The Garden of ghosts

(1)
Haunted House

In the middle of a mild summer's night the house on the hill was lying in nearly impenetrable darkness. Around the house the land was disturbingly quiet. Nothing seemed to be alive, not the slightest sound hinted even at the existence of the occasional trees or bushes.

Suddenly the headlights of a black limousine lit up the overgrown wall and finally coming to rest on the rust-coated gate.

It stopped right in front of the gate and a little while later the backdoor opened, releasing a boy of maybe fourteen or fifteen years. For a long moment the boy stood there and watched the house intently, only his light blue hair moving softly in the breeze.

'Please think about it, Satoshi-sama.'

'I've made a decision. It's a Hikari artwork and therefore its my responsibility.'

'You're unreasonable. Look at the house. Can't you feel the magic emanating from it? It's dangerous and I don't want you to go there.'

'Don't tell me your worried', the boy stated coldly and began to climb up the hill.

'Of course I'm worried. It's my destination to protect you.'

Satoshi snorted. 'Really? Could have fooled me.'

'Please, Satoshi-sama. Don't make me stop you.'

'Shut up and leave me alone', Satoshi told his demon rather harshly. His attention was directed at his goal and so he never noticed the pain passing quickly across the handsome features of his demon. 'It's my responsibility and I'm not trying to get around of it.'

'It's eerie.'

'No-one asked for your opinion.' The blue-haired boy snapped clearly irritated and continued on approaching the front-door of the old house. 'When you can say nothing important then do me a favour and say nothing at all.'

'You're a fool. Let me out. I'll handle it. You don't know what you're getting yourself into.'

'Don't you dare interfering. It's none of your business.' Satoshi slowed down and finally came to a halt. A shiver was running down his spine and suddenly he was sure that there was something in the shadows, watching him, noticing every single move he made...

"Hello, commander! Nice to see you!"

Before Satoshi even had a chance to react, two strong arms encircled his waist and the next moment he was dragged backwards with a hard body pressed against him.

"Wh…Dark!" Satoshi nearly screamed in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" The thief returned the question, a more than an obvious touch of mirth and amusement sparkling in his voice.

"Get off me, Kaitou!" The blue-haired boy snarled viciously and with a sudden move he broke free. Then he turned around to face his nemesis. "Don't get on my nerves, Dark! Answer my question."

The thief grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. Somehow he managed to look completely comfortable although he was standing in the middle of a lonely and rather uncanny hillside. "I'm here because you need my help."

Blinking in surprise Satoshi needed several seconds to process this newfound information but when it finally caved in he stepped back, blue eyes blazing with fury. 'How did you manage to tell him about our plan?'

'I don't understand what you mean. Why should I talk to this annoying thief? I'm glad if I never have to see him again.'

'Don't play dumb! I know you're blonde but this is ridiculous!'

'I really don't know…'

'Is that so? Then why are you not the slightest bit surprised that he's here?' Satoshi stated the obvious and decided to handle the thief on his own. "Get lost."

"Hey! At least you could be a little bit thankful. I'm willing to help you!"

"I don't need your help. Except for your annoying desire to grab every chance to steal something it's far too dangerous for Daisuke to be here. Bring him home, Dark. I can handle this on my own."

'No you can't. You don't know what you are facing.'

'And you know it? Then please enlighten me. Are we going to die?' The blue-haired boy threw an uneasy glance towards the house and although he never would have admitted his true feelings, he was certain that there was something evil waiting for him.

'When you're lucky. But I think its more likely that the net will take your soul and make you suffer for the rest of eternity.'

'You should have talked to me before you told Dark about it. You deceived me.'

The blonde angel looked crestfallen. "I'm sorry."

His tamer ignored him. "Alright. You can come with me. But when I catch you stealing…"

"You don't have to pretend to be lion-hearted!" Dark draped one arm around Satoshi's shoulders and yanked him abruptly into a fierce embrace. The panicked look in the boys eyes made him laugh. "Whatever comes I'll protect you."

Lion-hearted...?

'Does he already know every children's illness I ever had? How could you tell him about the report the boy gave us?' Every single word was dripping with fury and Krad decided that it was time to make himself as invisible as possible. Satisfied to have maintained the upper hand over his curse, Satoshi inhaled sharply and told Dark in a firm voice: "Lets go and get over with this farce!"

"My, my. Aren't we eager?" Dark taunted again but this time the commander only turned his back on him and stomped up the hill.

'You annoyed him. Why don't you apologise?'

'Because he doesn't deserve it.'

Daisuke sighed but refused to answer. Instead he watched the old house in front of them with an uneasy feeling burning in his stomach.

'Don't worry, Daisuke. All will turn out well.' Dark tried to soothe his friend but he his words didn't have the desired effect. His alter ego was feeling rather uncomfortable and the thief doubted that it really had been a good idea for him to come.

'He's my friend, Dark. I can't let him go into this terrible danger all on his own. What if he dies?'

'I know, Daisuke. The moment Krad told me about the net I simply had to come here. The 'Net of the lost souls' is one of the most dangerous artefacts the Hikari's ever have created. Got hit by it and your soul is lost. Forever. And when I heard the gossip about an old woman living in a lonely house who possibly captures souls...'

Daisuke smiled reassuringly. 'We can't let this continue. This boy was... destroyed. I don't know how to describe it otherwise.'

'And his friend is dead.'

