Gavin Lucas (viciouscircle) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-12-05 02:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, caden, caden x gavin, gavin |
Who: Caden & Gavin
Where: The Porch
When: Friday afternoon 7/6
Gavin hadn't exactly slept well for those last couple of nights since the dark man visited his dreams. It wasn't just the terror that it would happen again but also the physical discomfort from that first go-around. He was glad he was tougher than most because he could still move around and get shit done, it was more frustrating than painful and the emotional turmoil was far worse. He now knew that Ruby had the same dream as the rest of them and he had to wonder how many there were and it was limited to this one town.
He'd felt like his life was a damn horror movie for a long time so this wasn't exactly a new feeling, it was tiring though and he was tired of the weight of it, it seemed he only got a break from it with Charlie but now he didn't even feel safe at home.
Nobody could really tell his mood was worse than usual, he had his usual frown on as he opened up the bar and served the first few customers, grunting quietly at the newcomers who were actually chatty with him before picking up on the fact he was not in the mood for that. Really he was just looking forward to Dev showing up to take over at the bar so he could park his ass in his office for a bit. He really didn't feel like talking to strangers.
Caden's mood was just fine, thank you very much, even if he wore his own, expected scowl as he let himself into the back room of the Porch. Gavin was already there so Caden took his time preparing himself before he wandered into the front where Gavin was serving people. Sure, Gavin looked the same. Stoic and constipated, but Caden was pretty good at reading his brother and he could tell something more was on Gavin's mind. "What's going on," he said, once Gavin was able to step away from serving. "You got somethin' on your mind."
There weren't many people who could read the differences in Gavin's scowls but there were still too many for his liking. Caden was one of them and for some reason Miles who always seemed to know when to tip-toe extra softly around him. He grunted at Caden's question, handing a beer to the patron at the bar and watching the man shuffle off to a nearby table like he was watching a ship sinking. "Same old shit," he muttered after a long moment's silence but Caden probably deserved to know what was going on, especially if it resulted in two of his siblings ending up dead in their sleep. He gave his brother a side eye, the tension in his body growing. It was so much easier to shut up, maybe he should let Kat do all the explaining some other time.
Caden cocked a brow and leaned against the back counter as he folded his arms against his chest. The side eye spoke volumes and he already knew Gavin probably wouldn't want to talk about it out there in front with potential eavesdropping. Was it problems at home? A fight with Charlie? Jasper? For a split second Caden feared Gavin suddenly knew how Joseph had actually died, but he dismissed it just as quickly. No one knew but he and Aaron... and Jasper. And if Gavin had been told, Caden doubted his brother would be this calm. "You sure it's not some new shit?" he asked after a moment. "Haven't seen you scowl like this in weeks. Problem at home?"
Gavin just grunted with a little more frustration this time, not loving it when his brothers pointed out his scowling. It probably should make him want to relax his face to prove them wrong but his reaction was usually to just frown harder. "Some new shit," he admitted in a grumble and gave Caden a tell-tale dismissive gesture that meant he didn't want to talk about it right there and then. Their chatty Irishman arrived only minutes later and as usual Gavin was both glad to see him and eager to get the hell out of his way. He was good for business in the same way Miles was, but that didn't mean Gavin wanted to be his friend. "Come round back in a minute," he muttered as he headed for the door, leaving Caden to deal with the bar until Dev was ready.
Some new shit. Great. Caden sighed as he watched Gavin disappear into the back, but once Dev was settled up front, he pushed his way to the back as well, heading for Gavin's office. He shut the door and sat, slouching a bit in the chair. "What's going on now?" God, he hoped it wasn't the witches. Or Jasper. Or Aaron. How fucked up was it that there was a plethora of shit that could be happening right now. But Gavin had said it was new, so maybe it was something simple like the plumbing at the bar or their liquor order beyond delayed.
It wasn't something Gavin was dying to talk about but it wasn't like he had a choice either. This was happening, no matter how much he hated it, and it might kill him. It might kill Kat. "I'm having a hard time keeping track of all the bullshit going on," he admitted and Lord, who could blame him? Every time he felt like he could ease his grip and just relax, something new seemed to pop up to punch him in the face. "Did I ever tell you 'bout the the skinny bowler-hat motherfucker? The dark man?" It was likely Caden had heard about it from someone else if not from him, especially with how many people actually seemed affected. Roxy had seen him now too, but Gavin had no idea if she'd actually told Caden about it or not at the time and he wasn't about to bring her up to him now.
