A Little Help from Beyond for Health or Hurt (MorozovXX and BookKnight)

BookKnight

BookKnight

Well-Known Member
Havoc glided through the old, dusty, dark, cold house, idly tapping the corners of the picture frames still hanging on the walls. He left no fingerprints on the dusty frames, but when the pictures tilted, they left odd squares on the wallpaper behind them where the pictures had protected the wall from sun damage. The last owners had left so quickly they hadn't even bothered to pack up the pictures. Well, one of them had left. The other... well, he wasn't entirely clear on what had happened with the other one. Some of the rooms were completely empty. Others held furnishings still. Here and there remained signs of life that had abruptly come to a stop, frozen in time and dust. He wandered down the stairs facing the front door, letting his fingers trail along the banister, leaving not a mark as he went. Despite having stood vacant for so long that the dust bunnies had started breeding, there was not one sign of typical teen vandalism, not so much as one speck of spray paint. He wouldn't allow that. None of them would.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs and stared at the picture of a happy young couple standing side by side in front of a freshly re-sided yellow and green house. "Shadow?" Havoc called. They had done well in fixing up the outside of this old shell. That was good. Leaks meant rot to the interior. He glanced around and realized his call had not been answered. "Shadow!"

A turquoise glow emanated from the top of the stairwell. Slowly, it drifted down the stairs until it came to a stop near Havoc. A dark form took shape within the glow. "What are you howling about now?" sighed the sharp-featured humanoid within.

Havoc ignored the petulance in the other's voice. "Whatever happened to the husband?" he asked, indicating the picture. "I cannot remember."

"Oh, how fleeting your memory is these years," Shadow lamented mockingly. Then he glanced at the picture and replied, "Between your work keeping them both on edge, Flame edging them into fight after empty fight, Mist's little whispers in the night, and my nudgings, it wasn't too much trouble at all to get her to follow through."

"As long as she didn't bury him anywhere on this property. I cannot abide policemen," Havoc said drolly as he turned away from the picture.

Shadow huffed in amusement and twisted onto his back and floated along beside his dark companion. "Oh, please. At least policemen bring some kind of excitement! It is so dull around here when there aren't any people. There is no one to play with! I am so bored and hungry! At least the police would offer a bit of distraction."

"Police!" hissed a hoarse whisper that came from the floor. "There will be police? Here?"

Havoc heaved a sigh. "See what you have done now? Mist is all worked up again."

Shadow rolled his eyes and glided toward the dark kitchen, still mostly furnished though most of the dishes were shattered. Shards clogged the sink and lay in a pile against the back wall. "It is not my fault the child gets scared by his own nightmares."

Havoc turned with a sigh and looked around the corner toward the empty front room where a white mist of a figure cowered near the sofa. "Mist, the last couple we had through here was a year ago. There will be no more police about that case." He paused and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should work on our subtlety to make them last a little longer."

The misty figure raised translucent hands to his ears. "I do not like police! So much metal and flashing things!"

"Oh, do pull yourself together, dear brother," crooned another figure, this one surrounded by a light blue glow that swirled around him almost like a shawl. A good thing, too, as he wore absolutely nothing else. He sat on the floor and flopped his legs out, lounging back on one arm. "The policemen have nothing they can do to you. They will certainly never sleep here. What is left for them to do?" He shrugged one bare shoulder, sending his blue hair spilling over to his back. It was just a little longer than shoulder length, and it always seemed to be spilling or falling in some direction or other, usually to frame his nearly-anime level of beautiful face.

Mist looked up, tears glittering on his white face. "Priests!" he whispered.

Havoc frowned at the naked blue fellow. "Oh, please tell me you did not play the Exorcist for him again! We went over this five years ago, and twelve years ago, and so on and so on for the last two hundred years!"

Blue chuckled and rolled his head to look at Havoc. "Were you not just whining about not having anything to do? About being bored?"

"This," Havoc gestured to Mist huddling on the floor, "is not amusing. It is annoying. Mist, stop your whimpering. It is a rare thing indeed to find a priest willing to even believe in things like us. Besides, I doubt they'd even work. To actually break this kind of curse, you would need-"

"Havoc!" Shadow called from the kitchen. "Come!"

Havoc left Mist and Blue in a blink and joined Shadow by the window near the front door. "What is it?" he demanded seriously.

Shadow pointed out the window. "It appears we have a distraction just as you hoped for."

