Haunted - Chapter 3
Title: Haunted
Author: phoenix_zeal
Pairing: Akame, HayaRyu
Rating: R
Genre: Angst, Romance, Ghost Story
Disclaimer: I do not make any profit from this.
Beta: Myself
Summary: It had been a couple of years since Jin and Kazuya met. The mansion was no longer haunted and their relationship seemed strong. Then they got an opportunity to live in a Scottish castle for awhile. Everything seemed to be normal at first but then odd things began to happen.
Warnings: Mentions of suicide [Non-descriptive]
Notes: Sequel to Reflections. When Jin and Kazuya are around the British characters they're speaking English unless specified otherwise. They speak Japanese when they're alone.
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Jin had worried dreams and he was glad that they were interrupted by someone moving next to him. Then he remembered what he’d told Kazuya about sleeping in separate beds. Maybe he’d overreacted quite a lot but like Kazuya he’d been thinking about many things. About what Ryu had said to him, and about Kazuya admitting that he’d kept it a secret that Hayato was eating while Jin was asleep. That had led to Jin thinking about more and more things that showed that his relationship with Kazuya was less than perfect.
Before they’d met he’d wanted a wife and kids as soon as possible. He had only been vaguely attracted to one or two guys and had never acted on it. It hadn’t been love those times because he only ever loved girls. Kazuya stepped into his life and everything had clicked into place extremely fast. How could he be sure that his feelings were his own and not something that Hayato was feeling?
Ryu was right: he couldn’t be sure. Often it was Hayato giving him nudges to be intimate with Kazuya. Everything passionate between them - sex, fights and declarations of love - seemed to originate from Hayato. Jin wanted those things too, though; otherwise he wouldn’t act on them, right?
He hadn’t given himself time to think about what he wanted for the future, because his life had suddenly been invaded by three new presences. Everything had become too confusing and then what happened in the bathtub had made him snap.
“Jin, are you awake?”
“I told you that we should sleep in separate beds”, Jin mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.
“It’s me, Ryu.”
That made Jin open his eyes and look at the one next to him. It was still a bit freaky how Kazuya’s hair and appearance changed when Ryu was in control. Then again, it didn’t happen often enough for Jin to get used to it.
“What do you want? Haven’t you messed things up enough already?”
“Don’t be like that”, Ryu said and Jin glared at him. “I just told you something that must’ve been at the back of your mind already, or you wouldn’t have given it so much thought. You’re not someone who lets himself be tricked into thinking a lot about things that don’t somehow reflect what’s going on inside you.”
“What would you know about that?” Jin asked.
“I think I know you quite well by now, I have a lot of time to observe your behaviour.”
“That’s pretty creepy.”
Ryu smiled slightly. “I suppose it is. So I was right, you acted like that because you’ve been thinking about what I said.”
“I didn’t want to, but yeah, I thought about it”, Jin said. “Why do you want to talk about this? If this is your way of trying to break up with Hayato then you’re on your own. He seems to be asleep right now but I can wake him up somehow, and you can break his heart instead of mine.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do.” Ryu sighed. “I care about you.”
“You’re questioning my relationship with Kazuya because you care about me? Do you hate your reincarnation or something? Are you in love with me and can’t bear the jealousy?”
“Stop being stupid, Jin. You’ll understand eventually. Kazuya seems to be waking up so I have to go.”
Before Jin had the time to protest, Ryu faded and Kazuya looked like normal again. His eyes were closed but they soon fluttered open and he looked at Jin in confusion.
“I thought you wanted us to sleep in separate beds”, he said.
“You must have sleepwalked to my room”, Jin said. He felt bad about keeping his conversation with Ryu a secret, but he didn’t feel like dealing with any questions. “I woke up a minute ago and found you here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry”, Kazuya said, rubbing his eyes. “That’s weird; I can’t recall ever sleepwalking before.”
“Maybe because you were asleep while doing it, or you might have missed me too much.”
“Mm. What time is it?”
“I don’t know, around five in the morning?” Jin suggested, too tired to reach for his wristwatch.
“Can I sleep here or do I have to go back to the other bed?” Kazuya asked.
“Do whatever you want.”
