Whiskey in the Jar

“You can’t go out like this Brownie, come with me. Boys we are getting changed see you in a little bit.” Georgie grinned and pulled Lenna back to her room. Lenna looked help seeking at Rome but he just grinned at her. He knew how much she didn’t like getting dressed up by Georgie.

“Whoa that is your room? Holy cow, this is… um pink.” Lenna tried to say nicely her really thought was more like horrible and not pink, but she didn’t say it. “Oh my god you walk in closet looks like an entire mall.”

Georgie smiled at Lenna while she pulled out clothes for Lenna to wear. “Here put this on, and then sit down you need some make up.”

“Georgina are you decent?” Helen asked before she came in Georgie’s closet.

“Yes I am. Aunt Helen we all are going out, Lenna hasn’t seen Boston yet so I will show her the nightlife.” Georgie just picked her own outfit when Lenna walked back into the closet.

“Oh Elenna you look nice.” Helen smiled at her, but it made her blush. “Georgina where do you think you are going?”

“Downtown. Why?” Georgie was curling Lenna’s hair.

“Oh, Georgina you have to be careful lately it is not a safe area anymore. Promise me to stay with the boys and not to leave them, please.”

Lenna looked at Helen she seemed a rather concerned person, how did she let Georgie go hunting?
Georgie sounded a little bit annoyed. “Aunt Helen Lenna and I can protect ourselves very good. But we will stay together, don’t worry about us. You are ready to go Lenna.” Lenna looked at herself in the mirror. “I actually don’t look to bad. Thanks Blondie.”

The two girls went back downstairs where the boys already waited. “Sorry it took us so long, but Lenna dressed me up like a Geisha.” Lenna grinned and stuck out her tongue to Georgie, she was just teasing her best friend.

“At least you look nice tonight and not like a hobo girl that has to wear whatever clothes she gets. Everyone ready to go?” Georgie looked at her friends, while Lenna was studying the baby portrait of Georgie.

Turning the corner, Richard walked up to then through the rest of the group, calling out as he did.

“I’m going for a drink. Anyone else wasting to tag along?”

“That was the plan,” Rome replied with a degree of amusement.

“Which bar are you going to?” asked Georgie.

“The first one I find.” At this point Richard had reached the front door and stepped out into the night, turning towards the garage. A few seconds later the peace of the estate was shattered by the roar of the bike, and gravel being thrown like shrapnel across the lawns.

Once in Boston Richard weaved somewhat aimlessly through the streets until he found a bar, the sign outside proclaiming the ‘Blackberry Bramble’. Not really caring what kind of establishment, he parked the bike. With a fast stride Richard headed to the door, then leapt back several feet as a small figure was launched through it.

((OOC: Sorry, still waiting on a post from Rigby, way far away earlier in this thread, whom we're about to "meet" properly here. I say we all gang up on Beeayy!))

The trio stared after Richard as he rode off angrily on his bike.

Rome did a double-take. "Okay, seriously? Forty-year-old guy riding the bike built for a twenty-year-old only looks bad to me? He could have come in the car with us."

Georgie punched his arm lightly. "Be nice to him, he's had a rough day. Uncle Lewis was being more difficult than usual today."

"Plus, then he'd look like our chaperon or something," Lenna giggled.

Rome laughed before turning to Lenna and wagging his finger in her direction. "Look, don't you try to be cute with me, you're still in the doghouse."

"What? What did I--"

"What did you not do? You're lucky I don't do embarrassed, because if I did I would have marched you outside and made you sit in the car until lunch was over, okay? You're on probation tonight, and if I have to get you a hotel so Georgie's hot aunt doesn't have to deal with your PMS-ing, I'll do it."

Lenna glared at him, but didn't say anything. He glared right back.

"Someone struck a nerve," Georgie commented.

"She started it," Rome tried, knowing how childish he sounded and not caring.

"Okay, fine, I'll drive," Georgie said, taking the keys from Rome's hand. "I am still far more sober than I want to be right now, so let's go."

Rome let Lenna into the back and sat next to Georgie in the passenger's side. There was an awkward silence for a bit.

"So...are we thinking there's a hu--" Rome started, but Georgie interrupted him.

"Don't say it."

"Say what?"

"The 'H' word! I don't want to hear it. This is a vacation, and I'm still too sober."

"All right, all right, fine," Rome said.

The rest of the car ride was silent. Rome tried to amuse himself with the games on his phone but it was no use.

He looked up as they approached downtown.

"Now there looks like a fun place," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm, as he saw a young teenager getting thrown out of an Irish-style pub.

"There's Richard's bike, we're going," Georgie decided, and pulled over.

"What's this?" Rome cried.

"What's what?"

"This! There's no valet service here, chica!"

"I know! That's why I parked the car!"

"You call this 'parked'? It's practically perpendicular to the curb! Geez, I can't take you two anywhere...you go inside and get us a table, I'll park the car..." he said.

Georgie rolled her eyes but relinquished the driver's seat. Rome slid over just as Lenna exploded out of the back seat, hardly waiting for him to move before folding down the seat so she could get out of the back. They glared at each other again, but when Lenna stuck out her tongue at him, he laughed and shook his head, and just like that, the tension between them was gone.

Just before the door slammed shut Rome heard the young teenager who'd just been unceremoniously tossed out of the bar turn to Georgie and say, "Heeeey, nice shoes."

Lenna was glad that the tension between her and Rome was gone. She watched him re-park her car, just to make sure he didn’t made a scratch into her new precious baby. She knew that Rome wouldn’t scratch it on purpose but she couldn’t stop worrying.

