Author's Note: I'm posting a second time today. This'll count as tomorrow's chapter because I'm not sure if I'll be able to reach a computer. I hope y'all enjoy this hardcore FLUFF. Sorta. Ish. Okay, so not HARDCORE fluff, but a bit of fluff. I can't really put hardcore fluff in this until after shit hits the fan. And even after shit hits the fan, it's kinda hard to incorporate. SO ANYWAY.
Thanks to all who have taken to time to read and reviewing and follow and blah. You all mean so much to me and really encourage me not only as a writer, but as a person. I don't know where I'd be without my writing, but it probably wouldn't be a good place. So please go ahead and R&R this chapter, too! My treat!
Rating: This is going to be rated T for now, but the language is going to be very explicit because some of the dialogue comes right from the script. The rating may be elevated later.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Until Dawn or the game or story. All rights go to Supermassive Games. I claim the rights to Percy and April Anthony and Percy's awkward as frick personality.
Editing: All editing is done by me, all mistake are mine.
Chapter Five
So we started to set up the spirit board. Josh led us up a set of stairs into a relatively small room. There was a small table in the middle with four chairs around it. Since there were five of us, April sat on Josh's lap, ignoring my pointed glare.
Chris went to put the robe back where he found it and told us he'd grab some candles. I finally stripped off my sweatshirt, leaving me in an undershirt, a white T-shirt, and a casual blue button-up over top, my sleeves rolled to my elbows. We all had a seat and Chris reappeared a moment later.
The spirit board sat in front of us and Chris sat down to my right, setting a candelabrum to the right of me. He handed me a lighter and fixed me with a grin. "Blaze it, man."
"Four-twenty," I muttered in response as I lit the candles and Chris smacked the back of my head. I snickered and handed him back his lighter. When the candles were all lit, Josh turned off the lights and there was only the flicker of the fire.
"Alright," said Chris as he looked around at each of us, "So it says here: 'to communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the Spirit-master', which is me –"
Ashley sat down to the right of Chris, rolling her eyes. "It does not say that –"
Chris held up a hand to stop her. "And," he continued, "all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion –"
"And that being said," I added in, "Any type of refusal will result in an untimely death and your sole being utterly and completely sucked out of your physical body by a malevolent spirit."
"Chris, Percy, c'mon guys, this is serious," said Josh, glaring at the both of us.
"Oh, I am deadly serious," said Chris in a mock British accent.
"Deadly serious, indeed," I chimed in, imitating Chris.
"Oh, shut up, you two," said Ashley with a brief roll of her eyes.
I met April's eyes as we all set one hand on the spirit board and wiggled them. "You ready, little sis?"
"I'm only seven minutes younger than you," she said with a smirk.
"Still younger."
"Yeah, well, you know I'm not a fan of this kind of stuff…" April eyed the board warily. "It just gives me the spooks."
Before I could respond, Josh wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to the inside of her collarbone. "Awh, c'mon, babe, you know I won't let anything happen to you."
I stared at the two of them as April smiled at her boyfriend and gave him a quick kiss. "You two are aware this is, like, a giant estate? You literally have a shit-ton of rooms to pick from, and they're all far, far away from here."
Josh snorted and April stuck her tongue out at me. "You're just jealous because you don't have the balls to seal the deal with Sam yet," he chided.
"Shut up," I muttered lowly, but I did nothing to argue his claim, because I knew he was right.
"Okay, can we just try this already?" asked Ashley impatiently, "before Percy dies of embarrassment and then we'll just be talking to his ghost. And I'd rather not hear him moan on and on about what could have been with him and Sam."
"Yes, please," agreed Josh.
"Okay, then," said Chris, "Let's try this. Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for the day?"
Ashley frowned, but she didn't reject the idea. We all put one finger on the pointer as she hesitantly began. "Okay, um…anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us if you're there…?"
I almost snorted in disbelief – almost. Then the fucking pointer started moving.
"Woah-ho, wait a minute –" said Chris, clearly not believing what he was saying. To be honest, I wasn't sure I was believing what I was seeing.
"Did you do that…?" asked Josh, looking at each of us.
April gulped and shook her head. "Remember when I said this was spooky…?"
"I didn't do anything!" exclaimed Ashley.
"Remember when Chris said these things were full of shit?" I muttered and Chris smirked at me.
"It's moving again!" said Ash.
The pointer landed on an 'H'.
"H!" said Ashley.
"What's it spelling?" asked Josh.
"Hold on," muttered Ashley.
"How is this happening?" Josh demanded.
"I swear it's just moving," cried Ashley, clearly rattled.
I stared at the board as it spelled out 'help'. I felt like the blood was draining from my system.
"Help," I muttered.
"What?" said Chris, glancing at me.
"The board spelled out help."
"Holy shit…" muttered Josh.
