delilah

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: The phone and stuffs
When: Late afternoon

After spending a day and a half stressing out about reflective surfaces and covering or putting away all the mirrors, decorative plates, teapots, and hint of chrome in the house-- including on furniture and televisions-- Corwin felt completely and utterly insane. He really did. A small thing like calling Delilah-- which he'd been meaning to do for a while now-- seemed like nothing compared to obsessively getting rid of anything and everything that returned his image to him. Corwin didn't like feeling watched. Stared at. Judged. He hadn't even gotten any sleep, too busy needing to get rid of that horrible feeling.

And besides, Judiel was friends with Olivia even though he obviously wanted more. Again. So maybe it would be possible to just... keep back and still be friends, anyway. It wasn't as if Corwin expected to really get anywhere with her, anyway. After all, she was probably a perfectly normal person, and any perfectly normal person would never in a million years be interested in someone who looked like him, didn't care for sex particularly, and was dead. Could he even kiss anyone without hurting them?

There was no time like the present, and since his after-sunset time was booked, now was definitely better than later. So, worn out and not feeling stared at for the first time all day, and feeling as optimistic as he really expected he ever would about such things, Corwin headed into the dimly lit kitchen for the phone and dialed in Delilah's number. She ought to be home from school by then.

Who: Billy and Delilah
When: afternoon
Where: on the phone

The day had kept Delilah busy, thankfully. She'd had that same strange feeling come back on her a time or two, but she'd staunchly put it aside. She perhaps just needed some better rest, and she vowed to get it when she got home. Just lay down and nap, maybe get up to eat, and go back to bed. What she wasn't going to do was take another shower, a quiet voice in her mind added in there. Which she also ignored. It was around four in the afternoon by the time she got home, unlocking the door and letting Alexi trot in ahead of her. She hesitated for a second longer than usual, listening for any reaction from him, but there was none and that was silly anyway. Delilah locked up behind herself and made her way to the kitchen to put some water on for tea.

Billy had had a weird day. He'd been out on the edges of town, retiling a bathroom in a back street store and for the entire day, though he was working alone, he couldn't shift the feeling he was being watched. It was the creepiest damn thing ever - especially hen he figured out that what it really felt like? Was that he was watching himself. Or rather, than his reflection was watching him. In the end, he'd hung his jacket over the bathroom mirror and thankfully the sensation went away, but it still left him feeling out of sorts.

Who: Delilah
When: morning, before school
Where: her bathroom

Delilah stifled a yawn as she shuffled from the kitchen back down the hallway and into her bedroom. The coffee -- which she needed desperately -- had been started, and the radio with the news was on. It was shower time. Alexi was following her as he usually did through this well-worn routine, the tags on his collar jingling faintly as he walked. She walked into the bathroom and let her robe slip off of her shoulders, catching it and half-closing the door to hang it up on the hook on the back.

It wasn't until she was bending over to start the water up in the shower that the fine hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up.

Who: Aiden and Delilah
When: late afternoon
Where: Delilah's house

Delilah had gotten up with the full expectation of making pie. There'd been a small hitch in getting fresh peaches, but she'd managed to find some that didn't feel or smell too bad. It was the last day of the weekend, after all, and she'd promised pie and coffee and perhaps some more conversation. She was a social creature at heart, and she enjoyed company. Especially company she could bake for, which she couldn't do with Corwin. Not that she didn't enjoy his visits. She sent her well-wishes out into the void when she heard about the terrible tragedy of the house fire as she worked. Three children now without parents, it was terrible. Her heart went out to them, for what it was worth.

Once the creation was ready and cooling on the windowsil in the kitchen, and there was a fresh pot brewing, she picked up the phone and instructed it to dial Aiden's number. There was a chance he might be unavailable, and that was all right. She could always start in on it herself. Delilah leaned against the kitchen counter and listened to the other side ring.

Who: Eddie/Delilah
Where: Harlow Park
When: Late afternoon

Who: Corwin and Delilah
When: Shortly after sunset
Where: Delilah's house

First order of business, once the sun had set and Corwin was free to go outside, was getting to the other dreamwalkers-- the ones he'd given numbers for to Billy, which now he was second-guessing as a good idea. Having a number meant being able to look up an address-- Corwin knew that better than most, given he had looked people's addresses up that way before-- so how was that any better than just giving up where they lived? How much less dangerous? Just why he'd given in to that earnest, excited face, he didn't know, but now he felt bad about it.

