Do You Believe? (October Spooky Challenge)
Nov. 9th, 2009 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annabirminghamThis is a little something I wrote for the Halloween Spooky Challenge on BMM Drabbles recently :)
Thanks to everyone who read and left comments, I appreciate each and every one!
Summary - Modern day AU/AU
Length - 2,100 words
Warnings - none (apart from the spooky stuff...)
A big thanks as always to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hesamathgeek for the fab beta work and ongoing support. Hugs!
****
I awoke for the second night in a row with the feeling that I was being watched.
I sat up with a sharp intake of breath, goose bumps prickling my arms as my imagination went into overdrive and conjured dark shadows in every corner. I jumped as I saw a flash of movement by the door. My breath was a mist in front of my face and I shuddered violently. Damn it was cold. I scrabbled for the covers, which were bunched around my feet and tugged them up to my bare shoulders.
I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Of course, I wasn’t at home; I was in hotel – guest house actually – in New Orleans. The canopy of the four-poster bed loomed oppressively over me and I could just make out an old fashioned heater on the far wall. Shuddering again I wrapped the covers around me and padded barefoot over to the heater, touching it quickly with one hand – stone cold. Fuck. Damn these old houses; they might look good but sure as hell weren’t fun to sleep in.
I had no idea what time it was, but it was that eerily silent part of night where nothing moves and the whole world seems to be holding its breath. I pulled back the curtains and peered outside hesitantly. I don’t know what I was expecting to see – someone looking in at me through the window? On the third floor?
The guest house was located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and anyone who has been there will know how the houses look, with their beautiful architecture and delicate gothic balconies. But even so, it was seriously unlikely that anyone would risk climbing up said balcony in the middle of the night.
I turned back to my nightstand and flicked on the small lamp. The pale yellow glow filled the room. The door was closed and locked just as I had left it and the sparse furniture left nowhere for anyone to hide. I shook my head with a wry smile and cursed my overactive imagination. Had to be a dream, there was no one watching me in here. The sight of all the Halloween revelers I had seen out this evening would be enough to give anyone nightmares, though. I never got the whole Halloween thing. Every other person seemed to find it fun to dress up as a witch, ghost, voodoo priest or similar. Especially around this part of the world. I just thought they were all a bit crazy.
I sat back down on my bed, turned off the light and wrapped the covers tightly around me, trying to ignore the chill bite in the air.
I was just drifting off to sleep again when a floorboard squeaked outside my door. No way I imagined that. I jack-knifed back into a sitting position and held my breath, watching, waiting. The seconds ticked by and this time I was certain I saw a shadow pass across the bottom of my door, as if someone had walked past my room.
I cursed silently and dragged myself out of bed once more, determined to tell whoever the late night prowler was to get their sorry ass back to bed and let the rest of us sleep in peace.
I pulled on a t-shirt and strode to the door, unlocking it and flinging it open to see…nothing. I looked up and down the long, empty corridor. Huh. I cursed again. Damn this stupid house. I should never have been here in the first place.
The fact that I was here at all was a complete fluke, as the somewhat useless people at the Holiday Inn I normally stayed at had double booked my room. My secretary had struggled to find me anywhere to stay as most of the hotels were full due to the conference. “Twist Guest House,” she told me as she handed over the reservation slip a little apologetically. “It’s across town, in the French Quarter, near Bourbon Street. That’s Voodoo central,” she added with a grin.
I scoffed at that – voodoo, schmoodoo. All a load of rubbish if you ask me. However silent and eerie this place might be, I didn’t believe any of that stuff. It was just fancy tales spun to bring in the tourists. Everyone liked to be a little spooked once in a while.
Standing alone in the dark corridor now, I could understand how some people believed it. I didn’t though. Never had.
I peered further into the blackness, trying to see if anyone was hiding in the shadows of a door alcove. I shuffled forward and heard my door snick shut behind me. Fuck. I turned quickly and grabbed the round handle, but it was too late. I was locked out.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was really not my night.
As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I thought I saw a flicker of light at the end of the corridor. Hope flared in me; perhaps someone else was up at this ungodly hour too and could help me get back into my room, or at least find somewhere for me to sleep?
I started to walk towards the faint glow and almost tripped over a black cat that suddenly appeared around my legs. “Fuck! Where did you come from?” I hissed quietly.
