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Tweak says, "Fan fiction: my anti-drug"

Lily Evans (emerald_eyes) wrote in indarkness_logs,
@ 2010-08-02 07:06:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2032 08, gregory house, lily evans

RP: The Future Unfolds
Characters: Lily, House
Time/Date: mid-morning, August 2
Location: her room/lobby/by the line behind the hotel
Warnings/Rating: character death, devastated Lily
Summary: Lily sees a video she'd like to unsee
Status: Complete

It had become habit in the morning to check the network, and it was more easily done on the laptop in the room than on the smaller device. So after showering and dressing for the day and having a light breakfast of cereal in her room, Lily settled down to see if there was anything going on. Sometimes Jaime or Tyler left her messages or questions or things they needed to discuss, but there was none of that today.

Instead, she saw a video that was locked to her, though she couldn't tell who had posted it. Her brow furrowed and she looked around the room uneasily before she clicked the triangle in the middle of the video to start it playing.

At first, she didn't recognize the place. It was dark and the place looked a little different ... but it soon enough became apparent it was the house in the Hollow that James' parents were going to buy for them as a wedding present. Lily felt suddenly very uneasy, and she knew in her gut she didn't want to see this, didn't want to watch this, but she couldn't stop looking, and couldn't close her eyes. For a few seconds, nothing happened ... and then the gate banged open. The sound made her jump a little, and she lifted a hand to her mouth, shaking her head as she swallowed hard.

She tried to stop the video, but the 'stop' button was missing ... and she knew she couldn't, wouldn't, look away. "No," she whispered as the camera panned back and she saw who had crossed their gate. As twisted as he was, there was no mistaking the ... man, the creature, that was even now so very casually striding to their door. Was it their door? Lily prayed that this was simply the people who'd lived there before, and she felt sick for thinking that way. She pressed her hand more tightly to her mouth, muffling the soft cry as the wizard, the man who was plaguing their world blew their door open.

The camera followed him in, and she saw James. Lily knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what was about to happen, and she cried out as if her fiance could hear her. "James, run!" It did no good of course, and she watched in horror as James leapt from the couch and dear god where was hi wand? "James," she whispered. "Oh James no," Lily begged even as she heard James yelling to her. To take Harry, to run. That he was here. Harry. Harry must be their son. Their child. She watched as James ineffectually tried to ward off Voldemort, and she screamed as she saw the flash of green light, as she watched him die, watched him fall. "James, oh god James," she whimpered. Voldemort was moving toward the stairs, and she could hear herself moving around up there, heard her own cries, heard herself begging even as the camera moved in on James' dead face, his glass canted oddly on his face, his hair as messy as ever, his hazel eyes staring blankly, blindly, already beginning to glaze over. She stared at his dead face, and saw still the flash of green light that meant she, too, was gone.

The video stopped and she thought it was some small mercy she didn't have to witness the flash that meant her son was gone as well, and Lily stared numbly at the screen, half-blinded by tears and completely unable to think a single rational thought. James was gone. Her James had been wandless ... because his wand was here? Was that it? Had they stolen it from him to make this happen? Lily reached for the computer, wanting ... wanted to show Jaime, to show Tyler, to make them tell her it wasn't real, that it couldn't happen, but the video was gone. The entry was blank, and then even the entry was gone.

Her lips were parted, her breathing ragged as the tears tumbled freely down her cheeks. This ... how could they do that, show that to her? To break her? Now, more than ever, she wanted to get home, to fix it, to make it so it didn't happen. To save her husband, her son. Her son. James hadn't looked much older than he did now, so their child couldn't have been more than three at the very oldest ... and he was likely younger.

Lily moved her computer aside as she rose slowly. In a blind daze she left her room and navigated the stairs. Her feet were bare, and she realized that only as she felt the mud squishing between her toes as she moved around behind the hotel, stepping toward the line there. She stood at the edge of it and stared across it, seeing nothing but watching the video again and again in her mind. Watching her James fall, watching him die, hearing herself pleading for her son's life.

Sitting down slowly, she wrapped her arms around her bent knees, and lowered her head, and simply cried.

