darker_london | With a devil on your back (Rachel, Indigo, Danny, Zoe, Cai)

Entry tags:

With a devil on your back (Rachel, Indigo, Danny, Zoe, Cai)

On Saturday night, as the rain poured down outside, Rachel couldn't sleep. It wasn't bad - not as bad as a couple of weeks ago when she'd 'totally skitzed out', as Indigo had put it - but she was restless, and worried. Worries crowded in her head and none would let any of the others dominate. She her had final dance recital at the end of the week. That was worrying, although she was less worried about the performance than the written. The written was more worrying. But the pressure of getting on stage and dancing in front of everyone, with Joshua backstage, Joshua who kept making lewd faces at her in class, was - ak.

Aak.

On top of that, she was worried about her final exams for her other classes. They were going to be bad.

Then there was her dad. There'd been a number of times in the past weeks where he hadn't been where she thought he was, or he'd be really late home from work with no explanation, or he'd be in a weird, anxious, snappy mood, also with no explanation. She wondered if the explanation was as simple as 'he's cheating', or if it was more sinister than that.

Then there was Imogene, who had sat her down over a cup of home grown herbal tea to confront her about her attitude. "I have provided you with a lot of stability, in this house," she'd said firmly, but as if she'd been reading from a script, like she had to work up to it. "Something you and your father have never had before, have you? I want you to spend more time with us as a family, and I want to see some proper gratitude from you. You are grateful for this house, aren't you, Elaine? And the things I provide for you and your father?"

Rachel had wrinkled her nose at the herbal tea she'd provided for her, because it smelled like grass, but she'd agreed that yes, Imogene had given them a lot.

But Rachel hadn't thought she'd been particularly ungrateful or sullen lately, like Imogene seemed to be implying. Maybe Rachel was supposed to talk to her dad about being a better family member?

But she thought if she tried to have that talk with him, he'd just get mad. Besides, it wasn't her responsibility to fix whatever was wrong between Imogene and him. They were the grown ups who were supposed to have a handle on life.

So, Rachel couldn't sleep.

It was definitely past midnight, and the house had been quiet for a while. Eventually she decided to stop lying in bed staring at the internet and get up and make some hot chocolate, because she needed to go to sleep because she and Danny and Zoe and Cai were hanging out tomorrow and she didn't want to be tired. When she was too tired she felt stupid and grumpy, and she didn't want to be stupid and grumpy around Danny.

She padded quietly down the hall, the sound of her footsteps disguised by the sound of the spring rain outside. She paused as she walked past Indigo's room, spying the slit of light sneaking out from under her door. Maybe if Indigo was still awake she was worried about their parents, too? There were times when Rachel and Indigo did get on, and two in the morning when they were the only two awake seemed like a time when they'd actually be on the same wavelength.

Rachel put her hand against Indigo's door and pushed it open, but her greeting caught in her throat because there was a monster on Indigo's back.

She was naked from the waist up and - Rachel had never seen anything like it even in films - it looked like a giant spider was crawling out of the skin on her back, its black legs curling around Indigo's body, her skin pale against their darkness.

Rachel screamed, her hands coming up to cover her mouth, and Indigo turned from the full length mirror and stared at her and her eyes were as black as the thing coming out of her back. It moved with her, like it was a part of her, and for a moment the spider-thing could have been wings, but twisted and deformed. Ragged bits of black flesh webbing the bones together closer to her back but the tips of them were nothing but bone - like the tops of trees after a forest fire. A glass sculpture that stood on Indigo's vanity was swept off by one of the mangled bone-fingers and shattered to the ground

Then - Rachel was jerking awake in her own bed. The rain had stopped and sunlight was pouring in through her curtains - a glance at her clock said it was after eleven thirty.

She sat stock still, her fingers gripping the covers. Horror lingered around the corners of her mind. I never remember my dreams she'd told Danny once and she was glad, she was real fucking glad, if dreams were as bad as that.

Her phone chimed again and she nearly jumped out of bed in fright, but it was just a text from Danny saying they were outside and ready to pick her up. "Shit," she rasped, kicking off her sheets.

