&. bury me face down

location: parking lot in north side.  time: late evening. 

“She’s a bitch,” Jack murmured as he paced around the parking lot. His wandering gaze never seemed to stay in one place, or on one car for too long before he’d go on to the next. And who did he have to thank for his sudden need to steal a vehicle? His lovely sister of course. She had fucked him over. Bonded by blood, his own sister had been the one to take away any meaning Jack had left in his life and now, his car. "Took my damn car.” Sure, that was four years ago but it was his and the money she got for the parts she sold belonged to him too. He kissed that good-bye the moment he put two and two together upon his return to Red Ridge. Now he was left to his own devices. Jack passed one car after the next without so much as a second glance to those cars that had price tag worth phoning the cops for. “Rich asshole.” The observation came as the tall male eyed one of those perfectly clean white Tesla electric cars. 

But Jack’s own self serving monologue had come to an end the moment he realized he wasn’t alone. A tall man lurking in a parking lot, didn’t seem to raise suspicion at all...”Shit.” He began to dig around in his pockets until Jack produced a lighter, close enough to appear like a key fob as he pressed the top of the metal with his thumb repeatedly. The smile he gave the couple that passed him failed to reach his gaze. The same couple that had glanced back to look at Jack who finally came to rest on the hood of the first car within his proximity. A 2004 white Ford Explorer. Easy enough to lift, possibly. 

There was only one issue, once again he wasn’t alone. The couple may have left but now there was some woman in the parking lot making her way for...God, was this her car? Jack’s gaze fell to the lighter in his grasp. His brows knitted together and his lips pursed. His jaw strained, teeth pressed firmly down as his index finger began to once again tap against that metal lighter, but as he looked up, his shifty gaze once again caught sight of the same individual. Shit. 

Why was it that misery brought her joy? Probably because she was deeply miserable herself, riddled with beastly intentions. It’s something to save face, to unleash the inner workings that threaten to destroy her and reveal what truly lives underneath. That alone seemed disgustingly cliche to Jenny. It reminds her of when her mother would open up, pouring out her heart only to deny her daughters they same opportunity. Everything was always one sided. But, for once, Jenny experiences a mutual trade. A cheeky smirk, a miserable human. 

A smile of her own tugs at the corner of her reddened mouth, head canting to the side as the man beside her speaks. “Not true,” Jenny remarks, eyebrows quirking updates, “Finder’s keepers. Haven’t you learned anything from this cruel world? That’s common knowledge.” She teases, taking another slow drag of her cigarette. The scenario continues, paired with a person falling flat onto their face. Jenny’s mouth puckers as if she’s just sucked on a lemon, doing what she can to stifle the laughter that threatens to burst from inside her throat. A shake of her head comes next, earning short curls to move along with her. “Maybe it’s karma. Maybe they’ve just come back from telling an old, sick lady to go fuck themselves and now they’ve just face planted into the damn concrete. You might have just contributed to fate. That’s really something..” A shrug, obviously still going along with the steady wit that brews between them. 

“You hungry? I’m starving,” The brunette says, tossing her cigarette to the ground, stepping on it carefully with the toe of her boot. Afterwards, she digs her hand back into her pocket, plucking out the money she’s just stolen, “My treat.”

“That’s bullshit,” Jack chimed in at the woman’s declaration of his contribution to fate. Though he refrained from any further detail or explanation and instead straightened his stance, no longer using the wall for support as he gave a nod in the direction of the man he had tripped. “Pretty sure I saw that one walk out of church, give a homeless man money or pet a puppy.” His gaze remained on the individual as he walked away, though not for long. “Yup,” Jack murmured, his green eyes once more returning to the sight of the woman with the red lipstick. “I’m just being an asshole, just like you.” A backhanded compliment...or maybe just an insult that caused Jack to suppress any sort of visible satisfaction with his own comment or the one that shortly followed from the woman for that matter. 

To take the money, or not to take the money, the first thought that came to mind as she produced the money from her back pocket. It’d be so simple, he assessed. Sure it possible would be an attempt made in vain but he could outrun her. The heigh difference alone made that possible..ish, but the words that came next had completely opposed his prior thoughts with a cheeky, “are you asking me out?” He didn’t leave time for the question to be answered however and instead took the few steeps forward that would keep the formalities that were often given for a strangers personal space to a minimum...and money well within reach but that was besides the point. “How much have you got there? I’m not a cheap date.” Even if the dollar menu would cut it any given day of the week for Jack, he enjoyed having a sense of perceived high standards. All the important people seemed to have them, the big guys with the power. It always made people work harder than they had to, and that was fun to watch. Maybe Jack was more of an asshole than even he gave himself credit for. 

