Thor stared at the dim ceiling of his room, his mind refusing to slow down.
After almost jumping out of his skin in the attic, he experienced a really bizarre moment of disconnection. He had been terrified, barely breathing as little shocks and tremors ran through him and yet he had moved immediately, striding towards the doors to open them (for a split second he thought they might be locked). He ran blindly through the dark until he was two floors down on the illuminated hallway where his and Loki's rooms were. He snapped out of it only at Loki's enquiries which he quickly shook off, gave him the frame that he was apparently still clutching in a sweaty hand and fled to his room.
There really is something fucking weird in this house, was his first clear thought when he laid down, wide awake and completely baffled. First those sounds, then the door rattling, then I was locked in here... what the fuck was it in the attic? My flash light giving out and the door slamming shut at the same moment? Was that a draft?
A draft. Right. Nobody uses the top two floors. Everything is sealed shut, countered another voice.
Then his thoughts simply shattered into a whirlwind of afterlife, ghosts, haunted, supernatural, poltergeists, spirits, demons,... It only went downhill from there. Eventually he fell into a fitful sleep, often jerking awake and drowning in half-concious thoughts and dreams. He slept soundly for a few hours after the sun came up, but when he staggered out of his room close to noon, he still felt groggy and unwell.
Loki sneaked up on him in the kitchen as he was piling his plate with left-over pie and potatoes.
"Rise and shine," he quipped and jumped up to sit on the kitchen desk. When Thor only grumbled something unintelligible in response, he took to silent whistling, watching Thor eat for a few minutes.
"So," Loki begun again. "First, I'm going to totally ignore how you almost pissed your pants last night."
"You do that and I won't break your nose for giving me a faulty flash light."
Loki clutched his hands to his chest dramatically. "I would never!"
Something in Thor loosened a bit when Loki more or less admitted to screwing him over. The rest could just be a coincidence then...
Loki's expression sobered. "Seriously though, you looked pretty spooked."
Whatever theories Thor had about this weird house, he was not about to share them with his sly new step-brother.
"Well, I wasn't, okay?"
Loki raised his palms in defeat. "All right, fine..."
Thor glanced out of the window. "It's not raining anymore. What can we do outside around here?"
"We could go to the lake... or try and visit the Thompsons. They have horses and might even let us ride." He paused. "If you know how to, of course."
"You have neighbours? Could have fooled me. Let's just go to the lake."
He picked the lake not only because he was itching for a swim, but also because he had no desire to exchange one stuffy old house for another.
"Great. I'm gonna go hunt down Molly and see if she can prepare us some food and I will meet you outside in half an hour."
According to Loki, the lake was two miles away and Thor set a brisk pace since it was already afternoon.
"You don't really get the concept of a stroll through nature, do you?" Loki complained, but went along. He was not a bad company during the walk, chatting away about the countryside and its little secrets and corners. It struck Thor as a bit sad that Loki apparently honestly did like living there, but he was missing someone to share it with. He realized he was willing to fill that space, at least temporarily. Out here in the sun, surrounded by lush green hills that seemed so full of life (the sheep were everywhere), it was easier to think rationally. His worries from last night seemed ridiculous. I watched a bloody horror and then went digging through a dark and dusty old room, he thought. No wonder it creeped me out.
The lakeside was beautiful and the water looked so inviting that Thor chucked off his clothing as soon as they reached it.
"It's cold," Loki rolled his eyes, setting down a backpack filled to brim with sandwiches and biscuits.
Thor made sure the laces on his swimming trunks held fast and grinned at Loki. "Well, I dare you to come swim with me."
"Ha-bloody-ha."
The sweet smell of water and sunshine was intoxicating and Thor casually approached Loki, who was standing with his arms crossed.
"Do you have your phone with you?"
"My phone?" Loki's brows scrunched in confusion. "What do you want with- oh. Oh nononono. Forget it."
"A wallet?" continued Thor, stalking the rapidly retreating Loki.
"Yes, everything is in my pockets! Passport, a thousand quid in notes, birth certificate, grandmother's will, I have all of that on me!"
"Liar," Thor laughed and lunged forward, just managing to wrap an arm around Loki's waist before he could bolt and immediately started dragging him towards the water.
"Stop, stop, I give up! I will go in, but let me undress first."
Thor paused for a second, squinting his eyes. Loki was the very picture of innocence, green eyes wide and seemingly honest. This close, Thor could see a few freckles on his nose, dabbled over the otherwise pale, smooth skin.
He's pretty, Thor thought and the idea startled him so much that he let Loki abruptly go, making him waver on his feet. Definitely inappropriate thinking.
"Come on then," he blurted, covering how flustered he felt. Loki's eyebrows arched pointedly anyway and all he could do was turn around and throw himself into the cold water.
It was, in fact, freezing and he gasped a little, making powerful strokes to warm himself up. A splash and then a squeal coming from the waterfront soon after told him that Loki was true to his word and joined him.
He slowed down and waited for Loki to catch up, which he did with surprising speed.
"You have a nice technique," he couldn't help but note.
"Thanks, that means a lot coming from a professional." It was clear what Loki thought of Thor's activity of choice in the way he said professional. Thor ignored it.
"Do you swim here often?"
"Not really. I like to stay away from the loch-ness monsters."
"Fucking Christ, you and your scare stories. You have issues, dearest brother."
Loki snickered and turned to float on his back.
"Brother, huh? You got used to that quickly."
There was something weird about Loki's tone, but Thor didn't have a chance to explore it because Loki suddenly slid through the water like an otter, disappeared beneath the surface and emerged far away from Thor, heading for the shore. Thor kept swimming for a while longer, but the cold was getting to him and soon he followed.
They sprawled on towels on the small beach, willing the sunshine to warm them up and dug into their provisions.
Thor chewed on a ham and cucumber sandwich and pondered Loki's odd words.
"Do you have a problem with my father?" he asked. Loki poked the slice of hard-boiled egg in his sandwich so it wouldn't fall out and only then answered.
"No, I don't, actually. I'm almost surprised."
"I like your mum too. I think she makes my dad happy," Thor said, pleased by the response, until Loki's face hardened and he looked Thor square in the eye.
"And that's great, you know. For them. But you're not my brother and this is not your home. Let's be clear on that."
Thor was too stunned for words and could only swallow his food dryly. He was not expecting that.
Loki's cold behaviour lasted for more than a day. In the evening, Thor was left to his own devices which was particularly uncomfortable as it really meant lying in bed for hours, trying to read, while at the same time he couldn't concentrate because he kept listening for any unusual sounds. It resulted in another restless night that left him with blue shadows under his eyes. When he woke, the weather was moody, overcast and threatening to rain. Despite the occasional hopeful ray of sunshine peeking out, the clouds never really cleared. He wandered through the first and ground floor aimlessly, discovering that while he didn't encounter anything disconcerting, the atmosphere of the house felt heavy and suffocating.
When he met Loki in the evening for dinner (tomato soup and cheese chips), the boy acted daintily, with certain empty cheer that grated on Thor's nerves.
"Do you want to watch a film tonight?" Loki asked.
Thor paused, a spoon with soup halfway to his mouth. Loki didn't stop eating for a second, scooping up what was left in his plate and already getting up to hand it back to Molly and get the chips from her.
"Sure," he said finally. "But I choose."
Loki only shrugged disinterestedly in reply and Thor was left to wonder why he bothered with the invitation in the first place. Upstairs, he browsed through Loki's dvd collection while Loki stiffly sat on the couch, not saying anything. With each second ticking away in silence Thor was getting more and more confused and with that, angry.
"What is your problem?" he finally accosted Loki.
"Watch your tone, city boy," Loki hissed in reply but, infuriatingly, he didn't even look Thor in the face.
"Son of a bitch," Thor murmured and grabbed the first casing that came to his hand and put the disk into the player before throwing himself on the far end of the couch, putting as much distance between himself and Loki. Half an hour into the film, he even began to relax. That changed when he unexpectedly found himself with a lap full of Loki's feet.
"Get your stinky socks out of my face," he grumbled and tried to shake the limbs off. No such luck. Loki stuck one of his feet between Thor's legs, the other he hooked over his thigh in firm hold and stayed right there.
"My couch," Loki pointed out calmly, eyes never leaving the screen.
"What are you, five?"
"Shut up and watch."
Twenty minutes later Thor was relieved of his burden (admittedly, he didn't really mind all that much).
"This shit is boring," Loki proclaimed. "I'm going to go down and grab something to eat."
He came back a few minutes later with a huge bag of salted potato crisps.
"Took you long enough," Thor noted, tearing the bag open and stuffing a fistful into his mouth.
"Molly hid them. She snacks on them when she thinks no one sees."
He expected Loki to take the food back from him immediately, but he instead plastered himself to Thor's side and kept reaching into the bag in Thor's hold and taking the crisps one by one. The constant jostling was irritating.
"Could you maybe take a handful like a normal person?"
"I don't want to feed the rats with crumbs. They get cocky if they're not hungry. Next they will eat my toes when I'm sleeping."
"Wha-" Thor processed the ridiculous declaration for a second before he doubled over in laughter. Looking up, he saw Loki's smile flash in victory.
They snickered amicably for a moment and Thor was happy to let go of the tension. Maybe it was just because there really wasn't anybody else, but despite his prickly behaviour, he felt his new step-brother was sort of growing on him. Step-brother who however didn't like to be reminded of that particular fact, albeit he was otherwise moderately welcoming. Like tonight – Loki had been obviously still mad about something (Thor didn't know exactly what), but extended an invitation for a bit of fun anyway. Thor felt that it was an admirable effort.
"Sorry if I made you mad. At the lake," he said carefully. Loki's smile faltered for a moment and he watched Thor intently, as if trying to figure him out.
"You really are sort of... nice, aren't you?" he huffed a laugh. It caught Thor off guard. This wasn't the sort of thing anyone has ever said to him. He laughed awkwardly.
"And you are a piece of shit," he jokingly repeated his assessment from earlier, poking Loki in the ribs for good measure, earning himself a flying crisp hitting him in the forehead.
"Seriously though," Loki said then, slapping away Thor's fingers when he threatened to tickle. "Let's not do the whole... brother thing, okay?"
It looked like he might want to add something, so Thor only nodded and waited, but after a minute Loki turned to the TV again.
Just a week ago I didn't even want to come here and meet him, Thor told himself. Why does this bother me?
His mind was so busy trying to figure Loki out, to put a finger on what exactly did he like about the boy and what irritated him (and then it led to him thinking about his father and Laufey and how would this new family turn out) that he showered and climbed into bed without a thought spared for the eerie events of last days. It was only when he was lying in the dark, plumbing quietly processing the rest of his shower and then shutting off to leave him in perfect silence, that a shiver ran through him again.
The more he ordered himself to go to sleep, the more awake he felt. His eyes simply wouldn't stay closed and his gaze roamed restlessly over the room, occasionally catching at the reflective golden pattern of the old wallpaper. It didn't take long for his mind to begin playing tricks on him – he thought he saw light shimmering over the wall to his left, he felt like this or that shadow in the corner was bigger than before. Then ideas started creeping into his head – what would he do if he suddenly saw a face or a figure hovering by his window? What would he do if he heard something moving under his bed or in the closet? What if the clock on the wall suddenly started going backwards?
It was impossible to stop these mutinous thoughts once the dam broke and he shut his eyes, cursing at himself for being so weak.
"Thor."
His heart all but stopped.
"Thor."
Then it started beating again in shocked cadence, leaping so hard in his chest he thought he might not survive this.
"Shh..."
The sounds were no more than the lightest whispers. Shuffling his covers would be louder. Tucking in hair behind his ear would be louder. And yet it was impossible to ignore and unthinkable to deny that the voice, the gritty, rough, breathy voice, had said his name.
His palms were sweating, he noticed, as he forced himself to let go of the coverlet he was clutching.
"Thor."
Slowly, very slowly he sat up. It took a lot of will to reach over to his bedside table lamp, but he did it and switch it on. He swept the entire length of the room with his eyes quickly. It seemed empty, looking just as it did when he went to sleep. Steeling himself, he got up and stood in the middle of the room.
"All right. Who is there?"
He counted his heartbeats. At three hundred, there was still no response.
"Show yourself," he tried, feeling more like a fool with every second. The only answer was silent tapping and he turned to see its source, but it was only rain beginning to fall. He stood with goosebumps all over his body in the middle of softly illuminated room, listening to nothing but sounds of rain that grew louder and louder as the skies opened up.
He was afraid, but he also felt like fighting. Something wasn't right here. He would get to the bottom of it.
