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mercerislandbooks · 7 months

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Book Notes: Fantasy Roundup

Or, some ideas for what to read when you have a book hangover from Iron Flame:

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

When Emory is the sole survivor of a secret ritual in the caves below Aldryn College, her healer powers, given to those born during the new moon on a rising tide, begin to shift into something strange and uncontrollable. Will her estranged friend Baz, brother to one of the students who died, help Emory figure out her new powers and what really happened that night? This debut fantasy has it all — dark academia, an upper YA that crosses over beautifully into adult, a murder mystery, secret societies, forbidden magic, a pining romance and the most gorgeous book design I’ve seen in a while. The magic system is built around the moon phases and the tides. Curious Tides is book one of a planned duology.

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

What happens when Talasyn and Alaric, two soldiers from opposite sides of an entrenched war meet on the battlefield and discover their opposing powers combine to create something entirely new and unexpected? They continue to absolutely hate each other while having to work together to save their people from an even worse fate. Of course. And we all know what happens when two attractive people hate each other. Drawing inspiration from Southeast Asia, debut Filipino author Thea Guanzon has penned a fun, fresh fantasy that balances an authentic depiction of the toll of conflict on a population with a strong cast of characters and all the political machinations of Machiavelli. The Hurricane Wars is book one of a planned trilogy.

Godkiller by Hannah Kane

In a world where gods, fed by the attention, prayers, and offerings of humans, can also be destroyed by them, three disparate people come together to travel to the ruined city that was the last stand in the wars between gods and people. Kissen, a godkiller for hire. Elo, a former knight turned baker. And Inara, a young girl whose life has become intertwined with a god of white lies, Skedi. The four travel together to Blenraden, hopeful that they will find a way to untangle Skedi from Inara. All the feels of quest fantasy with characters that are delightfully flawed and human. The world building was immersive and queer normative with a host of diverse characters. The religious and magic system was at once familiar but with enough twists to make it unexpected. Godkiller is book one of a planned trilogy.

The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab

From page one of The Fragile Threads of Power, I was invested all over again in the world of the four Londons, seven years after the events from The Shades of Magic trilogy (also excellent, if you want to start there). The plot works together like interchanging gears, or a chess game, the movement of each character affecting the others, often unknowingly. There are characters from the original trilogy, new additions, and Tes, the one who, unconsciously, holds the key to everything. Schwab investigates power in this novel -- who has it and who controls it, and by whose standards its morality is judged. Schwab puts a lot of things in motion in this book, and only a few are resolved by the end. The Fragile Threads of Power is book one of planned trilogy. You can always go back and read The Shades of Magic series in the meantime!

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

I can’t think of a more fun combination than 1880’s Egyptian archeological digs, a feisty heroine determined to find out what happened to her explorer parents, and a current of magic running through it all. When Inez Olivera hears that her parents, on a dig in Egypt, are presumed dead, she takes matters into her own hands. Inez books passage from Bolivia to Egypt, intent on discovering the truth. What she finds in Egypt is an infuriatingly handsome young man, assisting her guardian in carrying on her parents discoveries, and men thwarting her inquiries at every turn. Add to this a mysterious ring that connects Inez to the magic of the past and the questions continue to pile up. It will take a trip up the Nile and many near escapes just to get Inez closer to any answers. Packed with action, a slow burn romance, and a huge twist kept me enthralled to the very last page. What the River Knows is book one of a planned YA duology.

Hopefully you find one, or many, of these titles to be a satisfying read!

— Lori

#island books #lori robinson #book notes #fantasy reads #ya fantasy #curious tides #pascale lacelle #hurricane wars #godkiller #hannah kaner #v. e. schwab #fragile threads of power #isabel ibanez #what the river knows #thea guanzon

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longislandcharm · 2 months

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TIMING: Mid March LOCATION: Thea's house/Worm Row, directly after this thread. PARTIES:@longislandcharm and @notstinky and @the-lil-exorcist SUMMARY: A poltergeist is discovered in Thea's house. Winter calls Lil for help. CONTENT WARNINGS: None!

Lil had gotten the call and almost immediately took off to where Winter was, slightly annoyed and more so worried for the other. Mediums were often the targets of poltergeists and it sounded bad. Scary bad, and something that Lil needed to deal with now, before the other got hurt. So, with her socks half on and her shoes heelie-less, Lil had rushed out of the house to go get Winter and whatever was happening.

Arriving where the other had said, Lil couldn’t quite make sense of what was happening. Figuring that this was not the time to look around and not thinking that the owners of the place were going to fight her specifically, Lil kicked down the door, rushing in worried.

“What the fuck is going on?” Lil asked her eyes trying to take in the scene and find the other. Fuck maybe she shouldn't be a teacher, if this was the result. Still, she was probably the closest person that could do something. “Winter, where are you?”

It was utter chaos at Thea's house. Winter had tried to do something good for once in her life and look where it had gotten her: in the middle of a poltergeist tantrum that she knew wouldn't end anytime soon. The medium was huddled with the owner of the house inside of a closet in Thea's room after calling Lil to come meet them, Henry crouched down next to them if only to be a source of comfort while the ghost outside continued to throw things around. Loud thumps sounded against the door, the wood cracking under the weight of whatever objects were being thrown their way, when she heard another thud join in followed by the sound of her mentor's voice calling out for her.

“Oh, thank god.” Or...thank Lil, anyway. “Do you think we can slip out while it's on a rampage?” She wasn't sure who her question was directed towards, Thea or Henry, but she knew that there was only one answer for it. Either Winter had to yell loud enough for Lil to hear her above the racket the ghost was making or she had to face the thing that was outside trying desperately to get its claws into her...or whatever it was that ghosts did to harm others.

“I don't think there's any way to distract it?” Henry finally said it out loud and Winter let out a guttural sound, knowing this wasn't going to go her way no matter what she did. “Hopefully Lil will hear us if we both yell.” Her gaze turned to Thea, Winter not wanting to risk letting her go out there as much as she didn't want to risk herself. Thea couldn't even see it, she would be at a complete disadvantage. “On three we both yell for her. Maybe this thing will be concentrating on trying to get to us hard enough to allow her to stop it?”

She didn't know if that would work but they had to try. If they didn't do something soon the damage to Thea's house would be too much to repair. She'd already seen a huge chunk missing from the girl's bedroom wall before they locked themselves in with her clothes. “Alright...1,2, 3.” She took in a deep breath before screaming the other medium's name at the top of her lungs, making the poltergeist even angrier. The door started to rattle even harder, Winter knowing it didn't have long before the wood splintered completely and exposed them both.

