( Jaqueline's allegiance. He exchanges 'love you's,' rests his head against the steering wheel and then pulls out his phone to send Jaqueline a message. )
[She stares down at the phone, knows that she's trapped between a rock and a hard place. With a deep breath, she closes and locks the doors and windows of the room she's staying in, lighting some sage, and running the shower. Might as well cover all her bases.
As she closes the door to the bathroom, she sends one text to Sierra:]
[She hits send, and reaches for one of the in-case-of-emergency astral projection crystals. They've never had to use them, but Jaqueline can't tell her this, can't turn her entire world upside down without doing the courtesy of looking her in the eye.]
( This isn't protocol, but she's the daughter who disappears and shirks protocol, all for her own means.
As much as she likes keeping everything close to the vest, even from Jaqueline, she knows when they reach a point like this, they have no choice. They have distanced themselves and she has only inched closer.
Reaching into the night stand, she pulls out notebooks and sets them on the bed before popping up the false bottom and setting it down against it. She retrieves the shared crystal, holds it in her hand and snaps, a nearby sage cigarette lighting in the ashtray across the room before she sets the crystal down on the small desk.
She stands, prepared to reveal an image Jaqueline should remember from their childhood. )
[She hasn't seen that face in a long time, but when she does see it, it's like a punch to the gut, especially with everything else that's roiling around in her head. She tries to conceal it (14), and takes a deep breath to focus on the important thing.]
( She misses that twinge of pain (5), being on the defensive herself. What Jaqueline means to her is kept in a box and what she's trying to do is kept in another box. While she knows Jaq is on her side, her paranoia has only grown. It's a part of why she bound herself to the lunar cycle like this.
The witches she ingratiated herself with didn't take to her like she wanted. They held meetings and conversations behind closed doors, but didn't include her. She's in the dark about how far her parents have searched, if they have. (Of course they have. She's the missing piece.) )
If they have, they're keeping their distance and judging by how thirsty they are for the Gauntlet, I'd expect an actual run-in.
( She guesses what she's doing is working. Enough, anyway. )
[The solstice is coming, and she knows that Sierra has a plan, but if she succeeds, then that will make her an even juicier target.]
When you ascend to the Inner Circle, you don't just get the power. You get possessed by the spirit of the long dead ancestor of your family line who founded the Colony.
( They're always running out of time. They just buy more. That's what the Colony does.
Apparently, that's exactly what the Colony does. There is no hiding her reaction, a (1) sends her almost falling backward as her step back comes into contact with the table. She is a woman who keeps it together, a woman of careful planning and methodical movement - except when she's caught this off guard.
After biting her lip in the process, she wipes her jaw and runs her tongue across her teeth as she resumes her standing position. )
[Jaqueline is sure they see it that way. You get the gift of being chosen to carry their leaders into the next fifty years, until an appropriate heir is found to move them into the next. Their lives are worthy sacrifices to the cause of the Colony.
And they don't get a choice. The end result of their drive and ambition is becoming a puppet.]
Hallewell was just delighted to see the look on our faces when he told us that little nugget. And before you ask, yes, he could be fucking with us, but ... I don't think he was. I think it makes a lot of things finally make sense.
Our parents all fall on the callous side of the spectrum.
( If they knew that this is where everything led, then it's no wonder not one of them has been paternal or maternal. They serve each other at the altar of the Colony. )
Hallewell doesn't spread chaos. He survives and perseveres. He'd gain nothing from lying. Is this why we had to talk?
[She didn't feel right sending it in a text, and for all they know, their phones are being tracked.]
David wants to meet. Him, Ezra, you, me, Max. He'll open a door to where we need to be, but we need to figure out a strategy. Because I don't know about you, but I think I'm ready to burn this bitch to the ground.
What does any of it matter if you're no longer you?
[She can't touch her, not like this, but she will take a couple steps forward.]
Do you really think that this will save you? You what, take the power and win the Gauntlet, and think you can lead the coven without taking our birthright?
[She says the word so bitterly that it might as well be a curse.]
They will either own you or they'll kill you. We need a better plan. I can't even believe I'm saying this but I don't think that David is wrong. We need to work together. If we don't break the wheel then they'll always have a way to come back.
Given how David's been feeling lately? Something along the lines of killing them all, and making sure they can't come back. But we've only known for a few hours so it hasn't really gotten much farther than that.
That's why he wants to meet.
[So they do this together. Just like they were always supposed to.]
( Already, she weaves her plans differently in her mind, climbing over and through contingencies knowing that David and Ezra and Max are her best bets. Their best bets. )
[Because she needs to remind her of that. That this was her grand mission and Jaqueline is along for the ride because she loves her and she agrees that the power dynamics needed to change.]
And there's still time. We have a few days before the solstice.
