Who: Henry and Regina What: Regina gets her first look at Orange County's Gloryhole, also, a little something about a doll When: Recently Where: Henry's Haunted Apartment Ratings/Warnings: Lowish Status: Complete!
It wasn’t much of a secret to Regina, the whole existence of this portal that was nestled within his apartment - it’d been responsible for bringing forth a fog full of haunting trouble throughout Orange County, monsters and beasts springing forth and morphed by a person’s psyche. It didn’t present much troubles after that, at least on a county-wide scale - but if there was trouble, it would seem like it’d be concentrated to the space it occupied and the person it was tied to.
Portals to another realm weren’t anything she wasn’t accustomed; different realms were a theme in her dreams, and so were ways to access them (once thought to be only accomplished by a devastating curse, but now it was as common as taking a shit). This particular hole’s energies weren’t entirely unfamiliar - she’d investigated it before - but regardless, it was worrisome to have lingering around overall, and needed to be properly checked.
And considering Henry had once been victim of things from her dreams (the Dark One’s curse, specifically, using her boyfriend as a host), she would insist on lending a hand. Someway or another.
“I don’t think magic will get rid of this,” she murmured after several moments of silence, standing in his bathroom, right before the menacing gape. It was an eerie thing, raising the hairs on the back of her neck and goosebumps on her arms. Regina had come to sort of ‘diagnose’ the situation, and with a mix of her own witchcraft and deduction from the nature of Henry’s dreams, the conclusion she came across was reinforced by her gut feeling. “It feels more like a...vestige, of sorts. Does that make any sense? From what happened prior, but a very stubborn one.”
The Hole (or Satan’s Asshole or Orange County’s Gloryhole, as it was known by some) had been a presence in Henry’s bathroom now for months. Aside from the January Fog Event, nothing had ever come out of the Hole. Occasionally, Henry heard things from within: voices whispering at a frantic pace or the manic sobs of a woman that would echo off his bathroom tile. Other times when the Hole decided to be silent, it emitted a soft frigid breeze. This was especially unnerving those early mornings when all Henry wanted to do was take a piss and the Hole blew on his bare back.
Today it had decided to be absolutely dormant, as though it did not want to perform for the woman who was inspecting it. It reminded Henry a little of that old cartoon about the poor SOB who found a dancing frog, but the dancing frog would only perform for the man and everyone around him thought he was crazy.
Henry knew he wasn’t crazy. There was a gigantic Hole to another realm in his bathroom, and he had somehow been made its Keeper. What was maybe a little crazy was how normal it seemed to Henry now.
He was leaning against the bathroom’s door jamb, his arms folded as Regina studied the Hole. When she had contacted him and offered to take a look at it, he hadn’t been sure what, if anything, she’d be able to do. However, Henry trusted her and he didn’t see the harm in letting Regina take a look. If she could offer him any insight, he would appreciate it.
He frowned a little. He wasn’t too surprised to hear that magic wouldn’t get rid of it. All of Henry’s attempts to cover it had been to no avail thus far, however, this was the first time he’d heard it referred to as a vestige. “What does that mean?” He asked, “a vestige of what?”
Regina was aware he wasn’t losing his marbles - one didn’t need to possess the gift of magic-wielding to sense that there was something infinitely wrong with this thing despite its stubborn silence. It oozed something sinister, even in its more ‘dormant’ state. “It appeared with the fog debacle we had in the beginning of the year, didn’t it? It was the part of the cause, but despite the fog’s lifting it remained.” From the details she recalled, Henry had also been the one who had stopped it, so there was a much more deeper connection between him and this portal. “It’s linked to you. I wouldn’t be surprised if it followed you should you choose to move.”
Now, it’d be definitely curious if it stayed even after his dreams were completed but from the sounds of it, he hadn’t reached their conclusion. “What about these?” A motion to the ring around it, and the runes etched. After a second of caution, she tossed it to the wind and tentatively grazed her fingers over the marks. “Have you seen this lettering anywhere else? Anything you can recall from the dreams?”
Henry straightened in the doorway when Regina mentioned the fog. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “It appeared a couple of days...maybe a week?...before the fog rolled in,” he explained without meeting Regina’s gaze. “It was part of the cause. The other part was...well...I crawled through it. It wanted me too. Like, I had no control over what I was doing. The same thing happened in my Dreams. I’d been trapped in my apartment for a week when the Hole appeared and I just went through it. At the time it seemed like my only option.”
