Illusions

xoxoxoxox

Heero had, true to his words, brought them a box full of supplies for them all, ensuring that they had enough to eat and drink for a few days. He had also gotten Relena and himself a sleeping-bag each, though the quality wasn't the best. Still, it would do the trick and Duo was more than happy to share his blanket with Heero once they called it a night.

For now, they all shared a simple meal while Dorothy tried her best to explain what they have discovered, knitting the story together the best she could.

To their credit, both Relena and Heero accepted and seemingly understood what the trio had uncovered so far, even if Relena looked like she wanted to protest on everything Dorothy had explained to them so far.

"So, there is a dead servant as well as an angry spirit and a possible dead girl in the house? How in the world does something like that happen? Why are they even here?" she asked while drying her mouth with a napkin, carefully so she wouldn't smudge her lipstick.

"That is the question we are trying to answer, my dear," Dorothy said, her smile never leaving her face. "And the answer we get may be the answer we need to solve the issue once and for all. Often all spirits wants are closure. Guidance. Answers. Just like any other human being."

"But they aren't humans, they are ghosts," Relena said with a slight frown.

"But they were humans once and they very well believe they still are. After all, what is a spirit, but a human's energy or soul?"

Relena looked like she still didn't get it, but she didn't ask any further questions. Probably just as good as the Spirit realm wasn't something you could explain with ease. There was so much they didn't know about the other side and there were as many theories as there were questions.

Some were more popular than others; ghosts being able to manipulate electronic waves, the temperature dropping when a ghost tried to manifest itself, things like that.

It was hard to both prove and disprove because for every fake video-tape or picture, there was always one that was just too good to be faked.

"So what is the game-plan," Heero asked, taking Duo's empty plate and staking it on top of his own plate.

"Well, contacting and locating a spirit is very hard to plan," Dorothy replied. "After all, just because we want to play doesn't mean that they want to. But the overall plan is for me to start a séance. I wasn't planning on doing it tonight thanks to the bump on my head, but I think that maybe we need to. You two coming here and the energy you give off, even if it slightly... Negative," she added, giving both Heero and Relena a cheeky grin. "-I think that has possibly stirred the spirits here up a little."

Hilde frowned some, biting her bottom lip as she slowly put the plate down. "... Now that you mention it, the house feels a bit more... Alive now."

Duo raised an eyebrow as well before closing his eyes, allowing himself to open up a little. He had tried his best to shut Relena and, to some extent, Heero out, the negative air between the two of them was simply too much. He hadn't realized he had shut everything out.

As he breathed, he could almost hear it; a humming energy that went through the house, almost like a beating heart.

Something was awake.

"You feeling it too, dear?" Dorothy asked softly as Duo opened his eyes, the braided man merely nodding.

"Yeah. It's alive alright."

"It has been humming like this since the two of them arrived," Dorothy repeated. "But I could sense it to a degree after we found that secret room. I brushed it off as just my head acting up, but now it is unmistakable."

"Should we prepare for trouble," Hilde asked somewhat nervously.

"If we are going to contact spirits, then hell yes," Duo replied with a slight frown.

"... One of us has to sit out though. We can't have an odd number."

"We also should not leave someone out of the circle," Dorothy replied while standing up, heading over to her briefcase.

"And the nonsense with "never being an odd number" when handling an Ouija board is just nonsense. Spirits do not care, they will single someone out if we are odd or even."

"... Point well made," Duo grimaced. He hated spirit summoning's, hated it with all his heart, but because of it, he was also very ignorant when it came to the subject.

He made a mental note to read up more on the use of Ouija board when he came home. His little eye had made it difficult for him to go anywhere unprepared.

"Of course, there are rules," Dorothy said, but this time her attention was more directed at Heero and Relena. "And since we need you two to come with us, you need to listen very closely to me."

Relena frowned some, but still moved closer to the living-room table, waiting for Dorothy to return to it as well. "Okay, but can you explain what you are going to do? Contacting spirits, what?"

"Exactly," Dorothy said. "The Ouija board is more a formality as I reach out to the spirits of this place. Instead of letting them possess me, I will guide them to the board so they can communicate with us."

"Is that what people do when they play with those things," Heero asked as he moved to the table along with Duo, making sure to keep his lover between himself and Relena.

