Trisha Vanburen
“What the fuck?!” Trisha barely had time to yell before Adora decked her. She knew she was unstable, she knew she was fucking insane, but she hadn’t expected Adora her to punch her here. In public.
“YOU FUCKING BITCH! LET GO-” Trisha screamed, cut off by a fist to the stomach as the air was literally punched out of her lungs. The bees underneath her outfit buzzed louder and louder. Not yet, she could take a punch-
She really couldn’t take a punch. Trisha struggled to get free of Adora’s grip, only to be shoved into a stand. Blood flooded down her face, she could barely breathe, and her weak flailing back did nothing. Barely able to hold a thought together, Trisha directed the bees to attack. They swarmed out of her onesie, down her arms and legs and up Adora’s. With loud buzzes they stung all over her legs, her arms, a few reaching her face. Dimly, Trisha directed to her arms. Anything to stop the constant pounding, the pain so intense she could barely think at all.
All thirty bees swarmed Adora’s arms, stinging her again and again, growing more desperate the longer she punched Trisha.
”Thanks Jasper, you’re the best.” Luca took the pill bottle and shook one out into his mouth. Dry swallowing it wasn’t particularly fun, but he didn’t want to wait. It would take a while to kick in anyway and pain this bad was difficult to deal with. He handed back the pill bottle and grimaced at the uncomfortable feeling in his throat. Soon as his legs would support him he was getting up.
"So, I take it the situation is under control?
”Yeah, it’s all good now, all under control,” Luca croaked. He twisted his head to look at Meifeng- and froze when he spotted the woman that had bottle fed him dressed as a
maid. Holy shit that wasn’t an image he was going to be able to forget. He instantly looked away, cheeks heating up… out of embarrassment. He’d hoped to
never see her again. Now Jasper would start teasing him about it.
Luca finally let go of Jasper’s hand, shifting to lean heavily against him now that Stormy had moved away. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around Jasper to keep himself propped up, shooting him a smile as his cheeks heated up even more. Phew, must be the warm weather. Definitely not because of how handsome Jasper was up close, or how they’d just been holding hands, or how he was resting against his chest or-
Nope! Jasper was his friend, his very straight best friend, and now wasn’t the time to think like this. Wait, was Jasper’s face red too? Oh, it really must be warm.
”Sorry, I can’t support myself yet,” Luca explained, even though he knew Jasper wouldn’t mind. Of course he wouldn’t. He knew that Jasper would stick with him until he was alright enough to stand by himself.
”Mind helping me stand up?” He sounded a bit awkward, but he put it down to the mental exhaustion of pushing out the rot. It had taken a lot out of him, physically and mentally. The physical damage was more obvious but he could tell he’d lost a bit of… himself today. But right now he didn’t want to worry about that. This was his time to enjoy with friends. He turned his head to look at Lila, shooting her a smile. If he could walk himself right now he’d be going over to her, making sure she was okay… Which he would, later. They needed to talk. They
really needed to talk after that.
”I’ll take a drink!” Luca called out when Stormy offered, lips curving up into a devious little smile.
”I’m going to absolutely drink through your wallet Stormy, you’ll regret offering. I’ll take your most expensive… water.” He was beginning to feel better. The painkillers were slowly kicking in, and he was able to put a bit more weight on his legs. He’d get some water, then finally the four of them could hang out - and everyone else, of course. They’d have loads of fun! The night was easily salvageable, together-
Luca’s positive thinking ground to a halt as a very tall, very obvious life ruiner barged in.
Normally, Luca would be able to retain his optimism even when facing Britney. He’d moved on from the harsher feelings he once had towards her, after all. But after what had happened - after everything Emily had said, and nearly losing control of himself to the rot - some of those feelings had come back. He was still recovering from what he’d gone through. It was too soon, too fast for him to have gotten back to his normal self enough to handle her presence. Resentment swirled in his tight chest. His thoughts, clouded with pain, went to darker places. Why was she fine, when he was dying? How was that fair? He shouldn’t think these thoughts, he’d accepted it, they’d been young but- he was so tired.
He did something he normally wouldn’t do. Instead of just staying quiet, staying positive and out of the situation, he pushed himself into it.
The Rot wasn’t even there to goad him on. Maybe it was right. Maybe he truly was rotten inside.
”Lila, are you alright?” Luca called out, completely ignoring Britney. As if she wasn’t even there. He still leaned heavily on Jasper, rotten wounds scattered across his arms and expression tight with discomfort. For once he didn’t hide it with a smile. Part of him, the part he normally pretended didn’t exist, wanted her to feel guilty.
