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Topic: Poems by me
Subject: Welcome back!
Enjoyed both of the new offerings, MMV, but was especially touched by Rememberance Day.
Beautiful, little one! Keep 'em coming!
Posted on 2009-09-04 at 18:11:01.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Okay...
...so Alex's post just keeps getting longer and longer thanks to the "memories" he's calling up. 
Got the rest of this one on the way but it ain't quite finished, yet... A car ride and responses to my dear li'l Smokey are coming up soon. 
P.S. Now we know what really happened to that Zazy, huh? 
Posted on 2009-09-04 at 17:53:53.
Edited on 2009-09-04 at 17:58:05 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Part 1
"Ugh," Alex grumbled, leaning heavily on the bathroom sink as he tried to spit the bitter aftertaste of vomit that clung to the insides of his mouth out into the basin, "You're gonna poison yourself one of these days, Sharpe."
Isn't that what you're tryin' to do, anyway, his inner voice argued, tryin' to kill yourself, one way or another?
"No," he answered, glaring hatefully into the mirror.
You sure? His reflection didn't look so convinced by that reply. 100 percent sure that that's not what it's all about? Come on! The Zazy's killed Em, tried to kill you, too, and probably would have if Lucius hadn't shown up, and when you woke up still breathin' you figured you might as well help things along one way or another. Isn't that right? The pain meds they gave you didn't cut it so you turned to the booze. The booze didn't cut it so you picked up a gun and started huntin' Zazies, sure, you tell yourself that it's retribution, but somewhere in here, you know it's suicide, don't ya? You go out half-crocked, not really knowing if the next one's gonna be better than you and maybe even hoping that he is. Hoping that that one will be the one to kill your body so it can finally join up with your soul,
"Aw, shut up," he snarled, swinging the medicine cabinet open so he didn't have to look at himself. "If I wanna be nagged, I'll go talk to Smoke," he added as he snatched a bottle of aspirin from the shelf and poured a few into his mouth.
Good idea, his mind fought back, as he chewed the pills up and then washed them down with a slug of Listerine, but maybe listen to her a little, too, huh? She'll tell ya the same damn thing.
"I said, shut up," Alex barked, slamming the medicine cabinet closed and not bothering to look at his reflection this time. He knew that if he did, the voice would tell him; You've already poisoned yourself, Alex, You're already dead,
A short minute later and he was standing under the shower, the hot water pouring over his head as he held himself up against the wall and actually thought about what his inner voice had said, what Smoke had likely been trying to tell him, and, then, as he watched the water splatter on the tub floor much like the rain had been falling on the pavement that night, about that last Zazy,
***
His name had been Eddie Stevens and Alex had been stalking him for months. In fact, Lucius had first turned him on to this particular Azazelite on the third anniversary of Emily's death, the day I first met Smoke,, and, as it turned out, Alex was all too familiar with this one. After all, the bastard's initials were carved into his chest, weren't they?
He'd found him at a trendy nightclub over in Lincoln Park called Vain, just as Lucius had said he would, and while he had desperately wanted to kill the little SOB that very night, things hadn't gone all together as he had planned. First, there was Rosie, Janelle, real name's Janelle, ,running like mad down the street, glowing like a lighthouse with essence, and completely distracting him from the surveillance of the club. Then there was Smoke who, thanks to Janelle's beacon setting her off, had revealed herself to be more than just some miserable, rain-soaked stray that Alex had picked up in the cemetery. Finally, there had been the horde of hoochies that were surrounding Eddie when he finally strolled out of Vain's doors in the wee hours of the morning, More lambs for the slaughter, Alex had thought, then, and too many damn witnesses.
So it had gone week after week. During the daytime hours, Alex would dig into investigating the Zazy who - unlike the others he'd sent to hell thus far - Alex knew had been involved in killing Em; running down the name, address, and habits of the blade-happy pretty boy. The evenings would find him staking out the club, watching, waiting, and hoping for Eddie to finally have an "off night" and leave the place alone or, at least, with a small enough entourage that Alex would be able to manage the job without having to worry about anyone slipping the noose. After two and a half months of watching, planning, and waiting, don't forget breaking down and asking that freaky little coven in Pilsen to help you out by lobbing a curse at the little punk, that night finally came.
Eddie, all alone and looking a little more than dejected at the bad luck that must have befallen him where the ladies were concerned, had exited Vain earlier than was his norm. So early, in fact, that Alex was almost caught by surprise when Eddie jandered up the alley that was the first leg of his standard homeward-bound route, caught up with him quick enough, though,
"Hey, kid," Alex called, slowing from a jog to a walk after catching sight of the Zazy a little more than halfway up the alleyway, "Hold up a second!"
