Disclaimer: Crimson Peak is Guillermo Del Toro's property, Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke, The Lodgers to Brian O'Malley. Emma, Constance and I are self-inserts. The old lady from Camden Market belongs to Chibimelodee.

Summary: Ghosts are real and everything happens for a reason. Is this why Marina and her friends find themselves trapped in Allerdale Hall a few days away from Christmas?

Author's note: This story was written for me by « Emma » and « Constance » from Chibimelodee as an Advent Calendar two years ago. Please note that all three of us are french and while we do know our way around English, we might still make some mistakes. Feel free to let us know! As the three girls are french and start to speak from this chapter, I'll put the translations of their sentences right next to them so you know what they say.

Second author's notes: These bonus scenes were written by me after discovering the full story my friends gifted me.

At the Candlelight

Bonus : Young and beautiful

When Sean appeared behind Emma, she was busy in Allerdale Hall, talking happily with Constance about the birth of her child. The young mother-to-be had revealed to her sister that Thomas was hoping for a baby girl who'd look just like her. He had even insisted on building her crib by himself. He was full of attention for her, bringing her all the food she craved, controlling, even more, the quality and the origin of the food they ate, bought fruits and vegetables that came from biological agriculture. In fact, while she appreciated everything he did, sometimes, Constance felt her husband was a bit over the top.

"Hello." Sean said after Emma had finished a joke.

She jumped, clearly startled and turned around to face him. She got on her feet, angry, trying to hold her hand as she was craving to smack him in the face.

"Didn't they teach you to ring at the door when visiting someone, you creep ?!" She berated him

"We also did that in 1920." He casually remarked

"Good news, we still do that today!" She sarcastically snapped

"You're here." He calmly argued back, confused

"Yes, because I arrived at the front door and rang! Just imagine if you had popped while I was in the bathroom!"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I pop in a bathroom? That's the room with the highest awkward meetings rates."

"Then, it's okay to pop in the middle of a chat but not in a bathroom? Good Lord, angels are dumb!"

"Enough!" Constance finally cried out, rubbing her temples, feeling a migraine arriving. "First things first, yes, hello Sean, how are you?"

He didn't even have the time to reply that she kept going:

"And yes, please, if you want to visit us, please pop outside of the house, at the main door and use the bell."

He nodded and surprised Emma by asking for Constance's permission to sit down.

"Good boy! You want a treat?" She teased

It hurt but he guessed he deserved it. Emma had every right to still hold a grudge on him after he chose to save Marina instead of her sister. He hadn't even forgiven himself in the first place.

"So." The expecting mother asked. "What brings you here? Unless you want the pleasure of our company?"

He looked at his feet, uneasy.

"Well, your company is always appreciated, never doubt it!"

Emma rolled her eyes. That backstabbing jerk was also a liar to boot!

"I... I need a favour." He confessed

"Of course you do!" The younger sister bitterly replied. "Why would we even grant you one? You let Constance fall to her death! You didn't even try to save her! Had you tried but failed, I wouldn't be so mad at you!"

"Emma, please, it's all in the past and I have forgiven Sean already." Constance tried to ease her

"That's because you are too good."

"I can come back later..." Sean offered. "I can feel when I'm not welcomed."

He was about to leave when Constance told him, in a voice so firm that it even surprised her sister and her husband, who had entered the room, to not even think about it and stick his butt to the sofa.

"Tell me what the favour is and I'll see if I can help." She said

"A favour?" Thomas asked as he made his way to Sean, offering his hand to shake to welcome him.

When the Irish angel shook it, Emma groaned. Of course, Lucky Charms knew how to greet a man but not how to use a doorbell.

"It's about Marina..." He admitted

He looked worried, defeated and for a moment, the young woman felt her anger vanishing away. For all she held against him, he genuinely loved her friend. He wasn't a mean spirited creature, far from it in fact. But she knew that he had deliberately let Constance die a few months ago to save Marina, thinking it was the way the prophecy had to be realized. In the end, Constance was resurrected, as per the prophecy's own words, it didn't change the fact that Emma was deeply hurt and felt betrayed by the man who was supposed to help.

"Is Marina alright?" Thomas inquired, clearly worked up

To Emma's surprise, Marina and Thomas had become friends quite easily so his concern wasn't faked.

"Did she have another argument with some family members?" She carefully said, trying to remain respectful.

She knew how some members of Marina's family, while they loved her, could tear her apart to a point her friend would be down and unwell, a rare occurrence for her.

