Realistic or Modern ✩ 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 ✩

[the winter soldier]

𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆



♪𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔𝘩𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 ♪

​

 

[the winter soldier]

✞ ELIJAH ✞



elijah james desario
arrogant // witty // loveable
19 // 6’2
scar below left shoulder (torso)

​

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
19
sarcastic // lost // nostalgic
6'1
knife wound on his abdomen​

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to move here. Well, perhaps it was that. The thought about moving to a suburban dream from his home town in New Jersey made his skin crawl. His idea of the place was from the moves he had seen. Perfect, Warm, Colourful, Perfect. And that was the oppsite of what he was used to and the opposite of what he wanted. Elijah loved the down town atmosphere, being around his friends who were just the same as him — deadbeats. But here? On the new turf? You weren’t allowed to be just that. He knew that he’d be forced to go to college here, unlike when his agents didn’t care at home.

His sighed through his nose, exaggerated, exhausted. His eyes scanned the room as he walked over the threshold and instead of helping with bags, he made a beeline to the stairs and began to climb them. Everything was a complete contrast of where he used to live. A dingy apartment complex, compared to this. A house. He couldn’t even fathom the idea of living in one, especially the expanse of this.

A hand grabbed the banister and he trailed it until he reached the top of the stairs. It was eerily quiet, lonely even. He rolled his eyes at the commotion from his parents down in the hallway and the bark of his dog.

After peeking through a few doors, he found the room that he would now call his own. He pushed open the door, letting the new smell hit him in the face. There was already his bed, wardrobe and a collection of other things within. They’d moved the week before.

Instead of going straight to unpacking, he sat down on the bed, looking down at the floor when his brows furrowed. Scratches? They looked like a struggle. He leant down, smoothing his fingers over the jagged texture in the floorboards. He frowned. What the fuck? He was still staring down at the floor when he heard the door slam against the wall. He flinched, sitting up right though when he saw his dog bounding through, he cursed under his breath and felt the tension in his body release. “Fuck you, Wolf.”

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson​

Today was the day. It had only been a month or so since the last family had been driven out and now there was another one ready to move in. Jude couldn't remember exactly what family it was that was supposed to be vacating the home he had lived in until his death, considering there had been an array of families from different backgrounds that had visited throughout the past few months to see if they were the right fit for the place. Jude knew they weren't. Nobody was. One way or another, they would come to realise that. When the family had officially moved in the week before, Jude didn't bother to stick around to watch. The moving process was painfully boring and what they had done with the place was distasteful.

Jude had spent his days roaming the house he had grown up in, watching as unfamiliar faces come and go as they please. There seemed to be nothing more annoying to Jude than when people turned their noses up at something within his home - the interior, the furniture, the marks and scratches that proved there was life before them. Nobody had ever stayed long enough to decorate the place, make it their home. Most things remained in boxes. Therefore, it remained to be Jude's. So it was safe to say Jude wasn't too happy to see the way things had been changed.

He was stood in the kitchen looking out of the window when a 4x4 car pulled up into the driveway and a family of three, technically four, made their way over the threshold. He moved to the archway of the kitchen that looked into the foyer and just watched the bustle of the parents as they tried to get things organised. They kept his attention for a few moments before his eyes trailed off to watch a boy around his age when he had died descend the stairs. Jude pushed himself off of the wall and followed suit, walking up the creaking stairs one after another until he found himself in his bedroom. His old bedroom. He hadn't much need to sleep now.

Jude watched with curiosity and a cocked head as the boy traced his fingers over the scratches of his bedroom floor. He didn't like to dwell on how those scratches came about and had worked on pushing the thoughts as far back as he could so he could continue to "live" in bliss. In actual fact, there was nothing blissful about his situation. He was startled himself by the dog who distracted him from the boy, but his lips were quick to curl up into an amused smile at the unnamed male's reaction. Wolf. The name suited the dog. The only problem was dogs were more prone to sense things that people couldn't see. Not unless said things wanted to be seen and as for now, Jude was happy to go about undetected.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

Gently he stroked his hand through the fur of his dog, a smile etching onto his lips. He knew it would be hard to get used to this house, this place, if he ever even did. But with his companion he knew it wouldn’t be that hard. In fact, he had promised his parents he wouldn’t set foot in California if his pet didn’t come with them. After hours and hours of negotiations around the kitchen table they finally complied and he agreed to come. After all, it was a big change. It would be lonely here and they knew that. Without at least one friend he thought he’d probably go crazy. The dog nuzzled it’s head into his legs and a chuckle escaped the containment of his mouth. “What’s wrong, dude?” He asked, giving one final and firm pat to the dogs back. “Oh, I know what you want.” He said, another laugh following the words.

Quickly, Elijah stood up, his companion bouncing around now as he knew what was coming — his wishes were being granted by his human. He reached his rucksack that was thrown on the floor prior before wrestling with it to find what he desired. A worn, chewed and almost destroyed teddy bear. He almost grimaced at the smell, and sight of it but knew it would make the dog happy and settle him. “Fetch.” He said, throwing it towards the open door.

