August 25 2007

music: this world by earshot
I thought this shit was done hurting. I really did. I thought it was over, and that I just, gave up or whatever. But I found out today that Dorian I guess called the parents. So they know. I just...kept telling myself that they didn't and it was easier to blow off that they didn't care if they didn't know at all anyways. But knowing that they do know, and haven't tried to talk to me at all just sucks. I never expected much of a reaction. More just like, a phonecall to crab at me for messing up Dorian's life or something. But not...nothing. Like I could have been here then gone, and it doesn't effect them what so ever.

Who: Corwin and Olivia
Where: Olivia's spot on the lakeshore
When: 1:30AM Sunday morning

Even after a shower and a change of clothes back at Arcadia-- and a moment or two bemoaning the gaping holes in one of his favorite t-shirts-- Corwin still managed to beat Olivia to "her spot" along the shoreline behind Babylon. He settled in the sand, even took his boots off to dig his clawed toes in to it, and made a point to relax. He hurt still, but he was mostly healed up and entirely non-bloody-- a little hungry, in fact, but he could wait until after he'd talked to Olivia. He wasn't that hungry. Eric hadn't found him yet and Theresa was still avoiding him, whether because she didn't know he'd finished demon-hunting or for some other reason, so he was quite content to wait alone, without even a cat this time.

Unfortunately, it did give him time to mull over the day and night and generally regret half of the things he'd done. Telling the hunter Buttahfly about Jace and Konnor was highest on the list. Telling Jace he could come to him if he needed to talk or if he ascended was pretty close second. Picking a fight with Jace, oddly, wasn't on the list at all. He was glad for that, in some strange fashion. Maybe if Jace had been in full demon form, or prepared with a stake or something, it might have gone a different way-- but it might not have. Either way, Jace would have scars to show for it.

So, really, it was the war between "Jace deserves to die" and "Jace deserves a chance" that was bothering him. But since it really was too late to call off the dogs, as it were, worrying about it was just pointlessness that he couldn't quite stop indulging in. Hopefully Olivia wouldn't be too much later. He could use the distraction.

Who: Doc and Seph
When: late morning
Where: Martens kitchen

The kitchen was the source of it all, a spout that fed the slow creeping aroma of fresh coffee through the house as early morning light filtered past blinds and through windows. It wasn't uncommon, really; Doc drank enough that he could probably bleed an espresso out. But today there were other scents mixing with it, toasting bread and cooked meats, as well as a definite burned edge to it all. In defiance of his long-standing limitations, Doc was cooking. He'd already buttered up some toast, cutting it and setting it aside some likely overcooked bacon as he worked a spatula around in a skillet of eggs, quickly tossing them to minimize the scorching they were suffering in the too-hot pan.

He knew it was a cheap attempt to soften the talk that was growing closer by the minute, but at the same time felt it was a small bit of proof to the talk he'd had with Syn, and his renewed motivation to move past his own shortcomings for the sake of all of them. Doc was determined, as much as he'd ever been on a hunt or a task of War. He was going to do this, to do whatever it took to make Seph believe he was genuine, and to commit to whatever personal changes it was going to take. Pulling the skillet off the stove, Doc scooped the eggs out between three plates, then grabbed a piece of bacon and bit into it with a small grimace. Gotta set your goals lower, old man. Saving the world's doable. Breakfast? Not so much, he mused with a personal chuckle as he dropped the pan in the sink and moved for a cup of coffee.

Who: Chance and Kaysen
When: Laterish
Where: Kaysen's House

After dropping Jezebelle off, Chance drove through the neighborhoods, careful as not to swerve, or hit anything in the streets. He'd driven after having beers before. It was no big deal. Only Marquette was usually overrun with cops, and the last thing he needed was to be pulled over. He consciously drove toward home, but after a couple minutes realized he wasn't home at all. In fact, he was pulling up to a stop across the street from Kaysen's house. The windows were dark, the porch light on. He stared up at her window through the car window before he licked his lips and got out of his car, digging into his pocket for his phone. He knew she said she'd talk to him later, but he didn't think he could go a whole weekend knowing she was pissed, or whatever.

