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caelesjjk · 5 years

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dream fiend | boogeyman!calum

My sweet babies! Welcome to the next installment of my SupernatualSOS series, and its boogeyman!calum!! This is over 10k of my blood sweat and tears, so strap in angels! I’m so proud of this, please tell me what you think!!

Calum was very old.

He can remember as far back as the 1500’s when he first came from hell. That was a very long time ago, and the world is very different now. Especially now that he’s been gone for almost 200 years. He had been banished back to hell by someone he had once considered a friend. Calum had gone down a dangerous path all those years ago, and he was banished for his own good, so he was told. But he found that hard to believe.

It had become his mission to hunt down his so called friend and seek out an explanation. And possibly get in a few swings at his face as well. Calum had a lot of time to think about what he was going to say when he saw him again. None of it was calm or well organized, but that wasn’t something Calum was well known for.

What he was well known for in this world was being the Boogeyman. A creature mostly known for scaring children when they misbehaved. But that’s not where it ended for Calum. He haunted the dreams of people of anyway age, that he felt were doing wrong. He sometimes used his power to see into the dreams of anyone he wanted. For hundreds of years he did as he was supposed to, he used his gifts from Lucifer to manipulate the dreams of those who were wicked to give them a glimpse of the hell they would soon encounter.

And one day, Calum fell in love with Gracie O’Hare. He stumbled upon her dreams by accident. They were so beautiful and pure, that Calum visited her dreams much more often than he should have. He loved to see what was going on inside her mind. He wanted to keep her all to himself. The poor, sweet girl even began to think that he was an angel that visited her in her dreams, and she loved him too. Calum began to secretly show himself to her so they could be together, things were so different back then, in this day and age, Calum can walk around freely without anyone knowing the difference.

But being with his love in his physical form was very dangerous. And when a certain witch caught wind of what Calum had been doing, he was banished to hell without the opportunity to explain himself to the love of his life. He knew that she was no longer alive, she would have passed away and gone onto heaven a long time ago, but it didn’t stop him from feeling that slightest bit of nostalgia.

With a bottle of amber colored booze in hand, Calum stumbled down the empty gravel path in the sweltering heat of a hot Georgia night. The likeliness that her house was still there was completely absurd, he knew, but he wanted to go for her. He put the bottle to his lips chugging down more bourbon and letting it burn his throat. It took a lot for a demon to get drunk, and Calum was going to put that to the test tonight. He could hear the phone in his pocket ringing over and over. Ashton had given it to him so they could keep in touch, but Calum wasn’t in the mood to reminisce with his old friend. Not yet.

As he reached the end of the gravel road, he found just what he was looking for. It wasn’t her house, no, her house had a white picket fence around it and bright blue shutters. This house was run down and old. He couldn’t believe no one had the sense to take care of such a nice place.. But Calum stumbled across the grass of the yard until he could plop down right in the middle. He lay back against the damp grass and stared up the moon and stars, the constant sound of crickets ringing in his ears. But everything else just seemed almost too quiet if he was being honest.

“This one’s for you, Gracie.” He said loudly, chugging down the rest of the bottle and throwing it into the street where it shattered. Calum stayed there for a few moments, until he sensed another presence was near him, he sat up with inhuman speed and looked around, eyes landing on a figure standing on the wrap around porch, a long barreled shotgun in hand and aiming right at him.

“I know who you are.” She said, carefully walking around the side of the house.

“Is that so?” Calum hiccupped.

“I’ve seen your face. I know who you are.” She said the words with more authority, stopping at the top of the stairs with the gun pointed at him still.

“Who am I then, love?” Calum giggled, a questioning look on his face as he tried to focus on her face.

“You’re him. The demon.” She cocked the gun and descended one of the stairs.

Calum froze where he was, his face falling serious. Who was this girl?

“You should let me explain…” Calum said, putting his hands up and taking a step towards her.

“Come any closer and I’ll shoot you where you stand.” She said.

“Do you know how to use that thing dollface?” He took another step, knowing that the bullet wouldn’t hurt him.

“Have you come to find out?” She stayed put, watching him intently.

“No need for that. I only came to pay my respects to an old friend.” Calum kept his hands up.

“An old friend? Gracie O’Hare drew pictures of your face over and over until she lost her mind. Said you were the angel in her dreams that she fell in love with. But you aren’t an angel.” She spoke, and Calum could hear her heart beating in her chest from where he stood.

“How do you know Gracie O’Hare?” Calum asked.

“I’ve read her letters that she sent to my great great grandmother. Letters all about you. She was obsessed.” The words leaving her mouth are spoken with such distaste.

“Those could be about anybody.” Calum shrugs, not sure how he was going to get out of this situation quite yet.

He watched as the raven haired girl reached swiftly into the back pocket of her high waisted jeans and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She didn’t say a word, just tossed the paper towards Calum, never taking the gun off of him for a moment. Calum bent down slowly, keeping his eyes on the gun wielding girl and picking up the paper. He unfolded it, feeling his chest tighten at the sight.

It was almost a perfectly done sketch of his side profile. There was no denying that this was a drawing of him, the resemblance was too uncanny.

“There’s hundreds of them. She sent one with every letter she sent to my great great grandmother, over and over. And Gracie told her that she just knew you would be back. And here you are.” She comes down another step.

“It wasn’t my fault…” Calum tried to explain.

“Not your fault? I could feel the pain in those letters. Imagine being a 12 year old and discovering a trunk full of letters and pictures? I’ve been waiting for this moment.” She descended the rest of the stairs, walking with purpose to where Calum was standing and pressed the gun right against his chest.

“I didn’t choose to go away.” Calum’s jaw sets in frustration. This girl had no idea who she was dealing with.

“Keep telling yourself that.” She presses her lips together, her golden colored eyes staying focused on Calum.

“You aren’t going to shoot me, are you sunshine?” Calum tried to smile, but as soon as he did he felt the gun go off against his chest. His eyes went wide from surprise as he looked down to see the gaping hole where the bullet had gone through his chest.

“Why are you still standing?” She asked, fear spreading throughout her.

“Demon, remember? Did you not plan this out?” Calum pushes the barrel away from his chest roughly, it wasn’t enough to kill him but it was extremely uncomfortable. He could see the fear on her face, and he needed it to heal himself.

Calum wrapped his hand around her arm, closing his eyes. He could feel her pulling against him and screaming for him to let her go. His fingertips, hands, and wrists turned pitch black as he pressed into her skin and his power leaked from his hands like black smoke. It wrapped around Diana and consumed the fear from her body. He lived off of fear, and he needed it now. He opened his eyes and looked down at his chest, watching it fill back in as if it had never happened. The girl in his grasp continued to fight against his grip until he finally let go.

“Give…give me…whats happening?” She started to get dizzy, her eyesight and head becoming fuzzy. Calum caught her just before her head hit the grass covered ground they had been standing on.

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Diana Montgomery spent almost every summer with her grandmother in Georgia. She loved to sneak up to the attic of the old Victorian house and play dress up with the vintage clothes and gaudy accessories. There were trunks full of things that her grandmother just couldn’t bring herself to toss out. But Diana had always been an old soul.

The summer after she had turned 12, on a particularly hot day, Diana found herself up in the attic as usual. It was so very hot up there and she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand the heat for long, but she wanted to discover something that she hadn’t already found.

After pushing a few things out of the far corner, just the slightest bit of light streaming in through the old dirty window, Diana stumbled upon an old blue trunk. There were at least 2 inches of dust on top of it, it hadn’t been touched in who knows how many years. That thought alone had Diana dusting off the top in a hurry.

“O’Hare.” She said, reading aloud the faded name written on top of the old leather.

Diana moved to sit on her knees in front of it, undoing the gold clasp on the front and slowly lifting up the lid of the trunk. It fell open, causing the dust to cloud around her and make her cough. The heat and the dust were not a favorable combination. But after the cloud of dust had settled, Diana sat up to look inside the trunk. There are yellowing envelopes and scattered papers all across the bottom. She reached into the trunk and grabbed a handful and brought them out into her lap. They were almost crunchy from being so old, and all of them were written in the most beautiful cursive handwriting. Diana carefully unfolded one and angled it towards the light coming in the window.

Dear Anita,

I’ve appreciated so much that you haven’t shunned me the way the rest of our family has. I know the things I say have been somewhat upsetting for some of them. But I just want you to know, these things are true. There is an angel that comes to me in my dreams. He comes to me almost every night. And soon, we will be together outside of my dreams. He’s promised to be with me, and I just can’t wait for you to meet him Anita!

Love to you my cousin,

Gracie

There were hundreds of letters from Gracie talking about this angel from her dreams. And with every letter had come a sketch of the man she loved. Diana couldn’t stop reading them. She gathered them all up and took them to her room, reading them all in secret until she felt like knew Gracie O’Hare. She understood her feelings. She also discovered that the woman Gracie had been writing to, Anita, was her great great grandmother.

But Gracie’s letters turned dark when she stopped seeing the angel. She went crazy to the point that her family had her locked away because of her constant babbling about her angel from her dreams. She ran away several times only to be sent back to the institution. Diana cried quietly as she finished reading the letters, wishing more than anything that she could help Gracie. She wanted to tell her that she believed her. She believed that someone was haunting her dreams and made her believe he loved her.

Diana believed that Gracie deserved better than the fate she was given. After pestering her grandmother for information she learned that Gracie died in the institution of unknown causes. But it was safe to assume it all just became too much for her heart to bear. Such a tragic ending for someone who just wanted to be loved.

Diana could feel a light breeze bring goosebumps to her sweaty skin as she breathed in the familiar sent of the sheets on her bed. It was far too warm in here. And suddenly she remembered what had happened in the late hours of the night. Her eyes snapped open, seeing her ceiling fan spinning slowly. She sat up with difficulty, as one of her wrists was tied to her black iron headboard. She pulled at the restraint with no luck. Her hair stuck to her face and forehead with sweat as she tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.

“No way…” Diana whispered to herself, looking around the room frantically for the Boogeyman. He wasn’t there one moment, and then when she brought her eyes back to her bedroom door he was standing there with a glass of water in hand.

“Morning sunshine.” He says, walking towards her with a small grin on his face.

“What did you do to me?” Diana glares at Calum as he sits the glass of water down on her side table.

