September 12 2007

From: Herbert
Sent at: 8:32PM

i dont know how to make a question mark or a period or anything on this phone but can we talk about stuff after school tomorrow if youre going to school

Who: Brian and Marlowe
Where: Brian's place
When: Not long after sundown

There were definite mixed feelings as Brian drove home from his birthday party. Now that the fun and friends had all gone home, and after the talk with Mya, he felt a little drained. Olivia had never known, which hurt but didn't really surprise him, either. Manhattan had stayed long enough for cake, which was really all anyone could ask of her. Ash had shown up, Anton had come, Hunt was there and surprisingly not traumatized... Mya hadn't fired him or excommunicated him or whatever it was she could have done. And there were no signs of vandalism, fire, or looting in the streets, even now that the sun was down.

And he'd turned forty and probably gained another few gray hairs. He was gonna be all the way gray by the time he was forty-five, he just knew it. His dad had, after all.

Who: Peyton and Geo
Where: The Williams' House
When: 4:30pm

Geo sat on the front porch of the house, deeply, intrinsically aware that his mother was in the living room - probably watching him. Annoying - yet also reassuring. It was nice to not be the responsible one. His iPod was on, turned down low and soft. Foo Fighters today - only calm songs. It was all he could really handle - this was weird, after all. He kicked the floor, moving the porch swing into motion again, waiting for Peyton.

Who: Chance and Kaysen
Where: Chance's House
When: Early afternoon

It was another day without school, for which Chance was thankful. He wasn't sure he'd have gone even if school had been back in session. He wasn't having a particularly good morning, given he hadn't slept much the night before. He was too busy trying to deal with the fact that Devon had died. And that Kaysen had nearly probably killed herself trying to save his life. He was maybe handling everything better than he could have been. Anger and pain still wanted to surface. He still wanted to hit things and break things and find someone to blame for everything, but he couldn't. After his mom left for work, he sat out on the porch, watching a few of his neighbors cleaning up their yards. Everything felt quiet and still now, without a barrage of destruction to report on the news this morning. Chance wondered if maybe the vampires had moved on. Maybe. He sat on one of the porch chairs, staring ahead, his mind shifting back to Kaysen. It was easier to think about her than anything else. She wanted to know about him. And he wanted to tell her, yet at the same time, now he was afraid too. He didn't want her to be scared of him. That was his worst fear, that she would look at him like he was a monster, or something to be frightened of. Sighing, Chance leaned forward and ran his hands through his hair. After a moment's hesitation, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and forced himself to punch in her number. He'd at least ask her how she was feeling, just to hear her voice. Maybe if she was feeling better, he could convince her to come over. Or to allow him to come see her. Hearing her voice wouldn't be enough. He wanted to see her, hug her and just be with her, as cheesy as it was in his mind. She'd help him maintain sanity, at least for a little while.

who: caleb and leija
where: caleb's room
when: mid/late afternoon

Caleb was in his room, on his bed, contemplating the ceiling. The window right next to his bed was open, letting the breeze over him, and there was a radio on faintly on his bedside table. He sort of wished he could crash for a bit, get some rest. He was tired enough to, that much he was more than well aware of. But he couldn't get his mind to shut the fuck up long enough to drift. Therefore, he was waiting. He knew Leija was going to be around sometime here, so...he was waiting for her to show. Once she did, he was probably going to talk to her about shit. After shit with Dean this morning, he had a lot on his mind, and he wanted to get her take on it. Her take as one of the only other people he knew that could possibly understand what he was going through.

Leija'd been paying attention to the news. She'd heard that another town had been hit away from Marquette. While she took that as a good -- well, okay, mixed at best -- sign, her dad wasn't quite convinced yet to bring them completely back. Though he had no problem with her going to check on people during the day. People really being Caleb, as she didn't really have plans to see anyone else. Seeing as how nobody else but Thom knew she could fly, so ... yeah. She dropped out of the sky and gave a flap or two so as not to land too hard in the backyard of the Lockwood house. Tucking her wings away and pulling the hoodie back on she'd had tied around her waist, she contemplated which door to knock on. Then heard the faint drift of music and followed it. Leija stuck her head into Caleb's window and looked at him on the bed. "... I totally just tried to think of something witty to say, and failed miserably," she announced, smiling faintly.

