Gavin Lucas (viciouscircle) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-07-26 04:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, gavin, gavin x kat, kat |
Who: Kat and Gavin
Where: Gavin and Charlie’s house
When: Tuesday afternoon, July 3
After the night that she’d had, the last thing Kat wanted was to go to a family gathering, but it was Gavin’s birthday and she knew Charlie had worked hard to pull it all together. It was the kind of thing Kat could’ve easily missed in the past, with some excuse about work or the drive, but not now that she lived in Point Pleasant. And the funny part was, this was the kind of thing she wanted to be here for. This was one of the good reasons to live in Point Pleasant. Just not today.
None of the makeup that she had truly covered the markings on her neck. In fact, it almost seemed to make them look worse, like she was trying to hide them, which she most definitely was. With her hair down and a collared shirt on, she could hide some of it, but there was no mistaking the imprint of a hand wrapped around her throat, the skin broken where the fingers had squeezed the hardest, cutting into her skin. The bruising was a deep pink that would likely be purple by tomorrow. It made all the other injuries she’d sustained seem minor, but the fact that she had any at all was going to be difficult to explain. She was hoping to brush off their questions and if they persisted maybe she’d just leave. She didn’t want to ruin the party. At least she wasn’t the first one there. It made it easier to sneak in and blend into the background, forcing a smile and a little wave to anyone who looked her way. All she had to do was make an appearance, then she could be on her way.
Gavin's injuries were less visible but he had a hard time hiding them from people who actually wanted to hug him so he'd come up with a dumb story about falling down the stairs and reaped some 'getting old' jokes for it. It hurt like a bitch but he didn't let that get in the way of trying to have a nice time, moving around cautiously and trying not to let his brothers make him laugh. At least that was easy, he was pretty good at poker facing and whatever joy this little birthday party was bringing him didn't quite manage to overcome the worry he was feeling. He wondered if he was marked for death along with Roxy and Grady. God only knew who else. Gavin had never paid much attention to his dreams, they were nonsense for the most part but now he wished he could lucid dream or wake himself up on purpose.
He couldn't let the fear consume him non-stop so he let himself be a little distracted by the party that Charlie had worked so hard on putting together. Kat arriving a bit late didn't escape his attention and the way she carried herself... Well, it reminded him of his mother back in the day when things were really bad. Like she was trying to be invisible, dressed in clothes that were too warm for the occasion. His stomach clenched uncomfortably as he tried to think of whether he knew if she was seeing someone. He grabbed some sandwiches and a slice of cake on a plate before slowly making his way over to her, taking a seat by her side and offering the plate to her. "Thanks for coming," he murmured, but he was eyeing her suspiciously, his gaze drawn to the barely concealed bruises on her neck.
It was sad that Kat knew how to hide the bruises instinctively, some part of her brain having picked up on how to do it from her mother, though she didn’t recall ever taking notes. She hated how it made her feel, almost like she was ashamed, though she’d done absolutely nothing wrong. She hadn’t even been dating an asshole this time! And even though she knew her family would probably believe her after everything they’d been through, she didn’t want to bring down this day with her drama. She forced her smile to widen as Gavin approached her and leaned in for a little side hug as he sat down. “I wouldn’t miss it,” she said, ignoring the way his gaze dropped to her neck. Maybe he wouldn’t say anything, though with their history she wouldn’t blame him if he did. “You deserve to be celebrated, plus I didn’t want to disappoint Charlie. I think she was looking forward to it more than anyone else.”
