Ophelia McCarthy (breatheoutside) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-03-22 20:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, jen, jen x ophelia, ophelia |
Who: Jen & Phee
Where: Overlook
When: Late Sunday afternoon, 01/14
Status: complete
Jen felt weird going about life like things were normal but that's what people did. Weird and horrible shit happened and people just picked themselves up and kept going. Her dad had to work and Phee was busy so Jen stayed home alone and watched a whole season of a show she didn't even really like. She'd never been a dog person but she kind of wished they had a dog now, a big protective one who'd never ever leave her side. Phee had promised to call her when she was home from her family thing so Jen waited patiently with her phone in her hands, imagining a dog by her side until it almost felt real and it weirdly enough made her feel safer. So that was probably what religion and spirit animals were all about.
She borrowed her dad's car after Phee finally called and drove up to Overlook, half expecting to see the creepy skinny man-thing at every corner. She didn't feel at ease until Phee's mom had opened the door for her and let her in and she hurried to Phee's room, knocking lightly on the door.
Coming back from the magic lesson her father had taken her and Sebastian on, Phee felt charged up and excited. It hadn’t been the easiest lesson in the world, and her brother had kind of had an attitude about some things -- were those mood swings Jules had mentioned somehow contagious? Or was it just the trauma of everything catching up to him? In any case, they’d both ultimately been successful at what James had coached them into doing, and even though it had drained quite a bit of energy from her, Phee felt powerful. Like a tiny taste of what she’d felt in the same room as the coven, all her own.
She’d called Jen like she was supposed to, but then Phee had gotten engrossed with transcribing the spell James had taught them into her personal grimoire. She’d only intended to put down the first few lines or so, just to get some of that excited energy out, but then before she knew it someone was knocking on her door. Phee sat up straight and startled at her desk, then hopped up quickly. “Come in!” she called even as she headed for the door. “Hey, sorry I wasn’t downstairs,” she said when Jen opened it.
"I didn't expect you to wait for me in the hallway," Jen reassured her wryly and then she stopped, fighting herself for a second before dropping her bag and stepping in closer to hug Phee. She needed that right now and she was sure Phee didn't mind - she was such a warm person. Usually it was Jen herself who shied away from that kind of thing. "I need your help," she mumbled, not letting go just yet. "Everything's fucked." Everything had been fucked for a while, she guessed, between the fog and every other weird thing that kept happening, life was more than a little overwhelming.
It was a pretty long walk from the front door to Phee’s bedroom, the house was big, but it was too late now. A second later Jen was hugging her, and that surprised all the regret out of Phee. Not that they never hugged, but it was usually Phee who initiated, Jen just never seemed like a very touchy person. She returned the embrace, not intending to let go until Jen did, her expression darkening over Jen’s shoulder at her words. The mood she was in made those words sound like a heroic call to action -- like she could actually help. “What’s fucked?” she asked, rubbing Jen’s back a little.
"I think my dad is haunted by some monster," Jen said quietly, slowly pulling away again to move over to sit on Phee's bed. "Last night we were in the kitchen and I swear I thought he was having a heart attack. He doubled over and clutched his arm like he was but then it wasn't that. There was a man standing outside the window, if you could even call him a man. He was so thin, so wrong looking and he had this horrible grin and a weird hat on. I've never seen dad so scared. I haven't felt this scared since the fog. He told me he's seen him before, I guess when he was little. Your dad protects your house with magic, do you think... Could he do that for us? Or someone you know?"
That was definitely not what Phee had been expecting to hear, as much as she’d been able to expect anything at all. She pulled her desk char in a little closer and sat down in it again, folding her legs under her as she stared intently at Jen. “Holy shit,” she murmured softly, trying to picture ... that. Even given everything she’d seen lately, it made Phee want to shudder. Fucking creepy. “I can ask him, yeah,” she went on, much more helpfully. “I don’t know why he wouldn’t, but if he says no, then I can probably ask Zania. I know for sure that her and her brother are good at like ... house-size spells. That’s super fucked up though, is your dad okay now? And you didn’t feel any pain yourself or anything?” She was still frowning fretfully.