The cat scampered in the direction of the light and then stopped, turning to look at me as if it expected me to follow, green eyes wide and unblinking. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” I muttered to it.
I followed the cat into a small room at the end of the hall. The door was half open so I pushed it gently. The room was lit by a small fire glowing in the grate, obviously the source of the light and the thing that had drawn me here. The room looked like a study or library; definitely a private area and not one usually open to guests.
There were just two chairs in the room. Big chairs. Those ones where you can’t see if anybody is sitting in them unless you are directly in front of them.
I sidestepped quietly, trying to see if anyone was there. The slow tick, tick of the large grandfather clock in the corner echoed the loud thumping of my heart and I almost jumped as I saw a pair of legs protruding from the chair on the left. Idiot, I chastised myself.
“Um…hello?” I whispered.
There was a rustle of clothes as the person in the chair leaned forward. “Hey.”
Oh. I started in recognition at the dark haired figure. It was the guy from the front desk who had checked me in last night. Jack Twist, owner of the hotel.
“Come in,” he added, gesturing to the other chair, eyes taking in the t-shirt and sleep pants I wore. “Can’t sleep?”
“Something woke me,” I muttered, sitting down opposite him automatically. “I went to investigate and locked myself out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jack said, swirling the glass of drink he held so that the ice cubes clinked. “Would you like a drink? Ennis, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. I’d rather have gone back to my room, but something stopped me. A drink sounded good and might knock me out when I eventually returned to bed.
Jack went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a glass tumbler. “JD on the rocks ok?”
I blinked. That was my favorite drink. How did he know? “Er…sure,” I replied.
I watched closely as he fixed the drink and handed it to me before sitting back in his own chair. He had a nice face, did Jack. I remembered noticing it the day before; stunning blue eyes and very cute dimples. He must have been around thirty years old, same as me.
Jack lowered his eyes and smiled to himself. “They said you’d come,” he said softly. “I should’ve known.”
“They. What. Who’s ‘they’?” I replied in confusion.
Jack shook his head and took a sip of his whiskey. “Never mind,” he murmured, looking up at me through long lashes, eyes sparkling.
I was intrigued, I couldn’t help it. That look stirred something deep inside me. “No, really, tell me?” I pushed.
Jack eyed me speculatively, and hooked one ankle over the opposite knee. “Do you believe in fate, Ennis? Destiny? Coincidence?”
I frowned and shook my head. “No. Not really.”
Jack put his drink on the coffee table and leaned towards me, firelight flickering soft shadows over his face. “So do you think there’s a reason why you’re here now, in the middle of the night, talking to me?”
“I told you. I couldn’t sleep. I thought I heard someone outside my room, I went to look and accidentally locked myself out.”
“Ok.” Jack nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t convinced.
My curiosity was still piqued, despite myself. “What do you mean, though, by ‘they’?” I asked.
Jack ducked his head again with a smile. “I doubt you’d believe me even if I told you.”
“Maybe not,” I shrugged, “but I’m out of here tomorrow, so try me anyway.”
Jack sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “A few years ago I was in a bar here and got talking to a couple of women. They were a bit weird, but seemed interested in talking to me, so I bought them some drinks and we chatted. I’d not long come out of a relationship, a bad relationship, so I was after all the decent company I could get.” He picked up his whiskey glass and took a long swallow. “They asked me why I was sad, so I asked them if it existed, and if so would I ever find it.”
“Find what?”
Jack hesitated for a second and his eyes caught mine. “True love.”
All the breath seemed to leave my body and my stomach clenched tight. “Oh,” I managed to squeak.
Jack nodded. “They told me I would, but I’d have to be patient. Let love come to me. It would come when I was ready.”
“And?” It was stupid but I could feel myself getting sucked into his story. It all sounded bizarrely familiar, although I knew I’d never heard it before.
“They said he would find me. The spirits would guide him.”
I raised an eyebrow at the word spirits, but I let Jack continue.
“He would find me,” Jack repeated with a quirk to his lips, “at midnight on All Hallow’s Eve. I’d just have to wait for him.”
“Wait for who?”
“My soul mate.”
The grandfather clock continued to tick behind me and then suddenly there was that funny whirring noise which would’ve sounded the chimes during the daytime. I twisted my head around to look at the time. Midnight exactly. Halloween – All Hallow’s Eve – whatever you wanted to call it. Well, damn.
