Co Post - About To Get Real
Already being accustomed to the spin on the morning news, this morning was different. It was her that was there, as the news break reads about an electrical accident overnight taking the lives of a number of residents, Sandy throws her remote across the room at the TV shouting at the TV
“Are people actually that stupid that they eat this up? Give me a break!” as she puts on a black leather jacket while heading out of her apartment.
She heads out into the parking lot and to her car wondering if the guy she couldn’t stop thinking about overnight was going to be at the diner. Did he reconsider with a nights sleep, after all, she was ‘one of them’ ... the Fed. She starts her car taking a breath before starting out toward Jackie’s. Sandy hopes that Kevin was there however would not blame the guy if he reconsidered.
Not much into coffee, Kevin sat alone at one of the booths at the diner, sipping a Coke and eating a hearty breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, hash browns and a side of pancakes. He had arrived at Jackie’s thirty minutes earlier and had read the morning paper on-line while he waited for his food. Each time the bell over the door rang he looked up, hoping to see Sandy standing there. With nothing better to do than wait, he dove into his food with relish, thinking about last night and the time he spent with her in his arms.
As Sandy pulls into Jackie’s parking lot and steps out of her car, she slips her hand into her purse and takes out a small vial of floral scented perfume spraying a small amount before heading to the front door. Once onside, she quickly scans the tables and booths, her eyes on Kevin as a smile forms.
She makes her way to his booth sliding in across from him. She smiles and softly
“See you’ve started, can you recommend anything good here?” with a slight laugh before a little more serious tone
“I assume you already heard the BS spin about overnight?” tapping her fingers atop the table in obvious frustration.
Kevin finishes chewing his mouthful then returns the smile. “Stay away from the food here...it’s filling,” he says with a laugh. “..and yes, I saw the news report. Same ol’ BS as usual. I’ve stopped letting it get to me. Otherwise I’d be pissy all the time.” He gives her a quick once over, then reaches for her hand. “You look nice. Smell good too. I hope you had a restful night. As for me, I stayed up and thought about you all night.” He winks at her then shrugs. “Really though, I did enjoy our ‘date’ and couldn’t wait to see you again. Normally, I would have spent hours blogging, but that Chen lady put me on edge. Not sure if I should write or hold my tongue.” He passes a menu over to her. “Not sure if you need this or not, but order anything. It’s on me.”
As Shawn walks to the table, she lets out “Oh My Gawd, Sandy.. You just look to die for.” quirking a brow at Kevin with a sly grin “... yea, you two look like a cute couple... “ before looking back to Sandy “... seriously gurl, what are you going to have?”
Sandy smiles at her friend and lightheartedly “Just the usual, french toast, toast - light on the butter, orange juice.” looking to Kevin “You want anything else Kevin?” with a soft smile on her lips.
Kevin laughs, “I still have these pancakes to eat. If I put away anything else, you’ll have to roll me out of here.” He pours syrup on the big stack of blueberry cakes and cuts into the dripping mass. “I have a pretty big appetite, but as my typical waitress, you probably already know that.” When Shawn walks off to put in Sandy’s order, Kevin leans forward. “I wrote up a blog entry about last night...didn’t post it...but was hoping for your critique. I left out the vampires, but did put in a mysterious figure. Would you read it?” He offers his tablet to her, with a hopeful expression since she has already admitted to not reading his stuff.
Sandy takes the tablet and skims over the content before letting out a sigh looking to Kevin.
“Jaque was a good friend to us over here, that is the name of the waiter that ‘died’ during the electrical mishap. I strongly ask that you NOT publish that.” as she slips a bluetooth connectivity USB flash drive from her purse.
“I wrote this last night, and I did read some of your blogs last night too. The woman who was in last night was Carla Rhoads, her husband - the one with the red eyes, his name was Brian. I don’t know who all was lost in the parking lot, but my story names names, gives a background on those who did not die in some damned freak accident. I know that Chen bitch is dangerous, but blindly allowing them to hide things ... this makes me angry.” looking to Kevin with a look of anger on her face, not toward him, but at what those she works for are manipulating.
At first, Kevin’s face falls, but as Sandy explains herself and gives him her version to read, his spirits lift, but only momentarily. “This is really good Sands (lol--nickname already), but I can not blog this. I’m already in hot water, but it isn’t me I’m worried about. It’s you and this is obviously not my writing. The Feds will know you were involved--that you witnessed the event with me. ..and I know they already do know, but putting it in print is like a slap across the face. I don’t have to put mine in, but I won’t blog yours either. Maybe we can find an easy middle ground? We’ll keep the names of the victims and their stories and maybe even include our vampire, but I am not sure about the whole freezing and exploding thing. That might be pushing it.”
Using her copy, he rewrites his version, adding in the information on the victims and changing his mysterious stranger to the transformed version of Brian Rhoads. The flickering of lights is left in as is the sparking of electricity. What he leaves out is the explosion of frozen particles, the one thing he has yet to figure out. Once again he hands Sandy his tablet. “How about this?”
As Sandy takes the tablet and starts to read the new version, Shawn returns with french toast, orange juice and rather than toast, she has included a cinnamon crunch bagel. Her tone upbeat and somewhat cheerleaderisque “There you go San San, and guys, don’t worry about the tab, I’ll pick it up for you, anything for such a cute couple.”
Sandy sighs, ‘San San’ ... yep, now all she waits for is the ‘long as we are all friendly... ‘ to come out... and it does
“Oh yea, San, I noticed on the schedule that you are off both Friday AND Saturday. You know, I wouldn’t ask if it were not a REAL emergency... “ Sandy sitting wishing Shawn would just skip the set up and ask what she is on about “... but you see, like there is this KILLER concert in Seattle Friday and Tom has asked ME TO GO! Girl, I would owe you sooooo much if you might cover my weekend. I would do ANYTHING you ever need for the rest of my life if you can do this for me.”
Sandy has a gentle smile on her face as she imagines asking Shawn to run into traffic as she did say she would do ‘anything’ ... also knowing that she would not cover anything for her once she takes this girls shift. Sandy simply politely says “Of course Sha, I’ve got your back girl, you have an awesome time, I want all the gossip on Monday.”
