Work Text:
"...So they told me to come here, because you were the best for this kind of job" explained Mark, their current client, the attendant of a cruise which seemed to be haunted by ghosts.
An old man with bright blue eyes and thin lips, probably close to retirement.
"The captain forces us to hide the bodies… And the company not only is aware of what he does, but also agrees with him! He told us that if we told anything to the police, he would fire us all"
"Well if he's in jail then there's no one who can fire you, am I right?" grinned Charles, looking at Edwin.
"...The company can, Charles" explained Edwin in a little huff, turning his head to him. He gave him a quick look to warn him to not interfere into the client's speech anymore.
Charles noticed that since Crystal had officially joined the agency, he had become way more strict about the kind of approach they needed to have with the clients, like the one in front of them.
Obviously he didn't like it at all. Charles missed the days when he sat on the edge of the desk, close to Edwin… Now he couldn't even get close to him in front of a client, unbelievable.
Edwin said it was to be more professional; Crystal said it was because Edwin was too overwhelmed by Charles' touch now that he realised he loved him.
Charles didn't like being unable to be close to Edwin either way.
"Kid... No offence but I'm fucking poor and also very old, I cannot lose this job, especially because what kind of company would hire me at my age?" the client prompted with a bit of annoyance in his voice.
"I suggest you use a more adequate lexicon to talk to my partner, Mr. Kawroski, or I will need to reconsider taking your case"
"Yeah... Sorry, I'm just nervous" he sighed, before continuing with his story.
"It all started two months ago, on new year's eve. There was a ball on the cruise, the theme was 50s fashion. The night went fine, all the customers seemed to enjoy the party.
But, after the fireworks, one of the waitresses found a dead man in one of the cabins and then 2 hours later a woman, presumably his wife, in the theater. Both of them showed signs of being shot, but there were no bullets inside the wounds... oh and we didn't find the gun either"
"Can you tell me where exactly they got shot?" asked the Edwardian boy, taking a stylo out of his pocket and starting to write down in his notebook all the informations the cruise attendant gave them.
The man gave him a strange look, like it almost hurt to talk about it, as he knew the pain the two victims felt the second before their deaths. He raised his hand to touch his chest, where his heart beated.
"He got shot there"
Then, very slowly, two of his fingers went to his temple, tapping it like a button.
"She shot herself"
And with a pained look, he lowered his gaze, wetting his lips a little, like he was reliving a moment in his mind. But he quickly woke up from his trance as he seemed to be reminded of something. He jumped on the seat and his eyes widened, looking at Edwin.
“You have to believe me!” he said in a high pitched tone.
“We do, Mr. Sadwave, our agency is-”
"I know it doesn't sound very strange, but let me finish: a week later, it happened again!
This time the two victims didn't even know each other, but still, everything was the same: after midnight, we heard the sound of two shots: a man got shot in the heart, inside the same cabin, the No. 192, and a woman was found in the theater, with the sight of a bullet perforing her head, but still no sign of any!"
"Fascinating... and with what frequency does this phenomenon happen?" calmly asked Edwin, and so finally the client started to chill out, relaxing on his seat.
It wasn't the first time they had to relate with a fidgety client. Edwin had elaborated meticulous procedures to apply in case the man (or creature) in front of them tended to be restless, which was quite useful, since most of their customers were irrequete ghosts with a violent past and unfinished business.
But Charles never read the papers, and the other boy never asked him to do so, so they didn't have a problem. Though, he tried to put some small drawings on them, highlighting the most important words, so that Charles could understand without needing to read much.
Even if he appreciated the effort, and he genuinely did, he preferred to use his instinct, to just approach the people and see how it went, so for him it was useless.
And so, everything passed to Crystal, who had to study the folder in order to pass the exam Edwin personally did for her (she wrote an enormous dick on every page of it and wrote “fuck you” and “Ur mom” instead of her name and surname).
"...well, I don't know. It's been six months since the new year's eve, so probably twelve times at month?” continued Max.
“I don't know. It's always at night, when everyone's usually already in their cabin. There had been some times that we thought it was finally over, but then it happened again: bodies kept showing up, always recreating the same scenario. Sometimes for two or three days in a row, then nothing for two weeks. And then again, a man and a woman found dead in a horrific circle of violence.
