---

Kayla pulled again against 'Pa's' neck with the chain as he clawed at the metal around his throat in a desperate bid to free himself. The heat in the chain traveled further down the chain, the molten metal transitioning from red to yellow as it became hotter and hotter- with the red hot ends of the chain getting closer and closer to the man's neck. Choked screams began coming from that man's throat as the chain branded it's pattern into the sides of his throat.

Kayla was more than happy to leave it, to let the brand go deeper, to make him suffer more for sending a man to break into her home and hurt her dog... but the sound of a gunshot tapered the rage in her hot blooded attack. Her grip slackened, and she dropped the molten chains to stand up. The head vampire she had been beating did not rise with her, too focused on attempting to breath than anything else. She whistled a low, monotonous tone, and Oleander was instantly circling the the downed man in case his beating wasn't lesson enough. "Stay." she snapped to the man, rather than Oleander.

Some of the vampires had firearms. Firearms meant injury, and drawing loads of unnecessary attention. The alarm had gone off now though, and if there were any police in the area, a gunshot was sure to draw them in. She sighed, it was close to time to end this.

How many?

Five. That disembodied voice answered her. Her eyes felt like they moved without her say so, dragging her to details she had seen but hadn't paid enough attention to, to notice. Revolvers, rifles, and shotguns. Kayla's eyes darted to the shotgun that the head vampire had possessed before he had been effectively dropped.

Her eyes went to the various firearms again, she took a breath in, and snapped her fingers.

It was impossible to see from an outsider's perspective, but she focused on the chambers of the guns- subtly raising their temperature while dropping their spark point and in a moment, like marvelous, dangerous fireworks, the ammunition inside the firearms began exploding in a brilliant chain reaction. It was loud as all hell, because it was live ammunition she was setting off, but it was effective. Burning hot shrapnel was everywhere, one of the vampires had almost shot one of their own. Some of their hands were disfigured from holding what Kayla had deftly turned into improvised explosives.

She turned back to the man she had beaten down earlier, and pulled him up by the chain that was around his neck- seemingly completely unaffected by how hot the chain still was.

"Don't fuck with me, old man." she hissed, roughly twisting the chain so that the metal links bit into the burnt skin on his neck. "You got a problem, you take it up with me. All nice like, and I'll take it up with you, just as nice like."

The shoved him back into the ground and stood back to her full height. "Girls! Finish your business! We're getting out of here!" she just about roared, not wanting to stick around any longer in case any law enforcement was on the way. She began taking a step towards the gate of the neighborhood, but stopped. Kayla decided to say one last thing to the downed leader.

"I'll see you next week, Bill. Hope Les' arm heals up well enough." She looked from him to the rest of The Coven, and made for the gate.

It was fucking crazy.

One of the bat freaks swooped in and slashed at Madison's barrier only for it to scratch against it. It was gone before she could do anything, but Madison heard the flapping of wings coming behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to see one of them flying towards her. With another heading straight for her. So, Madison sighed and turned around - she dodged the attack by moving off to the side and grabbing the freak by his neck and tossed him at the other one. There was a sickening crack as the two collided and Madison could only winch as she wondered if she went two far. Especially as the two hit the ground.

"Girls! Finish your business! We're getting out of here!"

Good. Because this was getting a bit messy... the police were probably on their way here as they spoke. It was going to be hard to explain everything that happened to the police... and she also didn't trust the rest of the Coven not to rat her out. Not at all. So when Kayla gave the command Madison dropped what she was doing and made a break for it. Madison was confident that they could get out of here, the vampires were little bitches anyway. Opposed to everyone else heading for the gate Madison went straight for the tree-line and stopped flying. She was going to regroup with the rest of the Coven elsewhere.

Emily craned her head towards Kayla and smiled. At this point, all of her clothes were completely burned off by the raging flames, not that it was a surprise. It was all apart of Emily's little scare tactic against the vampire coven. With a snap of her fingers, Babylon ceased the fire curse and she was completely nude and on full display. However, Emily was quick to give another command because the last thing she wanted to do was give one of these sluts a show.

"Babylon, monster curse."

"With pleasure," And a blue sigil appeared over Emily's head as it triggered a painful transformation that brought her to her knees as she was covered in black fur, her nails were sharpened to claws, as her ears pointed and her teeth sharpened. When the transformation was complete Emily let out a roar to the heavens... before she was quick to sprint for the gate on all fours. She hopped up on the fence and was gone.

"Girls, pick a direction and run in it!" Claudette shouted as she got from behind the tree and stuck her hands out... and suddenly her darkness blanketed the area and covered their escape. It was violent and chaotic, but oddly entertaining to see those hicks get destroyed. However, Claudette could only be glad that it was over and Kayla called it off when she did. Or else she could see the brawl getting much messier. Claudette let out a breath of air which she couldn't see in this dark, cold expanse. By the time the darkness faded; the Coven was gone.

Just not the destruction they left behind.

Dairy Queen

---

The instructions that Kayla gave for after the fight was perfect.

After the fight, Kayla told them to meet up at the nearest Dairy Queen and Madison wasn't against the idea at all. She was the first one there and already changed her clothes (well, changed her shirt from black to purple) and bought an ice cream cone. Meanwhile, she was playing on her phone waiting for the others to show up.

How the hell did she beat Kayla here? It was some kind of miracle.

Jess made extra sure to keep the vampires out of Elise's path as she ran toward sin. She saw the two escape, and sighed in relief. A vampire swooped down at her, but Jess swung her wooden sword, extended by her orange energy and made harsh contact with its mouth. She saw teeth and blood fly out of the creatures mouth, and it made her wince. "Oooohhhh... Sorry bout that. Next time try not being a dick." She turned again, most vampires were taken care of and Kayla called for a retreat. Made sense, gun fire brought police, police wouldn't like seeing what was basically a supernatural gang fight.

Jess turned and ran through the back yards of trailers, dodging around grills, fire pits, and a lot of garbage. She jumped over a fire pit, which at first seemed fine, but as she landed, the cut in her leg widened a bit, letting more blood ooze out. She had barely noticed it through the adrenaline but it was a fairly deep gash. Nothing life threatening, but fuck it was starting to hurt. She ran as best as she could to her car, and quickly wrapped the cut with a blanket from her back seat, ripping a good portion off for a workable bandage. She drove off, knowing Ellie was planning on teleporting to their meeting spot.

She got to the meeting spot, still wearing her trademark smirk, though it didn't seem as wide as usual she ordered a cherry shake then thankfully took the weight off her leg as she sat down with Madison. The bleeding had definitely slowed, but it showed plainly against her white and orange blanket bandage. "Well, that was a riot, huh?" She asked Madison with a wry grin.



Elise had gone back to retrieve her notes and watch the action when she heard the call to retreat. She ran back to Sin and *Izzy. "We have to go, now! Come on." Elise took in a deep breath, taking each girl's hand and teleported them to the block of the DQ. She fell on her face after taking them a fair distance away. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally. "The meeting spot is just ahead... you girls can go on ahead." She rolled onto her side, a few tears rolling down her cheek and a bloody nose from where her face hit cement. She took deep breaths but had honestly been through way too much for herself.

Ellie managed to stand, the red puffiness of weeping still apparent on her cheeks. She walked into the dairy queen and silently sat down near the group.

Izzy had stayed behind by the cars. She may not be the smartest, but she does know that she can’t fight. That’s not why she was here. She was here in case someone got hurt.

But it was boring as hell.

