{Rated M} Fearhaven - Sy23 & Merry

[Merry Gentry]

“But” she replied, trying to get her voice under control. “What if he comes back, and you’re not here to stop him?” voicing her major fear, as she pulled her self reluctantly out of his arms. “That was something I don’t want to run into again, ever!” she said with a shudder of revulsion, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

“that was horrible Larry, absolutely, h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e” dragging out each syllable as she said it. “maybe this isn’t a good idea, me staying here” she sighed softly. “I just knew it was too good to be true to have someplace of my very own.” More to herself than to Larry, but saying it out loud none the less. “Something this nice, this wonderful” glancing above her as she spoke “I knew there would be a catch” with a definite sadness to her voice.

“People like me, don’t get houses dropped in their lap with out consequences. I was foolish to think it would last” rubbing her arms to get some feeling back into them. The effects starting to make her blood flow again, as she started to warm back up.

“What can I do, but just go?” she almost wept, feeling as though her heart was about to break. After the emotional roller coaster that Benjamin had put her through, she was exhausted. Both physically and mentally done in.

“I’ll spend the night, as it’s too late to get back to the city now. I’ll pack up and go in the morning. Please stay here? With me, so he doesn’t come back?” she said, this time turning to Larry, the fear creeping back into her eyes.

[Sy23]

Larry was aghast at Alex's statement. She'd put into words everything he'd feared.

"Miss Alex, please," he said, sitting down on the bed. "Try to think this through. Try to understand. Houses don't call people just at random, you know. Fearhaven called you, and for a reason. Houses like this have their own personality... their own soul, in a kind of way. They know what they need. I know you're frightened - that's how Benjamin was able to carry on like that, he feeds on fear, see - he feeds on everything bad in humans. And if you run away now, well, he's won, hasn't he?

"See, he can't lie, not exactly. But what he can do, is... well, he can take bad things you think are true, and make you believe them more. That's the best way I can tell it. Like, anyone can see how pretty you are, but you can't, so he was able to say you were ugly. And maybe you think you're a coward, though you're not, so he can make you afraid of him. It's what elementals do.

"Now, you say people like you don't get houses come to them. Wrong, Miss Alex, so wrong. Houses like this - they go to people that are supposed to have them. So if Fearhaven called to you, it means you're meant to be here. Fearhaven needs you, Miss Alex...

And then the last part of what she's said registered with him, and he sighed...

"Miss Alex, you do know what I am, right? I'm a lare... I'm a part of this house. Benjamin can't possibly do anything if I'm not here - I'm always here! It'd be like saying 'what if I need a bath, and the bathroom isn't here' - it can't happen. You only need to call, and I'll be there.

"But there's here, and here, you see, Miss Alex. If you know what I mean. I can stay with you, in the walls of the house, and protect you, no trouble. But you won't see me, or hear me, and you might think you're still alone, and be frightened. But if you mean stay with you, like a mortal would - looking like I do now, well... " He shifted his glance away from her eyes. "See, I'm an elemental too, of a type. And we... look, mayhap you've read of satyrs and nymphs and fawns and such. Pan rules us. Nothing would happen, if you said no, but... but you'd be with someone who wanted it to happen, see, and I don't know if you'd be comfortable with that. You see what I'm saying?

[Merry Gentry]

"oh Larry" she replied, running her hands through her still damp hair. "It's all so much to take in, to ask someone to believe" still feeling the after shocks of being frightened so badly. "I just don't know what to think, honestly" moving to sit beside him on the bed. Her mind was still spinning. First the house, then the in-house relatives, and now this Benjamin creature. What was next if she stayed?

"I don't want to leave, it's hard to explain, but I do feel at home? here" she sighed, looking at him. "I'm just afraid" she finished weakly. "I don't want to be, but I am" leaning her head against his shoulder.

[Sy23]

Larry pulled her closer towards him, letting her head rest on his shoulder, drawing out her fear into himself. Miss Alex was starting to realize, he saw, just what being here entailed. Living in a house like this was at once a duty and a privilege. He hadn't lied to her, for that was a thing he was unable to do. Fearhaven needed a mistress, needed a human to dwell within its walls, protect it, maintain it, love it. It had called out to her, needing her, knowing that of all the people alive, she was the one who was truly meant to be here.

