Tumgik
Text
I’m barely on here but to the person that sent me an ask about how the Final Mercy scene in LotS helped them process their own grief in a way - thank you, I’m glad it helped, and I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
LotS is still very important to me but due to life outside of tumblr I haven’t had the chance to continue the story. I still intend to, but I’m not sure when.
The funny part is the next chapter is a roadblock but after that I already know how the rest is gonna go… still, I’m working on it and I’ll get there. Thanks for everyone’s patience.
14 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
And when we’re the six wives of Henry VIII, we each become just that. One of his wives. One of six. And each of our solos become backing vocals on Henry’s greatest hits!
2K notes · View notes
Text
Tumblr media
This was how Six went, right?
2K notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
We’re one of a kind no category Too many years lost in history We’re free to take our crowning glory For five more minutes We’re SIX! 
SIX + Richard Burchett’s Portraits
6K notes · View notes
Text
…. LotS?
7 notes · View notes
Text
Alright queendom what the fuck did I miss with the alts this time
19 notes · View notes
Text
let's watch like a good chunk of people who have grown out of their SIX phase immediately go back to the six side of tumblr to figure out what in the actual fuck happened to six this time like WOOOO THE CHAOS IS BACK!!! THE SIX ALT CRAZY BULLSHITTERY IS BACK!!! YAYYYY
102 notes · View notes
Text
I’m consistently surprised when I’m reminded about how much of a mash up the current UK Tour cast is and also how thankful I am that I’m not writing the multiverse anymore because I refuse to write Into the Queendomverse absolutely not too many moving parts
8 notes · View notes
Text
I need some inspiration so I’m being back
LotS Fight Night
Send me two characters from Legend of the Six and I’ll have them fight each other. (If you want a specific place or something please include it in your ask)
3 notes · View notes
Text
Our song of hope she dances on the wind
Higher, oh higher
Ever fighting dark, everything forever strong
Standing tall, though dark filled, we carry on
On wings of hope, you rise up through the night
Higher, oh higher
Carry in a song
8 notes · View notes
Text
Why did not one tell me that Lexi’s TikTok SLAPS
6 notes · View notes
Text
Legend of the Six UPDATE
Not a story update just yet, just a progress update.
I know it’s been literally half a year since the last update, I apologize for that. I originally wrote this story as a way to channel my anxiety as I started my professional career. Since then (and since the last chapter posted), I have hit into some very rough times and I’ve had to focus on that. While I don’t have a lot of time, I do have some time to finish what I started back in 2019 with this story.
There are six chapters left in Legend of the Six, making the full story 31 chapters total. One will be released within the next week. This last chapter is really the last one before the main story comes to point and all of the storylines we’ve seen come together for a final battle of fate between the Queens and Henry. 
I hope we can all finish this journey together. Thank you for the support and I hope you all look forward to coming back to Afigmia very soon! 
16 notes · View notes
Text
Anyone still interested in Legend of the Six
28 notes · View notes
Text
OH MY GOD
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Queens in Black
Want to draw suits for a long time, but thanks to sixfanarts' amazing art reminding me.
我只是想塗個鴉怎麼又變得這麼麻煩了(眼神死
先睡
338 notes · View notes
Text
Tumblr media
sing sing sing
Tumblr media
Just found out the last post is my 100 posts! WOW! :P
想說什麼可是忘了(
想到再補
想到惹:
最近腦子裡一直RUN的對話:
(討論DLUH的舞蹈)
AB:「妳不覺得看六個都鐸時期的皇后在舞台上跳這種裝可愛的舞非常經典嗎?(´◔౪◔)」
KH:「我………已經不知道妳想追求什麼了( ㆆᴗㆆ)」
如此這般地沒有營養(淦)
其實還是在思考之前討論歌曲的對話但是一直被一些蠢蠢的梗帶離題(艸
其實我想畫的東西大部分都是些沒啥意義的對話而已(欸
小小聲說Vicki要回巡演組了我好開心嗚呼!╰(*´︶`*)╯
不過Jodie離開了也好可惜……不知道她接下來的演出計畫是什麼……會回去演Heathers嗎……?