Still, just about every single thing Jack had said to the brunette was contradicted by one simple suggestion, “Blue Hill has pancakes.” 

STARTER FOR: Anyone … @redridgestart​ LOCATION: Outside Rogue’s Club. SETTING: Evening, around 9pm.

Wine makes her warm, earning a subtle reddened flush to decorate her bony cheeks. It was the most anyone will ever get out of someone like Jenny Mann. You’d believe someone like her would rather jump into shark infested waters instead of displaying sincerity. It’s the truth, really. She’s learned to accept the thin veil that blankets her being. Her mother used to say she was like a ghost. Mainly because she was quite light on her feet and often snuck up on people, shouting a loud BOO! into their faces. Though, deep down, Jenny’s formed some metaphorical attachment to the prospect of being dubbed a ghost by her own mother. 

Lanky fingers bring a lit cigarette to her lips, taking a long drag. Smoke fills her mouth and then he lungs before it’s moving back through the air, through the thin slot between her darkened lips, clad in red lipstick. Someone walks back, sifting through their belongings, money falls out of somewhere and Jenny’s brows quirk. She leans down and plucks the money from the pavement, shoving it into her back pocket. That’s until she notices an onlooker within the corner of her eye. The brunette only shrugs, “I’ve accepted that I’m a shitty person.” 

The grin was slow to spread on his lips, but when it did there was no concealing the smug expression as the man witnessed what he could only deem to be the actions of a kindred spirit. The residents of Red Ridge, a stand-up bunch. He stared for a moment. Jack’s green eyes fixated on the woman with the red lipstick and cigarette she favored in lieu of any meaningless chat. “Haven’t we all, darlin’.” The response lagged, but so did the one that proceeded that. Jack remained where he stood, his long frame slouched against the wall with one leg stretched out in the walkway of others just hoping someone would trip. A real honorable individual. “So...” Jack gave a slow nod to where she had tucked away the bills taken from the unsuspecting. “You know that makes me an accomplice. Call me old fashion but partners in crime usually go fifty-fifty.” 

Thud! Face first on the ground with a groan, that was that state of the blond male who had taken the bait and tripped over Jack’s outstretched leg. Funny enough to momentarily pull his attention elsewhere. “Eh!, watch it,” he shouted and just as the blond scurried to his feet with a beady-eyed glare at Jack. “Some people.” Jack shook his head in disapproval, but the mischievous glint in his eyes had been highlighted when that smug grin had returned, crinkling the corners of his eyes. 

location: Lewis’ time: early afternoon. 

He sat at a distance from anyone who dared to venture into the bar during the early afternoon hours. Few and far between truthfully. Just Jack and an aging man with a white braid and cast on his left arm who went by the name of Chuck. Three in the afternoon drinking never seemed to phase the other, but Jack? Well the constant need to dart his gaze towards the bar entrance every instance he heard a noise said enough about his reason for the day drinking. His return to Nevada hadn’t exactly left him feeling warm and fuzzy, especially when he made it a point to avoid most of the popular establishments in town. But that was a lonely existence, something he pondered with a watchful gaze on the golden liquid he swirled at the bottom of the glass in his grasp. “This is gonna be a shit week. I can feel it,” he mumbled to himself and Chuck who made his way from the bar, once again leaving Jack to his isolation. Just a man and his third drink...and the peanuts carelessly placed in a dish on the bar table top. Against his better judgement, he indulged in those too between sips of the bourbon he had a tendency to prioritize. Rightfully so because he was going to need all the alcohol he could get to deal with the individual who was moments away from entering that very same bar at the odd early afternoon hours.

 “Hey,” Jack tapped on the countertop until the bartender flashed an annoyed glance his way. “I’m gonna need another.” A comment that followed with a glance towards the bar entrance the moment he heard the door open, just like every time that squeaking door was jared open. Only this time it wasn’t the wind or some patron wandering in with nothing better to do. His green eyes had momentarily widened and his lips, wet with alcohol had pressed into a firm line as he stared. Right at the very man he had once called friend, family even because that’s what they once were in Valencia, family. 

God knows that’s not how Serafin saw Jack anymore and after a moment of the unwavering gaze, Jack finally turned his attention to his drink. “Fuck me,” he said under his breath before Jack rendered himself unable to speak with alcohol once more. But he didn’t nurse the drink, or take his time now. As much as his attempt to stay cool, calm and collected may have appeared he was hoping those last few sips could remedy this situation. This unlucky, apparently lesser of two evils given his options, situation. 

––––– JACK’S WASTED LIFE.

“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after...”