a song so sweet

i put my feet into the fountain, the statues all asleep. no use wishing on the water, it grants you no relief. mother, make me a bird of prey. so i can rise above this, let it fall away. mother, make me a song so sweet heaven trembles, fallen at our feet magdalene monroe / the lamb

[mcggiemon]

damianfitz‌:

“Meditation?” Damian echoes. Like Quiet Time? His parents used to schedule time in the day for that for himself in his siblings. An hour of doing things that revolved around being quiet and using very little energy. Damian would recall spending it reading scripture, especially when Quiet Time took place in a common area. As they got older, his parents became more lax about where Quiet Time took place. So Damian would go into his room and read some scripture to have something to talk about if asked, but for the most part, he’d spend it drawing. “I’d very much like that, Maggie,” he tells her with a pleased smile, honored to have the activity extended to him. “Let me know the next time you and Izzy head there. I’ll tag along. Where does it take place?”

Now, Damian’s never heard of this ‘plants grow better when they hear positive affirmations’ fact before, but he knows then that he’ll have to share that with Kat at some point. Solveig might benefit from it. “I had no idea about that. That’s quite interesting.” It makes him wonder then just where Maggie learned all of this. How does one come about this type of information? Then again, Maggie has always been an odd one. Perhaps it merely has to do with how she’s grown up, in a farm surrounded by animals and plants. Her interests would obviously hone in on those things.

With ease, he takes her bag and slings it over his shoulder, carefully settling the strap against the material of his jacket. “Me? Why yes, I will be. A little later though. We have a dinner to attend this weekend. With the McKays actually…” The mention of the surname makes Damian grimace a little, unintentionally he finds himself squeezing the strap of Maggie’s bag some. It’s still a very painful thing for him, the loss of his friendship with Faith. He’s not sure when he’ll find peace with it, but he also knows he’s not actively trying to find peace with it. He still hopes that one day by some miracle of the Lord that she’ll forgive him.

“ yeah, ” maggie replied, with confidence at first but she back tracks after a short moment. “ well, sort of– i think. i don’t know, ” she chuckled with that admittance “ i’ve never really been to any sort of meditation thing other than this. but it’s nice, and relaxing, and quiet, and that’s what meditation is, right? ” was it obvious maggie didn’t have a damn clue what meditation actually was beyond choosing to sit still and be quiet? she smiled again when he said he’d like to join them, she was sure damian would like it. “ i will, ” she assured gleefully, “ the community centre, ” she said with a nod, though the sign out front of the building said town hall, she liked calling it a community centre better. it felt more fitting, and it was what everyone she knew called it too. “ most of the time, anyway. if there’s something else on in there sometimes they’ll run it in the church, or outside if the weather’s nice. ” 

brows furrowed a little in amusement at damian’s response. it wasn’t often maggie felt she knew something others didn’t, it was even less often that someone told her she knew something they didn’t. she wasn’t a prideful person, but she was a little impressed with herself. “ didn’t you? ” she had to be sure, because it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that he was just being nice. “ well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? they’re living things, and positivity helps all other living things, so why not plants? ” she explained, there was probably some more scientific explanation but she definitely didn’t know it. she just knew everything worked better, more smoothly on the farm when positivity was of abundance. 

she nodded as he explained that he would in fact be going home that weekend, though paused when he mentioned the mckays. she was a little bit of an oblivious idiot, but she wasn’t totally blind. she knew there had been a division in their little group, a division that stemmed from damian and faith. as far as she knew, the division had not been repaired. despite efforts from herself, eliza, and izzy to try and make things seem as if they were normal. “ that’ll be nice, ” she said, trying to sound convincing and hopeful though she didn’t know if it would be nice at all. “ will it just be your families or more than that? ” 

[mcggiemon]

izzydesantis‌:

He chuckled sweetly at her words. While he was absolutely certain she could get through it all on her own in time, he was flattered by her desire to share it with him and admittedly, it did look good, particularly on an empty stomach, “If you insist,” he agreed coyly, denying his enthusiasm. He nodded his head in utter agreement, not a single piece deserved to end up in the trash, he was confident in that much if nothing else.

“I feel like I’m getting a lot of those lately,” he liked the word ‘opportunity’ it was uttered a lot within the Nighmore community and it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, inspired even. “I’m lucky,” he added, never wasting the opening to express just how grateful he was for the way his life had changed course as of late. “I doubt anybody will find anything offensive about them, I feel pretty good about putting them up- I mean, I’ll be told to take them down if there’s any issues and sure, I’ll gladly oblige but I don’t see the harm in just going for it anyway,” he reasoned, it wasn’t as if he was intentionally trying to antagonize anybody and that was the most important thing when it came to rule-breaking, he decided. If it wasn’t intentional, it couldn’t be harmful. “Oh, uh,” he hesitated, unsure of how to answer Maggie. He couldn’t think of anything wrong with putting them up on a notice board but he wasn’t entirely convinced either, even if it did sound like a fantastic idea. “It would brighten my day and I bet it would inspire somebody else as well, even if it was just one person, it would be worth it,” he enthused, “How about we pick one? The best one and we’ll put it up, check on it every day and if it doesn’t get taken down-” or defaced, “- we can start posting more around the place? Slow and steady, you know?”

“ maybe you’re just able to recognise them now, ” maggie suggested with smile, though she also supposed it didn’t matter either way. whether izzy was starting to get more opportunities  or if he had always been getting them and was just now being able to see them, it didn’t matter. so long as he was taking each one and not letting them pass him by. she nodded as izzy continued, she didn’t think there was anything offensive about them either, but she wouldn’t want anyone to be upset either.  “ i think it’ll be nice, i don’t think there’ll be any problems. ” she said, and she was confident in that. while maggie had been very lucky with who she’d been roomed with there was certainly worse things on the broadripple dorm walls than an inspirational poster from nighmore. in her opinion at the very least. 

she pressed her lips together for a split moment while she waited for izzy’s response to her idea. she thought it was a good idea, and she was fairly confident in it, but she wouldn’t do it without izzy’s approval if not his involvement. when he came back with enthusiasm, smile spread once again. she nodded in agreement, if it was just one person that would make it worth doing. “ yeah, that’s a good idea, ” she enthused, “ slow and steady wins the race, right? ” she chimed, but then she had to chuckle “ not that there’s any race, but just that there’s no harm in taking the time to make sure something is done right. ” she said, explaining the rather common saying without even realising that izzy probably already knew exactly what she meant.