You awake? he texted, pushing send and staring up at her window, hoping to see something. A light. Her. Anything. He waited a few minutes with no reply. Sighing, he stepped up into the lawn, looking for something to throw that wouldn't shatter her window. He found a couple tiny rocks in the yard and bit his lip hard before tossing them up. The first one missed. He never claimed to be very athletic. But the next two hit their mark, tapping against the glass. He quickly punched in another text, in case she woke up. I'm outside. And then he looked up anxiously, eyes staring hard at her window, as if willing her awake.

who: eury and aiden
where: out around
when: late night

It had been a long day, and Eury was sitting in her living room, looking down at one of the photographs she'd kept from her sweep around town to help clear them. Her sunglasses sat on the coffee table next to it, and she couldn't look away. It was like a car accident. She didn't want to see it, in fact, she knew it by heart by now, with as many pictures as had been plastered all over the place, but that's where her eyes were. Especially on the warning. Closing her eyes for a moment, she reached up to rub them with one hand, squeezing the bridge of her nose, a dull headache throbbing at the back of her head. It felt like someone had come up behind her and clocked her with a baseball bat. After a few long minutes of sitting there in silence, she grabbed up her phone and had dialed before she really made the decision to call Aiden. It was only when she heard the tones in her ear that she wondered if she shouldn't have just gone, taken a bath, and read for a while before going to bed instead of phoning the hunter. And yet she didn't hang up.

Digging his phone out of his pocket, Aiden flipped it open, recognized the number and answered it before he even thought that maybe he ought to just let it to go voicemail. There was a part of him that felt he should answer it whenever she called, just in case it was an emergency, or something, even though he knew there was probably a slim chance of that. You just never knew so why chance it? "Hey." Aiden tapped his finger against the side of his beer bottle. "Everything okay?"

Who: Thom and Leija
When: Early evening
Where: Thom's house

Thom was quiet as they arrived at his house - in fact, he'd been very quiet all the way home, and before that. Since Lullaby had told them that they were picking up again the next day and everyone had agreed to that. He'd seen the look Leija had shot him - how could he miss it. But Kaysen had confirmed that she was definitely going again tomorrow and who knew what they'd find in the mine o' freaky dreams? He had to be there - there was no two ways about it. Didn't mean he had to like it.

Leija had been equally quiet as they climbed out of the van and started to walk up the drive to Thom's front door. She was going to call her dad from there, body not keen on the idea of walking home after all that. That, and Thom had done or said absolutely nothing to reassure her that they weren't going tomorrow. Because she would if he was, and that would mean that their date had been bumped back twice now. Which probably shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did, but there it was. She was irritable and in a bad headspace anyway. She continued not to say anything as they walked into the house itself, just glancing over at Thom to try and read his expression. Please say we don't have to, she pleaded with him internally.

Who: Mathias and Caleb
Where: Outside at the hospital
When: Evening

Caleb was reading. He'd gone out to the courtyard to draw and maybe read a little bit, his drawing pad open on the ground next to him with the latest drawing of Leija on it, though it was a light, sparse sort of style as opposed to the heavier strokes he usually did when he drew her. It was also done from the perspective of her gazing out a window. So the window hung in the center of the page, reflections not quite obscuring her, since she was clearly there but it was almost as if she were an afterthought in the drawing itself as opposed to the focus. There were gravestones reflected in the glass, and a statue of an angel with a spear pointing downwards. What was he reading? The Pirate Lord. Why? Because he was down to that book. He'd already read everything else people had brought him.

Mathias had been here for a while now, but he'd gotten accosted by Lisa on his way in and my god could that girl talk! Even his charm couldn't extricate her from his clutches and, in the end, the only way he'd decided that he was going to be able to get to see his brother was to ask her to take him to Caleb and then hope that between them, they could get rid of her. And so it was that the young nurse led the way, Mathias walking not-quite by her side as they found his brother.

Who: Peyton and Isaac
When: late-ish
Where: the Marsh house

Isaac was very pleasantly drunk. Not trashed, really, not enough that he was going to get sick or wouldn't sober up enough in time to leave to go home and fall into bed, but more just nicely buzzed, where most everything felt relaxed and warm and life was funnier. He'd had a great time, hanging out with people he hadn't had time to catch up with in school, introducing Peyton around as his girlfriend -- even though she knew most of the people already -- arguing with a much-more-drunk Tyler about music for a while before it degenerated into nonsense, and just generally enjoying the party. People seemed to appreciate that it was going on. A bit of levity in the face of everything the past couple of days. All in all, it was good. Very good.

