Crimson Shadows - 6. Chapter 6

*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’ll be fine. Edward is here, I have you on speed dial and Maria is due in, in a few hours. Apparently, Marana, the clumsy one, twisted her ankle and had to head to the doctors,” Markus soothed, smiling at his lover as he stroked a hand over the others arm. Smiling in return, Lien nodded and tugged the red head close, arms wrapping around his waist. Edward rolled his eyes from the door way of the study, nearly sneering before disappearing back into the study area.

“Alright, I’ll trust you this one time,” Lien teased, stroking his hands over his lovers back slowly. Stealing a quick kiss, he left the house, his truck crunching out as Markus looked upwards out at the sky, enjoying the way it was darkening with storm clouds. The summer heat wave was finally breaking. Stepping back into the house, he headed back to the study, finding his eldest brother looking over the papers, gloved hands working with gentle movements.

“So, our family used to be slave owns,” Edward said as he read over one of the slave logs. “And our ancestors was a mix?” he asked, frowning at one of the papers that had captured his attention.

“Yes. As for the mix, she was only one-fourth African. Her mother was half and half herself,” Markus replied, opening the compartment with the doll. “We did find her doll and her snow globe yesterday though. I’m going to put them up in a display case in dads room once I finish clearing it out. That’s going to take a while though.” Putting the doll onto the desk, the younger man eyed it before tweaking the dress and looking to his brother.

“What else have you found?” Edward asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at his brother. Markus smirked as he dropped onto the couch, stretching his legs out before waving a hand at his brother.

“I found moms missing journal. Apparently she hid it in her personal dresser that dad had moved up to the attic after she died,” he told the older man, surprising Edward.

“Really?” he asked, sitting down onto the couch next to his brothers, crossing his legs and leaning forward. He looked rather interested in what his brother was saying, eyes glowing brightly.

“Yeah. She had a few journal entries about the doll and the snow globe. They were followed by some things about our ancestor and her two personal diaries, both the public one and the hidden private diary. Mom had found both amongst some papers but had hidden the private one once more after she was done with it,” Markus said, tapping his fingers on the arm rest of the couch.

“And you found our ancestors private diary?” Edward prodded, tilting his head to the side, curious about the smirk that tugged at Markus’ lips.

“Oh yeah, I found where mom had stashed it,” Markus drawled, smiling stretching even wider on his face. “I was able to read the first entry and it stated that it was the second diary that was for her private thoughts, the first one having been turned to ash the moment she got her second one and would only hold the most privet of thoughts and experiences. I was planning on reading it after I finished with moms journal. I’m almost done with that actually,” he continued, enjoying the shocked look on his brothers face, watching his jaw drop. “Close your mouth, you don’t want to catch any flies.”

“You found, not only moms lost journal but also our ancestors lost doll, snow globe and her private diary? The very diary that was supposedly lost to the fire that took the family house?” Edward asked slowly. Markus laughed and nodded, standing up and heading for the kitchen, his brother quick to follow after.

“I also found out something else about our dear mix ancestor,” Markus smirked as he pulled out a plastic bag from the refrigerator and unwrapped the pizza that was in it, perching on a bar stool to enjoy his impromptu meal.

“And what was that?” Edward asked, stealing a piece of the pizza, weathering the glare Markus sent towards him.

“I found she wasn’t an only child. She was a younger twin and was the only one of the two who turned out white,” Markus drawled, biting into his pizza and chewing as he once more enjoyed the shock on his brothers face. He hadn’t had this much fun since he had shocked his siblings when he had come out as gay and dating the jack ass ex of his. “Flies, Edward, flies.” Edward snapped his mouth shut and shook his head as he put his pizza slice down.

“How in the hell did you find out about this shit?” he finally asked, leaning on his elbows on the counter, amazed by the history that was coming to light about their now interesting family history.

“Actually, mom was the one who found it all out in the first place. She was the one who also did a family time line with a lot of information and left it with the personal diary in the compartment,” Markus said, playing with a piece of pepperoni. “Lien found that chip. It was tucked in the back of the compartment, near the back behind the diary. There’s a lot that was done but most of it is still in note form. I’m planning on finishing it off and submitting it to the museum to finally be able to put up a completely family tree,” he continued, getting a nod from the older man.

