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Catherine Grimmoire

"A charm for you, and a charm for you... Charms for everyone! ...Except you. You get a hex."

0 · 1,037 views · located in The One Stop Psychic Shop

a character in “The One Stop Psychic Shop”, as played by SolanaNight

Description

Catherine Grimmoire

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Themes



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The Basics

ImageGender: Female

Position: Resident Enchanter

Nickname(s)/Alias(es): Cat, Cathy, Charm Queen

Age: 21

Birthday: October 17th

Face Claim: Ksenia Solo

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The Visuals

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Height: 5'7"

Weight: 140 lbs.

Build: Tall and thin

Hair Color: Naturally brown, but she dyes it a number of different colors. The default is black.

Eye Color: Greenish Hazel

Scars/Tattoos/Piercings: She has a tattoo of the Magician Tarot Arcana on her right thigh, the Libra constellation on her left forearm, a sprig of lavender and a bird skull on her ankle, and a ram skull covered in flowers on her back. She has multiple ear piercings: two sets of ear lobe piercings, three rings in her upper left ear, and an industrial through her left ear as well.

Description: Cathy is a tall and thin, and before she found the Psychic Shop, did a tad bit of modeling. She wasn't happy with this career path and only did enough to make some extra cash. Her hair is medium length with straight bangs. Her hair is typically dyed black, but on occasion she's been known to add colored highlights. Catherine will put her hair in a number of different styles, but most of the time she'll keep it down. She typically wears a heavy amount of eyeliner and mascara. She almost always wears makeup, but there are rare instances when she is not wearing any.

Preferred Clothing: Catherine prefers... black. She isn't comfortable in anything else. She is under the strong impression that clothing should represent who you are to an extent. Cathy is not a cheery, upbeat person. Therefore, she feels it is misleading to wear bright iridescent colors. Plus she finds primary colors tacky. Catherine can often be seen sporting black lace and leather, but as likely as she is wear an elaborate steampunk outfit, she is equally as likely to wear a simple long-sleeved shirt and jeans. What determines these outcomes? Quite simply her mood.

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The Outer Workings

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Psychic Abilities:
Enchantment: Catherine since a young age has been gifted with the ability of enchantment. She can take relatively any small object and instill raw energy and emotion into it. She has a natural affinity for the elements, so she can draw upon them with ease. Now, such a skill can be learned by anyone, but Cathy's enchantments in particular have a little extra kick. Her charms' effects are more noticeable and also last longer. She can make a large variety of spells and charms for anything from good health to focusing. She can even make more advanced charms such as love charms and even ward evil spells. However, for as many "good" charms she can make, she can also make charms that have... not so good intents behind them: hexes. She tends to avoid making such objects simply because nothing positive ever comes out of such objects. However, at the request of the store management, she is sometimes forced to making evil charms. She doesn't like it, but she doesn't dare oppose the management.

Tarot Card Readings: Although not nearly at skilled at fortune telling as the resident fortune teller, she can read tarot cards. She almost never reads them for other people however, she only ever consults them for herself.

Other Skills:
Arts and Crafts: Cathy is very good at making simple jewelry such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, chokers, etc. She can also make little key chains and decorative cards. She also knows how to make little rag dolls and stuffed animals.

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The Inner Workings

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Oddities: She has a tendency to stare at people

Likes: Charm-making, arts and crafts, coffee, alcohol, classic literature, interior design, most animals, and organic food options.

Dislikes: General stupidity, Mexican food, loud obnoxious dogs, and bright colors.

Hobbies: Arts and crafts, Netflix, some gardening, sewing/knitting, people watching, and a little photography on occasion.

Phobia(s): Suffocation

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Personality: Catherine is comparable to a mirror with a sarcastic filter. She tends to reflect back what is given to her with a dash of sass. For example, if someone says something sweet to her, she will in turn say something kind, and depending on how well she knows the person, a light teasing remark. On the other hand, if somebody were to say something insulting and stupid, she'll in turn throw back a cutting sarcastic remark. She tends to keep to herself for the most part. She enjoys being in the presence of other people and will speak in group conversations, but she doesn't actively seek out socialization. She would rather quietly observe people while keeping her hands busy with her work.

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The Past

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Personal History: Catherine's parents were both free spirits and "hippies", and as such they always encouraged Catherine and her siblings to do whatever they wanted to do with their lives. Of course, this style of parenting ran into obstacles when one of her siblings said they wanted to kill the neighborhood bully and never wear clothes. So, when they discovered she had the ability of enchantment, they were instantly supportive and urged her to fine tune her gift. Despite the happy family atmosphere, growing up was still difficult due to the fact her parents refused to get normal paying jobs. So it was often living from paycheck to paycheck which can be hard for a family of five. All the same, she made it through high school and left the house to pursue her own path. She didn't have enough money to afford a college education not that that lifestyle appealed to her in anyway. She did modeling for a couple years because she was pretty enough and had the right body type, but she still felt so... lost. Finally, after consulting the tarot cards and making a charm of direction for herself out of an arrowhead, she stumbled upon an ad for the One-Stop-Psychic-Shop. Feeling a deep sense of belonging and purpose, she filled out an application. She has been working for over a year now.

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Miscellaneous

So begins...

Catherine Grimmoire's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire
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Catherine parked her old red Ford Focus in the back lot behind the Psychic Shop and heaved a massive sigh. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be at work for at least another hour, but, unfortunately for her, she was slightly behind on her quota of charms and she really didn't fancy the idea of being eaten for failing to meet her deadline.

Cathy opened the back of her car and hauled out a large box stuffed with sewing needles, paint, metal key chains, and all sorts of little baubles and trinkets. She shoved it under one arm along with her black leather purse and grabbed her metal coffee thermos with the other free hand and locked the car. She shouldered her way into the store and gave Elias a quick greeting.

