Who: Jasper and Elodie When: Early evening, Late May Where: Green Street, then to Charlie's Status: Complete
Elodie had been home for a couple of days now. She had woken up in the middle of the high school football field in the middle of the night, not entirely sure of where she was, or who. She had ended up crawling beneath the bleachers and sleeping on the hard ground until the next morning. When she woke, she was still feeling disoriented and confused. Not to mention hungry. So hungry. But she knew her name. Elodie Hunt. She lived on Yellow… no, Green Street. Vague memories of fog were still in her head. Monsters. Someone holding her hand while she slept. She had flashes of being naked and laughing, of watching her mom turn blue.
Despite not having anything in her stomach, Elodie had still rolled over and vomited. It was mostly water, which was weird too since she couldn’t remember the last time she had drunk anything.
When she got to her feet, she started to walk. People passed by when she got to a residential street. Some cars drove by. No one stopped to ask her if she needed help but that was okay because she didn’t want them to.
Elodie walked until she found Green Street and made it to her yard. The house next door - Jasper’s house - had a For Sale sign in front of it. She barely acknowledged it before climbing the steps of her own front porch. The door was locked and had a gray box on it with a keyhole but no key. She rang the doorbell. Knocked. Looked into the windows. The house was dark. No sign of life anywhere. Unsure of what to do, Elodie walked around to the backyard. The sliding door was locked too. Frowning, Elodie pulled off the long-sleeved flannel shirt she’d been wearing over a t-shirt, wrapping it around her hand. She crouched down next to the small window that looked into her basement - her bedroom. She punched at the glass twice, but couldn’t get it to break. Eventually, she laid down on her back and kicked, hearing the glass crunch beneath her heel. That would do.
She reached in to unlock the window, pushing it up to climb inside. The house smelled musty, but she was pretty sure this was real and not some trick of the fog place. The only thing that gave her pause was that her bedroom was empty. Completely empty. Where were her clothes? Her bed? Her cigarettes!? Elodie climbed the stairs and did a quick search of the house. Empty. Empty. Empty. Had her grandma moved? Had she died in the hospital? The kitchen cabinets were empty but for two cans of peaches that had been left behind for one reason or another. Thankfully they had the pull tab on the top and she was able to eat the peaches from the can with her fingers, not caring about the sticky juice that ran down her chin to drip onto her shirt.
It only took a minute or so after scarfing the fruit down that her stomach lurched and she vomited into the sink. The acidity of it burned her throat and Elodie groaned before lumbering into the living room to curl up on the floor, where she fell asleep.
When she woke up again, Elodie had no idea what time it was, only that it was dusk. She didn’t even know what day it was. For a moment, she considered going up to the bathroom to see if the water was still on. Instead, she unlocked the front door and stepped outside before sitting down on the porch steps. Some kids were across the street playing in the yard. She could hear a lawnmower somewhere in the distance. A dog barking. Something made noise above her and Elodie looked up into the front yard tree to see a squirrel staring down at her from a branch before turning to scramble up farther.
Was she really home? Elodie wanted a cigarette. She wanted a drink. Some pot. Something. Water, maybe. She knew she ought to go back inside and drink some, if she could, but she felt rooted to the spot, unable to do much more than stare ahead. In a few minutes, she would go next door and knock. See if Jasper’s dad was still living there, even with the For Sale sign. See if Jasper was home too. If he was even alive. She remembered now that she had woken up one day Over There and he had been gone. She figured he had gone back to the inn, or had gotten eaten by something. Now she wondered if he had just come home like her.
Jasper had been home for a little while now, but he still felt transient somehow, like it was just a stopoff. Maybe it came from sleeping in Charlie’s half-finished basement, picking his clothes out of the boxes and duffle bags his family had packed his stuff in. Maybe that was just how he was going to feel for a while -- out of place. He’d seen Logan a few times, Jules a few times, he’d seen everyone in his family, he’d hugged his dad more in the past week or so than he probably had in his entire life ... but it was hard to internalize that he was home.
