BrutalBx

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP — Tuesday July 21st, 2021
FT — Stacy Capek, Salvatore Montero,
Small FT from Mr. Beau
LOCATION — Cafe Rochambeau}

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Stacy had remained mostly quiet throughout the entire walk. It wasn’t that she didn’t have anything to say or that what had happened was still eating away at her. In the reality of it all, she was still overwhelmed by it and she wanted to savor the time spent with Sal and with their hands locked together, fingers interlaced, but above all, she didn’t know what to say. Maybe part of it was Dylan’s mind games yet again preventing her from embracing this blissful moment entirely.

But what she knew to be absolutely certain was, despite Dylan’s residual effects still on her mind, it wasn’t enough to completely undo how happy the cheerleader was. Nothing could take away the fact she knew she was protected. No amount of second guessing or Dylan Doyle’s voice in her head would undo what Salvadore Montero did for her today.

She allowed herself to look around, see the street, the local businesses, the life of Edenridge. What Mika had told her about this place over the years didn’t do any of it justice. She always felt like he didn’t like Edenridge enough to brag about some of the places that she was seeing as they walked down the street. “It’s beautiful here. I adore the charm these shops have.” She was smiling, looking at Sal. “I can see why my sister loves coming here so much. Even after last night, it’s such a vibe.”

“I used to visit once or twice a year.” Salvador mused. He knew bringing up the events that had just unfolded was not what Stacy needed at that time. She needed to decompress and relax. Being forced to face something sometimes was the best way to deal with it but other times all it did was make things far worse, Sal was living proof of that. “I have a bit of family here so when my Dad got the call about maybe building a hotel here, he got real excited.” He could see the light smiles crossing Stacy’s lips the deeper they got into town and the further away from the site of Dylan’s rage. She had such a beautiful smile. Reaching the popular cafe called Rochambeau, Sal stopped for a second to open the door. “Shall we, m’lady?”

He has family here too?! Stacy wanted to ask so badly if maybe he knew her brother. That would be one small world and even more than that, she wanted to just live the normal life. She wanted to be able to go where she pleased. But right now, her mind was thinking about how she just wanted to introduce Sal to Mika. Both who have been heroes to her and one in only such a short amount of time.

Shaking herself out of her deep thought, she giggled as she walked through the door, indulging him as she turned to face him, curtsying like she was a dame from Downton Abbey. “Why thank you, Ser Sal!” She couldn’t stop giggling, taking his hand yet again, this time pulling him inside.

“You realize I’m Mexican right? I’m no Sir, I’m probably your slave. Not that that could ever be a bad thing.” Sal didn’t know whether that was a witty comment or whether he had just very blatantly put his massive foot in his massive mouth. He took off the baseball cap he had on to protect his eyes from the summer sun. His mother always said wearing a hat indoors was bad luck. “Sorry that was awful. I’m so used to being around…yeah no never mind.”

He followed the young girl into the coffee shop. It definitely wasn’t anything like any of the Starbucks he was used to in Miami. It was much more homely. Well decorated, classic interior, almost like walking into someone’s living room. The soft soulful background noise reminded him of some long forgotten lounge in the darkest and most interesting parts of Harlem. Salvador wrapped his arm around Stacy as they made their way towards the counter. “What would you like? My treat.”

Stacy couldn’t stop giggling at Sal’s joke. It was bad but in the best ways. In a lot of ways, she couldn’t help but feel he and her brother would get along amazingly. They both told jokes like that. The kinds that would make people roll their eyes at them but also make them smile wider than they ever had. Much like Salvador was doing for her right now.

She knew of this place. Everyone knew about Rochambeau Cafe. Stacy may have lived in Pinehurst, but even people from her high school knew about this cafe. Whenever Pinehurst would have a game in Edenridge, she and the girls from the squad would make their way here. She had small conversations with the owner, Mr. Beau. He was a lot like her Uncle Gus. Wise and full of life. She also heard about the cafe from Mika a few times, said the beignets were to die for. Along with the coffee. Couldn’t go wrong with them, he’d say.

“My brother says the beignets are to die for. Oh and the blueberry biscuits. The soft bake kind. OH and maybe a…oh what did he say? Pastel de Nata?” Stacy felt like she was getting greedy, but with everything going on today with Dylan, she forgot to eat. “Sorry, that’s too much. I can just have a beignet if it’s too much.” She bit her lip nervously.

“There’s no such thing as too much, there’s only what we can handle.” It wasn’t a great philosophy but Salvador was doing his best to be somewhat charming for the beautiful girl that clung to his arm.

His mind drifted to his childhood, to one particularly rainy Miami evening. Both he and Cass had come down with the flu. Esteban too was fighting off the illness, drenched in machismo and cough medicine but Ivelisse had forbidden him from working. Thus both hoteliers were stuck in their penthouse with their very sick children. Sal was a needy child and wanted all the food. Cass was happy to sit and watch her father pretend not to work. Throughout the entire evening, Ivelisse continued to order more and more food for Sal to eat. In hindsight it was probably a lesson in greed but at the time, all it did was make him happy. The night ended with the family together, watching The Princess Bride, Esteban and Cassie passed out asleep and Sal struggling to stay awake but with his mother smiling from ear to ear as she stroked his hair and mouthed along to every line of dialogue. She seemed happy.

The reason he thought of that day was because he had realized that Stacy was doing the same thing he did, trying to eat away the pain and distract herself by laughing at his corny jokes. Perhaps she needed a night like that just like he did. Salvador bowed his head in his best Dread Pirate Roberts impression towards his Princess Buttercup. “As you wish.” He went up to the counter and smiled at the jolly man standing there with his eyes that were once buried in a book now glowing welcomingly at the young pair. “Can we get two beignets, two nata, two blueberry biscuits and I’ll have a chai latte. Stacy, what would you like to drink?”

Stacy, on some level, had always been so used to apologizing for her sometimes gluttonous and indulgent cravings. It didn’t help that she always had a major sweet tooth. She typically kept it in check through dieting and rigorous exercising, but lately it had been the last thing on her mind. And now it still was but for a better reason. “Iced chocolate mocha frappe, but can I get it with almond milk instead of whole?” Stacy’s first instinct was to look to Sal, but she also gave her attention to the infamous Mr. Beau himself, whose whole aura reminded her so much of her Uncle Gus. She didn’t know if it was ever appropriate, but she felt like he could hear all of her bad days and offer the best advice or just a hug to make it all better. At least, that’s what Mika always said about Antoine Beauregard.

“You heard the lady.” Salvador beamed at the older man behind the counter. “Iced chocolate mocha frappe with almond milk.” He reached into his overalls for some change and realized in that moment that he was certainly not dressed for a coffee date. Catching a glimpse of his reflection in the shop window, Sal noted his black hair looming shaggy beneath his turned back baseball cap, his body was only covered by a white tank and his lower half by dirty, paint covered overalls which he had borrowed from one of ReyRey’s people. God, how could she even stand to look at him like that. Shaking away the negativity, Sal pulled out a few dollars and slipped them over to the large gentleman.

“Why don’t you lovebirds take a seat? Back corner booth is free. I’ll bring over your order.” Beau smiled as he always did as he tossed the cash in the register and began to prepare Sal and Stacy’s food and drinks. Today seemed to be a day for love and couples. It was started with Miss O’Hara and Miss Kaine and then Miss Navarro and Mister Takahashi. Now it seemed it was with the two young folk that he wasn’t too familiar with; though he did recognise the boy from previous sparse visits. Maybe once a year, he was a relative of his old friend Big Rey Gonzalez. The duo seemed infatuated with each other based on their gazes. It made Beau miss Colleen, he couldn’t wait for her to be home from visiting Genevieve in New York. It also made him wonder when his children would find the same love that he had with his wife? It made him wonder when he would be a grandfather. He was getting older and time was creeping up fast.

As Beau lovingly prepared their order, Sal led Stacy by the hand to the booth that the jovial man had directed him to. He allowed Stacy to sit first before taking his seat directly opposite her. “I just wanna say….I’m glad you wound up at Swerve last night. I don’t think there’s anywhere else I would’ve rather have waited out the storm, especially considering the company…”

It was impossible for Stacy to withhold a giggle. She knew who he was referring to. Between that very assertive blonde, Bron and the crazy-haired dude who nearly gave her a heart attack, she and Sal stood out like sore thumbs. Even Marco seemed to fit in more than they did. “I’m happy I did too. In truth, part of me thinks that me being there was such a happy accident, but I don’t think it was.” She pondered on yesterday’s events. She knew it was risky coming to Edenridge. She understood some of the risks, but maybe she just couldn’t stay away. MAybe she was just like her father and brother, after all. She had only intended to come to this town to meet up with Adam, but then she met Marco and that made a lot of things out of her control unfold in such a chaotic way.

Stacy never believed in accidents. Fate was something close to her heart. Maybe the hopeless romantic in her needed to believe in that. She sometimes felt like it was her fate to be with someone like Dylan. Like maybe because of the man her father was, but she tried not to think of it like that. But meeting Salvadore yesterday, bonding with him, being happy with him. That also was fated to be. “Do you believe in fate? Or that things were meant to happen so other things later down the road could be made possible?” She let her mind wander again, trying to decide if mentioning something that she knew she shouldn’t was a good idea, but looking at Sal, she knew she could trust him.

“Hm, that’s a good question.” Taking his seat opposite Stacy just in time for Beau to bring their coffee and treats, Sal leaned against his fist as he pondered her musings. His family was not a peaceful one. They were violent criminals who did not think twice about shooting someone in the street and mincing their bodies into dog meat. Yet they were religious, praying to Gods and believing with absolutely certainty that what they did was for some greater good and cause. If he were to believe in fate, then all the heinous acts of the world had to happen for a reason. The difficulty in that belief could be found in not knowing what the reason was. “I guess sometimes.” He responded. “I guess my opinion changes day to day.” Salvador thought about it some more; if his mother hadn't died he wouldn’t be in Edenridge, he wouldn’t be in that booth with Stacy and his stomach wouldn’t have butterflies. “Today, I do.”

Stacy felt something in her stomach tighten during the long pause that Salvador took. She knew she asked a heavy question. Even as she asked it and thought about what her reasoning could be for asking such a deep question, she knew just how loaded of an inquiry it was. Before today, she never gave it much thought herself, but as she gripped her wrist, only holding it with a light grasp, she thought about today. About Dylan. About how he changed the way she looked about the world. Maybe that was overdramatic for her to think. He just grabbed her wrist. It’s not like Dylan actually hurt her past making her feel small in such a vast world.

“I’m so happy to hear that. Because I do too!” She said that so fast she didn’t hear it until a few seconds. “I mean, not happy but just…relieved that we both feel the same about it.” As she took a sip of her ultra-sweet drink, she thought about what she wanted to say. She felt so safe and even protected with Salvador, more than she ever did under her uncle and aunt’s roof and she just couldn’t stop thinking about Mika, how he sacrificed so much to keep her and Katya out of danger, but no matter where they went, that was always going to find them. Dylan proved that. “I used to not give it much thought. Like I always believed in fate, but only half-heartedly. Things happen for a reason and nothing could change that, but today…” She took another short, though it felt like a long one, sip from her mocha. “I know I mentioned my brother and if I told you what I want to tell you, he’d probably kill me in a way an older brother who just loves me too much could. But I feel like I can trust you. And, if I’m being honest, I need to tell somebody. And you’re the only person who I feel comfortable enough with to let it all out to.” In her head, she knew she wasn’t making much sense. Not about what she wanted to vent off her chest nor what she could only imagine what it might be like for Sal to hear this. “Sorry, I know I’m not making any sense.” She instinctively went for one of the beignets to stop her from saying anything she knew was foolish of her to do so, chomping away on the fluffy pastry, getting momentarily lost in its goodness.

Sal was a little taken aback. What sort of secret could this angel gracing Earth actually have? Whatever it might be, he knew one thing, he knew that it wouldn’t change the warmth he was feeling enveloping his heart every time he looked into her eyes. Getting up from his seat, the boy from Miami moved around the table until he was at Stacy’s side and sat down next to her. He left a little space between them as he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable and smiled. “You can tell me anything, Stace.” He rested his arm on the back of the booth as his dark eyes looked at her. “But you don’t have to either. We can just sit here and enjoy our food.”

Stacy wanted so badly to just spill her guts about her family. Keeping this secret in was so hard. Keeping the truth about her family was hard on her heart. As much as she understood some of the gravity of why they had to keep it a secret. Ivan Zima, her father, wasn’t a good man. It was an adjustment to realize this because she always looked up to her father, but in truth, her memory of Ivan was only that of vague memories. Uncle Gus was more of a father than her own had been even before she and Katie and Mika were sent away. But knowing the full truth about him made her question a lot she once held dear to her. Maybe that’s part of why she was drawn to Dylan, but it wasn’t everything.

She didn’t know what to do. The only thing right now that made sense was Sal and how just being near him made her feel empowered. Maybe that’s all she needed right now and what she thought she needed to say to what? Get a load off? Maybe that wasn’t what she really wanted.

As she leaned against his chest, she closed her eyes for a few moments. She tried to clear her mind of just two thoughts: did she want to tell Sal about her family because it was something she felt like she had to or because it was something he needed to know? She knew the answer was somewhere, but maybe it didn’t need to be clear right now. There was so much going on in her head right now. Dylan still was ever-present in there but so were these feelings she knew she had for Salvador. And she still had the frame of mind to understand that, right now, she wasn’t thinking clearly.

“We should chow down. Before it gets cold,” she giggled but she didn’t move from where she was against his chest. She didn’t want to move.

“We probably should.” Sal raised his hand and began to caress the back of Stacy’s head as she hid herself in his embrace. Whatever she wanted to tell him could definitely wait until she was in a better headspace. He was ok with waiting. Right now what she needed was just to be with someone who could be there and present for her. Salvador had all the intention of being just that. He glanced over at the smiling man at the counter who quickly averted his gaze back down to the pages of the book he was reading. Sal really wasn’t sure what to make of everything that had happened in the last two days and he especially wasn’t sure what to think of what was growing between him and Stacy.

All he did know was that he didn’t want it to stop.

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: Tuesday, July 20th || Afternoon
ft. Adelaide Davies & Elysia Fable
& introducing Devika Balakrishnan
@BrutalBx, @LovelyComplex & @Aewin
^{Or: Two Gremlins and their Handler}}

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He didn’t see her. Yeah that was it. That was the only explanation why her Cammy didn’t say hi when he and his new friend left the Woodwork Shop a few minutes ago.

April was elated to see Cameron with a new girl, her poor baby had been through such a rough time. It was nice to see him happy and the girl he was with was absolutely stunning. Then again, why wouldn’t she be? Her little boy was so handsome, so strong. Cammy always attracted beautiful people. Shannon said during one of their sessions that her son was like a raging blue inferno, attracting moths to his flame. It was in human nature, a primal imperative to be drawn to the dangerous, the mysterious and the beautiful. Hell, maybe that was why April was so attracted to Cameron’s father Ivan in the first place.

Back when she was just a Southside rat, “Crazy April” always had a man on her arm. Some were genuine connections and others were an attempt to change her social standing, climb the ladder of success and be seen as something more than what she was, just another broken Southie. She thought about Cameron and how he never worried or cared about where he was in the hierarchy. She was envious. Her boy accepted his lot in life although April knew that he hated it. He hated the way they looked at him. She couldn’t blame him really, they looked at her the same way. The McMahon Woodwork shop was supposed to be her Father’s way of making their name mean something. As she looked up at it with her baby blue eyes, she knew her Cammy had taken the reins. Perhaps now with him there, the McMahon name would ring out in a positive way?

April wasn’t on Chestnut for Cameron though or to see the workshop. No, the reality was that she was there for the empty building next door and to hand the keys over to a young lady who had just purchased it. She was around Cam’s age, maybe they could be friends? With one hand twirling the crucifix around her neck and the other in her jeans pocket, fiddling with a keychain, April put on her best, brightest smile as the new tenant appeared from around the corner.

Leisurely, Elysia turned on Chestnut listening to Le Disko by Shiny Toy Guns hum from her custom audio system. She drove a retro, refurbished, teal 1967 Chevrolet Camaro with a cigarette hanging from her lip, coffee in one hand, and shades to protect her sensitive eyes from the sun. Her family loved investing in vintage things, like cars. Her family loved being different. Avant garde her mom would say. Retro cars were only one of many things they spent their money on to fill their boredom. They’d proceed to hire people to make the old like new and then her dad would travel the states to show his collection off at car shows.

In comparison to her peers, Ely knew she was fortunate beyond belief to have the Fable starting pack, old money that progressed into art money, to the point that her parents' boredom could make them ‘angel investors’ for the talented kids of Edenridge. Whatever the fuck that meant. She knew without them she likely would’ve given up on her dreams a long time ago. Still, unlike them, she liked to stay rooted in reality. She chose to use her hard earned money to get her places. To pay for her apartment with Indie. To help fund the many events Maxine and Indie used to crank out way back when. And to buy her and her business partner, Nathan Blake, a photography studio.

Her brother, Atlas, has used his privilege to support his travel expenses as he uses his incredible writing skills and his best friend, Skylar Bloom’s, videography skills to be the leading travel blogger duo in the world. Atlas & Sky is what they call themselves. She’s nature loving, giving nomadic lifestyle tips, hiking, diving, and other fun nature-oriented activities around the globe, dragging Atlas along. Her brother, however, was focused on sharing breathtaking and inspiring travel content, sharing his experience in a raw and authentic way while not sugar coating anything, like talking about tourist scams and culturally sensitive topics. He likes to dance with the locals and is an extreme foodie.

Together, they are the best of both worlds, providing extensive travel guides and itineraries if you ever are to visit one of the many places they see around the world. Ely wondered how that idiot was doing. He was awful at staying in contact with his family. She was sure he was fine. He always was even if Sky stressed him out making a man out of a city boy. They weren’t lovers, contrary to public belief. Best wingman and woman, but not lovers. Their audience shed silent tears.

Once Ely parallel parked, the platinum blonde put her cigarette in her portable ashtray, looked at herself in the rear mirror and rubbed her thumb under her lip to clean her lipstick. Taking a sip of her coffee, she turned off the ignition. Across the street from her future studio, she stared at the older woman waiting. April McMahon. There were many rumours about her but Ely never cared for rumours. Some people would think her and Nate were crazy for investing in property in the southside but the price was a steal and life was boring, so Ely had the mindset of: why not. Nate didn’t care about the logistics so long as they had an office to operate and a place to lock their equipment at. Security could be worked on once Ely saw what she was working with. Ely, like her parents, whether she wanted to admit it or not, liked to help her community and if that meant crossing the train tracks to give Fable & Blake Photography a home then she wouldn’t hesitate. She saw the listing, made the call, asked questions, and purchased it without touring. Her instincts told her to just do it and so she did just that. She just did it. Made a bid and won.

Exiting the car, leaving her coffee behind but grabbing her camera bag, looking like she had just rolled out of bed, when really, Ely just threw on whatever she wanted in a moment and made it fashionable, the young adult strolled to the realtor. Slipping a gum in her mouth, she met April’s gaze behind her shades and gave a head nod, “Beautiful day, yeah?”

“When you live here long enough you realise that any day after a storm, there’s a certain kind of magic in the air.” April smiled brightly as the young woman joined her outside the vacant lot. Seeing Elysia as she was, the realtor couldn’t help but be reminded of herself in days long gone by. The difference was that the young Fable carried herself with intention, April was a train wreck hanging precariously off of a cliff's edge, waiting to plummet into the murky depths and crushing weight of the ocean. Reaching into her jeans pocket, the older blonde woman pulled out a set of keys with a wooden keychain on them; an intricate celtic design. “Well these are for you!” She said sprightly as she handed them over to Ely. “Square key is the front door. The smaller one is for the inside lock up the stairs which takes you directly into the space. Do you want me to take you inside or do you wanna greet your future on your own?”

As April has finished speaking, a peroxide blonde would come speeding around the corner. “Hiiiiiiii.” Addie greeted as she sprung up behind Elysia, wrapping her arms around her waist and playing with the hem of her short white dress. The pixie’s painted lips pressed a soft kiss to the artist's neck before her blue eyes drifted to the older woman and her mouth struggled to not fall agape from her beauty. “Holy fuck your fucking hot.” Addie stared at April intensely, entranced by the estate agent's visage before she rested her chin on Ely’s shoulder. “Baby you smell gooooood.”

“Thanks, Fruit Loop,” Ely softly purred. There was a subtle smile on Ely’s nearly moodless face when Addie came rushing in. Her gum clicked in her mouth. Taking in the sun and the warm embrace coming from her forever girl, the platinum blonde observed the older woman as she spoke and held the keys to her new studio. Letting Addie be Addie, Ely acknowledged her girlfriend's presence by tracing her finger in circles on one of Addie’s hands before replying, “I guess a better question I got is, are there any secrets waiting for me? And while I know the neighbourhood, you likely know this street well. I did my research and the vacant Pop! Shop is across the street, that building over there,” She gestured behind her, Addie was now part of her person, her body moving along with her as Ely naturally carried on with business. The building behind them was boarded up and covered with graffiti tags. Most of the tags were curse words, deceased names, and serpent slang, which all covered the art of a kid shovelling a box of jawbreakers in his mouth. “Once upon a time the business and residential home of child molestor and murderer, Christian Warren. What’s the story behind this building?” She pointed back to her future studio. “There’s always a story.”

