Who: Carson, Jane Jules, Neil & Nic Where: Neil's place, Castle View When: Late afternoon Tuesday 01/02 Status: Complete
Things were changing so fast for Neil that it felt like everything was spinning out of control. He hadn't really expected the fog to lift or for those creatures that came with it to ever go away again and he couldn't say he felt safe even now that a few days had gone by since that actually came to pass. A new week, a new year, the sun had even deigned to show itself like a beacon of hope and yet he was still scared. So many people around him seemed to be moving on as if nothing had happened and he couldn't wrap his head around it. Then again none of them had discovered great big things about themselves during that fog. That electrical phenomenon had stayed with him and he'd spent entirely too much time by himself watching it awaken and dance around in the palms of his hands. Because he could do that now, like it was just a perfectly sensible thing to be able to do. It still felt like water, warm and soft despite how sharp and hot it looked. He found himself loving it, almost in the same way people loved small creatures they brought home to take care of.
So that was all new. A sudden power emerging just as those terrifying monsters poked out from his dreams and became real. No big deal. The other thing was... inviting people to his home. More than one person at a time, even. He had summoned the other dreamers for a meeting. Now that most of the chaos seemed to be over they needed to talk, to try to suss out what all of this meant. If nothing else, they needed to know what he and Jane knew.
He gave Nic explicit directions not to invite his weird neighbors - Lem and Vex - because this was a dreamers only meeting. Really, he just didn't like those two oddballs and he wasn't ready to deal with the AIR aspect of everything that was happening. No doubt that man, Vex, would be delighted to find out he had unearthed his abilities but Neil had sworn Jane to secrecy for now, even if he was well aware she wouldn't let him sit on it forever.
He made tea, he even bought bakery goods and then sat and waited in his little living room, his knee bouncing restlessly as he listened for a knock or a message or anything to indicate any of the others had arrived. He really hoped Jules wouldn't be the first to show up but beyond that he barely even cared anymore. They all shared something strange and he was almost - almost - eager to see them.
Jules was nervous about this meeting for so many reasons. There were things to talk about, obviously, but she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hide her brain from the others. What if they all heard each other's thoughts? What if they knew what she and Ruby had done? What if she thought about something embarrassing? Her hands were aching as she walked down the path to Neil's apartment. She had thought briefly about asking Jasper to come with her, but she felt weird about dragging him into more of this. If something significant happened, she would tell him about it.
Hoping that the others were there, or at least Carson since she weirdly felt most comfortable around him than the other two, Jules knocked on the door, already dreading this entire thing.
Neil's heart sank a little when he opened the door and found Jules outside of it, alone. Asking her to wait outside until the others arrived would be insane no matter how tempting it was so he gave her the most awkward smile imaginable as he invited her in. "The others aren't here yet," he told her apologetically. "I'm sure they'll be here any minute." (They'd better be). "Do you want tea or something?" He made a point of not standing close to her, already shuffling toward the kitchen once the door was closed. What if she thought he'd only invited her because he was really some creep? He prayed the others would get there in the next few seconds and no later than that.
No one else was there yet. Jules shifted uncomfortably for only a second before she stepped inside and reached up to pull her hat off of her head. Her hair fell back against her cheek, sticking from the static and she pushed it away quickly. "Tea would good, thanks." At least it gave him something to do so they weren't both standing there awkwardly. She could tell her presence made him uneasy, but she didn't know if that was because she was a girl, or because she was seventeen. Probably both, actually. Jules pulled off her gloves and shoved them into her pockets before shaking them lightly to ease the perpetual tingles she felt in them. "How was your Christmas?" she asked, just to fill the silence. "I mean, before all the fog stuff."
"It was nice," Neil lied because that's what people were supposed to say and he doubted it would endear her to him if he told her the truth about how much he hated the holiday. At least lying was easier when he was calling between rooms and she couldn't see his face - or would be if his brain didn't leak out a telepathic 'miserable' in her direction. He grimaced and hoped he was just imagining it and that she hadn't really caught it. "How was yours?" he called back once he'd shut off the water and could hear her again.
Jules frowned when he told her his day had been miserable, but then he said it was nice and Jules parted her lips in confusion to question him before she realized she probably heard the first answer. The honest one. Cringing, Jules fidgeted a bit and then started wandering around the apartment, just to get a look at where Neil lived. Mostly to distract herself with something to do, a way to distract her brain. Otherwise she would start thinking about her Christmas. Mostly the sex with Jasper. Because of course, her brain would go there. Jules bit into her lip to refocus on the pain she felt there. "It was good, thanks," she called out. "Just, you know... normal and stuff. Do you live here alone?"
It was not the most entertaining of apartments. There were some books on his single bookshelf and a few plants that were well cared for but not much in the way of art or personal belongings. Jane's painting was still wrapped and sitting behind the couch and Neil's stack of undealt with mail was in a neat file in the coffee table. Neil poked his head out of the kitchen once the kettle was on, giving her an awkward little smile. "Yeah, just me," he mumbled. "My family lives in Portland." They'd had the good sense to stay gone but Neil had been unable to, drawn back the moment he finished school. He was trying hard to do that thing he learned with Carson, to keep up that brick wall to not send out thoughts or receive any from Jules and so far it seemed to be working unless Jules was just very good at keeping her own thoughts sheltered. Maybe she was hearing every one of his and Neil cringed a little at the thought even if he wasn't thinking about anything important. Like AIR or electricity or... No, no no no, why were brains so uncooperative? "I'm glad you didn't get hurt in the fog," he offered up in a pathetic attempt to say something. "Did you- were you with someone?"
