Location: Veni Vedi Veni, Parking Lot
@Punished GN, @FernStone, @Zombiedude101, @AtomicEmperor, @Atrophy

---

Dark shades. It was difficult to see her, but Alizée had to furrow her eyebrows and do a double-take. Her memory was a little fuzzy, but something felt off. The accent was forced, she could tell. What was this individual, this audience trying to hide? And why did she seem so... familiar? It was a sensation that threw Alizée off, itched at the back of her head, drove her half-mad. She swore she had met this individual somewhere before.

“Get that thing away.”

Void and Alizée shared a glance before, in unison, they leveled a glare at the woman. "Rude."

The child flinched at Alizée's touch, causing her head to snap back, intriguing her further. Was she looking at a street urchin? Someone who had been traumatized? He recoiled nearly violently, but she didn't give him any provocation, no reason to act so riled up. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. What was the boy hiding?

As the child whispered as biting words as it could muster at Void, it appeared to have the opposite effect on the Voidly haunter. While Alizée grew suspicious, Void was over the moon. Phantom hands manifested, smaller in size this time, balled into enthused fists, hiding an adoring, jagged smile.

"Does it want a treat?"

Void's eyes suddenly went cold, predatory mode engaged. Alizée had almost forgotten Void's reputation as a haunter.

"Does it like toys?"

Void's voice grew more distorted, deeper and darker, before it uttered out cruel, malicious words.

"Does it want to feel the sweet, cold embrace of death?"

Alizée's hand waved in front of Void, cutting off the darkening atmosphere clouding around the two.

"Don't scare the kid; it probably doesn't have a good home situation." She thought, eyes narrowing.

"Then we should take it with us." Void thought back simply, evil smile widening.

"And give these people another reason to hate me? No."

Void only chuckled, eyes glinting.

"Just get out of my way. I need to go, and I don't have time to wait for you to kill each other."

Alizée stared for a long moment. She didn't give a reaction to the boy's abrasive manner, only seeming to have one fidget, one thing that made her hesitant to pull away. His hand was still dirty. And she had all the tools to clean it. Infuriating.

She clicked her tongue, slipping the handkerchief back into her purse before standing to her full height and giving the child one last glance. He was a strongly independent little twerp. Perhaps he'd be fine. Void seemed to like him. Anyone Void liked wasn't food. They became a toy, like she did. In that sense, looking at this child, one thing united them. Void's cruelness.

"Very well, kiddo."

Her pale eyes glanced back at the woman with shades, her nose wrinkling delicately. She wanted to take the boy somewhere. Elsewhere. That didn't seem safe. No, not safe at all. Also gave Void the same kind of look Ashley Stone and other disheartened Coven members had given him long ago, before she was banished. Didn't settle good with her at all.

She faced the woman with shades head on, squaring her shoulders, her eyes narrowed. "Do I... know you?"

"Petite soeur, viens! Nous devons fuir avant que les indésirables n'arrivent!" (Let's go, little sister! Before the Undesirables show up!)

Alizée's eyes widened, head twisting sharply to face Leon.

"Alizée! Not here, Fille, we need to go! We've fucked everything up now, let's go find you a meal in the Temple! Vite!"

As Leon mentioned it, Alizée rubbed her throat, grimacing. It was like fire scorching tender flesh, itching with a maddening intensity. Her thirst. Her hunger. The desire for entropy, for prey. Void glanced at her, smirking. He knew he'd get some results now. He always did when Alizée was this desperate and hungry.

In a near daze, she shakily nodded her head. "Tu as raison, grand frère. (You're right, big brother.) But what about the Wol-"

"... HEY!"

Alizée's eyes widened, attention snapping to the woman with the web-making magic. She glanced behind her briefly, seeing the group of girls crowd around the fallen redhead, green light illuminating the air. She had to assume it was healing magic. They had a healer? ...Was there anything this group didn't have?

"Hold up! You motherfuckers think you can do all this shit, try to fuckin' kill our friend, then try to kill us for trying to stop you from killing our friend, and then just up and leave."

Alizée's eyes continued to widen, glancing at Leon for support. They were getting chewed out to high hell. Alizée didn't get it. They didn't deserve this. It was their group that had interfered and got in Alizée's way. She just wanted answers and a meal, and be on her way. But alas-

"Who in the fuck are you two? Who the fuck are you two with? And please don't tell me you're the leftover Nazis."

Alizée blinked a couple of times, feeling squeamish under the girl's verbal assault. She leaned in close to Leon, head tilting up to whisper near his ear, as much as her shorter height would allow. "Me soutiendrais-tu si je la faisais taire de force, grand frère? (Would you support me if I forcibly silenced her, big brother?)"

It was a weak attempt at humour. Void gave a chuckle. It was funny because, even after backing off, Alizée was being serious.

Alizée pursed her lips, trying to find words. This was different than all the negotiations she had attended with her father, all the business meetings she studied, observed, and tried to play in. The person in front of her, and many with her, had killed before. Thought she was going to kill the redhead.

Nah. She'd never. Just suck her dry. Alizée smirked to herself. That difference gave her an overwhelming sense of satisfaction with her actions. So much so that she forgot she was supposed to be scared and grateful to be spared.

She pulled out another cigarette from her purse and lit it. It was one of those days. She inhaled with a sigh, taking her time to speak. Letting the smoke cloud around her face before she held it aside and spoke, a calmness in her voice, her fingers counting off the woman's demands.

"Alizée, Leon. The Sycamore Tree Coven, or at least, well, it's complicated. And who the hell are you talking about?"

That's when a glossy SUV rolled into the parking lot, with some of the most impeccable timing. However, that wasn't the shocking bit. The shocking bit that made Alizée's jaw drop was who stepped out of the vehicle.

"... Alizée? Leon?"

It took only two seconds for Alizée to cross the parking lot and run into her best friend's arms. "Britney! I thought I'd never see you again!"

She pulled away from the embrace, on the verge of tears. "I missed you! You'll never guess what happened!"

"... What happened here?"

Alizée took a step back, for the first time showing a bit of shyness, maybe even a hint of regret, with her actions. "Well, uh... you see... uhm. I uh, made a new... friend."

Her eyes glanced over, seeing Sully. "Wait,who's- is that Sully? Uh... Long time, bro."

Been years since she'd seen Sully. He was always the kind one of the group, but she had a feeling he had certain... reservations for her.

That's when she saw the exchange between the Korean girl, the girl with the wind power, and Sully. Her brows furrowed, turning to the girl who could make webs. "How... How the hell do you know each other?"

She glanced back at Sully. "How are you friends with these people?"

Was she bitter she had to give up her victim? ...Most likely. Was she upset she nearly died? Eh, probably not.

Sully asked what had happened, and Alizée was unwilling to give a response. He wouldn't understand her like Leon did. Leon didn't say a word when it came to her night-stalking. Only offered up himself. Sully? Well, that was a different matter entirely.

"Nothing... nothing happened here."

---

“This is really where you want to go? It’s barely fifty degrees outside…”

It was his turn, but she never should’ve let Drake pick. Jade, Drake, and Sloane (occasionally joined by whatever future disappointment Sloane was dating at the time) had made a semi-regular commitment to get dinner together once a month. They would trade off who picked where to eat. Sloane naturally had the tendency to pick stodgy upscale restaurants with small portions and no prices listed on the menu, while the Blackmores had always taken her to cool, trendy local eateries where every item could be made gluten free and they brewed their own beer. Jade wouldn’t always let her, but Sloane would always be the first to pay for the bill: I owe you my life, the least I can do is pay for dinner. It was only when they turned into the Dairy Queen parking lot that Sloane realized that Jade must’ve been the one picking the places to eat before. She should’ve known Drake wasn’t joking when he said he wanted ice cream.

Sloane stepped out of the car and scanned the exterior of the building. All her life she had thought of Dairy Queen as a thing that no longer existed, a mythical relic of the past like video rental stores and affordable housing. She didn’t really get the appeal of ice cream. Perhaps if it was hot outside she could understand why someone would want to have some, although she much preferred just sucking on a cube of ice instead of poisoning her body with artificial flavors and added sugar. If she was really feeling particularly decadent and unable to resist the urge for something sweet she would cut up a fresh fruit and use it to top a cup of plain greek yogurt. A low hum of disapproval leaked out from Sloane’s tightening jaw as she looked at a poster advertising a Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard made with “real” berries, worrisome considering it was now October.

At the very least the Dairy Queen had checked one of Luca’s fair requests: it had a patio that was largely unoccupied. She followed Drake inside, her arms wrapped tight around her chest as her eyes narrowed upon the menu: signature stackburgers, two for five chili dogs, they offered salads? Nope. No way. They got to the front of the line and Sloane told the cashier that she got the next four people and stepped to the side so that Drake and the others could order, refusing to even utter the words, “I’d like the Peanut Buster.” After Luca, Simone, and Kali had placed their orders she pulled out her card and handed it to the cashier.

“For you, ma’am?” asked the employee.

“Could I do a bottle of water?” asked Sloane.

“C’mon, are you really sure that’s what you want sweetie?” said the employee playfully.

Sloane raised her eyebrows and swallowed the instinctual urge to scoff at being questioned. The cashier was a middle aged woman, old enough to be Sloane’s mother. Sloane imagined working fast food hadn’t been the woman’s ideal career choice, but it was respectable that she did the work with a smile and tried to move the product. Plus, Sloane could sense the annoying ribbing she’d get if she joined the others on the patio with only a water. She glanced back at the poster for the Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard, gave a defeated sigh, and pointed at it, “I guess I’ll take that.”

“Oh, sorry, we only have that in the summer.”

Why leave up the poster then? She couldn’t have been the first customer to walk in and order the thing they had on the window since August. Literally all they had to do was walk over to the window and pull it down, maybe scrap off some tape, and polish the glass. Sloane felt her teeth grind together. The employee must’ve sensed her annoyance, as she started to list off other options. Sloane stopped them with a look that was colder than any of the treats Dairy Queen sold as she pushed her credit card forward.

“Just a bottle of water. Thank you.”

Sloane joined the others on the patio, the bottle clenched tightly in her hand. She glanced at Drake’s parfait with a slight feeling of envy. She set her water bottle down on the table unopened and checked her watch. She was glad Luca had made them sit outside. The cool, fresh air was easing her migraine that had flared back up.