Jen shook her head. "Just fear. Dad broke his arm when he saw it so I think... I think that was the pain he felt. Like an echo, from seeing it again." If it had been somebody else's story she might have found it fascinating and she realized this in some weird, detached way. "And I'd be happy even if it was just a room sized spell, knowing there's one place in the house we can go and be safe if it happens again." She groaned, tilting her head back and breathing in deeply. "And then I'll just try not to keep worrying while dad is at work. Do you ever wish you could get a coven of a hundred witches together and just... protect the whole town? Seems like it needs it."
A magical safe room did sound like a good idea for everyone, and Phee found herself hoping that she got that good at magic. Learning the small defensive spell earlier that day had given her a boost of confidence, but there was still so far to go and this was probably a good reminder. Phee huffed a sound that wasn’t quite amused and nodded. “Yeah that would be amazing,” she agreed. “But we definitely don’t have that many in town. The ones we do are powerful, but ... who knows. There must be a reason they haven’t done that kind of thing yet.” Maybe they’d tried in the past and it just didn’t work, or they’d never been able to work together for something so cohesive or a million other reasons. Phee reached out to give Jen’s arm a little squeeze. “But I’m glad you’re okay, and I’ll try to find somebody to help, okay?”
"Thanks," Jen said earnestly and she felt a little better just knowing someone might give them more safety. Plus being at Phee's made her feel completely safe. Those things in the fog hadn't entered the house or even so much as touched it, it was like a fort in Jen's mind. "Someone tried to protect the Cooperdale Tunnel and that obviously didn't work. I found a hex bag there a while ago. So maybe some places are just too evil for any kind of spells to work on them." She wondered now if she actually knew whatever witch had done it. The bag had looked like it had been there a while but she could imagine Phee's parents as teenagers, doing their best or practicing by trying to protect a place like that.
Phee wrinkled her nose a bit before she had a similar thought -- maybe someone was trying to practice. Or maybe someone had just had a hex bag on them and lost it in the tunnel or something. There was no way to tell. “You couldn’t pay me to go near that place,” she muttered, and gave a theatrical little shudder. Then she smiled faintly at Jen again. “But there’s no way your house is that kind of evil, so ... I’m sure it can be protected.” If not by her dad, then definitely by one of the other witches she now knew. And if Phee couldn’t find help? She would try to do it on her own. She paused as a detail from that story sank in, and her smile faded into a more fretful look. “Wait, why were you out at the tunnel anyway?”
Jen knew now that going there had been stupid but it had been before she knew for sure magic and monsters were real. She wouldn't go back there now and she hoped her dad wouldn't either but he probably would if something scary happened there again. Damn his job. "I was curious," she sighed. "It was stupid. Dad was there too, it was after they found that body there back in September. It was all so mysterious and weird I just wanted to see for myself." She shook her head. "I'm glad I was there though so don't lecture me, okay? I feel like... Something would have happened to dad if I hadn't been there." Why couldn't the Point Pleasant Police always go around partnered up? She hated how often her dad was alone out there.
She twisted her mouth to the side for a second, but Phee wasn’t going to lecture her. It had been a long time ago now, probably when Jen was still new in town, and she’d been with her dad. If there was anybody in this town to feel safe with, Phee was pretty sure it was the sheriff. He had to know how to look after himself, or he wouldn’t still be around, right? Though it sounded like the man they’d just seen had put him on his ass. “Well, I’m glad nothing happened to you guys,” she told Jen, sounding sincere about that. What else could she say? It was done and it sounded like Jen knew she shouldn’t go back there. “We’ll try to make sure it stays that way.”
Jen left out the part where she had gone to the tunnel by herself and only ran into her dad by chance. She smiled at Phee's reassurances and sighed, leaning against her to rest her head on her shoulder. Phee was so much taller than her, she felt it even as they sat down, and there was something so soothing about being with her. "I want to just not worry about shit for a little bit," she mumbled and at the moment she sort of understood why Hunter had left. She didn't feel like she could leave, not now and certainly not without her dad but she understood it better. Portland felt so far away though, like she didn't belong there at all, like she'd be lost if she went there again. "Is Greg taking you to the dance?"
