Disclaimer- I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories Emotion, Old Friends, Family, Difficult Decisions, Reflection, Spirit and Acceptance.
It was a cold morning in Juniper House and Matt Crower stood at the window of his dim lit cell, staring at the frost which covered the lower region of the glass. The effect weather had on the surroundings had always fascinated Matt and focusing on the frosted windowpane helped him forget about his current place of residence.
Matt had been so angry that he had torn out pages from his journal and scrunched them up in his closed fist. When he was first brought to Juniper House a year earlier, the on site therapist had suggested he write all of his feelings and thoughts in a journal to assist with his recovery. He had been woken up early this morning by the screams of another inmate and had decided to read through the years worth of pages; however, what he read had taken him back to his first few months here and he could not get the visions out of his mind.
Matt was taken back to his first day here, after he had challenged Lucas and shouted his beliefs that the evil man would inevitably be stopped, he had felt deflated. When he was awoken from a broken sleep that first morning he had been dragged out of his cell, thrown into an ice cold shower then beaten by some orderlies. After they had finished their abuse he had been thrown back into his cell and left for hours before any food was brought to him, Matt had told himself at that point that he would not be broken and this was all part of Lucas Buck's plan; however, the torture continued exactly like this at the same time every morning for several months and it was hard to keep his resolve.
When scheduled meetings with a therapist began to take place the torture ceased. He began to think he had gotten through the worst of what was in store for him and was amazed when he started to receive regular visits from Gail. He had opened up to her about everything that had happened to him and she had comforted him, recorded his concerns on her tape recorder and assured him she would expose Juniper for what it was, a corrupt place which was secretly ran by Lucas Buck to get rid of any resident who challenged him.
Gail visited him every day for a month and their friendship grew to something more in that time. Matt began to pine for her when she left and felt butterflies in his stomach when he heard her whispers through his cell door, which indicated her arrival each morning. After a month he finally could not hold back his feelings any longer and kissed her, she had welcomed his embrace as they kissed and had held him for hours. Matt had watched her walk down the dingy corridor out of the small opening on his cell door when she had to leave that day, then stared on in horror when she turned towards him showing a wicked smile and morphed into his wife, his daughter and then finally Lucas Buck, before disappearing completed.
There were no visits after that and Matt realised that the whole month had been some type of cruel vision forced into his mind by Lucas. The man himself would visit him to taunt him once a week and the remainder of the time Matt would hear the voices of his dead family, Merlyn Temple, Caleb and Gail. Matt started to realise that he had finally lost and Lucas had broken him. He made peace with the fact that every person he knew that had visited him were not real and he would never see the people he had grown to love again, until the day Gail had finally truly managed to find her way to him.
Matt had read all the pages in his journal and ripped them out in disgust at the torture he had endured, showing them to Gail would help her expose this place for what it really was; however, he would never allow her to find out the full extent of the damage caused to him, especially with her strange behaviour of late. No, she had saved him and brought him back to the land of the living, therefore, he would protect her from the horrors he had endured and not allow her to feel any guilt over to how long it took for her to get to him.
Matt knew exactly who was to blame for everything that had happened to him and he would get his revenge. Everything seemed perfect for Lucas at the moment, he had Gail, a loyal following and he even had Caleb trying to impress him. Matt did not know how Lucas managed to turn smart people to his will; however, he was determined to expose the evil that is Lucas Buck, he just needed to bide his time.
A knock on his cell door came and Matt smiled, it was time for his day leave and Gail was earlier than usual. Matt threw the papers scrunched up in his fist in the bin and grabbed his jacket, ready to meet his friend.
Merlyn sat at the breakfast table staring at the remainder of the food on her plate, with Rocky nipping gently at her ankles. Before she was fully whole she would feed the dog under the table so Gail would not see that she was not required to eat; however, her hunger was constantly present now and she could not get enough of food.
She knew it was the day Gail picked up Matt for his day leave from Juniper House so she had made her way down the stairs early from the spare bedroom she had been allowed to occupy, in the hopes that her cousin would make her some breakfast. Gail had obliged and cooked some scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes to which Merlyn was very appreciative of.
