13-May-2003
Title: Crocodile Pool
Author: Ebonydove
Pairings: 1+2/3+4
Warnings: slight OOC, language, creepiness, yaoi, angst, sci-fi.
Spoilers: none
Rating: PG
Even with all his expertise he had a hard time tracking the sound. He took a deep breath and hoped the fresh oxygen in his lungs would bring him some sort of clarity, but all it served to do was make his case of the spins even more wicked than before. And with the dizziness came the creeping depression and self-loathing that usually followed a fight with Heero and a drinking binge. All the fruity concoctions in the world wouldn't help him to solve this problem or drown his woes in; he was quite sure of that.
Despite the lingering affects of the drinks, he was for all intents and purposes fairly sober compared to when he had first entered the graveyard; scuffing his feet on the graveled path, and having a hard time destinguishing just what was making the long shadows look so ominous. He still felt fuzzy and about a half second behind each movement and sound he sought after and had to wonder if he really heard the sparkling laughter or if it just a hazy trick of the mind induced by liquor and the fear that Heero had really believed he'd gone over the deep end this time.
"Serves you right you know."
The soft childlike voice that breathed next to him made him nearly leap out of his skin. He spun around and when he saw that no one was there, he threw his hands up in frustration. "God-damn it all to Hell! Would you people please stop popping in and out like that! I feel like I just ran a fucking mile in thirty seconds flat!"
The bright laughter returned and bounced off the cool stones nearby.
"It's not funny. I just about pissed myself." Duo grumbled under his breath as he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly and frowned. He still had the perfume and coin clutched tightly in his palm, which suddenly sparked the realization as to what the gravedigger might have been trying to tell him.
He bent low and placed the perfume bottle on the stone and ran his fingers lightly over the little girl's name. "I'm very glad you found your puppy. I'm sorry you lost him in the first place, really. I could really use your help finding something right now, so I can go back to someone I love. Would you help me?"
He paused and concentrated for several long moments on any little sound or movement that he could given the fuzziness still clouding his brain, before huffing an aggravated sigh and sitting down on the damp ground. Moving the little bottle of perfume closer next to him, he leaned against the nearest stone and looked up at the dark, star-spattered night sky. He heaved another gusty sigh and closed his eyes cursing himself that he drank so much. He wasn't about to be able to explain what he was doing here to Heero when he got back without getting into another fight about it. And Heero was ticked off enough by his recent behavior, this was sure to land him in the nuthatch. "Please won't you help me?"
"Pappa says I shoudna talk to youngin's who cuss as much as you just did. And especially not to Pirates."
Duo opened his eyes slowly and watched as a little girl wearing a blue flowered dress skipped in a circle in front of him with a small brown puppy at her feet. "I know. I'm sorry for using bad language. You just surprised that's all. And I'm not really a Pirate."
"But you got that gold coin in yer hand, and ar' dressed up like ya are."
"Hmm. Well, what if I promise not to do any Pirate-like things? I'll even give you the coin. We can be friends then, right?" She gave him a very careful look over before nodding slowly. "Then that means you'll help me?"
"Maybe." She shrugged and looked at him expectantly as her eyes remained fixed on the small coin Duo was unconsciously flipping back and forth in his fingertips. The puppy squatted at her feet and blinked up at her waiting for the next part of the amusing little game they were playing to begin.
Knowing full well that he was either still drunk of his ass, highly delusional, or speaking with the ghost of a long dead child with the latter being the more likely, he finally caught her curious gaze and held the coin up to her. "You want this?" Duo asked with a careful smile.
"No." She said in a too-loud child's whisper with a little shake of her head.
She squatted down in front him so they were at eye level with one another before she pointed slowly to the little bottle of perfume next to Duo's leg where he had forgotten about it. He waited for a moment longer before slipping the coin into the pocket of his pants and turned his attention to the bottle. "This?" He picked up the bottle and held it out to her. She gave him a little nod and then stood up. "Okay. Here." Her smile was radiant as he held the bottle out to her and it was hard not to feel the pang that came with the remembrance of other little girls who loved simple trifles like this. "You can have it. Go on. Take it."
Her smile faded a little and she shook her head slightly. "Thank you. Mama and me love things that smell nice. 'Sides Angel would rather have the coin." She took the bottle gingerly from his hand and happily skipped around the other side of the stone with her yapping little puppy at her heels.
He watched the thin little fingers wrap around the neck of the bottle and smiled at her. "Angel, huh? Who's Angel?"
"The girl whose got the same color eyes as you got. The one you followed here. She's been waitin' for ya. Down that way." She stopped her merry little spinning and pointed in the direction of a shadowed corner of the cemetery and a path that led beyond the statues and stones that crowded the space he was currently in. "Mama says I'm not to go there. Never ever."