Jules didn’t think she was very skilled at blocking others from her brain. Probably because she hadn’t really been around the others to try it. But she was focusing on her throbbing, bitten lip, and Neil’s rather bland apartment and that was helping. She could hear some of Neil’s thoughts. Mostly several no’s. But she was careful not to let it show in her expression. Jules was checking out his book selection when he mentioned the fog. Her back tensed immediately and Jules sucked in a shaky breath. She had been with someone, yes. Two someone’s. And one had ended up dead. Jules realized she had yet to exhale and she blinked before managing a weak smile and glancing at Neil. “Oh. Yeah, I had... a friend of mine was with...wait, I mean... no.” Jules scrunched up her nose quickly and shook her head. “Sorry, no. I was home with my stepdad.” Because no one was supposed to know Ruby had been there. Fuck, what was she thinking? The question just took her by surprise for some reason. “Uh, were you with people? You didn’t get hurt or anything, did you?”
That was an odd answer and Neil gave her a funny look as she stumbled through it. He was socially awkward and terrible with people so he never really questioned it when people were the same way but Jules ... wasn't really like that and her thoughts were leaking through, chaotic and frantic numbers, one, two, someone, someone. "I was at the library," he said, furrowing his brows. "That's why- what I want to talk to everyone about so I'll tell you all about it when they get here." Because they would get there and soon - at least he hoped so because this was very uncomfortable. "Are you alright?"
Jules knew it was odd, and probably suspicious, or weird, but she didn't really care. As long as she kept Neil out of her head, it didn't matter. It wasn't like Neil was a schoolmate or friend... no one she needed to maintain an image in front of. She focused on the fact that Neil was at the library instead. Had he been so bored that he did some research on all of this? Maybe he found out something. When he asked if she was alright, Jules turned toward him, arching a brow and slipping her hands into her coat pockets to mess with the gloves she'd taken off and shoved in them. "I'm fine. Why? Are you hearing things?"
Neil considered that question because yes and yet no, he hadn't really heard a lot. She was acting weird but it was probably rude to point that out so he shook his head after a few seconds and headed back in the kitchen where the water was boiling. "It was just a harrowing couple of days," he said because if she had a reason to act weird it was probably none of his business anyway. Teenage girls were weird in general, he liked Makayla plenty enough to but she was very different from Jules. He almost wished it took longer to make tea because now that it was almost ready he had no reason to stay in the kitchen and hide from her. "Do you want to hang your coat up?" he asked when he returned with some cups, sugar and biscuits on a tray. "I can... take it." God he was bad at this host thing. It probably would have been easier to do this at Nic's little store.
She wondered if he was lying, and he had heard something. But Jules wasn't going to push him on it. She just had to not think about her stepdad, or Ruby, for the next... however long. How long would this take? Long enough that she needed to take her coat off? It was getting warm in here so Jules began to unbutton the coat, and then tugged the inside zipper down. Where was Carson? Or Nic? It wasn't like they were super easy to talk to, but having them there would make this less awkward for her. Watching Neil try to be hospitable was kind of amusing though, because it was pretty obvious how uncomfortable he was. It made her wonder if he had any friends, or people who came by a lot. Probably not. She shrugged out of the coat and offered it to him, because if he was going to hang it up, he could hang it up.
Carson was still feeling rather exhausted by the time the second came around. He and Rylee had a lowkey New Years Eve, aware that the full moon was the next night. It made him not feel too inclined to celebrate. But it had gone smooth enough, locked up once more in the basement of Nic’s weird neighbors. They were hospitable enough and he appreciated their help, eternally grateful that everyone stayed safe once more, but god did it take a toll on him. At least he hadn’t had to go far for this little meeting, driving his car down to the building Neil lived in to avoid walking in the cold. His body was tired and sore, and he hoped this talk wouldn’t require him to talk a lot. He limped his way up to Neil’s door and knocked, shoving his hands back into his pockets almost immediately. It’s me, he projected mentally through the door -- or tried to, anyway, just to see if it would work.
Oh thank God! Neil didn't mean to send that out but he did, directly at Carson and thankfully not at Jules and then he was ripping open the door since he was standing right next to it with Jules's coat in his hand. "Hi," he sighed with some relief. "It's just you and Jules right now so come on in, I just boiled water if you want tea, do you want tea?" Relieved as he was it felt even weirder to now have two guests and he knew there were two more on the way. That meant four guests in his small living room. What the hell had he been thinking?
Nic was feeling just a little out of sorts, the past week throwing him off his stride as he tried to keep up with everything. His sister had decided that she was cursed and they’d spent the last few days going through every spell they had in their possession to see if anything rang a bell. So far they’d come up empty handed, which was disheartening considering the pacing of the curse--Zania figured she had a few days before it struck again, so they were running out of time. Then there had been the full moon, which wasn’t all that bad for him, but it was hard to sleep with a werewolf in the basement. And now the meeting with the other dreamers--was he the only one who thought of them like that?--and Jane. Neil had explicitly asked him not to bring Lem and Vex, so he didn’t, though he was curious about Neil and his connection to Vex. It felt like everyone had something bizarre going on with them at this point, except for Jules. The witch, the werewolf, the experiment, and the cheerleader. Nic knocked, even though he could hear voices on the other side of the door. He’d been brought up well enough not to just walk in. Sorry I’m late, he projected to the group as a whole, always curious about what they picked up and what they didn’t.
