Location of Thread: Residential area at night - neighbourhood patrol Characters Involved: Mike Rennie & introducing Kandy Barrett Played By: Alexander Koch & April Bowlby
It was late at night, in the middle of the week and Mike Rennie was taking his turn of the neighbourhood watch. It wasn't really an official thing, just something that the residents had taken upon themselves to start, to make sure that the more less friendly residents behaved themselves. This had become even more of a thing after poor Rori had been attacked by a female fae essence sucker not even from Pandora. Mike was in his final year at the school, not that he should even have been there at all. Mike was a lot older than he looked. No, he wasn't a vampire, but he didn't age as quickly as most normal human beings do. He only went to the school for the final year to keep up appearances and because he was the best jock there, and their best football player. Not to forget that everybody just seemed to really flock to him. It was like he had a natural charm, but there was more to it than that. He had pushed to become the coach instead, and as the current one was almost near retiring age, it might very well be his job soon enough and he would much prefer that, than play the school kid much longer, just to play his favourite game.
Each resident had taken it in turns to do a night crawl, and they did it in shifts. John McCoy would be taking over from him in the next hour. He had the dog with him also. Apollo was a good dog, obedient, soft, but if he sees anything happening that shouldn't, then he goes right for the jugular. Mike felt safe with him, even if he could more than take care of himself if he ran into trouble anyway. Suddenly Apollo began to make whimpering noises. “What it is Apollo?” Mike asked the dog aloud, not that he expected a reply and of course didn't get one. Only witch familiars spoke back to them as far as he was aware. Then Mike heard a rustling noise and realised that's why Apollo had, spoken, for want of a better word. It was his way of warning him that there was someone else out and about. The vampires in Pandora were not allowed to hunt at night and the wolves had a time schedule to stick to, so it wouldn't or shouldn't be any of them either. Trying to figure out what direction the noise was coming from, he began to walk backwards and then he felt himself bumping into someone. “Oh for goodness sake, can you not watch where you are going?” A female voice spoke. It wasn't one that he was familiar with. Not that every resident knew everyone else, but most of them knew a fair few. As he turned, he was faced with a really pretty blonde woman.
“I apologise, I heard a noise and was trying to figure out where it had come from.” He tried to explain, and also apologising, the woman frowned, “Well, it's not the right thing to be walking around backwards, now is it?” She said, in her very well raised voice. It even sounded rather dated, like she was from the fifties or earlier. “Well, it's not something I do as a rule.” He was struggling to communicate with her and he wasn't sure why. Everybody usually fell at his feet without him even trying. She didn't seem to like him one iota. It was as though his powers were lost on her. Mike was a merman, the male version of a siren, and usually the females flocked at his feet, heck, some of the guys did it too, those that batted that way. She didn't have that far away look in her eyes, the one that told him the person was smitten and it was annoying him. Why was his powers not working on her, they usually worked on everybody. To say it was irking him was putting it mildly. “I see.” She simply said and scowled at him. “What are you doing out and about at this time of night anyway young man?” She asked, and Mike internally laughed. Young man, does she have no idea how old I actually am? I'm probably way older than she is. “I could say the same thing about you old lady.” He said, mocking her, as she had him.
The look of disgust on her face was quite hilarious, and it took Mike all he had not to burst out into laughter. “Ugh, how very dare you. This is not an old lady's body, do you need new eyes boy?” Now he did laugh, he couldn't help it, who was she? He had never seen her around before, and that old fashioned way she spoke made him think that she came off the ark. “Well lady, I'm not as young as you think. So, what are you doing out and about? Looked to me like you were lurking somewhere.” Kandy stood back, hands on her hips, looking affronted. “Who me? Lurking? Never. You have no idea who you're talking to, do you?” He didn't, he hadn't ever seen her before. Who was she? “Well, where did you come from? Not seen you before. Have you arrived recently?” Mike asked, genuinely interested. She laughed, “No, silly boy, I've been here probably longer than you.” Oh, well, if she looks that young, and been around a while, then maybe she was a witch or a vampire or something else that kept someone eternally youthful. “I still say you have no idea how old I actually am. Who is to say that I'm not older than you?” He stood his ground, and Kandy began to wonder if maybe he was someone quite big in the community, someone she hadn't been made aware of.
