Vitam et Mortem IC - The Heat & Other Non-Magic Philly Locations

Jessie

After a long nap and a refreshing shower, Jessie dressed in a pair of holey, white wash jeans and a Pittsburg Steelers hoodie, golden blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail, Jessie glanced at her watch and grimaced as she slouched into her car. She was already five minutes late to the open house, and she knew her mother was going to be pissed (she honestly didn't even think about Calvin at all despite promising she would be better. At least she was showing up this time, right?).

Pulling up in front of the small rancher ten minutes later (for a total of fifteen minutes late), she exited the car and hipped the door closed. A bright smile pasted to her lips, she trotted to her parents who were in the process of apologizing to Calvin on her behalf. "Hey guys. Sorry for being late."

Her father grunted, "At least you deigned to show up this time." She smiled at him and then turned that smile on Calvin. "Hey."

Mrs. James, Jessie's mother, gently pushed them toward the house. "We will stay out here. You two go look together."
 
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Calvin Holman

By the time Trix reached her shop that evening she would have two texts from Calvin:

Get home safe. ... I'm sorry about everything.
You're truly special and any guy will be lucky to have you.

She'll also have some from Chloe:

Good. I was starting to worry.
Did you have a good night?
Meeting scheduled with what's-his-face's lawyer and what's-his-face tomorrow. Need you there. Dress professional. <3

That night, waiting for the results of the Fritz kid's test, Calvin was surprised by the change in Jessie's tune. It helped knowing that it was marriage she wasn't interested in and that Calvin wasn't necessarily at fault, but it just increased his guilt at what he'd done the night before. He was determined, now, to forget the blue-haired temptress and focus on his fiance and the life they were meant to build together. When she agreed to go looking at houses Calvin agreed, affirming his decision on making this work as best they could. Maybe they would grow to have some affection for each other, friends at least. Friends who happen to be expected to raise a baby together.

Science has come a long way maybe they could do it without ever... Jeez. His life was messed up.

The next day Calvin showed up on time, waiting outside the house with his soon-to-be in-laws. It was the first time either he or Jessie had agreed to look at a house together and he was nervous, having even dressed up for the occasion. A nice polo with dark jeans and his clean sneakers. He'd even managed to get all the grease out from under his nails. By minute ten he was beginning to think Jessie wouldn't show up and then... there she was, pulling up fifteen minutes late. He was... relieved and disappointed at the same time. Half of him had been prepared for her not to try despite her promise. The relief came from his pride; no one likes to be rejected.

"It's just a few minutes," he amended to her apology, taking her side. He could do this! "It happens." If she was habitually late it would just be one of those things he would tease her about when they were married. Yupp. Just like the night before when he had escorted her home, he offered her his arm so that they could be led inside by the real estate agent. "I like the shirt," he offered.
 
Trix
Text back to Chloe: It was okay. I'll be there. Both of which were a bit more subdued than the chatty TMI texts Trix usually replied with to her BFF.

Text back to Calvin: Thank you. Really wish things were different. I know we just met, but I kinda miss you already.


Jessie

She took Calvin's arm and walked up the path to the door and inside. "Thanks. I feel a little under-dressed with you looking so snazzy, but I like the polo." As they stepped inside, she glanced around the living room. The house wasn't huge. It was definitely a starter home and looked stark without any furniture in it at all. Having lived in an apartment her entire adult life, Jessie had a hard time imagining her limited furniture in such a space.

Unwinding her arm from Calvin's, she walked to the kitchen and pulled open the cabinets absentmindedly as the realtor chattered about appliances. Turning to Cal, she murmured, "Want to go hunting after this?"
 
Calvin

Calvin felt like his phone was burning a hole in his pocket. Since she'd texted him that she missed him he'd been texting back and forth with her almost non-stop until last night when Jessie had promised to try. Still, the urge was there to pull out his phone and shoot her a quick text to see what she was doing.

He missed a bit about the appliances, but didn't really care much about the specs of the brand new oven that had been installs just a few weeks prior.

For a starter home, it wasn't bad. Certainly more space than his apartment had, with three bedrooms--subtle, the James' were. He followed around, absently looking into the cabinets and nodding along to the droning of the realtor as he tried to picture him and Jessie sharing this place, together. Except a certain blue-haired female kept staring in his day dreams. He smiled tightly at Jessie, at her request. Hunting together would be good bonding.

Except, he didn't really feel the urge to Hunt anymore. What if all his previous kills... what if they were decent people and he'd grown up in a lie...

"Yeah, sure." He agreed, feeling sick to his stomach as they were led from the kitchens to the master bedroom.
 