“I need you to listen to me, and not shoot me again.” Calum says before he disappears suddenly, and then reappears just as quickly in the chair that sits in the corner of the room. Diana jumps slightly from his sudden movements. The small bit of fear seeping out of her makes Calum’s heart beat pick up. God he wanted it so badly.

“I’m not making any promises.” Diana straightens herself, letting her back rest against the headboard and watching Calum intently across the room.

“Fair enough. Will you tell me your name before I begin?” He says.

“No.” Diana stated.

“That’s fine, Diana Montgomery, I went through your mail while you were passed out.” Calum smirks again and gently bites his lower lip.

“What do you mean you went through my mail?! I’m definitely shooting you when I get out these damn things!” She pulled at the restraints around her wrist to no avail.

“Just listen, alright? If Gracie O’Hare means anything to you, you’ll listen.” Calum scoots to the edge of the chair, watching as Diana thinks for a few moments but keeps her mouth closed and nods for him to continue.

“I loved her. Believe those words or not, but I loved Gracie. You see, I’m a demon whose special purpose was to strike fear into those who deserved it through their dreams. Over time, humans named me the Boogeyman. Almost every culture on the planet has some type of lore about me. And I was so damn powerful. I mean, fuck I fed off the fear of millions and it was goddamn euphoric.” Calum ran his hand through his black, curly hair a few times, trying to calm himself before he got too worked up. “And then I met Gracie. I came across her dreams by accident and they were…beautiful. She was so pure and just so good that I became obsessed. I wanted to see her every night, and it became so frequent that she fell in love with me too.” He stands up and paces in front of the bed. “But back then, it was still very against the rules for demons to become romantically involved with humans. Using them for sex and pleasure was where it should have ended. But it wasn’t like that for me, I really did love her.” Calum explains more.

“So what happened?” Diana could tell she was starting to feel just the slightest bit sorry for him now.

“A friend of mine…” Calum practically hissed through his teeth. “A witch to be exact, found out what I was planning and had me banished back to hell for a miserable 200 years. I…I didn’t want these things for Gracie, you must believe that.”

“I’ve always pictured you as the bad guy, and I’m not sure why I believe you. I just figured you were getting some kick out of torturing the poor girl…being a demon and all.” Diana shrugged her shoulders.

“I am the bad guy, sunshine. But not for the things you’ve been accusing me of. Falling in love with humans was and always will be highly discouraged.” Calum walks around the bed, his eyes never leaving Diana as he approaches her.

“Why did I pass out when you touched me?” Diana asks.

“Because I drained the fear from you. I needed it to heal myself.” Calum brushes some dirt off of shirt as an excuse to not look at the pretty girl tied to the bed.

“You need fear?” She asks.

“I do. It…calls to me.” He didn’t want to admit that he can smell it from a mile away.

“And you can see into peoples dreams?” Diana’s curiosity was getting the best of her now.

“Well yes, but I can also manipulate dreams, make people see what I want them to see.” Calum wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to tell this human girl so much information about himself.

“How did…how did you become the Boogeyman?” She asks, pretty bottom lip retreating between her teeth. Calum can’t help but wish it was his teeth pulling at her bottom lip. Being away and deprived of a humans touch was starting to get to him.

“The same way most creatures come about I suppose. Stories, legends, lore. After so long things get turned into another human nursery rhyme. Parents started using me as an excuse to scare their children into being good. Thus, I am the Boogeyman.” Calum smirked and laughed quietly as he thought about the first time he had heard himself referred to as the Boogeyman. His friends had laughed but he always sort of enjoyed the name.

“What are you going to do now?” Diana asked.

“I’m going to find my witchy little friend and give him a piece of my mind, I suppose.” Calum shrugs, standing up and moving closer to the bed.

“Where is he?” Diana could feel herself fidget beneath his gaze.

“Somewhere here in the south. He’s trying to keep me from tracking him, and I’m sure he’s already sensed my return from hell.” Calum stands at the end of the bed, looking down at Diana. “Are you going to shoot me again if I release you?” His voice is deep and filled with authority as he bends down, ring clad fingers resting on each side of her hips and pushing in to the mattress. His face coming down to be just inches from hers.

Diana shakes her head ‘no’, not sure if she could speak without giving away the fact that he was affecting her. She believed the Boogeyman was telling the truth. It was not something she had ever actually planned to happen all those nights she stayed awake plotting out ways to kill him in the name of Gracie O’Hare, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was sincere in his explanations. And now, she couldn’t explain why, but she felt compelled to help him in his quest to find the witch he was seeking.

“I have a car.” Diana said as Calum touched the bindings on her wrist, the black smoke trickling from his fingers again, slinking it’s way between the binding on her wrist. They immediately fell loose without him even working at them. Calum stayed quiet as he took her wrist in his hand and gently rubbed his thumb over the red markings. Diana looked at his face curiously her eyebrows scrunching together at the feeling of his gentle touch. Calum stayed that way another moment, lost in the softness of her skin and the quick beat of her heart before he swiftly stood up from the bed. Diana watched him step into the shadows in the corner of the room until he disappeared within them.

“Are you offering to help the Boogeyman?” She heard his voice but it sounded far off in the distance.

“I um…yes?” Diana looked around the room frantically, getting to her feet and walking backwards towards the door, trying to keep her eyes peeled for the demon hiding in the shadows of her bedroom.

“Boo.” Calum’s low voice whispers right into Diana’s ear, making her jump slightly when she feels his breath against her neck.

“Cut that out.” Her breathing and heart beat have both picked up, and Calum likes the sound a little well.

“You’re going to have to control the fear a little better, sunshine. You’ll have me in frenzy.” Calum stood up straight, taking the last few steps towards the doorway.

“Perhaps you should control your creepiness a little better then?” Diana sighs the words and Calum laughs quietly.

“Shall we?” He motions with his head, a small smirk at the corner of his lips.

Diana followed him out of the room, but before she was through the doorway he was gone again. She looked around the empty hallway, just feeling a slight breeze brush across her cheek. She rushed down the hall and out the back door towards the detached garage. She unlatched the deadbolt and quickly flung open the doors to see Calum lounging against hood of her car, with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Took you a bit.” He smiled, watching Diana try to catch her breath.

“You’re going to have to stop doing that.” Diana rolled her eyes, grabbing the keys to her car from the hook on the wall.

“It’s part of my charm.” Calum said, moving to open the drivers side door.

“Who told you that?” Diana said, smiling slightly as she slipped into the drivers seat and watched as Calum closed the door. Faster than should be possible, he appeared in the passenger seat before she had even gotten settled.

“You really should let me drive.” Calums long legs move around and attempt to get comfortable in the not so roomy car.

“That’s not going to happen.” Diana scoffed, putting the key into the ignition and starting the car. She could see Calum roll his eyes as she began backing out of the garage building. “Where to, Mr. Boogeyman?” She teased.

“Texas.” He says. Diana’s eyes got wide, knowing that would be a few days trip.

“I don’t have anything with me, Calum. I need a bag if we’re going to be driving that far.” She started to put the car in park when Calum closed his eyes and Diana could see all the door locks slide into the locked position with a loud click.

“I put your bag in the trunk already. Drive please.” His throat worked as he swallowed hard, feeling more fear seep from Diana.

“Am I supposed to trust that you packed everything I’d need?” She could tell he wasn’t used to not getting what he wanted, when he wanted it.

Calum opened his eyes slowly, trying to keep his breathing even. Diana tilted her head and squinted her eyes, it was so quick that she almost missed it. But the whites and the pretty browns of his eyes turned pitch black for a moment before he blinked it away again.

“We need to go, Diana. Trust me, you won’t go without anything. Drive.” He leaned to the side and pressed his head against the window.

“Fine.” Diana tried to seem unaffected, but her voice was shaky as she pressed on the gas and headed for the highway.

After a few hours of driving in silence, Diana finally reached down and turned on the radio. She flipped through the static channels until she finally found one that came in. Calum had stayed eerily still the entire way, not saying a word as Diana drove.

It was late in the afternoon as they crossed the Georgia/Alabama border. Diana could hear her stomach begin to growl embarrassingly loud. She tried coughing over top the sound several times, but nothing was going to hide it at this point.

“Is the human getting hungry?” Calum’s gruff voice finally broke the silence.

“Starved.” Diana replied, biting her lip and tightening her grip on the steering wheel just slightly. Calum sighs loudly.

“Alright then, lets get you something to eat.” He straightened up in his seat. “Pull over here.” There was an old diner up ahead that would just have to do.

Diana parked the car out front, taking a moment to take in the bright blue neon lights in the window of the diner flashing the word “Stud’s” over and over again. Calum got out, stretching his arms above his head as he groaned when his muscles protested. The blue light was pretty in contrast to his brown skin and the way it bounced off of his black hair had Diana feeling a little bothered, and not just by the Alabama heat.

“Two?” A woman in a pair of dirty jeans and even dirtier white tshirt asked as they entered the diner.

“Yes please.” Diana said, following the woman to a booth towards the back. The leather of the seat was ripped and torn and stuck to the back of her legs as she scooted into the booth. Calum followed closely behind and slid into the booth across from her.

“Drinks?” The woman asks with a sigh.

“Just a water for me.” Diana says, looking across to Calum.

“Do you have bourbon?” He asks. The waitress gives Calum an odd look before answering.

“Does this look like a bar?” She asks, her chubby hand going to her hip.

“Coffee then, black.” Calum scowls a bit as the waitress walks away. “She was fucking dreadful.”

Diana almost chokes when she starts laughing at his words, not expecting it to come out of his mouth. Calum watches Diana laugh, feeling a bit of a pull in his chest. The sound is so much more pleasant than he imagined it could be. He didn’t think it was possible for him to enjoy that sound again. He smiled softly as she tried to calm herself and control her unexpected laughter. Calum may have even thought she was beautiful if she hadn’t shot a giant hole through his chest.

“Are you okay?” Diana asked.

“Perfectly fine.” Calum said, looking down at the cup of coffee the waitress had just sat in front of him.

Diana ordered herself some food, and Calum stuck with his coffee. He didn’t really need to eat anything and most times, food didn’t even seem appealing. The thing he craved was fear. He wanted it more than anything. At least that’s what he had thought before he stumbled upon this girl, and it didnt make any sense. He shouldn’t want anything to do with her, she was just helping him find the witch, after all. And that was it, thats where it should have ended. She was sitting across from him talking away about one thing or another and Calum was fascinated. The way she didn’t bother to finish chewing before she was continuing her previous sentence. It was oddly adorable.

