Disclaimer: Being Human belongs to the great (Lord) Toby Whithouse
This chapter has been a bit of a nightmare, so sorry for the wait after uploading chapter 1, but it was important that I got it right. Well hopefully I've done that and you enjoy it! Thanks so much for all the reviews, follows and favourites so far! x
Chapter 2: Court In A Trap
"Order! ORDER!" The judge whacked the dark wood of his desk with the gavel angrily to settle the crowd of ghosts again. The sudden crescendo that had followed Annie's request fell immediately silent. "Explain yourself."
She had never heard of The Court before today, but everywhere she had gone to find answers about what was happening outside, the answer had been a variation of the same. Nobody knew, but they had all pointed her in the same direction. Purgatory wasn't really overseen by anyone, or at least that was her understanding. It just sort of... worked, on its own. But there were those who knew more about its processes and its mysteries than others, those who had been here longer, those who were privy to information that she could only imagine. These were the people that held sway in these strange abandoned hallways, and the Judge was one of them. Undeterred, she had made her way to The Court as fast as she could.
"Right. Well, umm..." Annie smiled uncomfortably, swallowing down a sudden bout of stage fright. "I stopped the Old Ones. I mean, not just me, I had some help, but yea I... I did that. Well, me and Eve."
"And?" the judge boomed, looking spectacularly underwhelmed.
"And? And a thank you would be nice I suppose." She laughed jovially, but got no response from the crowd of ghosts before her. They stared up at her, a sea of blank, humourless faces. "No? Tough crowd." She mumbled, fidgeting with her cardigan. "Ok, well I suppose what I'm saying is that if the world is in danger, then I want to help."
"You think killing off a few vampires qualifies you?" A man near the front of the crowd called up with a sneer.
"Well... yes. Maybe." She glared back, crossing her arms indignantly.
"Miss Sawyer," the portly judge began, taking off his glasses and scratching his head wearily through his wig, "whether or not you are capable of assisting the world is irrelevant. That is not the business of this court."
"What do you mean not the business of this court?"
"We are not of the human world any more Miss Sawyer. We are ethereal. We have had our time and now it is over. As a rule, we do not knowingly interfere with the affairs of the living."
"Hang on, are you saying we should just sit back and watch the apocalypse?"
"I am saying, Miss Sawyer, that it does not concern you, especially as you are Complete. In fact, you shouldn't be here at all. Go and enjoy your little slice of heaven and leave me be."
Annie bristled. Complete was a name given to ghosts who had passed over fully, and they were a relative rarity in the haunted halls of Purgatory. After all, who would swap completion and eternal life with loved ones for peeling paintwork and something vaguely reminiscent of a hospital basement? She hadn't wanted to come back, but she couldn't just let the world burn and do nothing. While free to traverse purgatory if they wished, Complete ghosts could not re-enter the human world any more than werewolves who had passed over could become ghosts. She still wasn't exactly sure why, something to do with red tape as far as she could make out, but Annie had been miffed to say the least to find that out, having hoped to be able to pop back every once in a while to see how Tom, Hal and her family were doing. Still, finding George, Nina and baby Eve had been quite enough to keep her happy in the end. Now, however, it was one hell of an inconvenience.
"But it does concern me! There are people I care about over there, people who are right in the middle of this! I won't abandon them." she stuck her out chin determinedly.
"You have no choice. You know as well as I that you cannot go back, so the matter is closed." The judge waved a hand dismissively. The noise and clamour of the other ghosts in the room started up again, most losing interest in her instantly, a few flashing sympathetic smiles and grimaces her way.
"At least you tried love." An elderly lady looked up at her sadly.
Annie was incensed.
"Wait, no! This isn't right, this isn't fair!"
"LIFE ISN'T FAIR!" the judge boomed, making her and most of the other ghosts in the room jump. "Why should death be any different?"
"At least let me help with the planning or something. I want to be involved somehow, to do my bit..."
"What planning? We are not here to interfere Miss Sawyer, I thought I made that much clear."
"So... hang on, you're really not doing anything?"
"No Miss Sawyer, we are not. Now if you would please..."
"Oh well that's just great isn't it! Fantastic! I'll just go and get some popcorn and a drink shall I, maybe pull up a chair, you know, get comfy while I watch the destruction of the world!" she ranted furiously.
"The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of those who are able to protect it. Not with us." The judge answered tiredly.
