A/N: Chapter 6! A warning about this chapter. Those of you who might be easily squeamish might want to take care when reading this. It gets a bit gruesome at one scene.
Also, there's a little treat for you near the end. I tried my best, please be kind.
Other than that, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater but I wish I did. I also do not own Clue and if you've never played it go buy it now.
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Clue
"Where did you find this candle?" Soul asked, taking over for Kid.
"I found it in the bathroom in one of the bedrooms." Ms. Scarlet replied, wringing her hands nervously. "It was the only one. I found the matches in there too. There's only two more left."
They sat in silence, the flame flickering feebly in the darkness. Their one lifeline. A corpse between them, a killer around them and nowhere to hide.
The killer's game had only just begun.
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The three of them moved over to a table, the candle and extra matches in the middle lighting up their faces. Kid was holding onto the leg of a chair, the wooden stump a feeble attempt at a weapon. Soul was holding onto the lead pipe that had been left behind after the library fiasco. Ms. Scarlet clutched one of her heeled shoes, the stiletto possibly the most dangerous weapon in their arsenal.
It was freakishly pointy.
Soul wished the woman wasn't with them. Even now he didn't trust her one bit. She was someone that was true to no one but herself.
And her screaming got on his nerves.
"Ms. Scarlet, before the lights went out you were talking about the welding torch. What did you see when you checked out the room?" Soul asked suddenly, remembering their earlier conversation.
"What?" Ms. Scarlet replied, distracted. "I-oh. Well..." She hesitated. "It's crazy, it doesn't make sense..."
Soul frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's just that...no, no there was nothing."
This woman was exasperating.
The tea light was barely alight now, the wick burned almost to the bottom. Soon they would be plunged in darkness again. They had searched the entire library as carefully and as thoroughly as was possible with such meager lighting and had had no success. If they wanted to find more light they would have to leave their sanctuary.
Soul sighed, standing up. They couldn't hide in here forever. Ms. Scarlet seemed unwilling to talk and if they wanted to find Liz and Patti (hopefully alive) and kill the murderer, then it was time to move.
That, and Mrs. Peacock was starting to smell.
Kid, who had been very quiet since he learned that one of the sisters could possibly be dead (perhaps even both of them by now), stood up as well.
"W-where are we going?" Ms. Scarlet stuttered, watching them.
"We're moving on, there's a killer out there and we're not going to sit here and wait to die." Soul replied, hefting his lead pipe and picking up the extra matches. "You're welcome to stay here alone in the dark when the candle goes out."
With that, Soul grabbed Kid's hand and moved towards the door. Ms. Scarlet scrambled up behind them and followed just as the candle flickered out.
Darkness swallowed them whole once more.
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Soul wanted to check the bottom floors first. He was sure that if anyone had been shot then it had happened downstairs. He wanted to see for himself if the Thompson sisters were gone.
They walked in a line, Soul in front, Kid in the middle and Ms. Scarlet trailing behind, each of them holding on to the person in front of them. The scythe weapon had his hand on the wall, walking slowly so as to make sure he didn't knock anything over.
They checked the lounge, the ballroom and the kitchen with no success. Soul found another candle in the conservatory and he immediately lit it with a match. They moved forward again, searching, watching, listening for anything at all. There was a moment of uncertainty when they thought they heard someone behind them but there was nothing there.
They found Patti's corpse in the billiards room. She was laying on her side, almost as though she was sleeping. Her eyes were half open, staring unseeingly ahead, her blond hair splayed out around her. There was a small bullet wound on the side of her head, a trail of blood marring the pristine floor.
Kid crouched down next to her silently, closing her eyelids tenderly with his fingers. Soul left him alone to mourn as he and Ms. Scarlet searched the room. They found a bag full of tea lights and a small lighter. Soul shoved his pockets full of the diminutive candles before lighting one of them. The murder weapon could not be found in the room.
The scythe weapon grabbed a blanket from the nearby shelf and returned to his partner. Kid was on his knees, leaning forward and covering his face with both hands. He was silent but his shaking shoulders could not hide the fact that he was crying. Soul offered the only assistance he could by covering up the corpse with the blanket and wrapping his arms around the other man.
