WILD & WICKED / © yllwjckts
034 ⸻ Out With The Old

The sky is getting bright, the stars are burning out
Somebody slow it down
This is way too hard
'Cause I know, when the sun comes up
I will leave, this is my last glance
That will soon be memory
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
'Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close

- "Daylight", Maroon 5

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───

spoilers for the shining if you care, lol

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───

December 28th, 1977 ✦ Hogwarts

Lux found it easy to avoid Sirius and Remus throughout the next few days at Hogwarts, instead burying herself in her dorm room, where the boys could not enter even if they wanted to. Turns out, there was a charm on the staircase keeping men from entering, which she found to be a comfort as she wasted away on her bed.

The other four girls had each gone off to their own Christmas holidays, none opting to spend their break in the halls of Hogwarts, which Lux couldn't blame them for. It was dreary without the typical buzz of students, which was partially why she kept herself holed in her room.

She'd only left once, sneaking off in the middle of the night to get blood in the Forbidden Forest. Fulk hadn't been there, which had felt like both a blessing and a curse to her, a desire to be alone mixed with an ache for someone, anyone, to share her grievances with.

She supposed she'd had it coming. Nothing good could truly last, she'd learned that lesson ages ago, and yet she'd still wanted, still craved, still selfishly put herself out there knowing it would only ever end in hurt. Elias should've been the last time she let herself hope, let herself envision a life as a human, where love could develop in pure, wholesome ways without anything getting in the way. First, it had been Philip. Now, it had been her own lack of humanity.

Nearing the end of the month, Lux slinked out from her dorm, finding herself going stir crazy as the same question Remus and Sirius had proposed to her lingered: who had set the Coven on them.

Snape, Fulk and Dumbledore were the only options, though neither of the three made any sense. If Dumbledore wanted Lux and Fulk dead, he would've simply invited the Coven into the castle, he wouldn't have wasted everyone's times sending them to the Potter manor. Nor did it seem he wished for them to be killed - he had far more use for them alive. While Lux didn't trust the old man as far as she could throw him, she knew for a fact he couldn't have been the one to leak their location.

Fulk made even littler of sense. She'd come to blame him just as Dumbledore had suggested, played into the wizard's hands at spinning them against each other, moving about the board in ways he desired. Lux saw it now that Dumbledore likely had more use for them if they were against each other, mistrustful. Perhaps that in it of itself would've been a motivation for Dumbledore to reveal their locations to Adelais and her minions, but it had too many risks for not enough benefit. Dumbledore wouldn't have only lost Lux and Fulk in the battle, but he posed losing six valuable players in his war as well.

And, childishly, Lux trusted Fulk. Really, truly trusted him. Even so, even if it was a stupid emotion likely to hurt her in the long run, her logic eliminating him as a suspect was sound. If Fulk had wanted her dead, he had plenty of opportunities in the past to kill her without risking himself in the process.

That left Snape.

Snape, who Lux was currently searching the castle high and low for, knowing he had to linger somewhere amongst the shadows.

Even though her mind told her that Snape had no reason to betray her, that he had just as much to lose as she had if they became rivals as opposed to allies, she couldn't help the lingering thought that perhaps someone had provided a better offer than she could. She'd known since the very start that she couldn't trust Snape, that they'd never cross over the line from an uneasy alliance into a friendship, but she'd always been under the assumption that he was in his own sick way, loyal to her.

"You're back early," a voice echoed from behind her just as she entered the dungeons, making a beeline for their typical meeting spot.

Lux turned around, arms folded over her chest as her gaze narrowed in on the black figure emerging from an alcove in the wall. Buried beneath a cloak twice his size, Snape seemed smaller than usual, helping ease the bubbling anxiety she'd been unable to tame.

"I was looking for you," she said plainly, then cringed at her own lack of verbiage.

His brows raised. "What for?"

"What did you get up to over break?" She demanded, not bothering to conceal the accusation in her tone. It wasn't him, Lux knew deep down it couldn't possibly have been him, yet when face to face with the possibility that it might have been, aggression took hold of her body and mind.

Snape, to his credit, wasn't caught off guard by her shift in tone. Instead, he made sure to look her deep in her eyes before plummeting himself deep within her mind, with enough strength and lack of stealth that she was forced to join him.

