lance preston had a lot to adapt to. he was trying to figure out what he wanted to be. of course, he did not wish to be a television personality anymore. he could not put himself in that position again, even if his theoretical appearances did not need to center around ghosts and hauntings. there was too much trauma there. he was forcing himself to make friends, as hard as that was. it was never a problem for him in the past. he could be outgoing and personable. but now? he was picking up the pieces and he let few people in. but one exception proved to be grace le domas. he liked her spunk and she drew him out of his shell a bit. "is it too cold outside for ice cream?" lance asked playfully as he settled into a seat across from grace at an ice cream shop. "maybe not. i guess that i need to get out more." that was a huge understatement.
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Here at Innovative Haunted Mansions, we offer all the latest in inconvenient designs, without taking anything away from the functionality of your 12-bedroom house.
Basic package:
The taps in the upstairs master bathroom only run hot water
The taps in the kitchen run cold
After complaints, the amount of bloodstains in the downstairs bathroom have been made “more tasteful”
Upgraded Package:
The wailing in the attic stops at night
We rearrange the ivy on the gravestones to obscure Throckmorton (1975-1990)
Gargoyles are more fuckable
Deluxe:
Secret passage between the kitchen and the conservatory
Reduced structural integrity of the guest room chandelier
Removed ECHTOPLASM
We hope you find a package which works for you, and remember: When is a haunted house not a haunted home? When it's not designed by IHM!
Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe- Canon Divergence, Major Character Death, Orphans, Legal Drama, Family Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Ghosts, Ghost Cordell, Ghost Emily, Anger, Grief/Mourning, Major Life Events, Angst
Summary: What if Cordell never came back from his undercover mission? How would the family handle it? How would Stella and August cope?
And how would the resident ghosts try to fix it?
Written for @febuwhump prompt 24: "I'm doing this because I care about you"
A/N: A quick note before we get into it: I've changed up some details about how things progressed while Cordell was gone. I wanted to lean into how temporary everything was supposed to be while Cordell was gone, so Liam and Bret still have a place to live in New York and Stella and August were still living in their main house in the suburbs and hadn't changed schools yet.
Ever since Cordell took on the Rodeo Kings job, Liam was afraid he’d get a call like this. He prayed to God that it would never happen, but there was always a risk.
He just wished he knew how to tell the family. Especially the kids. After losing Emily, they didn’t deserve to lose their father too.
But that didn’t change the fact that Cordell had gotten caught up in the crossfire during the final arrest of the Rodeo Kings. That didn’t change the fact that Cordell tried to warn him that it would be bloody and get the arrests made sooner. That didn’t change the fact that he died before he made it to the hospital.
With a heavy heart, Liam quietly opened the door to the ranch house and prayed they wouldn’t have to lose anything else anytime soon.
The whole family was waiting in the living room. He’d hoped that the kids would’ve gone to bed by now, but he supposed their worry about their father kept them up. He couldn’t blame them. He just wished he had better news.
“Liam, is everything okay?” his mother asked, eyes filled with more worry than the kids’ combined.
Liam sighed. “We- We made the arrests. The Rodeo Kings are going away for a long time.”
“So the job’s over? Dad’s coming home?” The excitement and hope in August’s eyes put a pit in Liam’s stomach.
“Uh, well…. Your dad, he-” There was no easy way to say it. There never could be. There was no way to sugarcoat the fact that they lost both of their parents in the span of a year. “There was a lot of gunfire during the arrest and…. He got caught in it. He flatlined on the way to the hospital. They did their best but…. Cordell’s gone. I’m- I’m sorry.”
It felt like all at once, the air was sucked out of the room. No one spoke. No one moved. Liam couldn’t hear anything except his heart beating.
After a few long moments that felt like hours, Stella got up without a word and stormed off to her bedroom. August was hot on her tail.
Honestly, the torrent of tears Liam had been expecting probably would’ve been easier to manage.
“Liam…” Abby put a hand on his arm. “I… Your brother…. What happened, did he seem…. Okay? Before the arrest, I mean. I know- I know you talked to him….”
He sighed. “He wanted to come home.” He warned me he might not if I didn’t make the arrest sooner. “I’m sorry, Mama.”
