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Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Dominic Howlett ~Mod~ on May 3, 2018 at 1:44

Dominic's eyebrows furrowed as he listened to Winston sticking to his story of not having any idea why her parents would up and leave without a word to anyone. People didn't just up and leave their lives, changing their children's names, without some reason. Whatever that reason was, he knew it would have to be because of something dangerous. Something they were running from. He only hoped that whatever that purpose had been, it wouldn't follow Clara and put her into harm's way. However, he knew how family secrets could only lead to darkness and destruction.

Just as he was about to take another sip from his glass, Clara stood and took a hold of his arm. He followed the Initia into the kitchen, but kept an eye on Winston from the open doorway. When she inquired about knowing whether or not the stranger in the other room could be trusted, Dominic sighed and downed the scotch, putting the now empty cup on the counter. His eyes flickered over to Winston as the man sat on the couch and appeared to be in deep thought. "I'm not sure," Dominic replied honestly, looking back over to Clara. Her whole demeanor screamed of fear and uncertainty. Her scent had been fluctuating just as fast as her emotions would change. "Hey." He put his heavy hands on her shoulders and caught her wavering gaze. "We'll figure it out. I'm not going anywhere." He pulled her into his chest to hold her in an attempt to calm her down and to help get herself collected. 

After a few moments, Dominic let her go and an idea sprang to mind. "Do you have an attic or a basement? Somewhere for storage where you keep some of your parents old things?" He folded his arms over his chest in thought. "Maybe an old photo album or a box of stuff that might have some clues in it? There's no way they erased everything from their old life. They must've kept something from their past before moving away. That might be our best bet at getting some answers." He nodded over to Winston. "He may even be able to help us. Maybe he'll notice something out of place in a photo or a name in a letter. Anything that will get us on the right path."

InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on May 31, 2018 at 22:49

Breathing heavily Clara tried to steady her breath, but to hear a man come in here and tell her a whole different story about her life seemed like too much, the thought of her parents lying to her, her whole life seemed so out of the question but this man had put doubt in her mind and she wasn't sure what she did believe, if only she could remember but she knew she wouldn't. As Dominic brought her into an embrace and whispered words of clarity breaking through her thoughts she calmed down the reassurance of what she thought a friend. "Thanks," she whispered but she wasn't sure he had heard her.

Listening to Dominic's idea that she thought was brilliant, "Yeah, I think I do, it's in the attic, after my father's death my mother took all of his things and put them away, and once my mother was murdered I took both of there stuff when I moved here... I just never had the heart to open them. But now seems like the perfect time," she said, a smile breaking on her lips, the thought of knowing the truth was a good feeling. "Stay with him, will you, I'll go get the boxes."

After pulling down the ladder to the attic she looked up into the dark, she hadn't really spent much time up there. She grabbed a flashlight and walked up the stairs, hoping the answers would be in the boxes. Lucky for her she had everything labelled and organized so she quickly grabbed two of the medium sized boxes and slowly walked down the ladder setting the flashlight down. 

Once the three boxes were down she walked down the stairs and placed them in the living room, "Let's begin," she said.

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Dominic Howlett ~Mod~ on June 25, 2018 at 5:19

Dominic nodded at her request to watch her presumed uncle while she stepped out to retrieve her parents belongings. He grabbed the empty glass and sauntered back into the living room, sitting across from Winston, and pouring himself another drink. His eyes fell on the man darkly and held his gaze as he drank all of the whiskey before putting the empty cup down and leaning forward on his knees. "I still don't trust you," Dom began, keeping his eyes fixed on the other man's. "I don't plan on letting her out of my sight till we figure out what's going on either."

Winston gave a light chuckle and smirked at Dominic. "Well, I am sorry to disappoint, but I am telling you the truth. I have no ill will towards Clara." Dominic leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "I have been watching her for a short while, it's true. It was only to see how she was doing. To make sure she was alive. I've missed her parents and wondered what had happened to their daughter." He shifted in his seat and pointed towards the therian. "I have never seen you around though. What exactly is your take away from all of this? Hoping to get somewhere with her?"

Dominic rolled his eyes. "We just met. She seems like an innocent girl that's gotten mixed up into a lot of bad shit suddenly. I happen to be well versed in getting mixed up in bad shit. I just want to make sure she's okay." He reached for the bottle as he heard Clara coming back downstairs and took a swig from it, watching her settle the boxes down in front of them. 

He reached for a box and opened the top seeing a bunch of momentos inside. There was a set of baby booties and a hairbrush. A bag with cut hair inside from a first haircut. A dog collar from a presumed pet. A pile of a young girl's clothing. He finally picked up a handful of pictures and a few letters, placing the rest of the box on the floor and carefully opening the contents. The letters didn't seem to have much significance and the pictures seemed innocent enough. Clara seemed happy as a child; her face smiling as she played on a swingset in a park. He looked in the box again and down towards the bottom was a framed picture of what he assumed were her parents. At first, Dominic thought nothing of it until he saw a slight crease in the picture. He turned the frame over and lifted the back out, pulling the picture from inside. The picture was actually bigger than the frame allowed and when he straightened it out fully, there in the picture was Winston standing next to Clara and her parents in posed postures of smiling faces. It seemed he might be telling the truth about knowing her parents at one point in time. On the back of the picture was delicate handwriting that seemed to be the start of a letter.

