Ethan Woods (lockingdoors) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-08-25 08:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | #march 2018, ethan, ethan x jules, jules |
Who: Jules, Ethan, Wilkes (NPC) and maybe Margaret (NPC)
When: Early March, early evening
Where: Wilkes’s home
Status: Complete
Christopher Wilkes was experiencing an emotion he had come quite familiar with. Anticipation. Since activity in Point Pleasant had begun to spike over the past few months, they had been keeping an eye on the small town. He knew there were past subjects still living there. It had been difficult to track down who they were, given the records had been destroyed in the fire years before. But his investigators were thorough and determined, and now he had all new files, growing in volume with each passing day. Those he knew about were being monitored closely, though not so intensely as to tip them off. The last thing Wilkes wanted was his property ditching town and making it more difficult for him.
And there were more. Wilkes knew it deep in his gut. He could look at what was happening in Point Pleasant on a daily basis and pinpoint what was an act of man, what was an act of the unexplainable, and what was a result of his people. Yes, he considered the subjects to be his. His father had created most of them and in Wilkes’s mind, they were his property. Point Pleasant was his property. He had plans for the town. Plans that were going to come to fruition much sooner than even had expected. Because thanks to a source within the town, they had the name of the person who was going to bring his experiments to new heights. Not to mention she would bring him every single person who benefited from his father’s vision before they had killed him. Wilkes couldn’t promise they wouldn’t suffer for what they did, but they would be useful to him first. They would serve their purpose.
While Wilkes never met with any of his subjects outside of the facility, this was a special case. This was the daughter of a former employee. Wilkes had known someone out there existed who mimicked his nephew. Ethan was the key, but they had yet to find the gateway. That goddamned fire had ruined everything. Wilkes had begun to worry that the subject would never be found, because his, or her, ability had never been triggered properly. Ethan was a loyal, intelligent boy, but without the doorway, he was essentially useless to the cause.
And then January came. Glorious January, with its gray skies and snow. Ethan’s hands had begun to burn. And that was all the sign Wilkes had needed. They had tried in vain to find the source, monitoring the bizarre shifts in activity within the town. Some of which had come from the school and when they investigated, they were able to find physical evidence of a rip in their reality. An opening doorway. So they had narrowed down their search to a high school student, as the faculty would be too old given the timeline Wilkes had put together.
And then Witcham Road had happened. Something larger and more dangerous than whatever had occurred inside the walls of Chamberlain High. After gathering evidence and reading the names of the missing shortly after, Wilkes had worried that their gateway had been Jasper Lucas, or Elodie Hunt. Both high school students who had not been seen since the incident. Hunt was newer to town and looking into her background, she had never lived near a facility, nor had she ever been reported missing, even for a day. Jasper Lucas as a Point Pleasant native. His sister, Amelia, had disappeared a few months prior, but there was nothing unusual about his childhood beyond the fact that his family were essentially white trash and criminals. While he still didn’t have a name, he was quite convinced that neither Hunt nor Lucas was the person they were seeking. And while he was frustrated to still be searching, he felt closer than ever. And then their readings went haywire again, at the end of February. In the same place. Witcham Road. Whoever had been out there was gone by the time Wilkes and his men arrived, but the evidence was clear. Their gateway was still alive, and still in town.
And then everything fell into his lap at once. His source in town provided him with a name. D’Onofrio’s son had been the one to find her. After discovering who she was, Wilkes felt foolish for not putting it together earlier. Ted Cooper hadn’t been a significant enough presence in his father’s life for Wilkes to remember him. But he’d had a baby girl when he perished in the fire. She would be seventeen today, not much younger than Ethan. The girl’s mother had received a hefty, generous payout from the facility when her husband died and they still lived in Point Pleasant today.
He had been in touch with Margaret Cooper over the past few days. They spoke on the phone, and met for lunch earlier in the week. Discovering Mrs. Cooper had known about the reality of Ted’s job had been a surprise, but a pleasant one. Wilkes would have hated to have to try and explain it all to her. Women could be… emotional. Irrational. Especially when it came to children. But she had known what Ted had done with their daughter. Had approved it, even. The woman didn’t seem entirely stable, mentally, but that was fine by Wilkes. It made her pliable and more agreeable, especially with the promise of monetary compensation for the use of her daughter.
And now Mrs. Cooper and her daughter were on their way to his home. He lived nearly fifteen miles outside of Point Pleasant, closer to the facility than the town itself. Inviting them to dinner was generally not how he did things. If it had been anyone else, he likely would have had her taken in the night and brought to the facility where she would remain for… well, indefinitely. But this was a special circumstance. He wanted the girl to be a willing participant and if he had her mother on board, Wilkes would continue to push down that path. This was far too big an opportunity to fuck it up and have the girl try to run, or worse.
And that was where Ethan came in. His nephew was with him now and as they waited for the guests, Wilkes poured himself a small glass of whiskey from the wet bar. “I believe we’ll know for sure if it’s her when she arrived,” Wilkes explained. “Being in close proximity, your hands may start to tingle, or ache. If they don’t, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not her, but given the connection, something should happen. Or perhaps you’ll just instinctively know. If you do, just give me a small nod. It’s important that we earn her trust and I think you’ll be much better adept at doing that than myself.”