Jessie

The blonde tilted her head to look at him. She didn't know Calvin very well, and truth be told hadn't even bothered to try to get to know him, but he looked a little...depressed, maybe? Her hand took his, and she gave a smile to the realtor, "Mrs. Lovett, will you give us a moment of privacy to discuss what we've seen?" The realtor smiled and nodded, then made her way outside to talk with Jessie's parents.

Once alone, Jessie turned to look up at her fiance. "Cal, are you okay? If you don't like the house, I'm sure Mrs. Lovett and my mom can find something else."
 
Calvin Holman

His phone buzzed in his pocket and for a second he was surprised at the image that stared back at him. She looked normal, professional. Still, he liked the blue hair better.

'Looks good. Look better when you're dressed like yourself but I'm sure you will wow the courtroom. Why court?'

He quickly tucked the device away, determined yet again to ignore it.

The rolling, nauseas feeling of guilt in his stomach intensified. He smiled bright and squeezed the hand that held his. "No, I'm okay. Just distracted I guess." He was going to have to tell her. Soon.

"The house is great, bigger than I would have expected. Back yard is a little small. What do you think?" He needed to be here and in this moment.
 
Jessie

When Calvin pulled out his phone, she arched her neck to try to look at it but all she got was a glimpse of a picture. Looked like a girl. Having more friends who were guys, herself, Jessie didn't care if he had a friend who was a girl, but most girls didn't send selfies to friends unless they were other girls. There was a slightly alien touch of something unpleasant inside her that she could not put a name to having never felt it before.

Attention turned slightly at the returned squeeze to her hand, she lifted her eyes to his baby blues once more and then she glanced around, "I like it just fine. It's way bigger than my apartment, and unless you have a lot of furniture, we will most likely need to buy some. I'm a minimalist when it comes to decorating."

She let a beat pass before her curiosity got the better of her, "Who was that?" she gestured to where he'd put his phone away. "Sister?" She was going to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
 
Calvin Holman

His phone buzzed again in his back pocket and he was tempted to take it out again. His fingers itched to text Beatrix back, his eyes eager to see what she had written next. It was becoming a problem. "Would you prefer something smaller, maybe? Less square feet?" Less bedrooms? Though he thought it, Calvin wouldn't say the last part out loud. The house, it's size, he could already feel the pressure to fill it with children and homey things. "Maybe trade off for something with a bigger yard and a better driveway." He suggested, as if it were going to actually happen. He doubted that Jessie would follow through with any plans for marriage and kids. For now it was just... appeasing her parents.

"Just a friend. She's apparently going to court today." He shrugged, trying to brush off the urge to just tell her everything. Not with her parents outside and likely not everything. His hand automatically went to his pocket to habitually check his phone, knowing there was a message there waiting for him... but he let it drop to his side. "I don't have much furniture, either." He continued. "Maybe we could try starting off with a two bedroom apartment." Though her parents and his parents had really insisted on getting them a house as what was going to be a wedding gift and, instead, had turned into an engagement gift in the hopes that the two living together would speed up the already dragging wedding process.
 
Jessie

The tall blonde was appeased by her fiance's explanation as she had no reason not to trust him and also since she, herself, had quite a few male friends. Turning, she walked to the center of the room and just looked around. "Yeah. Something smaller, I think, would work better for us. I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on stuff just to fill a house, ya know?" Even though she was certain both their parents would buy whatever they wanted as long as they got this show on the road. And a two bedroom apartment....well, apartments were temporary, right? They were not as intimidating as a house, they did not imply the same things as a house.

Turning to him, Jessie nodded and walked back over to take his hand. "I like the apartment idea." She hesitated a second and glanced out the window across the room to where her father was standing staring at the sky while her mother and the realtor were laughing about something and speaking animatedly. "They're not going to be happy about this, so why don't we get an apartment today to appease them? I'm sure they will help us break our lease agreements. I'm not totally tied to my complex, so if you would rather stay in yours, we can find a two-bedroom there or look somewhere else. I really don't care, but I kinda feel we need to do it today."
 
Calvin Holman

He followed Jessie's gaze out to where her parents were standing, laughing. He knew they'd been growing impatient with their progress, or lack thereof. His own mother had begun to call every other day to drop not so subtle hints regarding his slow moving nuptials. He knew that his mom spoke with Jessie's parents at least once a week on the subject, the three of them scheming on how to get their stubborn children to do the right thing.