Just woke up SORRY wont be long she texted back, and added come up? because she figured if anyone could scatter the horrors of that nightmare and reassure her what reality was, it was Danny.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Danny was sitting in the car with Cai and Zoe, after having attended Cai's church. He didn't really think religion was for him, but he didn't mind going, especially since it meant he got to spend more time with Cai, and understand his brother better. Besides, they had refreshments afterwards, and Danny was still feeling like his hunger could never be sated. He just figured it was probably the stress of exams. At least it hadn't gone the other way, ensuring he would have lost about ten kilos by the end of it.

When he got Rachel's message, he twisted his lips up. "She says I'm supposed to go inside," he said, his leg shaking a little. "Be right back okay?" As he got out of the car and jogged towards the door, he actually hoped her family wouldn't be home. He was as nervous as hell about meeting them.

Still, he knocked and waited, trying to look his most respectable.

"About ti-" Indigo yanked the door open, expecting Alexandria and instead getting Danny. "Oh seriously?" She gave him her most exasperated look, as if that look could turn him into her friend.

Danny's eyebrows raised so high they very nearly met his hairline. He'd been nervous sure, but he hadn't expected to annoy someone before he'd even spoken. "Hi, Ingido," he said, trying is best to smile. "Uhm...sorry, I just came to see Rachel?"

Indigo sighed so deep it was amazing she had any air left inside her. She left the door open and turned her back on Danny. "Elaaaaine," she hollered up the stairs. "Your boyfriend is in our foyer!"

"It's a goddamn hallway!" Rachel yelled back from her bedroom. Yelling hurt her head, but it really was a goddamn hallway. "Also, hi Danny!"

There was the sound of a chair scraping against the polished floor of the kitchen, and a moment later Harvey and Imogene appeared in the doorway.

"Must you both shout?" Imogene asked, at the same time as her father said "Her boy-what?"

"Oh," said Indigo. "Had she not told you she was dating?"

Well, wasn't this just wonderful. Danny froze, staring at Rachel's father and step-mother for a second, clearly terrified. If Rachel hadn't told them about him, she hadn't wanted them to know, and Indigo had just blurted it out.

"Heh. Hi, I'm Daniel Marlow. Nice to meet you?" and he offered Rachel's father his hand.

"Ah," said Harvey, taking his hand in a firm grip. "Yes, you're the one she spent the night with a few weeks ago. At least, I hope you're the same Daniel," he grinned at his own joke, and beside him, Imogene stiffened. She clearly wasn't going to call him out in front of company, however, and offered Danny a strained smile instead.

"Gross," muttered Indigo.

"Harvey," said Harvey. "And this is Imogene, my wife. How long have you been dating my daughter?"

Danny's eyes grew wide at Harvey's terrible joke, but he nodded. "Er, I- That was me, but it wasn't-" Danny just shook his head and tried to smile through it. "Nice to meet you," he said, offering a hand to Imogene as well. "It hasn't been that long," he reassured Harvey, especially since he didn't feel like getting Rachel into trouble.

Rachel could hear her family in the hallway talking to Danny and had been pulling on clothes and getting her bag together as quickly as she could. Now she thundered down the stairs with her shoes untied, stepped on a shoelace - of fucking course- and barely managed to stop herself falling face first down the slippery buggers by catching herself on the bannister. "I'm here!" she announced, as if the thumping and the tripping and the shriek hadn't been enough. "Sorry I'm so late we have to go I'll see you tonight," she said all in a rush, grabbing Danny's arm and guiding him toward the door.

"Hold up now," Harvey said, standing in the way. "What's happened?"

"We're going out - with Zoe and Cai too and they're waiting in the car so we can't stay and chat," Rachel looked up at her dad, smiling innocently. A movement - Indigo rolling her eyes as she tossed her head - caught her eye and Rachel clenched up at the memory of her nightmare. Monsters bursting from people's backs -bleagh.

"Oh, oh, okay-" Danny muttered as Rachel grabbed him and tried to usher him outside. "We're probably just going to go to a cafe or something," he offered to her parents in the hopes that might appease them. Harvey had moved into their way and it was kind of threatening.

