Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ The Ghost of Castle Crawford ❯ 1 ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Terrenis-chan 
Ran arrives with his family at a haunted castle...
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Mystery / Fantasy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.22.2003 | Updated On: 07.12.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.5K | Visits: 503 | Status: Work In Progress
Ran arrives with his family at a haunted castle...
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Mystery / Fantasy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 03.22.2003 | Updated On: 07.12.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.5K | Visits: 503 | Status: Work In Progress
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Scotland.
It was a wonderful day and the sun shone from the blue sky, when a train rode through the green mountains of the Scottish Highlands. In one compartment of the carriage a red-haired teenager looked out of the window and at the scenery surrounding him.
Ran was enjoying the sight, but at the same time he felt lonely. It was the same loneliness he had felt since his father, who was a professor at the University of Tokyo, had gotten a new job here in Scotland and had decided to take the whole family with him. There had been a lot of arguing and fighting about this subject but finally they all had decided to move together to Great Britain as long as this job would last.
Although it was for a limited period of time, Ran felt sad for leaving his friends behind. He would miss them terribly and he still didn't know what would wait for him there.
A loud scream and the following burst of giggles pulled Ran out of his train of thoughts and he looked around for the source of the sudden noise when two whirlwinds rushed past him and a red-haired woman after them.
"Ken! Omi! Come to me on the spot or I'll tell your father what you've done and you know he'll be not as nice as I am." She yelled angrily.
But the two kids didn't seem to hear her and so the woman had no choice but to rush further after them. Ran smiled a little bit. It seemed that his younger brothers were busy again to keep their mother on the move. But on the other hand they always tried to keep her busy.
Since the day of their birth his mother, her name was Manx, had had a lot of trouble with them because of the jokes they played on other people and now when they finally had hit puberty, their behaviour were worst. It hadn't passed a week without any complaints from their school.
This had also been a reason why they were here. His father had hoped that their behaviour would get better if they were in another country where finer manners would be favoured. But Ran didn't believe that it would help. Those two were sticking together too much to change their behaviour at once. Another loud burst of giggles proved his opinion to be true.
"They will never change, do they? What do you mean, Ran?" an amused female voice next to him asked.
Ran turned and looked into the face of his older sister Aya. Okay, she was only one year older than himself but nevertheless. At the moment she was reading a book about Scotland which she had bought before their departure.
"You're right. But nevertheless I'm glad about it. Or can you imagine a good Ken and Omi?" Ran chuckled.
"Oh gods, no. That would be the end of the world." Aya laughed.
Ran smiled and chuckled again. Aya was right. That would be really the end of the world. Then he looked out of the window again.
"What are you reading about, Aya?" the redhead asked after a whole while of silence.
"Oh, it's about the area, where we're going to live. Did you know that there's an old castle in the vicinity? It says here that the castle is haunted by the ghost of a former Lord de Crawford, who disappeared in the middle of the 16th century. Isn't it interesting?"
"I hope you don't believe in something like ghosts. They don't exist. They are just fairy tales people tell to scare each other." Ran argued.
"I know. But it's interesting for me. Maybe we can visit this castle and search for this ghost." Aya said.
Ran resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but didn't say anything while his sister continued reading her book. At that moment the red-haired woman returned with both boys, their earlobes grabbed by the woman's hands. Both boys whined since her grip was really hard.
"Ouch...Ouch...That hurts, Mom!" they both lamented when they were forced to sit down on the seats in the compartment opposite to Ran's and Aya's.
"I'm sorry but when you two can't behave I have no alternative. And now sit down and be quiet! I don't want to hear a single word from you until we reach Crawfordville!" She scolded them before also sitting down.
"But..." the twins began.
"No buts. I have enough from you two troublemakers. And I'll tell your father that you have played your jokes on the guard this time. I don't think that he'll be happy! And I really had hoped that a move to another country would change your behaviour. Seems as if I was wrong. Maybe we should send you to a military academy to let them teach you some discipline." Manx said.
Ken and Omi suddenly looked very horrified and Aya and Ran exchanged meaningful and amused glances.
"But...you can't do that. Please, we do everything what you want. Just no military academy. Please Ran, talk to her!" both boys begged.
But Ran only shook his head.
"Sorry, but you'll have to discuss this subject with her!" he replied.
The two twins looked ready to cry and suddenly became very quiet, dropping their heads. They knew that their mother would be very angry with them if they would play another joke and so they wisely decided to be quiet for the rest of the ride.
*
An hour later the train arrived at the station "Crawfordville", where the whole family was already awaited. Once Ran, Aya, Manx, Ken and Omi had gotten off the train, their remaining luggage in their hands, two men, a younger and an older one, came up to them.
The younger one had a long, orange-coloured mane, which was tied back into a ponytail, and wore a white suit with a modern short coat. The older man had dark short hair and wore glasses as well as a black suit. He smiled when he saw the three boys and two women climbing out of the train.
Then he started to wave and went towards them. Immediately the twins rushed towards him and bounced on him.
"Dad...Dad...you are here. We missed you so." Ken and Omi shouted while throwing their arms around his neck.
"Well...I missed you too, but please let me welcome the others before you decide to strangle me, boys." Shuichi answered at the same time as he tried to get air since his twins seemed to cut off his supply of air.
