Announcements: Cutting Costs (2024) » January 2024 Copyfraud Attack » Finding Universes to Join (and making yours more visible!) » Guide To Universes On RPG » Member Shoutout Thread » Starter Locations & Prompts for Newcomers » RPG Chat — the official app » Frequently Asked Questions » Suggestions & Requests: THE MASTER THREAD »

Latest Discussions: Adapa Adapa's for adapa » To the Rich Men North of Richmond » Shake Senora » Good Morning RPG! » Ramblings of a Madman: American History Unkempt » Site Revitalization » Map Making Resources » Lost Poetry » Wishes » Ring of Invisibility » Seeking Roleplayer for Rumple/Mr. Gold from Once Upon a Time » Some political parody for these trying times » What dinosaur are you? » So, I have an Etsy » Train Poetry I » Joker » D&D Alignment Chart: How To Get A Theorem Named After You » Dungeon23 : Creative Challenge » Returning User - Is it dead? » Twelve Days of Christmas »

Players Wanted: Serious Anime Crossover Roleplay (semi-literate) » Looking for a long term partner! » JoJo or Mha roleplay » Seeking long-term rp partners for MxM » [MxF] Ruining Beauty / Beauty x Bastard » Minecraft Rp Help Wanted » CALL FOR WITNESSES: The Public v Zosimos » Social Immortal: A Vampire Only Soiree [The Multiverse] » XENOMORPH EDM TOUR Feat. Synthe Gridd: Get Your Tickets! » Aishna: Tower of Desire » Looking for fellow RPGers/Characters » looking for a RP partner (ABO/BL) » Looking for a long term roleplay partner » Explore the World of Boruto with Our Roleplaying Group on FB » More Jedi, Sith, and Imperials needed! » Role-player's Wanted » OSR Armchair Warrior looking for Kin » Friday the 13th Fun, Anyone? » Writers Wanted! » Long term partner to play an older male wanted »

0
followers
follow

Nizhoni Benett

"Ask and you may receive..."

0 · 1,110 views · located in Bodega Bay, CA

a character in “Delusions”, as played by Kaname_Takashi

Description

Nizhoni Benett

Image
"There is wisdom that comes with age, other things you have to learn about the hard way. Through experience."


| Age | Image
23

| Eye Color |
Dark Brown

| Height |
5'2"

| Personality |
Nizhoni has spent most of her life being alone and that's exactly how she prefers it. Friends and even family never get close to her, but she doesn't seem to mind much. Many of the town's residents view her in a negative light, but there's more to her than what they perceive. Nizhoni is a strong and fiercely independent woman with a good heart and a level head on her shoulders. Even in her own family she has been known to stray and walk her own path in life. Sticking her nose into other people's business is not something you'll find her doing, but helping out those who seek her assistance is a different matter.
Image
| Hobbies |
Mixing herbs, dancing, readings.

| Addictions and Compulsions |
Nizhoni smokes her own blend of mint cigarettes.

| History |
Born and raised in Bodega, Nizhoni grew up within a tight-knit community consisting of mainly people of with Miwok ancestry. It was evident there that her family was thought of as special. They were one of the few families that had managed to evade mingling with people of outside lineage for generations. Nizhoni was raised to have pride in that fact.

The Miwok stories and traditions were drilled into her mind from the minute she could understand them. She always believed their culture to be fascinating and a bit depressing. Even when she was younger she had denounced the belief in the sacrificial traditions to Gutom. It was not something she wished to partake in. Voicing her opinions had not resulted in anything changing, instead her parents had been somewhat outraged by her way of thinking. Those thought had probably been the starting point for her pulling away from others.

Nizhoni isn't a tall woman, but as she grew up it was evident that she was beautiful. She herself knew she was attractive with her full lips, high cheekbones, and a set of eyes that seemed to just beckon others. It didn't take long for boys to take interest in her either and she quite enjoyed the attention. The older she became though, the more the situation tended to get out of hand. There had been a few occasions in her teen years where men pined for her, almost groveled at the chance to date her. Girls in her school had started to look at her in a new light, but nothing more than petty jealousy had arisen from the situation. Things escalated though and eventually a married teacher had proclaimed his lover for her. That had changed everything. From that moment on people pegged her as a home-wrecker and a seductress. Rumors even arose that she had used some strange Miwok spells to make herself irresistible to men. Nothing bothered her too much though. She never fought against the mean remarks or ridiculous speculations.
Image
After graduating high school Nizhoni made it her first priority to move out of her family's home and get her own place. It was small and on the outskirts of Bodega, but it was hers. Since she was young she had quite the knack for mixing herbs and making some potent home remedies and to make her rent ever month she turned that skill into a small business. Eventually she was able to afford a small shop on the main strip in town called Nizhoni's.

When the mass suicides occurred and her cousins Catori and David died, Nizhoni felt saddened, but nothing extravagant. Since she moved out, and even before that, her relationship with her immediate family were strained. Her extended family was no different. Regardless, Nizhoni may have known more about the matter than she would have liked.

Even in the current time, many of the townspeople are still wary of the Miwok woman. Many of the people who enter her shop do not waste time conversing with her. It's straight down to business for them, in and out as quickly as possible. She minded her own business while they went about hers. More often than not, it's men who spend the longest amount of time in her shop which helps to perpetuate the witch speculation even more.

So begins...

Nizhoni Benett's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"He's an insomniac, dear, we need to get him...something." The words of his parents echoed through his ears. An insomniac...ha. He mused as he laid in his bed, already dressed for the day, and looked up to the ceiling. He smiled the smile of an insane person as she laughed wickedly to himself. He was starting to believe he was crazy, as his parents said. They hadn't been nearly as sad as he was when two of their children killed themselves. Even at the funeral they hadn't been nearly as sad as himself. Jimmy would even take it to say they weren't even as much saddened by it as cousin Nizhoni was.

Jimmy remembers the time his parents first found out about his insomnia. Jimmy tried to explain to them why he couldn't go to sleep. He even showed them the scratches and scars on his arms. But, because of the place they were on in his inner forearm, they believed he had did it himself. They had went so far as to lock up all the knives and scissors and other untensels. They searched his room and took everything sharp out of his room, even the newly sharpened pencils were dulled to protect him, as they said, from himself. Yet, he still awoke with scratches up and down his arms and back.

Jimmy laid there, staring at the ceiling thinking about his siblings. He missed them. He suddenly jumped up and popped his ear buds in. Ironicly, Akon's song Mr. Lonely came on. Jimmy started singing it to himself. "I'm so lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely, I have nobody, for my own..." Jimmy singed to himself as he laid down again and waited for the song to go over, then a new song came on. Last Resort by Papa Roach. At this, Jimmy stood up and grabbed his skateboard. Skateboarding. Where did that come from? Jimmy took up skateboarding after his brothers had killed themselves.

Jimmy ran down the stairs of the house, his skateboard in his hand. His parents had yelled at him not to run down the stairs and asked him where he was off to. But he couldn't here them with the sounds of System of a Down's Psycho blasting his ear drums. So, out the door he went and jumped on his skateboard. He stopped at a little store and got a can of black spray paint and a pack of cigarettes, though he didn't really buy them. More like he just put them in his pocket and left.

He got back on his skateboard and lit a cigarette. He was suppose to be heading to school but, it being Native American day and the festival, he thought he'd spend his day vandalizing a few building. He was going to start with the school. He waited for everyone to go in and the bell to ring. Once that was waited out, Jimmy put in a new cigarette and walked to the side of the school. A big blank canvas is how he saw the brick wall. The first image he made on the school was after he was first hurt by Gotum. The second image he made on the school was a year after the first image was made. And the image he was making today, more than a few years later, was just as creepy as the rest of the images he makes.

Before he was caught by the principle or a teacher, Jimmy was off to see his cousin. Jimmy just feels sometimes like he should go see her. Today was no exception. So, he jumped on his skateboard and headed to her store. He liked her store because it was different. He felt a little weird in there sometimes and wouldn't bring friends there, even if he had friends, but he liked it nonetheless. When he got to the shop he looked through the front windows to see if he could see anyone, but he couldn't tell if anyone was there yet, so he put his skateboard down and sat outside of the shop, hoping it wouldn't get too gloomy.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Jett Amaron Character Portrait: Adriana Ryker
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Charlotte looked at Mr. Howard for a brief moment in puzzlement. What was he going to do with Adriana? She then turned her worried gaze back to Adri, following along closely. She hoped that Mr. Howard wasn't going to say or do anything extreme. More than anything she wanted to know what had happened...Everything had been so strange this morning. Charlotte wasn't sure that Adriana would be willing to say anything though. It may be something she wouldn't exactly want to share, she was probably embarrassed enough without people quizzing her, she thought as she watched the other girl cross her arms but it more like she was hugging herself than anything, saying something about accidentally burning herself this morning. Charlotte bit her lip. It looked way too fresh for that, but she didn't say anything as they entered the cubicle. She took a seat and remained silent, thinking it best to ask her questions later without Mr. Howard gawking at them.

She listened quietly, struggling to hear what he was saying to the receptionist. After a few moments of discussion he informed Adriana that her mother should be coming to pick her up soon and that she should go home and get some rest - Something that Charlotte had to agree on but she was hoping that she would at least get the chance to talk to her before she left. She merely nodded once to verify her name, too distracted by her thoughts to give much of a vocal answer. She looked at the ugly green walls and sighed, then turning her gaze to the fawn haired girl beside her who had finally raised her head. "He's right though, you really should try to get some rest..." She told her, quietly and wondering if she would follow that advice at all. It was odd, very odd to her...Not a minute after she had those bizarre...she didn't even know what they were had something happened to Adriana. Were they connected? A coincidence? Charlotte had no idea.

