New Port Richey, Florida, 2:21 AM

---

Like many nights, this was a hot and humid one in a near-perfect summer night in Florida. Except it was muddled by the oddity of the night. And this was an oddity in a state full of them.

"... If its the fuckin' Smith dog again," A man said as he pulled out his shotgun and slid open the back door to his house. He heard a strange sound, like something being attacked and eaten. He rolled his eyes as he walked out the back door wearing nothing but his sandals. He walked around the side of his house with his Remington in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He kept walking as he reached the side of his house and shined the flashlight on it...

... and almost dropped his flashlight on the sight. He saw a woman laying down on her back with her eyes wide open and her neck slashed - the metal smell of blood filled the area as he noticed her chest was torn open. A creature... that's what he interpreted it as, reached inside of her chest and pulled out her heart. This creature barely looked human... except it did. It had chalk-white skin, long, spindly limbs that were almost skeletal and not an ounce of fat or anything on it almost as if it hadn't eaten for years. Its cheeks were sunken in and its teeth were sharp as razors... long and needle-like. It had glowing red eyes and had claws that were like fingers but freakishly extended. Its claws were ending in long nails.

It looked at him as the man dropped his flashlight and pulled out his shotgun. He fired a blast but that did nothing to the freak as it lunged for him...

---

"Third one this week..." One of the Sheriffs said as they stood over the massacred body of somebody. Or what looked like it, the body was so thoroughly eaten and slashed to bits that it was barely identifiable. The only thing that was left was the skeleton and what blood that wasn't lapped up. It was behind one of the many, many, abandoned businesses in Port Richey and it was merely reported as.

"What the fuck is going on these days?" Another sheriff asked. "Ever since they rolled in."

They heard the sound of high heels clicking against the ground and the two turned around to see a tall Asian woman in a black suit walking up with an African-American girl with braids tied into a bun also in a suit.

The Asian-woman was quick to pull out her badge and present it to the two.

"Hello, I am Supervisory Special Agent Meifeng Liao," Meifeng introduced herself, before gesturing to her companion, "and this is Senior Agent Cindy Jean-Pierre." Senior Agent Keagan quietly waved at him.

"And let me guess," One of the sheriffs asked. "You're going to be taking over this operation?"

"Yes," Meifeng said, "We're going to get to the bottom of this."

---

In the middle of the muddy woods, there was a tall figure... wearing a black robe but had a deer skull covering their face. The figure was freakishly tall and its body was covered by the robe - as the person kept their hands within the robe. They slowly walked through the woods until they reached a sight... an abandoned house in the woods. The figure lifted their head and took in a few deep sniffs before they broke off into an unnaturally fast sprint directly into the building. They revealed their hands - freakishly large with fingers that were each probably a foot and a half long - and dug them into the door.

They ripped the door off as the figure quickly stepped inside and looked inside... the place was overcome with plant-life, dirt, and other elements as the place was falling apart. However, they walked through the house and saw a chilling sight... a woman laid out on the ground with her skull split open with the ax still in her body. She was completely naked, and her body reeked as she was here for a while. The figure probably would have wretched if it wasn't all that unfamiliar. The stranger with the deer skull knelt and read the various things that were written all over her body.

REDEMPTION. BORN AGAIN. FORGIVENESS. REDEMPTION. FREEDOM. GREATER GOOD. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION. REDEMPTION...

"... Saul." The figure muttered to herself.



Every day was a second chance it seemed.

It was beautiful today, the sun was shining and there were no reports of the thunderstorms that Florida was famous for. Madison could feel the sun beaming down on her skin as she walked out of a building - holding five different pizzas and a brown bag on top. Tony's Famous Pizza... it better live up to the name because pizza in Florida sucked. Madison briefly pondered if she should use the Jaws to carry the rest of the pizzas to her car but she decided against it out of fear that there might be some Extra-Normal being or something around. Watching her. After all, she knows that they're a magnet for weirdness and what place is weirder than Florida?

Putting the pizza in the backseat of her car she closed the door and got into the driver seat - Starting her car she got rolling. Fortunately, traffic on the weekends here wasn't as chaotic as the weekdays. Still pretty busy getting from one part of Tampa to the other. Still, there was enough traffic for Madison to get a glance at her Instagram feed. She saw her stripper friends posting pretty much everything about their lives as always and she felt glad that she kept that away from them.

"Them" in this context is the Coven.

Now, Madison didn't exactly hate the Coven, but she didn't trust them. Even though she was one of the founding members of the group since its conception months ago. They were supposed to be "Witches" or something, but most of the time Madison just feels like they were just a social club for lonely, magical, weirdos (and assholes). They weren't bad people, but their bickering and infighting get on her nerves - they don't even have a plan or goal. They can't agree on anything and they end up just hanging out. And, well, if she didn't have a particular problem, then she probably would have never have joined them in the first place.

Still, Madison isn't sure if they have grown on her or not. They're quirky, charming, and not all that boring to hang out with. Now that she's in, well, she guesses that she's in for good. However, they were having another meeting this Saturday and it'll probably devolve into the group arguing for a few hours... before they hang out at the beach. Honestly, she wouldn't mind that. The day was beautiful and she didn't like being cooped up in that dusty casino anyway.

