'...' thoughts
Chordney Manor Part 3
Bright and early the next morning, Duo found himself wandering through the halls of the huge house, searching for either the dining room or kitchen, which ever he came across first. He had not eaten much the previous day and his stomach was currently demanding to be filled but unfortunately, last night's little adventure on the patio had not allowed him to do much investigation of the house, and he quickly found himself completely lost. To make matters even worse, the bandage Heero had applied to the bite last night needed changing and while he thought the other young man's room was just down the hall from his own, he could not be sure.
In his desperation and, well, boredom since he just could not make himself sit in the elegantly adorned room he had been assigned, he decided to just wander around until he found something that look familiar. It was nearly half an hour after when he walked around yet another corner to find Beth and Dawn in what appeared to be a heated discussion in front of a familiar looking door. It was familiar because he had spent the better part of an hour in that room the night before, allowing his blue-eyed best friend to clean and disinfect the bite mark on his neck. Not wanting to interrupt them, but really not liking the connotation that finding them outside Heero's room brought to his mind, especially since he was positive the Japanese man had been alone when he left the night before, he made sure to clear his throat loudly before continuing down the hall.
"Duo!" Beth exclaimed at seeing him and rushed to his side, her eyes wide and shining. "I looked for you in your room but you weren't there; I was worried."
"Huh?" the violet-eyed man stared in shock at the woman now hanging from his arm. "Oh, I usually don't sleep well the first night in a new place, and since I was up, I decided to try and find something to eat. But all I've managed to do is get myself lost."
"The dining room is on the first floor, down the hall from the ballroom." the petite brunette explained with a relieved smile. "They should have breakfast laid out for us by now so we can all go down together if you like."
"Shouldn't we wake Heero first?" Dawn's voice cut in from his other side and he turned to see her staring pensively at the still closed door.
"He's still asleep?" the braided man asked in astonishment, knowing that Heero did not sleep so late normally.
"I don't know." the dark-haired woman answered, sending a wave of relief through Duo's mind that nearly had his knees buckling. "I was just going to knock when Beth came rushing down the hall, saying that you were missing."
At the comment, Duo had the decency to blush; he honestly did not think anyone would worry if he left his room. So, turning back to the green-eyed girl at his side, he smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to worry you."
"No, that's alright." Beth reassured him with a pat on his arm. "I shouldn't have been worried in the first place; you're an adult after all."
"Yeah." Duo mumbled, feeling distinctly uncomfortable at her words and the look she was currently giving him. "Well, I say if Heero's still asleep, let him sleep. He'll join us once he's up."
"Alright then." Dawn said with a nod before sending another look at the door leading to the young man's room. Then taking Duo's other arm, she gave him a bright smile and the three headed off down the hall in search of the dining room and breakfast.
With the help of the two women, Duo did not have any trouble finding his way through the house this time and in no time, they were walking down the hall that led to the dining room. As they approached the doors, he caught the scent of something familiar in the air and immediately the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he stopped dead in this tracks. For a long moment, he just stood there as the women looked at him curiously.
"Um, why don't the two of you stay here for a second and let me see if they've put breakfast on the table." he finally said to Beth and Dawn, not taking his eyes off the still closed doors.
"Why? Is something wrong?" Beth asked, she had noticed the tension that had overcome the young man once they had stopped but could not seem to find a cause for it.
"I'm not sure." the braided man admitted before turning to give her a reassuring smile. "But I'd prefer you wait, if you don't mind."
"Ok, if you think it best." Dawn agreed, although by this time, the young woman's voice was a bit shaky, which spoke of her rising anxiety.
Duo immediately cursed himself for scaring them and he immediately tied on a lopsided grin while giving them a little shrug. "It's probably nothing, being in new places can make me a little jumpy sometimes."
Then giving them one last smile, he turned and headed for the door, the familiar and cloying smell growing more and more pronounced the closer he became and with it, his own anxieties increased as well.
Upon reaching the door, he threw one brief look over his shoulder, to make sure the women were still where he had left them before pulling one door open just enough to allow him to slip inside. The room, once the door was closed behind him, was quite dark since it was located in the middle of the house and therefore did not have any windows to allow the daylight to enter. The darkness left Duo feeling distinctly vulnerable and he immediately found himself searching along the wall beside the door for a light switch of some kind. Having found one, he flipped the switch, flooding the room with light. However, with one look at the long dining table in the middle of the room, he quickly wished that he had left the lights off.
