Chapter 4: Spirits can often remember…

Spirits can often remember their names, or sometimes names of those close to them. One thing they always remember even in residual haunting; is the pain of death and loss…

"Kyrie…?"

I tensed and instinctively took a few steps back.

The thuds got closer and stopped in front of me though I couldn't see anyone standing there. I felt something brush against my face and I clenched my eyes shut. I shook slightly but other then that my body went stiff and unmoving.

"You can't be real…there aren't suppose to be people here, he made sure of that…you can't be a demon or I would've sensed you so why…?"

The voice was male, and it sounded distant but at the same time, right in front of me. He wasn't exactly talking to me; more like trying to convince himself he was/wasn't hallucinating. I slowly opened my eyes and they instantly locked with silver blue ones.

"So you are real." He confirmed. "What are you doing here? Hasn't anyone ever taught you not to play in haunted houses?"

"It's not supposed to be haunted." I replied almost automatically.

"You should go, it's not safe here and you'll end up hurting yourself."

"I think you and I both know I'm not the one hurting myself." I stated in a low voice. "And I can't leave sadly, I live here now."

He pulled his hand away from my face and took a few steps back looking me over with questioning and curious eyes. I took in his appearance as well. He had white hair that looked like the other two men's, and a long purple coat. I also noticed that he had on a sling.

'What the hell? How can a ghost have a broken arm again? Eh, maybe it happened before he died and he can't take it off. What do I know about hauntings anyway, except that they shouldn't exist.'

"You live here?" He repeated confused. "But that's impossible. A…friend of ours promise not to sell the house." He shook his head and scoffed. "How did I know something like this would happen anyway."

"So you knew the previous owner?" I asked hoping to get a name.

"Previous owner? Heh, I didn't know him all that mattered was he wasn't human. Or at least he didn't act like it."

I looked at him perplexed. "So he was a jerk?"

"That's not the half of it." He muttered. "I'm Nero by the way."

Nero looked at me expectantly and I quickly apologized and introduced myself. "I'm Amy. Amy Frost."

"Nice name." He commented.

"Thanks, by the way, can I ask you something?"

He looked skeptical but nodded. "Sure but I probably won't be of much help."

"Whose Kyrie?"

"….."

"What? Oh, don't tell me it's another one of those 'I can't say the other guy's name'-"

"Girl."

"Wha?"

"Kyrie was a girl, and no it's not like that it's just…" He sighed and looked away from me. "It's something I'd rather not talk about."

I could tell by the way he said it something bad probably happened to her, or she caused something, either way it was a touchy subject. "Oh. Okay then." I said feeling a little awkward. "Well, um, can you tell me why people here insist that they own rooms even though the house was sold to us?"

Nero rolled his eyes "I said we couldn't trust that slob not to try to use this to make a quick buck. I wouldn't be surprised if he's off blowing the money from this at that club on the other side of town about now." Nero shook his head and walked back into the purple walled rooms and sat on the black bed. I'm guessing by "we" he meant him, Dante, and the other guy.

"Club? Do you mean that new one, what was it…Bloody Crescent or something?"

"Nah, the club I'm talking about has been around for a while. Love Planet I think." He replied nonchalantly. "Now I need to ask you something."

"Sure."

"First off, who was that kid I saw earlier? Is he your brother?"

I gave him a serious look. "Yeah he is, did you scare him?"

"Not exactly." Nero started. "He ran in here when I was standing by the window. I don't know if he noticed it but there was a small demon following him. Humans usually can't see us now because we're not even in physical form anymore."

"What the hell does that even mean?" I asked staring blankly at him.

"I'm not very good at explaining these things, but long story short ya'know that swarm of demons that appeared not to long ago?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Um, yeah I think I know what you mean." I replied lowering my voice and absentmindedly twirling a strand of my hair around my fingers.

"The demons we usually have to fight are physical…mostly. But these are different and our weapons went right through them because they are in a spirit like form. They are what happen when a devil tries to get out of hell through a highly unstable portal, but the thing is, these are more dangerous than the physical ones. Not only can physical attacks not hurt them, but since they're in this form they can eat people's souls and take their bodies. And they fade in and out of this existence, which is another reason why they-like us- can't be seen."

"But I can see you." I pointed out.