"Good morning, Elias."

She unceremoniously dropped the box on her work desk towards the back of the store and began settling in for the day. She sorted out the charms she had already finished into a pile off to the side; a mix of good luck, health, happiness, studying, and relaxation charms. Some of the most commonly purchased charms. She grabbed a handful of cheap metal key chains with different colored stars, hearts, and other symbols attached. Catherine grabbed one in particular with the roman symbol for Venus attached. She placed her hands over the charm and channeled feminine energy as well as wishes for a new baby into the little trinket. After a minute or so, she stopped and tossed the bauble into a small container marked "Fertility Charms". She continued this process for each different type of charm well into the morning while occasionally pausing to take a sip of her coffee.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell
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Justin stifled a yawn as he slowly made his way to the store. He blinked a few times in an attempt to expunge the last traces of sleep from his eyes. He looked at the familiar figure beside him as it lazily floated along."You better hurry Justin, if you're late the store just might eat you!" There was a long pause as Justin stayed silent and merely shrugged at the suggestion, he had already learned that the store liked to spout empty threats of turning him and the rest of the staff into food. The two continued to walk Justin staying mostly silent save for the occasional nod and grunts, Jason however prattled on his voice only known to a few rare individuals.

Jason in his trademarked playful way floated through his living doppelganger with a smile. "So whats on the agenda today?" Justin stopped in his tracks as he arrived at the store. He paused as he stood in front of the rather ominous, out of place shop front. Six months since the accident and three months of employment here. Wordlessly he looked at his brother with a smile, three months ago he was a wreck, convinced this apparition was nothing more than a grief induced delusion, the store however and all it's staff managed to convince him otherwise, and somehow the young boy even ended up with a place of employment."Work. As usual. try not to be a pest for once yeah?" With that the pair walked in ready to start the day.

Once they entered the store Justin spared a wave at Elias while Jason gave him an enthusiastic smile"Good morning Elias. Ready to start the day?" Justin however made his way to his station. An orderly table from which Justin conducted his medium duties, with neatly stacked books placed upon it. As he passed by Justin nodded towards Catherine, tossing her a quick good morning before taking his place at his desk.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri
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The bus was late. The light was too bright today, quite possibly due to the drinks she consumed yesterday. She hated hangovers, or as her mother used to call them, God's personal reminder as to why a lot of Christians don't drink. As if there needed to be more than one large side-effect to voluntary poisoning outside, you know, getting drunk. God's ineffable plan.

The sunglasses felt out of place on her pale face but felt necessary. A thin hand gripped the cardboard cup in her hand a little tighter than it ought to. She looked down on the white plastic lid and traced the letters on top with her other hand. Soon they pulled closer to her stop, so she grabbed her bag and stood, somewhat unsteadily, in the gangway as the bus pulled to a halt. A year into employment, the bus driver was getting used to stopping. They were on first-name basis. She wondered what that made them.

"See you tomorrow, Licia."

"Stay out of trouble, Jerry."

He laughed with his entire body the way older men sometimes did, and smiled brightly at her behind the closing doors. "I make no promises!"

She waved as the bus drove away. Jerry was to be diagnosed with cancer in two years. She didn't look forward to it.

From the bus stop it was still a ten minute walk to the shop. Her coat felt a little too hot, her bag a little too heavy, and her ballerina shoes was digging uncomfortably into her heel. She stopped for a moment, not wanting to reach work smelling of sweat and coffee– opted for just coffee, taking a sip of the still-warm beverage and sighing. By the time she reached work she had decided that she was definitely getting up more than necessary today.

"Greetings, nerds." She entered the shop, barely glancing over her sunglasses as she made her way to the tarot table. Her coffee was left balancing on the cards as she discarded her jacket, taking a seat by the table. Her plan was to do some initial readings, get a feel for how the day was going to go, and then spend some time reading depending on how far she'd get before the first costumer. Usually she'd also make time for a quick breakfast at the table– a carrot or banana– but she wasn't really feeling food today. Or life.

She took another sip of the coffee and rubbed her temples, working up the energy to do her job.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri
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The bell above the front door rung, breaking the silence. He turned back fast "Morning Catherine! Enthusiastic as always!" Elias called with a grin. He turned to pick up a notebook and began scanning the down a list of duties and items that needed to be fulfilled. His tongue stuck out as he flipped through to find the days stock list. With a decisive 'mph' sound he moved towards Cat's desk

"Hate to interrupt you when you're halfway through making stuff, but i need to restock the charms for studying now, we're running low and we might need more good luck ones..." He said with his best attempt at an apologetic smile. He usually let Cat get her stuff done, he had learned that she worked best without his constant encouragement (On reflection, most of them got along fine without his special brand of company encouragement but he still did it anyway). He flipped the page and was just about to continue with his barrage of charm needs for the day when the door bell did that stupid jingle thing, interrupting his train of thought.

The shops newest employee, or rather employees if you counted the attachment, had arrived. The appearance of Justin and then Jason together still gave him chills. While he was used to spirits, the living twin followed by the... well other still remained sort of weird to him. He gave Justin a warm smile before turning his attention to the apparition, straining to catch what was said. He wasn't the most natural at hearing spirits, he usually just experienced what they felt so trying to communicate with Jason was tricky. "Morning to you as well Jason, hope you're not planning on getting in the way today"

The kid had showed up looking for an exorcism and Elias hadn't pried too deeply at the time, the energy the spirit gave off was enough to work it out. He had (Well, the staff had) convinced Justin to keep Jason around a little longer and besides, it would be nice to have someone who had just about a similar condition.

