Whispers in the Dark

Florence Marsh. 21. Somewhere In-BetweenHow can you expect to fit in if you've experienced the worst of both worlds? Which one will you decide is the best?

[miss-maggie-jones]

You're gonna die in there | Florence + Maggie

[miss-maggie-jones]

Maggie pressed her forehead to the door for a half second. "Baby, if you can hear me, say something. Anything." It was strangely quiet and she wasn’t comfortable with that in the slightest. She knocked on the door twice, knowing it was useless to rattle the knob again. "Calvin?" She felt the color drain out of her face by degrees when he didn’t respond. She wasn’t even paying attention to Florence anymore until she returned.

"Change of plans, Mags. I need… Knives. I need butter knives and whatever fucking screwdrivers you have." 

Inevitably, adrenaline took over. She was standing at the dish rack beside the sink collecting every single butter knife and passed them to Florence before digging under the sink for the tool kit. At that moment, she could have kicked the door in herself if things had actually worked that way, but they didn’t. Her hands were shaking as she removed the only two standard screwdrivers she had from the kit and passed those along too. "What do I do? I’m not just going to stand here, alright? So tell me what I’m supposed to do and don’t say ‘Keep out of the way,’ that’s my kid down there.” 

At this stage of the game, she was ready to break every window in the house to get Calvin out of that basement. Whatever it took, no matter the cost. 

[florence-marsh]

Though it seemed to make little sense for Florence to need butter knives, their purpose became very clear as soon as she had a few. One by one, she tried to twist the screws of the doorknob with those knives and -- much to her dismay -- she was met with an impossible amount of resistance every time. When it became clear that her work was cut out for her, Florence made the choice to talk as she attempted to work the screws with the drivers she had been given.

"Right now, I need you to shut the fuck up." Her concentration on the doorknob seemed unwavering, but she did cast a glance back in Maggie's direction. "And I know that's not fun and not exciting, but that's what you're gonna have to do if you want to help Calvin. Get a fucking grip, Mags."

"That... thing in there isn't after your kid. It's pissed that you've moved into it's house, or it's somehow found out that Calvin can see things he shouldn't. If you get scared, it's just gonna get more aggressive until it finally decides to tear your fucking life apart." Her gaze wavered only so she could curse under her breath and switch gears with the doorknob. If none of the screws were going to budge, she was going to have to start taking drastic measures.

"I'm dead, Maggie Jones. And this kind of shit is what killed me. This is why I killed myself."

[miss-maggie-jones]

You're gonna die in there | Florence + Maggie

[miss-maggie-jones]

She felt a stab of desperation. "If you’re dead, can’t you just go through the damn door?!” It sounded more foolish out loud than it had in her head, but she couldn’t think and they had to act fast. One hand was resting on the landline, poised to call 911 to get him out of there. Whatever it took. And then Florence started shouting—the situation was frankly getting uglier by the minute.

"STOP YELLING I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT." She kept her eyes closed for a moment and a hand up to her brow. She steadied her breaths, a sort of calm coming to her and further helping the panic abate. "The back. Outside in the back yard, there’s a window to the basement. It’ll be locked. Kick it in. Do whatever you have to do. Get him out of there." The clarity of motherhood in a time of distress had come to her. She stood close to the door again, collecting herself. "Calvin, it’s going to be okay. Florence is here and she’s coming to get you." 

She turned to Florence and looked her directly in the eye. "I don’t care why you showed up here, this is not about us anymore. You let him down, and I will never forgive you.”

[florence-marsh]

"It's not that fucking simple!" 

Florence, who wasn't prone to fits of visible rage, had never been in a situation to be the bystander as one of Bentley's shadows preyed upon someone who was attuned to their existence. As a young girl, she had always been the one picking locks and doing battle in the darkness... But now she was a side-character, and that took quite a bit of adjusting. 

All it took was to hear Maggie give directions before she was shaking off her coat and standing up, about to head to the door until she addressed Calvin and -- in turn -- called upon Florence. It was after only a moment that she pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded curtly.

"Everything's going to be just fine and fucking dandy, Mags. Just shut the fuck up for one minute." 

With that, Florence took off. Her mind worked at speeds she didn't believe possible when she reached the door and rattled the knob, only to find it was locked as tightly as the basement. At least she could feel safe in assuming that the house itself was the target of aggression and not the boy trapped in the basement. He was collateral damage, but that was good news.

"Fuck!" Her steps were heavy and long by the time that she got back to the living room and that door heading to the basement. "Change of plans, Mags. I need ..." Fuck, it had been so long since she had been detained anywhere. "Knives. I need butter knives and whatever fucking screwdrivers you have." A beat passed before she looked back to her former teacher, "Now." 