“You’re not really listening to a word I’m saying, are you?” Diana finally broke Calum from his thoughts. Making his eyes focus on her face again.

“What were you saying?” His bottom lip coming between his teeth innocently. Diana rolled her eyes.

“I was trying to work out a plan. To find this witch. I mean we should have a plan right?” She shoveled another bite of pancake into her mouth and looked him expectantly.

“The plan is to find him and deliver 200 years worth of ass kickings.” Calum sat his back against the booth and sipped at his coffee.

“Okay, but what if that doesn’t work? I mean he’s a witch, with powers right? Should I be your back up?” Diana let her fork clank down against the glass plate as she wiped her mouth. Calum laughed loudly at the statement.

“You’re going to be my back up? I dont think so, sunshine.” Calum reached into the back pocket of his black pants and pulled out his wallet, throwing some money down on the table.

“I’m serious! I’ll back you up on this!” Diana scrunched her eyebrows together as she followed Calum from the booth and then outside where the car was waiting.

“I don’t think you understand what we are dealing with here. This witch was powerful enough to banish my demon ass to hell for 200 years. It’s not a matter for a human to be involved with. I simply need you to drive me.” Calum ran his hand through his hair as he stood next to the old beat up Jeep.

“I want to help...for Gracie.” Diana nervously looked down at her feet.

“End of discussion.” Calum could feel the blackness rise up his hands and wrists. It always happens when his emotions get the better of him. Diana’s jaw was set tight and her arms were crossed over her chest. Calum reached down, seeing his black fingers and quickly trying to open the door to the car, but the doors were still locked.

“You aren’t going to treat me like a child. I blew a hole through your chest once, and I’ll gladly do it again.” Diana stepped up almost flush against Calum’s chest, pretty lips close enough to make him crazy.

Calum kept his fingers wrapped around the door handle, focusing his power there. The black smoke travelled from his fingers and slipped inside the lock until it popped into the open position. He didn’t take his eyes away from Diana as he carefully opened the door of the Jeep.

“Fine then, sunshine. But I’m driving.” Calum spoke between clenched teeth as he ducked down and got into the drivers seat of the car.

“No. No way are you driving my car. Get out!” Diana banged against the dirty glass of her Jeep, as if it would somehow help the situation. She growled in frustration and yanked her fingers through her dark locks before unwillingly walking around and getting into the passenger seat of the vehicle.

Diana plopped down into the seat and folded her arms over her chest again. She knew it was childish to act this way, but this demon was simply maddening. With his gorgeous smile and perfectly curly hair, simply maddening. She watched from the corner of her eye has Calum plucked the keys from the cup holder and started up the Jeep.

“Don’t be mad, sunshine.” Calum playfully elbowed at Diana’s shoulder, but she wasn’t going to crack so easily. “Lets play a game then shall we? 20 questions maybe? Isn’t that what you humans use to get to know each other?” Calum asks, smiling when he sees just the corner of Diana’s pretty lips turn up into a smile.

“You’re an idiot, Calum.” Diana shook her head and uncrossed her arms as Calum pulled back out onto the empty road.

The next part of the day and late into the evening was spent having long conversations as well as comfortable silences. Calum found himself yearning to know more and more about Diana Montgomery. He wanted to hold her hand and kiss each knuckle one by one just so he could see her smile and watch the goosebumps rise on her pretty olive skin.

Diana soaked in as much information as Calum was willing to give. All the things he had seen and heard were more than fascinating. She could spend the rest of her days listening to him and still not have enough time to hear all of it. But he was a storyteller, and Diana was enamored by that. She was captivated by the big bad Boogeyman.

When Diana began yawning as the night got later and later, Calum decided to pull off the highway and find the nearest hotel. They were somewhere in Louisiana and there was at least another days worth of driving to do, and he wanted her to be comfortable for the night.

“We can just sleep in the Jeep if you want, Calum. This hotel looks…too nice.” Diana swallowed hard as she looked up at the large stone building that Calum had just parked the car in front of. It was obviously historic with all of its chipped paint and light fixtures.

“They were just beginning construction on this hotel when I was banished. So if it’s alright with you, I’d like to stay here.” Calum reaches into the trunk of the car and pulls out the luggage that he had packed for him. Diana didn’t even want to imagine what he could have possibly packed for her.

“What exactly did you pack for me?” She asks.

“Don’t trust my taste? Your closet was quite limited but I did what I could. I put them in here when you were unconscious.” Calum smirks but doesn’t make eye contact with her while that settles into her mind.

“Wait…you already had all of this in here before you even knew if I’d agree to this trip? What the hell Calum?” Diana approaches him, lightly pushing against his chest.

“I can be very persuasive.” Calum wiggles his perfectly thick eyebrows as he continues to smile down at Diana. The look on her face giving him more joy than it should. She rolls her eyes and releases a loud huff, turning away from his smug face and walking through the revolving doors of the hotel.

They were able to secure a room, but in true cheesy fashion, there was only one bed in the room that would have to be shared. Diana could feel her heart thumping in her throat as they road up in the elevator together. They didn’t look at each other but the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Calum carried the bags down the purple carpeted hallway until they reached their room and he was able to slip the key card into the lock and open the door.

The room had tan carpet and very out dated art on the walls, but it was somehow still perfect. There was a small table next to the two glass doors that lead out onto the balcony with two wrought iron chairs on either side of it. The bedding was a mixture of floral patterns and gold thread, but appeared to be clean and soft, and that was very appealing to Diana’s tired body. She sighed contently as she walked towards it and turned so that she could flopped down flat on her back. Calum laughed quietly, settling the bags down on the other side of the room. His hands went to the front pockets of his pants as he watched her scoot around on the beds soft blanket until she was comfortable against the fluffy pillows.

“Do you need a drink as badly as I do?” He finally asked, deep voice bringing Diana back down to earth.

“Sure.” She said, sitting up and resting her back against the headboard.

Calum kneeled down next to his duffle bag and unzipped it carefully. He quickly pulled out a bottle of bourbon and tossed it onto the bed so that it landed next to Diana’s legs. She jumped a little at the sudden presence of the bottle but her heart really began to thump when she watched Calum pick up two glasses from the mini bar and slowly approach the bed.

“I can hear your heart beating from here.” He said, sitting down on the other side of the bed.

“I just…haven’t drank in long time. Its nothing.” Diana tried taking some deep breaths to calm herself down. Calum handed her a glass and poured some of the amber colored liquid into it before pouring some into his own.

“Cheers to you, sunshine.” Calum drops his eye into a wink and listens as Diana’s heart rate picks up again. She brings the glass up to her lips and throws her head back, taking the whole half glass full down at once.

“Oh god, it burns.” She choked out, her face scrunching up in distaste.

“It’s meant to be sipped. You shouldn’t chug it down like some kind of beast.” Calum laughs.

“Interesting that the Boogeyman would refer to me as a beast.” Diana raises an eyebrow in question. “Down the rest of yours.” She smiles wickedly and Calum wants nothing more than to show her just how wicked he can be.

“Listen, sunshine. It takes a lot for me to get drunk. You’ll be a mess before I’ve even begun to feel it.” Calum’s voice is smooth and challenging at the same time.

“I’m waiting.” Diana grabs the bottle from Calum’s other hand and pours another few shots worth into her glass. Calum keeps his eyes locked with Diana’s as he puts the glass back to his lips and lets the rest of the contents slide down his throat. He licked his lips to get that one last taste of bourbon, and before he can think twice about it, Diana is pouring more into his glass.

“Slow down, beasty.” Calum grabs the bottle from her hand as she downs her next glass of alcohol.

“Party pooper.” Diana coughs on the shot again, trying to smile through it. Calum cant help but smile and watch as she grabs at the bottle again, but this time he keeps it out of her reach.

“May I ask you question?” Calum asked, the pout on Diana’s face becoming too much for him. Diana reached across Calum’s body trying to capture the bottle from him once more. She hadn’t noticed the close proximity until she was able to smell his clean smelling cologne and the warmth of his body. She quickly retreated from the position she was in and scooted across the bed.

“Yeah. Sure. Ask away.” Diana cleared her throat and puller knees up to her chest. Calum smiled gently at her nervousness. The slightest bit of fear dripping in her veins made him close his eyes before he started speaking again.

“How did you come acquire Gracie’s old house?” He asked.

“Before my grandma passed away, she told me about the house. And that her mother had taken her there a few times to visit Gracie when she was a child. So when I came to just see if whoever lived there now would just let me look around, there was a For Sale in the yard. No one had lived in it for years and years because it was supposedly haunted. So I bought it.” She shrugged her shoulders, letting her legs flatten back down against the mattress as she relaxed.

“And is it?” Calum asked.

“If it is, its haunted by someone that doesn’t mind that I’m there.” She laughed a little. Feeling a bit brave, Diana scooted back towards Calum. “Could I ask you a question now?”

“Yes.” He simply stated.

“This witch…do you plan to kill him?” Her voice was soft and curious.

“No. This witch…Michael…he’s a friend.” Calum poured more bourbon into the two glasses and handed one to Diana.

“What kind of friend banishes their friend for 200 years?” Diana asked.

“He thought he was doing what was right. It wasn’t easy for him to do. If anything, it was my fault that he’d lost faith in me. We all answer to Hades, you see. And we were not to reveal ourselves to humans, and Gracie already knew what I was.” Calum’s face is a bit pained as he explains himself.

“You were in love. Love makes you do stupid things.” Diana said just before she drank the shot Calum had poured for her. He couldn’t help but smile at her words and actions. Her cheeks were tinged pink from the alcohol and it may have been the prettiest color Calum had ever seen.

“We can most certainly agree on that, Diana Montgomery.” Calum drank his glass of bourbon down as well.

“Do you want to be in love again?” Diana hiccupped.

“We’ll see.” Calum answered a little too quickly, but Diana didn’t seem to notice, she only smiled and laid her head against Calum’s shoulder.

“The Boogeyman wants to be in love. Not something I thought I’d ever hear.” She laughed and so did Calum.

“Does Diana Montgomery want to be in love?” Calum whispered, his lips brushing against her forehead, making Diana sigh.

