September 14 2007

Who: Billy, Maddie, Oz and Lullaby
Where: Billy's house
When: Late evening/ night

Maddie was sort of half hovering by the window, watching down into the drive. Not that she could see a lot, even if they'd turned the porch lights on. It was bloody dark. But she was watching anyhow. She also wasn't fantastically enamored with her evening with Billy being interrupted, but she supposed, those things happened. She was leaned against the wall, and she glanced over at her boy. "...still not sure what this is all really about." she said, frowning. "I also don't remember you lot bein this punchy, but maybe I'm romanticizin my memories of it all." she added. That had a little touch of a half smile on the end of it.

Who: Dean and Oz
Where: Their house
When: About ten minutes after Lullaby left

Dean heard the front door close. He heard the sound of the gravel beneath her feet. He listened until he couldn't hear anymore, until all he could hear were the muffled voices from downstairs. Had anyone else even noticed she'd gone?

He didn't know how much time passed, how long he sat there in the dark, his arms wrapped around his pulled up knees. It felt like an eternity, though he doubted that it was that long. Long enough for her to walk away, long enough for him to go through a whole gammit of emotions and arrive back at emptiness. He stared into the dark until something changed and he took a breath. He didn't feel any different, he'd had no blinding revelations, or great plans, nothing like that. But he'd sat there for long enough and he couldn't do it any longer. So he got up and opened the closet door, blinking in the light. It felt like an age and his room felt empty, but he wasn't staying there and he crossed to the other door quickly, pulling it open and almost tripping over the bunny that fell through the door as he did so.

Who: Dean and Thia
Where: By the lake/inside
When: Evening

Dean's hand was still throbbing when he got back from Maddie's and he'd grabbed himself some painkillers and thrown them back, before looking around for Thia, Sophie telling him that she thought the girl was down by the lake. As he walked down through the trees, he palmed the small bundle of healing mojo from his pocket and ran it over the back of his injured hand, feeling it leave little tingles in its wake. Hopefully it'd help out, though his knuckles were still cracked and swollen.

He emerged out from the trees and onto the beach, heading over towards where he could see his friend sitting, studying the now-familiar book on fades.

Lullaby had wanted to come down by the water and have some quiet alone time, to go over the book she really didn't want to be going over. It was the tone. It was like she could feel accusation pointed at her loud and clear on every page. 'You evil, vile thing, you. Abomination is too kind a word'. or something like that. Either way, she wasn't a fan, and it was hard for her to get through. This was due largely to the fact that a lot of it she agreed with. She'd skipped over some of the finer points about fade creation, and was trying to find out more about her other 'abilities'. Currently, she'd stumbled onto something about mirror travel. Which at once was intensely neat, and absolutely terrifying. She shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she felt her headache sort of worsening. Maybe she wasn't used to being out in the fresh air and sunlight or something, because she kind of wasn't feeling so good. But she wanted to take advantage of being able to go outside whenever she wanted to again, and so was being stubborn about retreating back to the house. Not hearing Dean's approach, she rubbed at the back of her neck lightly, and tried to figure out if she had the brain power to continue reading about the crazy ass world of mirror travel.

Who: Eben and Stacey
Where: out!
When: Early Evening

Stacey sat on the porch waiting for Eben. She could have waited inside, but it was pleasant enough outside she didn't mind. Then there was the benefit of snagging the would-be boyfriend before the parentals got a chance to grill him. She rifled in her purse for her cell phone to check her messages. He was picking her up here, right? She hate to think she got confused and forgot to meet him at the restaurant.

Who: Caleb and Leija
When: late evening/night
Where: Lockwood house
warning: nsfw

Peyton had stuck around for a while, eating pizza and talking. They'd thankfully gotten on some less serious subjects and had generally had a good time. It was weird to hang out with a girl, but Leija thought that maybe she could get used to it. Peyton seemed sweet enough and she felt genuinely better for getting some things off of her chest. But it had made her want to see Caleb, just like a not-necessarily-unpleasant curl in her stomach that had lingered and didn't go away even when she quit talking about him. After sitting around restlessly for about an hour after the other girl left, she'd poked her head in and told her dad she was going out.

Leija walked instead of flying, to work some energy off. Or something. But eventually she came up on the Lockwood's, her steps slowing as she came down the sidewalk. There was a light on and music coming out of the garage. It was familiar music, stuff she recognized from sorting through Caleb's mp3 player. So, confident that it wasn't Mathias in there, she walked up the driveway and peered into the garage.

Caleb happened to be in there, making an attempt at at least assessing the damage done to the car. Which really was equated to 'a lot'. He was figuring he needed to fix the passenger side doorframe as soon as he could, and was idly wondering if he took a sledgehammer to it, if that might help. Fucking vampires and their messing up a perfectly good vehicle. Currently, he was sitting back in a chair he'd snagged from the used-to-be-dining room and had been stored in the garage instead, feet propped up on the bumper, chair leaned back on it's back two legs as he read over one of the few books he'd gotten on car repair. He didn't notice her straight away, considering he was kind of absorbed in his reading, mentally trying to figure out just how long this was going to take, and if he could get it done by winter--which was just around the corner, according to the local types.

Who: Joshua and Lullaby
When: late, 11:40ish
Where: over the phone

Everything had a certain point where it became unbearable. Even good things, pleasurable things, people were built to only take so much of. This was not one of those things, which made Joshua's threshhold of tolerance even lower. He hadn't heard from her yet. Not at all, and it was driving him crazy. Yeah, she'd dumped him, said she needed time and all that, and that was why he'd deleted every text message that he'd gotten halfway through writing to her. And there had been a lot. But laying on his back listening to Radiohead had put him in a certain mood, and one of them finally made it through. She probably wouldn't answer, but he couldn't make himself not risk it anymore.

If he was going to be a man, he had to man up to rejection too. So he hit send and dropped the phone to his stomach again.

Hi. you doing ok? -J

Who: Corwin and Aiden
Where: Outside the Quinlan residence
When: Around 9PM

After speaking to Delilah, apologizing really, about the little slip he'd made in giving her presence away to another dreamwalker in town, and then waiting for Eric's reappearance since he guessed the ghost would be upset if he went without him, Corwin started over to Shannon's to do the same thing. He was as muffled as usual, coat and all, just in case. It might be dark, and Shannon might know about him, but no matter what Regan thought, he still wanted to keep his presence quiet in Marquette. Gin greeted him at the corner and trotted along at his side as he walked down the sidewalk.

It feels like we haven't seen her in days, Eric complained.

"We haven't, really," Corwin admitted. "Everything's just been so busy... at least we know her house was never attacked." Gin, at his feet, purred proudly at the affection in the vampire's voice.

Who: Helen and Marek
Where: A restaurant in Negaunee
When: 6:00 PM

University classes were done for the week - at least for Marek - by four o'clock in the afternoon. He'd made it home before Helen and after a quick perusal of the fridge had come to the conclusion that tonight would be a good night to go out to eat, rather than eating in. Some of the meat in the fridge was, after all, rather questionable. It hadn't taken long for him to get back into the car and pick Helen up as she got out of work. A couple of minutes after that they had both come to the conclusion that neither of them wanted to eat at Mya's Diner, and minutes after that they were on the road to Negaunee.

Who: Judiel and Herbert
When: evening sometime
Where: Tourville somewhere

Judiel felt sort of restless and lonely, though he was supposedly used to being alone by this point in his life. It was just hard, sitting around the apartment, nothing seemed to be keeping his attention for very long. He missed Olivia, and it was a twitchy sort of feeling. It occurred to him around dinnertime that he'd made a promise to check in on Herbert while she was gone. Which he was glad to do. So he tugged a shirt on and walked out of his apartment, locking up behind him out of habit and meandering on down the hall toward their door. Hopefully he wouldn't be interrupting anything. Herbert was a young man, after all, and now had the place to himself. Judi knocked and took a step back, slipping his fingers into his jean pockets.

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: Manhattan and Geo
When: 3pm
Where: The streets near the Marsh's house

Well. That had been silly.

Geo walked down the sidewalk, hands shoved into his pockets. Why didn't you think of that? He'd wanted to talk to Peyton, needed to get out of the house - the two had combined to him wandering over here....