She nodded slowly and pat his arm. “Why don’t you go on to bed? We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Mama-”
“Go to bed, son,” Bonham said gruffly. “There’s a lot to do in the morning.”
He knew better than to argue with that tone. “Yes, sir.”
—------
Mom was gone. Dad was gone. They were orphans in the space of one year.
August’s suit didn’t really fit him for Dad’s funeral (somehow he was still growing) but he didn’t want to bring it up. There was already so much going on with planning the funeral and finding a time to look at the will and all those talks no one thought he heard about child custody.
It was just a few hours. An uncomfortable suit was manageable for that long.
At the very least, it was manageable in comparison to Stella’s attitude.
“I can’t believe they’re actually making us go to the will reading,” she grumbled as they left the cemetery. “I feel like we’re about to be auctioned off or something.”
“I’m sorry, is today not shitty enough for you?” he snapped. “Do you have to keep making it worse by being annoying?”
“At least I’m showing an emotion! You don’t even-”
“Are you two ready to go?”
Uncle Liam’s statement shut them both up, August turning away from Stella fully. “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” he muttered, following Liam to his car.
August didn’t pay much attention to what was in the will. Most of it was expected; the house and the money was going to them but being held by Uncle Liam until they were old enough to take it. They were also beneficiaries of the life insurance. There were a few sentimental items that went to certain people. The only thing he was nervous about was who would get custody. He wasn’t sure if that would even be in the will; it’s not like any of them expected Mom to die like that. What if they ended up in foster care and got separated? What if they got handed to Liam had had to move to New York? August didn’t think he could stomach losing his home on top of everything else.
Fortunately, Mom and Dad had thought ahead. Gramps and Mawline got custody of them. They wouldn’t get to stay at home but the ranch wouldn’t be too bad. It was practically a second home anyway.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. That was what he tried to tell himself as he started a list of what to pack to take to their new home. At least they still had a home. At least they still had some family.
August could work with that. Everything was gonna be fine.
—---------------
Settling in at the ranch went smoothly. At least, August thought it did.
Their grandparents had set up rooms for them, boxing up a lot of Dad and Liam’s old things for storage to make room for the grandkids. Mawline even offered to repaint the rooms if they wanted- “Within reason; no neon colors.”
By the time he finished unpacking, he could almost convince himself he was right at home. He offered to help Stella get through her room of boxes but she wouldn’t let him. “I have a particular way of doing things. I’ll figure it out.”
It stung that she was still shutting him out, but at least she was less prickly than before. Maybe the ranch was doing her some good.
Honestly, he liked living there. There weren’t any nosy neighbors buzzing around and he could feed snacks to the horses whenever he wanted, despite Gramps’ griping that he was spoiling them. And since they’d taken time off school to settle in, he had all the time in the world to mess with Mom’s camera.
It was nice.
He should’ve known it wouldn’t last forever.
“When are we going back to school?” Stella asked over dinner one night. It was an innocent enough question. He’d been thinking to ask too.
“Soon. Why? You in a rush to get back?” Mawline asked.
“Just curious. My friends are wondering and I’ve probably missed some tests.”
Mawline glanced at Gramps before responding. “Well, we were thinking sometime next month. There’s still some things we have to do while we get you set up at Sacred Heart.”
“Sacred Heart?” August asked. “We don’t go there….”
“I know, honey, but your grandfather and I thought it would be a good idea. It’s a good school, smaller than what you’re used to, but we know the people there and we think you’ll fit right in.”
Stella pushed the vegetables around her plate. “And you just…decided to send us there without talking to us first.”
“We know things have been a little hectic for you both-”
“And making us change schools without notice is supposed to make things less hectic?” Stella snapped, standing up abruptly.
Gramps glared at her. “Young lady-”
“I’m not hungry anymore; August can have my desert.” She stormed off to her room without another word; August flinched when she slammed the door.
After a very quiet and awkward dinner, he tentatively knocked on his sister’s door. “It’s just me,” he said.
Stella opened the door and let him in. She was barely unpacked still, despite being on the ranch for almost a month. Her clothes and bedsheets were put away but all the books and knick knacks she had remained in boxes. “How was dessert?” she asked, ignoring the elephant in the room. “I saw Mawline making pie earlier.”