"Okay, Dad!"
By the time they had let go off him, the rest of his family had arrived. Manx embraced her husband affectionately.
"Gods, I missed you so." She said after a short kiss.
Shuichi smiled and then greeted his other children, embracing them.
"I'm glad you're finally here. I have a big surprise for you all." He said.
"A surprise? Please show us, Dad." Omi and Ken bounced in front of him.
"No, you'll have to wait until we're home." Shuichi answered.
"By the way, you didn't write anything about where we're going to live!" the red-haired woman said.
"Oh...that's the surprise. Just wait until you see it. Apropos, this is Schuldig, our chauffeur. Schuldig, may I introduce my family? My wife Manx..." he pointed at her, after he introduced the younger man next to him.
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Fujimiya!" Schuldig said, shaking her hand.
"Thank you, same to you!" Manx replied.
"And my children - my daughter Aya, my oldest son Ran and the twins Omi and Ken!"
"Hello! Just call me Schu!" Schuldig replied.
"Hello!" Ran, Aya, Ken and Omi answered.
"Okay, then let's go. The car is waiting outside the station." Shuichi suggested.
Everybody nodded and then Schuldig took the most of the luggage and followed them. Outside the station a black limousine was parked. Ran was really astonished, when Schuldig opened the trunk of the noble car and put their luggage in. And from Ken's and Omi's cries of surprise he could tell that the others were surprised, too.
"Shuichi, what's the meaning of this? Why do you have such an expensive car?" Manx asked when she finally got into the limousine.
"Don't ask. You'll see. And the car belongs to our new home as well as Schuldig!" Shuichi blinked knowingly.
Manx sighed and decided to let him surprise her. This surprise couldn't be that bad after all.
So when all of them had gotten into the car, Schuldig peeled out of the parking lot in front of the station, driving towards the promised surprise. Ran looked out of the window while the duration of the ride and enjoyed the changing scenery. When there had been lots of mountains before, they were gone. Now there only were some green hills and Ran thought, he had smelt some sea air at the station.
Maybe they were in the near of the coast. And maybe this move wasn't so bad after all. In the background he could hear the twins, both of them letting out several *Ahs* and *Ohs* and one glance to his sister told him that she was also enjoying the drive.
Shortly after they passed a rider on his horse and then stopped in front of a traffic light. The rider stopped one minute later and waited next to the side where Ran was sitting, whose gaze first fell at the rider's boots. Slowly his eyes wandered higher to check on the person beside him. Higher and higher.
To his surprise the rider was a young man in his early twenties. He had dark brown, wavy hair and wore a long, black coat over his......really tight......shirt over this...beautiful chest...and then these trousers. Ran suddenly blushed really hard.
//Gods, what do I think?//
His amethyst eyes wandered to the man's face again, where they met amused and, in Ran's opinion the most beautiful, jade green eyes. Okay, Ran had discovered early that he liked to look at men and his parents knew and accepted it. But the redhead had to confess himself that he never in his entire life had seen such green eyes, which seemed to sparkle oh so bright.
But now it seemed that the man had noticed his gazes and was now doing the same with him, smiling. The thought alone made the redhead blush and if he didn't know better, he would say that the other one was flirting with him. Not that he would mind. Ran would have flirted more, but at that moment the traffic light jumped on green and the rider twinkled at him before he turned left and disappeared in a small road, riding in full gallop.
The redhead could feel his face heating. Had the other one really twinkled at him? But before he could think about it, the car itself drove straight on and Ran wondered if he would see the young man ever again. A part of him wished it in any case. Maybe he would. But Ran had no idea that his wish would come true very soon.
*
The drive from the station to the new home of the Fujimiya family finally ended in front of an old, but breathtaking castle. But before they reached the entrance, the car suddenly stopped, when a man suddenly appeared out of the blue in front the limousine.
Immediately Schuldig stepped on the brake and the car came to a sudden stop. Frightened about the very sudden braking, the passengers looked out of the window for the cause of it. There they saw the man standing, who looked really frightening.
The man had short, white hair and had an eye-patch, which covered one of his eyes. Moreover he wore a dark, sleeveless outfit and had a pair of garden shears in his left hand. But the scariest things were the scars all over his face and arms and the single golden eye that stared at the newcomers. In short, he looked as if he had escaped from a lunatic asylum.
"Who is that, mom? He looks creepy!" Ken and Omi asked.
"I don't know!" Manx answered, not knowing what to say.
Meanwhile Schuldig poke his head out of the window.
"Jei, what are you doing here? I almost run you over. Really, you scared the hell out of me." He said.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to cut the hedge." Jei answered, suddenly staring at Ran.
"It's alright. I'll just show our guests the castle and then I'm going to help you."
Jei just nodded, still staring at Ran and sending shivers over the youth's back.
//Why is he looking at me like that?// Ran thought with misgivings.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jei turned and trotted slowly to one of the big sculptures decorating the huge garden.
Ran looked after him until Jei had disappeared and the car drove on. It stopped shortly after in front of the entrance and all passengers got out. Every person except Schuldig and Shuichi looked with astonishment and respect at the old building.
"So, that's my surprise. This is our new home as long my job will last. Welcome to Castle Crawford..." Shuichi announced.
"B...But I don't understand...How can we afford something like this?" Manx asked.
