Natdia: Chapter 4
By NostalgieMalaak
Warnings: some disturbing images
Notes: Oh my God. It's a freaking miracle. Didn't ever think I'd get back into this.
Disclaimer: Still don't own 'em. Even the little ones.
I snapped awake hard enough to rock my head on my neck. A sudden hot pain radiated up from my calf. The combination of the two toppled me out of bed and I barely kept from crying out as I tried to massage away the Charlie-horse in my leg. It was not going to be a good day.
The dream of the little boy and the fire was still very vivid in my mind. The horror of it lingered far longer than I would have liked. I stood up gingerly and tested out my leg. It seemed ok- a little sore, but I could live with that. I needed to find Trowa. He knew a lot more about what had happened than he was letting on.
Approaching the door to his room (only a few rooms down from mine) I hesitated to knock. I didn't want to wake him up. He had been pretty upset after the lecture mom gave us last night. I turned around deciding to forget about my quest until later when I heard voices behind the closed door.
I had never known Trowa to talk to himself and even if he did, it wouldn't explain why there were two distinct voices coming from the bedroom.
"Trowa?" I called out. Silence. Whoever had been speaking to him before went quiet. "Trowa? Can I come in?"
A flurry of whispers erupted at this. I was starting to get really worried. Who was in there?
"Cathy? You can come in…but you have to be quiet. And not freak out." With that the door opened and I stepped in like I was walking on eggshells.
Sitting on the carpeted floor was none other than the blonde boy. I was so startled I stumbled backwards several steps and fell to the floor with a thump after catching my heel on the door frame.
"Wha…how…" Meaningless words tumbled out of my mouth but were quickly quieted as Trowa clapped a hand over my mouth.
"Shhhh! You can't wake up mom and dad!" Trowa hissed.
I was doubly shocked. Trowa was never so mean about things. Who was this little kid and what was he doing in our house!
Prying Trowa's small hand off my face, I quickly scootched forward so he could shut the door behind me. I stared in amazement at the small child in front of me. He seemed just as real as anyone else. And except for the ridiculous outfit he had on, he could have been any little boy running around my neighborhood in the summer. But there weren't any children here. There weren't supposed to be any people out here.
"Hello," I said hesitantly, a strong sense of deja-vu washing over me.
"Hello!" The blonde chirped back. That surprised me. In my dream he had seemed unable to speak.
"Who…who are you?" I asked carefully. Trowa sat down forming a triangle between the three of us.
"My name's Quatre," he answered easily enough.
"What are you doing in our house?"
"Trowa invited me in." He cast a sweet look of adoration over at my little brother who beamed at him in return. I controlled the urge to do a double take.
"…And why are you here?" I managed to get out.
"To help you of course!"
"Help us with what?"
"You can't stay here," he said, now looking gravely serious, "There's a bad man here. I don't want him to hurt you."
"Like he hurt you?" I asked, the dream from the night before becoming clearer. Quatre looked puzzled for a moment before nodding solemnly.
"Well, you don't have to worry about us. We're going to be leaving in a few months anyway-"
"No! That's too late! You have to go soon!" He cried out. Bright tears pooled in his eyes and he reached out for Trowa who automatically took his hand.
"He's right Cathy," Trowa said sounding far too old and tired.
"But…but I don't…this is crazy! Are you trying to tell me that our house is being haunted by a little boy who warns unsuspecting people of some…some…bogeyman who's coming to get them!" This was all just too much.
Both boys nodded their heads.
"I just need to wake up, that's all. This is just a dream…just a dream…
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My back made a sickening thud as I landed on the floor. It was the second night in a row that I had woken up from a weird dream by falling out of my bed. What was going on?
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I decided that mornings were definitely my least favorite time. As the sunlight pierced through my room's picture windows I tried to remember why I had wanted a room that faced east. Pulling my heavy comforter over my head I tried to go back to sleep.
"Cathy! Cathy!"
"What mom?" I growled out. It was summer time. I was supposed to be sleeping in!
"Time to wake up! Your Dad and I are going in to town, do you want to come?"
"Mom stop screaming! And no! I just want to sleep!" Mothers, I swear.
"All right then! Look after Trowa!"
I groaned. Another fun day of watching Trowa mope around the huge house. Ever since the day we had gotten lost we were forbidden to go exploring alone. Trowa was taking it far worse than I thought he would. He normally hated going outside, but all of a sudden he seemed fixated on returning to the creepy meadow. I knew it had to do something with the little blonde boy-Quatre. My dreams about him and Trowa had been coming more and more frequently since that disastrous afternoon. I didn't like thinking about it too much though. It always made me go all cold and feel like little spiders were crawling up my back.
After another hour or so of tossing and turning and imagining spiders skittering all over me I realized I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. Kicking back the covers I managed to drag myself out of bed.
Deciding to be exceptionally lazy I took a bath instead of a shower and relaxed in the steaming hot water for a long time. Around noon I skipped into the kitchen to fix some lunch. I loved summer vacations. Trowa would probably be hungry as well and cooking was always something we liked to do together.
"Trowa? Want some lunch?" I called out.
No answer.
"TROWA!" Stupid brother. Probably just wants to hide all day.
Fed up with waiting around I went to look for him. I searched the spacious living room and dining room, not really expecting to find him there. A search of the entire downstairs also proved fruitless. It wasn't until I peeked into his room and also found it empty that I began to worry.
I began running from room to room throwing open doors in hope that he just didn't want to be found. The thought did cross my mind that maybe he had decided to go with my parents, but seeing only my dad's two-seater sports car gone it didn't seem likely.
There was only one other place that Trowa could have gone. Heart thundering in my ears I ran outside towards the edge of the forest.
