Pretty Fabulous for a Dead Girl

Celeste hasn't moved since she saw Alain. Her phone is ringing unheeded at her feet.

"What are you doing here?"

Still shocked, but even that isn't hiding the fear in her voice and eyes.

From:

"Just visiting."

Alain is enjoying this, too.

It maybe shows.

From:

Celeste attempts to pull herself together. This is her house, her town, and there's nothing this man can do to her here.

And if she believed that, it might work to steady her voice. She tries anyway.

"You have to leave now. You have no right to be here, in my home."

From:

Her voice shakes anyway. Just a bit.

Alain has a very faint smile.

"Be on my way soon enough."

Not moving.

He's off on some godforsaken field trip with the Mars girl, said Celeste.

"I'm looking for Veronica. I've a message for her."

He'll let Celeste deduce for herself who would be sending messages for Veronica through him.

From:

Celeste deduces just fine, from the look on her face, and it makes Lilly smile a little. This really sucks a lot less than she thought it would.

From:

Celeste's fury starts to return when Alain mentions Veronica. That girl and her father have done nothing but cause trouble for their family since Lilly died. Even as she stands here Veronica's off keeping Duncan from her-

Celeste pales, suddenly. If this man, this friend of her daughter's, is looking for Veronica he must be doing so because he has a message from Lilly.

Celeste can think of only one message Lilly would want to give Veronica, the perfect piece of information to separate her even farther from her son.

She manages a more level gaze at Alain.

"I'm afraid I can't help you. She doesn't really spend much time in this part of town."

From:

Alain just looks at her.

Level.

Still leaning comfortably against the wall.

From:

Celeste is almost looking Alain in the eyes. It's easier to deal with him here, in her home, especially since Lilly's not around.

"I'm sorry, didn't you hear me? I'd like you to leave now, before I call the police."

Her eyes flicker to the cell phone lying on the floor.

From:

"I heard."

Calm.

"I'm here by invitation, sai, and with Lilly. As much right as Meg Manning or Weevil or Veronica."

His eyes flick to Lilly, with a small smile. It's the first one Celeste has seen that isn't knife-edged under the pleasant veneer.

He's looking at empty space, to her eyes.

Glancing back at Celeste, mildly, "Lots of people about this house."

From:

Celeste pales further, her eyes darting nervously about the hallway. He can't be implying- but the smile, his easy knowledge of Lilly's friends-

"I don't know what you mean," she says, her voice tight.

From:

"Oh, but you will," Lilly mutters, coming forward to stand by Alain. She's seen Ghost. She knows what to do, even if she's so not Patrick Swayze and Alain isn't exactly Whoopi Goldberg.

"Tell her you can prove it. Tell her..." her eyes stray to a picture, and she takes a breath.

"Tell her that the book I'm reading in that picture is Corduroy and I read it to Kermit, the doll, every night for a month until she got fed up, hid the book, and told me it was lost."

From:

"Do you say so?" Deceptively mild.

"What would make you understand, sai Kane? For I'd not see you confused on this." Eyes glinting.

"Shall I tell you what she's telling me now? Of that picture, there. The doll Kermit, and the book Corduroy that you hid and told her was lost, when you couldn't stand to hear her read it any more. Every night for a month. Wore on your nerves, I wot."

He's not sympathetic. At all.

From:

Fear rushes over Celeste, turning her still paler before it recedes, leaving a numb nightmare calm in its wake.

She'll just do what he asks. Then this will end and everything will go back to normal.

"Veronica's on a field trip, with Duncan and her class. They've gone to the stadium, but they'll be heading back to town soon."

Her voice trembles, but she's beyond caring.

From:

"Thankee-sai."

See, his voice implies, was that so hard?

"How far is that from here?"

Directed half at Celeste, and half at Lilly.

From:

"Pretty far," Lilly says, frowning. "You'd have to take the cliff road all the way out through the so-called bad part of town."

She glances at Alain.

"I'm thinking you can't so much drive a car, can you?"

From:

He shakes his head.

If Celeste is unnerved by him carrying on a conversation with the empty air...

Well. He can't bring himself to fret about it, somehow.

"Not unless it's easy to pick up with an explanation."

Far away. Damn it.

...And then his eyes narrow slightly in thought.

To Celeste, "You can drive a car, I wot."

From:

Celeste has been watching with horrified fascination as the man talks to empty air, air that somehow knows about that damned book her daughter had loved.

And then he turns to her, and she realizes with a sick feeling in her stomach that the nightmare's not over yet.

"I'm not- I won't do it."

There's no real defiance in her voice, though.

From:

Mildly, "I'll not harm you, sai Kane."

Eyes glittering.

"I'd not do that to Duncan."

Otherwise, he'd be quite happy to put a bullet in her. They both know it.

"You've two choices. You can help me, and then I'll be on my way. You can try to forget all this, if you would. Wish you luck with it."

No he doesn't.

"Or you can stall and dally, and keep me here talking to you instead of delivering the message I came for."

It's all matter-of-fact. Not threats. Just facts.

From:

It's the calm, businesslike tone to his voice that makes his words all the more terrifying to Celeste. This man would kill her without ever raising his voice. She nods, dumbly.

At this point, she'd do almost anything to get this over with.

"Very well," she says, and turns towards the door, her heels clickclickclicking away from Alain and Lilly.

From:

Lilly freezes at the sound, her hands clenching into fists by her sides. She knows that sound, staccato footsteps echoing as they walk away from her, leave her to the dark and cold.

She glances involuntarily down the hall, towards the kitchen and the French doors that lead down to the pool sparkling in the warm California sunlight.

The sight makes her shiver.

From:

A swift glance.

Alain knows some of the components of Lilly's nightmares, by now.

One hand slips from his pocket, and lifts towards her a little -- and then drops. He can't touch her in this world, and she can't touch him.

A fresh wave of fury, towards Celeste Kane and this house and her whole damned town. But mostly towards Celeste.

Softly, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

From:

Lilly just nods, not trusting herself to look at him, and follows her mother out the front door of her house.

It's a beautiful day in Neptune. The sun is shining bright and warm and there's a pleasant breeze blowing.

Lilly can't feel any of it.

From:

Celeste is standing by her car, attempting to fit the key into the lock with shaking hands. She succeeds on her third try.

It will all be over soon, she keeps telling herself. She can contradict anything this man tells Duncan and Veronica after he's gone.

The important thing now is just to make sure he goes.

From:

Alain follows, unruffled, and waits for her to unlock the doors.

Mildly, again, "I'll not harm you, sai."

He doesn't want her too terrified.

...Well. He does. But not if she's going to drive off the road because of it.

From: