Shadow of a Doubt

'Till Death Do Us Part, Sweetheart Lia's the name and death's the game or well...teeth for now. Gotta wait 'till I level up to get my hands on the big stuff. For now it's dentistry and puns. Twenty-two and living death. Could it get any better?

[dahcon]

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Dahlia could easily be compared to spring or summer, given her laid back attitude and humor but those few short days right in between fall and winter; when the snows just falling and the roads aren't icy yet. The leaves are still clinging to their last red leaves, those days are most like Dahlia than anything else. 

They're calm and collected, cool but not freezing but most importantly, perfectly in between fall and winter. Dahlia always feels in between and half the time she doesn't even know what that means. Maybe in between being alive and dead, maybe in between making friends and being friends. Who knows but she constantly lives with a gut feeling that something could go further, that there's more and she's not doing enough to get there. She's those leaves that have yet to fall down waiting for the last breeze to blow by, that snow that's yet to melt and freeze over on the road. 

Surprisingly, she enjoys those days; the weather that is not the metaphorical baggage it brings. The temperature it just right, she doesn't have to wear a heavy coat to keep warm, and the entire town isn't blanketed with a white sheet. Colors, still linger in nature and not everything has been taken over by the cold. 

But sometimes those days remind her that the cold is coming and her mind connects it to the looming cloud over her head. The changing weathers a warning that her time as a reapers coming too and it'll come quicker than she's really expecting. 

[dahcon]

drunken history;; dahlia&erica

       Six p.m. Of course Dahlia was late, of fucking course. She was just now pulling on her shoes; instead she should already be at Erica’s. She wanted to walk as well, there was no point in driving if she was just going to drink, no point in having keys in her pocket and taking the chance of making a bad decision. The town wasn’t that far away from their neighborhood anyways. Now…she just hoped she remembered the way to Erica’s house. The walk she took the day before hadn’t exactly been a planned thing so she wasn’t keeping track of the turns.

        Oh well, she’d find it. A swift grab of her coat and house keys and she was out the door. The light jog was probably a little bit too much enthusiasm so she slowed down when she reached the right block; making sure that there weren’t any sweat stains on her clothes. Ugh, horrible impressions, Dahlia. Late and sweaty.

     She stood at the door, debating on whether or not to actually knock. This had probably been one of her weirdest thoughts or plans yet. ‘Come on Dahlia, let’s take a random person around town, get them drunk and tell them about the town’ but in all honestly, she didn’t know much about the town, except it’s supernatural side. She probably couldn’t even tell you the mayor’s name.

       That’s when an idea sparked, there was something she did know. Death. She knew a massive amount of deaths that happened in the town, that’d make the tour interesting…and all of a sudden her knuckles were banging on Erica’s door.

       “Hey! Let the drunken history begin!” She called through the closed door, not caring if the neighbors heard but she did look down to her watch. She was twenty minutes late. 

[dahcon]

suzannaocon-tookapill:

”I’m sure you’re happy with the hallucinations,” Suzanna said flatly. She wasn’t impressed with the use of the drug, but she supposed that as long as it was irregular and in a controlled environment it would be alright. She played with the ends of her hair - dyed a light blonde - for a moment before going on. ”Will you remember anything I say in the morning?”

Dahlia could feel the tension and hear the apprehension her voice. "Yeah..yeah I will. It's not like that—you know what never mind. Why don't we just watch a bit of TV? I think there's a 90's marathon going on right now. We might find Jawbreaker." 

[dahcon]

tea time by the sea;;dahlia&eleanor

[dahcon]

eleanor--park:

"See you later!" Eleanor walked out of the store backwards, waving her hand with a smile at Eliza as she stepped out onto the streets. Her day ended earlier than usual at work. It was a slow day, though everything seemed slow. The thought of going home seemed dreadful. She had moved out and got a place alone, mostly to give her sister a second chance at things. The business of downtown was still not enough to make her feel like she was surrounded with people. 

