Rand0mSmil3z:Happy Saturday! I hope everyone has had a good week so far! First off, thank you all so much for the favorites and follows! I'm happy you're enjoying the story so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!
Silver-doe287: Chapter 2 of this Halloween-themed fic is upon us... and with that, 13,000+ words of suspense, excitement, and spookiness! Stay tuned next Saturday for the thrilling finale of this story in our new Midgar Paranormal Investigators series...
Chapter Two – The Lockdown
If the Shinra Manor looked haunted during the day, then at night it truly felt ominous. Starlight ran a silver finger against its stone walls and stained the ground in a pale, sickly glow. The broken windows reflected the full moon in a series of cracks and brittle fragments. The heavy, faded curtains swayed with the dry breeze, and every once in a while, the grass would rustle and brambles would sway as if something was passing through. Yet no matter how quickly Cloud turned, nothing was ever there. The mystery had goosebumps peppering his arms and his heart fluttering behind his ribs; he had never been afraid of the dark before, but now apprehension hissed across his nerves and subtle fear sharpened his senses. It felt like something was taunting him.
But that's stupid, Cloud thought as he shifted his flashlight across the front entranceway, scowling all the while. Ghosts weren't real and the manor wasn't haunted. Sure, the dilapidated property was spooky, and the groaning doors and creaking floorboards admittedly gave him the creeps, but that didn't mean that anything paranormal was happening. It was probably just… the wind or something, or maybe the building settling.
That's what Cloud told himself, anyway.
"Wow," Aerith murmured, breaking through Cloud's thoughts as she stepped into the front entrance ahead of them. Her own flashlight cut a beam of light through the thick darkness. "There's something… I don't know how to describe it," she admitted as she turned to the rest of the team, and her sheepish smile was visible despite the gloom. "There's definitely something here, something that I've never felt before. And it just feels really, really powerful."
Cloud turned his flashlight to the highest setting and shone the brighter yellow beam onto the steps in front of him. Why would you say that? The stairs suddenly looked more worn and ominous than they had with the earlier sun; the shadows seemed darker, and it was far too easy to imagine eyes blinking at him from the shadows...
"Powerful?" Tifa repeated next to him, with only the slightest waver to her voice. "Like… do you think it's evil?"
Aerith frowned. "I'm… not sure, really." She took another step into the manor, and her shoes clicked against the tiled floor of the front hall. Zack, Tifa, and Cloud followed her inside, the latter fighting back the urge to shiver as the dark, foreboding feeling settled over him once more. As Aerith wandered further into the hall, her green eyes narrowed at the thick shadows, and the iron chandelier groaned perilously above her head. "It almost feels like something is blocking me," she continued, her soft voice edged with frustration. "Like there's something else here, but it's thrown a veil over my eyes, and it's harder to see."
"That's spooky, man," Zack said as he swept his camera around the room - without the infrared feature, Cloud noticed with a frown - before he suddenly grinned and swung the camera towards Cloud.
Cloud immediately lifted a hand to hide his face, which had Zack laughing. "So, what's the plan?" he asked, trying to ignore Zack and maintain some level of professionalism. He had to keep the team focused, if only so that they could get in, do their investigation, and leave as soon as possible. "Are we sticking together, or splitting up, or…"
"I'm going back to the van," Tifa immediately replied, not skipping a beat as she took the slightest step back the way they came.
Zack turned, his grin and camera now focused on her. "Because you're chicken," he told her matter-of-factly.
"No!" Tifa wrinkled her nose and pointedly ignored the camera in her face. "Because… well, someone has to keep an eye on all of the camera feeds! And what if one of our EMF's gets a reading, huh? Someone has to pay attention to it. A - And besides, I'm the leader, and I said I'm going to the van. So there you have it."
Her tone dared anyone to contradict her, which of course, no one did. But why does she even still do this if she's so nervous, Cloud silently mused, and pointedly ignored the fact that he could ask himself the same question.
Zack laughed at Tifa's small explanatory rant. "Suit yourself," he said good-naturedly, before lowering the camera and pausing his recording.
"I will," Tifa replied with a small frown, and then turned to the team psychic. "What would you feel most comfortable with, Aerith? You're the one who's the most sensitive out of everyone here, so if you'd rather explore with a partner…"
"No, that's okay." Aerith tilted her chin towards the second floor, and the starlight from the tall windows brightened her eyes. "I think I want to check out the second floor. The… strange feeling I have seems the strongest up there, I think, and I want to check it out."
"Bring a recorder, just in case you catch anything," Tifa told her.
Aerith nodded solemnly.
"And that means," Tifa continued as she turned to the boys, "that you two will explore the first floor together. Does that work for you guys?"
"Whatever," Cloud answered, feigning boredom. Inside, as much as he hated to admit it to himself, he knew he would feel much more comfortable wandering the abandoned manor with a partner. Like sure, ghosts weren't real and all of that, but what if he… twisted an ankle, or something? This place was in pretty bad shape... Maybe the floorboards would break underneath him. It was hard to predict something like that.
Zack bobbed his head in agreement. "Sounds good," he replied and then turned to Cloud, his grin sharp. "I'll take care of our scaredy-cat."
Cloud scowled. "Watch it, Fair."
Zack only laughed.
"Perfect," Tifa sighed, stretching her arms in front of her. "Everyone has their radios fully charged, right?" Cloud felt in his pocket behind the radio clipped to his belt for his earpiece, thankful he'd remembered to grab it from the van. After a chorus of agreements from the rest of the group, she continued, "Well then, I'll be in the van if anyone needs anything. Report anything strange the moment you notice it."
"Will do!" Aerith promised, followed by noncommittal noises from Zack and Cloud. Tifa, satisfied with the team's preparedness, hurried back to the van while the other three plugged in their earpieces and flicked on their radios. Once they were all set, Aerith ascended the grand staircase while Zack and Cloud decided to investigate the old music room.
There was a chill to the air inside the manor now, one that had not been there during the day. It was cold enough that goosebumps peppered Cloud's skin underneath his hoodie, his breath misted the air, and a shiver rippled down his spine.
Zack shone his flashlight through the room. "Pretty cold," he said, echoing Cloud's thoughts. His breath fogged the air. "Does this place kinda remind you of…"
"The northern crater?" Cloud supplied. Just light that, his mind was flung back towards their military days and then he could feel the snow crunch beneath his boots, could hear the harsh wind howl across the crater, could feel the snow melt against his face and drip into his thick fatigues. Back then, his eyelashes would threaten to freeze together when he blinked and his fingers felt fat and numb within his gloves.
"Those were good times," Zack said, his tone almost wistful. "I could have done without the snow, though. That was far too cold for a tropical boy like me."
"It was definitely way too cold," Cloud agreed. Even for him, who had grown up in the mountains, the chill found the northern crater was something entirely different. There it had been far colder than Nibelheim, and the cold had cut far deeper.
He strangely felt the same now. The cold of this room slid effortlessly through his hoodie and the wind moaned against the windows, except now it almost sounded as if there were words buried within the ghostly breeze… and it was all too easy to imagine that there were things lurking within it.
Cloud suddenly wished that he had offered to join Tifa back in the van.
"Yo, Spikey," Zack said when they reached the music room's large atrium of space. His voice echoed strangely in the expansive room. "Do you… hear that?"
"No." Not that Cloud had been paying attention, and he quickly pulled his K2 meter out of his back pocket. He held it out and pointedly studied it, looking for any detection of colors beyond green, signifying differing electromagnetic fields. "I don't hear anything."
"There's definitely something there." Zack's footsteps echoed tentatively as he walked slowly to the piano, frowning all the while and lifting his camera up. "It almost sounded like… a voice?"
"I didn't hear it," Cloud replied with a shrug, trying to swallow the rapidly growing anxiety that threatened to blossom from his chest. "It was probably nothing."
"I heard you the first time," Zack said absent-mindedly as he swept his thermal camera across the room, and the screen's dim glow lit up his face in muted shades of blues and reds as he turned the camera on Cloud. "Everything looks normal… You're a normal temperature, at least!" Cloud looked up, exhaling slowly as he confirmed that the K2 meter was fully operational, just not sensing anything out of the ordinary. "But other than that, I swear that I just -"
Without warning, a single note rang out in the air.