"You'll have to come over for dinner sometime, Daniel," said Imogene, the strained smile still on her face.

"Yes," said Harvey. "Sometime soon. We should get to know each other, you and I." He lingered in front of the doorway a moment longer, before Rachel said "Daddy please, we're late," and he slowly and deliberately shifted aside.

The way Harvey spoke to him made Danny feel like he was two inches tall, and he willed himself not to freak out right here in front of Rachel's entire family.

"I-I'd like to come to dinner sometime," he said to Imogene, because she wasn't the one being terrifying. "And sure, you can ask me anything." Maybe he shouldn't have said that, but it came tumbling out anyway."

"Okay!" Rachel said cheerily, guiding Danny out the door. She held her sigh of relief still they were outside, and she pulled the front door shut behind him. "Ohmygod," she said, collapsing against him. "I am so sorry."

"It's okay, it's just-" Danny glanced back at the door before he said, "your dad stood in the doorway and it kind of freaked me out. Indigo told him I was your boyfriend. Is he going to kill me now? I mean, is he actually going to take my balls away and kill me?"

Rachel cupped his face in her hands and kissed him briefly on the lips. "He's not going to do that," she said. "I think he's just... surprised? I don't know. We'll just play nice and I'll try not to be late home tonight and everything will be hopefully okay."

"Okay," he said, hoping she was right. She had kissed him though, and that was just awesome. He grinned and leaned in, capturing her lips in another kiss, lingering a bit before he pulled away. "Hi by the way," he finally said. "You look amazing as usual. How are you?"

Rachel tried to sum up hos she was feeling with one facial expression, tired and rough and stressed and a little freaked. "I had a horrible dream," she said. "And my head hurts," she rose her hand to the back of her head, where her hair was still a total mess but she was obviously passing it off as bedhead chic, at least in Danny's eyes. "Ow," she said, feeling a growing bump on the back of her head. She grabbed his hand and guided it toward the bump. "Can you feel that?"

He let her guide her hand, though he kept his touch gentle so he didn't cause her extra pain. "Yes, christ that's a big bump. Maybe you hit it in your sleep? I do that all the time."

"I hope I haven't started sleepwalking again," she muttered darkly. "Goddamn meds. Kiss it better?" she asked, banishing away her grumpiness with a smile so she didn't turn into a giant drag.

He grinned and leaned in to brush his lips against the lump on her head. It was a gentle kiss and when he pulled away, he kissed her temple as well. "I sleep walk too and it's a bitch. I think Cai and Zoe are watching us," he added with a laugh.

"Pervs," Rachel giggled, waving at the car on the other side of the gated fence. She took his hand and they made their way down the drive, through the gate in the tall brick wall and climbed into the back seat together.

"How's it, Rach?" Cai asked, giving her a beaming smile in the read view mirror.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked suspiciously. She'd seen the speed of Rachel's exit out her front door. "You look different."

"Didn't have time to put my face on," Rachel said, leaning over Cai's shoulder to check her face in the mirror. "Oh god you can barely see my eyes," she said. She hadn't been out of the house without eyeliner in ages.

"You can too, and they're gorgeous," Danny insisted, reaching for her hand. "I met her parents and I think her dad is going to kill me. He said we were going to get to know each other better. Hopefully he doesn't discover what a gigantic freak I am."

Zoe took this going to kill me comment seriously and bolted around in her seat, demanding "what!?"

"He's not going to kill you!" Rachel said, laughing as she took his hand. "He's just being a dad. Chill, Zoe, shhh." She reached forward and patted Zoe's forehead.

Zoe pursed her lips together and sunk back down in her seat, casting a worried look over at Cai, who tried to give her a reassuring yes-it's-a-worry-let's-not-jump-to-conclusions smile in return.

Danny jumped when Zoe was suddenly staring at him, but he smiled at her when he calmed down. "You know like...the dad with the shotgun all, you be nice to my daughter or else! But I mean, there wasn't an actual shotgun! Heyyyy, where are we going?" he asked, deciding a subject change was a good idea.