Who: Olivia and Herbert
When: Early evening
Where: Apartment

When Olivia finally dragged herself from Judiel's apartment, she felt a bit better, if still tired. She would have preferred to just stay there all day... and maybe the rest of the week, but there were things she needed to do, and people she needed to take care of before she left. The second she entered her apartment, she slipped off her sandals and swept her gaze around the small apartment. "Herbert?" Judi had promised he'd check on Herbert while she was gone, but she still wanted to make sure he didn't need anything and he'd be all right.

Herbert was just getting out of the shower-- working all day again had left him gross and sticky-- when he heard the door opening and closing, shortly followed by his name. Olivia was finally back. Oh, good. As much as he had been glad that Olivia was over at Judiel's, probably making things right with him again, he would have rather liked to see her sometime.

So he poked his head out of the bathroom and called, back, "Hallo, Olivia! Be out in a second." Seeing as she had such a problem with naked werebear, and all, he figured he ought to get dressed before he came out.

From his bedroom, Elda peeped at the sound of his voice, and he grinned a little to himself as he shut the bathroom door again and set about getting dressed.

Who: Olivia and Judiel
Where: Judi's Apartment
When: Morning
Warning: NSFW

It had been a long night. After sleeping at Judi's most of the day, she'd woken up after sunset, groggy and still fairly exhausted. As much as she had wanted to just stay there all evening, she hadn't want to make Judiel uncomfortable, or put him out in any way - not that she would have ever said so, since she knew he'd argue that fact - so she ended up going back down to her apartment to sleep the rest of the night, thankful that she was able to hide away in her room and feign sleep there without Herbert catching her. She still felt numb, staying awake most of the night thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days. It was overwhelming, and tiring, and eventually she forced herself to sleep simply to stop thinking about it. When she woke up, it was daylight, though there was hardly any sun. She forced herself up and off the floor to take a shower and change and felt like she was sort of going through the motions and trying not to feel like a zombie. She got Mathias's message and after leaving him a message she couldn't quite remember after hanging up, left the apartment complex, her hair still dripping wet over her shoulders and onto her wrinkled t-shirt. When she returned a half an hour later, she had a carrier holding two plastic cups- coffee for her and hot tea for Judi - and a bag of bagels from one of the opened gas stations. Olivia knew she probably should have been at the diner, but there was no way she could go back there yet. She would have to talk to Mya about her shifts, she supposed... scheduling them opposite of Brian. If she went back at all.

Who: Aiden and Mathias
Where: Babylon
When: Early Evening

Who: Brian and Mya
Where: The diner
When: After the party

Who: Jordan and Herbert
When: Late afternoon
Where: The streets

Jordan walked with her arms wrapped tightly around Devon's trench coat. Underneath she wore simple clothes, not her normal goth spread, of jeans and a t-shirt from one of the school plays. She wasn't wearing any make-up and her eyes were very red. She'd locked herself in her bedroom for nearly three days since Chance came and told her of Devon's passing and only now did she venture out.

Her emergence wasn't due to some need to clarity, or reflection on the world or even to heal. The only reason she was out was so she didn't have to listen to her mother try to convince her to go outside, or to see Chance or to do something while trying to hide her own tears from her daughter. She was furious her mother had gotten so emotional over Devon's passing. She'd never really seemed to like him to begin with and was convinced she was acting it up for sympathy.

She wasn't really looking where she was going, her eyes focused on the sidewalk and her head down. Jordan sniffed a little, not having any fresh tears to cry at the moment and not knowing where she was going, all she could do was wander aimlessly.

Who: Alejandro
Where: His house
When: Just before dawn

It was nearly dawn when Alejandro finally stumbled to the front door of his house and inside, to safety and rest and retreat in humiliation. He left behind him bloody, staggering footsteps, and a smear of blood on the door handle. It had taken him from almost midnight to now to even get home.

The leeches might not have won... but they almost did.