When the dog chased after it, he decided not to sit back down. He wanted to do some exploring of his new room. Most of his things were here already, but in boxes scattered around. Elijah swept his hand over one of them, sneezing at the dust that collected. He then opened it up, grinning at the sight of his CDs. “Awesome.” He commented before skipping his hands through the collection. When he found something that struck his interest, he quickly ripped it out and turned around the his desk which had come the week before like the rest of the boxes. He placed the CD in the player before the room’s lonely atmosphere was replaced by the sounds of his adolescence.

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

Jude watched the interaction between the teenager and the dog with a reminiscent smile, of sorts. He remembered the time he had a dog - Luigi, they called him. From the age of eleven until his death, Luigi was his best friend. At the tender age of nineteen when Jude passed, he knew his dog could still sense him. He offered Jude comfort but also a desire to be alive once more. Hopes and dreams so farfetched don't quite come true, though.

Watching as the dog ran out of the room to go and fetch the toy that had seen better days, Jude then walked over to the box the teenager had opened. He peered inside out of curiosity and saw an array of CDs from different artists. He had to commend the unnamed male on his music choice - it wasn't the mainstream pop that Jude had to suffer listening to every time he got into a car. With that, Jude began to stride around the room unnoticed, the music being the only sound emanating from within the room.

There was a small bookshelf by the corner of the room which already had a few books aligned on it and Jude couldn't help but chuckle as an idea popped into his head. He ran his fingers along the spine of the book before tapping it with his finger, watching as it dropped to the floor with a light thud. It was harmless fun - the only fun Jude could really have. He had quite a lot of experience driving out families from his games. Knocking things over, pushing open doors, rocking chairs, opening cupboards and cabinets. That was just the start. These thing's always started off slow.

Once the attention of the other boy was caught, Jude decided to knock off another book from the shelf. He just wanted to see the reaction of someone that knew two books falling from a shelf wasn't a coincidence. It was only the first day, he wanted to go easy. He wanted to see what the family were really about, first. It was an added bonus that the other boy was attractive.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

Slumping over to the bed, he sat back down, this time though, laying back on the soft duvet which he had owned since a time that he could no longer remember. He didn’t like knew things. Substance, style, mannerisms. It wasn’t that he was against the mainstream, but he’d never been able to afford the trends and fashions, much like the friends he had left behind. That was another thing about this place he despised. Everybody seemed to be so on trend — being able to afford laptops and phones whereas him on the other hand could not. It was a wonder how his parents could even muster up the money to afford this house. Though, he suspected his grandfather had left them a hefty amount after his untimely death only a year prior. He couldn’t help but snub the fact he had never mentioned this load of money before.

Living in an apartment complex wasn’t the ideal dream, and knowing a small fortune was just around the corner now, he was disappointed that his life could’ve been so much more enriched in his childhood. But that couldn’t be helped now. It was weird. He felt like a different person with all the money. His parents had bought him countless amounts of new clothes that didn’t appear distressed but he refused to wear them and they now lived untouched in the bottom of the boxes, and would probably stay that way even when they were unpacked.

Elijah sighed through his nose as he stared up at the ceiling, bringing his arms up and placing them behind his head. There was nothing that could be done now, he thought, socthe anger was pointless to feel. It wasn’t like they were close to his grandfather so why should he have given them anything. It wasn’t like he lived in luxury either. Perhaps he had forgotten he even had money wasting away in bank accounts he couldn’t remmeber the PINs of.

His contemplation was disturbed at the sound of a bang on the floor and at first he thought it was the dog, but seeing him in front of the bed, he frowned. Sitting up abruptly, he scanned the room and noticed the book. He sprung up from the bed and hobbled over, examining it. He couldn’t see any reason for the disturbance except perhaps the open window. Even that was pushing it. He pursed his lips before closing up the window. Though, when Wolf began to bark, hisnfrown only deepened. “What?” He asked, as if he would get a response and then the dog began to growl instead, flashing his teeth.

Weird, he’d never been aggressive before. Not even to people he saw as enemies. When another book fell and a loud snap of the dog’s mouth occurred, Elijah jumped back. “What the fuck.” He muttered, retreating to the bed. “Wolf? What iare you barking at? It’s nothing. Probably just draft.” He commented, though in the back of his mind all he could think of was: it really wasn’t just a draft.

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

Jude chuckled under his breath in amusement of the reaction he had received. His amusement didn't last long as the dog began to bark, looking right at him. He crouched down and patted his thigh, watching as the dog reluctantly trotted over to him. Jude ran his finger's through the dog's fur and was surprised by how soft and feathery it was. "No need to be so vocal, Wolf," Jude spoke to the dog, rubbing his head and calming him down. It had been a while since he'd come into contact with a dog and Wolf was very much like Luigi, so it was a comforting feeling.

The mention of a draft made Jude purse his lips. Two books fall off a shelf, one after the other. Jude knew that the other boy knew a draft was not the reasoning for that. But it wasn't unsuspected. People loved to believe in anything but the fact that a supernatural presence existed. In fact, there had been more than one existing in Jude's home at one time. Now that he was dead, he could see and talk to them whenever he pleased. They weren't all evil, either.