Phee had thought more than once about how she would feel if Jen decided to leave town like Hunter had. She wouldn’t blame her if she did -- living in Point Pleasant was challenging enough for Phee, and she had several advantages over Jen. Being a witch, the money they had, having both parents with her, and her brother. She had a lot of privilege and she knew it. Phee lightly clunked her head against Jen’s, not minding the cuddle. The question made her smile. If there was any subject that would distract her from all of the bad shit, it was Greg. “Yeah,” she answered, still smiling. “I can’t wait, I’ve tried on my dress like fifteen times already. Are you coming?”
"I think so," Jen said. "There's a party afterwards so I'll definitely come to that. I need the distraction. I just really hope we don't get some crazy Carrie situation, leave that shit for prom, am I right?" It was a dark thing to joke about, given everything that had happened for real and Jen didn't think they had a girl in school who was that bullied. Maybe she was as blind as those kids in those movies though, she hoped not. "It's not weird to show up alone, is it? I can always ask someone to come with me, there's plenty of lonely weirdos at school who could stand to make more friends."
She hadn’t heard about a party yet, but Phee wasn’t surprised there was one. What still felt a little strange was knowing that she would probably go, because Greg would go. She’d never thought she would be rubbing elbows with the sorts of people who always went to those parties, but sometimes it was actually fun, and having Jen there would definitely help dispel any creeping awkwardness. Having someone to talk to while Greg was busy socializing would be nice, too. “Yeah, let’s avoid any Stephen King situations please,” she said with a smirk, then shook her head. “It’s not weird, come alone if you want, ask someone if you want, like, whatever you want.” Phee gave her a little grin. “Just come and hang out with me.”
"I will," Jen replied with a little smile and it was nice knowing - almost for certain - that Phee wouldn't be so wrapped up in making out with her boyfriend that she wouldn't have time to hang out. Greg was so hyper, he'd probably be running around a lot or something so maybe Phee might even need her there. It made Jen feel a little better about going and it amused her a bit that she felt like she should dislike Phee's boyfriend on principle but... Greg was actually okay. Kinda loud and dumb but he obviously had a good heart so it was hard to dislike him. And if Phee wanted to dance with him and Liam wanted to dance with his date, Jen would be okay. She was well versed in hanging out alone. The party afterwards was more tempting and she weirdly wanted to just get drunk and forget everything for a night. It was a stupid thing to do, sure, but god she was sick of being smart and scared.
Greg was still a social butterfly and friends with a lot of people that Phee didn’t really like, so she knew she would have downtime at the dance and the party afterward. It was his senior year, the last of these dances he’d get to go to, and she wanted him to have fun. She’d planned on hanging out with Liam, but having Jen there too would make it even more fun. “Good,” Phee said with a warm smile. Then she bit into her bottom lip and raised an eyebrow. “You wanna see my dress?” It wasn’t something she would normally gush about with Jen, neither of them were super girly like that, but she still seemed to need cheering up, and Phee just kind of wanted to show someone. It was distracting from all the dark stuff, at least.
Jen supposed she should wear something nice to the dance and seeing what Phee was wearing would help her figure out somewhat what was expected. Plus Phee was excited about it so she could be too. "Let's see it," she said and leaned away from her friend, arching her own brows in expectation. "Is Greg gonna be all matchy matchy?" God, why did she care. She didn't normally give a shit about that girlie stuff but maybe it was different when she actually liked the people involved. That was probably it.
Phee knew that Jen might just be indulging her, but she was going to roll with it anyway. She didn’t have many friends, even fewer of them girls, so who else was she going to do this with? Her mom had zero interest in bonding with her over dresses and dances, especially lately. She hopped up with a grin and headed to her closet, flicking the light on before she disappeared inside for a moment. “I don’t think so? That’ll more be a prom thing, I think. But whatever he wears won’t clash, I’m sure.” She emerged with a dress on a hanger covered in a plastic bag. Phee laid it on the bed and then uncovered it. It was a pale blue and shimmery and flowy, a little shorter than knee-length but with long sleeves, with a few strategically placed cut-out panels that would show a bit of cleavage and her shoulders. There were some subtle silver snowflakes here and there against the light blue. “I saw it and it seemed really wintery to me.”
