goldfink

Ash half smiled, looking into the shop that was selling the papers before tucking one under his arm. "Don't mention it, I know what this town can do to you." The answer was drive you fucking crazy. But he didn't need to say that, not to James at least. "People like hope..."

"Everyone's in need of oil every now and then. You know I haven't been back for a long time" James buried his hands in his pockets, shrugging his shoulders, "And we're old friends that like to reminisce about the good old days... And the places we used to hang."

James’s voice pulled Viv from her thoughts. He walked over to her table in the small coffeeshop. There was that usual tension just beneath the surface. She could see it in his shoulders, the way his jaw clenched. Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe he should.

He had not expected a warm welcome but as always her cold shoulder hurt. James swallowed down his own pride, tried to keep the anger out of his eyes. Yes, maybe he was the villain in Viv's story but it always took two people to cause a breakup like theirs.

"Hmm, yeah, never thought I would say that," she nodded, letting her thoughts wander for a moment. She'd had mixed feelings about Holden for a long time. A lot of that due to their dad but it was still her home, she wanted it to be safe for their family. "Viv is too head strong to let you drag her anywhere," she smiled.

"Yeah, I guess she is." James reached up to scratch his neck, wondering if he and Vivian would ever return to a state of mutual liking. Or if it would forever be this disappointment. "And maybe that's for the better, honestly." But that was no conversation to be had on the middle of the street, so he tried to focus on their other topic, to keep his mind away from the woman he had once loved. 

Asher didn’t say anything at first. Just ran a hand down his face like he was trying to wipe off the whole conversation. Offering to speak to his dad was a big step. He would be lying if he said he wasn't relieved that James had turned it down. "I'm not saying we... erase it. But maybe they could reprint a follow up... something good about her. I don't know i.." He sighed, knowing he was thinking like one of them. Like one of the Campbells and he quickly tightened his lips.

James tried - and failed - to read his friend's reaction. Family was a strange topic for the both of them, one they often avoided and that justifiably so. So he offered an apologetic smile. "You must forgive me if I am harsh today. My mood wasn't bad to begin with, but I guess it took a turn now." Another sigh before he listened, more carefully this time. "There should not be need for that. Many in this town knew her. And it won't bring her back, nor will it help explaining what happened to her."

Asher looked down at the paper, scanning it as his old friend spoke. He folded it back over as he offered his harsh opinion of it. Asher went to state how close the pair were - but decided better of it. Talk like that in times like this sounded like suspicion. Asher didn't suspect James for a minute, he doubted he was even capable of hurting anyone that way. "Crazy?" He clicked his tongue. "She wasn't. We both knew her.. like i said it's bullshit. Some young journalist." He sighed. "Look... you know how i feel about this but if you want me to talk to my sisters... see if maybe my family can pull the article." He suspected that maybe James was still doing some grieving of his own.

"Yeah. That's exactly what this sounds like." James hated the thought, hated the idea of people now seeing Sophia in that kind of light. It made his stomach turn. She had deserved better. Like so many in this forsaken town. James looked at Asher, at the strings his family held in Holden and wondered if the same thing could be said about his own father, the dutiful citizen. He had never wanted to play a game like this. But Sophia still had family, siblings, parents, if something like this ever happened to Maya, would he not want - No, there was no reason to go down that road, not even in thought. "I am not sure that's a good idea. It's out there now, the damage is done. If we force them to take it back now, won't that seem suspicious? As if we are truly trying to hide that side of her?"

Piper loved her brother. She'd missed him over the years, but she had always understood his reasons for leaving. She felt the same way about their dad. She knew out of everyone, she could trust James, even if he hadn't always been there in person. She returned his smile, nodding at his response. "Hmm, yeah. We both left for college. They were all talking about this today. News stories like this don't often happen in towns like ours." She gave him sad look. "She does deserve peace, I'm sorry, James." Piper fiddled with the strap on her bag. She believed that, she knew her brother was strong. "Me? I'm pretty good, yeah. Avoiding dad. The usual. I spend a lot of evenings at the inn with my mom."

"Yeah, that's true. I gotta admit I preferred the boring version of this town." Now that he had a kid of his own, now that he was finally a part of Maya's life, he would have done anything to return Holden to it's boring state. It felt more safe. "But maybe they have always been happening and now they're just dragged to the surface. And we just have to get used to it. Maybe Viv will let me move them back to NY if that's the case." His words were only half a joke.

Piper loved stories, she always had, though lately the stories in her hometown were a little too real. Teaching teenagers in the high school, she had shut down their gossiping all day... the gossip about Sophia. Of course she remembered the older girl, she had been with her brother. She sighed to herself as she noticed him, slowly approaching. "You've seen it... the students had it all over their phones today." She shook her head. "I don't know. Let her rest. This is sick... isn't it?" She paused. "Are you okay?"

One of the only good things about coming back to Holden was the fact that James could see his little sister more often. He had missed Piper in all those years in New York. When he saw her a small smile immediately crept onto his lips, even with the anger about the newspaper still on the front of his mind. Not many people had that effect on him. "Yeah, I can imagine. Teenagers must be bored in a town like this. I know I was.", he shook his head slightly - not in response to her question but to the entire situation. "It is. I don't know how someone could consider this a good idea. The dead deserve respect." James shrugged his shoulders before he returned the newspaper to the stand and then turned to his sister. "I have been better, but it takes more than this to shake me. So yes. How about you? Everything good?"

