Location of Thread: Residential Area || Lyric Choice: And in the master's chambers, they gathered for the feast
Characters Involved: James Hanaway and other residents that will be mentioned throughout || Played By: Josh Holloway (other faces will be mentioned throughout)
After James's first day, he had spent a few nights tossing and turning in his sleep. Something was troubling him about this community, and quite right so. Firstly he had his Captain ask him to spy on Rachel and then Rachel asking him to do the same thing for her over John. It could only spell trouble, and right now he wasn't sure where he fit in exactly. He loved the place, it was peaceful, thus far, from what he could tell. The houses, if his was anything to go on, were stunning. Of the few residents he had already met, they seemed nice enough, but he had growing suspicions over his Captain and Rachel. Probably to be expected given what happened on his very first day and then there was that notebook that he had managed to take away from the office. Every time his sleep was fitful, he would sit up, put the bedside lamp on and start flicking through it. He had kept it from Aurora, the last thing he wanted, was to fill her with the same dreaded feeling that he himself was suffering right now.
He was still not any clearer on the contents of the book. So much of it had been destroyed. He wondered if it was down to the person having made mistakes with it. Or someone else had found it and tried to destroy it but got caught and it was then locked in this drawer. He had managed to find out that there had been a number of deaths, next to some of the partial names were question marks as to whether they had been murdered or just went missing. He wished he could have made out more of it. He wished the name that the book supposedly belonged to was more clear. He could have looked the name up to see if he could have gotten in contact with them for more information.
However, after another broken sleep, he decided he had to try and find out more about this place he had brought his daughter to. So, this time, after clocking on and going for his first circuit of the town, he asked if he could go alone and he was granted permission. He wanted to start talking to some of the residents. He wondered if he should swing by the school, as sometimes kids were more vocal about things. He found out from his previous job that always seemed to be the case, that the younger generation were more likely to have loose lips than the older. So maybe the school would be a good place to start. But then, that might mean bumping into Rori, as well as Jake, and he wasn't sure he wanted her to get worried about why he was there. Plus, so far, he didn't have any suspicious feelings towards the lad, he seemed lovely, genuine.
He decided to leave the school for now, he wanted to tune Rori in on things first, at least, once he had a clearer picture. No, his first spot was going to be the community centre. It would have young adults as well as older ones. The kids that were no longer of school age but at a loose end as they had no job, the community centre would be perfect, he thought. So he pulled up outside and made his way into the building, after talking to the receptionist there, he went towards the games room. What better place for a bunch of young adults than a room filled with pool tables and the like.
Introducing Jackson Harper played by Colton Haynes e
As he walked in, a lad who looked as though he worked here, rather than a resident enjoying themselves approached him, “Hi there, can I help you?” He asked James. He smiled and nodded his head, “I sure hope so. Is there somewhere quiet we can talk?” Jackson nodded and beckoned with his hand for him to follow, which he did. He guided him into an office and he sat down, “Please, take a seat. You're the new sheriff in town yeah?” James sitting down, smiled, “Yeah, that would be me.” Jackson sighed a little and rubbed at his forehead, “So, what's one of the kids done now?” This made James chuckle a little, so, this lad was used to trouble then was he? Interesting. “Well, firstly, it be good to know who I'm talking to.” James said, raising his eyebrow. Jackson hit his forehead, “Of course, sorry, one of them days. Jackson Harper.” James nodded, “Thanks, well Jackson, none of them are in trouble, as far as I know, yet.” He smirked and continued, “I'm actually wanting to pick the ears of a few of the residents, just to try and get better knowledge on the place that I have come to call my own.”
Jackson leant back in his chair, so, as usual, the sheriff hadn't been tuned in on the goings on of the community. That was typical. It wasn't fair to expect a sheriff to join the town and not let them know what they were getting into. Well, Jackson wasn't one for lies, he had been brought up with decent morals, so whatever the sheriff wanted to know, he'd tell him, but he also wasn't going to volunteer information, he had a reputation to keep at the same time. “What do you want to know?” Maybe that was a loaded question, but what else could he say? He liked the look of this guy, he was tall, and looked tough, like he could handle anything that was thrown at him. “Well, firstly, how well do you know your law enforcers here? In particular your Captain John McCoy and the Detective, Rachel Evans?” Damn it, thought Jackson, he hadn't wanted to lie, but he couldn't bold as you like tell the sheriff outright a lot of information that would best to come from John and Rachel themselves, but he also couldn't ignore the sheriff. “What do you mean by that exactly? I mean I've known them both long enough. They've been here for a good few years now, well, John has been here as long as I've been here.”
