this night, walk the dead in a solitary style (for Lara)

[doublethepain]

Spencer doesn't have many choices in the way of clothing when it comes to digging up the local cemetery. This certainly isn't something he's ever done before, nor is it something he ever thought he would do but for reasons he still can't quite explain to himself, here he is. He's dressed in the closest to all black as he could manage--his coat is a little too big for him but it always has been, it had been an early birthday gift from his mother before she'd died--and equipped with a messenger bag full of books and a shovel.

It's getting to be dark out and he can't see anyone else around but he feels more out of place than usual as he waits for Lara.



He has no idea whether they'll actually find this supposed spellbook they're looking for but the thought that it might really exist has Spencer rocking on his heels, buzzing with nerves and excitement. He just hopes that they don't get caught.

Comments

[asharpertongue]

Lara frowned. "Maybe we should start inside? It might save us the trouble of digging." She walked around to big gate at the front of the plot and tried the lock. It fell open at her touch and she grinned. Her contact had gone above and beyond. "We can try it at least."

[doublethepain]

Spencer nods his agreement, glancing around to make sure they aren't being followed or watched or any of those things he feels awfully paranoid about right now because a second arrest for trespassing wouldn't do him any favors in the light of the most recent murders.

He lets out a soft grunt of surprise when the gate opens at Lara's fingertips, a gift from the caretaker, he imagines. He follows her through to the mausoleum, shivering a bit at the chill that seems to rush through him once they're inside. He pulls his phone from his pocket and switches on the flashlight feature, squinting as his eyes focus on the large tomb that sits in the middle of the stone fixture.

"Seems both promising and foreboding," he comments, approaching the tomb to more closely examine it. "I wonder if we could get this open with just our shovels."

[asharpertongue]

Lara doesn't need the light to see in the dark and she's not paying attention when Spencer snaps on the flashlight. She turns her head quickly hoping she was fast enough to cover the reflection. She blinked a few times and got her eyes back to seeing as a human.

"Yeah. How heavy can it be?" She set the edge of her spade to the lid of the tomb. "On three?"

[doublethepain]

He thinks he sees a bright flash out of the corner of his eye that definitely doesn't come from the light from his phone but by the time he swings his head to look, it's gone and all that's there is Lara. He tries to ignore the fact that this, seeing debris in the field of vision or, in his case, sudden flashes of light is a symptom of retinal detachment, that a warning sign of such a condition isn't just a warning sign but a huge red flag that something's wrong.

He sighs quietly as he lifts his shovel on the other side of the tomb. It probably would have been better for him to not read any of those medical encyclopedias that had come in because now he has a diagnosis for everything.

"Actually, the average weight of one of these things is about four hundred pounds," Spencer tells her, "thought obviously it depends on the dimensions of the stone, which would be at least partially determined by the person being laid to rest." He pauses, realizing when she only stares back at him looking vaguely amused that the question had been rhetorical. He clears his throat, adjusting his grip on the shovel. "Yes, on three."

[asharpertongue]

Lara smiled at him. "Okay...one...two...three!" She puts a little of her siren strength into the push and the between them they manage to open the tomb, levering the top open a little and swinging it around so it was balanced but allowed them access.

She waved away some of the dust. "Well. That's a big pile of bones."

[doublethepain]

The lid moves so easily that it's almost suspicious but once he's done coughing through the layer of dust that had puffed in his face, he peers inside and heaves a sigh of disappointment. He doesn't know what he'd thought they'd find; it's not like he'd met Lara here tonight thinking that they'd actually be able to dig up some spellbook, but to be honest, a part of him had hoped that it would happen, if only for the excitement.

"Indeed. Bones but no book." He takes a step away from the tomb, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead onto his coat. "If there wasn't already a curse on the town, I'd be tempted to say we'd certainly be in for one now."

[asharpertongue]

Lara groaned. "You had to say that, didn't you? In a creepy tomb over some bones? Has your extensive reading not taught you to not tempt fate?" She grinned at him in the dark and nudged him lightly.

[doublethepain]

He shrugs, offering her a smile in return. "It's not the tomb or the bones that creep me out," he tells her. "It's all just rock, just osteoblasts and osteoclasts and calcium and collagen, though I'm just simplifying that last part. No, what's really getting to me is..."

Spencer trails off, his eyes drifting to the mist he sees forming in the doorway as his jaw drops a little. "Okay, I know none of this is necessarily normal but that? That's definitely not normal."

[asharpertongue]

"Shit..." Lara cursed. "Spencer...did you tell anyone we were coming here tonight?" She started herding him back against the back of the building.

[doublethepain]

"No! What? No, who would I even tell?" he asks incredulously, his eyes not moving from the mist in the door that slowly seems to be seeping into the mausoleum. "You told someone, the caretaker, but he left everything for us, he made it easy."

He realizes that probably means nothing in the long run, not when it comes down to the existence of a curse that had been a culmination of the town's most infamous rivalry. He grunts when his back hits the back wall, and he lets out a frantic laugh. "I mean, it's just mist, right? Shouldn't we able to just pass through it?"

[asharpertongue]

Lara eyes the mist warily. "I don't think we should try that." She looked around and saw a ledge about three feet off the ground. She pushed Spencer towards it. "Up. On there."

[doublethepain]

He spots it about the same time she voices her thought and he nods, already running for the ledge. "This is what I get," he laments, his tone a touch sardonic. "I do one helpful thing and the rest goes to hell, no good deed goes unpunished."

[asharpertongue]

Lara would laugh but she's too busy fighting the urge to change. Now was not the time to introduce Spencer to sirens but she had a feeling the mist would make that decision for her shortly.

"Spencer...Just stay there. Whatever you see...don't run." She turned to look over her shoulder at him. "Please. I don't know if this mist stuff is dangerous but I don't want you to get hurt so...just don't move."

[doublethepain]

It's a tall order but Spencer nods his promise, not even sure if she can see him doing it. He hasn't really read anything in his books about nefarious mists so he's at a complete loss right now and besides that, being told about the truth behind the town's curse and seeing it in action are completely different things.

"Be careful," he manages to say, his voice cracking with worry, "and don't be reckless, I don't know if I'm equipped to handle reckless right now."

[asharpertongue]

Lara held the hiss between her teeth but she let her eyes change, taking the low light and turning it to her advantage until she could see everything. She could explain the eyes eventually but she needed every advantage.

Turning around carefully, she scanned the tomb desperately for an exit.

Then she spotted it. There was grate, at the very top of the tomb at the back. It was ornate and sturdy but it was big enough for them to squeeze through one at a time if they could get the grate out.

"Spencer! The grate. Does it move?"

[doublethepain]

Spencer follows her gaze to the grate and nearly squeaks with relief, though he reminds himself that composure is really the best way to actively deal with stressful situations. Easier said than done, of course, but right now he has to keep in mind that it's not just his own well-being he needs to worry about but Lara's, as well.

He scrambles to get to the grate and tugs at it, grimacing when it doesn't budge. A few feet behind him is one of the shovels, and he grabs it before angling it at the grate and slamming the metal against metal. The impact sounds with a loud clang but it doesn't do as much good as Spencer would have hoped.

"It's not budging!" he exclaims, slamming the shovel down on the grate again and nearly shouting in triumph when the grate seems to give a bit. "Wait, it's working, I can do this! I just need more time."

[asharpertongue]

"Time might be something we don't have a lot of, Spencer." The mist was swirling in front of her, boiling up but not pressing forward. She got the strange impression that she was being examined. She looked over her should to see Spencer hard at work on the grate and she turned back to the mist. Maybe it wasn't as smart a decision to make but she let her skin change, scales flowing over her face and down her arms, talons inching out of her fingers and teeth sharpening. She might not be able to fight it but she could at least be prepared.

[doublethepain]

"Patience is a virtue," he mutters more to himself than for Lara to hear, working on getting the right leverage with the shovel so he can get the grate open. It's not like he's had to do this before, escape out of a mausoleum from cursed mist, and the pressure that comes from having no idea what might happen if they don't get out of here is just a tad overwhelming.

"Just keep it b--" A glance over his shoulder at Lara causes him to trail off, eyes widening at the scales that have appeared on Lara's arms, the talons that have taken place of her fingernails, and he can't see her face but he's sure he can't even begin to imagine how it's changed. "--usy. Lara?"

[asharpertongue]

Shit. She'd hoped shed be able to pull it back before he saw. Now there's going to have to be explanations and she hopes Spencer will be okay with it all, but they have more pressing business.

"Later, Spencer," She says, looking at him over her shoulder. She sends out a lash of her will towards the mist as she turns back and that seems to shock it back, boiling away from them instead of towards. "The grate needs to move now."