Jules was as relieved that Carson had shown up as Neil seemed to be. She had a cup of tea in her hands, which made the ache in her palms subside a bit with the heat, and didn't feel all that out of place. Not like she had the first couple of times she was around all three men at once. Things were what they were, no matter how bizarre it all was. They needed to talk, and she could leave as soon as they did. Jules took a breath and brought her tea up to her lips before she heard Nic in her head. Jules cringed, wishing they could like, warn each other before doing it, but it seemed like she wasn't the only one who heard him, and once Nic was inside the apartment, Jules felt a tiny bit more relaxed. The sooner they could get this over with the better, because she wasn't sure she could keep her thoughts buried for very long. Her brain had a habit of betraying her, and knowing all three guys could potentially hear her secrets... well, she wasn't ready for any of that yet.
"Please just knock," Neil sighed when he opened the door for Nic and while he got settled, Neil hurried to hang everything up that needed hanging up. He kind of wanted to send Jane a telepathic message to find out where she was but she didn't have that ability - which was probably a good thing considering it was Jane but for some reason Neil didn't want to text her. She might be driving, he reasoned. Texting and driving was dangerous. He was busy fretting about that when there was a knock on the door again and he strode back to the hallway to open up. "You're just in time," he said and gave Jane a small smile that was just a bit frazzled. "Tea? I just boiled some water." It was still hot, even if he was no fretting that it might not be hot enough anymore but that made no sense.
Carson murmured hellos to Jules and Nic in turn, finding a place to perch with his own mug of tea. If everything wasn’t so shitty, it would’ve been kind of amusing, watching Neil dart around to play host to all of them. Carson would’ve just let them flop all around the living room and tossed chips at them or something. They definitely would’ve been hanging up their own coats. Neil was just a fusspot like that, but it was kind of nice at the same time. He frowned a tiny bit when Jane turned up -- he couldn’t remember if anyone had told him she would be there too. Though he was in close proximity to Jules, Carson was more focused on shielding his own thoughts than anything else. In this room, only Nic knew what he truly was, but not what he’d done, and Carson wanted to keep it that way.
Jules did feel a little bit better with Jane there. It wasn't that Jules thought Nic, Carson or Neil would try something unsavory or anything. But it felt nice not to be the only girl, even if Jane wasn't really one of them. Whatever they were. Jane accepted Neil's offer of tea with an amused kind of look before she turned towards the others, her hands on her hips as she took them in. She was smiling. A little, anyway, her lips curved. She clearly wasn't feeling as much apprehension as the others. "You all look super cheerful," she said. "Happy New Year, and everything. Neil and I definitely have some news to share. Well, Neil does. I'll let him do the talking." Though she wouldn't hesitate to speak up if Neil tried to pussyfoot around what he could do. And what they had seen.
Neil’s insistence that they just knock amused Nic, but he kept the mental projections to himself for now. He wanted to experiment with it, figure out if he could limit who he was sharing with or if everything he sent went to all of them. And he wanted to see if he was still sharing things by accident. Nic didn’t have a lot he was worried about oversharing at the moment, but he wanted to make sure that didn’t become an issue in the future. With Jane’s arrival and declaration, Nic turned his attention to Neil, his conversation with Vex coming back to him. He’d had a lot to say about the two of them. “Is this about that research institute?” he asked with a little smirk and a raised brow. “You figure out what you can do?” If that was the case, then it was no wonder he didn’t want Lem and Vex there.
Irritation surged through Neil at the question because it was both invasive and entirely too spot on. He wanted to say what he had to say in his own time and own words and now that felt utterly ruined so he frowned a little at Nic before bracing himself to actually speak to the group. He kind of felt like sitting down but there wasn't any space left to do so so he just squared up next to Jane. Maybe he should have gotten himself some tea too but it could wait, maybe the little group wouldn't stay very long - he could only hope. "Jane and I saw the monster in the fog," he said at last and pulled the little drawing Jane had done from his pocket. "She had just shown me this before it all happened. It's the- whatever it is that she saw in our dreams. It's the same thing." He handed the picture to Carson since he was sitting closest to him and could hand it down the line when he was done looking. "Whatever was attacking us seems to have gotten out during the fog."
Research institute? The one Jules’s father had been involved in? That was supposed to be a secret, wasn’t it? And what Neil could do? Carson gave a vague puzzled frown as he glanced around, which deepened as Neil started to talk. He took the piece of paper with his free hand, a little chill rolling down his spine as he looked at it. He’d been lucky enough not to see any of those things -- or was it only one thing? -- in the fog while they’d been holed up at the gym, but he knew tons of people hadn’t been so fortunate. “There were like, more than one though, right? Out in the fog?” he asked, glancing between Neil and Jane as he passed the drawing to Jules. He was careful not to look at her as he did so, not wanting to think too much about their conversation and give anything away by accident. It was hard for him to believe that only one monster had wreaked so much havoc, and had it been that big in their dream? “They were fuckin’ big, weren’t they?”
Jules's brow rose sharply when Nic brought up the "research institute". As far as she knew, Carson hadn't told anyone that her dad had worked there. Unless he did and just hadn't told her that he did. But if Nic didn't know, why would he think this meeting was about that place? Why would that be his question? Because as far as they all knew, except for Carson, she wasn't involved in any of that, whatever that was. They were only connected through the dreams. Jules glanced at Carson to see if she could suss anything out from his expression but he was watching the others. None of this was making any sense to her. But then Neil explained why they were there and Jules forgot about the institute. She felt cold inside as she took the picture, trying to keep her hands from shaking so she didn't splash tea all over the place from the mug in her other hand. She stared hard at the drawing. It was terrifying and she had a flash of being on the deck behind her house when that thing had come after she and Ruby. Well, not her. Ruby. "One came out of the fog when I was outside," Jules said, looking up from the drawing finally and offering it to Nic. "It was... right in front of me, like it was looking at me. I could see its teeth. It could have killed me, but it didn't. But then it... left me alone." She couldn't say it went after Ruby, because no one could know Ruby had been there. Jules had been alone. "It looked exactly like this drawing. Bigger, though."