"Greetings nerds" came the voice of none other than the shops resident psychic. Elias spun around with a gasp doing his best to act hurt "Charming as usual, I'm truly hurt" He said melodramatically before just tearing the sheet of items from his notebook and passing it to Cat.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri
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Catherine was almost through the batch of key chains when she spotted Elias checking through his lists. Not a good sign for her. Unlike the others who needed customers to do anything, her job was constant whether customers were in the store or not. In the back of her mind she silently hoped Elias would stay away just long enough for her to finish this batch. Unfortunately the Wheel of Fortune was not on her side today as he started walking towards her desk.

"Hate to interrupt you when you're halfway through making stuff, but i need to restock the charms for studying now, we're running low and we might need more good luck ones..." Elias smiled at her and her face deadpanned.

"Are you trying to get me eaten, Elias? I'm not quite finished with the last batch. I'll work on it though. I know management would probably be more upset about our popular items being out of stock than our less purchased items." But that wasn't the end of it from what she can tell. He flipped the page and was just about to give her more requests when Justin waltzed in along with his invisible half.

Cathy does not possess the ability to see apparitions, but she could feel the change in energy in the room. At first, it irritated her when Justin was first hired simply because his ghostly twin was throwing the whole energy of the shop out of whack making it difficult for her to do her job. She eventually got used to it, however, mostly due to fear of falling behind in her work. She nodded back to Justin. She smirked at Elias' reaction to Licia. She felt she had a love-hate relationship with Elias. He is super extra all the time and his positivity could be exhausting at times, but he is adorable and that's all that mattered.

"Nerds? Speak for yourself Licia," she threw back teasingly. Her attention was drawn downwards by the sound of Elias handing her a piece of paper with more charm requests. She gave Elias a very pointed look before taking a swig of coffee and setting about making more studying and luck charms.

Maybe just maybe if I keep at it I can finish all of this, she inwardly coaxed.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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#, as written by LazyBug
Jaede hummed quietly to the tune of a song she couldn't remember the name of, but had gotten stuck in her head a few days ago. Fingers meant to be curled around the steering wheel of her car were tapping along to the beat as she watched the road in front of her. A light and cheery melody, she felt her spirits lifting at the prospect of seeing everyone in the shop. She'd had to stay at home the previous day to catch up on work, and even with two bars of chocolate and four hours of "break time", it had been hellishly boring for her. She had gotten a fair bit of work done though. Not enough though, she inwardly groaned.

All Jay wanted today was to laze about at the shop and socialise, but she'd been forced to bring her laptop along, the evil machine currently residing in a bag on the seat next to her. She could feel it glaring at her, taunting her. No, she thought, determined. I'm gonna relax today. I'll work tonight.

…Maybe.


As she turned into a familar street, she looked down it for the neon signs, and to her delight they were lit up like always. She pulled over, leaving her car on the street as she got out, only taking her black handbag with her. Before heading to the shop, she ducked into a cafe sitting a few doors down, and picked out a muffin and coffee for her breakfast. Smiling cheerily at the barista, whose face she recognised from previous mornings, she exited the small building and headed down to the shop. Passing her car on the way, she felt a thread of guilt tug at her stomach. Jay stopped in her tracks, glancing apprehensively through the window to the laptop bag she had left behind. Giving into the guilt, she huffed and unlocked the door, and pulled her laptop out almost contemptuously. With it in hand, she continued down to the shop, and finally entered through its doors.

Immediately feeling calmer, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out, enjoying all the familiar smells that came with the quirky interior. Man, she adored this place. Her eyes flicked back open and scanned the room, recognizing the two women and the ever-prescent manager, Elias. She'd seen the blonde boy around, too, but didn't know him as well as the others.

"Hello, all!" she chirped, setting her laptop bag down in a small corner. "Have you guys managed to survive without me?" She grinned at the employees, and took a sip of her coffee.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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It was less like work, more herding wild animals. Elias had attempted to describe his work to his mom once with the phrase. Everyone mostly preferred to do their own things but he had to coral everyone into a day to day routine, to keep things running smoothly. But in reality the store was an extension of his family, like he had 6 siblings instead of 3 plus a monstrous uncle who threatens to destroy the world, and no day was ever smooth or normal. He still liked having checklists, they kept him grounded and slightly on track and so, despite everyone sighing when he dramatically flipped open a notebook, he kept making them

"Look, if I have to calm down an eldritch abomination because you don't have enough time to make them all I will, there's barely enough time in the day for me to list all the things we need never mind you having to make them" He conceded before flipping his notebook closed with a snap. He was about to continue, but when Cat gave you that look, you made yourself scarce. He gazed towards the door labelled staff only which led to the backroom before shaking his head to clear it. Maybe one day store management wouldn't get on with him as well as they did now.

With light bouncy steps he made his way to Justin, giving the brother lazing in the air behind him a wave. With an apologetic smile he placed down a list of customers due today for Justin neatly on the desk, trying his best not to mess up the space. Elias's favourite customer due today had to be the woman with the childhood guinea pig she kept trying to get poor Justin to channel. Jason gave him a lazy wave as he leant down to speak with his brother. He still didn't get their whole story but eh, it was private, they all had reasons for turning up here. He spun to make his way over to Licia, already tearing a sheet of paper with her duties for the day.

"Your side of the room too bright or are the sunglasses a fashion statement?" He asked with a grin leaning on the desk. With careful hand he reached out to touch her tarot cards which were stacked remarkably neatly at the side. The pictures on the cards were his favourite. He was just about to flip the top card when the bell went off. He jumped slightly before turning.

"Hello, all! Have you guys managed to survive without me?" It was Jaede, of course it was Jaede, she's the only customer to ever appear this early.

