Kanda snorted in disbelief, his dark eyes rolling at Allen’s optimistic words. Allen’s scathing reply was cut off at the sound of Lavi’s off-handed comment.

“Ya know, I heard that this building is haunted.”

Allen tensed at Lavi’s words. Lenalee’s scolding ‘Lavi!” almost drowned out Kanda’s growl.

“Hey! I’m not saying that it’s true! I just heard someone at the inn talking about it!” Lavi held his hands up in a surrender motion. “Besides, it’s not like we have much of a choice. The train we were going to take broke down, and the inn was booked to the max because of this storm.”

“That’s true…but if something does go wrong, we are quite far from the village.” Lenalee said, tone worried.

“Yep! Almost a mile!” Lavi’s too-happy voice chimed in. Kanda snorted again, brushing past the others and walking up to the remains of the pews.

“Look, there’s no such thing as ghosts. Now, will one of you help me use some of this broken shit to make a fire? I don’t k now about the rest of you, but I’m not about to willingly freeze to death.”

Kanda’s gruff voice echoed slightly in the large space. Lenalee nodded, and setting her luggage down on the ground, set about helping Kanda build a fire.

“Well, looks like you two got this, so I’m going to go explore!”  Lavi said, throwing his own luggage to the ground.

“I hope something collapses and crushes you.” Kanda’s dry words followed Lavi.

Lavi just laughed in response, picking his way gingerly through the rubble. After a quick mental debate on whether to stay and help or follow Lavi, Allen choose to go with Lavi, not wanting to spend any time with Kanda while the long-haired man was in such a foul mood.

----

Once Lavi had decided he had enough of wandering through the abandoned building, he and Allen made their way back to the other two. Seeing a small, but earnest fire going, Allen happily sat down next to Lenalee, holding his hands out in front of the flame in the hopes of warming them up.

At Lavi’s loud return and exclamation of ‘Yuu-chan! Did ya miss me,’ a quiet sigh left the long-haired man, followed by a muttered ‘damn.’

Allen rolled his eyes at the surly males’ attitude; though, Allen couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t looking forward to having to spend the night in the cold, dismal building.

The cold, dismal, potentially haunted building.

“Ya know, this seems like the perfect time to tell ghost stories.” Lavi’s abrupt words cut through the silence. Kanda’s long-suffering sigh was the only sound for a moment until both Allen and Lenalee started to protest.

“Lavi, I don’t think-“

“Really? You want to tell-“

Lavi waved off the two’s polite, yet adamant words.

“C’mon, like Yuu-chan said,” Lavi started, ignoring the light growl thrown his way, ”There’s no such thing as ghosts!”

“Still, this doesn’t really seem like the best place to tell them...” Allen’s hesitant voice trailed off. His eyes flickered around the room, briefly settling on the broken statues. Unnerved by the statues intense gaze, Allen shifted closer to Lenalee. She sent a hesitant smile his way, which he returned.

“Here! I’ll start! Besides I know the perfect story to tell. It’s something I came across in a book a while back”

Lavi crossed his legs, shifting to get more comfortable.

“There was once a gentleman by the name of Felix, and one night, in a little village near the town of Dieppe, he tried to book a room at the local inn. However, it ended up being too full for him to rent a room.”

A grin spread across Lavi’s face as he spread his arms wide.

“Kind of like our situation!” Lavi exclaimed much too happily for the other three’s liking.

“Great.” Came Kanda’s monotone reply.

Ignoring the long-haired man, Lavi continued his story. His words were spoken in a soft, almost dreamy tone; a stark contrast to his usual loud whines and exclamations.

“The inn offered to take his luggage and hold it for him, which he accepted, and told him about a place he could stay. He agreed, and a worker at the inn led him to the place. He begrudgingly followed, rightfully annoyed at having to sleep at a strangers house.”

“Well, now this doesn’t seem all bad.” Allen said quietly.

“He arrives at the house, which looked innocent enough; small, two stories tall, and,” at this Lavi’s voice dropped, nothing but a harsh whisper. He leaned forward slightly, the light from the fire catching the edges of his face,” all alone on the outskirts of town.”

“Oh, never mind,” came Allen’s even quieter words. Lavi snickered at Allen, continuing on in that same soft, relaxed tone.

“After knocking on the door, a woman answered, and stepping inside, Felix wandered into the kitchen, seeing that it was empty. At that, he realized that the woman must be the only one living there. Seeing him standing there looking very confused, she explained that she was often letting people stay the night when the inn was full, and would make sure to give him a very comfy room.”