Nic had only jumped to conclusions because of Neil's explicit request that he not bring Lem and Vex. He hadn't even considered it, wasn't sure why Neil would even mention them, because he didn't associate them with the dreams at all. But Vex had come to him about the research institute, sharing he had spoken to Neil and Jane, and so he'd assumed that Neil had made that connection as well. At the realization that he'd brought up something completely unrelated, he went silent, listening until the picture was passed to him. "My neighbor got attacked. I went out to help him," he said quietly. "I could see it out there, but it didn't come close." It had been frightening enough even without seeing it up close and personal. "You think they're the same thing?" he asked Neil. "Just more of them?"
Neil had honestly not considered there to be more than one. Nobody had mentioned that to him and he'd assumed all this damage around town was done by this one horrible thing that had been toying with this little group. He was staring at the others with a noticeably wary expression as it sank in. Of course it made sense that there were many. Horrible, petrifying sense. "I think-" he said as he tried to process everything, still a bit stuck on the fact that the creature had left Jules alone. "I- it came for me. It came right..." He stopped, looking to Jane with a worried look. "Maybe it was coming for you. You're the one who disrupted the dreams." He didn't know what he'd do if Jane was now in danger because of him. It was the stark opposite of the lifestyle he lived where he didn't want to affect life around him. Putting someone in harm's way was a pretty big impact.
Carson had known about Vex getting scratched by one of the monsters, since he’d spent the full moon night in their basement, but he still hadn’t been connecting them to the dreams. Had it come after Vex because of him? Or because Nic lived next door? But there had been so many deaths and injuries he’d heard about, people missing who hadn’t been connected to them in the slightest, as far as he knew. “Guess I’m the only one who didn’t see one,” he murmured, glancing around at all of their worried faces. “But I heard it, it was right outside the gym. Flipped over my, uh ... my buddy’s cop car.” It made him sick to his stomach to call Jared Gaines his buddy, even though it was sort of accurate, but now wasn’t the time to start thinking about Sadie, for fuck’s sake.
"We can only speculate," Jane said with a shrug. She wasn't terribly worried. At least right now. The fog and the monsters were gone, so it was easier to let go of whatever fear had plagued her in the library. "But it was definitely what I saw in your dreams. The question is, how did it, or they, get here, and where are they now? I don't know if your dreams somehow opened up a doorway, or what. And maybe my dreamwalking fucked it all up. But... if it ignored you," she said, looking at Jules, "that's interesting. It makes me think maybe it was coming after me, and not Neil." Jane wasn't going to mention the electricity hands. Neil could do that, if he wanted to. "But I'm pretty confident your dreams and the fog is all connected."
“A lot of people got attacked that weren’t anywhere near us,” Nic said, uncomfortable with the thought that they’d been the reason people got hurt, that the monster might’ve been looking for him and got Vex. If it wanted him, it had had its chance and not taken it. He’d been only a few feet from it, but it had just slinked back into the fog. “Has anyone had another dream?” he asked the group. “They’ve pretty much stopped for me. If it’s connected…” He didn’t know how to finish that thought, unsure what they were supposed to do next. If the monsters had come out of the fog because of them, or even because of Jane, they were gone now.
Neil shook his head and looked around to see that nobody else seemed to have more dreams either. It didn't surprise him, it would have surprised him more if someone else had since they all seemed to be so in sync with their dreaming. "I uh- I think I scared it off," he said cautiously. "Nic and Jane already know about this but I think - I think you deserve to know too." It wasn't something he'd ever thought he'd willingly share with anyone, let alone a group of people, but here he was and he really did believe they needed to know. What if those monsters came back and he had to try to scare them off again in front of everyone? No, it was better that they knew and they already shared something so big, it didn't even feel like it mattered much if he told them one more thing. "When we were little, Jane and I, we - and a lot of other people - we were taken by this... institution. I don't know really- I... don't remember much. I know they experimented on people. That's why Jane... why she can do what she does." He glanced at Jane, realizing just how hard it was to talk about it. He still didn't feel entirely safe doing so, like someone was still listening, waiting for his powers to emerge or for him to tell people too much. It just felt futile to keep hiding when the craziness of the world didn't seem to leave him alone no matter how much he tried to keep it out. "And I just discovered I can do this." He wanted to show them but at the same time it felt weirdly pretentious and showy to do so but he still raised his hand and held it, palm up, letting a little spark of lightning gather there, dancing around his skin. Warm like water but he knew it could do damage, he'd seen it with his own two eyes.
Carson couldn’t help the way his gaze cut over to Jules when the institute was mentioned. He wanted pretty badly to communicate to her that he wasn’t going to say anything about her dad, to check how badly she was panicking, but her privacy was more important so he kept his walls up. His brows shot upward when Neil started ... doing whatever that was, his heart rate picking up sharply. “Jesus Christ,” he whispered, lifting a hand to rub at his forehead. Did all of them have something weird about them? He wondered if now would be the time to tell them all that he was a fucking werewolf, but most of Carson still thought that would be the worst idea in the world. Nic was a witch, Jane could wander through dreams, Neil could apparently harness electricity or something ... Carson was the monster of the group.