“We’ll see.” She repeated, looking up from his shoulder to meet his dark brown irises.

Diana could feel the liquid courage burning through her veins. She wanted to kiss him and her body was not going to tell her no in this moment. So she leaned up just the slightest bit to brush her lips over Calum’s. He didn’t pull away, but his eyes fell shut at the feeling.

“You shouldn’t do that.” He whispered again.

“I want to.” Diana lifted a hand to cup the side of his jaw.

“You’re drunk, Diana.” Calum put his hand over hers and slowly brought it away so that it fell into her lap.

“I’m not that drunk. I’m a big girl, Calum. Do you not want to kiss me?” Diana pulled away, a scowl covering her face as she hiccups again.

“I most certainly want to kiss you. I want to do hells most sinful things to you, sunshine. But I won’t do them when you’re drunk.” Calum stands up from the bed and grabs his bag from the floor. “I’m going to shower. You should sleep.” He didn’t wait for her response, just walked into the bathroom with the door shutting behind him. He could hear her groan dramatically through the door just before he turned on the steamy water in the shower.

Calum came out of the bathroom with only his sweatpants on and a white towel drying gently at his dark curls. He was about to ask Diana if she needed some water when he noticed that she was asleep in the bed. Her hair was messily spread around her head like a black halo and her sweet pink lips were slightly parted as she quietly snored away. It shouldn’t be possible for such a creature to exist among mere humans. She had a magnificent fire burning inside her, and this world didn’t deserve her. But if Calum was being honest with himself, he didn’t deserve her either.

He knew that he shouldn’t. He shouldn’t look into her dreams, but it was nearly impossible to resist. The things she dreamed about were all he wanted to know.

“Just for a moment.” He whispered to himself. Calum sat down on the bed next to Diana and picked up one of her warm hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated his energy until the blackness travelled up his arms and his veins turned to fire. Black smoke trickled out of his fingers and slithered its way into Diana. It didn’t take long for Calum to find himself inside her dreams.

The first thing he saw as he opened his eyes was Gracie’s old house, but it wasn’t old anymore. It had a fresh coat of paint, blue shutters, and flower gardens around every corner. There was a white painted porch swing on the front porch area where someone appeared to be sitting. Calum knew he didn’t have long to be here but his curiosity was getting the best of him.

He hadn’t made it all the way up the steps to the porch before he saw Diana coming out of the front door. She was holding a beer bottle in each hand and there was a huge smile on her face as she stepped out onto the porch, practically skipping over towards the swing. She was angelic to say the least.

“I got you one as well.” He heard her say as she sat down next to the other person on the swing. Calum couldn’t tell who it was from where he was standing so he took a few more steps towards them.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Diana said. Calum knew she couldn’t see him and when the other person on the swing finally came into view he stopped dead in his tracks.

Diana smiled as she took a long swig of the beer in her hand, using her other hand to reach over and push some messy curls off of Calum’s forehead. He was watching himself in Diana’s dream. But why would she dream of him? What had he ever done to deserve to be here? The heart in his chest started beating in the oddest way. He looked up to see himself wrap an arm around Diana’s shoulders, and that’s when he knew he needed to leave. He closed his eyes and breathed in a long breath and he was back in the hotel room, holding her hand in his.

The next morning, Diana woke up with the worlds worst headache. It was absolutely trying to split her skull in half. She blinked her eyes slowly as they tried to adjust to the light in the room. The air blowing from the open balcony doors was warm and the sun that tickled her skin was even warmer. Her body protested slightly when she rolled over onto her other side to see a glass of water and two pain relievers sitting on the night stand. Diana sighed, sitting up to take the medicine and drink the water.

She looked around the room for Calum until she realized he wasn’t in the bed and nowhere in sight. Diana took a deep breath then, taking in the delicious smell of eggs and something sweet. Her stomach growled as she stood up from the bed and followed the delicious smells.

As she crossed the room she noticed the small table and chairs were no longer in the room but were now out on the balcony with the most beautiful spread of food Diana had ever seen. There were multiple trays of neatly arranged fresh fruit and several more plates of eggs, bacon and pancakes. Diana didn’t wait long before she sat down in one of the chairs and started to eat the food in front of her.

Calum stood in the doorway watching fondly as Diana filled her stomach. She wasn’t like any human he’d known. And he had known too many of them. Her dark hair was a mess of knots on her head and he longed to push it away from her freckled face so he could see her eyes a bit better. Something about the way she pulled one leg up onto the chair and sat without a care in the world made Calum want to be closer to her more than ever.

“Morning, sunshine.” He says as he approaches the table. Diana jumps in surprise as she turns to see Calum dressed in black sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. It was so simple and so different from his fancy outfit yesterday.

“Hi.” She squeaked out between bites of food.

“How are you feeling?” He asks, sitting down in the chair across from her.

“Better now.” She said. “Won’t you eat?”

“I don’t need to eat.” Calum replied.

“But can you?” Diana raised an eyebrow.

Calum answered her question by picking up one of the chocolate covered strawberries from a tray and popping it into his mouth with the sexiest smirk on his face.

“Satisfied?” He asked.

“For now.” Diana answered.

“I’m not sure that you are.” Calum stood from his chair and started walking very slowly around the table. “I don’t think you know what satisfaction is, sunshine.” His eyes are dark as they freeze Diana in place. She couldn’t move if she wanted to.

“And you do?” Diana breathes out.

“Mm. I do.” The growling noise that rumbles deep in Calum’s chest is not human at all. He stands in front of Diana a moment before he reaches down between her legs and grabs the seat of the chair pulling it around so that she’s facing him. He then kneels down in front of her, his face just below Diana’s so their eyes can meet.

“Calum…” Diana says barely above a whisper.

“Did you only want to kiss me because you were drunk?” He says. “I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting a monster…”

“You’re not a monster.” Diana swallows harshly. Calum laughs quietly with a shake of his head.

“Most would beg to differ. But I thought about that kiss all night, Diana. It took every bit of my restraint and a very cold shower to not give in to you.” Calums hands cup her cheeks that are burning with desire. Diana could remember bits and pieces of the night, but she most certainly remembered that little brush of lips. How could she ever forget a warmth like that.

“What are you waiting for then Mr. Oogey Boogey?” Diana bites her bottom lip and tries to hold back the smile on her face when Calum reacts.

“I dislike that. Please don’t use it again.” Calum uses his thumb to gently pull Diana’s lip from between her teeth. His eyebrows furrowed together adorably.

“You don’t like the Nightmare Before Christmas?” Diana asks.

“I’m sorry…the what?” Calum smiles at her adoringly.

“May you should just kiss me.” Diana sighs, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“You’re something else, Diana Montgomery.” Calum’s breath fans over her lips while his nose brushes over hers.

“It’s been two days…you think you can deal with my humanity?” Diana laced her fingers into his dark curls.

“We’ll see.” He smiles as his lips come down to hers. Soft and slow as they learn the way the other feels.

Diana didn’t know how to comprehend how she had gotten here. She had despised this demon two days ago, and now she was kissing him on the balcony of a gorgeous hotel. So why did it just feel right? Why weren’t there any second thoughts? Why did he just make sense? Maybe she didn’t need to know right now or ever. If this was the only time this happened, that would just have to be good enough.

Calum could feel the blackness begin its journey up his hands and to his wrists. He craved her as well as that tiny bit of fear lingering in her veins.

“I need to tell you something before we keep going.” Calum took his lips away from hers momentarily.

“What is it?” Diana touched his jaw and ran her thumb over his swollen bottom lip.

“When I feel…I feel everything so intensely…that this happens.” He holds up his black hands, bits of dark smoke leaking from his fingertips.

“Will it hurt me?” Diana asked curiously.

“I would never.” Calum has a very serious look on his face. “You’ll only feel things more intensely as well.”

“Then please stop worrying so much.” She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him towards her. “I’m not afraid of you, Calum.”

“Then I’ve failed quite miserably at my Boogeyman duties, haven’t I, my darling?” He swiftly picks her up from the chair and threw her over his shoulder. Diana laughed and smacked Calum’s back playfully.

“Put me down!” She shouted just before he placed a playful smack her to her ass. Diana squealed when Calum lifted her effortlessly from his shoulder and tossed her onto the bed. She could easily be mistaken for an angel.

“I need you naked. Will you do that for me?” Calum climbs up her body, slinking slowly and placing kisses to any skin he can get his lips on. Diana couldn’t find the words so she nodded her head.

Calum sat back up, reaching behind him and pulling his shirt over his head. He tossed the white cotton material to the floor and looked down at Diana who was still lying against the floral sheets. Her chest was rising and falling with her quickened breaths.

“Jeans first.” Calum walks around the bed but never takes his eyes from her as Diana clumsily unbuttons her jeans and fumbles to get them off of her long legs. He couldn’t help the smirk that played at the corner of his mouth watching her sit up on her knees and crawl towards him.

“Anything else?” She asked innocently, lifting her shirt up just slightly so that Calum could see baby blue cotton underwear she wore beneath it.

“The shirt goes as well, sunshine.” His voice was low and rough, his long fingers running along the frame of the bed as he continued his way around it. The confines of Calum’s pants grew tighter as he watched Diana pull off the shirt, rumpling her already messy hair. Her chest was bare beneath the shirt and the fact that Calum didn’t have his lips wrapped around her nipples in that moment was a true tragedy.

“I haven’t quite decided why I’m letting you boss me around so much.” Diana says, she doesn’t try to cover herself, she wants Calum to see her.

“Come here, baby.” Calum makes a come hither motion with his pointer finger as he stands at the side of the bed, his knees barely pressing against the mattress.

Diana moves on her hands and knees towards Calum and as she reaches him, he hands immediately go to his bare torso. He was the perfect mixture of soft skin and hard muscles. She could spend hours exploring him with her finger tips. The sun shining through the windows was practically making him glow, and if she didn’t know better she’d swear he was from heaven and not hell. She sat up on her knees and pressed a kiss to the middle of his chest, the soft hum that left his mouth was perfect. The blackness had started travelling up his arms, the veins of his arms were noticeably burning beneath his skin and Diana wondered if it was hurting him in anyway. Her concerned eyes coming up to meet his.

