InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm Team EDWARD!"

Vaughn Davis (shebringscurses) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-04-06 02:04:00

Entry tags:

black forest witch, cinderella

Who: Vaughn & Hannah.
What: Playdate at the park.
When: The day before her lunchdate with Mr. Hook.
Warnings: None? TBA.

The sun finally came out today.

While Vaughn was preferential to darkness on most occasions, the rarity of sunbeams was enough to pry her loose from her first floor den of secrets and cast her out into the world. It was just one of those days that even a witch wouldn't dream of denying.

Because she was becoming The Witch, Vaughn was more certain of this than ever. There was a rising tide of emptiness inside of her, she felt it's black marker crawling higher and higher like a thermostat. Like a Doomsday clock.

She'd realized it on the night in Shane's apartment. Amidst all that blood, and Daniel. It was like being able to separate herself from.. well, herself. Vaughn had wanted to destroy the wolf for what he'd done, and Vaughn had wanted to claw Ella to pieces for her betrayal, and Vaughn had wanted to even kick Daniel while he was down.. but she'd done none of those things. For the sake of self preservation, yes. Because she'd been Kate at the time, and all of those things would have been very unsatisfactory for Kate to do. But also because it had been almost.. easy to turn it off. To blink the Vaughn part of her back.

The Witch understood revenge, but not in terms of anger or jealousy.. the Witch was a cold, calculated thing. Revenge was equal parts punishment and curiosity; The Witch wanted to see them all suffer. It would be quite beautiful.

During the course of her musing, Vaughn walked to the park. It was not very far, and her steps seemed to naturally lead her there. While she was far from the outdoorsy type -- she did not like dirt, or sand, or leaves -- she liked it here. There was a quietness here that wasn't found in most parts of the city. Plus, she could smoke here. Not like cafes or bookstores or any of those facist, modern institutions.

Vaughn lit a cigarette, and loosened the brass buttons of her denim jacket, as she strolled down a path.

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shebringscurses
2010-04-08 03:10 am UTC (link)

Vaughn tried to remember what was happening three months ago when Hannah had moved in. It was difficult to place everything on a timeline - events blurred together so well inside the walls of Bellum. It all became one long, unending and rickety ride of chaos and blood. When Hannah mentioned how her stay in the building seemed much longer than it was, Vaughn smiled. The expression was ghosted with a knowledge that said she'd felt the same way once upon a time.

"Around three years.." Might as well have been a lifetime, really. She was reborn inside those walls. The Vaughn that had existed in the outside world wasn't exactly who she was today. She'd changed. It was all because of the building, though - Vaughn understood that. When she went outside, she sometimes didn't feel as strong, as wonderfully unstoppable, as she did on the inside. ".. longer than most," she continued thoughtfully as they walked on.

"You enjoy it?"

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noglass_slipper
2010-04-08 03:51 am UTC (link)

"Three years?" She couldn't keep all of the surprise out of her voice, realizing how foolish it was to not have realized that there must have been people who'd lived there for that long. Had it always been so crazy, even years before she'd ever considered finding her own apartment - even while she'd still been stuck in a mental institution miles away? "Was it... were things always so strange, even then?" Vaughn might not have been the best person to ask, but Hannah didn't know anyone else who'd lived there that long.

Enjoy it? She shrugged again, tugging on Gabriel's leash when he tried to pull too far ahead. "It's alright." There was no need to mention that it was only the second apartment building she'd lived in, or why that was in the first place. "Some of the people are nicer than others - the anonymous posts are proof of that. It's... well, it's a place to live, I guess."

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shebringscurses
2010-04-08 05:03 am UTC (link)

"No," she mused with a thoughtful tightening of those ghostland eyes. This was a subject that Vaughn had debated over for some time. Why did all of these events happen now, and never before? Was it possible that this magic wasn't because of the building at all, and only someone newly inside of it? "Things were fairly.. uneventful once."

Her smile was sketched in bad luck, but strangely playful when she turned to Hannah when she mentioned some people in Bellum being nice. "You've made some friends, then?"

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noglass_slipper
2010-04-08 05:28 am UTC (link)

"I wonder what changed it," she mused, realizing too late that she'd spoken aloud. The building was only beginning its descent into chaos when she was moving in, and it seemed that things had only gotten worse from there. "Maybe there wasn't enough people, or..." Or it was one person who pushed it into motion. "Well, I don't really know."

This was dangerous territory, but Hannah knew she couldn't make it obvious that this particular topic unsettled her. "A few, I guess. Mostly they're just acquaintances - people I talk to over the forums, but that's about it. I haven't really been involved with any of the more... dramatic happenings in the building." Which was just fine by her, thanks. "Things get blown way out of proportion, I think."

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shebringscurses
2010-04-08 05:46 am UTC (link)

"Maybe.." The word crested on an almost dreamy and skeptical sigh. It wasn't something that Vaughn thought about very often anymore. It was one of the questions that would likely never have a true answer. Besides, the why of it all hardly mattered. It was here now.

There was a slight tilt of her raven crowned head as Hannah skated gently over the thin ice topic of her friends. No names were mentioned, but Vaughn didn't pursue the subject. Instead, her focus drove out over the trees and sky once more, quiet for a few heartbeats before she spoke. "You're not like the others, Hannah."