Jude thought about messing around a little bit more for his own amusement, but he wanted his guests to settle in first before the real fun began. It wasn't any fun to get straight into it. Standing back up once the dog had returned to where he was previously, Jude walked over to the bedroom window that overlooked the street he had ridden his bike along countless times. He watched as life went by, no regards to the many deaths that had singlehandedly happened in the house they were strolling past. The reason the place was such a bargain was that people hadn't just died in this place, they had been brutally murdered. He wasn't sure whether the new residents were aware of such information because once people found out, they were quick to leave and never return. They would come to learn that moving in was going to be a big mistake.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

When the sounds ceased from his companion, he sighed a sigh of relief before perching back down on the bed. The unlike before, he was no longer relaxed. In fact, if his parents weren’t downstairs he would happily go back down there and not come back up until it was time to go to sleep. But they were, so he put that idea back into the further crevices of his mind. He didn’t hate them, but he didn’t like them either. They weren’t the best nor were they the worst. But the relationship between the three of them was rocky. Not between his parents, they were fine, but his attitude towards them was unlike most families. He stool to himself and retired to his room without even a simple hello after college.

He ran his hands through his hair, foot tapping on the floor for a while before he decided he should finally get some unpacking down. At least it would calm his mind a little. Before though, he paused the CD in the player. Then swapped out what was playing from the declining collection in the box. Joy Division seemed fitting. Love will tear us apart. He scoffed at the thought of love before rolling his eyes and changing the track. Disorder. He smiled at the sound before turning around.

Elijah cracked his knuckles at the sight of the numerous boxes. It would be a long day unpacking them all. He probably wouldn’t even get finished. He grabbed the first one and emptied it out into the floor watching as his books and diary flooded out. He never told anybody about the diary as he knew his reputation in the not so loving down town would be tarnished as a Nancy. He had quite a reputation for being the toughest of the crowd back home. He often got into fights. He couldn’t even remember how he got most of the scars that stretched the outskirts of his body. He gently traced his fingers over a book that seemed tougher than the others. It was well loved. “Wolf.” He called, looking over at the dog who seemed to be preoccupied, tail wagging. “What’s up with you, man?”

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

Jude ran his fingers through his hair, pushing the strands back and out of his face. He turned on his heel to face the dog and teenager once more, lips pursed in boredom. There was only so much you could do to entertain yourself when you were stook in the same place day in and day out. At least the dog could offer him some company. His thoughts were quickly disrupted by the multitude of books dropping to the floor, causing him to grimace at the harsh noise. Whoever he was, it was clear he liked to read. Jude moved across the room to see what kind of books he liked to read but once his eyes landed on a book with no title, it piqued his interest. A diary was the only thing Jude could presume it was.

Kneeling down, Jude lifted the cover of the diary up and got a glimpse of the boy's name, Elijah, before he heard a voice speak from behind him. "Oh, he is totally your type." Jude knew that voice better than any other. He looked over his shoulder to see a previous resident turned friend leaning against the doorframe. "Is that why you're spending so much time in here?"

"Piss off, Michael," Jude retorted, standing up once more and dusting off his jeans. Michael had been around for a year or so now and considering he was the closest in age to Jude, they were quick to become friends. Despite their friendship, Jude had never divulged the information as to how he ended up the way he had.

"Scared him yet?" Michael asked, his arms folded over his chest.

"A little bit," Jude shrugged before rolling his shoulders. "You seen the mess they've made of the place?" He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck before the two boys fell into conversation all about the new family that resided in what used to be classed as their home.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

Elijah noticed the cover flinch a little but declared in his mind that yes, it must’ve been the same draft as before that had knocked down his books. Even though he realised the window was shut, the door could’ve easily brought some air through. It was an old house, he thought, things could easily creak and there was probably more holes than he could count in the walls and insulation englulfed within them. Speaking of a draft, he felt a coldness enter the room and frowned, standing from where he wa knelt on the floor. He grabbed one of the boxes, chucking it down on the hard wood, knowing that one was full of the disregarded clothes his parents bought him, and dig into he one beneath, uncovering a worn, tattered sweater in which he pulled over his head. Weird, still cold, he thought before shaking the thought from his head.

He continued to waver through his books, picking up and placing the ones he enjoyed on the bookshelf, tossing the rest back into the box which he would dispose of later. He placed his notebook on the bedside table though, knowing he would probably use that later in the day when everybody else was asleep. He kept the untouchable and hard headed bravado up for his parents even, and wouldn’t want them to know he dabbled in things like that which would make him appear weak. Or so he thought anyway.

When he finished sorting his books he shoved his hands into his pockets, looking around the room, when noticing a half full packet of cigarettes fell into his palms. A crooked smiled lingered in his lips and without another moment of contemplation, he moved over to the door and slammed it shut before he headed over to the recently closed window and opened it up, lighting the cigarette with the box of matches within the packet. “I could get used to living in a big house, Wolf.” He commented, knowing there was no reason his parents would be able to smell it from where they were. “Come here.” He ushered, absentmindedly patting his right thigh. The dog emerged next to him, nuzzling at his leg for attention. He granted, patting his head.

