ruins, the haunting of hill house.

chapter two

CHAPTER TWO
crashing down around us

The constant and somewhat urgent knocking woke her from a confused daze before she cautiously walked to answer the door. Almost tripping over on the staircase, she used the wall of her hallway to guide her through the darkness.

Luke stood there with one arm leaning against the door and the other carelessly knocking on the wood. The night breeze combed his hair into a messier style and had untucked his shirt from his jeans as if making him deliberately appear untidy.

Charlotte opened the door suddenly to watch him fall inside, finding herself unsurprised while he stumbled to stand straight and still. "If you're supposed to be in rehab you should go back and start again, Luke"

"Sorry to drop in without calling," Luke rubbed the back of his neck, voice hoarse from not talking in a while just as hers was. "I don't have a phone" he laughed, emptying his pockets to prove himself.

There wasn't any rush to get the man inside. Charlotte thought for a moment feeling the guilt in the pit of her stomach return as she glanced into his dark yet bloodshot eyes. He was stoned, her brother, and had nowhere else to go. She stepped to the side to let him inside. "Meg would seriously hurt you if she knew you were staying over"

"Well, Meg doesn't like me" He chuckled, remembering the famous glare he received from his sister's friend. Apparently, he was a bad influence. Removing his jacket by shrugging it off his shoulders, he steadied himself using the nearest wall and the part of him that was the most sober. "I'll take the guest room" He nodded.

"No, you're not upstairs. I'm redecorating and your stoner ass can't help" Charlotte replied, wiping her hands on the grey sweatpants that clung to her hips nervously.

Luke chuckled at the comment as he placed his jacket over the back of the grey couch resting against the window. "The couch it is" He cheered as he hit the pillows decorating the furniture in the room and threw them all to one end as she walked off into the kitchen in an attempt to get a good night's sleep. It had been a while since he slept.

When she returned with a pizza box and glass of water he quickly thanked her. "Don't ruin my kitchen searching for food, there's enough here to last you until breakfast. And don't terrorise the cat" Charlotte told him noticing the feline sitting by the staircase.

"Night Charley" He smiled, catching the blanket she threw at him and watching her note everything was in place so she could check the room in the morning. It was risky letting an addict into a house even though it was Luke. They stole for the next hit and he hadn't stolen from her yet. All it took was for him to ask and she tried to help out by handing him a bill and breakfast before he left.

"Night Luke," Charlotte flicked the switch to cover the room in darkness, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders at the sound of Luke getting comfy and his breathing already deep and heavy. He'd be out any moment. "Don't touch my stuff." She added before walking up the staircase to fall into her own bed.

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With only hours of sleep from the interruption of Luke arriving on her doorstep, Charlotte found herself waking up to the sound of movement upstairs in one of the rooms and the cat nudging her arm in an attempt to get her up.

The noise of Luke Crain finding his way around her house was so familiar and distinctive that she knew it was him rather than someone breaking in to rob her in the night. "Luke, for god's sake, go back downstairs !" Charlotte groaned, kicking the sheets off her body and heading out of her bedroom.

With the two other bedroom doors shut as they had been before, Charlotte walked across the hall to the room opposite her own. "I don't want to watch you like you're a kid, okay ? This is off limits"

She stormed into the room without realising it was the only place in the house she hadn't gone and interrupted. The door had kept it hidden and out of her mind. It still didn't feel real. She couldn't preserve his space for the realisation to hit her now Luke was stumbling around in his haze.

"I like this room. Lot of photos. Was it gonna be something ?" Luke asked curiously, fingers tracing the map on the back wall and wondering eyes studying the photographs around the room. The way he clumsily moved around made her apprehensive, twisting one of her necklaces with her fingertips as she tried to coax him carefully out of the room.

Luke turned to point to a picture of Charlotte and a man celebrating her birthday but his arm caught the corner of a shelf fixed onto one of the pale green walls and something fell from its place. His unsteady hands tried to catch whatever it was before it fell but it fell nevertheless.

It was the diving trophy from the summer competition. He had won the high dive and been so happy with his placement that he encouraged her to jump with him. "I don't normally not like you, Luke, but today I really don't like you" She exhaled shakily.

"I don't get it" He frowned while watching his sister hold her palm to her head.

"You don't get it because you're high" Charlotte hit his arm harder than either of them expected her to. He was pushed out of the room with the trophy taken from his grip and carefully put back on the shelf. "It's the last time I'm dealing with your shit. Nobody else does it so why should I ?"

As if he felt the pain caught up inside of her small body, Luke stood there and allowed her to say anything she could to him. Occasionally glancing as she ranted about responsibility with a sharp tongue, he still stood and nodded. "Okay" He said.

Charlotte sighed to rub her temples and take a breath. It wasn't like her to get so hotheaded over something so minute, especially at the twins. The reason was clear, though she couldn't see it yet. "I've had the shittiest day I've had in a really long time and it's a lot" She sobbed, trying to justify her words.

Gentle.

"You fucking touched his shit. That's not okay" She cried, fingertips wavering as she wiped the never ending stream of tears dripping from her chin. Not even she had allowed herself to go into the room because that was his room full of his shit and his memories.

"Please don't cry, Charl" Luke began, reaching out to pull her closer despite her taking a step backwards. The last thing she wanted was to be reminded he was stoned. Despite his caring nature constantly making him the best brother in her little world, he was still an addict. "Don't cry. I'm level, it's fine" he smiled.

She fell into his embrace crying, breathing erratic and unstable, trying to find comfort in a familiar pair of protective arms. Luke understood through the midst of his drug-fuelled fog that his sister was hurting, something he wouldn't be able to find a reason for until he was sober the next day. Until then, he only stood there through the night feeling the world crash around them.