Shawn squeals “You are such a life saver San, and of course, all the up on Monday.” as Shawn goes back to other customers. Sandy looks to Kevin, her tone soft and almost apologetic “Was going to ask if you were busy this weekend, things seem to have changed... “ playing with her fork “... I tend to get used a bit. But your updated story, not as open as it could be, but you are right, there would be ‘eyes’ that would not be pleased reading the actual events. Publish this. And if you do have time this weekend, it would be nice if you might swing by while I’m stuck here.” with a slight laugh “... I could even comp you some pie to convince you.” a soft smile on her face.
Having kept a smile on his face throughout the girl’s negotiations and happy to have reached a middle point for his blog story, Kevin continues to feel good about the day when Sandy asks him to stop by the diner this weekend. “I would love to!” he says quickly. “Maybe if I come closer to quitting time we can go out for an ice cream or something? But I’ll take the pie too…” he adds with a grin. He does a quick transfer of the written piece to his blog then closes the tablet, knowing comments will be coming in pretty quickly with that story. He finishes up his breakfast and waits while Sandy eats, content to watch her over making small talk. “Once you’re finished there would you like to take a walk around at the park? They have some great trails and it’s not too crowded during the day. I have a friend that used to walk there all the time...she’s given me some pointers on the best paths, not to mention we could get in some private time too,” the last said with a shy smile.
Sandy offers a soft smile “I am going to have to take you up on that ice cream, then maybe a movie. And as far as a walk around the park, that sounds nice.” as she finishes her orange juice. “I’ll leave Sha a tip ... well, a tip besides to learn not to use nice people as I do have my limit.” placing a ten in the check booklet where Shawn had lined out the ‘Due Amount’ and placed a smiley face on the line.
Her phone chimes as she looks to a new notification received. She smiles to Kevin
“I had told you I have not read your Blog, well, I corrected that last night and have set a notification so I can see when you update things.” now standing waiting for Kevin.
Kevin gets up quickly, feeling giddy now that he knows he means enough to Sandy that she would want to know when he posted something in his blog. He finds all of this so surreal, wondering if he really is just having a dream. A really good one.
As they walk out of the diner, he reaches over and takes her hand, offering her a smile. “I’ll drive...should only take us a few minutes to get there,” he says as he opens the car door for her. As promised, the drive there is short and after parking he runs around to her side as she is getting out. Once again he takes her hand, then leads her to one of the shorter trails. “Are you good for a couple miles? Just a little uphill walking, but the view is gorgeous with a nice overlook...with benches so we can rest before heading back.” He squeezes her hand and leans over to kiss her lightly. “I still can’t believe you are here with me. God, I must be dreaming...”
As Sandy is about to speak, there is a squeal of tires as two Carter Lake police vehicles pull into the parking area with their overhead light bars active, one pulling behind Kevin’s car, the other pulling sideways close to Kevin and Sandy. The vehicle closest to Kevin, an officer exits
“Kevin Mercury... Carter Lake Police, I am going to need you to come with me pertaining to obstruction of an active police case we need to discuss with you.”
The officer closest to his car now out of his car too speaking on his radio. Sandy narrows her eyes folding her arms across her chest, rather firmly
“What active case are WE interfering with?”
Surprised and completely confused, Kevin looks to the officers and grumbles under his breath. “Yeah...what she said. What is going on? I’m not interfering in anything.” His mind immediately goes to last night...and his blog entry this morning. But it didn’t seem possible that the police would be jumping on that so quickly. Then there was also the whole thing with the time he had been picked up before...he couldn’t hope to be that lucky again and have them realize they made another mistake. He has never thought of Sandy as anything other than a pretty girl until the other night, and with this new information and her ability to go from sweet date to cool agent mode, he wonders if she might be able to get him out of this somehow. He pulls out his phone and hits the camera icon, putting it on record, then turning it towards the officers.
“Just want to let you know officers, I am recording everything you say, so be kind and gentle,” he says with a smirk.
The closest taps his body camera “We are recording everything as evidence too Mr. Mercury... “ as the officer recognises Sandy, offers her a smile “... and Miss Hamilton, this doesn’t involve you, only the guy next to you. Now Mr. Mercury, please accompany us to the station.”
Before anyone could do anything else, a blue Ford Taurus pulls into the parking area with a blue teardrop light on top. Chief Johnson exits with a tablet under his arm and heads toward the group at a fast pace. As he gets to Kevin, he holds up the tablet with his current blog displayed, his tone is beyond pissed
“Look here son, just what the fuck do you call this shit? I can think of a dozen different charges I can throw at your ass right now. This is an ACTIVE FEDERAL investigation you are blogging about with your crazy assed shit, I can have you in FEDERAL custody in under 10 minutes if you don’t take this shit down ... right ... fucking ... now!” Curt’s face red and a vein showing along his forehead.
Sandy pushes past the officer between her and Chief Johnson as she steps up in his face pulling her credentials displaying them in his face
“I would suggest you control your voice Chief, I’m Agent Hamilton with the FBI, now just what the hell are you on about with trying to throw Federal weight around. Get your ass back in your car, go back to Dunkin Doughnuts or the golf course or where ever the hell you came from and I’ll forget your idiots violated Kevin’s rights, I do want an apology from your fucking mouth piece there... “ nodding toward the closest officer “... and your cars out of the parking lot before I get my ID back in my purse.” Sandy now face to face with Curt.
Curt waives the officers off “Get back on patrol... “ before looking Sandy in the eyes “... and Fuck your fucking apology. You fuckers really need to get your shit straight yourselves, first I get a fucking call from Agent Geralido to pull the kid in and fuck with him, NOW you fuckers want the Kid left alone. Just fuck me to tears already, make up your damn minds on what you fucking people want from my Department.” before turning to head back to his car flipping her off as he gets to the car.
Within a minute, the cars are out of the parking area and Sandy still has a look of anger on her face before looking to Kevin softening the look, her lip trembling
“Oh god, I really had no idea this was going to happen. I could look into just what is up with this, there is no way anyone should be harassing with you for writing what happened. I could try and reach out to my agent in charge ... “ biting at her bottom lip “... oh heck, I think agent Geralido is a cover name she sometimes uses... “ another quirk of her brow “... and I think that I just ended my job at the diner. I was not suppose to identify myself ... You know what, I don’t really care. I don’t want to work for those kind of people anyway. What would you think of me as really just a waitress at the diner?”