Though his moment of peace was disrupted when the door flew open and his father appeared. He scrambled the cigarette, it falling out of his mouth and onto the floor. Cursing, he tried to step on it but much to his dismay, his father had already seen.

“Eli. We’ve spoken about this before. If you’re gonna smoke then get outside.” His voice was thick with exhaustion, having said this countless amounts of times.

“It’s my fucking room, get out.” He grumbled, picking up the dock from the floor.

“Whatever. Just get some work done.” He then retreated from the room, closing the door ajar.

Then Elijah stormed over, slamming it shut the rest of the way before resting his back against it, sliding down so he was sat on the floor. He sighed quietly, covering his face with his hands. He let them stroke over his face before his gritted his teeth and slammed his elbow into the door behind him.

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

While Jude and Michael conversed, Jude's eyes fell upon Elijah once more. He watched as he opened up the bedroom window to smoke without getting caught - something Jude had done a fair few times. It amused him and his lips curled into a smile, quickly followed by a chuckle. It seemed the biggest difference between the two boys was that one was alive, while the other dead. He remembered the time his mom barged into his room and caught him, half a cigarette between his lips and his body perched up on the window. To say she wasn't happy was an understatement. She never let him live it down, but the only person it was really harming was Jude himself. Not like the effects of a cigarette had enough time to kill him off.

The conversation was quickly cut short when Elijah's father made an appearance in the doorway and reprimanded him for smoking inside. Though, it seemed the two of them had some deep-rooted issues that weren't cigarette inflicted. Jude watched the interaction closely considering it was the only bit of entertainment he got. Entertainment at other people's expense, nonetheless.

Once their little argument was over and doors were slammed shut, Jude whistled. "Jeez," he started. That was before Elijah's elbow made contact with the door. So, the kid had some issues. Who didn't?

"Feisty, just how you like them," Michael commented with a laugh. It earned him a slap on the arm from Jude who hadn't been amused by Michael's off-handed comments.

"Don't you have something better to do? Go play with yourself," Jude retorted. The only thing with Michael was that if he was around for too long, the comments he'd made would tend to annoy Jude. Jude didn't do well with people that annoyed him. There was almost a sense of guilt about watching what had gone down between the teenager and his father. It wasn't his right to be peering in on their conversation but then again, it wasn't there right to be moving into his home.

"Why would I play with myself when I can play with your mom?" Michael questioned with a smirk before he had disappeared, just before Jude could issue him another slap to the arm.

"Asshole," Jude muttered under his breath with a huff.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

Elijah was sat by the door for over ten minutes, contemplating what to do next. He knew he could easily go and apologise, but also knew that if he did, more frustration would only follow and most likely would get aggravated to cause more arguments between him and his father. It wasn’t that he hated him, nor vice verse. He just felt irritated by his presence. He knew it wasn’t normal to have a relationship like that but it had gone on so long already that there was hardly anything he could do about it now. He sighed quietly through his nose before looking around the room. His new room.

Even though he had said he could get used to this, he knew he probably couldn’t. When his parents angered him that much, he could easily escape to one of his friends houses for the night — which happened more often than not my the time they had moved. A fresh start. They’d called it. For them, maybe it was a good thing, to have their son under lock and key, not able to just walk away to the next group of flats and not come home for a week. But to Wlijah this fresh start felt more like a jail cell. He couldn’t just escape any more. He’d have to go back to the confinement of his room if things got all too much. At least me had Wolf though.

Speaking of the dog, ELijah realised he was preoccupied, sniffing around the other side of the room as if he could smell something that didn’t seem quite so normal. His brow raised and he got to his feet, going over to the bedside table. “What is it?” He asked with a hopeful smile. Though, when Wolf began to scratch at the place on the floorboards where the scratches were, he began to realise that the floorboards weren’t even attached at all. A secret compartment? He thought, deciding to dig into it.

He cracked open the loosefloorboard before almost gagging, covering up his mose and mouth with his sleeve. There seemed to be a book down there, with remains of blood on it. He frowned. It didn’t appear fresh which was a good start. How come somebody could’ve missed that? He pulled his sleeve over his hands, before grabbing the book carefully from the hideaway. He slid the floorboard back over. Then thought, to put his own down there to keep it hidden. He did just that.

Elijah climbed into the bed, sprawling out. Wolf was still sniffing around, grunting and growling quietly at something but Elijah brushes it off as him acting strange due to new surroundings. He then opened up the diary. “Do not read?” He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Cliche.” He added, clipping the page. “Jude, huh?” He pursed his lips and flicked through a few more pages.

​

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

Jude considered leaving Elijah to it as he sat on the floor for longer than Jude felt necessary. It was only when there was movement on his end that Jude decided to stick around. His bedroom was his favourite room in the house, anyway. It was where he had felt safest when he was alive. Until his death, of course. One would assume that what happened in the confines of those four walls would haunt Jude but he didn't dwell on the bad. He was only ever reflective of the good. It's almost like not thinking of his death made him more alive. Even after the few years had passed, he still hadn't come to terms with it. He had the rest of his life ahead of him - a life that had a lot of potential. Shaking his head, Jude tried to not get off track.