Even though Florence had rather hoped to explain the situation a little more delicately, it seemed that Maggie Jones was going to have to learn first-hand that Bentley wasn't what it seemed. She didn't know what was best for her son simply because she didn't know what her son could do... and that, in itself, was terrifying.

[miss-maggie-jones]

You're gonna die in there | Florence + Maggie

[miss-maggie-jones]

"Calvin! Open the door, this isn’t funny!" She was pounding on the door trying to stay angry. If she didn’t she was sure she’d start crying and this wasn’t the time for inconveniencing behaviors like that. She fought with the knob a little while longer despite the fact that the effort was futile. Reluctantly she moved aside. "That door doesn’t have a lock," she said softly, strangely. Her heart dropped into her stomach with panic rising in her chest. "This is impossible…" 

The only logical explanation, at that precise moment, was this: that someone had snuck into the house while it was unattended at some point and had taken up in the basement. And now it had her son. "I’m calling the police." She reached for her phone, trying to keep a calm head. It was the last thing she wanted to do, and yet it was the first thing she could think of. She wasn’t going to stand idly by while Florence took over.

[florence-marsh]

"Nothing is impossible." 

Florence began to shake the doorknob violently, doing her best to twist and pry it into submission while Maggie attempted to get ahold of herself. When it became incredibly evident that the door was going to stay shut, Florence let out a groan and then proceeded to slam her boot-clad foot against the woodwork. Once, twice, thrice her heel slammed down and each time it was met with as much resistance as the door could possibly give. They weren't getting in the basement but, more importantly, Calvin wasn't getting out.

"Jesus fucking Christ -- Mags! Don't call the police. Don't you fucking dare call the police." She whirled around on her heel, gritting her teeth before she lunged forward and attempted to swat the phone from Maggie's hand. First things first, Florence needed to make sure that as little attention was possible was drawn to the house.

"This isn't some fucking robber, Maggie, it's --" Oh Christ, how was she supposed to explain it? "This house is fucked up. And it's nothing any officer can fucking fix."

[miss-maggie-jones]

You're gonna die in there | Florence + Maggie

[miss-maggie-jones]

"Don’t you dare pretend you know better than I do. Do you have any idea how hard I have worked to put toxic people out of my life? Out of his? I let my husband manipulate me for five years, I let him beat me, Florence. I know a thing or two about toxic relationships.” She was not yet shouting, but easily on the verge of such things. Maggie was ready to stand her ground and let nothing interfere with that.

"So this is what you’re going to do. You’re going to get off of my front step, you are going to leave my yard, and you will not come back, or I will tell the neighborhood watch they need to be on the look out for a walking dead girl.” 'Put that in your pipe and smoke it.'

She wouldn’t budge until she saw Florence walk at least a block away before she went inside to resume her cleaning. So she stood there relentless and silent for a full half of a minute before she heard a scream from inside the house. Florence immediately gone from her mind, she rushed inside, her first notion to go up to his room, but clearly the noise was coming from somewhere else.

The basement.

Maggie bolted for the kitchen without another moment of hesitation and grabbed for the basement door, but no matter which way she twisted it wouldn’t pull free. Beyond it was a terrified little boy screaming for his life.

[florence-marsh]

"I'm not pretending, Maggie! I do! This isn't some fucking toxic relationship or some goddamn essay, it's something bigger than that. If there's anything I know about, it's Bentley and this -- it's this fucking house!" Florence's hands made a grand motion to the home that Maggie had poured so much life into. It was such a shame that she would have to bare bad news at that moment, but it was necessary for the livelihood of the inhabitants of the cute little abode. The dead girl felt nothing, not even regret for what she was spouting off.

"I'm not leaving." Her resolve was clear as her hands were defiantly shoved into her pockets. "Tell them whatever you fucking want, Maggie, but I'm not leaving. And they won't know the difference. Don't make me play this game; I've been on the opposite end of it my whole life and I know the goddamn rules." 

More than that, she knew what could happen if someone decided to join in unannounced. Maggie, too, would learn, and that came in the form of a terrible shriek.

Immediately, Florence went to work. Rushing off after her former teacher, the girl shut and locked the front door before she moved in the direction of the noise.

"Maggie. Move." A beat passed. "MOVE OVER!"

[miss-maggie-jones]

You're gonna die in there | Florence + Maggie

[miss-maggie-jones]

"No I wouldn’t," the words shot out like venom. Heat was rising, creeping up the back of her neck and into her face. She dropped her arms and her fists clenched. "The last couple weeks, you’re all my son can talk about. When will he see you again, when are you coming to play. You’re not getting in this house and I’m not going to let him hear this conversation."

