WHO: Jade Mayweather and Jade Mayweather. WHEN: April 25th, 2018. EARLY in the morning. WHERE: Mayweather's house and then the cemetery. SUMMARY: Jade wants to take pictures of ghosts. She tricks JJ into being her model. He's super agitated and hangry. That's basically it. WARNINGS: Language, mostly. Mention of looking for ghosts. JJ. Just..JJ.
Normally, JJ would never be up at this hour. But Jade had asked about a thousand times and who was he to deny his twin? Climbing out of bed, he fumbled around in the dark for a pair of shorts and a shirt, nimbly pulling them on, before he reached for Fitz. The dog rumbled a warning before snapping and grabbing JJ’s arm with his teeth.
“Goddamnit, Fitz,” JJ swore. “It’s me, you fucking idiot.”
The dog continued to snarl until JJ made it over to the door and flipped on the light. Immediately, the growling stopped and the dog’s tail thumped rhythmically against his side.
“You’re a fucking moron,” JJ said as he moved to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Too early. It was way too early.
Wandering down the hall, he took the steps two at a time as he made it down to the kitchen. “Yo,” he offered in greeting. “We’re here. Fitz is being a shit, but we’re up.”
“Finally,” Jade responded as she saw her brother come into the kitchen. She shoved a travel mug filled with coffee into his hand and then went to her bags. Rummaging through them she was careful not to knock the camera around her neck off of anything.
Checking her phone as she was going through a bag and marking off a list and making sure she had everything she needed, she smiled and zipped them up. Grabbing one of the bags she motioned to her brother to grab the other two.
“Come on,” she said grabbing the keys to the car, “we have to move or we will be too late!”
JJ watched Jade’s flurry of action with an impassive stare. Suddenly, he was holding a mug of coffee. As she gestured at the other two bags, he arched an eyebrow before clearing his throat. “Okay, we’ve been through this, sis,” he said with a tired sigh. “I am not going to be your assistant. I’m not assistant material. I’m the leading lady.”
Jade sighed and rolled her eyes at JJ. He never trusted her.
“I know you are darling, that’s why I need you here today. Those bags are filled with your clothes. I know, don’t start about how I got them. I need a model!” Jade slyly smiled and winked at her brother. “Now, will you get in the car? We’re going to miss sunrise if you keep stalling.”
She left the kitchen for the garage and put the bag she had in the back seat. She then secured her camera in it’s casing and placed it with the bags. She got in the car, hit the button to open the garage door, and then turned on her favorite playlist - a pop mix full of electronic dance jams. She checked her phone again, noticing time ticking. Impatiently waiting for JJ to join her. she honked twice. If he was one more minute late she would miss her lighting and she would never forgive him. Well, at least not for a week.
Again, he stared at her. He didn’t budge.
Except, somehow, in the midst of his groggy state of mind and his blurred vision, she had disappeared. Fitz wiggled in his arms to be put down, whining and flailing, until JJ had to just about toss him to the floor. “Christ! Fitz, it’s too early for this shit.”
It was too early. That was his point entirely. If the sun wasn’t up, he wasn’t up either. As the car honked for him, he tossed his head back and huffed, staring at the ceiling for a long moment before she honked for him again.
“Oh my fucking--” He grabbed the bags she’d pointed at him to take and hefted them onto his shoulder before he trudged out of the front door.
“What the fuck is so important that we have to be up this early?”
He threw the bags into the back seat and climbed into the front passenger side seat, leaning his head against the headrest. He closed his eyes for a moment before he wrinkled his nose. “Seriously.”
Jade giggled and turned the music up louder as she backed out of the garage. On the trip she knew not to make small talk with JJ this early, so she sang and danced the whole way there. She was bursting with energy - excited for this photo shoot. She had heard rumors... and needed to see if she could catch anything. She knew JJ wouldn’t like where they were going or why so she figured she wouldn’t tell him the full truth until they were there.
A short time later, they arrived at the Fall City Cemetery. It was getting close to sunrise and Jade was getting anxious. She parked the car and looked at her brother with excitement.
“We’re here! Now grab the bags and put on the purple shirt and black jeans with those boots you like. Then meet me up at the top of the hill there in no less than ten minutes - and I mean it, JJ.”
Jade opened up the back door, grabbed her camera and equipment bag, then started for the top of the hill. There was a small sepulchre here and if she could get the right lighting at the right time of day, just before sunrise, maybe she’d be able to catch a picture of the ghost those kids were talking about. When she got to the top of the hill she tested out her camera by taking a few pictures of some flowers nearby and a spiderweb with dew on it, you know, artsy stuff. She had brought a digital and 35mm film camera just in case one could capture it better than the other. She sat on a rock nearby pondering over whether she should tell JJ about her intentions. She didn’t know if she believed in the ghost stories yet, but she wanted to for some reason. Probably because it would make life cooler to know that something like that was out there. If there weren’t any ghosts here, at least she’d get some cool pictures of her brother for her portfolio.