"Shh, shh, Miss Alex," he whispered gently. "Sleep now. Sleep. Sleep in peace and calm. Larry's here. Larry will always be here, for you."

[Merry Gentry]

The next thing Alex knew it was morning. Daylight was streaming into the large windows. The room filled with the bright warmth, the darkness chased away again for another ten hours or so, and that made her smile.

She stretched, feeling rested and cozy. She relished the feel of the soft bed, and the giant fluffy pillows under her head, luxurious and enormous. She snuggled back into the bed, unwilling to get up just yet, it was just too comfortable in this big bed to want to get up right away, so she lay there, content.

Eventually her thoughts forced her to remember last night. With a frown, she rehashed the whole event, starting with the ghostly visit, right up to him as even in the light of obvious day, she didn’t want to even think his name. In case like an old wives tale he would magically appear, at the mention of his name. She was too relaxed and peaceful to have it ruined like last night.

Stretching a little more, she snuggled closer to the pillow and just thought some more about what she should do. She wanted to stay, it fascinated her on one level to have a house full of relatives, actual entities that could communicate with her. On the other hand, he had done something to her, and it was quite horrid. A part of her still felt the cold of his power, and never wanted that to happen again.

Then there was Larry. He had stopped him, stopped him flat. Also promised to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. That he would help her, and take care of it. That was something that she just wasn’t used to, at all. It was going to be different, having someone around that could, would do that. It was funny how she had already started to trust him, and not think too deeply about who, or what he was. She left that thought alone, again.

She sighed softly, and with one more colossal stretch, she sat up, running her fingers through her hair, knowing it must look a fright. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and wondered what today would hold in store for her. “well… I’m staying” she said aloud in the room, and feeling the truth of it, as she said it.

“Larry says that you called me here, and I belong. I think he's right. I can feel it, here” she continued as she tapped her heart. She started to feel silly, and giggled, talking to an empty room.

“Good Morning Larry” she said, trusting that he would hear her.

[Sy23]

"Good morning to you, Miss Alex," came Larry's laughing voice, from the wall. "I will be with you in just a minute or two."

He was as good as his word, emerging in the conventional way through the open door a few minutes later, carrying a tray laden with a coffee pot, cream and sugar, fresh croissants, jam and butter, and a rack of toast. The local edition of the newspaper was tucked under his arm. "If you prefer some other form of breakfast, Miss Alex, please advise me," he said. "The baker has a standing order, but it can be varied of course. I trust you spent a peaceful night?" He averted his eyes from her legs, as she sat on the edge of the bed. Having been the lare of the house for many centuries, he'd seen night-fashion come and go, from cambric shifts tied at the neck and wrists, through to the transparent negligees of the '50s. The modern fashion for sleeping in just a tee and undies was a new one on him, however...

"May I remind you, Miss Alex, that the men are coming to connect up the remainder of the electrical power today, and the connection for the - urm - the interweb, I think it's called. They will be here just after midday. There were no letters save advertising circulars. I checked the telephone and heard a dial tone, indicating that it is working perfectly." He gave a small bow. "And now, if you don't need me, I shall - "

Knock. Knock. Knock.

" - I shall see who that is," he laughed, hastily changing his sentence.

* * * * *

There was the sound of muted conversation downstairs, which drifted up the stairs and through the open door. A few minutes later, Larry arrived, looking concerned.

"Miss Alex, I think you'd better come down," he said, quietly. "Urm - Mr Benjamin is waiting in the drawing room."

[Merry Gentry]

When the door bell rang, Alex nodded as Larry left, and then reached for the fresh breakfast suddenly famished. The delicious smells of coffee and fresh baked croissants, instantly making her stomach rumble. If this was part of the package, she was definitely staying. She realized with all the excitement of moving, and so on, she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.

