"This house is a… It's a real dump, that's what it is… and we inherited this place? Did your ancestors like… Hate us?" Kate asked as she slid sunglasses up into her long auburn hair, glancing up at the aging and ancient house, lips pursed, arms folded over her chest. Her mother looked over at her and sighing, she pointed out quietly, "Katherine Moira O'Hara, don't start, okay? And it wasn't exactly our ancestors.. Apparently, there was no one left alive in the actual family who owned the place.. We were related to the maid, your grandmother Moira.."
"Huh?" Katherine gave a bemused pout as she fixed hazel eyes on her mother and asked, "Explain all that to me again, Momma? Because I thought Moira gave Daddy up for adoption? And he'd never seen her before.. But you named me after her, kinda, because my hair was red and I kinda looked like one of her baby pictures? How the hell did we wind up with the house?"
"I just told you, chere.. We got the house because none of the descendants of the people who actually owned the place are still alive. It was either us or tear the place down… And it was a free roof over our heads, a new place for Mommy to try her luck at her dreams."
"Mother, get real.. You're 33. You haven't hit the big screen yet, you're not going to." the 17 year old sighed and shook her head.. Her mother had always been the one with her head in the clouds.. And a bit of a con artist too..
"If Demi Moore can, then so can I."
"Guess you better start finding a rich husband, yeah?" Katherine quipped, grabbing her bags from the trunk of her car. She sniffed the air.. The smell of old and decay filled her nose and she wrinkled it, disapprovingly. But underneath all of that, the smell of salt water.. Katherine smiled a little, the scent bringing back memories of the last family vacation before her father passed away… They'd went to a beach in Mobile, rented a little beach house, the whole 9 yards… For a while, it was like her father was healthy again, like the cancer wasn't silently killing him from the inside.
Katherine had loved the beach.
Now they were living no less than 10 minutes from it. She couldn't wait to get out there, let the sand get between her toes, the water lap at her feet..
She was drawn out of her daydreaming when she saw the curtain in the upstairs window moving a little bit. She blinked, bit down on her lower lip and focused again, her hand trailing through her long and bright auburn hair. "M-Mom?"
"What's up, chere?"
"There's someone upstairs.. I just…"
"Sweetie, it's an old house.. Maybe the realtor left a window open or something to let the house air out for us.." Kate's mother explained as Kate bit her lower lip and scowled up at the windows in the turret.
"Airing out this shit hole my ass.. The place needs a damned exorcism." the auburn haired teenager mused to herself as she picked up her bags again and resumed her trudge into the house at a slow pace. She felt it, even then.. There was a dark cloud of doom hanging over this damned house..
The door slammed in her wake and Moira watched speechless as the curvy teenage girl spun around in the foyer, arms open wide, giggling. The small smile crept into the woman's face but it was quickly replaced by a frown when she looked to her left and saw that Tate was standing there…. And Tate was watching.
"You're to leave my family alone." Moira told him calmly as she shoved past him, pausing to ask, "Who let you into the main house anyhow? I thought you were banished."
"Go clean, woman. Make yourself useful." Tate snapped back, his eyes focused on the red head with legs that didn't quit as she poked around on the floor below. He rubbed his chin and then grumbled as he turned, made his way back down to his basement.
Across the road, Constance Langdon watched in horror as another family moved into the portal to hell she used to call home.. If she were a truly caring person, she'd go over now, tell them to get the hell out of dodge.. But she wasn't, really.
From her right, Billie, her psychic friend nudged her and said with a smile, "This one… There's an energy about her.. I think we might be able to use that.. I think she might be the one to bring your son back…"
"Doubtful… But I'll try anything once… She better be one hell of a lot stronger than that Violet he was so fond of." Constance stubbed out the cigarette using the toe of a pair of her best heels.. "Perhaps I'll walk over.. Let Michael and Addie meet their new neighbors."
"It might not be wise… Letting the boy meet her.. Remember the sitter down in Virginia?"
