[center][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/zGDBwfS.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/cxJGiFq.png[/img][/center][right][b][code]The Vanburen Estate[/code][/b][/right][hr] [quote=Tuyen][color=MediumOrchid]”Magic only came back after we defeated… it, right? How did he even find all these apparitions…?”[/color][/quote] [color=red]"Beats fuckin' me."[/color] Justin sighed as he shrugged and took another puff of his Juul. He vaguely recollected something about other universes having magic but he wasn't going to bring it up. Probably because it was irrelevant to the current situation. He didn't want to sit here all day grasping at straws and trying to theorize why the fuck does he have so many God damn apparitions lying around in his house. Hopefully, the other Vanburen children will pull their weight and put them somewhere that nobody can get to them. Or else Justin and Tuyen will have another problem to solve but hopefully, everything will work itself out. Hopefully. [quote=Tuyen][color=MediumOrchid]”Well, I think that it’s no wonder that his children got cursed if he was already messing with all this stuff. It’s confirmed that he knew Thorton Walters… Even if he didn’t give us any useful information, which is the opposite of helpful. Maybe he’s connected to their curse, who knows. Hopefully, they’ll find something in all those books. I agree with taking things one at a time, though. We should concentrate on the cult first and make sure they don’t release that horned god, and if they have… Well, deal with it. Even if they aren’t helpful for the rest it best to deal with something that might end up dangerous.”[/color][/quote] [color=red]"I gotta feeling that James knows more than what he's letting on,"[/color] Justin stated the obvious as he silently kicked himself for doing it. [color=red]"I mean [i]that's[/i] no shit, but let's uh not waste time on this."[/color] Justin shrugged yet again. [color=red]"We beat [i]that thing[/i]- maybe with the help of friends, but it's [i]possible[/i] - we can beat the Horned and Triple Dumbass and whatever the hell else comes our way. I promise."[/color] Justin said, sounding like a lame anime character [i]again[/i]. [quote=Tuyen][color=MediumOrchid]”We really have our work cut out for us, huh?”[/color][/quote] [color=red]"Eh, nothing we can't handle,"[/color] Justin started before he put the Juul in his pocket and gestured for Tuyen to come along as he walked towards the door. He opened the door and held it open for her as he said, [color=red]"C'mon,"[/color] He smiled. [color=red]"Let's tackle this one at a time."[/color] [center][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/iasHidX.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/DP7VoTG.png[/img] [/center][right][b][code]East Araminta - The Strange Street Pub.[/code][/b][/right][hr] [quote=Shane][color=SteelBlue]"Rounded the corner, there. From there, anybody's guess. Pizza clerk said they've all got some hideaway in the forest, one of the abandoned spots I'd imagine. So, she's not headed there. Was carrying food too so it's likely she was off to meet her friends. Either they're holed up somewhere else. Or she took the long way around."[/color][/quote] Well shit. Looks like they're probably not going to find her anytime soon. Araminta was a big place, lots of hiding places here... and East Araminta was definitely [i]not[/i] a place that Sabrina wanted to hang around in (or look lost in, in general). A sigh escaped her lips as she thought that maybe it would be easier to just corner one of them instead of trying to wander around here. Maybe she should have gone with her gut and confronted her from the start. Oh well. [quote=Shane][color=SteelBlue]"If she's with 'em then they already know we're looking for 'em. Might as well just go to right to their workplace, try get a home address. Alright. Maybe we'd better break off into twos. Two of us chase up where they work, try to find where they live if possible. Two of us ask or look around in the forests. See if we can pinpoint where it is they all decide to meet up in to talk about hitting mansions or killing farm animals.[/color][/quote] Sabrina nodded. It sounded like a good idea to her, and she didn't really have much to add. Shane was a cop and honestly, he was the best suited for this than any of them. Though, she was wondering just [i]who [/i]should go where. Her first thought was that Raymond [i]probably[/i] shouldn't go do any type of detective work (Sabrina just couldn't get over how slow on the draw he was back there in the bar). Oscar was intelligent but enthusiastic and she had the underlying fear that maybe he'd blow it if he went investigating... but the same scenario would occur if he went to the woods so it wouldn't matter. Also, she [i]really[/i] didn't want to go wandering around in the woods so she would do anything to avoid the nasty woods. Maybe in a different life, she would love the woods. But this is not that life. [quote=Shane][colour=SteelBlue]"Nothing drastic right now. Just a little reconnaissance is all. We all in agreement?"