#and in that point he knew magnus wouldn't die and he would come back and if he didn't alec would move mountains to get him back

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Hunted Again

Pairing: Gerard Keay/Casper

Fandoms: The Magnus Archives, A Date with Death

Spoilers for the Sealed with a Kiss ending.

This is maybe the most self indulgent thing I've ever written but you know what? It's free dopamine and the perks of being A Creative include sometimes getting to write self indulgent crack fics.

------

After his cancer scare the doctors told Gerard that they had no idea how he survived. The surgery had been a long shot to begin with, he had been told that, that he was probably going to die. But honestly, he hadn't been worried because the amount of times he had miraculously survived was getting truly ridiculous. He tried not to take it for granted but with how his life had gone, the way he danced between the fears, it only made it more obvious.

Still, that was the closest he'd ever come, and Gertrude had left him so he left her. It wasn't hard, they had been traveling together but it's not like he had an address, a job, anything besides a name that she could use to track him. When he was let out of the hospital he simply walked away.

He wasn't getting any younger and he wanted a life, with Mary's ghost dealt with and the feeling of being indebted to Gertrude broken nothing was holding him back. He had some savings, enough to get a studio apartment, a mattress, and some canvases and paints. He had no traditional work experience but if even his mother could praise his art he must have been good at it. So he painted, and then sold the paintings, and bought more canvases to paint more.

It wasn't long before he built up a bit of a reputation, not just for the beauty of his art but for the.. odd affects. It was nothing bad, he would have stopped if it seemed like he was making more artifacts for the fears but it was something else. He believed deep in his soul that there were no beings of light or hope or love or any of that shit but still... His paintings seem to bring the people who bought them some amount of protection.

He never guaranteed anything but still, people came to him, and he could See the marks on their souls. This one was touched by the lonely, that by the spiral, and he could paint. Not what they wanted, but what they needed. Eyes and parallel lines, and a faceless party. A shield, not a foolproof one, but one enough to buy them time if they had it in them to rejoin the safety of the herd. It exhausted him every time, but it paid well enough that he could rest between pieces, or work for fun.

He still traveled too, kept his nose to the wind for signs of Leitners, but he never saw Gertrude again and he avoided all the monsters as best he could. He even got himself a pet, a snake because he thought that if he died it wouldn't mind to much. And he knew he would die eventually, especially because the insane near death experiences Continued! Even when he wasn't anywhere near anything to do with the fears pianos fell right behind him, trains derailed while he was alone at the station, it was ridiculous!

And yet he kept on living, and at some point you just had to laugh at these things or you give in to the paranoia and the fears take you. Maybe he had already been taken by The End without realizing it and that was why this was happening, but whatever.

He rarely used his computer honestly besides communicating about commissions so when he got a notification his first assumption was that. But when he went to his computer the there was a strange app he hadn't installed. Huh, well delete it and move on.

More notification. What the fuck? How did it reinstall?! Gerard nearly got rid of it immediately, because the last thing he needed right now was more spooky shit! But there was no proof this was supernatural yet, he could admit to himself that he was so focused on the fears he sometimes forgot humans could be assholes too. Besides he didn't know much about tech, this was probably just a hacker. He deleted it again.

This time he watched as it installed itself again immediately and scowled. Greeat, well, might as well see what bullshit life was throwing at him now.

He opened the app and was immediately treated to someone claiming to be the Grim Reaper and rambling to himself when Gerry didn't respond right away to the demands for his soul. He covered his mouth to stifle a smile. He'd met real reapers, servants of the end, and this person was nothing like this. Gerry let go of his anxiety and decided to have a little fun, responding to the hacker just for a bit of fun.

-----

Days later he would be the first to admit this had gotten out of hand, and well and truly shaken his world view. He has known about the fears, the supernatural forces in the world, hell he even knew about reapers, but nothing like his Little Reaper, Grim, Casper. The sweet, spooky, stupid being who Gerry had let into his soul despite fully knowing the risks.

Playing dumb for fun had turned into, playing dumb to get more information, then finally playing dumb because he genuinely didn't know what to do. He had had a few relationships but they had all been short and ended in tragedy, he was too wound up with the fears to be truly close to anyone. Anyone mortal, maybe... maybe a Grim reaper would be perfect?