She took a breath in through her nose so deeply it made her nostrils flare a little. "It’s one thing to pop out of nowhere and punish me for the things I did or didn’t do, but it’s another story when you start meddling with my kid. You don’t know where he’s come from or what he’s been through and I’m trying my best to give him a shot at a normal life. You don’t just get to waltz in here like a superhero and undo all of that.” Her head was thundering at this point with the sound of her own pulse raging. 

"I don’t care who you think you are anymore now that you’re dead. You’re not in charge of protecting him, I am. I’m his mother and I know what’s best for him."

[florence-marsh]

Anger was expected, but Florence was tired and she wasn't prepared to deal with the wrath of Miss Jones. Instead of arguing back with her own fire, Florence took all of the venom and hatred and tried her best not to let it stick. People said funny things when they were angry, but Maggie also had no idea what exactly was going on; aside from showing her, Florence could prove nothing, and she wasn't prepared to leave that mark on Maggie's soul just yet.

"I'm not meddling with your fucking kid, Maggie Jones. If I wanted to meddle, then I'd have fucked him up. I'm doing my best to make sure he doesn't end up like I did, and that he comes out of this shit as 'normal' as possible." Her brows began to knit together -- a tell-tale sign that she was angry -- but her lips finally pressed into a thin line at the mention of being a superhero. "I'm nobody's fucking hero." 

In a matter of seconds, Florence took the time to glance around and make sure that neighbors hadn't begun to filter out of their homes for whatever reason. More than anything, she didn't want to risk being seen... But all of the research she had done prevented her from leaving Calvin alone in that house. She couldn't do that in good conscience; she couldn't leave a boy in his own potential, personal hell.

"I know you think you know what's best for him, Mags, but you don't. And you won't until you fucking listen to me."

[miss-maggie-jones]

You're gonna die in there | Florence + Maggie

[miss-maggie-jones]

Without looking away she reached in and pulled the door shut. "My son is asleep and this stays out here." She folded her arms across her chest, unyielding. She wouldn’t let Florence manipulate her any longer, wouldn’t let her hold any control over the situation. "Between you and me, I don’t care what my neighbors think." She didn’t. She had ceased to care, and beyond that no one would be peeking. She wasn’t someone people watched out of interest or curiosity and she knew it. Just a school teacher and her young son. Nothing to see here.

'Jesus you look like shit,' she thought, at least partially assessing Florence from the doorstep. "If you’ve got something to say, be quick about it. I’m not wasting my time on this anymore." ’Not wasting it on you,’ she thought a little bitterly. If Florence was dead as she claimed, then she might as well stay that way.

[florence-marsh]

Florence's hands found the warmth of her pockets and balled into loose fists as Maggie Jones made her way onto the doorstep of her home. Though Maggie might not have cared what her neighbors thought, Florence did -- to some extent -- so she gave a huff through her nose. 

"Suit yourself," she mumbled under her breath as she lifted one hand to scratch at the side of her nose. Since Maggie was going to stand her ground, Florence decided to play the game. It was nowhere near midnight -- or it hadn't been last time she checked -- so she felt secure enough in indulging for a few minutes. At some point, she would have to take the reins.

"Listen, Mags. I get it. I'm a piece of shit and I'm not worth anyone's time, so we can skip that part of our little song and dance." That wasn't the part she was interested in, anyway. "I'll be out of your hair and I'll mosey on along after our chat, but I'd prefer to have it inside the fucking house. Trust me... you would, too."

[miss-maggie-jones]

You're gonna die in there | Florence + Maggie

Displeased was a light way of putting it. She’d been in something of a mood for weeks now. She still went to Marsh house and helped with the landscaping and some of the repairs on the exterior side of things. And she tried—desperately tried—to conceal her anger from Calvin who seemed not to notice. 

Calvin was tucked into bed and she was downstairs picking up his toys in the living room when a knock came from the front door. She deposited a handful of cars and a bear into the toy basket beside the couch and went to the door What she hadn’t anticipated was a familiar face. Florence. She stepped outside, closing the screen door behind her.

"I thought I told you to leave us alone. What are you doing here?"

[florence-marsh]

"Let me in."

Florence wasn't an extremely insistent type of person, but she looked frazzled as she stood on the doorstep of the home of Maggie Jones. Dressed as she always was -- in a pair of shorts, a black tee and the old, green military jacket that had once belonged to her father -- she looked like some kind of recorded image rather than a real person. Florence hadn't changed for months, but she supposed she was going to have to get used to that.

"And don't talk to me until I'm inside, Mags. The neighbors will think you're fucking batty."

Whether Maggie wanted to let Florence in or not wasn't as important as the fact that Florence was determined to find her way into the house. If nothing else, a show of power might have caused Maggie to snap out of whatever delusion she had used to convince herself of Florence's reappearance… but that's not what Florence wanted at the moment. Right now, all she wanted was to make sure that Calvin was safe, as was her secret.

[florence-marsh]

Take Care Of Us || Maggie & Florence

[miss-maggie-jones]

Wednesdays at the park, she could count on a number of regulars to be in attendance with their own children, and thus both she and Calvin had made their own share of friends. It was nice enough but a bit unusual to be invited for a playdate and coffee on Saturdays. She still maintained her visits to Marsh house on Sunday, which Calvin seemed increasingly enthusiastic about. Maggie wasn’t certain if the old man had prompted him to do so or not, but he had a funny habit of calling Mr. Marsh ‘Papa.’ He seemed to do as he was told and stay out of trouble there better than anywhere else, Maggie noticed, and Mr. and Mrs. Marsh seemed to like having the little boy around.

At breakfast that morning he tried calling her ‘Mags’ while she was washing the dishes and she turned around so fast, the plate in her hand slipped and shattered. “Why would you call me that? Where did you hear that?” she asked. He wouldn’t say where exactly, he just looked at the floor, apologized and seemed to suddenly, selectively remember he’d been told to get dressed. It hung over her head like a dark cloud for the rest of the morning while she vacuumed and mowed the lawn and weeded the garden, and even when she pieced herself together to look presentable at the park, she was still bothered by it.

"Calvin, do you remember what you said to me this morning?" she asked him as they were driving. She watched him stare out the window in the backseat, seeming to think hard about it.

"Waffles!" he offered with a bright smile.

She caught sight of his beaming reflection and didn’t have the heart to pursue the conversation anymore. At the park, she decided to sit in the area he liked to play in best with the hopes of keeping a better eye on him. She handed him the small bag of cars he’d chosen to bring with him and reminded him to share before he took off running. He ran everywhere. Was that a boy thing? Noticing none of the other mothers nearby, she fished out a book and a bag of pretzels and started reading.

But something caught her eye.

There next to a tree, in a bush stood a person, who vanished the instant she blinked. Disconcerted, mainly because the medication she’d once taken for these sort of delusions had long been discarded, she closed her book and set it aside. Trying to behave as calmly and rationally as possible, she took average strides toward the bush and stood in front of it for a moment, thinking of how stupid this must look to people watching her. She peered around the tree and took a half step back, eyes wide. Her lips parted a little in surprise, but she couldn’t find her voice to make a sound.

She never forgot a face.

[florence-marsh]

Fuck.

Fuck.

FUCK!

It wasn't the first time Florence screwed up and it wasn't going to be the last, but she never intended to let herself be known to one of the people who somehow had a hard time dealing with loss. So far, the spectre had managed only to materialize in places where few people were and where coincidence could easily write off a could-be disaster, but this was not one of those places and Maggie was not one of those people. She was smart, but -- more than that -- she looked for Florence even after Florence was gone, though not in the conventional way. No, she sought Florence out through grief, and it touched the callous former-girl in a way that most people couldn't.

Maggie Jones cared... perhaps a little too much.

When materializing in front of strangers, Florence usually brushed off her mistakes and moved on with her life. If nothing else, those were the kinds of people who hung around places where they weren't wanted and Florence was simply making sure that they never came back. This, however, was a public park and the person who saw her was no stranger at all. While an unfamiliar, living being would be afraid, someone familiar might become scared in a different way; they might begin to think they were going crazy. 

I'm just fucking fine and dandy, Mags. 

The last words she spoke to her teacher ran through Florence's mind in that moment. If she had a heartbeat, it would've been thundering in her chest and blocking the sound out of her ears, but she was greeted with silence instead. 

One.

Two. 

Three. 

For a moment, it was as if life coursed through her veins again. Despite the fact that she was trying to become accustomed to not breathing, Florence inhaled sharply and took a stumbling step backward. The girl who had once been so confrontational was now shrinking visibly away from the thought of a fight, but... even so, those words she gave to Maggie still echoed. 

After her tongue raked across her lips and pulled the hood of a cotton jacket away from her face, Florence stood to confront the woman who arguably cared about her just as much as her grandparents. In a moment of certainty, she finally spoke in a hoarse voice:

"I fucking told you, Mags. I'm just fine and dandy."

[maslaner]

[florence-marsh]

Take Care Of Us || Maggie & Florence

“I don’t know if you’re in heaven or where you might be…But if it’s not too much to ask, could you watch over us please? Goodbye, Florence.”

A terribly wise and incredibly lonely person once said that a man died three times: The first was when he stopped breathing, the second was when he was buried, and the third was when his name was spoken for the last time. In many ways, Florence felt as if she had achieved the "perfect death" which came from being forgotten and left to physically rot in a cramped plot of land.

It was ridiculous to think that she could be truly forgotten, but Florence was well aware of her status as "just another dead girl" in a city full of bodies. The Puppeteer had ensured that her death would be overlooked in a matter of months -- and Florence truly couldn't have been happier with that fact -- but something felt strangely hollow and empty about the whole affair.  Somewhere deep within Florence Marsh was a fear of the quietude that surrounded her now on a daily basis. When noise and terror had been all she knew, Florence hadn't the time to think about problems that didn't involve finding peace... but now she had it, and she didn't know where to go.

There was the graveyard, of course -- and she frequented it regularly -- but there was also the pier, the school yard, her own home... Everywhere. Nothing seemed off-limits, yet everything was so very untouchable. Florence saw the world through the eyes of a dead woman instead of that of a living being or someone not quiet fitting into either category, and she had to adjust all over again. Those adjustments were what led her to Calvin.

She knew Maggie was planning to adopt a child simply due to the fact that Maggie was one of the people she followed frequently, but she never expected that little boy to be so special. He could see things most couldn't and, on a particular day in which Florence had let her guard down a little too quickly, he had discovered her. He saw her and it was her saving grace. 

After that moment, Florence did her best to look out for the little guy when she could. It wasn't as if she was great at being a positive influence, but she could make sure that he didn't fuck himself up like she had when she was younger. In a way, Florence became the watchdog she wished she had; keeping the nasty spirits at bay was simple enough, especially when most of them recognized the girl who would have quite the vendetta against their very beings. Florence's presence -- cold, yet somehow electric -- deterred small harms, though not the physical issues that Maggie would undoubtedly take care of.

Besides, Florence Marsh had a request to fulfill. If there was one thing her life taught her it was that you didn't half-ass something if you put your mind to it, and looking out for Cal and Maggie was one of her few priorities that she poured her heart into... Perhaps, for that reason, she let her guard slip just a little too far for the second time.

Standing in a shaded grove of Bentley's park, letting the wind rustle around her while her body itself remained completely still in the near-permanence she had achieved, Florence Marsh waited. Like every Wednesday afternoon, she waited for the boy who would call her his superhero, and she waited to remind him that she wasn't a hero at all. This time, though... something had changed. 

When a rustling in the bush caught her off-guard, she jerked forward and materialized in a flash. Unused to this new form that allowed her so many freedoms, she was left trying to turn into a mist just as her body spun the one hundred and eighty degrees that it took to see the source of the noise.

And there she was...

Maggie Jones.

[violence-00]

[florence-marsh]

Florence & Angela

[fuckingangela2]

I did it for the same reason you did. Because nobody liked me and I was a little bitch.

Is it even worth it to fight with you anymore? Wouldn’t wanna hurt your feelings and have you try to off yourself again.

[florence-marsh]

Not that great at reading people, are you? Good to know some shit doesn't change.

I'm not inclined to fight with anyone unless they decide they're going to pick on the resident weirdo. Guess I don't have to worry about that now, though, do I?

[florence-marsh]

Florence & Angela

[fuckingangela2]

What you did…. It was really stupid.

I’m glad to see that you’re finally out of hiding though. This town is pretty shitty when nobody has the guts to fight back with me.

[florence-marsh]

Then why did you fucking do it? Looks like Aunt Flo still has a few goddamn tricks up her sleeve. 

Nobody's fighting you? Well, that's about to fucking change. Now I don't even have to worry about dumb fucks trying to ruin my life.

[florence-marsh]

Florence & Angela

[fuckingangela2]

Florence!? Is that you?

[florence-marsh]

Well, if it isn't Hungry Eyes herself.

Nice to see the welcoming party is all here. 

[florence-marsh]

Florence & OPEN

[seanwardgibby]

I live here. Get the fuck off my seat. What’re you misting through walls and shit?

[florence-marsh]

Do you honestly think I give a shit? Think long and hard before you answer that.

[ncosimas]

✿

[florence-marsh]

Florence & Sebastian

[ashworthinashes]

Looking for something interesting. 

[florence-marsh]

Wouldn't you fucking know it. I decide to crawl out of the lake, and there you are.

Don't you have a live girl to stalk, old man?