jane randolph (agonium) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-04-30 08:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, #group scene, jane, lem, neil, vex |
Who: Jane, Lem, Neil & Vex
Where: Library, then Ludlow Lane
When: Wednesday afternoon, 12/13
Status: Complete
As far as Neil was concerned, the whole mirror madness that had plagued his life was now over. He was uncomfortably aware that he owed Jane for that particular luxury and that was possibly the only reason he wasn't entirely happy about it. He owed Jane. Jane would make him do something to repay her, he just knew it and he'd have to say yes. Time ticked by and it became easier to ignore this particular blight on his life when he didn't see her but of course the day had to come. He was stuck at the front desk on the day it finally did and he could see Jane as soon as she walked in. Jane was not a library regular so it wasn't that far fetched to think she was there for him. His expression turned grim and he tried to smooth it over as he watched her make her way to where he was standing. "Afternoon, Jane," he said softly. He owed her, being a dick was apparently not in the cards anymore.
Jane had made the decision to visit Vex on Ludlow, her curiosity about him having been piqued now, especially knowing that he had gone through some of the same experiences as she had. She didn't trust him, or anyone for that matter, but Jane couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't a coincidence. And that meant trying to talk to the other AIR patients in town, including Neil. Jane didn't think she had really helped him or the other dreamers much, but she still risked herself to try and she felt like that deserved a favor in return.
She went by his apartment but he wasn't home so Jane drove to the library and found him at the front desk as soon as she walked in. She caught the look on his face and realized he had probably been expecting this to happen, which prompted a brief, faint grin. "Hi Neil," she said as she approached. She sighed and rested her arms on the counter top, studying him for a moment before speaking. "So I met someone who is like us. I know he's not the only one in town, but he's... interesting. I think you need to meet him."
Neil just barely managed not to slump with exasperation. He was being good. He owed Jane. The conflict of feelings played over his face for a couple of seconds before he managed a painful and very faint smile. "Interesting how?" Another dreamwalker, perhaps. Interesting in that he actually had a gift or two, unlike Neil who had nothing to show for after all that time of torture. He was glad for it, he really was and yet, at the same time, after all that nonsense with the dreams and his strange connection to the others, maybe having something wouldn't be too bad.
"Interesting in that he has visions," Jane explained, telling herself to remain patient with Neil, otherwise he might not come with her. "He saw me in one of them, when I was still in the facility. He recognized me in the grocery store." Jane almost explained about Vex's conduit, but figured that wasn't really necessary information at the moment. "He lives on Ludlow, and I think we should go talk to him."
It was probably for the best that Jane was the one the man had recognized and not Neil who couldn't imagine his reaction to a stranger confronting him with AIR business in a grocery store. He listened with a growing pained expression that he tried to smoothe out before speaking again. "You want me to come with you?" It wasn't a protest, more a gentle question that might suggest it wasn't the best idea but he wasn't going to protest.
Jane sighed and shot Neil an exasperated look. "Did you not get that from everything I've said? Yes, I want you to come with me. You can't hide from this forever, Neil. And, honestly, if he has vision, maybe meeting you will trigger something about your dream monster problem. Maybe he'll have some insight into the whole thing." She supposed that was as close to a bribe as she could come up with. Jane wasn't sure how Vex's ability worked, but he had seen her and see snippets of her life, so maybe the same would happen to Neil.
Neil almost pointed out that the dream monster appeared to be gone, that Jane had most likely scared it off. He really believed that to be the case, mostly because he needed it to be true, but that didn't change the fact that they still had the strange side effect of it all to deal with; he could still hear the others and their random thoughts at times. While he wasn't thrilled about it, Jane was right, maybe this guy could help them. "Alright," he said and it felt almost unnatural to not put up more of a fight. "When do you want to go there?"
Jane thought it odd that Neil didn't protest more too, but she wasn't going to complain. It was a nice change of pace to think he might actually be willing to face all of this stuff. Her lips twitched at his question, because she wasn't so sure he would like the answer, but it was what it was and Jane had a goal for today, so she was determined to meet it. "Now, actually. I was on my way there and stopped by to see if you would come with me. Vex said to stop by whenever, so whenever is now."
It was so tempting to tell her he couldn't go now because obviously he was at work but it was ten to five and his shift ended at five. He could lie, he supposed, but there was a dreadful little thought that she would somehow know and so he pushed that idea away quickly. "I can go in fifteen," he said, the words dripping with dismay and defeat. Whenever is now, it was like all that pushing things away had turned out to just be a temporary fix and now he had to face it all. He could only hope this wouldn't truly lead anywhere and that Jane would let it go eventually.
Jane nodded. She supposed she couldn't expect him to just ditch work, even if it was something she would have done. "I'll wait," she told him, moving away from the front desk as not to crowd him or annoy him with her presence. She was sure he was already feeling on edge from the conversation alone. It didn't occur to her that this wouldn't lead anywhere. After meeting Vex, Jane was more convinced than ever that they were all there for a reason, even if some of them had disappeared since she first arrived in town. She figured AIR was behind it all, but she had no proof. Not yet. Jane slipped her hands into her coat pockets and wandered towards the stacks to look around until he was ready. Since she had a moment, she took her phone out of her pocket and thumbed a quick text to Vex to make sure he was home and didn't mind her stopping by.