Gavin did get the feeling that people were showing up for Charlie's sake more than his, but that was more than okay, he wanted Charlie to be happy and if she was happy, he was happy. Well, he wasn't too happy right now, not when his baby sister had clearly been hurt and he wasn't really in any shape to go knock out someone's teeth for it. "It's not a big one," he muttered with a faint smile, biting back the reaction to her little hug because small as it was, it still hurt. "I can't imagine what she'll do when I turn forty. Rent the town hall or something." Maybe that was overly optimistic of him, forty was still a few years down the road and Charlie might get sick of him before then - or the Dark Man might tear out his throat long before she had the chance to grow bored. He looked up to make sure none of the others were close by, then looked at Kat again taking in the small details that he could still see. Her hands weren't bruised at all, no broken nails either and it he found it hard to imagine she wouldn't claw the eyes out of someone who treated her like this. "What happened?" he asked quietly with just a small indication of his head to what he meant.
It didn’t have to be a big birthday, in Kat’s opinion. It was nice to find reasons to get together as a family and she would’ve been far more into it if she wasn’t trying to disappear into the wallpaper. Everyone knew they were a mess, but they were a mess that stuck together, and part of that glue should include happy times. They had enough dark ones that there was no need to count, but birthdays they could always use more of. “We’ll invite everyone,” she smiled, thinking of his fortieth birthday. “It’ll be a hell of a party.” The key was hosting it somewhere that they weren’t responsible for the clean up. Charlie had years to plan it. Maybe Kat could even help. She knew it was probably too much to hope that he wouldn’t ask about the bruising, but she still sighed heavily, wishing she had a good cover story. Unfortunately, it looked so obviously like what it was that nothing else fit. “I had a bad dream,” she huffed, then shook her head. “I mean… it’s not what it looks like. I just don’t know how to explain it.”
Gavin would much rather hear that it was some guy, some idiot out there who didn't know better and was about to learn why you didn't fuck with the Lucas family. Gavin might not be in a good shape to teach lessons, but Aaron and Caden were and they wouldn't stand for their little sister getting hurt either. This was so much worse. It wasn't like he could knock the teeth out of the Dark Man's stupid grin and this meant Kat might be marked for death too. That was so much worse than just him and Roxy. Sure, he felt for Roxy and she didn't deserve this but he didn't love her, she wasn't his baby sister. "When did you see him?" he asked slowly, his voice cracking a bit and the crease between his brows getting even deeper than normal.
Kat’s brows drew together in a moment of confusion, unable to comprehend how her brother had even known to ask that question. He’d jumped correctly from one point to another, but the fact that he could do so brought forth questions of her own. “Four years ago. Right before I left,” she said. “It wasn’t why, but it definitely helped me along.” Her boyfriend at the time had thought she was crazy, so she let the story drop and buried it in the back of her mind. She hadn’t spoken of it again until mentioning it to Brody. With this happening so soon afterwards, it felt like she’d somehow conjured him, the Point Pleasant boogyman. “How did you know?” she asked, suddenly scanning her brother for injuries. He looked better off than her, but looks could be deceiving. Had the Dark Man grabbed her anywhere else, Kat would have been able to hide it far better.
That urge to not tell Kat he was hurt too was overwhelming, leftovers from the time where he felt like he had to be invincible to keep his siblings safe. That was a long time ago and he'd left them to fend for themselves far too early when Ollie got pregnant. What a fucking mess. "'Cause I've got fractured ribs after my dream last night," he sighed and despite the heavy subject he managed to drag up a smile for Charlie when their eyes met across the room. She didn't know and he wanted to keep it that way for now. "Told everyone I tripped on the stairs like an old man." He shook his head when Charlie looked away, furrowing his brows again as he looked at Kat. "I wish you hadn't seen him."
“Shit, Gav,” Kat hissed in concern, but caught his glance towards Charlie just in time to plaster a smile on her face. It was something they’d all become skilled at, hiding their pain or emotions, often to protect others as much as themselves. It pained her to realize that Gavin was having to hide this on a day he should be celebrating, but she understood it as well. She’d been doing the same. “Same here,” she said, her mouth turning down in concern. “Does this happen often? I haven’t—I haven’t lived here in a while, and—how long has this been going on? Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?” And how long could they survive if this was a regular thing. Kat didn’t know how it worked, but she was certain that the Dark Man could have killed her had it been anything but a dream, and even then he’d come close.
