Caius D'Onofrio (poweroftheeye) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-10-22 09:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, caius, caius x mila, mila |
Who: Mila and Caius
When: mid-afternoon, Thursday, Jan 4th
Where: Mila’s parents’ house
Status: complete
The start of the new year had been a relief for Caius. It meant the festivities at the marina were over for a while, until they put on a small event for Valentine’s Day. That was an easy holiday, at least, and didn’t take nearly as much work as organizing fireworks and tons of food vendors and police security did. It meant Caius could relax a bit. In theory, anyway, because he didn’t feel relaxed.
In reality, the free time just meant he could focus more on Reagan’s problem. Not that he was getting anywhere, which made life even more frustrating than dealing with vendor payments and county permits. It felt like being stuck struggling to figure out how to regain his memories again, only worse this time, because it was Reagan suffering and he couldn’t help her. What fucking good was magic if it couldn’t work for him to help his wife? It was maddening.
After another fruitless morning looking through old musty books, Caius took himself out to lunch to try and unclench a bit. As he ate, something Reagan had said on New Year’s Eve occurred to him again, about the Moretti girl. She was back and living with her parents. Telling himself that this was a random idea and not at all born of desperation, Caius decided to go visit her. Supposedly the entity that had possessed her was gone, but it couldn’t hurt to check, right? Perhaps she would appreciate the reassurance that she was in the clear. And so would he, it would be another sign that that option was closed to him. Yes, that was it.
It didn’t take much to find out where the Morettis lived, and Caius drove to Green Street once he’d finished his meal. Hoping the lack of cars meant that Mila’s parents were home, he straightened his coat as he walked up to their front door and gave it a knock. Maybe no one would be home at all and he could put all this out of his mind and just move on.
Mila was home alone, which was something she was finding she preferred. She loved her parents, but when they were home she rarely got any peace and quiet and Mila was pretty sure she was putting on weight with how much her mom was making her eat. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since she had lost quite a bit of it in the tunnel, or wherever she had been. But Mila missed having some semblance of privacy, so when her dad had to work, and her mom went off shopping with a friend, it was a relief for her.
After she ate some lunch Mila sent a quick text to Aaron to check up on him before she started for the stairs to head up to her room to maybe take a nap. The knock at the door startled her and Mila paused at the base of the steps while starting at the door for a long, uncertain moment. There was that instinctive jolt of fear that she would open it and find a monster waiting for her but then it passed with each deep breath she took and Mila slid her phone into her back pocket to wipe her suddenly sweaty palms on her thighs. It was okay, and she was okay. It was probably just someone selling something.
Mila approached the door and placed her palms on it to peer through the peephole. The figure standing there was vaguely familiar to her and it took another moment before she recognize him as Caius D'Onofrio. The memory of him was a very hazy, and mildly distressing one, so Mila frowned before she unlocked the door and pulled it open rather cautiously. The chill outside made her slip her hands into her sleeves and wish she had pulled on her hoodie. Mila studied him curiously, not really recognizing that she hadn't greeted him. He seemed like someone who would get to the point without the small talk.
Caius felt mild relief when the door opened on a face that was younger than sixty, even if all it did was stare at him suspiciously. That was Mila all right, though he couldn’t tell with his regular eyes whether it was only her in there or not. She looked thinner, the angles of her face were sharper, and he got the impression of a haunted sort of vibe around her. “Hello,” he said, giving her a nod. It hadn’t occurred to him until then that she might not remember their interaction at all, but the lack of recognition in her face tipped him off. “I’m Caius D’Onofrio. Do you have a few moments to chat?” The cold didn’t bother him much, but this conversation was best held inside.
Even if she hadn't held some vague recollection of speaking with him, Mila knew who Caius D'Onofrio was. Everyone in this town knew who he was. It might not have been the smartest decision she ever made, given she was home alone and still didn’t fully trust everything around her just yet. But there was something curious about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on and Mila stepped back, opening the door a bit wider for him to enter. After Caius was inside Mila shut the door and then led him wordlessly to the living room. It was only then that she realized she had yet to say anything to him. "I know who you are," Mila said finally as she moved to sit down in her dad's chair. She motioned to the couch, if he wanted to sit. Some men like him preferred to stand. It was some kind of power thing, she always thought. "I feel like we've spoken before but I don't really remember much of it."
Caius followed her into the shabby living room, slipping out of his coat as he walked. He wasn’t sure how long he would be there, but it seemed more polite. He sat on the couch as invited, setting his coat beside him and leaning forward with his forearms on his knees. Caius had no wish to intimidate Mila at the moment, which made him feel a tiny bit awkward. There was nothing he wanted to gain from her directly, but if the thing inside of her was still there ... no. He didn’t know why he was there beyond curiosity, he told himself. It wasn’t a position he was used to. “You weren’t quite yourself,” he offered, and while his tone was light enough, he didn’t smile. “I spoke to the being that was possessing you. And unfortunately confirmed to your loved ones that there was nothing I could do to help you at the time. Which I truly regret, as I take it that you ... went through an ordeal afterward, to put it mildly.”
Mila rested her arms in her lap, her hands still hiding in her sleeves, her fingertips picking idly at the edges of them. As Caius described their last interaction together, Mila began to put the pieces together in her memory. They were still blurry and out of focus, but she remembered his eyes being black. She remembered taunting him. Tempting him. Mila breathed in sharply, the urge to flee strong, but she held back, determined to fight and keep this thing from completely controlling her life now. The way he described what she had gone through as an ordeal prompted Mila's lips to twitch very briefly. "I guess that's one way of putting it," she murmured. But she couldn't blame him for being tactful. She hadn't spoken to anyone about what had happened. Roxy, a little bit, but... first Mila hadn't thought she could handle speaking the truth out loud, but now she held back for fear that her parents couldn't handle it. Or Aaron, or Roxy, or even Adrian. Maybe some things were better left unknown. Mila studied Caius now, still harboring a thought that something off about him as he spoke. She didn't feel fearful for her life, but she was realizing it was same sort of feeling she got when she was around Adrian now. The knowledge of what it was felt like it was there, lingering in the back of her mind, slowly making its way to the surface. Slow, but steady. "It tempted you though," Mila said after a moment. "It wanted to give you something?"
Caius had only gotten a glimpse of the world inside the tunnel, and what little he’d been able to pick up on had been horrifying. He didn’t know many details about what Mila had been through, but he felt some sympathy for her and that was a lot coming from him. Caius felt a chill run down his spine when Mila spoke again. So some part of her did remember a bit. That was interesting, and a bit worrisome. He still didn’t know if she was alone inside her head now. “It wanted to trade something,” he corrected quietly. “Things like that don’t give anything for free. But yes, there was definitely ... temptation.” He was loathe to admit it, but if anyone would understand why he’d been tempted, it would be this girl. And why he’d resisted it. He studied her with his dark eyes, curious as to how such a fragile-seeming human woman had endured that thing and that place. “Do you remember much else?”
“About you?” Mila asked with a raised brow. Then she shook her head. “Not much else. I have a vague memory of your eyes being black. Fully black, not just dark like they are now. But it’s like remembering a dream that’s faded away,” she explained with a soft shrug. The dark eyes... he was a witch, that much she knew from what Aaron had told her. Well, he told her witches tried to help, and now Caius was there so it was easy to put two and two together. Was that the odd feeling she got from him? Maybe. But it felt like something darker. “There was nothing you could do. So you don’t need to... apologize or anything. I’m sure you tried.” She wasn’t sure of that at all, but Mila didn’t want Caius D’Onofrio there because of some odd misguided guilt. Which was also unlikely, from what she knew of the guy. Which had her curious as to why he was there. Mila didn’t shy away from his gaze as her own questions rose in her mind. “Do you know what it was? Inside of me. Did it tell you?”