[doublethepain]

Later, yes, later. Later, when the strangest thing happening in the room actually is Lara shifting into whatever it is she's shifted into; later, when they're not running from potentially fatal mist, and Spencer thinks he's been dealing with the knowledge that this town really is as different as he'd thought it was but having it all come to head here at one time is... well, truth be told, it's a little exhilarating.

He turns his attention back to the grate and gets to his feet, taking a deep breath before slamming the shovel down once, twice, three times and the third's the charm because something unhinges and the grating opens up with enough space for them to crawl through. "I got it!" he shouts with a victorious grin, pointing at the open space with the shovel. "Lara, I got it, let's go."

[asharpertongue]

"Go then! I'll be right behind you!" Lara doesn't even stop to change. She just lashes out her will as hard as she can while she backs up until her heels hit the ledge. She clambers up quickly, breathing hard - it's been a long time since she's had to use her powers in anger. As soon as Spencers feet are clear she hoists herself up and, sending one final burst of power back at the mist, she dives through the open window. She rolls when she hits the ground and comes up to her feet, grabbing Spencers jacket and pulling him after her heading for the exit and her car. She stops and looks back but whatever the mist was, it doesn't seem to be following them.

Leaning heavily on the roof of the car, she changes back to her human form and gets into the car, leaning across and opening the passenger door. "Come on, I think I want as many miles as possible between us and that place."

[doublethepain]

His heart is still pounding even after he shuts the car door and he looks down at his scraped palms and his dirt-stained clothes as Lara starts the engine. He takes a few deep breaths, clutching at his bag as he glances over his shoulder to watch the retreating mist and sighs with cautious relief.

"Distance," he says, nodding in agreement. "Distance would be good. Have you ever seen that kind of thing before? It's like it was watching us, like it knew we were coming."

[asharpertongue]

Lara scowls. "I think it's the tomb, not us. Maybe it's a booby trap. Some kind of magical defence." She realised how that would sound but it couldn't be helped. He'd seen it with his own eyes now and he wasn't going to let it slide, she knew him well enough to know that. She steered the car towards his place. He'd feel more comfortable on his home territory.

Looking at him she smiled lopsidedly. "So I think we have some things to discuss."

[doublethepain]

That's certainly an understatement and the incredulous look he gives should be enough to tell Lara he thinks so. What he's learned about the town from Riley, it's already helped to lessen the blow but what he'd seen Lara do-- He actually feels quite foolish, having had it under his nose this entire time and never seeing it.

"In the library, you joked about the town and all its sirens. Except it wasn't a joke." It's not a question, it's a statement of fact that he's trying to understand, trying to process. He knows the mythology of sirens, of course, about the lure of their songs, and he remembers what had been written about them in The Odyssey. "'Once he hears to his heart's content, sails on, a wiser man.' You're a siren, aren't you?"

[asharpertongue]

She nods. "I am. I'm the matriarch of the enclave here in siren cove. My aunt was before me and her mother and grandmother were before that." She watches his face for his reaction, concerned he might be scared but finds him nodding, taking it in in his usual cool manner, ever the librarian and seeker of knowledge that he is. She smiles a little sadly. "I didn't mean for you to ever find out that way."

[doublethepain]

"Did you mean for me to find out in any way?" he counters, though he offers her a flash of a smile to show her he means no hostility. He isn't angry about the secret, how could he be? He isn't afraid, either, not when Lara has been one of the few people in this town who has gone out of her way to be kind to him. Siren or not, she's still Lara; it counts for too much for him to brush it aside.

"Okay, so you're Mother Siren. I'm glad we cleared that up. That mist, you said it might be a sort of defense but defense from what? We were searching for the spellbook so it must be there, if someone--er, something--is willing to go to such great lengths to protect that mausoleum."

[asharpertongue]

She nodded. "It must be. It doesn't make sense for the building itself to be protected - it's just bricks and mortar. The book must be there. Of course getting it might be a bit more of a pain in the ass than first anticipated."

Maybe she should leave it especially as Spencer seemed so cool and calm about it but she wanted to explain herself. "Spencer... all that aside. You have to know - I always meant to tell you eventually. I just...you never looked at me differently. People, with a few exceptions, who know what I am tend to either be wary or deferential. Sirens, by their nature, defer to me. Humans though... they tend to think I'm scheming or trying to work some mojo on them. I never wanted that from you. You took me at face value and that's a rare and precious thing." She reached out and squeezed his arm. "I wanted to keep you that way."

