[ shay mitchell, ciswoman, she/her ] - was that OCTAVIA CRUZ i saw by the lighthouse today? i heard that the THIRTY-FIVE year old who has been in nightrest for TWO WEEKS and works as a BARTENDER AT SPIRITS has a reputation of being ADAPTABLE, but also VENAL. they reside in FOG GATES & people in town usually associate them with A BEAUTIFUL SMILES THAT KEEP SECRETS, SOFT VOICE THAT DRIPS LIKE HONEY, THOUGHTS FULL OF REGEET. let’s hope the killer doesn’t go after them next.
BASICS
full name: octavia cruz
nickname(s): tavie, tavy or tay
hometown: new york
current location: nightrest, massachusetts
gender: cis-woman
sexuality: pansexual
occupation: bartender at spirits
HISTORY
octavia never pictured herself as a small town girl, born and raised in new york the last place anyone thought she’d end up was nightrest. but after she had to help her younger brother in order to pay his debt, it didn't come as a surprise she'd hide away in a town as small as this.
back in new york, octavia's life was already planned out before she was even born. with both of her parents working in law, her mother a judge and her father a lawyer, they wanted the same for their children. octavia followed every step along the way, became the daughter they wanted and excelled in school and life. however, her younger brother didn't want to do the same. instead he became the black sheep of the family, but octavia loved him regardless. he is her baby brother, she'll do everything for him and that's exactly why she can no longer practice law.
about two years ago her younger brother came to her to confess he'd gotten in serious trouble with people who'd do anything to get even and when they found out about his family ties they asked for the family's help as lawyers. her brother couldn't ask their parents and octavia couldn't let him get hurt, so she agreed. everything was going perfectly fine untill they found out octavia was helping people she should be sending to jail. it resulted in her getting disbarred and leaving new york for good. with some money she saved up through the years octavia traveled for a while, but her money kept getting tighter and tighter, and once she reached nightrest she couldn't rely on savings that weren't there anymore. with an ad for a roommate and open position for a bartender at spirits her journey in nightrest started.
HEADCANONS
although it cost her her name and career, part of octavia is thankful how everything went down, because she's finally free to do as she pleases. and ever since she left new york she's been going with the flow.
tba
WANTED CONNECTIONS
roommate - she couldn't afford to live alone so definitely someone from fog gates to be her roomie!
past - potentially someone who's from/been long enough in new york that knows her. possibly knowing or not about why she left
younger brother - bring me the younger brother she loves to pieces, thanks.
booty call - they met the night she got to nightrest and she ended up in their bed to score a place for the night. ever since they've been hitting up each other.
“it was shitty. i wasn’t exactly close to any of the killers.” and she was thankful for that. she was thankful that she didn’t know any of the psychotic assholes who had done all of that the first time. " yeah. small towns though can be just as dangerous as big cities.“ and that was just it. while some people moved to small towns thinking they were safe, just about anything could happen in them within a moments notice. ” the police are just…not so reliable now. which sucks"
.
“the idea of even crossing paths with someone like that daily is enough to freak me out,” nobody knew if this monster at large wasn’t somebody from around here, somebody they thought wasn’t capable of this. “i hope they get caught soon. for everyone’s sake.” she didn’t want to live in fear of her own life, and she definitely didn’t want to see those she already became friends with gone in this horrible way. “i wouldn’t trust police, but there’s not much of a choice. what can anyone do?”
Marina looked back at her, “you think they’re choosing their victims on purpose?” She repeated the thought, questioning it. Shrugging, “I know very little people, so for my own self preservation, I could only hope. However, if you think it’s someone getting their own sick sort of revenge, then I am screwed,” she sighed, “got too many skeletons in my closet.” Just one very large one that’s she’s admitted to, but if someone was trying to right the wrongs of the world, her cheating was a big one. “I hope that’s not the case either,” she shivered at the thought of someone out there doing this for their own pleasure.
.
“I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but is it too crazy to think they might of done something that led to this?” Sometimes, though it was hard to come to terms with, we believe we know someone only to find out we never knew them at all. “I can tell you right now there’s not a single person without skeletons in their closet. Some people got full guest houses full of them, you just have to know where to look,” she spent years learning how to read people, how to read between the lines and pick the place to stuff her nose, though it was always hard to do it to someone close to you. “I don’t know, maybe they’ll leave town after this. At least I hope they do.”
“There was nothing any of us could do. Up until they were caught, no one really knew that the killers were people that we all knew. People that had friends and family in this town,” she remarked. In some ways, it felt right to stay back and not be in a crowded area waiting for someone to strike, but Becca also could see how it was giving into the fear the killer’s wanted at the time, and that getting out was sometimes the only escape from dealing with what was happening. “It’s life, I guess. I can’t say that this place would’ve been my first pick after knowing what happened though. Any reason you’re sticking around?”
