400yearsofsurvival | PSL - socoolbrewster

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PSL - socoolbrewster

Still damp and reeking of chlorine from wading into the pool, Jerry made his way to the upper level of his house, an unconscious Ed over his shoulder. Through the study, and through the hidden door in the closet. Yanking open one of the doors, he dropped the unconscious Ed on the floor without much care. The kid had been nosy enough to start asking questions. Now he was going to get far more answers than he'd probably bargained for.

He pulled the door shut, ensuring it was locked, before leaving the room. He headed out of the room to be rid of the chlorine Half an hour later, he was clean and changed into dry clothes. He hadn't taken nearly enough for Ed to be out for long. So he headed back to the secret little corridor, nudging the hidden door open. Listening.

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When Ed came to, it was dark. He awoke into pitch blackness, the last thing he remembered blinding pain and choking fear. Drowning. He shifted, pushing himself at least to sitting, then to standing, craning around for something, anything, but thick shadow was all he could see. Damp layers clung, the outside stuff drying but the inner layers still soaked. Chilling against his skin, confining, like sheets tangled around you in the middle of a nightmare.

Nightmare. Shit.

He'd hoped the whole thing was a dream, a delusion, something his brain had cooked up between the medication he was supposed to be taking and the stress of whatever happened to Adam, but he'd known, even as he'd half hoped, that it wasn't. Of course it fucking wasn't, not after everything they'd seen. Fingers reached up, reflexively, for his neck, feeling for what he already knew was there, and by the time he found what he was looking for he could already hear his own panicked breathing in his ears. Fingertips traced along the punctures, torn at the edges, physical proof of what he remembered, and his stomach lurched sickeningly as he stumbled back, not that he really expected to be able to escape it. He shook his head, like that would change anything.

"No."

Too late, it was too late, he hadn't been able to convince Charley and now look at the shit he was in. He'd had to do something, he knew that, someone had to before he got anybody else, but Charley was supposed to be there.

"FUCK," he shouted, to nobody in particular, the sound echoing in the small space.

It didn't really make him feel any better.

He leaned on the door frame, just listening. As Ed woke up. As he slowly realized what was happening. As he shouted. The acceleration of his heart. His frantic breathing. But it was so much more than just sound. The fear that leaked from behind that door, as reality settled in. That was what he was after.

As scrambling panic escalated into shouting, he reached over and flicked a switch. The corridor and rooms flooding with harsh, florescent light. He strode into the hall, with heavy foot falls. Knowing Ed could hear every last one. He stopped before the door that contained his newest little snack. Just peering in through the window. Not saying anything Not taking any real action. Just watching.

He flinched back when the lights came on, more out of surprise than anything else, threw himself into the corner as he scanned the room. Nothing in it, but lights didn't come on like that without a reason, without somebody to turn them on, and the growing fear in the pit of his stomach dropped further.

He was here.

Of course he was, he'd probably dragged him off to his lair, to do...whatever it was he did to them.

He dug nails into the wall at his back, tried to press himself as deep into the corner as he could even as his brain screamed at him. There wasn't a way out, there wasn't any way out, just the door on the other side of the room but he could hear footsteps on the other side of it. Approaching.

Shit shit shit shit shit. No vents that he could see, maybe a secret passage, and he made his way around the room in a kind of nervous panic, banging on the walls, hoping for the change in sound that would mean there was something else, some way out. But there wasn't, just unforgiving, heavy thumps, and the further around he got the mental litany took voice, hissed under his breath, or at least what of it that wasn't shuddering heaves.

And then the footsteps stopped. He turned, a perverse urge moving his feet, and it was nothing short of a decidedly unmanly yelp as he caught sight of eyes peering back at him. He stumbled back again, loosing his footing but at least somehow managing a halfway controlled slide down the wall, tried to hide in a place that held no shelter. Went through his pockets to try to find the cross, because it hadn't saved him the first time but maybe, maybe, if he was close enough.... But it wasn't there, of course it wasn't, he must have dropped it in the pool.

Ed was discovering the express purpose of the room. No shelter. No escape. They were little more than holding pens before he could move those they contained to the basement. When far less soundproofing was required. He lingered there, watching the kid slide down the wall. Savoring the struggle. It was always so much better when they knew what was coming.

As Ed dug for his long-gone cross, Jerry reached over and unlatched the door. Yanking it open. He stepped just inside the threshold, leaving the door standing open. With a casual grace, he lowered himself into a crouch before the kid, elbows resting on his thighs. Dark eyes studying him hard. Sniffing ever so slightly at the air. A slow smile spreading over his face. The smile of someone who'd long since won.

