Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Zoey Béranger ;; 25 years of age ;; Human ;; Senior Watcher ;; Part Time Jazz Singer at The Black Diamond Club

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willowxwispxrp·:

Zoey was probably the reason her daily presence at The Watch Station was tolerated as long as it was. Knowing a senior watcher with some pull meant someone sat her down, reminded her that they had no leads on her brother’s disappearance, gave her a donut or a coffee or a cup of tea, and then lovingly sent her on her way. Willow was certain that their patience would have dwindled a lot faster, their frustrations and overworked helplessness bubbling up to the service, was she not a face they were used to seeing when she came to drag Zoey out for lunch dates. Normally that was most of the time they had together, a quick lunch date that was probably the redhead’s only meal of the day, and Willow trying to give her 30 minutes of pleasant conversation where she didn’t have to deal with all the ugliness in Ashbourne.

Willow had needed to work towards this friendship. It had taken persistence on her part, a lot of giving Zoey space but also reminding her that doors were open. That she was allowed to need somebody to lean on once in a while.

Which meant that when Zoey invited her to dinner, all her evening plans stopped. Those plans had involved a returning a coat to a certain blonde vampire, but she wasn’t going to voice that opinion out loud. Willow respected the work Zoey did, the order she helped keep, but they were at odds when it came to their opinions on vampires. While she understood that those viewpoints came from personal experiences, she couldn’t help but feel protective. Mikhail was like a father to her…Kolya had spent hours building gingerbread houses with her…Marjorie was…god she was an angel. Willow didn’t believe that vampires deserved to be staked, just the same as she didn’t believe every boggart should be killed off or every ghost exercised. Creatures had the right to exist as their nature demanded. 

She shook off the thoughts as she came to sit beside her friend, wishing she could launch into sordid details of her New Year’s Eve, the pretty blonde who dominated her thoughts. Instead she welcomed the first sip of the fruity drink as she claimed a stool and slung her purse over the back of the seat. “Mmmm whatever it is, it’s good. And will probably get me drunk enough to beg you to sing karaoke with me.” She grinned at Zoey, another firm sip. “How did you manage to get a free evening, huh? I don’t think I’ve seen you after 2pm in months.”

“I---” her thoughts came to a halt, as if she herself wondered how she managed to get a night off. Zoey didn’t mind her persistent schedule. However, even on her hours off her phone always sat in plain sight with the volume turned all the way up just in case anyone needed. If she was to receive a call that night she doubt she could do much more than sincerely apologize and say she was out of commission until morning. That would be the first. “Mere stroke of luck at this point. I wasn’t scheduled at The Watch Station and Sydney was begging for more hours so he could save up for some brilliant date he’s been blabbering on about.” With a sigh she shook her head, the mere thought making her lift the glass to her lips and take a drink. “I, however, did not ask about the details.”

It seemed like it had been a while since the redhead genuinely smiled. Zoey certainly wasn’t the easiest friend--- she was stubborn, always busy, and more often than not wanted time to herself when she didn’t have anything scheduled to do. Through all that was the reason she had to thank Willow--- the other girl made her time in Ashbourne just a little bit easier. The girl had been a welcome face when she needed it the most and understood when Zoey had too much on her mind to be a good friend and still stuck through it without complaining. At some point she would have to thank her--- verbally, that is. The redhead hoped her friend knew she appreciated her company, but before they got talking about anything related to that Zoey would likely need a few more drinks in her. Another one of her faults was opening up involved getting through more than just one lock.

At the mention of karaoke she rolled her eyes, though the fond smile stayed firmly in place. “You’ll have to wait until I drink more before you get me singing what they play in here.” With that the girl downed the rest of her drink, though it didn’t take long before another one was placed right in front of her.  

