Getting so much information from Koro was exactly what I needed to form a plan, and I decided I had to act fast. I knew Corey would catch on to me sooner or later, and I didn’t want to find out what would happen when she did. My idea wasn’t perfect, but I thought it had a solid chance to work.
​
Eleanora goes back to her reality when she needs to recharge, and when we are there, our job is to fully clean and reorganize the store. Koro mentioned that the owner made a deal with Eleanora to keep her clean and organized (and inhabited, but honestly, I didn’t have any control over that). So, I put two and two together, and it seemed like the best way to trigger a trip to the other side would be to just make a huge mess. This would be rather hard to do, since I have a strong feeling Corey knows this as well, so I had to be careful about it.
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We had a particularly slow day when I came in (on my day off I might add), so this felt like the perfect opportunity to do some… rearranging of the floor. I was working with Daniel and Corey, and they were busy in the back office talking numbers all day, so I took it upon myself to completely remove everything from the floor, pile all the clothes on the couch, and start moving furniture around. When they heard me dragging a heavy table across the floor, they came rushing out.
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“What are you doing, Harper!?” he practically screamed, horrified. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but Daniel is a bit of a neat freak. He does not like anything cluttered, and if there’s a single shirt folded wrong in a stack, he’ll refold them all. He’s a perfectionist, if you will.
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“I’m just taking some initiative!” I said, trying to fake excitement. “I read last night about feng shui, and the layout here is not great-”
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“Harper,” Daniel said, visibly trying not to freak out. “I appreciate your input regarding the layout of the floor, but you cannot just start moving everything around without discussing it with me first! You need to put everything back right now. We can talk about it tomorrow, and maybe I’ll take your ideas into consideration.”
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Corey was smirking behind him, clearly enjoying seeing me getting in trouble for the first time. I tried my best to ignore it, but I felt embarrassment creeping into my cheeks. I generally pride myself on not causing issues at work, and being a problem solver that will fix anything that needs to be taken care of. But I knew this needed to be done, so I powered through the shame building in my stomach.
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“Sorry, Daniel,” I started, before casually glancing at the clock. “Oh, but we close in 5 minutes, and we don’t have any appointments tonight. I can totally stay longer to clean this up, really, I don’t mind, but I think I’ll have to get overtime for that, and I know our budget is a bit limited right now…”
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Daniel checked his watch and cursed under his breath. “No, it’s fine. Just head out now, we’ll deal with this tomorrow.”
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I mumbled a quick apology before grabbing my bags and basically sprinting for the door. I caught Corey’s eye on the way out, and I could tell she was suspicious. I didn’t know if she caught on to my plan, but I couldn’t worry about that now. I got out of there as quickly as possible, and laid awake all night, anxious for the next day. I felt myself silently praying that it would work, while simultaneously hoping it didn’t. I keep finding myself hoping I’ll wake up and this will all be a horrible dream, and I’ll go back to work and everything will be normal. Corey would be gone, or better yet, just an obnoxious human rather than some supernatural being trying to control everyone’s mind, Eleanora will just be a name I’ve never heard before, and the biggest concern I’ll have is if the custom client of the night will get offended at the swatch I pick out for them. It isn’t the most normal normal, but it was a normal that I liked and now find myself missing.
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When I showed up for work the next day, it seemed like my prayers had been answered, and my hopes crushed. Walking up the stairs, the light was flickering. I knew instantly we were going to be taken to Eleanora’s home. Giddy with nervousness, I opened the door to find all of my coworkers waiting for me.
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“Hey guys…” I said, seeing concern in Daniel and Patrick’s eyes. Sam looked more angry than anything else. I couldn’t help but notice that Corey was nowhere to be found, and I silently hoped she was gone for good. “What’s going on? Where’s Corey?”
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“Harper, we wanted to talk to you. I asked her if she would come in a little late today so you would feel more comfortable opening up to us. You’ve been acting strangely the last few days, and we’re getting worried. Is everything okay?” Daniel started. I saw he and Patrick had that fog in their eyes, clearly still under some sort of control from Corey. I felt guilt stabbing into my stomach, and I desperately wished I could tell him everything, but I knew I couldn’t. I stood there, trying to think of anything that could explain my scattered behavior, when Patrick gave me the most perfect out I could ever ask for.
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“You told me your cat has been sick, is this because of that?”
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A little backstory here, my cat is my everything. I rescued her when she was about 6 weeks old. She was found on the side of the road, covered head to tail in fleas, tummy full of worms, and barely moving. I spent 4 hours with her in my kitchen sink, tediously combing out all the fleas, and she didn’t complain once. When I took her to the emergency vet later that night, they warned me that she might not survive, since she was so malnourished and clearly did not get enough nutrients from her mother before she was abandoned, as she was the runt of the litter. But, when I looked into her little tiny blue eyes, I knew I would do anything I could to save her. So I stayed up all night with her at the vet, watching her breathe, and early in the morning, she lifted her head to me and meowed. She has been the light of my life since then, and now she is seven years old, extremely spoiled, and completely healthy. Of course, I couldn’t tell my concerned manager and coworker that. All they know is she is my baby, so I can see why they would assume the worst when I said she was sick. I quickly made a mental note to give her extra treats tonight to counteract what I was about to say.
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“Yes, she hasn’t been doing too great. I’m not sure why, but she’s been staying at the vet for the last few nights. That’s why I haven’t been sleeping well. I’m sorry for acting so weird, but once she is all fixed up, I’ll be back to normal, I swear.”
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Understanding and sympathy flooded Daniel and Patrick’s eyes, and I swear Sam looked impressed.