Eddie turned around, squinting through the rain and the dark, more than a little surprised that he wasn't the only one brave enough to stroll the alley at this time of night. "I ain't no kid," he had replied haughtily, "and, dude, I ain't got no spare change or smokes or nothin'."
Alex chuckled at that, thought I was a bum, did ya?, and continued his slow advance towards the cultist. "That's a'right," Alex slurred as his hand dipped into his jacket and came back out with a Marlboro and a zippo, "got my own." He paused for a second, cupping his hand over the lighter to shield the flame as he lit up, then, returning the lighter to his pocket, started towards Eddie again; "Wanna ask ya somethin' else."
"Dude! It's rainin' buckets," Eddie snapped, "What the hell do you want?"
Alex drew to a stop a few feet from the younger man, blew a cloud of smoke in his direction, and offered a decidedly mirthless grin; "I wanna know if you remember me?"
Eddie's face scrunched up as the stench of cigarette smoke and liquor assailed his nostrils; "What the f@#k, dude?!" He coughed and waved his hand in front of his face in an attempt to dispel the obnoxious smell. "Get bent, man! I don't friggin' know you, alright? Now take your drunk ass the other way before I beat it down!"
"Aw, c'mon, Eddie," Alex smirked taking another step closer, "Been a long time but I figured you'd for sure remember me,"
The Azazelite's aura flared a bit and the hand Alex had in his pocket let go of the lighter and slid in the direction of his pistol.
"I said that I don't know you, old dude," Eddie reiterated, "so blow before ya get yerself damaged!"
Tucking his smoke into one corner of his mouth, Alex snorted, almost laughed, at the kid's choice of words. His fingers, no longer hindered by the cigarette, traced a quick pattern in the air as Alex uttered the invocation "Sopro do vento oeste" and a gust of wind whipped down the length of the alley, hurling smoke, rain, and debris at Eddie's face.
"Son of a," Eddie exclaimed, throwing his arms up to shield himself from the assault even as his own mind sought out the workings of a planned retaliation. When the wind stopped and he opened his eyes, though, the drunk guy was standing within arm's reach pointing a gun at Eddie's face.
"Next time you carve a guy up," Alex suggested through clenched teeth, "I suggest you take a good look at his face, especially if you let him live."
The Azazelite's eyes widened. The way the guy was holding the gun and the hard determination that shone in the bloodshot gray eyes had just blasted a good dose of recognition into his brain. "You're that cop,"
"Yeah," Alex's voice was a deadly whisper.
"So, what," Eddie sneered, trying to maintain his air of confidence even with the gun in his face, "You gonna arrest me, now?"
"Uh-uh. Can't. Not a cop anymore."
"Gonna shoot me, then?"
"Yup," Alex nodded faintly and, just that quick, the pistol dipped from Eddie's face and - BLAM! BLAM! - the kid screamed as his knees were shattered, "but only just enough so ya can't run away this time."
Eddie was laying on the filthy pavement of the alley, now, groaning and writhing in pain, shock, and anger but still trying to coax the formula of his own spell from his mind to his mouth.
"Ain't so easy to do when you're hurtin' and bleedin' all over the place, is it," Alex taunted menacingly as he put the pistol away. "Keep tryin', though," he said, taking a second to uncap his flask and knock back a mouthful, "you might get lucky, but I doubt it.
Lemme tell you where you screwed up, Eddie, before I send you off to meet your good buddy Azazel."
Returning the flask to his pocket, Alex crouched down next to the Zazy and studied him for a second. "You killed my wife," he whispered as he channeled more essence into the spell he was readying, "killed my friends," he felt the surge of eldritch energy coursing through him, now, "but you really screwed up when you didn't finish killin' me.
Do you know how much pain you've caused," he asked, not bothering to wait for an answer. "No? You're about to find out, though, aren't you? You're gonna spend the rest of eternity in hell, Eddie Stevens, and the real bitch of it is, you're gonna get a good taste of it before you even get there."
Alex stood up and backed away from the Zazy, then, took a good long drag on his smoke, and offered another fractional nod when he realized that the kid was still struggling to spit out an incantation. "Still can't get that spell out, huh? Well, here," he grinned as his fingers traced a new set of symbols into the air, "try this one.
Chamas do inferno, reclamar o seu premio!"
Eddie didn't have any problem screaming as the flames sprouted around him and started crawling across his clothes,
"My name's Alex Sharpe," the drunk guy said just before Eddie stopped twitching but long before the essence fueled flames flickered out, "Tell Azazel I said hello."