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Dark hues moved lazily around the room, lingering on blurry bodies packed too close together in the much too warm house. Okay, Zoey was perhaps judging too harshly to the common eye who was used to this sort of thing. The last time the redhead went to a party was back when she was still in school. Combined with the fact that she hadn’t even been at the party for longer than hour and she had already lost her contacts--- it wasn’t a good mix. She didn’t even know who’s house she was at. Her co-worker from the Black Diamond Club Sydney dragged her along with him, claiming she needed to get out more. Zoey didn’t agree, but she went with him anyway. She thought there was a chance the evening could have been fun--- that is if he actually stayed with her longer than ten minutes.

The plan had been to get a drink, stick around for no longer than five minutes to see if Sydney would make an appearance, and then leave if he failed to. She was already onto the second part of that plan, sipping from the little red straw the bartender had dropped into the glass with a wink. As the redhead made her way through the groups of people Zoey glanced down at her drink--- that was her third one that evening. Perhaps she should have already stopped, but nonetheless she lifted the glass to her lips and took a drink.

Lifting her gaze, Zoey stepped forwards but accidentally stumbled into to someone in the process. Luckily enough she hadn’t drank enough to drop her glass, keeping both her and the person she walked into dry. An apology was on the tip of her tongue, that is until Zoey recognized who the person exactly was. “Kolya!” she greeted excitedly enough over the music. “What are you doing here?” The redhead picked the cherry from her drink, biting it from the stem before she ran into someone else and dropped it.

@fangbites

[lolaflanery]

[gingernotsnap-blog]

attention to detail //

DATE: January 26th, 2019

LOCATION: Ashbourne--- only a few blocks away from Pandemonium.

WORD COUNT: 1,156

SUMMARY: Zoey has to investigate a case she has seen too many times since her time in Ashbourne. However, this one is just a little different than any of the others.

tw: murder, tw: blood

It was an easy night--- at least, it was supposed to be. Zoey had the day off from the Watch Station and was only needed at the Black Diamond Club for a few hours. The rest of the night she had free to do whatever she wanted. At that moment she was nursing a glass of coca cola until she was officially done, but with the promise of a few drinks after. Her name was Lily. The redhead had never seen the brunette at the club before, but she caught her interest and held her attention between sets. The topic of conversation stayed away from anything heavy. For example, the question of “how did you find yourself in Ashbourne?” stayed as far away as possible, but the question of “do you want to come over after drinks?” lingered in the air with shared smiles. Zoey didn’t answer, but the ‘yes’ seemed clear without vocalizing it.

“Drink of choice. Shoot.”

Zoey grinned--- that stupid, silly grin she couldn’t recall doing in a while. Hell, it felt like an eternity. But she shook her head in thought as she tapped her fingers against the glass of soda. “Something sweet. I don’t actually drink all that much.”

The conversation carried on easily enough, but sadly was interrupted when one of her coworkers walked up with a huge grin of his own. If Sydney planned on ruining her night with one of his stupid comments, she was going to stake him even if he wasn’t a vampire. However, what the other jazz singer had to tell her caught her off guard.

“Ladies, I hate to interrupt, but Zoey someone told me your cell has been going off in your locker. I don’t know if it’s important, but whoever it is has been calling you for the last five minutes,” he said before leaving them with a knowing wave which left Lily snickering and Zoey irritated. More than anything she wanted to ignore whoever it was who was calling her, but she knew nobody would call her over and over unless it was something important.

“Hell,” she muttered under her breath, pushing herself off from the stool. “I’ll be back in a minute. I have to check if it’s something important.” With that the redhead walked from the bar to the locker room, quickly entering the combination and opening the locker door to her ringing phone. The number was a familiar enough one and told her all she needed to know: Zoey certainly didn’t want to answer it, but she had to. She just wasn't going to want to hear what it was if she was being called on her night off.

“Béranger,” she answered, covering her left ear with her free hand to cut out as much of the chatter in the locker room as she could. The conversation lasted no more than a minute, but it was enough to tell her the night wasn’t about to go as planned.  

“Fuck.”

