|Supernatural: S1| Acolytes of Azazel

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××× i'm a paper doll, you can t e a r m e u p,​

× Tatum glanced around the bar at everyone who was speaking with one another. It seemed as if no one got along with each other, but maybe that is just how they were? A little dysfunctional family. They all had one thing in common, and they had known about it longer than the rest of them. Maybe their fighting, or the hostility towards one another was out of pity? They felt bad that the person was experiencing the same thing that they were.​

× When Lenny walked out of his room, Tatum's attention was directly towards him. The girl might have seen him once or twice and spoke to him maybe once. She was slightly annoyed by the fact that he had brought them all the way out there and then hid himself away in his room. Right now, she could be sitting down eating dinner with what little family she had left. It wouldn't be ideal, but at least her powers would not be dangling in front of her. At home, she was able to cover up what bothered her the most. Here? That was a different story. The whole reason she was here was because of her power.​

× Ignoring everyone's comments towards Lenny, Tatum stood up and walked behind the bar, grabbing a small glass and a bottle of whiskey. She poured the whiskey about a third of the way full into the glass before returning to her previous spot on a bar stool. Her gaze went back to Lenny, and she scrunched her nose at him, slightly annoyed how he hadn't bothered to explain anything yet. Hearing Scott's comment to him, she let out a stiff laugh. "I'm Tatum, Lenny, in case you forgot." She was hoping he hadn't.​

 

Lenny frowned as he took a small sip. "Of course I remember their names, Scott. You think I'm old or something? Tatum, Zeke, and Eliza. I remember yours, too." He raised a finger and pointed at Alexis, "Alexis," at Scott, "Scott, the hardhead," Luce, "Luce," and then Adam, "Mulligan." He laid down his glass and took a lit cigar from Adam, who had a scowl on his face. "To answer your question, I was...going over these...recent events. I've been doing research. But more on that later, I think it's time we explained the...gravity of the situation to these three." He sighed. He's done this four times already, but it was still difficult. He figured it was time for a new approach. "Alright, let's...try this. I think we have enough experienced Acolytes for this." He tensed, worrying about his new plan. "You four," he pointed to the three original Acolytes and Alexis. "Starting from oldest, you explain the situation. Let them know," he sighed again, "what their life is like. And for God's sake, be gentle." He had already told Tatum, Eliza, and Zeke about Demons, monsters, Azazel, hunting, and the truth about their past.

"Really? That's what we're doing?" Adam asked, surprised. "Jesus, Lenny, you're the one that's more...capable of handling an explanation like that. Not us. Especially not...." he shook his head, "Never mind. Luce, you first."

 

Luce stared at Lenny for a moment, her first? Be gentle? "Eh? Me?" her icy eyes fixed on the new Acolytes and she inhaled, "Fine, to put it bluntly it'll be hell. I'm sure Lenny already told you about all the actual important stuff. All that's left would be...your real job from now on....your real life." Gnawing on the edge of her lip, "Your new real job until Azazel is dead...is hunting down the monsters that may or may not go 'boo'. With us...we get our very own weapons desgined to hunt whatever our mark is. Be it ghost, werewolf, vampire, shapeshifter, or demon. We also get..." digging in her pocket, she pulled out a thin stack of fake ID's, "Fake ID's for every job that will keep the law off our backs and allow witnesses to speak freely with us. Such as...um, counselor...FBI...CIA...and a bunch of others." She flipped through them until she landed on one she didn't particularly favor...an ID badge she'd worn when she was undercover at a gentelmen's club. Luce pushed herself up from her seat and wandered around. Setting her series of badges on the bar, she almost looked sad as she turned to face them. "Your lives...aren't going to be easy. Letting just anyone know your real name...can get you in a lot of trouble and the rest of us thrown in prison for life. We live to kill things that want to kill the rest of the population. If we don't do it...nobody will." Luce stepped closer to the new Acolytes, "The only good thing is that we don't do our job alone. We have the rest of us here...and several other Hunters without powers like ours in the world. And...not that any of us are proud of it...there's something else that we use...to give ourselves an edge. Since you haven't met one...I'll just tell you. Vampires...they feed off the blood of humans, just like in the stories. I...we're not vampires ourselves...but we can drink the blood of demons. Demons...technically don't have bodies...but when they possess a human being...their blood becomes demon blood. It's something we can take...an ingest and it makes us stronger."

Luce made herself sick remembering everything. "Now...on a less severe note... We also work here, at the Roadhouse, for money we can use for whatever we want. We work, live and sometimes eat here. Unless you like the food here, you don't have to." Wishing to pass the torch, she glared at Scott, "Did I miss anything?"

