You said you were only going to be here for a little while, I can't just not take you up on your offer?"
"I didn't…" She trailed off when she saw the futility in the argument, and sighed. "Oh come on then. "
Joshua's book would just have to wait.
------(OooOooO)------
When Rosette opened the door to her little temporary apartment, she rather quickly realized that there was no time, nor mood, to be making spaghetti.
Both Azmaria and Joshua were huddled up on the couch, staring in what looked like absolute horror at the TVs that were spread across the room, that had flickered on the moment the door opened, and they turned their eyes, wide and panicked, at the girl. "ROSETTE!" Azu squeaked, nearly falling as she tripped over the couch and toppled into her arms. The blonde girl gasped, stumbling back, barely giving Chrno time to move lest he get smashed between her and the wall.
"Azu, what's wrong?"
"The TVs." She whimpered, Joshua hesitantly backing away from the Televisions with a look that said he was more perturbed about the tall man standing behind his sister then the group of glowing televisions behind him.
"Who is he?" He asked suspiciously, and Chrno gave him a weak confused smile, pointing at the TVs.
"There's no way that those could all be plugged in could they?"
"Joshua this is Chrno…" The hair on her arms were beginning to prick up from all the white noise that was in the room, almost like little hands caressing their forms, whispering nothings in their ears. She set the bag of groceries on the counter as if nothing was really off in the room. "Mind telling me what's going on?"
"Chrno huh…" He gave him a sideways stare, the type that said he didn't like him at all, and for no apparent reason to boot. He had dealt with spirits of the dead many times, men though, were not a welcomed challenge. "The televisions are going nuts Rosette…"
"We had them bring us new ones, four times!" Azmaria wailed, burying her face into the blonde's shirt. "None of them are plugged in! And the Recall button…"
"Recall button?" Chrno asked, sounding more confused then ever, and backed up a bit as Rosette pushed Azmaria towards him, the young girl whimpering as she gripped onto the door frame, and then on to Joshua as he warmly curled his arms about her, ignoring the newcomer. "Rosette…be careful."
"They're just Televisions, what could they do?" She asked loudly, narrowing her eyes at the Boxes that sat on the floor. She picked up the remote, and aimed it at one of them, pressing the power button first, only to get nothing but more white noise.
She swore she heard laughter in it. Her skin prickled.
"Rosette..." Azmaria whispered, pleadingly as she closed her eyes, not wanting to watch as the girl pressed the button.
Instantly the static cleared, faded like a blanket had been thrown upon the sets, and the screen glowed with an eerie blue light.
"Thgin lanrete dna, tisiv llahs uoht shtped s'lleh ot, thgif ruoy thguorb ssenmid, egaruoc eniht thguorb raef." It whispered out, repeating what it had uttered hours before.
Nails scraped the inside of the screen, a flash of teeth, moving from one screen to the other, and into nothingness.
"evivrus ot thguon swolla htaeD .ekaw ruoy sewollof taht lirep eht esool tonnac uoht rof ,thgin eht otni ecnartne ruoy tiaw htod yllof lanretE"
"epacxe on si erehT" Came a more melodious voice, followed by laughter that sounded almost like a steel chair being dragged across wet cement.
Chrno moved instantly, slipping by the two teens and pulling the gun he had given Rosette, from where she had stuffed it in the grocery bag.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The Televisions shattered, spraying glass across the rug, and the occupants winced as something akin to an angry scream filtering through the air and faded away, leaving the room feeling corrupted.
Chrno released a breath, his form shaky from what seemed like the after affects of too much adrenaline. Rosette couldn't blame him, her head was throbbing from it as well.
"Did you get a word that thing said?"
"Other then the fact that it was threatening? No."
"What…was that thing.." Azmaria asked, her voice soft but broke into the two adult's conversation like a hot knife through butter. "It…it didn't feel like any ghost I've seen… Rosette…I'm scared…"
"You can stay at my place tonight if you wish." Chrno said with a small tremble to his voice as he let the gun drop to the counter, the clatter echoing through the dead air.
No one argued with that plan.
(TBC)
-------------------(OooOooO)----------------------
Well yeah, I finally finished this chapter. Things have been very busy for me; I'm joining the coastguard, and have a hellish amount of things on my plate.
For those of you waiting for THE COVENANT to be updated, don't hold your breath. I'm thinking of redoing it, but as it is, I don't like how its going. I don't know if I have time to work on it as well as this one.
Left behind has been brewing in my mind for a while now, about 2 or 3 months, and I finally got myself to buckle down and work on it. Pay attention to the details kids, you might be able to catch on to what is going on.
See you next chapter.
Amai