-CHAPTER III: Contact-
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-Essex, England-
"AAAHHHHHH!"
The unexpected screech made the four men halt in their movement as the mansion has been thrown in a blackout and Kiba was the first one to jump like he was stepping on hot charcoals and all of them threw their heads backward to pinpoint the location of the sound.
"What the flying–"
"–You guys heard that?" Kiba injected and cut Naruto short. "This is women`s screaming."
Shikamaru exhaled in a lackadaisical fashion shaking his head. "It is probably the girls getting scared of the darkness or a spider or abig cockroach." His skepticism was oozing through every pore and honestly he had no idea of why was he being so complacent with his stupid uncle`s derisive request to be there.
He didn't have time to play the ghost hunters but his superiors were actually pretty intrigued by the mystery drapping around this famous mansion and they personally came to him and told him politely to move his ass to Essex England which was his hometown and conduct an experiment. What a pain in the ass, he was beat tired and all that he wanted was to find a comfy bed that wasn't covered in dust and dirt and hit the pillow.
"What if they found some demon or ghost or whatever?" Naruto was just as scared and Kiba was unconsciously scooping closer to the closest to him man who just happened to be Sasuke, but the Uchiha was as immovable as the furniture around, looking calculating and frowning at something that they couldn't see nor begin to imagine because this man was like a cold wall of bricks, impossible to read.
"This is stupid," Shikamaru fine-combed a hand through his spiky ponytail, exhaling in exasperation. Why did they stop moving and where was his damned flashlight? "Ghosts and spirits, these things are not real, they are residual energy and it is something scientifically proved and explained and absolutely normal and I bet that everything here can be physically and mathematically explained."
"Gosh, I swear that you are ruining all the fun man." Naruto snarled at him inwardly praying that the genius was right because ghosts scared him shitless. He tucked on his shirt feeling like suffocating and sweating. "Oi guys, don't you feel hot all of sudden?"
"And you were calling me a perve–" Kiba started sarcastically when Uchiha`s husky baritone stopped him midway.
"–Quiet." Everyone flinched at his robotic tone, but Sasuke wasn't eying any of them in fact, he used the flashlight that he had in his bag and focused around spiking up his senses. "Do you hear this?"
They all listened carefully, but were only met by silence.
"What?" Shikamaru fetched an eyebrow up at the male starting to get a very nasty vibe that he couldn't explain because he was very calm and not in the bit agitated but this bubbling feeling was creeping from his chest to his temples in a turbulent manner. "Do you feel something?" It wasn't like he was an avid digger for spirits and dead people sending signals from the other side, but Uchiha Sasuke was a down to earth male with a prodigious career and hardly someone who was mentally unstable and deviant and this is why his words held more credibility than the others`.
Sasuke didn't answer to him, only his handsome visage twisted in a semi-frown as his onyx orbs peeled every layer of the darkness around like they were having a mind of their own and his companions got wheels only looking at him, because damn… this Uchiha male seemed to perfectly mold into the outré atmosphere of the sinister mansion.
"Wha– " Then they caught it. Naruto took a step forward and they all looked at Sasuke`s flashlight as he tried to depict every detail into the penumbras and light; honestly the obscurity enhanced the dark vibrations of the place and the grotesque decorations and the heavy furniture ebbed with the colors of mahogany, dark and claret were crayoning the perfect image of a haunted home and this kind of architectural style was enough to trick the mind into imagining and making connections with all sorts of horror scenarios, involuntarily.
It was as if the architect and the owner themselves imagined the home to trigger such mental images on purpose making this place so depressing and bizarre. "T-This is a… it's a voice!" Sasuke nodded once at the blonde as they all started to perceive it clearer although it was diaphanous and dainty and almost imperceptible.
"Nara," Uchiha addressed the male in a velvet low tune so as not to disturb the flow of the events almost whispering to the genius who raised an eyebrow at him. "record this with the EVP so that we can hear it later on." Said male was already turning the device on, recording.
"What does it say?" Kiba was serious for the first time since they came there and his police training started to kick in. Akamaru beside him was growling and showing off its fangs, looking in high alert as the animal was more sensitive than them. "Easy boy," He patted his animal gently. "we don't want to scare whatever the heck is… in here." He trailed not sure of how should they approach this kind of situation and for the first time, this mission started to be more complicated than they have anticipated.
At least, it didn't seem like a joke anymore.
'evael… og yawa'
Sasuke cocked his head as his raven blades veiled half of his high cheeks as he informed. "I think it says… leave, go away."
Chills started to roll along their spines when the feminine voice was whispering in a seductive but threatening tone and it became clearer and more resolute. "C`mon guys, this is getting cliché." Naruto crisscrossed his hands around his nape and laughed awkwardly but everyone could see that he was shaken and anxious. "This is what they say in all the haunted movies and it's not even funny. We are imagining everything because of this depressing place."
Shikamaru almost winked at the blonde because this is what he wanted to say; guess that Naruto Uzumaki this implicit party clown was way smarter and more perceptive than anyone gives him credit for. Not bad.
"It is actually the psychological impact of this kind of places that are supposed to imbue fear in our consciousness," Shikamaru jerked his shoulders up, tucking his bag around his shoulder, determined to move on since the voice seemingly faded in the distance brushing it off because she didn't want to let the guys influence him and get paranoid. "the NASA pilots who return from a mission always experience this sort of nightmares, visions and perception because of the situation that they were exposed to, combined with the fear of the unknown. They are going through therapy because they think that they catch something that looks like alien at the corner of their eyes or they start to feel like they run out of oxygen when they step on another surface of a planet or the Moon, but it is only a trick that the mind comes up with to fill in the gaps." Shikamaru briefed and he got two people deadpanning at him.
