#Clovis Maclain

[dementedfilament]

Lilith Nightingale

A steady breath gradually silenced Clovis’s flame.

All around him, eyes darted to the scars on his lips, then back to meet his gaze. “Holy shit…I had no idea…” John managed to say.

“Dude, what the hell?” Clarissa added. “Who would do something like that?”

The blonde gave a forlorn shrug. “No idea.”

“That’s why you—” Maggie, hand hovering above her mouth, spoke.

“Yeah.”

Clarissa continued. “We legit thought your dad did that, or something. That’s why we didn’t know how to…”

He gave a sardonic chuckle. “Wouldn’t be too far-fetched.”

Opening his eyes, Cedric joined them. “I’ve never heard about this witch. Did she tell you her name?”

“No. At least, not that I remember.”

“When we’re finished here, I’m going to give you my personal contact information. If you find that portal again, notify me immediately and I’ll seal it off.”

“...Alright.”

“I hope you’ve been taking the medication I recommended.”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Good. Let me know if something comes up, in regards to them.”

Clovis nodded. “I will.”

“Then, if that is the extent of your story, let us continue for now.”

He repeated the gesture.

“Lilith?”

“Hm? My turn already?” She smiled.

“Yes.”

“Alright! I’ve got a good one!”

***

It was Sophomore year for teenage Lilith. She managed to get into Reverie with her best friend of 6 years, and they were both lovin’ life together. They had the stereotypically perfect high school balance of gossip, popularity, boys, and drama. (And the occasional Featherfall weirdness, of course.) RVS was their own little eutopia.

But what makes a eutopia better than sparkling, fine jewelry?

The time was during 3rd period, and they were playing hooky to check out the fair across town before anyone else, or at least, anyone else who wasn’t also ditching. That’s not where this tale really begins though. Rather, it was after they left the lovely fair.

Giggling furiously at their successful and entertaining pursuits, they ducked into the surrounding forest to avoid being spotted. Shortly after, a strange man in a hood appeared before them. “Hello. I appear to be lost. Can you show me the direction to the fair? I have a booth to set up.”

They pointed him that way.

“Thank you.” He took a few steps, then paused again. “I’m sorry. I’m a bit uncertain about setting up my stall. Will you take a look at my wares and determine if they’re adequate enough for the setting?”

The girls traded glances and shrugged. They assured him he’d fit in no matter what, but he insisted they take a look because he was so anxious, so they finally agreed.

“Thank you.” He opened his coat and removed one ornate box from it. His withered fingers carefully flipped the latches, then pulled back the lid to reveal a small assortment of jewelry with flawless, vibrant gemstones.

Enamored, the two girls reassured him that he’d be a great fit, if not standing out too much for such beautiful products.

He chuckled. “I appreciate your kindness. I feel much more at ease now.” A pause. “As thanks for assisting me, would you girls like one of these fine pieces? You can both take one each.”

They mutually went through internal turmoil. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea if they looked at the big picture here, but those gems were so, so tempting. What a prize to take home and brag to their fellow students about. For free!

But still…this business deal was no less shady.

Lilith shook her head first, declining the offer.

“Please, I insist. It’s the least I can do.”

She declined again.

Her friend, however, looked at her with eyes bedazzled. They bickered for a moment before her back turned in victory, brimming with excitement while showering the man in questions. He explained that these were no simple jewels—they were powerful charms, capable of fulfilling your wildest dreams.

After ignoring Lilith’s “uptight” complaints and receiving an explanation of each one, she chose a cute necklace with a carved pink heart.

“The charm for love,” the man explained in his raspy voice. “Bearing this charm is akin to being struck with the arrow of Cupid himself.” When quizzed, he responded, “This is sure to make you much more charming in the eyes of those you desire.”

And with that, the transaction was completed.

Sure enough, Lilith’s friend became the talk of the entire school. She probably ended up dating every guy in it within the span of a month. She was on a complete boy-crazy high and loving every second of it.

