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lotte karsten {christine daaé} ([info]still_lotte) wrote in [info]bellumlogs,
@ 2010-05-05 18:31:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:christine daaé, phantom of the opera

Who: Lotte and Bran
What: Neighborhood Watch
Where: Around the building
When: 2:40 A.M. Tonight-ish-tomorrow-morning
Warnings: TBD (There’ll be something, surely.)
Notes: Luther's schedule was posted time-line wise, before this.



Lotte had been somewhat surprised that she’d been assigned to the watch so early. When she volunteered she thought she had a while to get used to the idea – a week maybe, until it was her turn. Instead she had the third one assigned with someone she’d never met. The idea of that was almost enough to make her rethink the decision.

Not that she really knew what the man in 1106 was like. She had the suspicion he was nice in fact – after all, he’d taken her tapes when she’d gotten rid of them a month ago. There hadn’t been any complaints about the noise in her apartment either which was good, considering. She knew she there were the stray occasions when she’d begged the voice to stop and her voice had gotten absurdly loud.

She headed to the couch early, setting the alarm on her phone as to not bother James in case she came back early. (In the same move, she put Micah and Cole’s number on speed-dial. She didn’t want to waste time trying to dial it, in case something happened.) Even so, two thirty had her tired and regretting her decision. She didn’t even bother to change out of her pajamas, simply throwing a gray sweatshirt over her top. It was zipped up to her chin and she pulled her hair into a ponytail at her neck. Sockless feet were shoved into sneakers, before she headed out.

A note was left for James, explaining the watch and she’d be back around six, and Lotte grabbed her flash light. The cell phone was safe in her sweatshirt pocket and she went down to the lobby. She had to restrain herself from turning lights on as she walked down, keeping her flashlight up (absurdly high) until she got to the bottom of the stairs. Anxiously, she edged into the room, far away from the door to the basement and catacombs, calling out if anyone was there.


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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-10 02:03 pm UTC (link)
“And anyone else who wonders will know,” Lotte said. Because everyone else must wonder on what to do as well, right? Being the one to ask would simply make things easier in the long run for everyone.

She returned his smile, shaking her head. In her mind it had been her fault – she’d been too close after all. Her eyes remained on him until he let her know it was alright. For a moment she was skeptic, simply because it was just a hand on his elbow and a simple shake of his head would have had her move to the side, apologizing. But if he said it was alright…well she wasn’t going to complain.

She was silent, barely shining her flashlight down the halls until they got to the lobby. Once there she slipped away from him, moving to the doors to look out. The streets were relatively empty at this hour and at least, it didn’t look like someone had done something nefarious while they were upstairs. All in all a good thing. She turned back, shining her flashlight on the light that had been shot. It had been repaired to her relief and she moved to backtrack towards where the light-switch was. Light was a very good thing and this way they wouldn’t use up their batteries.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-10 08:58 pm UTC (link)
Bran was actually grateful for the silence, partly because it gave him a chance to compose himself and partly because it was much easier to hear any out-of-the-ordinary noises. He didn't feel like shining his flashlight down every hallway they passed, settling for a sort of turning motion with his wrist that allowed some light to illuminate the hall before they continued on to the next one. People were still asleep, and anyone who might have had to get up early for work wouldn't be doing so for another two hours or so, so they really had nothing to worry about.

The lobby was just as quiet, but when she left his side to inspect the streets outside there was a distinct sense of disappointment that clashed with his relief. One quick sweep of the area showed that it was just the same as always, and he was about to sit in one of the chairs when he noticed Lotte moving towards the light switch. Damn, that was something he hadn't considered, but what sort of reason could he give for convincing her to keep the lights off?

Cursing silently, he just watched as she tried to find the light switch. Maybe distracting her might work. "We covered all the floors more than once, which is good," he said thoughtfully, more to himself than to her, although he did ensure his voice was audible enough so she could hear. "We can take a break here for a bit, then do another sweep before the shift ends..." He paused, as though he'd just remembered something. "Hey, do you know anything about a basement? I thought I saw something on the forums about it."

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-10 09:15 pm UTC (link)
Though she realized he was talking to himself, Lotte couldn’t help nodding along with what he said. It was a good idea, maybe in an hour or so…and then he mentioned the basement. She froze, the light switch a few steps ahead of her forgotten as she tried to not look towards the door downstairs.

“Not much,” Lotte said, voice shaking slightly. It crossed her mind that Christine was a better actress than her and she wished she could lie as well as she did. “I’ve been down once or twice- There’s a pool which doesn’t give the right reflection – they had a party down there and some people died.” She turned back, crossing her arms under her chest. “I don’t remember much-” Ella had all but said her ‘accident’ had happened down there and Evie said her brother had been found there…and of course there had been Erik.

