InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hello David"

Klaus Hargreeves (quietthedead) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-10-23 15:18:00

Entry tags:

ben hargreeves (netflix), gamewide plot, john constantine (vertigo), klaus hargreeves (netflix), peter b parker (sv)

Who: Anyone who wants to be spooked
What: Haunted house time
Where: Through the doors and into Hill House
When: Open throughout the Halloween Event

No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.

Filled with ghosts and specters of all sorts, Hill house seems tame enough when you first walk through it's doors, but it very quickly becomes obvious that everything is not as it seems. Is it your mind playing tricks on you? Or is it something else? Something more sinister.

Come in and stay a while, explore the long and twisting halls, enjoy the beautiful art and sculpture garden, and find the Red Room. There are many treasures to be had if you can survive the night.

[Party thread rules, tag your threads in the header of your comments, you can set your thread on any day from now until the end of the event]

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Hargreeves

number_6
2019-10-28 01:13 am UTC (link)

Ben knew. He didn't need to be told one way or the other what Klaus had seen because he knew his brother well enough to know that things were not okay. And it was only because he knew Klaus so well that he didn't bring up the fact that Klaus' power set included speaking with the dead, and in this instance it might be helpful for finding the way out. He knew that it wasn't something he'd ever really come to terms with - that the only dead thing that Klaus had ever felt comfortable talking to was here right now, their hands firmly clasped together.

"They can't do anything," Ben murmured, voice low and tight and if he was honest he wasn't even sure that was true or not. Ghosts were weird, and Ben wasn't sure they all played by the same rules -- especially if there was something around that could channel them, like Klaus had him. Given the right moment and opportunity, Ben had had a pretty mean right hook and played a pretty decent game of patty cake.

He was so lost in thought he almost didn't hear the music at first -- just let himself be lead by the hand down the hall until they were there. In front of the door all bright red and eye catching, like it wanted to be welcoming. There was definitely something behind it, piano. Familiarity. Ben thought a little nonsensically about the week that they were children, how they'd decided they were better off without anyone. "I don't-- know."

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Hargreeves

quietthedead
2019-10-28 07:51 am UTC (link)

In theory he understood, the dead were just people, but there was something about them that set his teeth on edge that made something twist in the pit of his stomach and made him need in a kind of desperate way to do anything other than look at, acknowledge, listen to the spirits that so often surrounded him. Ben had always been the only dead man that Klaus had been able to stomach, and even then in the beginning he'd been more scared than he was willing to admit. But his brother had only ever been his brother, not the screaming horrible thing that so many of the dead could be.

And the dead in this house? They felt different than those he'd seen back home. Ben said they couldn't do anything but the both of them knew better - Klaus knew that the dead could touch if they really wanted it, they could hurt potentially, they could use him if they knew it was possible, and so the less said about his abilities the better.

It didn't really make sense that there might be something familiar here in this house, if Klaus had stopped to think about it he'd understand that, but he couldn't really seem to find the ability to do things like make sense of what they were presented with. Not when there was something about that room that seemed to beckon him closer, and with his hand still clutching Ben's he pulled his brother along with him. "What's to know?" He said quietly. "It's another door right? We're checking all of them, aren't we?" That had been the idea at least, but Klaus thought maybe, suddenly without much reason for it, that whatever was on the other side of that particular door might be worth sticking around for a while longer. Like there was something inside calling him.

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Hargreeves

number_6
2019-10-29 02:04 am UTC (link)

Klaus' powers were bad like that -- the kind that could be used against him almost as much as Klaus could use them for himself. Ben understood that, feared his own skill set enough to only ever use it in emergencies because the risk of things going wrong felt higher than it going right.

And, well, he'd know all about the risks of it, wouldn't he.

But Ben wasn't focused on himself, or really even Klaus' power -- beyond the obvious parts, the parts that made things visible to him that simply weren't to Ben. He was focused now on that red door and the music coming from behind it. And how he really, really didn't want to open it. Ben thinned his lips into a straight line and squeezed Klaus' hand harder, tugging him back a little, a step away from that door. "That's not Mom," he said quietly, anxious in a way he hadn't felt in quite some time now. "I don't want to go in there."