Ethan had been waiting for this day for as long as he could remember, ever since he’d learned he was special. Special, but restricted by the powers of another. It had been a frustrating journey for him, one that started with excitement, then impatience, then eventually disappointment before he had finally settled on acceptance and resignation. There had been a high chance they’d never find the gateway and without them, he was useless. Just thinking about it tended to stir up feelings of vengeance, but he’d been strictly forbidden from attempting to avenge his father’s death. They were to look to the future, focus on new test subjects and finish the testing that his father began. There was so much more to this world that most people could see and Ethan felt honored to be a part of it, even if he was just watching from the outside.
But tonight, that all could change. If this girl was the one they’d been looking for, there were new worlds to explore. Ethan was anxious enough that he wanted a drink himself, but he knew better. Even if his uncle would have allowed it, he needed to keep his senses pealed. Like Wilkes, he expected to feel the connection and he wondered if she’d feel the same. When his hands had burnt before it had been painful, but exciting, because it was a sign that she was still out there. He could put up with the pain if it meant finding the gatekeeper. “How much do you think she knows?” he asked, his knee bouncing nervously from where he sat on the couch. “Is there anything in particular I should steer away from?”
Wilkes took a sip from his glass, considering Ethan's question. "I'm not entirely sure how much she knows," he admitted after a moment. "I suppose we'll find out when she arrives. But I'll tell her the truth. After we eat, I'll show Mrs. Cooper around and give you two time to talk alone. You can talk to her about whatever you want, Ethan. I imagine you'll find you have a lot in common. Perhaps show her the gardens out back. Anything that might make her feel comfortable." He had absolutely no idea what a seventeen year old girl would be interested in, which was why Ethan was more beneficial to this evening than anyone else. He managed a small smile for his nephew. "From what I've managed to gather, she's a senior at Chamberlain. Cheerleader. Slightly above average student. Mrs. Cooper tells me she's been depressed, which I suppose is to be expected. With any luck we can give her guidance, as we did with you."
Ethan nodded, hoping it was as easy as his uncle made it sound. He was normally good with girls, but there usually wasn’t this much pressure to talk to one in particular. They all had a lot riding on this and he didn’t want to fuck it up. He just had to remind himself that all he had to do was be himself. It shouldn’t be that hard and they already had common ground. “I’m just glad we finally found her,” he said. “It was starting to feel like we never would.” Just because Ethan knew she was using her powers didn’t mean they could instantly find her. She was always gone by the time the team made it to the sight where the portal had been opened. Ethan had never even seen one open himself.
Wilkes wanted to make it sound easy to give Ethan some confidence, not that the boy was really lacking in that department. Teenage girls... they could be as fickle and emotional as grown women. This girl would probably be suspicious of him, uncomfortable with this entire situation. But frankly, that didn't matter. They needed her. He just hoped she would cooperate so things didn't have to become... messy. "Good things come to those who wait, I suppose." Wilkes smiled faintly when he heard a car pulling into the long drive. Walking over to the windows, he peered outside. "They're here." He turned back to his nephew, his smile becoming more pointed. "Are you sure you don't want a glass of scotch to help those nerves?"
Ethan was ready to nod and power through it, but the offer made him cave instantly. “Yeah, maybe that’ll help,” he said, walking over to the bar to make himself a drink. Thank God his uncle didn’t care. His mom might, but she wasn’t there right now and that was all for the better. If Jules’s mother had a problem with him drinking, then oh well. There were much bigger things to discuss than the local drinking laws. He made his drink, then took a sip as he heard car doors shut outside. He really should not be this nervous about meeting a girl, but it was so much more than that. She was the key to everything they’d been searching for. All he had to do was get her on board.
For her part, Jules did not want to be there. Well, not really. Maybe she did, a little. Just to satisfy her curiosity. When she wasn't begrudgingly in school, she was home in bed, hiding from the world. Her mom had tried multiple things to get Jules to snap out of her "funk", including bribery and the threat of therapy, but for the most part, Margaret had left her alone. As far as Jules knew, she was still consumed with trying to find her husband. Edward's death was something else that continued to sink deep in Jules's conscience. She hadn't swung the bat, but she was as much to blame as Ruby. It hadn't been easy to forget about, but having Jasper around had kept her grounded. Now he was gone, along with so many other people, and Caius D'Onofrio had been right that she had death on her hands. Quite literally. Was that the right use of that word? Probably. It didn't matter.
When Margaret had walked into Jules to announce they were having dinner with an old colleague of her dad's, Jules had been startled into actually sitting up in bed. Sure, she stared at her mom like she had those fog creatures growing out of her ears, but that certainly hadn't been something she expected to hear. While Margaret dragged Jules from bed to push her into the shower, she had explained who Christopher Wilkes was. The son of Jules's dad's boss. He was in charge of a research facility now. Jules had tried to play dumb, considering she already knew about AIR from Jane and Neil and Carson, but her mom wasn't stupid. Apparently she knew a hell of a lot more than she had ever let on to Jules.
"There are things he can tell you that I can't," Margaret had said before closing the shower door to let Jules wash her hair. Jules had spent the next thirty minutes getting dressed, fixing her hair, and then makeup after her mother took a look at her and told her she looked like she had just crawled out of the grave.