Attempting to look calm, instead of terrified, she met his eyes. “Why?”

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-11 03:24 am UTC (link)
He knew that any mention of the basement would remind her of what lay below, and that was clearly a sufficient enough distraction to keep her from turning on the lights. It was only a temporary aversion, but at least he'd bought himself a little more time. His expression was appropriately curious, with a tinge of interest thrown in. Trevor, after all, wasn't supposed to know anything about the basement, and even less about the catacombs.

"A pool? That's strange... I don't remember the realtor ever mentioning that." Bran frowned when she mentioned people died, and he made a mental note to do a little more investigating once he had a chance. "I was just wondering if that would count as a 'floor' we should check out." He paused, taking in the look in her eyes. "But it doesn't sound like a place anyone would have reason to be."

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-11 03:35 am UTC (link)
Lotte bit her lip, arms moving tighter around herself. When he put it like that…well, there were reasons. Plenty of reasons apparently for people to be down there. Reasons that the Neighborhood Watch should be investigating, even if she didn’t want to.

“I don’t think so?” She glanced to the doors, then behind her to the stairs going up. “There have been …other bad things though. I think it’s part of the reason why we’re on watch. Two people got hurt…” She looked to him, and then stepped forward to one of the chairs. “I – I really don’t think going down there is a good idea. We don’t need to go.”

She sunk into one of the chairs, putting the flashlight on the cushion next to her. The light-switch was forgotten and she was trying to think of a better reason, than fumbling protests to not go down there. Everything sounded like an excuse in her mind.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-11 05:50 am UTC (link)
There wasn't even the faintest glimmer of recognition when Lotte mentioned two people getting hurt, only a widening of his eyes and a faint expression of disbelief, as if he couldn't possibly imagine such a terrible thing happening. It was how people always reacted to horrifying news, hiding their burning curiosity behind masks of false concern and empathy. "Oh. I've caught bits and pieces on the forum, but I didn't... know the specifics." He shined the flashlight in the direction of the basement, but didn't make any move towards the stairs yet.

Bran was quite pleased with himself, having successfully averted the lights being turned on, but he had to act as though he didn't know why Lotte seemed to uncomfortable about the idea of going into the basement. "We don't have to go down there if you don't want to," he said carefully. "I didn't mean to upset you - it was just a suggestion." He made his way along the wall, using his flashlight to guide him, and stopped just before the entrance to the lower levels. He tilted his head to the side as though listening for something, waiting a few moments before turning back in her direction. "Sounds empty to me, so it shouldn't be a problem if we skip it."

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-11 06:16 am UTC (link)
“I don’t either,” Lotte confessed. She kept his eyes on him and his flashlight, shivering slightly. “Some people told me about it – they were close to the people involved.” Or they were the ones involved. “It was just bad…” It didn’t cross her mind that she shouldn’t tell him – he was safe, after all, and it wasn’t as if she was naming names.

A startled, choked sound escaped her as he neared the steps. For a moment she thought he would go, before he turned back. She vehemently shook her head, more than happy to have him not head down there – and she didn’t have go either. “It’s fine – I mean, I don’t think we should go. If someone did something, we could pull an alert but if we head down there unarmed or unprepared, we could get hurt…” Her eyes remained on him the entire time, wide and just as concerned for him getting hurt as she was.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-11 06:58 am UTC (link)
He tucked away the knowledge that Lotte had been told about the attacks for a later time, when he could figure out how to deal with Ella and her obvious inability to keep her mouth shut. It would be hard to talk without a tongue, after all; and one needed fingers to type, didn't they? "Hopefully whoever's responsible is found soon."

He didn't even need to pretend that her fear concerned him, partly because he realized he didn't like seeing her afraid and party because he was the cause of her reaction. Did Erik really terrify her that much? Didn't she realize that he'd been willing to do anything for Christine, even commit murder? Maybe it was that which frightened her, and it made him think that maybe she wouldn't understand why he'd tortured Ella no matter how hard he tried to explain. That thought was troubling, but he shook it off quickly. "Lotte, are you alright?" Bran took a few steps towards her, a puzzled frown furrowing his brow. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-11 07:24 am UTC (link)
She shivered, wanting the subject to drop. There was a small nod – the woman who’d hurt Nicky was gone. And even if Ella said otherwise she couldn’t believe the person who had hurt her, was the man who had been Erik. It was impossible – he let her go and his voice wasn’t right. He wouldn’t have done that, if he was a bad person.

The question surprised her and she shook her head – not intending to say she wasn’t alright (which she wasn’t), but rather that she hadn’t been hurt. “It wasn’t me, it was someone else,” she said, not wanting to name names. “I just – I don’t want to go back there again. My fable-” She looked up, shaking her head once more. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Trevor, but he didn’t have a fable. If she’d known who he was, she’d feel safer saying it.