When he'd asked about Gerry's family he very nearly panicked, but when he'd said he wasn't ready to talk about it Casper had been so understanding. So perfectly willing to let it go! Gerry tried not to be suspicious Casper already knew. He had a feeling the Reaper had started following him After his brain cancer, but if that was the case how much did he know?

When should Gerry ask? When should he tell Casper. It didn't feel like it was time yet, but if he only had a week left maybe he needed to just bite the bullet and do it! Surely Casper had to know about the fears, at least The End. But he hadn't referenced them once...

It was absolutely ridiculous, it didn't make any sense, and yet Gerry believed it. It was amazing. When Casper told him about the way Gerry had been giving away parts of his soul to help people, being a personification of life it threw everything he'd believed back in his face. There was good in the world, he could do good in the world, had been for YEARS.

When he hung up the call with Casper he cried, just lay in his soft bed with the blue comforter and bawled. He wasn't even truly happy, but it was a release a long time in coming. And the next day Casper was there again, waiting for him and still as kind, charming, and bashful, and only a few more days left on the bet.

There was something he wanted to do first if he was going to die, so he set up his easel and paints again. carefully he arranged the bouquet of flowers Casper had brought him in a vase and started to paint it. He his spirals in the centers of the flowers, eyes in the leaves, clouds in the petals, and put his entire heart into every stroke of his brush. If Casper took his soul, he would have to take the painting too, and hopefully it would protect one of the few people who'd brought genuine joy and love into his life.

He shouldn't have worried about that really, because Casper didn't even try to take his soul. When he spoke about leaving his job, his life, quitting being a reaper to be with Gerry it... Well it was just another earthquake reshaping Gerry' worldview, one of many this week, but another welcome one.

"Yes," He agreed immediately, "You're welcome here, I'll leave the window open."

He got up and unlocked it, sitting on the bed and staring at the window, anticipating Casper's arrival.

"You really left it- Oh!" he sounded as Gerard grabbed Casper's arm and dragged the other man into his arms. He overbalanced with Casper's weight and they fell on the bed together with Gerry on top. His long black hair fell around both of them, it clashed beautifully with Casper's white skin and red eyes, and it made Gerry think about the story of snow white.

"I've wanted to hold you for so long, longer then I've even known you I think," Gerard murmured, propping himself on one elbow so he could caress Casper's cheek. God his skin was so soft.

"I believe I have too," Casper whispered, wrapping his arms around Gerard's shoulders.

"I guess your soul is mine now hm?" He asked tilting his head a little.

"I suppose it is," Casper agreed, not even a trace of wariness. God he was activating Gerry's fucking cuteness aggression!

"You can keep it. Having your heart is enough for me," Gerry said, his hand dropping to gently rest on Casper's throat, feeling his pulse pounding under his fingers despite the coolness of his skin.

"Seems like a poor trade off," Casper murmured, pulling Gerry a little closer.

"Then I'll take a kiss too," Gerry breathed. "If you're okay with it."

"Yes, more then okay. I want you too kiss me," Casper said, blushing brightly, his skin showed his blush so beautifully.

"Oh good," Gerry said lamely then kissed Casper passionately before he could make a comment about Gerry being flustered.

The kiss turned into many, Gerry's arms got tired so he lay down next to Casper, pulling the other man against his chest and kissing him again. And again, and again.

The sun set, and they lay together, wrapped up in each other, black and white hair layered together over the pillows.

"When did you start following me?" Gerry asked, playing absently with Casper's hair.

"Five years ago," Casper replied, shifting down to rest his head on Gerry's shoulder.

"After the brain cancer then?" Gerry asked.

"Yes."

"So you know nothing about what I did before that?" Gerry asked, feeling a slight lump to his throat.

"No...?" Casper said questioningly.

"Okay.." Gerry said and trailed off, there was a beat of silence as he tried to think of what he was going to say. "After the cancer I really turned my life around after that. Before that I wasn't exactly a 'normal mortal', I was... a Hunter."

On top of Gerry Casper tensed a little, and when he looked up there was just a touch of wariness, maybe even fear, in his eyes.