"Heeeey, nice shoes." Lenna turned around and saw the teenager flirting with Georgie and it was hilarious. “I always knew you will find one day a guy who appreciates your enormous show closet and here he is. I just didn’t think he would even be younger then I am.” Lenna giggled.

“Shut up, Brownie.” Georgie looked for a brief moment at the kid and then turned around. She would never talk to someone like this. It made Lenna just giggle more. “But he seems to like you, or at least your shoes.”

“You wanna wait in the car because your ID suddenly got lost?” Georgie looked annoyed at Lenna. The young brunette smiled friendly at her friend.

“I’m sorry. Got it, you’re not into teenager. This day was weird enough, let’s start drinking.” Lenna took Georgie’s hand, the two showed their ID’s and went inside. They knew Rome wasn’t far behind them. The bar seemed to be a place for the locals.

This was actually not a bar Georgie was usually hanging out, it seemed more like an Irish pub, drunk weirdoes all inclusive. Now that kid they met outside definitely seemed to have had one too many drinks. He didn’t even seem old enough to have drinks, but neither did Lenna, who was still one year away from legally being allowed to drink – which didn’t change the fact that she grabbed some booze whenever she felt like it, that mischievous girl! Georgie still liked to tease her that she was too young, but luckily for Lenna she always had a fake ID on hand.
They spotted Richard and sat down next to him. Georgie took in the surrounding while Lenna was more focused to check out the drinks on the menu.

“Looking if Prince Charming is coming back?”, Lenna asked teasingly behind the menu.

“Excuse me?”

“That kid.”

Georgie rolled her eyes. “Will you shut up already?” She snatched the menu away from her. “And you, Missy, behave.”

Rome smiled sympathetically at the kid who was dusting off his red jacket. "You know, man, you'd probably get a lot more done trying a frat party at the local college."

"Frat party?"

"Yeah, man," Rome said, glad to give a bit of friendly advice on rule-breaking. But then he stopped, looking at the kid again, his grin fading. He didn't look a day over sixteen. "Wait. How old are you, even, man?"

"A'm t'ree hundred feckin' years old!" the teen burst out, turned, and stalked off.

Rome balked, staring after the retreating teenager. Okay, weird... With that Irish accent he almost sounded--

Nahh.

Rome spotted his three hunt-mates at a table in the back. "Will you shut up already?" Georgie cried, snatching a drink menu away from Lenna, who, true to form, was apparently already annoying again. "And you, Missy, behave."

"Yeah, missy, behave," Rome admonished as he slid into the seat next to Elenna and across from Georgie, throwing a cavalier arm around the back of the seat behind her. "So apparently that kid outside was on crack or something. Irish exchange student, maybe. They let anyone in, these days," he laughed, and flagged down a waitress.

"Hi," he flashed her a winning smile, which made her blush. She was tall, very tall, athletic, sun-kissed brunette with ripped arms: a softball player, if he had to guess. "How 'bout them Sox, huh?"

"Curse of the Bambino strikes again," she grumbled.

Rome didn't actually follow baseball--or any sports--well, except for women's volleyball, maybe--since he was a hunter, though he still liked to catch the occasional game on hotel cable. He was just formulating a convincing reply, when another voice piped up:

"What was Francona thinking, letting Pedro go like that?"

Rome's head whipped around. "Georgie, since when do you follow sports?"

"I do not follow 'sports'," she sneered, like this was something peasants did when she was royalty, "I follow the Red Sox." She turned back to the waitress. "Two Sam Adams and two Malibus, please," she told her, and the waitress, smiling, jotted their order down and bounced off, without even IDing them.

Rome was still aghast about the sports thing, and was staring Georgie down.

"What?" she asked, sipping on her water through a straw seductively.

He squinted, then an idea struck him. "Oh!" he laughed.

"What?" she demanded.

"You just cock-blocked me."

"What?!"

"Because you were jealous."

Georgie looked incredulous, disgusted, and turned on at the same time. "In your dreams, Remington."

"Oh, often," he replied.

"Guys, seriously," Lenna groaned. "Richard's had a bad enough day as it is..."

Rome and Georgie broke off their sexual-tension-stare-down (which Rome was quite enjoying, unless of course she decided to use those stilettos as under-the-table-weapons) to re-focus on Richard, who was staring at the menu intently...upside-down.

"Yeah, Rich, don't worry about it," Rome said, patting the man's arm. "Sometimes brothers are dicks. We don't get to choose 'em. Don't let it get to you."

Georgie threw a toothpick at Rome. “That ‘dick’ is still my uncle, mister!” She pursed her lips, but then added: “Who does have his bad moments, I admit. Being a teenager in the Gilmore house was by far the most joyful time, indeed…” She looked at Richard, trying to joke a bit. “Let me tell you, it’s good that you missed that part.” She knew there was no way she could make the situation any better, but she at least wanted to lift up the mood a bit. “If you grew up with Lewis, you would have ended up wearing polo shirts and tweed jackets. And no way he would have let you driving that bike. And by the time you were older you would have to deal with one hell of an annoying niece.” She winked at him.

“Oh, I have no doubt you were one hell of an annoying niece”, Rome said playfully, getting another warning glance from her.

“Shut up, Remington. Bet you were ‘God’s gift to humanity’ from the moment you were born, right?”

He was about to give a sarcastic answer when Elenna let out a deep sigh. “Guys, don’t you think this all is a bit…strange?”

“What?”, Rome and Georgie asked at the same time.

