[PRP] A Christmas Horror Story (Chel/Shun)

[chiickadee]

Chel would always be a tad stupid.

"Oh. Yeah that's cool. Christmas was big in my house. Still is, I guess." Considering there was still a giant family party that she was still ignoring. "I'll give it when we get back," she said, mostly to herself to answer her own question.  

[Blade Kuroda]

It was kind of the opposite with Shun, as usual. He really didn't have that great of a homelife growing up. He just shrugged at her comment.

The graveyard was just up ahead now. It at least wasn't too hard to find a parking space, given the outdoor conditions. He pulled on up to a spot, then turned towards Chel.

"Here we are."  

[chiickadee]

"Mm," she agreed, taking a shallow breath before opening the car door. "You can come or stay here. S'cold out so I get it."

She took a step out of the car and frowned. It was freaking cold out. But then, when she did this it always was. That was how December on the east coast worked.

The backpack was hefted onto her back once more, and she shut the car door, waiting to see if he'd come or not.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun shook his head at Chel, "I will stay here."

Cold or not, cemetery visits were typically something that were more private. Whatever Chel needed to do here was probably better off on her own.  

[chiickadee]

"Kay. It'll only be a few minutes." She shut the door and rubbed her hands together, ready to make the trek.

Then the car door opened.

"I changed my mind. Come with. Or ... at least watch from a distance." She still had the feeling she was being followed after all this time and she didn't want to admit out loud that it was getting worse, but it was. A few nights ago she'd passed out completely. Luckily it was on her own floor and she waved Chris off as it being drunken stupor, but she didn't want to take any chances in a ******** graveyard of all places.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Once she walked out, Shun got his phone out to help him pass the time, though not all that much time went by before Chel opened the car door again. He raised his brow at her.

"You would not rather have this moment to yourself?" he asked.  

[chiickadee]

"He's dead, he ain't gonna give a s**t." She ran a hand through her hair. "Please. I still haven't found my stalker dude."  

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun breathed out, then climbed on out of the car, pocketing his phone in the process. After locking up, he motioned to Chel to lead the way.  

[chiickadee]

"Thank you," she muttered. It didn't make her feel any safer, but at least she knew if she died Shun would probably avenge her.

Maybe.

The walk was a short one; Lone Fir cemetery was a terrible, small little place. It barely got managed and didn't often have visitors because most of its residents were from 3 or 4 generations back, before city planning had been in full swing.

They eventually came to a small grave, which was only a rectangle of stone in the ground. The brass plaque indicated it belonged to Martin and Evelyn Craft. It had a horribly wilted, decaying fistful of flowers on it, which Chel picked up and shoved into her backpack, replacing it with a cheap looking handful of carnations most likely purchased from the nearest grocery store.

"It's my great-grandpa," Chel said. She wasn't sure Shun cared, but it was better than doing this whole thing in silence. Chel hated silence. "He was a d**k and nobody ********' liked him- real racist ********. They all kinda are, but he's where they got it from. Don't ask me 'bout the wife though- I ain't never met her."

She wiped her hand on her jeans and then proceeded to zip up the backpack. "Merry Christmas." She shrugged and stood up. The grave still had grass growing over the sides and parts of it were chipping off, but Chel didn't really know how to fix those parts. "That was it. Let's go."  

[Blade Kuroda]

Once it seemed that Chel was approaching a gravemarker, Shun hung back a fair distance to give her space. He did cast a brief glance to the grave itself. Understandably, it seemed like it had been awhile since anyone had visited this one in particular.

Interestingly, she didn't have anything particularly nice to say about the old man.

"Why come here then?" he asked. It didn't sound like she was fond of him.  

[chiickadee]

"Nobody else does." She adjusted the backpack one more time and kept walking away from it. "I tried findin' Michael an' them too- see if they didn't have graves somewhere, but it seems like nobody ain't ever heard of them or nothin'. Not sure what that means."

It was like they hadn't existed at all. The question that loomed in Chel's mind was are we next? After all, they were the casters now. The last remaining people who knew the full story. Didn't that make them a prime subject for being next on the obituaries page?  

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun glanced around at the other graves in the area, shaking his head, "They may not have ever existed in... I guess you could say this version of the world. It seems like the incident at Blackfriars had never happened."

Now that she was walking, he turned to start heading back to the car.

"As much as it sounds like something out of fiction, it is as if our actions have not just changed the world, but altered the timeline in a sense."  

[chiickadee]

She stepped in time closer to him. "Mm." The thought had occured to her that they didn't exist, but it seemed crazy and she'd dismissed it. People didn't just disappear.

But then, magic didn't just run rampant either.

What Shun was saying made sense, but she didn't want it to. "That's sad."  

[Blade Kuroda]

"This likely means that those who were in the rift, along with maybe some other-beings, are aware they had ever existed."

It was a little hard to wrap his head around, honestly. This definitely fell into one of the many things of 'shouldn't be possible' and yet here they were. If that much had changed here, he had to wonder what of his personal history had also changed. He was a little wary about looking into that.  

[chiickadee]

Chel looked at Shun as he talked and then looked down.

"I guess ... we're the only way they exist anymore. 'Cause we remember them. What little we knew about them ... s'literally all that's left."