[doublethepain]

Spencer huffs a humorless laugh at that, in full agreement that this isn't turning out to be-- what, the innocent gravedigging field trip he'd been anticipating? He gazes down at his palm, at the spot Riley had given him a papercut for the sole purpose of demonstrating her healing power. Nothing about this, about this town, feels like it can really be called innocent anymore and Spencer feels like a fool for being so blind to the truth for so long.

He starts at the feel of her fingers around his arm but the tension in his shoulders quickly relaxes. "I'm not upset that you didn't tell me," he says honestly, shifting his gaze over to her. He supposes he'd want to keep it a secret, too, from those who didn't necessarily need to know. "And I still don't think you're scheming. The reason I take you at face value is because you've shown me nothing but kindness when so many other people turned their backs on me when it really counted."

He gives a casual shrug, as if the fact that she's a siren is about as basic as her being a blonde. "You're my friend," he continues softly, a strange thing to say that almost twists his tongue, but he'd like to think Lara feels the same way. "As far as the book's concerned, I'm afraid I haven't done much reading up on how to defeat an evil cursed mist so the burden of responsibility might land on you for this one."

[asharpertongue]

Somewhere deep down a knot of tension unwinds and Lara smiles, glad her friend is still that and that he doesn't think she's a monster.

She huffs a laugh and shakes her head. "I think we need witches for this one. But we can study it at least. Forewarned and all that."

[doublethepain]

"You know, it turns out I know a few more witches than I thought I did," he tells her with a wry smile. "It almost seems like I'm really the only non-mystical person left in this town."

He knows that's not true, couldn't possibly be, but even if it was, he's not sure he'd mind it all too much. It's a valuable thing, he's realizing, not to have to go about life hiding who he really is.

[asharpertongue]

She snorts a laugh. "The Thorntons would argue that intensely." It's interesting to have this freedom with Spencer now. She can tell him all kinds of things she wouldn't have before.

She looks at him sidelong. "So who else do you know or suspect of witchcraft or being another species?"

[doublethepain]

He supposes that's not news to him, considering all he knows about the rivalry and the subsequent curse. Still, it's strange how different his outlook is now that he knows as much as he does--which he suspects isn't very much at all, though he hopes that will change.

He meets her eyes, his own widening a bit at the question, and he shrugs. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to shake my head and act like I have no idea? Because if people are trying to keep things like that a secret, I wouldn't want to betray anyone's trust. Unless you already know everything there is to know about anyone, which I wouldn't put past you, by the way."

[asharpertongue]

Lara chuckles. "You're not far wrong. I know a lot of secrets but I'm very good at keeping them." She waved a hand. "Riley and Val say I should write names down, give it to them to spell and keep it safe, but that feels dangerous."

[doublethepain]

Spencer finds it just a little amusing that Lara has simultaneously claimed to be able to keep secrets while at the same time revealing Riley and her sister's involvement in the whole matter. He'd already known about Riley, she'd given him a glimpse of what she can do, but he hadn't thought about what that might mean for Valeria Jung. Lara has as good as confirmed that Valer--Val--is a witch, too, and Spencer supposes it makes well enough sense.

"Keeping all the names in one place certainly comes with some risk, if the wrong people were ever to get their hands on it," Spencer agrees. "Besides, I imagine there are some people who don't want to be found out, not even by other witches or sirens."

[asharpertongue]

The little smile from Spencer at the mention of Riley was quickly followed by surprise at the mention of Val and she realised she'd accidentally outed her friend. She cursed herself inwardly. God damn mist, throwing her off her game.

"You're right. Plenty of people. Better to keep it all in my head I think." She smiled at him. "And I realise I just messed up there. Please keep Val's situation to yourself until she or her sister mention it. They won't mind you knowing but...just in case."

[doublethepain]

The nod he gives her is earnest, understanding, and he wouldn't have dared to even dream of talking to anyone else about the Jung sisters' abilities to anyone out of this car. He doesn't even really know who he'd tell, after all; the only other person he talk to consistently is Cosette, and he's not sure how much she knows.

"Don't worry, Lara, your secrets are all safe with me." She knows that, he thinks, and it's why she had been so quick to tell him the truth about herself. She could have passed it off as a trick of the mind, a strange effect of the mist, but she hadn't. "Having you be the one to tell me these things, it's-- well, it's helpful. I'm not sure how well I'd have taken it from someone I respected less."