                                                        ------

The rain came down in buckets against her windshield, and she sat in her car after it was parked to watch for a brief moment as she collected her thoughts. Zoey might have made trying to help people her livelihood, but that certainly didn’t make some of the consequences any easier to see. She just thanked whatever it was people prayed to to thank it didn’t make her born with a weak stomach.

After a few more seconds passed she opened the door, stepping out of the car and pulling her jacket tighter around her. Even though her coat hung down to her knees it did very little to fend off the cold around her--- still dressed for work at the club didn’t mix well with night air. Zoey ignored it well enough and walked forward to the scene laid out in front of her. The redhead’s expression shared nothing, though her gaze went to the female body, drenched and laid out on the concrete.

“Tell me what happened,” she ordered, arms crossed over her chest when she approached one of the other Watchers she worked alongside.

“Female. In her early twenties. Blood is drained entirely of the victim’s body. There are no witnesses, or none as of yet. Victim was found a little over an hour ago by someone who was heading home from Pandemonium.” With that the man pointed to a girl--- a youthful looking girl who was speaking to another Watcher. Zoey’s mind, however, didn’t immediately go to the fact that the girl likely wasn’t supposed to be in the Strip Club.

“She called it a bit of an early night. A little strange she just...happened to stumble upon an exsanguinated victim,” the redhead mused, her gaze lingering on the crying female.

“She checks out well enough. A fight with her boyfriend lead her to leave early.”

Zoey frowned, nodding her head. She wasn’t going to rule out the blonde entirely, but she wasn’t her main concern at that moment. She pulled her soaked curls back from her face and tied them in a messy knot as she stepped forward into the scene. Her dark gaze lingered on the victim’s body, sprawled out on the ground. It looked as if someone dropped her there. The rain had washed away what was likely a pool of blood around her head--- at least a pool of what she had left of her blood. This wasn’t the first case Zoey had followed since she came to Ashbourne, but it wasn’t any easier. This girl was young. Yes, she was stuck and couldn’t go anywhere else, but there was always a light at the end of the tunnel. There had to be.

She probably had family--- they always had a family.

“Does the victim have a name?” Zoey called over her shoulder.

“We haven’t found it yet. There’s nothing on her. We checked the surrounding area to see if she dropped anything in a struggle, but we haven’t found anything yet. We’ll keep looking.”

The redhead nodded, looking back at the victim. The ground was stained red immediately around her, though the rain soaked the stains, trying to wash the earth of the horrors which walked across it every day. She already knew what happened, but that didn’t keep her from knelling down and gently moving the victim’s head to the side. As she thought there were bite marks--- but not just one; they were covering both sides of the victim’s neck. That was a new one.

Zoey stood and pulled the tarp over the victim’s body, trying to keep the rain off from it as much as she could. It didn’t look as if it would be letting up anytime soon. With a frown she turned and made her way over to the Chief to discuss things further and catch up on anything she may have missed.

And here she thought she was going to have a good night.

[gingernotsnap-blog]

The ultimate goal before the end of the night was to go to Harmony’s Table and help keep people calm there--- at least as calm as they could be. However, before she did that, Zoey and other Watchers were making sure people around town were getting where they were supposed to be before it got too late--- though at that point it already was. While some of the Hunters were doing the same thing they had their hands full as it was, so the redhead and her group were helping as much as they could. Even if it was just to keep the peace between restless and panicking people.

She was currently on the outskirts of town, talking down a grieving woman in the cemetery who had apparently lost her husband. From a werewolf attack--- of course. Zoey understood the desire for vengeance better than most people, but the night of the Blood Moon certainly wasn’t the night to decide you’re feeling brave. After a good twenty minutes she left the woman, being promised she’d head to Harmony’s Table and stay there with everyone. The redhead was likely about to do the same thing, but before the woman left she warned Zoey of a “young kid” who headed towards the Funeral Home and wished for her to look into it due to the fact that a kid shouldn’t be out alone--- during any night for that matter, but especially not that night.