"Dude," Naruto shook his head slowly, shimmering his azurite orbs at the male. "What the heck are you talking about, I don't understand a thing." Shikamaru exhaled heavily, feeling stupid for thinking that Naruto was smart. This guy was as dense as Pluto`s atmosphere.
"WHOA!" Before the Nara genius had a chance to come up with a smartass retort, Kiba scared them shitless by jumping two steps back almost colliding with Sasuke`s chiselled chest, feeling like he has hit a wall because the Uchiha didn't even shriek back instead the impact thrown Kiba one step forward as his hand flew on his heart and the other was shaking and pointing at the opposite direction where they 're, namely the other end of the hall.
"What are you doing, you moron?" The Uchiha hissed at him dusting off his expensive shirt feeling disgusted by this man who was petting dogs.
"I-I swear to you guys that I have seen a woman in white with a candle in her hands going through that door!" His voice was trembling like a leaf in the caress of an autumn wind and he looked shaky, pale as a ghost and his orbs were wide opened. The electricity blinked back to the half-dim light and they could see it clearly that it was a small door with a huge peeling iron lock hanging on it at the end of the hall.
Naruto slapped his shoulder brotherly and mockingly. "Dude, get a hold of your dick, cos you are clearly fired up man. Though I can understand with the amount of hot chicks around…"
"You have to believe me!" The dog lover shrieked and he sounded quite convincing if they took into account the way his rich voice was high pitched and hot sweat started to roll from his spiky hair to his temples and his entire aura turned bloody scared. "She was dressed in a long white nightgown and she had a fucking candle in her hands and her hair was long and brunette and she was…" It was here when Kiba`s face drained of color getting a sick pallor and his lips moved on their own accord, although his orbs got virtuous and unfocused. "…she was smiling at me."
"Smiling as in… mocking you or flirting with you?" Naruto half grinned at the man, finding it very hard to take Kiba seriously but holy damn he was scaring the Uzumaki shitless because of the way his inflection took a higher pitch and he was sweating like a furnace. That hotness grew unbearable and although Uchiha and Nara weren't complying, they felt it too because they shifted and tucked on their shirts, unbuttoning them halfway their chests.
Just then, a low growl came from Naruto who looked like something invisible punched him in the gut and he encircled his arms around his stomach and stumbled backward clumsily. "AHH! It was Shikamaru the one to catch the blonde by his shoulders, balancing him as Naruto`s mien twisted in an agonizing pain like he was dying.
"Oi, hang on there, buddy!" Shikamaru`s tone was still composed but a tinge of worry was infused into his firm grip. "What`s the matter?"
"Dude are you–" Kiba whipped his head to the blonde but Naruto cut him short.
"I… think I had a vision." They all tensed at this, even Sasuke shifted his body weight on his other leg, and even though he was a forward down to earth man, he knew that those people weren't lying about their abilities because if they were willing to believe in his skills, then he will reciprocate.
"A vision? Now? About…" Shikamaru lagged the words, not actually finding it comfortable to utter words about predictions or foreshadowing of someone's imminent death. This sort of clairvoyance was something that his logical mind couldn't bask into.
The blonde only nodded once, massaging his temples and pinching the bridge of his nose, silently muttering a thank you to Shikamaru exhaling deeply, feeling his entire mind being pervaded by millions of flashing images blinding him and wearing him out drying his energy. It was always a nasty experience and having such a contact on the first time he stepped into this house only meant that there was indeed paranormal activity encircling this mansion.
He could feel it ingrained into the very walls, the furniture, the unfriendly atmosphere, the gothic touch and the hideous expensive decorations that probably had a great value but they weren't mesmerizing to the eyes, on the contrary, it was there knocking on his conscience's doors – the need to scram the heck out of there without looking back because hit house entombed one of those secrets that were better to remain a secret for eternity and not be disturbed by unwanted curious eyes.
But when the blonde of the group spilled the next words, all of them felt a cold shiver surge along their limbs and spine paralyzing them. "One of us… is going to die soon."
He didn't utter a single missive but in return, his cerulean orbs that were narrowed to slits and looking tormented and turbulent shuffled to one of them and said person felt the thatch of hair along his nape, forearms and behind his ears taunted and stand erect, hollering at the blond alarmingly. "Your fucking kidding me!" Kiba flicked one step back from Naruto seemingly like he was considering the Uzumaki some sort of black cat or bad omen, cursing him to Hell and forth. "You can't seriously believe it that I am going to die in here, no bloody way!" You`re fucked up in the head dude-"
Sasuke held the male`s forearm in an iron impenetrable grasp seeing as Kiba was on the verge of losing it, preventing him from marching to Naruto and fist his hands into his T-Shirt in a fit of denial and dementia, snarling low on his chest in a voice so piercing and darkly polished which managed to tamed him for a bit. "Enough. We are not here to fight between us, now get a hold of yourself."
"Fuck you man!" Kiba shrieked from him and pulled his hand away from Uchihas grip stumbling and almost tripping on his feet and hit a small statue of a mini demonic creature that was resting under some huge filigree half broken mirror, cursing the living daylights out of a taciturn raven haired male. "Let's see you getting a hold of your fucking self when he tells you that you are going to fucking die!"
"We don't know whether this is true or not, so stop acting like a damn child and let`s get moving." Sasuke hissed to the man, visibly annoyed by being teamed with such a pair of children almost regretting that he didn't land on the other team where the others seemed more like his laconic self, minus the mini-replica of Caesar with the stupid bowl hairstyle and the mental age of a preschooler.
Was Rock Lee that dude`s name?