Cloud and Zack both went still, their figures frozen in their hunched poses. After a long, heavy pause, Zack was the first to recover and he spun around, the camera screen little more than a pixelated blur as he settled his sights on the piano.
"Guys?" Tifa's voice rang out from the radio static into Cloud's ear. "I just detected some sort of activity in the music hall…"
Cloud forced his hand to move to the radio, slowly pushing the button and adjusting the microphone. "We know," he breathed into the receiver.
"You weren't kidding about the piano thing, Spikey…" Zack said, his voice low and strained.
Without warning, another note sang to the chilled air. It immediately went sharp, clearly out of tune, and shivered against the cracked windows and the chipped porcelain teacups lying still on the table. It hissed against the floor and breathed down Cloud's neck, lifting the small hairs of his arms and sending his heart fluttering into palpitations.
Ghosts aren't real, ghosts aren't real, ghosts aren't real…
He swallowed thickly and, slipping his hand into his hoodie pocket, flicked on his recorder – cursing himself in the back of his mind for not having it out already. Tucking it under trembling fingers of the hand also holding his flashlight, he asked, "Is anyone here?"
The K2 meter suddenly spiked as its needle jumped into the red, only to immediately sink back into the green.
"There's something here," Zack whispered, camera still focused on the piano. "Detecting a cold spot."
Cloud cleared his throat. "You don't have to be afraid of us," he said, switching tactics with a tone meant to sound confident and compassionate. This was a statement Aerith had often said, though she insisted she was talking to spirits while Cloud was happy to pretend that he was having a heart-to-heart with a lamp instead. "We're here to help."
"The cold spot is moving." Zack's voice was little more than a breathless whisper that accompanied the rapidly dropping temperature in the room. "Cloud, it's headed your way."
Why would you tell me that? Cloud wanted to shout, and it was all he could do to plant his feet and ignore the desperate urge to start sprinting in the other direction. "What's your name?" he asked as the K2 meter once again spiked. He waited an appropriate few moments for the recorder to pick up something that perhaps they couldn't hear. Then he added one final question that was on his mind:
"Did… Did anyone hurt you?"
Silence fell heavily onto the room. It was an unnatural sort of silence, the kind that was suffocating and cold, the sort that muted the wind. Not even the dust dared to dance beneath the filtered starlight, and Cloud held his breath, unwilling to even breathe.
Then, without warning, Zack scowled. "The cold spot disappeared. Nice going Cloud, you scared-"
"Here," something whispered through a broken throat, and an unholy sound suddenly slammed forth from the piano. It was a harsh jumble of conflicting notes and contrasting melodies, an angry clash of broken tones and cutting heartache, and Cloud's first thought was, Fuck it.
A quick shared look with Zack was all it took; they nodded in mutual understanding and sprinted out of the room.
They didn't dare look back.
Back in the van, Tifa was definitely freaking out. "Can you hear me, guys?" she asked one more time, after double checking her radio to make sure the green light was on. It was, meaning the interference wasn't on her end, but that did little to smooth the floodgate of nerves that threatened to drown her.
It didn't help that the EMF chart had stuttered at the sheer amount of activity that it had detected in the music room. Thankfully, it had already begun to calm, though their camera – which had been set up on one of the music room's many tables – revealed an empty room. Zack and Cloud were long gone. Furthermore, nothing disturbed the camera's green-tinged feed; only dust and moths spiraled beneath the moonlight.
Movement suddenly shifted in another camera and Tifa's eyes flicked to the screen, her breath caught in her throat, only to sharply exhale when Aerith's form appeared in the greenhouse. Her lips were pursed as she fumbled with her radio.
"Tifa?" Aerith's voice soon crackled into Tifa's mic and cut through the radio silence, which did much to calm Tifa's ragged nerves. Uncertainty stained Aerith's words as she continued, "What was that?"
"Aerith," Tifa breathed in relief, and nearly began to ramble about the activity and how Cloud and Zack weren't responding, but she managed to catch herself. You're the leader, she reminded herself. Act like it!
Swallowing her unease, Tifa began, as calmly as she could manage, "There was a spike in activity in the music room, and it sounded like the piano started to play."
"I heard that," Aerith replied a moment later. "Didn't realize that it was the piano, though."
"Yeah. I think it was a spirit, but Cloud and Zack ran out of the room and I'm not seeing them on any of the cameras, either. And… And they're also not replying," Tifa added, and there was no helping the worry that bled into her tone. "Do you think they're okay?"
"I'm sure they're fine," Aerith immediately replied. "This is Zack and Cloud, after all. But do you want me to check on them?"
As tempting as it was… "Let's give them a few more minutes to check in," Tifa replied. "No need to panic just yet."
"Sounds good." Aerith then turned to the camera that they had set up earlier and smiled; it was a soft smile, little more than a gentle curve to her lips, but it was incredibly reassuring and Tifa felt the tension slowly leave her shoulders. "Don't worry – you got this."
Tifa's eyes pricked, and she managed a shaky smile despite knowing Aerith couldn't see it. "Thank you," she said honestly, and then returned to her focus on the music room when the unmistakable sounds of breathing filtered through the heavy static of the radio.
The van chilled several degrees as Tifa froze, unsure what to do. It was as if a mic had been flicked on without being realized and the breath sounded heavy, nearly pained, and her heart beat heavily in her chest. This couldn't be a ghost messing with their equipment… could it? It wasn't unheard of, but…
"Cloud?" Tifa managed to say, her voice little more than a squeak. "Zack? You there?"
Yet only harsh breathing continued to echo through the static, and for a wild moment, Tifa thought about leaving the safety of the van and going to look for them herself. Why wouldn't they answer her? What if they're hurt? Sure, they were experienced investigators, but accidents happened. What if they needed her?
She was just about to tell Aerith to meet her at the front entrance when, all of a sudden, a peal of laughter – laughter that could only belong to Zack – roared through the mic. His laugh was deep, hearty, and almost bordering on hysterical as it came through the speaker of the radio.
"You absolute asshole!" Cloud growled angrily from the radio that had been breathing, obviously the source of the noise Tifa and Aerith had heard. Had Cloud been scared? "That's not funny!"
Tifa grabbed her radio. "Guys? Can you hear me?" she asked, stumbling over her words. "You guys okay?"
"You should have seen your face!" Zack continued to laugh. "Oh my god! Oh my god, your face! Did I get that on video?" There was a giggle followed by the rustle of fabric, and then: "Oh my god, please tell me that I got that on -"
There was some shuffling, followed by a loud smack and a yelp.
"Guys?" Tifa said, trying again. "You there?"
The suddenly breathing returned, followed by a click and a very meek, "Tifa?"
"Yes, Cloud?"
"Uh, how much of that… you know, never mind." Cloud cleared his throat as Zack continued to laugh in the background, and Tifa could easily picture the dirty glare Cloud was throwing Zack's way right now. "Um, so yeah, something happening in the music room."
It was obvious that Cloud was trying to put on a brave face, and Tifa couldn't help but smile at the valiant, but futile, effort. "I noticed a spike of activity from over here," she replied into the mic. "Did you record it?"
"Think so."
"Good." Tifa's gaze darted back to the camera, where it continued to show an empty music room. "So, what happened?"
"Probably nothing." Cloud's grumpy voice returned, and there was a guarded edge to his tone that had her pausing. This went beyond his usual reluctance to believe in paranormal activity; right now, it sounded more like outright denial. "Zack was probably just screwing with me."
"I swear I wasn't, Spikey!" Zack's voice echoed from a distance, full of laughter and mirth. "That was legit! Damn, that was crazy. Like Tifa -" There was sudden movement, an indignant hey from Cloud, and then Zack's voice rang clearly, "all of a sudden, we were by the piano and it just started playing by itself! And at first it was one note at a time, but then it was like BAM!"
"Ugh Zack, stop breathing on me!"
"Guys," Tifa interrupted, putting on her best authoritative voice. The boys immediately ended their spat, and she continued, "Where are you now? And Zack, did you get anything on the camera?"
"We're near the front entrance, in one of the halls," Zack replied, "and hell yeah I did! There was this crazy cold spot too, and it really liked our boy Cloud here." There was a laugh, and he added, "I think Cloudy has a new best friend!"