***
Alex opened his eyes and watched the water swirl down the drain for another moment, his fingers moved to touch the ‘E' and ‘S' scars, again, before he reached for the bottle of shampoo sitting on the edge of the tub. "Maybe I'll get to tell him myself one of these days,"
((More to come... car ride, etc.  ))
Posted on 2009-09-04 at 17:51:36.
Edited on 2016-03-05 at 16:12:37 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: LOL
You betcha, Rer!
Lemme re-read Clocktower and I'll see what I can muster up for Bas ASAP.
When you're rolling might as well keep the momentum, eh?
Tick-tock-tick-tock!
Posted on 2009-09-03 at 21:02:43.
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Topic: New Spores of Itanlok Q/A ~ 1
Subject: *Happy Dance*
Eol likey!
especially since I'm starting to feel much more like my old self in these past couple of weeks!
I'm ready to play whenever this thing gets it's life breathed back into it!
Posted on 2009-09-03 at 14:48:25.
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Topic: Loaded Dice#11: Final Rites
Subject: Because...
...Loaded Dice is the webcomic so nice that we have to post it twice?
Posted on 2009-09-03 at 13:34:19.
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Topic: Loaded Dice#11: Final Rites
Subject: There's that duplicate thread thing again...
...I fixed it before Alacrity did this time... he must be snoozin' or stuffin' envelopes or somethin'!
Off to read the next installment, now!
Posted on 2009-09-03 at 13:14:21.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: I know...
... I'm actually starting to feel like the "Eol of old" again, thanks to this game. Check me out with my regular posting and everything! WoooHooo!
I'm loving where this is leading us, too, and am very excited to get the whole group together and into a right-fine mess. 
No worries on the delay, Nimu-dear... RL happens, you know? We've all been there (some of us repeatedly )... I'm sure your next post will be worth the wait (aren't they all?).
Posted on 2009-09-03 at 13:12:38.
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Topic: Ayrn's Away
Subject: Yeah, buddy!!!
Hope the break was a relaxing one if nothing else.
Glad you're "home"... Looking forward to the postiness!
Posted on 2009-09-03 at 01:18:31.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Voila!
As promised, one hung-over Wicce PI post.
Could've done more, I suppose, but figured that was a decent place to leave things for now.
Posted on 2009-09-02 at 22:34:57.
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Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Ack! There's a badger living in my mouth!
It took a moment for the bast's gentle voice to permeate the heavy shroud of misery that Alex had let fall over him and, at first, only a scant few of her words managed to actually register. The sentiment behind those words, though, wrapped around him like a warm blanket on the coldest of winter nights and, when her head rubbed against his chest, he finally let go of Emily's picture and scooped the little gray fluffball into his arms.
,Come one, love, she purred, we should get you back to bed,get both of us back to bed,
"Yeah," he whispered hoarsely after a moment, "okay." He snuggled her close as he slid out of the chair and stumbled towards the stairs but, after attempting the first couple of steps with Smoke cradled in his arms, decided that it would probably be safer for the both of them if he held onto the railing as opposed to her. A few moments later he had managed to haul himself to the top of the stairs and staggered into the bedroom where he allowed himself to fall face first onto the rumpled sheets.
Alex didn't really want to fall asleep the way he had before Joe had come knocking - he feared the nightmares that would surely result from the past hour or so of conversation and memory - and he released a shuddering sigh into the pillow as a testament to that fact. His mind was already trying to shove him down those dark corridors and into the reliving of those horrors, though, and he was too tired, too drunk to try and hold them off. He sighed again, sniffed, rubbed his face into the pillow, and had just resolved himself to sitting up and having another cigarette when he felt Smoke climb gingerly onto his back and begin to knead her little paws into the tense knots between his shoulder blades.
,go to sleep Alex, dream of Em, but dream of her when you two were happy alright? Promise me that, remember your wedding day, or better yet the honeymoon. Remember how happy you were, how happy she was. Go to sleep thinking of her smile,
Whether he actually fell asleep, then, or simply succumbed to the alcohol and the bast's soothing voice and passed out, Alex would never be sure. His eyes did close, though, and before long, he was gone from the agony of the real world, floating blind and deaf in the nether realm of slumber.
10:30 a.m.
Something caressed his face and tickled his nose, causing him to nearly sneeze, and he was about to brush away the phantom cobweb when he felt a rough little tongue raking across the whiskers on his cheek,
,I don't have thumbs, he heard Smoke complain, I can't open the milk.