“She was taken down there, during the last moon. I – she didn’t want to go and I don’t want to go back.” There was a pause, before she said, “It’s like a maze down there – even if we had Evie’s breadcrumbs, we might not be able to get out.” Lotte bit her lip and said, “And it’s just – safer, I think, on the moon. I know what’s down there.”

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-11 05:51 pm UTC (link)
So Christine had lied. Well, of course she had - Bran knew that, having read the book, even if Erik had wanted to believe otherwise. It was irritating to say the least, being aware of things that his fable wasn't. He would have to leave a series of notes for the man before the next moon came. Erik could be impulsive, he knew, but he was no fool. Hopefully he would listen. "Well, I can understand why you wouldn't want to go back," he said with a nod. "And the last thing we want is to get lost down there, especially on our first watch."

Bran raised his eyebrows, as if wondering who was down there, but he didn't push the topic further. She might start to get suspicious if he did, so instead he returned to the chair he was initially going to sit in and took a seat. A short break, then another few sweeps of the building, and overall he'd say this watch went pretty well.

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-11 06:04 pm UTC (link)
Lotte gave a tight nod, not saying anymore. During today alone she'd already told too many about her fable. At this rate, her room number would be public and what would happen during the moon, then? She didn't even want to think about it.

Instead she focused on calming down, regulating her breathing. She didn't want it to look like she was ignoring Trevor, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. It had been fine until he mentioned the catacombs - but she just felt that same sense of panic she'd had when she'd first became Christine.

Maybe her imagination was going wild - she could realize that, vaguely. Her therapist and Valerie might have been wrong about the voices and what they meant, but she could still be imagining things too much. It would be fine, if she just left things alone and was on her guard. Possibly.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-11 11:13 pm UTC (link)
If there was even the faintest shred of hope that he could ever tell Lotte who he really was, it was all but extinguished now. She was so nervous and on-edge already, and that was only as a result of a brief mention of the catacombs. If he told her right now that his fable was Erik, she would probably do whatever possible to get away from him. She wouldn't listen, not really, and there was no chance that she would keep his identity a secret. It seemed hopeless, and for a moment he felt a surge of frustrated helplessness that made him want to destroy everything in sight. Instead he focused on his breathing, trying to calm himself down to a reasonable level.

Bran had no problem with the silence, flicking the flashlight on and off to amuse himself before realizing that Lotte might find it annoying and stopping. When he thought enough time had passed, he got to his feet and took a few steps in her direction. "Do you want to wait a little longer, or start heading up again?"

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-12 02:24 am UTC (link)
She barely looked at the light, only looking up when moved towards her. There was a tight nod, before she got up and moved towards the stairs. "I'm fine with going now."

It would be better than staying down there much longer anyway - she might calm down the rest of the way if she got higher. She paused at the foot of the stairs, wanting to stay near him. She bit her lip for a moment, before muttering, "I'm sorry - I shouldn't be this scared about it."

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-12 04:51 am UTC (link)
Bran might not have been able to reveal himself yet, but for now he could have this, at least. His guise of Trevor couldn't last forever, but he was going to get the most out of it as he could before having to make other plans. He followed her to the foot of the stairs, smiling reassuringly as he began to climb.

"Don't apologize for being scared," he told her, keeping his flashlight trained ahead. "Everyone has their own fears, so I'm in no position to judge."

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-12 06:22 pm UTC (link)
Lotte managed a tight smile back, lips pressed together tightly. She kept close to his side, half a step behind him. It didn't change the fact that she'd suddenly ruined the mood in her opinion, just because she freaked out over heading downstairs.

"I suppose," she said. She didn't inquire about what his were, simply gripping her flashlight more tightly. "Some people do a better job of hiding them though." James, for instance came to mind - she was one of the bravest people Lotte knew and could hardly recall a time she'd seen her scared. Outraged, but not scared... Ella had seemed confident until whatever had happened. She bit her lip, going through the motions of checking the hallways again.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-13 05:47 am UTC (link)
Bran hadn't been afraid of anything in a long time, not since he was a child, too helpless and confused to realize that he could fight back and defend himself. Now he knew better, and fear was not an emotion he felt often. Even if he had experienced it since, he never would have admitted it - not even to himself.

"Well, some people think being afraid makes them weak." He sounded thoughtful as they climbed the stairs, pausing to inspect the hallways before moving on. "I don't think that's true, but to each their own."

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-13 06:14 am UTC (link)
She looked to him, not sure if it was a cue to ask or not. After a few minutes of following and debating, she simply sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. It's not very helpful, especially when people think your fears are pointless."