"Would you quit that?" Tifa could hear Cloud's huff through the radio. "This place isn't haunted, okay? There's no ghosts here."
"Then why were you talking to the ghost, huh?"
"Because that's standard procedure!" Cloud huffed again, louder this time, and muttered a curse under his breath before continuing, "Tifa, I'm heading out to the van. I'm gonna grab another camera to set up in the music room."
Tifa heard what Cloud wasn't saying, that whatever had happened had actually rattled him and that he needed a few minutes to compose himself – preferably away from Zack, who seemed to enjoy egging him on.
She managed a small smile. "Sounds good," she replied into the mic. "See you in a bit. And Zack?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you mind monitoring the music room until Cloud gets back? But don't leave," she added after a pause. "I don't want anyone wandering around and accidentally getting lost."
"But you let Aerith wander by herself," Zack replied, and the frown was evident in his tone as he pouted in response to her order.
"That's because Aerith's special," Tifa replied with a wry smile, knowing the other woman was listening in.
Sure enough, Aerith's laughter spilled through the radio. "You hear that, Zack?" she teased. "I'm special!"
"You sure are," Zack laughed, and then there was a click as he flicked off his mic.
Tifa leaned back against her chair with a sigh. This was strange; she had done dozens of investigations before, and all of them were located at far more dangerous, active locations than the Shinra Manor. Yet it was only now where her nerves were truly getting the best of her. Never before had she wanted to hide in the van, but here she was, unable to even look at the manor without a shiver rippling down her spine.
She could tell that Cloud was the same way, too. They had grown up in this small town together, though they hadn't exactly hung out in the same circles. Cloud had been shy, nearly painfully so, and had never seemed to have wanted to join her or her friends when they explored the town or the mountains.
Yet all of that had changed when, in middle school, he had called her up to the old, rickety water tower and told her that he was going to join the military. It was a move Tifa had never expected from Cloud – not the shy, gangly, awkward boy she had known – and yet, after he had left, she couldn't help but scour the newspapers for mentions of his name.
She would have never predicted that they would be working together hunting spirits, but when she had proposed the idea, he had agreed immediately. She wasn't entirely sure why; it was clear that he hated the thought of spirits and ghosts, and that he regarded the entire paranormal investigation with an air of dread and disdain. Yet, at the same time, she couldn't recall a time where he had ever not supported her. He had always gone on investigations with her and always supported the team, and it was something that she was incredibly grateful for.
So, if he wanted to hide in the van for a bit, who was she to say no?
There was a sudden knock on the door, but Tifa prepared enough to not startle when Cloud pulled the door open. His lips were pursed in a frown and his hair was more disheveled than normal, undoubtedly from his wild run away from the music room, and spiderwebs were draped across his blue hoodie like strands of fine silk.
"This was a terrible idea," he said by way of greeting, and his dull tone matched his equally unenthusiastic expression.
Tifa's lips quirked into a grin. "And yet here you are, grabbing a spare camera."
Cloud's brows furrowed, and he made an inelegant noise as he closed the door behind him and sat down on the only other available seat. Running a hand through his hair as he knew it looked a right mess more than usual, and grimacing when his fingers caught a tangle, he muttered, "Just give me a second."
"Did the piano really get to you that bad?"
"No," Cloud replied, far too quickly. A scowl permeated his face as he added, "It was probably just… Zack pranking me, or something. It's not like he's never done that before."
Tifa remembered that, and it was an effort to swallow her smile. It was during a previous investigation, and Zack had rigged one of the doors to drop a piece of cloth when someone walked through it… and of course, Cloud had been the first victim. The cloth draped across his neck and his scream was an octave higher than normal.
Of course, the investigation was ruined after that – Zack was laughing too hard and Cloud refused to speak to anyone for the rest of the week – and Tifa made Zack swear to never prank during another investigation. She trusted Zack to hold to his word, yet seeing Cloud now…
"Are you positive it was Zack?" she asked, which had Cloud's gaze flicking towards the floor.
"Dunno," he finally admitted, tugging at the collar of his hoodie. "Could be something else. Like… Like the piano strings breaking or something." He didn't sound that certain of the alternative and Tifa also didn't have the heart to tell Cloud just how improbable that was. Cloud changed the subject immediately, and after thrusting his hand into his hoodie pocket and handing his recorder to her, added, "You might as well clear this data out for now."
Tifa accepted the recorder and set about plugging it into her laptop to download the data off it. "You should have seen the readings," she said as the data began to download. "I've never seen anything like it, and then when you didn't respond afterwards… I was actually worried about you," she added with a faint smile.
Cloud shrugged, his cheeks flushed – but from exertion or embarrassment, she couldn't tell. "No need," he said. "It wouldn't be the first time we had radio interference. And you know how these old buildings get – things break for no reason."
"That's right," she agreed slowly, sensing his frustrated deflection but making sure that he knew she would try to keep them safer. "But this time… well, be careful, okay?"
"I will," Cloud promised just as the recorder finished downloading. After Tifa handed it back to him, he slipped it into his hoodie pocket and continued, "I'll let you know if anything else happens, okay?"
"Though it'll probably just be Zack, huh?" Tifa said, unable to help but tease him, but then her expression sobered. Cloud arched an eyebrow at the shift in her expression, and waited patiently until Tifa managed to ask, "Look Cloud, are you going to be okay going back in there?" She wrung her hands in her lap, looking down at them and biting her lip. "It has to be weird, being back near the manor after all these years… I know it's weird for me, at least."
"Yeah…" Cloud trailed off, something dark flashing in his eyes as he disappeared into a distant memory she couldn't see. "It's weird... But I'll be fine, Tifa. I've done this enough times now."
"I know you have," Tifa said, and her expression softened into a smile as she met his baby blue eyes again. "Good luck out there, okay?"
Cloud's smile was just as soft, an odd expression on his usually stoic face. "Thanks," he replied.
With that conversation out of the way and his nerves seemingly calmed, Cloud opened the door to the van and stepped back out into the night. The wind's chill pushed its way inside the van, rustling her papers and brushing her hair past her face, and she shivered at the biting cold that bade her welcome. When Cloud closed the door a moment later, the warmth blissfully returned, and yet Tifa couldn't help but shiver as she turned back to the camera screens. After confirming everything looked okay – though Zack hadn't returned to the music room yet, which was specifically what she asked him to do – she glanced back out the window.
Cloud slowly picked his way across the property, the light of his flashlight bobbing in the gloomy night. He briefly paused at the entranceway, and she could see his back stiffen before his shoulders slumped as he sighed and pushed the door open; another pause, and he slowly stepped into the entrance way. She could hear its hinges groan even from the van as Cloud shut the door behind him.
And just like that, the only thing that now kept her company were her camera feeds and the wind moaning through the dark. It was suddenly very lonely by herself. The iridescent lights inside the van were suddenly too blue, too artificial, and the scarf wrapped around her neck felt thin and constricting. She pulled it off with a sigh before reaching for the mic.
"Cloud and Zack," she began, and her voice sounded unnaturally loud within the confines of the car. "Everything okay?"
There was a sudden rush of static, and then: "Cloud here." His voice crackled through the speaker; the interference seemed to be back, and Tifa's brows knit together in concern as she tried to pick out his words through the rush of static. "I'm heading for the music room."
"Aerith?"
Aerith's soft voice rang clear through the radio after a quick hiss. "I'm here!" There was a sudden bump, and she continued, "I'm on the second floor, still in the greenhouse. Just trying to communicate."
Any luck?" Tifa asked cautiously as she stared at the other woman's shadow on the feed for the greenhouse. She was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by what looked like an assortment of overgrown plants.
There was a pause, and then, "Sort of… but they seem scared, for some reason. There's this other strange presence hanging around too, one I can't quite pin down either. I'll keep trying though."
"Sounds good," Tifa replied, storing that interesting tidbit away in her mind for the time being before she turned her attention back to the feed in the music room. She could clearly see Cloud's shadowed form as he began setting up the second camera facing the piano, and it was clear he was once again on edge. He continuously glanced at the corners of the room, and occasionally, he would sharply turn around as if something was standing behind him.