I shook my head in bemusement. “And you believe this stuff, this mumbo jumbo?” I looked up at Jack and caught him smiling at me.
“Yeah, Ennis, I do. I guess if you live in this town long enough then it becomes part of you. Can’t argue with hundreds of years of history.” He took the whiskey out of my hands and placed it on the table next to his. “My family have lived here for generations. My father owned this place before me, and his father before that. There’s magic in the air here. Call me a fool, but I do believe.”
“OK,” I said, not knowing what to do. I couldn’t look away from Jack.
Jack shifted a bit closer to me and caught one of my hands, turning it over and tracing a finger over the palm. “Didn’t you feel it? When you arrived here yesterday?”
“What?”
“The magic. That this was just meant to be.”
Jack’s finger on my palm felt really nice and I curled my fingers around his to hold it tight, but didn’t reply.
“Do you know, Ennis. I’ve sat here, alone, on this night for the past five years.”
“Waiting?” I asked tentatively.
“Waiting.”
“For…for me?”
“For you.” Jack lifted my hand and pressed it to his lips. They were warm and soft against my skin and I couldn’t help an involuntary shiver, nothing to do with the cold this time though.
Our gazes locked again and I saw something in those blue eyes, something so familiar and welcoming that it felt like coming home. I never wanted to leave – this room, this hotel, this town. This man.
At that moment, for just one second, I did believe.
THE END
Thanks to everyone who read and left comments, I appreciate each and every one!
Summary - Modern day AU/AU
Length - 2,100 words
Warnings - none (apart from the spooky stuff...)
A big thanks as always to
hesamathgeek for the fab beta work and ongoing support. Hugs!****
I awoke for the second night in a row with the feeling that I was being watched.
I sat up with a sharp intake of breath, goose bumps prickling my arms as my imagination went into overdrive and conjured dark shadows in every corner. I jumped as I saw a flash of movement by the door. My breath was a mist in front of my face and I shuddered violently. Damn it was cold. I scrabbled for the covers, which were bunched around my feet and tugged them up to my bare shoulders.
I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Of course, I wasn’t at home; I was in hotel – guest house actually – in New Orleans. The canopy of the four-poster bed loomed oppressively over me and I could just make out an old fashioned heater on the far wall. Shuddering again I wrapped the covers around me and padded barefoot over to the heater, touching it quickly with one hand – stone cold. Fuck. Damn these old houses; they might look good but sure as hell weren’t fun to sleep in.
I had no idea what time it was, but it was that eerily silent part of night where nothing moves and the whole world seems to be holding its breath. I pulled back the curtains and peered outside hesitantly. I don’t know what I was expecting to see – someone looking in at me through the window? On the third floor?
The guest house was located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and anyone who has been there will know how the houses look, with their beautiful architecture and delicate gothic balconies. But even so, it was seriously unlikely that anyone would risk climbing up said balcony in the middle of the night.
I turned back to my nightstand and flicked on the small lamp. The pale yellow glow filled the room. The door was closed and locked just as I had left it and the sparse furniture left nowhere for anyone to hide. I shook my head with a wry smile and cursed my overactive imagination. Had to be a dream, there was no one watching me in here. The sight of all the Halloween revelers I had seen out this evening would be enough to give anyone nightmares, though. I never got the whole Halloween thing. Every other person seemed to find it fun to dress up as a witch, ghost, voodoo priest or similar. Especially around this part of the world. I just thought they were all a bit crazy.
I sat back down on my bed, turned off the light and wrapped the covers tightly around me, trying to ignore the chill bite in the air.
I was just drifting off to sleep again when a floorboard squeaked outside my door. No way I imagined that. I jack-knifed back into a sitting position and held my breath, watching, waiting. The seconds ticked by and this time I was certain I saw a shadow pass across the bottom of my door, as if someone had walked past my room.
I cursed silently and dragged myself out of bed once more, determined to tell whoever the late night prowler was to get their sorry ass back to bed and let the rest of us sleep in peace.
I pulled on a t-shirt and strode to the door, unlocking it and flinging it open to see…nothing. I looked up and down the long, empty corridor. Huh. I cursed again. Damn this stupid house. I should never have been here in the first place.