 

With a scowl at Scott, Adam spoke up. "Thanks, you dick. I thought your power was super strength, not superspeed," he told his brother as leaned against the counter of the bar. "There's...really not much to say. At least, not anything that will sink in easily. I mean, where do I start?" He looked at Lenny, shrugging. "You're hunters now. I guess I can explain the life of a hunter...but you'll learn that as we go along. It's a learning curve. Just...be ready for it. It's not a job, it's not a hobby (at least for most people), but it's a life. Unless you're one of those hunters that stay in one spot and defend your neighborhood, you know, your friendly neighborhood Hunterman or something, you don't stay in one place. With us, for us, it's...a little different." He spread his arms out, "This is the Roadhouse. Our home. Our haven. Sure, we get a few regular people -I call them Mundanes-, but it's mostly hunters who come here. And even though we're in one fixed location, I'm sure you noticed how isolated we are from everyone else. The nearest city is a few miles away. Almost every Mundane that you meet, you'll never see again. And they won't meet you; they'll meet your alias." Adam smiled a bit. He had heard of hunters having a common theme for all of their fake identities, such as Lenny using names of old musical artists. Adam's own theme was obscure comic book characters. "You'll get a hang for the...social aspect of hunting as we go along. As a hunter, we're always in danger. I mean, we have to be; we hunt monsters." He sighed.

"And that brings us to the next important thing: monsters," he reached over and grabbed his pistol, fidgeting with the hammer. "Vampires, ghosts, werewolves, skinwalkers, shapeshifters, poltergeists, Djinns, there's a long list of them out there. They're different species so I guess...just imagine discovering a whole new world with species that can do things you never even imagined. Now think about that world existing here, on Earth, and it's just hidden away, subtly interacting with our own, endangering our people. There's no good or bad about it. They're monsters and we take them down."

He stopped. He looked at Lenny. He scowled at Scott. He nodded at Luce. He raised an eyebrow at Alexis. And then he narrowed his eyes at the new Acolytes. "And there are Demons," he said it with a growl.

"Stop right there, Mulligan," Lenny interrupted. When Adam objected, he stepped up, "Leave the Demonology to me. Alexis, give your spiel. You're still new," he said, rubbing his temples, "But I'm sure you have something to say."

 

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Alexis listened to the others trying to think about what she could add in that would be useful information to the newcomers. After all... knowledge was very important. Knowledge meant survival. Survival was something these new guys would have to get used to quick if they weren't already.
She looked at the new Acolytes and then to Lenny and back at the new Acolytes again.
"There isn't much for me to add since the others have covered most of it. As Lenny said, I'm still new to this stuff myself." She pushed herself off of her chair and rolled her shoulders back before clicking them, loosening her joints up a bit.
She instinctively felt her back pocket next for the pocket knife that Adam had given her when she first joined up. She knew it was there, and even if it wasn't, she'd still be able to access it at any time regardless.
"Right. I know Lenny said he'd cover the Demonology stuff, but there is one thing I can bring up now since Luce partially covered it herself. You'll have heard her mention about Demon's possessing people, but before I go into that more... any of you have Tattoos?" she asked them. "Well whether you do or don't - you will." she turned around, which had been the reason why she stood up in the first place. She reached down and pulled her shirt up slightly to reveal the small of her back. Just above her ass in the middle was a small tattoo - it was a star in a circle, a pentagram. This one was different to traditional pentagram style tattoos as it had curves on the edge of the circle, making it look like a sun. It was something she had gotten pretty quickly after she arrived here. "There are these things called a Devil's Trap. Once inside, a Demon can't leave. They're all over the place here and in the cars too. This twisted one however, this tattoo that you see on my back, each of us current Acolytes and Lenny have. It's different to a normal Devil's Trap as it prevents a Demon from entering. In other words, they can't possess you."
She lowered her shirt back over the tattoo and turned to face them. "So start thinking about where you are having yours, and don't even think about trying to get out of having one. There are no exceptions. Anyway, I'm sure none of you like the idea of being possessed."
Alexis went and sat back at her stool and folded her arms again. She rarely talked this much, but she might as well add one more thing. "The last thing I can say, and it might be odd coming from me due to my lack of experience, but remember... None of this is a game. There are no extra lives or second chances." she said it matter of factly. "It might seem a brutal truth, but there is no way to be gentle about it. Mistakes can mean death. Not just for you, but possibly the rest of us. So take this all seriously and make sure you learn fast."
She glanced at Lenny and the other acolytes one last time before finishing with one last thing; "I don't know your pasts just like you don't know mine or the other guy's here. Some of us may have more in common than some others, but we all share something the same with where we came from and that is why we are here. I'm not one for the sappy or emotional stuff so I won't go there 'nor do I expect you to come to me for that 'cause you'll just get nothing if that's what you're seeking. But, either way, Lenny says this makes us family. I may have had issues with this myself, the others here know this too, but Lenny is the head of this family. You listen to him. He's got more experience than every single one of us here and then some. If you want to survive, then you do what he says. It's as simple as that." and at last she finished, fed up of speaking so much. She tossed another glance to Lenny letting him know she was done.
Other than the devil trap stuff she had mentioned which was essentially academics, the last stuff she had said had been advice from her own experience as the new girl. Things she had picked up in the last month and it was the best she could give from having experienced both sides of the fence. Again... she might have some major trust issues here even now, but if you were locked in the cage with a hungry lion, you wouldn't argue with the man who had spent his whole life around lions. You'd damn listen to him because he'd be your best chance of survival. The same could be said about the supernatural forces. Lenny was the person you listened to if you didn't want to die. This was something Alexis had definitely picked up from her three 'older siblings' and she indeed saw it now too even if she hadn't wanted to at first. Even though only a month had gone by... Alexis had said it herself. You have to learn and learn fast.