Tifa clicked on her mic. "Cloud?" she began tentatively, and she saw Cloud jump at the noise before glaring at his radio, despite her soft voice. He quickly clicked it on.
"Yeah?" he responded, and to his credit, there wasn't a trace of irritation in his tone.
"Do you see Zack?" she asked. "He doesn't seem to be answering his radio."
She watched as Cloud glanced around the room, his lips pursed and back rigid. "No," he replied, curt tone coming through loud and clear despite the static as he continued, "but I wouldn't worry. It's Zack – he's probably just… setting up another prank, or something."
Tifa frowned. "Cloud…" she trailed off a bit, concern evident in her voice as it was in her mind. While Zack had a habit of playing pranks, even she knew that he wouldn't take things too far with Cloud as on edge as he seemed to be. Zack knew when too much was too much, especially with his best friend.
"I guess I could go look for him." There was a new edge to Cloud's tone, not one of annoyance but of something else, and the dim glow of his flashlight swept around the room as she watched. It seemed to particularly linger in the corners and on the window curtains, as if he was half expecting something to crawl out. "Zack?"
"Aerith, can you get in touch with Zack?" Tifa asked in the meantime, hoping that the team strategy would bring a quick conclusion to the oldest member's missing presence.
The static from Cloud's end seemed to have bled over into Aerith's side, and it was particularly bad now. "I haven… een him," she said, her voice echoing strangely as if she were speaking from far away. In reality, Tifa could see her silhouette speaking directly into the mic in the upstairs bedroom camera. "I don't thi… at he... ome upstai..."
"Aerith?" Tifa called again as she checked her radio, but once again, the interference wasn't on her end. "Aerith, you're breaking up." The camera feed went unfocused as she watched Aerith's form, and the entire image flickered suddenly. Tifa held her breath until it refocused again a moment later. "Aerith?"
"I'm… ere," Aerith replied. She was clearly frowning as she walked over to the doorframe and glanced inside the bedroom. Suddenly, she turned away from the camera and seemed to be speaking to something in the hallway. That was enough to make Tifa's skin crawl, and she rubbed her arms with a rapid heartbeat as Aerith turned back to the bedroom camera. "Some... happe... thing not… ood."
Cloud's voice, suddenly just as difficult for her to hear, cut through the static. "... ike what?" he asked, just as echoey as Aerith had been. Despite the poor connection, he sounded alert and concerned.
Tifa frowned. Obviously, they seemed to be able to communicate and clearly understand each other, unlike her. Maybe the interference was on her side, then. Maybe?
"Aerith, if you can understand me," Tifa sighed, her foot tapping the floor in a sharp staccato to emphasize her concern, "would you mind heading downstairs and joining Cloud, and then helping him find Zack? I don't think I want you guys separated."
Without warning, the radio went dead.
Upstairs, moonlight drifted between the frames of curtains in sickly silver ribbons, then spilling across the floor and staining the ground a pale hue. The light softened the jagged edges of the broken windows and the hard angles of the doors, until the hallway she was in almost appeared gentle, its glow nearly ethereal with each step Aerith took.
There was something here.
"I'm all right," she insisted into her mic at Cloud, trying to convey that despite how she really felt. This hallway felt especially different. "I want to check something out up here, and then I'll mosey on down."
"Be careful," Cloud's voice answered back on the radio. She sighed and stood straight, massaging her temples with her fingers against the onslaught assault taking place in her head.
Voices whispered in the back of her mind, echoing against her skull as they overlapped each other and fought for her attention. There was so much to hear in the chorus in her brain that she couldn't hope to pay attention to them all. It was beginning to give her a headache, but there was one thing that she couldn't help but notice… One thing that she couldn't help but pour all her attention into.
The voices, while soft, were screaming in pain. It was a shrill, grating sort of pain, the kind that slid across her bones with chilled knives and pricked her nerves with hot needles. It was the sort of pain that promised things; not just the hurt that it had already inflicted, but the dread of awaiting more hurt, more trauma, more agony, on top of what had already happened.
Aerith's hand clenched the denim fabric of her overalls above her chest, and her lips pressed into a firm, hard line at the pressure the voices were making her feel. It was no secret – not to her, at any rate – that the spirits were terrified of this place, and that made her less certain of her ability to keep herself or her friends safe as well.
But why are they afraid? She paused at the bedroom doorway and glanced inside, lips pursed and hands clammy. Her gaze jumped from shadow to shadow in the darkness of the room as her heart fluttered. Anxiety sang in her blood, out-of-tune and off-key. Zack and Cloud had mentioned in their recap of the history regarding the manor that this place had once been an asylum; could that be the reason that all of these souls remained here, crying out to her in pain?
Yet the moment the suggestion crossed her mind, Aerith began shaking her head. To her thoughts and the cacophony of voices that sang to her, that didn't seem like the right answer. While she couldn't put her finger on it exactly, she still couldn't help but feel like there was something else here, something that had nothing to do with Shinra or the asylum or anything of that nature. No, there was something else, and she was determined to figure out what it was.
Aerith stepped into the bedroom with a sharp inhale, feeling the flow of that determination push through the adrenaline pounding in her heart. "Hello?" she murmured gently into the silence. The thick, faded curtains framing the windows fluttered as a cold draft curled its way inside the room. Dust danced in the pale moonlight and rested thickly against the bed sheets and the dressers, both whose contents were faded and worn from disuse. "Is anyone there?"
Out of the corner of her eye, one of the shadows suddenly shifted.
Aerith's gaze darted to the movement with a small gasp, and yet as her eyes adjusted, there was nothing there. The only things in the vicinity were candles resting on top of a nightstand, the wax of the candles yellowed and weeping onto the stand's old, stained wood. Despite the lack of another presence, there was now a slight pressure that hadn't been there before, a presence that gently brushed across her consciousness. Aerith stooped down without another thought.
"It's okay," she said softly into the twisting shadows as she attempted a smile into the unknown. This part was more familiar. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm a friend."
This time when the shadow moved outside of her imagination, it took the form of a child.
"Friend?" the chilling wind whispered in a soft sigh.
Aerith's smile warmed, feeling a comfortable rhythm begin that she could solidly use as a foundation. "That's right," she replied, her tone kind and gentle. "I want to help you!"
The shadow solidified more; arms tugged out of the dark, and hands curled against the flat planes of the wall.
"...Help me?" the child echoed, and its tiny voice brushed across the room like a winter's breeze; thin, pale, and cold. "Help?"
"That's right." For a brief, fleeting moment, Aerith wondered if she should try to reach Tifa via radio back in the van, but immediately decided against it due to the precariousness of the situation; she didn't want to scare the child's spirit after all. "Do you want to tell me your name?" she asked instead. "What happened to you?"
Yet the spirit didn't seem to have heard her. Instead its small figure warped, and soon Aerith could just begin to make out its foggy edges. If she squinted through the mist, she could just barely make out a delicate nose and a mouth, accompanied by two wispy, glowing eyes that blinked at her in the dark. Small hands and feet slowly became more pronounced, and with a start Aerith realized that the child was wearing a hospital gown.
"Help?" the fragile soul whispered again, words solidifying from the wind and turning more corporeal. "Help me?"
"Yes," Aerith promised, clinging to the hope that she could help the spirit of this child be free. "I want to help you."
The spirit seemed to consider her offer; tiny lips pursed and eyes narrowed as it weighed at her words.
Then it smiled, and everything changed.
The smile, breaking into a full-blown skeletal grin, was all sharp edges and teeth that had been worn down to little more than nubs. Yet it was the eyes that chilled Aerith the most; they went bright with some sort of wild glee, with a madness that scraped pointed claws against her ribs and breathed hot, grating pants against her neck.
"You're the one who needs help," the child whispered in a gleeful menace.
Then, with Aerith's next surprised blink, the spirit returned once more to the shadows.
Aerith stared at the spot where it had just been for a moment, the only sound in the room being her muted breathing and blood rushing in her ears. Her heartbeat was erratic and uneven in her ears, even drowning out the soft din of voices in her head. With a shaky inhale, she managed to stand, despite the trembling that threatened to send her tumbling right back down.