Dumbfounded by all that just went down...and the words ‘fuck with him’ playing out in his head, Kevin stares at Sandy speechless. He opens his mouth to say something then just closes it, shaking his head then chuckling. “What the fuck just happened there?” he finally gets out between bouts of laughter. “You really are amazing...do you know that?” He reaches over and pulls her to him, wrapping his arms around her. He then takes her shoulders in his hands and holds her at arm’s length.
“After that performance, I won’t say no to anything you want to do. As long as you think it is in your best interest and not going to put you in danger, then I am all for it. Although the whole whipping out your federal ID and shoving it down those cop’s throats was a helluva sexy move.” He gives her his most charming smile then kisses her, lingering a little bit longer than before. “Still up for that walk? I could use a little exercise to work off this anxiety at almost taking a ride in the back of another police car. Shit…what’s with the whole “fuck with him’ shit. I’m getting tired of being on the butcher block.”
As Kevin pulls her close kissing her, she returns the kiss softly. She looks to him as they start walking, she holding his hand, her tone settled and soft
“That whole ‘fuck with him’ thing, I am going to do what I can to see a stop put to that. That is something that she does to try and intimidate people into doing what she wants them to. This might blow your mind, but she really is like a caged pitbull. She growls, snarls and is actually quite frightening ... but she doesn’t bite. Don’t get me wrong, she is capable of doing horrendous things, just not to regular people.” she offers him a soft smile “... you are not an international terrorist are you?” with a light laugh. “... Her words are ‘smoke and mirrors’, find something she can use and play off those fears or concerns.”
Her expression changes a little more somber “There is the other side, the one that I know exists but doesn’t. Shadows, Nightmares, an unregulated side that ‘does things’. When they are involved, people are not talked to, they don’t get threatened, they just disappear. They are involved in real national security matters, I have never heard of their involvement in local matters... “ biting at her lower lip “... just listen to me, sounding all like Jane Bond or something... “ with a little more lighthearted tone as she slips her phone out of her purse “... although it might sound like a cruddy idea, I think I should call Agent Nichols and find out if she called the local dogs on you and if so, I can ask her to back them off.”
Kevin scoffs. “Agent Nichols might seem harmless to you, but she has been a real pain in my neck. I am fine with you calling her though. I can’t imagine she is going to make things any worse.” He slows down to allow her to make the call, wondering if she will give her resignation now, or wait to think on it some more. “When you get off the phone, I was wondering if you could fill me in on the “Shadow” side of things. Seems I’ve heard that somewhere...maybe in a threat or something.” As he waits on her, he looks over at the lake, thinking how nice it would be to see Sandy in a swimsuit. Not at this lake though, not after what happened here, but somewhere a little safer. He lets out a chuckle...seems he was getting ahead of himself. He already had plans for the summer with her and it wasn’t even winter yet. He is going to take it slow...make sure she really likes him before he does something that might make himself look foolish--like swimming. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he fiddles with the rolled joint there, wanting badly to smoke it, but knowing Sandy isn’t into it. He can feel himself getting the jitters...he really needed to relax. This dating thing was more nerve racking than he thought.
As Sandy smiles as Kevin speaks, she looks to her contacts and selects CL Catering pressing call.
As the phone recording starts, she keys in a code and 4 digit extension. She gets a panicked look on her face and nearly drops her phone as a ringtone is heard along a nearby tree. The ringtone silences as the phone is answered
“This is Pam .. hello .. come on SanSan, talk to me..” as Pam steps out from along a nearby tree.
Sandy gasps out “Oh my gosh, I didn't ..” where she quiets as Pam puts up her hand.
Giggling Pam says “Just a sec, I'm on a call.. I crack myself up sometimes.” disconnecting the call casually strolling toward Sandy and Kevin.
“You were right to be concerned about your casually flipping your ID around like that Sannie. For what it is worth, I did not sick Barney Fife on the kid, in fact, Chiefie Weefie and I are not buddies right now..” not mentioning the last time she saw him, she came close to ripping his throat out “.. someone else has a hard on for the boy. Now we really have to discuss all this talk about Shadows Sannie..” now looking to Kevin “..and I suppose I now should tell you about shadows huh. Shadows are what happens when you stand in front of a light in a dark room..” with a giggle “..yep, I do crack myself up, I do. I would REALLY leave it at that sweetums.” as Sandy now is standing next to Kevin.
Kevin isn’t surprised in the least to see Pam. This seems to be her thing--popping in where she is least wanted. He puts his arm around Sandy, bringing her closer to him in a protective manner. “You're right Agent Nichols. We should leave it at that, especially if that will get you out of our hair. You can blame me, my curiosity is getting the better of me. I’ll stop asking Sandy questions. Now will you go away so we can enjoy our time together?” he says. ‘Don’t push it you stupid fuck!’ he thinks to himself next, but his hormones are in overdrive. He finally gets a girl who seems to genuinely like him, and nothing is going as planned. First vampires, then the police, and now Pam. He isn’t sure which is worse.
He narrows his eyes at Pam before speaking again. “If you really want to look into something, you should check on Rayne and your brother. Something fishy going on there.” He stops himself from saying anything further, actually surprised he has said that at all. Throwing his friend under the bus like that was not like him...at least not the old Kevin. He supposes his crush on Rayne is officially over. She is no longer his type..those eyes of her being the last straw.
Pam simply offers a sly grin and a light hearted laugh
“Oh sweetie, you hurt my lil feelings. What, you don't love me anymore?” before her tone turns more chilly “...and I would not be concern about lil ole me right now. The people that sicked Chiefie Weefie on you are the ones you need keep an eye out for. Finally found the people that are pulling his strings, will be a couple days to sort that out. I'd avoid any tan Fords you might see over the next couple days.”
Pam walks closer to Kevin and Sandy, Sandy now standing with her arms folded across her chest still being held by Kevin. Pam in a lighter tone
“I wouldn't get your panties all bunched up over Ray Ray and Davie, only thing fishy about those kids are when they try to cook fish.” she rolls her eyes a moment “..darn, wasn't my best funny, but you get the drift kiddos.”
Sandy leans into Kevin reaching to hold his hand, the one he still has his phone in as it records, shielding it from Pam's view assuming she arrived after Kevin had mentioned doing the recording. Her tone frustrated
“Agent Nichols, will you level with me, what in the living hell went on at the restaurant last night. That thing that was in was certainly not an electronic malfunction?”