Now, pulling up to Mr. Wilkes's home, a rather nice home at that, Jules felt her nerves start to kick in. All she knew about this man was... well, not much. She really only knew that her dad worked for a research facility that kidnapped and hurt kids. Neil. Jane. More, probably. She recalled crying to Greg that she was afraid some doctor would chop off her hands to experiment on them. But her mom wouldn't do that to her... at least Jules didn't think so. The only thing that kept Jules from getting out of the car and running back down the isolated, tree-lined street was knowing she could just send Mr. Wilkes into some hell dimension if he tried to do something to her. Or... she hoped she could. Her hands had tingled a bit on and off for the last week or so, but nothing else had happened. It was probably wishful thinking to hope whatever she could once do was now gone for good. Not likely.
"Be polite," Margaret said as they walked up the stone pathway to the front door. "For all we know, Mr. Wilkes will know how to help you."
Jules snorted once as her mom rang the doorbell, but she quieted down when Margaret glared sharply at her.
The door opened a moment or two later and Jules was looking at a man who looked... normal. Tall, brown hair neatly combed. Glasses. She supposed he was handsome for an old guy, though he didn't look super old. He looked... probably how old her dad would have been today had he not died in that fire.
"Mrs. Cooper, come inside." Wilkes stepped back and gestured them both into the foyer. The house smelled a little like Christmas trees. It wasn't terrible, just odd. Though, maybe not too odd considering the place was surrounded by the woods.
"You must be Julia." Wilkes's warm smile was turned on her, snapping Jules from her observation of the house.
"Jules," she said, keeping her hands tucked tightly into her coat pockets so he wouldn't be tempted to try something lame like shaking her hand.
"Jules." He beamed, which was slightly off putting, but Jules didn't have much of a chance to sneer, since a subtle prickle had begun to ripple beneath the skin of her palms. Jules flexed her fingers in her pockets, but the feeling didn't go away. It was a new sensation. Not a terrible one either. No burning, or ache. Jules tried to stay focus on her mom and Mr. Wilkes exchanging pleasantries as he helped Margaret with her coat, but Jules was already imagining some kind of freaky, alternate world opening up in this old house, swallowing them all up.
"Jules," Mr. Wilkes said again, her mother's coat draped over his arm. The other gestured toward a large archway leading into another room. "I'd like you to meet my nephew, Ethan. Ethan, come say hi."
Ethan could feel her presence before he ever laid eyes on her. His hands started to tingle and goosebumps rose on his arms. In the past, he’d felt an echo of something painful, but this was different. It reminded him of when one of his feet fell asleep, but not near as annoying. He took another sip of his drink as he listened through the exchange in the entryway, then headed towards the entry way when he heard his uncle call for him. It was like being pulled towards a corresponding magnet. Ethan smiled when he saw Jules, certain she was the one. “Hi,” he said, and would have introduced himself if his uncle hadn’t already done so. “Can I get you something to drink?”
The first thing Jules noticed about the guy, Ethan, was that he was tall. The second, and most important thing, was that her hands were no longer tingling. They were buzzing. Not in a way that anyone could hear, but it was definitely a feeling she hadn't experienced before and almost instinctively Jules realized there was something about Ethan that was making her hands go crazy. Curling her fingers into fists in her pockets, she kept her expression as calm as possible while she shook her head. Her mom had said maybe Mr. Wilkes could help her, so maybe this guy was part of that. "I'm fine, thanks."
Wilkes was still smiling, though his gaze was shifting rapidly back and forth between Ethan and Jules. He could already tell this girl was the one they had been looking for for so long. It would be incredibly difficult for him to let her ever leave the house, but... baby steps. He could be patient. "Why don't we head into the dining room for dinner? We can talk and get to know one another a little bit better."
"Jules, be polite and take your coat off," Margaret said. Her tone was soft and polite, but Jules knew her mother well enough to know there was an underlying threat there if Jules protested or threw a fit. So she sighed and pulled her hands from her pockets, yanking off her gloves before unbuttoning her coat to hand to Wilkes. She shivered once and resisted making fists again.
Ethan watched the exchange, unable to take his eyes off her, and not just because she was gorgeous. He watched her eyes, and the way she held her hands, his own continuing to hum silently. Could she feel anything like what he was feeling? If so, she didn’t look alarmed, which he considered to be a good thing. He wanted her to be comfortable, but he had no idea how to reign in his own powers now that they’d been woken up. Ethan knew she would have questions and he was prepared to answer them, but he had so many questions for her as well. Unfortunately, there was much to discuss before they got there, along with dinner, which he’d completely lost interest in, but he could be patient. He’d waited this long, hadn’t he?
Her mind was racing with questions but Jules still felt some apprehension. She didn't know much about where her dad worked other than what Neil and Jane had told her. They had taken children, experimented on them. That was why Jane and Neil could do what they could do. It made Jules curious about herself, if her dad had let them experiment on her too, even though she had only been a baby. It was a confusing mess in her head and hard for her to make sense of. She hadn't known who to talk to, especially now with Jasper gone. Even thinking about him, which she did a lot, made her chest ache so she was relieved when they were led to the dining room. The house was nice, despite how old it felt. She sat where directed and listened as her mom and Wilkes chatted while two women entered the room, filling glasses with water, her mom's with wine. Jules, Jason and her mom had a housekeeper, but they didn't have people who fed them. It made her feel like she was at a fancy restaurant, though it wasn't something that lifted her spirits any.
Instead, Jules glanced across the table where Ethan had sat beside his uncle. There was something there... a reason why he was at this dinner with Jules and her mom. Finally, after they were given ther salads, Wilkes turned his attention back to Jules.