A sleepy smile started pulling at the corners of his mouth until the action sent a stabbing pain into his head. The smile dissolved into a sickened grimace and the hand that had been lazily reaching to seesaw Smoke's ears diverted instead to press into his hatefully aching eyes. "Damn."
I know you're hung over and feel like crap but come on, she pleaded.
"Yeah," he groaned, still mashing the one hand into his eyes but lifting the other to scruff Miss Kitty under the chin, "Alright, I'm comin'. What time is it?"
Ten-thirty, Smoke said as he felt her slip away from his hand and sashay towards the edge of the bed, Well past time for breakfast.
"Damn," Alex groaned again, finally peeling his hand away from his face and turning his concrete-filled head to squint at the clock on the nightstand, "Are you kiddin' me?"
No kidding, she insisted as she leapt from the bed, Breakfast.
Even the soft, nearly silent thud of Smoke's feet hitting the floor seemed too loud this morning and Alex pinched his eyes shut in reaction to the sound. "Oh, sonofa," He shoved his own legs over the edge of the mattress and then forced himself to sit up despite the protesting of his head and stomach. He sat there for another long moment, cradling his head in his hands and desperately willing his salivary glands to wake up and peel the carpet off his tongue, before forcing himself upwards and tottering for the bedroom door in Smoke's wake.
Following a miserable, thudding, head-rattling trip down the stairway and through the storefront, Alex's eyes opened just wide enough to find his way to the refrigerator. "Looks like it's time to go to market," he mumbled apologetically, squinting into the near-empty milk carton, "this is gonna be the last of this one." He fished a clean bowl out of the cupboard when his head wouldn't let him stoop down to pick up the one Smoke had emptied hours earlier, poured it full of milk, and spilled the last few drops from the carton past his own lips before tossing it in the trash.
"Do ya mind, sweety," he asked, setting Smoke's bowl down on the counter instead of in its now customary spot on the floor, "I, can't,"
The bast had already leapt onto the counter-top and hunkered down to start lapping up her breakfast. You look like crap, Alex.
"Thanks," he chuckled weakly, his hands clutching the edge of the sink as a wave of nausea hit him in the gut, "I feel like crap." He cranked the cold tap open and splashed a few handfuls of the water on his face, then shoved his hand through his bed-head mop before leaning over just a bit to plant a kiss on her head. "I'm gonna go puke and take a shower. You finish your breakfast and, if you wanna, we'll go for a ride, okay?"
Posted on 2009-09-02 at 22:33:14.
Edited on 2016-03-05 at 15:59:53 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Post from Alex
will be ready in the next couple of hours. Workday is finally slowing down and quitting time is just around the corner. Home in the next little bit and dedicated to finishing up after that.
Posted on 2009-09-02 at 19:39:50.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Hey!
I can't help it if flaying people is a hobby of mine, can I?
As far as Janelle goes; I kind of don't think that Alex would've done anything (at least not on purpose) to tray and awaken anything in the girl... The first time he ever saw her she was glowing like a lighthouse, remember? And, since Alex isn't exactly the most stable kind of guy himself, I doubt that he'd have tried to coax anything out of Janelle that he wasn't sure he could manage if something went wrong. My feeling is that he's kind of taken up the "big brother" kind of role where she might be concerned (likely with some prodding from Smoke, since Alex isn't concerned with making friends or getting close to anyone at this particular point in his life... again, at least on purpose)... He likely feels that he's got to protect her from something... "Li'l girl's runnin' around in the world, shining like some supernatural beacon and not doin' a damn thing to control it... somebody best watch out for her until she gets it together"... that sort of thing.
Nothing concrete or 100% commited to in the above, just initial thoughts and feelings... Always up for haggling.
Posted on 2009-09-02 at 19:23:58.
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Topic: Your attention, please
Subject: Continuing efforts
I'm now wearing an "Eat at Joe's, Play at the Inn" sandwich board for eight hours a day.
*wanders off wearing the sandwich board and ringing a bell* Bring out your poooosts! *considers buying a hurdy-gurdy and a dancin' monkey*
Posted on 2009-09-02 at 15:49:48.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Oops!
That's my fault, Rer. I thought I had mentioned/invited you to join us when I originally had the thought of "you know, I'd love to pick up the Sharpeness of Smoke crew and run with that again" but, as I mentioned to you in the PM I sent, I guess I actually didn't. 
Forgive a geezer for the memory lapse?