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Hargreeves

quietthedead
2019-10-29 05:24 am UTC (link)

Klaus for his part wasn't even thinking about ghosts anymore, just that door and just the music that was behind it. From where they were standing he could see someone moving inside, just a shadow moving beneath the bottom edge of the door - it reminded him of their mom, the way she'd sort of dance with herself, or for them at times and he thought maybe, however impossibly that it had to be her on the other side of the door.

"How do you know, though?" He said without taking his eyes off the door, though he let Ben tug him back just a little, not far though, not enough to put any real distance between them an the door - maybe a half step. They were in a town where people showed up for no good reason, where Ben was alive when the two of them knew better than most that he'd died a long time ago, why couldn't their mom be on the other side of that door? It didn't seem impossible in that moment, for whatever reason, Klaus couldn't quite rap his mind around.

"It could be her." He said again, "Just listen." He took another step toward the door again, despite the way Ben said he didn't really want to go in. Like his earlier fears were all but forgotten, like all there was left now was that door and whatever was on the other side of it. "I want to look. Just a little, like the other doors, we can close it again right after."

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Hargreeves

number_6
2019-10-30 02:29 am UTC (link)

Ben didn't always argue with Klaus -- especially not lately. There hadn't felt like there was much to disagree over these days and most of the time he was fairly content being his brother's shadow and partner in crime. But that didn't mean he was always willing to bend, or that his opinion didn't sometimes differ. But when Ben dug his heels into the ground, he usually felt like it was for a good reason.

So in this instance, it wasn't just that he was trying to be difficult and stubborn, or to disagree just for the sake of it. There was just something wrong with that door, and the more Klaus wanted to see, the less Ben wanted to.

"It's not her," Ben insisted, keeping a tight grip on Klaus' hand and not moving even an inch even as Klaus took another step forward. "This house isn't right, Klaus. You've seen what's in here. It's not gonna be Mom." He didn't trust that they'd be able to close it again, if they opened that door up just to look right now.

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Hargreeves

quietthedead
2019-10-31 05:37 am UTC (link)

It wasn't even that Klaus disagreed, if things were different, if he wasn't who he was - well he'd very much be on the same side of things as Ben. This house was fucked and anything that made you want to go in deeper had to be part of just how fucked up it all was. But Klaus was who he was, and his powers were being used against him now in this place, in a way he'd never experience before.

It had always been screaming ghosts before, spirits demanding his attention, to tell someone, anyone about their pain and their lives, to cling a little longer to a life that wasn't theirs but would do well enough. But this? It was different, there were the other ghosts, hidden behind curtains and under furniture, tucked into corners, and peering in through windows, but there was also whatever was behind the door, like it was calling out to him, in the sweetest way possible. Enticing Klaus in a way that nothing ever had before and he couldn't even think straight to know that it was happening to him he just wanted to go in further.

"I just need to look." He said it again, his arm outstretched behind him where Ben still held on to him tightly, even as he wanted to keep moving forward toward that door that seemed to call to him. "Just give me - come on, I just.... can't you hear that?" He turned to look at Ben then, it felt impossible that Ben couldn't be just as compelled as he was to go and see, but all he saw on his brother's face was doubt and worry and maybe even fear.

And for just a moment Klaus snapped out of it, just long enough to let Ben urge him back again, "I... We need the door, Ben. I'm not, this place isn't - I'm not good here. I can't, I won't make it." His own fear thick, rising up like bile in the back of his throat and he didn't know how to stop it even as he felt the warmth radiating from that door behind him, and as much as he wanted to turn back toward it he kept his eyes on his brother needing that anchor.

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Re: Hargreeves

number_6
2019-10-31 07:35 pm UTC (link)

Yeah. Ben was kind of getting that. It was one of the reasons that he felt so scared and nervous. Because dead, bad things had always called to Klaus the loudest. He'd always heard and seen things that no one else had and it'd drove him to ruin time and time again. And Ben -- well. So often, Ben had only been able to watch and do nothing else.

But he was here now. He was alive and a physical being and he wasn't going to let it happen again. Not this time. So they weren't going through that fucking red door, no matter what.

