Warnings: Extremely graphic violence, character death.
Spoilers: Post TPM, therefore as you would expect. Spoilers for
The Haunting also, but I totally changed that plot for my own
purposes.
Dedications: To my upcoming Trials, my benevolent Master,
ErbyÈ Jinn, and my soon-to-be Padawan, Kae-Li Oto, who
betaread this for me. Much thanks, muchas gracias, danke sch-n,
merci beacoup, and kasahamnida, komabseumnida to my Padawan,
who may be the only one of my friends to understand all of
that.
Summary: Haunting/TPM crossover. Obi-Wan and Anakin crash at
Hill House, and meet Dr. David Marrow. Violence ensues.
Feedback: Please, please, please ::begs pathetically:: I
require it as I require my caffeine and nicotine intake,
please!
Obi-Wan stared at the console in unguarded fury. His young
Padawan looked at him nervously, hoping he hadn't done the
wrong thing somehow. They had crashed, but it wasn't his
fault. The young Padawan, by name of Anakin Skywalker, could
only see his Master's back, and nibbled his lip, tried to
divine the source of Obi-Wan's anger. His Master straightened,
and the tension released to the Force, as the newly Knighted
Jedi had been taught his entire life. //Taught by Qui-Gon...//
Obi-Wan winced, pushing that thought to the back of his mind.
It had only been a month since Qui-Gon's death, and he still
felt it strongly. A thought in direction of his dead Master,
his beloved that had never been told of his position in
Obi-Wan's heart, would only lead to more tears in a locked
room, trying to hide from the young boy that Qui-Gon had made
him promise to train.
Obi-Wan stood, and walked to the ramp, activating it to go
down. "Master?" Anakin queried, running up beside his new
Master. "We're going to see if we can find shelter for tonight.
The life support is down on the ship, and we'll need a place to
stay until we can fix it. Come, Padawan," Obi-Wan nearly choked
on that word. It had been his title, given to him by his
beloved Master... Obi-Wan stopped his train of thought again,
refusing to cry again. Facing his emotions was the Jedi way,
but he could not bear to release his pain. It was the last
thing he had from Qui-Gon.
The ramp's struts lowered, and Obi-Wan ducked through the
archway, peering around into the dank air. He sensed evil, but
could not place it. "Come, Ani," he reassured the young boy
still standing on the ramp. Ani followed him obediently into
the field before them. Obi-Wan looked around, and spotted a
large building nearby. It looked forbidding, but he sensed life
inside. He felt with the Force, and found something not quite
right, not evil exactly, but the stench of corruption
and death. But only a tiny part of it, before it whirled away,
hidden again. Obi-Wan frowned, wondering if he had imagined the
danger, and began walking towards the mansion. Anakin shivered,
and trotted after his Master.
Obi-Wan faced the surrounding wall, and looked at his
apprentice. "You can make the jump, Ani. Just use the Force to
propel yourself upwards," he nodded, and jumped, pulling the
living energy around him to flip over the top and land inside.
He sensed his young charge complete the jump, and smiled
encouragingly at him. No matter how much he had felt jealous of
the young boy, Ani didn't deserve his dislike, and needed
praise. Ani grinned back happily, and Obi-Wan led the way
through the courtyard towards the main entrance. A sign on the
wall, barely discernible from the vines, read 'Hill House'.
Obi-Wan ignored it.
Doctor David Marrow sat at the dining room table, and felt like
bashing his skull into the wood until it was spattered with his
blood. He was conducting his study well, the subjects were
reacting as expected, but he was worried about Eleanor. She
seemed likely to go into shock. She already suffered from self
delusion and had a very strong, insatiable urge for attention.
"I knew this when I chose her," he grumbled to himself. Marie
had remarked on how impressionable she was, and had noted her
as the most susceptible subject. And having come from a
sheltered life, she had got no real attention, so when it was
offered, she was greedy. "Why is she doing this, choosing this
way to go?" he wondered aloud. She had gone instead of mild
haunts to obvious terror tactics, and yet professed an
innocence of the falsehood. //Who else would have written
'Welcome Home, Eleanor' on the wall?// he reminded himself.
If only she wasn't the insecure, vulnerable type. He almost
felt bad for messing with Nell's mind. For screwing with Luke
and Theo, he felt no remorse, they weren't his equals,
certainly, but Nell had that childish innocence to her that
made him almost be upset. She was not worldly like Theo, nor
insanely suspicious like Luke, but merely an innocent victim
with problems. He felt as if he had dragged her unwillingly
into the study. //No, as if the House had claimed her, and
demanded her presence,// he corrected himself.
A banging startled David, and he jumped to his feet in fright.
"She's got me doing it now!" he chided himself, calming
himself. The banging repeated, and he realised it was from the
front door. //How could anyone have got past the gates?// he
wondered vaguely. He assumed the role of host. "Whoever it is
probably needs a place to stay, and hospitality," he reminded
himself.
//Isolation...// the thought strayed across his mind. He might
sacrifice his study if he let the person awaiting him in, if
that person spoke with his manipulated subjects. "Damn it all,
I can't just let whoever it is out there stay out there!
They'll freeze," he steeled himself. His subjects would simply
have to deal with the presence of a temporary guest. //It won't
be someone from town. They'd never come near to here,// he
smiled to himself. His subjects would likely remain free from a
tainted tale of the townspeople. David reassured his study's
isolation with that thought, and strolled out to open the front
door.
Obi-Wan felt fear inside, but knew that there was nowhere
nearby that he and his apprentice could stay. He knocked on the
door softly, then rapped again, harder. There were people
inside, four of them, and one began approaching the door.
Obi-Wan hoped that they would understand his plea for shelter,
that they would know Basic and communicate with him well. He
knocked again, more insistently, and felt the alarm and
confusion of the being inside.
Suddenly the door swung open, and a tall man looked out. "Sir-"
Obi-Wan began, until he saw the man's face. It seemed so
familiar, like from another lifetime that he had lived or a
past memory from his childhood, too hazy to be perfect but yet
still vivid in it's own way. His breath caught in his throat.
The man was wearing a blue shirt and black pants, his hair was
short and he was clean-shaven, but Obi-Wan was caught on his
face. //Qui-Gon...// his brain began before he quelled the
thought again. The man was very handsome, that much he could
tell, and Ani was slightly afraid of his height. "Sir, may we
stay here for the night?" Obi-Wan steeled himself and asked.
The man stared at him, and murmured, "Yes, yes of course." He
was nervous, and unsettled by their appearance as he led them
inside the elaborate foyer. Sculptures of cherubs and
mythological animals decorated everything with delicate beauty,
however hideous in amount. "I apologise for the bother. My
apprentice and I crashed here, and we need only stay a night
until we can repair our ship and leave," Obi-Wan suggested,
trying to read the man. He had surprisingly strong shields
somehow, impervious to the light mental probing. Obi-wan
increased his efforts slightly, and found his host's mind
easily read.
"It's no bother, really, we need some new faces here. I'm Dr.
David Marrow. I'm here with three insomniacs on a medical
study," the man smiled disarmingly at the Jedi. His breath
caught, and he controlled his body before he could begin
arousal. "I am Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this is my
Padawan, Anakin," Obi-Wan smiled in reply, gesturing to Ani,
who was hiding behind him mostly, staring in fear at the
extensive decorations. "Master, the sculptures..." Ani breathed
so only Obi-Wan's Jedi senses could hear him. //Yes, Ani?//
Obi-Wan asked mentally. Ani was unused to speaking mentally,
and Obi-Wan was trying to make him more comfortable. //The
sculptures, they are alive or something...// Ani hissed in
fear. "Control yourself Anakin. There is no death, there is the
Force. You have nothing to fear," Obi-Wan corrected gently.
David turned and looked at him curiously. "Inducing fatalism?"
he questioned, amusement glinting in his grey eyes. "If you
wish to call it such. It releases our fear of death and most
things. We are to act, not to sit quivering in fright," Obi-Wan
smiled challengingly. David returned the smile again, and led
them into the next room. Obi-Wan was struck with the staircase
opposite them, and the intricate carvings that seemed to fill
every node of the building. He looked up at the staircase, and
a wave of revulsion and horror flowed through him at the sight
of a portrait. The wave receded as quickly as it had come and
Anakin clenched his hand tightly.
David caught the grimace that flashed across Obi-Wan's face
before settled into calm, and bit his lip. "Some strange things
have happened. One of the subjects wrote a threatening message
across the painting and wall, then declared total innocence of
doing it. She is quite unstable at the moment," David
explained, taking in the Jedi's face. "Welcome home,
Eleanor...I take it Eleanor is her name then?" Obi-Wan read the
emotional imprint of the wall and terror around the area. "How
did you know?" David snapped, confused at his visitor's
knowledge. "I saw the remains on the wall," Obi-Wan lied
quickly. It wouldn't do to alienate his host.
