too salty to stay dead

[springlocking]

[The dead are supposed to stay dead. Someone dies and that's supposed to be it. Except in this neck of the woods, that's not how it works, is it? The kids didn't leave after dying, after all.

In hindsight, this should've been an expected consequence. Should've seen it coming.

Sad truth is, not everyone's savvy or psychic enough to predict that the serial killer they put down a while ago wouldn't be staying dead - or wouldn't be bound to the spring suit he died in. Never say that the protagonist card was kind, not with allowing the dirtbag's spirit to wander freely and who knew what else he was capable of now. (Nightmare on Elm Street is probably a documentary here...)

The worst time to learn this is when she's driving down a deserted road late at night, don't you think?]

Comments

[twistedone]

[For what it's worth, Afton let her pass out without much protest. It gave him a chance to look through the house, though it bored him quickly. After all, he'd already seen much of it. For a long while, he'd simply watched Charlie as she slept. If he thought she was going to wake up, he hid himself. Convenient, that. He may not be able to do much physically just yet, but he can disappear at will.

When Charlie finally wakes up, he practises his newfound skill. He follows her at a distance, not wanting to spook her just yet. He soon gets bored of that too, though. He starts to move things slightly out of place when Charlie's back is turned. Sometimes he'll make a small noise nearby, only to disappear as soon as Charlie looks. This is the kind of game he can get behind, and he wonders which conclusion her mind will jump to first; is it a ghost, or is she going mad?]

[springlocking]

[When she hears a noise behind her, she chalks it up to the house settling. It happens. When she sees something out of place, though...

She grits her teeth, growing more annoyed as she finds more things out of place. Before she realizes it, her hands are clenched into angry fists, though she knows the gesture's useless. She closes her eyes, tries to regulate her breathing, but only for a moment. Keeping her eyes closed is just inviting danger.

In a furious whisper, she finally addresses the spook that she knows is there.] Stop touching Aunt Jen's stuff, and get out already.

[twistedone]

[He doesn't say anything at first. He simply knocks over a mug in protest, letting it fall to the floor and shatter.]

Oh, whoops. How clumsy of me.

[He lets himself be seen finally, leaning casually against the wall with a smug grin on his face.]

[springlocking]

[Her first thought is that she's gonna have to scour that wall, and pretty much the entire house, when this gets resolved. She's not gonna engage in the conversation, though, not going to respond to the bad jokes and the smug grin and - just - ugh.]

The door's right there.

[She points at it, still looking very grumpy.]

Leave.

[twistedone]

That's rude, you know.

[Pretending to look hurt, he pushes himself off the wall lightly, pointedly avoiding the door.]

...Aren't you going to clean that up?

[He waves at the remains of the mug scattered on the floor.]

[springlocking]

[She's not buying it for a second, and scowls at him.]

You made the mess, you clean it. And if you don't want to, you can always just leave.

[With that, she's gonna just turn her back on him and go back to whatever she was doing before.]

[twistedone]

Well, I don't really feel like doing either of those.

[And if Charlie doesn't clean it, well, nobody will. He walks over to stand uncomfortably close behind her, peering over her shoulder.]

Soooo. What're you doing?

[springlocking]

[She WAS preparing breakfast. Now she's pretty sure she won't be eating, she thinks as she shuts off the stove and gets as far away from the spook as possible, making an incoherent noise of disgust.]

No. No. This is not gonna happen. Get the hell out of Aunt Jen's house, you creep, or I'll find some way to make you leave.

[She doesn't normally curse. This is how aggravated she is, and probably how sleep-deprived too. With a scowl, she goes about sweeping up the shards of the mug now, since they're a danger to her at least, and she really doesn't feel like leaving the spook any ammo. Into the dust pan they go, then into the garbage. Good. Yes.]

[twistedone]

Oh, I wasn't going to do anything.

[Debatable. Especially given that his creepiest smile is back on his face again.]

I really don't think you have any way of making me leave, though.

[He sits on the kitchen table rather than just taking a seat, though that's more because he doesn't know if pulling a chair is something he's capable of doing yet. He'd rather not try it and then look stupid. It'd ruin the mood.]

[springlocking]

[You mean him being there and being annoying and breaking a mug isn't "doing anything"? Shocked, I am shocked at this.]

I'll. Find. One.

[Yeah, she's never going to go near that table again, it's tainted now. She thinks about it, though. How to make a spook leave...pretend they're not there? Well, she's still not going near the kitchen table, though. And she's really not hungry anymore, so...hmm...what else to do?

There isn't really much of anything else to do. Maybe she'll go flip through one of those college course catalogs. It's something to keep her mind off of things, anyway. Something to do. After snagging one from the pile, she heads to the living room, sits in a chair, and proceeds to read the thing.

She has to ignore it.]

[twistedone]

[Of course it isn't! He is totally innocent in this.]

Well, good luck with that!

[Oh, she's walking off again. He thinks on it for a moment, then follows. Because of course he does. He peeks at the catalogue, and makes a thoughtful noise.]

...Definitely Mandarin.

[He's helping!]

[springlocking]

[PERSONAL SPACE YOU CREEPY BASTARD. Cue barely-restrained screech and scooting away because no.]

Why won't you just go away already? Don't you have somewhere else to haunt?!

[Like, oh, a half-constructed mall, far away from pretty much everyone. Just a thought. And he's not helping at all!]

[twistedone]

Well, if I did I'd be there, don't you think?

[He says it drily, gesturing with his hands in maybe the first display of exasperation she's seen from him since he appeared in her car. He didn't choose to appear there, but why shouldn't he have his fun while he's around? Especially with how it makes Charlie squirm.]

[springlocking]

[He needs to stop using sane person logic. It's super effective, and she has no retort to it. An annoyed exhale is all he gets in response for now. At least he's not killing anyone like this.

Still.

She grabs a pen that was lying around and scratches out the Mandarin class, just to spite him. It's petty, but right now it's all she has.]

[twistedone]

[Hey, he may be a socially awkward child-killing psychopath with personal space issues, but he has a brain! Twisted as it is. And hey, he won that argument! Neat.]

What did Mandarin ever do to you?

[He's back to smugly smirking again.]

[springlocking]

Nothing. You, though - you killed my brother and drove Dad to kill himself, in case you forgot.

[Is it really any wonder she wants nothing to do with this creep with that info in mind? And that's not even going into all the other murders. Yeesh.]

So get out, already.