Given her position, Izzy couldn’t see the fight. She had to stay out of sight so that no one would even think about coming for her. All she could hear were a cacophony of weird noises that made no damn sense. It honestly just sounded like another coven meeting. Sighing, Izumi sat on the hood of the nearest car. There wasn’t even anyone passing by, so she pulled down her mask to breathe a little better and took out her phone. There were a lot of notifications. She went through the texts asking her what her plans for tonight were as well as the various social media notifications.

But then, a loud boom pierced through the sky. It was either a gunshot or a firework, but given the current circumstance and lack of cool colorful lights, it was probably a gunshot. Seriously? After a few moments, Ellie popped out of nowhere scaring the shit out of Izzy. ”Jesus!” Izzy took a second to slow her heart rate before noticing Quinn was with the teleporter. Ah, blood. Suppressing the queasiness in her stomach, Izzy fell to her knees and gave Quinn a once over. She was barely conscious with a couple bruises, a cut on her shoulder, and the gunshot to her ankle. In her unconscious state, it’d be best for Antheia to deal with it. Plus Izzy really didn’t think she could handle a gunshot.

Closing her eyes, Izzy sent an urgent call for help to the spirit of love. As pink smoke rose from Izzy, she opened her eyes and looked at Ellie. ”It’s fine. Antheia will fix her up. You should get back to the group in case something else happens.” Once Antheia fully materialized, she looked like an odd amalgamation of Izzy’s past girlfriends, but better. The spirit looked nearly human except for the pink wisps of smoke rising from her body, bright pink irises, and the fact that her hair and clothes seemed to float. Antheia grabbed Quinn’s hand and began to softly massage it. A soft pink glow came from their skin contact as Antheia’s concerned eyes looked down at the mechanic. The contact slowly healed the cuts and bruises, but the gunshot wound still remained. This time Antheia shifted to lay Quinn’s head on her lap and began to caress her cheeks, neck, and shoulders. While she did, Antheia turned to Izzy who was trying to avoid looking at the wound and blood too much. Her gaze seemed stern.

”What on earth are you girls doing?! Getting into a fight with armed people? Are you trying to die?” Sometimes Antheia felt like a mom. Not Izzy’s mom, but just that mom friend who is always overreacting. ”Listen, it wasn’t my idea. You and I both know that nothing can stop these girls when they make up their mind! Besides! I’m clearly not a part of this fight, I’m just here to play doctor and make sure no one dies!” Izzy’s volume rose at the end. God, Antheia was a huge pain in the ass sometimes. She should be praising her for doing the ‘right thing’ or whatever. Not bitching at her for something she couldn’t control.

Ellie appeared once again in the middle of their argument, luckily with no one else injured. Instead she grabbed Izzy and Quinn and teleported them to a street corner. Antheia appeared a second later. The teleportation had really knocked Izzy off balance and for a couple moments it felt like she was gonna hit the pavement. Instead, she got herself together and picked up Quinn piggyback style. While her wound was still in the process of healing, she probably wouldn’t be able to stand or walk without significant pain. Ellie was definitely in bad shape emotionally. Izzy hesitated, as she felt Antheia glaring at her. “Say something” her eyes burned. Izzy awkwardly patted Ellie’s head, healing her in the process. ”Join us when you’re ready.”

As Izzy and Quinn entered the Dairy Queen, they claimed a fairly large table. Antheia finished up treatment and other Coven members started arriving. Including Ellie. Izzy could still feel Antheia’s disappointment in her, but brushed it off. She gave Ellie a toothy grin and thumbs up as she sat down with the group.

---

---

Interactions: @RogueFox @Knight of Doom

Interactions: @KatKook

As the call to retreat found Molly's ear she was midway dispatching another untransformed Vampire; striking him swiftly with something grotesque and resembling a bo staff. Deciding it best to follow orders as Kayla probably had more information than she Molly finished up her assailant as to not allow him to attack as she fled. She quickly used the length of her staff to her advantage. Sweeping the vampire out from under his feet he fell to his back, before he could groan from the impact she kicked him across his head; knocking him unconscious. She then turn and ran towards where they had all come from, letting the bo staff deteriorate.

As she ran out of the trailer park she made sure to pick up her baseball bat and the box of unused Medical Masks she had brought; something if not for the Mark of Doom she would have been much too frazzled to even think of doing. As she made it to the gate she saw her Roommate Elise suddenly appear beside what looked like Izzy and a beaten-up Sin along with some weird hot chick that seemed to smoke a pink substance from her skin. Before Molly could get a better read on the situation they all four vanished. Deciding not to dwell on it she would focus on the issue at hand; get to her car, get the fuck out. Easy two step process.

As she got to her small truck she threw the bat and box of masks into the bed and hopped in; quickly igniting the engine with a rattling roar and heading out and away in the opposite direction of the Trailer Park.

Molly kept her Mark of Dread active as she drove. She knew if she dropped it she would become nearly paralyzed with immeasurable fear and terror. But it was starting to take its toll on her body. The warmth that once gave her confidence and strength now felt like hot coals lay beneath the surface of her skin. She groaned behind the wheel, feeling her stomach tighten from the discomfort. Her phone suddenly buzzed, a message telling her to meet everyone at a Dairy Queen. She sped a few mph over the limit, not enough to be an obvious pull over but enough that lessened the time it took for her too arrive and drop the Marks activation.

As Molly arrived she parked at the far end of the parking lot. She knew exactly what was to come once she deactivated and returned to normal. She didn't want anyone to see her in such a vulnerable state and she didn't want to try and mask it either. She pulled the parking break and killed the engine. She took several shallow, nervous breaths as she let the Mark of Dread slowly reseal inside Hraesvelgr's sigil. As the power left her it was swiftly replaced by terror. Her strength turned on her and filled her with fear. Her nerves felt like they were being burned, all individually and simultaneously. She felt her body begin to shake against her will to remain calm. She wrapped her arms around her midsection as tightly as she could, curling into herself and pressing her head firmly against the steering wheel. It was like a withdrawal. The days of agony and desire for one more hit that happened over days hit her all in this moment.

But she didn't want another hit. She didn't want anything. Except the power to crawl out of her own skin and flee from the terror that shook her very core. Molly cried out as tears fell uncontrollably down her cheek. Trying to drown out the terror with rage, but it did nothing to dissipate.

~~10 minutes later

Through some breathing exercises she was able to concentrate on she was able to get herself together a bit more. Wiping at her eyes and cheeks to hopefully hide the fact she was crying. She knew the others would get the wrong idea if they saw her. They'd think she was having a meltdown from what transpired. But that wasn't the case, she cared little for what happened. Those freaks deserved what happened. She didn't need to give anyone another excuse as to why she wasn't cut out for this world of extra-normals.

Molly finally pulled the key from the ignition and pushed it into her pocket along with her phone and wallet that she left in the truck before the beat down. She exited and made her way inside, finding a handful of the others already claiming a handful of tables. She saw Sin, seemingly coming too, from her perspective, and asking in surprise if they were in Dairy Queen. She softly chuckled to herself, but it soon faded as the memory of the last time she saw Sin looked like. She decided to do something nice for her, she had a rougher day than any of the other girls. Molly went to the counter and ordered two vanilla ice cream cones. After a short wait, and weird looks she retrieved her order and headed over to the table with Sin and Izzy. She held out one of the Ice cream cones towards Sin and smiled as genuinely as she could, Molly not realizing that her lip was split and a bruise was fully formed around it (probably why the cashier gave her such a weird look); trying to mask the fear that still put her whole body on edge.

"I am glad to see you looking better than the last time I saw you."

"Well, that was a riot, huh?"

"Well, it was crazy as a fucking riot," Madison started as she took a lick of her ice cream. "So yeah, you're not wrong."