Maybe it was easy to be excited with Phee because Jen liked her, but it probably also had something to do with the fact that she had good taste in Jen's opinion. When she got excited about clothes they were never boring. "It's beautiful," Jen murmured. "You're gonna shine. Try it on?" It wouldn't be the same without accessories and make up but Jen still wanted to see it. "For meee?" she added with a drawl and a grin.
Phee felt all glowy and happy when Jen approved of the dress. She wouldn’t consciously call how she felt about Jen a crush ... but damn if the other girl’s approval didn’t give her a thrill every time. “I guess,” she answered in a way that made it clear she didn’t mind in the slightest. Phee picked up the dress and hurried back to the closet, nudging the door most of the way shut as she started to peel off her clothes. “I haven’t decided what to do with my hair yet,” she said loudly to Jen in the meantime. “That’s like, the part I’m the worst at.”
"I'm not gonna be any help there," Jen said, dangling her feet idly while she waited for Phee to return. "I default to ballerina tightness or total chaos. I mean, do you want something elaborate? I guess you could pin it all up and add wintery accessories, or you could curl it. Or both, half up, half down... Yeah, that's it, that's the limit to my hair ideas." Why was this making her want to go all out for the dance? It was kinda fun, dressing up and looking pretty, she just didn't often have a good reason to actually want to do it. Maybe she was thinking about how much she'd enjoyed Halloween and that was a completely different sort of dressing up.
Phee laughed a bit as she pulled the dress on and got it settled. “Those are pretty much all I thought of too,” she said. “Maybe Mom will spring for a salon visit so somebody else can do it.” She didn’t have any tights on, which she would probably wear on the actual night, but Phee still slipped her feet into the heels she planned on wearing, and emerged from the closet. The dress fit her chest nicely and flowed down loosely from there, so she thought she looked pretty damn good in it. “Tada,” she said, doing a little spin for Jen to see all of it.
"Pretty!" Jen exclaimed in earnest, smiling brightly at her. "Princess Ophelia. No really, you look like a princess. I love it. You're making me want to buy a new dress. Why do you influence me in such bad ways." She flopped down on Phee's bed and rested her head on her hand, looking her up and down. She did look very pretty in that way that made Jen wonder if she was really uninterested in sex or if she just liked girls. Thankfully she'd decided it wasn't a decision to be made and she was under no pressure to decide even if it was.
Phee couldn’t help but giggle and glow a bit from the compliments, smoothing her hands down the fabric over her stomach. If she felt this princessy just wearing it in her bedroom, she thought she might feel like a queen when she was all dolled up and on Greg’s arm. Maybe she could do a crown braid in her hair or something. Or have someone else do it, rather, because Phee could barely do a single braid down her back. “I would totally go dress shopping with you if you want,” she offered to Jen, moving to look at herself in the full length mirror attached to the back of her door. Phee did a couple of turns, then toed out of the heels and looked back at her friend with a smile. “Never thought I’d be much into dressing up a lot, I hated it as a kid, but like, picking out my own clothes makes a huge difference.”
"I actually liked dressing up when I was little," Jen said speculatively. "This kinda brings back memories. I loved dresses and dancing. Then I just, I don't know, it became such a stupid thing somehow. Like mandatory or something. Or I just didn't like the girls who were super into it at my school." Or maybe she just never felt like enough so why bother at all. It was all pseudo psychology so she didn't see the point in trying to figure it out, it was what it was. "Plus, most dresses don't have pockets and that's just not gonna work for me." She grinned and got up off the bed to touch the dress. It wasn't a terrible fabric either so that was a bonus. "Is it comfy?"
“Ugh, the lack of pockets is criminal,” Phee agreed with a roll of her eyes. “But yeah, it’s pretty comfy. The liner underneath is really soft.” She lifted the outer layer of the dress a bit over one thigh so Jen could feel the inside of the dress too if she wanted. She didn’t mind the touching at all. “I think like ... when you’re a kid it’s fun and innocent and you just like pretty things -- some of us do anyway -- but when it becomes like ... ‘this is the only way you can be a girl,’ then it really sucks, you know? So stupid and narrow. I just hated itchy tights and petticoats my mom would make me wear. And that she wouldn’t let me play outside in any of it because I would get dirty.” She grinned a bit and wrinkled her nose. “But now it’s fun. Especially when Greg looks all dopey when he sees me.”
