A/N: I tried out a new attitude with this one and I hope it goes over well. Tell if it does or doesn't. I'm thinking there might be a second chapter to this one. And if anyone has any ideas for another story I'd love to hear them out!
Her fingers slid across the dusty, yet smooth, surface of the oak carved table. The white linen cloth, thrown over for decorative flow, had turned yellow a long time ago. The numerous picture frames that had once lit up the lonely home were now either toppled over, broken, faded or blown apart from where stray bullets had came in through the nearby window and took them out like a victim. She paused for a moment before ran her hand across the dull, once velvet, back cover of a frame. Picking it up from where it had fallen face-down, she set it back up and studied the faded picture behind the broken glass. At that point, only the outline of two figures could be seen.
Looking behind all the broken frames, she spotted one that almost seemed to be in sound condition. Her slender fingers reached for it and brushed its silver frame before pulling it from the place it had taken for so many years.
You know this house well...
She found a seat on an old-worn down chest, whose once vibrant-blue paint was now peeling away in layers and leaving only the bare oak behind. The frame now rested in both her hands as she viewed the picture with an endless gaze.
Alicia?
"I know this house..." she started, running a hand over the glass to wipe away the layer of dust. "Because it's my own, Darkness."
In her hands laid the life that she had once lived. Frozen in time were the decade old smiles that were a rarity to see even now...Frozen in time was the endless love between a father and daughter. The camera could only catch the outside look of love as her father's arm was wrapped around her shoulders and she had leaned in towards him. Both of them smiling not just for the camera, but for each other. After her mother's death, he was all she had left...he was all she had to love.
Nothing changed about him...He loved you till the end.
"How would you know?" Alicia whispered, resting the picture frame in her lap. After all that had happened...after all those people who died...after all the destruction...after everything...she could never stop loving her father. He was her father!
Because I talked to him.
"When?"
Why would he need to talk to her father? When did he talk to her father?
When he was reciting the sacrifice spell...and just before you killed him.
Her fingers dug into the picture frame before she pressed it against her chest. "Why? How did you talk to him?"
How isn't important. He was opening a portal to Hell and I appeared to let him know what he was doing...and he didn't care. As long as he got his daughter back...that's all he cared for.
She couldn't understand how her hands were trembling; she never trembled. Closing her eyes for a moment, she took several deep breaths before opening them once more. She started a sentence several times, only to give up on it at the last moment. Her father knew what he was doing...Darkness told him what he was doing. He warned him and yet...her father didn't care. Just so long as he got his daughter back, then everything would be okay...And what a waste that turned out to be.
You want to know what he said, don't you?
She considered the question. It was yes and no. To know what her father's last words were...would be hard to handle but to not know would be harder.
"Yes."
He hesitated in answering.
When I warned him that the spell wasn't an easy one to complete and that it deserved a sacrifice of both body and soul...he decided that the pain of the spell would never equal the pain of living without his daughter. He was an archaeologist; he knew what he was doing. He had worked so hard to uncover the spell that nothing was going to stop him from at least trying....He came off sounding crazy. His mind might've finally snapped towards the end but...
She waited for him to finish, only to have him cut off right there. One hand went to her mouth and she closed her eyes again. The pain of the spell would never equal the pain of living without his daughter... living without her. His love for her exceeded past her own death and lead him right to his own. He knew what he was getting into...he was an archaeologist for Gods sakes! He would've researched, taken notes, done whatever it took to find a spell...to find a cure for his pain.
"Is...is that all he said?"
No. It had been nine years since you died but seeing you standing before him just seconds before...you were beautiful in his eyes. Witch or not, you were still his daughter...and he never regretted a thing he did for you. And even though you may hate him for his decision, all he wanted you to know, was that he loved you and wanted to see you one last time. Hearing the plane crash on the news, and having a stranger tell him his daughter was dead had killed him already...nothing can cure that. His last words were...
He hesitated.
How you looked so much like your mother.
It felt like a vise had a grip on her throat; she couldn't breathe. It felt like she was suffocating. It felt like she was going to cry...but she couldn't cry. The pain spread down to her chest and seemed to sit at the bottom of her lungs, weighing down her sternum. There was an almost nauseating feeling that followed up with it.
It's okay to be human, Alicia...
"Is everything clear out here?" Maxwell asked, looking around at the small suburban neighborhood. For the most part, most of the houses were in good shape and in good supplies. One of the better cities they had ran into. A lot of the survivors were calm and seemed to have settled in a bit more. Not quite as much hysteria, but they were still glad to see someone working on the Geist problem. Which was the most they could do at this point in time.
"Uh, well pretty much," Marilyn answered, getting up from where she had been kneeling at the base of a still-standing telephone line. "Lucky for us, the telephone cables are still in good order so we may be able to reconnect communication here. Not much but enough from house to house. And Butch looked at the generators, and since most of them were in basements or had been covered up during the attack, they're almost in perfect order. So this place is pretty well off."