They needed to upgrade - they were "Witches" or whatever the hell they called themselves. And the best they could do was an abandoned building? At least get a place with wifi.

The car came to a rolling stop as Madison approached the Lucky Strike Casino... probably in its heyday it'd be all bright and flashy but it was running out of business by the Hard Rock Casino. None of this bothered Madison, as she still gets enough gambling done as is. Madison grabbed the pizza and walked up and realized that she definitely couldn't open the door on her own.

"... Jaws." Madison muttered to herself as the Jaws manifested.

Normally it'd cover her from head to toe in a truly eldritch mass of bones... but right now all it did was create the skeletal raptor claws which pushed opened the doors for her. With a warming smile and almost appearing vibrantly wearing black-Nike shorts that ended almost at her butt and a black dri-fit T-shirt. "Hey, I got pizz-"

And that was seconds before fucking disaster it seemed. Madison heard she thought was "Quinn" shout,

"Keisha!"

Somebody came flying directly at Madison and before she could even react (or, ideally, get the Jaws up) - the person crashed into her and knocked the wind out of her. All she saw was the sun as she contemplated how life got to this point. She was covered in pizza grease and sauce as all she could feel was the pain of having a grown-ass woman being thrown at her.

"... Oi! Mademoiselle, Madison!" Madison heard the undeniable voice of Claudette as the far larger and heavier woman rolled off of her and helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

Do I look okay you French...

"Y-yeah," Madison stammered out as she looked up as she heard even more chaos. "The hell is going on in there...!?"

"... So that's what would happen!" Madison heard Babylon's ghostly voice as the griffin thingy that Quinn usually summoned went on a rampage through the casino. Except, the thing was even more freakish for some reason... well, she could infer from her interactions with her host.

"Babylon!" Emily shouted, "Drop the curse!"

"Well, why? This is the most entertainment you had in weeks!" Babylon was laughing as she put a hand to her chin and watched the anarchy unfold in front of her. Keisha was still rampaging through the casino.

"Babylooooon, drop the God damn curse, you hear me!" Emily shouted only for Babylon to shrug.

"... Okay," And nothing happened.

"Babylon! Did you hear me?"

"I did." Babylon slyly said.

"Then why is that thing still fucking-" Emily said as Keisha grabbed a slot machine and tossed it in her direction. She rolled off to the side to dodge it and it loudly crashed behind her. "Why is she still fucking us up?!"

"... You never said when." Babylon chuckled.

"Good grief," Madison muttered to herself, "... The Jaws."

Madison was surrounded in a mess of ghostly skeletal bones that formed a transparent shell around herself... there were various raptor skulls, arms, and tails, jutting out of its outer surface that gave it that off look. However, at this point, it barely mattered to Madison as she flew through the air towards Keisha.

... Just another day in the Coven.

Izzy hated the dusty old casino. It reminded her that she was super broke and couldn’t gamble any more. It also was terribly messy, but that was mostly due to the absolute chaos that was currently ensuing. Tables were crashing left and right, and there was screaming and yelling from multiple people. Izzy, just lounged on a comfy chair, her legs swung over the arm of it. In one hand was her phone, in the other a whole bottle of moscato which at this point still had around 3/4ths of wine left in it. She couldn’t help but throw her head back and giggle at seeing Claudette being thrown across the building into Madison.

”Wrow, didn’t know it did that,” She mumbled to herself before taking a long drink of wine. Izzy turned back to the scene of the crime and noticed the ruined pizza on the floor and all over Madison. ”Pizza? Again?” The tipsy girl groaned before swinging her legs to the floor and standing up. It took her a moment to keep her balance as the blood had rushed out of her head. Antheia lingered nearby looking annoyed at the whole situation. The spirit of love had never been a fan of these meetings especially since it felt like her abstraction was always abused here. However, Izzy simply ignored her and carefully skirted around the rampaging Griffin to see if the pizza was salvageable. ”You guys always force me to take a cheat day on my diet. Why can’t we eat decent food like sushi or something. There’s so many vegan restaurants around here, yet we always go with shitty pizza.”

Pouting, Izzy plopped herself on the floor and poked at the pizza remains, which she deemed uneatable. ”Oh well, guess I’ll be skipping dinner tonight.” She sighed and watched as Emily and Babylon bickered, and Keisha continued to run amuck. Then Izzy noticed Claudette was next to her. Wordlessly, she held up the wine bottle in offering. Maybe she should have brought another bottle.

Elise found the dusty casino strangely homey. She liked the wide open space, and the stagnant air. It reminded her a little of a library, the stale smell of dust lingering all around. She found she could stand the other girls well enough, when they weren't fighting and doing whatever was happening now. Elise was trying to read a book on extra-normal theory today, but was already on the verge of switching to a lighter read. Something to take her mind off of this. Should she thumb through a volume of an encyclopedia again, or read a bit of fiction.

