Well, hello! I'm off on summer and so far it's been pretty good and – oh okay, I'm sorry (again) I should've gotten this out earlier but I had writers block! It's the most horrid thing that can happen to anyone! Seriously. I was just sitting here staring at my computer screen until I would go on to something else. But finally, I just sat down and the words came easily. So, yeah, that's the story of this chapter. Oh, yeah, I was also busier than I thought and lazier too =3. Gomenasai! (Yep. I know Japanese. XD)

I got so many favs, alerts, and reviews for the last chapter and I seriously squealed over it. Thank you so much!

Disclaimer: Hm. Let's take a look at kingdom hearts. I see no shonen ai/yaoi (only hints *sobs*). Thus proving that I don't own it. *sobs again*

Warnings: some BoyxBoy hints, swearing, pms Sora, and a little blond with a dangerous weapon (You'll see).

I didn't get the chance to actually put Leon and Cloud in the story in person, but they are in a phone call. Definitely next chapter! Promise!

Hope you enjoy, I think it's pretty good, but then again, it's up to you! =3

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15: dead end.

O . . . o . . . O . . . o . . . O . . . o . . . O

"Where . . . where's Roxas?"

Everyone's eyes widened and they all looked around, and sure enough, no Roxas. Now this was getting bad – on top of Kairi's freaky encounter, the brief power outage, and the ever growing storm - yeah, this was getting really bad.

"Maybe he's in the bathroom?" Sora suggested weakly, and Kairi immediately shook her head.

"No, Roxas would tell us, and he'd want you to go with him because he'd be too scared and doesn't know where it is. Besides . . . it was way too dark to even walk a few steps."

"You're right," Sora agreed. No matter how much he wanted the answer to be logical and safe, it was obvious that the predicament was anything but.

"I –I'll try calling Leon again," Yuffie stuttered out, she was completely frozen with fear and anyone could see that. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number swiftly and put the phone over her ear. Everyone watched in anticipation as she was breathing softly, until she gasped, "Leon! Finally! I'm so glad to hear from you!"

She grinned full out, "Yeah, the signal was down – and there was this huge power outage! But . . . Leon . . . things are getting weird."

Everyone watched silently as Yuffie listened and then let out a sigh, "Squall, this house is haunted. Roxas is gone. And something wants us out."

The fact scared everyone, and it was so true. Sora, feeling an urge to hear what his brother has to say, asked Yuffie, "Can you turn it to speaker? I wanna talk to Leon."

Yuffie nodded, and pressed a button and put the phone down on the table, "Leon," Sora said. "Are you coming back soon?"

"Sora? What's all this about ghosts and Roxas? What's happening over there?"

Sora took a deep breath, "After you left with Cloud, the storm got stronger and resulted in this power outage, Yuffie and Aerith went to go get flashlights, and during it, something touched Kairi." He looked over to the red head, which was quick to explain.

"Yeah, something touched my leg – it was brief, but very noticeable. It was really cold and glassy, like it was beyond anything human . . . but then the lights went back on, and Roxas was gone."

"Roxas?" That was Cloud. "Wait – He's . . . gone? No! Leon, we have to get back now!"

"We can't," Came the simple reply with a bit of an edge. "We've still got the whole list to do."

"Screw the list!" Yuffie practically screamed into the phone. "Just get your butts back here NOW!"

"Actually, we really can't – not right now that is."

"W-What?!" Yuffie cried out. "Cloud, is he lying?"

There was a sad sigh, "No . . . the storms too strong so the store is making us all stay in here until it calms down. This doesn't look like anytime soon."

It was silent for a moment until Kairi said, "Well, there's only one thing to do – look for Roxas. Cloud, we'll find him no matter what!"

"I really hope so . . ."

"We will," She promised, and when everyone else looked uncertain she repeated with more force. "We will, c'mon you guys! We can do this! Or, we can at least try."

"Thanks Kai," Cloud said, worry inevitably in his voice. "But you should know –"

His voice cut off, and there was silence. Yuffie picked up the phone, and furrowed her eyebrows, "Dammit, lost the connection."

"I wonder what he was going to say," Sora wondered out loud, what should they know? Why did it always cut off the connection at the worst parts?

"Anyhow, we have to find Roxas, no matter what," Kairi said, fully determined – unlike everyone else, that is, except Axel.

"Kairi's right," Axel agreed, everyone turned to him. "He could be anywhere, and how would you feel – being alone in a completely dark and possibly haunted house?"

Everyone looked at each other silently agreeing, "Okay Axel," Aerith said. "Would you care to lead us in this search?"

The red grinned in a cocky way that only Axel could pull off and replied, "Gladly."

"Okay, so we know that Roxas could've disappeared anywhere between the roll call and when the lights turned back on – a time span of say . . . five minutes, maybe? Well, I personally think that it happened in the whole commotion of Kairi's "So –called" encounter with something "So – called" Inhuman."

Kairi's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean, 'so called'?"

Axel ignored her, "But, either way, he's in this house, because we would've heard the doors open. I say, we grab some flashlights and split into groups. Sora, how much of this house is lit?"

"All the rooms here, and through that huge door," Sora pointed. "The whole front hallway is lit, and a few of the first couple rooms. How about we use some walkie-talkies to keep in contact? We have about five."

"That's perfect," Axel gave him the traditional thumbs up, and Sora ran to get them – with Riku following, just in case. "Okay, now for groups. We can change them if you want, but I'm thinking that Yuffie, Aerith, and Olette should be one group, and then Demyx, Zexion, Hayner, and Pence could be in another, and Sora, Kairi, and I could be in the last. Is that okay?"

No one complained, and Axel grinned. Sora came back with the walkie-talkies, and gave them out. "Okay, so we can't all keep in contact, but Demyx's group can talk to both, so that'll be good enough. Now, Let's –"

"Wait," Kairi piped up, looking as if she'd been holding whatever it was in, unsure to say it. "I – I think I have something that could help."

Axel, at first seeming ticked at being cut off, then raised a brow, "What?"

The red head hesitated, having a half regretful, half relieved look on her face, "Right here," She sighed and walked over to the bags, and pulled out her silver case. Everyone, especially Sora watched with anticipation, as she lugged it over and dropped it on the couch. Then she knelt down, and this was when Sora realized that she was wearing a key necklace, and that key went into the lock. She unlocked the box and opened it up, to reveal an array of electronics and odd gadget's. Everyone peered at it, and Kairi pulled out some sort of hand held.

"All this stuff is especially used for any paranormal activity," She said. "I think that it'll help us out, and I had a feeling we'd need it."

Axel pulled out a pair of binocular like devices and examined them, "Dare I ask . . . where you got this stuff?"

She flushed, "Well, I, um, had a friend who liked this kind of stuff . . ." She shook her head. "Anyway! Let's go find Roxas, and let's hurry."

Everyone agreed and piled up on gear while Kairi explained what each one did. There were special hearing devices, thermal heat detectors, and special cameras that could catch things unseen and so much more that was impossible to explain. Sora was pretty sure that there was so much more behind all of this than Kairi was letting on, but he was too stressed to press on any further. He slung a pair of special binoculars around his neck, though, it was pretty pointless since all of the ghost's seemed to be showing themselves to him, but he went along so there'd be no suspicion.

"Okay, let's go," Axel commanded. "My group will go over the left side first, and Yuffie's group will go on the right. Demyx's group – you guys go straight into the hall, and then we'll follow. That good?"

Everyone nodded and though reluctant, went to their places. They gave each other the best of luck, and soon it was only Axel, Kairi, and Sora in the main room.

"Okay, I'm gonna test out this ghost detector thing," Axel held a handheld electronic "thing". "Kai, what's the deal with this."

Kairi jolted a bit (she was irritatingly jumpy for some reason) then quickly answered, "Um, it lets out a special beep when there are ghosts around, and it's suppose to have a special frequency that can, err, 'disturb' ghosts and maybe make them show themselves. There's also a screen that shows different colors based on the amount and power of ghosts in a 50 feet range in all directions. It's really valuable and expensive," She narrowed her eyes. "So DON'T be an idiot with it and break it."