 

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××× i'm a paper doll, you can t e a r m e u p,​

× All of this was making the black haired girl, but she listened to every word they said; took in every single syllable. What she was dealing with now? It was beyond what she could have ever imagined. Tatum could have dealt with finding out that there were others exactly like her. But this? How could something this..serious be hidden from the majority of the population? Allowing her mind to run wild, she thought of how little hunters there could possibly be in the world.​

× "Well...that's a lot to take in," she murmured, loud enough for everyone to hear her. Tatum still couldn't place her head around it. She understood, but at the same time, she didn't. What they were talking about were in the childhood stories that her aunt and uncle read to her after she came to live with them. They were make believe. They weren't supposed to be real. It was hard to believe that Casper the Friendly Ghost was a reality. Though, were they supposed to hunt all of them? There had to be some good in them, deep down..​

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× "So we hunt these now?" She asked, although the answer had already been stated. But who was Azazel? Had she blocked out their description of him, or had they just not stated one? Part of her didn't want to know - at least not right now. This was too much, and she was beginning to feel sick. None of this was settling well with her. On top of not talking to any of the others, this was just making her want to pack all of her belongs and head home.​

 

Luce recognized that look in Tatum's eyes when she spoke. All those questions...the uncertainty. By her own tainted blood, she would make this girl understand. "There is no good in the monsters we hunt. None...and there never was. If you start to believe the lies they tell...the sorry stories they spew like curses...heh..." she closed her eyes for a moment, "You're no smarter than a corpse." Fixing her cold stare on Tatum, she recalled every single one of their sorry stories told to her and each time she started to believe them...out came that sneak attack. "And you're no good to us!" Those eyes...blue, outlined in black... "I will not risk my chance at Azazel because one of us chose to believe their lies!" They were as clear in her mind as her father's hateful glare when he kicked her out of the house to commit his own suicide.

 

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Eliza had gone quiet, silently taking in everything that was said, not wanting to miss a single word that was said. It was unbelievable and overwhelming, she could of never imagined something like this even if she tried. Yet in a weird kind of way, with her powers, it almost made sense that this is what she should be doing. She worked to keep her breathing calm and controlled, she did not want to panic or freak out before them, she just had to take this in. When she thought she could handle herself and fight, this was not what she had in mind. What they were saying, monsters existed? All the creatures from the stories and myths and legends, they were all real? It was hard to believe but with the way they explained it coupled with her powers, she didn't doubt it. ​

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"So we're monster hunters now, wow." She finally said as she looked up, the term sounded ridiculous on her tongue. Did she have questions? Probably but given the information overload they all hung in her mind, just out of her reach. She'd found it hard to comprehend that every single weird and wonderful being that they'd just told her was bad though. Not a single fairy or mythical creature was good, she didn't doubt Alexis, she just found that rather sad. "Wait, you mean Santa Claus is evil? Well that sucks." She asked as something Scott had said clicked in her mind. It probably wasn't the most relevant of things but she said it anyway.​

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A small smile returned to her face, monster hunting, it did seem like a very cool job to have and it would beat living on the streets. It didn't sound like it would be easy but nothing ever was. It would give her chance to get stronger and improve her abilities, while seeing some incredible things. And then there was the bit that most appealed to her, she'd be part of a family, she'd actually belong somewhere even if it was slightly dysfunctional. In her mind, a family was something worth fighting for. So maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad after all.​

 

"Yeah, well, um..erm," Lenny coughed, remembering a Pagan god that took the form of Santa Claus when he was younger. It was a mission he wanted to forget. Everyone was naughty that year. "Ahem, there's...different things out there and, well, you'll learn. I'll teach. We'll teach." He looked at Eliza and gave a small smile. Out of the three new Acolytes and even the four older ones, she was taking it in quite well, all things considered. That was good. The Roadhouse could use a little cheerfullness. "Now before we go on...the next topic is much more serious. It's...Demons. And, I already told you, the special one is Azazel." No matter how long he has been hunting, no matter how much he has been through, no matter how many times he has said the name, 'Azazel' still came out as a growl. "There really isn't much to say aside from what I already told you. Demons are from Hell. And I mean Hell. Brimstone and torture Hell. It exists. And trust me, this comes from experience, you don't ever want to go there." He took a long hit from his cigar, careful not to inhale it, and looked at the new Acolytes. "Do you...have any questions? About your past? Your powers? Anything?"

 

Does that mean the Easter Bunny evils too. Zeke thought as the mention of Santa Claus being evil arose. Personally, he found most of the things that were being said informative since the point was that this was their new life now and they had to get used to it. That was about when Lenny asked if they had any questions. While he didn't have many, there was a few that he at least wanted to asked now. "Is there anything else special about us?"

 

Luce's jaw nearly dropped at one of the newbie's question. "A-anything...else special? What the hell's wrong with you?! What else do you want? You wanna grow a tail like some sort of animal? Maybe a pair of wings, huh!? You think this is a joke?!" Her hands curled into tight fists and she bit her tongue hard to prevent herself from punching the young boy. Turning towards the door, Luce, herself, shook in body. "If I'm not needed for any more explaining...I'll be outside."

The repitition of the two words 'Stay calm' in her head as she pulled open the door and closed it quietly behind her as she left was starting to meld together and sound like 'say clam'. Taking a seat under a tree, Luce set both Ebony and Ivory at her sides. Exhausted from reigning in her own temper, she closed her eyes.

Luce held something like an internal library inside her own head. If she closed her eyes she could see it clearly, like a real place. Taking twelve steps to stand in the center of the large room that still had levels soaring above like a tower, Luce picked up a box that had clearly fallen out of place...did it come from higher up? The contents had spilled all over the ground. Kneeling, she sifted through the papers written with exact recollections of the memories of those days. This one...wasn't that old even. Their last mission. The wendigo...the drive to the hospital with Scott...the people... "Hm? Oh...I'd forgotten about you." The small picture included on the same sheet of paper she'd picked up...included a small boy. Vibrant red hair and solid blue eyes outlined in black. She'd rubbed the boy's eye until she was convinced it wasn't eyeliner he'd stolen from his mother. His smile had been adorable. Packing up the papers into the box and hefting it up the series of stairs, Luce wondered where the child had gotten off to after they left.

 

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××× i'm a paper doll, you can t e a r m e u p,​

× Was Tatum scared? No, not at all. Was she annoyed? Slightly. Was she confused as to why she was finding all of this out now? Yes, definitely. It had been eight years since she discovered what she was capable of. The monsters they were talking about, the ones they're supposed to hunt; she felt like she was one of them. She had to be. No normal person would possess such a thing as she did. Her mouth slowly turned down, into a frown, thinking of how un-normal her life had been. She assumed the others hadn't had it much better. But.. But what, Tatum? she thought to herself. You're here to get help, to get control. There's something bigger planned for you, but you haven't found it out yet. Stop dwelling on the past.​

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× But the past was all she was able to think about. Tatum could still recall everything on that horrid night. Her dark, brown eyes closed as her mind wandered off to forbidden territory. The shock in the man's eyes felt like a bullet through her heart. The pain it brought her every time she thought back. Hearing Luce's voice brought the young adult back to reality. Though part of her wish it hadn't. Were they all like this? It was not that she didn't like the girl. But her, Zeke, and Eliza were new. Everything was new to them. They needed to get as much information about this as possible, and that was by asking questions. If she was going to erupt like this each time she did not like a question, what was the point in asking?​

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× "I think I have a question." Er, she did have a question, but Tatum was unsure how to word it. Bringing her thoughts together, she glanced around the room at each individual. Scott and Luce were still outside, and she believed it was okay to ask without them, since they most likely knew the answer already. "How do we know what powers we have?" Her black hair fell in front of her face and she quickly pushed it out of the way. Some part of her wished that there was something more to her than being unable to have human contact. What she had? It wasn't a power, it was a curse.​

 

Luce opened her eyes halfway and glowered up at Scott. "What was that? Jump out of...a cake? Isn't that something what normal families do? How about I just bring you something to kill. It's not like I need to be reminded anyways...I remember when I heard all that from Lenny. But I never asked if there was anything else special about us...the only..." she stood and leaned back against the tree, "Question I ever asked was how do I get rid of my powers. But...I was just a kid then. What did I know about anything..." Taking the stone from him, she examined it, "Uh...thanks...I think. I had a rock collection when I was really little...when I still lived with my father. I remember it because he used them to drive me out of the house."