Turning in the direction she had been pointing to he found himself fighting the urge to run as fast as he possibly could back into Heero's arms as he felt a slow, creeping chill climb up his spine. He wanted to do nothing more than pretend he had never seen the strange things he had tonight or in the days before. He reached up to grasp at his cross for comfort, only finding the smooth cool shape of the silver charm instead. He couldn't pretend it wasn't happening, any more than he could turn away from anyone, alive or dead who needed his help. And none of the things he had seen or heard would have happened at all if not for a reason. Who was he to deny the mysterious circumstances he was now in. "What's down that way?" When he turned back around to ask the little girl again, she was gone and his only response was the pale distant echo of sparkling laughter and the tinny yip of the puppy.
The path the girl had pointed to was shadowed by thick, branched trees with sweeping drapes of moss and scattered with taller stones and huge marble carved angels before winding it's way through another black iron gate and into what looked to be the oldest part of the cemetery. Ignoring the occasional sound of revealers in the parade from the direction he had first come and wondering if Heero would ever forgive him for running off the way he did tonight, he made his way down the path and into the shadows.
Despite how the warm the air had felt against the silky smooth fabric of the shirt and pants Heero had given him, the chill Duo felt just wouldn't go away. The moment he stepped into the shadows and away from the main gravel path of the cemetery he had felt it spread across him like icy fingers. He ducked under some low hanging branches covered with gray moss, and startling a group of black crows that took off with feathers flying and tremendous noise. They almost seemed to be screaming a warning at him as they disappeared into the night. Once he passed by the huge stone angels, he came to a smaller clearing. There were no fancy mausoleums or statues, just plain markers mostly covered by grassy weeds.
"Hello? I'm here. Just like I said I would be." He felt an icy breeze and turned to face the direction he had come only to see the tall iron gate he passed through whine and sway shut. "I brought you a gift. A little good will gesture and... "
"Shhhh... "
"Shit!" Duo spun back around feeling the panic begin to claw at him as he tried to find where the breathy voice was coming from. "What... Where are you? What do you want from me?"
"Shhhh... be still."
A cold hand closed over his forearm causing him to jump and he was about to let out a scream when another cool hand clamped over his mouth. He staggered backwards only to be gently steadied and turned to face the very thing keeping him upright. Two wide, violet colored eyes looked at him with great concern from a pale face framed with dark chocolate colored hair. He struggled to pull away from her, but she held him tightly until he quieted.
He nodded his understanding that he was to keep quiet and blinked a few times to clear the slight graying of his vision brought on by the sudden rush of adrenaline. It wasn't very often he found himself face to face with a ghost. "W-who are you?"
She smiled a slow sad smile. "It took you so long. I've been waiting for you for a very long time."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the only one who could hear me when I screamed for help."
"Hear you? This is crazy... I'm crazy... I'm... I don't have way of... it's a mistake. This is all a mistake! I can't help you, I can't even help myself... "
"Shhh... I know you're confused and scared, but you must be quiet now. He's coming, and then you'll see." Her grip slipped slightly as she seemed to fade a bit more like hazy smoke. Then he felt himself being pulled into the shadows behind a large tree where he found himself compelled to crouch down and watch, waiting for whatever could make a ghost tremble with fear.
"Heero, we've looked there already. And he promised not to go back there without one of us with him."
Heero glared hard at Quatre. "I should have held my ground and just taken Duo the Hell home."
"He couldn't have gone very far Heero. And he had a lot to drink. He'll wander back when he cools down and the alcohol wears off." Trowa put a soothing hand to rest on the small of Quatre's back as he nudged him to sit in the nearest chair.
Heero ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "I shouldn't have stormed out on him the way I did. I was just so... surprised about the charm. That cross means the world to him, but he acted as if it didn't matter. It's like he's someone else. Ever since we got here, he's been acting so much more extreme an so unpredictable."
"Heero." Quatre began. "I don't think the charm being replaced was to do him harm. In fact, Duo and I believe... " They were interrupted by a soft knock on the wooden door, which brought all their attention to Grace as she practically danced back and forth on her feet in the doorway of the sitting room where she was waiting to speak.
"Yes, Grace what is it?"
"Master Quatre I'm so sorry to bother you, but Renaldo LaPuchez has returned and is in the hall. He wants to see you right away. He says it's about Duo." She was wringing her hands together in a nervous gesture, which immediately alarmed Quatre who stood to move towards the door. But before he had a chance to say anything Heero had breezed by them all; out of the room and into the hallway.
"Heero, wait." Trowa was right behind him, with Grace and Quatre not too far behind.
Renaldo stood in the foyer with his hands folded in front of him as he waited patiently for an audience. He didn't expect to be confronted by a wild haired youth dressed in as Pirate in his father's old home and stepped back a few paces in the face of Heero's ferocity and the cold, blue stare directed at him.