However, that high eventually became a low. Perhaps it was the fact that she had been with everyone that could be been with, including a large chunk of the female student body to satisfy the craving, but that well, too, dried up soon enough.

As she was venting her sorrows to Lilith on a walk, they spotted that strange hooded man again. The friend buzzed over and flooded him with more questions, almost begging for him to promise that this low feeling was temporary and the charm would work again soon.

He appeared to sympathize with her plight. “It sounds like you’re missing the joy you once received from the charm. Happiness is what you require.” She agreed, and he felt around his robe pockets until he pulled a bracelet with a bright yellow gem on it. “I apologize for the ill effects of my charm. Perhaps I can make it up to you with this?”

Uncertainty passed between the girls.

“This will return the happiness you appear to have lost. However, you should remove the necklace I gifted you first before wearing this one. It’s likely set in its effect already, and having both active energies could disrupt one or the other,” he explained.

After some thought, she removed the necklace, placing it in her pocket when he declined to have it returned, then accepted the new piece of jewelry.

Like magic, it worked. Lilith had never seen her friend enjoy her life this much, and she began shying away from romance entirely in favour of her hobbies, and then some. She was brimming with joy across a trail of broken sweethearts.

But that, too, corrupted into something more. She took on activities more and more dangerous for the sake of the adrenaline rush, as far as standing on the railroad tracks until the last moment and jumping off the school rooftop with a shoddy parachute.

Despite the concern for her safety, Lilith was no adrenaline rush. Thus, her concerns were ignored.

Until the friend could no longer derive a rush from her activities, and she sought the hooded man again.

“It sounds like you’ve become too happy. Balance is essential. Perhaps…sadness.” He procured a matching pair of blue, teardrop earrings. “Do not wear these for too long, else you may fall into great despair.”

Pocketing the bracelet, she accepted.

With this new gift, the friend quickly reverted into a sobbing mess. The man had informed her that perhaps she would come to regret the people she’d hurt under the influence of the other charms, but that rapidly descended into simply craving pity from those around her. Before she knew it, she cried herself through 3 weeks and could no longer sate her own sadness.

Thus, she sought out the hooded man again.

This time, he gave a ring, with the stone a mingling blend of red and green. And as before, she accepted.

Now, the friend flew into wild fits of jealousy and rage. She screamed at those who abandoned her during her sorrow, despite being the source that drove them away. She demanded reparations for what she was put through, whether that was through physical objects or shattering emotional connections between others.

It wasn’t long before she broke out into physical altercations with other students, whether her spontaneous enemies were capable of defending themselves or not. And after she ended up sending someone to the hospital, Lilith had to practically drag her back to the hooded man so this could be undone.

But that only resulted in another piece of jewelry.

Now, you’ve probably heard a tale similar to this before. It continues just as you expect, as the girl amalgamated more and more charms that activated extreme mood swings and destroyed her social life.

It’s the ending you may or may not anticipate.

This event was done while Lilith was away, spending time with friends telling her to not let that girl be such a burden on her. Her mistakes weren’t Lilith’s responsibility, after all.

But upon returning to her dorm, the teenager found a letter on the carpet. It was scrawled in multiple styles of handwriting, expressing how the friend was beginning to burn out of her own swings, and was beginning to yearn for balance again. No matter if she wore the charms in a cycle or left the charms off entirely, she felt fractured and empty inside. She just wanted to return to normal again.

So, she did it. Against her better judgement, she wore every piece of jewelry at once in desperation to return to her original state. As a result, she was overcome with incredible emotions, sending her on high after high after high as her brain switched between all the different charms taking effect.

It was amazing—it was maddening. Removing them all sent her spiraling into such a stark low that she threw them back on again to prevent it, triggering that vortex of raw, unfiltered emotion again.

Upon reading a few sentences to the end, Lilith dropped the parchment and bolted outside. She frantically searched up and down the campus, but there was no sign of her friend anywhere.

Eventually though, she realized that the friend would likely not have gone anywhere her mental chaos could be witnessed en masse.

