Paranormal Chapter 1, an one piece fanfic

Pairing: SanNam, ZoLu

Disclaimer: I dun own One Piece!

Warnings: Ah, none really.

A/N: Well, I finally, finally finished something that was more than one chapter. This is a two chapter, one shot type deal. It's not the grandest, but I like the idea, and I've never attempted to do something like this before. Hum, thank you to Chrissy for helping me remember dates for this, but they don't come until next chapter, kiddies. Hope you enjoy!

Paranormal

By Plushie

Chapter 1

The door was huge, nearly twice the size of any normal, modern day one. It was made of heavy, mahogany wood and over the years, it's hinges had rusted severely. There was every likelihood that it would fall down were a butterfly to breathe on it. As to the craftsmanship though, it probably supported the theory that it would stay standing were it to be touched, as well. Standing before this door, was a boy of about seventeen, with a determined look on his face. Behind him stood two others, who also looked rather determined, but a little pale at the same time.

"Are we going in, then?" the female of the three asked, brown eyes glancing at the leader of the triangle. The boy put a hand upon the tattered straw hat on his head.

"Yosh!" he cried and moved towards the large door… before pausing again. What if something bad happened in there…? The last member of the group rolled his eyes a little and moved forward after him.

"Not scared, are you, Luffy?" he asked, smirking with a cigarette at the corner of his lips. The boy immediately stiffened, pouting heavily as he puffed his cheeks and pretending that small blotches of red hadn't appeared on his face.

"No! Of course not!" he huffed, crossing his arms like a child.

"Speak for yourself…" the female mumbled under her breath, brushing a lock of ginger hair behind her ear and creeping up behind the man with the cigarette. The leader glanced back at her, before raising a hand to the door as carefully as he could.

"Oh, Nami-shuwan! Do not worry! I am here to protect you!" the man with the cigarette cried, grinning like a maniac. Nami, the woman, smiled a little nervously and then nodded.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun." she replied, feeling half relieved and half freaked out of her brain.

"Of course, Nami-swaaan!" Sanji replied, dancing his little dance with hearts for eyes. He stopped abruptly though when a long and low creak resounded right beside them. The large mahogany door, had swung ponderously inwards, and now the vast expanse of darkness stretching before them, seemed all the more creepy.

"Should we really go in there…?" Nami asked, her voice small as she stepped up behind Luffy and peered into the empty mansion. Luffy's eyes were wide, but his mouth was set in a determined line, lips pinching together firmly.

"We shouldn't, no." he replied, before pulling a flash light from his pocket and shining it into the entrance room, "But we're gonna." With a mischievous grin, he chuckled through his teeth and then moved into the house. Nami squeaked a little, before sighing as she pulled out her own flashlight.

"Why are we doing this, again?" she muttered as she started into the glamorous home.

"Because Ace dared us to." Sanji scoffed, taking out his flashlight and clicking it on.

"I know that!" Nami hissed back at him, and the blonde grinned a little sheepishly before following her into the large entrance room.

"Whoa…" Luffy breathed, the first one to see the cavernous fireplace that stood before him. His eyes travelled up, and up, and up. He didn't think it was ever going to end, before finally a marble mantelpiece came into view.

"Wow…" Nami and Sanji echoed the boy's sentiments, heads craned back so they could see where Luffy's flashlight was pointed.

"We need some light in here…" Sanji commented, turning his flashlight to the walls and slowly scanning them to try and find a switch. He started to walk away, and Nami's eyes went from Luffy, who was still staring at the mantelpiece, to Sanji… who would pay much more attention to looking after her. Yeah, she was going with Sanji. Hurrying after him, she pretended she was looking for a switch as well. Luffy took a few steps backward, shining the torch upwards until he reached the ceiling, and then bringing it slowly back down again. The wooden corner of what must have been a large picture, was the only thing visible from underneath a heavy black drop sheet.

Humming in annoyance, Luffy shone the flashlight around for any sort of foothold so he could get up and pull the sheet down, and see the painting. But no such luck. The fireplace's sides were smooth as glass, and the mantelpiece was too high for him to reach. Huffing softly, he turned and was about to go after Nami and Sanji, when a cold breath of air against the back of his neck, made him pause and shiver.