"Mr. LaPuchez. I'm sorry but I wasn't expect... " Quatre began as they caught up to where Heero was standing in front of the obviously uncomfortable visitor.
"Where is Duo?" Heero snapped before Quatre had a chance to even finish his greeting.
Gray-green eyes flashed quickly to Quatre and back to the young man in front of him. "That's why I'm here. I have some information about your friend that may be useful in finding him."
Trowa put a hand on Heero's shoulder and stepped in front of him. "How did you know he was missing?"
The gray eyes turned back to Heero and he cleared his throat quietly. "I was informed... by a friend who had seen him near the parade. He didn't look to be very well, which is why they noticed him."
"What do you mean? Was he hurt?"
"I'm afraid I don't know. He seemed out of sorts from what I was told. I thought that perhaps you might need assistance in finding him. I know the city very well, and would be more than happy to help you. There is a long history of strange occurrences and disappearances that surround New Orleans. As are many unexplainable things attached to the history of this house."
"Like what? Exactly." Trowa asked calmly from where he stood by Quatre.
"A curse so to speak. I was naturally concerned when I heard that one of this house's guests was missing."
"I see." Trowa stepped aside and gently tugged at Heero's arm, allowing Quatre to lead Renaldo down the hall and into the room where they had all been earlier.
"What does a curse have to do with Duo?" Heero paced back and forth for a few moments while Renaldo sat himself in one of the high-backed chairs closest to the fireplace.
"As you can see we are concerned for our friend. Is what's happening with him due in part to your family's unfortunate circumstances? This curse you mentioned?" Trowa asked quietly putting himself between Heero and the other man.
"In part I believe, though it is only superstition and old rumors. But I suppose I could offer my thoughts by way of an explanation for what is happening to your friend."
"What are you talking about?" Heero took a step closer to the visitor intent on choking an answer out of him if need be.
"Just wait Heero. Let's hear him out." Quatre added fiercely. "Explain."
Renaldo glanced around the room and seemed to drift away for a moment in remembrance before looking back to the group of young men. Removing his coat and sitting back in the chair he continued with a slight huff of breath. "My brother, Manuel, fell in love with a gypsy girl who lived in the village not far from this home. He loved her very much and told her so; giving her a silver charm that my mother had worn that she could keep as a token of that love. Despite her family's background and my father's raging disapproval, they swore to marry someday." He folded his hands neatly in his lap and glanced at Heero. "They loved each other so completely that it was almost blinding to witness. But my father, twisted and broken after my mother's death, couldn't see the girl for anything but her gypsy roots, and feared that her love for my brother was only driven by the promise of fortune. In an effort to break the bond between the two lovers, my father insisted that my brother marry another and produce an heir to the family fortune and that the gypsy be thrown out of the village. My father accused her of being a criminal, a wanton witch who prayed on young men's fancies to steal their wealth. But Manuel refused to leave her and planned on eloping with Angelina the night of the confrontation. The very same night they disappeared."
He stood abruptly from the chair he had been sitting in and paced to the nearest window with his hands clasped tightly behind him. "I had tried to intervene on my brother's behalf, but my father was too enraged at the thought of the family bloodline being broken by one of 'lesser blood' and swore to destroy them if Manuel disobeyed him." Renaldo gripped his hands tighter together as they began to shake slightly with his rising emotions. "I tried to warn them of my father's rage, and arranged for us all to meet at the Chapel by the pool in secret so we could devise some way to keep our family from falling apart, but when I had arrived there... it was... too late."
"What do you mean too late?" Grace cried out between sniffles into her handkerchief.
"When I arrived at the Chapel there was no sign of Angelina or my brother. I feared the worst when I saw the remains of a billowing white dress in the waters with the crocodiles but continued to search everywhere for days on end; never finding them. When I tried to ask Angelina's family for help, her grandmother cursed me, my father, my brother, and anyone else who shared our bloodline to the end of days blaming us for the corruption of the village and disappearance of her granddaughter."
"And your father?" Trowa asked quietly.
"Fell gravely ill days after the couple disappeared."
"What about the woman who your father insisted Manuel marry in place of Angelina?" Quatre asked from where he was perched on the arm of Trowa's chair.
"She too went missing that same dark night."
"So you just gave up trying to find them?!" Heero practically quivered with anger with his fists balled at his sides. "That doesn't make any sense. Why didn't the authorities look into the disappearances?"
"They had offered to help, but when nothing came from the searches, they eventually closed the case and labeled it an unknown disappearance." Renaldo turned from the window and faced him with tears in his gray green eyes. "For weeks I went back to the pool... and scoured the plantation, to see if there was any sign at all that they still lived, but there was nothing... no trace at all. Many believed they had been killed by the crocodiles who lived near the pool, and others believed they ran off that night and eloped, never to be heard from again, but... I believe it was my father who killed them."
