The Holiday from Hell

[scotch_egg]

Who: Alec, Anthony, Ellie and Fell
What: Going on a house sitting holiday to terrifying jolly old England.
When: 09/20-09/30
Where: Across the Pond.



Alec squinted at the house as it rose on the horizon. He was tired and jet lagged from the plane. Tired and sore from the long ride over bumpy roads in a small cab, crowded against one window by Ellie who was smushed in the middle with Anthony on the other side. Fell, being the guest, took up the front seat and was probably cramping Anthony's legs all to pieces with how much room he left which Alec felt strangely justified in.

Anyway, that house held memories, both good and bad and, mostly terrifying, but he was oddly looking forward to it. After all, everything was a little bit frightening until you knew its secrets.


---
Info on Abaddon House and the environs

Comments

Days 1-2

[scotch_egg]

Settling in.

[serpentinthegarden]

It didn't matter that his legs were cramping... he hadn't been able to feel them for over an hour anyway.

Anthony managed to pile out of the taxi when it pulled to a stop in front of the broken down old house but he leaned heavily on the door, giving his legs the chance to regain feeling and making it that much easier to speak to those still sitting in their seats.

"It looks worse than I remember..."

Six year old him remembered the house being a brighter shade of grey, the cobwebs being a little less thick around the edges, and he was certain the door had once been painted red. Blood red... some helpful cousin of his had once said.

"It wants burning not housesitting."

[temptationaccomplished]

Aziraphale eyed the house warily (this was not at all what he had been sold on), but at Anthony's harsh assessment, he put on a bright, optimistic smile and scooted out of the taxi and dusted off his trousers.

"Oh, I don't know. I think it's rather quaint and atmospheric. Very spooky." He turned back to Ellie and Alec, as if hoping for agreement from them. "Like from a gothic novel! It should be fun!"

[seawalled]

Ellie, on the other hand, was more glad to stretch her arms, putting them out to the sides then up to the sky, as if to welcome the whole grounds and the surrounding moors.

"Oh come on, Ant'ny, it just means she 'asn't had the money to 'ave it properly looked after. I'm sure it'll be fine. Mmmmm, nice to smell actual air again, though, innit?"

Checking out the Guestroom - Fell & Anthony

[serpentinthegarden]

The rest of the house was as abysmally dilapidated as the exterior had appeared. Anthony had climbed the rickety steps hoping his feet wouldn't break through the wooden slats and finally come upon the room he and Alec had spent so much time 'enjoying' during their stays. The bed was the same as he remembered, large and poofy, but haunted by the souls of all those dead husbands... and unfortunately with a fine layer of dust covering everything. Apparently Auntie hadn't had many guests in recent years.



Now they could have spent all day cleaning and straightening the place to make it livable or... Anthony strode into the room, casually calling on his newfound powers and with a snap of his fingers transformed the drab place into something a little more beach holiday with fewer anti-demon crosses hanging about on the walls.



"It's not so bad once you clean it up."

[temptationaccomplished]

"Now that's just cheating," he said, settling his things in the corner of the room and sitting primly on the edge of the bed, bouncing a little to test the spring and then smoothing a hand over the silky duvet. Oh, it was nice after the long flight and long taxi ride so rest somewhere comfortable and downright cozy, and the thread-count on the sheets must have been extraordinarily high.

Butler's Pantry - Alec & Anthony

[serpentinthegarden]

Why anyone would want to sleep in the small blood stained cubby hole that was the Butler's Pantry was beside him! Now being older he knew the 'blood stains' were indeed rust and not the murdered remains of one the house's former tenants as he had once been told but when the many notes he had tried to pass through the dumbwaiter had gone by unanswered it still felt like a brave choice to venture down the dark halls and check on Alec. He knocked twice on the door and then plowed on in.

"What are you asleep already? You can't have been, not with all the squeaking that dumbwaiter makes. Did you not see any of the notes?

[scotch_egg]

He looked up from the bed where he was wrapped up in an old worn quilt and staring out the small narrow window. He offered Anthony a faint smile.

"Sorry I was getting to them. Just enjoying the view." He opened the quilt just in case Anthony wanted to come sit beside him and wrap up like they used to do when they were boys, though the bed doesn't seem like it would hold their weight.

"How are you settling in?"

Cocoa and Sympathy- Fell and Alec

[scotch_egg]

A little after two in the morning on the first day, Fell might hear mysterious clinking noises kitchenward. If he should wander down there he'll spot Alec looking even more wan and pale in the bad lighting, wrapped up in a old quilt and with a steaming mug of what smells to be hot cocoa in front of him. He is staring out the window at the endless moor, seeming lost in thought.

[temptationaccomplished]

They had all had an early night due to their travels--or, well, slightly less early due to demonic influence--and Aziraphale had never been especially good with sleeping through the whole night anyway. So somewhere around 2am, he rolled out of bed, made himself presentable in a bathrobe, and headed downstairs, taking his phone with him to light the way. He is surprised to see someone else has beat him to the kitchen.

Alec looks a bit like a ghost. He looks like shit, is what he looks like, honestly, but in that dim lighting, in the gothic romanticism of an old house, he looks like the haunted specter waiting for the return of a lost love.

"I've been a terrible influence, I see," he tries with cautious pleasantness, indicating the cocoa. "Cocoa. I recall a time you all but refused it."

Good Morning, Sunshine Alec and Ellie

[scotch_egg]

Very early the next morning, Alec creeps into Ellie's room, and tucks in a few dolls carefully around her sleeping form, including one that would end up staring into her eyes when she woke. Then just as quietly he snuck out the door and waited for the fallout.