She waited patiently for him to return inside to resume her brooding. "You always bother me...always reminding me what a good person I should be. It's annoying."

 

OOC: posted this earlier, but KHV was taking too long to load B|
BIC:

"Every time," Lenny muttered as Luce left. He was at the point where he could predict how each of his original Acolytes would react in certain situations, even without premonitions. Luce would have an angry outburst, Scott would make a joke, and Adam would angrily try to calm Luc-'Well, that's different,' he thought as Adam stayed inside while Scott hurried after Luce. Instead, Adam stepped up and pointed to Tatum.

Adam scowled. "Don't play dumb," it came out a lot meaner than he had meant it to. Each Acolyte had a bad life before Lenny found them and that life had shaped each and every one of them. Luce -as well as Alexis- can tell when someone has spent their life on the street simply by the look on their eyes. Adam, on the other hand, he could tell when someone was afraid of themselves. When someone could do things other people couldn't and those things did something horrible. No, that wasn't right. The person did something horrible. Adam opened his palm and looked at it. His power was pyrokinesis; he can generate and control flames...though before he couldn't control them. The flames he made, they didn't think, they simply did what flames did: they burned. His powers didn't have a mind, they didn't think, they simply existed as part of him. He was the one that murdered his foster mother and burned down his home. And whenever he talked about his powers, that thought surfaced. This girl, Tatum, he could hear it in her voice. Something about her powers had shaken her in her life. "You're what, 17? 18?" He tried to guess by looking at her appearance. "You've had plenty of time to see what you can do. From what we know, our Demon powers come in when we're teenagers...usually in one initial, uncontrollable burst." He crossed his arms. "So you tell us, Tatum. What kind of powers do you have?"

 

Luce was left dumbfounded standing beside her tree. Didn't think of her as a sister? Then what did he think of her as? Some sort of doll? A throw pillow? An ornament? A dog? Each thought only served to fuel the icy fire that was her anger. There was something seriously wrong with the people she hung around. But....it wasn't as if she thought of him as her brother...she didn't think that of any of them. Except for Lenny...him being the only exception since it was hard to develop anything other than the kind of feeling you feel towards a parent when someone found you wishing for death and on the brink of resorting to eating bugs. Shutting her eyes on the memories, Luce peered back at the Roadhouse. A day didn't go by that she didn't pray that Adam wouldn't burn down the Roadhouse. Not only was it their base camp filled with information, demon blood and what memories she'd been able to accumilate...but it was their home. A place to return to, where someone was thinking about you. She'd heard that from someone...someone small..."Wherever someone's thinking about you...that's your home." she mumbled before picking up her pistols and slowly moving back towards the door, just enough to listen to the conversations inside.

 

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Eliza had been listening to everyone else, trying to pick up every single bit of information she could. She hadn't really understood what the question that the guy that was new like her had asked, to her it seemed a bit odd question to ask but she just put that down to her. She was not expecting Luce's outburst in the slightest, the question wasn't that bad, was it? At least she just went outside though to calm herself instead of doing something rash. Eliza made a mental note to try not to get on Luce's bad side, she'd hate to be on the receiving end of that anger.

She kept quiet, just watching it play out and listening to Tantum's question. She knew she might have a few questions of her own but she held back. She wanted to hear the answers to the ones that were already on the table first, plus she wanted to make sure her questions were valid and wouldn't cause the same reaction as Zeke's. Still she didn't mind waiting, this was interesting and she was trying to learn as much as she could about the family she was now apart of.

However, Adam's answer made her smile falter and bad memories surface. She looked down, hoping nobody would notice and glad it was aimed at Tantum not her. 'Uncontrollable burst' he'd said and that fit all to well with her first experience of her powers. She wondered what they'd think of her if they knew her full story, if they'd look at her the same way, if they'd accept her. She couldn't let it show, they mustn't know, she didn't want that to ruin her new life here as well, it'd ruined it enough as it was. Her small smile returned as she looked up, she could do this, they needn't know. She was good at hiding everything behind a smile. Still his words had shaken her more than she liked.​

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