[mcggiemon]

damianfitz‌:

The question takes him by surprise. People don’t necessarily… ask that? But then again, this is Maggie. Damian thinks he was once subjected to a full twenty minutes of her talking about a certain type of flower once. Not that this is anything like that, it’s more so the behavior – of her being quite unaware of certain boundaries. But then again, this is Maggie, and Damian is sure this is done entirely in innocence so he gives. Just a bit. “I’m just tired. Lots of things to deal with. Things to fix, things to improve.” A Cliff Note’s version of his life’s dilemmas.

Chickens are a lot smarter than people think? He would have never guessed but he’ll take Maggie’s word for it. After all, she does raise her fair share of them. But Damian would agree about what she says about animals. “They certainly are. They definitely have feelings. They can sense things.” When he’d first gone home after his suspension, Alpha sensed right away how down he was. The beagle was a lot less energetic for once, kept close to Damian and tried not to be so boisterous. The Fenwick captain appreciated it. “Yeah?” He perks up at the offer. Perhaps a different kind of bird would do the trick for him. He’s running out of crumbs to feed the pigeons anyway; they’d soon grow bored of him. “I’d really like that,” he tells her with an earnest smile. 

With a nod of his head, Damian empties what’s left on the kerchief and lets the pigeons have at them. Then he rises to his feet. “You lead the way,” he tells Maggie, tucking the crumb-free kerchief in his blazer’s pocket now. “Do you want me to help with your bag?” He even offers, holding out his hand.

damian’s answer isn’t really an answer, maybe when she was younger she might not have noticed that but she’d matured a lot in the past half year or so. she’d also matured enough to not press any further after two dismissive answers to her questions. look at her go. “ you know, there’s this class in town, it’s sort of like meditation, i think, ” that was at least as close to an accurate description as maggie would get, she didn’t know quite what to call it. “ izzy and i go every now and again. it’s really nice, relaxing– you should come with us sometime. ” she enthused, gentle smile on her features. she always found the sessions so nice, she always felt so clear minded afterwards. it sounded like something damian could really benefit from, especially now.

maggie couldn’t help but chuckle at his response, “ well, yeah, of course they can. they’re living creatures, just like you and me. ” she said, pointing between damian and herself with happy smile on her face. “ it’s like the whole thing about how plants grow better when they hear positive affirmations. it sounds a little bit silly, but everyone feels better when they get a little positivity, you know? ” she said, and maybe it was a little far from animals being able to sense things and having complex emotions like humans, but she thought it was a great connection. 

she beamed at his response to meeting her chickens– well, the farm’s chickens but maggie had raised a number of them from chicks and she put a lot of effort into their wellbeing. even while they weren’t her’s, they were her responsibility. “ they’re attention hogs, just so you know, ” she advised in teasing tone as he stands, starting to walk once he tells her to start leading the way. while the pigeons were starting to scatter now that it appeared their little feast was over, she was still careful to watch her steps as she moved. she thought it’d be very bad luck to hurt one, even accidentally. then she looked up again to damian, obviously she didn’t need help with her bag, it was just a few books and her pencil case in there, but it was a very nice offer so she decided to accept. “ yeah, please, ” she replied, slipping the bag from her shoulders and handing it over with a smile. “ are you going home this weekend? ” she asked, knowing it wasn’t as easy for everyone else to return home as it was for her, maybe he was leaving a little later.

[mcggiemon]

edvorakova‌:

praha was a bustling city, even its smallest side streets busy with tourists and locals alike, so hot in the summer that people couldn’t decide whether it was better to be inside or out. those who chose to sit outside to eat spent the better part of their meal waving flies from their plates, begging impatient waiters for more ice, more ice. in prague you could pass through a crowd unnoticed –– no one, not even the wide-eyed american, would glance your way. eliška liked living this way. there was a freedom in going unseen, in a city where you could be anyone and no one, your true identity a secret to be given with care to people carefully plucked from the crowd of nobodies and anybodies who finally became a somebody.

this was not the sort of life eliška found at broadripple, or even in the town of nighmore. here, everybody was somebody, and she was eliška dvořákova, exchange student from eastern europe, devout to her religion, believer in angels and demons. that was the most difficult adjustment –– moreso than communicating strictly in english, the food served at meals, the time difference. it was the loss of anonymity.

eliška found some semblance of it in the chapel, the quietest location in the school, where she felt most at home. where she went to pray silently in her native tongue, and shed a tear for the parents she missed more desperately than anticipated. it’s the only place where she speaks czech, where she feels sure that the one she is speaking to can understamnd her. she prayed with her eyes closed, kneeling on the padded bar of the pew in front of her, fingers laced together and pressed to her lips as she whispered to the only one she felt sure was listening.

the old wooden doors creaked open as another student entered, and she opened her eyes on instinct, the outside breeze blowing into the chapel and brushing the ends of her hair on the nape her neck. it was rude to look, an invasion of privacy that did not exist in broadripple, so she turned back to the front of the chapel, eyes gazing up at the stained glass window and its image of the virgin mother. “ amen. ”

eliška put her hands on the back of the pew in front of her and used it to lift herself from her position of prayer, silently making her way to the back of the chapel. she kept her head down to avoid eye contact. she watched the toes of her shoes with each step, subconsciously adjusting them to step around larger cracks in the floor’s tile. she pushed  the doors to the chapel open and lifted her gaze in time to stop herself just inches away from another person. she gasped, put a pale hand on her chest in surprise.  

“ omlouvám se, ” she said quietly, her mind still working in czech so soon after her prayer. she slowed her step, shook her head. “ i’m sorry. i should have been paying closer attention. ”

while maggie wasn’t especially observant of people’s moods, their trials and tribulations, she was observant to the more physical things. such as a new student, specifically a new student that spent as much time in the chapel as eliška did, specifically eliška. her parents had taught her to be friendly to everyone she met, but that she would always have a friend in the lord. the problem was, the lord wasn’t a great conversationalist. it left her seeking out people similar to her, and being devout was always the most comforting similarity. 

that’s what led her to essentially, in the least creepy way possible, following her to the chapel. she was at least smart enough to give a minute or so before she actually opened the door, and she wasn’t so bold as to interrupt someone mid prayer, so she had those couple things going for her. instead she slipped into one of the back pews, of course doing the sign of the cross as she did and staying right by the isle. while her hands joined together, she wasn’t praying, rather she stared straight ahead at the stained glass behind the alter. she tried to remember if that had been there when the chapel was first built or if it had been one of the few additions made in the building’s history. she knew she’d been told before, probably more than once, but she just couldn’t remember. 

she was so lost in the glass that she barely heard eliška stand to leave, but she did hear the footsteps on cold tile floor. she stood, friendly smile pulling up her features. she didn’t really mean to block the isle, but she did. and perhaps it was a good thing because maggie waited for eliška’s eyes to lift and meet her’s before she spoke and that didn’t happen until she was nearly walked into. “ that’s okay, i wasn’t paying attention either, ” okay that wasn’t true, but she allowed herself a little white lie every now and again. she left a moment  before she spoke, “ sorry if this is rather bold, but have you considered joining sacristan club? ” she asked, head tilting a little to one side.

