grady barrett (ashadowgrows) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-07-18 20:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, gavin, gavin x grady, grady |
Who: Gavin & Grady
Where: Phone
When: Morningish, Tuesday 7/3
Status: Complete
Before he gave Grady a call, Gavin got out of bed and went about his morning routine. It should have been so easy but his body ached and he felt like he'd aged twenty years overnight. This wasn't anything like the day after a brawl, the pain seemed to go deeper than that, throbbing in time with his heartbeat, flashing up stronger whenever he moved. Go figure that when things were finally going well for him and he was honestly happy, some shitty event would crash into his life and turn everything upside down again.
He gingerly pulled on clothes after going to the bathroom, wincing at the pain every small movement seemed to cause. He'd been cutting down on drinking so he didn't have a bottle in the bedroom and right now he seriously regretted that decision but made do with some Tylenol for the time being. When he felt ready, he called the station and asked to speak to Sheriff Barrett. He wasn't so sure he'd have done this if Roxy hadn't called but now he needed to know just how widespread this was.
Grady was still dealing with the aftermath of his nightmare, though he was trying to focus on his job and not the dull stinging from the welts on his chest. With his second cup of coffee, Grady went into his office and had just sat down when a call was routed into his office. Sighing, he set his coffee cup down and picked up the phone, somewhat surprised to hear Gavin Lucas was on the phone. Thankfully his door was shut now, because Grady had a feeling this wouldn't be a run of the mill conversation.
"Mr. Lucas," Grady greeted calmly, "how can I help you today."
"Hey, Barrett," Gavin muttered and this phone call suddenly felt like such a bad idea. "I'll keep this short, I'm just calling to ask if..." He hesitated and had to remind himself that Grady Barrett was plenty used to strange things happening on his watch so it wasn't like he was calling some random 9-1-1 person and sounding insane. "This is gonna be weird, but did you get hurt last night?" He blurted the words out like he couldn't get them out fast enough and maybe he couldn't. If he didn't say them, he'd hum and haw and end up hanging up. That wasn't going to be helpful to anyone.
It took Grady a moment to answer, because his chest seemed to throb when Gavin asked if he'd been hurt. It made him worry about Jen too and he hoped she would get his text when she woke up, asking her to call him. Jen had seen the Dark Man too, even if she hadn't been touched or chased by the thing... the man. "Yeah, I was. While I was sleeping." It sounded ridiculous saying it out loud, but it felt like a necessary detail. "I had wondered if it was just me."
"Not just you, you might get some weird calls today," Gavin sighed. "Roxy Muños called me this morning, both of us got hurt." He wasn't really surprised nor did he really know why he was calling except to possibly warn Grady of something he probably already knew. "My tattoos didn't do their job on this one, I have no idea how to stop it from happening again." At least none of them seemed to be badly hurt but Gavin didn't think that meant much in the long run. The dark man could visit them in their dreams now and hurt them physically, it made him feel tired and helpless all over again.
Grady rubbed his forehead, his heart starting to skip in his chest. If others got hurt, then what about Jen? He very nearly hung up the phone just to call her cell, but there was more information that he needed. "What kind of injuries did you both receive?" Gavin was on the phone and talking so it couldn't have been too serious. But that didn't mean there weren't others who suffered worse. "Can you describe the dream to me?"
Gavin didn't know what the injuries had to do with anything but he guessed it was in character for a cop to ask that kind of question. Maybe Grady was trying to make sense out of something that would never make sense and Gavin didn't need to be the one to tell him that. "The dream was just him, chasing me. Hit me with a cane. I don't know about Roxy, you'd have to ask her. I know she got four cuts on her arm but she didn't need stitches." And there was that guilt again, because maybe Roxy wouldn't have ever seen the dark man if not for Gavin. He still had no idea how he could have prevented it though and in all honesty he probably couldn't have.
Stitches or not, any kind of bodily harm was significant. It seemed impossible, but Grady knew some people injured themselves while they slept. Only there had been no evidence to prove Grady had scratched his own chest and deep down, he knew it hadn't been him at all. It had been that thing that wandered the streets in a fucking bowler hat. "I'll talk to her," Grady said after a moment. He couldn't exactly slide into someone's dreams to help them, but if he had more information... maybe he could do something. "Do you know anyone else who had a similar dream last night?"
"Nope, I just woke up, haven't had a chance to talk to many people" Gavin sighed and he honestly hoped he wasn't about to find out about anyone else. If somebody else in the family was hurt he'd have more people to worry about and that just wouldn't do. "Roxy called me to ask about it, that's the only reason I know about her." And now he was someone who actually called the sheriff to let him know about foul play in the community. It felt a little surreal but he supposed he'd sort of bonded with Grady over the dark man, as strange as it might be.
Gavin Lucas probably wouldn't talk to many people even if he hadn't just woken up. But that was okay. It was Grady's job to get this shit sorted and make sure people weren't hurt worse. "I appreciate the call," Grady said, rubbing his forehead. "I'll reach out to a few people and see what's going on. But to be honest, I'm not all that skilled on investigating dream attacks."
"Whoever says they are is probably a quack," Gavin sighed and that was unfortunate. Maybe the witches knew how to do that shit but he'd had it with them, at least Reagan Kelly and her lunatic husband. Maybe there were other witches around who weren't quite as dangerous but he had no idea how to figure that out or make sure they were safe before he started asking any favors. It was still hard to imagine just sitting back and letting whatever this was keep happening to him. Gavin was a fighter when he had something to fight for and these days he wanted to live because he had people he wanted to take care of. He considered telling Grady about the witches but in a way it felt like he'd be cursing him more if he did so he held back. "I'll give you a call if I find anything else out," he said instead. "Or... if this happens again."
Grady would have been inclined to agree with Gavin about the quack thing, but... after growing up here, after experiencing the last year alone, he was a bit more open minded. There were plenty of people in this town he could have labeled a quack, but that didn't mean they couldn't do the impossible. "I appreciate it," Grady said after a moment of thought. "And I'll do the same. Maybe I'll have some answers after talking to a few people." Not likely but it never hurt to be optimistic. "Take care, Gavin."
"You too, Sheriff," Gavin replied before hanging up and he wasn't optimistic at all about either of them finding any sort of solution. Maybe Grady had connections he didn't with witches who weren't vindictive assholes but Gavin felt like he'd burnt what few bridges he had in that magical community and he wasn't even sure he wanted new ones. He wasn't sure he could trust witches in general after everything that had happened. Beyond witches, who else could help? A priest? A psychic of some sort? The line between what existed for real and what didn't was getting awfully blurry. It was possible his life was coming to an end and honestly it felt like this town was constantly on the verge of blowing up so if that came next then it wouldn't really be a surprise. For now he just had to get through the day, lie to his family about his injuries and try to enjoy his birthday party.