She stared at Adriana for a moment when asked why she had come. Wasn't it obvious? "Well, isn't it obvious? I was worried about you...You are...Well -" She broke off, biting her pink lip. She knew that the other girl was quite solitary but she had always liked to think they were at least sort of friends...She was slightly grateful when Adriana snapped at some of the staff for their comments which kept her from continuing to struggle for a good response and no sooner than that had Mrs. Ryker come to take Adriana away. Charlotte sighed and rose to her feet, offering the other girl a short wave. She had missed her chance to ask her what happened, but she supposed she could always text her later and see if she could get some sort of response.


Charlotte exited the cubicle and headed back into the halls no longer feeling much like attending classes or chatting with friends - especially that, she was afraid they'd simply only be talking about Adriana and she had no desire to gossip. Her mind was too full of other things...What had happened to Adriana, her daydream (For lack of a better word) and a creature's face breaking into a wide, sharp toothed grin dripping blood and flesh. She felt sick at the mental image. Gripping the cool wall next to her she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Once she felt like she was no longer going to throw up, she walked over to a bench and sat in silence, trying to bring some sort of organization to her thoughts although just then she saw Jett Amaron being escorted by Mr. Howard - an unusual sight. What in the hell was going on? Luckily just then, a class got out and Charlotte hopped up, walking over to the first student she saw and tapped them on the shoulder. "What's going on, why's Jett not going to his next class?" She asked, glad that the person she'd picked was a known gossiper.

"Oh." Said the girl, flicking her hair back over her shoulder with a smile. "You didn't see? Oh, yeah you were with that other girl. Anyway, he fell asleep in class - No surprise there, it was boring as hell - but then he woke up and freaked out, falling out of his chair and everything. I don't know, people are weird today. Maybe they're all on something." She told Charlotte, shaking his head her eyes wide as she spoke. "Whatever it is, it must be some hardcore shit to mess them up like that."

"Yeah, must be..." Charlotte said, although she had no idea what was causing this. First her, now Adri and now Jett...If it wasn't drugs, there had to be something going on, she thought to herself before leaving the girl without another word. Her phone buzzed, signifying a message which she checked quickly, hoping it was from Adriana - and she was in luck, it was. The girl seemed apologetic but it wasn't really necessary, Charlotte wasn't one to hold what she said against her. Don't worry about it, I know how you feel. I haven't been getting much sleep either and it's been really bothering me...I was even thinking of going to Nizhoni's. Deciding not to ask her too many questions for fear of pushing her away, she simply decided to answer Adriana's own question. I was going to ask you about that later today. I think I'm going...Are you? She sent the message rather quickly and then sighed, looking around. She really was thinking of going to Nizhoni's in hopes of maybe finding something to fix this...She could hardly stand it anymore - and there was no way she was going to tell her parents or anybody else, especially a doctor. They'd all probably think she was stark raving mad - hell, maybe even Nizhoni would think she was crazy. The only reason she mentioned it at all was because there was a small part of her that hoped Adriana might understand. Charlotte had never had any ill feelings toward Nizhoni Bennett even though she had never visited her before, she truly thought the whole witch thing people treated her with was ridiculous.

Charlotte decided that she at least didn't want to linger around inside the school and made her way outside, grabbing her bag from her locker on her way out. Once she was outside, she walked out to the lawn and then paused, catching sight of something black on the walls of the school and then pursed her lips once she got a better look at it - some sort of winged creature, it appeared to be. Probably Jimmy Bennett's work, she figured as she didn't know many others in Bodega who would do that to the school...Plus, he had done others in that style as she recalled. She looked at it and as she did got the eerie feeling it was staring back at her. Jeez, Jimmy. Couldn't think of anything a little less creepy? She thought with a shudder, brushing a lock of blonde and pink hair out of her eyes and then glancing back out toward the sidewalk. Not really wanting to linger around the - painting, if you really wanted to call it that - she decided to start heading toward Nizhoni's. She didn't want to stay at school - she wasn't known for bailing like that, but today was different...Maybe she could even drop by Adriana's and see her before the festival if she wasn't sleeping.


After a few minutes, Charlotte was almost to Nizhoni's which was both a relief to see and also rather unsettling. What if the Miwok woman couldn't help her? She glanced around and to her surprise found Jimmy Bennett sitting in front of the store. She tilted her head as she regarded the artist who had painted the grim creature on the side of the school, wondering what had inspired him to make something like that. Charlotte normally avoided Jimmy and couldn't recall if she had ever spoken to him before but she had heard everything from, "Poor Bennett, hasn't been the same since his brother's died." to, "Damn kid's a lunatic." when someone brought up Jimmy Bennett and his antics. "Er, Jimmy, right?" She asked him, a bit awkwardly. "You wouldn't happen to know if your cousin is here, would you?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Adriana Ryker Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Savader
It was dark... It was quiet... Nothing seemed real, or even there to begin with... A faint ringing was in the air of wherever it was that this place existed, and it was beginning to annoy the person currently experiencing this world's environment. Coree reached out, and although he could make out the details of his hand well enough, he still felt strangely blind, not capable of grasping onto a single item in front of him. He could see what it was he was trying to grasp, but it was like the damn thing was tricking his senses, making him miss it so clearly with each swipe of his hand. Moving past annoyance, he slowly started getting agitated at the whole situation. Not only did he not know where he was, but he seemed to be losing his body's proper motor functions as well. This meant that it would be a pain trying to find the exit by touch alone...

"What the...fuck..." he said out loud in a soft, confused tone. His voice sounded strangely distorted under the weight of the eerie darkness that surrounded him. It took him a little while, but he eventually arrived at the conclusion that he must be dreaming. That had to be it, after all; there was no such area on this Earth that could harbor such an unnatural darkness, and it was just too outlandish to believe he was actually in another realm of some kind. It was as if this darkness was a living, breathing creature, purposefully obscuring his view as best it could, just for the sole purpose of annoying the hell out of him. It was heavy, suffocating and smelled pretty foul to boot. He also felt the odd sensation that he was submerged in some kind of liquid, making him feel uncomfortable. He'd had enough of it, that was for sure. Deciding it was time to wake up, he struck himself across the face, the result being a loud smacking sound that seemed muffled, yet also some how echoed within his own mind, leaving him with a slight sting in his left cheek.

The pain was real, he felt it in full. And yet, he didn't wake up from this shitty dream... He smacked himself a couple more times with a frustrated "Come on...!", until he finally gave up with a sigh, his movements slow and sluggish. He gave the area around him another look, squinting his eyes to see if he could make out some from of a door or window -- something that screamed to him 'Hey, over here! This is the way out!', but the further detail he tried to make out, the deeper the blackness of the darkened air seemed to increase, not letting him find what he was looking for.

"Tch, god dammit..." he said, feeling a bit hopeless at the moment. He tried taking a step forward, only to find that his equilibrium was choppy, nearly causing him to fall over. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, righting his balance once more. "Shit. What's up with this place...?" Asking no one in particular, he looked around again, almost hoping that someone would give him an answer. What happened next was both strangely enlightening, and very creepy. He had hoped some one had answered him...but it was instead, some thing...

"Just take a look around, boy~" replied a very raspy, mocking voice, clearly not one your average human being would make. "Reaaaalllly look~..." The unknown voice repeated itself, as if trying to hint at something important. Coree felt the presence of another life form, or rather...something so strong, it gave off the feeling of no life at all, which made Coree shiver a little.

"Who are you...?" asked Coree to the bodiless voice, while at the same time squinting once again, trying to see what it was this thing was trying to point out to him. Nevertheless, he still couldn't make out anything other than what was lying directly in front of his feet, and even that was difficult... "I can't see shit, man... Help me out, here." Coree was now asking for some assistance from his dream's apparent antagonist, feeling that, since it's his dream, he should be somewhat in control...right? Wrong. A shrill cackle of a laughter entered Coree's ears. He had never heard a more wicked sound in all his life.

"Help you?" parroted the voice, sounding amused. "Now why on Earth would I do something like that~?" A simple question, and one that Coree couldn't answer with certainty.

"Uhhh...because this is my dream? And I'm ordering you to let me wake up...?" he said, obviously unsure of himself. This answer resulted in yet another laugh from the voice. Coree felt whatever it was draw in closer to him, right beside his ear.

"Hehehe... Whoever said this was your dream, boy~?" Before Coree could respond however, the voice continued on. "THIS...is my dream. You're nothing more than my guest of honor at the moment." Coree felt his chest tighten at those words. This nightmare was effective, for sure. It was doing its job beautifully, as that sentence truly scared him. If it was not his dream, then what hope did he have of ever escaping its confines?

Without even thinking about it, Coree looked down at his feet for a second, almost looking back up, but something that caught his eye forced him to do a double take, now creasing his brow out of noticing just what it seemed to be... The voice gave another laugh, and said "There you go~! Start with what you can see~..." After that, the voice went silent once again, leaving Coree to inspect whatever it was that was laying in front of his feet. He knelt down on one knee, looking the object over a few times before reaching for it, clumsily, until his hand touched its cold, slimy material. He cocked his head slightly, his brow still creased as he brought his face closer to what revealed itself to be a dead body.

"Sh--SHIT!!" he exclaimed, falling backwards and flat on his ass, his chest heaving up and down at an alarming rate. Almost immediately after falling back, he felt his palm land on yet another slimy substance, which instantly made him recoil and shoot his head back at its direction, shifting away from what was likely a second dead body. The voice was laughing incredibly loud, the cackle pounding against Coree's eardrums. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DREAM?!" he cried out to the voice, which only kept on laughing as the area around Coree slowly began lighting itself in an ocean-like blue tint, revealing more and more bodies that were mostly piled together; each pile growing in size to that of mountains. And that was when Coree realized just where in the world he was upon seeing a familiar face. A face which he had not seen in person for 2 years. The face of his dead girlfriend, along with several others he was beginning to recognize; their bodies grouped together with her own, all of them, naked and battered. Coree was currently under the surface of the water where so many people had taken their own lives just 24 months ago...