The Argentinean delegate was laid out in the middle of the table, still in his clothing from the night before although his shirt and jacket had been opened and pushed aside. This exposure allowed Duo to clearly see the large slash that ran across the man's middle, opening him up and exposing the things inside. He could also see, once he allowed himself to look away from the gruesome sight of the man's middle that the man's hands seemed to be missing since the arms simply ended in bloody stumps. What was most disturbing though, was the man's face. His eyes were wide in terror and his features were twisted in a grimace of pain while his lips had been sewn shut with what looked like wire and from the way the wounds seemed to have pulled; Duo could tell he had been awake at least sometime after it had been done.
Taking one step at a time, Duo slowly approached the table, his mind automatically noting the relatively small amount of blood on the dark wood, indicated the murder had taken place somewhere else and the body had then been moved to the dining room. In the same manner, his mind quickly noted and cataloged other things he saw as he moved further into the room, however, before he could reach the table, he caught something out the corner of his eye and turning toward the wall to this left, he felt all the blood drain from his face.
On the wall were what he guessed were the man's missing hands. They had been staked through the palm with a set of butcher knives, holding them to the wall side by side. It was what was written below the severed appendages however, that caused his knees to buckle as he found himself kneeling in the deserted room.
As punishment for touching that which was not his.
From the way the bright red 'paint' that the words had been written in seemed to run down from the bottom of the words, Duo guessed it was blood, the dead man's blood to be exact. And even worse, he could tell that it was still fresh. "Oh god, I'm gonna be sick." he breathed.
In the next instant, a shrill shriek rent the air in the oppressive room but Duo was passed notice as his entire attention was riveted on the grotesque display. Not even the sound of fast approaching feet could break him from his trance and it was not until he felt strong arms lift him from the floor and cradle him against an equally strong chest that he was able to snap out of his shock. Looking up, his own violet eyes locked with Prussian blue and he felt himself blush when he realized that Heero was holding him like a child.
"Heero--" he started and tried to climb out of the other man's embrace, but Heero merely tightened his hold.
"Hold still, you're in shock." Heero stated softly as he continued down the hall. It was then that Duo noticed they were moving, raising his humiliation to yet another level. However, he knew better than to argue with Heero when he was so obviously in mission mode so, after checking to make sure no one was around, he settled in for the trip, determining to enjoy the feel of those strong arms for as long as he could.
"Where are we going anyways?" he finally asked after they had topped the stairs that he and the girls had come down just a short while before.
"My room." the blue-eyed man explained.
"Not mine?"
"No." Heero said. "I don't like the implication of that message."
Duo did not have to ask to know why that message had Heero uneasy; even he could see how the words written in the ambassador's blood referred to him. The thought of that along with the vision it recalled of the man's hands nailed to the wall caused him to burrow further into the Heero's chest, seeking more of the other man's warmth since all of his seemed to have fled his body. He completely missed Heero's soft smile as he looked down at his bowed head.
When they reached Heero's room, Duo had pulled himself together enough to reach out and turn the doorknob, allowing them to enter without the dark-haired man putting him down. Then, once the door was firmly shut behind them, Heero walked over to the king-sized bed and gently laid him down before drawing back and looking him over closely.
"I'm alright Heero." Duo sighed before sitting up and scooting back until he could lean against the headboard. "It just caught me by surprise that's all."
"What happened exactly?"
"The girls and I were headed for the dining room to have breakfast. Before we got there though, I could smell the blood so I told them to hang back while I checked it out." Duo explained, his complexion paling even more as the event ran though his mind again. "It was dark inside the room, so I flip the lights on and that's when I saw him; all cut up and...."
In the next instant, Duo was off the bed and across the room toward the attached bathroom before Heero could even offer to help him. When the blue-eyed Preventer entered the small room a second later, he found Duo in the grips of violent dry heaves since he really did not have anything in his stomach to throw up. Not knowing anything else to do, Heero grabbed a washcloth and wet it in the sink before pulling Duo's braid out of the way and placing the cool cloth on the back of the other man's neck.
"Thanks." Duo whispered weakly from where he had rested his forehead on the cold porcelain. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've seen dozens of crime scenes and never gotten sick like this before."
"That's because they weren't personal." Heero offered as he filled a glass with water and handed it to the braided man.
"Yeah, I guess." the violet-eyed Preventer said, a full body shiver passing through his frame as his mind flashed back to the hands once again.