I don't want to hide bodies anymore, this thing is consuming me. I can't stop thinking that one day it could be me, the one that my coworkers have to hide. Or maybe that one of those victims could be my kid or my wife. I can't stop myself from imagining it. So please, just find what the hell is happening on that ship and kill it before I go completely insane"
The man's eyes were glassy, voice rough, like he got a node inside his throat.
"Don't worry, we'll do anything in our power to help you, right?" intervened Crystal, genuinely moved by the man's words. She gave a little side-eye to Edwin, warning him to not contradict her.
The Edwardian ghost rolled his eyes and sighted.
"Alright, I suppose. Where is the ship right now?"
___
They eventually decided to book a trip, since Crystal was disgustingly rich and, as Edwin said, the best way to find out what killed the passengers was to become them.
The ship was built in ‘56, and called “Clementia” after the roman goddess of mercy, that was also the name of the first captain's wife, according to Edwin, the only one to read the brochure.
“Funny name” commented Crystal.
“Yeah especially when you know thousands of people were murdered on this ship without any mercy” added Charles, smiling beamingly at him.
“Yeah I was sarcastic” she shot back.
He was tempted to answer with a very flirty and cheeky ‘I know’ but he didn't want to go too further, since she clearly wasn't emotionally available, not with him at least.
So he stayed silent, letting it be just a chill change of words between two good friends, trying to focus on something probably very important to the investigation that he should've paid attention to, even if he just saw Edwin's mouth moving at first. So he tried to focus harder, just to be present in the conversation, to not look like a fool asking what he just said to Crystal after.
Sometimes Edwin caught him and gave him a speech about how he needed to be more present and stop zoning out, but he eventually zoned out even at that, looking at how much Edwin's eyes were green. And so the boy gave up.
"I suggest we separate. Mark said there hasn't been any murder this month so we must solve the case before midnight, or someone might get killed. Charles, you go with Crystal. Go ask around to some of the customers. I'll go at the theatre"
"And what do you hope to find there? The Phantom of the Opera?"
"No, Crystal. I'll make resources. Besides what you think, being a detective is searching for details, proofs, clues. Not just asking around about what happened"
"Alright Mr. Holmes, go deduct something from the dust on the floor of the theatre. Now if you mind, I'm taking Watson to do the things that you told us to do: asking around. Charles, let's go"
And with that, she took Charles by the arm and dragged him away before Edwin could say anything, leaving him on the cruise's alleyway.
They quickly entered into a bar, with Crystal practically storming into it, heading to the counter to order probably the fattest cup of coffee ever seen in human history and Charles behind her trying to keep up with her walking.
___
"God, I don't understand why you two are always so rude to each other" wined Charles, sitting on the chair in front of Crystal as she was waiting for her croissant and cappuccino inside the bar of the ship. Everything was themed after 50s fashion, even the waitresses wore colourful party costumes full of glitter and feathers.
"Don't blame me, he started it!"
She spoke looking at her phone, with her headphones on, so no one would've thought she was crazy.
"Yeah yeah I know, I'm just saying you guys should try to be more gentle with each other. It would be the best for everyone, innit?"
As he talked, a young girl in a amhetyst green dress and dark red hair came to them with a tray full of food and drinks.
"Here. The croissant and the cappuccino. Enjoy"
"Thank you" Crystal smiled politely and started pouring sugar in her cup, her attention back to Charles.
She looked so... 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭. Like a full grown woman, one of those women who makes your blood freeze in your veins with a single glance. Since she reconnected with her parents she dressed with way more branded clothes and jewellery: Vivienne Westwood, Guess, Prada… with one of her earrings she could've bought the entire Café. So she really looked like a wealthy young woman.
Anyway, she was still the same old Crystal.
She told ‘em after Portowsend: she wouldn't come back to her old life unless to resolve a problem she caused or to ask someone for forgiveness, and Charles and Edwin (even if Edwin didn’t want to admit it) were pleased with her choice.
He wondered if that was a sign she was growing up. The clothes, the mature attitude… Somehow that thought terrified him, so he shoved it down somewhere in his mind and got back to trying to remember how a croissant tasted.
"...Yeah maybe. But I won't be the one to apologize"
Brills, let’s give the biggest ‘𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶’ to the ‘mature attitude’.
Charles groaned at the statement. Why did they have to waste their time like that? Oh Edwin would be so mad when he would find out they just chatted and made breakfast instead of investigating.
