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Jocelyn Klaes || Hel (tohelandback) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-09-26 13:31:00

the faces we see in the mirror aren’t ours
Who: Jocelyn and Max
What: It’s been a long month, and it’s about to get worse
Where: Apartment 201
When: Early evening, July 27

Note: backdated like WOAH (1 of 3)

Jocelyn finished scrubbing the kitchen floor and threw the grimy rag in the garbage along with the others. She probably should try to save them for future use, but the smell of them nearly made her gag.

Four times. Four times this month she had come home from work, exhausted and hungry, only to find her pantry and fridge empty, the few bits of food remaining fouled beyond all recognition. She would have to talk to Nishka about it - her friend had hinted about the strangeness in this apartment complex, maybe she’d know more.

Jocelyn dragged the kitchen garbage can into the hallway, then tied up the bag and carried it down to the garbage chute. The garbage taken care of, she returned to her apartment - forgetting, in her rush to wash her hands and finally put the latest disaster behind her, that her trash can was still in the hallway.

She scrubbed at her hands and arms with the strongest soap she had been able to find, bought after the second time she had been forced to deal with the mess. Finally, her ablutions finished, Jocelyn closed the taps, met her eyes in the mirror...and screamed.

* * *

Max was in her living room, playing with Cali using a cat teaser and getting her to leap and chase it all around the room. Not a kitten anymore, Cali was developing into a very healthy young cat, who was due for her appointment with the vet to be spayed. The big day was next week, but for now she was enjoying herself chasing her toys and purring loudly whenever Max touched her.

Then she heard a scream.

Both she and Cali startled at the sound, their play forgotten. Max got up and headed to the door, slipping on her shoes. “No, you stay here, hon,” she said as Cali tried to follow her, and she closed the door behind her and headed down the hall.

Her nearest neighbour’s door was open, a garbage can sitting just outside of it drawing a slight frown from Max. “Jo?” she called in the open door, cautiously approaching but not entering. “Jo, are you okay?”

She should look away. She should close her eyes, or leave the room - do something, do anything. But still she stood there; transfixed, unmoving, and utterly silent, as if caught in the stare of a basilisk. And yet...it was no horror out of the depths of mythology that trapped her where she stood, only her own reflection. Her ruined reflection. A sight even worse (if such a thing were possible) than that of her skin after Nathan had attacked her - and even that she had only seen in photographs.

Blood roared in her ears, and the her heartbeat thundered. If Jocelyn had heard Max through that cacophony, she showed no sign.

Max didn’t hear any response, but still...her friend’s apartment was wide open, she’d heard a scream...she’d be damned if she was going to leave this alone! She immediately fell into a loose combat stance, carefully stepping into the apartment, eyes scanning the room for anything that could tell her what’s going on. A little further in, she saw a light on, down the hall where the bathroom would be. “Jo?” she called again, cautiously making her way down the hall, fists up, ready for anything.

The apartment, especially the kitchen, appeared to have been recently scoured clean, the scent of cleaners and air fresheners still hanging heavy in the air. The refrigerator sat open, completely emptied of anything that could be considered food.

In the bathroom, Jo let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, only to gasp in sudden surprise. Her breath was visible, as if she were outside on a winter morning in Toronto as opposed to a summer afternoon in California.

For a minute, Jo thought she heard a familiar voice. Was it Nikki? No - her friend had plans to go out with Jen. So then, it must be- “Max?” she asked, her voice sounding eerily calm (given the circumstances).

She heard Jo’s voice immediately, but worried at its tone. A bit of her wariness eased up, but didn’t disappear completely as she stalked down the hall and pushed the bathroom door all the way open.

The sight that met her in the mirror stole the breath from her lungs as her eyes widened in shock. “Jo?” she asked again, her voice shaking a little as she stepped forward, turning her away from the mirror so she could get a better look at her. At the scarred half of her face that looked angry and raw, as if it had only just been burned. “Jo...oh my god, what happened? Who did this to you?” she whispered, her eyes roaming over her, her hands clasping Jocelyn’s between them, her skin seeming cool to her touch.

Jo seemed to startle as Max turned her away from the mirror, as if breaking line of sight with the mirror was enough to free her from its spell. Her pulse fluttered under Max’s hands. “I- you can see it too?” she asked, her voice still tonelessly calm. “I thought...I was sure I was seeing things.”