"Stop." Heero ordered gently. "Don't think about it right now, there'll be time to go over the details later."
"Oh god, 'Ro." Duo moaned pitiably before tilting his head back to look at his best friend. "Do you know what this means?"
"Yes." the dark-haired ex-pilot said with no small amount of dejection. "Our murder mystery vacation just became a real murder investigation."
********************
In the dinning room, Trowa, Wufei, and Zechs were busy making an initial examination of the crime scene while Quatre waited outside the closed, double doors, doing his best to keep the other guests from entering. The blonde businessman was once again calmly explaining to one of those gathered that the room was off limits when Relena and Hilde finally pushed their way through to him.
"Quatre." Relena started once she was beside the blonde man. "What's going on?"
"Hilde, could you make sure no one enters the room?" he asked pleasantly and waited for her affirmative yet confused answer before taking Relena's arms and leading her off to the side. "The Argentinean ambassador was found murdered this morning in the dining room." he explained softly.
"Oh my god." she breathed, her hand automatically coming up to cover her mouth. "How...?"
"We don't know." Quatre said with a sigh. "But Duo was the one to find him."
"Is he alright?"
"He's in... shock." the blonde man explained, continuing when he saw her questioning look. "The murder was very... gruesome and the murderer left a message in what we think is the victim's blood."
"A message?"
"Yes, it basically said that he died for touching what he wasn't supposed too."
"Duo." Relena breathed, her eyes wide in horror.
"That's what we think." Quatre agreed with a nod. "There really isn't any other answer."
"Has anyone called the local authorities?"
"No. Heero took Duo from the room after we found him on his knees and unresponsive. Since then, Wufei, Zechs, and Trowa have started the initial investigation and I've been trying to keep the other guests from the room."
"Well, then, I guess I can make myself useful." Relena said with determination before turning and heading to make the call to the local police.
Quatre immediately turned back to the door, finding a very harried Hilde who was trying to remain calm as she explained to yet another delegate that he could not enter the dining room. Walking back to stand by her side, he raised his hands to gain their attention.
"Please everyone." he said loudly. "We need you to go back to your rooms. You will be notified once we have enough information to give you."
As before, the announcement only caused the gathered group to mill closer to the door. Luckily, Wufei chose that moment to slide out the door and at seeing the guests still gathered outside, he felt his already short temper snap.
"You were told to leave this area." he snapped at the delegates and ambassadors, causing some of them to step back in fright. "You will do as you were instructed or I will have you all arrested for interfering with an investigation."
"You're just trying to keep us from winning the prize." one of the delegates called out and many of the others echoed his sentiments.
"Yeah." another agreed a moment later. "We have every right to examine the scene as well."
Realizing that the people believed the crime scene in the dining room was the beginning of the mystery they had been told about at the ball the night before, Quatre quickly raised his hands to bring the attention toward him once again.
"Please listen to me." he said. "We are not using this to keep you from the game information; this is a legitimate Preventer's issue and you will have to do as the agents instruct."
"Preventers? Where are the Preventers?" someone called.
At this, Wufei reached inside his long coat and pulled out his badge, which he held up high enough for everyone to see. "I am Agent Chang. My fellow agents and I have taken control of this area and I once again ask you to return to your room. This is for your own good."
The murmuring of the crowd picked back up again following his announcement, although Wufei was happy to see that some of them began to wander down the hall away from the dining room and he breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he caught sight of Relena hurrying toward them with a distraught look on her face. He quickly moved through the remaining individuals and cut her off, pulling her into a private alcove.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I went to call the local authorities to tell them what's going on, but the phone lines are all down. I couldn't get a line out."
"What about your mobile?"
"Tried that too; no signal." Relena informed him.
"Then we'll have to send someone to the nearest town." Wufei said thoughtfully, knowing that the choice was limited especially with Duo being out of commission.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible." a voice said from behind the Chinese Preventer, causing him to turn quickly. He found the old servant that had been following Gregory Chordney around the night before standing just inside the alcove.
"What do you mean?" Wufei asked with a severe frown.
"I'm afraid that the storm has blown down several trees, blocking the drive back to the main road." the servant explained. "You won't be able to clear them without heavy equipment and until the storm lets up and the phones are restored, we won't be able to get them out here."