“You’re still angry at me.”
Jin wasn’t exactly angry but he was confused and his heart sort of ached. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore. Could he really spend the rest of his life like this? Sharing his body with a past life, living together with a man and never having children of his own. Perhaps he was destined to be together with Kazuya, but Jin had never liked being controlled by others - even if it was by a big thing like fate. He didn’t want to break up with Kazuya just to go against it either.
“I’ll help you if I can”, Jin said, reaching out to caress Kazuya’s cheek. “You know that I’ll always do anything to help if you just ask.”
At least Kazuya should know that but it seemed like he didn’t. Perhaps Jin hadn’t been the caring and supportive boyfriend that he thought he’d been, if Kazuya felt like he needed to do something special before asking for a favour.
“Thank you”, Kazuya said with a hesitant smile. “It’ll probably be nothing special but I know how much it frightens you.”
“I’m tough, I’ll be fine.”
“I know that you are.”
“We should get some more sleep”, Jin said after a moment of silence.
“Can I hold you?” Kazuya asked.
For a second he reminded Jin of the Kazuya he’d first met: a bit shy and unsure under a confident exterior. Jin thought that he was actually the one who’d always been unsure of everything, though, while Kazuya seemed to be guided by something greater. He seemed to be convinced that he was always doing the right thing while Jin fumbled around in the dark, clutching to whatever was near.
“How did you become so confident?” Jin asked, forgetting to answer Kazuya’s question.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I was pushed into my career by my parents and I just seem to go along with what others want for me. I don’t know if I’ve ever made a decision that’s actually my own, even though I make such a big deal about not wanting to be controlled. You are probably the one of us who’s freer, more confident. You never seem to hesitate or be unsure of what you want.”
“I’m often lost and I don’t know what to do but I trust that things will always work out in the end”, Kazuya said. “I was in a bad place before we met, but I’m happy now and I’m in control of my powers. I really don’t know what else to tell you. I kind of had to make all of my own decisions and take care of myself from the start.”
“I guess I’m just tired and I’m thinking too much”, Jin said, sighing. “I’ll sleep now.”
He rolled over so that his back was facing Kazuya and closed his eyes. What if his life was completely wrong for him and he’d been in denial? It was so easy to let Hayato control him because in his past life he hadn’t stopped to think at all. Hayato was purely driven by his emotions and desires, and what he wanted most was Ryu. It was simple; as long as he had Ryu he was happy. Things like work, family and friends didn’t matter. Ryu was all Hayato had left in the world anyway. So what did Jin want?
Apparently going on a vacation was a terrible idea because it gave him far too much time to think. Thoughts kept running through his head until he finally fell back to sleep.
***
They’d barely talked to each other all morning. When they’d woken up after a few hours of more sleep, Jin had been draped across Kazuya’s body, clinging to him. He’d quickly rolled away and gone to the bathroom to take a cold shower. Now they’d eaten breakfast and were ready to go upstairs.
“Are you sure that you’re okay with this?” Kazuya asked and made Jin more nervous than he already was.
“Of course I am, it’s just a little girl”, he said.
Kazuya had already spoken to James about their plan to go back to the top floor. He’d told them that Alice had spent the night in one of the rooms for guests, because she was too afraid to sleep in her own room. Jin didn’t blame her. He remembered the first night at the mansion when he’d ended up sleeping in his car, because Tatsuya hadn’t let him stay at his place.
“You’re not going to try bribing me with something else first?” Jin asked when they reached the stairs, regretting it the moment it escaped his lips.
“I’m sorry about that, I just wanted to make you happy”, Kazuya said. “We haven’t spent this much time together in a long time. There’s always work getting in the way and somehow I guess I forgot how brave and selfless you can be. You see, I’ve never really met a person who doesn’t demand anything in exchange before. Or at least I haven’t spent enough time with anyone like that to get used to it. I do things alone, that was the way it always was before I met you.”
Hearing Kazuya say things that way made Jin feel bad. They really hadn’t been able to spend much time together, mostly because of his job, and he hadn’t done many nice things for Kazuya. He knew a little bit about what Kazuya’s childhood had been like and still managed to twist him into a bad guy. Neither of them was perfect, but Jin had been too wrapped up in his conflicting thoughts to think about how Kazuya felt.
