BE-E AGGRESSIVE! (be_aggressive) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-07-07 09:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, greg, greg x jules, jules |
Who: Jules and Greg
When: After school, Tuesday, 10/31
Where: School and beyond
Status: Complete
Despite the fact that it was Halloween, they still had a football game Friday night and Jules had already ditched practice the day before, so she had to suck it up and stay. She didn’t have any plans for the evening, beyond probably spending it with Jasper. She doubted he would want to go out and see little girls dressed up for Trick or Treat. It would remind him too much of Amelia, so Jules had plans to get some take out and show up at his house and then maybe the two of them could watch a movie or something. But first… cheer practice. Which… felt tiny and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. In all honesty, Jules was kind of freaking out. Like, totally losing it. The sleepwalking, and nosebleed and then meeting Neil and Nic and Carson and it was all so weird and crazy and there was no one around for her to talk to about it. How was she supposed to jump around with a smile on her face and exude the kind of school spirit Ms. Gaines expected from her?
At some point after changing into her sports bra and shorts, Jules listened to some of the other girls in the locker room. They were talking about Victoria’s party, and the football game, and what they were going to be doing later that night. Or who. Jules attempted to fit into the conversation, but it felt weird and forced and honestly, she just didn’t care. At one point, she started to feel a tightening in her chest, and her breathing felt short and shallow. Before anyone could ask if she was all right, Jules shut her gym locker and left the locker room. Ms. Gaines wasn’t in the gym yet, so Jules rushed out of it, all but running until she turned down the next hall in the back of the building, where large windows looked out toward the football field. A lot of the players were headed outside, going through the wide exit doors, talking amongst themselves.
None of them seemed to notice Jules, and she turned so her back was to them. She was having trouble breathing and she had the vague thought that this was probably a panic attack, or whatever they were called now. Jules leaned against the wall and bent over, placing her hands on her thighs as she worked on drawing oxygen into her lungs. Wasn’t she supposed to have a brown paper bag or something? Ugh, where was Jason when she needed him? He was a nerd and knew all this stupid stuff.
Greg was one of the clueless footballers rushing by, only he came to a sudden halt in the doorway and turned around because he'd forgotten to take his damn headphones off and he really didn't want to lose them or break them out on the field. He almost instantly forgot why he'd turned around in the first place because there was Jules and she was so obviously not okay that he jogged over to her instead.
"Yo, Jules," he said, though it came out softer than his usual 'yos' did. "What's wrong?" he added, lightly touching her shoulder as he leaned bent over next to her to try to catch a glimpse of her face.
Greg's voice startled her, even though it wasn't like she was invisible or hiding in a closet somewhere. On one hand she was embarrassed, on the other, she didn't care because she just wanted to breathe normally again. She wanted everything to be normal again. Jules straightened a little and placed her hands on her hips before closing her eyes and inhaling deep to try and calm herself. "I'm just... freaking out," Jules panted as she opened her eyes to look at Greg. "I'm freaking out! Like, how is this my life? I just want... to go to cheer practice and become prom queen and... finish school and like..." Jules placed a hand on her chest while throwing the other up in frustration. "I feel like I'm about to explode!"
Greg wanted to hug her but she was still breathing wrong and he had a feeling she'd just feel like she was suffocating if he did. "Hey," he said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Come sit down, breathe." He wasn't a total stranger to panic attacks, not when Bash tended to freak out in small spaces, but Jules wasn't Bash and she probably had a completely different reaction to it all. Still, he could try. He had a feeling this was to do with Jasper's little sister going missing and he knew there was nothing he could say that would make that go away. "You're not gonna explode, okay?"
Jules wasn't sure if sitting down would help any, but she turned her back against the wall and slid down until her ass hit the carpeted floor. She drew her knees up and covered her face with her hands for a moment before she sucked in another deep breath. It was shaky as she exhaled, but she dropped her hands away and looked at Greg. "I might explode," she said, though she knew that was physically impossible and all. But Jules had a tendency of being overdramatic sometimes, and she had been struggling to keep calm about all this stuff for everybody's sake, including her own. But it was starting to feel like Too Much and Jules was pretty sure she was going to just start screaming and keep screaming until her throat was raw. "Something's happening and I can't stop it," Jules said in a rush, aware that Greg was probably the last person she should be telling, but he was there and maybe if she just started talking everything would feel okay again. "I don't know what to do."
Greg had sat down next to her, though he was facing her, leaning forward with his arms resting on his knees. They were alone in that hallway now with everyone gone out into the field and that was probably a good thing. Coach was going to yell at him but Greg didn't really care at this point. He and Jules weren't close but he still considered her a friend and even if she'd been a total stranger she was clearly going through some shit. "Hey, you wanna talk about it?" he asked though his bet was still on it being about Jasper's little sister.
Jules was obviously sad about Jasper's sister going missing, and she had been doing whatever she could to help him through it. Focusing on his pain had helped distract her a bit from the dreams and sleepwalking, but now that she had met the other three guys experiencing it with her, it certainly felt more real, and it was terrifying. Could she really talk about it? With Greg, of all people? But he was asking and he didn't look annoyed or like he wanted to be somewhere else and Jules clasped her hands together against her stomach. She was breathing easier now and Jules was starting to feel physically exhausted. He probably wouldn't believe her, but even if he didn't, she didn't think Greg would go around telling people Jules was crazy.