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house_call
2010-08-04 08:30 pm UTC (link)

Greg didn't want to leave his room. He found that he absolutely hated this place. The people here were easily manipulated, but he wasn't the one doing the manipulation. Everything was upside down, he didn't want to deal with the emotional turmoil anymore. He had no idea what was going on with everyone else, but the weather was insane, the moon cycle was jumbled, and apparently people were going through emotional turmoil on a regular basis around this place.

And he wasn't the cause of it.

He wanted to just... stay in his room the days, but he needed to eat... he fought with that concept for a good hour before he finally got himself on his feet and started to head downstairs.

He walked into the kitchen and was surprised of the crowd he found in there. ... Well in all fairness it wasn't a CROWD, just a few people talking, but he didn't want to bother to listen. Anything anyone had to say around here was depressing, or talk about how they would get around that damn line. Which would never happen in the first place.

He grabbed an apple for now and he started to walk out of the kitchen, before a door in the back caught his eye... he hadn't seen it last time he was in here and he found his curiosity peaking... mostly out of boredom. He walked to the back of the kitchen and opened the door, stepping out... only to be met with the sight of that dreaded line. He stared out at it in distaste, but a sound tore him from his hateful daze and he glanced down the wall... to find that redheaded girl sitting against the wall... crying.

Greg froze uncomfortably, and he was about to walk back inside to leave her alone... but in all honesty this was the most interesting thing that happened to him today. What kind of person would he be if he just let... what was her name again? Something floral... ..Lily! What kind of person would he be if he just let LILY sit there and cry? He walked over to her slowly, and glanced down, before he frowned and cocked an eyebrow, muttering,

"Bad day?"

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emerald_eyes
2010-08-04 09:05 pm UTC (link)

Lily was aware of someone approaching, and while she knew it was rude to cry in front of other people, he had invaded her space, not the other way around.

She was aware as well that he'd spoken, and she was trying to muster up some words to respond to his question, but she was still in the middle of the video, even now willing it not to have happened.

Had it been Jaime, or even Tyler, Lily wouldn't have had any problem accepting their comfort or their questions, but she honestly wasn't that comfortable unloading on near strangers.

Finally, she managed to lift her head from where she'd been hiding her face in her arms. She swallowed hard a few times before she lifted a hand to wipe her sleeve across her eyes. "They're just ... up to their tricks, I suppose," she mumbled in a weak voice, her eyes still leaking tears as she tried to will James here, with her, alive and not dead.

She tipped her chin up to regard House, but only briefly before she looked out across the line. Suddenly, crossing it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Maybe it would kill her and she could escape this nightmare of a place. It wasn't her usual way of thinking, but she'd never had to deal with something this close, something that struck so very close to home. She knew they were at war, she knew people she knew, cared about, and loved, would be at risk, but this ... this was just twisted, and wrong.

It was James, and it was her, and why, why would they show that to her? Lily tightened her arms around her knees and continued to stare fixedly across the line. No one had died yet ... and she wondered if they wouldn't actually let anyone here die. If they just wanted to keep tormenting them. She didn't know, couldn't know, and she knew she wouldn't really try to cross the line just to get herself killed. No matter how much she wanted to die at that moment.

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house_call
2010-08-05 04:24 am UTC (link)

He cocked an eyebrow at her response and he watched her closely as she stared at the line, as if considering something sinister in her head. Greg stayed silent. It was true, that whoever brought them here was twisted... sick, almost, but...

"Do you think getting upset will make it better?" He looks at her out of the corner of his eye. "For all you know whatever they did to you could just be a little game to see exactly how upset they CAN make you." He frowned... Greg was only victimized once and that was when he found Cuddys book... the book he gave her... in his room... but there was no LOGIC as to how that book could have gotten there in the first place, and it had no connection with Lisa's health... so he kept his reaction on a minimum. Still, he couldn't help but crack the pages open now and again to read... but that was all he would do. Emotion is what they were looking for, and Greg couldn't stand the idea of being manipulated to cry or even worry. He hated being a victim.

They were all in the same situation... so he was comfortable asking. But then again, Greg was just a nosy person in general. "What did they do?"

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emerald_eyes
2010-08-05 04:36 am UTC (link)

Lily felt a brief flare of anger. As if she could help getting upset over what she'd seen. As if she cared what her observers thought of her just now. She wiped the tears away from her cheeks, shaking her head slightly.