"Yes and no. Those who have no idea what they are doing are usually opening their minds to anything. That is why so many malicious spirits come through," Dorothy explained.

"Sometimes they will try to contact someone specific, but they usually ask for said person too late and by then, they might have gotten someone who has no problem lying to them."

"And you will make direct contact with them?"

"The best I can," Dorothy said while bringing over the Ouija board to the living-room table, putting the smooth, black plate down.

As much as Duo hated Ouija boards, he had to admit that the board was well crafted; it was a solid wood, painted in black and engraved with proper spells of protection and connection. The letters were nice and spaced out, the words "yes" and "no" separated and a firm "Good bye" at the very bottom.

"And what do we do," Heero asked, reaching out to take Duo's hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"You open your mind and you let me do the talking. Try to keep your minds clear, do not focus on anything specific and for God's sake, do not ask any questions. Let me, Duo or Hilde do the talking," Dorothy said, her voice strict as she put the slider down onto the board, the arrow pointing towards the top of the board.

"Of course."

"Well then." Dorothy clapped her hands together and smiled at the four of them. "I see no reason not to begin?"

"Dorothy," Duo said slowly, gesturing towards the board. "The show is all yours."

xoxoxox

Dorothy required a bit more preparations before she started the session, which gave Duo a chance to talk to Heero in private before it all started.

"You okay," he murmured, reaching out to take Heero's hand, giving it a squeeze as he looked at him.

"Yeah, I am okay," Heero sighed, rubbing his hand over his forehead. "I will admit, being near her again is stressing me out beyond belief. I don't have feelings for her what so ever if you are worried about that, but I have -feelings- for her, if you understand."

"I do," Duo replied, squeezing the hand again. "I can both feel and see it. The energy is crackling between you and I don't need to be psychic to see that the two of you together...? Well, you are bad for one another. Very bad."

"I wish I had known that before I married her," Heero sighed.

"You couldn't have. You two feel strongly for one another and your relationship could have been good. It might have been good at the start, yeah? If it wasn't, you wouldn't have married her, I think. Or at least asked her to marry you. But sometimes, if there are some issues with comparability that is really important, that shift can happen fast and it turns really ugly." Duo shrugged some, a weak smile playing on his lips.

"Or you just weren't meant for one another. There's no real hocus pocus about that either."

"Of course I wasn't meant for her," Heero murmured before leaning in to kiss Duo tenderly. "I was meant for you."

"That's cheesy," Duo chuckled, but he still returned both the kiss and the smile. "... I love you, Heero," he murmured, reaching up to cup his cheek. "I hope you know that."

"I do know that," Heero murmured. "I just hope you know that the feeling is very much returned."

Duo just chuckled and nodded. "And I do know that," he echoed before nodding his head towards Dorothy.

"Come on, lets get ready for this mess. And just do what Dorothy say, okay? No playing hero on this, okay?"

"I will try my best to resist," Heero said and allowed Duo to tug him back to the table.

Dorothy had spent her time moving the board over to the dining-room table so that everyone could be sitting more comfortably and be able to reach the slider without any issues.

She had also lit candles in specific areas and patterns around the board, and with each candle she had murmured a few choice words. Spells of protection, she had said, when Duo had asked her about it a long time ago. She had also placed crystals around the board to add to the protection.

If Duo was a psychic and Hilde was a medium, the only thing Duo could really classify Dorothy as was a mix between a medium and a bonafied witch. She certainly knew enough witchcraft and as far as he knew, she was a Wiccan whenever it damned well pleased her. He honestly did not know her personal life well enough to start wondering about her practices as well.

"Ah, wonderful," Dorothy said as Duo and Heero walked over to the table, but stopping them before they could actually take a seat.

"I want to put us in a more strategic way, to optimize the session. I am thinking about keeping Heero and Relena next to me, and with you and Hilde next to them again."

"Why," Relena asked, frowning some as she eyed Dorothy.

"Because you and Heero have a negative bond, for one, so I don't want to bring that to the calling," Dorothy replied without looking at her.

"And Duo and Hilde have talents you and Heero do not, and with them sitting far away from me, they can help me by using their talents to call out spirits, drawing them close enough for me to reach them. Kind of like magnets, yes?"

"Makes sense to me," Heero said with a shrug, moving to sit next to Dorothy on her right side.