好想去英國唉(倒
77 notes · View notes
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
For five more minutes.... WE’RE SIX
Bringing these back since old ones got deleted. Also will do more upon request!!
Please do not re-post these anywhere without my permission.
547 notes · View notes
Text
Every Tudor Rose Has Its Thorns - CH 2 now live
AO3 Link here
“So… you think they’re alive?” Jim asks, tilting his head.
“At least one of them is a ghost, I think,” she explains, walking towards the alley next to the theatre. They had gotten their tickets refunded due to “technical difficulties,” despite knowing that the real issue was far beyond that. “But the visions I had when Catherine and Anne went up for their songs… it felt really powerful. It could be more than one. Maybe all of them, just based on the pure strength of it.”
“What, so you think the ghosts of the ex-wives of Henry VIII are… haunting the performers when they go on?” Jim asks. “One ghost doing that, sure, but all of them? Seems pretty unlikely.”
Melinda frowned and looked down at the programme, flipping to the page where the actors were shown. She tilts her head. “You know, they never say what the actor’s names are in here. They just say Anne and Catherine and the rest.”
“Maybe it’s an acting thing?” Jim asks, though he clearly sounds like he’s fishing for an answer. “Some actors do that, live as though they’re the characters they are.”
Melinda nods in consideration, but goes back to the original theory: that the ghosts are involved.
“I mean, it’s not surprising that they would be earthbound if it is actually them,” Melinda says. “Not after everything they got put through.”
“Do you think they caused the technical difficulties?” Jim asks.
“I didn’t sense anyone else around, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility,” Melinda replies. “Why would they want to ruin their own show, though? It’s about their story, their lives being told-”
“No, they’re not ruining their own show.”
Jim and Melinda jump a bit as they hear a voice behind them. When they turn, they spot…
“You’re Maria, right?” Melinda asks. “You’re the drummer.”
“I am,” Maria nods. “I was hoping you’d still be around. I… I don’t know how to explain this, but I really think you should come with me.”
Melinda watches her for a moment before tilting her head. She slowly walks more towards Maria, gently taking her hand. There’s a slight jolt before Melidna is once again pulled into a vision:
She’s managed to avoid the guards, sneak into the premises, and get to her door. With a running start, she bangs through it, immediately looking down at a woman in bed. She looks deathly ill, yet oddly familiar…
Melinda can hear herself speak Spanish to the woman, crying as she holds her. She can see her arm gently push back some hair, gently speak comforting words to the woman she held, crying out her name as the former queen’s eyes start to dim and close:
“Catalina!”
Suddenly, Melinda was back to the present. Maria looks terrified.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt her, is she-”
“It’s okay, she’s okay,” Jim says, nodding. He keeps an eye on Melinda, though, just in case.
Melinda took a moment to clear her thoughts before she continued. “That was… the other side of the vision I had when Catherine of Aragon’s song came up.”
“Vision?” Maria asks, taking a step back in surprise. “Are you a witch?”
“No,” Mel is quick to dispel the theory. “But I do… have a gift. I can see the dead.”
Maria pales. Melinda narrows her eyes.
“How?” Melinda asks. Maria is quiet, so Melinda clarifies: “How are you alive and dead at the same time?”
She looks down at her hands before she looks back up at the couple. “I… I need you to come inside. To come with me to see the others.” She looks from Melinda to Jim and back to Melinda. “I promise, we’re not… we’re not bad. And we didn’t do anything to cause those issues.” She takes a deep breath. “Oh, I can’t believe Jane’s going to be right on this.”
“Right on what?” Jim asks, stepping forward.
Maria makes a face.
“She said she felt someone else on stage with us tonight. Someone cold. She’s been off ever since.”
That was enough for Melinda to follow Maria into the backdoor.
As soon as they walk in, Maria takes Jim and Mel to the dressing rooms. Melinda recognized the queens: Jane was sitting next to Anne, quietly discussing something. Catherine and Cathy were getting their things together. Anna and Katherine were on their phones.
It’s the latter that speak up first.
“I mean, I’m seeing stuff where people say their electronics went haywire due to a ghost,” Katherine says. “Even as common as we’ve been having it lately.”
