"Well, how do you like our new home, Mrs. Wu?" Kris smiled, hooking his arm around his new spouse's willow waist and pulling him down on their bed, beside him.

A gorgeous blush dusted Tao's cheeks and he smiled, radiantly, as he looked at his new husband.

"It's beautiful," Tao replied and indeed, it was.

After getting married, but two months ago, Kris and Tao had decided to find a house; a place that they could truly call their own. There would be no need for monthly apartment fees, no taking an elevator or scaling several flights of stairs in order to access the one little room, out of a hundred others, that partially belonged to them, no shared walls or neighbors just down the hall.

What the two young men were looking for was a home.

Neither had expected the task to be easy. There were many requirements that their future home needed to meet. It had to be spacious, but not so large that two people would feel lost in it. It had to be in a safe neighborhood (Kris didn't care that Tao was well-versed in martial arts. As a police officer, Kris was all too aware of the weapons and strategies that criminals used, against which martial arts were essentially useless.) There was absolutely no way that Kris's mind would rest easy when he was at work, knowing that Tao was home alone in a crime-infested neighborhood.

What was most important, however, and what made the couple's search criteria all the more narrow, was that the house needed to be within their budget.

The two young men were exactly that- two young men who were just starting out. It had been just barely a year since Kris had completed his intense physical training and had secured a job at a local police station. Tao was in much the same boat- he was a fresh graduate from an arts college and was trying to make and sell his own paintings and sculptures from his at-home studio. Although neither of the two men made insufficient wages, their budget was tight simply because they hadn't yet had enough time to save a significant amount of money.

Still, they wanted to buy their own home- a very first act that signified their unity and commitment to each other as life partners.

Given their inflexible budget, both were prepared to purchase a rather small house, probably quite old, with some repairs that might need to be done.

How surprised they had been, indeed, when Tao had found an advertisement for an absolutely gorgeous house that was much larger and much newer than they would ever have expected to be able to afford, well below their budget.

Almost immediately, Tao and Kris had arranged to visit the house in person and without much of a second thought, they had bought it. After all, there was no doubt that dozens of other prospective buyers would have their eyes on the place, too. It was almost a guarantee that they would not be presented with an opportunity quite like this and the couple was not about to let their dream home figuratively slip through their fingers. Admittedly, they had been a little suspicious of the ridiculously low price on the house, but after a brief inspection, they had found nothing in the house's plumbing or electrical wiring to be wrong.

It was an all around good deal.

A week after the house became theirs, they had moved in and now, had finally finished bringing in all of their things and making their new house a home.

Tao could do nothing else but to snuggle into their soft new bed and Kris's arms and give a peacefully content smile. He was simply enjoying the fact that both he and Kris were fresh out of their showers, into their pyjamas and ready for bed after a long day of unpacking and rearranging. Both of them had taken a vacation from work in order to get settled into their new home and they still had one day of holiday left, plus a weekend.

Tao really didn't think that he could ask for more.

"First night in our new house," Kris smiled, joining Tao in bed, once again, after he had gotten up to turn off the lights.

He took his place beside Tao, pulled the puffy goose down blanket over them both, then the two lay in a moment of silence to absorb the monumental event of owning their own home and sleeping in it, for the first time. It was their hard-earned money that had put the new roof over their heads and their manual labor that had turned the interior of the home into something out of a modern-day living interior design catalogue.

With the warmth of each other's closely pressed bodies coccooning beneath the blankets and a long day's work behind them, it wasn't long before Kris and Tao fell asleep, contentedly in each other's arms.

-----

When Tao woke up, it wasn't to the flood of warm, gold sunlight that he had imagined. Instead, it was pitch black, still the dead of night, in the bedroom and the young man was in a cold sweat.

Wide awake and extremely unsettled, Tao cast a nervous glance at the clock on the bedside table only to find that it was two o'clock in the morning.

He settled back against Kris's chest (the older man was still asleep) and tried to go back to sleep, himself. But he just couldn't. Tao felt scared, although of what, he didn't know.

Tao tried to calm himself by reasoning that he was simply anxious about being in a new environment. But he didn't feel that this explanation was very logical. He had been feeling perfectly calm only a few hours before and he knew very well that for him, home was any place that Kris was.

Tao had almost successfully lulled himself back to sleep, when a sudden, violent bang sounded from downstairs, as though the front door had been opened and slammed shut.

Tao jumped, sitting up in bed. Kris woke, too, not because of the noise but because of Tao's abrupt reaction.

"Zitao...baby, what's wrong?" Kris asked, coming to his senses quickly, as he had been trained by his time as a police officer.

"D-Did you hear that?" Tao asked, a soft tremor in his voice.

"Hear what?" Kris asked, soothingly rubbing Tao's back.

"T-There's someone i-in the house..." Tao whispered, clearly frightened.

He didn't have to explain any further- almost as soon as he had spoken, the same loud bang sounded from downstairs, yet again and this time, Kris heard it, too.

"Stay here, Zitao," Kris instructed his lover, getting out of bed.

"No w-wait!" Tao grabbed Kris's arm.