Madison cracked a smile... though it was a more of an amused one. Some of these white girls were crazy as shit! Was it Florida? Or in their crazy genes? She didn't want to know the answer to the question. She looked as more of the girls showed up and barely paid her any mind. Which was good, but where in the world was their ringleader Kayla? Madison bet she would be the first person here. She just shook her head.

"Mademoiselle!" Madison heard the overly French accent of Claudette shout as she walked up... and then remembered that she forgot to pick her up.

"Aw, shit I'm soooo sorry girl!"

"You know how it feels to have to walk here through all those rednecks!" Claudette almost yanked her hair out as she walked up.

"How about I make it up with some ice cream?" Madison asked.

"Okay, fine," Claudette sat down.

"Say, Jess," Madison asked, "You know who we're missing? I really don't want to go back there looking for who we're missing."



"... So it wasn't what I thought it was."

Babylon said as the two were in some bushes as Emily put on her change of clothes. Her moped was right in front of her as she slid on her underwear before she put on her bra and then a green t-shirt and another pair of cargo shorts except, this time, tan. "What was your first clue?" Emily asked Babylon with a raised eyebrow.

"You should keep those off," Babylon snickered. "It's a good look for you."

"Shut up, Babylon," Emily said as she leaned up against her moped.

"So, yeah, back to the point," Babylon said, "I was hoping that an old friend of mine was behind this."

"Hemor-something?" Emily asked.

"Hemorrhagia," Babylon said, "We go waaaaaaaaaay back. But, this not her; she usually forms a pact with one or two humans not... an entire army."

"Then who is behind this?" Emily crossed her arms.

Babylon shrugged.

"Hell if I know," Babylon said, "The world of Shimmer is not one I'm familiar with... and many Apparitions were trapped here to get them out of other people's hair."

"Hmph," Emily shook her head.

"But, Hemorrhagia could possibly cure your sister, if not she could be a very useful ally for the Coven..." Babylon trailed off, "... Or us. Preferably us."

"Hmph," Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"Speaking of the Coven, why don't we go meet them?" Babylon said. "Maaaaaaaaybe we can mingle with them in ways that's not alienating the only allies we have out in this cold, cold, world."

Emily rolled her eyes as she hopped on her moped and started it. "Might as well..." Emily said as she turned the keys into the ignition and started the car. Babylon disappeared as Emily went down the streets of Tampa until she got to the Dairy Queen. She hopped off the moped as she walked into the store and all attention fell on her. She paused for a second as she looked around, seeing Madison and the rest of the Coven mingling. Just out of force of habit; she stared down Ellie.

"... Reed here decided to bore you all by wearing clothes to this establishment," Babylon chuckled as she manifested. "Can you believe her? Hehehehehe..." Babylon disappeared afterward.

Emily shook her head as she walked over to the rest of the group and was at a loss for words. "... Is she alright?" Emily tried to sound concerned about Sin, but she seemed a bit out of it. Of course, Emily didn't see what happened to her but she knew some of them were armed with guns.

---

---

Honestly Maya should’ve expected this from an all out fight. There were a lot more vampires than she’d expected, some were fucking full on bat creatures flying in the sky and there was fire everywhere. She’d managed to hit one dude in the knees before she’d had to direct a blast of sound at him to push him away after he’d retaliated with a strong hit to her side, knocking her over. The resultant knock back had pushed her further away from the fight, something she was glad for.

She’d really overestimated her ability to fight in any way without her abstraction, which would risk causing more damage than Kayla would be happy with. But it was hard to beat people with a bat when the wielder was 5’2” and weak as shit.

Her hearing was just beginning to come back when Kayla shouted for all of them to get out of there. She was pretty sure that was gunshots she was hearing. She didn’t need to be told twice.

She ran off in the direction she’d come in, glad to reach her car and get out of there.

---

Dairy Queen

By the time Maya turned up to their meeting spot nearly everyone else had already gathered. She’d taken the time to pull a pastel blue dress she’d left in her car over the clothes she was already wearing, nicely covering the forming and rather nasty bruise on her side. She’d then waited a bit longer for her hearing to properly come back. She wasn’t exactly in a rush to meet all the others with her ears still ringing and her head spinning (the fact she’d driven a little bit away was an honest miracle).

Entering the place she noticed that everyone was looking various degrees of shit. Sin certainly seemed the worst off, almost as if she’d just woken up. Maya gave everyone a silent nod before going up to order the largest ice cream she could see on the menu. Once she got it she went back to sit with the group, plopping down and digging into her ice cream. Her lips twisted into a slight grimace from the grating feeling of people talking after such loud ringings in her ears, even as she tried to ignore it. This was why she tried to spend time in silence after using her ability. Still she forced herself to look at the other and add to a conversation she’d barely taken part in.

“Is Kayla not here yet? I get gathering to debrief and all but,” she glanced at Sin, “I feel like some of us could do with going home to recover soon.”

"Say, Jess," Madison asked, "You know who we're missing? I really don't want to go back there looking for who we're missing."

Jess looked around the small restaurant, sipping on her cherry shake. Emily and Maya had made it back, so that was good. "I don't see Lyss, Herik, Kayla, or Riley." Jess stated. She had to admit she was a little worried for them. Really hoped they hadn't gotten picked up by the cops or something. "Fuck. I hope they're alright." She expressed as she sat back in her chair, subconsciously rubbing her wounded leg with her free hand. Funny how much a cut can hurt when you aren't jacked up on adrenaline.

She looked around again, taking a mental note of everyone's injuries. No one seemed too hurt, other than the fact that Sin was barely conscious when she arrived, but she got better! Babylon mentioned something about nude Emily. That would have been a funny site, and Jess saw Emily as just the kind of girl to do something so controversial, yet so brave. "Aww, what's wrong Emily? Didn't wanna give all the LGBT members of the coven plus Herik a reward for stomping Vampire ass?" She chuckled jokingly, not afraid of Emily. She didn't hate her or anything, but definitely she could loosen up and take it easier on some of the girls.



Ellie was reviewing, adding, and fixing her notes in her journal while everyone new arrived. She no longer had her bloody nose or puffy cheeks, those had disappeared in an instant when Izzy had patted her head. Ellie had shifted to a seat to be next to Izzy and Sin, since the two had been pretty nice to her today. She was touched by Sin's sappy thank you, and Izzy had given her a lively thumbs up. They were too nice to not let them know that she was appreciative. Unfortunately, all that really meant is that she sat near them.

Emily entered after a while, and Elise looked up to see who it was. Oh. Her. Elise noticed the stare she received and returned it. She wasn't in the mood for Emily and really hoped she'd do the ignore Ellie route rather than the fuck with Ellie route. Maya also came in shortly after. She seemed a bit like she had a headache. She brought up a good question too. Where was Kayla? And the others for that matter. "She's not back yet..." Ellie replied to Maya meekly. "I could try to see if I could spot anyone who's not here back at the place." She added. "I can see remotely anywhere I've been before... I could at least see if they got taken by police." Her voice was quiet, but Sin, Izzy, and anyone near them would have heard her clearly.

---

When Kayla had called the retreat, she had ensured that first and foremost that the girls that came got out of there. She had rallied them behind her, and she'd be damned if she left anyone behind. She didn't care if she had to burn the whole neighborhood to the ground to do it. So she had waited. She made sure each of the girls got out, and then she ensured the most important thing out of all of this: That they weren't followed.

This was, for all intents and purposes, the equivalent of a drive by, or even gang warfare. She they came in, hospitalized a few people when they weren't ready or expecting her, and then peeled out before the vampires really knew what hit them. They probably could've stayed longer, hit harder, done more damage... but the goal was to send a message- Don't fuck with me. Not to cause totally irreparable damage. As soon as one of their own had eaten a bullet it was time to boogie and Kayla knew it, even if they didn't.