"I've spoken in length to your mother about your situation, Jules. And I think we can help you."
Jules had no idea if he was talking about himself and his company, or himself and Ethan. Jules didn't bother asking him to clarify. Instead, she arched a brow, her salad untouched and her hands still in her lap.
"My situation," she repeated, taking on some false amusement to her tone. It was strange to be in the face of two strangers who may know her secret when most of the people closest to her didn't. "What's my situation, exactly?"
Wilkes's smile softened and it annoyed her slightly to see a flash of pity in his eyes. "We've been tracking several anomalies in Point Pleasant over the past couple of months. It led us to you. I imagine your hands are feeling a little sore? Or perhaps... awake, for lack of a better term. We know what you've been able to do and we want to help you learn to control it. Ethan..." Wilkes motioned to his nephew with his head, though his eyes were still on Jules. "He understands what you're going through. Your abilities woke his as well."
Her gaze snapped to Ethan and she felt a flush rise high on her cheeks. It was excitement, she realized. Excitement and surprise that someone else out there might be able to do the same thing. "You can do this too?" she asked him.
“Not quite,” Ethan smiled back at Jules. She was even more beautiful with her cheeks flushed. “Something similar, but not the same. It’s my understanding that I can stabilize a doorway, even if I can’t open it myself. Think of it like—like, say you have a locked door. You can force it open, break it down, tear it apart with your bare hands. Or you can use the key.” As he understood it, there were two of them to provide a sort of checks and balances. They’d always been meant to figure it out together, but then all the information on Jules had been lost. Ethan hadn’t been able to use his power because he’d never gotten to a doorway in time, but he could feel it when Jules opened them. “I know it hurt though, that it felt like your hands were on fire. I could feel it, too.”
She had expected him to say yes, he could open worlds with his hands like her... if they were actual worlds and not just some... weird mirror land of Point Pleasant. Jules didn't know what those places were, or where they were. Not really. She barely knew how to do what she did, in all honesty. But listening to Ethan describe what he could do... it felt like something slipping into place. She still didn't understand it completely though, even if she felt some strange relief that she wasn't alone. "I just... I guess I'm confused." Her gaze darted back to Mr. Wilkes. "I've opened places before, without a... key?" She furrowed her brows together, glancing back at Ethan. His description of her hands was on point and she couldn't help but look at his own. He had felt what she did... did that mean when her hands were tingling, it was because his were too? What a weird thing to think, that some ability inside of them had been trying to find each other.
"Yes," Wilkes said, clearly pleased that she was willing to listen. "I imagine it's been a bit... unpredictable for you. I believe that there was another force at work on Witcham Road. Whoever you were with, or whatever you were doing there, it forced that doorway to open. You were able to close it without issue?"
Jules was about to say yes, but then she had to pause, remembering how Neil had zapped her into doing it. She would have been able to close it on her own without his interference, right? "I... don't know. I guess so." She didn't want to say that she'd had help. Neil would kill her if she sent Wilkes to his door after all this time. "I mean, it was chaotic out there. There was so much going on. I opened it fine, but it hurt. The other times... those were on accident. I didn't mean to do it, either time." She was talking way too much, aware that her explanation would bring only more questions and Jules didn't want to get backed into a corner about Witcham Road. She wouldn't tell them Neil or Nic's name... she didn't want to talk about what she'd done. Jules knew she couldn't, or she would think about Jasper, and that would just send her spinning.
"Ethan... he's your key, Jules. With him, you can open, control and close any doorway you want. We have reason to believe there are so many more out there than just what you've experienced. Point Pleasant..." Mr. Wilkes trailed off as he tried to think of a proper explanation. "This town has something special. Things we can't even imagine are drawn to it. I always found it to be a doorway itself into something bigger, something more extraordinary." He had to bite down on the urge to tell her that she and his nephew would be the ones to reveal every secret Point Pleasant had. He didn't want to scare her. He needed to let Ethan do his job, and earn her trust. Jules would need time, and this was a process. But gods help him, it was difficult not to take care of Margaret Cooper right then and there and drag Jules off to the facility.
Jules looked at her mom, who was sitting back in her chair, wine in hand, watching Wilkes with extreme interest. Exhaling softly, Jules shifted in her chair, still a bundled mess of confusion. Everything she knew about AIR was bad. At least from what she gathered from Jane and Neil. Wilkes wasn’t kidnapping her, though. He was being… nice. Answering her questions. Her confusion only intensified. She focused on Ethan instead. "So... you've just been... I mean, you can't do anything without me? Your hands just hurt and that's it? How long have you been feeling it?"
“I think the first time it was really bad was right after New Year’s,” Ethan said and he hoped that lined up with what she’d experienced herself. It had startled him so bad that he’d dropped the plate he’d been carrying, spilling bacon and eggs all over the floor. That was a detail he’d prefer to keep to himself, at least in front of his uncle. “I can’t open a doorway, but sometimes I think I can feel one. But I don’t know for sure,” he added quickly. “It could be anything. It’s like a shiver that runs up my spine for no reason. My mom used to say someone was walking over my grave when I got it.” But besides that, no, he couldn’t do much without her, something he didn’t want to highlight, as it felt like a weakness, an inadequacy he could never overcome.
That was when she'd had her car accident. Jules wanted to ask him more, but she could feel her mom's gaze on her. And Wilkes's. It was bizarre to be talking about this out loud, with her mother present. Even more bizarre was her mom wasn't interrupting or acting shocked or upset. Maybe Wilkes had told her everything already. Or... maybe she already knew this would happen. There was so much about her dad, and her parents' marriage that she didn't know.
