So now it was just a waiting game on Saffron's part, and he really disliked waiting. The reception room was stylish in a very british way, a little stuffy in otherwards. So he turned to look at the magizens on the table beside his chair, but nothing looked interesting. So instead, he got up again, moving toward the window, aware Evan had glanced in his direction as she worked.

        The eerily comforting chill gave enough warning as to just who was on the other side of the door that Matt stopped with his hand on the knob. He'd bitched and chewed about being assigned overseas, but had finally caved after making Kay agree to look after his cat while he was gone; he figured that was payback enough... Ig was a damn terror around everyone and hated to be left behind. Matt had bitched even more about being assigned a partner... he hated working with people.... that had almost made him bring Iggy along for the trip... but this....

Matt sighed and tried to work up the nerve to open the door and head inside. He'd never imagined that Kay would team him up with Saffron... he figured the kid would've refused to work with him seeing as how he'd been avoiding him ever since...

Saffron felt the familiar presence outside the room and frowned, glancing toward the door. Of all the people to be partnered with...oh joy...well, business before pleasure... he sighed, moving away from the window again, back toward the chair, flopping down. Evan had looked up again. "Can I get you something while you wait?" She asked.

Saffron snorted softly, glancing at the attractive young woman. "I don't really like to wait...I hate waiting, actually." Saffron replied.

Evan smiled slightly. "I'm sure as soon as the other gets here, we can hurry this along." She said.

Matt gave a low growl at how much the kid had effected him. This was why he preferred to keep people at a distance... Once you let them in they have the power to hurt you .. and generally do. He drew a breath and made himself open the door and stride into the room. He'd already been in a miserable mood... this was just one more thing. He tried to keep himself from looking at the death elemental, refusing to acknowledge just how much this bothered him. Instead he went straight to the desk and glared at the woman behind it. "What do you people need... I want this shit over with."

Evan meerly looked up at him, a rather expressionless look. She was used to men and attitudes. Though she caught a roll of the eyes from Saffron in his chair and a rather faint amused smirk, before he was suddenly scowling, and looking away. "Would you have a seat for a moment, Mr. Hogan and I'll inform Mr. Banes there you're here." Evan said, gesturing to the chairs as she got up from her desk, turning and heading through a small anti-room to knock on the inner office door. Obiviously there was an answer, because she opened the door, slipping inside, leaving the other two in the reception room.

Matt tried to ignore the pleasant feeling that being in the same room with Saffron always brought. He stayed at the desk with his back to him, knowing if he went over there he'd regret it. Obviously the kid hadn't known who he'd be partnered with either.. it seemed highly unlikely that after avoiding him like the plague for all these months that he'd suddenly agree to work with him.

Saffron had taken to tapping his foot, and staring up at the ceiling in slowly building irritation at waiting...in silence, in the same room...with...him. He glanced at the clock with a rather deep sigh, and got up again, restless, moving back to the window. He had this feeling, Ethan wasn't busy at all and was just subjecting this on them, for his own twisted amusement...

Another minute and Matt was going back there after Banes, professionalism  and curtesy be damned.. He couldn't take this. Not three minutes in the same room and already he was on edge. The feel of Saffron so close after all this time was almost too much to bare... The only thing that kept him rooted in place was the fact that despite everything... the kid had made his choice... and it wasn't Matt.

Saffron was about to make another circut back toward the chair, when Evan came out of the inner office. "Mr. Banes will see you now." She said with a polite and professional smile, motioning to the door. Saffron sighed, shaking his head slightly, his gaze glancing at Matt briefly, before he was moving past Evan's desk and approaching Ethan's door. Evan watched the pair with curosity.

Matt followed, doing his best to not look at the man in front of him... and failing miserabley. Which only sparked the pain a bit higher and made him that much more irritable and miserable. He closed the door a bit too hard behind him as they entered the office and shot Ethan a dark look. "This had better be worth it... I don't do overseas shit. I fucking HATE Europe.. especialy England."

Ethan was sitting his phone down and looked at Matt, before rubbing his temple. "I suppose I'll just get straight to the point with out thanking you for coming." He said, sounding a bit taxed.

Saffron snorted softly. "It's not like I had anything better to do..." He said softly, Ethan raised an eyebrow. Saffron debated on rather sitting down, or keep standing, either way he had to move away from Matt.

"Reguardless, your presence is much appericated." Ethan said, turning slightly and picking up a file folder. 'I don't have the staff to handle this case and Kay assured me she'd send some one...qualified."

Matt snorted. "Considering who she sent... I'm guessing this is an undead issue... So.. zombies? Vampires? What are we dealing with?" he asked irritably, crossing his arms a bit tighter over his chest to help combat the almost instinctive urge to reach out to the source of that cool flow of power that had been a constant since he'd first meet Saffron.

"If it were vampires, I could handle that myself." Ethan said with a weary smirk, his own fangs visable. "Zombies, and Quaide and Dallas would have fun. This...I think is something else...maybe not even what I think it is...right now, the only thing I need from the pair of you, is to establish the facts." He said, sitting the folder on the desk in front of Saffron, who picked it up.

The first thing in it, was a photo of a large estate manor, that looked, decidely sinister. "A haunting?" Saffron asked, glancing up from the photo.

"Perhaps...and if it is...well...that can be...remedied...but six people in six months, visitors to that place, have turned up dead in their rooms, doors locked and no mark on their bodies at all."

Matt groaned at the word ' haunting', but held his tongue until Ethan had finished. "If it's ghosts.. forget it. Not here. No fucking way. English ghosts are the worst fucking bastards to deal with... constant fucking headache..." he  muttered. "The older they are the worse they are. Cross your fingers its something else or you're on your own."

"I have a suspecion it may be something other then ghosts, but the authorites are at a loss, even the autoposy of the bodies are clean. And since they can't figure it out, they called us in." Ethan said, leaning back in his chair.

Saffron snorted faintly, flipping through a selection of pictures from the manor and it's sinister looks. "When you say you want us to establish the facts, you're wanting what?" He asked, glancing at Ethan.

 "The lord of the manor is expecting the two of you. He's having his annual...card game weekend. Take the two days, scout around, get a feel for the place and give me your opinions monday. That's all I ask." Ethan said.

"Do you play cards, Graves?" Saffron asked, with out look back at him as he continued to look at the file. There was a very faint smirk from Ethan at that.

"Fuck you, Azreal." Matt snapped coldly, more so than he'd intended due to his bad mood steadily worsening. "I hope Ig gets her claws into Kay's leathers for this..." he muttered darkly, half under his breath. He glared past Saffron to Ethan. "Fine..  wonderful.. when do we fucking leave?" he asked.

Saffron had meerly smirked coldly at Matt's reply, snapping the folder shut, still not looking back at him. Ethan sighed. "When ever you're ready to go, we'll have a rift waiting for you." Ethan replied, eyeing the both of them. 'I should warn you, this place does have a history." He added wearily.

Saffron smirked a bit more amused. "They always do. That's what makes it interesting."

"Yeah sure.. unless you have that 'history' whining and bitching in your head twenty four seven.." Matt growled softly. "Fuck... Let's just go.."

