Don't Blame Me - Specs (Insidious)

Chapter 3

Delia lights a cigarette once she is outside of the bar. It doesn't take long at all for Specs to emerge from his van to meet her right on time. "Hi, Delia," he greets her shyly.

Delia takes a puff of her cigarette before responding. "Hey, Specs. You want one?" She gestures her cigarette to him.

"I'm good, thanks," Specs responds. He had never smoked in his life, due to him being very superstitious about his health. He believed that if he every smoked, he'd most definitely get lung disease and die only halfway through his life.

"I hope it doesn't throw you off me," Delia the says, chucking the cigarette in the bin. "I swear I have been trying to quit, but is so fucking addicting. I wish I never gave into Jonah's peer-pressure."

Specs smiles sympathetically. "That's okay, I get it. Not gonna lie, I was pressured into coming here tonight by Tucker, but now I'm glad I did."

"That's sweet," Delia replies as the two begin walking down the quiet, lit up street. "So you were saying that Tucker does all this with you. How'd you even get into it?"

Specs chuckles, not entirely sure himself. Everything to do with joining Elise happened so fast. "I don't know...Tucker and I became friends around ten years ago, in high school. We were kind of outcasts, mainly because everyone felt they had to graduate to become successful and make lots of money, even if they were in a job they hated. We were the opposite. We didn't care about the money, just using our skills to our advantage and having fun. I can draw and he's good with technology so we wanted to have a profession in those areas. Then the summer before college, an elderly man in our town claimed there was an evil spirit in his house, and asked us to check it out for some reason."

"Probably because you were the only creative and actually talented people around," Delia compliments, causing Specs to chuckle. "Yeah, maybe...or he just thought we were as crazy as he was. We never actually found anything but from that day on, we both gained a real interest in paranormal activity and how it could affect people. After researching lots of real life paranormal cases, we travelled around helping people who were vulnerable to that and in the end we caught many ghosts on camera and had seen some with our own eyes. Soon after, we met Elise on a case and the rest is history."

"Oh my God," Delia says in an impressed tone. "That is the coolest fucking thing I've ever heard."

"Mightn't be as cool as your story. What do you like to do outside of work?" Specs asks. Delia scowls sarcastically. "Oh God, definitely not. I used to dance ballet as a kid but had to quit after Dad died and Mom couldn't afford to pay for my classes anymore. Even if she could afford them, she believed I didn't deserve them. She always told me that I would amount to nothing." She hangs her head low unintentionally. "Guess she was kind of right."

Specs stops walking after hearing that. He looks at her with the utmost sympathy. "That's an awful thing for her to say, especially as your mother. To be honest if I were you, I wouldn't believe a word she says. Also, I'm sorry about your dad."

Delia forms a smile. "That's okay. It was eight years ago and I'm not in contact with Mom anymore so...everything's fine." She sighs a little after and Specs notices her distress. "Is it though?"

Delia nods. "Yeah, I promise." It takes a minute for Specs to respond. "Okay, good. It's just, I lost my mom when I was nine, so I can relate to some extent." Delia nods again a little more sadly. Losing her father as a teenager was bad enough. She couldn't imagine losing him as a young child.

"Losing a parent sucks, right?"
"Tell me about it."

The two continue to walk and chat for a few minutes longer, until Specs' phone goes off in his pocket. It is a text from Tucker reading; Are u still here i see the van outside I feel sick come get me

Specs sighs after reading the badly punctuated text, indicating that Tucker is most definitely drunk. "I better go get Tucker before he does something he'll regret later."

Delia nods understandably. "Oh yeah, of course." She does not want this time to be the last time she sees him though. "Oh uh, before you go, can I get your number? We should definitely do this again, you know?"

Specs' heart skips a beat at that request. "Uh yeah, I'd love that. Here you go." After exchanging numbers, another text goes off from Tucker. Specs rolls his eyes. "God he's impatient. Anyway, I'll text you."

"Sure," Delia responds. "Can't wait. Goodnight, Specs."

Specs turns back to look at her one last time before heading off. "Night, Delia. Lovely to meet you."

As the two part ways, they both feel the exact same way. They want to keep getting to know each other which will develop their friendship more. They also find each other's physical appearances quiet striking.

Another factor Delia got from Specs is the realisation that spirits are real. With a bit of research, she might just be able to connect to her father, no matter the consequence...