"Tifa?" she murmured into the mic, working on keeping the newfound nerves out of her voice. At the same time, she focused on her breathing and began counting down from ten, corresponding each number with a deep exhale.
The only response Aerith received from Tifa was static. Its white noise drowned the room and swallowed the wild melody of Aerith's thrumming heart.
So she tried again. "Tifa?" she repeated a bit more loudly this time, only to frown in confusion when static was once more the only thing that replied. Must be interference, she thought to herself, muting her mic again. After stealing her nerves, she slowly stepped back out of the bedroom and into the hallway.
The pressure had returned tenfold.
It felt as if small hands were pushing against her legs and trying to force her to go in a certain direction. The whispering voices were also growing; their overlapping voices formed a chaotic symphony that pulsed between her eyes, and she pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off the uneven ache. The hallway stretched out before her, its walls yawning into a pure blackness that made the room feel longer than it did a moment before. While the pale curtains fluttered in the midnight breeze, it was as if the moonlight had been doused and was no longer welcome in the suddenly oppressive space. If she looked hard enough at the shadows, she thought that she could see that child's sharp smile peering through the darkness…
A shiver ran down Aerith's spine, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. It's just a spirit, she reminded herself calmly, taking a steadying breath as she took the first step down the hall. Floorboards creaked and groaned beneath her boots. It can't hurt you.
Can it?
Aerith felt her feet bringing her to a halt outside another room, and curiosity got the better of her as she slowly entered. Inside, the pressure seemed to mount in her mind, a harsh squeezing that trapped her head in a vice grip. She took a couple deep breaths and pressed onwards, determined to figure out what was going on.
"Aerith?" Cloud's voice crackled over the radio, making her flinch a bit at the sudden noise.
She took a deep breath, steadying her ridiculously frayed nerves. "What's up?" she asked as brightly as she could manage and tried to keep any sounds of distress from her tone.
"Have you seen Zack up there?" If his wavering tone was any indication, it seemed that Cloud was doing his best to seem nonchalant as well – and he was failing. He took a deep breath and let his mic fall silent, waiting for her reply.
Aerith sighed to herself, willing the pressure building to leave the forefront of her mind for a moment. "I haven't," she replied. "Has Zack not shown up yet?"
"Nope." He drew out the 'o' longer than he should, annoyance and ambiguity evident in the way he spoke. "He's... He's usually not gone for so long." There was a pause, and then he added, "He's probably fine, though. This is Zack after all – he's probably just lost track of time, or something."
"Yeah, maybe" Aerith replied softly, inwardly wondering if that was really what was going on. The words of that child echoed ominously in her memories, and she did her best to push them out of her mind. "How about this. Let me check on something really fast, and then I'll come down to you and we can search together?"
"Sure," Cloud replied, a little too quickly. "That works."
Aerith turned off her mic and found herself staring at a bare expanse of wall in the room, one which stretched at a strange angle that was at odds with the surrounding walls. The wall was made of stone, which was nothing special compared to the rest of the building, but her feet led her forward anyway until she stopped right in front of it.
The pressure was reaching a breaking point now. It was all she could do not to wince at the pain and the voices, the latter of which had become full-blown shouting for dominance in her mind. A steady throb pulsed in her temple as she pressed a hand to the cold stone, then she gently exhaled and closed her eyes as she focused her attention inward. Deeper and deeper inside herself she went, until she found what she was looking for and let that small kernel expand; first she felt warmth bloom across her chest and arms before her fingertips began to tingle against the cool stone.
And then she was expanding further. Her consciousness slipped out beyond herself, and then further still with every exhale. The shouting within her head faded to mere whispers. The constant pressure rattling within her skull faded to the gentlest of touches, and ignoring the darker shadows lingering in the corners, she allowed other sensations to spring forth.
The first thing she felt was a strange openness spilling out before her, and it took her a moment to realize that there was another room hidden beyond the stone wall. The room was startlingly large, much like a cavernous pit that could swallow her whole, and she suddenly had the stomach-lurching sensation of standing on the edge of a precipice. Endless darkness tumbled before her farther than her mind's eye could make out, and without warning images flickered through before her closed eyes: metal tables, leather straps dangling off of walls, glass containers with condensation beading on curved walls that were large enough to fit human beings...
Aerith's breath caught. Undiluted terror hissed across her veins in licks of fire, and then she was seeing people. Suddenly it was people lying on the metal tables, people strapped to leather restraints, people floating in glass containers filled with sludgy, pungent liquid, and it all became too much. The pressure burst like fireworks within her mind, releasing sudden flashes of shock and horror.
Run, her pumping adrenaline demanded. Yet she couldn't run, couldn't move even as skeletal hands scraped against the inside of her skull, couldn't tear herself away even as her mind continued to scream, Run, run, run, run…!
There was a sudden pop as if the air pressure had changed.
Aerith's eyes flew open wide.
A clammy set of hands appeared to materialize directly from the stone wall in front of her. Her eyes widened further at the hazy apparition complete with blunt nails and blue-tinged veins snaking beneath semi-translucent skin, yet it was only when the skeletal fingers splayed and stretched towards her did she realize what was happening. She whirled around, determined to get away from this aggressive spirit as soon as possible, but impossibly cold, strong appendages wrapped around her throat before she could take a single step. They squeezed, cutting off her squeak of terror, and in a moment of panic she dug her nails into the paper-thin flash and yanked.
Something tore.
Something tore, but Aerith didn't dare turn around to figure out what. She only stumbled, a gasp trapped in her bruised throat, before she flung herself forward. Desperation rang in her ears as she threw herself out of the room, nearly hitting the doorway in the process before she ran through the hallway with heavy breaths and down the steps two at a time.
She didn't stop until she came skidding to a halt just inside the music room. There Cloud paced anxiously in the low light of a lamp, and his arms were crossed, head was tilted downward, and a frown that was making a permanent residency on his face. He looked up in alarm at her disheveled appearance, and his arms fell to his sides.
"Aerith?" he asked, uncertainty lifting his voice. "What happened? Are you…" He hurried over as she doubled over, her hands on her knees and breathing ragged.
But Aerith had hardly heard him. She could still feel the cold fingers wrapped around her throat, could still feel the blunt nails digging into her skin, and a shudder rippled down her spine. The unbearable pressure was no longer throbbing in her head, and the incessant whispers had gone quiet – for now.
Cloud leaned forward, studying her face for a few moments before his eyes drifted to the back of her neck. His lips pressed into a worried line. "What is…"
"Nothing." Aerith winced as she stood fully upright; she could still feel the lingering pressure of fingers around her neck and imagined that whatever mark remained probably looked pretty gruesome. "Really… don't worry about it."
Yet her voice wavered and her eyes burned, burned with tears that she didn't dare let fall, and she was suddenly grateful for how dark the music room was.
"Really, Cloud," she added at Cloud's pensive expression. "Nothing happened."
"Bullshit." Cloud's expression darkened, and he jerked his chin towards her neck. "There were bruises, Aerith. They were faint, but -"
"Can we talk about it later?" There was no helping the plea buried in her tone, and it had Cloud blinking in confusion. "Please?"
Cloud blinked again, and then his characteristic scowl returned. He was obviously not happy about it, but eventually he managed a curt nod. "But only if we look at it later," he added. "Tifa probably has some first aid in the van…"
Aerith's eyes widened. Tifa. Tifa must have seen what had happened, or at least, had detected some sort of reading. Turning on her mic, she quickly said, "Tifa? Tifa, are you there?"
Yet the only response was static, a dull roar that echoed across both their radios and ricocheted against the forgotten walls. Aerith looked at Cloud, who shook his head once, before she tried again. "Earth to Tifa," she said, now a little louder, "can you hear us?"
But once again, there was nothing. Aerith slowly turned her mic off and wiped her sweaty palms on her overalls. "She's always replied before," she murmured, and her gaze flicked back to the stairwell… and the room she knew was lying just out of sight, with the stone wall and ominous atmosphere. A shiver wracked through her again, and she tore her gaze away. "She's always replied."
Cloud suddenly stopped. "Maybe…"
"Maybe?" Aerith prompted when it became clear that Cloud wasn't going to continue.