It went by in flashes - skin on skin, thrusts and moans and professions of how wonderful it felt, to not stop.

Snape seemed to be as disturbed at the image in front of him as Lux was that he was witnessing such an intimate scene, shoving himself forward in her mind.

Mathilde made herself known next, with her sharpened teeth and manic look in her eyes, like she found the utmost glee in their fear. Minutes went by before Snape was retracting himself back into the real world, causing Lux to stumble at the sudden loss of him buried in her conscious.

"You think I sent them?" Snape clarified, having the audacity to appear offended by this.

"Who else would it have been?"

Part of Lux hoped he'd know, he'd have a possible answer for her to ease the bubbling fear in her. Selfishly, also to prove to Sirius that she wasn't a naive, undignified girl, that she could handle herself, that she knew what she was doing.

"I don't know," he admitted, running a hand through his greasy hair. "But I wouldn't know how to go about contacting that Coven even if I wanted to. We're allies, Erzsebet. I haven't gone against that."

"Prove it."

"How? Until we figure out who actually did it, there's no way to prove my own innocence other than the fact that I've been in the castle all break."

She thought, feeling awfully stupid for a moment, before suggesting, "You could've owled them."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do the Coven get many owls? Would an owl even dare attempt a vampire delivery? They're clever creatures, you know."

She shifted her jaw, taking in his words.

Snape stepped towards her, lessening the space between them in the otherwise empty hallway. "You're my ally," he repeated, tone dark. "Even if I knew how to get in contact with them, I wouldn't. I wouldn't trust the Coven with my left pinky toe, let alone my life. Unlike them, there's still a hint of humanity left in you. I can tell. If I want to survive this war, I need you on my side, in the same way that you need me."

Lux only just managed to hold back her protest, that she didn't need him, she didn't need anyone.

But maybe, she thought with a sinking feeling in her stomach, she did need Snape. There was little way she could go about on her own figuring out who was leaking her information to the Coven, but if he could pick apart minds, surely he could find the person who'd turned her in.

"I can," Snape said with a smug sort of look, and her eyes narrowed.

"Stop that."

He simply smirked. "Do you want my help or not? Because it seems Black and Lupin might be a bit preoccupied with...other interests when it comes to you."

Her face flushed a bright red, eyes avoiding meeting his. "You weren't meant to see that."

"It's not the worst thing I've seen in your mind, no matter how disturbing it may be. If anything, I pity you for it."

"Pity me?" She frowned, nails digging into the palms of her hands. "For having consensual sex? Would you rather I was back with Philip?"

At the mention of Philip, his nose twitched, a mouse backed into a corner. "I didn't say that. I'd just rather you know the exact kind of person it is you're letting touch you."

"I know them," she argued. Even angry at Sirius, she knew them, knew them enough to defend them from Snape and his groundless hatred for the two.

He lifted a lazy eyebrow, but didn't elaborate further. "I'll figure out who it was that leaked your information, for both of our sakes. Best do it as quick as possible as well, to ensure nothing else gets out. But even so, it might take a while. Don't expect instant results."

It took everything in her not to smile, gratitude rushing through her. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," he warned. "Now, should we have another go at our Occlumency lessons, or would you rather I continue to be allowed access to your...peculiar sex life?"

Despite the invasion she knew he had inadvertently committed, she held her chin up high. "At least I have a sex life. What are you doing, wanking under your blankets every night?"

"Better than getting involved with Lupin and Black."

She took a step towards him. "What do you have against them, Snape?"

He shifted his jaw, lips pressed together as if genuinely considering telling her. Then, he shook his head. "They're arseholes. You'd do well to stay away from them, even though I know you won't listen to me."

"Why would I?"

"Because I haven't gone against you yet."

"Neither have they," she pointed out, though one look from him had her shoulders sagging.

"Black called you undignified. You think I didn't see that, too? Why would you waste your time with someone who thinks of you in that way? Who sees your efforts to survive, your abuse, as something to be looked down upon?"

She was silent, skin crawling and burning from the way he seemed to look straight through her. It was no use arguing with him, Lux quickly began to understand. He would always have the upper hand with his ability to read her mind like the pages of a book.

