progeny

[faithjohnsons-blog]

cricket-carroll‌:

“Thank you, Faith, I appreciate that so much,” Cricket smiled at her, “And I think that we’re lucky to have people like you who are willing to step into these kinds of positions.  Though, I should probably let you go, and I’ll see you on Saturday?”

“See you Saturday,” Faith echoed with a final grin. Among all the hell going on around them, Faith could walk away from the conversation knowing one thing: Cricket Carroll approved. And nothing else mattered.

[faithjohnsons-blog]

amiraglenn‌:

“Nothing to do with her?” She repeated, still shocked by the girl’s ability to pick and choose just what she wanted to believe about these people and this case. “Who do you think ‘The girl is where all little bad girls go’ is referring to? The fuckin’ headless guy in Olly’s?” 

Amira grew silent as the girl continued on, her hands gripping tightly around the shopping basket in her hand. She’d spent her life dealing with Wheeler’s infamous ‘holier than thou’ types, who decided the whole bit in the Bible about God being the only one to judge the one portion they felt was appropriate to ignore. “Amira darling, there is only one lawgiver and judge, He who is able to save and to destroy”, the words of her long passed aunt rang through her head as she listened to the pastor’s daughter. If her aunt had it her way, Amira would have been a regular attendee of the man’s church, sitting quietly in the back pew as the elderly woman did every Sunday, despite the glares she received. She might have never inherited her aunt’s love of the church, but she did learn a few things from her- one being that even the most righteous have sins to hide. 

Chuckling to herself, Amira stepped closer to Faith, transforming into her role of the all-knowing Witch of Wheeler as she did so. “What I deserve?” she asked quietly as she peered into her eyes, looking deeply into them as if she could read the girl’s very secrets in her irises. “And what of your sins, Faith Johnson? You hide behind your father’s robes, hoping the sanctity they represent will rub off on you and mask the darkness that festers inside, all the while you judge others for that very same darkness,” she stated, as if Faith was at her table and not in the dairy aisle of Goody’s. “But you throw stones inside a house made of stained glass, and now its cracking beneath your very feet.” Amira stared at her hauntingly, keeping up the act of her alternate identity. She had no clue just what sins Faith could have committed, but figured the girl would fill in those blanks for herself if they hit home enough. 

She’d heard about The Witch. A smattering of friends here and there had described run-ins, but Faith always believed they were heavily exaggerated-- probably something minor like a glare or a biting phrase turned giant by her God fearing posse. But here and now? It took everything Faith had not to crumble beneath the weight of Amira’s words alone. Had she seen what she’d done to Penni? There was no way she could have known, but yet, the way the woman’s eyes bore into her very soul, it was hard to have a doubt. Faith let out her breath through her nose, expression a mix of fright and anger. 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” she dared to speak a little too soon, voice wavering under the pressure of sounding brave. Still, she pressed on. “You and your false God can go straight to Hell. I’m sure they’re waiting for you down there.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

rosaliesfaith‌:

Her smile widened as Faith strolled to her, and she placed the flower crown she had been tying together in her lap. Her hands clasped together in excitement at the sight of the other picking up one of her own. It was — nice to see this view. Rosalie wasn’t sure how many she could call friend, but —- yes, she thought Faith could fit the category.

“Oh, you didn’t have to bring me anything,” she replied. But her heart warmed all the same, and she nodded at Faith’s request. “I’ll let you know. Though it would be a shocking matter if I ended up not liking anything food-related you created.”

“Shocking and heartbreaking, truly,” Faith said with a kind chuckle. In truth, she’d found quite a knack for cooking, but it was still something she was moderately insecure about. Faith was so unbelievably self critical, it was a little hard for her to know when the food was actually good or not, but usually, she found everything passable at the least. “How’ve you been? I know things have been...a little wild around here. Are sales at the shop doing alright?” 

[faithjohnsons-blog]

seenaduncn‌:

“ I believe you. “ Seena though she did not know Faith very well, knew her father. She often saw Jude while she attended meetings at the church. She and Jude from what Seena could tell were good people. Trustworthy people. If Faith said she saw one of THEM on her car, she believed her. Why would anyone lie about such a thing? Especially when there were no lights in the library and it was now pitch black.

Faith’s grip was an indicator of how scared Faith was. That she should try to stay as relaxed and calm as possible as they made their way through the dark aisles of books. The emergency lights flickering on, giving just enough light to see slightly better as to where they were going. Not to rip over anything that had been left behind on the floor. Why her car? Came to mind as they walked. Not speaking it out loud as to not scare Faith further as they came to the door. Seem gave a hard swallow before she spoke again. “ I can look if you want. We do not need to count. We can see if it is still there and if it is we can just go hide until it is safe again okay? “ Her voice was still calm as she peaked up out the tiny glass pane of the door. IT was still on her car, but why? “ It’s still there. I think we should just go try to camp out somewhere until it is gone.  What do you think? “ Seena whispered quietly.