"No, she didn't. She's well, physically speaking. If she was hurt or ill, I could heal her." Sean explained. "But, these days, she seems... Sad. She smiles at everyone but I can see past that. Even when we're together, she seems... Off. I... I was wondering if she had told you anything. She told me the pandarmotte had stolen one of her plushies but her number of plushies did not change."

If he hadn't been so worked up, the sisters would have laughed at his innocence. A pandarmotte needing a plushie! That sounded so cute!

"Besides... Marina loves animals. If the pandarmotte needed a plushie, she would have given her one."

Okay, so innocent but with a working brain. That was good to know.

"Marina didn't tell us anything different than usual." Constance confessed.

"Then... How do I make her tell me?" He asked

"The thing is that you can't make her." Thomas said, staring at him. "You'll only scare her, she'll back off and tell you you are an idiot because no one tells her what to do."

His wife beamed, pride sparkling in her eyes as she kissed his cheek. She had taught him well.

"However." He continued. "You can tell her you are worried about her, that she seems sad to you and that you're here for her if she needs to talk."

"I've already done that..."

"Then, she's not ready. All you can do is being supportive and wait. It's frustrating, I know."

"It's just... I hate the thought that she could be unhappy."

Emma couldn't help finding this absolutely cute. Besides, they had a common point: she didn't like knowing Marina could be sad and she knew her sister enough to know that this was a mutual feeling.

"I'll check if Justine didn't make another mix up that would have caused Marina any bad feelings." She offered.

She remembered too well the unwillingly done blunder their common friend had committed, making Marina angry and even snapping at her at some point because how dare she makes one mistake without being given a pass or gently told while Justine could do several and not be berated because of who she was?

"Do I need to scare that girl?" Sean asked

For Constance, who disliked Justine, her eyes had lit up as if it had been Christmas.

"Yes!" She exclaimed.

"Constance, come on!" Emma smiled. "Justine has her heart in the right place."

"Maybe she should have her brain in the right place as well."

"Ouch, that's cold."

Seeing the angel clearly confused, the younger sister explained a bit who Justine was. She was by no mean a bad or an evil person, she just was not very subtle or spoke or acted before thinking, which could trigger Marina sometimes, especially when she wasn't putting up with her crap since high school after she made it clear she wouldn't stay in a toxic friendship. Emma logged on Facebook, checked the common group chat, other more private chats... Nope, so far, so good, Justine was as quiet as a koï and Marina still mass sharing posts to help out animal shelters or to spread the news about people who had disappeared.

"Nope, Justine's good."

"Maybe it's Onyx?" Constance wondered.

Onyx, Marina's black labrador, was her pride and joy. She loved the animal to death.

"No, her puppy's fine." Sean immediately replied.

"She's six, she isn't a puppy." She argued

"In Marina's eyes, she is."

"So, it's not family, it's not friends, it's not her dog... Then, it must be you!" Emma deduced

"Me?!" Sean exclaimed, taken aback. "But I didn't do anything! We didn't argue, nothing!"

"You're scaring the poor lad." Thomas told his sister-in-law

"I'm not saying he did! I'm saying it must be something related to him! Maybe she's sad about an aspect of your relationship."

"Then, it's back to Thomas' advice. You must talk to her and make her understand she can open up to you. Marina has a tendency to keep things that bother her to herself." Constance concluded.

"Thank you. I'll try and set this right."

He got up on his feet but froze for a moment. He turned to Emma and asked her:

"Can I pop out or is it rude?"

She only laughed and the Sharpes gave him their blessing for popping out of the mansion.

It had been a long time since Marina had taken a moment to go and enjoy the beauty of the park in Malo-Les-Bains. It was a small park nestled in the city with a kids' area where they came to play after school or during holidays. Chess tables and benches had been installed, there was a small pond with ducks enjoying the water. There also was an aquarium people could visit. The young woman usually enjoyed sitting in the quieter area of the park, a pen and a notebook in hand, letting the peace of the place invade her brain, freeing her imagination as she took notes for fanfiction or just doodle. Long ago, as she had taken the habit of going there for a walk every sunday morning, her mom had assumed she was meeting with someone. Now, she had Sean, of course, but back then, it had made her laugh. She had never really pursued a quest to find love anyway. Never really interested her, preferring her freedom instead. She felt a familiar breeze behind her and a faint wing flap sound. She turned around, her face instantly lighting up when she saw Sean's smile and his beautiful blue eyes.

"Sean!" She exclaimed

He smiled even more, sat by her side and kissed her lips.

"How was your last mission?" She asked

He had been sent to Austria to help a woman escape after her father had imprisoned her. The man was deranged and had his heart set on unspeakable things with her.