He nodded. "That's good. Well I'm gonna give the place one more walk through before settling in for the night."
"Alright and if you see Butch, tell him I'm not sharing even a house with him."
Maxwell just rolled his eyes. "Man, why can't you guys keep your relationship out of work."
"I don't know what you're talking about in 'relationship'." Marilyn called after him.
He just shook his head and continued on down the street. It seemed like everything was clear but he just wanted to be sure. After spending the first two days in town fighting off Geists and managing to run them off to the other side of the bridge was hard work, but for the sake of the citizens, it had to be done. Running a hand through his blonde hair, he studied the houses that ran alongside him. Most of them two stories, with window covers and peeling paint. All of them had bullet holes across their facades and almost all windows were either damaged or broken all together. Small pieces of glass littered either the dying yard or the dusted rooms inside.
Not a happy sight but still one of the better ones he had seen. At least the houses weren't on fire or reduced to frames and nails, right?
Pausing for a moment, he sighed and ran his hands down his face. It seemed like years since anything had last been normal. In fact, maybe it had been years...hell he had lost track of time a long time ago. What was the point in even trying to remember what day it was?
It was Tuesday...
"Man, when was the last time I slept?" he humored himself, putting his hands back down by his side.
He jumped as a door to a house just one yard from him was kicked open and a black figure darted out. It took him a moment to register the event before he realized who it was. Where's she going at this time? he wondered, noting that the sun was going to be down in an hour or so. Well it was too late to try to catch up to her, she was already out of sight. But why would she go running off like that? Sure in battles she had her own plans but now? Right when everything was calm? Did she sense something no one else did? He guessed the only answer would be her own. Looking back to the house she just ran out of, he slowly crossed the yard and headed up to the small porch. The door was still slightly swinging and he caught it before carefully peaking inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Looked like every other house, only more pictures and decorations. He carefully stepped inside and looked over to where a single picture frame was on the floor. It was away from the table where the other pictures were, and it hadn't been hung on the wall.
Walking over to it, he picked it up and examined it for a few moments. It was, what seemed to be, a family portrait. A father and daughter. He didn't think much of it and walked over to put it back on the table. Pausing as he was exposed to the rest of the pictures. More pictures of the same father and daughter. One was a baby picture, another a birthday celebration. Something looked similar throughout all of them. He looked back to the picture still in hand. Black hair, green eyes, black outfit...and the same hair ornament....
"Alicia."
Turning back to the room around him, he took a second look at the furniture and decorations. This was her house...somehow they managed to stumble into her neighborhood. How did she not say anything? Is that why she ran out of here?
"Excuse me, Mr. Cougar?" he turned back at the voice, noticing one of the civilians at the door. She was a middle-aged woman with a gray dress pulled over her small-frame. Her dark-brown hair pulled up into a bun with a bandana tied around her head. He didn't remember what her name was...hell he had met a lot of people lately and needless to say, he was horrible with names. "I'm sorry to bother you but is there any way to know if the phones will be working soon?"
"Uh, I can ask our technician about it and get back to you soon," he answered, watching as she nodded in response. "Um, can you tell who use to live in this house?"
The woman paused from where she had turned to go and looked over the place with a remorse look in her eyes. "The Claus family use to live here. It use to just be Joshua and his daughter...Poor guy. He was never the same after his daughter died in that horrible crash. Just locked himself up inside all day, no one ever saw much of him till he disappeared a few years ago. Then the whole world went to hell and...Well, there just hasn't been time to think on it. He more likely died out there somewhere when the Geists arrived." she just shook her head and turned to go once more. "Poor guy."
So this was her house...
"Oh my God, I gotta go find her." Maxwell whispered as he headed out soon after.
"Hey Maxwell!" Marilyn called, dusting her hands on her pants as she stood up from where she had been kneeling by her communications kit. She watched as he didn't even stop to listen to her and just continued on down the road at a fast pace. "Hey! Where are you going? It's almost dark!" she shouted after him, only to watch him disappear from sight. Shaking her head she just scoffed at it. "Forget it. Always leave the woman to do all the work."
"She works hard for the money."
"Butch!"
It felt like he had been walking forever throughout the town, slightly stumbling around in the darkness. Maxwell paused for a moment to catch his breath and re-establish the situation. Yeah he was stupid enough to try and go out to find her. Yeah he was stupid enough to not even tell the team where he was going or even bring in a back up. If he were jumped now...Not wanting to think about it, he sighed and continued on with his walking. He didn't even know if she was still in the town. What if she had ditched out? What if she was already long gone? No, Alicia wouldn't do that. She wouldn't just abandon them. She wouldn't just abandon everything they had worked for up to this point...
He hoped she didn't abandon him.