After a brief moment of hesitation, she began to tell him about the mirror in her bathroom, how she had seen her reflection move around like it was her, but not really her. And then the dreams. "Recurring dreams," Jules explained, "with these three other people out on some road, but I didn't know who they were, and I couldn't talk to them. Every time I tried, someone started screaming, but it wasn't a person. It was like... some creature stalking us. And the other night I woke up on Magnolia Way because I was sleepwalking, and the same thing happened to the other three, but I don't know where I was going. I managed to track down one of the guys last week, and then I met the other two yesterday. I know it sounds really fucking crazy, but it's all true, and I don't know what to do, or what's going to happen or... anything."
"It sounds like some kinda witchcraft," Greg said quietly, furrowing his brows in thought. He'd listened intently to all she'd had to say and yeah it was fucking weird but so was everything lately. "Who are the guys you met?" That was one part that rubbed him the wrong way. Jules was a pretty High School senior, sure she was strong and stubborn as hell but she was still just a small High School girl meeting three strangers. He couldn't help but wonder if something similar had happened to his cousin Kevin before he'd gone missing. Maybe that's why they'd gone to the damn mausoleum in the first place. It definitely fired up a strong sense of protective urges in him and at the same time he had no clue how the hell to help her.
Witchcraft? That was something Jules hadn't considered. That thing, whatever it had been, wasn't a witch. Then again, maybe a witch sent it after them or something, but she still had no idea how the four of them were all tied together. It made no sense, and that was the scary part. "Um, one is the librarian," Jules explained. "Not here, but at the public library. Neil? The other is Nic Castell. His parents still live in Overlook, but I don't remember where. And then Carson, he's the one I tracked down first. He works at the gym. We all woke up Sunday morning with nosebleeds, so we decided to finally meet yesterday, all at the same time. And like, no one had any answers or anything. They're just as clueless as I am about it." She didn't want to mention Jane yet, because she had no idea if that would even go anywhere. But talking about it, even to Greg, was helping calm her a little. And he wasn't looking at her like she was insane, or accusing her of seeking attention. A lot of people would have. "Do you know any of them?
"Oh," Greg said slowly, lips still in a silent oh shape for a few seconds. The Castells were witches and he wondered if Jules knew that. He didn't know the librarian but he knew who Carson was on account of spending shitty snowy days in the gym a lot. He seemed solid so that was reassuring. Of course he wasn't sure how to tell her about Nic Castell without admitting that he knew a bunch of witches. It definitely made him wonder when his life had become such a clusterfuck. "They're all clueless? Nic might be your link though, he and sister have always been a little... Cray cray." How else was he supposed to put it? It wasn't like it was a lie, they were a little crazy and he'd always known that, long before he knew they were witches.
"Well, I've heard about Nic Castell, I just never met him before," Jules said. "He didn't seem cray when I talked to him though. The librarian was kind of... I don't know. Shifty? Standoffish, I guess. Carson's nice. I just... I could see the three of them having something in common, but I feel like the odd one out. This isn't some kind of 'Save the Cheerleader, Save the World' deal, so I don't know." They shared similarities through the mirror thing and their dreams, but that was it. She was pretty sure the only weird, random thing was when Jules got knocked out for a minute when the bus crashed, and she had 'woken up' on the empty road with that creature, or whatever it had been, touching her face. Suddenly Jules's eyes widened and her breath caught. She had remembered the bus crash, but she hadn't even thought about the fact that the road it had happened on was the same road in her dreams. Their dreams. She knew exactly where it was too. "I think I have to go," Jules said breathlessly as she shifted onto her knees to stand up. "I think I know where these dreams are happening, and I have to go there."
Greg had smiled faintly at her tv reference but that smile faded when she got moving. He got up too, not about to let her run off somewhere all crazy looking. "I'm coming with you," he said with no room for an argument. Coach would roast him alive at this point for disappearing but shit, some things were more important than the game. "You have to go right now?" He'd grabbed her arm in a gentle grip to make sure she didn't run off on him but he wasn't really thinking about it. "We can take my car."
Jules might have protested, or told Greg he couldn't miss football practice, but she didn't really care right then. Maybe it would be better to have someone with her, and Greg was safe enough. Ms. Gaines would be upset that Jules ditched again, but this was more important. It was a strange feeling, since a month ago she would have balked at skipping cheer practice, for any reason. "I have to go now," Jules said with a nod. Her heart was beating fast again, but for different reasons. Anxiety? Apprehension? Excitement? Jules wasn't sure, but it felt like a real clue was finally falling into place. Jules pulled out of Greg's grip and grabbed his hand again to lead him toward the doors. "Are you sure you want to come?" Jules asked, though it seemed clear she was on board with him tagging along, and driving. "I don't know what will happen. Probably nothing, but still."
"If something does happen you shouldn't be alone," Greg said firmly and he couldn't help but think they should bring Bash along, or Phee, someone who could use magic. It wasn't like Greg had a gun or anything so if things went bad... He decided then and there that nothing was going to happen except for Jules getting some closure. "So where are we going?" She'd only mentioned it was a place where the dreams happened and he could only hope it wasn't very terrifying in daylight.
Jules didn't think anyone would happen, but she wouldn't argue with him. She might have called Jasper to drive out there with her, but she had already told him nothing more had happened with the dreams, she didn't want him to worry about her when he was already dealing with Amelia's disappearance. "Mulberry Road, the one that leads out of town," Jules explained as they walked toward his car. She realized she didn't have her phone, or her bag, both were still in her locker, but... oh well. They would come back. "Do you remember where our bus went off the road? I want to go there. Is that okay?"