"This okay then?"

"Simply perfect. Have a seat, everyone," Dorothy chirped, waiting for everyone to be seated before joining them.

"So what next? Will you be calling them out? Like, asking if anyone is here?" Relena asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"In a way, but not like you see it in the movies. Well. Not completely. Sometimes spirits are lured here by a voice," Dorothy explained as she straightened up the board on the table.

"But first I want is to join hands while I welcome the spirits in the house to join us. Do not release my hand before I say it is fine, okay?"

She held her hands out expectantly, and after a few seconds Relena put her hand into hers, frowning some as she offered her other hand to Hilde.

"This is stupid."

"Just think of it as singing-time at the kindergarten," Duo said with a slight grin, taking Hilde and Heero's hand in his.

"This certainly reminds me of a kindergarten," Relena mumbled as a response before Dorothy shushed her.

"Now breathe with me," Dorothy instructed as she closed her eyes, breathing in deep, holding her breath for two seconds, then exhaling. "I want you all to be in sync with me. Relax with me."

The room turned quiet with only the sound of their joined breathing breaking the silence. Only with Dorothy was satisfied that everyone was as in tune as she could get them, did she speak.

"Inhabitants of this house. We know we have stepped onto ground that you consider yours. But trust us when we say that we only wish you well, to aid you, guide you. We feel your pain, we feel your anger and we want to help you move on. Come to us, talk to us. This circle is a circle of love, peace and warmth. We will not cause you harm as long as you cause us no harm," she called out, her voice firm, loud, but with a hint of kindness to it.

"Come to us, those who wish to talk, who want help. We are ready for you."

She then released Heero and Relena's hands, quickly lighting two red candles, one on each side of the board.

"Please mind these candles, if you will. No sudden movements," she mused, but she wasn't too worried. The candles were thick, the candle-holders heavy and sturdy, and even an accidental push would not tip them over.

"Now, please put the hand you favor on the slider, preferably your right hand if that is okay," she continued, moving her own hand to rest her fingertips on the edge of the slider. "Not hard, just enough to feel the surface against your fingertips. Follow the slider if it moves and if you believe that you are the one moving it, let me know. We all know about the idiomotor effect," she added with a small grin.

"The idiot-what?" Relena asked with a frown as she placed her fingers on the slider. "What is that?"

"Idiomotor," Duo repeated. "It's your hand and mind kind of bypassing you, moving the slider on your behalf without you even knowing it because you desperately want it to work."

"Sounds stupid," Relena replied with a frown.

"Oh, be quiet," Heero said sharply, giving his ex a rather harsh look. "You wanted the help, you called them, asking for them to get rid of ghost. Stop calling their work stupid."

Relena opened her mouth to say something, but another sharp look from Heero silenced her, making her huff ever so slightly. "... Fine."

Dorothy didn't say anything about the bickering, merely waiting for everyone to touch the slider. As soon as she was satisfied, she spoke again.

"Spirits of the house, I call to you. I know you are here and I know you have made contact with us."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, focusing before continuing. "I ask that the one that have tried to guide us step forward. Please, if you are here, respond."

Heero and Relena immediately looked at the board and while Duo could appreciate the curiosity, he refrained from actually looking at it. Instead he focused on a spot on the wall, focusing on his breathing.

Nothing.

"Spirits of the house," Dorothy called again, her voice firmer. "I call to you and ask that you talk to us. If you have good intent, come to us."

Once again she paused to breathe and when Duo glanced at her, he could see the focus on her face.

"Please, if you are here, respond," she repeated.

The slide remained still, which earned a look of frustration on Dorothy's face. It wasn't often that happened and Duo felt that that was more fascinating than anything.

That was until the slider suddenly started moving.

Relena let out a gasp as her hand followed the movement of the slider while Hilde leaned in closer. "H. E. L. L. O. Hello. ... Well. it's a polite spirit at least," she said with a small grin while the look of frustration that had been on Dorothy's face made way for a more pleased one.

"That's more like it."

"Well, the floor's your now, Dorothy," Duo said, still holding a finger on the slide.

"What should we ask?"

Dorothy merely shushed at Duo before concentrating on the spirit.

"We welcome you, spirit. Can you tell us who you are?"