Jules paled at the mention of the institute and she deliberately kept her gaze averted from Carson. Watching Neil create lightning was such a surreal moment, which was kind of funny given what she saw in the fog. Was that was Nic was talking about? Neil finding out what he could do? Could Nic do something too? Carson? Her heart was beating fast now and her palms felt sweaty. She rubbed them on her thighs. Did her dad work there when Neil and Jane were there? If she mentioned her dad, would they get angry with her? Like this was her fault? Jules felt the urge to vomit, but she swallowed the bile in her throat. "What does that have to do with us?" Jules asked finally, her voice hoarse. She motioned to Carson and Nic. "I mean, us. Do you think that has something to do with the dreams?"
“Fuck,” Nic whispered as the electricity danced between Neil’s hands. He’d heard of witches that could do that, but he’d never seen it in person and Neil was no witch. “To be clear, I didn’t know you could do that,” he offered. “But, I don’t have anything to do with that. I mean, I can do stuff, but it’s different.” He kind of figured they all knew that, even if he’d never explicitly said it. There’d been too many references to it early on and if they hadn’t figured it out, they probably thought he was crazy. Maybe they did. At last Carson knew he wasn’t off his rocker.
"No," Neil said quickly as he let the lightning die down, not wanting to feel like he was showing off more than he needed to - because that's what it felt like he was doing, showing off, pining for attention. It was a little gross. "I just- it's what scared it off, so we can assume it's afraid of light or electricity. This is- I think it's something from when I was kidnapped. I have- there's a scar, that's possibly how I got it but I don't really remember. I didn't even think there was anything I could really do but it came out when I was scared." He clamped down after blurting all that out, turning to Jane. Maybe she had more to say because now he wasn't even sure why he'd told them all this. Did they need to know? It didn't really have anything to do with the dreams, he didn't think so anyway. "I just think it could come in handy, knowing I can do this. If we need to defend ourselves," he added a bit sheepishly.
"It's definitely handy," Jane said with a grin before turning toward the others. "We know what he can do, now what about you two?" She eyed Carson and Jules. "Because this might feel random, but I don't think it is. I don't know if it's all connected to the Institute, but I think there's something about all four of you that connects you to whatever was in the fog. Abilities, history... something. Neil can make lightning in his hands. You," she said to Nic, "can do stuff too. So what about you?" Jane thought the girl looked pale and uneasy, and Carson just looked exhausted, but who wasn't? This wasn't easy to talk about and accept, but if it meant something, they should all know.
Carson’s eyes widened slightly and he had to force himself not to look at Nic, the only one in the room who knew his secret. He could hear his heart thundering in his ears, and his hands felt a little clammy all of the sudden. Could he lie to people who could read his mind? Fuck, fuck fuck fuck -- “No,” he said, throwing up as many mental walls as he could. “There’s nothing.” Carson looked over at Jules, since Jane was addressing both of them, feeling guilty for throwing her under the bus somewhat, but what else could he do? They couldn’t know he was a werewolf, not yet, it made him too dangerous. Or maybe he was just a coward.
Jules felt pierced to the spot by Jane's gaze, and her question. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure everyone else could hear it. She felt Carson's eyes on her too and she wondered if he thought she should say what she knew about her dad. But she was terrified if she opened her mouth she would throw up all over Neil's floor. Her stomach was churning horribly. For a moment she thought it was going to happen. She nearly brought her hand up to her mouth to catch it. But then she swallowed it, the acidity burning her throat. Jules parted her lips, her breath shaky. "I... I can't do anything either. I just... I mean, my dad worked at the Institute. He was there when it burned down."
Nic thought that was probably a big thing, considering Neil and Jane had been held there, and probably experimented on if Vex’s story rang true for them as well, but he wasn’t sure how it tied them all together. He could account for all the years of his life and knew where his abilities came from, and he knew Carson’s weren’t related either. It didn’t necessarily mean that Jules could do something, but it brought him back to thinking they were all selected for a reason. He just didn’t know why. “What if… what if that thing was attacking us in our dreams because we’re a threat somehow?” He still didn’t understand why Jules would be involved, but he could see that with Carson and Neil. “Or… I dunno, if that was the case, then it should have attacked us in the fog, so who knows.” He was grasping at straws now, hoping someone had an idea better than his.
Neil paled a little at what Jules said. Her dad had been working at AIR when it burned down. Had he been there during the fire or did she just mean he'd been employed at the time? Was he alive? Had he died in the fire? Did Neil know him? His mind was busy trying to puzzle the pieces together, how much he knew about Jules, what he knew about her family - nothing at all. He was only half-listening to Nic, enough that he knew what he was saying made sense and raised more questions but now all he could think about was the institute burning down. He remembered so little of that night, of that whole time really, just memories of standing in the woods, cold and scared with the other kids. "It might be unrelated," he said quietly, goosebumps on his arms as a cold chill traveled up his back. "I just thought it could be... useful. Important." He wanted to ask Jules more about her dad but at the same time he didn't want to know.
"I don't know that it was attacking you in your dreams," Jane said. "It attacked me because I was an outsider. I didn't belong there. What if that thing was just grooming you, making you ready for something. Jules said that it looked at her, but ignored her." Plus, she was fascinated by Jules's revelation about her dad. That meant something. "What did your dad do there? Is that something he talks about? What does he do now?" She supposed she ought to consider that maybe Jules's dad died in the fire. Almost everyone had. The ones who could have answered the proper questions, anyway.