Without wasting any time Zoey took off in the direction of the Funeral Home, the silver dagger in her right hand. Werewolves weren’t a species she currently had a lot of knowledge on, but she had enough to know the do’s and don’t’s. She certainly hoped the person who had decided to be out late by themselves knew the same, but with the description of a “young kid” stuck in her mind it made the redhead get there faster.

Letting out a sigh, Zoey stepped inside the Funeral Home, eyes adjusting to the faint light before her gaze settled on August. Not exactly a “young kid”, but still someone she wouldn’t personally want out by themselves. She didn’t know him all that well, but she ran into him at the bakery at least once a week and made pleasant enough conversation with him. The usual friendly smile she offered up every time they ran into each other was missing and with a scowl of irritation she arched an eyebrow, arms crossed over her chest.

“Are we protecting the dead tonight over ourselves?” Zoey asked him--- perhaps a little harsh, but she thought it was a fair enough question. “Because I can’t think of any other reason to be here.”

@augustxknight

[gingernotsnap-blog]

a-painintheneck‌:

Her lips were clenching that cigarette so hard Malachi was beginning to think that she was going to crush it like a moth. The night hung around her in blatant contrast to her neo-goth, desperate-for-approval attire, moving stickily through the night rather than with the smooth, nonchalance of a nocturne. He watched her walk. He hated it. “Hey, um…” She asked. Cute, low self confidence with an underlying conviction. Malachi wondered if she practiced that smile on the mirror often. Maybe if she would turn her head a little… “I’m Ivory, I…My friends and I - we just wanted to know, if you like, sang in a band. You kind of look like a singer. Or something.” She giggled and turned a plain, brown hair around her finger, lips too big for the black lipstick she was wearing, a raccoon who decided upon mouth emphasis instead. “I get that a lot” He replied and resisted the urge to laugh at her bright, red contact lenses, and shove her back into the writhing pits of saran wrap and glow in the dark stars.

“Your friends are gone.“ He pointed out and she looked behind her to find herself alone on the street, yet surrounded by people, all the same. Foot long green mohawks. A guy with a plug through his ears. Eye brow studs that glittered like streetlights, obscure tattoos and ink designs meandering through the doors. Who said this was fucking goth night? The thrumming pulse of the music inside. And she looked so very, very nervous. “Oh, yeah. I’d rather hang out with you.” This was the part where Malachi rammed his pointy, dripping, pearly white, overly feral canines into that cookie cutter’s throat. Not exactly. But how much he wanted to. Instead, he lightly took her hand and told her, with as little petulance as he could that it was quite alright if she stayed for a cigarette with him, even though she’d smear black, oily pap all over his non-mentholated treasures. She smiled and after they finished their cigarettes, she followed him.

“Where are we going?” Ivory piped up, skinny legs barely carrying her along. She reminded Malachi of a mouse, trapped by the neighborhood feline brigade in a corner. As they turned towards the back alley, Malachi threw the cancer stick down on the gravel, snatched up Ivory’s hand, and slammed her against the convert wall. “Hey! What the fuck! I knew you were a vampire!” Miss Goth Princess had lost some of her bravery, as well as her eagerness towards ‘death.’ Then … “I don’t feel so good.” Loving dead barbie gurgled before falling to her knees to discharge the content of her last meal and the drinks she had downed down. "Are you fucking kidding me?” he muttered to himself. Now he had lost his appetite. 

It was in that moment when he heard a scream not too far from where he was standing. Vampires found similar spots to do their hunting. His dinner was done throwing chunks of her dinner on the pavement. “It’s your lucky night.” He grabbed there and compelled her to forget this ever happened. What a waste. More screaming. It was actually annoying when someone else killed around Pandemonium like this. This was his and Henryk’s hunting ground. So he followed the sound of hollering and found a vampire fastened against a red head. When he noticed him he said something along the lines of ‘what the fuck are you staring at?’ Which all Malachi had to do was morph his face into a Furorem nightmare to make him take off. 