Gail told her that she hoped to be back by the time Caleb got out of bed and if not Merlyn was to ensure he got to school on time. Merlyn was happy to help out, she had nowhere else to go and her cousin appeared to have just accepted that she was now staying with them. If Lucas was correct and she was in fact alive, she needed to start being of assistance to her cousin to ensure she was not seen as a burden.
Merlyn had only had a week so far to come to terms with Lucas' revelation about her and she had not taken the news well. At first she was overwhelmed and upset, she had accepted what Lucas had done to her previously and had gotten used to the guidance of her fallen family so becoming whole again was not what she had wanted and it felt unnatural. She had then became angry at the situation as her choice had been taken from her and she was not willing to just accept this new way of being.
Gail had spotted her one night pacing around her backyard angrily mumbling to herself, she had sat her down and allowed her to have a bit of her wine to calm herself down. Her cousin told her that she had noticed how much Caleb appeared to care about her and she was lucky to have him in this hard time it appeared she was experiencing. She explained that she had gone through life completely alone when she was her age and if her family was in fact all dead, she must have been given a second chance to start over; therefore, she needed to stop focusing on whatever was making her angry and start living her life.
Even though Gail did not outwardly appear to acknowledge who Merlyn really was, the conversation indicated that deep down she knew and she was trying to offer her some advice. Her words had made Merlyn reassess the situation and she had chosen to accept what had happened and enjoy the time she had with her brother.
Rocky jumped up and placed his paws on the kitchen table, then began to whine softly. Merlyn shook her head and gave the dog a piece of the last pancake, then stroked his head affectionately. She was not used to this seemingly normal family life and seen as she was stuck in this form for the time being, she would allow herself to enjoy the normality guilt free. She had not asked for this and she had not managed to find any reports about unborn children being lost; therefore, she would let herself assume this was a blessing, unless she was told otherwise.
Caleb walked tiredly into the kitchen dragging his feet against the floor like a zombie and sat down opposite his sister. He look disappointingly at the empty plates in front of him and Merlyn smiled apologetically as she finished off the last piece of bacon. 'Merly there's three big plates here, how much did you eat?' he asked shocked, whilst rubbing his eyes.
Merlyn shrugged, stood up and took the plates to the kitchen sink. 'I've got over a year to make up for Caleb...I'm startving!' she said laughing.
Caleb smiled, it was great having his sister back and he loved that she seemed so relaxed. He initially thought it was Lucas who had made Merlyn whole again; however, she scolded him for trying to give Lucas credit where it was not due. Caleb did not care who or what made this happen, he was just happy that he had his family and it was not like the last time Merlyn had come back, as he had been checking newspapers with his sister to ensure nothing bad was happening. 'You eat whatever you want Merly, I'm just gonna have some cereal. Where's Gail?'
Merlyn took down Caleb's favourite cereal from the cupboard and passed him the box, then got him a bowl and some milk. She saw a sandwich wrapped in foil in the fridge and took it out, as she was still hungry. 'She's gone for Matt, she should be back soon...' Merlyn said taking a bite out of the ham and cheese sandwich, '...I need to get you to school if she's runnin' late'
'Don't you worry about the school run Missy...' Lucas said leaning against the kitchen wall, '...I'll drop him off. Your cousin will be a while anyhow if she's up at the nut house'
Merlyn shook her head, she hated this appearing act of Lucas'. 'Firstly, I don't need your help getting my brother to school...secondly, didn't Gail ban you from coming around like this?'
Lucas smiled at her boldness, it clearly ran in the family. 'I don't mind takin' my son to school M...' he said choosing to regard her like Gail did, '...and I don't think his cousin would have a problem with me checking in on the children of this house'
Caleb stood up from the table, he could sense the tension in the air beginning to build up and he could not deal with this before school. 'Lucas can take me Merly, someone needs to walk Rocky anyhow'
Merlyn glanced at Rocky who was growling quietly at Lucas, 'Fine...I'll do you a new sandwich and I'll make sure Gail knows exactly how you got to school'
Caleb shook his head knowing his cousin would not be happy with Lucas just turning up like this when she was not home, but he would stay out of it. He needed to go get ready for school otherwise he would be late and he did not think Gail would approve if he got detention.
Gail stood with Matt leaning against a railing on the pier with a cup of coffee in her hand, playing with the necklace Lucas had given her on Halloween. The symbol had looked familiar and after some research she had found it was in fact a talisman which was supposed to aid with protection like Lucas had told her, Gail was not sure about any of that but she liked it and had barely taken it off since she got it.
The weather had begun to turn cold and the water was not as calm as it had been the previous month. She had failed to get back home early enough to drop Caleb off at school; however, she trusted M would ensure he was on time, therefore, she had decided to head straight into town to get a start on her daily tasks.
It had been a hard week for her dealing with the new occupant in her house and the presence within her, she was proud of herself for managing to control the mysterious part of herself whilst taking on another dependant. She had felt a slight void within her since the Mayor's fancy dress party and that seemed to give her something to focus on while she practised pushing the darkness within her deep down. She was happy that there appeared to have been no incidents which could potentially involve her and this freed her up to accept Lucas back into her regular activities.
Gail had visited Lucas late last night and had stayed over at his place while her dependants were sleeping, she had every intention of returning home before they woke up so they would not know she had slept somewhere else and had set an alarm for 6:30am; however, she had been awoken at 5:00am by an unusual dream about Matt being continuously tortured by orderlies in Juniper House and the dream somehow turned towards her being intimate with him. Gail had not known what the dream meant but she had experienced a sudden concern for her friend, which resulted in her sneaking out of Lucas' bed earlier than intended and wanting to get to Juniper as soon as possible.
Matt had been very quiet in the car on the way into town, she had thought some fresh air might do him some good and she certainly was happy for some caffeine to help wake her up properly. 'So, you look as tired as me...' she said in an attempt to break his silence, '...are you not sleeping?'
Matt took a sip of his coffee and stared out into the river, the waves were hypnotic and he found it hard to take his attention away from the calming movements. 'It's hard to sleep in a mental asylum Gail' he said with a shrug.
Gail watched her friend closely with concern, there was definitely something wrong with him and he seemed more withdrawn than usual today. She needed to get him out of Juniper soon, or the place was likely to suck out all of the goodness in him and turn him into a lifeless shell of a man.
Ever since she accepted the thing that resided deep within her, she had began to get a lot of clarity about certain things in this town and Juniper House was one of them. She could sense the bad things that had taken place there; however, she could not find any proof to back up what she knew. Her story was initially based on Holly Gallagher and the fact that she had been hidden away in that place for years, her investigations opened her up to finding out about some experimental procedures that had been performed and a corrupt chain of command; however, she was unable to gain access to any patients she believed had been harmed and Matt would not open up about his experience there.
Her story hit a wall when Holly's mother withdrew consent to publish anything about her daughter, Gail knew that was down to Lucas and he was trying to back her into a corner to ensure this little game they had going about Matt would be controlled by him. Without evidence she could not move on Juniper House and she had decided she did not want to give in to Lucas' deal like she had initially planned to, unless she absolutely had to. If Caleb decided he wanted t spend time with Lucas she would not stop him; however, she would not to anything to sway his decision whether it would help Matt or not. Right now she was stuck in a rut and her friend appeared to be suffering because of it.
Gail placed her hand gently on Matt's shoulder and gave him a warm smile when he finally turned his attention towards her. 'I'm trying the best I can here, but I'm running out of leads. You just need to stay strong for a little while longer and remember I'm working on it'
Matt forced a reassuring smile, he knew she would try her best to get him out of Juniper; however, he did not believe Lucas Buck would allow that happen and he was unsure whether Gail would be able to challenge Lucas when she was romantically involved with him. Matt would never imply such a thing to his friend, he knew her too well and an insinuation like that would cause her to put up a barrier between them.