Pam giggles “Now that is a good trick kiddo, throwing your voice through my Agent. But seriously Sannie, you know the whole above your pay grade thing.” now looking at the two with another sly grin.
Kevin looks at Pam, frowning. “I didn’t ask her to inquire about that...but I would like to know also. No matter what you tell us, we know it wasn’t the electricity malfunctioning. It was something new. Totally Sci-Fi. And giving us the ‘above your paygrade’ shit ain’t gonna fly either. Sooner or later I am going to put what I saw in my blog...and then what? You let the people in the tan Fords come get me? Then it will be on your conscious that you let me die. But I suppose you can live with that. Can’t you?” He stops, realizing his anger is starting to filter through his common sense. But he has one more thing he wants to get off his chest before he’s finished, and he decides, ‘what the hell’, he was already treading in deep water.
“I want to know one other thing Pam. Those things with the glowing eyes...are they vampires or something worse? Cause I’ve encountered more than one of them now, and I think I have a right to know. ...and I think you do know. ...and I think Rayne is becoming one also.” He stares closely at her as he mentions the last part, hoping the agent will give some hint at the truth of his accusation.
As Kevin speaks, Pam couldn’t help but to laugh out
“Oh sweetie, you are being such a drama queen, aren’t you. Or would it be drama king? Well, it would include the word drama in whatever you you were going for. Now let me think Real hard on this one, you tell me you are going to blog stuff that you already know people will frown on, And you want to know about the shiny eye people you say you ran across … I guess to put in the blog you already know would be frowned upon. Hummm, I think I will have to go with a No to answering your question.”
Pam slips her hand into her jacket removing one dollar handing it over to Kevin, her tone sarcastic “Tell you what love, take this and buy yourself a clue. I have tried drawing this out in crayon and it still hasn’t sunk in.” her tone resuming a playful banter “Now as far as the fords that might or might not be lingering around, just like the Chieffie Weefie, they are not mine, well, other than a distraction Momma is going have to spank, but your last lil venture in blog land … Well, you already saw the response first hand.” Pam rolls her eyes “... as far as letting the Ford people bring you to some airport parking lot where you will be morning news, I will deny saying this, I am a heartless bitch after all…” reaching over with her finger tapping along the side of his head “... I am trying to keep you from being a headline when you are found in SeaTac parking garage, can’t you get that in your blog crazed head?”
Pam steps back with a smile “Now as far as Ray Ray, she is no more a shiny eye person you may or may not have run across a few times than I am…” said with a giggle, her tone resuming a normal pitch “... Nope, Ray Ray is nothing to concern yourself with…. “ taking a moment to look across the parking lot then looking at her watch “...well, it’s about time these kiddos show up.” as three men in dark clothing approach from different directions, two with their hands in their jackets.
Co-post--A Walk In The Park
Kevin doesn't like being laughed at, and even more so he doesn't like the teasing that Pam is throwing at him, but he keeps his mouth shut, thinking at present this is the best plan of action. His arm remains around Sandy, her closeness comforting, not to mention the fact that she is helping him keep his phone hidden from view. ' God, where has this woman been all his life?' He is starting to feel all cocky again as Pam starts in about Rayne, but the sight of her beefy agents stops him from sassing back at her.
"Hey now," he says, "...what's this all about? I thought we were good here, you know? All that talk about not having me show up at the airport?" He looks briefly at the men, wondering how in the hell he is going to get past them, then decides he is not. No way. No how. If they had come in together, then he and Sandy could have made a dart up the path...maybe outrun them. ...but like this, he is trapped. "I suppose this is where you tell me to take down my blog or some nonsense. Right?"
Pam simply offers Kevin a quick smile dryly offering "For now sweetie, just step back, I think Momma is goin to be a little busy for a moment or two..." before looking to the three surrounding her, Kevin and Sandy having cut off normal escape routes.
Sandy starts to remove her .380 service weapon where the closest man draws a .45 auto leveling it in Sandy's direction, in a firm baritone voice orders "Don't think about it sweet cheeks, put your little pop gun on the ground!"
Grinning Pam giggles "Go ahead sannie, stay with kiddo while Momma talks with ... oh who to call en, I know, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton Tail.. oh I just crack myself up sometimes."
As Sandy sets her .380 on the ground and steps to Kevin holding him, the man with the .45 grumbles "You are a smart assed bitch, ain't you?"
Pam laughs "What can I say, it's a gift. Now ... well, suppose I'll call you Flopsy, so Flopsy, suppose you are the specialists that Ryan Defense Contractors brought in?" as the man is about to answer, Pam cuts him off "..don't try to answer what I already know. Problem with trying non sanctioned hits like the Mayor, your employer ends up in crosshairs theirself. Hope you cashed the check they gave you cause they are going to be on the 5:30 national news in a couple more days then the enditements start to come out. It will be another day when we come after you boys." Pam's tone goes cold "This will be my one and only best offer I will give you boys. Go back to what ever rock you crawled out from and pray to whatever diety you beleive in that it's not My people that find you when you are offically looked for."
The man with the .45 gruffly retorts "You are pretty stupid bringing empty threats to a gun fight. Now here is what is going to happen. For stopping us from killing the kid last week, you will take your own gun out and kill your agent and turn the gun on yourself. That is the painless option. The kid is going to OD in his car. If you have checked us out, you already know that would be the only best offer I will give you ... Bitch."
Pam looks up in the sky a brief second, her eyes widening as a grin forms across her lips, in another giggle "Oh bunnie wunnies, Momma really wasn't expecting this, she's suppose to be with the kids..."
A slight mist starts forming around the perimeter of the six, the mist becoming a rich fog unable to see through. The temprature in the perimeter drops 10 degrees instantly. The man with the .45 grumbles "Fuck this shit..." and shoots Pam in the chest. The only problem, the bullet remains stationary suspended in the air an inch from Pam's chest.
From the rich fog perimeter, Denise emerges still wearing her bleach white robes, her eyes pure white, she simply grumbles "Really, seriously, you ARE such a new born."
The man closest to Denise draws a .357 leveling it at her before screaming out in agonising pain dropping the gun, the frozen gun shattering when it hits the ground, the man having freezer burn forming on his hand where he held the gun that went to absolute zero instantly. The man staggering back "What the fuck are you?"
The other starts in a full run to run out of the area, as he reaches the fog bank he basically runs into a brick wall as she now has the inner perimeter frozen solid. Denise shaking her head softly "Okay new born, do your mind thing."
