Abigail Hobbs (teacup_shatters) wrote in valloic, @ 2022-09-14 17:43:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: abigail hobbs, ₴ inactive: eliot waugh |
Who: Abigail Hobbs and Eliot Waugh
Where: Abigail's Morningside apartment.
When: Backdated to the nightmare plot
What Trying to chase away Abigail's nightmares
Warnings: Nightmares, murders, family violence & abuse
Abigail was skilled at compartmentalizing life in her mind. It was one of her coping techniques. Her nightmares seemed to do the same. Antlers in her bedroom. Ghosts sat around her dining table as if they were having a simple shared meal. Whispers in her kitchen. She was sure something would be coming to her living room next. It was one horror after another, as the dream elements played out. She buzzed Eliot in as soon as arrived, and watched out the peep hole until he was in front of her door. Flinging the door open, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, out of instinct. She had always hugged Hannibal for comfort back home. A second later, she pulled back. "Sorry." Apologies came so naturally to her these days. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
There was no doubt Eliot was worried about Abigail. Ghosts and words that were obviously scaring and upset were things no one needed to deal with. He wasn't sure he could help, but he would try.
He was buzzed in and he made his way up to her apartment. Before he could knock the door was flung open and Abigail was clinging to him, hugging him tightly. He was caught off guard, but understood and went to slip his arms around her, but she quickly pulled away. "No, no, you don't need to apologize. It's okay." With that he walked inside closing the door behind him. He stepped up to Abigail and pulled her into a hug his hand rubbing over her back soothingly. It was clear that she was scared. Looking around the apartment he saw the antlers which were creepy as hell. While he didn't see anyone he heard voices, whispers.
Abigail sunk into the second hug, closing her eyes for a moment and hiding her face in Eliot's shirt. She tried desperately to focus all her attention on the calming hand on her back. The soft movements and the simple presence of someone who didn't want to hurt her, was enough to allow her to stop shaking.
Abigail still knew that her nightmares were all around. Her father's voice was following her, somehow managing to sound as if he was speaking into her missing ear.
After a few moments, Abigail looked up at Eliot. "Do you hear him too?" She asked softly. He had seen her memory. He'd know she meant her father. "He sounds like he did when he was alive. He wasn't the type to yell or snap. He always sounds so gentle when he says the worst things." Because he didn't see what he did as sick or evil. He had thought he was merciful.
Eliot simply held Abigail doing his best to soothe her. Why was Vallo so fucked up? Surely this all had something to do with Vallo. "They" pull people from their worlds and homes and then pull shit like this far too often in his opinion. If it was a second chance for many it had a hell of a way of giving them a break.
"It'll be okay," he said softly, still hearing voices all around them. Meeting her gaze Eliot could see the fear in Abigail's eyes. "I do. I hear other voices as well." The words weren't kind and even if he didn't know her whole story, she didn't need to hear such things from her monster dad and whoever else was there. "Listen, I'm going to try a vanquishing spell to get rid of them. It's no my area of expertise and I can't guarantee it will work. If it doesn't I don't want you to stay here. It may not be safe. You're welcome to stay with me or at least go to a friends place, but I don't really think it's best to stay here."
Stepping back from Abigail Eliot made a small window using his thumb and index fingers. Looking through it he saw what he would presume were ghosts of young girls. Moving around he saw nothing more, but could still hear her father in that sickening almost sweet tone. Lowering his hands he took a deep breath then began to recite a vanquishing spell that he had learned from, well, it didn't matter who he had learned it from. When finished he looked around, then repeated the spell. The voices of the girls were gone, but not her father. Obviously a more powerful spirit, being, whatever the man was now.
"He's still here." Even if he couldn't see him, Eliot could feel his presence and hear him. "I really think you should leave. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. Someone with more knowledge and skill in vanquishing would have been a better choice. The females are gone though." Most likely not as strong or perhaps evil as Abigail's father.
Abigail moved back as Eliot worked, pressing her back to a wall. That made her feel a little safer. The ghosts accused her of things, sat around the table in their little circle - except for being dead, they acted human. She didn't think they had any supernatural powers.
Abigail reached up and covered her ears. If the ghosts screamed when Eliot worked, she didn't want to hear it. Fortunately, there weren't any. They simply disappeared. She lowered her hands back down to her sides, as Eliot finished.
"They didn't go anywhere bad, did they?" Abigail asked softly. "They weren't bad girls. Not deserving of hell or anything like that." They had been the true victims, just regular girls living normal lives until her father killed them. She swallowed hard, forcing back the bile that was rising in her throat from all the guilt. "The reason my father is still here might be because he lives here, in a way. Not here in the apartment, here." She said and pointed to her temple. It felt like he had moved into her mind, when he'd been controlling her and had stayed there, even after he died. Will had put it simply. She couldn't get away from her father, no matter how hard she tried. "What if I leave and he follows me?" She asked. "I don't want him to haunt any other places."
