Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness Falls ❯ Lighthouse Escape ( Chapter 12 )

Yoho!! Minna-san!! Sorry I haven't gotten this up sooner. I've just been having a lot of problems lately and stress!! >< Exams are soon, you know. So, I wasn't really in the mood for writing much. Anyways - yeah got it up! And some finally chase parts.

Enjoy now!

Warnings: Light shounen-ai

Pairings: Ken + Youji, Crawford + Reina

Rating: PG-13

Author's note: Just to let you guys know, I was being lazy and decided to have them jump right to the lighthouse scene, so don't be confused, ne? Genki! ^_^

~~~~*~~~~

Ken held the gas based lantern up high, with Reina, Youji and Crawford following behind, Crawford holding another lantern to protect behind. It had only been the four of them that made it to the lighthouse unharmed; Ken and Crawford made the last connection, filling the tank up with the gas to power the lighthouse.

"Okay - Reina-chan, take Youji up to the top where the light is. You two should be safe there once the light is on."

"Hai." The darker blond took the lantern from Crawford, holding it high enough to keep her and her brother in the light. Crawford and Ken checked through one last time, making sure the connection were right and the gas was poured into the right place.

"Alright, let's go!" Ken nodded, following after the older man up to where the switch was and where Reina and Youji were, huddled around the lantern. Crawford knelt down next to Reina, placing a gentle arm around her shoulder; Ken crawled over to the switch down in a platform under the actually light, flipping it down. The light turned on and began to rotate around in the circle.

"O-nee-chan!" Youji let out his breath, seeing that the light was enough to keep the ghost away. Reina reached her hand out, holding her brothers hand in hers. All too soon, however, the light stopped rotating, the glow dying out as the power ceased to run. Youji whimpered, quickly burying himself into his sister's arms.

"Ken, what happened?"

"I don't know... something must be wrong with the connections! Let's go down and check." Ken climbed back up, holding up his lantern as he and Crawford made their way down the spiral stairs to figure out the problem. Reina looked down at the lantern in front of her, seeing it was beginning to die out; she called to the two men quickly, before they disappeared from sight.

"Hurry! We don't have much oil left in these lanterns!" Ken raised his hand to show they heard and continued on down the steps.

~~~~*~~~~

Ken and Crawford reached near to the bottom, shining the lantern to point out the problem; they checked connection and found no breaks or loose wires. Crawford placed a hand on the brunet's shoulder, pausing him in his steps; Ken looked at the older man questioningly.

"What is it?"

"Take a sniff and tell me what you smell." Ken took in a semi-deep breath, a dizzying, yet familiar smell flooding his nose.

"Gas... a leak, then!" Crawford nodded; the two searched for the leak in the system, finding one of the hollow wire pipes spurting gas, a old rag tied around it suppose to keep it in. Ken handed the lantern to Crawford, climbing over the railing to tighten the rag; Crawford leaned forward as far as he could to give the brunet light, but still tried to keep himself in the light as well. Ken fumbled with the knot, struggling to move the rag up higher over the leak and tighter; Crawford heard something move in the dark, seeing something flash in his mind.

"Ken, come back!!"

"What?" Ken looked back at him, successfully tying the knot tighter and ceasing the leak. He felt something grab him from behind, threatening to lift him up in the air. Crawford swung the lantern at the shadow, hearing it crack and a painful shrill; he jumped over the railing to catch Ken from falling over, his hand coming in contact with rough wounds on the shorter man's back.

// Damn... no light! //

Crawford heard her move in the shadows, searching the area for her, ready to move before she could strike. However, she proved much too fast for him; he felt at his back, sending both him and Ken down to the lower level of the lighthouse.

~~~~*~~~~

"Iya!! Dame!!" Reina panicked, franticly pushing the small gas petal on the side of the lantern to keep it from going out. Youji held on to his sister's arm, watching the light beginning to fade into the dark; he sat back, feeling something in the back of his pocket. He remembered what it was, pulling out the flashlight Ken had given him in the car; he turned it on.

Reina, given up on the lantern, huddled close to him, holding on the flashlight as well. The two could hear a rasp whisper in the dark, but where it was coming from they could not tell. Almost silently and swiftly, she came down on them, knocking over Reina who bumped her brother. Youji had dropped the flashlight, the object rolling across the floor out of his reach.

"DAME!!" He felt Reina's arms go around him protectively, attempting to keep him well covered, as if she could have been light itself. She let out a yelp at the rough hand that slashed through her back; Youji took a hold of her, standing her up to her feet to run. The ghost tipped them both back, falling to the same level where Crawford and Ken laid.

~~~~*~~~~

Crawford slowly opened his eyes, staring up at the mess of wires above him; he sat himself up carefully, wincing slightly from his wound from earlier before. The whole floor smelt like gas; he checked his shoulder to make sure that it didn't get infected or covered with gas. He let out a sigh, feeling it was dry.

He searched through the dark, eyes finally resting on the brunet laying face down on the floor unconscious. He went over carefully, shaking Ken on the shoulder to try and wake him up.

"Oi! Ken, get up! We have to flip the switch!" He received no response from the shorter man. Crawford placed two fingers along Ken's neck, feeling for a pulse; he let out a sigh, finding the light beat against his fingers. He picked the brunet up and sat him against the wall, searching for the switch, knowing it was on this level. He eyed the switch just before a fallen beam, but very space underneath or above to make it through. Crawford tried to reach out for the switch, but it was too far out of his reach.