Duo could feel the vibrations from the slide before it started moving, slowly spelling out the word "servant" for them.

"Were you the spirit that guided us yesterday?" Dorothy asked next, the smile on her face turning more and more satisfied as the slider moved towards "yes" on the board.

"In that case, I feel I must thank you. You were quite helpful to us. Are you alone here," Dorothy asked next, raising an eyebrow as the slider remained still for several seconds before slowly moving towards "no".

"Who else is here," Duo asked with a frown, watching as the slider hesitated again, then slowly spelling out the words "her".

"Her?" Hilde asked, looking a little skeptical. "Who is her?"

"This is just nonsense, one of you is pushing it," Relena complained, frowning as she removed her hand from the slider. "This is just a stupid children's game and you are just trying to scare me."

"Might I remind you that you were the one who called me and Hilde here, saying the place was haunted? Why is it so hard to accept that the ghost uses our energy in order to move the slider so we can communicate?" Duo asked with a slight frown.

"We are not the Ghost Hunters on the Discovery-channel, though we can get their little radios or EVP and EMF devices."

"Not that we need them," Hilde mumbled, rolling her eyes some as Relena let out a huff.

"Can you just let them do their job?" Heero sighed, rubbing his forehead as if he was fighting off a headache.

"Because I am half-tempted to drag Duo back to the car, toss you the money you payed him and just let you deal with this on your own."

Relena opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly silenced as Dorothy raised both hands up.

"Could you two either take your bickering outside this room or shut up?" she said, her voice silken and calm. "Your negative energy is ruining the session and makes the spirits uneasy. They already have enough negative energy to deal with in this house without you two adding to it."

"Should we leave," Heero asked, actually looking somewhat concerned as he asked.

"That is up to you," Dorothy said. "You are not strictly needed, but the more we are, the more… Energy we have to give to the spirits. And we are able to spread it between us instead of ending up drained because we are too few."

Heero nodded before straightening up some on his chair. "Then I will stay at least."

"As will I," Relena said stubbornly, tossing Heero a glance, which was promptly ignored by Heero himself.

"Then please, behave," Dorothy said strictly, like a mother scolding her two naughty children before returning her attention to the spirit board. She inhaled deeply before smiling.

"I do apologize for that. Are you still here?"

She let out a small sigh of relief as the slider moved towards yes, keeping the smile on her face.

"Thank you kindly. Now, my friends and I will ask you a few questions about this house and the people who lived here. Is that okay?"

Again, the slider moved to yes and Dorothy gave a nod of approval. "Thank you."

Duo leaned a little closer, keeping the tip of his finger on the slider. "You said you were a servant here. When did you serve here?"

The slider vibrated a little, almost hesitating before moving slowly towards the numbers on the board. It moved towards the number one, then eight before stopping up, making Duo raise an eyebrow. "Eighteen… Do you mean the nineteen-hundreds?"

When the slider moved to yes, Duo smiled. "So you were here when the house was constructed then, in eighteen-ninety?"

The slider made a small circular motion before landing on yes again.

"Then, can you tell us the name of the family that started the constructions?" Hilde asked, looking more interested now.

The slider moved again, slowly spelling out the name "Frinman" for them. "Well, it's not wrong," Duo mused, smiling some. "It was Lord Edward Frinman." Then he looked down as the slider started moving again, raising an eyebrow as it spelled out more letters.

"L. A. D. Y. S.Y.L. V.I. A. Lady Sylvia Frinman? Lord Edward's wife?" Duo asked, looking surprised at that revelation as the slider moved towards "yes" on the board.

"Now that is interesting," Dorothy hummed. "Why would Lord Frinman get the credit instead of the wife?"

"Wasn't that typical for that age?" Hilde asked dryly. "Women were supposed to be nice and raise kids, not build houses."

"Typical, maybe, but many women went against the norm and did things on their own. Like Sarah Winchester, who built the Winchester Mystery House," Duo pointed out, which made Hilde raise an eyebrow.

"Wasn't she a bit loopy though, thinking that she had to build or she would die?"

"Maybe, but she still took charge and had it done," Duo smirked. "Which was the point."

"Details, smchetails," Hilde said, using a hand to wave Duo off.

"Let's focus on the spirit that is so kindly talking to us, hmm?"