"Uuuugh come on, Crystal! You know he has a very bad attitude, he's just not the kind of ghost that likes to relate to people. You, on the other hand, can literally read them with a single touch! Something you should've done with that one waitress before! Am I right?”
God, he sounded like a father scolding his kid.
Just the thought of it was weird. Ew.
Crystal almost choked on her drink.
“Why didn't you tell me?!” she shouted, and everyone turned to look at them. At her, to be more precise.
“Because I thought you would've done it without me telling you!”
“I'm new to this, I'm not as keen as you! You should be helping me!”
“I'm not Edwin, I didn't think about that! Did I?!”
“Oh Gosh… ok, I see if I can get near her” she whispered on the phone so that no one would get the wrong idea. If they had a penny for every time Crystal got escorted out of a place because she screamed nonsensely at nothing they would be able to buy an entire breakfast.
“Thank you” he sighed, indulging on his seat, as she took her purple leather jacket and bag, looking for her credit card.
“Is everything alright? You need to pay?” the waitress that served them before eventually went back to her.
“Oh, yes, actually. Let me just..” Crystal was still searching inside her bag, as the girl looked at her with a glimpse of adoration in her eyes, a small smile on her lips. She looked expectant.
“What if I offered you this breakfast?” the girl smiled playfully, but Crystal didn't really notice her.
“Oh no it's not necessary, really. I just can't seem to find it, that's all” she said not giving her a single look. Charles was tempted to tell her the waitress was flirting with her, but then Crystal looked directly into the boy's eyes, before closing the bag.
“Oh alri-”
The psychic grabbed her by the wrist before she could even put a sad expression on, and then her fingers started to go up to lay on her shoulder.
“But that's actually very sweet of you, you know? What's your name?” she said, putting on one of her most charming smiles and getting a little closer to the girl.
“Sara” the girl blurted out, mesmerized by Crystal, who was probably fighting for her life to not get her eyes blank and seen like someone who was having an epilepsy attack. She eventually got able to put her sunglasses on with her free hand.
“I think I'll stay here only for a week, I'll drop out when we arrive in Spain”
“Oh… Then I hope you're having a great time here”
“Well the coffee was great. I'll get more this afternoon if you don't mind”
“I don't. I'd like that very much, I'm always here, at the bar”
“Then I'll search for you” Crystal held her gaze, with her lips curved in a gentle expression, full of fondness and a little bit of desire. She was tilting her head to a side, tapping nervously one of her heels on the floor.
The red haired girl giggled a little, taking a small look at Crystal's lips. She got a little bit closer to her face, as they were not close enough, and sustained her gaze as she tried to stop smiling.
“See ya then” she said, and turned back to the counter with the tray in her hands.
Crystal immediately turned to Charles, who was looking at her almost traumatized.
“You like girls?!” was the only thing he managed to blurt in a very high pitch.
He immediately got embarrassed because of how his voice sounded like the one of a little kid finding out his parents had to have sex to have him.
“You have a problem with that?” the girls said in an intimidating tone.
“No, no! That's aces! But are you, like…”
“I don't know, Charles. I don't want to talk about it now that we're on a case. If you got a problem with me liking girls then go to Edwin, maybe he'll show you how to like men. Alright?”
And she headed out of the Cafè, giving the dark red haired girl a small smile before turning away.
Charles could hear Edwin's voice in his head “Crystal, that sentence had no sense” but he ignored that. The fact that Edwin spawned freely in his mind at the strangest time was not uncommon to him. It actually happened very frequently, to think about Edwin, to think what he would say, do, what he would look like.
He didn't know what that was supposed to mean, nor did he want to think about it much.
Now he was more interested in Crystal's preferences.
“Yeah, but are you actually into both or have you decided that after David the Demon there's not gonna be anymore man?”
“She knows something, Charles. -she interrupted him- She's one of the people who helped our clients hiding the bodies, the one who found the second victim in the theater the first time it happened!”
And 𝘯𝘰𝘸 he was more interested in Crystal's powers.
“Oi, really? Crystal, that's aces! You've been great!”
She smiled at the compliment., even if she was still a bit angry at him. “Thank you, anyway there was something strange. I remember she went through this long corridor with another girl. They were trying to find a good place to snog, and when they entered… They found a big puddle of blood on the floor. But there was something else, Charles. Before they opened the doors… there was a song playing. More like a record… it was calm, and melancholic. That night was just so sad, even before the two kills. Everyone was so down… I could actually feel it. It felt like the kind of pain you can only feel when you're in love…” she looked astonished, like she saw the ghost of a beloved one. “That's probably nonsense, forget it.”