She got her reply quick enough and minutes later Neil was replaced at the front desk, only disappearing to the back for a few minutes to get his jacket. He looked positively beaten down when he joined her but normally he would have been more vocal about how sullen he felt. This time around, he only looked it. "Do you want me to drive?" he asked, not thrilled at the thought of leaving his car behind because what if he really needed to get away from there? But then again someone might see his car and connect the dots that he was getting too involved. But then they might see him anyway so his car shouldn't be the biggest worry here. He pushed those thoughts away as best he could, it wouldn't do to worry.
"Sure," Jane said, not really caring who drove, but if it helped Neil feel a bit more in control, she would let him do it. She waited for him to start leading her in the right direction, slipping her hands back into her pockets. "I texted Vex and he's waiting for us. You know that big Victorian house on Ludlow? They're right next door. I'm not sure if his... roommate will be there or not." The conduit. Jane sort of hoped she would be, because the concept of a conduit was an intriguing one.
Neil on the contrary hoped said roommate wouldn't be home because to him that just meant more strangers and Neil had enough trouble with the idea of meeting this one man. Vex. What kind of a name was that anyway? It was a damn verb and not a promising one at that. Neil smothered the urge to roll his eyes at the name, unlocking the doors to his red honda and gesturing for Jane to get in. "I don't mean to fuss," he muttered as he started the car. "But what exactly are you hoping to get out of all of this?"
Jane slipped into the car, taking a quick look around before she buckled her seat belt. She was inside Neil's car which was just... so amusing to her for some reason. "You're always fussing," she pointed out. "I'm used to it. And I don't know, Neil, I'm hoping for answers. Don't you think it's strange that so many of us are turning up here again after so long? It could mean something." She understood he was probably scared, which was why he wanted to try and avoid all of this, but Jane couldn't just sweep everything under the rug. A normal, quiet life was not in the cards for her. Or Neil.
Neil was trying so hard not to bristle and complain but her words made it that much harder and before he could think it through he'd already spoken. "It could mean we're all about to go missing," he said more sharply than he'd intended. "Like Naomi and Nicole and..." He drew a shaky breath and focused on the road. "I just want to leave them alone so they'll leave me alone, it's worked so far." And really the only reason he was indulging her now was because he owed her and, in all honesty, Jane might scare him more than AIR did.
"If they were going to take us, they would have done it already," Jane said. "Especially with your weird dream monster thing. That sounds like something fascinating they would be interested in, especially if it's happening to you." She wasn't scared of them. If anything, Jane wishes they would try to take her so she could show them exactly how she felt about this whole thing. "And you don't know for sure that they're leaving you alone. For all you know they're watching you and have been for years."
That definitely was one of Neil's fears and of course she had to hit that particular nerve. He didn't answer her, his expression getting tighter still as well as his grip on the steering wheel. He just wanted it all to go away but she was right, it never would. They were cursed and there was no escaping it.
Ludlow wasn't far from the library so they didn't drive in silence for long before Neil was turning in and driving toward the Zinneman house, another cursed thing in this godforsaken town. There was a man standing on the sidewalk, waiting and watching and of course that was the man they were about to meet. He looked weird, like the kind of person Neil would avoid in the street so of course that was him. Neil just barely smothered a sigh as he parked the car, watching the man with growing apprehension.
Vex approached the car, opening the door for Jane like a fucking gentleman because why the hell not. She had brought a friend and he was familiar too. The kid who kept pushing buttons. It had seemed significant but Vex never understood why. "C'mon in, it's fucking cold out here," he muttered and gave the squirrely driver a little finger-wave before turning to head inside.
Jane knew Neil well enough to know that he was probably apprehensive about Vex, especially given Vex's appearance, but Jane didn't much care. She felt like she was a good read of people, and Vex did not seem dangerous to her. That didn't mean he couldn't be dangerous, but she wasn't fearful. She grinned when he opened her door, and she flashed Neil a look before she climbed out. "Thanks." Jane began to follow Vex, motioning towards Neil. "This is Neil. He's... like us."
Neil wanted to protest that no, he was nothing like them. It felt like an insult, especially given the way Vex looked, his hair patched white in a way that was obviously not natural, his glasses crooked and old - the frame obviously broken at some point only to be glued haphazardly back together. Neil realized with some internal horror that yes, he was like them in some ways, he was just neater than Vex and less prone to tormenting people than Jane. God. He got out of the car and followed them inside the house with a little scowl, digging his hands into his pockets to fend off the cold.
Vex wasn't oblivious to the dirty look he got from Neil but he didn't much care. This was an important day and up until now he hadn't even been sure Jane or Mal would ever take him up on his offer and swing by so this was a pleasant surprise. "You want coffee? Whiskey? Vodka?" He smirked as he glanced over his shoulder at Neil. "Soda? We got plenty of shit to drink but not much in the way of cake today, I haven't been shopping. Lem's around here somewhere, she'll probably join us."
Jane would have taken whiskey in a heartbeat, but it was probably best to stay somewhat sober here. Especially since Neil was her ride and she wouldn't put it past him to leave her behind if she drank too much, which Jane was prone to do, given the chance. "Water sounds good, if that's okay," she said, looking over at Neil, who she was betting would want nothing more than to just stand there with his arms crossed, scowling. "Lem... she's the conduit? Your conduit?"
Neil's face drew together into an almost comical expression of puzzlement because as far as he knew, conduit was just some kind of an electrical tube thing and for a moment he wondered if he was missing something. Maybe he'd misheard and it was a breed of dog or something, it wasn't like he knew a whole lot about dogs.