"Ah, my favourite customer... we should charge you by the hour to sit in here, i swear Jay" Elias laughed "I swear, everyone brought coffee today and I'm stuck with the store brand tea!" He grins, noting the several cups and mugs poking out all over.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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Justin turned as the door jingled its familiar jingle, he silently nodded to Licia at the behest of her greeting. He grabbed one of the many books neatly stacked on his desk, almost affirming the psychic's designation as a "nerd." He looked up at Elias as the man walked up to the desk, careful not to mess up Justine's pristine, orderly, work space. The general manager was nothing if not considerate of his staff. Without words Elias slid the medium's work duties for the day onto his desk. Without looking at Elias but being sure to utter a quiet thank you, he took the list and began his perusal of the list. most of the people on this list had set up an appointment to communicate with a lost loved one or some such business though his first appointment didn't seem to be due until about an hour into the day. He sighed as he noticed the guinea pig woman sitting there on the list.

With some time to kill Justine began going through one of his books describing all sorts of different forms of spirits and ghouls. As he read Jason moved to speak to his living doppelganger.

"You have some time to kill. Why don't you go talk to the rest of the staff? You've been here for three months and you've barely said a word to them if you didn't need to. Come out of your shell socialize a little!"
"No thanks. I'd rather read"
"Go talk to Cathy"
"No. She's busy.And she'd kill me."
"How bout Licia? She could teach you about tarot or something"
"I have books that can do that."
Go talk to Elias then. He's nice see if he needs any help or something.

Before Justin could utter a response the door once again released it's little jingle. He looked toward the door to see an already familiar face during his time here. Her name was Jaede, and she was a regular, coming in almost every day. What could she possibly need to get here so often? Putting down his book he approached curious. Jason smiled as he went, there wasn't much that could prompt Justin into an actual conversation aside of course from his rampant curiosity."You come in here a lot. Why would you possibly need to come in here so often?" He spoke as he always did, bluntly and without tact, though there was an obvious lack of malice in his voice.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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A ghost of a smile played across Licia's lips as she listened to the reactions to her greeting. It was a good thing that the residents were used enough to her mean-spirited sense of humour by now, and she sensed no ill-will in the air as she re-stacked her tarot cards and filled it with her energy. What little she had of it, that morning. She took a long sip of her coffee while the deck rested on the table side, and was about to draw the first reading when Elias appeared. She peered at him over the brim of her glasses with narrow eyes.

"Your side of the room too bright or are the sunglasses a fashion statement?"

The answer came in the form of something between a hiss and a groan as she accepted the piece of paper and did a quick read of it. She took out her pen and struck out two people from her appointment list. No-shows were always annoying, but somewhat less so to a psychic. She also had a feeling that someone would be showing up for an impromptu appointment, but the details were unclear– hopefully the cards could shed some light on that.

She looked up and saw Elias reaching for the cards, and was about to tell him off before he disturbed the energy when they both jumped at the sound of the door opening.

"Hello, all! Have you guys managed to survive without me?"

Licia took another slow sip of her coffee as the conversation progressed, smiling again as Justin approached with his question to Jaede. His intentions were good, but Licia had her suspicions about the reason she came in here so much. Home office work wasn't good for someone who needed social interaction regularly. She remembered when her grandmother first had retired, she'd gone nuts washing the little apartment they lived in because she felt she had no excuse to go see her friends, who were still working. It had taken some getting used to, but in the end she'd figured it out. Licia's smile disappeared as she thought of the little group of sad, old women at the funeral, approaching together as though they'd tied a rope around each other, to say their condolences. It must have been nice to have something like that.

"Shoo, Justin," she said, at length. "Don't bother the costumer."

She picked up her tarot deck and stacked it again, just in case.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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Catherine set to work busting out good luck and studying charms as quickly as she could without messing them up. Thankfully, she already had a few made from her last request batch, so she had a head start. She had gotten into a steady rhythm when the Psychic Shop's most frequent customer made her entrance.

Just like clockwork, she smirked to herself. Cathy didn't bother giving her a formal greeting. The others were giving her plenty of attention for now. Besides, Jaede would find herself over to her desk eventually as soon as she had her fill of the other employees' work. Normally, Jaede would be the type of person Cathy would despise, but she couldn't bring herself to dislike her. She found her genuine curiosity and naivety endearing. Much like a puppy, and Catherine wasn't so cruel as to shun a puppy.

As conversation filled the room of cafes, coffee, and teasing banter, Cathy began to relax as the list was not quite as extensive as she had initially thought. She managed to finish up last week's batch of charms and had already sorted them out for Elias to put as he saw fit. Now that she could work at a more relaxed pace, she decided to take a small break and eat an early lunch. She was nibbling on a baby carrots when she decided to check her new list again and plan out which set of charms she'd tackle first. Cathy had another fresh set of trinkets that had been basking in the sunlight and moonlight and were ready to be channeled, but it was better to be safe than sorry and be prepared.

Everything on the list was pretty standard until- Cathy stopped dead and dropped her piece of celery back into her veggie tray. She continued to stare at the last item on her list hoping it would go away. Management was asking her to make another curse item. Probably some special request by a customer. The store charged almost triple for these items for those in the know how, but Cathy didn't care. This one in particular called for being a depression hex. Depression!

She pinpointed Elias and immediately flagged him down to come over to her desk. She pointed to the item in question and in hushed tones whispered her frustrations.

"Did you see this? Elias, this is dangerous to make. You know my enchantments already have bite. This would make even a happy person like Jaede so depressed she wouldn't want to crawl out of bed. If this was placed on an already unhappy person, this could make them suicidal. Please don't make me make this. I... I can't keep doing this. Even if I'm not the one using them, I can't keep living with the guilt that I brought such a wicked object into the world." She gave Elias a pleading look, but she already knew the answer. It was the same answer he gave her every time. She could already feel the life drain away from her at the prospect of making the hex. She loved the good charms. Cathy felt good making them because she knew they could help someone even in a small way, but this... this was just evil...