“I don't know about you guys, but I don't like ghosts.” Another voice piped up with a chuckle from the entrance of the studio. A tall, dark skinned girl stood, her eyes twinkling mischievously. Her outfit was casual, with a graphic Looney Tunes tee that she had undoubtedly stolen from one of her girlfriends, black biker shorts, and crisp white Nikes. “Surpri-iiiiise!” She called out excitedly.

Devika was a deeply spiritual person, and despite her belief in ghosts and spirits, she was still quite fearful of them. Her belief in auras and energies was strong, even if she couldn't see them with her own two eyes. She often found herself drawn to places with a certain energy or aura, and this old warehouse Ely had just purchased gave her an uneasy feeling. But she didn't want to ruin the mood, not when her partners Ely and Addie were here to celebrate a new chapter in Ely’s professional life. And why wouldn’t Devi show up to support her girl on her day off? She knew if the others could, they would (some happily) crash the viewing too.

Devi had never been one for traditional relationships, and she was happy to have found a group of people who shared her views on love and intimacy. Her polyamorous relationship with Ely, Addie, and three others was built on a foundation of mutual respect, attraction, and love. It had taken time for them to find their rhythm, but now they were all comfortable in their roles within the group. Devika loved the way that Ely's creativity and passion inspired her, while Addie's wild and carefree spirit brought a playful energy to their dynamic. It wasn’t easy hiding her partners from her family, but being with her partners had brought her a sense of belonging and happiness that she had never experienced before. Devi jogged into the building. Whether she was eager or nervous because of the vibes, nobody had to know.

Upon approaching, she leaned in to give Ely and Addie a quick peck on the cheek, feeling a surge of warmth in her chest as she looked at them. They were her family, her support system, and seeing them happy made her happy. “So, what's the plan for this space? Are we going cosy art studio vibes with Vez’s plants or are we going full kinky sex dungeon?” she asked, grinning.

April was slightly taken aback by the newly formed trio. She had done a lot of things in her life, some good, some bad. She had had multiple lovers of both sexes at the same time, she had been hooked on drugs and she had whored herself for money but looking at the three girls and the way they gazed at and touched each other; to be that in love and with multiple people no less, she had never felt that before.

“Always a kinky sex dungeon.” Adelaide released Ely from her grasp, only to pounce onto Devika. She pinned the beautiful dark skinned girl against the wall of the newly acquired studio and pressed their lips together. Addie loved everyone in the Poly deeply and equally but Devi always held a special place in her heart. She was the first one that Addie met and whom she entered into what one could but probably shouldn’t define as a relationship. Hell, she was with Devi on that dreadful day two years ago when Charlie Decker made his end waltz. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s waist and slid her hands down into the back pockets of Devika’s shorts. “Hi baby.” She whispered into the aspiring student’s mouth before turning to look at Ely and April. “You two might wanna go inside, I wanna do bad stuff.”

April cleared her throat and handed Elysia the keys. “How about I just let you girls do your thing?” The older woman smiled genuinely. “You can keep the key ring. My son made tons when he was a boy. Anyway as far as a story? Not much to tell you. It was built to be an extension on the Woodshop next door but it never fully materialised, so it was then made into a storage facility and then nothing. Not sure why no one wanted to buy it but that means nothing now. It’s all yours.” She grabbed the strap of her bag with both hands and took a step back. “I hope all of you enjoy the place. You have my number Miss Fable if you have any issues. Welcome to your new home!” April grinned before turning and walking away.

“Yeah, thanks,” Ely waved to the realtor walking away, before looking at the two younger girls she called her girlfriends. She adored them deeply but there certainly was a time and place for shenanigans. Ely’s business endeavours weren’t one of them, at least not during the exchange of keys with a realty agent. She didn’t want to burn bridges when she was just starting to build them and for all she knew, she might need April’s assistance again in the future. Still, Ely wasn’t one to police them, especially not Addie. Vez was better at giving them words of wisdom and advice, with a motherly touch, while Ely chose to let things go, unfazed and unbothered. Shake it off and keep going. She was far too blunt when she did speak and the only people she would speak with unfiltered harshness, knowing they could handle it, were Max, Indie, and Owen. “I’m not moving forward with any design until Nate gets a chance to see what we’re working with.”

Taking off her shades, hooking them on her shirt, her cold and focused stare met with both of the girls watching her with interest and intrigue. “Since we’re all here,” Ely dangled the keys in front of them. “First one to the top of the stairs will have full control of decorating my office space. To add extra incentive, in my car, I have a present. Whoever wins gets to decide who wears it. I might not be running up these stairs but I’ll know who wins. I can tell when you’re both lying.”

Devika couldn't help but smile at Adelaide's affectionate greeting. She returned the kiss with equal passion, enjoying the sensation of Addie's hands on her waist. She knew that they had to be careful not to get carried away, but it was hard to resist the pull of their love for each other. As April made her way out of the building, Devi turned her attention back to Ely, even if it was a bit of a struggle with Addie distracting her so nicely.

She listened attentively as Ely spoke about waiting for Nate to see the space before moving forward with any design plans. Devi nodded in agreement, knowing that Nate and Ely’s creative talent together would be able to bring their new abode to life. But then Ely mentioned a little competition, and Devi's competitive streak kicked in. “Challenge accepted,” Devi grinned, eyeing the keys that Ely was holding. She loved a good competition, and the idea of winning the chance to decorate Ely's office was too tempting to resist. Out of the group, Devi’s method of decorating was opposite Marie Kondo’s at best - chaotic (though she preferred the term maximalist) With a vision of Ely’s incentive in mind, Devi slipped out of Addie’s embrace, sniping the keys in Ely’s hand and took off running towards the stairs, her long legs carrying her quickly towards the top like a mad girl on a mission.

Addie narrowed her big blue eyes and stared at Ely as Devi broke away from her to chase down the goal of decoration. “You are soooo getting punished for that later.” She scrunched up her little face to fein anger. Had anyone else interrupted Adelaide when she was mid touching, the young botanist would likely have blown a gasket. No one is to come between Addie and her girls. Yet since it was Elysia, her person, her good lady, it was acceptable…but only just.

“I would rather drag my dick through a hundred broken whiskey bottles than let Devika win.” Taking a roll up from her shirt pocket, Addie placed it between her thick lips and lit it with a match. After blowing some smoke from her lungs, she dropped her bag on the floor by Ely’s feet. Adelaide quickly jumped onto the thick black drainpipe that clung to the side of the new studio and began to climb it like a spider monkey. In a true contrast to her sex goblin energy and grunge aesthetic, Addie had always been a sporty girl. She played soccer and volleyball for Edenridge and also enjoyed swimming and rock climbing. Inside the small girl was the heart of an athlete, though one would have to Wade through the marijuana smoke to find her. “Ely, make sure you watch my ass wiggle!” She called back as she began the ascent.

Devi couldn't help but burst out laughing as she turned to watch Addie's impressive display of athleticism through the large windows by the stairs. The way she climbed the drainpipe like a pro and called out to Ely was both hilarious and impressive. Of course Addie wouldn’t choose to take the stairs: just like how she often refused to use the door like any other person. But that was Devi’s person, and Addie was right to point to her ass as the view. “You go, girl!” Devi shouted after her, cheering her on. Devi needed the head start considering Adelaide’s way of thinking combined with her athleticism meant that the brown beauty had absolutely no chance of actually competing with the little gremlin.

But as Addie and her jiggling ass made her way up the pipe, Devi's laughter began to turn into wheezes and gasps as a stitch formed in her side. She tried to keep up with Addie's ascent, but her body was not prepared for the sudden burst of physical activity. Devi's legs began to wobble, and she collapsed onto the landing while painfully wheezing from laughter.

“VINDICATION!” Addie yelled as she watched her lover fall to her knees. Sucking some more smoke through her joint, she smiled from ear to ear, clutching the weed in her teeth as she carried on her climb. Adelaide never really considered herself competitive. Even when playing team sports the goal was never about winning. The two main reasons she even considered athletics as a pass time was to chase the high of adrenaline from the activity and to chase the incredibly fit and attractive girls that played said activities. Her being crazy in shape was simply a bio product of pursuing sex and drugs.

Once she had reached the summit of the pipe, Addie reached her short leg over to see how sturdy the window ledge was. It seemed strong enough. She then reached an arm over and popped the window open. Unlocked; this definitely was the Southside. She wondered if the hot real estate woman would get in trouble for that? Securing herself, Addie lept from the drainpipe and spun in the air until she was seated on the window ledge, her legs dangling like a schoolgirl whose feet couldn’t touch the floor. “I am the lizard queeeeeeen!” She proclaimed, raising her hands in victory before rolling backwards into Ely’s still locked new studio.

Devi pushed herself up from the ground, huffing and puffing with every breath. “She beat me!” she panted, still trying to catch her breath. “Seriously, I'm taking Emmy up on her next offer to not skip leg day. This race was BRUTAL.” She dramatically clutched at her side, “I got this stitch for NOTHING. I want compensation!”

Devi fumbled with the keys as she complained, unlocking the office to see the blonde pixie rolling into the office after having sat precariously half out the window. Nope, that wouldn't do, it was time for reparations. With the door open, Devi darted inside and launched herself at Addie with a barrage of tickles and cuddles. So what if the office floor was a little dusty? Devi would brave the allergies for any moment of intimacy with her girls. “You may have won the race, but I'm the winner because I get the cuddles.” she declared triumphantly, nuzzling her nose into Addie's neck. “ELYYYYYY. Join us! The cuddle pile awaits!”

Perhaps it was for the best that Devi didn’t get creative reigns to Ely’s office. She already had plans to paint the office in vibrant colours, hang cute posters of animals and eclectic art that would have fit Ely’s effortlessly cool-girl vibes. Aw well, maybe if Devi pouted enough, Vez would allow her a small corner of hers and King’s living room to “make over”.

The moment Devika tackled her, Adelaide threw her joint out of the open window from which she had just entered. In any other circumstance, she would consider the wasting of good weed up there with sex crimes, animal abuse and the music of Ariana Grande as a travesty. The wasting however to receive a mere modicum of physical contact from any of her girlfriends was the only valid reason she would allow. Giggling and laughing, Addie had to save herself somehow form the half crazed tickle machine that was atop her. She wrapped her legs tightly around the brown girl's waist before pulling their bodies together and grabbing Devi by the face. “You are not playing fair.” Addie leaned up and kissed Devika deeply before biting her girlfriends lower lip and slowly dragging her closer to the ground. “I’m pretty sure I’m the winner. I hereby claim my prize.”

While the two young ladies were left to their own devices, Ely, in no rush to catch up, turned on her heel, back outside to retrieve the ‘surprise’ from her car. To Addie and Devi, time went by fast, as they were likely caught in a heated exchange but for the platinum blonde artist, time went by leisurely. Returning to the lobby, she entered the elevator. Holding the present in one arm, a white box with a sheer red ribbon tied around it, her camera bag still hanging from her shoulder, she eased a few more pieces of 5 Gum Mint in her mouth.

Going up, she thought to herself how in the past she would never be in a committed relationship. Now she was committed to five people, and perhaps more if they fit the vibe. Polyamory was something she always considered but in high school she embraced the wild child life, raving and using her cash for all sorts of vices. Max never did like how much Ely loved to trip and get high, losing herself in the pleasures of the world. At the time, all of Ely’s friends were afraid she would kill herself, just like Allison did.

The fact that Max died and not her was a surprise to most people in her year and honestly, that broke her heart because she knew Max had more to give. So much more to give. Ely was just here making most of her time through sheer boredom. Photography to her was like an oasis in the desert. Not many things piqued her interest but when she took pictures of people, she saw beauty. Now? She had five muses. Adelaide being her first and her favorite. The one she’d crave even when she wasn’t hungry. Her best girl and sex bunny.

Devi, on the other hand, was one of her newer flames; they were still very much in the honeymoon stage. There was no doubt that Devika was a smart cookie but what attracted Ely to her was how passion emitted from every fiber of her being. Everything Devi does, she gives one hundred and twenty percent. Sometimes it takes a massive toll on her but who she is as a person is incredibly endearing to the older woman.

Ely would be lying if she said that Devi didn’t remind her of her best friend, Indie, at times. Indie would be someone Ely considered off-limits because she knew deep down, Indie and Owen were made for one another. Those two idiots just refused to take that leap of faith. Devi was something special though and Ely was finding new things she loved about her each and every day… then again, all her lovers were special one way or another.

The only one out of her companions she hadn’t slept with was Verity and that’s because she needed the neurotic and fastidious redhead for other things. Verity Roy-Wilson was particular, self-critical, and a worrywart. Sometimes her concerns reminded her too much of her deceased friend for her to ever see the pretty girl in a sexual light. Still, she adored each member of her eccentric family. Especially the two gremlins waiting for her in her new studio.

Was Maxine happy to see that she found people to calm her raging spirit and inspire her to want to do better?

She hoped so.

God, she fucking hoped so.

Ely missed Maxine James. More than she would ever admit. Max was her biggest cheerleader, giving the best business advice and criticism to hone her skills. Then followed Indie and Owen, who never stopped being supportive of her dreams even though realistically, unlike others, Ely could easily get where she needed to go. She came from money. Owen working as much as he does, and still making time for his friends, was a constant reminder of the privilege that Ely would have no matter what. Sure, she may be using her own money but that doesn’t change that when you hear Fable you think of some of the most transcendent and illustrious artists and ambitious patrons in the Boston area.

Indie was probably the most pushy and flighty friend she ever came to associate herself with. Without that naggy voice, maybe she wouldn’t have found her people. Maybe she would’ve travelled the world, never to look back, just like her brother.

No matter. Every person Ely considered family did something for her and she knew she wouldn’t have gotten to this place without those words Maxine had said to her, the day before she died.

Don’t kill yourself, Ely… you’re never sober and that’s not healthy. Don’t you think? Kill the part of you that you don’t like. This life, this night, you. You matter and all I can see is you wasting your time for nothing when you have the world at your fingertips. People like me, Owen, Indie? We don’t have it as easy. I would kill to have your life and to better my family’s situation. Please, at least consider me the next time you think of drugs or booze or whatever. Think of the people that love you...

Opening her studio door, Ely had put her glasses back on to hide her glossy eyes. Popping a bubble, she hid her grief behind a smirk when she noticed her two girls naked on the bare floor. “Couldn’t wait, huh?” Closing the door behind her, she walked to the past-through window that separated the large room from the kitchen area. Placing the box on a counter, the artist voiced, as she took the camera bag off her shoulder, “Don’t move. The lighting is hitting you two perfectly.” She needed to capture the moment.

“Well make it snappy, Snappy.” Addie sat straddled across Devika as Elysia began to take their photos. She could feel the warm kiss of summer breaking through the window and caressing her bare skin as her big blue eyes stared down at the caramel enchantress she had pinned down. As Devi’s hands explored her body, Adelaide leaned ever so slightly backwards so as to not ruin her lover's shot before she brought her gaze to meet Ely’s. “You really like to watch, huh baby?” Her eyes still locked on the photographer, the botanist lowered herself until she was fully pressed against Devika and began to kiss her neck before nibbling ever so lightly at her ear. “You taste delish.” she whispered.

“Luckily for everyone here, I like to put on a show.” Devi responded breathily, sliding her arms down her Pixie’s back. Her body was so soft and toned, indicating at Addie’s athletic history, and she could feel the warmth of her body against her inflamed skin. They moved together like they always did, desperately, hungrily, like they could never get enough. As Devi hooked a leg around Addie to trap the lovers in place, she turned to look at Ely. Her hand reached out into the air, trying to pull the beauty closer. “Come… let’s Christen your office together.”

“Hm,” Ely acknowledged both girls’ comments as she crouched down. Still in place, she turned the focus ring slightly to make their skin crisp in the picture. What art brings cannot be weighed or measured. She loved art because there she could convey her emotions without speaking. The power of a picture was to convey truth and to speak to one’s soul without using words. Whether Adelaide and Devika were taking a stroll in the park or bundled on the couch watching spooky movies, Ely saw beauty in their youth, in their smile, in their eyes, in their bodies, in their minds, in their hearts, and in their attitudes. Ely saw beauty in how they loved each other and how they loved her. Every flaw and every imperfection, every weakness and every insecurity, she loved everything about them. They were beautiful and they were her’s. “… Adelaide, since you won.” She snapped a picture the moment both girls looked at her simultaneously with intrigue. “There’s a candy thong and bra in the box. You can choose who gets to wear it. There’s also a new toy we can play with. I only ask for one thing: don’t tell Nate.” There was no need for her business partner to know what happens in their shared office when he isn’t around. He would blush at the simple mention of sex, she bet.

Addie looked at Elysia with intrigue, a candy thong huh? That was very interesting but the way things had gone, it was not something that excited her at that moment. “I’ll have a think but in the meantime…” The pint sized pixie grabbed a hold of the blonde’s hand and pulled her towards her and Devika. “You better take your dress off and kiss me or I’m about to get real nasty.” Adelaide scrunched up her nose before tilting her head to stare at the peroxide artist. “Real. Nasty.”

Devi's mind was blissfully occupied with the woman in her arms. Her fingers lazily traced circles on Addie's bare back, a contented smile spreading across her lips as they both pouted for Ely to join them. Where Addie resorted to not so thinly veiled threats, Devi’s mode of attack was always turning up the sweetness. Like Mort from Madagascar, only a little less furry.

Devi had been in relationships before, but none had ever been like the one she shared with the five in the polyamorous relationship she was in today. Everyone had their draws, and not just physically (though that certainly didn’t hurt). With Ely, it was something magnetic and unexplainable. Maybe it was Ely's confidence and poise, or her effortless cool that made Devi feel safe and protected. Perhaps it was the way Ely laughed, or the gentle way she would touch Devi's face when they kissed or guide her to pose. Whatever it was, Devi was smitten. She loved the way Ely made her feel when they were together, like she was the only person in the world that mattered. Devi had always been a passionate person, but with Ely, that passion was amplified. It felt safe.

Devi took hold of Ely’s camera, taking as much care as she could while being straddled by the energetic wild cat above her. She placed the camera as far away from them as her hands could reach, to avoid collateral damage. Devi might not have known the sentimental value of the camera, but she certainly knew enough to respect Ely’s passions just as she did hers. Devi then leaned in towards Ely, her lips brushing against the older woman's ear as she whispered playfully, “I think I might need a little bit more of your attention, Ely.” With a playful pout, she planted a quick kiss on Ely's cheek before settling back down against Addie's warm embrace. The three of them entangled in each other's arms, Devi knew she was exactly where she was supposed to be - in the arms of the people she loved.

Edenridge

_{INTRODUCING: Dorian, Raven, Sabrina, Samara, & Lucien Aviles
TIMESTAMP: Around Chasing the Tide}

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Silence.

Deathly silence.

The Aviles house was usually quiet in the morning because most if not all of the family members were nighthawks. Unfortunately to merge with the malcontents of society, they had to rise from their slumbers and greet the day as if it was their old friend, death, and they must do so warmly and with open arms.

Raven stood barefoot in her beloved garden, her body drenched in the low hanging black frock that hugged every contour of her amazing body. She was pushing fifty years old but the dark goddess had figured her with an almost ageless beauty that she shared with all of her family. Through the Earth and into her heels and toes she could feel Mother Nature feeding her, nourishing her. Beneath the dirt, her long since passed family members fertilised the land and gave their souls to its roots to feed the future. The warm post storm sunlight bounced off of her porcelain skin as she leaned down to sun her fingers through the mud. “Good morning, Bianca. I hope you slept well.” Raven spoke softly in a whisper as she greeted her fallen first born. “Time to wake the family.”

Gliding through the desecrated halls of the house her Tito built; Raven caressed the walls ever so lovingly. When they had first arrived in Eden, the early Aviles picked out a spot on Hickory Lane, once the scene of a famous and bloody revolutionary battle, to build their familial home. The first house was small but with each new member arriving from across the border, a new section was added to the house. Tito wanted everyone to have their own room, their own space and of course, the confusing layout would discombobulate any harmful entities. Each room she passed, Raven softly stroked the nameplate on the door for the relative that once called it theirs. Every room in the Aviles house told a story, some good, some bad, all worth hearing.

She reached the end of the north hallway and to the room belonging to her now oldest daughter, Sabrina. She rapped on the door three times before calling out. “Sabrina my nightshade, yet another day has come. Time to rise.”

On the other side of the door, a muffled groan could be heard, managing to eek its way out from under the black sheets that sat atop the mattress. A rumpled mess of black hair could be seen as well, surrounding skin that had paled from consistent deprivation of sunlight but still carried the color of her ancestors. Her face had yet to be put together, given she had just awoken from slumber, but the darkness that surrounded her eyes didn’t need much help being accentuated. As she stared at the alarm clock, then the dark blackout curtains that prevented the light from entering in and disturbing her shadowy sanctuary, she confirmed that everything was as she had left it when she went to sleep. No demons had visited. No spirits had ruffled anything up. Not even a wandering wraith perched upon her dresser. ”I’m up, Mother!”