"Yeah." Nero said leaning back on the bed giving you a curious look. "I have no idea how that's possible, you should ask..." Nero trailed off and his expression turned to one of annoyance.

"Ask who?" I pressed on.

"The one down the hall. Not that cocky bastard, the uhh...the antisocial one in blue." He replied.

"And his name would be…?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Not this again!" I said exasperatedly. "You just told me your name, and Dante told me his, so why can't you tell me the other guy's name?"

"It's complicated."

"Right. Of course it is." I said sardonically, rolling my eyes. "Well, I think you are all crazy. I mean there can't be demons and ghosts! That makes no sense! Do you mean to tell me that all those crap paranormal investigators were real too?"

"Nah, that's just humans messing around with things they don't understand."

"OK." I stepped through the doorway and leaned against the wall staring at him. "So um…should I help you guys cross over?"

He tilted his head and an amused smirk slowly slid onto his face. "Help us cross over?"

I blushed feeling a little stupid for suggesting it. "Well um-yeah-I mean, ya'know, that whole trapped here for eternity thing must suck. So I may as well help you crossover or something."

He chuckled and mumbled something about me reminding him of someone. "That's okay, it does suck, but we can't leave here."

"Unfinished business?"

"…Kind of."

"Well maybe I can take care of it for you." I offered.

"I don't think you'd want to do that." He said seriously.

"Why not? It's not like you're a mercenary fighting evil or something!" I joked.

He shifted and coughed.

"Nero."

He looked at me.

"You really are a mercenary aren't you…" I asked sighing. He didn't need to answer that, I already knew the answer. "I should've figured since the others have guns and swords, but you don't have any weapons."

"Who are you talking to?"

I turned and looked at my worried little brother in the doorway. I looked from him to Nero and back. "I'm talking to the guy who you freaked out over before. His name is Nero by the way, and Nero, this is Liam."

Nero didn't say anything and neither did Liam. Liam's gaze briefly scanned the room but he remained virtually oblivious to Nero sitting on the bed.

"Are you making fun of me?" Liam asked snapping his green eyes back to me.

"What? How am I making fun of you?" I asked genuinely confused.

"Very funny Amy, I already know no one is here, Dad already told me so stop." Liam said frowning.

"But there is someone here! Three people actually, but the one you met is sitting right there on the bed!" I protested gesturing to the bed where Nero sat.

"What bed? We didn't move any furniture in here! Look!" Liam said pointing into the room.

I looked and still Nero sat on the bed looking uninterestedly at the situation in front of him.

"How is it that you could see him before but you can't see him now?" I asked frustrated.

"I think you're loosing it sis." Liam replied shaking his head. "I think that guy who attacked you before really messed up your mind, or maybe it's all those ghost movies you watched…actually yeah that makes sense. You're trying to investigate the ghosts aren't you? But you don't even believe in that so this has to be a joke."

"Liam I'm not joking!" I protested.

"Riiight. Well anyway, I'm going to go see if I can't find and hook up my PS2 don't take this the wrong way but try not to let mom and dad know you're insane, I'd miss you if they sent you away to the loony bin."

"Liam you're a jerk AND you're wrong about me being insane."

"OK if you're not insane prove it." Liam dared, looking back over his shoulder and arching an eyebrow.

I looked back to Nero in hopes that he'd do something that would constitute as proof but to my dismay he only shrugged and looked away. I sighed and Liam turned walking down the hall.

"That's what I thought." He commented going into his room.

"Thanks for the help there." I remarked sarcastically.

"There's nothing I can do about your brother…by the way, what room did he go in just now?"

"The white one a few rooms down from mine." I replied sliding down the wall until my butt hit the floor.

Nero frowned and stood up. "You have to get him out of there."

"Let me guess 'move him in here or Dante's room' right?"

He nodded. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but that is the last place you want him to be."

"Why?"

"Just trust me."

"No! I'm tired of you guys telling me that! Give me a reason! A REAL reason."

Nero opened his mouth to reply but stopped. I waited impatiently for him to start to speak and finally explain himself.

"Because there are demons sealed there." He said slowly.

I sighed and leaned my head back against the wall. "Seriously? You've got to be kidding! We would just happen to move into a house with weird ghosts and demons living in it. This is like something out of a twisted novel! Fine. How do I exercise the demons?"