There she was, spread on the floor with a halo of blood on her head and some on her neck. She was still conscious so Malachi bit into his wrist and offered it to her. Apparently he was in the mood to be charitable. Maybe it was the fact that he could still smell vomit. Or maybe because he recognized who she was. Senior watcher extraordinaire.. “Here.”

Fuck.

The thought lingered in her mind and for some reason she clung to it. Consciousness was slowly fading from the human--- her hands dropped from the vampire’s chest, giving up on trying to push him away from her. The energy in Zoey to do anything and everything to get the man away from her to survive drained at the same rapid pace as her own blood did. She tried to lift her hands from her sides, but they didn’t rise from then a few inches before they dropped once more. The only fight the redhead had left in her was her body writhing, but that may have been more instinct rather than sheer determination to get away with her life.

Another scream got caught in her throat as her eyelids started to feel too heavy to keep open. Zoey was barely able to comprehend what was going on around her, that is until all of the sudden the stinging sensation was gone from her neck and her body went limp now that she wasn’t being held up and collapsed to the ground beneath her. She blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision to understand what happened. The stake that she had earlier was thrown somewhere several feet away from her, but she clumsily reached into her jacket pocket for the knife which she kept there--- just for something to hold onto, even though the girl was clearly in no condition to fight anyone or anything.

However, she hadn’t expected her savior to be another vampire. Unless Malachi wasn’t there to help.

Dark eyes lifted to look at the vampire as her free hand went to her neck, pressing against the wound which was still bleeding. Hell--- she was still trying to find a way to get her throat to let her speak, too busy still catching her breath. Malachi beat her, offering up the last thing she certainly expected.

Zoey’s gaze dropped to his wrist, eyeing the offering for a second too long. She was tempted to drop the knife and reach for the vampire’s wrist--- she was only human; the pain was getting to her, and it was taking too much effort on her end to still keep her eyes open. The human had never had vampire blood herself, but she knew what it did. Zoey knew it would make all of her current problems go away. Though rather than reaching for his wrist she found herself shaking her head--- she couldn’t.

“No,” she said, her voice just above a broken whisper. Zoey dropped the knife, letting it clatter to the ground as she used one hand to push herself into a sitting position rather than laying in a pool of her own blood. “I can’t. I’m okay.”

[greekichor]

⁴/∞ goddesses

↳ artemis,  daughter of leto and zeus,  twin sister of apollo,  goddess of the hunt.

[gingernotsnap-blog]

diabolics‌:

Finally, something nostalgic to smile about. “Beautiful place. I haven’t been there in a while though. Were you there when…” He made a wide gesture with his hand. “This happened?” He lowered his sight to his glass for a moment, giving it a drink, then met her gaze again. “I love the view from the port. All of France has been tirelessly painted, but Marseille feels like living in a piece of art, and I do love the sea.”

Philippe was surprised to hear this wasn’t what she did for work. “And what else do you do? Other than entertaining the Black Diamond crowd.”

She frowned momentarily in thought. “No, I sadly was not. I unexpectedly did a lot of traveling right before I...happened upon Ashbourne. I was making my way through a good portion of South America at the time. Venezuela, actually. I unfortunately didn’t get to take in any sights there.” Zoey wasn’t about to get on the specific topic of what she was doing before she came to Ashbourne--- at least not with a total stranger. The redhead liked to treat everyone as a potential suspect, until they proved they weren’t.

“I’m a Senior Watcher.” Perhaps a hint of arrogance surfaced in her tone, but who could entirely blame her? There wasn’t much Zoey could talk about with pride these days. “I worked in Law Enforcement before I came here, so it seemed fitting to try and find some of home.” She lifted a shoulder, taking a drink from her glass before turning her attention to the man once again. “What do you do, since we’re talking so much about me?”

[gingernotsnap-blog]

The rum and coke was doing little to hold her attention. Normally Zoey didn’t pay attention to the...overeager customers at the Black Diamond Club, but--- well, perhaps she had been paying a little bit more attention to the drink in front of her than she originally intended to. Nevertheless, her eyes glittered with amusement as she watched a crowd of females move around Sydney, one of the other Jazz singers, and try to hold his attention before he got his drink(s) and signed off for the night. Between songs she heard more times than not from the other singer about his mixed feelings about the attention he got. 

