thebattycakes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thebattycakes) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ways_back_room2021-10-27 08:31 am
thebattycakes) wrote in ways_back_room2021-10-27 08:31 am
Entry tags:
Wednesday DE: Who's got a ghost story?
Happy Hump-Day before Halloween, folks! OOOOoooOOoOOooOO!
So now I know I soooort of did this one before with the fall theme, but today let's go straight up Halloween with a little Trick or Treating!
Trick or Treat fic prompts, that is!
Here's how to play:
1. Instead of the usual 'post in with your pups', for this one post in to say you're around for prompt giving
2. Others tag your post with a pup and "Trick or Treat."
3. Give the tagging pup a prompt, either a trick which would be something scary and/or mischievous, or a treat with something sweeter. Either should of course be somehow Halloween themed.
4. The tagger writes a fic of any length and shares.
5. And remember, there's no law that says you can't change your costume (or pup) and go back around to ring someone's doorbell again. I know. I've checked. ;)
So now I know I soooort of did this one before with the fall theme, but today let's go straight up Halloween with a little Trick or Treating!
Trick or Treat fic prompts, that is!
Here's how to play:
1. Instead of the usual 'post in with your pups', for this one post in to say you're around for prompt giving
2. Others tag your post with a pup and "Trick or Treat."
3. Give the tagging pup a prompt, either a trick which would be something scary and/or mischievous, or a treat with something sweeter. Either should of course be somehow Halloween themed.
4. The tagger writes a fic of any length and shares.
5. And remember, there's no law that says you can't change your costume (or pup) and go back around to ring someone's doorbell again. I know. I've checked. ;)
no subject
[clairebear] - ring-a-ding-ding, muahaha
Re: [clairebear] - ring-a-ding-ding, muahaha
Re: [clairebear] - ring-a-ding-ding, muahaha
The workload has me sprinting toward EOB today, but I will be delighted to sit down with this (and any other prompts, eeee) later this evening. ♥
[kate warner] - trick or treat!
Re: [kate warner] - trick or treat!
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Not his
Toby had said to wait for five minutes, it was almost time. She wasn't going to be left to be lost in these candlelit hallways as he knew she would be hating it too. As he stepped forward, he gave the candle another look and whispered, "Il est mort."
The flame seemed to pause and hold still as he went past it, becoming only a candle.
no subject
no subject
Trick or treat!
no subject
they still haunt us like the ghosts of Babylon
Bill Pardy | Empty, not abandoned
Nancy's voice comes over the radio and Bill responds.
"Just pullin' in now," he says to her as his cruiser's headlights shine upon a darkened front porch, gravel popping beneath the car tires as he pulls into the driveway.
"Alright. Be careful out there," Nancy replies.
Leaning forward over the wheel to get a look up at the darkened two-story house before him, Bill takes in the rundown building, noting the one light on in a window upstairs. Frowning, he calls back with a quiet, "10-4."
Hanging up the radio and grabbing his cap, Bill steps out of the car. He pulls on his hat and slams the door, reaching for his flashlight and turning it on to sweep the area.
The Strutemyer home used to be immaculate, with a well manicured lawn and polished front porch. Now the yard is overgrown with weeds and old grass, objects like toys and lawn furniture sticking up from the ragged brush. The front steps are covered with dirt and leaf litter, and as Bill makes his way up them he steps carefully to avoid splintered and rotting wood.
He shines his light in through a dingy window and looks inside. All of the furniture within is covered in drop cloths and thick layers of dust, undisturbed like everything else in the house for years now. Well, almost everything, because Bill can see that light from the window shining dully down the staircase within.
Going to the door, Bill knocks and calls out, half worried he'll get a response from within. No one answers, and so Bill digs out the large keyring he brought with him; a collection of keys hanging on it from various abandoned properties around town. The Strutemyer home isn't the only place that stands empty in Wheelsy, and many of the others that do fell empty on the same fateful night.
Bill finds the right key and gets it in the door, turning the lock and handle and pushing through.
His first step in, Bill walks through a spiderweb which sends him sputtering and flailing to wipe the dusty cobweb off of his face.
"SHIT!" he curses, pulling off his cap and waving it through the air to clear it of any other spider traps.
His curse echoes through the empty house and that sobers Bill up quick. Cap back on, he resumes his scanning of the house with his flashlight. Shadows rise and fall against the walls as Bill's light sweeps over objects in the empty parlor.
He drifts from one room to the next, clearing each as empty until he finally arrives at the staircase.
"Hello? Wheelsy Sheriff's Department," he calls out once more, shining his light up to the top landing.
With still no response, Bill starts to mount the stairs. Along the walls there are picture frames filled with images of the family that once lived here; the mother, father and the two youngest daughters now dead and gone.
Bill starts to think about the surviving daughter, Kylie, away at college now, trying to move on with her life. He wonders if she's doing well and makes a mental note to call and check in on her when his thoughts are interrupted by the sound of one of the steps groaning below.