He watched Elijah stand and cross the floor, uncovering the floorboard that was easy to pull back. The place he had used to store his own diary. The thought of Elijah finding it made him feel physically sick, though it wasn't like throwing up was something a ghost could actually do. The second he saw Elijah retrieving the book from the safety of the floorboards, Jude huffed once more. Nobody else had found his diary before, which explains why it was dusty and had dried blood on it. "Damn dog," Jude muttered. Not only had Elijah found his diary, now he was using the exact spot to hide his.

The diary contained a lot of Jude's secrets. It wasn't the cliche entries of someone who had a crush they didn't know what to do with or the revealings of how much they hate someone. He had some dark thoughts written in the pages of that diary - the very same diary the new resident was about to read. Despite the fact, it said not to read on the front. Apparently, Elijah must've missed the point of that even though he had read the words out. Nobody seemed to respect privacy anymore.

Jude walked over to the bed, watching as Elijah flicked through his diary. Most entries were normal, to the extent, but it wouldn't be hard for Elijah to fall upon something that was far from the norm. Jude used his diary to vent when he was in a dark place, so it wasn't his fault that his words would reflect that. It's not like he wanted the new resident of his room to read these things, so he looked around the room to see what he could do to distract the teenager from reading further. After a few seconds, Jude strode over to the window and slammed it shut.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

Skimming through the aligned thoughts, stories and anecdotes, Elijah felt an eerily cold presence watching him. It didn’t feel like a person, just something. An omen telling him he probably shouldn’t be reading this. Well, it was probably just his guilt giving what the first one had said. As well as the blood. He realised he hadn’t taken into considering what that could’ve been. It didn’t smell as bad when it was out of the hole. But why was it there at all? And amongst the scratches? These questions ceased in his mind when he concluded that the blood may have just dropped underneath the floorboard when the scratches were made. They were probably a dog, he told himself. He’d never really know and he didn’t really want to ask, either.

He realised that the pages were getting darker and the scrawled drawings on them made him feel almost uncomfortable, as if a foreboding sign to stop looking at what was unscripted in these pages. He said fuck it to that and continued. “Whoever has this was fucking weird, man.” He muttered to himself with a frown forming at the words he was reading. Or just depressed. He thought as an afternote.

He continued to read the page, eyes growing more and more concentrated on the page as he did so. Though, when a loud bang occured, he dropped the box and sat upright, eyes shifting over to the window. “What the fuck?” He questioned before walking over. He opened it back up and realised there was no breeze outside. Well, that crossed out the draft from before. But what could do that, at such a velocity? “I hate this house already.” He muttered, patting the dog’s head who had trotted over to greet his nervous owner.

Now Elijah wasn’t a person to be scared. In fact he didn’t believe or want to believe in anything other than the living, but even this was slightly freaking him out. Instead of leaving the room to inform his parents though, he sat back down on the bed and grabbed the diary again. Though instead of reading, flipped to the back, finding the envelope section which was usually used to keep photos or tickets. He peered in to see an abundance of different paper items and grinned when he found what he was looking for. A photo. It didn’t look to old, but old enough. He turned it around and read the name and date. “Wonder why he left it here.” He questioned out loud. “Kind of cute though.”

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson​

Jude hoped the sudden thud of the window slamming shut would distract Elijah long enough for Jude to grab his diary and hide it in a safe place. Though, he originally thought the broken floorboard that nobody noticed was the safest place. Hence why it had remained untouched for many years. Like he said before - damn dog. When Elijah stood up to open the window once more, Jude moved across the floor to get to his private notebook. He clearly hadn’t been distracting enough since the window didn’t keep Elijah’s attention for long. “God damn it,” Jude muttered before rolling his eyes. Did books mysteriously falling and a window slamming shut not concern the guy at all?

Jude walked over to the dog when Elijah went back to his bed and crouched down to the dog’s level. “This is your fault,” he murmured, to which the dog just whined. Jude looked at the dog for a few moments before rubbing the top of his head with a sigh, his fingers running through the soft fur. “Should’ve made you a police dog, huh?” He joked. It’s almost as if he expected the dog to speak back to him but that’s what came with being so alone. Sure, he had people around the house but he only really tolerated one. And that one annoyed him more than anything.

Jude then turned back to the teenager who seemed too nosy for his own good. Personal thoughts and feelings that Jude had written down onto a page for nobody but him to read and here Elijah was, delving into the pages like it was a Stephen King novel. He watched as Elijah uncovered the photo of him that had been taken a year prior to his death. Six years ago, back when he was eighteen and had just graduated high school. He was quick to decide that college wasn’t for him but he couldn’t help but think if he had chosen college - well, he’d still be alive.