”I didn’t hurt you did I? When the Rot… y’know. I’m really sorry if I did!”
Interactions: Sloane
@Atrophy & Jack
@BlizzCracker Island, Halloween Festival
The resort was nicer than the rest of the festival, if still filled with people Anya had no interest in being around. At least the decor was more tasteful and there was a distinct lack of teenagers. It was more tolerable. Not somewhere Anya would generally choose to spend a night, but nor were many places outside of her own home.
”Cheers to that,” Anya smiled, raising her own glass - an Espresso Martini. She was normally a wine drinker, but sometimes it was nice to mix things up a little. May as well make the most of the cocktail makers here, and go for something a little stronger too. She took a sip. It was quite nice, and the caffeine helped push away the tiredness from a poor night's sleep.
She agreed with Sloane’s suggestion they don’t talk about that stuff tonight with a nod. Even people as brilliant as them needed a break sometimes. A night just to relax and not think too much.
But what did normal friends talk about? Anya was almost as stumped as Sloane. Occasionally they would talk about non consequential stuff - the weather, how Anya’s siblings were doing, how work had been the day before. But they rarely just meant up to chat. There was always something to do, even as simple as discussing dreams Anya had visited. Well there was one thing that friends tended to talk about - no, gossip about, if the television shows her sister had forced her to watch was anything to go by.
Boys.Anya finished her first drink, and promptly ordered a second. She'd need it for the topic she was about to bring up.
"Why don't we talk about... My date.".
.
.
One Week Ago.
The Far Harbour
Anya couldn't believe she was actually here.
The Far Harbour was… far from the normal establishment she'd go to. In fact, she rarely went out at all, especially not to bars. She cycled between her place, Sloane's place and the occasional fancy restaurant. It wasn't too bad and seemed to have a nice atmosphere, but she would much rather be at home. She would much rather be anywhere but here, with the prospect of having to see that agent in person looming over her.
But it was fine. This was merely an information gathering meeting. She had both Jack and Sloane on speed dial in case anything went wrong.
She'd already gone in and gotten a table, close enough to the door so that she could watch it but enough out of the way that they wouldn't be constantly disturbed. She, unwillingly, sent Trevor a text with very to the point instructions of where she sat, and of what she was wearing. She'd changed into a nice, light blue blouse and a dark, knee length skirt. Her hair was tied back into a low bun. It was nice enough to appear like she was making an effort, while actually being one of her more casual outfits. She nursed a glass of red wine, seriously considering downing it to deal with this, before deciding against it so she could be clear headed enough to get the information she wanted.
“... I’m coming my darling!”Trevor announced himself from halfway across the room as he barreled over to her table and almost tripped over someone’s chair. He stumbled forward, and caught himself on the table… he hissed in pain as his hands were freshly bandaged.
“... Ouch,”He used his forearms to pull the chair back, and sat down and said, “Oh, sorry, I was, uh, a little bit…” He raised his bandaged hands up to his bowtie and said, “...
Tied up.”
He gave her a wide smile.
Anya could feel her will to live slipping away from the moment Trevor appeared. This had been a mistake. A terrible mistake… But one she would force herself to see through.
”Don’t worry about it,” she forced a polite smile and laugh, pretending she’d found it even vaguely funny rather than just soul destroying. What did she say? Start with polite small talk, before moving onto the things she wanted to know.
”I hope your hands aren’t too badly damaged. Luca’s abstraction can be rather nasty.” “Oh, these!” Trevor raised his hands. “This is nothing! You know I lost these completely, but my sister fixed me right up!”
Anya forced sympathy into her gaze, taking a sip of her wine.
”What do you want to drink? I can get it for you seeing as you’re… tied up.” “
OH! Agent Liao told me I’m not allowed to drink even off duty because of that time I got reeeeeeeeal drunk. Then I got Maximilian real drunk! Then I got Fiona real drunk. Then I got Leon real drunk. Then I got Sonya real drunk! Then we drove around in my pickup and until I crashed into a tree! Then she was like ‘who’s fuckin’ idea was it’ and they all pointed at me, and I was like ‘It wasn’t
my fault, did the fuckin’ booze mind control them?’ Then she slapped me and was like ‘Watch who you’re talking to, boy,’ and I thought that was kinda cute you know…”
”Right.” Anya had no idea what to say to that. Minutes in and she was already speechless. She was rarely speechless. He’d found his boss cute when she slapped him? She committed the crime of drunken driving and then openly admitted it to her? Actually, that was something she could use. She mentally noted it down in the section of her memory that wasn’t going to discard immediately after this meeting.
