August 16 2007

Music: AFI, This Celluloid Dream
3:52PM, August 16, 2007

I have no clue what happened today. But I am not complaining. At all. I'm also not getting my hopes up because when I tend to get optimistic about things, they sort of blow up in my face. It's just incredibly strange to have some kind of crush on someone for so long and when they actually notice you, it's sort of surreal. Not that I know for sure that Isaac "noticed" me, because I'm really not that special. I'm just me. But something seemed to have happened today, in a weird way. A non-weird, weird way. Which in my head makes total sense right now.

Who: Olivia & Judiel
Where: Super One Foods
When: Early Evening

The walk to the grocery store hadn't been that bad. It had been a bit refreshing, actually, though she was trying not to imagine the walk back with her arms full of grocery bags. It was times like these that the whole car thing might have been useful and already she was figuring she'd have to maybe hitch a ride back to Tourville if she went a bit overboard. It was a strange feeling, to be wandering around a grocery store with an actual grocery cart, putting actual food inside said cart.

Usually in the past, she would run in, grab something that didn't require cooking, and run out. Sometimes without paying. This was a completely new experience and Olivia found herself taking her time walking up and down every aisle, examining almost every box and package rather than just grabbing things here and there. She didn't want to admit it, but having a real place weirded her out in a panicky sort of way. Having an actual place with a boy was making it worse. Herbert was great. Friendly. Outgoing. But since she and Herbert had come to the agreement and moved in, she had to constantly fight the urge to pack up and run whenever she had a few free moments to actually think about it. It was stressful, given they hadn't even lived together forty eight hours yet. And when those thoughts hit, she reminded herself that she had a fairly strong will, and she was determined to push through this initial weirded out phase. She had a plan. So she just had to get over it and stick with it for awhile.

And since she didn't have much at all in the apartment (given her bad was pretty much it), she figured stocking the fridge would be a nice way to start making the place seem a bit more like a home even if that wasn't really what it was, or was going to be in the long term. And what did people put in their fridges? She remembered back to when she lived at home, and sort of went by what Marcos had usually bought. Vegetables, meat...bread. Healthy crap. She ticked things off in her mind until she began to grow impatient with the process. Food was food, right? So she began to do what she had vowed not to do, and began pulling stuff off the shelf, giving it a quick once over, and tossing it in the cart. Cookies, small cakes, pastries, cheesy crackers...ice cream! Her stomach growled lightly in appreciation. Maybe grocery shopping wasn't so bad after all.

Who: Clay and Billy
When: Sunset
Where: Near the Old City Orphanage

The band of streets making up the meat of Marquette's center were packed with a church for every scumbag, a cemetery for every failure, and even a neonatal facility for every failure-to-be. Hothrem could venture through the labyrinth and pick out the streets that were secluded, lacking gangbang holiness, but it was hardly entertaining to play the role of trapped animal for a walk. He had to go to Nevermore anyway. But he got out near Trowbridge and started to hear the tattoo shop's wailing brand of rock, then gave up on the direct route and turned south, hopping the train tracks. So much for roaming free.

He had meant to go back up to Nevermore, really.

He had also meant for it to be a quick jaunt, a chance to stretch his legs and reassume the afternoon meditation Mike had so kindly bequeathed upon him earlier. He didn't bother with his car. But concrete was a lot less friendly than corn, and the day had taken on the kind of gagging heat that kept all the scumbags indoors and the failures rotting faster. He had slept and showered a few hours away and emerged from Arcadia's chrysalis only to end up sopping in his own sweat. The demon wished he had gone north into Trowbridge at the unkind intersection; he knew where to get some water, there.

The street he was on had nothing but a boarded-up orphanage, and a law firm stately gleaming from the next intersection. Luckily lawyers felt no need to advertise their coolness by blasting heavy metal into the afternoon heat. Hothrem gave a passing glance to the backside of the orphanage but kept moving east, lakeward. At least unlike churches and cemeteries, that crumpled building felt perfectly welcoming. All he had to do was avoid the ghost children. Right. Hothrem stopped and glared back against the sunset at the rundown establishment, but nothing happened.

Not a spook on the block, unless you wanted to count him.

Who: Dee and anybody replying to Caleb's cellphone.
When: Late afternoon.
Where: Dee's house; the Lockwood House; via phone.

Dee hadn't slept for a good twenty-four hours, and at this point, she was pretty certain that she'd never lay her head down again. Not to rest, anyways.

This morning had shaken her badly. Nobody just stumbled over a nearly-dead body and walked away without batting an eyelash... or if they did, they were far out of Dierdra's league and she never, ever wanted to meet them. She had waited over his body until she saw paramedics arriving on the scene. Melting under the barrage of questions and the flurry of activity that took place around Caleb as he was hoisted up and away, Dee could only retreat to the water when all was said and done. She was a jittery mass of nerves, shaken right out of place.

Who: Chance to Kaysen
When: Afternoon
Where: Text

K - hey. last weekend coming up before school. wanna do something to say goodbye to summer? ps, your pictures look great on my wall. - c

Who: Aiden and Dorian
When: Noonish
Where: Voice Mail

Hey. Where've you been, man? We need to talk. Call me when you can.

Who: Leija and open to Dorian and Mathias, if they'd be home
When: most of the day, into afternoon
Where: all over, orphanage, Lockwood house

It was early afternoon before Leija consciously realized she was no longer looking for Caleb.

She was looking for a body.

... maybe that was a bit dramatic of her, but there it was. She'd called him. She'd been calling for two days now, but still she tried. No messages this time, every time it rolled to voicemail, she just hung up. Leija knew his phone was still on, because it was ringing, it wasn't going direct. But he wasn't answering. Or couldn't answer. Or something.

She had wandered around aimlessly for a good chunk of the morning, not able to sit at home and wait anymore. Because he wasn't going to call her back, that much was plain and simple. All the rational possibilities ran through her head: maybe he'd lost his phone, maybe he'd gone out of town with his brothers, maybe he just decided that he hated her and never wanted to talk to her again. All that made sense. But it didn't feel right. Not that she could know things like that, so it was probably rampant paranoia.

who: caleb and dee
where: lakeshore
when: dawnish

True to Dee's prediction, the sun was peaking over the horizon as the elemental reached the halfway point between Presque Isle Park and her house. She wondered if Corwin (the vampire?!) had made it to shelter in time to avoid the sunrise, and somewhere under the bewilderment and the newfound wariness, she hoped that he had. Despite her misgivings, Corwin had been nice.

As she waded south, knee-deep in the welcoming water, Dee allowed her eyes to trail the shore far more reflexively than she had on the way up north. She wasn't bent on exploring terrain that she'd already gone over, after all. It was because of that inattention that she nearly missed the bloody mess ahead of her, except that she caught sight of circling gulls and wondered what they were up at arms over.

Curious, Dee began towards the object of their excitement.