Greg did himself the favor of removing his shoulder pads then tossed them and his headphones in the back seat. It was a little too much to drive with those things on. He recognized the name of the road as soon as she said it and that immediately made the whole thing just a little creepier. "Wait, did you dream of that place before the crash?" he asked and maybe she was some kind of a psychic or something. Only if she kept dreaming of the same place then obviously it wasn't about the crash at all. It was all making his head spin.
"Not before, no," Jules said as she opened up the passenger side door to slip into his car. "But I've dreamed about it since. When the bus went off the road, I fell and hit my head. And then it was like... I was alone on the road, and the bus and everyone was gone. I couldn't move very well because I was scared of something. This... thing... came up behind me and touched my face." She shuddered out a breath, feeling nauseous at the memory of it. Jasper was the only person she had told about it, other than the three guys experiencing the dreams with her. "Then I woke up on the bus floor with Sera there. Then I started dreaming about that road with those three guys. I just didn't put two and two together because... I don't know why. I wasn't thinking."
Greg didn't have the heart to tell her that maybe the place itself was inconsequential, that her brain was just using a traumatic location for a traumatic dream and she couldn't be sure they were all seeing the same place. It felt like she needed to see it for herself and get it out of her system so... Fuck practice. Bash would want him to go and Greg was pretty sure Bash wouldn't handle this very well on top of all the other stress he'd been through. "Let's go check this place out," he said and waited until she was all set before starting the car. He had left his phone in the glove compartment and couldn't thank his past self enough for that because if something happened... Shit, he hoped nothing would happen.
Jules exhaled and then chewed nervously at her lower lip. She supposed it might have been a stupid decision to go out there without telling one of the three guys, but she didn't want to tell them anything until she knew it was important, or significant. Maybe it wouldn't be. But the road had to be the same as the one in her dreams, and maybe she would know it for sure once she saw it in the daylight. It was always dark in her dreams, and it had been dark the night of the bus crash. As they drove away from the school, Jules glanced out her window and could see a bit of the football stadium before it disappeared from view. "I'm sorry you're missing practice. This is probably crazy, right?"
Greg wasn't sure what was becoming of his life when this was not the craziest thing to happen to him this month. He just shook his head with a little smile. "You want to know what's going on; that's not crazy." Under any other circumstances he would have thought her boyfriend should be the one dealin with this with her but given that Jasper's little sister was missing it seemed only right to help out. "Does Jasper know about the dreams and all?" he asked anyway, glancing over at Jules. Sometimes you kept secrets from other people for their own good but it still sucked, he knew all that pretty well right now.
"Um, I told him about what happened when the bus crashed. And then the first dream I had with those three guys, but... nothing since. I mean..." Jules shrugged. "I didn't tell him about the last one, or the sleepwalking, or nosebleed, or how I met those three guys on Monday." She realized that was quite a bit to have kept to herself, and Jules blew out a frustrated huff between her lips. Her chest was feeling tight again, like it had been in the locker room, and Jules took a deeper breath to keep from panicking all over again. Once it felt like she could manage it, Jules spoke again, glancing at Greg. "His sister went missing, you know? I don't think he needs to be worrying about me when he's got her to think about. I'm not dying or anything, so..." It did suck not to have Jasper there to turn to, and Jules had been feeling terribly alone in all of this, but that wasn't his fault.
"I know," Greg said, pursing his lips in thought. "And no, you're not dying if I've got a say in it, Jules." Which meant he was glad he was there with her and she wasn't running off on her own. "You probably shouldn't go meet those other guys alone either, I mean, you should have backup. Like a whole lot of backup in case this is something bad. I know people who can... do stuff. I mean I can't tell you about it unless they're okay with it but they might be able to help." God, this secret thing was tough, if everyone wasn't so damn secretive he'd just rally the troops, get Bash involved and Phee, both of them had magic. Maybe their dad could help! Or Reagan Kelly.
Despite how she was feeling, Jules couldn't help but release a soft , but appreciative laugh. She and Greg weren't super close friends, but it was nice that he seemed to care. And honestly, she was glad he had been so willing to come with her. Jules probably would have been fretting the entire drive, and then what if she chickened out before actually getting to Mulberry Road. She felt safer in a weird way, with him there. "I didn't get the feeling like any of them were creeps," Jules assured him. "I didn't feel unsafe, I mean. They're going through the same thing I am, so like, I don't think any of them would hurt me." Sighing, she stared out the window for a moment and then felt her lips twitch. "You know people who can do stuff. Like, witchcraft? Because if so, I know someone too. Well, indirectly, I guess. But I don't want anyone else to know, Greg. Like... please don't tell anyone what I told you, okay?"
"I won't tell anyone," Greg promised with a little sigh because he wanted to tell people, if only to keep Jules safe. "Even if those guys are safe you don't know what you're up against and it could be good to have someone with you who's not involved, you know?" The four of them were involved with whatever this was so having someone who didn't have a target painted on his back join in seemed like a good gameplan. He had to wonder if she meant Bash when she said she knew someone too but it wasn't like they could find out without one of them giving away too much information. "I think... Nic Castell is... something," he mumbled because he didn't have to tell her why he thought so. "Or at least his sister, she was doing weird shit at the festival."