There were plenty of things she wanted to discuss, with Kali being one of them—was he actually a fed, should they work with him, were they responsible for monitoring his mental health, should they have him committed. Simone bringing Kali along with her for dinner prompted another idea, an idea that Simone was already in bed with the feds. It probably wasn’t the case. Surely she was smart enough to see how everyone bristled when Kali flashed his badge. If she was also on the take she probably would’ve voted against him to try to maintain her own cover. She was probably just reasonably worried about his mental state given the entire fiasco with Everleigh and his gun. Considering that, perhaps it was best if Sloane didn’t put Kali under a microscope.

“Kali, I believe I owe you an explanation for abstaining earlier. I did not participate in the vote because I have not yet agreed to rejoin the Coven. I had no right to decide your fate. In all honesty, nobody did. Almost nobody, anyway. I’ll get to that in a moment. That said, I am willing to cooperate with you fully,” said Sloane.

She stood up, pulled out a business card, and slid one to Kali. The card was eggshell white with simple black text reading Faris Imports, the name of her high-end antique store, an address, a business number, and her cell. She much rather give it out herself then have them go through Auri. She slid a card to Simone and Luca as well. Drake already had her number. She didn’t ask for anybody’s number in return. She tucked the cards back into her coat and pulled it tightly around her. She stayed standing.

“As I had said, almost nobody has the right to vote anybody out of the Coven because the current Coven has no legitimacy. Auri is the only one who decided to reform, unless any of you made a backroom deal then Auri is currently the only member of it, and despite her claims of it not being a dictatorship Auri is the only one who will have any authority in it. Already she made decisions without consulting the group, decisions that would leave us to deal with the consequences if we decided to join her Coven. While I am willing to work with her until Father Wolf is handled, I currently cannot see myself being part of her Coven, her family.”

Drake used to joke that the old Sycamore Tree Coven was a cult. Well, being part of an organization that referred to itself as a family was typically a pretty good sign that it was actually a cult. Sloane stared at the bottle of water and thought about the cashier. The cashier probably looked at the poster for the Summer Berry Cheesecake Blizzard everyday and also thought that it should be taken down. She probably had approached her manager several times about it, the manager saying that they’d get to it when they could and never following through with it. She was probably tired of people like Sloane asking about it and went to remove it one day but got shouted at by the same manager for messing with the store’s display. The manager probably called him team a family, too. The point is that bad leadership made good employees seem incompetent.

“While I believe that reforming the Coven to continue protecting St. Portwell like we should’ve been doing the entire time is a good idea, the harsh truth is that I simply have zero confidence in Auri as a leader. I have zero confidence with anybody serving as a singular leader. There’s a reason why traditional covens are typically run by a group of three. They keep each other in continual check,” said Sloane.

“Maybe I’m out of line. Maybe I'm missing something obvious. I’m curious what you all think. Do any of you even have a desire to actually rejoin a Coven, let alone a Coven exclusively controlled by Auri? Are you interested in protecting this city? She looked at Kali. “Are you just here for revenge?” She made direct eye contact with Drake, before glancing at Luca and Simone. “Or are you just trying to save yourself?”

---

Drake was not lying about the stain, and Luca was tempted to just rot away the outer layer of the backseat so he didn't have to look at it. He didn’t, but he thought about it.

They pulled into a Dairy Queen, which wasn’t what Luca had expected when Sloane suggested a meal, but honestly suited him just fine. There was an empty patio outside, because it was October and most people were sitting inside. It also didn’t seem too busy which was nice. He hadn’t been to a Dairy Queen in years but something properly sugar filled was sounding real appealing.

He stood a little bit away from the rest of the group in the line, keeping at least an arm's length between them. While his demeanour was relaxed, back slouched and smile on his lips, his eyes were constantly darting around. He needed to make sure no one with abstractions came near him, so he had to constantly watch out.

"Can I get a chicken strip basket and a royal reese's fluffernutter blizzard, please," Luca ordered after studying the menu a bit too intently. "I can pay for it if it's too much!"

He was a lot hungrier than he realised, and really could go for two meals, but he didn’t want to do that on Sloane’s wallet… Or in front of other people. Because of his abstraction, food started rotting before it reached his stomach half the time, so he had to eat way more to actually feel full. It was a pain.

Once they got their food and sat outside, Luca dug right in. He didn’t take off his gloves as he picked up pieces of chicken and ate them as if someone was going to steal them if he didn’t devour it within minutes. He tried to do it as politely as possible, but it was difficult. It really was a race against time for him though… If the gloves disintegrated the food would be next. That’d be a waste.

”Uh,” Luca looked down at the business card Sloane had pushed over to him, before shooting her a rueful grin. ”You don’t happen to have a laminated version do you?”

He still took it carefully, making sure to hold it with the middle of his fingers - the gloves at his fingertips had already started fraying. It was dropped in his pocket to be worried about later. He listened carefully to what Sloane was saying, head slightly tilted and quietly eating his blizzard.

“Or are you just trying to save yourself?”

Luca froze, bright red spoon heaped with ice cream halfway to his mouth. His hand shook, sending drops of melted soft serve onto his trousers, finally forcing him to actually shove it in his mouth. Her question, with this part directed and him and Simone, threw him off more than he would have liked.

There was some truth to it. It was part of his motivation to join again. He knew it was selfish. But it wasn’t everything. And could he really be saved anyway? He genuinely wanted to help everyone, for no one else to be killed. He’d do anything to help it, even if it meant he was the one that lost his life, because was his worth really worth that much? He really did like the idea of the coven as a group protecting the city from supernatural threats, and he wanted to do that. But how could he? He was literally falling apart.

Why protect a city you’ll destroy?

Luca ignored the rot, smiling at Sloane. His expression hadn’t wavered much even as his thoughts went towards things he normally tried not to think about. Maybe he should just come clean? No, that’d look like he was trying to get pity. There was a reason he didn’t want to tell anyone about his condition.

”I just want to help,” he said honestly. ”In whatever way I can. Maybe following Auri isn’t right, maybe we need to do it differently, but I came back so no one else would die. Sure, I’m hoping for help afterwards… But I’d also be willing to protect the city.” For as long as he could. ”Whether that’s in a coven run by three people, or some kind of communist collective, I don’t really mind.”

He leaned back in his chair, flashing Sloane a relaxed smile.

”We don’t know it’ll be bad with Auri, though. Shouldn’t we give her a chance first? It’s best to be positive about it! Why dwell on the possible negatives.”

---

---

Linqian's eyebrows shot up at the amount Edict offered. Normally it'd take her weeks to earn that much… and that was only if she was lucky with tips. That'd cover her brother's expenses for a least a month or two, maybe she could even start paying off Jinhai's college debt she'd unfortunately inherited… no, essentials first.

”Sure thing, boss,” she said half mockingly to his instructions, taking the money and business card. She considered counting through the money, but decided that could wait until she was home. It went straight in her pocket. "If you keep paying me like this, maybe I will order some of that tobacco."

"Did I miss the party?"

Thankfully she'd already stuffed the money in her pocket (it'd be a pain to explain) when Lyss showed up out of the blue - fashionably late, to be expected. Linqian gave her a nod, standing up and brushing the basically nonexistent dust off her ass. Could never be too safe after sitting in a random entryway.

"Sure did, party’s over and all.” Linqian lowered her cigarette from her lips, which twitched up into what was the closest to a smile she’d gotten in a long time. Honestly, she quite liked Lyss… At least compared to a lot of the other coven members. Sure, they’d clashed back in the day - but who hadn’t Linqian clashed with? At least Lyss didn’t have a stick up her ass like almost every other girl in the group (and she was slightly less emo than Eve, and had never been a hippy). Right now, her feelings towards Lyss were pretty friendly. ”Auri’s still in there, but the rest of the group went to a stripclub chasing a lead. I was about to join them… You coming along, or you gonna go get Auri to fill you in on all the boring shit you missed?”

---

---

"Do I... know you?"

"Nope! I’ve never met you before!" Bianca replied, a little too cheerfully. At least Alizée didn't outright recognise her. The people she'd been fighting were a distraction too... Though when more coven members appeared, she realised it was about time for her to leave. She could probably fool Alizée and Leon (who wasn't even looking in her direction), but Britney and Sully? No.

The kid didn't want help either.

"Sure thing, kid," she held up her hands, stepping away, while glancing him up and down. He clearly wasn't the lost kid she'd first thought he was - not in the traditional sense at least. Difficult home, maybe? Certainly too aggressive to be a lost boy who'd just wandered into this parking lot. Possibly a runaway... Well, it was really out of her jurisdiction. That was a job for the normal cops. With a slight sigh she raked through her pockets, pulling out a small business card. She held it out to the kid with a half smile. "Here, take this. If you need somewhere to stay just call ‘em and say you know Bea."

It was a simple white business card with a cartoon fish and waves along the bottom. “Manalo Fishing” was in large navy font at the top, with a number and address below.

Sure, her parents would probably be annoyed if a random kid turned up at their door, but she’d rather that than him sleeping on the streets. If that was what he was doing, she was making a snap judgement based on his reaction. Maybe he wouldn't call them at all. If he did she could smooth it over... She still lived at home most of the time, anyway, when she wasn't sleeping in the office cause there wasn't the time to commute.

After Clancy took or ignored the card, Bianca started to make her exit, moving away towards her car. Thankfully it was in the opposite direction to the group, so unless anyone stopped her, she’d be away shortly.

---

---

---

It was chaos out here.

It didn't take a genius to tell that shit went down here - cars were flung, there were craters in the ground, ghostly webs, and more! Britney didn't know why Leon and Alizée were there or who these other strangers were, but they seemed calm with Sully, so they were excellent in Britney's book. Bianca was here, but by the time Britney had recognized her, she hauled ass out of there. Britney wanted to ask her what in God's name happened here, but she knew even if she called her Bianca was likely to ignore her and keep going.

Alizée ran over and gave her the second hug she received in over an hour - and this one didn't squish her titties that badly. Britney was happy to see Alizée, and it warmed her stomach to get such a warm reception from her friend. However, she listened to everything, even these people... they were throwing all sorts of accusations towards Alizée, who insisted that nothing happened here. Britney held onto Alizée by her shoulders as she smiled incredulously, saying,

"... It doesn't look like nothing happened here." Britney followed that statement with awkward laughter. "Alizée... have you been night stalking again? I thought you said you stopped."