“I’m fine, beautiful. Promise.” He answered her silent question. Diana nodded, fingers running up his chest until they dip into the curves of shoulders and move up his neck until they reached the hairs at the back of his neck.

Calum finally allowed himself to touch her. Her skin was softer than the worlds finest silks and he needed to discover every inch of it. He cupped her breasts in his hands, rolling her nipples with his thumbs until she’s quietly moaning with her lip between her teeth. When her mouth parted again Calum was quick to attach his mouth hers. Diana felt her knees get shaky at all the sudden sensations she was feeling. She pulled at Calum, pulling him down onto the bed until they both fell onto the mattress in mess of sweet kisses and tangled limbs.

Thick lips sucked at Diana’s neck and collar bones, leaving red and purple marks in their wake. Her nails skimmed over Calum’s back and shoulders, just enough to make him crazy.

“Calum…I want more.” Diana said breathlessly.

“Then you’ll have more.” Calum moves to his side, his elbow against the mattress and hand resting against his cheek.

Rough fingertips ghost down the center of Diana’s chest and over her stomach until they reach the band of her simple cotton underwear. Diana wished more than anything she had put on something cute yesterday, but it was so too late for such things now. Calum’s fingers were already dipping beneath the material and searching for the parts of her that needed him the most.

Wetness engulfed Calum’s long fingers as he swirled her clit between them. The sight of Diana arching her back from the bed and moaning out in ecstasy was a sight that he knew was meant for him and him alone. His fingers slipped inside her petting at that spot deep inside her that had her pretty eyes rolling to the back of her head. She was already clenching around his digits, chasing her high that she was just at the edge of.

The blackness was slithering up and past Calum’s elbows, and he knew by the way Diana was quickly reaching her orgasm that she was feeling it the same way that he was. A few more long deep pumps of his fingers and she was falling apart just the way he wanted her.

“Oh god…” Diana breathed as she started to come down.

“God can’t find you here, sunshine.” Calum pulled his hand from her underwear and slipped his fingers into his mouth, closing his eyes at the sweet taste. Diana smiled at the statement, suddenly understanding its hilarity.

“I liked that.” Diana admitted with pink cheeks.

“What else would you like?” He asked, fingers grabbing the band of her underwear and pulling them down her legs.

“More of you.” Diana watched as Calum sat up and lifted his hips from the mattress so he could slip off his sweatpants in one swift motion. His cock was practically perfect as he stroked it a few times.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” The words fell from Calum’s mouth so nonchalantly that Diana was almost taken off guard. But she knew what she wanted.

“Yes.” Diana crawled over to where Calum was sitting against the headboard and gently straddled his lap. She took in the sight of the onyx color that had practically taken over most of his arms and the fire in his veins that could be seen glowing beneath it. “You’re so beautiful.” The words slipped out before she could think about them and now she was afraid to meet his eyes. Calum’s fingers touched under her chin and tilted her head up so he could see her.

“You never have to feel ashamed for saying what you’re feeling. Even if I question your definition of beauty.” He smiled and lifted his hands to her hips, pulling her body forward until she hovered above his waiting cock.

“I won’t question yours if you don’t questions mine.” Diana’s hands came to rest on his shoulders and Calum leaned forward to kiss her lips. His tongue licked into her mouth and danced along with hers until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Need inside you, sunshine girl.” Calum whispered against her mouth, she smiled against his and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Calum settled her hips and used his other hand to angle his cock until the head slipped inside the wetness of her pussy. He let her adjust and take her time moving her way down him. Diana had her dark hair thrown over one shoulder and hands moved down to his chest. When she felt comfortable she started a slow rhythm, just moving her hips up and down and coating him in all her wetness. There was already the smallest sheen of sweat appearing on Diana’s forehead as she continued to work her hips, adding in a swivel and eventually bouncing with Calum’s help.

“Calum…it’s…it’s so much.” Diana moaned, the feeling of Calum’s power dripping from his hands was heightening the way everything felt for her and him as well. There was a fog of black smoke settling on top of the blankets around them, it moved each time Diana did.

“You’re doing so well. Should I make you cum now?” Calum asked and Diana nodded. “Would you love that?” He said against the shell of her ear when her head fell forward to his shoulder.

“Please…please, Cal.” She was out of breath as she said the words, the small endearing nickname had Calum flipping Diana onto her back, his cock never leaving inside of her as he started to rick his hips. He moved slowly at first, making sure she was okay.

“Let go for me, Diana. I want all of you.” Calum encouraged her orgasm and it was all it took for her head to fall back and her back to arch from the mattress. Her nails scraped down Calum’s back until they reached the globes of his ass where they stopped and dug crescent shaped indentions into the flesh there. Calum was so close. He hadn’t had this release in so long he wasn’t sure how he had lasted as long as he did.

Looking down into Diana’s eyes, the late morning sun bouncing off her skin and the sweet sounds that left her lips as he fucked her, had Calum spiraling. He closed his eyes tightly, not wanting her to see the way they went black when he reached this point. But he felt her smaller hands cup his cheeks and thumbs swipe at his sweaty skin.

“Look at me, please?” She said. “It’s okay, please.” She begged again.

“Don’t be afraid.” Calum barely choked out, being so close to his release.

“I’m not afraid.” Diana held onto his curls as he dipped his head down a little and opened his eyes. They solid black and Diana though maybe he could see into her soul with those eyes, but she wasn’t afraid. No, not in the slightest. She wrapped her legs tightly around his hips and held onto him tightly.

Calum groaned and grunted until he finished inside her, falling limp against her body.

“You’re alright?” Calum asked, kissing her chest and neck.

“Of course.” Diana answered, eyes taking in the sight of all the black smoke surrounding them retreating back into Calum where it had come from. “Tired again.” She rubbed his back, feeling the raised trails of nail marks down his back.

“Sleep. We can leave in the morning.” Calum pulled himself from inside her and rolled to the other side of the bed.

“Are you sure? You were in quite the hurry yesterday.” Diana snuggled up against him until her head could rest on his chest.

“That was yesterday. Totally different day.” Calum teased, kissing the top of her head and putting an arm around her body.

“I think I’ll shower.” Diana sighs contently and begins to get up from the bed.

“Want to have a go at it in there as well?” Calum’s arms go to rest above his head as he lounges against the pillows and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. Diana laughs, bending back over to kiss him a few more times before she heads to the bathroom.

“I definitely wouldn’t say no if you happened to show up in here.” She doesn’t bother to close the door, just turns on the water. Before she could even get the temperature right, Calum was standing behind her with a grin on his face.

“Couldn’t stay in there when I knew you were naked in here.” His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to his warm body.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning was almost a blur. Quick kisses and and even quicker breakfast, as Calum had his urgency in finding his friend again. But he still took the time to make sure Diana was still comfortable going with him, and that things hadnt somehow changed because of what they had done...and hoped to continue doing. She assured him that she wanted to still be his “back up” and most definitely wanted to keep having him in any way he would give her.

They were back in the Jeep just as the sun was coming up and the days long drive was underway. Diana didnt mind the long car ride when she could simply ask Calum anything at all and he would give her the most beautifully detailed answers. Things from his past, how he spent his time over hundreds of years. But all too soon, they reached their destination.

Calum could sense that Michael was here. But he was beginning to think that he probably wasnt hiding anymore. The side show carnival scene in front of him was not where Calum was expecting to find one of the most powerful warlocks he had ever known. But at the same time, it was a very Michael type of place to try and lay low.

“C’mon, sunshine. We’ll find him in here.” Calum got out of the Jeep and quickly appeared to the other side to open the door for Diana. She stepped out and he immediately grabbed her hand. “Just stay close to me, okay?”

“I’m not worried. I know I’m safe with you.” Diana kissed his shoulder and let him lead her through the entry gates and into the carnival.

There were the typical red and white striped tents popped up all over the place. Plenty of people playing games and watching the different acts around the grounds. The air smelled of sweet cotton candy and deep fried corn dogs. It was a little heavenly if Diana was being honest. But she kept herself focused, and kept close to Calum as he looked around. He didn’t have to walk far before he saw a blue velvet tent sitting off to the side. The sign outside reading “The Fortune Teller Is In”. Diana immediately felt Calum tense up.

“You should wait outside.” Calum said as he got closer to the tent.

“I cant very well be your back up from out here, Cal. I’m coming with you.” Diana let go of his hand and stood at the entrance of the tent.

“Stubborn woman.” Calum smiled and took her face in his hands so he could kiss her lips.

“Lets go see Michael.” Diana motioned with her head towards the tent. Calum nodded, pushing open the tent door and letting Diana follow him in before he let go of the curtain and it moved back into place.

There were candles lit around the room and a large crystal ball sitting on a table on the far side. There didn’t appear to be anyone there however.

“Where is he?” Diana asked.

“He’s here. Hes just hiding away like a fucking coward.” Calum said loudly, his mouth set in a straight line. They stood there another moment before Calum quickly twisted around, pushing Diana behind him when he sensed a presence behind him.

“Took you longer to get here than I expected.” Michael said, a black beanie covering most of his blonde hair. He was wearing a black beanie that covered most of his blonde hair.

“Got held up.” Calum smirked, squeezing Diana’s hand gently. Her cheeks turned bright pink as Michael took a moment to smile down at her.

“What can I do for you?” Michael asked. “Doesn’t seem like you’ve been too deterred of the humans.”

“Does it really matter anymore? You left me in hell even after things changed. And I just felt like you should know, that I’m going to kick your ass.” Calum raised his hand ridiculously fast, too fast for Diana to comprehend, and the black smoke shot from his fingers and wrapped around Michae’s neck.

The blonde boy made some choking noises and pulled at his neck. When he realized he wasnt getting anywhere, he started to whisper softly to himself. Diana wasn’t and expert on things like this but she assumed he was saying a spell or incantation.

“Your magic isn’t going to work…” Before Calum could finish his sentence he was getting flung across the room. Diana ran to him, and help him up from the ground.

“Are you okay?” She asked. Calum grabbed her wrist and put her back behind him. Calum was getting ready to attack again but Michael stopped him.

“Stop, okay? Just fucking stop. I didn’t pull you out of hell right away for exactly this reason. You’re a fucking hot head, Cal.” Michael situated the beanie back in his head and sighed loudly.

“Wouldn’t you be the same way?” Calum scoffed.