Jules cringed, wishing she could just stand up and run out. Go home and ask her mom these questions so she would at least have answers for them. But what if her dad did those things to Neil and Jane? Made them the way they are? She flexed her hands, her palms aching again. "He died. In the fire," she explained. "I was just a baby, so I don't know. My mom always told me it was just research... science stuff. I never asked about anything else." She had never had any reason to. Jules mostly asked about what he was like, and all that. She had photos at home of him. Jules licked her lips. "If I... if I got a picture from home and sent it to you... do you think you would recognize him?"
Carson was just watching this conversation unfold, feeling a little out of place since he had nothing to do with the institute. It seemed to connect three of them, at least, but what about Nic and himself? They weren’t a part of any experimentation ... at least as far as Carson knew. He was slightly, selfishly glad that the conversation had diverted away from what they could all do, so he relaxed a bit about not thinking about what a monster he was. His gaze ticked from Jules to the others curiously, the cooling tea mug still clasped between his hands.
Nic was just listening, fairly certain this didn’t apply to him and Carson, but maybe it was important in some other way that they didn’t understand yet. He’d thought it was smart for Carson not to mention his own ‘abilities’, since they weren’t exactly under his control. He wasn’t even sure it was considered an ability. It was more like a curse that couldn’t be lifted. But if Jules’s father worked at this facility, there might be something more to this, some connection that they had that Nic and Carson had their own part to play. He stood silent, eyes ticking between them all, hoping for answers.
Neil thought Jules could just send him a mental picture of her father but he didn't want to be right in front of her if he recognized that face. Hell, he didn't want to see that face at all. "I guess-" he started and now he wanted this little get together to be over as soon as possible. Jules's dad had died in the fire, it was all he could think about. What if one of them had caused the fire? He had been too little to really help anyone in there but he still felt a little guilty about how they'd all just run away. They didn't call for help, they didn't check for survivors, they just ran. He was all too aware of how Nic and Carson had gone quiet, how this conversation was all about AIR now and that felt like too much pressure on him. "I don't really remember much from that time and it's likely your father was just... not part of that operation."
"Not part of what operation?" Jane asked Neil, glancing between him and Jules. "The one that made us what we are? Because everyone in that building was a part of the operation." She realized she was probably being insensitive, but she absolutely blamed anyone working in that institute for what happened to all of them. Jules was frowning now and looking ready to flee so Jane tried to calm her tone and take a breath. "That's a talk for another day, I think, especially if you were a baby, you wouldn't know of the answers to our questions. But I don't know that it's a coincidence that you four were brought together. Nic, you've got your stuff, Neil has his. Jules, I know you were a baby, but that doesn't mean you don't have some ability dormant the way Neil did. Carson... we'll figure you out," she said, her hands back on her hips. "Neil didn't know what he could do, so it's possible you two have something about you that drew this thing, even if it's not from the institute."
Carson got another of those uncomfortable chills at Jane threatening to ‘figure him out,’ but he tried not to let it show. Or come through their psychic connection. Part of him was a little envious of all of them but Jules -- they had special things about them that they could control, that could be used to help them, and his ‘special’ ability was a complete curse. He just had to be sedated every month when he turned into a giant killing machine, so he didn’t get out and slaughter innocent people. Everything had been such a horrible blur for so many months, he couldn’t remember exactly, but he was pretty sure all of this shit had started happening even before he was attacked by the werewolf. “I dunno,” he muttered noncommittally, ready to be out of there now and away from this conversation. “Guess we’ll find out.” Or they might not, because they sure as fuck didn’t have any real answers yet and this had been going on for months.
“So...where do we go from here?” Nic asked, his eyes moving from one of them to the next. He could do a lot, but he’d already established that he didn’t have a clue what to do in this specific situation. When they’d been having issues with mirrors, nothing had worked. And then there was the dreams, and he’d come up empty handed again. In the fog, he’d felt just about as useless as everyone else. If being a witch was supposed to be helpful, then he was doing a pretty shitty job of it. “If this was connected, what happens next?” He doubted anyone knew the answer, but if they had ideas, then he was willing to listen.
Neil was still reeling about Jules and her dad and Nic's question didn't make him feel any better. They were still just pawns in some crazy games that now involved monsters, there really wasn't anything they could do, there were no monsters out there to even fight which should have been a relief but it just made him feel helpless and confused. "We have more knowledge now but I don't see how we can all move forward," he said sullenly. "Jane's presence in our dreams seemed like it ended our ordeal but it may have triggered..." He didn't want to say the fog because the fog had killed people. If they had somehow caused it to happen then that was a heavy burden to carry around.
"All we can do is speculate," Jane said simply. "And keep trying to figure this out. We have some people who might be able to help us find more information about the institute. Maybe it's not related at all, but maybe it is. But if you two start to feel anything, or experience anything strange, let us know. Neil's ability came out of trauma, so..." She didn't want to suggest Jules and Carson traumatize themselves, but hey, whatever might help, right?
"Okay," Jules breathed. She stood quickly, her hands clenched. She didn't want to rush out, because maybe other things needed to be said, but she was freaking out and just wanted to leave so she could be alone and freak out in private. Jules was surrounded by adults, or whatever, and this was getting awful. "I don't know what comes next. I don't know what to do either. But I don't have any like, answers right now. Maybe I can talk to my mom and find some stuff out? But... I'm not special. I don't have any abilities. I just... I don't know." She shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry."
The mention of trauma made Carson sit up a bit straighter and fight to keep from rolling his eyes. He rapped his knuckles against the metal and plastic that made up most of his left leg and gave Jane a sardonic look. “I got blown up in the sandbox, I’ve had plenty of trauma,” he said dryly. “And all of us got a whole fuckton of it just a few days ago. But we’ll be sure to let you know if we start having any symptoms of that Emperor Palpatine shit.” He nodded toward Neil’s hands, then set the tea cup down on the coffee table and stood up as well. Jules obviously wanted to beat a hasty retreat, which meant this meeting was almost over. It had been sort of informative, but frustrating at the same time. It seemed they didn’t have any answers at all, only more questions.