"What, and we just leave them to it? Have you actually seen the pictures? Do you know what's going on out there?!"
The news had filtered through slowly at first, but the images plastered on every screen in purgatory and beyond told a disturbing story. Bodies everywhere, an increasing amount by the looks of things, as a man clad in a dark suit and bright yellow tie strolled merrily along streets she recognised in Cardiff, whispering something inaudible in people's ears, causing carnage. The images had horrified her, but it was the sight of Hal, Tom and Alex unconscious on the floor of what looked like a television studio that had worried her most. It had been the briefest of clips, just a flash on the screen, but it shouted one thing at Annie. They were somehow involved and they needed help.
"I am well aware of the situation, far more knowledgeable about it than you I dare say! If you continue to disrespect me Miss Sawyer, be warned. I will be forced to find you in contempt of court and you will be taken into custody." He growled irritably.
Annie swallowed nervously, not really sure what purgatory's version of custody entailed, but certain that she didn't want to find out.
"Please, I'm not trying to be disrespectful your Honour. It's just... well surely someone must be able to do something?"
"A Trinity is the world's only hope Miss Sawyer, and as..." the judge began, Annie interrupting him almost immediately, a wide smile plastered across her face upon hearing the term Trinity.
"Yes! A Trinity! A werewolf, a ghost and a vampire, but I know some people who could help! They need me, they need us, now! If we can save them, then we can..."
"And," he continued over her,"as the only Trinity in the near vicinity of the crisis has been incapacitated, it seems the fate of the world is sealed." He finished matter-of-factly. Annie opened and closed her mouth uselessly a few times, too stunned to speak.
"Incapacitated?" she managed finally.
"Thrown into a dream by the devil and unaware of the fact. Or unwilling to leave. It's hard to tell."
Annie had known that the devil was behind the deaths and destruction, the very walls of purgatory seeming to buzz with the fact, but hearing it confirmed out loud was like a kick to the gut. She hadn't even really been sure he existed until a few hours ago. She had suspected of course, but wondering and knowing were two entirely different things. She swallowed down her fear at the revelation and continued.
"But if it's just a dream we could wake them up, couldn't we? Please, at the very least they're my friends, but if they're the only people who can save the world, that makes them important surely?"
"The world has fallen to the devil. The Trinity you speak of is in ruins and useless. Look around you Miss Sawyer. Purgatory is a safe haven compared to what is awaiting out there, and you want to send a poor soul from here to wake your friends because you think they can defeat an evil such as he? Think of what you ask girl."
"But... doesn't anyone care? What about your families, some of you must have people you care about out there surely? Don't you want to save them? Please!" Annie pleaded to the crowd. Some watched her dispassionately, others looked away ashamedly, and some wept openly. But none spoke out. "You cowards." She shook her head, angry tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.
"It isn't simple terror that stops them. If you had been here earlier, when this session started, you would know the full extent of the devil's power, but yet again you display an abysmal lack of knowledge on the matter in hand. The men with sticks and ropes are his creatures. He has become strong enough to control them fully, and has set them to work guarding the doors. So you see Miss Sawyer, souls may neither enter nor leave these corridors. You have your answer. Nothing can be done." The judge added softly, surprising her with his sudden and unexpected compassion.
She leant back against the railings of the witness box, stunned. No wonder the other ghosts had remained silent. And yet still, she honestly believed that if she had been able, she would have tried, even with the threat of the men with sticks and ropes.
A sudden idea hit her.
"What if I could convince someone?"
"Miss Sawyer, this really has gone beyond a joke now, I'm sorry but you're going to have to accept, just as all of the ghosts you see before you have, that we are powerless to..."
"Are we though? I mean they're only guarding the doors, that means if we could trick them, or something..."
"You really are clutching at straws now."
"I know I am but what else do you expect me to do? If I can find another ghost, or someone on the outside already who can help, will that work?" Annie asked desperately, gripping the railings infront of her tightly.
The judge sat back in his chair and thought for a moment.
"Do you know the full extent of the consequences?"
"Yes. Probably. No."
"Then allow me to explain. As I said, no one can exit purgatory without the risk of being intercepted by the men with sticks and ropes, but no one may enter either. Spirits are trapped on the outside now, forced to wander the Kingdom of the Dead for eternity. Any ghost who manages, somehow, to slip past the guards at the doors and leave here will not be able to return unless the Trinity succeeds."
"I'll find someone willing, whether they're werewolf, vampire, ghost, whatever, I swear..."
"A nigh on impossible task..."
"Yes, I know, it'll be difficult, but there must be people willing to fight. What's the alternative?" Annie stood up straight again, hope beginning to return.
"There is more. The Trinity you wish to aid is broken, perhaps irreparably."
"Broken?"
"As I have it, the vampire has fallen back into his old ways. The werewolf and ghost are somewhat unimpressed by this."
"Oh Hal." Annie closed her eyes and shook her head, the blood soaked vest she had glimpsed him wearing on the television screen earlier now suddenly making sense. "Does that matter?"
"With the devil as strong as he apparently is, anything less than a whole Trinity is unlikely to be enough for a long-term solution."
"Right. Perfect." She muttered, secretly cursing the vampire, though she understood that he had struggled. When she had left them he had already drunk blood, so it made sense that he hadn't made it back to being clean again. She thought back to her and Eve standing in a hall staring up at a poster of him at his worst, and wondered if that was what he was now.
He's violent, sadistic, and well, quite literally their poster boy...
She shivered and gripped the railing again. "I'm still not going to give up." she said determinedly. George and Nina said she was probably the most stubborn person they had ever met. She decided she could see why now.
The judge's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise before he sat forward again deep in thought.
"Very well Miss Sawyer. Then I permit you to stage your little rescue attempt. Your challenge is thus. After being woken, the Trinity must be persuaded to find peace. You must find three people willing, in full knowledge of what awaits them, to help your friends to triumph against the devil. If you do not, the world will fall regardless. A mammoth task I think you'll agree." He smiled chillingly.
"Hang on, three? Why three? Why make things more difficult?"
"Each soul you choose must have a personal connection to one of your friends, in order to inspire a reconciliation between them." he continued with a sneer. "Besides that, you seem the sort of girl who likes a challenge, and as I see little-to-no chance of you actually succeeding, I may as well make things amusing. And three is the magic number after all, is it not?" he smiled mockingly. Annie only just managed not to shoot a glare his way. "If you decide you do not like my proposal, and I discover that you have taken matters into your own hands without my consent, I will find you, remand you in custody, and throw away the proverbial key as a message to all of purgatory's inhabitants that I am to be obeyed. With the borders closed, there are bound to be some adventurous spirits trapped here for all eternity, intent on causing me trouble for the sake of it. I want them to know in no uncertain terms that I am not to be trifled with. Times are changing my girl, and I will not have Purgatory fall into chaos as the world outside has done."
"But... but..."
"No buts. Those are my terms Miss Sawyer. Take them or leave them."
"So I was thinking. We should get married."
Hal choked on his tea.
"What?" he spluttered.
"Yea, I was thinking a summer wedding, maybe June. What do you think?" Alex asked distractedly as she tucked in to a huge bowl of cereal.
"I... uh... Alex..."
"Hmm?"
"Don't you think it's a bit... well... soon?"
"Nah, we've been together a whole four days. My mate Natalie got engaged to her boyfriend after three hours. Not even kidding."
Hal stared at her, wondering if they were about to reach a milestone in their relationship. Their first argument. He was certain she wouldn't appreciate him telling her that the idea terrified him.
"Alex, I don't quite know how to say this, but..." He stopped, noticing her impish grin. "Oh very funny."
"Ha! You actually thought I was serious!"
"That was a profoundly cruel trick Alex Millar. And here was I thinking we were friends." He shook his head in mock indignation, but his smile, part amusement part relief, betrayed him.
"I hope we're more than that." She answered, her impish grin returning.
Hal had just enough time to wonder what mischief she was planning next before he jolted suddenly, shocked to find her shoeless foot wrapped behind his calf. He froze as the foot climbed higher, brushing the back of his knee, sweeping around to travel lightly up the inside of his thigh. He managed to get a grip of himself just in time to thrust a hand under the table to catch her wayward foot before she reached his groin. He hadn't realised they were sitting so close together at the table. Without really thinking about it, he couldn't help but be impressed at her apparent nimbleness.
Not helping, he thought to himself as he lowered her foot gently to the floor. She looked mildly disappointed.
"Alex, not at the breakfast table, please."
"But anywhere else is fine right?" she winked. Jesus, she actually winked. He nearly agreed, before snapping his eyes away from hers, which were starting to make him blush like an adolescent boy.
"That's not quite what I meant." He managed, trying not to appear too flustered.