"Naa?" he noised in mild confusion, shining the torch around the room but frowning a little when nothing was there. He figured it must've come from outside, but that couldn't be right either. It was a bright, warm, sunny day outside and not a hint of a chill was in the air. So where…? He frowned a little and turned away again, disregarding it. He had only taken another few steps when another breath blew across his neck again, this time much stronger, to the point where the chill swept throughout his entire body. His hands clamped shut, the flashlight dropping to the floor with a light clatter and going out.

The blood in his veins seemed to turn stone cold, and his heart almost felt like it had stopped beating. For a minute, he thought it might have, but there was a light flickering there. It seemed like forever and a day that he stood there, trying to breath and watching almost disembodied as goosebumps rose up on his arms. His breath seized in his chest as that chill continued to intensify and then with a woosh of air from his relieved lungs, Luffy felt it release again. His skin felt like ice, but internally, he was starting to warm up again, thankfully. God… how long had he been stuck like that for? Surely hours!

"Luffy? Luffy, are you okay?" Nami was saying, and it was then the boy realised he was laying on the floor. When had that happened? …How had that happened? Man he felt tired…

"S'ok, Nami…" he slurred out, feeling his teeth chattering. The ginger haired woman frowned in mild concern before straightening again.

"Ok…" she sighed, watching as Luffy began easing himself to his feet, feeling like his joints were no longer joints at all. They just didn't want to move! He staggered backwards a little, but ignored the hand that Sanji put out to his shoulder. He wasn't a child, and he could handle himself quite alright, thank you very much. Yeah… that was why on the first step he took, he fell flat on his face. Nami gasped and Sanji shook his head and was about to lean down when a strange sound made them all pause. It was like… a harsh, hardly used laugh. It was croaky and sounded like a handful of gravel had been shoved down the throat of the laugher.

"… L-Luffy… that's not funny." Nami whispered, knowing quite well that that, couldn't have been Luffy. The tone of voice was too deep and too… nasty sounding for their young teen friend. Luffy was mischievous, but he wasn't evil.

"… Who-Who's there! Show yourself!" Luffy cried, jumping to his feet and waving the torch beam around the room like a madman, blinding Nami and Sanji more than once with it. There was no response, except perhaps the echo of the harsh laughter they had heard and Luffy's voice reverberating off the walls. Blonde haired chef, and ginger haired banker looked uneasily at each other, before turning forced grins on their younger friend.

"Oh well, I guess we'd better be off, yeah? We'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning!" they both said in perfect synchronisation, before beating a hasty retreat. Or, they would have… had the heavy doors not slammed shut the moment they had faced them.

"What the…?" Sanji noised while Nami gulped and sweat beaded on her forehead. Moving towards the door, the chef placed a hand on the doorknob, only to yell and pull it quickly away again.

"AH, oh my god, what is it!?" both Nami and Luffy squealed, sounding infinitely like a pair of little girls. Shaking his head, Sanji rubbed at his palm.

"N-nothing. The doorknob's just… really, really cold. Like ice cold." he replied, looking up at them, the flashlight casting eerie shadows across his face. Nami shivered a little and looked around.

"What the hell is this…?" she whispered while Luffy frowned a little beside her. Some weird shit was going down, that was for sure. Sanji moved back over to Nami and Luffy and looked around, slowly shining his torch from one side of the room to the other. It took a while, due to the room being so big, and the ceiling being set at a strange angle so the corners remained dark even when the torch was shone directly at them.

"I think we should head upstairs. Or move at least." Sanji muttered, placing a hand on Nami's back and gently nudging her towards the stairs. Luffy nodded a little, perfectly serious.

"I think so, too." he replied, heading up the stairs first to shine the way, Nami in the middle and Sanji bringing up the tail end, looking around carefully. The stairs were wide across, so much so that it felt to Luffy as if he were walking upwards into the sky with no confining walls. It was only when he got closer to the top, did he see the stairs narrowing inwards. The whole house must've been huge. From the outside, it seriously did not look this big. Well, it looked like a mansion, obviously, but not like a… whatever this was! Upon finally reaching the top of the staircase, Nami sighed a little as the light of the setting sun streamed in through high, almost churchlike windows, only without the colours.

