|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Jul 5, 2008 20:32:32 GMT -5
The mention of a ‘stray curse’ brought unbidden an image from a Harry Potter book to mind, though he was pretty sure people didn’t go around blasting at people with wands in real life. Though that didn’t mean curses didn’t ‘stray’... This girl should win a prize for vagueness, he thought as he listened to her story. She was very good at telling just enough for him to get the gist, but nothing more.
The half-humored thoughts drained from his mind as Sarah continued up to the part where she was a dangerous threat to those around her if she ‘slipped up’. What did that mean? Did she just randomly flip out and try to kill people? No, she said ‘certain times’. But again... what did that mean? Between the hours of 4 and 5pm? Valentine’s Day? Every other Wednesday? Kasen shifted in his chair, watching her with an expression of mixed pity and caution.
”You have a chance to get out of this life. Don’t make an effort to stay trapped in it.”
If only it were that simple. The truth was he was trapped whether he hunted down the Group or not.
“I haven’t got much choice,” he replied stiffly. “There’s nothing to go back to anymore.”
His family was either dead or as good as dead, his friends probably thought him a killer or dead or both, and Lindsey... Even if he could find her, who knew what she’d think of him now. She deserved better.
Without this one goal, terminating the Group, he had no purpose. He’d be little more than a lost soul wandering the streets, trying to avoid attention, but at the same time, trying to survive.
He shrugged and gave a small laugh devoid of humor. “Of course, it’d help if I actually had a lead. These people are like rats. Hard enough to track down even when you know they’re there, but when they up and leave, finding them again is enough to make your head hurt.”
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Jul 7, 2008 10:25:16 GMT -5
This conversation had started getting personal fast. It was hard to believe that only minutes before she had woken up and found herself tied to the bed, his captive. Afraid of him, hating him... and now she actually found herself wanting to do what she could to help him.
She shifted uncomfortably, glanced out the window again, and then released her hold on the curtains so that they fell shut, leaving the room noticeably darker. More fitting atmosphere for the Halloween-style "scary stories" the pair were sharing, she thought wryly.
"Well..." She frowned, considering, as she moved back to sit at the edge of the bed, coming face-to-face with Kasen where he sat on the bedside chair. "If these guys are as bad as you say, using magic on others, killing people, I can't imagine that some Hunters haven't heard of them. I mean, those guys are ridiculously good at tracking down the supernatural, trust me. They've got, like, a lo-jack on it or something..." Eve paused, pursing her lips as a familiar shiver raced up her spine at the memories of the Hunters' relentless skill.
"Have you tried asking around the Roadhouse or the Wolf's Den? I can't believe they wouldn't be able to point you in a direction, at least."
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Jul 7, 2008 16:09:53 GMT -5
Kasen unconsciously sat back just a little as Sarah sat down before him, psychologically increasing the space between them. He couldn’t hide a half-hearted smile at the lo-jack comment, but...
“‘Hunters’?” he asked. “Like... ‘I’m going out into the forest to hunt me some deer hunters’? Or... are you saying that there are official ‘things-that-go-bump-in-the-night-hunters’?”
Why not? He’d met a few people that might have fallen into that category. He hadn’t asked what they’d done for a living though. He wondered for a moment if she was just playing with him. ‘Hunters’ who traveled around chasing the spooky things and hung out at ‘road houses’ and ‘wolf dens’? It reminded him of a fantasy novel. Or more accurately, a horror novel.
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Jul 14, 2008 12:19:39 GMT -5
Eve was more than a little shocked that this stranger who had found out about Wheton's Shield, not to mention learned its location, was somehow ignorant of the existence of Hunters. It wasn't as though they went about announcing themselves or anything, but in her experience, once you entered the world of the supernatural it was pretty hard to avoid them.
Then again, this guy probably didn't have hordes of them specializing in killing him.
This would take some explaining.
"Yeah, um... Hunters." How could one describe them? "I guess you could kind of see them as vigilantes. Like a bunch of real life Batmans or something. Usually when people get a whiff of the supernatural, either seeing some sort of creature or being attacked in the dark or whatever, they find a way to convince themselves it was just their imagination... or that they're so traumatized that they're remembering something more insane than what really happened. And they find a way to go on with their happy, normal lives."