"Not of your kind," He assured with a little smile. "Or, well, there were a few things that called themselves Reapers but they were nothing like you. My mother... she fancied herself a witch, she spent her entire life, and my entire childhood teaching me how to harness powers that should have been impossible to touch. That's what my tattoos are for," he said, glaring absently at the eyes decorating his knuckles.

"In the end her power grabs killed her, and I wanted to rip everything like her apart for what she'd done to me, the nightmare she'd made my childhood. I hunted, and I killed," He ran his hand down Casper's arm and laced their fingers together. He allowed it but didn't reciprocate.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, at first it was because I didn't believe you. You were nothing like the others, and you didn't even mention the Powers I knew of so I thought you were lying. Then... then I truly was lost, I had been so sure there was no good in the world. No powers of life, or hope, or even truly good people. And you dropped all of that right into my lap and I didn't know how to respond.

"I haven't killed since my brain cancer, when my hunting partner abandoned me when I needed her most I realized there was no joy for me in that life. My overseas trips you've followed me on.. have you seen me burn the books?" A slight nod. "Do you know what they were?" A small shake of the head, worry and fear.

"Objects of power for the 14 Fears, the Dread Powers I was taught to harness. I thought they were all there was, but I think I'm realizing it's like trauma. With something so bad possible, it's hard to imagine there being good too. But now I know there is good, and there is love, and I love you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you all this before you came, I didn't know how."

There was a long silence, but Casper didn't pull away so Gerry let him think. "You're not, as you said 'pulling my leg'?" Casper asked softly.

"No, not about this. I can prove it to you if you want. Well, not this second but you can come with me next time I track down one of the books. Or go to help one of the people touched by the fears," he offered quickly.

"I suppose now I know how you first felt, because I know nothing of this. I suppose I didn't spend enough time on earth to know of powers that prey on mortal fears."

"That makes sense. Don't worry though, I've been navigating this since I was born. I know all the tricks, and now understanding better what I can do, and not being alone, I Know we'll be okay. Good even!"

"It still sounds like a big risk," Casper said worriedly.

"Well... Yes, but I can't stop Casper," Gerry said softly.

"Can't, or won't?"

"... Won't. I've felt so much disrepair all my life that there were no Good powers, now that I know in some ways I Am a good power. Casper, I need to help people. Can you understand?"

"Yes, I can understand," Casper sighed relaxing and resting his head on Gerry's chest again. "I will support you, and the travel will help keep the other reapers at a distance since I am on the run.

"I have much more to learn about the world then I ever realized, which is... disconcerting. But you will guide me through it, and I've always enjoyed learning."

"Thank you Casper," It came out in a rush of breath and true gratitude. "Thank you."

"I always though 'love is blind' was a saying for fools, but I was the fool who had never known love," Casper murmured, sitting up and pressing a soft kiss to Gerry's lips. "I believe I would follow you into hell Sunshine."

[normal-thoughts-official]

Can you believe Alec was willing to become a vampire to save Magnus in the finale which would have severed his parabatai bond to jace and jalecs STILL say he’d pick Jace over Magnus 😤

remember when alec was going to stay in edom forever away from jace and that wasnt even a problem to him, when alec married magnus and jace was like "don't be a stranger" and then he moved to another continent, when jace was angsting over clary in the finale and alec was out there living his best life eye fucking his husband and drinking martinis, when jace was straight up possessed and alec didn't even notice cuz him and magnus were busy gossiping about lorenzo (i dont remember what the fuck they were doing in 3a tbh), when jace died and alec was like "sucks", when alec said he would be the one to kill jace himself, when alec came back from the parabatai tracking induced coma and his first reaction was to tell magnus that the fact that magnus was there helped him come back and that he could feel him there (while jace was arrested in the background), when jace decided to freeload at magnus' and alec was pissed as hell at him, did jace and alec even interact in 3b?, when alec said that he's only been in love once and it was with magnus, when alec said magnus is his world, when alec proposed to magnus and married him? i love winning

[thatonefandomjumper]

I posted 60 times in 2021

55 posts created (92%)

5 posts reblogged (8%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.

