Duality of a Maiden: Jeanne Le Pen vs. Kim Walker

[godjacob]

In spite of the nerves, in spite of the weird situation and circumstances that extended to meeting this girl, when it became clear her damaged glasses caused her to be in need of a helping hand Kim had not hesitated.

"Of course, just let me know where to go."

Kim spoke with a shy but encouraging tone, moving up to help support Jeanne and help get them both moving from this hallway of darkness as she was more than eager to get to Jeanne's room and someplace with just a degree more light to it.

"You all right?" Kim asked making sure Jeanne was good as they moved step for step down the hall.

[Monsy]

She managed two steps before the disorientation froze her legs stiff. A sense of nausea slipped betwixt her stomach and throat, churning like bubbling beef stew. Hands extended outward to stabilize, a deep breath and a hard swallow. Yep, best to stop. And so, she welcomed the aid.

“Got it.” She said, chuckling, “I have zero clue where we are. But I’m sure if we walk long enough, we’ll find it.”

And more giggles ensued from there as they travelled the bandage-stricken labyrinthine. The scrapes of their boots echoed throughout, pebbles shuffling and dust rattling around their soles like scratching chalk. A light loomed around the corner, silver, and glimmered against the blue tiles and chrome door handles. Safety vestiges the further they go. The bitter scent of coffee tickles their nose as they shuffle by a break-room for technical staff, a lounge with dressing rooms nearby. Jeanne picked up on it and chirped up.

“Ah, we might be coming close. Look for uh... The one with that funny grey tape over the nameplate.”

Indeed, they were seconds away, so Jeanne rummaged for the key stuffed inside her bra, plucking it out, then handing it over.

“Here. No way I’m finding the lock with my eyes.”

[godjacob]

"Just take it easy, focus on making sure you are well first..."

Kim insisted this as she was concerned for the girl, even if the atmosphere and tape around them in the darkness as they ventured forward unnerved her but she still worked to try and support Jeanne seeing as how she seemed out of it in more ways than one. Thankfully Jeanne was not immobile, and in spite of her disorientation she seemed to be able to guide them well enough through the hall.

"W-we are? I'm sorry you said t-tape?"

Needless to say Kim was beginning to wonder if this tape had all been Jeanne's own, even when used against her, but truthfully she found a room that had that curious tape over the door so Kim presume it had to be the place. As Jeanne worked to shakily get her key, Kim took it from her hand gently as she nodded upon her request.

"I-I got you..." Kim said with a light smile, as she moved to unlock the door and prepared to open it up to lead Jeanne inside her place.

[Monsy]

Timed proved an effective medicine.

Her limbs regained full mobility, no longer hunching or hobbling but straight, except for the times she redirected towards a wall. Thankfully, Kim proved more than sufficient for doing her duty, inspiring Jeanne to lead them onward until the recognizable smells tickled her nose and broken imagery through her spectacles. Soon, the pair converged upon the door. It was ordinary, barred from the name-plate slapped across its centre being cloaked in opaque tape.

“Yes, yes. Tape. The name is covered in tape.”

She heard the jangle of the key wrestle against the lock before it opened. Positioned behind Kim, an abyss of darkness lay ahead, where not even wind trickled the hairs, utterly dry and silent. Although, Jeanne now outstretched her arm and linked with Kim’s, walking onward into the sea of shadow.

“Come, come. Inside. Let me give you something for your troubles.”

Like that, Jeanne tried gesturing them inside. Should they follow, there were a few quiet steps as it absorbed into the carpet. But upon the third, something hooked her ankle’s front, causing both feet to pile up, and Jeanne fell right onto her stomach. Her glasses flung from her face, trickling onto the ground as something snapped, the door making a thunderous clap as it shut. Light sizzled into a dim glow, illuminating another web of bandages that covered the entire room. They were all tied to pipes or solid objects lining the upper wall, stretching towards the carpet and connected around iron weights that sat within poorly-stitched dolls’ laps. Their eye-cavities bled this crimson chalk, some wet like sludge. Others are withered, their stitching went grey, and others were missing limbs - but all were bald. It lay in a meticulous radius where the further you traversed, the larger the dolls got. Jeanne stumbled upon a palm-fitting specimen; what vestige within the depths was nothing short but a lifelike doll made of burlap, no smaller than Jeanne, wearing blue overalls over a brown shirt and donning her second pair of glasses.