[mcggiemon]

damianfitz‌:

The greeting has Damian looking away from his flock of friends. “Magdalene.” He pushes his lips into a bit of a smile. “Hi there.” He looks at Maggie and wonders when is the last time she’s seen Faith. What they talk about, if they talk about him. If Faith is happy. “Often? Ah no,” Damian admits, looking back at his huddle of winged-friends and scattering more crumbs for them to snack on. “Just when I need to a bit of a break. I hardly ever do, so I hardly ever do this…” Pretty self-explanatory. Breaks aren’t something Damian allows himself often. But he thinks a break is better than letting himself feel the weight of all of his issues any longer. Better give himself some time before he illogically snaps at Dylan Thompson for his side of the room.

Instead, Damian lets himself get carried away by Maggie’s story, picturing a couple of healthy chickens and how they jump at her command. “That’s very… interesting,” he tells her. Entertaining enough as a concept for sure. He gives Maggie a once over. “Are you heading home for the week?” She probably is but Damian would prefer to hear it from her. “Do you want some company?” Since he and Faith’s parting, he’ll admit he’s stayed closer to Izzy and his sister, figuring Faith would remain closer to Maggie and her own sister. It’s been a while since he’s caught up with Magdalene. Perhaps this is an opportunity to.

maggie stood still, her only movement the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and then finally the corners of her lips pricking up as the pigeons felt confident enough to walk right by her, stand so close that they were almost on her feet. then she looked back to damian, his words drawing her back from trying to make pigeons trust her. “ what do you need a break from? ” she asked, and she didn’t even consider that it might be rude to ask. the question wasn’t coming from a rude place, but rather one of concern. as damian had said, he hardly ever needed a break, so maggie was surprised to hear he needed one. when she thought of damian she thought of a pillar of a person. strong and unyielding, with purpose. of course, that perception had changed given the events of the semester but it was still unusual to hear that he needed a break. pillars couldn’t take breaks, if they were lax at all things would crumble.

she agreed, it was very interesting. “ they’re a lot smarter than people think, ” she said, and she believed that to be true. unless you cared for chickens yourself, it was easy to believe all they did was lay eggs all day. “ i think a lot of animals are. ” she adds, though with increasing number of nature documentaries the general public was learning that. then she nods, fingers wrapping around her bag strap. she felt as though maybe she provide a reason, but there was no simple way of explaining her reasons so instead she kept it to herself. then she smiles again. “ i’d love that, ” she replied. while she had never been as close with damian as she had with some of the others, she had still noted his company and more specifically the lack of it. “ you could meet the chickens if you’d like,” she offered, genuinely thinking that would be an appealing offer that no one would pass up.

[mcggiemon]

izzydesantis‌:

“You’re too humble,” he insisted, it was like a battle of politeness between the pair, each of them verbally knocking the ball back over the net whenever the other one tried to give them too much credit for something. It was a sickly sweet dynamic but it was unlikely to change at any point, they were both too submissive for their own good sometimes. “-which I admire about you, of course,” he added, just in case the word ‘too’ had made it seemed excessive, as if it was a bad thing.

He waved a dismissive hand in the air, waving away any shred of doubt that Maggie had about whether or not she’d earned the relatively simple gifts from Izzy. He wished he could have done more, in honesty, “I wanted to,” he insisted, there was surely no way she could argue that point and it was true, he had wanted to do something nice for her. In fact, he’d wanted to do something much, much nicer for her but this was the best he could manage within the confines of his budget and logistical limitations.

“I forgot to take a picture of my bedroom before I moved- I meant to do it so that I knew how everything was when I got into the new room and I could just re-create it but I packed everything up too quickly. I guess I was in a hurry,” most likely he’d done it so hastily so that he could get off campus and go back to work or something to that effect anyway. “-but I think it’s nice that things are different,” everything was different, that was how it felt. Even things with Maggie felt different. They were talking and not just Maggie talking Izzy’s ear off and Izzy struggling to find even one thing worth saying to vocalize. They were talking. Bonding. They were closer to one another than ever and it gave him hope, reminded him that he didn’t need Faith or Damian as his proxy, he could stand on his own two feet and forge meaningful relationships all on his own. “A fresh start,” he deduced, that was a good word for it. He nodded his head in understanding as she made her way through the sentence without totally throwing her ex-roomie under the bus and chuckled when she assessed his situation, “You’re welcome to come over any time and you can tell me what you think of the redesign,” he said warmly, “There are some inspirational posters and stuff in the warehouse office- have you seen them? Like the ones at the church and the market,” they were in other parts of Nighmore too, he’d noticed, “I was saying how much I liked them and one of the guys gave me a bunch he had,” he wasn’t sure if he’d had them printed or just happened to have a stash of propaganda on hand but it was a nice gesture either way, “I’m not sure if I’m allowed to put them up in my room but maybe you could help me arrange them?” it was an outdated view of the world but he sincerely believed that a woman’s touch was necessary when it came to interior decorating.

there were no words, or at least no words maggie knew, that would really express how touched she was by izzy’s gesture. while he was wishing there was something more he could do, maggie was thinking this was more than she ever could have expected anyone to want to do for her. lips pressed together in sweet smile, utterly lost for words ( which was an absolute feat ) for a moment. but only a moment. “ you’re gonna have to help me get through this, you know, ” she said, returning to picking through the fruits. she thought an absolutely appropriate thanks for the gift, was sharing it with izzy. “ i don’t want a single part of it to go to waste. ” she said, as if without izzy’s help it surely would. in reality, maggie could eat all that fruit on a sunny afternoon and still have a big dinner happily.

taking a photo, maggie hadn’t even thought of that. and while he didn’t actually do it, she was still impressed he’d thought of it. “ that’s smart, i didn’t even think of that. ” she admitted, meaning it as a small compliment. but as he continued, she decided she liked his attitude and nodded in agreement. “ absolutely, it’s an opportunity, ” she said, wondering for a moment if she should have changed her room up at all. even without photograph she’d replicated her dorm set up almost perfectly. everything just had its place, it made it very easy. “ i will, i can’t wait. ” she promised, some time ago she might have thought that someone asking her to come to their dorm and look at how they organised it would be some sort of joke. but she didn’t think that with izzy. she didn’t think she could offer any sort of critique or advice but she was excited at the prospect of seeing how he’d set things up, especially since he seemed to be proud of it. she nodded when he asked about the posters, of course she’d seen them. she had one in her bedroom back in nighmore, a gift she’d received at a service one time. “ i’d love to, i’m sure you could put them up, ” she was certain she’d seen a lot worse on the walls of broadripple dorms. “ i think they’re nice, ” in a way she couldn’t explain they were reassuring to her, she’d love to see them in broadripple even if it was only in izzy’s dorm. “ and i think other people would like them too. ” unintentionally she let that sit for a moment while she thought. other people would like them too, was it selfish of them to keep something so comforting to themselves? “ do you think we’d be allowed to put one up on like, a notice board or something? i think they would really brighten some people’s days. ”