“That boy…”

“That Irish kid on crack? Come on, he’s from Ireland, they are all strange over there…”

“And you know that because you have been to Ireland so often before, right?” Georgie raised an eyebrow and looked at her expensive watch.

“Can we just for once not think of ‘strange happenings’ and just enjoy a couple of drinks?” Rome was especially talking to Lenna, who had that sceptical look on her face again. “Speaking of drinks…” A smile crossed his lips when the waitress returned with their drinks. “Thank you”, he winked at her while she put the glass in front of him.

“Oh, a little tip”, Georgie said by the time the waitress reached her. “You should get bangs. You know, that would really cover your rather big forehead.” She smiled sweetly at the waitress, ignoring Rome’s stare completely.

Not long and their drinks were empty. Lenna got up, to get another round of drinks. “Hey can I have two Aggravations and two more Sam Adams.”

“I can give the Sam Adams but no way I can make you a Aggravation, there is no cream. And after the robbery of the cream truck there is no cream or milk in all Boston.”

“What do you mean there is no milk or cream in Boston?”

“No matter from where we get it, it is spoilt before it can be used.” The bartender out the two bottles on the bar and waited for her to tell him what other two drinks she wants.

“Okay then two Long Island Ice Teas.”

Lenna carried carefully all drinks back to their table. “You won’t believe it but apparently Boston is bad ground for dairy products. Apparently all milk and cream is spoilt before anyone can use it oh and they actually robbed a cream trunk. I mean who is robbing a cream trunk. How bad can the spoilt milk problem be? It’s not like there are fairy to drink it all. Even though I think it would be hilarious if we had to fight Tinkerbell.”

((OOC: So, joy! I finally wrote up the before-the-credits scene from the first page! Check it out! And apologies for it being so late.))

Rome snorted. "Fight Tinkerbell, that's--"

His "ridiculous" was cut off by a sharp scream from the back. The few people in the pub looked startled, and a few of the workers ran to the back. He looked around at his companions. Aside from Georgie, who was giving him the don't-you-dare-spoil-my-vacation death-glare, they all looked as curious and concerned as he was.

So Rome stood up from the table and ran after them. He followed their waitress around the counter and through the kitchen, glad he had brought his fake FBI badge as well as his gun without letting Georgie find out.

He could smell the blood before he even got there.

And the vomit. Two people had already thrown up, and three more people had screamed.

This was probably their type of problem.

"Let me through, let me through, FBI," Rome said, slipping into his voice of authority, which people naturally wanted to listen to because it meant they didn't have to deal with--

Well, it couldn't really be called a "murder." Even "dismemberment" was kind of tame. Rome, who had seen a few nasty things in his short but danger-filled, freaky life, would say this looked like a cross between a ritual disemboweling and a gluttonous feast on human flesh.

Lenna pushed up next to him, and groaned at the sight of the body just barely visible out the back door into the alleyway. That was how bad it was: they hadn't even seen the whole thing yet and already Rome wanted to puke.

Rome turned to what looked like a manager: "You in charge here?" he said, flashing his badge again.

"Uh, yeah! Yeah, I'm the owner, Agent...?"

"Remington. I'm off duty. I will need you to call the authorities after I ask you a few questions. Did you find him?"

"No. No..." The man looked stricken, wasn't really paying enough attention to him to question his authority or not give him everything he wanted. "Lisa found him," he pointed to a young waitress who looked like she was puking up her last seven meals and was a sobbing wreck, so Rome decided not to try her.

"Who was the victim?"

"Tony. Tony, damn, Jesus, one of the cooks. Antonio Greco. Jesus, I have to call his folks..."

"Was he married?"

"No, no, lived at home. Oldest of, you know, like twelve brothers and sisters. You know, Roman Catholic. Jeeesus...."

"You need to take a seat, sir. Have one of your people call the 911. Me and my partner are just going to have a quick look." He spoke loudly, then, to the crowd. "Okay, I need you all to move back, please. We have the situation under control."

He turned back to the body, steeling himself, waiting until Lenna stood at his shoulder.

"You ready for this?" he asked.

"No."

"Me neither, let's take a look," he replied, and they stepped outside into the cold Boston night.

It smelled really bad. And looked really disgusting. "Do you see anything?" he asked her.

"You mean besides the obvious?"

"Yeah. You think this is our kind of problem?"

"Rome, this guy wasn't mugged for his wallet. There's a cut down the middle of his chest, half his guts look like they were set on fire, the other half thrown over there--and half his face looks like it was eaten off! Yes, this is our kind of problem!"

"Okay, okay, keep it down, I just wanted to make sure."

Georgie and Richard now stepped up behind them. "Oh my God!" Georgie groaned and turned away. Richard didn't look pleased with the scene either. They were all wearing expressions of background distaste as if they were trying desperately not to scream and run away. Rome was pretty sure he looked the same.

"The police will be here in five. I heard them say on the phone," Richard informed them.

"Okay, we need to be gone by then. Lenna, can you do some magic mojo to see what went on here?"

Lenna looked at Rome. “Yes I guess I can try.”

She went closer to the body, took out her small silver knife and cut her arm. A small blood dripped down her arm on the body.

“Feuer, Erde, Luft und Wasser! Elemente die ihr seit hier zeigt mir die Wahrheit ueber das geschehen!” A sudden wind appeared, and for a moment Lenna’s eyes shimmered unusual. Her blood that had dripped on the body started to smoke. Lenna wasn’t sure if everyone could see what she saw or just her the smoke formed a door and she knew right away not to open it, but she tried it anyway. A sudden flash of light threw her backwards into the wall behind her. Lenna wasn’t aware of her surroundings or her friends anymore. “This is huge and there is more magic then I ever saw behind this door. We are not on a vacation anymore. We’ve got work to do.”



