Sunday: Vision Foiled Who: Christian and Gwen Where: The phone, then the lighthouse When: Morning, about 8:30AM
As soon as Christian had gotten that horrible, awful, confusing, unexpected vision written down, he'd scrambled to find the phone. Gwen needed to know. Even if he was still only wrapped in a towel. There was no one here to see him, and all his windows were closed, and this was more important than clothes, dammit!
He hit her speed dial and bounced on his heels. "Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen," he repeated over and over, waiting.
Gwen was in the kitchen, cutting up some fruit for her breakfast when her phone began to ring. There were only so many people it could have been, and when she picked up her cell and saw Christian's name, she wasn't overly surprised. However, he usually only called her when something was wrong. So she set her knife down, wiped her hands and then answered the call with a calm voice. "Hello, Christian." Maybe if she was lucky, he would just be calling to say hello. Somehow she doubted it.
"--Gwen Gwen-- Gwen!" Christian stopped the repetition when he heard her voice, finally. It hadn't exactly been very long, but it had felt like an eternity. Then the words came tumbling out, his accent making them a bit hard to understand. "Gwen, it happened again! I saw! And this time I knew where it was! I mean, I know where it is. Or where it will be. Or I do not even know!"
She blinked in surprise at the sound of him saying her name that way, as if he'd been impatiently waiting for her to pick up. "Calm down," Gwen said, stepping away from the counter. All she had heard was a rushed mumble of thickly accented words. "What happened again, Christian? Tell me everything, but slowly please." Otherwise she would have no idea what he was going on about. She was guessing a vision.
Taking a shuddering breath, Christian sighed it out and said. "All right. I was in the shower when it-- it hit, I guess. I saw... I saw the lighthouse. And-- and all the colors disappeared. And there was this sense. No one died, but everything changed. I cannot explain it, it feels more like-- like a hallucination than a vision. But the symptoms are all the same, and I had to write it down, and I am terribly shaky, Gwen. It was not frightening, nothing bad happened, but I was still afraid!" And it was seriously weirding him out, because it was so different.
The lighthouse? That was odd, but promising at the same time, since Christian had 'hallucinated' about something in Darkwater. Of course, to her, his vision didn't make much sense. What did one do with a feeling? She leaned against the counter and bit her bottom lip for a brief moment as she contemplated her next response. "Would you like to drive out to the lighthouse and see it for yourself? Do you think maybe that would help things make more sense?"
"I do not know." Christian rubbed at his eyes, feeling uncertain and still a little afraid. He wasn't accustomed to taking initiative, not anymore, and it was still difficult to make himself leave that uncomfortable but familiar place of indecision. "Do you think if I go and watch the colors will disappear, and then things will make sense?" He doubted that, but he didn't know if anything else would happen. If seeing it would make something click in his mind.
"I don't know," Gwen answered honestly. "But I think perhaps if you saw the lighthouse yourself, maybe it would leave you with a clearer sense of what's going on." It could have been this was just a simple, insignificant hallucination, rather than an actual vision, but Gwen wasn't ready to decide that just yet. "I'll drive you, Christian. I think you should at least check it out."
"Ah-- all right," Christian gave in. It was easier to give in than to fight, especially when part of him did think Gwen was probably right, and the rest thought things would get worse if he went, so perhaps it thought she was right, too. "Give me a moment or two to get dressed, and I will meet you outside." Because, of course, she would certainly be ready to walk out the door this minute, right? Gwen had nothing better to do than ferry him around....
"I'll be there in a few," Gwen said with a small smile. She would have to get dressed and maybe manage to eat a bit of her fruit, or at least take it with her. She was pleased that he agreed, since she fully expected him to think of some excuse why he couldn't, or shouldn't. If something actually came of this quick trip, it would be worth it.
"All right," Christian said again, and he hung up the phone. Then he dashed to his bedroom so he could get dressed. Eating, however, was the last thing on his mind. His stomach was in knots, and he was fairly certain he'd just lose anything he put in it.