Thea held her hands over her ears, rocking back and forth. She’d tried Wizard of Oz—knocking her feet together, mumbling that there’s no place like home—but that hadn’t worked. And why would it have? This was her home. Well, if the sorry state of her bedroom was any indication, it wouldn’t be her home for long. Tears streamed down her blotchy red cheeks. What was the name of the person Winter had called? It was something like Lola? Fuck. “Uh, okay. Fuck. Okay. On three? Okay…” Thea counted along with winter and bellowed in tandem, “Lauren!” Thea winced at the shrillness of their voices. Outside the closet they were huddled in, which was thankfully quite spacious, the thing—ghost, poltergeist, extremely elaborate and kinda mean prank—raged, throwing her furniture around like a tornado, taking chunks of her house with every loud clang and shuddering crack. “Lettuce! Little! I don’t know, whoever the fuck…” A crack splintered through the wood of the closet and Thea shrekied, flattening herself against her sweaters. “Help me Obi Lil Kenobi, you’re my only ho!” Humor was great for mitigating the horror that quivered through her.

“Winter…” Thea turned to her companion. “I-If we die I just want to say that I’m really sorry. For inviting you here…and, uh, also that your parents named you after a season. At least you’re not ‘Summer’, right?” She offered a thin smile, eyes watery. She really hoped Luna would be coming soon.

Lil, ironically, couldn't hear the ghost much. Sure the whooshing sounds were loud as it shook the door her eyes focused on hearing two people screaming - well one was Winter saying her name at least. If she hadn’t been so focused she would have laughed as the other seemed to not know who she was. It was easy to locate them and she moved through the house to where the screaming was happening. It wasn’t hard, the ghost throwing everything that the owner had around the room. It was pissed - and she wondered what the fuck Winter had done.

That was for later Lil to figure out. Now she had to make sure that the two screaming for her were okay. When it was between a teachable moment and safety, she was always going to choose the safe one.

Turning the corner and hearing a crash she realized what was going on. Cursing under her breath for a moment she turned back ground the corner dropping her back and pulling the chalk and salt she had she sighed knowing that this was going to suck and she was about to get thrown by a ghost again before she leaned over to draw a circle on the ground hoping whoever owned the house wouldn’t mind. If she annoyed it right she could get it to push her back to the circle and trap it.

Hearing the crash and knowing that she had to move quick Lil moved quickly calling out, “ I’m here. Sit tight guys. I’m going to get it. Ghost in there with Winter - get away from the door I don’t want you caught in what I’m about to do. Winter this fucker’s going to try to body hop ask your ghost friend in there to stop it from trying please!” She knew it was dumb but her handful of salt was going to at least stop the poltergeist from getting through that door. Still, if she asked the ghost who was attached to her to help, she might also be able to protect the not medium friend from getting jumped.

“Hey asshole! Get away from the fucking door idiot I’m the exorcist. You'd better pay attention to me. Cause I’m the one that’s going to hurt you,” Lil bellowed, moving towards the door, moving to spread the salt in a line before facing a very pissed off poltergeist. Good. She was better at handling an annoyed ghost than anything else and she wasn’t in the mood.

“Thea, we’re not going to die, get that out of your head right now.” Winter decided to ignore the comments about her name, now was not the time to go into her regular spiel about it. She knew she had pissed off this poltergeist but with Lil’s warning she now realized it was trying to get to the other girl for more nefarious purposes. Her eyes cut to Henry who shrugged, obviously not sure how to go about keeping the poltergeist at bay. “I don’t know! Just get in front of her and try not to let it through you!” Poor Henry looked exasperated but did as he was told, standing in front of the cowering girls and directly behind the door that was now opening wider from the split with each blow from the other ghost. It was ignoring Lil altogether, not surprising considering the goal.

She started to scan the contents of the closet, trying to find anything she could use to deter the ghost but it was highly unlikely she would be able to put the contents of the small space to use. Why hadn’t she bought her iron bracelet yet? She’d only wanted it to keep Henry away but she should have known coming into something like this she might need something other than the salt. “Thea, you don’t have anything that’s made of iron in here, do you?” It was a long shot but Winter was desperate. After seeing the state of the other’s room before shutting themselves in here she knew this was no ghost to tussle with and who knew how long it could take Lil to get inside.

“We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die…” Thea repeated as she rocked back and forth; the thought was not getting out of her head. Was the afterlife nice? Would she still be lactose intolerant in the afterlife? She hoped not; she’d really love heaven mac and cheese. Oh, who was she kidding? She was not going to heaven. She didn’t know the girl on the outside; Loba, Lora, Lasagna, whoever she was. She didn’t know if she could trust her or what she looked like or she was the one that facilitated the strange prank, but Thea realized quickly that she didn’t have a choice. She had to trust Laryngitis. “Body hop?” Thea turned to Winter. “Is that--that doesn’t sound fun.”

Her ears burned at the suggestion of iron. Quickly, she reached up into her small assortment of coats. “Yes, actually, I went to this vintage shop and…” She trailed off, deciding that Winter didn’t need the history. She’d found something with the cutest little buttons: iron, as she’d later found out. She ripped them all off, thrusting two towards Winter as she shoved the rest under the closet doors. “Those are iron buttons, Lactose!” she called out.

She didn’t know what they would be good for, but now wasn’t the time to question anything.

Lil realized after a moment it still wasn’t really noticing her the anger still not directed at her. Fuck. She’d have to do a backup plan - and she’d have to ask Winter what the hell they’d done to make it so angry that Lil couldn’t automatically pose a threat. Still, she moved into the swirling hurricane of a spirit. Figuring it might just be easier to get it trapped when she wasn’t the main object. It was harder to make a circle, the spirit’s motion closer to a hurricane then something Lil should reasonably get closer too.

Still, she gritted her teeth and pushed on dropping to the floor to do so and trying to not pay attention to the screams of the other two. Sighing and knowing that there was a chance she was about to get thrown she moved in front of the ghost completing the circle as it suddenly realized Lil was there.

“Oh fuck you man I gave you a warning -” Lil said suddenly being pushed away as it realized the circle was there, an object hitting her as she yelped ducking again before putting her hand on her necklace, starting to chant as the ghost now realized what Lil was. She was just glad she couldn’t hear what the hell the spirit was saying, curling into a ball and speaking as clearly as she could.

The question of body hopping momentarily had Winter stumped, not really sure what to say to the already terrified girl next to her. She could make it worse if she tried to explain so she just shook her head as the ghost kept crashing into the door. “I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s nothing really, just keep coming up with weird names for Lil. Lettuce…was pretty?” How the hell did someone comfort another during this situation? Or at all? Henry looked back at her, clearly wondering what the hell Winter was on about, but turned his attention to the door as it finally cracked completely open.

His hands were up in an instant, doing his best to hold back the furious poltergeist as it fought to get to Thea, but he wasn’t as strong as the other ghost. Shockingly, the other girl came through with the iron, Winter grateful as the cold hit her hands. She scooted so that she was in front of Thea and held out the buttons towards the two ghosts knowing that Henry was seconds from losing his grip on the other.

But Lil, sweet beautiful Lil, finished the circle around the ghost just before Henry got thrown to the other side of it slamming against the wall that was containing both of the girls. She watched through the cracks as the medium got thrown, Winter yelping the girl’s name in hopes of getting an answer. Luckily, her answer came in the form of chanting that the other medium didn’t understand but knew had to be some sort of saving grace for them all.