Vex grinned, mostly at Neil's expression, nodding eagerly. "Yeah she is, she helps me see clearly, tell the crazy from the truth." He ambled to the kitchen with the two of them in tow and found some clean glasses in the overhead cabinet. The place was a mess of old and new but they kept certain things relatively clean like the kitchen area. Still, the glasses Neil and Jane got were plastic today and Vex didn't really put a lot of effort into this, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and plopping it down on the kitchen table before sitting down with his feet up on said table. "So, we chat now," he murmured and gestured at the bottle in invitation.
Amused, Jane reached for the water bottle, uncapping it as she glanced at Neil. "Do you recognize him at all? The way you recognized me?" she asked Vex, pouring a bit of water into both cups, just in case Neil actually wanted some. At least if Vex knew some details about Neil, Neil would see this actually meant something. That, or it would totally freak him out even more. It was probably a little bit of both.
Tacky as it was, the plastic cup made Neil a little more comfortable actually drinking the water. He didn't have to worry about it being dirty at least, he'd seen it in its little plastic container before Vex got it out so he sat down a little timidly and actually took a sip while watching and listening - not too keen on participating in this conversation.
Vex nodded at Jane's question, his eyes fixing on Neil again as if he was sizing him up. "They had you pushing a button all the time. Never the same one though. Weird metal button, right?"
Neil didn't choke on his water by some small grace of god and it honestly surprised him because something about those words made his throat tight. He'd forgotten that little detail until now, his childhood brain and the stupid way kids remembered thing making the button big and red and cartoonish in his mind but no, it had been metal every time and Vex knew it. Neil glanced at Jane with obvious unease. How did she know Vex hadn't worked for them? But he didn't voice that concern because he was determined not to participate. Not yet, at least.
"Yeah," Vex drawled, the startled look on Neil's fae the only answer he really needed. "I remember both of you. Didn't make much sense at the time but here we are."
"Here we are," Jane repeated, looking over at Neil. "And we aren't the only ones. Or weren't. Two women went missing shortly after I came back, but I don't know if they left of their own free will or not. And someone else's mother was taken and returned. He told me about it in a coffee shop." She sipped her water and studied Vex. "I have to imagine there are probably others. And I can't help but think maybe we're all here because we're supposed to be. I'm not sure why yet, but I can't imagine you and I decided Point Pleasant was some kind of ideal vacation spot."
Neil wasn’t the only one not directly participating in the conversation. Lem had known there were visitors coming, people from Vex’s way-back past, before she’d ever known him. Before she’d even been born, really. At least for him. He looked older than both of them as Lem watched them all come inside from an upstairs window. She’d walked down the steps soundlessly in her socks and leaned out of sight near the doorway of the kitchen to listen for a while.
A smile flickered across her face at the tone in Vex’s voice when she was mentioned, but she lingered for another few minutes, listening with interest. The man wasn’t talking. Lem wondered if he was scared to be there. She was thirsty herself, and she might as well make herself known, so Lem decided to show herself, stepping into the kitchen, her gaze sweeping over all of them before she went to the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of Coke out of it, then moved to wordlessly stand behind Vex, one arm slipping loosely around his neck and upper chest, staring at the strangers.
Vex had barely blurted out the enthusiastic "Exactly!" to Jane's words when Lem slipped into the room and his expression softened again. He grinned at her as she moved around, then rested his arm over hers when she stopped behind him. "This is Lem," he murmured. "My conduit and resident firecracker."
Neil watched the two, a little too intimate and it was - to him - a little creepy because Lem looked so young and Vex was so much older and yet they seemed... close. She looked like trouble too, like the kind of girl who mouthed off and ruined things if she was in a mood. The kind of girl he'd hate to deal with in general. The whole situation felt like something he didn't want to deal with and her look and dark gaze didn't help that at all.
Jane guessed the young woman that entered the kitchen was Vex's "conduit". For some reason she was exactly what Jane expected, and she liked the contrast between the two. Since Neil didn't respond to the introduction, Jane offered Lem a small smile. "Hi, Lem. I'm Jane, and this is Neil." She motioned absently in Neil's direction before continuing. "So how does that work? Being a conduit. Do you see what he sees?"
Neil didn’t speak, or even seem to want to look at her, and Lem kind of liked that. Let him be cowed and intimidated, that was how men should be around her. Her fingers curled idly in Vex’s shirt as her attention turned to Jane. “Hello,” she greeted back. The woman looked smarter than the guy she’d brought with her, and that seemed right to Lem too. “Not always, but a lot of the time, yeah. And when I can tune into it too, I make it clearer for him to see. Like an amplifier, I guess. I dunno how it works, but it does. What do you do?” Vex had told her something about dreams, but Lem couldn’t recall exactly.
"She's the dreamwalker," Vex replied and having Lem there had made him feel different in a noticeable way. He was calmer somehow, more secure in his skin. Her grip on him was grounding and her presence gave him a purpose. "I don't know what he is though," he added with a little up-nod at Neil, the button pusher.
Neil shook his head. "I'm-" he started and meant to say nothing but that sounded bad. He wasn't nothing and he wasn't going to let these oddballs reduce him to that. "I'm just a librarian," he concluded, shaking his head again and giving Jane a brief sidelong glance as he wondered just what the hell he was really doing there. They were all crazy, they all had either abilities or mental illness and he stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Librarian," Vex echoed, a grin slowly cracking his stoic demeanor. "Well then."