He supposed he could have called, but in the case of Shannon he hadn't actually seen her in a few days, and in the case of Delilah.... Well, maybe he should have called, he thought anxiously as he stood on her porch and knocked. He probably shouldn't even see her again, given he didn't have the faintest idea what to do about her yet-- besides, as always, keep her safe.

And yet, here he was, waiting to see if she was home and if she'd let him in, even though it was probably a bad idea.

Who: Aiden and Delilah
When: mid afternoonish
Where: streets, coffee shop

The first day back at school had been rather quiet and depressing. Their classroom was almost empty, only three students had been there. They'd heard from the parents of others, most of them out of town or out of state altogether, and Delilah wasn't honestly sure if all of them were coming back or not. Not to stay, at least. Which made her sad. She loved them, but she was beginning to think that maybe they were better off elsewhere anyway. Marquette was getting to be not the place for children, especially disadvantaged ones.

She'd felt oddly restless upon returning home, and had decided to take Alexi out for a walk. She still didn't plan on being out after dark, despite the news -- confirmed by a message from Corwin on her machine -- that the vampires were gone. Maybe it was just a good policy in general. But it was still in the hours before sunset, and her dog needed to get out. So did she. The Dreamwalker strolled down the sidewalk, harness in hand, sunglasses in place, mind a thousand and one miles away.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: Delilah's house
When: After nightfall

The first house Corwin usually gravitated to when checking on people was Delilah's. It wasn't really the one closest to his own of the four or so people he made the rounds to, but it just felt like a good place to start, anyway. So here he was, after taking as many alley-ways and backyard-routes as he could to get here, standing in Delilah's side yard, arms on the windowsill,and looking inside into the dining room and beyond, to the living room, for her. He'd move around the house if he needed to, but he'd always found this was the least conspicuous place, to outsiders. Not to the insiders of course, but then, Delilah couldn't see him anyway. So that much didn't matter.

Jade sat on the ground next to him, leaning against his boots and purring contentedly. The other cat was a reminder of what'd happened to Patches, and if he felt at all safe doing so, he'd call them all home. But he was still to worried about his friends for that.... At least Jade wasn't up on the windowsill, catching Alexi's attention. Yet, anyway.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: In dreams
When: Very early morning

High school looked different by moonlight, with all the hallways empty and the doors at either end letting in silvery blue light rather than warm yellow light. It didn't feel off, to Corwin, though-- everything was moonlight to him, now. This was the way it was supposed to be, wasn't it?

It would be the way it was supposed to be if there weren't vampires running around, anyway. Corwin wasn't scared, exactly... there was just a restless energy to what he felt, not terror but something that could spur action, frantic and unthought action. And right then, he was between actions, pressed into the space between lockers and drinking fountain, peering around past the edge of the locker wall and looking for the shadow that said Acherus somewhere on the walls or outside the doors in the moonlight. As soon as he saw it, then he would be in motion again.

Three cats milled about at his feet, and he held up a finger to shush them, just in case.

Who: Delilah and Hunt
When: a little after noon
Where: on the phone!

Delilah listened as the phone number she was calling switched over to voicemail. That was worrisome, but maybe not so terrible. At least it had rung. And it was possible that he didn't recognize her number and just wasn't picking up. Now, if she didn't hear back from him before sundown, then she would worry. As it was, she was worried enough about other people. She'd wanted to get in touch with John, but found that she didn't have his telephone number. Just that she'd given him her's.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
When: About an hour after sunset
Where: Delilah's house

Corwin was later than he'd meant to be, when he showed up at Delilah's house that night, Jade at his heels and his van parked in the driveway. Yes, he'd driven. Even though it wasn't all that far to Delilah's house. But he'd been watching the news, and...

... and he was nervous.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: On the phone!
When: After school gets out

It was a dark, dreary, rainy day, Corwin thought, staring out the one window he hadn't covered in foil yet. Rain made it possible for a vampire to go outside during the day, sure. That didn't mean said vampire wanted to go out in it and get drenched and even more cold than usual. He'd already done that several times today. And besides, who'd know when the storm would break and sun unexpectedly come out?

It also meant, though, that he couldn't very well let people know he was back without forcing them to endure the rain, instead. Or his poor cats, none of whom except Davey would go outside for that long no matter how much they liked him. And Davey didn't have that kind of attention span for delivering messages.