Spell translation:
Fire, earth, air and water! The elements that are here you show me the truth about what happen!

Georgie hurried to Lenna to help her up again. She wasn’t particularly excited when her friend used her magic, it gave her more or less the creeps every time Lenna turned all Hocus Pocus, but at least it was helpful- most of the time.
“What do you mean we’ve got work to do?” Georgie couldn’t avoid sounding like a sulky kid. “You’re honestly saying that this calls for a new job again? Maybe it was just some bloodthirsty psychopath who has fun killing people in a really nasty way and-“

“No.” Lenna shook her head. “There’s something going on that is definitely not human.”

“Great. So much for vacation…” Georgie crossed her arms and glanced over to the dead body when she suddenly noticed that teenage boy from earlier at the end of the hallway, watching the whole scene. Something wasn’t right with that kid, she could feel it. And everything about him screamed ‘suspicious’. Georgie didn’t wait much longer, she turned away from the others and approached the boy, but when he looked like he was about to run away, she increased her speed and before he got the chance to flee she had already gotten hold of his arms.
“Not so fast…” She scrutinized him closely. He really didn’t look a day older than seventeen. “Why were you watching us?” She didn’t even blink while her grip got tighter.

“I wasn’t”, he said, smiling goofily. She tried to figure out if he just played the whole being-drunk act. “Just been walking around, clearing my head, ya know?”

“And randomly standing in a dark alley behind a bar, just a few feet away from a dead guy who’s sliced open? How very convenient…”

He just shrugged his shoulders, still grinning stupidly. “You got a boyfriend?”

Georgie took a deep breath before she said anything. “If I’d be you I would be very careful where you’re going, kid…”, she hissed. “Now you better quit playing games and tell me what you know.”
That same moment they heard police sirens, and she knew they had to get away from the crime scene as soon as possible, but she didn’t want to let go off the suspect. Would be too nice if they could just kidnap him, but yes, that was against the law, and her uncle would freak if they would turn up with a kidnapped teenager and absolutely no evidence that he was involved in all of this.

In his time as a paramedic Richard had seen plenty of managed bodies, especially when cars were involved. But this was a step up from even that. The sheer amount of carnage almost completely ruled out any terrestrial cause of death, as well as snapping Richard out of his dark and on the verge of drunk state.

And the Lenna was flung against the wall. Once again, Richard bit down the urge to confront her about the whole ‘magic’ thing. Mostly because this seriously wasn’t the time. And in case Rome got it into his head to bring up the ghosts again. Magic was one thing. Deals with Greek gods…

Richard joined Georgie as she helped Lenna up. Even with a cursoary glance his practiced eye told him Lenna wasn’t badly hurt by the wall. More surprised than anything, and obviously more concerned about what she saw.

“You said something about a door, what did you see?” Richard asked Lenna, just as the crescendo of sirens became audible. “Damn, explain on the way. Time to go. Um, Georgie, this isn’t really the time…”

“He’s involved in all of this,” Georgie snapped back.

“Are you sure?” Georgie just glared at him.

“Right, keep a hold of him and let’s get out of here. Erebus!” Richard suddenly exclaimed, “knowing our luck we’re about to be framed for a horrific murder.”

Rome shook his head. "Yeah. Try 'another' horrific murder."

They got to the car without any trouble, but once there, as cop cars zoomed past them, Rome stopped, hands on the wheel. "So. Where do we go?"

"I t'ink you could let me da feck go!" the kid said, but without much force.

"Son, just don't," Rome said, pointing at the kid. "Let's go to a hotel. I don't want G's aunt and uncle to see this."

For the first time, Rome brushed against Lenna's skin as she sat in the front seat next to him.

BAM!

A door. Bright white light streaming out of it. Three figures silhouetted.

"Argh!" Rome cried, holding his head.

"Rome!" Lenna said, reaching out, but he batted her hand away.

Great, so now her magic was setting off his psychic episodes? He had a headache.

"Need me to drive?" Richard said, tapping on the window.

"You don't want me on your motorcycle." Rome shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Ye have the second sight, do ya?"

The teenager was watching him a little too intensely. And he talked like he knew too much. Georgie had made the right call on grabbing him.

Rome started the car. This was bad. "Okay, let's get out of here. Just no one touch me."

“Actually it’s best when we get home”, Georgie said, eying the strange kid on the backseat next to her suspiciously. “Helen and Lewis will worry if we don’t get home, and besides, that big hunter library that my dear uncle had hidden so nicely from me all those years could be very beneficial for research, and we have a huge cellar where we can keep him…” She didn’t leave the boy out of her sight for one second.

“You sound like you’ve got some really cruel torture methods in your head, G”, Rome said, looking briefly in the rear-view mirror.

“Don’t be silly, I just think that’s a good place where we can keep the boy and get information out of him.” Georgie threw some of her hair back and scrutinized him with raised eyebrows.

“You’re making me kinda nervous, missy, staring at me like that…”, the boy mumbled.

“Well, I don’t really intend to make you comfortable”, she replied cynically. “And trust me, if you don’t get out with the truth it will get a lot more uncomfortable for you.”

“Now you kinda creeping me out!”

“That’s nothing new”, Rome said, and Georgie immediately kicked his seat.

“You be quiet, Remington.”

“So you gonna kidnap me or what is this?” The boy looked from one person to the next.

“I wouldn’t put it that way”, Georgie said, although she knew that it technically was some sort of kidnapping. “Lenna, I hope you’ll get some good research done, we need your highly active brain in this whole thing.”