Mila remembering the black eyes gave him an in to broach the surface reason why he was there, at least, so Caius was mildly glad she remembered that part. At least his eyes going black wouldn’t scare her. Though he had the feeling she probably didn’t scare easily anymore. What were some parlour tricks when you’d been held captive by fear itself? He wet his lips and tried to put the words together to answer her question first. “It didn’t tell me, but I saw it. It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever encountered before, it was ... ancient. Not a demon, but something more. Like all of the dark emotions you could imagine, amplified and conscious. I talked to my father about it, and he’d heard of something similar, but it’s more powerful than us, and it feeds off of the people in this town.” There hadn’t been much he could try to do, so he didn’t apologize for anything. It had been a terrible situation, he could only be sorry for that. “But I could see it. The black eyes, they’re a spell of sorts. I came today to offer to check you now, to make sure it’s gone. Maybe give you some peace of mind.”
It was uncomfortable to hear him describe the thing, although it felt right. For something so ancient and evil, Mila could only imagine what that man would want from Adrian and Aaron for retrieving her. And did that mean that man was more powerful than some ancient being? Mila shifted uneasily and then lifted her hand to push her hair back from her face. She wasn't surprised to hear it fed off the people here. Blood was its lifeline. And they couldn't even leave... abandon this place to wither and die alone... because it had its claws in everyone here so deeply that when people tried to leave, the town just curled its talons around their hearts and drew them back. Caius's offer to check for the thing that had possessed her had Mila pause as she considered. Other than the nightmares, Mila hadn't felt out of sorts. She hadn't lost time, or woken with vague memories of things that might or might not have happened. But... maybe she was still afraid on some level that it was still inside of her, waiting for the right moment to take her over again. And Mila found she wanted Caius to look. She wanted to see his eyes go dark again, like it might shift those final puzzle pieces into place in her mind. "Okay," she said finally. "You won't be able to see anything, right? I mean, if it's not there anymore, what will it look like to you?"
Caius wasn’t surprised she agreed to it -- if he’d been in her shoes, he would want to know too. He didn’t know very many details of her situation, how it had all gone down the first time, but he wouldn’t have trusted something like that to make itself known if it was still lurking inside of her. He gave a nod when she agreed and shifted forward a bit on the couch cushion, turning his body more toward hers. “If it’s not there, you’ll just look like you,” he told her. She would look brighter to him because of the lights around them, but that was all. “If there’s ... something lingering, I’ll probably see what I saw last time.” Caius got a creeping feeling between his shoulder blades as he recalled that darkness, all those gnashing teeth with no mouth. He didn’t need to describe all that to her, though. He was aware it was possible that the entity could keep itself hidden from him, even with the Obscurities, but he didn’t want to mention that either. “Ready?” he murmured, internally stirring the spirits awake. Caius’s blinked and his eyes went full black.
She realized that she was doing some things in her Catholic mother's home that her mother would absolutely abhor. Pre-marital sex.... this. Whatever this was. Mila knew her mother would consider this to be something demonic and against God's will, but that was also a reason why Mila wanted this to happen. If Caius could confirm that whatever had been possessing her was truly gone, then Mila could set aside that particular fear that still tingled in the back of her mind. She wouldn't wake up worried that she might harm her parents that day, the same way she had hurt Aaron. Mila held her breath as Caius's eyes turned black and then she knew. She couldn't explain how she knew, but she did. She knew what he was, beneath the human face, and the magic. Because he was a witch, but he was something else too. Mila gripped the arms of the chair, her fingertips pressing hard into the soft material as her heart began to race. It wasn't really fear of Caius, but fear of this strange unknown thing inside of her, telling her things that she would never know otherwise. Her throat was dry, but Mila waited a moment to let him finish studying her before she spoke. "Is it there?"
Caius knew immediately that the entity was gone from Mila -- unless it was hiding itself, of course. She looked like any normal human to him through the Obscurities’ eyes, though he did pick up on a bit of extra shadow-smudge around her head, but that wasn’t too abnormal in this town, from what he’d seen. She’d been touched by something incredibly dark and evil, and that left a mark. More than touched. But she seemed to be alone in her body, and Caius didn’t get the sense of anything lurking, so he shook his head when she asked the question, and blinked his eyes back to normal. “I don’t believe so,” he told Mila. “I don’t see it, you look fully human again to me.” He didn’t want to make any promises that she was completely in the clear, but he was at least mostly certain that she was. Caius offered her a small smile. “I think you’re free.” He really wanted to ask how, but he was aware she might not know herself.