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The meadow was eerily silent as I reached it and seemingly as empty as we had found it before. Turning around and around in frantic circles I wasn't able to see much of anything. It was only when I calmed down a little and took a good hard look that I saw them. Just barely visible over the high grass and weeds was Trowa's head, a blonde one beside his. They were sitting on the far side of the meadow.
I loped over to the two boys trying to keep quiet. I felt like I was being watched. The sun in the meadow was intense and I had to keep blinking away black spots every time I looked up from the ground.
When I reached the two it seemed like they were waiting for me. They were watching me silently with hooded eyes. Quatre looked like he had been crying.
"Trowa?" I panted out. "What…?"
"I had to see if he was ok. I don't want anyone to hurt him," Trowa whispered. He looked over at the little blonde who was rubbing his arm, pressing his palm into it harshly.
"Is he ok?" I asked nervously. Trowa's brow wrinkled up but he didn't say anything. Not knowing what else to do I sat down next to them, completing the small circle.
After what could have been hours but was probably only minutes I plucked up my nerve to ask some of the questions that had been racing through my mind ever since I had first laid eyes on the strange boy.
"Quatre…who are you? Why are you out here all alone?" I asked gently.
"'m not alone," he sniffled a few times. "My sisters'r here too."
"Your sisters? Where? Is your house nearby?"
He didn't seem like he was going to answer. Instead he leaned into Trowa as if seeking protection. Trowa surprisingly looped an arm around the boy and pulled him closer.
"Quatre are you in danger here?" I felt awkward, like I was disturbing a private moment.
"Quatre used to live in our house," Trowa finally said.
"He did?" Now we were getting somewhere.
"Ya, him and his sisters and his-"
"Don't say it! Don't say it!" Quatre screamed, clasping his pale hands over his head and rocking back and forth. His whole body was trembling.
"Was it the man I saw, Quatre? Did you know him?"
Quatre began crying in earnest. Tears slipped down his porcelain face into Trowa's shirt sleeve.
"It was his dad," Trowa whispered, trying to soothe his young friend. "He killed them all."
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When the wind began to pick up and the sky darken I decided I'd had enough of the outdoors. Enough to last me a lifetime. A chill that had nothing to do with the cold crept along my shoulder blades.
"Come on Trowa, time to go," I said softly. I was about to ask Quatre if he could come with but Trowa shook his head, seeing the intent on my face.
"It's too dangerous for him to come to the house. He's safer here." Trowa stated.
"How is this place safer?" I asked looking around at the wild area.
"He doesn't come here," Quatre whispered. "Except to…you know."
A vision of Quatre's small body being laid into the wooden box flashed before me. Ya, I did know.
"We'll think of something Quatre. We'll help you somehow." I said, not really believing there was much we could do.
"You have to leave," Quatre said urgently. "Before it's too late!"
"I won't leave you Quatre!" Trowa cried out.
"No! You have to Trowa! He wants to hurt you Trowa. Just like he hurt me…" Quatre broke off scrubbing at his face as if to get rid of the memory.
"But why?" Trowa squeaked out, he himself looking close to tears.
"I don't know," Quatre whispered dejectedly. With one last look at my brother the boy turned and walked towards the graves. Before he had taken ten steps he had vanished into the landscape.
More sad than frightened I took Trowa's hand in mine and led him home, all the way thinking furiously about how to help Quatre.
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Our parents returned from town that evening and by unspoken agreement neither Trowa nor I said anything about what had happened in the meadow. Trowa was more subdued that usual and asked to be excused from the dinner table without eating anything. Dad gave him a worried glance but let him go.
"I'm so sorry to have done this to you kids," he said quietly. "This must be so hard on you, to be all the way out here without anyone to play with, nothing to do."
"It's ok Dad," I said in a small voice. Sensing that I wouldn't be able to eat much anyway I asked to be excused too.
That night I lay in bed thinking about everything but fell asleep before I could find any answers.
That night I dreamed of ghosts.
The mansion on the mountain hill was filled with people. Mostly children to be exact. Little girls in long flowing dresses ran and laughed through the brightly lit rooms and hallways. One after the other they passed in front of me. They were all different but none seemed older than ten or eleven. Some seemed to come from a little older time than others judging by their dress. Ghosts passing through ghosts.
Finally, as though I had been expecting him, a little blonde boy came barreling down the front stairs. He was shrieking in delight as he ran wildly, his blonde locks flying about his head. Suddenly man stepped into view and scooped up the giggling boy. He held him high in the air and Quatre laughed fearlessly. The man was the same from the meadow. Quatre's father.
Quatre seemed unafraid of him. He hugged tightly to his father's neck as the man swung him around to ride piggy-back. The tall man smiled and began to gallop around the room. I remembered doing the same with my father when I was little.
The whole scene made me sick.
I knew what was to happen. There were no more little girls in this time period. They were already dead.
What had gone wrong? Why had the man had so many children, only to kill them all in such a terrible way?
The dream shifted from the mansion out to the meadow. I was prepared to see another grisly scene, or perhaps the one I had seen before, but instead there were many people present. Most were dancing round and round in a circle. A steady drumbeat kept time. It looked like a ceremony of sorts.
I felt a sense of calm and tranquility steal over me. I wasn't afraid or even very excited. Just calm. I felt like I had taken a huge dose of cold medicine. Swaying back and forth to the beat of the drums I let my eyes relax. Through the blurring shapes of the dancers I began to see spectral forms dancing to the beat as well. They stayed close to one person or another and I realized they were the spirits of the dancers' loved ones.
I longed to join in.
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I awoke calmly in the early morning, a sense of purpose solidifying in my mind.
Tbc
Wow, really got on a role with that chapter once I got back into it. Not too much more now until the exciting conclusion!
As always, comments or questions greatly appreciated.
-Nostalgie