"Dude, I am sorry ok?" Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder and Kiba fought the need to snap at him and slap it away but he could sense regret into Naruto`s voice which was begging him not to take it personally because those kind of flashes into his brain weren't something that Naruto could control. "This bastard here is right, I might be wrong and it must be something with this spooky house playing tricks on me or whatever this genius NASA dude here said…" He threw a peep at Shikamaru flashing him a set of gums and a perfect row of teeth as Shikamaru shook his head at his choice of unprofessional vocabulary.
"Don't worry about it, I tend to be quite volcanic when something scares the living–" Suddenly Kiba stopped as they made their ways through the labyrinth of halls following Tsunade`s instructions and the map with the house that Jiraiya sent to them through email that they printed.
"What are you doing?" Naruto inquired as Shikamaru and Sasuke turned their heads halfway to gaze at the clown pair, not stopping. Somehow, every one of them felt the need to pick up their pace and move out of that hall for even though the place was vast and majestic, with the mirrors placed in certain angles to mirror the other side of the halls and make them look infinite and larger than they were, it was suffocating and oozed of a claustrophobic aura.
Kiba wiggled his nose frowning as his dog did exactly the same and suddenly Akamaru started to bark loudly and it was then when they noticed that this part of the house didn't ricochet the sounds namely it didn't have an echo.
"What is it now?" Sasuke simply couldn't help himself but taunt this idiot so he askew his head and shot him. "Do you smell your death?"
He got quite the glare from the Inuzuka Police Officer but of course it couldn't match his own and this only made him smirk wider, while Shikamaru shook his head. "Go fuck yourself dude or ask one of the chicks to blow you! Don't you guys smell this putrid stench? Yuck!"
Kiba quickly covered his nose as tears prickled at the corners of his eyes and he looked like he was dying of asphyxiation. "This is horrible! What the heck, do they have a morgue out here or is that cemetery giving us a warm welcome gift?"
It hit them in a rolling wave mixed with a sizzling blow that looked like Hell has opened up its Gates and a dragon breathed in their faces. They all covered their orbs as the bizarre unforeseen wave hit them full force. "WHOA! What the HECK is this?!"
"It smells like decaying corpses, disgusting!"
"How do you explain this me, Mr. NASA skeptic on duty?" Kiba, still pinching the bridge of his nose pressing his on his nostrils, barked to the Nara genius who had his face covered with a napkin just like Uchiha, unlike Naruto who simply used his grease jacket to block the acerbic stench and it was worse than sewer and dying animal corpses sprawled along the place.
It was so bad that they could even imagine it before their orbs and it was the reason why the jogged to the end of the hall and stopped before the Master`s bedroom.
"How should I know? It might be from someone trying to turn the heating on or a simple shift in the air pressure since suddenly it is full of people for the first time in almost a decade and this putrid reek is not unusual for such an old furniture and consider that this place hasn't seen any shampoo or vacuuming in a very long time… you do the math." Shikamaru`s explanation was quite weak because honestly there was no explanation for the wave of heated that hit them although it was probably the thing that brought the unpleasant horrifying smell along.
Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to have frozen with his hand on the door, now twisting it and they clearly understood that it was because he was scared or didn't have the strength.
"What," Kiba started and the smell dissipated just as it came –unexpectedly. "Are you scared that someone with a pair of horns and a tail is going to welcome you inside?"
His derisive remark was fruitless and humorless because Sasuke didn't reciprocate like he didn't hear him. "Dude, stop acting so freaky, we have enough of this place to add another bloody prick with a stuck up attitude to give us a heart attack."
"What is the matter, Sasuke?" Shikamaru came beside him as Sasuke crunched his nose, not even acknowledging anyone, and his onyx orbs seemed to be seeing right through that door and that was the thing that made him hesitate which only made the ghostly atmosphere escalate because the raven haired Uchiha didn't strike like someone who begged for attention or someone to flinch back and hesitate. This was the man to go for the fire without blinking or batting an eyelash.
"Hn." He simply trailed his idiosyncratic laconic answer and twisted the knob after inserting the key and pushed the door open and the screech of the rusty hinges was anything but pleasant to hear; it was eerie, sinister and for a moment they all entertained the idea of taking a step back and not have the huge carved oak door fall atop their forms.
They stepped inside trying to tap their fingers against the side wall and look for a switch on and they were lucky to find on by the help of Sasuke`s flashlight. It died on him the moment a pale light from the chandelier hanging above flickered.
"…Well, fuck me sideways…" Kiba whistled low when they all traipsed into the huge abode feeling like pulled back in a movie with English gentlemen and huge castles because it was breathtakingly beautifully decorated, despite the dust and the thick atmosphere and almost irrespirable air.
The furniture was imported and fine sewed in gold and silk, the fractal tapestry in bright aristocratic colors of red, golden, dark blue and purple-tinged the atmosphere with a heavily grandiose finishing, the paintings were elegant and huge decorating the filigree carved in marble and wooden ceiling and walls, crayoning portraits, nature, and landscapes.
The dust was floating from under their heels as the men padded into the room and placing their bags close to the huge four-poster bed, which was enough to easily accommodate all of them, all their orbs wandering through the mesmerizing room, because it was the first thing in the house which was not making their hair prickle in anxiousness, in fact, it was very beautiful decorated.
"You felt something earlier." Shikamaru came to whisper into Sasuke`s ear casually as the Uchiha was the first one to break from his awe as he was used to seeing luxuries and quickly depicting the architecture and the style as his hawk eye was trained and took a seat on the edge of the mattress to unzip his bag. "What is it?"
He was thankful for Nara`s intuition not to agitate the other two idiots we who would cause a clamor and he mimicked his inflection speaking low. "The aura of this place…" Obsidian orbs challenging the beauty of a polished black sapphire gemstone locked with Nara`s equally intelligent olive orbs as he casually stated something that made a knot tighten into Shikamaru`s throat. "…is demonic."