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“I’m so sorry to hear that, Harper. I completely understand, and it’s alright. Thank you for sharing that with us. It hasn’t helped that you’ve been working so hard, either. Why don’t you take the day off-” Daniel said, but quickly corrected himself. “Tomorrow. You can take tomorrow off. I’ll cover for you. Today… Well, you probably can tell.” He gave me a hug, and Patrick gave me an extra firm pat on the back. I smiled at them, trying not to show my excited nerves, and let Daniel walk me through what would be my section to clean. I caught Sam’s eye on the way to the back and gave him a cheeky wink, earning me an eye roll, but I could tell he didn’t think I could cover my tracks so well.
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As we were walking to the back, I suddenly had a thought. “How does Corey get to this reality from ours?”
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Daniel stopped, and I swear I saw the fog in his eyes clear for a moment, but it quickly returned, and he completely ignored my question.
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“You can organize the swatches back here. When that’s done, you can give the bathroom a quick clean, and by then we should all be done. Is that alright?”
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“Sounds good!” I thought about pushing my question further, but I had bigger things to worry about. I had seen Sam slip past us into the break room, and I wanted to find out where he goes when he disappears.
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When Daniel walked back to the floor, I rushed into the break room, but Sam was already gone. “Where are you?” I whispered, looking up at the exposed air vents, trying to glimpse some movement, but there was nothing. “I’m going to do something you’ll think is stupid, so if you want a chance to stop me, now is the time.”
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I heard some rattling from the wall, and Sam came waltzing in from the office, shutting the door as he entered.
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“What are you going to do?”
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“I’m going to talk to Eleanora.”
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He laughed at me, loud. I felt my cheeks flushing once again. “And how do you think you’re going to do that?”
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“During my quiet time.”
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His face fell, and he got very serious. “Listen to me. Corey will be here, so you will not be doing that. If she catches a hint of what you’re doing, we’re all fucked. Don’t be stupid. Just do your fucking job and move on.” He turned to walk back out, when I saw him think of something, and he turned around, now angry. “Did you cause this? “
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“What?”
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“This. Our trip to this god forsaken realm. Did you do this?”
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I tried to steady my voice before replying. “That’s crazy, I don’t even know how to do that.” He didn’t seem convinced, but it didn’t matter, since Corey’s voice rang out just then.
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“Hello everyone.”
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“Whatever,” he spit, then disappeared into the office just as Corey walked back with coffee in one hand and her phone in the other.
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“Good morning,” she said numbly, not even looking up at me before walking into the office and sitting down, still on her phone. Sam was nowhere to be found, so I decided to move on. I had enough to worry about.
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I did my tasks as fast as possible, hoping time would fly by, but I ended up finishing well before it was time for my five minutes. I sat in the break room, preparing myself for what was to come. My plan seemed simple enough; during my five minutes, I would talk. I would start by trying to talk to Eleanora, then to any spirits, then just to anything that would listen. I’d have to keep it quiet, but it was the only thing I could think of. I also decided, despite everything in my body telling me not to, that I would break the salt circle. I think this is what caused Meredith and Thomas to sound so far away and prevented them from seeing me, so if I wasn’t getting a response, I’d break down the barrier separating us.
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Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it was time. We all met up on the floor (except for Sam of course), and Daniel set up the salt circle. Patrick went first, then Daniel. Sam appeared out of the break room for his five minutes after Daniel, and it was finally my turn. I took a deep breathe before standing up, preparing myself for anything.
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“Actually, Harper, you don’t have to do it this time,” Corey said, catching me off guard.
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“What? What do you mean?”
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“Well, since your incident last time, I believe it’s better if you sit this one out.” She smirked at me, and I realized she knew. She knew my plan, and was risking everything to stop it.
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“That’s against protocol, Corey,” Daniel started. “We’ve never excused someone from this before, and we don’t know what will happen to the barrier-“
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“Stop.” She shot him a look, and he instantly froze, along with Patrick. They both sat down numbly, staring at nothing, and I heard Sam behind me backing away. She turned back to me, her face completely melted and that horrid scowl seemed to pulse out of her skin. She had me, I couldn’t look away.
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“I know what your plan is, girl. You will not do this. I’ve worked too hard to make this business what it is, and you will not take it away from me. You will walk away today, go home, and forget about this. When you come back, you will return to business as usual, and you will drop this childish mission of yours. Do I make myself clear?”
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It felt like she was speaking inside my mind. I was shaking violently, and I nodded quickly. I watched as her face returned to normal, and she plastered the most disgusting, victorious smile on her face.
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“I’m so glad to hear that! Oh, and Sam?” she said, looking past me, “if you try to mention this little situation to your friends here,” she motioned to Patrick and Daniel, who were still out of it, “I will find out, and I promise, you’ll be back at the warehouse in a snap. Got it? Now get out of here, both of you.”
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Freed from Corey’s gaze, I turned to look at Sam, and saw true fear in his eyes. He nodded, before turning and heading for the door. I quickly followed, abandoning my bag and rushing to catch up with him. When he opened the door, we were back in our reality. However, the light was still flickering in the stairwell.
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“She doesn’t know what she just did,” he said quietly, and I could feel the anger boiling in his blood. “This is your fault. I told you to fucking let it go. Now, we’re all fucked.” With that, he walked out.
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I felt tears streaming down my face. I waited a moment before following him, as he clearly didn’t want to be around me. I had to walk home, since I left all my things in the office, but I think I needed the fresh air.
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I have no idea what to do. Eleanora is completely unbalanced now. Our barrier is broken. I don’t know what this means for the shop, or my coworkers, but I hope I have a shop to return to when I’m back.
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KnifeWeildingLesbian t1_j5wvzr6 wrote
:( poor Eleanora