“Well then, why don't you tell me how old you are and whom am I speaking to? I'm Kandy Barrett, no idea why you haven't heard of me. I used to be in movies you know.” Oh, thought Mike, that's where he had seen her. Not movies, an advert on television. He chuckled, “You mean a breakfast cereal ad?” Kandy pulled a face, “I did more than that you awful boy.” Mike chuckled some more, “I am not a boy. I'm hundreds of years old, not my fault that I look like this eternally.” Hmm, Kandy thought, didn't answer who he was, did he? “And name? I might take a guess that you are a vampire or something equally horrible.” Mike shook his head, and then sighed, “No, merman actually, which is why I am beyond frustrated that you aren't falling at my feet like most women do. Michael Rennie is my name. I'd say I was pleased to meet you, but not sure if I am or not. What are you?” He asked, and Kandy laughed and put her finger to her lips, “A woman never tells.” With that, she skipped off leaving him with his mouth opening and closing as if he was catching flies.
There was something about her, he didn't know what it was, but he didn't trust her, not one iota. He kept a close eye on her to see where she might be going and from what he could tell, she wasn't heading in the general direction of any home. In fact, she was heading towards the woods area of the town. He decided to keep a low profile and follow her, to see exactly what she was going to be getting up to. Things had been fairly quiet in the town until that guy arrived to attack Rori and now this woman, maybe they were about to get a lot of trouble once more, it had been too long, but it wasn't as though they welcomed trouble.
Location of Thread: Residential area at night Characters Involved: Mike Rennie & Kandy Barrett with Gabriel Preston & James Hanaway Played By: Alexander Kock & April Bowlby with Tom Ellis & Josh Holloway
So, Mike followed Kandy silently and discreetly all the way to the woods. He had to hush Apollo a few times. The way that he kept making whimpering noises, he had to think that it was something to do with the woman. It could only mean that she probably wasn't human. However, as he couldn't read people, he had no idea what she actually was. Now she had one up on him, as he had told her what he was. He wished he hadn't said a word. Why was she talking like an old fashioned woman as well? That was quite creepy. So she might be the budding actress Kandy Barrett, but the spirit within was not human, he could tell that much. So, had some nasty demon or divine angel taken over the body? But then, if it was either a demon or an angel, Gabriel would be aware of it, and he hadn't said anything about a new angel or demon in Pandora.
Kandy wasn't aware that Mike had continued to follow her, she had thought she had lost him. So she was sure that the coast was clear and bent down to open up a something. From Mike's view it was difficult to tell, maybe a chest or a coffin or something similar? He watched as she dragged something out of it, or was it someone. He shifted position slightly to see if he could get a better view. Kandy was now holding onto what looked like another human being and then he was horrified to see her mouth open up, to a non human size as it devoured the person. As she did this, there was a white glowing light around her and then then it disappeared as quickly as it had come. Apollo barked, and Mike crapped it, and began to move away quickly. “Who's there, who made that noise. Is that you Michael Rennie. Only you had a dog. You dared to follow me, you foolish boy.” The voice said, but Mike was not for stopping as he continued to get away from there as quickly as possible. It was the first time he had seen a demon feasting like that and it was unnerving and he wanted to get away as quickly as possible. However, that wasn't to be the case, as a hand was soon on his shoulder and the dog was whimpering once more. “You cannot run from me. I am way quicker and way stronger than you will ever be. Now, please be a dear and forget what you saw there, there's a good boy.” She was smiling, but there was an edge to the smile, it freaked him out. He found himself nodding, even though he wanted to scream to everyone that would listen that they were in for deep trouble, with some human killing demon machine. But he couldn't, it was almost like he was being controlled.
