maskormenace | one { video } déjà vu

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one { video } déjà vu

[ she fiddles with the communicator for a long time. we're talking hours of indecision. she takes a nap in the time it takes to decide -- which is weird, because sometimes she's still sure she's dead so sleeping while dead? that has to be a rule of the universe she is breaking. she hasn't ruled this out as an incredibly, disturbingly vivid coma dream either. especially considering she woke up... in a hospital... from a coma. this is probably not a thing that happens more than once in most people's lives, it's becoming a problem.

eventually, after a few deep breaths and careful alignment of her hair to hide her ear -- one thing at a time -- she pulls up the video component.

she looks a little pale as she sets it up on the side table so she can sit and look at it, but that seems to be explained by the bright white bandage on the side of her throat peeking out from underneath her dark hair. even with the hospital gown under her cardigan and the steady beat of the monitors behind her, she looks like a relatively average teenager, if not incredibly out of her depth. a skittish lost lamb.

help her. ]

I'm not sure how these work or what I'm supposed to say/ask besides everything. The debrief was... brief. I don't know if that's always the case or if the hospital had something to do with it. [ she swallows, appearing nervous, and licks her lips quickly before she continues. her fingers are just barely visible knotting the blanket together in her lap. ] I guess I'm looking for someone and it seems possible she could be here. Her name is Alana Bloom. She's a doctor. [ abigail will refrain from mentioning what kind of doctor at the moment. she already looks frail, no need to add damaged into the mix right away. ] If she is here, can someone tell her Abigail is looking for her?

[ and, you know, sorry again. about the thing. ]

I'm Abigail, if that wasn't obvious.

[ she doesn't ask after will because she isn't allowed to have nice things, they wind up covered in glass and rain and so much blood. if alana isn't there then her life hasn't changed much. if will isn't there, her life still hasn't changed much but she'd be missing the only person always in her corner. she doesn't ask after hannibal because hahahhahahahahahahah. hahahaha. ha. ha.

no. ]

Aside from that any help would be appreciated. Or french fries if anyone wants to smuggle them in. I'm getting a little sick of jell-o.

[ with a brief, thin smile that doesn't begin to reach her pale blue eyes, she reaches forward to shut the video off. later gators. ]

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[ ♫ read your book -- sóley ]

You can finish it, if you want. I doubt anyone would be interested in it as a true crime story, not here. But as a novel... [ and then her absolute shit job will be less shitty, abigail reasons. ] Freddie Lounds, author.

There might be a little problem with the 'the characters portrayed in this novel bear no resemblance to anyone living or dead,' [ she jokes, with a little grin. But Freddie Lounds, author...that does sound appetizing. And, she's pretty sure she can work on the book in her spare time. ]

You sure you're okay with me doing that?

Yeah. Just... I know you don't like Will. [ she doesn't stop her expression from falling into something that resembles earnest pleading. ] But he saved my life, twice.

[ probably three times, honestly. but she puts the emphasis on twice because freddie should know, of all people, how and why the mushroom farmer tried to kidnap her while she was comatose. it's a silent jab, one which bears no ill will. abigail hadn't really experienced it so it doesn't bother her much, but will wouldn't have needed to save her life again if it weren't for miss tattlecrime. ]

Don't be rude about him, he's not the bad guy. And I'll tell you everything you want to know about my dad.

[ And cue the awkward pause. Don't like is an understatement. 'Believes that he killed Abigail' is more along the lines of what Freddie believes. But, to the best of her knowledge, Abigail doesn't know that. And she's not going to tell Abigail that.

and besides, not being rude about him wasn't the same as actively disliking him. and she really wanted that info about Abigail and her dad. ]

Fine. I don't have to like him, but at least around you I won't be rude about him. Will that work?

[ her lips purse. ] For now. [ as she pushes her hair back behind her ear, she adds: ] The Last Victim is still a bad title.

[ like fyi, still bitter. /holds grudge for twenty six years nbd. ]

[ there's a pause as Freddie tries to think of a better title on the spot. ]

Of course, we could flip that around and call it The First Survivor. It's a more positive spin on the thing.