"The dream shit is a first," Gavin replied. "I didn't know he could do that and nah, there's nothing you can do about ribs but wait for them to heal." If they had punctured something he would be feeling that, he was sure. "I've had worse." He hoped that was something he could keep saying, that his dreams wouldn't leave him in an even worse shape or dead. "How do you fight a dream?" he asked, though it was a rhetorical question in that he didn't think Kat had any more answers than he did. The thought of asking for help again was depressing, he didn't like asking for help in the first place, let alone from witches who'd fucked his family over already.
“I suppose that’s comforting.” Kat sighed, relieved that the dream thing seemed to be new, and hopefully a one off, but still worried about what all this meant. She felt like she could handle things when she was awake, when the world operated as it should, but when she was asleep that was a whole different ball game. “I don’t know,” she said. “I ran, just like I did the last time, but the world kept changing. I was in an alley, then suddenly the forest. I climbed into a drainpipe to get away from him and came out the tunnel. And he was still there, waiting for me.” Just when she felt like she might have gotten away, like she might be safe. It felt like a metaphor for her life as a whole. “I feel…unprepared. Like I’m out of shape.” It was stupid, but she couldn’t help but think she’d be able to handle this better if she never left. “Do you think he could kill us in our sleep?”
Gavin knew very well what she meant by feeling unprepared but he also didn't know how to prepare for something like that. It felt like he'd need to train a muscle he didn't actually have, some third eye bullshit he'd never even believed in. Her question wasn't surprising, it was what everyone who'd had this dream was thinking, she just had the guts to say it out loud. "Yeah, if he can break our bones and bruise us, he can kill us," he muttered. He supposed he could say something comforting like 'if he wanted us dead we'd be dead already' but he didn't know shit and honestly, the thought wasn't comforting either. Being kept around as a toy for a sadistic entity didn't exactly sound like a good time. "Last time I saw him awake, I shot at him. Didn't do shit."
“Then why are we still alive?” Kat asked with a little frown. If the Dark Man could kill them in their sleep, he could get to them whenever he wanted—when they were weak and unprepared, in an environment of his choosing. There’d been an illusion of control when she’d been running from him awake, like she could hop in her car and get away; go home and lock all the doors. She had the feeling it really was just an illusion though. If he could follow her into her dreams, he sure as fuck could follow her into her house. It wasn’t like he needed an invitation to enter. Never before had Kat wished he was a vampire, but at least then she might know the rules. “I know monsters aren’t required to have a game plan, but I feel like—like there’s got to be a reason beyond scaring us for fun.”
"You're asking the wrong guy," Gavin sighed while wishing he had all the answers. Mostly he just wanted to know how to kill this entity that had plagued him for years and now that he knew it was coming after his little sister too, he wanted it dead more than ever. "How badly did he hurt you?" he asked. "And what are you telling everyone else? You're not doing a good job of hiding those bruises." At least she hadn't caked on make-up like their mother had used to, if anything it made it more obvious, more suspicious, but bruising on the neck were hard to wave off as some accident.
“My neck’s the worst. The rest’s all scrapes and bruises from running through the woods. It looks bad, but it’s nothing like fractured ribs,” Kat said, looking him over in concern. It bothered her that there wasn’t more they could do for him, that he just had to take painkillers and let himself heal. If no one knew how bad it was, they were likely to accidentally aggravate the injury, making it last longer. He had to be in pain. “I don’t have a good story for it. I mean, it looks exactly like what it is. I tried makeup, but it just looked worse. The only thing I’ve got on it now is concealer where it cut into my skin.” The blood had scared her more than the bruising, but the cuts hadn’t been as deep as she thought and her choice of clothes hid the worst of it. “I called Brody, of all people. Right after it happened. Not my finest moment.”