Kandy smiled, “As I thought. Now run along, go back home, take little doggy with you and never utter a word of what you seen here tonight.” Mike nodded and backed away, stumbling over his feet as he did so and the further away from her got, Apollo whimpered less and began to bark, turning in the direction of Kandy. It told him that there was definitely something off about her, but he had no idea. Clearly she was some sort of demon, but what kind was it? He had yet to see a demon demolish a human being like that before. He had to talk to Gabriel about it. He had to know something surely? Shivering as though someone had walked over his grave, he made his way back home. It was going to be John's turn next, and instead of waiting for him to come and trade off, he went straight inside. He had to shake off what had happened earlier.
**** The Next Morning ****
After a fitful sleep, Mike made his way round to the Preston residence, he had to talk to Gabriel. Did he know this demon and if so, could he do something about it. There had been peace with Gabriel's demons for as long as Mike could remember. He knocked on the door, and then rang the bell, before it was answered. “Can I talk with you, inside please?” Mike said, and Gabriel raised his eyebrow, but nodded with his head as he opened the door further. “Come in.” Mike followed him inside and he closed the door over. Once they were both in the lounge, Mike didn't hesitate, “Do you know if any of your demons are on the prowl again? I witnessed something last night that turned me into a quivering wreck.” Gabriel poured a couple of glasses of Scotch and handed one over to Mike. “Explain.” He said simply as he sipped on his own drink. “Well, I followed this woman, whom I don't recall seeing. Turns out she is the actress or budding one, Kandy Barrett, but something was off. I followed her, seen her demolishing a human being for fuck's sake man.” He swallowed the Scotch whole and Gabriel immediately filled the glass and handed him another. After his conversation with James the other night, it did make him wonder if this person was indeed Lilith. He knew the budding actress in question, but if Lilith had cloaked herself, he wouldn't be able to see if it was Lilith or tell if it was her. Which was annoying. But it did sound like the kind of thing she'd do.
“James, the sheriff, he came to me about this code he had found in a book and that Lilith's name was mentioned as possibly having caused a lot of killings in Pandora over a space of time. Thing is I can't sense her at all. So I can't tell you for certain if it would be her or not. However, if it's just one of the hell demons, then I'll take care of it. Thank you for letting me know.” Mike finished the second Scotch he had been given and nodded his head. “Fair enough. She rightly spooked Apollo too, he kept whimpering when we were close to her. Creepy, man, I'm telling you.” Gabe nodded, and waved his hand, “Okay, like I said, leave it with me.” When Mike left, and he closed the door, he sighed, rubbed at his temples and said aloud, “Bloody hell, just when I think I'm finally getting a rest.” He picked up the phone and dialled James's number. When James answered, he explained that he had to talk to him and could he come over immediately.
Moments later, there was another knock at his door, Gabe opened it, gave him a bit of a smile, and beckoned for him to come in and the soon as they were in the lounge he said, “Might have a lead on Lilith, but I can't say for certain if it's her as I said before, I can't sense her. I had Mike Rennie at my door this morning to tell me about a rather creepy encounter he had last night with a woman that seemed to devour a human. I have no clue if it's Lilith, or just a normal devourer demon, but it would be the kind of thing she would do.” James nodded, and scribbled down notes on his notebook. “So, how do we find out if this creature Mike saw last night was Lilith or not?” Gabe shrugged, because for once, he had absolutely no idea. “Not a bloody clue. Lilith has to be cloaked, I can't sense her essence. So even if I were to lay eyes on this Kandy, I wouldn't know if it was Lilith controlling her or not. Have you managed to talk to Sam about the possibility of tracking a cloaking spell in Pandora at all?” James shook his head, because he hadn't. He had been wound up over Rori getting attacked the other night and trying to get to grips with his own new found powers.
