InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "sup foo!"

Victor Brannigan (sciomachy) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2017-09-03 22:22:00

Entry tags:

jameson kemp, thomas kemp, victor brannigan

Who: Victor for like five seconds, and then Deirdre Lowsley-Brannigan [NPC], Jamie Kemp and Thomas Kemp
What: A yoink, and a very brilliant four and half year old.
When: Saturday night
Where: His house
Warnings/Notes: TBA

Victor hadn't smoked cigarettes in years, and he had only started up again since Kat had gone back to Boston for her studies. She usually came back on weekends, however the first few weeks of term were always full-on and Kat was still settling in. Victor felt like smoking released some of the tension he felt and relaxed him.

He knew it was a dangerous habit, but he didn't realise it was going to get him abducted.

He had stepped out from the house to light up, no way in hell was he going to smoke around his daughter or their dog, and he was hit from the side by something dark and heavy. He fell to the ground, rolling onto the cigarette and crushing it beneath him. He felt strong hands grab at him. So many he couldn't fight back even though he tried. He didn't know what the hell was happening, but he did know, somehow, he had to keep his daughter safe.

"Deirdre!" he screamed as he was dragged away. "Deirdre, lock the house! Call someone! Deirdre-!" and then he was knocked out cold.

Deirdre, who had pretended to fall asleep until Victor had left her room, and then commenced playing with her actions figures in the dark, jerked awake the second she heard her father scream. He sounded scared and to Deirdre, Victor was never scared. There wasn't a thing in the world that would keep her from doing exactly as he told her. She leapt out of bed, careening around the corner and out into the living room where she saw Victor in the backyard, knocked unconscious by a shadowy shape. Deirdre screamed, but she rushed forward, locking the sliding glass door just as another of the shadows slammed against it.

Grabbing Victor's phone from the coffee table, Deirdre ran back to her parent's bedroom and she locked the door behind her, before sliding under the bed. She was terrified and breathing shortly and sharply as she swiped the phone open. She played games on Victor's phone all the time, but she never really called anyone on it. She couldn't read, but she had been shown how to find the phone book a few times by her mother. She opened it up and though she didn't know the names, she recognised the photos of people and quickly found Jamie near the top of the list and immediately hit the phone button, hoping that would call him.

It did.

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flare_star
2017-09-03 11:13 am UTC (link)

Jamie had been at home, not doing much of anything. Once school had started, his nights out got cut back drastically, mostly because he just didn't have the energy to do much. Especially at the beginning of the year. He'd actually been dozing lightly when his phone went off next to his head, the ringtone jerking him more fully awake.

The screen said it was Victor calling, but Jamie didn't think much of it. They talked sometimes, and maybe his dad wasn't answering or something. He picked up and said, "Hey Victor. How's it going?"

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	sciomachy 2017-09-03 11:17 am UTC (link)
	"Jamie!" Deirdre hissed into the phone when she heard her godfather's voice. "Jamie, they took my daddy! The shadows took daddy! He's all gone!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-03 11:29 am UTC (link)
	"Wait, what?" Jamie asked, very confused to her Deirdre's voice on the other end of the line. "Shadows took your daddy? Hang on-are you there by yourself?" That wasn't good. Like. At all. "I'm gonna get my dad, and we're gonna come get you, OK, sweetheart?" he asked, shoving his feet into his shoes and trying to avoid strangling himself with his jacket. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sciomachy
2017-09-03 11:33 am UTC (link)

"I'm under the bed," she whispered, knowing it was safe to tell Jamie, but no one else. "Ace is barking loud," she cried, trying to shut out the barking of her dog.

Thomas had several blueprints spread out on the kitchen table and he was pouring over them, looking studious, when Jamie rushed into the room. He looked up at his son, alarmed, and even without Jamie saying anything, he could see he needed to get his shoes on. Jamie looked like they needed to rush somewhere.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

flare_star
2017-09-03 11:38 am UTC (link)

"Alright," Jamie answered. "Stay there until we get there, OK? We'll take care of Ace, too. We'll be there soon, I promise."