"Does anyone else feel like we've stepped into a bad horror movie?" Sanji commented, flicking his torch off and sticking it in his pocket. Luffy chuckled, copying the movement with his own torch.

"C'mon. Lets have a look around." he said, moving forward quite confidently. The little event downstairs was still on their minds, but the longer it took for something else to happen, the more laughable their fear seemed to be. As they began moving down the first corridor they came to, flashlights were turned on again as the light streaming through the windows couldn't reach this far in. Even so, it still felt more secure up here than it did downstairs. Glancing at the doors, Luffy made a noise of interest when he paused beside a handsome looking mahogany door that had a crystal doorknob on it.

"I wonder where this goes?" he muttered, reaching for the handle. Sanji stepped up beside him.

"It doesn't have a nameplate on it, but I should imagine with a door like that, it'd be a study or a master bedroom." he explained, reaching a hand up to the door and tapping at it with his knuckles. He grinned a little devilishly and turned to Nami.

"Nami-swaan! There might be a bed in here! Would you like to explore it with me?" He called in a lilting, but very suggestive voice, eyebrows waggling more than a little creepily. Nami raised an eyebrow in return.

"Oh sure, Sanji-kun. Hang on while I slip into my playboy outfit." she replied sarcastically, turning and continuing down the hall. Sanji's jaw dropped as that fantastic imagery struck his already perverted mind. For a few minutes it seemed he was unable to speak, gibbering nonsense and chuckling to himself. Luffy turned and walked away, quite unconcerned and leaving the taller male standing in his half-bent, drooling position. Luffy found another door that was much similar to the one that Sanji was in front of, and with a small smile, placed his hand on the knob and opened it as quietly as he could.

Poking his head through the small crack, he grinned a little as the window at the far end of the room, provided a beautiful view of the distant ocean, and the seaside town along with the last remnants of the sunset. The room itself had glimmering wallpaper, that caught the last of the light and sparkled happily. From the looks of it, it was a master bedroom, with a door that led into an en suite and a large, king sized bed in the middle of it. A thick layer of dust rose up in small clouds from the soft, plush carpet as Luffy made his way into the room, looking around in pure awe. A large cupboard sat to his left as he moved in, the elaborate markings reaching up to the very top of it and curling at the crest. Luffy blinked up at it, quite amazed before he began heading towards the bed and smiling a little cheekily. Just a quick jump on it. Couldn't hurt, right?

Nami moved to a door that wasn't quite as fancy. She didn't understand why, but it caught her eye more effectively than the others had. It was a plain door, nothing fancy about it. It didn't even seem to fit into the rest of the house. It was like a thorn among the roses type of thing. Still, why had this particular door stood out to her so much? She was one for glitz and glamour, money and jewellery. Not plain and horrible. Sighing a little when she couldn't bring herself to walk any further due to the growing attraction towards that door, Nami turned and opened it, peering inside. It was a scrawny little room, much as she had thought it would be.

One window that looked straight into a thickly foliaged tree and a tiny, rickety single bed that not even a dog would like to sleep on. Grimacing in mild disgust at the stale smell that reached her nose, she began moving into the room, pausing when a board creaked under her a little dangerously. Swallowing her worry that she was going to fall through the floor, she headed for the skimpy little wardrobe in the far corner. A sense of foreboding crept up on her as she reached the rickety looking door. Placing a hand on it, the ginger haired woman gulped a little before starting to pull it open.

"Eh heh…" Sanji noised, now leaning against the fancy door and feeling a little nervous about what Nami had said. He was just about to go and apologize for his outburst, when a high pitched scream made him jerk wildly. Bolting down the hall in the direction Nami was, he grunted when the girl herself ran out of the room she had been in, and crashed directly into his chest. Catching her easily, Sanji glanced over her to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Nami-san? Nami!" he repeated when she wouldn't respond. He'd never seen her so terrified before. Nami was usually one to not be scared quite so easily, but this house… it was pretty creepy.