Where could she have gone? He thought, stopping once more. He had already searched what seemed like the entire town and there was just no trace of her. Sighing, he shook his head and jumped slightly at the sound of a faint squeak in the distance. Turning towards the noise, he just sighed in relief at the realization of it being a swing swinging in the night breeze. With nowhere else to turn, he headed over towards the small playground. Stepping through the rusted iron gates, he walked past the swings and slides; the monkey bars and jungle gym; the picnic tables and spring rides; hell, they even had one of those spinning rides where you had to hold onto the bars while some other kid spun it around. He didn't know what they were called but hell, when he was a kid that was his favorite. He still remembered that one time it spun so fast it literally felt like he was flying at one point...that was, till he creamed into the sandpit, bounced across the pavement and slammed into the basketball pole. Still though, it was pretty fun.
And then was that time he spun around so fast, he puked afterwards. Yeah, good times.
"Well, this is a dead end," he whispered, running a hand through his hair. He didn't want to go back without her but he couldn't stay out here all night. Turning, he headed back towards the gate and pass the swing set once more. He only got a few steps past the swings before stopping again when he passed the dark figure seated on the last swing in the row. It took him a moment to try and figure out if it had just been a play on the darkness before he turned around to verify the sight. Sure enough, there she was just barely swinging. Shaking his head, he chuckled quietly to himself before walking over to where she was.
"And to think I was so sure I was more observant than that," Maxwell remarked, taking the swing next to her; although cautious of its ability to hold his weight.
"Well you're not the brightest in the bunch," she replied.
"Ahh, right to heart," he winced. "But that's okay, I've been getting that since I was like, five."
She shook her head and made what looked to be a small smile. "Honestly I'm not surprised."
"Yeah I was a stupid kid," he sighed, slightly kicking at the dirt in front of him. "You know how on swings, kids use to try to swing as high as they could to see if they could reach the moon? Kids use to spent hours upon hours on these things to try and get off this planet and onto the next."
"Did you ever try?" Alicia asked.
He chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, I actually made a bet with my best friend that I would get there before he did. We spent what seemed like all day just swinging. It felt like we were literally flying back and forward across the playground."
"Did you think you had made it?" she spoke.
"This one time I did," Maxwell answered. "In fact I remember seeing a space ship and the moon just inches out of my reach. Turns out later on that space ship was actually an ambulance and the moon was really the hospital. And the hallucinations were from a mild concussion when I let go of the swing and busted my head on the pavement. But hey, for awhile my childhood dream was completed." he watched as she covered her face with her hands for a few moments. Oh God, he messed up somewhere, didn't he? Jeez, he shouldn't have brought up such a stupid memory when she was in the middle of reliving her own childhood tragedies. "Alicia, I-"
She cut him off with a small snort before pulling her hands away as she broke out into a light laugh. The motion caught him off guard and he wasn't exactly sure how to react. She just looked so...happy. Her lips were curled in a smile that broke in a soft laugh.
"I apologize," she spoke, done with her moment. "I just never heard of someone trying to reach the stars like that..." she chuckled weakly to herself.
"Who are you and what have you done with my witch?" Maxwell questioned, watching as she waited a moment before smiling in another soft chuckle. "It was the moon by the way. No one cares about stars, they're not important."
She shook her head and managed to clear herself up before wrapping her fingers around the rusted chains of the swing. "I needed that."
He nodded. "Yeah, I figured that much." some awkward silence of neither of them seemed to want to speak first. "So, uh, I asked one of the neighbors about your house..."
"Ms. Yale," Alicia spoke. "She use to help around after my mother died and my father had jobs off around the world." she paused for a moment. "I got my interest in traveling from him...He was an archaeologist, so he had already been around the world more than once and I just barely left our front yard. I wanted to go out and see the world for once...great first time, huh? Plane crashes right into the ocean." she went quiet once more for longer this time. "He didn't know what I would be if the spell worked, he just wanted me back."
"Alicia..." Maxwell started.
"I just...it feels better now that I can talk about it and be open with my....my feelings," she spoke, stumbling slightly over the sentence. "I didn't tell anyone about this town because I didn't think it would affect me as badly as it did. Just seeing that house and all those pictures, I remembered something I thought I had forgotten a long time ago."
Maxwell waited a moment to reply, trying hard not to break the moment. "I really haven't had such a heart-felt conversation in a long time, so I don't really know what to say..." he started, looking over as she chuckled at him. "But, you know I always thought that there was...uh...some kind of human somewhere under all that...magic."
She noticed his light blush and the way his eyes looked off throughout the sentence. "Is there something Maxwell Cougar doesn't want to say?"
"Don't mock me," he chuckled, kicking at more dirt. "I said what I wanted to say."
Shaking her head, she went back to staring at the dark playground in front of them. How weird was it for them to just be sitting in the middle of it like everything was just normal again. This definitely wasn't the place to confess your feelings in. Not that there were any feelings to confess! The rest of the team was probably wondering about them anyways....What a way to try and distract a train of thought. She didn't want to seem weak now that her emotions were raw...but, it wasn't quite a reason to ignore them either.
"Hey, race you to the moon."