InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "The evil in you comes out."

Cole Evans {Ichabod Crane} (blackcatsrbad) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-05-08 12:21:00

Entry tags:

dorothy, ichabod crane

Who: Cole and Madison
What: Probably the worst reason for a visit ever
Where: 101
When: About 4pm, after this
Warnings: Sad stuff

This was the very last thing in the world Cole wanted to do, but he knew he owed it to Madison to tell her the truth. She was right - she wasn't a kid, and he couldn't treat her like one. Sugar coating what happened or trying to hide things from her weren't things he had the right to do, and however painful it might be, she needed to hear everything: about Aaron's murder and the effects of his fable. It was the right thing to do, but that didn't mean it was easy.

He tried to find a good way to word what he had to say, but by the time he'd made it down to the first floor, he still had no idea. Maybe something like this couldn't be practiced or rehearsed. He'd just have to... well, say it.

Taking a deep breath, he raised a hand and knocked on the door.

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metrogingham
2010-05-08 08:46 pm UTC (link)

Madison was used to loss.

By all means she shouldn't have been, but the world seemed fit to toughen her up and expose her vulnerability at those times when she wasn't expecting it. When Aaron entered her life, it had been by awkwardness, friendliness and the kind of friendship that could only occur by two people who had gone through so much yet knew so little of the world as a whole at the same time. Still, he was a grounding post and an opportunity for Madison to relax, be free and have someone treat her more on a level of equality rather than, well, a kid.

But now bad things were happening and she didn't know if she was remotely prepared for it. How she wished she could have lied to Mr. Evans, pretended that Aaron's absence wasn't a bit deal, that everything was really okay and she didn't need to keep worrying because he would turn up with his moose sweater and all would be well. She had made a similar lie for her parents too. But she told Cole she could handle it and that he needed to tell her in person.

That was the biggest lie of all.

She kept Rex in a doggy kennel right after she got home. Checking to make sure her aunt and uncle were still at work, the knocks interrupted her though process, each one sounding louder than the prior. When she opened the door, her face was pale but her stance was almost confrontational, daring Cole to sugar coat the truth.

"Hi Mr. Evans. Please, come in," she shakily started, opening the door and gesturing to the living room where a couch sat across two chairs. He was free to sit wherever he'd like.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-09 01:55 am UTC (link)

Cole swallowed heavily as the door was opened, offering a weak attempt at a smile. "Hi, Madison." He couldn't figure out what the hell to do with his hands, so he settled on sticking them in his pockets as he stepped inside.

The guilt that seemed to follow him constantly hadn't left, even though the logical part of him knew it wasn't his fault that Aaron had died. But he needed someone to blame, even now, and since there were no solid leads it seemed he was the only one to take at least some of it. He decided to sit in one of the chairs, waiting for her to sit before clearing his throat.

"I... well, there's really no easy way to say this, Madison. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but some things happened and I just... I'm sorry." He paused, reminding himself to stop apologizing every five seconds. "Aaron... he's dead. He was murdered." He winced at his own words, wishing there was a gentler way to break it to her.

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metrogingham
2010-05-11 03:03 am UTC (link)

Shutting the door behind Cole, she chose to settle down on the couch opposite of him. Madison felt as though her insides were standing on a precipice, waiting for the confirmation that Aaron was dead. It was ridiculous, she knew it, he knew it, the police even probably knew it. Why she felt knowing the truth would bring any sort of peace was beyond her.

Except peace was something she would not receive. Her eyes scrunched shut when he apologized, hands clutching at her legs and refraining from telling him exactly what she thought of 'sorries,' but then the word murder fractured her thoughts. Immediately her eyes widened and hot prickly tears began threatening to spill. "He what?!" she almost shouted, forgetting where they were before struggling to return her voice to a non-irritable register. "How did that happen? Do the police have any leads? Is someone paying for this? What about Balto? Oh my-was that his blood that guy was talking about?" It was a miracle she hadn't tried shaking Cole by now just to get him to answer faster.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-11 03:51 am UTC (link)

He knew she wouldn't take it well, although he'd be lying if he said he didn't have a faint hope of her coping better than expected. Cole shook his head, closing his eyes momentarily in an attempt to answer her multitude of questions as well as he could. "The police aren't going to help us, Madison. We're on our own here." It was surreal, but true - nothing had come from the brief investigation about a month ago. They'd barely even listened when he tried telling them about his stalker. "But that doesn't mean whoever did it is going free. I think someone in the building killed him, and I'll do whatever necessary to find out who. There are other people who want to help, too."