Settling into enjoy the pizza, the two men were content with the comfortable silence they were in. He felt a bit of old bitterness well up about the fact that his youngest sibling looked so much like their mother and was the only one that had been planned between their parents. But he also felt the old curl of desire that he ruthlessly squashed down as he bit into a fresh slice of pizza that he stole from Markus. He hadn’t given into it once before, he wouldn’t give into it then, especially since Markus had long ago lost his crush on him. On top of that, he was happily married to his high school sweetheart and had a near 19 year old child who loved his Uncle Markus much like a brother.

“So, what are you going to do while I hunt down compartments?” Markus asked suddenly, jerking Edward out of his thoughts, making him blink at the other man.

“I was going to work on some paperwork and catch up on some reading,” the dark haired male admitted, raising an eyebrow. “Perhaps go over the papers that you found and take some notes on them,” he continued, getting a hum.

“You actually can do that since they are going to the museum to be preserved,” Markus mused, reaching over and grabbing a napkin, wiping his fingers on it as he stood up. “Along with daddies back files. Anything that’s on paper needs to be backed up on some data chips, so we need to scan a lot of files,” he continued, moving to grab a juice from the refrigerator. “Want to do it?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure. Sounds better then sitting around and twiddling my thumbs,” Edward drawled, catching the can of soda that Markus tossed at him with a smirk.

“I thought that was all you did now a days,” Markus teased, leading the older man back to the study. Snorting, Edward shook his head and frowned as he followed after, popping the can top. Sipping his soda, he put it onto a coaster on a side table before helping his youngest brother set up the scanner and computer systems along with the blank data chips.

Settling in with several files piled next to him, Edward started to create new files and scan papers as Markus started to walk around the room, pressing on the walls. As his brother worked through the first file, which ended up being Leons medical file from this first ten years of life, he found three more compartments. The first two held nothing but some dust, but the third held nearly thirty data chips that Markus put into a small box to go through later that night.

As they worked, the two occasionally talked about what was going on in their lives and what they were planning on doing in the next week or so. When Maria finally arrived, Markus had found twelve more compartments, most filled with something, which had been moved to boxes to go through at a later time, and Edward had gone through the first file drawer and three data chips.

“So, what is going on here?” Maria asked as she walked into the study, eying the two men as Edward rifled through some files as Markus sat up from near a base board.

“I’m hunting down the compartments. I found one that had a lost family journal that wasn’t even on the list last night,” Markus replied, standing up with a groan. “How is Marana?” he asked, flopping happily into his desk chair as Maria came into the room fully, smiling lightly at the other man who waved in greeting, a piece of paper hanging from his lips. Sitting down next to Edward, the woman snorted and shook her head.

“She’s perfectly fine. She has to stay off her ankle for a week or so, but she is fine,” she hummed, picking up the doll from where Markus had moved it so that it wouldn’t get damaged. Stroking a finger over the lips, she yelped loudly and jerked her hand back. “It bit me!” she yelled, tossing the doll onto the couch as she stood up, stepping away from it as if it would jump up and attack her suddenly.

“What do you mean it bit you?” Markus asked as he bounced out of his chair and reaching for Marias hand; looking at her bleeding thumb. Just pulling her into the kitchen, Edward following quickly behind with a phone in hand just in case, the three missed the dolls face turning into a rather pleased sneer as a porcelain tongue swiped off the bit of blood on its lips.

“Just what I said. It bit me, and hard,” Maria replied as she watched Markus stick her hand under the facet after warming the water up. “I felt actual teeth sink into the flesh of my thumb and draw blood, as you saw,” she hissed, eyes flashing at the sting of the water on her thumb.

“Well, shit,” Markus breathed, pulling her thumb up to his face so he could look at it better. “Would you look at that. That is indeed a set of teeth. There is no mistaking it,” he continued, eyes wide.

“I didn’t know that the doll had a hinged jaw and teeth. It looks like it’s all one piece and not one of the movables,” Edward said, his brother shaking his head quickly, hair flying.

“It doesn’t have a jaw like that. Just like you said, it’s all one piece,” the younger man said as he continued to wash out the wound before drying off the finger with a paper towel. Frowning at it, he wrapped the finger up with a band aid and gave the housekeeper and friend a long look, tapping her nose before pointing towards the door. “Go to the doctors and make sure that you don’t need stitches. I don’t think you will but better safe then sorry. Then go home and baby you and your daughter. I have pizza and the enchiladas. I’ll be fine without you for a night.”