Who: Manhattan and Brian
Where: Winchester Residence
When: Just before 9pm

Manhattan was on couch leaning back, her legs were stretched out with her feet propped up on the low table as she fiddled with her new cell phone trying to get numbers entered into the thing. Her old one had somehow wound up getting smashed to bits against the wall after an incoming call set it off that morning by someone calling at an hour no sane person should be calling. Of course the hunter having one hell of a hangover from the night before did play a bit of a part in the whole thing. And there was that tiny little fact that because she didn't check the incoming number before sending the mobile device airborne, Manhattan didn't know who called or that a message had been left for her on her old phone's voicemail.

Though he never did hear back from Manhattan, and a second call went straight to voice mail-- the phone was off, apparently-- Brian headed out to her place that night, anyway. It wasn't as if they couldn't go someplace else, if they needed to-- though just where that might be, Brian hadn't a clue. The old truck bounced along the road, muddy and even more beat-up looking than usual after the night in the woods, and pulled up to the Winchester house. At least she was definitely home; his big monster dwarfed her black truck when he parked next to her.

He hopped out, staggered a bit as the goddamn knee tried to give way under him, nearly fell as demon-cat bumped him on his way out, then grabbed the door and his cane to keep on his feet. Glaring after Torziel, who was investigating the ground in front of Manhattan's porch, he limped after him, climbed the porch steps, and knocked on the front door, expensive whiskey in his free hand.

Who: Peyton and Isaac
When: Evening
Where: Isaac's house
Warning: NSFW

After leaving Leija's house, Peyton felt a lot better, a bit happier that she got to actually hang out with a girl and talk about things that had been pressing on her mind for awhile. She was also thankful to have a bit more insight to Leija's situation with Caleb. Though she knew Isaac probably wouldn't understand it, that was okay because she had no intention of really telling him about it. Still, talking about him with Leija in a way that she couldn't really talk to anyone else had made Peyton want to see him. Or at least talk to him and hear his voice. On the walk home she pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number, hoping that he was around and could answer.

Isaac was laying on his bed, hands laced over his chest, eyes up on the ceiling, headphones over his ears. 'When The Levee Breaks' for about the third or fourth time. He wanted to learn it, and it was something to keep part of his mind occupied. He felt a little better since visiting Lullaby's grave, though he couldn't really say why. Maybe just being able to tell someone, even if she couldn't hear him. It just helped. He wasn't completely sorted, but he maybe was getting there, and that was something. His pocket started to buzz and he jumped a little, pulling it out. It wasn't Thom, which was good. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that quite yet. Flipping the phone open and moving one side of the headphones, he answered. "Hey beautiful," he told his girl with a faint smile.

I so can't do this.

Who: Corwin and Billy
Where: Corwin's house
When: Around six in the evening

Corwin had been sitting in the basement since five-thirty. He wanted to be ready when Billy showed up, rather than scrambling to get downstairs and get him inside, so waiting in case he was early was the only thing to do. He sat on the stairs, muffled up in all his usual "going out" clothes, from scarf to hood to gloves to boots, and stared at the basement door a little anxiously. This wasn't something he'd ever done, hiring someone to do... pretty much anything for him. Not even when he was alive. Now that he wasn't? Much more nerve-wracking.

Who: Maddie and Dean
When: Afternoon
Where: Billy and Maddie's house

After his run in with Chance, Dean hadn't felt like going back to class. He should have, he knew, but the total fucking insensitivity of that bastard had him riled up enough that he couldn't do it. he wondered, actually, whether the guy had been carrying any electrical equipment and, if so, whether it actually still worked. He hadn't tried to do anything on purpose, but with a mood like that, who knew what might have gone wrong. His own phone had survived though, he noted as he rescued his bike and headed out of school, hoping nobody stopped him.