[seawalled]

There was most certainly a shrill, short y e e e k of fright as Ellie awoke to find her bedmates ... but this had been her room for so many sleepaways in her youth, and she knew every creak in the floor from sneaking down for midnight biscuits or chocolate milk.

Carefully, she got up out of bed, sweeping the dolls up in her arms, and arranged them in a semi-circle to watch the door, raising one's arm to point accusingly. Then she snuck back under the covers, placing one on her chest as though it had been sitting there like the legendary nightmare creatures who stole people's breath away ...

The Nostalgia Tour - Fell and Ellie

[seawalled]

Once the two lovebirds had appraised their room, Ellie was waiting with bated breath to squirrel her new friend and family member away.

"Come on, got to give you the ha'penny tour, haven't I?" She looped an arm around his and chummed up close, not minding any sort of personal boundaries at all. If you were family, you got an Ellie, that was the way of it. And considering how happy he seemed to make Anthony, she had decided he must stay. What better chance than a tour to get to know him better? A far more pleasant circumstance than being crammed in a taxi or on a plane, to be true.

[temptationaccomplished]

He was charmed by Ellie, by the enthusiasm that was hers and hers alone, so despite his surprise, he allowed her to invade his space and whisk him away for a tour.

"Thank you, dear girl." He never had a sister and after only a short time with her, he already felt welcomed and accepted by her pleasant company. On the other hand, he also was well familiar with the Crowley clan by now, and Aziraphale was a little concerned he was being shuffled off to be interrogated privately. "Though I'd hate to trouble you."

Days 3-4

[scotch_egg]

Exploring outside the house

Way outside the house in Thorn Village - Ellie & Anthony

[serpentinthegarden]

The house they were staying in might've been well on the outskirts but if one were up for a brisk walk through the footpaths in the moors they could make it to Thorn Village. Had it always been so seedy looking? No matter really... he sidestepped a grumpy looking older man and leaned close to Ellie's side.

"Just shopping for a few things, hitting the pub and back, yeah?"

What holiday was complete without the obligatory shopping trip! Though as he looked into one window full of boxes of salt and crucifix's he did wonder how successful the endeavor might be.

"Looking for postcards? Thought I might drop Wei one if there is a good one."

[seawalled]

"You know, I hadn't thought of postcards," she said, brightening. "I wouldn't mind sending one to John, now that you mention it. And maybe Lisa, she seemed like such a sweet girl. ... Not to the fam, though, if they get wind I'm here they might come try and talk me out of moving."

Coal Beach - Open to Anyone

[serpentinthegarden]

Ever since Anthony had discovered the beach during that one long summer he had fallen in love with it. True it was spooky, like everything else in the area, but that trait kept most people away. If one arrived early and staked out a place you could spent the entire day on the sand like it was your own private beach.

A pair of serpentine themed swim trunks had been packed specifically for this occasion but while he was still dry he also wore a light billowy black cover-up shirt. Even if he was in a largely abandoned corner of England he could still look flash as hell.

He had set up his lounge chairs, one for each of them, and an umbrella near the tall grass of the shore where the waves wouldn't be a problem. A few stones and some drift wood made for a perfect firepit which could be used later to fry up some freshly captured crabs. It was an old beach tradition to catch and cook your own with whatever else you might find. He was knee deep in the water plucking some mussels off a rock and dropping them into his pail by the time anyone else came by.

Millford House-Locked to Fell

[scotch_egg]

There was something unsettling about Millford Place. What it was was hard to say, it looked like any other townhouse in the row, narrow doorway, pitched roof, small garden in front that had a few roses clinging to life in the deepening autumn. Though it was only four or so in the afternoon, the oppressive gray sky that had been somberly threatening rain made it so the curators had turned the lights on, which shone out the windows and through the lace curtains. It should have been cheery, but like much in Horn Village it was tired and gloomy. That and the windows always seemed to give the impression of staring eyes, as if some part of the house is alive.

"Good place for a mystery writer, eh?" This to Fell who stood beside him. There was something different about this today, what he couldn't say, but something shifting slowly, or maybe eroded away like sand before a tide, but millimeter by millimeter.

"Have you heard of Elizabeth Millford?"

Days 5-6

[scotch_egg]

Being kept inside by a malicious thunderstorm that repeatedly batters the house

[seawalled]

The thunderstorm seemed the perfect occasion to put her own little creepy scheme into motion ... but first, she had to search the cupboards and pantries, gathering up every candle and lantern in existance and scattering them throughout the manor in the inevitable occasion of their necessity.

Once the house was properly stocked, she set about making a pot of tea.

Five cups were lined up on the counter. One for each of them, and ....?

Day 7

[scotch_egg]

It is early in the evening, though the storm outside makes it seem like it's midnight. Everyone will have found a letter addressed to them on their pillow or bedspread, written in Alec's unmistakable and almost unreadable handwriting, telling them to meet him in the library at eight o'clock.

There are cups of tea set up, steaming lightly, a plate of biscuits and a box on the central table that says: 'Do not open'.

Alec himself has not arrived. Yet.

[seawalled]

Ellie wanders down with the letter in hand, reading it over again. Alec doesn't usually call people together, and he definitely doesn't leave out tea and biscuits. She's inspecting the plate when the others arrive, and looks up.

"At least we know he couldn't have microwaved the tea, here."

Days 8-9

[scotch_egg]

Winding down and packing up

Day 10

[scotch_egg]

Going home... assuming everyone survived.