But because she had eaten a bullet, Kayla stayed. She needed to know if there were cops coming. If they needed to lay low for a while. Or if they were at risk of the vampires telling. They had parked far enough away that license plates and vehicle identifiers were unlikely, and they had all worn face masks- it was unlikely anyone could be truly identified...

But she needed to make it look like an accident. Just in case.

Kayla knew that one of the trailers was less of a trailer and more of a meth lab than it was a home. She also knew that they sold, and while they had yet to encroach on her own dealing business, another dealer of anything in her general area wasn't good. She circled back, driving just within sight of the Greenwood's estate, and more importantly the trailer.

She focused on it, and shoved the rising bile in her throat down to steel her nerves. It was her and her coven or them. They had attacked her. They- they had brought this on themselves, she rationalized. Meth production was a sensitive, extremely volatile process. One misplaced medication here, overheating of the chemical reaction there, one errant twitch and... Kablewy.

She couldn't check to see if anyone was inside, but she whispered a silent, unheard apology to whatever was listening IF anything was listening as a chemical reaction gone wrong exploded within the trailer, sending shrapnel and debris and an enormous thick plume of smoke sky high in a thunderous cacophony. Kayla wasted no time fleeing the scene, speeding off towards their meeting point. If any police came now, it would be written off as infighting. No one would come for them.

When she arrived at the meeting point, she walked into the Dairy Queen without her glove and without her bandana. She was rattled, and a little shook as she always was knowing she very well could have killed another person or more. She wouldn't sleep right. At least not until she returned a week later and spoke to the vampires after she dealt to them and found out if anyone died in the trailer explosion. She hoped it had been unoccupied, that they had run out to fight the coven and been unhurt by the explosion. If they hadn't... well, she really wouldn't sleep right.

Kayla marched straight in with Oleander in tow, completely ignoring the 'no pets' sign and coven at first, and slapped a ten dollar bill on the table. "I'd like a large oreo blizzard and a bottle of water." she said, just barely concealing her shaken voice. Now is the time to be strong, Kayla. She was thirsty, as she always was after using her heat based abilities. She hadn't used them much but... it was always a good idea to stay hydrated when one was a pyrokinetic.

She took her change, and waited at the counter for both parts of her order before joining the rest of The Coven at their booth. She pasted a smug smile on her face, forcing the shaken feeling down into the pits of her gut to be dealt with later. "Ladies," she said, glancing over the table. "Glad you all made it back in one piece. For the most part. Anyone need stitches?"

"Aww, what's wrong Emily? Didn't wanna give all the LGBT members of the coven plus Herik a reward for stomping Vampire ass?"

"Ooooooh, you struck a nerve," Babylon said chuckling.

Emily barely even moved her eyes towards Jessica she just shook her head, "Since you're so eager to give them a reward, why don't you do it yourself?" Emily said with a wry-grin forming on her face. "Actually, no, I don't want to see a bunch of people vomit all over the place." She started chuckling.

It always annoyed her when lesser people always had to have their mouth open and she was quick to put that slut Jessica and her whore mouth down. She chuckled.

"I can see remotely anywhere I've been before... I could at least see if they got taken by police."

"Yes, yes, we are all aware of your ability," Emily rolled her eyes as it took every bit of her politeness not to shut her up. "No need to remind us every ten seconds."

"Ms. Reed," Claudette firmly said and the two exchanged looks as Emily rolled her eyes.

"Well, the only reason why anyone would get caught by the police is if they stuck around and I don't think anybody would be that dumb," Madison said to Ellie, hoping that she wouldn't be proven wrong. She got up from her seat as Kayla walked in. "I'm gonna step out now, I have work tonight."

"Coming," Claudette said as she followed after Madison and the two left.

And Emily just silently took that as her cue to leave anyhow... she didn't want to hang around with the likes of Ellie anyhow.



"... So, this is the place?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah," Kimberly said as she put her hands in her pockets. "Someone on Reddit told me to meet up with them here," Kimberly said with a shrug as she looked at the place. Well, it looked the kind of place a wannabe Coven would meet up.

"Want to record an episode?" Rowan said,

"Rooooooooowan," Kimberly said, "This is the Maneater Saga."

"That don't mean it's got to be exclusive," Rowan suggested, "We can do this as a Patreon or only fans bonus." He shrugged.

"We coooooooooooould," Kimberly said as she put a finger to her lips and cheekily smiled at him. "I don't want them to get the wrong idea... like Claudette did. Let's investigate them first, then we can decide if they're worth outing." She said as she pulled out her camera. The first thing she did was take a photograph and grabbed the printed result.

"... Just in case we need a quick escape, now let's go in..." Kimberly said as she proceeded into the place slowly. They all seemed to be gone, but she was going to look for any clues. Clues like evidence of them sacrificing people to apparitions or something. If that was the case then Kimberly was going to bring the hammer down.

“Thank you, Maya. I believe you. It’s just hard to watch everyone leave. Please be safe,” she mumbled before watching the majority of the Coven journey off to fight Vampires. They were all incredibly strong and capable, Nina knew that. They would be okay. She repeated this to herself several times before glancing around the practically destroyed casino.

“Oh my...” She couldn’t help but laugh at the mess. Pieces of crushed slot machines were scattered everywhere. The forgotten pizza was seeping into the moldy carpet. Broken chairs and tables littered the floor. Combined with the collective trash of the group, the casino almost seemed a lost cause. Nina pulled up her white sleeves and looked over to Agatha.“You don’t have to help if you have things to focus on! It could be fun though!” She smiled at the Coven’s leader before pulling out her phone to play some Disney tunes and pop music. Where to even start?

At least Nina still respected her authority as leader, Agatha thought. Having to clean up the whole mess all by herself would've been an even bigger slap in the face after Kayla hijacked today's meeting.

"Oh no, it's fine" Agatha insisted, following Nina's example. She hung up her jacket on a machine's lever, rolling up her sleeves, "Only real plans I had for the Coven today were the articles, but, seems like Kayla has bigger fish to fry. Besides, somebody's gotta clean up their mess", she noted, exhaling through her nose. "Let's start by cleaning up the pizza, first, before all the grease sets in."

Agatha walked down the hall, over to the supply closet they filled with cleaning supplies after... prior similar incidents (Mostly related to Babylon's shenanigans). She brought back to the lobby room a gallon of bleach and a brush, then got down to her knees and started scooping up the brutalized pizza back into their boxes, before setting the awkwardly reassembled stack of pizza boxes on the counter and getting to work at scrubbing out what was too stubborn to get pulled out.

Nina hummed to the music as the two worked. Cleaning wasn’t the most ideal activity but it was relaxing and kept her mind off the group. Plus, working with others was always fun. Nina’s mom used to make games out of cleaning the house. A slight smile warmed her face. “Don’t let it get to you, Agatha. I think you’re doing an amazing job! I just think to get involved in a crime investigation… I don’t know, it makes me uneasy to think about.”

"I know, I know... I guess it just--"

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of glass breaking off to the side and standing right there was Kimberly. Her sunglasses almost fell off out of surprise as she made awkward eye contact with them. "... Um, hi." She stammered out.

Nina’s eyes widened at the sound and she instantly looked up to find a girl standing before them. Was she here to join the Coven? She why would she break-in? There was something familiar about her but Nina couldn't quite remember how. She stared at her dumbfounded for a few moments before speaking. “Oh... Uh... Hello!” Unsure what else to say, Nina looked to Agatha for guidance. If she was here to join the Coven, Nina hoped the mess wasn't too overwhelming.

Agatha stared on in a similar shock, her heart leaping in response. She nearly threw a Ward right at their feet, thinking they were either being attacked or robbed. Then, in a couple of seconds, she recognized their intruder.

Kimberly Motherfucking Walton, host of Project: Worlds Unknown. _{and the cameraman rowan of course.}

Instead of reacting, Agatha just stood there, absolutely floored for several seconds as she was face to face with one of the biggest public members of the Extranormal Community. While everyone else online wrote off her work as some sort of impressive ARG web series, Agatha stumbled upon her after browsing a paranormal forum for any information on the unknown and got pointed towards her show, being handwaved off as some "loser fan" for discussing concepts similar to what appeared on her show. Once she caught up, she saw her show was anything but fiction. She thought about maybe contacting her online sometime, but never really mustered up the courage. And now, here she was, right in the middle of their witch club's hideout.

After a good ten seconds, Agatha returned from the Shadow Realm, snapping back to attention.

[color=603F6E]"H-Hey! You-- uh... You're... Kim--Kimber--KIMB-- Kimberly Walton! Host of W-worlds Unknown, right? Wha-Wuh-How-What-- What brings you here?" Agatha finally squeezed out, her anxiety skyrocketing through the roof. She could only stumble over her own words until she finally settled on the first question to ask such as bizarre and sudden situation.

Kimberly Walton…? Worlds Unknown? Why did that name sound so familiar? Nina stood puzzled for a few moments before vaguely remembering a supernatural web series some of the other girls mentioned before. Shows like that had never really interested Nina. She preferred something more wholesome and romantic than horror. Maybe she should give Worlds Unknown a try though, especially considering Agatha's reaction. The poor girl seemed like she was about to faint. Nina stepped closer to her, hoping to give her support.

“Oh wow! You’re Kimberly Walton? It’s nice to meet you! I’m Nina!” Nina extended out her hand to shake. Even if Nina wasn’t a fan of the show, it wasn't every day you met a celebrity.

Shit.

Kimberly thought to herself as she was immediately identified... not that was something that surprised her but it kinda sucked when being covert was her plan. She sighed as she shook the girl's hand and lifted her sunglasses on top of her forehead with her other as she got a good look around. There was not a pentagram or the remains of a ghost. They were... cleaning this place? It looked like it. Kimberly shook her head.

"In the flesh," As that flat look on her face turned into a smile. "You know, I was just in the neighborhood, chasing another lead and I heard about a Coven of witches here in Florida." She slowly walked up to the two while Rowan hung back (he knew to let her do the talking) playing with that camera in her hands.

"... Either of you seen any witches around here?" She said with a grin and a near sarcasm in her voice.

As Kimberly stepped closer, Nina found her breathing grow uneven. Kimberly appeared friendly but Nina couldn’t deny the sense of uneasiness she felt. What did this girl know? Did she want to expose them to the outside world? Agatha seemed to like her and Nina’s mom taught her to never assume anything. Even so, Nina was a terrible liar. Thanks to her abstraction, she never had to deal with unexplainable accidents or even used her ability outside the Coven. She didn’t even have a good excuse for a situation like this. Nina only could manage to laugh uncomfortably. She desperately looked to Agatha, hoping she’d manage to save the situation.

Agatha nodded to Nina, turning back over to Kimberly.

"Yep, we're witches alright. Soooooper spooky,", Agatha answered, making no illusions that would have stoked Kimberly's curiosity, "I'm-- Ah screw it, Nina already gave hers. I'm Agatha," she introduced, offering her handshake.

Kimberly couldn't help but crack a smile. This girl had jokes.

"Uh-huh," she started almost exaggerated, "you guys aren't doing nothing weird like sacrificing goats or anything, right?"

"Nope, no goats here. We're getting started on ants, first, then we'll make our way up to goats and then maybe-- I'm just kidding," Agatha chuckled, relaxing further, "No sacrificial animals here, no. That's how you know we're the real deal."

"And none of you made any pacts with any malevolent Apparitions, right?"

Agatha paused for a minute.

"Nope. None of them are any harm. If you see something that sounds like a satanic murder, trust us it wasn't us," Agatha lied.

"Good, then that concludes my investigation," Kimberly said as she played with the camera in her hands, just spinning it around in her hands.

Her gesturing caught her attention, prompting Agatha to look down at her camera, then back up at Kimberly.

"This isn't going on your show, right? It's pretty much just a 'hi-bye'," she asked.

"Oooooh no," Kimberly chuckled. "This is strictly staying off the show... I'm not here to out you guys or anything like that."

She glanced around for a second.

"What are you all doing here anyway?" Kimberly asked, "... And is this the best place you could find? I was expecting like cauldrons, cats, brooms lined against the wall... not slot machines and pizza all over the place."

"Well, we just needed a place to lay low once we got started, so we just picked a spacy abandoned building. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a better hideout sometime. The mess? I'd like to say it happened just this afternoon, but... Honestly, this sort of thing is common whenever the rest of the Coven comes around."

"Sounds about right, but you guys are in desperate need of an upgrade; rent a library, something," Kimberly chuckled as she leaned up against the slot machine. However, she pressed on about that one question that Agatha glossed over. "But, what's your like goal... like as a group?"

"Just looking out for each other, mostly," Agatha answered, recalling their current endeavor.

Nina remained quiet as the two talked, trying her best to keep a neutral face. The more Kimberly talked, the more relaxed Nina grew. Nina scolded herself for thinking so negatively. She nodded to Agatha’s answer and offered a genuine smile.

"That's great you do that, strength in numbers, after all," Kimberly said as she quickly glanced down at her camera. She turned her head towards the other girl who was oddly quiet. If she were to take a guess, this giant girl she was talking to was the leader of the Coven... and she didn't seem that bad. Still, she was here on important business. "Have any of you seen a girl or somebody in a black robe? Tall, gaunt, wears a deer skull for a mask... y' know, if you did, I doubt you'd miss her."

"That's... Definitely not somebody I've seen recently, no. At least as far as I know. What exactly begs that question?"

A deer skull mask and black robe? Today had been full of too many eerie things for Nina. She couldn’t wait to crawl into bed and watch an episode of Queer Eye. Kimberly must have a lot of courage to investigate such matters and mess with Apparitions. She was as brave as the rest of the Coven. It was admiring.

Nina finally felt comfortable enough to speak up,“I haven’t run into anything like that either.”

"Well..." Kimberly looked off to the side as she said, "... She really needs help and I've been on her trail for months and I've traced her here. I was wondering if she was related to this group, but I guess not."

"She needs help? What happened to her?"

"It's a long story, but basically she accepted a curse that makes her really powerful at the cost of her humanity..." Kimberly explained. "And I'm trying to bring her back before it's too late."

"... Has she done anything... bad?" Agatha asked.

Kimberly's eyes closed, she was completely silent for what felt like minutes. "... I think it's best if I don't answer that." She responded.

Agatha took a second to let the gears turn in her head, then decided to ask "Wait. Is... Is she related to all of those brutal murders going on in the state?"

The Ghost Hunter bit her lip as she was quiet again. Before she sighed as she walked up to Agatha and grabbed her hand tightly and looked up into the taller girl's eyes. "It is, but I'm begging you and the rest of your group not to get involved. There's some seriously fucked up shit going on here and some very dangerous people are involved."

She released Agatha's hand as her plead ended, "Just... pretend it's not happening. I'll handle it in no time and everything's going to go back to normal... as normal as it can get in Florida."

Agatha paused for a moment.

"Okay, I'll stay away from it," She said. Time would tell if she had been lying or genuinely promising her wish, "So, will that be it?"

"Just one more thing, can I see your cell phone for a second?" Kimberly asked. "I want to give you my number, just in case you have a question or need help with something - I'd be more than glad to help."