Axel scoffed, "Such faith in me. Anyway, let's see what this baby can do!"

He clicked the button, and earsplitting beeps erupted and echoed through the main room. It must've traveled farther because they could all hear the far off yelps and swears of the other's. While Sora and Kairi had their hands cupped around their ears tightly, Axel was grinning and looking at the control like it was gold. Kairi snatched it away from him, and flicked a switch and the beeps halted. She and Sora sighed, and Axel grabbed it back, examining closely.

"One, what the hell was that," He asked. "And two . . . what does the red mean?"

Kairi heaved a breath, "Well, according to that detector . . . there are supposedly ghosts only mere feet away from us."

The two heads looked around, and Sora turned his head to look at the said ghosts, but only one problem.

They were gone.

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"That . . . was horrible," Namine whispered. Riku nodded numbly in agreement.

"I feel really bad about just leaving . . . but that noise could wipe us out, for good. But if it can hurt us . . . it can hurt 'him' and that's all that matters . . . right?"

"I don't know," Namine replied. "But I think that we shouldn't see Sora for awhile, and go ahead and look for Roxas. Xemnas may have taken him. Do you think he was the one who touched Kairi?"

Riku scoffed, "Well, he was always a perv, but now that I think of it, I think there's someone that could help us."

Namine tilted her head curiously, "Who?"

The silver haired ghost sighed, "Namine, I think it's time to introduce you to Marluxia and Larxene."

Then the ghost vanished out of the white room, and Namine followed.

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Where . . . where am I?

The last thing Roxas remembered was Kairi's sentence being cut off by a scream, and then he was suddenly unconscious. Now, here he was in this weird little den like room filled with boxes and that was dimly lit, and he was on the floor. He stood up and looked around. The room was once elegant, but now was just musty with spider webs and dust. Usually this sort of room would bring up his stupid allergies, but oddly enough, he was fine – besides, of course, being completely freaked out. Something had to of brought him here, but why?

"Well," He muttered. "I better get out of here and find the others."

He located the door easily enough and just as he touched the door knob . . .

"Leaving so soon?"

The blond froze. The voice was cold, glassy, deep, and . . . unreal. He quickly tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked (Undoubtedly due to whoever that voice belonged too). He tried again and again to twist it back and forth, but it remained locked. Finally, in frustration and anxiety, he yelled out, "LET ME OUT!"

"I don't think so."

The blond was suddenly pushed back by some cold, wind – like, force and he was thrown across the room into a pile of boxes. He was in too much pain from the impact to get up, but when he managed to push the boxes away and prop himself up with his elbows, his eyes widened. It was a ghost. A ghost. Sure, he was always paranoid about the mansion being haunted but never truly believed in ghosts, especially like this one.

It looked just like a human, only slightly transparent and had a glow. It was a man, who in Roxas' opinion would have been scary alive - Orange eyes, silver hair, and a smirk that seemed to be permanently stuck on his face – Never a good combination.

"Hello Roxas."

Questions and comments were immediately sputtered by the said blond, "Who are you? Why am I here? Where am I? Where are the others? Are there other ghosts? Let me go! I –"

"SILENCE!"

Roxas shrunk back, eyes wide, and the smirk immediately returned to the ghosts face, "I don't have to answer any of your worthless questions. Don't bother yelling, no one knows where we are except you and me. If you follow my orders, you just may return home . . . alive."

Roxas gulped, could a ghost really kill him? But he still had some dignity left, and there was no way he was going to follow some ghost. He stood up and glared right on at the ghost and said, "You can't control me. You're just some stupid ghost."

Apparently, that was probably one of the worst decisions Roxas had made in his whole life. The ghost seemed to be furious at the "stupid" comment, but he hid it by just laughing. Then he started to step forward, and Roxas stepped back, but then he hit the wall and could only watch as the ghost came closer and closer, until he was a step away.

"You'll wish you never said that, Roxas."

Then the ghost stepped forward, and Roxas' whole mind shut down.

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"Are we almost there?"

"Yeah, almost."

