#eyeliner-vampire

[ghosthunthq]

Prompt: Naru lives in Gene’s shadow even after he’s gone.

Ghost Hunt fan animation by Eyeliner_Vampire

[radiowrites]

Tick tack please! I absolutely need to know.

From the WIP Tag Game

Ah ha! You have found one of the strange little Ghost Hunt scenes. It’s actually 500 words and I think it was a good start. I just…don’t know where I was going with it so it’s just sitting there. It might find a home eventually. It was inspired by the UKISS Japanese song, Tick Tack.

Here’s a piece:

Tick.

Tack.

Tick.

Tack.

The sound of a gong shook Mai out of the reverie she had drifted into. It took her a moment to realize it had not been an actual gong, just the clock striking the hour. It was the same clock that’s ticking had lured her into the dreamy state to begin with.

“I’m sorry,” Mai said to Naru. He didn’t turn his head from the screens in front of him. He just looked sideways at her, a slight question in his eyes.

He hadn’t even noticed that she had been nodding off. Somehow, she found that worse than him reprimanding her.

Thanks for the ask!

[ghosthunthq]

By @eyeliner-vampire

Prompt:  Hanahaki Disease

[ghosthunthq]

The Difference of a Minute

from: @rmnitb 

for: @eyeliner-vampire 

I went with Luella’s perspective! I thought it would be fun to look through her eyes for once. Fair warning: the main theme of this piece is astrology, and if your not familiar with that, I’ve included a short explanation below. (Also, I was inspired by the fact that my twin brothers are Virgos. And do you know who else are Virgos??) 

sun sign: generally represents an individual’s basic nature and their constant personality traits 

moon sign: describes an individual’s inner self; rules over one’s emotional and more intimate side 

rising/ascendant sign: the outer self; the mask one shows to other people 

 If you would like to know more, I suggest going to cafe-astrology! And if your curious about your own signs, you can also calculate your signs there~ 

 Hope you enjoy~ 

 -:-

 [The Difference of a Minute] 

I. Moon Signs 

It was a little known fact that Luella was interested in astrology. And by interested, she actually means she’s obsessed with it.  

It all started in college, and as an arts major, it was inevitable that she would be exposed to ideologies previously out of her reach as a child coddled by the vast reach of the sciences. Astrology was one field that she was raised to scoff at, as the metaphysical was not enough grounds to build evidence upon. Another notion she was discouraged to pursue was parapsychology, since ghosts and other paranormal and supernatural phenomena simply could not be real. (Religion is still a relevant path for her to study however, she was told.)  

It goes to say, then, that she first fell in love because of the fact that he would be pursuing parapsychology for his graduate studies. What a lunatic, her first thought was after he introduced himself in a party they both attended during their final undergraduate year. Thus, she was set on marrying the man. It was a horrible decision, economically speaking. But Luella would be glad to support him and their soon-to-be family if it meant the rest of her life would at the very least be interesting. 

She continued to be an active enthusiast, and while she once contemplated to pursue a career as a full-time astrologist, she decided after marrying a parapsychologist that a 9-5 job would be more lucrative. 

She was a Capricorn sun, Virgo moon, Capricorn rising. A workaholic, in other words, but at least she’s self aware. Martin’s an Aquarius sun, Pisces moon, Aries rising. Nothing to say other than he was a mess of a man, but at least he’s affectionate.  

What puts her on a loop was how Noll and Gene had completely different natal charts despite being born just a minute apart. It’s entirely accurate to say that only thing they shared in common were their faces, and from her first interaction with them, she had a clear premonition. They would be entirely  worse once they become teenagers. And yet, she knew she’d love them still. 

“Hello there, my name is Luella,” she said in a hushed voice, as if she was scared that the orphanage’s walls would crumble at a pitch higher than a whisper. “I’m your new mum. I hope we can get along well.” 

Gene ran into her arms and embraced her with as much strength as he could. “Will you really?” 

“Yes, of course.” Of course. A Leo moon. 

And Noll, the Aquarius, snatched Gene’s arms and dragged him away. To the other room, without a word said. 

-:-

[ghosthunthq]

Technical Difficulty, a short story

He’d done it. Noll finally convinced Martin to give him his first solo case – but there is still one valuable lesson he has yet to learn. (mild language)

For @atalieaoi​

From @eyeliner-vampire​

Hello! I couldn’t decide which genre I should write for you, so I did them all. I hope you enjoy my attempt to write fluff, family, angst, hurt/comfort, supernatural/mystery, and horror all in one short story. ENJOY!

