vide noir

No one of importance. Evan Sorenson Holt. 35.

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

Annabel swallowed hard; his words were hitting her a little too close to home. She knew, all too well, how it felt to find out that your parents, the people you thought you could trust more than anyone else, were not who you thought they were. She kept that secret close to her chest, and guarded it with her life. And yet, just for a moment, she was tempted to allow herself that same moment of vulnerability that he had shared with her. “I know how that feels, too,” she admitted. “Believe me, I do.” Ultimately, her paranoia won out, and she steered herself away from thoughts of her family, and the life she had left behind. “Of course. If you do get in touch with her, by all means let me know.”

“Yeah, I don’t know if I should because, well, I’m me and I’m awkward and inevitably I’ll say something wrong or embarrassing.” Evan shrugged. He had accepted it a long time ago that he was a very socially inept person. “If anything I’d send Lindy to talk to her. She’s more sociable and just all together better at talking out loud.”

[evholt]

gracestaple‌:

Grace smiled shyly at the man, embarrassed, but equally grateful. It had been a long time since a stranger, or anyone, had cared this much, to even check on her. “Thank you. I’m sorry, this is so embarrassing.” Once the fries were in front of her, she raised one to her mouth, but before she could eat it, she felt her stomach convulsing. Oh god, she thought, then said it out loud, and clapped a hand to her mouth, scrambling out of her seat. There was a queue for the toilets, so she bolted out of the door and into the streets, where she emptied the meagre contents of her stomach onto the pavement. Yes, she thought, this is now officially the most embarrassing night of my life.

“You’re welcome,” Evan said with a polite nod. “Nah, trust me, I’ve seen more embarrassing things than this.” Immediately the loss of his virginity came to mind. Now that was what he counted as embarrassing. Beforehand he had been a mortified mess of nerves. At least he and Lindy’s relationship had survived that. He watched wordlessly as she ran out the doors in a flurry. Nothing too out of the ordinary for someone drunk. He was no stranger to seeing people do this. His college roommate, who was coincidentally a girl, was a light weight and when she indulged too much she was off to the bathroom. 

[evholt]

gracestaple‌:

To her horror, she felt tears burning in her eyes and pressure building in her throat. “I - I’ve just had a long - a long day is all.” She turned back to the bar and wiped away the tear that had fallen, cursing herself internally. She really had drank too much, and now she was losing her fragile grip on control. She turned back at the man’s next words. “I - I’m not sure.”

“It’s alright. It happens to the best of us.” Evan had his fair share of college horror stories where he’d had to care for his drunk friends who had conveniently forgot to eat. “You need something good and starchy. That’ll help you sober up. That and water.” He was fully aware of his dad friend status. He turned to the bartender. “Can we get an order of fries over here? Thanks.” He was early for his meeting with one of Tulpa’s historical society members anyway. He had time. 

[evholt]

gracestaple‌:

Grace shook her head, slightly fuzzy from the alcohol she had already consumed. “No, no. Don’t you apologise, it was my fault.” Her breathing still hadn’t returned to normal, and she placed a hand on her chest to steady herself. She looked up again at the man’s question. “Hm? Yes, I’m - I’m fine.” She picked up her other glass with shaking hands, and downed the remainder of the liquid in there.

“You sure?” he asked, just to make sure that she was truly okay and not simply telling him that. His wife could be jumpy and anxious, so he was used to this kind of behavior. Lindy’s PTSD manifested that way sometimes. “Have you eaten anything?” He knew it was a weird question, but perhaps she’d been drinking on an empty stomach and it all had hit her at once. 

[evholt]

gracestaple‌:

Grace rarely found herself in the bar, preferring to drink in the privacy of her own home. But something about tonight was different. She didn’t trust herself to be alone.

Her hands had started shaking mid afternoon, while treating a young schizophrenic boy who had threatened to kill her. She had stumbled over her words and wrapped up the session quickly with a lump in her throat. She downed a Valium with water, attempting to calm herself, but had been unable to return her heart rate to normal. 

Now she was a few drinks in, and rather than having calmed down she was feeling more anxious than before. Grace was startled by someone behind her, and knocked her tumbler to the floor where it shattered. Closing her eyes, she placed her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths, before turning to face the person who had approached her.

“I’m so sorry, are you alright?”

Evan hadn’t meant to startle the woman, but he wasn’t aware that he had been walking entirely too close to her. However, he could hardly help their proximity due to the bar being more crowded than usual. The sound of the shattering glass caused him to jolt. “I am so sorry,” was the first words that came out of his mouth in a nervous rush. 

“I’m fine,” he said, looking at her face. He noticed her eyes were wild with anxiety. “Are you okay?”

