Hearts over Clovers [Open]

[Jefferson]

Laying down on the hotel room's comfortable bed, Jefferson took a long drag from his cigarette. The room around him, although smaller than the rooms from his hotel, appeared to have been better invested in, as the wallpaper was a maroon color, with golden flowers spread across it. The carpeting itself, which matched the wallpaper, felt quite as comfortable and inviting as the bed-and clean too!, not a single speck or stain could be seen. Quite a comfortable little hotel room.

Jefferson awoke from his dream. The cigarette he had been smoking was extinguished in the ashtray on the drawer by the bed. He had lost consciousness, and could not remember when he set down the cigarette...but that did not matter at this moment. The dream, which had now been forgotten, had been on Jefferson's mind for awhile. Even though he could not remember this particular dream, he knew it was the same as the others. The same man, the same taunting voice, and the same burning red eyes were marked into his mind.

To rid himself of the thoughts, Jefferson went over to the small refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of beer he had left there the night before. Opening it, he downed the bottle and threw it into the waste basket when finished. Still not satisfied, and his mind still on the eyes, Jefferson grabbed his laptop and began to search for a job.

Scrolling down the list of recent news, Jefferson came to the conclusion that the city seemed to be completely void of anything supernatural. Sure they had their deaths here and there, and the crazed individuals who pretended to be witches, but beyond that, it was quite boring, although, there did seem to be a repeat of individuals with their hearts being ripped out, and that was a bit strange.

Taking that as a lead, Jefferson took the address of where the most recent body was found, and made his way over. He carefully thought of what could possibly want a human heart, and at this moment he couldn't really think of anything, besides werewolves that is. That made sense though, seeing as the deaths matched the lunar cycle, according to the report.

Before making it to the scene of the crime, Jefferson made a quick stop into the liquor store, and bought himself another bottle of beer. Afterward, he left and made it to the alleyway, behind a run down apartment building. Getting out of his car, the first thing he noticed was a stray laying down by the building. Jefferson bent down, and scratched it behind the ears, wondering what had happened to Fluffy, the old dog from the good old days? Looking up, Jefferson noticed a woman already at the alleyway, searching for something.

"Hey, can I help you ma'am?" Jefferson called out, after making sure he had his gun with him, in case he needed it.

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle had found herself following a lead someone had dropped about a string of strange murders where the victims had their hearts removed. She hadn't found a decent hunt in a month and she found herself more than willing to travel to the city to change that. When she got here however, she thought she might have changed her mind. She found herself walking through the city, cramped within the streets but never feeling more alone. She shook the idea out of her head as she slipped along the side streets to a more private area as she tracked down her destination.

It was a few minutes walk before she found herself in a alley way behind a apartment building. She had just gotten there and decided to scope out when she heard a male voice call out to her behind her.

She froze. Her breath leaving her body, as her hand slipped slowly to the firearm hidden under her rain coat. Instead of rationally making a place to deal with one guy, she decided to play it by ear.

She had red curled hair, green eyes, a deep red raincoat that went to her knees revealing skin till it got down to her black sneakers. She didn't think she looked like a threat, she hoped he felt the same.

She turned to face him for the first time. Her lips parted slightly, pursed together, then a small smile slowly graced her lips. "Just needed a quiet place to think, didn't expect to run into anyone out here." she replied, calmly. She stood in a slouched casually stance, her hands in her pockets.

[Jefferson]

The grimy stench of the alleyway filled the ominous air to the top of the brim. The stains of blood, both recent and old, were splattered across the floor, giving the dim alley an unnecessary red glow. The two buildings-he only knew that one of them was an apartment complex-had drawn graffiti on with some of the most vulgar expressions Jefferson had ever seen, well, for those that he actually understood. The most interesting part to Jefferson though, which wasn't the blood surprisingly, was that the alleyway was blocked at back by a giant wall and a dumpster.

Taking out another cigarette-a habit that had increased tremendously over the year-Jefferson placed it in his mouth after he finished taking in the sights. With a dead end for him to consider, that could only mean that the only possible route of escape for anyone was behind Jefferson....

"You know," Jefferson spoke after keeping silent for awhile, "if you really wanted a quiet place to think, you would have chosen a library, would you not? It seems quite suspicious seeing a pretty young thing like yourself out here in a crime scene...don't tell me! You're the murder, and you've come back to the scene of the crime!" Jefferson said, playfully slamming his right fist onto his left palm, as if he had figured everything out.

Smirking to himself, Jefferson went over to where the woman was standing, and began to look for clues himself. He knew he wasn't going to find much, but there was no reason he shouldn't look. Alas, the only thing out of the ordinary, which again did not include the blood, for Jefferson was the one strand of fur and the paw prints, which he concluded both belonged to the stray just outside the alley. Sighing, he stood up and turned to face the woman.