He only paused momentarily, because it was clear that Madison wanted answers and she wanted answers now. "I don't know exactly what happened, but the medical examiner thinks he was fighting someone before... before he died. I have a few ideas, but do you know of any enemies Aaron might have had? Anyone he didn't get along with?" If she mentioned P4, then Cole knew he had a solid lead. "Someone on the second floor found Balto. I think he'll take good care of him." He almost apologized again, but managed to stop himself in time.

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metrogingham
2010-05-11 05:57 am UTC (link)

"They're not going to help? Why not!" she childishly asserted, resisting stamping her foot in protest. It didn't work on her parents and it sure wasn't going to work on a teacher either. She remembered the officer who came and questioned herself and her uncle. He seemed like he would have helped, but she supposed it was just pure grownup crap, the stuff they would tell her when they were trying to make everything sugar coated prettiness so the blow wouldn't seem as harsh. Incidentally it never worked.

She paused in thought as she heard what Cole was saying, what he was asking. Someone in the building? As if wasn't hard enough just living here, knowing in the back of her mind the other tenants were...shady, now she actually had to stop ignoring it and address it directly. "Well, I'm not sure. I saw him fight one kid at school before he got in trouble and decided to go homeschooling, but that was it and he don't live here. I think there was someone he didn't like but it was so long ago, I don't remember, oh I wish I remembered," she sniffed, rubbing away a tear on her cheek. She only nodded at the mention of Balto. If Mr. Evans thought the guy could take care of Aaron's puppy, then that would have to be enough.

"Where are they gonna bury him?" she tentatively asked, not really sure she wanted to know the answer.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-11 06:20 am UTC (link)

Cole sighed, pushing forward despite how much he didn't want to do this. "There's something... about this building. I know it doesn't make much sense, but I've tried. A lot of us have. The police can't help us." He didn't even understand it himself, but there was just something wrong. There had been no follow-up questions, no leads, nothing. In any other situation this never would have happened, but they were all representations of fables living under the same roof. Normal was a word that really didn't apply anymore.

"It's okay," he said immediately, not wanting her to feel even a shred of the guilt he did. She didn't deserve to have to carry something like that around. "No one is going to let Aaron's death go unpunished, I promise you that." It was one promise he could actually keep, since Micah had proved helpful, and he was sure even Shane would help if asked.

He looked down, wanting to avoid Madison's last question entirely. On the one hand, telling her the truth might be traumatizing and then he'd be at fault if she couldn't handle it; but if he lied, and she happened to meet skeleton-Aaron in the hallways, wouldn't it be even worse if she was unprepared? "There's... something else. I wish I didn't have to say this, and it's going to be really hard to hear, but you need to know." Cole rubbed a hand across his face before lifting his gaze. "We can't bury him. He... his fable is The Willful Child, and because of it, he comes back on the full moon. As in... back to life."

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metrogingham
2010-05-11 09:52 pm UTC (link)

She sniffled again, trying to keep control on her emotions. Oh. If he was right, then that officer not coming back was not because she was a kid, but because supposedly the building was keeping them from getting the law in here. Somehow. "It's because of us too isn't it?" She gave a half laugh through her tears. "I mean with the full moon and stuff. I turn into, well I'm sure it's Dorothy unless there was someone else wearing checkered dresses and silver slippers."

"I know," she nodded at Cole. Despite how she felt about adults sometimes, less so than Aaron ~~does~~ did, every now and then someone was pretty good at surprising her. Mr. Evans was one of them. At least, he just seemed trustworthy and that made her feel better.