“Oh I love to go back in the library of your uncle.”

Lenna grinned at Georgie, before she looked at Rome. She knew he had seen something, but she couldn’t ask him in front of the kid. She considered asking him in Morse code but he asked them not to touch him.
This was weird. Rome had never seen the outcome of one of her spells.

“Don’t you dare to scratch my car kid, or I gonna kill you.” Lenna looked at the kid next to Georgie.

Rome just stopped the car outside of the mansion of the Gilmores.

Rome turned around in his seat, trying to look menacing while still maintaining the sexiness he would need to get let into that blindingly pink palace that was G's bedroom. Then again, they were working, so he really should get his mind out of the gutter.

He was still shaken up about his vision--especially since he'd been weeks without an incident and he'd never got any feedback from one of Lenna's spells before, which was just all manner of fracked up--but between that and the things that came out of this kid's mouth were more than enough to get his suspicions up. He was getting the distinct impression that this kid was more than he appeared.

Possibly a lot more. And it felt like playing with fire. But Rome was no stranger to getting burned, so you know, what the hell:

"Okay, kid. We can do this the easy way or the hard way," he said.

"Rome..." Georgie warned, possible because he was not-so-subtlely suggesting that they torture a minor in her aunt and uncle's house.

"H-how's that?" To his credit, whatever this thing pretending to be a teenager was, it managed to look properly afraid.

"Either we force the information out of you in various horrible ways until we find something that works, or...we bribe you."

Three heads whipped around to look at him.

"What?" Rome demanded. "I'm not above bribing. It's easier, you know. Money, booze, magic, women, uh, you know, men? We'd prefer you on our side, and believe it or not we're the good guys, here. There has to be something you want that we can give you. So what's it gonna be? Easy or hard?"

The kid shrugged. "Oh, easy. Fuck, Oi'd love ta see those red bastards get what's comin' to 'em. Oi'd just as soon bribe you lot to get 'em for me, if dat's what we're playin' at. But since you're askin' so noicely," he said with a wide, wicked grin, "Oi'll help you get rid o' these buggers and lock the door after 'em--so long as you get me back on da roight side of it."

"Um. What?" Rome wanted to make sure he got that right.

"Oh. And I wouldn't say no to a nightcap, either."

Lenna looked and the kid in the back and at Rome this was weird. It didn’t take them long to arrive back at the Gilmore Mansion with Richard just behind them on his bike. Lenna got out and didn’t paid much attention to what the others did with the kid, she went straight upstairs in the library on her way she had grabbed her laptop to look through local newspapers. Something was very fishy here.

There were articles about the milk spoilage, and the increased robberies in downtown and also the murder in the bar area. And then she found new information. Three people had gone missing, two were still missing but one returned. The poor man checked himself in the mental hospital, his story was very weird he was abducted and only escaped because of luck. He never mentioned who the kidnappers were or where they took him.
Lenna skipped through articles and found more and more about pet mutilations. She wasn’t sure but she started to dislike Boston. It was a weird town.

“I mean come on who is sticking a goldfish head –I didn’t even know Goldfish have a head- in a spike. And as far as I know there are no wild animals in Boston anymore.”

Lenna got up and opened as if she always went into it the hidden hunter library. She liked it there it was smelling of books, blood and hunter. Weirdly soothing, it smelled like Bobby’s entire house.
Lenna looked over the titles of the books and thought about the kid the others were dealing with in the basement.

“He had a weird accent, maybe Scottish or even Irish. Hold on a minute… milk!”

Lenna went to the books she saw about Irish mythology. Because this whole mess didn’t look at all like a sadistic ritual made by humans.

“They love cream, which, like alcohol, intoxicates them.” Lenna starred at the section she was reading. It was about fairies not so much the little Tinkerbells but more the whole bunch. This was insane fairies weren’t real… Right?

“Elenna? What are you doing here?” Helen was standing in her nightshirt and a rope in the door frame.

“Oh erm, well I guess it is the easiest way to just tell you how it is. We found a hunt here in Boston and I am now doing the research with the little information we have. I hope I didn’t wake you Mrs Gilmore?” Lenna was now that she was doing what she did best a lot friendlier, it was easier to be well behaved when you know the terrain you are in.

“No you didn’t wake me up my dear.” Helen looked intense at Lenna, the young girl blushed and looked at the book again.

“Elenna dear, there is something you need to know.” Helen went to the book closet in the hunter library and opened another hidden wall to a bookshelf. She pulled out two similar books, they looked a lot like journals. “Those two belong to your mother. She sent them to us along with many of the books you see here asking us to give them to you when you are coming with questions. I started to hope you would never come with those questions, but to see you’re here with those books not knowing anything about your family give me the right to answer the questions you don’t know to ask.”

Lenna looked confused, she didn’t understand what Helen meant that she doesn’t know the questions to ask until she opened the first book Helen handed her.

This book belongs to Lorelai Schmidt (soon to be Fee)

Today Christopher told me the truth, the truth about everything and it explained so much. The things that are out there in the dark… I am glad he told me and I am glad he asked me to help him to hunt those things down. I am now at night a hunter of supernatural creatures and at day I am the fiancée of a Reverend. It might be a long shot but I wonder what I will one day tell my children. I don’t want them to be afraid but I also want them to be strong and know what is out there…

Lenna starred at the page, this was not true her mom and dad weren’t… hunters.

