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Previously: take one | take two
RIGHT ON CUE, though a little bit later than normal, I have hit the "oh my god, is this an okay story? am I just deluding myself into thinking I'm doing this anywhere near right? I'M JUST A HACK AREN'T I OH GOD DON'T LOOK AT ME."
[coughs] Well, okay, maybe not that dramatically. But I have hit the introduction of the main plot, and that always makes me feel a little uncertain, oddly enough. Buuuuu.
Hi, everyone, if you can take the time, please let me know if I'm doing this right. D:
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"Are you okay, Ken?"
"Wha--?" Ken's head jerked up at the sound of his name. He found himself half-hunched over a lab bench, a disorganized stack of papers in front of him, and his fellow TA, Elizabeth Lowe, leaning towards him with concern in her large blue eyes. She was pretty in an ordinary sort of way, with long thin brown hair usually tied in a messy ponytail and large blue eyes. She tended to be timid with her students, but still a competent worker otherwise. With the last of the General Chemistry lab sections over for the day, it was just the two of them left in the room, each with their own stack of student reports.
"You've been acting funny all day," she went on. Her voice began to trail off at the end, and she looked down. "So, you know, I was wondering -- I don't mean to pry or anything, but ..."
Ken stared at the report at the top of the stack for a moment. He thought about the sharpness of Sen's smile on the bridge -- his *grandmother*, and god, how weird was *that*? -- and the diluted line of blood on Roy's cheek from that morning. He considered just telling her, opening his mouth and saying, *I've met my missing grandmother and she's about seventy years too young and then I watched a guy kill an invisible zombie this morning, how was your day?* It took longer than he would've liked to shake off the impulse, but when he did, he managed to dredge up a wan smile. "I'm fine," he said. "Just -- long month, you know?" He gestured vaguely. "I guess I'm tired."
She bit the inside of her cheek and scooted just a little closer. "Yeah," she said hesitantly. "I mean, with your grandfather and everything, so I just thought ..."
He took a deep breath. "Yeah," he said shortly. "It's been rough."
"Were you guys close?" she asked, then squeaked, looking surprised at her own daring. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry, I--"
"Nah, it's okay." He smiled again and felt more like he meant it. "We were close. My sister's his youngest grandkid, so he visited a lot."
Elizabeth slid her hand closer to his, then stopped again, just short of touching. Ken watched it from the corner of one eye: it was a pretty hand, with long square fingers. Her nails were naked and cut very short, almost to the quick; she wore no rings. "That must have been nice," she offered hesitantly. "I never knew either of my grandfathers, they both died before I was born."
They stood quietly together, the silence broken only by the rustling of paper. When Ken risked a quick sideways glance, Elizabeth was staring down at the countertop. The tips of her ears were pink. When he cleared his throat she jumped, squeaking again before slapping both hands over her mouth and flushing red all the way down her neck. They stared at each other.
"I, uh," he said, and lifted the papers a bit awkwardly. "I'm done here, so ..."
"Right!" she agreed quickly. She skittered back, grabbing for her own stack of reports. "Right, uh, well -- I'm sure you need to get going, where do you live again?"
"Wallingford," Ken blurted. He tucked his papers to his chest with one arm and tugged at the collar of his shirt. He stared at a point over her head and forced himself to keep breathing normally; he hadn't felt so awkward in *years*. "It's not that far, I mean, if you wanted to -- I dunno, grab something to eat tonight, or something like that, we could --"
"Really?" Elizabeth's head snapped around as she stared at him. She blushed bright red. "Oh, oh no, I -- no! I mean, I'd really like to, but ..." She ducked her head, tucking hair behind one ear. "I'm busy tonight, but if you're free another time ..."
"My schedule's flexible," he said quickly. It took effort to keep from grinning like a moron. "I mean, I'd have to check to make sure, but maybe later this week--"
"Yeah," said Elizabeth. She peeked up at him through her hair and gave him a shy smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Great." Ken took a breath that made his entire body feel light, chest puffing up and out almost helplessly. "No, really, that's great. Um. I -- god," and he laughed, relieved when she giggled in answer. "Wow."
"I'm flattered," she said, smiling at him. "I mean, you're usually so, I dunno, aloof. You're actually a pretty nice guy, though, aren't you?"
"Actually," he said, and let his grin spread across his face, so wide it made his face hurt, "if you ask my sister, I'm a real jerk. Total asshole. Says if she met a guy like me, she'd run screaming in the other direction."
Elizabeth covered her mouth again, and he wondered if maybe he'd said too much -- was it stupid, bringing up your little sister when talking to a girl you liked? -- but then she laughed, deep and loud. When she looked at him again, her eyes were sparkling. "Then it's a good thing I'm not your sister, isn't it?"
"It'd be awkward," he agreed, grinning again. "I'm glad you're not."
"Yeah," she said. She glanced down for a moment, tugging at her hair. "So, um, I'll see you later, then--?"
"Tomorrow, at least," he said. "We've got afternoon lecture tomorrow, so--"
"Right! Right." She beamed. "I'll look for you tomorrow!"
"Yeah," he said. The lightness in his chest spread outwards, until even his fingers were tingling from it. "Tomorrow."
She beamed. She started to lean forward, then apparently caught herself, skittering back again. She adjusted the weight of her papers to give him a little wave, then was gone. Ken leaned against the counter and counted to ten. The giddy feeling didn't fade the entire time, and it was stupid and more than a little embarrassing, but for the moment, at least, he couldn't bring himself to care. And if there was a bit of a spring to his step as he shoved his students' reports into his backpack and made a beeline for the stairs, at least there was no one around to notice.
He made it to the front of Bagley Hall and stopped. Outside, it was already dark, and from the sounds of it raining again. The chill damp of the evening air when he opened the doors made his stomach twist; for a moment, he swore he could smell blood again. He stood there, contemplating the dark path up towards the Quad, then quietly stepped back into the lit warmth of the building, closing the doors. There was no sign of either Sen or Roy, but he could afford to give them about twenty minutes before he let himself feel annoyed and left anyway.
He sat down on one of the benches by the door and dug in his backpack for a red pen and a report, using his bent knee as a desk. As he bent forward to start reading, there came a loud series of thuds to his left. Startled, he looked up just in time to see a body come tumbling down the stairs. Alarmed, Ken shot to his feet, dropping everything and hurrying over. "Are you all right?!"