[ she looks... slightly less offended on principle. ] Only survivor. [ 'cause no one else... her expression tightens slightly, like she's trying to keep it composed. ] Except that sounds pretentious. Which... I suppose isn't entirely implausible for a novel about -- [ and her composure crumbles into a look of disgust. ] A cannibal.

[ Freddie tries her best to look sympathetic. It...kinda works? ] Just remember, it could be a lot worse. At least I'm not doing food puns or anything like that.

[ abigail's face twists into horror. freddie, no. don't ever.

unless you realize hannibal rhymes with cannibal.

in which case...

tell abigail so she can run for cover. ] I'm tremendously grateful for that.

God knows that in the hands of a different writer, they'd try to do something 'witty', which just ends up being distasteful.

[ but freddie, hannibal rhymes with cannibal. the horror slowly slides into slight amusement because cannibal puns are distasteful but exploiting the lives and deaths of eight murdered girls for entertainment and profit is not at all distasteful.

seems legit. ]

I trust you to do it better than anyone else. [ she pauses for a moment, fingers knotting around the edge of her blanket as if in apprehension. ] Don't... make Marissa a spectacle. The Copycat already did that to her. [ she looks up again, eyes full of sadness and a little bit of aggravation but that isn't directly related to books. marissa was her best friend and abigail failed to protect her. she protected marissa from her father -- she would have been a perfect shrike victim had abigail not lured in other girls -- but it wasn't enough to keep her safe. ] Please.

[ Don't make Marissa a spectacle. Yeah, alright, whatever. Freddie knew minimal details about Abigail and Melissa--Melissa would get to be a very lurid description of her death and that would be it. Besides, surely Abigail realized that the true spectacle of the book was going to be herself. ]

I won't. I'll talk about Melissa, but I'll make sure to keep it respectful. Alright?

Alright. [ pity that in a few weeks she is going to take all this back. :) she wouldn't really care about being the spectacle. she chose to present herself like that today for a reason.

she shoulders slump slightly with fatigue, reaching up to tuck her hair back behind her ear. ] That's fine.

[ Freddie shot Abigail a gentle smile. ] I just want to do what's best for you, you know.

[ That is a goddamn lie. Like, the biggest goddamn lie Freddie's told all day. ]

Doesn't everyone? [ also a lie. ] Poor Hobbs girl, murdered by her father. Such a sad story. Except it wasn't like that at all. [ her mouth twists into a bitter smile that looks just a little bit worse against freddie's soft one. she'd brought it on herself, of course, talking about the book reminded her of everything else and it's harder to hide the bitterness from tattlecrime's star reporter because she let's abigail be bitter. hannibal and alana and will would rein it in, redirect it. ] Probably had it coming, I guess. There's the closure all those families wanted. An eye for an eye? Or an ear in this case.

[ she sighs once her outburst is over, slumping even more under the weight of how much she hates her stupid life. ] I think... I think I should probably rest now.

[ There's a tentative pause as Abigail talks. Freddie's perfectly fine with her being bitter. Bitter gets details. Bitter sells papers. But that last statement about having it coming? Freddie is not expecting that at all. And so, it throws her for a loop. She pauses for a moment, trying to come up with the right words, before eventually settling on, ]

You didn't have it coming. You didn't have anything to do with what your dad did. [ ha ha ha ] People might try to define you by him, but you're your own person.

[ But hey, she said she needed to rest, Freddie is all about doing what's best for Abigail. ] If you want me to head out now, I can do so.

[ abigail purses her lips. she should apologize for her outburst, but she won't. all the work her parents put into emphasizing good manners and abigail is just ignoring it. sorry, mom. but apologizing could lead to admitting the truth and no, that's not going to happen. ]

Please. [ a beat, as she glances down at her bed and the bag of food. ] Thanks. [ for the food, ostensibly, but more accurately for the company. ]

You're welcome, [ Freddie responds with a nod and a smile. ] Shoot me a text if you ever need anything, okay?

[ She started to walk out, pausing at the door to give one last glance back to Abigail before continuing outside. ]

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one { video } déjà vu

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