never moon a werewolf

A stillness began to settle in the night's air, a stark contrast to the effervescent company the theatre kept all evening. Locals gathering around to support their neighbourhood artists, almost everyone would know everyone. It was hard not to in a town like Hexmore, especially when you ventured into the rural part of town. While it wasn't uncommon to see Benji at the outdoor theatre enjoying the company of those around him, tonight he was only there for Imani. The woman who seemed to carry on so easily in her daily life despite everything that had happened.

Waiting until the theatre would begin to clear out, and silence settled over the space until there was no potential crowd left. He knew the woman knew more than she was leading on, and he was here to get answers.

He moved around the same space as Imani, slowly assisting packing up for the night. Moving chairs back to where they belong, and watching Imani from the corner of his eye before he finally spoke up. "I never did get to speak to you after- well you know." He's referring to the breakup of course, the one that happened not long before Hazel disappeared. "You seem to be fairing pretty well considering it all."

So it wasn't at all surprising to find her to be the last one to leave the theatre at the end of the night, sometimes doing mindless tasks all alone. Hazel, while the two of them were together, has joined her from time to time, and seeing Benji move along her silently has sent pain through her heart, reminding Imani so much of that.

She wondered if Hazel ever mentioned how she used to be around similarly to Benji - Imani knew the two were close, Hazel speaking fondly of Benji himself when he came up.

The silence was broken eventually, however, and while Benji was speaking of the breakup, Imani has assumed immediately that he was referring to Hazel disappearing. Not that that was much better.

"What exactly would be expected of me, do you think? Should I throw a fit, make a scene at my place of work?" she asked, her voice think with sarcasm. "Or maybe I should do it somewhere else? Go into the Academy, make sure every single person there sees me wail and make a fool of myself? I'm going to pass on that, even if that's what you'd prefer from me."

They reached the end of the line and she stopped in front of him, looking him up and down and releasing a sigh. "You look pretty put together yourself, too, considering everything." She was being unfair, but it was easier to hide the pain she was feeling behind sarcasm and harshness, easier to not even think about the pain of losing Hazel rather than acknowledge it, especially to somebody she wasn't close herself.

“No, I promise you’re safe. I’m his only target and the person he likes to annoy,” he replied with a laugh, giving him another head scratch. The dog’ tail continued to wag, happy for the attention. “I’m sure that’s not true, I bet you could have a fish?” he joked lightly with a smile.

He paused a moment, he wondered why she’d asked this. He seemed so similar to what Ashed had been asking. And with the cat he’d just treated a few weeks ago… all too close to home. “I mean sometimes, yeah. We have some wildlife. Though most of my animals are pets. I guess,” he paused once more. “I guess, there was this weird cat. Not too long ago. It had two tails,” he told her, feeling even more stupid saying it out loud.

She let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I'd assume so. We're not living in a fantasy book of any kind, even some survival of the fittest type of story. We might be close to the forest, but whenever wildlife is involved, it must be really interesting. Exciting." She was fishing, obviously. Imani was expecting exactly nothing from this guy - he might had pretty curls, but she didn't expect anything else from her.

She was already thinking about how to end the conversation in a way that she could suggest he get some tickets to an upcoming show in the theatre, when he mentioned a cat with two tails.

Now that was interesting. Even if she couldn't show just how interesting she actually found it.

Imani's sardonicism slid off Ashed like water on duck feathers, and her hostility only pointed out that Imani had deep feelings - one way or another - about Hazel Mora. "I did interrupt your work. I could return later when you're all done here. Buy you a drink - do you drink?"

Ashed wasn't giving up so easily, he wasn't about to be deterred. He was aggravated by the vague brush-offs he kept getting about his great-Aunt. And the strange polarization of Hazel Mora's disappearance - some people just shrugged it off, others (those close to her, really) were disturbed.

Why wasn't everyone more disturbed?

Imani's defensiveness could be grief or guilt, and Ashed had to find out. Maybe this was a diversion from finding his own great-Aunt Aqsa, or maybe one missing person would connect to his own hidden Aunt.