Havoc stared out the window for a moment, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Fellows," he called. "It appears we have company. Let us put our best foot forward!" He chuckled and moved to a better vantage point.

All four specters gathered near the front door, whispering eagerly as they waited. They would do nothing. Not at first. For now, they would merely watch and see who or what was about to come through their door.
 
Out the dusty and fogged window, a blurry image of a small white car slowly rides up towards the pathway to the entrance. The headlights from the front of the small car shine through the window and flood the house in light, probably more light than the house’s seen in a century, before abruptly blinking off, along with the sputter from the engines that gradually fade to silence.

The driver seat door opens up with a swing, and a figure steps out. They’re a little splotchy, but its easy to make out the bright ginger hair of the driver, and the huge backpack they have over their back. They makes their way over to the sides of the car, tugging it open and revealing another, smaller individual with longer, more rustier hair. The other figure hops out of the star and seems to slouch as they hit the ground.

Brief, unheard words are exchanged between these unknown people, before they move out of window view.

Towards the door.

The doorknob jiggles, grating sounds echoing from the lock as it twists and turns, before it ends with a faint click-

And the door swings open.

”And here we are!” A spry kind of voice shouts, emanating from the person from the front. He quickly walks in with a grin, raising a hand and combing his bright orange bangs away from his eyes, before facing backwards. “Tal! Whadoya think?”

The second person slowly walks in, gazing around with a single visible, narrowed eye. She stuffs her hands into her oversized black winter coat, sighing and blowing a strand of rust orange hair out of her face.

”It looks like shit.”

”Oh cmon Tal-“

”It does.” She quickly interrupts, before marching ahead of him and throwing her arms out, her teeth grit in a harsh snarl. “You said old fashioned, not on its last hinges-“

“Its not that bad!” The other person interrupts, huffing and crossing his arms with a pout on his face. “At least we have the essentials, this house wouldn’t be on sale if it wasn’t!”

“I‘ll consider it an actual miracle if we even have running water.” Tal snarks back, before moving to climb up the stairs. She pauses for a moment to wince and press her foot into the boards, cringing more and more at each creek and whine under her foot. “God, it’s like it’s begging for mercy.”

”We can deal with a few squeaky steps.” The other person retorts, to which Tal‘s eyes narrow.

”Whatever you say, not like you’re going to stay here that much anyways.” Tal replies, almost, bitterly, before she continues up. “I’m going to claim a room, see ya later Tay.”

The other person, Tay, opens his mouth, but winces as a door opens, and slams shut. He sighs, combing the bangs out of his face again with a grimace, biting at his lip.

”Make sure to grab your stuff!” He shouts up towards where she want, to no reply. He groans, facepalming, before walking towards the door, opening it up and walking out, presumedly to grab his own things.

It seems like, they have some brand new company.
 
Mist vanished upstairs to the crawl space in the attic, hiding away from the yelling people and angry girl. He didn't like people when they were awake. They tended to be loud and flailing and, worst of all, walk right through him. He hated to feeling of being moved through! From most people's reactions, they hated it, too.

Blue walked to the door and leaned on the frame, watching the red-haired fellow grabbing his bags. "He is certainly a buttoned up fellow, isn't he?" the demon mused. "He is going to be an interesting nut to crack. His girl, on the other hand, she looks like she only needs a nudge!" He turned and followed the girl upstairs, intent on watching her.

"Neither of them look like they are going to be easy to scare. I can't decide if that's a good thing or not," Shadow sighed. He turned and drifted off, already bored.

Havoc stood alone watching the fellow for a moment. Then another figure appeared beside him. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd managed to escape," he told the ghoul mildly. He moved aside from the door to give the human plenty of space when he returned.

Flame snorted and ran a hand along one of the black horns emerging from his red hair. "As if any of us would be afforded that luxury. No, I was down in the basement seeing if I could make the rats fight." He eyed the male and smiled. "These two are like dynamite! Oh, their anger is delicious," he purred. "I can taste it already. Especially the girl's."

"Be careful, Flame," Havoc warned. "With subjects already this angry, it would not be difficult to send them storming off, and we all need them to stay."

Flame heaved a mournful sigh. "You are right, of course, like always. Especially teenagers. Their anger is so fresh and young! Like new wine, but it spoils so easily, and they are so flighty." He smiled again then, his dark eyes narrow. This was going to be fun!
 
Tal climbs up the stairs, her hand gliding along the railing and pushing the dust upward into a cloud, an action she found great satisfaction in. She steps up towards the hall and takes a moment to turn her head to each of three doors, two to her left, and one to the right.

