…
It was a long dark night.
Blair was happy. It was a weird kind of happy, though.
It was the happy sort of warm feeling where you can't wait for the very good thing you know that's coming, but time isn't moving fast enough.
Like a holiday. Or a birthday.
So, she ran around the building, waiting for the arrival. It got boring after a while, so she tried to distract the dawning boredom with things to do.
Running up and down the floors, she straightened plant pots, moved rugs to central positions on the wood floors she knew by heart, and eventually chose to catch up on her studies.
Bolting up two steps at a time led her to the third floor, and she found herself in front of two doors.
The right door is Uncle Brandon's room…
The left one is…
She tilted her head like a broken toy barely attached, watching the unusual sight.
Her door was boarded up. When did that happen?
She had already torn them out before. "I can just do it again!" she exclaimed, and began the simple task.
Nails were slowly lifted out, rotten wood was kicked off, and eventually the antiquated door was revealed. It seemed to glisten with her impatiently awaiting her arrival. Walking into the room she was instantly dominated by a large bookshelf in the centre. "I really didn't study well, did I?" she thought.
She reached for a dust covered book on a small table, reading the title:
Higher Mathematics for the Mentally Ill Child. 1954 Edi. W. Hardy.
… One of Father's books. Sadly, she couldn't find her lesson marker anywhere. She looked through the rest of her bookshelf to find her most recent books.
Mathematics. 1978. W. Hardy.
Some books were redacted, but she just skipped past most of those.
_ Masking _ _ F. Sedgwick _ _
Monas _. Dee.
The massive amount of medical texts she skipped, but noticed one of the books was damaged. Pages were torn or appeared to be charred on the edges. She'd never hurt a book that badly, so she removed it to give it a little burial outside later.
Elucidations on Life and Soul. A. Hardy.
… She paused at that, on her eyes touching the author's name. Dropping it rapidly like it burned her hands, she slowly crept away, inching backwards to the direction of the door out to the hallway. Keeping her eyes in removed from the book, she scrambled for the nails she took from the boards that were left on the ground.
Returning to the room, she jammed the old silver nails into the book.
… She was not going to preform a burial tonight. It was an evil text that deserved no place in her graveyard of beloved stories. Calming herself took a minute, which she did by singing a little song she wrote to her new arrival. She sung it softly, while looking for her class book.
"He-llo sibling! how do you do?"
"I've been waiting a long time for you!"
Blair had sung it before, but didn't remember this.
"I have a sweet song, it's meant for you!"
Condensed Classes: Lit-Geo-Maths. 1992. W. Hardy.
"Please greet me, I wish to know you!"
Final Lessons. 2011. Father.
… At this, she stopped singing. There were no more books. This was the most recent one. Blair turned to the last page.
Bravo, my dear!
You've learned everything.
There's nothing left.
You're done.
…
Blair wept. She cried her heart out, and when that was all done, she left. Her little song became more mournful now, with nothing left to keep her happy.
"He-llo sibling. I'm waiting for you."
"Please come for me as I'm left too."
"I want to share my love kind and true."
"There's nobody else to give it to."
… Blair's sad pity party went on for a long time, singing her song, walking the halls waiting for her arrival to come.
The poor girl wasted away.
Time,
Health,
Sanity,
-and she remained that way until she was just a little memory, barely remembered in the back of a dream.
Blair crept to the top floor one aeon, singing her song, waiting and watching.
She wept, for there was no-one there.
….
Paige stood in her nightmare, watching and waiting.
"The singing. It's back."
Paige did not like the singing.
She also disliked the choice of her mind's company.
Angeline was glaring vehemently at everything in the building. The floors, the walls, the occupants, nothing escaped her attention, and her attention was one of hatred.
"You Bitch."
That got Paige moving. She hated this place, and everything her memories knew of it, but she was in her mind, looking for her supernatural support goddess's protégé.
"Angeline. We're walking to the top floor, and I'm kicking you out of the window."
"Ha! Like hell you a-"
… Angeline froze as she was shoved up the stairs to the first floor.
Paige noted the destruction on the floor. "Hmm. Guess what I did was persistent." She noted the broken boards she had pulverised in reality years back. "That ignores the search to find a dream-axe to break this dream door down."