Elise looked up from her book just in time to see a slot machine hurdling toward the table she was sitting on. Elise however was not in danger. In fact she was already sitting on a counter across the room, in the same position she'd been sitting on the table. For fuck's sake make that thing stop. I don't come here to get shit thrown at me you know. Just don't move and make as much noise as possible, and shake your arms above your head. If it's like a lion, it should get intimidated and back up." She really hated that she had gotten used to this sort of occurrence. She also was more than sick of Babylon causing this chaos, not that she was about to say anything about it to her or Emily. Emily would scoff and tell her to deal with it, and Babylon... Ellie didn't want to really think about what could happen there. Even with her improved defenses against the paranormal, she was very intimidated by Babylon. She noticed Izumi was able to walk through the chaos and poke at the pizza that Madison had brought. "She's insane..." The young girl thought to herself. Now that she was aware that the chaos was hurting people Elise began paying attention, ready to take anyone out of danger that may need it. Like it or not, the Coven was a team, and she couldn't let her team be hurt, right?

---

Maya hummed quietly as she rolled up to the old casino what she deemed fashionably late, not that they really had a set time to meet up. She swung a plastic bag containing tupperwares filled with gimbap - because there was no better way into everyone’s hearts than homemade food (and to help offset her bitchiness). Not to mention she’d made way too much for herself and it was a shame to waste any food.

She was entirely unsurprised to hear the sounds of absolute chaos from within as she kicked open the door, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the Griffin absolutely rampaging through the casino. But honestly Madison seemed to have it covered. No biggy, this was a regular occurence in their group anyway. It had stopped throwing her off after the first time. Then her gaze slid to the pizza ruined on the floor.

“Now that’s a fucking tragedy,” Maya commented, head slightly tilted as she looked down at the other girls near the pizza. She held up her bag with a grin. “Lucky for you all, I also brought food! It’s ok, no need to thank me, I know I’m great. It’s my mother’s own recipe and everything, all the way from home.”

A lie, because her mother hadn’t cooked a single meal in her life. But Maya had learned to cook from their housekeeper so she guessed it was basically the same thing, right?

She made her way around the chaos and plopped herself on a couch, twisting around to swing her legs over the arm of it and lounging out comfortably. She kept the bag on her lap - cause like hell was she going to put her hard work on a table and risk it being destroyed in the rampage. They’d already lost enough food for the day. And at least when it was with her she could defend herself (and her precious food) from whatever forces may try to collide with her.

Relaxed even with the crashing going on around her, Maya threw her head back to glance at Emily with a smirk. “Never thought you’d be the cause of such a mess, we really must be rubbing off on you.” She tilted her head. “Why don’t we sort out this shit so we can, I dunno, start the meeting.” And finish it so they could all just chill and hang out.

Even as she said it, she didn’t bother to get off her ass to help.

---

---

Mentions:

Interactions: @Ghost Note

Agatha Loom

Agatha had made the accomplishment of being Leader for a whole two weeks of the Coven. She thought it was probably due to her own existent sense of direction, but deep down she knew it was mostly thanks to her not being very combative. Every time one of the other leaders breathed the wrong way, they'd force a revote for their greivous sins. Agatha guessed she just didn't have that level of conflict-generation, due to her own nature.

Still, she knew it was in bad faith for her to have been late to one of the group's own meetings on a Saturday Afternoon. She just tried to write that off as her own effort towards leading The Coven. She sent out a group text to organize the meeting. Most of the members seemed on board, Madison even offering to pick up some pizza. So far so good. But a couple hours before she was supposed to head down into town, Agatha wanted to make sure they had actual things to discuss instead of just hanging out for a couple hours then heading off to the beach, supposing another goddamn fight didn't break out in the middle. So, she decided to trowel the internet for any big recent "weird" occurences, something for them to bring up and... Maybe get somewhere?

Unfortunately, she got a bit too caught on the idea. By the time she printed out enough possible leads on Extra-Normal activity, she saw that she was a bit past the time for the meeting. She went as fast as she could, gathering up her notes and then heading into town, hitching a bus down to the abandoned Lucky Strike Casino. But just as she approached the front doors, she could hear the typical sounds of the Coven-- Yelling, shouting, things getting thrown around?

Jesus Christ.

Agatha walked in and it was about as bad as she expected it; Sin's pet Griffon was going on a feral rage, like an angry house cat but the size of a horse. A few of the broken slot machines were out of playing and lying down. Madison certainly brought the pizzas... Which were currently lying around, smearing the old moldy carpet, as the girl was covered in dinosaur bones and trying to fight Keisha to a standstill. Babylon just hung around, looking smug, while Emily, the Apparition's host, yelled at her. Agatha put two and two together, figuring out that Emily's affixed spirit had gotten bored.

She really didn't want them to trash their lair before she could even do any big leader-things. With that in mind, she decided to try and take a bit of authority. Tried, anyway.

"Hey... Guys, cmon... Stop figh-- Stop... Stop fighting... Guys? Girls? Gals??" Agatha tried speaking up to get everyone's attention, but was drowned out by the fighting between Madison and Keisha, as well as everyone else just chatting and doing their own things.

She knew she didn't have the presence to get the attention of an ancient spirit and a large gryphon. So she decided to improvise. No problem, she guessed. Three of them had already been throwing out Abstractions.