She remembered the first time the store management had discovered her "talent". Catherine had gotten side-tracked on her charm-making thinking thoughts about how her parents were bankrupt and on the verge of losing their home. Her negative feelings had accidentally poured into a piggy bank key chain; a charm she had meant to turn into a good fortune charm. She had gasped and tried to hide her mistake, but the management doesn't miss anything. She had been getting requests for hexes since.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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"The café up the street does it pretty well if you're not looking for anything too fancy. I can go grab you one if you want."

Elias made a mental note of Jay's suggestion to check out the café. Her recommendation didn't sound horrendous, he'd seen the little shop a few times on his way to work or at lunch but he'd never considered going in. He was never one to spend much of his breaks anywhere but the back room but he was going to need a coffee considering someone had booked him for an exorcism on an old book.

"It's fine, I'll get one on my first break though thanks for offering!"

He almost pulled Justin to the side when he saw him approach Jaede, but he knew not much would go wrong. He was probably just curious, he hadn't really got a chance to meet her properly.

"You come in here a lot. Why would you possibly need to come in here so often?"

Well, not the worst question and besides, it was Jaede after all, not a weirdo off the streets. It had been long enough that he could sort of trust Justin not to channel any of her dead relatives suddenly anyway.

He turned to head back to the shelf of jewelled beetles with a menacing look on his face. Today the little vermin were getting sold. Some witch from the other side of the city had been looking for a few of them, she called them Tome-Bugs. Elias called them a menace to all that was literature. They ripped apart occult books and occult books only and were unfortunately aggressive when cornered. The warm days and musty bookshelves and boxes made the perfect breeding ground for them.

He stopped short when Catherine called him over, he knew it meant trouble. The atmosphere had changed, it felt like it got darker as he stepped towards her. By the time he was over the other side of the room he felt like he probably knew what was wrong. He leant on her desk, scrutinising the list before straightening up with a despairing sigh. He hated doing this, he knew exactly what he had wrote down on the list last night. He always hated it when a request for a hex was made but he couldn't exactly say no to a recurring high paying customer without management getting mad.

"Did you see this? Elias, this is dangerous to make. You know my enchantments already have bite. This would make even a happy person like Jaede so depressed she wouldn't want to crawl out of bed. If this was placed on an already unhappy person, this could make them suicidal. Please don't make me make this. I... I can't keep doing this. Even if I'm not the one using them, I can't keep living with the guilt that I brought such a wicked object into the world."

He pushed back the growing sense of guilt in his stomach "Cathy..." He started, reaching up to ruffle his hair the way he did when he was frustrated, trying to decide on the best course of action. "You know that I cant take it off the list, it's well... you know what it is" He stopped short, glancing around to make sure no one was in earshot before leaning back over and lowering his voice "Please Cat, we have to take this order, store management-" He cut himself of with a shake of his head. Here he was, trying to apply reason to the unreasonable again. With a sorry smile he straightened up "Just get these ones done and I'll see if we have something in stock from our last enchanter. I'll be back as soon as i can, okay?"

The last enchanter wasn't someone Elias had got on with too well which had been a surprise for the generally liked 16 year old of that time, the enchanter was much too dark and grim, often doubling up on the enchantments on items, a good and a bad or sometimes worse. It gave the items a price and certainly not one anyone was willing to pay and so one night he had stayed late and... vanished. Elias was only a part-time exorcist then but he knew what had happened far too well. No one looked for the enchanter. They knew where he was.

He sped off to the store room, finding solace and comfort in the boxes piled with old stock. He started prowling through old boxes he hadn't seen in years. He found the a of old charms, mostly key rings. He lifted them one by one, checking the labels with growing frustration.

"Luck... Nausea... protection..." he went through the box diligently. After all these years in the dark their power was weak, but he could still feel some sort of energy radiating from them. He reached the end of the box, tossing it aside to rummage through another. Nothing. And then through another. Again nothing. And then the last box of charms. It looked like a bad omen, sitting there under a tiny window. He approached, bending to inspect the box's contents. All unlabelled, this must have been from before he started ordering everything. With a disappointed sigh he picked up the box, making his way to the front of the store. He dropped the box at Cat's feet.

"These are all unlabelled... is there anything at all you can use?" He asked hopefully, nudging the box with his foot.

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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"You know that I cant take it off the list, it's well... you know what it is. Please Cat, we have to take this order, store management-" Cathy watched Elias cut himself off with a grim expression. He didn't need to finish. She knew all too well. She watched him shake himself off and offer a solution.

"Just get these ones done and I'll see if we have something in stock from our last enchanter. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" That was a first. Catherine didn't even know there were leftover charms from the last enchanter. She nodded at Elias and watched him head off for the store room. She hoped the others didn't notice what was going on. The only other person who knew about the hexes was Licia, but that was to be expected. Nothing got by Licia. Justin... Well, he was new. The less he knew about the... darker side of the shop the better. Of course, Jaede was in the dark though. She was a regular customer, but there was no reason to get her involved. Catherine could only hope she stayed blissfully ignorant about the true nature of this shop... for her sake.

Catherine tried to stay calm and finish up the rest of her veggie tray while she waited for Elias. Even if he found something that they could sell instead, she still didn't like the idea of giving out. She didn't care how much the customer was paying for it. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Elias returned with a sinister looking box. Cathy could feel the hairs on the back of neck rise as he approached with Pandora's box. He dropped the box at her feet and she jumped.

"These are all unlabeled... is there anything at all you can use?" She glanced into the box and immediately regretted that she did. Evil auras were coming off the charms in waves. Just from a glance she could tell they were old and had since lost a decent portion of their power. But not all of it.