The relief helped ease some of the tension she was feeling, because having the confirmation that she was alone inside of her mind and body was something she hadn't realized she really needed until Caius said it. She could tell Aaron, and maybe that would make him worry less as well. It by no means erased anything, but it was just another step to trying to feel normal again. For a very brief, morbid moment Mila wanted to ask Caius what she had looked like before, when he saw that thing inside of her. But honestly, she didn't really want to know. She saw enough horrific things in that tunnel to last her a lifetime. Mila didn't need another painful image to haunt her at night. Exhaling slowly, Mila wanted to just thank him and see him to the door. Instead, she studied his face, feeling a strange sense of calm settle in her chest. "Do you know what you are?" Mila asked, aware that he might, but there was the need to confirm what she knew, just in case there was something else messing around inside of her, feeding her lies. "I mean, beyond the witchcraft."
She looked relieved, which Caius had expected, but that question came out of left field. His thick brows furrowed a bit. Did he know what he was? For a moment he wondered if she was leading into an insult somehow -- like maybe she would tell him he was an asshole in addition to being a witch -- but that didn’t make much sense to Caius. For another half-second, he worried it was the entity speaking and not Mila, in spite of what he’d just seen. Or not seen, rather. But that didn’t seem right either. Was she talking about the Obscurities? “What do you mean?” he asked after a pause for all that to process.
She didn't blame his confusion. Mila hadn't been very specific. But it was confusing to her, the way she had been able to look at him and just know, instinctively, that he wasn't human. It had taken her a while to recognize the same in Adrian, but Mila chalked that up to trauma and trying to heal. She hadn't even believed she was truly home for quite a while. It had been slow to sink in even now, with Caius sitting in front of her. But now that she knew, it felt as obvious to her as the fact that he was a man, had dark hair and a wedding band on his left hand. "You're not fully human," Mila said before wincing and waving her hand impatiently. "I mean, I guess witches aren't completely human either, but you're different. It's... I mean your blood isn't the same as the others. It's..." She paused, realizing on some level that this could be a bad idea, that it might anger him or cause him to lash out. But Mila wasn't really afraid, just unnerved. But she also didn't think he would leave now if she asked him to, not without telling him what she felt. "It's demonic," Mila said finally before exhaling sharply, as if it pained her to say the word.
Caius watched her struggle for words, the line between his brows getting deeper the more she spoke. Not fully human? His heart had begun to beat harder as he tried to suss out what that could mean. Was she sensing the Obscurities? Or was it something else? Did he have some dark entity clinging to him that he didn’t know about? But then Mila talked about his blood being different, and something inside of Caius, some deep buried instinct, knew she was right. He came from a powerful bloodline, yes. He’d been trained by his father from a very young age to be adept in magic, yes. But he’d always known he was different in some way, hadn’t he? More powerful, and not necessarily in a positive way. Still, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he stared at Mila for quite a few heartbeats before he spoke again. “How do you know this?” he asked, his voice even and calm.
Mila had known he would ask her that, but she didn't have an answer. Not a good one, anyway. "I just do," she said. "Maybe it's a side effect from the tunnel, because I couldn't do this before that happened. There's something about you that was tugging in the back of my mind when you came into the house. And then it just sort of slid into place while you were talking. It's like..." She paused thoughtfully, her hands lifting and moving animatedly as she worked it out in her head before speaking again. "I can look at you and see the obvious things. What you're wearing, what color your eyes are. And what you are. Not human. I don't know how I know it's demonic blood, but I do. I mean, not fully demonic. You're somewhere in between. I understand if you don't believe me, because it's really fucking weird, but..." Mila sighed and lowered her hands again. "I guess you didn't know?"
