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 Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 9:13 am
Prompt Caroling has been a tradition for years, so it’s really no surprise when you hear a soft chorus from outside. What is a surprise is the fact that it’s three in the morning, and the moment they start singing you feel a chill in the air. It’s a song you’ve heard a hundred times before, but something about this version makes you go cold. If you move to the window, you will find no carolers, but the song is loud enough that you know you should be able to see them. They sing one song, and then there is silence. An eerie chill lingers, and your dreams are haunted by strange voices. You’ll probably never be able to hear that song again without feeling a chill.
....I don't want a lot for Christmas....
....There is just one thing I need.....
Groggy eyes creaked open as the soft song continued to play in the distance. It seemed unfamiliar, at first, but soon the tune was unmistakable, thanks to the local radio station's constant need to play Mariah Carey's version over and over and over again. Only this version seemed to be coming from outside, in the dead of winter and not nearly as in-tune as the multimillionaire singer.
Great. Just what he needed, carolers.
....I don't care about the presents....
....Underneath the Christmas tree....
It took him a minute more before his eyebrows furrowed. Wait... carolers? Right now? He'd gone to bed close to ten o'clock, so what in the world were carolers doing out so late at night?
Rolling over to the nightstand, his hand fumbled out and snatched up his phone. Swiping the screen on, the bright white numbers read 3:00AM.
What. The. Hell.
....I just want you for my own....
....More than you could ever know....
Something wasn't right. Granted, singing at three in the freakin' morning was obviously not right, but the longer he listened to the voices outside, the more... unnatural they sounded. Creepy, almost, like small, haunting voices one might hear in prelude to a dark scene in a horror movie.
Rob could feel the chills running up and down his body, despite the fact he was still burrowed under the covers. It took all the courage he had in him to slowly crawl his way out of the bed, peering out the window into the night.
There was a lamp post, the soft light illuminating the street and parts of his front yard and his neighbor's. There were no singers in sight, but the voices were there - those creepy, eerie voices - and for the life of him, Rob couldn't find the source of the singers.
....Make my wish come true oh....
....All we want for Christmas is you....
Scrambling from the window, the grown man crawled over the bed in search of the abandoned phone, immediately punching in the number he knew by heart. Something was Very Wrong and he wasn't about to find out why or what that reason was. As much as he wanted to tell the singers to scram, he didn't have the spine to take matters into his own hands.
He did, however, know a gruff and terrifying man who was good for the job.
As the ringing went through and clicked over, Rob didn't give the receiver any time to respond before he started stumbling over his words. "Something's not right, Kavinsky. I think someone's come to get me, I don't know." Eyes darted to the window as he bit his lip, "They're singing and threatening and I can't even find them and I don't know what to do, I swear to god that I'm not drunk, K, I was sleeping when they started this s**t, oh my god."
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 2:52 pm
There were several points in his working relationship with one Robert Banks that he regretted allowing him to have his number. Granted, it was up on the craigslist ad he put out offering his handy-man and jack-of-all-trades style jobs but some days, Kavinsky regretted that he accepted a fix-it job for the lawyer. Today was one of those days when his phone began shrilly ringing at the early hours of three in the morning.
Beside him the sleeping redhead shifted, a groan escaping, and the Russian was quick to grab the phone and answer it just to get it to shut up.
"This is K," his gruff, scratchy-from-sleep voice mumbled into the receiver as he pulled himself from bed. Immediately he went for his jeans, which were pooled in a pile by the edge of the bed, sticking one leg in and then the other before shimming them up, cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear as he slipped out of Ellis's room.
"Banks? The ********? It's ******** 3 A.M." He sounded unhappy, likely because he'd barely fallen asleep twenty minutes ago after a late shift as a dishwasher at one of the more popular bars. "Christ, whatever. I'll be there as soon as I can." One hand rubbed his face, pinching the bridge of his nose between fingers before he stumbled sleepily over to his actual bedroom to find a clean shirt and tug on a hoodie that would fit beneath jean jacket. His beanie was procured and fixed upon his head, socks pulled on, and his work boots slipped on and laced up before he was heading out.
"Try not to do anything stupid before I get there."
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Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 1:39 am
“Me? I'm not doing anything, I'm staying right here unt-”
The phone slipped from his hand as he turned to glance at the window, ominous singers still singing their ominous rendition of an already annoying song. He let out a startled noise as hands chased after the device, scrambling to pick it up after it clattered onto the carpet. In his hurried rush, his thumb managed to end the call and he let out a small, distressed whimper because as much as he wanted to keep him on the line, he at least knew better than to poke the bear - K was already miffed, being woken up at 3am as it was.
Mustering up his confidence, he kept himself low to the ground (who knew what any of the unseen singers could see from their view) and crawled on his hands and knees towards the closet. Opening the door slowly (because who knew what any of the unseen singers could hear), he crawled his way across the carpeted flooring into the depths of the small space, up until he located the closest thing to a weapon that he could find.
