Title: Haunted Melody
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the Oc ghosties, that and the concept of the idea, but nothing else.
Warnings: See previous chapters.
Special AN: Didn't get to do this last chapter, but thank you to those who have added me to your favorites and/or alerts, or reviewed this story. Your support means a lot to me. Now onto the fic.
Chapter Three: Files, Exploration start, and Conversations
"Gilbert, why was that ghost woman speaking directly to you at the end?" The strong voice of Germany asks, breaking the silence that had hung over the stunned room.
"I don't know West, maybe because I'm more awesome!" He answers loudly, perfectly masking his worry and doubts. He didn't want to concern his brother with anything; after all it was his duty as the older brother to protect Ludwig for a little bit longer, even though he knows that Germany is no longer a helpless little kid.
"Sure that's the case, or maybe it's because she knew you." Germany sighs, rolling his eyes that sparkled with a hint of the smile he was hiding.
"No need to spoil my fun." Prussia whines with a pout, knowing that he made his brother happy for a moment in this dreary hospital.
"If you two are finished, maybe we can find something useful." England states eyeing the two nations with distaste and a hint of jealousy at their interactions. It's been ages since he was able to do that with America, and it's harder because he gets ill at the mention of that day and when it draws close.
"Right, but should we read Frank Sherwood's File now or wait until we find others?" Prussia asks, tilting his head at the file in England's hands.
The nations all voice their agreements and soon the file is spread out on a table they found against the hallway's wall and aim their flashlights at it so that they can see the cursive scrawl of the doctors. As Prussia steps forward to be the one to read the information on the file out loud, a soft winter breeze blows through the group and wraps itself around Prussia.
A soft pleading female voice carries on the wind saying, "Don't read it yet. Discuss the conversations…" in Prussia's ears only. Prussia freezes in places, slightly nods his head and closes his eyes as if to hold back a memory of some kind.
"Hey. How about we talk about the Spirit Box conversation we just had first. I mean, it will be fresh in our minds and we might be able to draw something from it." Prussia suggests quickly, a little too quickly as France, Spain, and Germany all notice how off beat he's acting.
"Alright, I'm curious about that myself, and I noticed something" The northern and more open half of Italy chimes in, his voice and expression thoughtful.
"What did you notice Ita?"
"Well, the years mentioned for the most part were four years apart. It makes me wonder if the killer waited four years to kill the victims, but my other question is who was his first victim and when?"
Several nations, Germany and America mainly, look at Italy in shock as they had never thought that the Italian could be logical or serious. In Germany's mind of course, he was mentally preparing for shit to hit the fan and for some reason he had an urge to build a fortress stronger than a calculator's packaging. America of course was shocked that he wasn't the only one who wore the mask of stupidity around others, that and he was cautious about how much attention both Italians were paying, after all if one was this smart then the other must be a bit wiser as the southern part is older.
"Well the only way to know that is to check for similar patterns. The only way we can do that is by looking for files and reading them. We have nine that we need to read, as we already read Jay's." England states, eyeing the group as if to challenge his detective role.
"I'm curious about why that nurse ghost spoke solely to Gilbert." France asks, a frown marring his features.
"I have no idea, maybe I look similar to someone she knew while she was alive? It could be anything from the fact that I moved first or that she had seen me before." Gilbert says, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Only a few nations knew about that tic of his, the one thing that gave away his nerves or his lies, and those nations don't ever talk about it to him. The ones who know are Hungary, Russia, France, and England. Gilbert made sure that his little brother never knew about the tic, as he didn't want to worry him. It was just Gilbert's luck that no one saw it, well at least he thought no one did. Russia and Canada noticed, but Canada had no idea it was a nervous tic.
"So the nurse might've been alive during the time of the last war, based on her uniform. What about Jay?" Russia asks tilting his head as a theory formed.
"Jay Jones…" Canada softly stated, "Why is it that name sounds familiar?"
"What do you mean Canada?" Japan asks, noticing how Canada's face was scrunched up in thought.
"I don't know. It's like my memory won't let me, that or the high of the war and the celebrations afterwards caused the 40s to go by in a blur. Much like the 20s in Al's case I'm sure." Canada smiles slightly.
"Hey! I was not that bad!" America shouts like a child, giving hope to those who knew him that he wasn't lost to whatever it was that took him in the 1900s.
"One word Al, prohibition." Canada smirks.
The other nations watch the interaction between the two brothers as something like a tennis match, a game of chess, and high school students. It was nice for some of the nations, and the ex-nation that is present, it reminded them that they weren't just nations; they were human. Some of the nations looked on with envy however as they wished they had that type of relationship with their siblings.
