3-Oct-2000
This was inspired by listening to a lot of Matchbox 20, Enya, and Loreena McKennitt (Don't ask, I was in a weird mood). Anyway, on to the fic.
Author: Tigress Pern
Archive: GW Addiction
Warning: Alternate universe
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. -_- ::whimper::
Prologue
The rain had started falling again. It ran down the window, creating tiny rivers on the glass. With all the strength he could muster, he set one foot on the step and began to ascend. The staircase seemed long and foreboding as the shadows played across the steps.
A flash of lightning illuminated the room and for a moment he faltered. No, I can't, he told himself and gripped the banister. Placing one foot in front of the other, he moved forward. An infinite number of hard wooden stairs spread out before him in his mind. Each one taking him one step closer to his goal, yet it was so far away that he wondered if he would ever make it. The grand father clock at the base of the staircase chimed the first bell of midnight. I have to hurry.
Part One
"You're living in that house?" Trowa nodded. Quatre raised a blond eyebrow at him.
"With the money our parents left us, Catherine and I decided to buy it."
"You're crazy." Wufei growled as they walked along the sidewalk. "You know what they say about that place." Trowa glanced at his two friends and sighed. It had been nearly a year since his parent's death and Trowa was still feeling the effects. It had been sudden. Loosing their mother to cancer and then two months later their father to a hit and run driver, had sent both children into a tailspin. They were surviving, but sometimes just barely. Catherine tried to keep up her positive outlook, but Trowa had caught her more than once crying her eyes out in their tiny apartment. Now that Catherine was eighteen, she had access to the money their parents had left them. Their mother had always wanted to fix up the house on Willow Drive, so Catherine had decided to make her mother's wish come true.
"Yes, but it doesn't matter. Mother always wanted to fix it up and start a Bed and Breakfast." Trowa said softly.
"I think it's a wonderful tribute to your parents." Quatre replied giving Wufei a dirty look as the Chinese boy rolled his eyes. "The place would make a wonderful Bed and Breakfast."
"I just hope you and Catherine know what you're doing." Wufei said. "No one has been in that house in ages. The last people who lived there went screaming out of town."
"Don't worry Trowa, I'm sure it's all a bunch of rumors. My father said the people ran out of money and that's why they sold the place." Quatre reassured. "And he's the bank president, he should know." They paused before Trowa turned on to Willow Drive.
"Would you like to come over to the house? Catherine and I haven't set up much, but we have the kitchen unpacked." Trowa offered hoping his friends would come. He really didn't want to go into that huge empty house alone. It wasn't that he was afraid, it was the fact that he' be by himself and he really didn't want that. They hesitated.
"I have to get home. I have a date with Meiran tonight." Wufei said. "If I'm late again, she'll have my head." He half-smiled. Quatre chuckled knowing full well what the captain of the fencing team would do to her co-captain if he were late again. They may scream and rant at each other during practice, but they did get along well off the fencing pist.
"I'll have to decline too Trowa, sorry." Quatre apologized. "Iria is coming home from the university tonight and my father wants me to go pick her up from the bus station. We're going out to dinner after that. Did I tell you that her residency will be at the hospital here?" Trowa shook his head. "She starts in January. Imagine, my sister is going to be a doctor."
"Remind me to stay away from the emergency room." Wufei said. Quatre glared at him. "I'll see you around Trowa. I hope you survive."
"Don't pay any attention to him." Quatre said patting his friend on the shoulder as Wufei headed off. "Ja ne." Trowa stood on the street corner watching the retreating backs of his two friends. Sighing heavily, he turned and started up Willow Drive towards his new home.
The door opened with a groan as Trowa pushed it in. Needs some oil; he thought and hurried to where the toolbox was. There had been so many little things that needed repairing about the place, that he and Catherine had simply kept the toolbox out in the front hall. Scrounging in it, he found the oil and dripped it into the door hinges. Moving it back and forth, Trowa checked to make sure it didn't stick before closing the front door. He dropped the oil back into the toolbox, then maneuvered his way through the hall to the kitchen, trying to avoid the stacks of boxes. They really needed to unpack, but they hand only just brought the last load from the apartment over. Setting his backpack down on the table, he opened the refrigerator. There wasn't much in it except for a carton of milk, four muffins, yogurt, and what was left of their peach supply. Sighing to himself he snared a carton of yogurt and closed the door. He added shopping to the growing list of things they needed to do. Fishing in a draw for a spoon, Trowa hoped that he could come up with something more creative for dinner than rice and yogurt, which was what they would have again unless he did something. Peeling off the foil, he took a bite and suddenly froze. All the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he felt a bit chilled. Swallowing slowly, he turned to look behind him. Nothing was there. Must be my imagination, I shouldn't let all those stories get to me, he told himself. It's all in my mind. Walking over to the table he sat down and continued eating. Again he felt the air temperature drop. Shivering he looked up. Once again there was nothing. Fearing rose within him as Trowa slipped out of the kitchen and headed down the hallway.
"The door." He stated, not sure why he'd said the word out loud. The front door stood wide open and a cool September breeze was blowing in through it. "I could have sworn I shut it all the way." He muttered as he closed it. He leaned hard against it and listened for the click that said it was shut. "Strange."
"I wouldn't call it strange." Catherine told him later that evening. She thankfully had stopped by the grocery store on her way home that evening and picked up something to eat. "I bet you didn't give it a hard enough shove when you closed it the first time. The wind could have easily pushed it open. I should know, it's happened to me several times. I push on it until I hear the click, then I know it's shut." Trowa nodded. "You shouldn't listen to what people say about this house. There isn't anything spooky about it. It just has a bad reputation because the first owner's son died in it. They sold it because they couldn't handle living in the same place where their son had taken his last breath. Since then people say that strange things happen, but most of it is carelessness on the part of the owners."