Namine sighed, who were these ghosts (they were ghosts, right?) and would they help them? Riku wasn't answering any of her questions, and Namine was beyond confused because she could sense that Riku definitely did not like these two, maybe even hate, but yet, he seemed set on seeing them. Maybe . . . they could help, but Riku still didn't like them. Maybe they were with Xemnas (or are).

"Be quiet, and let me do the talking," Riku commanded.

"Excuse me?" Namine glared at him. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing. Just trust me, it's for the best," Namine didn't like that, but she didn't complain. Riku did know more than her, and she didn't want to mess up their one good chance.

Finally Riku led them to some far off door, and he just floated right through it. Namine never liked the idea of just walking into someone's territory without knocking and calling their name, but then again maybe manors didn't apply to ghosts. She floated in after him, and almost floated right back out due to the commotion.

She didn't see any figures; only Riku was beside her with arms crossed, not looking at all surprised. It was hard to exactly explain what was happening, but Namine would give it a shot anyway. The window had broken through, and the storm was whirling around the room, stronger than ever, and lighting was flashing in all directions. Then there was a blur of pink and green being slashed into the storm, and Namine could recognize that as flowers and plants. She watched intently on the storm, and then every so often glancing at Riku, who finally, after a little while, yelled out, "Would you both just stop already?!"

Suddenly, the storm and the plants stopped their mismatched clash, and then there was just dust. Namine watched curiously as two figures emerged from the dust, looking both angry and flustered and sure enough, ghostly. One as a woman with green eyes and blond hair with two antennas like pony tails sticking out, and had a sour expression on her nymph like face. The other was a man with flowing dark (pink?) hair and dark blue eyes. He held a scowl on his face as him and the women looked opposite directions from each other. But then they glanced toward Namine and Riku and a smirk appeared on each of their faces almost instantly.

"It's been quite a long time, little Riku," The woman drawled. "88 years and not even once, you came to visit."

"But better late than never, I suppose," The man added. "And look – you brought a friend."

They both eyed Namine as they stepped closer, and the ghost gulped. Why would Riku even come to these ghosts? They seemed like they were with Xemnas – they just seemed plain evil.

"Leave her alone," Riku stepped in front of her, glaring, and the two ghosts laughed. "Now, can the guys put a halt to a pathetic attempt to overthrow Xemnas –"

"IT'S NOT PATHETIC!" They both simultaneously yelled out. Riku just scoffed, "Sure. Yeah. Whatever. Now, will you help us?"

"I don't know . . . you've been quite mean to us Ri –Ri," The women put a finger to her chin. "But . . ."

". . . we suppose we could help IF . . ."

"If what?" Riku raised a brow.

"If you get me flowers, I mean, this room is absolutely dull. I need some beautiful flowers to brighten it up!"

"Fine Marluxia," Riku mumbled and the man – Marluxia – beamed and then the women (who had too of been Larxene) said, "And I want knives," she grinned manically. "Lots of them."

"Okay," Riku huffed. "Flowers and knives. Got it. Now, I get to ask something of you two."

"Fine," They both shrugged.

"Good. Listen, this here, is Namine," He gestured to her. "And she became a ghost a year ago. Then, less than a week a ago, Sora and Leon moved here and –"

"Wait a minute," Larxene interrupted with eyes wide. "There are people living here?! Now?!"

"Who would move in here?" Marluxia asked, disbelieving. "There's absolutely no way to plant flowers!"

"Would you shut up about the damn flowers already?!" Larxene snapped.

"Well I'm sorry that I don't share your love of knives and stabbing!" Marluxia shot back. "What's wrong with flowers anyway?"

"Oh god! I could go on forever!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, really. I mean, honestly, what kind of a man centers his life around flowers?"

"A lot of guys! What's the problem with liking gardening anyway?"

"Oh that's not the problem," Larxene said. "The problem is the pink hair, the pink clothes and that girly aura that you drag around even into the afterlife. Oh yeah, and I can't forget the makeup."

"That was only one time!" Marluxia argued.

"Five," Larxene corrected. "You make me sometimes think I'm a lesbian!"

