As much as Juniper tried to deny it, she was abusing the powers of The Empty. It started with big emotions: things that came after heated phone calls, bad dreams, or even when she burned her hand trying to get scones out of the oven. She gave it all to the silent creature under the bed. Rage, bitterness, regret, pain- it took it all. Emotions that made her shake and want to put her fist through the wall or sob for hours- it ate them up. She was freed of them.
Over time, she started to feel its presence grow. Although it hadn’t materialized, she could feel it from further away now. Now, it felt like something. It felt like everything she had given it.
It terrified her. Whether she was afraid for herself or afraid of herself, as all of the things she was feeling had once been hers, she wasn’t sure. She only knew she needed to get a handle on things before they got out of control. But did she start with The Empty or herself?
After a long phone call with her grandmother, she decided that her and Natalie needed to work things out. If they couldn’t be on good terms, they needed to at least be on neutral terms. Natalie had complained that all the tension had affected her magic, so they were both invested in making changes. Juniper wasn't inclined to tell her that the reason she wanted to work things out was so the supernatural entity lurking in her house wouldn't have any more fodder to grow in strength. There was very little she trusted her older sister with anymore. She was loose-lipped and held secrets in low regard. She didn't know about The Empty at all, and Juniper didn't see any need to tell her about it.
Natalie was coming in three days. With the storm brewing, Juniper would be surprised if she made it at all. It was an easy excuse to cancel the drive. But she hadn't heard anything about a change of plans yet.
She wandered around the house, trying to unpack and make the place look as presentable as possible. It was uncomfortable, being forced to sit with her emotions again. She had no choice. But it was almost an addiction, giving them away. It was so easy. Why shouldn't she? Other than a feeling of dread, nothing had actually come of it yet. As long as she kept that room bright as a Christmas tree, The Empty would never be able to get out- right?
Juniper glanced uneasily out the window. The sky had only a few clouds, but the weather station and her instincts told her the storm coming was going to be a big one. There were warnings in place for thunder, lightning, and heavy winds that could lead to downed trees or power lines. She spent the rest of the evening making sure anything valuable was up high and away from windows. By the time she was done with her storm preparations and ready for bed, it was eleven o’clock.
Her feet dragged as she trudged down the second floor hallway. The menacing aura from the locked bedroom was so strong that it stopped her dead in her tracks. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and her blood ran cold. Cautiously, she opened the door. Nothing was amiss. It was still trapped just outside the physical world. Taking each step as if she were walking along a cliffside, she approached the bed and knelt a few inches from its edge. The negative energy was overwhelming. She felt guilty and disturbed and disgusted all at once. This had all come from her? She’d stopped giving it anything recently. She’d thought... maybe it would fade out over time.
But that wasn’t how those things worked, was it? She’d sure given it a lot of grief. Grief didn’t go away, in her experience. A person just grew around it. She’d given it enough rage to set up a comfortable feedback loop where it would just marinate and breed more. No... whatever she’d done, it wouldn’t get fixed soon or without some effort from her.
But where did she even start? She sat quietly for a few minutes before feeling like an idiot.
“Oh, duh!” She said, lightly thunking her forehead with her palm. “I could give you a different emotion. One that doesn’t completely suck. Uh... come to think of it, I don’t have much. It’s been a stressful day thinking about the storm.”
She could feel the creature reach out. “Oh no! No, you’re not getting my stress. You don’t need that. It’ll go away after I sleep. It’s fine.”
She could swear she almost felt disappointment, maybe even anger flare up.
“I have, uh... hm... I had a really nice cup of tea earlier. My friend Audrey gave me this blend of a bunch of different flowers so I can drink it at night without it keeping me up. It was really good, but... I can live without it. Here- take ‘cozy.’ You need it more than I do.”
The creature took the emotion hesitantly as if it didn’t know what to do with it, but took it all the same.
“It’s not going to make up for all the other trash I threw at you, but... it’s a start. Goodnight.” She threw a little congeniality into her goodnight. As she walked down the hall, she decided if she was going to make an effort to smooth things over with what was left of her family, it wasn’t going to do any good to wait.
Juniper pulled up her sister’s number. [Storm is supposed to hit where you are before me- hope you’re able to ride out the worst of it. Let me know if you have to cancel. We’ll pick another day. Goodnight.]
An immediate response came in. It was simple, but it was a response. [Thx. Goodnight.]
She turned off her phone and flopped down on her bed. Pulling the covers up to her chin, Juniper closed her eyes and tried to pretend she couldn’t feel The Empty’s ominous presence all the way in her room now.
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