"I don't know what you want from me though," Jules said finally, resisting the urge to ask Ethan more questions. "I know what you do to kids. What you've done. I'm not going to be a part of that."
Wilkes's polite smile faded, his brows furrowed together. "What do you mean?"
"You kidnap kids," Jules said bluntly, finally finding her footing in all of this mess. Her mother set her wine glass down and reached for Jules's arm, but Wilkes waved her off.
"Please, let her finish," Wilkes told Margaret. He gestured to Jules. "Is that what you've been told?"
Jules folded her arms across her chest. "You kidnap kids, you experiment on them, torture them until... some ability is explodes out of them. Then--"
"Then what?" His voice was far too calm and controlled for Jules's liking. He should be stammering, red faced and ashamed. But he looked concerned.
"Then... I don't know. I don't know what you do. But I know some of them escaped, in that fire." Jules's throat hurt and she spared a glanced at Ethan before refocusing on Wilkes. Did his nephew know all the terrible things his family had done?
Wilkes sighed and folded his hands on the table in front of him, his attention zeroed in on her. Out of nowhere the two women appeared again to pluck the salad plates away, despite no one really eating anything. The smell of food made her stomach ache for sustenance but there was no way she could sit there and eat while having this conversation. Hey, so you torture kids! And this chicken is really fucking good.
"Jules, we don't kidnap children. Their parents? They're the ones who bring them to us. They recognize some... oddities in their sons or daughters and we're here to help them. We're a research institute, after all. Only, instead of cancer, or the flu, we study anomalies. Gifted children. I'm not sure what torturous experiments you were told about, but our tests are safe and as painless as we can make them." Wilkes's smile was back, though Jules recognized it as harboring some pity for her. Pity for being so obviously wrong, or misinformed. "Once we're able to diagnose their child, they're returned to their families, unless... unless, there is the unfortunate matter of their family no longer wanting them. Sadly, it happens. The family may be scared, or unable to care for their child. In that case, we relocate them where we can. As for the fire... yes, several patients escaped that day. And I lost my father in the blaze, just like you." Wilkes reached over to touch Ethan's shoulder. "As did Ethan. My brother in law, his father, worked for my father as well. It was a horrible incident, Jules. Tragic. And I imagine whoever had told you these fallacies, whoever told you about being kidnapped, and escaping in a fire, also failed to mention that it was the children who purposely set the building on fire. They killed your father, along with his colleagues."
That was a lot to process and Jules could only sit there and stare at Wilkes, looking for any sign that he might be lying. He looked so calm though. And he had his explanation ready and everything, even though he couldn't possibly have known Jules would know about AIR, and the fire. Right? Jules struggled to think of a counterargument, trying to remember if Neil or Jane had mentioned anything else. But that was all they had said. They knew Jules's dad died in the fire... maybe that was why they kept that part to themselves. They had started the fire... they had killed all of those people. On purpose?
She felt sick and Jules pushed back from the table. "I'm not really hungry anymore. I need some air."
Wilkes nodded, his eyes full of understanding. "Ethan, why don't you take her out back to the gardens. Let her breathe a bit. We can wait."
Ethan knew that not everyone believed in AIR’s purpose, but he’d never been witness to the sort of accusations that Jules threw at them. He stared at her in shock, his eyes darting between her and his uncle as he reigned his emotions back in. Someone had spoken to her first, someone with warped ideas about what AIR did and how they did it, which was going to make it worlds harder to get her on their side. He wondered if it was someone who started the fire and had to force himself not to go there. He could blow this completely if he lost his temper. He just had to keep in mind that she didn’t know better, that he could help her see that wasn’t who they were. His father would have never kidnapped kids and tortured them, and he certainly wouldn’t have tortured his own son. He’d visited AIR hundreds of times over the course of his life and never had he been subjected to anything more painful than a couple blood tests.
“Of course,” Ethan said, pushing back from the table as well. He could probably do with a bit of fresh air himself. While he’d known the conversation could be heavy, it had taken a turn he hadn’t expected and he needed to recenter himself. Ethan knew she probably wanted some time alone, but maybe talking to her could help. He let the way out of the dining room, through the living room, and to the back door where someone was there waiting for them with their coats. Ethan took his and slipped it on, then handed Jules hers, waiting until she had it on before opening the door for her. It was getting warmer as spring approached, but the nights could still be chilly.
It was a lot to take in. She had more questions, more things she needed explained. But right at that moment she needed to be away from her mom, and Mr. Wilkes and... the entire situation. She wasn't even sure she wanted Ethan there, he was still a stranger after all and she didn't trust him anymore than she trusted his uncle, but they still shared something in common and she was curious about it.
It wasn't until they were outside that she came even remotely close to relaxing. Folding her arms around herself again, she immediately leaned back against a low stone wall until her butt was perched on the edge. The stone was cold, but she needed the something to keep her upright. Even in the dark she could tell these gardens were probably really pretty in the spring. But tonight it just looked empty and dark and gray.
"This is all a lot," Jules said finally. "I wasn't really expecting any of this. I've been dealing with this for... a long time and now I feel like... I don't know what I feel like. Aren't you weirded out?"