Britney looked Alizée dead in the eye, as her expression did not slightly change.

"Do not lie to me."

---

---

---

Everyone trickled out in groups, and Auri hoped they would chase after their lead rather than just go fool around. It seemed like many people were not taking the threat of Father Wolf seriously and seemed more concerned with squabbling and wasting time. Her store was also in ruins, and she wondered if she should have just led the group to the base of operations where she had spent hours (well, it would have been hours without the butterfly staff) decorating! However, one person stuck around despite it all...

”It wasn’t a waste of time, calling us here. If I knew we were being picked off sooner, I’d have Father Wolf buried by now. And I know you had high hopes for reuniting us, but we haven’t been a family since we sealed away the Snake. The coven was a family for many of us, myself included, but what we have now is nothing more than memories. The longer we spend dwelling on the past, the less time we have to focus on what is happening. Give them time, they’ll return sooner or later, once they’re ready. They won’t let this stop them from finding who is trying to kill us all.”

"... It wasn't," Auri agreed.

She sighed as she walked over to one of the paintings she had for sale. A little witchy piece reflecting her time in the Coven, and she held it with both hands as she sighed.

"It was a family for me, too... despite the issues I had with Daisy and Ashley," Auri awkwardly laughed, hoping Jack didn't want to pry that up because that was not a bridge she wanted to go down right now. She placed the painting down. "I'm just worried that either the killer is lurking among us or... a part of something bigger."

She awkwardly tugged at her collar as she thought about her conversation with Kali in the back room.

"This obviously has something to do with the Stygian Snake, and from what I hear from Lynette, there are lots of other organizations of Paranormals out there - not just in St. Portwell! Maybe someone out there wants the Snake; who knows."

She sighed.

"If only we still had Kari... we probably would have found this Father Wolf and been about our day... but, I digress. These are the cards we have been dealt..."

She looked off to the side.

"But, you should get a move on," Auri grabbed onto her butterfly staff and tapped it on the ground, releasing a swarm of glowing butterflies; they quickly cleaned up her poor flower store that had been ruined during the debacle earlier. "I'm going to head to that strip club to see if Judas and his Wolfpack are behind this... and hope nobody does anything too brash or stupid."

However, Auri knew that she was aiming a little bit too high here. It was the Coven, after all. Even if it's been ten years, they haven't changed much.

---

---

“Need a hand, Doc?”

The healing aura was doing its job, but Kashmira would like some assistance if a fight restarted... which she felt would happen given how passionately Naomi behaved. Not that Kashmira would blame her because what in the world was wrong with this girl? Kashmira kept her eyes on Alizée. She was a pacifist, but Shiva allowed her to defend herself and the people she cared about if necessary. Kashmira grabbed the chalice, briefly halting her healing, as she opened Jess' mouth and poured it inside - then went back to healing.

Jess swallowed, then her eyes shot wide open as she triumphantly hopped to her feet, flexing while shouting,



She stood there momentarily; Pearl and the others sighed in relief.

“What the heck happened here?”

Autumn, however, walked over to Sully and whispered in his ear,

"... We were trying to take Judas out. Jess was supposed to stand guard inside, but then she-" Autumn made sure to point at Alizée to ensure she knew she was talking about her. "-just... walked out with Jess, and a fight broke out because you know we couldn't let that happen."

She glanced at Naomi and the others, then at Alizée before she continued to whisper.

"... Do you know her? Do you know why she tried taking Jess?"

However, Jess was standing there, with her hands on her hips, smiling like a fool as she said,

"C'mon, Autumn, you know you can't whisper worth shit!" She said as she extended a hand towards Sully. "I can show you what happened if you took my hand! Don't worry, you won't get the cooties... this time."

Sully took Jessica's hand, and she pulled him into a Recollection, one where he would be a third party seeing everything from the second Alizée walked in to now. Afterward, Jess crossed her arms as she said,

"I'll let you make your judgment..."

"How... How the hell do you know each other?"

Pearl and Amelia then looked at Sully, trying to quietly tell him not to expose them as Greenwood while they were out of disguise. They trusted Sully...

... They didn't trust the others.

---

---

"Alizée, Leon. The Sycamore Tree Coven, or at least, well, it's complicated. And who the hell are you talking about?"

Naomi put on a shocked face as she sarcastically responded,

"Oh? You mean that Coven that broke up ten years ago?" Naomi tilted her head as if she was astonished by Alizée's stupidity. The child that seemingly ended the fight wasn't receptive to Alizée, as he should, so maybe the goofy ass kid had some sense, unlike Alizée here. "Bull. Shit."

However, Sully and others arrived and Alizée ran into the tall-ass girl's arms. Sully came to help out Kash, and Jess was quick to rise to her feet... rather dramatically, Naomi might add. It was great seeing that Jess was okay, but there was still the matter at hand. Sully and the others asked what in the world went down here, and Alizée was quick to play dumb - even asked how he knew them.

Like Greenwood was the bad guy here.

"How... How the hell do you know each other?"

"... Maybe because all of us are good people, and we like hanging out with other good people," Naomi chuckled as she glanced toward Sully. "Psychopaths like you wouldn't understand."

Naomi had a lot of mouth and was not going to let Alizée get even a second of figurative breathing room.

"Nothing... nothing happened here."

"Bullshit."

Naomi hissed as, again, she would not let up on Alizée even for a second and narrowed her eyes at her. She wondered if she would use her little shadow hands on her because she was speaking so out of tone to her. Naomi pointed at Alizée, ensuring she kept her eyes on her to dodge any attacks.

"This fuckin' psycho tried walking out of here with Jess, then squeezed her like she was some fucking chew toy over and again," Naomi pointed at the small crater that was left in the ground, then continued. "Then tried killing Autumn when she dared to try and pry our friend free."

Naomi put a hand on her hip and then rolled her eyes.

"I'm not sure if she's a part of your Coven, but you guys really need to get her on a leash because, trust, there are lots of people in St. Portwell who would have done a lot worse to her."

---

---

Now that everyone was trickling out, they clearly had their plans for tackling this whole coven murder mystery. Some of them were going to a strip club for reasons Stormy didn’t fully understand. He got here after everyone else had sorted out their plans and their differences. But Sully was a good guy. He was going to stick with Sully and figure out who he needed to punch later. He wasn’t going to ride with Britney if he had a choice, so he hopped into the car with the resident Beer Baron.

He had his own ride, but it was in a parking lot on the other end of town. it was closer to the club than him, ironically. ”I’ll keep my hands to myself like I said, but I sincerely do not feel confident in her doing that.”

He was quiet on the way to the club. It was never Stormy’s scene. He was more of a quiet, outdoor patio dinner sort of guy, so pulling up to the club and seeing a fight between a bunch of people and… Oh good lord, why did some of these these people seem too familiar for comfort?

In the parking lot, there were several people all gathered around in a fight. And of course, Britney was over there with Alizee. Of all people, he didn’t expect that woman to show up after all the things her Apparition made her do. He could see the despicable little creature from the window of Sully’s car. God, this was a disaster.

He stepped out of the vehicle and walked over, catching the tail end of their conversation. ”Yes, that coven. Now, Alizee, do you remember me at all? Because I remember you and the people you hunted, so I’m very inclined to believe them when they say you attacked one of their friends. What were you thinking?” that’s twice today, that Stormy has come out of the woodwork and made himself the center of attention.

After seeing Sully run over to help one of the strangers, and after Alizee ran into the arms of the other girl with a habit of hurting people, Stormy took a breath and directed his attention to Naomi. ”You’re right. I’m sorry about your friend over there. Alizee should have a handle on herself… You know about the Sycamore. I feel like so should remember you, have we met before? I haven’t been in town since things broke down, back in the day.”

Hopefully, some actual dialogue could smooth this over. ”…And do you have any idea why there’s a child here, by any chance?” He was trying his absolute best to ignore the fucking property damage.

---

”If any of you need me, I’ll be catching up with Drake and Luca. They’re easy to hunt down. Tomorrow, we’ll be better-adjusted as a group,” He assured Auri, before walking over and flipping off a few of the lights in the shop. Just dark enough that it was an inconvenience. Auri no doubt knew what he was doing before he did it, as Jack stood up taller, and teetered backwards into a one man trust fall. He vanished in a puff of black smoke, one of his oldest tricks, the very one that he used to give the Stygian Snake hell back in the good old day.

Jack suddenly appeared somewhere downtown, in a wide alleyway between two buildings. It was darker, and he had to look around just to be sure no one was on his tail suddenly. With the coast clear, he walked out and down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets. Jack looked through window after window, until he eventually spotted a car that looked like Sloan’s in a DQ parking lot. That was definitely a clear indication that Drake and Luca were probably inside. He stepped through the doors and headed straight to the counter, and ordered something warm… and something cold. Looking back over the seats, he could see them both sitting down and eating along with Kali and Sloane. Good. He got his food, paid in some of the most battered dollars anyone could spend, and took a seat by them.

Thankfully, the Blind tended to perceive Jack’s magical hand as flesh and blood, so long as they didn’t look to close. If they did, it would be easy to note the lack of nails, or veins around the wrist. The four at the table, however, would see it for what it was as Jack say something down by Drake’s food. The coveted, world-renown Large Peanut Buster. ”Consider it a peace offering, for ambushing you earlier,” He said to Drake, obviously joking. Or was he?

Jack sat down at the table directly across from them, taking a bite out of a chicken strip. ”I thought you’d be here. I overheard what you two were saying about the coven. Reforming the coven doesn’t sound bad on principle… Knowing what all of us know at the moment. But the problem I see with that is that we simply can’t reform what we had then. You heard what Auri tried to pitch: A family. The unfortunate fact is that most of us have our own families, and while it is quite heartwarming to see all of you again, everyone experienced life in their own ways. The old coven formed out of necessity. What were facing now is different, and we should treat is as such.”

He may or may not have been eavesdropping on their chat while we waited in line. ”I believe Auri could be a dependable leader in theory, but not on her own. As you mentioned, there is a reason why covens have a chain of command and not a dictator. If a proper example were to be set, then the rest of us will see that and follow better than claiming we’re still a family.”