"Maybe… Maybe Zack isn't playing a joke on us," he finally said, and his tone was low enough that Aerith had to strain to hear him. He resumed his pacing. "And now Tifa isn't responding either…"
"Tifa is safe in the van," Aerith replied, and when Cloud frowned at her, she continued, "And Zack can take care of himself, remember?"
Cloud huffed a sigh. "I know that. But still…"
"We should definitely look for him, though." Aerith glanced back at the stairs and suppressed a shudder. "Besides… About the bruises on my neck…"
Cloud's eyes jumped to hers, their blue bright despite the dim light in the room.
"...Well, I don't think some of the spirits are very friendly," Aerith said. A breathless laugh clawed out of her throat, though she wasn't entirely sure why. "I was upstairs during my investigation, right?"
Cloud nodded in rapt attention.
"And after going through the greenhouse and into the bedroom, I then went to the room at the end of the hall. It was a sort of weird room… there was a – a stone wall, and a bunch of junk inside. But it was the wall that…" She folded her arms over her chest, suddenly uncomfortable. "Well, I really don't know how to describe it, really…"
She lifted her gaze back to Cloud, only to pause; he had gone pale, and there was a new brightness to his glazed-over eyes that hadn't been there before. Sure, Cloud didn't like ghosts - hat was no secret amongst the team – but she had never seen a look like that on him before.
It looked a lot like terror, and it had her wrapping her arms around her a bit tighter.
"Cloud?" she prompted, trying to coax him back to the present.
Cloud jolted, as if waking up from a daydream. Clearing his throat, he asked in a low voice, "This room… It was upstairs? To the right, in the corner? And was the stone wall sort of… curved?"
Aerith blinked in surprise. "Yeah. Yeah, actually."
Cloud exhaled, though it was little more than a rush of air whistling between clenched teeth. "Did you…" His voice tapered off, and he tried again. "Did you... hear anything?" His voice was so quiet that Aerith struggled to hear him.
She shook her head. "Not exactly," she admitted with a sigh, and she idly shifted her gaze to his equipment, which was located near the piano. It was then she realized that his K2 meter and his recorder were both going, and there was a camera facing the piano – the source of the noise that spooked the two guys earlier. "I didn't hear so much as felt it. And it was like...like this unbelievable pressure was pulling me towards the wall. And then when I got there, I tried to focus on any spirits in the room. But then… then there were hands." She unconsciously lifted a hand to her throat and lightly massaged the tender skin, which still ached from her not so pleasant encounter. "But besides that, and this childlike spirit -"
"Childlike spirit?" Cloud repeated hoarsely. His gaze was still pinned on her neck, and his eyes were wide, as if he could see her memory of fingers wrapping around her throat as well.
She managed a weak smile. "Yeah, in the bedroom," she replied softly. At his alarmed expression, she continued hastily, "But I promise that I'm okay now though. That… aggressive spirit, the one that choked me, seems to be confined to that room."
Cloud looked down again, and it seemed like he wanted to say more, but instead he shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts. "We should look for Zack," he stressed, changing the subject. "Or I can look for Zack, and if you want, you can get the first aid kit from the van…?" His amendment came with a questioning tone at the end as he hazarded a small glance her way.
"Don't worry, I'm okay," she insisted, placing a hand on his arm. "We should look for Zack together."
Though he didn't say it, appreciation flickered across Cloud's features. "Only if you're positive you're okay," he told her. With that, the they set off together in the anxious silence of the house. The quiet was only broken by the sighing of the house as it settled. Wind moaned against the windows as the autumn pressed inwards. The floorboards grumbled beneath their shoes, and each creak had them leaning a bit closer into each other, their respective flashlights shining a bright path through the gloomy dark.
They decided to check the kitchen first. The nurses' supplies still lay forgotten in the cupboards and on the tables, and while Cloud relayed the few things Burke had told him and Zack earlier, he seemed distracted and his mind was elsewhere. It was clear Zack wasn't in this room. There weren't any obviously malevolent spirits, either; Aerith kept both her eyes and her mind open to any new presences, and yet there was a sudden emptiness that hadn't been there before.
If she didn't know better, she would have said that the spirits had hidden themselves… and she couldn't help but wonder if it had been the presence that had attacked her earlier, the same one that had been powerful enough to reach for her throat and choke her. Her fingers idly brushed against her neck at the thought, but she quickly dropped them when she noticed Cloud was watching.
"I'm fine," she reiterated.
Cloud's expression darkened and he made a noncommittal noise, but thankfully didn't press the issue. "Do you sense him? Zack, I mean."
Aerith bit her lip. It had always been more difficult to sense living beings, but it wasn't impossible. "No," she said after a calculated pause. "...Nothing."
A shadow passed over Cloud's face, but he was quick to school his expression into one of neutrality. "Well, we still have a few rooms left on the first floor," he said as he shined his light on the south door. "Who knows? Maybe Zack is in one of them talking to a ghost, or something."
"I thought you don't believe in ghosts," Aerith teased lightly.
"Fine." Cloud's lips quirked into the barest of smiles. "He could be talking to a wall, then."
Across the south hallway was another room set up as a den. Ripped couches and chairs lay haphazardly on top of what must have once been an ornate rug, though it was rotting and its pattern had long since worn away. Here, Aerith thought that she felt something, a slight pressure of sorts, yet she couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Once again, it felt as if a veil had been thrown over her eyes, which left her frustrated and exhausted from the strain of trying to understand and communicate.
"Zack?" she called out to the gloom, as loudly as she dared.
Unsurprisingly and worryingly, there was no response.
Cloud checked behind couches and under the tables as if Zack was hiding underneath, but the movement was robotic, and when he turned to her his expression was pinched – taunt, even.
His fingers fidgeted with his flashlight; his foot impatiently tapped the floor. "Not here," he said simply.
Aerith only pursed her lips and nodded.
The only other room they hadn't checked yet was the old welcome room, which was situated just to the side of the front doors. One of their cameras blinked red as it streamed footage back to the van, though it was quickly drowned out from Aerith's flashlight as she peaked inside.
Aerith's flashlight slid across the walls and behind the table, and Cloud's flashlight soon joined hers. He's not here either, she realized, and chewed her inner cheek as anxiety twisted within her. Tifa would have told them if Zack had wandered here, right? She could see all the footage back in the van, after all... but then again, since she wasn't responding on the radio either...
Aerith sighed. Everything is a mess, she thought, and nearly told Cloud as much when something suddenly brushed against her mind. A faint pressure built between her eyes and she squeezed them shut, trying to understand if this was a spirit or a stress headache, when Cloud suddenly went stiff beside her.
His gaze slid to hers, and she could clearly see the white of his eyes around their natural blue. "Do you feel that?" he murmured.
Aerith pressed her lips together and nodded, once. It felt heavy, as if a window had been closed and the air had suddenly gone stale, still, and muggy. Sounds were muted. The blinking camera suddenly looked dimmer, and even their flashlights suddenly flickered though their batteries were full.
Aerith met Cloud's gaze, and a look of understanding passed between them.
Something's here.
The new presence didn't feel like the malevolent, violent spirit from before. Instead it felt… smaller, if she had to put a name to it. Smaller and yet edged, as if the soul possessed a wild streak, yet she couldn't fully place it. Once again, the veil had been thrown over her eyes and she had no choice but to follow it, to chase after the small tug pulled at her senses, and footsteps behind her indicated that Cloud was close behind.
Their flashlights bobbed in the dark as the tiny presence guided Aerith back to the front hall, and then took a hard left towards the back of the manor. Cloud's footsteps paused on the entranceway however, and it wasn't long before his quiet voice drifted across the room.
"Maybe we should head back to the van," he said. "Check on Tifa before we keep looking for Zack, you know."
But Aerith had a feeling, something that felt like she would lose this small clue forever if she turned back now. "We can after this," she murmured, taking another step forward. The presence pushed against her again, pulled at her, demanding she continued to walk. There was a promise within it, a promise to answers she suddenly found herself needing, answers such as: Where's Zack? What was behind the wall? Why is there so much fear here?
She had to know.
"You can go back if you want," she heard herself say, as if from a great distance. "But I – I need to keep going. There's something else."