Pam's eyes now silver and looking into the man with the .45's eyes steps away looking to Denise with a giggle "sheesh 700, told you I'm not a new born..." and in the blink of an eye, Pam is in front of another and lastly the third who just starts to recover from running into the ice wall.
Still shaking her head, she asks "You got it now girl?"
"Yep, got it, planted in their mind to go to FBI headquarters and turn theirselves in and write full confessions. They are going to have no memory of now, the guy with the hand ouchie will think he scalded it on a hot pan, such a boy. Seriously girl, sorry about drawing them out."
Denise steps to Pam "Not to worry, and you are doing better at control, 5 years ago there would be 3 dead people to tend to. I am going to get back to the kids now." with that, she mistifies vanishing from sight, the fog bank quickly disipates and the 3 men start making their was toward the parking lot in a somewhat trance state.
Pam steps toward Sandy and Kevin, her eyes still silver stops in front of them
"Damn it..." her eyes transition to soft blue "... all better. Well kiddos, suppose optical illusion is not going to fly?" Looking to Kevin "I would simply erase this from your memory but with Rayne touching your mind with her lack of control, I don't want to cause you any long lasting damage." giving the two time to asorb what happened.
Kevin is at a loss for words...which really is saying something. He closes his mouth, which fell open right around the time the three men started in for Agent Nichols. He had it all wrong, they hadn't been here for him at all. His gaze pivots from Pam to Sandy, trying to gauge if his new girl is as shocked as he feels. "Holy shit!" are the first words to come from his mouth, and he is not sure they actually cover the astonishment he is suffering. The Denise woman...and Pam...they are not human! ...and he had it all recorded! Yep, 'holy shit' definitely did not cover it.
Trying to be nonchalant about it, Kevin stops recording and slips his phone back into this pocket. He is not sure what his next move should be, but he can only hope it includes getting the hell out of here with his head attached. He looks at Pam again and nods. "Yeah, brain damage doesn't sound good to me either. I appreciate that." He keeps looking at the attractive blonde, thinking she looked great for someone who had just been shot...but no, that wasn't correct...she was almost shot. He felt another holy shit coming, but stoppered it, shaking his head as if to clear the cobwebs.
"Well, at least we now know what happened at the Italian restaurant...and who was behind it. Not to mention the whole 'Rayne is just fine' thing being a lie." He let his arm drop from Sandy's waist and gave Pam an intense look. "Maybe you should tell me just what the fuck comes next?"
As Kevin drops his arm from Sandy's waist, still trembling from the initial thought of the men that were there to kill Kevin as well as her and Pam just to be replaced by the horror that she had been working for one of the monsters she was gathering information on. Sandy gasps dryly
"YOU are one of THEM! aren't you? What is going on, are there rival vampire clans or something? You using me for information against the other vampires? What about those men. You knew those men were coming after Kevin, didn't you, and you used us as bait?"
Sandy takes her credentials and throws them at Pam, "I'm done, how DARE you use Kevin as bait in whatever game you are playing." stomping off toward him "Please get me out of here unless that fucking vampire is going to stop us. I should of known when that bitch Agent Chen showed up, things were going to go to hell." as Sandy rests her head against Kevin's chest reaching to hold his hand, her hand trembling.
Pam looks toward Kevin and Sandy, her tone flat, her eyes narrowed and fiery red
"You ask what comes next? I bite your neck and drain all your blood, next I bite Sandy's neck and drain all her blood. You two will then be my vampire slaves..." before grinning while her eyes transition back to light blue as she giggles. She looks toward Sandy, her tone rather soothing
"I will give you that this encounter became rather intense. Did I use you as bait, no. Did I know those men would be here, after intel lit up when he posted his last blog entry, it was obvious those men I stopped last week from shooting him were coming back for him. When we looked into that first attempt, we learned of the defense contractor hiring ... well ... hitmen to take out Kevin, the same ones responsible for the Mayor. Yes, there was a strong suspicion that those men were going to make another attempt at him, I was not going to allow that to happen.”
What she omitted was the vision that she had of the men violating and killing Sandy followed by dragging Kevin to his car and injecting him with tainted heroin so he could be found dead in his car, just the typical drug user OD.
Pam looks toward Sandy and Kevin while picking up Sandy's credentials, her tone still friendly
“As far as me being ‘one of them’, no, the them you are seeing are man made where man has lost control. The them you speak of are a mess I was brought in to clean up. I have tried my smoke and mirrors you speak of to convince Kevin, yes, big shock, I can actually say his name, not to blog on things that shadows would do anything to protect their dirty little secret. The harsh truth is that before this is cleaned up, innocent people will die. You can shed a light on what people can not avoid, detect or fight. That would cause a nice little panic for those who believe him in the first place. Tuffy boys and girls driven by macho BS will grab their shotguns and egos to hunt what they read about. The only thing that would accomplish is having people go to the beast to die in greater numbers than the few that will fall if the beast hunts alone. Then there would be the people who get shot just for acting strange. It would be the Salem Witch Trials, Carter Lake version. Here is an interesting trivia tidbit for you. Do you know how many actual supernatural beings died during the Witch Trials? Zero. You humans killed each other simply for acting different. That was even without the internet to spread fear about the unknown and uncontrollable.”
Pam looks to Kevin “Now as to what comes next. Suppose you making a name for yourself and blogging your little heart out. I don't think I can protect you from yourself. You might even upload whatever you recorded on your phone, you might realize I have the capability to remove the phone from your possession. You can run, I could give you a seven block head start and when I come, I will be next to you before you take an additional step. That is a line I will not cross. I do horrible things to evil people and beasts, but I will not harm the innocent. Expose me if it makes you a name, I will simply disappear for a year and reemerge as someone else on a different Continent. Given all that, if time rewound, nothing I did would change. Choosing preventing you from recording or dealing with the immediate threat you faced, I would still deal with the threat.”
Kevin is not sure how to take Pam's words, is she actually giving him permission to continue his blog, at the risk of his life? He places his arm around Sandy as she leans into him, gently smoothing her hair. His other hand is wrapped with hers, and he feels a sense of calm despite what has just transpired. "So, let me get this straight, you are not going to kill me, but you can not promise someone else might not try to, but you will attempt to stop that if possible?" He laughs. "Jesus, I couldn't have written a more corny defense if I had tried. No offense, but do you realize just how this sounds? Like you are the good guy or something?" He scoffs. "And just what is this about different types...you are here to eradicate 'them'. Just what the hell are you then? and what about Miss Chen? Are there other types of vampires too? What the fuck is the world coming to?"