Instead, she shook her head. "Let's get to those lessons, yeah?"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───

The lessons with Snape were never anything Lux enjoyed, even if she knew deep down they were needed. Even as her worst memories came back to her, even as she had to grit her teeth and watch as she faced the worst of her life's experiences, she managed to hold herself together. If only so Snape didn't get the satisfaction of seeing her break, becoming something weak. Their alliance relied on the boy believing that she was stronger than him, anything that didn't suit such a narrative would only seek to hurt her in the end.

After he dismissed her, she walked back to the Gryffindor common room, hoping it wasn't obvious that she was shaking. If it was, no one commented on it, leaving her to her own devices as she waved a soft hello to Peter and James who lingered on the couches, before moving to go up to her dorm.

Peter, it seemed, had lessened up in regards to his anger towards her, now treating her in the same way as he used to - an apathetic sort of distance between them, though kindness radiating at the core. Lux doubted the two would ever be friends, in the same way she and James would likely never truly get along, but perhaps an agreement was what was best for them.

When she entered her dorms, shutting the door behind her, she moved to take a seat on her bed, though the moment she moved the curtains that hung around her mattress away, she nearly screamed.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Sirius said with a grimace, as Remus nearly fell out of the bed.

Her mouth was dry, head jerking back and forth between the two boys. "In my bed?"

"Just in case someone else tried to come in, we thought it would be a good hiding spot," Remus explained. "We didn't want to look like we were being creeps."

"How did you even get up here? Boys can't enter the girls dorms," she demanded as both boys stepped out of her bed, Remus moving to grab onto her hand. Part of Lux wanted to pull away, to tell him off for touching her, but the moment his skin brushed against hers all bets were off, her mind going to an almost mushy state.

"Charmed the stairs," Sirius told her with a shrug, as if it was an easy task. "We wanted to talk to you. Where'd you go off to?"

"Nowhere that concerns you," Lux answered stiffly, taking a step backwards, away from the two boys. Her hand slipped out of Remus's hold, much to her displeasure, a will inside her to reach out and grab for him again.

"You're still mad at me, then," Sirius concluded with a sigh. "Luxie, come on, I said I was sorry."

"I'm not mad," she lied, picking at her nails. "Just been busy."

"With holing yourself up in your dorm, pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist?" Sirius asked with the lift of his brow. It was his turn to extend a hand from where he stood, reaching out and grabbing onto hers, rubbing his thumb against her wrist tattoo. "We miss you."

She was quiet.

"Padfoot," Remus urged when a silence fell between the three.

Sirius exhaled a breath. "I'm sorry I snapped at you about Snape. I shouldn't have been so obtuse about it."

"Obtuse? That's an awful big word for you."

His eyes sparkled, a glint of humor alight in him. "I have my moments."

"I called him it when I told him off," Remus explained, causing Lux to frown.

Until that moment, she'd been under the assumption this entire time that Remus had taken Sirius's side in their spat - he hadn't come after her when she'd left, after all. She'd known getting into a relationship with both of them was sure to result in some moments of feeling left out, of isolated in a way where she couldn't quite relate to them, but she hadn't expected it to occur as soon as it had. They had six years of a friendship on her, and the shared factor of their humanity.

"He used some other words too," Sirius elaborated. "It was very hurtful. He called me a twat."

"You were being one," Lux shrugged.

He pressed his lips together, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I know. I was being a total arse - you're not naive, and you're not undignified. Not for any of it. You have to know that I don't see what that Philip dickwad did to you as making you any less...I don't know, worthy. It doesn't make you anything at all, other than a survivor. You know that, right?"

She paused, then nodded, almost smiling at the usage of dickwad in regards to someone as powerful as Philip. It dehumanized him in a way that made her want to kiss Sirius. Instead, she simply said, "I know that, deep down. I know you don't think of me like that. I was just being sensitive."

"Nothing wrong with that." His hand squeezed down on hers. "Are we okay?"

The moment she nodded, Sirius's arms were wrapped around her, hugging her tight to him. Remus joined in, embracing the two from behind Lux, pulling them all together.

"If I talk about Snape a moment, will I get shouted at?"

Both boys stiffened, but Sirius shook his head. "Go ahead. We'll listen this time, we promise."