[mcggiemon]

damianfitz‌:

Life has been rather turbulent for one Damian Fitzgerald lately. He feels as though whenever he makes a smidgen of effort in the right direction, something happens to come knocking down his already short tower of blocks. Faith, Eliza, Kat, Gwen, swimming… It’s been a while since he’s simply felt… at ease. Peaceful? So he decides to do something about that on Friday afternoon. Instead of tending to his homework once classes are over, he heads into the small kitchenette of the boys dorm and starts tearing up a slice of bread, letting it all build into a small mound in the center of his cotton kerchief. When there’s nothing but crumbs left, he claps his hands over the cloth and ties it all up, pocketing it in his blazer before he heads out into the courtyard.

It’s not the most traditional activity. Perhaps it’s even meant for someone much older than Damian, but he’s finds some peace in it. It’s not too lazy. Sure, he’s only sitting, but at least he’s doing his part to feed the friends of mother nature. The kerchief of crumbs sits carefully on the hand that rests above his thigh. Minutes come and go and he just… feeds the slow-growing flock in front of him. It’s not particularly exciting but Damian is a bit tired of things happening. They’re always just happening and happening and happening. He just wants nothing to happen for a while. For the next hour, all he can stomach is another pigeon joining the few in front of him. Just the sounds of pigeons cooing, the sprinkle of crumbs to the ground, and Damian being completely and totally unbothered.

when maggie first started at broadripple, hell, even as recent as the beginning of this year she had been desperate to be accepted by her peers. she’d stick around most weekends just to spend time with them, hope that her presence alone would make them like her. it was only recently that she’d decided she’d rather be home, with people that loved and understood her without her having to dull herself at all. she had izzy to thank for such thoughts. seeing him florish in nighmore had been an eye opener, a reminder, that her family, her community, people she’d known all her life mattered far more than her classmates’ opinions of her. and so, as a result of these thoughts, she was spending another weekend at home. packing the books she needed for the weekend into her backpack on friday afternoon, and not bothering to change out of her uniform before she started making for the gate. 

it’s while she’s walking to the gate that she catches a curious site. a small crowd of pigeons and in the middle of them, damian? she decides to approach. home would still be there a few minutes later, and maggie loved animals. she stepped carefully and lightly, and pigeons shuffled but they didn’t scare off, sticking around for the crumbs she imagined. “ hey, ” she greeted, voice was gentle for the birds and friendly for damian as smile spread on her features. she stands still, allowing the pigeons to return and collect their crumbs from around her feet. “ do you do this often? ” she asked, eyes remaining on the birds “ i don’t think i’ve seen this many all together before, ” she said, in truth she hadn’t seen many animals around broadripple lately. “ pigeons, that is. we probably have this many chickens on the farm. maybe more. ” she said, looking around. she started trying to count them in her head but they shuffled a little too much. “ you know i’m training some of the chickens, ” she looked to damian now, obviously excited by the information she was sharing. “ i can get them to jump up onto my lap, and i’m working on getting them to jump onto my hands. ” she nodded, very proud of herself and her chickens unaware that perhaps she was disrupting damian’s quiet time.

[mcggiemon]

izzydesantis‌:

“No, no, I got it,” Izzy insisted, whether he actually did have it or not was irrelevant, Maggie had done more than enough to assist him over the last couple of weeks and it was his turn to give something back. A little off balance but still managing, he wandered into the dormitory past Maggie and set the array of gifts down on her desk before pulling her into a hug, “I’ve never felt better and it’s all because of you,” and the warehouse and the people there and God but mostly, at that very moment, it was down to Magdalene Monroe, exclusively. 

“Seriously, I feel-” he didn’t know what he felt, he didn’t have enough words in his vocabulary to accurately express the spectrum of emotion he was feeling but hoped that the smile on his face might suffice. “These are for you,” he added with a chuckle a moment or so later, realizing that in his haste, he’d forgotten the main affair, the primary reason he was in her dorm that afternoon. “Organic from around Nighmore,” he boasted proudly, “Handpicked, the best of the bunch,” he added, certain that that was what she deserved. He unzipped his jacket and hung it neatly on the back of Maggie’s desk chair before sitting comfortably on her bed, recognizing the way she arranged her things on the side table, even though he hadn’t visited her new dorm previously. “You seem settled, how did the move go?” he asked with an eyebrow lifting in a curious manner, “Pretty cool that you’re rooming with Trin, can’t think of a better roomie,” except for Faith, perhaps but that was better left unsaid given the distance between them at that time. “I don’t have a roommate yet- don’t get me wrong, Jay is…he’s cool,” and annoying and loud and breaks the rules almost constantly, “-but it’s sort of nice to have my own space,” it gave him the opportunity to do a lot of deep thinking by himself, meditating, praying. He liked that.

despite his words, maggie’s eyes followed him and the collection of things in his arms carefully. ready to jump in and catch anything should it slip from his grip. but it didn’t so she didn’t need to, instead following after him, leaving door open behind her as per the school rules. then for the second time she was surprised by izzy, this time by the hug. she returned it, of course, but when he spoke again she couldn’t help but hug him a little tighter. pulling away with a smile that was holding back an even larger one. struggling to find any words to respond a chuckle fell from her lips “ i didn’t– ” she laughed again, trailing off for a moment before she managed to reign her thoughts and find a response that made sense “ you put in the work, you earned it, you deserve it. ” she said, and she meant that. all she had done was an introduction and some encouragement on each side. izzy was the one that had opened his heart to their community, the one who had blossomed within it. she couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of happiness than her friend.

when he redirected her attention back to the gifts, she was touched, now that she knew they were gifts. delighted surprise becoming apparent on her features as she looked at them. “ are you serious? ” she asked, looking back to him for a moment because she wasn’t totally sure. “ that’s so nice, thank you. you didn’t have to get me anything. ” she said, but even as she said that she was lifting flowers to sniff them. closing her eyes with a relaxed smile on her features as she enjoyed their sweet scent, before she looked to izzy again to thank him again “ they’re beautiful, thank you. ” she said, holding his eye for a moment but looking back to the gifts after that moment, this time to the collection of fruits. 