[/colour][/quote] Another breeze came their way and instinctively Mary Roberts extended her scarf just a little bit. Probably not enough for anyone to really notice but she wrapped it around her face to protect herself from it. When it subsided she turned towards her younger brother and nodded. [color=coral]"Yes,"[/color] Sabrina said and hoped that her other two brothers would agree. [color=coral]"How about me and you go ask around... sorry, but I just don't think I was built for the woods, you know?"[/color] She tried to justify it to the best of her ability but hopefully, her two brothers would understand? She took a few steps down the street towards the supposed gas station. [color=coral]"Let's hurry up before someone tries to rob us, I always hated East Araminta."[/color] [center][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/CddZX7J.png[/img][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/zGDBwfS.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/cxJGiFq.png[/img] [/center][right][b][code]The Vanburen Estate[/code][/b][/right][hr] Hours later and the sun was going down on poor ol' Araminta. Justin, fortunately, was used to these weird-ass small towns being cold as all hell, thus he had remembered to bring his good ol' winter coat. It wasn't much, just a plain puffy winter coat that he got years ago. Still serves him to this very day... and he had a [i]very strong[/i] suspicion that it wasn't going to last the night. He called all the Vanburens out here to discuss the matter at hand: what the hell are they going to do about the Wiccan cult and [i]how?[/i] He had on jeans, and black combat boots that he got from the local military surplus store while they were out. Ironically he looks kind of like his doppelganger from earlier today but hopefully, the Vanburens will understand the [i]practicality[/i] of the outfit. Hopefully. Today was a special day, not what he was honestly expecting but hey, life's full of surprises. He didn't expect to be impersonated by crazy cultists nor attacked nor did he expect to find them under the span of a day. They were some really shitty cultists, to say the least. They were able to be tracked in under eight hours! Maybe if they didn't scream each other's names like a buncha moron that would help, but that wasn't the matter at hand. Justin was proud. He was powerful. He felt like he could handle [i]juuuust[/i] about everything. Not this time, though. The cult was probably very powerful - their leader chick's hellhounds were tough enough to take several devastating attacks before even slowing down. The others... Justin wasn't sure about but if they all had magic it would be [i]stupid[/i] for Justin and Tuyen to go in alone. Which was why he was standing out here on the grand old patio in the back that overlooked the snow-covered yard and garden that the Vanburens owned. He put his hands on the stone railing to the patio and felt the cold shoot up his hand - well, he would have if there weren't gloves on his hand. It was going to be one hell of a pitch, but he felt that the Vanburens needed to hear it. The Vanburens assembled one by one and Justin cleared his throat. [color=red]"Uh-" [i]Starting with uh. Nice Justin.[/i][/color] Justin scolded himself mentally yet again but he was [i]going[/i] to get to his point. [color=red]"Hello again, you're probably wondering why I called you all out here. I'm here to say that we've - well, with the help of Shane and friends - tracked down that cult to where they hang out... an old abandoned resort in the middle of the woods. Now you're probably wondering what you all have to do with that well..."[/color] Now was the hard part. Maybe this was a terrible idea, but Justin was still going to stand behind it regardless of how stupid it may sound. So he just came out and said it. [color=red]"... I think we all need to confront the cult. As like a group. I know it might sound crazy, but hear me out- I have a feeling that a [i]loooot[/i] of powerful eyes are about to come looking for you all, and I think you all need to get used to these kinds of crazy fights. We should also take that cult out of the equation as soon as possible so we can focus on more important things. I know you guys didn't exactly..."[/color] He awkwardly looked to the left as he said. [color=red]"... Do too good, but I think that was only because we were caught off guard and nobody knew how to handle them,"[/color] Justin started, [color=red]"If we catch them off then things will be different. And let's be real here, they're gonna come for the Horned God again and it's only a matter of time before they get lucky. So we should just work together and solve this problem and get rid of the Triple Goddess in the process."[/color] Okay, it was a lot of talking. A lot more than he was used to. Justin knew that, if somebody else was talking, he would have been a lot briefer. Justin was, at the very least, desperately trying to convince them to go along with his stupid idea.