Who: John and Delilah
When: late evening, Monday night
Where: John's dreamland

It was a bright, sunny winter day on the ranch. Sheep lazily grazed as John stood out in the field with them, staff in hand. He let the warm air bask his face, relishing in the peaceful baaing. Nothing felt like the Australian winter. It didn't occur to him that he hadn't been on the sheep ranch in 40 years, nor that it wasn't even there anymore...nor did it occur to him that he wasn't wearing his dark glasses and that real sheep would be turning to stone left and right if they were making eye contact with him. Instead John just reveled in the peaceful comfort that was his father's ranch.

When Delilah opened her eyes, she was looking up at long grass and a perfectly blue sky. She smiled and sat up, glancing around. She'd been thinking on John as she drifted in darkness, trying to focus and seek him out, and she seemed to have succeeded. It was somewhere to end up, at least. Somewhere beautiful. She got up and brushed off her skirt in the back, squinting around and putting a hand up to shield her eyes. Automatically she began searching for the key. Was it the grass? The sky? The feeling of serenity? No ... not those, not yet. She spotted a figure a little ways off, with fluffy multi-colored animals milling around him. Delilah started in that direction with her bare feet, already humming to herself. Another gorgeous dream.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: Delilah's house
When: An hour or so after sundown

Getting the van had been easy, surprisingly so. The guy selling it gave him a few funny looks for how covered up he was, but he also seemed to be able to tell Corwin was... upset, or whatever it was that he was. He'd also been able to tell that his prospective buyer didn't care what he was buying, or how much he paid for it, as long as it worked. What he didn't know was that if it didn't work, and he found out halfway to Detroit, Corwin would probably have come back and made him dinner; that was just the kind of mood the vampire was in. But what he didn't know, didn't hurt him anyone. Corwin had made sure the van turned on and could drive in a straight line, checked where it'd been parked to see if it was leaking at all-- though the guy could have just moved it, and he'd never have known-- paid the guy by check, and driven off.

Straight to Delilah's house.

Who: John and Delilah
When: early afternoon
Where: grocery store

There was possibly a reason she ate so many fruits and vegetables besides their vitamin content. Maybe it was because she could actually pick them up and squeeze them, smell them, have a physical relationship with them before she put them in her basket. Not so with things in cans or even boxes. She had to rely on her reader for that, and so many goddamn things had weird fonts on them or too-big text, and her reader had no idea what it was trying to read. Grocery stores were certainly not blind-people friendly, and she really hated to bother folks with pre-made lists that they had to go fetch with her. So Delilah kept her food purchases as simple as she could, though some things were unavoidable. She'd left Alexi at home this trip, making her way through the parking lot toward the store with her long white cane out. He was still in his shedding season, poor thing, and she did have respect for sanitation. She was pondering these things as she walked, click-clicking away and half-listening to the way the sandals she had on beneath the hem of her long light-materialed skirt sounded on the blacktop.

Perhaps it had been the earlier conversation John had had with Corwin, or maybe John was just feeling ready to turn his new leaf after the positive experience with Kat. Or maybe seeing the pretty blind girl reminded him of his own father, and he remembered distinctly that his relationship with the kind, loving man had not been marred by the fear of turning to stone. Whatever the reason, John found himself stopping at the exit of the grocery store for half a beat before changing his direction and walking toward the girl, still wearing his own dark glasses, but now carrying his cane quietly. "Hello, there," he called out to her.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: Delilah's house
When: Evening

Missing Delilah the night before only made Corwin more determined to see her, this night. Since he didn't have plans to go house-hunting tonight, the Barton twins weren't home, and he wasn't hungry, he had nowhere else to be, and if Delilah wasn't home yet tonight he was going to sit on her porch until she got home. It'd been a week since he'd seen her, and despite having a few... er... excuses, that still didn't seem right, to him.

Who: Dorian and Delilah
Where: By Phone, then The Carnival
When: Late afternoon through the evening

Now that the kids had been found, now that the dreams had left him entirely, Dorian was ready to call Delilah. He'd been wanting to discuss the dream, but more than that, he wanted to see her in person again. While the memories of the dream remained, they were fleeting, not quite as real as an actual memory. As the afternoon wore down, Dorian headed home from work, then searched her number out. Dialing her up, he tapped his fingers on the kitchen counter, trying to decide what he was going to say. That might have been a good thing to figure out before hand.

Delilah was in the midst of playing her cello to unwind from the day when her phone started to ring and vibrate on the coffee table. She played a couple more notes before her fingers left the strings to pick up the cell from the spot she always put it. She opened it and tucked it between her ear and her shoulder. "Hello?" she inquired, picking back up in her music, because once she was in the mood, she was in the mood.