"You can't." Nero replied calmly. "They keep coming back that's why we came here to begin with."

"So you died and decided to hunt other ghosts?"

Nero rolled his eyes. "No, we were very much alive, when we got here. It's just…" Nero closed his eyes and laid back on the bed. "That doesn't even matter, you need to go get your brother before you have a replay of that little experience of being chased by various demons."

I stood up and walked to the door way but stopped suddenly and spun around. "Wait, um, will you be here when I get back?"

He scoffed. "It's not like I have a choice. You probably won't be able to see me though. I don't know how you can to begin with so I can't guarantee it."

I nodded slowly and left. I walked into Liam's room but he wasn't there. "Liam?" I called feeling a little worried. "Liam?" I yelled. No response, "LIAM?" I ran through the house like a chicken with its head cut off.

I heard giggling and laughing outside and quickly rushed to the front door and yanked it open. "Liam?"

"Kyaah!"

I jumped and looked down at a small familiar blonde girl sitting, startled, on the porch, and Liam was crouched next to her giving me a disapproving look.

"Seriously sis, I'm right here you didn't have to scream." Liam pouted.

"Oh. Well you didn't tell me you were leaving the house don't just randomly walk out stupid!" I scolded.

Liam narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who suggested I go out and talk to people in the first place."

I rolled my eyes and looked back at the girl. "Sorry if I scared you. Hold on, you look familiar…Oh! You're Patty right? The next door neighbor?"

She nodded standing up and brushing herself off. She gave me a big adorable smile. "It's nice to see you again; I just came over to ask if you liked the house, I know it can be a little creepy moving into big new houses in practically nowhere."

"You have no idea." I said in a joking tone despite how much I meant it. "Which house do you live in anyway?"

"Oh, mine is the pretty blue one over there." She said pointing down the street.

"Woah, it is pretty." I admitted stepping further out to get a better look at it.

"So did you need something?" Liam asked feeling left out of the conversation.

"Oh, ah, it can wait." I replied stepping back into the house. "Anyway, I'll let you two get back to talking now, and Liam I'll be making lunch soon."

"Kay." He replied sitting on the porch stairs.

I closed the door and sighed. "I'm going to give myself a heart attack at this point."

I walked back up the steps and into my room. My bed, dresser, and desk had been moved in but…

"When did this get here?" I asked no one in particular as I stood in front of a tall black bookshelf. The theme for my old room had been brown and blue, which was the reason I had chosen this room to begin with. All my furniture was brown and I never had a black bookshelf, but odder than that was the fact that it was filled with old looking books. I randomly pulled one from the shelf and flipped through the old worn pages. It was obviously very old though still in a decent condition. At first I assumed it was one of dad's things but when I tried reading a few lines I realized that is was all gibberish.

"Who writes a book in complete gibberish?" I asked aloud. "Actually, this is more like tiny symbols, but this doesn't look like Japanese, Russian, or anything."

I felt a cold air behind me and I was frozen in place. My breath hitched in my throat as I felt a pressure on both of my hands. Something pushed my hands together so I closed the book then in the next second the book was snatched out of my hands and landed on the desk on the other side of the room.

'I think we all know who did that.' I mentally commented. I stood absolutely still for a minute. The temperature in the room had decreased and the intimidating presence was still right behind me.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and slowly turned around and came face to face with-

Nothing.

I felt something brush across my face and instinctively took a step back. My back hit the book shelf and a few of the books fell off. I quickly knelt down as if my life would end if I didn't pick up each and every book and put it back in its proper place. I gathered all the books in a pile and reached for the last one but stopped suddenly.

The last book sat in front of a pair of brown boots I hadn't noticed before. My eyes slowly traveled up and met with icy blue eyes framed by a bemused face.

"Oh. Um. Hi…?" I said slowly. My mind hadn't even fully registered that I'd spoken, but on the bright side my voice didn't come out shaky.

"Hn." Was the only response I got from the man in blue as he turned and walked over to my desk where the previous book had flown to. I finished picking up the books and started putting them back on the shelf in the order I thought they belonged (which was hard since none of it looked even remotely like English). All while I did this I could feel his eyes bore into my back.

'Why did I come here? Why did I come here?' I asked myself over and over again.