Technical Difficulty, a short story

Call me if you need help.

Martin’s words filtered back to Noll’s brain. At the time they had felt like a safe haven, a back-up plan, but now it sounded like a taunt. Noll shook his head. He stuck by his decision. There was no need for a whole crew of people to take on such a simple case, they would just get in the way. All Noll need was Gene. Gene who was nowhere to be seen, Gene who had left Noll to setup the control room alone.

Noll sat on the pocked wooden floor, picking at the nest of tangled wires. The rest of the room was filled with boxes of equipment; cameras, microphones, EMF readers, everything an investigator would need – if only he could get the damn wires.

He yanked the AV cable he’d spent the last some-odd minutes detangling, and it came free. Finally. He rose to his feet, a slow process given his legs had fallen asleep. Every movement was pins and needles as he coaxed his legs to move.

Braving a few steps to the pile of sleek black cases, he pulled a camera free from its padding — and swore. On closer inspection, it wasn’t the AV cable at all, but a microphone adapter just pretending.

“Gene!” Noll snarled because he needed something to yell at, “Where are—"

“Tea?”

Noll spun on his heel. Gene was making his way around the metal skeleton that should have been shelving, balancing two steaming cups.

Noll wagged the cable at him, accusingly. “Where have you been?”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” Gene said setting one cup precariously on a stack of boxes. “I thought you might want…”

The floor creaked. Both boys glanced sideways at the door. The sound had come from somewhere outside the room, but they were supposed alone in the manor.

“Did you hear—” He didn’t get to finished as the sound of wood slamming deafened him. Creaking wood, metal clanging, the manor felt as if it were trembling beneath them.

It was early for activity to be starting, but neither of them waited. Noll bolted for the kitchen and Gene for the foyer.

In the kitchen, cabinets were slamming open and shut of their own accord. Drawers were pulled from their places, silverware scattered over the floor. As Noll watched, the long wooden table trembled and shifted sideways as if pushed. Across the manor, the foyer was a cacophony of sound. It was a jarring mix of stomping and screeching, an argument in full force. Gene struggled to pick out individual words or meaning, and then it was over.

The cabinets stilled, the blinds rocked back and forth but they no longer flipped around as if controlled by some unseen force. In the foyer, the thundering of footsteps fell away.

“That was… unsettling.” Noll hummed to himself. What kind of spirit could do something like this? It was unlike anything Noll had seen on other cases. He ran a hand over one of the marble smooth counters. Images sprang to mind; a woman baking, a boy sitting, legs swinging, up on the counter. Noll dismissed them.

They met back in the hall where Gene described what he’d heard.

“It was like screaming, but more intelligible?” He questioned himself. “Definitely an argument.”

Not only was the activity strong, but it was in two places simultaneously? Noll motioned to the base. “We need to get the cameras up.”

And so they did. Together they set up two cameras, one in the foyer and one in the kitchen, and finally managed to untangle the cables. By the time they were finished it was nightfall.

“I don’t think that’s a job for two people,” Gene complained, fanning his sweaty face.

Noll didn’t answer. He was listening for any creaking or clanging or anything out of place, but the manor was quiet. And it remained quiet well into the night. It was as if they both imagined the chaos of only a few hours ago. In fact, if the silverware weren’t still scattered all over the kitchen floor, Noll would have seriously questioned himself.

Sometime in the early morning, when the sky was a pleasant pink color, Gene suggested one of them should sleep.

“You go,” Noll said. His eyes were beginning to hurt from looking at the screens all night, but he wasn’t quite ready to sleep yet.

“I slept on the ride out here,” Gene insisted, “you look like you’re about to pass out anyway and I’d rather you not anything knock over.”

In the end, Noll couldn’t refuse, especially once he started yawning. He draped himself over the love seat that was stuck in the back of the room with only his jacket for a blanket.

He had only just managed to fall asleep when Gene called his name.

“Noll? I think there’s something wrong with the cameras.”

Noll groaned. He rolled off the couch with as much elegance as a newborn deer and squinted at the screens. There was no reason to, there was nothing on them. He starred down at a completely black screen for a full minute before he said, “Did the power go out?”

“The lights are still on,”

Noll rubbed his eyes. “Is the night vision on?”

“They’re night vision cameras, Noll.”

Noll waved a hand. He wouldn’t have put it past his brother to forget. “Have you checked the battery?”

Gene snapped his fingers and bolted from the room. Noll padded after him, stumbling into the kitchen as Gene flicked on the light. Blinded, Noll could only listen to the click of plastic as Gene tried the camera’s power button.

“The battery’s dead.”

“You’re welcome,” Noll yawned. At least it wasn’t something worse.

“Were did you put the spares?”

“In the duffel…bag…” Noll closed his eyes, coaxing the answer from his tired mind. He could see the battery packs, sitting by the door of his office in a blue duffel bag. Forgotten. Damn it.

Call me if you need me. Noll pushed the words out of his mind so violently, his head ached.

Gene said, “We don’t have them, do we?”

Neither of the boys needed to point out that, without them, they had no case. They might just as well have been two teenagers sleeping overnight in a haunted manor. But Noll would be damned if he stopped here.

He turned and started down the hall. “We don’t need them,” he said, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure if he was talking about the batteries, or Martin.

.

.

Gene wasn’t an exorcist. He wasn’t any kind of religious figurehead with some uncanny ability to banish ghosts. He didn’t dress up, didn’t pray to the other side, and he certainly didn’t have a crystal ball, but he was still a medium, and sometimes that was all that was needed. Other times, it was all they had. This was one of those times.

Without any cameras, they had no means of continuing the investigation, but there was something they could do. Researching the spirits in a location and gathering evidence was only one of an investigator’s tasks. The other was making sure the residence was safe, which often meant getting rid of the spirit.

Gene stood in the center of the foyer, hands in his pockets and eyes closed. Noll stood by the front door, arms crossed, watching his brother carefully. They had already tried the kitchen to no avail. If they didn’t get anything now, Noll didn’t know what to do.

Gene sighed and shook his head. “I don’t hear anything. I don’t see anything.”

“I thought you were a medium.”

“And I thought you were an asshole.” Gene said, but his voice was different, deeper and heavily accented. He shrugged. “Guess we’re both right.”

Noll leaned forward. “Gene?”

Gene didn’t respond. Eyes still closed, he swayed dangerously. Then, voice normal again, he said, “You are no longer of this plane, spirit. Please cross over.”

A moment of silence passed, and Noll thought that was it. The spirit was gone. The morning sun shone golden through the windows, bright and light and it must have been over. Boy, was he wrong.

Noll’s knees buckled under him as the floor trembled. The air whipped and whistled around them, screeching higher and higher until they formed words Noll couldn’t understand. Gene clamped his hands over his ears, the floor rippling around him. What felt like hours but must have been only seconds later, it all stopped. Noll was bleeding from the elbow, having scrapped it across the floor when he fell. Gene was wide eyed and shaking.

“What the hell was that?” Noll whispered, afraid if he spoke any louder, the screaming would return.

Gene shook his head.

.

.

“What are we gonna do?”

Noll sighed. Back at base, he had managed to get the bleeding to stop, but his head still throbbed, and Gene was still pale. Rubbing his forehead with one hand, he dug in his pocket with the other. “We could call Martin… Lin probably has a hirogata somewhere. It would be the easiest way to…” he drifted off.

Call me if you need me, that’s what Martin had said. But what did that mean? Did he expect Noll to call him, or was it a test to see if they could make it on their own?

Gene leaned his elbows on his knees, weary. “We could…”

Noll flipped his phone open. “We should.”

“We should?” Gene mimicked. “Are you sure? You’re not giving up yet, are you?”

“I’m not giving up,” Noll was already dialing the familiar number. “But we can’t do this by ourselves.”

It wasn’t a test, meant to trick them. They were words of advice from an expert in the field and Noll realized that now. And he was going to take them.

The phone rang twice before the line connected in a burst of static.

“Martin?” Noll paused, waited for the static to clear. “We need help.”

“Oh?” On the other side, Martin chuckled, “Well it’s about time.”

[ghosthunthq]

Fanfiction comic in appreciation of After the World Stopped Turning by sometime north of reality

With a prose that boarders on lyrical, the author takes the reader through a journey of loss and realization, heartbreak and loneliness as they describe the shattered world of Oliver Davis. Filled with emotion and a deft sense of character and atmosphere, this read will leave you wishing for more. Inspiration taken from Section 1 / Chapter 6: ‘Behind This Wall of Ice’

Art and review by GHHQ member @eyeliner-vampire

[ghosthunthq]

Fanfiction comic in appreciation of Wishing Well by Raised on Radio / @roseandradio

This collection of one-shots explores the personalities of Ghost Hunt beyond the manga or the novels. Using a series of prompts, a deft understanding of scene and tone, the author builds a brand-new understanding of our beloved characters. Inspiration taken from Chapter 30, “Only The Good Die Young”

Art and review by GHHQ member @eyeliner-vampire

[eyeliner-vampire]

Deadmen Tell No Tales; a GH birthday fic

Though there have been lots of ups and downs, Deadmen Tell No Tales is finally complete just in time for the Davis Twins Birthday celebration -- as promised! 

Summary;  Just when Noll thought it was over, he finds himself face-to-face with the one person he thought he'd never find. The worst part is, she thinks he's the ghost of the boy she killed, out for revenge. She's hell bent on taking her mistake with her to the grave, but will he be able to escape or is he about to learn what it means to be dead? Our story begins and ends with Oliver Davis.

Five chapters. 

Five stages of death. 

Read it here; ff.net / Ao3 

Snippet below the line~

.

.

Do not go gentle into that good night, -Dylan Thomas

.

.

CHAPTER 1: Denial

Part I

Oliver Davis.

It was weird how his own name sounded so foreign to his ears; how the more time he spent as Kazuya Shibuya, the more he forgot what it had been like before. There was a part of him took comfort in this new identity. This new life.

He hated that part.

"Oliver Davis-hakase." Takigawa-san said again, as if Noll's thoughts had an echo.

There was a pause in which six pairs of eyes focused on Noll, all in various states of incredulity. Noll looked away from them all, glaring down at the only person in the room who wasn't watching him as if he'd grown another head. Hara-san's slate grey eyes were turned resolutely to the floor at his feet; the only one of the Irregular's who had known who he was. Why he was here.

"Naru…" Mai fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. He couldn't help meeting her wide, brown eyes. "Is that true?"

Anger shook his fists. If he hadn't already hidden them in a tight fashion across his chest, they would have ruined his carefully constructed mask. He took a breath. Somehow, they had effortlessly unraveled all his secrets right under his nose. So effortlessly, in fact, that if he hadn't already been so furious at his own carelessness, the stormy teen might have been impressed.

"Well?"

"I don't feel the need to answer you," he said, hoping no one else noticed the slight tremble in his voice. Disgusted with his own foolhardiness, he turned toward the door. "Are the 15 minutes over?"

His words must have shocked them into stillness because no one moved to stop him. He escaped into the stuffy heat of the summer day, ignoring the worrying rattle of the cabin door as it slammed shut behind him. Finally free from prying eyes, he let his guard slip. His fingernails were beginning to bite into his palms, threatening injury. He forced him open.

Who were they to corner him into such a position? he asked himself. Who did they think they were to take all his secrets and throw them back in his face?

Friends, his mind supplied. Noll rolled his eyes skyward, pushing the thought away with a growl.

He strode further from the cabin, hands curling to fists in barely contained anger, not caring that his Chinese chaperone was not right behind him. In fact, he didn't think he could stomach it if it did. These past two years, Lin had barely allowed him a mere second to himself — it was almost a relief to be alone.

No Lin hovering over his shoulder; a constant reminder of how fragile he was. How useless. With a sudden pang, Noll set off at a brisk pace. He just needed to put as much distance as he could between them as he could. He needed space to think.

He found himself back at the door of his cabin in a few short minutes. He fumbled in his pocket for the key.

The campground was obviously outdated; the floorboards creaked, the paint was bleached from years under the blazing sun, and the locks stuck. Fighting with the old lock, it took two tried before the key slid in and another three before it would turn. Just when he was starting to consider kicking the damn thing open as a completely viable option, the lock finally clicked and the door gave way.

The cool air of the cabin's surprisingly functional A/C greeted him. It blew back his bangs and chilled the sweat gathering on his nape.

He pocketed the key again, ignoring the small western couch pushed flush against the back wall, and collapsed onto the tatami with a grunt. The second he hit the floor, exhaustion seemed to settle into every muscle. With a sigh, he crossed his arms behind his head, allowing his unfocused eyes to fall shut but not expecting to sleep.

The act of sleeping had proven to be more and more difficult over the past two years. He'd spent more nights staring blankly up at the ceiling then he could remember. And even when he'd managed to fall asleep, his dreams were plagued by screeching tires, shattering glass, and green, murky water.