I added 249 tags in 2021

#pjo - 47 posts

#heroes of olympus - 39 posts

#percy jackson - 32 posts

#trials of apollo - 26 posts

#leo valdez - 21 posts

#annabeth chase - 20 posts

#hoo - 18 posts

#jason grace - 16 posts

#piper mclean - 15 posts

#toa - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#i also thinks magnus's snarky commentary would really fun to read while he's trying to get some shut eye and nobody is shutting up

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

First and last spoken lines of riordanverse characters; Part 2. (Only includes main 21 books)

Thalia

First: "Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here."

Last: "Great hunter, this one. I knew she would be. We'll get that fox one of these days."

Rachel

First: "Oh my god! Do you always kill people when they blow they're nose!"

Last: "Hades wouldn't mind you traipsing down to Tartarus?"

Will

First: "It's not so bad, Annabeth. A few more minutes and we would have been in trouble, but the venom hasn't gotten past the shoulder yet. Just lie still. Somebody hand me some nectar."

Last: "Well, it didn't sound good."

Lester

First: "No! No, it wasn't! Please!"

Last: "Always. The sun always comes back."

Apollo

First: "Little sister! What's up. You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"

Last: "Oh, of course. Take care of yourself, Piper McLean."

Meg

First: "Hey! Leave him alone."

Last: "You'll come back?"

Grover

First: "It's okay. I like peanut butter."

Last: "Sleep well, you guys. And good luck. I have a feeling I'll see you again before... Yeah."

Calypso

First: "Stay still. You're too weak to rise."

Last: "I hate you."

Lavinia

First: "I hate those things."

Last: "You better come back and see me. And don't die. I will kick your butt with my new dancing shoes if you die."

Ella

First: "Cheese. Ella doesn't like cheese."

Last: "The Tower of Nero. New York, I bet. Yep!"

Tyson

First: "I... I am a freak?"

Last: "Oh! Oh! I would take a rocket ship!"

Chiron

First: "Mr. Jackson, did you have a comment?"

Last: "You did well, Apollo. You are always welcome here at camp."

Clarisse

First: "Well! A newbie!"

Last: "All right, all right. Give the kid some space. "

Part 1, Part 3 Part 4

119 notes • Posted 2021-09-26 22:18:42 GMT

#4

Percy: This is my girlfriend, Annabeth

Nico: This is my boyfriend, Will

Leo: This is my Jason, boyfriend

Leo:

Leo: Fuck

123 notes • Posted 2021-10-07 19:47:18 GMT

#3

Trials of Apollo really was just; Kick Apollo in the face until he has reached sufficient character development.

156 notes • Posted 2021-05-25 13:05:34 GMT

#2

Expanding the 'Leo had a crush on every single member of the Argo ii' headcanon

His first crush was definitely Piper, back at the wilderness school and he avoided it completely because she was his first real friend. (Or, he didn't and Hera replaced the memories of him with Jason, cuz I really like that theory)

Then Jason fucking Grace came along.

Hera didn't implant any sort of romantic memories into Leo's mind so he fell for Jason all on his own.

Jason was also his bi awakening and he most definitely freaked out by that, so he started playing up his "Straight boy who flirts with all the ladies" act

Of course, that whole thing was never sincere

He was of course happy for the two of them when they entered a relationship but he was sceacretly dying inside a little bit

Good thing he spent 99% of his time building the Argo during that time so he had other things to worry about.

Annabeth sometimes checks up on the progress and during that time he starts developing feelings for her too

But it's not as intense as Jason and Piper, so he mostly does a good job of ignoring it

He was attracted to Hazel pretty much the moment they met

And his feelings for Frank came after they're talk underwater

At this point, he's started avoiding Percy for fear of being attracted to him in some way

But the guy eventually comes to apologize for blaming him for the eidolon attack

And that's when the damn feelings finally kick in

Nico was a bit different

There wasn't really a moment of realization, but it was a lot more gradual. He pretty much realized he also liked him around the time they entered The house of Hades.

What happens after that or how it changes things is pretty much up for interpretation, but I personally think this is peak fanfic material.

172 notes • Posted 2021-09-08 23:47:07 GMT

#1

First and last narrated sentences of riordanverse characters (Only includes main 21 books, no spoken sentences)

Percy

First: Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.

Last: The Argo II sailed into the night.