He looked back at Jessie and sighed, offering him an arm for a one armed hug. Nothing romantic about it. But they were in this together and they needed to be friendly. He should hug his fiance and offer her comfort. "My lease is up in two months. I can keep my apartment until then, just so we don't have to break two leases. We can go from here, tell your parents we talked about it and that we feel an apartment is better suited to our personalities, at least at this time. Maybe find one that has a lot of kids, one of those ones that comes with a playground on the campus?" Something to indicate that they were thinking of
children, something that would force them to think about children regularly. "... we get a two bedroom and keep the second as a guest?" They'd have to start sharing a room and a bed. But he could be a gentleman. He offered her a wry smile, "I promise I'll keep to my side of the bed every night." It wouldn't be hard if they had a big enough bed, anyway.

His head tilted toward the window where the other three were waiting. "I'm sure she could show us a complex or two this afternoon." After all, she'd still get a commission from the complex if they opted to live at one she showed them. Once more Calvin would offer his arm to his intended, "Shall we, then?"
 
Jessie

Accepting the one-armed hug of support, she leaned against him for a platonic moment. It was awkward to say the least, but nice at the same time. She let the hug linger while the soft tones of Calvin's voice spoke next to her ear. Being so tall, she was usually on a level with most men. "Yeah, okay," she nodded. "Those are all good ideas. Well, I guess we finally have some sort of plan in place. Time to rip off the bandage."

Instead of taking his arm, she found his hand with her own and walked with him outside, pasting a fake smile on her face. Good Lord, she didn't want any part of this. How did life become so complicated in such a short amount of time? An inward sigh because she did know, but it wasn't something accepted by her parents. At least she didn't think it was considering how they spoke sometimes.

As they headed outside and down the path, her hand tightened on his. She really did like him as a friend, and it was a comfort that he was on her side despite not knowing the full truth.

"Well, Jessie, what did you think?" her mother asked brightly in front of the fence.

Jessie glanced up at Cal for support and then said, "We just aren't sure this is the right place for us. It's beautiful, of course, but we are kind of not into filling houses with stuff. Something smaller, more intimate, like an apartment would suit us best. We talked it over, and we want a two-bedroom apartment. Surely you have something like that, Mrs. Lovett?" When she saw the frown entering her mother's eyes, she added, "Maybe a place with a large playground for kids?" That shut her mother up.

Everyone turned to look at the realtor who pulled out her ipad and began tapping extra long fingernails against it. "I have just the place. Westwood Apartment Homes. It's more upscale than the regular apartment complexes, more like condos but without the owning aspect or the exorbitant fees." She looked to the James' who were conferring with silent eyes to each other. Finally, Jessie's parents turned to them and nodded, "We are agreeable to this as long as you sign a lease agreement today."

Feeling as if she was swallowing sawdust, she looked up at Calvin and then to her parents and gave a nod. "Deal."
~~~~~~~
Ten minutes later, four cars (the James', the realtor, Calvin, and Jessie) pulled into Westwood Apartment Homes, a lovely gated community with a punch-code entry, brick townhomes, a pool, a playground, and a lovely fountain. The apartment was a townhouse with two bedrooms upstairs with a shared bathroom and a half bath downstairs with the living room and combined dining room and kitchen. It came with a washer and dryer and a fireplace. In a word, it was quaint and lovely all at the same time.

When entering, the James' entered as well, not giving Jessie the time to say or do something to ruin this.

"I love it," said Jessie as she stood in the upstairs hallway between the two bedrooms. "Let's sign an agreement. Calvin said his lease is up in two months, but mine is seven."

"Two months isn't too much to handle, but I will pay your lease breakage today, and your brothers and I will move everything over." At the finality in her father's voice, Jessie could do nothing but nod and agree.
~~~~~~~
Once the lease was signed and her past agreement broken, it was nearing evening. Jessie stretched and pushed her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt. "Still want to go hunting?" Her parents, busy congratulating themselves on a job well done, were walking to their car to leave.
 
It was a good thing they'd discussed it before hand, otherwise Calvin would have trouble wrapping it around his head that he would be moving in with Jessie... that evening. He held his hand tight in his, giving it an encouraging squeeze and pasting a fake smile on his face as the discussions were made and he nodded in agreement. Yes, they'd move in together. They'd take an apartment, they were eager to view the apartments that Mrs. Lovett had described. "Great." He agreed before walking Jessie to her car. Once he was back in his own car, he'd take out his phone and read the text from Beatrix, replying as he pulled up to a red light. 'Good luck. You are beautiful. Knock them dead. Hope your day improves after that.' How could he already miss her after only a day? He couldn't stop himself from sending a second message. 'I know I shouldn't and I know I shouldn't say it, but I miss you.' In another life they'd have more time together, they'd be the ones apartment shopping a few years down the road... he tried not to think about it too much as he pulled into the gated community of Westwood Apartment Homes.

They were actually pleasant and the apartment they were shown was cute, definitely something they could live in for a few years even if they had a kid or two. As Jessie agreed, so did he. They would sign a lease today and he'd start moving over his stuff. There were some things, like the beds and dressers, that they wouldn't need a duplicate of. Though, they could always put one set in the guest bedroom. Maybe buy a new bedroom set together. He made the suggestion of furniture shopping while her parents were talking over logistics with the leasing agent.

Then he'd try to tell himself that it wasn't because he wanted a bedroom available away from all of this and it was absolutely not to be used for Beatrix, though images of that night still filled his head when he let them.

As the evening drew to a lose, their lease signed and Jessie's siblings on the way to move over what stuff she does have (he's kind of picturing them on call the entire afternoon, waiting for there to be some signal that Jessie finally settled on a place to live so they could all jump into action. Maybe already waiting in her apartment. It was a little ridiculous, but it made him smile.). At her offer to Hunt, he swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. Meet you in... twenty minutes or so at your place? Or, your old place I guess. So I can get changed and we can head out?"
 
Jessie

The blonde nodded thoughtfully, pulled open her car door, and settled into the driver's seat. She was near to having a panic attack, truth be told, and she needed to get herself out of here and drive around for a little bit. She hoped the drive home would steady her, and she sort of hoped Calvin wouldn't move into the new apartment just yet. It was a lot of change all at once, and Jessie, though a pretty level-headed person usually, didn't handle change well when it came things she was uncomfortable with such as relationships. She'd never even had one though there had been several crushes over the years.

The drive did steady her nerves, but they ramped up once more as she saw her dad's car and her twin brother's trucks already taking up parking spaces in front of her old apartment. When she walked in, chaos reigned: boxes were everywhere, there was bubble wrap, and thick ropes of saran wrap kept drawers from opening as the twins headed out through the door carrying her dresser. None of the guys in the apartment even bothered to look at her which was probably a good thing considering the expression of flabbergasted horror which must be situated upon her face.

She picked out a pair of black jeans and a gray hoodie (hoodies were her favorite article of clothing) from an open box on the floor of her closet and stepped outside to wait for Calvin. The brisk, cool air did wonders to clear her head.
 
Calvin Holman

He wanted to call Beatrix, wanted to see how her legal battle had gone, but he needed to focus. He and Jessie had a lot to discuss tonight and somehow calling a witch before he went hunting did not seem like the best idea. As he sat in his apartment, dressed for the night and chest of weapons open in front of him, he considered the evening ahead of him.

Knowing Beatrix, knowing what she is and more importantly who she is... Calvin was second guessing everything he'd been taught, everything he'd ever believed and it was fucking with his mind. He was built, trained, and raised to kill things like Beatrix. Maybe she was a fluke. Even evil beings would occasionally spit out a decent person every now and then, just like humanity had it's share of truly messed up people. Maybe she'd cast a spell on him, a powerful one.

Maybe the truth he'd grown up with was actually a lie.

The thoughts, questions, and the trouble with Jessie swirled through his mind and until at least some of those things were settled he didn't know if he'd be able to kill another witch. But his betrothed was waiting.

With a tired sigh, Calvin grabbed a variety of weapons not really interested in them like he normally was. He tossed them into a duffel bag and headed to his car, leaving his phone behind as he was taught to do, pulling up to Jessie's apartment not long after that. He spotted her waiting by her building and pulled up to the curb, noting the moving truck. Perhaps the image in his mind earlier hadn't been so far off. As soon as Jessie got into the car he gave her a sympathetic smile but didn't broach the subject. As much as they had to discuss, he figured they both needed a break from the sudden change their relationship had taken: both their names on a lease. "All ready to go?"
 
Jessie

The tall blonde waved when Calvin pulled up in his car, and she walked to her own car to pull out her duffel bag of weapons which she dropped into the back seat of Calvin's car before climbing into the front. "Hey," she said by way of greeting, not even bothering to lean over and give him a hug or a squeeze on the arm. "Aside from the day of the Test, this feels like the longest day of my life. I'm sure it does for you, too. When I came home, my brothers had already packed up most of stuff which means my parents had this planned out the whole time, the sneaks." She gave an exaggerated roll of her incredibly blue eyes.

"So! I was thinking we should go to the mall or the movie theater. It's pretty easy to make kills as they reach their cars alone. Do you have any ideas?"
 
