Not Another Product of Today

“Real tired of people saying my standards are too high. All I want is good sex, good jokes, and a willingness to die for me at any given moment. That isn’t too much to ask.”

“I’d disagree, if they aren’t willing to do as little as that then don’t waste your time.” He chuckled, “People think anything that’s not mediocre sex and shitty dates is too much.”

“Oh yeah, I’m having an alright time,” Gareth assured the other, “just a bit anxious that my dog’s home alone. He’s a god dog and there’s usually no trouble, but I don’t know he seemed a bit under the weather today.” He was smoothly setting up his excuse to leave early. If people heard him talk about Blackjack all night no one would be shocked when he decided to go home to check on him. 

“How about you? Enjoying the event? Other than the open bar of course, which is always a bonus. Though quite risky at these type of events it seems.” 

“Sorry to hear that; I hope he’s alright and it’s nothing.” he offered to the man with a kind nod. “But try to have some fun while you’re here. I’m sure he won’t mind.” Owen never really had a pet growing up, they never had the money nor the place to keep one. He hadn’t thought about getting one since they moved to town, but now the idea of it didn’t sound so bad. Frankly, he was sure he’d be as anxious as the man he was speaking to if he did and it wasn’t feeling well. He couldn’t blame him. 

Gareth was going through the motions. He said hi to the people he needed to say hi to, smiled politely at anyone whose eyes he met, and shook some hands, all the while counting down the minutes till he could make an excuse to leave. He usually liked gatherings like this, but tonight he was way out of it, and could barely wait to get this stupid suit off. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking at another person whom, he realized, had been talking, “I zoned out a moment, what were you saying?” 

Owen didn’t have a good feeling about this event, with the events of the last still fresh on his mind as well as his investigation with Penelope growing into something he never expected--he wasn’t there for a good time. There were far too many people there for something, even as simple as another poisoning, to take place. He stayed diligent, but he couldn’t become suspicious. As he made his round of hello’s he went to greet a guy he’d seen in passing. He asked if he was having a good time, but laughed softly at the man’s reaction. It seems he was not the only one with his mind elsewhere.

As it was, Penelope hadn’t even been spending much time with her brother, and it seemed like that had gotten to both of them. As she glanced to the board upon getting settled in, she nodded slowly, easily impressed with how well Owen always managed to work. “A local source? What, like it’s coming from inside the town to kill the town?” She shook her head as she crossed her arms, a map of town on the wall being what she wanted to focus on. “Turns out, tracking black plague leads is a lot harder than it sounds. Nobody wants to give up the name, or even know the name of the supplier.” She paused as she turned to face him. “I could go for some pizza though. And it seems like the black plague might be the least of our concerns. This alcohol stuff is big too, along with the spiked version from the potluck last month. We ran a story on it, and still, there’s so many unanswered questions.”

Owen didn’t want to interfere with her life. She was an adult, she deserved to have her own life away from him and he--he needed distractions. A chance to start over so he did what he did best, he worked. And now, it was starting to feel like maybe, he was too caught up in it. “Guy didn’t have much to tell me, maybe he was scared, but I’m starting to think it’s something close to that. This town is a safe haven, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to kill it. ” Owen took every source with a grain of salt, as badly as he wanted to believe that this was a home grown issue, contained to the town, he was skeptical. However things in this town didn’t make much sense to begin with. He looked to his sister as she spoke, moving to lean against the table as he took in everything  he relayed to him.”You work for the paper, you’re basically a nark to them. They give it up, they lose their fix.” His chuckle faded as he thought, the latest event it--it felt far too familiar. “Eat as much as you want.” He pushed off the table and stepped closer to the board as she mentioned the latest event that happened. “That’s the thing, Pen, this kind of thing happens whenever the community gets together. Since this summer there’s been five or six notable events. There was no sign of the drugs until after the first. I think it’s connected, all of this. Someone’s trying to kill this town from the inside out and its working.”

Nell had entered the small apothecary, noting the single employee as he worked on filling the shelves again. It was quiet inside, a nice change of pace compared to the rest of the town. It seemed as if everyone had something going on. She glanced through the shelves, reading labels and ingredients before straying closer to the man working. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said with a smile. “Do you sell vervain here?” Her supply was running low, and she needed to restock it quickly. You couldn’t be too careful, especially when dealing with those bloodsuckers. 

Owen often fell into this thoughts, this was a passing job and gave him access to his usual needs so if anything--it was more of an asset for more than just extra cash. She wasn’t the first to sneak up on him, his mind has been stuck in his notes since he got the newest leads. “You’re fine,” he offered her a sheepish smile as he turned to face her. “Yeah, we’ve got a lot of it. Are you looking for fresh or dried?” He offered, knowing he always tried to keep a little of both on hand depending on what he needed it for. “I would recommend getting some wolfsbanes as well, it’s always good to have on hand.” He never was too worried about the wolves himself, but after what happened with Belle he tried to keep some on his person at all times along with some vervain. He might be overly cautious, but he didn’t seem to be a bad thing anymore. 