Bill turns around quick, shining his light upon the lower landing and the steps he's just walked up, finding them empty. There's no one in the foyer, and if they've ducked into one of the darkened doorways around it Bill decides he doesn't want to know.
Taking a couple of deep breathes, one, two, Bill steels his jangled nerves and keeps going.
At the top of the stairs are the family bedrooms, with the one open doorway at the end of the hall leading into what once was the room of the twins, Emily and Jenna. It's this room that the light is drifting out from.
Before heading there, Bill does a quick check of each of the other rooms along the hallway, popping open the door, looking inside, and then shutting the door again; his eyes always returning to the glowing doorway at the end of the hall.
Finally it's the only room left, and just as he reaches the doorway Bill's flashlight starts to flicker and crap out on him. He bangs against the barrel with the heel of his hand, jostling the batteries in an attempt to get the light going again.
"Motherfu-- " Bill grates before his words are cut off when his voice seizes in his throat, caught there by what his ears hear coming from the room. A quiet gasp, like the sound of shock a child would make and Bill swears he's just heard it.
His flashlight is a dud, but the light is still on in the room and Bill cautiously steps over the threshold and peers around. The source of the light that called him here is a bedside lamp, pink with a frilly white shade, sitting on top of a short dresser and casting the room in a dim orange glow.
Like the rest of the furniture in the house, including the two twin beds in this room, the lamp and dresser were draped with a cloth, but now that sheet is lying on the ground. Bill rounds one of the beds, still on the lookout for anything else out of place, or anyone in the room. It's empty, and finally Bill gives up his search.
Satisfied and ready to chalk the burning lamp up to a power glitch or something, Bill reaches up underneath the lampshade and turns the knob to cut off the light. The room darkens, with the light from within replaced by moonlight shining in through the lacy curtains over the windows.
Bill stoops and picks up the sheet, gently draping it back over the lamp and smoothing out the cloth over the nightstand. He has one last look around, casting a sad glance at the two empty beds as he starts heading for the door.
"Sheriff! You done at the ol' Strutemyer place yet?"
Nancy's voice over the radio startles Bill out of his skin and he barks his knee against the bedpost.
Trip-hopping a step he curses out loud and hears that shocked gasp again, this time followed by the giggles of another voice.
Bill freezes for a moment, then grabs his radio and calls back to Nancy as he hustles down the hallway.
"Yep. I'm done!"
His shoes thud on the steps as he hurries down the stairwell, shutting his ears to the sounds of any other footfalls joining his as he makes his way to the door.
"So what was it?" Nancy asks.
"Nothin'. Weren't nothin'," Bill says, locking the door up quick. "What do you have for me?"
"Oh, drunken shenanigans up at the lodge again. Pete's got his head stuck in a pickle barrel, they want someone to come on out," Nancy replies as Bill shuts the door on his cruiser.
"I'll be right there," Bill replies, starting the engine and throwing his arm over the seat back so that he can look over his shoulder as he backs out of the driveway.
He'll make it to the lodge in record time, peeling out as he heads off and ignoring his rearview mirror and the light shining again in the upstairs window.
Re: Bill Pardy | Empty, not abandoned
I love that you chose to set this scene at the Strutemyer property, and oh, your details. (Of course Bill is carrying around a giant set of keys for all the houses that no longer have owners or caretakers in Wheelsy. Oh, heart.) And it's little Emily and Jenna, still game for Family Fun Night, haunting a house that will never again be a home.
Bill's dread and unease are palpable; I love that he thinks of Kylie, and makes a mental note to touch base with her. ♥ And the comedic moments you give us are pitch-perfect. I just adore Nancy, and Pete's latest feat? Classic Pete, muahaha.
Thank you for this — I just keep re-reading, and there are goosebumps every. time.
no subject
no subject
all that's left are your bones
that will soon sink like stones
no subject
no subject
They're horns
Nice ears.
help me / I'm still waiting for someone to tell me
this won't last forever, but it's hell for me
no subject
no subject
is it too late to save my soul / where do the busted angels go?
Not too late
Off the catwalk now, there was an elevator, he closed his eyes to rest and picture the layout once more. Turn to the right, four more steps, rest in the elevator then up. Five steps to the column and fire, Krennic would never bother Jyn again.
Re: Not too late
Death would find him today but on his terms
is my absolute favorite bit. ♥ Thank you for writing, and for sharing.
Re: Not too late
no subject
Trick or treat!
Barry Allen
Re: Trick or treat!
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Charter's pulse
In the gold, he saw a shape and felt another push from the Stone, he was so close. Then he felt a push and released the Charter to see Ferin tight up against his back, "Don't get lost in there."
Sam nodded as he sank down to lean against the Stone, still not mended but the crack was smaller.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
[ben wade] trick or treat!
Ben Wade | 3:10 to Yuma [2007] (
Re: [ben wade] trick or treat!
Those painted stars still shine.