Digging into the bag of golf clubs that he rarely used these days (he liked to pretend that one day he'd have fancy clients to use them with), he pulled out the first one he could wrap his fingers around and yanked it out of the sack.
Club in hand, the grown man huddled into the corner of his closet and that's where he decided to wait until help could arrive.
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:26 am
With the line going dead, Kavinsky shoved his phone into his back pocket and pulled his jacket firmly across his body as he made the trek from his apartment to the house. If he cared enough, he could have found a Lyft or taxi and made Banks foot the bill for travel expenses but he'd been making the trip from his place to the lawyers frequently enough that he knew the fastest routes on foot and managed to make it over in a 'short' thirty minutes.
Knuckles wrapped on the wood of the door before he fished out they key he'd (finally) been given and used it to let himself in, making a point to shut and lock it behind him so they didn't have a repeat of the incident around Halloween.
Silver eyes cast their gaze around the room, looking for the fraidy cat lawyer and when he didn't find him, but could faintly hear singing, he sighed.
"Banks?" He called, voice loud and booming through the mostly empty household. Immediately he was headed for the stairs, climbing them two at a time before pausing at the stop. "You sure you didn't leave some shitty radio station up? C'mon, where the ******** are you?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 1:45 pm
His knuckles were white and aching from the way he clutched tightly around the rarely used golf club. God only knew how he'd be able to use it against a collection of unseen singers, but he'd do his damnedest to take as many down with him as he could, if the need arose.
He really hoped that need didn't arise.
About the time the chorus had sung through three times, he was starting to lose feeling in his hands and was forced to loosen his grip on his impromptu weapon. The voices were still just as spooky, the chill that surrounded him like an unknown, eerie draft in the house didn't help and it took a good fifteen minutes before he realized he might have sent Kavinsky into a trap.
s**t.
He hadn't warned him of what was spooking him, just that something was out to get him. What if that something was going to pounce K before the Russian even had a chance to make it through the front door? What if the reason the teenager wasn't there yet was because he had arrived and the scary singers had taken him for their nefarious... whatever it was they wanted!
When the door creaked open, he held his breath. Exhale finally came when he heard the booming voice of his friend - no, acquaintance - call out through the house, followed by the heavy sound of footsteps onto the staircase.
"I-In here."
His voice was raspy for whatever reason. Maybe because he was still worried about the chorus outside hearing him. Maybe because he was so spooked. Maybe because he was still half asleep.
Whatever the reason was, Robert Banks wasn't budging from his corner of the closet.
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:58 am
Some days Kavinsky wondered why he answered Rob's phone calls. Like the incident in October, the lawyer's claims were absolutely ridiculous and yet, when he showed up, the man was cowering and hidden away like he was convinced someone was out to get him. At one point the Russian wondered if the man was having some sort of break and was imagining these hijinks he kept needing saving from.
Then again, he had seen the freakish creature that had scuttled back out the door in the face of a broom...and he could hear singing even if he couldn't figure out the source.
I-In here.
Following Banks's voice was more difficult than he would have liked but eventually he found him in the closet, strong hands yanking the door open right as the song hit it's crescendo. "Christ, you look like a goddamn mess." He huffed, rolling his eyes. "Get up, hiding in the closet isn't going to help and you're going to hurt yourself with that," K scolded reaching for the golf club.
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Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:14 pm
There was a soft little shriek as the door swung open. He knew that K was coming, he'd heard the giant Russian announcing his entrance but he was dangling by his last nerves and the sudden movement had him paling even moreso than his normally fair complexion allowed.
"Did they stop?"
The lawyer paused, listening for the voices.
No, they were still out there, singing their creepy little heads off to their creepy little version of an already annoying song. How many times had it been, now? Too many, as far as Rob cared to count.
"Did you at least see them out there? Can you make them go away??"
It was a relief just to have the burly man standing there, crowding his otherwise tiny closet as the lankier man sat curled up in his corner of the space. The voices hadn't gotten to him but it was clear either K hadn't seen them himself or he hadn't been able to scare them off.
Thick fingers reached for the sports equipment and the club was jerked back, now clutched tightly to the lawyer's chest as he refused to give up the only weapon he had on his person.
"Find your own weapon. Hell, you could be your own weapon yourself."
He wouldn't need to look for a putter if he had fists the size of this Russian Adonis over here. Hmph.
Rob most decidedly did not budge from his seat in the closet.
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 1:27 pm
"Didn't see s**t." Kavinsky snapped, clearly growing more irritable as Banks reacted ridiculously. "Are you sure you didn't leave something playing somewhere?" He doubted it, based on the way whoever the ******** it was singing, but it was a nicer thought.
"You're going to ******** hurt yourself," he growled, leaning into the closet and choosing to reach for the lawyer's shirt and yanking him to his feet. Silver eyes gave the man a once over to check to see if he was injured and then he was shaking his head, stepping away from the closet.