"I might be able to use one... They're unlabeled so I'll have to check them all individually for what they do... Cat began tenderly reaching for a handful of charms in the box, but before she made contact, she saw a very distinct black shape open its eye and blink at her. She immediately retracted her hand and yelped while leaping out of her chair.

"Oh my loving goddess! What the hell-" It wasn't till she was standing that she realized everyone was staring at her. Just great.

"Oh, uh sorry everyone. Spider. Big one. We got it. It's fine." She reached into a drawer in her desk and pulled out four sheets of what seemed like colorful origami paper, but upon closer inspection, different symbols and characters were written all over the back of the papers. She taped one on each side of the box quickly before whispering to Elias.

"Sealing charms. One way. To keep whatever.... that is in the box," gesturing towards the one-eyed thing currently residing in the box. She stared into the box and locked eyes with the single eyeball. It didn't move. It just continued to... stare.

"Speaking of which, do you know what that is? Because I sure don't. It's definitely bigger than the tomb-bugs." She made sure to stand in front of the box so the others didn't have a clear view of the strange box.

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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"Us? Cool? You must have a really warped definition of cool" He could see Jason shake his head slightly. Perhaps it sounded rude but his tone was of the usual sort. Even, soft, and calm. Justin almost opened his mouth to say more until Licia had told him to shoo. He sighed slightly before shutting his mouth. The girl was a psychic and it would be a lie to say that it didn't make him paranoid. Would he do something embarrassing in the near future? Was he doing something embarrassing now? These thoughts continued to swirl around in the boys mind as he stood there, stone faced as usual.

Just as Justin was about to quietly take his leave and withdraw to his happy space between pages for the next thirty minutes he noticed Jason widely shaking for a moment as if an unpleasant chill ran up his spine two seconds too long to be natural. He looked at his brother floating just behind Jaede. "What is wrong with you?

Jason paused to look around the shop, sensing a strange energy eminanting from somewhere within the shop. The ghost looked at his brother who didn't seem to sense anything, evidently being dead he was far more sensitive to these strange energies than his brother medium or no medium. "What you don't feel that?"Without waiting for Justin to answer he noticed Cathy and Elias gathered around a box, certain that was the source of this weird feeling quickly flew over peering into the box along with Cathy. Deep in what seemed to be charms of some sort stared back a single eye which clearly was not supposed to be there."What the hell is that!" Floating back over to his brother, he saw Justin give him a curious look and simply nodded toward Catherine and her box filled with charms and mysterious eyeballs.

Justine looked over at Jason then to Elias and finally to Catherine, who seemed to be hiding something behind her. The boy walked over to them trying to peer behind Catherine's back."What are you hiding over there?"

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell
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Elias glanced back towards the crowd, hoping nobody had noticed the havoc going on in the corner. One day Justin would probably find out... he was far too inquisitive not to ever know, Licia knew of course. He wouldn't be surprised if she had known before she stepped foot into the store. Despite it being an under the counter kind of deal, the customers weren't the most subtle when they arrived to collect. They assumed everyone in the store was behind the idea of giving them some stupid cursed item.

"I might be able to use one... They're unlabelled so I'll have to check them all individually for what they do..." Internally he let out a sigh of relief, maybe they could all get through this without too much hassle. It had been a long time since he'd seen these boxes. The last general manager had moved all the ex-employees stuff into the store room before he left and Elias had no reason to go back there much anyway apart from to dig about to find old books. Even then, visits were scarce to the back to where everything was.

He was just about to duck down to check through the charm box with her when Cat yelped. Elias staggered back with a fight, catching his leg on the desk, with a hiss. Thankfully Cathy covered it with the usual spider excuse for when weird creatures arrive. He stepped forward, ducking down to eye the creature with a disgusted stare. Elias was not a fan of animals, especially weird one-eyed spider freaks.

"Sealing charms. One way. To keep whatever.... that is in the box. Speaking of which, do you know what that is? Because I sure don't. It's definitely bigger than the tome-bugs." Elias made sound of agreement as he examined it. Cat wasn't wrong, it was a lot bigger than the tome-bugs. He was about to answer when he heard the sound of soft murmuring. He tried to tune into it, noticing it didn't quite match up with the usual background. His suspicions were confirmed when he looked up to catching sight of Jason. "We have company, Cathy, our friendly neighbourhood ghost is around" He muttered. Assuming Jason was only checking things out, he didn't expect Justin to follow really.

"What are you hiding over there?" Justin. Great. Fantastic. Well, you never got one without the other Elias supposed with an inward sigh.

Elias stood up quickly, giving Justin his best grin as he turned. He attempted block out what remained of the box that Cat hadn't covered. He leant on the desk in his best 'act casual' pose. "Oh it's nothing Justin, just some old box of charms that I dug out, Cathy was only looking over it, right Cat?" He turned, raising his eyebrows, trying to get back up. He glanced back at the box nervously, the thing hadn't moved yet thankfully "Its some stuff out the store room, don't worry though Justin, nothing you'd like, the stuff is pretty average... if you want me to find any books or whatever for you on spirits I can!" He offered, trying to divert his attention.

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri
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There was a change in the air, and it was not because she'd told Justin to leave Jaede be. Licia watched the situation unfold to her right out the corner of her eye, feeling Cathy's despair and anger and Elias' guilt and determination as they spoke in hushed tones. She finished shuffling her deck and tapped the first card carefully as she considered the energy. She'd put two on the table when Elias returned with a box. It was hard to concentrate with so many harsh feelings happening at the same time, but she wasn't going to snap at anyone. As difficult as it was for her to understand sometimes, she knew people weren't in charge of their emotions.

Feelings. What a waste.