“I-- I just don’t understand,” Faith said, frozen in her fright. Of course Seena was right, they needed to find cover and stay there until the coast was clear, but the stress of everything had her mind jumbled. She locked eyes on an aisle towards the back of the building, realizing she’d feel safest if she could still keep an eye on the door, and headed over there, dragging Seena along without quite realizing. “We’ll go behind this one, that way we can peek through but won’t be immediately spotted. Right? I mean...I’m working with limited resources here, but that seems like the best course of action...”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

cricket-carroll‌:

“I understand, I have a tendency to do the same thing,” Cricket smiled, her eyes sparkling when she realized exactly how good of a choice Faith was.  Not to mention, giving her extra sway with the pastor’s daughter would never be a bad thing.  “But I do have to agree, it’s a little sad how few it’s getting to.  But I have faith that others will find their way back soon.”

“That’s the most important thing,” Faith beamed, the facade of acceptance glowing on her. Of course they’d help those who were ready to repent, who were ready to admit wrongdoing and wash their sins away. Until then, though...they were good as dead in Faith’s eyes. It was easier that way. “I think Wheeler’s lucky to have people like you around.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

ofpecnies‌:

her father…florence couldn’t help but wonder. “and what does your father make of all this? after all, they found scripture on that man’s body.” she looked down at faith. it wasn’t an accusation of any sort. she simply couldn’t help but wonder what others were making of the different situations wheeler was in.

“a routine…” florence mused, looking back over at the klein’s. “it’s been a few weeks since her only daughter has up and vanished and you think she should go on and start life back up again?” wasn’t that like wheeler? wasn’t that like every other small town? ignore the bad and hope and pray that mean’s it’ll eventually go away? florence didn’t have any children of her own - though she wanted them - but she could only imagine the state she would be in if she lost a child.

“It certainly is...troubling,” Faith said, choosing her words carefully. “Of course, they’re echoing the Church’s beliefs, but I’m not sure if they’re going about it the right way. My father is concerned, to say the least.” Truthfully, she didn’t quite know what her father made of it. It wasn’t exactly something Faith wanted to bring up at home to cause more stress. So, she just did her best to keep everything as normal as possible. 

“I just mean it can’t be very pleasant to sit with nothing to do but worry,” she said, voice soft. Of course Faith could never imagine the pain of losing a child, but she was sure the pain of losing a mother was similar. In truth, the search seemed to just give the family false hope at this point- not that she’d share that particular opinion. “All I can do is offer what helped me in my experiences, of course. But everyone processes differently.”

[cacoxthes]

faithjohnsons‌:

Everyone always talked about the feelings you get when you kiss a boy. The fireworks, the tingling, the giddiness, but Faith never felt that with any of them. Whenever a boy had sloppily touched his lips to hers, Faith felt nothing. She noticed the way they tasted. She noticed they were either too wet with spit or too dry. She noticed her skin crawl. She’d always told herself that those were the tingles, but now she knew she had been dead wrong. Because these were tingles. These were fireworks. This was…heavenly.

Except it wasn’t. It was the exact opposite, actually. It was disgusting. Sinful. Absolutely deplorable. And Faith wanted more. But the look on Penni’s face brought everything crashing down.

“I’m– I’m sorry,” The guilt consumed Faith. It brought hot tears to her eyes. What the hell had she just done? Her best friend, her closest confidant, and now it was all ruined. “Penni. Penni, I didn’t mean to– it was an accident. I..slipped. Okay? I…I’m so sorry, Penni. We don’t have to tell anyone. Please…please don’t tell anyone.”