She swiftly swings to her right, opening the door quickly and slamming it closed.

Slowly, she turns around, taking a ragged breath in, then out, in, and out, with a slow and methodical pace. She eventually starts to breathe easier once again, facing the bedroom with a wrinkled nose.

Stiffly, the teen walks towards the bed, staring at it for just a moment, before raising her fist and pounding it into the covers, watching a thin cloud of dust launch off and pool above her.

She groans again, spinning around and dropping herself into the bed haphazardly, waving away the dust as she stuffs her hand into her jacket pocket, and quickly takes out a small phone.

"Is there even wifi..?" She asks herself, huffing and tapping on the screen with narrowed eyes. "Fucking hell.."

Meanwhile, downstairs, the doorknob jiggles before its opened up, a weary faced Tay walking in with a single suitcase. He sighs quietly, before pivoting right towards the living room, skidding the suitcase to a stop beside the couch and dropping onto it afterwards, coughing and shooing away excess dust.

He groans to himself again, looking around the dusty, old and haphazard conditions of the house, before stuffing his hand into his pocket, and taking out a small notepad.

He takes out a pen that was hooked onto the ring binder, clicking the top a few times with bitten lips, before starting to write.
  • Fix up the house
  • Get a second job
  • Enroll Tallia into school
He pauses, clicking the top again a few times, before chewing at the button, seeming to be contemplating.
 
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Blue sat crosslegged in the air behind the girl watching over her shoulder. "Ooo, a cellular phone! I remember. The last people who were here had those and a television. They were not as willing to stay in the past as some others. I wonder..." He reached out with one translucent finger and tried touching the screen. The screen flickered and fuzzed briefly until he drew back. He grinned triumphantly. "I can touch it just like the television!" He smiled and linked his fingers together, resting his chin on his hands. "Oh, sweetheart, we are going to have lots of friends!"

******

Havoc followed the man, watching him take stalk. "Perhaps it might be nice not to wear you down too quickly," he mused. "If the house is not at least somewhat decent, then no one will come here. If no one comes, then we have no one to feed from," he mused.

"Hmm, taking our time. That is a new one for us," Flame said, craning to read the notes on the binder. "I do not have much hope for this one fixing much of anything. It's good to have broad goals, but these goals are so broad you could fit a freight ship through them."

"At least he has something," Havoc sighed. He glanced at the binder. "Fix up the house with what time working two jobs?"

"Maybe it's to pay for other people," Flame suggested.

Havoc smiled faintly. "I hope so. More people to work on."
 
Tallia flinches back, recoiling quickly as she stares at her phone screen, wide eyed and surprised.

"Uhh.." She trails off, staring at the phone as if it had just grown wings, before turning it off and stuffing it in her pocket.

"Place's so old my own phone is fucking up.." She huffs, crossing her arms with a bitter pout. She sighs and leans up, standing up and dusting her jacket off almost obsessively, before opening the door and walking downstairs.

Tay continues to chew on the end of his pen with a wince, before flinching as Tallia walks down the steps, makes a beeline towards the door, and shuts it closed.

Without even saying a word to Tay.

The older of the siblings stares at the door for a long moment, before he let's out another long, worn out sigh. He clicks his pen closed, and flips his book shut.

"...maybe there's an outlet upstairs.." He says to himself simply, before he proceeds to walk up, seeming, weighed.
 
Havoc watched the female go curiously. She certainly looked like someone on edge. They were going to have to be careful not to drive her off the deep end too quickly. Otherwise, they'd be alone far too fast. They needed time to feed! Not to mention, boredom was a real problem when you were immortal. Humans always caught immortality, but if they only knew how boring it could be, especially when stuck in one place!

Flame left Havoc on the ground floor and followed the male upstairs. He knew they had names, but he hadn't quite caught them. It sounded like the same name for both of them, and that certainly couldn't be right. He smiled as he hovered around the male, letting his hand drift around his body and feeling out the emotions trapped inside. Most of them were closer to the surface than he was used to, but some were rather hidden. He decided to test the waters and see how this one would react to just the gentlest of nudging.

"That was rude of her to leave like that," he whispered. "After all, you only have her best intentions at heart. The least she could do is say goodbye, maybe say when she'd be back in case she got in trouble. Don't you think?"