Once all the books were on the shelf I felt even more awkward than before. I wasn't sure if I should leave, say something, or just ignore him.

"Um…what's your name?" I asked trying to start a conversation of some sort.

Two of the longest minutes of my life went by before he spoke again.

"I thought you were going to change rooms." He said completely ignoring my question. Guess I'll have to refer to him as 'the man in blue' a little longer.

"Well?" He looked at me impatiently.

'For someone who doesn't answer my questions he sure is impatient for me to answer his.'

"I am switching rooms, but first I'd need to at least get my mom's approval." I replied sitting on my bed. 'Okay let's try a different question'. "Um, what language are these books written in?"

"That does not concern you." He replied shortly turning away from me.

"Well aren't you a joy to have around." I muttered under my breath.

"Leave. Now. You're voice is aggravating." Vergil said in a steely tone.

"Yeah, sure." I muttered defeated. 'I can't believe I was just kicked out of my room by a rude murderous psycho ghost.'

I thought about going to see Dante but then I decided I'd had enough of ghosts for one day. I jogged down the steps and into the kitchen. I made four sandwiches and took out two plates to put them on.

"Here guys." I said handing one plate to my brother and the other to Patty.

"Thank you." She said giving me a bright smile which I couldn't help but return.

I waited a minute for Liam to thank me but he just ate the sandwich. I loudly cleared my throat and he look up at me smiling sheepishly.

"Uh, thanks?"

I shook my head and walked down the porch steps. My parents' car pulled into the driveway and my Mom hopped out with a few bags. "Oh hey kids, I got you some new clothes since school will be starting soon. Oh? Why hello there, what's your name?" She asked looking down at Patty.

"I'm Patty." She said with her usual smile.

Before they could continue with their introductions I spoke up "Mom I'm going out for a few hours okay?"

"Where?" She asked suspiciously.

"To umm…" I panicked trying to think of a place since I couldn't just say 'I'm going to a club called Love Planet!' "Uhh, just explore really."

She shook her head. "No, we just moved here, you shouldn't be walking around by yourself in a strange town."

I sighed in annoyance and defeat. Being sixteen really sucks…

"If you really want to I could drive you around." She offered.

'Thanks, but I wouldn't get much done with you around since you'd ban me from entering the club to start with.' I mentally remarked. "Uh, no, that's okay."

My mom shrugged and went back into the house. Sadly, this meant I was going to have to attempt something I'd never done before…

I stared at my cell phone's clock. Finally it was quiet in the house and everyone was asleep, well, everyone except me that is. It was currently eleven and thankfully everyone had to get up early for a "surprise" Dad planned. I left the empty room I was in and walked into my room. I peered outside of the window into the darkness below. I'd probably have to do that whole 'tie the sheets together and make a rope routine', but first thing's first, open the window. I pushed the window up but it wouldn't open no matter how hard I tried. I sighed frustrated and walked over to the second window in my room and tried pushing that open, but no dice.

'Damn it! I bet that other guy is behind this!' I thought turning and walking out of the room. "Fine you win." I muttered as I left.

I darted across the hall into 'Dante's room' as I'd regretfully come to call it. I once again peered out into the darkness below, luckily, there was a tree in this window meaning getting out and back in would be easy. I tried to push the window closest to the tree up but it wouldn't budge.

"Going somewhere sweetheart?" I voice purred in my right ear.

I jumped letting out a startled gasp and quickly spun around. The moonlight pouring into the room was just enough for me to see Dante's smirking face.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" I said narrowing my eyes.

His smirk widened. "Careful babe they might hear you."

My eyes widened and my hands flew to my mouth. He chuckled and I glared at him.

"So where are you going anyway?" Dante asked curiously as I once again tried opening the window.

"I'm just going out for a bit." I said trying not to sound to suspicious. "No where special."

He scoffed. "Yeah right."

I stopped trying to open the window and put my hands on the windowsill leaning forward. The disobedient windows were seriously getting on my nerves and since the stairs still creaked, they were too noisy for me to use (dad's a light sleeper).

I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind. "You sure you want to go out half asleep?" He asked pulling me so my back was flush against his bare chest.

My face heated up and I thanked heaven's it was dark. "H-how do you figure I'm half asleep?"

