Now That You're Dead, What Are You Gonna Do With Your Life?

@ivysloane​

“Let’s call them rowdy idiots then,” Brad laughs as the people begin to swarm the bar. Some of them carry a baseball bat or pipe, some of them are pulling out more of those bottles. He notes that these rowdy idiots look a lot more organized and prepared. “We are here to send a message!” One of them shouts, shattering a half empty beer with a bat. “You’re either with us, or against us!” With that, the group charges toward the bartenders. Brad, confused, goes “what does that even mean?!” before ducking his head down from a bat swung his way. On the other side of the room, he sees Matty and Cal fighting. “Spence, I don’t think they’re gonna listen” he says as he sidesteps away from another punch. He just evades the attacks with an impeccable timing or blocks them casually. “Does this mean I can hit them too?” He asks looking back at Spencer.

“Sounds fair.” Spencer nodded keeping his eyes on the uninvited guests in the bar. His eyes went wide at hearing the others yell at them. He glanced a moment at Bradley unsure what to say. Were they for real? “ What the hell?” Spencer replied before the Lich squared himself and began to fight with one of the patrons. As much as he hated to admit it, Spencer missed fighting. When he fell into being a guardian for his siblings the wilder spots in his life had to disappear but this was almost fun despite how badly he didn’t want them to mess up Terrence’s or his friends. “Yes hit them. We gotta get them out of here” He exclaimed before  he was practically tackled to the floor.

Now that’s a new expression. What the shit. She’ll have to write that down somewhere, or at least ask Faolan later… they’re quite creative, really. Despite the circumstance, Caoimhe can’t help but laugh. And then, of course, immediately apologize. “I’m sorry, I just… that’s an inventive expression.” The shade shrugs, still in the midst of a laugh when the man goes on. “Oh? Well, I’m almost offended. Surely a spirit appearing and making demands should rank near the top of the list.” She’s hardly making demands, but Caoimhe will make the assertion for the sake of her joke. “Yes, the smithy. The… well…” Her lips quirk. “Faolan, the blacksmith. He’s my husband. So I was hoping to get back to his shop.” Is it an outdated term, smithy? Most things she does are turning out to be outdated, so Caoimhe should hardly be surprised, she supposes. “It would seem I took a wrong turn somewhere. You know, between elbow and hand.” Now that probably won’t quite land for someone who doesn’t have to constantly focus on making each limb corporeal. Still, she’s proud of it. Even if she probably shouldn’t be.

Spencer’s nerves had been on edge once the woman appeared out of nowhere. However as quick as he reacted the feeling had disappeared at seeing that she hadn’t been a threat. It was a relief considering he tried not to fight now. If anything she seemed more like a friend just talking to him about life than a threat. That alone brought an amused smile to his face. “It’s yours to use. “ He replied giving a her a nod. Spencer had to admit she’d had a point but he was a former which walking around like the living dead, so he could handle a lot. “I honestly didn’t mean any offense by it. I just understand the whole living dead thing. “ He explained before feeling foolish, His ears must have been messing with him because as soon as she explained where she needed to go, Spencer knew exactly what she meant. “ Wow now I feel ridiculous. I’m Spencer by the way. My sister Ivy works with him, I can take you back there if you want?” He replied grabbing his keys in case. It was ultimately her choice but he wanted to be polite. Delilah was home so he knew it’d be safe to leave Rowan with her for a couple minutes. “ I mean if you want to save your, traveling in case you end up somewhere else again? “

Date: 28 April 2021 Time: 00:23 AM Location: Terrance’s

It’s a quiet Wednesday night, where Brad gets to eat burgers on one of the booth’s since there aren’t many customers. Terry went out to throw out trash, and Matt… well, Brad does not want to know what Matt is doing… After he finishes assembling the burgers, he steps out of the kitchen. “Hey, Spence, I’m gonna go eat my dinner. Wanna join me?” he asks Spencer by the bar, when the door opens and a group of people in hoods and masks walk in. Brad takes a bite out of the burger, puts down his plate and goes “hey, can I get you anything?” Instead of the order, one of the hooded figures pulled out a bottle… sets it on fire, and threw it across the room. Brad’s eyes follows the Molotov cocktail in the air,  and the air ripples around its fuse before the fire goes out. The bottle shatters on the floor. “Well, that’s not nice.” Brad says, a trickle of blood flowing from his nose. “Looks like we’ve got some rowdy customers.” He says to Spencer and jumps over the bar to face the group.