Five minutes later, he stood downstairs, outside in the warm morning air, with a coat over one arm that he probably wouldn't need, his journal in the crook of the other arm, and his hair still wet and tangled. It was a wonder he'd even gotten all the shampoo out of it.
Gwen managed to eat and get dressed in record time, and she took her mug of coffee with her to Christian's. She drove to his house, sipping her coffee thoughtfully as she contemplated Christian's vision of the lighthouse. She set her mug down in the cupholder when she rounded the street to Christian's house and saw him standing outside, waiting for her. Pulling up to the curb, Gwen unlocked her car door and mentally noted not to lecture him on standing outside with wet hair.
Christian hardly waited for her to stop before he'd started down the walkway. He opened the door, dropped down into the passenger seat, and folded his coat over his lap. Apparently, while he'd gotten ready and waited, he had decided he really did want to do this, and get it done quickly. After all, it wasn't like he had a choice anymore, so he could stop fighting it. "Guten tag," he told her, at least a little more composed than he had been on the phone.
Gwen smiled at him. "Good morning. I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?" She waited until he was settled before she started off again, toward the lighthouse. She wouldn't bring up what they were doing during the drive, since Gwen figured it might be best to take his mind off of his vision for the moment. She didn't want to give him time to change his mind.
"No, no," Christian answered airily. "I was not waiting long, at all. I had to get dressed, after all. And finish drying off." Even though he hadn't really finished. He hadn't noticed that his hair was still wet, though, too preoccupied with lighthouses and Gwen's arrival and what they might find.
"Your hair is still wet," she pointed out, picking up her coffee to sip as she drove. "You're lucky that it's June, Christian, or I would be making you go back inside to dry your hair properly."
"Ah--? Ah...." Christian reached up to pull one wet, curly strand in front of his face. "I did forget something." Then he dismissed the problem with a shrug. "It is not important. It is warm enough, I imagine it will dry soon. How long will it take to get there?" He peered anxiously ahead of them, squinting at the sunlight like he'd been in the dark too long.
"Not long," Gwen assured him, glancing at his hair again. "How was your evening?" She could basically feel the tension from him and she knew he was anxious about this whole thing.
"Fine, fine," Christian shrugged, still staring fixedly towards their destination, even though he couldn't actually see it yet. "Quiet and calm, for the most part. I read a while. Played solitaire. Cleaned the mice's cage. Wrote in this." He tapped his journal lightly with one finger, and without bothering to look down at it. "Yours?"
"I had some work to finish up at the office," Gwen explained, knowing that sounded pathetic of her, to be at the office on a Saturday night, but she didn't mind telling Christian that. "Then I cooked myself dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed." She glanced at his journal, but knew better than to ask what was in it. He would show her if he wanted to.
"You went back to the office last night?" Christian demanded incredulously, finally looking back over at her with an amazed expression. "You are addicted to your work." He'd assumed after their late lunch and Scrabble game, she'd gone home to some well-deserved rest, not gone to the office to work more.
She shot him a look, and told herself not to be offended. "I had work to finish, that doesn't mean I'm addicted to it." Gwen always considered herself 'dedicated'. What else was she going to do if not work? She wasn't very social, and she blamed her ex-husband for that. Hell, she blamed him for a lot of things.
"I still believe you work too hard," Christian told her firmly, reaching over to pet the back of her hand with two fingers and frowning. He didn't mean it as an insult, just as amazement and concern. But then, he also hated to work, and much preferred to be home with his books and pets than dealing with people. Well, people who weren't Gwen, anyhow. She didn't require the same effort everyone else did.
Gwen chuckled softly. "I know you do." Most of her work revolved around him, but she didn't tell him that. They were only about a mile away from the lighthouse now, and she could see it in the distance. "We all have our flaws, and maybe mine is working too much. But it's something I enjoy, so I don't mind it so much. I'm getting some satisfaction from it, so it can't be that bad, right?"
"I suppose," Christian answered dubiously, but before he could really complain or protest further, he caught sight of the lighthouse, way off down the road but now just barely visible, and his attention stayed there. "You do not think-- it will happen if I go there, do you?" he asked. "What I saw?"