He had no good reason to really believe her. She was just a human girl, not magical in any way, and she probably hadn’t even had any supernatural experience before she’d been possessed. Caius could see crucifixes on the wall in this house, for fuck’s sake. But then again ... he’d gotten a glimpse of what had been inside of her, and where it had taken her. It seemed foolish to think she wouldn’t come back changed in some way, and if she was developing some preternatural sight somehow ... that wasn’t so far-fetched, was it? Mila had nothing to gain by lying to him. Really, it was almost like returning a favor. He’d looked into her, and she’d looked into him. And it felt right, didn’t it? He was pulled toward darker magic than all of his peers, he seemed to be handling having dark spirits living inside of him better than most would. There were signs. “I did not,” he said slowly. “But I know someone who will.” After another pause, he added, “I believe you. At least that you’re seeing something. Thank you for telling me.” He would confirm it for himself somehow, but he could tell it hadn’t been easy to bring up.
She wouldn't have blamed him if he didn't believe her, but Mila had no reason to lie. She supposed something could be going on inside of her that was causing this, and she supposed maybe whatever that something was might be lying. But it felt true and that's all she could go on. Caius didn't seem fearful, or angry, so maybe he knew on some level that he was different. Mila realized that she probably should be frightened, given everything she knew about demons was bad. But he didn't feel dangerous to her in the sense that he wasn't projecting any threat in her direction. And maybe because he had demonic blood, but she didn't sense he was an actual demon. Just... darker than most. Mila exhaled softly. "You're welcome," she said, though she didn't feel like she had done him any real favor. "Thank you for coming here and... I guess, checking on that thing inside of me. I wasn't sure if it was gone or not. It's tricked me before, so..." Mila trailed off and then frowned. "If it had still been there, would you have asked it for something?"
Caius didn’t have any reason to scare Mila, so he wasn’t thinking about whether she was afraid of him or not. Anybody who had any inkling of what he could do ought to at least have a healthy respect for him, but he didn’t expect to invoke fear except in those who’d wronged him. Knowing more about himself didn’t really change that. He wasn’t thinking about her former problem either, or how the entity might still be tricking them both. It didn’t need to be said anyway. Hearing he had demon blood in him was a lot to wrap his head around, and his brain was spinning off in all kinds of different directions, so it took him a second to focus on Mila’s words again. Caius blinked at her and frowned a touch, because his immediate answer wasn’t the one he ought to be giving. “Not ask for it, maybe,” he admitted in a mutter. “But if it offered ...” There was only one thing that could tempt him like that, and the entity knew what it was already, so Caius was glad for more than Mila that it was gone. He picked up his coat and stood. “I have to go. Best of luck to you and yours.”
If it offered. The thought of anyone accepting anything from... whatever lived in that tunnel... made Mila's skin crawl. It was tempting to tell Caius not to go anywhere near that place, but he was a grown man who could make his own choices. And he seemed like he had a fairly level head on his shoulders anyway. But still, Mila was relieved that there was nothing lingering inside of her that might have surfaced with Caius there. She stood when he did, because it was only polite to see him out. "Thanks, you too. I hope I didn't... I mean... I hope you get some answers." There was nothing else she could tell him, and probably nothing else he could tell her, so Mila was quite certain she wouldn't see him again, except in passing on the street. It was a small town, after all.
The thing wasn’t present to make the offer, and seeking it out in its own territory would be even more foolish. Caius knew better, but some part of him took some comfort in knowing that the option was there. If all else failed, he could pull that trigger and take the consequences. He just wasn’t that desperate yet, thankfully. The entity’s words about Reagan’s suffering still echoed in the back of his mind, however, and Caius couldn’t completely dismiss the possibility of becoming that desperate. “Thank you,” he told Mila as they both headed toward the front door again. He would get some answers, and he knew exactly where to go for them. He just hoped Anthony didn’t try to deny it for very long. Caius met Mila’s eyes once more and gave her a small nod. “Take care,” he said, then headed out the door.
"You too." Mila nodded and watched Caius walk down the porch steps toward his car. And then she shut the door quietly and locked it, suddenly feeling quite shaken by the whole visit. There was relief that she was "free" from whatever had possessed her before, but it was unnerving that she had been able to sense Caius's demonic bloodline. She couldn't explain it, but it seemed obvious that while she escaped the tunnel, something in there had changed her. Mila just didn't know what it was, and she didn't want to think about it too much while she was alone in case it triggered a panic attack or something. Instead, she headed upstairs to take a nap and see if that smoothed out her nerves. She would call Aaron when she woke up.