Annabeth

First: Until she met the exploding statue, Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.

Last: They held the doors shut as the elevator shuddered and the music played, while somewhere below them, a titan and a giant sacrificed their lives for their escape.

Jason

First: Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day.

Last: The explosion turned the entire sky gold.

Piper

First: After a morning of storm spirits, goat men and flying boyfriends, Piper should have been loosing her mind.

Last: It might even be possible to tell a new story in which Leo was still out there. Somewhere...

Leo

First: Leo's tour was going great until he learned about the dragon.

Last: The bronze dragon spread his wings, and they soared into the unknown.

Hazel

First: Hazel felt like she'd just introduced two nuclear bombs.

Last: At the rail next to Coach Hedge, a dark haird girl appeared, wearing a purple cloak, her face so covered in soot and bloody scratches that Hazel almost didn't recognize her. Reyna had arrived.

Frank

First: As he marched to the war games, Frank replayed the day in his mind.

Last: He hadn't come this far to stand around helplessly while his friends were in trouble.

Reyna

First: Dive-bombing into a volcano was not on Reyna's bucket list.

Last: The onagers had shot their first volley.

Nico

First: The last thing Nico heard was Coach Hedge grumbling.

Last: Then he walked back across the green, where Will Solace was waiting.

Carter

First: We only have a few hours, so listen carefully.

Last: I did as she commanded, no magic necessary. I shut up.

Sadie

First: [Give me the bloody mic] Hullo. Sadie here.

Last: Don't let your magic go to waste. Brooklyn house is open for business.

Magnus

First: Yeah, I know. You guys are going to read about how I died in agony.

Last: Sometimes, even Loki can be right.

Lester/Apollo

First: My name is Apollo, I used to be a god.

Last: I will be there for you.

660 notes • Posted 2021-08-26 17:14:28 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[polyamorous-selfinserts]

case #0091104 - almost dead

trigger warnings: mentions of death, drowning, suicide, cutting, explosions, fire, depression

jon finds a tape in the archives that looks familiar...what will he learn about the archive’s resident teenager?

tagging @astralshipper @shippin-in-the-rain @grimms-heart @ghostlyvenus​ cause i’m super proud of this! 

this takes place during season two, but there’s not any major spoilers. just jon being paranoid, plus mentions of michael becoming the distortion.

Recorder clicks on

Jon: Found this tape under a box in the archives. It’s, uh, it looks like one of Gertrude’s tapes, but the handwriting....that’s Charlie’s I think. I guess I knew sh- they were here before I was, but…

Jon: Could they have killed Gertrude? I suppose it's possible. They would’ve been, what? Thirteen, fourteen?

Jon: I found this about a week ago, and I’ve been watching them. They spend a lot of time in the archives. I don’t think they go home. Come to think of it, I don’t even know where they live. I tried asking Elias - I couldn’t find the information in any of our records - but apparently they don’t work at the Institute. Which is, uh, alarming, to say the least.

Long exhale

Jon: God, I…

Recorder clicks off

Tape player clicks on

A low voice with an American accent. Probably 16-25, female?

Voice: Uh, hello? This is Charlie Finn. I uh...well I guess I’m kind of an archival assistant? Not officially though. Over my dead body, Elias.

Exhale, snort of laughter

Charlie: I’m uh, I’m making a statement, I guess? I think I’m already in more of these than Ger- uh - Gerard, but uh, I’ve never actually made one so…

Rustling of papers

Charlie: Statement of Charlie Finn, regarding...um, their life, almost-death, and subsequent paranormal existence.

Deep inhale

Charlie: So, uh, I uh, I tried to kill myself when I was eleven. Jumped into the Thames tied to a cinder block. Guess I should’ve tied the rope tighter, or maybe skipped swim team, cause the knot came undone. It was cold. Late February. When you’re drowning, you go into a panic - but there’s this point, at the end, where it’s so peaceful...you can almost see it - the end. I don’t remember not dying. I had almost reached that point, where I just...wouldn’t be. And then I was breaking the surface of the water. I - I tried again. Tied the rope tighter. But my hands were shaking so much. I couldn’t tie it fast enough, and dawn was coming. People had started to wake up - I guess one of them saw me jump in this time.