'My dearest Clara,...'

Dominic didn't want to intrude on the personal information that could be contained within the note so he held the picture out to her. "I think you're going to want to read this."

InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on July 1, 2018 at 18:50

Dominic handed her the photo, a photo with a letter that could change everything. A part of her never wanted to read this letter, this letter changed everything, but she had to, she took a deep breath, feeling both men watching her.

"My Dearest Clara," The first line, taking another deep breath she began to read out loud, 

"If you're reading this right now, we must be dead," her voice was already cracking, her throat dry, but she continued.

"You were so young when everything went wrong, and that is your father and I's fault, You see, we were forbidden to be together, I came from a human family myself, but your father was in every way an Initia, with a loving tribe, My family didn't want us to be together, and your father had a betrothed. We didn't listen, and we got married," She said, coming up for a breath of air, her heart was beating so fast.

"But you see his betrothed was enraged,  she turned to a dark creature, spread evil, trying to get revenge, on your father and I, but we ran. If you're reading this, she found us, and it's my only hope, that you're safe. There is much more to explain but not enough time,  Love Mom and Dad," The tears had started already one by one, but she looked back down at the photo, seeing and address. 

"There's an address," she said, looking up to Dominic. "There could be something there," hope was in her voice, maybe something about her father's betrothed would lead her to the full truth about her parents' death and just maybe she would find the woman who killed them.

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Dominic Howlett ~Mod~ on July 6, 2018 at 16:33

As Clara finished reading the letter from her parents, he sighed and drank from the bottle again. This was turning into a real mystery for her. He couldn't imagine what she was going through and saw the tears falling from her cheeks making him feel empathetic for her. Dominic took the picture from her and saw the address at the bottom, pulling his phone out of his jeans. He punched in the location and saw where her parents were trying to lead her. "It's a town hall in Breckinridge, Colorado."

"That is where we all lived before your parents left," Winston chimed in reaching for the photo. "It's a small town about an hour away set in the mountains."

Dominic's mind swirled as his brow furrowed in thought. "Well, old public records are kept in town halls. Family estates. Marriages. Births and Deaths. Maybe your parents are trying to tell you to do some research there?"

Winston nodded and leaned back in the sofa, still holding the picture. "I hate to agree with the brute, but I think he may be right."

The therian eyed the man with an annoyed glare before bringing his gaze back to Clara. "If you want, I'll go with you. We can crash for the night here. First light, we'll head out to Breckinridge. I'm sure we'll find something there. You're parents left you this clue for a reason." 

"And of course I'll come," Winston chimed in, handing the photo back to Clara. "I wish to know what the truth is behind all this and of course keep you safe. You are my family."

Dominic didn't argue in the matter. Though he still didn't necessarily trust the man yet, he knew that Winston was a link to Clara's past that they may need to make things clearer once they started in their research just as he did with the address her parents left for her to find. His eyes fell onto Clara as he could see her mind trying to process all this new information. "What do you think?"

InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on July 21, 2018 at 19:08

How could things change so fast? Clara thought to herself. Just this morning, Clara had woken up the same girl she had been most of her life, her parents were still dead but everything was normal, for her at least, but now here she stood, a few tears coming down her face and the world she had just begun to get used to coming down.    

Clara tried to listen to Dominic, but in her head, she really couldn't hear him, it was like his voice was coming from outside a glass box. But she shook her head, Picking up the alcohol and taking a swig back, if she was going to get through this she was going to need some alcohol in her system.   

"Yeah, you guys can stay in the guests' room, If you don't mind." she looked at Dominic now, "I'd really appreciate that Thank you," she replied. The thought of Dominic not coming and having to instead be alone with Winston made her nervous. He was family, but still, he was a stranger. 

Clara led the men to separate bedroom, first showing Winston his bedroom in the basement, which lucky for him she just cleaned yesterday. Giving Dominic an upstairs bedroom, she walked up the stairs and when she came to the room, she stopped, "Thanks again for all of this," she said. "It seems weird that the guy we were just chasing after is now going to sleep in my basement," Clara had thought it through but she couldn't just turn him out.

After they said Goodnight Clara went to her bedroom collapsing on her bed, and she was greeted with the nightmare thought, What if what they found in Colorado wasn't good? A risk she was going to have to take. And then she went to sleep.

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Dominic Howlett ~Mod~ on July 23, 2018 at 15:22

Dominic watched as Clara led her uncle towards the basement and made note of where the man would be staying. He didn't think he would be able to sleep well with him under the same roof as them, but he hoped his therian senses would at least help him subconsciously keep an ear out for anyone moving about the house when they shouldn't be.