"I-I'm okay, S-Sanji-kun…" she stuttered, shaking and shivering, "But I'm going home. This house is haunted, and I don't give a damn what Ace says or does, I'm going." Pulling away from the chef forcefully, she turned and headed back down the hall again, hugging herself with an arm and weaving back and forth uncertainly. Sanji watched her go, before looking around and spotting a cracked open door a little further up.

That had to be where Luffy was, and if Nami was leaving, then Sanji was going with her, and he wasn't going to leave Luffy here alone either. The kid could handle himself, but this wasn't exactly a situation where one could turn around and punch someone's lights out. As he reached for the door though, he heard a few noises in quick succession. A 'fwump-boing!', followed by a 'He he!' and then a repeat. Blinking a little, he made to push the door open but yelled and only just managed to pull his hand back before it was crushed as the door slammed shut. Frowning heavily, he grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, but a lock clicked and there was no way he was opening it now.

"Son of a bitch…" he muttered, glaring at the door but feeling an uneasy tingle working it's way slowly throughout his entire body. Nami had been perfectly right. This place was haunted, that was for sure.

"Luffy!" he called, banging a fist on the door, "Luffy, Nami-san and I are leaving, are you coming?" There was a moment of silence before he heard an answering knock.

"Sanji? I can't open the door, let go of the doorknob!" Luffy's voice called back, weak and tiny through the thick door. The doorknob rattled as the now trapped boy tried to open it, but the door remained solidly closed.

"Damn it! I'm not touching the doorknob, something's wrong with it!" the blonde yelled, rattling the doorknob as well and only getting the same result that Luffy had. He knew perfectly well that something was really wrong with this door right now, and it had nothing to do with the door itself. His theory seemed confirmed when directly in front of him, the air almost seemed to swirl before a pair of sickly green, glowing eyes opened and glared straight at him, completely disembodied. With a yell, the blonde scrambled away from the door and backed back to the other wall, raising the flashlight and shining it on the door.

He panted a little when nothing was there, and felt his heart thunder in his chest. What the hell was that!? Sighing a little in relief, he slowly edged his way back towards the door again, watching it carefully for any sign that something weird was going down. The door still refused to open, and Luffy was continuously rattling the handle, desperately trying to get out. Glaring at the door, Sanji shifted his weight and raised a leg, preparing to kick the door down. Jabbing it sharply towards the wood, he stared when a hand appeared from thin air and stopped it.

"… L-Let go!" he yelled, twisting his leg this way and that in an attempt to get free. It was a wasted effort though, for as soon as the hand had stopped the kick, it was gone again. Panting heavily, Sanji growled a little as he stared at the door.

"Fucked up ghost, haunted house, bullshit." he muttered under his breath before flipping back onto his hands and bending his knees downwards, getting ready to slam both feet straight into the door and smash it in completely.

"Don't. Even. Think about it." a harsh, growling voice said right in his ear and the blonde almost yelped, but regained his posture.

"Screw you!" he yelled, before slamming both feet into the door and splintering the wood, causing it to swing inwards and freeing the now rather pale Luffy, who immediately shone a flashlight at his rescuer.

"That worked." he nodded before the voice that had spoken to Sanji mere seconds ago, repeated again.

"Smart… very smart. In a stupid way." it said and Luffy quailed a little.

"I think we'd better go…" he said and Sanji nodded easily.

"Oh hell yeah." he replied and the two ran down the hall and down the stairs, after the light from Nami's torch… which was rolling on the floor and abandoned.

"Nami-san?" the chef called, grabbing the torch up and feeling his heart start to pound. Silence returned to them, not carrying any hint of the woman's voice. Not a scream, or even a scuffle. Nothing. Luffy looked around uneasily.

"Nami!" he called, shining the torch towards the fireplace again. He blinked when he saw something there, something very odd indeed. A sort of hazy glow that he'd never ever seen before. What was it? Something compelled him forward, made him squint his eyes and bend down as if to see it better.