"I went to talk to him, to confirm it wasn't him. He's going to help me figure out who betrayed me."

Remus gulped, not convinced by this. "Are you positive he's not lying to you?"

"No," Lux admitted. "But I've got no other choice than to trust him right now. I hope you two can trust me in return. I've survived for as long as I have for a reason, I'm not an idiot."

Sirius moved to kiss her forehead. "We trust you. We promise."

Remus nodded in agreement.

Lux pressed her head against Remus's chest, taking a deep breath.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, peering down at her as he moved a hand to stroke her hair.

Against him, she inhaled a deep breath, consuming his scent. "I'm fine," she told him, though she wasn't sure if she meant it. "I'm just tired of all this, almost at my limit of things I can handle at once. I think my brain needs a break."

"I could eat you out," Sirius offered.

Remus gave him a look.

He blinked in honest confusion. "What?"

"How about a snowball fight?" Remus suggested, if only to get the topic off of sex, though Lux hadn't been opposed to the idea.

But more so than the idea of Sirius's face in between her legs, the concept of chucking snow at the two boys intrigued her far more. So she nodded in agreement, and Remus gave himself permission to ransack her closet, tossing her a coat and mittens.

"It's not that cold out," she protested even as she tugged the sleeves over her arms. "I'd be fine without one."

"I knew you'd say that, which is why I found you one to wear. No excuses." Remus rolled his eyes, kissed her softly, then grabbed hold of Sirius's hand. "Now hurry up. It gets dark early."

"Good thing I'm not afraid of the dark," she said with a soft smirk. "Suppose we can't all be tried and true Gryffindors, though."

"I'm not afraid of the dark!" Remus protested, but she was laughing too hard to acknowledge it. Instead, the three made their way out of her dorm and into the slowly setting sun outside, somehow already growing dark despite it being the early afternoon. Previously, Lux had loved that aspect of the winter, the shortened days and thus more time able to be spent outside, but now, she ached for a hint of the bright ball in the sky.

They split up the moment they were on the already empty grounds, with Sirius explaining the rules he'd seemingly come up with on the spot. They had to build their own forts, they could only get within ten feet of each other at any given time, and no magic was allowed.

Other than them, no one was around the courtyard, leaving it open and free for them to use as they saw fit, the sun shining off of the pure white snow, making sight a bit difficult, yet somehow didn't take away from the beauty of the winter day.

Lux wasted no time building a fort in the snow, using the surprisingly sticky blanket of fluff to erect a wall just big enough for her to crouch behind for when a tirade of snowballs was sure to fly her way.

Sure enough, the moment she finished patting down the snow about two feet above the ground, Sirius was hurling a ball directly at her, which she narrowly dodged by leaping to the side.

"This isn't fair!" She cried out, brushing snowflakes off of her shoulder. "He plays Quidditch, he's bound to be better than us!"

From his position at his own fort - a scrawny looking thing nowhere near as stable as her own, Remus nodded.

Sirius let out a laugh as he threw another snowball at Remus, though this one didn't come as close to him as the previous one had to her.

It was Lux's turn, whipping around to ball up a clump of snow before chucking it in Sirius's direction. She realized, just as she threw, that her hand-eye coordination didn't exist, watching as it flew feet from the intended destination.

Both boys roared with laughter.

"Is that what you call a throw?" Sirius mocked.

"Shut up!" She shouted back, struggling to not laugh herself. Another attempt was made from her, this time directed at Remus, but it flew right over his head and planted itself against the trunk of a tree twenty or so feet away.

"For fucks sake, how do you do it?" She cried, only to be slammed in the shoulder by a ball of snow. Turning to glare at Sirius through her smile, she cursed, "Arsehole!"

"You're just jealous that I'm better at this than you!" He called back, before tossing one at Remus, who was able to swiftly dodge it and retaliate with his own.

This one planted Sirius in the face, skin now covered in flecks of snow even as he brushed it off with his sleeve. With mischief shining in his grey eyes, he rose to his feet, stepping over the little wall he'd built. "Oh, Moony, you're going to regret that."

"I thought we couldn't go within ten feet of each other," Lux protested as Sirius rushed over to Remus, tackling him down and practically straddling him with his legs. The boys ignored her entirely, glancing around to confirm no one was nearby, before Sirius placed his lips on Remus's.