Realizing this, his body reflexively feared for suffocating due to lack of oxygen, but his fear was swallowed whole by what his eyes took in next... Suddenly, a vicious looking creature with no noticeable human features for a face moved into view, its razor-sharp teeth formed into a tight grin. It opened its mouth and moved straight for Coree's face with insane speed. "Holy-- FUCK!!" was all his voice could muster as the darkness of the creature's mouth closed around him, just before he woke up in his stifling trailer, in bed, with his alarm clock destroying his senses. He was sweating profusely as he wiped his face out of reflex, breathing heavily. "Shiiiit...!" he gasped, looking around his familiar surroundings. "That was the worst one yet..." He sat up and turned off his alarm, resting his head in his hands, trying to recover from his rude awakening.

For the past couple of weeks, Coree had been having reoccurring nightmares similar to this one. However, none had been so vivid, so terribly real, unlike this one... He was beginning to question his sanity, his mind naturally linking the dreams with that of what his late friend and lover once told them they both had from time-to-time. Perhaps he was relapsing into another depression of some kind? Either way, it was too coincidental to be significant. He had to be placing the idea of that creature into his subconscious simply because David and Carly had mentioned it to him... Yeah, that had to be it.

After recovering from the after effects of his nightmare, Coree started his day. He ate a small breakfast, checked out the news on his small flatscreen television, brushed his teeth, took a shower, got dressed in his usual plaid-like button-up shirt and regular jeans, and set out for the day. He had a lot to do, and that nightmare set him back an hour. He drove his bike into town to run a quick errand for a friend of his by the name of Nizhoni Benett; an older cousin of Coree's late best friend David Benett. Coree naturally began conversing with Nizhoni on a regular basis after he became a mechanic 18 months ago, as though both live rather close to one another, the path to their respective jobs sort of just intersecting with one another.

Nizhoni had asked him to bring her some crab -- for God knows what reason -- the next time he was in town, as the guy whose job it was to land those suckers owed Coree for fixing the guy's car one time, so Coree could easily get such a pricey load of crab for little to no charge at all. Being a nice guy, Coree naturally accepted his friend's request. She probably needed them for some crazy remedy or something. Either way, he now had a bushel of around 20 crabs in his hand as he jogged down the street, passing by who thought to be Adriana Ryker, someone he knew through his parents mostly, despite seeing her at school once in awhile, back when he was a student.

His bike was currently parked back at the shop, as he was on break, so he didn't have to worry about some asshole messing with it while he took a quick run over to Nizhoni's, which wasn't too far from his current location. After arriving, he slowed his jog to a stop, noticing that he wasn't the only person who had business with Nizhoni. Her cousin, Jimmy was there, along with a cute little blonde which he didn't fully recognize. He held the bushel of crabs at his side as he brushed the hair from his forehead and spoke up.

"Hey, Jimmy. Your cousin in? Because she'd better be after asking me to haul these fuckers down here..." he said, giving the crabs in question a look, indicating them more openly. Needless to say, it would really suck if she wasn't there, as he simply didn't have anywhere else to put 20 crabs at the moment, and it was likely already looking pretty strange to see Coree Aramon carrying around a bunch of seafood...

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Jett Amaron Character Portrait: Adriana Ryker
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

At the rear of the cozy little Ryker house, off in the distance, sat the rolling bay. It was probably a quarter mile from the home itself, but still close enough for Adriana to wander down to it as she pleased. Disbanding in her lungs, the nicotine somehow ate away at the girl's pressing headache and nausea as she sat on the patio, sweeping smoke into the air. She made it a point not to stare at the exhaust from the cigarettes. Too often she, looked too hard at the seething shapes and ultimately they would contribute to rather discomforting hallucinations. In this elusion she instead glanced beyond the smog and towards the basin. Bodega's waters were so rich and blue that it often made people think it was part of the Pacific. The ultramarine color of the water played a game of mirrors with palls above. Adriana hung her head back so that her face was towards the sky, her eyes closing as she supped on her own personal coffin nail.

The difficulty that was no longer lying dormant in regards to her identical problems of those around her made her blister inwardly. She had to ask herself why everyone else looked so drained, even in spite of Chayton's somewhat plausible theory. She peeled off her old, dirtied vans and rubbed her bare feet against the earth to the displeasure of the grieving pain in her ankle. At long last, she coerced herself to inspect the extensive teeth marks on her lower leg. It literally appeared as though someone had closed their entire mouth around her ankle in an attempt to detach her foot from her leg. Hissing, she pressed a finger to the bruising skin beside one of the open holes which emitted a thick stream of vital fluid.

"Gross, man," she sighed to herself, leaning closer to the wound, "What… What is that?" Her lips clenched the cigarette as her two index fingers pressed at the wound in a wresting sort of way. Against the skin of her right index finger, she could feel a small, solid knob beneath the derma of her ankle where the injury was sustained. After what felt like minutes of pushing and repositioning her fingers, whatever it was gave way.

The honed point of what looked like bone (but was entirely too small to be one of hers) surfaced, slicked with Adriana's plasma. Applying more pressure with her fingers rendered the small article rejected from her body as it popped out of her skin. Putting it into her palm, she scrutinized the slightly discolored fang. A cold chill both from fright and the welkin above made her skin crawl with goosebumps. Yet the sun glistered so triumphantly, so finely and warm. "You've got to be shitting me…"

Adriana didn't think twice about it, heaving the tooth into the grass far beyond where her feet rested. Gross! What the actual fuck! With disgust and horror, she wiped off her hands on her cotton shorts before putting out her cigarette and heading inside. She was in the midst of putting her mutilated ankle into the tub to clean it when her phone vibrated, scaring the wits out of her due to the noiseless ambiance of her home. She nearly dropped the touch screen device into the steaming water as she tried to swipe the lock screen. When Jett's name popped up onto the display, she was instantly asking herself if maybe he was the one on the second floor that Mr. Howard was dealing with before she left school.

'Hey, when you get the chance we need to talk. ASAP.'

Her pale, vaguely chapped lips twisted in confusion. Talk? ASAP? About what? He probably thinks I'm some psychopath and wants to pick my brain about why I hurt myself. God. The rest of the text message from Jett left her unpleasantly puzzled. She set the phone down on the plush carpet beside the pure, unpigmented tub in the bathroom. The main powder room on the first floor was religiously tended to by her mother which left it smelling an interesting combination of lavender and bleach. Adriana enjoyed it, it was different. Subsequent to some mulling over, she undressed and laid herself in the tub to have a bubble bath and relax. Without her mother even saying it Adriana knew she'd be required by some stupid, weird Bodega standard to attend the festival. The least she could do was bathe and put on real clothes.

Image It was when she was standing, looking too long in the mirror that she decided to text Jett back. She would have asked how he got her number, but she remembered giving it out to numerous people shortly after the suicides to offer a shoulder to lean on. Adriana almost had to laugh at herself being that she couldn't even comfort herself. Habitually a multi-tasker, she attempted to put a brush through her hair with one hand while typing with the other:

Ok… Whenever you want to talk about it let me know. I'm home from school and I practically do nothing. Want to meet up at the gas station on the corner of main?

That reminded her - she was nearly out of cigarettes and desperately needed Redbull. The cashiers always joked about how she would take all of their energy nips and there wouldn't be any left for anyone else. Adriana knew it was damn near true, too. But the Redbull, Five Hour Energy's and more weren't cutting it anymore. Her body was adapting to it and just accepting it as an ordinary beverage or snack. In her mind, that was a life or death situation. Adriana pushed some empty cans off of her dresser and carelessly slid rings on that she found beneath the clutter. A hand tousling her hair, some jean shorts and an old shirt, and she was ready to go.

As she was putting on her discarded, tarnished white vans, her phone buzzed again. It was Jett sending a mass text asking if anyone wanted to go to the mainland. Yeah right. She shoved the phone in her back pocket and headed for the gas station. As she walked along the road, she was bumped and shoved by folks who greeted her with smiles and apologies as they pushed crates and cartons hastily towards the fairgrounds. For a moment Adriana thought she even saw Charlotte and Jimmy walking off into the less populated sector of Bodega where Nizhoni lived. It reminded her to text Charlotte back, which she did upon reaching the corner store.

Nizhoni? Weird. Hey, did you leave school by any chance? And I don't know. I don't want to but my mom is a freak about the festival so I'll probably see you there.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Jimmy Benett, boy wonder! Jimmy thought to himself as he sat outside of the store. For some reason recently Jimmy's been thinking about superhero's. He knows it's a childish thing to think but he knows there's a villain in Bodega, and Jimmy just thinks there should be some hero somewhere. But that's just a silly childish thought now, isn't it?

Jimmy stood up, moved his skateboard over, and sat back down against the wall. He didn't know what to do at all. So, like the guy he was, he just took his spray paint out and started spraying his skateboard. He changed the color of his skateboard so often that he doesn't even remember the color it was when he first got it. His father had gotten it for him after David and Catori died. Jimmy hated to say it, but after they died, it was like he didn't matter anymore. The only time they really acted like they noticed him was when he was acting out. Is that the real reason he acts out so much?

Stk ss tk sstk tk. Jimmy was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of the spray paint running out. He throw the can as hard as he could across the street. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He was told multiple times that he shouldn't smoke. But does he listen? No, of course not. He's Jimmy Benett. He doesn't listen.