Who: Corwin and Delilah
Where: Dreams
When: Very early morning

It was very rare that Corwin dreamed. After fifteen years and then some without it, it took the ability a long time to come back. It usually only happened when he was more tired than usual, or sleeping at a strange time or in a strange place. Tonight, throw together strange place, strange time, general ache all over, and emotional exhaustion, and oooooh yes, was he dreaming.

Corwin was huddled in a small mausoleum in a cemetery he'd visited a few times with Keith, his best friend back home, waiting. Keith and Jared were hunting, and he didn't want to be part of it. He hurt, though he wasn't sure why, and he was afraid of being seen. It'd only been a few months since he'd been turned-- which, if he were awake, wouldn't have made any sense at all since he had been in New York a few months after he was turned, and this was in a suburb of Detroit, but he was asleep, so it made perfect sense-- and he wasn't used to it all, yet. Happy, oh god, yes, but used to it? Never.

At least the cemetery was peaceful and quiet, right then. It might not stay that way, one never knew, but it was safe for the moment.

Who: Hunt and Delilah
When: a little after the last bell
Where: MSHS

Delilah had almost canceled the meeting she had with the head of Marquette Senior High's special needs program when the skies opened up and let the storm down around lunchtime. But in the end she hadn't, half-telling herself that it was for the benefit of her students. Coordinating their future education with what they were learning now was important, after all, and she always enjoyed these meetings anyway. So she'd come, and run into the building from the cab, getting fairly soaked in the process. Alexi had been left at the elementary school, because no one could concentrate with the smell of wet dog, and he was always too much of a distraction to any students passing by.

After a productive talk during the last period of the day, she waited until all the students had filtered out of the hallways in their rush to get home. Delilah slung her messenger bag -- which was now stuffed with materials she'd been given -- over her shoulder and assured the woman that she could find her way out. Unfolding her white cane and resettling her sunglasses on her nose, she started out of the classroom and down the hallway, smiling just a touch.

Hunt hadn't pushed any of his classes today. Between the murders last week and the now missing students - evidenced very clearly by the holes in his classes - he'd taken it easy. All of the quizzes and most of the homework he'd had planned went in the bin and he'd turned a blind eye to the students who hadn't turned up. As long as they were in their next scheduled class, he'd be fine - if they weren't, then he'd start to worry. Of course, the upside of that was that he didn't have his usual pile of marking to do - though, in the scheme of things, he didn't think it was much of a trade-off. He'd stayed a little late, as he usually did, sorting things out for the next day before he gathered his things and stepped out into the corridor.

Who: Delilah and Dorian
Where: In Dreams
When: Late Night (AM)

At first Dorian didn't know where he was. He wasn't in Marquette, that was for sure, but it reminded him of the orphanage. Instead, he was at an abandoned house, an old plantation one, where no one had gone back in and renovated yet. The shudders hung off the windows, almost ready to fall to the ground, the glass panes behind them broken and filthy. The front door stood halfway open and it creaked when the wind blew, a noise that might have seemed spooky, were it not familiar. This was not the first time Dorian had been here, and as the leaves blew over his feet, he remembered.

Who: Dorian and Delilah
When: lateish afternoon
Where: Nevermore, then a coffee shop

Delilah had been disturbed to hear that, in the direct wake of two teenage murders, four more children were missing. They were older children, granted, but with the horror of what had happened previously, she couldn't help but hug the few kids in her small shared classroom a little tighter as they left. Things were just ... awful. In that regard. She knew it all had a purpose somewhere down deep in the fabric of reality, but still, you couldn't avoid being affected. After getting home and changing into some more comfortable shoes, she'd decided to take a walk to clear her mind. She harnessed up Alexi and left the house, heading into the downtown proper. She'd learned a good number of the buildings, what they were. She knew where the places she frequented were by heart. However, her thoughts had wandered so far by the time that she slowed to a stop in front of Nevermore that she wasn't quite sure where she was anymore.

"Oh dear," she murmured to herself, biting her lower lip for a moment before she started feeling for the door. Delilah walked in and inhaled, immediately recognizing the place as a bookstore. Oh lovely, she was sure someone here could give her directions.

After the mess of the morning's events, Dorian had taken the toy chest out of Nevermore and put it in the trunk of his car. It hadn't taken long to understand that it was causing his customers problems with entering the shop, and that was something he'd prefer not to deal with for the time being. The afternoon was going along smoothly though, and he looked up from his current reading material as someone entered the shop. Dorian paused and considered his predicament. She appeared to be blind, and he was almost positive he didn't carry anything she could read. "Can I help you?" he asked. Maybe there was something else he could do instead.