That was when the room started to shake. Her eyes widened as the poltergeist’s anger really started to manifest around them, clearly not enjoying the fact that it was trapped and close to being taken out. Lamps exploding, furniture being thrown through the plaster of the walls, a curtain now on fire from the sparks of electricity, it was turning into hell in that bedroom and if they didn’t get out soon it would end in tragedy. “Lil, please hurry!”

“I’m kinda out of words that start with L!” Thea admitted with a slight embarrassment. “What did you say? Lil? Is it because she’s little? That’s kinda mean, Winter.” It was worse than Lettuce, in her opinion. But Thea shut her eyes, recognizing that she had nothing to really offer her but her company—which wasn’t much. Winter moved closer to her, holding up the buttons, and Thea tried not to think (which was something she’d never been very good at).

If she died here, would she have lived a good life? Probably not. If the roof fell in on her, could she say she was happy? No, absolutely not. In her youth, Thea penned a list of her aspirations: go to university, get a degree, have a wife, be an astronaut. How could she quantify her life? She hadn’t done anything; she hadn’t become anyone. She was just Thea, in a closet, trying not to cry and having already failed at that. “Lady! Location! Loaf! Lion! Lamp!” She screeched the words, summoning them from the depths; that part of her that had really loved Scrabble. “I want to live,” Thea yelled, “I want to get out of here! End it! Finish it! Save us!” Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

Lil concentrated on the words, keeping the chant up as the house shook ignoring the other’s who were asking her to finish it. It wasn’t out of malice or that she didn’t care - Lil cared a lot but at the moment the chant was more important. A sudden glow happened as she pulled herself back up looking at the poltergeist a focus that in day-to-day life Lil never had.

In the middle of chaos Lil often found some sort of peace, something she wasn’t particularly found in exploring as she watched from the ground her hand gripping her necklace she looked absolutely calm in the moment as she reached the end of the chant seeing the poltergeist looking screaming mad.

The floor shook the weird tornado of things swirling around trying to hit Lil and then suddenly there was a light - and like everything else in her life things crashed down.

Then suddenly it was quiet - at least for Lil, she didn’t know what the poltergeist said looking at her and disappearing. For a moment she said nothing until she called out “You two okay - You can come out now.”

Lil’s voice was a little weaker than she liked it to be and there was a bruise forming where a lamp hit her, but other than that she was pretty sure the living room took most of the beating. “And my name Is Lil - Winter what the hell happened here?”

“It’s because that’s her name!” Why was this girl so insistent on yelling out everything that started with an L? They were kind of busy trying not to die! But it didn’t help that she was starting to lose it too so Winter took a breath to try and calm her nerves. Thea had no idea what was going on here, she couldn’t blame her for trying to concentrate on something else entirely.

She could hear commotion outside the door and she peaked through the crack again to see what was going on. The poltergeist was angry as Lil continued to chant but then there was a light and the crash of all of the belongings floating through the air. The ghost was gone with a simple “But it’s my house…” Everything was calm with the exception of the fire that had started the flicker of the flames glowing through the crack in the door, which prompted Winter to crawl out of the enclosed space as quickly as she could.

Standing, the girl tried her best to look composed as she smoothed over her shirt but she wouldn’t meet Lil’s eyes. “I thought I could handle it. I didn’t know it was a poltergeist.” There was no shame lacing her words, more like defiance, but she sure as hell felt it along with the relief that had taken over her panic. A headache was forming as her adrenaline started to rush out of her body but there was something else to worry about here. “I think we’re okay though…Thea, are you okay?”

She looked back at the open closet door, watching Henry as he got to his feet and moved out. Then her eyes went to the person who actually lived in this house. “We might want to get out of here and call the fire department…”

Smoke was all Thea could smell. It was almost comforting, like autumn nights by a crackling fire, almost. She burst out of the closet, crawling around the floor. After going around another torn floorboard, Thea pushed herself up. Her room was a mess; as if a localized tornado had run through, splintering and pulling everything in its path. “I’m sorry I called you ‘lettuce’,” Thea said to the woman who’d saved them—Lil. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and hoped neither woman noticed, but knew that they had. Winter and Lil couldn’t have been that much older than her and still, somehow, she felt like a kid. Still, somehow, she felt like this was her fault. “Winter was trying to help me,” Thea said; she wasn’t going to dissect the ‘poltergeist’ part of Winter’s sentence. “And she did! I probably would’ve been crushed, since she’s the one who insisted it might be ghosts. And I guess it was ghosts. So, yeah, Winter helped me.” Thea felt the need to defend Winter to Lil, it didn’t sound like Lil was scolding Winter, but there was some sort of dynamic between them that pushed up her need to soothe turbulence.

“Am I okay?” Thea pointed to herself, incredulous. “Is she okay?” She pointed at Lil, and the bruise forming. “Are you okay?” she asked Winter, expecting that the answer for all of them was a ‘no’ that they’d lie about and call a ‘yes, I am okay’. “Do you think I’ll get my deposit back?” As Thea asked, the ceiling cracked and a small section of drywall and insulation fell into the flames. “Okay, maybe not.” She turned her attention back to them. It was a small miracle that her important documents were with Van—now who was being financially irresponsible by renting out a room she didn’t need? It was less of a miracle that some things she loved were still here: the coat she’d come into Maine with, bits of jewelry, shoes and memories. Despite all its faults, she’d loved this house. It was the place that had made her feel normal. Now, it was anything but. She was cursed; this was all her fault.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, pushing out of the room. The door had been ripped from the wall, thrown into one of her roommate’s rooms—who wasn’t here, because they were never here. “Let’s get out of here.”

#Threads #Thread: Lil #Thread: Thea

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thehazbins · 27 days

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Continued from here with @keeperofquestions

At the sound of his voice Thea's eyes shot open and she sat up. Her grip on his hand tightening ever so slightly. "Phel. You're awake." She stated simply, scooting over to give him the lightest of hugs. One that clearly wanted to be stronger, harder, more but she couldn't. She couldn't hurt him.

"What happened? Why were you home so late? Why were you hurt? Why didn't you notify me? I heard you get home but I could have been waiting! Sound the alarms next time. Where where you? Why couldn't I be with you?" She assaulted him with a barrage of questions. All meant out of some form of love and care. Each one full of a pain of having worried about him.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Does anything need to be changed, I should check your shoulder..." She pulled back and despite looking like she hadn't slept more than a few minutes, she was up and seeking out bandages.

#keeperofquestions #muse; thea #verse; arranged #thread; injured

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theawaldrof · 3 months

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who: Lucy Edwards @lucymargotedwards where: Through the Grapevine Winery

Placing the glass of wine to her lips, Thea looked over at her friend as she sighed. "I owe you a lot you know?" she spoke, letting the flavor of the wine hit her lips before she exhaled, her phone in her hand. Lucy was one of those friends that Thea was thankful for; she'd been there for Thea in some of her hardest times, helping Thea cope with the loss of her father while also being the badass that she was. It had been Lucy who had kept Thea sane when she was away as well, promising - and fulfilling - to be there for her father, and Thea knew that was something that she'd never be able to truly pay back. "Seriously. You ever need a kidney, someone to flirt back with someone to get someone to stop flirting with you or that wife or yours, any of it.. I'm your girl." she playfully winked.