“I’m sorry too, I overreacted”, Jin said after a moment. “I’ve just had too many thoughts running through my head now that I finally have some time to think.”
“It’s all right, I understand.”
The following silence was a lot more comfortable than the one that had filled most of the morning. They reached the top floor and Jin had to stop to gather himself. He couldn’t see the little girl, yet, and it seemed like Kazuya couldn’t either. Kazuya gave him an encouraging smile but he was visibly tense so Jin didn’t feel much better.
“What should we do?” Jin asked.
“Let’s go through the corridor towards Alice’s room”, Kazuya replied. “I still think that there might be some kind of energy gathered there. Maybe it’s the little girl, though I can’t feel her.”
“She’s just lost and confused and this won’t be scary at all, right?”
“Right.”
Suddenly there were quick, light footsteps in the stairs behind them. Jin squeaked loudly, flailed with his arms and then turned around, clinging to Kazuya’s arm as he did so. It turned out to be Alice. She panted from running up the stairs and looked at Jin with wide eyes and he cleared his throat, stepping away from Kazuya.
“Right, well, pretend you never saw that”, Jin told Alice who was still bemused. Meanwhile Kazuya chuckled and Jin glared at him. “This totally isn’t funny!”
“It kind of is”, Kazuya said but he schooled his expression to a more serious one. “Sorry. Alice, what are you doing here?”
“I want to come with, if that’s okay. I know I won’t be able to see anything and I’ll be totally freaked out but…” Alice bit her lip. “I think I’d like knowing more than imagining a bunch of horrifying things on my own.”
“That is fine”, Kazuya said with a small smile and offered his hand to her which she grabbed onto.
Jin was jealous that Alice could hold Kazuya’s hand when he couldn’t in her presence. They walked down the hallway towards her room, Jin slightly in front for some reason he couldn’t quite figure out. Perhaps he wanted to prove to his fan that he wasn’t a total chicken despite his squeak and flailing a moment earlier. They reached Alice’s door and he pushed it open, instantly regretting it when he saw what was inside her room.
The little girl sat on the carpet in the middle of the room. At first Jin thought that it was the same girl that he’d seen before, but then he realised that she looked a bit different. She was slightly older and her blonde hair was longer and a bit lighter in colour. Somehow she was more solid than the other girl had been.
While it was the fact that the other girl was see-through that had set Jin on edge, there was something about this girl that was just wrong. She held a teddy bear in her arms and it looked exactly the same as the one the other girl had had. Her focus was entirely on the stuffed toy and that gave Jin a bit of courage so he stepped into the room. Kazuya and Alice entered as well but Jin couldn’t look away from the little girl.
“Do you see her too?” he whispered and then wished that he hadn’t, because the girl looked up from the teddy bear and straight at him.
Her eyes were black and without emotion. She stared at Jin for awhile and her mouth slowly stretched into a smile that was somehow unnatural. It seemed like the room itself held its breath as the little girl came to her feet. Slowly and methodically she began tearing the stuffed toy apart, starting with its eyes and nose. Once she’d torn off its ears, she became more frantic as she ripped off its head and the rest of its limbs. Her laugh spread around the room as she tossed the teddy bear’s tattered remains to the floor, but her mouth wasn’t moving.
She sought eye contact with Jin again and the laughter became hysterical as she moved towards him. Jin tried to move but it was as if he was frozen in place. He opened his mouth to ask Kazuya for help but not a word made it past his lips. Unable to break eye contact, he could only watch as she came to stand in front of him. The hysterical laughter stopped and with a small voice, without moving her lips, the little girl asked:
“Do you want to play with me?”
She sank to all fours and hissed like a cat before using her fingers as claws to scratch and cling to Jin’s legs. Finally Jin was able to move and stumbled backwards into Kazuya’s waiting arms. The little girl frowned in displeasure and vanished.
Jin trembled because of fear and shock. Kazuya had one arm wrapped around the Jin’s waist, petting his hair with his free hand. Alice was still there with them, but at the moment Jin really didn’t care about his image or keeping his relationship with Kazuya a secret.