"Maybe we should take this back to the dorms," Remus said as Sirius pulled away, just loud enough for Lux to hear from her position approaching them.

They both turned to Lux, eyebrows raised from their position entwined with each other.

She nodded in agreement, an excited smirk making itself known on her lips.

"You're covered in snow, by the way," Remus commented to her as they rushed back to the castle, all three of them more than eager to embrace each other in the comfort of her dorm. Lux found herself grateful that all her dormmates had left for the break, leaving her alone to do what she wished with her two boyfriends.

"Suppose you'll have to get it all off me," she responded under her breath, trying to sound seductive. It seemed to work, with him grinning at her, and she knew he would've kissed her had they not been in a hallway with students walking up and down next to them.

Whatever charm the boys had put on the stairs still held up as they snuck up into her dorms, avoiding stares from a few lingering students in the common room, all of which seemed to know better than to question anything.

The moment the door shut, all bets were off. It was impossible to know who first initiated it, the snogging and the ripping of clothes and the sound of flesh on flesh as three bodies found a singular pleasure amongst each other.

It was after their highs had grown distant and their heavy breathing consumed the air, when they'd collapsed on top of her bed, struggling to find enough room to get comfortable with all three of them on the mattress, that Lux felt it.

A horrible, oppressive suffocating sensation, landing on her chest and holding her down against the mattress. It was something she was used to, something she felt at odd hours of the night, at daytime when she should be focused on other tasks, in her bed and in lessons with Snape and when alone with Fulk.

Philip and his never ending touch, a haunting force clinging onto her skin and digging down to her bones, cementing itself in place there.

She wasn't quite sure why it had come, why this moment, why now. Why when she'd been so happy. There hadn't been anything wrong with Remus and Sirius, their touches hadn't been anything but pleasureful, their caresses consensual, wanted, craved. Yet it was there, burning embers into her flesh, branding her like an animal.

Lux was pulling herself out of the grip Sirius had around her waist within moments, rushing to the end of the bed and leaving two very confused boys.

"Lux?" Remus blinked, a blanket held to conceal everything below his navel. "You alright?"

"I...I need a shower," she breathed, knowing she looked to be a deer in headlights. It was easier, now that she'd seen her appearance in that photograph, to imagine what exactly she would look like in any given situation, what expression her face would morph into.

A shower, she decided, was the best place to hide, to let the feeling wane away into nothing. They were nothing, she told herself as she rushed into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Philip was dead. Had been dead for long enough that she should've been able to forget he ever existed. And yet she felt him so clearly on her, even as she turned the nozzle and nearly drowned herself within the ice raining down from the shower head.

Scrubbing her skin did little to banish it, even as tears bit at her eyes and her nails dug into her flesh until specks of blood began to rush to the surface. Inhaling through her nose, she tilted her head back, letting the water run down her face, cool every flame bursting inside her, distract her until she was too frozen to feel Philip's touch anymore. Too numb.

"Are you alright?" was the first thing Lux heard when she exited the shower an hour later, a white t-shirt and plaid pajama pants draped over her still damp body. She wasn't sure she wanted to be dry quite yet, the wetness coating her body like a frigid hug. He had dressed himself as well, the clothes he'd been wearing before back on him, though his cheeks were still hinted red from their time together.

But it wasn't Remus who snagged her attention, nor Sirius, but a lingering presence hovering at the newly ajar door.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as Fulk came into view through her blurry vision.

"He said he needed to speak with you," Sirius explained for him.

The elder vampire was silent, and appeared almost apprehensive in his stance, hands shifting about like he wasn't quite sure what to do with them.

"You two should leave," Lux said, sensing whatever it was Fulk wanted from her, it wasn't to be stated in front of them.

Neither one of them put up a fight, making their way to the door.

"Let us know if everything is okay, yeah?" Sirius requested, stepping over to grab her hand and squeeze down on her skin. "Keep us updated."

She nodded. "I will."

When both boys had vanished out the door, shutting it behind them and disappearing down the staircase, she turned to Fulk, not bothering to mask her confusion. "You came to my dorms? Couldn't you have sent for someone to get me?"