Ethan blinked at Matt casually. "It's a two day stay, sure you don't want to take anything with you?" He replied.

Saffron snorted softly, "My bag's in the reception room." He was thinking he should have reconsidered packing some of his more...elegant things, as it was, he was just wearing black jeans and a satin dress shirt.

Matt  let the small pack he'd been carrying over a shoulder slip around so Ethan could see it. "I'm fine. He's fine. Can we go?"

Ethan nodded, leaning forward and pressing a button on his phone. "Evay darlin', send Gabe in will ya." He said over the intercom. "Gabe is the residant rift worker. He'll be here in a moment." Ethan said to the two of them. Saffron was reading the brief history of the manor. A BRIEF history, he had a feeling there was a lot more to it then what was on this page.

Matt snorted and shifted his pack back up where it was comfortable. By the way Banes had talked, this was probably going to be some fancy shit weekend.. He'd be damned if they expected him to dress up. He brought the same shit he was wearing.. jeans, tshirts and in light of it being England.. a sweater. As casual as you could get.. the jeans even had a rip in the one knee. And no one had better bitch…

Saffron looked over the top of the folder in Matt's direction, all that was actually seen of Saffron was his eyes and up. He spoke to Ethan. "Do you know the Lord?" He asked.

"Yes, Lord Ashtor. His family has owned the manor for seven generations, and it's steeped in a lot of history." Ethan said.

"Pembrook, its on the edge of England and Scotland," Saffron noted.

 "In a place that has seen a lot of violence through out history." Ethan agreed.

"Makes it interesting." Saffron replied, turning his eyes back to the folder's contents.

Matt snorted again at the word ' history'. He was thankful he'd managed to talk the new doc at Chaos Inc. into giving him that perscription. Originally designed for telepaths, they'd added in a heavy dose of painkillers to market it to psycics.. It didn't cut the voices out as good as it supposedly did for telepaths, but at least it helped and did a fairly good  job of getting rid of the headaches caused by the strain. He just hoped it worked on necromancers as well as it did psycics.

"You have a cover of course, Lord Ashtor will simply introduce you to his other guests as a distant realtive from the states, I'll leave it to you which of you gets to claim that, and which gets to claim just being a friend of said realitive." Ethan said.

Saffron actually gave a laugh. "Does he look British to you?" He asked Ethan.

Ethan wisely did not answer. "He wishes the other guests, who don't know about the deaths, not to know about the real reason you're there." Ethan added,

"Of course...it's not like we're going to run around saying we're ghost hunters." Saffron replied, amused. He didn't know WHY he was amused, but he was.

"I'm fucking Italian... and I seriously doubt anyone's going to believe the two of us are friends." Matt snapped. "You people should check this shit out being coming up with these stupid cover stories." Saffron's good mood seemed to just make him feel worse. Just more proof that the kid really didn't give a shit about him or what had happened.

Saffron snapped the file closed and smacked it against the desk. "Oh for fuck's sake!" He snapped, the amusement gone and his eyes flashed. "For two days, just TWO meisely days, can you at least PRETEND to be human?" He added. Ethan kept his quiet and his eyes on his computer, not about to get involved something obiviously personal.  "Lets just get through this weekend and see if we can't prevent any more unnessary deaths of innocent unaware people, at the hands of...WHAT ever this is." Saffron added darkly.

Matt glared at Safforn. "Sorry.. I'm not as good at pretending  as you are. " he snapped back. "Where's youre fucking rift guy?' he asked Ethan irritably, turnign his attention away from Safron, still trying to shut out the comforting feeling of being near himn.. and the pain it caused to still feel it.

Saffron's eyes flashed an smoldering emerald, but he bit his tongue, hard. "For the sake of the people in this place, this weekend, and this job, lets at least TRY to be civil." He said in a rather soft tone, moving away from the desk and toward the door, to retrieve his bag.

 "I'm sure Gabe is on his way, he is head of security here." Ethan said simply in reply to Matt.

Matt snorted softly and rubbed at his forehead. He'd only been here a short while and already the constant attention form the spirits that seemed to plague this entire continent far worse than in the States already had his head throbbing. He should've taken a pill before he left but he was hoping that he'd grown strong enough since his last visit here he'd been able to handle it better.

Saffron had just opened the door, finding Gabe standing there, about to knock. He stepped aside with out a word, admitting Gabe into the room, before he went into the reception room and retrieved his bag. A good portion of his mind was telling him to take it, and keep walking, right out of this building and away from this case...away from Matt.  He'd wondered why his step mother had neglected to tell him who'd be working with...fuck...he'd almost perfer working with...Eire.

Matt had nodded briefly to Gabe as he entered then ignored bith men as well as he could. But now he finally gave in. "Banes... you think I could get a glass of water or something? I need to take some meds..." he asked  just as he heard the door open behind opened again. He sighed heavily, hoping Saffron hadn't heard that. All he needed was shit fomr the death elemental about this.

"Of course." Ethan replied, as Saffron came back into the room with a duffle bag, though he looked a bit...weary. Ethan got up from his desk, moving over to a mini bar in the corner and took a bottle of water from the small fridge. Handing it to Matt, he moved back to his desk, and picked up the phone. "I'm going to call Lord Ashtor, and let him know you're arriving. Gabe, would you be so kind as to open them a rift to the kitchen. " Ethan said as he dialed. Gabe nodded.

"thanks." Matt muttered softly as he took the water and tucked the botle under his arm as he fiched the bottle of pills out of his pocket. He studiously ignored Saffron as he tapped out two of the bright red pills before popping the bottle back into his pocket . He had that paranoid felign that he was being watched but did his best to tell himsewlf it was just that.. paranoid. He tossed back the pills quickly, downing almost half the bottle of water before recapping it and slipping it into his coat pocket.

Saffron had in fact been watching from behind him, but he said nothing. And after a moment, looked away. Ethan was just getting off the phone and Gabe was looking at the picture of the manor's large kitchen from the file. "Ready?" Ethan asked.

"As much as ever." Saffron answered.

Ethan nodded to Gabe, who opened a rift. "The head house keeper is waiting in the kitchen for you." Ethan said.

Matt nodded to Ethan briefly then again to Gabe as he stepped through the rift, praying to whoever wanted to listen that this wasn't your typical English manor overrun with ghosts...

Saffron took the folder from Gabe and slipped through the rift into the kitchen. A plump woman, who looked unphazed by the rift, was waiting for them, her hair in a bun and an apron over her clothes. OF course it was a typical English manor...with ghosts...Saffron glanced around the large kitchen, before looking at the woman. "Welcome t' Pembrooke." She said casually.

Matt just sighed, wishing the meds would hurry up and kick in. The place was even worse then he'd feared. Gods he hated this country. "Yeah yeah... thanks." he grumbled irritably, wishing he'd fought Kay just a bit harder.. or just walked out. He really didn't need this job...nothing was worth dealing with this shit... he should've just quit...He snorted softly to himself at the thought.

"I'll show ye to your rooms, so that ye can unpack. An' I'll let his lordship know yer here." The woman said, "I'm Mrs. Kitchens, by the way." She added, before turning and motioning for them to follow. Saffron sighed, He found himself glance at Matt, then shook his head, following the old woman. His step mother was really going to owe him for this...this weekend was going to be a bitch.