Treading past the lake and following the river as a compass, she dropped to her knees upon the sight of her friend floating lifeless in the water.

On her body: no beautiful gemstone accessories to be found.

Scaretober 2023

Brisk Wind on a Dark Trail

Midnight Moon

Gargoyle's Watch

Cold Stones in the Fog

Spirits Rising

Haunted House

Witching Hour

Bubbling Cauldron

Candy

Eyes

Spider Silk

Feathers

Tail

Scales

Fangs or Talons

An Offering of Blood

Dark Ritual

Spook Scary Skeletons

Carnivàle Morte

Still-Beating Heart

Sharpened Blade

Mask

Looming Shadows

The Devil's Hand

Monster

Reflection in the Mirror

Rusted Chains

Stitches

Precious Jewels

Incantation

Halloween

Epilogue

#[ Familiar Faces through the Storm ] #word spores #Maggie's Misadventures #writeblr #writing prompts #scaretober #halloween prompts #Lilith Nightingale #Clovis Maclain #John Isaac Decartes #Clarissa Parker #Magdalene Holly #Cedric Blair #TW: Implied Suicide

[alexlacquemanne]

Juillet MMXXII

Films

Elvis (2022) de Baz Luhrmann avec Austin Butler, Chaydon Jay, Tom Hanks, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Olivia DeJonge et Luke Bracey

Some Came Running (1958) de Vincente Minnelli avec Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Martha Hyer et Arthur Kennedy

Compartiment tueurs (1965) de Costa-Gavras avec Yves Montand, Jacques Perrin, Catherine Allégret, Pierre Mondy, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Simone Signoret et Charles Denner

Astérix : Le Domaine des dieux (2014) d'Alexandre Astier et Louis Clichy avec Roger Carel, Guillaume Briat, Lorànt Deutsch, Laurent Lafitte, Alexandre Astier et Alain Chabat

Les Figures de l'ombre (Hidden Figures) (2016) de Theodore Melfi avec Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst et Jim Parsons

L'Africain (1983) de Philippe de Broca avec Catherine Deneuve, Philippe Noiret, Jean-François Balmer, Jacques François et Jean Benguigui

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) de Taika Waititi avec Chris Hemsworth, Tristan Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson et Taika Waititi

Au bout du conte (2013) de Agnès Jaoui avec Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Arthur Dupont, Agathe Bonitzer, Benjamin Biolay et Nina Meurisse

Le Fantôme du Bengale (The Phantom) (1996) de Simon Wincer avec Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, James Remar, Catherine Zeta-Jones et Patrick McGoohan

Les Dalton en cavale (1983) de Morris, William Hanna, Joseph Barbera et Ray Patterson avec Jacques Thébault, Roger Carel, Pierre Trabaud, Jacques Balutin et Pierre Tornade

Tous à l'Ouest (2007) d'Olivier Jean-Marie avec Lambert Wilson, Clovis Cornillac, Alexis Tomassian, Christophe Lemoine, Bernard Alane et François Morel

Les Amants du Capricorne (Under Capricorn) (1949) d'Alfred Hitchcock avec Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding et Margaret Leighton

ARCA (2022) de Germain et Robin Aguesse avec Gilles Graveleau, Clémence Verniau, Gilles Arbona et Emmanuel Rausenberger

Astérix chez les Bretons (1986) de Pino Van Lamsweerde avec Roger Carel, Pierre Tornade, Graham Bushnell, Serge Sauvion : Jules César et Pierre Mondy

La Chatte sur un toit brûlant (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) (1958) de Richard Brooks avec Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives et Judith Anderson

Le Seigneur des anneaux (J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings) (1978) de Ralph Bakshi avec Michel Caccia, Jean Davy, Serge Lhorca, Bernard Dhéran et Georges Poujouly

Signé Furax (1981) de Marc Simenon avec Bernard Haller, Roger Carel, Jean-Pierre Darras, Michel Galabru, Paul Préboist, Jean Le Poulain et Michel Constantin

Séries

Le Coffre à Catch

#79 : CM Punk, MVP du catch ? J'CROIS PAS NAN ! - #80 : Bonne Année de Catch + Balls a disparu = ECW - #81 : Grosse Ambiance, C'est la Maladie, On a l'intro ! - #82 : Kofi Kingston : les Débuts Historiques !