So, maybe it's a ghost. What is it gonna do to me? Can it touch me? If it can, I can touch it too. And if I can touch it, I can punch it. My fear is my biggest enemy here.
And if it's some sort of a ruse... well, even better then.
But whatever it was, it was not up for challenge and he was left standing there for long minutes before he decided to go back to sleep. He was almost surprised at himself when he turned off the light without hesitation.
An hour later, just as he was falling asleep, the whispering started again.
"Thor."
"Shh."
"Thor."
It was almost imperceptible over the rain but his ears picked up on the voice anyway. He jolted awake, but this time, he wasn't quite as startled.
"Thor."
For some reason, his instincts were telling him not to be afraid. It sounds exactly the same, he realized. Where is it coming from?
With determination, he turned on the light and jumped from bed. As if on cue, the whispering stopped.
He tore everything in the room open – closets, drawers, shelves, looking inside a vase with dried flowers on a table, ruffling through his now-empty luggage. He even tapped at the walls a little, but admittedly he didn't know what he was looking for.
"Come on, think," he ordered himself out loud. The biggest mystery was figuring out from what direction were the whispers coming.
There had been no direction. The sound had been surrounding him. Under the bed.
He threw himself on the stomach, craning his head to see. Apart from some dust and cobwebs, he had a clear view to the other side of the bed. He was disappointed until he tried reaching out and blindly felt the underside of the mattress, sweeping his palm over the bed construction and old linen.
There!
Duct taped to the underside of his bed was a small mobile phone. Thor pulled it free in silent disbelief and sat cross-legged on the floor, examining it. When he pushed a button, the screen lit up, revealing four missed calls. He opened the setting menu to confirm his suspicions and there it was – customized ring tune called record002. He didn't need to play it to know that it would be saying "Thor" and "shh" on repeat, muffled and distorted by something.
"Piece of shit," he murmured, sprang to his feet, jerking the door open angrily, and ran down the hall. He might have imagined it, but he thought he saw the tiniest movement when he reached the other half of the hallway. Loki's door closing in hurry.
He barged in furiously, flipping on the light switch. When he found the first room empty, he continued to Loki's bedroom with determination.
"Thor? What are you-?"
Loki was a bundle of sheets and blankets, looking up confusedly, but Thor wasn't fooled. Not anymore.
He reached down to yank the covers from Loki, earning himself a scared yelp. But rightly enough, Loki was fully dressed in jeans and t-shirt under there.
"Care to explain this?" Thor asked, voice trembling with barely contained anger, and held up the phone. "Or should I call the number that popped up on the screen and let us both listen to your phone ringing?"
Watching the shift of Loki expression as his gaze slid from the phone to Thor's face and back again was chilling. The make-believe confusion and innocence melted away to a hard, cool smile.
"Finally figured it out, huh? I thought you were even dumber than that."
"What the fuck? Why did you do this?" Thor yelled. Loki rolled off the bed, stepping right into Thor's space and pushing at his chest to make him walk out of the bedroom.
"Why? Look at yourself, you arrogant ass. You come here, letting everyone know how bored you are, how old this house is, how you hate it here. Well guess what! I couldn't be happier to see you get on a fucking train, go back to wherever you came from and never fucking come back!"
Thor was taken aback by the violence in Loki's voice for a second, but found himself shouting back anyway.
"You had this prepared before I even got here! That first night? Locking my door? You want me to believe that I pissed you off so badly during one afternoon?"
Loki smiled meanly. "Well, obviously I knew about you from my mother. It's all she can do not to slap you upside down, you know. You can expect some changes in your lovely little life when they get back."
"What is she going to do? Lock me in a castle and make a psycho out of me as she apparently did with you?"
"A psycho? At least I'm not shitting my pants, looking for monsters under my bed!"
Thor was ready to shoot back, just barely refraining from grabbing Loki and shaking him when they were both startled by a scolding voice.
"Boys! What is this?" Julia in a long nightgown and with her hair pinned up was standing in the door frame, stern expression on her face.
"It's after midnight! What is all this yelling and running around? Why are you fighting?"
Thor's mouth snapped closed and he stepped away from Loki, totally at loss for words and feeling a bit ashamed. It still pleased him to see that Loki's face took on a deep red colour.