The fact that I was here at all was a complete fluke, as the somewhat useless people at the Holiday Inn I normally stayed at had double booked my room. My secretary had struggled to find me anywhere to stay as most of the hotels were full due to the conference. “Twist Guest House,” she told me as she handed over the reservation slip a little apologetically. “It’s across town, in the French Quarter, near Bourbon Street. That’s Voodoo central,” she added with a grin.
I scoffed at that – voodoo, schmoodoo. All a load of rubbish if you ask me. However silent and eerie this place might be, I didn’t believe any of that stuff. It was just fancy tales spun to bring in the tourists. Everyone liked to be a little spooked once in a while.
Standing alone in the dark corridor now, I could understand how some people believed it. I didn’t though. Never had.
I peered further into the blackness, trying to see if anyone was hiding in the shadows of a door alcove. I shuffled forward and heard my door snick shut behind me. Fuck. I turned quickly and grabbed the round handle, but it was too late. I was locked out.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was really not my night.
As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I thought I saw a flicker of light at the end of the corridor. Hope flared in me; perhaps someone else was up at this ungodly hour too and could help me get back into my room, or at least find somewhere for me to sleep?
I started to walk towards the faint glow and almost tripped over a black cat that suddenly appeared around my legs. “Fuck! Where did you come from?” I hissed quietly.
The cat scampered in the direction of the light and then stopped, turning to look at me as if it expected me to follow, green eyes wide and unblinking. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” I muttered to it.
I followed the cat into a small room at the end of the hall. The door was half open so I pushed it gently. The room was lit by a small fire glowing in the grate, obviously the source of the light and the thing that had drawn me here. The room looked like a study or library; definitely a private area and not one usually open to guests.
There were just two chairs in the room. Big chairs. Those ones where you can’t see if anybody is sitting in them unless you are directly in front of them.
I sidestepped quietly, trying to see if anyone was there. The slow tick, tick of the large grandfather clock in the corner echoed the loud thumping of my heart and I almost jumped as I saw a pair of legs protruding from the chair on the left. Idiot, I chastised myself.
“Um…hello?” I whispered.
There was a rustle of clothes as the person in the chair leaned forward. “Hey.”
Oh. I started in recognition at the dark haired figure. It was the guy from the front desk who had checked me in last night. Jack Twist, owner of the hotel.
“Come in,” he added, gesturing to the other chair, eyes taking in the t-shirt and sleep pants I wore. “Can’t sleep?”
“Something woke me,” I muttered, sitting down opposite him automatically. “I went to investigate and locked myself out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jack said, swirling the glass of drink he held so that the ice cubes clinked. “Would you like a drink? Ennis, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. I’d rather have gone back to my room, but something stopped me. A drink sounded good and might knock me out when I eventually returned to bed.
Jack went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a glass tumbler. “JD on the rocks ok?”
I blinked. That was my favorite drink. How did he know? “Er…sure,” I replied.
I watched closely as he fixed the drink and handed it to me before sitting back in his own chair. He had a nice face, did Jack. I remembered noticing it the day before; stunning blue eyes and very cute dimples. He must have been around thirty years old, same as me.
Jack lowered his eyes and smiled to himself. “They said you’d come,” he said softly. “I should’ve known.”
“They. What. Who’s ‘they’?” I replied in confusion.
Jack shook his head and took a sip of his whiskey. “Never mind,” he murmured, looking up at me through long lashes, eyes sparkling.
I was intrigued, I couldn’t help it. That look stirred something deep inside me. “No, really, tell me?” I pushed.
Jack eyed me speculatively, and hooked one ankle over the opposite knee. “Do you believe in fate, Ennis? Destiny? Coincidence?”
I frowned and shook my head. “No. Not really.”
Jack put his drink on the coffee table and leaned towards me, firelight flickering soft shadows over his face. “So do you think there’s a reason why you’re here now, in the middle of the night, talking to me?”
“I told you. I couldn’t sleep. I thought I heard someone outside my room, I went to look and accidentally locked myself out.”
“Ok.” Jack nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t convinced.
My curiosity was still piqued, despite myself. “What do you mean, though, by ‘they’?” I asked.
Jack ducked his head again with a smile. “I doubt you’d believe me even if I told you.”