“Well if you don't feel like talking about it, I understand-”
“No Charles it's not that! Stop talking like you're a damn therapist!”
“Oh, alright then. Wait, you got a therapist? Oh Edwin's gonna be so mad when he finds out. It's like that case we got in ‘95: our client was a dead psychologist and he told Edwin it seemed like he had PTSD. He got so mad he almost electroshocked him with a spell-”
But Crystal clearly didn't give a fuck, and interrupted his monologue about his best mate's sadistic tendencies.
“I just… I don't know, but it reminded me of, y’know, when you're in love with someone, but you can't have them? Like, the desperation of when you see them around and you want to be with them but you can't, because everything is different now. Does it make sense?”
She looked at the boy with hopeful eyes, asking to be understood.
“I think so” but Charles couldn't know what it was, because he never had that problem. At least, 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 he never had it.
Even though Crystal didn't want him and that he rejected Edwin, they didn't go away. But maybe that was different? Probably.
Maybe he had to see it from Edwin's point, then? Edwin, the one boy who confessed his love on the stairs of Hell and always forgave Charles for all his mistakes, even though he wasn't worthy of it. The way Edwin always laid his gaze on him, like he desired to be closer to him, in every way possible, always, even if it was physically undoable. Did Edwin feel desperate? Desperate enough to forgive anything Charles would've done to him?
“You felt that for David?” he asked, not able to stop the thought slip from his mouth.
“...A little. After all, you don't suddenly stop loving someone as soon as the light. I suppose that's why the feeling in my vision was so intense, I think I can relate” she spoke, looking at the floor with wide eyes, lost in her own mind.
“Maybe it's a ghost. Maybe they're haunting the ship to find someone they loved when they were still alive”
“Well killing people to find some lost lover seems pretty much like a serial killer thing to do, innit?”
“So a vengeful ghost?” she tried again.
“Don't know, let's see what Edwin’s got” said Charles picking up his backpack and heading to the theatre.
___
“It's obviously a scheme. A repetitive scheme. Very similar to the one we found at the Devilin’s house, except for the fact that these ghosts are completely aware of being in a loop. They willingly decide to enter in it in order to find what will make them able to pass away” explained Edwin putting his jacket on one of the front seats in the theatre, which was one of the biggest theatre Edwin had ever seen in a cruise, with its three hundred seats and an apron stage of five metres.
It almost seemed to be in a real theatre (even though Charles told him that just because they were on a ship that didn't mean the place wasn't valid, but he disagreed with him in that).
“How do you know there's more?” asked Crystal in her usual bitchy tone (which she seemed to use exclusively with Edwin).
“Well, first of all, the loop is based on a traumatic event, which, judging by the sex and the number of the victimes, implies the involvement of a man and a woman. Why would the ghost kill themselves two times? That's completely nonsense, and also physically impossible, they can't possess two people at the same time”
“Ok so what happened? They sort of… made a double suicide?”
“No. They would've died in the same place. One of them killed the other. Then they went to the theatre, and shot themselves in the head”
“Brills, so now we just have to find the source. I suggest to start from cabin No. 192. They found the first body there, innit?” Charles spoke, getting between the two of them.
“Alright then, let's go. Charles, lead us please”
The Edwardian ghost made a small gesture with his hands, to give precedence to Charles, like they were an old fashioned couple straight out of the 50s.
___
After Charles managed to force the room's lock, Crystal instantly noticed how big it actually was, with a king sized bed and a little living room with a sofa and a small table, all in line with the 50s fashion, obviously.
She started walking towards the two chairs near the table, playfully drawing the palm of her hand on the nearest wall. Maybe she would've got a vision. Who knows?
The psychic looked forward for the vinyl collection in front of the bed, but when she touched the first album, she suddenly found herself in different place: the room was quite similar, but some things were out of place… it was late at night, the body of a man laid on the floor, his white shirt and waistcoat soaked in blood, and the record player sang a soft melody.
Soon a figure of a human being started to slowly emerge from the mirror near the table and became bigger, defining its shape, until it became a very fat and scruffy woman. In Crystal's opinion, she looked like a serial killer. And probably was, judging by the small hook she carried with herself.
