Kat Lucas (hell_kat) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-07-25 22:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, brody, brody x kat, kat |
Who: Kat and Brody
Where: In dreams, to start
When: Late night, Monday, July 2
Status: Incomplete
Kat laughed softly as she stepped out of the bar, the cool night air sending a chill up her spine. Her hands rubbed over her arms in an attempt to chase away the goosebumps. She wasn’t dressed for the weather, not in a sleeveless shirt without even a light jacket. Her steps swayed slightly as she walked down the sidewalk, clunky sandals as she headed towards her car. Kat reached into her pocket for her car keys, finding them empty. She stopped, digging in her other pocket, but they weren’t there either. Had she left them at the bar? Where was her purse? She frowned, then turned around to head back towards the bar, her breath catching in her chest as someone else walked out the door and onto the sidewalk.
She was far enough away that she couldn’t make anything out, the figure nothing but a shadow, and yet it felt wrong. She couldn’t bring herself to take a step forward, to return to where she’d come from and find her keys. Only now did she realize there were no other sounds on the street, no other people in sight. Kat swallowed the lump in her throat and took a slow step backwards–and with that step, the figure slowly set a bowler hat upon his head and turned towards her. Though the light hadn’t changed, she could suddenly see him grinning back at her in delight.
For a heartbeat, Kat did nothing, struck by strangling fear. Then the Dark Man took a step forward and she took off in the opposite direction, running as fast as her feet would take her. It was just like before, except this time she didn’t have her car keys–didn’t even know where her car was. There was an empty space where it had been parked in the past, sending Kat into a panic. Could she outrun the Dark Man? She looked over her shoulder, only to find he’d gotten closer, somehow closing the distance with his long, lazy strides.
Kat darted down an alleyway, hoping for an escape, but it soon became clear that was a mistake. As she darted around trash cans, they slowly became trees. Drainpipes became vines. Liter turned to leaves and suddenly she was running through a forest, everything familiar to her left behind. Limbs scraped her arms as she pushed her way through the underbrush, tearing at her hair and clothes, but she couldn’t stop. Another glance back confirmed the Dark Man was still there, closer than ever before. Her summer sandals, which often seemed so practical, slowed her pace on the forest floor and one misplaced step had her tipping, tumbling down an embankment she hadn’t even noticed seconds before.
She hit the bottom with a thud, her whole body rife with pain. Her cheek stunk from where she’d struck a rock, but she didn’t have time to worry about it, not with the Dark Man slowly striding down the slope. Kat scurried back on her hands, then turned, spotting a large drainage pipe only a few feet away. She scampered into it, moving as fast as she could, only looking back once to see the Dark Man peering in from the lit end.
Kat crawled forward, water soaking her jeans, burning the scrapes on her hands. As dark as it was, there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and even if there wasn’t, the Dark Man behind her was motivation enough to keep going. Slowly the space around her began to grow larger. The concrete under her hands turned to mud, broken up by a pattern of wooden slats. Eventually she was able to crouch, then run, her heart still pounding in fear. Though she couldn’t see the Dark Man behind her, the space still felt wrong, the danger still close. The walls grew farther and farther apart, the ceiling higher, the light closer. It wasn’t until Kat stepped out of it and turned around that she understood where she was.
Cooperdale Tunnel stared back at her, it’s mouth open in a scream. For all the rumors she’d ever heard about the place, she’d never actually been there, yet she was sure this was it. Looking down, she could see the tracks, her hands still splintered from crawling over the wooden slats. Kat sighed, turned away from the tunnel, and screamed as the Dark Man’s long jagged fingers wrapped around her throat.
She jolted away so violently she fell out of bed, knocking the lamp from the nightstand in the process. Her sheets followed her, tangled up in her legs as she tried to scamper away, still screaming. Her throat burned and when she reached to grasp it, her fingers came away wet with blood. Kat grabbed her phone off the nightstand as she wedged herself in the corner, simultaneously looking for a weapon as she tried to figure out who to call. Which of her brothers did she want to bother in the middle of the night? The sour newlywed? The happily engaged? The comfortably cohabitant? She hadn’t come home to be their problem.