Affaires sensibles

29 septembre 1957, l’accident nucléaire de Maïak ou le silence atomique soviétique - 10 juillet 1976 : La catastrophe de Seveso - 11 Septembre, l'avant (1) - Le 11 septembre 2001, le jour qui a changé le monde (2) - 9/11, l'après : la guerre contre la terreur (3)

Columbo Saison 13

Une étrange association

Commissaire Dupin

Les secrets de Brocéliande

The Grand Tour Saison 4, 3

The Grand Tour présente… Seamen - Spéciale Colombie : Première partie - Spéciale Colombie : Deuxième partie

The Rookie Saison 4

La vie et la mort - Cinq minutes - Dans la ligne de feu - Chaud bouillant

Spectacles

Jazz à Ramatuelle : Hugh Coltman (2018)

Henry Mancini and Friends (1980)

Livres

Les dents de la mer de Peter Benchley

Fairy Tail : Tome 1 de Hiro Mashima

Elfes, Tome 1 : Le Crystal des Elfes bleus de Jean-Luc Istin, Kyko Duarte et Saito

Kaamelott, Tome 6 : Le Duel des Mages d'Alexandre Astier, Benoit Bekaert et Steven Dupré

Astérix, Tome 16 : Astérix chez les Helvètes de René Goscinny et Albert Uderzo

Lucky Luke, Tome 24 : La Fiancée de Lucky Luke de Morris et Guy Vidal

La cage aux souvenirs de Pierre Mondy

Les aventures de Tintin, Tome 8 : Le Sceptre d'Ottokar d'Hergé

#mediatheque #juillet22

[dementedfilament]

Clovis Maclain

“That’s probably a good stopping place~” Lottie leaned down to put out her flame with a quick puff.

Meanwhile, her older brother was seething. “Why didn’t you tell me that happened?”

“Well I didn’t expect all that to happen~”

He grit his teeth. “Those assholes…I’m gonna—”

“Kill them?” Lottie finished, ‘ufufu’-ing. “I think it’s a bit late for that~”

“Wait,” Kai interrupted. “Did you find them, or…?”

“Nope! I called their families and none of them had made it home. Rather unfortunate, isn’t it?”

“You’re way too calm about it…” Enzo commented.

“Well, nothing I can do but hope they died quickly~”

An uncomfortable silence rocked the room.

“Aaaaanyways,” Ayan announced, “how about we move on?”

“Okay!” Lottie agreed. “Your turn to scare, Clovis~”

“...Thanks…”

***

Perhaps raging in a junkyard isn’t the smartest thing to do with one’s free time. However, under the pressure his father kept building on his shoulders, he wasn’t sure how else to cope with his situation. Counseling wasn’t exactly a viable option for him, and texting his crush could only do so much.

His chest rapidly rose and fell, knuckles flared around the battered baseball bat. Shattered glass, crushed aluminum, and dented steel could only do so much.

There were no more screams left in his lungs today. His playlist still rampaged through his earbuds, but his isolated therapy had come to an end. So, taking a deep breath to settle his heartbeat, his feet began dragging him off, distracting his mind through useless meandering.

The bat made a firm “thunk” as it was discarded off somewhere. Then, the boy shoved his hands in his pockets and searched for a song more in tune with his current mood. Roaming about the undesired remnants of humanity as one of their own—despair, fury, mixed together with a hell of a lot of teenage angst.

It was an odd, void-like darkness that ripped him from his brooding. Junk was stacked all around this opening, as if it had been here for some time, despite him knowing that it hadn’t.

He put away the buds and stepped closer. It truly was empty, devoid of sound, image, sensation. But when he stuck a hand to verify his reality, he found it bleeding through, as if the blackness was swallowing him.