Duo chuckled and shook his head some as he returned the focus to the board. "The newspaper say that Lord Frinman went crazy and killed his wife and daughter. Is that true?" he asked, wanting to be more direct with this spirit.

When the slider went to "no", he admittedly was a little surprised. "Did he kill them at all?"

Again, the slider made a small circle and went back to "no". Duo lifted his head to look at the others with a look of disbelief on his face. "Then who did it?"

Before they could get an answer, the board was flung up from the table with enough force for it to hit the ceiling before landing back down onto the table. The slider had shot from the board and almost hit Relena's head. She had let out a scream and immediately moved to hide underneath the table while Heero stood up, entering fight-mode as he looked around.

"Get the slider," Dorothy said firmly, getting the board and immediately lining it up.

"I can't find it," Hilde said as she left the table to look around, only to have Dorothy grab her hand.

"Do not leave the circle," Dorothy said firmly, eyes on Hilde before she looked around quickly. "Heero, get me the glass on the table behind you," she instructed.

Heero nodded, quickly stretching to snatch the glass before handing it over, sitting down while doing so.

"Thank you," Dorothy said, placing the glass over a candle for a moment, letting the sot from the flame darken the inside. "Please get the screaming woman back to her seat," she said while placing a finger on the glass. "This will only take a moment."

Heero nodded again before dragging a shaking Relena up from underneath the table, Relena herself sobbing and shaking her head. "I don't want to do this!"

"We are finishing it," Duo said firmly, placing a finger on the glass along with Hilde. "But we must do it properly."

"Just do it, Relena," Heero replied, eyes hard as he brought Relena's hand to the glass.

With a sniffle, she nodded, placing a shaky finger on the glass before Heero did the same.

"Thank you for your time," Dorothy said firmly, looking out into the air as she focused on her breathing. "And thank you for answering us. We will now end this session."

The glass didn't move so Dorothy started to firmly move it towards the words "good bye" on the board. "All spirits in this room, who have made contact with us today, thank you. Good bye," she said loudly, taking the glass and turning it upside down on the board, still on the words "Good bye" before releasing a deep breath of air.

"… Duo. Get the candles from my case and the incense. We need to cleanse the room," she murmured, taking a few deep breaths before picking the glass up and blowing into it.

"On it," Duo said, getting up and heading over to Dorothy's suitcase.

"Maybe I should have been more careful," Dorothy mused, running both hands over the top of her head, slicking her hair backwards.

"But I didn't want to block out the possibility of any spirits coming here."

"I wondered why you didn't use the salt," Duo mused as he brought more candles and incense to the table.

"We wanted to make contact and contact we made. We know there is at least once friendly spirit here, but there is also one, very unfriendly one," Dorothy said as she took the incense and started lighting it, letting the smoke drift over the board.

"And we are left with more questions than answers," Hilde sighed.

"Well, we got one thing confirmed," Duo pointed out. "The spirit said she was not alone. That there was a "her" here. And there is a great chance that "her" is not a kind spirit."

"Do you think that "her" is Lady Sylvia? The lady of the house?" Hilde asked while running a hand over her chin.

"I mean, she was accused of witchcraft, and they said that she bewitched Lord Frinman, driving him crazy."

"Maybe," Duo said while finishing lighting the candles, inhaling deeply as he tried to rid himself of all negative energy.

"But I got a feeling we will find out, sooner rather than later."

"Is that your psychic sense tingling," Hilde teased while Duo rolled his eyes.

"Not really. Just common sense."

Still, there was something bothering him about it all. The violence the hostile spirit showed. The fear in the other spirit. The bloodied room he had seen in his vision. The dead girl and the symbol…

The symbol.

He had completely forgotten about that.

"Heero," Duo said as he turned around, looking at his lover. "Did you bring your laptop with you?"

"It's in the car," Heero said, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Go get it," Duo said before looking at Relena. "How good is the Wi-Fi here?"

xoxoxo

To those who saw something they shouldn't have... I have no idea how that got in there. _ I swear, it was not in the document when I loaded it up. X.x Erm... Hopefully nothing too great was spoiled and I am sorry of it was! *jedi mind trick* *MIB memory-flasher* You remember nothing!

Thank you for notifying me though! It is appriciated! And thank you for the comments and the support for this old, old story!