However, he was kind of right in the next bit of news being traumatizing as evidenced by her bulging eyeballs. "What, he what--" she sputtered, "--how could he--that's imposs--so he's like a zombie now?" She rubbed her forehead, clearly still in shock at the information. Was he just going to be a ghost and come back normal or was he going to pop out of the ground screaming BWAINS at every passerby. Worst of all... "Wait he's here?" she hissed. That was the saddest ickiest thing she ever heard.

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-11 11:44 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, it's... everything. Us, the building, what happens during the full moon - no one would ever believe half of what happens here." Most of them would either end up dead or in mental institutions, and somehow Cole doubted that whoever owned the building wanted that to happen. "We're different. Everything about this is somewhere outside of reality."

He'd already let too many people down already, and if he didn't find out who killed Aaron then he would have failed him in every way, and he couldn't let that happen.

Cole shook his head vehemently, knowing what she was probably imagining. "No, he's not a zombie. I mean-- he kind of looked like one, but he was still himself. He's still Aaron, but his body is... well... still dead, if that makes sense." He wasn't about to tell her that Aaron's bones were currently being stored in his closet, so he decided to edge around the truth on that one. "No, he's not here. He's somewhere safe until the next full moon."

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metrogingham
2010-05-12 08:03 am UTC (link)

"Oh. Great," she said somewhat sarcastically. As if it wasn't enough that she had to move away from home and find out she was somehow also a girl that talked to munchkins and witches, that some weird outer force was controlling their lives. It couldn't be more awesome if an entire parade marched in there chanting they were all in real big trouble.

Her eyes were still stretched as she was trying to process the information Cole was telling her. "So he's, like, possessing his body or something?" She asked nervously, unsure of what that really meant for any of them. "What are you planning on doing every month then?"

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-12 06:19 pm UTC (link)

Cole understood the sarcasm, since he was hardly thrilled about the situation himself. None of them had asked to become hosts for fictional characters, and signing an apartment lease didn't mean they'd signed up for the bloodshed and insanity that followed. Sometimes he wondered why they didn't all just move, but then other people would take their places, wouldn't they?

"I guess that's the best way to describe it," he said, really not sure what the best way to word it was. "I... all I can do is try to make it easier for him. I'm not here during the moon - it's... Ichabod. But he knows that he has to watch over Aaron, and this doctor from the second floor will help too. His name's Micah. We just have to make sure he stays in the building and doesn't, you know, run into too many people."

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metrogingham
2010-05-13 01:35 am UTC (link)

Considering her last couple of run ins during the moon included a scarecrow and a talking cat, Madison was quite willing to believe Cole when he said he wasn't himself during then. She sort of wished she would just change as well, because this whole seemingly gradual sinking into Dorothy was unsettling. What if one day she or any of them just changed and then they could come back? Nevertheless, she acknowledged his assurance over Aaron's fate by a sigh and a nod. "Okay. Okay then. We will just have to be careful then, won't we?" The question was purely rhetorical. She mentally dared him to keep her out of the whole affair.

Keeping her tears down to a watery eye level, she stood up and brushed the nothing sitting off her lap. "My folks will be coming home soon and I don't wanna get them involved in this. Thanks for coming over and telling me. And, y'know, for not treating me like a...well...kid." Despite her sadness, she managed a smile for Mr. Evans. "Keep me updated, yeah?"

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blackcatsrbad
2010-05-13 04:11 am UTC (link)

Cole hadn't exactly discussed telling Madison - or anyone else, for that matter - about Aaron with Micah, but then again it wasn't like he'd been sworn to secrecy. She had a right to be involved in what was going on, especially since she'd been Aaron's closest friend in the building. "Yeah, we will. If you run into him... make sure he's okay. He'll be hard to miss, and hopefully you remember who he is."

He stood seconds after she did, trying to gauge whether she was simply pretending to be okay, or whether she really had been able to accept all of this. "You're welcome. I thought you had a right to know." Turning towards the door, he paused to look back. "Yeah. I will, don't worry." With that he let himself out, quietly slipping out the door and back to his own apartment.

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