#thea x lucy #lucy thread; 001

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notstinky · 4 months

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[Left on Thea’s bed after Van has gone to work is this, along with a poorly drawn DIY movie ticket, for you know, when they watch that movie]

I don’t know if this is like, good, good but it says STEM! And space is STEM. Anyway, I hope the clouds go away so you can look at the stars and Jupiter and stuff! Please show me Mars sometime!!

- Van

(not like the car)

#submission #when crafting thea's character i went deep into reddit threads about what telescope was best #its horrible that she has a fancy very important telescope #but she gets this telescope from van and she's like actually.....i didn't even like looking at jupiter #actually i just wanted to see the moon anyway #actually i love my 480p telescope of love #THE STEM STICKER SENDS ME #to mars actually #hi im here #i hope no one actually reads my tags idk what happens where #*here #so sorry that my dedicated tag readers had to see that disgraceful typo #anyways i bet thea really loves this #i bet she has this one permanently set up to look at the moon #NOT LIKE THE CAR..very important....#THE MOVIE TICKET.........

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wildcnes · 2 months

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small starter for @blushdrunks

❝ i know you have no reason to trust me, baby. in fact, you have every right to slam that door right back in my face but — i miss you. i fucking miss having you in my life. that's really all i came here to say. ❞

#blushdrunks #interactions: austin & thea.#threads: austin monroe.

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whispercddesires · 7 days

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"Can you stop being so stubborn and come out here." / @writermuses

#writermuses #thread: mikael x thea sofia 001 #(( idek.. go with it ))

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letsbenditlikebennett · 9 months

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TIMING: Before Cass gave Thea that haircut. PARTIES: @notstinky & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Alex last minute texts the Allgoods group chat to see if anyone wants to join her for a picnic. Thea is the only one who joins and the two attempt to have a picnic.

Thea knew it was a bad idea to make a southern style bacon and tomato pie for a picnic. Which was why she had also made a peach galette and salmon salad. Thea wanted to impress and there wasn’t much she could do in that department: she wasn’t particularly funny, her intelligence was overshadowed by her naïveté and sometimes talking to people made her so anxious, she didn’t talk at all. She was, however, a decent cook-- not a chef by any fancy standards but someone who enjoyed the practice and was good at following instructions just as much as she was willing to do tedious work. By the time she was done, she had enough for a picnic of her own and she was also a few minutes late. She didn’t bother to check her phone, rushing to the common on her bike as fast as she could. She carried the bike and her basket up a small hill, heaving when she found… no one. Thea blinked. This was the spot, wasn’t it? This was the time they were supposed to meet, wasn’t it?

When a figure approached, Thea squinted, holding up her basket. “Um, were you here for the picnic too?” Had it been canceled? Surely she wasn’t that late.

—

Ever since finding out about the mushrooms, Alex had been a little uneasy about where she stood in most of her relationships. Obviously, everything with Cass had a huge question mark over it. How much of Alex had she actually liked and how much was just some weird high? Even the new friends she made were all friends with Cass and she couldn’t help but wonder how tentative that made her place in the friend group. Sure, being the girl who can step up in an emergency was a good niche to fill, but that hardly made her the first on someone’s party invite list, she was certain.

So even if the text to the group chat was likely going to be met with cricket sounds, Alex decided to invite the usual crew to the Common for a picnic. Andy had brought home a ton of nice breads and while the werewolf could not be trusted with a stove, she could be trusted with cold cuts and cheese. A couple of people agreed to meet, but by the time she had gotten to their meeting spot, most had backed out. She had been about to turn around when she realized someone was in fact there. Then she was being greeted and she felt a rush of relief. See, she could be social on her own merit. It felt like that counted for something. “Yeah,” she exclaimed, “I think everyone else backed out, but I made some sandwiches. Nothing crazy.”

Mostly ham and cheese because she had hoped Nora would come and Nora loved ham. Hopefully this new friend liked ham too and would in fact, be a new friend. “I’m Alex,” she said, extending her hand to shake Thea’s, “I don’t think we’ve met? I’ve only been to a couple of parties with everyone… but if you’re down to picnic still, I am too.”

—

Thea flushed, joining her strawberry dress in color. Of course, sandwiches were a normal picnic food to bring. The sort of thing smart, normal people brought. She eyed the horizon, considering throwing her basket down the hill. “I made a bacon and tomato pie,” she mumbled. “And a peach galette and a salmon salad.” And enough shame for a few lifetimes, at least. If she threw it all away, at least she wouldn’t have to face the knowledge that Alex had witnessed her desperation to be liked. So desperate, so embarrassing, that she hadn’t even checked the group chat to see that no one else was coming. She was, however, glad that she’d showed up—just so Alex wouldn’t be alone. “My worst nightmare is no one showing up to my events,” she said, not realizing that it wasn’t the sort of thing you told someone who was experiencing just that. “I get sweaty just thinking about it.”

Thea stuck out her hand, smiling brilliantly, “I’m Cyn—Thea. Sorry, just Thea. It’s nice to meet you, Alex.” Her eyes drifted to her basket. “I, uh, packed way too much.” It wasn’t too late to throw it and pretend Alex didn’t see anything, was it?

—

Next time she planned a social event, maybe it’d be a good idea to put some actual planning into it. Alex felt bad that Thea had put so much effort into her contributions to the picnic and the only person here was her. Sure, the werewolf could put back more food than your average girl, but she was sure it was meant for a group to enjoy. “Sorry,” she murmured with a hand uneasily stroking the back of her neck, “I’m not really the best at planning these sorts of things. But that all sounds super delicious if you’re still down to hang out.”

She extended her hand to properly introduce herself, “I’m Alex.” She caught onto the minor way Thea tripped over her own name, but Alex wasn’t about to point it out. “Good to meet you.” She thought about the whole nightmare thing and maybe if she had put more effort into planning this, she’d be horrified, but she couldn’t imagine no one showing up being worse than her usual dose of self-loathing. “Heh, I guess it depends on the context. Could be a nightmare if it was like a big party,” she mused, “Especially if I planned it for someone else.”

Since she had company now, Alex pulled one of the picnic blankets out of her bag and laid it down on the ground. From what she could smell, the dishes Thea brought smelled amazing and she was hungry, but then there was something else there too that made her pause. She looked up a bit surprised and determined no one else was nearby. There was definitely a werewolf, she could smell another werewolf, which meant Thea was also a werewolf. Did she know or would this be another Gael situation? She hoped it wasn’t the latter. Her head tilted and she gave the other wolf a quizzical look. “So, uh…,” she started, awkwardly gesturing between them, “Lycanthropy, am I right?” Well, that was decidedly not smooth and probably sounded crazy to Thea if she didn’t know, but her patience was already being worn down in that department with Gael.

