Light of May ::: an original roleplay

Who: Carter.
Where: The Budget Lodge; his room.
When: Morning.

When he woke it was with soreness radiating through his back and joints that spoke of strain and for a few moments that was enough to give him pause, remaining still in the bed that didn’t feel as comfortable as a decent mattress ought to. It was only when he slowly and carefully pushed himself up and into a sitting position that he realised why it felt the way it did, why there was a slightly peculiar smell coming from all direction and a strange feel to the carpet that spoke of too much use and too little care and maintenance. The room was a cheap one, budget in every way imaginable, dingy decor and unpleasant scars on the walls and stains in the corners that had Carter’s features shifting into a look of displeasure before it passed as quickly as it had come over him.

There was a good reason for him being here despite the fact that he could do better, why spend money on a roof and four walls when the basics would do the same job and leave funds for other essentials?

It was as he was digging around for the twin to the sock he had in his hand that he felt a shape beneath the bed that had nothing to do with the structure of the frame itself, making him step back and tilt his head to try and see what it was down there, his dark hair briefly falling across his field of vision before he swept it back with his free hand. The sock was tossed onto the bed as he lowered to a crouch and reached with both hands to the dark shape, clearly a bag or a case of some kind, ( more likely the former as he made contact with it and felt the material shift beneath his touch. )

Who: Carter and Kammie.
Where: A diner in town.
When: A little after midday, early afternoon.

There were very few indulgences in Carter’s life, as was the case with most Bennetts, as the case had been for all those who bore the name as far back as everyone could remember. No alcohol, a decent diet, rigorous exercise, and a lifetime commitment to the hunt. Carter had embraced that early on and always respected it but it was his mother who had taught him when he was young that the odd treat was far from bad. If anything it was good to indulge a little every now and then. For him, personally, it had always been particular foods that he allowed himself once in a while and kept his distance from at all other times in order to keep his diet and therefore his health and lifestyle on track.

Since coming to America Carter had learned that there was very little that could beat a good cheeseburger. It was maybe once every couple of months that he allowed himself to have one, if not less, and so when the time came to visit a diner and treat himself a little it made it all the more worthwhile. Absence really did make the heart fonder and as he sat in the diner with the plate in front of him he felt strangely younger in that moment than he had in several months. Carter didn’t know what it was, whether it was the food itself or the remembrance of a memory from years ago when his mother had first taught him the lesson, but the feeling lingered as he worked his way patiently and steadily through the burger and the fries that had come on the side of them.

"Everything okay over here?" the waitress asked as she paused by the side of his table, looking a little hesitant almost as if she expected him to pick up on something wrong after her realisation upon his arrival that he wasn't American.

"Great," he said to her with a polite smile, watching her relax and return the expression, "thank you." With a dip of her head in a nod and the smile still on her face she continued on her way to the kitchen.

It would be several months before he ate like this again. After this meal he would go back to the sorts of foods that kept a body healthy and in fighting form, subconsciously monitoring his intake of fats and sugars and all the things that could slow a hunter down in one way or another. Something like this, a rare treat as it was, ought to be savoured. Sometimes it really was the little things that meant the most and in a life as hazardous and violent as Carter’s that was certainly the case.

Who: Carter (and NPCs).
Where: Outside town, about a twenty minute drive from Scarlet Oak.
When: Late night.

When Carter had been younger his family had spent a lot of time together. Training, practising, sharpening skills that would save not only their own lives but those of any number of potential victims. They hadn’t taken holidays together in the traditional sense but they had gone camping. Knowing how to fend for yourself when you didn’t have a lot to work with was a vital part of being a hunter and Carter had gone on to become an incredibly resourceful individual, not only when it came to fending for himself in the day to day but in a fight. That resourcefulness had saved his life more times than he could count, it had saved countless others as well, and he was thankful for it. The memories of those trips, unconventional as family trips as they might have seemed to everyone else in the world, were some of his fondest. With so many of them all gathered together it had not only helped to bond them as a family but it had highlighted habits and individual traits in every single one of them.

Lainey had liked to stay close to the fire, illuminated by the flames. Colin and Andrew would stay back from it, exploring their surroundings with the kind of inquisitiveness their parents had tried to warn them might one day lead them right into trouble. For his part, Carter had come to enjoy seeking higher ground, namely the bonnet or roof of one of the vehicles they had taken on the trip. Every now and then, well into his adult life, he caught himself mimicking that behaviour from his youth, especially when he was making contact with those still living.