Up close, he recognized the figure as another TA -- one whose name he vaguely remembered as Rob or Robby or something similar -- lying sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. Ken sank down to his knees, his hands hovering for a moment, afraid to touch. Rob's neck looked straight enough still, but his leg was twisted under his body at a nasty-looking angle. There was no apparent blood, though, and for that Ken was grateful.
"Rob?" he tried, keeping his voice low. "Hey, Rob? It's me, Ken -- Ken Suzuki, I'm one of Professor Reed's students? Can you hear me? You had a pretty nasty fall. I'm going to call someone, and they'll get you taken care of, okay?" He leaned back, digging in his pocket for his cellphone.
Something grabbed his elbow and pulled. He let out a startled yelp and saw Rob's eyes were now wide open. Ken started to say something, relieved to see him conscious, then paused. Rob just stared, not letting go of Ken's arm.
"Hey," he tried. "Dude, how're you feeling? You took a pretty nasty fall. If you give me a moment, I can call someone--"
"Suzuki," Rob said. Something sounded strange in his voice, horrible and hollow and aching. The hairs on the back of his neck rose. "Ken Suzuki."
"Right," he said slowly. He grabbed Rob's wrist and tugged loosely, then winced when those fingers tightened, hard enough to make his elbow ache. "Hey, man, you wanna let go for a sec? Can't really help you if you're holding onto me like this."
Rob said nothing, but yanked at Ken's arm again, using it to pull himself to a seated position; Ken had to lean back hard just to keep his own balance. "Hey," he said again. "Seriously, it looks like your leg's pretty busted. I wouldn't be surprised if it was broken. We should--"
"Ken Suzuki," Rob said again. He smiled, and it looked more like a grimace, all of his teeth bared and his eyes open as wide as humanly possible. As Ken watched, first red, then black, filtered across the whites of Rob's eyes until they were completely filled. They looked like hollow sockets set deep in his face.
"Oh, shit," Ken said, staring at him. "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said I was kidding, before, about being me?"
The pressure on his elbow let go, but before he could throw himself out of the way, both of Rob's hands shot upwards, closing tight around his throat. Ken choked, reaching to claw desperately at Rob's wrists as the other man rose to his knees, still apparently unbothered by his injured leg. He leaned in close, and his breath was hot and sour on Ken's face. His exaggerated grin filled Ken's entire vision, unpleasantly clear even through the black spots beginning to form. In a last moment of perfect clarity, he thought this was terribly unfair -- he'd *done* the right thing, he'd *waited*, so then why--
"Ken?!" Elizabeth's voice squeaked. "Oh my god -- *Rob*?! What are you doing?"
Ken saw Rob's head snap up and around. The hands on his throat slackened, and he managed to suck in enough breath to yell something that meant to be *run* but probably was more like *nnnngh*.
Elizabeth screamed, and he heard another heavy thud, like a body slamming into something, though when he tried to turn his head, Rob's attention snapped back to him, and the stranglehold tightened on his throat again, and damn it, this *really was not fair*--
"Holy hell," said Sen's voice. "Are you really *that good* at getting into trouble?"
He struggled, but couldn't see her -- couldn't see anything past Rob's leering grin, really -- but then the hands on his throat jerked and let go completely. He fell back, coughing and sucking in desperate gulps of air as Rob began to scream, both in his own voice and with that weird hollow echo. It rose up to a painfully high-pitched shriek, and then Rob's voice cut out from under it, leaving only the other, growing steadily higher and thinner until it simply vanished.
Ken opened his eyes. Rob was slumped to the side, his eyes open and normal now, if glazed and blank. His mouth hung open with a thin trail of spittle drooling from one corner. Sen stood beside him, poking him gingerly with one foot, hands on her hips.
"Whuu," Ken started, then swallowed a few times and tried again: "What ... happened?" He stiffened. "'Lizabeth, she--"
"She's all right," Roy said, and Ken turned fast as his aching head would allow. Elizabeth slumped against the far wall, limp and unmoving. Roy crouched beside her, not touching, looking straight at Ken. "He was distracted by you. She just got knocked around a little."
Ken got to his knees, then gingerly to his feet, slapping a hand against the banister for a moment to keep his balance. He looked down at Rob. "What about him?"
"Sloppy," Sen announced. She lifted one foot, the gesture oddly delicate, and nudged it against Rob's shoulder. He toppled over completely, unmoving, and she looked up, lips pursed. "Whatever it was tried to borrow a living person to get his work down, and that's always tricky. The living still have conscious wills of their own, so they fight back. It probably grabbed him while he was up *there*--" she pointed to the top of the stairs, "and the shock of fighting it left neither him nor it in control of the body, so it fell *here*--" she pointed to where Rob lay now, "and triggered when you, Mister Concerned Passer-by, came to check on him."
He scowled and let go of the banister. Standing up had just made his headache worse, until it felt like the sheer throbbing pain was going to start bleeding out his head wherever possible. "Sorry for being worried when a man comes *falling down the stairs,*" he said. "Next time, I'll just sit there and not make sure he's okay."
Sen's eyes rounded, covering her mouth in mock horror. "Pissy," she said. "Is that how you treat someone who just saved your life? Because I've got to tell you, you could really stand to work on your gratitude--"
"Whatever you say," Ken muttered. "*Grandmother.*"
Sen went rigid. She stared at him -- he could *feel* her gaze boring holes into her back -- then turned to look at Roy, who just shrugged, apparently unconcerned by her silent accusation. In the awkward silence that followed, Ken began to make his way over to Elizabeth and Roy, gritting his teeth against the pounding in his head. To his relief, by the time he made it over to kneel beside Elizabeth she was beginning to stir: her eyes squeezed more tightly shut for a moment, then fluttered slowly open. Ken hesitated, then reached down and took one of her hands between both his own.
"Elizabeth?" he asked, keeping his voice soft. "Hey, Elizabeth? Can you hear me?"
She stared blankly, then raised her eyes to his. "Ken ... ?"
He chafed her hands between his. "Yeah," he said softly. "It's me. Are you all right?"