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noglass_slipper
2010-04-08 06:03 am UTC (link)

If Vaughn knew anything above what the general population did, it was very doubtful that she was going to be willing enough to share it. Besides, it was more likely that the owner of the building or the now-absent landlord would be the one to really know what was going on and why.

Hannah was expecting some sort of follow-up question, maybe a careless mention of names or apartment numbers in an attempt to determine who her 'acquaintances' were and if they had any in common. What she got instead surprised her, and she turned her head to fully look at her. "The others? Who do you mean?" She could have meant the horrible ones, full of gossip and spite, or... well, she could have meant Boyd.

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shebringscurses
2010-04-08 07:45 pm UTC (link)

"You helped me," she offered the explanation at the urge of Hannah's surprised question. The answer seemed fairly obviously to Vaughn. When a strong percentage of the building would have gleefully seen her on the wrong end of a hatchet, Hannah had assisted her up the stairs. The fact that Hannah had not been herself, or exactly known that she was helping Vaughn at the time didn't seem to matter.

Vaughn always remembered the people that were kind to her. Like Aaron, like Hannah. Ella had once been in that elite pool, but.. things changed. Even being one of her favorites didn't save them from the black edge of her cruelty - her sister would have to learn that the hard way.

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noglass_slipper
2010-04-08 08:10 pm UTC (link)

She decided not to point out the fact that she hadn't known who Vaughn was at the time, or that Cinderella was far too good-natured to have done anything but help her up the stairs. Hannah knew that there were people in the building who wanted Vaughn dead, but she wasn't one of them. She didn't think she was capable of murder, nor could she fathom actually wanting someone to be killed. That didn't mean she thought the woman deserved to get away consequence-free, however.

"Well, you needed help," she said carefully. "Some people might have... done differently, but you've never done anything to me. In fact, you were nice to me." Hannah realized it didn't technically count, since Vaughn hadn't been herself either, and that hurting Boyd was bad enough. She also knew this was dangerous, but it was better than getting on her bad side right away.

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shebringscurses
2010-04-09 12:22 am UTC (link)

Kindness was a rarity these days. Vaughn, better than some, understood just how rare it really was. How difficult it was. The unreasonably kind were the true martyrs; being nice could be such a sacrifice.

She nodded thoughtfully when Hannah mentioned how she'd needed help on the stairs. Not exactly, but the message was there in full. "And I hope that one day if you need help, Hannah, you'll come to me."

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noglass_slipper
2010-04-09 08:06 am UTC (link)

All she needed was to owe Vaughn a favor, but she nodded nonetheless. Hannah knew she looked naive and innocent - sometimes she even acted that way without even realizing it. She'd never been the sort of person to use it in a manipulative way, but if the woman thought she was willing to keep an open mind about things instead of jump to conclusions, what could it hurt?

So Hannah offered a grateful smile, tilting her head to the side as though she wasn't used to people offering their help. "Thank you, Vaughn. I'll do that." She wasn't about to make the same offer, so instead she distracted herself by looking at the scenery around them.

"It feels good to get out of there, even if just for a while." It came out suddenly before she could think to filter her words, but she suspected that Vaughn probably felt the same way.

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shebringscurses
2010-04-10 05:34 am UTC (link)

Vaughn nodded with that same absentee attention she'd been crowned with for this entire visit. Celestial eyes always skirting the horizon in a keen mixture of awe and wariness. It was nice to get out of there, even for just a while.. yes. She could see how people would think so. But already, Vaughn was itching to get back. The further away from Bellum she was, the less she felt that magic in her bones.

"Mm," she murmured on a touch of smoke, agreeable, whilst flicking her cigarette into the grass. Hannah was distracted with the pleasantry of the scenery, and Vaughn used that moment to step up and catch the side of the princess' cheek with one pale palm. Already quite tall, Vaughn didn't even need to stretch onto her toes to deposit a saccharine sweet kiss to the top of that blond head.

"I'm glad we talked, Hannah.. goodbye.." With that, she turned on her boots and starting back down the path in the direction that they'd come. But, after a few feet, Vaughn turned again, there was a question twisting up her expression into something interested and therefore unfamiliar.

"Meet me here next week?"

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noglass_slipper
2010-04-10 07:14 am UTC (link)

She was beginning to think that this wasn't going too badly, really - Vaughn seemed sane enough, which probably meant she only went after people if she had reason to. It wasn't exactly comforting, but it was something. The hand on her cheek surprised her, but before she could accomplish more than a sharp turn of her head the kiss had already been given. It caught her off guard, but she resisted the urge to pull away.

"So am I." Hannah even managed another smile, swallowing heavily when Vaughn turned and began to walk away. Her confidence was faltering, and Boyd's warning echoed in her mind louder than ever. Maybe she should have just run in the first place.

She knew she couldn't say no to her request, so she nodded. "Alright. I'll be here."

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	shebringscurses 2010-04-11 05:18 am UTC (link)
	When Hannah confirmed their future date, Vaughn beamed. There was a draw of thin shoulders, in one of those joyful and effortless shrugs. Then, she turned down the path and continued her way back to Bellum humming. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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