"Kitchens in the kitchen..." Matt muttered softly as he turned to follow, shaking his head softly. "Fuck...I hate this country..." He fell into step behind Saffron and found himself watching him. He couldn;t help the wash of sadness that suddenly overcame him, quickly followed by the bitterness and anger. He was not going to let the kid get to him. It had taken him a while, but he'd put that night behind him.... or at least he thought he had.

She led them up the servents stair, all the while giving the lay out of the house, which Saffron listened to only half heartedly. "There'll be a dinner, for the guests tonight, in the grand dinning room. His lordship encourages comfort of course, no black tie. After which, the first of the games will began." She was saying. Saffron snorted softly but nodded, most of his thoughts were...He bit his tongue again, wincing from the pain, he was going to have to force his thoughts away from Matt if he was going to do this job...

"He doesn't expect us to dress up and take part in this game shit, does he?" Matt asked. "I don;t do dressy and I don't have the clothes even if I did... and I don;t 'socalize'..."

Saffron snorted. "I'm sure excuses can be made." Mrs. Kitchens said simply.

"Well my...friend here, probably wont socalize, but I'll mostly likely look in on the game." Saffron said softly.

She led them into a grand hallway filled with doors, a grand stair case curling down to the main floor seen a head. She stopped a pair of doors. She opened one door, showing a bedroom in greys. But as she went to open the second door, she hesitated, looking nervous. "Something wrong?" Saffron asked.

"Nay...it's just...this room...well..." She started to say.

Saffron reached past her and opened the door to a red and gold grandly decorated bedroom, which he recongized. "Is the scene of the crimes...I'll take it." Saffron said with a smirk, though it was a dark and grim smirk.

"Wonderful." Matt muttered. "My how cheerful." he said sarcastically as he looked in the room. He bit back the urge to take the room instead of Saffron.. that odd need to protect him still there after all this time. The kid had made his choice... let him handle it. "Fine by me..." he said, avoiding looking at Saffron. "Anything else?"

"I really think I could get another room furnished quickly, rather then this room..." Mrs. Kitchens said, seeming anxious.

Saffron snorted, brushing past her and into the room, dropping his bag on the bed. "Nonsense. " He said simply. "Its fine..."

"But sir..." "Well if I end up dead in the morning, you'll have one less guest to worry about," Saffron replied, before his gaze shifted to Matt and he added, almost coldy. "And one less nuisance to bother you. Why don't you go inform Lord Ashtor we're here, Mrs. Kitchen." Saffron changed his tone, looking back at the old lady with something of a smile. She peered at him a long moment, before she nodded, turning and heading for the grandstair case. Saffron turned away from the door, looking around the room.

Matt glared at Saffron, moving enough to let the woman leave. He swallowed back several comments before finally  snorting softly. "Kiss my ass, Azreal... fucking bastard.." he finished with a mutter as he turned and slipped into his own room, shutting the door firmly behind him. He didn't even bother looking around ; just tossed his bag towards the foot of the bed, and shrugged out of his coat. He retrieved the bottle of water and the pillbottle form its pockets before tossing it over a chair, setting them on the bed side table before sinking donwonto the bed wearily.

 

Saffron winced, allowing the hurt to show, since no one else was there to see it, before he closed the door softly and turned, walking slowly across the room to the small balcony, pulling the drapes aside and letting in some natural light, though he noticed it didn't penetrate into some corners. It seemed only fitting he take this room, as the weekend was going to be hell anyway. It'd been five months, since the last tie Saffron had seen Matt...Five months since he'd slipped from the motel room...

 

Matt lay on the bed, his eyes squeezed shut as he fought past the headache, which seemed to be defying the pills and getting worse, and the pain of being so close to Saffron again. He felt like smashing things... destroying the damned place... He grabbed the pillow, holding it over his face as he screamed his frustration into it. This weekend was going to kill him...

 

Saffron turned from the windows, leaving his bag on the bed and made a very slow circut around the room, running his finger tips along the wall, feeling the room out. He could feel the linger presence of past occupants, and a slowly building anxiety which he bit back. But he froze, at the wall that seperated his room from Matt's in the very corner and pulled his hand back with a hiss at the frozen feel that came from it.

 

Debating on whether he should scout around first or try and take a nap and get rid of his headache, Matt lay still, listening to faint footsteps fomr the room next door. If the pills didn't kick in he didn;t know how much good he was going to do here. He had  seemingly hundreds of voices clammoring at him for attention; several of which were strong enough that he could feel their prescene pressing in on him as well... he wouldn't be able to fel or sense much past this mess if it didn't calm down..

 

Saffron stared thoughtfully at that corner, his gaze narrowed, when something gave him a vicious pinch on the arm. "Knock it off!" He snapped loudly, close to a yell. "Do NOT start that shit with me, I do not find it amusing nor frightening!" He felt a maliciousness from the corner and glared right back. "Try me." He hissed, turning a way. Something gave him a hard shove, sending him stumbling into the heavy table next to the wall. Saffron gave a growl, righting himself. Oh he was no doubt in for it this weekend. He wondered which was going to drive him crazy first. This THING, or Matt.

 

The sudden shout from next door brought a groan and Matt  debated on yelling back. A moment later a loud thump came form the wall behind him and he frowned. Saffron had never been the 'trash the room'; kind ... and the fact that he was in the 'death room' made Matt move off the bed and head for the door to investigate. He strightened his shoulder holster slightly as he went.

 

Saffron glared back at the corner. "If you insist on being such a fucking ass, you're going to find me very difficult indeed. Don't push your luck!" He hissed, starting to move away from the table. What happened next, surprised even Saffron, because he suddenly found himself on the floor, on his back, his head hitting the heavy leg of the table, dazing him. Through his swimming vision, he thought he saw something crouched in the dim corner.

 

The second thump was loud enough that Matt ran the last few steps to SAffron;s door and yanked it open. The sight of the death elemental laid out on the floor stole his breath and froze his heart. He was at the young man's side before he even consciously was aware of taking a step into the room . "Fuck.. Saff?!" he asked, concern evident in his voice.He knlet at his side, one hand moving to cradle his head.

 

Saffron blinked several times, trying to clear his vision, still looking at the corner, but what ever had been crouching there had vanished when Matt appeared. "Ugh....I'm fine..." Saffron groaned, raising a shaking hand to rub his eyes. "We were just laying the ground rules..." His tone was slightly slurred. He moved to sat up, maybe a bit to quickly, because the room took a lurch to the side. "Fuck..." He moaned, closing his eyes.

 

Matt slipped his arms around the smaller man and pulled him into a sitting position, letting him lean against him. The familiar cool chil flowing between made the close contact almost unbearable, but his worry over SAffron had temporily overridden his anger at him. "What the fuck happened..?" he asked softly,

 

Saffron moved slightly away, drawing his knees up and resting his head against his knees, his eyes closed. "I told you," He said with a soft snort, "we were laying down the ground rules...I don't think it likes me. I told it not to start, and it knocked me on my ass. I doubt you saw it, did you?" He turned his head slightly, opening one eye and looking at him.

