Misguided Ghosts [Knoxville]

[Harley]

Harley was home for about a week before her first job as the Knoxville faction leader popped up. That week was spent adjusting to the city life in Tennessee, rather than life on the road. Her truck was taking a much needed break on the land of Ryan's Ranch, the ranch that her family owned. There were a few horses, chickens, and dogs that roamed the grounds, and a small staff that was happy to see Harley's return. But the ranch was about to become a lot more for her, especially after her deal with Aiden.

The first thing she did was sit down in the privacy of her room, and pull out her phone. She didn't know how long ago she actually talked to her parents, and this wasn't a conversation that she was looking forward to. Slowly entering the numbers and watching them come up on the screen, she finally hit the send button and waited for the answer. She hung her head, one hand supporting it. It continued to ring until finally a male voice picked up.

"This is the Ryan's. Leave a message and either we or someone else will get back to you."

Harley sighed, both relieved and disappointed at the same time. She needed the support, but not hearing their immediate reaction would make it easier. The beep finally came after the company voice mail recording finished, and she took a breath.

"Mom, Dad, it's me. Listen, something happened. Broderick got caught up in something, and I went to find him. It was shifters, in Washington, and then these demons turned up and..." she stopped herself, giving herself a moment of silence to compose herself. "Broderick died protecting me. I wasn't able to get the body. It's possible the demons have it." She fell quiet again, trying to keep herself together. Still, when she spoke again, she felt the moisture on her eyes, and she could feel the shaking in her voice.

"I'm back at home. Something bad is going down, and I'm starting a faction of hunters in order to fight it. There are more, all over the country. If you need to find me, I'll be here. So will Brodie's grave." She hung up, and tossed her phone onto her bed. She wiped her eyes, and then stood, pulling her hair back into a loose pony tail and taking a breath before leaving the room.

She walked through the ranch's grounds, through the crops and by the animals, until she arrived at a small clearing with soft green grass. Their playhouse once stood here, where they would play Hunter and Demon and fight each other. Broderick was really the one who taught her how to fight, and how not to hit like a girl. He taught her how to drive, how to shoot, how to drink, and gave her all the helpful books about the supernatural.

She scoured the grounds for the best two candidates, and then fashioned a cross made out of two sturdy pieces of wood, and plunged it into a mound of dirt a few feet long. She knelt in front of it, and laughed quietly to herself. "I can't believe I'm talking to dirt. I guess I'm just hoping that somehow you can hear me, I mean, I know it's a possibility," she said, trying to ignore the feeling of water tumbling down her cheek.

"We were born for this sort of thing, so it's only natural that it was how you went out. I just didn't want it to be so soon. I never got to prove that I'm not just your kid sister anymore," she continued, her voice wavering. "You're still an asshole for that," she added with another chuckle. She continued to sit there, legs tucked beneath her reflecting on everything. She wasn't sure how much time passed before she finally uttered a 'thank you' and returned to the house.

All that was needed was some resalting, but otherwise all the sigils and symbols were still perfectly fine. There were pieces of iron all around the house, a room dedicated to weapons, and the sprinkler system used Holy water. She was always proud of the little abode.

She spent the rest of the week waiting for whoever was supposed to join her faction to show up, Aiden said he would talk to the other factions and send some people over to start off with. In the meantime, she started to compile jobs, but even then the area seemed dead. That was why she traveled, because she went to the jobs, she didn't like to wait for the jobs to come to her.

Then, a week in, she found something online about a recurring ghost, a man that wandered by a local highway during the full moon and often caused drivers to crash. The full moon was in two days, so she figured she could check it out, alone or not.

[Victoria]

As adjusted as Victoria had become to living on land, she still didn't like it. She still missed her ship. She still wanted to go back out to sea, fight the supernatural out there, where things made sense. But how long had it been? Nearly a year, she was guessing, but she wasn't completely sure. Victoria never did like calendars. The moon and the tides were much easier to use. Afterall, calendars numerically calculated the time, and that was all just a way for people on land to deal with their lives. Out on the sea, the prospect of numbering days of the month was completely stupid when they didn't matter. It's not like they were on any deadlines. What was more important was the weather and how far it would let you travel. Daylight and moonlight. Those were her guiding marks.

But even so, she doubted that the grudge of the gods would be gone in a year's time. Honestly, Victoria had no idea how long it would be before she returned out to sea. She had figured a couple months would've done it, but she had experimented after their return from the faction meeting in Keystone, and it had not gone over well. It was just a test. All she had done was head over to a local port in Texas, "borrow" a lifeboat from one of the ships docked there, and used it to paddle not too far out from shore. Every row was done with hesitation. It would have been completely mental to row out farther than she could swim. Those gods were so full of themselves. They obviously didn't appreciate her importance in the human realm, and they wouldn't hesitate to strike her down.

Poseidon and Phorcys. She was not in the mood to deal with either, nor was she properly equipped. Hell, she was gonna make a break for land if one of those bloody Nereids showed up. And if the waters showed any sign of whirlpooling or the horizon revealed a typhoon, by Davy Jones, she was out.

Naturally, both were still pissed. She was perhaps half a mile out to sea when a damned Cetea was on her tail. Luckily, she had her gun and was able to kill the creature. No Nereid was attached to this one. But being attacked by a creature of Phorcys that quickly clearly meant that the odds of her returning out to sea anytime soon were slim.

And so, she had given in to hunting on land until the day the sea welcomed her with open arms, as it rightfully should. Jeffy had decided to go solo-hunting, and she had put up a fit when she heard that she was either to hunt alone or join a new faction forming in Tennessee. She was used to working with a crew, to people serving her. As intelligent and independent as she was, she functioned best in a team. Plus, the chances of her actually surviving on land? She'd be arrested. No way in hell she could get by without scamming. Reluctant as she was to leave Lusty in the harbor, she had to. Victoria bid the ship her final farewell after swabbing her down (a task she was willing to stoop to in the case of her beloved ship), and set off for Tennessee.

And now she was there. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she surveyed the place. Ryan's Ranch. It was quaint in it's own cute way, but not quite her style. Wavy hair pulled back in a ponytail, dressed in tight jeans, loose shirt and leather boots, she made her way to what she assumed was the front of the house. The place smelled like animals. It wasn't a smell she was used to, but it wasn't completely unbearable. She supposed life on the sea had trained her for that. Fish, seaweed and monster blood weren't exactly a pleasant combination. And one time, her ship had harbored a whole herd of horses for the specific purpose of some black market business off the shores of Italy. If she had made it through that, she could make it through anything.

Approaching the door, she quickly knocked on it a couple times. Victoria considered breaking in, but decided that waiting a minute or two would be best, especially if it was in the interest of getting on the good side with the girl who was supposed to be her faction leader from now on. It probably wouldn't fare well to do anything that would put her on bad terms with the person who was providing for her. Well...not anything that she knew about, anyway. Even if the ranch wasn't her idea of perfection, everything, no matter what or where, had something worth stealing, even if it was just for the thrill.