“When you were just a little girl you and your family came to visit my brother in law and his family, Adam and Josephine were once hunting with your parents and afterwards they got together for a [url=https://reanimated.rpg-board.net/t19-sweet-child-o-mine-a-georgielenna-adventure#34]weekend[/urk]. You called Georgie-“

“Dordie!”

“You remember meeting her?”

“No but I remember the imaginary friend I had, she was a princess with blonde hair and a pink knife. She was protecting me from the monsters under the bed and in my closet. She was real?”

“Yes I don’t know what but something came up that made it too dangerous to meet again. I know you mom was really upset about it because she saw how well you and Georgie got along. Elenna are you alright?” Helen went closer to Elenna, but the young girl backed away from her.

“Sorry I gotta go, we have a hunt and I need to tell the others what I found.” Elenna stuffed the two journals in her bag, took all books about Irish mythology in her arms and the newspaper articles to go and find the wine cellar. She was pale shaking and looked rather confused.

Lenna tried to open the door but it was locked. She pounded at the door and yelled. "Guys? It's me! Let me in!"

It was Rome that let her in, half-embracing her. "I think I may have found something," she said, looking a little pale. She breathed in for a second Rome's typical smell and tried to calm down.

After they arrived at home, Elenna headed straight to the library while the rest went into the wine cellar with the boy. Georgie hoped her uncle wouldn’t walk into them when they would show up with that kid who they had just kidnapped and now tried to get to talk. They had not been very successful so far, but they would get information out of him eventually. Both Rome and Richard had to grab him to get him downstairs into the wine cellar, he definitely wasn’t willing to follow them voluntarily.
When they arrived in the wine cellar, Rome and Georgie turned immediately to the boy and started asking questions, but as expected, the kid didn’t cooperate. Instead, he kept staring at Georgie’s shoes.
“You got more of these?”, he interrupted her while she was just threating him that he would be punished severely if he didn’t speak.

Georgie looked irritated at him. “Excuse me?”

“Your shoes. You got more?”

“Eh…I don’t know if that really matters”, she said coldly. “And yes, of course I do have more of these.” She didn’t care that she just sounded rather snobby. “Anyway, I was seriou-“

“Can I see them?”

“You what?”

“I want to see your shoes.”

The other three exchanged confused looks. Was this a trap, or was the kid just gay with a strange shoe obsession?
Georgie crossed her arms. “Listen, kid, I don’t think you-“

“I want to see the shoes!” Now he sounded like a sulky child.

“You’re not going to see my shoes, you freak.”

They glared at each other coldly for a moment until Rome turned to Georgie and moved a bit closer so that the boy couldn’t hear them.
“You know, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“What?”

“Showing him your shoes, if that makes him happy…”

“Are you serious?”

Rome shrugged his shoulders. “The grumpier he is, the less he’s willing to talk, it seems. So maybe he’s more willing to talk if you show him your shoes.”

Georgie raised her eyebrows. She still thought it was weird, but maybe Rome wasn’t that wrong. Her eyes wandered back to the boy.
“Okay, you may see my shoes…” She reached for her purse and got out a gun. “And don’t you even think about trying to escape.” She pressed the gun against his back while she left him out of the wine cellar upstairs, hoping her uncle wouldn’t show up any second.

“Whoa, I’m blind!”, he said when they entered her bright pink room.

“Shut up or you won’t see one single pair of my shoes”, Georgie hissed. Since he kept his mouth shut, she opened the door to her walk-in shoe closet.

“Holy shit!” His eyes widened as he looked around, but when he was about to reach out to grab one of her shoes, she stopped him.

“No touching, just looking! I don’t want dirty fingers on my Louboutins!”
She watched him like a hawk while he observed every single pair of her shoes, and everytime he tried to touch them, she reminded him very nicely not to by holding her gun very closely to his head. The weird shoe-loving kid seemed to calm down though and was definitely in a better and a more talkative mood, so Rome had been right by suggesting to show him the shoes.
“Okay, you saw the shoes, now it’s time to get downstairs and have a talk”, she said, nodding to the door.

"Hey, guys," Rome looked up as Georgie and Rigby entered the wine cellar. As soon as they stepped inside, Richard stepped out from behind the door and slammed it shut, locked it, and threw down a line of salt in front of the door. "Have fun?" His tone was menacing, in case the kid didn't want to play nice.

But the kid actually looked kind of pleased with himself and the world, which almost made Rome regret the fact that he had a sturdy chair, a little bit of rope, and a lot of bludgeoning instruments ready to threaten the kid with.

"Oh, yeah, we had a grand old--Oh! NO!" the kid bellowed, staring at the salt. He looked up at Richard with betrayal. "Damn you!" he said, and then, oddly, sat down and started...counting. "One, two, t'ree, four, five, six..."

Rome, Richard, and Georgie stared at him with concern.

"Um. What are you doing?"

"Nine, ten, eleven, twelve--counting da feckin' salt!--t'irteen, fourteen..."

"Um. Why?"

"Because I'm a feckin' leprechaun, it's what I do!--nineteen, twenty..."

Rome, Richard and Georgie looked at each other. Rome wasn't sure what was more surprising: that this was a leprechaun, or that he was sitting there counting salt, apparently involuntarily.

They gathered in a football huddle while the kid counted. "Where's Lenna?"

"Upstairs in the library."

"Great. Um. Okay, leprechaun? Does that sound right?"

"Counting salt?"

"I don't know!"

Rome poked his head up out of the huddle. "Can we--like--help you?"

"Twenty-nine--yeah, get rid of da feckin' salt!--t'irty..."

The leprechaun had counted up to sixty-seven by the time they got the salt vacuumed up, and he sat back, breathless.