“It was good. She made cherry pie; your favorite.” August chewed on his bottom lip. “Why are you fighting with them?”
“I’m not fighting with them; just voicing my opinion.”
“It sounds a lot like fighting.” It felt that way too; especially with him stuck in the middle of it.
She rolled her eyes. “Why does it matter if I fight them? They won’t listen to what I say anyway.”
“That’s not-”
“It is true and you know it!” Stella crossed her arms. “If they gave half a damn what we wanted, they wouldn’t make us switch schools or live on this stupid ranch!”
“They just want what’s best for us, Stel. And maybe we should just count our blessings that we have them at all. I mean, it could be worse; we could have to move to New York with Uncle Liam without-”
She snorted. “Honestly? I’d prefer that. At least Uncle Liam listens to us.”
His heart dropped. “You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t tell me what I mean,” she snapped. “Are we done here? Or did you have more to lecture me about?”
“Sorry,” he muttered. “Goodnight.”
He padded down the hall to his room and curled up on his bed with his back to the door. Tears crept up on him and he let them fall. August just didn’t understand her. After everything they lost, he just wanted to hold tight to what they still had. Why did Stella seem determined to push everyone away?
At some point, he fell asleep to dreams of a better tomorrow.
—---------
“So the lease on our apartment in New York is up for renewal,” Bret said over dinner. “I know the place we’re at is nice but I was thinking we could get something closer to your work. I found a nice place…. Are you listening?”
Liam stabbed his chicken a little too hard. “Yeah, I’m listening. What did you find?”
Bret huffed and put his fork down. “Something’s been bugging you since you came in. What’s going on?”
Liam sighed and put down his fork as well; he wasn’t that hungry. “Stella called me earlier today. She…. She asked if she could come with us to New York.”
“Like as a vacation or….?”
“She wants me to take legal guardianship of her if necessary.”
“Ah. And what did you tell her?”
“That I would think about it.”
Bret hummed. “Is that a way of letting her down gently or are you actually thinking about it?”
“Of course I’m actually thinking about it.” He just wasn’t sure what to do about it. He wanted to do the right thing for Stella and he could tell she was struggling to adjust. Maybe a move to New York would be a good thing, or maybe such a big shift would just make things worse. Not to mention the effect it would have on his and Bret’s lives. They’d have to get a bigger apartment, somewhere close to a school so that she could get there and back by herself if needed. This was all assuming he could even get his parents to agree to it, which they probably wouldn’t. “I’m just not sure my parents would go for it.”
“I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one,” Bret said. “I think we both know you’d probably have to take this to court if we decide to take her in.”
Liam was afraid of that. “Do you think I should?”
Bret shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, she wants to go, sure, but I’m not sure if it’s the right move for her. I mean, moving halfway across the country, away from her family, right in the middle of junior year….. Just seems like the kind of thing that could cause trouble.”
“But maybe it’s what she needs,” Liam argued. “I mean, staying here on the ranch, constantly surrounded by reminders of what she’s lost doesn’t sound like the best idea either.”
Bret sighed. “I understand you’re worried about her mental state, but she is grieving right now. And she’ll still be grieving if we take her to New York. Changing her physical state won’t necessarily fix her mental one.”
“So you think I shouldn’t take her?”
“I think if you really think this is a good idea, you’ll need to base it on more than what Stella wants. You’ll need to prove to your parents- and possibly a judge- that making this move is really in her best interest. And we’ll probably have to have an apartment ready for her to move into and find a good school to enroll her in….”
Liam nodded, a plan formulating in his mind. He wasn’t going to give Stella an answer yet; he needed to do research.
But he wanted to do something right for her. After everything, his niece needed someone in her corner.
—-------------
By the time he had the nerve to bring it up to his parents, Liam was pretty much convinced that taking Stella to New York was actually a good idea.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Liam sighed. He knew they wouldn’t agree. But what they thought wasn’t important; Stella’s wellbeing was. “I haven’t decided anything yet, but I think this could be good for her. She’s clearly not happy here and I can take care of her just fine in New York. There’s plenty of good schools there and-”
“Plenty of good schools here too,” Bonham muttered. “We’ve got them enrolled in Sacred Heart; it’s a fine institute. And it doesn’t involve shuttling her halfway across the country.”
