Chapter 15

TT: Happy Halloween everyone! Okay, so not many Australians celebrate Halloween, but I've got a ghost story so I had to make a chapter for the occasion. I don't know if the 'spooky' bit really worked or not – I just know I've written better. I hope everyone enjoys it, though.

And whoever works out who the ghost is gets a biscuit! (I'd better make a lot of them XP)

To everyone who wants to know what Akito is up to – be patient my friends!

WindChaser – I believe the word you want is 'hysterical', but thanks anyway.

Karen – I don't know about Akito finding out, but, well, you'll find out when I write it. P

Now, everyone in America/anywhere that celebrates Halloween – GO OUT AND HAVE LOTS OF LOLLIES FOR ME! (Hey, can you send me some? No? Aww… Well, since you can't, review instead!)

Halloween, also known as Hallows Eve, the night when ghosts were said to rise and spirits walked the earth. There was a surprisingly large amount of truth in those old legends at times – there was something about the night that gave the wandering spirits the same strength that Eris had been gaining from Kyo. Perhaps it was simply that on this night people believed in ghosts more than any other, perhaps it was something else altogether. If the ghosts knew, they weren't saying.

Kyo twisted and turned, unable to get settled for the night. Finally, growling with frustration, he threw the covers off himself and got dressed into some clothes, barely having time to tie his shoes before he stormed up to the roof.

In the living room, the clock ticked, marking the hour as 11:45 at night.

Eris looked up at the sound of footsteps, and got to her feet when she spotted Kyo. She shoved her hands deep into her jacket pockets and smiled at her friend, "Restless?"

Kyo nodded, "Something like that."

Eris' smile turned into a grin – "Can we go visit the others? C'mon, you wouldn't let me try to spook Tohru – lets just go see who we find."

For a moment, Kyo hesitated, but then nodded, "Alright, fine, we'll go say 'hi' to all the other ghosts… Like we don't do that anyway." The last part was muttered under his breath.

"They don't go out much apart from now, or at least don't go very far – you know that! C'mon, NeKyo – there's heaps of dead people for you to meet." Jumping after Eris, Kyo glanced back at the dark house for a moment, wondering if anyone would miss he was gone, before following.

The streets were quieter than they usually were, even for so late at night. Or rather, they were quieter than they usually were, but only if you couldn't see the paranormal. Hana was probably in her home, listening to the thoughts of spirits who, suddenly, would seem as loud as a normal persons thoughts, though perhaps stranger.

To Kyo, the streets were more alive than they ever were in the day. Some ghosts wandered, talking to others, or were checking up on relatives that stilled lived. Ghosts walked through other ghosts with little more than an 'excuse me' as they continued on their way. Some stared, fascinated, with the Jack-O-Lanterns that someone had put out. There were some ghosts that weren't ghosts so much as a last, desperate memory, a faint illusion repeating over and over again. Cats sat on every step and every trashcan, safely out of the way but still able to watch everything.

Then, as one, every ghost froze and was quiet, looking over at the orange-haired living boy who stood beside the girl, watching them back. A few ghosts studied him for a moment, before muttering something to the ghosts around them. Comprehension seemed to dawn upon all of them – they lived in this city, how could they not know about the Sohma cat? With a few smiles, they turned back to what they were doing.

Kyo let Eris draw him through the crowd, trying to avoid the darker-looking ghosts. Just because some ghosts were friendly didn't mean that there were some that didn't fit into those old urban myths.

For several hours the two wandered and mingled, being drawn into random conversations. There were several ghosts who had seen Kyo before – usually when he had curiously wandered into the graveyard to watch them when he was a child, and constantly flocked over to the cat to tell him how he'd grown into a handsome young man. It made Kyo feel like he had a bunch of old aunts – a comment that made Eris burst into hysterical laughter.

Finally, at what must have been at three o'clock in the morning, the pair began to head back towards Shigure's home. But, passing the main house, Kyo paused, and tilted his head as if he heard something. Expression turning determined, he walked through the gates, and towards the small broken-down building that the cat was sealed inside every generation.

Eris hid behind Kyo, as if hiding, "Kyo, can we please leave – I know you can hear it too!"

And Kyo could – it was something he heard whenever he past by the main house, though not nearly so loud – something that made in shudder, both for the sound itself and the foreboding it brought.

What sounded like a thousand people could be heard from the empty house, slamming their fists on the door, screaming and shouting in anguish and desperation at the top of their lungs, sobbing their hearts out, begging and pleading for what no one would listen to, and the yowling of cats long gone.

Kyo swallowed hard – the sound was so loud he could see the door and windows trembling, and he was sure other people would surely start to hear it any moment. They were sounds that haunted his nightmares, and he loathed to think of the day he would be sealed in there with only the voices for company.

There was a movement in the window, and someone looked out. An elderly man, with a heavily wrinkled face, white hair, long beard and out-of-date, threadbare clothing. He glanced over, and his face softened sympathetically, "Go home, boy. There's no courage in trying to face this challenge head on – this is one its alright to run from." He turned his head, and faded from view. Still, Kyo was certain he'd seem him somewhere before.

All at once, the voices let out a single screech, much louder than all the previous, and several lights from bedrooms in the main house went on. Startled and scared of being caught, the ghost and cat ran, jumping over (or simply running through…) a wall and back towards the forest, hoping, for no real reason they could name, that no one had seen them.

It seemed like no time at all that the two were back in Kyo's bedroom, the cat panting as he desperately tried to get his breath back from running all the way home at his top speed.

After a moment, Eris spoke, "Hey, NeKyo?"

"Yeah?" A pant, "What?"

"Next year, lets not go by that main house, alright?"

Kyo paused in mid-pant, looking up at her with red eyes, "I agree."

"Well good, 'cause it really ruined the whole night!"

Kyo smirked, but didn't say anything, instead lying down and covering his face with an arm, desperate to try and get a few hours sleep.

"Hey, NeKyo?" When the cat didn't answer, the poltergeist continued, "Just so you know, if that time does come, it won't be you sealed in there with just the voices – I'll be there too, I promise… But I'm not going to let that happen if I can help it anyway… 'Night!" Kyo didn't have to look up to know Eris had returned to the roof for the rest of the night.

It was odd though, the cat didn't recall saying that thought out loud.

In the living room, the clock ticked again. If it had been a grandfather clock, it would have sounded 12 times, as it was midnight.