The day was still young and there wasn’t a chance that she was going home. She smiled at people as she passed them on the streets, not entirely sure where her feet were taking her. She just walked, well, wandered really. It wasn’t until she reached the beach that she stopped walking. When she left work, she had no particular destination in mind, but it wasn’t her small apartment, so it would work. Eleanor was glad that it was no perfect beach day because she would get weird looks for being covered up on the top half. Revealing her scars was still not something she was comfortable with. The brunette hid them as best as she could, though she swore people could see through her shirt. 

Taking off her shoes and socks, she carried them in her hands as she shuffled along the beach. The sand gathered between her toes and she smiled at the fresh air. Peace and quiet, though she was still alone. Alone. It seemed that all she ever seemed to be was alone. If she wasn’t with Eliza, Tea or Lucy. Eleanor continued to graze across the beach, having laid eyes on a familiar person down the way. She raised her brows, for the woman was curled into her knees. Approaching regardless of her defensive position, she was about to speak when she was beat to it. A smile pressed against her lips as Dahlia mumbled some nonsense about her answering machine being full. “I don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.” Eleanor mused, plopping down on the bench next to her. “And you don’t have to talk either—” She pursed her lips, trailing off. “I guess I need the company?” Ellie raised her brows, shaking her head with a short laugh

         Resilience, that was always nice. Dahlia rarely had someone volunteer to stay after being rudely told to leave her alone. Hell, most people didn’t stay after being asked to stay. Dahlia didn’t look as she sat down but listen to her words, though she didn’t want to talk the silence was bound to get awkward at some point. Not that she wasn’t use to awkward interactions. “If you’re staying than I’m doing this—“

        Without much warning, other than those few words she rested her head on the girl’s shoulder. Stranger things had happened in Necture right? Plus she might have known this girl? Maybe a little, okay not really. Who really cares, she’d sat down and subjected herself to the torture that is Dahlia.

        It felt good to rest, even if the silence was awkward and Dahlia’s actions had worsen the vibe, but she couldn’t help but think. Wasn’t this the moment where she was supposed to cry? Where the stress or sadness or whatever the hell it was became too much and formed tears? It’d be years since she cried, Dahlia hadn’t even shed a tear when she broke a finger at ten years old. Most people would probably be proud of that but to her, it made her feel different and maybe a little broken. It was the death that took over every time she was on the edge, it didn’t let her.

          Her attention turned to where her head was resting. “You know, you’ve got a pretty boney shoulder…not the best for pillows.” She still didn’t move from the spot, the complaint was half-hearted and empty. 

[dahcon]

this is the only law i break, i swear;; dahlia&monty

[dahcon]

monty-noone:

"Well, yeah… I work down at the gym, and I work a really hectic set of shifts" he couldn’t say he worked during the day, because he couldn’t. And then if she had tried to go there it would be a huge mess. Why was he concerning himself with that though? He really didn’t care what this Dahlia thought of him. And he especially didn’t care if he lied to her, although something about it just felt wrong.

He shrugged, “I’d come more often in the day time if I could, but I can’t..things are just too busy, and I really don’t like taking days off” he said, trying to avoid the topic now if he could.

"I didn’t say it was great, did I?" he retorted quietly, smirking. "Because it really isn’t. I really just like the score of the movie, the plot line isn’t something that really interests me in this case.

"The gym?" Dahlia put fake fists in the air and made boxing motions, she was probably the least energetic person in Necture. She had absolutely no motivation to exercise. "Ahh—yeah, good worker then? Good on you." 

Dahlia was the opposite, well..she was a good worker when it came down to her dental job but there was no passion behind her motions. It was just that, going through the motions. "The score?" She questioned it before her mind caught up, ohh the music. "Oh, well I mean if you're into music without words.." It was teasing, nothing to harsh but the movie had lost her interest as well. After spending so long in the dark she was getting bored and speaking to someone was occupying her time. 