Pam offers Kevin an odd smile “Oh, there is nothing wrong with the world hun, the world continues on just fine… “ her tone goes cold “... it is the life forms that inhabit it that are the problem. Yea, humans simply are not going to be happy until you destroy each other.” before resuming a more casual tone “As for myself and Su Lin … that was the name Denise was going by 12 years ago when I was still human, we are … well … complicated. We are natural creations, not man made monstrosities in the never ending quest in developing superior weapons. As for how that sounds sweetie, that is not the interesting thing you need worry your lil head over.”
Pam takes a step closer to Kevin and Sandy, a smile on her lips “Now if you want something interesting to blog about sweetie, you already heard about those boys who are on their way to confess about killing the Mayor under the order of the defense contractor that also is going to be in Federal heat in another day, that is going to be national headlines in a couple days. Now if some clever kid breaks that news early on his blog, might give him some credibility that won’t be shot down by those monitoring that certain blog.”
As Pam turns to walk off to let Kevin decide what his next move is, she sighs “This is against my better judgement, but since you know Ray Ray, her bestie I guess, she is going to be awake in a couple days, stop over when me and Denise have a family talk with her and my baby brother.” before stepping away as she seems to disappear from sight while rushing off at top speed.
Co Post - Making of the Team
After the events at the park, Kevin took Sandy home, promising to visit her at work later that evening, rescheduling a walk in the park when they were both a little less frazzled. He took Pam's advice and wrote the story she had suggested in his blog--three undercover agents turning themselves in for the murder of the town's mayor. He pulled up the article regarding the mayor's body being found at the airport, citing the specifics in his blog for reference. It didn't take long before he started getting hits, lots of comments flooding his page.
"Thanks Pam, I owe you one," he said to himself a bit sarcastically, feeling good for the first time following the walk in the park that didn't happen.
---------------
Carter Lake was abuzz with the news about the arrest of three men in connection with the mayor's death, people talking on the streets and whispering words of conspiracy within the government. The police department had their hands full dealing with the press, a few wondering where the dark-haired reporter was when such a big story was hitting the streets. Kevin was happy, him and Sandy were getting closer and his blog was buzzing. It was only within the tunnel inside the mine that things continued at a slow pace, the two newborns finally waking up...
Rayne's eyes opened in the darkness of the tunnel, their golden glow turning to Dave beside her. There was a weariness within her, not of body, but of mind. She pushed herself into a sitting position, so many thoughts running through her head, strangely feeling out of place, not in touch with herself. There was a vague memory of another woman, one she did not recognize, standing over her next to Claudius. The memories too distant to grab.
Her hand went to Dave, touching him lightly on his side. Was it time for him to wake up? Afraid to interrupt his change, she leaned back against the wall of the mine and rested, thinking of her child...their child...and what life was going to be like as a mother. She sighed softly, and closed her eyes.
As Rayne sighed and closed her eyes, Dave stirs and opens his eyes knowing that they are in a dark tunnel however sees clearly. He looks over toward Rayne reaching his hand over to hold her’s. His mind filled with memories, thoughts and feelings. He vaguely recalls the past several days as he on and off drew into an awakened state before drifting back to sleep, each time longer than the previous with less pain each time.
His tone still confused with the various thoughts and feelings he is processing, yet absent the pain from the first day. His eyes silver, his tone soft
“Is this finally over darling?” is what he manages to speak.
Denise steps toward David and Rayne, more focused upon Rayne for now. A smile on her lips, eyes pure white and tone soft
“My sister, you and your mate are awake. My name I currently go by in the human world is Denise Chen. I trust you already feel a connection. We have much to speak of.” before focusing on David “... and your sister will explain much to you as well. I will remain with you and bring you to your home where Pam is readying everything to welcome your awakening.”
Denise looks to a darker area of the tunnel placing her hand to her chest speaking to the one now concealing his presence from the new born
“Master Elder, our conversations were refreshing, the children shall see you soon.”
Before turning back toward Rayne and David
“When ready, we shall depart here for the time being and go to your home.” closing her eyes, upon opening them, her eyes are back chocolate brown, she already having changed back into Jeans and a black pull over sweater that morning.
Rayne observes Denise silently as she speaks. She feels the connection that the woman mentions, a bonding of sorts, but its meaning is lost to her. She feels different...that is something that she is sure of and it disturbs her. For now, getting home is the only thing that matters, the rest will sort itself out in time.
She starts to stand, the hand holding Dave's urging him to do the same. She assists him, not sure if his full strength has come to him yet. The simple contact is comforting and she looks to him, staring into the silver of his eyes. She offers him a smile and finally answers his question.
"Yes, darling, it is over...but also just beginning."
Dave looking to Denise for a brief moment. This woman he is certain has not been around Carter Lake or the surrounding area that he can recall, those eyes certainly are different from those anomalies he has seen and read of. He places his trust in Rayne, if she does not see this woman as a threat, he will provide a slight trust in her.
Dave now looks to Rayne, a smile forming on his lips. Standing, Dave takes Rayne's hand offering
“I somehow know we are at the end of things as we knew them and at the beginning of the next chapter of our lives. Always and forever we'll be together.”
Denise holds her arm in the direction of the tunnel's entrance/exit.
“Shall we be on our way then. And sergeant Nichols, for now I would recommend not going in for follow ups on your gunshot wound that no longer is there. We will have someone at the hospital for you to see when someone is in place.”
Denise is not going to warn the new borns off against humans yet. There is more they have to ready theirselves for, especially Rayne.
Together, Rayne and Dave follow her out of the mine. With the van's keys in her hand, Rayne moves towards the driver's side out of habit, offering Dave a slight smile. "I guess I'll drive. I'm beginning to suspect you don't have a license." It is a relief that things finally seem to be moving forward. Hopefully this meeting will be the end of the teaching period and then they can get on with their lives. She is looking forward to sleeping in her own bed and having some privacy, even the prospect of getting back to work is positive with all the crap that has been going on lately.