Jane rolled her eyes. "He's a librarian, but he's more than that. I don't know what, but I know he can do something. I think he's just repressed it." Neil seemed like someone who compartmentalized his life and ignored the unsavory bits completely. AIR was an unsavory bit, as was Jane. "They kept us if they triggered something useful, and they kept him." She thumbed toward Neil, not caring much that she was talking about him like he wasn't sitting right beside her. "The fire only put an end to the experiments. It didn't stop the abilities from growing. I worked on mine, so it comes easy to me."
Lem’s brain finally made the connection that Jane was the dreamwalker who had tried to help Nic and his dream-friends. Her brows lifted slightly at Neil’s answer and then Jane’s clarification, studying the antsy man’s expression. She could relate to having some sort of special ability and not knowing about it -- if it hadn’t been for Vex, she wouldn’t have had a clue what she could do. She would’ve just kept thinking she was crazy, like everybody else. Lem only vaguely knew who ‘they’ were and about the fire, but she wasn’t interested in that very second. “I know you. You know Nic,” she said to Jane, bypassing the rest. “You came into their dream and tried to help them. With the monster. They’re all psychic now, did you know?”
Neil looked more worried at that, which apparently was possible, his brows furrowed and his eyes a little wide. "You know about that? About Nic... You know Nic?" he blurted out a little clumsily as he wasn't sure what exactly to ask. This whole situation was just getting weirder by the second and while he'd thought that the monster had nothing to do with AIR since none of the others had gone missing, he couldn't help but wonder if something more was going on than just kidnapping kids.
Vex's mind was making connections and he looked at Neil again. "You're one of them," he murmured and it wasn't so much a question as a realization. "I think it's safe to say you're not just a librarian anymore."
Well, that was an unexpected connection, although Jane supposed it shouldn't have been so surprising with how small this town was. She arched a brow and looked at Neil. "You're psychic now? Why didn't you tell me that after it happened? And what kind of psychic are you? Telepathy?" As far as Jane knew, the other three involved in the dream shit hadn't been taken or experimented on by AIR. Then again, maybe they had been and just didn't feel like it was Jane's business to know. If Neil was this far in denial, the others could be too. None of them had looked familiar to Jane though, and the girl was way too young, given when AIR had burned down.
Lem raised her eyebrows at Neil, the connection finally being made. He was one of them too. Had Nic told her his name? She couldn’t really remember. But that was interesting, wasn’t it? That one of Nic’s brain-buddies turned up in her house for something completely unrelated? It was just another sign to Lem that they were in exactly the right place. “Yeah I know Nic,” she put in after Jane’s questions. “He’s mine.” She almost suggested that Neil try to call Nic over from next door, since they were so close at the moment, but this talk was obviously meant to be about something else, so she didn’t.
The possessive way Lem claimed Nic as her own wasn't lost on Neil and he almost scoffed at it, as if he'd want to steal him away? "I'm not psychic," he said sulkily to Jane. "There's just a... lingering effect that's very unpleasant where we randomly hear each other sometimes." It was hard to play that off as something that wasn't significant when it really was huge and annoying but it wasn't related to his time at AIR and as such there was no connection. "It's hardly an ability when I have absolutely no control over it," he added sullenly.
Vex listened with interest and at Neil's words his smile returned, amused and crooked. "That's the thing about abilities though," he rumbled. "Sometimes you got them, sometimes they got you."
Jane merely nodded when Lem claimed Nic as hers, because she had no interest in the guy on any level beyond his fascinating dreams. It amused her that Lem needed to clarify that bit, that in the midst of talking about telepathy and childhood experimentation, she and Neil needed to know Lem and Nic were fucking. Or something to that nature. "Hearing each other's thoughts is telepathy, and that's psychic," she told Neil. "If it didn't happen until after the dream I created..." Had she inadvertently created that connection? It was something to think about. She agreed with Vex's assessment of their abilities, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment. "I bet it's something you could learn to control, with practice, just like what Vex and I can do. And you, whatever it may be."
Lem hadn’t meant the declaration to be romantic-possessive, just a fact. Nic was hers. Vex was hers too, though they could probably see that from both of their body language. What they were talking about didn’t change any of that. But she didn’t give another thought to it, just kind of curious as to why Neil would keep denying he could do something. He obviously didn’t like it, and Lem could understand that. Selective telepathy would be awesome if you got to pick the Who and When, but uncontrolled, she could see it being a pain in the ass. She didn’t comment on whether he could learn to control it or not, since she couldn’t say the same for her own ability, just took a sip from her soda bottle and idly toyed with Vex’s shirt.
It was clear that Neil was uncomfortable with the topic and while Vex might have enjoyed making him squirm a little, he was interested in other things right now. "I don't know if they are back in business but they've been at it for a long time. I was taken as a kid, there's another guy in town who was actually sold off for his gifts." He plucked a lollipop from his pocket and slowly unwrapped it as he kept speaking. "I feel like we should be tracking everyone down or something, we're here for a reason. I want to know what they were hoping to achieve other than selling kids to the highest bidder. Hell, maybe that's all they wanted but there's easier ways to make money so there's got to be more."
Sold off. Jane had known on some level that's what happened to some of the kids she had met while being held in the facility, but it had always been something speculated between she and the others. Hearing that it actually happened felt a bit jarring. "I don't think it was just about making money," Jane murmured. "Some of us had abilities before the fire, but they kept us. Would you be willing to tell us his name? The one who had been sold? Do you know when he had been at the facility?" The more people they knew, the better, if you asked Jane. "What would you think about going back to the building? Seeing if it's back in business?"
