Emily Dixon

Emily was among the handful of people that Max actually felt comfortable playing piano around, and that was enough for him to loosen up around her. She’d always been rather timid, but her comfort around him made Max feel a little more at ease and overall grateful. He watched her carefully with that same shy smile, head bobbing in agreement as he moved towards the stairs. “I do know you, and you know me. Probably why we get along so well.”

Growing up, Maxence didn’t play with a lot of kids his age. Mostly he could be found in the music room of his parents’ house, plucking away at keys and hiding himself away. But whenever Emily came to visit, he’d revert back to being a normal child, and she was still one of the only people that could put a genuine smile on his face. “It’s like you know me well or something,” he teased, tucking a curl behind his ear. “Take me to the vinyl.”

Laughing at her threat, Luke couldn’t shake the smile on his face. It wasn’t that she wasn’t not intimidating. Even if she were, he didn’t scare that easily. “I dunno, you look pretty close to popping me in the eye. I’d probably wake up and know it was you.” He nudged her with his shoulder softly. There was a sense of relief that he wasn’t the only one that watched documentaries about serial killers. He had to admit, that was one of his odder habits. “Well, yeah, they always suspect the boyfriend or whatever first. I think that’s what’s called a crime of passion. Don’t know if that’s what that could be considered though.” Luke pondered, scratching the scruff on his jawline. “You’re giving me some mixed signals here. One second you’re threatening me, the next you want me to live. What do you want?” Narrowing his eyes at her, he stared her down playfully. “It’d be a new classic. Which… is a oxymoron.” 

“I’ve heard rumors,” Link admitted.  “About why the people are the way they are here, but it’s not like I’m even from here,” he grinned at her.  “Oh I’ve already convinced the manager that we need one, so we should be getting it pretty soon.  I know there’s a lot of old traditions here, but it also seems like there’s a bigger influx of newcomers to town too, and we can’t only cater to what used to be.”

“I can’t always depend on Orion, I gotta hold my own too,” she grinned, considering her options for a minute.  “How about you grab some snacks just in case all our ordering options suck so we have a backup plan.”  There weren’t that many eateries in Derry, and they were out of a lot of delivery ranges.  “Since half the places hate Derry, it seems.” Though she couldn’t really blame them.

He sighed softly as he listened but nodded nontheless. He’d known Emily for years, but had never really been given the chance to know her. She was one of he few people that knew about his piano playing, but their relationship had been a silent, mutual respect for one another. Without another word, Max reached out to take the watch, keeping his gaze on the small contraption as he felt the weight of it in his hand. “Thank you,” he repled softly, peering over to her. “I appreciate it.”

Living in Derry her entire life, Corrine knew every corner of every street and she could walk it in her sleep, if she’d ever felt the need to do so. But walking down these streets now, she wanted to turn the other way. Across the way was a familiar face, a face that represented almost everything that Cory hated - her father. She’d never gone out of her way to befriend her cousin, being years older than her, she had no reason to be friends with her anyway. It was no secret that her grandfather had favored Cory, but their grandmother? Cory never did anything right for that woman and Emily, well Emily was perfect.

Sucking up her pride, Cory approached the girl, sliding up to her smoothly, invading the younger girl’s space. “Wow, look at you,” Cory sneered. “You’re, like, a full grown person now.” - @dixonemily

Moving to Derry was a desperate choice Emily had to make in order to avoid the chaotic situation at home. She never expected to be welcomed to this little town with open arms. With her mother being the black sheep of the family, the young girl knew better than to have high expectations or any at all. She just wanted to be away from John’s reach and that was it. The house her grandmother had left in her name was falling apart -- but it was still better than living on the streets. Her feet froze as soon as she noticed the familliar face of the woman staring back at her, and for the first time ever, Emily felt nervous. 

Cory and she didn’t have the best relationship. In fact, they didn’t have a relationship at all. It was complicated and yet simple as that. “Cory..--- hi.” she murmured gently once her cousin came into her personal space. Long-time no see, she wanted to say but instead half-smiled. “Yeah.. you look.. um, you look great.” 

He could hear how quickly her heart was beating as the two of them lay in the silent bedroom, the only sound pairing with her racing chest being the soft breaths between them and the quiet sniffling sounds he could hear coming from the girl beside him. He didn’t want to make things worse, forcing her to talk about whatever had ruined her sleep this time around, instead tightening his hold around her, pulling her flush against his body. It was probably inappropriate, being as he slept in his boxers and hadn’t done anything to change that when she’d come crawling into his bed, but that wasn’t on his mind right then. Only Emily, and making her feel better. 