Gavin frowned, not at the Brody part but at the cut part and he turned a bit stiffly and pulled at her collar to take a better look. "Well, maybe we'll tell our family the truth," he muttered because there didn't seem to be a whole lot of other options. "And everyone else can mind their fucking business." He vaguely remembered Brody as Kat's high school boyfriend but he hadn't been terribly involved back then, busy taking care of his wife and kid while suppressing a whole lot of his own issues. It didn't seem pressing that Kat had called Brody of all people although maybe Gavin should have been questioning why she didn't feel like she could call her brothers. He wasn't oblivious to the fact she flinched a little when he took a closer look but at least she didn't push him away so he got a better look at the cuts and while they weren't deep, they were disconcerting. "I wish I'd known you'd seen him too," he said quietly.
“At the time, I thought… speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Kat said, her voice hushed. “I just told Brody about him last week. And then he was in my dream. I didn’t want to risk pulling you in.” It was still something she was concerned about, but there was nothing she could do about Gavin, as he already knew. Her biggest concerns were Aaron and Mila, two people who didn’t need an ounce more darkness in their lives, though she’d spare them all if she could. Even Caden and his little dark heart. “I called in to work today, and I can send in my photos and articles tomorrow. No one has to actually see me. I just kind of wish it was winter. This would be a lot easier to hide.” But here she was going to have to field questions and nothing she could think of would suffice. All possible answers would ruin the day. “I can go,” she offered. “We can tell them another time.”
Maybe that was a good idea, make up some excuse and let her sneak out of there before everyone saw the bruising on her neck, but it didn't sit right with Gavin. "You don't have to go," he told her with a little frown though he related to not wanting to afflict this on more people than were already involved. "Tell them to mind their own business if they ask. Have some cake with us." He offered up the plate again since she hadn't accepted anything yet and gave her a sad, crooked smile. "Maybe borrow some pretty neck shawl thing from Charlie before mom gets here." He half wished his injuries were the same as hers and not the kind that had him walking slowly like an old man, he wanted to dart off to the bedroom and find something to hide Kat's neck better but running was not on the schedule for the next couple of weeks.
The right scarf would hide whatever the shirt and her hair had failed to, but Kat hadn’t had anything suitable at home. Maybe Charlie would have something, but she’d have to ask. “Does Charlie know?” Kat asked, raising a brow. She wasn’t close to Charlie like she was Mila. She couldn’t just ask to borrow something of hers without explanation. It could be quick and easy if Charlie knew about Gavin, but she was under the impression that wasn’t the case. “If not, you should tell her. You’re hurt and she deserves to know. But I can— I can probably give her a short version and fill her in on the rest later. She’s lived here long enough to know weird things happen.” Maybe everyone would just accept that something had attacked her in a dream without her having to explain it was the Dark Man. It sounded insane, but it was hard to argue with the evidence and there was no man in her life to even pretend to cover for.
"She doesn't know," Gavin mumbled with just a tinge of guilt. "Not all of it. I don't want her scared." She would never know about the dream if it was up to him but with Kat hurt too it was starting to seem less likely to stay under wraps. "She knows he exists, I got arrested after shooting at him and I told her the truth. I just don't know if I want her knowing he can crawl into my dreams now too." He was never sure how to reconcile his urge to protect Charlie from everything with the urge to treat her like an equal, which included not lying to her. "It might be time to try every stupid remedy in the book. Salt rings, silver, crosses..." He had crosses and he had protective tattoos, it hadn't been enough. "Letting the dogs sleep in bed with us." He huffed with bemusement. They'd need a much bigger bed for that.
“Shit, was this recently?” Kat asked, realizing that she didn’t know exactly how long ago Gavin had seen him. Opening fire on anything was bound to draw a lot of negative attention and she was mildly surprised she hadn’t heard about it. Then again, she’d been gone. “What’d you tell the cops?” She couldn’t imagine that they’d accept the truth, especially since it sounded like he’d started shooting at a person, not a thing. The Dark Man might take human shape, but she knew deep down that he wasn’t human. “You think any of that will work? I could get a dog. Or a cat. And I thought silver was for werewolves.” It sounded so silly to say aloud, but she’d believe in just about anything these days. If she could get attacked in her sleep, vampires and werewolves might as well be real too.