Eve sighed, rubbed her hands together, feeling a chill up her spine that had nothing to do with her thin sweater and the motel's poor heating.
"Then there are people like us, that get pulled in against our will, by something we couldn't hope to ignore or escape, no matter how much we might want to. That cult chasing you around and my... my curse, keeps us trapped in the supernatural world whether we like it or not."
She paused, narrowing her eyes at Kasen. He was tracking down that cult of his, wasn't he? Did that actually make him some sort of Hunter? The idea made her nervous.
"And... then there are Hunters. People that get involved in the supernatural, in one way or another, accept that it exists, and then pledges to wipe out some of the... less pleasant aspects of it." And then there were those that were just plain psychotic, enjoyed killing things and went after the supernatural because they knew they wouldn't get jail time for it, but Eve wasn't going to mention that just yet.
She met Kasen's eyes, waiting to see his reaction to all this new information.
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Jul 16, 2008 18:29:20 GMT -5
Kasen sank back further in his seat, trying to absorb it all. Hunters. Supernatural hunters, no less. People whose self-appointed job was to destroy the supernatural things that plagued the planet. Sarah’s description started his imagination wandering as he tried to picture how they might appear. Then suddenly, and quite violently, the image of a normal hunter that he’d been playing with vanished quickly from his mind, replaced instead with-
A bearded man in a torn and sullied long coat. He wore a cross around his neck and an old beaten-up book of Latin stuck out from his pocket. He held out a knife of silver, his eyes were hard and stern, but he was breathing hard and blood ran down the side of his face. He wasn’t staring at Kasen but at someone at his side, a partner who was speaking words that Kasen didn’t hear. Kasen saw the weapon in his own hand, a .45, which he had just drawn. He lifted the gun without thinking, pointed it at the bearded man, and fired.
The moment of recollection went by in a flash and at the sound of the shot and the sight of the spattering blood, Kasen’s eyes shut and he looked away from Sarah automatically with a sharp intake of breath, as if closing his eyes here would block it out from his mind. It never did.
Hunter. The term had applied to that man. Kasen was sure of it. He’d just never remembered hearing it that way until now.
Trying to cover his odd behavior and to recover from the violent re-emerged memory, Kasen rose from his chair, clearing his throat. It was his turn to stand.
“Hunters, huh? They, uh... They sound like they could be helpful.” The man stepped back behind the chair. For a moment, his mind went blank and he just looked around the room idly. Then the obvious next question came to him. “So you mentioned a place called the Roadhouse or something? Where’s that?”
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Jul 31, 2008 14:10:59 GMT -5
It took a moment for Kasen to absorb Eve’s words, but once he had, his reaction was somewhat worse than she had hoped. He blanched, squeezing his eyes shut and taking in a sharp breath. Eve was pretty sure she’d just given the poor guy a mental overload. It was too bad… she’d really thought that the Batman analogy would soften up the news for him.
To his credit, though, Kasen’s meltdown only lasted for a few seconds, before his color started to return and he rose to his feet. Eve waited patiently for him to process, focusing intently on his movements and trying hard not to remember her own revelation about Hunters. She’d been so excited by the prospect, thinking for sure that they’d be able to help her.
She’d thought wrong.
“Hunters, huh? They, uh… They sound like they could be helpful.” Eve fought a wince. That had pretty much been her reaction, minus the oozing dollops of excitement that had flooded her heart and tone back then.
Eve didn’t hate Hunters, by any means. If only they’d just stop trying to kill her…
“So you mentioned a place called a Roadhouse or something? Where’s that?”
And now she’d be guiding Kasen straight into the lion’s den… except the lions wouldn’t be coming for him, and as long as Eve didn’t run into Molly or any of her other less than accommodating acquaintances, a visit to the best-known Hunters’ retreat should go off without a hitch.
Right… as long as everything went exactly as planned. How often did that happen?
Still, though, Eve couldn’t bring herself to just point Kasen in a direction and let him walk away. Not so soon after losing her last and only lead. And, who knew, maybe a visit to the Roadhouse would be able to set her on a new path, even if Kasen couldn’t.