"I need breakfast," Rachel groaned hungrily. She leaned her head against Danny's shoulder, giving him enough room between her back and the seat to put his arm around her if he took the hint. "We should go somewhere with breakfast."

"I have some ideas," said Cai, as he started to drive. "There are many quality establishments in this city, and many many more of dodgy repute. Some of them serve breakfast all day. Some of them you can drive through, but I don't think we will." He was in a chatty mood today.

"Nah, let's go in!" Danny agreed. He did indeed wrap his arm around Rachel, planting a kiss on her hair as well. "Oh god, yes, I am going to get so much bacon."

They made their way to a restaurant and parked outside of it. Danny piled out of the car, holding the door open for Rachel because he was a goddamn gentleman. When all of them were out and heading towards the door of the restaurant, Danny glanced across the street and then he froze in place as if someone had just hit the pause button on him. His eyes had widened and he stared warily into the distance before uttering below his breath, "no? Fuck. Fuck."

Rachel grabbed his arm and tried to look where he was looking, gasping "What? What? What is it?" as Zoe wished she had her craft knife from school again, as ineffectual as weapon as it was. She did have her bag on her today though, which meant she could grab her pepper spray. She drew it outs, eyes going everywhere - including up because you never knew - but there was nothing currently rushing toward them.

"Hmm? Oh-" He glanced at Rachel for a second before looking back to the man across the street who looked so familiar- "I-" He started shaking all over as the man turned around, seemingly lost and searching for street signs, but he was now too far away to make out any specific features.

"I thought I saw my uncle," Danny hissed to his friends, still standing rooted to the spot, staring after the figure who was now retreating in the opposite direction again. "I- I think it was him but he's walking away-"

"Oh shit," Rachel whispered, as Zoe said "What should we do? Should we follow him?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Cai, calmly. Zoe shot him a dark look. "What are we going to do if we follow him, Zoe? We'd only cause trouble."

"If it's him he fucking deserves trouble," Zoe muttered.

"No-" Danny shook his head as the figure disappeared into a crowd. "Look, he's gone. And maybe it wasn't him anyway." He was clearly still shaken, but he didn't think the man had seen him. "I don't want to see him again. Ever. Let's- Let's just get something to eat?" he said, reaching out a shaky hand to Rachel. "Please? Can we go inside?"

Rachel nodded and led the way inside, casting her eyes quickly over her shoulder in the direction of the man that had hurt Danny so badly. "I hope it's not him," she said quietly, taking Danny's hand.

Zoe stayed where she was, huffing. "Zoe," Cai said. "Danny needs us with him right now, not chasing after a guy who might not actually be the guy. Come inside - we can try and find him later if you want to." But he worried about this, about confronting the man head on. He hoped it would not come to that, that they'd have the police involved instead. He hoped that hoping for the police to sort it out wasn't a vain hope.

Danny was so grateful for Rachel's grip then, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "You know, it probably wasn't," he said, mostly because he didn't want to even think about if it was. "I hope so too."

He sat down in a booth, leaning his head against the table and wondered where his appetite had gone. "Urrgghhh, I used to see him everywhere, but it hasn't happened in years."

"Do you know if he is actually in London?" Cai asked, sliding into the corner of the booth opposite Danny. "Or do you think it is just in your head because you're worried about Rachel's dad?"

"I don't know," Danny admitted, raising his head to look at his brother. "I mean, he ran out when my mum walked in on him, and the cops looked for a while but they never found him so he could have skipped town, but London's big. Maybe he changed his name, I don't know. It might just be because of that. Maybe I should draw a picture of him for you all anyway, just in case?"

He had his bag with him and he dragged out his sketchpad and a pencil. He could draw while they ate. It would keep him distracted anyway.

"That could be an idea," said Cai, who was worried that Danny drawing his uncle might make him feel worse, but since it was Danny's idea in the first place he wasn't going to go against it. He would have said something if it was Zoe trying to push him into it. "Maybe we could give the police a ring too, just to let them know you might have seen him? If he's changed his name there'll be a paper trail, there always is."