"Oh, don't worry about this. I'll tell you. When I arrived in London for a conference, I also met other professors. And one of them turned out to be the present Lady de Crawford. We came into conversation and she offered me to live with my family in this castle, which belongs to her family for several centuries.
Since none of her family lived here for a long time, I rented it for a fair price, including staff and ghost."
The last comment made everyone's head turn into his direction.
"Did you say *ghost*?" the twins asked unbelieving.
"Well...yes. There are rumours that the castle is haunted by a former member of the de Crawford family. Though I don't think there is something like a ghost. Certainly only nursery tales." Shuichi said.
"Ahem...Sir...I don't think that the ghost is a nursery tale. I mean, he has been seen by several family members and other persons..." Schuldig replied.
"Okay, that's your opinion. I'm sure we can discuss this later. But now I want to show my family the estate!"
Schuldig nodded and gestured towards the entrance.
"Wow. A ghost. Maybe we can go looking for him? What do you mean, Omi-kun?" Ken asked his brother, grinning broadly.
"Yeah, right! But first let's check out this castle!" his brother answered while wearing the identical grin.
"Ken, Omi! Come to me! Or are you two concocting something again?" Manx called after them.
"No, Mom!" both boys shouted and bounced after her.
"I can't believe it, Ran. This is the castle from my book." Aya exclaimed happily.
"Do you think that this ghost really exists?" the redhead asked.
"We'll see!"
The girl followed the others and left Ran behind. The redhead waited for a moment and looked at the castle. It was really beautiful. All over the building were lovely decorations and sculptures made of stone and the little towers on the roof were incredibly cute. Indeed, the whole building looked like one of those ones like in those fairy tales.
It was hard to believe that this place should be haunted. Suddenly he felt as if someone was staring at him. But it felt as if more than one person was watching him, one from above and one from the side. Ran looked first upwards towards the windows, which were in the more distant part of the castle, but couldn't see anything except a strange shadow, which disappeared as soon as Ran had seen it.
The red-haired youth narrowed his eyes. What the hell had that been? But there was also this feeling of a second pair of eyes staring at him. He quickly turned his head and there was this strange man again, the one Schuldig had called Jei. He was staring at him again with his single golden eye.
Suddenly feeling very unwell, Ran decided to go inside und to look where the rest of his family was. His search led him finally to a big room which turned out to be the library. He looked around, but it seemed that no one of his family was here. Possibly they were in another part of the building and would be here any moment.
Ran used the advantage to take a closer look at the books. It was all well-chosen literature and from many eras, from renaissance until modern literature. Ran was amazed. He couldn't wait to read them all. Then he looked further around. There was an old fireplace in the corner of the room and above the ledge was an old portrait, which showed a man, dressed in clothes of the Renaissance.
He had dark hair and intensive golden-brown eyes, which gave Ran the impression to look at him. The redhead wondered if he belonged to the de Crawford family.
"You're right!" a young voice suddenly said behind him.
Ran, startled by the voice, turned round and saw a teenager about his age standing there. He also was Japanese and carrying a try with several filled glasses.
"Who are you?" the red-haired teenager asked.
"Nagi, Naoe Nagi! I'm the cook here and..."
The boy blushed.
"...Schu's boyfriend. And you must belong to Pr. Fujimiya." He asked.
"Yes. I'm Ran Fujimiya. Nice to meet you."
Nagi put down the tray and went to the redhead to shake his hand.
"Who is the man on the portrait?" the latter one asked.
"Oh, that's Sir Bradley de Crawford. He built this castle. But he disappeared in the middle of 16th century, after he murdered his lover." Nagi told him.
"Lover? You mean..."
Nagi nodded. Ran looked shocked. He had never suspected something like that here in the outermost part of Scotland.
"Yes, a male one. His lover belonged to a noble family, too. He and Sir de Crawford lived here in seclusion. But one day his lover had been found dead here in front of the hearth. He had bled to death because of a slit throat. Sir Bradley himself on the other hand had disappeared and no one has ever seen him again since this time. But at the night you can hear his ghost rumble in the whole castle.
Do you see the big stain on the floor in front of the fireside? That's where his lover had died and that's his blood."
"Really?" Ran asked, just now noticing the dark red spot, which seemed to dominate the floor in front of the portrait.
"Yes. No one was able to remove it until now."
"Have you ever seen him?" Ran asked curiously.
"...Yes. Once or twice. It wasn't a pleasant experience. But most of the time he's quiet. But then he likes to frighten newcomers or members of his family. That's also the reason why no one wanted to live here for the last 100 years. Only now and then someone stayed over night. But they left helter-skelter the next day. And now you're here. You're the first inhabitants for a long time."
Nagi ended his story. Then he returned to his tray and took a glass in his hand.
"Do you want a glass of orange juice?" he then asked.
"Yes, thanks!"
Ran went to the teenager, not noticing that the eyes of portrait began to move and followed him. He took his glass and began to drink. One minute later several voices could be heard and the missing rest of the Fujimiya family came in, followed by Schuldig.
"Ran, where have you been? You missed a great tour through the castle. Schuldig told us everything about the ghost." Ken said and grabbed a glass.
"Yes, it was really interesting." Aya replied and also took a glass.
"Sorry." Ran responded.