"No, I don't think so," Gwen said, although she wasn't absolutely sure what would happen. "Don't be afraid, Christian, I'm sure everything is going to be fine. We're just taking a look to see what's going on."
Christian shot her a brief, worried look, but he nodded, and then just watched the approaching lighthouse for the rest of the short ride, waiting. Either way, something was bound to happen when they got there, right? Unless this all was just his own mind playing tricks on him....
Once they reached the lighthouse, Gwen pulled onto the gravel, creating a makeshift parking spot. She turned off the car and looked over at Christian calmly. "Do you want to get out and walk to the front?" It was up to him. If he wanted to just sit in the car and stare at it, she would do that too.
For a moment, Christian chewed on his bottom lip, doing just that: staring at it. Then he shook his head. "I want to go inside. Can we go inside?" He knew it was technically locked up, but Gwen could do just about anything, right? Surely she could get him inside?
Breathing in, Gwen glanced at the Lighthouse again. "We can try," she said, finally conceding to the idea. She didn't know if she could get inside of a locked building, but she could try. "If that's what you want to do, then we'll do it." She opened her door to get outside, hoping no cops decided to drive by while they were there.
"I think it will be-- more clear-- if we go inside," Christian said hesitantly, getting out, too. He left his coat, but brought his journal, holding it close to his chest. "Perhaps we can-- can kick down the door?" He didn't know anything about picking locks, but the building was in horrible disrepair, so perhaps it would be easier to force it.
Glancing down at her tennis shoes, Gwen arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't know if I'm much of a kicker, but we can try." That's what it all boiled down to, isn't it? Trying? "And maybe if we can't get inside, we can try something else." She began to walk with him toward the lighthouse. The thing was so run down, with chipped paint and all of those locks. It was a shame, since Gwen knew the thing was probably beautiful at one point.
Christian walked close to her, not quite touching except for when one of them stumbled and bumped the other, but close enough to if he would merely take half a step sideways. He was nervous, but making himself go forward, anyhow. The back of his mind mocked him: coward, coward, coward.
Getting over the little fence blocking off the lighthouse itself was no trouble, and Christian stopped at the door, rattling the handle. It didn't budge.
Gwen wasn't sure what they would find, but the locks looked pretty secure. Unfortunately she wasn't a mage, or anything of the sort, so she couldn't do anything beyond trying to open the door the way a human might. She checked the locks for any rust spots, but they were fairly heavy duty. "I don't know if this is going to work," Gwen told Christian. She looked up at the lighthouse. "Did you picture the lighthouse from the outside, or inside?"
"I was inside," Christian insisted, and he tried bracing his shoulder against the door and shoving. It hardly even creaked. Of course, Christian was hardly a muscular man, but it should have done something, shouldn't it've? "But now--" Shove. "--it will not--" Shove. "--let me!"
He gave up on that tact, his shoulder starting to hurt.
Lifting a hand to his shoulder, Gwen pulled a bit, wanting him to stop ramming his shoulder into the door. A bruised shoulder wasn't something she wanted him to deal with. "I don't think it's going to open, Christian. There's a reason it's been locked up for years. Let's walk around the lighthouse and maybe something will come to you then."
Glaring at the door, Christian rolled his shoulder a little and sighed. "All right. I do not know what that will serve, but perhaps it will help...." Not that he knew what getting inside would serve, other than to give him a look at where his vision had apparently taken place. For all he knew, going inside would kill him, and that was what the vision meant. But he still wanted to at least find out.
"There could be a very good reason why you shouldn't go in there now," Gwen told him, turning away to step down from the door and glance around. "Maybe it's for the best that you can't. If we can't get in, I doubt anyone could." And that was a good thing, wasn't it? She started walking around the base of the light house, wondering what significance this place could possibly have. Maybe something would hit Christian, and maybe nothing would happen at all.
"But then why was I seeing it from the inside?" Christian fretted, following her almost absently. "Do these awful things mean nothing?" Were they all just hallucinations? Or was just this one, with it's strangeness and unfamiliar traits, a false one? But it did have some traits of a vision.... The two thoughts kept chasing each other around in his head, neither one coming to a conclusion.