Amelia had been fine with giving him back his car, and it was one of the few places Jasper felt completely comfortable, so he’d taken to driving around a lot. Especially now that the weather was nice, cruising with the windows down and his music up -- he hadn’t realized just how much he’d fucking missed music -- made Jasper feel almost normal. He wasn’t, he knew that, but it was okay to pretend once in a while.
Often his aimless drives took him back to Green Street. The house was still for sale, and part of Jasper wanted to ask Gavin if he could just take it off the market and give it to him. That probably wasn’t financially sensible, but it wasn’t selling either, and he wanted his own place. Until it did sell, he guessed he would keep doing drive-bys and looking at it wistfully. Which was what he was in the middle of doing when he spotted someone sitting on the porch next door. Elodie’s porch. Jasper slowed his car down and reached for the volume knob on the stereo to turn it down. It only took him a second to recognize the filthy girl sitting there, and Jasper slammed on the brakes. “Elodie!” he called out the window, already reaching for the door handle.
Elodie heard the car coming but she didn't really focus on it until she heard her name. Her gaze snapped to the car and the face peering out at her. It took a couple of seconds for her brain to recognize that it was Jasper. Jasper in a car. Jasper not looking filthy or dazed and confused. How long had he been back? Had he been in the fog place with her at all? Maybe she had imagined it. Hallucinated. Maybe no one had been there but for her. Elodie's brows drew together in concentration as she studied him. "What are you doing?" she asked, aware that it was a stupid question but she couldn't think of anything else.
He couldn’t tell from her face whether she recognized him or not, but that didn’t seem to matter to him as he pushed his car door open and got out, barely remembering to put the car in park. Jasper left it at the curb and hurried up the front yard toward her. Back when they’d lived in these versions of these two houses, he’d hated her guts, but now Jasper was ridiculously glad to see her alive. “You made it back,” he said, the relief obvious in his tone. He very nearly tugged Elodie up to hug her, but she was still disgusting, and he wasn’t sure yet if she remembered who he was, and he didn’t want to scare her. “It’s Jasper, do you remember me?”
Elodie hadn't realized how much relief she would feel at those words. You made it back. That meant he had been there, right? He knew she had been gone too. Her relief turned to confusion when he asked if she remembered him. "Yeah, of course I remember you." Duh. She had already forgotten waking up on the football field with no memory of who she was. Elodie thumbed towards his old house. "I thought you moved." Then she glanced over her shoulder at her door. "I guess my grandma did too. Or she died. I don't know. It's empty." Her voice cracked and she quickly cleared her throat before turning back to Jasper. "How long have we been gone? You look different."
She said that she remembered him as though she always had, so maybe she hadn’t had the same kind of memory loss that Jasper did. He hadn’t talked to anybody else who’d returned yet, hadn’t even started looking for them, so what did he know? It was irrational, but he instantly felt guilty that he didn’t know what had happened to her grandma. Like it was something he should’ve checked on while he’d been back. Jasper gave a wry smile and rubbed at the back of his head. “I cut my hair off,” he told her. “It was gross. We were gone like, four months. I’ve been back a little over a week. My uh, my dad moved, he’s trying to sell this place.” Jasper nodded at the house next door, then looked her over with a little frown. “Empty like there’s nothing in it at all? Or just empty of people?” She needed a shower and new clothes, but maybe she just didn’t have supplies.
Four months. It felt longer, in her bones. Elodie studied his buzzed hair and brought a hand up to her own. It felt sticky... stiff. When was the last time she had a shower? Probably four months. "There's nothing," she explained, dropping her hand to her lap. "I think maybe she died. I don't know. I should probably find out." And try to figure out where her dad was. Or brother. She had no idea if her grandma's family had come to clean the place out or not, but it wasn't up for sale like Jasper's was. Elodie felt herself start to zone out again, rubbing absently at her shin. Had she killed her mom and grandma? One on purpose, the other... not entirely on purpose. She kept her eyes on the house across the street as she spoke. "How long have you been back? You seem normal."