"Everybody C-CALM DOWN!" Agatha yelled, announcing her presence if she hadn't already by opening the doors. She held open her free hand, generating a small orb of light which quickly roiled and grew, about to the size of a baseball. She then gave it a gentle heave, tossing it onto the ground between Madison and the massive gryphon. It splatted against the ground, taking the shape of a dome of yellow light before blinking brightly. Only a few seconds later, it burst, filling the room with blinding light and a loud ringing noise, hopefully enough to shut down the brawl.

"Okay! Everyone, sit down and be quiet if you don't want tinnitus before you're thirty. Emily, tell Babylon to stop bugging Sin's Gryphon. Now. Sin, get a leash on Keisha" Agatha instructed. She tried to hide her own nervousness at basically telling everyone, including a ancient and powerful Apparition, to shut the hell up and listen to her. Though she tried to give the illusion of authority, it wasn't hard to see she was extremely tense, almost about to buckle under terror. Following her own example, she pulled up one of the stools that was tossed across the room, sitting down on it.

Taking a deep breathe to restore her composure, Agatha pulled up the folder she brought with her. Inside were different articles from the past few weeks that she printed off the internet for them to hopefully discuss. She then decided to address the Coven properly, facing each of the members.

"Okay! Sorry for being late, but uhh, if we're done screwing around, we can get this meeting under way." Agatha addressed properly, at least in the event that the rest of the Coven decided to humor her and actually simmer down. Come to think of it, maybe basically throwing a flashbang in the room wasn't the smartest way to get everyone's attention.

Madison's big heroic flight towards Keisha came to a stop as she went in reverse and floated over towards Izzy.

"... Okay, I don't see you offering to buy food," Madison scolded her as the girl poked at pizza. Which was on the ground. Okay, that was some Asian-chick shit right there. There wasn't a whole lot of time as Madison flew right at Keisha (whose names offends her) again... before going back in reverse and pointing at Izzy. "... Also stop poking that, weirdo."

The Griffin threw a slot machine at Sin - and Madison quickly got in between them and the slot machine collided with her as she caught the thing in thin air. Like it was nothing. She looked over her shoulder and saw Sin bitching at her. Okay, now this was already getting to a terrible start.

"... Why are you bitching at me?" Madison asked as she narrowed her eyes at the weirdo. "Does it look like I can do this?!" She shouted over all the chaos.

Then that was when the orb of light was tossed in front of Madison and she really didn't like where this was going. She nervously stared at it... before she shut her eyes in hopes that she would be shielded from the experience of staring at the sun. From ten feet away. Even with her eyes closed, she could experience the eye-searingly bright light and that awful ringing that came with it. When it faded away, Madison was defeated...

"... Thanks, Agatha," Okay, this was a good day gone, horribly, horribly, wrong. Madison was just about ready to go home. Claudette had wrapped herself in a thick sheath of darkness that protected her from the worst of the blast and Madison was suddenly jealous. On the other hand, Emily was screaming as she grabbed onto her eyes as if they were burning.

All while Babylon was laughing and figured that enough was enough. With a snap of her fingers, Babylon lifted the curse on the griffin and it returned to normal. "Thank you all for entertaining me, even for one second." She chuckled as she disappeared. "Until next time!"

Madison shook her head as she floated to the ground and deactivated the Jaws. She sighed, "... I already want to go to the beach." She glanced at Emily and the chick didn't even apologize or anything! Maybe she just thinks just because Babylon is a separate being she had no responsibility for the thing.

Emily merely sighed as she dusted herself off. "Let's get to the table." And sighed. Madison shook her head as she began to float over to the table. Which in this context was two poker tables pushed up against each other and various stools at it so they could sit at it. Madison floated over until she was over one and landed on it, while Emily quickly pulled the stool out with the back of her boot and pushed it back when she sat on it. Claudette quietly sat down on it.

"Oh, Agatha," Claudette asked. "What's on the agenda for today."

"Why are we even actin' like we aren't just going to argue about random shit then go to the beach?" Madison added with a roll of her eyes.

Babylon suddenly appeared in her flaming vestige and had a finger pointed up into the air, "How about we plunge the world into sin and degeneracy?"

"For the last time," Madison said as she sunk her head into her hands. "No."

Elise was not all that surprised to find her advice being ignored. Though to be fair, she had no idea if Griffins had the same behavior as lions. Plus, it was curse. Of course it was a curse. Babylon was out of hand. Unfortunately for Ellie, she had no chance to say another word before a loud flash and bang happened in the middle of the chaos. Even though Ellie managed to close her eyes, she felt dazzled as the flash penetrated her eyelids.

She regained her vision, and had a look of shock on her face as she realized Agatha just made all that ruckus. It definitely stopped the girls though. She hopped off of the counter and took a seat at the table, carrying her encyclopedia. "You know Emily, you should probably try to convince Babylon to stop doing stuff like this. It's nothing but foolish distraction." She shook her head in frustration when Babylon suggested plunging the world into sin. "Seriously...." She muttered. She turned her attention to Agatha again. She honestly liked her as leader... well kind of.

She at least attempted to get these meetings to go somewhere, but unfortunately she didn't usually do so well at it. Still, Ellie wanted to see her succeed. She really related with Agatha.

---

"Oleander, heel."

