Let the Long Night End (Complete)

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SpartanAltego
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by SpartanAltego » Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:44 am

What the heck, here's another snack thrown your way. Out of order, too, because I think it's more fun that way. Keeps the mystery intact, makes you hunger for those pieces in-between what I'm showing off. So, enjoy a flashback to Oskar's first time dealing with Eli's hibernation cycles.
- - - - - - - - - -

Oskar returned to his new home just a little after 6am, blearily climbing the single flight of stairs that led to his floor and sliding the key into the doorknob. He turned the key, but did not hear the telltale sliding of a latch; he must’ve forgotten to lock up before he left. Stupid, he scolded himself, entering. What if someone came in and took everything? Huh? No more rings to pawn or money to pay rent. What would you have done then? Idiot. After a quick search of the premises to ensure that nothing had in fact been taken, Oskar locked up and pried his boots off from his feet, followed by his gloves, snow pants, and parka, leaving them at the door. He left his socks, sweaters, and jeans on, as it was still quite cool inside the apartment and he wanted to keep warm.

He went to the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboard, pulling out two slices of bread and setting about the process of making himself a sandwich. A little ham, some cheese, and mayo later he held a pleasingly constructed breakfast in his hands. Humming softly, he chewed down the meal and walked to the calendar pinned above his mattress, fingers trailing across the red lines marked by pen across each date of December, 1982. He held his sandwich in his mouth and used both hands to pull out the thumb-tack pinning the sheets of paper to the wall, flipping it upward to expose the next page: January, 1983.

Fifty-two days since Eli had went into hibernation. This was the third cycle since they had left Blackeberg.



Even a year and some months after he and Eli had run away together, he still couldn’t help but count the days spent apart and watch the clock tick down to some invisible threshold. Eli hadn’t been able to explain it very well when he asked her about it: “It’s just how it is,” she would say, as she had when he pressed her for other details about her condition. Her curse. It was frustratingly vague and short, and sometimes it was difficult for him to remember that Eli, for all her intelligence, was not entirely aware of the details behind the mechanisms of her affliction either – “It’s just how it is,” was her way of saying that she didn’t know.

All she could tell him was that when she slept, it was usually for two or three months at a time. Seasons didn’t seem to factor into it; one night she would feel perfectly lucid and strong, the next she would start to wane in vigor and sleep longer and longer into the evening before rising. Within three days, she had to be somewhere safe and isolated to stay until her long sleep ended and she rose again, weak and “foggy” in the head. When she woke, it would be dangerous for him to be near her until she was fed and aware of herself again. Before it knew it, that time had come calling again: his first, Eli’s god-knows-what.

That the sleep came on so suddenly had been the hardest thing for him to come to terms with. One night he and Eli would be wandering the streets of whatever city or neighborhood they happened to be lurking around, laughing, making up stories about the people they watched pass by. Playing games and listening to the radio. Then the next day, Eli would become sluggish and slothful. The day after, hardly able to pull herself out of the bathtub and looking downcast, defeated. They had to say their farewells, temporary though they were, and as Oskar watched Eli settle into the makeshift bed he insisted she have, the two of them lit only by the ray of torch-light squeezing through his clenched fingers, his throat squeezed inward and his eyes stung bitterly. Clicking off his light, he tentatively stepped close and kneeled down, wrapping his arms around Eli’s ice-cold form and exhaling into her hair.

“Oskar…” Eli had slurred, eyes half-lidded. “You should get home. I’ll…be away soon. I can feel it.”

Oskar shook his head. “I don’t want you to go to sleep alone.”

“Oskar…” Eli’s voice trailed off, and she settled back against him with a contented sigh, head beneath his chin. Oskar tapped fingers along her back, murmuring to himself. “Bulleri, bulleri bock. How many fingers are…up?”

“Mmm…three.”

“Three you say and three there are. Bulleri bulleribock.

Eli hummed, head sinking into her pillow. “One more time...”

Oskar smiled. “Okay. Bulleri, bulleri bock. How many fingers are…up?”

He paused, waiting for her guess. “Eli?”

Eli rumbled softly, a smile frozen against her face. Oskar listened to her undulations for a long, long time, and his heart caught in his throat as he realized they were growing softer and softer until he had to strain to hear them. Eli had gone away, whisked into a torpor of dreams and shadow.