When Jude heard Elijah’s comment, he raised his eyebrows and folded his arms over his chest. “Kind of cute? I’ll have you know I was probably the best looking one in school. Depending on who you ask,” Jude responded, as if Elijah could hear him. He clearly had a habit of speaking to people who couldn’t respond. There was some comfort in it.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

“Can you quit it?” Elijah frowned, slapping the book closed as his eyes zeroed down to his companion who wouldn’t seem to stop acting strange. He’d always been an inquisitive animal, but never so preoccupied before. “Stop being weird. Come here.” He ushered him over with his hands, tapping on the quilt of the bed. It wasn’t that it was irritating him, well, it was, but honestly, he wanted something next to him. He wasn’t scared, far from it, but he had the feeling despite his opposition to the supernatural, that maybe something was here. Some bad energy is what his mum would’ve called it. Weird that she hadn’t picked up on it before. But who wouldn’t dispel some bad energy for a house this nice and this price.

Wolf jumped up onto the bed, grabbing the diary with his teeth and then bounded back down, laying it at the feet of his new acquaintance, much to the dismay of Elijah, who was sat looking puzzled at the dog’s actions. He placed the photo on his bedside table, mostly due to the fact he didn’t have the effort to put it away and secondly, that maybe having photos of people around would settle some of his loneliness until when and if he made new friends here.

“I said quit it, Wolf.” He said but smiled as the dog came trotting back over to jump on the end of the bed, finally, he settled down which was good for Elijah as the sun had almost set. He didn’t want a boisterous dog in the middle of the night - nobody did in fact. “Good boy.” He said, stroking his hands through his fur before laying back on his pillows. He still felt something eerie about the room and the darkness was intruding now. He turned to the table beside him and switched on the lamp, watching as a yellow tinge lit the room. He really hoped tomorrow would go better.

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson​

When the dog bounded onto the bed just to grab the diary from the grip of his owner, Jude smiled successfully. He watched the dog bring his possession back to him and drop it at his feet. “Hmm. Maybe you’re a good boy after all,” he whispered to the dog before giving it another pat on the head. Wolf seemed to be satisfied and went back to Elijah, jumping back up into the bed and curling up against him. It wasn’t long before small snores were emitting from the dog which amused Jude greatly.

Jude was quick to grab his diary and clutched it close to his chest, noticing that it was getting late and the other teen would probably be going to sleep soon. Maybe Jude would make himself known tomorrow. He could do with someone new to talk to. It was refreshing and Elijah didn’t seem so bad, under all the angst and the fact he only called Jude kind of cute. With one last look, Jude disappeared and began to wander his home instead.

Elijah’s parents were snuggled up on the sofa, probably using the background noise as a means of not sitting in silence. They didn’t really seem to be watching the show. Jude couldn’t remember the last time he had been so close to somebody, yet another thing about being dead. It seemed to come with its fair share of cons but it wasn’t like Jude asked for it.

“Adorable, isn’t it?” Michael asked from behind Jude, which caused him to jump and turn around. Michael always had a habit of sneaking up on him.

“Oh yeah,” Jude commented sarcastically with a sigh. He ran his fingers through his blonde locks and decided it was time to retire for the night. With that, he slapped Michael’s arm for his comment earlier and then disappeared from sight, the coldness in the room also disappearing.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
NEXT MORNING
​

Elijah arose in a gif of panick, clinging the bedsheets as he sprung up from the mattress. He could feel the sweat drench his body, but at this point he didn’t care. He was just glad to be out of whatever horrendous dream, or hallucinations that was. He could’ve sworn it was sleep paralysis, but then again, he could happily move around within the dream. He hadn’t moved away from his bed but he had pulled the covers tighter over his body. He swore there was somebody lurking within his room. But now, as the terror subsided, he realised it was probably just a dream die to being in new surroundings so dropped the thoughts lacing his mind.

Wolf didn’t seem to be bothered which only added to the support of his conclusion. Nothing happened. He told himself that over and over a few more times into lfinally wiping the moisture from his brow and chest. He quickly changed himself before heading out of the door and down into the kitchen. He hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with his parents telling him to go to college because he really wasn’t in the mood for it today. Not on his first day back, anyway. It was his final year of school. Having been kept back a year for bad behaviour, he was getting extremely tired of it. Now it would make things worse that he would hVe to be in a class full of new faces, questioning why he was so old.

He grabbed some cereal and thankfully wasn’t greeted by his parents, before heading back up to his room. Though, catching a glimpse of the sofa, he noticed his father laying there instead of the bedroom. Weird. He thought, but much like the dream, brushed it off and continued on his journey through the winding corridors back to his room. As he was eating, and scrolling through the social media on his laptop he couldn’t help but feel his eyes being drawn to the picture on his bedside table. There seemed something off about it. How and why was their blood on the journal? He realise dmaybe he had dismissed it too quickly. Why would he leave his diary here, when he spent so much time locking it up? It didn’t make sense.

Setting his bowl aside, he picked up the image and frowned, scanning it for any missing details. He couldn’t. There was nothing weird about the image. Aside from a few stains and wear and tear, it was completely normal. “Jude, huh? Hope you liked this shithole more than me.”

