everyonelives | angry men don't write the rules, and guns don't right the wrongs

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angry men don't write the rules, and guns don't right the wrongs

“This isn’t up for debate, Della.” Patrick Brighton stands tall at the head of the room, staring down the witches with a wave of his hand. His wife, Frida, sits on his right, and his daughter Bridget on his left, and while he respects Della and the work she’s done for the coven over the years, this is a line he doesn’t intend to cross. “We’re not joining Tamara Monroe.”

“Well. Playing favorites again, are we?” Della crosses her arms in front of her chest as she stares up at the stage. “You’ll let Eliza come in here and bring that beast —”

“Name calling is beneath you, Del. But then again, maybe it’s the company you’re keeping.”

“Eliza,” Patrick gives her a look. “Not helping.” Eliza holds up her hands in return. “And I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to give Isaac the opportunity to speak.”

“I just don’t understand why you’re taking the side of monsters.” Della glares at Isaac, and Isaac steps behind Eliza, almost as though she might be able to intercept the glare. He then holds up a hand.

“I’m being called a lot of names and I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“And you shouldn’t be allowed to say anything at all! You’re not one of us!”

“No, but I’m trying to help you.” Isaac’s spine straightens as he takes a step closer. “Those hunters that you want to team up with? They’re not doing it to help you. They’re doing it because you’re powerful and they want to control you.” He holds up his hands again. “Tamara Monroe doesn’t want to ally with you to save you. She’s not looking out for your best interest. She’s just making a note of who to kill last.”

Della looks furious. A gasp of silence rolls through the room, but Isaac isn’t one to sugarcoat things, and beating around the bush hasn’t really caused things to sink in. Before she can try to get the upper hand, Isaac interjects again.

“The hunters are here. They tried to kill me this morning for walking down the street. They will come after your coven and your families, and there is no time to debate this anymore. You need to keep your people safe.”

Patrick looks over at Frida, concern in his features. Della looks like she’s going to argue her case, but before she gets too far, someone stands in the back of the room, and there’s the sound of a gun slide being pulled back. Everyone turns, and a man stands in the middle of the crowd, and he has a gun pointed at Isaac.

“What are you doing?” Patrick demands, stepping forward. “Put that down!”

“I don’t have to listen to you, witch.” The man has a wild look in his eyes. Isaac can see another man looking horrified in a way that’s more personal. The hunter had a partner. “If I had a say in any of this, I’d take every one of you abominations down. But right now, I’m just here for him.”

He turns and fires. The bullet shoots through the air, and Isaac quickly steps in front of Elijah, taking two bullets to the chest. Neither of them were kill shots, but they hurt, and the werewolf stumbles backwards into the witch behind him.

“Oh, I forgot how much that hurts,” Isaac grumbles.

“There’s no wolfsbane in these bullets, but I’m sure a headshot will do the trick.” The hunter prepares to shoot again, but the metal begins to heat in his hand, burning his skin and the hunter hisses before dropping it to the ground.

Patrick is on the stage, hand on the staff that marks him the leader of the coven. “That is enough.”

That should have been the end of things. It wasn’t. Instead, the hunter pulls out another gun, extending his hand and shooting Patrick Brighton at center mass. His body jerks three times as the bullets collide and the room erupts into screams, none more than the women at the front of the room. The witches begin to run, trying to find the nearest door to escape the carnage. Another shot sounds, and Frida Brighton follows her husband, landing on the stage in front of them.

Bridget Brighton doesn’t hesitate, however. There’s a reason she’s been designated her father’s heir, and she acts quickly. She takes the staff, letting it settle into her hand before slamming the end of the staff down into the ground, chanting as she does. A shockwave echoes out through the center of the room, blowing down the walls of the building down and sending people flying.

The other hunter in the room had tried to come to his compatriot’s aid. Instead, he gets sent flying, a jagged piece of wood slicing through his chest from behind. The hunter who shot her father gets knocked to the ground, but he comes to his feet again, staring her down.

“Kill me if you want. But there’s more of us here. We’ll take our pound of flesh either way.”