There was a big noise, like the shot of a gun, and the woman looked directly at Crystal.
“It's time” she whispered, looking into the girl's eyes. Then she went to the record player and touched the vinyl with her hook, drawing something the psychic couldn't really see.
“Give my regards to Edwin Payne, he's my friend” was the last thing she said, before disappearing sucked back by the mirror with a smirk on her face.
And Crystal was back to the present, with Charles and Edwin staring closely at her, expectant and worried.
“Are you quite alright?”
But Crystal couldn't formulate a single thought. The view of that woman… She didn't know why, but it terrified her. In a way she couldn't explain to herself.
“It's not… They're not haunting the ship, they're trapped in it. A woman trapped them… She said she knew you!” Crystal heavily panted in shock, pointing at Edwin, feeling her chest rising and falling heavily.
“Who? How did she look? Who was that?” Edwin said in a hurry, suddenly even more worried than before, with his eyes widened in a strange expression, like he feared the possibility of knowing that woman.
“I- I don't know! She had a hook in her hand and- and…”
She suddenly saw a woman and a man, in the exact place where before Edwin and Charles stood in front of her. They looked at each other, with pained expressions on their faces. The woman wore a beautiful long dress, plenty of strass and gems, and thousends of necklaces made of red gemstones adorned her neck. The man, on the other way. wore a dark blue waistcoat, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up his arms.
“𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧…” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳.
“𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺” 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘸.
“𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦-”
“𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐?” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵.
“𝘕𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯.
“Crystal! Crystal, are you alright?!” Charles was shaking her by the shoulders, with a worried look on his face.
“Yeah, yeah… I just need a minute to, y'know, rearrange my thoughts, understand what just happened. If you want you can start from the vinyls, there should be one with some symbols in it, it's the one of my vision. If you need me… I'll be out, taking some fresh air. Alright?”
And even if Edwin rolled his eyes and sighted, Charles politely smiled at her, giving her a pat on her shoulder and letting her walk away from that damn room.
But when she finally went out of the place, she heard the door locking behind her.
“Wait-” but Charles had already found the vinyl they were looking for, and put it on the record player.
Crystal looked at her phone: it was half past eleven PM. Soon there would be midnight. And someone would've gotten killed.
“Oh God… Guys! Can you hear me?! Edwin! Charles?! Don't - She tried to break into the room kickin at the entrance, but nothing happened - Don't listen to the record! It could be dangerous!”
Crystal felt her eyes grow wet and a node squeezing her throat. The only thing she could do was watching them from the small window on the door.
“Please! Don't listen to it!” but Edwin and Charles were staring at the disc, moving in an infinite circle. Their eyes became of the colour of the sky for a second, and then they looked at each other like Crystal never saw them do.
A gun materialised in Charles hand as he interlocked his gaze full of pain and rage for the boy in front of him.
And even if the psychic girl didn't really get what was happening between the two of them, neither she knew what they were saying, she knew that the curse now had found two new victims to put under its spell.
The only problem was that they were already dead.
___
Charles felt the weight of the gun in his left hand as soon as he laid eyes on Edwin's figure.
Rage pervaded his whole body, making him raise his arm, pointing the gun a few inches away from Edwin's head, steadily.
He tried not to shiver at the sight of Edwin's gentle expression, so he wouldn't think he was scared.
"This is a gun in my hand Rudolph! I'd advise you to be careful what you say!" he affirmed, sounding as sure of his words just as he was of his actions.
"Well, rather melodramatic, aren't you?” the Edwardian ghost chanted, leaning on the table behind him.
“Tell me, will I be the seventh notch on the gun or the eight?” and he chucked a little, looking down at the persian rug under them.
“Do you mind if I smoke?"
"Smoke?" asked the other boy, losing a little his grip on the gun, his position suddenly doubtful.
How could some simple words affect her so much? Wait- him. He was Charles- no. He was Catherine.
How could something so simple make him doubt?
"I always smoke at theater, somehow it enhances with the performance" Edwin explained calmly.
"You can do anything you please Rudolph, but you have very little time to do it in" and with that Charles tried to bring confidence in his tone, even if it was extremely difficult, looking at Edwin's eyes, spreading love for Charles every second more.
"You mean you're actually going to kill me?"
Edwin asked it like it was a daily occurrence, to die. Like they were playing a game, one of those games every kid plays everyday, with the same people. No one really dies, because it's all play.