It wasn't a hunch nor an assumption coming from the only one among their team who was capable for reading auras; it was a statement.
"Dudes," Kiba outstretched his finger to the largest side wall whose painting was almost entirely peeled but the colors of claret red and white were visible, emblazoning the image of huge red roses once garnishing the surface, frowning. "Is this normal?"
He pointed to the fine wet lines of what was possibly water trailing along the wall. Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru closed in to the surface, looking at the strange phenomenon. "Can it be rain infiltration that peels from the cracks in the rooftop?"
All the orbs fell on the only architect in the room who was busy sliding his palm along the wall, as his onyx orbs followed the bizarre way of that liquid being more preoccupied with the consistency of it than the source of the spring itself. "Theoretically yes, but there are two more floors above us and the water shouldn't be so clear if it was infiltrations. It is supposed to be darker and more consistent from all the dirt, but this drops of water are… clear. Too clean for an infiltration plus the way it seeps like an artificial cascade is strange."
"Call me crazy guys," Naruto came to stand between Sasuke and Shikamaru, scowling and crossing his arms not wanting to touch anything from that spooky house that made his heart rate accelerate and his pulse high alert. "but this looks more like tears than drops of rain."
All the orbs fell on the flow of the group finding his outburst to be quite correct. Then it hit them!
The name of the house which was probably related to something that the former owner held dearly was Kaguya`s Tears.
"D-Do you guys think that," Kiba`s orbs widened slightly as he peeped along the wall seeing that fresh shimmering droplets of water leaked along the painting somehow making the entire decrepit painting glow with a sinister lucent, whispering slowly to his colleagues. "the house is… crying?"
As if on cue, the crystalline drops of water that siphoned from the ceiling turned from diamond clear to a darker and ominous color, and tinted in the color of blood.
And it started to pour down like an angry fountain almost staining their clothes. "WHOA! What the hell?!" Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba and Sasuke took three steps back barely avoiding to be stained by the weird liquid.
"What is that?! Is this… blood?!"
"This cannot be possible." Shikamaru tried to reason finding it odd that such a liquid would suddenly pour from the wall that had no crack in it. "This looks too fresh to be blood. Unless there is someone pouring blood from a bucket from the upper floor, then it is something else. Leaking rust maybe?"
"Only the first two floors are made of Limestone and hard chalk, while the other two floors are made of wood combinations, which consequently leads me to conclude that they were added as additional floors later on after the initial construction, so no, normally this cannot be rust. It doesn't have from where to ooze." Sasuke spoke casually, but in reality he too was intrigued and not necessarily because he was positive that there was indeed demonic activity inside the house, those he couldn't brush away what his sixth sense was alerting him off, but because as an architect it posed a great challenge to him, so he was also fascinated.
Unlike Naruto and Kiba who were trembling like kittens in the rain trying to act manly. Thank God he had Nara Shikamaru as a roommate and colleague because this would have been quite bothersome and extremely annoying.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Three heads swiveled backward in the direction of the door as they left it half opened in the direction of a shriek that echoed from somewhere the house.
"Was this… women screaming?" Kiba immediately grew attentive, enhancing his sense of hearing while Shikamaru traipsed to the door carefully peeking outside.
Akamaru started to hiss and gripped his master`s shoe, barking twice to attract his attention. "What is it, boy?" The police officer`s orbs fell on the wall where his dog was growling and his orbs narrowed to slits. "What the–"
A sudden reek of blood and acid hit his nostrils full force and having a sense of smell more prominent than the one of a dog, Kiba felt a wave of violent nausea hitting his gut and immediately he crunched his nose and covered his mouth whit his palms. "–YUK! Disgusting!"
"What is it Kib–" Words froze on the blonde Uzumaki`s lips as he gasped aloud in pure horror as he turned around to look at the wall."
Shikamaru and Sasuke who were in the hall trying to locate the source of the noise lingered into the door`s frame to see whatever those two were seeing. Shikamaru's eyes flew wide in the pure apprehension and even Sasuke`s obsidian orbs slightly widened as a sign that even he found that to be too bizarre and without a logical explanation.
Because right there, in front of their gasping orbs, there were four letters staining the wall entirely flashing at them in fresh blood:
'ONCE INSIDE, NEVER OUTSIDE'
While Shikamaru had enough cold blood to quickly pull out his camera and take a quick photograph of the wall, Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba dashed out of the room with the lazy NASA genius following right behind the small group and out on the poorly illuminated hall.
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"Wow, this place is so youthful!" Lee complained as the trio marched to their designated room, feeling the temperature of that wing of the house drop alarmingly low. Neji`s teeth were already clattering in his clenched jaw and nothing would have made him any happier than getting the heck out of that god forsaken place. Plus, he already loathed most of the people here; they were annoying, clamorous and their rowdy demeanor started to irritate the standoffish Hyuga.
"Why did they give us the coldest room?" Sai inquired to no one in particular as his face was for the majority of the time completely void of any expression.
He was simply strolling up the spiral stairs that were screeching of old wood under their heels, pointing his flashlight to every single detail of the decoration, especially paintings and works of art since his trained eye for such garnishing objects would help him depict the vibe of the place and how the owner` s mind worked.
"Because they couldn't give it to the ladies and it`s still better than sharing it with an additional person." Neji tried to reason but he was just as pissed off as Lee because he was not positive that this Sai person was able to feel something; from the way he spoke, it seemed that he was more like trying to be polite and make casual conversation rather than being bothered.
This male was by far the creepiest one from their group of extrasensory persons.
