Chapter One
The moon is dark, tilted on its axis so that it spends more time in shadow than light. Cold and grey, it's as if the color has been leeched from the very air around them, leaving the world in eternal twilight. Finn wonders why anyone would choose to live on such a world, let alone a Jedi—assuming his vision was real. There doesn't seem to be anything to do, anything to explore, any reason to endure such bleak surroundings.
Yet Finn feels something—a pull in the Force, drawing him toward the abandoned village they'd spotted from the air. Perhaps there's something about the ground itself that is strong in the Force and had drawn the Jedi as well. Rey had said something about a nexus, and though Finn still doesn't understand half the things she talks about, he understands enough to know that a nexus is important. If she feels that Finn's vision is important enough to come all this way for and investigate, then it probably is. He's just not sure why.
Poe is clearly trying to hide his skepticism as they walk down the ramp of the Millennium Falcon, though Finn can sense the other man's support as well. Poe understands even less about the ancient Jedi, but he believes in Finn's training completely. He is also glad to get away from the day-to-day grind of leading the former Resistance, something Finn can relate to. Exploring an old Jedi village is already more interesting than the never-ending meetings and holocalls that make up their days now. He doesn't miss the fighting, but he doesn't enjoy the bureaucracy, either.
The Falcon is set in a large clearing, even though Poe had argued he could bring them down closer. The village is surrounded by forest, however, and Rey hadn't wanted to destroy anything trying to land the Falcon within the small cluster of homes. There is a road that leads through the forest, long overgrown from disuse. The trees are tall and covered with hanging moss; the shrill cries of unseen animals echo around them. Finn feels like he's walking through a haunted forest, the whispers of long-dead Jedi tickling the edges of his mind. He stays close to Poe, arms brushing together, resisting the urge to reach out and take the other man's hand.
They stop short at the sight of the village. It is nothing but ruins—barren grounds and lifeless gardens long abandoned to the wild. Wooden houses lean precariously sideways, rotting roofs falling in or completely collapsed. Broken down buildings tumble their stones onto the barren ground. Black shutters hang haphazardly beside the shattered windows of a larger cottage to the right, faded white door peeling and splintered. Yet there are also signs of violence, of deliberate destruction: faded blaster burns marking trees and stone, the scorching line of what could only be lightsaber fire.
The village feels colder, somehow—empty and abandoned, with the echoes of something terrible floating in the air, an invisible mist of heartbreak and pain. The forest has moved in, but something destroyed this place first. Finn glances at Rey, but it is Poe who speaks.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," he says.
Finn agrees.
"Something terrible happened here," Rey murmurs. Memories of the past float just out of reach, visions of death and destruction fueled by anger and grief.
"So why are we here again?" Poe asks, his voice quiet.
"Ask Finn," she says. They all turn toward him.
"I'm not sure," he says, discouraged by the lack of clarity in his vision and the fact that he hasn't been able to articulate anything but those three words since he first felt the pull to this place. "I already told you, it's just a feeling, a vision. There's something here for us to find."
"What are we looking for, then?" Poe asks. "A book, a relic? A dead guy?" He grimaces. "Oh hell, I hope there's no bones."
Chewie rumbles and Rey gives him an eye roll. Finn shakes his head. He's still not sure what's brought them there, but he does know they are supposed to be there. That much feels right, even if the place itself fills him with unease.
"Where do you want to start?" Rey asks quietly, and Finn gives her a wide-eyed look.
"Why are you asking me? You're the actual Jedi here."
"And you're the one who sensed something about this place," she reminds him gently. "So you should be the one to guide us." She smiles at him. "Use the Force, Finn."
"Okay. Right. The Force." Finn takes a deep breath to calm his nerves. He closes his eyes, reaches out with his senses. And as it does with his eyes open, the village feels dark and cold and empty. He also senses fear and fury. Something terrible happened to the villagers who once lived here, and there is something dangerous still lurking nearby, even if it is only the memory of bleak times.
"Rey and Chewie, you head to the left. Check out the houses, search the grounds, see if you can figure out what happened here. Poe and I will take the right." The stone cottage—the only building standing in whole—draws him. That is where he needs to go.
Rey and Chewie turn away, while Finn starts toward the cottage, Poe following behind him. They move as carefully and quietly as they can, as if instinctively afraid of disturbing—what? The spirits of the dead? There are no bodies, no bones, no graves that Finn can see, but he has no doubt that many people died here. He can sense their pain. Poe moves closer.
