Whatever the hell was going on in Cardinal Hill, Jesse couldn't say. He felt it. And that only made him feel insane, because what in the hell did that even mean?
Felix had fucked him up.
Burst his bubble. Made it so he couldn't even live in that lie anymore that everything was normal and peachy, no weird shit going on around here.
Jesse had been able to blatantly ignore all the signs. The odd things that happened around Felix when they were... well, whatever they were. That creepy foreign woman with a strange influence over fire. Hell, even some of the shops in town that he happened across by accident in all these years. The signs were there, and Jesse had chosen to keep those blinders in place anyway. Reason them away with easy excuses, particularly the drinking. It wasn't hard to talk him out of thinking he saw what he thought he saw. That was better than having to confront the fact there were real life witches out here, capable of god-knew-what.
Not too much scared Jesse. But it scared him, to know his life was even less in his control than he figured. He didn't like having to confront any of this shit— he'd just been minding his own fucking business. And now, this unease had crept in.
He'd been moodier, if that was possible. The day had come and gone, a cloudless night starting to take over with a few stars making their appearance. Missed the dinner bell. Yet, Jesse was still working with the generator on the side of their main building, because he couldn't shake the feeling they were going to need it soon. He was a damned mess at this point — greasy, sweaty, and with a strong stench of gas, too. All the muscles in him ached in that way that knew a long day's non-stop toil, because at this point, it was the only thing the man could think of to do to stop himself from spiraling on all the other bullshit.
The distraction worked so well, Jesse wasn't even aware someone had come upon him until the black stetson was whipped off his head and a familiar voice, Evenin' cowboy. He straightened, wiping dirty hands off onto his jeans as he faced Adelaide. They hadn't exactly known each other too long now, but there did seem to be an unspoken pattern whenever one did wander in around the other. It wasn't for a game of Monopoly, that's for sure.
"Came all this way just to see me, huh?"
Jesse came forward a few steps, then paused. While the floodlights they had weren't very good ones, they still helped him to see the remnants of a split lip and some discoloration around her jaw. "The hell is that?" he asked suddenly, leaning forward and squinting to see her better. "Is that—?"