The Siberian Husky, obedient as ever, stopped a few paces from the alleyway entrance of the casino. The dog turned back to his mistress, a tilt to his head as if to convey his curiosity. Oleander took direction from few people, and being issued a command with such sudden conviction was... unbecoming of his mistress' normal demeanor. He waited for her to catch up with him. Kayla knelt down by the dog, and ran a hand through his fur. Oleander leaned into her touch, ever appreciative of the attention. There were stories upon stories about dogs being heroes. It was why he had taken this form.

A Golden Retriever pulls a baby from a burning house. A German Shepard taking a bullet for their handler. A Labrador calling neighbors when their owner has fallen and cant get up. A Dachshund standing up to bear to defend their home. Stories that were essentially modern legends singing of their feats of loyalty or sacrifice- Hachikō waited for his master for years at the train station. Balto transported the Diphtheria antitoxin six hundred miles through sleet and hail and snow to Nome. It was for this reason what he had assumed this state. A Familiar's job, their whole purpose, was to protect their masters. What better than man's best friend?

Some of his kin followed different philosophies than he did. He understood their choice, sometimes. Depending on their master's place in this world it would be appropriate to assume the form of a bear, or a lion, or something more... exotic. However, these creatures elicited fear in the societies they ventured into. They were met with resistance, and what good was strength if one could not apply it? Similarly, some preferred to be nimble, and oversee from above. Birds of all shapes and sizes, bats, insects... He could understand this philosophy as well. Being small made one hard to spot, and the power of flight? Being able to see for miles was a powerful warning system. As with the mighty beasts, though, it had its drawbacks. Namely the distance they had to maintain to play to such strengths. What good was an early warning if none were there to hear it?

Being a dog was an easy middle ground, Oleander felt. His methods and mentality were tried and true. His experience had lent itself to his shape, for there was no better state than a dog. People didn't question his appearance indoors or outdoors, or the fact that he followed his master wherever she went. That's just what dogs did. They were walked, and run regularly. They were loyal to their keepers and guardians of the hearth. All things considered, they were the familiars of the mundane world. It was a no brainer- the mundane world was the world they were trying to blend into, after all. There were some caveats though. He was a fairly sizable dog, so in some places it was more difficult to hide. There was no perfect solution to that without their disadvantages. There were also many places that did not allow mundane familiars- or 'pets' as they called them. Schools, some restaurants, etc... and while he and his mistress had not exactly been the most considerate of these rules in the past, perhaps she was wishing to be more respectful of a potential 'No food, drink, or pets' ruling that she had seen and he hadn't?

"Give it a few minutes, bud." she instructed, leaning against the wall and taking a cigarette out of her jacket. She was bewitching, like fire standing tall in dark jeans and a maroon leather jacket. She snapped her fingers, and a small jet of flames erupted out from the place where her index finger met her thumb. She lit the cigarette and took a long drag. She could hear the jostling and the banging of people and things inside and a part of her sighed at her party's antics. Kayla detested the infighting, and the group's inability to not shit where they slept for lack of better wording. She didn't take to it, or deal with it at all really. Sure, she was loud and proud and enjoyed being herself (even if she be'd herself all over everyone else)... but she'd do that outside. She kept the paranormal abilities outside, where she wasn't at risk of breaking something she actually liked.

There was an inkling of a flash that peeked out from the bottom of the door, and without missing a beat Kayla snuffed the cigarette out on the wall of the building. "Come, Ollie." she said gently, stepping up the two or three stairs and opening the door for her dog.

The casino was of course, trashed. Agatha looked flustered as she always did- her definition of leadership being more along the lines of 'get everyone's attention and hope they listen'. Unfortunately her most defining personality trait was tall (albeit, she wasn't the only one who suffered from such a affliction) and she had yet to learn the difference between hearing and listening. Kayla herself was guilty of being unable to or unwilling to listen to the younger woman. It wasn't for lack of trying, she was known for her bullheaded stubbornness after all, but she just never found the poor woman saying anything that really worth hearing or committing to memory. That wasn't her fault, though. At least, not entirely.

Stupid, or Sin as she insisted she be referred to and never would be (at least by her), couldn't keep a lid on it or control her familiars per the usual. She seemed upset at something, but Kayla wasn't particularly interested in trying to be the woman's therapist. Emily was screaming a moment ago and collecting herself now- acting only exasperated, probably at something that Babylon did. Madison looked absolutely ready to give up and go home. Claudette was collected, thank fucking Christ... Maya and Izzy were... distracted it seemed. No surprise there that Agatha's call had fallen on half deaf ears. Elise was talking shit to Emily- which was sure to get things interesting again. Riley was oblivious.

Business as usual.

Kayla wordlessly moved from the door to the poker table just as Claudette probed Agatha for whatever she wanted to say. Internally Kayla cringed at the concept of 'the boss' being told to lead, but she kept her passive expression because frankly, nobody asked her and she didn't feel like bringing any more bullshit to the table. Enough was being brought already by the rest of the suicide squad that was bumbling to the beat of their own drums. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and the only thing that reigned her internal strife in was Oleander who had padded along with her and had placed himself under her off hand in what likely a bid for attention as much as it was an effort to comfort her. She was, as always, infinitely grateful for her dog.