"Luffy…" Sanji said warningly, still looking around for Nami. Ignoring him, Luffy continued towards the fireplace and stared intently at the hazy glow. The glow died, and the boy frowned a little before his eyes widened and jumped back out of the way as fire literally burst in gigantic plumes from the fireplace. It rushed towards the boy, almost seeming like it was trying to swallow him. Yelling in equal shock, Sanji leapt backwards. This was just getting too weird now. The flames roared loudly, making it almost impossible for any noise to be heard other than the angry crackling. Luffy was at Sanji's side now, staring at the flames in horror and fear.

"Luffy… we have to find Nami-san." the chef whispered down to the boy, staring at the flames as if it were an individual entity that had been formed for the purpose of stopping them finding Nami. Luffy nodded a little, but neither seemed able to move, feet rooted to the spot. The flames died down a little, before roaring back up again, this time turning emerald and sending sparks flying in every direction.

"Sanji…?" Luffy noised, eyes wide and reflecting the fluorescent colour brightly.

"… Eh?" the chef noised, own visible eye reflecting the colour as well.

"I think I'm gonna run now…" the boy noised before bolting in a completely random direction. The blonde was left on his own for a few seconds, before the fire made a loud popping noise and Sanji ran like a bat out of hell in the opposite direction to which Luffy had run. So much for staying together.

The room Luffy now found himself in, was pitch black at the moment but really, the boy didn't care. He was too scared out of his wits right now to think about stupid things like that. That had been… what had that been? It certainly wasn't normal, same as every other strange occurrence that had taken place in this house. He had just begun regaining his breath again when the door through which he had run, slammed shut behind him… again. What the hell was with this house and trapping him in it's rooms!? Glaring at the door, Luffy bared his teeth. Okay, freaky fire was one thing, but when a trick was repeated, it just got old.

"Hey! Let me OUT of here, damn it!" he yelled, grabbing the handle and yanking on it. That didn't work, so placing both feet on the wood, he pulled as hard as he could. The door creaked dangerously, bending inwards with the force of the pull, before it abruptly flew open again and Luffy was sent tumbling head over heels, back across the room and into a giant pile of broken chairs and cushions. Very dazed, and not entirely sure as to how he had gotten here, he was brought back to reality as the door slammed shut again. Putting a hand to his head, Luffy slowly got to his feet and looked around a little, but couldn't see anything in the dark.

Where was he? A basement? He hadn't run down any stairs. A closet perhaps? Yeah, that had to be it! A closet! He reached to his pocket to grab his torch, thinking that maybe if he looked around, he'd find a different escape route. One that didn't involve a trick door. Luffy's hand grabbed at thin air, and he realised with a sharp gasp, that his torch wasn't there. How was he going to see? He'd had it just a minute ago! Dropping to his knees and feeling along the floor like a game of blind man's bluff, he felt his hands brush something warm, that was cooling fast. That had to be it right? His theory was proved when he pressed the button and light filtered out the end of the flashlight. Sighing in a little relief, Luffy began his search of the room. But what he saw, was not what he expected… and it unnerved him greatly.

"… Whoa…"

Nami huffed as she pushed at the cupboard door, coughing in the mustiness of it all. The old coats were covered with at least four inches of dust, and they smelled like stale sheep's wool. Banging her shoulder against the door, she slumped back when that really hurt and sighed a little. One minute she'd been walking down the stairs, perfectly fine, and then the next she had been shoved in here by an unseen force. She presumed it was the damn ghost. Stupid thing. If ghosts had money, she'd charge it a fortune for harassing her like it was. Seriously. This whole haunted house thing… she'd seen nothing that spectacular.

Okay, so the bag of burning money in that other room had been pretty horrifying, so what? Aside from what had happened to Luffy, the bag of burning money, and being shoved in here… nothing really had stood out to her all that much. Scary at the time, stupid and pathetically lame now. A soft breeze played across the back of her neck, and Nami huffed a little more, choking on the dust that swirled around her face. The breeze played across her neck again, but it was warm and almost… moist. How could a breeze be moist? … wait… breezes came from openings, and an opening meant freedom! Turning with an elated look, the smile quickly died when she was faced with something that really, you wouldn't ever hope to find in your own cupboard. A large, shaggy, black dog's head, with blood red eyes and drool dripping from fangs that looked both needle-sharp, and longer than her own fingers.