---

---

---

---

Location: Veni Vedi Veni, Parking Lot
@Punished GN, @Blizz

---

"... It doesn't look like nothing happened here. Alizée... have you been night stalking again? I thought you said you stopped."

Alizée stared up at one of her closest friends as she was held by the shoulders, slack jaw. Tears threatened to well in her eyes again at the thought of disappointing Britney. She couldn't do that, could see? Britney had only recently said how proud she was. How much Alizée had grown since the dissolution of the coven.

"Do not lie to me."

"I... I... They jumped me, Brit. G-got in the way of my... investig-gation." She muttered out, trying to push the blame away. Sweep it under the rug and hide it from sight. Anything to have Brit not look at her with disappointment.

Alas, she wasn't sure Brit would be disarmed so easily.

---

---

---

---

"... I live, bitches!"

A few names dropped as Alizée eavesdropped on the whispering happening behind the girl with the braids. The redhead, her name was Jess? And the girl with the glasses was Autumn. Sully had given Jess a drink from his cup, undoing all of Alizée's hard work. Connard. It would seem that Sully was privy to the events that took place, but surely he would see she wasn't in the wrong here.

No. Of course she wasn't in the wrong here.

"Oh? You mean that Coven that broke up ten years ago? Bull. Shit."

Alizée felt an eyebrow twitch as she stepped away from Britney. Her temper was slowly rising, being eaten away by the girl with the braids who was on a sole mission to make her life hell at this very moment.

Another person exited Britney's car. A certain someone who, under any other circumstance, would be a welcome sight, as long as she hid her secrets well.

”Yes, that coven. Now, Alizee, do you remember me at all? Because I remember you and the people you hunted, so I’m very inclined to believe them when they say you attacked one of their friends. What were you thinking?”

Alizée felt a vein pulse in her forehead. Just what she needed right now. Another one getting on her case. First these jumpers, that girl with the shades, then Brit, and now Stormy.

"I'm telling you it's not true!" She growled, spitting out every word. She didn't want to deal with this.

"Bullshit. This fuckin' psycho tried walking out of here with Jess, then squeezed her like she was some fucking chew toy over and again. Then tried killing Autumn when she dared to try and pry our friend free."

Another drop to fill the rage boiling in her. Alizée was certain she was about to lash out. But now it was a matter of who.

"And who decided it would be a great idea to jump me in front of my car, huh?" She said, an edge in her voice as she tried to shift the blame.

That was when the bus pulled up, dropped off a familiar haunt, and peeled away. Alizée would recognize those sharp eyes anywhere. Eve. She, at least, said the exact right thing to the group of magic girls. Need a hand. It almost made Alizée forget her growing fury. Almost caused a smile to grace her porcelain features.

”You’re right. I’m sorry about your friend over there. Alizee should have a handle on herself-

That did it. That was the tipping point. How dare he agree with them? He was supposed to be on her side. To hell with that!

A slight red tinged her cheeks as her hands trembled with rage. Dropping her purse and her cigarette, she spun to face Stormy, phantom hands manifesting in an instant. Large. Black as night, hardened like knives. Big enough to be a meaty hold, she grabbed Stomy by the neck with one hand, collar with the other.

If she was successful, her grip would tighten like iron.

"Where the fuck do you get off? You walk into my business, and tell these strangers you got me under control?"

She took a few steps forward, pulling Stormy off the ground by a couple inches, pushing him back, squeezing his neck aggressively to make him silent as she spoke.

"You can back right the fuck up, Stormy. Do not interfere, or we're gonna have a serious, serious problem."

She bared her teeth into a snarl, and threw him back with her phantom hands, giving it enough kick that he would be nearly knocked off his feet.



She then whipped around to face the girl with the braids. "Leash?! That's it. If you wanna play, we can play."

Her hands de-materialized for a moment, before appearing behind the girl with with braids out of her peripherals, and shot forward. Her goal?

Choke her out.

@Punished GN@Fernstone@Estylwen@AtomicEmperor@Blizz
Veni Vedi Veni - Parking Lot

---

In a matter of moments, the fighting seemed to have died down. Clancy had the self-awareness to recognise he had barely played a small-part in that, and it was more to do with people recognising other people they knew, and those people in turn backing down. He was an outsider in all of this; the only real connection he had to St. Portwell was Ashley Stone, and now she was gone.

That, and the walking embodiment of entropy needling at him, "Does it want a treat?" Asshole.

"Does it like toys?" A sense of agitation was building, more than it usually did when strangers derided him in this way. Too close to home.

"Does it want to feel the sweet, cold embrace of death?" Enough. He wasn't rising for that.

"It wants some quiet time while the grown-ups are talking..." Clancy snapped his fingers dismissively, offering no further answer to the entity or its host - at least, that's what he assumed their relationship might've been, it was difficult to tell what ties this walking embodiment of entropy had to living people except that it was closely involved with her. Good luck with that, anyway.

The woman herself had waved it off and was now speaking with one of the others in the lot, in French no less, but he couldn't follow along. His father - a military man - had spent some years deployed in Europe, but the only phrase he'd ever heard as far as he knew (from overhearing a poker night with some old friends) was "Voudriez-vous aller vous promener, mademoiselle?" followed by raucous laughter.

Meanwhile, the other would-be samaritan had chosen not to push things, but he couldn't help but find some strange amusement at being offered a business card by a stranger twice in as many days. Again, he took the card, briefly glanced over its contents, then pocketed it. If nothing else, it kept one more potential annoyance off his back.

Others were gathering, dropped off or parking close bg - and he was conscious that St. Portwell was a smaller town than he'd anticipated. Clancy wasn't entirely following along; a few names were finally being called out. Alizee, Leon. Sully. Britney. They weren't particularly ear-catching, but something- a sixth sense, maybe - gave him the impression they were supposed to mean something. Maybe something he'd seen on the internet, or when asking around.

At the least, he'd established they probably had nothing to do with the Wolfpack.

"..Sycamore Tree Coven.."

That mention caught his attention - and he linked it to what he'd known about Ashley, the group of friends (loosely using the term, he judged) she had led, that had accomplished a feat so great that it had become part of local myth and had helped lead him here. The same group who's own members were supposedly being picked off in murders by this asshole calling himself Father Wolf.

He suppressed his initial urge to immediately question them; it was obvious most of the people talking here had shared history, less than half of it good. Time wasn't necessarily on their side either; how long until some of Skinner's friends turned up and started asking pointed questions about why their favourite titty bar was trashed? Or why their friend had been left in the state he was, after a heart-to-heart conversation with an impressionable young boy? The latter part was less so concerned for his own sake, and he doubted Skinner would be talking about it to point a finger.

"...jumped me, Brit. G-got in the way of my... investig-gation."

The group he'd seen at the start of all this - that had been fighting Alizee - were still spoiling for a fight, naturally. Trying to catch and predate on some didn't make you friends, and the girl's flimsy defence against the accusations of "hunting" was a matter Clancy understood more than he had ever wanted to, and it did not evoke any warm feelings.

"If by investigation you mean trashing up the club." He wasn't particularly confident they were really listening to him, and was taking a certain relief in being blunt about the matter. "Thanks for that, by the way, you made it easier to walk out the front door."

Even her own 'friends' seemed skeptical about the matter.

”…do you have any idea why there’s a child here, by any chance?” It took a few more moments to realise the big guy with the beard had been referring to him, without directly addressing him. Well that made a change from the usual would-be samaritans, but he felt some irritation nonetheless, thumbing backwards. "The child is here because he wants-" Alizee interrupted that train of conversation by putting hands on the man - Stormy, she called him. Clancy wagered this wouldn't end well, the girl had a temper, but she seemed to back down... only to turn her anger back towards the group she'd originally been spoiling to fight.

His eyes crinkled. There is no time for this.

In the corner of his vision was a discarded beer can, only slightly crushed. Clancy knelt, grabbed it, and impulsively tossed the thing at the french speaker's back. Judging by the sloshing, it still had some liquid inside. Oops. "Listen, morons! You can kill each other whenever you want, but if these losers show up on their bikes, they're going to be your problem, so put a lid on it!" He stood there, gaze fixed on Alizee, posture tight. ".. Already have what you're looking for, it isn't you they need.."

If that didn't break her concentration, then the alternative was messy.

---

"How are you friends with these people?" asked Alizée.

“We’re drinking buddies,” said Sully, crouched down beside Jess as Kashmira helped her drink from the Chalice.

Sully heaved a sigh of relief as Jess jumped up to her feet. He gave the Chalice a shake and wiped the rim of the cup so that it would be quote-unquote sanitized for the next person that got jumped. He gave Kashmira a nod as he unceremoniously dropped the Chalice back into his pack and stood up with a groan. “Good work, doctor.”

Sully leaned his head down as Autumn came over so that she could more easily whisper to him. His brow knitted and he pursed his lips in a look of confusion as she attempted to explain what had happened to him, his head slowly nodding along as he failed to grasp the situation. The way Autumn phrased it made it sound like Ali had picked up Jess. Sully paused for a second as Jess offered to show him what had happened, mildly concerned he was about to just witness two of his friends hooking up.

“Fuck it, I’ve had my cootie shot,” said Sully, grasping Jess’s hand in a strong, meaty handshake that would make Schwarzenegger and Weather openly weep.

Immediately the parking lot disappeared and was replaced with visions of a seedy strip club, a line of questioning that quickly grew sinister, and a sudden snatch and grab job that led to the confrontation in the parking lot and Jess getting hurt. As the Recollection ended Sully found that his vision had gone dark. Subconsciously, he had put his face in his palm. Alizée’s protest that the Greenwood Coven jumped her rang hollow considering she had attempted to snatch and grab their friend like she was a television set in a window display during a citywide riot. His hand slid down his face and covered his mouth as he frowned, trying to figure out a way to mend things between Ali in the others

Actually, it would be more honest to say that he was trying to figure out if he even should. Ali, as with every other member of the Sycamore Tree Coven, always earned points in Sully’s book for being part of the team back in the day. However, a couple of brownie points did not come even close to moving the scale let alone tipping it when it was being weighed against an attempted kidnapping of one of his friends (or anyone, for that matter) with ill intent. However, before Sully even had a chance to fully process everything Ali had taken it upon herself to jump on the balance scale and launched what few points in her favor she had left into the stratosphere as she grabbed at Stormy.