“I’m sorry, I wanted to help you but I couldn’t”, Kazuya mumbled into Jin’s ear. “Something was stopping me. I’m not sure if it was the girl or something else.”
“It’s okay, I’m fine”, Jin said but it was obvious that he wasn’t.
“What’s going on?” Alice asked. Her face was pale but there was some excitement in her eyes - perhaps the latter was caused by how close Jin and Kazuya were.
Jin reluctantly pulled away from Kazuya and cleared his throat. “Can we get out of here?”
Kazuya and Alice agreed and they made their way to the tower suite to talk there. Jin curled up in an armchair and Kazuya and Alice sat down on the sofa.
“Maybe we should wait with talking until your parents have time”, Kazuya said to Alice.
“No, that’ll take too long. Please, I have to know what’s going on. I couldn’t see anything but I think I heard something and I had this really bad feeling. Sort of like I feel at times when I’m in my room alone but much worse.”
“What kind of feeling is it?”
“It’s a kind of angry, lonely feeling. A bit like someone is treating me unfairly and it makes me feel moody and like I want to destroy things.”
Jin and Kazuya looked at each other and the former shuddered, thinking about how much the little girl had seemed to enjoy destroying the teddy bear. She definitely couldn’t have been a normal girl when she’d been alive. What could have happened to her to make her act that way?
Suddenly the little girl he’d seen the previous day didn’t seem frightening at all. She’d just been sad and a bit afraid. Perhaps she wanted to ask for help. Kazuya had been explaining to Alice what they’d seen in her room and now Jin said:
“That teddy bear she destroyed must have been her little sister’s. The girls looked so much alike and the teddy bear was exactly the same. I think that the first girl we saw wanted help because her big sister scares her.”
“That makes sense”, Kazuya said, nodding. “You’re good at this; it is too bad that you’re not a medium.”
“I’m way too scared for something like that. I don’t get why I can see them when I don’t normally see ghosts.”
“I did hear her”, Alice said. “Very vaguely, sort of like an echo but it’s still something.”
“The little sister might have chosen you because she could feel that you like children”, Kazuya said. “The big sister noticed and wanted to steal you away.”
“Great, I’m a magnet for the ghosts of small children.” Jin sighed.
“The presences are stronger; I can sense more things now. Whatever blocked my powers is fading.”
“Good, that means I won’t have to deal with this ghost business anymore.”
“Why is this happening now?” Alice asked. “We’ve stayed here peacefully and others before us have too. The ghosts must have been here for a long time and yet they haven’t shown themselves for anyone else.”
“I’m not sure about that”, Kazuya said, frowning. “You have been feeling strange in your room. Maybe something has happened before you don’t know about. Do you have any books or newspapers about the history of the castle?”
“We can ask dad later. Perhaps I should go look for him now, give you two some privacy for awhile.”
“Great, thanks.”
Alice took a deep breath before she got up from her seat and left the room. They watched the door close behind her and then looked at each other.
“She definitely knows that we’re more than friends”, Jin said.
“That’s not certain.”
“She said that she’d give us ‘privacy’. She must know.”
“Maybe she said that because it’s obvious that you’re still freaked out and didn’t want her here to see. Even if she does happen to know, she doesn’t have any proof so it doesn’t matter. How are you holding up?”
“I went through worse things in the mansion so I don’t know why I’m so terrified now”, Jin said with a frown on his face.
“It’s always creepier if ghost children are involved”, Kazuya said.
“Or maybe it’s because last time I could hear and see ghosts, you ended up getting stabbed. What if something terrible is about to happen?”
“This isn’t personal like it was in the mansion”, Kazuya said comfortingly. “Come here, let me hold you.”
Jin got up from the armchair and noticed that his legs were still trembling. He quickly moved to sit down close to Kazuya who wrapped his arms around him. There had been at least a few good things about the trip so far, but Jin was close to promising himself never to go on a vacation again.
---
A/N: This chapter is the whole reason this fic was written. The scene with the girl ghost was something a friend of mine suggested in 2008 after she read Reflections and scared the crap out of me because she demonstrated it. Yeah, it was creepier irl than I managed to describe it, even though my friend isn't a ghost. XD
Author: phoenix_zeal
Pairing: Akame, HayaRyu
Rating: R
Genre: Angst, Romance, Ghost Story
Disclaimer: I do not make any profit from this.