Still in the midst of his angst session, he sighed. Fuck it. Can’t be any worse than this shithole, right?

And in he went.

As if submerged in ink, he pushed through an odd force deluging the space. There was nothing but the emptiness for quite some time until long threads of string hanging over him came into view. First, it was a couple. Then, more and more threads appeared, weaving around each other with no apparent purpose. They didn’t exactly seem like spider silk, but more like…actual thread, for use with textiles.

The whimsy of spiraling threads was quickly dampened upon Clovis spotting several men bound by the same thread, with blood pouring from their sewed eyes, and agonized moans rumbling through their sewed lips.

“Oh, how did a little boy get in here?”

He turned. A young woman in a witch hat and plenty of ribbons was dangling from her web of string, legs tangled among the fine hairs. An unsettlingly peaceful grin was plastered on her face.

“Ah, you’ve seen. That’s no good.”

Suddenly, his wrists were seized by string, and his body arched in such a way he couldn’t resist without injury. He cried out as he struggled in attempt, though.

“I can’t kill you, but I can’t let you leave after this.” The witch woman nimbly uncurled from her threads, then maneuvered between the rest to come face-to-face with her intruder. A claw-like apparatus made of long sewing needles was attached to the back of one hand, and she used the fine points to gently stroke his skin. “What should I do?”

Any and all protest was caught in Clovis’s throat.

“...I know!” The cold needles ghosted his lips. “I’ll simply silence you.”

He hardly had time to struggle before a prepped needle was summoned in her hand and thrust into his skin. The pain elicited a sharp scream, but that only aggravated further pain. The thread being pulled through his lips made his skin crawl, and he cried out once again as he felt the needle pierce back through.

All the while, the woman was eerily calm, almost seeming to enjoy the actions she was taking. She may or may not have begun humming to herself as she continued. Or maybe she was speaking to him in a sing-song voice. He was too focused on the pain to really notice.

Up and down, in and out the needle went, making crying out in protest more and more futile, trapping him in a hell of vital obedience. His face was wet and the skin around his lips burned with stinging pain.

“Well now,” the woman spoke as she threaded the opposite end of his mouth, “we’re not going to tell anyone about this, are we?”

When he didn’t respond, she ripped the thread upwards, causing the strings to crush the skin it laced together. Frantic moans hammered at the inside of his lips, but he managed to nod despite the sensation.

“Oh reaaally?”

She pulled tighter. Somehow, he found it within him to nod again despite the added resistance to the thread with the motion.

“Good.” She released the tension, assumedly with her magic, and watched as he sighed in relief. “Good little boys keep their mouths sewn shut, or I’ll sew it shut for you~”

Tying off the end, she then released his bindings, stepping back as he collapsed to the floor.

“Is this where you came from?” She pointed, though not waiting for an answer. “Well, off you go, then!”

He wasn’t sure if he believed it was a dream when he awoke alone in the junkyard. The black portal was gone, but the pain in his face rang clear.

His hands trembled as he felt the merciless string binding his lips shut, silencing any calls he could make for help.

Scaretober 2023

Brisk Wind on a Dark Trail

Midnight Moon

Gargoyle's Watch

Cold Stones in the Fog

Spirits Rising

Haunted House

Witching Hour

Bubbling Cauldron

Candy

Eyes

Spider Silk

Feathers

Tail

Scales

Fangs or Talons

An Offering of Blood

Dark Ritual

Spook Scary Skeletons

Carnivàle Morte

Still-Beating Heart

Sharpened Blade

Mask

Looming Shadows

The Devil's Hand

Monster

Reflection in the Mirror

Rusted Chains

Stitches

Precious Jewels

Incantation

Halloween

Epilogue

#[ Familiar Faces through the Storm ] #word spores #Maggie's Misadventures #writeblr #writing prompts #scaretober #halloween prompts #Clovis Maclain #Dewdrop #Lottie Appletree #Alfie Appletree #Kai Hale #Lorenzo Godfrey #Ayan Khan #TW: Torture