 

Matt snorted softly and let go of him, letting him sit on his own and putting some distance back between them again. He fought back the emotions he didn't need to deal with right now and tried to focus on the problem at hand. "No.. didn't see anything... " he said simply, pulling his anger back around him in a sheild againmst further hurt. "And I can't feel anything above the usual shit..."

 

Saffron snorted softly, tipping his head back, his eyes closed. He reached back and rubbed the knot on the back of his head. "It was crouched in the corner...at least until you got here." He said simply before making attempt to get to his feet, though he clenched his jaw as he took a stumble. "The corner there, thats were it came from...hmm...wonder if there's a room beind there...will have to ask his lordship."

 

"Yeah .. when you ask him for a different room. You're not fucking stayng in here." Matt snapped as he walked to the corner. He reached out and lay his hand against the wall and tried to clear a way through the mess in his head to se if there was  anything strong enough to have attacked Saffron like that. For a breif moment he though he felt something, but the others were just too loud. He growled ion frustration and pushed away form the wall. "Fuck..."

 

"Oh if you think I'm going to be scared off out of this room just because it knocked me on my ass," Saffron said leaning back against the heavy table. "Better me in here then some one else this weekend." He added softly.  Hell, he'd put up with it, it would be any worse then the abuse in the past. God he must be a mascosit...he shook his head at that thought and sighed.

 

Matt turned a glare on him. "Are you fucking insane?! It attacked you! Killing six norms is one thing... but it attacked a fucking death elemental! And it fucking won! It had you down and mostly out of it... if I hadn';t come in..." Matt growled as he saw the stubborn look on Saffron's face. "Fuck it. You never gave a shit what I said anyhow... do what yoiu want. It's your ass."

 

Saffron snorted, looking away, before the hurt became evident again. "I'm a mascosit, what can I say." He replied wearily, voicing the thought. "Yeah, it killed six norms, another one in here would probably make seven...it can't kill me, it can just abuse me." He added with a shrug, closing his eyes a moment.  "and it hasn't won yet, it just caught me by surprise."

 

Matt just looked at him for a minute then snorted. "So instead of just teling the 'lord' to lock the fucking room up... you're going to stay here and let this thing kick your ass around..." he snorted again. "Fine. Have fun." he snapped and turned to leave, angry with himself for reacting to saffron being hurt the way he had.. and angry with himself for still caring..

 

Saffron sighed, "Yeah, I'm an idiot, we already know that, remember. So let me take the punishment and maybe we can figure this damned thing out. Besides...that's the wall between our rooms...you may want to be careful in there." He said softly, moving away from the table, and toward the bed.

 

Matt snorted. "Like you really give a shit about me." he muttered softly as he paused in the doorway. "Worry about your own ass. Like always." he added then went back to his own room. He HAD to get rid of this noise in his head... he couldn't do shit with it like this. If he hadn't got control of it by night he'd  consider just leaving... there was nothing he could do like this...

 

 Saffron stared after him, the stunned and hurt expression all to evident. He didn't know why that had stung...he'd thought that's what Matt thought anyway...maybe it was just having him say it. It was only fair that Matt should hate him, he was the one that left after all. Saffron drew in a slow deep breath and closed his eyes a moment, calming himself, not at all surprised when his door slammed shut rather hard. "Oh just give me a few hours befoer you start to try and kill me." He muttered, turning and going to the bed, and falling on it face first.

 

 

Saffron had at least managed to grab a short nap, before Mrs. Kitchen's arrived to tell him that Lord Ashtor wished to see them. Saffron thanked her wearily, while rubbing the back of his head, shut the door again and went to his bag, grabbing the small 'first aid' kit and taking something for the headache from the knock on the head before he sighed and left the room, and knocked on Matt's door.

 

"what?" Matt grumbled wearily, not bothering to move form where he lay, one arm over his eyes, the other tucked under the pillow. The pills had finally seemed to start working and the headache had eased off a bit... not much, but enough that it didn't feel like it was killing him any more. The knock sounded again and he sighed and sat up, wincing only slightly, and  wondering if he looked as miserable as he felt. "It's fucking open.. what do you want?" he called out again.

 

Saffron shook his head, before turning the knob and pushing the door open, stepping inside. He looked at Matt for a long moment, frowning slightly. "Lord Ashtor wishes to meet with us, shall I make your excuse?" He asked softly, turning his gaze around the room.

 

Matt snorted softly and glanced at him before grabbing the bottle of water and taking another pill, doctor be damned. "No... I'm here to do this fucking job.. might as well do it..." he muttered as he set the empty water bottle back on the table and stood with a sigh. He frowned slightly as a couple of the stronger spirits blinked in and out of the room, as if not sure what to make of the two of them. "nosey fucking spooks..." he muttered softly.

 

Saffron smirked wearily, though his gaze was on the corner, he was very tempted to go over, but it'd be rude to make the lord of the house wait. Course he doubted he'd have another excuse to be in Matt's room. But of course, curosity killed the cat. Saffron sighed, turning back to the door. "Well the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can leave."

 

"Yeah." Matt replied to that. "We'll go talk to the guy then start poking around... " he said and followed Saffron, trying not to remember the rush of emotions when he'd seen Saffron laying on the floor... That was over and done with...

 

Saffron led the way down the hall, and to the grandstair case, silently, following the directions Mrs. Kitchens had given him to the study. Knocking on the door, they were bid to enter and Saffron pushed the door open.

 

Lord Ashtor was a handsome middle aged man, he was just sitting a book on his desk and looked up as they entered. "Ah...welcome, welcome to Pembrooke. I must thank you, for taking the time to...investigate." He said good naturedly, though his gaze lingered on Saffron, befoer he offered his hand to both of them.

 

Saffron smiled wearily, and shook the man's hand. "Thank you, and as for taking the time, it's the least that can be done to stop this." He replied simply.

 

"Yeah. What he said." Matt added in a tired mumble as he shook the guys hand. "Just .. fill us in fast on whatever and we'llget to work."

 

"Well...I'm not sure where quiet to begin." Lord Ashtor said.

 

Saffron shook his head slightly. "Tell us about the history of the house. " Saffron said.

 

"Ah well." Lord Ashtor moved away from his desk. "Can I get you a drink?" He asked.

 

Saffron shook his head. "No, thank you."

 

Matt suddenly found himself aware of the way Ashtor kept stealing side glances at Saffron and his hands clenched at his sides. "No thanks." he answered. He had to remind himself that it wasn't his problem... Not his concern. "So... about the place.... I'm assuming there've been plenty of wars, tradgedy and murders and shit in the area... generally the way it is... Don't suppose you having anything that stands out form the normal load of ' interesting history'..?"

 

"Perhaps." Lord Ashtor said, pouring himself a drink before moving back to the desk. Saffron had moved to the window, looking out at the large and beautiful garden. "This castle was built in 1300, and sits on disputed borderlands between Scotland and England, as such, both fought over owner ship of it. The earliest owner was William Douglas, a fierce scots, but a just man. He wrested the owner ship from the Englishman, Sir Ralph de Neville in 1338. However, King David the 2nd, proclaimed a man by Rameny sheriff of the area. and Rameny was...jealous of Douglas. He had him imprission in the dugeon, on treason, where Douglas starved to death. But the most imfamous of owners, was a man by the name of Sir. William de Soulis. He was...a wicked man." Lord Ashtor  said. "Excuted in 1324 for treason and trying to assasinate Robert the Bruce, to proclaim himself as king of Scotland." He added.