While out doing her own research, and subsequent hanging out with Hunter in her free time, it had been a while since she had actually touched base with her brother, someone who took the job a bit more diligently, as she came home from her day and heard him almost immediately. When she met him, she lifted her brows, before setting her bag down. “Yeah, what’s up? You got any news or tips?” It seemed like she had walked into some important conversation, though she couldn’t quite place her finger on what it could all mean as she pursued further into the place, glancing around, looking for any sign of what they could be after now. 

Owen had always been devote to the work that came with their true occupations. Lately, he been trying to contact some of their fellow hunters who live outside of the city limits and what he’d learned could lead them to something bigger. He didn’t mind working alone, often times with his ADD it was easier. But he needed his sister to fill in the blanks and help him make sense of it all. He couldn’t do this without her. “Yeah, turns out the black plague isn’t spreading like we think and could be originating from a local source.” He started, with an eager grin. “I ordered a pizza and could use some help looking over the board. We might have more than we thought. Have you learned anything new? Did the leads turn up anything?” He knew he shouldn’t just jump in, he did want to catch up with her, but right now--time was of the essence, if things got any worse tomorrow could only be a dream. 

“It’s not me I’m too worried about. Obviously, I don’t want to be attacked by a vampire, but I can’t imagine if she was attacked by something.”

“I’ve never heard of them attacking babies, but this town isn’t normal.” He sighed heavily, thinking about what he has used in the past. “I’ve got something that would ward them off. I made myself one last night, I could make you and her one if you want.” 

“I don’t need to be saved, Prince Charming. I can hold my own,” Selma slurred, trying to shove the other away. “I’m not a damsel in distress!” She declared, as she stumbled over herself and almost fell to the ground.

Owen stepped back, holding his hands up in surrender. He was never one to offer help of any kind. This was a reminder of why. “I’m not saying you can’t,” he told her, which he was sure she could, just not in this state. “No, you’re drunk. I don’t want you falling and getting hurt, that’s all.”

“Oh, isn’t that a bit…taboo then?” Lincoln uttered as he looked to the man. “I think people take things too seriously sometimes. Halloween is just a bit of fun, and for the sexy costumes to come out to play. I really can’t complain.”

“You’re talking to a warlock; taboo is part of the job.”  What was truly taboo was his true occupation of a hunter. He might be a warlock by blood, but he was a hunter by nature. “There’s a line, but what you’re wearing isn’t crossing it.  Not even close, but yeah people are a little too sensitive. Its supposed to be fun.”

“I take it you’re one of them then. Harry Potter’s not really my style. Plus, witches are people too, right? Can’t make them out to be an entire farce.”

“Yeah. I’m a half breed, actually. Right, but hasn’t stopped people and some of it-- its funny. But I wasn’t raised in magical household, its easier to see the other side of it and see the joke. ”

“Future note to self, don’t piss off the witch community by coming as a basic witch bitch for halloween, got it.”

“I don’t find it that offensive, now if you’d gone the Harry Potter route I might’ve been a little annoyed.”

With her own week being spent mostly getting high, and flipping through random pages of spellbooks she could get her hands on, Penelope hadn’t really gotten much time with her brother in the pregnant woman’s body, a hilarious feat all on it’s own. But after seeing him actually go into near labor, it spiked her own nerves for the future of them having switched bodies, though, thankfully things switched before Owen had to give birth. And, as things settled back to normal, or back to as normal as they could, Penelope couldn’t help but notice the recluse her brother had turned into. Bringing him a hot coffee, if just to sooth his soul, the young woman sat against the desk, turning to him. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

Owen looked up, a soft thank you escaping him before he looked back down to the book. His sister is the only person he truly open with, the only person he felt he could place his trust into. Everyone else came with a price, every relationship did. But not theirs and he hoped he made her feel the same way. He wished he could blame this all on being in a pregnant woman’s body, being forced experience child labor, but thankfully it didn’t get too far. But now, his girlfriend was dead and that had left him emptier than he ever believed he could feel. Belle was an exception and he had failed her. “I know,” he looked to her as he leaned back in the chair weighing his options on what or if he could tell her. “I can’t get her out of my head. The girl who died, I knew her.” that was a tremendous understatement. “I can’t stop thinking about what could have been helped if we’d been in our own bodies.”

Sebastian clutched his stomach with one hand, and covered his mouth the other. Between trying to quiet heavy sobs and keep himself from toppling over, Sebastian collapsed onto the floor. Belle Summers, his childhood friend was gone. He felt like was going to throw up. “I can’t believe this,” he managed to say. “This can’t be true. There’s got to be away to fix this.”

Owen wished there had been something he could do ease the pain with it all. He wanted to do something anything to turn back the time. He would give up anything to bring Belle back. Part of him knew she would never want that, knowing part of her wouldn’t likely return. Instead, he tried to move on--its what she would want. It felt like such bullshit, especially watching the young man break down--how could that be what anyone would want? To leave them in such pain, to live without them? What bullshit. He knelt down next to the kid, rubbing his back. “I’ve been looking, old books and new ones--Doesn’t mean we’ve got to stop trying.” He knew there was no use, but this kid needed something to hold on to. “She would want us to try.”