Anyhoo... when I didn't hear from Meri for a while I figured she was just offline for the time being... when I didn't hear from you, I figured you were busy with other games and whatnot (at that point I hadn't realized that my original ping on this one hadn't been written let alone sent) and, so, I tackled Nimu and asked if she might be interested in helping me pick up with Alex and such.
Sooo... we started toying with when/where/how we'd pick up the ball and run with it, Meri showed back up (YAY!) and thankfully revived Smoke and here we are...
Long post shortened, here, we'd love to see Janelle show back up (she was in the original Sharpeness run, after all)... Let's flesh out the relationship and such between her and the drunk guy and Miss Kitty (since I kind of see Stare taking place a short month or three following the events of Sharpeness and am figuring, for the sake of continuity, that the events in Vesper's game haven't occured... at least where the characters appearing in the Sharpeness of Smoke are concerned... basically, we're picking up Sharpeness a couple of months 'in the future'). We can do that fleshing out bit, right here in the Q&A, if you like or via PMs back and forth.
P.S. I kind of plunked this storyline down into the Freeform>Horror forum since, in my mind, Witchcraft is a horror-type RPG at it's core (and becuase I foresee some truly horrifying and nasty things happening along the way)... I suppose it could fit just as well into the "modern" category, though... Not opposed to moving the thread if necessary.
Posted on 2009-09-02 at 14:17:06.
Edited on 2009-09-02 at 14:26:49 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: P.S.
Linked the song title in the first post to a You TUbe video of the song for those who care to listen/watch.
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 22:32:08.
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Topic: Straight On Til Morning Q&A
Subject: w00tage!
Welcome back, Loki! Glad you had a god time at camp. Also glad you made it back safe.
Ayrn should be back and posting around the 3rd or 4th so we should have a full boat of I made it to ganymede's by then... meaning a move forward sometime this weekend? *hopes*
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 22:17:17.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Moving right along!
Okay, so that's not exactly where I thought all of that was going when I started but it works, I think, and I like it!
Alex has slipped the noose, so to speak, but isn't feeling a whole lot better about it... No getting run in for suspicion of murder (yet) but having to 'play' on the horrendous memory of Em's death to slip out... Having serious doubts about what he's done by cluing Joe in on the Zazy's (ol' Joe's liable to become a 'fixture' now because of all of this and will have his happy, mundane hiney hauled into the dark and nasty world of Witchcraft for better or worse)... and thanks to Det Sgt Kelly's 'interogation and questioning skills' poor ol' Alex is just emotionally broken down and in more dire need of sleep than ever.
So sad... and yet soooo much fun!
Am I sick?
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 22:06:58.
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Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: Whew!
"Take it easy, Alex," Joe said, holding up a hand to assuage his friend's ire, "I've gotta ask, man, even if I don't think you had anything to do with it. I know it's been a while for you but try to think like a cop for a second here, okay?"
Alex scowled in reply and folded his arms across his chest - between Smoke's rebuke purring in his mind and Joe's almost patronizing attempt at calming him down, there didn't seem to be room for anything else at the moment. "Yeah," he grumbled, a thumb absently tracing the ‘E' and ‘S' shaped scars on his chest, "whatever." He flicked a wistful glance at the flask that surmounted the pile of paperwork on his desk, squeezed his eyes shut for an instant, and chewed on his lip since he'd left his smokes upstairs.
"Listen," Joe's voice was as close to soothing as the big Irish cop had ever managed, "I know that you know what this thing is. I've seen this same damn symbol right here in this shop, somewhere," his green eyes swept the place as if searching for it, now, to validate that, "so, yeah, I figured you ‘d probably know something. Hell, the first time I ever saw it was at the scene where you found Emily, where we found you, painted in blood all over the damn floors and walls.
I also know how bad the whole thing messed you up, Alex, How you swore you'd find the people who did it and make ‘em pay. You remember telling me that in the hospital, right? Wasn't two months later and your badge and gun were on the Captain's desk and no one saw you or so much as heard from you for a year afterwards."
"F#^! it!" The mention of Em's name (and that hellish, blood-soaked night) broke Alex's resolve and he reached for the flask, screwed off the cap, and poured a healthy portion of the contents down his throat. His gaze had hardened when it found Kelly, again, but, aside from the preceding profanity, he didn't say anything. Instead he went back to chewing his lip; this time biting down hard enough to draw blood.
"That's,uh,Jesus," Joe muttered, watching, no, gawking at the man he once thought he knew before regaining his train of thought and continuing on. "That's what's got me thinkin', Al. That's why I'm here at oh-dark-thirty with a coupla uniforms. I figure you might know a little more than what I already know you do. I mean, c'mon! The first time any of us see this thing and it's painted in blood where your wife and her hocus-pocus witchy friends,"
"Wicce," Alex corrected sternly before tilting the flask back again. He winced when the alcohol coursed over the wound on his lip but his glare didn't waver from the detective in the least.