Nothing was said. Words were not needed by this point.
Ms. Scarlet stood awkwardly off to the side, looking away to give them some privacy as Kid held on to Soul.
Once the shinigami had pulled himself together again, his hand gripping Soul's almost painfully, the group made for the door.
There was a deafening thud above them causing the group to jump back and hide. Kid and Soul crouched underneath the pool table and put out their candle. The scythe had no idea where Ms. Scarlet was hiding, the woman had dropped her candle on the ground as she ran. They listened to the constant thudding noise above them, eyes wide, hearts pounding. Soul kept a tight grip on Kid's hand, refusing to lose him in the semi-darkness.
The thudding stopped, the sudden silence startling. They stayed hidden, listening. The floor creaked above them as someone walked around upstairs. There was a scraping noise, as though someone was dragging something heavy behind them. Soul clutched onto his lead pipe with his free hand and he could hear Kid grip his weapon.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Someone was coming down the stairs.
The two of them held their breaths as the scraping noise echoed down the hall outside the door, the floorboards creaking with every step. It stopped outside their door, trying the doorknob.
Soul was never so grateful for lockable doors than he was now.
"Shit. Move!" He whispered to Kid, pulling him out from under the pool table and lighting his candle. Once lit he picked up his lead pipe and motioned for Kid to follow him. He quickly ran for the other door in the room, the one that led to the foyer. The person on the other side of the other door was pounding on it, attempting to kick it down.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." Soul muttered, reaching the door just as a loud crash signified the entrance of the intruder. There was a shattering gunshot sound once more and Soul ducked, a bullet whipping inches past his head.
Kid and Soul burst through the door and into the foyer, both of them nearly tumbling to the ground. Ms. Scarlet was screaming behind them before being abruptly cut off. The two young men ran even faster. They could hear someone behind them and Soul ducked behind a small statue, cursing as a chip of it was shot off. He couldn't see where he was going, the light from the candle barely showing two feet ahead. The killer stopped shooting suddenly and he glanced over his shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of the elusive murderer.
There was a shadowy figure behind them, it's silhouette holding what appeared to be a flashlight and a...blow pipe?
Kid suddenly pulled Soul to the side, barely saving him from running into the wall. Soul turned back to look ahead as he heard the shinigami groan in pain beside him. Had he been shot?
They ended up in the study and Soul immediately began to cover both the doors with furniture and other heavy items.
"Ms. Scarlet..." Kid whispered, helping Soul cover the doors.
"She's probably a goner."
"Right..." The shinigami replied quietly, slowly lowering himself to the floor.
"Did you get hit?" Soul asked nervously, scanning his body for injuries.
His red eyes widened when he noticed the dart sticking out of Kid's arm. It was the type used by animal control to subdue wild and vicious animals. Soul was sure it wasn't filled with sleeping solution.
"Holy water." Kid groaned, slumping forward and gripping Soul's arm tightly.
Soul sighed, running his hand down his face. Holy water has various effects depending on how it is consumed. It has no effect on regular humans, a mild effect on weapons (Soul's one instance of being poisoned by it resulted in five days of stomach cramps and diarrhea) and, with the right amount of dosage, is deadly for shinigami's.
Shinigami's, being death gods, are a part of the demon family. Demons have adverse reactions to holy water. In small amounts it is mildly irritating. Larger amounts splashed on the outside of the body result in burning sensations and peeling skin. If injected in the blood stream it can cause hallucinations, convulsions and mental issues. It is fatal if a antidote is not given within certain time periods.
A shinigami as strong as Kid would probably last roughly one hour before fully succumbing to the madness and dying in excruciating pain by burning on the inside.
This didn't leave Soul very much time to find an antidote.
Of course, there is more than one antidote he could use, but most of them are extremely rare and difficult to obtain unless fully trained. Soul could only think of one option that would be available to him.
There is a certain body part, when consumed by a shinigami, that can cure the poison in mere minutes.
Luckily for Soul, this house had quite a few corpses that wouldn't mind parting with their body parts. He'd just have to get around the murderer, dragging a deranged and dying shinigami with him and take what was needed to save Kid's life.