"I'm assuming you know where you are."

It was instinct to shrink back, try to press himself further against the wall even as he knew it was pointless. There was nowhere to go. Panicking breaths hitched in his chest, and he tried to be brave and badass, really he did, but he was so far out of his depth here and he knew it.

Served him right for trying to play slayer, he guessed.

"Yeah. Your lair." Ed forced his chin up in a show of defiance he didn't really feel, a puppy barking at a full-grown wolf. "Why didn't you just fucking kill me?" At least he managed some semblance of under control, even if his voice cracked under the stress.

He stepped further in. Closer. Slowly bringing up one hand and pressing it to the wall beside Ed's head. Then the other, on the opposite side. His gaze never wavering from the kid's face. Caging him in. Trapping him even further in that tiny room. This went beyond revenge. Beyond any sort of payback. He had a lesson to teach. A point to drive home.

"I thought you knew."

It was all he offered. Knowing that Ed couldn't possibly have all the details. That he likely didn't know that all those people who vanished hadn't died right away. That anyone who's body hadn't been found were still alive. Technically.

Ed's breath caught, nerves strung tight enough that he completely forgot how to breathe for a moment. He couldn't pull back any further, Jerry had him trapped; don't look he'll catch you if you look and it was a stupid, childish thought, because even if he had fucking glamour powers it wasn't as if he couldn't tear his throat out now if he wanted anyway but he tried to avert his gaze all the same anyway. He swallowed hard, resisted the urge to just close his eyes and hope the whole thing would be over soon, because that was no answer. He was here, he was still alive, apparently, if he didn't at least try to do something then Adam and everybody else would have died for nothing.

"Well you had that whole recruitment speech. I'm guessing you're just lonely."

He grabbed Ed by the chin. Forcing the kid to face him, properly. Looking them in the eye always scared them so much more. Especially this close. And that's what he was after, that gut-wrenching fear. But for Ed, he had something extra special in mind. Something he'd been toying with ever since Ed confirmed that he'd told other people. Adam had shouted about it, when it was his turn in here. But now, he knew for certain. And now, he'd use Ed to tie up those lose ends. Eventually.

"Hardly. But that comes later. In two...maybe three days."

He tried to fight it. He did; grit his jaw, nails dug into his palms to try to keep him from freaking out more as he did his best to resist. But it was ultimately useless, he was disconcertingly strong, and soon enough he found himself face to face with the guy. Face to face and he was too close and all Ed wanted to do was run away or curl up in a ball and melt into the floor but he couldn't.

"Fuck you," he spat, squirming the best he could to try to get some distance. "People know what you are. We've got evidence. And as soon as they realize I'm missing they're gonna come after you."

Words out of desperation, Charley had made his opinion on the whole thing pretty clear, but Jerry didn't need to know that.

He listened to the threat with great amusement. And when Ed finished, Jerry's fingers dug into his jaw, hard. "They. You mean Charley?" He said the name with a faint laugh. The sort of sound that said he knew things. Had he heard the argument? Seen Ed's little encounter with Mark? Just how long had he been watching to catch up with Ed at that abandoned house?

"What do you think is going to happen when--if--he does come for you?" He lifted his eyebrows, gaze briefly shifting away from Ed's face, glancing at the wall behind him, before sliding back to Ed's face. He fully intended to have Charley, his mom, and the rest of the neighborhood pass through these rooms, soon enough.

Ed hated the way he squeaked at the dig of fingers, something too close to a whimper for his comfort, but it couldn't be helped. He reached up to grab the wrist, to try to pull him off, heels digging into the cement under him to try to get some kind of leverage.

"It's not if. It's when. And he's going to kick your ass."

There was more venom in the words than he really felt, particularly given the tone of Jerry's voice. The edge that said it was a hopeless cause, that there was nothing he could do, nothing anybody could do. That he knew. But Ed had to try, because there was a chance, even if he didn't really believe it. Even if he wasn't doing much more than trying to make himself feel better.

"Is he."

Charley was an arrogant kid who couldn't see what was right in front of him. More involved with his girlfriend and limited edition shoes than anything else. At least, that's the read he'd gotten on the kid earlier. No threat, but most certainly a potential target.

He leaned closer, still gripping Ed's face, coming within mere inches of his face. Dark eyes locked on Ed's. "Maybe...I should pay him a visit, then."

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