"Help?" Ashley sounded a bit panicked now.
"…How're we supposed to help?" asked Chris, sounding vaguely confused.
"I don't know, what does it mean?" said Ash.
"We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them," said Chris.
"Ask who it is, Ash," I said, and I'm not proud to admit there was a slight shake in my voice.
"Okay…uh, who are you?"
The pointer began to shake and I heard April mutter, "Dear Jesus, we're all going to be haunted after this…"
"Ohhh, here it goes…"
"Okay," said Josh, "S."
"I," said Ash.
"S." Chris.
"T." April.
"E." Me.
"R," we all finished, looks of horror passing around the small table.
"Sister?" The panic in Ashley's voice was in full swing now. "Sister?!"
Josh's voice shook when he spoke, "Whose sister?"
"I'm out," muttered April.
"NO!" Josh grabbed my sister's hand before she could take it off. "You can't go. It…it ruins the connection."
April looked skeptical, but she didn't leave. She slowly lowered herself back down onto Josh's lap.
"Oh, come on, guys, is this for real?" asked Chris, skepticism clear.
"Shut up!" snapped Josh, and Chris glanced at me like 'What the hell?' I shrugged in response.
"Ask it whose sister!"
"Josh, it's…it's gotta be…"
"Yeah, okay, well…which sister is it, then?"
"Ashley, ask who it is," said Chris quietly. I raised an eyebrow at him and he gave a slight shake of his head.
"Who…are we speaking to? Hannah…is that you…?"
The pointer shook a tad and moved to 'yes'. I think my heart stopped in that moment. I was almost positive I was going to go into cardiac arrest.
There was a collective intake of breath around the square table and no one spoke for a moment. I didn't trust my mouth or brain to form a coherent sentence.
Chris broke the silence. "This is messed up. This is so fucking messed up."
April looked at Josh over her shoulder. Josh looked freaked out. He was pale and I could see little beads of sweat dotting his forehead. My sister put her free hand on Josh's cheek. "Josh? Sweetheart, are you –"
"I'm fine." But Josh wasn't fine. His voice had a tremor to it and his whole body shuddered when he took a breath. The poor man was a mess.
"Are you sure, because we can stop –" started Ashley.
"No."
"Dude, it's cool –"
"I wanna hear what it says!" Josh snapped.
We all looked at him warily and I couldn't help but wonder if Josh was going off his rocker. I wouldn't be surprised. He'd never fully recovered from last year…sure, April helped, but all in all…I was worried about my bro.
"I dunno where to start!"
I swallowed roughly, meeting Ashley's eyes. "If…uh, if it is…really Hannah…maybe we could, y'know…figure out what happened last year."
Ashley took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." She looked around nervously. "Oh-kay…Umm, let me think…Hannah…If you can hear this, like, really hear this…We all want to apologize for what happened."
"It was stupid…and…and mean," Chris chimed in, "and we're sorry."
Ashley was nearly in tears now. "We're so sorry, Hannah."
Just then, the pointer started moving again. Was it too much to hope that it'd spell out something nice and fluffy? Like…like puppies, or dolphins. But nope. It spelled betrayed and my heart leapt into my throat, effectively closing it.
"Uh-oh…" muttered Chris, freaking out now.
"I don't like this. Josh, I don't like this, we need to stop," said April, her voice frantic.
But Josh wasn't paying attention. His eyes were fixed on the pointer. "What does she mean…?" he asked, not listening to the rest of us.
"It's still going…!" warned Chris.
"Oh god…K – I – L – L – E – D! No!" Ashley crying now, a few tears freely streaming down her face. I looked around at everyone else and they were seemingly going into shock. I was surprised one of us didn't have a heart attack yet.
"Killed?!" Josh sounded broken.
"We didn't kill them!" insisted Ashley. "It was just a prank!"
"Ash, calm down, okay?" Leave it to Chris to be the voice of reason in this extremely freaky instant. "Just…we need to find out more."
"Ask them what happened, Ashley," I said, but over everyone else, my voice was lost in the sound. "I said," speaking louder this time. Four heads whipped in my direction. "Ask what happened, Ashley."
"Okay…" said Ashley, taking a moment to gather herself. She took a few breaths, breathing in and out slowing. "Okay…Who killed you? Hannah, who was it?"
The pointer shifted and began to spell out a word. Chris muttered the letters as they landed. "L – I – B – Library! Maybe there's something in the –"
"It's still going!" I warned.
Proof. Library and proof.
"There's…there's proof in the library!" Chris suddenly says.
Just then, the board started shaking violently and the pointer flieed off the table onto the ground with a clatter. All of us stood up, April springing off of Josh's lap and wrapping her arms tightly around me, pressing her face to my chest. April had never been into the whole 'supernatural' thing and stuff like that had always scared her. We could barely sit through a scary movie without shutting off. That had just been too much.