“He decided that it would be best to just go along with everything. After relaxing in front of the fire, Felix soon grew tired. The warm glow from the fire and the monotonous actions of the woman sewing lulling him to sleep. Seeing this, the woman showed him to his room that was on the first floor. When he saw his room, Felix was shocked at how small it was; the tiny area barely big enough for the bed, with a scant few inches on one side. He also noticed a window sitting at the head of the bed.”

“He thanked the woman, and quickly settled into bed. He fell asleep promptly, having been travelling all day, and was exhausted. He wasn’t sleep for long though, before he felt it.”

“Felt what?” Lenalee asked. She was hugging her knees, leaning against Allen, who was sitting crossed-legged, hands gripping his ankles. They both stared wide-eyed at Lavi, hanging on to his every word. Even Kanda was drawn in by the red-heads story, the Japanese man watching Lavi intently.

“A hand as cold as death.” Lavi whispered. A soft whimper escaped Allen and he tucked himself closer to Lenalee. Kanda’s eyes widened slightly, and he shifted, almost imperceptibly, towards Lenalee. Lavi caught the subtle movement, grinning to himself as he continued.

“It caressed his face, from forehead down to his chin. A hand so cold it was as if a corpse was stroking him. Then, he awoke, and startled, bolted upright.”

Lavi suddenly straightened, throwing his arms out in front of him.

“Who’s there?!” Lavi yelled, his startling loud voice echoing in the large space. A flash of lightening shot through the sky, lighting Lavi up from behind. Twin squeals rang through the air, Lavi looking at the pair clutching each other with a grin.

Lenalee was gripping Allen’s bicep, in what Lavi knew from experience was a painful grip. Her eyes were blown wide, and her mouth was set in a thin, trembling line. Allen had his knees pulled up to his chest, his hand clamped over his mouth and his cheeks bright red. Even Kanda looked startled, his shoulder pressing against Lenalee’s.

Lavi placed his hands on his knees, face suddenly deadly serious.

“But, no one answered him, since no one was there.”

Allen’s face went white, the hand covering his mouth moving to clutch at Lenalee’s arm.

“He got on his hands and knees, feeling around the room to see if anyone was there.” A mildly panicked look came over Lavi’s face as he threw his arms out in front of him, moving them around as if he was the one that was trapped in the tiny room. “He felt along all the walls but found nothing. No one was in the room except for him, but he knew that someone had touched him.”

“Now,” Lavi sat up straight, crossing his arms. His voice had changed from the soft, airy tone to a confidant, almost quizzical one.

“You may be wondering to yourself, ‘why didn’t dear ol’ Felix try to grab this supposed ghost hand?’”

Lenalee and Allen nodded eagerly. Some of the colour had retuned to Allen, but he was still much paler than his usual pallor.

“Well, when he got startled out of his sleep, he did try to make a grab for it, but it was already gone.”

“You’re making this up.”

Kanda’s gruff tone cut through the air.

“Didn’t you hear him earlier, Bakanda? He said he got it from a book.”  

Kanda growled, about to throw a retort back when a loud ‘shh!’ stopped him. He looked at Lenalee who was glaring back at him. She continued to stare him down for a few more moments before he finally looked away with a click of his tongue.

Lenalee looked back to Lavi, her eyes wide.

“Continue, Lavi,”

With a snort of amusement Lavi continued on.

“Now, at this point dear Felix was very confused, and more than a little exhausted, so he wrote the hand off as a figment of his imagination; nothing more than a dream. He was still nervous about this hand, but he settled back into bed. But before he was completely asleep, he felt it again.”

“The hand.” Lenalee whispered, tone fearful.

“Who’s there! What are you?! Speak or begone!” Lavi shouted. The others had been expecting the sudden noise this time, but still they jumped.

“This time he jumped out of bed in a flurry, feeling all around the room, trying to find the owner of this hand. But, yet again, no one was there. So, he stood there, in that tiny room, thoroughly confused. His calming thoughts of dreams and imaginations didn’t work this time. This time, the hand was too real, it had skin and bones like a real hand, and moved like one too. Yet, it was the hand of a dead man; ice cold to the touch.”

“Now, his heart was racing, his mind trying to keep up. He tried to come up with a reason, some explanation for this ghost. But he couldn’t come up with anything. He didn’t believe in ghost’s, never had, but this experience, this made him believe.”

A whine of discomfort was heard from Allen, both his hands clutching tightly at Lenalee’s arm.