Neil looked suitably horrified at the direction the conversation had gone. He'd never really thought about what would have become of them if not for their escape. He'd always thought they'd realize he was nothing special and just let him go but hearing people were being sold. Sold. A modern day slavery in his quaint little town. He remained quiet but his distress was visibly growing.
Vex nodded at Jane. He didn't think naming names was a problem, it wasn't like he'd been sworn to secrecy or like he really gave a shit. "His name's Mal. He's a preacher or something. Kinda ageless though, I'd put him around thirty so... Twenty odd years ago, maybe. I don't remember my time but it's been a lot longer than that for me." He reached back to scratch lightly at Lem's shoulder. The girl was quiet and he felt the sudden need to include her more or at least acknowledge her presence. It was her presence that was keeping him grounded after all.
Mal. A preacher. For some reason Jane found that to be pretty funny. But she only knew of two churches in town and she was curious as to which one he led. Jane wasn't an overly empathetic person, but she could almost feel Neil's discomfort rising beside her. Not only by his body language, but by his silence. Vex had given her Mal's name, but there had been no yes or no on revisiting the scene of the crime so to speak and she glanced at Neil briefly. "I think we should at least find out what they're up to, if anything right now. People are disappearing, but that seems to be pretty normal for this place. That doesn't mean they're not behind it now, but... it might be beneficial for us to check."
Lem appreciated the scritch, and she dipped her head to smooch the top of Vex’s head, though her eyes stayed on the strangers. She only knew small, disconnected things about what had happened to Vex as a child, so all of this talk with other people was darkly interesting. Some underground ring of psychic kid slavers? Weird. “Do you even know where it is? The place you all came from?” she asked, mostly addressing it to Jane. She seemed to know the most, and Neil looked like he wanted to disappear. “Or if they rebuilt it after it burned down?”
It was Vex who answered. He was getting caught up in the thoughts of what to do next, if going there was a good idea or not. "It was rebuilt," he muttered. "I wish I had your gift," he added, pointing the words at Jane, a wry smile on his lips. "I think I'd do a little dream sleuthing before going there in person. Find out who works there, poke around in their heads, try to puzzle out what they know. How hard is it? Entering people's dreams from a distance?"
Neil let out a little huff at that because it obviously wasn't difficult at all. He didn't think Jane was dragging herself outside in the middle of the night to sit outside his house every time she meddled with his dreams.
Vex's suggestion wasn't a bad one. Jane could probably figure out who worked there and try to find some answers in their dreams. Only dreams didn't always cooperate. She could try to manipulate them like she had done with Neil's and the other dreamers, but that had consequences. Physical ones, even. "It's not difficult," she explained, ignoring Neil's huff. "As long as I've seen or met them, it's just like finding the right door and walking inside. The door isn't terribly hard to find either. It may take a bit of time, but I could probably find out who works there and see what I can decipher from their dreams. If you're willing to wait a bit."
That was interesting, a bit of dream-recon before an actual mission. It would definitely work to their advantage, they could scope out the bad people before they knew they were being scoped. Lem leaned her head to look at the side of Vex’s face. “Have you seen any of their faces?” she asked, meaning in his visions. If he had, maybe they could find them and point them out to Jane. Lem wondered if her conduit powers could help the dreamwalker somehow too, but it was too vague a thought for her to voice just yet.
"I've seen a lot of faces," Vex replied and he knew Lem had seen some of them too by now but some others he hadn't seen for years. "It's hard to tell who's who sometimes or if they're related to this. I should probably start a damn list." It hadn't meant anything for so long, he'd never really thought about needing to keep track. If he had known he wasn't just insane he could have used his contacts and called in a favor with a sketch artist but it was a little too late now. It was hard to recall faces accurately when he'd only seen them a couple of times in a vague vision some twenty years ago. "We need to figure out a good reason to visit the place. I guess I could do some surveillance, see who's coming or going, take some pictures and start there."
Jane nodded. "If you want company, I'll go," she told Vex. She wasn't working, still living off her savings and occasional selling of her artwork back in her apartment. "If I can see people coming and going, that's all I'll need to find her dreams. They might not tell us much, but I can try to manipulate them into dreaming about work." She looked over at Neil. "Have you spoken to any of the others about the facility? The dreamers?" Again, Jane didn't think they had been subjects, at least not the teenager, but it never hurt to cover all their bases and make sure these shared dreams hadn't been triggered by AIR in some fashion.
When he realized Jane was talking to him, Neil shook his head no before finding his voice to elaborate. "We tried to figure out what we might have in common and none of them went missing as as children," he said quietly. "The dream is really the only thing - the only consistency." He frowned as he spoke because he was actually thinking about it now and ideas were creeping into his head - which was the exact reason why he didn't want to think about it. "They might still be involved with the facility in some other capacity. Maybe their parents were taken or they've been used as a sample group or..." He sighed and shut up again, his disdain for the topic obvious.
"It might be worth looking into," Jane told him. "With or without their permission. They might not even know if they're involved. And it could be they're not, but it wouldn't hurt to just make sure." And if the dream monster, or whatever it was, was completely removed from AIR, then they could move onto something else. She didn't really care if Neil was uncomfortable with all of this. He was a part of it, whether he liked it or not. Jane looked back at Vex and Lem. "Do you think you might see more about Neil? You said he pushed buttons a lot... is that all you know right now?"