His words did not come across as an exterior voice, per se, more like the tiny intrusive thoughts that could happen to anyone at any time. He was curious to see how this one would react.
 
Tallia walks out to the car, grabbing a single suitcase from the trunk, slamming the lid down with a huff, before walking back to the house, opening the door and shutting it quick.

She takes her place on the couch, right where Tay was, grabbing her phone again and tapping at it. She particularly frequents the messages, repeatedly swiping down and huffing as the 'Error: No Internet' pop-up comes. She almost seems, anxious, and fidgety.

Click on the app, swipe down on notifications, 'Error: No Internet', huff, close app, open another app, swipe, error, huff, exit, rinse, repeat.

She does this process with slightly shaky hands, as if desperate, for a new notification, for a sign that someone is out there, that it isn't just her and Tay.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Tay climbs up the stairs swiftly, darting his eyes around attentively as he gazes at every peeling wall, every old appliance, cringing further and further at the sheer amount of stuff he has to fix.

He looks away though, keeping his gaze purely on the walls as he continues his search for an outlet.

He pauses, for just the briefest of seconds as Flame's voice rings in his ear. He blinks, shaking his head, and continues on, as if he never heard him in the first place.

At least he showcases some level of tolerance..
 
Blue hovered over the girl's shoulder, watching her use the device with interest. It was so different from even what the last people had! Then again, they hadn't really played with their devices like this girl seemed to be trying to do. "Internet." What was internet? It seemed necessary for her, whatever it was. He rested his chin on folded hands and watched curiously. Could this device do anything without help?

In the kitchen, something clattered to the floor. "Sorry!" Shadow called, though the humans couldn't hear it.

~~~

Flame smiled. Ah, this one was going to be a little tougher. Good! He liked a challenge. It was no fun if they gave in too easily. Not to mention, that meant they'd last longer and be a lot tastier. He followed the fellow, watching him curiously. "If you didn't like it, whyever did you buy it?" he commented, not expecting an answer. "If you wanted something nice and perfect, you should have bought a new build."
 
Tal flinches as the clatter rings from the kitchen, swerving her head towards that direction with wide eyes. “The fuck??” She mutters, starting to walk towards that area, stuffing her phone in her pocket and hunching over, almost looking guarded.

She hides behind the corner, for some odd reason, peaking over the edge to see inside with narrowed and suspicious eyes.
~~~~~~
Taylor continues to walk around the upstairs, his hands feeling over the rough doorknobs with a small wince, turning said knob and opening the door gently.

Once he walks into the room, he finds an old outlet and sighs in relief, grabbing a black wired charger from his pocket, and a phone, plugging it on to charge. He doesn’t bother to check if the phone is actually charging before he walks to the bed and flops into it.

After a little while of just, laying there, he rolls over, opening his notebook again and starting to read over his words, pondering again.

He doesn’t seem to acknowledge Flame’s words.
 
A small saucepan lay still rocking on the kitchen floor. Above it on the counter, another, similar pot sat on its side. It seemed they had both fallen from the partially open cupboard. A random act, nothing more according to mortal eyes.

To Blue's eyes, Shadow shrugged sheepishly. "I caught my arm on the cupboard door," Shadow said as an explaination.

~~~

"Well, aren't you a bubbling fountain of interest," Flame said mildly. He sighed and rolled onto his back, resting his head on his hands. "You know, human, if you keep this up, I may have to actually keep up a conversation with Havoc. Do you know how desperate I have to be to do that? No, no you wouldn't. Very desperate."
 
“..the fuck?” Tal whispers to herself, moving towards the saucepan and picking it up, turning it around curiously.

How the hell did this pan even, fall out? Was it just placed weird in the cabinet? Or, was it mice or something? Oh she’d hate if it was mice, scraggly fucking rodents..

She eventually stops her observation, standing up and rising up to her toes to place the saucepan back in the cabinet, shutting it securely afterwards.

Speaking of saucepans, she was a little hungry..
~~~~~~
Tay, pauses.

He looks around for a moment, seeming confused and, a little frightened.

That, wasn’t his own thought, why would he think that..?

The ginger continues to look around, sitting up and standing up from the bed to look around for some sort of voice, when-

“HEY TAYLOR!”

He flinches, turning towards the door and his sister’s voice.

”WHAT?!” “I’m hungry! Can we order out?!” Taylor sighs, rolling his eyes and approaching the door, swiping his phone from the floor.

He opens up an app and swipes through what seems to be a map, opening the door and closing it behind him.
 
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