First Night [Open to Multiple]

[heysoulsister]

Jodie Holmes, age six, sits in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. One wall is lined with a mirror that is not really a mirror. There are cameras mounted in the corners, their power lights like unblinking red eyes in the dimness (not darkness; they left the light in the hall on for her). She surveys the sparsely furnished room with her back against the headboard and her chin atop her teddy bear. There is a flashlight on her bedside table, and she knows Cole is just outside. They should be safe here, and she tries to be brave - brave for Aiden, whose fear shivers the tether that binds them.

"Don't be scared, Aiden," she says, hugging her teddy closer. "We're gonna go to sleep, and nothing bad is gonna happen." The phrase has a practiced cadence to it, like a prayer, or a magic spell. But God hasn't stopped the monsters, and she doesn't know if she believes in the good kind of magic anymore.

She pushes her legs beneath the covers, but she doesn't lie down. Something is coming. She can feel it.

Comments

[johnny_truant]

Okay, so there's monsters. And something tells Johnny that she really, really means it, not just the monsters that all six year olds have.

Does she mean Aiden?

"Yes," he says, because even if they're not talking about the same things, he's been able to see his own brand of monsters for a long time. He hesitates, then gestures as nonthreateningly as possible at Aiden. "And I know about your buddy, here." He hesitates again. She seems really scared. He wonders how much of this is a real memory -- how much of it really happened. "Doesn't Aiden protect you?"

[heysoulsister]

Jodie hesitates, then shakes her head. "Aiden's scared of them, too." He might hurt people if he thinks Jodie's in danger, but he's been powerless against the monsters so far. The flashlight wavers in the air, then gently sets itself down on the bedside table, bulb up and illuminating the ceiling. Jodie glances up at the circle of light, wondering if he's going to make shadows for her, but he doesn't. That's okay, though. The light is good all on its own.

She presses her chin to the top of her teddy bear and frowns at Johnny. "No one can protect me," she says with bitter certainty.

[johnny_truant]

Huh. Doesn't seem like Aiden to be scared of anything. Johnny supposes they were both young once.

"Well," he says, shrugging. "Maybe he'll get better at it."

What do these "monsters" want with Jodie anyway? Why is she in here? Being observed like this? Presumably it has to do with Aiden, but Johnny feels hungry for details and he can't ask his Jodie. He feels bad asking this six year old version to spill the gory details, but... then again, maybe talking will help. And he's not sure what else to do.

He straightens up finally, considering her. "Is it okay if I come sit down?" he asks.

[heysoulsister]

The look Jodie gives Johnny at that pronouncement contains far more weary cynicism than any child should possess, but she doesn't argue. She knows how much Aiden hates feeling helpless - and hates being tied to her. If he was free to go, the monsters wouldn't be his problem anymore. It's her they're after.

She shrugs in response to his question, but then she pulls her legs up from under the covers, making more room. A sword might not stop the monsters, but she's yet to have them come for her when there's an adult in the room. Maybe she will be safer with him here.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny steps over and sits down on the edge of the bed, keeping a healthy distance between himself and the girl. He rests his hands on his knees, wondering where to even begin.

"How long have you been here?" he asks at last.

[heysoulsister]

Another shrug. "A couple hours." Should he know that already? Does he work here? He must work here, otherwise he couldn't have got in.

Maybe he's doing that thing grown-ups do, where they ask you easy questions just so you'll talk, and then they ask harder ones.

[johnny_truant]

Only a couple hours? That seems weird. Johnny furrows his brow.

"But it looks like you live here," he says. "Did you just move in today?"

She seems suspicious again (god, already she's so grown up, Johnny notes with a pang of sad familiarity), so he hastily says, "I'm not from around here. I'm only here because you're here."

So, that's creepy, but she's already got a ghost buddy, right?? Maybe she'll accept his attempts at sounding all portentous and ethereal and they can move on from there.

Something else, though. "Kind of like him," he says with a shrug toward Aiden. Sure.

[heysoulsister]

Jodie nods, and her eyes fill, then spill over. Despite the tears coursing down her cheeks, her expression is dispassionate as she says, "I have to stay here until they figure out what's wrong with me." She just wants to go home. Even with the monsters, home would be better than this. It's not like any of these doctors or scientists are going to be able to help her, anyway.

Maybe Johnny can help her. But if he's only here because she is, then if she was home, that's where he'd be too. There's no tether that binds them, though, and after a moment's scrutiny, she says, "You're not like Aiden."

[johnny_truant]

"Well, no..." Johnny shifts uncomfortably, not sure what to do. "But I know he wants to help you, even if he doesn't act like it... and... I want to help you, too."

Such bullshit. He's no good at this fucking sincerity thing. But it's also true, he knows that deep down, and it's easier to tell this Jodie than regular Jodie. And she's still sniffling, and even if she doesn't remember right now, she dug him out of hell, she held him while he collapsed sobbing on the floor, she weathered that shitstorm and she didn't judge him for it. So, goddammit.

He shifts slightly closer and puts his hand on her little shoulder, gives it a pat and a light squeeze. "It's gonna be okay," he says.

[heysoulsister]

For a full two seconds, she and Aiden both believe him. Then the lights flicker.

