Haunted Roads

Who: Ardin and Chris
When: Afternoon
Where: Old Town Towers, Lobby

The one nice thing about being an "independent contractor" was that you could take a day off whenever you wanted. That's what Ardin did yesterday. She used to live on an acreage not too long ago, and the friend she had lived with wasn't having any of the crap Ardin left behind, so it was boxed up and Ardin was told that she better come pick it up or it's going to be sold. For the life of her, Ardin couldn't remember what was in those boxes, it didn't seem like she had forgotten anything. But her ears perked up as soon as he said 'it could be sold'. If anyone was selling her stuff for cash, it would be her. People profiting off of her wasn't how things worked, Ardin liked it a whole lot better when it was the other way around. So, she was stingy with money! Who wouldn't be? It's not like income was guaranteed when you're taking it from other people.

( On Friday she left early in the morning )

When: Night
Where: Towers
Who: Bastian and Sophie

Bastian was not looking forward to this. He didn’t sleep all day or the night before, he sat up knowing that all too soon he’d have to sit down with Sophie and tell her what had happened. What had really happened. He knew he should have done this weeks ago, he should have just bitten the bullet and blurted it out to all of them. But he hadn’t…and the longer time went on the more he began to wonder if just…not telling her was best. He knew it wasn’t though, as living in a lie never made anything better in the end. Living in a lie was never how he wanted things to be between him and his family. But this wasn’t exactly the easiest conversation to have. He wasn’t even sure how to start it up. He’d managed to get through it with Maggie and his father though. One more time…for some reason he didn’t think it was going to be third times the charm for him.

Typically he’d be at the bar by now. He’d be behind the counter handing beers over to eager patrons and keeping his mind busy with endless tasks that never really distracted him as much as he hoped they would. By now he’d be listening to the mumbles of the tv spouting of scores for sports or the weather for next week. By now he’d already be ready for the night to be over with. But instead he was sitting in the living room with a drink in hand and the bottle too far away in the kitchen.

He’d refilled the glass at least five times by now.

A cigarette was between his fingers, the smoke floating up and out the open window just behind him. He always tried to avoid smoking in the house, habit that his ma got him started on long ago. No one wanted to smell that when they first walked into a place. If there was ever any night to let that rule slide a bit though, it was tonight. A drag was taken…soon after another was…. The cigarette burning down, counting the minutes by exhales and inhales. By the clinking of melting ice in his glass, by the slight tick tick tick of the clock on the wall that Bastian didn’t remember.

This entire place felt like that sometimes, like it was nothing but rooms he didn’t remember. So much was made to mimic the house but it was always just a bit off. Just…not the same and he knew it never would be. It made him feel like a stranger…or maybe it was just the place that he was blaming that feeling on. Something to bitterly pick apart rather then that bigger picture of what really made him feel like that. Those obvious reasons that he couldn’t face…those reasons that made him not even want to look in the damned mirror. Running away from them didn’t do anything. Denying them didn’t somehow change it. Bastian was well aware of this…too aware…but sometimes it felt like the only choice out there. Or the easiest at the least.

Easy wasn’t going to keep the rug from being pulled out from under him again. That fact was always apparent in his thoughts. Some flashing fucking sign that followed him constantly. He’d been trying to find those to speak with, others to create some sort of tie to in order to keep his family safe. But what it always boiled down to was that he didn’t know a damned one of them. Anyone could talk kind words and pretend to be a caring bastard and then, at the right moment, would fucking snap their jaws shut around you. The last thing Bastian wanted was to somehow get them into all of this even deeper then they already were.

Faintly Bastian sighed, the sound seeming to echo in the empty place. No one else was home, out for the night leaving Bastian to sit and wait. He’d told Sophie he wanted to talk with her tonight however, he hoped that was enough to get her to come home rather then stay out through the night too. So far he wasn’t certain, night had been around for at least an hour or two now.

The silence was starting to eat at him….gnawing at that calm he was trying to keep. Suddenly in an almost jerky motion he was up to his feet, finding some music to turn on to help to curb that vacant feeling the place seemed to hold tonight.

It didn't help.