“Who are the people you’re referring to?” Nic asked Jane. “The ones who might be able to get more information about the institute? Lem and Vex?” If not, he wanted to know who else was involved. He could see the meeting breaking up, was sure that Jules was going to bolt out the door at any second, but he didn’t want to walk out of there without asking that question, even if everyone else left around him. They weren’t getting anywhere and he wasn’t the only one who was frustrated by that, but he was glad that they’d had a chance to meet. He wouldn’t have figured that the fog creatures were connected to them on his own.
Neil had no idea who Emperor Palpatine was and it upset him in a whole different way that there might be some historical person he had no idea about and he was also oh so upset about Carson talking about his leg getting blown off. Yes, he'd known he'd had a prosthetic but he'd somewhat opted to forget about it and he certainly didn't need details like 'getting blown up in a sandbox'. He remained quiet, not really liking the idea of anyone going through more trauma. If that was the case he was pretty sure they'd all discovered their abilities by now. He wasn't really sure who Jane was referring to but he suspected it was Nic's friends, the two weirdos he hadn't wanted at this particular meeting. Maybe they needed to be a part of this after all - but Neil was glad they weren't here now. If nothing else, there really wasn't space for more people.
Jane arched a brow at Nic, like duh. "Yes, Vex and Lem. And I may have someone else, but I'm not outing him yet until I get a bit more information.” Jules looked ready to go anyway, as did Carson, which was fine. He had a point about the trauma, which had her thinking maybe he did have something going on that he just didn't want to talk about. Maybe she could get Neil to dig into Carson's brain a little with his own. "I think the important thing here is, if anything weird happens... with yourself, or your dreams. Anything at all, reach out to each other because it might mean something. Agreed?" Jules nodded quickly, but Jane suspected it was because she was so eager to go. But the acknowledgment was something Jane wanted, so she accepted it with one of her own.
It stressed Carson out to think that Vex and Lem were involved in this in any sense -- they knew too much about him and his problem, and he trusted them to keep their mouths shut much less than he trusted Nic. He would have to cross that bridge when he came to it, he supposed. “Agreed,” he told Jane with a nod. He’d been through a few full moons now, and he had gotten cursed before the dreams even started, so it wasn’t like he would be keeping some new development from them. Carson was pretty sure his curse was completely unrelated to what they were going through.
Nic stared at Carson for a moment, hoping to god that he was the only one who’d picked up bits of his thoughts. It could have been directed at him, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He was nodding in agreement, also thinking that if Jane had another AIR connection that might be better. “Vex thinks he’s been touched by a god,” he muttered. If Jane could make sense of his ramblings, then good for her, but Nic wasn’t all that sure they would get anywhere. He had moments of clarity for sure, but when it came to things like the fog Nic thought he was barking up the wrong tree.
Neil couldn't help but roll his eyes, even if he was stressed and freaking out right now. Of course that weird man would think he'd been touched by a god. Of course. Were they even sure he wasn't just insane? Had anyone actually verified that? He wasn't picking up anything from Carson other than frustration and that felt like a very universal feeling at the moment so he didn't give it much thought. "We have each others' numbers and other means of reaching out," he said then. "So if anything comes to mind or anything's strange then yes, we'll be in touch." He kept hoping it was over, that whatever had happened last was the final thing to happen but he kept getting let down so he didn't dare to hope that now. There was more coming, he could feel it in his bones. The annoying part was that there was nothing they could do to prepare for it.
Jules had only heard snippets of thought, mostly that Carson was cursed and while that thought alone sort of made her tense, she tried really hard to keep herself from reacting in a way that would tell him she'd heard. Had anyone else? They were talking about some guy named Vex now and she only felt more confused and out of place. But Jules definitely agreed to let them know if something weird happened. Weirder, anyway, because everything was weird right now.
Jane grinned at Nic. Vex being touched by a god. That sounded about right. And maybe he had been. Was it so easy to dismiss the outlandish when they lived in a town defined by that very word? Fog monsters shouldn't be real... but they are. Who was to say Vex didn't have some otherworldly experience of his own? Or maybe he just thought he did because he can't explain it any other way. Who could tell. "Communication is key," Jane said with a shrug. "And that's really all you can do until we figure out what it all means."
It seemed that everybody had said everything they needed to say, and Carson was ready to be out of Neil’s apartment. Jules still looked on the verge of fleeing herself, so he decided to be the first one to make a move toward the door. “All right, well ... we’ll see what happens, I guess,” Carson said, glancing around before he looked at Neil. “Thanks for having us over, man. Hope you figure out how to control your, uh ... lightning hands.” Carson nodded politely around the room and then headed toward the door. “You guys take care,” he murmured.
Nic smiled a little at Carson’s reference to Neil’s ‘lightning hands’, doing his best to stamp it back down. It was an ability brought on by trauma, or stress, and Nic had some experience there himself. He knew how much it sucked, but this was Neil and they were hardly friends. He saw no reason to share what little he knew about control with someone who didn’t want his help. With everything wrapping up, he nodded in agreement with Carson and went to retrieve his coat. “You too. Reach out if you need anything. Or have any new dreams.” He was doubtful at this point, but anything could happen.