"I ..." She licked her lips, then sat up suddenly and winced. Her fingers tightened around his, hard enough to hurt. "Oh my god! Ken! Weren't you just -- I saw you, and Rob, and --"
"I'm okay," he said, and added, "No, really," at her suspicious look. "What about you?"
"Me?" Elizabeth shifted and winced again, pressing the heel of her hand against one eye. "Um. I was dropping something off for a professor, and then I was leaving, and then I heard ... and you were ..." She gave him a pleading look. "What's going *on*?"
Ken swallowed. He looked at her hand, nearly the same size as his own but far more delicate. "Well," he said. "There's--"
"Your friend was possessed," said Roy. "It wasn't interested in you, just Ken. You just happened to get in the way."
"Possessed?!" Elizabeth's voice broke shrilly on the last syllable. Ken's fingers were numb from how tightly she was holding onto them. "Rob was? By what?"
"Probably a construct of some sort." Roy scratched his chin, looking thoughtful. "Not a very high level one, since it ran away pretty much as soon as we got here, but strong enough to take control of a human body. Probably nothing more than your regular construct who--" he was cut off as Sen came up from behind and cuffed his head.
"Honestly," Sen said. She put a hand on Roy's head and shoved it down, which he allowed without even trying to fight. "It's called *tact*, remember? I thought we were working on this."
He shrugged, a bit awkwardly from his bent-forward position. "They asked."
"You don't *actually* have to tell them everything, every time," Sen muttered. She scrubbed hard at Roy's hair, leaving it badly mussed; only then did she let go and allow him to straighten up. She waited until he was done, then cuffed him again, more gently than before, then said to Ken and Elizabeth, "Sorry. Can't take this guy anywhere, or stuff like this happens. Well, not stuff *exactly* like this, but you know, that whole 'tell too much' bit--"
"Because you never tell anything at all," Roy pointed out mildly, and got his head shoved again for the effort.
"Possessed," Elizabeth said again. She listed to one side until her shoulder bumped against Ken's. In the building's fluorescent lighting she looked washed out and pale, dark bruiselike half-circles under her eyes when there'd been none just half an hour ago. Ken wanted to put his arm around her and say something, but what was the proper protocol with a girl you hadn't even had one date with yet, and who'd already gotten drawn in by his crazily too-young grandmother? He settled for squeezing her hand as well as his numb fingers would allow.
"Yup." Sen dropped to a crouch across from them, resting her elbows on her knees. Her green eyes were narrow and sharp as her smile, all bared teeth in her small round face. "Not just demons can do that, and we're lucky it wasn't anything like that." She turned her head, glancing significantly over at Rob's body -- now propped against the far wall with ropes tied around its waist and a slip of paper plastered to its forehead -- then back at Ken and Elizabeth. "Human bodies are kind of weak, but they can be awfully useful when necessary." She laced her fingers together and rocked forward. "Given the chance, there are a lot of things that would love to get a human body of its very own. With a few modifications, they become very comfortable hosts."
Ken shook his head. "Hosts," he repeated. His neck hurt; with every breath, he could feel each individual bruise on his throat. "You've got to be kidding me."
"I would if I could," said Sen. "Believe me, it'd be awesome. But I'm not a liar, and I can't take this back." She looked at Elizabeth and her smile faded. "You."
"Me?" Elizabeth whispered, her voice thin. "What about me?"
"You don't have to hold on to this." Sen rocked back again, tilting her head. "You don't have to remember any of what just happened, if you want."
"Hey," Ken protested. "What's that supposed to mean? Why can she forget and not--"
"Shhh." Sen held up a finger, never breaking eye contact with Elizabeth. Her voice lowered, turning almost gentle as she went on: "You weren't meant to see any of this. You don't have the capacity for it anywhere in your bloodlines." She reached out and took Elizabeth's chin in hand, holding it steady. "And this is where I tell you something really cliché about how you're going to be in danger from now on, and you'll never learn a way to protect yourself, but ..." She jerked Elizabeth's chin up abruptly, exposing the length of Elizabeth's throat to run the nail of her other thumb down it, hard enough to leave a faintly-bleeding red line. Ken started to protest, and felt fingers hook into the hood of his sweatshirt, pulling him back; when he looked, Roy just shook his head.
"... It's all true," Sen finished quietly. She let go of Elizabeth's face and rocked up to her feet, crossing her arms. "Once you see them, they start noticing you, too. And sooner or later, you're gonna run into something that isn't going to like you staring, and then ..." She drew a line across her own throat.
Elizabeth stared, then bowed her head. She covered her throat with one hand and hunched her shoulders up. Ken shook off Roy's hand, and this time he did put his arm around her shoulders. She felt very thin against him, but was rock-steady: there wasn't even the faintest tremor in her when she lifted her head again. Her mouth pressed into a hard line in her pale face.
"I'll do it," she said.
Sen's face betrayed nothing, gone smooth and still as a mask. "Are you sure? It gets harder to take back, the more you see. You'd be better off avoiding Ken after this."
Ken stiffened. The protest rose and died on his lips at the sight of Rob's bound body, but he kept his arm around her anyway, waiting.
"However," she went on, and reached down to take Ken's hand in hers again -- still tightly, though less clinging than before -- "I'm not going to avoid him. If this is something dangerous he's involved in, I don't want him to worry about me. But that doesn't mean I want to stop -- he owes me coffee." She glanced up at Ken and flushed a little, managing a wan smile.
"Careful there, Eurydice," Sen said. She reached into her coat and pulled out two heavy copper coins which she fanned out to display before handing them to Elizabeth. "You shouldn't try looking back too much either."
Ken looked over Elizabeth's shoulder at the coins in her palm. They were both roughly the size of a half-dollar, worn smooth and nearly featureless. He reached to take one and got his hand slapped for the effort.
"Those aren't for you, Orpheus," she said. "But you," to Elizabeth, "when you go to sleep tonight, put those over your eyes. Don't worry about them falling off: they just need to be there for a little bit. You'll forget everything that's just happened here."
Elizabeth closed her fingers, then shifted to push the coins into her jeans pocket. "Everything?" she asked hesitantly. "This whole night?"
"Well." Sen leaned back and grinned suddenly, relaxed again. "Everything that had to do with the strangling and the getting thrown around by invisible forces, that sort of thing. As long as *someone* doesn't try to push you on what you remember, you'll be all right." She pulled a face. "Man, and I had to trade a *lot* to get my hands on those ..."