He was sitting on the couch with an arm around Peyton, only half-listening to somebody tell some story, when he leaned over closer to her ear. "If I begged just the right way, could I get a shoulder rub?" he asked her in a murmur that maybe had an edge of teasing to it. Despite the buzz, the muscles in his back still ached. He wasn't sure what time it was, but things were slowly starting to wind down, and in all honesty? He didn't want to leave without getting a bit of alone-time with her.

Who: Brian and Evan
Where: Heading downtown, near Mya's Diner
When: Midday

Who: Dorian and Mathias
Where: The Lockwood Residence
When: 3 p.m.

It should have surprised Dorian to find Mathias asleep on the couch, but it didn't. Apparently his brother had nothing else to do but encourage the ongoing jet lag. Dropping his keys on the counter, Dorian grabbed a coke from the fridge and plopped himself down in one of the living room chairs. "Hey Math. Wake up," he said, then took a sip of his drink. He wasn't sure if Mathias was just snoozing or completely out, but if he had to ask again, it would come with the hit of a pillow.

Mathias grunted and rolled over sluggishly, taking his pillow with him, keeping it under his head, the blanket twisting round his hips as he turned. He'd long ago learned the value of catching sleep where and when you could and the fact it was well into the day didn't bother him in the slightest. He wasn't ready to get up yet.

"Wake up," Dorian said, this time a little more forcefully, the pillow pulling hard out of Mathias' hands and into Dorian's. "You know, if you sleep all day, you're never gonna get over your jet lag." Not that Dorian cared at the moment, but more that he'd wanted an audience with his brother over 24-hours ago. He wasn't waiting any longer, his lack of politeness due to a growing lack of sleep.

Who: Jace and Corwin
Where: Woods behind Barton's home
When: Near midnight

By Saturday evening, Jace was beginning to feel hungry. He had put so much energy into his wicked plans the night before, that the demon had entirely forgotten to eat, or change into his natural form. Since it appeared that Konnor would not be joining him that evening, the older twin went out into the woods, stripped down to bare skin, and shifted.

Who: Olivia and Jace
Where: The park
When: Afternoon

After her shift at Mya's ended, Olivia began the fairly short walk home. She had a few hours before she had to be at Babylon, so she wanted to change, and maybe spend a little while trying out some of the recipes in the book Brian had given her. Anything to keep her preoccupied and distracted from the urge to knock on Judiel's door again, because she was sure he was probably still sleeping, given how late she'd kept him up, and she was afraid if she stepped foot inside his apartment, she wouldn't want to leave when her shift at Babylon was suppose to begin.

Those plans, however, were derailed as she lit a cigarette and walked through the park toward her complex. There were quite a few people wandering around, cleaning up the debris in the park, it looked like. What kind of debris, she didn't know, but it looked like papers, or photos. Olivia wasn't quite sure. But something caught her eye on the ground and she noticed a photograph bouncing it's way across the grass, nearly over her feet before she reached down to pick it up. It was the photograph of those teenagers. The one some sicko had decided to plaster all over the place. She'd heard about them earlier, had been told Mya's had been covered in them that morning before she'd arrived. It was a disturbing picture. A disgusting one. Olivia wrinkled her nose before crumpling the photograph and turning to find the nearest trash can to her to toss it away. Even in a small town like Marquette, there were sick, sick people. Sadly, it didn't surprise her in the least.

Who: Dorian and Harper
Where: Nevermore
When: before opening

Harper wished the dreams would go away, she was having problems staying asleep after they happened and she feared it might start impacting her work. Even more so, she was worried that she was supposed to be doing something and wasn't- that someone might die because she wasn't following her vision. This idea came to her more strongly that morning as she'd been able to hear the voices from inside the mine.