Neil already felt like he had an okay handle on it, at least the small stuff. He hadn't exactly tried to reenact what had happened at the library for the simple reason that it was dangerous to let loose electricity like that. It made him wish he had some kind of an insulated room to practice in and the morbid thought that they probably had one of those at AIR crossed his mind - followed by a feeling of disgust. "Thank you all for coming," he muttered since it was clear they were going to be leaving now. Jane seemed to be the only one not in a rush to get out and he somewhat hoped she wouldn't stay behind, suddenly keenly aware of her painting hidden behind his couch. No, he did not need to be alone with Jane. "We'll speak again before long."
Jane waved as the others started making their way to the door, letting Neil take care of the pleasantries. Once everyone was gone Jane turned to Neil, her hands on her hips. "I think they're hiding something. Did you see Jules's face? Teenage girls are so easy to read, and she was ready to bolt. And Carson, he seemed pretty eager to go too when we started talking about abilities and trauma. Did you pick up anything at all?" She motioned towards Neil's head. Maybe they had all been talking telepathically so Jane wouldn't know. But Neil couldn't lie very well, so if they had been, Jane figured she would know before she left.
Neil had no idea what Jane meant with teenage girls being easy to read. In his experience it was the exact opposite; teenage girls were hard to read and a little scary. Then again Neil wasn't good at reading anyone, teenage girls or otherwise. "I didn't even know Carson had a -" he fumbled for words, gesturing at his feet. Fake leg? "Prosthetic. So he's seen his share of trauma, like he said." It seemed reasonable that he didn't want to dwell on all of that to Neil, getting your leg blown off was a horrifying ordeal.
"He has," Jane agreed. "But that may or may not have triggered something inside of him. Maybe there's something else. I mean, did you hear anything, in their heads? Anything they might have been trying not to think about? You've still got that psychic thing going on." Neil might have been too caught up in having people in his apartment and trying to explain his lightning hands to really focus and pay attention to whatever drifting thoughts the others might have had. But she felt like some behavior had been a bit fidgety and suspicious and worth thinking about.
"I didn't hear anything," Neil sighed. He'd heard snippets but thoughts were chaotic and random so it was hard to make out anything of importance. He knew his own thoughts got even weirder when he was worried other people might be listening, like his brain had a seizure and started throwing out embarrassing things that had nothing to do with him. That had freaked him out a lot when it all first started but then it had settled down a little, especially after he practiced 'building a wall' with Carson. "It's not clear like a radio transmission, sometimes it's just images and random words. Or not even words, something else entirely. I didn't pick up on anything useful." She was probably wishing she had that ability now because Neil was being useless but it was what it was. "If they figure something out they may tell us eventually." He had and he was loathe to share his secrets. Maybe if he talked to Carson alone... He shook his head and started gathering the cups, more than ready to get them washed and put away.
It sounded like something Neil would have to practice, a skill to hone, but that would only work if he really wanted to do it and Jane was fairly confident he wouldn't. "Maybe they will, maybe they won't." Jane picked up Carson's full teacup to carry into Neil's kitchen for him. "The important thing is that they know now. Hopefully they'll tell you if something out of the ordinary happens." Sometimes self-preservation won out over common sense and she wouldn't put it past anyone to keep secrets out of fear. "I'm going to go," she told Neil after setting Carson's cup down on the kitchen counter. "We'll talk soon though, and if anything weird happens with your hands..." She waved at them, clearly wanting Neil to reach out to her if it did.
Neil put the cups he was holding in the sink and then gave Jane a look so puzzled it was almost comical. He looked at his hands then for a few seconds, fretful. "I'd say lightning shooting out of them is weird enough already," he mumbled and god he hoped there wasn't more to this. He was kind of warming to the idea of being able to do that, as long as he could find some control over it, but what if it was just the beginning? What if it got worse? Would he need to be isolated or killed? He dropped his hands to his sides, pushing down that wave of dread and nausea that suddenly washed over him. "I'll walk you out."
Jane had to bite back from grinning at the look on his face, and she was only mildly successful with it. "Well, don't burn anything down with them," she said, walking with him to the front door. She hadn't taken off her coat, so there was no need to linger. Jane did pull her gloves out of her pockets to tug them on and she looked over at Neil as she did so, her lips twitching again. "Since I don't see my Christmas gift to you anywhere, I'm going to assume it's hanging up in your bedroom."
Neil should have said yes, even rolled his eyes at her and let her be on her way but he had a habit of reacting before he could think of the right way to do so and today was no different. "No," he said incredulously, as if she was insinuating he actually got off on her perversion or something because that was what it sounded like. "I'm sorry Jane, if you want that painting to hang on a wall, you'll have to take it back." He realized as he was speaking that this was not the right thing to say but it was out and he was no good at this communication nonsense anyway. They'd had this talk before, she knew he hated it.
She knew he didn't like it, but she supposed it was a win if he kept it hidden instead of tossing it out in the garbage. Still, a lot of work went into that painting, and she was proud of it, even if he hated it. Jane frowned for a very brief moment before she shrugged and opened the door. "That's fair. Talk to you later, Neil." She lifted one hand up in a way as she walked away before shoving them both into her coat pockets again. She wouldn't have to walk too far, given they both lived in the same apartment complex, but it was fucking cold out and she was ready to be alone for a bit.
Neil had half-expected an argument so her willingness to let it go surprised him. "Goodbye, Jane," he muttered before closing the door behind her, frowning to himself. Maybe he'd take one more look at the ghastly painting, give it one more chance. He considered it for at least a minute but no, he remembered what it looked like - what it depicted - and he knew that even if he got used to the damn thing, he'd never want it hanging on his wall.