"I can't control what I see or when I see it. I haven't seen Neil in years," Vex told her. "And you're welcome to join me but uh, I've done this a lot and it's fucking boring, just so you know. I'd love some company." Those last words were pointed at Lem and he craned his neck to look at her. If anyone could make a boring as shit stakeout fun, it was Lem. "I don't think my car is inconspicuous enough," he added with a toothy grin at his conduit. The others might have seen the large black van outside but Lem for sure knew the rustbucket would draw attention wherever they parked it.
Lem grinned back at him, amused. Their van definitely stuck out like a sore thumb, not very good for sneaky reconnaissance work. She didn’t mind going with him, no matter how boring it turned out to be. They’d survived long-ass road trips together, they could stave off any boredom. “Guess we need to borrow a car then,” she said, looking up at Jane and Neil with an arched eyebrow. They’d driven there, so at least one of them had a car, but she wasn’t sure who it belonged to.
Jane arched a brow at Lem and felt her own lips twitch. The idea of Neil loaning these two his car was laughable and she very nearly turned to look at him, if only to make him squirm for a bit. But Jane opted to show him a bit of mercy. "If you need a car, you can use mine, but I'm going too. I can't just look at a photo and enter someone's dreams, otherwise I would likely be spending every night manipulating Chris Evans's dreams to my liking. I need to see them myself, even if it's just a glimpse. Although if the building is up and running again, it's possible some of the people who work there live in Point Pleasant. We just need to find out if that's the case, then I can just go by their house on my own."
Neil's paranoia bubbled up real fast when they started talking about cars and surveillance. He felt that all too familiar fear clutch his chest and just let his gaze dart between them for a bit in obvious panic. "If they're watching us they'll know our cars," he said eventually and thinking about it opened up a whole new slew of possible problems. If they were watching them, they'd already know what they were up to, who they were talking to. Maybe they were listening even now.
Vex wasn't phased by that. Maybe he should be but everything felt so fated in his life, it was hard to worry when worrying wouldn't change a damn thing. "It's time we watch them back then," he said, somewhat amused by Neil's obvious fretting. "And yeah, Jane, you can come along. Or we can tail someone who could be a good candidate, get you close to them some other time. It's all up to you."
If Vex wasn’t worried then neither was Lem. It would all go how it would go, and that would be it. It was nothing but the continual turning wheel of the universe, pushing them on toward their destinies that were set in motion by the big bang itself. She wasn’t too worried about inviting trouble into their lives either -- their lives were made for trouble. Neil could sit it out if he wanted, but Jane seemed all in, so that was good. “We’ll find those dickholes,” she chimed in with absolute confidence.
Jane wanted to huff with some exasperation at Neil, but he had a point. If they were watching, they would recognize Jane's car. And probably Vex's. "I don't care how we do it, as long as we do it soon," she said after a moment of thought. "I'm going to try and talk to the other guy in town, the one whose mom went missing for a brief period of time. Maybe he's gotten some more information too." Jane looked over at Neil. "Can you try and talk to Carson and the others? See if there are any connections through them?"
The kid whose mom went missing. Neil knew exactly who she was talking about, Alex, the guy who kept pestering him at the library. It made him feel a little guilty for all the times he'd misled him and turned him away but to be fair, he'd been trying to protect him as well as himself. "I can talk to Carson," he said, unwilling to talk to Jules, it just seemed risky to be fraternizing with a teenage girl. "You know Nic better than I do so maybe you can talk to him," he added and while the words were directed at Lem, he didn't quite look at her.
"I'm gonna start a fucking list," Vex muttered, more to himself than the others. "Try and connect the dots." He grinned to himself, already picturing a crime scene board and it honestly felt pretty nostalgic. "We're gonna figure this shit out."
Lem was still staring openly at the both of them, so she noticed Neil’s not-looking and was a bit amused by it. She was more than happy to intimidate him, and any other man who walked through that door. This was her house, and if he had any ill intentions, he’d better be afraid of her. “I’m pretty sure he’s got nothing to do with it, but I’ll talk to Nic,” she agreed. The possessive feelings extended toward her quasi-boyfriend, so she didn’t mind doing that at all.
Carson. Nic. Jane wondered if Neil would talk to Jules, but if he didn't want to, she could ask Carson or Nic to do it. Or fuck it all, she would do it herself. If she had to, she would wrangle their dreams again to see if it went any deeper, even if it meant risking herself again. "I think we are," she told Vex with a nod. "I don't have many answers but I sure as hell know more now than I did when I first got here. We should go." She nudged Neil and moved to stand. Her eyes were still on Vex and Lem. "Let me know when you're able to track someone down from the facility. I'll see what I can find out on my end."
At this point Vex thought they might either borrow a car from a neutral party or just say fuck it and take the van. It would be a big fuck you to the facility, we know you know we're here. It kind of delighted him if he was being honest. He got up too and the way he towered over the rest of them made him feel weirdly protective of them. Even the skittish one; Neil. "It's all getting clearer," he agreed. "We'll keep in touch. Send you pictures and info when we have it."
Neil was just relieved to get out of there. He'd been worried this little meeting would drag out forever and he didn't feel right just leaving, no matter how much he wanted to. Jane was ready to go and that meant he was excused. "Good luck," he mumbled, even if he hated this idea with every fibre of his being.