   The breath she pushed out was warm, but drawn right back in and out again. Her eyes brushed on the mirrors around them, seeing the myriad tears in every direction she dared gaze. Chest heaving, heart throbbing, she was certain that God was making her suffer. After all, how many times could she excuse behavior like this? It’d always been platonic, up until now. This was something different. And to think she had liked it. Her co-worker, Darby Young made no excuses when he so nonchalantly used love as a drug ( despite it being more so lust when it came to him ), even with their chat over coffee perhaps a month or less back. She had never wanted to think him right. But all she wanted was to bend over and giggle, laugh uproariously as she slid down the reflective surface behind her. Was this a weight of relief? That she was not stuck in some dead end ( though she technically was ) where her job went first, her practical, boring future? Now, she couldn’t blame people throwing away everything for romance. And some part of her thought about doing the same. Some nonsensical, problematic part of her self that she was happy to know she had now and troubled all the same.    All crystallized and shattered by the trembling of her lip. The pudgy tears of her youth and those depressing, bumbling little breaths that portrayed all the thoughts – sins running around her mind were too much. The kind of crying that was not alien to Faith. “I need . .” to talk to my mother, to leave, to pretend like this never happened, to throw herself down and pray till her knees were bloody and voice raw. Her panic gave way to moving feet, shuffling as best as she could to get around Faith and to run without care for the noises or words or whatever it might be that she was making. The best she could do whilst escaping was knock her shoulder against the blonde’s, not aggressively but so to make it past and shake off any limbs that might have kept her from leaving with her wide eyes and horrified tears. One look back did enough, no promise of a secret exiting her lips nor accenting her last gaze. If anything, she’d try and go crying to her parents. And even if Faith tried to play pursuit, Penni was always far better at the maze, though leaving her bleeding and lost behind her. 

[faithjohnsons-blog]

Once Penni had run from her, Faith was left staring at her own reflection, her own tears reminding her of the ones she’d just watched roll down her best friend’s cheeks. She shut her eyes, felt the hot tears burn her face. All she saw in the mirror was a monster. A selfish, sinful, horrible monster who wasn’t strong enough to resist temptation at the cost of her closest companion. The only person she wanted to run to when she felt this low was the very person who was currently running from her.

Faith sank to the ground, leaning her back against one of the mirrors, pulled her knees to her chest, buried her face, and sobbed until the sound of sweet, innocent children entering the maze became enough to use the emergency exit and go home. 

The carnival would never feel magical again.

end

[faithjohnsons-blog]

amiraglenn‌:

Amira found herself staring back at the girl incredulously, her annoyance at the interaction turning to that of a slowly boiling anger the more she spoke. “Sinners are in danger?” She questioned, brows shooting upwards at the gall of the pastor’s daughter. She wondered what the pastor would think now if he saw his little girl, almost enjoying the chaos that message had caused. Then again though, her own interactions with the man had never been favorable, perhaps he thought the same way as well? 

“Is that what you tell Paula Klein when she mourns for her daughter? Oh well, didn’t you know sinners are in danger now?” She felt like somehow she’d been transported back four hundred years to Salem, Massachusetts when the only thing separating one from a grisly death sentence was how well you could play the saint. 

“Paula has nothing to do with this,” Faith snapped, smile gone from her face. It had all been fun and games before, but to bring a young girl into it, to suggest Faith didn’t understand the experience of mourning had sent her into another mood entirely. Her voice got low, but the fierceness intensified. “If these people are the same who did something to that little girl, obviously they’re mistaken. I’m hoping it was just a coincidence, though, because I don’t know if I can fully disagree with their message. For someone like you? And the rest of the sinners in this town? We’ve been trying for years to no avail. You didn’t want to be saved. So why should we try to save you now? You had your chance and you spat in our face. Maybe someone’s fed up and wants to give you what you deserve.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

📨  incoming message...

nora 🥀: i mean who else can the message be from????? freaky shit just doesn't happen like this!!!!

nora 🥀: it's all gotta be connected SOMEHOW

nora 🥀: also.... "doesn't sound bad" ummmmm wtf?

nora 🥀: r u sure we heard the same mssg.

faith ✰: Of course it doesn't sound wonderful, but Wheeler is full of sinners who don't seem to care that they're sinning. It's a burden to our society. If this scares some bad people straight, maybe it's not such a bad thing.

faith ✰: But it's not like I want them to kill bad people. Or anyone. Obviously.

faith ✰: Oh. I just thought about Cassie. Oh no.

[faithjohnsons-blog]

📨  incoming message...

nora 🥀: jeepers fucking christ on a cracker

nora 🥀: pls tell me u got the same mssg i did bc i am about to

nora 🥀: how u say..........

nora 🥀: LOSE MY GODDAMN MIND

faith ✰: I got it.

faith ✰: I'm confused about it...

faith ✰: Like, the general message about sinners doesn't sound bad necessarily.

faith ✰: But...are these the same people that have been scaring the hell out of everyone around town? Because I don't want to get behind that.

[theshcdowman]

faithjohnsons said: “you came here alone.” either wes or faith! or don’t pick and i’ll decide! live ur dreams

“Sound observation,” Amira rolled her eyes at the sound of the girl’s voice, recognizing it to be none other than Bible School Barbie herself. And here she thought she’d manage to not make a scene at the grocery store that week. “Any more like that and you might just run me out of business.” Sitting the half gallon of almond milk she’d just grabbed in her basket, she turned to face her. 