"Listen, umm...Miss, if you're not careful around these parts you'll end up like the last victim that was here, and believe you me, I don't want to come and investigate your murder. So whatever you were doing here, I'd suggest you stop and go home." Jefferson told the woman, before flinging the remains of his cigarette to his side, leaving it there to burn itself out. "Oh, and by the way, my name happens to be Jefferson."

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle pursed her lips together slightly as the man first addressed her again, this time paying more attention to the scene around her than her. Part of her was amused at his antics, however most of her was suspicious. Gabrielle knew the area had been released from police "custody" so to speak, so why was he here.

Gabrielle pushed her hair back slightly as she began to walk past him being silent for a few steps before she finally found any words to reply to him with. She had decided to come back, or look for clues elsewhere as to not be a bother to the man who interrupted her. First however she needed to find a place to stay.

She cleared her throat slightly. "My name is Gabrielle. As unlikely as you would be to be looking into my murder, given that your not exactly a police officer, Mr. Jefferson I do suppose I am more likely to be looking down on your grave when your give out to that incredibly annoying and bad habit of yours." she commented pausing her stride to look back at him. She gave a small smile, indicating some sort of friendliness.

[Jefferson]

A small chuckle escaped through Jefferson's lips. Smoking wasn't exactly on his list of things to kill him, at least not yet it wasn't. He did smoke before, just not as frequently as he was now, so he never really thought about dying from cancer. A werewolf attacking, witch cursing him, even a ghost haunting him; these were the things he worried about. Cancer? It never even crossed his mind until now.

"Believe you me, Miss Gabrielle, smoking will be the last thing that does me in. I have seen things in my line of profession that will force me to kick the bucket before cancer even decides to make an appearance," Jefferson said with a smile on his face, which didn't last very long. He was so close to blurting out he was a hunter, a habit he still hadn't quite gotten over.

To get his mind off of the near blunder, Jefferson turned his thoughts to the crime scene. He scanned the area one last time, and realized there really wasn't much else to see around here. If he wanted to get more clues, he needed to go inside the morgue at the police department, and that would not be an easy task. He shook his head at how complicated this job was beginning to get, but at least his mind was distracted from the menacing red eyes.

"Miss Gabrielle, I'm pretty busy right now, so I'll be leaving. Now, I'm not trying to sound like a creep or anything, but would you care for a ride back to your place? I wouldn't mind giving you one, as long as it's near the motel south of here."

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle paused. She needed to still get a place to stay. Of course he said as long as it was near that motel, perhaps there was a room there empty she could take residence in. She debated it. Normally, she would have slept outside, hidden away somewhere from prying eyes but not with murders happening where the victims hearts are ripped out. She drew the line there.

She smiled slightly, "A ride would be appreciated," she replied. It gave her a chance to ask of her suspicion, it was really beginning to nag at her.

Gabrielle didn't take Jefferson to be a daft person, yet she wondered why he hadn't commented on what her occupation was. She knew he must not have accepted the whole didn't really pay attention to where I was, needed a moment to think routine. Which would make her seem suspicious, perhaps then he was giving her a ride to get information... or to just buy into the act she didn't know what she was doing, there he would be mistaken.

[Jefferson]

Gabrielle, whoever she was, didn't seem to be the sort of individual to cause any problems for Jefferson. He understood why she was lying to him, seeing as he was lying to her too, but Jefferson's curiosity was starting to get to him. This woman was up to something, Jefferson just knew it, but he could not place his finger on what.

"All right then, let's go," Jefferson said smiling. As he turned around his smile vanished and his eyes darted to the side, as if trying to look behind him. One of the rules of hunting was to never turn your back on an enemy, and seeing as he knew only her name, if that was her real name, he couldn't treat her as a friend. The only reason he did turn his back on her was his confidence in himself, even with the limitation his left arm placed on him.

As soon as he reached his car, Jefferson took out the keys and was about to open the door when he stopped. Unable to handle his curiosity any longer, he turned around and looked straight at Gabrielle.

"Who are you really, and what are you doing here? I don't want to hear any crap from you all right, I want the god honest truth, and believe you me, I'll know when you're lying, and I won't be nice if you keep lying," Jefferson exclaimed threateningly, all while playing with the keys. It wasn't a lie that he would know if she was lying, his little empath gift will make sure of that, but he was kidding with his tone of voice. Even though he tried to sound menacing, he wouldn't hurt her even if she was beating him to a pulp.

Jefferson stood there, waiting for her response, lowering down every defense he had to hold back his painfully annoying ability.

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle had been following behind Jefferson and paused when he turned to face her. Listening to him, she was quiet a moment. She was debating with herself. She didn't have a problem naturally telling someone, of course, it didn't just work that way.

