InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You said you love me."

Cinna (decorative) wrote in dunwichgame,
@ 2024-02-03 19:07:00

Entry tags:

!log/thread/narrative, crimson peak: thomas sharpe, the hunger games: cinna, ∙ plot: 013 rock lobster

Thomas & Cinna

01.02 midday | The Sable Salon | Low

Thomas meets a recurring nightmare.

⚠ Gore, mentions of a dead body

No salon worth its salt would've shut its doors on a Friday afternoon. None that cared to stay in business, at least. Not unless they had a very, very good reason to cancel all appointments, text their staff not to come in, and flip the sign on the door to 'Sorry, We're Closed!'

Cinna was staring at one such reason. The woman with the slit throat hadn't moved an inch. She never did. He still worried that if he took his eyes off her for more than an instant, she might come at him.

For what purpose, he couldn't say. She was already dead. And the dead were the one kind of people he had yet to see commit any acts of violence.

A knock at the door made him jump. From the corner of his eye, through the frosted glass, Cinna glimpsed a form he knew well: tall, with a mop of curls on his head and a perfectly tailored coat draping his slender frame.

Speaking of the dead…

Cringing away from the thought, Cinna called out, "It's open!" but didn't look away from the salon's only other presence.

The dead woman wouldn't be visible from the doorway. There was still a chance that by the time Thomas walked in, she would have vanished. Again.

(Post a new comment)

courteous
2024-02-06 03:09 am UTC (link)

On his way over, Thomas debated the question that Cinna had asked. He wondered if he had spoken with the dead around Dunwich and just hadn't realized it? He wondered if the locals were similar to the Mistakes in that way - that the dead could go about their lives among the living, as if nothing had changed in the afterlife.

Clearly something was going on with this particular local woman. Honestly, Thomas wasn't entirely sure that he could be helpful in this situation. But by god, he was going to try, for Cinna's sake. He knocked on the door of the salon and with permission granted, Thomas let himself inside - slowly, cautiously. Mostly because he wasn't entirely sure what he would find inside.

There was Cinna, his back to Thomas. And as Thomas came closer, he could see her - the woman sitting in the chair. Upon that first glance, yes, the sight was indeed unsettling. Even with his experience with this sort of thing, Thomas had never gotten used to it. Lucille had always been the one with a stomach for gore, not himself.

He came to stand beside Cinna, his hand reaching out to touch his shoulder; his silent way of greeting him. Thomas remained where he was a beat or two longer, simply taking the sight of the woman in. With every passing second, Thomas became a little more comfortable, until he finally broke the silence with a softly spoken, "If she becomes aggressive, I want you to stay back. I don't want you to intervene."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-06 06:03 am UTC (link)

The soft click of footsteps announced Thomas, but it wasn't until Cinna felt the touch of his hand that he truly believed he was there. That he wasn't alone with -- his guest. He pressed into Thomas's hand for just a moment, before steeling himself against Thomas's warning.

"Why? What do you mean to do?" They likely didn't need to whisper, but Thomas had started it, and Cinna instinctively followed suit.

The blonde didn't acknowledge them, didn't seem to notice. She might have been beyond that. Or she might have been biding her time.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

courteous
2024-02-08 05:51 am UTC (link)

"I'm just going to try to speak with her. But.." Thomas paused, uncertain of what he was about to say. He feared that Cinna might find him crazy for it, but this was useful information so after that beat of hesitation, he continued. "I've encountered resentful spirits before. At home, where I come from. They usually make it evident very quickly if they do not wish to be disturbed. And if this woman turns hostile, the last thing I want is for you to get hurt."

Thomas' hand slid down from Cinna's shoulder, giving his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. If Thomas could handle the angry apparitions that inhabited Allerdale Hall, then surely he could handle this.

Or at least, he presumed he could. He let go of Cinna's hand and approached the woman, waiting to see if she would acknowledge him in some way - the shift of her eyes or perhaps, a tilt of her chin. "Excuse me, miss? Can you hear me?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-08 10:28 am UTC (link)

Cinna swallowed hard. "Okay." It wasn't okay. "Understood." He did understand, he just didn't like that he had dragged Thomas into this -- or that there was anything to drag him into in the first place.

But the cat was out of the proverbial bag now and Thomas was a man of his word. He ventured forth like a tribute heading into the arena. The old floors creaked underfoot. A pipe clanged somewhere in the wall to his left.

Cinna stopped breathing, listening for some response from the dead woman. None came.