He didn't want to be left alone but most importantly, he didn't want Kris to investigate by himself. If there was an intruder (and Tao shivered at the thought), he didn't think he'd be much help, but he loved Kris too much to let him go alone.

Kris sighed. He wanted Tao to stay in their room- it would be much safer for the younger man if he did- but he also knew that there was no convincing Tao otherwise. Tao wanted to come with him and it was either he let Tao accompany him or not go at all.

"Okay, but you have to promise you'll stay behind me," Kris said, reaching for his gun in the drawer of the bedside table.

He had yet to use the firearm and carried it mainly as protocol for work. He certainly hoped that he would not have to use it tonight, in his own home, but it seemed to be a necessary precaution.

As he made his way downstairs, with a shaking Tao trailing behind, it became clear that the banging was that of the front door. Even though the loud sounds suggested that someone was forcefully entering their home, Kris couldn't help but to feel that the manner in which the break-in was being done simply did not make sense. The crook who was making almost deliberately loud noises upon entering the home would have to be one of the most foolish people on the planet. Even a child would know better than to make excessive noise when trying to sneak around.

"Stay here," Kris whispered to Tao in a sharp tone that left no room for argument.

Carefully, Kris advanced, leaving Tao on the last step and quickly the lights, a little apprehensive of what he might find. No matter how many break ins he dealt with on the job, it was an entirely different situation to have a possible break-and-enter occur in his own home.

But to both Kris and Tao's great surprise, turning on the lights revealed that there was not only no burglar making away with their belongings but that the front door was also securely locked, just as Kris had left it before he and Tao had gone to bed.

"Y-Yifan?" Tao stuttered, not at all believing what he was seeing.

Just to make sure, Kris did a full inspection of their house, with Tao following closely behind, but sure enough, there were no signs of anyone forcing their way into their home nor were there any signs that any such noises had even occurred. In fact, the house was now quiet.

Eerily quiet.

"Yifan..." Tao sounded as though he was about to cry, and Kris immediately put down his gun and hugged Tao, tightly.

Tao had been afraid to find someone inside their home, but now, he almost wish that they had found someone. That the noises seemed to have no source scared him even more than the prospect of an attempted robbery.

"What was that?" Tao asked, softly, refusing to let go of Kris.

"I don't know," Kris admitted.

He was just as perplexed as Tao was, although perhaps a little less frightened.

"Why don't we just go back to bed and if it happens again, we'll figure out where to go from there," Kris suggested, sensibly.

Tao nodded. He wasn't exactly satisfied with Kris's proposed solution, but he also knew that there was not much else that they could do. It wasn't really possible for them to investigate something that seemed to have happened without any rhyme or reason.

Tao certainly hoped that this was just a one-time occurrence and he found himself even more grateful that he still had a full three days to be at home with Kris. Already, they had both missed out on over an hour of sleep and Tao was sure that he would be scared out of his mind if he had to stay at home, alone, immediately after the disturbing event.

-----

The couple experienced nothing unusual over the next few days, but Tao was still a little apprehensive about being by himself, when the weekend ended and Kris had to go back to work.

"Don't worry, Zitao," Kris smiled, trying to reassure Tao. "I'll be home before six and if you need me, just call the office."

Tao would much rather have Kris with him, as opposed to a phone number, but he knew that Kris needed to work.

Catching Tao off guard, Kris caught his lover's soft lips in a kiss, bringing a smile to Tao's pretty face.

"I'll try to come home early, Princess, I promise," Kris assured, before taking the lunch that Tao had lovingly packed him and heading out to his car to drive to work.

Tao watched Kris until his car was out of view and couldn't help but to feel his heart beat accelerate a little and his palms become somewhat sweaty.

He was a grown man, for goodness sake, yet he just couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling that something was waiting to jump out at him from the hallway or a closet. Suddenly, the house that he and Kris had so carefully made their own didn't seem very warm and welcoming anymore and Tao couldn't help but to dread the next days, weeks, months, years that they would be spending in the house. The apartment that they had lived in before might have been a little small, but Tao had always felt safe there.

He wished he could say the same thing about the house.

Despite his fear and unease, Tao figuratively buckled his britches, took a deep breath and tried to go about, business as usual.

Once he set to work with his canvas and paints, it wasn't too difficult for Tao to lose himself in his passion that had always been art. Feeling decidedly lighter-hearted about the home, he even the radio and found himself smiling as he put the finishing touches on his newest piece late in the afternoon.

Just as Tao was putting his paints away, however, the radio began to crackle, inexplicably, before turning off by itself.

Tao frowned. He knew that he hadn't stepped on any wires nor had he done anything at all that would have broken the connection.

The young man's blood ran cold when the television set, which neither he nor Kris had yet plugged in, by itself as though someone was sitting right in front of it with the remote control in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other.

Absolute silence followed and Tao froze, then what sounded like frantic scratching sounded on every single window pane in the house.

On the verge of tears, Tao threw down his paint brushes and even the carefully painted canvas before hurrying for the front door and running out of the house as fast as he could.

