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.
Life since Joce had returned to Destiny City had been good. Regina hadn't realized just how much she'd missed having her friend around physically until she was there and sharing things with her again-- light breakfasts in the morning, texts throughout the day, movie nights and dinners. It was such a relief to not be alone anymore, especially since she didn't have to be alone with her secret.
Neither of them did.
That night they'd both crashed early after decorating the apartment; a little late, sure, but better late than never. While Regina's nights were often peppered with strange dreams, it was few and far between now that she woke up in the middle of one. In her dreams she heard singing, eerie and haunting as it seemed to drift over time and space... But the singing hadn't stopped when she'd woken. It continued, just as clearly as if it were right outside her window.
Regina rubbed at her eyes before reaching for her glasses, settling them on her nose. When she could actually see she glanced at the clock. The red lights flashed 3:00am... Too early to be awake. Too late for anyone to really be outside... What was Destiny City up to now?
Grymoire
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 11:17 am
Jocelin was used to staying up late but after all the decorating and moving about they'd done earlier in the day she'd been all too willing to crash once she and Regina had finally decided to go to bed. Regi's bed was big enough for both of them and she'd happily dropped off snuggled under the blankets. Having someone else in the bed was a bit weird but at least Regi didn't toos and turn too much when she was dreaming.
Joce had, on the other hand, rolled so one arm was hanging off the bed while the other was curled around the pillow she was sleeping on. The strange singing that was floating through the house seemed to be completely missing her.
She had nearly forgotten that Jocelin was there with her when she woke up, almost startling herself at the pull to the blankets as she'd slid out from beneath them. Her heart thundered in her chest as she glanced back over her shoulder, relieved to see her sleeping friend. Of course, if Joce was still sleeping it meant that she hadn't heard anything.... Was it just her? Was the dream finding a way to manifest itself in the real world? Maybe... Maybe she was just still asleep.
Regina rubbed at her face beneath her glasses before lowering them back down onto her nose, heading over the window to investigate the sound further. As she neared the blinds the sound intensified; still hauntingly beautiful, but very much like it was right there on the other side. Her fingers trembled as she reached up to draw the curtain back, a measure of light spilling in from the street lamp outside. She fully expected to see a small group of carolers outside, softly singing a capella without any care at all as to the hour. That would have been strange enough, but somehow seeing nothing on the other side was so much worse.
Grymoire
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:10 pm
If Regina had stayed in bed Jocelin probably would have never notice anything amiss but the feeling of the covers moving and the slight draft was enough to get her attention.
Muttering softly she shifted, reaching up to rub her eyes before they opened. "Regi?" She muttered, voice a bit rough as she noticed her friend peeking out of the window. That was weird. It was way too cold to be out of bed and she quickly stuffed her arm back under the blankets.
As she wrapped one of the quilts around herself and sat up slightly she started to notice what sounded like singing. "Why the hell are there carolers? It's snowing"
Regina Hopewell had spent the better part of her adult life believing that she was crazy. She had sought counsel for the 'memories' that she had of being abducted as a teen, brought to a place with others who had a common tie to the stars and dying to save the planet. Medication had been prescribed; things that had made her feel nothing when they were supposed to make her feel 'normal' and it wasn't until she'd awoken as Celliwig, Page of Earth, that she'd finally started to understand and accept that she wasn't insane.
From time to time she still questioned it, though, recalling the concern of her family along with the disbelieving looks from the professionals she'd spoken to. Hearing music, knowing that it was coming from somewhere yet being unable to see its source brought her back to that. She wasn't sure she had words for just how relieved she was to hear Joce behind her say that she heard carolers too.
Relieved, but just as frightened.... And just as cold.
Her teeth worried her lower lip as her fingers curled a bit more firmly against the drapes, eyes focused on the spot outside where the carolers should have been. "There aren't carolers, Joce. There isn't anyone outside... But you hear that too?"
Grymoire
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:40 pm
"What do you mean there's not carolers outside?" She reached up to push a bit of hair out of her face, most of it having come out of the braid she'd put it in earlier the day before, and blinked as she tried to get Regina in focus. It was way too early, or late, for either of them to be up. "Maybe they're just out of your line of sight, singing just doesn't come out of nowhere."
That was the logical answer at least.
Nothing about Destiny city was logical and that thought occurred to her moments after she spoke. This was Destiny City. Where she wasn't just Jocelin she was also Thurdheim. Where people with magical powers spent nights fighting a war the rest of the city was unaware of.
Flopping back she shook her head against the pillows. "Nope. No. It's too early for this bullshit."
"It sounds like it's coming from right outside the window. There's nothing right outside the window, Joce." It would take opening the window to check and see if there was a recording of any sort; something left on the ledge by a neighbor as a joke of some sort... Maybe someone downstairs had left music playing loudly and their window open. Maybe...
Regina shivered as her grip tightened on the drapery panel as for a very brief moment she thought she might have been able to make out something. By then the last chorus of the song had been sung, trailing off into nothingness just like the carolers that had been singing it.
Frowning, Regina closed the curtain and made her way back to bed, trying to ignore the cold that followed her back beneath the blankets. "... You heard it too, right? It wasn't just me?"
Grymoire
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:19 pm
"I heard it and I am going to pretend that I didn't." Jocelin was staring up at the ceiling pretending that she couldn't still sort of hear the memory of the song. Whatever it was, whoever it was, she didn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night for some stupid nonsense.
When she heard Regi coming back toward the bed she pulled the quilts back. "Just get back in bed where it's not freezing. It was either some prank or it was some stupid 'Destiny City' bullshit."
She turned her head to look at Regi, knowing her friend would be mildly freaking out about it. "Either way we're not going out into the snow to figure out what it was. It's over now."
"Too cold to go tromping around in the snow chasing down ghosts," Regina muttered in soft agreement as she settled back down, nestling under the blankets as she drew them back up over her shoulders. She wasn't going to think about the singing, or anything else for that matter, until morning.
The singing had stopped. Joce said it was over and over it would be.... Until morning.