" Tomato, Tomatoe, woman.. My grandson didn't do anything. He's just a kid." Constance cringed even as the lies left her lips… Never the less, she made her way over, hand poised to knock, but the door flew open instead and the girl with flaming red hair ran out, a woman with striking blonde and wide brown eyes hot on her heels, both screaming, the teenager swearing more than anything in what sounded like Creole.
"Forget the exorcism, momma.. We need pest control.. Somethin."
"I've never… seen that many dead animals in one place.. And that one… It looked like a fresh kill!" the blonde adult spoke to her red haired daughter.
" I'm not blind, momma.. I saw it too." Kate bent, throwing up. From nearby, Constance spoke up, stepping out into view. "Vagrants were occupyin the place.. If it hadn't been for the realtor getting the cops up here, they'd have kept right on taking up residence.. If I were you two, I'd be real careful."
Kate's eyes fixed on the older blonde woman and the little boy with a curly mane of dark hair ran over, grabbing Kate's bare legs in a hug. "I like you."
"Hey, kiddo! You're a real cutie." Kate bent so that she could look the boy in his golden brown eyes. If she hadn't, she might not have ever gotten chills on a 100+ degree day, she mused to herself.. The boy's eyes were like golden brown voids.. They were empty, cold even.. It sent a chill down her body. But she forced herself to smile, regardless, and looked up at Constance as she said aloud, "If you ever need a baby sitter…"
"I actually might take you up on that, girl.. My daughter, she's special needs.. Didn't feel like coming over today.. But sooner or later, you'll meet her too."
Eloise Mars- O'Hara stepped forward and extended her hand, giving the other woman a smile that was wary but warm. "Eloise O'Hara.. It'll be Mars again soon enough. My husband passed last fall. I'm pretty sure I'll get more casting calls and audition call backs if I go back to usin my maiden name.. Much as I hate to, Jacques was the only family I had.."
The last name sent a chill down the spine of Constance Langdon, and then she looked closer at the teenage girl with the flaming red hair as the realization of just who the girl was a descendant of washed over her with shocking clarity.
The teenage girl looked like an almost mirror image of what Moira had back then, back when she'd bewitched Constance's husband right into bed with her… The thought threw Constance for a moment but she countered by fixing her gaze on the strikingly beautiful blonde mother of the little teenage vixen instead.. "Is that one a model?"
"She has no interest in it. I've tried a thousand times to get her to at least consider it, if I'd been blessed with her looks.." Eloise told the woman, brow raised at the peculiar way Constance was acting. She put it off, watching Kate disappear into the house, holding the little boy with the wild mane of light brown curls. "She's always loved kids… I couldn't have another child.. I had to think about what it would do to my body… And my husband was sickly…"
Constance nodded as she watched the girl and her grandson disappearing into the house, the door shutting behind them. Was it smart, she wondered, letting Michael be alone with the girl?
He hadn't taken to anyone like that before, though, normally, he treated the help like shit.. And then he'd get angry with them and Constance was bathing him in bleach, cleaning the house out with the stuff.
Moira stood in the kitchen watching her granddaughter with the little boy, the way the girl moved around the kitchen, grabbing what appeared to be the makings for a sandwich and an apple. She sat the little boy on the counter carefully and the little boy's eyes widened at the size of the sandwich.
"There you go, little man."
"It so big."
"Because, little man, the Kate is starving.. Last stop for food was about 6 hours ago… What's your name?"
"Michael. What Kate stand for?"
"Katherine.. My name is Katherine Moira O'Hara." the words bought a smile to Moira's face as she watched the two in the kitchen together, mostly fearful for her grandchild's safety… So her son had gotten into a good home… he had grown, become a father and a husband…
"That sound like a old person." Michael mused as he ate his food and studied the girl… He'd rather be eating her, but… His grandma and that weird lady she lived with… They thought that maybe this girl could one day be his mommy… And that maybe she had some kind of magic that would bring his daddy back to life.. That they could be a family.
He hoped so.. He hated sneaking over, playing with the animals in the basement and trying to get his daddy to notice him… It made him sad.. Maybe if his daddy were a living person… Maybe then his daddy would KNOW him.
