Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Schrecken ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Crawford eyed Ken and the clinging woman and found Farfie glaring at the woman with something akin to bloodlust in his eye. "Hidaka, I suggest you do something about that woman before I have to find a room to lock Farfarfello in."

The soccer player appeared shocked then it settled into worry as he looked to the Irishman. "Hey, let go," he spoke gently to the maid. "Nothing will happen to you, I promise. All of us handle stuff like this almost everyday."

The maid looked up at him and sniffed. "Really?" She appeared to be comforted just by the words.

"Yeah," he smiled. "What's your name?"

"Kyoko Tachiwara."

"Well, Kyoko, you should stay with Brad. I have to go find my friends and I'm sure you'll be fine with him." Ken didn't want nor need the burden of the maid. Plus, with the look Farfie was giving her, she probably wouldn't have lasted long. He turned, heading down the hallway. A glance back ensured that the Irishman was indeed following him.

Brad gave Ken a slight glare as he led the woman away from the room.

"Are you detectives?" Kyoko asked, curiosity shining through her sniffles.

"Something like that."

=

"Where do you think the fuse box is?"

"You're asking me? I live my life out of hotels, Kudoh." Schuldig walked down the hall with Yohji, annoyed at the fact that the lights were out. At least they all had good night vision.

"Tsch, you're useless, Schu."

"Schu? Since when did I say you could call me Schu?"

Yohji smiled. "You haven't. If you want to hear me butcher the German language every time I go to say your name, then I'll call you Schuldig."

The German winced at the butchering of his name even though he knew Yohji was doing it on purpose. "Fine, fine, call me Schu, Yotan."

He mumbled something at Schuldig and pushed open the kitchen door. He eyed the refrigerator as they passed it for the door at the far wall. It was next to the pantry and Yohji was pretty sure it would lead to a basement or wine cellar type area. "This has got to lead somewhere..." Yohji flipped the latch over and pulled on the door. It was stuck.

"Can't you even open the door?" Schuldig grabbed the handle and tugged on it. It didn't move for him either. So, they pulled together and after a few tugs, it flew open, sending them tumbling back into the table in the middle of the room.

"Goddamnit," Yohji hissed, rubbing his back where he hit the table.

Schuldig rubbed his ribs as he headed for the doorway. "The sooner we get these lights on, the sooner I can drag Bradley off to bed." He started down the stairs.

Yohji was hot on his heels as Schuldig led the way down the stairs. It was dark, darker than upstairs but their eyes adjusted enough that they weren't walking needlessly into walls. The blond ran his hand over a wall until it hit a box. "Here it is."

"Good, now we can get the hell back upstairs..."

The blond pulled it open and coughed, a plume of dust flying out to pollute the air. "You'd think that bitch would keep this place nice and tidy." He reached in and began flipping the fuses back and forth, trying to find the one that set the house back to light.

"She didn't seem like the `feather duster' type to me. More of the `bitch boots' type."

"Gods, that is disgusting, Schu." He made a face in the dark and flipped another switch. The lights flickered on, dimly.

Grinning evilly, he walked towards the stairs. "Visual thinker, Yotan?"

Yohji pushed the fuse box shut and headed after the German. "Comes in handy sometimes."

Schuldig chuckled. "I bet."

=

"Matsuda-san?" Omi called into the sitting room on the second floor. It was the last room on that floor that they had to look in. Nagi was pressed close to his side as they peered inside.

The lights flickered on, dim like they were all over the building, putting shapes to everything inside the room. There weren't any people inside.

"N-no." Omi blinked, tears welling up in his blue eyes. They had looked everywhere, so the mess in the other room had to have been the other people staying at the manor. There wasn't anyone else it could have been. "What did that to him?" His voice shook.

Nagi put his hand on the sandy haired youth's arm. "I don't know. We'll figure it out."

Omi turned his face into Nagi's chest and a small sob escaped him. For an assassin, he was taking the other guest's death a little hard. "It was pointless. He was a good man, here with his wife." That prompted him silent. The wife. She must have been in the room too.

Wrapping his arms around Omi, Nagi held on to the other assassin. "It happens..." He patted Omi's back gently. "Let's go find Crawford or Aya, see if they have found anything."