"I understand it's complicated. From what I've heard around town, it's so complicated it's almost a non-issue for some, and frightening for others. I met Rory Mora, her niece - and she sort of set me down this path." A bit of a white lie, but useful enough for now. He'd catch up with Rory later. "Rory's extraordinarily worried, and I can only imagine how you're feeling about poor Hazel."

A shake of his head. "No. I'm...actually I came here looking for one of my own relatives, my great-Aunt. A librarian, who works at the Grand Castle Library." A silly, ostentatious name for a library in Ashed's opinion; but then he thought Hexmore was silly and ostentatious overall. "Everyone seems to know her but no one can tell me where she bloody is. And then finding out about Hazel Mora..." Ashed drew in a breath, let it out in a frustrated huff.

"I suppose I can be a bit tenacious, once I get a scent. Like a bloodhound. I can't let go until at least something is resolved." He set his gaze on Imani. "Please. Just one drink and then the next time you see me will be opening night."

The fact that she managed to convince Ashed, even if he wasn't so sure yet, to come to a show was a win in her book - he'd see the play and realize that she was right, it is a good play. She was certain of it.

She wished they could have stuck to the topic of the theatre, but Ashed came here with a determination even Imani couldn't deter with her hostility. Ashed quickly changed tactics - still tenacious and determined, but playing to emotions more, talking about a dead relative he was trying to track down.

A potential witch relative? He couldn't have been just a random, good samarithan. There were coincidences in the world, sure, but not this big. Not this magnitude.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh.

"Hazel More is definitely not your great aunt, I can reassure you of that at least." It was probably a stupidly obvious thing to state, but oh well. "And I am saying this because you thinking she is this lost great aunt is the only reason I can see why you'd be looking into Hazel instead of your aunt. Otherwise, I am still just confused about why you'd want to go down this path, why you'd track me down, specifically."

A pause, and then she added, "And for the record, it's not a non-issue. It's the kind of big issue everyone is worried about and wants to solve, but the sun doesn't stop to rise and people usually don't like showing their fucking emotions over something like this." This affected even the humans who have been here for long, even they aren't blind to disappearances, though they probably didn't realize the magnitude and connectedness of it all.

She did realize, however, that even if she tried to sidestep all of his question, he'd still keep digging, so maybe, just maybe, it was better if she talked to him and had an idea what he knew and what he didn't. Even by the questions one could figure out a lot. She finally she sighed and nodded towards the seat in front of her own desk. "Alright, but I'm not meeting you in a bar, just sit down." She wanted to be in her own place, in her own comfort, if she was to have this conversation. She was also not going to get drunk with him so she'd spill something he could use or misconstrude without Imani even realizing what she's done. "I reserve the right to not answer any of your questions if I don't like them.

Although he worked a brow at her suggestion, doing his best not to be amused. "Now... does that mean you're going to be my buddy?" he chuckled to himself. But his smile faded at her second suggestion. "No." he replied firmly. He didn't know much but he knew they could only trust themselves. "We can't trust them. For all we know... they are the ones doing it. I mean... think about it."

He flicked his pen back and forth. "Big badass supreme... gets too popular, so the rest of the coven have to off her. Put in a new supreme... someone they can control."

His stern, immediate response what about what Imani expected, still, part of her hoped she might get something more - a bit more openness, a bit more to grasp onto. Instead Killian presented a scenario where the witches were behind it all, and Imani's stomach sank.

"We were together," she blurted it out, surprised even by herself that she uttered the words. It wasn't a huge secret, especially towards the end, Hazel and her didn't try to hide things, but she also never really openly said it to anyone in the pack, never discussed it. And by the time it could have happened, she broke things off out of panic.

Part of her wanted to just take it all back right away, but it was out there now, there was no point. "Hazel and me. Not right before the disappearance, but before. And if what you're saying is true..." She leaned forward and buried her face into her hands for a moment before looking up at Killian. "If what you are saying is true, it could have easily been because they didn't like me being anywhere near her too." She didn't think she was, but even the thought of indirectly being responsible for what happened to Hazel made her want to throw up.