Then a feeling of shock and fear shot through her, accompanied by a small shout from her side. Licia jumped in her chair, the tarot cards sliding out of her hand and all over the table. She looked up at her co-workers, her eyes large with fury and her lips set tight against each other. She looked like a five-year-old throwing a hissy fit but she didn't care, they ruined her reading.

"Oh, uh sorry everyone. Spider. Big one. We got it. It's fine."

"Must have been fucking huge," she hissed.

She couldn't remain angry for long, however. Whatever had frightened Cathy was still present– she could still feel it now that the shock had settled. Elias panicking about Justin finding out certainly didn't help matters either. Licia rolled her eyes and left the tarot mess to its own devices for a bit. She was getting curious about what exactly the two had found, but with Jaede in the shop she'd only call unnecessary attention if she got up to check. She wondered how Justin had found out, though. He hadn't struck her as the most observant person in the world when it came to other people– of course she knew he had some kind of ghost thing going on but she hadn't bothered to listen to the details.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she wondered if Elias had ever had to tell a real lie in his life. The way he was leaning over to hide the box, she thought not. It was too good not to poke fun at. "How come you need a box of old charms, Elias?"

She smiled innocently. "Cat's work isn't good enough?"

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri
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"We have company, Cathy, our friendly neighbourhood ghost is around."

Oh come on... Could this get any worse? Hopefully, the little specter will keep his ghostly mouth shut- she ranted in her mind.

"What are you hiding over there?" Straight to the point. Of course. Why was she not surprised?

"Oh it's nothing Justin, just some old box of charms that I dug out, Cathy was only looking over it, right Cat?" Elias raised his eyebrows at her with an expression begging her for assistance. Catherine cringed slightly. She also noticed how he was leaning very close to her in order to help conceal the box.

Has he never lied before, or is he just panicking?

"Uh, yeah. Just doing some additional inventory. Say, Justin, isn't the guinea pig girl supposed to be coming in soon? You might want to prepare yourself for that..." Hopefully that would direct Justin's attention away from the box, but that blasted Casper wannabee could easily blow their cover. They needed to do something. Fast.

"How come you need a box of old charms, Elias? Cat's work isn't good enough?" What little Elias and Cat had managed to salvage of the situation quickly burst into flames at Licia's pointed jab. She was pissed. Retreat.

"Well, you see Licia, I'm running behind this month on my quota, and Elias, the sweet manager he is, thought he would help me by pulling out some old charms." As Catherine began to ramble she took a deep breath and without glancing into the Spider Box, picked it up and hugged it to her chest in order to conceal the top of it.

"But, we're being way too distracting. Oh look! There's another customer pulling into the lot right now! Come on Elias. Let's stop distracting our medium and fortune teller. They need to do their jobs... Excuse us." Without another word she slipped into the store room without considering that she had not once step foot back here before, but she felt Elias would forgive her since the situation demanded they get away. Cathy had almost completely forgotten the contents of the box when she heard a distinct rummaging sound coming from the box. She immediately dropped the box on the ground and stepped back five feet.

What she had initially mistaken for spider-like appendages were actually tentacles. The devil was writhing around in the box pressing its appendages to the seal on the box trying to get out.

"I just thought of a name for it Elias. I think I'll call it Fucker. Fuck for short." She continued to stare at the box and Fucker as it increased its efforts to escape.

"So, what are we going to do? It can't stay there. We need to look through those charms. It doesn't seem to be too dangerous... Do you think that witch might know what it is? We could shove it in a jar and take it to her."

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri
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"But, we're being way too distracting. Oh look! There's another customer pulling into the lot right now! Come on Elias. Let's stop distracting our medium and fortune teller. They need to do their jobs... Excuse us." Cat turned signalling for him to follow. He shot Licia a look that was a pleading one, mouthing 'tell you later'. He gave Justin a look before adding to Licia 'Keep an eye on him... please' Licia would need to know, but later, she just needed to keep Justin out of it for the moment. He turned on his heel, rushing after Cathy.

He pushed into the store room just in time to witness the box's contents attempt to break free. He slammed himself back against the door, making sure nobody would be able to get in. "THAT is NOT a normal spider" He observed, almost stupidly. He moved forward, grabbing Cat's arm and tugging her towards the box. He stared in at it with a disgusted expression. "I just thought of a name for it Elias. I think I'll call it Fucker. Fuck for short."

"Fucker is perfect, it looks just like a Fucker" Elias bent down slightly to look closer at the creature. The movement sent a shiver down his spine. He wasn't terrified of spiders, he just REALLY disliked them and when coupled with the look of a cyclops, he was really not a fan. He chewed his lip, deep in thought for a moment, trying to place what it was.

"So, what are we going to do? It can't stay there. We need to look through those charms. It doesn't seem to be too dangerous... Do you think that witch might know what it is? We could shove it in a jar and take it to her." That wasn't the worst idea Cat had ever proposed. Elias kicked at the box slightly, watching the Fuck skitter to the other side. It certainly didnt look as though it was going to kill anyone just yet.

"I doubt it... I mean last I heard she only really does nature magic and that thing is certainly not natural looking, I mean if anything its more up our alley" He frowned slightly. "It looks likes some sort of a lesser demon, not sure though... uh... it doesnt look like any that are detailed in the exorcist journals I have" He noted. It was the jet black tentacles had tipped him off, it was a trait that appeared in a couple of other demons, same with the eye. The size was pretty unusual however, even for a lesser demon he usually expected them to be larger maybe mouse sized. He inhaled before kneeling down next to the box. Gingerly he shoved his hand into the box, reaching for the creature with a pale face. He looked almost ill as he brushed against it gently. It skittered away quickly from his outstretched hand, making a bizarre clicking noise. "If it is... maybe I can exorcise it"

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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#, as written by LazyBug
As Licia shooed Justin away Jaede went to protest, saying, "Oh it's alright, I don't—" before she heard the exclamation from the other side of the room. She hadn't noticed Elias and Cathy talking till she heard the shrill voice and seen Cathy jump. "Oh my loving goddess! What the hell-" Jaede's eyes immediately jumped to where Cathy was standing, and after hearing her explain it away as a spider, she became ready to jump back at the slightest mention that it had escaped. God, Jay hated spiders. She was still morbidly curious, however.