The woman sighs. “Another day, huh?” Sabrina Aviles hoisted herself out of the shell of the blankets and sat up in bed. “Guess I’ll deal with it then.”

The eldest living member of the latest generation of Aviles roamed around her bedroom putting together her outfit for the day. It wasn’t hard to be dressed for work, but it did mean that she couldn’t wear some of her preferred outfits. Cops generally didn’t like it when you outwardly displayed your beliefs that most of what they were doing was meaningless. Instead, it meant she had to slip it into her usual conversations with the people she dealt with.

Still, there was one conversation on her mind more than any other. As Sabrina went to her bed stand to grab her phone, she could see the usual people popping up. Her sister. Her brother. Mei. Lamb. Avery. But the one she wanted was the one that was missing from the updated list.

“Where the fuck are you, doofus? It’s been days. I can’t keep covering for you forever. Muttering under her breath was common for Sabrina, but usually Clay Costigan was in person to earn such contempt. As of now, he still hadn’t sent her any response to her last batch of texts.

It was an odd friendship, one that didn’t make sense on the surface. One of the most popular jocks in all of Edenridge and the queen of the goths, drafted onto the cheerleading squad for some reason that even she never fully understood.. Maybe Allison wanted more raven-haired representatives on the squad. Maybe she thought having an Aviles would mean that bad luck would be warded off. Not that it did Allison any good in the end. Still, there was only one jock that she could usually stand to hang around with at parties, and it was the one who seemed to know that at the end of the day, he was playing a game, and it wouldn’t be the be-all, end-all of life as he knew it. There was a simplicity to Clay that Sabrina appreciated, and definitely had feelings for. She was a woman after all, even if her leanings didn’t tend to include male romances. Clay was the exception, and although it ultimately proved it wouldn’t work out, their friendship remained strong. When Auntie Marina and Clay came together to help her get the job at the police station in the first place, it seemed like the perfect way to get some money together and start moving on with her life.

Yet her mother was still waking her up in the morning. The tendrils of this family truly were permanently wrapped around her.

Dressed enough to curse, in a zip-up hoodie and black-striped leggings, she finally moved towards the door. Breakfast would likely be provided, and you couldn’t conjure the dark powers on an empty stomach. Sabrina zombie shuffled down the hallway and the heart of the mansion. No matter how many branches grew from the place, the central points were always the kitchen, the dining room, the rec room. The places where the family could come together, discuss their days and have deep conversations about whatever macabre topics came to mind. It kept things tight, even as Uncle Felix seemed determined to spread the seeds of the family far across the state. Everything still came back to the manor. In life and in death.

”Better be some toaster strudels left or I’m going to drown Lucien in the bathtub.”

“We tried that already, remember? Mother Death just sent him back.” Emerging from her own room just as Sabrina walked by, Samara ruffled her long dark hair with the blonde streak and yawned. She could still smell last night's booze on her skin but she didn’t really care. All of her flights out of town had been grounded because of the storm, so she was stuck in Eden for at least another few days. Sam didn’t mind being home with her family at the house but she certainly preferred being in any number of exotic locations that her job allowed her to go.

Unlike Sabrina, the younger Aviles girl was not dressed to see what the morning would gift her. Wearing only a black Motörhead tank to cover her modesty along with her black underwear, she followed her older sister into their kitchen where no doubt their father had cooked up some monstrous delight to give them sustenance and their brother would lie in wait to cause no shortage of aggravation.

“Well you two look like shit.” Lucien teased his sisters as they entered the kitchen. He was already fully dressed in his leather jacket and black jeans but that was because unlike his siblings, he had only just gotten off duty. On his pale white skin, remnants of smoke and soot were still visible. He had been on call with the fire department during the storm to help out where needed. As he took a sip from his “Best Big Brother” mug, he had a smug grin crossing his face. “I ate the last toaster strudel by the way, so you two are on Father’s breakfast today.”

This was not the news that Sabrina needed. She was already on edge with Clay recently failing to keep her informed about his whereabouts. The thought of indulging her father in one of his culinary catastrophes was not something she wanted to dwell on. It didn’t help that Lucien was the owner of one of the most punchable faces in Edenridge, and he combined that with a voice that could make the news of drought-ending rain sound unappealing as hailing brimstones. Not that he would be upset to deliver the news of fire from above either. Sometimes she debated whether her brother would continue to fight fires or join forces with them. Right now she would aid the fires for his brazen flaunting of his eating habits.

“Even if we look like shit, we still look better than you,” Sabrina dryly remarked as she moved behind her brother. In one fell swoop, she raised her palm up and cuffed him upside the head. A little bit of Auntie Marina’s violent streak lived in her after all, and Lucien was her usual target as had been since they were children. Of course, her usual methods were a little more elaborate than just a smack in the cabeza, but she was tired. And now there was no strudel. A slap would have to do. “Or did Ronan show you up again for all the glory out there? For a volunteer, he sure does a better job than you do.” She sat at the table, debating whether or not to try and stomach whatever it was that could be smelled and dealt with from the kitchen, or to make a break for it and grab a breakfast sandwich on the way to work.

“Children enough!”

Dorian Aviles entered the kitchen, already immaculately dressed in a fine Italian suit and with all the authority in the world. He was a regal-looking man who had gone grey gracefully and very obviously only took care of himself. Whether that was through training or dark magic had yet to be fully revealed. The patriarch of the Aviles coven raised his hand in the air to silence his three offspring. “We do not wage war at the breakfast table.” Making his way to the focal point of the action, Dorian leaned down and dropped a kiss on both of his daughters heads and a shoulder pat for his son. “And you all know that I do not repeat myself.”

“Go gentle, my beloved, it’s just what siblings do.” Raven followed her husband into the dining area. Gliding over to the man that has held her heart in his hands from the moment they met, she wrapped up his handsome face in her hands and kissed him deeply. As she moaned into Dorian's lips, Raven couldn’t help but feel a modicum of sadness. It was in these moments of happiness, with her husband and her children that she thought back to the child she lost and how she should be sitting in the empty seat at the table. Bianca’s seat always remained empty.

After breaking the kiss, Raven began to glide across the room until she found herself sitting in her place at the table. As her husband started to plate up the breakfast that he had lovingly prepared, the gothic goddess rested her painted hands on the counter top and leaned back in her chair to get a good look at her three children. “What are your plans today? Anything exciting?”

Sabrina rolled her eyes at the display of affection from her parents. If her father had been tasting whatever he prepared this morning, her mother’s lips were now likely as toxic as some of the nightshade plants she was growing in the garden. “Well, I plan on continuing to slowly die, preferably in the darkness. I’ll be plotting my revenge on Lucien for stealing the last strudel. And then, I don’t know. Work, I guess.” She sighs. “Still trying to figure out where Clay has been the last couple of days. He’s a goof, but he’s usually not the type to blow off his job.”

Raven looked deeply at the face of her eldest living child. To the untrained eye it was as morbid and as uncaring as always, but to her mother? She could see that Sabrina was hurt and confused. The young woman had always been deeply fond of her friend Clayton. The foppish basketball player had spent many nights over the years at the Aviles house and for a time, Raven truly believed that her daughter had found her person. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways and Clay seemed to be one of those ways. He brought something out in Sabrina that Raven didn’t even think existed; joy.

Reaching over, the matriarch of the strange family on the hill slithered her fingers over her daughter's arm and wrapped them around her like a mother snake, for comfort. She would not speak more on it, Sabrina would tell her when she was ready. Her bare obsidian gaze drifted and then fell upon her youngest child, Samara, a bewitching beauty, with her alabaster skin accentuated by near dark eyes as close to the black of night as possible. It was never really a surprise that she chose to follow the teachings of the succubi. “And what of you, child?”

Sam had a mouthful of alligator bacon when her mother began to question her. She really wasn’t in the mood. With a strip hanging from her still red lips from the previous evening, Samara pulled down the hem of her shirt to cover her bare legs slightly. The mansion was cold at the best of times but today there was definitely something more than just wind chill in the air. She could sense something being carried on the breeze, a darkness. Something big was happening that day. “I’m still grounded.” Sam spoke, her mouth full. “No flights for another two days so I’m probably gonna spend the day at Beau’s reading and then go get fucked and fucked up later.”

"I'll snipe Luci by saying you were already fucked up," Sabrina dryly commented, giving her brother a glare since she could not go at him with words. "But keep me posted on getting there later. I may join you. It feels like the only thing I can do right now after work." Her thought process was interrupted by a buzz on her phone. She thought about looking at it for a second, but if it was Rocky giving her crap about another of her spider colonies at the station, she didn't want to see it. "I feel like we haven't embraced the darkness together in a long time, Sam. So if you can't find someone to fill the emptiness within, let me know."

”Honestly, sometimes I don’t know why I bother.” Lucien polished off the contents of his mug before getting up from the breakfast table. It was true that the only Aviles son enjoyed toying with his sisters and getting under their skin. In some ways he was the black sheep, never really pushing the envelope of his magic like his two sisters. Luci enjoyed being a regular member of society and releasing his power only in short bursts. He understood that keeping his Hellfire under wraps was easier than trying to explain it to a bunch of white picket fence Nepo babies.

After tossing his mug into the sink, Lucien let out a great big yawn. His day was over and he had to try and get some sleep before his shift at the fire station later that day. “It’s Clay by the way.” He pointed to his sister's phone as he breezed by towards the hallway. ”That text is from his hairiness. You might wanna respond.” His last words faded as he rounded the corner and travelled deeper into the Aviles compound.

"WHAT?!?" Sabrina shouted as she dove for the phone. She knew Lucien wasn’t a technomancer or anything, but a quick glance indeed confirmed it was the Costigan boy. "I have to take this, excuse me." She rose from the table and headed into the living room, intent on getting the story on why she hadn't heard from him.

“I never liked that boy.” Dorian had finally sat down at the head of the table, though what was supposed to be a full family breakfast was down to one child now, two if he counted their beautifully departed child, Bianca whose spirit he always felt lingering around them. “Too much power over her.” He sliced into his ostrich egg and watched the golden yolk spill out across his plate like blood from a deep wound, it was a satisfying cut. Reaching for a triangle of fresh toast, the silver haired Dorian glanced over at his wife, who in her breathtaking visage was offering him the coldest of looks. “I’m sorry, dear.”

Samara looked at her parents as the cold atmosphere soon gave way to adoring smiles and stolen moments. It was amazing how they could argue or disagree and then instantly revert back to their lovey-dovey selves without even uttering a single word. Truly it baffles one’s mind. “I might go over to Karina’s, see if she’s free today, maybe borrow her Grimoire since I left my last one in Düsseldorf.”

“A day with your cousin would be lovely.” Raven stretched her arm over the table to her young daughter and stroked the blonde strand in her hair. “We’ll get you a new grimoire today. Just try not to lose this one, ok? They have such powerful magic locked within their pages. A normal person could cause so much trouble.”

Meanwhile, the black-haired woman paced as quickly as she could to a semi-private place. It was about time he finally got back to her. Sabrina hadn't checked in with his other platonic woman best friend since yesterday, but she had to assume Avery was breathing a similar sigh of relief. To say nothing of his twin sister. She sat down on the ornate black leather couch that dominated the attention of the common area and quickly scrolled to the new message.

From Clay (Doofus):
Hey Sabby, didn’t mean to go MIA. Dealing with this latest letter business got me in a bit of trouble. I’m at Sinclair Health now. I’m fine! Don’t panic, like you ever panic, knowing I’m hurt is probably giving you an orgasm. But yeah, I’m fine! Mostly superficial. If you could put me on a cheeky holiday day though? So I still get paid? Love you Witch x

Even in a text message, Clay always had a way of sounding like Clay. It’s like she could practically hear the wink in the tone. Of course he would get into trouble over the stupid letters. It was Clay. It was what he did. Ever since high school, he would charge in wherever something nefarious was happening and do his best to fix whatever was the problem. Maybe that’s why the first time he showed up when Sabrina was cursing someone in the middle school cafeteria, she blew him off, but the fifth time he caught her trying to summon a plague of frogs to land on that snooping Emily Carano’s head and instead tried to convince her to leave Emily alone, she started wondering why he would even bother engaging with someone who had death wrapped around her body like a feathered boa. But she soon caved to his persistence and charm. He had a way of growing on people like that. It was endearing.

But of course, he was also still a doofus, and chasing after this letter business was exactly the sort of thing a dumb person would go after. In Sabrina’s mind, the person behind the letters was solely looking to cause misery and chaos. That was supposed to be her job, and she did it in a far more ethical way than this person was doing it. Besides, the recent posts going after the deceased David O’Hara brought up some nasty thoughts that paralyzed her from joining Clay in the hunt for the person responsible.

First, Sabrina remembered back when David turned up dead and drowned. Her mother and father were part of the party delivering their condolences to the O’Haras, given the positions they had in the community. Her aunt was part of the crew that recovered the body and processed the area. Her uncle was the one who confirmed David died from drowning and not from alcohol poisoning. The Aviles family were used to death, but Clay was not. Seeing him and Lamb torn up about David confirmed that she had to be the one to handle the tragedies in their group. Sabrina was the only one who could truly embrace the absence of life given the role death played in her family history.

But there was another aspect of David’s passing that troubled her. It was rumored that David was having an affair with one of the frosh at Edenridge High, and that revelation was what drove him to drink and to his bitter end. Sure, the community had made its judgement, but the O’Hara boy was far from the only upper class member to dip into the younger pool. He was just the one who got outed, and got shamed.

Maybe Sabrina was just luckier when it came to keeping her own dip under cover.

After it became clear that Clay was always going to be a lovable doofus, but never the love of her life, for multiple reasons, she followed the ideals of her friend Avery and decided to lean into her lesbian tendencies. But there weren’t many seniors that not only shared her views on life in Edenridge, but also were interested in exploring that side of their sexuality.

There was a frosh though. And after a couple months, loneliness can overtake even the darkest of hearts. It was consensual, but given what happened with David, Sabrina never spoke a word about it. Neither did her partner. It didn’t last for very long. By the time Sabrina graduated, the young woman also started experimenting with a boy. Sabrina knew because she was told about it, a boy that also met an early demise in this violent village. And now that woman seemed to be in a very loving relationship with another girl. A girl who also has known the personal touch of death far too often and if she looked at the clues, might have easily figured out just how close things were five years ago between the mentor and the mentee. But if she hadn’t connected the dots then, she definitely wouldn’t remember anything due to the Olympic swimming pool of alcohol Sabrina saw her imbibing in some of the pictures she got from in texts from her own sordid shame.

She was reminded even before she opened Clay’s text. Mei Ramsey had texted about a trip to Afterlife with Allison 2.0 herself, Jill O’Brien, and Sabrina had to turn her down. The offer was still on the list of most recent texts when Clay’s message was front and center.

All Sabrina could do was sigh. ”Clay, you damn idiot…” Also, she was offended by the notion that the mere thought that he was in pain would make her orgasm. She finally started to compose a long awaited message back.

To Clay (Doofus):
For your information, I only cum if I’m the one causing you pain. Not if you have Satan-only-knows kinds of damage inflicted on you for three days. But I’m glad you’re still among the land of the living. You know I have you covered. You want me to stop by on my way to work? I can bring you some not-terrible non-Sinclair food and tell you the boring stuff you missed at the station. Spoiler warning: it was nothing. Because of the storm.

The text was starting to get long, especially for Sabrina, but this is what Clay deserved for making her actually worry for the first time in forever. Almost two years, actually, when she heard Mei was a victim of Charlie Decker and was headed into surgery.

Next time, don’t go off by yourself. If I’m not going to get to cause the pain, I at least want to see it. This is like that time you fell trying to dunk and snapped your arm all over again. You can pay me back with lunch to catch me up when you’re better. …I’m glad you’re OK, Doofus.

A black heart ended the second and final text and another heavier sigh escaped Sabrina’s lips as she leaned back on the couch. Clay was no longer in a quantum state of dead or undead, as much as her father would be disappointed. But that confirmation alone would make her father’s breakfast so much more palatable. Of course, why do that when she now had an easy out?

Sabrina returned to the kitchen. “Mother, Father, Samara, I must depart. Clayton requires sustenance that he can not get at his recovery facility, and I am the only one who can give it to him. After I hold it hostage as punishment for two days of non-communication, of course.”

The patriarch of the Aviles gazed up at his eldest’s pale face, a flush of colour returned to make her cheeks near rosy. That was what that boy did to her, he brought out something warm, something damn near positive. All he wanted was Sabrina to be happy and if the Costigan boy did that, then he would allow it, if it’s what his darling wanted. It didn’t mean though he had to like it. “That’s not a euphemism for sex is it?” Dorian received a slap on his arm from his beloved wife for his trouble.

“TOTALLY IS!” Lucien’s voice called out from down the dark manor hall. “SABBY LOVES HIM. SHE WANTS TO MARRY HIM!” The firefighter bellowed in sing-song, the echoes bouncing off of the old palatial walls.

Sabrina very nearly abandoned her plan of altruism and committed to a day of torturing Lucien so he would feel no sleep right then and there. The only remedy for the mental pain that made Lucien try to interrupt her plans was certainly a healthy dose of physical pain. However, she didn't have to.

“Excuse me a minute.” Samara got up to her feet, not caring to flatten the shirt that was barely covering her modesty as she charged into the dark of the hall. The silence she left behind was broken by the yells of her brother and the sound of blunt impact and crashing debris. After a minute or so of chaos, there was silence once again and Sam emerged from the infinite black now dressed in a black skater skirt, her doc martens and an off the shoulder black and white cardigan. She placed her long fingers on her older sister's shoulder and motioned with her head. “I’ll give you a lift, I’m going to meet Karina anyway.”

At least there was one sibling who Sabrina could usually count on for support instead of mockery. And for wardrobe borrowing when she did have the time to head to Afterlife and wanted to look like she could break a heart if she so desired. Not that there were many that had hearts worth breaking, but there were a couple hearts that she was happy she didn’t have to break for the moment. They may not have seen eye-to-eye as children, and sometimes even now, but the sisterly bond was still strong. Especially against Lucien.

”Thank you, Samara. I’ll be ready in two minutes. I’ll meet you at the car.”

As Sabrina moved as quick as a frenzied zombie towards her room, she did have a chance to think a little. Samara said she was going to meet up with Karina Berríos, their cousin and technically the oldest child remaining from this generation of Aviles thanks to her uncle’s inability to keep things wrapped up when he was younger. Her mother, Carmen, definitely had the looks to get whatever she wanted in her youth, so she couldn’t blame her uncle for that, but the fact that Karina wasn’t actually an Aviles was a thorn. Did that fact protect her from the curse of the first-born? Was the originator that much of a believer in matrimony? Sometimes it didn’t make sense why Bianca was the one that had to pay the price, but there were other times to think about that. Her mind was apparently racing all over the place with the news from Clay. There wasn’t a text back yet either, probably busy answering texts from others.

Sabrina added her own black skater skirt to the ensemble and slipped a dark black blouse under her hoodie in case Chief Broadus was demanding non-hoodlum clothing today. She shoved a couple of makeup options in her leather studded purse, content to just do her face properly at the station. There had to be something for her to do to kill the time. Content that she had everything she needed, she headed out to the garage and awaited her offered ride.

Sam dropped down the stairs and into the garage where her sister waited. Dark eyes fell upon her cherished all black Ford Thunderbird that sat there. The flight attendant had first caught sight of the beautiful car on one of her first trips working for the airlines. Her flight had settled in Utah for the evening, Salt Lake City to be precise and Samara was taking in the city as she had a few hours to kill. It was only when she got a little turned around and wound up in a residential neighbourhood that the dark princess saw her future, parked in a driveway, with a for sale sign. As soon as she was back in Eden, Sam dragged her twin brother back to Utah and bought the car, though she didn’t have a licence so Luci had to drive it cross country and had he dented it, she would’ve hung, drawn and quartered the little firestarter.

With her black and blonde tresses framing her face, Samara looked with a very mild smile curled upon her lips at Sabrina. She along with Lucien did love to tease her about going native. Of the three Aviles kids and their cousins, Sabby was the one who surprisingly had adjusted to living a somewhat normal life in Edenridge. Her friendships with the likes of the Costigan siblings and the girl from the comic book store solidified that. As doused in infinite black and death as the Aviles family were, it was nice to see Sabrina care for others. Sam remembered the odd times when the boy with the hair was hurt in the basketball court and how Sabby often went to his side. She remembered just how scared her big sister was when Charlie Decker shot up the school and that girl Mei was stretched out with a hole in her neck. The tears in Sabrina’s eyes were worth more than any word.

Grabbing a handful of white ash from the pot by the garage door, Samara tossed it across the threshold, freeing her vehicle to leave without being followed by spirits wishing to cause ill. “Where do you want me to drop you?” The younger Aviles priestess asked as she climbed into the car.