”No alcohol for you, then, I’d rather not end up on the other end of your boss’ wrath again.”She smiled.
”A soft drink, then?”“A coke! Extra ice!” Trevor excitedly said before he leaned forward, placing an elbow on the table and giving Anya a flirtatious smile. “Sooo… tell me about yourself,
beautiful?”
Anya waved someone over and ordered the drink, giving her a moment before she had to reply to him. She almost gagged. Was suffering through this really worth it? Yes, it could be.
”There’s not much to say. I work as a dream interpreter, I suppose, and it’s my main passion.” Perfect, just give a little bit of information about herself, before moving onto him.
”What about you? I assume you’re not from St Portwell… Did you move here with the- with work recently?”“Nope! I’m from Alabama, but I usually bounce from place to place because the PRA don’t got a whole lotta’ of fancy tech guys like me!” Trevor said as he jammed a thumb into his chest. “But, I’ve been stationed here for a while, and
thankfully I survived the lil’ purge that took place last year.”
Trevor awkwardly tugged at his collar.
Anya’s smile widened almost imperceptibly. Now
this could be interesting, if she could get something out of him.
”Of course, you really seemed knowledgeable about technology on the phone. I’m sure you’re invaluable to them.” Anya, unfortunately, didn’t know much about technology beyond the normal, so she couldn’t actually compliment him much more about that. Likely a good thing, because just that small amount had her wanting to throw up. She continued, acting concerned rather than like someone wanting blackmail material out of him.
”There was a PRA purge? I take it you weren’t involved in… whatever it was. I’m not sure I can stay if you were, even a little bit.”“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell…” Trevor looked off to the side, before he focused his vision on Anya. “... Before Agent Liao, another guy was in charge of the PRA in St. Portwell. Porter Johnson! I mean, he seemed cool at first but as it turned out…”
Trevor awkwardly laughed.
“You know, uh, well, heard of, uh, one of the little cults in St. Portwell? Das Sonnenrad…?” He laughed again.
”He was part of Das Sonnenrad?” Anya’s eyes widened, though internally she smiled. Bingo. This was information she could use.
”Of course I’ve heard of them. Anyone involved in the magical scene here has.” She shook her head, acting shocked, even though she didn’t really care about the fact that the last leader was a Nazi. Anya hated Nazi’s as much as the next person, but she wasn’t all that surprised that someone in power had ended up being one.
”If you’re still with the PRA, I assume you didn’t know at the time? That must’ve been a terrible shock.” “I mean, I always suspected it… dude didn’t make it subtle he was a lil’ lopsided against the, uh, how do I say this?” Trevor awkwardly laughed. “... But, them crazy 8th Street gals’ outed him and Director Alcott did a
huuuuuuge sweep. Which is why a majority of the Agents you see here ain’t even from St. Portwell but pulled in from other places.”
Then Trevor shrugged.
“Heard they removed Porter Johnson, but he strangely,
mysteriously,” Trevor threw his arms up in a dramatic display, “Fell out of a window. It’s crazy how often that happens.”
”Oh, so most of the agents were removed, with a couple of exceptions? I’m glad to know Bianca, who’s my former coven mate, wasn’t part of that group.” Anya smiled, even though she couldn’t care less about whether Bianca kept her job or ended up in jail. But the information was incredibly interesting.
”And you, of course… It is crazy how easy it is to fall out of a window.”She laughed lightly, taking another sip of her wine.
”Here I thought they’d pulled in so many agents because of the Stygian Snake. I suppose it wouldn’t make sense to suddenly increase the number of agents after ten years of it being sealed, right?”“Well… yes and no,” Trevor chuckled. “We kiiiinda lost a few - well, not a few but a
lot of Agents during a little shitshow. But, Director Alcott made sure that only the best Agents were in St. Portwell to handle the Stiggy Snake. Like Samson, Sonya, Maximilian - OH! Maximilian. Yeah, he’s going to handle the Stygian Snake if it gets out!”
”Only the best? I suppose that includes you too?” Anya's smile didn't waver even as she internally gagged. But punctuating what she said with a few compliments would make him think that this was actually a date, and she was only asking out of curiosity about his job! Hopefully. Though she couldn't believe he was counted among their best.
”How's he going to handle it? There were hundreds in our coven- Sycamore Tree- when it was defeated. This one man… Maximilian, can handle it himself?”“Yuuuuup! He’s like super strong, y’know,” Trevor chuckled. “He has sooomething, I dunno what, but nobody can beat him! During, uh, a little something that took place a lil’ while ago we call the Lighthouse Incident, the
last all hands on deck incident - well, nobody likes to talk about it, but I think it’s
hilarious when people freak out when I bring it up - there was like this big monster like Godzilla.”