Or at the very least try to get to know him.
"Oh yeah? Well I was named after my grandmother and a great grandmother.. And my grandmother was one sexy and sassy lady from the little bit I've found about her online, kid. So I guess I'm proud." Kate mused, giving giggles and leaning in, wiping mayonnaise off the little boy's nose. "Tummy not growling now, little man?"
"All better.. Thank you."
"Uh uh, wait, little man…" Kate dug around in her insulated lunch bag and produced a green apple.. "Better for you than candy.. " she mused as she also pulled out a Yoo Hoo and after shaking it, she twisted off the top and held it out.. "And chocolate milk."
"Thank you!" the little boy shouted as he ran out the door again, showing his 'treats' to his grandmother as he whispered quietly, "I hope your friend right about her."
"We'll see, Michael. Grandmother makes no promises."
In the house, Bryan Adams played from a docked Iphone with a bright pink and leopard print lifeproof case and Kate hummed along, moving around all the boxes in the room she'd chosen to be her own a few days before, when her mother showed her the photos of the house online.. The movers had come, they'd set up most of her furniture.. Now all she had to do was unpack.
Tate watched from the bathroom door way in disdain as at least half of his posters came down. The poster of Kurt Cobain stayed, but the red head moved it to the spot above her bed, next to a cork board full of photographs and a display case showing ribbons and trophies and what looked like 3 belts you'd earn in Karate.
His eyes darted around the fresh coat of dark gray paint on the walls, settling on the iron bedframe and the red and black comforter set on the mattresses on the bedframe, then lingering on the overstuffed closet, the stuffed animals - mostly zebras he cringed at the thought, and the other girly things taking up his personal space now.
With nothing better to do because she couldn't see him yet, he took to nosing through her clothes, eyes widening at some of the outfits and all the skin they possibly showed, at heels that looked like they'd probably thrown her down and be the cause of a broken neck… And then, in the bottom corner of the closet near an UGG box and nestled inside of a tall Victoria Secret bag, he saw it…
What was a girl like her doing with a Ouija board, black candles, what looked like a very old black leatherbound book and quite a few other things…
He cast a glance at her to find her sprawled across the daybed reading some stupid magazine while listening to the shitty excuse for music playing on her phone that sat on top of an almost overfilled white vanity table.
"You a witch or somethin, Blaze?" he wondered to himself just as Kate got the chills and it felt like the room's temperature dropped a good 20 degrees all of the sudden. Kate's hazel eyes darted around and she drew herself into a sitting position, the hair on the back of her neck was literally standing at attention.
When she saw nothing, she shrugged it off but slid off the bed, grabbing her cell phone as she vanished down the stairs.
Tate sat there in the bottom of the closet floor, taking all the items out of the bag, looking at them all.. When he found the text book, opened it, he raised a brow.
"So basically, she goes to a damn school like Hogwarts.. But it's in Louisiana. And this shit is for school… Wow, shit's really changed since I died." he mused to himself as he put all the things back into the bag in almost the exact same order as she'd had them, keeping the leatherbound book out to look through it.
Opening it, he realized that it was sort of her own personal 'spell book'… And that it was also a dream journal… According to one of the entries inside, she'd been having dreams about a guy… She'd drawn a sketch of him and excitedly, Tate turned the page, a photo falling down and out of the journal…
It was the picture they'd ran of him after the shootings.
"Is this chick crazy?"
"She's a witch, Tate.. And she's only interested in you because of her abilities.. The school is teaching her how to harness them, how to grow them and how to use them to succeed in life." Moira spoke from the closet door, looking down at him. "I had similar.. Just never honestly realized it. Get out of my granddaughters room now."
"Or you'll what? Kill me again? We both know you can't."
"Just go, Tate." Moira growled viciously at the sullen teenage boy, her finger pointing to the door of the bedroom.