"Is there?" Rachel asked, meekly.

"I think so, unless it's witness protection or something? But that's pretty unlikely," Cai shrugged. "I think alerting the police is a good idea."

"I think we should have followed him," Zoe muttered.

"Aren't there shady ways to do it without paper trails like stealing someone's identity?" Danny asked, his eyes now glued on the paper he was starting to sketch on. "And yeah, I think I'll definitely call the police but I didn't want to follow him. What if he ended up seeing me and dragged me back to his lair or whatever? Hell what if he'd done it to all of us? Yeah, no thanks."

"He couldn't do it to all four of us," Zoe said, though as soon as she said it she considered the fact that he might be a demon, and if he was, he could.

"Zoe," Cai began, trying to ease her off this vigilante train of thought.

"Don't Zoe me, Cai," Zoe said, standing up. "I'm going to get some food. Rachel?"

"Yeah," said Rachel, giving Danny's shoulder a squeeze as she stood up, following Zoe over to the counter.

"You order," Zoe pushed Rachel in front of her, pulling out her phone to ring Peter and get him to send a demon or someone to sweep over this part of town, see if they could sense anyone.

Back at the table, Cai said, "I think there are identity stealing ways to do it, but I figure even if he has gone down that road, maybe the police know the sort of places that kind of carry-on carries on. It might be a lead into finding him, I don't know. S'been a long time since I considered being a cop."

Danny looked up to watch them go, but then he turned back to his drawing to make sure he was getting it right. "Mmm, maybe," he said, as the face he was sketching began to take shape. Then he paused and looked up at his brother. "You were going to be a cop? That's really cool. I don't think I could do it, but I really like cops. I know we're teenagers and we're supposed to be all 'fuck the man' or whatever, but when I was seven, cops held my hand and they took care of my frantic mother. They were so careful about asking me questions to get the whole story out in a way that didn't cause me more panic. They made me feel safe. I won't forget that."

"Yeah, I thought about it for a while, but I don't think I would be so great. There's the vision thing that would be a problem, and the bullet," he thumbed at his chest. "I can run a bit but I don't think I'd pass their fitness stuff. I'm not so torn up about it, there are loads of other ways to help people," he gave Danny a smile.

Danny hadn't even thought of that. "Yeah, good points. And you're right, there's other ways to help people. You're a good person." He smiled and then turned back to his drawing, working on the eyes. "Maybe I'll just get some coffee when I finish this." Whether that was actually conversation or he was just talking to himself wasn't readily clear.

Rachel dropped down next to Danny with their carved wooden number, which Cai began instantly inspecting for craftsmanship. "I ordered you a big side of bacon," Rachel said, with a hopeful smile that she'd done the right thing. "I can change it though if that's wrong?"

Immediately, Danny looked up at her and he smiled. "You did? Thank you," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "It's not wrong at all. It's better for me if I do eat. See, you're taking care of me."

Rachel smiled, a confused smile because it was weird, her taking care of someone else. And she'd done it so easily. How weird was that? She buried her face in the side of his arm, because she wasn't sure what else to do.

Zoe came back from ordering her food and finishing her conversation with Peter. She sighed, annoyed that she couldn't do more, but hoping that it was enough. Cai escaped out of the booth before she could sit down so he could get something too, returning a few moments later with another wooden number. "I really like these," he commented. "I might have to try and make them. After exams."

"After exams," chimed Zoe and Rachel, in practised unison.

Danny chuckled at the chime of exams. He was looking forward to getting the hell out of London College though, that was for sure.

With Rachel leaning against him, Danny returned to his work, the eyes taking shape. He was very good at drawing realistic people, having practised for years. "Obviously this is going to be him ten years ago, but it should help," he said, shading a bit of the eyebrow. "What else do you want to make after exams, Cai?" He was trying to carry on the conversation as if he wasn't literally drawing his friends a picture of his rapist.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With a devil on your back (Rachel, Indigo, Danny, Zoe, Cai)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject