WHO: Hannah Ryan and Tali Barone, with an eventual appearance by Bren Gallagher WHERE: A corner store near Bren's apartment. WHEN: Early memorial day evening WHAT: Considering who it is...they're going to fight. WARNINGS: Violence? Swearing? Demons?
Hannah had been careful. No, not careful. Paranoid. Up until this point she had been determined to be as careful as possible so that she and David wouldn't get ambushed again after the night she had died and he had sold his soul. It'd been over a year since that had happened, and since hell was still on the table for her brother, it was still important that they stay alive. It was always important, of course; there wouldn't come a day where Hannah would not want to keep her brother alive, but it'd become more urgent since then. More real maybe. Definitely more essential.
She also needed to live her life, she knew. There wasn't much point in staying alive if you spent every minute of it worrying and looking over your shoulder. She could stay sharp and observant while still going out like a normal person sometimes. Like somebody who was actually in their early twenties rather than the seventy-year-old woman who hid away in her house until she died. Time passing had helped, but in the end it was plain old stubbornness that caused her to have a moment where she was going to the store by herself. It was just the store. Really, how much trouble could she get into if she was just there for ten minutes?
It wasn't even a run to the store that was absolutely necessary. She and Bren, they were supposed to be watching movies. A night away from studying and research, and anything even remotely linked to things that went bump in the night. Movie watching just wasn't complete without some sort of chocolate and something to drink, and she was going to be the one to go grab it. She'd left Bren to pop the popcorn with the assertion that she'd be right back, and then made the trek down the road in the drizzle towards the store.
It wasn't a store that was out of the ordinary, other than the fact that it was miraculously open on Memorial Day. There was a lone employee at the register, and one other customer in the store hanging around by the beer like he was working up the nerve to attempt to buy it. Hannah meandered amongst the junkfood before grabbing a pack of M&Ms and heading for one of the coolers to pick out some drinks. The tinkle of the bell of the door signaled that the teen had chickened out and left without his beer, and the store fell into quiet calmness. The radio was playing some soft rock music over the speakers that she didn't recognize. Pretty normal stuff.
Until the lights flickered. Hannah paused halfway through the motion to open the cooler door, her head immediately snapping back to look at the ceiling. It wasn't something a normal person would think much of, but a hunter... Especially when the music was crackling and coming in and out like there was interference. It was either a spirit, or a demon. She was kinda hoping for a spirit.
Hannah tossed the bag of candy back on the shelf, and slowly pulled the knife with the consecrated blade out of its hiding place in her boot. Just because she wanted to live her life didn't mean she just walked out of the house without some kind of weapon. She wasn't an idiot. She walked slowly and carefully through the aisles until she reached the front of the store where she swore under her breath. There, laying face down on the counter, was the cashier. Blood was pooling out from under her face and starting to drip on the floor.
"Shit." She cursed again, before moving for the door. It was definitely time to go.