TW: suicide and sh

CHAPTER EIGHT:

"can i tell you a secret"

(SUICIDE TW)

"oh my god!" esme screamed when she entered violets room, harry was holding violet in his arms. she had hung herself. "no! no! no!" she shouted walking over to harry. "vi.." esme said a tear falling down her cheek as she seen her best friend lying in harry's arms, gone forever. "we need to tell viv and ben.." esme said with a sob.

"no!" harry shouted quietly as he wiped a tear off of his face. "what do you mean no?" she asked confused. "can i tell you a secret?" harry asked with a sniffle. "no. we need to call the ambulance." she said standing up. "you can't do that." harry stated firmly. "what? we have to." she said sniffling trying not to breakdown.

"she'll be fine. she just won't be able to leave this house. okay. but we just, we can't tell her she's dead. she won't know." he said quietly. "she's going to be like tate, and me." harry said making esmes eyes widen. "so she's like dead, but not?" esme asked. "exactly. now tate and i will hide her body somewhere she won't find it. go be normal she'll probably come to your room anyways." harry said shooing esme.

her eyebrows furrowed, why wasn't she sobbing? her cousin is dead.

she went back into her room and changed into real clothes considering she was in bed clothes. she threw on a pair of low rise green cargo pants, a black long sleeve, and a red oversized jacket on, she also had on a pair of red converse.

there was a knock on her door. "come in." she said while sitting on her bed. and when she looked up she seen violet. she couldn't speak. "i need to use the bathroom." she said standing up and brushing past violet. violet looked back at her cousin confused.

(SH TW)

once she got into the bathroom, she rummaged through the mirror and pulled her blade out. connecting it with her skin "stop it!" tates appeared, he looked down at her cut. "let me see that." tate grabbed her arm lightly putting his lips on her fresh cut her blood going in his mouth.

"gross." esme said pulling her arm away, "you're right. it is— you mutilating yourself." tate said trying to prove a point. "you do it." esme replied with a slight attitude. "not anymore. promise me you'll never cut yourself again." tate said softly.

esme looked down at her wrist for a second before looking up at tate. "i promise." she stated quietly looking tate directly in his eyes.

the two went to her room, "they planned some brutal family dinner for tonight. like it's going to make me or violet feel better." she said with anger flying off her tongue. tate was spacing out, "do you believe in ghosts?" he asked catching esmes attention.

"why are you asking me?" she asked back tensing up slightly, "i don't know. it can't all be shit, right?" he asked furrowing his eyebrows curious. esme raised her eyebrows slightly, "there's gotta be someplace better, somewhere. for people like you, at least." tate stated nodding his head towards her slightly.

"not you?" esme asked softly, tate looked away from her, "ever since you got here, this is the better place." he replied before looking esme in the eyes. she just stared at him with an unreadable expression.

🪞

the harmon family was sitting at the dinner table quietly.

esme didn't have an appetite as she seen her dead cousin that's completely clueless sitting beside her not eating herself. "you guys aren't eating anything." vivien said breaking the silence. "i'm not hungry. pretty stuffed on bullshit." violet spoke up blandly.

esme didn't even snicker like she normally would. it was so trippy. was she dead? "your mother and i know that you're upset. maybe there's some things you want to talk about." ben stated trying to understand his daughters feelings. "like who i'm gonna live with after you get divorced? do i go with mom and esme goes to you? is there a third option? 'cause both of you kind of make me want to kill myself. is that what you guys are afraid of? why else would you want to try to actually deal with the problem?" violet ranted getting slightly annoyed with her parents.

esme looked up from the table to her cousin, she didn't know how long she'd be able to keep this huge secret from her. she told violet everything. "you never leave your room. you barely eat. both of you." ben said looking at both girls. esme sighed before leaning back in her seat, her eyes now on her fidgeting hands that were laying on her lap. "these are textbook signs of depression. we're very concerned, vi." ben said causing her to chuckle, before jumping up from her seat.

"look, you guys drag me all the way out here to save our family. then you decide to break up. you buy a house that i actually like. then you're telling me you're selling it, without even asking me or ess what we want. so, fine. i'm depressed. and hell maybe esme is too. but i'm not gonna off myself. i can't speak for her though. so you can go back to your policy of benign neglect." she said before going back to her room.

both vivien and ben looked at esme as she sat there not speaking, no expression, while picking at her nails.

"are you depressed?" ben asked. "why do you care?" she asked quietly. "are you depressed?" he repeated. esme looked up at him when her stomach started to bubble with anger.