She hit call on Brody’s number before she could think better of it. He was the only one she’d ever spoken to about the Dark Man. She might sound crazy, but if she going to piss someone off, it might as well be him. It wasn’t like she could damage their relationship further.
Brody was sleeping when his phone began to buzz on his nightstand, his dreams free of bowler hats and blood. It took him a few moments to wake, his eyes squinting against the dark to stare at his phone before he reached out to pick it up. The screen light was blinding so he quickly adjusted it before noting that it was Kat who was calling. At this hour?
Frowning, Brody answered and brought the phone up to his ear. "Yeah?" he asked sleepily, wondering what on earth she could want. Their relationship had remained strictly professional so unless she was drunk dialing him. Brody couldn't imagine what could be going on on her end that she would resort to calling him.
It wasn’t until Brody spoke that Kat truly understood what she’d done and she waited so long to respond that she expected him to hang up in the wait time. “I just saw the Dark Man,” Kat whispered into the phone, afraid that if she said it too loud, he might hear her from wherever he’d disappeared to. Even with the light on, she didn’t feel safe. She still wanted a weapon, but doubted even a gun would protect her from him. Which made her wonder why she was calling Brody, of all people. He couldn’t possibly save her. Maybe he just felt more dispensable than the rest.
Brody blinked and pushed himself up on one elbow, confusion settling into his features. "What? What do... where was he?" They had just talked about the Dark Man at the carnival. Had Kat spooked herself? Was she seeing things? Brody wasn't sure but he found himself starting to climb out of bed anyway. She might need help, or a ride or... something. It might not be the Dark Man at all, but some creeper stalking around her house. A million different explanations went through his mind, but the only thing he was sure of was that she probably needed help.
“He was—I was sleeping,” Kat said, an edge of hysteria to her voice that she couldn’t quite contain. “It was a dream, but I’m fucking bleeding.” Something had done this to her and if it wasn’t the dark man, then it was something or someone else. Were they still in the house? Her eyes frantically searched the room, looking for some evidence of an intruder, but the only signs that someone had been there were those on her skin. “Something attacked me. I swear I’m not crazy,” she added, since she felt like it needed to be said. If she’d been the one receiving this kind of a call in the middle of the night, she would have probably thought it herself, that she was freaking out over a bad dream. But even the worst nightmares didn’t make you bleed and Kat didn’t think she could have done this to herself if she tried.
Brody wasn't about to accuse her of being crazy, but he did wonder if she'd just had a nightmare and hurt herself in the process. Or... maybe she was having her period and was disoriented? Brody knew better than to suggest that though. Kat was already freaking out, he didn't need her raging at him. "How bad are you bleeding?" he asked, his phone stuck between his shoulder and ear as he worked on a pair of jogging pants. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
“I dunno. I dunno,” Kat said, then took a deep breath and pulled herself to her feet. She needed to assess her condition and she couldn’t do that curled up in a corner of her room. “I’m gonna… lock my bedroom door, then go check.” It wouldn’t really make her feel safe, but it was better than its current state, which was open to the darkness beyond her bedroom. Anything could be out there. Anyone. Setting her lamp back on the nightstand, Kat hurried to the bedroom door and locked it tight, listening to make sure there were no other sounds before stepping into her bathroom. She turned on the light and flinched, the sight of her more frightening than the pain. The Dark Man’s fingers had cut into her skin and the area around it was already starting to bruise, but she wasn’t bleeding profusely. It was more like a slow trickle that didn’t want to stop. “I don’t think it’s deep enough to need stitches,” she said into the phone, her voice continuing to shake. “But it’s… kinda gruesome looking.”
Brody was no doctor, but he supposed he could do the right thing and check things out to make sure Kat was really okay. If she really saw this guy, this thing, then she could still be in danger. The fact that she called him, of all people, told Brody that Kat was genuinely scared, and that was worrisome. "I'm going to come over," he said, shoving his bare feet into his shoes before he grabbed his keys. "Just to make sure there's no one around your place. Then if you need to go to the doctor, I can take you. I'll text you when I'm there, okay?"