"She is also called Nell. She is lost in self-delusion. She
thinks that ghosts or spirits did it. She is insecure and
easily influenced. I'm, well..." David stopped himself,
worrying if he could trust the two visitors. Obi-Wan peeled the
concern from David's mind. "We won't tell the subjects. I
understand," Obi-Wan nodded, and David continued. "I'm
conducting this study on group fear. I gave them a story about
the house, a horror story of sorts, and they are taking it
further. I'm beginning to worry though, Nell is verging on
shock. Perhaps some other people may help, I don't think,"
David paused. Obi-Wan nodded for him to continue as they
climbed the stairs towards the frightening portrait. "I don't
think it should continue. I don't want to permanently damage
the subjects, but I don't want to end the study prematurely and
not gain the information I need. Ah, the burden of having a
conscience," David smirked. All the worry seemed to be both
present and missing in that charming smile.
"Understood. I shall do nothing to disrupt your studies, and my
apprentice and I shall leave in the morning," Obi-Wan assured
him, and David relaxed. "I don't know the house terribly well,
I chose it for a suggestive environment, so I shall put you
both in my room. You do not object?" he asked. Obi-Wan sensed
other issues behind his words, but nodded. Anakin clung to his
side, trembling, and Obi-Wan glanced down at him. Anakin caught
his disapproval of his fear, and released it, forcing himself
to accept the fatalism of the Jedi Code. Obi-Wan smiled as
Anakin detached himself, and released his fears into the Force.
David smiled comfortingly at the boy, and Ani grinned back,
following him through the hallways to David's room. "Master,
can I explore the halls?" Ani asked, his bright eyes peering up
into Obi-Wan's. "Yes, you may. You can always find me," Obi-Wan
smiled. David shot him a questioning look, and Obi-Wan smiled
as Ani raced out of the room, quelling his fears in his
curiosity. "He may get lost-" David began. Obi-Wan shook his
head, "No, he will always find me. We have a bond, he can trace
me if he needs to."
David noted Obi-Wan's pride in Ani, and glanced around the
room. There was a small sofa in the anteroom that would do for
the boy, but the man... David coughed. "Do you mind sharing a
bed with me? I can't find anything else large enough for you,"
he offered. Obi-Wan's eyes enlarged minutely, then settled into
that damnably calm composure that seemed too natural to him.
Obi-Wan sensed David's frustration with the mask of Jedi calm,
and decided to provoke him. He seemed constantly trying to
categorise everything he saw, perhaps he could benefit from
some unpredictable subjects. "Is that a promise?" he grinned
quirkily, catching the surprise on David's face before that
smoothed into the taller man's own composure, however disrupted
by reddened cheeks.
Obi-Wan grinned to himself with success. The confusion and
shock, as well as excitement visible for that one moment on his
host's face had been well worth it, he thought as he maintained
his calm composure, waiting for an answer. "You are
serious?" David mumbled, trying to control his blush. "Not
really, not unless you so wish. A tease, perhaps," Obi-Wan
smiled again, too quickly for David to see before it
disappeared.
//A tease, perhaps? He's toying with me, oh, but to let
on...no, I can't. I can't take advantage of him, he's not one
of your subjects, David, he's a guest, oh!// David's mind raced
furiously for a decent reply that wouldn't make him seem
totally idiotic. He settled on silence until he could come up
with something better. His esteemed guest solved the problem
for him first. "I would be honoured to share your bed, doctor,"
Obi-Wan bowed halfway, then righted himself.
David let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, and ran
over some ways to break the silence growing between them. "Umm,
have you eaten?" he offered lamely. //That was pathetic, David.
Almost as pathetic as Luke's attempts to get Theo into bed. Why
don't you just kiss him now and get it over with?// his mind
mocked him. Obi-Wan, oblivious to the conflict within his host,
shook his head, smiling. "Have you anything? I don't mean to
take advantage of your kindness in allowing us shelter, but,"
Obi-Wan shrugged delicately, putting it beyond words. "No, not
a problem at all," David composed himself, and led the way to
the kitchen. //Him, taking advantage? How funny,// he remarked
to himself sarcastically as he guided his guest through the
halls to the kitchen.
"So how did you become involved in the study of fear?" Obi-Wan
asked innocently as they walked through the dark corridors.
David hushed him, pressing a finger to his guest's lips before
jerking his hand away. //Too intimate, too soon! That was worse
than Theo with Nell, Jesus!// he cursed himself, and stuttered,
"I don't need my subjects knowing that. My cover is studying
insomnia. I can't let them know what I'm doing, not yet." "Your
cover?" Obi-Wan questioned. "No one would sign up for a study
on fear, and have the natural reactions, would they?" David
smiled sheepishly. "True. So, then, what involved you into the
study of insomnia?" Obi-Wan smiled in amusement, helping to
keep up his host's charade.
They chatted quietly, walking down a rather gloomy hallway as
the moonlight poured in through the windows. "This truly is a
beautiful house," Obi-Wan noted quietly, gazing at the
sculptures. "Everyone else thinks that it's creepy. Only Nell
shares your views on its beauty," David smiled down, amused. He
felt somehow happier near his strange visitor. "And your views
would be?" Obi-Wan looked up to meet his host's eyes. The blue
shirt he wore truly set off his eyes, making them seem more
blue than the oceans on Mon Calamari. He could fall into them
if he only so chose...
"My views? I think it is a perfect setting for isolation. And a
bit spooky," David admitted. He became aware of Obi-Wan's gaze,
but before he could comment the younger man glanced away. "What
story did you tell them? I can feel their fear," Obi-Wan
breathed, extending his senses. //Something isn't right
here...// he shuddered, awaiting a response.
"Oh, just how the house was supposedly built by a business
tycoon called Hugh Crane. His portrait is the one that is at
the top of the stairs. He married, and wished children, but
they all died at birth. His wife died, and he became a recluse.
That's the official story, at least," David repeated,
approaching a turn in the hall. Obi-Wan nodded, sensing another
being approaching them. "I embellished it a bit, though. I told
them that the wife killed herself, and they took it from
there," David shrugged. Obi-Wan had shielded the other being
from hearing David's confession, and now released the control.
David turned from his guest, and yelped as another figure
bumped into him. The other shouted, and Obi-Wan could hear
their pulses soar. "David! Jesus..." the other man whimpered,
trying to regain control over himself. "Luke! I didn't expect
you, I'm sorry to have frightened you-" David began, his breath
scant from the shock he had just felt. "No, no, it's okay.
Who's he?" Luke queried, gesturing to Obi-Wan.
"That's Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight. He crashed here, and he
and his apprentice needed shelter for the night," David
answered, wondering why Obi-Wan wasn't freaked in the least by
Luke's sudden appearance. "Apprentice? Would that be a young
boy of about ten with a strange accent?" Luke asked. "I take it
he found the food," Obi-Wan smiled slightly.
Luke nodded, then snorted. "You crashed here, on what? A
spaceship?" he demanded, hostility radiating from him. "David,
you don't know this person, he could be a murderer, hell, he
could be responsible for this shit that's been happening around
here. What are you thinking?" Luke sneered at the taller man.
"I do not mean to be a problem. The life support systems are
out on my ship and my apprentice cannot survive the cold of
this planet," Obi-Wan said softly, retreating from Luke's
anger. //All the fear from David's project is being channeled
into violence...and he's...jealous?// Obi-Wan read Luke,
holding his gaze at nothing in particular over Luke's shoulder.
"David, you are an idiot!" Luke ranted, now far beyond personal
boundary limits. He stepped up closer to David, almost so their
chests touched. David glared at him, and hissed, "You are being
rude to a guest. I don't think he is a threat." Luke snarled,
"He's lying to you. Hell, you're lying to us but we knew that!"
David began to retort angrily. Luke mashed his lips against
David's, leaning up, then stormed off down the hallway. Obi-Wan
arched an eyebrow at the surprised David, and walked into the
lighted room ahead.
"That was interesting," Obi-Wan smiled coolly at his host.
"Yes, indeed. May I ask, how come you were not frightened by
his sudden appearance?" David asked unevenly, pouring tea from
a kettle. He was disturbed by Luke's reaction, but chose not to
discuss it. Obi-Wan shrugged, and replied, "I felt his
presence, and I heard him. I knew he was coming. He's jealous
of me for some reason, you know," Obi-Wan mentioned casually.
