lady horatio

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

On my dinner break at work and had to chime in that I am having a blast so far. :P I'll check in again when I get home tonight, and I can't wait to see what @vietmyke and @Habibi359 are up to!

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

It's so, so late, and probably need a good second read-through, but my post is finally up! At nearly three in the morning, my time, so I'd best get to bed.

Thank you so much to everybody for the both the patience and the well-wishes. I hope you like what came out (even if your characters may not! :P) Mandy may have done a stupid thing....

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

From the moment she finally jolted awake, Mandy’s mind was working. Hazily, she’d have to admit, but still: working.

Right up until Morgan hit the ground.

Then there was no thinking, only running—a straight shot that, like Morgan’s, was less than graceful. She stumbled and dropped down next to the bleeding woman, still in the somewhat unfamiliar position of trying to catch up to her surroundings; her thoughts dragged, stumbling as obviously as her feet.

She couldn’t understand her disorientation. Usually, these things were easy to plan—dozing was not napping was not actual sleep—but what had started as a light doze in the car (during which she could still hear everything, including Morgan's muttered complaints beneath the chaos) had skipped right past nap and deep into REM sleep with neither her notice nor her permission. And now she was paying for it.

She heard Morgan bark information, smelled gasoline, caught snippets of a plan tossed between their two magic experts. Glanced Morgan over, winced at her injuries and the tang of blood in the air. Managed to duck out of the way as Emma, too, was thrown aside.

And still her mind was working, working, working. Scrabbling for all of the pieces and trying to pull them into a cohesive whole.

And something stuck. Whether or not it was the right something was anyone’s guess, and she had a feeling at least a few of the others would disagree.

Guardian, she thought. This is a guardian.

Mandy jumped back to her feet and took off. The treads of her shoes almost slid on the cool asphalt—yet another pair of beloved Keds worn out by her new choice in career.

She shot a glance at Rob and Jacob over her shoulder—the only people left who weren’t injured, and the ones most likely to jump to more...extreme measures. They looked like grim twins to her in this light. Grim twins that would hopefully have her back, but would also hopefully wait before doing anything too drastic.

“Cover me, please!” she called, in that frantic, less-than-confident way that kept it from being a demand. Other members of the team threw around orders and requests as easily as they did banter, but for Mandy, every imposition came out sounding like a preemptive apology.

Then, more certainly: “And don’t kill it!”

* *

She found Beth crumpled, more blood, and a guardian spirit that seemed to be getting angrier by the minute—angrier, and no smaller.

In a desperate gambit, she grabbed the stone, trying to ignore the slick feel of it beneath her fingers. Like Beth, she felt magic thrumming through it and the creature in front of her. Like Beth, she took a breath and clasped it tightly, trying to wrap the object in her will.

But she also reached out, a fluttering, tenuous tendril of glamour, and touched it against the crackling power that could probably overwhelm hers in a second.

And this time, she addressed the creature, not the caster.

Please, she begged. I don’t know who brought you here, I don’t know what they said, but we’re not here to hurt you.

Possibly, she was going to hear about this later. Possibly, she shouldn’t be speaking on the others’ behalf.

But possibly, if she were an ancient guardian, jerked around—without sentience, exactly, but also without consent—and dumped in a strange new place, she would be cranky, too. Even crankier when everything in her was screaming, You’re being attacked!, and then a gaggle of strangers showed up to confirm the theory.

Her hands trembled, head aching with the effort of maintaining even the smallest contact with something so much bigger than she was.

We’re trying to protect this place, just like you.

Mandy was, in general, an optimist, but she wasn’t stupid. Even as she said the last few words, trying one last piece of grasping logic, she braced herself for the backlash. Will you let us help?

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

I am about to crash, but here is my daily check-in! Mandy's post is now loosely structured, so I know where she's going to run first and what she's going to try next. Thank you to everybody for being so understanding.

And @Naril, good gracious! At least you had neighbors who were so kind as to check on you, and I'm glad to hear everything's now back in place. I hope you're not too badly bruised!

And I hope everyone else is doing well :)

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

Poor Beth! And to reply really late, it was really fun hammering out Mandy and Beth's details with you, @Fizzy! :)

I'm sorry to be such a broken record, y'all; I really am working on my post. I have a chunk of it written. It's just been a busy and sometimes tiring couple of days--I shouldn't even be awake right now, but one of my friends was in crisis mode, and I was staying up a little longer to see if she'd call again.

I have to work tomorrow morning, but it's only for about an hour, and I am optimistically hoping to finish Mandy's post afterward. I have no plans for the afternoon as yet, except probably for a nap!

I hope everybody's doing well. :)

UPDATE: Crisis ongoing, not sure when I'll be free today. So sorry! Will get in touch with Naril and let her control mandy, if need be

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

Hi, all! This is just a check-in post to let you know I haven't forgotten or been neglecting you, I swear! I hit a few stumbling blocks, so @Naril was nice enough to help me out. Mandy's location will also be revealed in the shiny new GM post. I really enjoyed reading everyone's intros so far! :3

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

-waves- Hi, everybody! Just checking in.

I don't think I'll be able to finish my post before I have to leave for work, but Mandy's "secrets" section has been updated (though not finished yet)--please let me know if I've mischaracterized anyone!

Also, if anyone whose character hasn't shown up yet wants to do a collab (@vietmyke, @Fizzy) so our characters can just arrive together, I can think of any number of reasons for it (including something tragic with Mandy's not-very-nice car), but if you want to arrive separately, that's fine, too!

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

Oh my GOD, @Naril, that opening was a delight!! now that I've run my errands for the morning, I've gotten to sit and read it, and I about died when I got to "guardian spirit of a Wal-Mart." This is going to be deliciously fun.

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

Eeeeee, so excited to get started! TODAY IS THE DAY I PROMISE TO GET CAUGHT UP ON MY PMs.

Priest & Hawthorne Investigations (Redux!) - Supernatural Urban Fantasy!

Hey, y'all! Just a head's up, I'm still sorting through my PMs--sorry, it's been a busy day, and tomorrow will be another! But I've already messaged a few of you and promise to keep the discussion going. Now it's time to crash, because five hours of sleep just ain't enough. :P