"Oh god. Really? How big is it?" And why the hell aren't they closing the box lid? she wondered. If it had been her, she would have been on the other side of the room in an instant. They were getting so close to it though! "Are you guys gonna let it go out…" her voice trailed off as she realised everyone was preoccupied with Elias and Cathy, so she fell silent. She watched quietly as Justin crossed to where they were standing and Licia blew up. "How come you need a box of old charms, Elias?"

Suddenly her interest shot through the roof. "Old charms? That's awesome, where'd they come from?" Questions ran through her head but before she could ask more than one, Cathy mentioned a customer and slipped into the storeroom with Elias. Huffing, Jay figured they probably were too busy to answer. It was fine, she figured. She could leave it till later. There would always be time to ask later. Plus… they were all sort of working. She really shouldn't bother them, she realised, and Cathy did seem particularly stressed out today, though Jaede hadn't noticed when she walked in. She considered keeping out of the way for a while, maybe setting up her laptop and chewing through some work. But I really don't feel like it… she silently bemoaned. Her eyes flicked to Licia. I wonder if she's busy… no, no, she probably is. But… maybe she's not. Trying to act casual and not like her mind was still buzzing with curiosity, she commented, "I feel like the storeroom maybe isn't the best place to get rid of a spider. Couldn't they have let it go outside?" It was a genuine question, since it did seem odd.

Ulterior motives? Jay would never.

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire Character Portrait: Justin Bell Character Portrait: Licia Ferri Character Portrait: Jaede Akuchi
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As Elias began to speak Justine stood there expressionless as usual staring at the general manager, though notably averting eye contact, and listening intently. Clearly he was hiding something, placing his body awkwardly in front of whatever it was he was trying to sweep under the rug, the obvious attempts to distract him with the promise of books. People never made much sense to Justin, emotional, illogical things often doing whatever they pleased on nothing more than a whim. Lies however made perfect sense, they were a logical defense mechanism for most people. Though obviously some were better at it than others.

Just as he was about to speak Cathy chimed up with a reminder that a customer, specifically the annoying guinea pig girl was supposed to arrive later. He stood there for a moment and tried to resist peeking at his watch. It was later than he had thought and indeed she was due to arrive soon, and that was the only spark necessary to let his routine take over. He stood there for a bit more with a sigh, he had gone silent as the others conversed, Licia made some good points, just why did she need to go through the charms? But he didn't have the time for such thought he turned towards his desk but before returning he spoke up once more. "Fine I do have work to do. But one, its obvious you were lying and keeping something from me, and two I won't forget to ask about it later." With that he walked off.

As he went about properly organizing his desk for the inevitable arrivals Jason saw Cathy and Elias disappear into the store room."I'm going to follow them." As his brother spoke Justin had just finished putting a bottle of hand sanitizer in the center of his desk suggestively close to the customer, there was another bottle just under the desk for Justin's own use once the customer was gone."No you won't. Elias is there he'll see you. And besides I need you here"

Jason pouted for a moment but relented knowing all to well his brother really did need him. This medium job required more than just the ability to see and communicate with the dead, Justin was good at that. It was the social interaction often followed by awkward pauses, and the occasional physical contact as well as eye contact, things Justin was woefully unprepared for. The boys sat there waiting, silently hoping the guinea pig woman was late or even a no show just like she was the last three times she had arrived.

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Character Portrait: Elias Quinn Character Portrait: Catherine Grimmoire
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"I doubt it... I mean last I heard she only really does nature magic and that thing is certainly not natural looking, I mean if anything its more up our alley. It looks likes some sort of a lesser demon, not sure though... uh... it doesn't look like any that are detailed in the exorcist journals I have." Catherine nodded at everything Elias was saying. She had to keep herself from gagging when Elias' hand brushed against the Fuck. She also did not like the noise it was making at all. It sounded agitated.

"If it is... maybe I can exorcise it." Cathy moved across the room and grabbed an empty jar off a nearby table.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Cat walked back over the box and knelled down beside the box with the open jar in one hand, and the lid in the other. She took a deep breath before scooping the Fucker into the waiting glass jar. She slammed the lid down hard, and let out the air she didn't realize she'd been holding. Now that he was in the jar, she could easily see its numerous black tentacles and beady eyeball peering back at her. A shiver went down her spine at the sight.

"Well, now that that is done, here." She handed the jar to Elias. Not her problem any longer. Hopefully.

"I'll dig through this box and hopefully find something we can use for the... you know what." Catherine spent the next hour cross-legged sorting out the charms on the floor into piles.

Ugh, how could a person be so disorganized with their work... I don't know how they managed to find anything in this mess, she huffed to herself. Bad luck, clumsiness, anger, forgetfulness, confusion... Oh? Finally, in the bottom of the box she found a little handmade friendship bracelet with little plastic frown faces and teardrops attached. Although the original enchantment had diminished considerably, she could still feel a significant amount of sadness and negative emotions coming from the bracelet.

"Geez, these things must have been potent when they were fresh if they still have this amount of influence." Cathy stood back up and placed the box of charms back on an empty spot on the shelving unit. Walking back into the main shop, she examined the hex again before placing it into a velvet drawstring bag. It would still cause a person to feel depressed and gloomy, but at least it wouldn't cause them to be suicidal. She hoped that would be the case, at least.