"It was a few months back," Gavin told her because he had no answer to the other questions. "I ended up telling them the truth. Or, the sheriff. He's seen him too." He sighed and looked over the party again. It was probably a big deal to them that he was having a heart to heart with his little sister because they were all leaving them to it and right now he was glad for that. "That dream last night didn't just happen to you and me. Happened to him too - and Roxy." He said her name a little more quietly because Caden was there and he didn't feel like explaining to him why his ex-girlfriend had called Gavin of all people. "Who knows how many more are out there."
“Oh, wow,” Kat blinked in surprise. “I probably don’t give the cops around here enough credit. They deal with a whole lot of shit that normal cops would never come across. Good to know the sheriff is at least aware of that sort of thing.” Sometimes she felt like they had to be, living in Point Pleasant, but she’d seen the explanations that the paper came up with and wasn’t sure if the police department believed that nonsense as well. She knew her neck looked like a potential battery case, but there was no one to charge unless they could hunt down the Dark Man. That was probably way outside their jurisdiction. “That’s already a lot more than I expected,” she frowned. “I hope she’s okay. I’ve barely talked to her since I got back.”
"She's scratched up but she said she didn't need stitches," Gavin told her. "She uh, called me this morning. To ask if I'd had a bad dream too." A bad dream didn't begin to cover whatever was happening to them but he didn't need to go into details here. Unfortunately, Kat knew exactly what he was talking about. "I was with her when she saw him for the first time, maybe she wouldn't have, if I hadn't-" he trailed off and shook his head, not wanting to go down that path again. At least Kat's sighting of that abomination had nothing to do with him. "You want a drink?" he asked instead, because alcohol tended to be the thing that made everything feel a little less shitty for him.
“I don’t want to go down that road,” Kat said, understanding exactly why Gavin had cut himself off. “I don’t think you can blame yourself. It’s not like you summoned him.” If speaking of the Dark Man was to blame, it felt like more people would be in danger. Kat had only told Brody before Gavin, but Brody had already heard of the Dark Man. He’d named him, while Kat had only called him the man in the bowler hat. He’d known, but he hadn’t seen him, and had yet to be attacked. Still, she understood the need to be cautious, especially with family. It didn’t seem worth the risk to bring him up at a family gathering. “I’d love a drink,” she said with a little smile. “Might calm my nerves.” If every single one of them had a bit of a drinking problem, she didn’t think anyone could blame them. With the shit they put up with, it was a wonder they weren’t drunk all the time.
"I was gonna go get us some drinks," Gavin said, his smile slightly forced. "But uh, moving hurts. So maybe you'll be a good girl and go get us something. There's a Temple bar in the cupboard left of the fridge." He didn't often treat himself to a single malt scotch but it was his birthday, damn it. "Just bring the whole bottle," he added. "And a glass, of course. Then help yourself to whatever." If there was one thing that was never lacking in this household it was alcohol, whether it was beer in the fridge or hard liquor bottles up in the cabinet. Gavin didn't really see it as a problem so much as a solution to a problem, but he had been cutting back a little lately.
“You stay here,” Kat told him, rising to her feet. “I’ll be back with drinks. I’ll talk to Charlie after that.” She didn’t want to bullshit her way through that conversation, but now really wasn’t the time to tell Charlie about the Dark Man. She should know, Kat thoroughly believed that, but she’d prefer Gavin told her, and maybe after the party. Charlie seemed like the kind of person that would loan Kat what she needed if she promised to explain later, and she intended to do so. It just felt key to limit the number of people exposed to that thing, even if she couldn’t explain why. The less people that saw him, the better.