David looked over his shoulder at his guest in astonishment.
"Really, that's odd," he breathed. //He can't have figured out
that I...impossible!// David accidentally broadcast his
confusion across the room. Obi-Wan hid a smile under the usual
Jedi veneer. "Please, David. You can't mean that you didn't
know...?" Obi-Wan asked, arching an eyebrow at his host.
"About what?" David murmured. "About Luke. It was quite
obvious," Obi-Wan replied, wondering what David's reaction
would have been had he said, "About yourself." To let David
know that he knew was an interesting prospect. David chose that
moment to turn and hide his blush. "No, I didn't know. I was
not expecting the subjects to be attracted to me. Each other,
perhaps, but not me," he said, gathering the supplies to make a
sandwich. He drew out the knife and dipped it into one jar,
finding he had to lean down to see exactly what he was doing.
Obi-Wan gazed over the tall figure bending over in front of
him. //Oh gods...// he whimpered to himself, averting his eyes
from a most appealing backside. The cut of David's black pants
was not helping him to control himself. //Qui-Gon,// he
pleaded, remembering the last time he had concealed his desire
so completely. But he loved Qui-Gon, loved him still,
why was he even thinking about another man?
//I've betrayed Qui-Gon,// Obi-Wan whimpered to himself, a
sickening disgust with his body and mind growing in his belly,
a self-hatred rising within his heart. He thrust it away, into
the winding currents of the Force, and relaxed himself. //I
can't be hung up on my Master forever, a simple one night stand
can't hurt me,// he sighed, recognising the truth in his
traitorous tones, and composed himself.
Mercifully, David turned and plopped a sandwich in front of his
guest. "Thank you," Obi-Wan smiled, trying to figure out what
he had been given to eat. Obi-Wan nibbled on the sandwich
delicately as David watched. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't
that good either. He sensed another presence approaching, and
looked up. "David," he breathed, flicking his eyes towards the
door. David's breath caught in his throat at the husky voice
mentioning his name. It was so seductive, and obviously his
guest was completely unaware of it.
David smiled his thanks as Theo burst into the kitchen. "What's
wrong with Luke?" she asked, then caught sight of Obi-Wan
looking up slowly at her. Her eyes widened slightly, and she
licked her lips unconsciously. //Strange, I'd look for that
exact reaction...if I was even interested,// Obi-Wan smirked to
himself. "Luke and I disagreed upon something. Theo, this is
Obi-Wan," David coughed, drawing the tall woman's attention
from Obi-Wan to his voice. "Weird name," she smiled engagingly,
and Obi-Wan nodded, munching on the sandwich.
"Thanks," Obi-Wan retorted sarcastically, and she expertly hid
a blush. She turned to David brusquely, and diverted the
conversation. "Doctor Marrow, about Nell," Theo began. She
shrugged helplessly. "You want a concrete answer or an
opinion?" David asked, gazing into her eyes. Obi-Wan noted the
intensity of the stare, and wondered how it would feel to be
the recipient. "Is she crazy, or is something really
happening?" Theo finally drove the question from her, sitting
down at the table.
"I don't think anything is happening outside of her mind. The
house may just be getting to her," David replied, holding
Theo's gaze. Obi-Wan shook his head. "You differ?" David
questioned, intrigued. "There's something with the house. I
think it may be partially Nell, from what I have heard, and
partially the house itself," Obi-Wan mused, sipping at his tea.
"The atmosphere then?" David deducted. //Would he stop trying
to analyse everything!// Obi-Wan pouted inwardly.
"It is kind of spooky, with all the skulls and symbols of
death, and even worse, the children everywhere. They all look
way too innocent," Theo added, shuddering elegantly. Obi-Wan
sensed the practice she had put into the movement, and grinned
inside. Nothing was what it seemed, despite however David might
try to figure it all out.
Obi-Wan nodded, letting their misinterpretations pass. They
didn't need to be disturbed by his powers or Ani's, since they
obviously didn't know what Jedi were. He felt his Padawan's
presence flare with fright, and stood up, hearing a scream echo
through the building. "Nell!" Theo gasped, and began running,
though how she did Obi-Wan could not fathom. Her shoes seemed
to make any fast movement unlikely.
David's mouth turned down in a grimace, and he jogged after
Theo towards the source of the screaming. "Why is she screaming
now?" he growled. Obi-Wan ran easily beside his host,
and they ran up the stairs, the screams increasing in volume.
"My apprentice is involved, if that helps," Obi-Wan offered,
pulling on his link to Ani. //Padawan, what happened?// he shot
out across the Force. //I felt a disturbance, terrible fear. I
went to look inside a room with so many plants, it felt good
from the plants but bad anyway, and this woman started
screaming,// Ani's frightened presence replied.
"Your apprentice...the young boy?" David asked, pausing his
run. Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes. He entered the room she was in,
because he felt a lot of fear, and she began yelling." The
young Jedi was completely frustrated and confused with the
entire situation. People were reacting in strange manners, and
he didn't understand why at all. Even worse, the dark tremors
across the Force were increasing with the approaching night.
David sighed, and grumbled, "She's been going on about someone
trying to kill children all this week. His appearance startled
her most likely."
The screeches subsided somewhat upon Theo's arrival, David and
Obi-Wan heard it as they approached the room. Obi-Wan stepped
inside, his eyes taking in a gorgeous but frightening setting.
It was elegantly laid out, beautifully adorned with ornate
fixtures, and plants overgrown the entire place. The glass
windows were encrusted with a dozen year's grime, and a rickety
metal staircase hung from the ceiling. A selection of purple
flowers lay in pots at the side of fountain with a reclining
metal sculpture of a man laying in it. //I wouldn't want to be
in here at night,// Obi-Wan noted the windows blazing with the
glory of a setting sun, glancing at the woman struggling
against Theo by the fountain.
"Do you see him, do you see them! The children, he was there,
one of the children, the poor little children, he's been
trapped inside with the rest of them. Oh they've been trying to
tell me, trying to let me release them, but they never
appeared, then he showed up, then the rest of them, oh,
oh...THEY'RE STILL THERE!" the small, dark-haired girl began
shrieking again. David ran to the fountain.
Ani ran to Obi-Wan's side, and looked up at his teacher. "What
did I do?" he asked, staring at the woman gesturing to him and
screaming. "Why do you think you did something wrong, Ani?
Something's going on, but I can't tell just what yet. It's not
your fault, but something has made her this way," Obi-Wan mused
to his apprentice. Anakin nodded sombrely.
"I know. I have a bad feeling about this entire place. It reeks
of evil, barely contained," Anakin shivered, wrapping his hands
about his Master's palm. The last rays of sunlight disappeared
over the horizon through the window, and the young boy clenched
his eyes shut. "I wish we had another place to stay that didn't
scare you so much. But this will have to do until we can repair
our ship in the morning, and you won't survive outside. You're
still not used to the cold, and I won't endanger you," Obi-Wan
rubbed the spiky hair on his apprentice's head.
"Now, what is our duty as Jedi?" Obi-Wan began, drawing the
information and determination from his Padawan as Qui-Gon had
done for him. "Our duty is to protect. But how can we protect
anyone from a danger that we don't know?" Ani repeated
dutifully, frustration with an impossible question palpable in
his stance. Obi-Wan sat down on the slate floor, and Ani did so
also, facing his Master. "We have to find out what the danger
is, through the Force and through what we know. There is no
ignorance, there is knowledge," he reminded Anakin of the Code.
"Okay, that's easy. It has to do with children, and someone
wanting to hurt them. I got that much from her screaming like
that," Ani gestured wryly towards the quieted woman. Obi-Wan
hid his smile, and nodded. "There is a great deal of fear, but
some is intended, and controlled. But outside of the people's
minds, there is something with house itself. That, I believe,
is the true danger," Obi-Wan suggested. "Yeah. The little
carvings everywhere, the kid ones, they almost seem alive. And
the pictures of that man...those also. It's really freaky," Ani
agreed, looking around him nervously.
David glanced over at the child and his guardian. They were
sitting on the floor talking. A flash of confusion crossed
David's face, so he watched more raptly, as Theo had managed to
calm Nell down enough to sit still. The way they spoke, Obi-Wan
had such a way with the young boy it seemed as if they were of
the same mind. David caught himself watching Obi-Wan's lips
moving as they spoke quietly, and turned his attention forcibly
back to Theo and Nell.