Even though he had a hundred questions for her, Ethan let Jules have her space. It was a lot to take in, but he hoped that she might come around and at least listen to what he had to say. There was so much they could learn from each other if she’d give AIR a chance, but that was going to be harder than he’d expected. “Kind of,” he answered. “But more by the suggestion that my family’s been kidnapping and torturing kids than what we can do. I’ve known pretty much my whole life, so…” He shrugged and took a step closer to her. “I think it’s exciting, but I’ve never actually experienced it. I kinda get the impression it wasn’t a very positive experience for you.”
"I mean... that's what I was told," she muttered, looking down as she scuffed her shoe against the ground. Had Jane lied about it? Did they downplay everything because they knew her dad had worked for the facility? It was confusing and it took every amount of willpower she had not to reach out to Neil in her mind and blast him with questions. She was already on information overload. With a soft sigh, Jules brought her gaze back to Ethan's face. It was exciting, but in a way that held a lot of trepidation for her. She didn't know him and now what? They were tied together somehow through this awful ability? "It's painful when it happens," Jules explained. "I usually puke afterward, which also sucks and is super gross. And every time... it's nothing good. Those places are disgusting and scary. If there are nicer places that don't harbor weird, deadly monsters, I haven't found it yet. Then again, I wouldn't know how to find them even if I wanted to. I've only been able to do it once on demand and I think that was... all part of some bizarre plan I had no control over." She drew her arms away from her chest and curled her fingers in against her palms again. "I can feel something now, but it doesn't hurt. I'm guessing yours are doing the same thing?"
Ethan wanted to know who told her, but pressing the issue would put the focus on the lies, rather than the truth. They could always come back to it later, when she was a little less weary of them, especially since he couldn't really prove it here and now. All he had was his word and she needed to trust him for that to be of any worth. It was a lot easier to connect on the thing they had in common and Ethan drew his hands out of his pockets, glancing down at them as if he'd see some visual representation of what he felt. "It's like they're buzzing," he said. "It's doesn't hurt. Not like it did before. They would burn, and then there'd be this wave of dizziness that'd knock me on my ass if I wasn't prepared for it. Like I was being pulled somewhere else..." Ethan rubbed his hands together, but that did nothing to dissipate the feeling. "I don't want to open doors that will let monsters into our world... But I am curious about the others. And I think we could help you, if you'd let us. If nothing else, maybe we could find a way to stop it from happening when you don't want it to. Or at least make it so you don't throw up."
Jules hadn't had any idea that there was someone else out there experiencing what was happening to her. There was just so much bullshit going on it was a shock that she hadn't gone completely crazy by now. The dreams and the fog. Her stepdad, getting pregnant and all of that... Jasper. If he was there, she could talk to him about it. He would make her feel better. Or... not. He had broken up with her before all of the shit hit the fan. It was like her life had been tossed into a blender and she was feeling completely lost. But maybe... if they could help her stop it, then that would be one last thing to fuck her up. Obviously it wouldn't be that simple. Jules could already tell that Ethan's uncle wanted to know more, and probably wanted to run tests and all that. And Ethan was curious too, she could see it in the way he was looking at her. Maybe if they saw all of the horrible shit she had seen, they would do everything they could to make sure it never happened again. Maybe Ethan was some kind of weirdo key and he could lock shit up and they would never have to deal with it again.
Jules pushed away from the low stone wall she was perched against. Since she wasn't wearing gloves, she simply reached out one hand to him. "Since it seems like our hands are desperate to touch, we might as well do it and see if something happens. At least before we start getting poked and prodded by other people."
Ethan raised a brow, surprised by the offer, but too intrigued to turn it down. He knew his uncle would have preferred to be there, should something happen, but he could always relay it all back to him. “I think it’s more questions and answers than poking and prodding,” he said as he strolled over. “Nobody wants to hurt you.” As Ethan took her hand, a wave of electricity rolled through him, making him shiver. It was like a jolt of caffeine and it felt like every hair on his body stood on end. “Well, shit,” he laughed, surprised by the reaction. He didn’t know if that was just a one time thing or not, but it was definitely unexpected.
Unlike Ethan, Jules didn't want his uncle out here to see what could happen, or her mom. She already felt like a freak, some alien thing meant to be examined and poked at. Maybe nobody wanted to hurt her, but that didn't mean they wouldn't. They could deny torturing kids, but how did she know for sure they were telling the truth? But here, she felt like she could handle herself, and Ethan. He couldn't be much older than she was, after all. Her own skin seemed to thrum as soon as their hands touched. It certainly felt like electricity, but not the kind Neil had shocked her with on Witcham Road. It was a strange feeling, though not entirely bad. And then it felt like she understood what Wilkes meant by calling Ethan the key to whatever it was she could do. Deep down, she knew that next time she opened a doorway, if she ever did, it would be painless. Easy, even, if Ethan was there helping her. "Weird," Jules breathed, reluctantly taking her hand from his, as she didn't want to accidentally open some creepy doorway by touching. "I definitely felt that. Why haven't I seen you before? You don't live in Point Pleasant?"
While he was touching Jules, Ethan could feel the world around him snap into focus and he was sure that, if he started looking, he could track down the some of the doors they’d been so desperate to find. He had no idea how close or far away they were, just that they were out there, waiting to be opened. Then she let go of his hand and the feeling faded. “No, I grew up in Westbridge,” Ethan smiled. “But I’ve come down to Point Pleasant for some of the away games and the festivals you guys have. Seems like there’s always something going on down at the marina.” He’d been to Point Pleasant enough to be familiar with the layout of the town, but he’d never spent a significant amount of time there. Now he wondered if they’d crossed paths before and he just hadn’t realized it.
