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9/29/17 - Dream character. Cadence Mullo "Mull" Ashcraft has never been known as a happy man. He generally appears as if he's being eaten alive by stress, yet doesn't seem to be jumpy or emotional. He just silently bears it. Known to see things that spook him, especially in the middle of the night. Although a strange character, he was friendly enough. He'd speak to people and come into town to run errands like everybody else.
When Mull's girlfriend for two years, Danica, was murdered, the mood towards him was shifted. Of course, he was grieving during the investigation, but suspicions towards him earned him some harsh treatment. He lived on the far edge of town where the wasn't much besides closed stores and empty sidewalks. They could find no evidence of a break-in, so Mull became the prime suspect for the crime. After some time of determined questioning, they could not find evidence to accuse him. Danica's death was declared a mystery. Still, the majority of the town had labeled their killer. Who else could it be other than the weird, twitchy figure living off in the building graveyard alone?
With no true way to defend himself, Mull couldn't bear the shift in the air. His silence towards the matter was taken as guilt. People shied away when he came near or greeted him with vicious scowls. Allowing his emotion to make the decisions for him, he gathered up some of his belongings and left his home, which was not to be sold yet if at all considering recent events. Outcast, he ventured deeper into the skeleton of the city until the sidewalks began to fall away and streetlights become scarce. A ways behind the maze of brick and concrete, down a light trail, there was an old, two-story house that was all but condemned. It was in terrible shape, but in a way, it matched him. So, he took up residence there. He'd send bills to his old home where they could be collected and had groceries delivered there so he could pick them up once everyone had left. No one really addressed this out of choice. The town was small. They didn't want him in it anymore anyways.
That was simply the way it was for years. A police officer who used to be Mull's friend, but was distanced by the legal situation, Officer Manning, would occasionally check in on him to make sure he was still there and not doing anything too terrible. It wasn't fantastic, but it was okay. After a while, the business he was ordering items from had essentially assigned the newest employee to doing his since it was out of the way. This delivery girl, named Ashley, had moved into the area a couple of years ago. She'd missed the big murder incident by a long shot, but was very curious about the whole thing. In an attempt to get a glimpse of the person everyone had turned into a villain, she was pretty protective of her assigned route. Whenever she could, she'd hang around the abandoned home, waiting and trying to spot any signs of life. It never seemed to work out for her. Rather than giving up, she decided that she'd had her fill. On the perfect night, when his delivery was the last one of her shift, she made it a point to camp out there until the murder man showed up.
Needless to say, Mull was quite spooked when he crept over early in the morning to find someone nodding off in his old, overgrown lawn. He considered himself an exile at this point, so showing his face anywhere else besides greeting the looming disappointment of the police officer was unthinkable. Ashley, though, was ecstatic (after waking up a little). She wanted to get to know him, to get to the bottom of the story. Mull expressed that such was a naive idea. Her response was so be it. If he turned on her, she was pretty sure she could beat him up. His unimposing figure in itself was almost enough to convince her completely of his innocence, meaning the killer was elsewhere. There was a mystery here and she wanted the answer to it.
From that point forward, Mull had difficulty dodging her. Not being the stubborn type, he quickly gave in to her cheery attitude and wearily answered whatever questions she thew at him. Her behavior showed no signs of changing, so he implied that, if she must speak to him, he'd rather it was done behind the safety of a set of walls. Ashley took this as an invitation into his new house more than he had expected. Again, he didn't exactly fight it. Although he wouldn't admit to it directly, he was still a very lonely and sad man. Having someone else in the house brought a bit of life back into it and made each day less of a chore to exist in.
More years made their way by. Ashley became determined to befriend and cheer up Mull over time. The ladder was easier said then done. Although it didn't exactly show, she managed at least a small bit as she slowly took Danica's place. Mull was more than hesitant to call it official that he had a new girlfriend considering all he'd gone through, but Ashley proved patient until his urge to balk slipped away. The whole thing was sort of a secret, as she clearly couldn't go announcing her relationship with the town villain to everyone and it annoyed Mull that he couldn't really be chivalrous this way, but they learned to live with it.
As they neared the two year mark of their relationship, something started to feel off about the house. They felt watched. They could have sworn that certain things around the house were changing position when they left the room. The air was stiff and stressful. Mull tried his best not to, but couldn't help but draw comparisons from his last few days with Danica. He became more anxious than usual and wanted desperately to leave the place. Ashley discouraged such behavior, though. She didn't want him to have to be always on the run, assuring him that it was all just a coincidence. He hushed up on the topic, but it was still present in his mind. To try and ease his nerves, Officer Manning was contacted just in case and asked to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. It was impossible to tell if any value of their friendship remained or if the man would actually uphold his agreement to do such. They could only go on blind faith. The following days were a contest of will, fighting to say calm and reasonable.
Late one night, the uncomfortable atmosphere reached its peak. The sun had set a couple hours ago and Ashley was getting settled in after coming home from work. Mull became alert and could not calm back down for the life of him. Someone was in the house, he was sure of it. They were. As his mind was known to play tricks on him, especially in the dark, Ashley was in progress of trying to wind him back down. This was all fine and good until the point when the hollow sound of shoes on the wooden stairs echoed through the suddenly deathly quiet household. The lights seemed to grow dim as they stood like deer in the headlights, staring at the dark hallway they knew the noise to be coming from.
"Ashley Ashcraft..." A haughty voice mused, coming from the man who had now descended the first set of stairs . Grinning, he peered down at them without lowering his head, angling it up instead "Let's not be silly, now" An electric second followed the sentence, the air crackling with tension. Mull felt as if there were eyes drilling into his back. He chanced a look as time seemed to slow. A shadowy figure crouched on a high banister, cat-like eyes trained on them. For a moment, he was dazed in the panic. A glint of light on metal managed to spur him into action as the silhouette raised an arm, weapon in hand. Unable to choke out a warning, he could only shove at Ashley to get her moving. The man overhead watched them burst to life and start to bolt, making the fear-induced decision to separate. A blink later, the cold blade of a knife embedded itself in the floorboards, impaling Ashley's shadow as she made her escape.
Mull realized that he'd likely blacked out for a second there. Chest heaving and heart racing, he lifted his head warily to find himself in the kitchen. His limbs were tangled up, as if he'd fallen to the floor. Despite that, there wasn't a gun to his head or someone standing ominously over him. He tried to suppress the terror making his legs unsteady, ultimately failing while he raised a hand above the counter tops, feeling for something. His fingers found the shape of a mobile phone, which he quickly snapped down to his lap. Frantically, he dialed the three numbers you're supposed to in an emergency, wincing as each button he pressed responded with what sounded like an car alarm-worthy beep. Still, no one seemed to hear as he clutched the phone tightly, listening to it ringing on the other side.
A familiar voice responded after what felt like an eternity, leaving Mull unsure whether he felt his heart sink or flutter. It was Manning, asking what the problem was with a stern authority. The thought briefly crossed Mull's mind that he didn't think 911 calls were supposed to work this way. Didn't you get redirected or something before this or...? Quickly, he elected that it didn't matter. In rushed whispers, he relayed the murderer-in-the-house situation, praying that the officer would take him seriously.
Wip still, augh