Who: Thom and Isaac
Where: Isaac's room?
When: Late afternoon?

who: oz and sophie
where: their house
when: mid afternoon

Sophie had breathed a sigh of relief seeing the news that morning, but hardly dared believe it. This wasn't how it happened - they didn't just 'go away'. At least, they hadn't last time. What had been the difference here? Had more people fought back? Had this been a smaller group? Had there just been something more interesting downstate? She had to smile at that last thought - the idea of a group of bloodthirsty vampires being distracted by something shiny was somewhat amusing, after all. She'd spent the morning on the phone to the insurance company, reporting the fire damage and arranging to have the claim forms emailed to her and now she was in her study, trying not to give herself a headache filling them in as she was asked to explain how the fire had started. In the end she'd gone with 'vandals' and hoped nobody would ask too many questions.

Oz had been assessing things with Billy a little more earlier, and after Dean had returned--then gone and fetched Lullaby and immediately gone to hide in his room, he figured it was around time he had a talk with Sophie about the living situation. What with it probably changing and all. So, he went to find his wife and found her in her study. Walking up behind her, he tugged the hair off of the back of her neck and pressed a soft kiss there. "Busy?" he asked, ticking his gaze to what she was working on. Ahh right. Insurance shit. Which he was soooo not at all taking any part in. She took care of that kind of thing.

Who: Corwin and Sammy
When: Early morning on up.
Where: The internets

It was a battle of wills. Or a battle of will. Singular. Sammy was awake in the wee hours of the morning for the...well, he'd lost track of how much sleep he had missed in the past few days. Point was, he was awake still. And debating whether or not he should email the vampire who had saved him and Geo - well, mostly Geo? - the night (morning?) before. The email was written out and the ancient mouse hovered over the send button. Should he send, or should he trash the missive?

He thought.

And he thought.

And he hit send.

Your message has been sent.

4:13AM, Wednesday, September 12
Music: None

I think I'm going crazy. First taking feeding donations when I *know* I shouldn't, then chasing down Acherus and *killing* them, and now thinking about *kissing* someone. Oh, and then chasing down *more* Acherus, and prowling around making sure the town is well quit of them before I came home.

It beat freaking out about the kiss thing.

Who: Mya, Brian, Marlowe, and OPEN =D
When: 3:45 – 8:00
Where: Mya’s Diner

Mya was bustling around, the last of the customers had just left and she was helping by cleaning off the last of the two tables and bringing the dishes into the back. “Can someone make sure to grab the cake from the fridge and get it into my office before Brian gets here?” She asked, as she slipped into the back by to drop off the dishes. “And get the party platters on the counter!” The end of the shift had been a little busier than expected but she had a good team (and more than normal as a few extra employees stopped in to help set up for Brian- some without having to be asked). Mya tucked a bit of loose hair behind her ear and quickly got out of the way of the platters of food that were zipping by her.

There were streamers put up around the counter and balloons along the booths, the cake was hidden until later but the platters of hour’d’ouvres were out. There were crackers and cheese, chips and dip, tortilla rolls with cream cheese and turkey, fruit with a marshmallow dip, mini cucumber and avocado sandwiches, bruchetta strips and a bacon, cheese and artichoke dip with toast points. Mya was good at cooking meals, but she was even better at snack food and since there wouldn’t be an actual meal served there were lots of snacks.

Who: Brian and Anton
Where: Phonishness
When: Midday

The morning news had been good: what better a birthday present than the announcement, however tentative, that the rein of nightly terror was over? Brian actually felt like he could relax a little, maybe even celebrate a bit. He had a feeling that his birthday party would be a bit happier than a cook turning forty could actually account for, given that news.

People probably want me to say I'm a good person…but I can't. It isn't in my nature to deceive them, and that would be a deception. I'll tell anyone straight out how things are without any sugarcoating. No glossing over or lies.

Who: Brian and Domino
Where: The house, where else?
When: Morning

When Brian had woken up the first time, he was still hovering that two inches above the bed, so he'd rolled over, buried his face in Domino's shoulder, and gone back to sleep. Now, a couple hours later, he woke up to actually feel blankets under him.

Oh, thank god. Stupid backlash. He wasn't teleporting for another month. Or throwing anybody into walls. Except maybe Domino, once his back healed up, but that was something completely different and probably wouldn't include willworking or backlash.