"What're we looking for, buddy?" he asks, his voice barely a whisper. Poe may not feel the Force like Finn does, but the pilot has strong instincts, and they are clearly telling him something about this place is threatening, wrong.
"I don't know," Finn tells him yet again. He can't hide the frustration in his voice, because he feels like he should know, but he doesn't. He's only been working on this Jedi thing for a few months, and he's been equally busy working with Poe as co-general. He's still learning how to manage both, and sometimes feels like he's no good at either.
Poe reaches out and takes Finn's hand, holds tight and does not let go. "It's all right," he says. "You'll figure it out." It's as if he can read Finn's mind; maybe he can. They have been spending a lot of time together, both on the job and off. Their relationship is more than that of friends, particularly in bed, yet it is still casual, still new and undefined. Finn's not sure why, when he knows exactly how he feels about Poe. Yet neither of them seems willing to push, afraid of taking that next step and ruining what they have—or afraid of admitting what's already there and one day losing everything.
Finn holds Poe's hand as they continue toward the cottage, taking strength from Poe's steadfast faith in him. He lets go at the door, stops and reaches out and tries to understand what it is he's meant to find.
"This is part of it, isn't it? This place?" Poe asks. He raises a gloved hand to the door, runs his fingers down the warped boards. "Do we go in?"
"We go in," Finn says. He tries to sound more confident than he feels. "But we watch ourselves. Something is still off."
"I know," Poe murmurs. "I can feel it."
Finn gives him a surprised look, and Poe gestures to the area, then the door before them. "It's like we're in a bad holovid and are about to enter the very obvious haunted mansion."
"It's not a mansion," Finn points out. "And it's not haunted." It is something, though. Cursed by the past, perhaps.
"Maybe not, but there's still something very wrong about it," Poe mutters. He raises a light with one hand and his blaster with the other, as if it will protect him from whatever they might find inside. He pushes the door open. There is an almost unearthly creak as it falls from the hinges and lands before them in a cloud of dust and dirt. They both jump back.
"Seven shades of hell," Poe laughs nervously. "This is stupid. It's just an old house. It's not haunted."
There is a flutter of something like wings from inside; birds, maybe, or bats. A gust of wind blows through the doorway, ruffling their hair and leaving behind a trailing moan. The air smells old and stale and raises the hairs of the back of Finn's neck. He shakes off the sense of being watched and takes a deep breath.
"Let's go," he says, and steps forward into the gloom.
"Seven shades of hell," Poe mutters, more to himself than to Finn. "This is stupid. It's just an old house. It's not haunted."
And yet, memories of the old temples on Yavin IV come to mind, of stone tunnels taken over by the jungle, of rusted ships and bleached white bones. This place is not nearly as old as the old base, though it is certainly older than the Rebellion. Whoever lived here has been gone for decades, if not centuries, yet Poe feels as if he's being watched. As if everything he says is heard, and everything he does is judged.
Finn looks nervous, though the other man is hiding it well. He's the one who brought them there, after all. Poe knows that Finn feels responsible for them and wants more than anything for the mission to succeed. Only they're not sure what that means, what they're looking for.
Yet Poe trusts Finn, has since he met the other man, and he trusts him even more now that the war is over. Their relationship has slowly evolved into something new and different, though Poe couldn't say exactly what that is. They spend their days working close as generals, and their nights together in bed. He knows he wants more, but he doesn't want to ruin what they do have. He also knows he could lose himself so easily, if anything ever happened to Finn.
The sound of wings flutters around them, like bats in the eaves of the roof, perhaps. Cold air blows past, and Poe shivers from more than the chill. He looks to Finn, who takes a deep breath. "Let's go," Finn says, and steps across the threshold. Poe follows, his heart pounding, his trust unwavering.
As soon as they set foot inside the house, the door slams behind him. The door that just fell to the floor. They spin around and stare at it, now shut tight behind them. Poe offers Finn a shaky grin. "Guess we're staying awhile," he says. It's a bad idea; there's something in there with them, he's sure of it, and it can't possibly mean them well.
They are standing in the small entry of the cottage. There is a long hallway running to the back of the house. On one side is a dining room, carved wooden table with three legs tilted on its side, surrounded by chairs in various states of disrepair. There is some kind of animal nest in the corner. A cupboard along the wall spilled its contents long ago and is home to nothing but cobwebs now.
"Charming," Poe murmurs. On the other side of the entry is a sitting room of some sort, old chairs rotting in the dark, side tables overturned, a painting on the wall peeling from the frame. The silence is as unnerving as the grim atmosphere of the abandoned home.
"Should we split up?" Finn asks, his voice low. "Cover more ground?"