Harper knew Dorian wouldn't be at the store for a yet, but she had to ask him for time off. She had to follow the vision, and she didn't know how long it would take her. In fact with no reliable transportation out that far, she really wasn't sure how long it would take. So she waited for Dorian to arrive, sitting on the hard ground outside the door to the store she laid her journal open, her fingers flipping through the notes and crude drawings she'd made every day since she'd picked up the journal after the second dream. With pencil in hand she scratched another detail that had come to her.

Harper pulled her grey sweater a little tighter around her as she looked over the sketch of the mine. Someone was inside, and they needed her help. She couldn't let them die like she had her parents.

Who: Bailey and Tatsuo
When: night
Where: Babylon

The bar had lost it's interest for Tatsuo somewhere towards midnight. Which was when things were just getting picked up, usually, but his taste for it had faded in the hour or two he'd been down there. Tonight felt like a night to go out. He hadn't really been since he'd met the girl in the park who'd fed from him. He'd given the earring to his mistress and related the tale, and had spent an inordinate amount of time since then in his quarters, reading and meditating. It was such a quieter sort of life than he was used to. Some nights it was like a luxurious vacation that he wasn't quite sure how to indulge in, other nights it made him restless. This was one of the latter. He tucked his cigarettes into his front shirt pocket as he walked up the stairs toward the landing where his room was nestled in next to Eris's.

Who: Shannon and Eric
Where: Lobby of the Ramada
When: 9:30PM

Shannon hadn't waited to see the trio from the window of her room, she was too bundled up with emotions and questions to keep herself confined within the four walls until they would finally come into view. It's why she was down in the lobby well before 10. With legs tucked up beneath her skirt, knees pulled up to her chest with arms circled lightly around them, Shannon was in one of the chairs facing the front window. Her chin resting lightly on one knee as her gaze of blue kept watch through the clear glass window on the street that ran past the building. A pen and notebook were balanced on the right arm of the chair, beneath was a slightly wrinkled flyer she had found earlier that morning when she had stepped out to obtain a few necessities for her new little furry friend. Shannon had found what had been printed on the paper more then a tad disturbing, and it had questions circling around her mind. Questions she was hoping Corwin would be able to answer.

When a familiar ghost came walking down the street towards the Ramada hotel, however, he came alone. Eric was walking along with his head down and his hands in his pockets, feet scuffing at the ground every few steps. He was, in fact, the picture of adolescent unhappiness. He did look up once the hotel was in sight and perk up a little at the sight of Shannon already waiting for him, and pulled a hand out to wave.

With no Corwin to open the door for him, Eric just walked right through the wall and window again. Hi, Shannon, he said.

Who: Chance and Dorian
Where: Nevermore
When: Morning

Since his adventures in mirror melting, Chance had been actively trying to find some way to find out more about what he was. The internet was really no help, though he didn't think it would have been, and his mind kept going to what Kaysen had told him. How she'd gotten a book on elementals and how it had information inside to help her fill in some of the blanks of what she was, and what she could do. It was in that same vein that he'd ridden his skateboard through town to the book shop on W. Washington Street. The one that sold stuff only pertaining to the supernatural. The one that had the owner that had developed a certain 'reputation' for knowing the weird stuff. Chance had always sort of thought the place was bunk. But, well, that was before. He wanted information now. He wanted, and needed, to know more about what he was. If something inside of the store could help him, he was going to clamp down on his initial hesitance and find it. And he knew it was best to do something to keep himself occupied, rather than mope over Kaysen. Because he'd been doing nothing but that since she left his house the day before.

He slowed his skateboard until he was stopped outside and he picked it up to carry it under his arm and into the store. He didn't know the first thing about finding a book, or whatever it was he was looking for. Did he just go by the alphabet until he found the "F"s? Was the place organized by categories of weird shit? Chance began to browse along the shelves, his brows drawn together in slight confusion and concentration. He wondered if Kaysen had gotten the elementals book here too. Because it sure as hell looked like there was an wide variety.

Who: Corwin and Domino
Where: Mya's Diner
When: After sundown

There were surprisingly many people who knew who and what Corwin was in Marquette: Val, the hunter Buttahfly, Konnor and Jace, Regan, the demon he'd attacked, the boy he'd attacked and his guardian, Mya, Shannon, and Olivia. Some of those he had no need to contact, at least, since Val knew perfectly well who was to blame here, he'd already dealt with Buttahfly, and both Bartons knew exactly who had caused the mayhem. Regan he just plain couldn't find, the demon probably wouldn't care, and the boy... well, he wasn't going to try tracking him down, at all.