At least they were being quiet enough to not disturb any of the other movie goers, the theater wasn't really that full either. Dahlia's attention snapped back to the scream as a blood curling scream sounded from the speakers as well as a bang. If she'd been watching, she probably wouldn't have jumped but just hearing the noise had tricked her senses for a moment. "Dammit, I hate that."

[catelyno]

Sun, Sun go away...

[dahcon]

kadegideon:

Sounds like exactly that, bullshit. People in this town who don’t choose to be immortal choose to die at anytime. if you want to spin bullshit around, Reaps. 

I’ve heard that you papa bear is the best at it, but whatever makes that ego of yours smell like death. I don’t give a fuck. Why do you play tooth fairy when you’re the angel of death? Seems kind of pointless if you ask me. That would be like me working at the red cross or hospital - helping people and shit. Idiotic. 

Nah, granny thigh is gross! Youthful thigh is so much better. Did you know that most people get turned on when I am sucking from there? They can’t help their selves. They wanna scream and shit but can’t deny the pleasure. Guess I’m pretty fucking good with my mouth. 

No worries, reaps, it is almost always sexual. Just like human food is all good and shit but sometimes when you have nothing to cook you eat the worst plate of food. That was what happened with granny. I was fucking starving and she was slow.You say it should but I don’t agree…maybe you would prefer your inner thigh be in it instead? All wound up - looks to me like someone should be sucking down there. 

"Pointless yes, maybe, but it brings in the cash while I train. The hospital? You work at a hospital and you'll be lusting after anything that comes in with a paper cut. It's not like I'm addicted to killing people with bad teeth, man. I don't need to kill to survive, it's just my job." 

"With that mouth? Doubt it...they're probably in shock, man. Don't flatter yourself; your ego can't take much more.

You know that's hot and all, I mean good approach, I'll have to think about it...but seriously creepy and I just don't know if I'm into that sucking stuff. Twilight just wasn't my book; too much sparkling."

[dahcon]

greeneyed-arden:

Arden erupted in melodic laughter at Dahlia’s impression of a mosquito, “You are far too good at that! Thanks, Lia it is then!” Arden looked over to the other girl, her confusion evident on her features, “Dah-Con?”

Arden was thankful that Dahlia reached for the hula hoop before herself, she had no desire whatsoever to come anywhere near the trash. Nodding along to Dahlia’s comments, the blonde perked up at the mention of a ‘freaky feature flick’. When it came to movies, Arden always kept it hidden that she was a lover of everything spooky or scary. But she felt as if Dahlia wouldn’t be the kind of person who would judge her for not being into sappy, romance movies. “Freaky feature film, you say?”

"Yeah, some stupid kid in high school thought he was clever." She shrugged. "Problem was, so did half the rest of the school, so the nickname stuck." 

"Ahh, yes. The beautiful freaky film." A smile crept into her features as her company's question reached her ears. "Where aliens take over the hula hoops, give them a mind of their own and subsequently end the human race. Every man, woman, or child who dares take on the hoop of death faces the chance of hula-ing to death. A severed body is no way to go, my dear, Finn....I should work for Sy-Fy;just saying." 

[needsmorespook]

"Well, Step One's complete."

[dahcon]

officer-penny:

Erica grinned slightly at the new folks comment, an awkward upturn of one corner of her lips in an attempt to instill the feeling of camaraderie both were so desperately reaching for. And obviously, based on the tension, failing miserably. 

The girl seemed to try to make an effort, one fist balled up in some weird motion. God only knew why. Erica watched as the nerve was lost, some fear flashing through Dahlia’s eyes as she dropped it. Uh…ok. So that happened. Eyes went back to Dahlia’s face, brows raised. It was the oddest sort of dance the two were doing, as if they were two ostriches with their heads buried in the sand trying to tango. Not that she knew if it was ostriches that did that- she was a police officer, not a goddamn vet.