Jimmy pulled out his phone. He had a swarm of texts from multiple people about the graffiti he did on the school. But Jimmy didn't care what people thought about his work. To Jimmy, it was all in fun and annoying the shit out of people. Instead of reading any messages, he looked through the pictures on his phone. Most of the pictures were of David and Catori. He missed them. He really did. It's not fair. Jimmy thought. I should've gone, not them. It just ain't right. Jimmy thought, almost breaking down in front of his cousins store. That would be horrible. He wouldn't say he was close to her, but it would still be weird if she came out and saw him crying like a little child in front of her store. Then Jimmy's head was filled with thoughts. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and pushed the lighted part to the side of his hand below the knuckle of his thumb. He sat there for a few minutes just holding it there when he heard a voice.

Startled, Jimmy jumped up throwing the cigarette on the ground and stepping on it while pulling the sleeve of his jacket down over his hand at the same time. "Uhh, yeah." He said to a girl that asked his name. Jimmy shuffled a couple of times, unaware that he looked like a guy on crack or meth or something because of the way he was shifting and jumpy like. He jumped slightly as she continued speaking. "Nah, girl, I don't know weather the hell my cousin's in there or not. Hell, I hadn't even gone in there yet." Jimmy said, a bit harsh, but she had startled him and once Jimmy startled, he'll be jumpy for awhile. Jimmy took out another cigarette and lit it. Just as he lit the cigarette and put his hand right back in his pockets, Jimmy was startled again with the cigarette flying out of his mouth by none other than Coree Amaron, David's best friend. [I]"Damn it, Coree! You own me a cigarette! I don'no if she in. Why don't you go see?" Jimmy said, harshly and edgy again, like a guy on crack or meth, and he pulled out another cigarette and lit it. Personally, Jimmy liked Nizhoni's special mix cigarette's, but he wasn't allowed to smoke those.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Like every other morning, Nizhoni found herself alone and rather rested. She took her time leaving her bed, there wasn't anything to rush for. She didn't need to open her store till around 10, there was never any early morning business anyway. The young woman ate a nice breakfast, eggs and bacon, and took a long shower. It was relaxing, so much so that she spent a few extra minutes just standing in the spray of water. When she got out, it was about 8:30. She dressed in an white, loose, off the shoulder shirt, and a white and rather flowy skirt. It was her usual attire and with her long wavy hair and caramel complex she had to admit she looked stunning. Taking a few minutes to put on a bit of eyeliner, Nizhoni soon made her way out her from door.

The weather was beautiful, a light breeze and the warm sun on her skin. She decided that walking the lengthy distance into town would be a rather pleasant and give her the daily dose of exercise she was always so reluctant to actually do. Not that she needed to do much, her body was in perfect form. A healthy lifestyle and homemade remedies did wonders for a person's health. Nizhoni was sure that she had never taken any kind of pharmacy concoction in her entire life. She didn't see a point in taking them when she could just cook up something that worked ten times better and didn't lead to a possible addiction.

It took her a bit longer than expected to reach her shop, a man had stopped her as she walked by to pry into what she was up to and how she was doing. The Miwok woman didn't recall meeting him before, but muttered a polite hello before excusing herself. It happened many times in previous years, she knew exactly how to deal with pushy men. Still, by the time she actually made it to her establishment she was mostly on time.

She put her key in the lick and opened the door. The bell above to notify her of incoming customers chimed in a high pitch as she made her way through. The shop was dark, it usually was. Nizhoni preferred to set an atmosphere of mystery. It helped perpetuate the witch rumors, but that was part of the fun. None of it bothered the Miwok descendent, it kept bothersome people away (for the most part) and it actually helped get her more business as well. People had come to her for some crazy things over the years, everything from growing hair ot more intimate problems. She did what she could to help them and as so far no one complained or accused her of fraud. Obviously Nizhoni was doing something right.

The day was slow though, only a few people had entered the shop form since she opened it. Of those few, only about two of them actually bought something. She suspected that most of her cliental were busy arranging the festival later for the evening. While she enjoyed and respected her culture, Nizhoni wasn't happy that it was messing with her business.

For the most part, she spent her time in the back. After an hour without the door opening, she thought it would be best if she mix up some of her more popular concoctions. Growing up in a Native American culture, much of her childhood had been spent learning all about herbs and how they effected people. She knew the differences of ever plant in the area and even some she had to order online when she ran out of it. In a way, mixing herbs was therapeutic. It put her at ease and allowed her mind to wonder.

She made a few extra bags and bottles; things to help people sleep, to stay awake, to relax, even a few that acted as aphrodisiacs. A sigh escaped her as she reached over to a small container holding a few home made cigarettes. They had no tobacco, no nicotine, but they were filled with mint and left her feeling refreshed. She needed it as she let her mind follow a rather eerie train of thought.

Lately, people had been coming to her and seeking any means to stay awake. They had been scared, anxious and while others would chalk it up to being a result of not sleeping, Nizhoni knew differently. It wasn't a good sign. He was plaguing them, he was hurting them. She knew it, sensed it even, but none of it was her business. It wasn't her he was hunting, at least not yet and she hoped it never would happen.

She shook her head of any further thinking. It was safer not to think about the Miwok god, just entertaining the thought of him was dangerous. Nizhoni had to stop anyway, she was lacking a certain ingredient to make any more of her medicines that helped with insomnia. Looking over at the clock, the Miwok woman had to wonder where Coree was with her crabs. Mint cigarette still between her lips, she made her way to the front of the shop. Needless to say she was surprised with what she found.

Moving to the door and throwing it open, Nizhoni looked at the group of people loitering in front of her shop. Jimmy she recognized, though she had mentioned to him on numerous occasion that he couldn't just sit in front of her place of work looking depressing, it was bad for business. There was also a pretty blonde girl there, looking about the same age as Jimmy was. She took her cigarette out of her mouth and flicked the ashy end off. "Jimmy, if I find anymore cigarette butts outside my window I'll make you eat them. I'm tired of having to clean them up,"

What really grabbed her attention though was Coree. One hand on her slender hip she gave him a small smile. "About time, I just ran out." She happily grabbed the container out of his hands. "Thanks. Give me a sec, I have your money inside." Ignoring any further interactions with the other two teens she made her way back inside to put the crabs away and get Coree's fee.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Adriana Ryker Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Charlotte studied his face for a moment. Was he okay? He looked almost like he was going to cry, she thought... What's he doing to his hand - And then she jumped back in surprise when Jimmy Bennett suddenly leaped to his feet, tossing his cigarette on the ground. Apparently she had startled him - normally she wouldn't be so jumpy but with everything going on, she couldn't help but be a little on edge. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She said, apologetically, studying him once more. Something about him seemed off, she thought. Like he was on something. She didn't know him other than by reputation and by that, she couldn't put it past him...But that didn't really explain the look on his face earlier. Charlotte suddenly felt even more uncomfortable as he spoke to her. "Oh, well...Okay. Thanks for letting me know." She told him, frowning at the way he had said it. She wasn't sure if she should stick around or not with the way Bennett was acting, but she really did want to talk to Nizhoni at the least...Then she could at least tell herself she'd tried to find something to try to get rid of these dreams. But she had no idea when she was going to turn up. "Are you okay?" Charlotte couldn't help but ask, sounding a little concerned as she watched him light another cigarette.

That was when Jett's older brother, Coree Amaron showed up. She didn't personally know him, but she remembered Jett talking about him and had seen him a few times. She merely offered a small wave to him shortly before Jimmy dropped his cigarette and told Coree rather sharply that he owed him another as well as informing him that he didn't know if Nizhoni was going to be there or not. "Damn..." She mumbled quietly, staring at him for a moment. It didn't seem so much to her like people had been over exaggerating his behavior anymore. She then checked her phone, a little more comfortable now that someone else was there. Adriana had texted her back, asking her if she had gotten out of school and saying that she would probably see her there. Yeah...and I don't blame you for not wanting to go. I only just decided to go a day or two ago. And yeah I left, I went over to Nizhoni's, why? She sent back. Charlotte had spent a lot of time considering not going to the festival. The last time she had gone, she'd gone with Tara. The memories were bittersweet of eating all the ridiculously sugary foods and wandering about the festival laughing. It was only this year that they had brought back the festival and Charlotte had finally convinced herself to go and try to have fun, but with the way the day was going she wasn't as sure about it as she had been before.

She looked back up at Coree Amaron and then back to Jimmy, uncertainly, wondering what they were going to do now. Coree had what appeared to be a rather large bag of crabs and she didn't know what he was going to do with it unless Nizhoni suddenly showed up - and no sooner than that, she did. Nizhoni was just as beautiful as she remembered people saying, with her long dark hair and bronzed skin. She smiled a little at the Native American woman's threat to Jimmy about the cigarettes he was tossing on the ground. He probably needs them though. Anything to make him mellow out... She thought. She didn't say anything as Nizhoni went to get Coree's money, thinking she'd better wait a bit to bring up what she came for - at least until Coree was paid and there was less of an audience.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Savader
After Jimmy's sudden ramble after getting startled, Coree cracked a smile as he gave the blonde girl a glance, catching her wave. He returned one of his own. Did she know him from somewhere? Then again, this was Bodega Bay, California. Generally every local of this town knew at least something about the Amaron family, which in turn meant they knew a little something about Coree. She was probably a student at the local high school. That being said, she looked rather young, and he didn't remember seeing her before now, so she was likely either a freshman or still in 8th grade when he was in his senior year.