Obi-Wan saw David enraptured, staring at them, and chanced a
glance in his direction. //Strange,// Obi-Wan puzzled as David
tore his gaze away. "Anakin, stay in the hall, I don't want to
encourage another screaming fit. Reach out and see what you can
sense through the Force," Obi-Wan encouraged his charge gently,
and Anakin nodded eagerly. "Yes Master," he grinned, and
trotted out to the hallway obediently. Obi-Wan ignored the
painful tug at his heart at the young boy's smile, so
previously reserved for Qui-Gon alone, and walked over to his
host's side.
David looked up from his kneeling posture and acknowledged
Obi-Wan. "Nell, this is our guest, Obi-Wan. You saw his
apprentice, Nell, a young boy called Anakin. He's not a ghost,
Nell, calm down," David soothed her. Obi-Wan smiled at her,
taking in her large eyes, smooth features, almost too smooth
for what he had seen of this planet. She seemed rounded and
soft as a general impression, as compared to the taut, delicate
fine sculpture of Theo, the broken but decidedly strong
features of Luke, and the hard, attractive planes of David's
face.
Obi-Wan distracted himself from that last thought, and spoke
quietly, using his mental powers to relax the woman squirming
in terror beneath their gaze. "It was only Ani, he doesn't mean
any harm, he won't hurt you," he assured her softly. "I know,
they won't hurt me, but he will , and he'll find
them, and hurt them!" she pleaded, utter conviction begging in
her eyes.
"They? There was only Anakin, Nell. No other children. And who
is this he?" David probed, concern in his voice. "Oh, I
saw the boy, yes, but then the other children were with him
also. He is Hugh Crane, he kept the children here,
killed them so they would stay forever, he'll find them if they
stay, he'll find me!" she panted, her voice rising
again. David looked at Obi-Wan in exasperation, then turned his
attention back to Nell.
"Nell, it was just a story. None of this is real, you're just
imagining it. There are no children, and Hugh Crane is not
going to find you; he's dead. Calm yourself, none of this is
real," he droned, hoping that a fact repeated would be a fact
accepted. "Not real?" she asked, her voice quavering. Her eyes
began brimming with tears as she hugged herself, pulling her
legs to her chest.
David sighed almost inaudibly with frustration, and Obi-Wan
looked at him in concern. Nell garnered their attention again.
"How can you say that, you didn't see their bones in the
fireplace, you didn't see the children, how can you say that it
isn't real? HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" she yelled, glaring in fury
at David. David backed off, standing up.
"YOU look at the bones and tell me he didn't kill those
children, YOU see their spirits and tell me it isn't real! How
can you say what I have seen isn't real when you haven't seen
it?" she raged, standing up and scowling in anger at them all.
Obi-Wan's hand trailed to his weapon. Anger was leading to
violence, and the Dark Side's power was growing within the poor
woman.
Obi-Wan released his fear to the Force, and reached out to her
mind. He recoiled in shock at the truth of her words. "Very
simply, Nell. Because no one else saw what you saw, what you
see," David breathed quietly. Obi-Wan shook his head, and sent
the information he had gleaned from her mind to his apprentice.
"She's not lying, she did see those things, David," he
hissed softly.
"No one else has seen anything. The plumbing scared the women
last night, and Luke inadvertently helped their fear grow. An
accident, but very revealing," David whispered back, secure in
his illusions and false explanations. Obi-Wan shrugged, not
wanting to disturb the fragile hold on a false reality that was
yet keeping David from extreme fear himself.
"Nell, Nell, please, calm down. You're scaring Anakin. I will
look and see if I can find the bones, please, calm down,"
Obi-Wan stepped forward, holding Nell's shoulders. "Then you
will believe me, when you see them you will have to believe me!
The bones, he burned the bodies in the fireplace, they're in
there, just look, they're in there," Nell moaned, falling
against Obi-Wan. David watched as Obi-Wan handed Nell to Theo,
and suggested that she be put to bed.
"Well, shall we have a look?" Obi-Wan smiled gamely at David.
"I think she's deluding herself, Obi-Wan. There won't be
anything there," David voiced his opinions quietly. Anakin
ducked inside, avoiding Nell's gaze, and ran to Obi-Wan.
"Master, the evil is growing, now that it's dark out. It's cold
and frightening. But some good is there, like small innocent
children, it seems, but that presence is terrified of the evil
one," Anakin confided in Huttese to his Master. "You don't want
David to hear?" Obi-Wan guessed, replying in Huttese. Anakin
nodded. "He is so set in his ideas about this, he'll just
argue. I can only offer what I have sensed," Anakin noted.
"Good work, Padawan," Obi-Wan grinned, and Anakin beamed with
the praise.
David had been trying hard to ignore the strange language they
had spoken in, and was relieved when they switched back to
English. He watched as Obi-Wan unexpectedly hoisted the boy
onto his shoulders and Anakin's joy from being able to see
everything from up high seemed to fill his mind. //Ani, stop
broadcasting! Do you want the attention of a presence here?//
Obi-Wan reprimanded half-heartedly, and David heard him in his
head. "What the-?" David asked, staring at them. "Sorry,"
Obi-Wan muttered, blushing now, then within a nanosecond's time
returning to the mask of perfect calm. //How did he hear me?//
Obi-Wan muttered to himself within his mind, bringing up more
shields around his thoughts.
"Come on, we'll look at the fireplace, as if it'll do anything.
You will explain what just happened, but later," David
cast a stern look at his guests. Ani smiled innocently while
Obi-Wan appeared not to have heard him, looking straight ahead
instead. David shrugged, and pushed open the stone door that
lead to the foyer.
The fire had not yet been built, so David pushed back the
chains and looked about. "Nell saw something in here today, but
it was just the flue," David shrugged. Obi-Wan approached,
Anakin climbing off his back, and winced. "Something's here,
David, I can feel it," Obi-Wan shuddered, looking about, then
straight down at his feet.
"Feel? Physically?" David stared at him as if he'd become an
Ithorian. "No, mentally. There's something you should know
about Anakin and I. We're Jedi, which means that we can sense
things, sometimes see things before they happen, read minds,
and well..." Obi-Wan shrugged at David's expression of
disbelief. //I had to try and explain,// he sighed to himself.
"You've got to be joking. You seem too stable, too
normal to delude yourself like that," David snorted,
ready to laugh and ready to back off, each depending on
Obi-Wan's reaction.
Obi-Wan shrugged again, and dropped his lightsabre on the
floor. "Here is your evidence. You are a hard man to convince,
David," Obi-Wan smiled, lifting the blade from the floor with
his mind. "How-" David gasped as the blade flew to Obi-Wan's
hand, and he reattached the hilt to his belt. "Believe it or
don't, it is your choice. We'll be gone in the morning either
way," Obi-Wan decided with cold finality.
David forced his mind back to the fireplace, and gestured
about, "Well, there's nothing here." He was feeling strangely
out of control for the situation, flailing for words around the
younger man. //Maybe that's why I am so attracted to him, I
feel safe enough to lose control around him,// he pondered,
returning his thoughts to their proper order, in disarray from
Obi-Wan's presence.
Obi-Wan pointed to the floor, and controlled the residual pain
and fear he felt emanating from the area. "What's there?" he
questioned, backing off the grating. "The ashes from old fires,
we looked in there before," David grumbled scornfully, but
knelt to pull at the handles. "Nell said he burned the
children. Something's very wrong in there," Obi-Wan murmured,
hearing the clank of metal against metal.
"It won't open," David breathed. Obi-Wan pulled at a poker
handle at the side. "Oh," David blushed, embarrassed that he
hadn't seen it before. Obi-Wan grunted with effort, then yanked
it out, dropping it in fear. "Anakin, wait outside. I don't
want you to see this," Obi-Wan looked at his apprentice. "How
will I ever learn to if you don't let me now?" Anakin pouted,
trying to use reason to convince his master otherwise. "You
will, Ani. But not now. Wait outside," Obi-Wan ordered, and
Anakin walked off. They waited until the boy was safely
outside, and not peeking in, and Obi-Wan stepped back from the
grate.
"She said they were in there," Obi-Wan whispered unconsciously,
waiting for David to step out of the fireplace. "It can't be
that bad," Obi-Wan assured himself more than David, and
prepared to open the grate. "If you're using her to judge how
it will affect us, if there's anything in there, then we
will be permanently scarred," David joshed, attempting a grin.
Obi-Wan met his eyes with amusement, and then focused on the
grate. The handles rose by Obi-Wan's will, and then the grate
flew open.
"You didn't do that-" David realised as Obi-Wan stepped back,
fear evident across his face. The grate erupted, and David ran
from it, feeling himself pelted with large objects and small.
Obi-Wan looked at him, dashing from the grate spewing ash, and
he suddenly felt the intense fear and pain of each piece
mentally. The mental horror and agony retracted as quickly as
it had started, and he felt himself out of range. He sank to
his knees, panting as he stared around the room in abject
terror.