Maryam needed to figure out where the witches of Holloway gathered their supplies, what she had brought over from the other side was slowly running out, and while she could not outward ask people for obviously magical things exploring all the little shops in town took a lot of her time. She hadn't been really looking for anything in particular when she entered the candle shop though, already convinced that this would once again be a place without that particular spark of magic she needed. Her eyes scanned the things on display, looking for anything that reminded her of home and was pleasantly surprised when she spotted bright yellow candles. A way to send a message home was better than nothing.

Alex gave the girl a soft smile as his dark eyes studied her face. He'd never moved too far from home. His grandmother was even from Holloway. And his parents just a drive away. He often wondered if he should've been braver but his life had fallen easily into place in Holloway when he got the job at the comic store and soon after bought the place. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he started, giving her a sad look. "Your brother? Did you ever find him?" he found himself asking. "And you ended up here?" He nodded. "I guess, my grandma, she told me so many stories about this place growing up. She was a writer. And when there was a job here. I just, I felt like I had to do it. It is a really pretty place though too."

Maryam bit her lip, her mask only a heartbeat away from falling. It did not happen often that she found herself unable to control her feelings or what she showed of herself, but in those few instances of control slipping away it usually revolved around her brother. "There is no reason to be sorry, no one is at fault but he.", she shook her head then, leaning a bit on the counter, "And no, I have yet to find him. That does not mean that I gave up the search I just… I do not really know where to look." Then she shook her head, as if to chase away this topic and forced a smile back onto her lips. It was a sad copy of the one she wore earlier. "Yes, I heard very interesting things about this town and it sounded like something that could give me a break. So here I am, barista-ing a few months of my life away, before it is back on the road for me." Her eyes grew a bit bigger as she heard his next words. "A writer? That's quite interesting. I can imagine that she must have loved this place, the stars and the sky almost seem like something out of another world." There was a twinkle in Maryam's eyes now as she waited for his reaction, wondering how much he knew of said otherworld.

Alex continue to smile, it wasn't in his nature to be an asshole. He'd never understand how someone could be rude to a stranger. The girl was just doing her job and he had no idea what was going on in her personal life. "Thank you," he replied, glancing down at his phone before looking back up at her. "Oh yeah? You're not from a small town in North Carolina?" he gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry you feel homesick. What has brought you here then? I wasn't born in Holloway. I am from North Carolina though. And my grandma was from here."

Before she came to Holloway Maryam had done her research. About this place, about the country. Most of her sources had been outdated, the wall between their worlds had been in place for a long time after all. But she had done her best to come up with a story, something close to the truth so that she would not easily slip, but still far enough away from fae court. She was ready for questions like this, otherwise she would have never prompted them in the first place. "No, I am not from here. In fact I am not even from this continent. I came here, well I can't really say. I started out looking for my brother, he has gone missing a couple of years ago, but I somehow ended up stranded here in Holloway. Weird, right?" She filled the cup and placed it in front of him. "So you came here to follow your family, too? Get back to where it all started? Or was it the purple sky that made you stop here? The pretty forest? I hear this place is great for hiking."

"Oh adventure, why not? It's a celebration. My last day of teaching. It's officially my summer. Well... there's marking but i'm pretending that's not happening." She waved her hands as she talked, her excitement showing through her animation. "If you have anything for my back that'd be great." She joked, expecting nothing but a laugh from the strange barista. Viv looked down to her wallet, pulling out two cards and a loyalty card that had been stamped more times then she was keen to admit. Her eyes were entirely on her purse as she obliviously placed the card onto the counter.

"Well, I am pretty sure your students act as if the marking is not happening, too", Mari allowed herself a chuckle that was almost real. Fae schools were different than mortals, she was sure of it. But she knew enough of the mortal world to understand as much. "What age are you teaching? Honestly, I would have thought you are a student yourself", she batted her eyelashes as if she was flirting with the woman, underlining the gesture enough to make it more of a light-hearted banter. Her eyes returned to the small vials inside her bag and Mari tilted her head to the side as she thought about the woman's request. "Adventurous but kind to the back, coming right up." She took the iced coffee and sprinkled her dust in, fingertips tingling with magic. It looked like glitter dancing through the air before it gave the beverage an almost unnoticeable purple hue. "Ah look, even fitting for Holloway", Mari laughed as she handed the woman both finished drinks. "I always recommend Willow Bark, if you have trouble with pain. But this", she motioned towards the coffee, "Is something to get your heart racing, too." This woman was a teacher was she not? Maryam almost hoped it would be for something like literature. She could be a little Puck here, she thoughts as she watched the woman take the coffee turned potion. For a human love was, after all, the greatest adventure of them all.

Fran liked to think he had some kind of morals for a vampire. He knew he had come a long way since his early days. His dark eyes looked up at the voice, though he had already noticed her scent. "I believe you can ask me a question, yes. Then you can answer mine," he said, returning the smile. He was intrigued, wondering what the girl could want to know.

"Oh, a deal then?", Mari's smile grew a bit more wicked, "That sounds only fair to me, I like deals and games." She stepped closer, sitting down between the man - he was clearly not mortal. Her fae magic might not have been as strong as others' but she saw this clearly in the energy around him. "I am new to town, you see, and to the customs of", she waved her hand around to include the room they were sitting in, "Crowds like these. If one were to look for someone that went missing in a place like this, where do you think one should start?"

Open to all

The only thing of interest in Holloway so far had been other non-mortal creatures. And though Maryam had not met many of them personally yet, she watched them all from afar, hiding in plain sight. That was something she was good at, something she could understand, hiding. When she entered The Midnight Mistress, curious as to what she might experience it took her off guard, that feeling of death being all around her. Maryam's eyes met a stranger's and her face lit up in a smile. "Excuse me? Can I ask you a quick question? Promise I won't waste your time."