Huffing out a long, weary breath, Eve resigned herself to an endlessly long day. She stood up, rolled her shoulders tiredly, and met Kasen’s gaze.
“We’re lucky – the Roadhouse isn’t that far from here. Maybe two or three hours’ drive… if we get a ride somehow, that is. And before we go anywhere, we’ve got to pick up my stuff from that creepy manager guy – he’s probably confiscated it by now, since I was supposed to be checked out same time you were.” She paused for a moment, considering, and then added decisively, “And we’re gonna need coffee. Lots of coffee.”
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Aug 2, 2008 13:15:52 GMT -5
“Woah, woah, woah. Wait a second. ‘We’?” The words escaped him even before he had a chance to think the idea over. He leaned back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and considered the young woman before him.
On the one hand, she seemed to know what she was talking about. On the other hand... Kasen didn’t really do partners. Granted that was in part because there hadn’t really been anyone to partner up with... But that wasn’t the point. He didn’t want to have to look out for anyone else. If these hunters were what she said and what he remembered, they could be dangerous, or at the very least attract danger. He also didn’t favor the idea of having this near stranger, nice as she was without a shovel in her hands, getting involved more than she already was.
‘What are you thinking? You pretty much spilled your guts to her already,’ part of him thought. ‘Just don’t get her into trouble and it should all be ok. ...And watch out for that curse of hers...’
Like he had any idea what to look for. It would be nice if she were a bit more descriptive about it.
Sure. Why not? They just had to find a car to hotwire (not easy, but doable if the girl wasn’t going to call him on it) or wait for the next bus or something. “You sure you rather show than just tell me where it is?”
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Aug 3, 2008 0:22:29 GMT -5
Eve wasn't particularly surprised by Kasen's reaction. After all, she hadn't been too hot on the idea, herself, only thirty seconds before. Still, his immediate incredulity left her confidence of moments before a little shaken.
True, she had reasons to want to go with him - not the least of which being that she would probably end up at the Roadhouse within a few days, anyhow - but he still was practically a stranger. Even supposing that she completely forgave him for having tied her up (she had, after all, hit him pretty hard with a shovel, which somewhat evened things out), there were other things to consider. Eve had made a few allies in the supernatural world, but for the past few years she'd made a point not to travel or stay with them, especially not during the full moon. At best, her nocturnal lifestyle raised questions. At worst, she accidentally fell asleep and tried to kill her poor, unsuspecting companions.
But this was the last night of the full moon for this cycle, so chances of slipping and hurting Kasen were slim. Especially since he had the amulet - even if she did, gods forbid, change, it would be safer to do it beside Kasen than anyone else she could think of.
That thought, more than anything else, solidified Eve's decision.
Pushing her hair back off her face with one hand, and sighing slightly, she replied.
"Look, it's not like I have any other pressing places to be at the moment. Wheton's Shield was my only real lead in a long time and it... well..." She trailed off, wincing. "Well, that worked out about ten-thousand times worse than I'd hoped. I might as well head to the Roadhouse to see what I can hear about other antiw-" She caught herself quickly. "Curse stuff. Besides," shrugging, "it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. Not really a place they want just anybody finding and wandering into, if they can help it. Makes it safer to discuss supernatural business more openly, and all. It'd be a lot easier to show you the way than give you directions. You know... if you don't mind the company."
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Aug 6, 2008 17:21:28 GMT -5
He looked away from the girl as she reiterated just how bad losing the amulet was for her, feeling again a little guilty that he’d gotten what he wanted out of the deal. Not that he could help it, really, that Wheton’s Shield hurt her. He considered her offer again and this time nodded almost right away.
“Sure, all right. Company is good.”
Kasen straightened with a sigh. “Ok, Sarah. I’ll get my things together, you’ll get your things, we’ll get some coffee, we’ll find a vehicle... And we’ll get going. There’s not going to be another bus until tomorrow and I’d prefer to be out of here before then, what with the whole grave defacing of last night. Maybe we can hitch a ride or ... something.”
Kasen stepped lightly back to his chair, picking up his book and glancing about the room to take a mental inventory of his personal items.