=

"Mmm.. that is just," Ken groaned as Farfarfello pressed him up against the door to Ken's bedroom. The lights had come back on, dimly, and they were part of the way to Ken's room when Farfie chose that point to pounce.

Ken slid his fingers into short, white hair, avoiding the eye patch Farfarfello wore to cover his missing eye. "Kitty tastes so good," the Irishman purred.

"Bet you taste just as good." Ken opened the door and they fell back inside the room. They moved in a tangle of limbs towards the bed, Farfarfello finally falling back onto the clean sheets.

Farfie gave a light laugh, sounding more sane that usual. He wrapped his fingers in Ken's jersey and pulled the soccer player down on top of him.

=

"Tachikawa-san, how long have you been working here?" Crawford pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. He was seated in a chair in the sitting room where they all had been earlier.

Kyoko gripped the poetry book Aya had been reading earlier, turning the volume over in her hands. "A month or so. I showed up and Natsumari-sama hired me right away. The previous maid had just quit."

Crawford nodded. "Anything unusual happen from time to time?"

She thought for a moment then shook her head. "Not that I noticed but this is the first time I was to spend the night here. She... she thought all of you would be trouble."

At this, Crawford raised an eyebrow. "Trouble?"

Kyoko nodded. "I think it was because of Kudoh-san."

Crawford smirked. "I'll have to let him know that."

She blushed. "I.."

The doors to the room slammed open. They froze but no one entered. Crawford stood and walked over to the door, pushing one of the doors closed. As he moved to shut one of the others, the first door slammed back open. "What the hell is going on?"

=

Aya stared at the end of the hallway. There was a door here. He was sure of it. It would lead back into the main hall. Placing his palms flat against the wallpaper, he slid his hands over it, looking for the door. There wasn't a seam or rough point anywhere.

Violet eyes narrowed and Aya turned back, heading along the hallway. He assumed that Yohji and Schuldig had found the fuse since the lights were back on. What he didn't understand was the hallway. There had been a door there earlier.

He glanced at the paintings that lined the walls. They made him feel like he was being watched. It only felt like that when he was alone too. When he had been through the halls with Yohji he hadn't felt anything like this. Aya suddenly wished he had stayed with the others. It wasn't a feeling that came over him much, but now he didn't want to be off on his own.

The redhead walked quickly down the hall until he picked up a short jog. He stopped, lost in the hallways. They weren't leading him where they should have. It was upsetting to him. He was so sure this hall would take him back the way he had come, but it hadn't. "Kuso..." he mumbled, picking up Yohji's bad habit of cursing when he was stressed.

Stressed? He wanted to put it that way instead of saying he was nervous, upset, or even scared. He turned around again, heading back down the hallway. Then he heard a scream.

=

"I say you put that damn telepathy of yours to use and find everyone else."

"Ach, Strichjung, I've already told you that all I get is noise when I try to search for anything." Schuldig chewed on the filter of his cigarette. It was making him nervous that his telepathy wasn't coming up with more than a few emotions. He hadn't been able to isolate those enough to determine what they were either and it was scaring him.

"Then filter through the noise!" Yohji glared at the German as they entered a darkened room.

"I can't! I've tried searching for Bradley and haven't had any luck. Hell, I've even searched for Farfarfello! He has the most unique thought patterns out of all of us and I can't even get to him! It's like fucking static in my head when I try. I'd like to see you-" The German stopped and turned to the blond. The other man had frozen and was mumbling something. "Kudoh..." The assassin wouldn't look at him. Schuldig stared at the blond and moved closer. "Hey, Blondie, we have to keep moving if we are going to find them."

"Aya...." He just stared upwards, utter horror filling his face.

Schuldig turned and looked upwards in the direction Yohji was staring. His cigarette fell from his lips to the wooden floor. "Fuck mich..."

A metal chain that probably had originally suspended an old fashioned chandelier hung down into the center of the room. The chandelier was gone but the chain now held a man's body, bloody and limp. The grey torn sweater and jeans were barely visible but the pale skin that shown from between the tears in the fabric almost glowed in the low light. Lightening flashed outside, illuminating the figure. Wide violet eyes gleamed like glass in the sudden light. Blood red hair that normally would have stood out like a beacon only served to match the blood that still dripped from the unmoving form.