 

Saffron snorted softly, turning to look at the man. "So he had...high ambitions?"

 

"To say the least." Lord Ashtor replied with a smile.

 

Matt just snorted. "No.. I asked if there was anything that stands out fomr the normal crap you here... Hate to tell you pal.. but most of these places have similar stories.. And their ghosts aren’t killing people.." he said.

 

Lord Ashtor looked toward Matt a moment. "Well...there is...something of a legend in these parts about de Soulis...it was said, he was a thorough and dedicated practiciner of the black arts. And that he stole children from the near by village, to use. That he did every unspeakable thing in the depths of dabauchery and depravited that can be done, with in these walls."

 

"Sounds a little more like it..." Saffron said softly, leaning against the window frame.

 

"This is just a legend, of course, there's been no proof and as everyone knows, he was excuted for treason." Lord Ashtor said with a shrug.

 

"Are there any...acknowledged ghosts here?" Saffron asked.

 

 "Several, actually." Lord Ashtor said, moving from where he was standing by his desk, toward the window as well.

 

"Oh .. let me.."Matt said with  abovious fake enthusiasm . "A lady in grey... looks sad. Likes to show herself on the front stair.. probably one of the bed rooms too. Tall ugly bastard  in the kitchen... Young boy... he's everywhere though... " Matt said ticking off his fingers. "Got names and modes of death for them.. or should i keep going?"

 

Lord Ashtor was looking at Matt with a surprised expression. Saffron on the other hand, sighed deeply and gave him a look, shaking his head.

 

"Is he right, Lord Ashtor?" Saffron asked, though he doubted Matt was wrong.

 

"Well, yes...aside from...them, there's Douglas' ghost, in the dugeon, a rather...malicious wraith in lady's drawing room, and also said by some of my serving staff to be in one of the bedrooms. And...according to...my staff, a creature of some kind...seen in various locations in the castle and on the grounds."

 

Matt snorted. "Why is there always a Lady in grey? Or white..? fucking spirits have no imgination..." he said than sighed. "Fine.. I'll check out the others you mentioned... haven't run into them yet. The others are easy enough to find..." he said then glanced at Saffron. "Any of them sound like your roomie?"

 

"The creature, perhaps." Saffron answered softly. "Do you have any more details about this...creature?" He asked the lord.

 

The man shook his head. "None. I myself have never seen it."

 

'And the staff that has?" Saffron asked.

 

Lord Ashtor looked a bit...uneasy to answer that. "Have either left, refusing to stay working here, or...gone quiet mad."

 

"Ah, the usual...Do you have a problem if we have a look around?" Saffron asked.

 

"No, of course not." Lord Ashtor said with a small smile, watching Saffron. "I would be more then happy to give you a tour of castle."

 

"Yeah .. you do that. " Matt said coldly. "But if you don't mind.. I'll pass. If I want out of this mess I have work to do." Matt said, pushign himself away form teh wall he'd been leaning against. "We done?"

 

Saffron rolled his eyes, "Thank you, Lord Ashtor, but I think I'd rather pass on a full tour. Oh, one more question. Is there a room, behind the one I'm staying in?" Saffron asked.

 

"You mean, THAT room? No, of course not." Lord Ashtor replied, seeming a bit put out about Saffron not taking him up on the tour.

 

Saffron was quiet a moment, before nodding, moving away from the window and toward the door. "Thank you, for your time, Lord Ashtor,"

 

 "Will you be joining us for dinner?" Lord Ashtor asked. Saffron snorted faintly.

 

"While I can't answer for my partner, I would like to hear more about the history of the castle." He replied.

 

Matt winced at the sting the word 'partner' evoked. "No thanks. 'Dinners' tend to be formal.. I don;t do formal. I'll deal with the dead, Saff here can handle those of you still breathing." he said icily.

 

Saffron bit his tongue, then gave Matt a shove out the door of the study, closing the door behind him, leaving the lord of the manor alone to blink confused. "You've reached a new level of being an asshole, you know that?" Saffron snapped softly, moving past him.

 

"Look who's talking." Matt said softly. "Besides.. figured you want me out the way so his lordship can flirt with you more easily." He wouldn't let himself look at the death elemetal as he walked stopping at a junction in the hall. "You go do whatever. I got ghosts to interogate..."

 

Saffron clenched a hand, before turning back to Matt, taking a step close and keeping his voice low, looking up at him, his eyes flashing. "For this weekend, keep our personal past out of this!" He hissed. "Is that so hard? It is to much to ask that you put tha tback for two days while we do this, then after this is over, you can go back to hating me." He felt the sudden rush of tears with the mixed emotions of having said it and turned away.

 

Matt spun on his heels, glaring donw at Saffron in a mixture of surprise, pain and anger.. mostly anger. "First off... I didn't mention our fucking 'personal past'. It's not like we even fucking had a chance at one, was it?" He hissed. "And secondly... I don't fucking hate you ... be easier if I did." he said, before turning back around and stalking off down the hall, not caring where he was going.

 

Saffron blinked, feeling the tears fall, gave an angished sound, clamped down on his emotions and spun, heading in the opposite direction. He followed the course of the hall, trying to keep his mind on the case. He found himself in the kitchen, where Mrs. Kitchens and the cook were working on perparing dinner.

**

Matt paced through the halls, not meeting anyone. Anyone alive, anyhow. Plenty of spirits. Most of them were barely more then thoughts without the energy to manifest to even him, let alone to anyone else. It took him a while before he'd managed to calm down enough to start dealing with them, and even then he kept flashing back to Saffron. Most of the spirita he spoke with knew nothing... they were trapped in their own memories and didn't even really know where they were... Only his power had them even noticing him. Most of the rest either avoided him or refused to answer.. disturbing in itself since he'd never known a spirit to be able to resist a necromancer. And the few answers he did get, didn't leave him feeling any better. He caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and turned to see the spirit of the young boy again breifly before it fled. "Great... now i have a fuckign shadow..." he muttered , continuing to walk.

 

A trip to the dungeons, curtesy of the local spooks, didn't offer any new insights. Merely more of the same, although Matt was left with the temptation to learn enough Scottish to translate a few of the curses Douglas had been shouting when not answering and avoiding questions. The boy hadn't followed him down to the dungeons, but he'd quickly picked him up again. "Fuck..." he muttered, growing increasingly uneasy about the way the ghosts here were behaving..

 

Matt finally gave up with asking questions. The spirits unusual ability to dodge his questions or avoid him completely was really starting to piss him off. They shouldn't be able to do that. He was tempted to actually force them to, despite the fact that he'd been taught not to do that. He sighed, rubbing his head again, the pressure and headache already beginning to return. He headed off to the kitchen to talk to someone about getting some bottled water to keep in his room.