He shook his head, releasing a breath. "We need to talk. Something's happened."

A sinking feeling wormed its way into her gut. "What's happened? Is it about the Coven?"

"No, no, nothing like that," he assured her quickly, though it did little to lessen the feeling of something tugging her insides towards the ground. He moved to sit down on the edge of her bed, where the blankets were still skewed from where Remus, Sirius and her had previously shagged beneath.

Despite the situation at hand, she did her best not to cringe. Instead, she ran a hand through her hair and moved to sit next to him. "I'm confused. What happened?"

"I've just spoken to Dumbledore," Fulk said after a long moment of silence. His voice was deadpan, void of any emotions, just as his expression fell into one of hardened neutrality.

"Okay..."

"There's this group of vampires in Albania. They're called the Blood Oaths. Have you heard of them?"

She paused, thinking this over, then nodded. "I think so. I think...I think Philip mentioned them once before."

"Dumbledore reckons we'd do well to get them on his side."

Lux blinked.

"They're quite powerful, enough to rival the Coven, truly. More importantly, they're hostile to humans. If Dumbledore attempted to make contact with them, he'd be slaughtered."

Lux shook her head, blood starting to burn from within her veins. "I don't...Fulk, what are you saying?"

A shaky breath released from him, as though he were in physical pain. "Dumbledore wants me to go and attempt to make contact with them, sway them onto our side - or at least away from Voldemort, who is sure to go knocking on their doorstep sooner or later."

"Okay," Lux reasoned, trying to wrap her head around it. "Okay, when do we leave?"

He turned his head to look at her, a sadness in his eyes she'd never seen on him before. "You can't come with, my dear."

All the blood seemed to drain from her body, leaving her lightheaded, the room practically spinning in circles as she processed his words. "What?"

"This group, they're considered rivals to the Coven. I'm sure Philip mentioned them in regards to that. They haven't made contact in centuries, no doubt, but Dumbledore is certain you'd be killed by them the moment you stepped through their doors."

Lux shook her head, panic rising in her. "No, no, that doesn't make sense. I killed Philip, I killed their enemy. Wouldn't they want me?"

"It's Dumbledore's orders," was all Fulk could come up with in response, his argument falling flat.

"You can't go," she concluded, her voice shaking. "Tell him no. Fulk, tell him no, please. You can't leave, I can't be here on my own."

"It will only be for a few months," he promised a hand finding her knee and squeezing down ever so softly. "I'll be back before you ever knew I was gone."

"But you...you have a job," she sputtered, grasping at any little thing she could come up with, anything she could use to keep him right there with her. "You can't just leave. You need to teach."

"Dumbledore is looking into a replacement."

Another shake of her head, her body beginning to tremble. How was she supposed to manage in this place without Fulk, without the only person she had on her side? She was a sitting duck to the Coven without him, to anyone who wished to do her harm. No, she was useless without his clever mind and brute strength.

But worries of her safety were washed away by the ache of just how much she would miss him. Twenty years had come and gone with his company, with him ever present at her side, to the point where she didn't know a life without Fulk. He had in so many periods in time been the only thing keeping her from shattering entirely against the weight of her own emotions.

"No, no, I won't let you go."

"Lux..."

"You can't leave me! Not after everything! I won't forgive you if you do!"

The shake of his head told her all she needed to know - there was no fighting it. No changing his mind.

"Please," Lux choked.

Just as she began to convulse into sobs, Fulk's arms were wrapped around her, holding her tight against him. And because he was Fulk, because he knew her better than she knew herself, he soothed her deepest fears with a soft whisper, "I'll come back for you. I promise. I wouldn't ever leave you for good."

Face buried in his chest, she shook her head. "What if you don't? What if something happens?"

"That's not possible," he assured her, hands rubbing against her back. "Nothing in the world could keep me from you, understood? Nothing."

It was impossible to say how long they remained in their positions, his arms wrapped tight around her as if trying to keep Lux from falling apart. It somehow worked, the cracks she felt digging into her skin remained just as they were, cracks, not shattered, not broken.

"It's dark out," Fulk commented when she finally tugged herself away from him, moving to wipe her nose with her shirt. Likely trying to defuse what he expected to be an awkward silence.