Imani. She had been a flicker in the corner of his eye or the corner of a room, but he hadn’t been able to follow up on the sightings. Now, there she stood inside the building he now owned.

He savored a long look of Imani before replying. “I’m here,” he announced. Tej took the spiral staircase, like a snake leaving a comfy tree branch to slowly shimmy down and investigate something of interest.

Imani had been born to die… and live again through Tej. Or so he’d envisioned after a handful of nights in her presence. The desire to make Imani's beauty eternal thwarted one evening as she disappeared into the woods instead of following her usual schedule. (Imani was supposed to go home, and so her roomie took the brunt of Tej’s anger, for his trouble.)

Perhaps it was a stoke of luck for a vampire, as Imani held a secret that could literally kill Tej. Seeing her now, he was too cocky to feel immediately threatened but smart enough to be wary. 

Tej strolled slow over to where Imani stood, arms out to greet an old friend. “What a nice surprise this is.”  His grin was small but admiring. His gaze appreciative as Tej took her in from head to toe. “I could’ve sworn I saw you at a bar once, but by the time I was able to head over, you were gone.”

He glanced around with a grin that turned proud. “This used to be a dance hall.The last owner abandoned it.” Yes, left it for a shallow grave just outside of town. Tej wanted to building that bad. “You’re not looking for him, are you? Because I own this place now.” So, Imani tracked him down? Interesting. Tej gestured around the room. “I’d love to show you around.”

Maybe if she would have known even half as much as Tej did, things would have been different. She probably wouldn't have walked in here to begin with, not like this, not welcoming the distraction from the supernatural world and all its Hazel mess lately, not smiling and being determined to do something for the very normal, very non-supernatural theatre of hers.

But alas, here she was, smiling at Tej as he walked down that staircase (did he model before he moved to Hexmore? he certainly looked like he could walk a runway) and then came up to her. Her ego certainly noticed the look he gave her and appreciated it (it was well deserved, in her mind, really), her eyes looking over him in return.

"What an unlucky night it was for both of us, then. I would have loved to properly meet you that night," Imani countered, her voice light and friendly, a hint of teasing in there. "But really, it just means this meeting was meant to happen. So to make it official, I'm Imani Davis, very nice to meet you."

“There’s…” she didn’t know how to phrase it. There was not simple way to put it. “There’s going to be a rumour that I… hurt her.” She swallowed, waiting for imani’s reaction and preparing to plead her innocence.

Imani assumed - it's not like Hazel and her were hiding it and sneaking around, and Imani and Rory crossed paths a couple of times in Hazel's home, but Imani never knew if Hazel ever said anything. The fact that Rory came to her made her decide that she must have, to some degree at least.

At least made her not have to worry about calling Hazel the Witch Supreme. What the other woman's goals were, though... She couldn't tell, especially not after Rory said those last words and basically dropped a bomb on Imani.

She leaned back, remained silent for half a minute, maybe even a full minute, just looking at Rory. She looked tortured, but could it all be an act? "So you came to me because Hazel told you about you and me and you hope I can... what?" A pause, and then she asked, "Are you here to convince me that it wasn't you and that you need help?"

Imani herself was an exceptional actor it seemed, as her smile remained as he brought up Hazel. But for Ashed, her smiling at the mention of her missing (ex?)-girlfriend(?) was in and of itself suspicious. Ashed was by nature paranoid, so he peered at her more intently.

"Some things are hard to bring up, with the authorities. I know how biased they can be, how judgmental," Ashed pointed out. Little did he realize that the Hexmore authorities were all humans, and therefore incapable of understanding the real truths of Imani, or Hazel, or any supernatural issues.

"I happen to be very good at what I do, even if I don't have a Yelp page to prove it." A slight smile, hoping the joke would come across. Ashed wasn't always good with jokes; his dad was so much better at the funny charm. "I'm interested in Ms Mora's case; and sometimes it can be a relief to know someone has a vested interest. Please, if you could go over it with me, I just want to help."