"I'm sorry, Julia," Loki said.
She was not placated. "Thor, go back to your room. I see you are at least ready for sleep. Loki, you go brush your teeth and to bed, now."
They both went and did as they were told, hanging their heads, tempers quickly cooling under Julia's severe gaze. Thor trailed away slowly back to his room, hovering by the doors, waiting for Julia to leave Loki's room. A couple of minutes later she appeared, saw him waiting and walked over.
"I'm sorry," he said. "We were just... we had a misunderstanding."
She sighed and patted his arm. "It's fine, dear. Loki can be a little... well, he's alone a lot."
Thor nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Neither of you is in an easy situation, I understand. Just try and think before you act. I told Loki the same thing. Slamming doors and yelling won't solve anything. Well, goodnight, Thor."
"Good night."
He stood and watched her leave, feeling even more low than he did coming to this house in the first place. He was just about to close the door behind him when he frowned as something occurred to him. Slamming doors?
There was a loud bang coming from the stairs and he jumped, poking his head out to the hallway.
"Julia? Are you all-right?" he called out. There were odd shuffling noises coming from the lower floor and the now-familiar bite of fear appeared in his stomach again. Don't be fucking stupid. It was all Loki.
"Just fine, darling!" came her voice. He shrugged and went to sleep, suddenly feeling very exhausted. He didn't dream.
The next day, Loki avoided him like the plague and Thor returned the effort. He took advantage of an acceptable weather and took a long walk around the premises, getting familiar with the hills surrounding it and spending a good portion of an hour talking to a couple of tourists who were trekking Lake District on foot. They knew much more about the country than he did.
In the light of the day, he was completely uprooted by what happened the previous night. Looking back on the days he spent in the Grey Rose Cottage, he realized that his worst expectations weren't really met. True, he's had some nasty scares and spent a few hours thinking about things he never thought he would believe existed, but the rest had been okay. Acceptable. Pleasant even. He had been lulled into a sense of safety.
He had been literally chasing ghosts, blind to the actions of a real, breathing person.
A memory came to him, of a cold winter day when his grandmother took him to a cemetery to visit his late grandfather's grave. He couldn't have been more than five. It was afternoon and dusk was approaching rapidly. He was frightened, jumping at every shadow, until she scooped him up and told him: "Be afraid of the living, not the dead. The dead can't hurt you."
Looking back, it wasn't the most positive piece of advice, but his child's mind was so intrigued by the completely unexpected point of view that he stopped being scared.
That's exactly what I should be doing now. Figuring out how to deal with Loki. For his own sanity (he still had almost two months to spend in this place) and for his father's sake.
He headed back to the house, stalling by taking a detour though the garden and sitting by the pond. There were some Chinese carps in it, in pretty golden and pink hues and he watched them roll their eyes and flap tiny mouths until the sun went down.
Going in through the back French doors, he was surprised by how oppressive the house felt. Even the scents of old wood and fur were stronger. The air was still and stale and the silence weighted down on him. Where was everybody? He crossed the hall to check the kitchen, but he was stopped in his tracks by the sound of rapid footsteps and his name being called out.
Loki stumbled out from behind a corner and Thor recoiled in shock.
If he thought Loki was pale before, he was now pasty white, eyes wide and terror-stricken. But the worst part was defnitely the blood – streaming from Loki's nose, covering his mouth and dripping down his chin, making mess of his shirt and hands. Despite that, the relief was palpable on Loki's face when he saw Thor and he slowed down his frantic run and bent over. Swallowing his shock, Thor hurried to him, helping him straighten up and offering an arm to lean on, which he did gratefully.
"What the hell happened?"
"I... something,... someone, pushed me down the stairs."
"What?! Like a... burglar? We have to get everybody down here and call the police. Come-"
"No, no, Thor, oh god, wait! It wasn't... "
Loki pushed him away lightly, just to an arm's length, fingers still grasping Thor's shoulder even as he distanced himself. He covered his eyes with the other hand, breathing heavily through his mouth. Thor let him get himself together, even if he felt like running, yelling for Molly and Julia to get them safe, anything.
Finally Loki looked up with an air of determination. The effect was spoiled by tear streaks that watered down the blood on his face and that Thor didn't notice before.
"I didn't see anyone. Whoever or whatever it was, it was invisible."