Coree turned back to Jimmy and gave him another smile as he spoke. "Heh, it's not my fault you're more jumpy than a fuckin' crackhead." He gave a slight shake of his head before continuing with, "But if it's that big of a deal, I don't mind letting you bum one off me sometime. It's just a cigarette." He gave a shrug at his last few words as he watched Jimmy light up yet another cigarette with trembling hands. Coree furrowed his brow slightly, along with a matching frown, wondering if the kid was alright. Sure, they had both lost people to that incident 2 years ago, and it was hard on both of them, but all Coree lost was his lover and best friend; the latter having been one of Jimmy's brothers that jumped off the ridge... Jimmy only ever had two... He lost more than Coree ever had. Jimmy lost family.

Just as Coree was about to ask if Jimmy was alright, the door to Nizhoni's flung open with the familiar sound of the doorway bell jingling, followed by a beautiful young woman with a very tight body and even tighter clothes stepping out to greet them all. Coree's smile returned almost immediately upon seeing her usual demeanor assault his vision; one of her trademark homemade mint cigarettes protruding from her full lips as she eyed her three visitors. She instantly jumped onto Jimmy's bad habits, which made Coree laugh a bit. Nizhoni then moved on to Coree himself, obviously delighted to see that he brought what she requested as she took the bag of crab from his hand, mentioning his 'money' as she walked back into the darkness of her shop, which instantly forced Coree's smile to fade slightly as he chased after her in a brisk walk, stopping for a moment upon noticing just how dark her shop was this morning... He hesitated at first, but eventually walked inside, meeting her at the counter.

"How many times do I gotta tell you, Nizhoni? I don't want your money!" said Coree lightly, placing his hands on the counter as Nizhoni did what she pleased with the bag of crabs. "I did this because we're friends, and because you asked me to. There's no way I could accept pay for that -- if I did, then what would be the point in me getting this for you, huh? You'd still be out some cash, which was the whole reason you had me do it in the first place... So dammit, be the whore that I know you are; keep your money." He gave her a friendly smile as he said that last part, obviously joking around as he often did.

Coree truly liked Nizhoni. Not romantically, of course -- he wasn't ready to get into another relationship right now, but he enjoyed her company whenever she had a chance to offer it. It was natural for the two of them to have clicked at one point, as they were both highly stereotyped throughout the town; both in their own ways. Plus, they knew each other -- as Coree knew most of the Benett family -- through him being close friends with David, so it made sense.

Nizhoni was hardly the 'witch' people of their town had constantly made her out to be. Personally, she was a very funny woman, rather brazen at times, and just plain fun to be around. Granted, she could get pretty scary when crossed, or simply whenever she wanted to come off that way, but Coree felt she was a much better person than just that, and ultimately undeserving of the title 'Witch'. And he didn't care what anyone else thought about that, either. Most people of their town only ever saw two things; the first impression that presented itself to them, or simply what they wanted to see, whether it was truly there or not. In Nizhoni's case, it was a bit of both, but still... The townsfolk there were truly very shallow, and Coree hated it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Jett Amaron Character Portrait: Adriana Ryker Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

The footsteps being to get closer and closer to Jett, but he can't tell where they are coming from. He decided that rather than stick around and find out, that he would rather just run towards town and see if he can make it to the festival. Just then his phone goes off in his hands and startles him. He drops his phone off the cliff and it smacks into the water. "FUCK! Why?! Why today?!" Jett said in anger as he kept running for town. As he approached the town he sees that the festival is starting. He searches the crowd for any sign of Adriana. He spots her next to the corner store.

He quickly runs up to her and stops to catch his breath, "Adriana, I would have text you back... but my phone fell into the bay... and please don't ask what I was doing there. I had some thoughts to sort out." He is shivering, scared, and has a very confused look in his eye. He knows his parents will be very angry at him for the entire day. "One of the worst things being that I don't think I can go home tonight... So I have to find the tree that looks the nicest to sleep under..." Jett is obviously very sad, but some how keeps his attitude positive. He looks into Adriana's eyes and senses that not only has she not slept in god knows how long, but that she seems distressed. "Is everything ok? Something seems off about you..." He is very concerned for the girl whom he rarely ever talks to.

He started to think about the dream again. Adriana was the first one of them to jump off of that cliff. Could it mean something? What did they mean its the only way? Jett knew he had to talk to her about this dream, but when? Where? Maybe after the festival he could walk her home and talk to her about it then? He was at a loss of reasoning in spite of resent events. The only thing he knew for sure was that he needed to avoid not only his parents... but also his brother. Not only was he most likely going to fail the school year, but coming home from school early wouldn't make them happy. And just wait until he told them about the phone. Losing a phone is one thing... losing his phone to the bay would unleash a wrath from his parents, that Hell itself couldn't contain.

He looks just beyond Adriana and spots a group of people around Nizhoni's store. He thinks to himself, "Hm... I wonder what she might know about these dreams... or what she might have to get rid of them!" He studies the crowd of people who are in such a hurry to set up the rest of the festival as soon as possible. To him they look like a group of ants trying to get back to their anthill. Jett was almost about to walk away and start to find a place where he could stay the night, but he knew that if he didn't show up to this festival, he parents would probably disown him. "What's stopping them? I'm not like Coree... I'm not perfect. They would be better off without me!" He realized what he was thinking and to him, it almost seemed to sound a bit suicidal. He shook the thoughts from his head as he stood there next to Adriana. He managed to crack a small smile at her which he couldn't decide if it seemed flirty or not, but who cares right?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Jimmy shifted in his step. He didn't know what to do while he stood there. He just simply kept his hands in his pockets while he shifted side to side on his step. His head twitching which and every way as every little sound. Why was he so jumpy? Today was the festival, and he hasn't had any sleep what so ever in the past few months, not counting to times he pasted out. He was also jumpy because of the fact that he felt an unpleasant presents in the town at the moment. It was an eerie feeling. It was the same feeling a child would get at night in a dark room, thinking there's a monster in their closet or under their bed.

Getting a bit nervous while he stood with Coree and the girl, that he now recognized from school, Jimmy put his head down and looked at the ground. There was about four cigarette butts all on the ground, all from Jimmy. He wouldn't say he was addicted or anything to the horrid things, he just smoked them to give him something to do. But he can recall on various times when he told himself that he has to quit smoking. Did that work though? Not at all. Right after each incident, he went straight back to smoking. He knew it wasn't a good habit to get into, but he did it anyways. Jimmy Benett, the boy who doesn't follow the rules! He thought as he stared down with a slight smile on his face as he made jokes to himself in his head. That's the only way Jimmy could get on. By just joking around with himself. Though this brought on the impression that he was...*cough cough* a little insane in the membrane.

Jimmy heard the sound of a car coming by and he stepped back with an almost scared look on his face, then he heard Nizhoni come out of the shop. He looked at her with arched eyebrows, a sad puppy-dog look on his face as she spoke to him. When she started talking to Coree, Jimmy glanced at the other girl. What was her name? Charlotte? Yeah, that must be it. Jimmy thought as he stared at her. Once Coree and Nizhoni were inside, Jimmy went straight to the ground and picked up all his cigarette butts. He stood back up and looked at Charlotte as he took the cigarette that was still in his mouth out and let out a large puff of smoke. The breeze blow it up and over where it hadn't quit got in her face. He placed the cigarette back in his mouth and bent down to pick up his skateboard. He gave Charlotte a look again. It was a blank look that showed only slight emotions of what he was feeling. Like sorrow, depression, hatred. None of it was toward her, but it was there nonetheless.

As Jimmy grabbed his skateboard by it's wheels, he stepped inside the shop, placing his skateboard on a table and knocking over a few items while he did so. Jimmy seemed to have lost all his jumpiness for he did not jump to the sound of the items rolling off the table and on to the floor. It wasn't large breakable items, but it was items nonetheless. Jimmy walked up to the front desk where Nizhoni and Coree were standing and through the cigarette butts into the garbage can. All the while, he was letting out large puffs of intoxicating smoke. He went and sat down in a chair that was probably for sale, though he couldn't tell because it was so damn dark in there, as Jimmy had said.

He sat down and put his feet up. "You know what, Doc?" Jimmy begain speaking loudly, calling Nizhoni doc as he did so many times after finding out about her home remedies. "You should make me some meds." He continued, taking pauses to let out puffs of smoke that swirled around and floated to the ceiling.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Adriana Ryker Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Well, he didn't answer. Charlotte supposed that shouldn't come as much of a surprise, she knew she shouldn't have got her hopes up that he would. He didn't know her, nor did he seem to really be the kind of guy to talk about his problems even if he did so she couldn't blame him. She sighed and looked around the store front once more before finally turning her gaze back to him since there wasn't a whole lot else to look at (But she also didn't want to give him the impression she was staring at him). He was picking up the cigarette butts that Nizhoni had just threatened to make him eat if he didn't throw them out himself. Now it was just her and Jimmy outside, which she wasn't all that crazy about. She looked at the amount of cigarette butts he had picked up and a curious look crossed her face. That was quite a lot, she hoped they weren't all from just about now. Out of habit, Charlotte was tempted to tell him that he shouldn't smoke those but he wasn't Adriana - although he would probably just ignore her like Adri did. She didn't say anything, just about ready to walk into the shop as she wasn't sure she wanted to stand out there much longer. She didn't have a problem with Jimmy Bennett, but the way he was acting put her on edge although he seemed a little better since Nizhoni had arrived.

About to walk into the shop, she paused and cast one more glance toward him - one that he met with something that made stop in her tracks. He looked disturbingly...resentful. Charlotte pursed her lips. What did I ever do to you? She thought but didn't say, hastily looking away. Maybe it wasn't directed toward her, but still the look in his eyes had been surprising.