“Talia,” Zoey started, noticing her other coworker who was likely also waiting between sets, and walking in a questionable direction of Sydney to perhaps save him--- the redhead herself was guilty of doing such a thing before when she was feeling generous. “Let him suffer tonight. He slipped someone my number the other night so I exaggerated Sydney’s desire for attention. Let it play out.”

@txliabites​

[morganalefays]

[gingernotsnap-blog]

Zoey would like to say she didn’t have a lot of faults, but the one she would openly admit to anyone would be she was impulsive. There was a list of things she’s done she should have thought through before acting on them. How she ended up in Ashbourne was perhaps the prime example of just how impulsive she was, any maybe she could have avoided being locked away in the town altogether. But, that was a thought for another day. Currently, she was working on the reason she ended up in town.

At least she thought she was.

The vampire’s name was Elijah. She couldn’t say she spent much time around them or personally talking to them (if she could help it), but she asked about this one. The redhead even talked to him one night when he visited the Black Diamond Club when she was working--- learning he arrived to town just a little bit before her. The man was also boastful, so much to it being an apparent fault the second he opened his mouth. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was the most she had in her grip since she had arrived in Ashbourne. Finding the man who had killed Tristan had been harder than she had thought, though it did little to lessen her desire--- if anything it just fueled it.

That particular night she was outside Pandemonium. She couldn’t say she ever frequented the club, but she did that night. Elijah had asked if she’d wish to meet him there, and she agreed. She just didn’t specify she would not be meeting him there for the reason he likely wanted, nor would she actually be going inside the club to even see him. He likely figured she stood him up and enjoyed his evening anyway. He didn’t seem to even notice her absence.

It wasn’t until Elijah left the club that Zoey started to follow him--- and it didn’t take long to realize he had left to follow after someone himself. Luckily enough for the unsuspecting female Zoey was there to cut in before he could do anything and managed to sidetrack his attention. However, the night didn’t go as she planned either.

He knew nothing about her husband, at least he claimed he didn’t. The stake which was pressed just a little bit into his chest did little to change his mind and made the vampire do nothing but grunt in what she assumed was minor pain. This was the best she had come up with, so before she staked any vampire she wanted to hear them admit they killed her husband. The redhead needed that closure before she did anything herself--- such as shove the wooden stake through her husband’s murderer and close that door with a padded lock.

Things just didn’t have a tendency to go as she planned as of late.

Before she knew what happened the stake was thrown from her hand and she was pushed back against the bricks of a building behind her. Zoey barely had the time to struggle, a scream getting caught in her throat by the hand which was holding her and cutting off her air supply. “You’ve caused me more trouble than you’re worth--- and, you lost me my dinner,” Elijah finally said, letting up on her throat and allowing her to desperately suck in gulps of air.

She should have known what was coming next, but she closed her eyes, desperately clawing and trying to push the man back away from her, but no avail. It wasn’t until Elijah leaned in and bit down on her neck, drinking her blood with no effort and no problem holding her there that a desperate scream rose from her throat and pierced the mostly silent night.

@a-painintheneck

[teatralka]

[gingernotsnap-blog]

prozny·:

The moment her sight fell upon him, it seemed like the light turned off in her eyes. She couldn’t be more unamused to be in his presence. Fantastic. “They do, yeah. It’s this dead look in their eyes, like a shark’s, you know? Like the funniest thing in the world couldn’t make them laugh. That’s what a vegan looks like to me.” He threw his head to the side, made a pause. “Well, that and like food.” There was something aggressive about the smile he offered her. Full of teeth.

“Jerk pork for me, but not bad.” He gave her a closer look now that he was standing right behind her in line. “Are you singing tonight? Or just finding excuses to get people cuffed?”