"I wonder why hasn't the current owner paid for the heating system if he intends to turn it into a famous hotel and attract tourists. Wasn't he supposed to start on massive renovations?" Hm, Lee had a point, Sai and Neji inwardly agreed. To be honest, Orochimaru was someone rather insidious and scheming and hardly a person that could be trusted, but his friend Jiraiya had an unbeatable reputation so he kind of relied on the professor's expertise and credibility.
"Maybe the problem with the spirits or whatever there is haunting this house, is way more problematic than we thought. Didn't he say that no worker will feel comfortable working in here?"
"This doesn't prove anything. Maybe he is too greedy and he doesn't pay them enough for them to fix all the things that have a malfunction," Sai stopped for a moment to take a look at some sinister basso-rilievo depicting a decadent Paradise or the Purgatory sculpted in marble and wood and hanging above a fireplace that was positioned on the hall, where their room was. "and judging from how this place looks like, I would guess that they will need a skilled team consisting of more experts to make the electricity and the heating run again or run properly." Since the faint lights from the chandeliers were pale and hardly functioning, not providing enough light.
"What is this? Why would someone put a fireplace in the hall?"
"Why are you asking us? Aren't you the artist of the group?" Lee got closer to the bizarre fireplace, looking inside and seeing that it was too much dust to peep into the hole, plus there was an eerie vibe coming from the sculpture making it resemble an open mouth with sharp fangs. "do you think that it still works?"
"Maybe is only here for decoration purposes, who knows? I have been studying the paintings and the designs on the windows and the furniture and neither of them matches the period wen the hosue was built, which only means that the owner imported them or they are custom made to match his distinctive… taste."
"Usually, the hottest spots in a house with the most paranormal activity include the chimneys and the fireplaces as they might resemble the portals to the world of spirits, just like fountains or abandoned wells and they are mostly used for Satanic rituals by avid practitioners."
In Sai`s and Lee`s minds, they could never imagine how could someone be so casual in stating something so disgusting and villainous. "This is not the most encouraging youthful thought, my dear fellow comrade."
"Take it as you wish. Research is my domain. I have seen many myths during my research but there are also some things that couldn't be explained and if this place is indeed demonized then my advice would be to pack our stuff and leave this place as soon as possible because those are forces that not anyone can mess with." Neji knew what he was talking about because not only has he participated in black magic sessions as a medium but he has also witnessed two exorcism rituals and it was top ten the most horrifying things that he has ever done.
Spirit possession was not a funny business and they shouldn't underestimate the power of a world of spirits that the normal people with their turbulent lives entrapped into the materialistic world of too much noise, clamor, and trepidation and not a single moment to spare and reflect the world of outside perception.
"Neji, do you really think that this place is haunted? I mean… I suppose that if you and your beautiful girl cousin are so interested in the world of spirits, then you are not a skeptical of their existence, right?" Lee took two steps back when a bizarre fine smoke started to ooze from the ominous fireplace as he followed Sai and Neji to the huge door of their chamber.
The lilac eyed Hyuga male twisted the knob, fumbling with the key as it won't slide in smoothly since it was old and rusty, as the male shrugged with a jerk of his broad shoulders, pushing the door open. "I don't know yet, it is too early to confirm or inform the rumors. I would like to take my time and fructify the opportunity to visit this place, as it is branded as the El Dorado for the ghost hunters, but I am sure that we have an expert with us as a NASA scientist to give an objective opinion."
He made place for Sai and Lee to enter the room and it was just like the busty blonde Tsunade informed them; the temperature in the room was chilly and almost freezing. The window was surprisingly wide open and a cold wind was blowing through the diaphanous curtain fluttering and enhancing the uncanny atmosphere.
"Well, forget the rest of the house," Lee placed his bag down in front of a huge cuckoo clock as he strolls to the window to gaze outside. "this place is like an experience to the North Pole." He felt his head spin the moment he looked through the rectangular window seeing that it was higher than he first anticipated and he found himself staring into the depressing view of the back garden where the cemetery unfolded in all its ominous splendor.
He felt a cold shiver discharge along his spine and he was hardly someone to be scared of but he gulped once to alleviate the knot in his throat thinking about the money and the fact that he needed them desperately to save his little sister. "Oh damn!"
"What?" Sai came right behind the man with Caesar hairstyle looking past his shoulder as the man was tad shorter than him, fetching a fine eyebrow up at the vista that has welcomed them. Now they knew the reason why the room was always so cold, even more than the rest of the other wings – because it faced North, hence the position of the cemetery. "Well, this is quite an inspiriting soothing panorama for a positive good morning call." His sarcasm clashed with the unemotional attitude, but he couldn't have been more right.
Neji, who has been busy studying the furnishing of the room came to look at whatever his roommates were looking at immediately narrowing his lunar orbs upon seeing the depressing abandoned cemetery and the huge decaying roses and their thorns entwined with all sorts of plants and lush vegetation that grew in the absence of someone to pluck the roots and take care of the garden, resembling a Jungle.
"The North," He said in his husky tone, as Lee and Sai half turned to acknowledge him since the Hyuga was well versed in paranormal sciences. "in religion it represents the place of where God`s enemies came from, so in a nutshell, it is a place that symbolises the Evil."
"Do you think that the owner knew about the symbolism of the cardinal points when he designed this room to be someone else`s room?" Sai inquired smartly as Neji shrugged once to him, not having any idea since the former owner was pretty much a mysterious man with a huge sinister portrait in the middle of the guest's room and a house with the reputation of an oasis for demons and dark spirits.
"I don't know, but as far as I am concerned, they were quite preoccupied with the symbolism and the Feng Shui culture in that period and I have an inkling to say yes, but I think that an architect could enlighten us."
