A/N: There is a very good reason why the rating jumped up a level, and you'll see why once you finish.
Day 9: …Cuz Ghosts Can Get Pretty Nasty…
Ansem glanced out of the window. Dark clouds were building, threatening rain. The humidity had increased as well, rumbles of thunder echoing from the north.
"Hope Sakkaku and Tobias don't get stuck out in that," he said absently. Sephiroth slipped his hand in Ansem's.
"They'll be back. Even if they don't find something, they'll be back once it starts storming," he said. Ansem leaned on him, and closed his eyes.
Within a few minutes, the clouds had opened up and poured down rain. Lightning flashed almost constantly, lighting even the darkest shadows outside. The wind howled incessantly, moaning and whistling as though the heavens were stricken by grief. The patter of hail against the cars and roof made it all worse. With thunder cracking and the crying of the wind, it was pretty noisy. Ansem glanced out the window.
"Two severe thunderstorms in two days, and this close to Hallowe'en," Ansem murmured. Sakkaku and Tobias still hadn't returned.
Sephiroth also turned his gaze outside. "It's still early," he said. "They may be back."
"I hope you're right."
However, the morning slipped away like sand in an hourglass, the storm worsening and no sign of the wayward investigator and medium. Ansem and Sephiroth continually glanced outside, hoping to see them coming up the drive to the front door, but with constantly sinking spirits, no pun intended.
Around noon, there came a loud banging at the door. Ansem frowned, and headed to the door as lightning forked once more across the sky. He flinched slightly, and opened the door.
Sakkaku, cut in numerous places, bruised, battered, and mud stained was standing on the front step, an unconscious Tobias slung over her shoulder.
"The hell?" Ansem cried.
"'Ere, 'ow 'bout givin' us a bloody 'and?" Sakkaku snapped. "This bloke may no' look it, bu' 'e's 'eavy!"
Hurriedly, Ansem took the unconscious Tobias from Sakkaku, laying him out on the couch. Sakkaku, meanwhile, was trying to find a clean part of her shirt so she could dry her glasses.
"What the hell happened?" Sephiroth asked.
"Ian 'Arland, that's wot!" Sakkaku said irritably. "We found 'is remains roight 'nuff, bu' it seems 'ee didn't want t' be found as much as we all thought. Stupid blighter conjures up this dirty great tornado, an' we get 'it wif all sorts o' shit. Tobias took a bloody rock in th' 'ead, so 'ee'll 'ave a roight ol' 'eadache when 'ee wakes up."
"Hey, what's up?"
Ansem, Sephiroth, and Sakkaku looked up as Zexion and Axel came down the stairs, hand in hand.
"What happened to him?" Axel asked, pointing to Tobias.
"Go' 'it in th' 'ead wif a rock," Sakkaku answered carelessly.
"Sounds painful," Zexion said, examining the large blood-encrusted bump on the back of Tobias' head. The thunder cracked loudly, and everyone jumped. Tobias moaned and sat up.
"Oh, my head," he groaned. "Someone turn off the storm."
"A physical impossibility," Vexen said as he entered the room. Ansem looked at him strangely.
"Are you feeling alright? You sound cheerful," Ansem said suspiciously. Vexen gave him a feral grin.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he sneered. Behind his back, Axel and Zexion mimed passionate kissing, mouthed "Marluxia," and pointed to Vexen. Ansem and Sephiroth tried not to laugh, and Vexen turned to glare at Axel and Zexion. Sakkaku snickered.
Outside, the wind howled even louder, making the few remaining windows rattle. Rain cascaded against the walls, and shortly a loud rattling noise commenced. Ansem glanced out the window, and saw hailstones the size of pennies clattering against the driveway and windows. A massive flash of lightning lit the room, closely followed by a crack of thunder as loud as a bomb going off.
Ansem paled as he saw something advancing towards the house. Sakkaku saw him, and followed his gaze.
"Oh, 'oly shit," she breathed. The others looked, and gave cries of terror.
The bleached bones of Ian Harland were making their way towards the house. The remains were slowly regaining their flesh, first muscles and tendons, then skin.
Tobias looked terrified, and gave a strangled sort of cry. Vexen's eyes were wide, as he backed up against the wall. Axel and Zexion seized hold of each other, whimpering slightly. Ansem and Sephiroth were locked in place, staring straight into the face of the creature.
Ian Harland, now whole again, grinned wolfishly at them through the window. His eyes, deep forest green, were cold and hard. He was tall and powerfully built, his iron-gray hair swept away from his face. As he grinned, his thin lips slid away from his pointed teeth.