"Yeah, well, with that vulgar attitude and horrible hair style – I sometimes think I'm a homosexual!"

Larxene laughed, "You think?"

"You –"

"Will you two just SHUT UP," Riku asked, his voice rising slightly. The two stopped yelling, glared at each other one last time before turning away. Again.

"Now, yes, two people live here now and they've invited some friends over. But Xemnas has made his move and took this one blond kid. Now, I have two questions for you: have you seen a short blond kid and do you know what Xemnas is planning to do?"

Amazingly enough, there were no snide comments, and Larxene answered semi – helpful, "Well, we did just see this unfamiliar blond laughing crazily and running down the whole – we just figured it was some ghost because it was glowing. But he did fit the description."

"And now that I think of it," Marluxia added. "He didn't seem transparent – he only glowed. It was really . . . odd."

Riku and Namine looked at each other, both fearing the same thing. Then Riku turned back to Marluxia and Larxene and asked, "Do you know what Xemnas is planning?"

This question seemed to hit a sore spot for both of them, as they scowled, "Apparently he is planning something," Larxene murmured. "But he didn't tell us anything."

"He might've figured out our plan, and maybe he excluded us on purpose," Marluxia said.

"So you . . . don't know," Riku sighed. "No idea at all?"

"Well," Larxene said. "We don't know what exactly he's doing, but we know his goals. You know he gets more power with the more people he kills, right?"

Both Riku and Namine nodded, Marluxia continued, "Well, he's probably ecstatic with all the commotion. But his overall plan is too . . . take over the mansion, then Twilight Town, and everywhere else in the world. He basically wants to become the new ghost dictator of the world."

"Seriously? Is that even possible?" Riku couldn't help but laugh. Was his father really that stupid? There was no way a ghost could take over the world. It was like some kid's dream to be princess or a prince – pretty much impossible.

"Don't know," Larxene said. "But he's pretty set on it, and he IS pretty powerful . . . so the outcome couldn't be good."

"Well, first off," Riku said. "We need to find Roxas, and save him. We also have to watch the others, too make sure nothing happens. This is just some big game to Xemnas, and anything could happen. Marluxia, Larxene, are you with us?"

"Well, since Xemnas pretty much sacked us –"

"AND we'll do anything to kick that bastards –"

"We'll help," Marluxia intervened, putting an arm around the fuming Larxene. "But don't think we like you or anything, because you're still the same brat you were nearly a century ago."

Riku grinned wryly, "Wouldn't think of it."

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I cannot believe they left, and they promised Sora was in a foul mood, and his foul mood was basically radiating all around the room as he stomped around, kicking away everything in his way. Axel and Kairi looked at him with raised eyebrows. They were looking around a den, and so far, nothing.

"Okay, seriously, dude. We're all bummed about the situation, but that's no reason to beat up the already beat up table," Axel gave the brunet a questioning look.

"Sora, is something wrong?" Kairi asked gently, but Sora just mumbled an "I'm fine" and left the den, practically marching up the stairs. Axel and Kairi watched him from the bottom of the stairs, and stayed still until Sora turned around fuming, "Are you coming or what?!"

"Look," Axel said, seeming to lose his cool as he climbed up the stairs. "Lose the attitude, shortie. I don't really care what pissed you off so much but if you want to find Roxas, you had better listen to me or we'll leave you behind. Got it?"

Sora glared up at Axel He doesn't get it. No one does – I put my trust in those two, and for all I know, they could be with Xemnas! I'm really that stupid?

The brunet sighed, and hung his head down, only glancing up slightly when he felt Kairi gently touch his shoulder, "Axel, there's no need to be so mean. Sora, if anything happened you can tell us – or me is more like that –"

He heard Axel scoffed, and almost cracked a smile. Almost.

"But, please cheer up – for me, for Axel, for everyone, and most of all – for Roxas. You two are almost like brothers, the way I see you two talk, and it's really sweet. So, c'mon . . . let's go save him."

Sora thought about it. Roxas was the most relatable and fun person to him, and already, they were good friends. Sora couldn't lose someone like that, he couldn't lose anyone. Not after his parents. I have to find Roxas. I also need to find Riku! . . . And Namine too, and get the info. I just can't believe that they'd trick me. Never.