But that, as Charles said, was a gun in his hand.
"I mean just that." he stressed every word, pulling up his chin, to look sure in front of the man, readjusting his grip on the weapon he held in his hands.
"Well, go ahead"
"I'll do this my own way. Look, you already know my purpose in being here. Now you will either give me my information...or I will kill you. You have until nine o'clock" he looked at the clock, but it signed almost midnight. He didn't care, though. He knew that Rudolph didn't know what hour was, so the first bell ring would've been sufficient.
"You won't do it” he affirmed.
“You can pull the trigger! And you can't pull it because you love me. It takes a very brave and a very cold woman to do that, Catherine… I don't think you can! Isn't that true? Isn't that why you're waiting?" he almost whispered, like a secret between the two of them, that no one should've known.
"That's not true!-" Charles tried to defend himself.
"Or is it that you want to watch your victim?” continued Edwin, unbothered. “You want my heart to constrict with agony in my hands, to shake! You want me to plead for my life so you can make a generous gesture and spare me! ...Sorry Catherine I don't seem to be in the mood for prayers tonight" he said looking deeply into his lover's eyes, aware of being right. And the boy in front of him, feeling his eyes already growing wet, let his arms fall down in surrender.
"You don't think I'll do it!” prompted Charles in a desperate attempt of stopping him “...That's why you're so brave, you don't think I'll do it! You wouldn't be so brave otherwise, you're a coward at heart! You lied to me! You deceived me!"
"You tried to deceive 𝘮𝘦-"
"I'm tired of listening to you!" Charles screamed at him, tugging him by the shirt.
"You gave me your heart, you know.
You'd like me to hand it back, whole again. But I won't”
Edwin slowly took Charles hands in his, pulling them down, along his sides. And his fingers travelled up his arms, to his shoulders and then his neck, until they gently cupped both sides of his face.
“You'll live a long time yet, Catherine. An eternity without me… You will look into the faces of passers by, hoping for something that will, for an instant, bring me back to you. You will find moonlit night strangely empty, because - he hissed, his gaze lost in Charles eyes - when you’ll call my name through, there will be no answer.
Always your heart will be aching for me, and your mind will give you the doubtful consolation that you did a brave thing"
"You dare to talk of bravery!" the boy spilled those words like poison.
And now hot water was falling from Charles' eyes, as he tried not to make his tone drop in a sob, unable to hold back the pain and the anger in his chest.
"What else do we have to talk about, Catherine? For me there will never be another woman but you.
But for my heart there is another love that 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 come before you: my country!”
Edwin let go of Charles' face to give a small shake to his shoulders.
“You're so still… your face is like ice… What are you thinking Catherine?"
Tender hands gripped Charles' sides firmly, and soft caress went up and down his arms, brushing the fabric of his jacket.
But the other boy, unable to sustain the way Edwin looked at him anymore, lowered his gaze, so he couldn't see how much his words affected him.
"What does anything you can say matter? You betrayed me with words… What good are words!
Your heart is breaking!”
Charles finally found the strength to raise his head, making him see his reddened eyes and wet cheeks, a result from the inability of wrecking his rage on the boy.
“If I fail now, I shall deserve to die. You tricked me into loving you!" he accused with despair, facing Edwin.
"Aren't you forgetting that you came here with the same purpose?"
"I couldn't betray you!
I tried to tell you! You said you already knew! I was as honest as I knew how to be!"
And now Charles was screaming, again, from the top of his lungs, pushing Edwin, trying to get a reaction, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, that meant he cared about him, that he loved him as much as he did.
"Do you think I wanted to love you?
Knowing where you came from and what your mission was? Don't you think that every hour we were together I was thinking 'Aaaah, she's just pretending'?" Edwin screamed, pushing him back.
"I wasn't! I loved you!" Charles hopelessly fell at Edwin's feet, hugging his legs, to get a grip on him, so he wouldn't get away from him, so Edwin would've understood how much he meant those words.
Edwin relaxed at that, lowering, getting on his knees too so he could face Charles.
He cupped his face in his hands, with a bittersweet smile on his face, almost relieved.
"And I loved you so much I let you pretend.
Because... You brought something to my days I… couldn't stand the thought of losing"
Charles let out a small, exasperated sob, and, exhausted, he let himself be held by Edwin. His hands fell down on the rug, and a sight left his lips, as he felt Edwin's forehead on his.