David could do nothing but look at the ash and strewn bones on
the floor. "I'm so sorry, David, I didn't mean to invade your
mind like that," Obi-Wan apologised, walking across the room to
his host. "That's what you mean by feel?" David breathed
heavily, watching his guest approach him. Obi-Wan nodded, and
slid an arm around his waist. "This is what I feel now, here,
from the house," Obi-Wan placed his other hand on David's
forehead.
David could have choked on the darkness the he felt invading
his mind. It reached through his thoughts, twisting them around
his most base desires, his darkest urgings. He felt it
searching his mind, and tried to thrust it from him. This only
brought maelstrom of evil closer and he could sense a presence
there. //Crane...// he whispered mentally, sensing Obi-Wan's
nod. Suddenly the darkness was drawn from him, sucked out as if
a needle drawing it out, and he staggered to the floor.
"I understand, how do you deal with it?" David groaned, feeling
his stomach lurch at the sight of the bones. Obi-Wan helped him
up, and answered, "It has always been my ability to sense these
things. I don't what it is like not to be able to." He took
David's hand, and pulled him out of the room, through the doors
Anakin was waiting behind. But Anakin wasn't there.
Obi-Wan reached out with his mind, and found residual terror
from his apprentice. "Ani," he breathed, and found the boy
running in terror from the evil presence. "Where is he? No, the
evil thing..." David pondered, a bleak horror filling his
countenance. "Is chasing him," Obi-Wan finished, and darted
down a hallway. David ran after him, and Obi-Wan shook his
head. "Don't! You'll never be able to keep up, go find your
subjects, stay with them!" Obi-Wan commanded coldly, and ran
down the hallway, suddenly jolting from one place to a spot a
hundred metres further with only a step.
David ran his hand through his hair, and muttered, "This
cannot be happening. It's not possible, not rational."
//Why does Obi-Wan seem so familiar?// the unasked question
pounded through his mind. "Ghosts, presence, bones, what is
wrong with me? This can't be real!" he grumbled. But the memory
remained, of the hail of bones and ash, the mental agony
lancing through him as if he felt it once more.
"This defies all modern science. You're the one supposed to be
studying fear here, not being scared yourself, David. It's not
real," he announced firmly to himself, jogging through the
halls to Nell's room. "Group hysteria, right," he reminded
himself, convincing his mind to accept that it wasn't real,
just some delusion. His subjects were having delusions, and in
such a house, who wouldn't imagine things? //I'm certainly not
immune,// he thought, then jerked his body backwards.
The sound of crushing stone, of impossible large footsteps that
seemed like thunder crashed into his eardrums. A small blur of
golden hair and cream clothing dashed by him, passing faster
than any human was able to. A wave of rolling sound again
poured through the statues and stone, seemingly amplified by
the morbid sculptures, as if with each crack several jets
passed he sound barrier. The volume intensified as the noise
drew nearer, and David vaguely noted that Nell was screaming
again.
Another noise, this time is verged on auditory agony. David
covered his ears, but the slight muffling did nothing to
prevent the pain of the high decibel roaring crush of the
building. He dodged a flurry of stone chips that fell from the
ceiling as it dipped down from something above, and he stared
in blank terror as the terrorised child stopped at the end of
the hallway. //No place to go,// David realised as the boy
turned, and stared at the ceiling. Another blur of light
coloured cloth ran by him, at as speed much higher than that of
the boy, and Obi-Wan appeared out of the hazy figure next to
Anakin.
Anakin stared at the taller man, and David was struck by how
young Obi-Wan was. He wasn't of an age to be out of college
yet. But he exuded a presence of command and training that made
him seem so much older and experienced. //Perhaps he is,//
David quelled that thought in favour of watching with blind
stupidity the two visitors that had so innocently asked for
shelter.
Obi-Wan looked at Anakin, and suddenly the tension and fear
fled from the boy's face. He closed his eyes, concentrating on
something, and Obi-Wan drew the metal tube from his waist.
David's eyes bugged as Obi-Wan thumbed a button, and a
glittering blue length extended from the hilt. He too closed
his eyes, which marked itself as strange, but then everything
was not understood when it came to them, as had made itself
quite clear to David.
"Doctor Marrow!" Theo's voice shattered David's blatant frozen
stare at the two Jedi. She tugged on his arm, pulling him from
the painful, cramped crouch he hadn't realised he had sunk
into, and dragged him up. "Doctor Marrow, Nell, she's gone into
shock or something, she's screaming about Crane, I don't know
where Luke is, Doctor Marrow!" Theo jabbered, the words falling
past David into the void that held him still.
He got up, and broke his gaze from the Jedi. "Shock?" he asked,
trying vainly to control the terror that was thieving him of
his composure. Theo nodded and he shot a last glance, wincing
as the noise erupted again into pure torture for his ears. Theo
whimpered, sinking to the floor in an attempt to get away for
the sound.
David recovered first, and threw open the door to Nell's
apartment. She was still screaming, but that barely registered
in his mind. Sweat was streaming down her face, and tears
poured from here eyes as she gazed blankly at the ceiling.
David chanced a look at the elegant glass pattern , and found
the lead from between the panes hanging down in places, the
glass seemingly moulded together. Theo arrived at his side,
both grimacing as the noise passed overhead, only increasing
Nell's screams.
Suddenly Obi-Wan was in the room, breathing only slightly more
than before, his face calm. David stared at him in confusion,
then disregarded his own emotion in favour of just acting now.
"It's Crane, she wasn't lying. He's following Anakin now," the
young Jedi spoke softly, a small British accent to his words.
David wondered why he hadn't noticed that before.
"It's not real," David repeated his mantra before he realised
it. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, and knelt beside Nell's writhing
form. "Sleep now," he mouthed the words, barely audible to
anyone, and she relaxed as his hand stroked her brow, and
withdrew. She settled back into the bed, her eyes closing and
her rapid breathing slowing to a peaceful snore.
Obi-Wan grabbed David's arm, and pulled him into the anteroom.
"You can't seriously, after seeing so much, believe that it
isn't real? That this entire event is just one of your
subject's creations, that you are even deluding yourself?"
Obi-Wan sneered, restraining himself not to hit him. //Does he
think this a joke? He could endanger everyone with those
beliefs!// Obi-Wan gasped mentally.
"It can't be real, Obi-wan, you must realise that-" David began
his self-indoctrination. "Do you truly believe that?" Obi-Wan
challenged, crossing his arms. "I must believe that-" David
started. Obi-Wan leaned up and pulled his head down, curling
his fingers around the taller man's neck. "Then this isn't real
either?" Obi-Wan hissed, pressing his lips firmly to David's.
David's backed away in shock, and Obi-Wan turned from him.
//Why in all the nine hells did I do that? I have let Qui-Gon
down,// Obi-Wan bit his lip in remorse. He knew his ploy had
worked, brought David around so he could handle to situation
better, but at the cost of his heart. //I knew I was attracted
to him, but to disgrace my dead Master's memory, to disregard
my love for him in such a careless way,// Obi-Wan fought back
the tears brimming at his eyes. He restored his control, and
shielded himself before turning to face David. But the large
hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong. It just seemed so impossible to
believe, so I didn't," David murmured. "Good. We have to get
everyone out of here," Obi-Wan turned, his eyes down. He didn't
want to admit to the desire flaring in his eyes at David's
touch. He instead walked into David's chest. He sucked in his
breath in surprise, and looked up to David's eyes.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes automatically as David's mouth
descended onto his own. //Like Qui-Gon,// His mind flailed in
recognition of David's presence before subsiding into
incoherence at the touch of David's tongue to his lips.
Obi-Wan's arms wound themselves about David's shoulders,
feeling the reciprocal embrace about his waist.
David's senses filled with the young Jedi in his arms. He
pushed his tongue at the chastely reserved mouth beneath his
own, and felt the lips part to allow his access. He felt a
slight brush across his mind, almost like a physical presence,
and slipped his tongue into the younger man's mouth, tasting
the sweet wet interior. He felt Obi-Wan meld his body to his
own, and clutched at the muscled strength he felt in his guest.
A low groan sounded from one of them and Obi-Wan felt a
hardness prodding his stomach. David's mouth left his own, and
began leaving a wet, reddened trail down his neck. He pushed
his body against his host's, and whispered, trying to distract
himself from David's lips, "David, not now, your subjects, my
apprentice..." David looked up from marking Obi-Wan, and
murmured, "They can wait."
David felt the overwhelming rush of blood to his lower body,
and knew that his hormones were going to quickly take him over.