"Sure!" Agatha replied. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, "What's your number?" She asked instead of handing it over.

"406-222-5345," Kimberly answered with a smile as she reached into her satchel and pulled out a photograph she took of her hotel room. Rowan took the sign and grabbed onto Kimberly's hand. "That'll be all girls, please stay out of trouble and call me if you need me. Bye!" Kimberly said quickly as she disappeared in a flash of light not too different from a camera's flash.

---

The Coven's little escapades in Greenwood didn't go unnoticed as somebody had recorded it and put it on Snapchat. Then it all disappeared out of thin air.

However, somebody managed to save it. A man leaning against a fence watched the recording of the fight. The monsters, the girl flying in thin air, and the strange mythological beast. He grinned widely.

"... Interesting."


Madison's Apartment.

---

---

"... Mademoiselle, are you okay?"

Claudette's voice woke Madison up as she opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was a worried look on Claudette's face. Madison shook her head as her underarms, palms, and head felt wet... like she was sweating. Except this wasn't anything new to Madison, this was just something that she had been living with for years now. She let a sigh as she sat straight up and looked around to try to get back to reality. So, she was in her apartment was a pretty clean place with a greyish carpet and she was sitting on her brown sofa with her flat-screen sitting away from her.

Madison looked out the window to her right and saw that it was raining pretty hard. Not unusual for Florida, Madison sat up on her behind and realized that she was wearing an oversized hoodie. Then she remembered what she was doing last night... she was at the club. Underneath the hoodie was her outfit and it was not something that she wanted to be seen in. Especially not by Claudette.

"Claud," Madison started. "What time is it?"

"It's twelve-twenty-three," Claudette answered that came as no surprise to Madison. Usually, she sleeps until noon when she's at the club. However, Claudette had something else to say. "We're having another meeting today with the Coven."

"Good grief-" Madison was about to complain but a light bulb went off in her head and she immediately hopped off the sofa and quickly went over to the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her as she undressed and then hopped into the shower. It wasn't long before she came out and quickly got dressed. Wearing a long-sleeved Nike shirt, shorts, and black jordans. Madison gestured for Claudette to come along as she said, "Let's go."

If Kayla can get the Coven to help with her problem, then Madison would have no problem doing the same.

They both showed up at the Lucky Strike casino and walked inside to see that everyone had gathered. Madison awkwardly smiled as she walked up and said, "Hey, sorry I'm late," She said, "I'm sorry to undercut the leadership again, but I have actual official business and... it'd mean a lot if you guys helped out."



A sigh escaped Emily's lips.

The vital signs monitor's beeping droned endlessly in her ears but she ignored it as she gently caressed her younger sister's face as she laid down in the hospital bed. Her skin was pale as paper and her veins were blue and showing through her skin. She was unconscious but Emily could see her breathing, for now. She had light-brown hair just like her older sister and she had soft, teenaged features. The doctors had no clue what was wrong with her and just keeping her here was draining the Reed family. Of course, Emily knew the truth behind what happened to her sister and felt so guilty that she couldn't do much to save her. Fighting Apparitions was only a distraction from the truth that she couldn't find one to save her sister and the Coven weren't helpful. They would rather go to the beach and play witch than face the real problem.

"... You know, if you weren't as rude to them, they'd help you," Babylon's voice appeared behind her as Emily turned her head around slowly towards the ghost. "But... you'd rather them be puppet dancing on strings...." She laughed as she floated around to Emily's side.

"Babylon, I'm not in the mood right now," Emily answered. "It's not like you have any better intentions for them."

"Oh, of course not," Babylon said, "I want them to listen to my every whim... not be controlled like you want them to be."

"Go to hell."

"Already have," Babylon laughed, "It gets boring when everyone down there worships me already. Hahahahahahaha..."

Emily sighed, "What are you getting at, Babylon?"

"You're still a flawed, broken, person... and your obsession with being the one in control has made it so... you're not, and you'll never be," Babylon said as she bit her fingertips.

"Babylon, silence now or I'll cut you," Emily said.

"... and why would you do that? I'm the only thing protecting you from them."

"... Who?" Emily had to ask.

"The Coven, they fear me... and without me, you're as helpless against them as anyone else," Babylon turned off to the side as she floated towards the window watching the intense rainfall. "They'll not listen to you without me, nor will they tolerate you. I bet that Elise girl will teleport you into the bottom of the ocean or something... she may seem nice and meek, but like you... she's hiding a cold-blooded killer." She laughed.

Emily didn't say a word as she narrowed her eyes at Babylon. This was not right with her... nor was it ever going to be. She couldn't possibly be okay with this. Emily sighed.

"... Why are you even here, then?"

"Because," Babylon said as she floated up to Emily's face, "I like you, Reed... I see a lot of myself in you."

"We're nothing alike,"

"That's what the others I've formed pacts with said," Babylon chuckled, "They came around eventually... as you will too, Reed."

Emily shook her head as she sat down in the chair. She tried to think about her next course of action... there was a Coven meeting soon - usually they had a meeting every weekend. She decided to simply get up and start heading to the casino. She couldn't stay here any longer... she got out the door and began walking out the door. On the way Emily caught sight of a distinct male nurse with long hair and feminine features, they locked eyes for a second as he gave her a warm smile. She shook her head in disgust as she kept going.

Walking out the door she was immediately barraged with rainfall... she walked through the crazy busy parking lots and went over to her moped and hopped on and went over to the Lucky Strike Casino. It wasn't long before she was outside and casually walked in and found her way to the table. She sat down at her usual spot and Babylon appeared behind her. Feeling she was much of a member of the Coven as the rest of them.

---

Lyss was disappointed to end the fight so quickly, but after she heard the sound of gunfire she was sure that the police would arrive soon. So, the second she had some cover she jogged her way out of the park. On her way out, she took out a few of the trailer's mail boxes while she was at it.

It only took her a few minutes, crossing a road, and walking through a field to reach her getaway engine. Humming along to a song she'd gotten stuck in her head on the way over, she bobbed her head as she reached her 883 speedster. Hanging across the handle was a bat quiver in which Lyss slid her weapon inside. She threw the bag's strap over her head and shoulder and let the strap rest across her chest like a sash. With one rev of her engine, she was gone.

---

Another rainy day in Florida.

Lyss sat in the windowsill of her little studio apartment. In her hands she held a cup of coffee that smelt like heaven. In the background the local news was playing on the TV. The apartment wasn't awful for it's cheap rent. It wasn't anywhere close to what she had in Miami, but she only had so much saved up that she wanted to be smart with her money. Especially when she had absolutely no idea how she was going to make a living outside of the black market. A desk job would be endlessly boring, and she wasn't keen on serving entitled customers at a restaurant. Maybe if she worked on her apparition summoning she could make a decent living as a psychic. People still went to psychics, right?

Anyways, the view of a small diner across the street was nothing compared to a view of the atlantic. Lyss missed the sunny beach town, but she also didn't mind the rain in Tampa. She was the type of person that could enjoy any kind of weather. Actually, scratch that. Lyss hated the cold. She was certainly a warm-blooded creature.

"In other news, a trailer mysteriously burst into flames due to a chemical explosion in Jackson county yesterday evening. Local authorities in Greenwood have called it a "Meth Lab Gone Wrong" and have arrested two suspects for the crime."

Lyss's eyebrow quirked and she turned her head to look at the TV, seeing the mugshots of two vampires she recognized from the fight. Neither were of the gigantic boss of the group. "So, you let two of your drones take the blame so you can walk free. Looks like Kayla will stay in business after all."