Jasper’s brow furrowed as he looked at her, unable to miss how she didn’t look back at him. Elodie had always been weird, so he guessed he wouldn’t be surprised if this experience made her weirder. He definitely felt weirder in his own way. He’d already told her how long he’d been back, but he didn’t mind saying it again. “A little over a week. Normal doesn’t mean shit anymore,” he said. To be more on Elodie’s eye level, Jasper crouched down where he was standing in front of the steps, forearms on his knees. “We can find out about your grandma,” he told her quietly. “Meantime, do you wanna clean up? You can come take a shower at our house ... or I can bring you some stuff, if you want to stay here?” He wasn’t sure how attached to the house she was, and he wouldn’t blame her for wanting to stay close to home, even if it was empty.
It startled her when Jasper crouched down in front of her and her eyes were drawn to his face. What did he just say? Normal didn't mean shit anymore? That was true. Elodie had never really known what normal was anyway. "Yeah," she said finally before squinting a bit. "To the shower. Then you can bring me back here if you want." She didn't really have anywhere else to go at the moment but at least she would have a roof over her head for the night. Elodie vaguely remembered Jasper had a sister, so maybe she could have some clean clothes too. "You're not normal anymore," she told Jasper simply, still staring intently into his eyes. "I can see it. You probably feel it too, right?"
It was more about what she wanted than what he wanted ... but Jasper thought maybe he would ask after she’d taken a shower. He didn’t want to leave her alone in this empty house with no food or clothes or any supplies, but he couldn’t exactly invite her to live with him either without asking Charlie. Maybe she would allow it temporarily, until they could figure out Elodie’s guardian situation. Ms. Harris was Elodie’s teacher too, he was pretty sure. One step at a time, though. Her words about him not being normal sent a weird chill down his spine, but Jasper found himself nodding before he had time to really think about it. He didn’t have to think. “Yeah, I feel it,” he murmured. He wasn’t the same. He just wasn’t sure how, yet. “Don’t think any of us are, anymore. But c’mon.” Jasper stood up again and offered Elodie his hand, then quirked a tiny smile. “Bet you could use a smoke, huh?”
It felt good that he knew it. Elodie could feel a weird tension in her spine relax, knowing that she wasn't the only one fucked up from that place. She wouldn't have been able to tell him how he had changed, only that he had. She didn't even know how she had changed. She just felt... different. Elodie studied his hand briefly before reaching out to take it, allowing him to help her to her feet. It was weird, but she remembered how his hand felt from being over there. It had been a tiny bit of physical connection but it had been enough to keep her sane. Elodie definitely remembered that. The mention of a smoke had something shifting in her eyes, something that resembled who she had been before all of the fog. Nicotine cravings. "God, yes, please. I don't think I'm flammable or anything." She followed him to his car, glancing down at her filthy clothes.
Feeling that grime on Elodie’s hand made Jasper's skin crawl on some level -- he never wanted to be that dirty again. It wasn’t just the dirt, it was what kind it was, where it came from. The rot of that place was still clinging to her. He wanted to hug her but didn’t, at the same time. He kept hold of her hand as they turned to walk back to his car, some part of him grateful for the familiarity of touching it too. They’d fallen asleep quite a few times next to each other with their fingers tightly clenched. It was both a good and bad memory. Jasper at least knew his emotions weren’t fucking normal, because he was all over the place, fuck. He chuckled faintly as he let her go to open the passenger side door for her, glad he had worn leather seats that were easy to clean. “We’ll find out,” he murmured, then jogged around to the driver’s side of the car. Jasper climbed in and immediately got his cigarettes out of the console and offered her the pack and his lighter.
Being inside of a car again felt weird, but it was so much better than sitting on her porch, not knowing what to do. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the cigarettes and she took them from Jasper, tugging one out of the pack to slip between her lips. Just the faint smell of tobacco made her want to moan and cry. She lit the cigarette with trembling hands before handing the pack and lighter back to Jasper. After taking a drag, she settled back against her seat and closed her eyes. "Does anyone know about your grandpa?" Elodie remembered what he had told her, just as she remembered what she had told him. Elodie imagined if people knew Jasper had killed his grandpa, he would probably be in jail or something.