—

Thea came with every intention of making new friends who thought she was cool and normal and so, even if her audience was just Alex, she intended on doing just that. Slowly, she unpacked the contents of her basket—the pie, the galette, the salad, the cutlery and plates. She hoped Alex was hungry, at least. “Planning stuff is harder than it seems,” Thea nodded. “You can’t just say ‘hey show up to my thing’ but also, what else are you gonna do? And when people flake on you, it’s not like you can force ‘em to come anyway. Hey, what do you want first?” Thea gestured to her assortment of food and then to Alex’s sandwiches. Now she felt silly about not bringing anything to drink. She had picked up the knife, ready to cut up her pie when the word rang out over the still, summer air.

Lycanthropy. Of course Thea knew what it meant; she had been there when Twilight had hit its Hollywood stride and then, later, when Teen Wolf was airing (though in her opinion the show really fell off after Allison Argent died). She knew the word. She was the word. Her eyes grew wide and the knife wobbled in her quivering grip. Her palms grew hot. “W-what?” She turned to Alex, panic bubbling off of her. She sniffed the air to no avail; the world and its scents were still a mystery concoction to Thea. The grass was grassy, the dirty was dirty, Alex was Alexy? She didn’t know. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. Suddenly, her mouth was desert dry. “L-like Jacob f-from Twilight? B-bella, where the-the hell have you been, loca?” Thea laughed and the knife slipped from her hands, stabbing into the ground, the handle perfectly vertical. “I like, uh, vampires more.”

—

“You’re so right,” Alex joked with a smile, “But hey, you showed up which means I get to know you now, so I think it turned out alright this time.” It was still a little embarrassing that no one else had showed up, but Thea seemed pretty cool and understanding about it… and packed a lot of really delicious sounding food that Alex was looking forward to trying since all of it sounded delicious. “Mm, maybe the tomato bacon pie? That’s like… three of my favorite things. Tomatoes, bacon, and pie,” she exclaimed.

There was a long pause and she could see the way the knife shook in Thea’s hand. At least that hopefully meant the other werewolf at least knew she was a werewolf, something Alex couldn’t seem to get through Gael’s head. But then Thea was writing it off and talking about Twilight and Alex wondered if she couldn’t tell they were the same.

“Uh, lycanthropy,” she said slowly, “Like werewolves?” There was clearly a reference there that Alex didn’t understand since she’d never seen the movies or read the books. She tilted her head slightly confused before giving a shrug. “Not like Twilight,” she laughed nervously, “Never read or seen it actually. But can’t say I’ve met a vampire for reference. Zombies are pretty cool though… not really what I was getting at.”

She took some of the sandwiches out of her pack and placed a few between them. Alex wasn’t sure how to address the elephant in the room… or wolf in the field? “The word made you nervous…,” she trailed off, “Do you not smell it? The whole we’re the same in that thing?”

—

“WOW, you’ve never seen Twilight?” Thea laughed loud and nervously. Her heart punched the edge of her ribs in quick, suffocating pumps. The scene around her spun and twisted, like water dropped on a painting. Everything was a blurry mess of green and blue and then, a series of grays. She could only tell where Alex was by the smell of her, which she refused to categorize. “I b-b-bet you don’t know…” she slurred, her words tumbling quickly over each other. “…a-about the ugly baby.” With hindsight, she might have laughed; it was kind of funny to be talking about Renesmee while her body unraveled. Her throat squeezed, pinching her airway into a thin tube with a tiny hole and Thea had to push in as much air into her body as she could. She pressed her plan to her chest, marveling at the rapid hammering of her heart, then, worrying over it. Surely, she was dying.

Thea squeezed her eyes shut, her body rang out like a tuning fork hit at a bad angle. The discordance made her feel like she was dying and her body, panicked, continued its reaction accordingly. It wasn’t until the sweet smell of flour, the savory kick of ham and the unmistakable odor of cheese wafted into her nostrils that her mind rendered into a fireworks show shot off its last multicolor explosion. Her father made her ham and cheese sandwiches all the time; it was all they had money for and the only thing time would allow him to make before work. Thea should have gotten sick of eating the same thing day after day, but she was a creature of habits and rituals and nothing soothed her more than something that operated without change. She opened her eyes and stared at the sandwiches wrapped in plastic. She’d come here for a new chance at normal. Thea looked at Alex, smiling brilliantly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Thea pulled her knife from the ground and pointed it at Alex. Then, grinning, she cut into the tomato pie. “I’m just a normal girl with a bit of a moon-based issue.” She put a slice on to a plate and set it in front of Alex. “I haven’t done anything wrong. Ever. I’m totally normal and okay. Oh, I’ve got some water in…” She pulled a water bottle out of the basket and set it in front of Alex, adjusting all the angles so everything sat just right. “If you’re going to claim that you turn into a monster every full moon, and some, and hurt people… well…I don’t think that’s me. I’m very normal, Alex. My problem is just a teeny tiny little thing—you say lycanthropy and that’s just so weird and scary. You might be a weirdo, but not me. The only thing I smell is ham and cheese.”

—

“I don’t know about any ugly babies,” Alex said with a confused grimace. What did ugly babies have to do with anything? Was it actually okay to call a baby ugly? That seemed kind of mean. It was just a baby. She assumed the baby had to have some sort of nonsense going on if it was from Twilight though, so she was going to have to trust Thea on that one… or simply ask Cass about it later. When it came to rocks and movies, Cass was better than Google. Google didn’t look cute while answering her questions and Cass looked cute always. The potentially ugly baby from Twilight was hardly the point though and neither was getting lost in thoughts of simping over her girlfriend. There were two werewolves in the field here and apparently only one of them realized it.

If she weren’t so worried about the fact that there was another werewolf that was clueless about being a werewolf, Alex would have felt a little bit bad about the way Thea was stumbling over her words and how she could hear the girl’s heartbeat beginning to race in her chest. All the telltale signs that the other girl was nervous, but she couldn’t drop this. A werewolf had to know what they were so they could prevent a whole lot of bloodshed. She tried to soften her features all the same, but found she wasn’t sure what to do with her hands. Her and Thea weren’t close enough for her to give her shoulder a comforting squeeze or something.

“A moon based issue,” Alex repeated while pinching the bridge of her nose. Was that better or worse than ‘sleepwalking’ as Gael so aptly put it? It at least sounded a little bit more in the realm of self awareness, but not by very much. She made an effort to remove her hands from her face and soften her features. Coming in hot or showing her annoyance wasn’t going to help here. It’s not like it was Thea she was annoyed with, anyhow. It was moreso the ever growing pile of what the fuck getting bigger that was frustrating, but that was hardly on any one person. “How is a moon based issue different from lycanthropy, exactly,” she asked as patiently as she could muster.

The pie was on a plate in front of her and Thea continued with such an insistent nonchalance that Alex almost wanted to drop it. But she could hear the way Thea’s heart raced and she could smell the wolf on her. She had Alan and Gael, but some selfish part of her wanted someone closer to her own age that she could relate to in all of this. She chewed at her lower lip and her fork played at the pie on her plate. “Uh,” she started nervously, “Fine, let’s say moon-based issue then. You have a moon-based issue, I have a moon-based issue. Let’s be friends about it?” Smooth.