But for this man, it was worth the loss of control. By the time
the thought had finished, he was in the throes of his hormone
rush, and happily so.
Obi-Wan pushed David from him, and hissed, "No, David, they
cannot wait." He could have winced at the broadcast of
rejection and remorse as David fought to regain control of his
body, and the burning aura of lust from him reduced itself to
little more than the shadow it had remained at before. "We will
not get another chance, Obi-Wan," David pleaded, one last try
at continuing. "It does not matter. I am sworn to protect your
subjects now, and you had better help me," Obi-Wan said coldly,
his words empty to his own ears. //I am Jedi first, humans
last,// he harshly reminded himself, and leaned against David,
thankful for the one last second of human comfort before his
role took over once again.
"David!" Theo's shocked voice echoed through the anteroom.
Obi-Wan stepped away from David, and David merely stared,
dropping his arms in a mixture of fear and consternation. "We
have to get out of here. Theo, find Luke," Obi-Wan ordered
softly. Theo shot David one last confused look, and darted into
the hallway. "Anakin!" Obi-Wan gasped, and opened his mind
further to the link. An echo of terror answered his call, and a
calm determination to escape the evil that followed him.
Anakin glanced around the hallway, hearing the crush of stone
with barely restrained violence behind him. "Anakin," a soft,
wispy voice rasped at him. He sensed no one, then a warm glow
filled his mind. "What do you want?" he asked the air, stopping
in the hallway. "Anakin, hide!" a metallic, almost crystalline
voice sang. "I can't outrun him, can I?" he guessed, angry for
not being larger for his age. "No, Anakin, hide!" the voice
sang higher, echoes of shattered glass and childish songs
emanating in more fear. The ground stone and sense of bone
being burnt and powdered by hand filled the thunder of his
pursuer. "Where can I hide?" Anakin hissed, fear increasing
with every echo of disturbance. "Follow us, only the doors can
hold him, Anakin, the doors!" another voice urged, deeper but
still soft, a tinkling of a music box reminiscent in the quiet
tones.
A small footprint appeared in red liquid on the floor. Anakin
bent and wiped some of the liquid on his finger, wondering what
it was. He felt residual pain and the fury of a murderer's
victim, the innocent wondering of an unreasonable wrong, and
gasped. "Anakin, hurry!" the young boy's voice seethed, horror
at the approaching demon increasing. Anakin nodded, and began
running, the footsteps barely appearing in front of him before
he overtook them. Anakin shivered with a cold touch, and
glanced o the side, where his spirit-guide would have been, had
it been corporeal. A translucent image of a boy grinned at him,
and he shook his head in amazement.
"The children's ghosts are leading Anakin somewhere to hide,"
Obi-Wan announced to David, jolting himself out of a trance. He
looked at his host, "We have to get Nell out of here. The house
wants her, and this evil presence wants to hurt her. I don't
trust either." David nodded, and approached the door to Nell's
bedroom. "David!" Obi-Wan cried out, the door slamming before
him.
"This can't be good," David muttered, approaching another door.
It also shut and locked itself. He looked around as the third
and final door slid its lock in place. He backed into the
centre of the room, finding Obi-Wan already there. //Shit.//
Nell lay in bed. She had slept for a few minutes, but the
tugging on her hand woke her up. She opened her eyes after a
few moments, regretting the decision immediately. She was in
Hill House still, the nightmare of the ghosts and Hugh Crane
wasn't over. She winced at the thought, and stared at the
ceiling, wishing to herself that she was back asleep. She
clenched her eyes shut, only to hear a sliding sound, and then
a rip beside her arm.
She sat up in terror, and stared. One of the spires above her
bed pinned her arm to the bed. She tugged at it, pulling
fiercely, then saw another spire plant itself firmly in her
night-gown on her other side. //Why aren't they killing me?//
she asked, afraid of the answer. She blinked her eyes, clearing
her vision, and looked ahead, trying to rip the fabric and be
out of that bed. Then she screamed.
"Crane," she whispered, staring at the ceiling above her. The
leading had come undone, leaving the glass to form an
impressionable surface of molten liquid, held up by an unknown
force. And now Hugh Crane's face appeared upon it. Her blood
went cold in the fiery hatred she saw in the glass covered
eyes. A piercing howl of fury ripped through the room, leaving
Nell only the faintest impression that the floorboards were
being split. Her gaze was trapped in the pure horror that
presented itself in Crane's visage.
"Crane is in there," Obi-Wan whispered, gesturing to the
bedroom. "He wouldn't-" David protested. "He will, if we don't
stop him," Obi-Wan set his jaw, and ignited the luminescent
blade that had impressed David before. "But he doesn't want
her, he wants children..." David mumbled, then caught himself.
//No...// his mind grasped the horrifying concept, and he threw
himself against the bedroom door. "A door cannot hold when it
doesn't exist," Obi-Wan pushed him away, and sliced the hinges,
a restrained power evident in his movements.
The doors clattered to the floor heavily, and David jumped back
from their heavy weight. Obi-Wan was inside the room already,
then stopped at the sight of the countenance in the ceiling.
David jumped over the ruined floor, and beat against the spires
trapping Nell to the bed. She was staring at Crane, unable to
do more than scream.
Obi-Wan fell to the floor, screaming in agony from some unseen
force. Luke dashed inside the room, and glared at David. "Where
were you?" David snapped, trying to pull the wooden stakes out
of the bed. Luke glanced at Obi-Wan, and grabbed the glowing
blade. "Your guest isn't much use," he sneered angrily, waving
a hand at the curled body of the Jedi on the floor. David shot
him a glare, and made Nell lie still while Luke sliced through
the spires. Luke scowled at Crane's face, and slashed at him,
ignoring the Jedi's keening screams of pain as he attacked
Crane.
Abruptly the bed jerked forward, and Luke fell onto his back.
He yelled, and stared at his chest in numb horror. One of the
spires protruded through his abdomen. Crane laughed, and out of
his cackling mouth poured horrid arms and hands. Luke began
shrieking, bloody dribbling down his chin as his lungs filled
with blood. He watched in pure dread as the arms reached for
him, unable to close his eyes to the fate awaiting him.
David forced his gaze away, running to Obi-Wan's side. He
touched his guest, and gasped as pure mental agony laced
through his limbs. Obi-Wan whimpered, and pulled his mind from
David's, trying not to harm him. He released the pain forcibly,
ignoring the continuation of the agony, and sat up, turning his
face away from Luke even as he called the hilt of his weapon to
him from Luke's hand.
Luke's volume scraped his throat raw, but it didn't matter now.
Nothing mattered. One glassy hand, overlarge and inhuman,
yanked the spire through his chest, and flung it into a corner.
Luke choked on his blood, and Crane cackled again, thrusting
the hand into the hole left in Luke's chest. Luke closed his
eyes, trying to ignore the sharp, slicing glass hand feeling
through his organs. He could feel the flesh splitting, the
blood pouring over the sheets he clenched. He felt a tug at his
heart, the organ pumping the blood from him, killing him with
its efficiency.
David heard Crane's evil laughter, and pulled Obi-Wan with him,
running from the room. "I don't want to know, it's too
horrible," David wept, dragging the Jedi out of the room,
ignoring the door slamming behind him. "Oh, Force, no..."
Obi-Wan moaned, sinking to his knees. //I can feel his pain,
he's broadcasting it all,// Obi-Wan's scream of agony pierced
David's brain before the young man bit his lip, and it
retreated.
Luke's eyes flew open as he felt the hand rubbing over the
pounding organ, slicing open tiny layers of flesh with
immeasurable delight in the layer of intense anguish it cause
Luke. The hand clenched around the organ, then retracted its
length into Crane's mouth. Luke stared as Crane's glass endowed
teeth crushed his heart and lungs before the blissful final
dark settled over him.
Obi-Wan stood up, and bowed his head sadly. "Luke's dead," he
whispered, clenching his lightsabre as he sliced open the
doors. "We have to go-where's Nell?" David gasped. The young
woman was nowhere to be seen. Obi-Wan looked down the hallway,
and then back at David. "I'll get her. Get out of this house,"
Obi-Wan crushed David against him in a fierce hug. //I never
got to say good-by, I won't forget this time,// he determined.
"Good luck, may the Force be with you," Obi-Wan nodded
fiercely, and tore a kiss from David's lips before darting down
the hallway after Nell with inhuman speed.
David stared after Obi-Wan's vanished figure, touching his
lips. "This has to be real, even though everything says it
can't be. I want it to be real," he sighed, then the
crash in the room behind him jolted him to reality. He began
jogging down the hallways, noting with fear every ornament that
might leap out and attack him.