It is only a short ride back to the doctor's house, and Rayne is surprised to see Kevin's car in the drive. She wonders whether he was invited or just happened to pop in, either way, things could get a bit interesting with him being a part of it. She is looking forward to seeing him, a friendly face among so many mentors. She turns to Dave and smirks. "Looks like your biggest fan is here. Shall we go in?"
Having not seen his own eyes however suspecting they are a silver mix at the least, grins “Suppose we should, at least he won’t try to stab me with a pin for a DNA sample, he would be sure I’m a clone now. Do you by chance have a pair of sunglasses you could loan me?” before there is a tap on the window.
Denise is standing by Dave’s door and as it is opened, she hands him hazel contacts, her tone friendly but direct
“You might want to put these in. Seems your sister has invited the blog human here for some reason.” turning toward the house waiting for Dave and Rayne to follow.
Dave already placing the contacts in waits for Rayne to get along him. “I am going to depend on you to keep him away from me with DNA sample kits.” with a slight laugh, still trying to come to grips with the thoughts and feelings going through him. The transformation complete, there still is a strangeness he feels. More than anything, he simply wants alone time with Rayne and their child that Rayne has in her. He is looking for a sense of normality through all the abnormal events of the past week.
Rayne was digging through her purse for sunglasses when Denise handed Dave a better solution. She stops rummaging and nods to him in regards to the DNA joke, shaking her head in amusement. Fortunately, she still has her colored contacts in from before they entered the mine, her eyes appearing a soft chocolate brown, close enough to her real color as to not be noticed. Not that it really matters, Kevin had purchased them for her, and he is the only one that needs to be fooled.
Walking in the house behind Denise, Rayne moves away from Dave and goes to Kevin, smiling before hugging him, the slender young man tensing briefly before returning the greeting. She laughs lightly. "I don't bite Kevin...not hard at least." She takes his hands in hers and gives him a reassuring smile. "Thanks for before. Everything is all good now."
As Kevin sits back down, giving Dave a shadowed look and a brief nod, Rayne goes into the kitchen where she can smell the coffee already brewing. She grabs two cups and fills them, the rich scent heaven to her nose. She is starting to feel the rumble of hunger as well, and grabs the pastries that are in a open box on the counter. She wastes no time digging in once she is seated near Kevin, patting the spot next to her for Dave.
Dave takes a seat next to Rayne as he holds his coffee curious on why the waitress from the diner is next to Kevin. His stomach rumbles too as he takes one of the pastries looking back to Rayne through a smile
“A sweet that is nothing compared to you.” before looking to Kevin “Is this a meeting to discuss my absence Boss?”
Sandy still looking toward Denise with daggers in her stare, whispers to Kevin
“I can’t stand that woman, it might be a mistake my being here hunny.”
Denise already over by Pam giving her that look, a hint of amusement in her tone
“Thought you learned with that last human you trusted, now you are bring in a doctor, an agent who doesn’t understand why I did what I did in Antigua which really strengthened her, and blog boy. Now all we need is the Mystery Machine and a dog named Scooby to complete this little gang of yours.”
Pam couldn’t help but to laugh
“I know girl, but you yourself told me that these last 100 years, humans are making it increasingly difficult for us to keep in the shadows, especially with their internet and instant world news. Anyway, these are not the kind driven by greed and profit like other humans, never thought I’d say this, especially about blog boy, but they might have a grasp on what we are and actually be like the few that help conceal our identities.”
Denise looking toward Sandy while pouring a coffee for herself and Pam
“I think it is time you read your agent in on why I let her feel guilt all these years. Really, it made her the agent you have come to rely on, but think it is time for her to understand why we didn’t hand hold her when she was hurting.”
Pam offers Denise a soft squeeze of the hand
“I really think deep down she already understands... “ before letting a giggle escape “... 700, but I’ll talk to her in private later, so let's get this thing going.” while Denise gets in one quick lighthearted ‘Newborn’ before looking toward those assembled.
Pam and Denise enter the living room and sit in chairs toward the front of the four who are sat already, her tone unusually civil from what Kevin or Sandy might be accustomed to
“Ray Ray and lil brother, you might be wondering what Kevin is doing here upon your wakening, he was made aware in a small part just what we are... and lil brother, hold on to Ray Ray’s hand a moment, this might bring a bit of a gasp to you... “ as her eyes transition to silver then back to light blue “... as I said, a small idea of what ‘we’ are.”
As expected, Dave tenses quite a bit as his sister’s eyes change to silver then back to light blue squeezing Rayne’s hand softly. Close by Sandy also gives Kevin’s hand a squeeze whispering
“I still don’t like her, but I suppose I could listen to the excuse my boss wants to give us.”
Unlike his normal curious self, Kevin merely listens to all that is being said around him. He grumbles at Dave's remark and puts his arm protectively around Sandy's shoulders as he starts noticing the tension building around him. He is suddenly aware he is not in the presence of normal people, more a gathering of supernaturals, and the thought is a bit surreal to him. Just when had this happened? Or was it like this all along and he had just been in the dark?
While Kevin is pondering everything around him, Rayne is trying to deal with the odd feelings running through her. She responds to Dave's hand in hers, squeezing back, but mostly she is watching Denise, her eyes narrowing at the woman. There is a bond there, but she has no idea who she is or when they had met, the thought aggravating her. She looks at Pam, the one person who has helped her through a lot of this.
"I would like to know who she is," she says, indicating the Asian woman, "...and just how she is involved in all this." The others she has accepted, even Kevin and his new girlfriend, Sandy, but Denise's presence bothers her on a more personal level.
Denise offers Rayne a gentle smile, her tone soft
“To start, you must have an understanding of who we are. You can be best described as a Natural, formed before life evolved. You have strength and abilities beyond human comprehension. You have the ability to manipulate human thought, erase events from the mind, implant in the mind on actions to take. Injuries heal quickly, over some years they will heal near instantly. You could regenerate missing tissue. Some such as with Pam have the ability to see visions of things yet to happen, which is why the young man and woman still breathe... “ glancing a moment toward Kevin and Sandy “... Pam will cover all this with you soon Miss Summers and Mr. Nichols.” looking for a moment toward Pam before continuing
“My involvement involves the child you carry. It has been over three hundred years since the last time a human carrying child has been turned. There have been occurrences however, most end up dying. You would have lived Miss Summers however your child was close to being lost. That is who I am, I do not have the strength and regenerative traits of naturals, my kind are one with the elements around you. As the humans have seen, I have control of the very elements around, air, water, fire and wind. I have the ability to phase my very essence. To keep both your child and you from being lost, you consumed my blood and I phased allowing your elder to merge my essence with yours to keep both your child as well as you through your transformation. Your child will have abilities of both Natural and Elemental. You will have those abilities as well, that is why though never having met, you may feel a oneness to me. Try not to think too hard on this, as you adjust to your new self, there will be time to speak more in depth on this. I may have more questions of you than you do of me. A combined Elemental with Natural has known to happen only two other times - ever.”