“Funny,” she started, her tone still flat. Zoey never liked giving Henryk the upper hand by letting him know he got to her. “I thought you described yourself more than the casual living person who just decided to cut meat out of their diet for whatever reason it may be.” Maybe if she was a bigger person she’d have ignored him all together, but she could never help the retorts that were on the very tip of her tongue whenever the vampire talked to her.

The redhead lifted a single shoulder in response, but his final comment grated on her nerves. It was a hit closer to home--- to herself and her family. Zoey remembered the people who accused her of having nothing better to do with her time, so she arrested people who didn’t deserve it. Even before she got into the field herself she could remember when she was a kid other classmates accusing her father of the same thing if any of their family ran into the bad end of the law. “I never find excuses. People present them to me. On an open platter.”

[gingernotsnap-blog]

It could be said she brought it upon herself, but Zoey didn’t have many friends. Even though she had been in Ashbourne for over two years now, Willow was really the only person who could come to mind for her to call when she wanted to spend time with anyone outside of work. Not that she was exactly complaining--- for the past few years she likely wasn’t the friendliest person.

This particular evening was a rare day the redhead didn’t work...at all. Surprisingly enough she didn’t have to patrol or be at the Black Diamond Club. She couldn’t remember the last day she had entirely to herself, and she was kinda lost on what to do. She spent the majority of the day finally cleaning her apartment. Zoey liked to think of herself as a clean person, but she was so busy as of late (it was done purposely at this point--- she didn’t like being alone with her own thoughts for too long) she hadn’t had much time to do any cleaning. Or decorating for that matter--- the place almost looked exactly like it did when she moved in aside from the few personal belongings which came with her.

However, her night seemed to be much more promising. After a few texts sent to Willow with the promise of meeting later for drinks and maybe a bite to eat, Zoey’s day looked to be less boring. Upon arriving at the Water Wheel Pub at eight o’clock promptly--- because if there was one thing her mother drilled into her brain it was there was never an excuse for tardiness, the redhead sat at the bar was a fruity, and promising looking drink in front of her.

“I have no idea what this is,” she started once she saw her friend. “I just asked the bartender to make me something strong and not make me regret my choices until tomorrow.” Zoey shrugged her shoulders, a smile still on her lips as she turned her attention back to her drink, taking her fourth....no, fifth, sip of it. “But I taste mango. And maybe pineapple.”

@willowxwispxrp

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

— pierre jeanty [x]

[maledictushq]

[gingernotsnap-blog]

maledictushq‌:

ASHBOURNE DOSSIER

NAME: ZOEY BÉRANGER NEE BEAULIEU

SPECIES: HUMAN

AGE: 25 YEARS OLD

TIME IN ASHBOURNE: 2 YEARS 8 MONTHS

[ TW: MURDER ]

Childhood wasn’t the easiest part of Zoey’s life. Growing up in a middle class family in the South of France wasn’t all that hard on it’s own, and being the only child of the  Beaulieu family wasn’t as lonely as one would think it would be. Her parents were very present in her life, at least as much as they could be when it came to her father working most hours of the day as the Chief of Police and her mother balancing her love for writing, cooking, and cleaning.

The young redhead’s days were spent reading books, taking singing lessons, and collecting seashells on the beach. Zoey lived a fairly normal life, and at her very young age at the time she thought it was pretty perfect. It wasn’t until the girl was a teenager that her world got tipped upside down when her father was murdered during a hit and run on his way to work one night. Her mother would like to say the passion which naturally ran within Zoey is what made her follow in her father’s footsteps, but Zoey herself disagreed. If it wasn’t for watching her own father’s passion each and every day she likely wouldn’t have joined law enforcement.