Beta: Myself
Summary: It had been a couple of years since Jin and Kazuya met. The mansion was no longer haunted and their relationship seemed strong. Then they got an opportunity to live in a Scottish castle for awhile. Everything seemed to be normal at first but then odd things began to happen.
Warnings: Mentions of suicide [Non-descriptive]
Notes: Sequel to Reflections. When Jin and Kazuya are around the British characters they're speaking English unless specified otherwise. They speak Japanese when they're alone.
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Jin had worried dreams and he was glad that they were interrupted by someone moving next to him. Then he remembered what he’d told Kazuya about sleeping in separate beds. Maybe he’d overreacted quite a lot but like Kazuya he’d been thinking about many things. About what Ryu had said to him, and about Kazuya admitting that he’d kept it a secret that Hayato was eating while Jin was asleep. That had led to Jin thinking about more and more things that showed that his relationship with Kazuya was less than perfect.
Before they’d met he’d wanted a wife and kids as soon as possible. He had only been vaguely attracted to one or two guys and had never acted on it. It hadn’t been love those times because he only ever loved girls. Kazuya stepped into his life and everything had clicked into place extremely fast. How could he be sure that his feelings were his own and not something that Hayato was feeling?
Ryu was right: he couldn’t be sure. Often it was Hayato giving him nudges to be intimate with Kazuya. Everything passionate between them - sex, fights and declarations of love - seemed to originate from Hayato. Jin wanted those things too, though; otherwise he wouldn’t act on them, right?
He hadn’t given himself time to think about what he wanted for the future, because his life had suddenly been invaded by three new presences. Everything had become too confusing and then what happened in the bathtub had made him snap.
“Jin, are you awake?”
“I told you that we should sleep in separate beds”, Jin mumbled, keeping his eyes closed.
“It’s me, Ryu.”
That made Jin open his eyes and look at the one next to him. It was still a bit freaky how Kazuya’s hair and appearance changed when Ryu was in control. Then again, it didn’t happen often enough for Jin to get used to it.
“What do you want? Haven’t you messed things up enough already?”
“Don’t be like that”, Ryu said and Jin glared at him. “I just told you something that must’ve been at the back of your mind already, or you wouldn’t have given it so much thought. You’re not someone who lets himself be tricked into thinking a lot about things that don’t somehow reflect what’s going on inside you.”
“What would you know about that?” Jin asked.
“I think I know you quite well by now, I have a lot of time to observe your behaviour.”
“That’s pretty creepy.”
Ryu smiled slightly. “I suppose it is. So I was right, you acted like that because you’ve been thinking about what I said.”
“I didn’t want to, but yeah, I thought about it”, Jin said. “Why do you want to talk about this? If this is your way of trying to break up with Hayato then you’re on your own. He seems to be asleep right now but I can wake him up somehow, and you can break his heart instead of mine.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do.” Ryu sighed. “I care about you.”
“You’re questioning my relationship with Kazuya because you care about me? Do you hate your reincarnation or something? Are you in love with me and can’t bear the jealousy?”
“Stop being stupid, Jin. You’ll understand eventually. Kazuya seems to be waking up so I have to go.”
Before Jin had the time to protest, Ryu faded and Kazuya looked like normal again. His eyes were closed but they soon fluttered open and he looked at Jin in confusion.
“I thought you wanted us to sleep in separate beds”, he said.
“You must have sleepwalked to my room”, Jin said. He felt bad about keeping his conversation with Ryu a secret, but he didn’t feel like dealing with any questions. “I woke up a minute ago and found you here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry”, Kazuya said, rubbing his eyes. “That’s weird; I can’t recall ever sleepwalking before.”
“Maybe because you were asleep while doing it, or you might have missed me too much.”
“Mm. What time is it?”
“I don’t know, around five in the morning?” Jin suggested, too tired to reach for his wristwatch.
“Can I sleep here or do I have to go back to the other bed?” Kazuya asked.
“Do whatever you want.”
“You’re still angry at me.”