Giving Markus a long look finally, the older woman sighed and nodded her head, knowing that she wouldn’t win the fight against the young man. Going to the front door, she gathered her keys and her jacket, Markus and Edward following after.

“Fine, I’ll go. Markus, do some more research on the damn doll, see if there’s not something about it in your mothers journal,” she conceded, wiggling her fingers in a good bye to the two men, who nodded and smiled in return. Walking out the front door, Maria was soon down the porch steps and driving down the driveway, leaving behind Edward and Markus.

“The doll,” Markus suddenly breathed as they stood on the porch. Turning around, he ran for the study, hair flying as he rushed towards the room, hoping to make sure it didn’t disappear on them. Picking up the doll up with a scowl, he looked closely at its lips, hearing his brother run after him just as quickly, feet pounding on the wooden floor. Shaking his head, Markus growled lowly and tossed the doll into the bin, uncaring if it broke. Popping the lid on top, he turned back to Edward with an unhappy look on his face.

“Let me guess, there is no blood on its lips and there’s nothing that could have made those marks that is noticeable?” Edwards asked the moment he saw his youngest brothers face. With a shake of his head, Markus snarled softly to himself and started to stalk around the room, glaring at the walls, papers and computers around them. “I think you need to get that personal diary and read it to find out about that demon doll. This is really beyond fucked up.”

“Yeah, I know, I know. I’ll do that right now. You, sit, continue to scan the files and I’ll be right back,” Markus said, nodding his head. Once Edward was sitting comfortably on the couch, the lean male bounced up the stairs, heading for his bedroom. Finding his ‘pad, his mothers lost journal and the personal diary, he grabbed them and walked out of the room once more. Closing his door and making sure that it was locked up tight, he jerked slightly at the sound of a thud coming from downstairs. Rushing down the stairs, Markus skidded into the study, finding his brother on the floor, moaning lowly and a wooden ball that he had brought down to later be put back onto the dresser that it had come off of.

Cursing and looking at the bin, he found his worse fear. It was tipped over, the top was off and the doll was gone, making him look around as he moved to kneel next to his brother.

“Edward, what just happened? I left for like two minutes,” he asked, stroking a hand over the others shoulder as he slowly sat up, still groaning lowly.

“The little fucker got out some how and tossed that damn wooden ball at me, bashing me up side the head with it,” Edward snarled before moaning lowly, shaking his head in an attempt to get it to stop throbbing. “It ran out the door and headed somewhere else. Do you think that’s what mom was so odd about those few times?” he asked, sitting up completely and shoving a bit of his hair out of his face,

“Probably. Here, you rest on the couch while I look at this wound. I really don’t think it will decide to attack for a while yet, so we’re lucky,” Markus mused after a few moments, helping his brother onto the couch before shaking his head and leading him into the kitchen instead. Pausing at the door of the study, he went back and grabbed the two leather bound journals, his ‘pad and the data chips that went with the personal diary. Sitting Edward down on a stool, he smiled at the curious look he was getting. “You need ice for that lump on your head.”

“Why do you say that it probably won’t be attacking for the moment?” Edward asked, groaning as Markus prodded at the bump on his head.

“Remember all those attacks that happened when I was a kid, about the time you and your wife got married?” Markus asked, probing the sight with careful fingers, not wanting to hurt his brother more. Finding that the goose egg had stopped swelling, he moved to the refrigerator and pulled out an ice pack as Edward gave him an odd look.

“Yeah, why?” Edward asked in return, watching the younger male wrap the pack up in a towel. Taking the towel, he laid it on the goose egg and hissed quietly as the cold met the heated skin.

“Well, all of them happened late at night or early evening,” Markus explained, checking the kitchen for the doll, not wanting to be surprised. Locking the back door, he looked in the laundry room before closing the door and pad locking it to make sure the doll didn’t get into that room either. “I don’t think it has much power during the day, but it does at night. It’s probably connected to the darkness or something,” he continued, coming back to the main kitchen, finding Edward sighing as he rubbed at his head.

“Are all the rooms secured upstairs?” Edward asked, mind already spinning with various possibilities and other thoughts. Getting a nod, he pulled their mothers lost journal towards him and opened it. “Then I suggest we start reading to find out about it.”