If Kat had been in her right mind, she would’ve realized how ridiculous this all was. The Dark Man had been in her dreams, for fuck’s sake. He wasn’t there now. And even if was, what was Brody going to do about it? Why the fuck had she called him? But there was blood on her neck and dirt on her feet, neither of which had been there when she fell asleep, and she wanted someone else to walk through her house with her just to make sure she was alone. Then she could drink a bottle of wine or two and pass out. It sounded reasonable in the moment. She nodded in response to his question, then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Okay,” she said, and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’ll text you the address.”
Brody hung up, not entirely sure what he would be able to do if someone was in her house either. But he could do something. For a moment he thought about calling the cops to meet him there, but he knew whatever he told them would sound crazy. And Kat would probably be pissed too. She had called him after all. If she had wanted the police, she would have called 911. When he arrived at her place, Brody was feeling a bit apprehensive but he walked up to the door and rang the bell, hoping Kat would answer and he wouldn't have to break in and find her bloodied body somewhere.
Kat’s house wasn’t big. It wasn’t even full of furniture, even months after leaving that bastard. But it felt immensely huge when shadows lurked in every corner. There seemed to be a hundred places that the Dark Man could be hiding in each room. Even in her own, she stayed a good distance away from the bed, afraid if she actually peered beneath it she’d find the monster. When she heard a car pull up in front of the house, Kat realized she’d have to leave her room to answer the door. Too freaked out to think about how she looked, she hurried to the door in her t-shirt and sleep shorts, opening it shortly after he rang the bell. “Come in, come in,” she said, pulling him inside before letting him go to turn on all the lights.
Brody was more worried about Kat's state of mind more than how she looked. He was aware he probably still had bed head, but it wasn't like this was some kind of date where they both needed to worry about appearances. He immediately looked around the space, searching for anything out of the ordinary. His heart was beating hard in his chest, but once he could tell they were alone, Brody turned to Kat and refocused. "Are you okay? Let me see where you're hurt," he said. He was no nurse but he could do something.
“My neck’s the worst,” Kat said, reaching to touch the injuries, her hand still shaking. The imprint of the hand was bigger than hers, almost fully circling her throat, leaving lacerations where the fingers cut deepest into the skin. She could already feel the bruises forming. It hurt to touch and her hand dropped away at the sting. “That’s the only place it touched me. The rest was just from running. Falling. Things that happened in my sleep.” It made her wonder how much worse it would have been if she was awake, if the Dark Man had gotten hold of her in the real world. She had the feeling she’d be dead.
Brody stepped in closer to get a better look at her neck when she pulled her hand away. He reached up carefully to take hold of her chin and move her head a bit. He could see where her skin was starting to bruise. There were marks where her skin had been broken. "Jesus," he said. His eyes found hers. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Brody could clean the wounds and stuff, but what if that thing had damaged something in her throat? She may not feel it yet because of the shock.
“What the fuck would I tell them?” Kat asked with a little laugh. “I would sound unhinged, and they’d assume there’s a man at home beating the shit out of me. They don’t need more fuel than they already have.” She was a Lucas, for fuck’s sake. Her mom had been sporting bruises for years. Kat knew they’d jump to the conclusion that she’d gone and found her a man like her father, her greatest nightmare come true. She could handle a good bit of gossip, but that was something she’d do anything to avoid. Yet, despite her complaints, it hurt to swallow. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked, her eyes finding Brody’s. “It feels bad.”
"Kat, everyone in this town is unhinged," Brody pointed out. "Some just hide it better than others." But she was right. Some doctors may think she was just in an abusive relationship. But others? They might believe her. Brody couldn't force her to go to the hospital though. He sighed and eyed her throat again before grimacing. "Yeah, it's pretty bad. You're already bruising. Do you have pain killers? I can get you some. Maybe some ice... though I don't know how much that'll help. My mom's the nurse, not me." He gave her a wan smile, trying to cut through some of the tension. "I don't think you need stitches, but... I can get stuff to clean it up a bit?"
