#(.patrick.)

[normallyxstranger]

Dying (30 Days of Writing Day 22 Repost)

featuring Patrick Jennings & Casey Jennings — characters from The New Ashton Chronicles, written & role-played by F.R. Southerland

( @normallyxstranger | @frsoutherlandauthor | www.frsoutherland.com )

© 2019, 2025 F.R. Southerland

original fiction (repost) | approx. words: 330 | general warnings: death, murder, illness/cancer mention | reblogs allowed & encouraged

He remembered what it was like to die.

For the longest time, Patrick couldn't remember. There was a haze over everything—his previous life, what he was doing when he died, or how he died. The haze lifted a little, over time—Months? Years?—until he was fairly certain he knew who he had once been, and how he'd gotten here.

It had started with Amelia. Or, rather, it had started with Amelia and the witches.

There had been some strangeness in town. Even though they had agreed to get out of the hunting game for Casey's sake, when something wicked reared its head in their sleepy little Indiana town, neither of them could sit still for long. Especially not his wife.

So they'd investigated, they'd gotten close, and then nothing. The suspected wicked witches had fled. But Amelia wouldn't leave it alone.

And it killed her. They killed her.

The doctor's told him it was cancer—a very aggressive form. It had seemingly come from nowhere, but he knew better. Those witches had done something to her. They'd poisoned her, cursed her. Within two months, she was gone.

Patrick remembered that. He remembered feeling numb after. He remembered Casey's endless questions. The five year old couldn't understand why her mom was dead and he couldn't explain it to her.

“Bad people,” he'd mumbled. “Very bad people.”

And he'd intended to make them pay.

But he hadn't. At all. Instead, the years he spent hunting them down, waiting for the moment to strike culminated in the witches murdering him and leaving his then thirteen year old daughter an orphan. That should've been the end of it. His death should've finished it.

Then the witches brought him back.

And now, there was no such thing as dead or dying. He was already a corpse. He was no longer a man or a father or a hunter. He was a pawn and a puppet. A revenant.

There was nothing Patrick could do about it.

[normallyxstranger1]

[normallyxstrange]

       P A T R I C K     J E N N I N G S 

@normallyxstrange, an indie urban fantasy RP blog by F.R. Southerland

[strangelyxnormal-a]

All major characters introduced in Witch Way. 

[normallyxstranger]

When Patrick disappeared, it was right around Thanksgiving, the year Casey turned 13. He was investigating a series of mysterious, supernaturally-related murders. He was then murdered as well when he discovered the culprit to be a group of dark witches—The Hallowed Circle Coven.

After his death, he was resurrected as a revenant. Casey was left an orphan.

[normallyxstranger]

“At least it can’t get any worse.” (#Fictober18 Day 29 Repost)

featuring Malcolm Carter & Patrick Jennings — characters from The New Ashton Chronicles, written & role-played by F.R. Southerland

( @normallyxstranger | @frsoutherlandauthor | www.frsoutherland.com )

© 2018, 2025 F.R. Southerland

original fiction (repost) | approx. words: 490 | general warnings: swearing, blood | reblogs allowed & encouraged

Some decades ago...

The car door slamming sounded like a gunshot—too loud and too close. Patrick pressed his bloodied hand against the dashboard. “Go! Go!”

Carter had the keys in the ignition and the engine roared to life. As he backed out, gravel crunched beneath the tires and they squealed before they grabbed traction. The car bounced over the bumps in the old dirt road.

Patrick looked back. He couldn’t see anything beyond the taillights. Thank God.

“That was—that was a demon.” No question about it. He’d seen it. He believed it. It was everything the horror stories had promised.

“Yeah.” Carter’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. There was tension in his shoulders. He knew better than to think they were in the clear just because they couldn’t see it. They had only wounded it, not destroyed it.

“That was–” Patrick was at a loss. The thing had almost killed him.

“Yeah.”

The man didn’t have much to say, but that was fine. Patrick couldn’t think of anything to say beyond a thank you, and something about all of this made him think now wasn’t a good time. The way Carter drove, speeding down the bumpy road, eyes constantly flicking to the mirrors told him they weren’t out of the woods yet—figuratively or literally.

Patrick noticed the blood for the first time, smeared across his hand. He wiped it on his jeans. Carter was bleeding too. A fine trickle ran down the side of his face.

“Hey, man—you alright?” Patrick asked.

“Yeah. Fine. It’s nothing. I’ll check it after we stop.”

“Okay.” Patrick sighed. “At least it can’t get any worse, right?”

“Wish you hadn’t said that,” Carter mumbled under his breath. With each mile they put between themselves and the demon, the easier he was able to breathe. He relaxed his grip on the steering wheel. There was no way he would let his guard down yet, despite the danger being behind them.

Patrick sank back into his seat. “Are they all like that? Demons?”

“No. That was.. one of the worst. I haven’t seen a demon like that in a long time.” Carter glanced to the mirror again. His eyes widened. “Shit!”

Alarmed, Patrick straightened. “What?”

“Brace yourself!” The warning came only a split second before something impacted the back of the car and sent the vehicle spiraling. Patrick held on as best he could but his head smacked against the window. The world outside spun fast, trees lost in a blur. They came to a stop when the back end hit a solid trunk. The headlights illuminated the road they’d been thrown from.

“What—what the fuck just happened?”

Carter winced, putting his shoulder into the door in an attempt to force open the crumpled metal. His other hand grabbed for his gun. The demon moved in the tree-line across the road. He bit the inside of his cheek and tasted blood.

“It got worse.”

[normallyxstranger]

Patrick used to tell Casey terrible jokes. She always thought they were funny. At least when her dad was telling her jokes, he was there and not neglecting her.