Eerie, Indiana fanfiction: Homecoming

[froodle]

Written for Day 8 of the 31daysoffandom October challenge. The prompt I used for this one was "alone"



"Mom?" Mars called. "Dad? You guys home?"

The house was quiet, the silence broken only by the low hum of the refrigerator.

Marshall padded down the carpeted hallway, his bare feet raising thick clouds of dust on the grubby beige wool.

Syndi's bedroom door was ajar, the gloomy interior obscured by a thick layer of cobwebs that had accumulated in the narrow space. Mars nudged it open with his toe, grimacing at the smell of stale air that drifted outwards. On the edges of his vision, a sudden darting movement as something black and multi-legged scurried away into the darkened room.

The bedroom window spanned the length of one wall and overlooked the back garden. He had always coveted that window, which had let in enough daylight to seem bright and sunny even on a dull January day. Now the curtains were drawn, but moths had done so much damage that ragged circles of white daylight glowed in the thick material, and search-beams of dusky gold cut across the dim room. Motes of dust hung in the air, moving so slowly that they seemed to hover frozen in the empty space that had once been full up with Marshall's sister.

The old-fashioned writing desk was still there, it's cupboard doors hanging loosely on rusted hinges. Several of the little drawers had been pulled out and their contents scattered across the floor, the outline of pens and pencils and scraps of paper rendered fuzzy and indistinct beneath the furry coating of dust. The computer chair lay on it's back, spiderwebs glistening between the spokes of it's five-pointed base. The black pedal that had once been used to adjust height and tilt to the sitter's satisfaction lay some distance away. It must have snapped off when she fell.

Marshall stepped back, allowing the door to swing almost-closed once more. He walked a little further down the corridor and stood for a moment in the wreckage of what was once his parents bedroom. The mirrored doors of the fitted wardrobe reflected his face in fragments, all of them shattered. There was a black scorch mark in the middle of the room, and Marshall thought he could still smell the burning carpet fibres over the heavier stink of decay and abandonment.

Janet was waiting for him on the front step. Her hair was like fire in the afternoon sun, and the costume jewellery pinned to her blazer shimmered and gleamed. It was nearly too much, after the dark and the gloom of the house, and the brightness made his eyes burn with sudden tears.

"I'm sorry," said Janet, and he leaned against her for a moment, not speaking.

In the empty house, the refrigerator rattled as a fresh batch of ice cubes tumbled into the dispenser.





Janet

A Ghost in Pink by froodle; Janet's family during the year she was Lost

Jogging by froodle, in which Janet Donner adapts to life in regular Eerie

Plans by froodle, in which Janet Donner deals with Daylight Savings Time yet again

DST by froodle, in which there is a lighthouse

Figurehead by froodle, in which Lake Eerie's ghost pirates encounter the lighthouse





Milkman Series

Milk by froodle, in which Marshall develops a completely cromulent fear of milk trucks

Reanimator by froodle, in which the Milkman returns

Multiplicity by froodle, in which Marshall must once again confront parallel realities, diverging timelines and public speaking

Lillian by froodle, in which Marilyn's mother has concerns

Hound by froodle, in which Simon makes a friend

Slyboots by froodle, in which a certain corporal of the infernal regions comes to Eerie. Crossover with Johannes Cabal the Necromancer.

Strawberry by froodle, in which there is unauthorised hubbub in Eerie

Nap by froodle, in which Marshall has a quiet moment in the Secret Spot

Comments

[froodle]

I know, I really like Janet, I dont know why her stories are always like this