Charlotte shook her head as he brushed past her, carrying his board into the shop and she followed along at a slower pace, giving him some space. She wanted to try to talk to him later, find out what his deal was (Especially with those creepy-ass paintings) but she had a feeling it may end up being a one-sided conversation. Looking around the shop curiously, as she'd never seen the inside of it before (her parents had forbid it), the first thing she noticed about it was how...dark it was inside, however it didn't feel quite as creepy as she would have thought it would be, instead Charlotte found it to be intriguing. The place smelt strongly of an assortment of different herbs, which Charlotte found to be quite soothing.

She glanced at Jimmy who had just knocked several things off Nizhoni's counter. Marvelous manners he had there, although she wasn't surprised at all. Anything to mellow him out would be fantastic. She thought as she heard him suggest that she should make him some 'meds'. Charlotte edged slightly closer to the counter, although she was a little uncertain about how she was going to go about telling Nizhoni what she needed...She didn't really want to do it with an audience if she could avoid it. She didn't want people think she was weird. In the meantime, while they awaited Nizhoni's response, she took the opportunity to respond to Adriana's text. Me? Oh, I'm fine. Just having a little sleep trouble lately is all. The question is, are YOU okay? A little sleep trouble. That was an understatement. She dreaded going to sleep. Maybe I can meet up with you after I leave Nizhoni's?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Nizhoni made her way immediately to the back of the shop, placing the crabs into a secure container of her own for proper use later on. She didn't like to be inhumane, but business was business and she needed fresh ingredients from the little critters. She'd end their lives in relatively peaceful fashion before using them.

Heading back to the front of the shop she walked her way to the register. By then Coree had followed her inside. The Native American woman spread her lips in a small smile, shaking her head a bit in playful disbelief. There were many who hesitated in actually entering her shop, but someone like Coree doing it was even more hilarious to her. Even when people knew her in their own ways, they were still often effected by hearing the crazy things said about her around town. With Coree being a Amaron, she expected that the younger man had never heard good things about her growing up. Not that that really bothered her, she and the Amaron patriarch never say eye to eye on things. Nizhoni was a thorn in his side and he in hers. At least his son had the courtesy to form his own opinions of her, She appreciated it, but that didn't actually stop her from thinking twice about him. Nizhoni was cautious by nature and even if she had known Coree for a while she still had her own reservations for him.

She pushed in a few numbers, causing the register to ding and the tray of money to shoot forward in opening. Nizhoni listened to the younger man's reasoning, but for the most part ignored him. She extracted an appropriate amount of money and then slapped it down on the counter in front of him. She leaned forward with a serious look taking over her features. "The point is that you let me get what I need at a cheaper price, not for free. Take the money Coree of I will ban you from coming near my shop ever again." Nizhoni supposed they could be classified as friends, though she'd prefer to use the turn 'friendly' instead, and in true friendly fashion she chose to do something a little different.

"Of course if you'd prefer, I could pay you another way. Maybe something more, I don't know, intame in nature…" She let her voice trail off, not making it a question exactly. The Miwok woman gave him a rather sultry look, her finger drawing a small pattern on the countertop in a very slow manner.

Of course, in true Jimmy nature, Nizhoni's young relative went barreling right through her store. Knocking over a display of small jars containing something that would help someone quit smoking. "You're just doing everything in the world today to piss me off aren't you?" She angrily said turning her attention to her cousin. He was really luck that glass of the jars were thick or she would have kicked him out of the store and called his mother to have her pay for everything he broke. Her aunt wouldn't have been surprised either, Jimmy had broken several things in Nizhoni's store of the years.

She watched as he threw the cigarette butts into the garbage can. She couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of relief, at least now she wouldn't have to clean up that particular mess that Jimmy had caused. With anger and annoyance in her eyes Nizhoni made her way over to where Jimmy sat, his dangerously close to knocking over another display. One hand grabbed the younger man's foot and jerked it away, making both of his feet land on the ground when she abruptly let go. "You know what, Jim? You should get out before you make me angrier. You're really pressing your luck kid." Nizhoni's hand shot forward again, snatching the cigarette from the teen's lips. She crushed the burning edge between her fingers to put it out. "And don't smoke those disgusting things in here."

Finally her attention fell the third occupant of her store. Making her way to the garbage can by the counter to throw Jimmy's cigarette out Nizhoni called to the young girl. "And what would you like? If you're not buying anything then you can leave, I'm not in the mood to deal with any more brats at the moment." Sure she was being rather rude to a potential customer, but that's what dealing with Jimmy did to her. He had no regard or care for anything that wasn't his own and even then Nizhoni had to wonder if he cared about that.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Jett Amaron Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Savader
Leaning against the counter with his elbow propped up upon it, Coree watched Nizhoni move about her shop and back, now rejecting his rejection to take the money. This made him frown slightly as he looked down at the currency displayed before him, which he knew -- threatened with banishment or not -- he should probably take, out of respect if nothing else. He gave it a quick thought as Nizhoni began suggestively circling a spot on the counter with her finger. This made him crack another smile as he disapprovingly shook his head at her words, despite not seeming very 'disapproving' of such a thing when he opened his mouth with a some of his own.

"I'll take the money, because if we did something like that, you--" he was beginning to say while leaning into the counter a tad more with a bit of his own friendly flirting, before he was interrupted by the sound of a large crash behind him, which made his head jolt in its direction, having just been effectively startled. "Shit..." He watched the glass container roll slightly as Nizhoni got onto Jimmy for his carelessness, now setting the container of...whatever it was back on the table it was knocked from. The previous topic had changed immediately, which Coree was just fine with either way.

He plopped his hand on top of the money at the counter and slid it over his way, lazily, and pocketed it without another word on the matter. After thinking about it, he felt that taking her money really was the better thing to do, rather than not -- at least in this situation, anyway. Refusing someone's kind gesture of compensation for a deed you went out of your way to perform was practically the same thing as forcing charity on someone who didn't ask for it. Under those circumstances, such an act of disrespect can not only damage one's pride, but also effect the way that person views you in the future. Or as Coree would have put it; make you look like a complete ass.

Nizhoni's quick reflexes managed to save another of her many items that were displayed all around her shop from colliding with the ground, and was once again harping on poor ol' Jimmy. Needless to say, the whole scene was rather humorous for Coree. This kid simply couldn't catch a break if his life depended on it. But maybe this was some form of karma for all the vandalism he did throughout the town with all of his 'art'. Thinking about some of those pictures he threw onto those walls, Coree's brow creased, lingering on one picture in particular... It was a good while ago when he saw it, before it was erased, however he couldn't help but connect it with something he once saw in a dream... A dream he just happened to have experienced earlier today... He looked up at Jimmy, and thought to ask him about it, but put it out of his mind with a shake of the head, telling himself it was just a coincidence.

The blonde-haired girl Coree had never met before was now being preyed upon by Nizhoni's boosted irritation. This made Coree stand up from the counter and walk over to them slightly, feeling she was being a tad bit too rude with someone that obviously had a reason for being in her shop...

"Is this really how you treat ALL of your customers, Nizhoni...?" he said, slightly joking. "Or is it just the cute blonde teenagers who might upstage your beauty that you don't like~?" Coree crossed his arms while placing most of his weight onto one leg, slightly leaning a bit as he smiled at the rude owner in a teasing manner. He then focused his attention on the girl in question, pausing slightly before leaning in past Nizhoni with his hand before him, offering it to the young girl out of greeting. "Name's Coree. Don't mind her," he gave the woman behind him a sideways nod "she's just being a bitch because her haphazard of a cousin decided to ruin her morning; nothing to do with you." Looking at the girl closer now, he was sure he'd at least seen her once or twice from afar before now. Maybe his brother Jett knew her...?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

I just can't get a break, can I? Jimmy thought to himself as his ever so loving cousin got on to him about everything and moved his feet. He looked up to her as she spoke to him. Then she took his cigarette and throw it away. Jimmy sighed and almost reached in his pocket to take out another one, but decided he'd better not. He walked over to the table lazily and picked his skateboard up and sat it beside a wall out of everyone's way. He then picked up the remanding jars and other stuff that had fallen off the ground and placed it back on the display table just how it was before. He was surprising himself by fixing something he had done yet again. "Sorry." He said faintly as he passed Nizhoni and Coree as they talked to Charlotte.

And he actually was sorry. He walked around the shop looking for something that could help with delusions. That's what he was calling them. He was calling his day visions delusions. "Hey, Nizhoni, do you have anything to help with...delusions and monsters and stuff?" Jimmy asked, letting some of the tiredness and scared-ness in his voice slip throw. He couldn't recall if he'd told her about the delusions and the things he's seen before. He wasn't even sure if he'd told her about seeing the things he tags on walls and buildings around town in dreams and in his day-terrors before. He's sure he has though.

He walked around the shop, looking at various baggies and jars with writing on them. But it was too dark to read, or was his eyes too blurry to see the words? Either way, he couldn't read the words. He sat down in the back of the shop in a defeated kind of way and pulled the sleeves of his jacket up. He let his forearms lay face up on his legs as he looked down at the various scars of cuts that everyone believe he did himself. He'd burned him self multiple times before just to make sure he was wide awake, but he never did these cuts. Everyone believed he did no matter how many times he said some scary monster had came to him and scratched him.