Nibbling on the baked goods, while she poured a cup of coffee she was in heaven. The rich aroma of strong black coffee hit her nostrils and she grinned like a small child at a birthday party. She could forgo food, but coffee was a necessity in her daily routine, and make a mental note to tell Larry that. She poured a large amount into the cup, dropped a small amount of sugar in and took a tiny sip, and was instantly transported straight to bliss.

She had just taken another bite of the warm pastry when Larry came back into the room with his news. "Mr Benjamin is waiting in the drawing room”

The once delectable bite on her tongue, now tasted like sawdust as her blood ran cold. She could barely swallow, and almost choked at his words. “What?... What do you mean, Mr Benjamin?” she gasped, coughing a bit as she forced the flaky pastry down.

“How do you mean.. he’s.. here?” she sputtered as she slid off the bed to her feet, the breakfast essentially over now, as her stomach clenched in horror. “You said, he.. that he couldn’t” she burst out “what does he want?” she cried out out, her mind now racing in terror. Scrambling around through her things to hastily pull on her jeans. Grabbing a sweatshirt, she thrust that quickly on too. "Tell me what's going on Larry"

[Sy23]

"Shh, shh," soothed Larry, standing close enough for a hug if Alex needed it. "YMiss Alex, you don't understand. You'll recall I told you that... that thing you encountered yesterday is an elemental. Made up of emanations that came from an unhappy, angry human being. It has no life in itself - all it can do is mock, and frighten.

"But the man who is downstairs - it isn't Benjamin, it's Mr Benjamin. The mortal man from whom the elemental sprang. And without that evil shadow, Mr Benjamin is just a man. Perhaps a kinder man than most, as who wouldn't be if they could throw away the evil side that lurks in us all? But a man, right now who is starving, sick and, if I'm any judge - and I am - at the end of his tether, both physically and mentally.

"Now, you are the mistress of this house, Miss Alex. What you say is what happens. If you instruct me to send him away, away he will go, and you'll never see or hear of him. You owe him nothing. But Miss Alex, it is my duty to tell you - he is a lost soul, in need of succor and sympathy. It is, as I believe it is phrased among your generation, your call... "

[Merry Gentry]

"Oh" she replied in shocked response. She was so surprised by his answer that it caused her to flop back down onto the bed. Feeling confused at the quick change in thought processes. The emotional rollercoaster she was riding had just come to a screeching halt, at the top of the hill, for now. Thinking through what he had just told her, she had to admit she was relieved that it wasn’t what she had thought. it’s not him

Lost in thought back to what she had been told about Mr Benjamin, she responded "Larry... I can't turn him out like that" she said softly, biting her lower lip trying to decide what to do. "He should be allowed to stay, he's part of this house too, right?" she said hesitantly, looking for confirmation of any kind, and knowing it what the right thing to do, unless Larry had any major objections, which he hadn’t voiced.

She cheerfully made up her mind, "He's in need of assistance, and I'm not the type of person to turn my back on someone like that" she smiled slowly, feeling in her gut that she had made the right decision. "Please bring me to him, and introduce us" standing back up, she linked her arm into Larry's. I wonder what he’ll be like, now.. she thought to herself.

[Sy23]

A man sat, slumped on the couch in the drawing room, fussing with the brim of a battered fedora hat. It was obvious nature had intended him to be handsome, and good-looking, tall, muscular, and with pleasant, even features. Enough of these looks remained to show that this was so... but one had to look closely. His features were now sunken, his eyes puffy and dull, his har hung lankly, and the obviously expensive (though patched, and well out of date in cut) suit hung on him as if it belonged to a much larger man. His shoes, too, were well-polished, which only emphasized the scuffs and worn heels. He looked up, shyly, as Larry ushered Alex into the room.

He stood up, having to support himself on the arm of the couch to do so. His skin had obviously once been tanned, and some of this remained, blending with the yellow of his appearance to produce a sickly, ochre-like sheen. Heavy beads of sweat glistened on his lined forehead.

"Madam, it's - it's good of you to agree to see me," he said, his voice so weak it could hardly be heard. "I do understand that I might not be welcome here. If that's so, I'll leave with no - " he broke off, coughing heavily. "I... I apologize for calling unasked."