"We are the thirteenth owners." Trowa muttered.
"Thirteen will be our lucky number." Catherine stated confidentially. "I won't let Mother's dream of a Bed and Breakfast die. She wanted to make something of this house. She would have done it too if the cancer hadn't…" Catherine fell silent. Her bottom lip quivered.
"Don't cry, we'll make Mother's dream come true." Trowa assured her. Catherine smiled; her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"That we will. No one and nothing is going to stop us. Mother and Father would have wanted it that way."
Birds woke Trowa. The crazy things were singing outside his window. It was September nearly October and they were still celebrating like it was summer. Rolling over he tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. He didn't know why, but he had the oddest feeling like he was being watched. It was probably left over from the dream he'd had last night. In the dream he'd been walking the halls of the house with a shadow dogging his every step. Shaking his head, he gave up and threw off the covers. He really had to stop reading suspense novels before going to sleep. Glancing at his nightstand, Trowa noticed that the book was gone. Cursing silently, he looked about on the floor. He'd probably knocked it off while he was tossing and turning. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He'd become a restless sleeper after his parents' death and moving into the house didn't seem to help it.
Reaching under his bed, Trowa couldn't find the book. Puzzled, he got up and began searching the floor around the stand. Where could it have gone? He wondered silently as he wiggled his way under the bed. It was no where in sight. Crawling out the other side, he scanned the room. A familiar silver cover with black writing caught his eye. Rising to his feet, Trowa plucked the book off his bed. How had it gotten there, he didn't know. Dismissing it as simply odd, he got dressed for school.
Catherine was on her way out the door when Trowa entered the kitchen. She turned back when she heard him and gave him some money and a grocery list.
"Make sure you go to the store on your way home. Here's some cash. Just pick up the bear essentials. We'll make a major shopping trip this weekend, I promise. Oh, and I told Noin I'd cover for her at the store. Her fiancé, Zechs, is coming home early from overseas and she wants to meet him at the airport. I'll be home about nine." With that Catherine hurried out of the house. "See if you can clean the place up a bit while you're at it." She called just before she shut the door. Trowa shrugged and opened the refrigerator.
School was as it always was. He handed in assignments, copied down math problems and wished the teacher were a bit more interesting. After the final bell he walked to the corner market, picked up the items on the list, plus something for dinner. Wufei had fencing practice that afternoon and Quatre had violin lessons, so Trowa was alone on his walk home.
The house loomed before him like a castle of old. The three-story mansion was built in a Victorian style, which made people believe it older than it was. Its grounds were unkept. Trees had grown up to block most of the view of the front and side yard, which were choked with weeds. Unlatching the gate, Trowa wondered what it had looked like when it was first built. He bet the original owners, before their son died, had kept it pristine. Maybe he could get it that way again.
Putting the groceries away, Trowa changed into some grungy clothes, searched through boxes until he found his father's gardening tools and headed outside. His father had loved to garden. Their old house had flowers of all sorts, but he'd been most proud of his rose garden. Trowa could still picture the carved birdbath that used to be at the center of it. All the little sparrows and finches would splash about on warm summer afternoons and Trowa would sit on the ground watching. Birds were such fragile creatures, a bit like him. Realizing that he was making himself miserable, Trowa headed outside with pruners in hand.
He worked diligently removing any dead brambles from the yard. After two hours of working, he was growing tired and was bleeding from numerous scratches. Yet, he had managed to clear the old flowerbeds and most of the front yard. Deciding that was enough for today, he shoved all the debris into large black garbage bags. They would be taken to the yard waste facility that weekend. Knotting up the last bag, Trowa happened to glance up at the house. Something moved in a third story window. Trowa's heart leapt into his throat. It flickered again and was gone.
"What the hell?" He shook his head telling himself that it was just his imagination. Once back inside the house, he undressed and took a shower. As the dirt and blood swirled down the drain, Trowa thought about his life. It was a subject he often thought about when he was alone. There wasn't much of it since his parents' death. Not that he'd been that outspoken to begin with, but he'd grown even more withdrawn in the past year. A lot of things had happened in the past year. Starting with his parents, Trowa's life had grown lonelier. Wufei had started spending more time with Meiran and less with him and Quatre. Quatre had dated first Dorothy, then Hilde, and had just broken up with Relena. Trowa had found no suitable female to date at his high school. Relena was the only one he'd even consider because of her personality. The only problem was that Quatre had been dating her up until a few weeks ago and he didn't feel right asking someone out on the rebound. Especially if that someone had been dating his best friend. With a heavy sigh he turned off the water. It was time to go work on his room.
Both he and Catherine had decided to have their rooms on the first floor. It would be easier when they finally opened the Bed and Breakfast if all the guests had their rooms upstairs. He opened the door and threw his dirty clothes in a plastic milk crate that served as his laundry basket. Dressing quickly, Trowa turned his attention to cleaning his room. It was mostly clean, but there were still boxes that needed to be unpacked. As he began to put more of his books away on an empty bookshelf he noticed something. His suspense novel was sitting on his computer desk. Hadn't he put it back on the nightstand that morning? He couldn't remember. Scooping it up, he flipped through it to make sure his bookmark was still in the proper place. It was, but a corner of one page was folded over, like someone else had been reading it. Very perplexed at this point, Trowa looked about his room to check and see if anything else was out of place.
"I'm beginning to wonder if those stories are true." He whispered.
End Chapter 1
Tigress Pern