Max slowly shook her head, her eyes still wide and searching the image in front of her. “Does it...hurt?” she asked carefully, still slightly nervous about the strange calm in her friend’s voice and on her features. “How did this happen?” she asked again, although in the back of her mind she was thinking about her own strangeness, how her teeth had just suddenly, out of nowhere, changed into feline teeth. But this...wasn’t the same at all, was it? This was an injury, not a transformation, right? She looked burned, badly, as if whatever had caused her scars had only just happened.

Jo shook her head, almost imperceptibly. “I don’t feel anything,” she said, her words forming clouds in the temperate air of the apartment. “I was cleaning. When I finished, I washed my hands. When I looked up, I saw this.” Her hands trembled inside Max’s. “It’s all so strange.”

Max tightened her hands on Jo’s just a little, reassuring her when she felt the slight tremble in her muscles. Max noticed Jo’s breath mist between them, even though it wasn’t even remotely cold in the room. “Strange is one word for it,” she said, trying to add a slight tinge of humour to this humourless situation.

“Why don’t we...get you out of the bathroom,” Max suggested, gently pulling her towards the door, intending to guide her to sit in the living room. Away from the mirror. As they walked, Max watched her carefully for any sign of emotion, but found none on her face. She sat her down and settled next to her, still holding her hands in hers. “Did you...did anything strange happen? Before this?” she asked cautiously. What had she been cleaning, she wondered.

Jocelyn allowed Max to lead her into the living room and settle her down on the futon, each breath coming a little easier than the one that preceded it. She lifted her left hand to her face, hesitating before she could touch the raw-looking skin, and finally letting her hand fall back into her lap with a sigh. “I...something had gotten into my apartment again...every scrap of food in the place was gone. Again. And there was a mess to clean up. Again. But this is the fourth time - and this never happened before.”

Max frowned slightly at how similar the story sounded to what she’d heard Nish was dealing with in her own place. At least whatever was in her apartment had only resorted to thievery. “Something has been stealing food in my apartment,” Max mused quietly, “though it didn’t make that much of a mess.” She let out a sympathetic smile, though the shock of the damage to her friend’s face couldn’t quite go away.

“You should see a doctor,” she found herself saying then, concern seeping into her voice. “I know one...in the building. He’s a...friend of a friend…” she said, already trying to remember where Alice said he lived. A high floor was all she knew.

“No!” Jocelyn stiffened, then drew a long, quavering breath. In her lap, her hands clasped and twisted together. “I have a doctor. I mean...I don’t want anyone seeing me like...like this.” For the first time, since Max had arrived, Jocelyn’s voice had at least a portion of its normal quality.

“But you need to get this treated, or...something...” Max insisted, her brow knitting in concern. “What about Nish? Wouldn’t she be better to help you with this?” She knew that Jo and Nish were close, like sisters, so she might prefer to have her here than someone she knew from a once a week defence class. And she had to admit, she was uncomfortable. She was good at comforting people, protecting them from things she could fight, but this...wasn’t part of her skill set. This mysterious thing that had happened to her - was that her old burn come back fresh and raw again out of nowhere??? - wasn’t anything she could fix.

Jo shook her head, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “I don’t want her here to see this,” she said into her knees. Nishka hadn’t been there to see what Jo had looked like right after the attack, and Jo didn’t know how her friend would react to seeing her like this now.

She forced herself to look over at Max. “I’ll be fine. I’ll call my doctor tomorrow and get this looked at. I promise.”

Max watched her for a moment, concern deepening the lines on her face. Seemingly out of nowhere, an idea occurred to her. She wasn’t sure it would work, in fact she was sure that it wouldn’t, she’d never used it for anything this serious before, but whether it was instinct or faith or whatever, she knew she had to try. “I think I have something that might help,” she said slowly. “In my apartment. It’s an ointment...if anything, it might make it feel better…” A cream she’d been anonymously given on April Fools Day...but something in her knew this was the right move.

Jo chewed on her lower lip, the now-familiar tic a sign of thought...or perhaps indecision. She probably shouldn’t - she had plenty of creams and other treatments that she had been using for months, since her release from the hospital. It would likely be a mistake to use something new without running it past her doctor.

And yet…

Jo smiled, hesitantly, freeing her lip. “I suppose we could try a little…”

Jo’s smile lightened Max’s heart a little, and she echoed it back to her. “Okay,” she said, getting up from the couch and extending a hand to her. “Come on,” she said, leading her out of her apartment (not before looking up and down the hall to make sure it was empty) and then down the hall to her own apartment.

