#day18: Frozen
(Friday daytime)
Dan was lost in the words, like damn, it had been just a harsh movement to grab the nearest book from the shelf in the library, but it turned out good – surprisingly – and well… he now was really lost in the words. In a way, it almost made an impact that he was reading about himself – but that sounded not a bit of an exaggeration, and he wasn't a monster either, still... But no, he didn't want to think about the parallels. He was just focusing on enjoying the book, and by that he let his mind forget about everything that was around him – which was nothing but a growing, bothering mess. And, yeah, over the distraction part, the book was indeed good (if he really stepped over the rather obvious similarities...)
The time completely lost its meaning over the words, and… just by that Dan didn't catch the slight click, followed by some footsteps, just when he heard a scared scream. Only that grabbed his attention, making him flinch and from an old muscle-memory, like a reflex, it made him turn invisible immediately.
He didn't have time to comprehend what had just happened, because in the following moment suddenly a man bummed into the door after some heavy harsh steps, running up the stairs, to appear in the room so loudly at the next minute, completely opposite of the previous soft noise.
"Ghost!" the tall orange hazmat-suited man exclaimed. "Was it a ghost?" his face almost cheered up, but also it was determined at the same time, ready for any action. "What do you think, is it still inside?"
The woman crouched down, collecting the dropped clothes from the floor – that undoubtedly fell out from her hands by the shock – while her eyes were fixed on a certain part of the room. Dan was sure, if there hadn't been thin air for her vision, they would have been clearly staring at each other, and- somehow, she must have felt it too, by her slowed down movements, and crossed eyebrows and…
Dan didn't dare to move, he literally got frozen, unable to move or breath or even think, waiting for the unavoidable to happen, waiting for the moment to- for example for the book to slip out from his hold, or- something, but instead the woman just wrinkled her forehead, attempting to see through the mirage that she had seen a moment ago, and…
"I just, I-'' she started, studying now with confusement the pile of pillows, and trying to figure out why those were out of the wardrobe and almost perfectly folded in the shape of a tower… "I think- I think I saw something, but…" she shook her head. "It was just a flash of light, I guess."
The man tilted his head and spoke with a kind voice. "Maddie… you should rest."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, mumbling. "Yeah, you might be right." she agreed, and in fine, turned her eyes away from the spot.
A weird, undecipherable feeling run through Dan that he couldn't identify as he was following with his eyes as the woman put down on Jazz's bed the washed and folded clothes and then stepped to leave the room and… then as she stopped for a moment, looking back to the place where she had seen the 'flash of light', frowning... but after that she just shook her head and left the bedroom along with the man, closing back the door.
There was just silence for a very long moment, deader than he had ever experienced and just after a very long few minutes he managed to process what had just happened. Dan let out a shaky breath. He wasn't sure it was because of relief or- something else. In his mind, the woman was still standing there, a few feet away from him, mistaking his attendance as a mirage, and…
He had been too scared to move, too startled to react, too lost to- she was standing so close, unaware of his existence and… Maddie – that was what the man had said, that was how the man had called the woman and- and by that-
Maddie… he closed his eyes, recalling what that name meant. Maddie … the love of his life and- No. That was wrong, she wasn't- Mom … yes, she was Mom, but- no. She was both, but- at the same time, she wasn't either of those and- yeah… none of those, because- because- she wasn't- she wasn't- her.
He should have said something, he should have moved telling her he was here and… no. What was he thinking? She wasn't- she wasn't the one- she wasn't either, because the one that meant any of those was- was dead. Maddie… Mom… dead, for a- for a very, very long time and…
Dan pulled up his legs and buried his face behind his knees. He didn't want to- he didn't want to think about that, but- no matter how hard he tried, he saw her, again, and again, (Maddie... Mom…) standing there and staring at the spot, gazing straight into his eyes without knowing it and- and he hadn't been capable to do anything, not with the past behind him, and-
He wrapped his arms around his legs and didn't dare to move, or turn back from invisibility, not until he got sure only Jazz would step inside the room or that he could be one-hundred percent sure he wouldn't try anything to change on this time and… yeah, he squeezed his somehow burning eyes shut, and tried to ignore the growing suffocating hotness and dryness in his chest. It hurt so much and- still, it shouldn't- he was just making it up and- this place, only this place played with his mind, nothing else, with his senses and… he fucking hated this damn place. It was cursed and hunted and… why hadn't he done anything? (But more accurately: why had he done everything?)
A/N: I didn't plan to add Maddie and Jack too to WTPH, but- somehow when I saw 'frozen', a 'deer in the headlight'-Dan came to my mind and I had to write this. Also, it could be really confusing to see her with mixed feelings, so- is she both, is she only one of those (in that case, which one), or is she either in real (like different time and stuff)? Well, in truth, it's nothing but a confusing and disturbing mess, in both cases with a very heavy loss. And even he didn't want to find the answer to those questions...