Shinigami-cat: And now for the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

Welcome to Quinkan

Matthew sighed sadly and ran his fingers over his skull. "And that's what happened. Killed, tried to fix things, become a monsters play thing and trapped in a nightmare that just won't end." He looked up at Arthur with dull eyes. "Do you feel sorry for me? Do you pity me? Do I make you sick? Do I repulse you?"

Arthur just looked at Matthew with wide eyes. "What? No! I'm a little shocked about you being dead, but it does make sense." He looked back over at the bones and frowned. "But why store the bones here?" He asked. "What purpose do they have?"

Matthew shrugged and put his skull back with the rest of his bones. "Not sure. I think one of them mentioned something about a convenient place for storage… After all the first head of the Vargas house already had this place made for the bodies." He started to walk back to the steps. "Come. We should leave this place and let the dead have their sleep."

Arthur nodded and reluctantly followed Matthew back out of the bone room, back through the mausoleums and into the sunlight. When they were outside Arthur frowned. "So what now Matthew? How do we kill M.S?"

Matthew shrugged. "If I knew she would have died years ago… Did Kiku say anything else to you in your dream? Anything important?"

Arthur furrowed his brows and thought about it. "Let's see… He said something about smoke and fire… To stay in the light… And to look under the floor boards of his room…"

Suddenly Arthur and Matthew's eyes lit up and the grinned. "The floor boards." Kiku had to have hid something there. He didn't seem like the kind of person to know so much and not prepare or make a plan about what to do if there was ever a chance to. They quickly ran to Kiku's house, Matthew being faster because he no longer bothered to disguise the fact that he could move through objects.

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

Matthew and Arthur stood outside Kiku's house. No one had been in there since the police closed the investigation months ago. Not even Yao had been in there. He didn't seem to want to enter that place ever again. Besides from what he was told Yao only ever entered to check up on Kiku to make sure he was alright, but with Kiku gone he had no need to go there again. But he still technically owned the house.

The looked at the door and then to each other. Not really knowing what to do. Arthur was the first to speak. "Are you going to open the door?"

Matthew shrugged. "I guess… I'll be back in a second." Matthew drifted through the door and opened it up, allowing Arthur to walk inside. The house was covered in dust, there was a bit of mould growing on the walls and there was something scratching in the walls. There was probably a hole in the roof letting in some possums.

Arthur and Matthew quickly made their way to Kiku's room and opened the door. His room was relatively okay. Just a bit a water rot in the ceiling. "Okay." Said Arthur. "Look for any loose floor boards. We need to know what's here."

Matthew nodded and started to look around, pressing his hands down on the edge of the floor boards. Arthur copied him and did the same thing. After a few minutes Arthur found the loose floor board and grinned. He opened it up and looked inside. There was a small book. A diary if you would. "I found it." He said.

Matthew quickly went over to him and looked at the diary with wide eyes. "You did? What is it? Is it some manual about how to kill whatever M.S is?"

Arthur shrugged. "I have no idea. He slowly opened the book, its yellow pages stuck together and cracked when the spine snapped. It also had that strange slightly musky smell that was associated with old books.

The book was really old. There were dates in it going back to the 1800s. They were mainly about gold imports and exports to different places but after a while things got interesting… The writing became messier and changed handwriting. Obviously several people had written in it. There was one page that caught their attention.

It seemed to be an Aboriginal drawing; it was drawn in black, had a strange curved shapeless body, huge hungry white eyes and several black squiggle like lines were moving around the figures body. There were two words written next to it. Night spirit. Arthur raised an eyebrow. "So… is that what night spirit's look like?"

Matthew took the book from Arthur's hands and looked at the picture. His eyes went wide and he began to tremble. "This isn't a night spirit." He whispered. "It's a Quinkan."

"A what?"

"A Quinkan." Shivered Matthew. "They are night spirits of the Dreaming. Evil spirits."

Arthur frowned. He had heard the name Quinkan in his brief study of Aboriginal folk lore but he never found too much on them. But Matthew seemed to know about them, and he was terrified. "What are Quinkan?"

Matthew gulped. "They are shape-shifters Arthur. They dwell in the bush, in caves and dark watery places. A mere touch from one will bring disaster to a person… there are many variations about them but the Quinkan are most famous for… Oh god no… Why didn't I see it before?"

"What is it?" Asked Arthur. Matthew couldn't seize up on him now. "Matthew, what are Quinkan famous for?"

Matthew looked into Arthur's eyes. "They are notorious for luring sleeping children into the bush where they are either turned into Quinkan themselves or trees."

A chill ran up Arthur's spine. Antonio's words rang through his head and filled him with dread. That's why they call this 'eucalyptus weeping trees.' They say that they are actually the lost souls of those who have vanished in the bush turned into trees. Others think that the trees grow where people have died or were murdered. "The weeping trees." He whispered.

Matthew nodded. "Yeah… Quinkan are some kind of soul collectors. Since they are evil night spirits they fear campfire and smoke purifies the air… that why they are so weak during the day…"

Arthur nodded but then frowned. "What about the others? They didn't die in their sleep. What happened to them?"

Matthew thought for a second. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Possession." He muttered. "Sometimes I've seen the night spirits hang around people. I think they might possess them… most likely at night or when they are in a dark place, late at night."

Arthur frowned and nodded. 'It does make sense… Most people lost it when it was late at night…. Francis for example when he tried to kill me and then when he disappeared. Feliciano also committed suicide late at night… And the Vargas torture chamber is really dark, Lovino could have been killed… Ludwig hung himself at night… But what about Antonio, Gilbert and Alfred? What happened to them?'

Matthew noticed Arthur's distress and sighed. "Arthur… Feliciano killed Lovino."

"What?"

"He posed as him and acted like Lovino as a test to see how we would react. Along the way his mind got warped and he ended up raping and killing Lovino by pushing him down a shaft… As for the others… Alfred was possessed late at night and ended up killing Gilbert with poison, but he ended up shoving the syringe back in his pocket and injected himself by accident… As for Antonio, Ludwig has always been possessed by one of those monsters for ages. Seeing Antonio and his brother's corps pushed him over the edge and he pushed Antonio off a cliff… He was bitten by a Death adder."

Arthur looked at Matthew with wide eyes. "How could you just watch?" He hissed. "How could you sit back and watch all your friends and family die? You are no better than the Quinkan!"

Matthew scowled and glared at Arthur. "Shut up." He hissed. "I am nothing like those monsters. I just want this to end. If I could have stopped them I would have… Those monsters… They took everything away from me… I watched Alfred die… He begged me to save him but I couldn't. I'm useless… I can't do anything right…" He shuddered and started to cry.

Arthur sighed and patted Matthew on the back. "Hey calm down Matthew… Sorry about what I said… But we need to think of a plan to get rid of the Quinkan once and for all."

Matthew nodded. He knew Arthur was right. "Yeah… So what can we do?"

"Well…" Muttered Arthur. "As far as I can tell we need to set the place on fire. Do you know where they live?"

Matthew thought for a second and bit his lip. "Yeah… I've been there once. But it'll be dangerous. It's a place hidden deep in the caves… An underwater lake. It starts at the Blue Mountains and travels through an underground system. From there it settles in the lake, but there is a hole at the bottom of the lake that actually feeds into Fever Lake."

Arthur nodded. "I see… We'll have to think of a plan."

"Yeah and put it into action as soon as possible." Said Matthew. "They probably know we are up to something. We should do it before nightfall." Arthur nodded in agreement. Those Quinkan were going down tonight.

TBC

Shinigami-cat: Close to the end now! Just two or three more chapters to go… maybe two… Please review!