Late Night Discoveries WHO Morgan Yates OT Tay Lyle WHAT A late night visit to Havenwood's cemetery gives Morgan a surprise. WHERE Havenwood Cemetery WHEN July 2nd, 2015 ~10:21pm (Backdated) RATING TBD
There was always something about cemeteries that Morgan found deeply calming, even soothing. Perhaps it was just because he was a Hellhound, a faerie that dealt with death and destruction so much in their lives that cemeteries never really bothered them. To Morgan, it felt a little like coming home or your favorite sweater that fit just right. He liked the fact that it was quiet and he could be alone to think, which is exactly what he needed after what happened on Aurora's birthday.
His mind repeated her words over and over again as he traipsed through the grass, sure footed in the dark thanks to his excellent vision as a Hellhound. On the one hand, Morgan was elated that Aurora felt the same way about him as he did her. He'd been waiting years to hear that admission, to have his feelings reciprocated. On the other hand, the revelation also filled him with an unprecedented amount of dread. In his gut, Morgan just knew that things would turn unpleasant. He wasn't sure what, but someone's heart would get ripped from their chest.
Continuing toward his destination, a breeze kicked up from the direction of the bay and Morgan was glad he decided on the lightweight sweater and jacket to wear on his outing along with the jeans and boots he'd pulled on before going out. That was one of the things he liked about living on a body of water. The nights got chilly enough, sometimes, to break out a sweater and it was so reminiscent of Autumn, that it was a nice feeling of home... Which lead him back to his conversation with Aurora and he heaved a sigh.
More than anything, Morgan wanted to act on his own feelings for the princess, but he wasn't sure it was entirely the right thing to do. Usually when he was this uncertain about something, coming to the cemetery and doing his purposes in life, which was guiding souls to their respective afterlife, made him feel better. It just so happened that one Judith Mills died peacefully in her sleep about a week ago and the Hellhound figured it was about time for her to move on. Yet, when he found her grave, the old lady was nowhere to be found, so he took a seat on one of the bigger nearby headstones and waited. And waited. And waited. At one point, Morgan pulled out his phone, half tempted to text Aurora, but ultimately decided on 1010 until he got bored with that. Pulling out an apple from his jacket, he'd eaten half of it when he decided to check his watch again. The face read 10:18pm. Having spent an hour in the cemetery, it was obvious Mrs. Mills was not going to make an appearance tonight. Perhaps she was still trying to get to this plain or perhaps she'd already moved on of her own accord. Whatever the case, Morgan had a chance to spent some time in a quiet place and think.
Getting to his feet, he picked his way toward the front of the cemetery once more, pausing now and then to study an interesting headstone until his apple was nothing more than the core. Wandering off to find a trash bin, he found one near a water spigot and tossed the eaten fruit into the bin. When he turned, he left fly a shriek of surprise that could've rivaled any Banshee of the Autumn Court. Standing almost behind him was a young woman—a ghost—and he quickly recovered as he bent slightly to rest his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
"Matilda's Tits, do all of you just sneak up on people like that?!"
Taegan had many questions and very few -- if any -- answers. She had become aware of herself and her surroundings very slowly, like out of a dream that left her groggy and her eyelids heavy. Her mind was in a fog and her extremities felt numb. It took so much effort to force herself awake and to finally really, really take in what was around her.
She was in a cemetery. Havenwood Cemetery. It confused her because she didn’t remember how she got there. She tried to think back but her head was still fuzzy. She remembered being at school and...and she remembered being cold. So cold. A chill came upon her at the thought of it and trembling hands clutched her jacket tighter around slender shoulders. It had no effect against the cold that gripped her, however, it seemed to come from within her very bones. Even the tears that dripped from her cheeks were like ice and she felt so helpless then. So tired.
That was days ago. Or months, perhaps? Years? Tay found she had no grasp on time although she was aware of some amount of it passing. She’d tried to talk to a few people who had come into the cemetery but they paid her no attention. That was the first indication that something was off, strangely. Not the constant drugged feeling nor separation from her own body. Not spending however long it had been in the cemetery. Not the fact that she had felt no need for food or water this entire time. It was the fact that when she stepped in front of a person and waved her hands, pleading for them to look at her, they just stepped right on past without even a glance or an acknowledgment. It was this that first had her realizing her true situation.