Simple.
Normally, Soul would just leave the shinigami and try and get what he needed as fast as possible. However, he was loathe to leave Kid alone and helpless should the killer make a return. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he turned back to the shinigami.
"Are you sure it's holy water?"
"Yes." Kid replied, squinting at Soul.
The scythe took a calming breath, wondering how much more stress he could take before he cracked. "Alright. C'mon, we need to find a cure."
Kid didn't reply, he just remained sitting on the floor, his whole body shaking slightly. Running away from the killer probably hadn't helped. The holy water would have just moved swiftly through his bloodstream as his heart pumped faster. Cursing under his breath Soul looked around the room. He grabbed a pair of scissors he found in a drawer and shoved them in his pocket with the candles. He eyed the furniture covering the door.
"Why the hell did you help me cover the door when you knew you'd been hit you dumbass?" Soul muttered, starting to push the furniture and other objects away from one of the doors. He hadn't heard anything since they'd escaped, he assumed the killer was biding his or her time, waiting for Kid to die so that they could take out Soul.
The scythe weapon suddenly paused.
Why would the killer be shooting holy water? Unless they knew the effect it would have on them? If that was true then it meant that the killer...
'Well...that's not good.'
He finished moving the furniture and stood listening at the door. Kid was sitting where he'd left him, rubbing his hands up and down his arms and looking around the dark room.
Hearing nothing outside the scythe weapon returned to Kid's side, pulling the shinigami up and draping his arm across his shoulders. He abandoned his candle, opting instead for the lead pipe. He'd just have to be careful in his travels. He moved on, carefully opening the door and slinking through the hall as silently as he could with Kid draped over him.
"Soul." Kid whispered after awhile.
"What?"
"They're here."
Soul stiffened, looking around. He couldn't see very well but he was sure no one else was nearby. "Where?"
"Here, under my skin." The shinigami whispered, eyes wide, pupils dilated as he scratched at the skin on his arms, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows.
Soul glanced at Kid's arms, small cuts bleeding slightly from the amount of scratching the shinigami was doing.
"They're moving, underneath. It hurts." Kid whispered, moving to pick at his arm. "Get them out."
"Stop that." Soul hissed, stalling his movements. Had the madness started already? It was progressing faster than he had anticipated. "There's nothing under your skin." He moved forward more quickly, intent on getting to his destination as rapidly as possible. He didn't want to go back to the billiards room, afraid that the killer might still be there (and unwilling to defile Patti's corpse). He headed instead back to the library where Mrs. Peacock lay.
He ducked into a corner when he thought he heard something down the hall but nothing appeared and he resumed his journey. He was practically dragging the shinigami behind him and, although Soul was pretty strong, he was tired, hungry and not his usual self.
He quietly entered the library, gently letting Kid slump against the wall. He lit a candle and held it carefully, looking around the room for the corpse.
It wasn't there.
He frowned, checking the entire room with one of the little tea lights. Mrs. Peacock was nowhere to be found. Soul stopped, running a bandaged hand through his hair. Had someone moved her in their time away? But why would they?
There was a dull thunk by the door and Soul could see the outline of Kid slumped on the floor, convulsing. He ran forward, moving everything out of the way so the shinigami wouldn't hit anything and hurt himself. A small tendril of blood leaked from Kid's nose and onto the floor. He was muttering something although not in any language Soul could understand. The seizure lasted about forty seconds before he suddenly stilled.
Soul knelt down next to Kid, helping him sit up. The shinigami was staring wide-eyed all around the room.
"Soul? What's going on?"
"You've been hit with holy water, remember?" Soul said nervously, checking Kid over for injuries.
The shinigami looked up at Soul and flinched, jerking away. To him, Soul's face looked like it was melting off, the eyes drooping, glops of skin oozing onto the floor. He blinked and it was gone, Soul's worried red eyes staring back at him.
"C'mon, let's go." Soul said quietly, trying to pretend he didn't just see Kid look at him in fear. He helped the shinigami up once more and they continued on, heading towards the stairs. Mrs. Peacock must have been moved to the room with all the others. It was the only explanation.