//It's hard to escape when the House itself is your enemy,//
David growled mentally, eyeing a dark hooded sculpture to his
side. Try as he might, he still was shocked when it stood to
grab him. He dodged out its grasp, and began running towards
the staircase. He had just rounded the corner and about to
descend when he heard a quiet, creaking sound.
David turned, and realised his mistake. The huge portrait of
Hugh Crane, marred by paint and evil, loosed it's restraints to
fall, and he jumped back. But not far enough. He howled as the
sharp edge of the frame tore across his chest, and he staggered
back a few steps. Which, he dully noted, was the worst thing to
do on a staircase. He fell down the entire length of the
staircase, with no landing to delay his crash to the tiled
floor of the foyer. He forced air into his lungs, the burning
tissue inside now clogged by ash from the floor that had risen
with his fall.
"Doctor Marrow!" Theo's voice clanged against his ears. He
groaned, wheezing with effort as he sat up. He became aware of
the blood trickling down from the ragged edges of his ruined
shirt, and forced himself not to look at it. //I'll only vomit
at the sight,// he winced, feeling Theo's arms wrap around his
shoulders as he struggled to stand.
Obi-Wan sped with unnatural grace and speed through the
frightening hallways of Hill House. He focused on his
apprentice's presence, a pulsing golden light within the Force,
like a rock in uncertain tides, now sending off ripples of
fright through it's waters. //Ani, is Nell with you?// he sent
along their training bond, turning sharply down a thin corridor
with only one door at the end. The door was ajar, and Obi-Wan
slowed to duck inside the child sized entry.
"Master!" Anakin's voice cried, and the small boy buried
himself in his chest. "Padawan, calm down. We're going to leave
this place soon, it's too dangerous," Obi-Wan soothed, stroking
the shorn hair on Anakin's head. //And it was my idea to come
here,// he berated himself. "Master, no! We can't! The
children..." Anakin pleaded, his eyes widening in a pout.
//You sound as bad as Nell,// Obi-Wan snorted in his mind, and
shook his head. "We can do nothing for them here. Where's
Nell?" Obi-Wan refuted, distracting Anakin. The last thing he
needed was for his overeager and important apprentice to be
hurt, or killed. The house would not be merciful. "I'm here," a
female voice, low and thin, announced.
"Eleanor, you must come with us," Obi-Wan stared into her eyes,
letting Anakin down to the floor. "No, no! This is my home! The
children need me!" she refused, as if he had asked the
impossible. Obi-Wan bit his lip, and decided to try a different
tactic. "Yes, they need you, Nell, but they'll need you alive.
You can't help them if Crane kills you," he attempted to humour
her strange notions. He knew something was wrong with the
house, but he didn't believe all that she had said about the
children and whatnot.
"He won't kill me, he wants more children..." Nell shuddered,
standing. "Go, go on! I'll let you out, but I have to stop
Crane myself. He can't be allowed to hurt another child!" she
nodded firmly, and pushed them out towards the door. Obi-Wan
grabbed Anakin's hand and pulled him along, ignoring the dust
that was rattling off the ceiling for an ominous reason.
David stared at the bones on the floor for the second time in
only hours. He was playing dead, lying down where he had fallen
on the ashes and bones strewn across the foyer. Theo's blood
was spattered across his face, and he tried not to move as he
remembered her mistake, determined not to make it himself.
They had tried to run to the doors, but the strangely simple,
not intricately decorated griffins and chimeras on the
staircase had come alive. David had known better than to turn
his back, but the pain of his gouged chest had released all
reason from him faculties. Only when he had heard the keening
unearthly cry of the griffin had he turned, and dropped on his
side as it flew over them. He had tried to close his eyes to
the violence as the metal beast ripped Theo's head from her
body with a triumphant screech.
David felt that the sound of Theo's death would never leave him
at the moment. He had tried to ignore it, but with no visual
distraction, the tear of flesh and the spurting blood provided
a delicately detailed description of her mutilation to his ears
and mind. Each centimetre as it was severed roughly from her
body the rough edges crying out with bloody screams, providing
only the disgusting sounds of tearing flesh as their cries.
Even worse, the griffin's call of triumph, screeching its
murder to the entire foyer and its companions in death. He
could envision the gleeful grin upon the unnatural face of the
metal creature, and then the smacking sound of Theo's head
hitting the ground, the tile letting the dead flesh slap
against its cold surface. It had sounded almost like a child's
clapping game, a tiny excerpt of sound, just one clap of hand
upon hand, flesh to flesh, resounding and echoing in the room.
David had winced at that thought, and reminded himself to
reprimand anyone thinking of having children with their morbid
nature.
The flailing body had landed next to him, and he fell onto his
front, knowing his face would betray that he was yet alive. He
had ignored the blood pooling under his chest, and even worse,
the still warn liquid pouring from Theo's body onto the floor,
creeping closer to his face with each moment he lay on the
floor. But he did not dare to move. Stupidity during crisis he
had committed before, and was not about to repeat his mistake
at the cost of his own life.
Obi-Wan and Nell rounded the corner at the height of the
staircase, and she gasped, turning her head away. Anakin
screamed in horror, and Obi-Wan ignited his lightsabre. The
mystical fairytale creatures that had guarded the staircase now
flapped about, prowling around the prone figures on the floor
below. Obi-Wan hid a grimace as one chimera nudged the dead
body of Theo. Her head lay several metres away, her flesh
captured in a mask of shock and agony, the glassy eyes staring
at them.
But the other body was David. Obi-Wan's heart tore at the sight
of his would-be lover, lying also dead on the floor, blood
congealing on the tiles beneath his and Theo's bodies. //I lost
him, I couldn't protect him, I did get here in time to prevent
his death,// Obi-Wan mind repeated the litany of blame he had
assumed upon himself when Qui-Gon had been murdered before him.
Obi-Wan released his anger, and flipped over the railing to
attack the metal monstrosities that had been unleashed to kill
David. He cleaved the chimeras in two easily, then flipped up
to catch a griffin before it swooped down to decapitate him
also. He circled with the other griffin, being more cautious
than it's compatriot, now flopping headless on the floor.
Obi-Wan's eyes never left the one remaining opponent as he
quelled the movements of the griffin, slicing its limbs off.
The griffin shied from him, and landed on the floor, assuming
its original shape. Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes, not trusting the
vile beast or it's making, and hewed the still griffin in two
halves.
Anakin ran down the steps as Obi-Wan stared at the carnage
scattered about the room as if by a child's careless hand. Nell
stood at the top of the staircase, not moving, instead staring
into the air as if something was there. Obi-Wan could neither
see no sense anything but evil from the portrait behind here,
overwhelming all his other senses. But apparently not Anakin's.
David heard footsteps, and the dull thud of metal falling to
the floor, clanking and shattering some tiles. //The monsters
have turned on each other,// he guessed, and lay still. It
wouldn't do to distract them until they were all dead and he
could escape. //Escape...I hadn't even thought about that, just
accepted that I would die,// he murmured mentally, amazed at
his subconscious.
He heard smaller footsteps, and the crunching of a skull
underfoot. The sounds were approaching him, and he tensed for
the final attack. //Perhaps I won't survive, then,// he mused
bitterly. He had hoped to come out of it alive, but as two of
his subjects had died already, the likelihood of that was slim.
"Master, he's still alive!" a young boy's voice rang out
clearly, the innocence of childhood stripped from it's tones.
David grunted, and rolled over, biting his lip so not to cry
out in pain. The ash and bone fragments had got into the gouge
on his chest, and the congealing blood was now grey and
sparkling slightly on the surface. The dried blood about the
edges was making it hard to move, tearing painfully with each
movement of his skin. All he faithfully ignored.
"David," Obi-Wan knelt over the doctor, sighing in relief.
"Obi-Wan, "David moaned, opening his eyes. Obi-Wan nodded, and
slid a surprisingly strong arm under his shoulders, helping him
sit up. "What happened to you?" he breathed, calming his host.
"The portrait scraped me when it fell," David winced. The Jedi
closed his eyes, and David watched as a shimmering shield
seemed to rise around them.
David stared at the glistening, soothing, seemingly liquid air,
and Obi-Wan grinned at him. He placed a hand on David's chest,
and it seemed to glow a bluish, heavenly light. David felt the
fiery infection dwindle, then stared down. The gouge had faded
to a blood encrusted red scar line, still tender but not
bleeding. Obi-Wan raised his hand, and the dried blood flaked
away, revealing pale new skin through the gash in David's
shirt.