But then, the heavy sound of a bell resonated around them, making Charles' heart drop.
He opened his eyes and found Edwin a few inches from him, looking at him. His gaze pierced into the deep ocean of his green eyes.
A tear slipped from Charles and his mouth fell open in the realization of what was about to happen.
He felt Edwin's long fingers caressing the nape of his head.
"𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨" the Edwardian ghost told him, stressing every word, as he took the hand with whom Charles held the gun and pressed the barrel right where his heart was supposed to be.
"Your time is up!" was the only thing Charles could say getting up, like a robot, nerved by the sudden memory of his previous intentions. He pushed harder at Edwin's chest, with his eyes lost in his wrath.
"Then my last words: I love you, Catherine" Edwin softly spoke, in peace after finally being able to give those words the meaning they deserved.
"You're determined to die with a lie on your lips?!" shouted Charles, blinded by rage, pulling the trigger.
The gun shot the bullet right into Edwin's chest with a loud bang that made his ears ring and his mind go blank.
Edwin fell on the red carpet of the cabin. His hands covered the wound, as he didn't just want to save his life, but as his heart broke, completely, and the pain in his chest was way too much to handle.
"I- I love you... Catherine" was the last thing he whispered, looking at him, before his body stopped shivering and spasm, becoming just a big mass of flesh and bones.
"Oh god!” Charles exclaimed in horror.
Edwin. Edwin had loved him. All along. He never lied. Ever. How could he? How could he lie, when he literally trusted Charles into pointing a gun right on his heart. He let Catherine hold his life in the palm of his hand, and he failed him. For what? For a nation that never gave anything to her.
Slowly, he turned around Edwin's body and crossed the wall of the cabin.
The bell still rang in his head, and a voice of a young girl called his name from a distance, but he didn't care.
What was life, if he had killed that one thing that gave him happiness?<
Oh Rudolph! Why did you have to point the gun, you already had me under your spell?! Or was it Edwin? She didn't know. His head was dizzy, he found it difficult to walk, as his vision got blurry and everything around him trembled.
He arrived at the theatre, where the two of them usually went to dance, hidden by the curtains, swaying behind the stage, where no one would see them.
“Oh Rudolph, what have I done? Why did I have to be so angry all the time? So blinded, so foolish? Why wasn't I mature enough, so you had to die? Why didn't you just tell me, tell me that- that… I don't even know, what I want…” he told himself.
The gun was dangerously close to his head, and the music that followed him since the start of the discussion with Edwin tormented his ears more and more.
Crystal was running along the corridor, screaming Charles name from the top of her lungs. She broke into the theatre, finding Charles profile on the apron stage, looking down at his shoes, his gaze absent and his left arm folded to point the gun to his temple.
“Charles! Charles, if you kill yourself, God knows what will happen to you and Edwin!” she screamed. “Charles! Please, Charles, listen to me! You could lose Edwin!”
The psychic got in front of the stage, trying to put herself up so the ghost would notice her.
“Charles! I- I could lose you both, don't do this, or you will be trapped in the circle forever!”
But Charles didn't even look at her, lost in his own grief.
And Crystal found herself in front of the woman with the hook once again.
“Don't you understand? If they can't die, the circle will go on and on forever. No one would die anymore. Let them be. They could feed me”
“With what? Desperation? Grief? You're pathetic” tried the girl, way too exhausted and pissed to feel frightened by the woman.
“After all, Crystal Palace Von-Hovercraft, it's in my nature to be like this. The world needs despair, as much as it needs love, and they're perfect for me”
Crystal decided to avoid the fact that the woman knew her full name, which was practically impossible, and focused on persuading her into freeing her friends.
“This is so stupid. You know that? There's plenty of people who die for love every day. Why do you need 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? Can't you have someone else?”
“They're special. One of my brothers told me. His name is Destiny, you should know him, after all, you're a psychic. You should know, we're all intertwined… by fate”
“Stop talking nonsense, you fucking bitch!”
“Oh you don't believe me? 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦”
And after she disappeared, Edwin made his way inside the theatre, making Charles draw his attention away from his own thoughts.
"Rudolph?" he whispered, letting the weapon fall from his hands, completely stunned by the vision of his lover.
Edwin went up on the stage and instantly reached for Charles, wrapping his arms around him, holding him like he was a delicate thing.