"And then they turn from someone you knew to strangers," she wants to say, or believe it wasn't easy to fool someone, but every serial killer story starts with denial. Stories of people who were 'good and kind' only to show monsters underneath the curtain. "Oh, trust me if I knew beforehand I'd skip a few towns before stopping, but unfortunately your girl isn't made of money, so Nightrest will have to do for a while. Why haven't you packed your bags and left then? Like, I get the sentimental value but still."
Nodding, “when it comes to crazy serial killers attacking the public at random? Yeah, a noob.” Marina thought she should be thankful that she had never run into anything like this before, but she also kept thinking about how she should grab her things and run for the hills. Her faced scrunched up as she shot back her drink, trying to remove the imagery from her mind, “yeah, some sick fuck, right? It’s disgusting.”
“What are the chances it’s not as random as everyone believes?”, Octavia din’t know the victims, for what it’s worth she’s probably seen them once or twice around town, but people spoke very highly of them. Obviously they were good people, but even good people had their secrets. Secrets that can get them killed. “Could be Frankenstein fan wanting to create a monster of his own. Okay, no that sounds even more disgusting. I really, really hope that’s not the case.”
“You have a point here.” Every day she wishes the police caught the culprit before all those deaths happened, before Mal died. Charlotte was starting to feel safer in Nightrest again, and now things are back to square one. She doesn’t want to leave town, it’s her home, and she’s tried living elsewhere and it wasn’t the same, but she’s back to constantly worrying over her loved ones. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Where did you travel to?” she asks, pausing for a little when she realizes she never said anything about her finding a solution here. “But I’m glad you’ve found something here… it’s a nice town, albeit everything happening. Do you bartend here?” She nods. “Mhm, born and raised. Left for college and came back once I graduated.”
Octavia felt sad for the victims and their families, so young and robbed of so many opportunities. And she can't even imagine what it really feels like to lose someone you love and see the perpetrators continue reigning chaos. "Started from New York, got to see a couple more states before I got to Massachusetts. Just woke up one day and said fuck it, you know?" Although she'd prefer the circumstances to be a little different, she was glad to be free and do whatever she wants for once in her life. "Well, it's not my dream job but it'll do. The regulars are nice, well, there's exceptions here and there, but overall." There were a few that can be considered annoying, but so far so good. "Can't stay away from Nightrest for too long?"
“Yeah, I understand.” Jesse nods his head as he tilts his head down to look at his hands, furrowing his brows at the other’s words. Was it possible it could have been a copycat instead of someone who was apart of the first group of idiots who decided murdering people was fun. “I don’t know if I thought about this like that…” He furrows his brow as he picks up his beer, taking a sip of it. “You know I’ll always take your company, Tavie.”
"If I lived through what you guys did I won't want to think about it in any way, though it's a little impossible not to." Even the most casual conversations included the news or previous victims, but she can't blame anyone. How can you avoid talking about it when it's still happening? "Sweet, well..." Octavia leaned her arms on the bar as she narrowed her eyes in thought of what else to talk about, "oh, you've done any interesting pieces lately?"
“Funny. Talk to me in two years,” he responded, rolling his eyes in response to her comments about his ageas he got up from his couch and made his way next to her. Jun eyed the liquor cabinet, eyes settling on a familiar bottle before glancing at her. “How good are you at holding your alcohol?” Hand reached for a bottle of vodka, shooting for a grin.
"Oof, when you're one year away from forty? Sounds rough" she raised a brow, looking back at Junho with a smile on her face. "Good enough, unless you're shooting for alcohol poisoning," she reached for the glasses next to the bottles and flipped over two of them waiting for Jun to pour. "Here's to joining the big four club one day," she raised her glass once it was filled, clinking it against his before bringing it up to her lips for a sip. "That's pretty good," Octavia nodded, barely making a grimace as the burn made it's way down her throat.
“Yea.” Rami nods agreeing, there wasn’t really a word that summed up this town and the recent events. It was surreal to watch the town he grew up in begin to mirror movies he hated. If a clown started terrorizing children next he wouldn’t be surprised. Definitely fucking moving, but not shocked. “What brought you here anyways?” he asks with a raised brow. More and more people had their paths leading to town. “Well if they’re not the police are doing a worse job than they already are.”
"Probably bad juju," she mused, she wasn't surprised she ended up in a place like this, maybe it was the universe's way of punishing her for helping out people that didn't deserve it. Maybe this town will be her last destination, ever. "But in all seriousness, it was the first and closest place with an ad for a roommate. Should of done more research, but you know what they say - beggars can't be choosers." She didn't think she'd have to look up the small town, the last thing she expected from it were serial killers painting a big red dot over it. "Call it whatever you want, but I don't trust police doing their job. I mean, three months and sixteen victims in a town as small as this? Either the murderers are that good or the police is that bad."
He chuckled, cocking his head at her words. “If you let them,” he murmured in response, shaking his head. The police department was heavily to blame for how out of hand the murders had gotten—they should’ve been able to stop it after the second or third causality. A small smile formed on Dae’s face at her latter words, shrugging. “It’s alright. I was in your position about three months ago, so…I get it.” He waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I was just about to head out when you came in, anyway.”