Sora looked up at the two red heads, and smiled wryly, "Sorry. You're right. We have to find Roxas." And Riku and Namine.

Kairi and Axel smiled back; glad they were on . . . almost the same page now. Sora knew that he'd have to tell everyone about Riku and Namine, about everything. But for right now, he could only wait and see how much he would have to explain. He still didn't quite understand everything, and truth be told, he was starting to wonder about some really odd . . . emotions going through his head. Most, pertaining to Riku. He had grown almost too close to the ghost after Tuesday night and he couldn't ignore that it was more than friendship. On top of everything else, it was too much to handle. He would just have to put emotions on hold (if he could) for Roxas' sake and his emotions (for Axel). Everything was just so unreal, but it was already starting to become real.

"Hey Sora," Kairi asked, interrupting his thoughts. "What's in this room?"

Hey looked at her and the door where she held the door knob, "Oh, that's just the whi-"

Then she opened the door, and they all stared at it and its walls, wide eyed. All over the wall's were many more pictures, and now everyone had their own picture. If that wasn't freaky enough (Thanks Namine) on Roxas' picture, there was a huge red X etched across his face. What, did she just leave to do that? Make everyone even more creeped out? Axel and Kairi had mixed looks of fear, curiosity, amazement and disbelief. They all slowly walked into the white room, looking all around, and Kairi and Axel both turned to him.

"Sora . . . Wh – what is this?" Kairi stuttered out; pale, as well, a ghost. Sora thought she was looking at her picture or Roxas' . . . but she was looking at one of Namine's older pictures. The one of the red head and blond girl. Then, suddenly, it dawned on Sora.

"Kairi," He said and she glanced at him. "Did you know someone named Namine?"

He could see that Kairi's eyes widened, and Axel looked surprised too. It all made sense. The pictures, the journal, Namine's death, and how weird Kairi had been acting about the party. It all went together. Every little bit.

Kairi turned to Sora, eye's as wide as they could be and her mouth agape. She seemed like she was about to say something but then there was this huge crash, coming from the main hallway. The three of them all looked at each other and ran out, with Sora leading. Sora burst through the door, and saw that his room door was agape – and he was almost positive that he closed it and he didn't think it was Demyx's group. He slowed down and walked into his room, hearing Axel and Kairi not far behind. He looked around his room and there was nothing. He could've of sworn he sensed something. His senses were proved right when the door slammed, apparently before Axel and Kairi could come in because he heard their yelling. He was almost scared to turn around, especially when he heard, "Hey Sora, how do you like me now?"

That voice . . . it has to be a ghost . . . but why does it sound so familiar? The brunet slowly turned around, and just like that, his mouth was agape, his eyes wide, and he was instantly trembling. And for a good reason because before him with a smirk, glowing orange eyes and glow around him, was Roxas who right at that moment had a gun pointed right at Sora.

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Yep. Another cliff hanger – grins evilly – I know that I'm evil. I even established that in the last chapter. But, c'mon, if you read my profile, you'll know why! Anyway, I'll try to get chapter sixteen out soon (that far already? And still so much left!) But, hey, it's better than two months! I still have no clue how I did those chapters so fast back in fall. They were shorter, but still . . .

Anyway, as always, reviews fuel me and help me write faster as they do too all writers. You guys were so awesome last time, and I cannot thank you enough! You rock!

Chapter sixteen: WHY IS ROXY POINTING A GUN AT SORA?! What's up with Cloud and Leon? How are Yuffie's group and Demyx's group doing? What's Kairi and Namine's connection? Sora struggles with hidden feelings, as well as Riku. Yuffie goes crazy (goes?). And Axel and Roxas figure out some things too. It's all in the next brilliant installment of Heavenly Haunting: Chapter sixteen! –Cheers-

Read and review please, and give me more awesome ideas and input like last time!

Lots of love (or lol.) lol! (As in laugh out loud . . . . eh, I'm confusing myself.)

~Before-I-Fall~ =3