"Pr. Fujimiya, the dinner's ready in an hour." Nagi said, taking the now empty tray and then disappeared.
"Who was that?" Manx asked.
"That's Nagi. He's the other one of the staff here and the cook to be exactly. Then it's only Jei. He's the gardener and from Ireland. Don't worry. He's harmless unless you annoy him!" Schuldig spoke with a meaningful glance at Omi and Ken, who both were grinning broadly.
"Apropos, I promised to help him. Just make yourself comfortable. I'm back in an hour. If you need something, Nagi is in the kitchen!" he excused himself.
With these words he went out of the room and left the Fujimiyas alone. After that every member looked for a suited seating accommodation.
"I must say, I didn't think that it would be nice here, Shuichi. Why don't we all go for a walk together tomorrow? Just to become acquainted with the people and the landscape here." Manx asked.
"Okay. Why not?" this one answered.
Then the twins suddenly yelled something.
"Hey, Mom. Here's that blood stain Schu was talking about." Ken cried, indicating at the dark stain on the floor.
Immediately everyone except Ran got up to take a look at it.
"Hmmm, you're right. And no one was really able to remove this mark? Maybe I can. Aya, please give me the small blue bottle which is in my handbag." The red-haired woman asked her daughter.
Aya nodded and rushed to Manx' handbag to get she had asked for. She found it quickly and passed the bottle to her mother. Meanwhile Ran had also joined them, but he didn't think that it was a good idea to try to remove the blood. The redhead still had this bad feeling.
Manx dripped a few drops from the bottle on the stain and then took two tissues to rub on the stain. It disappeared in less than one minute. But at the same moment a loud thunder sounded and the lights of the room began to flicker, scaring everyone in the library.
Then Nagi came rushing in.
"What happened? I was just in the kitchen, when the lights flickered and I heard some thunder." He asked.
"I don't know. It happened when I removed the blood stain." Manx said.
The Japanese's eyes went wide and he paled visibly. Slowly he went to them.
"Y...You removed the blood stain?" he asked, not believing his eyes and ears.
But when he looked at the spot on the floor, he couldn't see the notorious blood stain anymore.
"O...O...Oh my god. I have to tell Schu this." He stuttered and fled from the room.
"What's with him?" Manx asked.
But no one knew an answer.
*
Outside the castle Jei and Schuldig were busy to cut the hedges when they heard the rumble inside the building. But since it rumbled nearly every day, they didn't take notice of it and ignored it. At least until Nagi came running out of the castle, shouting for Schuldig. Immediately this one stopped cutting and waited for his boyfriend.
"What's going on, Nagi? Did something happen?" he asked worried.
Nagi tried to catch his breath when he answered.
"It's gone. She removed it." He gasped.
"What is gone?"
"The blood stain. Mrs. Fujimiya removed the blood stain and at the same moment the lights began to flicker and it thundered. Oh Schu, I'm afraid. *He* will be so upset and you know what he will do." Nagi began to cry, clinging to Schuldig.
Schuldig didn't know what to say. He only looked wide-eyed at Jei, who was mirroring his reaction. At first he had thought his boyfriend was joking but on the other side would he never make a joke about something so serious. And so he tried to calm Nagi down by stroking his hair.
"Shhh...It's okay. Everything will be okay, Nagi-chan." He whispered.
Meanwhile Jei looked at the sky above the castle, which suddenly seemed so dark, although one minute ago the sun had shone yet.
"This means trouble. Let's hope that the old fellow doesn't take it too personally." Schuldig finally said.
Jei just nodded agreeing.
*
Somewhere in the darkest parts of Castle Crawford, where no human being has been before, was a hidden chamber, which was more than 400 years old. In this chamber was nothing than an old and rotten plank bed. On this bed sat a figure, the shadow of a man, dressed in old-fashioned clothes and reading an ancient book.
It was the place where the ghost of Sir Bradley de Crawford generally stayed during the day and his prison for the last 450 years. But today wasn't a day like usually. There had arrived new inhabitants as much as he had heard from the stuff. People from Japan. Although he never left his place at day, he had taken the risk and sneaked out of his chamber to take a look at them.
But he had only seen a red-headed teenager and this young cook, Nagi. However, when he had seen the teenager, he suddenly had had a strange feeling. This boy had reminded him so much of his dead lover. That was also the reason why he tolerated Schuldig and the others. His lover also had had red hair.
The ghost sighed. He missed him so. And it was his fault that his lover was dead. He continued to read when a strange feeling hit him. And it had to do with the blood stain. Brad got up and made his way through the walls of his prison and the other ones until he reached the library and looked through his portrait. What he saw shocked him to the core.
Crawford couldn't believe it. Someone had removed the famous de Crawford blood stain. No one ever had been able to remove it but now he was gone. Removed by this red-haired woman. Anger and hate flooded suddenly through his ghostly body. How could she dare remove the de Crawford stain? How could she dare...?
The anger suddenly became rampant and let the lights flicker and thunder in the whole castle. How could this foreign woman dare to remove the blood of his dead lover? Furiously Brad disappeared and somehow got back to his chamber. He was furious and he simply couldn't tolerate this. Sir Bradley de Crawford would show them what it meant to anger him. Tonight he would show them why everyone feared him. Tonight.