Unless, of course, Imani had something to hide. Unless she was involved somehow in Hazel's disappearance. Unless there was some supernatural connection that Ashed didn't see (and would never see until he learned the truth about supernaturals in Hexmore).

Because they were idiots, obviously. Anything she touched turned into gold. (Her ego the most, for sure.)

Her voice was pleasant until now, but after Hazel was brought up, she felt like yelling, she felt like demanding what this man thought he was saying, bringing up a topic he had nothing to do with, wanted to curl up into herself and get away from the conversation as much as possible.

Instead, her back straightened and she mostly just tried to not show everything that was whirling inside of her. Being taken by surprise by the question, the topic, the request, was the worst part of her day officially.

"Oh no, no yelp reviews, how will I make sure you are not full of shit to me about your credentials..." she mumbled sardonically, her voice sharp now.

"Ashed-- that was your name, right? Ashed. Look, you say you want to help, but a lot of people just want to help. You say you are not as judgemental as other parties involved, but everything you say, I have no proof of. You just waltzed into the place of my work, insulted my work," the fact that she insulted him right back didn't even cross her mind anymore, "and then suddenly suggest you just want to help. By digging into a topic that is much more complicated isse than what I should eat for dinner tonight or even how to fix a scene that might not work perfectly just yet. Why exactly should I not just throw you out of here right now?"

He smiled, returning hers, though he was a little embarrassed about his dog. “Yeah, still. I’m sorry about him. He’s still young. We’re still in the training stage, aren’t we, bud?” he said, ruffling his dog’s head. “Oh, he loves his running. Yeah. Kind of his thing,” he laughed.

He held his hand out. “You too, Imani. Oh yeah, I have definitely seen your face around. Oh yeah, that will be why. I’ve been to a few shows. That and I’ve lived in this town a long time,” he joked a little. “I’m also the local vet. The almost peeing dog is definitely giving my image.”

"That's alright. As long as he doesn't decide that I'm his next target practice, you have nothing to apologize for," Imani smiled pleasantly, watching the way the dog wiggled his tail at the scratch on his head, her smile turning more genuine once he declared that he's been to some of the shows in the theater. "I'm not a big pet person, so that's why we most likely never actually met in person. Not the kind of person who should ever be left to take care of an animal, we're both better off without each other," she joked.

Izel was on edge with how strange things were seeming to get around town lately. She already understood from talking with Tej that throwing herself into her work wasn't a healthy alternative, but she felt more energized, more herself when it came to expanding and improving her business. It was an easy enough distraction. Maybe she could mix the two options though, going out and doing work, that would make both activities more enjoyable.

Perhaps having a business meeting of sorts in a bar was a bit unorthodox, but Imani didn't refuse to meet her here when she suggested it, so Izel considered that a good sign. This wasn't some excuse to get wasted and completely forget about their next plans as business coordinators, but a drink or two to take the edge off could help.

So when the woman suggested a project, she nodded, already starting to think about what kind of options they would have to work with.

"I like that. Summer is coming up anyway, it will bring in more tourists, so hopefully they will be open to things. We could still offer that as a baseline, but we could mix it up. Spice things up for the summer, to start. We could come up with some catchy tagline to bring in more interested people." A pause, and then, "We could offer some free improv or acting classes in house for the guests of your inn. Maybe some tours behind the scenes right before a show."

Alden from the museum also didn't seem too concerned about Hazel Mora's disappearance. Was Imani the same?

Regardless, Imani seemed game for a chat afterwards, so Ashed put in his best reading and acting skills. When the scene was done and Imani ushered him into her little theatre office, he looked insulted by her immediate assumption.

"I thought I was rather good at making that drivel sound reasonable and realistic." He tilted his head at Imani. "I hope you didn't write that script. You seem to be a very seasoned director; the group heeded your every word."