Who: Sammy, and Buttahfly
When: Five p.m.
Where: The streets of Marquette,

The morning had been chilly, and it was still chilly now as Sammy wandered homeward from his trip to the store. The whole trip had been futile - they hadn't had what he wanted, which was a different type of feed for his ducklings, who were being checked over by a vet - but there was always the internet. He could order feed online, and hopefully it wouldn't take too long. Or something. And the walk itself had been nice - there hadn't been any rain, no vampire attacks, or any zombie attacks. No frog-sized hail. No fire and brimstone, either, or whatever might decide to hit Marquette next. Yeah, it was nice.

To: muted.raven@gmail.com
From: corwinlovescats@gmail.com
Time: 4:06PM

Good afternoon, Sammy. I thought I'd drop a note by to see how you and your brother are doing. Is Geo's eye doing better? Will it heal, or do you know?

Also, I thought you might like to know, but I'm absolutely sure the Acherus are gone. The news is right. I've been looking these past few nights, and I haven't seen a single one.

-Corwin

Who: Aiden and Brian
When: Early afternoon
Where: Mya's Diner

In a much better mood than he had been over the last couple of days, Aiden entered Mya's with the intent on getting a cup of coffee, some food, and something to take back to Shannon until the two of them could, as much as he was loathe to think it, go grocery shopping. His gaze swept around the diner as he walked inside, keeping an eye out for any familiar faces. Walking to the counter, he sat on one of the stools, ignoring the empty booths and tables. He didn't need the space and he felt sitting at the actual counter might mean he'd get better, and faster, service so he could get in and out in a decent amount of time.

Who: Evan and Melia
Where: The lake!
When: Late afternoon

Melia had found herself gradually edging into a much more nocturnal cycle than she usually kept, due in large part to the night she'd spent fighting vampires and being awake. She'd slept most of the day after eating part of the dead human and woken at dusk, spent the entire night awake despite her best attempts at sleeping, and decided she'd had enough of that and wanted to go back to daylight. Or mostly daylight. So she'd forced herself to stay awake as long as she could but couldn't help the short nap she'd taken at the bottom of the lake, concealed beneath a rocky underwater alcove. That meant, however, that she woke in the late afternoon to cloudy skies and perhaps the hint of a coming storm - and definitely hungry.

I'm here. Everything's quiet. And dusty. Like he hasn't been here in a long time.

Who: Chance and Dean
When: Afternoon
Where: Outside

There was the occasional wondering as to why Chance was at school at all. He'd already ditched three classes, and was planning on ditching on his fourth when he came out of hiding during lunch. He didn't want to really admit that he'd been avoiding Jordan and Kaysen, but he was. He didn't think he could deal with either of them given his mood, and knowing he still had to go to Devon's funeral shortly after school. Given how heavy everything felt at the moment, he was pretty damn sure he couldn't handle the mundane atmosphere of class and pretend he actually gave a shit about chemistry or calculus. He was actually kind of wishing he had some weed, even though he hadn't touched the stuff since last winter. The thought kind of made him itchy and restless and he shoved his hand through his hair, moving through the halls quickly to try to get to his destination without incident. Kids were starting to get up and move now that lunch was over and once he was outside of the school, he found the nearest, vacant corner just outside the doors, flung his book bag down and pulled out a dark sharpie marker. Sitting down against the wall, knees drawn up, he spent a couple seconds absently coloring in his nails with the black ink before he got bored and turned the marker against the side of the school building where he began to write, brows drawn together in concentration as he darkened in each, large letter. It didn't occur to him, or he just didn't care, that he was defacing school property. It wouldn't have been the first time and he was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last. No one was bound to catch him out there anyway and if they did? Well, they could be happy he was fucking up the school instead of their car.

Who: Isaac
When: after school
Where: cemetery

Instead of going directly home when class let out, Isaac had wanted to go out walking. His head was full of all kinds of things, not many of which he could actually talk about. So, walking. He'd just wandered a bit, hands tucked in his pockets, until his feet had taken him down toward the cemetery. Which had really been where he was heading in the first place, he'd just taken a roundabout way of getting there.