 

Retrieving a bottle of water and Mrs. Kitchen's word that she bring more up with dinner, Matt headed back to his room,  trying to puzzle through what little he'd learned. He paused at the door to his room then headed to Saffron's instead. His knock received no answer no he let himself in. He looked around and was almost shocked at the fact that there was no spirits at all in here. Not even the slight wisps of memory that filled the rest of the place. He turned to look in the area Saffron had indictated before, but still couldn't sense any spirits what so ever. He scowled softly as he gave a snort , heading for his own room.

 

 

 

 

"Is there somethin' I can be helpin' you with, lad?" Mrs. Kitchen asked, wiping her hands on her apron.

 

"Not directly. Although...my...companion will not be attending dinner tonight, could you see that he got something to eat?" Saffron asked softly.

 

"O'course." Mrs. Kitchens said, nodding. "I'll take it up to his room meself."

 

"Thank you. Can I ask you some questions?" Saffron asked.

 

 Mrs. Kitchens peered at Saffron for a long moment, then nodded. "I suppose so."

 

Saffron glanced at the cook, but he was busy. Saffron lowered his voice. "I wanted to ask...about this...creature that the staff has seen."

 

Mrs. Kitchens crossed herself, muttering a prayer. "We don't talk 'bout that...to talk 'bout it, is to bring it forth..." She muttered.

 

"I really, would like to know, Mrs. Kitchens." Saffron pressed gently. But the woman shook her head, and turned to go back to work. "Is there any one around who will talk about it?" Saffron asked.

 

The woman snorted. "Nay...maybe one of the former workers in the village, but I doubt it." She added. Saffron sighed, turning to leave. "Lad, wait." Saffron stopped in the door way. Mrs. Kitchens came over, wiping her hands again. "If yer goin' to be staying in that room, take this, for your dear mother's sake." She said, taking his hand and putting a cruifix in it.

 

Saffron snorted, but took it anyway, not wanting to offend the old lady. He left the kitchen, looking at the cruifix and shaking his head. "My mother's already in hell, why should she care..." He muttered to himself, before heading for the stairs. He was going to take a look at the corner in Matt's room...

 

Pocketing the cruifix, Saffron headed for the servents stairs to follow the same path Mrs. Kitchens had led them, and headed up the stairs silently, leaving sounds of Mrs. Kitchen and the cook working in the kitchen. He headed along the hall, and around the corner to where the rooms where. Reaching Matt's room, he knocked, in case Matt was in there. When no answer came, Saffron opened the door and slipped in side.

 

Saffron stood for a moment, by the door, letting his gaze drift around the room a moment, before he started for the corner, letting his fingers run over bed. He glanced at Matt's bag a moment, befoe putting his attention back on the corner, and approached it slowly. Hesitating a moment, he reached out, his finger tips brushing the seam, then let his hand relax a bit, before placing his palm against the wall. He drew it back a second later with a hiss, from the frozen electric shock and glared at the wall.

 

"Having fun?" Matt asked softly form the doorway as he saw Saffron, not bothering to hide the weariness in his voice. "It's not a ghost." he said simply as he walked over and set the bottle down beside the empty one. "Whatever it is has the spooks to scared to talk about it... but there's no sign of spirit activity in your room... no sign of there being any for a while..."

 

Saffron started at Matt's voice, his focus had been on the corner. He looked over his shoulder at him, while massage his hand, trying to get the numbness to go away. "No one will talk about this so called creature. They fear if they talk about it, it'll bring it out." He said softly, moving away from the wall. "Mrs. Kitchens said one of the former employees in the village might, but doubtful."

 

"Same kinda deal with the ghosts... Those brave enough to say anything, keep whining and moaning about 'IT'.. with the occasional refrence to 'HIM' ... I can't get anymore out of them without forcing the issue. The fact that they can refuse to answer at all tells me they're scraed shitles of this thing.. And there's not much out there that can scare a ghost..." Mat said, trying to push aside his feelings for the moment. He moved to sit on the side of the bed, his back to Saffron as he undid his boots. "As a matter of fact.. can only think of two..."

 

"And that would be?" Saffron asked softly, watching Matt. His hand still felt cold, but feeling was slowly returning to it, and he started moving toward the door.

 

Mat snorted as he droped the boot on the floor and started on the other one. "Demons and necromancers." he answered simply. "Get a new room, Saffron."

 

Saffron snorted softly, stopping at the foot of the bed. "I like a challenge, remember..." He said softly, wearily. "If it's a demon, then it can't kill me." He added, at least he hoped that was the case. "I still think there's another room, behind these two, and I might ask his lordship if there's any records of the castle, maybe even plans."

 

"There's a room. They  just won;t go into detail... but they admitted there was a room." Matt said, ignoring Saffron's presence and laying back donw, his hands tucked beneath his head. "Won't say how to get in either... but I'll keep asking. They won;t come in here.. or into your room..." he closed his eyes, trying to ignore how close Safron was to the bed.

 

Saffron watched him, a hand on the footboard a moment, biting back the hurt. "If they keep refusing, I'll just find something to knock a hole in the wall." He said softly. Falling silent a moment, looking back at the corner, he added. "I asked Mrs. Kitchens to make sure you got dinner up here."

 

"Yeah I know... thanks. And I seriously doubt Ashtor would like you poking holes into his house. Although you can ask him at dinner if he knows how to get in... seriously doubt he does though.. probably doesn't even know its there." He sighed, softly, rubbing his forehead. "Get a different room, Saff... don;t stay in there."

 

Saffron sighed, and glanced at him again, he had the feeling Matt was probably right and he should get another room..."I'm sorry you got dragged into this." He said finally, turning for the door. "I didn't have any idea she'd partnered us on this." He added.

 

"I know. " Matt said simply. "We're both just doing our jobs... shit happens." He had to bite back the urge to ask him why he'd done it. Instead he drew a breath and pushed past it. "Enjoy dinner."

 

Saffron stopped at the door, his hand on the knob, and looked back at him, looking at him a long moment, biting his lip, befoer he said softly. "Be careful up here, and I do mean that." He said softly, before opening the door and leaving.

 

"I'm already dead... and  you've put me in hell.. what the fuck's it going to do to me thats worse then this..?" he asked the empty room softly. He debated calling Kay and telling her about Saffron;s putting himself in danger... the kid would never forgive him for it if Kay pulled him off the case... or told his father.. Then again, it wasn't like it would make any difference between them, would it? And Saffron would be away from Ashtor and the thing next door...  Matt gave a groan and rolled over. "fuck...I'm jealous..... I can't believe you're actually jealous, you stupid fucking ass...." he muttered to himself.

        

 

 

Saffron returned to his own room, his mood a confused mess of emotions centering around Matt and he was doing his best to force his thoughts away from that and focus on what needed to be done. He took the cruifix out of his pocket and sat it on the bed side table, turning to retrieve his bag. Dropping it on the bed, he sat down next to it, trying to decide about dinner. It took him a moment, to notice the coldness in the room, his eyes went imediatly to the corner, but there was nothing there. Then he heard a soft whimpering from near the fire place, and turned on the bed to look in that direction. He saw a small form crouched near the coal basket against the wall, but when he got off the bed, the form was gone.