"She's safe and her father is in jail. She won't be the next Elisabeth Fritzl. We arrived on time."

"I'm so proud of you! You prevented that girl's life from being destroyed!"

He beamed. He enjoyed the beauty of the place, observing one of the statues while Marina was taking notes down. He could hear the roars of the cars muffled by the trees, the laughter of children running around, it was really soothing.

"There's a bakery nearby, we could grab a pastry if you want." Marina offered, still writing. "Or, there's a place that sells absolutely delicious cupcakes! The seller even has tiny ones, so you can taste several without feeling too full."

"A cupcake?" Sean hesitated on the word

"It's a very tiny cake, usually chocolate or white cake you can fill with chocolate chips or fruit pieces then decorated with buttercream which is dyed several colours, shaped and sometimes even flavoured. Gosh, I love her cupcakes!"

He tried to see what she was scribbling. Some notes about what she could do for her forum. It was funny how she could be organized for so many things and yet, her room back at her parents was a mess. An organized mess, yes but a mess nonetheless.

"Marina..." He carefully started, worried about ruining the atmosphere of their moment together. "I... You... You seem sad these days. I know you said you weren't. I see you smiling. But I can't help feeling something is off. And the pandarmotte didn't steal your plushie, the number didn't budge. And I know you enough to know you would have given her one or bought her one if she needed one."

If her smile didn't drop, it faded. She closed her notebook and sighed.

"That zing can be as amazing as it can be annoying." She tried to joke.

She could feel his worried gaze on her and it hurt her.

"There is something." She confessed after a while. "But it's just about me. You did not do anything wrong. It's just a thought that I had and it made me realize something."

"What did you realize?"

She smirked, though it seemed sad.

"Do you know the song Young and Beautiful by Lana del Rey?"

To her surprise, he nodded.

"The thing is, as an angel, you don't age. Your birthdays and years add up but your body doesn't change. In fifty years, you'll still look twenty-one. But in fifty years, I'll be seventy-seven. I'll be shorter. I might have a hump. My breasts will sag even more. I'll have wrinkles and stains all over my body. My hair will be either grey or white, thining out. I won't be as healthy as I am now if I'm even lucky enough to be seventy-seven. You love me now. I know you do, I never doubted even once that you do. But will you love me the same when I'm old and grey? Or will you love the ghost of the woman you fell in love with? Will you be able to love me the way you do now when I won't look the same at all in half a decade from now on? And when I die, because I'm mortal, if I even get the chance to go to Heaven, I'll be the way I died."

I've seen the world, lit it up
As my stage now
Channelling angels in the new age now
Hot summer days, rock 'n' roll
The way you play for me at your show
And all the ways I got to know
Your pretty face and electric soul

Will you still love me
When I'm no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

Dear Lord, when I get to heaven
Please let me bring my man
When he comes, tell me that you'll let him in
Father tell me if you can
Oh that grace, oh that body
Oh that face makes me wanna party
He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds

Sean felt her body slightly tensing when he took her by the shoulder to bring her closer before wrapping his arms around her body.

"It's your soul I love." He purred into her ear, making her shiver

"I know. But it'd be lying to deny the fact that physical attraction exists. Will my soul be enough when my looks fade away?"

"They could fade now, I'd still love you."

"Even if I get stuck in my bed because of my age?"

"I can make sure you are a medical mystery for doctors. A seventy-seven years old woman with absolutely no health issue. You and I could do all we do today. I won't let you grow old with the sufferings that come along with it."

She couldn't help giggling and he could feel her soul relieved of her worries. His own was lighter as well.

"Also, when your time comes... You could become an angel, like me." He explained. "Angels born from humans who passed away get to choose how they look like. You can die at eighty-nine, become an angel and appear in your fifteen glories. When it happened to me, I chose not to lose my wooden leg. It's part of who I used to be."

"I don't think your father would let me become an angel." She stated

"To be honest, I'm pretty sure he does. You have a good heart and you care a lot about so many things."

"And on top of helping, we'd be together. If it is God's will."

"It was his will to have you in England."

"He works in mysterious ways."

He chuckled.

"He sure does."

Marina's phone vibrated. She had received a text from Emma. She raised an eyebrow while reading it before turning to Sean.

"You went to Allerdale before joining me? Emma's worried about me!"

"I..." He stuttered. "I kinda asked them to help me... I was lost."

She couldn't even be mad, facing his concern, his pure love and his mesmerizing face.

"Why don't we go and have cupcakes and then send a picture to Emma?" She offered. "If she knows I'm eating, then she'll know I'm better."

He laughed before letting her take his hand and lead him.

The End