He glanced up at the others with a solemn look on his face. He looked down at his hand and started circling his finger around the cigarette burn he made on his hand just below the knuckle of his thumb. As he did that he stared at Charlotte wondering if she saw anything he had done before she scared him out in front of the shop. I'm sure she didn't see anything...right? He thought to himself as he watched her, his finger still feeling the burn and his sleeves still rolled up.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Frieda (Annie) Turner Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Rulke
Sometimes the smell of smoke still enters my nose, sometimes I wake up and I am in the inferno, no one running, no one trying to escape, everyone just seems to be wishing to die. Sometimes I think to myself was I spared because I matter? Then I drop such pretension, Frieda you are looking too far into things. Then again people treat me like I am glass, like I have no self control, that I set the fire, or am schizophrenic or such shit. Really you could ask the most asinine things, but I would simply respond, no, I don't know and again I don't know. I don't know why I survived that day? Or why I was chosen by this presence, but while others seem to be hiding from sleep, I get sleep, but when I do all I hear are the promises, the deep terrifying promises that somehow there will be more deaths. What am I to think? Adding to this burden it's like everyone forgotten a bunch of kids died in the orphanage, it's like that case is closed but somehow the great teens jumping, is still open.

Everything is connected, that much I am sure.

That is me Frieda, Ward of the State, formally of the family I heard whom were influential around the area, then again would not matter at all, since I am sixteen and even if I had a huge trust fund I can't touch the thing until I am old enough, so what use is it? Meanwhile I am meant to somehow survive being a teenager, a great struggle normally, but now with the added taunts and malign being, I am stuck thinking, if this is to be my destiny, then let's go out saving the others, maybe I can stop the next great disaster, maybe I can rid the world of this being. After all giving into cynicism will do no favours, instead my little presence, you shall meet your equal and you shall be crushed, no more death, no more sleepless nights, if Freddy Krueger can be killed in the movies, then I have no doubt you can.

A voice rings through my head, “Challenge accepted.”

With all that decided, I stretch and peer around, I had forgo not going into School today. Why? Well largely because I am sick of people asking me, suddenly as if I am some expert, why I survived, or why I was spared, I don't fucking know, and no I have no idea why you can't sleep, trying braining yourself, maybe that will achieve something. I am not like that Witch or whatever, I am Frieda, I am not a seer, not some expert.

Cautiously I pull my cheap NOKIA phone up and decide something, Adriana, you might remember me, we spoke a few times. Well anyway...

Deleting the text I sigh inward, she's not interested, besides everyone already think your weird and the closet is so comfy. Why was it so hard to ask someone just to talk? It was not even I wanted love, I just knew from experience people would construe my banter as flirty, since everyone but me seems intent on knowing I prefer girls. Yet I live in this little cupboard, why because it's comfortable and to be honest I am already a freak, adding to that equation will just make things worse from my perception.

I looked at myself, I originally have black hair, but dyed it to red, why, because I felt like it... Yep that's the only reason why. I slept as per usual in my jeans and t-shirt, it was a bad habit, but despite all this, I doubt anyone cared.

It was a nice day, if somewhat wet, maybe it was time to take a walk, or a cycle, yeah a cycle. If I was going to be fighting something this cruel, I needed information, and despite Nizhoni's reputation the witch could probably help.

Well that decided that, my hair was a mess, I looked like a coma victim and people thought I was a psychopath, let's hop on my bike and head there.

With that I flew down the stairs of the orphanage, signed out with flourish and unlocked my bike, before jetting down to Nizhoni's shop, peddling fast and focusing attentively on the road, making the right signals.

As I moved through the streets I noticed how the younger people, seemed almost like zombies, or automaton, barely functioning. I told myself I shall take him down, I shall free you all, and I don't even want any thanks, I just want to prevent more lives being lost. Ain't I a saint?

Finally I came to a stop at the outside, noting the smell of smoke thick in the air, and coming to hear a loud noise, and some yelling.

'Once more unto the breach...' I thought to myself, before pushing the door and noting the darkness, timidly I announced my intrusion, “Um... hi...”

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Charlotte watched as Nizhoni chewed her cousin out, a bit rightfully if you asked her. He should have been more careful with where he was swinging that board. It was a good thing the jars hadn't broken otherwise she was pretty sure Nizhoni would have quite literally thrown him out herself. At least he had the sense to throw away the cigarette butts, like she had asked, Charlotte thought as she glanced back at Jimmy, wondering if he had a particular reason for coming here or if he was just here to see his cousin. Probably the latter, unless he really was off his meds.

Nizhoni managed to avoid yet another accident, which Charlotte had been nervously anticipating, worried that whatever he was going to knock over again wasn't so well protected. It ended in her snatching away his cigarette, which made the blonde smile a little. So far, she liked Nizhoni Bennett. Wow, you've really done it now, buddy. She thought as she listened to the woman speak, obviously put out with the boy's carelessness. Normally, she would have thought it amusing but at the moment she was too tired to really appreciate it. She silently wondered if Jimmy was actually going to leave or if he was just going to be on better behavior. That was when the shop owner turned her attention to Charlotte, which made her eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, um..." She fumbled for her words. She was about to say she was in hopes that Nizhoni could help her and that she wasn't just here to be a hazard to her shop when Coree Amaron came over, asking the beautiful Native American woman if she treated all her customers this way which Charlotte didn't think much of, but what he said next made her blush deeply. Now she was really at a loss for words as she looked back at Nizhoni before Coree called her attention back to him. "Oh, um. Yeah, you're Jett's brother, aren't you?" She asked him, shaking his hand, shyly. "I'm Charlotte. Charlotte King." She told him. Her cheeks were still red. "I understand..." She said, shrugging and shaking her head and glancing over at Jimmy. "And I just came in because, I was hoping maybe you'd have something for - " Charlotte broke off as the mischief maker himself spoke. Delusions...? Monsters...? She stared at him, startled. If she wasn't avoiding sleep for fear of being attacked, she would've thought Jimmy was out of his mind, but no...She knew what he was talking about. His paintings...Is that why they seem so familiar? She thought as the bloody face of a grinning Gotum flitted through her mind.

Charlotte didn't say anything, too busy staring at Jimmy. Perhaps she wasn't so crazy after all. When he pulled up his sleeve for them all to see, her eyes widened as she looked at the burns and the cuts. Some of them looked familiar, the scratches. Almost identical to a scar on her right calf from when she was still a child and she had sworn some monster had pulled her out of bed - of course, no one had believed her, but here it was repeated in front of her eyes. The burns...So similar to what had happened to Adriana. Was it all linked somehow? Coincidence? She was afraid to think it was linked...Because if she did, it would probably be coincidence and her mother would have her locked away in a padded cell somewhere because she was seeing things. Then her eyes settled onto the burn on his hand, a fresh one. "So you did do something to your hand..." She thought aloud, remembering him hastily drawing his sleeve down when she had startled him outside the shop. For the first time, she felt herself walking closer to him, no longer afraid of him lashing out. "Jimmy, in your paintings...Is that what did...this?" She asked him, softly, pointing to the scratches on his arm before reaching out to gently take his wrist and looking to Nizhoni in concern, wondering what she was going to say about all of this.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Frieda (Annie) Turner Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Jimmy's eyes widened as Charlotte spoke to him. It was weird, a pretty blonde chick like her talking to a fucked-up kid like him. He watched her with curious eyes as she walked up to him. He nodded his head as she spoke the first thing. Part of him wanted to go on instinct and jump up, question her about why the hell she would care. But then part of him wanted someone to know. Sometimes he even felt like his parents were right. That he needed to be locked up in some mental asylum somewhere. When she pointed to the scratches and mentioned his paintings, he spoke faintly. It was hard audible, but in a quiet place like this, they could hear it. "Yes..." He said, answering her question.

He couldn't even look her in the eye no more. He was ashamed, not because he had did all that him self but because it had did this to him. It had tricked his brothers into jumping off that cliff. It had scratched up his arms with knife like claws. It had turned everyone against him when he told them the truth and said he didn't do it and it had done it. The monster in the night. But they didn't believe him. They put him on drugs to make him sleep, but that didn't stop the scratches from appearing the next morning. And Jimmy saw it. It had nothing to identify as a face, just a horrible giant grin with hideous sharp blood stained teeth. And the claws. Oh, the claws had scratched up Jimmy's arms so many times.

Jimmy was snapped out of his thoughts as Charlotte touched him. He had a sudden urge to snatch his wrist back when she took it, but he stopped. Why'd he stop? Why didn't he snap his wrist back from her? Why didn't he pull his sleeves back down? Well, there was the fact that he was getting hot and nervous. But that didn't explain anything else. She held his wrist which was connected to paint stained hands that didn't want to touch her in the fear it would rub off on her. He looked at her face with a blank look. He was done showing emotions for today. Done. But when Jimmy looked up at her, she looked so...concerned. Why's she concerned? Why the fuck would she care? Jimmy though as he looked up at Charlotte with arched eyebrows.

When she saw her looking at Nizhoni, Jimmy got more nervous of what will happen. He gently stood up as he looked from Charlotte to his cousin. "M-m-maybe I-I s-s-should g-g-go." Jimmy said with his stutter from his childhood returning. He removed Charlottes hand from his wrist surprisingly gently by hesitatingly grabbing her hand gently and removing his wrist. He pulled the sleeves of his jacket down and was about to go to the door and leave when another girl, the orphan girl with red hair, came into the store. "Great" he mumbled and sat back down. He watched the red haired girl, avoiding eye contact from anyone else, as she announced herself.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Frieda (Annie) Turner Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

One dark, slender eyebrow arched as Nizhoni looked over at Coree. She knew he was teasing, playing around in that friendly manner again. "I treat paying customers very nicely Coree, you of all people should no that." The last part was meant to be suggestive, insinuating some kind of strange arrangement the two had, but she ended it with a wink to not let the teens run with any thoughts that might have entered their heads. "And trust me, I encourage her to upstage me." At least if the blonde teen was able to manage such a feat it would allow Nizhoni some much needed downtime.