“It could also be some faulty wiring, though,” Anna points out, scrolling through some searches. “Or maybe the wind that’s been picking up knocked something loose.”
“I swear, I felt a cold wind, and I…” Jane starts, but she freezes up when she spots Maria and her guests. “Who’s this?”
Maria clears her throat and steps forward. “Everyone, this is Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy.” She looks directly at Catherine for the next part. “Melinda can speak to the dead.”
They’re all quiet for a moment before Anne speaks up.
“Oh really?” She asks, a hint of joking in her voice. Melinda grimaces at that; people usually are in disbelief, but the mocking tone some can get reminded her of the high school and college bullies. It’s not easy doing her job, after all.
“Yes,” Maria continues. “Actual ghosts.”
“How do you think she can help?” Cathy asks.
“How do we know to trust her?” Jane asks.
“I think I know the answer to both of those things.”
Before Melinda or Jim can answer, someone else has jumped to their defense: Melinda recognized her as Joan, the pianist. Right behind her was Bessie and Maggie. All three of them were in normal clothes now, bags left at the side of the door as they move towards the group and stand nearby.
“Maria,” Joan says quietly. “I saw you stumble on Catherine’s song today. You were looking right at her in the front row.” Joan looks over at Melinda, almost pitying her. “And you looked incredibly pale. I thought it might be a trick of the light, but I’m assuming you being here makes it not the case.”
Melinda nods, stepping forward. “I had a vision. I was in a bed, hurting, and someone barged into the room and held me as I died. It felt like the person wasn’t supposed to be there, but I needed her to be there.” She looks over at Maria, who is looking at Catherine. “I think it was you. You called her name as she died, didn’t you? You called for Catalina. That was who you were holding, as she died.”
Maggie frowns. “Not that I don’t believe you, but anyone who knows our histories knows that Maria held Catherine at the end. How do we know this isn’t a trick?”
“Because,” Joan says, “when that… vision… of hers happened, Maria looked completely out of sorts.” She steps towards the woman in question. “What did you feel?”
“I felt… connected,” Maria explains, moving to gently hold Catherine’s hand for support. Catherine, of course, holds it firm. “I felt like someone was connecting with me. And I… I heard Catalina’s cries. I heard what I heard when she died. Then I looked up, and it was Melinda.”
“Did you… see something… during Don’t Lose Ur Head?” Maggie asks, frowning.
Melinda shivered at the thought. “Yes. I saw someone being taken to the block. A young, red headed girl called for her mom-”
Anne stands up quickly, like a reflex, but Maggie quickly grabs her arm. It calms the woman somewhat as she sits back down. Jim stands a bit closer to Melinda as she backed up at the sudden movement, but with things calmer, she relaxes a bit more.
“Not quite how that went,” Anne says quietly, “but if Catherine and Maria believe you, I’m inclined to as well.”
“Sometimes my visions aren’t exact to what happened,” Melinda replies. “Sometimes they’ve got more symbolism in them then actual events-”
Melinda stopped, though, when a sudden chill fell through the air. She felt her head reeling with no warning; she put a hand to it and tried to breathe through it. Jim was calling for her, she knew this, but the voice became less and less her husbands and more and more like someone else.
The lights suddenly turned off.
And he appeared.
What hit her first was a wave of emotions - fear, jealousy, panic.. But mostly anger. A lot of anger. She couldn’t tell who he was exactly, as the Shadows around them were so thick, but he pointed to her and spoke; it cut through her mind like glass.
“You should not be here,” he said, and Melinda winced every time he spoke. “You should not be here.”
“Who are you?” She asks, but he screamed, and the Shadows rushed her, and everything went dark…
… only for the lights to turn on a moment later.
Melinda blinked; somehow, she had ended up crouched on the floor, hands on her head as she looked around. Jim was immediately at her side, checking her over.
“Are you okay-?” He started, but someone else’s voice cut through his question. This time, it didn’t hurt Melinda at all.
“Jane?!?”
The couple looked over to find Jane Seymour collapsed to the ground, eyes unfocused and glassy, breathing rapidly as if panicked. With a nod from Mel, Jim rushed over to see if he could help.