No, he would just continue pretending he was oblivious to her romance with the devil of Trinity and would not show his true feelings on the matter. 'I'm fine Gail...' he lied, '...and I got myself into this mess not you. You can only do so much before you end up taking on the burden of my actions, I don't want you to do that. If you can come up with some moral way of getting me out that's great, but if not I'll just deal with the consequences of my own stupid actions'
Gail knew he was hinting at her not to make a deal wit Lucas, but he would not come out and say it. 'I'm a bit girl Matt and I'll do what I want, you just make sure you keep on being sane until I can figure something out...I don't want you cracking up on me in there'
Matt laughed, 'Already done that Gail and it won't happen again'
'Glad to hear it...' she said smiling, '...now let's go and get something to eat'
Lucas spotted Gail's car outside Sandra's Coffee and Breakfast shop as he was driving towards the Sheriff's Station and decided to check what his love was up to. He parked up, walked casually over to the window and watched attentively as she was laughing with Matt Crower on one of the tables. He inhaled deeply in an attempt to push down his irritation, he did not appreciate how close the man's friendship was with his love.
Gail had not been in his bed when he awoke this morning and she would normally wake him to say goodbye. He had assumed she had returned to his son earlier than expected; however, it had become evident when he turned up at her place that she had already gone for Harvard and left the children to fend for themselves.
Lucas did not like to be pushed to one side, especially for the man before him so he closed his eyes and focused on Gail's mobile telephone. He envisioned it ringing with her boss's number and smiled when he heard the familiar ringtone, then opened his eyes to see her rush up from the table and go out back to answer the phone.
When Gail rushed outside to answer her phone to her Editor Mark, there was only silence on the other end. 'Mark, can you hear me?...Hello?...Damn it!' she said staring at the mobile phone irritably, she was due to have a meeting with him later that day and had hoped he was calling to cancel. Before she could call him back she felt hands grab her hips tight and was pulled back into a toned chest, she did not have to turn around to know who holding her and smiled when she felt his lips brush gently against her neck. 'To what do I owe this pleasure Sheriff?' she asked sweetly, leaning back into his grasp.
Lucas smiled and began to kiss her neck softly. 'It appears I didn't get my goodbye kiss this mornin' due to the man in there, I thought I'd best come over and remind you what you missed out on' he whispered as he let his hands trail over her stomach, then pushed a hand under her skirt and moved it slowly between her legs.
Gail inhaled deeply and allowed him to stroke her, she knew by know they would only get caught if Lucas wanted them to and he knew better than that. 'Are you worried about what I missed or what you did?' she panted and reached behind her to play with his crotch.
Lucas moaned quietly at her touch and pushed his fingers inside her. 'A bit of both I suspect Darlin'...' he whispered in her ear and bit it playfully, '...how about we get outta here for a while and I'll show you exactly what should've transpired earlier?'
Gail moaned softly when she felt his fingers enter her, she still yearned for him every moment of each day. If this was any other day he would have his wish; however, it was the day she had Matt and she could not leave her friend. 'As good as that offer sounds Sheriff, I have someone depending on me in there and I can't just leave'
Lucas gripped her stomach tight to hold her to him then pushed another finger inside her and smiled when he heard her deep intake of breath. He nuzzled at her neck then began to nip at it playfully. 'Harvard is used to being locked up in a cell, what's a little while on his own in a coffee shop gonna hurt?' he whispered.
Gail felt herself start to become unravelled with his persistent movements inside her, she felt the familiar sensation begin to rush through her as it usually did when her body started to betray her and closed her eyes tight trying to seek some assistant to regain her self control. She did not want to abandon her friend, especially when he was acting strange; however, her body was aching for Lucas.
Gail started to plead with her subconscious to stay strong as she her guard was beginning to waiver and cursed herself when Lucas removed his fingers from her to lead her to his car. Suddenly she felt a wave of strength rise within her and she pulled her hand out of his, then stepped away from his grasp. 'No!' she said in a voice unlike her own.
Lucas stared at her confused, he had been sure that he had her and this sudden display shocked him. 'No?' he asked in disbelief.
Gail felt the presence she was working so hard to control take over body; however, it did not appear to be malevolent, it seemed to be helping her resist her urges and she was thankful for this surprising intrusion. 'You heard me...I'm busy, we'll pick this up where we left off later' she said and turned away to head back to Matt.
Lucas grabbed her arm tight and pulled her face close to him, he could see the glint of darkness in her eyes and it was willing him to challenge her. He did not like that the presence inside her appeared to be working against him; however, she had been doing well to control her inner companion recently and he would not give it a reason to surface fully, at least not yet. 'You go on to Harvard, but you're mine tonight' he said sternly.