He waited several more minutes to be certain she was asleep. Then, he rolled away onto his back and let the tears slide down his cheeks
"The dark is patient, and it always wins. But its weakness lies in its strength: a single candle is enough to hold it at bay. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars." - Matthew Stover

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ltroifanatic
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by ltroifanatic » Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:22 am

It was really beautiful Spartan.They love each other so much and you showed it so beautifully.I can imagine Oskar counting the days and Eli's confusion about her hibernation.It was a lovely touch introducing their little game as she drifted off.I really enjoyed it.Now for the next instalment .Can't wait.Thanks again :D
Please Oskar.Be me for a little while.

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sauvin
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by sauvin » Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:33 am

This one is done much better than the one I'd done, even if I never actually specified that Elysse is Eliform. As I recall, Orson had been warned that such periods come and that their durations are apt to vary, but he was able to distinguish between it and true death only by the absence of putrefaction. It scared the living daylights out of him, especially since her deep rest caught them precariously situated, and he slept with his shotgun determined that if she's gone, then so is he.
Fais tomber les barrières entre nous qui sommes tous des frères

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intrige
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by intrige » Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:00 am

This is nice, and sad. Very sad :(
Bulleri bulleri buck, hur många horn står upp

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SpartanAltego
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by SpartanAltego » Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:05 am

Part I had been completed and is in the process of editing. Summary for the story has been posted in the Fan Fiction sub-site, and once the "book" has been given moderator approval I will submit the first chapter. At least, if I'm understanding the system properly.

Expect the full chapter tomorrow, if the moderators are prompt. Prepare for some nostalgia, some tears, and some unfamiliarity. Oskar's growing up, and part of growing up is realizing how to live with being alone - and to live with yourself.
"The dark is patient, and it always wins. But its weakness lies in its strength: a single candle is enough to hold it at bay. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars." - Matthew Stover

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SpartanAltego
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by SpartanAltego » Thu Dec 07, 2017 1:43 am

"The dark is patient, and it always wins. But its weakness lies in its strength: a single candle is enough to hold it at bay. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars." - Matthew Stover

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ltroifanatic
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by ltroifanatic » Thu Dec 07, 2017 3:06 am

I really like where you're going with your story.I'm enjoying it immensely.Thanks and keep going.. :D :D
Please Oskar.Be me for a little while.

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metoo
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by metoo » Thu Dec 07, 2017 9:01 am

Nice!

Reading this has awakened the old urge to immerse myself into the world of LtROI. Maybe I will even be able to write some new stuff myself...
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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SpartanAltego
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by SpartanAltego » Thu Dec 07, 2017 1:21 pm

metoo wrote:Nice!

Reading this has awakened the old urge to immerse myself into the world of LtROI. Maybe I will even be able to write some new stuff myself...
I won't lie: that's perhaps the absolute best reaction I could've hoped for when I realized I wanted to share this work with the community. To write something good enough (or outrageous enough) that more would feel rekindled to dive back in themselves.

No guarantees on the deadline for the next chapter as of yet, but expect it within 6-10 days. It will be set from the point of view of Levi, the tritagonist of this story. The third chapter is currently outlined as dual-POV between Levi and Oskar, but the fourth will be viewed through Eli's eyes. Just for any curious readers out there. ;)
"The dark is patient, and it always wins. But its weakness lies in its strength: a single candle is enough to hold it at bay. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars." - Matthew Stover

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gkmoberg1
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Re: Let the Long Night End

Post by gkmoberg1 » Sat Dec 09, 2017 3:13 am

Apologies for being such a sloth of recent. Greetings to you! And what a story! Such a terrific start. Your examination of Oskar's world, post Blackeberg, mirror lines that I've taken as well as of course all who've worked into the same whether on the discussion threads or here in the fanficzone.

I would love to learn your Oskar's reflection of those three silent days between Eli's first flight from Blackeberg and then his reappearance at the pool. That time, the stage being empty with the loss of the main character who had come so fully into his life. Yet, the sequences you have him work through - about what life with Eli would mean, examining the loneliness of his situation as well as Eli's, all this is terrific and a bit terrifying to put on one young child.

Do continue!

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