Chapter Text
Lorena was elbows deep in one of those clothing bins at a thrift shop in the new city she just moved to. It was a tradition for her to raid every single thrift shop in the ten-mile area of her home for new goodies and decorations to make the sudden rash change less cold. She was digging through the warm colors of tanks and crop tops pulling out what small orange and yellow gems she could. Her cart was filled with nothing but reds, oranges, and yellows and she had managed to somehow lift a dresser vanity by herself into her cart. Her headphones were lodged in her ears blasting music to keep her focused on the task at hand. Her coily hair was tied tight into a bun so it wouldn't get in front of her face like it usually did.
She only paused as her hand felt something hard lodged at the bottom of the pile. Slowly she pulled out the object from the mess beneath her seeing a Vhs tape in one of those old cardboard covers that were for blank tapes. Back in the '90s and 00's she knew these were for recording things on home camcorders or just recording shows. The edges of the tape were slightly roughed up but from the date scribbled onto the side of it, 84, it should have been in worse condition. Lorena glanced around unsure how the VHS had made its way here. It looked like the thrift store's movie section was way closer to the cash register than the bin she was looking in. She glanced back down reading the label "Sunny Time Crew – 84 Incident''. It was under a dollar, ominous as hell, but probably one of the more interesting things she found during any new move thrift bomb.
She shrugged and placed it carefully in the upper part of her cart next to a few interesting mugs she planned on cleaning later. She then moved to raid the accessory section the store had set up in another corner.
***
Rena slowly unloaded her van taking her time to get everything resettled in the quiet house. Her small hand lingered on the boxes that contained the few things she did allow her to take with her from place to place, but they were placed in a corner of her room. She didn't trust herself to unpack them yet, maybe after a week if she lasted that long in this town. She was glad she could find a decent job somewhere far from where she was last. It gave her distance and time to get over what shoved her out of her last home. Or, maybe she should just say who.
Shaking her head Lorena moved back to her hand-painted van to grab the rest of her things. She moved in the vanity followed by the old tv and a few shelves she was planning on painting flowers or mushrooms on to make the place feel a bit more fun. She set up her sound system and splurged and ordered herself some Chinese food for the night. Anything to avoid going to the grocery store for another day or two.
She pulled her headphones out from her ear as she settled on the floor in front of the TV with the VHS next to her. She took another bite of her dumpling before uncasing the tape, careful not to get anything sticky on it, and shoving it into the VCR that came attached to the tv. She pressed play on the tape and moved to lay back down on the ground. When she looked back up at her tv screen she...
Sͦ̊҉̗̺͍͈t̓͐ͤ͗͏͎͖͚̩̙ã̵͙̼͈͉̐̏r͓̹̔͡ȅ̹̖̻̗͊͑͢d̸̹̝̜̞̝̳ͪ͑ͥ̚ ̹͚͇̣͚ͩͭą͇̜̳͙͛̍̓t̷̖͉̘̖͉̰̐ ̳̰̼̰̂̏̂̅͠t̨̻͈̥͕̲̥̻̑́h̯̖̤̖̗͍̝͓͗͆̾͂e̹̦̿͜ ͓͖͕̭͎̣̻͐̒͘ͅs͓̘̪̗̣̪̬̔̉̈́ç̫̜̖̝̫̹͖̱ͩͯr̡̮͓̯̞̰ͤe̴̬̞͎͕ͩ̑ͦͤe̵͖͔̝̮͖͕̍̾̉n̡͎̻̩͈̥͙͉͙̉̑,̴̲̣̤̠̃̈̓.
Her golden eyes grew even larger and more owlish than they usually looked as a strange tune started to play from the screen.
It's the theme song...probably.
Ḭ͖̹̯̤̮̼ͯ͑̉͜t̢͕̳̖̩̉̏ͪͣ̿͘ͅ'̴̗̩̖͇͔ͭ͑s̡̹͙̫̤͍͚̽̆̑ ̷̬̭͚̃ͥ͌̇b͚͚̗̗͓̠̱͛e̺̪̭̺̍̑̇̓͠e̲̖̣̱̜̿͢ñ͉̞̩̝͔̟̮͚ͭ͠ ̻̩̱̰͔͖̗ͪ͢s̨̳̘͙͚͑̓̾o͈̩̫͇̥͊̕ ͔͍̬̋ͦ̕ľ̛͈̭͉̪̙̠̂͂o̸͉͙͖̾͋̈͒n̴̜̗͕̘̗͚͑ģ̯̜̱͍̩̖͓̐ͫ ̴̯̩͖ͪ͊ͨͮś̪̣͍̯͎̻ͧ̚͡i̬͎̤̅̒̽̃͠ͅń̫̜͡c̸̳̤̟̭̳͐̔ẻ̙͖̭̅̎͛͘ͅ ̠̹̼̩̖͚͙ͩ̅̆͠I̧̭̤̺̹̗͕̺̟͚̬̣̩̿ͬ̓͌̃̋͐͜'͇̮̦̿v͚̖͓̰͚̎̈́́̚ͅe̶͈̞ͧͬͪ ̢̹̖̩̳̎̏t͚̩̊̊͐́͠á̛̳͙͕̯̦ͅľ̩̭͇̚͢k̖̟̫͚͚͉̓͋̔͘e̜̩̊ͩ͞d̶̲̻̰̻̙͉̠͑ͥ̿͋ ̴͙̟̍t̤̬͕̐͛ͣo̝̰̮̘͉̟͍͇̽ͤ͐ͩ̕ ̴͙̙̣̩̩̘̬͒̽a̺͓ͭ̕n̞͚͖ͤ̆̐̀̕y̶͖̮̝̞͈̙͒o̸̺̰̪̥̥̤̗̦ͨ̄n̸͕͍͙̘̦̬̝ͨͬ̃̿e͖͉̭̯͚̹͐ͬ͝
The song faded away, everything suddenly felt like it was gone. She was nowhere, there was nothing but black.
