Emily Archer (boundbyhate) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-09-29 22:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-07-28 |
Some ghostly advice
Who: Emily and Jokull
Where: The Niemi House
When: Very late at night
It was so boring to not have a place to haunt.
Emily was simply floating along in the darkness of the night, paying no mind to her surroundings, very nearly sulking. That house had been more than serviceable, it had been perfect, until Calista had needed to come along and mess it all up. Sure there was a now-pleasant memory of the girl pressing her fingers against a bloody wound that would not be denied, the darkness of it staining her fingers and her clothes and the floor at her feet - had Emily a form she would have shivered with remembered delight over that - but now she also had no place to help keep her entertained when she grew bored. And it was remarkably easy for that to happen even if she was several centuries dead and often forgot that time was passing. When she remembered she needed to stay entertained or she would find entertainment. Or, as she was doing now, she would follow the vaguest wisp of a tug that ended with her floating at the edge of what she knew was called a pool, staring at one of the more impressive houses she had seen in the area. If something that large had existed in her own time then it would have housed several families, or likely just been a schoolhouse for the richer children in the actual cities, or a factory. But no, here it was only for one, and she knew why she had ended her wanderings there for at least the night. Magic had been used in this home, a witch had been there recently, and perhaps remained there still. If she could not be rid of Calista then perhaps she could take care of another pesky little witch before they grew up and knew how to deal with problems such as herself.
"Come out, come out wherever you are..."
The sounds of a voice stirred Jokull. He hadn't been in his favorite room, his study, because that fool of a wife of his had proved herself a little smarter than he'd given her credit for and gotten it blessed. Dead he might be, but things like that still seemed to bother him and so he needed to stay out. So he'd done an odd thing that he'd never done in life and observed the nightly rituals of his wife. Tucking Satu into bed, listening outside the doors of each child after a time to make sure nothing was bothering them before padding into her own room and writing in a journal. Which Jokull had shamelessly hung over her shoulder to read, delighting in the shivers and general air of uncomfortableness that she'd given off. What he hadn't delighted in was the knowledge that she was pregnant. By him or that earth elemental who'd had the gall to go to his funeral and take his wife as though it wasn't completely inappropriate. Jokull wasn't gone yet, Linnea wasn't free to do as she wished and she needed to be reminded of that. He wasn't quite sure how to do that and long after she'd turned out the light and gone to sleep he'd stayed there, musing.
Until he heard the woman. Going to the window he peered down at the pool and saw a rather translucent young woman standing there, staring at the house. Frowning Jokull went out the window and stood on the opposite side of the pool from her, arms over his chest. He'd never noticed a ghost in the house when he was alive, nor during the past few days, and this young woman was certainly no sort of kin. Far too dark-haired. "And who are you calling for?" he asked. "I don't think there's anyone here for you."
Oh! So like with the art gallery - which she had not been all that interested in in the first place - there was already another ghost here. After having gone so long in Scarlet Oak without seeing any other besides herself and her sister it was a little surprising to come across two in the span of what she thought might be only a few days. The passage of time was slightly irrelevant to her so she was not sure on that but still, more than she was used to. This one did not have the same feel as that Thomas ghost she had come across in the museum before. He seemed more... like her. There was an angry energy that she rarely felt emanating from another source so perhaps she would not go into this house. Perhaps he had it covered. Although she would at least make sure he was aware of the witch-presence and that if they left and she found them then they would be done away with. So perhaps he should take care of it himself first, if that was what he was around for. Emily may have been a lot of things but somewhere deep inside she still harbored a little flicker of manners that remained likely because of Imogen. And that meant she would not take another ghost's target, if only because she knew how upsetting it would be to her if someone else went and offed, say, Calista. "I was just calling for the witch I thought might be here. Just a little bored today and wanted something to entertain me. This is such a nice pool that it'd be a shame to not drown someone in. Though if it's your haunt I'll leave it be."
Jokull didn't know how the world of ghosts worked. At the moment all that he knew was that he was one, he was somehow attached to Linnea (yet again, as though it hadn't been bad enough in life now he had to suffer through her in death as well) and when he was upset enough he could make things move, lights flicker and all of that. And that no one seemed to be able to see him. Actually being seen and regarded by someone for the first time since Nikita had killed him was almost a strange sort of relief. As though assuring him that he was still there. He hadn't doubted it after time spent around Linnea but still. "The witch who formerly resided here is standing in front of you," he informed the dark-haired girl ghost. She didn't seem all that old, couldn't have been much older than Dagmar when she died, though the way she spoke seemed almost from another time and she wasn't dressed normally. "And this isn't my haunt, it's my home. You will not be needing to drown anyone in the pool." Though that did raise a slightly interesting question. He wouldn't put it as a question though, not wanting to seem ignorant. "Ghosts can't drown people."