I stroked her blonde hair, holding her just as close. Josh's angry voice broke me out of what April called protective big brother mode.
"You know what? No, this is bullshit. This isn't real –"
"Josh, I don't know what's going on –" Ashley tried to protest, but Josh wasn't having any of it.
"Listen, I don't know…I don't know if you think messing with me is going to somehow help me deal with my grief or whatever, but this is not cool." And then he jabbed a finger at April. "And you. I thought you of all people would understand. Whatever. That's clearly not the case."
A tidal wave of anger and protectiveness surged through me for April. "Hey, man, watch it! None of us were playing some stupid trick on you! Man, get over yourself –"
"I don't need this, okay?!" Josh was nearly yelling now. "You guys are full of it!" He stormed down the stairs a second later without a second look at us.
April's thin frame broke into tears against my chest and I dropped a kiss to her hair. "It's alright," I murmured softly, "He'll calm down soon."
Silence filled the air between us as no one said a word. We were all too shocked about what had transpired. I wasn't sure about the other three, but I was trying to decide if that had really just happened or not.
"Should we go after him?" Ashley's voice was tentative and questioning.
"Let's just give him some time," I said and Chris nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Percy's right. He'll be fine in a few."
"I don't blame him!" exclaimed Ash. "I mean, the pointer flew right off the table!"
"I mean if…if you were faking it, you were doing one hell of a job," commented Chris grudgingly.
But Ashley was adamant. "I wasn't faking anything! I think we should do what it says. We should look in the library."
I nodded my agreement. "Yeah, we should. Can I just…I'm going to run April upstairs." I looked down at her. "Yeah?"
April nodded hastily. "Master bedroom…I – I could use a nap. There – There's a nightlight in my backpack. Would you…I mean, could you…"
I kissed her hair again. "Of course." I looked at Chris and Ashley. "Meet you guys in the library?"
They both nodded and Chris clapped my shoulder as me and April walked by. "We won't stumble upon anything creepy without you."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Thanks, Chris, nice to see you have my back."
I heard a snort of amusement before I led April down the stairs and we began our trek to the master bedroom.
It was a short walk filled with the silence. An ominous feeling was laying thick on me and I could feel my forehead break out in a cold sweat. Our footsteps echoed on the stairs and hardwood floors and I was incredibly freaked out.
I wanted to get April safely in the bedroom and lock her in there and then get back to Chris and Ashley as fast as possible.
And then my mind wandered to Sam and the fact that somewhere up here, she was naked in a bathtub.
I banished the thoughts instantly as I felt my face, ears, and neck get hot and focused on getting April from point A to point B. Almost there.
We got to the master bedroom and April broke away from me reluctantly. She curled up under the covers, shaking a tad. I rifled around in her back and after a moment, I produced a small nightlight that had enough juice to illuminate the whole room with just enough light to be comforting.
I walked back over to April once I could see and kissed her forehead. I was about to leave when my sister caught my hand and I heard her murmur, "Do you think he's okay?"
"Who? Josh?"
April nodded.
"Of course. He loves you, April. He'll be fine."
April gave my hand a comforting squeeze and I walked to the door.
"I'm going to lock the door, okay?"
I heard a brief, muffled 'don't' come from the bed and I frowned. "You sure?"
"I'm fine, Percy."
"Okay…" I said, not quite convinced, but I didn't lock the door. I shut it with a soft click and heard a throat clear behind me. I am not proud to admit that I jumped nine feet in the air and spun around, prepared to run far, far away.
Behind me, arms crossed, hip jutted, smirk prominent, was Sam.
"I remember saying that you were not welcome to join me," she quipped.
I put a finger to my lips and took her arm, moving her away from the door. Once I thought we were far enough, I said, "I was taking April to get some rest. The…uh…the spirit board…"
My voice failed as I remembered what it said and Josh storming out.
Sam's eyes were wide when I looked at her, a smile spreading across her face. "You're totally freaking out right now!"
"What? No I'm not!"
"You so are! I swear, you jumped a mile high when I cleared my throat."
"The board worked!" I hissed.
Sam frowned and looked at me skeptically. "Are you screwing with me?"
"No, I promise you I'm not. We – we think we got in touch with Hannah."
Sam paled at the mention of her former best friend but waved her hand, as if trying to swat away the idea. "No. No, that's…that doesn't happen. The 'supernatural'…it's not real. It was probably Chris playing another joke. You know, like you –" She poked my chest roughly. "–guys did earlier."
"No, Sam…no…it – it happened. I promise you. You know I'd never lie to you, you know me better than that." Sam was looking at me so skeptically, I had to wrack my brain to think of a way to get her to believe me. I ended up putting two hands on her upper arms and looking her in her big, blue eyes…blue like the ocean on a calm – Right, convincing. "Sam, do you trust me?"