"I don't care," she muttered. "It was upsetting, and ... I am ..." Upset, though that much was obvious. Lily exhaled a heavy sigh, still focusing across the line as if that would somehow make it easier to talk to him.

"It was ... it was a video. On the network ... I ..." Lily swallowed. "I'd offer to show you, but ... it was gone, after I watched it." She rubbed at her cheeks again. "My ... my fiance," she began. "He ... it showed him ..."

She struggled against the lump in her throat, the tears in her eyes. "Voldemort killed him," she whispered. "And then went upstairs to kill me." Only then did she wonder how she was there but James' wand wasn't. Had they returned her, but not it? But surely he would have gotten another one ... unless they had nothing to do and James had simply ... left it somewhere.

Would he have done that? The thoughts distracted her only for a moment before the image of James' dead face resurfaced in her memories, and she shuddered.

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house_call
2010-08-09 06:26 am UTC (link)

Greg was around people who hated him long enough to know when someone was annoyed. Even if he didn't, he knew that his words (or the delivery of them) were enough to annoy the average person. He was never one to be too concerned with the opinion of others, though, which was more than obvious.

He stayed silent long enough to listen to what she was saying, and he was able to put the pieces together... at least, to whatever extent he could. He had no idea what the hell a Voldemort was, but apparently the vision or video she saw involved her fiance dying by its hand. However, she was there... which put a huge flaw in the entire concept of the video. Obviously her fiance was alive when she left so the only way now was for her to go back home, realize that they were in the same house from the video in which a Voldemort could find them in the FIRST place, and she was unprepared to protect herself against it.

But right now, Lily Evans didn't want to hear logic, and in all honesty, Greg didn't want to speak it. He liked watching peoples reaction to everything... he just hated that he wasn't the one pulling the damn strings. These jackasses were having all the fun.

"Well at least you know for a fact that your fiance is alive right NOW, right? Because you're not home. The rest you'll just have to worry about later, because being upset over a fictional video that you saw over the internet isn't going to get you any closer to finding out how to get BACK to your fiance in the first place." She was probably going to tell him to fuck off, and he was prepared for it, but it was true. At this point. If she ever wanted to see her fiance again, dead or NOT, they would all have to focus on the matter at hand or they would be stuck in the hellhole they were stranded in.

"If you just stop and take a breath you'll probably see how unrealistic the story you saw is." He had no idea about the wand, or what it would even mean... all Greg knew what James couldn't have been dead because Lily was here, and if she ever DID go back then she would know what to look for in her surroundings. "Did anyone else experience anything like this?"

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emerald_eyes
2010-08-09 02:22 pm UTC (link)

"I don't though," Lily said. "I never saw myself there. Just heard. Heard him call my name, heard my voice, but what if it wasn't me? Maybe years have passed at home while we've been stuck here. Maybe it did happen." Which she supposed was ridiculous. If it was her, then it didn't happen. She wasn't sure about the passage of time though. Maybe it was true and time did move faster. Maybe they were stuck in some bubble outside of time and no time at all was passing at home.

Maybe they were home and trapped in a horrific nightmare. Maybe she was asleep and James was safe asleep beside her, but ... that didn't feel right. She was awake; she had to be.

She rubbed at her cheeks before she sighed quietly. A sort of numbness had settled over her, and that was a welcome change from the grief and tears.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "It wasn't exactly high on my list of priorities, finding out if anyone else had watched someone die on a video." If it was part of their weekly torment, she reasoned that others would be hit if they hadn't already been. She sighed quietly and rested her head on her knees again, sliding one bare foot to touch the white line before she withdrew it.

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house_call
2010-08-09 09:56 pm UTC (link)

"Well if you HEARD yourself and heard him calling your name I think its safe to say that you we're there." Greg drawled it slowly for her before he glanced back down at the girl. It was shocking what grief could do to the most intelligent people. She SEEMED to know what she was talking about the first time that they met, but now she seemed too upset to take several things into consideration. "And it doesn't matter how many years has passed back home or not, if your not there then he couldn't be calling out to you, and you wouldn't be able to answer. You're here... not there." He paused for a moment. "Besides, if so many years have passed, then he wouldn't look the same in your video, he would look older, right? There are too many holes for anything to have actually happened."