Upon getting out of school Zoey didn’t travel far. She managed to get a job locally, putting most of her hours throughout the day into work over anything else. Her days were dull, that is until her partner quit and a man who quickly caught her attention started to work beside her everyday. Tristan— a man from Northern France who had just moved less than two months back. At first she was very skeptical about working so close with a man— she had liked working with a female beside her because she knew there would never be that inkling to look down upon her due to Zoey being a female in a male dominated career field. She busted her ass off to get where she was, so she surely wasn’t about to let anyone make her feel like she didn’t belong where she was. It had happened too many times for her liking.

Just after she gave him the rundown of her expectations the man laughed, which only fueled her anger until he corrected himself. “You really are something,” were the words which stuck with her for a lifetime. The two became friends— the best of friends until she finally walked down the aisle to him and made it official. Zoey was living in a bliss for a time….that is until Tristan finally decided to share a secret he had been keeping from her.

She never believed in fairy tales. Zoey didn’t believe in the Supernatural and would very strongly say she is a realist. The redhead never knew just how real the creatures were who lived around her. She got to learn the reason why her husband up and moved to her town so suddenly— he was a Hunter. She didn’t want to believe it, she really didn’t; Zoey liked her black and white version of the world she painted for herself. The splash of color which was added to the picture not only confused her, but angered her. How could she be so blind all of her life?

However, after learning all that, the last thing she expected was to be recruited to help hunt the Vampire her husband was tracing a lead on. Without any thought the girl refused, and even went as far as getting out of their house for a while and staying with her mother for a few days because she needed to get a grip on her reality.

Things could really only look up from there, at least that’s what she thought. Zoey would get over it and move back in with her husband. She wouldn’t help him on his hunt, but she would listen to his passion. She fell in love with Tristan, so how could she turn away from him just because he had a few secrets buried she didn’t want to hear about? She would carry on with her life the way it was and they would be happy. It would be easy for her to move on and she would just learn to accept the new picture which had been painted for her. That’s all she thought about, until a knock on the door came to tell her that her husband was found in his home— the blood drained entirely from his body.

It all came crashing down on her at once. Zoey was devastated, but that didn’t keep her from going to her husband’s study and looking through his things. Her mother called her obsessed, telling her she needed to let her desire to catch her husband’s killer go. But she didn’t know the truth— she didn’t know it hadn’t been a human who murdered Tristan. And for what? What could they possibly gain from killing him? She wanted to know— she wanted to know what the man she loved was exactly up to, but more importantly she wanted revenge.

Her bags were packed and she spent over a year following the trail her husband started. For a long time the trail seemed to end…that is until she found Ashbourne. Or maybe the town found Zoey. Either way she wasn’t entirely sure if she followed the Vampire correctly, but she sure as hell hoped so because it looked as if she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The redhead just hoped it wasn’t all for nothing, because as she looked around the town it looked as if she was in over her head. Once again.

[gingernotsnap-blog]

diabolics·:

It caught him off guard, the mention of France, and for a moment the mask he wore day in and out fell, showing genuine surprise and a touch of longing. “I come from France as well, where were you raised?” Not that it made much of a difference, she was young, with a strong beating heart in her chest. Chances were, if they crossed paths before, it didn’t end on a good note. “I lived in Marseille.” He was starting to get used to the past tense, which was a more depressing realization than he had expected.

“Good, that means you have some time to converse then, yes?” Philippe assumed. “Is Jazz a preference of yours or are you simply giving the club what it wants?” He understood her family’s influence, but he was really interested in if, when and how she fell in love with it.

“Not terribly far from there, actually,” Zoey said, wondering what were the odds she found someone so close to home. Not that she actually knew the man--- at all, but it was odd Ashbourne seemed to get people from everywhere. The world really was a small place; she just wished she didn’t have to be stuck in one spot of it. “Arles, which is only about an hour or so away. However, when my parents were less busy when I was younger we did visit Marseille a few times in the summer. I learned to swim at Plage de la Pointé Rouge.”  

She nodded, welcoming the distraction until she had to get back to work. “A preference. Even though I’ve been in town for a while, I haven’t really checked out any of the clubs or bars. I only came here originally to check out something for work. On a whim I came back the next night and auditioned for a job and got it.”