Jasper tucked the smokes back into the center console, intending to give the whole pack to her. Gavin bought them by the carton, so it wasn’t like he was hurting for nicotine. He started the car up and put it into gear to drive away from the curb. Elodie’s question wasn’t surprising, but it did send a chill of guilt and revulsion down his spine all over again. Jasper was almost getting used to that feeling, he had it so often now. He kind of hated and appreciated that Elodie remembered at the same time. At least there was someone else who’d done something similar he could talk to. “My uncle who was there,” he said. “My other uncle who helped him clean it up after ... they covered for me. Nobody else in my family knows, but I told Jules when I got back. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but ... I dunno, I needed to.”
That was a lot of people who knew. Uncles and girlfriend. Elodie thought about Cam and wondered if he ditched town or not. He was the only one besides Jasper who knew about her mom... well, duh. He was the one who had strangled her. She was silent as she smoked, trying to work up some kind of devastation or something. It was difficult, mostly because she felt numb all over. Like she hadn't quite yet accepted that she was back home in a world full of consequences and people she didn't like. "I guess I understand that," she muttered. "They must love you if they covered for you like that." And then she decided to let it go. Talking about it made her feel weird, like she had an annoying itch under her skin that she needed to scratch out. If she started scratching now, she wouldn't stop until she was bleeding. Elodie opened her eyes and looked over at Jasper. "You and Jules are okay? After everything that happened?" She didn't sound accusatory or judgmental or anything. Just curious.
He supposed she was right, that his family loved him. Weird how that was comforting and uncomfortable at the same time. Jasper didn’t think he’d given any of them much reason to love him -- aside from Amelia, maybe. Especially his two uncles who had to pick up and bury their father’s corpse because of him. Sure, Caden was kind of a stone wall, so maybe he’d just been acting on criminal instinct and not wanting to invite legal trouble into the family, but Aaron? Aaron was more emotional. Even though he’d acted happy to see Jasper when they’d seen each other, there had been other people all around them, so he wasn’t sure if he could trust that. Or maybe he was just being paranoid and hard on himself. Jasper definitely still felt like he deserved it, no matter how many people told him it wasn’t his fault. He wondered idly if Elodie did too, but he didn’t want to ask her. Not yet. One of his brows quirked at her questions and he let out a huff of air through his nose. “Nothing and nobody’s okay,” he muttered. “But I still love her. So we didn’t ... end anything. She feels incredibly guilty about it all still.”
Elodie felt that horrible clenching in her gut when she thought about what had happened, but then a rather detached voice in the back of her head reminded her that she hadn't strangled her mother to death. That had been Cam. Elodie had just told him to... and laughed. As much as she wished it would, it didn't really help the churning in her stomach so maybe it was better to not think about it at all. Taking a puff from the cigarette, Elodie watched the scenery go by, comforting by the familiarity of it all. No fog. No monsters. No darkness. The urge to remind Jasper that Jules should feel guilty was on the tip of her tongue, but she really wanted that shower, and some real food, so she bit back the words. "You still love her," Elodie said instead before forcing a quick grin and looking over at Jasper. "Guess it's good we didn't fuck then. Though I could make a shirt that says what happens in scary fog-monster-land stays in scary fog-monster-land."
Even though he had forgiven her, Jasper wouldn’t have even argued that Jules should feel guilty. It seemed like a totally normal thing to feel for someone who had been in her position. She’d done what had needed to be done for the greater good, he thought that all of them probably recognized that, but they’d still all suffered greatly, and a few hadn’t survived. It would take time for all of them to work through what had happened, Jules included. “God,” he muttered with a vaguely amused huff, glancing over at Elodie again. “That place could’ve done with some more casinos and neon, huh? Vegas style.” He didn’t comment on not fucking Elodie, but his stomach twisted a bit -- she had tried to fuck with his and Jules’s relationship before, would she do it again? Or did she consider him a friend now? It was hard to tell and impossible to ask. “I wonder if anybody did fuck over there,” he murmured.