Gabe waved his hands, “You've had bigger problems, that's fine. I know Rori wanted to help, but I think she's still too young, however, we have another strong witch in our midst, Nick's mother. Lana Chandler, can you talk with Sam first chance and see if she'd be happy to work with Lana and see if they can figure out a cloak in Pandora at all?” James wrote down the name Lana, it would be nice to meet Nick's mother, even after the few weeks he had been here, he knew he still hadn't met everyone yet. “I can do that, yeah. I'll contact her when I leave, and set up a meeting with her.” Gabe patted James on the shoulder and left it there, “Good man, good man.” With his hand being there a little longer than normal, he felt something, like a connection. He had no idea why he would have a connection with James though. It was puzzling him. For a second or two he had an idea what it could be, but then that would mean that, no, no that wasn't possible, was it? He would have to look into that later. “So, how is Aurora after her horrible ordeal the other night? She was in quite a bloody state, not that I blame her to be honest. That piece of shit will pay for that.” James grunted a little, if he could, he would tear that bastard from limb to limb for what he had put his daughter through. “Yes, well, no argument from me Gabe, no argument at all. Thank you for asking after her, she's fine, better than me to be honest. She's very resilient. Probably her witch side maybe, or the Fae side, I have no clue.” He chuckled a little, and then put the book away. “I'll give Sam a call and see if I can talk with her and will get back to you later to let you know how I got on. I'm sure Sam will have no issue working with another witch, she seems very easy going.” Gabe nodded his head, he knew Sam well enough, but somehow, he felt that James asking her for the favour would be better than he himself asking. Sam wasn't a Campbell and so he didn't have the same alliance, though, to be fair, he respected all witches, he had to, Nick's mother was one after all.
Location of Thread: Magical Remedies Store Characters Involved: Sam Austen, James Hanaway & Lana Chandler Played By: Evie Lily, Josh Holloway & Kristin Kreuk
James had called Sam the minute he left Gabriel's house and she was only too pleased to hear from him. She seemed even more happy at the idea of him coming to talk with her. She definitely had a soft spot for the new sheriff, who wouldn't, he was tall, and handsome, everything a woman like her would want in a man. So she had busied herself, making sure she had looked presentable, before he arrived. A short time later, the door to the shop was opened and the usual noise alerted her. She walked out from the back, with a bright smile on her face. “Hey Mr Handsome Sheriff.” Continuing to grin, and James shook his head, pointing to it, “What did I tell you before? I ain't gonna get back out that door soon with those kinds of words.” Sam blushed slightly but laughed, “Oh yes you will, I can easily make the opening bigger, magic, remember?” She winked and laughed some more. James was quite literally hooked on her. In fact, she reminded him a lot of his late wife Carolyn. The same dark locks and bright smile, sparkling eyes. She put the closed sign on the door and locked it, “Why don't you come though to the back, where it's more comfortable to talk.”
James remembered that from the last time and so followed her through. He loved the old fashioned feel the shop had, and even the back of it was just the same. You could see the brickwork and the old style fireplace. The furniture was a little more modern thankfully and he sank down into the armchair, while Sam sat across from him. “So, what's happening now? I assume this is following up on the whole code and Lilith thing?” He hadn't told her about Rori the other night, but she had been right about it being about Lilith. He nodded, “Yeah, a little update you could say. I have something else to tell you though first. Rori was attacked a few nights ago. A vampire that feeds on female Fae essence apparently. I was so thankful that Nick and Gabriel came to her rescue. Well, actually, a complete stranger was the first to help. He comes from Luna Cove. Ryan Branson, heard of him at all?” Sam shook her head, and took both of James's hands in her own and squeezed them gently.