“Hey,” she shot back when she fully realized what was said, “I’m not a weirdo.” Speaking the truth plainly wasn’t weird. Maybe Alex knew that simple terms did sound crazy, especially to someone who didn’t grow up around all of this, but she wasn’t weird just because she never had a choice when it came to knowing all of this.

—

You’re an ugly baby, she thought, but decided not to exclaim. It was a little too mean and Alex’s only crime was ruining their nice picnic. Which was a pretty big crime to Thea, who adored the sacred art of the picnic, but not so large that she couldn’t forget it with enough willpower. Her mind kicked up like the engine of an old car, sputtering at first but humming with a heavy sense of life once it was ready. Alex didn’t say anything, she told herself. Alex was normal, she thought. I am normal. I am normal. I am normal. She wasn’t some freak, she wasn’t a monster, she didn’t eat people, fuck the moon. For a moment, some piece of her churning mind thought about Nora and that day in her crypt. Normal could be what they made it; she could be a wolf and normal. But Nora wasn’t here, even as Thea found herself desperately hoping her friend would be. She couldn’t will Nora into existence just by wanting her there, which was all the better for Nora, she thought, as it would’ve gotten annoying to materialize at her side every two minutes. In the end, her chant turned into a screaming choir and there was nothing inside of her but the promise that she was normal.

The wolf was a strange creature; Thea didn’t understand it, Thea didn’t want to understand it. In these moments, where her skin burned and her bones ached with strange desires of splintering, all she could do to keep the wolf away was to tell herself that it didn’t exist. It would’ve been very bad for Alex if the wolf was real. “Because lycanthropy is a fantasy word,” she said, calm as the blue sky and its fluffy white clouds. “People don’t actually turn into wolves because that would be weird and stupid.” The wolf was a tiny black hole in the center of Thea’s body and inside of the singularity, an eye looked up at her. It was watching; it was waiting.

Thea pushed herself off the ground, brushing imaginary flecks of dirt off her nice summer dress. “I don’t think I like you very much, Alex,” she announced matter-of-factly, “I don’t know if I want to be your friend. You make up strange words. You say weird stuff. You accuse people of stupid, nonexistent things.” She turned and grabbed her bike, picking it up off the ground. The black hole pulsed, expanding by a tenth of an inch. An impurity was devoured; another thing she tried to deny the existence of. “No wonder,” she said, “no one came to your picnic.”

—

Something in the response left Alex feeling indignant. All the patience that she had found when she realized what Gael was seemed to be completely absent in her meeting with Thea. The younger werewolf didn’t have the benefit of being an older adult that Alex was desperate to please which likely played into the lack of patience she was exhibiting. Plus, there was enough self-recognition there to realize it was a moon-based issue, so why could Thea just not put that last piece together? It was a willful refusal to accept the truth and given how many people that put in danger, it was hard not to grow agitated with the other werewolf.

“Uh huh,” Alex retorted with an eye roll, “Because a moon-based issue sounds so much less weird and stupid.” At that point, she was almost relieved that Thea was pushing herself off the ground and leaving her to enjoy her ham and cheese sandwiches in peace. Part of her knew she should push the issue harder, but there was a couple of weeks until the next full moon. Surely it’d be easy enough to get back in contact with Thea and have someone else look over the other werewolf when the time came. Right now, she was hungry and frustrated, so she let Thea leave with nothing more than a huff. It didn’t matter if Thea liked her so long as the girl wasn’t going out and turning whatever neighborhood she was in into an all-you-can-eat werewolf buffet. “I’d rather eat alone anyway,” she leered as the other werewolf rode off on her bike. Maybe that was a lie, it’d be nice if Cass or literally any of their other friends were here, but what could she really expect from an impromptu text meet-up? Apparently the answer to that was in-denial werewolves.

#wr thea #threads; with thea #threads; with thea; ugly cgi babies #(never been a natural all i do is try try try) ;; writing #(the moonlight's blinding) ;; season 1 writing

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onebigerror · 2 months

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@atrickrtreat liked this lyric starter call // still accepting

track 4 // down bad

"show me that this world is bigger than us..."

#atrickortreat #↾ ֍ ben miller ⋯ interactions ֎ ↿#↾ ֍ ben miller ⋯ closed starter ֎ ↿#↾ ben x thea (002 / atrickortreat) ↿#↾ ֍ all queued up : queue ֎ ↿#( add to thread tracker )

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fcmalerage · 2 months

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open: anyone ! muse: thea perez + art curator. setting: an after party of her exhibit where she invited you.

" what are you doing here ? " her temple creased in either confusion or surprise. " i thought you weren't able to make it. "

#open starter.#open #indie rp #tumblr rp #thread / thea.

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writermuses · 10 months

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closed starter for @midnightsaboteur

Hadrian hadn't been what Thea Sofia would have expected in this arranged marriage at all. Her father had bound her to not only the McKenzie Motorcycle Club in the States but the De Vrise Cartel in Mexico in some sort of triple alliance or truce. There was a very long time when she thought she was the heir to the Cross Syndicate, but when her half brother Quintrell came into the picture she became a pawn. Low expectations had included swearing to hate the troll of a husband, but the moment they locked eyes on each other there had been a quiet promise that they were in this together. Much to her father's chagrin, she'd send the Cross cronies away immediately and had not put off the wedding. In fact, Thea had been enjoying learning more about Hades whenever they had the chance to talk— though they'd been enjoying married life a little too much for talking.

On the flight to Vegas they'd agreed that their relationship would be open and honest. Then on the flight back to his place in New York City they agreed that they would have a party with all of his friends and family, making no further plans as they joined the Mile High Club. The 'reception' doubled as her 'welcome' party and she was glad it wasn't as much of a party as it was people coming and going, great food, music playing in the back yard while she enjoyed the people Hades considered the best company. Most of the people Thea had met wore the MC's cut or had a thick accent that let her know they were probably tied to the cartel. Almost everyone that didn't fit into those two categories were women on the arm of various guests. She'd wiggled off of Hades' lap only to get hauled back for a kiss, when he asked for another beer if she was getting a drink.

At 4'9, Thea could slip through the thinning crowd with ease and she used her last ounce of energy to hop onto the granite countertop, her head falling back as she took a long breath. It had nothing to do with being socially overwhelmed, rather her body ached and Hades hands had been wandering over the bruises he'd left under her dress, winding her up. Her thighs clenched and she counted the time difference, trying to figure out how much longer people would be around before she could get some of the attention she so desperately wanted. When she opened her eyes she found a man watching her, no cut. Thea's head tilted to the side, her lips tilting into a playful smile. "We haven't met yet. Is this a saving the best for last sort of thing?" Her legs swung back and forth, the sundress licking the tops of her thighs as she grinned. "I'd get down and say hello, but I like it up here."