Sabrina hops into the Thunderbird and leans the seat back. She was a little uncomfortable getting a ride from Samara given how little she had been actually driving a car, but the black stallion was her baby. She was always careful with it and if Lucien even threatened a scratch, he was met with claws. It would be fine. “You can just take me to the Dunkin’ by the clinic. I’ll get Clay his usual order and bring it to him, and I’ll get a danish and curse that it’s not a strudel.” She lets out a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding in. The chain coffee run was a sign of normalcy. Peace returning after the storm. “If you want to stick around, I’ll cover something for you as well. As thanks for being the far lesser of two evil siblings.”

”Don’t really wanna hang around and watch you give the hairy one the googly eyes if I’m honest, Sab.” Samara said as started up the car. She pressed the button to open the garage door and began to jank around with the old gear box. ”Besides.” As the engine roared into life, growling like some demented beast crawling out of the depths of hell, the wicked witch shot her older sister a dark, dangerous look. ”There's chaos in the air and I’m excited to harness it.”

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: Crashing Tide, Part 1
FT: Eleanor Costigan & Caterina Belmonte}

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Eleanor Costigan sat on a bench outside of Sinclair Health, staring up at the big blue sky above. There wasn’t a single cloud to darken the day. The breeze was light and warm, as if the day was built from scratch to be perfect, the calm after the storm. She had spent the morning putting out fires and being quite confused about what the hell was going on. When her nephew, Adam turned up at her door, a boy she had not seen in years thanks to her big brother, that should’ve been a sign. Then she watched Jamie O’Hara, a girl she had known from the day she was born in the very hospital that now sat behind her, had a heart wrenching breakdown.

Ellie didn’t even clock that her own son was in the middle of the fracas until he was being loaded into an ambulance. She tore out of the house and jumped in with him. Her little Clay was a mess, bloodied, battered and bruised. When they arrived at Sinclair, she let the doctors take him whilst she called Sean, who was still a few miles out at sea and Laura, who as pragmatic as ever said that there was nothing to be done until the doctors had come back.

When they did, they told Ellie that Clay had a severe concussion, some broken ribs and a slipped disk, the artist couldn’t help but sigh in relief. It was mostly surface damage and he would recover with rest but that didn’t stop her heart racing. She had always worried for his safety, that’s just what a parent did. Yet she was the parent of a police officer; Eleanor’s greatest worry was that she would get a knock at the door or a phone call in the middle of the night that Clay was shot or that he was dead. She hadn’t yet come to terms with that worry. It haunted her.

Blowing out the stress from her chest, she tightened her grip on the seat of the bench, her fingers still stained gray with the clay from her unfinished morning pottery project.

At this point, Cat’s confidence had deflated and she was not the strong woman she tried to be everyday. The woman that was walking from the parking lot to the entrance of Sinclair Health was broken, a shattered glass ballerina glued together, trying to prepare for the worst outcome possible. During the car ride, her mind was on replay. She saw her and Clay’s first disagreement the day before and how she so easily let him walk away. She saw when he took her to the lake and he comforted her, let her lean on him, only wanting one thing in return, that she’d go back to being okay. She thought back to when he pulled her off one of her husband’s lovers at Afterlife and brought her to the safety of his apartment. She replayed their first kiss and their first time. She replayed their moments from now to when he ran on her father’s boat naked and into her arms.

Hugging herself, trying to not fall apart, Cat saw Clay’s mother sitting and staring at the sky. Swallowing hard, it felt like there was a ball in her throat, she approached the woman with a crestfallen expression. Her emotions had reached its peak from her mother battling cancer to her family ripping apart from the seams. She didn’t know what she was doing and she couldn’t hide the pain anymore. Not at this moment. Not when all she could think about was Clay not having another morning with her to eat breakfast, to joke, to dance with, to climb every mountain with and if she needed to rest, he’d be there to wait for her or pick her up and tell her it was going to be okay. She was going to be okay. Everything was okay.

Her mind was racing because for a short moment she finally understood what it meant to be happy and to not be ashamed of her tears and her broken pieces. He steadied her and kept her safe when she was constantly holding her family together. For once in her fucking life, she found someone who would swim a whole ocean for her just because he loved her and that’s it. All because he loved her. He loved her. He loved every flaw, every weakness, every ugly part and saw beauty where she didn’t. He did all that and all he wanted in return was her to be with him. For her to find happiness with him.

Fuck, what was wrong with her?

“Is he okay?” Cat breathed, announcing her presence to the mother of the boy that slipped his way into her heart rapidly and without warning. A boy that crashed into her like a tsunami. Instead of knocking her off her feet, he carried her where the light couldn’t. Caterina was terrified, scared shitless of anything bad happening to Clay. If only she told him how she felt.

Ellie’s chocolate eyes fell from the sky and onto the pained face of the neighbor girl. She shared her eyes with her son, so dark but so expressive. Many thought little of Ellie. She was a foundling, a Callahan no less, so life was easy for her. She was a space case who couldn’t remember what day it was and had many times been referred to as an unfit mother with no basis. Eleanor was far more clued in than people thought. It was easier for her to pretend to be dumb than to make others feel bad.

She had always known about Clay’s crush on Cat. The way he looked at her, the way his little eyes twinkled when he heard her smoky voice. And she knew her son, he would wait and fight until he landed the woman of his dreams. When they arrived at the hospital and they asked who Clay’s emergency contact was, Ellie assumed it would be her but when they read out Cat’s name? That all but affirmed her suspicion that her son was having an affair with the woman. She saw it coming before they did.

Ellie pushed herself up to her feet and took a step forward. She wrapped her arms around the younger woman and pulled her into a tight embrace. “He’s ok. A little banged up but he’s going to be fine.” She whispered into Caterina’s ear as she nuzzled into her neck, letting the pain out and letting love fill them both.

The sudden warm embrace of a mother opened the floodgates. Cat wrapped her arms around Eleanor, her purse hanging from her arm and silently sobbed into her shoulder. She had been a mess since yesterday that not even wine could console her. “I’m sorry,” Cat muffled into Ellie’s shirt. “I didn’t want you or anyone to find out this way. I’m so sorry if it’s caused you any pain,” Cat choked on her tears.

Picking her head up, Cat gazed into the eyes of the older woman who was a parental figure she and her siblings looked up to growing up. She was fifteen when her father decided to pack their bags and leave their home in the Big Apple. She was fifteen when she moved to Edenridge. She was fifteen when she was welcomed on Scott Street by the Costigans. One of the first families to make them feel part of the town. One of the first families to open up their home to them. Vivia grew attached to Eleanor and even picked up a paintbrush. Cat, however, had too much going on as the eldest Belmonte to stop and take in the fresh air. When she looked at Ellie she felt that. She felt her spirit and how unbothered she was of most things but not because she didn’t care. Eleanor Costigan was the embodiment of: don’t worry, don’t hurry, and be sure to smell the flowers along the way.

“I’m so glad he’s okay,” Cat uttered. Her pain bled through her words. There was no doubt there was so much guilt and grief in her words, woven in one tragic blanket. Unwrapping her arms and hands, Cat wiped her ugly crying face, blushing in shame and embarrassment.

“You should go to him.” Ellie reached forward and wiped away some of Cat’s tears herself. “I reckon at this point he’ll be more happy to see you than me.” Of course she wanted nothing more than to be with her baby boy but she could see it on Caterina’s face, the guttural cry and the shaking hands, the girl needed to be with Clayton. She was in love with her son. Selling Sean on the idea would be a mission unto itself but he could wait, he was still somewhere in the Atlantic. “I need to go get his Dad anyway. He’s in room thirteen on the second floor.” Elle leaned forward and pressed her lips to Cat’s cheek, holding her arm gently as she did so. “Look after him for me? He’s a good boy.”

“Okay,” Cat struggled to find the words. Her mind, in a haze. “I promise. No,” She corrected herself. “I will. You have my word.” She needed to stop guessing and hoping her life would get better. That her father would open up and admit his own struggles and pains. That her siblings wouldn’t take things for granted. That her kids didn’t hate her.

Already Cat was taking charge of her life by filing for a divorce and studying to become a police officer. Now it was time to embrace the feeling with the person that she wanted more than anything in this world. The future was unknown but she knew relationships were a commitment. She’s been through a few, one being a long, toxic marriage. She shouldn’t be afraid of this feeling. It made her happy and what was wrong with that? What was wrong with being happy? Cat needed to stop doing everything for everyone else and start dreaming again for herself. She needed to find her own happiness.

And that started with Clay.

“Be safe, Ellie, and… thank you.”

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: After Scott Street: The Real Dream
Featuring: Clayton Costigan, Caitlin Cleary, Kylee Grimm & Jamie Lord}

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Every time Jamie looked in the mirror, she so desperately wished to see David staring back at her. One day he would. One day she would open her eyes and she would see that stupid curly hair framing his goofy grin. He would be laughing and telling her that she needed to decide for certain whether she was going to be a blonde or a brunette because he was sick of her changing it all the time. She would tease him about his choice of music being exactly like their Dads and then Davey would go off to play ball with Rhett and Clay and she could go about her own monotonous life until she was ready to come home to her brother again.

One day that would happen.

Jamie closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, her body slowly moving to the sound of David’s Infinite Spotify Playlist of Dad Rock. Russell’s screams were drowned out by the deafening synth intro of Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears. She still had the bloodied knife on her hand as she danced through the hallways of the O’Hara house. Her father was already gone for the day and her mother had headed out to the store. Russ was in the living room, hooting and hollering but what was fine, that didn’t matter. He didn’t matter.

Her darling husband had lost his mind when Jamie had gotten home that morning and told him that she had kissed someone else and liked it. It was so typical of Russell to throw back in her face that he stood by her through everything. Jamie hated him for it. He wasn’t doing it because he loved her, he was doing it to hide himself away from the world; to hide the truth that everyone already knew and didn’t care about. Russell was gay. Everybody knew. Jamie was just his beard. An opportunity he saw when she was at her lowest to cover up his own pain. Their argument was heated and although he had never laid a finger on her, Russ was large and she was not. She hadn’t planned on using the knife until Russ said he had beaten up Clay the night before and left him for dead.

He did what?!

How could he do that? Clay was their friend. He was a good hearted soul who just wanted to help people and Russell attacked him for no reason. He tried to preach that he did it for her, that if Clay found out Jamie was behind the letters that would be the end of everything. How could he hurt Clay? Jamie had always loved that floppy haired idiot. Once upon a time, it was romantic; in fact they were each other's first kiss but time and tide makes fools of us all. They were never meant to be. Instead they were friends, the closest of close until Davey died. Knowing that her husband had tried to silence their friend, that drew down the curtain of red mist and forced Jamie’s hand and the blade between her fingers to slash Russell’s arm.

He was on the couch, having made a tourniquet out of a tea towel and was on the phone to the emergency services. Jamie wandered out of the front door, her eyes bloodshot and teary. She still held the knife as she walked barefoot onto the pristine green grass of her Scott Street ancestral home. The music was blaring through the open front door as she turned her head towards the neighbors home, the Cleary house.

If David wasn’t with Jamie, maybe he was over there?

Exiting the Cleary household, Kylee was a woman on a mission. On the phone with Adam who was still at the Costigans, she gave him an update, “Hey baby, meet me at Absolute Sound. I got a surprise Dawn Patrol special to do.” Scanning at her wrist watch, she noted the time, morning was nearing an end. She shrugged, “Sure Amie might still be live, but she should understand. That girl has a squirrel brain and this is far more important. So, yeah, I’ll see you soon? Mm, yes sir I’ll be careful.” When she listened to the next words, Kylee became a blushing bride and embarrassingly answered, “Stahp. I need to focus…” she could see Clay’s and Cece’s eyes on her, which caused her to look away, “I love you—” her train of thought stopped abruptly when she saw David’s twin in a tragic state. “Jamie…” she whispered. Barefoot, sunken eyes from all the tears she’s cried, and a bloody knife. Instinctively, Kylee put herself in between Caitlin and the distraught, mentally unstable woman making her way toward them. “Adam, I need to go. Clay!” Kylee hung up her phone.

“Calm your tits, I’m moving a bit slow today…” Clay’s ever present humor fell off of a cliff’s edge as he came up behind the two girls and saw his childhood friend moving like a zombie towards them. She did not look like her usual, ethereal, radiant self. This version of Jamie looked manic and half crazed. Clayton swiftly jumped in front of both girls, blocking them with his lanky frame. The adrenaline quickly surged through his veins to mask the pain. He didn’t immediately reach for his gun, instead opting just to reach out his hand to his former lover. “Jamie, babe what’s with the knife?” He scanned it as quickly as he could. There was only a small amount of blood on the blade which meant that whatever she had cut, realistically suffered a surface wound at best. “Jamie, you hear me?…”

Jamie tilted her head slowly, taking short steps forward. “Is he in there?” She asked, breaking into a wide smile. “Is my Davey in there? I have to tell him something important. I know you want to keep him all to yourself Caitykins, but I need him. I need my big brother.” Her words were frantic as she ignored both Clay and Kylee, focusing her attention on the small redhead they were shielding with their bodies. “I need Davey."

The moment Cece's eyes fell on the woman with a knife staggering towards them, fear unlike anything she'd experienced before settled within her heart. The multi-generational bond between the O'Haras and the Clearys meant that the redhead was aware of Jamie's mental health issues, and knew that the reason she'd been sent away for some time was because David's passing exacerbated them. When she and Russ had returned to town a few weeks ago, she seemed better, healthier than she'd ever seen her before. No matter how hard she tried, Cece couldn't think of what had triggered Jamie to such an extent that she would do any of this. What she did know was that staring at the state of the woman she grew up alongside, the one who had treated her like a sister and been the biggest accomplice she and David had during their time together, terrified her and broke her heart in equal parts.

"He's-- he's not here, Jamie," she croaked, her voice trembling as much as her body was. She could tell from the woman's glassy-eyed stare and her inquiry that she wasn't all the way in the present. Her mind was probably stuck in the past, before tragedy had struck them all. Telling her that her brother was no longer with them was bound to escalate things, so Cece opted against being the one to say it. "David's not with me right now.”

Jamie stared vacantly at the trio; their words soaring over her head. She turned her head in time to see the doors of the cul-de-sac open and the residents of Scott Street empty from their loveless castles to view what was happening on the Cleary lawn. The fragile tie turned her O’Hara blue gaze back to Clay, Caitlin and Kylee and narrowed her gaze onto her childhood friend. “Clayton, you must know where Davey is? Is he with Franny? Or did you just get back from your date's house? Should I call Rhett?”

Clay was heartbroken seeing Jamie like this. She was obviously in some form of manic episode. She had suffered through them her entire life. Some were quick, others lasted days. When David passed, the mania was constant and unstoppable until she went and got help. Nobody knew exactly what was wrong with Jamie, the O’Hara’s had kept it quiet but everyone knew that something was wrong. “Jame, he’s gone. You know that, right? David’s been gone for years.” He tried to remember the techniques that they had all been shown to help pull the girl from her delusions. The problem was, Clay’s own mind was foggy from assault by her husband. “Focus on my voice; on my words, where are you right now?”

Jamie tried to open her mouth, to make words come out but instead there was only a whimper as the tears started rolling down her puffy, red face once more. Like a light switch being flipped, the broken monument’s face darkened and she raised her blade. “I had to do it.” She spoke coldly, “They said such horrible things. They all dragged his name through the dirt and why? WHY? Because he was protecting you.” Jamie hissed as she glared at Caitlin. “I love you Caitykins. I really do but you’re not worth what they did to him. It’s not your fault; we love who we love who we love. That’s just the world. But he is mine. David is my world and I am not going to let them spit on his soul any more. They are going to hear the truth.”

The truth in Jamie's words cut Caitlin deeper than any injury the knife in her hand could’ve caused. She was right. She wasn't worth what had happened to David. She wasn’t worth the accusations, the insults, the snide comments or the death threats. Davey had died because of her-- his life wasn't worth that. She had earned every single ounce of hurt that had come her way since the day she decided to kiss him by the lake. Every negative feeling she’d experienced since his passing was warranted. If Jamie wanted to end her life today, then so be it. She should've gone through with it herself years ago. It was exactly what she deserved.

“I’m sorry,” was all the young woman could whimper in between her sobs, the crushing weight of her guilt and her pain bringing her down to her knees, her face buried behind her hands as she fell forward. “I am so, so sorry.”

“Is this how you honor his memory?” Kylee sadly but firmly asked the older woman, having pocketed her phone in her pants. She made herself visible to Jamie, moving beside Clay, knowing he would want to shield her. She met his gaze, seeing how badly his body was hurting, and told him through her eyes she could handle herself. She was a big girl. Her father raised her in a way to at least know how to protect herself from an ongoing attacker on the street just in case she was mugged. She wasn’t too worried. She was more worried for the mental health of all the people around her.

“We love who we love who we love,” she repeated after Jamie. “Look around you, Jamie.” Kylee raised her hand to gesture at Clay, Caitlin, and her general vicinity. “You are not the only one hurting. I can’t say what this town did was right but what I can say is would David want you to remember him for the sadness and the tears? Or would he want you to remember the days you laughed, walking down this street, right here, during Halloween, going to basketball games, dancing by the lake with friends, and hiding out in your secret place? His smile. Doesn’t he have such a nice smile? I always thought your brother’s smile was so pretty and bright,” Kylee never took her eyes away from Jamie. She wanted the woman to hear her; really hear every word she was saying. She had no idea if Jamie would be receptive but she had to try.

Kylee Grimm was the outsider in this situation. That didn’t mean she needed to be a bystander. She knew enough information to break the silence of the town. She might’ve not added fuel to this fire many years ago but she didn’t do anything to put the fire out. More importantly though? She saw her friend and her former classmate in pain. So much pain. That was enough for her to take action. “He never stopped loving you, Jamie. He will never stop loving you. Please don’t be unhappy because you can’t see him. He’s with you, I promise he is. Every morning, every dawn, and every night. He’s with you. Right here.” Kylee placed her hand on her chest, her heart, where she’s made a home for her own loved ones. “He’s with you,” she repeated, like a mantra. “He’s always been with you.”

“But he’s not with me though, is he?” Jamie spoke coldly, the usual warmth of her words was snuffed out by grief. “They took him away from me. Why did they have to take him away?” Her face began to shrink and resolve into sobbing as Kylee’s words found a hole in her wall of pain to seep into. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He just fell in love, he just fell in love. Isn’t that what is supposed to make the world go round?” Jamie’s teary eyes fell upon Caitlin once more, who was now being held by Kylee for support, they were brimming with sadness and despair. “Davey loves you so much. You make him so happy, Caity. I just want to tell him that I found someone, someone who could make me happy too. Is that so wrong?”

Clay always knew that Jamie’s co-dependency on her brother was bad but to be this severe! Her episodes obviously didn’t help the situation and his death only could’ve exacerbated it. Taking a step forward, the former elite reached his hand slowly up and took a hold of the surviving O’Hara’s wrist. She didn’t fight back as he took the knife from her and dropped it onto the floor. He had always known that Russell was a marriage of convenience and Jamie’s words of finding love were not meant for him. He wondered if it could be closer to home than he realized. Avery had messaged him earlier that morning mentioning a kiss. He all but skimmed it because of how groggy he was but now it all made sense. Avery and Jamie had kissed and despite what joy it seemed to bring based on the ballerina’s words, it had also set off her mania, likely the confusion of it all.

She watched Clay take another stride forward, when hooked his arms beneath Jamie and pulled her into his embrace she began to weep uncontrollably. Her knees buckled as she sank down into the grass, clinging onto Clayton’s now bloody shirt as she did. He followed her down to the door and held her tightly. She looked up at Caitlin and reached out her hand, her other still grasping onto her childhood friend. “Caity…”

The redhead's face remained buried between her hands, her whole body shaking with violent sobs. Hearing Jamie speak about David's love for her, the happiness she brought him and how she wasn't to blame for what happened brought a sense of relief and healing to her aching heart. Sure: Jamie was right when she said that protecting Cece wasn't worth what the town did to David-- that was her grief speaking. But it was comforting to know that even in the midst of her distress, Jamie could still remember that the happiest Cece and David had ever been was with each other.

When Cece heard the sound of her name being called out, she looked up at the brunette and noticed the other woman reaching out her hand in her direction. Her eyes were still streaming, and her face was red. But even with the tears blurring her line of sight, the Cleary girl could see her own pain, suffering and grief reflected in the O'Hara daughter's face. Yet at the same time, she saw kindness, empathy, affection… And understanding.

Accepting Jamie's invitation for comfort and seeking some of her own, Cece wrapped her arms around the brunette and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Jamie!" she repeated, her voice cracking as she spoke. She hoped the other woman would be able to sense her compassion for her suffering, her genuine regret about what had transpired, and the immense love she still would always hold for her brother and the O'Hara family as a whole. "I love you, and I am so so sorry about what happened. You know I loved him with my entire existence."

Clay backed away as both Caitlin and Jamie embraced each other, clung to each other for comfort. The two most important women in David’s life had found each other and potentially and understanding. The sad fact of the matter was that as cathartic as it all was, Clayton couldn’t just leave it at this. Jamie and Russell both had committed serious crimes and would need to face the consequences of their actions. This was his greatest fear about becoming a police officer, it was something he and David had joked about many years ago. Clay had to arrest his friends. Taking out his cell phone, he quickly dialed up his commanding officer. “Sir, it’s Costigan. We’re gonna need a squad car and some officers up on Scott Street…..yes sir. We have a domestic dispute.”

Watching Clay, Jamie gripped CeCe tighter. She knew it was all over, that she had failed. There would be no justice for David, no matter what she did. Edenridge was a town of secrets, a town of lies and judgment. Bringing her lips to Caitlin’s ear, Jamie feverishly gripped at the back of the redhead's neck to pull her close. “Don’t ever let them forget what they did, Caity. What they did to him. To you. To me. Force their eyes open, make them watch.”

The redhead nodded in agreement. After the lengths to which Jamie had gone for justice, Cece would make sure her efforts wouldn't go to waste. "I will. I promise."

It was finally time to step out of the shadows and speak her truth-- consequences be damned. She owed it to Jamie, to Coach, to Lizzie, to David and most importantly, to herself.

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: After Family is Everything
Featuring: Clayton Costigan & Kylee Grimm
Small FT: Adam Callahan}

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Clayton Costigan had made this drive a million times in his life; the slow crawl up Hanging Hill towards the side gates of Scott Street. But he had never made it like this. He had never made it with the intention of causing harm.

Edenridge, for all of its many faults, is a town dripping in history. It is a town where the populace still carry the names of their forefathers; Callahan, Cleary, O’Hara and O’Brien. Yet search high and low, one name not found is Scott. So where did they all go? The truth of the matter is very simple, they didn’t go far at all. The Scott family arrived in Eden sometime after the founding but there were a lot of them, so they took up residence in the area that would soon carry their name. Famine, poverty, violence, it claimed many, including the family on the hill until all that remained of the once huge dynasty was a daughter. Eileen Scott soon married a stable boy with hefty dreams and no brain cells, that man was Hosiah Costigan. From there, Hosiah tore down all the homes in the Scott conclave and rebuilt it. With blood and sweat and tears, he built a thriving residence for those that paved the way, the founders. Centuries later, Founders Valley was renamed Scott Street in honour of the family that first called it home.

The twins have heard that story a thousand times from their grandparents and both hated it. Laura couldn’t wait to leave the street, leaving behind the legacy of being both a foundling from their Callahan mother and hearing about how their fathers ancestor built every house on the damned hill. Clay wanted to escape as well but the glimmer and glitz was a little bit harder for him to resist but he got out in the end. Sure it was a shitty little place in PleasantView, but it was enough for him.

Still, driving up the hill brought back too many memories for him to forget. Him, Davey and Fran playing street ball in the driveway, Jamie silently watching while Lamb did her hair. He remembered having to carry his cousin Emerald down the hill to her parents house after she broke her hand. His first kiss in the woods behind the O’Hara house. These visions were no longer painted in gold, instead replaced by darkness and melancholy.

When the car parked up just shy of the cul-de-sac, Clay took a deep breath and placed each of his hands on the shoulders of his saviors: Niles and Lexie. They only promised to get him as far as his mother’s house since they knew that Ellie would force her son to the hospital. He looked out and he could see her dark tresses in the window and off to the side the waiting forms of Kylee Grimm and..Adam? Well that was a story for another time he guessed. “Thanks guys. Thank you for doing this.” He patted Niles on the shoulder before turning to Lexie. “Stay away from strange men and ice cream, little buddy. I know what you’re like.” Inhaling again to block the pain, Clay got out of the car.

“Well well,” The young officer put on his bravest face as he looked at the couple standing in front of his mother’s front door. “Kylee finally bagged herself a Callahan. Not like you’ve been trying for ten years and I’m a little old for you.”

“You’re one to talk,” Kylee snickered, having observed a drastic change between Clayton and the hot milf and best sandwich maker, Caterina Belmonte, over the course of a couple of weeks. The journalistic girl could see a mile away how badly they lusted and desired one another. Not even that though. The way they looked at each other had this incredibly deep connection that made her feel they were definitely more than just friends. This Missus or Miss — Kylee didn’t know if Cat had finalized her divorce yet but all of Scott Street knew her business and that she was having an affair with a mysterious, young lover — was the one person that Clay’s had the hots for throughout many, many seasons. He may be a ladies man, having more romantic relationships than she could count but his eyes always went back to the same person. Time and time again. They always searched and found a hot Italian mama. Mysterious young lover? Clay visits the sandwich shop often. Coincidence? Unlikely.

Maybe Kylee was being a hopeless romantic, or an optimist, and hoping the chemistry she saw actually blossomed into something he could hold, something he could cherish, and something he could call his and only his. There was nothing wrong with believing in love and that it would find you when you were least expecting it. Just look at her and Adam! There was one thing she knew for certain though, Clay wasn’t playing the field anymore. He still had his friends but he was far more focused in juggling his work and his meetings with Wes and herself. Past tense since Wes likely won’t be hosting weekly meetups anymore. Clay always made time for his many lovers but now, it seemed like he was more available for other things. “But yeah, if you have to know, Wes ghosted me so I dumped his ass. Adam came out of nowhere and now we’re together.” There wasn’t a grace period between Wes and Adam which may be something she’ll regret in the future but right now, the heart wants one thing. The heart wants Adam.

Approaching her friend with the great hair, even in this state, Kylee scanned him from head to toe, examined him in concern and harshly asked, “What the fuck happened to you?” She was going to mention that she knew who David’s girl was but there was a more pressing matter at hand. Clay’s condition. “Clay, are you sure you should be… out like this?” She frowned with apparent worry.

“We’ve got work to do.” Clay said bluntly. He usually wasn’t so abrupt, always masking his words with humor or charm but this was a different Clay. This was the man who took an oath to protect and serve; no matter the personal cost. He looked towards his cousin, whom he hadn’t seen in a very long time thanks to a whole drama and he ruffled the signature shaggy hair that nearly all men in their family carried. “Damn AC, you got big. You’ll have to give me workout tips but first…nah who am I kidding I’m never setting foot in a gym. God gifted me this body I’m not messing with it….anyway I digress, Adam...” Clayton pointed to the extremely worried face he could see in the window of his childhood home. “Go in there and distract my Mom. Shouldn’t be too hard, she’s still a space case.”

Same old Clay. Adam fondly remembered Saturdays at the Costigan house. Ellie and Sean would welcome their entire extended family for a sit down meal which Ellie would claim to have made from scratch, probably thinking she did and not realizing Sean switched out all of the food while she did her make up. All the connected families were there. Costigan, Callahan, Milligan and Moore. He remembered sitting with Rachel, Roddy, Bron and Emerald whilst Andy, Fran and the other older kids did cool shit. Except Clay. Clay always took the time to hang out with the younger crew before he headed off on whatever hair brained scheme he had cooked up for that day. He always made sure that they knew that he loved them and that they weren’t less than. Everything always seemed easy for him. Clay was a good guy and it looked like nothing had changed.

“I’ll do my best.” Adam nodded towards the older man before turning to face his girlfriend. “Be careful out there, I’m not losing you again.” He kissed her soft lips and held her tight for a moment before doing his little cousin's duties of distracting the parents. It was just like when Clay and Lamb tried to steal Uncle Sean’s hard liquor.

“Bit dramatic, but we don’t shame in this house.” Clay had to make a comment just to ignore the thousand aching pains in his body. “Alright Grimmy, information pooling time. I know who’s sending the letters and I know who’s writing the letters. You do too. Hit me with your best shot, Pat Benatar.”

Leading the charge, after watching her sexy boyfriend walk away, Kylee strolled down Prairie Court toward the cul-de-sac. “The answer was in the letter, and it was… pretty obvious once I put two and two together. It took time and a few interviews with cheerleaders and such, but once I went back to the basics, I couldn’t unsee it.” Kylee crossed her arms, walking beside her friend, thinking out loud her many thoughts of the matter. “The Elite. You guys were the shining stars. Everyone had their eyes on you, all the time. Some even worshiped you. I imagine if I was involved in your circle as a little sister, I would’ve definitely gained a hard crush on one of you. Probably you because I guess I have a Callahan-Costigan thing,” she teasingly giggled, glancing toward him and playful winking. She was glad she never really saw Clay in that light. “Hell, I thought Rhett was sexy as fuck and even gave him advances but he is an unbreakable force. Unwilling to bend. And, I respect him for that.”

Uncrossing her arms, Kylee put emphasis on her words by using her hands, “The more I thought about it, the more sorry I felt for David. It doesn’t justify his actions by any means, but he was the coach’s son. He was an O’Hara. That pressure adds up. I’m the Mayor’s daughter and I can understand that pressure.” She grimaced at the thought of her father getting angry at her earlier, causing her to take two steps back on her mental health journey. She hated disappointing him. “He turned to the bottle but he also turned to the one girl that was always there but kept to the background, like a little mouse, waiting for him to see her. I have a picture from one of our school’s bakery sales that matches her handwriting verbatim but that’s just me doing the most and wanting physical evidence.” Kylee nodded to herself, a true Sherlock Holmes in the making, if given the proper tools, resources, and validation.

“Most of you have siblings. You, David, Rhett have sisters. Lamb and Jamie were part of the Elite by association and around your age, so that doesn’t leave too much room for scandal. Caitlin, though? The girl who avoided me like the plague because I’m very good at discovering secrets. The girl who had her own secret to protect and wouldn’t want it to get in the hands of her classmate who aired out other’s dirty laundry for the world to see, which of course, I’m not too proud about. She is a hopeless romantic who likes stories like Romeo & Juliet. She shows her love through acts of kindness, like feeding Danny all the cupcakes in the world. Cleary and O’Hara are neighbors, like you and Cat once were.” Kylee hinted at her own theory with Clay and his dynamite dream girl. The girl next door. A trope that seems to exist heavily in the town of Edenridge. Charlie and Poppy. David and Caitlin. Clay and Cat.

When they slowly walked past the O’Hara house, she turned to it and frowned, “It’s sad because not only did he put himself in a situation where the town would ruthlessly tear him apart — yet people don’t blink an eye for someone like my father who married his sugarbaby basically — but he, like Allison, were in their prime in highschool. They were lost after graduation. Their friends all had some general direction while those two? They knew they would be remembered for their school reputation. Kinda like me…” Kylee trailed off, feeling her own inadequacy and lack of direction. Without the town drama, what would she be? Nothing. Secrets were all she really had. “I stopped really trying to find out the answer for who was using the Charlie’s Letter gimmick to their advantage because that answer is pretty obvious too and I think you know who it is, without me having to say the name.” Kylee turned to Clay expectantly, ready to hear his own notions before assuming the culprit of Dear David, a red herring for the case of who has Charlie Decker’s journal.

Clay silently listened to Kylee’s discoveries. Partially to see if their respective theories matched, they did and partially because opening his mouth to talk hurt like a fucking bitch. “I spent the entire day yesterday interviewing the people I cherish more than anything about these damn letters and the answer had been staring me in the face.” Ruffling a hand through his wild dark mane, Clayton looked up at O’Hara house. All the treasured memories of days he recalled being wonderful. Lost to time and lost to trouble. Roddy would say it was a curse. It wasn’t a curse. It was just broken people doing bad things. “You know it’s funny, none of us ever considered ourselves elite. It was just a name, it didn’t mean anything. We knew how people felt, how Caitlin felt, how others felt but we weren’t supposed to do anything about it. It wasn’t right. David….I love him. He was my brother but he crossed the line. I don’t doubt that he loved her. I honestly don’t but if he had just waited. If he had just listened….”

He stopped as he and Kylee stood on the lawn of the Cleary home. Clay had been there so many times. He had watched Caitlin grow up into the beautiful young woman she was. He had shot hoops with Rhett and he had drank beer with Gary while silently drooling over Deidre. “Everything fits together now. Jamie knew. Of course she did. Nobody was closer to David than her. She has a history of chaotic behavior. When police raided the house and found nothing; Jamie was the only one who had the time to get rid of the letters and stash them where no one would think to look. Her and David’s special place in the woods. When I was attacked last night…” He paused, realizing that he had yet to tell Kylee what had happened to him. “…I’ll fill you in later. When I was attacked…” Clay continued. “I know of only one person that big and that strong. Russell. And that big ogre would do anything for Jamie. Anything.” Would Jamie go so far as to have Clayton attacked for what truths he may uncover? He doubted it. What he didn’t doubt was that Russ might take the initiative and try and solve the Clay problem without Jamie’s consent. The tragedy of it all was that he and Russell had been friends for twenty years yet he had never trusted any of them with the secret that Jamie had been guarding, had he done so, maybe things would’ve been different.

“We speak to Caitlin. Get her side and then we go next door.” Clay reached out and out a hand on Kylee’s shoulder as she stood ahead of him at the Cleary front door. “Thanks for going through this with me, Ky. I guess Roddy was right about you all along.” He reached down and checked one last time. His gun was there and it was loaded. He didn’t know what the next few minutes held in store but what he did know was that it all ended now. For David.

“Take the lead, boss.”

There were butterflies in her stomach. Or dread. She didn’t know. Kylee and Caitlin never did interact with one another. They had a mutual friend in Danny but aside from that? They lived in different worlds or chose to at least. There was this deep-seated feeling that Caitlin would not take her arrival to the Cleary family home well. Hopefully Clay being here would ease the girl’s worry but Ky seriously doubted it. How would you feel if your first love’s best friend and the gossip girl of your year showed up at your front door seeking answers? The truth? Not well at all, Kylee imagined.

Here goes nothing.

Pushing her fears to the back burner, Kylee pressed the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to answer. As she waited, she wiped her sweaty hands on her plaid skirt. Either the heat was getting to her or her anxiety. Regardless of what it was, she wasn’t ready for this. She didn’t expect to get this close to solving a case without Roddy. Still, it didn’t matter if she was ready or not. She had to be. She needed to be. For her friend. Clayton deserved closure for this chapter in his life. Clayton deserved to move on. For his sake, she hoped this ended with him being at peace. For his sake, she hoped he could focus on himself and be happy. If that meant sleeping with an Italian milf then good for him. As for herself? She hoped this gave her confidence to aspire and dream again… she hadn’t been this excited in a long while. She loved chasing the truth. She hoped this was a good sign. A positive one. For her future. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

Only time will tell.

She rang the doorbell once more.

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: After Sweetness & Starry Eyes
Featuring: Mitena Strongbow & Penelope James
Small FT: Forrest Proudstar}

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The sun was bearing down now with a great summer intensity and Tena basked silently in its glow. She had been floating in air for a moment after another tryst with her Stargirl but then reality came flooding back when she recorded a message from her cousin Forrest; Poppy was ready to meet and try again.

Despite the uncomfortableness of their first go at it, Mitena was not dreading seeing the pale brunette again, nor was she apprehensive. This was something that she wanted and in all fairness needed. Of all four offcomers that had arrived in Blue Hill the previous day, all of which carried with them a piece of her departed brother, it seemed that Penelope James carried the largest and under most fractured piece. She was a shard of glass with jagged edges, broken away the window that made her whole.

Tena thought back to Charlie’s book, his unfinished magnum opus. To read his words and thoughts and feelings, to see the crosses he chose to bear, was to understand and feel the crushing weight of the world. Yet amongst those clever turns of phrase and strong references to the greatest literary minds of all time, the constant levity and the love was brought by Poppy James. Whenever he mentioned the girl with the green eyes, the obviousness and deepness of his longing and love for her was crushing, like the compressing weight of the vast blue ocean itself. Over the last few days, Mitena had met both girls in the book. She had met Charlie’s true love and the girl he could’ve loved. It wasn’t hard to see why both enticed and enthralled him like they did. Given what she had witnessed and given what she now knew, the simple fact was Charlie was a teenage boy, confused, mentally and emotionally crushed by a world that didn’t want him and too blind to see those that really did.

Creator, she wished she could’ve been there for him.

Leaning back in the grass, Tena watched as Resi’s truck drove up the dirt road towards the Silverheel Ranch; her home. She had dropped Tal back at Adora’s, knowing this was something she needed to do alone. The Firebird was nowhere in sight so Jadyn and her boyfriend were also gone. They would be alone. The gentle breeze carried a strand of hair across her caramel face as the truck pulled up. Tena waved and took a deep breath.

Getting out of Resi’s truck, Penelope stopped at his window to look up at him. She was nervous. She didn’t know how this would fair. Mitena held answers like a knife and everytime she spoke, it felt like getting stabbed repeatedly. Resi’s words echoed in her mind as she intensely gazed up at him. Truth always hurt. It always does but it also heals. More so when it is massively uncomfortable to hear. Poppy hoped he was right and that this would be good for both her and Tena. It didn’t change that she was scared. It didn’t change that she was tired.

Time and time again, Poppy kept getting hurt by the forces of nature. Her father had told her and her sister when they were little that that’s just the way of being a James. The reason why he was given his nickname, Rocky, was because after everything he’s been through, after all the pain and trauma, pain that could easily make a man no longer want to fight, he was still standing. She remembered her father’s smile when he heard the nickname Mordechai gave her. Street Angel. While that nickname could also have negative connotations depending on what lore you base it on, he knew what Decky meant. Penelope was the deadliest girl alive, made for the streets but with the wings of an angel. Someone who was meant to absorb pain and help heal those that gravitate to her light. She was an angel to him, and to all her friends, and even if Decky and Charlie tried to protect her at the time from the beast that was the Southside, she was acknowledged as family. They saw her as one of them. Poppy didn’t understand her father at the time; but now she does. It was never Decky’s intention to shield her. He always considered her family. He always saw her as a badass. But he wanted to protect her heart, protect her angel wings, and protect her light because everyone around her needed her to fly. Everyone needed her to stand and fight because most of them barely had any fight in them.

“Will I see you again soon?” Penelope called out to Forrest, knowing she had his number and that he would be coming to Edenridge in a couple of days. She needed to hear it from his lips though. That he wanted to see her again. She didn’t want to be the only one with this feeling. She wanted to be certain that Forrest enjoyed her company and even looked forward to seeing her again. Counting the days like she was going to. It was silly, really. That she wanted to hear him say it but she wasn’t going to act like his friendship wasn’t the best thing that she’s gained from her visit. It was and she would show him just how much her time with him meant to her.

Resi leaned out of the driver side window of his truck and looked down at the strange spirit girl that had been carried into his life on a summer's breeze. She stood looking at him with those big green eyes and he smiled, the wind lightly blowing his messy black hair around. “Sooner than you think.”

He glanced over at his cousin on the nearby grass. Forrest always knew how to read her face. Tena, as honest and forthright as she was, always knew how to insulate herself, now to protect herself from the pain. Or at least she knew how to mask it but he could see right through it. She was terrified. He and Mitena were raised together, they had done many things together but this, this next part she had to do without him. He wasn’t a part of this particular story. Resi waved towards her as he started up his truck once again before returning his attention to Poppy. “Just remember Poppy, it hurts to heal but it hurts less when we do it together.” He leaned back inside of the truck and began to back away down the dirt driveway, leaving the field to themselves.

Standing there, watching Resi leave, Penelope used that moment to fix her hair, the wind having tousled it around in a natural wave of chaos. She ran her fingers through it and brought it to her side, letting it flow down her shoulder like a waterfall. Her eyes caught sight of her pale arm with a tint of red. Sunburnt. Sadness. Downside of being as white as snow. She should’ve applied sunscreen. She took a sharp breath in and exhaled with force. This was her moment with Mitena. This was their moment together. What brought them together was a common thread of Charlie but that didn’t define this moment. What would define this moment was Tena’s truth and Poppy’s truth, and their shared love for the boy who could’ve lived and been something amazing. A boy who was broken and sadly, and unintentionally, broke the people around him. Turning on her heel, Poppy grabbed onto the side of her dress and scrunched it in her hands, feeling the fabric as a way to comfort her. Trying to amble her way toward the beautiful, native girl, to hide her worry and show she was relaxed and that she totally got this, Penelope gave a shy wave. She stopped at the stairs of the porch and looked at the other girl for guidance who was sitting on a patch of grass. All she could muster up the courage to say was a simple, “Hi there.”

“Hi.” Tena smiled brightly. Confidence Strongbow. “Welcome to Silverheel. It’s nowhere near as big as the Coldwind’s place but what we lack in size we make up for in skill.” A sex joke Tena? Really? Her mother had always liked to think of herself as a comedian despite being in the most unfunny profession in the world. Reaching her hand out, Mitena rubbed the luscious green grass in a circle next to her. “Why don’t you take a seat here with me? Let the roots grow where they may.” It was simple middle school stuff. Roots dig deep and then grow towards sunlight but here in this place it meant more. In this moment it meant more. It meant the conversation they were about to have, the relationship they were about to or perhaps not form. “Thank you for coming back.”

“Thank you for letting me come back,” Poppy returned Mitena’s smile with her own. “Oh, I can tell. Resi is very talented,” the dark haired girl innocently stated before registering the sexual connotations of Tena’s statement. “In cooking, I mean. Skilled in the kitchen,” she nervously chuckled, trying to fix the error of her naïveté. With quiet steps, she made her way beside Tena and took a seat, nestling herself on the grass. Like a little girl, she brought her knees up and hugged it, her flowy dress big enough to cover most of her legs. “He told me about Craven, and the Silverheel sisters. It was tragic, but a very beautiful tale. I’m glad he trusted me enough to share that with me,” Poppy admitted, hopefully displaying enough strength to show Tena she was in a much better headspace than she was in this morning.