Once she opened the door Cali was there, anxious to see what was going on and mewling up at her. “Hi, sweet girl,” she said, leading Jo into her apartment. She quickly dashed to the bathroom and retrieved the strange pot of cream from her medicine cabinet, bringing it back into her living room to show to her friend. “I think it’s a balm or salve or something...it certainly feels nice; I cut myself chopping vegetables a while back and I swear, after I put this on it was healed in a few hours!” She handed the pot of cream to Jo.

Jocelyn took the pot from Max, unscrewed the cover and gingerly sniffed at the contents for a moment before applying a small amount to the raw skin underneath her left ear. The thick cream spread easily, only to immediately start to bead up and roll down her neck as if it was no thicker than milk.

Jo frowned, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “That feels…weird...” she muttered, glancing over at Max.

Max watched her apply the cream with interest, and then her eyes widened in surprise when it rolled off her like water. “That...it didn’t do that to me…” she said in surprise. “It’s like...your skin repelled it or something.” She touched the cream in the pot with her finger and rubbed it into the back of her hand. True to her words, it quickly soaked into her skin, leaving it softer than before. Even tingling pleasantly for a few moments.

She frowned up at Jo again, at a complete loss. “I...I don’t know what to do…” I can’t help you, and I should be able to,’ she wanted to say, but kept it to herself.

Cali chose that moment to leap up onto the couch next to them, purring softly and leaning gingerly over to sniff at Jo.

Jocelyn smiled and knelt down next to the couch, bringing herself nose-to-nose with the inquisitive cat. “Hello there,” she said softly, reaching out with her clean hand to ruffle Cali’s ears. Cali responded by purring louder, tapping her nose to Jo’s and closing her eyes to enjoy the head rub. Jocelyn turned to glance briefly at Max, before returning her attention to the cat. “It’s alright, Max. You tried.”

She scritched the cat’s ears one more time, then carefully stood up. “I should get back to my apartment. Thank you for checking in on me - I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Max frowned, but didn’t see what else she could do to help. Jo didn’t seem to be in pain, though she did seem a little...off. “I just...wish there was something more I could do,” she said with a sigh, watching Cali enjoying Jo’s attention, purring and leaning into her hand. “You’ll tell me if anything else happens, right?” she asked, unsure about what she could do if something did happen, but feeling the need to make the offer all the same. The discomfort returned; her inability to help her at all wasn’t easy for her.

Jocelyn smiled, briefly. “I promise.”

* * *

Her apartment door clicked shut behind her, and Jocelyn slumped against it as the tension in her body released all at once.

She liked Max, really she did. More importantly, she felt safe around the other woman. But right now she was glad to be away. It was obvious that Max had wanted to help, and even more obvious that there was nothing she could do - and the last thing Jocelyn needed was more pity. She’d had her share of that and more after the attack.

She sighed and crossed into the kitchen, opening the dishwasher and starting to empty out the contents. The smell and mess left behind by whatever was stealing her food was horrific, and painfully-earned experience taught her that it was easier just to wash everything, than risk missing something.

Jocelyn freed a brass serving tray from the bottom rack of the dishwasher, and nearly dropped it as her reflection seemed to shimmer and change - the burns on her face going from raw to dead, skin and muscle flaking away in places as if burnt to reveal the bone beneath; her hair darkening on one side, and lightening on the other; subtle changes to the facial structure.

Then the reflection blinked, the half-fair, half-foul face twisting into a thin smile.

Not yet... a voice seemed to say in Jocelyn’s head, as the reflection showed no sign of speech. A pause, perhaps a hesitation. No, you are not ready to embrace me yet. But soon…

The voice seemed to shift from inside to outside, as if a lover was whispering in her ear.

“A word of warning to the host. Do not trust our father too far. Nor our brother - though he can only devour you, while our father will betray you.”

The air chilled suddenly, fogging over the tray and all the nearby glass and metal surfaces. When Jocelyn wiped the tray clear, the strange reflection had disappeared, leaving behind only her own reflection.

Her own normal reflection.

She carefully set the tray down, and reached up to feel her face. Feeling nothing but her normal scars, and the makeup that covered them, she braced herself against the counter and began to laugh…