"Your father?" Grace breathed in shock.
"He saw the family breaking apart. He was insane... and I think was driven to murder with the dilution of trying to save his family's bloodline and good name by destroying Angelina's love for my brother. He swore on his deathbed that he would never rest until everyone who brought such ill will upon our family was destroyed. Our once good name will now forever be known for torment, murder, and death."
"Do you believe in the curse the gypsy put on your family?" Trowa asked.
"Shortly after my father died I married myself. We had a son together... " He looked up at Trowa and Quatre and then to Heero. "They were killed... dragged in and killed by crocodiles into the very pool we had drained and removed the creatures from only days before. That damned pool refills itself even in the driest of seasons, and always has those ancient eyes glowing just below the surface of its dark waters. I believe Angelina, my wife and son, and my brother's spirits still haunt it. That the curse will never end until the last of my bloodline is dust. This house, these lands, and that pool has brought nothing but death and destruction to my family. And know I believe it will pass along to you."
"You mean Duo don't you?" Heero asked gripping the edge of his costume's sash with his hands. "Why him?"
"The only eyes I have ever seen the same shade as his, belonged to girl my brother loved. That beautiful, spirited gypsy girl that was like a rare jewel among copper pennies. I believe that somehow he is linked to this family's tormented past and is in great danger."
"It's true that many of the colonists who migrated to L2 were from this part of the world, and have links to both pilgrim and American backgrounds. It is a far-fetched possibly, but one all the same. But of course that's only if you believe in things like ghosts or curses." Trowa replied thoughtfully.
"But danger from who?" Quatre stood from his chair and stood beside Heero. "And why?"
"From my father's wandering soul. I for one do believe in such things. And have witnessed many unexplainable things to reinforce those beliefs." Renaldo stood and moved to the doorway. "We need to find your young friend, and soon, before this tragic tale takes another young life."
"You haven't told us why you think he is in danger from your father's ghost." Trowa asked from his seat with an air of skepticism.
"The morning I was here to talk with Master Winner about the repurchase of this estate from him, Mr. Maxwell came in and was wearing the silver charm my brother had given his lover. How did he come to have it?" Cool gray eyes turned to Heero who had paled at the mention of the locket before glancing back to Quatre.
Quatre shot a concerned look to Trowa who nodded slightly in encouragement. "Duo believed the cross that he wears was replaced with the charm the night he fell into the pool. The night we almost drowned."
"He was in the pool?" Renaldo frowned and looked at each of them. His eyes taking on a much colder gleam than the tear filled one from just moments before. "Did he see anything? Anything at all?"
"I'm not sure... he was pretty shaken up and I... " Quatre began only to be interrupted by Renaldo.
"No matter. It is much more important that we find him. All the other questions can wait until he is safe." Renaldo spoke with much less emotion than he had been as he gathered his coat from the back of the chair and put it on.
"I agree. The mystery and ghost stories aside, we need to track him down." Trowa rose slowly and flashed a quick look to Heero who nodded back in understanding.
"If only he hadn't run off like that tonight." Quatre murmured to himself.
"But what made him run off to begin with?" Renaldo leveled a look in Quatre's direction catching the softly uttered words.
"He thinks that maybe... he saw something in the crowd during the parade." Quatre flopped in to a chair and shook his head slightly. Heero was going to give him Hell for it, but it was important that he know.
Heero felt the icy grip on panic claw at him and wasn't sure if he could trust his voice to sound as calm as he had hoped it would. "Saw what, Quatre?"
"Her. The gypsy girl he had seen before. The one he believes gave him the locket."
"Damn it Quatre!" Heero exploded as he paced the floor and ran a hand through his ragged bangs. He tugged off the brightly colored sash from his costume, balled it up and threw it before spinning towards the fireplace and mantle where Trowa's picture sat on top. "All of this insanity started with that! Ghosts and disappearances, crocodiles and lies! It all began with this!" He stormed his way over to it intent on smashing it to pieces.
Trowa and Quatre scrambled after him and practically plowed into him from behind when he stopped still in mid reach for the pastel painting.
"W-What is that?" He pointed at the painting with a shaking finger.
Trowa leaned over Heero's shoulder with Quatre right beside him, and stared stunned at the picture. It had somehow changed and now showed a woman dressed in flowing white, standing beside the edge of the crocodile pool and pointing behind her towards one of the large magnolia trees. But it wasn't that the picture had morphed into something different that made them all shudder. Or that the girl had suddenly appeared in it where she had never been before. What made Heero burst from the room and race from out the house was the form of a figure, hanging from his neck by a long, red sash from the tree she was pointing to. It was that that made him scream out Duo's name.
End Part 13
(:./ebony/pool13)