Rayne’s hand went to her stomach instinctually as the woman spoke. She glanced briefly at Dave, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the additional information. It would explain why she felt different, and also her connection to a person she had never met. She was not sure how she felt about all this...would she have chosen it if given a chance to decide on her own? She leaned into Dave, laying her head against him. It was a lot to take in and she wasn’t sure if she had a role to play now that she had these new abilities. Could they just live ordinary lives?
While Denise was talking, Dr. Fitzgerald finally joined them, his notebook in hand. He looked fresh out of the shower and he nodded his hello to everyone as he sat down in an armchair. His gaze rested on Pam, an obvious affection showing on his face before he opened his device and started putting in notes. As soon as Denise finished talking he looked up, his attention now focused on Kevin.
“I think the important part of all this is keeping the public in the dark. The unnatural element in our mist is the main concern and I hope that we will be able to knock them out now that we have a force to use against them. These man-made creatures can not be allowed to create any more of their kind or they will become common knowledge and panic will spread. Mr. Mercury, you are one of our links to the general public and I think working together, we can get information out that will be of benefit to everyone. But it is important that we do not spread rumors...no matter how true they may be.” He nodded at the blogger, then sat back in the recliner. “Sorry to interrupt, please ladies, continue.”
As Denise looks to the Doctor, she sighs, though this human does not seem to be like others she has encountered, could he be one of the rare trusted? Looking back to Rayne and Dave, her tone soothing
“I could spend the next one hundred years explaining all the history of Naturals and that of Elementals, but the best for you now is taking it one day at a time.”
She now focuses on Kevin
“The human is right... “ letting out a sigh again “... let me start over, the Doctor is correct in his analysis, the life which was created by man does need to be quietly resolved. Too much information would only spark fear and worry, it would also spark ... in ancient days I would call it villagers with torches and pitchforks ... this is something that really needs to be resolved. As acts they do, horrible as they are, they are doing only what man designed them to do. It really is heartbreaking to see life manipulated with the only function to destroy life. This man made life does need to be removed though, the Hum... Doctor is correct on that.”
Pam lets out a little laugh “She’s not great in social circles.”
Denise grumbles “You gave me no warning I was going to be with them.” before focusing back on Kevin
“Information to the public is crucial yet needs to be be toned down so the average human could accept it. Bigfoot, who by the way has lived in the forests far longer than man has, could ride a unicorn up to city hall and be covered by CNN and there would still be doubters. I would ask that you tailor your words when reporting things, allow the new born show you how to report things in a manner that would reach the majority.”
Pam chimes in
“So Ray Ray will help Orkin with his words and I will help 700 with her social skills.” with a grin, she looks to Dave a moment “... and little brother, you should really think about if you are going to continue that cop thing. Would be kinda a bad thing if you tear the arm off a suspect, literally. There is this whole foresight thing, seeing events to come as well as past events, I have it and it is off body chemistry. You may soon start developing this too. The whole knowing if a bad guy is telling the truth thing just by touching their mind. Then there is the whole if you get shot thing, now those things will only piss you off. I have been calming down over these last twelve years, but think Dr. Fitz would agree that shooting me brings out my bad side still.”
Fitz near spits out coffee he was drinking on Pam’s comment, offering in an analytical tone
“... or trying to sell you to the highest bidder is detrimental to one’s health.” before casually going back to typing notes.
Rayne laughs lightly at Pam’s last comment, especially in regards to Andre’s attempt to kidnap them. Not that she finds the killing particularly amusing, but more so in regards to the foolishness of the attempt. She sips at her coffee, the brew barely warm now, and thinks about getting back to work. She will actually enjoy the distraction, even helping Kevin with his writing seems preferable to the last few weeks. In a lot of ways, she doesn’t even feel any different. She knows she is stronger...and healthier, but the newest changes have not surfaced in her other than making her head spin trying to think about them.
As things seem to be wrapping up, Kevin clears his throat before anyone can leave the room. “I am okay will all this...I suppose. I’m willing to work with Rayne as long as I don’t have to filter everything with a fine tooth comb. I am wondering though, how we plan on taking care of the less desirable vampire things. We know there is a population of them in the mines..do we start there? I can do some research...I think Rayne had started some before...into the surrounding cities to see if there is any mention of unusual numbers of missing persons or unusual deaths. Might need to branch out..split up...whatever...to cover the distance they have spread.” He looks at Sandy. “Maybe you can help me with that...the research? We can make a night of it.” He smiles at her, squeezing her shoulder where his hand is resting. God, she was lovely! He still couldn’t believe she was sitting next to him willingly.
As things seem to be wrapping down, Sandy just leans into Kevin enjoying the feel of his hand on her shoulder whispering
“Of course I will help with the research, all nighter sounds wonderful, let’s stop for some more take out coffee on the way.”
Dave still sits somewhat perplexed at the whole thing he is still trying to come to grips with. More so, his sister and the seemingly sudden change of attitude toward Rayne and even Kevin. Then there was the whole suggesting he might reconsider being the cop thing. Others seem to be taking things in stride however he has more questions than thoughts right now. He simply looks to Rayne holding her hand thinking on the words that this other woman had mentioned about her and their child.
Denise looks to Kevin offering to his inquiry about the creatures lingering within the mine
“The creations within the mine will be resolved. There are other considerations that need be considered so not to destroy other life that resides within. The mine will be sealed when those man made creations are put to rest.”
The byproduct of man made weapons, the child like beings which are like natural scavengers cleaning byproduct are dangerous to humans however not aggressive. She and the Elder had discussed although unnatural in their creation, they were a life of their own and harmless in the evolution of life so would not be destroyed when the man made weapons that infest the mine were eliminated. Denise returns to her chair waiting to see if other questions or comments were made by ... a slight smile forms ... by Pam’s Scooby Gang.