"So it means that we have to ask Uchiha Sasuke whether an architect takes this details into consideration when he sketches the plans of a home or not, right?"
Neji nodded once to Rock Lee since he knew for sure that in many countries, architects would not design a house so as to attract evil energies towards the future owners and this had nothing to do with their skeptical nature or penchant for supernatural. It was common sense.
"Do you guys think that someone might build a room in a place that is most likely to attract negative energies on purpose?"
"Anything is possible, yes, why not? No one sane will ever place a window with a panoramic view of the cemetery, even though burying family members in your own property or house is something common in many world cultures and it is still practiced nowadays, as creepy and unhygienic and unholy it might sound." Neji informed the two males as they scattered across the room to unzip their bags and checked on the impressive closets and shelves, coughing occasionally as the thick dust was floating and penetrating their nostrils.
"I don't know about you guys, but I am starving," Lee stated as he opened the adjacent room which he supposed was a small bathroom and his guesses were correct. "I will go and raid the kitchen for some quick snack. The meal from the restaurant was too classy for my taste." Which meant that he got indigestion from the surimi and the salad.
"What is that fetid stench?" Sai joined the boxer into the bathroom as Lee crunched his nose upon seeing the bad condition of the toilet and the sink, as it was full of spider webs and some weird indescribable dark spots which were from the lack of usage for such a long time. He was afraid to dare and attempt to open the faucet and see if clean water will spray from it, because judging from the decaying condition of the house, it wasn't such a brilliant idea.
"I think it comes from the toilet."
"Close the door, we don't want to sleep with this putrid smell lingering in the bedroom. The dust is unpleasant enough for our nostrils and lungs."
"Right."
"This is strange," Neji mumbled more to himself than to anyone in particular, but Sai and Lee heard him anyways, both traipsing back to the pale eyed Hyuuga male, eyebrows quirked up in question. "Have you… are the girls in their respective room?" He decided to rephrase the question in the last moment possible.
"Probably, why do you ask?"
"Are you worried about them?"
"No, it`s just that I," Oh God, he didn't know how to say it without losing like a complete idiot in front of the others, so he raked a hand through his long chocolate locks and exhaled deeply, turning his back from the window and going to his bag. "I think I have seen a very young woman`s silhouette near the funeral stone with the statue of an archangel walking in the cemetery."
Lee, who was busy changing his pants to something more casual gasped at the man while Sai who was sliding his shirt from his pale frame stopped to look at the man with no expression whatsoever, but the intensity in his olive orbs signalized that he was curious. "No way! What was she doing? Did she or it look at you?"
"No, it looked like she was… looking around and searching for something which is weird. Usually, spirits appear as a brisk figment which rarely lingers more than few seconds and this is one of the reasons why they are so hard to catch on the video tapes or EVPs but this one didn't seem like in a rush, on the contrary, it looked like she wanted someone to notice her."
"Notice her?" Sai was as incredulous as the Hyuga himself and even Neji was inwardly wondering whether it was his mind pulling a good one on him and making him imagine everything since he was a digger for paranormal stories and the house had all the appeal of a haunted place, or it was indeed paranormal activity going on in this house. "Why would a spirit want to be noticed by living people?"
"Usually, this is their way to either threaten us or communicate and ask for help. It happens when a good spirit is trapped between the two worlds, unable to cross over by itself so it stays attached to a certain place usually in connection to where it died and waits for years for someone to come and free it."
For some reason, a violent wave of pity and depression hit Lee and it was so outré to see someone so flamboyant and optimistic as him sulk but he couldn't help it. Just hearing Neji`s explanation and getting in contact with the vibe of the house was weighing hard on his chest. "This is such a sad outcome for a spirit. So you think that in this house there might be spirits that still have unsolved business here and are unable to go to Heaven?"
"Or Hell." Sai immediately completed Lee`s statement, because, unlike him, there was a very nasty aura diffusing through every wall and every inch of this house which he didn't like. Plus the painting that came to him as a recurrent figment and the result was obviously related to this house, but he was still yet to disclose the frightening out body extrasensory experience to the other peers, because he didn't want to agitate them and alert his colleagues in vain, without dwelling into the story further.
"It might be like that yes, but without someone to read the aura of this place or the prints of the entities that might linger here, we cannot say for sure. This is why Uchiha is such a valuable asset to the team, though I doubt it that a man like him is here for such idiotic activities."
"What do you mean? That he is here solely for the money like the majority of us?" Lee found it hard to believe considering the fact that he didn't strike as someone so materialistic, but then again the Uchiha seemingly was someone very hard to decrypt. "Forget it, that guy is loaded and has a bright career. He isn't here for the money."
"This is only a hunch, but I suspect that Sasuke has an ulterior motive to be here. I saw the way he glared at Orochimaru and unlike the rest of us, he didn't seem interested of fascinated or impressed by the house." Neji got comfortable in a pair of loose Jeans and a simple shirt which he rolled up to his elbows, neatly folding his clothes and placing them back on his luggage, not wanting to stain his clothes on the wardrobe, unlike Lee and Sai who got more comfortable.
"You mean… you don't trust him?"
"To be quite frankly, no, I don't trust him. I think that he hides something. But I am not here to stir paranoia because I am quite not very fond of getting familiar with strangers so I don't question his behavior. We`ll see."
"It`s nearly 20:00 p.m," Sai informed casually placing his wrist watch on the nightstand. "I am going to wander around the house for a bit and get familiar with this huge place. What about you guys?"
"Like I have said, I will check on the kitchen and see if we have enough food for the upcoming week so that we will know what to ask for when the maids come tomorrow morning. Then I will chill into the guest's room and check on the others."