"Hal, I'm going to be frank with you, and I don't want you to go all Pride and Prejudice on me like I know you're gonna. Right from when I first saw you in the cafe, I wanted you. You know, want want, just incase you weren't aware. Since then a lot's got in the way of that, and even though most of it sucked and was bloody horrible, I'm glad it happened, because it means now I don't just want you like that, I want to be with you too. But, make no mistake, I do still want to jump your bones like you wouldn't believe, and I am not about to let your ridiculous courtship rules or whatever stand in the way of that. It's happening whether you like it or not. And you'd better like it." She finished frustratedly, her expression stern. He raised an eyebrow.
"Right. So we're talking about this are we..."
"Yes we're talking about it! It's been four days Hal, four days, and you've barely touched me!"
"I... that's not true..."
"Yes it is! Eight quick kisses, three snogs, including the one the night I got back, and my one lame attempt at playing footsy which you just had to go and ruin." She counted on her fingers, proceeding to fold her arms and glare him. He almost laughed at her perturbed expression, finding it undeniably adorable. He stopped himself, getting the feeling she wouldn't see the funny side.
"You're upset because I haven't propositioned you. How times have changed. Once upon a time, most women got upset if you did the opposite..."
"Stop trying to change the subject Hal, why are you being so... so... frigid?!"
"Frigid? I'm not being frigid, I'm being respectful." He answered exasperatedly.
"I don't want you to be respectful, I want you to be passionate, and romantic, and sexy! I want you to... I don't know, throw me on the table and have your way with me or something, not just act like we're living in the sodding eighteen-hundreds!"
"What's wrong with the eighteen-hundreds?" Hal murmured, a little hurt.
"HAL!"
"I won't apologise for being prudish Alex!"
"I don't want you to apologise, I want you to want me too." She said quietly, looking down at the table top. Hal shut his eyes and sighed. Standing up, he moved his chair around the table to sit next to her, taking her hand.
"Believe me, I do want you. I really, really want you." He swallowed, feeling his cheeks begin to flush again."But I want to do things properly."
"What do you mean properly?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My whole life I've been doing things wrong. Even before I was a vampire, my morals were... loose, to say the least. This feels like a second chance, a rebirth if you like, and I don't want to sully it by rushing things. I want us to last, not to be just a rush of hedonistic, tawdry encounters that you might regret further down the line. I want to treat you with respect, and to start our relationship afresh, the way it should have been."
Alex couldn't help but smile at that. She smirked and pushed herself off her own chair to sit on his lap before he could stop her, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug.
"Alright, I've got to admit, that's probably the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. You can be a charming sod when you want to be can't you?" She pulled back to look at him, and he smiled his lopsided smile in response. "However, I feel it's only fair to point out that had things gone the way they should have after our first date, I would have shagged you that night." His smile slipped slightly as he tipped his head and shot her a chastising look.
"And I feel I should point out that had you succeeded and things had gone the wayI had wanted at the time, I would almost certainly have killed you."
"Then I suppose we're both lucky things didn't go to plan. Well, except that I got killed anyway. And I'm sure being killed in your bed would have been way better than getting killed by Cutler. Talk about an anti-climax." She joked. Hal frowned, losing his smile completely.
"Alex, don't. It still hurts to think that I caused..."
"Shut up idiot." She groaned exasperatedly, grabbing his shirt collar to pull his lips to hers and kissing him, letting him see exactly what he was missing. He sighed happily and brought his hands up to caress her back with his finger tips through her dressing gown.
"Bloody hell you two, get a room." Tom complained, walking into the kitchen and starting to pour himself a bowl of cereal. They pulled apart, smiling.
"Sorry Tom." Alex grinned, shifting back to her own seat.
"Ready for work?" Hal asked as Tom came to sit at the table with them. "It'll be tough I know, but we need to get into some sort of normality again. Familiarity will help us to adjust."
"Yes Boss." He smiled, taking a mouthful of cereal. "Never mind me, what about the new girl?"
"Actually I'm looking forward to it. And believe me, I never thought I'd say that." Alex chuckled.
Alex hadn't taken long to raise the subject of employment. Having spent four and a half months bored and unoccupied, between supernatural emergencies and saving the world, she was beyond ready to embrace the tedious, and very human, world of work once more. And there were perks to being very well acquainted with the manager of a woefully understaffed hotel. Needless to say, the interview hadn't exactly been conventional, or particularly PC...