"You ought to look into a different house with all this weird s**t you keep calling me about." At this point he was beginning to wonder if the ******** place was haunted or some s**t. "Bet it's just some kids playing a prank on you, you always get your panties in a bunch over stupid s**t." It was easier than speculating that some weird a** s**t was going on that they couldn't explain.
"Come on."
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:55 pm
His terrified expression almost looked crestfallen upon hearing that Kavinsky had, once again, not seen an inkling of anything Rob was terrified of upon entering the house.
"It's too expensive to move," the older man whined, as if he'd already been looking into such thoughts. Truthfully he hadn't - it had been hard enough to find a decently priced home as it was and with the business touch as go as it was, he wasn't about to risk paying two mortgages if he wasn't able to sell his current abode.
Plus, y'know... it had sentimental value to it. A little bit, at least.
Being yanked up was never a good feeling but it at least allowed him to remain on his feet and not being lifted, out of his control, into another man's arms. No, he was frazzled enough as it was, there wasn't a need to add to that factor tonight.
He opened his mouth to say something - something smartass, of course - but closed it as he looked around, eyes settling on the window leading to the outside world.
"It stopped."
Just as quickly as it had begun, the voices had mysteriously stopped. As they stood in silence and listened to nothing but the sound of their own breathing, Rob didn't know which was creepier - the voices singing or the sudden stop of the creepy voices singing.
Either way, he was completely wigged out.
His voice was hushed as he asked, instinctively stepping closer for protection, "Do you really think there are kids out there twisted enough to do something like that?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 2:38 pm
His expression said that he didn't believe the whiny lawyer in the way his brow was arched and his lips pressed into a line. It was something small and subtle, a slight shift in his normal resting b***h face expression, but noticeable all the same to someone who'd been around him enough.
Real Estate in the city was touch and go, with how much destruction tended to happen out of no where, it was hard to say what was a good deal and what wasn't. Christ knew Ellis had one hell of a time finding an affordable apartment that didn't need too many repairs until K graduated.
Silver eyes narrowed, starting into the hazel of Banks's as if he was trying to figure out if the man was lying to him or not. His efforts proved fruitless because the man was talking about something else and--
He was right, the singing had stopped.
"You've got some ******** up neighbor kids, Banks." He replied in lieu of an answer. After all, from his experience, people were shitty.
"Whatever it's stopped, you feel better?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 1:21 am
“Depends on your definition of better.”
One hand moved up to brush off the fingers still gripping the front of his shirt while the other was reluctant to release his hold of the golf club. The metal rod was tossed back towards the floor of the closet, Robert Banks looking unashamed of his spur of the moment hiding spot.
Straightening up his shoulders, he pulled down the front of his baggy shirt - not the most professional thing to be wearing when found in a closet - and pretended like he hadn't just called his not-friend over in the middle of the night for another false alarm.
Hell, at least Kavinsky had heard the hooligans this time.
“You're welcome to stay the rest of the night,” he offered casually, glancing over towards the digital clock on his nightstand. The older man was still swaying a bit, his nerves trying to calm themselves down. “Or I can drive you home, if you need to get back.”
Eyes glanced up to meet silver, then back to the clock as arms raised to rub themselves idly.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:01 am
He was tired, it was late and he'd worked multiple jobs that day and he'd shown up for something that proved to be nothing. Irritation was a buzzing string along his spine and it was a struggle to keep from snapping at everything Banks did or said.
"Are you saying that because you want me to stay?" He asked first, skepticism written all over his face. Calloused fingers moved to tug his jean jacket more securely on his shoulders as he waited for an answer.
After a moment of thought he shook his head, stepping back towards the doorway. "You don't need to drive me, I can make my own way home." He did most days anyway, what would be any different than this?
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Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 6:37 pm
He clenched his jaw in response to the bluntness of his question, then tensed as he watched the teenager take hold of his own jacket and make a flippant comment about making his own way back. He was always looking out for himself and hell, no creepy children - ghost or not - would probably dare mess with an intimidating force like Pietro Kavinsky.
What forced his hand was when the white haired man started moving towards the doorway. Rob instinctively moved out to follow, causing one white brow to arch, as if silently going well?
"Stay." The words were meek and tired, both feelings showing across the lawyer's exhausted face. "Same deal as last time. Just in case they come back and they do more than just.. y'know, sing."
It sounded a lot more sensible in his head but as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt stupid. Yet, Kavinsky didn't call him out on his ridiculousness, which was surprising to the shorter man. He stared at him for a moment, as if deliberating over his options.... and then with a heavy sigh, some muttered Russian and a casual roll of his shoulders, the handyman diverted his path from the door to the bed.
Rob took his time following after, crawling almost sheepishly under the covers while the younger man took his seat on top of the bedspread, broad shoulders finding a home against the headboard as a pillow propped itself behind his back.
"Thanks."
The only response he received was a grunt, so Rob tugged the blanket over his shoulder and settled in for the remainder of the awkward, odd evening.
He knew one thing, though - All I Want for Christmas was never going to be the same again...
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