What? Was he for real? "Someone clearly isn't angry enough," Emily snorted, pretending to seat herself on the edge of the pool so that her legs appeared to dip into the water. It would have been so nice if she could have actually felt that. Emily was not sure that she could actually remember what it had felt like to be in the water or feel the wind in her hair, all these little things that she knew for a fact the living took for granted. Yet another reason why they did not deserve to have all those things. And the ones who were able to feel the rush of magic, they especially did not deserve it. "Or you're recently dead, to say that a ghost cannot drown someone just as easily as a living person. Because we can." Emily turned her face back in the direction of the man with the hint of a smirk on her face. He appeared to have been in his fifties, perhaps even sixties, at the time of his death. "Poltergeists can." These were things that Emily had not known when she died, or even shortly after her death. Bits of information that she had gathered over the decades and centuries as various mediums tried to exorcise her and she heard all of the terms tossed about by the people who she tormented.
Ah, poltergeists. That was a word that'd Jokull heard during life if only because of ghost stories and movies. Having never thought that he'd end up a ghost he hadn't paid attention to all of that Hollywood nonsense. "Perhaps I am recently dead," Jokull said after a moment. Admitting to that full out seemed like a bad idea and Jokull didn't do things he thought would make him look bad. Even if all he had left to impress were other dead people. Still. The general vibe he got off this girl was that even if she looked much younger than him was that she was actually much older and age tended to equal power. "Or perhaps I've simply never had a reason to be angry at any of the living and therefore I've never tried to cause one of them damage. Though judging from your demeanor and response I'd guess that you have and that you're one of these poltergeists." Wasn't that hard to deduce that with the look on her face.
Something about this ghost did not seem quite right and Emily did not believe for a moment that he was a long-dead ghost who had simply never been angry at the living. Ghosts did not change like that or else she might have moved on like Imogen wanted so badly or Imogen would have seen who was right when it came how to spend their time since their death. He died, violently she imagined, within the previous year and had simply not learned how to do anything yet. Or much of anything. Emily had never had the chance to be around a fledgling ghost before and it almost seemed sort of endearing that the first one she happened across looked so much older than her. Maybe that bothers him. The elders can always be so touchy about their age and respect. Well, I'm showing no respect for someone who is centuries younger than me and doesn't even know that ghosts can cause people harm. Why else would we linger? "I could pretend to humor you," Emily remarked, her voice bored. "But I've already had a boring few days and don't feel much like expanding it to tonight. You're not an old ghost, you're new and you don't know what you're doing. Potentially not even what you're here to do. Because those legends - or whatever you people have been calling them these days - are true and something does keep us here." She was fully aware of that. More than her own purpose she was aware that her sister remained because of her ties to her, her desire to see her move on and find the eternal peace that she was certain awaited them. No peace for me ever after what I've done. It did not bother her. "Do you have a name or should I call you the old new ghost?"
Jokull stiffened. He wasn't used to being addressed like that by anyone. Normally when someone did he'd put them in their place with a look, a few sharp words, a spell or the mere force of his presence. "You won't speak to me that way," he said automatically, feeling as though he was starting out in his business all over again. Needing to remind people where they stood and that was always below him. Only - perhaps not. This girl had a presence that he knew he didn't, but being dead didn't stop his demonic nature from shining through. And that meant that he couldn't feel inferior. "My name is Jokull Niemi and I..." Am dead. Newly. "May have had a recent unfortunate encounter that ended in my demise. But that doesn't mean I'll accept being spoken to in such a way on my own property."
"Look at you acting like what you were in life carries over," Emily laughed. And she was laughing, so much that it was hard to get her words out even if she did not need to take a break to breathe. Because this man really did seem deluded into thinking that just because he had owned something in life meant that he also did in death when that was simply not true. At all. This property was not his anymore, though it could be the area he haunted and she would respect that. But not false claims to owning land just because he had in life. Those were things he was going to need to let go of fast or else he would end up one of those dull ghosts she never paid any attention to when she passed by. Finally stopping her laughs, Emily looked at the ghost who had named himself Jokull. "And I'm Emily Archer and seeing that I've been dead for something like four centuries I think that I might know just a little bit more than you, yes? So I'll speak to you any way that I please. Now - you don't know why you're here, do you?" Emily hated repeating questions, it was something the one should only have to do if they were dealing with a simpleton and coming across a ghost who seemed to have potential to be just as angry as her only to discover that they were actually simple would be such a disappointment.
This wasn't anywhere near what Jokull had been expecting. His mouth actually dropped open for a moment before he snapped it shut, knowing that if he'd still had form then the sound of his teeth grinding together would have been obvious. Life was easier when I could just read their minds and be done with it. As a ghost it seemed that he'd lost that ability. All abilities. Being able to go through walls and make lights flicker and things fly didn't seem like quite a worthwhile trade. He was frowning and looking away from the girl called Emily when he replied to her question the second time. "Not exactly. I think it has something to do with my wife." Even now he felt as though he should be back inside, making sure that she wasn't doing anything. In life he'd been able to ignore those urges but in death he'd found them harder. When he hadn't known where Linnea had vanished to the other day he'd very nearly destroyed his study. "Not that it's any matter of yours."