To the best of his ability, Trevor hobbled forward, making his best Godzilla impression.
“It fuckin’... we hit it with bullets, grenades, rockets, and everything, but nothing worked! Then he flew over and cold clocked it, and it fell over.”
Anya knew of Godzilla but had never seen the movie - and Trevor's awful impression did little to help her picture how much of a threat that had been. She would have to look it up later. But if he could take out something that even rockets couldn't touch… interesting.
”If he was able to easily beat something no one else could, I suppose he stands a chance with the Stygian Snake.”Pretending to feel relieved, letting her expression relax, Anya raised a hand to push a straight bit of hair behind her ear.
”I feel safer already knowing someone like that's in the city. I can see why the PRA would feel comfortable with trying to find where the Snake is sealed. Hopefully he can easily 'cold clock' it if it escapes.”“Yeah, the whole plan if the Snake gets out is for him to fist it to death like
yeah!” Trevor accented the last point with a thrusting motion in the air with a balled fist. He did this several times and definitely didn’t catch a few glances.
Anya chose the wrong time to take a sip of her wine, almost choking on it. She wasn’t able to hide her look of shock, recoiling before she could stop herself. The motion was just too much. Perhaps she’d misheard?
”Excuse me? He’s going to do what to the Snake?”“... You heard me, fist it!” He did the motion again.
Anya was speechless. This was too much. The PRA’s grand plan to stop the Stygian Snake was to have one of their agents
fist it. A sexual act. Something generally not done to defeat apparitions. Something she’d had to witness Trevor motion out multiple times. Her confidence in the PRA dropped even further. What a terrible organisation.
She subtly slipped a hand into her coat pocket, tapping the bottom right corner to send a text she’d pre-prepared. Almost instantly her phone started to buzz with an incoming call. Anya was once again thankful for how efficient Sloane was.
Mouthing sorry to Trevor, Anya pulled out her phone and took the call.
”Hello? What?” A pause, some mumbling on the other end of the phone.
”She was hospitalised? I’ll be right there…” More mumbling.
”My date? That’s not important, he’ll understand. Okay, see you soon.”Anya hung up, instantly standing and smiling apologetically at Trevor.
”My mum’s been hospitalised, so I have to go. I’m so sorry. I’ll contact you again later.”She definitely wouldn’t unless absolutely necessary. She didn’t even wait for Trevor’s response before walking out of the place as quickly as she could.
.
.
.
The Present.
"Not the serious parts, of course, though I did get plenty of information out of him. We can discuss that another time. Tonight I just want to complain about it." Anya grimaced. Where did she even start with that? While it had been more fruitful than she expected it to be, there was also so much to complain about. So much that she wished she could bleach from her brain. Perhaps she should contact Greyson and see if he still knew that memory wipe spell of his.
”He turned up in a suit. A suit. As if dressing well could cover up his disturbing personality.”Her second drink arrived, and she immediately drank half of it. It leant her a pleasant buzz, enough to continue talking about the harrowing experience.
”He tripped the moment he arrived then told me an absolutely inane story about the last time he got drunk. It only went downhill from there. Everything that came out of his mouth made me lose a little more of my will to live… and I very much enjoy living. It was far worse in person than that phone call.”She paused, gaze going slightly vacant. She quickly snapped out of it and continued.
”And then... this is difficult to say, it's what pushed me to my breaking point. It was the worst thing I had to hear that night.” Anya shook her head. (). Her voice lowered to a hushed whisper, leaning in to make sure that only Jack and Sloane could hear.
”He said their best agent was going to fist the Snake. He even made a gesture to go along with it... I can't replicate it, I refuse to. I thought maybe I'd misheard him, or it was a mistake, but when I asked again he said the same thing. That he's going to fist the snake. They- he- he plans to perform a sexual act on the Stygian Snake.”Looking absolutely dead after regaling them with a tale of her night a week ago, leaving out all of the boring but actually useful details they could discuss on another non Halloween day, Anya finished her second drink.
”I don't understand how no one has beaten some sense into him. I don't normally advocate for violence, but in this case... it may be desperately needed. ”Anya sighed, regaining a bit more of herself when she waved someone over to order a third drink.
"As far as 'dates' go, it was the worst I’ve ever been on. It reminded me of why I haven't been dating for the last few years." Well, there was more to it than just bad dates. For Anya dating had just been a means to an end and something she felt she should be doing. A way to follow the status quo and keep up appearances.
”I don’t think I’ll be going on another anytime soon”
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