Jen thought Greg looked pretty dopey a lot of the time but she kept that to herself. No doubt he looked even dopier when he was all moony-eyed over Phee. "My mom was never too bad about dressing me up in uncomfortable clothes, it was mostly a special occasion kinda thing but she was pretty relaxed about it and usually let me pick." She really wouldn't be surprised to hear Phee's mom was more into fashion and looks than Allison was, she always seemed more stuck up in a way but Jen was ready to explore the possibility that she might be painting her with an unfair brush because of the McCarthys financial and social status.
“Count yourself lucky,” Phee said with a put-upon sigh. She knew it was a super first-world-problem to have, but it had been frustrating as a kid, that no matter how much she protested and occasionally kicked and screamed, Brianna always got her way. She’d been expected to look a certain way for occasions as Ophelia McCarthy, the only daughter of one of the oldest families in Point Pleasant. Now she at least could make her own clothing choices, even if her mom sometimes made snide comments about what she chose. Or her weight. Or both. None of which she really wanted to think about at the moment, because she felt beautiful in this dress and she was going to enjoy wearing it without anything itchy underneath. She did another little twirl in front of the mirror, then started dance-walking toward the closet again. “We’re gonna have so much fun. And like, I feel like we all really need it, ohmygod.”
"We really do," Jen agreed with feeling. "Deserve it even, earned it." Her brain was full of horrors, fears that something else would go terribly wrong soon but she opted not to say it out loud, as if talking about it might make it reality. Plus, Phee looked happy right now and Jen didn't want to dampen her spirit. "Do you think you're gonna spend the night at Greg's?" she asked instead. "I was wondering if I could maybe crash here if you need to come home anyway." That way she could drink a little and not have to worry about how to get home. It made her wish Phee's parents would go out of town or something and she couldn't wait until they were older and allowed to do whatever they wanted - including drinking
Phee barked out a laugh that was sarcastic and honestly amused at the same time as she carefully took the dress off and started to hang it up. “Pretty sure a sleepover with Greg’s like, never going to happen, at least not until I’m eighteen and they can’t tell me what to do anymore,” she said, rolling her eyes to herself. Maybe that was naive, maybe they would be those ‘you’re still under MY roof’ types of parents, but she really hoped not. They weren’t that way with Sebastian. “Unless I like, lie, of course. Which is so dumb, because they know we’re having sex anyway. But yeah, you can definitely come over! Mom will like, be happy that you’re distracting me from him or whatever.” She tugged her comfy clothes back on and came out of the closet again, moving to plop down onto the bed once more.
"I'd totally offer to be your alibi but I can't promise they wouldn't check with my dad," Jen sighed as she joined her on the bed again, stretching out on her stomach and idly dangling her feet in the air. "And dad checks in way more now after the fog - which is a good thing, sure, but..." She sighed. "Also annoying when you want to sneak off somewhere or be someone's alibi." She glanced over at Phee's windows. "I take it you can't just sneak out again, does your dad have a magical security system for leaving the house too?"
Phee folded her legs under her and stretched her back a bit before she sighed. “I feel like they would expect an alibi situation more the night of a dance, you know? But I’ll totally take you up on it some other time. Like a random ‘oh hey, gonna spend the night at Jen’s’ sort of thing. Greg gets so paranoid about my dad though, I dunno if he’d even let me do it.” She gave a fond chuckle, then shrugged. “I don’t know though. I can feel that he’s got magic like, all over the house, but I can’t tell if it’s just protection wards or if he’d know if I snuck out or what.” She paused, then gave a little laugh. “Funny that neither of us have like, normal dads. Mine has magic and yours has the whole police force to send out to look for you.” It was slightly comforting, in a way ... but also annoying and oppressive, in a much more teenage way.
"Yeah we are carrying a similar burden," Jen said as she started laughing, remembering what Hunter had told her. "Did you know one of his deputies caught Hunter and Bash making out in a car? I still don't know if dad got to hear about it, if he did he's never brought it up. Probably wouldn't, too embarrassing." She was so glad that wasn't her, the odds of her dad catching her doing anything like that with a boy were pretty slim since she just wasn't very interested in it in the first place. Catching her doing something else that was dumb? More likely. Though she was being more careful now that she knew what was really out there.
She laughed too, nodding. “Yeah, I heard about it,” Phee said, giving an amused and good natured cringe. It had been both hilarious and painful by proxy since she knew it had upset Sebastian so much. “So I’m sure your dad did too. Unless the deputy was really nice and kept his mouth shut, I don't know. How is Hunter doing, anyway?” Phee still thought he was kind of an asshole for how he’d dumped her brother, but it was high school and she still cared about him since he was Jen’s twin. Friends gave a shit about each other’s families.
"He's okay," Jen said with a little shrug. "I feel like he's changed after everything. Like the joy got zapped out of him and he's more like me now. Which totally sounds like a downer but he's always been way more jolly than me. He wants me to move back to Portland - dad too. He really hates this place." Which was understandable, she supposed, after everything that had happened. "When he first left he was always going 'take Mak and Sabrina and get the hell out' so I kinda got sick of talking to him." It was a slight exaggeration but it wasn't as bad now, like he wasn't as bothered by it anymore. Almost like he was forgetting. "I don't want to leave though. Is that weird?"
Phee hadn’t known Hunter well, obviously, but that was all kind of sad to hear. He’d seemed like a fun loving sort of guy. Maybe a little too fun loving to be a good match for her brother, but still. She tried to picture what Greg might look like with all the joy zapped out of him, and Phee fiercely hoped that wouldn’t happen. He’d lived in this town his entire life and it hadn’t happened yet, but it was hard not to feel like things were getting worse. Phee shook her head a bit at Jen’s question. “I don’t really want to leave either,” she admitted. “I mean like, until graduation and college and all that. But I don’t blame you, you like just moved. And your dad’s here.” She could see it from Hunter’s perspective too, if she was being completely honest, but Phee selfishly didn’t want Jen to leave either. She didn’t have a lot of friends, and Jen was definitely top of the list nowadays.
That was another reason for Jen to stay; she felt like she belonged in Point Pleasant, she'd made friends who she actually felt connected to and not just like she was tagging along for the fuck of it. Hunter had a lot of friends in Portland, through sports and hobbies, he'd never had a problem fitting in but Jen was always an outlier. Maybe Point Pleasant sucked but it did feel welcoming to her in that regard. "Someone's gotta look after dad," she said flippantly. "At least until I go off to college." And even then, maybe she could still come home regularly, make sure he was okay.
She huffed and smiled faintly. Phee only really knew Jen’s dad from a distance -- probably a good thing, considering his occupation -- so she didn’t know how much looking after he really needed. But it was a cute sentiment anyway. She realized with a strange sort of feeling that it wouldn’t be too long until Jen did go off to college. Phee really didn’t want to think about that though, pushing it aside in her mind. “So ... you wanna watch a movie or something? Something fun and distracting?” That was what she’d come over for, after all. And to ask for help, but Phee hoped Jen had known she would say yes right away before she even came over.
"Yes," Jen said with an almost fierce nod. She needed distractions more than anything, it wasn't like she could do anything to make things better and worrying herself sick wasn't helping anyone. Grady was a grown man - with a gun! - and Jen felt safe at the McCarthy house. How could she not when there were nothing but powerful witches living there. "I know it probably sounds weird but I kinda wanna watch a horror movie," she added. "But like a really cheesy one with bad effects so you can just mock it endlessly, you know?" Mockery was one of the strongest weapons she had at her disposal and making fun of the monsters for a couple of hours was sure to help her a little bit.
Phee got a little thrill of satisfaction that she’d hit upon the right suggestion to make Jen feel better -- friendship points! -- and she was more than on board with the genre suggestion. Phee leaned over to grab her remote control off of her nightstand and turned her TV on. “Pretty sure I can find just the thing,” she said, giving Jen a grin. She had access to all the streaming and all the channels, after all. Maybe they could even make some popcorn and lounge together and just turn their brains off for a while. It sounded nice, and Phee felt like she was really doing awesome at everything today, so this would be a perfect way to wind it down.