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said almost immediately. She covered her pocket. "Do you want them back--?"
"Pfft," said Sen. She waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, I'm in good with the shopkeeper's husband. He'll put in a good word for me, I'll be fine. But you be careful, okay? They're only good once, so if you see something again and decide you really can't handle it, you can't just reuse them. They just set up a block that gets harder to rebuild every time, and you have to keep paying more till--" She pursed her lips, then scowled and turned to Roy. "I've been hanging out with you too much. I'm starting to tell people everything, too."
"It's not a bad habit," Roy said.
"It's *lame*," Sen said. She crossed her arms and pouted; Ken half-expected her to roll onto her back and start kicking her legs, she sounded so petulant. "Lame! What's the fun in *telling* them everything, seriously! People have to figure it out on their own in the movies."
"And we're not in the movies," Roy said. He got to his feet and nodded to the other side of the room. "What about that one?"
"Huh?" Sen twisted to peer at the forgotten Rob. She scratched her cheek, then shrugged. "I dunno. Leave him?"
"What, *no*," Ken said immediately, echoed by Elizabeth's nod. "We can't just leave him like that!"
"What about if we untied him first?"
"*No*!" Ken stared at her in disbelief. "Are you crazy? He's been hurt, we need to call someone so they can get him down to the hospital." He got to his feet, pulling Elizabeth with him, and crossed the room to Rob's side. He knelt and pulled the slip of paper from Rob's forehead, then began to untie the ropes
"Rob?" Elizabeth asked, crouching down by his feet. "Hey, Rob? Are you all right?"
After a moment he groaned, shaking his head slowly. "Ow, fuck," he said, then looked up, squinting at them both. "Dude, what? What's going on?"
"You had a bit of a fall," Ken said, picking at the knots. He couldn't make himself look at either Rob or Elizabeth as he worked. "Don't know how you managed it, but I think you've busted your leg pretty badly, dude."
"Fuck," Rob agreed feelingly. "Shit, am I tied up? What the fuck?"
"You're just imagining things," Elizabeth said with shrill brightness, glancing quickly at Ken and then away again. "Probably hit your head a bit on the way down, right, Ken?"
"Right," Ken said. The last knot came undone, and Rob made a low hissing sound of pain as they were tugged loose. "Just imagining things, man, you're not tied up at all."
"Shit, you serious?" Rob squinted again. "Man, I haven't even had anything to drink at all today."
"Maybe it's a sign for you to lay off a bit," Elizabeth said. She reached and brushed some of the hair back from his forehead, revealing a darkening purple lump on his hairline. "Yeah, definitely looks like you banged your head a bit. Ken, d'you want to call--?" She made a vague gesture to encompass all of Rob's bent body, twisted leg and bruised head and all.
"Yeah, sure." Ken got to his feet. He glanced briefly at Roy and Sen as he did; they both watched him with steady, unblinking eyes; something in the fluorescent lighting did something strange to Sen's, so that the pupils were electric green, like those of a cat. He turned away and flipped his cell open, only half-paying attention to what he said -- *an accident in Bagley Hall on the UW campus, yeah, I think he might've hit his head falling down the stairs, yeah he's coherent, yeah we can stay with him till someone gets there, thanks*.
When he hung up, Sen stood an arm's length away, her hands shoved deep in her pockets, her head tilted up to look at him. Her expression was serious again, the same weird gleam in her eyes even up close. She nodded to Rob, holding his head and breathing in slow hisses, eyes squeezed shut.
"I've done what I can," she said softly. "But he's not going to be okay."
Ken stared at her. He tucked his phone into his pocket. "What do you mean."
She blew out a loud sigh, cheeks puffing. "C'mere," she said, and reached out to grab his wrist; Ken followed her limply back over to where Roy stood.
"He was possessed," Roy said almost at once. Unlike Sen, he seemed completely untroubled by the declaration. "Something fought to get into his head and succeeded. Even now, his 'self' is no longer completely his alone."
"What?" Ken's eyes widened. He glanced back sharply; Rob didn't notice, but Elizabeth gave him a questioning look. He met it for a few seconds, then turned again. "But you said you got rid of it--"
"I did," Sen said. "But humans aren't really meant to have more than one consciousness at a time. It does weird things to them, and even when you drive the second self out, it's like, oh, putting a Band-Aid on a severed wound." She rubbed the back of her neck, turning her head and avoiding Ken's gaze. "You can put a stopper on it, but you can't quite fix it one hundred percent."
Ken swallowed. He took a deep breath and let it out. "So what's going to happen to him?"
"Probably not much," Roy said. "He's more susceptible, but it's not likely something will go after him again."
"It'll be more like things like, uh, what do they call them," Sen flapped a hand, "night terrors? Nightmares, at least." She looked almost sad. "He won't know where they come from, but they'll be there."
Ken dropped his gaze to his feet. "Elizabeth ... ?"
"Wasn't possessed," Sen said. "But she'll be a good target for it, if she keeps seeing the things she is."
He swallowed, then nodded. "All right," he said. "I'll tell her we can't--"
Sen punched his arm. For such a small woman, she hit hard enough to make his arm go numb. "*No*, idiot," she said, long-suffering. "This is where you say, 'oh, wise and wonderful and *pretty* Grandmother, why don't you teach me what I need to do so I can protect my girlfriend from getting targeted by the things that go bump in the night?' and *I* say, 'well, you're a stupid boy, but I suppose I'll see what I can do.' Okay?"
Ken rubbed his arm, staring. "... um?"
She crossed her arms and gave him an expectant look. One foot began to tap impatiently.
"Er ... oh wise and wonderful Grandmother, could you--"
"Pretty," she cut in. "Remember, pretty, too!" She sniffed and turned her nose up.
Ken stared at her, then pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "You can help me?"
"That's even *worse*," Sen complained, but when Ken looked at her again, her eyes were bright with honest laughter. "Fine. Since you're *so* cute, I can afford to be generous." She smirked, and though even Roy smiled a little at that, Ken wasn't terribly comforted.
"Oh, *good*," he said, laying on the sarcasm as heavily as he could. "I can't wait."