“Yeah,” Markus agreed, sitting on a stool next to his brother, reading the personal diary, gloved fingers handling the paper with delicate movements. Opening a new file, he settled in to read about his ancestors’ life as a mix in the pre- and post-Civil War era. Only stopping for the occasional drink and to move to the study for a more comfortable sitting possibilities, the two discussed what they were finding out about their family history every so often.

Later that afternoon, as he walked into the house, Lien paused and looked around the hallway, not hearing much of anything outside of the sound of rustling paper that came from the study. He had arrived at the house expecting the two brothers to be talking with each other, not sitting silently doing what ever they were doing. Truthfully, he had been expecting them to be trying to kill each other. Closing the door behind him, the Native headed for the study, finding Markus and Edward reading what looked to be the personal diary of their ancestor and a ‘pad.

“Hey. How’s things?” he asked, slipping off his backpack and putting it aside. Markus jerked and looked up with wide eyes, hands tight around the diaries body. “What happened while I was at work?”

“Remember the doll? Well, I think we found out why it was locked up in those old trunk-chests. Or rather, Edward did with his head,” Markus started, voice sounding a bit strained as he put the diary down before him.

“Yeah,” Lien drawled slowly, eyes turning to Edward who was gently stroking the back of his head, occasionally wincing in pain about something. “What happened? And no pussy footing around on me, Markus,” he warned, eyes half lidded.

“Apparently my ancestors twin was really into Satan and when he was found out, his soul was shoved into the doll,” Markus blurted out, making Lien blink at him rapidly, trying to get his mind to wrap around what the man had said.

“What now?” he asked, dropping onto the couch next to Edward before turning to him with a curious look on his face.

“I wouldn’t believe it either, but the damn thing got me good with that wooden ball before running off into somewhere in the house,” Edward growled, shaking his head with a frown. “Little fucker is fast and the only reason for that ancient doll to be possessed is in that damn diary,” he continued, nodding his head towards the diary in Markus’ hand.

“You do realize this is your something great uncle trying to hurt you if this is true, right?” Lien asked, falling back against the back of the couch, eyes wide as he looked towards a wall.

“Not just to hurt us. He wants to destroy us. He wasn’t happy that his mother gave him up to get her freedom,” Markus said, standing up and walking over to them, making the two men scoot down for him. “Okay, so listen up. Their father was happily married and he was known to buy those slaves that were half and halfs. Since they couldn’t have children, seeing as his wife kept miscarrying, he ended up sleeping with several slaves to see who could bear him a kid with white skin and not brown.”

“Only one out of them all had a white skinned child but her older brother turned out to be black skinned, like their mother. In exchange for not spreading the rumor around, she got her freedom and her daughter ended up with her own personal servant by the age of twelve in the form of her brother,” Edward continued for Markus.

“They didn’t find out that little tidbit until they were fifteen years of age though. She had eavesdropped on her parents when they were talking about the two of them and the big secret. When she told them, he ended up pissed off and she ended up heart broken. Not that it really stopped them from having a very sexual relationship,” Markus finished, making Lien look at the two of them with an odd look on his face.

“Don’t look at me. I was adopted by dad when I was born. It’s all on Markus’ side of the blood line,” Edward said, dodging a pillow tossed by the other man.

“Very funny, jack off. Don’t make me kill you and bury your body in the river bank. I don’t want to poison the fish,” Markus snorted, scowling at his brother as he dragged his gloves off and tossed them aside. “Anyways, she used to follow after him on the nights that he went off to do his rituals, trying hard to bring revenge upon the family. She had some mean things to say about Lucifer and her brother-lover, let me tell you,” he continued, shoving a hand through his h air and smirking at his companions.

“She was far from happy that her brother-lover would sell his soul when he could have just as easily gotten his revenge in another way. She did suggest that he could have gotten his freedom and given a job as her personal servant for the rest of their lives. Or he could have gotten paid for doing nothing much outside of watching over his sister as a slave,” the eldest of the three men continued, leaning forward on his knees, smirking. “Hell, he was getting one over them in the first place. After all, he was sleeping with the masters precious only daughter. On top of that, he was living a very good life, even compared to some of the better treated slaves. He was eating well, he didn’t get physically punished, he had good clothing, he was trusted with money and with her safety. He could have had everything but he fucked up something fierce.”