“There was no way it was an intruder,” Lavi continued, “There wasn’t enough time to go to the door and escape, even if it had been unlocked. Which he double-checked. There also was no fire place, so someone couldn’t be hiding in the chimney, and there wasn’t a closet either. It was just him, and a bed.”

“After scouring the room, making sure there was absolutely no one in there with him, he went back to bed, thinking up some reason for all of this ‘till his head hurt. But it was to no avail. Overcome with exhaustion, he fell back asleep, and slept ‘till morning with no more disturbances.”

“When he awoke, he told the hostess about the events of the previous night. She listened intently, asking a few questions here and there. After he was done recounting his night, she suggested that it might’ve been her drunken brother. At his insistence, she explained: Her brother has been living with her since the death of their parents, and he had a terrible habit of leaving for weeks at a time and not telling her about when he was leaving, or when he was coming back. Her brother had most likely come home the previous night, and not wanting to disturb her, stuck his hand through the window, to see if some one was sleeping in the bed. He was probably too drunk to notice any exclamations Felix had made. And, after finding the bed occupied, her brother most likely went off to find somewhere else to sleep.”

“Hearing this, Felix was satisfied with the woman’s explanation. He never found out whether or not the brother was there, because after breakfast, he packed up and headed out.”

“The end?” Allen questioned. Lavi nodded.

“The end.”

A soft exhalation of air left Allen as he let go of Lenalee, tense body relaxing.

“That wasn’t so bad.” Allen said, shooting a nervous smile to Lavi.

Lavi grinned back, leaning back on his hands.

“See? It’s like Yuu-chan said, ghosts don’t- “

A thudding sound made itself known over the rain, Lavi cutting himself off.

“What’s that noise?” Allen asked, a slight tremble in his voice.

“It’s probably an animal or something.” Kanda said, though he didn’t sound too confidant. His eyes were glued to the large, broken doors of the chapel. The small group followed his gaze, able to tell that the sound was coming from that direction. A small squeak was heard from Allen as the sound grew louder.

“Kanda’s probably right,” Lenalee said. She shifted, making it so that she could jump up at a moments notice and activate her innocence.

“I don’t think so…most animals would be hiding from this weather.” Lavi said.

The group sat there, tense, as they waited for what ever was making the noise to show itself.

“Wait, do you hear that?” Kanda suddenly spoke up. He was still staring at the door way, though his expression was now more confused than anything.

“Of course we can BaKanda! Who wouldn’t be able to hear that awful thudding noise?” Allen said, shooting a glare at Kanda.

Kanda finally took his eyes off the door, turning to level a glare at Allen.

“Not that ‘Sprout,” Kanda spat, “It sounds like a voice.”

Allen went wide-eyed at that, his face paling.

“What!” He squeaked out.

Lavi strained his ears, trying to hear what Kanda had. Eye widening in disbelief, Lavi realized that Kanda was right. There was what seemed to be the sound of someone shouting over the rain.

“Yuu-chan’s right! I can hear someone yelling!”

“Exorcists!”  

“I think it’s someone from the village!” Lavi exclaimed.

True enough, a soft yellow glow shown outside the doors, gradually getting larger until it was in the doorway, illuminating the strangers face.

“There you guys are! I have some news for you!”

The group of four stared dumb-founded at the dripping wet stranger in the doorway. Lavi stared intently at the man, not able to place his face.

Stepping closer, the man grinned as he continued talking.

“I’ve been looking for you four everywhere. They managed to get the train back up and running! Something about debris being stuck in the wheels. I knew you guys wouldn’t want to miss it, so I went out looking for you.”

“In this weather?!” Allen asked, incredulously. The man scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.

“You guys saved my life; it’s the least I can do.”

Lavi suddenly shot up, startling the others. Snapping his fingers, he pointed at the stranger.

“You where on the train with us! Your village was attacked and you where coming here to work with your sister and her husband at the inn!”

The man gaped at Lavi.

“Uh, yeah, that’s right. How did you remember that?”

Lavi grinned easily, brushing off the man’s comment.

“It’s what I do,”

The man continued to stare, even more confused with Lavi’s vague answer. Lenalee stood, brushing off her skirt, Allen and Kanda following her.

“Thank you so much for coming to find us, we really are grateful.” Lenalee said, smiling at the man.

“Like I said, it’s no problem. Here,” He held up a lantern, the candle inside glowing softly.

“This is for you guys. The trail back can get pretty bad.”

“Thank you,” Allen said, taking the lantern from the man.

“Now, let’s hurry, the train will be departing soon, and you folks won’t want to miss it.”