“I'm not familiar with the name, no, but I have heard of Luna Cove. That's the place where most of the Campbell Coven moved to as far as I'm aware. I'm sorry that happened to her. She needs to get more in tune with her powers. Has she thought any more about having me tutor her in her witch side?” She hadn't seen Rori since the day that James had introduced her and she had offered to help. “I'm not sure, she's been getting all caught up in this talisman thing for the gate and of course working on this new alliance with Gabriel. I'm sure she will be in contact with you about it, as I dare say, the attack spooked her somewhat.” Sam nodded, she could imagine how upset Rori would have been. Heck, she was much older and would have been scared shitless if she had been attacked like that. “Well, just remind her that I'm here for her if she needs me.” Sam said smiling, and James winked and smiled back, “Will do. Anyway, one of the residents, Mike Rennie? He was doing the patrol thing last night, and came across a suspicious female. He followed her, only to come across her apparently devouring a human. He had no idea if it was a Pandora resident or not, but said he was fairly spooked. He took it to Gabriel, who contacted me. Wondering if it's possible that it's Lilith as it's her kind of behaviour.” He explained which made Sam raise her eyebrow, and tilt her head slightly, “But he would sense her, right?” James nodded, “He should, but he can't. That's why he asked me to talk with you. To see if there was some spell you could do to see if someone is walking around with a cloaking spell. He also suggested that you get the help of Nick's mother, Lana Chandler?” Sam smiled and nodded.
Yes, Lana was also quite a powerful witch, in fact, if she hadn't known any better, she'd have sworn that she was a Campbell herself, but her name was Chandler, and it wasn't even married to her current partner. “So, do you want me to contact Lana then?” Sam asked smiling, after all, it would be weird for James to do it as he hadn't met her yet. “If you could, yes, please.” Sam smiled, “Sure, give me a few seconds.” Sam got up and went through to the front of the shop where she got better signal on her phone and dialled Lana's number. After a quick conversation, she returned to James. “She's on her way. I'll put the coffee machine on, would you like one?” James nodded, “Yes please.” So Sam turned it on and took out three mugs, already remembering what James took in his and knowing what Lana took, she had all drinks ready by the time Lana knocked upon the door to the shop, as Sam had locked it.
She opened it and welcomed Lana inside. “Hi, lovely to see you again Lana, thanks for coming.” To which she replied with, “Of course, always a pleasure.” Now Lana might be in a long term relationship, but she knew a hunk of love when she saw one and she was looking at one right now. “Who he?” She said, her eyes twinkling, and Sam slapped her arm, “Eyes off, I laid mine on him first. He's the new sheriff, James Hanaway, besides you've got a man.” Lana laughed, “Doesn't mean I can't window shop, you get in there and don't let him go.” She laughed and Sam joined in, “Well, we've flirted a lot but that's as far as it's gone so far.” Lana pushed her gently, “Well, make the first move already, men can be so slow on the uptake.” With that, the both of them made their way into the back shop. James stood up and held his hand out for Lana to shake, but she enveloped him in a hug instead and placed a kiss on both of his cheeks. “Very pleased to meet you Sheriff James Hanaway, Lana Chandler, want to fill me in?” She then noticed the coffee, “Ooh, coffee, thanks.” She lifted the mug up and began sipping on it straight away.
James sat down again, “Well, it's quite possible we have Lilith in our midst in town somewhere. Young Mike Rennie got a bit of a scare last night when he came across a demon devouring what he felt was a human being. He was told not to say anything, but of course he did. Gabriel, that is to say Lucifer, thinks it might be Lilith but he can't sense her, like he should...” He didn't need to finish the sentence, for Lana finished it, “...and he thinks that she might have a cloaking spell, that is highly possible. So, you want me and Sam to try and figure out if there is someone with one in the town and then try to break it?”