"Catherine-"
“How- how could you ever forgive me, Rudolph? Why would you? I killed you!” Charles sobbed, bursting into tears.
“Because you don't deserve damnation. We both don't”
“But how can you forgive me?!”
“It's alright, Catherine, I'm here. I do forgive you”
With his thumb, Edwin brushed the tears away from Charles' face. Then he kissed him, closing his eyes, saving Charles from his own sorrow.
And that, that was salvation, that was forgiveness.
A bright light pervaded the two of them and a portal opened upon their heads.
And suddenly Rudolph and Catherine were together again, in Paradise.
And on that stage there were two sixteen year old boys, holding each other, kissing in the dim light of the theater, hungry for love.
Crystal, who saw the scene, was completely astonished, so much she just looked at the two ghosts in front of her, unable to talk.
When they eventually broke apart, it took several seconds of looking into each other’s eyes before realization hit the two of them like a stone upon their heads.
At first, Charles felt calm, so calm he could go back to the kiss at any moment. It just felt so natural to him, like breathing, that he didn't quite remember it was something he should've not been doing, something forbidden for the two of them.
And so Charles, caught by fear, suddenly ran away to the nearest mirror, leaving Edwin standing alone on the stage, with a pained expression painted on his face.
“Edwin, I'm so sorry” Crystal tried to say, getting up on the stage. She gave the Edwardian ghost a small pat on his shoulder to encourage him, but he retracted the touch.
“I suppose we get back to the cabin. We need to destroy the vinyl, now that the two souls trapped in there have finally moved on” he said, stranding his waistcoat and shirt, trying to look casual about Charles' reaction.
“Ok, let's go then” Crystal carefully answered, guiding him to the corridor of the cruise.
When Crystal finally was able to give a look at the disc, she saw a spell in ancient aramaic that the woman had written. Based on Edwin's translation, it said: “What is recorded here is destined to be repeated on and on, until the two souls who dance this melody will love each other again”.
They burned the vinyl and threw its remains into the sea.
Then Edwin and Crystal silently walked side by side all the way to Crystal's cabin, even if the last thing she wanted was to stay in that damn ship for the rest of the week.
“You know he's just very scared, right? Don't need to blame yourself. It's not your fault” she turned around to him, unable to let him get back to the office like that, after what happened.
“I know, thank you Crystal. Goodnight” he liquidated her with a small smile.
Crystal gave up, even if reluctant, and entered the cabin. She knew Edwin would've never opened himself to her with the same ease he had done with Niko or Charles, so she couldn't expect much. She just hoped that those two would have the guts to not avoid each other and talk.
___
As soon as Crystal came back to her room, Edwin used the reflection of the glass door of the bar near the cabins as a mirror to hop inside the office, where he found Charles, curled up on the couch, alone in the dark.
“Charles, are you quite alright?”
Charles bitterly laughed. “What kind of question is this, mate?” he laughed again, looking at him with pain in his eyes.
“Do I look alright?! Huh?”
“Charles, there's no need to get so angry. Nothing happened”
“No! It's not true, stop lying!” he said, with his voice muffled by own arms, wrapped around his knees.
For a moment, Edwin almost swore he heard Catherine's voice, still so extremely vivid in his head.
“The two ghosts chose us, because we reminded them of them. Catherine, she took me, because I too, can't seem to be able to suppress my feelings. I let myself be run by my own emotions, and when the consequences hit, it's always too late” he sobbed.
“Charles, it's over, they found peace. They're not going to give us any trouble anymore”
“Edwin, don't you understand? That is not the point!” Charles suddenly got up from his seat and rushed in front of Edwin, making him able to see his cheeks strided by tears.
“I thought I lost you. I wanted to… After I shot you, it wasn't Catherine. I wanted to die so bad, Edwin. I can't- I couldn't bear it if you-”
“Charles, I'm not going anywhere without you” interrupted the Edwardian ghost, feeling like his friend was closer to another crisis.
“Really?” was all Charles could say, his eyes wide and full of love.
“Yes”
Charles smiled at him, and gave him a small kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you, for loving me” said the ghost a few inches from his face, and pulled him in a tight hug.
“I'll figure it out, Edwin, I promise. We have forever” he whispered into his ear, burying his face into the boy's neck.
And even if it was not what Edwin had hoped for, he knew there was time, for the two of them, to discover what the rest meant.