“What’s happened, why is that happening again?” Katherine asks, clearly panicked.
Melinda picked up the clue. “Again? When did it happen before?”
“It happened yesterday, too,” Bessie says, stepping forward. “She’s been having these type of spells for a while now.”
“Anna had some to start with as well, Cathy too,” Joan points out. “But Jane’s been hit the hardest with them.”
Melinda nods, looking over at Jane just in time to see her gasp for air. She coughed, being helped to sit up by Jim.
“Are you alright?” Jim asks, looking the woman over.
“Jane?” Joan is right beside her queen in an instant; now Melinda knew what she meant by they took care of their queens; Joan was Jane’s Lady in Waiting in their previous life, after all.
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Jane mumbles, a hand to her head as she collects her thoughts. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s the damned ghost, that’s what’s come over you,” Katherine says, clearly angry. “What does it want and why does it keep on messing with our productions?”
Anne looked over at Melinda before stepping towards her. “Alright, I don’t quite believe you, but… what did you see? Before, in the dark?” Melinda seemed to be confused, so Anne continued. “If you’re having those vision things, I’d assume you’d have one when things go bad.”
“That’s not how it works all the time,” Melinda says, “but I did see the ghost. He was…” she swallowed thickly at the next few words, looking over at Jim. “He was surrounded by Shadows.”
Jim’s jaw set with anger for a moment, before he corrected his expression. Melinda continued.
“He said I shouldn’t be here. He was tall, that’s all I got from it.”
The lights flickered again and Melinda once again felt a wave of nausea. She blinked, squeezing her eyes shut. Catherine frowned when Anna did the same.
“We should leave,” Melinda said through shaky breaths. “Whoever it is, they’re going to try again.”
Anna is unsteady, but she powers through it to get to the alley. As soon as they’re out of the theatre, Melinda feels her head clear up considerably. She breathes a sigh of relief as she looks at Anna; she seems far better, too.
Maria steps forward. “Do you mind if we go somewhere a bit more private?” she asks, looking at the couple. “Our flat’s nearby. Might be the best place to discuss this more.”
“Sure,” Melinda says. “We’ll follow you.”
Maggie leads the group as they walk down the street, Jim and Melinda in the middle of the pack. Maria and Bessie hang at the back. They’re silent, before Maria speaks:
“You’re on the fence for this, aren’t you, Bessie?”
She sighs. “I don’t know what to think,” she replies. “But if you think she’s the answer to what’s been happening lately I think it’s worth a shot.” She shrugs. “Not like we had any success with anything else, so…”
Maria looks back at the couple, who are quietly walking, Melinda’s arm in his. “Yeah. I really think they are.”
As they walk, Jim looks Melinda over some more. “You sure you’re feeling alright?” Jim asks quietly.
Melinda glanced over then shook her head. “A little woozy,” she admits. “The visions are strong, and I think it’s because of who they are.” she gives him a small smile. “I’ll be ok. I’ve got you here.”
Jim tries to smile back, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. Melinda understands this, but her focus right now is moreso on Jane.
“She looks about as good as I feel,” Mel mumbles.
Jane looked as pale as a ghost, stumbling occasionally as they moved towards the queen’s flat. Joan was right next to her, watching her closely as they moved.
“Yeah, and Anna doesn’t look too well either,” Jim observed. Anna was at the front of the pack with Katherine, answering her questions and smiling with her, but Jim’s EMT training allowed him to see the occasional stumble and wince in pain. “It took a lot out of them, too, I think.”
“When we get to the flat,” Catherine says, having heard their conversation, “We can all take a breather there.”
Cathy watches the couple very closely for a moment before she just continues on with Catherine in tow. Catherine narrows her eyes at Cathy for a moment before moving on.
The sound of a child’s laughter rings through the area; it makes Melinda smile as she and Jim are let into the flat. From there, everyone comes together in the living room.
“The weird stuff hasn’t followed us home before,” Cathy says. “So we should be safe here.”
Melinda breathes a sigh of relief; her head already feels like it’s clearing, and some of her energy’s returned. “This place feels a lot better than the theatre.”