Jules thought about Jane, the woman who could apparently influence and walk in dreams. She didn't think Jane would protect them, but if she was able to tell them what was in their dreams that they had yet to see, that was something. But who else could they tell? It wasn't like Jules knew a bunch of adults, and she couldn't make that decision without Nic, Neil and Carson's okay anyway. Right? "Nic?" Jules chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Well, yeah, I can see that. He was talking about hex bags and ritualistic cleansings and stuff. And his shop totally looks new age-y witchy like. Did you know Reagan Kelly is a witch? She gave Jasper some hex bags awhile back and he gave one. Don't tell anyone," Jules added quickly, because she wasn't sure if she was supposed to say anything or not. "Nic didn't seem like he had a lot of answers about how to take care of what was happening, so I don't know if witchcraft is the answer."
"I won't tell anyone," Greg said and wondered how many times he'd said that by now and to how many people. "So you're all in the know about the weird in town too, that's... Man I just keep finding out new shit, you know? I don't know if Bash ever told you about my aunt but I legit thought she was just crazy but it seems like she might not be. Mind blown, you know?" He was probably saying too much but god, he couldn't watch every word that came out of his mouth or his head would explode.
"I don't know if I'm all in the know, but I know enough. Unfortunately," Jules muttered. Maybe it was safer to know, but that didn't mean she didn't wish she could rewind time to when she didn't know, and winning Homecoming Queen was the only worry on her mind. "Bash didn't tell me a lot about your aunt, but I've heard about her," she added, sounding mildly sympathetic. "I mean, everyone knows your cousin went missing in the cemetery."
"Yeah she got a little loopy after that," Greg said. "I mean I don't remember her being not loopy but mom has told me about it. How she used to just be super normal. I guess losing someone like that will fuck you up though. Especially after they found his friend and he's just nuts." That really didn't bode well for Kevin. Some people had speculated that Rory had killed the other boys and buried them somewhere but Holly was certain they had simply disappeared, been taken by something dark in town. Greg always preferred the version where Rory was just a psycho but these days he really wasn't so sure.
"Isn't he in an insane asylum now? Rory? Or whatever they call those places now. Maybe he did it and just knew how to cover it up. Maybe he was a victim too, but saw his friends die and lost his mind. Maybe it's easier to blame the unexplained when you don't have any answers, just to find some closure." Jules blew a long breath from between her lips and shifted a bit restlessly in her seat. "Maybe talking about people disappearing and going crazy isn't the best topic of conversation right now because I'm starting to like..." Jules waved her hands in front of her face for a second before exhaling again. She did not need to have another panic attack. "Sorry."
"Oh wow, yeah, shit," Greg blurted out. "Let's not do that." Whether 'that' meant go missing or talk about people going missing was unclear but both, both were good things not to do. "Do you wanna listen to music? It's a bit of a drive. My phone's in there." He gestured toward the glove compartment, shooting Jules a curious little look. "You can play whatever you want." And maybe it'd calm her down to know they had a phone, Greg knew it calmed him the fuck down although there were definitely other things he wished he'd gotten out of his locker before they left.
Jules was about to go for her own phone when she remembered she left it back at school. It hadn't seemed important at the time but now she felt a sliver of anxiety being without it. What if Jasper tried to call or text her? She didn't have her phone, or her purse. No one knew they left, unless someone saw them getting into Greg's car. That probably wouldn't look too innocent either. Jules took another deep breath, determined not to let silly things bother her. She found Greg's phone and got it hooked up to listen to. After finding a pretty chill song, Jules rubbed her temple and smiled faintly at Greg. "Thanks. At least we have your phone. I didn't even think to bring mine. Do you think anyone is going to worry?"
"Probably everyone," Greg said with a nod. "And your boyfriend's gonna want to punch my face in if he hears about me driving off with you." He didn't know that for sure but he had a feeling Jasper Lucas was possessive and he definitely had a history of violence. It was hard to believe that someone wasn't interested in Jules that way but it was true for Greg. Jules had gone from being Bash's girl - completely off limits - to a friend, but he was all too aware of what it looked like when a footballer and a cheerleader ditched practice together. "I don't know if I hope we find something or not, to be honest."
Jules barked out a laugh, even though it wasn't terribly funny. "Jasper's not going to punch you, Greg. He knows how I feel, so it would be stupid to be jealous." She was aware of how hypocritical that was, since Jules had a jealous streak a mile wide. "But whatever, you know. Let people talk. What else is there to do around here? The people who matter know better." Jules licked her bottom lip and looked out the window. This route was so familiar to her, only because it was the route they always took during away games. She always had fun with the other girls on those trips, especially when she got to flirt with the football players in her tiny cheer skirt. Those days felt so long ago now. "I don't know if we'll find anything. I just... I don't know, I need to see it. It feels important. You can stay in the car though, if you want." If something was there, she didn't want to risk Greg getting hurt.
Greg had thought about staying in the car because then he could use the car as a weapon if something did come out and attack Jules but the way she offered it there was no way he was going to now. "Yeah, I'm not letting you do this alone, that's the whole point of coming with you," he said stubbornly. "And tell me when to stop when we get there, I can't remember exactly where we went off road."