The only reason she could see for hiding her fears - truly hiding them - was if stop someone from getting hurt. Christine had attempted to and for James sake Lotte had tried...but it was hard, when she just couldn't help it.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-13 07:55 am UTC (link)
Bran wondered if she was referring to him - well, Erik - and decided that she probably was. Lotte was so nervous even at the mention of the catacombs, so it was clear her fears revolved around Erik and their story. Who would think that was pointless, though? Surely any normal person who read the book would realize that no one would want to be in Christine's position. No, Erik was far too terrible and monstrous for anyone to ever love, never mind like. He could practically taste the bitterness in his throat just thinking about it.

"That's a reason why some might keep them hidden. They don't want to be ridiculed or something." He shrugged, shining his flashlight down the nearest hallway. "What other people think of your fears doesn't matter. They're not real to them - they're real to you." He paused. "Even if they are pointless."

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-13 01:07 pm UTC (link)
There was a wince as she shined her flashlight down the hallway. Confirmation enough that he was just being nice... She moved her flashlight up the stairs, moving a bit more quickly than before, nearly going ahead of him. An apology came out again, but she didn't turn or slow.

"I guess - the people who hide them always seem to not care about people think," Lotte said, keeping her light ahead of her. "They don't care if they're crazy or threatened or anything..." Her mind went to the anonymous posts when people had attacked for no reason - and James hadn't even seemed to care. And Lotte had always cared when people had called her crazy because of her voices. She shook her head, wishing to end the subject.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-13 08:39 pm UTC (link)
He didn't know if he'd offended her or just made things worse, but from the way she moved past him, he had a feeling it was one of the two. You don't have to apologize, Bran thought irritably, but he bit his tongue and managed once again to keep silent.

The urge to laugh was there, but he swallowed it down and kept his voice relatively serious. "Just because they seem like they don't care doesn't mean that they actually don't." Didn't Lotte know that people were the best deceivers of all? They excelled at lying unlike any other species, and pretending was a part of their nature. Even he had to realize that applied to him too. "But I guess it's one of those things that can never really be resolved," he added, sensing that the subject really wasn't going anywhere.

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-13 08:45 pm UTC (link)
For a moment she considered it, pausing at the next floor to shine her light down the hallway. A glance at the sign said they were on the ninth floor, but she didn't give it more thought than that. "I suppose," she said. "But not everyone is what they don't appear to be. And the other way around."

She simply nodded, letting it drop after that and keeping moving. Lotte was simply tired - even the fact that the sky was getting lighter through the windows didn't help her.

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-14 12:56 am UTC (link)
He registered the floor number without a flicker of recognition, since Ella wasn't even staying in her apartment at the present time. Bran was fairly sure she wasn't, at least. At Lotte's words, he tilted his head to the side, regarding her with an almost appraising look before shrugging. "You're right. I can't argue with that."

The sky was beginning to lighten, and he knew their shift was coming to an end. He let a couple more floors pass in silence before turning to her, flashlight aimed ahead. "You know, our shift is almost done, and I don't think anything is going to happen. We could do one more check and maybe call it a night? Or, well, a morning... if you want."

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-14 01:02 am UTC (link)
There was a hint of a bitter smile, before Lotte began moving again, face turned down. What could one say to other than say they knew from experience? She shook her head at her own thoughts, keeping moving until he spoke up. Head tilted to the side, she thought over his suggestion and then nodded.

"It's a good idea," Lotte said. "I can't be the only one who'll need to be at work in a few hours - it'll be crowded enough to prevent anything from happening." Which was why it was a night watch after all. Lotte shook her head, feeling foolish. "I mean - yes. Let's do that."

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[info]lemortvivant
2010-05-14 04:35 am UTC (link)
"Alright." He gave a short nod of confirmation, continuing up the remaining floors and observing that there was absolutely no signs of life whatsoever. If there were any dangerous people aside from himself, they weren't stupid - they knew pulling anything with a patrol was too much of a risk.

Bran wasn't exactly tired, but he was beginning to grow weary of shining his flashlight down empty hallways. "I'd say our first watch was a success, wouldn't you?"

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[info]still_lotte
2010-05-14 04:46 am UTC (link)
Having an end that was closer, at least gave Lotte a reason to appear awake as they finished. She spent more time focusing on looking like she was doing her job, then actually doing it and when he spoke again, she was relieved.

"I think so," she said, beginning to head down the stairs once more. She offered him a smile, real despite being small. "Hopefully everyone else has the same luck."

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(no subject) - [info]lemortvivant, 2010-05-14 05:04 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]still_lotte, 2010-05-14 05:18 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lemortvivant, 2010-05-14 05:42 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]still_lotte, 2010-05-14 05:48 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lemortvivant, 2010-05-14 06:04 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]still_lotte, 2010-05-14 06:10 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lemortvivant, 2010-05-14 06:26 am UTC

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