A smarter person might’ve thought that Alizée had been possessed for attempting to choke out Stormy because of a mild but correct criticism. Another person might’ve thought that she had gone insane. Sully didn’t think. He froze, momentarily stunned as Alizée attempted to play grab ass with Stormy, then he charged. Even back in his football days he hadn’t been a fast man so he had no chance of making it to Stormy before Ali diverted. However, he was close to Naomi. He hooked to the left as the hands materialized behind her.

“Look out!”

Sully shoved Naomi out of the way. He tried to be gentle, but there was still a lot of force behind his push. The purple and smoky phantom hands would hit Sully instead of Naomi, slapping against his chest instead of Naomi’s throat. He wrapped his arms around the hands in a poorly thought out attempt to grapple them in a bear hug considering he’d just witnessed them de-materialize, but he wasn’t thinking about anything at the moment except protecting his friend. Sully grimaced as he immediately began to feel the Void sap his energy and finally realized how bad of an idea this really was, but he didn’t relent. His knees buckled, his teeth gnashed, and sweat dampened his forehead, but he continued his attempt to pin the hands to his body as Clancy called the two Covens out and attempted to brain Ali with a beer can.

"The kid's right. This is fucking stupid!" yelled Sully.

---

Bianca had gotten far enough away to not worry about being stopped, intent on ignoring everyone, when more shouting and smashing had her halting her very quick movement away. She turned on her heel, jaw almost dropping at the sight of... Alizée's phantom hands trying to choke Stormy before throwing him to the ground. She moved onto her next target just as quickly.

Shit. Bianca had turned away for a minute and she was right back to trying to destroy an entire carpark full of people! She'd assumed she'd stop now that more sensible coven members (Britney) had appeared! Any former coven good will she'd had, stopping her from calling it in, was gone. She pulled out her phone and took a quick picture - making sure the massive crater was visible.

To Agent Phillips: [image attached]
Paranormal attacking others at Veni Vedi Veni, threat level 2

Then in contrast to her formal and to the point first text, she sent another one.

To Agent Phillips: shit going down and I ain't equipped to handle it

Civilian clothes and a support abstraction meant she was really screwed right now. She really, really shouldn't have left her taser at work. Silly her, thinking it would be fine and following the rules! A few shocks would help put this to an end. Even Alizee wasn't immune to tasering. Ugh, just think of all the paperwork she was going to have to fill in! It was her day off! Maybe she could pawn it off on Trev- no. She didn't want her search history looked at.

Bianca didn't want to, and it would look really weird, but she should go back and try to mediate the situation. Play it off cool with some kind of excuse unrelated to her being an "FBI" agent trying to avoid getting involved with the coven again for work reasons.

Hand in her pocket, holding her knife, she started hauling ass right back there. Her thoughts were racing with an excuse-

The grating, incredibly loud revving of motorbikes interrupted any good ideas she'd had. With the sound came the appearance of a group of motorcycles rolling up.

Shit.

---

---

Well…

Shit.

This took a rather drastic turn quickly. Before he knew what hit him, Stormy was hanging by a pair of hands. Her Void Heart had its grip like a bear trap around his throat. Anyone else might’ve panicked in that situation, by the fact that she latched onto Stormy Carson in particular meant that Alizee had just made a bad play. Stormy considered himself a merciful man. His reaction to Britney’s presence was unwarranted, and he acknowledged that, but he didn’t believe in punching down. As a matter of fact, he very much detested those who punched down. And so, Stormy fixed a stone cold stare at Alizee, despite his predicament. He held his breath, knowing he would lose it like a prey animal to a boa constrictor if he exhaled.

Alizee was a woman who needed help. Surely, deep down, she couldn’t have enjoyed the hurt the inflicted on others. The poison in her words was the kind someone was filled with when they were hurt, and going through something. And so, Stormy did not aggress against her. What he did, do however, was shut her down with a spell perfect for the occasion: Phantombane.

After she walked forth, Stormy slowly and methodically raised both of his hands in a motion that would’ve implied surrender. But instead, he brought them further apart, and then slammed them together in a clap. Sea-green light raced up and down his arms, as a distorted sound like a ringing church bell submerged in water rippled outward across the parking lot. Stormy’s Adept magic was now on display for all to see, and the magical hands trapping him withered away. They crumbled like a vampire in the sun, and the Void Heart itself, Alizee’s Apparition, would feel the magic against its form in a very similar way. It was a magic repellent, debilitating the creature for as long as it remained close to him, and Alizee by extension. Though the power and influence were still there, they were being weighed down like an anchored boat, suppressed by the defensive magic Stormy used.

This was only further cemented when Stormy reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to ground her. With her magical source slipping away to protect itself, it was just the two of them. Calm. Down. It has been a decade, and this is how we meet again? What were you thinking? Don’t you know that someone is hunting all of us down?” There was iron in his voice, and yet he didn’t sound angry at all. Was he taking pity on her? Or did Stormy simply believe he was too much for her to handle?

Interactions: Mainly Edict, a bit with Britney at the end

---

Dairy Queen
Late Evening

---

Dairy Queen? Seriously...? Come on I had perfectly good home cooked food already- Enough with the curry!

I let out a sigh soft enough so no one else would hear it. Hopefully.

Well, a Dairy Queen wasn't the worst. Ruinous for your health but we don't really care about that right now do we? Yeah. And there's never a bad time for ice cream. That's going to be six more sets when we get back before heading to bed. Yeah. Not the worst.

I walk over towards the counter at the end of the line. To think, after all these years I'm just in a line at a dairy queen with these people like nothing ever happened. It's surreal. Like some kind of fucked up high-school reunion. Or well, at least what I think one of those would be like. Hah... I wish I knew what high-school was like. Probably terrible. You think everything is terrible. That is factually incorrect. Violence is GREAT! Right...

Eventually it's my turn to order. I look at the menu, a menu that I haven't actually taken a proper look at in... Have I ever ordered from a Dairy Queen before? Orange Julius? Who the fuck is Julius? Okay, slow down. Let's look for something vaguely familiar.

"A strawberry shake." is what I eventually end up saying to the person behind the register. Whoever that was. As per usual I just go on autopilot handing over my card and completing the entire interaction without even properly registering that there's a person in front of me. It just makes life easier that way... for the both of us.

Eventually, in my hand is a nice plastic cup of pink. Very very bright pink. Probably loaded with artificial strawberry flavorings and one sip basically confirmed the obvious. I shouldn't like this. But you do. Why...? Nostalgia is a poison that rots your tongue with the taste of a corporate synthesized pedestrian pallet. Ugh... I mean it'll do. It's no Hagen D-

“Kali, I believe I owe you an explanation for abstaining earlier.”

Hm? My head turns over to Sloane as she starts. I see. She wants to be the one to lead the conversation. I don't say anything at first, choosing to just listen and gauge where exactly she's going with this and before long I get my answers. So they're willing to cooperate, and from I'm hearing from Luca he's just here to figure things out the best he can. Not bad. It's the minimum level of mutual self-interest needed to form an agreement.

I look off towards the vague direction of Flowers and Canvases for a moment.

Whoever's with us now is probably the most reasonable of the bunch. I can't tell what the rest of them are doing but maybe I can at least get these people out of the way from any more scrutiny... No, maybe that's a bit too pessimistic of me. They're going to fuck something up and you know it. Shut up.

Regardless, it's time for me to break my own silence.

"Honestly," I say as I take a seat entering a more relaxed position "Getting the Coven back together as a structure isn't a bad idea... But... Auri isn't a leader. I say letting a small pause take hold so that information can sink in before continuing.

"She's nice, which is good, but she's too nice to actually properly enforce anything when push comes to shove. And most of all, as you're all very nicely demonstrating, not enough people respect her." I say before adding with a sigh, "Or anyone else really. Nobody here's fit to take charge of everyone in this situation so I'm not even going to bother suggesting anything like that."

I then take out from my pocket pen as I begin to draw on one of the napkins we have as I say, "Instead, I'd rather us have a system because I want you to keep this in mind. The town isn't in any real danger. It's all of you who are the potential targets"

Once again, I give them a moment to process that before explaining further as I draw little impromptu stick figures of people on the napkin connecting them together in a circle.

"So I'd say we should at least set up a line of communication with each other. None of us here trusts everyone but I can imagine we can all at least figure out one or two people who we trust enough to have our backs. Having a chain where one person checks up on the next in a loop like this during a daily designated time will at least minimize some of the risk of getting caught out alone for whoever this father wolf figure is to pick us off. Alternatively making small groups that can wander around together might also be fine though it will interfere with any of your daily lives if you choose that route but once again, it's your own lives we're talking about here." I say before deciding the ditch the whole plan on a napkin thing altogether as I scrunch it up into a ball and toss it in the trash bin.

"The main point is that there's safety in numbers. Father wolf's an unknown quantity. Could be a severely powerful individual or a whole organization and we don't even know what they want aside from all of us dead. I'm not saying we need to organize into a proper coven again but I do heavily recommend we at least try to lay low for a bit and stick together until we have more information on the situation. After all, St. Portwell's already a powder keg waiting to burst. I'd rather not stir the pot and start a war whilst we're in the middle of this mess just because we have a few tenuous leads that might be red-herrings all-together."

---

Oh for fucks sake.

Maybe taking that picture had been a dumb idea, but it did help make her point and prove the actual seriousness of it. She just hadn't expected anyone to be watching. Or, honestly, have not seen through her flimsy disguise of sunglasses yet.

Well, she guessed she couldn't really hide anymore.

"You've sure changed a lot, Eve," Bianca grinned. She slowly raised one hand to her shades, pushing them up so they rested on the top of her head. Whether Everleigh recognised her was really down to her memory, but she should. Bianca had been a relatively prominent, if reckless, member of the coven back in the day - often attached to Linqian, but well known by her own right outside of that relationship. Her other hand remained in her pocket, fingers curled around the combat knife in her pocket. If Eve attacked her, Bianca would aim to suppress her without any harm. "It's Bianca, remember? Well, most people called me Bea... Still do, anyway, if I can recognise you surely you can recognise me. Ask Brit or Sully if you don't cause they will."