Lem just sipped on her soda as she watched them all stand, stepping back to make room for Vex to get up. She tried to imagine them all as small children, kidnapped by doctors in white coats to run experiments on, and felt a bit more sympathy for the twitchy man. Fucked up childhoods could really fuck you up, she knew that as well as anyone ... though her damage had come in her teen years. Still. She didn’t feel like she had anything to add, or owed them any parting niceties, so Lem turned to start making herself a sandwich, leaving the seeing-out to Vex.
It was beneficial to have people who were going through the same things, and who could help in varying ways. Jane's ultimate priority was herself, but she couldn't leave Point Pleasant again until she understood what had happened, and if it was happening again. It didn't seem relevant that she had started to think of Wilkins as something of a father figure. Jane knew all about Stockholm Syndrome, but she knew that wasn't what this was. She just wanted answers now, and she felt that Vex did too. Neil, not so much, but he was going to help her get them anyway.
She nodded at Vex and then turned to Neil, touching his arm briefly to walk with him back to the front door. She was sure he was more than ready to go. "Nice to meet you, Lem," Jane said over her shoulder, since it felt somewhat necessary. Her gaze ticked briefly to Vex. "We'll talk soon."
"Soon," Vex agreed as he followed them. He already had a plan forming in his head to borrow a car from their neighbors and get this all in motion as soon as possible. He just needed a better camera and lots of snacks. Right now he was more interested in food than he was in playing a good host but he still walked the two of them out. "There was a little girl too, right?" he asked when they reached the front door. "Who's talking to her?"
It took Neil a moment to realize he was talking about Jules since she was hardly a little girl, just young enough for it to be awkward for any of the grown men to be chatting with her a lot. "Oh," he said when he caught on. "Uhm, I guess... Maybe Carson. We'll figure it out." He might as well have yelled 'not me' and his reluctance had to do with more than just the fear of being a creepy old man. Teenage girls were just... No.
A little girl. Jane resisted the urge to snort. She had been a teenage girl once and she could only imagine how she would have reacted if a man called her that. She didn't know the others as well as Neil but Carson seemed pretty chill and maybe the best candidate in dealing with Jules. "She's a teenager, maybe seventeen or eighteen, I'm not sure. But if Carson doesn't want to, I can," she said, only sounding mildly exasperated. "Once we have some answers, I'll give you a call, or stop by," she told Vex. "And let me know once you're ready to check out the facility."
Seventeen and a little girl was all the same to Vex and he just nodded along. "We'll meet again soon. I'll let you know if the preacher comes calling. You don't mind him knowing 'bout you, do you? And that kid with the missing mom, maybe I knew her so try and find out more."
Neil was happy to leave all of that up to Jane so he just kept his mouth shut, already clutching his car key in his hand, ready to go.
"I don't mind if he knows about me, as long as you trust him," Jane told Vex. Neil was radiating impatience which just made her want to draw this out a bit longer, just to be mean. "But yes, I'll try to find out more and let you know if there's anything worthwhile." For all she knew Alex wouldn't give her much at all. They only knew each other from small talk when Jane went into Joyland for coffee. But maybe that ought to change. Deciding to give Neil a break, she reached for the front door to pull it open. The chill blasted her and she thought, not for the first time, that she fucking hated winter. "We'll talk soon," she told Vex before stepping out to head for Neil's car.
Neil popped his collar up as soon as they were outside, visibly shrinking against the cold. He deserved hot tea now, he thought, and as soon as he dropped Jane off at the library he was going home, straight home with no damn stops. Here was to hoping he wouldn't be whisked away by disgruntled facility workers set on stopping this insane plan. They ought to know he was a reluctant participant at best. "Good bye," he told Vex stiffly, then stalked ahead of Jane to his car, amusing Vex even further.
She followed, just as amused with Neil as Vex was. But she waited until they were in his car before she spoke. "I think this will get easier for you as soon as you stop resisting it so much," Jane said simply. "You're going to give yourself an ulcer."
"I'm not resisting," Neil replied petulantly. Was he resisting? He was going along, wasn't he? He hated every second of it but he wasn't fighting back anymore. It was probably the worst mistake of his life but he'd given up on fighting it. "This whole situation will give me an ulcer and that has nothing to do with my actions or thoughts."
"Yes you are," Jane said. "You're physically there but you're so tense and it's like you can't open your mind to the possibility that you're like me, and like Vex. If you have opinions or thoughts, you should voice them, even if we don't agree with them. I know it scares you but don't you want answers about what happened to you? Don't you want to know why? Or figure out what it is you can do? Because you can do something. It's just lying dormant in there."
"You're wrong," Neil groaned, exasperated and obviously so. "For all you know they were about to send me home because there's nothing special about me. If it hadn't all burned down they might have sent me home." He had always chosen to believe that, that in a way the fire had been worse than what would have otherwise happened. He would have gone home and they would have erased his memories like they did those other kids. He started the car because it was too cold to sit there and bicker and he wanted to go home.
"You don't know that either," Jane shot back. "You might have something that you've just suppressed because you were traumatized by it, or even the fire. And you know what, if you've got nothing special about you, then why are you so worried that they're tracking you? Why are you afraid they're watching? What would be the point? You're a librarian, Neil. You're not married, you don't have kids. You keep to yourself and you don't cause any problems. I think you know there's something inside you and you're terrified they'll see it too."
Neil shook his head almost the entire time Jane talked because she was so wrong on so many levels and he was so frustrated by it. "I'm worried because we know too much, because they know we're out here and we remember, that we can cause problems for them - like we're doing right now with this insane plan of yours. People who know about them disappear, that's what happens. They disappear to God knows where and I don't want them to see me as a threat."