However, the offer surprised her. And here Erica had thought the woman would slink away into the night, leaving both of them with the immense feeling of social failure. Obviously not. Would she be up to condemning herself to more of the same? She was already nodding by the time she realized her answer. Why the fuck not.

"Sure," Erica laughed. "But I’m a little old to get black out drunk. Maybe just a beer or two as we go."

Not a total rejection like she'd been expecting. Dahlia wiped the imaginary bead of sweat off her brow. A few awkward first steps but now she had plans for tomorrow night. If only it were that easy getting real dates. 

"Oh come on, the town sounds so much better through a drunken history lesson." It was just teasing, Dahlia had no plans of stumbling through the city either. "I'll be back around six tomorrow?" 

She smiled, hopefully a friendly face would make this woman feel a little more welcome, even if it was Dahlia's. "In the meanwhile, I'll let you move on to step three.." 

[dahcon]

elizasteben:

There’s something I want to practice, but first, I need a volunteer.

"Ohh! Ohh! Pick me!" 

"But wait, this volunteering doesn't involve being naked, right? I just ate a cheeseburger and 'food baby' doesn't really look good on me."

[kieranrowley]

Damn it. There is no way I am going to find it.

[dahcon]

lisbeth-theroux:

"What? Your dignity—kidding...maybe..." 

"Sorry, anyways, what did you lose?" 

[dahcon]

tea time by the sea;;dahlia&open

         The beach, it was a nice place to blow off steam. The sound of the waves hitting the shore were a nice contrast to the usual traffic of Main Street but now her sweatpants were covered in sand and Dahlia had trouble not letting the little things bother her at the moment. She attempted to wipe the sand from the palm of her hands without success. Another grunt, the day had been full of grunts, groans, and growls. A day so close to the edge, you wonder what’s the next step to push you over, what’ll make you give up for good?

         She could make a living as a dental hygienist, it’d be boring but there were perks to the job….right? She racked her brain for something anything that’d make failing as a reaper okay…white teeth. If she continued her job, she’d almost have a grantee of white teeth for life. She lazily kicked the sand, how pathetic. Reaping was her life, in her blood, there was no way she could let falling behind hurt her pride. She had too much to be this fragile.

         Another string of swear words, one of the few ways she could express her thoughts into words when she was in this mental state. She was complicated, proud but doubting. Two traits that were like water and oil. She reached up to rub her eyes but her attention snapped to approaching footsteps. She hadn’t moved her head to look, instead she rested her head on her knees. The last thing she needed was company, she was sure her attitude would be enough to chase them away but today she didn’t feel like going through the motions. Couldn’t a failing reaper just sulk next to the ocean like in a B-rated movie without any interruptions?

         “Dude, whatever you’ve got to say, try again tomorrow…” Dahlia took a moment to look up at her company, prepared to shield her eyes from the sun but she hadn’t noticed it’d already set during the time she’d been sitting here. “..Dahlia’s busy and the answering machine is full.” 

[dahcon]

study no more;; self para

     Dahlia could be a very relaxed person but her time needed to be filled with something, and if it wasn’t than her thoughts needed to be occupied. At the moment the 'reaper life' was stressing her out. The everyday lessons weren’t cutting it, and she was falling behind. Even Nate was starting surpass her and n o  o n e surpassed her. She took a sip of her beer and made the decision.

                                   It was time to go to the greenhouse.

     It was a place owned by reapers used for training, and kept in tip-top shape. Reapers weren’t exactly known for their green thumb so they’d hire gardeners to keep it tidy and a l i v e . Dahlia knew they were only allowed to enter the greenhouse with level four supervision, they didn’t want their precious plants to suffer, but she viewed this as a necessary sacrifice to hone her skills.

     Five minutes away from home, that's all it took to get into serious trouble. Surprisingly the greenhouse wasn’t guarded. Then again, why would it be? It was plants. Dahlia opened the door wide and peaked in but made sure to close it quietly behind her. It was killing time.