While the sensation had been strange and intriguing, Jules still didn't know what to think about any of this. She had no idea what it meant, or how it worked, or what Ethan's uncle would want them to do. Did she even have a say in it? Should she tell Jane and Neil? No... because if it was true that they started the fire, then they helped kill her dad. She just needed to get her head on straight again and figure out the truth. Jules slid her hands into her coat pockets to resist grabbing Ethan's hand again to see if the bizarre connection was a permanent thing. "Westbridge... we destroyed your football team this year," Jules said with a faint smile. The summer and fall festivals were some of her favorite things about Point Pleasant, but it was so strange to think about it now. How could she enjoy anything anymore? Jules's smile faded. "I guess our dads probably knew each other... I thought the fire had been an accident."
“We’d ‘ve won if I was still here,” Ethan smiled. Now that he was past it, he could see that high school football was just a way to pass the time, but when he’d been in the thick of it it had been everything. Now it was just this one little detail about him, rather than a defining factor. Thinking about his father made his smile fade as well, though he didn’t remember him well enough to miss him. He’d been so young when the fire started that it had all been relayed to him when he was older. “It’s on record as an accident, but… they say some of the kids started it, when they broke out. So many people died. My dad, too. They had to have worked together, but all the records were lost. My uncle only knew about me because he’s my uncle. We knew you were out there somewhere, but he didn’t even know if you were a guy or a girl.”
The trash talk amused her, but only for a moment. It was just a reminder that she wanted to be normal. Watching football games and cheering and wondering whose party to go to after the game was over. If opening some doorways into hellish dimensions was possible, why wasn't time travel? She would go back and appreciate her totally normal life more than she had. This wasn't how her senior year was supposed to go. Exhaling slowly, Jules thought about Neil and Jane. Were there others in town who had been part of the fire? What would Wilkes do if she gave him their names? The idea didn't sit well in her stomach and she hoped Ethan wouldn't ask her, because at this point in time, she had no plans on revealing anything more than what she already had. "I didn't even know my dad worked there until recently. I mean, I knew he worked for a research facility, but not... what kind it was. My mom never really talked about it. So, what... your dad and my dad experimented on us? Is that why we can do whatever it is we can do? That's kind of fucked up, if you think about it."
“I dunno. I didn’t really see it that way,” Ethan frowned. “I always saw it as giving us special abilities, something that could possibility change the world. What if we could open a door to a world that had life saving chemicals or plants? What if we could cure cancer? I know that’s best case scenario, but the possibilities are endless. I don’t really remember my dad, but it’s hard to imagine he used me as a science experiment. It always seemed more like… like a gift.” Except it had seemed like he was a dud, up until recently. Ethan didn’t know exactly what they did to them as babies, but he knew they wouldn’t have been able to actually do anything until they were older. There was an age range in which people usually displayed their abilities, somewhere between six and adolescence. If it didn’t kick in by the time they were eighteen, there probably wasn’t anything at all. Except in Ethan and Jules’s case, which was special. They’d never been together, so they’d never had the chance to really experiment with their abilities.
"It's easy for you to think that way because you grew up knowing about all of this." She gestured to the house, even though she knew that wasn't exactly where everything went down. But Wilkes seemed to be in charge of it now. "For me, it just happened one day. I wasn't expecting it and it was terrifying. All I've seen are horrible things." And in a way, she'd done horrible things too. People were gone now, because of her. Maybe she hadn't had a choice, but that didn't lessen the guilt at all. She had probably traumatized Bash’s sister and Jules was pretty sure Greg was actively avoiding her too. She felt like a pariah, even if the majority of the people in her life had no clue what was going on. So she was silent, exhaling softly as she studied Ethan. She wanted to cling to the idea that someone else out there understood. And he had a different point of view of this entire thing which gave her pause and maybe a teeny, tiny flicker of hope. Maybe they could help her. Make it stop, or at least help her control it. What if there were better places out there? Maybe it wasn't all hell dimensions. So she straightened, folding her arms across her chest again. "I want you to see what I can do and I want to see how you fit into it all, but not in front of your uncle, or any like, scientists or anything like that. You can't even tell him. Not for the first time, at least. If you agree to that, then maybe I'll do whatever it is you guys want me to do."
Ethan didn’t know what it would have been like if he’d managed to open a portal on his own. It might have been exciting. It might have been terrifying. Probably a bit of both, even knowing what he knew. To be in her shoes, having no knowledge of what she could do, he imagined it would have been a horrible experience, especially with the pain involved. And he knew that made it super weird for him to say he wanted to know what it was like, because who in their right might would want to experience something like that? But he did. He’d been waiting for so long that he hoped that maybe, eventually, she’d be willing to try again, this time with him. Ethan didn’t expect her to offer, certainly not so soon. “We can do that,” he said before thinking it completely through and it took a second for his brain to catch up. “He won’t like it, but… he doesn’t have to know. Except… you know I’ve never actually done this before, right? I definitely want to. I just want to make sure you know that, if they’re not there and shit hits the fan… I’m not actually skilled in any form of self defense or anything like that.”