“Do you need any help with the ‘getting things department’? The manager is a real shifty character.”
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Aug 14, 2008 10:16:13 GMT -5
Eve felt a guilty twinge in the back of her mind as he spoke.
Sarah...
It was one thing to lie to a creep that had tied you up, but deceiving your new ally with something as basic as your name just seemed... well, too deceptive for her tastes. On the other hand, what was she supposed to do? Just say, "oh, by the way, I totally lied about my identity a few minutes ago. Can we still be pals?" She wasn't sure that would go over well.
Well, it's not as though my real name's even that big of a deal... I mean, we're going to stay together until we get to the Roadhouse, and then part ways anyway... right? There's no real need for him to know my real name.
She felt as though she were skating on pretty thin ice with that one, but there wasn't really much to do about it. It was either risk his possibly finding out later, or tell him now and put an immediate strain on their new alliance. She'd risk later, thank you very much.
She felt the twinge again when Kasen offered to help get her things from the manager. That was something a real ally would do. Lying about names... not so much.
Lying about names... shoot. If she was planning to keep up with her lie then Kasen couldn't be around when she went to the checkout counter. She'd used her own name (figuring that it would be safe enough, since she hadn't heard from any of the Hunters prone to track her since she got back from Europe) and she didn't want that raising unnecessary questions.
Why do I lie myself into these situations...?
With a forced smile, Eve shook her head.
"I should be good on my own. Once I pay up and return the key he'll really have no choice but to give me my stuff. I'll meet you in the parking lot in a few. ...But, thanks."
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Aug 19, 2008 18:17:56 GMT -5
Kasen nodded slowly and looked back to his things. “Ok then. Try not to let him charge you much more.”
He was pretty sure his offer to assist had either offended the girl or creeped her out. Not unreasonable. All the same he kept a subtle eye on her until she left the room. When he was safely alone he looked back to his stuff, realizing that he'd packed already when the bus had still been an option. He stuffed the few items that he’d since removed to occupy him while Sarah had been unconscious back into his bag, then collapsed on the chair.
What were they going to do about a ride?
Kasen toyed with the idea of stealing the troublesome manager’s vehicle, but he would be a reasonable suspect. No doubt the man could spin quite a tale for the police, making Kasen’s simple late payment seem more malevolent, severe, and suspicious. No. He’d have to get a car that belonged to someone he’d not had any interaction with...
...Or they could hitchhike. Why was stealing the thing that came more easily to mind these days? The trouble with asking for a ride was that if they asked and came up with nothing, stealing a car would be that much more difficult since the people asking for a lift would be the obvious suspects. Another problem with hitchhiking: he didn’t have enough cash to get them anywhere useful. He doubted the girl did either.
Kasen sat forward, rubbing his temples as, for no reason, the memory of his assassination of the Hunter came back to mind. ...What if the people he was going to see knew that man? What if they’d seen his face?
What if they wanted to return the favor?
With a scowl, Kasen pushed his doubts to the back of his mind and grabbed up his bags. He had to stay the course. The Hunters at the Roadhouse were his only lead. Locking the door behind him, Kasen realized that he’d have to follow Sarah to the office anyway to return his key. Hoisting up his bags, the man made his way towards the office.
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Aug 25, 2008 12:25:23 GMT -5
Eve's nervous pace picked up as she moved up the line of rooms to the manager's office. She'd gone back to her room first, poked her head in, just in case. Perhaps the manager had been so pleased with himself after wrangling extra money out of Kasen that he'd decided to leave the other late tennant alone for a while.
There had been no such luck. Simply poking her head into the room had revealed that her backpack - still packed and unopened - was gone from where she had tossed it beside the bed the night before, and a messily scrawled note atop the green comforter told her to see the manager if she wanted it back.
He'll have pawed through it, already. He's the type, as long as he thinks he can get away with it he'll do anything.
And then he would find it. The names, locations, and... most importantly... species information she kept stored in an inconspicuous address book. He would find the knives. The crosses. Everything else she had been able to carry to defend herself in the dark of this supernatural night she kept throwing herself into.