“Right. His sister got a new female servant who was rather protective of her. She didn’t mind them sleeping together, since even then girls were sleeping with their personal slaves even in that time, men or women. Pleasure was pleasure back then. But when she was following after her brother-lover, so did her servant, who saw him during one of his rituals. One mob later and she’s heart broken, still engaged to her best friend and refusing to speak to anyone and he’s shoved into a porcelain doll that had been a wedding gift,” Markus finished, rubbing his hand with slow movements.

“So…what happened with his body? The porcelain body to for that matter,” Lien asked, watching Edward grab his ‘pad.

“Actually, mom had that information,” Edward replied, pulling up the information that he wanted. “His human body was buried in the family mausoleum under Kindra. As for the doll, it was sealed up much to the sister-lovers protest. It was in a special box that looked like a mini coffin, a cross on the front of it. It was then sealed inside a trunk and hidden away.”

“We always wondered about that particular marker actually but we could never figure out who it was since we always thought it was a female,” Markus continued for his brother, shrugging sheepishly with a smirk.

“Okay, so we know who it is, what happened to create this situation and why the possessed doll was sealed up in the trunk-chests. Now we just need to figure out what to do with the damn thing once we get our hands on it,” the Native said, eyes dark as he looked between the brothers. Edward and Markus looked at each other before nodding with a decisive look in their eyes.

“We destroy it,” Markus stated, looking to his lover with hard eyes. “Unfortunately, Edward has to go home to his wife. Cassie is having a hard pregnancy but then again, that’s not unexpected since it’s so late in their lives.”

“Yeah, yeah, yuk it up,” Edward grumbled before looking at his watch. “For that matter, I have to head out right about now actually,” he continued, lips pursing in unhappiness at the thought of leaving his brother without more backup. “You two will be fine right?” he asked, gathering a file that had his name on it.

“Yeah. We should be just fine,” Markus soothed, waving a hand before his face as his brother stood up. The younger mane stood up with him, walking the other man to the front door. Giving him a hug, the youngest looked around as Lien and Edward talked for a few moments before the dark haired man left. Watching his brother walk around his car, Markus closed and locked his door as Edward got into his vehicle and drove off. Turning to Lien, he frowned and shook his head with an unhappy look in his eyes.

“We’re gonna need the shovel that’s in the laundry room, the one that I use to collect the mud with,” he finally said, getting a nod from his mate.

“We should also try to get some rest and keep the personal diary with us. I think he wants at it,” Lien replied, the two heading for the laundry room. While Markus collected the shovel the Native stayed outside, watching for the doll not trusting it to not attack; the smaller male closing the door behind him and pad locking it once more. “Let’s get the stuff and go nap,” the taller male suggested, getting a nod from the red head. Stopping in the study and gathering the diary and chips, the two men headed up to the bedroom, napping the rest of their afternoon away behind tightly locked doors.

When they woke, they could feel the hatred that came from the soul in the doll, making them shiver and look at each other in worry about what would be going down very soon. Grabbing the shovel, Markus easily picked it up just enough to hold it comfortable in his hand before turning to his waiting lover.

“Damn, I was not expecting it to be this pissed,” he mused, shaking his head as he was pulled closed to the bigger man as he smirked lightly at him. Narrowing his eyes, the smaller of the two huffed unhappily at the man. “Shove it,” he snorted, already knowing what his lover was going to say.

“I didn’t say anything,” Lien denied as the two men opened the locked door and headed down the stairs, talking quietly. “But you should have expected this much hatred. After all this time, it has been festering like an open wound. He’s probably been plotting for the day he got free enough to wreak havoc on your family and those connected to them. It sounded like he was pissed beyond reason when he was in his human body,” he continued, making Markus sigh as he flipped the light on at the end of the hallway.

“Yeah, I know, I know. Though, from what I did read, it was the slaves that really fucked him over by shoving him into the body. After all, they were far from happy about him putting not only their really kind master in danger, but also his sister-lover and the rest of the lands residences,” Markus mused aloud, leading the way into their kitchen. Checking to make sure that the possessed doll wasn’t running around, he pulled out two containers and popped the tops before shoving them into the microwave to head. “Though, if the little fucker ruins the solar collector, much less anything else in the house, I’m going to do more then bash his pretty porcelain face in,” he snarled, patting the shovel as Lien burst out in laughter.