"No, no, no!!! Aya... Gods, no... AYA!" The redhead's name tore from the blond's throat in a savage scream. He didn't move forward, only weakly stood there, staring up at the body of his lover. Panic swept through him, quickly followed by a sickening amount of despair. "Aya..." he sobbed. "Aya!"'

Schuldig couldn't believe his eyes. Abyssinian, one of the most formidable foes he had ever met was hanging from the fucking ceiling. He stepped forward as his companion sobbed. Eyes wide with shock studied the body. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" What the hell had done this? What could have killed Abyssinian when even Esset couldn't?

The chain creaked as a draft shifted through the old house, sending slowly congealing blood splattering across the floor. Another flash of lightning showed the body's pale features contorted in horror.

Yohji wrenched his eyes off the still form and stumbled forward a step, barely catching himself before he fell further into the room and closer to the body. Aya's body. "Oh Gods!!" He felt like he was going to be sick. He glanced back up and tried to stifle a sob. "Aya..." His teeth clenched as anger overwhelmed his despair and he turned to the German. "One of... you... One of you had to have done this!" Yohji's voice shook as he glared at the other man.

He blinked at Yohji. Was the man crazy? "I've got news for you, if we wanted him dead then he would have a bullet through his heart. There is no way in hell we'd do this to Fujimiya. Even Farfarfello has enough respect for the redheaded bastard to kill the man quickly." He felt the tension in the air shift in degrees, feeling Yohji's moods change.

The blond shook his head. "But..." He turned his gaze back up to the body and another sob tore through him. "Gods..." Yohji moved to take a step forward then stumbled. "AYA!"

Footsteps. Schuldig looked away from Balinese's huddled form to the entrance on the opposite side of the room. They were coming towards them at a rapid pace. He couldn't bring himself to leave the grieving man's side but nor did he have a weapon to protect either of them if they needed it. There was a desk next to the door. The German turned and grabbed the metal decorative tray that lay on it. Schuldig mentally chided himself for choosing such an item when he would have been better off with a gun. A gun that he didn't have.

The footsteps sounded closer and suddenly a thin figure burst into the room. Schuldig froze in shock for the second time in the past few minutes. "What the fuck?" he stared at the other man.

"Yohji!"

The blond looked up at his name and saw the man who had come running. "Aya? But, you're..." Green eyes looked up at where the body had been hanging from the ceiling and saw nothing but a chain. He glanced to his lover then to the German. "Schuldig?"

"Don't look at me. I have no clue what the fuck is going on here."

Aya glanced between the two, utterly lost. There was fear in the German's voice, something he had never, ever expected to hear coming from Mastermind. "What's going on?"

Yohji pushed himself to a stand and stared curiously upward at the chain. He was shaking, slightly as the adrenaline from his sudden horror wore off. Suddenly, he was moving forward, throwing his arms around the redhead. "You're ok."

The relief in Yohji's voice almost scared Aya. Violet eyes shifted to the German as he held on to his lover, arms tightening around the blond man. "Mastermind?"

Schuldig ran a shaky hand through his hair. He didn't know how to put it to the man whose body he was pretty sure he just saw hanging from the ceiling. "We just... we just saw your body hanging from the ceiling." He stopped and waited for Aya to say something. The redhead only stared at him. "Fuck, Fujimiya! We walk into this room and see your bloody and battered corpse hanging from a fucking chain!" Hysterical? Schuldig? Not him.

"It's this house," the redhead stated as Yohji slowly released him. He put his hands on the blond's chest and pushed the man away.

"Not you too. Farfarello was just spouting nonsense before. A house can't do this." Schuldig bent to pick up his cigarette and froze. "Was?"

Yohji turned and looked at the German for a moment, then took notice of what the man was staring at. "But?" He looked up to where the body should have been. Still not there.

Aya, his features still schooled into a calm mask, stepped around his teammate and knelt near the floor. He stretched a pale hand out and touched the liquid with his fingers and pulled them away, rubbing the stuff between his fingers. The other two assassins looked to him for confirmation on what they already knew it was. "Blood."

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Strichjung = male prostitute