As he agilely made his way first up onto the bonnet of his vehicle and then the roof, sitting himself down on the top of the SUV, Carter withdrew the phone from its place in his pocket. It was a burner, disposable, meant for one use only. The number he called would redirect several times before connecting directly with the source he intended to reach. They couldn’t be too careful. They never knew how many of the monsters they hunted might be looking for any one of them and Rebecca Bennett was close to the top of most of those lists if she didn’t outright claim the number one slot. Carter wasn’t going to take chances with the lives of any of his family but his mother had done what so few Bennetts had managed to do. She had survived. Not only that she had done so with grace and dignity, with a sense of deeply-rooted responsibility that had seen her taking in all of those children whose parents had been slaughtered or stolen away by the vampires and demons they had sought to destroy. Those children, Carter’s nephews and nieces, were in Rebecca’s care now, they would receive her tutelage just as he and all of his siblings had. The next generation of the Bennett family were in her hands. ( Carter would not take that lightly. )

Who: Carter and Nora.
Where: Near Pentwater Lake, upstate.
When: October 1st 2009, very early morning.

When his phone had buzzed in his pocket to alert him to the message from one of his contacts Carter hadn’t long separated from Ash and Maya, the reunion unexpected but far from unwelcome. Knowing that he had trustworthy and capable allies out there in the form of two of the hunters from Omega was reassuring to say the least, Carter liked the idea of having them close by in case things got too much for him to handle. With Athena and Aiden in town as well his list of allies was growing ever longer and he couldn’t say that was a bad thing. His mother would have been happy to hear it, as well, but he wouldn’t tell her. It was better to leave her in the dark on that but keep up his regular contact, she didn’t need to know that there were people here who could watch his back. If anything happened it would just make things worse.

The drive upstate had been as swift as he could make it without breaking the speed limit and drawing undue attention towards himself, he had found a place to park his vehicle and slipped out into the deepening dark with his weapons secreted away on his frame, in holsters and sheaths. The creature he had been tipped off about wouldn’t hesitate to tear him into pieces if he got too close and so the weapon in his hand was far from small, far from subtle, a shotgun that would knock even the most resilient demon back on its ass if he pulled the trigger. Carter knew better than to let them press in too close but he also knew that you couldn’t prepare for every little thing. Demons and vampires both had a way of sneaking up on you, getting around behind you or in at the side, and he had the scars to show for it, close encounters he had survived. Just barely. It was as he moved quietly through the night and the shadows that danced across the dark that he thought back on those close calls, when he had almost lost an eye, when his back had been all but laid open, the feel of that shaft of metal as it had punched clean through the meat and muscle of his thigh like a hot knife through butter. Carter had spilt his fair share of blood over the years he had been active as a hunter. There was no telling how things would go tonight, if he would spill even more. If he was lucky it would just be the demon who bled but any hunter worth their salt knew not to make assumptions or let any kind of emotion, good or bad, cloud their judgement.

Something splintered off to the side, a crack of dry wood underfoot, quiet in the grand scheme of things but so loud in the sweeping silence that had until moments ago only been broken by the breeze through the leaves. Carter swung on the spot, bringing the weapon up as he did so, finding not a demon but a blonde woman. Even so he didn’t lower the shotgun, instead kept it levelled on her, waiting for her to explain herself.

Who: Carter and Aiden (plus an NPC vampire).
Where: The backstreets of Scarlet Oak.
When: Night.
Warnings: Violence.

They had worked together on more than one occasion, understandably so given they both hailed from the same country and had worked the same streets and territories for prolonged periods of time, but in recent years their paths had deviated, they had each taken different forks in the road and gone their separate ways. It had been years since they had fought side by side. Tonight would be the first time in more than half a decade. A couple of days ago he had called the bar to find out when he would be free to help him with a job and the night of the full moon had seemed as good an opportunity as any. They had made arrangements, simple as they were, and now here he was awaiting his fellow hunter’s arrival at the rendezvous point.

Carter went over the details in his mind, the facts he had in his possession. He had been raised to be thorough, to have all the facts available and use them wisely, and as he waited for Aiden to arrive he not only mentally checked over his personal inventory but the specifics of the location they would be headed to, the blind spots and points of cover, should they need them. With any luck it would be a quick job, in and out, things didn’t need to get messy. That, of course, usually meant that they would. Life as a hunter so rarely went according to plan.