"I have actual business, today." she said, her voice carrying an edge of finality and command in her tone. This statement would undoubtedly catch some of their attention. Or at least, the attention of those that actually mattered. Kayla didn't often have business that she didn't handle herself, and when she invited The Coven into her ledger, interesting events always followed. She rested her elbow on the table and leaned into the arm that wasn't scratching Oleander behind the ear. She was uncharacteristically quiet for her usual self, and her bored expression held inklings of the just barely hidden frustration that simmered just beneath the surface. "So lets all cooperate and get the pleasantries out of the way quickly. For once. Please."

When Elise spoke to Emily, she didn't even crane her head around at all. She kept her eyes forward and didn't even flinch, almost as if Elise didn't even speak to her. Unfortunately, it had the side effect of making Babylon appear again in her flaming visage as she looked over to Elise with a hand on her chin.

"Oh, you want me leashed?" Babylon chuckled as she stared at Elise with a smile on her face. "Well then, how about you come and do it yourself? You sound like the kind of person that'd enjoy that kind of thing. Hehehehehe..." Babylon giggled as she faded away again.

Emily sighed as she looked at Elise, craning her neck around almost as if she was forcing herself to do so. For a few seconds, she didn't speak. "Here you go again," Emily started, "Talking to me like you're my equal." She rolled her eyes completely dismissing her.

There wasn't anything more annoying, or pathetic, as this girl merely talking to her annoyed her to no fucking end. Acting like she had a spine... well, if she keeps at it, then Emily was going to tear it out. Through her asshole.

"Don't do it again, sweetie, or I'm going to make sure you don't forget it. Ever."

---

---

Mentions:

Interactions: @Ghost Note @RogueFox @wxps350

Jessica had to work today at "The Core", a small comic store in an unassuming part of town. "Hey boss, I'm clocking out. I got places to be!" A voice echoed from a small side office. "Alright kiddo, give em hell." It was Craig's usual response to Jessica's declaration of departure. Jess hopped into her car and took off to the Coven. Her car was nothing special, just a grey 2001 Ford Taurus. It got the job done. After a short drive she pulled in to the back of the casino.

Jess popped the trunk and got out, locking the doors behind her. She jogged to the trunk and pulled out a long bag that had a strap around it. It was about 3 feet long and very blocky looking. It looked a lot like a case you'd use for a small yard canopy. She slung the case over her back and slid the strap over her shoulder. Today Jess was sporting a grey t-shirt with D20 on it. The die showed the result "20" and under that, it said "Critical!". She had a pair of denim shorts on as well that only covered to about her mid thigh. Seriously, she knew Florida was a warm state, but she didn't expect a bad Indiana Summer day every day. It wasn't all bad though, as she did enjoy the sun and was quickly getting used to the heat.

She walked in after all the commotion died down. This casino was cool as hell, she was glad they picked it. She'd taken the opportunity to look around the entire inside and outside surrounding the casino when they first came here. "Yoooo!" she exclaimed as she walked into the even more trashed than usual main lobby. She sat at the table. Agatha seemed like she wanted to say something (5 bucks says she never gets it out.). More importantly, she heard Kayla's interjection as she came in. She turned to her, a smile on her face. "Like kicking some apparition ass business?" She was glad when the group could manage to actually decide to do something "witchy". She couldn't deny how much fun the beach was though. As a midwest girl, the ocean was quite the site to her.

Jess also noticed that not everyone had made it to the table yet, and Madison seemed especially unamused, she gave a quick nod to Madison after asking Kayla about her business. "Chin up Madison! Sounds like we might be doin' something." Emily and Elise seemed as tense as ever between each other. Jessy even felt a sensation that Emily actually had full intentions to attack.



Elise leaned back away from Babylon and felt very unsafe for a moment. Then Emily chided in with her bitchy tone, saying the usual cliche mean girl stock. Seriously, did she just watch a bunch of early 2000s rom-coms for her personality? Elise of course did not say that, or anything else. She was intimidated by that pair, and didn't doubt that Emily's threat was genuine. She turned her attention to Kayla instead, trying to play off that she had just decided to listen to Covenant business rather than look like the scared little mouse she was.

"Yeah, what kind of business?" She asked after Jess. She wasn't sure she'd be thrilled to hear this either, but it was at least 100 times better than talking to Emily. When it came to fighting Apparitions, Ellie wasn't really any good. She usually tagged along as a quick ride back to the Casino. Sometimes she was able to scope the area in question before they left too, but that was only if they were going somewhere she'd been.

Elise was taken aback by Quinn talking to her. That hadn't exactly happened before. "Of course it wasn't your fault. I... kind of knew your name. I know we haven't talked, but I listen. I also know that you like to work on cars. I can tell by the oil stains and the smell. Anyway, we should at least try to listen to what Kayla has to say, don't you think?" She didn't bother giving her own name, assuming Sin probably already knew it. It was nice to be talked to though. Well, by anyone other than Emily.

It was almost two-thirty, Herik couldn't wait to get off from work. A Coven meeting was called today for two-thirty and he was already late. He knew the meeting wouldn't start on time, because it never did, but he didn't like being late for things. It was rude. He checked his waterproof watch, the second hand ticked-ticked-ticked, until it reached the twelve. Three on the dot and he was done with his shift.