"A casino would have been nice." Even a deck of cards, though Elodie was pretty sure they would have disintegrated in her hands as soon as she touched them. The nicotine was helping calm the buzzing nerves in her body and she wondered if Jasper's dad had liquor in the house. That'd be even better. After exhaling another steady stream of smoke, Elodie shrugged. "Maybe. But maybe they were all too old and tired to get naked. I can't remember if I even masturbated. Maybe I did. But like... a dozen people reappearing after months of no sex? That'd be the first thing I'd do... after a shower. And a cigarette. And a couple of drinks. And maybe some sleep." Elodie grinned and brought the cigarette back to her lips. The amusement faded quickly and she rubbed her arm absently.
Maybe he was the strange one, but Jasper was pretty sure he hadn’t jerked off once Over There, in spite of the idle hours that stretched off into eternity. He just hadn’t wanted to, hadn’t felt the urge. Being horny had been gone just like being hungry, and he didn’t know if it had been all the stress and fear or just how disgusting everything was or what. Maybe it was odd that he hadn’t had sex yet since he’d been back either. His brow furrowed a little -- was his libido broken now? That hadn’t occurred to him yet. Fuck. There had just been so much to deal with emotionally and things were still a little unsure with Jules ... there was Logan, but would that just make shit even more complicated? “Well, we can take care of some of those things for you, at least,” he murmured to Elodie, sounding a bit distracted. “I dunno if Ms. Harris will let you drink, but my dad would. He couldn’t wait to hand me a beer.”
It amused her that he still called her Ms. Harris, even though she was living with Jasper's dad. But Elodie didn't care enough to comment on it. "I like your dad," Elodie said simply. He had been nice to her, and carried her into the hospital when she had gotten hurt during the fog. "But even if he won't let me have a drink, as long as I can take a hot shower, I'm okay with that. I feel like someone dunked me into the... what was it called? The bog of eternal stench? From that movie with David Bowie's bulge?" She took another drag from the cigarette, enjoying the way the nicotine relaxed her. "I'm not shaving my head though. I don't think I could pull it off like you do."
For some dumb reason it had been easier to think of Charlie as Charlie when he wasn’t living with her. Jasper hadn’t talked to her much since he’d been there, just sticking close to his family or isolating himself when they weren’t around. His brain hadn’t adjusted yet. It was funny though -- the first thing he thought when Elodie said she liked his dad was ‘me too.’ Some things had definitely changed. “What the fuck,” he murmured with a huffed laugh at the movie reference he didn’t recognize. Then Jasper chuckled some more as he pictured Elodie with a bald head. “No? I think you could pull it off, it would just look punk on you. We could cut it down real short and dye it some funky color.” He turned down his new home street, kind of hoping nobody would be home so they wouldn’t have to answer questions, but he knew better already.
"If I went punk I'd have to buy new clothes and learn how to sneer." Elodie flicked the cigarette butt out the window and leaned back again. She felt so grimy and gross. The fact that she would get to have a shower in a few minutes had sort of cut through all of her dark thoughts. It almost felt like Christmas morning and her present was a shiny shower with hot water. Tugging at a small piece of her hair, Elodie considered. "Maybe I'll cut it. I don't know. We'll see how long it takes me to wash it clean." Her hand fell back to her lap. "Thanks for, like... letting me come with you. And... you know... being cool about shit over there."
Jasper had the thought that Elodie would have to buy new clothes anyway, because her house had been cleaned out, but he stopped himself from saying it out loud. He was hoping Amelia had at least a few things she didn’t mind donating to the girl, especially since he had no idea how long it would be until the rest of her family came for her or whatever. Jasper was pretty sure the adults in his life wouldn’t want to just leave her alone in an empty house. The sincerity of what she said to him kind of caught him off guard, and Jasper glanced over with an arched brow. A tiny smile quirked his lips. “No problem,” he told her casually enough. “Same to you, y’know? About like ... being cool about shit.” That sounded really stupid as it came out of his mouth, and Jasper wet his lips. “You made it less shitty over there.”