Jules wasn't entirely sure she would remember either, since it had been dark and creepy and this entire stretch of road looked exactly the same. A two lane road with thick woods on either side until you got to the highway. She paid more attention now, gaze scanning the trees and road ahead for anything familiar. It felt like they drove forever before she finally perked up and gripped the passenger side door. "Stop right up there," Jules said suddenly, pointing with her free hand out of the windshield. "See that broken tree branch jutting out? Pull over there." She had no idea why she recognized it, but she did. Maybe it had been in her dreams and she hadn't paid it close attention. Maybe she saw it when she was sitting in the back of the ambulance with Bash the night of the crash. Either way, it pinged something in her brain and she had to think that was where they needed to be.
Greg would honestly have been quite happy just driving around aimlessly until Jules gave up on finding the right place. That would have been really ideal. His heart sank a bit when she told him where to stop because she sounded so sure and wasn't this just an awesome way to go: killed by some dream monster in the woods. Okay, they weren't quite in the woods but the woods were right there, looming. He still pulled over and turned off the engine, stopping the music on his phone so he could keep it on him. He was really feeling how stupid it was to go out in his football uniform because there were no damn pockets on the thing. "You sure this is it?" he asked as he peered out at the broken tree branch. It had been dark when the bus crashed but maybe there were some signs of the accident there.
"Yes," Jules said, pushing open the door and climbing out. She wasn't sure if there would be tire marks from where the bus braked on the road or not, but she wasn't thinking much about that. It felt like the right place, so even if there was no evidence of the bus going into the ditch, Jules knew this was the place in her dreams. She started walking along the berm of the road toward the tree, wondering if something else would trigger in her memory. It was quiet out here, though she could hear some birds chirping in the trees. That was comforting in a small way. Jules glanced behind her to see if Greg was following. "You really don't have to come if you don't want to," she said. "I promise it's totally fine. I'm just going to like, look around for a few minutes."
"Yo, I don't wanna crowd you or anything," Greg said, looking around a bit uneasily. "But you don't have to do this alone." He'd come with her for a reason after all and so he strolled after her with his keys and phone in hand, giving her some space but not staying too far away. He was just happy she'd decided to do this during the daytime and not in the middle of the night because shit - that would have been way too creepy.
"I know," she told him, stepping over a bit of discarded trash. Jules looked up and down the road before she stepped into it, walking toward the middle where the yellow dashes separated the lanes. Jules stopped and squinted a bit as she looked around her, her gaze scanning the woods, as if expecting something to come slithering out. She spotted a bird take off from the top of one of the trees and then exhaled softly. A prickle of unease formed in her stomach and Jules looked to make sure Greg was still there. She half expected him to have disappeared. "This is definitely it. You have your phone? Can you take a picture of the tree with the broken branch and text it to me?" That way she could send it to Carson and the others to see if they recognized it. Before he could answer she began to walk back toward the tree line.
Greg walked closer and did what she asked, taking a few more pictures of the place just for the hell of it, one that included Jules as she walked away. He wasn't even sure why, to prove they'd been there maybe and not off somewhere else making out. "Is it exactly like you dreamed?" he asked as he trailed after her, looking around warily and wishing he'd brought a baseball bat or something. It just felt wrong to not be armed in any way and he turned to look behind them as they walked, making sure everything was clear.
"Yeah. I mean, only in the daytime. Every time I dreamed about it, it was dark." Jules started to walk down into the ditch, careful with her steps as not to trip and fall. She shivered a little, realizing then that she was in shorts and her sports bra and it was chilly outside. Not exactly 'wander through the woods' attire, but at least she had sneakers on. Jules paused just outside of the tree line, rubbing her forearms as she decided whether or not to actually go into the woods. What was she looking for? Where did she think she was going to end up? Jules thought maybe she ought to wait for the other three to come with her. Not that she didn't think Greg could help her, but having three men around in case of danger had to be better than just one. That sounded like a solid plan, and yet Jules started walking into the woods anyway, her morbid curiosity getting the better of her.
"Dude," Greg said warily. "Jules... Let's maybe not be a horror movie cliche and go into the woods?" He trailed after her, not seeing any reason to leave the road. That was where her dream happened, wasn't it? Not in the woods? Only she might be looking for whatever it was that touched her face in that dream and Greg was really not in any hurry to find that thing, whatever it was. "Let's just take lots of pictures and then you can show it to the guys and see if they see the same place. Could be they're seeing somewhere else, right?"
Jules felt an undeniable need to go into the woods, but Greg's voice stopped her and she turned to look at him. He looked apprehensive and she couldn't really blame him. "But what if there's something in there," Jules said, squinting a little and glancing back into the trees. She was almost positive that's where the thing came out from in her dreams. But... if it was in there, whatever it was, did she want to be alone when she found it? Her skin broke out in goosebumps and Jules shivered against the sudden chill she felt, and with her heart starting to beat faster, she turned away from the trees to walk back toward Greg. "We'll take more pictures," she agreed, unable to shake the thought that if she had gone into the woods she probably wouldn't have come back out. "But I'm pretty sure this is the place. We're all here together in our dreams. Whatever is in the dreams with us we can usually hear, but not see. It's definitely not human."
"You're not making it all that tempting to go in there, you know," Greg told her with a faint smile. "I'll come back with you here sometime if you want but we should bring more people and, you know, someone who can use magic would be cool too. Prepared and all, smarter than this." He gestured to the state of them, both woefully underdressed for the occasion. He didn't even have a jacket to offer her over her flimsy workout outfit. He handed her his phone when she got close, figuring it was easier to let her take the pictures she wanted to take instead of directing him how to do it.