Cloud's eyes widened a fraction. "You have to…" But then he suddenly exhaled, a sharp hiss of sound, before his footsteps quickly joined hers. "No one should be going anywhere alone right now; it's probably not safe."
Aerith flashed him a small grin. "You're starting to sound like Tifa."
Cloud only shone his flashlight against the far wall, lighting up a dusty portrait, and huffed his displeasure…
...only for his huff to climb a sharp octave when the soft, high giggle of a child drifted across the floor.
Cloud shifted his flashlight faster than Aerith could blink, wild-eyed and expression pallid. Yet nothing was there; the pale glow of his flashlight lit up the far wall and reflected white off the glass windows and highlighted the cracks spiderwebbing the ancient glass. The floors creaked. The house continued to groan, and the pressure in Aerith's mind suddenly spiked – spiked as if something was being driven through it.
A melody began to ripple through the manor.
The notes wavered and warped the air as the piano, located in the room behind them, began to play. The song began with a gentle rise and fall, like lungs slowly expanding and contracting with every breath, or maybe even a tide contracting against the shore, before the song suddenly went sharp. Broken notes crashed into the symphony. Flat keys were plucked out of the keyboard and slammed into the ground. The melody was crumbled and crushed, reduced to a pitiful bastardization of something that had once been beautiful.
And it was haunting. It was haunting how the notes lingered in the air, how the warped melody rattled through her ribs and twisted to her core, and she suddenly had the wild urge to run. She wanted to sprint to the door and never look back. Goosebumps peppered her skin and she ran hands along her arms, trying and failing to smooth both them and her frayed nerves.
Everything is okay, she reminded herself as she slowly lifted her head, yet it was difficult to see anything but the front door looming over her. It was hard to make out anything but the pattern etched into its wood and how its grain ran crooked against the walls. Spirits were people once, and probably just want to communicate.
She released a shaky breath. Right. This was an investigation, and they were here to investigate the wild amount of activity this place had been experiencing as of late.
It was time to do their job.
"Cloud?" she said, louder than normal to cut through the broken piano melody. Cloud jerked his head towards her, though it was little more than an instinctual reaction to hearing his name. "Do you have your recorder?"
He nodded once and, without her prompting, reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled it out. It was already turned on, which was something to be grateful for. "Maybe this is Zack's prank," he said, but his tone was weak and held no conviction.
Aerith managed a small smile and a nod. "Maybe," she replied, her voice just as thin, and then made their way to the music room together. The pressure throbbed within her temple. Her eyes darted to the shadows, yet nothing stared at her from the dark; no eyes, no toothy smiles, no strange voices echoing within the wind. Only the strange, haunting melody could be heard echoing through the house.
Yet the moment they entered the music room, the tune went silent. Dead. The last notes drifted off into the haunted space, echoed in the atrium and lingered sour in the air before going silent.
Cloud shone his flashlight on the piano. The piano sat quietly, a thick layer of dust undisturbed on the keys that hadn't been touched by living hands in years, and his nose wrinkled in distaste. "Ghosts love pianos," he muttered under his breath.
Aerith, who had also been staring at the piano, glanced at him in confusion. "What?"
"Never mind." Body language obviously apprehensive, Cloud snuck forward towards the piano, his steps light and barely making a creak in the floorboards. Aerith crept behind him, following his path past the table containing his supplies – where he picked up his K2 meter – and ending in front of the piano. He hovered there for a moment as she joined him, cautiously holding the meter forward.
"Hello?" she said, her voice little more than a whisper. The pressure within her spiked; the K2 meter fluttered. "Are you here with us?"
There was a sharp whine, and then a tiny voice murmured, "Heeere."
Cloud held his breath as the icy whisper fluttered through between them, slipped across the floor, and then settled over the piano. The middle C pressed down on its all violation, and the off-key sound rose from the dusty piano, soft and sharp, before the key lifted back up.
Aerith glanced around the room, yet couldn't see anything… yet. Cloud, on the other hand, remained stiff and still beside her. His breathing came in shallow gasps. The K2 meter in his hand had flown straight into the red and remained there, the needle wavering yet unmoving, yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from the piano.
"Shit," he breathed.
Aerith suddenly felt the presence shift; what had once been a throbbing pressure in her temple drifted further down until it felt like small hands were holding hers and tugging her along, insistent, and she allowed herself to be swept forward. Her fingertips tingled. Need rippled through her in waves, and with a start she realized that the spirit wanted to show her something.
But what?
"Aerith…" Cloud's tone had a warning to it, a small ask to be careful.
She didn't respond, only flashed him a small smile – everything is okay, that smile said – before she turned her attention back to the piano. She reached forward with a steady hand and felt the dust on the keys, trailing her fingers against the ivory as she searched and felt for what the spirit was trying to show her.
"Heeeeere," the voice drawled out again, whispering from farther back.
She heard Cloud's sharp intake behind her, but did not turn around as she reached her hand farther up until it rested on top of the closed lid. The lid felt surprisingly warm to the touch – not cold, as she had been expecting – and she took that as a good sign.
"Here?" she asked.
Warmth pooled through her, and taking that as an affirmative, she moved to the side of the piano and wrapped her fingers underneath the sturdy frame. She gave a quick tug and lifted, fighting the rusty hinges that shrieked their annoyance the entire while, and shone her flashlight inside. Old strings that hadn't seen the light of day in decades withered before her lighted gaze, but nothing looked out of the ordinary…
Nothing, except a strange glint that shone underneath part of the piano's frame. There it is, she knew, and reached in with her other hand, working to free the piece of metal wedged in there. Seconds later, she triumphantly removed a small key, and she held it up with a big smile for Cloud to look at.
Cloud only pursed his lips and said nothing.
Aerith glanced around the room, trying and failing to find the spirit that had helped her. "Thank you," she said sincerely. Warmth once again blossomed within her, and then it was gone – gone with the wind howling outside the windows, with the creaking floorboards, with the walls groaning around her.
"A key?" Cloud's voice snapped her out of her trance, and she turned to see his characteristic scowl. Hands shoved deep into his hoodie pockets, he added, "Know where it goes?"
Aerith shook her head. "The ghost wanted us to have it though, so it's probably important…"
She handed it to him, and Cloud inspected the rusty key with narrowed eyes. "We should probably tell Tifa," he said as he slipped it into his pocket for safekeeping. "I tried reaching out earlier, but she still hasn't answered…"
A chill descended on the room; a chill and a whisper, one that echoed softly behind her. Cloud frowned at the noise while Aerith glanced over her shoulder, tension suddenly rolling over her in waves. The pressure returned, but not the same as the piano spirit's presence. Instead this felt heavy, cold, and wrong. Wrongness twisted within her and licked against her bruised throat, and a shudder rippled down her spine as the feeling crept deeper into her body, returning as if it had permission to be there.
"Aerith?" Cloud's voice swam behind her, almost as if he were speaking through a tunnel. "What is it?"
"Cloud…" Aerith glanced at him, wide-eyed, her voice barely above a murmur. "Something else is here."
"Something else is here."
Terror was etched across Aerith's expression as she quietly spoke, and Cloud's heart dropped at the sight of it. "Fan-fucking-tastic," he muttered. He was just about at his wit's end with these damn... hallucinations, or whatever they were, because ghosts weren't real. They weren't. There was always a logical reason for paranormal events, always an explanation for the unexplainable, and yet…
And yet he was drawing a blank. His usual go-to explanations and reasoning no longer applied, and he suddenly found himself caught between exasperation, exhaustion, and anxiousness.
He lifted his flashlight to where Aerith was staring, and the golden beam wavered in the dark. "What it is this time?" he asked, his voice low and gravely.
"I don't know," Aerith murmured, just as a loud creak reverberated through the room. They both jolted, instinctively moving closer to each other in their fear, but the next moment a wonderfully familiar voice shouted out:
"Guys?" There was a second creak – a groan of rusty hinges, Cloud realized – then, "Where are you?!"
The fear that had flushed through Cloud's veins immediately faded, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Tifa!" he shouted in reply, uncaring that... other things might hear him. "Music room!"
Aerith shakily laughed beside him. "Thank the gods," she exhaled, and her lips quirked into a relieved smile. "That scared me."