She sighed. "I was just enjoying a day off when Alizée decided to try kill multiple people. There ain't much I can do about that, but I wanted to make sure she didn't go too far. Y'know, one former coven member stopping another from landing in jail?"

Though she'd been the one to call the authorities, but that was beside the point. Alizée had gone too far for this to be considered something that could be settled within the coven. Her job would be the easiest explanation, but not the right one. The whole secret part of the job was prettyyyy important.

"And I really wouldn't do that," Bianca looked down at the knuckle dusters. Annoying, but not something she couldn't handle. "It won't end well for you, and there's bigger problems to worry about than me."

She glanced past Everleigh. At least Stormy seemed to have Alizée under control... But the infighting didn't help with the Wolf Pack turning up. She <i>really</i> hoped her text had gotten through, because she didn't want anyone else to get hurt - whether it was at Alizée's hands or the wolf pack.

---

---

---

Drake didn't get his Peanut Buster.

It seems Sloane has some strong opinions about it all. She spoke about how she had zero confidence in Auri as a leader, the Coven's goals, and whatnot. Personally... Drake was done playing cult, and he had zero interest in the Sycamore Tree Coven past defeating Father Wolf even if they aligned with his goals. That ship has, unfortunately, sailed.

"Heh, I don't think a bunch of kids singing under a tree had that much legitimacy either."

That was the first thing that Drake said. He leaned a bit over the table, his hands together, fingers interlocked. He watched as Sloane handed out her cards, but he didn't take one. He dwelled over Sloane's words about Auri, and while she was friendly, Drake knew better than to trust her unquestioningly. At the same time, this partnership (which is what Drake called it for now) won't work if they don't trust each other just a little. Then Sloane dropped the golden question at them all...

“Maybe I’m out of line. Maybe I'm missing something obvious. I’m curious what you all think. Do any of you even have a desire to actually rejoin a Coven, let alone a Coven exclusively controlled by Auri? Are you interested in protecting this city? Are you just here for revenge?”

Before he could speak, however, Drake finally got his peanut buster. The parfait was slid across the table and landed right in front of him, and he looked up to see Jack.

”Consider it a peace offering, for ambushing you earlier,”

"Hmph, thanks."

Kali and Luca shared their opinions, and DraKe was somewhat inclined to agree with Luca... at the same time, what Kali said made a lot of sense. Kali said what Drake was thinking when he said...

"Or anyone else really. Nobody here's fit to take charge of everyone in this situation, so I'm not even going to bother suggesting anything like that."

That hit the nail on the head. Sadly, there wasn't anyone better in this situation. If Drake took charge, people like Tayla would be on his neck. While Drake's philosophies aligned with hers, Sloane was bent on alienating everyone in the Coven. There was no way that the Coven would follow behind Britney, especially given Stormy's reaction to seeing her after ten years. He'd place some stock in Simone being the only reasonable choice, but Drake doubted she would even want to be the leader! The others were not leadership material.

Well, it was time for Drake to air out his thoughts.

"Honestly, I think that the Coven should have disbanded after the Stygian Snake was defeated... afterward, it was nothing but a shitshow," Drake started. I don't have anything against Auri or her leadership... right now, that is. But, no matter who calls themselves the leader, things aren't going to be any better or worse. It's still chaotic as it was when we were fighting the Stygian Snake. Just look at that meeting!" Drake laughed, then shrugged.

"But, I'm all for giving people chances... you all are being a bit too hard on the gal before she even had a chance to prove herself!" Drake dramatically waved his hand up into the air. "Have you considered bringing some of this stuff to Auri? All know she's a reasonable gal... I doubt she'll flip out over this like Daisy or Ashley used to do."

"So I'd say we should at least set up a line of communication with each other. None of us here trusts everyone, but I can imagine we can all at least figure out one or two people who we trust enough to have our backs. Having a chain where one person checks up on the next in a loop like this during a daily designated time will at least minimize some of the risk of getting caught out alone for whoever this father wolf figure is to pick us off. Alternatively making small groups that can wander around together might also be fine though it will interfere with any of your daily lives if you choose that route but once again, it's your own lives we're talking about here. The main point is that there's safety in numbers. Father wolf's an unknown quantity. Could be a severely powerful individual or a whole organization and we don't even know what they want aside from all of us dead. I'm not saying we need to organize into a proper coven again but I do heavily recommend we at least try to lay low for a bit and stick together until we have more information on the situation. After all, St. Portwell's already a powder keg waiting to burst. I'd rather not stir the pot and start a war whilst we're in the middle of this mess just because we have a few tenuous leads that might be red-herrings all-together."

Drake shrugged.

"I'm down with this plan, but this reminds me of something I thought about..." Drake rubbed his chin, looked at everything, then raised his head.

"... How do we even know that it's Father Wolf in the first place?"

---

---

---

Accusations, threats, and insults are being slung left and right.

Alizée claimed that she was jumped by these girls during her own "private investigation" (which warranted suspicion in and of itself). At the same time, the opposing side claimed that Alizée attempted to kidnap their friend out of the strip club. Stormy didn't help by jumping to conclusions based on old wounds (as he loved to), but he was missing the bigger picture. Britney looked to the left and then the right and spoke to Alizée (and sort of Stormy).

"Look, it doesn't matter who did what; it's over. Let's just get out of here before this..."

Then Alizée broke, attacking Stormy and the girl with the dreads with her shadow hands - screaming like a maniac!

"... Escalates."

Britney's heart rate went up as she watched. Thankfully, Sully managed to get the girl out of the way, and Stormy cast a spell that eliminated the shadow hand. That left Alizée, as Britney needed to calm her down, and she agreed with Stormy. However, Britney knew the perfect way to calm down Alizée.

"Alizée, STOP! Don't you know this is what they want?! They want to fly off the handle because you're proving them right. Don't let them control you and get you out of your energy like this!"

However, she heard a group of motorcycles approaching...

... Followed by a gunshot.

---

---

”You know about the Sycamore. I feel like so should remember you, have we met before? I haven’t been in town since things broke down, back in the day.”

Naomi turned towards Stormy, slapping a hand on her hip as she said,

"We have not met before, sir, but we have a mutual friend," She tilted her head towards Sully, "And we're very familiar with your former Coven sister, Em-"

Naomi barely had time to process things and got shoved to the ground unexpectedly by Sully... she looked up and saw the shadow hands narrowly miss her as she felt a newfound appreciation for their friend. Only for that to get replaced with rage. She bared her teeth as she hopped up to her feet, getting ready to kick Alizée's ass.

"Alright, bitch, let's-"

"No, no, no!" Jessica quickly ran before Naomi, putting her back to the girl as she stretched her arms out. Acting as a shield to block the two parties from continuing fighting. "I'm sorry, but we are leaving."

Naomi narrowed her eyes, putting her teeth away.

"The kid's right; the Wolfpack's comin'! And the PRA might be on the way, too! I don't know if you guys know about them, but they are two groups that you don't want to deal with. Later!"

"Jess, where is your truck?"

"At my parent's house, heh, took the bus, sister!"

"Yeah, I don't care if we gotta walk, let's haul as-"



Autumn shouted, pointing down the street, when everyone finally noticed the motorcycle engines in all the chaos. There were several.

And it didn't take a genius to tell what that meant.

"Aw, fuck me!" Jessica shouted.

"Alright, we have to go,"

It was too late; the bikers stopped skidding, blocking them.

---

---

---

on the very outskirts of St. Portwell, a massive and official building stands tall. Outside of the building's gates is a sign that says Global Freight Solutions, but many would note that people rarely go in or out of the building - with some law enforcement vehicles (including a helicopter) occasionally flying in or out. Many conspiracy theorists have broken in only to mysteriously end up back home as if it were a dream.

That's because it's the PRA headquarters.

Deep within the halls of this PRA building, a tall, African-American woman with braids (not dreads you racists) sat in an office chair in a dimly lit office room wearing a suit. She had the backrest leaned back and had her feet (sans shoes) on the empty desk. The office room was empty - like literally, there were only the desks and the desk separators. She was typing away on her cell phone.

Someone opened the door, and she turned her head to see a a well-built African-American man that stood a few inches shorter than her. He leaned against the doorframe and had a shit-eating grin on his face as he said,

"... You know Meifeng will have your throat if she sees you sitting like Agent Phillips,"

Agent Phillips rolled her eyes.

"Meifeng- I mean, Agent Liao is off for the rest of the night and barely cares about what we do here as long as we don't burn down the building, Agent Brown," Agent Phillips answered as she stood straight up.

Agent Brown shrugged.

"Just teasin',"

"We have a problem; Agent Manolo said there's a Paranormal fight outside a strip club of all places, and then it went dark." Agent Phillips said as she walked over to Agent Brown.

"Do we know how many are fighting? What they can do...?" Agent Brown asked.

"I asked, but Agent Manalo went dark," Agent Phillips said.

"Maybe she got a lap dance, heh," Agent Brown chuckled.

"Go get ready, and I'm going to gather the others and tell them to get ready, too."

"Everyone else is in the rec room, I think," Agent Brown said, "But I could probably get over there faster in Phoenix form. You know the normies can't see it."

"Go ahead and make sure that Agent Manalo is okay,"

"Gotcha'," Agent Brown said as he took off, and Agent Phillips went to find her special and trainee Agents. The Recreation Room wasn't that far away; Agent Phillips was just in there, after all. The halls of the PRA building were quiet and dimly lit, as it usually would be full of activity. Agent Phillips found the activity when she approached the rec room and heard the sounds of a TV and the excitable and endearingly childish sounds of Agent Obott and Agent Mayfield, probably playing on the arcade machine. When Agent Phillips turned the corner, she saw Agent Obott and Agent Mayfield playing foosball.

"... I'm getting you back for that game of Mortal Kombat the other day!" Agent Obott, a short and very feminine guy with very long hair, wearing a tank top that was almost transparent and jeans tucked into some combat boots, was on one side.

"... Hey! That's not fair! I'm slippery!" Agent Mayfield, a short blonde-haired woman with bright green eyes, and some inhuman, frog-like features - webbed hands, padded toes and fingertips, and a mouth full of teeth, was on the other.

Agent Obott hit the decisive blow and sent the ball careening across the foosball field, landing in Agent Mayfield's goal and he threw his arms in the air, shouting, "Boo-yah!"