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Okay, that was Part I and I know it sucks. But don't worry, Duke Youji will also appear. Did you like it? If I shall continue this Fic, then write me:
Terrenis-sama@web.de
Ja ne!
^^ Terrenis-chan ^.^
Scotland.
It was a wonderful day and the sun shone from the blue sky, when a train rode through the green mountains of the Scottish Highlands. In one compartment of the carriage a red-haired teenager looked out of the window and at the scenery surrounding him.
Ran was enjoying the sight, but at the same time he felt lonely. It was the same loneliness he had felt since his father, who was a professor at the University of Tokyo, had gotten a new job here in Scotland and had decided to take the whole family with him. There had been a lot of arguing and fighting about this subject but finally they all had decided to move together to Great Britain as long as this job would last.
Although it was for a limited period of time, Ran felt sad for leaving his friends behind. He would miss them terribly and he still didn't know what would wait for him there.
A loud scream and the following burst of giggles pulled Ran out of his train of thoughts and he looked around for the source of the sudden noise when two whirlwinds rushed past him and a red-haired woman after them.
"Ken! Omi! Come to me on the spot or I'll tell your father what you've done and you know he'll be not as nice as I am." She yelled angrily.
But the two kids didn't seem to hear her and so the woman had no choice but to rush further after them. Ran smiled a little bit. It seemed that his younger brothers were busy again to keep their mother on the move. But on the other hand they always tried to keep her busy.
Since the day of their birth his mother, her name was Manx, had had a lot of trouble with them because of the jokes they played on other people and now when they finally had hit puberty, their behaviour were worst. It hadn't passed a week without any complaints from their school.
This had also been a reason why they were here. His father had hoped that their behaviour would get better if they were in another country where finer manners would be favoured. But Ran didn't believe that it would help. Those two were sticking together too much to change their behaviour at once. Another loud burst of giggles proved his opinion to be true.
"They will never change, do they? What do you mean, Ran?" an amused female voice next to him asked.
Ran turned and looked into the face of his older sister Aya. Okay, she was only one year older than himself but nevertheless. At the moment she was reading a book about Scotland which she had bought before their departure.
"You're right. But nevertheless I'm glad about it. Or can you imagine a good Ken and Omi?" Ran chuckled.
"Oh gods, no. That would be the end of the world." Aya laughed.
Ran smiled and chuckled again. Aya was right. That would be really the end of the world. Then he looked out of the window again.
"What are you reading about, Aya?" the redhead asked after a whole while of silence.
"Oh, it's about the area, where we're going to live. Did you know that there's an old castle in the vicinity? It says here that the castle is haunted by the ghost of a former Lord de Crawford, who disappeared in the middle of the 16th century. Isn't it interesting?"
"I hope you don't believe in something like ghosts. They don't exist. They are just fairy tales people tell to scare each other." Ran argued.
"I know. But it's interesting for me. Maybe we can visit this castle and search for this ghost." Aya said.
Ran resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but didn't say anything while his sister continued reading her book. At that moment the red-haired woman returned with both boys, their earlobes grabbed by the woman's hands. Both boys whined since her grip was really hard.
"Ouch...Ouch...That hurts, Mom!" they both lamented when they were forced to sit down on the seats in the compartment opposite to Ran's and Aya's.
"I'm sorry but when you two can't behave I have no alternative. And now sit down and be quiet! I don't want to hear a single word from you until we reach Crawfordville!" She scolded them before also sitting down.
"But..." the twins began.
"No buts. I have enough from you two troublemakers. And I'll tell your father that you have played your jokes on the guard this time. I don't think that he'll be happy! And I really had hoped that a move to another country would change your behaviour. Seems as if I was wrong. Maybe we should send you to a military academy to let them teach you some discipline." Manx said.
Ken and Omi suddenly looked very horrified and Aya and Ran exchanged meaningful and amused glances.
"But...you can't do that. Please, we do everything what you want. Just no military academy. Please Ran, talk to her!" both boys begged.
But Ran only shook his head.
"Sorry, but you'll have to discuss this subject with her!" he replied.
The two twins looked ready to cry and suddenly became very quiet, dropping their heads. They knew that their mother would be very angry with them if they would play another joke and so they wisely decided to be quiet for the rest of the ride.
*
An hour later the train arrived at the station "Crawfordville", where the whole family was already awaited. Once Ran, Aya, Manx, Ken and Omi had gotten off the train, their remaining luggage in their hands, two men, a younger and an older one, came up to them.
The younger one had a long, orange-coloured mane, which was tied back into a ponytail, and wore a white suit with a modern short coat. The older man had dark short hair and wore glasses as well as a black suit. He smiled when he saw the three boys and two women climbing out of the train.
Then he started to wave and went towards them. Immediately the twins rushed towards him and bounced on him.
"Dad...Dad...you are here. We missed you so." Ken and Omi shouted while throwing their arms around his neck.
"Well...I missed you too, but please let me welcome the others before you decide to strangle me, boys." Shuichi answered at the same time as he tried to get air since his twins seemed to cut off his supply of air.
"Okay, Dad!"
By the time they had let go off him, the rest of his family had arrived. Manx embraced her husband affectionately.
"Gods, I missed you so." She said after a short kiss.
Shuichi smiled and then greeted his other children, embracing them.