It had scared Cloud as well, not that he would ever admit it out loud. Rapid footsteps echoed off the walls and hallway until finally Tifa joined them, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed from her obvious sprint. Her flashlight shook in her hands. So did the van's keys, which were looped around one of her fingers like a weapon.
"Are you guys okay?" she cried, approaching them quickly. "Oh my god, when I couldn't hear you two anymore, I thought that something might have happened and…" She suddenly enveloped them both in a tight hug and pulled them in close, her breath an anxious shudder between them. "I was just so worried…"
Cloud dipped his head into the crook of her shoulder. "Sorry…"
"Are you guys okay?" Tifa abruptly pulled away, her wine-deep eyes wide and bright. "Were you able to find Zack? I was waiting to see if he would answer the radio, but when I couldn't hear you two anymore, I thought the worst…"
"We're okay," Aerith replied with a quick smile and kind eyes. "I promise."
But Tifa's eyes only widened further as she focused on a spot just underneath Aerith's chin. "Aerith, your neck! Are those… Are those bruises?"
A shadow flickered across Aerith's expression, and she idly brushed her fingertips against the dark marks. "Well…"
"What happened?" Tifa's voice was tight with tension, a sound that matched Cloud's continued concern on the same injuries. "Are you hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt," Aerith promised, but there was something in her tone that had Cloud doubting the truthfulness of that claim. "I promise it doesn't. I was on the second floor when I encountered something," she continued, emphasizing the word. "It was so angry… and there's so much fear here, I just…" She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and inhaled a deep, calming breath; and when she opened them again, there was a new hardness that hadn't been there before. "I think we need to find Zack as quickly as possible," she finished.
"Definitely," Tifa replied, and Cloud vehemently nodded his agreement.
"Also," Aerith added quickly, "we should be extra careful about going into that second floor room. I don't entirely know what type of spirit it is, and until I do…" Her voice trailed off.
"We'll be careful," Cloud promised, because he knew exactly what room Aerith was referring to. Even after all these years, he could still picture it in his mind's eye: the stone wall, the cluttered tables and stacks of boxes, the smell of mold and iron, and the whispering…
He shook his head, trying and failing to displace the image. "So, Tifa," he said, trying to change the subject, "what happened to you? We couldn't hear you on the radio."
Tifa sighed. "I think it was some kind of interference. You guys were really breaking up, and then suddenly the radios cut out altogether." Her gaze darted to the piano, which had Cloud wondering if she had seen something hovering around it earlier; any paranormal activity that they couldn't see might have shown up on the cameras, after all. "So… I might have called in Group B, to help us out. We need backup."
"I agree. Good call, leader," Cloud assured with a smile; it was a tense smile, his lips felt cracked and thin, but it was a smile all the same. Shifting his weight to his other foot, he asked, "So… what's the plan?"
Tifa sharply exhaled, and replied, "Well, first we need to find Zack. He's our first priority. And as soon as we find him, we should wait at the van until Group B arrives. They should be here in…" She glanced at her watch, "... thirty to forty minutes, give or take."
"Perfect," Aerith chimed in with a stiff nod. "That'll give us plenty of time to search."
"And we'll find him." Cloud shifted his flashlight towards the door, as if Zack was going to step through at any moment, grinning and ready to tease him some more. What he would give for even that annoying interaction... "We will… I know it."
"So…" Tifa managed a small, pale smile. "Let's start with a plan. Where have you guys searched?"
"We swept the entire first floor," Cloud told her. "No sign of him."
"Then we'll head up and search the second." Tifa's gaze trailed towards the door, and her expression darkened a fraction. Cloud wondered if she had seen what happened to Aerith. "Let's go."
After sharing tense looks, the team of three slowly made their way back towards the steps and towards the second floor. Despite having all three of their flashlights scouring the walls and illuminating golden circles against the rotting carpet, the second floor didn't seem any brighter than before. In fact, it almost looked darker despite the light, almost as if someone had shut the curtains against the moonlit-stricken windows even though they were all open and silvery light was attempting to shine through.
Cloud made a face as they all reached the landing at the top of the stairs. "We should go left," he said before Tifa could get a word in.
"Left?"
"How come?" Aerith added, giving him an odd look complete with an inquiring head tilt.
How could he explain it without giving into childhood nightmares? How could he tell them that he couldn't go to that room on the right that they had chosen together to avoid for now, and that he would rather go anywhere than somewhere near that cluttered, suffocating room that was full of dust, whispers, and horrible memories?
"Just have a feeling," he eventually settled on, and his expression dared anyone to contradict him.
Tifa pursed her lips, and there was something in her eyes – understanding, though Cloud didn't know why; she didn't know what had happened to him back then. "All right," she said after a long, pregnant pause. "We'll go left. To the greenhouse, then?"
Cloud managed a small nod. "That sounds good."
"It'll be easy to look there -" Aerith began, but then her voice trailed off. Without warning she glanced over her shoulder back the way they would not be going, her eyes wide and lips parting in a small o.
Tifa immediately went stiff in obvious fright. "Aerith?" she whispered as her eyes darted around, as if she was afraid the walls were listening. Cloud immediately took a ready stance, shifting his feet so that they would be ready to pull him and whomever else he grabbed down the stairs in a dash to not find out what was in that room.
Aerith suddenly jolted, caught off guard, before she mentally returned to them and flashed Tifa an apologetic smile. "Sorry… what?"
"You… You okay?" Tifa's hands fidgeted around her flashlight as she clearly fought between shining the light towards whatever had distracted Aerith and keeping it firmly on the ground at her feet. Cloud's nerves got the better of him and he shined his flashlight that way, the soft, golden beam revealing a normal, empty hallway. Tifa continued, "You kind of went still…"
"Ah, sorry." Aerith gave a breathy laugh, almost as if she was trying to catch her breath. "I just thought I heard something -" Tifa went pale, "- but it's nothing, I promise. Let's just keep going."
"O – Okay." Tifa made a face, as if she didn't quite believe her, but resolutely turned around and continued leading the team towards the greenhouse – and away from the room I won't be going in, Cloud sighed internally. He hovered at her side as they approached the greenhouse, looking over his shoulder towards the half-opened door at the other end of the hall while goosebumps pricked at his arms.
There was a new chill to the air now, the sort that weighed heavily upon him, and the same kind that stole breath from his lungs and made it difficult to breathe. His hands unconsciously drifted to his neck as he tried to loosen his hoodie's collar even though the soft fabric didn't touch his throat.
Tifa shone her flashlight into the room, her expression still pale and her eyes hard with determination. The small effort of scanning the room revealed physical relief in the way her shoulders sagged when nothing unnatural peered back into the golden glow of her flashlight. "It doesn't look like he's here," she murmured as she glanced back at Cloud, eyebrows knit in worry. "Should we check the bedroom…?" Suddenly her eyes widened as she stared at the space behind him. "Wait, where's Aerith?"
Cloud frowned and glanced over his shoulder. "What do you -" he began, only to pause when he realized that Aerith's comforting presence was indeed no longer standing beside him. In fact, she wasn't anywhere to be seen at all; not in the greenhouse and, after a quick, extensive search, she was not in the hallway or the bedroom across from the greenhouse either.
"Oh no," Tifa was murmuring beside him, her voice a twisted mess that reflected physically too. She was chewing a nail, a nervous habit he had only seen from her when they were younger. "Not Aerith too. Oh no. Please, no."
Cloud, entirely uncertain of what to do, swallowed thickly and placed a gentle hand on her arm. It was a strange gesture on his part, but she abruptly glanced up at him, her ruby eyes dark and watery. "She couldn't have gotten far," he reassured her. "We'll find -"
He was cut off by a scream; a bone-chilling, ear-splitting scream that ripped through the manor and into their eardrums. Cloud and Tifa glanced at each other, the whites of their eyes visible in the pale moonlight as realization dawned on them both like a horror-filled nightmare. That scream belonged to one person, and one person only:
Aerith.
And the plot thickens!
Rand0mSmil3z: Tbh, I've always wanted to investigate a real haunted house. But let's be real. I'd spend the first half sobbing and the second half wishing I was home lol. Next chapter will come out on Halloween, October 31st! I am so excited you guys.
Stay spooky!