He hung up and skidded into the kitchen, nearly falling over in his haste. "That was Deirdre," he said, though it came out muffled. He was holding his phone in his mouth so he could put his jacket on correctly. He took it out before continuing. "She said shadows took Victor. I don't know what that means, but she's there by herself, and she sounds scared. We have to go now."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2017-09-03 11:47 am UTC (link)

"What!?" Thomas hissed, but he was already pulling shoes on. He grabbed his keys from the bowl on the kitchen counter and he pulled Jamie's phone out of his son's mouth so that Jamie could sort himself out more easily. "Okay, okay. Car in front. I have Victor's keys, check. Fuck, we need to go."

They raced out to the car together, and Thomas tried very hard not to speed the entire way there. Once Thomas pulled up outside Victor's house, he had barely put the car in park before he was jumping out of it.
"We need to make sure there aren't any uhm...shadows...before we go in," he hissed to Jamie. He could heard Ace barking from inside, but everything outside actually seemed quiet.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-03 11:54 am UTC (link)
	"Well I left my Light of Earendil at home," Jamie griped. "So I'm not really sure how you plan on doing that, but my goddaughter is in there and she's scared. Besides. It's not like we were quiet getting here or barreling up to the house. They'd be on us by now if they were still here." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sciomachy
2017-09-03 12:01 pm UTC (link)

Well Jamie was right about that, Thomas figured. "Right," he nodded, rushing to the door. He slid the key into the lock and twisted it, admitting them both inside. Ace barrelled over to them, clearly scared and alarmed, but glad to see humans he knew.

"It's okay, boy," Thomas said, leaning down to pat the dog's head. "Deirdre!?" Thomas glanced around the house, but there was no sign of a struggle and nothing was out of place.

Deirdre, for her part, was curled under her parents' bed, crying softly and trying not to panic. When she heard Thomas call out for her, she crawled out, but she didn't yet leave the safety of the locked bedroom.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-03 12:05 pm UTC (link)
	Jamie scratched Ace between the ears, more out of habit at this point than anything else. He did a quick sweep of the rooms, before coming to the closed door of Victor and Kat's room. Deirdre hadn't been in her room, she was probably in here. He knelt down in front of the door, rapping gently on it with his knuckles. "Deirdre? It's Jamie. Are you in there?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sciomachy 2017-09-03 12:08 pm UTC (link)
	Deirdre moved over to the door and she placed her hand on it. "I'm scared," she admitted, clearly still crying. "Are the shadows out there?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-03 12:10 pm UTC (link)
	"No shadows, I promise," Jamie said soothingly. "Just me and Dad and Ace. Are you OK, sweetheart? Can you open the door for me? We just want to see that you're alright." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sciomachy 2017-09-03 12:19 pm UTC (link)
	Deirdre unlocked the door then and she rushed out, clinging to Jamie's legs and crying. The phone fell to the floor beside them. Thomas moved over to the both of them, though he did what he could not to interfere too much, even though his dad radar was going crazy. "They just took him," Deirdre cried. "He was yelling." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-03 12:29 pm UTC (link)
	Jamie gathered her up into a proper hug, running a soothing hand over her back. "The shadows, you mean?" he asked quietly. "Do you remember what they looked like at all?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sciomachy 2017-09-03 12:34 pm UTC (link)
	"Shapes," she said, burying her face in Jamie's neck. "Daddy looked scared. They pulled him away. Out the yard. They...didn't have faces." Thomas shivered, because that sounded terrifying. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-03 12:43 pm UTC (link)
	Jamie let her cling to him, because that was about all he could think to do that this point. He looked up at his dad, the 'well that's not great' written all over his face. "How about we take you to our house, hmm?" he asked. "Ace can come too. And in the morning we'll call some people about looking for your daddy." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	asterismos 2017-09-04 05:23 am UTC (link)
	Thomas caught the look and nodded slightly. "Our house sounds like the best idea," he said to Deirdre, "and we'll call your mother when we get there, okay?" "Okay," Deirdre sniffled, still not letting her grip on Jamie loosen. "Will the shadows hurt Daddy?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

flare_star
2017-09-04 08:48 am UTC (link)

Jamie didn't know how to answer that. Of course he wanted to tell her no, but in his experience, that was rarely the case. Shadows taking people never really meant good things were happening. But neither did he want to lie to her, because what if something went wrong?