And the tape recorder. She could just see him, his beady eyes curiously landing upon the small contraption. He would pause, scratching his unshaven chin, before oh so subtly flipping it on with his finger. Why not, he would wonder. The recorder was officially his until the girl returned to pay him back. It wasn't as though he had much else to do while sitting at his desk, and maybe he'd find something entertaining on it.
And he would...
She was nearly running by the time she made it to the office door, and burst inside with the force of a hailstorm. The door hit the wall with a crash that nearly made the middle-aged manager, on an old, rolling chair with his booted feet atop his desk, tumble to the floor. He started, cursing, waving his arms out to re-balance himself as the chair wobbled wheezily under his weight.
It only took Eve a moment to realize that her fears had been unfounded. Her bag was nowhere in sight, and a small TV at the corner of the manager's desk was blaring plays of some sport of another. He hadn't gotten bored enough to look through her things. ...Yet.
As Eve assessed the scene before her, the manager set his feet on the ground, steadying himself, and then looked up at her, glowering.
"The hell's all that about, girl? If you've got someone chasing after you then you'd be better off turning around and leaving. I don't need no trouble around my establishment."
Eve's apology for her lateness froze in her throat at the man's words. She stared at him, dumbfounded, wondering if he was kidding. The hard, disapproving look in his eyes suggested he wasn't.
"I, um... no. Nothing like that. I was just out. Getting breakfast. And I... well, lost track of the time. There's this great cafe down the street, you know, with really amazing nutmeg coffee, I was just..." She trailed off, realizing that, as usual, she was rambling. "Anyway, I'm from room 112, and I have my room key. So if I could have my backpack now..."
The man scowled, then, with exaggerated effort, pulled his log book forward and flipped it open to the proper date's page. Under his breath she could hear him muttering something that sounded distinctly like "...Out of towners... think rules don't apply just 'cause they don't live here..."
Eve took a cautious step forward and his head snapped up, eyeing her greedily.
"Room 112. Eve Vardell. You only paid for one night. Other people need to stay in these rooms too, you know. If you're late getting out, I can't let them in. You've got no idea how many customers I might've had to turn away since you were late giving back that key."
Eve winced. So he wanted her to pay for another night she wouldn't be spending there.
Small towners...
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Sept 2, 2008 20:06:35 GMT -5
Kasen strode towards the office, noting as he went the lack of useful vehicles in the parking lot. Of the ... three that were parked there, one looked like it wouldn't make it down the street let alone to a highway, another looked expensively out of place -a car that would be missed far too quickly- and the last, though it appeared in tact and road-worthy, was the manager's own vehicle. He’d have to look elsewhere for a car. ...There’d been a good pick in the lot outside that semi-classy bar downtown the other night...
As Kasen approached the office he could hear Sarah and the manager talking. Their rather one sided conversation becoming understandable just when the manager got to the familiar part about all the trouble he’s had to go through because they were twenty minutes late. ...Or whatever.
“Of course,” he muttered to himself. He hesitated outside the open door a moment, not sure he wanted to interrupt, then strode in anyway.
“Here’s the key. I’ll be outta your hair now,” he said when the manager looked up. He gave Sarah a small shrug as he stepped up beside her and held out the key to the disgruntled manager, making sure to hide his displeasure with the man.
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Sept 18, 2008 16:44:15 GMT -5
Eve jumped as Kasen entered the room, interrupting the manager's rant. Her eyes darted to him for a moment, briefly assessing for a hint of shock in his eyes. Shock, anger, outrage.
She saw none, nothing hidden behind his casual gaze.
He didn't hear.
Only a few seconds earlier, and he would have known about her deception, her real name. She didn't know whether that thought made her relieved or just more nervous.
As the Kasen handed the manager the key, Eve spoke up.
"Well, I’m really sorry about missing the deadline. I mean, I should have expected that more people would have wanted " She allowed her gaze to carry to the empty parking lot for a moment, before glancing back at the man with a shrug and a sweet smile. "So how about this? I'm here half an hour late. I'll pay half the fee for the next night. That's fair, right?" It was definitely tiring, keeping the sarcasm out of her tone. It kept trying to creep back in as she pulled her wallet from her pocket and dug out a few bills. The manager looked dubiously at the money, but Eve’s innocent smile seemed to unsettle him. Finally, grumbling wordlessly, he accepted the bills and pulled her backpack up from under the desk, slamming it onto the hard surface.