 

Matt gradually became aware of a prescence trying to get his attention. Oddly enough he felt two seperate pulls... one towards the hall and one towards Saffron;s room. He sighed heavily and sat up debating on whether or not check them out. No sooner than he'd thought that, than the pull form Saffron;s room vanished, leaving only the one. He narrowed his eyes at the door but made no move towards it. It took him a moment, but he identified it as the boy... his shadow. A moment later and that pull was gone as well. With a snort he looked around the room, wondering what to do. He didn;t want to be around Ashtor while he flirted his way through dinner with Saffron, that was for sure.. but he really didn't feel up to any more chats with the local spooks either. His eyes fell on the corner that Saffron had seemed so fascinated with. Before he even consciously made the decision , he was heading to the fireplace, wondering if he'd been right in not telling SAffron how to open the door to the room...

 

Saffron stood by the bed, staring at the place for a moment, before looking around the room again, the chill was still there, and the room seemed dimmer, than it should. Turning to look toward the corner again, he started in it's direction, the coldness in the room grew, and a feeling of maliciousness came again. Saffron narrowed his eyes, if there was a room back there, and he believed Matt if the spirits said there was, he was going to find a way in. But a couple steps from the corner and he was shoved backward hard. Saffron growled, catching his balance. "What are you hiding in there?" He sneered. His only answer was a diabolical laugh.

 

Matt knelt by the fireplace and reached inside, his fingers slipping over the stone until he found the hidden catch. A moment later there was a thud from the wall, followed by a grinding noise that quickly stopped as the corner split, revealing patch of black. He stodd, brushing his hands off on his jeans as he went and retrieved his holster, then pulled the machete fomr its sheath as well. He doubted there'd be anything in there that could be harmed by a bullet, but it made him feela bit better. He told himself he was right in not teling SAffron.. the kid had already become a target for whatever this thing was...

 

The laughing suddenly stopped and Saffron felt the cold receeding. He frowned and started to approach the wall again. "No don't!" A small voice came from near the fire place again. Saffron turned. This time, the small form was more visable, a young boy with dark hair. Saffron stayed where he was, but turned. "Why?" He asked the boy. The boy looked around fearfully. "He wont like it..."

 

Matt appraoched the the newly formed door, wishing he had a flash light... even fae eyes needed some light to work with. He  stopped a few feet form the enterance and frowned at the sudden chill that surrounded him. There were no spirits in the room with him; he'd be able to sense them even if they were hiding.... He reached into the hidden room with his othersense, searching for the source of the cold as he walked closer. His foot had barely crossed the threshold when he was suddenly hit by powerful blast of energy that knocked him clear across the room. He slammed into the far wall with enough force to sent a large portrait crashing to the floor, knocking him out. Even before he hit the wall, the secret door was already sealing back up again.

 

 

Saffron had started to ask the boy who he meant, but a series of crashes from the room next door had Saffron heading for his door, when he glanced back toward the fire place, the boy was gone. With a swear, Saffron was out of his room and through the door to Matt's room with out a thought, though he paused at the scene, before heading over, moving the portrait in it's heavy frame aside and kneeling. He frowned, hesitated a moment, before reaching down, lifting Matt's head and the hair back with his other hand. "Matt?"

 

Matt was vaguely aware of someone calling his name. He kept hearing a boys voice whsipering something... it was important, whatever it was.. something about .. 'stop him'...He heard his name being called again and focused on teh voice until things began to get clear again. "Saff?" he asked, confused as to where he was for the moment, Why was he laying on the floor? Trying to sit up set off a series of fierce aches and he suddenly remembered being hit. "Fuck... bastard. "

 

Saffron snorted softly, "Well if you'd rather lay on the floor, I can leave you here." He replied simply, biting back the smirk, but he helped him sat up against the wall, and moved to prop the portriat against the wall. "Do I ask, how you ended up on the floor in the first place?" He asked.

 

Matt looked across the room at the wall where the door had opened, shocked and unnerved by the fact that a spirit had managed to hide his prescence fomr himuntil the last moment... and had the strength to throw him across the room... "The bastard hit me..." he muttered softly, one hand going to the back of his head. He had the feeling if he had of been completely human, hiting that wall would've broken quite a bit of him.. ir not killed him. As it was he was going to be rather sore and stiff for a while until he healed fully. Although Saffrons prescence alwasy helped with that....

 

Saffron paused in propping up the portrait and looked at Matt, then in the direction Matt was looking. "And what were you doing to cause him to hit you?" He asked wearily.

 

Matt snorted softly as he gingerly climbed to his feet. "Pissing him off, obviously. Bastard was hiding form me... How the fuck did a ghost get strong enough to not only hide fomr a necro.. but to knock one across the room?" he asked, mostly to himself.

 

Saffron sighed. "Well that explains why he stopped laughing after he shoved me, and why the boy said he wouldn't like it..." He said softly. "I guess he's not the regular kind of ghost..." he added with a shrug. He bit his lip a moment, before asking softly, looking back at Matt. "Are you alright?"

 

"No." he answered softly. "I'm not alright." He did a few tentative stretches and twists, trying to guage his injuries. Aside from a possible cracked rib, everything else seemed to be bruises.. amazingly enough. "I haven't been alright for five months... " he added softly as he headed resolutely back to the corner.

 

Saffron sighed deeply, watching him. "What do you want from me, Matt? An apology? I'm sorry, more sorry then you realize. But it's a bit late for that, isn't it?" He replied softly.

 

Matt sighed and closed his eyes. "Is it? How about telling me why?" he asked softly. "Did you care at all, Saff? I could've taken being just a one night stand... it was the fact that... I thought you felt the way I did... " he finally added softly. "I let you close, damn it. I let you in.... No one gets in..." he muttered softly.

 

Saffron raised a hand, rubbing his eyes, he was aware of the tears. "Why did I leave? Because..." He said softly. "Because...I was afraid." Saffron added softly. "I was a stupid fool, I know that." He said, moving toward the door. "But nothing I said that night was a lie!"

 

 

 

 

Matt snapped aorund at that, wincing and cursing softly at the pain the sudden move caused. "Fuck..Saff.. don;t go.. wait.." he called out as he leaned against  the wall and tried to catch his breath. "I am so going to get that bastard..." he muttered softly about the mysterious ghost. He drew a few tentative breaths and slowly straightened up, heading for SAffron. "If you meant it... Alright.. I can understand running because you were scared.. but... Damn ... five months and not so much as a phone message or a note?!"

 

Saffron stopped near the door, looking back at him. "Exactly how does one go about such a message, sorry about running out on you, lets do lunch. Doesn't quiet work, does it." He replied with weary cynism. "Besdies, I figured you hated me."

 

"I was hurt, Saff. I still am." Matt said softly as he crossed the room to stand in fornt of him, blocking the doorway. "And how about a simple' I'm sorry... I'm just not ready...' ? Would've at least let me know ..." Matt sighed and tentatively reached out a hand to brush his thumb over SAffron's cheek. "You were the only person I ever showed the real me too.. well.. aside form Marilee but she doesn't count.. she was a pain in the ass..." he said with a smirk.