He couldn't even stand to be on the driveway; he wanted to be completely off of the property and wound up sitting on the curb. Although Tao wanted nothing more than to have Kris home with him, he didn't call his lover. Kris had just started his first job and even though Tao knew that his husband would not have hesitated, even for a second, to come home to him, he didn't want to make Kris miss work...

Instead, Tao sat on the cement sidewalk, trying to get as much of the warm, comforting sunlight as he could, hugged his knees to his chest and started to cry, softly. He didn't want any of his neighbors noticing him, but he was so, so scared...

How had what was supposed to be a fresh start with Kris gone so terribly wrong?

-----

Kris was thrown into a state of panic, indeed, when he saw Tao crying on the street as he drove to their home.

Not even bothering to park on the drive way, Kris stopped the car halfway down the street and sprinted to his lover.

"Zitao?!" Kris had never ran faster in his life. "Zitao...oh...baby, what is it?" Kris asked, almost desperate, as Tao immediately threw his arms around him and sobbed.

Years of training to stay calm in emergency situations went out the window for Kris, where his precious Princess Peaches was concerned, and he was almost as hysterical as Tao was, in his frenzied concern.

"Sweetheart, what happened?" Kris tried again.

"...T-The house, Yifan..." Tao hiccupped, trying his best to calm down.

As best as he could, Tao explained what had just happened, to his husband.

"Y-Yifan, I didn't imagine any of it," Tao pressed, worried that his account might seem too far-fetched for even his husband to believe.

"I know you didn't," Kris assured, for he genuinely believed Tao.

Eventually, they had to return into their no longer "homely" home and both Kris and Tao never left each other's side for the rest of the evening. Neither had much appetite, especially Tao, but they ordered in some Chinese take-away and tried their best to ignore the creaks and seemingly unnatural noises that resounded through the house.

When Tao showered, Kris waited for him, right inside the bathroom, and Tao waited in turn when Kris took his. Such proceedings were more for Tao's sake than for Kris's and Tao did feel a little better by bed time, with some food in his stomach and his lover with him in their bed, but he was still scared. What would happen when Kris had to go to work the next day? Or worse still, what might happen to the both of them when they were still in the house?

"Tao, are you okay?" Kris asked, softly, as he and Tao lay in their bed, cuddled even more closely than usual.

"...I want to move," Tao said, after a few seconds.

Kris continued massaging Tao's back and sighed, quietly. He was beginning to want to move, as well. Although he had yet to experience anything as disturbing as what Tao had, he had had his share of spine chilling moments in which he had felt as though he was being watched.

Most of all, he wanted to do everything that he possibly could to make sure that Tao wasn't afraid of being in his own home.

But he also knew that they didn't really have the financial means to buy a new home, nor was it particularly viable for them to stay in a hotel. Both of them only had family in China, and they couldn't simply abandon their jobs.

In answer, Kris could only kiss Tao and hold him a little closer.

-----

The following day, fortunately for Tao, had been uneventful and Kris came home with a little surprise for his husband.

"Aw, he's so cute!" Tao gushed, happily taking the fluffy golden puppy from Kris's arms.

Kris had taken the small animal home, as the station had been giving away stray dogs that had just been found. He had been drawn to the cute little animal, just as Tao was, and had also thought that having a little friend around might make Tao feel a little better when he wasn't home with him.

"I think he wants to go outside..." Tao smiled, setting the agitated puppy down, then following him to the back door which led to the small yard behind the house.

The couple accompanied the new addition to their family outside and the two young men were happy watching their dog for a few minutes, when the animal suddenly seemed to become very interested in a particular spot in the yard an promptly began digging madly.

"Hey, what have you got there?" Tao laughed, going to join the animal and investigate what he had started digging up.

Tao bent down, and examined the loose soil that the puppy was overturning. Suddenly, he gasped and hurriedly picked up his new pet.

"Yifan...!" Tao called, starting to shake a little.

Kris hurried over to his lover, detecting the urgency in his tone.

Not really able to comprehend his masters' sudden panic, the dog squirmed excitedly in Tao's arms, trying to both his and Kris's faces.

"Yifan I think those are...those are..." Tao couldn't even finish speaking.

Kris blinked in disbelief. Sure enough, in the soil, there were little shards of white, much to solid and too rigid to be anything in the earth.

"Zitao, call the police," Kris instructed, before taking a nearby branch and shifting the soil a little more.

He had to stop, however, as soon as what appeared to be a human skull came into view.

-----

Luck was on Kris and Tao's side, as their apartment still had not been sold. The following day, after making their gruesome discovery, they were able to move back into their old home, with their puppy, of course.

"I don't think I really want to get a house anymore," Tao said, on their first night back home, as he sat in Kris's arms on the sofa, with their dog curled up beside them.

Kris smiled and kissed Tao, lovingly.

"Let's just stay here," he agreed, not wanting to chance buying another home with the remains of a murdered person, ever again.

Neither of them really cared anymore, if they were living in a small place, just as long as it wasn't ghosts and skeletons that "welcomed" them into their home...

Scary enough? ^^

Thanks for reading :)

x Angela