"If you let them get spooky?" she furrowed her brows, it didn't look like there was much of a choice when it came to it. "It's Salem, there's already stories about ghosts and when you add actual active serial killers there's no way it won't be spooky," she guessed there would be the usual old tales about ghosts when she arrived, places in Salem and around thrived on Halloween, but actual murderers? Yeah, she didn't think they would have that too. "Heading out right as I start my shift? Better not make it a habit otherwise I'll think you already have a favorite bartender, and that's extremely unfair for me."
“Oh, I’m sure boss-man won’t mind a few delicate words of honesty.” Fletcher was a big boy, and if he couldn’t dish whatever came out of someone’s mouth, then he was far off from the man she knew him to be. Then again, as she flicked a piece of imaginary lint from off her sweater, Allie could conjure up a million crystal clear images of the man wearing a scrunched up scowl fit across his face that would have only proved her otherwise, and so the thought dissipated as quickly as it appeared as town gossip over took the rest of the conversation. Allie bit on her lower lip, trying not to grin as she listened. “Wow, wait until you hear the story about Big Foot.” It was all bullshit, of course, and Allie knew she didn’t have to say it for it be known. Rumors were rumors, and you’d have be sick to think possession actually worked. Thankfully, whoever this was before her seemed to have the air of someone who had more sense about it. To question before believing. Though, to the mention of missing tongues and toes, the brunette lifted her shoulders into a slow shrug. Like she wasn’t sure, like the details were iffy. Playing around with information instead of dismissing it. “Something like that, I think.” Allie scrunched her brows. “I personally heard their hands were found on backwards, but, yeah. Maybe.”
"He can be a pain in the ass, but he's a good guy. Don't tell him I said that though," Octavia was beyond grateful he helped with job hunting, and she thanked him already and that was more than enough. He doesn't need to know she goes sappy with people about him. Octavia narrowed her eyes, letting a smile break through. "I'm starting to think you're just as an unreliable source as the regulars around here," when someone tried to blame the murders on possession, Octavia figured they might of known the killers and wanted to find a way to explain the situation without admitting they were just bad people. "Well, thanks for the 'information' at least it made me laugh. What are you drinking? It's on me."
“Well, there was Enzo and Kennedy and Peter and we all thought it was over, but then, apparently somebody hurt Rhys and now… Maya,” Meli said, as a slight shudder went down her spine. “So there’s someone new trying to do what those three did, and it’s just… one big mess. One that hopefully won’t get bigger,” she murmured. “You’re not scared by it?” Meli curiously asked.
“I heard lots of good things about Rhys and Maya. It’s a shame they’re gone,” though Octavia didn’t have the chance to meet them, she knew by the way people spoke of them they didn’t deserve to leave this world in the way they did. “Someone running around playing God? It scares the crap out of me, but I can’t afford to huddle at home and there’s no out of town options either. Unfortunately life doesn’t stop when we lose someone.”
On her night off Octavia invited Junho for a couple of drinks, thinking that anyone in town could use any type of distraction from the current horrors. "Alright, old man, what are you drinking? I got whisky, vodka, red wine and rum."
“You wouldn’t be the first to say that nor the last.“ Fletcher returned, equally under his own breath, fortunately for him caring for others opinions of oneself had never been high on his list of priorities which was perhaps an equal blessing and a curse. “Should I dare to ask what it was that had you leaving your fancy life as a lawyer to settle for all this?”
Her eyes darted to the glass she was polishing in her hands, focusing on the tiniest spots while trying to avoid the question, but there was no point. A simple google search of her name would give him most of the information. “My brother got in trouble like he usually does and I had to help him,” she put away the glass and leaned on the bar with her arms, “I didn’t have a choice and one way or another the court found out and law became a distant memory. And near Nightrest that fancy lawyer money got tight.” she sighed, bringing her eyes to look at him. “I saw this ad for a roommate in town and then I thought ‘hey, I know someone who has a bar here’.” she gave him a small smile, grateful job hunting went quicker with his help.
“Either someone new or someone the police failed to catch the first time.” The latter enrages her—that after everything that happened in town, after all the losses, and ensuring the town it’s over and they’re safe, they failed to catch who else is responsible for everything. “Thank you,” she says, for the wine, and reaches to take a sip. “There’s ghost stories here too, if you’re into that sort of thing.” A pause. “What made you choose to move here?”
“When do police do their job?” liked it or not, Octavia had to work alongside law enforcement many times and half of it they made her own job harder than it was supposed to be. It wouldn’t surprise her if there was someone who went under the radar right before they got what they deserved. “Love my horror as much as the next guy, but I’ll wait til Halloween for them.” Octavia didn’t pick Nightrest, it was her only available option before she completely ran out of resources, it just so happens she still had a little bit of luck. “After ending up unemployed I figured to use the free time for a little bit of travel, but money runs out a lot quicker when you aren’t adding it back. Just so happens to know the guy who owns this place and by some miracle someone was looking for a roommate. What about you? You one of the locals?”