"Excuse me, ladies. I'm off the close." Herik climbed down from the life guard tower, women of all ages, he hoped they were all legal, and colors tried to get his attention. He kept it bright with his smile, but hitched his bag over his shoulder. No use changing out of his work uniform. He could go mostly anywhere bare chested and in his red trunks with the lifeguard sign on it: +GUARD. He dug for the keys to his 2004 Honda Civic. The leg room sucked, but it was all he could afford. It was better than no car at all. He drove to the casino the Coven used as it's hideout. He didn't hate the place. It definitely saw better times, but it had its charms. Too bad it was let go.

The drive over was smooth. He parked the car, grabbed orange his fanny pack with a small notebook in, his house keys, cellphone, and car keys once he's locked up. He makes it to the door, pauses, and turns back to his car. He clicked the lock button again, double checking that he did lock it. He repeated that the car is locked as he entered the building, so he wasn't inclined to triple check. The casino was messier than the last time he came and everyone was tense. Agatha stood in front of the table, Kayla beside her, Ellie and Sin were at the bar, Jessica, Madison, Emily, and Claudette sat at the table, while Riley sat on an old slot machine, Maya on a couch, and Izzy was on the floor. He didn't have many options to sit down, since most of the people that were uncomfortable around him were at the table, plus most of the tension in the room centered around the table, it left him with one option. The bar.

"Good afternoon. Hope your day was better than yesterday." He smiled the brightest he could and let the tension roll off his back. No point getting worked up. He's sure everything will work out. "Come one, Izzy. The floor's no place for a lady." He picked Izzy up off the floor like she was a pillow. No doubt she wouldn't be able to walk with the smell of alcohol heavy on her skin. He sat her on a stool next to Sin, then sat in the one beside her. "So, what's on today's agenda?"

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Nina had to blink several times before seeing the disaster unfolding before her. How long had she been asleep? Was she still dreaming? Drool remained on the table she had just dozed off on. She cringed at the sight. Napping before this meeting had not been the best idea, especially considering the current scene. Extending her arms out in a stretch, Nina let out a yawn. Coffee. She needed more coffee. Maybe ice cream too. Both sounded amazing.

Nina’s eyes drifted back to the griffin destroying the already run-down casino. She definitely wasn’t dreaming. She couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. Even being with the coven for the past few months, she still wasn’t used to this. There was nothing Nina could do as the griffin threw Claudette into Madison. Pizza flew everywhere. “Oh no!” Nina cried out. As much as Nina wanted to help when these fights broke out, she didn’t have an abstraction that would be of much use. Not that she wanted one though. She liked being able to support people. Hopefully no one would get hurt today though.

At the sight of Maya walking through the door, Nina beamed with excitement. She had so much to tell her! It had been almost a week since they last saw each other. She waved before heading over to her. Making sure to avoid the slot machines being hurtled at Sin, Nina found a seat beside Maya. “Maya!” She exclaimed. Even if Maya grew annoyed with her sometimes, Nina really liked Maya and enjoyed her company. “Oooh food! Can I have some?”

When Agatha arrived at the casino, Nina sighed in relief. She held up her arm to shield her eyes from the blinding light of Agatha’s magic as it filled the room. Maybe they’d get to start the meeting soon. Nina didn’t always understand the topics they discussed but it was just nice to be around people like her. She especially enjoyed hanging out afterwards. Except when they went to the beach… Nina’s eyes widened at Madison’s suggestion. Please not the beach... “Maybe we can all stay and clean up the casino instead? We could decorate it too, it could be fun!” She looked to Maya for encouragement.

Ellie stood up from the counter and scolded Emily of Babylon’s actions. Oh no.. Ellie always spoke her mind, it was something Nina admired about her. She could even stand up to the ancient almighty fire apparition. But sometimes, she could come off as a bit cold. Nina flinched when Babylon and Emily bit back. So much negativity… Nina wished everyone could just get along. Everyone could be so much happier if they tried to see each other’s perspectives.

Nina was about to head over to Ellie when Sin stopped beat her to it and introduced herself. “Awww!” Nina smiled at the sight. Friendship! It was a welcomed change of atmosphere.

More people began making their way into the casino. Nina straightened her posture as Kayla announced her business. As serious as Kayla’s tone was, Nina hoped others would begin to sit down and listen. Jess and Herik soon joined the group in the casino and Nina waved to both of them. Things were beginning to look up!

---

---

"Hi Nina," Maya rolled her eyes at the other girl, even as she gave a slight smile. "You sure can... once all this shit is sorted."

As she finished speaking she just about managed to shut her eyes before Agatha threw what was essentially a flashbang into the middle of the room, glad that she was far enough away to avoid most of the effects of the ringing that came with it. She cracked her eyes open again after a few moments and huffed, standing up and indicating for Nina to go with her over to the table the other's were gathering around. She grabbed a stool with a slight sigh.