The sound of a boot sole scuffing against concrete had him turning his head, the muscles through his shoulders, chest, and back tightening a little in preparation should the approaching figure be any kind of threat, his mind already working out which weapon he could put to use in the shortest amount of time. There was no need. Carter recognised Aiden’s gait, the distinct way in which he moved, and he stepped away from the wall against which he had been leaning in order to greet his ally and companion for the evening’s work. “Let’s try not to burn the building down this time, hm?” Carter said as much with the faintest shadow of a smile on his face but it was always a valid concern with Aiden. Carter had learned some time ago that you could never be too careful.

Who: Carter, Maya, and Ash.
Where: The streets of Scarlet Oak, within walking distance of the school.
When: Late evening, after nightfall.

Sticking close to the school made sense. With all the people milling around, many of them distraught, driven to distraction by concern and frantic worry, it was a rich hunting ground for any supernatural creature who was cunning enough to pick their prey well. Carter wasn’t going to let them take advantage of the situation and since his encounter with Athena he had taken it upon himself to patrol the area surrounding the school, establishing a sort of perimeter, gauging after careful observation just how far from the school some people were likely to roam and making sure it was clear of vampiric and demonic threats. The last thing any of these people needed, whether they were friends or family members of those trapped inside the school, was for any more tragedy to strike. There was still no news about any of those held prisoner within the invisible barrier, and those outside waiting needed to be able to do so without having to worry about threats closing in from all sides. That was where hunters like Carter came in.

He had caught sight of something a little while ago, something sticking to the shadows that moved too quickly and too quietly to be human. Carter hadn’t needed to get a second look in order to be convinced to give chase but he was careful about how he did so. A single handgun might not be much good against most supernaturals, especially those that his family had always been so focused upon, but he had taken precautions. The ammunition loaded into the clip of the gun was anything but ordinary, much more expensive and harder to come by, and much more damaging to vampires and demons that regular bullets. Carter wasn’t an idiot, he had been hunting solo long enough to know what he was doing.

The sound came from up ahead, slightly and quiet, the scuffing of the sole of a shoe against asphalt. Carter tensed, lifting the gun. There was no flashlight, they always got in the way, they hindered rather than helped, he had always been told, and so instead he had stood in the dark long enough for his eyes to adjust. When he approached the corner it was in shadow that he did so, listening for more sounds around the corner. Nothing. Quiet. Carter knew better than to assume there was no one there.

When he came around the corner it was widely that he did so, clearing the edge of the wall against which he had been leaning only a few moments before. If whoever was there fired a shot or took a swipe at him, they would expect him to hug the wall, and so he did the opposite. Gun raised he aimed directly at the figure ahead, just down the alley.

No, not one figure, he realised quickly, but two. More important still was the fact that he recognised them, the stature of the male and the quiet strength of the female, shorter but by no means less dangerous. Carter kept his gun raised out of habit, knowing better than to assume everything was clear, his brow furrowing a little as he looked at the pair ahead of him. “Maya?” he asked of the shorter, his gaze flicking between the two. “Ash?” What were they doing here? A better question was what they were doing here together, but that could wait.

Who: Carter and Athena.
Where: Across the street from the school, to start with.
When: Early evening.

Considering he’d gone toe to toe with a vampire -- presumably one of significant age and with a decent amount of strength and experience -- Carter didn’t look too terrible. A little haggard, certainly, but not nearly as bad as one might expect for an individual who had engaged in physical combat with a powerful immortal who’d had every intention of ending his life. On the outside Carter didn’t look all that different to how he normally did and to perfect strangers there would be no sign of anything being out of the ordinary. It was to those that knew him that the differences would be telling: the slightly untidy hair, the darker shadow of stubble around the lower half of his face, the slight shadow under his eyes that betrayed a lack of sleep over the last couple of days. It had been difficult to sleep with the wound being where it was and as tough and experienced as Carter was he was still just a mortal man, just as susceptible to pain as any human. Painkillers dulled the senses and compromised reaction times, things he couldn’t afford to risk, and in the short time he had spent here in Scarlet Oak he had already heard and seen enough to know that he also couldn’t afford to take a night off.

So there he stood, dressed ready to hunt when the light failed completely, weapons concealed beneath clothing, out of sight and out of mind of the people around him, when by all rights he should have been back in his room at the Lodge getting some rest. Carter had rested enough, he found it difficult to stay still at the best of times, let alone when something significant was going on, and the incident at the local high school certainly fit the bill.