“So you want to play a game, then?” There’s a dangerous edge to her voice.

“Bridget,” Eliza’s voice is calm, but there’s an undercut of fear to it. Bridget is a good girl, but she’s also a grieving one. “Bridget, we’re better than this.”

“Maybe we are. But that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to defend ourselves.” The wind picks up around her and she draws her hands out in front of her. She chanted another incantation, before drawing her hands together. The world flickers, and Eliza’s eyes widen.

“What did you do?”

“I trapped them in here with us.”

The hunter’s eyes widen. “You can’t do that.”

“Oh, I can do whatever I want. You’re the one who started this.”

“We’ll find a way out. We’ll stop the spell, even if we have to kill you.”

Bridget smirks. “You’ll have to catch me first.” And with that, she disappears from sight.

The hunter tries to leave but Isaac is there before he can get far. The werewolf clotheslines him down to the ground, before shoving a hand into his chest, claws first. The man cries out in pain, before looking up at him, eyes still filled with that wild energy.

“You’re one of Scott McCall’s wolves. You won’t kill me.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Isaac twists, feeling the blood start to leak through the wounds. “But you forgot two things. One, Scott’s not here right now, and you shot me. Twice.”

The hunter snarls as Eliza comes up over Isaac’s shoulder.

“And what’s the second?”

“It’s not the head of my coven you just killed.”

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I'll explain later.

[She goes and looks both of them over.]

Are either of you hurt?

[Coop shakes his head. "Lightly concussed, but otherwise fine."]

Dusty. And, formerly trapped.

( He also remembers that they are face to face. If they were on a train and it came to a stop suddenly, they'd kiss. Alright. He pulls back, gets to his feet and carefully helps Cooper up behind him. )

[Mia nods and then reaches out a hand to help guide him through. The way to the top isn't the most steady so she reaches for her brother first.]

Take it slow, okay? I don't know how steady this is.

I'm just going to lunge, make sure we both fall and actually get hurt.

( He takes it easy, Mia. Now, please help not his boyfriend. And now he sees - Mickey and -- )

Who... are you two?

( "Not off with your sister, mate." Not really.

As for Mickey: "Bachelor par -" And then he sees Cooper being carefully brought through. Formerly trapped as William put it. But, he doesn't react. )

[Bachelor party? That's your cover story? Coop raises an eyebrow in return but he'll roll with it and not say anything until Mia introduces them.]

This is Spike. He's a friend.

[And then she points to Mickey.]

That's Garrett. We bumped into him on the way.

["Garrett." Coop nods. "There were two more in here with us."]

Friend, Mia. Is he why you --

( "Hey. They're trustworthy." Mickey says to - you know, no one. To William. Not to Cooper.

He sighs. )

There were. On the other side. They're probably stuck like us. We should dig them out. ( That's glared at his sister. ) Spike, are you as strong as my sister?

( "Do you have a problem?" )

[Mia grabs William by the arm, much stronger than she used to be, before starting to pull him to the side, out of ear shot of the rest of the group, save Spike.]

You guys get started. We'll be right back. I need to talk to my brother for a moment.

[That last part is said through gritted teeth, because priorities, William!!! But fine, we'll do this now.]

Owww. What - really, you're surprised we need a brother-sister pow-wow? What the hell, Mia? If you didn't want to marry J.J., you could've just not married J.J. We're Queen's.

( They can do what they want! To an extent. Also through gritted teeth in hushed tones as the three men get at the rubble behind them. )

I didn't disappear because I didn't want to marry J.J.!

[Though, she doesn't. She loves J.J., but not like that.]

I disappeared because I became a Slayer and I wanted to keep you guys out of the blast zone, but clearly that didn't work.

A sl - A slayer? Slayer of - what? Did you make a list, like Dad?

( This is says even quieter. )

No!

[This is all too long a story for too short a period of time, and this is not the place to have this conversation. She grits her teeth, glancing back over her shoulder at her friends working in the rubble, before turning back to him.]

Look, I'll explain everything later when we're out of here, but something bad is happening and we need to get safe first, okay?

