I keep thinking about what Tiffany might have been like before she joined the cult. I imagine that she held a day job as an office assistant (boring!), but was also deeply into goth culture and music (it was the late 70s! the rise of the goth rock bands!), maybe even dreaming of becoming a star someday. Lisa and Tiffany met in an underground lesbian bar, where Tiffany was due to play that night. The concert sucked, but Lisa was enchanted with Tiffany's presence and energy. And Tiffany was enchanted, because Lisa was enchanted (it wasn't often that someone took her stage aspirations seriously). Just a week later though, Lisa's new flame stopped answering phone calls. Her apartment was vacated. Rumor had it that Tiffany got kicked out for performing Satanic rituals. So, yeah, as John later told his friend over a tub of ice cream, Lisa really dodged a bullet with that one.
Years later, Lisa had the misfortune of booking a room in the New Haven apartment complex. The place had leaky pipes and the landlord looked like a serial killer. Lisa was about to demand her deposit back, when she noticed a familiar name on one of the mail slots. Tiffany changed. She lost weight, her fancy gothic outfits were nowhere to be seen. Her room smelled like an animal died behind the wall, and she wouldn't shut up about someone called Gary. Leaving her in this state was not an option, so Lisa begrudgingly settled for the room she originally booked. The landlord was happy with her change of heart. He then asked for a month's worth of rent in advance.
John coughed disapprovingly when Lisa told him about the whole ordeal over the phone. He always thought that loud-mouthed scary-looking goth woman wasn't a good match for Lisa. But upon hearing all the enthusiasm and compassion in his friend's voice, he left his opinions to himself.
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tagged by various people over the past week or so, including: @socially-awkward-skeleton, @vampireninjabunnies-blog, @nightwingshero, and @inafieldofdaisies, (and i think that's everyone, but if i missed anyone i'm sorry!) to share some wip stuff
tagging: @detectivelokis, @baldurrs, @fourlittleseedlings, @adelaidedrubman, @purplehairsecretlair, @sstewyhosseini, @confidentandgood, @strafethesesinners, @strangefable, @madparadoxum, @voidika, @trench-rot, @josephslittledeputy, @kittiofdoom, @sukoshimikan, @deputyash, @gaeadene, @g0dspeeed, @harmonyowl, @poetikat anyone else with something to share today (but no pressure as always <3)
here are some really roughly drafted bits from augustine's pov in chapter 2/interlude i.
“Shaw, report.”
Ben groans, and he rakes a hand through his hair and drags it down his face -- something Augustine has noticed he does whenever he feels frustrated or overwhelmed. With a shake of his head, he pulls his radio from his belt. But before he responds, he points to one of the men holding Augustine up. “You. Go get a stretcher.”
“But --”
“That’s an order,” Ben growls.
The man falls silent, shrinking back as he peels Augustine’s arm from around his shoulders and carefully leans him against the other masked man who helped carry him back to the station. Pain lances through Augustine’s leg and he grits his teeth as his weight shifts. The man scurries off and disappears inside the main building.
Ben hisses out a quiet fuck before lifting a finger to the remaining man, motioning for him to wait while he answers his radio. “Ranger’s station is secure,” he says. “No casualties. We’re clear to start receiving shipments.”
“Good work. Stay vigilant. The rogue deputy still hasn't been apprehended.”
Ben’s eyes flick over to Augustine and he bites at his lower lip. Dark brows knit together as a shadow falls over his face, but through the haze of pain clouding his vision, Augustine can’t quite tell what that shadow is. Just that he’s deep in thought.
Then, Ben’s shoulders slump. “About that, sir…” he breathes deeply and grimaces. “I do have an injured civilian.”
“I fail to see the connection,” the voice on the radio says flatly, and before Ben can respond, it continues, “Kill them. Now isn’t the time for converts.”
“It’s the deputy’s brother, sir.”
“What?”
“I have the deputy’s younger brother. He’s injured.”
The voice on the radio is quiet for a long time. “Bring him to me.” A beat. “How badly is he injured?”
Ben looks at Augustine’s leg and winces. “I’ve seen worse.” He rubs at his left thigh, the leg Augustine knows is a prosthetic below the knee. “But he does have a bone protruding from his shin.”
“Get him here before he passes out from pain. I want to talk to him.”
“Yes, sir.”
He holds his radio in front of him for a moment, waiting for a response. When there isn’t one, he clips it back to his belt.
Not long after, the man covered in blood returns with a stretcher tucked under his arm.
“Get him in a truck,” Ben orders. “ I’m taking him to St. Francis. Brother Jacob wants to talk to him.”
....
“Ben?” [Augustine] rasps. Jesus Christ he’s thirsty. “Ben, what’s going on?”
“Just try to relax, Gus,” he says. He turns the key in the truck’s ignition and pulls out of the ranger’s station. “I’m gonna get you to a doctor. Get that leg taken care of and you’ll be just fine, okay?”
“I’m not --” he sucks in a sharp breath as his leg is jostled by the truck bouncing on the dirt road. “I’m not a vet.”
“They’re the closest doctors, buddy,” Ben says. “Besides, that doesn’t matter anymore. You’re one of us, now.”
Augustine’s not entirely sure what that’s supposed to mean. But any anxiety over that is immediately replaced by the sickening realization that he needs to let his sister know that he’s hurt. “I need to call Syb,” he says, suddenly panicking. Shit, she’s gonna be so mad. “She needs to know what’s happened.”
“Easy, easy. We’ll call your sister for you,” Ben reassures him. “We’ll make sure you get to see her, okay? Here --” He reaches behind him, into the backseat where Augustine lay. “Give me your phone. I’ll call her when we get there.”
Hazily, Augustine nods. Yeah. Syb’s met Ben a few times. She knows him.
Everything’ll be fine.
He gingerly fishes his phone from his pocket and pushes it into Ben’s palm. “Lockscreen’s 0967,” he says -- his mama’s birthday. Darkness is starting to creep in at the edges of his vision.
Ben’s hand retracts with the phone and Augustine assumes he tucks it in a pocket or lets it rest on the passenger seat. “Stay with me, bud,” he says. “Gotta keep conscious. Someone real important wants to speak with you.”
But his eyelids are so heavy and he feels so cold. “Whozit?” he slurs.
“Someone who’s gonna give you your purpose,” Ben responds.
Augustine hums sleepily. Even in his semi-conscious state he finds the answer bizarrely cryptic coming from a man he knows to be brutally direct. But that encroaching darkness blankets his vision before he can ask any more questions.
He falls into it, and his pain disappears.
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