ihinka

The Sunday Group

Yup, it got away from me. Not by much, but still

The Sunday Group

Malone nodded her gratitude at Kennedy after she'd agreed to help with the case file on the cult. She exited the meeting room and entered the large room that contained the individual work spaces of her teammates. The desks were partitioned off in a sort of booth style, with half walls that created the illusion of seclusion. The ex-FBI walked over to her desk where she'd dumped her bag. She opened it and fished out a fresh T-shirt. Stripping off the tear-soaked one she folded it neatly and stored it in one of her drawers to collect after their trip.

For all the pervs spying on Malone changing her tee!

She shrugged on the fresh one and then proceeded to strap her shoulder holster for her main sidearm, her P99. Her Walthers were licensed and Ellie would make sure she could get aboard the plane with them on her person.

Once her wardrobe was taken care of, she sat in her chair and fished her phone out of her pocket. She needed to call Mrs. Flaherty and warn her she would definitely be away at least a couple of days. The old woman loved Isis and didn't mind taking care of her. Plus she tended to mother Malone and liked doing favors for her. Like bringing her homemade brownies, or shepherd's pie, or anything food related. She insisted Malone was too thin. And the profiler had to admit she'd lost a couple of pounds after her mum's death, but it only served to make her muscle definition more pronounced. She didn't care. She ate enough in her opinion. She wasn't starving herself. Food just didn't taste good yet. And eating out of obligation is never fun.

She dialed Mrs. Flaherty's number and waited. The old woman picked up after a couple of rings.

"Hello, dear." She answered the phone and Malone couldn't help but smile. The woman was unusually tech savvy for someone her age.

"Hi, Mrs. F." She greeted with a grin. "I'm just calling to let you know that I'll definitely be away for a couple of days. I don't know how many. So I've left Isis to take care of you."

"Oh, ye cheeky devil. Isis taking care of me. Funny." But the old woman was happy that at least with her Malone was exhibiting brighter moods like making jokes, smiling, and on rare occasions even laughing. She often worried over how dark her outlook was. But she supposed her mother's parting was still fresh in the young woman's mind and heart. But she was getting better that was for sure. "I'll take care of your little angel, don't you worry about that." She assured. "You just make sure yer eatin' right!" She warned. "Yer too thin."

Malone chuckled quietly at the familiar remark. "Aye, mem. I'll be sure to eat three healthy meals a day."

They hung up.

---

Boarding the plane had been a hassle, but Malone had suffered through it. She was sitting comfortably in her seat in business class. Her bag and jacket stowed away in the overhead compartment. She had her laptop on the table, her phone out and her headphones in her ears. She'd paired her phone to her laptop to use the more sophisticated audio player there to listen through all the voice mails she'd gotten from their client. Of course both her laptop and her phone were on airplane mode. And she was waiting for the plane to take off to begin work. She shifted in the seat and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. She was sleepy as hell from being made to wake up so early in the morning. But her mind was anything but asleep. In her current state she could easily slip into the Zone. But it would serve no purpose. They had no real leads to follow at this point. Just conjecture to go on the hunt for clues. So she just let her mind rest for the few minutes the cabin crew performed their security checks and whatnot.

Her stomach tightened when she felt the plane moving towards the runway. She loved the feeling she got during takeoff. Her back pressed to the seat from the speed and her belly all tingly when she felt the plane peel off the ground. It was her favorite time when flying so she made sure to enjoy it the fullest. As soon as the pilot announced they could use their electronics she straightened and opened her laptop. She listened through all the erratic voice mails again. And then selected a few Madeline had sent her from before her sister's erratic behavior.

'Hi, Mel. God, I wish I'd caught you. I just wanted to hear your voice. I'm... Well, not okay, but hanging in there.' A sniffling could be heard over the line and then the young woman obviously made an effort to pull herself together and the recording continued. 'I'm still looking for a job, but I'm not quitting. I like it here. I wish you could come and visit...' Her voice trailed off again. There was a short pause. Malone could vaguely make out some ambient noises and then Cassie spoke again. 'I know you didn't like him and you'd never say I told you so, but, God, I wish this time you could have been wrong. I love you. Please, call me. I just need to hear your voice.'