David stared at his guest, and forced out the breath he had
been holding in. Obi-Wan smiled at him, "It's another Jedi
thing. Come on, we have to get out of here." David nodded, and
Obi-Wan pulled him up off the floor. David grinned, and kissed
Obi-Wan quickly before starting to run for the door. "Nell!
Come on!" Obi-Wan yelled, pushing Anakin from him. //Run,
Padawan!// he ordered mentally, and Anakin's short legs carried
him quickly to the door.
Nell stood at the top of the steps, looking about. The young
man who David had welcomed in stood, yelling for her to hurry.
//Guest, and lover,// she smiled at him. "Go, go on! I must
stay!" Nell shouted back. She knew what she had to do, she had
to face Crane. He looked at her, and shook his head. "You have
to leave also!" he argued, speaking softly, but somehow his
voice carried easily to her ear. She began descending the
stairs, and refused. "Hugh Crane!" she screamed, pushing the
young man towards the doors. "You have to leave. I must stay,
hurry!" she hissed at him, before crying her tormentor's name
again. Obi-Wan glared at her, then began racing towards the
doors.
They slammed shut before he got there, and he stopped in the
entryway. He drew his blade, and sliced through the door, but
they stayed up. "What the hells?" he murmured, and threw the
Force at them. The pieces shook, but remained to block the way.
He sliced through them some more, noting the seams of burnt
wood where he had severed the grain, and then pushed at them
with his shoulder. The doors remained.
"Curse it," Obi-Wan muttered, throwing himself at the doors.
His shoulder cried out in bruised protest, but the pieces of
wood did not budge. He sighed and turned to watch Nell
pointedly ignore him, striding across the room, ignoring the
bones beneath her bare feet. Obi-Wan darted back into the
foyer, and arrested her walking. "Nell," he muttered her name,
grasping her shoulders. Suddenly she whirled around, and
Obi-Wan gasped.
David and Anakin had made it outside just before they doors had
slammed behind them. Anakin, sensing a rush of evil into the
doors, pushed at them with his mind, but it would not move.
"He's trapped," David told the boy, and Anakin nibbled on his
lip. David placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, hoping that
it would reassure him. Anakin nodded, and pulled away,
clambering up to a window to peer inside.
Obi-Wan stared in growing fear as the air grew with tension. He
released his fear, and watched as Nell glared at the top of the
stairs. She yelled something, but it was drowned out by a
sudden rush of wind. The huge portrait, stained at the top by
David's blood, righted itself, and slammed against the wall
with a resounding crack. The picture seemed to come alive, and
a cloud of dust and ash rose, the bones from the floor swept up
into a tornado of fury and hatred so intense it threatened to
send the young Jedi into unconsciousness.
With a roar of agonised hate, the head of the cloud assembled
itself to a disfigured version of the man who had built the
house. The proportions were hideous and torn, a deathly
sickness swirling about the hooded evil creating itself at the
head of the stairs. Obi-Wan observed in dulled horror as the
ashy cloud of molten rancour descended the staircase, its winds
loud and raucous.
Obi-Wan glanced over at Nell, who stood in perfect calmness,
her white night-gown whipped back about her body from the
fierce maelstrom. //She's accepted her death, she has no fear.
Perfect fatalism,// he smirked, recalling David's words on that
earlier in the night. Was it only hours before? It seemed days,
years, perhaps aeons ago. He ignited his lightsabre, and the
ghostly horror that was Crane glared at him.
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes against the blinding ashes thrown
about, and grinned cockily in challenge. The storm took his
arrogant request, and rushed forward, sweeping him into its
throes of anger. Obi-Wan forced his eyes and mouth shut, his
nostrils clogging with ash already. He reached out with his
mind, and focused on drawing the Light side of The Force to
battle the evil holding him. He was draw up higher from the
floor, and battered against the ceiling. Obi-Wan ignored the
pain easily, and threw the Force against the wrath collected
now beneath him, trying to force it to the floor, and die out
there. He sensed a snort of derision at his efforts, and
plummeted accordingly towards the hard tiles.
David sucked in his breath in terror as his friend, his guest
crashed to the floor of the foyer. Nell only reacted to glance
at his crumpled body, and then stare Crane in the face. She
stepped away slightly, her back almost to the stone doors
depicting Purgatory at the end of the hall. The black smog of
Crane's apparition howled forth towards her, and she merely
smiled, screaming some last insult as he flung her body against
the doors. A sickening scream resulted, and she slumped to the
floor, nerveless.
David bit his lip, and turned away slightly, only looking back
when the figures on the door freed themselves. The stone
guardians wrapped themselves about Crane's dark tumult, and
draw him back, imprisoning his visage in the doors. He raged,
trying to fight, but was no match for his granite captors. The
guardians returned to their positions within the carved image,
and Crane froze with them.
"Obi-Wan," David murmured, turning away as the children's
faces, before caught in the prison of their carving, blurred
away, and Nell's dead body smiled before continuing to its
final rest. Anakin raced to the doors, and tugged them open.
David reluctantly followed, knowing it would make no
difference. //I barely knew him, why do I care so much?// he
sneered at himself. It wasn't as if they had been lovers.
//Well, almost,// David frowned wistfully. Anakin was bent over
Obi-Wan's limp body as David walked in. He looked down at the
pathetic vision of death before him, and knelt beside the man
who had asked for shelter only hours earlier. Anakin closed his
eyes, and a blue glow settled around the Jedi that David
recalled from when Obi-Wan had healed him. He fingered the soft
new flesh under his bloodied shirt in remembrance, and stood.
//The boy cannot be left alone,// he grumbled to himself. "How
am I going to explain all of this?" he hissed to himself, not
caring if Anakin heard him or not. "My subjects dead, my
associate injured, I with two strangers on my hands to account
for, and one boy left to take care of," he growled, glancing
around the destroyed house. A low groan interrupted his
increasingly violent ramblings.
He turned quickly, glancing around to see if any residual
demons lurked behind him. But only Obi-Wan was there, sitting
up as Anakin grinned gleefully. //Thank you, my Padawan,//
Obi-Wan's voice broadcast his gratitude, less the words than
the emotions filling the air, cleaning it somehow. David's
breath caught in his chest as Obi-Wan was surrounded again by
the glowing sparkling aura that David associated with his
mental powers.
Obi-Wan felt Anakin's presence next to his crushed body, and
focused on healing the broken bones as his apprentice tended to
the bleeding cuts and infections. When he sat up his bones were
still weak, but would hold. He could sense Anakin's delight
with the success, and thanked him gratefully. The Jedi opened
his eyes, and saw David grumbling to himself about how he would
explain the situation. //I cannot leave him here,// Obi-Wan
smiled, realising he had never intended to do so.
Obi-Wan moved his head to look at Anakin, but it hurt and he
moaned in pain. This had the result of David's attention, and
he smiled at the dumbstruck psychologist. He closed his eyes,
shutting out the visual distraction of his friend, and finished
healing himself before he would stand.
Obi-Wan looked up after the bones had knitted together, and
grinned at David, who returned his happiness only with a
haggard look of frustration and concern. //He has to stop
trying to control everything,// Obi-Wan shook his head, and got
up, helped by David's arm along the way. Obi-Wan took advantage
of the contact, and embraced the taller man as soon as he was
on his feet.
Obi-Wan heard David's heart increase it's beat, and smiled at
his chosen partner's response. There was something more than
just attraction between them, he could sense it. He reached out
with his mind, and probed David's mind. There was a familiar
mental signature hidden within David's own personality, one
that spoke of mastery in the same powers that had saved Obi-Wan
that night.
//Qui-Gon,// his mind blurted before he could halt the
recognition. A Force-strong presence filled his mind, and
joined to his own intimately. //This was no chance crash,
beloved Obi-Wan,// a reassuring voice snorted at the young
Knight. //Yes, Master,// he grinned cockily back, sending a
wave of mock obedient sarcasm at his Master's mind.
//Would you mind explaining how you got here then?// he
queried, burrowing into the presence for comfort. //The Force
gave me another chance to live, helping David here. I had hoped
that my beloved Padawan would be part of that existence, but it
seemed hopeless, until a young Jedi managed to crash his ship
on this misbegotten planet. And this horrid place would be the
only place nearby,// Qui-Gon smirked impetuously.
Obi-Wan nodded, feeling the combination of David and Qui-Gon
that made the man in his arms so attractive in the first place.
He was flawed by David, but in that had gained the approachable
defect that had lacked in his teacher's persona. //Take me with
you, there is no life left for me here,// Qui-Gon and David
merged into one, a tumultuous joining of blue fire and
humanity, commanding Obi-Wan's obedience. "Yes, Master,"
Obi-Wan grinned lazily, pulling David's mouth down to meet his
own.
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