He turned over to Agent Barrett... the most inhuman out of the bunch, who appeared to be a humanoid mantis with a green exoskeleton, antennae, and two large eyes on the sides of her head. She was wearing grey sweatpants and a hoodie a few sizes too big.

"You want a round, Fiona?" Agent Obott said to Agent Barrett.

"Oh, um," Agent Barrett said, "I'm good."

That was when Agent Phillips took a step forward and shouted.

"Listen up! Everyone get ready, we got a situation on the north-east!"

"Hey, I'm off today," Agent Obott said.

"Well, too bad you're hanging around the building, so that must mean you want something to do."

"Aw."

"Gladly!" Agent Mayfield hopped to her feet. "Can I bring my sniper rifle?!"

"Of course," Agent Phillips said. "Agent Manalo reported a fight at the Veni Vedi Veni club between a bunch of Paranormals."

"What? Did somebody try to get out of paying for a lapdance?" Agent Obott said as he walked over.

"No clue, but Agent Manalo went dark; we have to get there immediately, and ensure that she is okay... I'd hate to have Regional Commander Liao go on the warpath."

"Again!" Agent Mayfield said in a chipper tone.

Stepping through the door was Agent Brown in full body armor... and next to him was Agent Page, a short blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman with spiky hair, also wearing armor. Agent Brown threw a thumb over his shoulder.

"... And look who I found, trying to hide!" Agent Brown stated, "She really wanted to catch up on her Candy Crush on the clock."

"Look," Agent Phillips said, "We need to hurry up and ensure Agent Manalo is alright. You all have ten minutes. Samson, you go ahead since you're way faster."

"Rodger!" Everyone said in unison before Agent Brown ran out of the room.

"... And it's Agent Brown!" He said before Agent Phillips facepalmed.

Everyone got ready, stuffed themselves into two different St. Portwell Police Department vehicles, and rushed to the Veni Vedi Veni strip club.

Hold on, Agent Manalo... Agent Phillips thought to herself as she sped off.

---

---

---

Many were used to the roar of the Wolfpack's motorcycles... especially those who lived in the northeasternmost part of St. Portwell. Many were smart enough to clear the streets the second they saw them coming - those even wiser stayed out of that part of St. Portwell, as the Wolfpack weren't the friendliest lot of people. The howl of their motorcycles rapidly approaching the strip club was not noticed as the group in the parking lot were more concerned with each other.

The lead biker hit the pedal and flew ahead of the rest of the Wolfpack - he was the first to appear on the scene with a skid, and he quickly brandished a Glock, aimed it into the air, and let off a shot into the air. It cut loader than the voices - the chatting, the fighting, and the yelling - as the rest of the Wolfpack skid on scene.

The leader of the bunch, a very tall, imposing, muscular man with blue eyes and spiky blonde hair, got off his bike, tucking his pistol into his jeans... still having it on open display as he walked up. He cupped his hands together and shouted,



"Fuck, it's Valjean," Jessica whispered, leaning into Pearl.

"Valjean, Elodie, Shayton, Cyril, Maggy, Dean, and Victor.... no Judas or Curs." Amelia quietly stated.

"He musta' sent all his goons," Jess said.

"This could get very ugly," Pearl whispered.

"Judas only sent his cronies."

Valjean, the second in command of the Wolfpack, walked into the chaos and shouted, "No one is going anywhere! The next person to move is going to get cut the fuck down!"

A scramy, tall, blonde-haired woman put a sadistic smile on her face as she pulled out a pistol. Many would be able to notice the track-marks up and down her arms, but few would likely have the street smarts to tell what they are. "Try me, you ugly motherfuckers! I look forward to putting some of you in the dirt!"

"Now, can someone tell me, who the fuck here killed Joe Skinner?! Don't give me any of that "Aw, we didn't do it, believe us" bullshit! Shit ain't happen until you motherfuckers showed up, thrashing the place! So, you guys have one fucking minute to decide who the fuck killed a member of our pack before we send all of you to your God!"

Valjean then stomped on the ground.

"So, who did it?!"

"We have no clue what the fuck you're talking about!" Naomi shouted.

"Well, you better figure it out now because Daddy Wolf is on his way... and trust me, if he gets here, all of you motherfuckers are dead!"

"Could it have been one of these guys?" Jessica asked.

"No clue, but we need an opening so Amelia can teleport us out of he-"

"Shut the fuck up and stop plotting like we can't hear you!" Valjean shouted at Pearl.

A member of the Wolfpack, an average-height man with dyed red hair, covered in tattoos, and had very shitty dreads... he pointed a Norse axe at Alizee and said,

"You there, come here. Before we get testy."

Strangely enough, the air temperature started gradually rising, the water in the vicinity started drying up, and sand began sprinkling all over the area.

---

---

---

---

Location: Veni Vedi Veni, Parking Lot
@Punished GN, @Zombiedude101, @Atrophy, @Blizz

---

The child may had forgotten that Alizée essentially had eyes on the back of her head. A certain something that had a vested interest in leveling its predatory gaze on the battlefield. As the beer can caught the street light as it arced towards Alizée's back, there was a sudden crunch and slosh as the beer can halted in its ascent.

Void glared at the kid, holding the can of beer in between its jagged teeth. Another crunch, and the can was crushed into scrap, contents puddling on the asphalt. With a huff, he spat it out to the side, keeping his eyes on the little punk. He might have liked the kid more now. Had a spunk that Alizée shared.

Alizée spun to face the kid, hearing the crushed can ominously near her head.

".. Already have what you're looking for, it isn't you they need.."

Alizée's eyes scrunched at that. What did the kid mean? What... what had he done?

She was already committed to her attack, however, and phantom hands shot towards the girl with the braids. Until-

“Look out!”

Sully got in the way. Took the hit meant for the girl. Damn. Her lips curled back in a snarl, absolutely detesting his interference. This was her fight! This interference was unwarranted. If Sully really wanted to take the blow, she wouldn't hold back.

Alizée's eyes lit up maliciously in swirls of red and purple, glaring at Sully as white particles began coalescing in the air, numbing some of the raging burn in her throat. The claws started digging into his chest, grasping with a vengeance. He could hold onto those hands all he wanted.

"The kid's right. This is fucking stupid!"

"Shut up, Sully! Clearly, you should have the brains to see who's really in the wrong here." She bit out, hands twisting on his clothes.

GONG.

A rippling wave. Then, a metallic scream. Searing pain.

Alizée watched as the hands on Sully withered, trapped in a green, wisping aura. The second pair holding Stormy back, she could see out of the corner of her eye, had the same aura. Her teeth gritted, staggering on her feet, facing Stormy as the hands connected to her own central nervous system, to Void's system, reacted badly, very badly, to being pushed back unwillingly into the Void.

Void hissed, pulling back to catch his breath, and the hands on Sully disappeared.

Alizée clutched her arm, feeling a weight as Stormy's hand held her shoulder. She could feel his eyes on her. They weren't angry, but her's were furious, pained.

"Calm. Down. It has been a decade, and this is how we meet again? What were you thinking? Don’t you know that someone is hunting all of us down?”

She hissed, shrugging off his hand. His condescending attitude further infuriated her. Stormy wasn't always like this, was he? She wasn't some weakling he could push around and force his own ideals on! She wouldn't let him!

"I don't care if I was banished! This isn't what family does, this isn't right! Why?" She stared up at him, letting him see the hurt in her eyes. "Why aren't you on my side, Stormy?!"

She hunched forward a bit, her teeth gnashing together. The Void mist circling off her body thickened as she drew more power from deep within. As it intensified, she took a small step forward, like stepping forward in a heavy wind.

"Get," Her body shifted to the right, twisting.

"Your," The hand clutched her arm stiffened.

"Chains off me!"

She slammed her elbow into Stormy's gut, trying to hit his diaphragm, reach the spine, knock the wind out of him. Anything to loosen up his concentration, his hold. If she was successful, she would only sucker-punch his gut for a second before leaping back as quickly as possible, eyes burning with rage.

Out of reach of his arms, the withered phantom hands scratching against Stormy's collar and neck suddenly beat with life. Alizée's breath came in ragged and harsh, quick. The hands trembled, fighting with a fury against the chains that held them, against Stormy's magic. They tightened their hold, growing in size, wispy edges tearing reality.

"You don't get it, Stormy." Her voice was a hoarse whisper, trembling under the exertion.

"I am not my apparition." Tears in the sky appeared, denizens flooding the air as Alizée sweated against Stormy's magic.

"My apparition…" A tinkle of glass, as the first link of Stormy's chain gained a fracture. "Is me!"

And just like that, Stormy's hold over Alizée and her apparition shattered. It was at a terrible cost, though.

Screaming. She could hear it. She was staring hatefully at Stormy, triumphantly. Then, darkness. Red eyes. Teeth, jaws snapping at her. Terrible horrors, wanting to destroy her mind, beat her into submission, drive her senselessly insane...taking over her entire field of vision. A bloody horror showed before her eyes as the denizens felt her exertion and took full advantage.

She was blind. Trembling, trying not to flinch at the horrors overtaking her vision. The hands holding Stormy disappeared.

"Alizée, STOP! Don't you know this is what they want?! They want to fly off the handle because you're proving them right. Don't let them control you and get you out of your energy like this!"

Alizée slowly turned to face the sound of Britney, unable to tell if she was facing her correctly or not. Her eyes stared at the air blindly, tears threatening her waterline.

"B-brit..." Britney was right, but it was too late. Far too late.

"Alright, bitch, let's-"

Alizée flinched, taking a blind step back.

"No, no, no! I'm sorry, but we are leaving."

Huh?

---

---

---

---

BAM!

Motorcycles. A gunshot. The sound of skidding. Heavy footsteps against the asphalt.

"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP!"

Immediately, a chill crept up Alizée's spine.

"Try me, you ugly motherfuckers! I look forward to putting some of you in the dirt!"

It had to be the Wolfpack. How many times had Alizée been warned about them showing up? How many times was she given cues to drop everything and dip before they were thrown from the pan to the fire?

...This was her fault, wasn't it?

"Now, can someone tell me, who the fuck here killed Joe Skinner?! Don't give me any of that "Aw, we didn't do it, believe us" bullshit! Shit ain't happen until you motherfuckers showed up, thrashing the place! So, you guys have one fucking minute to decide who the fuck killed a member of our pack before we send all of you to your God!"