She lightly tapped the door open, and was interrupted by a quiet hissing.
"You went in there?"
Paige rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. Taking a nickname from a book she read once, she muttered, "Lovely Angie Dear-"
Angeline's expression was priceless. "You read the books."
"Yep."
"You… read all the books."
"Ahyup."
"You… broke into an off limits abandoned room and chose to read all the books in it."
"Eh, not ALL of them… I read your book, mostly. A good try for an amateur, but not amazingly well written. There were also a few very interesting books talking about some fun little supernatural stories set in this buildi-"
Her eyes widened inhumanly as the duo perked up to hear a quiet noise.
"-sibling. I'm waiting for you."
Paige stared blankly at the spirit she was with.
The spirit spoke hoarsely. "How many rooms did you enter here?"
"Enough to hate you once I learned your name was Angeline Hardy."
…
Father. She knows everything.
Paige burst out into a rhyming melody, and Angeline was completely convinced this was her personal hell.
"He-llo, Sister, how well do you do?
I'm the Seer's wife, a-waiting for you!
We built a happy end-ding, your demon's buried too!
Now we're here, we faced our fears, and saved a place for you!"
Angeline Hardy chose the fastest way out of this hellscape and barrelled down the stairwell to the entrance. She abandoned all semblance of humanity as she tore herself apart to get away from the building.
"No. No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NONONO!"
….
Paige stood still, waiting as footsteps began running downstairs from the top floor. She steeled herself to stare directly at the face that started her journey.
I came a long way. I've changed. I can face this head on now. My own two feet can hold me up.
She waited for the first sign. Mottled flesh, scarred face, piercing eyes that stared like the dead. It always came arms reached out first to try to rend her. Paige breathed out, and waited.
Angeline's screaming became quieter and more hoarse.
Paige barked down at her. "SHUT UP. Get the hell back up here. You made this happen! Face the damn consequences of your actions!"
The footsteps were above her head now. One floor left until they were face to face. Paige turned, and strode down the stairs after her terrified in-law. "Angellline. How about you just put it out of their misery? It's just a mindless-"
Paige waited calmly to speak as the woman's rotted face was an inch away from her, expelling viscera and spit at her in fury. "MRS WOODS."
"Yes?"
Paige watched as her face tore in a rictus of glee. "If there is an afterlife, I hope your little child of night is there, burning in agony."
Paige blinked.
Angeline watched her, as her flesh smoothly grew over her face, returning her to a calm expression. She watched a small glimmer of despair break through its containment, and she smiled, then turned to face the entity running down the stairs.
"Hiiiii Sibling!"
A voice called from the stairs, and a small form leaped down to land on the floor. The lithe body stretched up, the pasty girl reached out her arms, exclaiming to the room:
"I'm here!"
The two women instantly had the same thought on her mind.
…
Blair.
...
Paige was still standing silently, her mind now in confusion and turmoil. She had quickly turned from the consuming despair and focused on a single thing that was impossible for her to miss about the situation…
When was Blair so adorable?!
Blair Hardy jumped around with delight. She was a little gallivanting ball of happy emotions, making little puddles from ecstatic tears.
Paige was expecting a mutilated barely human being driven to unnatural shreds haunting her old home. This picturesque girl was the girl that she had heard stories of from Brandon. This was the Blair he had known before he became an unwanted protector of the world from a neglected child.
This… was a complete blow to her right now. A good one, though.
This was a chance to make things right.
Paige laughed, "Hello, Blair! Want to head on out with me?"
...
...
Everything went still.
The two women then physically reacted as the room seemed to expand with Blair's delight.
Paige tried to hold Blair's hand and get her to stop running about the room and guide her to the entrance.
Angeline was faster, and grabbed her sister, clutching her and sprinting across the foyer.
"You are doing that over my dead body."
Paige frowned, and approached her with a stride.
….
Angeline blinked, momentarily stymied at the nonviolent response.
…. Wait. That was the wrong thing to say.
….shit.
Angeline detected the oncoming danger and skittered to evade her adversary, heading upstairs.
Paige called out to her, unamused at her useless and tiring behaviour. "Angeline. You're already dead."
Angeline Hardy was fast.