T̴̞͖̯͔̦͓̲̈̊ẖ̶̙̯͖̄a̸͓͓͂ͬ̌ͫn̛͕̱̯ͩk̥̹͐͒̂͜ ̟͓̥̮̊̈́͢y̔҉̟͔͙̟̣͓͈̮o̱̩̦͎͛̌͞u͕̠ͤ̕
It's...it's so empty.
W̖̝͉͇̦͙̺̍̄̏͌͟h̥̘̜͔̥ͬ̓͠a̫̞̩̘͕̭̙̟͊t̻̖̘̗̻̺͎̥̪̤̠͍̪̓̍͐ͫ͊ͮ̕͢'͎̟̻̂͆ͭ͝s̺̪̳̭̻̩͐͘ ̡̩̫ͣͯͮ̈ỵ͍̖̘̦͉ͬͭ͜o͚̮ͭͧ̍̚͘u͕̫̬̖̽ͫ͐͠r̶͚͈̠̠̝͇̹͊̀ ̢̩͙̺̂n̷̘̬̦̼͇̝̤̋̉ͪͭͅa͑͏̪̺m̌̀ͦ҉̺̱̯̖e̮͍͔ͧͯ͠?͍͖͉̺̐
Lorena
Lorena? It's nice to meet you. We're going to be good friends.
Slowly Lorena felt herself come back, the tv was off, and the cardboard cover and tape were no longer there. She gripped the chopsticks in her hand tight. Did she just imagine that? She touched her food standing up to put it away, surprised at how cold it felt. How long had she blacked out?
Gathering her things in a nice wobbly stack she made her way over to the fridge slowly opening the door. Just as she was about to shove the food on a random shelf the top container toppled over any towards the floor. She focused on shoving the containers in resigning herself to cleaning up whatever mess it made.
"Oops that was a close one," a cheerful voice from behind her said as the container was offered back to her.
"Thanks," she said, taking it and placing it in the fridge absentmindedly, closing the door and straightening herself out. It took her a few seconds before she slowly turned to see who the hell was behind her blinking as she saw a technicolor man standing behind her.
"What the fuck," she said jumping and pressing herself against the fridge.
"Whoops didn't mean to scare you!" The man said smiling wide at her holding up his hands to show her he meant no harm.
"What the hell…" she pressed herself against the counter inching slowly to the cast iron skillet she left on the counter to dry earlier that day. Her hand fumbled behind her before she gripped and held it towards him threateningly. "Back up dude! I don't know how the hell you got in here but it's time you get out before I change the locks!!"
"No, no Lorena it's okay it's just me," the man said stepping forward staying calm. "I'm
Sunny Day Jack, you just freed me from that VHS tape." Lorena's face scrunched up at that giving him a long hard stare as if saying that didn’t explain nearly enough. "Look," he said, fumbling for a minute. "I know this must be scary and really hard to believe but I promise I'm not here to hurt you. Just put the pan down and I can do my best to explain alright?"
Lorena lowered her arm and the pan, but kept it tight in her grip, "That's the best you're going to get." She promised him.
"Then that's perfect, whatever helps you feel safe," "Jack," told her, nodding. "I promise I'm just here to help you." Lorena raise a brow at that before hopping up on the counter so she could be eye to eye with him. On a good day she could put herself in some platforms and hold her on but unfortunately most days she was only 5 foot 2 (1.75 meters).
"You're from that show? The Sunny Time Friends?"
"Yes! You have a great memory," Jack complimented as if nothing was strange at all. Lorena only blinked at that, he was acting like Steve from blue's clues. Encouraging, constant smiles, really focused eye contact.
"Thanks," Lorena muttered, "How...how did you get here though? I...I blacked out after putting that thing in."
"I'm honestly not sure myself, " he admitted, "But I'm super happy to meet you." He flashed her another warm smile. "I'm sure I must be here to help you, or maybe just keep you company. Does anyone else live here with you?"