Gail glanced down at her arm and he released her, then she gave him a devilish smile. 'You can count on that Sheriff' she said and walked back into the coffee shop.
Lucas ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head, now he would be pent up for the whole day waiting for her to come to him.
Merlyn walked aimlessly around the streets surrounding Gail's house for an hour with Rocky, trying to figure out what to do with herself. She had nowhere to go and nothing to do but hang around Gail's house and keep Rocky company. She had started to look at this dog as her only real friend and would talk to him about all the things she used to be able to do as a ghost, it was very therapeutic knowing she could get everything off her chest and Rocky could not repeat her confessions to anyone.
Merlyn turned onto Gail's street and felt Rocky pull hard on the lead, knowing he was returning to his home. She smiled and wished she could call a place home, Gail had allowed her to stay with Caleb whenever she wanted; however, it was a strange arrangement and although her cousin accepted her presence, she did not accept who she truly was which meant Merlyn could not feel at home there.
'So you're the reason why I haven't had any calls to do any jobs' Poppy Bowen said as Merlyn approached Gail's porch.
Merlyn regarded Poppy carefully, she was taken aback at being noticed and Poppy stood with her arms crossed in a hostile stance which indicated she was mad. Merlyn ignored Rocky's pulls to get at Poppy and began to walk around the back of the house. 'I don't know what you're talkin' about' she said timidly, as she tried to move away from the confrontation.
'The hell you don't...' Poppy said coming down the porch steps, '...I don't know why Gail would choose you instead of me, but it's not right you takin' my job from me...I need the money'
Merlyn could tell Poppy was not going to leave her alone and having monitored her cousin's experiences with people in the past, she had noticed the best way to deal with confrontation was to tackle it head on and not back down. She let Rocky off the lead to run around the garden then turned towards Poppy. 'Look, I haven't taken your job...I'm family and I'm expected to help out while I'm stayin' here' she said, using the story Gail previously had with her friend Mary.
Poppy knelt down to stroke Rocky when he ran up to her and smiled when he ran to the back of the garden. 'I didn't think Caleb and Gail had any family but each other' she said standing back up.
'Not that it's any of your business, but I'm their cousin from out of town. I'm sorry if you've not been needed recently, it wasn't my intention to take your job away from you' Merlyn said, knowing Poppy had wanted this job to save money so she could move away from this town.
Poppy shrugged, this girl seemed nice and she had not meant to come across as angry. 'You're family, there's not much that can be done about that...What do you do when Gail's at work and Caleb is at school? Gail works long hours so I can imagine you have quite a lot of spare time'
Merlyn laughed nervously, 'That's an understatement...I can't go to school so I just keep Rocky company most of the time, there's not much else for me to do'
Poppy nodded, she knew what it was like to be stuck in a place without any friends. She had been going stir-crazy cooped up in the house with TJ, that was why she had wanted a job to get away from the place. She sensed a kindred spirit in the girl before her, she had an air of loss and loneliness about her which Poppy could relate to. 'I like to spend time at the library when I get bored of being cooped up...I'm headin' there now if you wanna join me? I can show you a few quiet spots around town to save you having to wait around in the house all day...oh and I'm Poppy by the way'
Merlyn smiled, this was the first time she had actually had a conversation with a girl her age. 'I'm M and I'd love to join you if it's not too much trouble'
'It's no trouble at all, let's feed Rocky then we'll just go' Poppy said smiling.
Lucas sat in his car watching closely as Merlyn and Poppy came from around the back of Gail's house. He had spotted Merlyn walking Rocky and after his failed encounter with Gail he had decided tormenting the girl would give him a welcome distraction from his pent up feelings; however, Poppy had been waiting on Gail's porch and he would not dare make a move on Merlyn with any witnesses present.
He had still not figured out how Merlyn had came to being whole again and the situation was concerning. Lucas knew there was no-one in this town with the power he wielded and even though Gail's darkness had made itself known within her, he did not believe she possessed the power to bring someone back from the dead.
No, something had happened before the Mayor's fancy dress party when he had been distracted with his birthday and Caleb; however, he would get to the bottom of it sooner or later. Right now, he would just monitor their ex resident ghost closely to see what she was getting up to.
-To be continued-