RIGHT ON CUE, though a little bit later than normal, I have hit the "oh my god, is this an okay story? am I just deluding myself into thinking I'm doing this anywhere near right? I'M JUST A HACK AREN'T I OH GOD DON'T LOOK AT ME."
[coughs] Well, okay, maybe not that dramatically. But I have hit the introduction of the main plot, and that always makes me feel a little uncertain, oddly enough. Buuuuu.
Hi, everyone, if you can take the time, please let me know if I'm doing this right. D:
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"Are you okay, Ken?"
"Wha--?" Ken's head jerked up at the sound of his name. He found himself half-hunched over a lab bench, a disorganized stack of papers in front of him, and his fellow TA, Elizabeth Lowe, leaning towards him with concern in her large blue eyes. She was pretty in an ordinary sort of way, with long thin brown hair usually tied in a messy ponytail and large blue eyes. She tended to be timid with her students, but still a competent worker otherwise. With the last of the General Chemistry lab sections over for the day, it was just the two of them left in the room, each with their own stack of student reports.
"You've been acting funny all day," she went on. Her voice began to trail off at the end, and she looked down. "So, you know, I was wondering -- I don't mean to pry or anything, but ..."
Ken stared at the report at the top of the stack for a moment. He thought about the sharpness of Sen's smile on the bridge -- his *grandmother*, and god, how weird was *that*? -- and the diluted line of blood on Roy's cheek from that morning. He considered just telling her, opening his mouth and saying, *I've met my missing grandmother and she's about seventy years too young and then I watched a guy kill an invisible zombie this morning, how was your day?* It took longer than he would've liked to shake off the impulse, but when he did, he managed to dredge up a wan smile. "I'm fine," he said. "Just -- long month, you know?" He gestured vaguely. "I guess I'm tired."
She bit the inside of her cheek and scooted just a little closer. "Yeah," she said hesitantly. "I mean, with your grandfather and everything, so I just thought ..."
He took a deep breath. "Yeah," he said shortly. "It's been rough."
"Were you guys close?" she asked, then squeaked, looking surprised at her own daring. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry, I--"
"Nah, it's okay." He smiled again and felt more like he meant it. "We were close. My sister's his youngest grandkid, so he visited a lot."
Elizabeth slid her hand closer to his, then stopped again, just short of touching. Ken watched it from the corner of one eye: it was a pretty hand, with long square fingers. Her nails were naked and cut very short, almost to the quick; she wore no rings. "That must have been nice," she offered hesitantly. "I never knew either of my grandfathers, they both died before I was born."
They stood quietly together, the silence broken only by the rustling of paper. When Ken risked a quick sideways glance, Elizabeth was staring down at the countertop. The tips of her ears were pink. When he cleared his throat she jumped, squeaking again before slapping both hands over her mouth and flushing red all the way down her neck. They stared at each other.
"I, uh," he said, and lifted the papers a bit awkwardly. "I'm done here, so ..."
"Right!" she agreed quickly. She skittered back, grabbing for her own stack of reports. "Right, uh, well -- I'm sure you need to get going, where do you live again?"
"Wallingford," Ken blurted. He tucked his papers to his chest with one arm and tugged at the collar of his shirt. He stared at a point over her head and forced himself to keep breathing normally; he hadn't felt so awkward in *years*. "It's not that far, I mean, if you wanted to -- I dunno, grab something to eat tonight, or something like that, we could --"
"Really?" Elizabeth's head snapped around as she stared at him. She blushed bright red. "Oh, oh no, I -- no! I mean, I'd really like to, but ..." She ducked her head, tucking hair behind one ear. "I'm busy tonight, but if you're free another time ..."
"My schedule's flexible," he said quickly. It took effort to keep from grinning like a moron. "I mean, I'd have to check to make sure, but maybe later this week--"
"Yeah," said Elizabeth. She peeked up at him through her hair and gave him a shy smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Great." Ken took a breath that made his entire body feel light, chest puffing up and out almost helplessly. "No, really, that's great. Um. I -- god," and he laughed, relieved when she giggled in answer. "Wow."
"I'm flattered," she said, smiling at him. "I mean, you're usually so, I dunno, aloof. You're actually a pretty nice guy, though, aren't you?"
"Actually," he said, and let his grin spread across his face, so wide it made his face hurt, "if you ask my sister, I'm a real jerk. Total asshole. Says if she met a guy like me, she'd run screaming in the other direction."
Elizabeth covered her mouth again, and he wondered if maybe he'd said too much -- was it stupid, bringing up your little sister when talking to a girl you liked? -- but then she laughed, deep and loud. When she looked at him again, her eyes were sparkling. "Then it's a good thing I'm not your sister, isn't it?"
"It'd be awkward," he agreed, grinning again. "I'm glad you're not."
"Yeah," she said. She glanced down for a moment, tugging at her hair. "So, um, I'll see you later, then--?"
"Tomorrow, at least," he said. "We've got afternoon lecture tomorrow, so--"
"Right! Right." She beamed. "I'll look for you tomorrow!"
"Yeah," he said. The lightness in his chest spread outwards, until even his fingers were tingling from it. "Tomorrow."
She beamed. She started to lean forward, then apparently caught herself, skittering back again. She adjusted the weight of her papers to give him a little wave, then was gone. Ken leaned against the counter and counted to ten. The giddy feeling didn't fade the entire time, and it was stupid and more than a little embarrassing, but for the moment, at least, he couldn't bring himself to care. And if there was a bit of a spring to his step as he shoved his students' reports into his backpack and made a beeline for the stairs, at least there was no one around to notice.
He made it to the front of Bagley Hall and stopped. Outside, it was already dark, and from the sounds of it raining again. The chill damp of the evening air when he opened the doors made his stomach twist; for a moment, he swore he could smell blood again. He stood there, contemplating the dark path up towards the Quad, then quietly stepped back into the lit warmth of the building, closing the doors. There was no sign of either Sen or Roy, but he could afford to give them about twenty minutes before he let himself feel annoyed and left anyway.
He sat down on one of the benches by the door and dug in his backpack for a red pen and a report, using his bent knee as a desk. As he bent forward to start reading, there came a loud series of thuds to his left. Startled, he looked up just in time to see a body come tumbling down the stairs. Alarmed, Ken shot to his feet, dropping everything and hurrying over. "Are you all right?!"
Up close, he recognized the figure as another TA -- one whose name he vaguely remembered as Rob or Robby or something similar -- lying sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. Ken sank down to his knees, his hands hovering for a moment, afraid to touch. Rob's neck looked straight enough still, but his leg was twisted under his body at a nasty-looking angle. There was no apparent blood, though, and for that Ken was grateful.
"Rob?" he tried, keeping his voice low. "Hey, Rob? It's me, Ken -- Ken Suzuki, I'm one of Professor Reed's students? Can you hear me? You had a pretty nasty fall. I'm going to call someone, and they'll get you taken care of, okay?" He leaned back, digging in his pocket for his cellphone.
Something grabbed his elbow and pulled. He let out a startled yelp and saw Rob's eyes were now wide open. Ken started to say something, relieved to see him conscious, then paused. Rob just stared, not letting go of Ken's arm.
"Hey," he tried. "Dude, how're you feeling? You took a pretty nasty fall. If you give me a moment, I can call someone--"
"Suzuki," Rob said. Something sounded strange in his voice, horrible and hollow and aching. The hairs on the back of his neck rose. "Ken Suzuki."
"Right," he said slowly. He grabbed Rob's wrist and tugged loosely, then winced when those fingers tightened, hard enough to make his elbow ache. "Hey, man, you wanna let go for a sec? Can't really help you if you're holding onto me like this."
Rob said nothing, but yanked at Ken's arm again, using it to pull himself to a seated position; Ken had to lean back hard just to keep his own balance. "Hey," he said again. "Seriously, it looks like your leg's pretty busted. I wouldn't be surprised if it was broken. We should--"
"Ken Suzuki," Rob said again. He smiled, and it looked more like a grimace, all of his teeth bared and his eyes open as wide as humanly possible. As Ken watched, first red, then black, filtered across the whites of Rob's eyes until they were completely filled. They looked like hollow sockets set deep in his face.
"Oh, shit," Ken said, staring at him. "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said I was kidding, before, about being me?"
The pressure on his elbow let go, but before he could throw himself out of the way, both of Rob's hands shot upwards, closing tight around his throat. Ken choked, reaching to claw desperately at Rob's wrists as the other man rose to his knees, still apparently unbothered by his injured leg. He leaned in close, and his breath was hot and sour on Ken's face. His exaggerated grin filled Ken's entire vision, unpleasantly clear even through the black spots beginning to form. In a last moment of perfect clarity, he thought this was terribly unfair -- he'd *done* the right thing, he'd *waited*, so then why--
"Ken?!" Elizabeth's voice squeaked. "Oh my god -- *Rob*?! What are you doing?"
Ken saw Rob's head snap up and around. The hands on his throat slackened, and he managed to suck in enough breath to yell something that meant to be *run* but probably was more like *nnnngh*.
Elizabeth screamed, and he heard another heavy thud, like a body slamming into something, though when he tried to turn his head, Rob's attention snapped back to him, and the stranglehold tightened on his throat again, and damn it, this *really was not fair*--
"Holy hell," said Sen's voice. "Are you really *that good* at getting into trouble?"
He struggled, but couldn't see her -- couldn't see anything past Rob's leering grin, really -- but then the hands on his throat jerked and let go completely. He fell back, coughing and sucking in desperate gulps of air as Rob began to scream, both in his own voice and with that weird hollow echo. It rose up to a painfully high-pitched shriek, and then Rob's voice cut out from under it, leaving only the other, growing steadily higher and thinner until it simply vanished.
Ken opened his eyes. Rob was slumped to the side, his eyes open and normal now, if glazed and blank. His mouth hung open with a thin trail of spittle drooling from one corner. Sen stood beside him, poking him gingerly with one foot, hands on her hips.
"Whuu," Ken started, then swallowed a few times and tried again: "What ... happened?" He stiffened. "'Lizabeth, she--"
"She's all right," Roy said, and Ken turned fast as his aching head would allow. Elizabeth slumped against the far wall, limp and unmoving. Roy crouched beside her, not touching, looking straight at Ken. "He was distracted by you. She just got knocked around a little."
Ken got to his knees, then gingerly to his feet, slapping a hand against the banister for a moment to keep his balance. He looked down at Rob. "What about him?"
"Sloppy," Sen announced. She lifted one foot, the gesture oddly delicate, and nudged it against Rob's shoulder. He toppled over completely, unmoving, and she looked up, lips pursed. "Whatever it was tried to borrow a living person to get his work down, and that's always tricky. The living still have conscious wills of their own, so they fight back. It probably grabbed him while he was up *there*--" she pointed to the top of the stairs, "and the shock of fighting it left neither him nor it in control of the body, so it fell *here*--" she pointed to where Rob lay now, "and triggered when you, Mister Concerned Passer-by, came to check on him."
He scowled and let go of the banister. Standing up had just made his headache worse, until it felt like the sheer throbbing pain was going to start bleeding out his head wherever possible. "Sorry for being worried when a man comes *falling down the stairs,*" he said. "Next time, I'll just sit there and not make sure he's okay."
Sen's eyes rounded, covering her mouth in mock horror. "Pissy," she said. "Is that how you treat someone who just saved your life? Because I've got to tell you, you could really stand to work on your gratitude--"
"Whatever you say," Ken muttered. "*Grandmother.*"
Sen went rigid. She stared at him -- he could *feel* her gaze boring holes into her back -- then turned to look at Roy, who just shrugged, apparently unconcerned by her silent accusation. In the awkward silence that followed, Ken began to make his way over to Elizabeth and Roy, gritting his teeth against the pounding in his head. To his relief, by the time he made it over to kneel beside Elizabeth she was beginning to stir: her eyes squeezed more tightly shut for a moment, then fluttered slowly open. Ken hesitated, then reached down and took one of her hands between both his own.
"Elizabeth?" he asked, keeping his voice soft. "Hey, Elizabeth? Can you hear me?"
She stared blankly, then raised her eyes to his. "Ken ... ?"
He chafed her hands between his. "Yeah," he said softly. "It's me. Are you all right?"