“Please, sit down,” Anna says, offering them two spots on the couch. Melinda and Jim sit down next to each other while the others settle down on chairs around them.
Catherine, with a small smile, starts the conversation:
“If you don’t mind, Melinda, I think it’d be best if we just get into it, okay?”
Melinda nodded, and Catherine continued.
“Maria seems to be convinced that you’ve got special powers,” Catherine replies. “And you definitely saw something at the theatre multiple times.”
Melinda nods. “It’s more powerful than what I usually deal with, to be honest,” Melinda says. “I just feel… a lot of energy, coming from all of you.” She looks around the room. “It’s not bad. It’s better than when you were at the theatre. From personal experience, that means the Shadows aren’t able to affect you here.”
“Shadows?” Cathy asks.
“They’re dark energy,” Melinda continues. “Powerful, dark, negative energy. It’s sometimes leftover energy from bad souls, other times those souls are… converted, into the Shadows.” She shivers at the thought, remembering when they took her over, remembering when they made her think and almost do terrible things…
“What’s the Shadows have to do with us?” Jane asks quietly, looking down at her hands. “Why are we being tormented?”
“And some of us more than others,” Anne replies. “It seems to be tormenting Catherine, Anna, and Jane more-”
“Is it, though?” Katherine asks. “You almost died on stage. Again.”
Melinda sat up at that. “You said that it happened before at the theatre, too. Can you tell me what’s been going on?”
They all look at each other, uncertain. Jim speaks up then.
“We want to help,” he tries. “But we need all the information we can.”
“You have to at least believe that there’s truth to what I’m saying, don’t you?” Melinda asks. “You wouldn’t have invited me into your homes if you didn’t.”
Katherine narrows her eyes. “You said you got a vision every time you touched one of us, right?” When Melinda nods, Katherine stands up in front of her and offers a hand. “Well, prove it.”
Melinda looks at Jim and, with a nod his way, looks back at the hand. With some hesitation, she takes it, and-
-she’s suddenly not in the room.
She’s on stage, the exact one Melinda had been watching only an hour before. She’s singing something, on her knees, breathing heavily as she talks about being touched and enough being enough and people supposed to be different. Just as she finishes it, she hastily blows a kiss at the audience as she gasps for air and looks up, a single pink spotlight on her.
The crowd is silent for a moment, and it seems to save her life - she can hear something above her crack.
Her eyes go wide as the spotlight momentarily is blocked by something. Realizing what’s about to happen, she instantly backs up, straight back as a bar suddenly slams right where she just was.
She gasps, catching her breath, wincing as she feels something hit her hand as the bar makes impact with the ground. She ignores the pain as someone grabs her and rushes her off stage, the audience being evacuated…
… and Melinda gasps as she is brought back to the present.
“Holy crap,” Katherine says, eyes wide. “I… Maria was right.”
“What did you see?” Bessie asks.
Melinda catches her breath for a second. “She was singing, then she looked up at the spotlight, and a bar fell and hurt her hand,” Melinda says, pointing to the mark on Katherine’s hand.
“That’s what happened Thursday,” Katherine says. “That’s what happened when I was injured. And I never told anyone who I knew about it.” Katherine looks back at Catherine. “She’s legit, swear it.”
Catherine nods at the girl and then looks at Melinda. “I think it’s enough evidence to continue,” Catherine says quietly. “Now… what would this shadow want with us?”
“The Shadows work best through people,” Melinda says. “That’s how they became a threat to us back in Grandview, they influenced people to make their move.” She shivers at the thought, but doesn’t get too into detail; they’ve only just started to trust her, she didn’t want them to be scared.
Not yet, anyways.
Catherine nods. “So you think it’s possible whoever is doing this is trying to influence us?”
Melinda leans back on the couch. “Katherine was almost killed that time, and Anne was today… did anything else happen?”
“Yeah,” Anna says. “Catherine was almost electrocuted the other day.”
Catherine winces at the memory. “I was on stage and about to sit on the throne during No Way, and suddenly the damn thing broke apart. One of the legs splintered off and cut a nearby wire. If it wasn’t for Maria, I would have been shocked.”