"Sorry," Joe nodded, "You've told me that before. I'm sorry."
"Get to the friggin' point, Detective."
"Alright. Here it is fact by fact, then," Kelly continued, hopefully from a perspective that Alex could appreciate even if he didn't like it, "After what happened to Emily and we start running the case down, we get word from the streets that, ‘Oh yeah, ya see that thing all the time.' ‘Some kinda beautiful people club or something.' ‘Been seein stuff like it all over town, mostly around the necks of rich kids', but nothin' more comes of it. We can't find a damn thing. The next thing we know, you're outta the hospital, done with the force, and disappeared into Em's shop. Nobody sees you. No body hears from you; not even a damn call to the precinct asking why we didn't have anyone in custody, yet. Then you turn back up with a PI license and a concealed carry permit and,"
"And what, Joe?" Alex coughed out an exasperated chuckle, throwing his hands up in the air for punctuation; "The friggin' Cult of Azazel damn near guts me, slaughters my wife, and I crack. Big friggin' whoop!" His voice cracked at that point and he pushed angrily away from the desk, turning his back to Joe before emptying the flask and rubbing the dampness from his eyes with the back of a fist.
Clearing his throat, he turned to face the other man, again. "I quit the force. So what? I got it together and picked up a piece again. I'm still doin' the job. On my terms, this time, but I'm still doin' the friggin' job! So, now, three and a half years after the fact, you find some dead guy wearing a Zazy necklace and all of the sudden, ‘Holy crap! Sharpe must be a psycho!' Is that where those facts are leadin', Joe? Cuz if they are, I'd love to see the road those bastards got there on!"
"Just like that, Al," the detective said calmly a faint smile playing on his lips despite his friend's obvious pain.
"Like what?"
"The Cult of Azazel?"
Alex blinked.
"That's the first time I've ever heard that," Joe grinned, "Up until just now I've been running down some nameless bunch of pretty rich kids who, for all I knew, didn't really exist. Then I come over here, light a fire under your ass, and get the Cult of Azazel." He tossed the ruined necklace at Alex who snatched it out of the air pretty deftly for a guy as drunk as he looked and smelled; "Is that who these folks are?"
"Yeah," Alex sighed, opening his fist to look at the pendant, "yeah. That's who they are."
"How long have you known that?"
"Year or so, I guess."
"And you weren't gonna tell us, me?"
Alex shrugged. It was his turn to look apologetic. "Didn't figure it'd make a difference," he said turning to pad towards the row of bookshelves on the far wall, "or that you'd care what with it bein' witchy hocus-pocus kinda crap."
Joe rolled his eyes as he watched his former partner select an ancient looking tome from the volumes lining the shelf. "Just cuz I don't get it doesn't mean I don't care, bud," he assured the man, "Hell, until I met you and Em, I figured all wiccans did was smoke dope, dance naked under the full moon and crap."
"Hmph," Alex snorted, thumbing through the pages of the book, "Little more to it than that."
"I know," Joe answered, "you guys straightened me out on that. Neither one of you ever said anything about murderin' Wicces, though,"
"That's cuz they ain't," Alex said. Having found the section he was looking for, he turned the leather bound book around and held it out to Joe.
Kelly's eyes instantly noticed the symbol drawn at the top of the yellowed page was practically the same as the pendant that Alex now held but it was the first few words of the text beneath it that really got his attention:
Azazel is one of the leaders of the fallen angels who came to earth to mate with mortal women. He taught men the art of making weapons and introduced women to cosmetics, thus encouraging vanity. For revealing these secrets to humankind, God sent angels to bind and imprison Azazel in the desert - in a place called Dudael - where he is to remain until the Final Judgment.
"Is this crap real," Joe asked, his face slackened by disbelief as he fixed his wide eyes on Alex again.
"Just like Jesus, Joseph, and Mary," Alex nodded, "dependin on who you ask, I guess."
"So they're devil worshipers?"
"Somethin' like that."
"You know who any of ‘em are?"
"Nope," Alex lied confidently.
"Know where they get together and hang out?"
"Nope."
"So you didn't kneecap a guy over in Lincoln Park and set him on fire because you thought he might be one of these Azazelites?"
"Wanna check the place for a flamethrower," Alex smirked tossing the pendant back to Joe. "Whatever melted that burned a lot hotter than anything I'd have to light a body up with."