Soul continued on, Kid getting more and more difficult to drag along. The shinigami was scratching at his face now, muttering to himself. They were forced to pause as Kid vomited blood onto the floor, gagging. The stairs were a strain on Soul's body, hefting the other man up each step, his muscles protesting and his body crying for rest. Kid was getting colder and colder in his arms and Soul quickened his pace. He wasn't sure he could take much more of this.
"The light." Kid mumbled pointing behind Soul.
Soul looked in the direction he indicated, but he couldn't see anything.
"There's nothing there." He sighed, trying to pull Kid forward again.
"They don't like the light." Kid continued, scratching at his arms again. "Get them out. Get them out. Get them out."
The scythe weapon hesitated.
"They're biting and tearing, poking and prodding." Kid singsonged, swaying his head back and forth. "Take a knife and cut me open, pull them out and sew me shut again. It's not very hard. Be careful though, I don't want a scar."
The scythe weapon shuddered slightly and continued on.
Soul stopped in front of the little out-of-the-way door in the corner of the house and listened for any sign of life on the other side. He pushed the door open, expecting a waft of decay to reach his nose. When none came he opened the door wider and looked inside.
It was empty.
He didn't have much time left before he would lose Kid and he was panicking now.
He left the shinigami by the door and quickly checked the other rooms nearby, hoping that maybe he had gotten the wrong one.
Nothing.
Something was wrong here. The bodies were gone, Kid was dying and he was running out of time. Resigning himself to his fate he returned to the shinigami and hefted him up once more. Kid wasn't moving now, he seemed to be unconscious.
At least he hoped he was just unconscious.
He pulled the shinigami into one of the bathrooms and closed the door, locking it. He left Kid propped up against the bathtub. Soul pushed a shelf in front of the door for further protection before pulling a couple of the candles out of his pocket and lighting them, bathing the room in an orange glow. Soul frantically searched through the mirror cabinet, knocking over bottles before finally pulling out pain killers. He checked under the sink and was relieved to find a small first aid kit there.
Bringing his supplies over to the shinigami, Soul sat down next to him and checked him over. Kid was sweating slightly, he brows scrunched up in pain. His pulse was erratic and the weapon could feel his own heart speed up in fear.
Soul pulled the scissors out of his pocket and snapped the two pieces apart so he only had one blade. He wiped it down with an antibacterial cloth he found in the first aid kit. The scythe weapon swallowed a couple of pain killers quickly before washing his hands. He paused and looked at himself in the mirror, his pale face shadowed and haunted.
He would not allow the killer to take anyone else away from him. Not if he could help it. Especially not Kid.
He could see the shinigami's reflection in the mirror. Soul took a few deep, calming breaths.
He would not let Kid die.
He raised the blade to his right eye. He held the eyelid open and brought a shaking hand to his eye slowly, carefully. Sharp, shooting pain rocketed through his head as the blade cut into him. He swore loudly, dropping the blade into the sink, drops of blood splattering with it.
It hurt.
He looked into the mirror, blood trailing down his face, his eyes still intact. Kid groaned in pain behind him, his whole body shaking as though he were shivering from the cold.
Soul resolutely shoved a small hand towel into his mouth to quiet his screams as he picked up the blade again and brought a steady hand to his face. He cried out in pain, the sound muffled by the cloth as he cut quickly, the dull scissor blade awkward for the precision needed. Blood streamed down his face, dripping into the sink and he groaned as the eye separated from it's socket with a squelching noise. A clear, jello-like substance dribbled onto his hand from where he had nicked the eyeball.
He could barely concentrate as he stumbled sideways, the pain unbearable. He fell to his knees next to Kid, sharp, jarring pain shooting up his legs. He tilted the shinigami's head back and dropped the eyeball into his mouth, closing it and holding it shut along with his nose. Kid thrashed at the intrusion but eventually was forced to swallow the revolting object. Soul might be one of the few weapons that actually liked the taste of souls, but even he felt sick.
He just hoped it would be enough.
He wasn't sure if he could go through that a second time.