Caden's brows furrowed together in confusion and thought for a moment before he shook his head. "No, you never did. But I heard about him before. Never saw myself." It was difficult for Caden to believe in things he hadn't seen with his own two eyes, but he also wasn't naive enough to think the Dark Man wasn't real. In his own opinion, Point Pleasant was an oddity in the world. Shit that shouldn't be real, was. There was too much death and tragedy and fuckery in this town to think it was all explainable. Caden's own frown deepened as he studied his brother. "What about him?"
The good news here was that Gavin didn't need to explain who the dark man was to Caden but that was about the only good thing about this conversation. He didn't know why talking could be so damn painful at times, like it almost physically hurt him, like the more he spoke the more likely he was to get something heavy crashing down on his head. "Well, I've seen him, Kat's seen him. Now he's hurting us in our dreams. Kat looked like mom did sometimes and I got cracked ribs. Fucker might end up killing us in our own beds."
Caden supposed he should have been ready for something like that, but instead he stared at Gavin, dumbfounded. "Excuse me... what?" Despite everything that had happened in this town, Caden couldn't help but be skeptical. Being attacked in dreams... that couldn't actually happen, could it? "That's some Freddy Krueger shit," he added after a brief pause. "It's not... are you sure it's that guy? Maybe it's witchcraft." He wouldn't put it past the witches in this town. Gavin had said that was over, but Caden didn't believe it for a second.
"We're not the only ones," Gavin replied. "And the others have all seen him before too. I'm sure, Caden." He could almost see where Caden's thoughts were carrying him before he even mentioned witchcraft and the last thing he needed was to stir up some old shit he'd hoped was buried for good. That felt like a whole other time bomb right there; Caden's rage. It was justified, he'd give him that, but going up against the witches felt like running outside to fist fight a hurricane. If this was witches, then why target the sheriff, Roxy and Ruby too? "I don't have the first clue how to fight this or if I even have to. But you'll know what happened if it gets me."
Caden's brows furrowed thoughtfully and he was silent for several moments before he shook his head. "Nah, fuck that. You're not gonna just... let anything get you. We've just got to figure out what it is and how to get rid of it." He didn't have the first clue how to do that either, but he sure as shit was going to try. Even if he had to track down another witch. "There's got to be someone in town who knows who the guy is. Does Charlie know?" Gavin had people in the house with him, so Charlie could keep an eye on Gavin at night. But what about Kat? She lived alone. It didn't sit well with him at all.
"No," Gavin replied and the word didn't come out easily. He'd been trying to man up to tell her because he knew that if he died in his sleep, he didn't want her waking up to his potentially mutilated body. It had been a little weird those last couple of nights and he hadn't been sleeping much at all. He wasn't really surprised by Caden's reply. He would have said the same thing, raging against something he didn't have the first clue about how to fight. "There's a handful of people who know, mostly 'cause they've seen him too."
Caden cocked a brow but he didn't comment on it. If Gavin didn't want to tell Charlie about it, that was no business of his. It didn't really surprise Caden that other people had seen this guy too. Point Pleasant liked to share the wealth, so to speak. "Okay, so... it's people who've seen this creep. If he can hurt people, then he can be hurt. We hunt him down and kill him." Maybe that sounded too easy, but what other alternative was there? Hang out and do nothing while it offs his brother and sister? Point Pleasant had already taken enough from his family.
"I already tried to shoot him," Gavin said, sounding just as despondent about it as he felt. "It didn't take." All it had gotten him was a night in jail, though that had helped him find out about Grady so maybe it wasn't a total loss. "Maybe it takes a sword or something. Fucked if I know." He didn't even know how to find him, or if he could be found, but the determination in Caden's voice broke through some of his depression and he cracked a faint, crooked smile. "You gonna become a demon hunter, Caden?" He wished it was as far out as it sounded, but he could honestly see it.
"So maybe guns isn't the way to go," Caden pointed out, smirking faintly. No, he didn't know how to kill some kind of... night walking dream demon-man, but he could figure it out, couldn't he? Or find someone who could. "I don't think I'm the hunting type, but fuck, I'll try if it means helping you and Kat. This kind of shit has already fucked up our family enough, don't you think? Maybe it's time we start fighting back." Again, he had no fucking idea how to do that, but that didn't mean Caden wouldn't give it his best shot.