     The point of having a greenhouse was to have different species of plants, just like humans, every one of them was different which meant it took a different type of touch and concentration to take their life; something Dahlia was having trouble with. Lilacs, she was fine with. She could even kill Lilies her favorite flowers but those dam cactuses and succulents were giving her the most trouble. She was starting to believe it had something to do with how fragile they were to begin with. Flowers could only go a few days without water but cactus were made for the heat.

     She’d begin somewhere in the middle, a grass type plant. Who knew what the name was but she touched one of the blades and nothing happened. She grunted, her father made it look so easy. Apparently, it wasn’t just going to flow through her blood like she hoped. Instead she concentrated a bit more, taking the blade in between two fingers. Her eyes closed…maybe this is where that humming comes in. Dahlia pictured a black void, but nothing with a great intensity, nothing to signify fear. Their victims weren’t supposed to feel fear from them, or it’d make the transition that much harder. All they needed to do was spark the cross over into spirit realm, reapers had a foot in both the spirit and living realms, and the higher beings would take care of the rest. Dahlia peaked, opening one eye slowly, the blade was still green and fresh. She was failing and it felt like she was spiraling into a pit.

     “Dammit!” Her hand ripped at the plant before her mind told her to behave. F u c k . The leaf hadn’t let loose of it’s roots like she’d expected, instead it’d taken the entire pot within and landed on her foot. “Jesus, dammit, fuck!” She pulled her leg up through the rubble and massaged the top of her foot, wearing TOMS wasn't exactly a smart idea now. Dahlia wondered if she should continue trying or if she should just wait until the next study session with her father.

     She looked down at the pile of black dirt on the floor, her failure. It’d only been one try but one was enough to end in a huge mess. Similar to her life, one failure would end in the biggest disappointment from her father. Dahlia kicked the broken pot with her good foot which only ended in another loud bang. “Seriously!?” As if she didn’t realize that wasn’t going to happen. That was it, it was time to leave. She couldn’t study with an attitude, it didn’t end well but she didn’t want to go home either.

[needsmorespook]

"Well, Step One's complete."

[dahcon]

officer-penny:

Thankfully the moment passed, glazed over by either Erica’s terrible lying skills or an oblivious young woman. Erica would have guessed it to be the latter. It came with the territory of being a straight shooter- when you were an honest sort of person in your everyday life, it was hard as hell to pop a lie out there when you needed to. However, sometimes it worked merely from the fact that no one expected it. This was probably not the case… So she sort of took what she could get, a nice good old change of subject.

"You should go visit one, sometime. Nothing like it. Miss it already, although I’m sure it’s a nice town down here."

And she was now accidentally insulting the town. Great. Open mouth, insert foot. 

"In such a small town, I’m betting everyone knows each other real well."

The city, maybe one day she would. A vaction, that'd be nice but she might have played up her interest for the stranger. Dahlia was oddly comfortable in the town she called home. She never felt the need to 'spread her wings and fly the coop' as others described it. "Ehh—not exactly. Still meeting new folks everyday...like you—" 

She raised her fist in order to softly bump the woman's shoulder, a habit she usually shared with friends but a look of terror washed over her face. Don't touch strangers. Especially with balled fist and punching motions. Her hand quickly unfurled and landed at her side.

"Uh—Er—Okay..." Find words, find words... "How about I take you out tomorrow night. We could go bar hoping and I'll give you a famous tour of our lovely town. Twenty points if you remember it in the morning." 

[dahcon]

this is the only law i break, i swear;; dahlia&monty

[dahcon]

monty-noone:

 "Well, I can only see movies at very specific times, and since the the theater is so small, it only plays basically the same movies at said times" he explained, shrugging. He didn’t know that it was really safe to tell her that he was a vampire, wasn’t exactly something you would tell some woman who sat herself next to you in the theater.

He stared at the screen and hesitantly took in all the different stimuli from around him. His senses were almost too fine-tuned for him to sit in the theater. He enjoyed the smell of the popcorn though, and he really enjoyed the music, despite it not being an action film.