"Anyways, let's get back to the topic. Before the ghosts even appeared there was piano music playing." China points out hoping to get the younger nations back on track.
"Yeah. Do you think it's connected?" Spain asks frowning in frustration at the lack of anything useful.
"It's too soon to tell. Seriously, we've only heard it once! It's too fucking soon to draw any conclusions!" The southern half of Italy, Lovino, snaps growing frustrated at the lack of evidence they had and the gut feeling that this was a set up. It put him on edge not knowing what the hell could be lurking in these halls and if it meant his brother any harm.
"Lovito…" Spain starts at a loss for words. He knew that this lack of any knowledge was driving him to the edge, but didn't Lovino see what it was doing to him. He couldn't protect his friends, and one of them was hiding something huge.
"Don't start with me! This whole thing is too fishy! It has set up written all over it!" The older Italy exclaimed angrily, waving his arms in the air.
"I hate to say it, but Lovino it right. It's too soon to be certain of anything," Feliciano states, trying to soothe the tension that was starting, "but we shouldn't snap at each other. It would be bad for us because whatever is here might use that against us."
"He's right. It's a common war tactic. Let's just look at the facts first." Germany says, being another voice of reason.
"Well, we know that there are eleven ghosts present here, at the most." Japan begins.
England nods and writes that down on in a notebook, the light from his flashlight causing eerie shadows to wrap his face, "We also know that they died four years apart from each other with the first occurring in 1906."He states as he writes that down.
"Two years after the hospital opened." Al states in a daze, his eyes distant.
"We know two names: Jaleen "Jay" Jones and Frank Sherwood. Safe to say that they were killed by the same person." France recounts, remembering the files that seemed to have started this mess.
"Yes, and we saw Jay and that nurse, who is an unknown." Russia says, eyeing the Prussian who seemed to have fallen silent at the mention of the nurse.
"We know Frank died in 1932, ten years before Jay did." China chimes in, deep in thought over what Jay said during the spirit box when America was talking. Yao quickly shook his head, trying to dismiss the foolish thought of America being the killer.
"Well. We got a majority of some facts and too many questions without answers written down. I think we should read Frank's file." England says as he taps the notebook with all the notes he took.
The nations agree and open the file, careful to make sure that it didn't fall apart under their hands. The nations make sure that all equipment is on, not just the audio gear that they have been using so far but the EMF gages Rem Pods, and video cameras as well as the digital UV cameras. They wanted to be ready should something happen again.
The nations read the file, and while nothing happens, they do learn that during Frank's few years at the place it was also a poor farm. They also learned that Frank's last words were, "Al, the bastard, killed 'em. Killed 'em all." That caused some suspicion as they felt it was the same Al who Jay mentioned.
As the nations finished reading the file, they notice another file lying right next to Frank's. It startled them, as they were certain that the table was empty of anything except dust when they were reading his files. Prussia eyes the file with a raised eyebrow, having a feeling that someone wanted them to read it.
"We should read it. After all, it was left here by someone for that reason." Gilbert states, reaching towards the file and opening it slowly, as he let his fingers linger where it was slightly colder than the rest of it.
"Elijah West died 1928. No record of his parents or any relatives." Gilbert bluntly reads his mind racing. The poor man had no one to care for him and died without being missed. Gilbert shuddered as he thought about what that would feel like.
"Well, that's how things were. People were ashamed of those who were different or suffered from mental illness. Rich families, hell all families, did the best they could to hide any evidence of that relative as it was viewed as disgraceful and a shame." Alfred states coldly, his voice like a knife's edge.
"He was the third voice that came through the spirit box. The year of his death matches the one the third spirit said." China states while pointing at the date of Elijah's death on the file.
A soft melody filled the air, filling the silence left by Yao's statement. While the melody was simple enough, it sent chills down the nations' spines. They all had a feeling that they had to follow the piano music; it was as though they were compelled like how a moth was drawn to a flame. They knew it could possibly be deadly, but they had to do it.
So they did. The group of eleven nations and one former nation followed the melody, making sure they had the equipment with them as they saw a weird anomaly float in front of them. The anomaly looked like a mist but like it was pulsating. The music suddenly stopped and so too did the nations.
They had stopped in front of room 45, and gasped at the sight that greeted their eyes. Blood covered the walls, in splatters and long trails that lead to the bed where a big dark burly man laid with his entrails hanging out of a large gaping hole in his stomach. They see how his eyes were narrowed in pain and hatred.