So, if there was anything off about them, this lad wasn't aware of it, or he was but was choosing to stay quiet. If he was staying silent, was it because he feared for his life? How much would he spill and how much should he push him? “So would you say the community trusts them?” He decided to ask, feeling that was the best approach to going forward with his questions. Jackson smiled, but he was rubbing at the back of his neck again, James was a good reader of body language and that typically meant the person was stressed out, or worried, he wasn't at ease, that much James could tell. “Yeah, I'd say so, well, I can't talk for everybody, I can only talk for myself. John, he's decent, I trust him with my life. Rachel? I don't know her enough, so I can't commit to saying anything about her specifically.” James scribbled notes down on his own new notebook, with his other one safely away in a lock box at home. “So, Rachel, is she new to the community then?” Jackson smiled, “Not new, but she ain't been here as long as John. John's the man, I know him really really well.” John had always kept the community safe and if anything went wrong as it inevitably did, he was there like a shot taking care of it, cleaning up scenes and protecting those who needed it. If someone warranted a punishment, John made sure they got it. He kept a tight ship as they say.
So, could John be the one to trust over Rachel? From this lad's view point it would seem so. But he wanted to get a few more opinions before making up his mind, though he could tell that Jackson hadn't been as forthcoming as he could have been, or should have been. He stood up, “Okay, thanks for that, to be honest, I just want to try and get to know a bit more about who I am working with, and just trying to officially introduce myself to as many of the residents as possible. It's nice to have met you. Is anybody around at the moment, that I could talk to?” James asked, as it really did seem very quiet right now, but it was mid morning and the kids were in school and most of the adults were probably at their jobs if not at home looking after younger kids, not at school age.
Jackson shook his head, “Nah mate, too early for anything. You'd be better coming back in the afternoon, that's when most of the community things take place. Though the nursery is on right now, but not sure what a bunch of diaper clad kids and nursery nurses can tell you.” He chuckled a little and James joined in. “I'll leave them to it, don't want to disturb them. I might come back in the afternoon then. Cheers Jackson.” With that, he left the community centre. Other than the entertainment complex, there was only the shopping mall and medical centre left. He didn't think those were good places to talk to anyone. So he thought just going round some of the houses might be the best way forward now. He had noticed that there were a few shops dotted around as well as the shopping mall, so if any of them were quiet, he might go and talk to the shop keepers and see if they were up on anything more. He still felt a lot in the dark about the town itself and that wasn't good. He was beginning to wish that he had asked more about it before he arrived, but when you think you are just going from one normal town to another, you don't give it much thought and he certainly hadn't.
Back in his patrol car, he drove on up the road a bit further, and came across a shop that had a rather interesting title, Magical Remedies. Now, maybe it was simply that it meant that they sold drugs that worked perfectly well, but it had piqued his interest and so he pulled up outside, the shop didn't appear to have any customers, but there was a young female inside pottering around. Hopefully the shop owner, or at least in charge of running it. He walked in, and the door made that tinkle sound the way old shops do, which alerted the woman straight away.
Introducing Samantha Austen played by Evie Lilly
Sam turned round and smiled brightly and was very quick to notice how handsome her visitor was. “Well, hello handsome.” She couldn't resist it, he really was quite something, and she wanted to make him feel as welcome as she could, and that would do that, right? She hoped. James grinned, it was an automatic reaction, he couldn't help it. He was flattered to say the least. He knew he was far from ugly, but he wasn't the type to have tickets on himself either. “Good morning ma'am. Sheriff James Hanaway, I thought I would go around and try to introduce myself to as many people as possible. However, while I am here, I was wondering if I could sound you about some things?” It might be good to get a more adult opinion and a female too, though, she might be even more reserved than Jackson was. She nodded her head, “Sure, hardly rushed off my feet here. What do you want to know? I'll tell you anything that I can.” If he was the new sheriff, the chances were high that he didn't have a clue about this town and it wasn't the first time she had gotten scalded for opening up too much too quickly, so she better be on her guard. Though, she had always been of the opinion that the sheriff should get to know about the place the minute they took on the job, but that wasn't up to her. That fell to the Captain and he always chose to keep the new sheriffs in the dark in the first instance. Always l turned to disaster, she honestly thought that John McCoy would have learned by now, but clearly not.