#midnightsaboteur #ref: thea sofia x hadrian x isaac #thread: thea x hades x isaac 01 #//dear god don't match length

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longislandcharm · 2 months

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TIMING: Mid March LOCATION: Thea's house/Worm Row PARTIES: @longislandcharm and @notstinky SUMMARY: Thea invites Winter over to check her house for ghosts. Things don't go as planned. CONTENT WARNINGS: None!

Thea stuffed what remained of her hair into a beanie, hoping it looked like a style choice and not the attempt of a desperate woman—girl? It still felt strange to call herself a woman; most days she still felt like she was twelve years old except for the days where she felt impossibly old. She wasn’t an adult or a child but a strange in-between thing she was meant to figure out. When would her adulthood finally start feeling like an adulthood? The past year had only felt like a fever-fueled nightmare. She’d missed the major marker of it, running away before the final year of university. Now she hung in the air, unfinished, untethered, waiting for something to prove that she had left adolescence behind. With a sigh, Thea pushed her thoughts away and opened the door, smiling brightly. “Winter!” As she had learned the woman’s name was online. “Come in!” For some reason, with a name like Winter, she had expected the woman to be dressed in thick winter clothing.

Thea stepped aside so Winter could enter her extremely humble abode. Aged by time, shitty landlords, and the occasional pest, her house was nothing to look at. If the paint wasn’t bubbled or peeling, then there was a weird stain. Still, it was a house; the heating and air conditioning worked and her toilets clogged the normal amount. “I know it’s not a pretty house,” she said, “but it’s really not bad once you get to know it!” Despite currently staying with Van at Dr. Kavanagh’s much nicer apartment, Thea was unable to let go of the room she rented here. She needed the space to cry, to be weird, to do all of the things that she knew Van would hate her for. She was fond of her shitty rented room and the freedom it gave her. Financially, it might have been better to move out for good. But Thea couldn’t do it; she needed this house.

For a moment, she’d forgotten why she’d invited the woman over, and thought of it like a fun hangout between friends-to-be. “Oh, I bought one of these off the internet.” Thea pulled a cheap plastic device from her pocket; its sides were adorned by dials and knobs and a small silver antenna stuck out at the top. “It’s a ghost radio! It says it helps with communicating with them! Um, when I turned it on once it was just playing top forty hits but maybe it was a singing ghost!”

For a while now, Thea was sure that the house was home to spirits. Things moved around, whispering was heard in the walls, strange chills erupted in certain corners and sometimes the electricity fizzled in and out like an anemic rave. Winter had said she could help, even if Thea wasn’t sure how that could possibly happen. Still, having people over was nice. Mostly, this was an excuse to make friends.

It wasn’t like she didn’t know that this was a bad idea. Not only was her mood sour but deep down Winter knew that she did not have the skill to be doing something like this. If she identified a ghost what the hell was she supposed to do then? Lil had been teaching her about a few things here and there but getting rid of them was something entirely different. It was still better to know so she could get someone who could do something about it right? The internal battle had been playing out in her mind ever since she was asked to do this and still there she was, standing in the girl’s living room and staring at the hat on her head. What secrets was that hiding?

With Thea’s words, she was able to tear her gaze away from her head and let it wander around the house. The girl was right, it wasn’t much to look at, but knowing she liked to hang out in toilet stalls at work, what could Winter really expect? “Hey, you keep it clean, right? That’s all that matters to me. I’m not the one living here.”

Raising an eyebrow as Thea brought out the device, Winter’s lips quirked up, shaking her head softly while looking over at Henry. He was also amused, the ghost rubbing the back of his head while trying to avoid looking at the other girl as if she could see him trying to hold back his laughter. Thea obviously didn’t understand the whole situation with the medium and Winter didn’t know whether to fault her or not. The conversation online was a blur of toilet talk and self love in her mind so she wasn’t sure if it had been mentioned.

“I don’t think we’re going to need that, Thea. I’m not even sure if they work, honestly.” Another question to add to her growing list. Lil was going to love her by the end of this mentorship…if they even got through it. “This might help though.” Winter dug through the bag that was slung over her shoulder, pulling out a container of salt that she’d brought with her. She didn’t make it a habit to carry this around but she knew what she was coming here for. If this ghost was as mischievous as Thea was making it out to be it might be handy to have it. “Do these strange things happen in a concentrated area or throughout the whole house?"

“Are you sure?” Thea made poor work of disguising the disappointment in her voice. The radio wasn’t expensive—a respectable twenty dollars on amazon—but still. Still. Thea clicked it on and jazzy notes singing over the crackling bass of some new hit filled the air before she snapped it off again. “You’re the expert,” she said. She was sad as she stuffed it away in her pocket. She stared at the container. “Is that sugar?” she asked. “Um, do ghosts like sugar? Should I have baked them a cake?”

Thea shut the door behind Winter, nervously picking at the ends of her sleeves. “Upstairs,” she said, pointing up the dark staircase. “They seem to popup everywhere but you can always feel something weird upstairs. I mean, stuff moves around my room all the time and it’s cold--like seriously cold! Heat rises, right? So you’d think the ground floor would be cold but it’s not. Even on hotter days, it was cold up there. Come on…” She led Winter up, hugging her arms. Darkness clung tightly to the corners of the second floor and it was cold, no matter what she did. “It might just be a ventilation issue?” She didn’t believe in ghosts, not really, but after Nora’s floating, nose-punching one, she thought it was probably more logical not to rule things out. “Hey, are you going to sprinkle that around?” She gestured to the container. “It--um--I just mean, it would be such a pain to clean up…” Haunted people probably shouldn’t complain but Winter wasn’t the one who was going to be vacuuming.

As disappointed as Thea sounded, Winter couldn't in good conscience recommend a product she wasn't sure would work. In her research, she'd read about these devices and how people tried to use them but she had also read about everything that could make them malfunction too. Besides, she could see them. She didn't need anything for them to talk to her. “I'm sure for right now. But I'll look into it more and let you know if they work or not, I haven't done too much research on them.” She would ask Lil. Winter trusted her judgment and she was the real expert in this situation. Again, it occurred to her that maybe Lil should be the one handling this but if she didn't practice how would she ever get better?

“This?” She looked down at the container in her hand and slowly shook her head, the girl's words making her question this whole thing once more. “Why would you bake a cake for a ghost? They can't eat it. No, this is salt. And they hate it.“ Even Henry was eyeing the container, his amused disposition completely gone. ”The stuff hurts.“ Winter glanced at him and stuck her bottom lip out in a mocking way, prompting him to scowl at her.

As Thea started explaining the situation, she knew that it sounded like a haunting but there could always be explanations. “Do you ever witness the stuff move on its own or do you notice it when you go back into the room?” If it was the latter it was plausible to say that was probably her roommates doing but she could see how uncomfortable Thea was while talking about this. “Heat does rise...” She looked up the stairs, eyes searching for any sort of movement before they began their journey up there. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? The lack of confidence was foreign to her and it felt so unnatural.