"That damn bastard. If I should come back, I will get my revenge on him. He lied to me and used me, all because he said he wanted to save me the trouble of starving half to death in the next decade. What the hell… I thought I could trust him. Lied to me, called me his friend then ripped organs out." Elijah West pants, his breath labored as the blood flowed out of him. It was his last moment of life, and he would be damned if he didn't die saying what he wanted, "Alfie will be caught. Maybe not in this life but definitely the next." And with those words, Elijah West closed his eyes for the last time.
The nations stand sunned at what they just witnessed, yet one of the nations, Germany, grabs his stomach in pain. They hear a sharp, pain filled gasp and see the stern blond doubled over in pain.
"Help. Me. It hurts, make it stop." The German gasps out, his breathing labored as he felt like his insides were being twisted by an unseen force.
"What hurts? Please tell me." Gilbert pleads, not liking the fact that his little brother was in such agonizing pain.
"Stomach. Insides twisting."
Suddenly, the nations who were frozen, like they were watching a nightmare, saw a ghostly figure appear. It was the same nurse from before, only this time they could make out faint tears at her dress and her hair being a mess.
"Elijah. This isn't him." The nurse calmly states, pointing to a spot directly behind Germany.
The ghost of the rugged pissed off ghost appears, "Like hell it ain't! He hurt your boss, and killed not you but the nine others. Alfie boy will pay."
"Elijah! I'm telling you right now, that isn't him! Take a closer look before you kill the boy!" The nurse exclaims, placing a hand on the other ghost's figure.
This causes Elijah to stop and look really closely at Germany. All the nations present all take in a breath of air, fearing for their fellow nation. Prussia looks torn between running over and doing something and being frozen by the look on the nurse's face. The ghost looks at Germany, staring into his soul and sighs, "Oh, you were right. Sorry boyo. Didn't mean to nearly kill ya, but from a distance ya looked like Alfie."
The slightly trembling Germany nods slowly regaining his breath as the pain in his abdomen subsides. Gilbert runs to his brother's side and places a soothing hand on Ludwig's shoulder as he looks at the nurse.
"Thanks for saving my brother." He whispers looking directly at the nurse.
"It was no problem dear. I would do anything I could to ease the burden for you. I failed my duty the first time around after all, and it cost you." With a small smile the nurse fades into nothing, leaving behind the scent of violets and rosemary.
"Are you okay?" Gilbert asks his brother.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just give me a moment to catch my breath." Ludwig breaths heavily slowly regaining his breath after nearly being crushed to death by a very vengeful ghost.
Gilbert walks away from his brother to not over crowd him so the others could question him, well so the northern half of Italy could. He knew the others would have him do it, besides the kid was close to his brother.
"Gilbert. May I speak with you in private?" Russia asks, placing a thick and on the thin shoulders of the shorter man.
"Alright."
The two walk a little ways from the others, making sure that they aren't too far as to be lost, but also not close enough to be over heard.
"Now comrade. Tell me this, how do you know the nurse soul." Ivan asks rather bluntly.
"I don't know her for sure. I have an idea of who she was, and she has confirmed it by her actions. Plus, she was the ghost I saw on the way in while the rest of you were in here."
"What do you mean by you have an idea?"
The Prussian sighs, his eyes dulling as he recalls the past, "Several years before the war started, I had a feeling that we would be in a huge war and I wanted to make sure my brother was protected. I convinced my government to send spies to the various nations who were apart of the Allies in the first war, and in the traitor nations."
"She was one of the spies?" Russia asks, genuinely surprised at how far the ex-nation went to protect his little brother. Deep down, Ivan knew he would have done something similar for one of his sisters.
"Yeah, she was. Her name was Alona Nuivitz. She was the best and she made weekly reports until the war started, then it became monthly if not every two months. She was sent to America where she became a nurse in what was suspected to be the hospital in which unethical tests were conducted."
"This hospital preformed such tests?"
The nod was all the ex-nation could manage, "Yeah, but her reports stopped coming December 14th 1942. I just assumed she was deep undercover."
"Then the war ended, no? You must've requested that all spies return or stay in the countries to be spared The Wall right?" Russia asks concerned at how the normally loud man was silent.
"Yeah, only she never returned. She died and I had no idea how or if she was even laid to rest properly. I should've done something. I could've!" The Prussian exclaims, defeated as he relived the horror of knowing that one of his own spies from his nation, one of his children, never made it home and was never given peace.
"It was not your fault. No one could have done anything, Gilbert. Right now, the only thing you can do is try to put her soul and the others at peace. You can only live and bring her honor in knowing that you lived another day even though your nation is no longer on the map." Russia calmly states, placing a hand on Gilbert's shoulder and squeezing it gently.