"Well for one," He moved his hand over to the window and unlocked it. "You didn't think to check if the windows were still locked even though you're the one who locked them."

This time my face flushed out of embarrassment. 'Guess that other jerk wasn't responsible for my room windows not opening after all.'

"Um, thanks." I mumbled moving to open the window. I reached for it but he grabbed my hands.

"Still, a pretty girl like you shouldn't be wandering the streets at this time anyway."

I sighed. "Yes, well, you can't stop me anyway."

"Sure about that?" He asked in his usual playful smug voice.

"Yes." I said despite getting the feeling I would be dead wrong. "No matter what you do I'm still going."

He chuckled and let me go. "Fine, I guess if you're that determined I'll let you go. But before you do, there is a package under the bush of the house across the street, open it and take the contents with you."

I looked at him over my shoulder. "Why?"

"Just do it." He said waving off my question dismissively. "Trust me."

I nodded and climbed out of the window jumping onto the thick branch on the tree. I almost slid off a few times and quickly grabbed the trunk to steady myself before climbing the rest of the way down. My black denim shorts and long sleeved shirt helped me blend in. My hair was pulled back into a messy bun and I wore matching black converse. I jogged across the street and looked under the bush. Even with the high amount of moon light it was hard to tell that there was a package, but sure enough a small white box was there and I pulled it out. I looked back up at the window where I could just barely make out Dante's silhouette.

He gave a slight nod and I opened the box. My eyes practically bulged out of my skull as I peered down at a shiny white gun. I picked it up looking it over to see if it was real. I turned my shocked eyes back up to the window and saw his silhouette turn and walk away from the window.

'He can't really expect me to take this with me can he?' I inwardly panicked. 'I don't even know how to use this! Not to mention I could get arrested for having it! Okay, calm down Amy, just put the gun back and pretend you never found it-wait….It has my fingerprints on it! Crap, either way I'll get arrested for this! Damn it, I'm going to kill him-er-well, figuratively speaking of course.'

I sighed and loosened the belt around my shorts a little before sliding the gun through like it was a holster. I pulled my shirt down over it successfully concealing the weapon. I gave one final glare at the window before quickly walking off.

Third Person POV

Dante stood in the window peering down at Amy's form.

"You sure you should've let her do that? You and I both know what's out there."

Dante didn't face the person speaking to him. "She'll be fine."

The person scoffed. "How would you know? You realize if anything jumps off none of us can help her, and she doesn't seem like the type to know how to handle a gun in the first place."

Dante stayed silent for a few moments, knowing full well those were very good points. "You're right…I shouldn't have let her go." He finally admitted. A small smirk slid onto his face. "I forgot to tell her to bring back pizza."

He blocked out the insults and such that were now being practically yelled at him and shook his head. "Hey kid," Dante turned facing the person. "For someone who just met her you sure seem attached. Granted she's pretty cute and her body's not half bad, but still. Is this the first stage of puppy love I see?"

As soon as the words left his mouth he was tackled to the ground.

"Damn you Dante!" Nero said punching the other male in the face. "First of all, stop calling me kid! You're only a year older than me! And second, I don't have to be in love to know you're going to get her killed."

Dante kneed Nero in the chest to momentarily stun him and then kicked him across the room. Dante stood up and brushed himself off. "Get her killed? I saved her twice already, and I gave her a devil arm, what did you do?"

Nero stood up and frowned.

"Besides," Dante continued turning back to the window. "You're the whole reason she wanted to leave. If I heard correctly, I have a feeling she's going to meet up with a few old friends of mine." Dante chuckled. "I wish I could see the look on her face…"

"What are you talking about?" Nero asked leaning back against a wall.

Dante turned and flashed him a bright mischievous smirk. "Love Planet."

[A/N] Me: It's been a while, that calls for extra long chapters for the next few updates…

Vergil: It also calls for lotsa reviews so we know how many of you are still keeping up with this.

Dante: And also lots of pizza. *drapes his arm over my shoulder* 'Cause you can't write a good story on an empty stomach~

Me: Yeah! *pushes Dante off of me* But you don't write the stories anyway. *glares* All you do is flirt with the reviewers!

Dante: *drapes his arm over your shoulder* Because you can't write a good review without a little love for one of the main characters~ 3 Review.