Melinda nods. “Anything else?”
“There was that time Katherine tripped and knocked herself unconscious last week,” Anne points out.
“And the slip and fall Catherine had,” Cathy points out.
“And Anne’s phone literally blew up in her hand the week before on stage,” Maggie added.
Jim had been keeping count. “So it’s really only been physical ‘accidents’ for Anne, Katherine, and Catherine?” He asks, nodding towards the correct C/Katherines to clarify who he was talking about.
Cathy nods. “The rest of us… when those things happen, we start to feel weird.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest defensively. “It’s like something’s there. Something cold. Something not pleasant.”
“You feel an anger, right?” Melinda asks, looking directly at Cathy. “You feel like you’re helpless, and you feel cold and angry and not yourself, right? And you can’t let that feeling go because it’s taking you over?”
Jane nods, but looks wary. “They seem scary the more you talk about them.”
“They are, to be honest,” Melinda says, looking down. “But it’s beatable. It is.” She looks up again, a gentle smile on her face. “With some support from others, we can beat it here.”
Cathy seems hesitant to say something, but after a moment (and a deep breath) she steps forward. “The ghosts that you can see… can you see anyone else?”
Melinda tilts her head, confused. “I’m sorry?”
“Do you see any other ghosts,” Cathy repeats. “Can you see any other ghosts around us?”
Melinda frowns. “Who would I be looking for?”
“A young girl, probably,” Cathy says. “Or, uhm… maybe two women, or maybe a teenaged boy.”
Melinda considers Cathy for a moment before she nods quickly, looking around the room. She’s been at this long enough that she can filter out the queen’s and ladies in waiting’s presence well enough to find other people when she needs to, but right now…
“... there’s no one else here,” Melinda says, looking back at the woman. “I’m sorry, is it someone you know?”
Cathy sighs. “It’s nothing.” She gets up and leaves.
Catherine steps in. “I’m sorry about her.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Melinda says. “I just… who was she looking for?”
Catherine isn’t sure she should answer.
Anne cuts in.
“Well,” she says, getting up. “We should probably start preparing dinner.” She smiles to try to diffuse the tension in the room; it’s kind of working.
Melinda nods and goes to stand up with Jim when Katherine gives them a look.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Kat asks, raising an eyebrow.
Melinda blinks. “Uh… didn’t you say you were preparing dinner?” she asks. “We were headed to the door.”
“But then you’d miss dinner,” Katherine replies.
“Sorry, uh, we weren’t aware we were invited,” Jim replies.
“We’ve still got a bit to talk about, if you’re interested in hanging around,” Maria says. “It’s likely this’ll happen at the show tomorrow, too. It’s been like this for a while now. And if you’re our chance of stopping it… well, I think we can all agree we’d want to give you all the time in the world to figure it out.”
“Besides,” Maggie says, smiling widely. “We need an extra hand in the kitchen. Anne’s not allowed in there since the Knife Incident.”
Melinda looked alarmed. “The accidents have been happening here, too?”
“No,” Maggie replies. “We just can’t trust Anne, Katherine, and Cathy to be on their own with a bunch of knives and a dart board anymore.”
Jim looks concerned and Melinda’s very confused.
“Which K/Catherine-” Mel starts, but the queens laugh.
Catherine motions towards the kitchen. “Come on, Melinda, you can chop up some vegetables and we can keep on chatting.”
Melinda nods, then looks over at Jim. “Are you ok with this?”
“Free dinner? Yeah, sure,” he replies, smiling back at her. “I’ll get to work on some research while you guys are talking.”
“I’d like to help with that,” Anna says. “If you don’t mind.”
Mel nods appreciatively. “The more the merrier.”
Jim gives Melinda’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, and Melinda nods in his direction. It’s an unspoken conversation between them - if Mel needed anything, she can go to Jim, and Jim’ll be there. On the flip side, if he found anything out, he could come into the kitchen to let her know. All that exchanged in two movements and no words.
Honestly, Catherine thought as she led Melinda into the kitchen, it was rather adorable how the two interacted. A happy, healthy couple who had each other’s backs. She wouldn’t know what that felt like - not really - but she’s glad at least someone seemed to have a love story out of a storybook. It was a nice change of pace from the usual.