Since then there had been more sleep, some wandering, the occasional attempt at interaction without results. She knew she was dead. She was aware her body was no longer a solid entity and, despite continuous efforts, there was very little she could do about that, it seemed. She did feel like she was getting stronger though, and that was a plus. It was now whole lengths of time before she found herself too tired to avoid drifting back into that terrible, endless sleep. This was something she could work with, she thought.
Tay watched people come and go. It even seemed like not everyone came to the cemetery to visit loved ones. Some seemed to just come by because they liked it, for no reason at all. These were the most interesting people to her and so when the tall man came along she was watching him with interest. He seemed to be waiting for somebody that never showed and that was a shame. It meant that watching him just sit around had been more boring than Tay had initially hoped for. Still, when he rose up to continue his way, she followed him. There was something still different about him. It wasn’t something that Tay was actively aware of but his energy was tugging at her. She felt better when she was near him and when he paused to throw his apple away she dared to step even closer.
Then he turned and his shout startled a scream of her own out of her. She brought a hand up to her pounding heart and then looked behind her to see what had actually scared him but she saw nothing. That was when she realized, he was looking right at her.
“You can see me??” She asked, taking a step back from the man, suddenly very uncertain but, despite that, his words bristled at her. “Ok, well, it’s not like I have much of a choice.” She defended herself, with a wrinkle of her nose, and she showed him what she meant by loudly stomping her feet on the gravel walkway underneath her. ...Except her heavy footsteps made no noise at all. Tay didn’t actually know this but she simply hadn’t become strong enough to manipulate her surroundings at all. Even her footsteps fell silent.
“Oh god, my hair must look terrible.” She suddenly fretted, bring a hand up to brush at the wisps of dark hair that escape the knitted cap she wore on her head. She was dressed for heavy winter despite the time of year. A hat upon her head, scarf around her neck and a thick wool peacoat hanging down to her knees to reveal the bottom hem of a wool skirt, thick stockings and rubber rain boots. She didn’t seem to notice that she was dressed out of season.
"Yes, I can see you," Morgan said with a hint of irritability to his voice. It was not the girl's fault he'd been startled, after all, and that was one of the challenges he loved about his ability to see and communicate with the dead and it's frustrations. It was a challenge in that he had to work to sense them and frustrating when he couldn't and they appeared or snuck up on him at the most inopportune moments. Having recovered mostly from the initial scare, the guard slipped into Hellhound mode as he took in her appearance. Hat, scarf, heavy coat, rain boots. She must've died late autumn or early winter, he thought. Perhaps from exposure if the hue of her lips was anything to judge by. Despite his nose telling him otherwise, he took a quick assessment of the area to check and see if anyone else of the living persuasion was around. The last thing he needed was someone to witness him talking to no one.
Having folded his hands behind his back as he usually did, his gaze shifted to her head as the girl worried about her appearance. Morgan had to press his lips together slightly in order to keep his face schooled, but he was ashamed to admit that he couldn't as a small smile curved his mouth and he chuckled.
"You're dead and you're worried about your hair." Morgan shook his head, amusement clearly on his visage now as he thought mortals worried about the most trivial things sometimes in their incorporeal forms. The Hellhound then cleared his throat and got down to business.
"How can I be assistance, Miss...?"
"Oh, um...Miss Lyle. Taegan--uh, Tay, I mean. Tay is better." She was flustered and she would have been blushing but she wasn't sure if that was even possible. She hadn't exactly expected anyone to see her or converse with her ever and so she was really not prepared for this. His question confused her though. He was standing there looking at her expectantly as if she needed something but she didn't...did she? He was offering assistance, whatever that meant.
"Well…" She started slowly, brows furrowing as her gaze dropped down to her own feet for a moment. "I mean, I guess I don't really know. What do you mean by 'assistance'? Is there something I'm supposed to need?" Her eyes lifted again and she still looked somewhat confused, or maybe concerned was closer to the truth. It occurred to her that there was much more to this 'being dead' thing than she knew and she didn't really know where to even start.
"I'm...not sure how I got here or how long it's been. No one can see me or hear me and I wasn't expecting you to either so…" She trailed off, not even sure how to finish her thought. She was suddenly so tired, she could feel the inky blackness of sleep creeping up on her but she did her best to ignore it for now. She couldn't pass up this new opportunity for something different.
"I guess it makes more sense now why you were just hanging out here in the middle of the night." She murmured, amusement gradually taking over the uncertainty on her features. It was nice to be talking to someone again. For how little she interacted with people during her life, she had really begun to crave some sort of human connection in the afterlife.