Jodie lets out a little gasp and shoves herself back against the headboard. Her eyes dart around the room before finding Johnny's. "They're coming! The monsters!" They don't care that Johnny's here, they're coming for her anyway. He can't protect her. No one can.

Something shoots through the wall, something black and amorphous, blink and you'd miss it. But then there's another, and another. One rises from the floor like some deep-sea terror, wraps a black tentacle around Jodie's ankle, and jerks her out of the bed like a ragdoll.

She doesn't scream for help. She just screams.

[johnny_truant]

"Shit!!" Johnny jumps to his feet, jolted into action and hyper awareness as the creatures swarm in from all angles. Aiden is darting around frantically, frightened, helpless. Jodie is still screaming as the thing drags her across the floor -- where the fuck are the people who are supposed to be OBSERVING her?!

Except this isn't how it happened then. This is a dream, and there are no observers here. Just Johnny.

He stumbles forward inelegantly and picks up his sword again, like THAT'LL do any good, and lunges at the ghostly vortex that has little Jodie in its grasp.

"Hey!" he shouts, brandishing the weapon like a straight up idiot. "Leave her alone!"

He takes a good swipe at it, and, as he had more or less anticipated, the blade passes right through the creature's shadowy mass, met with only the mildest resistance, like cutting through a heavy patch of air.

What Johnny doesn't expect is that the creature actually splits; cut in half, it shrieks, and one half of it swirls terrifyingly around him before disappearing back into the wall. Its remaining half, still curled around Jodie's leg, withers and shakes for a few moments.

"I mean it," says Johnny angrily, staring the thing down, emboldened by his unexpected success. "Fuck off." He stabs at the creature again, and it pops out of existence, fading away like dust, leaving behind only a brief, unearthly howl.

This is all well and good, but there are so, so many more of them.

[heysoulsister]

Jodie stares up at Johnny in tear-streaked astonishment. He just killed one of the monsters with his sword. He can protect her. A moment later, she's clawing at the carpet, scrambling on all fours to get to him, but another tentacle wraps itself around her arm, pulling her to the side and into a chair. "Johnny!" she screams, bare feet scrabbling uselessly against the floor.

Aiden tumbles after Jodie, one black cloud among many. His instinct is to shudder away from the monsters, but seeing Johnny vanquish one has changed things. A shapeless creature plants itself between Aiden and Jodie, its hinged jaw opening wide in a challenging shriek. Aiden hesitates until Jodie screams again, and then he darts forward to tangle with the monster, slamming against it with all the force that he can summon. And it works. The creature dissolves into a cloud of sparks and melts away with an echoing howl.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny grins, wild and manic with the adrenaline of having actually done something useful, not to mention the deep, almost alien satisfaction he feels when he sees Aiden do the same.

"Yeah!" he shouts, all but pumping his fist. "That's what I'm talking about!"

He take another vicious hack at the creature holding Jodie, but this one is more resilient, or his aim was off; it releases her, but instead of vanishing it turns on him. He stumbles back, startled, and before he can take another swing it seizes his arm.

"Shit!!" He feel it reaching right through his clothes and digging painfully into his skin. Is this what Jodie had to live through before Aiden learned to fight?

"Let go, asshole!" he snaps, attempting to hit it with his hand, like an IDIOT. Now it's got your other hand, Johnny. GOOD GOING.

[heysoulsister]

A few moments later, Johnny has another hanger-on in the form of Jodie, who has launched herself across the floor and latched onto his leg. Her skinny arms wrap around his calf in an iron grip that isn't shaken - even when another monster grabs her legs and tries to pull her away. "NO!" she screams as her body is hoisted off the ground and Johnny's leg is pulled out from beneath him, sending him crashing to the floor.

No. Aiden first targets the monster that has Jodie, blasting it into dust. She drops to the floor with a grunt, but doesn't release her death grip on Johnny's leg. Now, he turns to the creature that has Johnny in its grip and barrels into it, loosening its hold. The monster turns toward Aiden, and he strikes out at it until it vanishes.

[johnny_truant]

"OW-" Johnny manages barely not to drop another swear even as he hits the floor heavily -- thanks Jodie -- and struggles to regain control of his arms, when Aiden swoops in and finishes the job. Silence falls back over them, gradual and tentative.

He lies there breathing for several moments, watching Aiden overhead.

"See?" he says, panting. "I told you he could protect you."

He sits up and looks down at Jodie, then reaches out to give her a little pat on the head. "You okay?"

[heysoulsister]

Slowly, she releases her grip on Johnny's leg and pushes herself up, first onto all fours, then onto her knees. She loses steam, there, and plops her bottom back onto the carpet, glancing between Johnny and Aiden as if she doesn't know what to make of either of them. She can feel Aiden's savage pleasure at having beaten the monsters, and she thinks: it'll be different now. She'll be okay, even if Johnny isn't here.

"Yeah," she says, absently scrubbing at her cheeks with her sleeve. Then she drops her chin to level an accusing stare at Johnny. "You said a bad word," she informs him. "You said a bunch of them."

[johnny_truant]

"Uhhh..." Man, he really did.

"Yeah, I have a habit of doing that," he says, feeling ridiculous. "But it's okay, when you get older, I'm sure you'll--"



Then he wakes up.