With a smirk, Lyss opened up her phone to check the time and realized that she should head to the casino. She hadn't joined up with the gang at Dairy Queen after the fight so she wasn't really sure why they were having another meeting. There also hadn't been any new deaths related to the skeleton shredder. So, what was it this time? She slid out of the windowsill and finished her coffee, setting it down on a shelf nearby. The window shut easily and clicked as Lyss locked it into place. As much as she liked to leave her window open during the cooling rain, she didn't trust a soul in Tampa. Nor any soul that might have travelled from Miami recently.

Lyss threw back on her black timbs and pulled her leather jacket over a grey tank top. Her hair she threw up into a ponytail, and she placed a navy ball cap onto her head. She hated getting the rain in her eyes. While she grabbed her keys, she wasn't planning to take her own ride to the casino. Even though she didn't mind riding in the rain, she felt like she needed to avoid using the bike in case anyone had spotted her the day before. Just for a day or so. It wasn't easy to blend in, when you rode a brown motorcycle of this type.

One short cab ride later and Lyss was passing her payment and tip up to the driver before she stepped out into the rain. "Thanks," she said to the cabbie before walking in the other direction of the apartment complex she'd been dropped in front of. It would be stupid to stop at an abandoned casino. She held out her hands as she walked. The rain splattered against her outstretched palms and Lyss enjoyed every cold touch of the water. It reminded her of the time she'd played in the rain with her father. Way, way back then.

She walked into the building with a little smile on her face and more wet than she expected to be. As one of the first people to arrive, she took a stool with a back to it and played with an app on her phone until the rest showed up. Everyone looked pretty good despite having gone through a violent altercation the day before. Even Sin, who'd been shot, wasn't looking as rough as she had before they all ran off in different directions.

Madison and Claudette were the last to enter. Lyss turned her head to look at Agatha and tucked her phone into her jacket's pocket. "So, what-" She was interrupted when Madison continued to speak after her greeting. Lyss looked over at the witch, and was shocked to hear that another person in the coven needed help.

Will I one day be the girl that asks for help? She thought, before pushing that though to the back of her mind and off of the cliff where she dumped every other worry she'd ever had. It was unlikely that she'd ever put the coven's needs under her own. She didn't want to jinx herself, but she had a feeling that it would take months before any of her old gang figured out where she was. Even then, Tampa was a big place. She wasn't even using the same cards or bank accounts that she'd used in Miami. It was actually quite easy to disappear. She just needed to avoid anyone that wanted to take selfies for their instagram or blog about their days and she'd be good. She liked this new life. She liked the Coven. As messed up as it was. She wanted to stay for as long as possible.

"What's up, Madison? Are you in trouble?" She asked, her voice displaying genuine concern.

Dairy Queen

Emily just had to open her mouth and get the last word. Jess just rolled her eyes, letting the high school level insult slide off her easily. Like, honestly, she's straight out of Mean Girls."Goood one." Ellie on the other hand was easily silenced by Emily's sass. She however stared at Emily as she left, glowering with hate in her eyes. Emily wasn't that special, she just had a horrifying monster defending her. Now that people were dispersing Ellie decided it was time to go too. She harshly scribbled Emily's name out of her notes before teleporting to her apartment.

Jess laughed nervously when Kayla had asked if anyone needed stitches. She waved her hand dismissively. She left the DQ and drove back to her house. She put on a brave face and walked into her house, fighting the urge to limp as she waved at her dad as she passed the living room. "Hey dad! I'm hoppin' in the shower!" She took a long hot shower, cleaning her cut thoroughly. She took extra time to clean out the tub of any blood that was left behind after wrapping her leg in gauze.

Jessica's house

Jess cooked eggs and bacon for breakfast, being delicate with her leg as she moved around the kitchen. She set a plate down for her dad, and one for herself. She finished her breakfast quickly before going to The Core, the comic store she worked at. She wasn't scheduled today, but often stepped in to chat with her friends. Before she knew it, it was time for the Coven meeting. She drove off and with little trouble arrived just on time.

Luckystrike Casino

She took a seat at the main table and waited for others to show up. The place did look a bit nicer than usual. After a while Madison and Claudette came in, and Madison announced her need for help. Jess could get used to this. "What do you need? I'm up for mostly anything!" She grinned at the woman, she couldn't help but take a liking to such a confident and beautiful woman.

Riley came in and exclaimed that she had survived, which made Jess happy. Riley was wild, and she liked that! You never knew what to expect with her, and that made her damn cool in Jess' book. "Riley! You're alive!" She chuckled as she acted overdramatic as a joke.

Ellie had been there very early, reading the whole time. She honestly enjoyed being at the casino alone. It was serenely silent, the air a little stagnant, but calming. She was thumbing through a book on the supernatural, pretty sure that the one she was currently reading was nothing but a sham. She sighed and looked at her notes again. She took out another journal and began writing a rough draft of her findings in the Coven so far.

After a while everyone had joined and Madison made her call for help. Ellie put down her book, and began listening. She sat alone on an old roulette table.

---

---

Interactions: @SassySalamander @RogueFox

"What's up, Madison? Are you in trouble?"

"What do you need? I'm up for mostly anything!"

"You're asking for help..? Well, our price is those pizzas you owed us. Never thought you would be the one to ask for help because you look like a badass. Though, you owe us some deepdish for whatever you want us to do."

"Well..." Madison was unsure of how to phrase her problem... especially since it was so deep and personal that she was simply unused to sharing it with other people. She just sighed, "It's not like anything serious or anything... I want to find this thing called the Hound."

"The Hound..." Babylon said as that grin got wiped off of her face. "... What business do you have with that thing?" She asked, dead serious.

"I just have a question to ask it," Madison said as she shook her head, and realized that she was asking a lot.

"... Does anyone here even know what the Hound is?" Emily finally spoke as she looked around the group, never making eye contact with anybody. Of course, she knew about the Hound, Babylon told her about it eons ago. However, the Hound was the one thing that she told her to never fight. "I'd be nice if you told everyone."

"Well, the Hound is, more or less, the grim reaper - the agent of black death - taking souls to the other side. Usually dark, brooding, ominous, and doesn't like dealing with people," Babylon said as she placed a fist to her chin and finally started grinning here as she turned towards Madison. "Sometimes likes to make deals with people that they can't possibly repay. However... the only reason someone would want to go after the thing is they lost someone - or something. So tell me... what did yo-"

"... The Jaws," Madison's command carried through the casino as she was surrounded in a dark purple mass of dinosaur bones - legs, claws, teeth, skulls, and other limbs - as she climbed up on the table. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she stared at Babylon. "That's none of your damn business."

"Oh, but it is," Babylon said, completely intimidated by the display of strength. "You're asking us for help and yet you're keeping us all in the dark about why. Why... everyone here has as much of a right to know as I do." She chuckled as she looked around.

"Isn't that right girls?"

A lot happened during the fight. Sin got shot, a big vampire tackled him and he landed on his shoulder wrong, but he punched it in the face. They grappled on the concrete, until Kayla called the fight to end and Claudette turned the street dark. Herik kicked the creature off him, then ran towards the tree, since it was his only point of reference in the darkness. From there he managed to make his way back to his car. He peeled off the street, but didn't follow everyone else. Instead, he went to the hospital, because he'd done wrong. He shouldn't've been in that fight. His mother wouldn't have approved. Sure he went to support Kayla, but he didn't expect more than a little fighting, like a bar brawl. Not a bloody battle. It was too much. His mother raised him better than this. He's sure he hurt the vampires he fought, maybe beyond repair. His stopped at a traffic light and looked at his bloody knuckles. He can't go see his mother like this, but he was barely holding it together. He parked in the hospital lot and he wiped his hands the best he could with a cloth in his bag. The process to check in and get a visitor's bag took a few minutes, then he was in her room, sitting next to her.