“And what about yourself, did you make the daring trip to the store on your own, or is papa preacher somewhere around here as well?” Which would just be her luck, she thought to herself. After everything that’d happened in the last week getting yet another lecture from the local pastor would be a fitting end to it all.

[faithjohnsons-blog]

“My father has much more important matters to attend to than deciding which almond milk he prefers,” Faith replied, mouth smiling but eyes shooting daggers. Eyes now scanning the contents of the aisle, she reached out to grab a small carton of vanilla flavored almond milk, ostensibly for herself. “It’s absolutely none of them, by the way. Such a pain. Anyways, It is pretty brave of you to be out here, though. Didn’t you hear? Sinners are in danger. I mean, that’s what they’re saying, anyway. It’s what I’ve been saying for years, but it sounds like they’re a little more serious.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

ofpecnies‌:

“no, no need to apologize, darlin’. not like i’m workin’ on a deadline or anything.” florence gave the girl a little smile before standing to her feet and taking her gardening gloves off. “well, about as good as anyone else, i think.” it was a good enough answer. not too whiny, not too snippy. “just tryin’ to stay busy, you know? it’s best not to let your thoughts and feelings get the better of you.” she stole a glance at her neighbor’s house, her lips pursing. “can’t say i’ve seen the kleins today. but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. i don’t see them much anymore regardless.”

“Why do you think I insist on cooking for my father every day?” Faith said with a genuine smile. If she knew about anything, it was that staying busy kept her afloat. When her hands were busy, her brain was quiet. For the most part, at least. She followed Florence’s glance, giving a small nod. “Can’t blame them, I suppose. Things are getting weirder and weirder. I wouldn’t want to leave my house if I were them, either, but...” Faith trailed off for a moment, considering if she should even speak the words she figured was on everyone’s minds. She took a breath and picked her next sentence carefully. “It may do her a bit of good to get back into a routine again, as well.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

ofpecnies‌:

two days after the blackout, the sun was blistering, out with a vengeance. fans that usually spun so fast florence feared they would fly off their fixtures seemed to move at a snail’s pace. her usually flowy cotton top clung to her frame. no amount of iced tea or cool baths was enough to cool her. it seemed if the figures in white couldn’t finish her off, mother nature wanted to.

as much as she wanted to stay in all day, such heat required extra attention to her garden. so, with a large bottle of water and a pair of clippers, florence ventured out into the sun. it didn’t taken long for her skin to glisten with sweat from the heat. any hair not tucked up under her sunhat stuck to the nape of her neck. she was kneeling in the green grass, weeding out the bed of her blue hydrangeas when a shadow covered her frame. expecting the worst, she turned slowly, a dirt-covered hand moving up to block the sun from her squinting hazel eyes.

she sighed her relief upon not seeing a white-clad figure. her usually flawless face was marred by a bruised and busted bottom lip. “what are you doin’ here?” wheeler’s recent events had seemed to temporarily chipped away at the georgia peach’s southern hospitality.

“Was just on my way to see if Paula had any new lesson plans for me for next week,” Faith said with a polite smile, though the ends of her mouth pulled down at the sight of Florence’s face. She hadn’t heard much, but she knew everyone in town was shaken up about the blackout. It seemed like everyone had seen something, and no one quite knew what that meant. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your gardenin’. H-how’ve you been with everything?”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

rosaliesfaith‌:

date: july 2019 ( pre-blackout ) location: flow’s flowers open

It wasn’t often that she sat outside the shop. Most of the time, she remained among the flowers, tucked in the back meticulously creating flower arrangements. But today the sun was shining, and with a cool breeze chasing away the heat, she dragged a stool outside with a few batches of flowers. Slowly a line of intertwined flowers grew, and when it was the right time, she tied the ends together and placed the new crown upon her head. An example, perhaps a poor one, of a simple skill. And as she continued creating new ones, different combinations of flowers turning into crowns of soft glory, she placed them all in a perfect row beside her.

A sense of calm attempted to settle over her. But the nagging sense of fear, for this town, for herself, would not dissipate. And she didn’t think it would ever truly leave.

Licking her lips, she tucked stray strands of hair behind her ear and dove into another crown. It wasn’t until she sensed footsteps on the sidewalk that she looked up, a small smile gracing her features.

“Have a flower crown for the day, if you’d like. I know there’s not too many, so if you’d like to make a request, I will create a custom one for you, free of charge.”