"I ..." She licked her lips, then sat up suddenly and winced. Her fingers tightened around his, hard enough to hurt. "Oh my god! Ken! Weren't you just -- I saw you, and Rob, and --"
"I'm okay," he said, and added, "No, really," at her suspicious look. "What about you?"
"Me?" Elizabeth shifted and winced again, pressing the heel of her hand against one eye. "Um. I was dropping something off for a professor, and then I was leaving, and then I heard ... and you were ..." She gave him a pleading look. "What's going *on*?"
Ken swallowed. He looked at her hand, nearly the same size as his own but far more delicate. "Well," he said. "There's--"
"Your friend was possessed," said Roy. "It wasn't interested in you, just Ken. You just happened to get in the way."
"Possessed?!" Elizabeth's voice broke shrilly on the last syllable. Ken's fingers were numb from how tightly she was holding onto them. "Rob was? By what?"
"Probably a construct of some sort." Roy scratched his chin, looking thoughtful. "Not a very high level one, since it ran away pretty much as soon as we got here, but strong enough to take control of a human body. Probably nothing more than your regular construct who--" he was cut off as Sen came up from behind and cuffed his head.
"Honestly," Sen said. She put a hand on Roy's head and shoved it down, which he allowed without even trying to fight. "It's called *tact*, remember? I thought we were working on this."
He shrugged, a bit awkwardly from his bent-forward position. "They asked."
"You don't *actually* have to tell them everything, every time," Sen muttered. She scrubbed hard at Roy's hair, leaving it badly mussed; only then did she let go and allow him to straighten up. She waited until he was done, then cuffed him again, more gently than before, then said to Ken and Elizabeth, "Sorry. Can't take this guy anywhere, or stuff like this happens. Well, not stuff *exactly* like this, but you know, that whole 'tell too much' bit--"
"Because you never tell anything at all," Roy pointed out mildly, and got his head shoved again for the effort.
"Possessed," Elizabeth said again. She listed to one side until her shoulder bumped against Ken's. In the building's fluorescent lighting she looked washed out and pale, dark bruiselike half-circles under her eyes when there'd been none just half an hour ago. Ken wanted to put his arm around her and say something, but what was the proper protocol with a girl you hadn't even had one date with yet, and who'd already gotten drawn in by his crazily too-young grandmother? He settled for squeezing her hand as well as his numb fingers would allow.
"Yup." Sen dropped to a crouch across from them, resting her elbows on her knees. Her green eyes were narrow and sharp as her smile, all bared teeth in her small round face. "Not just demons can do that, and we're lucky it wasn't anything like that." She turned her head, glancing significantly over at Rob's body -- now propped against the far wall with ropes tied around its waist and a slip of paper plastered to its forehead -- then back at Ken and Elizabeth. "Human bodies are kind of weak, but they can be awfully useful when necessary." She laced her fingers together and rocked forward. "Given the chance, there are a lot of things that would love to get a human body of its very own. With a few modifications, they become very comfortable hosts."
Ken shook his head. "Hosts," he repeated. His neck hurt; with every breath, he could feel each individual bruise on his throat. "You've got to be kidding me."
"I would if I could," said Sen. "Believe me, it'd be awesome. But I'm not a liar, and I can't take this back." She looked at Elizabeth and her smile faded. "You."
"Me?" Elizabeth whispered, her voice thin. "What about me?"
"You don't have to hold on to this." Sen rocked back again, tilting her head. "You don't have to remember any of what just happened, if you want."
"Hey," Ken protested. "What's that supposed to mean? Why can she forget and not--"
"Shhh." Sen held up a finger, never breaking eye contact with Elizabeth. Her voice lowered, turning almost gentle as she went on: "You weren't meant to see any of this. You don't have the capacity for it anywhere in your bloodlines." She reached out and took Elizabeth's chin in hand, holding it steady. "And this is where I tell you something really cliché about how you're going to be in danger from now on, and you'll never learn a way to protect yourself, but ..." She jerked Elizabeth's chin up abruptly, exposing the length of Elizabeth's throat to run the nail of her other thumb down it, hard enough to leave a faintly-bleeding red line. Ken started to protest, and felt fingers hook into the hood of his sweatshirt, pulling him back; when he looked, Roy just shook his head.
"... It's all true," Sen finished quietly. She let go of Elizabeth's face and rocked up to her feet, crossing her arms. "Once you see them, they start noticing you, too. And sooner or later, you're gonna run into something that isn't going to like you staring, and then ..." She drew a line across her own throat.
Elizabeth stared, then bowed her head. She covered her throat with one hand and hunched her shoulders up. Ken shook off Roy's hand, and this time he did put his arm around her shoulders. She felt very thin against him, but was rock-steady: there wasn't even the faintest tremor in her when she lifted her head again. Her mouth pressed into a hard line in her pale face.
"I'll do it," she said.
Sen's face betrayed nothing, gone smooth and still as a mask. "Are you sure? It gets harder to take back, the more you see. You'd be better off avoiding Ken after this."
Ken stiffened. The protest rose and died on his lips at the sight of Rob's bound body, but he kept his arm around her anyway, waiting.
"However," she went on, and reached down to take Ken's hand in hers again -- still tightly, though less clinging than before -- "I'm not going to avoid him. If this is something dangerous he's involved in, I don't want him to worry about me. But that doesn't mean I want to stop -- he owes me coffee." She glanced up at Ken and flushed a little, managing a wan smile.
"Careful there, Eurydice," Sen said. She reached into her coat and pulled out two heavy copper coins which she fanned out to display before handing them to Elizabeth. "You shouldn't try looking back too much either."
Ken looked over Elizabeth's shoulder at the coins in her palm. They were both roughly the size of a half-dollar, worn smooth and nearly featureless. He reached to take one and got his hand slapped for the effort.
"Those aren't for you, Orpheus," she said. "But you," to Elizabeth, "when you go to sleep tonight, put those over your eyes. Don't worry about them falling off: they just need to be there for a little bit. You'll forget everything that's just happened here."
Elizabeth closed her fingers, then shifted to push the coins into her jeans pocket. "Everything?" she asked hesitantly. "This whole night?"
"Well." Sen leaned back and grinned suddenly, relaxed again. "Everything that had to do with the strangling and the getting thrown around by invisible forces, that sort of thing. As long as *someone* doesn't try to push you on what you remember, you'll be all right." She pulled a face. "Man, and I had to trade a *lot* to get my hands on those ..."