It wasn't very often that Gavin was reminded that he did love his siblings but those moments did come around and this was one of them. He watched Caden, his smile a little warmer for the duration before he nodded and looked away. "I don't wanna deal with any more witches and I don't know who else knows about this shit. This guy seems like a ghost, maybe we need a priest." They'd had bad luck with priests in this town and that couldn't be a coincidence, but maybe they could get someone from out of town. He wasn't so sure Caden still believed but it was hard not to cling to religion in the face of so much evil.
It took everything in Caden not to roll his eyes when Gavin mentioned a priest. Always with the priests. As someone who didn't believe in any kind of god, Caden didn't think a priest could do shit. They certainly hadn't helped with any of their family issues in the past. But he wasn't going to dump on Gavin for being a believer right now, when he was looking for something to cling to. "I don't know any priests, but if you do, it doesn't hurt to ask," Caden said after a moment of swallowing all his snarky retorts. "But I'm going to ask around, see what I can find out about this thing. Until then... I don't know, man. You gotta sleep. Maybe you need someone around to keep watch."
That was the last thing Gavin needed and he knew having someone watch him would keep him awake more than his fear would. "Yeah, I'm not doing that," he muttered, though it was probably good in theory. Someone around who could wake him up or stop the bleeding or whatever the hell needed to happen if the bowler hat abomination came back. He for sure didn't want it to be Charlie but that's who it would be if it came to that. Maybe he'd start napping more in the living room with all the dogs there - if Charlie wasn't home... That didn't happen too often, they tended to work the same shifts because of his paranoia but maybe he needed to loosen up a little on that front.
Caden wouldn't want anyone watching him sleep either, but he'd probably suck it up and give into it if it meant someone could potentially save his life. He thought briefly about talking to Charlie on his own, if Gavin wasn't going to do it. It would piss his brother off, but Caden wasn't going to just dismiss everything and risk Gavin getting hurt again. Or worse. "You've gotta start letting people help you," Caden said simply. "Me or Charlie or Jasper, or whoever. You keep walking around this place looking defeated, but you've got a family that's willing to help keep you safe. You need to start accepting that."
"Willing's not the same as able," Gavin muttered with a touch of irritation in his tone. That was the frustrating part; he was willing to fight, not afraid to get hurt in a shuffle, but he didn't have the first clue how to fight something like this. His mind kept going back to the witches but they'd done more harm than good so far and after what they did to Caden, there wasn't a chance in hell he'd ask them for help again. And that left him with nothing but helplessness and fear. There was nobody he was comfortable with asking for help when it came to monitoring him while sleeping and all he could think to do was start making the dogs sleep in the bedroom or something, dumb as they could be.
“I told you we’re going to figure this shit out,” Caden reminded him, an edge slipping into his own voice. “So do your fucking part and let me. And you need to talk to your woman and probably your kids. They all live with you and keeping them in the dark is probably more dangerous than trying to protect them by keeping shit from them.” He knew how hypocritical that sounded, considering he and Aaron were keeping secrets from Gavin. Not to mention all the bullshit he’d yet to tell Shan. But Gavin was actively dealing with something so to Caden, that was much different. His brows furrowed as a thought struck him. “Let me talk to Max,” he said. “He might be able to help.”
"Max?" Gavin asked and it came out a bit like a derisive laugh, or would have if it didn't sound so tired. "What, did he make some powerful friends in prison?" Max was... Not a bad guy, but Gavin just knew him as Caden's very flaky, very flighty and sometimes annoying friend. Maybe not as much today, but he and Caden had been miserable to be around when they were teenagers. Caden with his temper, Max with his 'everything is hilarious' attitude. At least he'd calmed down some. As for helping, would he even show up? Was Caden thinking about strength in numbers? Or was there something else going on with Max that he didn't know about. Sadly, the last one was probably the right one, maybe Max was a shaman, what the fuck did Gavin know.
"Just so you know, you're starting to sound a lot like me," Caden pointed out. "You've got a lot of shit to live for, so I'd be jumpin' at any chance to get help, especially if this asshole can hurt you in your fucking dreams." He didn't know what Max was, if anything. But... "Max is an O'Reilly. I've heard plenty of shit about that family. If even had the rumors are true, maybe they'd be able to help you." Caden had never asked Max if his family really were witches, because it all seemed ludicrous, at least at the time. But then he'd found out about Kelly and D'Onofrio and now that he was faced with Gavin's dilemma, it seemed pretty plausible. "Let me talk to him, at least. If I'm wrong, then we'll find something else."