She didn't so much as twitch.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

courteous
2024-02-08 04:52 pm UTC (link)

Thomas could tell by Cinna's tone that he wasn't exactly thrilled over what he'd just said. But that wouldn't stop Thomas from inching closer still, until he was standing directly next to the chair she was in.

"Miss?"

Another moment passed. Nothing happened. Thomas cocked his head to the side, looking her over. The gash to her throat really was gruesome. He couldn't help but wonder how she'd come to receive such a terrible end. And why. He reached for her hand, his fingers ever so slightly touching her knuckles, purely for the sake of seeing if she would respond.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-09 07:39 am UTC (link)

Cinna had had occasion to stare at the neck wound more often than he cared to. He still found it odd that there wasn't more -- or any -- blood: the flesh around the wound was perfectly pale, as though it had been dabbed clean. The woman's blazer was black, so it could hide all manner of stains, but somehow Cinna didn't think that was the case.

Somehow, her throat had been cut cleanly.

Somehow, though clearly not alive, she was still here.

"Thomas-" Cinna started, when the other man reached for her hand. He started forward, too, not entirely sure if he meant to stop Thomas or somehow protect him--

The woman's head tilted up with an uncanny, twitch. Sightless, pale eyes bore into Thomas. Her lips parted, mouth opening, blood bubbling out of the wound and gushing down her chest--

Cinna blinked, and the chair was suddenly empty.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

courteous
2024-02-09 08:06 am UTC (link)

Thomas hadn't even heard his name being spoken. The entirety of his attention was on that woman -

Finally, he'd been given some sort of reaction. Finally, she had moved. Unfortunately, Thomas had no idea what to think of that reaction. Or what followed, for that matter. He didn't recoil. Not even when blood filled her wound and began pouring down her body. He couldn't look away, the sight reminding him far too much of things he'd seen before. And then, before he could fully process what was happening, the woman was gone, leaving Thomas and Cinna alone in the room.

Thomas frowned, looking down at the now empty chair. While the image of that poor woman bleeding out was indeed horrifying, Thomas realized that he was just as puzzled as he was rattled. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at Cinna. Truly, Thomas was at a loss for words. What he'd witnessed had left him speechless. But his eyes conveyed an unspoken question of, are you okay? with an underlying secondary emotion of disbelief.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-09 09:31 am UTC (link)

She was gone. She was gone and Thomas was still here, still in one piece -- though Cinna didn't quite believe it until he had him by the shoulders, shaking hands sliding up to cup his cheeks. "You saw that, right? I wasn't just. It wasn't in my head?"

Many horrible images lived on in there -- tributes torn to pieces for entertainment, lovers disappeared into non-existence, a childhood home ransacked and left empty. Nothing, though, quite as personal, as intimate as what he'd just witnessed.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

courteous
2024-02-10 06:44 am UTC (link)

"I did, yes. I saw it," Thomas whispered, his hands coming to rest upon Cinna's sides, keeping him close. "She just - I wonder if I frightened her away."

Thomas closed his eyes for a moment, recalling what he'd just seen. Horrific as it was, he did everything in his power to set his emotions aside, grasping for any detail he could provide that might be helpful to Cinna. But the woman's face - even after she had moved, it was impossible to tell what she was feeling. Or thinking. Or if she was even able to feel or think at all. He finally reopened his eyes, looking at Cinna.

"The ghosts I encountered at home rarely had full faces. They were usually in some state of decay, their eyes almost always missing. But even then, even without eyes or hardly a mouth, they were still able to express themselves in some way. I always knew what they were feeling, because of their gestures, or the way they moved.. This woman, though - Her eyes were so void of.. anything. It's so strange, Cinna. I fully believe that she is a ghost, but I wonder if something is keeping her this way, unable to communicate."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-10 09:28 am UTC (link)

"I'm glad she didn't frighten you away," Cinna scoffed. Then wondered if she had and Thomas was simply putting a brave face on. His silence was fertile ground for a seed of doubt to take root in Cinna's mind. The longer it stretched on, and the more Cinna readied himself for the fallout.

By the time Thomas spoke again, Cinna's back was ramrod straight, his palms sliding from Thomas's cheeks to his shoulders, and away, already letting go.

Except -- he didn't have to. Thomas's words registered slowly. He was -- talking shop. Reasoning his way through what they'd just witnessed. Still thinking about the dead woman. About ghosts.