“ yeah, well, i think. ” she nodded, glancing up to admire the small room. “ i’m sure i’ll find something in my book bag in a week that was supposed to be somewhere else, and my pencil case on my shelf when it’s supposed to be in my book bag. ” she joked, though if her room was any evidence she was incredibly organised. and living so close to broadripple meant that her dorm was bare bones a lot of the time. just what she needed each day. then she nodded enthusiastically when he mentioned her new roommate. “ yeah, i’m excited to be rooming with her. it’ll be good to share the space with someone, you know, more like me ” she didn’t want to say anything bad about rooming with flick, but the two certainly weren’t alike. she imagined quite similar to how izzy had felt sharing a room with jay foster “ yeah, of course. ” she said first, assuring izzy that she understood what he meant and that wasn’t that she thought he was speaking ill of his old roommate “ it must be nice, though i think after a while i’d end up talking to myself. ” she chuckled, though she already did speak to herself a little already. “ but i’m sure they’ll find you a roommate before you go crazy or whatever. ” she joked, a laugh remaining on her lips.

[mcggiemon]

izzydesantis‌:

@mcggiemon

For most teenagers, the idea of spending their weekend on the inside of a warehouse, opening boxes, arranging the stock and stacking shelves might have sounded like a punishment. For Izzy, however, it was the most fulfilling thing he had ever participated in. Sure, the thrill of hitting a home run came close but his time spent at the local food service warehouse was special, he felt useful, he felt appreciated, he felt like he was contributing something to his community and he was learning. 

He was the youngest employee by at least a decade, he was pretty sure but his co-workers treated him as an equal. When he made mistakes, they didn’t scold him, they helped him and showed him how to better himself. When he had ideas, they listened and acted and awarded him the credit he deserved for his efforts. They spoke for hours and hours on end for anything and everything that crossed their minds, they prayed together, they sang songs of praise together, they bonded. There was no denying that he missed how close he had once been to his friends but he couldn’t help but feel as if the people at the warehouse had already filled that gaping void, providing him not only with a group of new friends but family as well. It warmed his heart and every time he put on the uniform, which was increasingly often these days, he felt as if he was wearing a badge of honor. He was not only helping the Nighmore community, supplying food to the Academy or earning some pocket money, but he was also bettering himself and strengthening his relationship with God in new ways that made him feel superior to his classmates for the very first time since he had enrolled.

He had Maggie to thank for all of this, of course. She had been the one who had helped him acquire the job, she’d introduced him to the people she knew in Nighmore, the ones who ran this and that around town and knew how to get things done. He couldn’t have been more grateful and in a small, somewhat meager attempt to express his immense appreciation, he decided to bring her some flowers and a fruit basket he’d arranged with permission from the warehouse. 

With a spring in his step, he approached Maggie’s brand new dorm room, hoping he’d catch her inside and alone. Izzy knocked on the door, balancing the fruit basket in the crook of his arm and holding onto the fresh flowers as if his life depended on keeping them safe. “Hey, it’s me,” he called out, just in case she was avoiding her new roommate’s pals, Izzy had done the same for a long time.

community was everything to maggie. since starting at broadripple she’d felt more distant from her community than ever. even though they were only a few minute away in nighmore and she went home nearly every weekend, along with the occasional visit during her free time, she felt so separated sometimes. she struggled to relate to a large portion of her classmates, and she knew they struggled to relate to her too. when she spoke to her community about these feelings they assured her it was a trial, a test of her strength and faith. however, that was changing. she wasn’t alone anymore. she didn’t ever think that would be the result of introducing izzy to the store owners she’d known all her life after her parents said they’d been looking for some extra help, but she was so glad. she felt blessed to finally feel the link between her community and her friends at school, even if it was only one of her friends. it was enough, it was more than she ever could have asked for, and it had her dreaming of how much other people in the school could benefit from such a supportive group of people. she’d have to be blind to not see the change in izzy, even in such a short amount of time.

a voice from the other side of her door drew her attention away from the shelf she was trying to decorate. she’d really liked the way she had it set up in her old room, the way the sun had hit each sentimental thing one at a time in the morning. but she was struggling to remember exactly how she had it, which left her adjusting it tiny bit by tiny bit every time she glanced over at it. smile quickly spread as she recognised the voice, abandoning project so she could rush over to the door. pulling it open she was not surprised to see izzy, she had figured that much out, but was surprised to see everything he was carrying. pleasantly confused even. “ hi! ” she greeted happily, pushing door back so izzy had room to enter if he wished. “ how are you? what is all this? do you need a hand? ” she asked, listing off her string of questions with a light laugh falling from her lips, and her arms held out to catch anything should it fall. she was trying to be better at not pounding people with questions when she spoke, but it was difficult when she was a) caught off guard and b) with someone she felt so comfortable with.

[mcggiemon]

benmartos‌:

“Dude, I’m fine,” Ben answered, the words coming a little too quick and a fraction too forcefully, and then quickly regretted it. It was shitty, when you could see and hear yourself direct annoyance at the last person you were actually pissed off with but couldn’t quite bite back the impulse in time. Maggie hadn’t done anything wrong; Ben lapsed and messed up the basic fucking ability to connect or find continuity in his thoughts, actions, or—almost anything. If anything, he should’ve apologized for ignoring her for going on two and half weeks. But he didn’t. He loosened his tie further until it hung loosely for want to do something with his hands more so than to deal with the heat. “Thanks for asking, but I’m fine,” he repeated, making a conscious effort to soften his words to the best of his ability, but it ended up just coming out flat. Impatient. Shitty. He braced himself, then tried again. “It’s not that big a deal to me, hanging around on my own. I just—needed some space or whatever. Everything got a little overwhelming. You know. College stuff.” He pressed his tongue against then inside of his cheek, then nodded. “I’m all good.”

the quick bite of his response makes maggie think that she was wrong. people were different. while she’d be smiling and surrounding herself with other people if she was happy, maybe happiness could be a sour look and being alone too. she didn’t know, maybe she’d been wrong to assume. lips pressed into a thin line, but she turned the corners upwards in a small smile and nodded. “ cool, good, ” she said quietly, not sure what else to say when her concern had been swept aside so easily. but then he continued and maggie was back on board with being a helpful friend. 

she nodded again as he spoke, that made sense. she usually prayed when she was feeling overwhelmed and most of the time that was something done alone. so she understood. kind of. “ yeah, okay, good. ” she said, very nearly repeating herself. “ well, uh, if everything’s settled or sorted, or whichever, ” she didn’t know anything about sorting things out for college. she didn’t even know if her parents wanted her to go. “ i was gonna go to the kettle. the lady that works there, maria, she said something about some new kind of muffin or something she was going to start selling. did you wanna come with? ”

[mcggiemon]

benmartos‌:

The swift way humidity descended on New England always took Ben by surprise, even after eighteen years of it. From months of snow and below freezing temperatures to a sudden, sweltering heat had never been a smooth transition; it was always happened too fast, even after a whole winter spent wishing for summer. There was no real in-between, even spring only lasted a couple weeks. Everyone had to contend with going from one pole to another, from layering up as many school-sanctioned articles of clothing to shrugging out of their blazers at the earliest opportunity in the blink of an eye. Ben never waited long before loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top three buttons of his shirt, welcoming any semblance of a breeze that managed to wind it way through the trees and across campus. He wrinkled his sleeves by pushing them up to his elbow, fucking with the smooth lines of the fabric as he untucked the hem. Historically, he ever hated a uniform more than when it got warm, but lately he figured the sight of the Academy’s crest and colors was likely to piss him off regardless of the weather.