As they made it to the landing, the hair on Winter's neck started to stand up. It was freezing on the second floor and she knew this wasn't a ventilation issue almost immediately. Something felt very...off. Before she could say anything though Thea was asking about the salt and Winter gripped it more tightly. “I think you can handle a little salt in your carpets. I'm not going to lay it out anywhere, it's only going to be used if I really need it.” As she spoke, the medium made sure to open the container, causing Henry to step back from them. She didn't even need Thea to point out her room, Winter could hear muttering coming from inside one of them and she was pretty sure they'd been alone when she got here. ”Let me guess, that one's your room?“ Without an answer, she took a few strides towards it and caught a glimpse of someone inside before the door slammed shut in her face. ”Yea…there's somebody in there...and I'm assuming there shouldn't be.”

Thea pulled her lips into a thin line. She thought about the ghosts in movies and shows and how, maybe, some salt was involved. Mostly, she thought about how slugs didn’t like salt. Were ghosts like slugs? “Maybe the ghosts would like a cake,” she mumbled; Winter was slowly destroying her dreams of a fun ghost adventure. She hummed as they moved and considered her answers. “I’ve never seen it move. I mean, I come back to my room and things are different: the lamp’s tipped over or my mug’s been moved, stuff like that. At night, when I try to sleep, I hear this horrible scraping noise…and when I turn on the lights, everything’s moved over by, like, an inch. Even the bed!” If she did have ghosts, which she wasn’t convinced of, she also wasn’t sure what she did to piss hers off.

And she didn’t believe in ghosts, not really. Not actually. When the door closed in Winter’s face, nearly taking her nose, Thea laughed with a quick, shrill sound. “Must be the draft!” she said, opening the door again. A gust of frigid air shot around the room and poured into the hall. At once, goosebumps rose along Thea’s skin and she wrapped her arms around herself. Her moth-eaten curtains billowed, but her windows weren’t open. As she opened her mouth to speak, a plume of white breath burst from her chapped lips. “M-maybe something’s broken? I-in the pipes?” She swallowed. “Are you sure…are you sure that…” Was now really the time to be skeptical? She was sure if they spent any longer here, hypothermia would claim them.

Her room, despite the odd circumstances, looked like it always did; sparsely decorated but adorned with all the old wooden furniture that had been here when she moved it. Everything was kept in great condition and Thea didn’t see a need to change it; whoever had lived here before really loved the place, she thought. The large dresser didn’t have any scratches, the vanity mirror was decidedly uncracked, and the bed didn’t even creak when she flung her body on to it after work.

“That wasn’t a draft.” Something wasn’t right here. Ghosts that wanted to talk were usually willing to come and find her, not try to keep her out. This didn’t seem normal when she looked back on her other interactions. But before she could stop the other girl, the door was once again open and the rush of cold air was making Winter shiver. She’d gotten used to the cold ever since Henry showed up but this was…this was much more intense. “Thea, wait!” But the girl was already inside and Winter let out a growl of frustration. She had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well.

Sure enough, when she followed Thea into the room she noticed the other entity standing in the corner staring at the girl who now took up residence in this room. They didn’t look happy, not one bit, the rage in their eyes as they stared at her while ‘breathing’ heavily frightened Winter. “Thea…” She whispered the words but the ghost’s eyes still landed on her despite the effort, making Winter audibly gulp. “I’m sure. We need to get out of here.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth the door behind them slammed shut again. She moved as quickly as she could to the door to try the knob but it wasn’t budging no matter how hard she pulled on it. “It’s okay, this is okay.” The medium was nodding her head as if she were trying to assure herself, not just the other girl, before she turned to face the room again. The salt in her hand trembled while she tried to open the top without drawing much attention but the poltergeist only tilted their head before the container was flying across the room, breaking through the bedroom window and falling to the ground below. Henry’s voice cut through, the sarcasm only slightly present as the ghost eyed their foe. “Yea, I think you’re in over your head here, Winter.”

“Not. Helping.” Venom laced the words, Henry shrinking back from her with his hands raised in surrender. Before Winter could say another word to Thea something started to build within the room, some sort of energy flowing through every inch that made up the bedroom furniture. It all started to shake at once, vibrating the floor beneath them as the vanity and the bed posts hit the ground harder and harder. The ghost was still staring at them both but a sneer had appeared. “Where can we hide, Thea? Anywhere?”

“Who are you talking to?” Thea asked with a trembling voice. Okay, ghosts weren’t real. Probably. Maybe. Truly. But her room wasn’t right; everything was shaking. It was like a very cold, very scary earthquake. “I don’t like this!” She told Winter. “I really don't like this!” The furniture shook with a ferocity that sent her shrieking with every rattle and knock. It was like everything had been tossed into the blender. Thea couldn’t even debate the validity of ghosts with herself; everything felt like a battle just to survive.

“The closet!” She gestured to it. “Let’s go into the closet!” There was some irony in how hard she, as a lesbian, had battled to get out of the closet only to run back into it, but Thea wasn’t going to make the joke. She ran up to the worn doors and threw them open as furniture crashed against the wall, lifting into a violent vortex. The wallpaper peeled as Thea gestured for Winter to follow her. “Run!” The room raged like a typhoon, smashing wood against the walls which cracked and blistered like a burn.

Inside, Thea’s voice dropped to a whisper. “D-do you know anyone that can help us?” She sniffled. “Can you help?”

“The ghost standing next to you.” It had been a deliberate act to leave out more information. Winter was annoyed by the both of them at that point and she really was in over her head a feeling she was not used to but was starting to become more prominent in this town. That was enough to get her to lash out at anyone who dared talk to her in that moment, even the sweet girl who was just as terrified as she was feeling. Deep down she knew that Thea didn’t deserve any extra taunting in this moment but she couldn’t bring herself to explain any further after a lamp went flying in her direction and she had to duck out of the way. All she could muster was a high pitched squeak before dropping to the floor to avoid damage to her face.

It was as if the thing standing across from them knew why Winter was there and it was not happy as it glared in their direction, the sneer still ever present. The room was starting to get destroyed all around them but all she could do was stare at this…thing wondering if poltergeist was a better word for it than ghost. Lil had only briefly covered the topic with her but she was sure that this entity was just as angry as she was imagining them to be when they spoke.

She heard the word ‘closet’ and then the sound of scrambling feet but she sat there for a beat longer until Henry was yelling at her to ‘get the hell up.’ She then heard Thea yelling for her to run and Winter was scrambling to her feet just before the poltergeist sliced through the space she’d been sat with a large piece of the mirror that had been smashed during some point of all of this.

It was trying to kill them before they could get rid of it. Her shoulder slammed against the back wall of the closet, her feet not able to slow her down in time before she got to it, and Winter slid down the wall to sit. Thea’s questions were going in one ear and out the other while her mind raced. What had Lil said about poltergeists? What had she told her to do if she ever ran into one? Henry was walking through the door then, making her realize that this other ghost could do just that but it seemed its anger was getting the better of it. It wanted to continue its tantrum first. Then Thea’s questions hit her again and Winter nodded as she pulled out the cell phone from her pocket. Lil. She could call Lil. At least that medium knew what she was doing.

#Threads #Thread: Thea #Ghost Busting!

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