She shook her head and took Greg's phone to take the pictures she wanted. "I don't want you to have to come back here. And you already promised not to tell anyone, so... don't tell anyone," Jules added as she lifted his phone to snap a couple photos of the road, and then the trees beside it. She kind of had a feeling that the other three would recognize this place if they came here, but the photos seemed like a good idea. "I'll make sure I'm prepared next time I come," she mumbled before lowering the phone to text the pictures to her number. Then her lips twitched and she arched a delicate brow playfully. "Do you have any naughty pictures hidden in here somewhere?" she asked, waving his phone back and forth.
"Hey, I'll come with you," Greg protested. "And those guys already know so that's three more guys who can come with us. You sure you don't want to tell Bash? I thought you guys were friends?" Sure, Bash was maybe not in any state of mind to deal with more stress but at least that stupid ritual was over so they wouldn't exactly be piling on him. "You already know his secret," he reminded her, though it was just one of them.
Since he didn’t answer her question about the naughty pictures, Jules sighed and handed over his phone now that she had finished with the camera. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate Greg’s help, but she had no idea if Nic, Neil and Carson would want someone else around, someone younger, like Jules. She kind of got the feeling they already found it weird that she was involved too. “I don’t know how dangerous this could be. Why would I want more of my friends involved?” she asked Greg. “And Bash and I are friends, yeah, but it’s not like we’re best friends like you guys are. And his secret is that he’s gay, Greg. Knowing that doesn’t put me at risk like my secret could do to him.” Jules winced a little and started to head back to his car. “Besides, it’s bad enough I told you, but Jasper doesn’t even know about this stuff. I don’t feel right bringing more people into it when I haven’t even told my boyfriend, okay?”
Greg bit back on some bad joke about how there was totally a gay mafia so maybe she was at risk, it didn't seem fitting to joke around when she mentioned Jasper in the next breath and Greg sighed, nodding a little. "Just, if something happens to you and Bash finds out I knew all about it? He'll blow a gasket. Boom." Bash probably wouldn't but Greg would feel like he should have done something more and that wasn't the kind of guilt he was willing to live with. "I'm involved already so at least let me tag along too if you guys come out here again."
Jules stopped by the car and sighed, resting her hands on her hips and trying not to get irritated, since he had been more than awesome by listening to her and driving her out here. She was feeling colder than she had moments before, and goosebumps had started breaking out across her skin. Jules was starting to shiver and it made her wish she had a t-shirt or something to pull over her sports bra. "Nothing's going to happen to me." Jules told him. "And he won't find out, Greg. I'm not going to tell him and neither are you. I mean, not unless there's actually something to tell. Right now I don't know what's going on." Her brows drew together curiously and she had to resist flat out telling him no. "Why would you want to come back out here? I mean, what do you think will happen? What if it's bad? What are you going to be able to do? You're, like, putting me in a weird position to maybe get you hurt and I don't want to do that."
"And you're putting me in a weird position that if something happens to you I'll just keep thinking I could have saved you or something," Greg shot back, not caring if that made sense or not. "And hey, safety in numbers. I won't tell Bash if you really don't want him to know but he's stronger than he seems." Which he meant emotionally, of course. Bash was physically strong, but they both knew he was sensitive when it came to anything else. He frowned softly at Jules and glanced down at her arms. "Get in the car, you look like you're freezing," he said more softly. "Need me to do anything else?"
Jules wanted to ask Greg how he could possibly save her from some creepy, potentially otherworldly creature, but the sentiment was sweet and appreciated so she bit her tongue, not wanting to sound like a bitch, or even ungrateful that he skipped practice to bring her out here. Jules still didn't want Bash to know about any of this. Jasper didn't know, to an extent, or her family, or even her closest friends. It was probably weird that Greg knew now, but there was nothing she could do about that. There were three other people involved in all of this, and their opinions mattered to her, in an unexpected kind of way. Jules sighed and rubbed her forearms, noting that Greg didn't look as cold as she felt. It was then she realized she didn't hear anything. Well, she could hear, but it sounded like all of the birds had gone quiet. And it felt like it was starting to rain, but looking down at the wet drop on her arm, she saw it was blood. Jules brought her hand up to her nose quickly and pulled it away to see more blood on her fingers and she gave Greg a slightly panicky look. "We need to go now, okay? Like, right now. Please." She didn't really care about her nose at the moment, she just wanted to get into the safety of his car and get as far away from this place as she could.
Greg had barely let out that question when he Jules's nose started bleeding. It wasn't like it was something he never dealt with, he'd seen and had plenty of bloody noses in the past but given the circumstances this particular one sent chills down his spine. "Jules-" he started, gesturing at her face but then she realized it too and her words did nothing to alleviate that fear he suddenly felt. "Get in the car," he said quickly, opening the door to get in himself and locking the doors as soon as she was inside. He rummaged around for some tissues to hand to her, moving far faster than was strictly necessary because now he wanted to get the hell out of there too. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but fear was contagious and Jules was terrified. Had she heard something? Seen something? Felt something? Nosebleeds could totally happen because of dry air and random shit like that but what if something was physically hurting her? He started the engine and looked around before taking a u-turn, glancing every so often at Jules.