"I suggest that you don't venture too far considering the fact that soon enough it will be darkness outside and there are no illuminating poles around and the electricity is already weak, plus you might get lost and we won't be able to find you. Let`s exchange phone numbers." Neji took his phone out cursing softly when he checked on the battery and the signal. "This is odd. I have charged it this morning and the battery is already dead."
"Mine as well," Lee added right after him checking on his own device, while a curious Sai did it too, with the same result. "And there is not a single line to the signal." Which meant that they couldn't communicate through phones. "Does anyone have walkie-talkies?"
"I think I heard Nara saying something about them or Tsunade. We should get in the possession of those gadgets if we want to keep in touch, otherwise, it might get problematic."
"I agree. I think we should check on the others and call a meeting downstairs." Sai suggested and somehow his proposed made a lot of sense. "We should come up with at least the sketch of an action plan about how to properly approach this topic, I mean I don't want to sound too strict or professional but it is not like any of us actually do have any idea of how to conduct an investigation and how to put our abilities to good use. To me, they come and go spontaneous, but now I have to force myself and bring my abilities to the light on command. This is highly inconvenient."
Lee nodded right beside Neji, all the three men amassed in the middle of the room unintentionally, arms crossed upon their chests, except for Sai who had them slipped into his pockets.
He was right and they both agreed with the genius painter. Even though his profession called for an airy and nonchalant attitude, Sai was quite down to earth and reasonable and surprisingly communicative. "Isn't this Jiraiya and Tsunade`s jobs? To lead us and instruct us? Though I agree that we should rely on them entirely, that man is completely insane and it is about our abilities and not his. I want to have a little independence for myself but yeah, we should definitely meet with the others and try to cooperate."
Albeit there were some highly annoying characters that he would rather not have any sort of touch, like that hot vet with the temper of a baboon or the pair of obnoxious imbeciles.
He was mostly worried for his cousin Hinata because he knew about her inquisitive and curious temper and usually those weren't such a good trait for wandering through haunted places with a turbulent dark secret.
"Well, having established this, we can go downstairs and take care of our respective ta– " Lee almost choked on his saliva when something warm landed on his shoulder from above. Neji and Sai both saw it and three pairs of orbs seemed at Lee`s right shoulder.
"–What the... what is this?" Lee brushed his fingertips on his skin and rubbed his thumb and forefinger, smelling the dark claret weird liquid, seeing that it had a distinctive smell. "Is this… blood?" The smell was unmistakable and immediately a dreading shiver trembled along his spine as the temperature in the room seemed to go under a freezing level, much like the blood in their vessels.
Then, following the instinct`s natural reaction, Lee`s gaze traveled from his fingers to his feet seeing that he was staying in the middle of a pool of dark blood which he failed to notice because it wasn't even there to begin with when they stepped inside, immediately his horrified orbs finding the ones o his roommates, all having a similar shocked and horror-struck expression.
Almost mechanically, they slowly arched their necks to gaze at the ceiling reluctantly, seemingly in a trance like they didn't even want to look up but found it hard to resist the curious human nature and the reaction was immediate.
"HOLLY FREAKING SHIT!"
"WHOAAAA!"
"WHERE DID THAT CAME FROM?!"
All the blood was coming from the hanged womanwho was swinging from the chandelier, having her head dipped down and enveloped into a thick rope that kept her hanging from the ceiling, with her face covered by the lush of disheveled dirty blonde hair which brushed past her waist.
Her petite form was dotted with a white lace night robe that brushed past her bare ankles and the obvious stains of blood mixed into the material of her chemise in a sinister horrifying picture, but what was the most horrendous thing about her abnormally purple ivory skin and the obvious shock to see something like that popping out of nowhere, was the fact that fresh rivulets of blood were leaking down her legs and dripping on the carpet.
To put it simply, it looked like the crime scene from a gore movie.
For ten good seconds, Neji, Lee, and Sai couldn't pull or move a single muscle, or even bat an eyelash as they stood there petrified and unable to react in any way. Their orbs were glued to the hanged woman like trying to depict whether they were hallucinating or this was indeed happening.
Their orbs travelled from the pool of blood that percolated from under her gown hearing every single fall of the amassing droplets in a way that made their hearts stop pumping, echoing through the dead silence in the room, to her waist and the straight hair, up to her full chest that was protruding from the garment, travelling to the penumbra that former under her neck, somehow their hearts started to thump hard in their chest like building up anticipation, then gazing at her bowed pointed chin that was hidden behind the veil of disheveled tendrils–
–The woman raised her chin and her eyes shot OPEN wide piercing them with a glare that hit the viewers like a speeding truck on the highway on nighttime and they found themselves looking into pupil less completely dark eyes, like the Devil was staring at them and out of nowhere as she screamed at the top of her lungs and trash violently, still glaring at them with those orbs that lacked life and looked like two coals without life in it, only darkness and malevolence.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Not even caring if they 're acting like pussies, Neji, Lee and Sai bolted the hell out of that room at the speed of light, tripping on their feet when the carpet crimpled under their feet and almost landing on their faces when they dashed on the door, attempting to throw it open only–
"What are you waiting for Neji, open up this goddamn door!" Lee screamed at the lavender eyed Hyuga, lashing with his broad back but the said male was jerking the knob without success.
"I can't, it's fucking stuck!" And it was because the key was in the knob but for some unfortunate reason, it was glued into the hole and couldn't be twisted and unlocked.
"Oh no, guys…" For one moment, Lee and Neji found it absolutely horror that Sai was almost stuttering and looked affected as he patted their shoulders and made them turn around.