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said almost immediately. She covered her pocket. "Do you want them back--?"
"Pfft," said Sen. She waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, I'm in good with the shopkeeper's husband. He'll put in a good word for me, I'll be fine. But you be careful, okay? They're only good once, so if you see something again and decide you really can't handle it, you can't just reuse them. They just set up a block that gets harder to rebuild every time, and you have to keep paying more till--" She pursed her lips, then scowled and turned to Roy. "I've been hanging out with you too much. I'm starting to tell people everything, too."
"It's not a bad habit," Roy said.
"It's *lame*," Sen said. She crossed her arms and pouted; Ken half-expected her to roll onto her back and start kicking her legs, she sounded so petulant. "Lame! What's the fun in *telling* them everything, seriously! People have to figure it out on their own in the movies."
"And we're not in the movies," Roy said. He got to his feet and nodded to the other side of the room. "What about that one?"
"Huh?" Sen twisted to peer at the forgotten Rob. She scratched her cheek, then shrugged. "I dunno. Leave him?"
"What, *no*," Ken said immediately, echoed by Elizabeth's nod. "We can't just leave him like that!"
"What about if we untied him first?"
"*No*!" Ken stared at her in disbelief. "Are you crazy? He's been hurt, we need to call someone so they can get him down to the hospital." He got to his feet, pulling Elizabeth with him, and crossed the room to Rob's side. He knelt and pulled the slip of paper from Rob's forehead, then began to untie the ropes
"Rob?" Elizabeth asked, crouching down by his feet. "Hey, Rob? Are you all right?"
After a moment he groaned, shaking his head slowly. "Ow, fuck," he said, then looked up, squinting at them both. "Dude, what? What's going on?"
"You had a bit of a fall," Ken said, picking at the knots. He couldn't make himself look at either Rob or Elizabeth as he worked. "Don't know how you managed it, but I think you've busted your leg pretty badly, dude."
"Fuck," Rob agreed feelingly. "Shit, am I tied up? What the fuck?"
"You're just imagining things," Elizabeth said with shrill brightness, glancing quickly at Ken and then away again. "Probably hit your head a bit on the way down, right, Ken?"
"Right," Ken said. The last knot came undone, and Rob made a low hissing sound of pain as they were tugged loose. "Just imagining things, man, you're not tied up at all."
"Shit, you serious?" Rob squinted again. "Man, I haven't even had anything to drink at all today."
"Maybe it's a sign for you to lay off a bit," Elizabeth said. She reached and brushed some of the hair back from his forehead, revealing a darkening purple lump on his hairline. "Yeah, definitely looks like you banged your head a bit. Ken, d'you want to call--?" She made a vague gesture to encompass all of Rob's bent body, twisted leg and bruised head and all.
"Yeah, sure." Ken got to his feet. He glanced briefly at Roy and Sen as he did; they both watched him with steady, unblinking eyes; something in the fluorescent lighting did something strange to Sen's, so that the pupils were electric green, like those of a cat. He turned away and flipped his cell open, only half-paying attention to what he said -- *an accident in Bagley Hall on the UW campus, yeah, I think he might've hit his head falling down the stairs, yeah he's coherent, yeah we can stay with him till someone gets there, thanks*.
When he hung up, Sen stood an arm's length away, her hands shoved deep in her pockets, her head tilted up to look at him. Her expression was serious again, the same weird gleam in her eyes even up close. She nodded to Rob, holding his head and breathing in slow hisses, eyes squeezed shut.
"I've done what I can," she said softly. "But he's not going to be okay."
Ken stared at her. He tucked his phone into his pocket. "What do you mean."
She blew out a loud sigh, cheeks puffing. "C'mere," she said, and reached out to grab his wrist; Ken followed her limply back over to where Roy stood.
"He was possessed," Roy said almost at once. Unlike Sen, he seemed completely untroubled by the declaration. "Something fought to get into his head and succeeded. Even now, his 'self' is no longer completely his alone."
"What?" Ken's eyes widened. He glanced back sharply; Rob didn't notice, but Elizabeth gave him a questioning look. He met it for a few seconds, then turned again. "But you said you got rid of it--"
"I did," Sen said. "But humans aren't really meant to have more than one consciousness at a time. It does weird things to them, and even when you drive the second self out, it's like, oh, putting a Band-Aid on a severed wound." She rubbed the back of her neck, turning her head and avoiding Ken's gaze. "You can put a stopper on it, but you can't quite fix it one hundred percent."
Ken swallowed. He took a deep breath and let it out. "So what's going to happen to him?"
"Probably not much," Roy said. "He's more susceptible, but it's not likely something will go after him again."
"It'll be more like things like, uh, what do they call them," Sen flapped a hand, "night terrors? Nightmares, at least." She looked almost sad. "He won't know where they come from, but they'll be there."
Ken dropped his gaze to his feet. "Elizabeth ... ?"
"Wasn't possessed," Sen said. "But she'll be a good target for it, if she keeps seeing the things she is."
He swallowed, then nodded. "All right," he said. "I'll tell her we can't--"
Sen punched his arm. For such a small woman, she hit hard enough to make his arm go numb. "*No*, idiot," she said, long-suffering. "This is where you say, 'oh, wise and wonderful and *pretty* Grandmother, why don't you teach me what I need to do so I can protect my girlfriend from getting targeted by the things that go bump in the night?' and *I* say, 'well, you're a stupid boy, but I suppose I'll see what I can do.' Okay?"
Ken rubbed his arm, staring. "... um?"
She crossed her arms and gave him an expectant look. One foot began to tap impatiently.
"Er ... oh wise and wonderful Grandmother, could you--"
"Pretty," she cut in. "Remember, pretty, too!" She sniffed and turned her nose up.
Ken stared at her, then pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "You can help me?"
"That's even *worse*," Sen complained, but when Ken looked at her again, her eyes were bright with honest laughter. "Fine. Since you're *so* cute, I can afford to be generous." She smirked, and though even Roy smiled a little at that, Ken wasn't terribly comforted.
"Oh, *good*," he said, laying on the sarcasm as heavily as he could. "I can't wait."
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