Part IVUpon reaching the second floor, the group stopped for a moment, taking in the long corridor of doors stretching in front of them. Duo stepped forward, his hand slowly reaching towards the handle of the first door to their left. Before his slender fingers touched the aged bronze, the handle began to shudder on its own. Duo snapped his hand back, his eyes darting to Heero.
“Uh,” Duo started, stepping back. “What’s your theory on this one, fearless leader?”
Heero frowned and grabbed the moving handle, trying to still the knob. It was difficult, even for the young man’s almost inhuman strength, but he stopped the doorknob and opened the door. Inside was a small, dusty bedroom.
“The house is just old or something, Duo. I can’t offer any reason as to why the handle was moving on its own, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary inside.” Heero closed the door and turned to his comrades. “I suggest we try finding the master bedroom. It should be big enough for all of us, and we can sleep in shifts if need be.”
Quatre grimaced, his eyes darting down the long hallway.
“I don’t know if I can sleep here, Heero. Whether this place was built by some eccentric with a penchant for the macabre, or if it really is haunted, I’m just too creeped out.” Quatre said. Trowa gently placed a hand on Quatre’s shoulder, squeezing lightly. Heero pursed his lips, mimicking Trowa’s comforting gesture.
“There’s nothing to worry about, Quatre. We’re all here together, and you will need your sleep. Tomorrow morning we will all get out of here and find transport to a familiar safehouse.” Heero said. Duo grinned behind him, winking at Quatre.
“You can sleep with me, Quatre, I’ll keep you safe from any spooks.” Duo said. Quatre smiled at his friends, nodding. Heero, satisfied with the lighter mood, urged everyone to press on.
The doors throughout the corridor seemed to loom menacingly; the wood itself seemed alive and malevolent. Every few doors a handle would jiggle on its own, but at Heero’s continuing reassurance that nothing was wrong, the group began to ignore the doors.
Trying a few of the moving handles, Heero continued to find either small bedrooms or bathrooms, occasionally a sitting room or two along the way. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the master bedroom.
“Maybe the master of the house had his bedroom on a higher floor?” Wufei offered. Duo shrugged.
“Who knows? We don’t even know how big this place is, for all we know there could be five floors.” Duo said, knocking on a door that seemed to be knocking back from the inside. “Anyone notice this crazy wallpaper? It looks like it’s watching us.” Duo pointed at a section of the wall, poking one of the paper eyes. Trowa stepped forward, inspecting the wall.
“It is weird.” Trowa mumbled, almost jumping when the door closest to him started to knock and shake. Duo rolled his eyes.
“Yanno, if there are any real ghosts here, they’ve got no talent for scaring. Seriously, they just keep using the same old tricks over and over.” Duo said, smacking the door that startled Trowa. Heero smirked at Duo.
“There are no ghosts, Duo.” Heero said, nearly bumping into another staircase. He turned his attention up the stairs, tilting his head. “Should we head up or keep going?” He asked. Wufei strode forward and started upwards.
“I don’t know about you, but these doors aren’t giving me any desire to stay on this floor. I’d rather take my chances and find out what’s up there.” Wufei pointed. Heero stood a moment, considering the move farther up when he heard Quatre squeak from somewhere behind, then rushing up to Wufei. Heero looked back to where Quatre had been a minute earlier, his eyes widening.
Another door at what appeared to be the end of the hall, a little larger than the ones positioned throughout the passage, seemed to be breathing. Heero watched it for a few seconds, and yes, it was most definitely inhaling and exhaling in a breathing rhythm. Grabbing both Trowa’s and Duo’s arms, he pushed the two ahead of him, urging everyone upstairs.
“Was that door breathing?!” Duo asked as he was practically kicked upstairs.
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Back To Part III On To Part V Back to the Library