She made her way around the counter so she could lean against the glass casing of the top. The Miwok woman took notice of her cousin as he cleaned up the mess he made before heading over to her and mumbling a sorry. Charlotte had been about to say why she had ventured into the shop, but instead Jimmy brought even more attention to himself. It wasn't healthy to talk about 'delusions' and monsters in a room full of strangers, it was something Nizhoni had seen form experience. People often thought you were crazy and parents would shove every pill available down their child's throat if it meant keeping things quiet.

Things were getting out of hand. Nizhoni did not want the talk moving forward any more. "Enough." She ordered loudly, looking at both teenagers with a serious face. Turning her back to the group of three the Native American woman headed to the back of her shop. Some of her more potent concoctions were stored there. Once she reached a rather large case she extracted two small bags of herbs and two small jars of a salve of some kind. With those in hand she made her way back to the trio.

By then though, another young person had entered her shop. Nizhoni was finding herself rather hostile towards anyone under the age of eighteen at that moment and so promptly ignored the newcomer. She headed for Jimmy first, shoving a bag and a jar into his hand before moving over to Charlotte to do the same. "The salve will put you in such a deep sleep I guarantee you won't be dreaming about anything, just rub it under your nose and take a big whiff. You'll be out in minutes." She just wanted them out of her shop, speaking of him would only bring him closer, would only make him stronger. "And if you don't want that, just mix what's in the bag with tea or whatever you drink and it'll keep you awake for hours. Just don't use too much or you'll start hallucinating. One pinch in your drink is all you need." Simple instructions, quick results, and it was all free for them.

Nizhoni walked towards her shop's door, holding it open for Charlotte and Jimmy."Out., I need to get ready for the festival tonight and still have a bunch of things to do." She wasn't looking at anyone as she spoke, but it was obvious who she was addressing."That's goes for you too Red," Speaking to the new girl who had walked in only moments ago. "Sorry, you'll have to come back another time."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Jett Amaron Character Portrait: Frieda (Annie) Turner Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Savader
Coree's hand was met with Charlotte's as she stated her name and mentioned his brother. Coree gave a nod at that, still holding a friendly smile. So she knew Jett after all; he thought as much, but now that they had some form of a connection, it might be easier to talk to her in the future, should they ever again.

"Ah, yeah. So you know Jett. Glad to see he's making friends instead of enemies, haha." he said, just as Charlotte nodded timidly, and began speaking when she trailed off, something behind both Coree and Nizhoni having caught her eyes, which suddenly grew wide. Coree gave a quick glance behind him just in time to spot Nizhoni's eyebrow raise as she gave him 'a look'. This made him chuckle a little, especially at her words. He gave her a nod and mouthed a few silent words of his own, playing the moment in return.

Charlotte then passed the two of them, talking about Jimmy's rumored scars, along with that of a monster... This peaked Coree's interest slightly, as he was just thinking about something similar a moment ago. How she knew to ask about such a specific thing made Coree's eyes narrow slightly out of curiosity. Was she also having strange nightmares...? With Jimmy, it was obvious -- especially when you take in the account the rumors, but this young girl, while appearing more or less the same as all the other mentally, physically and emotionally drained students that have been popping up lately, seemed like she was doing alright... So how would she know about it? Maybe she was just better at hiding it, like Coree was, or perhaps she only just recently started having these dreams, also like Coree. If that was the case, she could be basing the topic of 'monsters' off of others at school.

Jimmy muttered a confirmation that Charlotte was correct as she gave Nizhoni a worried look. At that, the frustrated owner of the shop basically told everyone to shut up, moving into the back of the shop to fetch something. Jimmy let loose a stutter, akin to his old habit from when he was young, and jumped up, quickly shuffling to the door in an attempt to escape the shop and its inhabitants, only to be blocked by yet another new customer -- and he knew her well in name only. Frieda Turner: a young girl who survived a rather terrible fire at an orphanage. She was the only one who managed to make it out, so she was rather well known in that regard. Although, Coree also knew of her through his family's usual connections with anyone else housing a 'prestigious name'.

It didn't take long before Nizhoni came striding back into the main area of the shop, carrying a large case out with her. After opening it, she pulled out a few items and thrust an equal amount into both Jimmy's and Charlotte's hands, explaining to them just what their purpose was. Coree stuck his hands in his pockets as he leaned his backside against the counter, eying the jars and bags from a distance. Something that could knock them out in minutes without the worry of nightmares -- ha, that sounded pretty awesome to Coree, after having his most recent nightmare... That being said, he chose to stay quiet, still not wanting to tell anyone about his own set of nightmares that, just as the victims from the mass suicide, everyone was seeming to be sharing with one another.

Once all that was done and out of the way, Nizhoni quickly walked over to her front door, completely passing up her newest customer without so much as a second glance. She threw the door open and ordered those annoying her to exit her shop once and for all, clearly tired of them pestering her. Coree pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms, looking at Nizhoni from the same position, giving her another of his playful smiles.

"Aw... Does that go for me too? I was just starting to get comfortable..." he said with a lighthearted sigh, looking around the shop, eying it from top to bottom as if to indicate his sense of comfort even further. It was obviously a joke, although he wasn't necessarily un-comfortable either. The darkness of the shop was a little grading for him at the moment, but it was at least nowhere near the level of the Bay's suffocating seafloor... Without looking at anyone, he felt his brow crease out of thought on the dream. He hadn't thought about it all morning, until now that is. It gave him the chills just thinking about it, so he quickly brushed it off with a shake of his shoulders, turning his head back to Nizhoni.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nizhoni Benett Character Portrait: Charlotte King Character Portrait: Jimmy Benett Character Portrait: Adriana Ryker Character Portrait: Frieda (Annie) Turner Character Portrait: Coree Amaron
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Charlotte was relieved when Jimmy Bennett didn't move or say something irritable to her when she spoke to him. She wasn't quite so intimidated by him anymore, at least not now that Nizhoni was around who seemed to be able to rein him in a bit. Her eyes widened a bit when he admitted the creature had painted that had done it. The same creature that she had seen...It had to be. It couldn't be a coincidence they were seeing the same thing, could it? They looked so similar, a gaunt, grinning face covered in blood with a wide grin. Charlotte bit her lip. If her mother knew, she would be in so much trouble. "i - I've seen it too. I have a scar like this one as well..." She confessed, making sure to keep her voice down so it wouldn't carry in the room too much. "It looks exactly like the picture..." She nearly winced at the fact she'd spoken of the creature aloud...And, Coree Amaron was there. That didn't make her feel any better. His father worked with her mother, if he told his father and her mother found out...And she didn't really want Coree thinking she was weird either. Never had she ever said anything about it to anyone since she was a child, afraid her mother would react badly to the news that he child was hallucinating some sort of murderous demon. Most people stopped dreaming about man eating monsters past the age of ten, but her childhood monster man was back...

She had been afraid to touch him, afraid he would jerk back and snap at her for it but she had wanted to get a better look at his arms. Charlotte was incredibly relieved when he did no such thing and so she got the chance to look at it. Indeed, they looked almost exactly identical to the scar on her leg from when she was a child - as if something had grabbed them and when they tried to escape, had clawed them. The burns reminded her of Adriana this morning who come to think of it, hadn't responded to her text she'd sent earlier. She felt now, more than ever that she needed to talk to the other girl after what she'd found out here. Now that she had verified that he'd done it and had seen it, she thought he should probably do something about that cigarette burn although it looked like he had done rather a lot of them in the past and she had a feeling he probably didn't do much about them. She looked up at him, only to find him looking back at her curiously and as she looked to Nizhoni, she heard the Miwok woman snap at them to be silent. That was when Jimmy stuttered, saying he should probably leave. She wanted to say she had a question for him about the creature, but she paused as she looked up at him. She would have thought he would pull away from her with a quick jerk of his hand and started out the door already but instead she was surprised by how gentle he was, using a paint stained hand to remove her hand from his wrist - if she had had any doubts about whether the graffiti on the school had been his or not, the doubts would now be vanquished from her mind. He was probably on his way out now Charlotte thought as looked back to Nizhoni, afraid she was about to be told that both she and Jimmy were stark raving mad or at the very least, were babbling nonsense. Nizhoni disappeared into the back of her shop and Charlotte suddenly felt cold with dread. She had always thought she hid her dreams and problems well, but now...Well, this was her fault. She'd spoken her thoughts aloud.


Then Nizhoni returned, with a large case and quickly began thrusting the contents into Jimmy's hands, who had apparently not left yet and her's, rattling off instructions. Charlotte stared at her, startled. She wasn't going to label them both psychotic? Perhaps people came in with odd things like this all the time? Or perhaps she still thought Jimmy and her were weirdos and wanted them out asap. Charlotte didn't know. "Um, how much do I -" She paused, about to ask how much she owed Nizhoni when the Miwok woman held the door open, ordering her and Jimmy both out - along with, Charlotte suddenly realized, another girl with bright red hair - Freida, she thought her name was who she hadn't noticed at first, her mind having been too focused on the fact someone else had the same freakish dreams she did. Deciding it was probably best to listen to Nizhoni quickly, she made her way over to the door, casting one more glance at Coree Amaron and feeling her cheeks warm a little before ducking outside and calling a thank you to Nizhoni.

She stopped once outside, wondering what she was going to do now. She needed give Adri a call and ask her if they could meet up, she had to talk to her now, she really did - And Jimmy...She wanted to talk to him more too, without people staring at them. She also wanted to tell him he should clean up that burn on his hand as a cigarette burn didn't exactly seem sanitary with all the ash and paper. If he didn't take off now that he was in daylight, she might get the chance but she had a feeling he was about to bail since he had been on his way out earlier. At least she had managed to get what she came here for though...