heads will roll

"no one duped me into moving back here. i have friends here and my career allows me to move freely so i can do it here just fine." that little podcast of hers pulled in weekly listeners or around ten million per episode "careful now, you don't want anyone thinking that you actually want a relationship with your daughter. gabe finds the time, something you could never do"

"well, you certainly could have fooled me. there is nothing in this town that you can't find anywhere else in the world, bowie. how are you still aiming so low even when you have everything at your fingertips? oh, i'm sure we're in no danger of that. i-," she started, poorly suppressing frustration in the face of her ex-husband. her step-father. "i don't have to hear this. and yes, i am quite familiar with how you think that man hung the moon."

hayden walked through the bustling bar of mount olympus, crowds chatting and laughing to fill the noise of the establishment. he headed towards the crowd and nodded to the bartender on the clock to pour him his usual.

ah there was that stone cold expression the was used to seeing from her. the glacial face. "does it matter? it's not like we ever speak to one another." she shrugged, picking up a pen to twirl it in her fingers "you'd know about it if you took an interest in my life. i moved back here to get out of the city and to reconnect with old friends..." which was true but she had a very specific old friend of woody pride in mind. "gabe knew about it. he makes the effort to keep up with me"

"who? who could possibly have duped you into believing coming back here was a good idea? it was one thing for you to be running around california with your little podcast but this... gabe-," she scoffed, absolutely incredulous that she was throwing that man back in her face! gabe. "what a wonder it is gabe has the time to do anything while he chases down adulterers and asks them to say 'cheese'."

walking into hart law firm, bowie strolled past the front desk and anyone else that was trying to stop her and headed straight for the door in question her was looking for. opening the door, she leaned against the doorway

"hello mother"

@queencfharts

the venom in bowie's voice when she said 'mother' helped to ground her at least. she schooled her face to neutrality - annoyance, even - as she looked back at her from behind her desk. regardless of what the papers said, lorelai felt in her bones that this accursed town was no longer safe. and she didn't want bowie here.

"what on earth are you doing here?"

Guinevere gave Lorelai a glance, and cleared her throat. She admired the woman's ability to be mostly unfazed by the situation, only showing some situation-appropriate frustration and impatience. She wished she had that kind of steely resolve.

"Yes, indeed," Guinevere replied, turning her voice into a neatly-set almost-monotone. "I don't doubt that she is fine --I'm just wondering where she must have gone. It isn't much like her, to wander off." Lady did have some police training, so maybe she decided to put it to good use in this oh-so-unusual situation, and help around with the party organizers to put some order in the crowded Town Hall.

She turned back to look at Lorelai, and tilted her head. "Did you come alone, Miss Hart?"

Lorelai raised her eyebrows in response to Guinevere's question. "Tonight? Yes. I'm afraid that marriage didn't agree with me the way it has for yourself and Lady."

The wind whistled, thunder roared, and Guinevere remained standing away from doors and windows, very still, eyes darting around the room. She had been expecting something might happen that night, at Town Hall, where the most important people in Redwood Hollow would gather to celebrate what seemed like a return to peace. She had expected there to be some surprise --but not for her to get caught in it, along with everyone else. After all, that sort of awful incidents happened to someone else, not to Guinevere --not to someone so cushioned by her wealth.

Right then, though, she didn't feel very safe at all.

"Lady..." she remembered out of nowhere, realizing that was who she was searching for in the crowd. "Lady?"

"I'm sure she's still in here," she offered. "Even so, if anyone can take care of themselves, don't you think it's your Lady?"

“Don’t worry, I won’t drink your blood tonight,” Lady chuckled, her fangs catching the faint light like a threat wrapped in silk. It was a joke—mostly. Unless, of course, it was Guin, and she got one of her rare, frisky ideas. But that was hardly likely in their carefully constructed farce of a marriage.

Sometimes, though, the pretense gnawed at her. Lady would find herself watching Guin from across the room, the candlelight tracing the edges of her face, and feel an ache she couldn’t quite name. It was ridiculous, she thought—like a dog chasing after a sausage, only to catch it and realize it had already spoiled. Wanting something she couldn’t have, and knowing that even if she could, it wouldn’t taste the way she imagined. Still, the chase was its own kind of tormenting pleasure, and Lady was nothing if not addicted to torment.

Halloween. Oz's favorite night of the year. He had indulged in decorating his home and the casino as well. He went all out for holidays, but most especially for Halloween. That said he far preferred the idea of spending the evening at a party with other adults than sitting at home getting whatever he was reading or watching get interrupted every two minutes from a knock on the door. No, Oz was always where excitement was.

So now he stood at the town hall, scanning the room for anyone who might be open for conversation. He noticed someone alone by the dessert table.

"Let's hope it's not like that last time," Oz said. "Can you imagine twice in a row? Now that'd be somethin'"

Turning to face him, she raised an eyebrow in response. "It'd be a riot, don't you think? Given that all this nastiness is supposed to be over and done with. Might you opt for treats inside of tricks for one night, Oz?"