Anna was thinking something very similar as she replaced Melinda on the couch. “You two are something special, aren’t you?”
Jim chuckled. “We’ve been at this for years,” he said, unlocking his phone. “I’m not usually this involved in it, but I’m glad to be when she asks me to.”
“You guys are really adorable,” Bessie replies with a grin.
Jim’s about to reply when Anna sharply inhales some air, frowning as she looks down at her phone. Jim springs into action.
“Can I see?” Jim asks, offering Anna his hand. With some consideration, Anna puts her wrist in Jim’s hand, watching as he looks it over. “Bessie, do you guys have a first aid kit?”
“In the closet,” Bessie nods.
“Does it have an ace bandage?”
“Yeah.”
“Bring it over, please, and some ice in a bag from the freezer if you have any,” he says, and Bessie rushes to grab the requested materials. When she’s not in earshot, Jim speaks to Anna quietly so no one else can hear: “You know, if it was hurting this much, you shouldn’t have let Katherine grab it so often on the way here…”
Anna huffs.
“How’d you know?” Anna asks, tilting her head.
“When we were walking here,” Jim said, “I noticed that you were wincing, but it wasn’t in time with the walk. Then I saw Katherine take your arm and that’s when you winced.”
Anna is impressed. “All that from looking at me?”
“I’m an EMT back at home,” he explains, taking the first aid kit and pulling out the ace bandage. He wraps it and puts the ice on top.
“Amongst other things, I take it.” Anna replies. “More like us than them, right?”
Jim looks up at her, and Anna smirks a little bit. Jim tilts his head.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Anna smiles a bit wider and goes back to researching, leaving Jim confused.
Meanwhile, Melinda had been helping prep for dinner, watching as the other queens and ladies were preparing things as well.
“Are you sure it’s ok if we join you guys for dinner?” Melinda asks, cutting the vegetables as requested.
Catherine smiles. “It’s no problem at all. It’s been a while since we were able to cook for people, anyways.”
Melinda smiles politely back before looking around - she can hear some of the others talking in the other room, she can hear a child laughing again somewhere in the building, and she can already smell the dinner cooking. It seemed… peaceful.
“How many people know about you all?” Melinda asks, going back to preparing vegetables. “The truth, I mean.”
Catherine hums. “Not many. A handful.” She nods towards Cathy, who is putting something in the oven. “Cathy is the one to keep track of that.”
“It’s mainly need to know,” Cathy says. “We don’t exactly want everyone to know, it would scare quite a bit of people.”
“So do you have fake names for the board at the front of the lobby?” Melinda asks, genuinely curious.
Cathy nods. “Just there. It’s not in the programmes or anything. Just didn’t feel right.”
Melinda nods, wincing in pain for a moment before getting her bearings together.
Catherine tilts her head. “Are you ok? Here, eat something,” she says, putting an apple in front of the woman.
Mel shakes her head. “Not really that hungry, sorry,” she mumbles, a hand to her head. She sighs. “I was running a fever back in Grandview, too, when this all happened there.”
“What else happened while you were fighting these… Shadow, things?” Katherine asks, tilting her head curiously.
Melinda swallowed. “I… was consumed by it.”
Cathy tilts her head. “Consumed?”
Mel nods. “It wore me down. I couldn’t differentiate ghosts and visions from people and real life.” Her arms involuntarily cross as she remembers. “It was scary. I didn’t think I’d find my way back. I thought I was lost.”
“What got you back?” Catherine asks.
At that, Melinda smiles. “My son. And the memories of my family, my loved ones - it helped me break through.” She frowns. “We don’t have Aiden around this time, though. He was the reason why I could break through in the first place. He gave the opening. And he’s not here.” She frowns. “So… the big question is, what are we going to do if they try to take one of you?”
No one had an answer for that.
Meanwhile, Jim and Anna were sitting in the living room, looking through papers and websites to find leads. They had sat in relative silence for a while - a comfortable one, but silence nonetheless.
It’s broken when Jim makes a small noise of annoyance and puts down a piece of paper.