A witch locked down the neighborhood and trapped hunters and witches - and us - inside. We're stuck.

( He knows, Mi. )

[He knows ... more than she knows. How does he know more than she knows???? More things they will have to address later.]

We're stuck, but we still need to stay alive, so just trust me for now, okay? After that, I'll tell you everything.

Okay. But, trust me. While you were at a bachelor party, I was caved in with a hunter. This is bigger than you think. It's dangerous. And on the other side of that ceiling is the witch who locked us all inside.

Then maybe we should be over there, digging her out so she can let us out.

[She pulls away from him and starts walking back over.]

I can handle myself.

( FINE. He forgets how stubborn and independent his sister can be. )

Slayer?

( Whatever, he stalks over, too, joining the effort.

"For those of us not a part of any of this, what comes next?" "Garrett" asks as he makes it look more difficult than it is. These rocks? So s t r e n u o u s. )

We'll figure it out when we get there, Garrett.

[And she will pointedly take one of the rocks from him as she continues to clear the rubble away. Eventually, a dark skinned hand will force her way up through one of the holes.

"Hey! We're down here!"]

We're coming!

( Garrett very subtly exchanges looks with Cooper. 'What's our play here?' his eyebrows ask as Spike and William make better work with the rocks. William, especially with the rocks around that hand. )

[Coop shakes his head behind their shoulders, but he sticks close to his partner. Eventually, they'll find a way to sneak out but not right now. Play along until they figure out what's happening.

Mia goes to help her brother clearing away some of the bigger pieces until Gloria's face is revealed. The werewolf looks relieved to see that William's okay.

"Bridget's got a broken leg. I'm not sure how we're going to get her up."]

I've got it.

[Mia gestures for Gloria to back up, before sliding down into the hole after her. Three tiny girls negotiate the situation until they've got a improvised cheerleading lifts situation going on.

Mia braces Gloria's foot before hefting her upwards and Gloria reaches up to grab William's hand.]

Pull her out the rest of the way.

( For the record, Mickey just wants to knock some people unconscious and get out of here. Make their great escape. But, they are outnumbered. And Spike's -- something. )

Are you okay?

( William takes one arm, with Cooper nearest to her other and Spike stepping back so as to not harm the girl who was buried under rubble. )

Easy.

[Yeah, Mickey let's not do that. Coop shakes his head and advocates for playing along because they have to get out of here in one piece, and let's not aggravate the werewolf and the whatever Mia is.

Gloria nods that she's fine, letting the boys pull her the rest of the way while Mia negotiates getting Bridget up on her broken leg. They hobble over to the hole, before shifting their position so that Mia's supporting her and pushing her up towards the hole.]

Here comes the other one.

( Fine. You're the superior officer. Hunter. Whatever. He's big into the Koolaid. )

Cooper.

( And again, supporting Bridget so that they're not putting pressure on her leg. )

Let us know if - anything -- pain.

( Bridget will probably cry out if there is pain, though. )

["Not him." She's still staring down Cooper, eyes hard and Gloria trades places with him before there can be too much of an argument. It's for the best.

She's stronger anyway.

They both delicately get Bridget up and out, and Gloria braces the other woman on her bad side pulling her away from the hole so that Mia can get out. The Slayer follows soon after, hopping up with the ease of someone pushing themselves out of a pool and settling on the nearest sturdy piece of rubble she can find.]

Is there anyone else? Do you know?

Not trapped in here. Isaac and Eliza, they were on their way but, they could've gotten sidetracked.

( Spike perches himself on some rubble, too, kicking a foot up.

"Ask the werewolf if she smells anyone else." )

[Gloria spins around and gives him a look.

"You know the vampire could do his own heavy lifting."

But fine. Whatever. She can be helpful, if we're in the process of outing people. She lets her eyes roam over the rubble, moving around to see if she can catch the scent of everything, but in the end, she shakes her head.

"Nothing fresh. Looks like everyone was out, thankfully."]

Then we should get moving. We don't want to be somewhere so exposed.

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