As soon as he stepped out of Civics, he tugged at the knot of his tie until he felt less suffocated by it. It was the end of the day and if a nun wanted to give him trouble for showing a lack of respect for a piece of fabric, then they were more than welcome to do so. Ben had lost any and all capability of giving a minutiae of a shit. He was quick to stick his earbuds in, queuing up the new Blood Orange mixtape in an attempt to drown out the conversations that filled the hallway. People still talking about the power outage, about the long-dead bear, about a weird noise they might have maybe heard in the middle of the night. It all seemed like a waste of time and breath. Ben lacked the energy to involve himself with it, to really involve himself with anything. He was content to just let Dev Hynes and Toro y Moi tell him what they knew about loss. But a tinny voice managed to break way through the steady beat and Ben felt a prickle at the back of his neck, the instinctual and disappointing knowledge that he was the one being spoken to.

Ben tugged at the wire that connected his earbuds to his phone just hard enough to pull them out of his ears, letting them dangle from his fingers by his side. He inhaled deeply, then let out his breath on a sigh. “Sorry, missed that. You say something?”

“ uh, yeah, i just – ” how to say this, maggie wondered. she’d spoken to her parents about the change in ben’s attitude. it was concerning, she’d only just seen something similar with izzy. she wondered if boys had bad days like girls did. she thought maybe, but they just weren’t so good at hiding it. “ i just wanted to like, check in with you or whatever, ” was that the casual way to say she was worried? she thought so. she’d heard it once or twice and she agreed she thought it was a little less intense than admitting worry.

almost like a nervous tick she fiddled with the loose button on her blazer absently. “ you haven’t like been around damian lately, and i– ” she paused, should she really confess that she’d seen him by himself at meal times, and after orchestra, and well, a lot of the time? she thought she had to, to explain her need to approach him and ‘check in’. “ i’ve just noticed you’ve been by yourself a bunch lately, and i don’t know, ” she trailed for a second. she’d learned the hard way that not everyone wanted to hear about her love for her community and her church and how important it was to her. “ community is really important to me, i hate being by myself. so yeah– are you like, all good? ”

[mcggiemon]

elizald‌:

If anybody knew the story of why Eliza was so averse to dipping even a toe into a body of water, then it would have been a likely question as to why she was even sitting by the pool, to begin with. The truth was that if Damian had decided to stay at school this weekend and wasn’t going on the Zoo trip, then there may have been a likely chance for her to run into him here. Which might have sounded strange for a sibling that was otherwise usually attached to his side, but right now, since their last encounter, they hadn’t exactly been speaking very much and Eliza felt guilty about it. She might not have been brave enough to seek him out by herself, but she knew that if she was sitting here by herself, there was at least a chance he would come to talk to her and perhaps then, she could muster an apology she felt like she owed. She’d been working on what to say in her mind since breakfast, assuming the plan was a good one, even if it had yet to actually work.

Until then though, she sat a good distance away from the water’s edge, her camp of books and lunch around her while her back could press to the glass wall overlooking the grounds. It was loud in here with people utilizing the free pool for recreational use for perhaps the first time ever, but she at least felt safe with Coach Cobb sitting nearby. Maybe it was because she’d been wrapped up in a re-read of one of her favorite books, or the background noise that distorted whatever the person standing over her had said, but Eliza had honestly thought they’d been talking to her and mentioned something about the pool. “Oh… No, I don’t erm… swim,” Contrary to popular believe, probably, given that her older brother was a literal torpedo who broke school records. “So no thank you, I’m fine where I am. You enjoy it though, I won’t stop anyone.” Albeit suffocating from the hot chlorine smell, but nothing was perfect, now was it?

being local to the area and having gone to broadripple for almost two full years now, maggie had visited lupa zoo before. and safe to say, she wasn’t keen for another visit. part of it was that she’d lived on a farm her whole life, she didn’t need to go to a zoo to spend a day with animals. mostly she hadn’t liked it. those animals had been sad, not like the farm animals she was used to. and she’d cut her hand on a bit of wire there and had to get a shot for it. all not great things. so here she was, chatting off dear eliza’s ear while she tried to read. 

“ i don’t either, not really. ” she admitted, taking the seat beside the brunette without invitation. despite the fact that she was wearing swimsuit under her shorts and tank top, she hadn’t really intended on going in the pool. she just thought everyone else was going to. “ you know i didn’t know how to until like middle school? – yeah, there was this like, swimming program and everyone else kind of already knew how and i was to scared to even put my head under water. ” she chuckled at the memory. by the end of the program she could do the basics, but she never really practised afterwards. she looked to eliza again, letting a split moment of silence sit before she asked “ what’cha reading? ” she asked, small smile sitting on her lips while she waited for response. she was getting better at that. waiting for answers to her questions instead of just launching into her next thought.

[mcggiemon]

nighmore-norman‌:

Norman gave a half smile at the response, it was comforting to know she was concerned and that she was equipped with phrases better than, ‘you’ll be fine.’ “But when pain is a constant, you have to find differences in the familiar.” He responded.

“Yeah… She’s not so harmless when she’s lecturing you about walking into walls or how I should really tie my laces…” He glanced down now at his shoes. The laces were untied once again. It wasn’t a fashion choice and it didn’t matter how many knots he put into the shoes, they always seemed to fall open.