She frowned. "What? You know I –"
"Do you trust me?" I asked a bit more forcefully this time.
Sam got really quiet and met my eyes. "You know I do," she whispered quietly.
"Then I need you trust me on this, okay? That this happened. Because I could go on with my entire life telling this story, and people will call me crazy. They'll call me insane. I don't care what people think. But I do care what you think. More than anything else."
It took a few moments, but Sam finally said, "Okay. Okay, I believe you." Relief hit me like a truck, even though she was probably just saying that to appeal to my insanity.
She shrugged off my grip and wrapped her arms around herself, when a thought hit me. "Wait…shouldn't you be in the bath?"
Sam colored a bit. "I was…I was looking around. At…at Hannah's stuff. Trying to remember, y'know? She…she really had a thing for Mike."
"You're telling me," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "What did you find?"
Sam blew out an irritated breath. "Nothing much. An old clipping from a compatibility test with not so successful results. On the back was 'HW + MM' in a heart…I found a picture of Mike from prom…my Halloween party invite…"
"Wait wait. You found a prom picture of Mike? Like, just Mike? No one else?"
"Nope," she confirmed.
I whistled. "That's weird. And the Halloween party invite?"
The corners of Sam's mouth tugged upward in a smile at that. "Yeah. From last year."
I grinned, too. "That was a fun party," I admitted.
"You were drunk and hitting on me most of the time," Sam teased.
"Do you blame me?"
"Have you ever taken a moment to consider that maybe I'm not interested?"
That hit me like a brick. Like a brick to my teeth. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me and that the world was spinning under my feet. My mouth moved, trying to form some sort of reply, but nothing came out. I was seeing double vision.
"I, um, I don't – I'm not sure…I didn't know…I'm so sorry," I was able to mutter before I shouldered past her and went to head down the stairs, when her hand caught my forearm. I looked back at her, jaw set, a nerve in my temple ticking erratically.
Sam had a conflicted look on her face but I heard her barely whisper, "I didn't mean that."
"What?" I snapped, clearly annoyed.
"I didn't mean that…I – I'm sorry," said Sam easily, with a bit more confidence, sliding her arms around my waist.
"I thought you said you needed time to think," I muttered, cautiously returning her hug.
"I do need more time to think. With all that's going on…I – I just…"
"You don't want to take attention away from why we're really here."
"I just can't forget. What they did to Hannah was absolutely awful and…being back, it's all I can think about. Besides you, of course."
"You think about me…?" I muttered, a teasing tone in my voice.
"Of course I do! You're…you're practically all I think about."
"We don't have to tell them," I suggested hopefully.
"No," Sam said, "I guess we don't, huh?"
We stood there in silence, a large smile on my face, just holding each other, enjoying the feeling to have everything out in the open. I was relaxed for the first time in a long time, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be like this after a séance.
"Where are you going right now?" she asked suddenly.
"Me, Ash, and Chris are going to check out something in the library…Some kind of clue, or something."
"Does this have anything to do with the séance?"
"…Yes."
Sam pulled away and gave me a knowing smirk, raising one eyebrow suggestively. "Or, you could come with me and we could move this someplace else…?"
I frowned, my eyebrows knitting together. "Aren't you going to take a bath…?" Then Sam's intentions hit me when I saw her smile growing. "Oh," I said, my mouth going dry. "Oh."
Sam laughed at that and shook her head. "For a smooth talker, you're quite clueless."
"To be frank, I never expected to make it this far."
"Oh please, you haven't even hit first base."
I was about to reply, when Sam added (and quite seductively), "Yet."
I swallowed roughly, my mind going blank. "I – I should get back to Chris and Ash. They're going to wonder where I am."
Sam looked a bit disappointed and a bit worried at the same time. "Alright, but don't be too long, tiger. Don't get haunted, or anything. Be careful, okay? For me."
I grinned a bit as our faces got closer and closer together. "Careful? Pfft. You think just because you said 'for me', I'll do it."
"Am I wrong…?" Her breath drifted across my face.
"Not exactly."
I fully expected our lips to collide, but Sam darted her head to the left at the last second and pecked me on the cheek, then pushed me away. "Then go. Come back soon, and I might just leave a bit of hot water for you."
Sam winked coyly at me then turned around, heading back towards…well, somewhere, her hips sashaying just a little bit more than usual. I watched her until she disappeared around the corner.
My mouth was dry, my jaw was hanging open, my hands were still in the place they were they'd been a moment ago when they were on the small of her back.
I eventually broke out of my reverie, trying to remember who I was and what I was doing because my mind was on overdrive.
With a shake of my head, I turned and took the stairs down, two at a time.
If I'd said it before, I'd say it again.
That girl was going to be the death of me.