Who: Kurt and Natalya and then Doc
When: Morning
Where: Natalya's place

Nights were becoming rough for Natalya, who couldn't seem to get a night's rest without having her sleep troubled by dreams. Sometimes the same, sometimes slightly different. The night before last had seen Natalya drifting through the forest to that same mine, the horrifying bodies along the trail. Natalya was shocked that one of them had been familiar to her - she'd recognized the man she'd met out at the mine the second time she went there, the man named David. The other two were unrecognizable, one normal-seeming, one man clawed and fanged and infinitely terrifying even in his helpless struggling. She'd managed to write her troubled state off as just more of the usual dreams, but another frightening dream had her tossing and turning all night, until she finally woke with a soft gasp.

She lay in bed for a moment, listening to Kurt breathe beside her, but eventually felt the need to move. She slid very carefully out of bed and moved on silent feet to the kitchen, still clad in her pajamas consisting of a tank top and a pair of flannel pants. She grabbed a hooded sweatshirt to ward off the chill of the morning and set about cooking breakfast; Kurt would almost certainly be awake soon, if he hadn't been when she woke. The troubled nights were evident in her body, dark shadows like bruises under her eyes and tension knotting her shoulders that she always tried to shake loose with a long workout, but it never entirely helped. Natalya shook herself slightly, trying to put aside visions of graves filling with rocks long enough to not burn the omelet she was cooking.

Who: Alejandro and Melia
Where: The lakeshore
When: Midnight

Sleeping all day made for insomnia at night. Alejandro knew this perfectly well, and yet here he was, awake at midnight and not likely to be getting back to sleep any time soon. As had been pretty normal for him when he was up late at night, before he'd been gone, he'd gone down to the lake. There was almost never anyone there, it was peaceful, and it was dark.

Alejandro had been wandering along the beach for the past half hour, now, hands in his pockets and, for once, a shirt on despite the comfortable night. He was trying not to think, and just listen to the water and night creatures, and really, he wasn't doing too bad.

Who: Teens and Open
Where: Peyton's House
When: 8:30pm and on

Tyler's party was more or less in full swing by eight thirty. And the minute the bass from the stereo downstairs began to shake the floor beneath her feet, Peyton finally left her room, shut her door firmly behind her and prayed that no one would stumble in there to vomit, or make out. She didn't want to have to clean up bodily fluids of any kind tomorrow.

Who: Alejandro and Jezebelle
Where: Alex's house
When: Midday

After having walked the last couple miles to his house, Alejandro was tired, irritable, and far more pleased than he should have been just to see someplace familiar and even remotely welcoming. His last hitched ride had dropped him off by the side of the 41, and never had he cursed his choice to live farther from the highway more than now, when he'd had to walk the whole way from said highway to the house.

At least it wasn't too hot, or anything. That was something, right? He was trying hard to find a "bright side" in all this, but it was hard. Alejandro just wasn't a natural optimist.

Hardly seeing at anything except the door, focused entirely on his goal of getting inside and being home, he stumbled up the porch and inside. The front door was unlocked, which either meant Jezebelle was still there or she'd left the door unlocked. Or he'd been robbed or vandalized or something which, given his luck lately, wouldn't have surprised him. Nothing looked missing, though. His first act upon being home was to go straight for the fridge, because if he was lucky, Jezebelle was still there and she had found some way to make the money he'd left her stretch and there'd be food. Because damn, he was hungry.

Who: Herbert and Stacey
Where: Stacey's house
When: 8AM or so

After a very large breakfast-- just in case lunch didn't happen for a long time-- Herbert left the house with his backpack and his bicycle and headed first to Stacey's house, hoping he wasn't too early. He certainly didn't want to be late to meet everyone else, but he didn't want to wake anyone at Stacey's, either.