Tena smiled. Poppy seemed a lot more comfortable than the earlier part of the morning and her time with Resi seemed to have added some color to her cheeks. She would definitely have to probe her cousin later for the details. It seemed that perhaps Penelope had found a connection here at Blue Hill after all. “Forrest does tend to be a bit dramatic.” Mitena smiled as she brushed the bangs on either side of her face back. “Craven sounds so terrifying doesn’t it? I don’t subscribe to that belief. Resi’s father isn’t craven, he’s Wyatt. The same as my father isn’t craven, he’s James.” Her almond eyes surveyed the pale beauty closely, watching for any hints that she would ruin their second conversation like she did their first. “You know, it’s because of that lack of belief that I’m not Mitena Silverheel? I took my fathers surname when I was sixteen despite never even meeting the man. Charlie did too, if I remember right.” There it was. The first drop in the ocean that could cause a tidal wave.

Charlie.

It always came back to him.

“Mm,” Poppy nodded, revealing this wasn’t a deep secret to her. He wrote Strongbow on his papers. As much as Poppy wanted to ask him about it, they were juniors and that was the worst year of her life, even before the shooting. They didn’t really talk much and when they did, they fought. She remembered both him and Decky coming to her aid in the girls’ bathroom when Poppy was bloodied and bruised. She got in a fight with a girl twice her size because of the things she was saying about Charlie. She never did tell him what it was about. All they saw was their Street Angel was hurt and she might’ve been the cause of it. “James Strongbow. I know as much about him as Mama Rhonda would tell me. Charlie told me bits and pieces but he spoke in riddles. When it came to his dad, that was always a sore spot. If it wasn’t for his dad and the dark deeds people say he did, maybe he wouldn’t have to work all the time to try to pay for his mother’s medical bills, a roof over their head, and food on their table.”

She paused and looked away from Tena, staring ahead and thinking of the memories that felt like it was only yesterday. Memories that made her feel Charlie could pop up anywhere and say gotcha! Like his death and the shooting was one big prank. She really missed him. Both the good and bad. She missed him. “Charlie had a lot of pride and hated when my parents offered to help. Hated when I wanted to help. I noticed he changed his name but not because he told me. At the time, he wanted nothing to do with me but I’m no idiot. I listen and see. Hard to ignore Mr. Beau saying Charlie Strongbow-Decker, you know?”

Tena thought back to the book she had been sent just before Charlie’s death, the book of his life. It was his junior year that prefaced the end of it all, considering the events that occurred the first day of his senior one. Within those pages he describes the degradation of his relationship with Poppy and just how at fault he was. Beneath his written words was a hope to get back to the way things were but that hope was stained with a black mark. A mark of abuse as it seemed by that point her big brother was trapped in the throes of addiction. “We agreed to do it together. Change our names to spite those that looked down on us because of who our father was. It was silly really. Charlie and I only ever met one time and yet there we were, miles apart and changing our names. You know how he convinced me? He quoted some old book, like I knew what the hell it meant but something in the way he wrote it, I dunno it just swayed me.”

Mitena decided to take a chance and moved closer to Poppy. She reached out and laced her fingers with hers, bringing her small white hand into her lap and then covering it with her other free hand for comfort and security. “Poppy, I want you to know that I want to help you. Whatever it is you’re feeling, whatever it is you actually want, I want to give that to you.” She gently caressed the top of Pops knuckle with her thumb tip. “If you’ll let me.”

Poppy’s green eyes glistened under the beaming sun, cased in red and misted over, with more tears to cry. She thought she was running out of water but her heart was flooded by the rain of her soul. She couldn’t stop today. She couldn’t push this sensation aside and numb herself like she had so many times before. Unrestrained, the tidal wave forced her to shake as Mitena held onto her hand. “How do you know what you want, when everything you ever wanted… was in a boy? A boy you loved far too much for your own good. A boy that took a part of your soul with him, the moment he was shot dead in front of you by your father.”

Poppy buried her face in her knees, against her summer dress, and let the fabric soak up her tears. “I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.” She muffled into her legs. “I hate what he’s done to me.” She brought her head up to catch Tena’s sorrowful gaze, “I can’t eat because I associate food with him. I can’t sleep on my bed because we used to spend the nights holding each other, a silent reminder that at the end of an awful day, we’d always have each other. I can’t look at myself in the fucking mirror because I hate myself. My dad removed all the mirrors because I broke my lamp against mine and almost used a shard to stab myself. I can’t look at every fucking person, every fucking street or tree or book, without thinking of him. I can’t breathe half the time and I only just started walking and not crumbling when a person says hello to me. Why the hell did I let him have all this… why did I give him so much of my heart when he never wanted me?”

“Oh baby.” Tena pulled Poppy into her embrace as she choked back her own tears. The disconnect between their two realties was beginning to form a door that they both could step through. Mitena was finally getting a glimpse into Charlie’s world, Poppy’s world. He had really tied this poor little girl into knots and left her like that in the most horrendous of ways. This was not the girl that Charlie wrote about in his book, this was her ghost. This was a spirit left broken and shattered and her pieces embraced by mother death as a daughter.

Holding onto Poppy desperately, their bodies trembling together in shuddered pain, Tena exhaled shakily as tears streamed down her face. “You need this. You need to let all of this go and let it out, scream your pain into the mountains and let it travel with the spirit warriors as a shield, protecting them from evil. Empty yourself into the land so that from it you can grow towards the light like a flower. You are strong and beautiful and you have suffered more than any person ever should.” Mitena gazed out across the fields of Silverheel as the black raven dropped itself down on a log nearby. Charlie was watching the seeds he had sown in both of them, the seeds of their sorrow. “Let the wind carry it away, Poppy.”

Dropping her weight on Charlie’s sister, Penelope closed her eyes and listened to the whistle of the wind, the insects, like the loud cicadas, and the heavy breaths of the person she shared a small space with. She hadn’t even admitted these feelings to Shannon yet. Blue Hill was doing something fierce to her and she had yet to determine if it was good or bad. “That’s not true at all now is it? The reality of my situation is,” she sniffled and calmed her breathing, steadying herself, using the support of Tena to get back to her senses, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights.”

Gradually, she opened her eyes and her beautiful and bold greens that spoke of nature, sunshine and floral blooms found their way to the raven and she gave a weak yet knowing smile, “Hey ChooChoo,” she exasperatedly whispered. She couldn’t promise the bird she’d heal overnight. This would take however long it takes but she could at least take back her blatant lie. “Miss you.” Her voice quivered, desperately wishing this was indeed Charlie’s spirit watching over her. “Love you.” The stream came rushing out of her, watering her dress, Tena’s arm, and the soil she sat on. “So much,” she finished, choking back tears. So-fucking-much.

Tena rested her chin atop Poppy’s head as the girls watched Charlie’s raven together. Anyone else would say that it was crazy, that a bird couldn’t carry the soul of a boy. Mitena herself only followed some of her tribal traditions but there was something in the dark look that the avian creature was giving them. Something in his black eye that projected a warmth and welcoming feeling. From what she had learned of her brother’s life, it seemed a perfect fit for Charlie to be a raven.

Towards his end, he sought to better the world by ridding it of himself. The raven was inherently a selfish creature. In some indigenous cultures, the raven was the creator of the world but did so out of vanity. He created the moon and the sun and the stars, not to grow life but to make a better one for himself. He was once a brilliant white until he flew through smoke and was burned black for his misdeeds. That was Charlie. Thinking he was doing right but never doing it for the right reasons.

“Bit on the nose, Charlie Jay don’t you think?” Mitena let a small laugh penetrate her tears as the bird watched them. “A Raven really? Is this an Edgar Allen Poe thing or is it because you thought it was cool that a group of them are known as an Unkindness? Honestly he’s such a dork.”

Cracking a smile, Poppy wiped her tears with her free hand, her knees and legs leaning to the side, against Tena. “He is,” she agreed. But he was their dork. Even with all that being said, both she and Tena needed to move forward. As beautiful and meaningful as the raven was to them, as symbolic as the bird could be, she knew it was more of a reminder of what was in the shadows of her own awareness. What she had yet to discover and the impending change that would define her future. Charlie was a guide to something. She didn’t know what that something was yet. She just knew he was pushing her forward to a destination unknown.

“I have a feeling you’re not endangered after all,” Poppy chuckled to herself, thinking back to her conversation with Rhonda. “Mama Rhonda wanted us to meet. Sure she told a little white lie, saying the person who had his journal was threatening your life, but if she didn’t do that… I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have met you and all these beautiful people that make a small yet mighty village. This place is really something else,” Poppy glanced down at Tena’s hand, interlocking their fingers together. “I hope I can give you something back and that this isn’t one sided.” She looked deeply into Tena’s eyes, full of soul, full of hope, and full of wonder. “I don’t know what I can provide. Friendship? Maybe? Could we start with that?”

“I’d really like that Poppy.” Mitena looked down from Pops’ eyes to their interlocked fingers. In that moment they were joined together and maybe they always had been. The longer she spent with these Edenridge kids, the more the raven haired singer believed that something cosmic was happening. It was a sad fact of life that some people didn’t make it out of living alive and it was an even sadder fact that sometimes people were made to suffer so that others could benefit. Tena had once before entertained the thought but was now a little more sure, her big brother, Charlie Jay, had been placed on this Earth by the great Creator for a reason. Charlie was built to endure the greatest of pains, to bend and then break. He would break into a branching path that the people of Edenridge would walk on, guiding them to where they were supposed to be. As a human being, Mitena could not justify the actions that her brother undertook in his final hours but she could be comfortable in the fact that his purpose might have been to bring others together. Without Charlie, she would never have met Poppy James. She wouldn’t have met her Stargirl or Jade and Decky. She glanced at Charlie the Raven once more, and smiled. “Get outta here, shit-ass, can’t you see we’re having a moment?”

He squawked loudly before taking off into the sky, joining an Unkindness over their heads.

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: Tuesday, July 20, 2021, Morning
SETTING: Main Street Music
FT: Laura "Lamb" Costigan
INTRO: Sadie Campbell}

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As knowledgeable and versed she was in metal, punk, and rock, since that was her niche as an international music journalist, having started only at the age of fifteen when her mother somehow got an in with East of Eden, Sadie Campbell didn’t always choose to indulge in Rock & Roll. She had her own guilty pleasures that separated her from the woman that raised her. Johanna Campbell would never take interest in such music; she was a rocker girl, a motherfluffin’ Killer Queen, through and through (even if she tried to cover it up with class). Sadie, to the grief of her mother, was anything but her mother.

She spent years psychoanalyzing why Joni did the things she did, rarely ever explaining herself, and still to this day, Sadie couldn’t understand why her mother was a trainwreck of a woman. Still, she hoped by visiting Edenridge she could change that, taking matters into her own hands, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. Sadie Campbell was not a small fry in journalism. For a twenty four year old, her name floated on the web for those that were diehard Rock & Roll fans. At fifteen, she toured with East of Eden and wrote a cover about the band on her blog. Her article got the attention of Rolling Stones who wanted to expand her interview and give exposure to her writing. From there, she and her mother were constantly on the move, her mother vicariously living through her daughter’s success while also helping Sadie navigate through the highs and lows of the music industry. One can say she was kind of a big deal.

Through all the chaos, Sadie found time to go down the rabbit hole of a variety of genres and found that while not considered ‘good music’ by her mother, she loved pop because it was fun. It made her want to dance! Oh if only she had friends to dance with but all her contacts were in an extensive network that she used only for business. She didn’t really have anyone but her mother to call a friend and dancing with her mother was fun at home, but that’s it. Her mother was getting old and had demons lurking over her shoulders. Sadie wanted friends her age and a place to call home. And she wanted to see grandpa more! Sadie was tired of running away with her mother. She didn’t even know what they were running away from.

There was so much she didn’t know about her home… there was so much normalcy she had yet to live because all she did was travel and talk to musicians. Don’t get her wrong, that was freaking cool but her heart hungered for something that her job couldn’t satiate. Her heart needed, desired, yearned for… family. Her family. At Main Street Music, Sadie, in her leather jacket, Rico Nunez t-shirt, tight, ripped black jeans, and heeled combat boots, wore headphones attached to a music player in the CD section (ancient, wow!), and listened to Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5. She didn’t want to make Jericho and Rye’s attractive looking friend uncomfortable after witnessing the whole make out session outside so she drowned her surroundings with music and did a little jiggy. Sadie’s aim today was to kill time until Afterlife was open. She needed to meet someone and though she didn’t know if this someone was going to be working or not, it was a risk she was willing to take. She wasn’t going to wait for a miracle in order to meet those that she should’ve known a long time ago. She wasn’t going to wait on her mother to finally get over herself and face her fears. It was up to her to face her mother’s fears for her and she would do it with a smile.

No more waiting.

The time was now.

A wave of relief had washed over Lamb when her phone lit up with a message from her big brother. All through the night, in the pit of her gut she had a feeling, a bad feeling, something was wrong. When Clay had left the Afterlife that night there was a look in his eye that Laura had seen her entire life. It was a look of chaos. It was a look that her brother had whenever he was about to do something stupid. Clayton had a knack for doing stupid things. Lamby didn’t believe in twin magic; not like Jamie did. Jamie had always compared it to some great mystical quality that resided on the wrong side of the unexplained. Laura humored her, of course she did. They were friends. However there were moments that night where the Hostess couldn’t help but wonder if the pain in her stomach was that twin magic, if it was that supposed enchanted tether that bound her to the boy whom she shared a womb with, a boy she shared a life with. Clay was fine though. He texted that morning and said he was good. No magic, no chaos, probably just some dodgy late night pizza.

Lamb hadn’t even been home yet herself; the joy of her work, she had been awake for about thirty hours. That didn’t matter, she’d grab a quick power nap when she did get to her apartment but first she had some other things to do. The main one being getting her father a welcome home present; a tradition that she began as a little girl. The Captain’s boat would dock back in Edenbridge today and that filled her with joy. Lamb was a grown woman now; she hadn’t lived on Scott Street in over six years and she visited even less sometimes but on the inside, she was still that curly haired little kid waiting at the end of the dry dock for her daddy’s ship to sail in.

Looking at her one wouldn’t believe that Lamb hadn’t slept. As she strutted down Main Street in a white blazer and shorts that barely skimmed the thigh of her long legs. She wore a black loose top and a choker necklace; she looked like a million dollars. She always preferred to look classy, to exude power and dominance. It had long been said that Laura Costigan could not be controlled or tricked or made to do anything she didn’t want to do. Unlike her brother, the younger Costigan was a measured and controlled presence rather than a force of nature. She was known to be a wild woman, a free spirit not tied down by convenience or normalcy. Lamby did what she wanted, when she wanted and she did it with style.

She entered Main Street Music at the stroke of the hour. She stood out like a sore thumb amongst a sea of rock and roll. Lamby glanced over to the corner of the room where she saw an unfamiliar girl dancing with Eddie’s old headphones on. Wow she was really pretty and she was stabbing Rico Nunez with that shirt which was always a positive in Lamb’s book since he was her favorite. She moved gracefully through the record bins and began to flick through the old vinyls.

What would her Daddy like? He loved music more than anything.

Twirling around to scan the area while Maroon 5 still blasted in her ears, Sadie’s champagne eyes immediately fell on someone that she recognized in milliseconds — the sophisticated lady’s face ingrained in her mind. There was a high chance she wouldn’t be recognized because well, her existence wasn’t really a thing in Edenridge. The only remnants of her were in the houses of Eddie Campbell and Robyn Phillips-Shomer. Postcards, trinkets, and pictures from her and her mother’s constant travels.

Her gaze immediately darted to Jericho who was strumming his guitar and talking to his friend, Avery, and his boyfriend, Rye, in the instrument area. Briefly, they locked eyes with one another and in seconds, they had a silent and full conversation through facial expressions. When she was given an expressive smile of encouragement from him, and validation that she wasn’t in over her head, she took the headphones off and placed them down on the counter with the cash register.

What better time than the present?

Relaxing her shoulders and taking deep breaths, Sadie mentally thought of a few scenarios in her head before she was ready to approach the elegant dame that she wanted to meet for most of her life. When she settled on the best scenario to move forward with, Sadie strolled beside Laura and looked at the records beside her, going through them. She glanced over to see the current record Lamb was looking at. Casually, she broke the silence, “That’s a good album. My mom loves it. She said when she listened to it with her friends it was magical, like stardust was coming off of them. The best years of her life. Caroline, Roll Over Lay Down, and Forty-Five Hundred Times are basically Quo’s anthems.”

“You don’t have to tell me, my Dad loves old English rock,” Lamb responded absentmindedly as she continued to flick through the old vinyls. A few records later she realized that she may have come across as rude and raised her head to look at the girl next to her and apologize. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to...” She stopped as she gazed upon the newcomer's pretty face. It was a face that for some reason she felt like she had known her entire life. She was beautiful, no doubt about that, in a weird way she kind of looked like Clay. Same dark eyes. Same angular jaw. Laura and Clayton were not identical twins but they shared many similarities and so, apparently, did this stranger. She glanced down at her top; Rico Nunez. He was hot right now and Lamb was really down bad with his mixture of Latin soft rock and melancholic blues. “Nice shirt. Corazón de León has such a vibe.”

“Heck yes it is, I actually saw him live like a week ago,” Sadie nonchalantly and casually responded, before shrugging, “None taken, my mom listens to Status Quo when she misses him. Your dad, I mean.” She explained, while picking up an East of Eden record, The Poison Apple. This was their first album ever with some of iconic tracks like Embrace the Venom, Speed Demon, and When We Sleep. When she saw that it was their 15 anniversary cut, she gave a childish grin, like a kid at a candy store, and whispered to herself, “Today’s my lucky day.” Claiming it as her own, she held the record close and in an embrace, before her attention was pulled away from her new find and to her cousin in the back with Rye and Avery. Jericho was strumming his guitar to a track off the ghost mixtape, unnamed second album, of the Gallows.

She recognized this song.

“I don’t know if you listened to the recording of this song. I mean there’s only five mixtapes out there… Rusty composed it, James wrote the lyrics, Will enhanced it, and our parents, my mom and our dad, sang the song. Twin Flame. A song where you’re constantly running from your truth, your love. Depends on how you interpret it, I guess. Is it about love? Or about running away from a place or a person that you know is home to you. ‘I found my dreams but the moon took me away, away from her, my soul flame.’ Have you ever seen videos of them? They had such a stage presence together, it was hot. El Capitán — O Captain, my Captain! — And the Killer Queen. I mean it makes sense why they’d be the ones to sing this song…” Her voice trailed when she noticed the other woman intently staring at her.

Lightly, Sadie tapped the record cover against her head, embarrassed at her failure of introducing herself and doing her thing where she goes on and on about music, “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I did an oopsies, didn’t I? I should’ve done this first. Let me formally introduce myself.” Bringing the record cover down and back to her side, she excitedly and a tad bit anxiously, beamed a bright smile at the beautiful woman who she had admired the moment her grandpa divulged that she and her were connected, bonded by fate, “I’m Sadie. Sadie Campbell.” Instead of dropping the bomb that she needed to at some point, the stranger-now-acquaintance decided to hold her tongue and see how Laura processed her rambles first.

Lamb narrowed her eyes as the girl calling herself Sadie went off into a thousand different directions with her words. Yet she noted the common theme; our dad. Laura had long held suspicions over whether or not Captain Sean Costigan had more children than just she and the doofus. She didn’t have any doubts over how much he loved their mother; one only had to look into his eyes to see it. But as Sadie had pointed out, before either of them were born he was in a very popular band and likely had sex with lots of groupies and the one female member of the group, Joni Campbell. Now, standing in front of her like a distorted mirror was a girl who looked like her and her brother, she shared their eyes and had the Campbell name. It seemed like Sean’s past was sailing into port alongside him today.

“Laura Costigan,” The brunette replied as she placed her hands on her small waist. “If you really are my sister you'd know that the best song on the ghost mix is the Hereafter of Us Being Together.” Saying that word, sister, it had crossed Lamb’s mind so many times. Clay had joked about it because that’s what he always did, make a joke when he was terrified of the truth but they both knew the reality; there had always been a big chance that their father had another child, a secret child. In her line of work, Lamb had to be prepared for anything to go wrong at a moment's notice and be able to roll with it.

This was one of those moments.

Sadie’s eyebrows raised when Lamb called her sister. She couldn’t recall if she had divulged that tidbit in her spiel but maybe she did and maybe this would pan out in a way that would end well for the both of them. Tears almost built up in her eyes at those words and the fact that she was being acknowledged for the first time as being a Costigan. She gave an innocent yet hopeful gleam, as if she waited for this moment all her life, to be seen by her siblings. “Well, duh, that was the last song they wrote together before…” Rusty died, then shortly after James.