The news made him smile and he turned to face her shaking his head. “I’m good. I’m pretty sure if I had a concussion I wouldn’t be talking the sense that I am… Unless I’m just babbling at you then if you can hear me, take me to the nurse!” He chuckled slightly.

let the facts be known: maggie had no idea what to say. she felt bad, but her pity was no use. it’s not like her feeling sorry for someone was going to help them. she would pray for him, certainly, but she knew well enough that if you weren’t religious then it was nothing. she pulled her lips to one side for a second as she thought before she relaxed them and spoke again. “ have you ever like, told an adult about that? ” she asked, adults usually knew what to do. maggie was a sixteen year old, and a naive sixteen year old at best, she had no idea. “ maybe not like a parent or a teacher or someone so direct but like, a counsellor or a pastor or something, ” she suggested, slyly throwing in a religious figure simply to test the waters.

again, the blonde had never experienced such things. she adored sister florance. especially after the rabbit incident, sister had been so comforting to her. and she’d enjoyed speaking to her when she attended services at the nighmore church since. “ well, i mean, your laces are untied. ” she noted, a small tease to her tone. “ i think she means well, she just, is a little tough sometimes, ” she allowed, though she didn’t totally believe her words. she thought sister florance was so kind. to be a nurse and married to jesus? maggie didn’t know if she could ever dedicate her life to others so much, as much as she would like to.

she chuckled along with him, a smile forming on her features. people at school didn’t usually joke around with her that often, or they told jokes she didn’t understand. this one she got. “ no, i think you’re good. ” she assured, nodding her head as she pursed her lips into a smirk. “ you don’t sound like you have a concussion. ”

[mcggiemon]

nighmore-norman‌:

Norman lifted his head slowly to look at the source of the voice. He recognised her instantly, she was in the class. He took a deep breath in and gave a weak kind of smile. Norman straightened up, his chest still rising and falling with every quickened heartbeat.

His heart fell slightly as she confessed, she had watched him fall. He knew the likelihood of anyone in the class not seeing what had happened was slim, but it sucked just to hear the words. It felt like a stab almost. I watched you make a fool of yourself. Of course, she didn’t say this, but the voice inside Norman’s head said it for her. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bopping slightly against the thin line of his neck. “Oh…” He mustered after a brief pause. “I’m okay… I…” He stopped and glanced behind her, just to make sure that they were alone and that this wasn’t a sick prank someone was trying to pull.

“My head hurts but not as badly as the time someone pushed me into a wall. That… That hurt worse…” His smile was as weak as his morale. Sure, bullying happened at every school, but at least back home in Canada he had Zeke. The concern in her voice was genuine and it almost made him feel warm inside for a moment. He straightened himself up and turned around, showing her the back of his head. “It’s not… Cut, is it? I don’t want to visit the nurse again… She creeps me out…” He said with a hollow laugh.

while maggie wasn’t the most socially intelligent (or generally intelligent) at broadripple by far, she was beginning to understand embarrassment. being caught in a half truth or white lie, having something you believed so completely be questioned and not have answers, be laughed at. she understood that, she wasn’t trying to make him feel that way. but she didn’t know how to not do that. she hadn’t gotten that far. 

fingers gripped around the strap of her book bag as she gave a nod once he said he was alright. “ good, ” she said softly, though following his eyes over her shoulder for a moment. not sure what he was looking for but finding nothing behind her. thank god, now would not be the time she’d want to see one of those ghosts gwen had spoken about. but then again, maybe she just couldn’t see it. 

before she had the opportunity to ask however, he was speaking again. her eyes landing back on him just in time to hear of him being pushed against a wall. as someone who had never been involved in physical violence, she couldn’t relate and wasn’t quite sure what to say that would be comforting. so she thought of something someone had said to her once. “ just because one thing hurt more doesn’t mean everything else doesn’t hurt at all. ” maybe it was a paraphrase of what she’d heard, but she thought it sounded quite smart, and hopefully comforting, in some way.  

when asked to take a look at the back of his head, she stepped closer. letting her bag rest on her shoulder as hand lifted to investigate the spot. lifting short hair gently to see if there was any further injury as he continued. she let out a small chuckle as he mentioned being afraid of the school nurse. “ who? sister florance? ” she asked, as if to double check. “ she’s harmless, ” she assured, “ a bit blunt, maybe, ” that was one way to put it. “ but harmless. ” she said as she let her hand fall from norman’s head. “ but the good news is, no blood. so you probably  don’t have to go see her. unless you want to, or if you feel nauseous. ” that was a symptom of concussion, right? “ you don’t feel nauseous, do you? ”

[mcggiemon]

nighmore-norman‌:

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…. Just one more… Eight. He stopped scratching the back of his palm on the eighth count and took a deep breath in and exhaled. His eyes drifted back to the board and his hand found his pen. He began to scribble some notes, but his eye caught something in the corner. It looks almost like… Fur?

Norman placed his pen down a few inches next to his textbook and slowly pushed himself forward edging over his desk. The wood began to slowly fall towards him as his eyes peered over the edge. It couldn’t have been fur. There were no pets or animals in this classroom… No wa-THUD.

Norman hit the floor with a heavy thud and his chair screeched its way across the room as he fell. He rubbed his temple and looked around at those laughing at him. Ow, his head was killing. He banged it on the desk on the way down but all he could focus on right now were the laughs and sneers from his peers.

He slowly got up from the floor and straightened up his chair, muttering an apology to his Sister and then looked down at his notebook. He knew who had pulled his chair from under him, he knew Barnes was behind this.

“Psst… Potter.” He heard from behind him. He ignored it. “Potter!” Came the sneer again, this time a little louder.

Reluctantly, he turned his head and saw a typical bully, a larger boy in his class doing a horrid impression of him scratching his palm with his mouth wide open, mockingly. Norman turned back around and carefully began to scratch him palm again. One… two… three… four…

When the class finally finished, Norman pushed back his chair and ran from the class, the pupils and most importantly the bully. He finally stopped when his chest began to hurt, and the panting was too much. He lent against the wall catching his breath. He tried to focus on his counting and was doing well, until he saw a shadow covering the square tile of the floor. Norman looked up and bit his lip. “I-I’m s-sorry… I can m-move.” He gasped.

maggie always found it hard to focus in class, despite her best efforts she always ended up staring out a window, or doodling something on her desk instead of paying attention to what she was supposed to be learning. it lead to many lectures from her parents, and many meetings with teachers begging for some extra credit work for her to do to maintain her grades. however, when she heard someone hit the floor on the other side of the classroom her attention immediately went there. a peaceful bird wasn’t as interesting as a loud noise, no matter how much maggie liked birds. like the rest of the classroom, she watched on silently until the brunette apologised for the disturbance and returned to his seat. but she kept watching for another few moments. eyes narrowing a little as some whispering continued, not sure what was said but not liking the stupid grin on one of the boys faces. but then she joined the rest of the class, giving her attention back to to the teacher, though then quickly returning it to the bird outside. 