"Maybe it does, and maybe it doesn't." Gwen sighed and sheltered her eyes with her hand as she looked up toward the top of the lighthouse again. "Maybe today isn't the right day to be here. It could mean any number of things." Only she wasn't quite sure what they were. It was a real possibility that his vision was just a hallucination.
"Unless it means nothing," Christian grumbled. "What if all of them mean nothing?" That was his biggest worry, now. He'd been writing these down for years-- assuming there was some point to them. What if they were all just... hallucinatory seizures? Even though they were horrible, even if they meant someone was dying every time he saw one, he'd rather they be real than something his mind made up to torment him further. They just felt so much more real.
She lowered her hand to look at him. "Is that what you really believe? Just because you can't get through one door doesn't mean that your visions mean nothing. It could just be that you're not here at the right time. It could be that whatever you saw hasn't happened yet, which is a good thing, isn't it?"
The look he shot her back was both distressed and disgruntled. "You do not understand. It was different from any other I have had. But enough the same that it... it blurs the two." He tugged at his now only damp hair unhappily. Worst case scenario was pretty much always the first thing on Christian's mind. "I do not know what to think, now."
"Then maybe you should keep an eye on the lighthouse for the next few days," Gwen suggested, unaffected by his expression and tone. "If you truly believe it was different, then it's probably for the best that we check back as often as we can. If it was a legit vision, then something should happen eventually."
She was being far too reasonable and optimistic about this. Christian glowered at her sullenly, wishing these visions were her problem, so that perhaps she might actually understand how confusing it was. "Then I suppose you will have to drive me, again, then," he told her. "Next time." Not like he couldn't walk, or bike, but if she was going to be reasonable, then by god, she was going to have to help.
"Don't look at me like that," Gwen scolded lightly, and then sighed. "I'll drive you as often as you'd like me to, Christian, you know that. I'm willing to help." She didn't understand, but she wanted to. She wanted to be able to help him as much as she could.
The scold made him flinch, and he looked away. "Danke," he said quietly. At least he did have Gwen. What would he do without her? Probably go even more insane, and certainly never have an outside perspective to things. Even when he completely disagreed with her, it was still better that she was there.
"Do you want to keep looking?" Gwen asked. She knew he got frustrated with his visions, especially in moments like these when he couldn't do anything about them. But she knew being frustrated wasn't going to get you anywhere. "Or we can come back again whenever you want. Perhaps things will change soon, if your vision is legit."
Christian didn't answer immediately, stopping to stare narrowly at the closed door as they completed the circuit around the lighthouse. He wanted very badly to kick something, but for the moment he could at least see how that wouldn't get him very far-- and would probably make Gwen more displeased with him. "We might as well go," he grumbled. "There is nothing else to do here now." He didn't know if later things would be different-- he doubted it-- but sticking around here was just going to annoy him more.
Gwen nodded and walked over to touch his arm. "We'll check again in a couple of days, I promise. And if you see anything else between now and then, we can always come earlier. Did you eat this morning?" If not, she would buy him an early lunch, or a late breakfast, depending. He was obviously annoyed and exasperated with the situation, so the least she could do was try to make it a bit easier on him.
The question was unexpected-- though it probably shouldn't have been; it was a very Gwen question. But it startled Christian out of the irritation, at least briefly, enough to look a bit sheepish and admit, "Well, no. I rather forgot, I think...." He'd gotten straight out of the shower and called her, there hadn't been a thought in his head about eating.
She nodded, as she figured that was probably the answer she would receive. "Okay, come on." Patting his arm, Gwen turned and started walking toward the car. "We'll grab something to eat before I take you home. I only had some fruit, and I'm starving." She didn't know if eating would take his mind off of the lighthouse - probably not - but it never hurt to try, and at least he would have a meal in his stomach for a little while, since she had no doubt he would forget lunch as well.
Christian nodded and obediently followed after her, glancing back over his shoulder every couple steps. Breakfast probably wouldn't take his mind off the lighthouse and the disturbing vision... but it was probably a good idea, anyhow.