Jules took the tissues from Greg to hold them to her nose, though she was thankful that this nosebleed didn't seem as bad as the one she'd had Sunday morning. Then again, the bleeding was the least of her worries because she had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach and she just wanted to be home. As excited as Jules had been to recognize and find this place, she was wondering why. What had possessed her to want to actually come out here? Would she have to come back? Maybe, but hopefully not. Maybe now they knew not to come out here. She was shivering violently now and Jules shifted uncomfortably in the seat. "Will you turn on the heat?" she managed, thankful that Greg hadn't dragged ass and seemed to react to the urgency in her voice. Jules kind of wanted to look behind them, to see if there was anything on the road, anything watching them. But she was too scared and wasn't sure what she would do if she did see something.
Greg did check the road behind them a few times with a quick glance at the rearview mirror but he didn't see anything and he wasn't sure that he would even if there was something there. He automatically turned the heat up as soon as she asked, wishing he had a spare jacket in the back or something. Note to self, keep a blanket in the car like a cop would. He didn't often look serious but right now he did, his jaw set and his brows furrowed as he focused on driving and getting them back to somewhere that felt safe. Somewhere warm. "Do you want to go back to school and get your things? Or do you want me to drive you home and get your things for you." It was a reasonable offer. She was upset and cold, going back to school might not be on top of the list of things she wanted to do.
"I need my stuff," Jules murmured. She had no idea what time it was, but she was hoping cheer practice was still going on, or at least over, so she wouldn't have to deal with anyone in the locker room. Jules pulled the tissues away from her nose to see if maybe the bleeding had stopped. She could feel the blood still running so she pressed the tissue against her nostrils again and looked at Greg. "You don't have to do that for me. I should be okay. Just... I'm sorry. I panicked. Everything felt too... still? And then I felt something bad, like if we stayed it would be... really bad. And then this..." She waved her hand near her nose with an air of exasperation. "I'm sure you wish you were at football practice right now."
"Hey don't worry about it," Greg said and gave her a wan little smile. "Just be there for me if I start getting stalked by some dream monster, alright? Besides, I don't need practice as much as some of those other ghouls, I'm golden." A little bravado didn't hurt anyone, hell he needed it right now and maybe she did too. "I think we just need to come up with a believable story for why the hell we left in the first place." That might be tricky and yet again he found himself dealing with the fact that he was both a terrible liar and terrible at coming up with lies.
Jules wanted to laugh but it wasn't really funny, because she so didn't want Greg to have to be dream stalked by anything. God, what if something happened to him for just driving her out there? Jules felt nauseous at the thought. She lifted her free hand up to hold against one of the small heating vents, wishing she would hurry up and get warm. Her stomach was starting to clench painfully at how badly she was shivering. Like it was a bad combination of nerves and just being cold and she couldn't fix either. "Well, some of the girls saw me rush out of the locker room," Jules explained, her words slightly muffled by the tissues. "So we just say you saw me get sick and offered to drive me home, because you're awesome. If I can get my stuff out of my locker without anyone seeing me, they'll totally believe that story, right?" Yes, lying came pretty easily to Jules. She did if often, and she did it well.
"Or I can really drive you home and you can ask one of those friends to bring you your things," Greg suggested because if she snuck into the locker room and got caught their story was bust. He might not be a good liar but even he knew that. "C'mon Jules, you're shaking really hard, let me take you home, okay?" They were close enough that he'd need to make a decision soon on which way to turn and in a way he already had. He was the one driving so he had the control, it was just nicer if she went along with it.
Jules chewed on her lower lip for a second before nodding. "Okay. But my phone is in my locker, so like... could you text Heather and ask her to bring me my stuff?" She was pretty sure Greg still had Heather's number in his phone and that seemed like the logical choice since they both knew her. And Jules really didn't want to go back to the school to get her stuff. "And I'll need a ride to school tomorrow..." Since her car was still in the parking lot and everything. They lived so close to one another that Jules didn't think Greg would mind giving her a ride. She could have asked Bash, but the less questions she had to answer, the better.
"Yeah no problem," Greg said even if he wasn't exactly dying to text Heather. Maybe he'd just talk to one of the girls if anyone was still there when he was done driving Jules home. He did need to go get his own things. "I'll text you in the morning but until then... What do we say was wrong with you? Nosebleed? Throwing up? Something else?"
Jules rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. Her nose felt a little better, so she drew the bloody tissue away and rested her hand on her thigh. "I don't know... just tell them I got sick. If they're dying for the details, tell them I threw up. If it's just a nosebleed, there's really no reason to rush off, right? Honestly, it's no one's business except for like, the coaches." And Bash, probably, since he'll be the one to really notice Greg wasn't at practice.
"You were nauseous and weak and super pale and shaking," Greg said, counting up each symptom as it came to mind. He just knew that if he told people to mind their own fucking business they'd automatically assumed he'd been hooking up with Jules and that would be a shitshow. "And it didn't seem right to just leave you sitting in the hallway or making you drive home on your own. And everyone else was gone." He nodded. So maybe he was getting better at the lying thing.
Despite her mood, Jules felt her lips twitch as Greg talked himself through a viable explanation in case anyone asked where he had gone. It probably helped that there was a tiny bit of truth in the lie. "My hero," Jules murmured. She brought the sun visor down to make sure she didn't have any blood crusting around her nostrils. At least she seemed to be warming up a bit now. Once she was cleaned up a bit, Jules shut the visor and sat back again, exhaling slowly. "Do you think about, like, how insane all of this is? Like, witchcraft and everything. None of it is supposed to be real. I mean, what the fuck."