"Probably not," Poe replies. "But the sooner we check it out, the sooner we can get out of here."
"What, would you rather be exploring those old tunnels beneath the sand?" Finn grins at him, though Poe can see the forced edges of it; Finn feels it too, the sense of malice hanging over the house, the entire village. Once again, Poe's mind shouts at him that they shouldn't be there.
He starts to stick his tongue out, but the clatter of something above them stops him. He glances up and tries not to let his fear show. It's probably rodents, or some other forest creature living in the roof. The bats. "Yes," he eventually replies. "I think I would prefer those old tunnels. I really don't like this place."
"Me neither," Finn murmurs. He shines his small torch down the dim hallway. Several spiders as big as his hand skitter away into the shadows. "But like you said, the sooner we check it out, the sooner we can get out of here."
"It's oppressive," Poe replies, his voice sinking quietly. "Like something is watching, waiting for us."
"Yes." Finn doesn't say any more, but shakes himself and jerks his head to the left. "I'll check out this side, you do the other, and then we can head to the back together."
"Sounds good. What am I looking for again?" Poe throws him a grin and even laughs when he gets an eye roll in return. Finn turns away, and Poe suddenly feels more alone than he ever has in his life. He stops in his tracks, sucking in air as a wave of pain and loneliness rolls through him, crushing his chest and almost bringing him to his knees. He turns to find Finn at the threshold of the sitting room, staring back at him with wide eyes and his hand over his heart.
"What the hell was that?" Poe asks. Finn shakes his head.
"I don't know, but let's do this even faster than we were planning. I've got a really bad feeling about this."
"Right there with you, pal," Poe murmurs. He shines his light throughout the dining room, walks around the overturned furniture, searching underneath fallen debris, checking the floorboards and rafters. He hopes he'll recognize something important when he sees it, but he's honestly not sure if there's anything there. He trusts Finn, believes in him, but what could they possibly find in a run-down, abandoned village?
The room feels strangely big, and Poe is sure it takes much too long to search such a small space. There is a constant scuttling of something above him that sets his nerves on edge. When he finally steps back into the hallway, he calls for Finn, too nervous to wait in silence. There is no answer. Finn is not in the living room. Shining his light throughout the room, Poe notices immediately that there are no footprints in the dust.
He shines the light down the hallway. "Finn!" His heart jumps as the words echo back, unanswered. He's about to call Finn on his comms when suddenly there is a hand on his shoulder, and he jumps with a shout, blaster coming up in instinctive defense.
"Kriffing hell!" he exclaims as Finn falls back and almost loses his footing. "You can't sneak up on someone in a haunted house!"
"It's not haunted and it's barely a house," Finn says, though he doesn't sound completely sure of either. "And I wasn't sneaking. I just…I wasn't sure it was you."
Poe frowns as he lowers his weapon. "What do you mean, you weren't sure? I'm the only one here." He pauses. "Aren't I?"
"I don't know," Finn says. "I thought I saw something…" He trails off, glancing around, until his gaze stops at something behind Poe and his mouth falls open. "And now I'm definitely seeing something."
Poe tenses, brings his blaster up once more. "Is there something behind me?" he whispers. "One of those big spiders, or one of those things that we keep hearing above us?"
"No," Finn replies. "But there are stairs."
Poe whirls around, light and blaster raised. There are stairs where there weren't any stairs, leading up to a second floor Poe is sure wasn't there when they walked in.
"What the hell is going on?" he murmurs. Finn steps up next to him.
"It's playing with us," he says. "The house. There's something about it…."
"That even I can feel, right," Poe says. "Okay, do we go up the creepy magical stairs or stick to our original plan and check out the back of the house?"
"I think we go upstairs," Finn says. "Together."
"Right. Together." They exchange a look, and Poe feels his heart swell with both love and apprehension. Finn starts up the stairs first. Poe takes a step…and his foot lands heavily on the floor, as if it went right through the old wood. Finn is several steps above him now; Poe tries again.
He is still in the hallway, still on the first floor. Finn has already reached the top. Poe calls up to him, but the other man doesn't even turn around. He grits his teeth, tenses his body, and starts running up the stairs…only to find himself halfway down the first-floor hallway, standing at the door to the kitchen.
He glances behind him, but the stairs are gone. And so is Finn.
Author's Note:
I've wanted to write a haunted house story for Finn and Poe for a while. And I wanted to try to make it work in canon. So hopefully it works! Many thanks to mssrj_335 for their help and encouragement! Next chapter in a day or two – thank you for reading!