Malone exhaled quietly. This appeared to be from the time immediately after Cassie's brake up with her boyfriend. She could tell there was obviously some tension between the sisters because of the boyfriend, but nothing major. She didn't sense a huge rift between them over it. Just a sort of reluctant acceptance on Cassie's part that her sister was right about him. But she had sounded determine to turn it around and move on.

'Hi, sis. Sorry I missed your call. The new job is trying to kick my butt, but I'm not letting it.' Happy laughter flowed from Malone's headphones into her ears. It wasn't forced or fake. Just genuine, happy laughter. 'Anyway, I'm doing better now that I have something to distract me from wallowing. And I think I've finally managed to see what you saw in him. God were you ever right! I don't know why I was so blinded. Thank God you're always there for me. I can't believe I fell for that possessive freak. Or that I could have thought it was adorable he wanted me all to himself. Anyway, that’s over and done with now. Hope to hear from you soon. Love ya.' This voice mail was more exuberant and energetic than the previous one. Malone could feel the renewed energy coming off from Cassandra. The fact that she could admit to herself she was wrong about her boyfriend showed stable mind that engaged in self-reflection and self-assessment. Nothing erratic about that. Quite healthy actually.

Malone queued the third and last mail. 'Oh... My... God! Mel! I have the biggest news. And you're not picking up! I made some friends, Mel. And I don't mean the casual acquaintances from work. Real, honest to God, friends! I'm so excited. They're a strange bunch but not bad people, I promise. This time I'm right, you'll see. Just come and visit finally so I can introduce you and you'll see. Love ya. They're so cool, you'll see.' Malone stopped the recording. This mail sounded even more exuberant that the previous one. Maybe even too exuberant. It wasn't unusual for people to feel high from finding a group of people where they fit. Especially after a hard period like a break up could be. But still, going from extreme lows to extreme highs wasn't always a good thing. Malone suspected these new friends were the group Madeline mentioned.

It appeared that in the beginning, at least, Cassie felt safe within their circle. Safe and happy even. Even if too happy. She could have been overcompensating, but Malone couldn't know that for sure without further data. But all in all she could at least determine she was not suicidal prior to her death. Not according to what she heard in the voice mails. She typed a preliminary report, reviewed it and sent it to Ellie.

The ex-FBI agent closed her laptop, opened the Spotify app on her phone, browsed through her playlists, found the 'Celtic Music' one and tapped the 'Shuffle Play' button. She closed her eyes and settled comfortably in her seat. When The Parting Glass played in her ears she smiled softly and couldn't help but sing along quietly.

The Sunday Group

@Penny Roger that! I'll work on a post today

The Sunday Group

@Penny Just to get the lay of the office in my head. We have the meeting room, Ellie's office, facilities, and then a big ol' room with our personal booths of sort? Maybe it's not all that important, but I like to have a picture in my head

And I think I'll have a medium length post /if it doesn't run away from me / of her preparing before the flight and inflight as well.

The Sunday Group

@Penny So are we going with the streight to Maine option? Just to know where to go with my post while I mull it over in my mind Or are we doing another post before Maine and than you'll move us along to there?

Ink On Your Soul - Reboot (Members Needed!)

"Hi." Nik smiled as the woman abandoned her perch on the branch and gracefully dropped onto the ground in front of her. "This is so unusual." She rose from her sitting position, but did not try to approach Aaliyah. The woman had trusted her enough to come down from the tree, but that did not mean she trusted her enough to let her within her personal space. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say." Sara shook her head dismayed. "I mean... What just happened... It... It's never happened to me before." She looked at Aaliyah again.