And they did…
Just in time to see the said woman fall on the ground with a deep hollow thump, looking motionless and soaked in her own blood. Time seemed to freeze in that moment when only their gulps could be heard and their hearts were pounding into their ears in a deafening manner. Neji was still trying to unlock the door without success, cursing the living daylights of that place in a way that he never did before.
This is very bad!
"Neji…" Lee whispered to the pale-eyed man tapping on his shoulder so as to either make him look backward or hurry up.
"I can't, it's fucking locked! Someone has locked us all in here, damn it!"
Just when he was about to snarl at Lee for nagging him without giving him a hand and help him unlock the door or kick it open, he felt the two males scurry closer to him and their petrified states made him leave his task as the key won't budge and turn his head.
Just in time to see the sinister woman`s form raise her ominous from the ground with her hands glued to her sides and her legs in the same state, seemingly to float and defy gravity like someone was pulling her up with strings in a slow agonizing manner.
And when she was fully standing, her head fell askew with her hair fluttering behind her back in a creepy manner, piercing them with the same evil orbs. They gulped once hardly alleviating the knots on their throats, as the woman revealed a huge gardening scissors holding it to them.
And then… she grinned at them in the most sinister way that they have ever seen someone smile like that.
And dashed forward with the metallic huge weapon raised in their direction at top speed!
"OH SHITTT!"
The door remained firmly locked.
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"Hurry, let`s get the heck away from this place!" Ten Ten hollered at the top of her lungs to the other female roommates as she threw the door open and stumbled outside with a hand covering her eyes and her nose, holding her breath.
"AHHHH!" Hinata has tripped on something that she hasn't seen coming her way because she had her lunar orbs half closed so that she won't get burned, but Sakura caught her forearm just in time and dragged her along and to the door, exiting the chamber after Ino, who was right after Ten Ten, all the women running for their lives down the hall, in complete blackout.
"I don't want to spend anymore minute in this place, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Ino has relinquished any kind of dignity that she has left in her bones and promptly shrieked like an original banshee, beating an Olympic athlete in joggling from that place, being right behind Ten Ten who proved to have the most common sense and taking the lead into heading to the stairs.
"What is going on girls, what was that?!" Sakura was still dragging Hinata after her because, for some reason, the Hyuga refused to let go of her hand and the rosette was used to be protective and caring by nature since she was a doctor, and plus it was soothing to have another living person within her grasp both the woman running and panting and feeling the adrenaline rush immix with the odor of dread creeping from their system.
"I don't know but I know for certain that it sure as hell wasn't the ocean breeze!" Ten Ten roared right back to Sakura and everyone knew that she didn't mean to be sarcastic or bristle but she couldn't help it since they were all scared shitless about what has just happened.
When the window collided with the side wall, out of nowhere, a sizzling wave of incandescent air hit their faces full force and the most sinister howl of a beast groaning back to them reached their eyes and the four women, unlike Neji, Lee and Sai had much more common sense and spirit and scurried out of there before they ended up locked inside, but on their way out the door from the adjacent children room that Ten Ten was supposed to be sleeping in slammed against the wall with a crash so violent that it made the filigree painting peel and the same blow of ominous irrespirable hot air effulged from the inside like they were inside a crematory or in Hell, with the same sinister sound of piercing sinking ships deafening them.
They didn't waste another second in literarily flying to the door and they didn't even care if Sakura was only clad in her bra and a pair of dark shorts enveloping her half naked form, or if Hinata was only clad in a purple blouse that reached her thighs and only a pair of lace lingerie hanging low on her hips, while TenTen and Ino were all in their bikinis and bras, not giving a single damn if someone might see them in such an indecent attire and the context would have been sexual and comical if they weren't looking like some serial rapist was chasing after them.
Their bare feet were tapping against the carpets of the hall barely touching the ground and they could barely see a thing from the poorly illuminated halls, only using Ten Ten`s flashlight from her phone as a source of illumination and nothing else, running blindly.
"Where are we going?!"
"Anywhere is fine as long as we are far from that room!" Ten Ten started to get a very nasty feeling of someone hitting her back with a leather whip and the burning sensation of a pair of claws sinking deep into her diaphanous skin got her to shriek at the top of her lungs, barely preventing herself from falling on her knees; she knew that she had to keep on running.
"Where are we going, because I can't see shit in this darkness! Ten Ten are you able to see some–"
"–AUCH!" Ten Ten`s hiss and the unmistakable sound of her form, colliding with something hard that threw her back landing on her butt at the ricocheting force of the impact, cut Ino halfway as all the women halt in their running along the infinite hall, feeling like someone has knocked the wind out of their lungs.
And when a tall shadow hit Ten Ten`s flashlight that rolled on one of the corners, near a tall pole sculpted with the most deformed human skulls in wood, growing and shadowing the fallen form of the half-naked vet, the women hollered in absolute terror, squeezing their orbs shut.
"AHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The night has drapped the mansion and the deserted lifeless land around in a mantle of darkness and their first night in 'Kaguya`s tears' was only at the beginning of their… journey.
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A/N: I honestly didn't plan to update this story anytime soon as I was busy working on my other ones, but I suddenly got in the mood for something horror to write and well… here it is. I am not sure if anyone is still willing to read this story or follow it, but as I promised I am not relinquishing any of my stories, so here it is. If you guys are still reading it, I hope you found it at least a tiny bit scary.
Many thanks to: Krysina, ElevatedJewel , Guest, guest, lovesasusakuforever , Rui, Guest, mixxymae59 ,Jen4ever10, TooLazyToLogIn ,Sheep-san Undescribed-Beauty, for the feedback, for telling me what kept you interested, what you liked and what you would like for me to insist on in the future, regarding this story, your reviews and words are highly appreciated, thank you guys!