He reached up, and punched out the glass. He calmly climbed inside, and grinned again.
"Hello, all. And goodbye," he said, his voice rasping at first then growing clearer as his vocal chords grew back. A rippling and swirling vortex grew in the middle of the room, and sucked them all into its swirling depths.
-
Ansem groaned softly, cracking open his eyes. Vexen and Axel were loosely clustered around him. Vexen seemed to be searching for a way out of the swirling area they currently occupied and Axel was slouched on the ground. Ansem blinked for a moment.
"Damn it all to hell!" Vexen snarled suddenly. "Isn't there a way out of this shithole?"
"Hell, who cares?" Axel said suddenly. "Even if we get out, there's no guarantee we'll find the others. They'll probably rot away in some alternate dimension and we'll never see them again."
"Shut up, Axel. You're not helping," Vexen snapped.
"I'm not trying to!" Axel growled. "I'm being realistic! There's no guarantee we'll find Marluxia, or Zexion, or Seph-"
Ansem punched him in the face.
"Shut up, alright?" Ansem said, his voice deadly soft. "Just shut up. We'll find them. I know we will."
"How can you be sure?" Axel cried, desperation resounding in his voice. "We may never even get out of here!"
Fighting amongst yourselves? Dear me, you'll never find your lovers that way.
Ian Harland appeared in the middle of the area.
The others all jumped and backed away, except Ansem.
"Where the hell are they, you bastard?" he growled.
"I've got them," Ian replied, carelessly examining his nails. "I plan to use their life force to destroy this house and everyone in it."
A ringing silence filled the air.
"You see, even after death, Blade still won't relinquish the house to me. He keeps yammering on about some mistake I made in the signing. I'm pretty sure I didn't make any mistakes at all, but oh well." Ian shrugged. "You see this house actually was Harper's. Your little medium friend was right about that. I had considerably more social clout than he did, and could have him run out of town for not selling to me, if I so chose."
"So he sold to me. But then he conceived that stupid idea of his, and tried to get at the deed to prove it. I was waiting for him, though. I caught him as he broke in the window, and killed him. I mutilated the body, bricked his parts up in the fireplace down there, and planted the gun. I stabbed myself in the thigh to lay the blame on Harper, but unfortunately for me, I did too well of a job. I died in the trees."
Ian smiled, and they could all see his pointed eyeteeth. "So since I can't have it, I'm destroying the house. A good idea, no?"
"No! It's a bad idea!" Axel snapped. Ian frowned.
"Well, I don't really care about your opinion," he said. "Ta ta. I'm off to destroy the house." He started to fade away, then paused. "You know what, that may not be very interesting. Here's a thought. I'll let you three try to find your lovers. Should you succeed, I won't destroy the house. How's that?"
And with that everyone was sent to different parts of the house. Ansem reappeared in the upstairs hallway, at the far end from the attic. Interestingly, Friar Ben appeared next to him.
"Hello, Ansem. How's life?" Ben asked.
"Not so good," Ansem growled.
"That's too bad. Hey, whatcha doin' here?"
"Trying to save Sephiroth from a psychopath."
"Oh." Ben looked around. "So where is he?"
"I don't know. Can't you tell?" Ansem asked. Ben cocked his head.
"Yeah. He's in the attic."
"Good." Ansem started forward, but then the hall seemed to stretch, more doors appearing along it. "What?" He ran forward, but the hall stretched forward even longer.
"Oh, I see," Ben said. "He's preying on your fears. You fear not being able to help Sephiroth if he ever needed it, don't you?"
"What? I—" Ansem didn't reply. "How do I throw him off?"
Ben looked vaguely contemplative for a moment. "You can either play Tibetan monk and clear your thoughts, or get really pissed."
"I think I'll go for pissed," Ansem growled. He started to run forward again, and this time the hall seemed to shrink. He kept running forward, faster than before, and the hall continued to shrink, until he was at the attic door before he knew it. A loud growl echoed through the hall. "Oh, now what?"
A horrible creature, something like a spider with four long, spindly legs tipped like needles and a human head atop an unnaturally long neck, mostly skeletal in appearance, appeared in front of the door. It roared at Ansem, and lashed out with one of its legs. Ansem ducked, and heard the creature's claw smash into the door. It swung its leg again, and Ansem dodged to the side, feeling the tip graze his shoulder.
"So, it's solid?" he growled. There was no answer. "Ben?" He glanced behind him, and the creature took advantage of his moment of distraction and struck him in the chest. Ansem flew across the hall and smashed into the wall. He groaned, feeling blood trickle down his chest. The creature hovered over him, preparing to make the final blow. Ansem grinned at it, and grabbed its head.