There wasn’t much he could tell from where he stood but he listened, took in little pieces of conversations all around him, working out enough of the story from those snatches of dialogue to know that there were a lot of people trapped inside and no one could make any kind of contact, let alone get close enough to any of the building’s points of entry to figure out what was going on. Magic of some sort, it had to be, but this wasn’t Carter’s area, it never had been and likely never would be. His family had steered clear of this sort of thing, sticking to vampires and demons and the threats and dangers they posed. This was another world entirely.

All the same, Carter had felt compelled to come and investigate, if only to see with his own eyes just what was going on. If nothing else it served to convince him that he had made the right decision in coming to this town. He’d heard and read so many stories about this place, and what he saw before him now was proof that Scarlet Oak needed as much help -- not to mention protection -- as it could get.

Who: Carter.
Where: The Budget Lodge; Carter’s room.
When: Very early morning, just after midnight.

Over the course of his life, in all the time he had been a hunter, Carter had experienced pain of varying degrees. As a teenager he had almost been blinded. Before his twenty-first birthday he had almost had his throat torn open. Less than a year later a steel pipe had punched clean through his leg and pinned him to the ground. Only four years ago he had had his back slashed so viciously it was a miracle there had been no nerve damage. Bennetts were hardy, they got knocked down time and time again only to pick themselves up, bloody and battered, and keep on fighting. Carter was no exception. Time and time again he had been beaten and bloodied and broken in one way or another and he was still fighting. Still drawing breath and putting one foot in front of the other, loading his guns and making sure his blades were sharp so he could continue his family’s work.

That didn’t mean he was immune to pain, that he didn’t feel it as any mortal would. He did. For all their strength and endurance the Bennetts were just human at the end of the day and Carter had the scars from all of those close calls as all of his siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles did. Or had, more accurately in many cases. Edward Bennett had borne them until the day he had drawn his final breath. Even Rebecca, one of the most respected of their old and prolific line, had suffered terribly over the course of her life. She wore her scars proudly, without shame, as her last surviving son did. She had taught him well.

It was Rebecca who had taught him, more than Edward, how to tend to his own wounds. Hospitals asked questions, they worked with the police and launched investigations and none of them could afford that. Hunting had always been something of a grey area but after the Light of May it was illegal, without question, now that people knew about supernaturals they were outraged by the idea that there were men and women out there who made it their life’s work to hunt and kill the creatures who had finally stepped from the shadows into the light. It didn’t matter to those ignorant masses that the supernaturals the Bennetts specialised in hunting really were monsters, that they took joy in harming others, that nothing pleased them more than to traumatise, torture, and slaughter innocents. More members of his family than he could count had lost their lives to all kinds of vampires and demons over the years they had been taking up arms against the supernatural. More would continue to fall over the years that lay ahead, maybe even Carter himself. ( Not many Bennetts lived long enough to retire, as his mother had. )

Who: Carter & Mercy
Where: Back alley in Scarlet Oak
When: Night

( 'A-positive, human, hunter. Not that the last one was a scent, exactly.' )

Who: Carter and Satu.
Where: The baseball field.
When: Early evening.

( Perhaps she hadn’t been aiming for him. Perhaps she had. Carter knew better than to rule anything out. )

Who: Aiden, his familiar Lee (NPCd) and Carter
Where: Anywhere But Here
When: Late evening/early night

Ever since the bridge bombing things had not been going too well for Aiden. The whole disaster had set James on edge and triggered a whole bunch of traumas Aiden couldn't even begin to be able to help with, which had put him and their relationship in a very bad place. Unable to help her, and with her faithful little lapdog Patrick showing his firm dislike of their relationship whenever he could, Aiden had been going back to his old drinking ways, when since he had found James and gone to live with her this had not happened.

Tonight he was miserable, had been drinking cheap tequila on the sly behind the counter, despite his familiar Lee showing his distinct disapproval all the way from the back room where he was lying down in a makeshift dog bed. Then again it wasn't like this kind of job required you to be too sober, he reckoned. And it wasn't like anything too bad could happen here; Aiden had seen his fair share of bar fights, which meant that another one wouldn't even make him bat an eye. Aiden just went about his job, exchanging the occasional bout of telepathic chatting with his familiar as he went.

Who: Carter and Halne.
Where: A gas station just outside town.
When: Late evening.

( Control was important, that was one of the first lessons Bennett children learned when they were set on the path towards becoming hunters and it was one Carter had taken to heart early on and never forgotten, not even for a moment. )