Tamer and thief both fell silent as they remembered the blank stare of the dark-haired boy who murmured over and over again that he had seen an old woman with a net, capturing his friend, ripping his soul from his body and blowing the remains away. It had been rather disturbing to think about an artefact which could kill someone in the blink of an eye and leaving nothing at all, not even a body to mourn over.

Shuddering Daisuke vowed himself that he would do everything to render this thing harmless.

'Here we are.'

'Oh joy.'

Smirking the thief decided to let this statement pass without commenting. "Is there something we can call a plan?"

Standing in front of the house both boys seemed to be unsure what to do next. Dark waited several seconds but then suddenly he lost patience and grabbing the knocker he rapped resolutely against the door. Every blow reverberated like a bell through the building and regarding Satoshi's look of disdain the commander wasn't too happy with it.

"Great! Why don't you just brake down the door?"

Dark pretended to think about it but then he shook his head and smiled sweetly at his companion. "No, I don't think that's a good idea."

'Sometimes I just want to kill him.'

'That's completely understandable. Every time I see him I get this unbridled desire to rip his heart out.'

'And there I thought I finally succeeded in getting rid of you.'

Krad snorted and used his power to put Satoshi out of balance. Stumbling forward the blue-haired boy barely avoided crashing head-first against the door.

'Are you nuts!'

Krad only smiled and dissolved again.

"Is there something I should know?" Dark asked in studied concern and chuckled when Satoshi threw him a furious glare and lost his balance for a second time when suddenly the door, he was currently holding onto, swung back and revealed an old woman, leaning on a cane for support and watching them in a mixture of curiosity and caution.

"Yes?"

Dark was first to recover from his shock and conjured up a charming smile on his face. "I'm sorry to disturb you this late but our car broke down and your house was the nearest place we could find."

"Of course! Please come in!"

Frowning in irritation Satoshi followed Dark inside. 'Somehow I can't get rid of the feeling that I've missed something rather important.'

'That's because an old and lonely woman asks two complete strangers in the middle of the night to come into her house without showing the slightest sign of fear.'

'You're right.' Satoshi shuddered. 'This house gives me the creeps. I can feel the magic of the net in every fibre of the building.'

'Me too. And I don't like it.' Krad shifted uneasily in his tamers mind. 'Please be careful, Satoshi. I don't want you to get hurt.'

"And you live here alone? Aren't you frightened?" The thief asked curiously and looked around. They entered a homely furnished living-room.

"Why would someone hurt an harmless old woman like me?" Laughing their hostess gestured towards a green plush couch. "Sit down. I'll fetch you something to drink and then you can call a breakdown lorry for your car."

'She's too friendly. I don't trust her.'

'I guess we should look for the net and leave as soon as possible.'

"You're right." The thief smirked as he caught Satoshi's bewildered look. "No, I don't can read your mind. You asked this question aloud."

'Shit.'

"Did you feel the same?" Suddenly Dark flexed his body and seemed to listen. "The magic flared."

'He's right. Seems as if the net has been activated.'

"I've brought a homemade limonade for you!" The woman returned and placed the tablet on the table in the middle of the room. "I hope you'll like it."

"Thank you!" Dark took one of the glasses and sniffed cautiously at the light-coloured liquid. Smiling he turned the glass around and spilled its contents over the thick carpet.

"You ungrateful little...!" The woman hissed in annoyance and suddenly she seemed to be younger, stronger. Her eyes darkened dangerously. "Don't think you can escape your fate."

She raised her cane. The door slammed shut, locking itself, before the lights flickered and went out.

'Dark? What happened?'

'Hush, Daisuke. I need to concentrate.'

Spears of light flared up and both boys could do nothing else than to dove for cover. Blue-white streaks of magic, cutting through the darkness and burning everything on their search for prey.

'What's this?'

'It's the net. It can feel our souls and now it's searching for us.' The light missed the thief by a hair's breadth. 'Damn. That was close.'

'Try to stay alive, okay?'

'Don't make me laugh.' Dark turned around just in time to see a magical streak flashing in his direction. He threw himself down and the light shot over his head and crashed into a wall.

'This stupid thief risks far too much.' Satoshi slowly left his hiding place and tried to approach the witch from behind, moving through the room, skilfully avoiding the searching light. 'I have to find the source of her power.'

'She needs physical contact to the net to use it. You have to act quickly. Give her no chance to defend herself.'

It was a good advise but Satoshi never got the chance to implement it. Harsh white light suddenly caught him and banned him motionless there and then.

'Watch out!'

Krad ripped through him and pushed his tamer aside, just before he got hit by the light. Burning pain rushed through his body, setting his nerves on fire and then it was over and the last thing he saw was the shocked face of his tamer before everything went black.

'Satoshi!'

'Stop it, Daisuke! Stop!' For a long moment Dark felt his vision falter as Daisuke tried to regain control over their body. Struggling to keep the upper hand, the thief finally succeeded. Barely.

'Help him! You can't leave him here!' The boy sounded rather hysterically but the thief paid no attention. Dodging another magical streak he reached the commander. Grabbing the lifeless body he threw Satoshi over his shoulder and with the same movement he plucked one of his feathers and intoned an incantation.

Violet streaks of magic swirled around him and he felt the power of the net wavering. It was all he needed. Without hesitation he sprinted towards one of the windows. Glass shattered around him and then the soft darkness of the night enclosed him, covering his escape and protecting him on his way home.

tbc