“You’re safe now.” Cain whispered, his hand finding her’s to intertwine their fingers as his head settled back against his pillow. “You’re safe.” He repeated, the words spoken softly. “Nobody can hurt you when you’re with me, Em.” He’d said those same words to his brother more times than he could count, down to the nickname and all. He wanted them to be true. 

She hated this feeling of despair and fear. It was as if she was drowning in her own feelings and nothing or no one could make her snap out of it. Before Cain moved in, the blonde would shake for hours in the corner of the bedroom, waiting for the first ray of sunshine in the morning. The night terrors were taking a serious toll on her life and Emily had no idea how to fight it, how to become stronger. Cain’s skin was warm, his embrace comforting and yet, it wasn't enough to calm her racing heart right away. In the back of her mind, the young girl knew she was safe here, but the thoughts, those awful thoughts that made her skin crawl wouldn’t leave her alone. 

For a guy whose mind mind was usually traveling a mile a minute, Luke enjoyed easy, fun conversations like this one, despite the threat of bodily harm. “Fair enough,” he shrugged. “Just means I always have to keep my eyes on you when you’re around.” Morbidly enough, discussing criminals and murderers was at the top of his list of favorite topics. There wasn’t a documentary that went unwatched in his free time. “Oh man, okay. I’ve gotta go with Rodney Alcala, but only because I think it’s insane that he literally went on a dating show and actually won it. I mean, maybe Bundy could’ve done the same thing, but that just takes a lot of balls.” Rubbing his chin, he considered her comment. “You think some serial killer out this is willing scoping me out as a prime target? I’m flattered.” He shook his head, laughing. “I’m just saying, Caspar’s a classic for a reason.” 

“Clearly she would rather threaten an inconvenience to me, as if she’d take the time out of her day to go to the next town over,” Link snorted a little.  “Everything in Derry looks like a snapshot of twenty years ago.  It’s cute, sometimes, but other times?  I just want a new espresso maker, but apparently that makes me the bad guy.”

“Oh please!” Cassi scoffed, trying to flex her biceps - not that you could really tell.  “No one would dare mess with me,” she gave Emily a silly look before nodding a little, more excited now.  “Yeah!  Proper girls night in.  I can’t say I’ve had one of those in a while - well, with anyone but myself, anyway.”

As the cool metal of the watch was pressed into his palm, Max’s eyes found it. It was carved intricately, and the ridges of the design made for a pleasing texture as he ran his thumb over it. “Why?” he finally asked, looking over to her once more. “If you don’t mind my asking…why are you getting rid of your things?”

Anyone that knew the taller gentleman, if that’s what you dared to call him, was well aware of the soft spot he held for his fair-haired roommate. There was a gentleness between the two of them that he’d long reserved for his siblings, up until meeting her, and he rarely brought attention to it. He knew she had trouble sleeping from time to time, but he hadn’t expected to be woken up like this, her broken voice smaller than ever and practically begging to be soothed without ever speaking a word of want. “Let me get the lights.” There was a tired irritation in his tone, but it wasn’t at her. Never her. It was at that god damned light, and he made quick work of flipping the switch and turning on the lamp next to his bed instead. A happy compromise, if you asked him, as he moved to settle back into his sheets, laying down behind her only to snake an arm around her small frame. 

“C’mere,” He mumbled, his tone heavy with sleep, the pad of his thumb brushing along the smooth skin of her arm, trying to soothe her in one of the very few ways he knew how. “What happened, Em?” He finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

Despite knowing each other for a few months or their different characters Cain had become one of the few people she could trust blindly. She knew how sneaking into his bed at this hour wasn’t appropriate but at the same time, Emily was terrified -- and if the ground could open and swallow her right now, she wouldn’t mind one bit. Curling up into the side he didn’t sleep on, the blonde shook underneath the covers, the dream still vivid in her mind. Her roommate went to turn the lights off and her eyes wandered around the room, too scared to move. Were they alone? Was John somewhere in the house? That dream was too real to be just a dream, and Emily’s heart wouldn’t stop beating as fast. Even when Cain got under the covers and wrapped an arm around her, the young girl couldn’t stop looking around the room. 

“I can help you fix it actually, if you would like my help. I don’t mind doing it.” He said to her. “Do you have the glass or are we going to need to go somewhere and get it?” He asked her, curiously.