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

It was around 6 am when Jude appeared back in Elijah's room. He always grew bored with going away for longer than a day so he would often find himself returning to the home he once shared with his family. It was a while until Elijah had actually woken up but when he did, it was sudden and he seemed to be panicked. Jude walked over to the bed with raised eyebrows, somewhat of curiosity but somewhat of... concern? It had caught his attention, nonetheless. Jude himself used to have some of the worst night terrors in the same room - ones that would force him awake and fearing for his life. Others where he couldn't physically move, feeling some restraint from something he couldn't see. The latter, he later found out, was a game one of the old residents liked to play. Reginald, he was called. Asshole fit him better.

Jude walked around the bed to the dog who continued to sleep and he gave him a quick pet, stroking his fur thoroughly. He missed his own dog, but Wolf offered Jude some comfort. Jude stayed where he was while Elijah went to go and get breakfast. He contemplated having a look through Elijah's diary but he didn't know how much time he had and the voice of Michael distracted him.

"So, I'm pretty sure the dad is cheating on the mom," Michael sounded, appearing beside Jude.

"How'd you figure that out?" Jude asked, turning to his only friend. Kind of, friend.

"He's asleep on the sofa. Must've been real naughty," Michael grinned cheekily, a sense of mischief on his face. Jude chuckled and shook his head, his attention from Michael moving back to Elijah once he walked back into his bedroom. Just like that, Michael was gone again.

"It's not a shithole," Jude retorted with a frown. Of course, he was talking to himself yet again. But the place was nice, aside from the mysterious deaths of its residents. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Jude stretched his legs out in front of him. "You just have to look hard to see the beauty in it."

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

Elijah was still sat on his bed for a remaining fifteen minutes, flipping through pages of comic books. His eyes kept faltering down to the diary but instead of picking it up and going back through it, he grabbed it with a roll of his eyes and shoved it into the drawer of his bedside table. He was aware the blood would startle anybody else, but he was used to seeing blood everywhere he went, and not his own. His last and only group of friends had been rather reckless in fights and would continuously come home battered and bruised, but still better off than whoever had provoked them.

He sighed quietly, pursing his lips in thought as he wasn’t sure what to do. And then it dawned on him that he could go get his camera. Although he knew where it was, he really didn’t want to go down into the basement without some type of help. He whistled over to he dog and grinned when he saw how excited he seemed to be wanted.

And then they both began to clamber down the stairs. Elijah slipped passed the room where he could hear his parents bickering, deciding he couldn’t be bothered to be brought up in the argument and used as bait for one or the other. In fact, he could never be bothered with that.

He scanned the doors, trying to remember which one led down to the basement, the slipped into the kitchen first to grab a flashlight from the draw filled with keys. Then they descended. It was old compared to the house and under decorated. The original stone walls still stood as well as the uncarpeted floor. It let a cold shiver run through his body as his sock clad feet made contact with it.

Everything was cold, actually. He wasn’t sure how a breeze could reach the basement due to no windows, but it definitely had. He reached the ground floor and looked around for a box with a special drawing on it — one he had put there himself to identify his personal belongings away from his parents kitchenware and duvet covers - special cushions that only saw the day of light in certain seasons. He rolled his eyes at the thought of their materialism. Didn’t they remember from whence they came from?

He reached the box, lowering the torch so that his dog would grab it with his mouth and proceeded to rummage through the goods within the box. Old school books, paintings and spare socks, just in case, comics and piles upon piles of games. He grinned when his hands retrieved the camera. He placed itnuo to his eye as if to check if it still worked and to try it out even though he knew exactly how it worked. He did it every time he held it without fail.

The camera dropped out of his hands and into the box, his breathing hitching in his throat as he saw what happened once the small screen. “What the–“ he cut himself off, not even bothering to finish his sentence. What the fuck was that? He swore he could see the outline of a person on he screen, but hadn’t taken the picture quick enough for it to be embedded in the digital memory. “Weird.” He commented, catching his breath which had almost stopped. He brushed it off like the rest of what had been occurring, as a trick of the light, the dim light.

Though what he didn’t expect was for his partner in crime to drop the torch and run back up the stairs in a frightened manner. “Wolf!” He called, frowning, now alone. He rolled his eyes. “Dumb dog.” He muttered, though when he looked in the box the camera was no longer there. He wouldn’t lie any longer, this was perhaps starting to toy with him. A shiver ran down his spine.

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

Comic books? Jude couldn't help but be amused by it. So the kid with the issues was also a nerd. Who would've thought? With a deep sigh, Jude occupied himself with the dog while Elijah flicked through his comic books. When Elijah moved to hide the diary out of sight with a sense of force, Jude huffed. Charming. People had no respect for other people's belongings anymore.

The second there was movement, Jude followed suit down the creaking floorboards of the ancient home. He followed Elijah and Wolf into the kitchen but stopped in his tracks when he noticed where exactly Elijah was going. "Oh.. You don't wanna go in there," Jude whispered to himself, but it got the attention of Wolf. Wolf whimpered but of course, he couldn't understand Jude and wasn't going to warn his owner that a spirit had just told him not to go into the basement. Of all the places of the house, the basement was not one that Jude occupied.