"I don't know, sweetheart," he said at last, still holding onto her as he rose from the floor. "I really hope not."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2017-09-04 09:24 am UTC (link)

Thomas put a hand on his son's back as they walked out of the house, Ace at their heels. Jamie was doing what he could to be there for Deirdre and Thomas thought it was beautiful, despite the circumstances.

They bundled into the car once Thomas locked the house behind them. They were silent on the car ride home, and once they arrived back at the Kemps, Thomas pulled out his phone. "Should I call Kat or would you like to?" Thomas asked Jamie.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-04 10:21 am UTC (link)
	Jamie carried Deirdre into the house once they'd arrived, and kicked the door shut behind him with his foot. He still didn't feel like putting his goddaughter down. "I'll do it," he replied. "Plus, she's right here, if Kat wants to talk to her, then she can. Win-win." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	asterismos 2017-09-04 10:24 am UTC (link)
	Thomas nodded, ushering them both into the living room. "Good idea. Sweetie, do you need anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Deirdre shook her head and clung to Jamie, though Thomas moved to the kitchen to get something for her anyway. "Gonna call Mommy?" she asked Jamie, looking up at him with big eyes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-04 10:30 am UTC (link)
	"Will you make me a coffee, please?" Jamie asked, settling the pair of them on the couch. "Gonna call Mommy right now, promise," he answered, digging out his own phone and scrolling through his contacts to find Kat. He dialed, and once she picked up he said, "Hey. Sorry for calling so late, but some things have happened that you need to know about." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2017-09-04 10:36 am UTC (link)

Thomas was already on the coffee-making, and he even found some apple juice for Deirdre than he hoped she liked. Fussing made him feel like he could actually accomplish something.

Kat, for her part, hadn't even flinched when she saw Jamie was calling despite the hour. In fact she had answered the phone with a grin and a "hey, Whiskey!" before his tone sobered her up. "What happened?" she asked, suddenly all business.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-04 10:43 am UTC (link)
	"Deirdre called me not too long ago," Jamie told her. "Said that some shadow things had taken her daddy, and she was locked in your room, hiding under the bed. She's with us now, so is Ace, and they're both fine. But Victor was...nowhere to be found, and we have no clue who or what might have done this." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sciomachy
2017-09-04 10:47 am UTC (link)

"Deirdre called you?!" Kat hissed, though she listened to the rest of what Jamie had to say, since it was clearly important. "My baby's okay?!" she whispered, gripping the phone. Immediately she felt terrible because he had said Victor wasn't anywhere to be found. She hoped he would understand. She loved him, but Deirdre was her child, and the only child she would ever have. "I'm coming back. I'll be there in a few hours. I'll make Cordy drive, before you tell me not to."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-05 09:14 am UTC (link)
	"She's just fine, she's doing her best octopus impression on my chest right now," Jamie assured her. "Not unlike you, actually, I wonder where she gets that from. We figured she could stay with us until you got here, then we'd figure out what to do. And yes, have Cordy drive. No one wants you getting into an accident." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sciomachy 2017-09-09 09:50 am UTC (link)
	"Right, we'll leave now. Whiskey? Thank you. Tell Deirdre I love her." And then she was gone. Deirdre looked up at Jamie, her chin resting against his chest. "Mommy's coming?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2017-09-09 10:56 am UTC (link)
	"Will do." Jamie tucked his phone away, encircling Deirdre with both arms. "Mommy's on her way," he told her. "She said to tell you she loves you, and she'll be here in a few hours." (Reply to this) (Parent)