"What could do that? I read the dead lingered because of unfinished business...?" But maybe not exclusively? After all, Thomas was still here, wasn't he? And it seemed unlikely his business was in Dunwich.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

courteous
2024-02-10 04:39 pm UTC (link)

"I'm not sure what would cause it, but I do wonder about the circumstances of her death. Back home, there was a woman who died in my house from a hatchet wound. Whenever I saw her ghost, the hatchet was usually with her." Driven into her head, more specifically. But Thomas would skip that detail. "The woman who keeps returning to your shop cannot speak because of her neck wound, presumably, but I'm not sure what's keeping the rest of her so.. unresponsive."

Thomas paused, glancing at the chair. "I wonder if she's afraid. Perhaps she keeps coming back because she needs help, but lacks the ability to ask for it.."

Of course Thomas' sympathetic mind would draw that conclusion over something more malicious. The ghosts at Allerdale Hall certainly had not wanted help. They had only wanted to terrorize him.

He shook his head, waving the thought from his mind. "I'm sorry, Cinna. I can try again if she ever returns but for your sake, I hope she doesn't."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-10 06:05 pm UTC (link)

That was Cinna's hope, too. But if the last few months were any guide and today was any indication, it was a foolish one. "Do you want to... maybe we should get some air? Before Hopper and his man get here."

The Salon felt unbearably stuffy all of a sudden. Like a trap with its jaws just waiting to snap shut.

Outside, it would be a little past noon, the February sun bright and ineffectual, the sounds of traffic and people and life, loud and comforting. And Thomas showed no signs of fleeing yet, but Cinna wasn't about to take any chances.

"Wait here," he told him, and disappeared into the little convenience store next door. Two minutes later, he emerged with a can of strawberry soda in each hand. He offered one to Thomas. "Sugar. It's good for the nerves." He'd come this close to buying liquor instead.

Fortunately, the convenience store didn't sell any.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

courteous
2024-02-11 07:19 am UTC (link)

Thomas wouldn't flee. Not from Cinna or the ghost, for that matter. Thomas looked back at the chair as they made their way towards the door, as if he expected her to reappear..

The cool, crisp air outside did indeed provide a successful distraction. In Cinna's absence, Thomas realized that Cinna hadn't asked about the ghosts at Allerdale Hall. And oh, how grateful Thomas was over it. Perhaps he'd said too much. Perhaps, he should keep his talk of past experiences to a minimum.

Thomas smiled as Cinna returned with the soda. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Cinna's cheek, murmuring a sweetly spoken, "Thank you, darling." He paused as he looked at the drink, his grin widening just a little more as he inspected the can. "Fond of strawberries, are we?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-11 09:17 am UTC (link)

"Who isn't?" Cinna asked, his own smile somewhat muted. The kiss had warmed him a tad, but he still felt chilled to the bone. Nothing to do with the cool February breeze, either.

The soda did indeed help: it fizzed sweetly on the tongue and occupied his mouth against inopportune questions, albeit not for long. "I suppose I could close the salon," he offered after a long moment. "If she won't tell us what she wants and I can't make her leave..."

Don't ask. Leave it be. It's none of your business. You may not like the answer.

Cinna looked at Thomas. "How did you rid yourself of your ghosts?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

courteous
2024-02-11 04:10 pm UTC (link)

"I wouldn't jump to that conclusion just yet. If the Mistake community can figure out how to get rid of monsters, then surely we can figure out how to get rid of one ghost."

Easier said than done, though, probably.

As for Cinna's question, Thomas made a face that indicated that Cinna would indeed may not like his answer. He replied anyway. "I didn't. But I never really tried, either. My sister and I were outcasts enough. I didn't want to draw attention to Allerdale Hall or appear to be out of my mind, going into town and talking about ghosts. I really do believe it to be possible, Cinna."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

decorative
2024-02-12 05:56 am UTC (link)

Even if he didn't understand ghosts, Cinna understood the impulse to keep a low profile. Watch what you said and who you said it to. Fear of being found wanting. Strange. An outlier.

"I hope so," he said and rested his hand on Thomas's knee. He intended it to be a show of gratitude -- for Thomas's presence, for his kind words -- but he lingered a beat too long and Thomas didn't move his leg, and Cinna forgot how to perform a graceful retreat.

It would not be long now before Hopper and his colleague arrived. They would investigate. They would ask questions. They might have better luck than Cinna and Thomas, or they might leave empty-handed and frustrated.

They might call him a liar and accuse him of wasting police time.

Nothing Cinna could do about it now. He sat on the bench outside his haunted salon, and drank his soda, and waited, a ghost at his side. A ghost at his back.

(Reply to this) (Parent)