“We have bigger things to worry about.” Michael said. “The vamps are getting out of control.”

“What are you? SOme kind of supernatural police officer? Why should I care about some vamps?” Calum stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Because you’re little human girlfriend will most certainly be on their menu if they have things their way.” Michael explained. Calum reached behind him and took Diana’s hand.

“They would never get the chance.” Calum said, his voice was deep and serious.

“Then maybe you should stop holding a 200 year old grudge and help me out with this?” Michael took a step closer to him, but still kept his distance.

“I shouldnt even fathom helping you with shit.” Calum gritted his teeth and spun around with Diana’s hand still in his to move towards the door.

“Vamps are the ones that got Gracie.” Michael said, freezing Calum in his tracks. “And they’ll keep getting stronger.”

“You’re sure?” Calum asked.

“I thought she died of natural causes?” Diana said.

“That practically code for vampire attack back then.” Michael explained. He walked back to Calum and put his hand on his shoulder. Calum looked over at his hand with a scowl on his face.

“Don’t touch me.” Calum sneered, pulling his shoulder away from Michael’s touch.

“If I help you with this, its for Gracie, not for you.” Calum made sure his words were loud and clear.

“Whatever gets you on board with this, man.” Michael moved to the other side of the room and placed one of his hands on his crystal ball. “We are going to need more help.” The crystal ball flashed different colors and swirls of light as Michael moved his hand in circular motion. Calum sighed in frustration before he turned back to look at Diana.

“Are you in? For Gracie?” Calum asked her.

“For Gracie.” Diana said with confidence, not sure what her part would be in all of this. But she was ready nonetheless.

taglist: @maoricth @slimthicccal @bbycal @kinglyhood @sugarcoated-pain @shower-me-with-roses @c-dizzle-swizzlex @calumculture @sugarcoatedcalum@calthesensation @cheyenne-in-wonderland @softboycal @moonlightcalum@unconditionalcalum @irwinkitten @singt0mecalum @angelbabylu @5sosnsfw@aspiringwildfire @myloverboyash @cal-puddies @lashtoncurls @kchillout@pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles @callllumhood @sick-orca @lfwallscouldtalk

#5sos #5 seconds of summer #calum hood #ashton irwin #luke hemmings #michael clifford #5sos imagines #5sos blurbs #cth #afi #mgc #lrh #it took me 85 years to write thjs #i cant believe its actually done #5sos smut #how dis we end up here???#im so excited i cant type anymore #please tell me what you think of it #im desperate for feedback

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the-blueish-trashcan · 5 years

Text

He's in Charge; Chapter One

Pairing: Henry/Bertrum

Warnings: [None yet]

A/N: This is the first chapter of a very, very long fic I've come to love, and treat as one of my better works. I've posted part of this on ao3 and wattpad already, but just haven't been getting any feedback on it. Treat this chapter as a pilot, the thing that should hook you in for the next part. If the feedback on this is good, well... there will be more to come! I'd also like to personally thank the wonderful @halfusek for allowing me to tag him in my incredibly obscure fanfic! I'm surprised he even liked the idea I pitched, but I'm so, so thankful for it!! Half, if you do read this, you're one of my favorite folks here, and quite the blessing, too! ^.^;

Chapter word count: 2,061

{First part [YOU ARE HERE]} {Next part}

Fic summary: As an up-and-coming animation company, Joey Drew Studios hardly had time to toy around with itself or its staff. Or, at least, that's what the budget said, and Joey Drew himself was never one to listen to a budget. To him, the best way to draw people to his cartoon was to drum up publicity, and what better way to do that than to build a theme park? With prototypes being constructed in the depths of the studio, it was only a matter of time before tensions started to run high and money to run low. It was also only a matter of time before one Henry Stein was fated to meet the constructor of the park, the great Bertrum Piedmont. With a positive relationship quickly building between the two, not a single soul could have imagined what it would do to the studio, and everything in it.

Chapter One: Pilot

“C’mon, Henry, it’s important for you to meet the man behind the park! Everything’s in the likeness of your creation, after all!” Joey spoke as he led Henry out of the lift in the lowest parts of the studio. The “development levels”, Joey called them fondly.

“I understand that, what I don’t get is-” The shorter man started, but was interrupted when Joey began to speak again.

“We’re making dreams come true, don’t you see? We’re making these cartoons larger than life!” He gestured wide with his arms, hitting the wall with the stack of papers in his right hand without meaning to. He threw a glance back over his shoulder, deep blue eyes sparkling. “Isn’t it exciting?”

All Henry could do was offer a fake smile and nod. He knew there was no stopping Joey once his mind was set on something, even if the animator didn’t agree with it. In this particular case… it was an amusement park. It wasn’t something unheard of, but between the renovations needed to make room for the development levels and the money it would cost to purchase enough land to accommodate anything when it was finished… Henry knew it was going to be a steep bill.

The pair mounted a flight of stairs in an otherwise empty room after navigating a maze of different hallways with pallets of different materials scattered around them. At the top, the first thing Henry noticed was the massive, gaping maw of a hollowed out Bendy head. The head itself, looking to be made of many metal plates, had to be at least two stories tall, the interior lit by a few coverless pendant lights. Under the lights were two plywood tables, cork boards not far from them covered in papers depicting plans and different concept sketches for the park.

Standing in front of one of the cork boards with his back to them was a man at least a foot taller than Henry himself, dressed in a black tailcoat and pressed black slacks. His dark brown hair had been slicked back, not a single one out of place. His shoes had been covered in dirt by the unfinished floors throughout the prototype park, but that seemed to be the only imperfection about him.

Joey cleared his throat, causing the man to turn around. He had one thick eyebrow raised, but was soon scowling at the sight of the other man. Cheery as ever, Joey didn’t seem to care. “Bertie! What’s the big project today, hm?”

Bertrum’s lip pulled up into a sneer, the comb mustache on his upper lip shifting as his expression changed. “Today’s project is the same project as yesterday’s. And last week’s. And the week’s before that. Unless it was finished, Mister Drew, which I would have notified you about, why would it be any different? Not all of just have the flexibility to jump from one idea to the next each day.” His voice rumbled, seeming to fill the extra space.

“Oh, well, I just figured I should ask! See how things were going! What did you think of my bumper car design?” Joey leaned on the table with one arm, making it lift slightly at the other end.

“Frankly they’re far too similar to my design for the carts in the haunted house. If I ever get to bumper cars, I can assure you, they will not look like that.” Bertrum pointed behind him to the table without looking. His statement, though, caught Henry off guard. It wasn’t every day that someone was that blunt with Joey, especially about something he wanted.

“Oh. Well… What about my idea for the swing ride? You got that sketch, right?” Joey tried again.

At that moment, Bertrum turned on his heel, taking one stride to the tables. Across the top sat a small scale model of what Henry could only guess was the proposed layout of the new park. He folded his hands behind his back, puffing out his chest and making himself look just that much bigger. Henry found himself taking a half-step back from both of them.

“Mister Drew,” He began, “If I were to squeeze in any new rides, you would have to fit in another two acres or more of land, depending on what half-brained idea it is you tried to cook up, and I’ve already warned you, this is going to break the bank as it is. You cannot bring in any new designs and if I’m being quite honest with you, I do not want them. I can make up my own sketches, thank you very much, and I can draw them to scale to work as a real attractions. If I need absolutely anything from you, I can assure you, you will know.”

The way Bertrum spoke sent a shiver up Henry’s spine and he was sure he could see the light leave Joey’s eyes, even through his smile.

Joey let out a low chuckle, holding his papers out for Henry. “Here. Hold onto those for me, will you?” After Henry took them, Joey moved to the table and started to try and reason with the designer. Just by the way he spoke, Henry could tell it was going to be a very long afternoon.

*****

After two yelling matches, two different requests for coffee from both taller men and about three hours, Joey finally decided he’d had enough of Bertrum and started to lead Henry back upstairs. It was only in the lift back to the main leves that Joey seemed to come to some sort of realization.

“Oh! Shit, Henry, I didn’t even introduce you! That’s the whole reason we went down there!” He slapped himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand.

The animator decided to just play it off like it was nothing, for his own sake. “Oh, that’s alright. We’ll have other times to go down there. Besides, it looked like you had a lot to talk to him about anyway.”

Slowly, Joey nodded. “You know… you’re right. I did have a lot to cover with him. And it’s already awful late! You have some fill work to finish before the day’s out!” The lift slowed then, stopping shortly after. Joey plucked his papers from Henry’s arms, briskly making his way down the hall. “Back to work!”

With a sigh and a slow shake of his head, Henry simply went back to his own desk to settle in and finish his work for the day.

*****

The clock in the break room had read ten to five the most recent time he checked it, not long ago. The rest of the studio had mostly fallen quiet by then, most of the other employees readying themselves to go home. Henry, though, was just getting started; With a fresh cup of black coffee, his tie loosened and his suspenders shrugged off of his shoulders, he was just getting ready to clock out, but not leave quite yet. Heavy, even footsteps down the hall from his desk didn’t pull his attention away from the sketches in front of him, but a voice he recognized from earlier did.

“Pardon me, but I was sent in this direction for one Henry Stein, head of animation. Will you please just show me who it is I’m supposed to be going to?” Bertrum snapped.

Henry turned quickly, pen still in hand, and blinked. He found himself scrambling for a response under the intense gaze. “I… Well, um… Y-yeah, that’s, um… That’s me. I-I’m Henry Stein.” He managed, but not at full volume.

Bertrum’s eyebrows shot up in shock, his eyes widening. “You? It’s you that’s in charge of all of this?” At that, Henry could only nod, looking sheepish. The response caused the designer to curse. “The way Drew treated you made me think you were his intern! My deepest apologies, sir.” He put a hand to his chest, bowing his head ever so slightly.

Henry let out an awkward laugh. “Oh, it’s alright! He does it all the time, I don’t really blame you.”

Now the other’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “That certainly doesn’t seem right. He wouldn’t even have a job if it weren’t for you.”

“Try telling that to him. I certainly have.” He hastily waved off the conversation. “Did you need something from me?”

“Ah, just this.” He held out a stack of sketches on gridded paper, all covered in notes. “I trust your judgement than Drew’s, seeing as this cartoon devil is your creation. Not to mention, after our encounter today, I would be dead before I asked him his opinion on my park. I assumed you would be gone by now so I would just be leaving those at your workspace. Please, look over them at your leisure.”