He seemed pleased when she started to calm down, and he watched her curiously as she slid her foot to touch the line before she withdrew it back. He stared at the line for a long moment, his mind still running with theories. He, himself, didn't think that the line was even an escape from this place. It was a carrot dangling in front of their faces when the REAL escape was probably right under their noses... or completely out of their reach. It didn't matter though. The people who put them there were too intelligent to let anyone get out, Greg had already realized this. It was nice to think about though... especially since there were no puzzles to be solved here. ...Well. GOOD puzzles, at least. To his dismay, no one was dying from a horrible disease. He could always hope.

"Well I'm sure that you're not the only person who's suffered from a video like that one." He reasoned with her. The sarcasm was gone from his voice now and he sounded as if he was thinking aloud, and she just happened to be there to hear it. "A lot of things seem to happen here in large groups. Everyone experiences something along the same lines as everyone else." He stared out across the line, as if he was looking for something that he knew he wouldn't find. He stood in silence for a few moments... before he finally spoke again.

"I'm sure James is fine. And he wouldn't be happy that he was such a source of stress right now. We have other things to concentrate on, like getting out of here so you can SEE James again." He sighed softly, his mind slowly drifting off to Lisa. ...Where was she now? She probably thought that he disappeared or ran away now that they finally had something serious... he wouldn't be surprised if she had already moved on from him. He worked long enough to get the chance that he had with her... but he doubted that she would wait much longer for him. His heart sank at the idea of it. "It's just another game that they're playing. Out of many to come."

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emerald_eyes
2010-08-09 10:57 pm UTC (link)

Lily didn't have it in her to argue with the man. He was wrong on a few points, but she didn't feel like elaborating that a few years wouldn't have changed James' appearance much, and he did look much the same but a touch older. Of course, thinking about how he looked brought to mind the fact she'd stared at his dead face for entirely too long to ever get the image out of her head.

"I wouldn't wish this on anyone," Lily murmured. Neither the video nor the confinement, really. No one should be subjected to this sort of psychological torture, but she couldn't see their captors caring about that.

When House started talking about finding a way out, Lily almost shook her head. That, however, was not a debate she wanted to engage in. At this point, she was certain that death was the only escape ... and maybe not even then. Given what they'd already proven they could do, she wouldn't be in the least surprised to find they could ressurrect the dead, either.

"They do like their games," she agreed. It had been tolerable when it was smells or music or weather or television programming ... but this crossed too many lines.

Lily gave some serious consideration to standing up and going inside, but she dreaded the idea of returning to her room, and she wasn't inclined to sit somewhere more public, more visible. So she remained where she was, gazing across the line and trying not to see James' face.

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house_call
2010-08-09 11:27 pm UTC (link)

He couldn't argue with her there. Even Greg wouldn't have wished this place onto anyone, and he had a lot of enemies. It was twisted... and cold here, in a way that even made HIM uncomfortable.

It didn't take long for him to feel that Lily wanted to be left alone. Some people were just more sensitive than he was... Greg had realized that a long time ago. It was something that he easily forgot and, when he DID remember, he didn't care enough to censor himself. Sensitivity was weakness on several different levels, give or take some certain situations. He glanced back down at Lily and he decided to let her sit and rethink the horrible things that were probably going on through her head... It was another theory that House had. When people were in grief, they didn't really WANT to feel better immediately... they liked to wallow in it to remind themselves how much they cherished everything in the first place. How much they could miss it. Deep inside, human beings were really masochists.

"Well, don't forget to eat in a few hours." He glanced at her as she gazed across the line and he nodded to her, before deciding that it would be better to leave the girl alone, and he turned to let her be, walking back into the house and deciding that he had nothing else to do but to sit in his room again.

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emerald_eyes
2010-08-09 11:39 pm UTC (link)

Lily almost managed a slight smile, and she wondered if he actually cared, or was simply dropping advice out of obligation or something. She at least lifted a hand to acknowledge his words, but she had little intention of going in immediately.

She had to figure out a way to deal with it, to make it make sense, and to try to forget about it. Just then, she really did want to be left alone to her tears, her sorrow. Later, she'd have to apologize for her behavior and thank him for his concern ... but just then, she wasn't at all inclined.

Resting her cheek back on her knees, Lily let her thoughts drift and shift and organize themselves in some manner to try to cope with the tragedy she'd witnessed earlier.

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