"DAME!!" His eye widened when he heard Reina's voice. He heard a glass crash he heard a yelp, followed by Youji and Reina falling to the lower level, hearing Youji's voice through the dark.

"O-nee-chan, O-nee-chan!!!" Crawford retracted his hand back, making his way over to where Reina laid on her side, groaning softly from the pain. Crawford helped her up to a sitting position, nodding his head off in another direction to indicate where Ken was seated. Youji nodded, making his way over the brunet, huddling himself close.

Crawford helped Reina over to where Ken and Youji sat, close to where the switch was and sat her up against the wall. He looked to the source of light, which was only the ignition from the lantern and the excess gas that had leaked on to the floor. The gas, however was burning fast - the light slowly fading into shadows. Crawford grabbed Youji by the arm, pointing to the switch just behind the beam.

"Can you reach it? There's not enough space for me under it!"

"I-I can try..." Youji crawled over to the beam, surprisingly enough, he could fit underneath the space that was. He reached out for the switch, but it was just little bit of his reach. He heard Reina screaming, looking back briefly to see the shadows were coming very close to them and he could see the ghost moving very inch the shadow covered. Youji turned back, straining his arm out as far as he could, but he still couldn't reach it.

"Youji hurry!!"

"I can't reach it!!" Crawford scooted Reina back as far as they could go, holding her up against him. A hand reached through the shadows, daring to go into the light; the ghost hissed from its actions, drawing it back slightly. Reina let out a scream as it got closer; Youji reached out again, hearing his sister cry, this time somehow, managing to flip the switch.

The light came back on, lighting up the area; they heard a shrill from above them, as the ghost flew away from the light and into whatever shadows she could find. Reina took in deep, uneven breaths trying to calm herself down; Youji crawled back from under the beam, going over the now awaking Ken, huddling close to him. Ken blinked himself awake, eyeing the light was on and running; he looked down at Youji holding on to him, face buried into his arm. Ken smiled, looking over to Reina and Crawford to see they were pulling away from each other slightly.

"Do you think - she's gone?" Ken asked, hoping to distract them all from this horrible nightmare. Reina nodded her head hesitantly, helping to support Crawford up to his feet.

"I hope so, Ken-kun. I hope so."

"One way to find out." All three looked up at Crawford. Taking in a deep breath, he climbed up a level to where the light was rotating, standing on the grid searching around the area. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he kneeled down to face the others, holding out a hand to help them up.

"It's alright now - there's nothing here." Reina stood to her feet first, taking a quick whiff at her shirt - she smelled like gasoline. Crawford still kept his hand out, waiting for someone to take it; Reina looked at it, before looking up to the younger man. The darker blonde saw something flash behind him, letting out a frighten gasp.

"Crawford behind you!!" Crawford looked behind, but had no second to think, when the ghost grasped him by the neck, lifting him up in the air with her. She hissed from the burning pain of the rotating light shining against what little exposed skin there was. Crawford struggled against her grip, unintentionally breaking the plastic-like cover of the light, inflicting a few sparks.

Unsure of what to do, he reached for her face, grabbing the closest thing he could - the white porcelain mask - tearing it off her face. The mask fell to the grid floor, shattering into pieces as it hit. The distorted, hairless, skinless face snapped back into place, hateful eyes staring at him. Crawford let out yelp at the fear rising in his heart, feeling the air depleting from his lungs.

"Brad!!" Reina panicked, unsure of what to do. She eyed the sparks from the broken light, an idea popping into her head. She looked to Youji and Ken, a determined look on her face.

"Youji - close your eyes!!" The blond blinked, noticing the light blush across his sister's face; but he obeyed, covering his hands over his eyes. Reina took in a deep breath, pulling off her shirt over her head. Ken felt his face heat up, stuttering with his words as he tried not to look.

"Reina-chan!!!" Reina ignored him, climbing to the upper level to the light; she held her gas-soaked shirt up to the sparks, watching the material catch fire rather quickly. She turned her attention to the ghost, getting her aim right quickly before the shirt burned out.

"Hey bitch!! Try this!!!" The darker blonde swung her shirt three times before releasing it; the fiery object landed over the ghost's head, letting out a painfully shrill from the fire. She released her hold on Crawford, the man dropping down to the floor landing on his wounded shoulder. Reina made her way over to him, carefully helping him up to a sitting position; Crawford glanced at her briefly, catching himself from looking lower then he should.

The shrills from the ghost, grabbed their attention; she managed to pull the shirt off her head, but her torn cloak had already caught on fire. The flames burned through her, the shrills becoming louder and higher as streams of green light escaped from her ghostly body. Reina and Crawford held on to each other, burying their faces in each other's shoulder as the ghost exploded.

A long silence passed; Reina slowed her breathing down, pulling away from the younger man's shoulder. Crawford pulled back as well, staring straight in the eyes with her; Reina felt a gentle smile form across her face, looking down at her hands. Crawford smiled back, taking the older woman's hands into his, holding them tenderly.

A cough distracted them from their staring, both turning their attention to Ken and Youji, who both were on the upper level now. Reina pulled her hands away from Crawford's, crossing her arms across her chest to cover what she could, seeing she was just left in her bra. Crawford shrugged off his jacket, placing it around her shoulders.

~~~~*~~~~

No, this isn't the end... yet! Next chapt, I'm sad to say, is the ending one. Thank you everyone for reading this fic! ^_^ It was one of my most successful ones on fanfiction.net, so… Thank you!! =^_^=

Emotional_Hikari