Are You Afraid?

Chapter 2 - The Disappearance on Top of the Hill

"So, you guys couldn't find him anywhere. Or even get any information about him." Heracles asked.

"Yeah, that's right, and my siblings said something similar to it, aru." Yao explained.

Heracles made a mumbling sound that showed he understood what the latter was saying.

"Try and call Alfred, aru. Maybe the idiot got something."

"Thanks anyway." He told Yao before ending the call.

I don't get it. What happened to Kiku...? It's not like him to just disappear like this... Heracles thought, as he put the American's number in. The Grecian brought the phone to his ear, listening as it rang. Once... Twice...

"Hey dude! What you calling for? Alfred asked, in his overly energetic voice.

"Uh, hi... Just called to ask if you found out anything about Kiku..."

"Sure I did! Because I'm the hero of course! Not too long ago I was talking with this nice lady, and she told me that she saw a young man, who I'm taking is Kiku and a little boy she knew of, were leaving Kiku's place. She also said that they were walking to this hill. Nothing else after that though..." Alfred explained.

"Okay, can you call Yao and tell them to head over to Kiku's house?"

"Sure Heracles." Alfred said, before hanging up.

As Alfred, Yao, Mei, and Heracles waited for Yong Soo and Kaoru to show up they tried to start conversations with each other, but they were so half-hearted that the idea was soon given up.

"Why is it so gloomy here?"

Everyone simultaneously looked up to see Yong Soo groping Kaoru's chest. Or as he called it, his "man boobs". The Korean looked very pleased, as for Kaoru...well, let's just say it looked like he wanted to murder his brother.

"Hello~" Yong Soo greeted cheerfully.

All of them (excluding Yong Soo and Kaoru) stared at the sight. Kaoru blushed as he noticed the newfound attention. The English-Chinese boy punched Yong Soo before muttering swears.

And at that, everyone laughed. Yong Soo caressed his cheek, as he was complaining how much it had hurt.

"Belt up." Kaoru told everyone. "I-I mean shut up."

Yao glared at Kaoru for saying that. Poor boy, how long had he been away from England, yet he still used English slang? Kaoru looked down at the ground, embarrassed. Something caught his attention. Footprints.

"Look there." Kaoru said, pointing to the ground in front of the doorway. They all looked at what he was pointing out.

They took glances at each other, confusion obvious on their facial features. Then they took a silent agreement to follow the footprints.

The Grecian boy didn't know if anyone else noticed it, but, he saw about halfway up the hill, one of the pair of footprints had started to stagger.

When they reached the top, both of the footprints disappeared. Heracles, now angered, had no idea what was going on. First his boyfriend disappears, and now this. This made absolutely no sense.

"Dude," Alfred started, his voice a little more sinister than normal. "I know. It's hard on all of us, it's just..." He trailed of, trying to think on how to say what he was going to say, but wouldn't even matter, because Heracles wasn't listening, he was to blinded by his anger to even care. Alfred sighed, deciding to leave him alone.

-Kiku's POV-

Once I regained conscious, I saw that I wasn't even home. Strange, where am I... I thought. Wait, what happened to Ryōsuke? Did he get there safely? That was a only a few questions that I knew would be left unanswered. I sat up and rubbed my throbbing head. Why did I feel like this? Did I... I shook my head. Standing up, I stared out the window, and saw the sun had already set, and was pitch black outside. Had I really slept that long? I felt ashamed. Half because I had blacked out while dropping off Ryōsuke, and the rest because I had slept so late. I decided that I could walk around outside, and try to clear off my mind, it's not like I had anything else to do at this hour.

So, I walked to the front door, stepped outside of the doorway. The first step I had, the surrounding air suddenly felt heavier than inside the mansion. As if all the world's despair and hatred had been trapped out here. I stepped out, closed the door behind me and started walking around.

As I walked down the dirt road, I stared ahead gazing at the stars. Seeing nothing wrong, I kept walking. Then suddenly, I felt as if someone had just spun me around, quickly. I opened my eyes, and found I was facing the mansion again. Strange... I don't remember turning around. Turning around again, I took a hesitant step forward. I watched in horror, as I found myself being turned around once again.

"Some place huh?" A familiar voice asked me. "We're in the Borley Rectory*. "The Most Haunted House in England**." is what people used to say."

My eyes shot up, trying to find whoever had spoken up. Off to my right, I saw a familiar little boy, sitting on the ground. It was Ryōsuke.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked the little Japanese boy.

"You can't leave. Strange isn't it? There are borders, you can't leave. Who knows why."

"I don't get it. How...how would you know that?"

"We're in Borley, Essex, England."

"How did we get here?"

Ryōsuke smiled and put a finger to his lips. "That, I can't tell you yet."

A/N *The Borley Rectory was a Victorian era mansion located in the village of Borley, Essex, England. It was constructed in 1863, and was destroyed in a fire in 1939.

**The house gained a reputation for being haunted after a series of residents reported unsettling phenomena. It was investigated in 1947 by paranormal investigator Harry Price, who described it as "The Most Haunted House in England", a phrase which caught the imagination of the press.

Thanks to kiku-dii and KitsuneletterS for the reviews. They give me motivation to write.

Reviews are appreciated