“I understand your concerns, I do. But Stella isn’t happy here. She asked me about coming to New York because she doesn’t want to stay here, surrounded by what she’s lost. I can’t blame her for that.”
“We don’t either,” his mother said. “But we have to think about her future too. Stella has lost a lot, but not everything. She still has us, her brother, her friends. Taking her to New York would take her away from all that. She’d have to start completely over at a new school, in a new state, with a new climate…. I don’t see how any of that is going to help her grieving process. What she needs is stability; that’s going to help her more in the end than a completely new environment.”
“All the stability in the world won’t do her any good if she doesn’t feel like she’s being supported,” Liam argued. “What she really needs is to feel heard. Understood. I’m trying to do that for her.”
“You can listen to her without taking her to New York,” Bonham countered.
“But-”
“Liam.” Abby sighed. “We understand that you want to help. We do. But Cordell and Emily named us as their legal guardians. We’re the ones who have the right to decide what’s best for both of them.”
Liam nodded. “Yes. But Stella’s also old enough to make choices like that for herself. If she doesn’t want to stay with you, she doesn’t have to.” He hadn’t meant for it to come out like a threat. Not really. But…. It did.
Bonham glared at him. “I guess we’ll have to let the judge have the final say on that.”
“I guess we will.”
—---------
“I think Uncle Liam is gonna take me to New York,” Stella said. “I hope he does. I hate living here.” She spun in August’s desk chair and he tried to pretend his history reading was more interesting than her. “I told him you might want to come-”
“Don’t speak for me,” he said sharply.
She raised a brow at him. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Just thought you might wanna stick together since it’s just the two of us now.”
August put his book down. “Why do you want to leave so badly?” he just couldn’t understand. This was their home. They had Gramps and Mawline and the ranch. Couldn’t that be enough?
Stella scoffed. “Why do you want to stay? I- We’ve lost everything here.”
“Not everything…. We still have-”
“What? What do we have? We have a bunch of people who don’t listen to us and some hand-me-down rooms. Mom is gone. Dad is gone. And-”
“And whose fault is that?!” August finally snapped.
Stella balked. “What?”
“That stupid ‘car accident’ was your idea! You pushed Dad to go on that stupid undercover mission! And now he’s gone.”
She stared him down, fists balled in her lap. “I don’t remember you correcting the record when he decided to leave us,” she hissed.
“Don’t push this on me,” he snarled. “That was your idea. You should’ve known better. You should’ve owned up and stopped him. This is all on you.”
Stella flinched and August couldn’t bring himself to care how much he hurt her.
“Maybe I should leave then. I wouldn’t want to ruin your life any more than I already have.” With that, she got up and left his room, slamming the door behind her.
August dropped onto his bed, head in his hands, and willed himself not to cry.
—-----------------
Liam took a deep breath before knocking on August’s door. He’d already decided on taking Stella to New York with him, no matter what his parents or Bret thought. He’d hoped August would come too, but Stella had suddenly done a 180 on that idea and he needed to figure out why. He knew things were rough for both of them right now; losing their parents, moving homes, changing schools all of a sudden.
But whether or not moving them to New York was a better idea, he knew it would be better for both of them if they went together. Whatever had happened between them, Liam needed to get it sorted out before the move.
“Hey, buddy. Can we talk?” Liam said, slowly opening the door.
August glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “Sure. What’s up?” he said, turning in his chair.
Liam smiled. “I just wanted to talk to you about something. Did Stella talk to you about coming to New York with me?”
His nephew’s face dropped for a moment before settling on “nonchalant”. “Yeah, she brought it up. Why?”
“I was just wondering what you thought about it. I know things have been rough for both of you here lately. It might be nice for you to get away….”
August shrugged. “Maybe. But I like being here. It’s home.”
Liam expected something like that. “I’m sure you do. But your sister seems set on leaving and I think it’d be better if you two stayed together-”
“Then she can stay here,” August said sharply. Then, he deflated, looking at the ground. “Why are you taking her away?”
Liam sighed. “It’s not- Look, your sister just wants a fresh start and I can’t blame her for that. I’m doing this because I care about her. And you. Both of you. Which is why I think maybe you should-”
“What if I don’t want to leave?”