“Oh! Uhm, alright… What, uh… What, exactly, do you want me to do with them? Do you need my input, or…” Henry carefully took the papers, making sure not to set them in the wet ink.

“I want to know what you think. Drew’s designs are… childish, at best, and while entertaining young children is a main goal of a theme park, it is supposed to be a family experience. The more the parents enjoy themselves as well, the more likely it will be that we have returning visitors.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense…” He began flipping through some of the pages, tilting his head as he did. “...What’s the theme supposed to be here? I-I mean… Obviously it’s Bendy, but… Are we going more for fun or horror? Because that’s what this looks like.” His gaze flicked back up to Bertrum. “No offence! These designs are great! I just don’t know if they match my cartoon at all.”

“Ah. I wish you had said something earlier, then. My teams have already started prototyping some of this.”

“I would have if I’d seen them, sorry if it’s caused you any-”

“What do you mean, if you’d seen them?! Drew was supposed to have gotten you to sign off on-” He thundered, then stopped when he realized he’d made Henry flinch. “Were you not shown any of this?”

“No sir, this afternoon was the first I’d seen anything come from that park at all. I just knew it was there, Joey never wanted me to go down to see.”

“That’s ridiculous. That means he hasn’t even gone over any of our plans with you, damn fool…”

Henry glanced back at his drawings, then shifted in his chair to face the other more easily. “If you’d like to discuss some of it now, I’d be more than happy to know what’s going on with the company I own half of.” He indicated the extra chair not far from him with his hand, offering for Bertrum to sit down.

“If that’s quite all right with you, I would be happy to.” Smoothing down the front of his coat, Bertrum took a seat.

“My, um… my first question is, uh… What’s your actual name? You just really don’t look like someone who should be called Bertie to me.”

His mustache twitched as the corners of his lips turned up. “Of course I don’t! I am Bertrum Piedmont! Drew insists on this demeaning nickname of his, I can’t begin to explain why.”

Henry gave another awkward laugh. “Yeah…. That’s Joey for you…”

*****

Far, far past the time that Henry was supposed to have already been at home relaxing, he was still sitting at his desk, but he wasn’t alone. At some point, his conversation with Bertrum had turned from being about work to about life. Despite what he had thought at first, it was fairly easy to make Bertrum laugh, and goodness knew he needed it, the animator could tell. That had to be the case, since Henry never counted himself as someone very humorous.

When Bertrum finally gathered himself to leave, it was only because of Henry’s promise to come check on his work more regularly, despite what Joey said. In return, Bertrum promised that any trouble Henry got in for it, he would handle directly. Even with the sketches still not fully lined or filled, Henry didn’t have the energy to keep working. He put everything on his desk in order, storing the ink and switching the last of the lights off on his way out.

#long post #fanfic #fanfiction #writers on tumblr #writeblr #batim #batim fanfic #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the ink machine au #henry stein #bertrum piedmont #henry x bertrum #jason writes #this started as a joke folks #a joke #well WHOS LAUGHING NOW HUH???

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miraculousagentsofkrypton · 5 years

Text

Imagine an Alien Sister Pt 4

Vanished (14 yrs old) AO3

Alex’s science project was due the next day, so she was pulling an all nighter with Kara. Kara considered it cheating if Alex relied on her too much, so she mostly stayed up as emotional support, and for some proofreading. She was sitting on the bed, practicing how long she could hold a pen as she drew a picture.

They sat in comfortable silence, Alex typing away at her report when Kara suddenly spoke up, “Alex. Something’s wrong.”

Alex twisted around to look at her only to gaze in confusion as Kara’s slowly disappearing body. Kara never had wake up moments out of nowhere, and the terrified look on her face wiped away any notion that this might be normal. She rushed to her sisters side. “Kara? Kara what’s wrong? Why are you leaving?”

Kara just grabbed at her desperately, but her hands fell right through her, and for the first time in her life she couldn’t touch her sister. Kara stared at her hands, wide eyes gazing vacantly. Alex ached to comfort her sister, but floundered in the confusion. Kara’s distraught voice repeated again, “Alex. Something’s wrong.”

If this were normal, Kara would have been long gone by now. It was progressing too slowly. Alex’s voice trembled as she murmured, “I know sweetie. Can you tell me what is wrong?”

When Kara’s hands failed to touch Alex, again, they came up to press on her temples, and she shook her head no. But then, her head kept shaking and wouldn’t stop. Kara’s eyes clenched shut, but Alex sat watching with bated breath as her sister’s arms and legs slowly faded away completely before it progressed up her torso. She felt so helpless.

Suddenly Kara’s eyes snapped open and looked into Alex’s. Alex was caught in their intensity. “Alex, whatever happens, I want you to know I love you, and you’re the only thing that’s kept me sane since I left Krypton.”

Alex flinched back. “Kara. Don’t you dare talk like that. You’re acting like you’re dying or something! You’re overreacting. You’re probably just returning to the zone like normal.” She said the words, but they were hard to believe as it continued its unstoppable progress up Kara’s neck. It moved achingly slow, but somehow also terrifyingly fast as her sister disappeared before her eyes, and for the first time she was unsure if she was coming back. Just before it reached Kara’s eyes, she saw tears pool before they were swept away with the rest of her.

Alex was alone in her room.

She stared blankly at the wall, unsure of what just happened. There was an ache in her chest. Something was different now. She could feel it.

Alex shook off the dread that had come over her. She had homework to do. Kara would be back soon, like normal. No need to panic about anything other than this due date. She returned to her work, proofread it herself and presented it in the morning, all without Kara. She managed to last an entire week without breaking down or having a panic attack, but Kara was always back by now and something’s probably horribly wrong and what was she going to do. She had no way of contacting Kara or determining her situation whatsoever. All she could do was wait, and wait, and try not to have a breakdown in public.

It didn’t take her parents long to notice something was off, but they didn’t directly confront her about it until almost two weeks after Kara had disappeared. Alex was laying in bed, staring at the drawings Kara had made, drawings of Krypton, her parents, Alex, Alex’s parents. They were far better than Anything Alex could ever hope to make. Kara’s love shown through all her works beautifully, as well as her grief.

Only one drawing contained Kara herself, the one Alex loved to look at the most. It was a simple picture, set in Alex’s bedroom, but back when there was a crib and rocking chair instead of a bed. Kara was sitting in the chair singing to a little baby in her arms. Alex. The sketch was rough, its age betrayed by the rough workmanship that didn’t even compare to Kara’s more recent art. But it was Alex’s favorite. A picture of one of the earliest moments of their relationship. Back before Alex could even remember, Kara had been there.

The ache in her heart got the better of her, and she couldn’t keep the tears at bay. She missed her older sister so much. It hadn’t technically been that long, only two weeks, but the panic of not knowing what had become of her made it seem so much longer than that since she had last seen her.

An unexpected, but gentle, knock on her door had her shooting up as she quickly wiped away the tears. “What?”

“May I come in?” her mom’s voice sounded through the door.

“Ok.”

Eliza looked concerned as she came into her room, and she sat down beside Alex on the bed. “Sweetie, you dad and I are worried and-” She cut herself off when she noticed Alex’s red eyes. “Have you been crying? Alex, please tell me what’s wrong.”

Alex didn’t know how to answer. It’s not like she could just come out and say her “imaginary” sister had disappeared and she didn’t know whether she was ok. So instead, she just hugged her mom and said, “I don’t know. Just stressed I guess.”

Eliza hugged her back tightly. “You know you can always tell me if something’s wrong, right? Are you sure there’s nothing else going on?”

Alex sighed. “I know Mom. And I’m sure. Just haven’t been getting enough sleep is all. And school’s been really tough lately, but I’m ok.”

Her mother kissed the top of her head before finally noticing the papers scattered across the bed. “Oh are there your drawings? I didn’t know you liked art.” Eliza reached over and picked up a picture of her husband and herself. “These are amazing!”

Alex paled. She’d forgotten to hide the pictures. “Oh.” She laughed awkwardly. “Yes? It’s just a hobby, nothing big.” Her panicked voice caused her to cringe. Snatching all the papers up, including the ones in her mother’s hands, she quickly stuffed them into a drawer. “Um, well.” She faked a yawn. “I’m actually feeling really tired now. I think I’m going to go to sleep.”

Eliza looked startled at all the sudden movement, and gazed at her daughter thoughtfully before seemingly brushing off the incident, for now, and saying, “Alright, I’ll let you catch up on your rest. Goodnight Alex, I love you.”

“Love you too Mom,” Alex replied before practically pushing her out the door. As soon as it closed behind Eliza, Alex fell back into the bed with a groan. She grabbed Hobbes from his position by the pillow and hugged him tight.

Kara, where are you?

#ive never been this consistent with writing a story wow #supergirl #kara danvers #kara zor el #alex danvers #danvers sisters #eliza danvers #supergirl fic #my fic #long post #calvin and hobbes au

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oneweekoneband · 7 years

Audio

If you get on folk music's most celebrated highway and drive north along the shore of the biggest freshwater lake on earth, cross Knife River and angle right onto a red-dirt gravel driveway that winds almost a full mile down through tangles of lupine and sumac and quaking aspen, you will find, set back on a sloping lawn, a gray house with a dark red front door. Ten years ago, I lived there. The plot of land where it stands used to hold a different house, white clapboard with blue trim; I watched one morning before fourth grade as a bulldozer ripped open the front wall of that house and something yellow — a forgotten toy, or maybe just a piece of insulation — tumbled from what used to be my bedroom to the grass below. We broke ground on the new gray house just before the leaves fell that year. My mother, an architect, drew the plans. My stepfather, a contractor, worked to frame it and roof it and hang the drywall. By the next summer, the house was complete enough that the three of us were able to move upstairs from the single dusty room we'd been sharing in the half-finished basement, and that fall, Suzanne Vega released Songs in Red and Gray.