The creature howled, and Ansem twisted its head savagely, breaking its neck. He shoved the thing aside, and yanked open the door to the attic.
The attic had changed. There was a narrow walkway to a platform against the far wall from the door, the walkway spanning a bottomless abyss. On the platform, heavy chains and cuffs hung from the wall, each link of the chain nearly an inch thick and made of heavy iron. Ansem gasped when he saw the prisoner the chains held.
Sephiroth occupied the chains, his exposed chest bruised and cut. Purpling bruises flecked across his skin gave him a mottled appearance, and the bleeding cuts on his arms and shoulders looked like they'd been caused by a whip. His long hair was matted with dried blood. Ansem darted across the walkway, and slammed into an invisible barrier.
"What the hell?" he cried. Ian appeared next to Sephiroth, and flashed Ansem a feral grin. Ian took Sephiroth's face with one hand and thrust his tongue between Sephiroth's lips. Sephiroth winced, and tried to pull away. But Ian's strength was preternaturally great, and Sephiroth was kept in place.
Ian cried out suddenly, blood running down his jaw. Sephiroth had bitten his tongue. Ian snarled and slapped Sephiroth, Sephiroth's head flying to the side from the force of the blow.
"You little shit," Ian snarled, bringing Sephiroth to face him again. "I ought to fuck you senseless for that."
"Oh, hell no!"
Ansem slammed his foot into the barrier, and it shattered like glass. Ian and Sephiroth both looked up. Relief flooded Sephiroth's face and Ian frowned.
"Hmph. Well, you win," Ian growled. "You'd better hope your friends were just as successful." The chains released Sephiroth as Ian faded away, and Sephiroth fell forward. Ansem rushed forward and caught him as the room returned to normal.
Sephiroth clung to Ansem, crying silently into Ansem's chest. Ansem held him tightly, feeling very relieved.
"What did he do to you?" he whispered.
"He beat me. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't come when you did," Sephiroth replied, knotting his fingers in Ansem's shirt. Ansem hugged him, petting Sephiroth's hair. A small sob escaped Sephiroth's lips as he buried his face in Ansem's neck. Ansem sighed softly as he slowly rocked back and forth, reveling in Sephiroth's warm form against him, and relieved he'd managed to save him.
-
Vexen reappeared down in the basement. He could see Marluxia, tied to the far wall. He started forward, but backed up almost instantly as a massive blade on a chain swung down in front of him. More of these swung down from the ceiling, forming a deadly barrier between him and Marluxia.
"Dammit!" Vexen swore. To make matters worse, the floor behind him began to crumble, leaving behind a bottomless pit. "Oh, shit." Vexen had no choice but to run forward, as the floor continued to crumble behind him. He dodged the first swinging blade, and jumped over the next.
The third caught him and flung him over the side of the narrow walkway that the floor had become. He grabbed a hold of the side, and hung there, blood running down his side, wondering if he could get to Marluxia that way.
He heard a cry from Marluxia, and started to inch along the walkway. Something shot up out of the pit and snapped at him. Vexen cried out, and swung his legs up and out of the thing's reach. The thing jumped higher, and Vexen felt its teeth graze his back.
Vexen looked up, and saw one of the blades swinging overhead. He grabbed ahold of it and allowed it to swing him back up on the walkway. He looked down at his hand. A deep cut across his palm dripped blood onto the walkway, pooling at the edge.
Vexen ran forward, careful to dodge the swinging blades. He ducked under the last one, and found Marluxia struggling to keep Ian at bay.
"Marluxia!" Vexen yelled. Ian turned and saw him, his expression turning to one of anger and exasperation. Marluxia ran forward and clung to Vexen.
"Damn! You and Ansem…" Ian snarled. "I'll have you know Marluxia wasn't going to come to any harm. He's too pretty, and I like pretty things." Vexen suppressed a shudder at the implications of Ian's statement as Ian disappeared. Slowly the room returned to normal, and Vexen and Marluxia sank to the floor, still wrapped in each other's arms.
-
A/N: And now for a cliffy! Okies, that just leaves Axel and Zexion. Righto! XD I'm so evil. Hehehe… Poor Sephy.
Anyone out there catch the "Poltergeist" references? I saw that movie, and it scared the pants off me. I did a slightly amusing little pic of my author character hiding behind Ansem while watching that. It's up on my DeviantART account if anyone wants to see it. Try my bio for the link to my page.
There's a minor reference to "Sleepy Hollow" too. Can anyone find it?