Who: Peyton and Leija
When: After school
Where: sidewalk, Leija's house

After the last bell, Peyton was quick to her locker to shove her books she didn't need away and grab the things that she did. She thought about going by Isaac's locker to say goodbye, but she honestly felt it might be best to meet Leija out front and just go. Instead, on her way out the front doors, she texted a quick goodbye to Isaac's phone and then shoved her cell in her bag, lifting her gaze to look for the other girl. It felt a bit weird. Not hanging out with Leija per se, but another girl. Most of her friends these days were boys and as much as she cared about them, it just wasn't the same talking to a guy about things. They didn't really understand at times, and really, what boy wants to sit and listen to a girl talk about... well, girl things? Even if Isaac was Thom's best friend and the majority of her 'loyalty' was with Isaac, Peyton sort of felt Leija might need a friend too, being new to town and everything, and maybe she felt the same way about Caleb that Peyton felt about her guy friends. Maybe. She supposed she would find out.

Who: Claire and Joshua
When: lunch, post-meeting stuff
Where: MSHS

Joshua couldn't help but be glad that the meeting on the sidelawn was over. It was a good idea, to keep everybody in touch, that was great and all. He just felt ... out of place there, conspicuous with the tape over his nose and his wrist all wrapped up. That and it really fucking sucked to have to an awkward and brief conversation with Dean. Wasn't his fault, in the end, but still. It was weird. In any case, he was relieved when they all split up. He started around the corner of the school building, board tucked up under his arm, sneakers flopping a bit from where he'd pulled the goddamn laces out of them, on his way back to the sidewalk to go home.

Who: Charlotte, Dean, Herbert, Joshua, Isaac, Peyton, Sammy, Stacey, and Thom.
When: Lunchtime.
Where: Side lawn at school.

Charlotte would have felt much better about this if Kaysen was there. She hadn't been nervous about this until she woke up this morning and realized she had no freaking idea what she was doing. Or maybe everyone would think she was crazy, or that it was a waste of time. They won't. she kept telling herself. If they agreed to show up in the first place, they must think it's a good idea. She just kept telling herself that.

Who: Billy (message left for Corwin)
Where: Phone
When: 9:01am

Hi, Billy Gardiner here. Sorry for not returning your call yesterday. Events in town have me busy at the moment, but I could call round this evening if you're free? Say, around 6ish? Let me know if that's convenient for you.

*****

Who: Billy (message left for Maddie)
Where: Phone
When: 9:04am

Sweetheart? You know, you're allowed to pick up the phone. I hope you can remember how to use the answering machine - I'll call back later. I promise. But anyways, I'm gonna be late home. Mrs Henry's job's bigger than I thought and I have another potential customer to see on my way home. I'll pick up chinese food or something. I love you - I miss you. I'll see you later.

[because I never gave him one before, Joshua's handwriting can be found here.]

Hm. It seems though that out of my other members of my own compound, the thought of remaining in the research facility for a full week to work on data, seems to be rather odd to them. The fact that I brought a mini fridge with microwavable food, a cot, and easy changes of clothing and foam wash made them feel rather... odd.

When one is dedicated to science like I am, one has to truly dedicate themselves to it.

However, my research was rather brilliant. Even though my boss has put me on- how agitating a advised forced vacation...

Who: Regan and Open
Where: Trowbridge Park
When: 1:00amish

The Acherus were gone. That much she knew. For one, the foul stench had been lifted from Marquette. And really, that was the most important thing. Stowing herself away in that house hadn't been good for her state of mind. She needed to get outside and feed. That was where she belonged. Not locked away in some room hiding from the nasty bastards who weren't worthy enough to lick her boots. She was walking the streets of Marquette now, now that it was passing midnight into the wee hours of the morning. Some bars were reopened, so the drunk and weak would be heading home soon enough and if she could find just one who was not a demon, and who did not have their alcohol content level disgustingly high, she would be satisfied.

The streets and sidewalks were looking cleaner. From the looks of it under the street lamps, darkened shops were being repaired and would no doubt reopen soon as well. Marquette was on it's way back, which pleased her. She despised it when outsiders came into her territory and tried to take over. If she hadn't been so sure the Acherus would have marred her beauty, she might have stuck around with Whathisface the other night to show them what was what. As it was, now she didn't have to. They were gone. And the elated feeling was having her feel a bit devious. Humming to herself, she walked through Trowbridge park, biding her time until a new plaything came along.