He watched the two of them descend the stairs anyway and with a shake of his head, he refused to follow after them. The basement was known amongst those that had died in the house as the place full of evil. Basements, in general, were creepy and were where a lot of murderers in movies discarded or killed people. This basement was no exception. In this case, the basement was used by a mad-scientist type who liked to experiment on living, breathing people. The doctor was the definition of evil - luring people in with the promise of making them extraordinary, but he would end up liquifying their brains and ending their lives. Apparently, he didn't really mean to. He wanted to create zombie-types but even the doctor himself knew it wasn't possible. The evil laid in the fact he continued to try.

It wasn't long before he heard the dog running back up the stairs and into the safety of the kitchen. "Hey, boy, calm down," Jude whispered with a softness to his voice. He rubbed along the dog's nose, knowing it was a spot that calmed them down almost instantly. "It's creepy down there, huh? You won't want Elijah down there for long," he continued with a sigh. Sure, Jude liked to play games. But whatever spirit remained in the basement was out to scare the life out of residents - quite literally.

 

[the winter soldier]

ELIJAH
​

He gathered that he probably should stay down here too long. It was cold, lonely and had an eerie atmosphere — ghostly or not. He brushed off the occurrence as more of a hallucination due to the dream he had the previous night mixing with the dim light of the basement. He would probably take his chances and explore it more later, but decided for now, he would head back up the stairs with his box in hand. Of course, the missing camera was an issue, but he didn’t know how to explain that so kept the thought in the back of his mind. He wouldn’t be scared. Being scared was for the weak.

Elijah almost chuckled at what had happened, a look of total confusion engulfing his face and he grabbed the large box in his arms and began to ascend the stairs. He was glad that Wolf followed him on his journey back to the bedroom, but this look of happiness soon faded into a look of boredom when his dad caught him, one foot on the fairs.

Before he even spoke, his eyes rolled in their sockets. “What?”

“Why don’t you go see the neighbours?” He asked, and Elijah knew he was faking whatever smile he was showing. He wanted to snarl back.

“Why don’t you go and fuck the neighbours?” He asked with a scoff. “Oh wait.” He then laughed and the expression on the other’s face said it all. He then returned to his journey to his room.

When he opened the door, though, he didn’t expect to find the camera sitting on his pillow awaiting his return. He dropped the box onto the floor, frowning once more. “I swear to fuck whoever is fucking with me.” He grunted to himself before slipping over. He grabbed it, flicking through the photographs. There was a few of him in the basement, which really made his skin crawl. And one which seemed to gory to stomach as Elijah threw the camera into the duvet.

He felt the blood rush from his face as he slid down onto the bed.

 

[sunsets]

jude wilhelm fredrickson
​

Jude had already wandered back upstairs when the confrontation between Elijah and his dad happened. Jude just watched on with amusement, a chuckle emanating from his lips. Elijah sure had some spunk, almost to the point where Jude felt sorry for the father. Almost.

Moving into the room behind Elijah, Jude was confused to witness Elijah dropping his box onto the floor. He had a habit of doing that - dropping things. Jude didn't see what the big deal was. Nothing seemed out of place - that was until his eyes fell upon the camera situated on Elijah's pillow. That definitely wasn't there before, so Jude figured that's what had concerned Elijah. His assumption was confirmed when the teenager crossed the floor to pick up the camera and could be seen flicking through the images. Jude could see the visible change of Elijah - he turned white, almost ghostly. Jude knew he shouldn't have gone down into the basement but perhaps this would be his lesson.

Walking over to the bed, Jude sat down on the edge of it and nudged the camera subtly toward him so he could look at the images that had affected Elijah so badly. There were pictures of him that was eery enough, but the last picture was enough to even knock Jude sick. That doctor was twisted. Jude had unfortunately experienced that firsthand when he had properly lived at the place. He remembered his mother asking him to go down to the basement to retrieve the boxes full of her cooking books. She wanted to cook some fancy meal because Jude's father had gotten a promotion, but she'd forgotten why box she'd left the books in. Jude didn't think twice about it and had walked down into the basement on his own, leaving Luigi at the top of the stairs whimpering and whining. That should've been his signal.

Jude remembered the moment as clear as day. The light switch was faulty and the light was dim so Jude hadn't had much to work with. He rooted through the few boxes that were left but couldn't find the books anywhere - until he had spotted a box on its own in the furthest corner of the room which happened to be out of the way of the light. Jude had walked over, ignoring how cold the atmosphere was, even though it had been the middle of summer and the heat was sweltering. Jude had pulled the box toward him and could've sworn he had seen someone creeping in the corner but just as quick as he thought he'd saw it, it was gone and the fuse in the light had blown. He must've tripped over something but on his way down, his arm caught onto something sharp. It wasn't until he was back upstairs in the kitchen when he noticed the mark of what looked like deep-set scratch marks that tore his arm.

That same day, Jude swore to never go back down into that basement. He sensed the evil that lingered there and so would anybody else that stepped foot inside.