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

She was taken by surprise at the haste with which he sought to explain himself, and assuage the doubts and suspicions that had arisen in her mind in order to protect Emerson. As surprised as she was, it was undeniable that she was comforted by his words. Almost as quickly as she had been put at ease, she was once again taken aback by the man’s admission. If anything, it only solidified the notion that he was trustworthy with regards to protecting Emerson’s story. “I see,” she mused aloud, and she only hesitated briefly before she continued. “I…know myself how it feels to realize your parents aren’t who you thought they were. In the same vein, I can also sympathize with that idea of morbid comfort. I should confess, then, that I do know the woman in question personally. But I should talk to her about the idea myself before you approach her, just to be safe. She tends to be wary of anyone who wants to talk to her about what happened.”

“I get that. I truly definitely do,” he said with a solemn nod. He was used to the prying and the people wanting to know more about him and his dad. “You never think it’s going to be someone you’re close to, you know? You never think that the people who raised you are the type of people out there stalking and killing people. It honestly scares me on so many different levels of who I am.” It wasn’t often Evan got to be too candid with anyone about his dark past history. “You don’t have to talk to her about me or that. I know what it’s like to not want to be bothered about those things.”

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

“That’s horrible.” Annabel had initially reacted with horror at the information, until Evan continued and the pieces fell into place in her head. It must have been the massacre that Emerson had survived. It only took a moment for her to decide, that the last thing she was going to do was give up her friend and therapist to someone who wanted to remind her of the worst thing that had ever happened to her. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there,” she replied apologetically. “But, who knows?”

“Don’t worry about me searching for the lady,” he said, detecting a hint of concern on her face. “I have some sensitive personal history myself that involves my father, and the last thing you want are people going around and prying into one of the most traumatic events of your life. I actually don’t even go by my dad’s last name anymore because of people like that.” He felt at least a little comfortable admitting these details to her because she had a trustworthy persona. “He was a serial killer. It’s kind of a morbid comfort to see that there are other people out there with histories as dark as yours.”

[evholt]

xxlindyswansong‌:

Linden had been working on a commissioned painting for one of their neighbors. She hadn’t been given much time to do it, so she was becoming a bit stressed needless to say. When she heard Evan call for her, she stepped back, examined her progress, and tucked her paintbrush in her bun. She sashayed out of her studio and down to his office, happily welcoming a distraction, especially if she could learn something about this new town. “What’d y'find, dear?” she asked as she walked up to his desk.

Evan held up the copy of the paper’s front page. “Murder,” he said, perhaps sounding a little too gleeful with his findings. Murder was never a happy occasion, that he knew all too well, but he was full of the thrill of discovery of something interesting. “Seventeen years ago there was a mass murder her in Tulpa. One girl made it out alive, barely. She stabbed the killer in the neck.”

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

Annabel was admittedly caught offguard by the question, and for a moment her mind whirled as she tried to figure out how to answer it without giving anything away. “I’m terribly sorry to disappoint you, but no, unfortunately I wasn’t born here in town; nor did I grow up here,” she responded. “I must admit, I, too, am quite curious about what the experience of having done so would have been like.”

“Maybe we can learn something together then,” he said with a nod. “I’m not disappointed in the least. I can share with you what all I find. I actually found something last week about a mass murder that happened here seventeen years ago. There was only one survivor if I remember right. She killed the killer I think. I wonder if she’s still around here.” He didn’t want to bother the woman per se. He knew what it was like to have a touchy past, but he was simply curious if she had stayed in her hometown despite what happened. 

[evholt]

Evan was sitting back in his home office with his papers all strewn across the desk. “Hey, Lindy,” he called, hoping she was in hearing distance. He had found something that was morbid about the town, but it was something he wanted to share with her. It wasn’t everyday you went through some papers and found a mass murder from 17 years ago in the town that you’d recently moved into. 

@xxlindyswansong

[evholt]

✘

Send me  ✘  and I’ll bold all below that apply to my muse!

broken a bone | gotten stitches | had a serious illness | had a near-death experience | killed someone | tried and failed to kill someone | invented something | been hungover | kissed someone | slow-danced | been in a long-term relationship | had sex | had sex and regretted it | had a one-night stand | had a threesome | experimented with their sexuality | had a kid | gotten married | gotten a divorce | self-harmed | traveled to another country | been in a play | received an inheritance | been in a car wreck | lost a loved one | been dumped | dumped someone | smoked | gotten high | been slipped something in their food/drink | won a contest | won an election | joined a sports team | gone skydiving | gone hunting | been in a band | had a job | been fired | been in a wedding party | owned a pet | seen a ghost | skipped class/work | learned an instrument | gotten a noticeable scar | sued someone | been robbed | been mugged | been kidnapped | been sexually assaulted | been brainwashed/hypnotized | gone more than one day without eating | had a recurring nightmare | been bullied | bullied someone | seen someone die | attempted suicide | been tied/chained up | shot someone | stabbed someone | saved someone’s life | cheated on someone | been cheated on | had a stalker | been betrayed | been in a fight | been arrested | been to a funeral | had surgery | broken someone’s trust | gotten a piercing | gotten a tattoo | used a fake name | been tortured | been abused | been blackmailed | had an attempt on their life | gotten away with a crime | gone on a road trip | been in love

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

Annabel almost wanted to laugh, at first. “Hopefully that kind of force won’t be necessary in order to find what we need,” she mused. “Still, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, just in case.” She tried not to let herself dwell on the thought of her mentor, the person she had trusted, hiding something from her to that extent. It didn’t sit well with her at all. “You’re absolutely right, though; if it’s within my power to do so, I’d be happy to relieve you of that burden.”

“I’m just a horrible liar too, even if it’s a lie that’s ultimately a harmless one like that,” he admitted. He hated being in the position where he even had to make a small lie. He was terribly altruistic. “If you don’t mind me prying a bit, were you born here? Did you grow up here? I don’t want to seem overly nosy or something, but it would be nice to talk to more people that kind of grew up around here or have been here for a while.”

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

“I certainly will,” she told him, a sincere promise in her voice. “I’ll be sure to let you know what I find there.” She was surprised that she hadn’t spared a thought for those old files the entire time she had been in charge of the town’s library. But if her mentor had locked them away down in the basement, she knew there had to be a good reason why.

“If you need any help let me know. I’m pretty sure that if it came to it Lindy could pick a lock. She’s good with fiddly stuff like that. I don’t have the finesse for it,” he admitted. His wife had the ability and the coordination to deal with tedious tasks that Evan would fail at with much effort. “I hope there’s some good stuff down there. It’d sure be a lot easier than lying to some old woman over tea that I am so and so’s cousin or great great nephew in order to get the to dish on the good stuff.”

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

“That’s a wonderful practice!” she said brightly. “I always support the pursuit of knowledge, on virtually any subject.” She thought she had recognized him from somewhere; and it was hard for her to forget the face of anyone who gave her library their patronage, especially when they did so on a regular basis. “Surely we must have some old newspapers preserved somewhere,” she mused aloud, pondering over his question. “I’ll look into it and be sure to let you know. There are still some old files locked away downstairs that I haven’t accessed since the former owner left town.”

“I’m glad that you do. Knowledge truly is power. It’s something I am very, very passionate about myself,” he said with a grin. “You should break into those old files then. There’s no telling what is there to found,” he urged. He hoped that she would listen to him and that perhaps that she would allow him to see what she found. He loved the prospect of getting to see something that hadn’t been unearthed in years, new knowledge. 

[evholt]

🏹👻☢️🐇

🏹- For a talent they wish they had

“I wish I was a better public speaker. I’m not very good at it, and I’m prone to stage fright.”

👻- For something that scares or disturbs them, but they refuse to tell anyone

“I actually don’t like bugs. It’s stupid, and most people when they find it out accidentally they make fun of me. I can’t really blame them, but most bugs freak me.”

☢️- For a controversy or scandal they have been able to keep mostly under wraps

“I don’t really have one that I’ve had to keep under wraps. Dad is probably the biggest scandal I’ve been a part of and that is pretty well known.”

🐇- For a secret item they keep (stuffed animal, comfort object, etc)

“I’ve got a stuffed Gizmo I’ve had since I was a kid. He lives in my closet. I can’t part with him.”

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

“Oh, yes, of course! I hadn’t thought of that before,” she admitted. “I don’t get out of the library very often, but I know there is still plenty of information that can’t be found in my books. Not even in the library’s archives.” She turned the idea over in her mind, even as she listened to him describe it. The prospect was intriguing. “I’m sure they must have plenty of stories to tell.”

“Do you all keep an archive of the town’s papers?” he asked. He had been genuinely curious about the older editions of the town paper himself. “I’m sure that would be a good start. I’ve been going to the library a few times a week and looking up different things about the town and the surrounding area. When I set up in a new place I like to learn about it.” He’d given thought to writing a book about the town since there was such a sparse record of it out for the general public.

[evholt]

hauntedheroine‌:

“I agree completely,” Annabel replied. She recognized the man, having seen him at the library before. “You never know, it could also draw a lot of new people into town.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Don’t you find it odd that there’s not a lot of recorded history of this town? That must be a rare thing indeed.”

“Oh it’s somewhere, I can guarantee you,” he replied. “It’d just take a lot of visiting the old timers to either get some copies of stuff or suss it out of them. I’ve done that quite a bit before actually. Old people love talking about times gone by, so it’s not too difficult.” It was actually an exciting prospect. He loved sitting down, drinking tea, and listening to the stories that the elders were all too eager to pass on.