The sky seemed to soak up all the colour in the world like a colossal grey sponge. A soft curtain of mist veiled the lifeless land, as if wanting to shield it from my eyes. Through the window of the car, the aged pink house looked like it had come tumbling from the sky to land in the large clearing, maybe even squashing some poor old witch beneath it. It was all rickety boards and chipped paint and more lined than an old woman's face.

I could hear the movers unpacking in front of us, bringing inside battered boxes and equally battered furniture that would suit the house just fine. Past the van I spotted an aging man watching them with mild interest. Another unfamiliar face darted in the corner of my vision from a balcony, but it scurried away like a frightened mouse before I could catch it.

'Pink Palace, Apartment For Rent.'

This was my new home.

One of the two movers lumbered back to the truck, job completed, and the other stood at the front door like a statue, papers in hand.

The front door of the car opened like a river dam, and I watched with a sense of denial as a hand scrawled a signature and placed a hefty tip into the palm of the mover. The bear of a man nodded his head in thanks and retreated to his friend, taking off in a cloud of dust thicker than the fog. I felt a cough rise in my throat just thinking about being in the line of fire for all that dirt.

Tapping my finger impatiently on the car door, I waited for Lee to give us the okay to go inside.

With a nod of his head, I was out my little bubble and into free air, the taste of apprehension sour on my tongue and the heavy chains of homesickness weighing me down. I wasn't one to dwell though, so I did my best to unlock the chains and step away from the car, maybe even gargle salt water to get the unpleasant taste from my mouth.

I trusted Lee with everything I had, so if he decided that this ghost manor was best for us, I wouldn't complain.

I felt a small hand enter mine, a soft smile curling the ends of my lips. Unfortunately, I had other things on my mind and not the little boy next to me.

I felt a prickling at the base of my neck, my body telling me to turn around. On instinct I twisted my head and narrowed my eyes at the offending bushes behind me, but a tug brought my feet away and with AJ into the house.

"Do you think it's haunted?" AJ said, curiously trailing the door with his eyes as we crossed the threshold.

The chill that ran down my spine told me yes but my mouth said, "It seems like just a creepy old house to me."

AJ nodded, taking my word as law.

I didn't particularly want to stay inside. The air was stale and musky, like an old perfume that was meant to cover up the smell of something disgusting. Fresh air and open spaces was what I needed, and some time alone to clear my head of cobwebs.

"Are you going on patrol?" AJ asked with his arms crossed almost accusingly.

When he was little I would say I was 'going on patrol' when I went outside alone. Back then he was too small to realise that I could want a moment alone, and so I made up a little adventure to tell him every time I came back inside. The name stuck, even when he grew older and knew what I meant. I loved my brother and cherished the time I spent with him, but even your favorite song got repetitive sometimes.

"I think so goofball," I said, ruffling a hand through his hair. "I'll tell you if I find any of those ghosts."

AJ nodded running over to Lee, probably to ask where his Disco Broccoli action figure was buried in the boxes.

There wasn't much outside that was any different from the last time I was there. The wind still blew in rattling breaths, as if the land was a dying man trying to speak his last words. It was muddier than I'd given it credit for.

I saw a small turtle shell lying in a birdbath, a twitch of excitement building at the base on my neck. If the shell held a turtle, AJ would finally have that pet he always wanted, and if it was empty, we had a new souvenir to add to the collection. Either way I won. I slowly marched to the shell and held it up for inspection. Seeing nothing inside, I placed it in the backpack I was carrying.

As autumn leaves swirled up from the ground in a tornado of sunset colours, I thought about the well Lee had mentioned to me on the long drive to the 'Pink Palace'. It wouldn't be too out of my way, should I find it quickly and not get lost. Lee would call me back if I took too long, so I trusted that he'd ring my phone when I was running out of time.

Picking up a forked stick for the hell of it, I used it as a dowsing rod once I passed by an old and dying bridge. Everything about the world here seemed to fall flat, as if I was the only thing in colour in a black and white movie. With my yellow rain coat, green boots, blue cap and pink hair tie, I felt like a rainbow drawn on a white piece of paper.

As I walked, the sky grew dark with a gathering storm, warning me to pick up my pace down the hillside. I felt that sensation again, running down my back and raising my hairs on end.

I felt like I was being watched.

Being watched was a strange feeling, but not a pleasant one in any capacity. It felt like being in a private conversation with a pair of ears listening in, or having someone search through your memories and taint them with their presence. It was a cold feeling. One sending chills down my skin and hiking my shoulders closer to my ears.

I pretended to get my foot stuck in a puddle of mud to see if anyone would reveal themselves. After a few seconds, I saw rocks tumbling from their perch and I swung around to catch any glimpse of my stalker.

"Hello?... Who's there?" I called out warily, with a cold tone of warning lacing my words.

With no response I picked up a stone and lobbed it over the wall with a decent amount of precision. A small but sharp cry accompanied by a soft thud told me I'd hit my mark. What my mark was, however, I didn't know. It sounded close enough to human, but it could've really been anything.

Standing a moment longer to see if anything rose, I huffed in irritation. It was probably some stupid animal, maybe a rabbit or a deer.

"I know you're there," I said, just to be sure.

No one came out from behind the wall except a small cat that jumped gracefully onto the stone wall, a small purple name tag bouncing on it's collar. Its grey irises seemed to match the colourless sky above me, and even when it licked its paws in a way that seemed almost bored, it never pealed it's eyes from me. It seemed like the cat wanted to start a staring contest that it knew it would win. Maybe it was to creep me out or show some sort of dislike, because the thing looked uncaring, if not hostile.

"Mangy cat," I muttered to myself, but the cat narrowed its eyes at me as if it had heard and took offence.

"Sorry… " I said as I passed it, more than eager to leave the blond feline's ever watching eyes.

Yet even as I trailed out of sight, looking for an elusive holy grail, I couldn't shake of the feeling that I was still being followed.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

End Note: Hello and welcome to a very sad attempt at an AU, I'm ecstatic that you're taking time out of your day to read it! Hopefully it wasn't too boring for you, for a first chapter it was pretty uneventful. I hope you liked it anyway and have some thoughts to share with me in the form of a review. Did you like it? Hate it? Found a spelling error I have to change? Whatever it is, I'll be happy to hear it! This is my first work in this fandom as well, so if the characterisation is off please tell me how to improve it! Any guesses on who will claim each role? Even if I do have an overview of who I want to be who, if you have suggestions I'd be glad to hear them.

Thank you!