when the bell rang to signal end of class, she thought for a moment that the clutter of someone running out was a part of the bell. put once again, her eyes, along with the rest of her class’, were on norman. this time as he sprinted from the room like his life depended on it. with a little more speed than usual, maggie picked up her own things before she left too. squeezing past classmates to the front of the small crowd so she could maybe see where he’d run off to. she followed the stare of one girl down the hall before she turned to her friend and laughed. not that she liked that the girls had laughed, seemingly at someone, but it was probably her best bet for following norman. 

it took a minute or two longer until she finally found him again, pressed against the wall staring at the ground, breathing heavily. she stood at a distance for a second, watching. she didn’t know if norman was religious and that, honestly, left her at a loss on how to comfort him. but then he noticed her. “ no, you’re fine. ” she responded, though she didn’t mean he was fine, but just that he didn’t need to move. “ are you okay? ” she asked after a moment, “ i saw what happened in the classroom, ” she gestured vaguely over her shoulder even though the classroom was no longer behind her. “ well, i mean, it sounded like you hit the ground pretty hard. are you okay? ” she repeated her first question, concern on her voice. 

[mcggiemon]

gwescott‌:

When she felt the presence beside her, Gwen had to assume it was someone she knew or at least, was on speaking terms with. But when she twisted her head to see the scrawny little Fenwick, a shudder ran through her. Suitcase girl, she thought, identifying Maggie and the last time they spoke having been back in Stowe. She hadn’t exactly considered it at the time, but it had been a little weird for the girl to just go and relocate people’s things. Then again, those to be skeptical of, normally ran under the radar. Perhaps she’d have to ask Damian about her later.

Listening to all Maggie’s corrections, Gwen still tilted her head to the side questionably, “You’ve seen a ghost and asked what they’re capable of, then?” She responded flatly, clearly not very humored by Maggie arguing with her. “What do you think did it? The graffiti… the rabbit,” Okay, so she had to provoke her a little if she was so brave to speak to Gwen, then she better be prepared to actually say something. “The bear, of course. I heard girls talking about a scream in the woods.” Gwen’s eyes pinned onto the girl, “Go on, you seem competent with knowing what that’s all about, so tell me what you know.”

“ well, no, ” maggie confessed, she honestly never thought to ask a ghost such a thing. nor did she believe she’d ever spoken to a ghost. “ but i think if ghosts were capable of leaving such messages, writing on the wall, then we’d see way more. a demon, maybe. they’re much more powerful, but, ” she finished her thought by shrugging. while maggie believed that her faith in and dedication to god protected her from possession and such other things a demon could inflict upon her, she didn’t want to taunt such a creature by saying some occult graffiti was a pretty weak attack. then she tilted her head, a little surprised that a house captain would so openly imply that she didn’t believe what they had been told about the so called weird events of the year. so called because an event could only be weird if you didn’t believe there was a reasonable explanation. maggie believed there were reasonable explanations for the events, what she had been told. or at least she knew she had to repeat what she had been told. “ those kids did the graffiti, the ones that got expelled in january. the rabbit, was killed by a bear. the bear, died in the basement, probably chemicals or something. and the scream in the woods, ” she pauses her rambling to take a breath “ my mom says that you should never believe what someone says happened in the middle of the night. the mind plays tricks when it’s asleep or tired. people see and hear all sorts of things that aren’t really happening. ” she explains, finishing by pursing her lips together in small smile. 

[mcggiemon]

gwescott‌:

If there was an academy award best suited to looking like some evil queen gazing over her wretched kingdom then the likelihood of it going to Gwen Prescott was exponential. Days had gone by since the Barn Party and The Blackout, a combined event in which her hatred for the school’s floorplanning and Melleray Captain had only grown worse. If almost brawling with the senior girl in front of a bunch of sweaty, drunk students hadn’t been bad enough then the chilling experience in the hallway was enough to have Gwen’s mind troubled. It wasn’t a secret to those who had been with the Seton since freshman year that Ghosts and Ghoulies were a weak spot for Gwen, having been pranked hard over it during her first years at the school before she’d grown the stomach to devour her enemies, should they mess with her any longer. Still, the creepy touch lingered when she was alone to think about it, her eyes staring wide at the ceiling in the night despite how Faith’s obnoxious prayers should have bored any demonic activity to sleep. Had she imagined it? Had someone grown so bored they decided the pranks should start up again? Either way, Gwen couldn’t erase the shriek she’d made when it had happened or the frantic flashing of her torch as she practically sprinted back to where everybody had been sleeping, only to crawl into her sleeping bag silent with a racing heartbeat. Broadripple had always been frighteningly eerie at night, that wasn’t news to anybody, but now, Gwen was losing sleep over it.

Peering out over the grounds behind the safety of glass, Gwen watched students mosey between activities and Father Doheny talking to one of the nuns by the courtyard. Eyes peeping like a hawk, Gwen didn’t make her leering discreet, nor did she check to see who owned the shadow beside her. “How far do you think the enrollment list as fallen…” She thought out loud, unusually candid for someone who usually puffed her chest out in front of teachers and smiled something fraudulent at newcomers. “First, satanic messages, then everything dies…” She commentated on the year so far and all the oddities that had happened on school grounds since they had all come back from Christmas break. “Some people say the school’s still haunted since Edith Lynch happened. I’m surprised more parents aren’t pulling their children at this rate. I’m even more surprised we’re still getting transfers.”

the black out had scared the crap out of maggie, she didn’t understand why it had happened and neither did anyone else. short circuit, damaged networks. all those fancy words went right over maggie’s head, as far as she was concerned, it had been an act of god. a punishment for the corrupt and easily corrupted of broadripple students. a group of which she had unfortunately been confused with. she hadn’t deserved it, but she understood why she had to be a part of it. she couldn’t be seen as god’s favourite. and if she’d still had power it wouldn’t have really been a punishment to everyone else. 

when the seton captain questioned enrolment lists, maggie utilised her focus on whatever was happening outside to give her a rather judgemental up and down. quite far. she thought, but was at least smart enough not to voice her thoughts. instead approaching so she could peek around gwen and out the window at whatever had captured her focus. a small smile appearing on her lips as she spotted two members of faculty on the grounds. then she wanted to roll her eyes. despite her most recent decision that the power outage had been a punishment from god, gwen was obviously being ridiculous for thinking edith lynch was haunting the school. she shook her head. “ none of the edith lynch stuff even happened on campus, it all happened out in lorehill, ” she nodded out to the woods she spoke of. “ besides, it’s not like a ghost could graffiti all that stuff, or possess animals to kill each other. ” though maybe it could do the latter, didn’t matter, there was no ghost of edith lynch. though why people weren’t pulling their kid was a good question. maggie knew why she wasn’t being pulled, but that didn’t explain everyone else.