Imani Davis seemed to be a woman who was unafraid to get what she wanted, so Ashed decided to be direct. "I am new to Hexmore, but since discovering that one of your people has disappeared recently, I've become rather intrigued with this...mystery, you could say. The authorities seem to take things somewhat seriously - closing down the museum, limiting hours at the Town Hall and so forth, but I'm something of a private investigator, and a bit more...erm...keen that regular authorities, if I do say so myself."

He motioned to Imani. "Would it be alright if I asked you some questions, about Hazel Mora? The tittle-tattle around town seemed to indicate you two were well-acquainted."

"Thank you, I do think I'm pretty good at my job, too," she smiled confidently. "I didn't write the script, no, but you can't base anything on what's on the page - it comes alive if the right person is saying the lines. You should get some tickets and come see the show. If you think you did a good job, just wait until you see Aaron in it - he makes you forget you're watching fiction."

The conversation moved to Ashed explaining what he was here for and Imani appreciated that he wasn't going for small talk, no pointless chatter, he just said what he wanted - and what he wanted quickly made her back straighten back, the smile freezing onto her expression.

She was usually exceptional at hiding her own feelings, but everything out of Ashed's mouth came like a slap to the face, unexpected, unavoidable. It's not like she hasn't had to talk about Hazel ever since the woman disappeared, but each and every time she was at least prepared for the conversation, she knew it was coming, she could go into it with eyes open. This one-- this was a surprise.

And in her own theatre, in one of the few places she found refuge in, of all places.

"Yes, we've known each other and we were once close. But I have no information about what happened to Hazel. If I did have anything, I would have already gone to the authorities." Alright, that wasn't true, she didn't trust them - she would have went to her pack, her elders, but this was the kind of lie she didn't even think about, didn't even register for her that she was lying, it came out so natural.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest then, giving him a cold glare. "What makes you think you could figure out anything that others in town haven't been able to? That the authorities haven't already checked up on twice already?"

He was so lost in his thoughts; he hadn’t even noticed that his dog had untied himself from his lead. The woman spoke and it took him a moment to to take in what was happening. “Oh,” he finally laughed. “That’s my dog. Parker, dude, why? You're making me look bad. What are you doing? That’s no way to act in public,” he joked. He leaned down, securing the dog to the side again. “Sorry about that. I’m Dex, by the way.”

(She was a judgemental person in general, it was easy for her to judge anyone for even the smallest of things, whether it was actually true or not - it was easier for her to judge somebody than not, really, especially when she just met them.)

Where: Pete's bar

Rory wasn't a drinker, but she had needed somewhere to meet someone. With everything she had been told by Tej. Everything she had seen with Ashed. And then all of her speculation with Connie. Rory wasn't sure who she could trust anymore. She sure as hell was starting to realise she couldn't trust the coven. She didn't know who was actually looking out for her aunt - or who she could share what she knew with.

But then she remembered the wolf. She hadn't known her very well. But she had caught her once or twice on the landing. Rory didn't know what had happened in the relationship nor did she want to know. But she was hoping that the werewolf cared enough to turn up when she'd got the mysterious note inviting her to the wrong side of town. Especially when it mentioned talking to someone who had information regarding the supreme.

When she saw the wolf she stood, bowing her head and hoping that Imani recognised her. "I'm really glad you came... i wasn't sure you would."

If Imani was being honest, it was the kind of out of the blue, no-signature, sketchy notes that she would yell at the movie character to not go to the meeting because it looks like a certain way to become the character of a horror movie. She probably would have yelled at herself too.

She went anyway.

For a few moments she pretended like she wouldn't, pretended like she would just throw the note out and forget about it, but the note suggested there was somebody out there with more information about Hazel than what she knew, and really, that was the crux of it - she wanted to know if it was true or not.

Considering their last conversation about staying safe and keeping everyone alive from their pack, Killian probably would have not been happy with her, but oh well... She did at least slip a knife into the inside of her jacket, just in case.

And then she recognized who was waiting for her at the bar, and Imani concluded that she'd probably not need the knife. Hopefully. Unless this was a trap and Rory Mora thought Imani was the one who took Hazel and wanted revenge for it now.