Liam swallowed. “I think you should think about it. But if staying is what you want, that’s okay too.” At least Abby and Bonham would agree with that. “Just- Think about it, okay?”
“Yeah, whatever.” August turned away
—----------
Stella was going to New York. August didn’t like it. Bret was unsure about it. Bonham and Abby didn’t care for it one bit but the judge had said Stella was old enough to choose her legal guardian and she’d chosen Liam. If Liam was questioning his decision, he didn’t show it as he helped Stella load the last of her bags into the trunk of his car. “We’ll be back for the holidays,” he promised his parents before they left.
August didn’t see them off, despite Abby’s attempt to convince him he would regret doing so.
With barely a few words of goodby, the Walker family was fractured in a way that left them wondering if they could ever recover.
In the background, on a plane no one else could see, Emily and Cordell Walker watched in disbelief.
“I’m sorry, Em. I- I was supposed to look after them and- I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t mean to leave them like this,” Emily said gently. “And it’s not like either of us saw…this coming.”
“I know.” Watching their kids be separated was awful. It was never supposed to happen like this.
Cordell looked over at his wife and saw a look on her face that he knew all too well. It was the face she made when she decided on a theme for the nursery, when she kindly informed her parents that she wasn’t taking payment for the wedding if it came with strings, when she argued with a teacher over an unfair grade. It was a look that said she’d set her mind on something and nothing would change it.
“We have to fix this, Cordi,” she said firmly. “We have to get them back together; it’s for their own good?”
He loved Emily, in life and in death. But sometimes she was a little too ambitious. “Do you really think we can? In case you forgot, we’re dead!”
“I didn’t forget that!” she snapped. “But we can’t just do nothing. There’s gotta be a way to get them back together….”
Cordell sighed. “I…. Maybe we can try? I know I can sorta affect things on their end. Maybe we can…send messages? Or something like that.”
Emily nodded. “Alright, perfect. We should split up since they both need our help. I’ll take care of August, you follow Stella.”
Before Cordell could agree or disagree, Emily was gone, presumably to August’s room. He sighed and “got in” the backseat of Liam’s car next to Stella.
I catch a scent of him in the air and my whole being recoils in disgust as my eyes quickly scan the room for a figure that isn't there.
A certain laugh and I can hear his voice dripping with mockery. Words of the past echoing through the present. An inescapable phantom always lurking behind me.
The horrifying visions of him that plague my nights.
Had a dream, and I’ve decided it was for the weirdest gum commercial ever.
It was set in a hotel. There was a couple staying at a hotel, and a worker who went to check on them for the evening.* They told her they wanted some chewing gum before they went to sleep.
Then, all three of them were wandering the hotel, looking for chewing gum. Separately. And somehow, they figured out there was a ghost in the hotel, so they shifted to trying to figure out where the ghost was.
The camera cut between them.
Woman 1.
Woman 2.
Man.
Woman 1.
Woman 2.
But when it cut back to the man, he wasn’t there. After that, it cut back and forth between the two women, increasingly rapid, until-
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[id : a rendered digital drawing of virgil in a dress on a dark purple background with ghost figures in light purple and pink. the dress is elaborate all in shades of purple and black, with ruffles at the shoulders and front, lace for the upper chest/collar piece and the lower sleeves. a bird skull decorates the center of the chest, hands-like bones cover the shoulders and ribs are embroidered in white close to where actual ribs would be. the bust and upper part of the skirt are made of a wide-striped purple on purple satin fabric while the underskirt and the upper sleeves are of a simpler black fabric. over it is a large coat decorated with a skull pattern and a whit fur trim. his face is turned to the left, he wears eyeshadow under his eyes, a dark purple lipstick, two dangling pearl and lace earrings and a small black crown. rather dramatic pink lighting comes from the left.
the second picture is identical but without the pink lighting.
the third picture is identical but zoomed in like a portrait to see the details of the drawing and especially the collar lace that draws out wide oval and loopy patterns. /end id]
top one now with extra dramatic lighting ! the other ones are as they were this morning and if you don't click for quality (pretty please) you can still enjoy a fancy lad portrait with slightly more detailed lace ! (might post it separately bc.... i love he)