Sam sat down and beckoned for James to do the same thing, which he did and smiled across at him, waiting for him to start questioning her on whatever he wanted to know. “So, I'm really just interested in getting to know more about the town, and what the residents think of their Captain at the station.” He needed to get as many opinions as possible. He continued to smile and brought out the same notebook from earlier, to take down any notes. He hated being stuck in the middle between John and Rachel, in fact, he felt it rather unfair of them to put him that position when he had just started.
She had a feeling that he was going to ask, somehow she had gotten that from his aura. He was different to the other sheriffs they had before. He was not going to take any nonsense, she could tell that, sense it. Call it her a witch prowess if you like. One thing that she loved was being able to read auras, and his aura was telling her that he was strong and could take anything. It also told her that he was different to the readings she would get from normal humans. Did that mean that he was like many of the other residents here and if so, did he even know it? She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of him, and realising she had been quiet for far too long, laughed a little, and waved her hand, “Sorry, got lost in a world of my own there. Not really sure what I can tell you about the town, it's just like any normal one to be honest. As for the Captain, he has his flaws, like we all do, but I trust him.” That was her being as honest as she could be without breaking that rule, not to talk too soon about what this place was and who lived here.
So, that was two people now that seemed to think their Captain was just fine. Nothing bad about him, other than the usual flaws that any normal person would have. But then, this was only two people out of a town of how many? He had no idea how many residents lived here, it could be a long task to try and find out anything bad about John. He might have to make up his own mind from just talking to a few. However, he personally hadn't felt uneasy around John or Rachel. So this was going to get very problematic very soon if he didn't get ahead of it. “What about the residents as a whole, of those that you know well, have they ever shown any distrust of John McCoy? You know how you can have bent coppers.” Sam put her hand up to her mouth, in shock. “Hell no, there is no way that John is a bent copper. He's been good for this town. He runs it as well as he can. I can't talk for the detective mind you. She's not been here as long, but I can't say anything bad, as well, I don't really know all that well to be fair.” That was true, their paths hadn't crossed all that often.
James started writing down what Sam said, two people that were strongly against the idea that John was distrusting or bent. Maybe the best thing he could do would be to talk to John and Rachel direct, separately to try and get to the bottom of their distrust to one another. It was at that point the telephone in the shop went off, “Can you excuse me a moment a please?” Sam asked to which James smiled and nodded his head. Sam went off to take the call, James tried not to listen in too much, but it was fairly easy to catch most of the conversation from this side of it. From Sam's end, it went like this.
“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. How bad is it? Should you not go to the medical centre for it? No? Why not? Oh, right, don't want them to know about it. Well I think I have that in stock, wait and I'll just check.” A few seconds later, she began to talk again, “Yes, I do, I'll make up the potion when my visitor has left and it will be ready for you to collect a little later. Okay, thank you for your custom. See you soon, bye.” She put the phone down and returned to James. “Sorry about that, customer call.” James nodded, “That's fine, I should really leave and let you get back to work, it was lovely meeting you.” Sam stood up, “Yes, and you, I hope you get to meet more of us, we're a good lot here.” That was true, though they had their fare share of trouble, it was usually from outsiders, not from the residents, as far as she was concerned anyway. James nodded, “I'm beginning to work that out, see you later.” However, her phone call hadn't gone unheard and the one word that kept going around in his head was potion. Potion? Then he remembered the name of the shop, Magical Remedies. Was there a connection there and if there was, what did it mean? It wasn't as if he ever believed in all that magic mumbo jumbo. He shook his head and that was followed by a slight shiver, maybe there was more to this town than he first realised. He was beginning to wonder what he had let himself in for by agreeing to work here, true, it had it's glorious perks like that lovely house of theirs, but... something was off.