They take a shaky breath

Charlie: I could barely see - the edges of my vision were going - but I fought against his hands. He was an EMT, going in for the early shift. White guy, college age. When he pulled me to the bank of the river, I realized he’d - uh - (humorously) he’d pulled the cinderblock up with him. Couldn’t get the knot undone, I guess, so he just pulled me out, and the block came with it. I think he gave me CPR - not sure, I was kinda out of it. There was a crowd around me when I came to - of course there was, but, uh, they looked so concerned - (huff of laughter) - the ambulance arrived, and they asked all the questions - finally it came to the one I was dreading - my parents.

Charlie: I guess I should back up a bit. Some background info. That’s how these usually start. Um, so my parents are both teachers - we had moved to London when I was maybe ten? Not long before this happened. I hated changing schools, but my parents got really good jobs at some schools - my mom was offered the principal position at a private school - and my dad was offered a position as a child psychologist at some elementary schools. My sister was too young to really get it, but I hated my new school. All the kids were rich - and honestly, I preferred American homophobia. Anyway, this school was maybe five blocks from the Magnus Institute. Or, is. (humorously) It’s not like it’s just gone and disappeared, now is it.

Charlie: Peter Lukas doesn’t like me that much.

Charlie: So, um, yeah. My relationship with my parents has never been great. My mom’s downright emotionally abusive, and my dad...well he just… he doesn’t really have a backbone. My mom’s always been high strung, and I know she wants the best for me, but...the best to her isn’t something I can do. My dad tried his best to defend me against my mom’s criticism, but, I mean, he had his own critique for me.

Charlie: I’ve uh….I’ve never been the skinniest of people. And I’ve got narcolepsy - which means I sleep a lot. My dad - he’s one of those people who, just, well. He doesn’t understand disabilities. Like, I mean, he understands them, obviously, but he doesn’t really get that sometimes, I just can’t do stuff. So he pressured me a lot into exercising and not eating a ton.

They take a shaky breath

Charlie: So, I um, I was depressed, obviously. And therapy in central London isn’t exactly easy to come by. I was cutting, but that was - that wasn’t because I wanted to die. It was more for control. I could control that. (inhale) I um, I made the decision when my friend, um - I had a crush on him. His name was Nathaniel. He um, he stopped talking to me, just after my birthday. He just...never texted me back.

Charlie: I somehow got it into my mind that he - um, that I’d like, done something? To make him leave me. Which, I mean, I think that’s dumb. Sometimes people just leave, but my brain decided it must be my fault. So I, um. I jumped into the Thames.

Charlie: So yeah. Um, the ambulance people asked for my parents phone number and I just - I couldn’t deal with that right now. I just - (humorless laugh) - I told them my parents were dead. They didn’t know how to respond for a second, but they asked if I had someone else to contact. At this point, I’d visited the Institute a few times and met Gertrude. I was doing a school project on, like, local businesses, and I thought it would be cool to do the Institute. Gertrude had helped with a bit of the project - she was head Archivist after all. Looking back on it, I think she probably did it cause she has this sixth-sense about people who’ve been marked. I probably walked in that first day marked up to the wazoo for the End, and she took an interest in me.

Charlie: Whatever it was, I knew she would at least cover for me. So I told the ambulance staff to call the Institute, ask Rosie for Gertrude Robinson. They looked alarmed, but maybe half an hour later, I was sitting in a hospital room, Gertrude Robinson acting like she was my grandma.

(laugh)

Charlie: She’s rather convincing, when she needs to be - had a whole act about being a kind old lady. She was all (imitating an old woman) ‘my sweet little Charlie’ (laugh) Knowing what she’s done now, I’m not sure if I should’ve been impressed or afraid…

Charlie: Probably afraid.

Charlie: Anyway, she got me out of there real quick. Since we were in Chelsea - and my parents lived and worked in central London - I wasn’t much afraid of them finding out. It wasn’t in the news - (sarcastically) lucky me - and as far as I know, they never found out. Gertrude walked me home, which was...nice? I don’t know why she did it. Maybe she was actually worried for me. Probably not though.