"Yeah, well...." Elodie trailed off, because she didn't really know what else to say about it. They had both stayed in each other's company and had kept an eye out for each other, so that meant something. But they were both fundamentally fucked up from the whole experience too, so she really had no idea what to expect anymore. A part of her felt like she was still there and this was all some kind of weird illusion. Shifting a bit in her seat, Elodie turned to stare out the window again. She just wanted a shower. And then either to sleep, or get really high. "Do you have weed?" she asked, not entirely sure if she had already brought up that subject before or not.
‘Yeah, well’ pretty much summed it up. Jasper didn’t have much more to say about it either. He was grateful for Elodie’s company through the worst hell of his life, but it wasn’t exactly an experience they could look back at fondly. Elodie didn’t seem like one to fondly reminisce anyway. Jasper let the silence settle, then cocked an eyebrow at her sudden question. He gave a soft laugh and shook his head. “Not yet,” he said, glancing over at her again. “Logan’s getting some for me, though. Should be stocked up in a day or two.” He definitely planned to share, if Elodie didn’t just skip town or something. He’d gotten high with his best friend already, but Logan hadn’t had enough to give him any at the time. “He smoked me up the other day though, and that first hit was just ...” Jasper kissed the tips of his fingers, then slowed the car down to turn into Charlie’s driveway. Their driveway, he supposed. He put the car in park and looked over at her again. “You ready to get clean?”
Elodie definitely wasn't the type to reminisce fondly. Or even reminisce. Honestly, she would rather just forget everything that had happened over the past six months. She kind of wished she had kept that memory loss. It would have been nice to start over with a blank page in her head. Huffing a small laugh at Jasper, Elodie leaned forward to get a better look at the house in front of her. It was definitely nicer than the one she had just left. She was betting Ms. Harris kept it clean. Teachers were organized, right? "Yeah, definitely ready for that," she murmured before pushing open the door and climbing out. She breathed in the fresh air, feeling completely out of place. "Are you used to this yet?" she asked Jasper. "The sun... all of this?"
Jasper climbed out of the car as well and locked it before he pushed the door shut. Keeping things more secure around him had become a habit already. He often found himself silently walking through the house at night, making sure all the windows and doors were locked and shades drawn. There might not be monsters lurking around to bust in through the windows, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t real danger. Jasper walked around the car to escort Elodie to the porch and into the house. “Not really,” he answered with a little huff. “It’s all super bright and loud and people-y, and it gets to be too much sometimes. But I’ve got places to hide.” He paused at the door. “I’ll fend them all off as much as I can, and get you up to the bathroom. Just try to be nice, I know it’s hard for you.” He smirked at her.
Elodie wrapped her arms around herself and followed Jasper up to the door. "I'm always nice," she pointed out. "Society just has a different definition of nice than I do." Yes, she knew she could be difficult and ornery, but right now, she just wanted to shower and be alone for a while. Alone in a hot shower. With soap and shampoo. Honestly, she was just hoping no one would be home. Or if it was just Ms. Harris, that would be okay. "They might not even recognize me," Elodie added with a grin as she reached up to pull her filthy hair over her face. "Just say you found me in the woods and I followed you home."
She had to have a pretty fucked up version of ‘nice’ to think she always was, so that part made Jasper roll his eyes, but in a good natured way. Giving Elodie shit was just how they communicated as friends ... if that was what they were now. “My gross little stray,” he muttered affectionately as he opened up the door. He’d been a gross stray too. Leading the way inside, Jasper felt kind of good that he could help her out. Charlie was a sweet bleeding heart kind of person, so Jasper didn’t think they’d have any trouble scoring Elodie a spot to sleep and some food so she could recover a bit, and he would even volunteer to clean out the bottom of the tub when she was done showering. It was nice to kind of pay forward the care that Logan had shown him when he’d first gotten back, though he doubted Elodie would want to snuggle with him on this side of the portal. That was okay. Jasper would make sure she got clean and fed and some rest, and they would go from there.