Jin wasn’t exactly angry but he was confused and his heart sort of ached. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore. Could he really spend the rest of his life like this? Sharing his body with a past life, living together with a man and never having children of his own. Perhaps he was destined to be together with Kazuya, but Jin had never liked being controlled by others - even if it was by a big thing like fate. He didn’t want to break up with Kazuya just to go against it either.
“I’ll help you if I can”, Jin said, reaching out to caress Kazuya’s cheek. “You know that I’ll always do anything to help if you just ask.”
At least Kazuya should know that but it seemed like he didn’t. Perhaps Jin hadn’t been the caring and supportive boyfriend that he thought he’d been, if Kazuya felt like he needed to do something special before asking for a favour.
“Thank you”, Kazuya said with a hesitant smile. “It’ll probably be nothing special but I know how much it frightens you.”
“I’m tough, I’ll be fine.”
“I know that you are.”
“We should get some more sleep”, Jin said after a moment of silence.
“Can I hold you?” Kazuya asked.
For a second he reminded Jin of the Kazuya he’d first met: a bit shy and unsure under a confident exterior. Jin thought that he was actually the one who’d always been unsure of everything, though, while Kazuya seemed to be guided by something greater. He seemed to be convinced that he was always doing the right thing while Jin fumbled around in the dark, clutching to whatever was near.
“How did you become so confident?” Jin asked, forgetting to answer Kazuya’s question.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I was pushed into my career by my parents and I just seem to go along with what others want for me. I don’t know if I’ve ever made a decision that’s actually my own, even though I make such a big deal about not wanting to be controlled. You are probably the one of us who’s freer, more confident. You never seem to hesitate or be unsure of what you want.”
“I’m often lost and I don’t know what to do but I trust that things will always work out in the end”, Kazuya said. “I was in a bad place before we met, but I’m happy now and I’m in control of my powers. I really don’t know what else to tell you. I kind of had to make all of my own decisions and take care of myself from the start.”
“I guess I’m just tired and I’m thinking too much”, Jin said, sighing. “I’ll sleep now.”
He rolled over so that his back was facing Kazuya and closed his eyes. What if his life was completely wrong for him and he’d been in denial? It was so easy to let Hayato control him because in his past life he hadn’t stopped to think at all. Hayato was purely driven by his emotions and desires, and what he wanted most was Ryu. It was simple; as long as he had Ryu he was happy. Things like work, family and friends didn’t matter. Ryu was all Hayato had left in the world anyway. So what did Jin want?
Apparently going on a vacation was a terrible idea because it gave him far too much time to think. Thoughts kept running through his head until he finally fell back to sleep.
***
They’d barely talked to each other all morning. When they’d woken up after a few hours of more sleep, Jin had been draped across Kazuya’s body, clinging to him. He’d quickly rolled away and gone to the bathroom to take a cold shower. Now they’d eaten breakfast and were ready to go upstairs.
“Are you sure that you’re okay with this?” Kazuya asked and made Jin more nervous than he already was.
“Of course I am, it’s just a little girl”, he said.
Kazuya had already spoken to James about their plan to go back to the top floor. He’d told them that Alice had spent the night in one of the rooms for guests, because she was too afraid to sleep in her own room. Jin didn’t blame her. He remembered the first night at the mansion when he’d ended up sleeping in his car, because Tatsuya hadn’t let him stay at his place.
“You’re not going to try bribing me with something else first?” Jin asked when they reached the stairs, regretting it the moment it escaped his lips.
“I’m sorry about that, I just wanted to make you happy”, Kazuya said. “We haven’t spent this much time together in a long time. There’s always work getting in the way and somehow I guess I forgot how brave and selfless you can be. You see, I’ve never really met a person who doesn’t demand anything in exchange before. Or at least I haven’t spent enough time with anyone like that to get used to it. I do things alone, that was the way it always was before I met you.”
Hearing Kazuya say things that way made Jin feel bad. They really hadn’t been able to spend much time together, mostly because of his job, and he hadn’t done many nice things for Kazuya. He knew a little bit about what Kazuya’s childhood had been like and still managed to twist him into a bad guy. Neither of them was perfect, but Jin had been too wrapped up in his conflicting thoughts to think about how Kazuya felt.