Generally speaking, JJ took orders from no one. He could be occasionally convinced by Fitz to do something. Or Lola would complain loudly enough that he would reconsider his position. But if he didn’t want to do whatever it was, no amount of badgering could force him to do it. As Jade gave her orders, he lifted one eyebrow and watched her leave.
Even so, he begrudgingly changed, shoving the pants on, angrily sliding his feet into the boots, before pulling on the shirt. The early morning air was crisp and cold. As the breeze swept over his exposed arms, he shivered.
“It’s fucking freezing out here, Jade,” he complained as he trudged his way from the car to the rock where she had seated herself. “So make this really fucking quick. I’m tired and I’ve got a FIFA18 match tonight. I need to be at peak performance.”
“You know it isn’t real soccer, right? You are just sitting there pressing buttons so I am sure you will be at your best performance. This won’t take long - just go over by the sepulchre and lean against it. You know, like those models do in magazines. Arm above your head, sultry look away from the camera. I will make the magic happen.”
Jade stood up and set up her tripod, setting her camera in it. She fidgeted with the settings a few times - what settings did you use to capture a ghost? Shutter speed? Focus? She felt she should have researched this more when she finally settled on a setting. She hoped that JJ wouldn’t notice that she was stalling, but at the same time was sure he would say something if she didn’t take a picture soon.
Again, JJ stared at his twin and took the time to wonder how they had ended up so distinctly different. Had they not shared a womb? How could she want to be up so early? In the cold? In the rain? He held his position for a long moment before rolling his eyes. He moved to stand close to where she had pointed out and then sat his ass down in the grass.
“It’s my fucking livelihood,” he drawled dramatically. “It’s how I get all my hard earned cash. Beating little shits and taking their money.” He slowly gazed upward, smirking. “You want to tell me why we’re here?”
Fiddling with the camera setting a little more Jade sighed and looked at her brother.
“I still don’t know how you make money from that,” Jade mumbled. She stalled a moment longer before deciding to trust her brother. “Fine, I will tell you, but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone or think I am weird or something…” Jade paused for a moment and then continued. “You know those ghost stories around town? All the kids tell them. Some of the people who have been here long believe in them too and I don’t know - I just thought if I could somehow capture a ghost on film it would be cool. It would let me know if there’s something ethereal out there - ya know? Something to look forward to later and make life more interesting now. I guess I could have done this alone. I was creeped out by the idea of being here by myself though. As much as I want to believe ghosts are real I dunno… it still creeps me out. ”
Jade finished fiddling with the keys and changed her serious demeanor trying to cover up her vulnerability. She trusted him more than anyone, but she also hated showing how she really felt about anything.
“Besides,” she added, “if I find nothing you will have some really awesome photos and I can add more to my portfolio. Is that a good enough answer? Will you pose now?”
It wasn’t hard for his sister’s pleading to crack the surface of his cold, dead heart. He watched her face for a beat and struggled with the decision to comply.
“I’m not posing,” he replied as he found his feet and brushed off his pants. “There aren’t ghosts in Fall City.” He canted his head to the side and arched an eyebrow. “If I do this for you, you’ll owe me a favor.”
That was how it worked with JJ. It was never something for nothing. It had to be an even trade.
Jade shuffled her feet and nodded. “Agreed.”
She had done this before with him, she couldn’t imagine the favor could be too terrible and she trusted him enough to agree. She was a bit upset that he wouldn’t pose - that would be better for her portfolio and for his own pictures to use for whatever sites he has for employment these days, but she was grateful that he was there and staying - even if he didn’t believe in ghosts. Jade proceeded to take some pictures without directing him as she knew he wouldn’t move or do anything even if she tried. After taking about 30 different pictures she was satisfied.
“Alright. Your torture is over. Go back to the car and get warm. I’ll be there in minute after I pack up. Take the bag of clothes with you. If you don’t, it’ll just take me longer to get us back.” She turned away from him as she said all of this but turned back her head towards him and quietly said, “Thanks, JJ. I appreciate you coming here with me even if you were a grumpy butt.”
She then continued to put away the camera and equipment back into the bag when a random and strong gust of wind hit. Even though she held on as tight as she could it knocked the camera out of her hand and broke it and suddenly ceased.
“Shit!” she called out as she picked up the pieces. A bit of the film got scratched but she thought she could salvage most of it so she threw it in the bag and decided to deal with it later. She couldn’t help but felt a chill go up her spine as her thoughts wandered to what could have caused the gust of wind, how it stopped so suddenly, and why it only hit her camera. She ran back to car and set everything in the back seat to head home.