Who was this woman if she weren't a vila? What person, besides someone like her, would sit in trees in the woods? She'd felt her power through the tree when she'd touched it, but she didn't feel threatened by her. Rather she felt kind of safe, comfortable. Which was unusual for her, as she was not the most social of people. True, she had her friends, but those were few and very carefully selected and vetted. This woman she didn't know. She was positive of that. She would have remembered her. She could never forget her now, with the amount of impact her presence had on Sara.

"So, Aaliyah, what brought you to this corner of the woods?" Nik asked with bright eyes and a crooked grin. What she'd really wanted to ask her was what she was doing, sitting in a tree in the middle of the less visited parts of Pelham Bay Park. Of course she couldn't do that. Firstly, it would be plain rude. And secondly, it would be prying and she didn't like to pry. It opened the door for the others to feel free to pry in return. And she definitely didn't like it when people pried into her business. Not with a secret like hers. Still, she was curious. Plus she felt like the two of them were supposed to get to know each other and this seemed like a good a start as any.

As an afterthought she grabbed her wrist and started rubbing it. The pain and throbbing was a constant now and Sara couldn't deny the connection between the sensations and Aaliyah's proximity. After all the blasted thing had never done anything like this. Suddenly she meets this woman in the most ridiculous of circumstances and this tattoo starts pulsing and burning and glowing. It was a sign, for sure. But of what she had no idea. She looked expectantly at this new person in her life, still massaging her wrist gently with her fingers.

@KahleenCuthald

The Sunday Group

@Naril Yeah, you just take care

{Casual - High Casual} Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts

@Themerlinhawk I'm not opposed to that. She is quite good. After all, she's been doing it for half her life. And maybe he could be the one Blaine turns to seeking answers about the cursed werewolf that turned her.

Ink On Your Soul - Reboot (Members Needed!)

@KahleenCuthaldI am, extremely so To the point of feeling deeply ashamed of my tardiness

Ink On Your Soul - Reboot (Members Needed!)

_{So sorry for the long delay >.< @KahleenCuthald}

Nik stumbled back, her wings vanishing into nothingness. Had the woman seen them? Had she exposed herself to a stranger? The situation was so absurd it was almost laughable. Her wrist was burning like a bitch, the pulse there pounding a mile a minute so dissonant to her own and yet, somehow in harmony with it, in sync. The woman was speaking to her, sitting in the tree. In this day and age the situation was ludicrous. But Sara was transported back to the old days when samovilas frolicked in the woods, sitting among the branches, singing and laughing, combing their long hair.

This woman was not a vila! Of that Nik was positive. She'd never felt such connection to a vila. And Sara knew the presence she'd felt drawn to and that had exploded in her essence when she'd touched the tree was this woman with brown eyes, sitting in the tree, looking down at her with curiosity, talking to her. Talking! Shit! Answer her, you dolt!

"I..." Nik stammered bewildered her voice wasn't obeying her command. She cleared her throat, stepped closer to the tree and looked up at the woman. "Hello. What... I mean... Yeah... Did you...?" Jesus, you sound like a stammering schoolgirl. Try making complete sentences so you don't chase her off. "Sorry, I'm sorry, it's just so... strange, yes. I... I'm Kosara Nikolov, I work as a ranger in the park. I was..." Her voice fell through. "Camping." She finished lamely. After what had happened both women knew well enough she wasn't simply camping. She approached the tree even more and placed her palm there, this time expecting the connection and prepared for the transfer of essences. Still she had to breath in sharply. The sensation was as dizzying as before. More so even! "I won't harm you if you wanted to get down from there, but if it makes you feel safe I understand." Her blue eyes locking with the stranger's brown ones. Almost pleading.

She stepped back. One. Two steps and sat on the ground Turkish style. A soft smile graced her lips. "This is so crazy. I'm not sure what's happening right now, but I don't feel threatened or weird. I feel... " She paused, pondering. "Right." She finished, her smile widening, igniting her blue eyes. "Will you tell me your name?" She asked almost shyly.