Anna raises an eyebrow and looks at him. “You alright, Jim?”
He looks over, a bit surprised by the question, but sighs and answers. “Look, Anna, the last time Melinda dealt with the Shadows… she almost didn’t make it out. It’s practically a miracle that she survived.” He sighs. “I know this is important, and I wouldn’t dream of stopping her from doing her work, but-”
“You don’t want her hurt in the process.” Anna finishes, a knowing nod.
Jim leans back a bit, slightly more relaxed. “Yeah.”
Anna thinks about it for a moment before she stands up and walks over to him. “Listen, Jim… I know we’ve only just met. But from what I can tell, you two have gone through much, much worse.” She points to his hair. “Your reflection is blonde, but you definitely aren’t. So, basically… this isn’t your first body, is it?” She looks him over. “It looks good, by the way, though I think I see what Melinda saw in your reflection, which I’m assuming is your second form? So I can see who you were but in reflections I see the body you’re in now?” She shrugs. “That’s what I’ve come to the conclusion to, anyways.”
Jim sits back, absolutely floored. “I’m extremely impressed that  you figure this out so quickly - I couldn’t even figure it out for a while.”
“It was more of theory than fact, but I’m glad I was right,” she says. “Maybe souls can see souls. And maybe you’re not so different from me and my family, and maybe you’ve been through something similar. I get supporting your wife and all, but you take it to an inhuman level.”
“I’m not…” He runs a hand through his hair; guess it’s time to come clean, he supposed. “This body was someone else’s before it was mine. He crossed over, and I took his place as soon as he did.” He looks her over. “Originally, Melinda was thinking you guys did something similar to the bodies you have now.”
“We didn’t,” she assures. “I know you can’t completely trust me, but we didn’t. We showed up in these bodies.”
“Have you tried sending off DNA or fingerprints or death records?” He suggests. “We’ve seen weird stuff, Anna, maybe you all happened to die at the same time and you jumped in after that. I didn’t remember doing that at first, either-”
“We didn’t.”
The two look over to find Katherine. She’s standing in the doorway, two plates in her hands, Melinda right behind her.
“Kat-” Anna starts, but Katherine moves into the room, offering Anna and Jim plates. They both take them. Jim moves over so Melinda can sit next to him as Katherine continues.
“We showed up with them,” she says firmly, looking over at Melinda.
Mel nods. “These bodies… they’re here, but they’re not,” she explains. She frowns as she looks at Katherine’s hand. “I get visions any time I touch them, and their energies are so strong… it’s like the Shadows, but not threatening. Not dangerous.”
“That’s… not something we’ve seen before,” Jim says. “Payne might know something about that. He said to call him if anything gets wild, didn’t he?”
“I left a message for him already,” Melinda explains. She sees Jim’s worried look next to her and gently squeezes his hand, letting him know she’s okay. “We’ll have an answer tomorrow.” She looks at the group. “He’s a professor of the occult. Used to work in Grandview, now he’s researching off in the Himalayas.”
“And you think he’ll be able to help us?” Anne asks.
“I think so,” Mel confirmed.
“That’s all we can do for now, right?” Jane asks, looking around. “Just wait until Professor Payne gives us some more information?”
“I think so,” Catherine replies with a nod. She looks at the couple with a soft smile. “You two should get some rest. Call time is fairly early.”
Melinda blinks. “Call time?”
“Well,” Anne says, smiling. “You want this solved as much as we do, right? Might as well give you the best access we can.”
“So you’ll be our VIP guests for as long as you need to be,” Jane continues. “Behind the scenes access before, during, and after the show.”
“We figured it would help with the investigation,” Anna replies. “Maybe help you catch whoever’s behind it, since we’re all in agreement it’s supernaturally aligned.”
“And besides,” Jane says with a teasing grin. “If someone gets injured again, Jim won’t have an excuse for being slow to help.”
Jim chuckles at that and looks over at Melinda. “Well, I guess we’ll reschedule the ghost tour of the Tower of London.”
“Why would you pay for that?” Anne jokes, waving her hand dismissively. “You’ve already met them.”
17 notes · View notes