His attention snapped up when Regina said the hole was linked to him. “It will follow me?!” He asked both surprised and horrified. On the one hand this bit of news was something of a relief. Henry had pretty much resigned himself to living the rest of his life in this apartment He had hoped that Chloe would understand, should their relationship continue to grow as it had been, why they could never move to a bigger place, or ever buy a house. On the other hand, the idea that this hole would just follow him if he decided to say “fuck it” and pack up his shit and leave. It was almost like...a curse of some kind.
Henry was so shocked by Regina’s revelation, that he almost didn’t hear her second question. “Huh?” He shook his head and glanced at the rune-like markings etched into the tile around the Hole. “Oh, yeah,” he said without thinking. “The exit holes have that same ring in red around them.”
How odd. Very different from the whimsical, almost seductive thrall of her magic - the energy pattern the hole emitted felt very otherworldly, with a foreign darkness. “There’s definitely a link between you and it,” she confirmed, crossing her arms. “Not just that it belongs to your dreams, either, but like a cockroach that’ll follow you that isn’t quite ready to die.”
Regina also had a nagging suspicion that it didn’t matter what one would throw at this, magic or not, it wasn’t going away. Not anytime soon. “The hole seems determined to play an integral part of both your lives. If it remains, I do advise taking precautions - protective spells, perhaps? Something to also continuously cleanse the area from hostile spirits, if that’s a concern of yours.”
Henry looked at the hole again as he digested what Regina was telling him. He was still trying to get past the idea that no matter where he went the Hole was going to follow after him. Like the cat in that damn song. It always came back no matter what was done to it. Maybe that cat had come from the Other World too.
“Nothing has come out of it,” he ventured. “Nothing comes out of it in the Dreams either. I do...want to go in again,” he said. “I mean, I think if I go to the Other World myself and not as my Dream Self, I can find some answers to what the hell is going on here. Is there a protection spell you can cast, or maybe teach me to cast when I do?”
That made Regina’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. And, yes, alright, she was looking at Henry like he’d lost his goddamn mind. “You want to crawl back in that thing?” Her voice rose, jabbing a thumb in the direction of hell’s asshole of demonic darkness. “Are you sure that’s the best idea?”
Not that she hadn’t come up with her own insane destination vacation - she had willingly gone to the Underworld, despite knowing they could get trapped there - but there was also a damn good chance they could bargain their way out, and they did. “I can teach you, but…”
Regina bit back a sigh. “You have someone to go with you? These little ‘adventures’ are best with someone for backup, Henry.”
Surprise was not an expression Henry ever thought he would see on Regina’s face, much less finding something he said be the source of said surprise. This had been the woman, after all, who had shoved a heart back into his chest as though she had been returning a borrowed shirt. Regina had been a rock for Henry, and he’d admired her for that. Seeing her eyes widen in surprise almost made him laugh.
He bit back said laughter however, not wanting to be accidentally rude, especially since she was helping him, here. He turned his eyes towards the hole. “It’s not exactly on my bucket list of places to go or anything,” he admitted, “And no, it’s probably not a great idea, but…” amber eyes moved back to Regina, “I think I should. I don’t want to be passive about what happens to me anymore. I don’t want to be that damsel in distress that has to have his butt bailed out by those around him-” Regina, Regina, Midna even Chloe… they all at some point or another had come to his rescue, Revy more than most. More than what could be considered fair, really. “I need to take matters into my own hands for a change.”
“I won’t be going alone,” he added and then couldn’t help a smirk, “It’s dangerous to go alone.”
Yes, Regina’s expressions did very to other ranges aside from exasperation and scorn - he was young, he had the same name as her son, and an impressive penchant for trouble and alright, perhaps it tugged those maternal strings that were already on fire from the possibility of adopting her estranged sister’s child. Fucking sue her.
Regardless, crawling into a tight space that unleashed a wake of terror once before didn’t seem like the best course of action, but if he wanted to to do it there was nothing she could do. This was his; if he felt like he needed to deal with it in his own way, who was she to tell him otherwise? No one knew the nature of his dreams more than he did.
Now that suppressed sigh was unleashed all thanks to his answer. Regina didn’t look enthused, but was willing to submit if he was going to be careful about this. “You’re obviously going to be stubborn about this so, fine. If there is anything I can teach you to make sure your little trip to the beyond yields less chances of death, then I can help with some tricks of protection. Otherwise we’re going to have to send a rescue team out there looking for you.”