“Now just get out of here, alright? Don’t need troublemaking out of towners around here.”
“Thanks!” Eve’s over-bright smile held as she turned away and began to move out the door.
That man had most definitely picked himself the wrong occupation.
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Sept 25, 2008 16:51:19 GMT -5
Kasen watched the girl as she flashed the grumpy manager a winning smile and got away with only paying for half of the next night. He was impressed. With backpack in hand –apparently her only luggage- Sarah headed for the door. Kasen remained propped against the counter a moment longer, watching her go, then he looked back at the grumbling manager and gave a small amused shrug and followed her out. Once they were out of immediate hearing range Kasen found himself laughing.
“Nicely done! I don’t think I could have pulled that one off. Despite the fact that I, myself, don’t have quite the charming smile you do, I wouldn’t be able to keep the sarcasm from my voice or that smile on my face!”
Smile on my face. With that statement he realized that he was enjoying himself. The look on the manager’s face had been priceless! He felt the veil of oppressing darkness that had been pretty much present 24/7 for the last several years lifting just a bit by this brief encounter with a near stranger. Yet after having its constant presence hanging over him for so long, having it lifted now left him feeling exposed and with a thought he yanked the veil back down, the sparkle dimming in his hazel eyes.
Kasen reminded himself they were on a mission and looked around the parking lot yet again. Still nothing had changed and even if it had, he was sure that the manager was watching them from the office window.
“Anyway,” he said gruffly, “Any ideas for a way out of here? Mine are somewhat illegal, but they seem the only options to me.”
He was only half surprised how bluntly he’d ended up putting forth that criminal aspect. He didn’t look at his new companion, feeling a little sheepish.
|
|
|
Post by Eve Vardell on Oct 10, 2008 0:04:42 GMT -5
At her companion's abrupt change in attitude, Eve felt her own smile slide off of her face. For a few seconds, there, she'd felt normal again. Like she was back in high school, laughing about a teacher who was too full of himself, or reveling in narrowly escaping detention for being late to class one too many times.
Not that Eve had ever had to talk her way out of detention in high school, but if she'd been allowed a few more years at it, maybe she would have. It's strange, the things you regret.
Then again, if Eve had a choice between cutting class and having to sort out illegal transportation, she'd take the former any day. But seeing as she didn't really have that option...
"I don't know how to hot-wire, so that'll be on you if that's what we decide. No buses, forget trains, and it would be a couple days if we tried to walk it." Her voice was low and even, eyes sliding left and right as she spoke. The motel looked basically deserted, but small towners were big talkers, and Eve didn't want to be run out of town because word got around that she and Kasen were the next Bonnie and Clyde. "Hitchhiking gets you nowhere these days - especially if there's more than one of you. And anyway, no one's going to be heading toward a little, out of the way Roadhouse even if they do stop for us. So if you do know how to get a car to work..." She sighed, fighting back the stab of guilt that was poking harder at her insides every time she uttered the suggestion. "I say we head back to the bus station. People sometimes drive their cars there and leave them in the lot while they go on trips out of town. If we take one from there the owner probably won't even realize it's gone for a few days."
|
|
|
Post by Kasen Rowe on Oct 17, 2008 15:20:38 GMT -5
The bus stop. Of course, that made sense. ‘Smart kid,’ he thought as he glanced down at her with a small nod of approval. He just hoped that in a small town like this, that everyone didn’t just walk to the bus stop. “All right then. To the bus stop. Let’s do some brief recon, see what’s there and then we can be on our way.” Finally. The acquisition of Wheton’s Shield was an important step in his journey, but these Hunters... They were specialists in this kind of thing. The Supernatural. They would be able to point him towards the Group and help him towards the ultimate demise of those whose existence had plagued him for so long. With the smallest of smiles, if not somewhat dark, Kasen strode off towards the street, beside his new companion. [continued Just South of Nowhere]
|
|