---

The facts: Songs in Red and Gray is Vega's first album after her divorce from Mitchell Froom, who is the producer of 99.9F and Nine Objects of Desire as well as the father of her only child, Ruby. In the press she remained adamant that the album was not explicitly biographical, that only a handful of songs dealt directly with her emotions and experiences regarding their split, and that in no way should it be considered a concept album about her divorce. Nevertheless, the theme of divorce runs through the songs the way a vein of iron runs through earth, deep and heavy and unyielding. I have no way of knowing if, when I whirled around our new kitchen to "Priscilla" with tattered chiffon scarves from the dress-up basket swirling in my wake, that same vein already lay beneath the smooth tile and fresh paint and slab foundation of the gray house. I do know that, five years later, before we'd even installed the upstairs shower or finished the front porch, my mother and I moved out for good.

---

Trying to explain Songs in Red and Gray feels like trying to explain this house to you: the house my mother dreamed, the house my stepfather built. I could sketch a floor plan, spread out paint samples, tighten focus on any number of tiny details and fixtures to illustrate a point, but to me it is not about any small part of the whole. It's about the air inside. How it changed. This album sounds different than any of the work that came before it — there's a different atmosphere, a heaviness and a hugeness, a flung-wide feeling that could be freedom or grief, depending on the light. What must it feel like, spending years of your life laboring over a project with someone only to come to a point when the work is all that's left, and then not even that anymore? How do you learn to move alone through the space you once traversed together? This album starts with "Penitent" — once I stood alone so proud — and despite the name it is not so much a hymn of atonement as it is an exhale of long-held breath, a sigh of relief and frustration and pure honesty addressed to an indifferent god. Or husband. Or father.

---

If you're paying attention, you'll notice that the divorce already happened. Before the first house even got torn down, before I ever sang along to "Soap and Water" — daddy's a dark riddle, mama's a headful of bees — I'd learned to live like the little kite, carried away on the wayward breeze. My stepfather built the gray house; my father haunted it. Telephone calls and bad dreams. Twice a month my mother would drive me to see him: six hours one way on a Friday night, six hours back on Sunday. She copied Suzanne Vega's first two albums onto a single cassette tape so we could listen straight through both, and I'd stare out the window, past the ghostly reflection of my own face, the shadowed ditches, the half-moon hanging in my hair, listening. Mostly I was silent but sometimes I'd sing along. My favorite was "The Queen and the Soldier." She closed herself up like a fan.

---

I said I did not want to dwell on the small parts of the whole but, actually, it’s the smallest things that snag, burned into the back of my brain like afterimage. The gray pewter vase held the deep red rose / one piece of coral shone white / by the brass candlestick near your red velvet coat / is everything I can recall of one night. Color makes this album what it is, and it’s color that comes back to me most readily in memory. When they were building the gray house they cut down my favorite rowan tree, the one split at the base into three trunks with a cleft just big enough to hold me. I can still see it in my mind’s eye. Whorls of white lichen like lace over the dark silver bark. Vivid red berries. Did you know that there’s a logic to the way languages develop words for color? First comes the differentiation of values: dark and light. Next is always red, because you need a word to call attention to blood.

---

The traditional way to trace a family history is by tree, but I find it easier to follow the path not branch to branch but split to split, a maze of rifts and cracks. My family tree reads like twigs scattered on the ground, like fortune-telling. The week I watched the bulldozer tear down the white house, my teacher instructed our class to create timelines of our lives. Include significant events, she said, like when you've moved or your family structure changed. As I began to track backwards through the number of ruptures and relocations, I became increasingly anxious; I could not see how to cram all of my significant life events onto the paper she had provided. Already there had been too much upheaval. At the far right edge of the ruler-straight line she’d drawn for us, I wrote, watched my house get torn down. I don’t remember what I left off the page to make sure everything fit properly, I only know that I must have done so, because never in my life have I managed to tell the full story in any one place.

---

What stuns me most about this album, even after all these listens, is its sense of control. Amazon’s reviewer wrote that it is “arranged with the meticulous precision of a butler laying silver on a table,” and although I think that wasn’t meant strictly as a compliment I can’t help but hear it as one. There’s something heavy and rich and ritualistic in it, but no sloppy decadence; more like something Catholic, explicitly — the Virgin Mary on a chain has hit me in the mouth again — and implicitly, echoes of sin and sacrament and guilt and ceremony. Old magics and new. Actions seem spurred not by abandon but by lucid calculation, every sentiment balanced in a cold and practiced hand before being placed — not hurled, not smashed, not brandished — placed, with exquisite care, in exactly the right spot. A long row of silver knives on a red tablecloth.

---

Outside the gray house with the red door, walking the windswept shoreline, I collected stones. Smooth and round and dark gray, some washed almost to perfect circles in the tumble of the lake. I’d fill my pockets and bring them home to line the windowsill or bookshelf, dropped them carefully into glass jars. When we were packing to move out, I remember thinking: what the fuck am I going do with all these rocks? It seemed absurd to lay them carefully inside a box and carry them away, but somehow more absurd to bring them back outside, dump them unceremoniously on the beach somewhere and leave. The title track of this album has a line that goes will you please tell me why I remember these things / after all of this time I don’t know, and it was that line that echoed in my head the first time I encountered the much-loved quote from Anne Carson’s “The Glass Essay” where the mother says, You remember too much. Why hold onto all that? And the narrator replies, Where can I put it down? In the end, I took the stones.

---

My mother and I moved into a new house, splintery blue shingles and a rust-smeared white screen door, and the week afterwards, I started high school. We pulled up the stiff shag carpet and painted the walls wearing torn jeans and ate dinner together every night. Like the Gilmore Girls, people said to us; I hadn’t seen the show so I didn’t know whether to confirm or deny. I’ve watched a few episodes now and the comparison seems fair, but what struck me as the greatest difference is the ease with which they draw honest emotional conversation out of each other, how willing they are to speak the names of what haunts them. What hurts them. Then again, once my mother asked me over a plate of eggs Benedict in a diner: how come you were always able to understand when to get out of a relationship? And I said: I think watching you get divorced twice taught me that breaking up was always possible.

---

Forgive me all my blindnesses / my weakness and unkindnesses. I have the only child’s predilection towards secrecy and silence, sharing myself only insofar as I reveal nothing that sits too close to the bone. I have, too, the only child’s myopic self-absorption; I tell history by telling the story of myself. It is hard for me to talk about my parents’ marriage because I have no memories of them together, aside from a single hazy impression of my mother at the kitchen sink in my fathers’ house, washing dishes, her dark hair still tumbling halfway down her back. In that memory, she is only a few years older than I am now. So much of this album recalls my past selves, my early private dramas of sorrow and self-creation, but when Suzanne Vega sings soap and water / take the day from my hand / scrub the salt from my stinging skin / slip me loose of this wedding band I’ve never not pictured my mother’s hands under the fauce, her bony knuckles and trimmed nails, and the ring from her second marriage, beaten with an intricate pattern of platinum and rose gold. Our hands look remarkably alike, but they are not the same hands. I am embarrassed to say that I do not know the story of how she left my father, nor the story of how she left my stepfather, from her perspective. I am not sure that I have ever asked her, and if she ever told me, I have failed to remember.

---

Whatever happened to the handsome fist? He’s here, of course, he always is — the puppeteer from “Machine Ballerina,” the adulterer from “Song in Red and Gray,” the imperious patriarch of “Penitent.” The last time I saw my former stepfather was when we ran into each other in the grocery store a few years back. He looked the same as I remembered: close-buzzed silver hair, rough suntan, crinkles around the eyes. I almost hid from him at first, nervous and expecting some sort of confrontation, but of course he was perfectly kind to me. Every man is not a fist, as it turns out. Or, I guess — some fists don’t come out swinging. Some fists clench tight because they don’t know how to loosen into a flat palm, allow themselves vulnerability. Some fists clench tight because all fears elide into each other, and there’s no way to know when it’s safe to let go.

---

Take what’s wrong and make it go right, you can / weave it like a prayer. This is the part where there should be some kind of revelation. The place where, having been tossed up in the air, the pins come down and I catch them, set them out in sequence so the story makes sense. But the problem is it isn’t a story; I didn’t toss the pins in the first place, and I can’t do anything but scramble to catch them as they come plummeting out of the sky one by one. I’ve never been any good at magic tricks. I can barely even shuffle cards. I tried to learn, bought a book and everything, but my hands wouldn’t do what my mind asked. My father could make coins disappear and reappear at will; it is the only thing I remember him doing that ever delighted me.

---

Two years after my mother and I moved out of the gray house, I quit speaking to my father. I did not know that I was going to do it — I just left one weekend and never went back. Two years after that, I graduated from high school; I had a rocky start to college, but in another two years I moved out on my own, for good. My mother started dating someone new — another builder, actually — and they’ve been spending every summer and some winters tearing up the house, redoing bits and pieces to make it more livable without altering the fundamental structure, its good old bones. He re-shingled the outside in raw cedar, which will, over time, weather into a beautiful shade of silver. But they won’t be around for that — the plan is to try to sell it in a couple of years and buy a plot of land somewhere outside of town, build a place of their own from the ground up. Whenever I’m back to visit my mother reminds me that eventually I’ll have to sort through the boxes of my old things and decide what to keep and what to throw away. But, she says, no rush.

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This album ends with a song called "St. Clare." It is, actually, a cover — the original is by Jack Hardy, an old-school New York folk singer and long-time friend of Vega's who passed away in 2011. Bold little bird / fly away home. Where is home, exactly? Pretty soon every house I’ve lived in before age eighteen will be closed to me forever. A few summers ago I almost made it back to the gray house with the red door — a friend from college came to visit and we drove up the shore together, past Knife River, right onto the gravel road which, as it turns out, is paved now, but I couldn’t bring myself to go all the way down the driveway. What was I afraid of? Seeing something? Or being seen? I couldn’t explain it. We turned around, headed back past the lupines and the sumac and the quaking aspen, back to the famous highway. I think, actually, we listened to that album on the trip — yowling at each other, hoooow does it feeeeeeel! To be on your own. No directioooon home. That was three years ago, and I haven’t been back since. Lately I’ve been fantasizing about driving up the shore again. What I miss more than anything is the landscape: the rock beach, the shadows under the pines, the way the sunlight scatters off the surface of the lake on a calm day. I would like to go back on a clear afternoon and sit next to the water and feel the wind in my hair. When you say home, actually, that’s what I imagine. Not a house at all, not even a person — instead, the atmosphere that holds them, the air that slips in and around and through those precarious human spaces. A place to breathe, a sense of change. Something wild. Something green.

#suzanne vega #songs in red and gray

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