Whoa, she was very perceptive thought James, very quick on the uptake. He nodded, “Yeah, that's what Gabriel asked, if it was possible to find out.” Lana nodded, “It's definitely possible for Sam and I to join forces and try find out if anybody has one yes, whether we can break it or not, well, that will depend on who created the cloak in the first place.” There were some dark witches out there and if it was created by them, then it was possible that neither she or Sam would be powerful enough to break it. This worried James a little, “So, if it was a really powerful dark witch, then you might not be able to break it if there is one?” Lana nodded, but Sam looked up, “Of course, if that was to be the case, then your Rori could very well be the one to break it. She's the strongest witch we have in Pandora right now.” She looked a bit doubtful, as she had a feeling that it wouldn't fly with James and he did look rather hesitant about it. “If it were up to me, I'd say hell no, I don't want her getting involved, however, she's her own woman, she's going to be adult enough soon anyway, nothing I say would stop her if she wanted to. Let's just see what kind of cloak it is first and if you think you need her help, I'll let her decide, is that fair?” Both women smiled and nodded. “Sounds fair to me.” Sam agreed and Lana joined in, “Definitely fair.” All three, sat in comfortable silence while they finished their coffees, and when they had, Lana spoke, “So, do you want to work on this spell, to see if there is someone with a cloak? That way, James can report back to Gabriel.” Sam smiled and nodded her head, “Yeah, sure, let's do it.” Since James had no clue about magic, he just sat where he was and let the girls carry on with what they were doing.
It was quite fascinating watching them work together. Hands together, and citing things in a language he had no clue about. He did have a feeling that it was probably Latin, as most spells apparently were written in. A few minutes later and they had both stopped and turned to him. “There is definitely someone walking around with a cloaking spell, is it the girl from last night? That we can't answer.” Sam said and Lana added, “However, if we can break the spell, then it won't matter if we can't answer, as Gabriel will sense Lilith and he can hunt her down.” So, it was that simple then, all they had to do was break the cloak and all would be well with Pandora, well, almost, since there was still that bastard to take care of that attacked his Rori. “So, can you try to break it then, right now?” He asked, he just felt that it would be better if he had more to take to Gabriel than just, yeah, someone has a cloak around town. He knew that he would want to know who it was, better still, for it to be broken.
Lana smiled, “Sure, we can try, but like we said, if it was created by someone strong, we might not be able to.” So, once more she and Sam joined hands, and this time James stood up, to get a better look at what was happening. Their eyes were closed and they had pure concentration on their faces, there was also a glow around them, if that was possible. A slight breeze was swirling around them also, with their hair fluttering and papers rustling. After a few minutes of this however, the women broke apart looking exhausted and both had a little blood coming from their noses. “Sorry James, that is one powerful cloak, it's impossible to remove.” Sam said followed with Lana agreeing, “Dark magic, we can't do it. Your daughter however, being a Campbell, might just be the extra boost we need.” He still wasn't sure about that, but he also knew Rori enough to know that she would jump at the chance to help. “I'll talk to her and then I'll talk to Gabriel tomorrow. I'm in no hurry to report back to him.” Maybe he should be in a hurry, but truth be told, something about Gabriel still made him feel weird, he wasn't sure what it was. It was like they had a connection and that was impossible, so it kind of spooked him a little. With that Lana kissed Sam on the cheek, “I'll speak to you soon chick.” Then getting closer to whisper, “Don't let him go.” She squeezed her arm and then she made her way to James. “Lovely to meet you, take care of that girl, her heart needs someone like you taking care of it.” She winked and then hugged him and kissed his cheek also, with that, Lana left the two of them alone.
Well now, awkward? No, not really, James was grinning at Sam like the cat that caught the cream and Sam was blushing up a storm, “So, what do you say about going for a meal later then? Might as well do as I'm told and take care of that heart of yours.” He winked and Sam laughed, nodding her head, “I'd like that very much.” James then reached over and pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her forehead gently, “I'll pick you up at six.” He then left, walking out of the shop backwards, so he could see her face until he had left, only stumbling over his own feet the once.