She picked at her nails as she held the East of Eden record. The music journalist could recall the nights her mother drank herself to sleep, drowning in her guilt and sorrows while using booze to forget the pain. “That song to me felt like… a ghost, if a ghost ever did have a sound. A promise for a better tomorrow, that no matter what life threw at you, you’d still be together. You’d still find your way back home. The composition was oh so haunting. Tragic even. It made me feel sort of lonely, like life is so fragile and could easily leave your grasp if you don’t hold onto it tightly.”

Loneliness was something Sadie knew all too well. She didn’t have friends. All she had were business contacts and her mother. She barely had a relationship with her father, only seeing him once in a blue moon. She attended thousands of concerts and music events, surrounded by the most eclectic people, surrounded by noise, and surrounded by strangers. Yet in a crowd of thousands, she felt alone. Maybe that’s why she took the chance, while her mother was knocked out cold from going too hard last night, to visit Edenridge. Sadie needed change and no one was going to hand it to her. It was up to her to reach out and grab it herself.

In an instant, the loneliness flickered in her eyes as she looked at Laura before she buried it behind her music prowess and nerdiness. “The cool thing about the Gallows was they liked to try different sounds but that one song, that one song was really their vibe. It kinda’ was like Elder Tree! Their magnum opus. But the sequel! It really shows they could’ve been big if death didn’t sever their ties.” Sadie scrunched her nose when she realized how grim that last part sounded. “But yeah, sorry… I’m talking too much, aren’t I? I just, emhem,” she searched for words to say as she tapped her fingers on the back cover of Poison Apple. “I didn’t expect to find you this soon. I’ve only been in town for thirty minutes actually… honest,” she anxiously admitted, knowing well enough that she was going to use her cousin JP to help her find her way around town.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been here. Usually grandpa comes to see me.” Wherever her mother decides to park the RV for the night, the old man would make time to travel outside of Eden to be with his granddaughter. It’s just how things were. Johanna Campbell really didn’t want to come back to Edenridge. She hated this place or maybe, it just reminded her too much of good times gone by. “You’re really pretty in person,” she bashfully complimented the elegant woman, who was composed, confident, and calm. A sight to see. Her heart raced at the thought that this girl was someone that could love her unconditionally and be there in the only way a sister could be there for her. Something she so desperately wanted to have, something she so desperately sought out, and something she so desperately yearned for… a family. Her family.

Lamb maintained her calm and composed demeanor as the girl rambled and raved about music. Yet the dark eyes they shared betrayed a sense of longing and loneliness that was unbecoming of a creature so young. Yet it was the Costigan way. Clay, despite his popularity, had never found whatever it was he was searching for. Lamb too, carried loneliness in her heart. Her brother was an elite, she never wanted any part of that but the truth of the matter was that woman never found that one thing that defined her. Laura floated around the social scene, hanging with the elites Mondays, Sabrina and the goths Wednesdays and Sawyer and the weirdos on Fridays. She was a nomad just like her father and as impulsive as her mother. The question was now posed, what sort of Costigan was Sadie?

She was, this was, a lot. Laura had finished work that morning wondering if her big brother was alive and now she had found some long lost sibling who was fifty shades of crazy. This fucking town. “You’re really pretty too.” Was all Lamb could manage to say as she tried to process and plan her next move. She reached out and pushed one of Sadie’s dark tresses behind her ear, revealing more of her bright, beautiful face. There was no hiding it, she looked just like the twins. “You got anywhere to be today? Anywhere to stay?”

“Not yet,” Sadie bashfully admitted. Holding the record like it was a book and she was in highschool, she thoughtfully continued, “Truth be told this was all in the spur of the moment. My mom drank a wee bit too much. I might’ve enabled that and then I seized the moment and came to town. I was thinking maybe grandpa. He doesn’t know I’m in yet but JP did tell me he was sick so that might not be the best idea.” Looking around, thinking of her other options, she mused, “He offered his apartment but he just moved into it so there really isn’t any furniture. Still! I don’t mind sleeping on the floor.” What other options did she have? “Oh! There’s also Robbie’s house! But there’s a lot of teens there as is.” While her cousin Robyn had mostly good kids, well behaved, it still was a very crowded situation, especially since most of them had a tendency to bring friends over. “I’ll figure it out,” She rambled on. This was something Sadie did. She was a rambler. “I guess, worst case scenario, there’s the Rose motel. That would do just fine too.”

“Absolutely fucking not.” Lamb interjected with a raised finger adorned with beautiful rings. “You are not staying in that rat infested crack den.” She rubbed her eyes lightly, a trait she and Clay shared when it came to managing the thoughts in their heads. Why was she even considering this? This was a stranger! Hell, most of the people she called friends didn’t even know where she lived and she liked it that way. Laura, you’re a fucking crazy person just like your Mom. “Listen, I just finished work and I’m about to head home. Why don’t you come stay at mine for a few hours? Get some sleep and we’ll make a plan on what you’re going to do next.”

Sadie was stunned when Laura offered her home to her. Overwhelmed with emotion and bewildered, the music journalist spoke her thoughts out loud, “Really?” This question was more rhetorical than anything. She couldn’t believe her sister was asking her to stay with her when they only met… today. She cleared her throat, debating if she should be greedy or polite. She wanted to go, she really did, but wasn’t she being incredibly imposing already? What would her mom say if she found out? Did she care? “I mean, yeah, sure that’s fine. That’s cool. Super cool.” Adorably and dorkily, she went with the flow, as if Lamb didn’t knock her off her feet with her words just now.

Lamb brushed another hair away from Sadie’s face, this time on the opposite side and smiled, “Well come on then.” She said white sternly. “I’ve got a busy day today and I can’t have you weighing me down.” She handed Sadie the record she had picked out for their father’s welcome home gift and smiled. “Go pay for that would you? You can consider it today’s rent.”

Was she lucky or did she need to take random trips to Edenridge more often?

“Okay!” Sadie agreeably said before calling out to her cousin, “JP, yo! Register.” Like an excitable little kid who just made a dream come true, the legacy to Joni Campbell pranced off to pay for two records, hurriedly. When she finished a quick exchange with Jericho, she sped-walked back to Lamb’s side. “Ready!”

“Don’t make me regret this.” Lamb clutched her bag that contained the remnants of her dress from the night before and span on her heel elegantly. “Come on then, Sadie Campbell, let’s go introduce you to your world.”

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: After The Five Pieces of Charlie Decker
FT: Poppy James & Chief Coldwind
Introducing: Leotie "Ryan" Coldwind & Kerry Casey}

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There she went again. Another panic attack. Was this trip worth all the pain? Why did she think she’d get some clarity from visiting a place that was part of Charlie’s past? Part of who he was? All she did was cause unnecessary distress for her friends and Charlie’s sister. All she did was lose her balance, time and time again, never able to hold herself together. Keep it together. How could she support herself when she felt so unsteady all the time? How could she save Charlie’s sister when she was the one that needed saving?

Back outside with her converse shoelaces untied and just a sundress on, Poppy wrapped her arms around her stomach, closed her eyes, and leaned forward, gasping for air. She could feel it in her throat. Everything was closing in, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, and she couldn’t stop the ache in her chest. If only she could keep herself whole so her friends could watch her thrive instead of rip at the seams but it was moments like these she was so desperate for someone to hold her. To tell her they’d never let her go. To pull her in and erase the insurmountable damage from her mind and make her feel alive again.

You put the pieces together when you read his book. Like how he really just wanted to spend the day with you, Poppy.

Covering her face, sobbing uncontrollably, Penelope choked into her hands, “Why then? Why did he let me go?” If he loved her, really loved her, he wouldn’t have left her the way he did. He wouldn’t have left her with all these unanswered questions. He wouldn’t have left her on a tightrope to walk the line by herself. How could she try? How could she keep fighting? When all she could think about is how he gave up on her, gave up on himself, gave up on all the pieces to the puzzle that made him liberated, happy and boundless; all the people he loved the most. Everything she thought she knew was turning out to be a lie and the Charlie she thought she loved, really loved, was a complete stranger.

Stop it.

STOP IT!

Straightening herself, controlling her breathing to the best of her capabilities, Poppy wiped her tears. She wasn’t weak no matter how many times that voice inside her head told her she was. Still, when she thought she was out, there were always more tears to cry. Like a waterfall, the unbearable hurt kept coming, until her soul couldn’t take the pain anymore, submerging itself in the rushing current. She could feel herself drift away to only God knows where.

All I can answer is that I think you all meant something different and special to him. You were all pieces of him…

Sniffling and grabbing the sides of her dress, Poppy focused on the road ahead of her, the dirt and gravel, as she slowed down her breathing. Calmer than she was seconds ago, she whispered, “Take a walk, Penelope James.” She needed to clear her mind and let the overflowing sadness run its course so when she returned she could apologize to Mitena. A walk with fresh air, nature, and the beauty of the reservation. Just what the doctor ordered.

Taking the first step forward, her red eyes noticed her shoelaces were untied. Swiftly, Poppy kneeled down and tied them both before she took another step and ventured onward to places unexplored (for her, at least). She liked Blue Hill. Simply taking a walk through it could remind her that she was exactly where she needed to be and why. She just needed to keep fighting. She had to keep fighting, keep going, for no one else but herself. She had no choice. This was her decision in the first place and she was sick and tired of wallowing in self pity while living in this constant unhealthy cycle of grief and insecurity. She wanted to do better. No, she needed to do better.

Much of the Blue Hill Reservation was open space. In a tribe and a community such as theirs, everyone was welcomed everywhere. The Coldwind ranch was much smaller in comparison to some of the others that surrounded their land like the Silverheels. They simply bred and took care of a few horses at a time and then sold them off to good homes. The ranch had been in Christian’s family for generations but he knew that he was likely the last Coldwind that would run it. No other member of his kin had any interest in pursuing that kind of excellence.

“Grandpaaaaaaaa,” Ryan sat on the fence of the corral, her bare legs and feet dangling inside the enclosure. She had just woken up after a hard days night and was only dressed in the big Nirvana t-shirt she wore to bed. The grunge girl took a sip from the coffee her step-grandma had so lovingly prepared for the cowboys and ranch hands that morning before pointing at something in the distance. “I think we done got ourselves a stray white girl in our midst.” The bottled blonde put on her best southern accent before tipped the brim of her fake Stetson.

Chris moved to the corral and leaned against the post next to his grandchild and narrowed his dark eyes. He recognised the shuffle coming towards them down the dirt road that led from Adora’s and as the sun fell back behind the trees, his suspicions of the figure being one Penelope James were confirmed. He raised his hand in welcoming as soon as the small girl was in clear view. “Poppy-like-the-flower!” He called out over the noise of the single horse currently galloping around the corral. “What brings you out this way?”

At the sound of the chief's call, the horse stopped galloping and came to a halt. The young man riding it took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched the outsider walk towards them. His face was dirty, and stubbled and in his eyes he carried a tiredness most definitely beyond his youthful years. Jumping off of the pale dotted horse, he patted it several times to keep the old boy calm before bowing his head in welcome.

Oh. People. Poppy didn’t expect to come across a crowd so soon. Even so, she had to be polite. Her parents raised her right. Hiding her grief behind a smile, her eyes rimmed with red, and puffy, she gave a small, shy wave back as she approached the chief, the one she felt the safest around. “Just taking a morning walk. Seeing the area, since I’ve never been,” she coyly replied. It wasn’t like she was lying.

Poppy did want to see the reservation, she wanted to embrace the culture and be part of it because so far it’s only made her feel good and inspired her to want to do better but she wasn’t telling the complete truth either. This walk was more to clear her mind and convince her that she was fine. The beautiful reservation was a plus. “I don’t really know where I’m going, I’m just kind of following the path to wherever…” she admitted, as her green eyes looked from face to face. “I’m Poppy… Penelope,” she formally introduced herself to the chief’s granddaughter and the cowboy stranger.

“Kerry,” The cowboy nodded as he jumped back onto the horse. He soothed him again, stroking his greyish-white mane and whispering into his ear. The man obviously was very good at handling animals. “I’ll take old Jack here back down to the pens, boss. Then I promised Winnie and Ten I’d take their Momma up the Pronghorn Trail, get some fresh air in her lungs and hopefully clear her head you know?”

The Chief offered the ranch hand a thumbs up. “You go do your thing, Ker. Sending the twins my love.” As the horse and cowboy rode off further down the ranch, Christian reached down to the small table set up nearby and picked up a thermos. He poured in some piping hot coffee just in time for when Poppy reached him. “Here, freshly brewed. Should keep you going on your spirit walk.” He offered it to the pale young woman as he glanced up at his granddaughter swinging her legs as she sat on the fence. “You remember my granddaughter Ryan? Who is currently very hungover.”

“Listen.” Ryan held her hands up as if trying to prevent herself from vomiting. “It is not my fault that the bar you own serves minors….” Before she could continue, the Chief fired a glare at the young woman and she backtracked immediately. She likes to joke around but she would never endure to upset her grandfather, she loved him more than anything. “What I meant to say was, it’s not my fault that people kept slipping me drinks when you weren’t looking.”

“It’s nice to actually get a chance to talk to you, Ryan,” Penelope gave a tiny smile as she watched the cowboy walk away. Kerry was his name and he seemed to be in his element. One with the horses. After a moment or two of staring, she graciously accepted the offer of coffee from Christian, holding it close to her face and feeling the warmth radiate from the cup. After taking a leisure sip, she complimented, “You were awesome last night. The whole band, I mean. Red Wolf Road. It was really nice to watch you all pure your hearts out on stage.” Her tired eyes scanned Ryan’s face, falling on the other girl’s drunk grin, before looking up at the Chief who was watching her silently.

“Yeah we fucking rock!” Ryan threw up the Devil’s horns with her free hand and stuck her tongue out in her most bodacious Gene Simmon’s impression yet. Mid scream, she ended up covering her mouth like she was going to throw up. All the booze was finally catching up to the tiny native woman as she could feel it sloshing around in her stomach and rising up into her chest and throat with a very unpleasant burn. The young girl jumped down off of the fence and sprinted with her bare feet towards the house, creating a dust trail like she was the Road Runner behind her speedy frame.

The chief laughed as he placed his hands on his hips and watched his granddaughter disappear behind the old oak door. “My apologies for Leotie…sorry Ryan.” He corrected himself. Chris remembered that she hated using her first name. It reminded her too much of her parents. “She’s in a weird phase of her life. You know actually, she’ll be going to Edenridge High this coming semester. We’re giving her a change of scenery. Maybe you’ll run into her from time to time?”

“I’m sure we will,” Poppy took another sip of the strong coffee, like this bitterness was punching her in the face, kind of strong coffee, and deeply sighed, “It’s really nice here.” Taking in the gentle breeze and the beaming sunlight, the pale James girl breathed in and breathed out, basking in the great outdoors. “This is the longest I’ve been outside in a good while. I don’t go out much, not anymore at least. I lost a lot of myself… over the years, so I’m learning how to walk again,” she genuinely admitted, feeling the warmth and comfort of the man standing beside her. He reminded her so much of Mr. Beau. It made it easy to talk to him honestly and with an open mind and heart. “I’ll try my best to help Ryan navigate the ups and downs of Edenridge but I can’t promise I’ll be able to protect her. My hometown is… well, it’s a mess.”

Christian smiled as he adoringly looked at the small stranger. She was very sweet and kind; she reminded him a lot of Ko. “Well I suppose Miss Poppy-like-the-flower you better keep on going if your walk is to help you heal.” His dark eyes fell upon the vast open plains he called home and he sighed with contentment. There was something magical that drifted through Blue Hill, something that made the world just a little brighter. “You take that path there.” He pointed to a dusty trail leading into some trees. “That’ll take you straight into town, about ten minutes easy.” Sucking on his bottom lip, the leader of the tribe lost himself in thought for a moment before picking up a pen and paper from his morning picnic table and scribbling down his number. He handed it to Poppy with a smile. “If ever you need a stranger, me or my wife or any of the tribe will be here to listen.”

Surprised, Poppy placed the thermo lid on the table and grabbed the paper from Chief. She stared at his handwriting and smiled, “Thank you…” He was so kind. If only Edenrdige welcomed people with open arms like this. She could feel a little water building in her eyes which was her cue to walk. “Thank you,” she repeated, smiling widely. The saddest people usually have the biggest, brightest smiles. “I’ll see you later, Chief. Oh and the coffee was good!” Waving goodbye, Poppy followed his instruction and went down the dirt path that led into town.

Edenridge

_{TIMESTAMP: Tuesday, July 20, 2021, Morning
FT: Mr. Beau, Jamie Lord, Avery Kaine
Small FT: Jericho Phillips-Shomer}

____________________________________________________________________


____________________________________________________________________

Jamie was a mess.

The last twenty four hours had been nothing short of absolute chaos in her mind. As lightning flashed and thunder crashed all around her, the younger sister of The Duke, Davey O’Hara, found herself staring out across the town of Edenridge from her childhood bedroom that she once shared with her beautifully departed twin. When she wasn’t crying, Jamie was screaming at the top of her lungs, howling through the window pane at a metropolis and its people that had so swiftly turned their backs on the very family that founded the damn place. Whenever her parents tried to intervene, they were met by boiling hot rage and items launched across the room. For them, all the work Jamie had done to temper her problems over the years had vanished along with the daytime sun.

That Monday had been so full of triggers for the younger O’Hara twin. It all started with that dreaded letter and her meeting with her former boyfriend and Elite compatriot Clay. Even just imagining the pressure that he was under caused Jamie to feel it too; she had always been hyper empathetic which didn’t help her own mental state and keeping it level. Then there was the meeting with the Royal Flush Gang. Yana was always as supportive as she always was but Reagan, God nothing ever changed with her. Even as adults everything was always about superiority and control for the Supreme.

As she walked the town through the humid daylight, Jamie could feel the sting, like a thousand pinpricks across her skin as the glares and judging eyes of the townsfolk fell upon the fragile glass ballerina. She thought she had found the briefest quiet and solace when she walked into Swerve Arcana and into the welcoming embrace of Avery Kaine. God Avery, their fleeting moment had been filling her mind since it had happened. Jamie was married, the ring a golden shackle but the girl in the comic book store had seen her, truly seen her in a way that Russell never did.

There was a golden moment amongst the darkness when Jamie came across Sofi Belmonte amongst the oncoming storm. The young girl reminded the teacher so much of herself, she was a fragile bird trapped in a cage of circumstance. This positive mood was shattered after another row with Russell about their situation which was then swiftly followed by a video sent by Bronagh Milligan. Jamie only knew Bron through Lamb and some Scott Street gatherings so she was slightly taken aback to have been sent something from her. She was even further surprised when she realised the video was of Bron herself kissing Avery. What was this? A dare? A prank? Petty revenge for some reason that Jamie wasn’t aware of? Whatever the reason, it was but another dagger in a heart already filled with them. Why did she even care?

This sent the ethereal educator into a spiral; a spirit which resulted in her kicking Russ out of the house in the midst of a hurricane and locking herself in her bedroom, pouring over childhood musings and the memory of the only person that she knew unequivocally was hers; her big brother, Davey. With the storm over, Jamie tried to return to normal and move forward. As she edged closer towards Cafe Rochambeau, she wondered if Beau, the wisest person she knew, could hold a secret in his textured pages of old that might help her on her path. Calling ahead with her order, when the graceful young woman entered she was greeted by Beau’s warm smile and dulcet tones.

“Good morning, mon cheri,” The former English teacher greeted her with his usual exuberance despite having spent the entire evening at the shop and not going home. He thought better than to risk journeying to his home in a torrential downpour, thinking best just to wait it out with Ricky Osso and his dog Nduja, who had sought shelter. As soon as the rain subsided and the first light of day peeked up from beyond the lake, Beau took the child home and then swiftly returned to the cafe, ready for his first customers of the day. “Just finishing my first bakes and I’ll be right with you.”

Jamie smiled, brushing a single strand of her thick hair behind her ear. She loved Beau. Even though she never got the full experience of him as a teacher before she left Edenridge for private school, she could tell just how much he truly cared about the kids in his charge. He was the reason she wanted to become an educator herself. “No rush.”

The cafe bell rang announcing another presence. With an orange beanie on, a hoodie and jeans, Avery shuffled to the counter. When she noticed the woman waiting to be served, she felt her heart sink. This would be her luck. Jamie Lord would be at the cafe at the same time as her. As much as it pained her to see her forever crush, who rejected her yesterday and got an embarrassing video that may ruin Aves’ chances of even friendship, a Kaine never lets their emotions get the better of them nor do they let the war inside of them burden others.

This had nothing to do with Jamie and everything to do with her thinking Jamie was her perfect fit, her missing puzzle piece. A selfish desire, entirely of her doing. It was made abundantly clear that this was all just a fantasy and that maybe she was just like every person that ever said they loved Jamie. She was no different and Jamie could see that. Jamie was everybody’s dream girl and maybe Avery’s love was just like theirs. Part of the trend. Part of the herd. Nothing special.

Instead of making her pain clear, she covered her self-loathing and sleep deprivation behind a tender smile, even giving a small wave when the other girl looked to see who entered. When the storm lightened up Avery, Oz, and Bron made sure all the kids got to their homes safely. Avery proceeded to give Rosie the next day off. None of them really got sleep and as her manager, it was the right thing to do. Rosie was still a kid after all. Afterwards, she quickly freshened up and was now aiming to get her fix before going back to Swerve. Clay still hadn’t texted her which was worrisome to say the least.