Henry certainly was appreciative of the concern and those fiery maternal strings. Hell, the offer of sending in a rescue party after him felt kind of...good, actually. His own mother certainly wouldn’t have been so quick to help. It just surprised him a little, especially considering how fantastically he had screwed up during the Dark One’s visit to their happy little realm. That Regina was still willing - had offered, even - to help him after botching her plan so fantastically in the first place made Henry rethink his first impressions of her.
Henry grinned a half grin. “Thanks, Regina. I really appreciate it.” He wasn’t often a stubborn man, but he was going to hold his ground here. Regina was right, Trouble had a way of finding Henry, rolling over him and sucking him up into various vortexes of shit and up until now he’d always just bopped around from one vortex to another. Henry knew deep down that there was no avoiding Trouble when it came steamrolling at him, but at least now he felt as though he could turn and face it rather than just getting dragged along.
“I’m going to do my best to avoid having to have a rescue party sent after me.” he said next. “Kind of defeats the whole purpose. So anything you can teach me will help a lot.” Probably more than either one of them knew.
Oh, there’d definitely be a rescue team - she had one prepared and ready to go if, for whatever reason, their trip to retrieve Killian’s soul from the realm of limbo became unexpectedly turbulent. It was a smart contingency plan to have regardless; the last thing Regina wanted to hear was that Henry crawled and was never seen or heard from again. His dreams seemed like the epitome of the horror genre as it was, a living nightmare.
But maybe they could talk outside the bathroom? It was clean, but eerie enough and she figured his living room was more suitable to carry on the rest of the discussion. “You know your world best so, tell me: what do you think you’ll need? The best I can teach you from the beginning are some protection spells. Anything else will take more study.”
“Something to keep ghosts - or anyone else - from sticking their hands in my chest,” Henry said without pause. Yes, he was entirely sick of that habit people seemed to have around him, both in his Dreams and out. “It was interesting the first couple of times. Now it’s just old.”
He lead Regina out of the bathroom and down the short hall back to his living room. There at least they could sit down. He offered to get Regina something to drink. “Protection spells will be good to start.” He didn’t have any kind of magical protection in the Dreams and he managed to do ok...most of the time. Not having a monster gnawing on his leg or running him down would have been a nice change, however.
No drink for Regina, though she appreciated the hospitality. She sat, hands folded over her lap. “Is there a reason why they keep sticking your hands into your chest? I can enchant your heart; I’ve done it with mine and it keeps anything from digging in for whatever reason. If someone tries to stick their hand in, it’ll blast them back.”
At least in that, she had plenty of experience. If only she had a damn penny for every time she stuck her hand into someone’s chest, but she was sure her mother - none other than the Queen of Hearts - had first place in that contest.
Henry tilted his head at her. There was a spell for that? Why hadn’t he asked to have his heart enchanted a few months back before the Dark One had dug it out of his chest? Not that he knew back then that such a spell existed. Besides, he hadn’t expected Killian to literally stuff his hand into his chest. Hell, Henry doubted anyone had. Especially with Kenzi camped out on his couch as her Safe Place during the ordeal.
“I don’t know, exactly,” he said. “It’s just something the ghosts in the Dreams do. I can tell you that when they do I always feel drained, sick and headachey. Maybe they’re trying to drain my life or energy or something. I read that ghosts require an energy source in order to manifest in anyway, and a lot of energy in order to make full body apparitions.” When your girlfriend was a necromancer, it was important that you studied these kinds of things.
“As for the other creatures that have stuck their hands in my chest,” Henry continued thoughtfully, “...the first one was the monster that came in with the Fog back in February, no idea why it wanted to squeeze my heart. It was squeezing my actual heart, so maybe it wanted to kill me,” he shrugged. “The other two times were associated with the Dark One, so I think you already know the reasons there.”
As Henry talked the light in the living room had taken on a slight reddish tint and the air had started to hum. Just slightly at first, barely noticeable. In fact, this kind of haunting activity had become so common that Henry almost didn’t notice it at first. Not until the air became thick and heavy. Henry glanced at Regina, wondering if she had noticed the subtle activity. Since she had come to poke at Satan’s Hole, perhaps she could provide insight to what was going on in his apartment too. Henry was fairly certain the two were not connected, but he was no expert.
