#pb129

She’d been feeling strange the entire night, uncomfortable in a way that no combination of sitting, standing, or even laying down on one of the plush, ornamented sofas that filled the penthouse seemed to alleviate.  She changed to a different chair at another corner of the penthouse for what felt like the dozenth time. “You don’t mind if I sit here?” she asked the person beside it, though she was already sinking into the seat, feet aching.

Holland didn’t know what the difference between late and fashionably late was but this was beyond either of those. The snow clung to her hair and clothing, not to mention Mia’s fur. She had stuck little brass goggles on the dog’s head and had come straight here from Carol’s hospital room.

Slate did not care who it was that he was sneaking up on. It was well past three in the morning, most people were either tired or had found energy in the form of drinks or pills, and he was bored.

Everett tapped on the glass window, outside of which the blizzard conditions were lit up in an eery orange glow from street lights far below. “So this place is supposed to be haunted, right? I haven’t seen any ghosts.”

@micradupont

“I hate it here,” he whispered to Jeannie, wringing his hands around the neck of his drink and glancing around anxiously. The quarters were close, but they felt even closer with the storm barricading them in, and the allegations of a haunting were making him jumpy. He came from a town that respected the fuck out of ghosts, even the skeptics knew better than to tempt fate at places like abandoned mills and ruins from the Dark Days. “Why the fuck would you put an already crowded ball in a smaller space? It’s-- it’s a fire hazard.” As if fire safety was his top concern.

Mia was behaving very well considering all the yelling Holland was doing. Dogs weren’t allowed in the hospital, apparently, and exceptions were not made for the two most recent Victors. But this didn’t stop her from yelling, and when that didn’t work, pulling thick wads of cash out of her bra and giving it to every nurse, doctor, and orderly she came across to let her please, for the love of god, just bring Mia to Carol’s hospital room. She was getting looks, considering that she was in her ball outfit, but she did not care.