All unveiled within the second, beckoning nothing less than a scream from Jeanne. So suddenly, the panic plunged her heart into thunder. The lights that dimmed died down then rose and rose again until it returned to normalcy. And like that, Jeanne could finally roll onto her back and sigh after heaving buckets, looking to see how her new acquaintance fared.

[godjacob]

W-wow, this place is almost as dark as the hall...

Kim naturally was a touch hesitant about the invitation, not because of Jeanne. In truth Kim had become more used to Jeanne as she regained strength, finding her a bit charming in her own way which made it easier to converse with her quirks and all. In fact in spite of the odd first meeting Kim was glad that the first member of L.A.W. outside her family she saw was her.

Still it was a touch nerving to be invited to the room of another, relative stranger, especially with the dark atmosphere had not been the easiest thing to agree to all willy nilly.

Still, Kim figured if Jeanne wanted to show her some kindness in some way, she owed it to her to see it through and with a slight shy nod she would make her way inside Kim's room. Her first instinct was to look for some light in the room, be easier on the both of them Kim figured if they could properly see where they were going. However this action was stalled as she heard a visible thud and crack of what she presumed were Jeanne's glasses as something seemed to get to her which brought Kim's concern.

"J-jeanne!? Are you okay I he...agh!"

Kim's call to Jeanne was cut off as something grasped her ankles and pulled forcing her to fall on her back as she was pulled further into the darkness of the room. Needless to say the brief light there was, its dimming effect and the way the door seemed to slam shut only caused fear and confusion to cross Kim's mind as she tugged at her ankles at tape; the same tape that covered Jeanne earlier, and a few objects in the brief flashes of the room she had seen.

Kim struggled a light scream escaped her lips, as she tugged at what she guessed was tape being dragged along the rug before she heard a tear and seemed to break free, though slammed into a piece of presumed furniture. By the time Kim made it to her feet, the light seemed to flicker on and she looked around bewildered and cautious before her eyes trained to Jeanne.

"W-what...what happened, Jeanne?"

[Monsy]

In these brief moments, monsters exist. Soulless demons, stationary and imposing. Eyes that pierced the soul and wet the heart. Such a weary time, dictated by mere light and surprise, that Jeanne fell victim to it. The lights returned, flickering back to normality. Her forehead felt sweaty, same with her palms like she’d run a marathon and yet to shower.

“Gek…” She said, bungling her first attempt to talk.

Seconds drizzle away, and Jeanne comes to, raising to her knees, adjusting the arms of her specks to sit cozy on her face. Then she sighed, looking left and right, finding Kim, who stared at this debacle as well. It seems like she wasn’t hallucinating after all.

“Ehh… It appears that I’ve fallen. Hmm...”

Now she surveyed everything. First, by following the bandages to where she belonged, wrapped around several pipes and weights. Then she shuffled forward towards a doll, poking one of the empty eye sockets until it tipped over. Lastly, she stood and weaved through the bandages, ducking, stepping over and coming to the burlap doll. With a sofa abaft, Jeanne stood on the cushions and peeked her head over the doll’s shoulder. Her arms lined their arms, moving them up and down.

Giggles followed, “It’s kind of cute, don’t you think? Kehehehe, I am a little burlap man, short and stout, here is my arm and here is my eh, I guess you don’t have a nose. Hey, Kim! You ok?”

[godjacob]

U-uh well, um, I think so...