“Well, having your heart enchanted will keep it protected, especially from any other monster who wants to attempt to off you in the same way,” Regina advised, and then paused for several seconds when she felt that change in the air - very similar to the vibe she had from the hole, with the erect hairs and goosebumps. Unwelcome energy that was filtering in, and she was a little extra sensitive to it from the fact that she wasn’t used to such a thing on a regular basis, and harnessing magic gave an extra sense to hone in on abnormal patterns.
There was a slow eyebrow raise from the queen’s behalf, both unamused and mildly intrigued. “That’s far from normal. You have those candles, right? The white ones? We can try them out and see if they do anything in your favor.” Maybe it could be something to shoo away the disturbances in the air, or maybe it wouldn’t do diddly-squat but while she was here and there was a spike in activity, why the hell not give it a go?
“Oh. Yeah. I’ll get them,” Henry got to his feet. Along the far wall of his living room under the windows that looked out into the courtyard of his apartment building was the trunk he’d used when he’d moved to California a few years back. It had belonged to his grandfather and had what Henry believed to be the world’s most stalwart lock. He retrieved the antique key from his bedroom and returned to unlock the trunk.
The only items in the trunk currently were three white candles and the shabby looking rag doll that the Dreams had gifted him. “I kept them in here until I could figure out what to do with them,” he explained back to Regina as he picked on out of the trunk. He hesitated a moment, looking at the doll before he grabbed it as well.
He brought both items back to where Regina was sitting. He placed the candle on the coffee table and then went to find a lighter. Fortunately, Revy was a guest frequently enough in his apartment for Henry to have a couple of lighters squirreled away should his friend decided she needed to smoke by one of his windows.
Lighter and doll in hand, Henry made his way back to Regina. By the time he did, the red tint had seeped into the rest of his apartment and had been accompanied by a low grade hum that one didn’t hear so much as felt.
Ugh. Creepy. That was the only word for it. If she had to endure consistent hauntings she’d burn down her home with sage if she had to, then bury the ashes with sea salt. Regina mentally braced herself, fingers prepared to unleash whatever on the offense that could be necessary - the deepening tint was reminiscent of the Underworld, and while she didn’t feel exactly comfortable, she was far from scared. Her skin was thicker than that.
“What the hell is that?” Her inquiry, of course, was directed to the doll he’d brought with him. Her main focus was lighting the wick of the candle, immediately done the moment he set it down. “Obviously it’s a doll - in case you wanted to get smart with me again - but that’s a little ‘on the nose’ for a horror scene, isn’t it?”
Nothing more terrifying than a possibly sinister child’s toy in the movie business.
Henry didn’t have any smartass comments for Regina this time. He looked down at the doll in his hands, feeling just a little bit foolish for digging it out of the trunk. “It came from the Dreams too,” he said. “When I got it, everyone on the network told me to get rid of it, some even told me to burn it, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to.” And he still couldn’t quite explain why that was. He told the others that the doll was harmless. Henry wasn’t the type to look at a doll and see psycho killer. This doll didn’t even have hands to hold anything, much less any kind of potentially dangerous weapon. “Besides the red diary the Dreams gave me,” he pointed to the red bound leather book sitting on one of the end tables, “this is the only other benign thing the Dreams have given me. At least...I think it’s benign. I thought maybe you could look at it and tell me for sure?”
The candles didn’t seem terribly effective - Regina could sense that eerie aura waning a bit, but she was at least thankful lighting them didn’t seem to summon some kind of demon and bring upon them the end of times.
However, that doll? Perhaps one could say there was a bias to being apprehensive over it, considering the situation and how much of a cliche (but effective) plot device a seemingly harmless child’s toy could bring to any typical Hollywood scarefest, but those sharpened senses were on high alert. With hesitance, the queen took it in her hands for a proper examination.
And wanted to warp it to outerspace.
“It’s not,” Regina scowled, her dusky eyes tightening into a glare. “It’s a very subtle, almost quiet vibration this gives off - but there is energy from it, very dark energy. Very close to what I feel about this apartment right now. Did the hauntings start around the time you received this?”
The scowl on Regina’s face made Henry’s heart drop. He had really believed the doll to be a strange, but benign gift from his Dreams. “I don’t really remember,” he admitted. “It happened right before Killian went all Dark One.” Henry furrowed his brows together as he thought back. “I think the doll showed up and then...a week later those windows started rattling,” he gestured towards the living room windows. The hauntings had been more sporadic than. They were random, happened at different times of the day, different strange things happened. These days they had become much more common. So common in fact, Henry had started to expect them. Not that they still didn’t startle him when they happened. No matter how often it happens, it’s no picnic to be woken out of a solid sleep because something in your apartment decides to freak out.