“I’m sorry too, I overreacted”, Jin said after a moment. “I’ve just had too many thoughts running through my head now that I finally have some time to think.”
“It’s all right, I understand.”
The following silence was a lot more comfortable than the one that had filled most of the morning. They reached the top floor and Jin had to stop to gather himself. He couldn’t see the little girl, yet, and it seemed like Kazuya couldn’t either. Kazuya gave him an encouraging smile but he was visibly tense so Jin didn’t feel much better.
“What should we do?” Jin asked.
“Let’s go through the corridor towards Alice’s room”, Kazuya replied. “I still think that there might be some kind of energy gathered there. Maybe it’s the little girl, though I can’t feel her.”
“She’s just lost and confused and this won’t be scary at all, right?”
“Right.”
Suddenly there were quick, light footsteps in the stairs behind them. Jin squeaked loudly, flailed with his arms and then turned around, clinging to Kazuya’s arm as he did so. It turned out to be Alice. She panted from running up the stairs and looked at Jin with wide eyes and he cleared his throat, stepping away from Kazuya.
“Right, well, pretend you never saw that”, Jin told Alice who was still bemused. Meanwhile Kazuya chuckled and Jin glared at him. “This totally isn’t funny!”
“It kind of is”, Kazuya said but he schooled his expression to a more serious one. “Sorry. Alice, what are you doing here?”
“I want to come with, if that’s okay. I know I won’t be able to see anything and I’ll be totally freaked out but…” Alice bit her lip. “I think I’d like knowing more than imagining a bunch of horrifying things on my own.”
“That is fine”, Kazuya said with a small smile and offered his hand to her which she grabbed onto.
Jin was jealous that Alice could hold Kazuya’s hand when he couldn’t in her presence. They walked down the hallway towards her room, Jin slightly in front for some reason he couldn’t quite figure out. Perhaps he wanted to prove to his fan that he wasn’t a total chicken despite his squeak and flailing a moment earlier. They reached Alice’s door and he pushed it open, instantly regretting it when he saw what was inside her room.
The little girl sat on the carpet in the middle of the room. At first Jin thought that it was the same girl that he’d seen before, but then he realised that she looked a bit different. She was slightly older and her blonde hair was longer and a bit lighter in colour. Somehow she was more solid than the other girl had been.
While it was the fact that the other girl was see-through that had set Jin on edge, there was something about this girl that was just wrong. She held a teddy bear in her arms and it looked exactly the same as the one the other girl had had. Her focus was entirely on the stuffed toy and that gave Jin a bit of courage so he stepped into the room. Kazuya and Alice entered as well but Jin couldn’t look away from the little girl.
“Do you see her too?” he whispered and then wished that he hadn’t, because the girl looked up from the teddy bear and straight at him.
Her eyes were black and without emotion. She stared at Jin for awhile and her mouth slowly stretched into a smile that was somehow unnatural. It seemed like the room itself held its breath as the little girl came to her feet. Slowly and methodically she began tearing the stuffed toy apart, starting with its eyes and nose. Once she’d torn off its ears, she became more frantic as she ripped off its head and the rest of its limbs. Her laugh spread around the room as she tossed the teddy bear’s tattered remains to the floor, but her mouth wasn’t moving.
She sought eye contact with Jin again and the laughter became hysterical as she moved towards him. Jin tried to move but it was as if he was frozen in place. He opened his mouth to ask Kazuya for help but not a word made it past his lips. Unable to break eye contact, he could only watch as she came to stand in front of him. The hysterical laughter stopped and with a small voice, without moving her lips, the little girl asked:
“Do you want to play with me?”
She sank to all fours and hissed like a cat before using her fingers as claws to scratch and cling to Jin’s legs. Finally Jin was able to move and stumbled backwards into Kazuya’s waiting arms. The little girl frowned in displeasure and vanished.
Jin trembled because of fear and shock. Kazuya had one arm wrapped around the Jin’s waist, petting his hair with his free hand. Alice was still there with them, but at the moment Jin really didn’t care about his image or keeping his relationship with Kazuya a secret.