Should he try to talk to anyone else or head back to the station and just have it out with the pair of them? Then he decided that he would try to talk to at least one other person to see what they had to say. So he went back into his car and drove around some more, he still wanted to leave the shopping mall and entertainment complex, you couldn't have a proper conversation there. He finally came across a park and decided to stop there. He could take a walk around and see if he could come across anybody that might either didn't work or were on their breaks.
It was fairly quiet to be fair, which he expected, but the walk was good to stretch his legs. He went the full circle of the duck pond and boating lake and even round the mini theme park area, to be honest, this gated town had a lot to it. He might come here for some relaxation when the weather is good. Rori would love it here too. On his way back, he finally saw someone, they were sitting on a bench and looking a little forlorn, if that was even the right description.
Introducing Whitney Granger played by Minka Kelly
As he approached, she slowly looked up, with a hand over her eyes, blocking the sun, “Hello?” She asked, not sure who he was and then noticing the badge. Oh, the new sheriff, he was here finally was he? How long was he going to last she thought, not long, none of them did. They couldn't hack the pace of life in this community. It took a strong person to live here. “You're blocking my sun.” She said sighing, James moved out of the way, “Sorry ma'am, I'm James Hanaway, the...” He didn't need to finish his sentence, she did it for him. “The new sheriff, yeah, yeah. You're about the tenth we've had over the space of a few months. They don't last, neither will you.” She looked away, lost in her thoughts once more.
Nice, thought James, she certainly didn't sugar coat her words. “Well, that's a lovely prediction, but you don't know me sweetheart. Tougher than I might look. Anyway, I'd like to talk to you if you don't mind. I'm trying to get to know more about this place and the residents.” She turned round and wrinkled her nose, “Figured.” Shrugging, she then gave him a sort of smile, through the scowl, “I guess I can try to tell you something. What do you want to know?” She wasn't going to give much away, she kept her cards very close to her chest, but if there was anything she could say or do, to stick it to John McCoy, then she would.
James gave her a bit of a smile, “Well, I've already spoken to a couple of the other residents, so I'm just looking for a bit more insight to be honest. How well do you trust your Captain John McCoy at the station?” This was met with a look of disgust, and then she bellowed with what he could only describe as evil laughter. “Him? Do you want the truth or something beautiful?” She asked. If she never saw John McCoy again it would be too soon. She was now in the perfect relationship, but she had thought she had that once before, with John. It was a great relationship, she even hoped that they would get married, have kids, the whole white picket fence too. But no, it wasn't to be. The soon as he got that job, it all fell to shit. He became a stickler for rules, which was only to be expected, but she had hoped that when it came to her, he would be lenient, but no. To her, he would deserve what was coming to him.
Well, he hadn't expected that. Or maybe he should have. Rachel was suspicious of him and two people out of a community of god knows how many wasn't really anything to go on, was it? But then, neither was one person's account of John. “You don't seem best pleased with him, can you elaborate? I'd kind of like to know who I am working for.” He sat down on the bench next to her, but not too close, feeling that a bit of distance was likely in order. “Well, let me put it this way, I'd rather you were the captain and I don't even know you, so, take that any way you like darling.” She flicked her hair, she really wasn't in the mood to talk about John McCoy and she definitely wasn't in the mood to talk to any member of the law and especially one she didn't even know all that well. “Is that all?” She asked, but James put his hand up, “No, I really need to know what it is you have against him, please? I am supposed to be looking out for the community, I can't do my job properly if I don't know the truth and it would be nice to know who I am talking with as well.”
Whitney sighed, she wasn't going to get out of this she realised, but did she want to spill her darkest secrets about their sordid relationship? It would put her in the firing line and she couldn't have that. She had to think about this, without implementing herself. “Can I just say that we had a relationship that ended badly. So I'm probably not the best person to talk to about him.” Ah, now that did make a difference thought James. But, did that mean that she could be a lover scorned? If so, could she be trouble? She didn't look like, attitude aside. “Right, well, okay, how about Rachel? Do you trust her at all?” Oh for the love of god, thought Whitney, what was with all the questions. Now she had to be careful once more, because if she said too much she would be opening a can of worms. But then, didn't she want to stick it to the bastard? “I like Rachel, if you must know I'm the reason she's here.” She smirked a little, “I hired her to investigate John.” She added for good measure. What harm was it going to do? The guy wanted the truth, he was going to get it, just maybe a slightly twisted version of it.