“The following week the Dark One showed up and well…” Henry shrugged. “The hauntings didn’t really seem all that important by comparison.” His eyes fell onto the little doll in Regina’s hands. “Is it causing these haunting events to happen?”
Most people wouldn’t be so blase about living with hauntings on a constant basis, but she was learning quick that Henry wasn’t like most people. “It’s possible it could, I wouldn’t rule it out of the realm of possibilities,” she deadpanned, letting her fingers run along the outline of the doll - to get a better reading of the energy signatures, perhaps sense something a little more informative? “But to say this is some kind of benevolent gift is the biggest load of bullshit. That’s my assessment.”
Would there be a consequence of destroying it? Could it be destroyed? It was something they could try, but they could also learn to regret it - she didn’t want to make impulsive decisions over things that she didn’t quite understand. It was a recipe for disaster, and Regina didn’t have the patience to shoulder the responsibility.
“We can try a couple things with this,” she murmured. “I can maybe try sealing the energies to see if that’ll stop the hauntings? The practical thing to do would be to get rid of it. Entirely up to you.”
At the time, Henry had thought his little haunting situation wasn’t nearly as earth shattering as Killian falling victim to a soul warping curse. He also had been without his emotions at the time, and logic had dictated that energies used to cleanse his apartment would be best suited for other endeavours, such as saving Killian from said dark curse.
Henry trusted Regina’s assessment of the doll. It only made sense, considering the world the doll had come from, after all. Amber eyes moved up from the doll to Regina, looking at her critically. “If the doll is causing the hauntings, it’s doing so for a reason, right? Would attempting to seal it potentially be dangerous for you?” He shook his head. He didn’t want to risk that.
Henry reached over to take the doll back, as if he feared the longer Regina held it, the more danger she may be placing herself in. “I’ll trash it. Or burn it like Revy told me to to start with.” He looked down at the little doll in his hands, a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth. The doll had seemed important to him when it first arrived. Hell, it still felt important. Almost as if Henry had some kind of attachment for it, some sentimental attachment he couldn’t quite explain. After what Regina had said about the doll, that unnerved Henry. “I’ll burn it.”
Concerned for her safety? Adorable, but not necessary - she was suited to hold her own very well, and she wasn’t about to let an evil possessed doll best her if it came down to it. “Your decision,” she reminded him, though the frown indicated she wasn’t entirely pleased by it all either. Regina was worried, too. “Do you think there’ll be any consequences to burning it? If it can be at all. If you want company when you try, I’d be willing. In case something...crawl out of it, whatever the hell - it’s not entirely impossible.”
Bracing yourself for the worst possible outcome in any scenario here wasn’t over caution; it was a necessity, and gods only know what sort of thing was in store for Henry. Regina was getting a taste of it just by being a guest in his apartment. Having to live in this on a constant basis was the farthest thing from relaxing.
“Regardless, I’m still teaching you those couple simple tricks for protection - that way you’re a bit more equipped during your insane adventures in the hole of darkness.”
Regina had a point. If Henry was concerned that her attempting to seal the doll’s...power...could potentially cause some kind of backlash, then attempting to burn it could as well, and Henry wasn’t at all equipped to handle any kind of backlash. Henry wasn’t sure how to describe it, but knowing he had Regina in his corner made him feel, better, safer.
He looked up at her appreciatively, “Yeah, I think that would be a good idea. Thank you. For that and for teaching me a couple of tricks.”
The white candle he had light a few minutes earlier had burned quickly. It was burned down almost completely. The flame never wavered in its size or shape as it burned either, even now as most of the candle was gone. Oddly enough, there was no melted wax on the table either. Around them the apartment’s atmosphere had lightened dramatically. The heavy air, that low register hum, all of it was gone. In fact, Henry would go so far as to say that the apartment hadn’t felt quite this good in a while. It wasn’t completely clear, but at least he could breath a bit easier now.
Henry watched the last of the candle burn away and the flame extinguish itself politely and not burning a hole into his coffee table. “Huh,” he mused alloud and looked over at Regina. “At least I got something good out of the Dreams.”