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Kid's whole body ached. It felt like he had been ripped apart and whoever had put him back together had done a crappy job of it. He opened his yellow eyes slowly, first taking in the sink in front of him, the room flickering in an orange glow. He looked to his left, the door to the bathroom was covered by a large shelf with various towels and other essentials stacked on it.
He could hear shaky breathing to his right and he looked over. Soul was slumped against the wall, head tilted down, his violently shaking hands trying to open a packet of antibacterial wipes and failing miserably.
"Welcome back to hell, starshine." The weapon grunted sarcastically through gritted teeth as he continued in his pursuit of the elusive wipe. "Looks like it worked pretty fast."
"What?" Kid asked dumbly, rubbing his eyes. His mouth tasted funny, like he hadn't brushed his teeth in days. He looked back at Soul and gasped.
Blood was dripping from his face as he stared down at the packet in his hands, the steady drip, drip, drip slicking his hands red and causing a small pool of crimson to accumulate. Kid crawled forwards, reaching out.
"Fuck." Soul swore as he dropped the packet, his shaking hands unable to hold onto it anymore.
"Stop, let me do it. What happened?" Kid asked as he quickly grabbed the packet and ripped it open, pulling out the cloth and grabbing Soul's chin. He tilted the weapon's face up towards the light.
He stiffened when he saw the damage.
"One little eye for your life? I think it was a small price to pay." Soul replied shakily, looking at the shinigami with his good eye, a small, brave smile on his face. "Hurt like a bitch though."
And with that he promptly passed out.
Kid caught him as he slumped sideways and put him gently on the floor. He couldn't believe that Soul had done something so horrific to himself for the shinigami.
He would really have to speak with the other man about his self-sacrificing attitude. There were plenty of other corpses in the house to use, right? He grimaced suddenly, realizing that he must have been poisoned with holy water which meant that he had eaten Soul's eye.
Gross.
Feeling vaguely sick, he used the antibacterial wipe to clean around the gaping wound. He would have preferred to dowse it in the liquid, but it didn't look like the first aid kit had any. He covered the wound with a non-stick bandage before wrapping it in place with gauze. The old head injury from a few days ago was somewhat healed. It probably needed stitches so he wrapped it up with clean bandages as well.
Kid still wasn't feeling so great himself. He must have been close to succumbing to the poison when Soul saved him. He sighed and grabbed a towel, folding it up carefully (and symmetrically) and putting it under the weapon's head for cushioning. Kid noticed his own arms were covered in deep scratches, dried blood clotting the wounds. He quickly bandaged himself up, wondering what had caused such an injury.
Soul was pale, specks of blood a stark contrast to his clammy skin. Kid was sure that he himself didn't look much better. This whole situation was wearing them down.
He sat in silence for awhile as he tried to remember what had happened while he was poisoned, but the memories were a blur of pain and insanity with brief periods of lucidity. He leaned back against the bathtub, running his hand down his face. Soul needed a doctor and Kid could do nothing more to help him.
He wondered if Soul felt this trapped when Kid was poisoned.
The weapon groaned beside him and the shinigami quickly moved over to him. Soul shuddered slightly before opening his good eye.
"Welcome back." Kid said quietly, smiling sadly at the scythe weapon.
"Couldn't keep me away." Soul replied sarcastically, trying to sit up.
The shinigami reached over and helped him sit up again, leaning him against the cupboard beneath the sink. Soul reached up and patted the bandaging around his eye, wincing.
"How do you feel?" Kid asked, lighting another candle from Soul's pocket and extinguishing another so that it could cool down and be used again.
"Just peachy."
"Why didn't you take it from someone else?" Kid asked suddenly, staring intently at Soul, leaning forwards.
"There was no one else to take it from. All the corpses are gone." Soul replied, grabbing the bottle of pain killers and dry swallowing a few more. His hands were much more steady now.
"Gone?"
"I dragged your crazy ass all over this house. I looked for Mrs. Peacock and the other corpses that were supposed to be in that room in the corner, but there was nothing. I was afraid to go back to where we left Ms. Scarlet just in case the killer was still there." Soul sighed, looking straight at Kid's yellow eyes with his good one. "I was running out of time. I wasn't about to let you die, I care about you too much-" He stopped, blushing slightly and looking away.