James's jaw dropped open a little, now he definitely wasn't expecting that. She hired Rachel to investigate her ex? Why? Would she tell him if he asked her? Something told him that she wouldn't, or at very least be careful with her words. “Right, and I don't suppose you will tell me why you did that? Because you see, I'm in a very awkward situation, John wants me to spy on her for him but she also wants me to spy on him for her.” Whitney laughed, she couldn't help it. Oh dear, the guy really was in a bad situation. She knew Rachel well enough to know that she would eat him up and spit him out if he didn't do what she wanted, but also knew that John could tear him a new one if he didn't help him. She kind of felt sorry for this guy, he had no clue what he was getting into, obviously. She finally waved her hand, “I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh, not really. I feel for you being stuck between those two; and no, I don't want to tell you why I hired her, you'll just have to find that out for yourself and now I am going. I shall or shall not talk to you another time. Goodbye now.” She realised that she hadn't even given her name, but did she want to? Oh what the hell, “I'm Whitney Granger by the way, tell John I says hello.” With that she stormed off, backside wiggling like she was on a catwalk. Well, that girl was full of sass. He shook his head. Well, at least he was a bit further forward on all of this mess. Maybe it was time to talk to John, no, actually, it might be better to talk to Rachel, a full on face to face, find out exactly what she knows about why Whitney hired her and he would definitely not be saying hello to John for her. Not until he had spoken to Rachel.
He walked back to his car and made his way back to the station. Luckily Rachel was there and it would seem that John wasn't. Good opportunity to talk to her directly about this. “Can I talk to you in my office Rachel?” He asked, and she shrugged and smiled a little, “Of course.” Maybe he had information for her on John, but that would be very quick work if he did. She sat down, “I'm all ears, shoot.” Raising his eyebrow, he simply said, “Whitney Granger.” The look on Rachel's face said it all. So, she had indeed been hired by her, but for what reason? “I can't believe she told you. Yes, she hired me to investigate John, but I was struggling to do it alone, and that's why I asked you to help me.” James frowned, “By saying that you had suspicions about him? That wasn't fair. What in hell is going on?” He was only a few days into the job and he felt like he was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Rachel wasn't sure if she should tell him or not, then realised that she probably wasn't going to get away with it. “Fine, Whitney says that John is responsible for the many deaths that we've had in the community. I was quite shocked to be honest, as he seemed to come across nice enough, but don't they always say it's the least expected ones that end up being guilty? I mean, a Captain, at a station, where better to hide in plain sight and get away with, well, murder.” James wasn't sold. He didn't know Rachel or John enough yet to really make a judgement, but he did like to think he was good at judging characters and John didn't come across as a murderer. “I'm not convinced, I need more proof, I don't want to get caught up in your conspiracy theories over this, so don't put me in that situation again, you got it?” He was so angry, but he did have a reason to try and get to the bottom of this now, but he was going to do it alone, and he definitely wasn't going to report back to Rachel.
She was not happy and because her emotions were all over the place, she wasn't in full control of her powers, and she had to clench her fists, the last thing she needed was for something to happen in front of James, he knew nothing about this town yet and she didn't want him to know that, not only was he dealing with a nightmare detective, but a shapeshifter as well. Yes, that's what she was. When he first drove into the town, it was her posing as John that James actually introduced himself to. She had done that, so that she could suss him out for herself incognito of course. She hadn't even realised she had mentioned about how pretty his daughter was, it was a wonder that he hadn't picked up on that and called her out on it, as John of course. Managing to compose herself, she sighed and got up, and began to leave his office, “Fine, but if you find anything out, you need to tell me, I'm the one that Whitney hired not you, have you got that?” James scratched at the back of his head, “Got it.” He needed to take another look at that broken notebook, he had to try and find out what other information those pages held, could they have anything about John on them? That could be the key to this mystery about John.
e