"I'm glad you're finally here. I have a big surprise for you all." He said.
"A surprise? Please show us, Dad." Omi and Ken bounced in front of him.
"No, you'll have to wait until we're home." Shuichi answered.
"By the way, you didn't write anything about where we're going to live!" the red-haired woman said.
"Oh...that's the surprise. Just wait until you see it. Apropos, this is Schuldig, our chauffeur. Schuldig, may I introduce my family? My wife Manx..." he pointed at her, after he introduced the younger man next to him.
"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Fujimiya!" Schuldig said, shaking her hand.
"Thank you, same to you!" Manx replied.
"And my children - my daughter Aya, my oldest son Ran and the twins Omi and Ken!"
"Hello! Just call me Schu!" Schuldig replied.
"Hello!" Ran, Aya, Ken and Omi answered.
"Okay, then let's go. The car is waiting outside the station." Shuichi suggested.
Everybody nodded and then Schuldig took the most of the luggage and followed them. Outside the station a black limousine was parked. Ran was really astonished, when Schuldig opened the trunk of the noble car and put their luggage in. And from Ken's and Omi's cries of surprise he could tell that the others were surprised, too.
"Shuichi, what's the meaning of this? Why do you have such an expensive car?" Manx asked when she finally got into the limousine.
"Don't ask. You'll see. And the car belongs to our new home as well as Schuldig!" Shuichi blinked knowingly.
Manx sighed and decided to let him surprise her. This surprise couldn't be that bad after all.
So when all of them had gotten into the car, Schuldig peeled out of the parking lot in front of the station, driving towards the promised surprise. Ran looked out of the window while the duration of the ride and enjoyed the changing scenery. When there had been lots of mountains before, they were gone. Now there only were some green hills and Ran thought, he had smelt some sea air at the station.
Maybe they were in the near of the coast. And maybe this move wasn't so bad after all. In the background he could hear the twins, both of them letting out several *Ahs* and *Ohs* and one glance to his sister told him that she was also enjoying the drive.
Shortly after they passed a rider on his horse and then stopped in front of a traffic light. The rider stopped one minute later and waited next to the side where Ran was sitting, whose gaze first fell at the rider's boots. Slowly his eyes wandered higher to check on the person beside him. Higher and higher.
To his surprise the rider was a young man in his early twenties. He had dark brown, wavy hair and wore a long, black coat over his......really tight......shirt over this...beautiful chest...and then these trousers. Ran suddenly blushed really hard.
//Gods, what do I think?//
His amethyst eyes wandered to the man's face again, where they met amused and, in Ran's opinion the most beautiful, jade green eyes. Okay, Ran had discovered early that he liked to look at men and his parents knew and accepted it. But the redhead had to confess himself that he never in his entire life had seen such green eyes, which seemed to sparkle oh so bright.
But now it seemed that the man had noticed his gazes and was now doing the same with him, smiling. The thought alone made the redhead blush and if he didn't know better, he would say that the other one was flirting with him. Not that he would mind. Ran would have flirted more, but at that moment the traffic light jumped on green and the rider twinkled at him before he turned left and disappeared in a small road, riding in full gallop.
The redhead could feel his face heating. Had the other one really twinkled at him? But before he could think about it, the car itself drove straight on and Ran wondered if he would see the young man ever again. A part of him wished it in any case. Maybe he would. But Ran had no idea that his wish would come true very soon.
*
The drive from the station to the new home of the Fujimiya family finally ended in front of an old, but breathtaking castle. But before they reached the entrance, the car suddenly stopped, when a man suddenly appeared out of the blue in front the limousine.
Immediately Schuldig stepped on the brake and the car came to a sudden stop. Frightened about the very sudden braking, the passengers looked out of the window for the cause of it. There they saw the man standing, who looked really frightening.
The man had short, white hair and had an eye-patch, which covered one of his eyes. Moreover he wore a dark, sleeveless outfit and had a pair of garden shears in his left hand. But the scariest things were the scars all over his face and arms and the single golden eye that stared at the newcomers. In short, he looked as if he had escaped from a lunatic asylum.
"Who is that, mom? He looks creepy!" Ken and Omi asked.
"I don't know!" Manx answered, not knowing what to say.
Meanwhile Schuldig poke his head out of the window.
"Jei, what are you doing here? I almost run you over. Really, you scared the hell out of me." He said.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to cut the hedge." Jei answered, suddenly staring at Ran.
"It's alright. I'll just show our guests the castle and then I'm going to help you."
Jei just nodded, still staring at Ran and sending shivers over the youth's back.
//Why is he looking at me like that?// Ran thought with misgivings.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jei turned and trotted slowly to one of the big sculptures decorating the huge garden.
Ran looked after him until Jei had disappeared and the car drove on. It stopped shortly after in front of the entrance and all passengers got out. Every person except Schuldig and Shuichi looked with astonishment and respect at the old building.
"So, that's my surprise. This is our new home as long my job will last. Welcome to Castle Crawford..." Shuichi announced.
"B...But I don't understand...How can we afford something like this?" Manx asked.
"Oh, don't worry about this. I'll tell you. When I arrived in London for a conference, I also met other professors. And one of them turned out to be the present Lady de Crawford. We came into conversation and she offered me to live with my family in this castle, which belongs to her family for several centuries.