"Yah," Greg said incredulously.. "Like every day. If I hadn't seen some shit, you know? I wouldn't believe any of it." It would have been hard not to believe Bash even without proof, he was so guileless, but Greg might have thought his friend had gone a little off his rocker. Just because someone believed they were telling the truth didn't necessarily mean they were. "I can't say I'm too happy about it being real either, I mean, I prefer it when demons are just movie fodder."
Jules nodded. Seeing was believing, most of the time. And Jules had seen more than she wanted to. "Yeah, it's kind of freaky. Then you think... well, when we graduate, we can leave, but if it's here then it's probably everywhere, right? So, like, where can you even go?" That probably sounded pessimistic or whatever, but Jules couldn't help herself. She still wanted to leave Point Pleasant after graduation, and maybe take Jasper with her, but there was a tiny part of her asking why? What was the point if bad, evil stuff existed everywhere?
"Hey, think of it this way," Greg said. "You've gone seventeen years without seeing any of it, right? So maybe this is the only thing that will ever affect you, you know? Like you're just paying the Weird Tax right now and then you get to go on living your life like it ain't no thing." Was it a lame theory? Probably but he really wanted to go on living his life without being scared that any and every shadow might hide something hideous. Plus, Jules sounded super down about it and he wanted to say something to cheer her up, even if that something was total bullshit.
"Maybe." She doubted it though. Now that she knew this stuff existed, how could she ever just go back to living normally anymore? But Jules could recognize that Greg was trying to cheer her up, so she managed a small smile and reached over to ruffle his hair a bit. "Live my life like it ain't no thing," she repeated, sounding amused now. "I'll remember that when this is all over. Thanks, Greg. For coming out here and... everything. I owe you one, so like, if you want a special cheer just for you, I'm your girl."
"Yes," Greg hissed with a little victorious fist pump, even if he knew he'd never take her up on the offer, not with a jealous boyfriend in the mix. His little grin then eased into a warmer sort of smile when he looked at her again. "We're friends, Jules. This is what friends do. Just keep me in the loop, okay? I don't wanna be all worrying about you and wondering if you went back there without me, okay? That's how you pay me back. Like it ain't no thing."
It felt like they were friends now. Not that they hadn't been before, but it had been more like they just ran in the same social circle, and Greg was Sebastian's best friend. After Sebastian had dumped her, Jules didn't exactly hang out with Greg much. But it felt nice to know there was someone who knew what was going on. This whole thing had made her realize she had a ton of friends but not many friends. "I'll keep you in the loop," she promised. "I swear I won't be going back there alone, no matter what. I don't know that I even want to go back there with like... an army."
Greg was in no rush to go back there either. He hadn't seen anything or felt anything weird but he'd still gotten scared and when Jules's nose started bleeding? Fuck that place, seriously. "Oh hey, I'll upload the pics and send them all to you," he told her since it was probably easier than texting all of them. "I bet the place is on Google maps too, might look different tho." Now he regretted not pinning their location while they were there. Hindsight was 20/20. "Is anyone home at your place?" he asked. They were almost there and Jules didn't look as sickly as she had earlier so he felt better about dropping her off but still."
Jules nodded, thinking she wouldn't get those pics until someone brought her back her phone anyway. But she would send them to the boys as soon as she could. Could she call them boys? They were really men, but that just felt kind of weird. "I think, if we do go back, we'll know where it is. Sort of like I did today. It's just instinctual, or whatever." Sighing, she looked out the window. "Jason is probably home. Maybe my mom and stepdad. I don't really know. Even if they're not, I'll be all right. I'm going to put on some clothes and just... try not to freak out for awhile."
"If you start freaking out, just call me, okay?" Greg said and meant it. He might not be able to come over or whatever but just knowing someone was there if she needed them did mean something and he knew that damn well. He wasn't exactly swimming in problems but he'd had his bad days he wasn't sure he'd have gotten through if he hadn't had a best friend to vent at - or in some cases whine at. He remembered then that she didn't have her phone and made a face before amending. "Or send me message on Instagram or something, I get notifs."
Jules chuckled softly and nodded. "I will." She sort of felt like handling her freak outs were Jasper's responsibility, but Jules wasn't really sure he could deal with her on top of everything else he was going through. Still, she wished he was there with her. Jules chewed on her lower lip until the dull pain that flooded her chest passed. "I'll be fine though," she said finally. "I think I just need a shower and a nap..." And maybe to get stoned, although she didn't have anymore weed, which sucked.
Sometimes boyfriends and girlfriends were too close to deal with some of the things a person was going through if you asked Greg, sometimes you needed a friend or even a stranger to help with your issues and it felt only right to help her out when her boyfriend was in no shape to do so. Of course Jasper would disagree but that was why he didn't need to know yet. "Hope you feel better, Jules," he said. "I'll try get you your phone today and then text when I'm here."
Jules couldn't help but grin at him then. "Just knock or ring the bell. If you have my phone, I'm not getting your texts." She nudged him playfully with her elbow. Since he deserved it, Jules leaned over to press a quick kiss against his cheek before turning to push open the door and get inside. Her mom's car was in the driveway, so she would be able to let Jules in since her house keys were in her purse at school. She shut the door and waved at Greg through the window before heading toward the front door. It had been a seriously strange afternoon, and not one she really wanted to repeat, but she had to admit it had been nice to have Greg there. He kept her chill and didn't make her feel stupid for any of it. That was all she really could have asked for.