"N-nice doggy…" she whispered, but jerked when the ears flattened and a loud growl was heard, drool slipping in idle paths to the floor at the animal's feet. It's hackles were raised, snout crinkled, and the eyes narrowed dangerously. Nami squeaked and pushed herself as far as she could into the corner, ducking down as the dog began to leer over the top of her, growling steadily increasing in both pitch and tone. She was on the floor by the time it was over her, paws set on either side of her thin waist, eyes boring into her own, drool landing in puddles on her throat.

"P-please…" she whispered, before letting out a high pitched scream as the dog snapped it's jaws down on her throat. She continued screaming, but paused when… nothing was happening. She wasn't bleeding, in pain, and reaching a hand up to her throat, she could feel no puncture wounds. Opening her eyes quickly, she glanced around to see that the dog wasn't there at all. It… hadn't been real. The door burst open and a light was shone directly into her face.

"Nami-san!" Sanji cried, reaching in and taking her hand before pulling her gently out again, "Nami-san, I heard you scream! Are you okay!?" The chef was almost in hysterics, eyes wide as he brushed hands over her arms to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"I-I-I'm okay, S-Sanji-kun…" she managed to reply, eyes still wide and hair practically standing on end.

"You're as white as a sheet!" the blonde cried, not looking so hot himself.

"I-I'm okay… I just… had a rather nasty experience in there…" Nami replied, glancing back at the door and grimacing a little to herself. What had just happened? There seemed to be a lot of that going around tonight.

"Ah… what happened, Nami-san?" Sanji asked, eyes still wide.

"A… a dog. It just… but there's no dog there now, it's okay." she quickly said, annoyed at her own fear of something that wasn't, or hadn't, ever been there. But she hadn't known that at the time, obviously.

"A dog…?" Sanji inquired, eyes narrowing a little, "What kind of dog, Nami-san?"

"A big black one. It's okay, it wasn't real…" she replied, trailing off a little embarrassedly at the end. Sighing a little, she looked up and frowned at the fact that Sanji was as white as a sheet in the torch light as well.

"You don't look so good yourself, Sanji-kun." she commented and the chef glanced back at her and laughed a little.

"I'm okay, Nami-san. As long as you're safe." he nodded before looking around a little, "I think we should go find Luffy and get out of here, ne?"

"I agree fully…" Nami replied, before frowning and holding his arm, "I told you my story, now what happened to you? … and why isn't Luffy with you anyway?" The absence of the younger teen finally struck her as very odd. Sanji grimaced a little.

"… Luffy and I went back to the main room, and the fire in there lit itself, then turned green. We both ran. He went left, I went right. Then just before I heard you scream, I was… I was in another room full of spiders…" he replied a little uneasily, eyes shifting back and forth. Nami blinked, her own eyes narrowing. He was lying. She'd been around enough to know exactly when someone was lying, and the way Sanji's eyes were shifting, his lips twisted nervously… yeah, he wasn't anything but lying.

"Sanji-kun…" she warned, her tone telling him that he better spill before something bad happened. The blonde teen grimaced a little, before turning to her and meeting her gaze squarely, his lips compressed into a thin line.

"… I saw you…" he replied, his voice low and serious. Nami was just about to flare up, telling him that she wasn't any form of scary, when he continued, "… dead…" Her anger died instantly, eyes widening as she felt something cold drop into the pit of her stomach. He'd seen her… dead? Sanji shifted a little before taking her hand and turning away. Nami herself was speechless, completely unsure as to how to reply to such a thing. Did that mean that her being dead, frightened Sanji more than anything? If so… why? She didn't mean anything to him, or at least, she'd never thought she had. He was always all over her, but it was always swooning, loveheart eyes, noodley Sanji that pissed her off more than anything else.

"We'd better find Luffy." Sanji finally said, turning and leading the way out of the room.

A/N: Done! Next chapter is finished and waiting in the wings, so this will be updated more than likely, probably Sunday. But honestly, this fic is done already. I won't be keeping people waiting with it, UNLESS (warning!) i don't get many reviews. I will not update unless I get more than at least 5. That's fair I think. Okay! Well, hope you liked, and thanks! :D