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cosmiccon) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
everyonelives2023-01-03 09:05 pm
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( Jaqueline's allegiance. He exchanges 'love you's,' rests his head against the steering wheel and then pulls out his phone to send Jaqueline a message. )
W.C. Harlan. 9pm. )
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Didn't think I was your type?
[You're certainly not hers.]
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You, me, your brother, David.
And Sierra.
9.
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And what makes you think I know where to find her?
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David will open a door anywhere. We're done with this Carmen San Diego bullshit.
Find her or admit you can't.
9PM.
( And that's it, for now, anyway. He hopes she shows up that night. )
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As she closes the door to the bathroom, she sends one text to Sierra:]
Are you alone?
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Why
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[She hits send, and reaches for one of the in-case-of-emergency astral projection crystals. They've never had to use them, but Jaqueline can't tell her this, can't turn her entire world upside down without doing the courtesy of looking her in the eye.]
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As much as she likes keeping everything close to the vest, even from Jaqueline, she knows when they reach a point like this, they have no choice. They have distanced themselves and she has only inched closer.
Reaching into the night stand, she pulls out notebooks and sets them on the bed before popping up the false bottom and setting it down against it. She retrieves the shared crystal, holds it in her hand and snaps, a nearby sage cigarette lighting in the ashtray across the room before she sets the crystal down on the small desk.
She stands, prepared to reveal an image Jaqueline should remember from their childhood. )
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Have your parents found you yet?
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The witches she ingratiated herself with didn't take to her like she wanted. They held meetings and conversations behind closed doors, but didn't include her. She's in the dark about how far her parents have searched, if they have. (Of course they have. She's the missing piece.) )
If they have, they're keeping their distance and judging by how thirsty they are for the Gauntlet, I'd expect an actual run-in.
( She guesses what she's doing is working. Enough, anyway. )
Did they say something?
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[The solstice is coming, and she knows that Sierra has a plan, but if she succeeds, then that will make her an even juicier target.]
When you ascend to the Inner Circle, you don't just get the power. You get possessed by the spirit of the long dead ancestor of your family line who founded the Colony.
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Apparently, that's exactly what the Colony does. There is no hiding her reaction, a (1) sends her almost falling backward as her step back comes into contact with the table. She is a woman who keeps it together, a woman of careful planning and methodical movement - except when she's caught this off guard.
After biting her lip in the process, she wipes her jaw and runs her tongue across her teeth as she resumes her standing position. )
You get?
( Like it's an opportunity or a gift. )
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[Jaqueline is sure they see it that way. You get the gift of being chosen to carry their leaders into the next fifty years, until an appropriate heir is found to move them into the next. Their lives are worthy sacrifices to the cause of the Colony.
And they don't get a choice. The end result of their drive and ambition is becoming a puppet.]
Hallewell was just delighted to see the look on our faces when he told us that little nugget. And before you ask, yes, he could be fucking with us, but ... I don't think he was. I think it makes a lot of things finally make sense.
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( If they knew that this is where everything led, then it's no wonder not one of them has been paternal or maternal. They serve each other at the altar of the Colony. )
Hallewell doesn't spread chaos. He survives and perseveres. He'd gain nothing from lying. Is this why we had to talk?
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[She didn't feel right sending it in a text, and for all they know, their phones are being tracked.]
David wants to meet. Him, Ezra, you, me, Max. He'll open a door to where we need to be, but we need to figure out a strategy. Because I don't know about you, but I think I'm ready to burn this bitch to the ground.
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( Maybe what they need to do is burn everything. But it would mean giving up her efforts. )
I'm close with Danny, again. He thinks he befriended a new local witch visiting family. I'm this close, Jaq.
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[She can't touch her, not like this, but she will take a couple steps forward.]
Do you really think that this will save you? You what, take the power and win the Gauntlet, and think you can lead the coven without taking our birthright?
[She says the word so bitterly that it might as well be a curse.]
They will either own you or they'll kill you. We need a better plan. I can't even believe I'm saying this but I don't think that David is wrong. We need to work together. If we don't break the wheel then they'll always have a way to come back.
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( She knows it can't be that easy, but she needs to get it out. And now that she has... )
Do they have a plan?
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That's why he wants to meet.
[So they do this together. Just like they were always supposed to.]
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( Already, she weaves her plans differently in her mind, climbing over and through contingencies knowing that David and Ezra and Max are her best bets. Their best bets. )
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[For all she knows, maybe she could come herself.]
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If I do this, if I meet you, if we become one for all and all for one, that's it. Danny takes his birthright.
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[Because she needs to remind her of that. That this was her grand mission and Jaqueline is along for the ride because she loves her and she agrees that the power dynamics needed to change.]
And there's still time. We have a few days before the solstice.
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( She should ensure he is. But, her plan is neither here nor there. )
Fine. But, this for us, it's to bring them down once-and-for-all.
( She's going to break her binding spell. Like hell she'll be caught dead at 16 years old. )
I guess God really does laugh.
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