In truth, she was no longer sure. Granted, it likely was due to the recent head spinning experience but the more she spent time with this strange girl the less assured she felt. Not that she wanted to say Jeanne was at fault for this, poor girl seemed as "abused" by this mysterious tape and force as she was, but still.

This whole thing was just not what Kim had signed up for, and this weidness seemed tied to Jeanne.

Either way she worked to use the couch as leverage as she made her way up, only to come face to face with Jeanne. Thankfully she seemed to be okay all things considered, tape seemed to be everywhere though.

Then she saw what seemed to be some doll with a popped in eye, which Kim seemed to freeze at before she sheepishly worked an answer.

"O-oh uh y-yeah, it is oddly cute..."

Kim dusted herself off and seemed to check the room for anything else weird, before her gaze turned to Jeanne as she figured she should ask the million dollar question.

"U-uh, J-jeanne, if it is not rude to ask but...do you know anything about, all this tape? These weird things...just seems so eerie."

[Monsy]

She could understand. Oh, she understood it very well. The distress and wear upon their face like battled exhaustion, puzzlement, fear, all within an emotional cocktail. To which she defined as uncertainty, the proper reaction considering all things. Though Jeanne didn’t follow, too engrossed within the taping and odd fixtures, giggly and upbeat while playing with the doll, she nodded in approval with Kim’s first response. “Mhm, yeah.” 

Still, they appeared itching to spill something. Jeanne could read that from a mere glance of her broken lenses.

“Eh? Well, that’s a funny question. Am I supposed to know anything about it?”

She returned the question, dropping the doll and hopping off the couch. Once more, she needled through the ropes, approaching a knapsack that sat upon an idle chair. A bandage wrap envelopes the steel frame. She fished her hand through the main compartment, pulling out a separate case that harboured new glasses and another white box, but she stuffed that for now, optioning for regular round glasses instead.

“Ah, that’s better. Sorry, but I know little more than you do. Other than being on my merry way, the next thing I realized, I was suspended upside-down. I hope this doesn’t make you dislike me, kinda like you.”

[godjacob]

Needless to say Jeanne's response had not done much to make Kim feel better, in fact it only made her worse as now she was possibly making a baseless question and risked causing doubt to rise in a girl who already had been through a lot much as she had. Guilt began to surface as Kim now felt like she was pushing aside a possible new friend and quickly had to course correct.

"W-well I am not sure, just this whole situation has been a little crazy and I wish I knew more. I didn't mean to accuse anything, sorry..."

Kim made sure her apology carried with it an earnest tone behind it, making it clear she didn't expect Jeanne to know much and simply hoped for answers between them given the chaos of what both had gone through.

Though this did cause an idea to rise in Kim's head as she saw Jeanne work to get a new pair of glasses.

"D-do you think we should go to L.A.W. management and speak of these weird tape attacks? I-I think it would be something they'd like to know and could help figure our what is happening...maybe?" Kim asked as she figured that it would be an option to explore and give more answers than either of them could.

Kim put her suggestion out in the air and waited to see how Jeanne would react to it.

[Monsy]

Adjusted the silver-coloured frames, she turned to face Kim. Both hands lowered and knit together on her back, “Ah, don’t worry about it.”

One hand raised, then waved to dismiss it.
Heesh, well that took no effort whatsoever. All seemed green from here on out.

And now that she fixed a new pair, she started keenly observing her surroundings and doll fixtures before picking up a bin, then tearing down the bandages. Some needed a tug or two, sometimes three. These things did suspend a human after all.

“You think they would do anything? Someone could just call it a prank, then we’ll both look silly.”

She paused, hunched over by a doll, her hand gripped its head as she turned, faced Kim with her green hair draping like a curtain, a smile beaming forth.

“Kinda cute, don’t you think? Kehehehe…This little guy needs a home. Kehehehe...”

Then she resumed cleaning, “Oh! I don’t mean to ask for more than I’m due, but would you mind helping me clean? You can leave too. You’ve already gone above and beyond for me.”