“I have to agree with getting things done quickly,” Maya commented after Agatha talked even as she pulled out about six containers and plopped them onto the table. She then tipped her bag upside down to let a bunch of cheap wooden chopsticks, the kind you get from takeaways, clatter out of it. She’d somehow managed to acquire (steal) a far too large number. “But, you know what they say about eating with an empty stomach… Well I’m certainly not going to do it. Since the pizza kinda got destroyed,” she side eyed Emily, “it’s good I brought some too, yeah?”

She pushed one of containers over to Nina, who'd already asked for food, before grabbing a pair of chopsticks and proceeding to stuff the rice rolls she’d made into her mouth. Honestly, she was hungry and wanted this meeting to be over so she could go outside, where it was nice and sunny, rather than being cooped in here.

"I'd rather go outside, honestly," she commented, feeling Nina's gaze on her looking for her support without looking up from her food. Then she frowned slightly, something niggling on the back of her mind that she felt she should know. "Maybe not the beach, though?" She shrugged and went back to eating.

It was when Kayla appeared that Maya actually bothered to look up, raising an eyebrow. She then clapped her hands together with a wide grin. “You’ve got business? Then it must be something interesting! Let’s get on with all the stupid shit we need to do first so we can hear about it.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. Madison had a point, except Izzy was flat broke. Not that they really knew that. When it came to food and drinks, she excelled at finding the freebies. But she was prompted to stop poking at the pizza remains, so Izzy did. “Hey, I’m not the one flying through the air covered in bones, so who’s the real weirdo here?” Izzy grinned and stuck her tongue out. To be fair, she considered everyone in the coven weirder than herself. Just a bunch of weirdos getting together and… uh breaking everything.

Then a bright light exploded, bleaching the surrounding room to one white color for a brief moment. Since Izzy had been facing away from the blast, it wasn’t as intense, but it still caused her eyes to go blind for a moment. Blinking away the spots in her vision, she noticed Agatha trying to organize some semblance of a meeting. The still half drunk girl waltzed off to the table, completely forgetting her wine bottle on the floor. As she did, she passed Antheia who simply sighed. “If you need me, take care of it yourself.” She grumbled before disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

Izzy sat next to Madison and noticed the offering of gimbap that Maya brought to the meeting. “Oh, my savior!” Izzy exclaimed, jumping up and snatching the tupperware closest to her. “Now this! This is something I can actually eat.” When Kayla came back, Izzy instantly spoke up. “Decided to finally join us, eh?” Kayla’s cute husky familiar, Oleander followed behind obediently. Unable to shake the drunk girl stereotype, Izzy tried her best to subtly lean over to pet the fluffy pup. Unfortunately, he was too far away, so Izzy decided to just sit on the floor next to the dog, so she could pet him and rub her face in his soft fur. “Oo, actual business. Lay it on us Kayla.” Izzy said, only really half-listening to the world around her. The red-head had brought the gimbap with her to the floor and in addition to eating it herself, tried to feed Oleander one without getting caught. All the while cooing about how he was “Such a good boy!” and “Aren’t you just the softest pup in the whole wide world? Yes you are!”

Then of course, her puppy play time was interrupted by Herik picking her up. "Nooooo," She wailed, her arms still reaching out to the unmoving pup. But Herik was way stronger than her, and instead placed her at the bar. Izzy stared mournfully at Oleander and the empty tupperware that sat next to him. Sighing, she leaned against the bar and scanned the room for her abandoned wine bottle. She spotted it near the door and waited for her opportunity to break away from the conversation to retrieve it.

---

Lyss was late to the meeting. Later than she usually was. After being in the Coven for a month, she learned that it usually took a bit for the girls to settle down. So, being late today wouldn't hurt her chances of hearing any news. She usually kept up with local murders, hauntings, or the like anyways. While Agatha rarely informed her of any news she hadn't heard about already, the recently chosen leader generally had some good ideas about which cases to go after. So, why not go to the meetings anyways? The girls weren't all that bad. Only a few really got on Lyss's nerves.

So as Lyss walked into the Lucky Strike Casino, paying little to no interest to the splattered pizza as she stepped over it, she was happy to see that everyone was finally settled and ready to actually have a meeting. She glanced around as she walked over to the briefing table(s). Thank the devil I wasn't early.

"Hello everyone," she said as she took up a spot at the table. "The place is looking even messier than usual today."

To ease any tensions that might arise, Lyss gave a sly smirk to anyone that might be looking her way. After all, a few of the Coven gals looked flustered. Must have been one hell of a fight. She saw Kayla sitting at the table across from her and raised her eyebrows as she looked her way. Kayla usually had a good head on her shoulders. Everyone else was... generally reasonable. Even ol' One Eye over there, who Lyss couldn't believe was allowed to come to the meeting, had better control of his actions. Unlike who Alyssa assumed to be the culprits behind the slain slot machines and Tony's Famous Pizzas.

Lyss turned her head towards Agatha and gave the woman a reassuring smile. "So, what's the latest?" She'd come to the casino to hear what the others had to say, but that didn't mean it had to last all day. Sure, she enjoyed goofing off with these girls every now and then, but she wasn't in this Coven to live, laugh, and love. Just the feeling of having the apparitions of the other girls so close by made her itch to get back to work. In an effort to make herself comfortable and forget her plans, Lyss leant back in her chair and awaited their fear^(ful)less leader's words.