"What, did you think I was going to run? I already told you I respond better to bribes than threats."

"All right, all right, here's that drink," Rome said, handing the kid the whole bottle. "What's with the salt?"

"It's how you outrun a fairy: if you throw salt down, they have to stop and count it."

"Wait, wait, okay--fairy? I thought you said you were a leprechaun."

Rigby nodded, took another swig, wiped his mouth as he sidled down the stairs. "I'm both. Fairy: umbrella term for me and my kind. The Red Caps wandering around kidnapping the humans and mutilating the animals are, unfortunately, related to--"

"Great, well, we hadn't caught up that far. What are they doing?"

Rigby opened his mouth to speak when there came a pounding at the door.

"Shit! It's my uncle!" Georgie hissed. "We have to hide him!"

"Guys? It's me!" came Lenna's voice through the door. "Let me in!" Rome pounded up the stairs and let her in, half-embracing her as he was simply grateful she wasn't a big scary important lawyer. "I think I may have found something," she said, looking a little pale.

Lenna didn’t want him to let go so far, she didn’t like knowing that her mother was a hunter oh and her father too.

“We found out something too.” Rome looked at Lenna but decided not to ask right now if she was okay. “The kid is a leprechaun and he freaking counts salt.”

“That goes very well with what I found. So is he good or bad?”

“Not sure yet, he sure is gay. He is totally into shoes.” Rome led Lenna to the others. “You were saying Tinkerbell?” Rome said to Rigby.

“The Red Caps are fairies too if you want to see it like this.” Rigby said.

“So you are one of them. What makes you think we not just kill you on the spot?” Lenna asked coldly, everyone who knew her well would hear in her voice that something is wrong. And it is not just a little something.

“Because you need me to get the book that explains how to kill the Red Caps.” Rigby said fixing Lenna with his eyes.

“So where is this book?” Lenna asked.

Georgie got up she had been watching Lenna since she walked in, she saw how she was holding Rome tight when he hugged her and how she now was having a hard time keeping it together. She took her friends hand and pulled her a little away. “Are you okay Brownie?”

Lenna looked at Georgie for a moment but then shook her head. “I’m just peachy.” Lenna pushed her aside, but squeezed her hand before she turned back to Rigby. Georgie still was worried what happened to Lenna since they got out of the car.

“Where is the book?” And suddenly something weird was happening it was as if for a moment her bad feeling were taking away and she was completely calm. But it didn’t last long. Lenna looked at Rome, then Richard and at last at Georgie. Something was weird. “Dude I asked where the book is.” Lenna turned back to Rigby.

“They have it.” He looked at her annoyed. “You know you are not very nice.”

“Well bite me I have better things to do as be nice to monsters.” Lenna was holding the journals in her arm tight.

"Okay," Rome said, sensing that things were going downhill and gently guiding Lenna elsewhere so he could talk to the leprechaun again.

"So these Red Caps, they brought you here?"

"Yeah."

"And you're--you can't get back?"

"Right."

"And--" Rome paused. Was there a nice way to phrase this? "Okay, don't get me wrong, but why can't you--why are you just a--um."

"Why am I stuck in this mortal body?"

"Um. Yeah, I guess so? Do leprechauns just not really have powers?"

Rigby made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. "Do leprechauns not have powers--boyo, if I wanted to bring this house down around your ears while you danced a jig, I could do it." For the first time, he sounded a bit intimidating. But then: "But I'm in the doghouse," he said, sadly, and sat on the floor, playing with the now empty bottle of wine listlessly.

"Um. What?"

"My Lady. She's not pleased with me. And when my Lady's not pleased with me, I get--"

"What did you do?"

Rigby looked guilty. "I...might have...look, it doesn't matter."

"What could be so bad you get kicked out of the fairy realm for?" Georgie demanded.

"I...look, okay, I killed someone, if you must know. A sprite who was trying to horn in on my action! And what does my Lady do but she banishes me from the realm until I can prove myself to her. Now you tell me, what da feck does that mean?"

Rome cringed. "Hell hath no fury, right?" he said, patting the fairy on the shoulder. "So if we get this book...?"

"There should be a spell that opens the door."

"And these Red Caps? I'm guessing they won't just let us make a photocopy?"

Rigby looked at Rome like he was stupid. "You wanna know why they're called Red Caps? Because they soak their hats in blood, and they lose their power if it ever dries up," Rigby snarled. "They're tough customers, but we'll need a sacrifice to open the door anyway, so you'll have to take them down."

Rome wasn't sure he was okay with this, but he went on with it. "How do we take these guys down?"

"Dark fairy are vulnerable to silver, and any fairy can't stand da touch of iron. Also da salt trick might slow them down, though they're more likely to not be able to count to twenty with dere shoes on and just get more frustrated."

Rome nodded. "And we kill 'em that way? Iron, silver bullets?"

Rigby shrugged. "Might kill 'em. Might just make 'em angry, but it ought to slow 'em down enough to get the book."

Rome pursed his lips. "Well." He looked around at the team. "I guess that's a plan? Not a good one, but a plan."

It was about eleven at night when the bell at the main door rang. Lewis had just changed into his pyjama and was about to go to bed.
“Did you expect someone?” Lewis looked from his expensive watch to his wife who shook her head.

“The children are already back, so I don’t know who that could be…”

“Strange.” Lewis put on his robe and went downstairs. It was strangely quiet, the others didn’t seem to be in their rooms, but he didn’t have time to check, he went directly to the door.
When he opened the door, he faced two men in suits he had never seen before.