She didn't look any different than when he last saw her a week ago. Still blonde with a gray strands, her laugh lines were frown lines, the wrinkles around her eyes looked sad without her liveliness. He placed his hand next to hers, because he couldn't bring himself to touch her with the blood on his hands.

"I got in a fight today. I know I shouldn't've, but a friend needed help." He shrugged, and tapped the bed nervously. "But that's no excuse, is it? I broke a man's jaw for my girlfriend. You'd think I'd learned conflict resolution, but I didn't and I'm sorry. I just want to protect the girls, y'know. They're young and lost." He laid his head down on the bed. "I'm the oldest I should lead by example. I can hear you say it now, but I wouldn't be in the Coven if you were awake." He sighed and closed his eyes. "I'll do better. I promise. No more violence, unless absolutely necessary. Right."



Herik stayed in the hospital all night, until the nurse woke him up the next morning. He went home, eat, showered, and put an ace bandage on his shoulder, the pain finally hit him. He changed into a purple mini jersey shorts and started his work out. He switched between one arm push ups and sit ups in his living room, until a half hour before the Coven meeting. He got half way there, before getting out his car with a water bottle in his hand. He hadn't worked out the shame from yesterday and his workout at home wasn't enough, so he jogged the rest of the way to Lucky Strike Casino. Most members were there when he came in. He smiled the best he could, then sat away from everyone else at the furthest end of the bar. He didn't have to wait long for Madison and Claudette to come in, Madison asking for help with something called the Hound. From the way Babylon explained it, the creature didn't seem like the type to throw fists at. A grim reaper of sorts. Sounds like something best to avoid. He barely flinched at Madison's Jaws.

"I'll help you with anything you need. I'd help any of you, but I think we need to be careful. Some of us got hurt yesterday." He looked at Sin. She got shot and could have died. "This...Hound doesn't sound like something we should mess with. Babylon said it takes souls to the other side." As much as he doesn't trust Babylon he couldn't see a reason for her to lie about this. "What if it takes one of us? Is whatever you're looking worth your friends' lives?"

Molly softly smiled as Sin took the offered ice cream and began to enjoy it. Molly then took a seat among the girls and began to lick at her own ice cream as she silently listened to the others. Her fear was slowly dissipating from her. She found a sense of safety around the girls. It was odd, despite all the bitchy remarks and what have you... This was the closest thing to family Molly has ever known.

After a while things began to die down and everyone was heading home. Molly went and discarded the paper from her finished ice cream cone and headed for her truck. She pulled the door open and hopped in. She took a relaxing sigh of relief, now that the repercussions of the Mark of Dread were gone from her system.

~~The Next Day

Molly arrived shortly to the Lucky Strike Casino shortly before the meeting was to officially begin. She had thrown on some random clothes from her suitcases she has still yet to unpack. Her outfit was a bit more 'daring' from what she usually wore. Molly usually wore more casual, low maintenance clothes; often hiding her body under sleeves and pant legs. But today she wore something that revealed more skin than usual. And once she entered the Casino she didn't awkward walk along the outer border of the room to find a spot all lone. Today she walked up and sat at the pseudo-round table with the majority of other girls.

As she sat there a small smile remained on her unpainted lips, the cut and bruising from the other day noticeably diminished. She listened quietly to the talking of the group. Her attention perking at the mention of The Hound; though she still remained quiet. Only until Herik began to speak of the dangers of seeking out the hound, Molly lightly chuckling to herself.

"It'd probably be easier if we simply find someone dying...." Her voice trailed, as if thinking on how to explain. "The hound is the courier for the dead to pass on, right? Why not simply locate someone on their death bed. Eventually The Hound would show up to do his job. Though, no guarantee's he'd be willing to talk to any of us." She softly chuckled to herself once more.

---

---

Maya had woken up the next morning after what felt like two hours of sleep and a night spent trying to find a position she could comfortably sleep in without pain in her side. She hadn’t succeeded at all. Which sucked, because Maya did not function well on less than six hours of sleep.

The night before she’d gotten home and pretty much collapsed for the night, but not before getting a phone call from Nina to make sure she was okay after the fight. Of course, Maya had completely lied that she hadn’t gotten any injuries at all - but it wasn’t like she was in that bad of a state. The conversation from there, however, was much more interesting. Nina filled her in on all the details of their run in with Kimberley Walton, a host of a show that Maya had heard of but personally never heard of.

So when she’d woken up, far too early for how little sleep she got, she’d researched into her and watched a few episodes. It was interesting, to say the least, but not exactly Maya’s cup of tea. Not to mention that she’d already experienced the supernatural. She was curious about exactly why the girl had checked out their coven, but research wasn’t going to help that.

Now all she wanted to do was take the day to curl up in bed and watch shit, but of course the coven wanted another meeting. What it was she didn’t know but it was always better to be involved in these things rather than skip out. So instead she forced herself to get up and get read, before heading out.

---

Lucky Strike Casino

Madison had just asked for help when Maya arrived, silently slipping in and taking a seat at the table while the others asked what the problem was and Madison began to explain. She was wearing normal clothes for her, a baggy knitted jumper and shorts, along with a pair of sunglasses that looked way out of place on a rainy day. But she’d rather look like a weirdo trying to be cool than show that black bags underneath her eyes that makeup had failed to cover. She nodded slightly at what Herik said. She wasn’t ready to risk her life to talk to what sounded like a furry grim reaper.

“That doesn’t sound morbid at all,” she muttered as Molly suggested finding someone who’s dying, before speaking up louder. “I don’t think just sitting watching someone who’s dead is a great plan… What do you want to do, turn up to a hospital and ask who’s closest to dying? Do we even know this Hound turns up for every death?”

She turned her head to look at Madison. “Not saying I don’t want to help, and I get that we all have our secrets, but you should at least tell us part of why you’re looking for the Hound. You know before we risk ourselves to help you find him…”

Not that Maya would actually agree to help if there was a risk. Research, finding people, she could do. Rocking up for a conversation with something that takes souls to the other side? Not so much.

"This...Hound doesn't sound like something we should mess with. Babylon said it takes souls to the other side. What if it takes one of us? Is whatever you're looking worth your friends' lives?"

"Oh don't worry about that," Babylon chuckled as she answered Herik's concerns, "He'll only take you to the other side if you're slated to go... in which case, you had it coming."

She floated forward a bit until she was directly over the table as she faced the entire group. "The problem is that... he already knows you're after him," Babylon said with a chuckle as she wanted to see how the group would react to this neck revelation, "He knows we're talking about at this very second... and he could come here and find you at any time. Except, he probably doesn't feel like you're worth his time, so..."

"It'd probably be easier if we simply find someone dying... The hound is the courier for the dead to pass on, right? Why not simply locate someone on their death bed. Eventually, The Hound would show up to do his job. Though, no guarantee's he'd be willing to talk to any of us."

"That's morbid... when did a girl like you get such a dark streak? Hehehehehe..." Babylon chuckled at the girl as Emily was forced to turn her head towards her.

"... Yeah, when did you?" She raised an eyebrow as she averted eye contact with the girl. That was not a good idea, at all. Emily wasn't big on sitting around in a hospital or something... nor was she super big on chasing after the Hound. "Either way, count me and Babylon out." She crossed her legs.

“Not saying I don’t want to help, and I get that we all have our secrets, but you should at least tell us part of why you’re looking for the Hound. You know before we risk ourselves to help you find him…”

Madison was quiet for a few seconds as she realized this was not something that she was prepared to share with the group. "... Forgot I said anything." Madison softly said.

"Is there something you had in mind, leader?" Emily asked Agatha, "Because you can't keep calling us here for nothing, some of us have things to do, you know."