"And last night you were,"
"Right here," Alex sighed, flopping down in the chair behind his desk and tossing the now empty flask back on top of the cluttered top, "Tryin' to read case files but havin more success at getting hammered. Happy, now?"
Joe blinked, then; his gaze ticking from the book, to the amulet, to the empty flask, to Alex. He opened his mouth to reply more than once but found that he was at a loss for words. Giving up the search for what to say, he returned his attentions to the book, glancing at the page Alex had opened the thing to once more before closing the thing up and examining the cover, he couldn't make out the title as age and use seemed to have worn most of it away,
"Basically a field guide to demons," Alex, noticing the other man's perplexed expression, offered with a shrug, "I've never been able to read the crap on the cover, either."
"Ah," Joe nodded, more than a little creeped out all of a sudden, "okay. Friggin' weird." Holding the thing as if it had just turned into a dirty diaper, he looked at Alex again; "Mind if I hang on to this for a while?"
"I don't care," Alex grinned, "but what would the Pope think? Don't you Catholics have to hail Mary like a thousand times for even thinking about that stuff?"
Joe laughed; "You're a prick, Sharpe."
"Yeah. The more things change, right? But, hey, you woke up my cat."
"I'll get this back to you, Al," the detective said, holding the book up as he strode for the door.
"Whatever."
"Take care of yourself, bud."
"Yeah," Alex sighed as Joe let himself out, "you too."
He watched as his ex-partner spoke with Officers Sisson and Fansler - probably giving them fluff for their reports - offered a lazy nod when Joe turned and raised a meaty hand in a silent farewell from the other side of the window and, then, after all three cops had disappeared from sight, leaned forward and cradled his head in his hands. "Oh, Em," he sighed, "I'm goin' to hell for this one."
Without looking up, he untangled his fingers from his hair, reached across the desk, and dragged back the picture of his wife that sat there. He pressed his head to the photo and, even though he tried not to, started to cry.
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 21:57:09.
Edited on 2016-03-05 at 15:53:12 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Rough translations
Lemme see if I can help with the espanol, eh?
Basically, Mami Fortuna was screaming "I know what you are! I know what you are!"
Penelope responded with "You don't now anything, little girl(/my daughter/something along those lines)..."
Did I miss anything? There's another sentance there some where, huh? Crap... now I gotta read again... Neeeed coffee..
Okay, the remainder of Penelope's reply was "Did you see with these eyes?"
Like I said... rough translation... HS spanish, you know.
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 13:07:48.
Edited on 2009-09-01 at 13:10:21 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: The One Word Game
Subject: Oooo!
Macrame!
(Anyone need a plant hanger or a hanging table or maybe one of those freaky owls that were everywhere in the 70s?)
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 12:51:14.
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Great and twisted minds, Nimu...
...great and twisted minds.
P.S. I think the "spanish in spanish" adds great flavor to our crunchy little tale... No problems translating so far... All those years of HS Spanish triumphs again! Not too proud to ask for a translation when I need one, though, trust me.
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 01:40:42.
Edited on 2009-09-01 at 01:48:57 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: Stare into the Night Q&A
Subject: Alex and Joe
Okay... there's so much more to come with this little confrontation, I'm sure... but that's what I've got scrawled out so far and figured it'd be a good place to pause for the moment. Started "feeling it" and got just a wee bit angsty... 
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 01:16:35.
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Topic: Witchcraft: Stare into the Night
Subject: The more things change...
Alex sucked in another lungful of smoked and blinked - his bleary gray eyes flitting from the ruined pendant, to Joe, to the uniforms, and back again - as he tried to get his sleep-deprived brain to come up with a response for his one-time partner that wouldn't sound incriminating in the least. Damn the lack of sleep and alcohol haze, though, because there wasn't anything jumping from mind to mouth at all and, for a long moment, all Alex could manage was a sleepy squint and a rather befuddled scratching of his whisker-stubbled jaw. "I, uhhh,"
Well, look at what your obsession has gotten you into this time, Alex, Smoke chastised as she appeared at his feet, Nice job. Joe and his boys, of course, only heard a mewing from the cat as she figure-eighted between his feet.
Yeah, Alex thought back, stalling with yet another drag on the cigarette, Oops,
"Didn't know you had a cat, Alex," Joe grimaced as Smoke moved on from Alex's legs to his, covering his neatly pressed pants legs with clinging gray fur.
He doesn't, the bast purred, still slithering around the detectives ankles, I have him.