"What storm?" Relena asked in confusion, she had not noticed any bad weather outside her window when she had awoken that morning. At her question though, a large crash of thunder suddenly shook the house, causing both her and Wufei to jump slightly.
"That storm, Madame." the servant said with a bow before turning and leaving them to stare after him.
********************
It was nearly two hours later before they were able to finish with the initial workup of the crime scene and have the body removed to one of the walk-in freezers in the kitchen. They then headed upstairs to check on Heero and Duo and to bring them up to date while leaving two of the houses servants to deal with cleaning up the room.
Duo by this time had managed to claw his way out of his initial shock and was currently pacing the room in barely controlled frustration from not knowing what was going on. So, when the others entered the room, he immediately began throwing questions at them. It took quite a bit of patience for Quatre to calm him down enough so they could explain what had been happening but they were finally able to fill the other two in on their actions since they had left the dining room.
"No phones? And no way of leaving?" Duo exclaimed, his voice taking on a hint of panic.
"It's alright, Duo." Relena said as she laid a reassuring hand on the young man's arm. "I'm sure the servant was just guessing. If we send someone out, we'll know for sure."
"That would not be advised in this storm." Heero said before flicking his eyes toward the window through which they could see the rain falling in sheets while bright flashes of lighting lit the gloomy sky. "The wind and lightning alone would make it too dangerous."
"So we wait for it to pass." Wufei said with a nod of his head. "It shouldn't last too much longer; not with its current intensity."
"God I hope not." the braided Preventer breathed. "With everything that's happened, we're lucky we still have power."
As if in answer to his words, the lights in the room suddenly flickered twice and everyone seemed to hold their breath in anticipation as they flickered once more before going out completely.
"Fuck!" Duo exclaimed.
"Calm down Duo." Heero snapped as he quickly rummaged around in the drawer of his bedside table where he withdrew two flashlights. One he handed to Zechs before flipping his own on. "There, now we should be able to find candles around here somewhere."
A few minutes later, the room was lit by four candles and two hurricane, oil lamps that fortunately were full and had good wicks. They then settled around the room on whatever surface they could find. Dawn and Beth, who had joined them not long after the power had gone out, were currently huddled together against the headboard of the bed, looking very lost and frightened. Relena and Hilde were likewise curled together at the foot of the large bed while the men where utilizing the various chairs that they had pulled up to surround the women.
"We should decide what to do with the other guests." Trowa interjected into the silence that had fallen once the lamps and candles were lit.
"Well, we can't just let them leave here." Wufei offered. "Not without questioning them first and that means we have to tell them at least something of what's happened."
"Wufei's right." Relena agreed. "They could all be considered suspects; this is a political function after all."
"And don't forget about me." Duo added softly.
"What about you?" Heero demanded, not liking the tone of the violet-eyed man's voice.
"I was the one he... attacked so that makes me the prime suspect."
"Oh god, Duo's right." Quatre gasped.
"No." Heero snapped vehemently. "You would never do something like that."
Duo found himself staring in shock at the tone of Heero's voice even as he felt his heart leap in his chest. With ruthless efficiency though, he pushed the feeling of warmth and hope down. He knew better than anyone else did just how far Heero would go to protect those he considered his to protect. And as the blue-eyed man's best friend, he was considered to be pretty close to the top of that list.
"It's alright 'Ro." he said with a smile. "You know this is just the way it works. It doesn't mean that I did it."
"Duo's right Heero." Quatre agreed. "We all know he didn't do it so there's nothing to worry about. It just a formality. And besides, you're a suspect too."
"What?!" both Duo and Heero demanded at the same time.
"You did threaten him in front of numerous witnesses." Hilde offered before quickly sliding behind Relena when the dark-haired man turned his glare towards her.
"Oh shit." Duo gasped. "Hil's right, you did make those threats where everyone could hear you."
"I didn't kill him." Heero argued. "I may have wished him dead, but I didn't do it."
"We're not saying you did anymore than we're saying Duo did." Trowa said softly. "We're just making the point that being a suspect does not make you the killer."
"And you know, neither one of you are alone in this." Relena offered with a rueful smile. "In fact, you'd probably be better off making a list of those not considered suspects; it'd be shorter."
"Well fuck." Duo moaned before slumping back into the wing-backed chair he was sitting in. "I was just getting into the idea of a vacation and now I find I'm locked up in a house full of potential murderers. Doesn't life just suck."
To this, he received no arguments.
TBC...
Back to Gypsie1201's Fanfictions Page