His wife? Emily supposed that people had been bound to stranger things and if Imogen could be bound for love of her then surely a man could for love of his wife. Though the feel of it was all wrong. If someone had remained for something like love then they would not be filled with such anger, Emily would not feel any sort of kindred tie to them. She shared one with Imogen because they were siblings only while any other ghost who stayed for the same reason would be sneered at. "No, but it keeps me entertained and as I said, I've been bored recently." Had she actually said that or had she just thought it? So hard to keep the two separate these days. "You cannot remain out of love, you feel full of hate. Did she cheat on you? I've heard quite a few people get killed because of those sort of affairs." No, Emily was not the sort to stop picking at someone because they wanted her to. Rather the opposite.
This was not the sort of conversation that Jokull liked to have with anyone. Not a conversation that he did have with anyone for that matter. Even if he was dead. "What my wife did or did not do is truly none of your concern. But no, I didn't stay out of love. Out of hate. Which is the reason you've remained for so long if I don't miss my guess." He hadn't been able to pick up on it at first but after he paid attention to her he had a feeling, just a feeling, that this dark-haired ghost hated a lot of things. Shouldn't have taken him so long to catch onto after her comment about the pool and drowning but Jokull had been through a lot the past few weeks. It wasn't a surprise that he'd be a little slow now and again. "And so... you can hurt people."
"Oh yes." Emily's voice was as close to mellow as it ever got and she had allowed herself to drift all the way into the pool, giving off the allusion that she was floating on top of the water. "That's one of the first things that I ever did. Not even a week dead and I saw the one responsible dead alongside me." She could not even remember the boy's name, just that he had been the one Imogen had professed to love and that it had been her sweet sister's idea to do away with him as payment for what had been done to them and their family. "But you have to be very, very angry. That's where our power comes from, our anger and our hate... and likely when we died or were born as well. I'll need a few more decades to discover if there is truth to that." Yes, Emily did pay attention to certain things other than witches and which member of her family had gone through with the unapproved act of reproducing, giving her even more work to do. "The best part is how scared they get. They always cry and scream, asking what's happening because they can't see us... mmmm." Emily's eyes closed, a smile on her face as she remembered the screams of her last victim and again, the blood Calista had shed. "It beats out anything that you could have while alive." Except magic and the thrill that that brought, but Emily could not even remember what that was like anymore.
Jokull found himself a little intrigued by Emily. Even if she didn't know how to use proper respect when talking to him she still had a better grasp on this being dead thing than he did. And she seemed to delight in killing people, something that he could definitely agree with. He hadn't killed all that many, actively, while he was alive and he doubted that would change in his death. But he didn't care. There was really one one that he wanted tormented and dead, just one. If others were affected during the process then all the better but he didn't care about then. He wanted to keep Linnea traumatized and then he wanted her to die like he had. Find a way to crush that familiar of hers like had happened to Arich. The corners of Jokull's mouth curved up in a smile at the thought of making Linnea scream again. She'd been far too quiet during their little encounter in the study. "You could do these things right away?" That meant he could too. He had been older when he died, surely that had to have some sort of an effect.
"Isn't that what I said?" Emily was beginning to grow bored with Jokull. He was not doing anything interesting, he was not telling her anything about what he intended to do and she? Was clearly not going to get to drown any witches in this lovely little pool. That took all of the fun right out of it. "I suppose that it was nice to meet you, in a way, but I'm bored now. Unless you intend on showing me someone dying I think I'll leave you to your little learning process." She had no intention of showing him how to do things. She had needed to learn for herself and he needed to too. For a moment she might have entertained the notion but really, she had done enough just by telling him that it was possible. More was not necessary at all. At first she had thought it would be interesting to guide him but that had only held her attention a moment. Things so rarely could hold Emily's attention if it did not bring the instant gratification of terror or death. "I think I'll come back, see if there's a change in number of living bodies in that house." She rose up out of the water, not dripping because she was a ghost. Like water could cling to her and ruin the dress she had imagined up for that day. "I think something will change. If you're bound to a single person then either she'll die or you'll get exorcised. Oh, right, there are mediums too. Have fun learning how to deal with them." A little nod and she was gone, knowing that she was not going to be able to stay there with another potential poltergeist.
And just like that, she was gone and Jokull was left staring at an empty pool with not even a ripple left to show she'd been there. "Goodbye to you too." Deciding there wasn't a reason for him to be out there, Jokull returned to the room. And, focusing on Linnea's sleeping form and the knowledge that there was yet another child growing in that body, tried to summon up enough anger to make things move. And by the time the sun was coming up he'd managed to turn the lamps on and shatter a picture of her with Kajsa. He'd always hated that picture.