"No, they didn't go to hell or somewhere bad." Eliot himself didn't believe in hell. "They've gone back to where they came from. Hopefully, they've crossed over to the light." Somewhere better than being stuck here or some other place that held them or left them haunting that place. He hadn't got an evil vibe from them. They could have been controlled by Abigail's father. He just wasn't educated enough about all this to know for certain.
Eliot walked over to Abigail and looked into her face. She truly believed he lived in her head. "Tell him to leave, that's he's not welcome. I don't know if that will work, but it can't hurt." He wished briefly she were a magician so she could put up a mind shield against him. "He has no control over you Abigail. Don't let him get to you inside you.." Maybe that sounded lame, but given there was nothing more he could say, he had to at least try to help.
The antlers were still in the apartment along with the man. "Do you have somewhere to go or do you want to come stay with me?" He didn't want her to stay in her apartment. It didn't feel...safe or right for that matter.
"Maybe my Mom or Marissa will be there to meet them." Abigail found a certain symmetry in that, especially if it was her mother there to lead them into a better existence. Maybe she could have a chance to mother them. A part of her almost hoped to see her or Marissa's ghosts, to know they continued on. On the other hand, it wouldn't seem right for either of them to be pulled into her nightmares.
Abigail gave a small nod. "I can try. It's complicated. Have you heard of captor bonding?" It was one of the terms that the people at the facility had used to describe her condition, and why she still loved her father. "Hannibal used to say something similar, that what was in my head was subject to my judgement, not my father's." There had been more. There was always more with Hannibal and it was almost always too hard to explain.
"I'd like to come with you." Abigail said softly. Of the few friends she'd made, Eliot was the one she trusted most. "I'll try not to bring anyone with me."
"They could be Eliot," said with a small smile. He couldn't say for certain though. Obviously she was speaking of her mother and sister. So much fucking tragedy for one so young. And she was still dealing with her father on some level. Whether it was spiritual, haunting, psychological or some Vallo bullshit, he wasn't sure. But he heard the man and felt him, so he was there in some form.
"I have heard of it." He didn't know Abigail's whole story. He didn't even think he knew half of it, but when it came to such things he would never push. If she wanted to share he was there to listen, to support, to comfort. "I think that's true. It's kind of like mind over matter." He paused. "Have you thought of speaking to someone professionally, Abigail? I have a therapist here and he's pretty good. I could give you his number if you like." We all needed help sometimes and Eliot thought talking with someone would be helpful for her.
"Okay, good. Do you want to pack up a few things or just go?" He reached out and squeezed her hand. "I'm not worried about that."
Abigail nodded. She supposed she could make rooms for all the girls in her memory palace too. She could imagine them together, even if she couldn't know for certain.
Abigail nodded. "I was in a facility." She admitted. She wasn't ashamed to mention it in front of Eliot. He already knew the worst of her past and hadn't judged her for it. "I saw people there." She hadn't gotten on well with many of the doctors there, or the support groups. She liked Dr. Bloom though and had bonded with Hannibal. "I had Hannibal too, for therapy. He was a psychiatrist." She might have mentioned that before. It was hard to think in the apartment. "I had a text session with Sam Wilson here." She nodded. "Yeah, I'd like his number."
Abigail nodded and tightened her grip on his hand when he squeezed. "I'll grab a few things so I don't have to come back." At least not untilthis was over. "Will you stay in my room with me while I pack?" She didn't want to be alone there. "It won't take long."
There was no judgement from Eliot whatsoever upon learning Abigail had been in a facility and had received some therapy. "There's nothing wrong with getting help. We all need it sometimes." He could be stubborn about it more often than not, but he was learning when it was time to finally give in and ask for help. "I'll give you the number when we get back to the cottage." At present he wanted to get out of the apartment as quickly as they could.
"Yes, of course I will. Lead the way." Eliot followed her to her room and waited inside while she packed a bag and gathered a few other things up for the stay. When she was ready they made their way through the apartment and left using the waypoint in the lobby to get to the cottage.
Abigail gave a small nod. She did agree that there was nothing wrong with seeing help. There had been plenty wrong with the facility though, including being interrogated by the FBI about her father's crimes, and being bullied by other members of her 'support' group. Things might be better now with Eliot's therapist's help and simply having her freedom.
Abigail packed her things quietly. "It wasn't my fault." She said, so quietly that it could have been meant for her father, as if she was whispering back to him. She did hate her dad for making her a part of his crimes and the rest of it. She didn't speak again until they arrived at the cottage and then it was a simple "Thank you."