"We're gonna find the door," he said, raising his free hand to press against Klaus' cheek -- steadying and reassuring. There. "I'll protect you." And he fucking meant it. Which was why he was turning on his heel a second later and physically dragging Klaus back down the hallways, toward the stairs.

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Hargreeves

quietthedead
2019-11-02 05:10 am UTC (link)

Klaus was fully aware that if he was in this house on his own he would never make it out, he knew that somewhere deep inside of himself, even if there was so much of him that needed to get to that door and see what was on the other side of it. He'd never had his powers used against him like this, though he'd have said there was only one time in his life when his powers hadn't been used against him and it was Ben - who he'd kept around for all those years after he'd died, who he'd helped to manifest when they'd needed him most, and who was here with him now pulling him away from the one place that he shouldn't want to go but did.

He let Ben pull him, even as part of him fought it, though he couldn't help but look back at that door, seeing a shadow move under the bottom edge maybe it was the sway of a skirt, their mom was always wearing dresses that moved nicely like that. He thought maybe that's what it was - mom in there dancing and just waiting for them to join her. All they had to do was open the door.

But the more they moved from the door he was back in the halls with ghosts all around and Klaus didn't want to see any of that either, "No, no, no, no no," He groaned, lifting up his free hand like he could shield his eyes and block out all the things he saw around them, men and women, children, their grotesque and twisted faces turning as they watched them move. "God where is the door?" How long had they even been here? Was it just a short time or had it been longer? He felt like he couldn't tell anymore.

"Outside?" he suggested, the doors of the halls all opened into rooms filled with more ghosts and Klaus didn't think he could take much more, but outside maybe? Maybe that was something? He didn't know if the house would even allow it, but it felt like the safest place. Anywhere but here and these halls.

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Hargreeves

number_6
2019-11-03 04:22 am UTC (link)

Ben didn't know how long they'd been here. It felt like forever. Or maybe minutes. Hours? Certainly not an entire day but-- it was hard to tell. The house was just...dark. And not even really where lighting was concerned.

He thought, maybe, being able to not see the ghosts in this particular instance helped a bit. Because it meant he could walk through (or by) them and not have to falter or duck or anything else. He could press Klaus' face into his shoulder while they walked so he didn't have to look either. It probably didn't help, not a lot, but it was something. And they were away from that Red Door and that made a difference.

The door to town didn't seem to pop up again, at least, not inside the house, but Ben agreed maybe outside was just better. Or, it couldn't be worse than this. So he pulled at the handle of the front doors and --

"Oh," he said, sounding more relieved than he'd ever before, possibly in his entire life. Town.

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Hargreeves

quietthedead
2019-11-03 05:06 am UTC (link)

Hiding his face didn't really help, but it was something, it grounded him a little bit - he'd never really had someone with him like this while facing down spirits like this. But he'd never actually had to deal with ghosts like these, they weren't like the sort from home, who wanted someone to listen to them more often than not - these wanted to hurt them, Klaus in particular it felt like maybe because he was who he was and could do what he could do.

But Ben kept moving, pushing past the ghosts that Klaus felt and saw all around them, looking for the way out while Klaus wanted nothing more than to just press his face into his hands and stop moving until it all went away.

His breath caught in his throat when Ben opened the front doors and rather than opening out onto a lawn or something like that, it was their town, the place that Klaus had hoped they would find there. And with Ben he practically raced through the door again yanking it closed behind them before he collapsed, curling his arms around himself overwhelmed by the fear he'd felt in that place and the rush of quiet that washed over him the second they were back through that door leaving him practically sobbing.

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Actual Hargreeves and not Tony Stark

number_6
2019-11-04 04:20 pm UTC (link)

They were a tangled mess of limbs and anxiety on the stone of the courtyard and Ben had never, ever been happier to be here (home) than he was right now. There'd have been no way, no way at all that either of them would have lasted a full day or a night in that place. Not with the way the ghosts hadn't let up, not with the call of the red room.

"Klaus," he said, but didn't have anything to follow it up with - couldn't possibly, even. But he pressed himself closer, tangled his hands in his brother's hair and kept them together. Getting up didn't seem like an option. "We're okay. You're okay." They weren't. He wasn't. But he had to try.

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