Since none of her family lived here for a long time, I rented it for a fair price, including staff and ghost."
The last comment made everyone's head turn into his direction.
"Did you say *ghost*?" the twins asked unbelieving.
"Well...yes. There are rumours that the castle is haunted by a former member of the de Crawford family. Though I don't think there is something like a ghost. Certainly only nursery tales." Shuichi said.
"Ahem...Sir...I don't think that the ghost is a nursery tale. I mean, he has been seen by several family members and other persons..." Schuldig replied.
"Okay, that's your opinion. I'm sure we can discuss this later. But now I want to show my family the estate!"
Schuldig nodded and gestured towards the entrance.
"Wow. A ghost. Maybe we can go looking for him? What do you mean, Omi-kun?" Ken asked his brother, grinning broadly.
"Yeah, right! But first let's check out this castle!" his brother answered while wearing the identical grin.
"Ken, Omi! Come to me! Or are you two concocting something again?" Manx called after them.
"No, Mom!" both boys shouted and bounced after her.
"I can't believe it, Ran. This is the castle from my book." Aya exclaimed happily.
"Do you think that this ghost really exists?" the redhead asked.
"We'll see!"
The girl followed the others and left Ran behind. The redhead waited for a moment and looked at the castle. It was really beautiful. All over the building were lovely decorations and sculptures made of stone and the little towers on the roof were incredibly cute. Indeed, the whole building looked like one of those ones like in those fairy tales.
It was hard to believe that this place should be haunted. Suddenly he felt as if someone was staring at him. But it felt as if more than one person was watching him, one from above and one from the side. Ran looked first upwards towards the windows, which were in the more distant part of the castle, but couldn't see anything except a strange shadow, which disappeared as soon as Ran had seen it.
The red-haired youth narrowed his eyes. What the hell had that been? But there was also this feeling of a second pair of eyes staring at him. He quickly turned his head and there was this strange man again, the one Schuldig had called Jei. He was staring at him again with his single golden eye.
Suddenly feeling very unwell, Ran decided to go inside und to look where the rest of his family was. His search led him finally to a big room which turned out to be the library. He looked around, but it seemed that no one of his family was here. Possibly they were in another part of the building and would be here any moment.
Ran used the advantage to take a closer look at the books. It was all well-chosen literature and from many eras, from renaissance until modern literature. Ran was amazed. He couldn't wait to read them all. Then he looked further around. There was an old fireplace in the corner of the room and above the ledge was an old portrait, which showed a man, dressed in clothes of the Renaissance.
He had dark hair and intensive golden-brown eyes, which gave Ran the impression to look at him. The redhead wondered if he belonged to the de Crawford family.
"You're right!" a young voice suddenly said behind him.
Ran, startled by the voice, turned round and saw a teenager about his age standing there. He also was Japanese and carrying a try with several filled glasses.
"Who are you?" the red-haired teenager asked.
"Nagi, Naoe Nagi! I'm the cook here and..."
The boy blushed.
"...Schu's boyfriend. And you must belong to Pr. Fujimiya." He asked.
"Yes. I'm Ran Fujimiya. Nice to meet you."
Nagi put down the tray and went to the redhead to shake his hand.
"Who is the man on the portrait?" the latter one asked.
"Oh, that's Sir Bradley de Crawford. He built this castle. But he disappeared in the middle of 16th century, after he murdered his lover." Nagi told him.
"Lover? You mean..."
Nagi nodded. Ran looked shocked. He had never suspected something like that here in the outermost part of Scotland.
"Yes, a male one. His lover belonged to a noble family, too. He and Sir de Crawford lived here in seclusion. But one day his lover had been found dead here in front of the hearth. He had bled to death because of a slit throat. Sir Bradley himself on the other hand had disappeared and no one has ever seen him again since this time. But at the night you can hear his ghost rumble in the whole castle.
Do you see the big stain on the floor in front of the fireside? That's where his lover had died and that's his blood."
"Really?" Ran asked, just now noticing the dark red spot, which seemed to dominate the floor in front of the portrait.
"Yes. No one was able to remove it until now."
"Have you ever seen him?" Ran asked curiously.
"...Yes. Once or twice. It wasn't a pleasant experience. But most of the time he's quiet. But then he likes to frighten newcomers or members of his family. That's also the reason why no one wanted to live here for the last 100 years. Only now and then someone stayed over night. But they left helter-skelter the next day. And now you're here. You're the first inhabitants for a long time."
Nagi ended his story. Then he returned to his tray and took a glass in his hand.
"Do you want a glass of orange juice?" he then asked.
"Yes, thanks!"
Ran went to the teenager, not noticing that the eyes of portrait began to move and followed him. He took his glass and began to drink. One minute later several voices could be heard and the missing rest of the Fujimiya family came in, followed by Schuldig.
"Ran, where have you been? You missed a great tour through the castle. Schuldig told us everything about the ghost." Ken said and grabbed a glass.
"Yes, it was really interesting." Aya replied and also took a glass.
"Sorry." Ran responded.
"Pr. Fujimiya, the dinner's ready in an hour." Nagi said, taking the now empty tray and then disappeared.
"Who was that?" Manx asked.