She looked back at him, her green eyes a storm as her mind wound around, then finally she had a stubborn look to her. "You ask me to tell you all, yet you give me nothing of value? You question who I am, but really who are you. It is only polite to tell someone about yourself then ask them their information." she replied.

She understood his feelings but, at the same time she had no reason to trust him to tell him anything. If he really wanted to hurt her, she challenged him to bring it on. She wasn't as innocent as she appeared, and if all else failed, she was a hell of a runner.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson stared at Gabrielle intensely for quite some time, and then he began to laugh. She was absolutely correct, and if Jefferson wanted to know anything about her, he would have to give up some information about himself. The only issue was, his truth wasn't exactly quite that believable in the first place, and if he told her, she would probably just walk away. Now that he thought about it, that wasn't such a bad thing.

"All right then, you want the truth from me first? I don't mind giving it to you, I just wanted to know yours first. Truthfully, my name is Jefferson, though I will never give you my last name for personal reasons. I am, or was, the owner of a hotel in Austin, Texas. Lastly, I am a hunter who specializes in special cases, such as this crime scene. I will catch the individual who killed the innocent person, and I will rid the world of them, although as of now, I have no clue what killed the person." Jefferson told her everything he wanted to tell her. If she believed him or not was all up to her.

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle cracked a small smile when he started to laugh, but was honestly surprised when he began to tell her about himself. Even though it was brief, it was still something. That surprised her, she had thought he was actually going to be a little harder to... crack.

She took in his information, storing the little pieces. Certain parts of his speech caught her attention. She pursed her lips lightly as she looked at him, thinking of how she would go about answering him.

It took her a few minutes of standing there to finally find words to reply. "What killed the person.... rid the world of it.... a hunter huh... kind of like hunting..." she paused, her green eyes narrowing slightly as she spoke the last word, "supernatural."

If indeed he was, this would be a very interesting change of events, especially because if he was, she could finally tell him her story.

[Jefferson]

Just the word he was waiting for! Jefferson couldn't help but smile to himself, as he set up the defenses in his mind up again. There was no need to try and feel Gabrielle's emotions anymore, because that would get him nowhere, though he could not understand what she was trying to ask of him. Her last words seemed to be a bit over the place, so he decided to ignore most of them, and just answer her question.

"What killed the person? Well, I would guess werewolf or skinwalker, they're both the same really, but I won't be sure what it truly is until I see the corpse. So tell me, who are you really?" Jefferson said, while jumping to his question quite rapidly without giving Gabrielle anytime to ponder about what he just told her. He wanted information, and by God, he was going to get it.

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle knew her words had mixed, it was her way of relaying what she was thinking, but she said stuff in pieces which made it somewhat hard for a normal person to track her thoughts. This time however, she decided to just spit it out, this was wasting time.

Gabrielle looked at him, she smiled. "Im a girl doing a favor for family, I am here on business tracking the thing that did this so I can get rid of it and move on to my next assignment. Simple enough right Mr. Jefferson?"

[Jefferson]

Jefferson stared deeply into Gabrielle's eyes for quite some time, as if trying to understand the words she just said. Slowly, but surely, the words started to sink into Jefferson's mind, and once they did, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Simple? You think this will be simple?! That is probably the funniest thing I have ever heard in my whole life, and I once met a Trickster! I have no idea how long you've been doing this for, but there will never be anything simple about it." Jefferson told Gabrielle, still chuckling to himself. He hadn't laughed so hard since before his brother's death, and he sure did need it.

"Well, now that I know that you are also going after my target, I can keep you around as backup, but just remember that this is a one time deal. I work alone, and I will not have you around after this." Jefferson said, with no laughter this time in his voice. The hunt was getting closer to the end, and Jefferson had no time for jokes.

"I'm heading back to my place to pick up a suit and a badge. So, do you have casual wear and a fake FBI badge, or are you just starting to get the hang of this gig and had no idea you needed those things?"

[Gabrielle]

Something shifted in Gabrielles green eyes, as they narrowed at the man in front of her. "First off Mr. Jefferson, I was around the age fifteen when I was introduced into the supernatural world. I will not sit back and let you do the work as I am simply back up. i beat you here, we work as equals. Secondly, its not a damn honor to work with you, so I don't think I will be begging to do it again however if we did run into each other don't compliment yourself by thinking I was following you. You aren't the only freelance hunter dear." She replied as she backtracked to the apartment buildings entrance.

The window nearest to them was broken, she stuck her arm inside and reached up till her fingers felt the fabric of her bag hidden away in the shadows of the buildings ceiling. She pulled it out and slung it over her shoulder. The bag itself was worn dark blue color sticked on the upper corner of it was the initials KS.

She came to him again. "Ready? or do I have to walk now?" she asked. She wasn't sure how he would react to her previous statements.