@spencer-sloane​

Spencer was behind the bar tonight since it was slower and there really wasn’t as much of a need for his piano skills on nights like this. He didn’t mind either way, since he loved his job. It was the only thing he really did to get out of the house since he took over guardianship of his sibling’s. “ Yeah it doesn’t look like it’ll miss us out here” He nodded before heading in the direction Brad was heading until he stopped in his tracks at the hooded figures. “ What the hell?” Spencer replied giving a face that could be accurately described as ‘are you kidding me.’ Were people actually trying to start something in the bar? He may not have been a witch anymore but he was already dead, so in a way he didn’t have anything to lose. “ Rowdy? I would say idiots” Spencer replied before flanking Brad to his side. When he was younger and long before he was essentially put in the position of being a parent, Spencer had a tendency to fight. It was like riding a bike. You never forget that stuff. “ You guys had your fun and it failed. You can go now”

Delia looked the kid up and down, recognizing him quickly as one of the Sloane kids, the oldest. “ah, right. Fair enough.” If she was right about him being a Sloane then from what she knew emotional pain could come in large amounts for the kid with ghosts involved. “Sorry about the scare with the gun. I promise I’ve done this long enough to not be trigger happy.” She glanced around and chewed on her lip. “You’re Spencer, right? Where are your siblings? Do we need to find them?”

Spencer was just trying to get home and avoid any trouble at this point. He had lost contact with Ivy but he at least knew the others were safe. He didn’t want to know what sort of devastating effect seeing their parents would do to his siblings. “ It’s fine. You;re not the first person to point a weapon at me and I doubt you’ll be the last. “ Spencer explained. He wasn’t a troublemaker but he just had a habit of finding himself in terrible situations. “ That’s a relief” He added finally lowering his hands down to relax. “ They’re all at home except for my sister Ivy. I just wanna make sure she’s safe . “

@spencer-sloane​

Delilah took the kids home around ten thirty, so Spencer and Ivy could have the late night to themselves. They were too tired to continue ice skating so they just walked around, pondering the vendors and getting food here and there. Ivy held a hot cocoa in her mitten-clad hands, huddled next to her big brother as whispers started around her. After a moment, she turned to look at those around her, and looked up to where their eyes were pointed. Fiona… Fiona. Oh, God.

Spencer rarely had any time lately to just spend time with his sister where it wasn’t based around filling the roles as co parents to their little siblings and while he didn’t think Delilah could handle their other siblings on her own, he still let them go home and tried not to let it affect him. The night had been overall nice and in a lot of ways a relief. He felt like the Spencer who was once alive but the reality of the world they were living came crashing in almost literally. “Oh my God. What is going on?”

Date: January 1, 2021

Time: 12:35 AM

Location: Irving Plaza

Status: Open

Cordelia had not wanted to deal with this tonight. All she wanted was one town event to go well but from her short experience so far and what she’d been told, that didn’t feel likely to happen any time soon. This one was the worst.

She tossed herself over a bench and squatted beside someone else that was there for the shelter. “These things don’t seem dangerous, right? Like they can’t cause damage?” Her mind raced over video game references and she almost snorted in amusement because it made her think of her son. They couldn’t risk the assumption. What if they could? The ghosts didn’t seem to only have died in Lethe; what if her mother was here and could harm? Her stomach flipped because she had no idea how to stop her. “Goddamn, I need to retire,” she growled as she put her gun back in its holster, knowing full well it wasn’t going to do anything for her tonight. “Are you alright?” she finally asked the other.

Spencer was not doing well with what he was seeing. He wasn’t falling apart yet like others, but he was trying his best to cope. He had prepared to see his parents once he realized what was happening, but maybe he wasn’t as brave as he thought he was. What if he was proven to be a terrible guardian by the only people whose opinion of his parenting skills mattered. It was a situation he honestly wanted to avoid. Spencer turned a corner and nearly bumped into a woman ho he wasn’t sure if he had met before and instantly took a step back. “Whoa” He replied holding his hands up, despite the fact that he himself was already dead. “He didn’t feel like being shot though despite that fact. “ Honestly who knows. I thought I knew everything about what existed out here but I’ve been wrong so many times so far. I’m okay though. I’m already dead so the only pain I’m gonna get is emotional”

Brad stares down at the spot on the bar. He practically grew up in this bar, and Terry has not redecorated the bar since the last century or something. But Brad has never noticed this specific spot… As he focuses on the spot, the white noise fills his ears and he could feel the energy bubbling in his guts. He snaps out of it when he hears Spencer calling him out. “Hmm?” Brad lets out a blank sound, a ghost of a delayed smile on his lips. “Yeah, yeah, I’m doing alright, all things considered” he lies, gulping down his beer. He usually doesn’t drink at Terrance’s since, well, he doesn’t want to drink in front of Terry. But Terry is not at the bar tonight, and Brad just couldn’t be bothered. “How are you, my man? Feels like forever since we hung out– but that’s kinda on me. I’ve been, uh, camping for a bit.” 