"Heh," Alex offered a crooked grin, his eyes dropping to the cat and flicking her a quick wink. "Yeah," he replied, crouching to scoop the little fluffball up, "Picked her up at the cemetery when I was visiting Em a few months back.
She was sleepin' too until you had to go and beat my door down," he continued, his grin widening a bit, thankful for the brief reprieve that Smoke's antics had provided. Playing the diligent pet-owner, cradling the cat in one arm and scratching her behind the ears with his free hand, Alex turned and padded in the direction of his desk to crush out the remains of his smoke; "Now you've got her thinkin' it's time for breakfast. C'mon in, Joe. Lemme go take care of this one and I'll be right back."
Detective Kelly nodded, wordlessly extending the invitation to the pair of uniformed officers with a slight cant of his head. As he headed for the hallway that led back to the kitchen, Alex heard the trio enter, heard the tinkling of the bells, and then the solid click of the latch as the door was shut.
"You always answer the door with a sidearm at the ready, Mr Sharpe?" The voice belonged to one of the unis.
"It's three a.m. in Old Town and someone was bangin' a friggin' Christmas ham against my door, knucklehead," Alex shot back without turning around to acknowledge the kid, "You were expectin' a feather-duster, maybe?"
"Got a permit for,"
"Yeah he's got a permit," Kelly's irritated voice interrupted, "Back off or go sit in the friggin' car, Fansler!"
"Sorry, Sarge."
"I know, baby," Alex cooed, playing along with the meowing from Smoke as he set her down in the hallway and followed her into the kitchen, "woke you up, didn't they? Bad ol' policemen." The actual thoughts he projected at his bast friend, though, were more along the lines of; Well, they didn't shoot me or throw me in cuffs right away, Maybe it's not as bad as I first thought.
He clattered about in the small kitchen for a moment, opening a can of tuna and pouring a saucer of milk for Smoke, as he tried to sort his thoughts. "You and your guys want some coffee or somethin', Joe," he called as he set out the meal that Smoke hadn't asked for but would likely eat, anyway, "All I've got is instant."
"No, thanks," the detective replied as Alex stole a swig of scotch from the bottle he kept above the sink, "we're good."
Alex nodded, wiping his mouth on his forearm before screwing the cap back on the bottle and returning it to the cupboard. "Okay," he muttered to Smoke as he drew a glass of water from the tap, "Let's go see what's gonna back up from all of this, huh?" He took a long pull from the glass as he strode back towards the store front.
When he came back into sight of Joe and his uniformed backup he took another, shoved a hand through shaggy, bed-tousled mop of his hair, and sighed. "So, what, Joey," he asked, perching at the edge of his desk and nodding at the bit of slagged chain that dangled from Kelly's loosely clenched fist, "you're figurin' I had somethin' to do with that?"
Joe's expression flickered to what might have been hurt or shock or something halfway between; "Is that what you think, Al?"
Alex slugged down another drink of water, wincing a bit when his brain registered that it wasn't scotch, wished it had been, and then waved the glass in the direction of the uniforms. "Well, ya brought Andy and Deputy Fife, there," he sneered before disdainfully setting the glass aside on the desk, "and it is three in the damn morning. If you were lookin' for some kinda consultation, I figure it could wait til morning and you wouldn't need the goon-squad. Right?"
Kelly's typically pale Irish complexion reddened to a hue only a few shades removed from that of his brush-cut hair. The truth of it was that, a few years ago, he never would have been able imagine Alex Sharpe being capable of so much as thinking about the kind of things that had been done to the body Joe had just seen in that alley off of Clybourn let alone suspect that he might have anything to do with it, Hell no! That Alex wouldn't have even rough up a perp that really deserved to be handed a beating, but now,
"Right," Joe confessed, preferring to stare at his shoes for the moment as opposed to meeting his former partner's eyes. "Sisson. Fansler. Why don't you guys wait outside?"
"You sure, Sarge," Fansler asked.
"Yeah," Joe nodded, finally meeting Alex's gaze, "I'm sure. Go on."
Neither Alex nor Joe so much as blinked in the short eternity that it took for Fansler to hesitantly follow his apparently mute partner back out onto the sidewalk. When the door closed and the tinkling of the bells died in the still air, though,
"Where were you last night, Alex?"
"Screw you, Joe!"
((more to come...))
Posted on 2009-09-01 at 01:13:53.
Edited on 2016-03-05 at 15:47:36 by Eol Fefalas
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Topic: The One Word Game
Subject: Kinky!
Is...
"bowchickawowwow"
one word?
Posted on 2009-08-31 at 19:59:21.
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