One day, nineteen hours, thirty-two minutes and approximately ten seconds earlier...
"So Alex, have you any experience in the hotel trade?"
"Well I've stayed at the Savoy." Alex grinned at him from the chair on the other side of the desk.
"Alex, be serious..." he sighed.
"Why? You're going to give me the job anyway, I don't get why we have to go through this interview bullshit anyway."
"Because it's protocol. Now..."
"You didn't even ask if I was ready for you to pump me." She pretended to sulk, a sly smile creeping over her features. Hal shuddered at the memory of his own brief interview with Patsy.
"There will be no pumping going on, thank you." He frowned down at the top of the desk, looking at the notes he had prepared on the application form he had made her fill out.
She huffed an irritated sigh.
"Tell me Miss Millar, why do you want this job?" he smiled at her professionally.
"I don't know. Money. Something to do. Free shampoo and slippers. And the manager's pretty nice to look at."
He closed his eyes for a moment and ignored her answer.
"Fine. How well do you fair working under pressure?"
She looked at him blankly.
"You're seriously asking me that?"
He looked up at her, smiling and nodding to encourage her to answer.
"Well, Mr. manager Sir, I happen to think I'm actually pretty damn good under pressure."
"Oh really? And why's that?" He smirked at her.
"You know, I beat the devil and shit. No big deal."
His smile faltered for a moment at her certainty that they had won. He swallowed the doubt away.
"I see." He pretended to make a note on her application and muttered under his breath, "Clearly delusional."
"Oh so it's alright if you fuck about!"
"Of course it is. I'm the boss." He winked at her. That did it.
She rose from her chair almost serenely, but there the grace and refinement ended. She walked around the desk and stood infront of him, swivelling his chair so he faced her.
"Any more questions for me, boss?" she bent forward, leaning on the arms of the wide swivel chair. He gulped and tried very hard not to look down at her cleavage.
"I... uh... yes, as a matter of fact I do." She locked eyes with him, smirking as she brought her knees up one after the other the straddle him on the seat. "Would you say you're a people person?" he all but whispered.
"Oh yea. I'm very personable." She murmured, shuffling herself closer to him.
"So I see. And are you capable of working as part of a team?"
He winced, realising what he'd just managed to ask completely by accident. She chuckled throatily at him.
"I prefer a one-to-one working arrangement personally, but who am I to judge." She dipped her head to kiss his neck, running her lips teasingly over the day old stubble along the line of his jaw. He swallowed.
"How important is job satisfaction to you?" His breath hitched as she sucked at the skin under his earlobe.
"Extremely." She pulled back slightly, her lips hovering above his and a wry smile plainly evident from the gleam in her eye.
"Any... special skills, you think you can bring to the role?"
She slipped her tongue between his lips and ran it across his own in answer.
"Mhmm. I'll take that as a definite yes. You're hired."
One day, nineteen hours, twenty-two minutes and approximately seven seconds later...
"Right, I'd better go upstairs and get changed or I'll be late. Coming?" Alex winked at Hal. His jaw nearly hit the floor. "Don't blow a gasket, I'm only kidding. Unless you..."
"Go." He managed to croak. He could still hear her laughing all the way up the stairs. Tom grinned at him.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that." Hal apologised, shaking his head.
"Don't be, I'm happy for you both mate. Everything's falling into place now isn't it?"
"Yes. Yes it is." Hal agreed, putting on a smile for his friend.
The truth was, he couldn't tell Alex the real reason he was holding back on their relationship. His morals did play a part, and he did want to do things properly for once in his very long and debauched life, but it wasn't just that. The fact was, it felt wrong to take that step with her when he suspected that the world they were living in was a lie. She might want him now, and he might love her, but that didn't change the fact that somewhere out there, the real her would be repulsed by the idea of having the real him anywhere near her. Because in what he suspected was the real world, he was bad Hal, and she despised him.
Being intimate with her would be like a violation, if he was right, and he couldn't stomach the thought of doing that to her. It had to be her choice, knowing the full truth of their current situation. Which left Hal with something of a dilemma.
He had two choices.
Tell her, and risk shattering her happy world, all for the sake of their shared happiness.
Or keep her in the dark about it and never let her get too close to him.
He sighed at himself and got up to don his shoes and jacket. Even in the perfect dream, he just had to go and mess everything up by thinking too much.