"I never said no," Gavin replied and he knew Caden was right. He wouldn't say to no to any help he could get, he just didn't dare hope any of it would actually do anything. This seemed so futile, something that had haunted him for almost two decades had finally found a way to fuck with him even more, maybe even finish the job, and he had no idea how to stop it. The solutions to things were usually patience, money or violence and none of these worked against the dark man. "Max is just... well, his family is fucking weird, I've heard the rumors but... Is everyone really a fucking witch in this town?"
Gavin never had to verbally say no for Caden to know when his brother didn't want to bother people with shit like this. If Gavin hadn't had Charlie and the kids in his life, he probably would have just said fuck it and given in to whatever this dark man had planned. Chuckling a bit at Gavin, Caden shrugged, picking idly at one of his short fingernails. "Nah, not everyone. I don't even know for sure that Max's family are witches. Just rumors I've heard over the years, but... he's my friend so I never asked... didn't want to put him in a bad spot, or piss him off. But in this town, rumors generally have some semblance of truth in them, and I'd trust Max a fuck more than D'Onofrio."
For all his flaws, Max was one of 'his people' in a way, so Gavin had to agree, nodding slowly. "If you think he can help," he muttered and tried damn hard to smother that spark of hope. Dread and fear were one thing, but hope could really ruin a man if it didn't actually pan out. "The O'Reillys are good people." And they sure as shit weren't Overlook people so they felt more like kin. Gavin didn't know any of them personally but enough that he was far more comfortable asking them. If they even were witches. "Sounds like it's time to ask."
"I don't know if he can help," Caden said, "but I can ask. If it doesn't pan out, we'll move onto plan b, whatever that ends up being." He made a move to stand, aware that Miles would need help out front. He could step outside and call Max, or at least shoot him a text to come by and talk. It didn't seem like they had a lot of time to fuck around with this. "If anything else happens, tell me. And you need to talk to at least Charlie." It was amusing in a sad way, Caden giving Gavin advice on women, considering his own circumstances. But... he might not say it out loud, but Charlie was good for Gavin and he didn't want to see his brother fuck it up by keeping secrets.
Gavin wouldn't easily admit it, but he treated the women in his life completely differently from the men. It seemed natural to him to be more protective of them, to not get them mixed up in his bullshit. He wished it was possible to keep them completely oblivious to all the bad things, closed off in a protective bubble. Maybe because he'd seen what trauma could do to a woman, or maybe he'd just inherited bucketloads of sexism. The thought of Charlie knowing what was going on was a little sickening to him, he wanted to keep her and Amelia in the dark as much as possible, but Caden was right. She was the one sleeping next to him, she'd be the one to find him dead if it came to that. "I will," he muttered in defeat. "And if you find a way to kill that thing, I want in."
Caden chuckled humorlessly on his way to the door. "I'd never derive you of the satisfaction of killing that fucker," he said. "Just be careful... as much as you can before I can get some help with this. I think we ought to tell Aaron too. We could probably use all the help we can get." He wanted to keep it in the family of course, but Max was part of the family in his own way. Hell, if they were able to find this thing and destroy it, who knew how many other people in Point Pleasant would benefit from it.
Gavin disagreed, he didn't want Aaron involved, not with a kid on the way and a wedding coming up. If he was honest he didn't want anyone involved but this was obviously no longer just his problem so he didn't have the luxury of keeping it to himself. "Talk to Max, keep Aaron out of it for now," he said. "If the rumors are bull I'll figure something else out." Which meant those rumors better not be bullshit because he had no idea where to go for help. His tattoos hadn't helped so that source seemed pointless and the more powerful witches were sociopaths - if not psychopaths and Caden had a mangled hand as a permanent reminder of that. He paused, considered his words and then cleared his throat. "Thanks, Caden."
Caden knew Aaron would want to know what was going on, but he could understand why Gavin wanted to keep their brother out of it. So many fucking secrets in this family. Gavin’s thanks prompted Caden to nod once in acknowledgment. “I’ll let you know as soon as I talk to Max.” And if Max couldn’t help, maybe he knew someone who could. Caden wasn’t going to give up until they had some kind of plan in place. He didn’t know if they had much time so shit was going to have to happen sooner than later.