And when Imani replied, Ashed realized they were stunned not because of what he said, exactly, but who he said it to. Imani's sarcasm was so dripping it could've been acid. Even Ashed instinctively felt a little cowed; when he looked over at his 'fellow' actor Dana for insight, she immediately just lowered her gaze.

What kind of hold did Imani have on these people? A director from hell, or a director from an army base?

But Ashed was already playing a role here, as he did everywhere. No one but his family and other Hunters knew his true identity; and now his family were all dead. So he shrugged as casually as possible. "I'm new to town, just visiting. Are you, by chance, Imani?"

Ashed bit his bottom lip, then asked, "I'll read from this purple prose - without complaint. If I could get a have a chat with you afterwards? I'd really appreciate a bit of your time; and I'll happily give you a bit of mine."

Instead he gave a vague answer about who he was and declared that he knew who she was instead. "That's right, that's me. And yet I still don't know your name."

He wanted to talk to her, which, frankly, she didn't have any idea why he would want to. For a second it crossed her mind that maybe he somehow figured out that she was the person behind the author name Tamyra Williams, but she quickly pushed the thought aside. There was simply no way he could have found out. Even Hazel needed Imani to accidentally leave her laptop open to figure it all out, some random bloke wouldn't be able to just by digging through the internet. She was certain of it.

So it had to be about either acting or some kind of job here - or, since he was visiting, maybe he was some uncle who wanted to get a chance for his niece or something. "Alright, I can give you a few minutes once we're done here - but you finish up the rest of the rehearsal so we can finish up the scene and Dana can properly work off of you."

The last week had felt long. Every time Dex had walked into work, he'd expected something weird to happen. He couldn't stop thinking about that cat... had it even been a cat? It had seem too intelligent... it had two tails... it looked at him. Really looked at him. He shook his head at himself. He was being insane. He sounded insane to him.

He lifted his third drink to his lips, it was still chilly out but he rather enjoyed sitting at the beach bar. He felt like he could think with the breeze on his face. He glanced up, realising someone was looking at him. Had his thoughts been written on his face. "Uh, hi? Nice spring day?" he offered.

And when she's gotten near the Red Skies, she found herself watching the people sitting at the bar, her eyes getting stuck on a curly haired guy who was probably more wrapped up in his own thoughts that even she was. If nothing else proved it better, it was the fact a stray dog, who was sniffing his legs mere moments ago, was now holding his leg up and peeing sort of on him, sort of right next to him. Imani couldn't tell from this angle.

"Oh, yeah, it's really nice. And the beach in the sun is always a pleasure." She nodded towards the dog at the guy's feet, unsure if he's noticed him or not. "You've got an admirer, it seems."

Killian's life was incredibly complex and it seemed the women around him only seemed to complicate that more. Although his mind was on others when Imani entered his office. When she did he felt his shoulders sink. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't good. He sighed, leaning back as she sat.

It was the image he tried to portray to the wolves around him. Always a door open for a shoulder to cry on. Although some wolves took that more literally then others. He knew better then to expect the same from Imani. He nodded, she voiced a worry that he had been thinking about himself.

It never was.

"You know, if you can find a magical wardrobe and we could all just escape into Narnia, that would be a pretty cool solution," Imani said softly, teasing, trying to lighten the mood just a little bit before leaning back in her seat.

"I know it's not easy, don't get me wrong. I know that if there was a simple solution, you guys would have already implemented it. So I am not claiming to have all the solutions, but-- I don't know, maybe starting with a buddy system for now could be helpful. Nobody goes alone to places, or at least sticks to other pack members as much as possible. Maybe people would still get taken, but more of us together is a better shot than just us."

It wouldn't be enough, though, and Imani already knew that. It was more of a gentle option to not barge right in through the door out of the gate. She did that literally already, she wanted to try to be a bit smoother with what she really was thinking about. But she also wasn't the kind who could hold her tongue and wait for too long, so she added, "I was also thinking-- maybe the problem is that we are trying to solve this all on our own, just us in the pack, so we should work together with the rest to solve it all."