26-Apr-2000
Rejoice all for the Part 1 of my ficcie is here!!! Just kidding ^^
Like it says in the warning, written under the influence of Nyquil so
might get weird. Enjoy!!
As always, C&C are requested, flames will be used for as yet
undetermined but *very* unpleasant task. Here goes!
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is NOT mine. I'm not making any money
off of
this. If you sue, you'll get my dirty socks, so don't
bother.
Warnings: none except that this part was written under the influence
of lots of Nyquil ^^ AU, OOC abound.
##...## denotes inner thoughts
"Just sign here, sir, and the property is yours," the real estate agent handed out the last set of papers. Rowan looked them over and put his signature on the pages.
"Congratulations!" the woman handed him the set of keys.
"I still cannot believe that someone as young as yourself would want to live in such a remote place. You should be careful out there." Rowan noted the uneasiness in the woman's voice. Her smile also looked somewhat strained, fake even. The boy shrugged and dismissed her behavior as inconsequential. He was happy finally to be able to get a place of his own. Besides, the house was rather large, especially for a single person, and came with a lot of land space.
The price had been ridiculously low, which made the young man even happier. He had some money saved from all the odd jobs had had over the past several years, but it wasn't much. Being able to afford a house of his own was a dream on Rowan's part; he thought he'd never be able to buy anything like that.
But then, he came to this small town and thought that here would be a nice place to settle down for a while. Rowan was a drifter; he never stayed in one place for very long, never really made friends or formed attachments. He was a loner of sorts - a seemingly friendly guy who never let anyone too close. He was very attractive, so he never had a shortage of admirers, both female and male. In fact, he usually had a whole host of girls chasing him wherever he went. But he just wasn't interested, explaining it to himself as a problem of commitment, rather than a lack of interest in women altogether.
So anyhow, since his parents had died when Rowan was around four, he had never stayed in one place for long. First, there were different orphanages, then schools.At 18, he had changed a dozen jobs and had traveled all over the planet. He had even been to L1 and L2. However, the young man never had had the feeling that he belonged anywhere he had been over the years. Something always seemed to be missing, something important. Rowan drifted, trying to find this mysterious piece of him, but so far he wasn't successful.
And then he came to this small backwater town in the middle of nowhere and something clicked. He wandered around, looking into the windows of tiny shops, ogled the girls, chatted with old ladies and, for the first time in years, he felt happy. He didn't plan to stay for long, but several days after arrival Rowan happened to notice a posting in the paper advertising property for sale. Settling down was the last thing on Rowan's mind, and so was buying real estate, but something about the house's description attracted him.
The price was obscenely low and on impulse he rode his motorcycle over to look at the place. That same day, he called up the real estate that had put the property up for sale and the end result was the jangling set of keys in his hand.
He decided to inspect his new property right away, but stopped by a coffee shop for a quick lunch first. Out of habit, he picked a seat in the corner of the shop where he'd be least likely to be bothered. After sitting down, Rowan opened the menu and starting looking through it.
Annie Greenwood had owned the coffee shop for years. She knew everything about every single inhabitant of this town. If one needed information about anything at all that had to do with the town's affairs, Annie was the one to go to. Needless to say, she knew all the people in town by face, as well as by name. Therefore, she was surprised when a stranger walked into the shop. She watched as he glanced around before taking a seat in the corner. Annie pretended she was busy at the counter, using the excuse to study the newcomer.
He looked no older than 16, 17 at most. He had short hair the color of burnt honey and wide eyes. Even though Annie was getting on 50, she was as prone as a schoolgirl to drool over a cute male specimen, and this one looked particularly attractive. As the self-appointed information bureau of the town, the woman just had to find out where this kid came from and whether he'd be staying. Grabbing her notepad, she walked over to the boy's table to take his order.
"Good day, young man! You're new around here, aren't you?"
Rowan was startled out of his exploration of the menu by a husky female voice. He looked up to see the waitress smiling at him. He smiled back guardedly.
"Yep, I'm new. Just arrived here a few days ago." His tone, although friendly, hinted at the boy's reluctance to divulge personal information. Annie sighed inwardly, frustrated. Oh well, she'd try again, after she'd taken his order. The kid asked for a hot sandwich and coffee. She left to start the food cooking and then came back with his coffee.
"So, young man, are you here with your parents?" She didn't notice the momentary change in the boy's expression at that.
"Nope. I'm on my own," his tone was cheerful, but Annie noticed that the mirth didn't quite reach his eyes. His eyes.she had never seen anyone with eyes like that before. They were large and liquid, now blue, now violet, the color changing depending on the direction of light.
But what struck the woman the most was the expression in those eyes. The kid couldn't be older than 17, and yet his eyes looked too old for someone his age. They were the eyes of one who had seen too much, felt too much, had been hurt and betrayed too many times.
The look in his eyes was cold, guarded, almost cynical and definitely disillusioned. A boy shouldn't have eyes like that, the hostess thought, an involuntary shiver going through her. She was positively dying to find out more about this boy, so she sat down across from him. He looked at her questioningly.
"You see, my dear, it's the off-peak time for me, your food is cooking, so I have a few minutes to chat," the woman smiled amiably. "It's not often that we get fresh blood in this godforsaken place," she added.
"I see," was the boy's response.
"Say, will you be staying here awhile?"
"Yeah. I just bought a house about two miles away from town. I was actually going to go there after lunch."
"A house? About two miles from here?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Will you be living there by yourself?" Something about the woman's tone made Rowan look up.
"Yes, of course. Why? Is there a problem?"
"You haven't heard anything about that house?" Annie was incredulous.
"No. What's wrong with it?"
"Well.Maybe I shouldn't tell you.Young kids are so impressionable.Besides, there's probably no truth to those rumors anyway." Having said too much, Annie was now looking for a way to back out.
"But I really want to know now! Please? Pretty please?" The boy gave her a goofy grin that made his eyes sparkle. Annie relented.
"Well, you see, that house is really old. Like 300 years old. It was built before that awful war."
"That would explain why I got it so cheaply."
"Yes, that and the house's legend. You see, young man, shortly after the war, the place was bought by two boys who settled there. A year later there was a great tragedy. One of them fell down the stairs and broke his neck. The other one committed suicide. No one really know what happened. Anyhow, the place had been put up for auction and sold off. And strange things started to happen to the owners. They kept it under wraps, but one thing that's clear is that they didn't like the place too much. They sold it two months after they moved in. After that, the house was bought and sold every few months, like clockwork. And then, no one wanted to buy it anymore because people started to believe that the place was haunted."
The boy, who had been listening to the story with great interest, snorted at Annie's last phrase. "I don't believe in ghosts," he said simply.
"That's up to you, young man, but be careful out there."
"Thanks for the advice. I will be."
"You're welcome. Well, I hope I didn't scare you too much. I'll go fetch your food now," and with that, the woman left.
##So that's why the woman at the real estate office acted strange. Well, it'll be interesting to live in a house with a history. ##
Annie watched as the kid finished his lunch, paid the bill and left. She wondered what could have happened to him to make his eyes so cynical. She hoped he'd be all right in that cursed house - she truly believed the place was haunted. She didn't tell the boy, but over the years, there had been a string of unexplained deaths on the grounds as well. All of them took place under mysterious circumstances that were never unraveled. The woman hoped the boy would be OK. She had liked him a lot.
End of Part 3
So did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know! And in case you're wondering, Rowan has *something* to do with Heero and Duo ^_^ C&C, onegai
(:./murasaki/second3)