Charlie: I stopped really going home after that. Or to school. I told my parents I’d got a job, and I was living with a friend. Both sort of true. I emailed my teachers, told them I was in a ward and I would pick up the work I needed to do at the beginning of the week and drop it off on Fridays. People aren’t exactly keen to pry into that sort of stuff, and as long as I got the work in, no one really cared. So I effectively moved into the attic of the Magnus Institute. Elias said it was fine, as long as I wasn’t disruptive. I became a sort of assistant - I took statements, filed them - I was one of the only ones who could understand Gertrude’s system - and looked into some cases for Gertrude. But my real job was in artefact storage.

Charlie: I know people don’t love it there, but I’ve always been interested in them. Gerard says it’s stupid teenage curiosity, but...he’s not my mom. Even if he was, I wouldn’t listen to him. Anyways, my job was to look into the objects that really messed people up. Not gonna go into super specific detail, cause the really bad ones are technically, like, classified or something, but lets just say there’s a reason I hate bugs.

Charlie: This was all fine, and I kind of fell into a routine for a few months. But I started to notice something. When people came in to give statements, I could, kind of, feel something about them. Like they were still going somewhere. The statements I took were always unfinished somehow.

Charlie: It got to a point where Mikey had to stop an interview because I wouldn't stop asking the woman if she was sure that was everything. I didn’t know what was going on, until one day I was walking home from the store - there’s no real food in the Institute fridge so I lived off of microwaved meals mostly - and I felt this pull. It wasn’t, like a literal pull. More like - (sigh) - you know when you’re walking back to bed in the dark and you feel like something’s about to get you, so you, like, throw yourself into bed and pull your covers up. Yeah, well, it felt kinda like that, except...except I was the thing in the dark. I don’t know how long I walked for, but it was after midnight by the time I came to an apartment complex.

Charlie: The women before, who I had been interviewing. She said there was something wrong with her gas pipes, but whenever she asked the landlord to check it out, they said there was nothing wrong. But she kept smelling gas. I could certainly smell it, as I walked up the stairs in a daze. I came to a door, 407. The door was locked, and when I put my hand on it, it burned. But I didn’t flinch - instead I turned the nob and I could hear the lock snap.

Charlie: Inside the apartment looked normal. I walked into a side room and the woman was asleep in her bed. She looked terrified. She asked me why I was here, was I going to kill her?

Charlie: I shook my head. No. I wasn’t going to kill her. But she was going to die. And -

Charlie: And the building, it exploded.

Charlie: I don’t know why I didn’t die, but she certainly did.

Charlie: (laugh) Jude was pretty pissed about that. Said I ‘took’ her sacrifice. Like everything doesn’t already belong to death.

Charlie: It doesn’t happen a lot, anymore, but I could tell when it would happen. I don’t know why the deaths are important. It didn’t happen when (shaky) when Gertrude left Mikey. Though I suppose he’s not really dead...is he.

Charlie: I don’t know. There’s a couple statements that mention me, but I don’t like to read them. It makes me feel guilty. I guess it’s not really my fault - they would’ve died anyway, but…

Charlie: Yeah, so. Um. Statement ends.

Tape player clicks off.

Recorder clicks on

Long, shaky exhale

Jon: Well, that’s, enlightening. I’m going to be honest though, I have more questions than answe -

Door opening

Charlie: Jon! Hey, I’ve got a question about this case, I think you might’ve misfiled it cause Martin said - 

Jon: Um, actually I was -

Charlie: Oh, are you recording right now, sorry! What’s this statement about?

Footsteps, sounds of shuffling papers. Charlie’s voice is much closer to the recorder now.

Charlie: Is that a tape? One of Gertrude’s? I thought the police had taken them all?

Jon: (fumbling) No, um, it’s -

Charlie: Wait, is...is that my tape Jon?

Jon: I mean - well - yes - but I - oh god - I just, I didn’t think -

Charlie: (cruelly) No, you didn’t think, did you Jon. (voice breaking) I hope you’re happy, now you know. I defended you, you know. Tim’s been so pissy and I - (voice cracks) I wanted to believe you weren’t that type of person but…

Jon: Charlie--

Charlie: No. I’m… don’t talk to me Jon. I don’t want to hear it.

Loud footsteps, door slams

Jon: Shit.

Recorder clicks off.