There were many things out of Avery’s hands that she had to let be and hope the worst won’t come from her overthinking. Avery didn’t like worrying, she was good at tempering her mind, but she was also human and yesterday hit her like a train. “Hey Poppins,” Avery leaned up on the counter beside her, her eyes still full of kindness and adoration. Her feelings still hadn’t changed. Even after all this time, she loved this woman.

God, she was such a simp.

Her gaze rested on the soft complexion and demeanour of her former classmate. As she took in the sight, Aves could tell immediately Jamie was going through a rough patch. Whether it was the energy or the red around her eyes from all the crying, Avery could see Jamie, as she always did. She saw her in all her shades and still found so many reasons to adore her. This whole David O’Hara bullshit was hurting all the people Avery loved and that made the comic book store manager annoyed and hurt. Silently and to herself, since Aves wasn’t one to ruin the vibes. Still, Avery hated seeing Clay and Jame relive the past. She hated not being able to help them through this. She hated being useless.

Before furthering any conversation with Jamie, Avery greeted the best English teacher the world had to offer, “Heyo, Beau. Gooooooooood morning. Hope you slept a little? Though I can’t say the same for myself. But that’s whatever. I’m used to it. Smells good. Whatcha serving today?” Avery tried to peer around the counter to see if she could catch sight of the fresh bakes but at last, she would have to jump over it to get a better glance of inside the kitchen. The cafe always smelt the best first thing in the morning.

“I was stuck here with a kid and dog all night, I didn’t get a minute but I’ve been through worse.” Beau’s tone was jovial, as always. He loved to bring people warmth even if sometimes he just wanted to give it all up. That was the role he had chosen, to be the pillar for those that needed holding up. He wanted to bring them a steady foundation to build upon. “Today my beautiful young ladies I have…dramatic drum roll please?”

Jamie glanced over at Avery, of course it was her that had to be there. Why wouldn’t it be? She wasn’t mad about it. In fact she was far from. The best part of Jamie’s precious day had been sharing that charged moment with the comic book girl in her store. For the briefest whisper of a word, she thought that the fog had cleared and she had found clarity. It was Avery that had done that. She smiled sweetly at her fellow customer and began to drum her fingers on the counter, giving the teacher the audience he desired. Simultaneously, she was joined by the bronde haired, quirky geek in the concert of drums, taking part in the fun-loving spirit of their shared morning with Beau.

The jolly cafe proprietor reached into his oven and pulled out a tray of delicious sweet treats. He slid the collected goodness into a dedicated section on his counter before discarding the piping hot tray. “So we got some healthy blueberry soft bake biscuits, the English kind, some Pastel de Nata, straight outta Portugal and we have everybody's favourite..” Beau hurried into the small back room where he kept his deep fried and then returned another with a plate which he rested in front of the girls. “Beignets like my Momma used to make in the French quarter.” He sprinkled some powdered sugar all over the tantalising breakfast bites before his chocolate eyes sprang upwards towards the girls. He had been a teacher for many years, a police officer longer than that. He had seen the sort of thick tension that Jamie and Avery carried with them before. It was as obvious to him as a neon sign on a dark street. “Ain’t no problem, a sweet meal at breakfast time can’t fix.”

Jamie’s tastebuds began to water at the mere idea of some of Beau’s morning bakes. She raised her hand to cover her mouth as her soft eyes drifted to Avery. “Let me get your order, Avery. Anything you want.”

“You sure?” Avery dumbfoundedly blinked at the woman beside her. She didn’t know what Jamie’s motive was nor did she feel right to ask. After the video was sent to the O’Hara girl last night, Avery believed this was the end of any friendship they could’ve had. Certainly Jamie wouldn’t want to be standing this close to her, let alone buy her food. They were being cordial. Professional. Adults. Anything beyond that was likely ruined yesterday. Not only did Avery shoot her shot and get rejected, but she was seen making out with a big boob Milligan. “It’s okay, really, I can pay for myself, Jamie... you don’t owe me anything,” Avery averted her eyes and focused her attention on their former teacher, “Medium coffee, the house blend, one sugar and some oat milk. Please and thank you. And uh, I’ll take some beignets. To go.” The sooner she left the better they both would be. The sooner she left the faster she’d be able to move on. “It looks delicious, by the way, Beau.”

“Of course I’m sure!” Jamie smiled with her puffy eyes and tired face. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer in this instance. Reaching into the back of her jeans, the younger O’Hara twin pulled out a few dollars and placed them on the counter top. Money had never been any problem for Jamie; she was a Foundling. Beyond that, her father was a beloved and successful coach of athletics and her mothers side of the family basically ran youth hockey in New England. It was funny, in her job as a teacher, she probably made less money than the monthly allowance of some other Scott Street babies. “I’ll have my usual Mister Beau, this should cover us both,” She turned to look at Avery and smiled the brightest of smiles, a sheer contradiction to her obviously weathered eyes. “Just gonna head to the bathroom real quick, I’ll be back.” Without pause for response, Jamie hurried off towards the back of the store and out of sight.

Beau cocked an eyebrow at the two young ladies as he began to tamper down the coffee grinds he would use in their morning hit of roasted goodness. He was still getting used to the new routine. Usually Roddy Callahan was his first customer of the day but he had left town, leaving his two current customers as his go to morning money makers. “Well well.” He began, showing Avery a knowing glance. “‘Bout time you made your move Miss Kaine.”

Shrugging at the burly man, Aves mumbled, “Eh,” before absentmindedly tapping her fingers on the counter, her gaze following Jamie as she left. “Not like she’ll reciprocate.” Having not heard from Clay since yesterday with that brief text when she shared the video of Cat dancing didn’t help her spirits. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum balanced each other, especially in regards to emotion. Truth be told, both her and McDungus were great at hiding how they felt behind a smile. That’s why they connected so fast. He would’ve gotten her out of her head in no time but unfortunately, something was up and she didn’t know what. “Even if she did, which she doesn’t,” Avery explained, noticing Beau slide her coffee in front of her, as she continued, “She’s married. And I’m just an ass to interfere with that.” Graciously, she grabbed her coffee and rested it in both of her hands. “Plus, look at her, she has enough going on.” Jamie's eyes were so red, Avery knew she couldn’t have been the only one to notice. And on top of that, Jamie always had a lot going on. Getting a chance to talk to her, like Avery did the past two days, was near impossible for someone like her and it didn’t help that the beautiful O’Hara transferred and her twin died. Jamie was out of her league and had enough to worry about than some nerd. This whole experience just solidified why Avery was stupid for waiting. She lost her opportunity a long time ago, why did she think she’d have another chance?

Beau let out a hearty chuckle, as he often did before doling out his advice. “I have been with my Colleen for thirty years. Thirty years of strife and pain but also joy, pure unbiased joy. I got beautiful babies with that lady and I love them with everything that I am,” The former English teacher began to bag up Avery’s pastry’s in a brown greaseproof bag before continuing. “Now I ain’t no expert on love, nor anything else for that matter might I say but I know people. I know tells and I know flaws. Miss Kaine, the way you two look at each other, now that ain’t something worth giving up on.” Rolling the top of the bag to seal it, Beau held his hand out to pass the food over to the befreckled girl. “Now I ain’t telling you to break up a marriage but what I am saying is that you got cards in this game. You cannot lose if you do not play but you can’t win either. Miss O’Hara, she seems like something worth playing for no?”

“She’s someone worth earning,” Avery earnestly answered as she grabbed the bag of treats with her free hand. “Call me a fool for love but I don’t want to be like everyone else. She can get anyone. Literally anyone. And like, she focuses on everyone else until it drains her. She’s so tender and loving, and I don’t know if she always sees that about herself. I’m not here to win some game. I don’t want her to compromise herself for me. I don’t want or expect anything from her. I just… iunno,” Avery sighed, taking a sip of her coffee and cycling through all her memories of why she couldn’t get over Jamie even if she tried, “I want her to know I’ll never grow tired of her and whatever she wants, whatever she needs, I’ll be for her, but I probably fucked that all up in one day.” Taking another sip of her coffee, Avery grumbled under her breath, “Fuck me, right?”

Jamie listened to the conversation between the former teacher and student for a few moments longer before emerging into the open space of the cafe. She and a thousand million thoughts running through her mind already and Avery’s deep confession only added to them. Wearing her famous smile like a mask, she picked up her own to-go coffee. “Smells delicious as always Mister Beau.”

“I’ll be sure to pray to my mama tonight and let her know that you girls enjoyed her recipe,” Beau’s chestnut coloured eyes fell upon Avery and Jamie. He could feel the tension between them and he may be old but he wasn’t that old. He still remembered the days that he would bring in Miss Kaine’s textbooks and they would be scribbled upon with scenes of two girls together, unicorns for some reason and Avery O’Hara scrawled across the front page. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the girl wasn’t talking about David. “Now y’all go off and have a bright day you hear me? And if you need any sweet Joe black, you know where to find us.”

“Thanks,” Avery met her old professor’s gaze. They looked at each other knowingly. Sometimes you don't need to say anything to get a message across. She was grateful after all these years she still found comfort in his presence. She wasn’t one of the students that needed his words of wisdom much, if anything she bothered him simply to bother him and talk about what she was reading. Simple talk but it’s what opened their friendship to the days she needed to talk to him about her worry for all those that came to Swerve seeking her light. Days where she knew Clay wasn’t being genuine and was hiding the pain of his loneliness behind a mask. Days when she just needed to talk because sometimes the person that everyone goes to needs someone to go to. Beau was that for her. No matter how big or small the topic was, she could always count on him to be there for her. She wondered if Colleen was that for him. His outlet. The town loved him and that must’ve been heavy to carry at times. There were many broken pieces in Edenridge. That’s why it was so important to have pillars, like Beau, to pick them up. Turning on her heel, she waved her right hand that still held her to-go up and said her goodbyes, “See ya same time tomorrow, Beau.”

Jamie too waved at the older man with a bright smile. Even in the darkest of dark times in Edenridge, Beau seemed to possess an inner light that always obliterated that black shroud. He was a positive energy, a pillar, a good man. Those were definitely few and far between in a town like Edenridge. Clutching her coffee in both hands, Jamie walked out of Rochambeau beside Avery, a million and one thoughts buzzing around her head like a hive of bees. Her mind was cloudy, like the port before a misted rain. She could not see the wood for the trees and she could not see clearly beyond the gilded trouble at her door. She looked towards the befreckled midnighter, her face a flush with heat and her heart beating fast. “Do you remember Clay’s thirteenth birthday party?”

“How could I forget?” Avery thought back to a time that felt like yesterday. A time that was simple for her and her class before highschool started to pull them in directions beyond their control. “It was that party that separated our class from the rest. Clay’s birthday falling at the end of September was always the perfect excuse for Allison to do something big to mark a new year. Hell, we were only in Eighth grade and she had highschoolers showing up.” Taking a sip of her coffee and adjusting the brown bag in her other hand, she reminisced, her eyes clouding as she led the way, “It was a perfect storm. Clay’s parents weren’t around, leaving the whole house to him. Mayor Winslow was throwing an adult-only soiree to celebrate his wife’s 50th at the community center so that’s where most of the adults were, especially the parents of Scott Street.”

Stopping at the crosswalk, waiting for the signal to give her the greenlight to walk, Avery continued, all the while smiling, “Leave it to our class to somehow fill Clay’s entire house with soapy foam. I don’t even remember how we did it but I do remember Cat coming in, only immediately having to distract the cops patrolling and when she was able to shoo them away Clay pulled her into the soapy abyss. The boys were rowdy as hell. David and Francis were riding a mattress down the stairs. Russ surprisingly got Rhett to not have a stick up his ass and have fun. They were going up against Viv and Allison in a nerf gun fight. The most vivid thing for me, though?”

Lost in a memory, Avery didn’t notice the signal shift to green. Turning her head, she caught Jamie’s eyes, an ethereal blue that wasn’t of water but hot fire, and admitted, “You.” When they met years ago, small, naive, and at the playground, Aves hadn’t realized that blue could burn until then. She met Jamie O’Hara whose passion transformed the blue in her eyes into something warm and deep. Something that brings the heat to the heart and the soul. Pure, unadulterated, raw energy. Impossible to contain, no matter how much Coach tried to. “I found you twirling at the center of it all, with Lamb not too far off, just in your own world. It was kind of like you were dancing on clouds.” Avery gazed at her, in a way that was a promise of protection. She always looked at Jamie this way. In the way that said: I’ll be here when you need me. I’ll be here waiting. I’ll be your home. Forgetting about her own insecurities, letting her memory drive her, Avery complimented her dream girl, unable to restrain her love and adoration, “You’re so beautiful.” She saw Jamie then, she saw Jamie now. She saw her and that would never change. No matter how hard she tried… she’d always see her.

Jamie remembered that day. David had dragged her along to Clay’s party. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go because she’d always liked and more recently at the time crushed on Clay but she had been feeling so many different things at that time. Whenever she walked the street itself she felt like electricity was buzzing across her skin. Mrs. Ramsey called it a Dependent Personality Disorder with underlying anxiety and schizotypal tendencies. Jamie was in a low way the day of Clay’s thirteenth. When she arrived at the party, the birthday boy was too wrapped up in Sabrina Aviles to notice the freshly baked cookies she had made and the maroon dress she had bought for that special occasion.

David assured her everything would be ok and of course Jamie believed. She always did. Davey would never lie to her. After a while, the O’Hara girl became lost in the party. She swayed and moved to the music and hadn’t even realised that the house had been filled with thick white bubbles. When she opened her eyes for the first time in what felt like hours, the room was filled to the brim with liquid foam, dancing teens and the dulcet tones of Michael Buble singing about not meeting his lover yet. Jamie’s gaze met the sight of Avery Kaine staring back at her. She didn’t know the girl beyond a cordial hello in the hallway but in that moment amongst a sea of bubbles and a crowd of hormones, Little Miss O’Hara realised that she liked girls as well but not just any, she liked Avery.

Jamie didn’t know how to express what she had felt but by the time she had figured it out she had been shipped away from Edenridge to a school for people like her. Crazies. The lingering time she spent in memory shared with Avery, the more the teacher felt a familiar warmth fill her body. She replayed their shared gaze at Clayton’s birthday over and over in her head. She recalled the charged moment between them not twenty four hours ago in the stalls of Swerve Arcana. Images flashed in her brain of Bronagh Milligan, of David and flower petals on prom night, of Clay and Laura and the Royals. Jamie’s heart began to beat faster and faster as the fire took hold of her heart. Throwing her coffee cup to the ground, the girl turned and pinned Avery to the wall of a nearby building. Cupping the girl's befreckled face in her palm, Jamie leaned forward and intoxicated by chaos, pressed her lips to the beautiful strangers with a fervent want.

Waaaaaaah?

Eyes widened, Avery found herself forcibly pushed against the building wall (partly the glass window) of Main Street Music, at the corner of Main and Central. She spent all night and morning thinking Jamie would’ve hated her after the video with Bron but now here she was, the girl Avery had crushed on for years, sensually pressing her chest up against her and reigniting the primal desire that lay dormant for years. Was this a fever dream? A practical joke? A mistake? Jamie was married for fuck’s sake!

With a million and ten thoughts crossing her mind, veiled by a cloudy haze, Avery couldn’t, no wouldn’t, contain herself. This was her first fucking kiss with Jamie O’Hara. Every curve, every inch, every strand of hair… every part of her, Avery loved. Even the timbre of her voice shook the befreckled lesbian to her very core. Soaking in this unreal, frantic caress, feeling her lips — soft like silk, pillowy even — and tasting coffee and blueberries, Avery was on cloud nine. It became ten times worse when Jamie started to react to her touch. Parting the brunette’s lips slightly, Avery allowed her tongue to slip in, before tossing her own coffee to the side and dropping Beau’s delicious treats to the ground. There was no way in hell she’d let food get in between her and this passionate embrace with the hottest girl alive.

Eagerly, Avery grabbed onto her beloved’s waist and with surprising ease, switched their positions where Jamie was up against the window and she, the raging lesbian, was taking the lead. Feeling the thud of their combined heartbeat, fingers carding through Jamie’s hair, Avery intently stared into the other woman’s half closed eyes and embraced her — every curve, every inch, and every strand. God, she embraced her, overcome by ecstasy. Pure ecstasy.

Jamie gave herself to Avery in every way. As the far more confident girl took control of her body, she raised her skirted leg to encompass the comic book girls svelte hip. Her hands and fingers became wrapped in ringlets of soft dirty blonde hair as moans of pleasure and joy, bottled for a decade rose up through her chest and out of her mouth. Jamie had kissed girls before, she had experimented in school and college but what she was feeling now was not an experiment. It was not a flight of fancy or impulsivity that she was known for giving in to. This was her truth. This was who she was and who she wanted.

It wasn’t until Avery looked past Jamie to see Jericho on the other side, inside of MSM, covering his mouth with his right hand in astonishment that she was brought back to reality. She didn’t want to pull away, she didn’t want this to end, she didn’t want Jamie to slip from her grasp… but she needed to. It was the right thing to do. After pulling Jamie’s bottom lip and releasing her tight grip on her, Aves muttered to herself, “Fuck, I…” she was lost for words. She didn’t understand how she got in this predicament but here she was standing in front of Jamie, heated and bewildered.

The breaking of their kiss allowed the fresh air to flow into the O’Hara girl’s chest and wash away the fog of desire that had engulfed them. Jamie’s hands drifted from Avery’s hair to her freckled cheeks and that’s when she saw it. The golden noose wrapped around her second left finger. The reality of her situation was beginning to take a hold of the teacher as she heard the distant sirens of a patrol car. The blue eyes Jamie shared with her beautifully departed brother stung from the breeze. She had cried and cried and cried herself out. She would not cry now, even though she wanted to.

The kiss was everything she had hoped for and more and her soul was screaming at her to pull Avery back into her embrace but Jamie knew better. The day before she had asked to be told a story and Avery had replied about making one together. She wanted that, God did Jamie want that right now. Yet as the distant sirens grew closer and her puffy red eyes drank in the beauty of Clayton’s best friend, the glass ballerina knew this wasn’t how her story was supposed to end. There was still another act to take place.

She placed her hand on Avery’s mouth to pause her from speaking and to stop herself from kissing the girl again. “I…I need,” Jamie’s lips quivered and her voice stumbled. “I need you to…” She searched for the words that could make it all ok. The words she needed to justify what she was doing. “Know…this wasn’t a mistake. You are so beautiful and so brilliant…Avery and I want this. I want this.” Her hand drifted to Avery’s chest and her racing heart. “Please don’t hate me.” Unable to stay without losing control, Jamie pushed past Aves and took off running down Main Street towards Scott Street. She couldn’t look back. If she did, everything would’ve been a waste. Such a waste.

Stunned in place, Avery couldn’t compute, she was beyond the point of malfunctioning. If she were a computer, she’d have the blue screen of death. What just happened? Jamie wanted this. She wanted… her? Leaning up against the wall, covering her beet red face, Aves tried to regain herself. It wasn’t until she heard a male’s voice, startling her, that she could think past the kiss, Jamie’s words, and the possibility that she would finally get what she wanted. She’d finally get Jamie. “Huh?” Avery dropped her hands to her side, turning her head and seeing JP waiting for her. He held the door open to the record store, a temporary oasis for the geek queen.

“I can… clean up for you.” JP surveyed the front of his family’s business at the two dropped coffees and the bag of desserts. Thankfully none of Beau’s beignets had gotten out. “Why don’t you take a seat? I can get you a cup of water, put on some Gallows, yeah… and if you want, we can talk? Or you can just chill. Whatever works!” Anxiously, JP scanned the area to make sure no one witnessed what had happened, afraid his friend would get heat for kissing a married woman. It seemed like the coast was clear. Then again, this was Edenridge, a town that thrived off of secrets. He hoped this wouldn’t be one of them.

“Ah, okay…” the woman stumbled.

Avery Kaine was one of the kindest people in this town. She didn’t deserve the scrutiny that can happen from giving into your deepest desires. He knew she loved Jamie all her life, he and her had connected awhile back since she was one of his loyal customers. They’d trade comics for records, records for comics. It was a sweet deal they had. During their blossoming friendship, he saw Avery get with some of the hottest girls in the area, Antonia Cortez, Sonya Rossi, Han-Na Kang, Bella Joseph, and that’s only listing a few. He and her? They were whores in highschool - it was a silent respect they had for one another. She was two years older than him and he couldn’t help but admire her game. She was a total badass. Unapologetically Avery.

Things changed when her twenty-first birthday came around. He saw it on her face when she stared into the candles of her cake. He knew that look. It was just like him. She didn’t want to live like that anymore. Her heart belonged to one person and one person only. His dream had been right beside him the moment the Shomers moved to town. For Avery, her dream was always out of reach and light years away. A fantasy. Something that seemed unattainable. Her wonderland.

Guess dreams do come true.

Moments like these made him believe magic does exist. His friend. A goofy ass nerd with freckles and the cutest french bob. Finally, she finally got her unicorn.

JP couldn’t be more proud.