“Maybe not,” I shrugged, “but I’m out of here tomorrow, so try me anyway.”
Jack sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “A few years ago I was in a bar here and got talking to a couple of women. They were a bit weird, but seemed interested in talking to me, so I bought them some drinks and we chatted. I’d not long come out of a relationship, a bad relationship, so I was after all the decent company I could get.” He picked up his whiskey glass and took a long swallow. “They asked me why I was sad, so I asked them if it existed, and if so would I ever find it.”
“Find what?”
Jack hesitated for a second and his eyes caught mine. “True love.”
All the breath seemed to leave my body and my stomach clenched tight. “Oh,” I managed to squeak.
Jack nodded. “They told me I would, but I’d have to be patient. Let love come to me. It would come when I was ready.”
“And?” It was stupid but I could feel myself getting sucked into his story. It all sounded bizarrely familiar, although I knew I’d never heard it before.
“They said he would find me. The spirits would guide him.”
I raised an eyebrow at the word spirits, but I let Jack continue.
“He would find me,” Jack repeated with a quirk to his lips, “at midnight on All Hallow’s Eve. I’d just have to wait for him.”
“Wait for who?”
“My soul mate.”
The grandfather clock continued to tick behind me and then suddenly there was that funny whirring noise which would’ve sounded the chimes during the daytime. I twisted my head around to look at the time. Midnight exactly. Halloween – All Hallow’s Eve – whatever you wanted to call it. Well, damn.
I shook my head in bemusement. “And you believe this stuff, this mumbo jumbo?” I looked up at Jack and caught him smiling at me.
“Yeah, Ennis, I do. I guess if you live in this town long enough then it becomes part of you. Can’t argue with hundreds of years of history.” He took the whiskey out of my hands and placed it on the table next to his. “My family have lived here for generations. My father owned this place before me, and his father before that. There’s magic in the air here. Call me a fool, but I do believe.”
“OK,” I said, not knowing what to do. I couldn’t look away from Jack.
Jack shifted a bit closer to me and caught one of my hands, turning it over and tracing a finger over the palm. “Didn’t you feel it? When you arrived here yesterday?”
“What?”
“The magic. That this was just meant to be.”
Jack’s finger on my palm felt really nice and I curled my fingers around his to hold it tight, but didn’t reply.
“Do you know, Ennis. I’ve sat here, alone, on this night for the past five years.”
“Waiting?” I asked tentatively.
“Waiting.”
“For…for me?”
“For you.” Jack lifted my hand and pressed it to his lips. They were warm and soft against my skin and I couldn’t help an involuntary shiver, nothing to do with the cold this time though.
Our gazes locked again and I saw something in those blue eyes, something so familiar and welcoming that it felt like coming home. I never wanted to leave – this room, this hotel, this town. This man.
At that moment, for just one second, I did believe.
THE END
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:11 pm (UTC)Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:11 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading and commenting
Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:13 pm (UTC)Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:13 pm (UTC)Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 06:24 am (UTC)As I am from Lousiana, I can speak from the heart about the magic that seems to thrum at the heart of the state. Starting in New Orleans and beating outwards.
I didn't find this story spooky so much, but it was wonderful and a great read. Thank you so much for reminding me why I go home every year or so.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:16 pm (UTC)As you're a native Louisianan, I'm so pleased you liked it (spook or no spook!)
Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 07:49 am (UTC)Thank you for sharing.
Hugs,
bluemoon
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:16 pm (UTC)Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 11:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:16 pm (UTC)Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 12:16 pm (UTC)Neyla
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:17 pm (UTC)Anna x
DYB
Date: 2009-11-10 01:13 pm (UTC)I've never read your fics before at LJ (guess I just didn't notice that somehow...should have known after we had a conversation at le bar on DCF!) but I added you as my friend now.
Hope you don't mind.
Lol
Pickle
xxx
Re: DYB
Date: 2009-11-10 08:18 pm (UTC)Anna x
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 08:54 pm (UTC)hugs
no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 10:19 pm (UTC)Yes it's the same one, and thanks!
Anna x
Do You Believe?
Date: 2009-11-11 07:05 pm (UTC)Loved the tinge of spookiness mixed up with the romance.
Very nice! Adrianne
no subject
Date: 2009-11-11 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-29 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-30 08:51 pm (UTC)Anna x