“It’s perfect,” Faith was surprised to see Rosalie out of her usual spot amongst the flowers. She usually blended in with them, being so delicate and pretty it was as if she belonged there. Still, she’d strolled up, tupperware in hand, smile stretched across her face. The crown in her hand was beautiful, a work of art, as usual, and Faith always let her know. “I brought you some lunch, it’s just some pasta salad with ham in it. I threw it together and we had a little extra. Let me know how you like the recipe, okay? It’s a new one I pulled from the internet. Not sure if my father is a fan, but I thought it was nice for a day like today.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

cricket-carroll‌:

“My thoughts exactly, sometimes you just need a little escape from the horrors of the world that are going on,” Cricket said with a warm smile, “So I’ll just make sure to bring a copy of the book tomorrow to the search party, and as long as you have the first chapter read by Saturday, I’m sure you’ll be able to keep up.”

“I don’t even think I’ll be able to stop myself from getting ahead of the group,” Faith said, a little too eager. Was that even something positive? Was it a bad thing to know more than the rest of the group when having the weekly conversations? “Of course, I’ll keep it to myself,” she added for good measure. “Anyways, I’m very much looking forward to conversations with like minded individuals. It feels like there are fewer and fewer these days.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

cacoxthes‌:

   It was hard enough navigating backwards, but when Faith stumbled too she was lucky that there was a mirror behind her to catch them both. And even more fortunate that she had not had as bad as a fall as Faith herself. A stint of a laugh had been easing out of Penni’s mouth, her eyes only trailing up to notice how close her friend was when she was certain that they were fine, albeit tucked into a tight corner of a dead-end. For something as brief as a millisecond, she met her eyes to be struck with something that she’d already felt, except this time with deadly force. That’s just it, she hadn’t looked at Faith before with anything more than the appreciation that she felt by being there with her. But there was something more primal with the amount of appreciation Brooks felt now. 

   She offered no hesitance in the first moments of the kiss – Penni’s first kiss, mind you. Her lips had met Faith’s with the same kind of caution, even if the rest of it had been thrown to the wind. Then when her rational mind scrambled back to her, she couldn’t tell if it was the thoughts of pure sin that was suffocating her, or the kiss itself. The tactics that she had only ever practiced on a mop weren’t adequately renditioned, but they were certainly there before the officer had jerked her head back and into the mirror with a high pitched squeak to meet Faith’s blue eyes again.     When her own eyes had opened, they were wide. Shocked, frightened at whatever had just happened. She didn’t have the wits about her to even call it a kiss yet. It was a sin, and they were both guilty of committing it. “We - we . .” she stuttered, not inclined to shove her away from herself. Instead, she found herself avoiding Faith’s gaze, tipping her chin down and choking on her words.

Everyone always talked about the feelings you get when you kiss a boy. The fireworks, the tingling, the giddiness, but Faith never felt that with any of them. Whenever a boy had sloppily touched his lips to hers, Faith felt nothing. She noticed the way they tasted. She noticed they were either too wet with spit or too dry. She noticed her skin crawl. She’d always told herself that those were the tingles, but now she knew she had been dead wrong. Because these were tingles. These were fireworks. This was...heavenly.

Except it wasn’t. It was the exact opposite, actually. It was disgusting. Sinful. Absolutely deplorable. And Faith wanted more. But the look on Penni’s face brought everything crashing down.

“I’m-- I’m sorry,” The guilt consumed Faith. It brought hot tears to her eyes. What the hell had she just done? Her best friend, her closest confidant, and now it was all ruined. “Penni. Penni, I didn’t mean to-- it was an accident. I..slipped. Okay? I...I’m so sorry, Penni. We don’t have to tell anyone. Please...please don’t tell anyone.”

[faithjohnsons-blog]

cricket-carroll‌:

“I did, and that’s so sweet of you to further help her out during this hard time,” Cricket smiled, “And I saw her earlier and she’s still pretty upset.  The police still haven’t found any leads, and poor Paula seems to be about at the end of her rope,” she continued, her tone a lot more gossipy than informative as she shared the information, “Which while we’re talking about your schedule, what are your plans for Saturday afternoon? We’re about to start a new book with the club and we’d love to have a younger woman’s point of view.”

“Oh!” Faith exclaimed, the excitement that filled her was debatably inappropriate for the former half of the conversation they’d been having. Of course she felt for Paula, of course she was grieving for the town, of course she expressed concern for everyone’s safety...but...Cricket Carroll’s Saturday afternoon book club had been in Faith’s sights for what felt like her whole life. Everything she’d done led right to this moment. Still, though, she quickly composed herself to match the general mood of Wheeler, despite the giddiness she felt. “I would adore that, Cricket. Thank you. A little reading to get my mind off everything is just what I need.”