"i don't want to talk right now." she said standing up from the table walking away not even looking back at the two. vivien sighed feeling like she had just failed both girls.

(SH MENTION TW)

esme flopped on her bed, she so badly just wanted to put the flame of her lighter to her skin. but she knew that tate could just pop up. so she didn't.

🪞

the next day esme had been getting dressed in, a cream knitted sweater, a pair of blue bell bottom jeans with tiny holes in the knees, and a pair of black converse. while throwing on some jewelry she heard a object rolling outside of her room.

she furrowed her eyebrows, she walked out of her room when she heard it again above her. she looked up and a few feet away was the attic door. she walked up to it pulling the string down, so did the ladder.

once esme reach the top, she looked around the attic, and pulled the string to the light turning it on, "hello?" she called out, a little red ball come rolling across the floor. she stopped it with her shoe. picking it up she looked down at it. "play!" someone shouted coming out of the dark, esme screamed dropping the ball as she backed up she hit something hard making her scream again.

when she turned around she seen tates face. "you're scaring her." tate spoke up as she held onto him. "go away!" he shouted as he wrapped his arms around esme. "ess, it's okay." he said quietly as her fingers gripped onto his shirt. "calm down, okay?" tate said, esme pulled away breathing heavily.

she turned around and the person was gone. esme turned back to tate, "i fell like i'm totally losing it." she said with a sob. "they're from the past. the ghosts of the people who've died here. they're appearing to you now because you're evolved. don't be scared. all you have to do is tell them to go away, and they will." tate said with a soft and quiet voice.

esme looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, "you really know your way around this house." she replied quietly. "i guess i do. i've been exploring after my sessions. don't tell your uncle." he said with a smirk.

after a few tate was rummaging through a dresser while esme stayed standing looking around. "look at all this great shit i found." tate said with a smile catching esmes attention.

he was holding a jar of something in his hands, and then pulled out a gay magazine. "and check this out." tate said in a campy voice. "i think gay porn is hot." esme said with a quiet laugh, "totally." tate said handing it over to her.

he pulled out a antique box, esme opened it up to see a lot of silverware. "what's in the other box?" she asked looking over at the small box in tates hands.

tate handed it over to esme, she opened it up to reveal pictures.

esme was in her room when she was looking at the pictures, she picked up one that had a baby in a high chair. the next one was of the house. then the next was of a women holding the baby on her side, and a man sitting in a chair beside her. she heard something behind her, and when she turned around there was a women in a white dress.

"look what he did to me." the women spoke up, esme closed her eyes. "go away!" she stated firmly and when she opened her eyes the woman was gone. esme looked around.

🪞

that night esme was sitting on her bed looking at the pictures again when someone knocked on her door. "can i come in?" vivien asked peeking her head in slightly.

esme just looked back at the picture. "so it looks like, uh, this guys pretty serious about buying this house. i mean, we won't know officially until actually in escrow, but, i wanted talk to you and vi about it. which i've already talked to vi she's pretty upset." vivien said sitting down at the end of esmes bed.

esme sat up fully. "well, then what?" esme asked, "then i think, vi and i will go stay with her aunt jo, and i would love you to come too, but um, bens the one that has custody of you. and hopefully when we find a place, i can convince the court to give me custody of you." vivien explained.

"well where are ben and i going?" esme asked with furrowed eyebrows. "well, ben still has patients and— i don't really know, sweetheart. we haven't figured it all out yet." vivien said honestly, esme looked down, she didn't know where her life was going but it didn't feel like it was going on a good train ride. "this wasn't the way it was supposed to go, honey. your uncle and i really loved each other." she explained.

"how'd you know you loved him when you first met?" esme asked curiously, vivien shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "well, he was— he was handsome and kind. but i don't know. the thing is, when you fall in love, it's kind of like you go crazy, and before you know it, the whole world looks different, and then you'll do anything for the other person. why do you ask?" vivien explained in a quiet voice, esme looked at her with a soft expression, "no reason." she said with a slight smile. "look at this." she said holding out the picture of the house when it was first made.

"wow. that's the house." vivien exclaimed looking at the picture, "yeah. when it was first built." esme replied, "where'd you find all this stuff?" vivien asked reaching for the other pictures, "in the attic. that's the original owners. nora and charles montgomery." esme said as vivien looked deeply at the picture.

OUTFITS:

first outfit:

second outfit:

ps, i had to make up a death for violet so just roll with it pls 😭