Even better, he wasn't nearly as cold, which meant he wasn't nearly as hot. That was great way to start off a birthday: backlash-free. Would've been better, though, if he hadn't immediately remembered it was his birthday. Bah.

Who: Thom and Kaysen
Where: Thom's basement
When: Morning

Thom had stayed overnight at Isaac's house, though his friend had been quieter than usual. He wasn't happy with where things were right now, but in the middle of vamp!crisis when his protected had knocked herself out doing shit - really not the time for friendship talks, so Thom had been kinda avoiding, just for now.

There'd been a note from his mom when he got home, telling him to watch the news and informing him that it looked like the vampires had moved on. Which was so great he couldn't express it. School still wasn't back in session though, so he headed down to the basement to start clean up, converting it back to the band's room. Maybe he'd be feeling better about things if he could just get that space back. It'd at least give him a neutral topic with Isaac, something he could get the guy over for, something they could talk about that he wouldn't be left feeling that there were undertones about.

Kaysen, when she was physically able to get up and go over to the Harkin's household, did that. She had decided she was going to go shout at Thom after her conversation with Isaac, and she still planned to follow through on that. So, there she was. She paused outside the back door for a moment or two, wondering if she should knock. The past few days had kind of been in and out between both houses, so she actually wasn't totally sure. And anyways, she was there to yell at the guy, would it be weird to knock first? She was thinking about this too much. In the end, she walked in, and checked the basement first, since that was where they'd spent most of their time when she was there, and whenever she was over the house in the first place, that was where she went. "Thom! You in here?"

Who: Doc, Seph, and Syn
Where: The Martens house
When: morning

Who: Thia and Dean
Where: The lake
When: Late morning

Thia had been out with Joshua when Dean had got back from town, so he'd settled down at the kitchen table to read the book he'd picked up from Nevermore, grabbing a pad of paper from the drawer and slotting torn strips of paper into pages that he thought were really relevant or interesting. It wasn't until he happened to glance out the window and see Joshua walking up from the lake alone - and not looking too happy - that he started to wonder. He could just go and ask the guy what was up, but it was the absence of Thia which his mind went to, so he stayed out of the way, heading upstairs and to one of the windows overlooking the back yard, waiting for Thia to appear as well. When she didn't after a while, he decided to head down and see if he could find her.

Who: Sean and Joshua
When: mid-morning, riiiight after Joshua/Lullaby
Where: on the road, their apartment

Joshua didn't want to go back in the house. Even though she wasn't in there, she was still down by the water where he'd left her, he didn't want to go back in that place. Not yet. Maybe he'd send Sophie and Oz a thank you card or something later, but right now? His dumb ass was staying outside. He was almost tempted just to start walking home on his own, to give himself some time without somebody's eyes on him, but he knew that if Lulu went back in without him, Sean would likely freak out a little, and he didn't want to deal with that today. So, standing out by their car, he thumbed a message into his phone and sent it to the angel.

have to leave, just got dumped. out by the car, you coming? - J

who: joshua and lullaby
where: the lakeshore
when: early/mid morning

who: caleb and dean
where: nevermore
when: ass early morning

Who: Olivia
Where: Voicemail
When: Early morning

Hey. I just got your message, so I'm sorry for the late response. I was... yeah. I'm glad to hear you're okay... and I hope you're okay... again, I guess? I saw on the news things were quiet last night so maybe it's over. Maybe. Anyway... okay. I'll talk to you later, okay? Okay. Bye.

Who: Aiden to Eury
When: Early morning
Where: Voicemail

Hey, it's me. I stayed with my sister last night but I wanted to check in on you. I'll come by later. Call and let me know if you need me to bring you anything. Or if you'll be home. Yeah. See you later, okay?

Who: Dean
Where: His house
When: Dawn

Dean hurried out of his room before he changed his mind and just threw the paper in his hand into the bin. He'd been up all night and he was as tired as all hell, but the sun was coming up over the horizon now and he needed to head into town to meet Caleb. He tentatively opened Thia's door, though he knew she wasn't there, before darting inside and leaving the letter on her pillow. And then he left, fast, hellishly fast, before he could change his mind.