“I—I can take care of it,” Kat said, pulling back slightly. He was right; he wasn’t a nurse, and she hadn’t called him over to tend to her wounds. She had pain killers, and ice, and was fully capable of wiping up the blood. What she really wanted was to make sure that she was no longer in danger, and if she was, then she didn’t want to face it alone. She was beginning to feel stupid for calling Brody, but he was there, so she might as well make the best of it. “Could you, maybe, walk the house with me? Just to make sure there’s nothing here? There’s probably not, but…shit,” she sighed. “This just really spooked me.” If she hadn’t woken up in her bed, she’d have believed it really happened.
If she wanted to fix up herself on her own, Brody would let her. He was willing to help though and hopefully she understood that. She had called him, after all, instead of her brothers or someone she actually considered a friend. He might have asked why she called him, but he supposed it was because he knew about the Dark Man and he'd believe her. "Yeah, I can walk the house," he said with a nod. "You don't have to come with me if you feel safer right here. I don't think it'll take me that long."
Kat couldn’t explain how her brain had been working in a moment of panic and was glad he didn’t ask. She felt stupid enough as it was asking him to walk her house, looking for a monster. The only thing keeping her from brushing the whole thing off was the pain radiating from her neck, a reminder that the danger had been very real not half an hour ago. “I’ll walk with you,” she said, not wanting to be alone. Nowhere felt safe, but it’d be better once she knew nothing was in the house with her. After a moment’s hesitation, she began to lead the way, turning on lights as she went. She let silence fall upon them as they moved through the living room and kitchen, and by the time they made it to the very empty dining room her hands had finally stopped shaking. “I wish we could write about things like this,” she said quietly. “This makes me want to research him. It. But I know there won’t be much.”
Brody did write about things like this. They just didn't get published in the local paper. "There might be," he said, trying to look in every nook and cranny that he could. "If he was a real person at some point... or is a real person, there could be something about him hidden somewhere. The archives maybe?" He doubted there would be anything online, but towns like Point Pleasant had libraries that liked to keep everything. "There's got to be someone in town who knows who he is. It's just finding that person. Or finding a person who can find that person." He smiled at Kat in the dark, hoping to ease some of her fear. "I can try and do some research if you want. Or we can do it together."
It was hard to imagine that the thing she had seen could ever have been a real person. Even though it wore clothes and had humanoid features, there was something about it that seemed entirely unworldly. It was too tall, it’s fingers too long, it’s teeth too sharp, and its grin… Its grin gave Kat nightmares. What could have happened to a person to turn them into that? She’d never been curious before, but now she was. Maybe in knowing more, she could find a way to get rid of it. “I think I might like that,” she said, giving Brody a tentative smile in return. “I’m tired of feeling in the dark about everything.” She knew some of what went on, but not enough. If she knew more, maybe she could actually prepare herself for what was coming, or even prevent it.
Brody didn't think he was in the dark about everything but he knew there was plenty about this town he still didn't know. And if they could figure out who or what this guy was, maybe they would know how to stop him. Brody glanced around the house. It looked normal but knowing what Kat had recently seen, it held a strange sense of darkness. And he hoped she would be okay. "We'll do that then," he said finally. "Are you going to be okay here by yourself? Do you... I mean, I could sleep on the couch."
It was Brody’s offer that made Kat realize how bizarre a situation this was. Not the nightmare itself—though that now ranked as the most traumatic supernatural event she’d ever experienced—but that Brody of all people was standing in her house in the middle of the night offering to babysit her because she was scared. She wanted to say yes because she didn’t want to be alone, but she’d already asked way too much of him. They weren’t even technically friends. But that he’d offered was… sweet. It left her speechless for a moment, blinking at him like an idiot before she finally answered. “I—I’ll be okay,” she said, offering a wan smile as embarrassment finally began to kick in. “Sorry for dragging you out of bed. I wasn’t really thinking.”
[incomplete]