Lorena hesitated to respond, still feeling a little uncomfortable. He seemed nice and all, but the situation was really odd. Well, that was outside of the blue hair and red face paint. Slowly she pulled out her phone from her pocket with her free hand. "I...I do, kinda um... I'm always by myself situation."
"Oh," Jack took some time to process that while you typed into a search bar. Quickly you scanned the page stopping as you saw the headline. "Sunny Day Friends canceled." Underneath the article was a picture of a man who looked like Jack with normal hair looking over a script.
"Are you a ghost?" Lorena asked, typing in her next round of questions into her phone. She sighed as about 15 articles popped up about being ghosted.
"Hmmm I don't think I am," Jack said looking at himself, "Usually those are see-through and scary." Well, he was at least not one of those things.
"Found one," she said, clicking on the link holding it up so he could see. "Fifteen signs there might be a ghost around you."
"Oh wow, that was quick! You must be a genius Lorena," he said, moving to sit on the counter beside her not paying any mind to how she tensed up.
"I'm not…"
"It's important to take compliments," Jack interjected seriously. "It can hurt a person's feelings and your own if you try to fight them." Lorena stared at him again trying to process how much of this was an act and how much of it was him. If he was a character, wouldn't the actor be the one coming back? Why was he sticking to this schtick? "Here let me ask you these and we'll solve it together." Jack offered to reach for the phone."Shadows in the corners of your eyes?"
Lorena offered it to him leaning back having read most of them already. "No."
"Whispers in your ears?"
"Nope."
"Feeling like you're being watched?"
Lorena looked over at him immediately seeing him snap his attention to her. "Well…I guess yeah."
Jack nodded, "You’re right that should be a given." He noted before glancing back down at the list "Objects missing?"
"There was your VHS, that sort of disappeared," Lorena said glancing back over at the floor where she sat before.
"It's not like you'd need it anyway," Jack said, shrugging.
"True I guess," Lorena said leaning back, relaxing her grip on the pan.
"Feeling drained?"
"Yeah but I just moved all my furniture and stuff in," Lorena explained looking at him over again trying to read his body language.
"Electronic devices malfunctioning is the next one but your phone seems to be working fine," Jack said answering that one himself.
"Yeah but…well I can't really remember if anything actually went wrong with the TV," Lorena admitted scratching her head.
"Drop-in temperature?"
"The apartment feels the same."
"Pets acting weird?"
"Don't have any of those."
"Objects moving on their own?"
"Well…I still don't know what happened to the tapes," Lorena pointed out.
"Weird smells?"
Lorena scrunched her face as she sniffed around, "Nope."
"Feeling sensations of touch?"
"Not really."
"Goosebumps?"
She glanced down at her skin, "Clear of that surprisingly."
"Hearing your name being called out?"
"Not really, but you did say it earlier," Lorena pointed out trying to remember if she actually had mentioned it.
"Someone else's reflection staring back at you?"
Lorena turned to look at the faucet had to see her big nose staring back at her. "Nope."
"Orbs in pictures?"
Lorena blinked at that, holding her hand out for her phone, "Let's find out." Jack blinked at her hesitating before offering her the phone. She quickly snapped a picture of him and blinked as the shot came back empty. She held it up for him to see. "No orbs…but it doesn't look like you're there, that's not a good sign." She admitted.
"Well…I don't want to scare you but you're the first person that's been able to see me in. A very very long time." Jack told her, Lorena's eyes widened hearing the sadness in his voice.
"Oh," Lorena felt her defenses fall almost immediately after that. Her mind was racing as she remembered her childhood, slipping I'm the cracks, despite however many times she asked for help no one ever took her seriously. Her hands gripped tight on her jeans before subconsciously running a hand over one of her scars through the fabric. "I'm sorry that must have been terrible."
Jack gave her a small sad smile, "It was, but now I have you, Lorena." He inched closer to her, taking her hand in his, "You saved me from that. I'll make it up to you every day, help out around here, keep you company whatever you want." He promised while staring into her eyes.
"I…" Lorena froze at that feeling, her cheeks heated up, "I…I don't need um." She fumbled over her words feeling flustered, Jack waited patiently for her to continue speaking. She took a breath in, "You can stay here but you don't…you shouldn't have to pay me back for just being able to see or hear you."
Jack smiled at that and let out a soft sigh, "I want to help you. I like helping people. It's something I'm really good at." He stopped her from arguing, pulling them off the counter together. "And everyone deserves help sometimes! It's okay to say yes to a helping hand."
"Okay, okay," Lorena said, resigning herself to the colorful man before her. "As long as this isn't about paying me back."
"Of course Lorena," Jack promised her, giving her an encouraging pat on her shoulder. "I'm so proud of you." He told her with a bright grin, "This is a big step."
"Ah…sure…" Lorena said laughing, "You can call me Rena if you want to."
"Ooh, I love that nickname!" He said nodding, before looking around, "Let's get you unpacked and tomorrow we can work on getting you a sofa." He walked off heading straight for her box of "toys".
"Ah Jack, wait! Not that one!" She shouted running after him trying to stop him in time.