Jules didn't expect to offer this either, especially since she had told Caius D'Onofrio no when he had asked her to. But this was different, wasn't it? If Ethan was who he claimed to be, then maybe it would be something else, something better. Maybe he would control it for her. Maybe if they'd had Ethan when all the shit hit the fan, people wouldn't have been hurt or had to be locked away in some horrible hell dimension. Maybe Ethan could have kept those fog creatures in. The thought stole Jules's breath for a moment. There were so many maybes and what ifs that it was starting to physically pain her. If Ethan and his uncle were lying to her, well, then she could just push one or both into their own doorway of death and let them deal with it. "I know the potential consequences," Jules said, not sounding at all bothered by it, even if her pulse had quickened. She thought about Nic and Neil, and even Carson. They had their own form of self-defense. Carson had saved her life with his. Maybe Ethan was her own version of self-defense and he just didn't know it yet. "But if I'm going to show you, I'm going to show you without an audience of people I don't know, or trust. I'm not saying I know or trust you, but..." She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers slightly. "This means something. If you can drive to Point Pleasant one night this week without your uncle knowing about it... we'll find out what we can do together."
“He doesn’t keep me on a leash. I can go where I want,” Ethan said, the slightest bit offended at the idea that his uncle was his keeper. Christopher Wilkes wasn’t his father and he didn’t live with him. He had no say in Ethan’s comings or goings, though Ethan doubted he’d take issue with him spending more time with Jules. If he could get Jules to trust him, then eventually she’d trust his uncle as well. It seemed like a good risk to take, one his uncle would have to approve of after the fact. “Just tell me when and I’ll be there,” he agreed, his heart quickening at the thought of it. He was finally going to have a chance to do something extraordinary. Even if it was dangerous, he couldn’t help but be excited about it. “Is there a specific place?” he asked curiously. “I’ve always gotten the sense that you can’t open a door just anywhere, but… that could be my inexperience.” Maybe if they practiced a little, they could do it wherever they wanted.
Jules had no idea what kind of relationship Ethan had with his uncle. For all she knew they kept all of their "subjects" on a leash. Or locked up in a building. Jules was not going to end up like that. It was probably stupid to trust someone she had just met with witnessing what she could do, but if he was supposed to be a part of it, then she would do it and go from there. Maybe there was more to it than what she had already seen and done. "Friday night? You can give me your number and I'll text you an address. If there's some specific place that it has to happen, then I'm pretty lucky at finding them, because so far it's happened on a road leading to my house, at my school, and in the woods. I don't think we have to be anywhere specific, but we definitely need to be somewhere away from other people, just in case." Jules paused, thought about it, and then continued. "Maybe those spontaneous doorways weren't spontaneous. Maybe I was just in the right spot and it triggered it? I honestly don't know. I don't want to guess either. I just want to try it and see if anything happens with you." She waved at his hands. "Then we'll just figure out, okay?"
“Okay, I’m in. We’ll figure it out together,” Ethan said with a confidence he didn’t completely feel, but this was his chance and he had to take it. They could figure out the when and where on Friday, though it sounded like Jules already had somewhere specific in mind. He assumed they weren’t going to try and open a portal in her house or in the school. “You want to go back in and finish dinner? I’m pretty sure they’re waiting for us. I was going to give you my number anyways, so you could call or text if you had any questions.” Wilkes was going to ask what they talked about, he knew that for sure, but Ethan thought he could leave off the part about them making plans on their own. It was a little bit reckless, but it couldn’t be too bad. Jules had already done it several times on her own and with him there it should be more stable. He didn’t know for sure, but it was just a feeling he got from being with her. They could do this, so long as they did it together.
Although she still felt as lost now as she had when her hands had first begun to hurt, Jules felt somewhat better now, knowing there would be someone who could help her figure things out. Rationally she knew that she ought to just put this all in the hands of Ethan's uncle, since he was the adult and apparently ran this facility, but Jules was pretty much over trusting adults. Well, except Jasper's dad, but Mr. Lucas couldn't help Jules with this problem. Once she and Ethan tried this out together, Jules would let Mr. Wilkes do whatever he needed to do. Maybe. That was all depending on whether or not they could try to open a doorway without destroying the town. Jules took a deep breath to settle herself and then she nodded. "Yeah, we can go back in. My mom is probably spying on us from the window anyway."
“If she is, my uncle’s beside her,” Ethan smiled, even if he doubted that was the case. His uncle would be all good manners while the Coopers were there and would grill him about their conversation after they left. But he wanted Jules to feel better about needing to step outside for a bit, so the fib didn’t hurt. It was perfectly normal, considering everything. Now that they had plans to meet up again, Ethan felt more settled himself, knowing that sometime in the future he was going to finally have a chance to use his powers. His hands still felt tingley, but it was more subtle now, far easier to ignore. He wondered if it would fade now that he’d found Jules, or if it would always be this way, eventually becoming something so familiar that he didn’t notice at all.
It was almost instinctive how Jules wanted to immediately text Jasper after all of this. And then, of course, there was the sharp, painful reminder that he was gone. And even if he hadn't been, he had broken up with her. Though Jules knew he hadn't been himself when that happened. It hurt to think about, even now, and she didn't think that feeling was ever going to subside. Jules fell into step beside Ethan to walk back inside. She could be polite and cooperate tonight, but that didn't mean she had to do what they told her later. Her choices depended on Ethan now, and if she could eventually trust him. Friday night would be the first step. After that? Who knew. Only time would tell.