He turned to her and tried to take in what he could from glances. She was very laid back, her body leaned back and her eyes fixated on the screen. He liked the way her eyes reflected the lights from the screen, it was weird. He noticed mostly subtle things, but nothing to let on that she was anything but human.

"At specific times? What do you get a discount or something?" Wasn't it something like senior citizens get two dollars off a ticket after three o'clock? Maybe there was a cheaper price for military veterans that she didn't know about. Dahlia's eyes always had difficult adjusting to the dark so her quick glance over at the man brought no details, once again. It's not like she could really judge anyways; little would give away if he was actually a military man plus she doubted that was the case, there was something about the way he said it. Something off. "Or do you work a weird shift?" 

Even if he did work the same shift everyday there had to be days off; vacations even. The way he implied his outings made it seem like he was a movie kind of a guy; someone who sees films often. Why wouldn't he see them on his days off when he could view a different film? The questions bounced around in her head and she sighed loudly. It was trivially and pointless. There was absolutely no reason to wonder but sometimes Dahlia's brain worked that way. It picked little insignificant details and focused on them until they worked themselves out. A complete waste of time, in her opinion, yet she couldn't stop it once it started. 

Her thoughts had caused her to miss the opening of the movie, another burden but it didn't look like much had happen. I thought this guy said this was good? The scene was just ending but it looked like a typical beginning to a horror film to set up the suspense. A horrific crime was recorded either being caused by something demonic or spiritual; now someone was digging it up years later. Wait, that someone had a connection to the crime...ohh, so original. 

"I thought you said this was good? It's been done so many times." Her accusations weren't meant to offend but her tone wasn't sweet either. "Let me guess, it's based on a 'true story' too?" Her fingers curled around the words in air quotes as she whispered. 

[dahcon]

eleanor--park:

Do they often torture you?

"Yes, everyday! I've almost lost a finger or two to those little buggers."

[dahcon]

suzannaocon-tookapill:

Suzanna fiddled with her earring, taking her time in responding. When she came over to see her friend on a boring Monday night, this wasn’t what she was expecting to happen.

Suzanna assumed - knowing little of the effects - that if her friend kept taking the drug, she wouldn’t be her any more, in the same way she had seen alcohol take away the reality of men and women.

”Erm, no thank you.”

The third Monday of every month. That's what this was; the only time her two jobs consecutively gave her two night/days in a row off.  Her father had a strict schedule he kept too with her training and her days off at the dental office only matched up on this night so she always chose to 'let loose'. Usually it was going out to bars or clubs with friends, maybe even a house party; sometimes she'd still pass as a college student to get into Frats but really the shit faced drunk nights were only once a month and even that wasn't ritual. She skipped party months here and there, because losing herself in substance abuse wasn't exactly the appeal of it all; it was the social settings. Talking to people who wouldn't give her a second glance if they were sober because they actually recognized her as a reaper was what lured her out of her home. 

Tonight's motives were a little different, there was a little more stress in her life recently and she knew she wouldn't have to worry about waking up early the next morning. Dahlia figured the joint would help relax the nerves and hadn't really expected company. 

"Yo, don't even worry about it, Suz." Dahlia heard the refusal but her focus was a little distracted; not that she didn't mean it wholeheartedly. She'd never been one to pressure others into doing what they didn't want too, it was their chose not hers. Respect was an important attribute in her friendships. "...but man I really wish you could see what I'm seeing right now...because those lights looking so fucking amazing." She pointed between the crack of the blinds and the window sill; a few street lamps blurred together in her vision. A picture that must have looked completely different to her than to her company. 

[dahcon]

monty-noone:

He pushed himself up from the sidewalk and nodded. He rolled his eyes and sighed, “I like the way the rain feels, it’s nice”

"Then take a cold shower." 

"The cops will pick you up on the side of the street looking like this."