The werebear found the address all right, leaned his bicycle against the mailbox, and headed up to knock on the front door, backpack still slung over one shoulder to put all her things in. She was, he thought, a terribly good person to help the way she was. Now if only he wasn't waking her up.

who: everyone and their brother isaac
where: negaunee--mine site
when: noonish

I don't know what just happened. I woke up, and...I had all these nightmares. Only I wasn't me, I was Chance, and there was this part where I was on fire... I don't know. Jeeze, how did that happen? I've had nightmares before, lots of times, but not like this, and totally not like me being someone else. usually when I'm someone else, it's a good dream So...crazy. And I got sick over it, and now I can't sleep. I almost wanted to go wake Isaac up so he could stay up with me til we go to stupid mine-thing, but I didn't. Because c'mon, what am I, six? It was just...scary. I also almost called Chance, but didn't. What would I say?

Who: Brian and Mya
When: 6am
Where: Mya's Diner

Mya pulled up to the diner at about five to six, cup of coffee resting nicely in the holder next to her. For the first time in a long time she hadn't had to pull as many long days at the diner and the extra sleep was nice, however a tad annoying to get used to. Her body didn't seem to want to come back awake in the mornings as quickly anymore. She was a bit early still, not supposed to be there until seven, when Domino showed up for his shift so she could take some time to catch up on some of the paper work she'd been too busy to get to in the past month and a half.

When: 2:14PM, Saturday
What: Message left for Manhattan

Hey, Man'! Where're you at? You up for something to drink tomorrow night? Afternoon? Whatever? I'd say tonight, but I have a stupid-early shift at the diner tomorrow morning, and I can't afford to go in hungover. So tomorrow it'll have to be. Call me.

There's really so much to write - so much to say and no really good way of saying it all without sound like a total idiot. Isaac and I went out last night. He took me to this italian place and had arranged it so that we had our own table on the roof. It was a nice night, and you could see almost all of the light of Marquette until they reached the lake and then it was just...blackness. But at the same time it had this really romantic feel to it and no one had ever gone to so much trouble before for me. The best part was I never felt awkward, or uneasy and there always seemed to be something to talk about, though I know with myself, that's never really a problem.

To: Buttahfly
When: 5:54AM Saturday morning
Subject: "Vampires among us"

Hello, Buttahfly. I just needed to tell you that the pictures all around town, and those two children? That was not the work of a vampire. And certainly not me.

I don't know if you'll believe me, but it was one of those demons I told you about. I don't know what to do about him. But I at least wanted you to know it wasn't me. I couldn't kill anyone even if I wanted to, much less two kids.

Who: Kaysen
Where: her(?) nightmares
When: about 4am

It was dark. Dark enough that the only thing that could be seen was a shaft of light slanting over the floor from the crack in the door. The hall light must have been on, and his feet were illuminated by that tiny bit of light. He was staring down at the gun held in his hand. Felt like he'd been staring at it forever, the heaviness of the pistol starting to fatigue his wrist. But that was nothing. That pain wasn't anything compared to how bad everything else hurt. It was like his entire being was soaked in it, saturated to the point of bursting with awfulness. He brought it up, placing the end of the barrel against his lips for a few long moments, pressing it in lightly so his lips were pushed against his teeth by the cold, unyielding metal. It smelled kind of funny, something he hadn't thought about when he'd first gone and got the gun out of his father's possessions. This was it. It would be over, in just a little while. He'd pull the trigger, and the lights would go out, and that would be the end of it. Opening his mouth, the gun slid in easily, and he squeezed the trigger. There was a loud, world shattering sound, and then blackness.

who: Doc and Syn
Where: The porch
When: Shortly after midnight

Flight never lost it's joy, but there were times when it was hard to really find pleasure in it; mainly when one was flying towards unpleasant tasks. Doc was having one of those nights, taking little enjoyment from the rush of wind in his hair as he cut a path through the night sky and looked down at familiar lights and landscapes below him. Almost home, he thought, cradling the jar of sand he'd been given in the crook of one arm and descending a touch. He was eager to be there, sure, to have the familiarity around him again, but at the same time there was dread. What if Star's warning came true, and he walked into an empty house? Or even worse, arrived just in time to hear goodbyes from Seph and Syn? Gotta work extra-hard is all, he told himself, repeating the advice he'd been given on a white-sand beach earlier and cutting the majority of his speed as he saw the neighborhood fan out below him.