Another jumpscare cursed Alizée's eyes, and she flinched, whimpering under her breath.

Her feverish mind tried to take in the terrifying words she could hear. Someone died? One of the members? But who...? It wasn't her. They knew about the trashing, though. Who the hell told them?! Did they know it was her? They shouldn't. Did they have that good of communication with their dive...?

Hell.

She continued the string of curses, muttering under her breath feverishly, switching between French and English.

She thought of the kid, her heartbeat tying in a knot from its continuous fluttering. The blood on his hand. Did the kid have anything to do with this?

Her teeth gritted. It didn't really matter, did it?

"You there, come here. Before we get testy."

Void was there in a heartbeat, purple and red irises shifting from the man with dreads to Alizée.

"Darling, you're going to want to walk 30 paces forward. There's a man with an axe. These people want you." Void's voice was the picture of caution in her mind.

"Darling? Axe? Why are they singling me out?" She thought back.

"Yes, don't panic. But you need to stay very, very still and calm right now. Can you do that?"

"Why are they singling me out?"

"It's their club, pet..." His words hung in the air in her mind, letting her connect the dots. The color drained from her face.

"Fuck." She swore aloud, sweating.

"Just walk. Now."

Alizée did as she was told, eyes unfocused and staring hard at the ground, or what she assumed was the ground, as she started counting her steps forward.

"Two degrees to the left."

She shifted her trajectory. Void watched as she made her trembling way to the other side of the great divide, coming to stand in front of the man with the axe.

"Good. stop."

Her hands drew around herself, like a great chill had blown through the parking lot, despite the air feeling a hell of a lot warmer. She could feel it. Eyes on her. Malicious entities. Not on the Void-side, but on the human-side. These Wolfpack thugs were no joke. Her stomach was doing flips.

She did her best to ignore the static in front of her eyes, glancing in front of her at what she assumed was the man who called her over, then off to the side. She did her best to put on a glare, staring angrily at the asphalt, trying to keep the fear off her face.

Who the hell was she kidding. She was right terrified. Anyone within a damn mile radius could tell.

"Wh-what do you want?" She tried to bite out as bitterly as she could as she addressed the man with the axe, her voice hoarse.

---

Sloane and Kali were being a little harsh of Auri. Since when was being nice a bad thing? Really, she hadn't done anything wrong. Jack was at least a little nicer (after just appearing, again) - Luca was kind of surprised that Drake was the one defending her, but it made him respect the guy more even more.

Jack was right about the whole family thing, though. Calling it a family made them a cult, really. Though the constant fighting sure was a lot like a family.

"Still," Luca tapped his mostly gloved fingers in the empty plastic tub of his blizzard. "She managed to get everyone back together in the same room. No one else managed that, or even tried. How many more would've died first? Would anyone else ever organise it?"

His questions were blunt, a bit more so than normal for him. He was trying to ignore the agitation crawling across his skin, a constant paranoia from being in public for too long. He could feel the rot eating away at his mind, urging him to destroy - the chairs, the tables, the people. It was difficult not to snap. His stomach did not agree with the chicken either, like it didn't most food nowadays, and was complaining with intense, stabbing pains.

It wasn't anything he wasn't used to, but in company? It was more difficult.

"You're right about nobody being able to take charge... Do we even need a leader? We're all adults now." Even if half the group didn't act it. Luca shrugged, expression easing back into a smile rather than the grimace that his lips had unbiddenly twisted into. "I like the idea of checking on each other... But will that stop people dying? Father wolf got people who-" he hesitated, glancing at Drake. "Who lived with other coven members. Unless we're going to stay in groups all day everyday... Maybe since we're all here, in town, it'll work! I'm sure it will!"

He quickly threw away the slight amount of negativity that had crept up. If Kali was suggesting it then he thought it would work. Luca should trust that. He was letting his annoying apparition get the better of him here! He shoved down any qualms he had to the depths of his mind where all his negative thoughts went, locked in a box with a key he'd rotted away.

"... How do we even know that it's Father Wolf in the first place?"

Luca tilted his head, pondering what Drake had said. "Oh, how did we figure out that was his name? I haven't seen what he left... I know it was a statue, but was there a call card or something too? Or does everyone else have ways of finding this stuff out that I don't?" Luca knew about the murders, but not much else outside of that. "We don't know, I guess. But surely Father Wolf could be anyone? It's probably an alias. Like, yknow, all those famous serial killers. He probably isn't any of these other guys going by wolf like names. That'd be too obvious, right. Like he wanted to get caught."

Luca nodded, as if everything he'd said was somehow right and not just every thought that came into his brain while emulating the few murder mystery movies he'd watched.

---

---

And Eve didn't heed her words. Of course.

Bianca barely had time to think, nevermind dodge, the shadow hand that Eve launched towards her. She let go of the knife in her pocket, useless against an abstraction like this, and threw her arms up in front of her chest and face. They took the blow full on, protecting the more vulnerable parts of her body as she was slammed into the shadowy wall behind her. The momentum tore the air out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for air. Sharp pain tore through her arms and back. Shit, that was going to bruise badly. She pushed through it, dodging to the side before the shadow hand could pin her against the wall, half falling onto one knee. She gritted her teeth and placed a hand on the floor to stabilise herself.

Her work phone vibrated in her pocket multiple times, but she couldn't exactly check it.

"I really don't want a fight," she grunted, taking deep breaths while carefully watching for the next attack. If she expected it it would be easier to avoid or mitigate, she just hadn't expected Eve to attack her when she fucking recognised her. She'd recovered quickly, thanks to training, and ignored the pain throbbing through her arms and back.

If Eve wasn't paranormal she could have handled this easily. Most couldn't go one to one in a physical fight with a trained agent, and Bianca was confident she could take her down in that situation no matter how she did things upstate. But if she couldn't get close, and didn't have her gun, she couldn't do anything but avoid the next shadow fist coming her way. She stayed where she was low on the ground, so it would be easier to roll out of the way.

She just had to last until another agent turned up. She quickly tried to remember who was working today... Not many people, but she was fairly certain Samson was. If she remembered right, at least someone would be able to get there quickly.

"Look," Bianca didn't even flinch when a gunshot rang through the air. She held her free hand up in front of her, still carefully watching Eve, ready to roll out the way if necessary. "I'm not a threat, they are." It wasn't difficult to hear what the Wolfpack were saying even at this distance, because they were so fucking loud, and she grimaced when they called Alizée out. One wrong move and she was dead. Most abstractions didn't block a bullet... Stormy's, maybe. But that wasn't enough. "Let's stop, yeah?"

She was being very generous for someone who'd just be absolutely battered by Eve's shadow hand, and it wasn't because of the damage. Bianca knew that she could last until the other agents arrived - it would just fucking hurt. But Eve needed to help the coven, and she needed to tell Agent Phillips that the wolfpack was here too ASAP.

Her voice lowered. "You all need to get out of here before they actually hurt you."

---

---

---

It was faster to clean up the store without Laurey, anyhow.

All Auri had to do was give out a command... and the butterflies came out of her staff, picked up all the debris, and used brooms and dustpans to sweep up all the dust and dirt that got displaced. Naturally, Auri was sincerely regretting her decision to host the meeting here, and she shouldn't have assumed that the Coven had finally grown and matured as people. However, what's done is done, and she knew that some people don't change no matter how many years you throw at them. Auri sighed as she leaned up against the wall and hoped that nobody else-

The door was barged open, revealing her boyfriend, Justin, holding several bags of snacks simultaneously.

Auri immediately dispelled all the butterflies - they disappeared without a trace - and everything fell to the ground. Justin looked to the left and the right.

"... I'm late, aren't I?"

"Very," Auri said with a smile.

"But what the hell happened in here?" Justin said as he raised an eyebrow, looking at the chaos, "It looks like a tornado flew through here."

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Auri said as her eyes drifted to the side. "Things got a little rowdy in here..."

"A little?" Justin chuckled.

"Just put the snacks down there, Justy," Auri said, pointing at the table.

"Sure," Justin said as he walked over to the table and gently placed the bags on the table, turning around, "Who the hell brought a charcuterie bo-"

He couldn't finish before Auri pounced on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him. Thankfully, Justin was strong enough to hold her.

"Those people got on my nerves," Auri said, gracing her finger around Justin's lip. "I need something to get my mind off it - let's make a mess."

Justin chuckled.

"Sure."

---

---

Out of necessity, James and Ruby were forced to stay up here and watch their friends try and free Jess. There was that urge in Ruby's heart to go down there and shove her stick so far up this girl's ass... but Pearl and the others had things under control. The two watched from the rooftops, wearing regular clothes (all James did was take off his ski mask, and Ruby was wearing a black Pink Floyd shirt with some booty shorts that were a little bit too short (especially for this weather)).

However, Jess' kidnapper backed down... only for many new faces to show up, including Sully.

"Yooooooo, is that Sully?" James asked with a grin.

"Looks like it-"

Then, it wasn't long before the girl attacked again, and Sully was there to take the hit meant for Naomi. That made Ruby angry... very angry. Her face twisted up as she focused on Alizee. She clutched the massive tree branch she used as her channeler as she was about to hop down there and beat the ever-loving shit out of this girl.

"... Whoa, whoa, whoa!" James said as he grabbed Ruby's arm with his free hand. "Keep a lid on it, Ruby!" He pointed at Eve.

"... 8th Street," Ruby hissed.

"Yeah, and I don't think you want your arch-nemesis burning down your house now!" He chuckled, and Ruby relented, taking a few steps back.

That was when they heard the roar of the motorcycles, and they knew that it was the Wolfpack... they watched as the Wolfpack goons rolled up, sans Judas, their target. The issue wasn't that the Wolfpack was here, but that the Wolfpack was here and and the rest of the Greenwood Coven. They already noticed Elodie using her abstraction to make the area far, far, hotter.

"I don't know who that bitch is," Ruby said, "But I'm going to shove this stic-"

"Now, as much as I'd love to see that, we got bigger fish to fry, yeah?" James said, chuckling. "We need to get Pearl, Naomi, and the others out of there."

"Facts," Ruby said. "I have an idea..."

"How stupid is it on a scale of one to ten?" James asked.

"Twenty."

James chuckled.

"Then, you know what? I'm in."