"It gets dark early in winters," Lux shrugged, staring down at her feet. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

She nearly burst into tears again.

"Lay down," Fulk told her.

"What?"

"Lay down," he repeated, standing up and beginning to shuffle through a massive stack of books she had lingering at the side of her bed. Eventually, he settled on one she was halfway through, the page she'd last read dog-eared near the center. "I want to read to you."

"I'm not a child. I can read to myself," she protested, but moved to place her head against the pillow anyways.

Reading had been her one solace in the Coven, the one way she could move through time when it seemed to stand still in front of her, unrelentless in its refusal to move. It was only natural that Fulk saw it as a means to comfort her.

"The Shining by Stephen King," he read the title, then turned it around to scan the back. "A horror book?"

"I'm borrowing it from Mary," she explained.

"I didn't know you enjoyed the genre." Fulk opened the page to what she'd left off on, placing his thumb in between the pages as he scooted back on the bed, just next to her. Then, moving an arm around her, he began to read.

She wasn't sure what it is that had her lulling into a sense of calm. Maybe the dimly lit room and the darkness outside, or maybe it was Fulk's voice, or just her proximity to someone she felt could protect her. But her anxiety ebbed away, if only for a flicker in time, a moment in the years she had a gut feeling would be suffered due to this.

An hour passed before he paused, setting down the book and tilting his chin to look down at Lux, who was laying against him, head in the crook of his arm. "Maybe it's because I haven't read the beginning half, but I'm a bit lost. Why's Jack acting like this?"

"He's possessed," Lux answered as simply as she could, moving closer into the warmth of his body. "Whatever's inside the Outlook Hotel, a ghost or a demon or a spirit or whatever, it's taken over his body. He's not really Jack anymore. Just wearing the same skin."

Fulk frowned in what she took as tepid understanding. Lips parting, he prepared to finish the chapter, but Lux spoke first. "Sometimes I feel the same way."

"Possessed?"

She nodded. "Like my body isn't my own. Like the skin I'm wearing doesn't belong to me."

"That must feel frightening."

"No," Lux disagreed, shaking her head. "It's the only way I can get any peace."

Despite the time not even being six, she was asleep soon after, drifting off as Fulk read from the pages of a book that should have frightened her, but instead felt far too familiar to be anything but a subtle reminder that the past was real. The Outlook Hotel didn't seem much different than Hollyvale Manor, she'd thought as her conscious slowly faded, nor did Jack Torrance feel like anything but looking into a mirror and finally, finally seeing her own reflection gaze back at her.

Just like Jack Torrance, she'd always been the caretaker of something she'd been too naive to understand. She'd belonged to Philip before she knew what being owned meant. Wide eyes had darkened, had become dull and dreary and exhausted when met with the path she was destined to follow. Just like Jack Torrance, she'd lost her mind in the confines of a place meant to be a home, committed autocracies for the sake of bloodshed, for the taste of copper on her tongue and pockets weighted with the souls she'd taken too early.

Just like Jack Torrance, she too was mad, in the only way madness could be - a kind one didn't recognize within themselves until it was too late.

When Lux woke up in the early hours of the morning, Fulk was gone, and the blanket she'd been covered in had fallen to the floor in a heap.

Just like Jack Torrance, she'd been left to freeze.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───

okay, so i have a lot to explain.

first off, FULK IS NOT LEAVING. not completely, anyways. yes, he will not be in the next few chapters because he's going on this mission. but he's not being written out of the story, he's not dying, he's still here, and we'll get a pov or two of his throughout his journey just to see how he's doing, and get some more information on his allusive backstory :)

while fulk is important to lux's development, it's just as crucial that lux learns to find her footing without fulk there as a crutch for her. she's come to trust him, now she needs to learn to trust herself, hence his little vacation from the story. again, HE IS COMING BACK. I PROMISE!!!!!!!

second off, why am i posting again on a sunday? the answer is because i am so unbelievably excited for the next chapter i have to post (which will come out this wednesday) that i wanted to speed up the process. it's going to be a lot, and i'm really excited for your reactions!

as for the shining/jack torrance yap, my personal interpretation of the shining is that it's about the cycle of abuse, so i thought it was a perfect metaphor for lux.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───