"That's Nagi. He's the other one of the staff here and the cook to be exactly. Then it's only Jei. He's the gardener and from Ireland. Don't worry. He's harmless unless you annoy him!" Schuldig spoke with a meaningful glance at Omi and Ken, who both were grinning broadly.
"Apropos, I promised to help him. Just make yourself comfortable. I'm back in an hour. If you need something, Nagi is in the kitchen!" he excused himself.
With these words he went out of the room and left the Fujimiyas alone. After that every member looked for a suited seating accommodation.
"I must say, I didn't think that it would be nice here, Shuichi. Why don't we all go for a walk together tomorrow? Just to become acquainted with the people and the landscape here." Manx asked.
"Okay. Why not?" this one answered.
Then the twins suddenly yelled something.
"Hey, Mom. Here's that blood stain Schu was talking about." Ken cried, indicating at the dark stain on the floor.
Immediately everyone except Ran got up to take a look at it.
"Hmmm, you're right. And no one was really able to remove this mark? Maybe I can. Aya, please give me the small blue bottle which is in my handbag." The red-haired woman asked her daughter.
Aya nodded and rushed to Manx' handbag to get she had asked for. She found it quickly and passed the bottle to her mother. Meanwhile Ran had also joined them, but he didn't think that it was a good idea to try to remove the blood. The redhead still had this bad feeling.
Manx dripped a few drops from the bottle on the stain and then took two tissues to rub on the stain. It disappeared in less than one minute. But at the same moment a loud thunder sounded and the lights of the room began to flicker, scaring everyone in the library.
Then Nagi came rushing in.
"What happened? I was just in the kitchen, when the lights flickered and I heard some thunder." He asked.
"I don't know. It happened when I removed the blood stain." Manx said.
The Japanese's eyes went wide and he paled visibly. Slowly he went to them.
"Y...You removed the blood stain?" he asked, not believing his eyes and ears.
But when he looked at the spot on the floor, he couldn't see the notorious blood stain anymore.
"O...O...Oh my god. I have to tell Schu this." He stuttered and fled from the room.
"What's with him?" Manx asked.
But no one knew an answer.
*
Outside the castle Jei and Schuldig were busy to cut the hedges when they heard the rumble inside the building. But since it rumbled nearly every day, they didn't take notice of it and ignored it. At least until Nagi came running out of the castle, shouting for Schuldig. Immediately this one stopped cutting and waited for his boyfriend.
"What's going on, Nagi? Did something happen?" he asked worried.
Nagi tried to catch his breath when he answered.
"It's gone. She removed it." He gasped.
"What is gone?"
"The blood stain. Mrs. Fujimiya removed the blood stain and at the same moment the lights began to flicker and it thundered. Oh Schu, I'm afraid. *He* will be so upset and you know what he will do." Nagi began to cry, clinging to Schuldig.
Schuldig didn't know what to say. He only looked wide-eyed at Jei, who was mirroring his reaction. At first he had thought his boyfriend was joking but on the other side would he never make a joke about something so serious. And so he tried to calm Nagi down by stroking his hair.
"Shhh...It's okay. Everything will be okay, Nagi-chan." He whispered.
Meanwhile Jei looked at the sky above the castle, which suddenly seemed so dark, although one minute ago the sun had shone yet.
"This means trouble. Let's hope that the old fellow doesn't take it too personally." Schuldig finally said.
Jei just nodded agreeing.
*
Somewhere in the darkest parts of Castle Crawford, where no human being has been before, was a hidden chamber, which was more than 400 years old. In this chamber was nothing than an old and rotten plank bed. On this bed sat a figure, the shadow of a man, dressed in old-fashioned clothes and reading an ancient book.
It was the place where the ghost of Sir Bradley de Crawford generally stayed during the day and his prison for the last 450 years. But today wasn't a day like usually. There had arrived new inhabitants as much as he had heard from the stuff. People from Japan. Although he never left his place at day, he had taken the risk and sneaked out of his chamber to take a look at them.
But he had only seen a red-headed teenager and this young cook, Nagi. However, when he had seen the teenager, he suddenly had had a strange feeling. This boy had reminded him so much of his dead lover. That was also the reason why he tolerated Schuldig and the others. His lover also had had red hair.
The ghost sighed. He missed him so. And it was his fault that his lover was dead. He continued to read when a strange feeling hit him. And it had to do with the blood stain. Brad got up and made his way through the walls of his prison and the other ones until he reached the library and looked through his portrait. What he saw shocked him to the core.
Crawford couldn't believe it. Someone had removed the famous de Crawford blood stain. No one ever had been able to remove it but now he was gone. Removed by this red-haired woman. Anger and hate flooded suddenly through his ghostly body. How could she dare remove the de Crawford stain? How could she dare...?
The anger suddenly became rampant and let the lights flicker and thunder in the whole castle. How could this foreign woman dare to remove the blood of his dead lover? Furiously Brad disappeared and somehow got back to his chamber. He was furious and he simply couldn't tolerate this. Sir Bradley de Crawford would show them what it meant to anger him. Tonight he would show them why everyone feared him. Tonight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Okay, that was Part I and I know it sucks. But don't worry, Duke Youji will also appear. Did you like it? If I shall continue this Fic, then write me:
Terrenis-sama@web.de
Ja ne!
^^ Terrenis-chan ^.^