She could outrun a carriage, for goodness's sake.
When she had to become faster, she was, after a quick bite to eat or by using up some of her reserves, capable of out-manuvering those terribly annoying aeroplanes that Atlas tried to kill her with.
That was nothing easy. It was speed beyond humans, but fast, no matter how quick you were… it just wasn't enough when she was here.
In her own personal hell, she can't get away from the punishment.
She tried, at least. She tried to outrun the echoing voice up the floors, but you can't outrun what something wants you to hear when that something defies all earthly rules.
-and, as she knew fully well, you are in their domain, and you under their control. The only reason she wasn't forced was probably to just drag her down even further into despair from hoping she can get away.
She fell, kneeling on the ground, surrounded by the quiet exasperated echo.
"-You're already dead-"
"-already dead-"
"-already dead-"
"-dead-"
"-dead-"
...
Angeline had lost. Why does she not just recognise it? Paige felt surprised at her reaction, and after a few seconds, she went after her up the flights of stairs. She's just trying to get revenge on me again. How petty. Paige sighed, and listened for a sound.
… Crying. Crying was coming from above.
Blair. Aw, curses. That's pain.
She increased her stride to go faster, and eventually found Angeline hunched over her sister, shoulders heaving. The crying stopped as she approached.
Paige walked forwards, whistling softly to avoid having herself vomit. She had a chance to deliver some comeuppance and she was definitely going to use it.
"You just had to do it again? I thought you at least wouldn't try to rip into a girl inside a dream, but noooo."
Paige spun around twice and chuckled, "How does it feel to know you're always a monster, Angie dear?"
...
She walked to stand right over Angeline. "What? No response?"
...
She leans forwards to listen to the murmuring.
"— —-y"
"What did you say, Angie?"
"go away, bitch."
Paige was all for grabbing her by her hair, thinking up some ironic stained glass window of Cain and Abel or something like that and throwing her out of it, but paused.
"You… You're crying."
Why are you crying? HOW are you crying?
Paige reached to try to get Blair's mangled corpse away from her sister, and instead had to walk back over from across the hallway after Angeline slugged her in the chest.
... Huh. Forgot souls could do that here. Let's mess about with that...
"Why are you… crying?" she asked.
"Get BACK."
Paige stood there as Angeline furiously pummelled her in the chest again and again and aga-
Paige just whistled the song of her old nightmares.
She didn't move.
"This stopped being funny a while back. Please stop this behaviour."
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
She saw Blair as Angeline bolted to the end of the hall. Her first surprise was that the girl wasn't mangled.
The second was that Blair was uncaringly neutral. It was like she was at some incredibly boring event with her parents talking about boring things, but she had to look engaged.
Wow. She's out of it.
Paige took a single step, and Angeline stared at the foot and spat at it like it was worse than the devil incarnate.
"BACK, WOODS."
The Woods in question responded jovially, popping the "p" sound as they approached.
"Nope."
… Angeline was nearly feral in her manners now, jittering violently and waiting for her opponent to leave.
"Angie?"
She spat out her reply with vitriolic screaming "WOODS. GO TO HELL."
"… Are you really dead?"
Angeline's voice sputtered out like an old candle. "No. No, Blair! I'm not dead! I'm right he-"
"-re in the afterlife. She sure is dead, Blair. Pushed her out a window myself. Forgot about you and died." Paige ended.
…
Paige had thought she'd seen it all when trying to kill this woman. Angeline was a near emotionless monster of abhorrent habits, and a list of crimes that would have the Devil themselves avoid her.
Paige's driving energy for three years was one fact she had learned in this building: Angeline Hardy is a heartless monster, and she must die, for she loves nothing on Earth, and it would rejoice for her absence.
She saw pain, and she felt pain, and she just got right back on up and fought through it. But there was always a scale. There was pain, and there was agony. Angeline had revelled in inflicting it with delight, screams for laughter, blood for wine.
Then… there was this. The face of a 35 year old real estate broker trembling against the hallway wall outside her childhood apartment, clutching the sister she left.
Angeline's face was such a piercing look of unrelenting despair that Paige couldn't recall what was happening for an endless minute.
"You. You have no idea what you're saying."
…