Spencer understood when people were going through thing’s. He grew up with it he died because of it and he understood also that sometimes the only way to address anything was by not addressing it and just having a good time with a friend. If he could be a distraction for a friend, he’d be it. “ Yeah I get you. It’s been a year” He replied not specifying whether or not the years had been bad or good, just that it happened, and he was hopeful the net one would be better for those he knew. “ Okay, mostly here at night still. It makes things easier when I don’t really sleep. I’ve been on Rowan duty a lot, but I don’t mind, I know she likes the attention” Spencer explained, chuckling a bit when it came to his baby sister, who was not really a baby anymore. “ For how long have you been camping?” 

Date: November 22, 2020 Time: 11:57pm Location: Outside a shop in Irving Plaza

open

All the air escapes her lungs in a huff as her back hits the brick behind her, fingers cradling her head to keep from smacking against the wall. Pain flares everywhere at once, from the ache in her fingers to the bruises building on her back, and she collapses onto her knees on the ground. “Some vampire. You couldn’t even throw me through the wall,” she spits out in a hiss, forcing herself up onto her feet. The blonde vampire narrows her eyes, but a call from further away draws her attention. She gives a cheery wave, almost cheery despite the aghast looks people have shot them for the last ten minutes since they spilled out of the shop’s doors, fists swinging. She’s gone while Briar is finding her way to her feet, and she shoots a look to the only person still lingering. Blood drips from the gash on her chin and a bruise is building on her forehead. “Wow, you aren’t even going to give me coin for the entertainment I just gave you? She was weak as fuck, but a vampire could have snapped my neck and look at me, I’m still standing.” She stumbles a little, catching the wall with her hand and then straightening up with a proud tilt to her chin.

Spencer was very much the pacifist, but when he saw out of the corner of his eye a woman being injured, he wanted to chase after the vampire and stop them. He was essentially the living dead, so it wasn’t like anything would have happened to him. However his urge to go after them was replaced by the voice of the person he probably should have focused on and the lich felt a little sheepish for getting some priorities backwards. He was raising children and told them to always make sure people were okay. He really needed to practice what he preached. “ What? Oh no. I wasn’t staring or anything I was debating whether or not to chase them. Then I spent too long debating and lost my chance.....I blew it “Spencer rambled, before walking over to help. “Sorry, but you do look a little hurt. Would you like me to get help or call someone? Maybe sit down?” He asked going into the more nurturing aspect to himself. 

@briarbishop​

@bradley-bradshaw​

“Yeah, you would let Rowan pick. She’s got you wrapped around her tiny little finger,” she said, raising her pinky for emphasis and giggling afterwards. She didn’t mind Rowan picking, and odds were her little sister wouldn’t choose something as boring as ‘Shadow,’ but something like Zimfandelkaoctopus. Or something. She snorted at the idea and looked up to her big brother, then followed the woman to the front desk. Penelope told the receptionist what they were getting and went back to the room to get Shadow from its crate to a travel box. “Okay bro, pay for the little shit and we can skedaddle.” She laughed at her nonchalance and patted Spencer’s back. Thankfully through the clothes she couldn’t feel the coldness of his skin, and she wondered how he had hidden for so many months from Rowan who always liked to hold hands. But she shook the thought away.

When everything was squared away, they brought the hairy midget to the car. “Should we put it in the crate, or keep it up at the front of the car where he can get air flow from the AC?” she asked. 

“I’m aware. Apparently my parenting skills involve letting Rowan get away with everything, but you’d do it too if she did that sad eyes thing she pulls on me” Spencer replied knowing it was obvious he pretty much did everything his little sister wanted. He honestly just wanted his siblings to have a good life and that meant everyone. Ivy may have been his partner in crime, but he was also trying to make sure she’d always be happy no matter what. “Oh I see. I’m suddenly the one with all the money” He joked before paying for the rabbit. He was kidding, considering he’d pay for anything if it meant making someone smile. It was why he worked two jobs. 

“ Probably the AC. Those little guys can overheat really easy and not gonna lie the window tinting on the car is suspicious on a good day” Spencer replied. Maybe he needed to get that looked at. 

“Ah, to each their own. Everyone’s stories are different. I guess it must be nice, not having to have dirt in your hair and under your nails. Do you at least know how you died? You don’t have to tell me I just…” She shrugged. She didn’t know how she died. She remembered a bright light, was she hit by a car, a train? Was she attacked from behind, in a hit and run like her mother? That was her villain story if there ever was one, not knowing who or what killed her all those years ago. “Why a waste?” she cackled surprisingly. “‘Ain’t no time like the present’ to learn new things, bubba.”

“It wasn’t a party. I still died in my house. I was just lucky my baby sister wasn’t home at the time. Yeah I do. It was my own damn fault too” Spencer expressed, suddenly dwelling on how dumb he had been. He had little control of his life. He had willing chose to be put in a fatherly role for his siblings , but after a while it all started to take a toll on him that he believed only drugs could fix. He was wrong. “ I overdosed. “ Spencer admitted before shrugging. It was easier to move on. “ I have not idea. I just said it. I kinda like the thing’s I’m doing right now.”