FOOTNOTES:
OBVIOUSLY, I'M TAKING THE INSISTENT CLAIMS THAT THE PRODUCERS MAKE ABOUT THE SEASONS BEING CONNECTED AND I'M RUNNING WITH THEM IN SORT OF A SPIN OFF / CONTINUATION OF MURDER HOUSE.
PAIRING IS TATE X OC AND POSSIBLY BEN HARMON X OC..
IN THIS, A LOT OF THE ACTUAL EVENTS OF MURDER HOUSE ( AS WELL AS THE OTHER SEASONS I'M USING, BITS OF ALL OF THEM BUT HOTEL BECAUSE I HAVE NOT SEEN IT) ARE KEPT IN CANON AS HAVING HAPPENED..
CHANGES I AM MAKING THOUGH:
VIOLET DIED OFF THE GROUNDS WITH HER MOTHER VIVIAN AND BROTHER JEFFREY.
BEN IS STILL ALIVE.
ADDIE IS STILL ALIVE.
MOIRA GAVE UP A SON NAMED JACQUES FOR ADOPTION SHORTLY BEFORE BEING HIRED BY THE LANGDON FAMILY AS A MAID. JACQUES WAS ADOPTED BY A FAMILY IN LOUISIANA. HE MET THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF ELSA MARS ( WHO ALSO HAD A CHILD TAKEN FROM HER IN GERMANY BEFORE SHE CAME TO THE US) AND THE TWO FELL IN LOVE DESPITE ELOISE BEING A CON WOMAN AND A SELF CENTERED PERSON… JACQUES MADE HER A BETTER PERSON, SO NO, SHE'S NOT A SAINT.. SHE'S VERY MUCH LIKE THE GRANDMOTHER SHE NEVER MET.
ELOISE AND JACQUES HAVE KATHERINE.. THEY NAME HER AFTER JACQUES REAL MOTHER AND HIS ADOPTIVE MOTHER BECAUSE ELOISE WAS RAISED IN THE SYSTEM AND HAD NO FAMILY.
IT'S HINTED THAT MOIRA MIGHT HAVE BEEN A WITCH IN MY STORY.. I CHOSE TO DO THIS BECAUSE I WANT TO TIE IN COVEN IN THAT (ROBICHAUX ACADEMY) IS WHERE KATE ATTENDED SCHOOL PREVIOUSLY.. SO THE OOC CHANGE IM MAKING IS THAT MOIRA IS/WAS A WITCH.. IT'S PART OF HOW SHE CAN DO WHAT SHE DOES WITH HER APPEARANCE… KATE'S ABILITIES ARE MOSTLY OF THE MENTAL NATURE, THOUGH SHE IS QUITE GOOD AT READING PEOPLE, THAT WAS MOSTLY TAUGHT TO HER BY HER MOTHER, WHO PICKED UP DOING CONS AGAIN AFTER JACQUES DIED AND LEFT THEM BROKE AND IN DEBT. ALSO... MYRTLE SNOW IS THE SISTER OF MOIRA O'HARA, BECAUSE WHY THE FUCK NOT? MYRTLE IS OLDER, SHE WAS GIVEN UP FOR ADOPTION BY MOIRA'S MOTHER BECAUSE AT THE TIME, MOLLY O'HARA COULD NOT AFFORD A CHILD AND SHE WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH A MARRIED MAN AND BACK THEN IT WAS A LITTLE MORE TABOO THAN NOW.
KATE SORT OF PLAYS WITH THE DARK BUT SHE'S PRIMARLY A WHITE MAGIC PERSON… LIKE THE DARK SIDE OF MAGIC FASCINATES HER AND SCARES HER, BUT SHE WILL DABBLE ON OCCASION.
ANY QUESTIONS, GUYS AND DOLLS? IF YOU HAVE THEM, SEND THEM TO MY PRIVATE MESSAGES AND I WILL GLADLY ATTEMPT ANSWERING THEM. THIS IS ME, TYING ALL THE SEASONS TOGETHER … WHILE INSERTING AN ORIGINAL CHARACTER INTO ONE OF MY FAVORITE FANDOMS.