 

"The words I'm sorry don't cut it, they don't make up for the damage already done." Saffron answered softly. "Besides, would you haven stopped to listen if I had called?" He asked, looking up at him.

 

"If you hadn't waited all this time? Yeah... " he said softly, his stepped closer,. one hand going to SAffron waist while the other continued to caress his cheek." Babe... waking up to find you gone...At first I was afraid I'd fucked up... that I'd done something to make you run... I didn't start getting pissed off until a week had passed and you hadn't returned any of my calls..."

 

Saffron sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. The feel of Matt's touch brought the emotions from that morning back so vividely. "I wasn't taking any calls. I was hiding." Saffron answered. "In fact I went back to Ireland for two weeks just to get away from everyone."

 

Matt closed his eyes, enjoying the moment of being this close andnot being angry. "You never have to hide fomr me..." he said softly. "Do you still feel the same, Saff? I can get over the hurt ...if you want to try again...." And he snorted softly. "And you have no fucking clue what its costing me to say that...."

 

Saffron opened his eyes, looking at him a moment. "Besides the fact that it may be the only way we can get through this weekend...Yes I still feel the same...you can ask any one I've been misrable since I made the mistake. Even if you didn't hate me, I certainly hated myself."

 

Matt caught SAfron's face in both hands tenderly, "forget the weekend.... I was being an ass because I thought you didn't give a shit... I felt betrayed, Saff.. I opened up to you and .. wel. fuck.. you broke my heart vanishing without a word..." he said softly. "but... now that I know it wasn't ... That you DO feel the same and you were just scared... I can deal.. you don't have to feel pressured just to get through the weekend...." he said simply.

 

"I'm not feeling pressured just because of this weekend, but you not being an ass will certainly make things easier." Saffron replied with a faint smirk. He sighed. "I tried, several times to call you over the months, I don't know why I stopped, other then still being afraid..." He snorted softly.

 

"Everyone's afraid of me, SAff.... but you're the only one I don;t WANt to be afriad...." he said softly. "I won't lie to you, babe. It still fucking hurts that you took off without any word... Hell, you could've at least let me know you were alright! I had fucking nightmares about you being kidnapped, for fucks sake..." he sighed and slipped his hands around SAffrons waist, pulling hims closer he rested his forehead against his. "I'm stull hurt.. and a part of me is still angry.. and it'll take a while for me to get over it... but I still love you, SAff... I still want you." he added softly.

 

Saffron sighed, resting a hand on Matt's chest, as if to keep him from pulling him any closer. "That's what I was afraid of..." He said softly, before pulling back from Matt. He reached up around his neck, starting to undo the clasp of the chain he was wearing. "When I was in Ireland, I stayed in the house I was born in...and I wasn't alone...my mother, subsequently, haunts the place, and meeting her, turned everything upside down for me." Saffron said softly, pulling the crystal pendent out and away, the glamour dropping.

 

Matt stood in shock for a moment, then found himself smirking softly. "Fuck..." he said, his eyes beginning to sparkle. "I was never into guys you know.... You were the only one I ever... And it took me alot to admit it.. to myself and you.." he said, letting his gaze roam slowly over Saffron. "You look even more incredible than you did before...." he said softly. "I'm guessing this was part of the reason you stayed away for so long?"

 

Saffron nodded. "Of course it was one of the reasons I stayed away. Befoer I went back to the states, I got the pendent, from a fae friend...then I avoided the likes of any one who might be able to see past the glamour..." She said softly. "I wasn't quiet ready for it..."

 

"Stop running, babe." he said softly, one hand moving back up to tip her face back up again. "Stop hiding." he smirked softly. "You going to deck me if I kiss you? "

 

Saffron snorted softly, looking up at him. "I don't know, I think you got knocked around enough earlier..." She replied with a slight smirk.

 

Matt smiled softly, still hesitating. "If you agree to a second chance, Saf.... you can't do this again. If you want out or need space.. fine.. But you have to find a way to tell me. If you vanish again... I can't take that.... I just cna't." he said softly. "Promise me you won;t leave without finding away to let me know..."

 

Saffron sighed, hesitated a moment, before raising a hand to touch his face. "I'd be an even bigger fool, to run a second time." She said softly. "You're the only man I've ever felt safe with...to run from that..." she trailed off, shaking her head slightly.

 

Matt felt a huge weight lift off his chest as he bent to kiss her softly, his eyes watering despite his best efforts to stop them. Not daring to let it go farther then a short soft kiss, he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair.

 

Saffron sighed softly, letting him hold her, knowing she'd missed this bitterly. She was still holding the pendent in one hand, she'ld put it back on later. "You still didn't tell me what you were doing to end up knocked on the floor." She said after a moment.

 

Matt sighed heavily, and tightened his arms around her a bit more. He hadn't wanted to answer that question before.. and now that was even stronger. He didn't want to put SAffron at any further risk than neccasary... "Told you.." he muttered softly into her neck. "I pissed him off. "

 

Saffron drew back slightly, looking at him with a narrowed gaze. "While granted, you can be the biggest asshole around, it general takes something to piss a ghost off." She said. "If yuo were poking around the corner, then fine...I was doing the same and got a good shove and laughed at for my effort. And there was a young boy in my room, as well."

 

Matt looked up at that. "What? But... the others wouldn't go into these two rooms... I checked... Most of them won;t even come into the hall !" he said, his eyes losing focus for a moment as he thought. "checked... there were no recent residuals in your room... If the boys there then either he braved whatever this is just to get to you .. or he;s trapped and you somehow let him come through..."

 

"I don't know, he was hiding crouched by the fire place. When I got knocked back from the corner and approached again, he told me not to. That HE wouldn't like it...I didn't get a chance to ask who he meant, because I heard the crash in here. When I looked back, he was gone...But he was awfully solid looking when he spoke...about 12 I should say, with dark hair and dark eyes."

 

"Same kid thats been following me... when I was half out of it there... I thought I heard him..." he said softly, still in thought. "Alright... I'm willing to bet the thing that attacked you was demonic...That fits with me not sensing any sign of it when I was there, and with the sightings... But the one that got me... that was a ghost.. and afucking strong one too. I have never even heard of a ghost that could not only hide form a necro.. but attack one..."

 

"So then...the room behind these two, something had be in there...I think I need to press Lord Ashtor a little harder over that legend...I think the answer lies there." Saffron said softly. "It doesn't want me near that corner, and when I asked what it was hiding, it laughed." She paused at that moment, hearing something being moved in the other room, scrapped along the floor.

 

Matt sighed. "You're not going to back off of that room, are you?" he asked softly. "No even if I ask...?"

 

Saffron sighed, looking toward the wall. "I've never backed down from things like this...I'll make you a deal...if I'm physically attacked by the thing again, then I'll give up the room." She said, looking back at hi, although there was a sound like a single hammer blow. "Now what?" She moved from Matt, toward the door, curious to know what was going on in there.

 

Matt sighed. "Fine... But this thing is tough enough to take me down.. and I'm still hurting.. although that kiss did help." he said with a weary smirk. "Call your swords and do any protective shit you know...." he said as he went to the fireplace.