Calvin Holman

He pulled away, regardless of the fact that they had yet to decide on a destination. Anything to get away from the bright orange of the moving van. He sighed, "Yeah, I got a call from my mom wishing me congratulations on finally moving in together. At least we're in this together, right?" He liked Jessie, more or less, and he definitely could have been stuck with a worse partner. At least she wasn't ignoring him anymore.

"The mall sounds good." They could easily blend in as a young couple hanging around their car in the parking lot, avoiding saying goodbye, etc. It was an easy ruse and would give them a chance to talk a little while they watched and waited.

The drive there was long (he went to a mall a bit further from where they lived, to avoid running into someone they knew) and quiet, save for the background noise the radio provided, Cal switching stations every time a commercial came on. He found a parking spot somewhere in the middle and shut off the car, sitting there in the silence a minute before getting out. He was feeling sick and the breath of fresh, cold air helped him remember to breathe.
 
Jessie

A genuine smile was sent Calvin's way, and this time she did reach over and pat his arm with a bit more affection than she'd shown up until now. "Yes, we definitely are." As was her habit, Jessie slouched in her seat and pressed the knees of her long legs to the dashboard. One elbow rested on the side of the door, and she balanced her chin on her hand while watching the world pass by as Cal drove.

His near constant flipping of the music channels began to wear on her nerves, and she finally glanced at him and watched for the next time he moved to push another station. She really wanted to playfully swat his hand away and make some witty retort, but this was his car and therefore he could do what he wanted in it.

Jessie didn't bother with small talk as it just wasn't her style, nor did she question his mall decision. When they arrived, she rolled out of his car and stretched in the cool night before opening the back seat and rummaging through the duffel until she found what she was looking for, twin throwing knives with onyx handles, a gift from her father when she completed the Test. They were carefully placed in the pocket of her hoodie. "Want to go grab something from the food court first?"
 
Calvin Holman

He'd tuck the large hunting knife with it's cover into the pocket of his own hoodie. The rest of his weapons would be a little conspicuous inside a mall, but a hunting knife could be easily hidden and used if needed.

The weapon had been passed down a few generations but still appeared to be in immaculate condition. It's importance wasn't necessarily in the sharpness of the blade or in it's weight, or any of the other things Hunters usually look at when buying a weapon. Of greater importance is the fact that when the weapon draws blood, it stuns the magic in a witch, giving the Hunter a few seconds of a greater advantage.

Feeling it's weight in his pocket did not bring Calvin comfort like it used to. "Yeah, food sounds good." He agreed, eager to do something that would put off killing for just awhile longer.
 
Jessie

A small smile was given to Calvin as she closed the car door and rounded the car to him. Her hand, hesitantly at first, reached out and slid into the crook of his elbow, and together they walked up the parking lot to the mall. It was thankfully warm inside the mall, and as they walked, Jessie would pause once in a while to look in the sparkling glass casement windows to either admire or joke about the clothes or scenes being presented by the mannequins.

Before they reached the food court, however, a bad vibe came over Jessie causing her to stop mid-step and glance around. Despite being darker these days due to the beginning of winter, the mall was crowded with Christmas shoppers which made the dark chill up Jessie's spine even more confusing. "Do you feel it?" she whispered to Calvin, her hand clenching harder on the inside of his elbow.

Baby blue eyes swiveled about them, searching. The feeling wasn't moving, so the witch had to be standing still. She settled upon twins girls around their early twenties holding Starbucks coffees and talking animatedly to each other. Their laughter rang out in the hallway.

"It always makes me sick how witches look and act like regular old humans," Jessie grumbled barely audibly. She walked a little closer just to be certain, and the feeling grew marginally. "It's them. One for each of us. Twins. I bet being a twin makes them even more evil like those creepy twins in The Shining."
 
Calvin Holman

If it weren't for the fact that they were there to find someone to kill and maim, Calvin would almost call the trip pleasant. Jessie walking with her hand tucked in his arm the pair look like a picture perfect couple and they'd managed a pleasant and friendly conversation through most of their walk through the mall.

As they walked through the crowded food court, he felt that tingling sensation up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. There were definitely witches nearby. He kept moving, aiming for the McDonald's in the corner, but Jessie had tugged on his arm. He'd hoped that with how many people were nearby she'd find it impossible to zero in on the witches, but as he turned to look at the twins, he could tell she was right. He could spot the tip of one of their wands poking out of one of their jacket sleeves and he sighed.

"Yeah, it's crazy how they just manage to... blend in almost like they're regular people." He barely kept the discomfort out of his voice as he agreed with his date. Obviously they couldn't kill them right here and now and Calvin was grateful for that. "You want to get us something to eat and I'll keep them in sight?" He dug out his wallet from his pocket, offering up his debit card.
 
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