"What do we know?" Jane asked. "I mean, what more do we know than before? You've been living here how long, Neil? If they were going to come for you, why wouldn't they have already done it? I mean, the whole building burned down. People died. I think all of our records burned with everything else. They might not even know who we are. And what if they are up and running again? Do you really want more people to go missing?"
"No but-" Neil said quickly though he didn't have an easy follow up. "Nicole and Naomi went missing, how does it help anyone if we go missing too? I'm just worried, Jane. We swore we'd never talk about this, you all swore me to secrecy and now everyone wants to dig it up again and do... I don't even know what it is you're trying to do!" She was right, he was going to give himself an ulcer or heart palpitations or something, was it possible to worry to death?
“They may have left. We don’t know for sure they went missing. And even if they did go missing, we can’t automatically assume it was… well, them.” Jane exhaled through her nose to try and keep her temper at bay. She needed Neil’s help and she didn’t want to end this particular day on a bad note with him. “And you know, we swore all that stuff when we were kids, and afraid. We’re adults now, and it’s time to stop letting them scare us. I’m trying to find out why they did what they did to us. What they wanted to accomplish. And maybe stop them, if we have to.”
"If they're selling children we can at least guess as to what their purpose is," Neil said, curling his lip in disgust at the prospect. "Think what the government could do with your gift. Infiltrate people's dreams? Not just that but change them, do whatever you want in their heads?" It was terrifying the more he thought about it, the kinds of things she could do to a man. Torture without ever harming them physically, planting ideas, maybe even memories. There was a damn good reason to be afraid of Jane and Neil wondered if she fully realized the potentials of what she could do. He sort of hoped she didn't.
"And yet, here I am, in your car. No one has tried to kidnap me. If they're paying attention, they know I'm here, but they haven't done anything. Your dreams are more dangerous to me than they are right now." Of course Jane knew her potential. She was continuing to tap into it, to expand it. This wasn't about getting insight into people's minds anymore. It went deeper than that, and she couldn't stop. Wouldn't. Sometimes she wished she could plant ideas in Neil's head while he slept, but he knew her well enough now to question everything. He would probably immediately assume something out of character was her doing. Jane looked out her window. "I just think we have a right to know everything. I want to know."
Neil sighed, a loud and dramatic drawn out sigh. "And I will help you," he then said, though he sounded as irritated about it as he felt. "I will talk to Carson, ask him to talk to the girl, try to get a better grip on this thought-telepathy nonsense. I don't know what else to do. Tell that kid Alex the truth? What do you want from me?" He just felt defeated now, like no matter what he did it would end up being the right choice and so he was just drifting, helpless and out of control.
"I just want you to be open the possibility that there's something about you they thought they could use. Maybe you don't remember, it could be repressed." Like Neil himself. Jane sighed and looked out the window. It looked so gray and cold. Why couldn't this have happened in the south somewhere warm and sunny year round? "I'll talk to Alex. Just find out what you can on your end. You were a part of this, whether you wanted to be or not, and you still are. Stop fighting it for once."
"I've stopped," Neil protested with blatant exasperation. "I'm helping the best I can. I'm sorry if I can't perform magic tricks to convince you of that." Maybe she was right but he had no idea how to even begin trying to remember something like that. He already remembered so little of his time at the facility, pressing buttons, being annoyed at Jane, vague blurry faces of adults talking to him. Nothing about it said he had a gift of any sort - until now at least, now he apparently could hear three people in his head at random intervals.
Jane sighed and was silent for a long moment before she nodded. "You're right. You can't force your abilities out. But I know they're there. They have to be." Maybe she would just have to be the one to bring out whatever Neil was repressing. He wouldn't like it, but when did he like anything? "I do appreciate you coming out today," Jane told him. "I know it was uncomfortable for you, but I think it's important that we meet these people."
He supposed it was nice of her to be appreciative but he just hummed in reply, unsure how to answer her. It had been uncomfortable and he still wasn't sure this was a good idea. Scratch that, he was absolutely certain that this wasn't a good idea but it was completely out of his hands now. If he'd ever had any semblance of control, it was long gone. He turned into the library parking lot and with how small it was it didn't take long to find Jane's car so he could drop her off next to it. "This week is going to be a little hectic with work but I will talk to Carson soon and find out how he's connected - if at all." He sighed and reluctantly added, "And yes, I'll try to work on this new telepathy thing but only because I really don't need all those stray thoughts flying around."
"No, I don't imagine you do," Jane said with barely suppressed amusement. "I can only imagine what goes on in your head, Neil." She pushed open the passenger side door and slipped out before peeking back into the car. "Drive safe. You're no help to me if you hit black ice, crash and die." Jane shut the door then and pulled her keys out of her coat pocket to unlock the doors to her car. She turned and waved, smiling brightly at Neil before she climbed into her own car.
Neil smiled back at her, if you could call that a smile. Mostly he just pressed his lips together and sort of grimaced but it passed as an attempt at least. She couldn't expect more from him at present since now he was thinking about dying in a horrible crash. He always drove carefully and he hated the thought of anything going wrong, no matter how insignificant it might be. A flat tire? Monstrous in Neil's mind. Crashing and dying was definitely not something he needed to think about. He pulled away - cautiously - and shook his head at the horrors now overtaking his thoughts. Typical Jane. She didn't even need to infiltrate his dreams to mess him up.