Kid felt his face heat up as well. He stared at the embarrassed man in front of him in wonder. Soul had ripped out his own eye to save the shinigami's life.
It was at that moment that Kid knew for certain that he was hopelessly and helplessly in love with Soul Eater Evans.
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Soul hurt. A lot. His eye (or eye socket, he supposed, since the eye was technically gone) was burning painfully. The pain killers took off the edge but they weren't strong enough for an injury such as this.
He still felt it was worth it.
The two of them had sat in silence after Soul's inadvertent declaration of love for the shinigami. The scythe weapon was embarrassed, he wasn't the type to blurt such things out like that. He decided to blame the pain killers.
Yeah.
Soul decided to ponder all that he had learned while Kid was out of it. Whoever shot Kid had known he was a shinigami. That left only one person who was possibly still alive who could of done it. But Soul couldn't picture Liz killing any of them, least of all her own sister. Unless she was being controlled by someone? He supposed that was a good possibility. Maybe the witches were controlling her.
And then there was the fact that the Professor and possibly Ms. Scarlet were still out there as well. Soul wasn't about to rule out the possibility of either of them being the killer (although it seemed unlikely that Ms. Scarlet had done it). They would need to see if they could find them, alive or dead.
And if it really turned out that it was Liz, they'd decide what to do from there.
"Kid, we need to-"
He was cut off by the shinigami kissing him.
Soul was startled by the unexpected display of affection. Not that he minded of course. He kissed back, opening his mouth immediately as their tongues collided. Kid had crawled forward and he was now practically in Soul's lap, his legs resting on either side of the scythe weapon's. The shinigami trailed kisses down Soul's neck, biting and lapping at his skin. The weapon moaned, tilting his head back and pulling Kid closer, running his hand down the other man's chest and then under his shirt.
Buttons were undone as shirts were removed, their mouths meeting once more. Soul sucked on Kid's lower lip, eliciting a loud moan from the shinigami. The scythe weapon smiled internally, filing the motion away for later use. Kid's hand was running through Soul's hair, the shinigami careful so as not to bump his injuries. Their hips were pressed together and Soul couldn't help but grind into the other man, the friction causing waves of pleasure to assault his senses.
Kid ran his hand down Soul's chest before cupping his groin, causing the weapon to jerk at the sudden, sharp pleasure at the touch. Soul moaned as the shinigami rubbed him slowly as his tongue assaulted the weapon's mouth. The scythe weapon felt helpless as waves of pleasure kept him writhing and bucking into Kid's hand, his injuries forgotten in the passion.
Maybe that was the shinigami's plan all along.
"Oh God...Kid..." Soul groaned as the shinigami picked up the pace, removing his hand so they could grind themselves together.
They climaxed together, Kid breathing out the weapon's name and Soul feeling the burning pleasure start from his toes and shoot all throughout his body. They were both breathing heavily as they sat back, their hands clasped together, content.
"What were you going to say?" Kid asked.
Soul's brain felt sluggish. It took him a moment to gather himself together to form a coherent sentence. "I...uh...was just about to say we should go."
"Right."
They continued to sit there in companionable silence, unwilling to leave.
"Kid." Soul began, turning to look at the shinigami. "That was..." He trailed off, unable to find words to properly express how he felt.
"Worth doing again sometime?" Kid finished with a slight smirk.
Soul blushed crimson and looked away. "Definitely."
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A/N: Whew, done! I hope you, ahem, enjoyed that last little bit. I don't know where it came from, my perverted fangirl mind just started writing it all of a sudden. I hope that it's not too bad? Like I said before, I'm not so great at writing scenes like this, but I tried my best!
We're almost done now, maybe two more chapters, I'm not sure. It would be nice to end it on Kid's favorite number eight, hm?
Let me know your thoughts with a review! It's much appreciated!
R.I.P
Patti Thompson
I'll miss your giraffe creations! T.T
Chapter Seven Sneak Preview:
His breath quickened against his will as the footsteps drew nearer to his hiding spot. He prepared himself to attack, unwilling to die next to the Professor, of all people.
Unwilling to die without seeing Kid one more time.