“Are you Mr Gilmore?”, the taller one asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m Special Agent Holyfield, this is my partner Agent Collins…” Both held up their FBI ID cards. “We have a few questions for you, Mr Gilmore.”

Lewis raised his eyebrows. “Is it of importance? It is rather late, and-“

“It won’t take long, Mr Gilmore, I assure you”, Holyfield said while his partner got out some documents, handed it to him, and Holyfield held up the documents so that Lewis could see the pictures of Rome, Elenna and Georgie.
“Georgina Gilmore is your niece, last time I checked…”

Lewis didn’t show any expression in his face. “That’s correct.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“It’s been a while, maybe a year or so. We’re not having contact anymore.”

“Is that so?” The agent raised his eyebrows.

“Yes.”

“May I ask why?”

Lewis didn’t even blink. “That is something between my niece and I, so I would rather not talk about it.”

Holyfield was quiet for a moment. “And you haven’t seen her for about a year?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…” He held up the other two documents. “What about those two? Romulus Remington and Elenna Fee. They have been seen with your niece, so I assume you know about them?”

Lewis looked at the pictures, then shook his head. “I’m afraid I’m of no help.”

“Georgina hasn’t even mentioned them to you? Not once?” Holyfield scrutinized him doubtfully, but Lewis didn’t give anything away.

“No, she hasn’t.” He looked at his watch. “Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s very late and I have to be in court early tomorrow…”
The agents weren’t easy to get rid of, but Lewis managed it eventually, though he wasn’t sure how much they actually believed him. He wasn’t even sure if these guys really were from the FBI, there was something very shady about it…

Georgie felt like she was part of some freak show. Fairies. Leprechauns. Seriously???
She looked at the kid and still hoped that he would suddenly say it was all a joke, but it didn’t seem like it. So much for holidays in good, old Boston…Why was she not surprised that this had turned into something very different again.
Suddenly the door opened and Georgie held her breath when she saw her uncle showing up behind her. She thought they had been quiet so he wouldn’t hear them, but who was she kidding? Lewis had scarily good ears, that’s why she always had a hard time sneaking in late at night back in her teenage years- well, yeah, and then there were about a thousand incredibly obnoxious alarms installed around the house, so it was kind of hard to sneak in at all, not to mention the cameras and God knows what else her uncle had installed around the property.

“I am very sorry to interrupt the festivities going on here in my wine cellar, but may someone be so nice and explain to me what is going on?” Lewis looked from one person to the next, then he stopped at Rigby. “And who are you?”

“You’ve got some fine booze here, man”, the young boy said with a stupid grin, but he immediately shut up when he saw Georgie’s furious glance, then she turned to her uncle.

“See, there’s been a little…incident.”

“And incident that involves the FBI?”

“No, nothing with the FBI, it was more…eh…something happened, which included this kid over here, and we had to take him with us because he knew about certain…issues…”

Lewis crossed his arms. “Issues that involve the FBI?”

She shook her head. “No FBI, not that I know of…” Her eyes wandered to the rest of the team.

“Well, then I guess those people who showed up in front of my door a few minutes ago, dressed in uniform and IDs, claiming they are from the FBI and are looking for all of you, just happen to be either a little early for Halloween or some sort of entertainment for the ladies, since we already know about that, isn’t that right, Georgina?”

Georgie rolled her eyes. “I told you a hundred times that my friends sent the strippers in police uniform to surprise me for my birthday, I had no idea they would do that, and I especially had no idea that Helen would open the door.”

Lewis raised an eyebrow, but then turned to the others. “Why do I have the feeling that you’re not here for a holiday at all?”

“We were…”, Lenna started. “But we…eh…got interrupted.”

“The FBI is looking for you and asked me if I knew where you are.” He paused for a moment. “However, there was something not quite right about them…”

“Because they were male strippers?”, Rome asked with a grin, which quickly vanished when he felt Georgie punching his shoulder.

Lewis took a deep breath. “Whatever is going on right now, make sure not to attract any more attention. I don’t have a good feeling about this…”

Lenna looked at Lewis for a long time. She wondered why her mother had sent the journal to him. Why didn’t she left it her?

“The FBI is looking for us since some month now. Why did they only come today to ask for Georgie?”

Now Lewis looked at the young girl. And not the first time she reminded him of her mother. Often asking the right questions to the right time. Staying calm, while she was borderline insane… and then he saw the journals in her arm. The promise he had given her parents all those years ago was broken, she knew who she was. He would have to ask Helen to talk to Lenna if she was alright.

“They know where you are, because they not just asked for Georgina but also for the rest of you. And don’t be fooled they look like the FBI, but there is a detail that clearly shows they are not the FBI. Georgina I expect you to be careful, just like the rest of you. And I better don’t want to know what you are doing in my wine cellar with this kid.” Lewis said calmly.

Lenna felt weird all those information about her parents she had found out, and now they were hunting fairies and someone who was pretending to be the FBI was hunting them.

“Okay so we need to find the Red Caps, any idea where they are and how to find them? Since I guess showing you around town isn’t the best thing to get close to them.” Even though Lenna’s voice was completely calm on the inside a firework of emotions was running through her body. She kept looking again and again at Georgie as if she remembered her best friend from when she was little, but all she did remember was her invisible friend Dordie, she had yellow hair and was wearing a crazy pink princess dress and had a little pink knife to protect Lenna against the monsters she kept seeing.

Maybe I really did see monsters and they weren’t just a thing of my imagination?

Lenna had so many questions and she didn’t know who to ask. She really wished her parents would be alive. She wasn’t even mad at them since they just tried to give her a real childhood.