“I’m sorry, I wanted to help you but I couldn’t”, Kazuya mumbled into Jin’s ear. “Something was stopping me. I’m not sure if it was the girl or something else.”
“It’s okay, I’m fine”, Jin said but it was obvious that he wasn’t.
“What’s going on?” Alice asked. Her face was pale but there was some excitement in her eyes - perhaps the latter was caused by how close Jin and Kazuya were.
Jin reluctantly pulled away from Kazuya and cleared his throat. “Can we get out of here?”
Kazuya and Alice agreed and they made their way to the tower suite to talk there. Jin curled up in an armchair and Kazuya and Alice sat down on the sofa.
“Maybe we should wait with talking until your parents have time”, Kazuya said to Alice.
“No, that’ll take too long. Please, I have to know what’s going on. I couldn’t see anything but I think I heard something and I had this really bad feeling. Sort of like I feel at times when I’m in my room alone but much worse.”
“What kind of feeling is it?”
“It’s a kind of angry, lonely feeling. A bit like someone is treating me unfairly and it makes me feel moody and like I want to destroy things.”
Jin and Kazuya looked at each other and the former shuddered, thinking about how much the little girl had seemed to enjoy destroying the teddy bear. She definitely couldn’t have been a normal girl when she’d been alive. What could have happened to her to make her act that way?
Suddenly the little girl he’d seen the previous day didn’t seem frightening at all. She’d just been sad and a bit afraid. Perhaps she wanted to ask for help. Kazuya had been explaining to Alice what they’d seen in her room and now Jin said:
“That teddy bear she destroyed must have been her little sister’s. The girls looked so much alike and the teddy bear was exactly the same. I think that the first girl we saw wanted help because her big sister scares her.”
“That makes sense”, Kazuya said, nodding. “You’re good at this; it is too bad that you’re not a medium.”
“I’m way too scared for something like that. I don’t get why I can see them when I don’t normally see ghosts.”
“I did hear her”, Alice said. “Very vaguely, sort of like an echo but it’s still something.”
“The little sister might have chosen you because she could feel that you like children”, Kazuya said. “The big sister noticed and wanted to steal you away.”
“Great, I’m a magnet for the ghosts of small children.” Jin sighed.
“The presences are stronger; I can sense more things now. Whatever blocked my powers is fading.”
“Good, that means I won’t have to deal with this ghost business anymore.”
“Why is this happening now?” Alice asked. “We’ve stayed here peacefully and others before us have too. The ghosts must have been here for a long time and yet they haven’t shown themselves for anyone else.”
“I’m not sure about that”, Kazuya said, frowning. “You have been feeling strange in your room. Maybe something has happened before you don’t know about. Do you have any books or newspapers about the history of the castle?”
“We can ask dad later. Perhaps I should go look for him now, give you two some privacy for awhile.”
“Great, thanks.”
Alice took a deep breath before she got up from her seat and left the room. They watched the door close behind her and then looked at each other.
“She definitely knows that we’re more than friends”, Jin said.
“That’s not certain.”
“She said that she’d give us ‘privacy’. She must know.”
“Maybe she said that because it’s obvious that you’re still freaked out and didn’t want her here to see. Even if she does happen to know, she doesn’t have any proof so it doesn’t matter. How are you holding up?”
“I went through worse things in the mansion so I don’t know why I’m so terrified now”, Jin said with a frown on his face.
“It’s always creepier if ghost children are involved”, Kazuya said.
“Or maybe it’s because last time I could hear and see ghosts, you ended up getting stabbed. What if something terrible is about to happen?”
“This isn’t personal like it was in the mansion”, Kazuya said comfortingly. “Come here, let me hold you.”
Jin got up from the armchair and noticed that his legs were still trembling. He quickly moved to sit down close to Kazuya who wrapped his arms around him. There had been at least a few good things about the trip so far, but Jin was close to promising himself never to go on a vacation again.
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A/N: This chapter is the whole reason this fic was written. The scene with the girl ghost was something a friend of mine suggested in 2008 after she read Reflections and scared the crap out of me because she demonstrated it. Yeah, it was creepier irl than I managed to describe it, even though my friend isn't a ghost. XD