He followed Clara upstairs and leaned on the doorframe of the guest bedroom he would be taking for the night. At her words of thanks, Dominic folded his arms over his chest with a light sigh. "Don't mention it. We'll get some answers eventually. I'll keep an eye on Winston too." She looked completely defeated and exhausted, mentally and physically. He watched as the Initia continued down the hallway to her presumed bedroom before leaving his door slightly ajar. If anyone was going to be walking around the home, he wanted to be able to know it.

Dominic made his way over to the double bed where he took his boots off and climbed on top of the covers. To think he had just went to the bar to have a few drinks and meet a pretty girl for the night. Things had certainly become a lot more interesting. It wasn't in the therian to turn down someone who needed help and that was one of the reasons the ailwards liked having him around; One of the reasons anyway. With his tracking capabilities, he made for a good guard to keep around, even though most thought it was just about his size.

The sun coming through the window woke Dominic a few hours later. It took him a moment to remember where he was, but then last night's events came back to him in a rush. There was some movement downstairs which made him quickly get up and head to the kitchen. As he turned the corner, Winston was standing near the coffee maker, drinking a cup. He turned around at the sound of Dominic moving into the room. The therian reached for a mug near the sink and waited for the coffee to finish brewing. "You mean you don't just drink alcohol and alcohol only?"

Dominic gave the man a hard side eye before pouring himself a cup. "I'm starting to think the reason her parents left was to get away from your annoying ass."

The man chuckled and continued drinking his coffee as both of their heads turned to see Clara walking into the kitchen. "Ah, the gang's all here then. Shall we head out soon?" 

InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on August 2, 2018 at 21:01

Clara's mind terrorized her all night. She had had a nightmare before but these were different. There was a part of her life she didn't know, and that made her feel uneasy. Clara was always in control or at least that's what she told herself. She couldn't imagine not being in control, her breathing was heavy, and fast, she felt like she might be having a panic attack. She took a deep breath doing as her one-time therapist had mentioned. It takes a toll on you to know both your parents were dead but a whole other weight had been lifted on to her with a life of a lie she had been living.

She looked out over to the window. The sun was up. She listening closely to noise in the kitchen. She knew who it was and that didn't make it much better. She had let two strange men into her house last night. One she trusted more than the other, but she knew them about the same. Still, she wouldn't trust Winston quickly. Dominic had been upfront about who he was. Winston, on the other hand, had been silently stalking her for a while, which put her unease.  With the sun up, and the noise coming from downstairs she knew it was time to get going. 

Sitting up, feet on the floor she took a deep breath. Stood up and walked over to the closet. Pulling out a pair of jean shorts, and a tank top. She slipped them on after undressing and made her way down the stairs.

She stood on the steps for a while, watching and listening to the two men in there encounter but until Winston turned around she had gone unnoticed. "Yes, we shall,  first breakfast. Sit down both of you, I'll make something," she knew both of them would get out of her way. Winston did as told turning out and sitting at her dining table. She opened up the fridge, grabbing the eggs, and some bacon. Once in the frying pan, she had grabbed under the sink she put the bacon in first. once cooked she put the eggs in salting and peppering them in the pan. "I hope you like your eggs sunny-side up," Clara says placing the finished product, on three separate plates. "Dig in, we had a drive ahead of us," she said sitting down at the table

Once breakfast was over she let out a huge breath, beside some argument Dominic and Winston were talking about she had remained silent, drifting off into her own head. "You drive," Clara says handing the keys over to Dominic, "We'll take my car," 

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Dominic Howlett ~Mod~ on August 22, 2018 at 1:36

Dominic sat down at the table and waited patiently as Clara made the breakfast for them, though he was certain they all probably didn't have much of an appetite. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day, so the energy from the food, and a lot more coffee, was going to be what kept them going. Unexpectedly, his stomach made a low growl when the plate was placed in front of him and he chalked it up to the alcohol he'd consumed the night before. He finished the food and took the plates from the other two to put them into the sink.

His eyes fell over to Clara and he could see the stress she was under. Dominic wasn't very good with words and he felt like he needed to say something to make her feel better. He watched the Initia move about the kitchen before handing him the keys and asking him to drive. He could only nod, not being able to get the words out he wanted to to ease her tension. Winston seemed to be thinking the same thing and for once he looked over at the therian without some sarcastic disdain because their goal was a common one.

Dominic walked outside, shrugging his leather jacket on and seeing the snow had accumulated a few inches on the ground. The sound of his boots crunched in the white powder as he walked over to the passenger side and opened the car for her before making his way around to the driver side. "What, you aren't going to open it for me?" Winston said with a smirk to which Dom rolled his eyes and slid inside the seat, moving it back to fit his larger size.

They were soon out onto the highway and rode in silence as they made their way to their newest lead. The only sound came from the car's engine. It was a blanket of white throughout the scenery of trees and mountains with a car passing by every several minutes or so. He would glance over at Clara once in a while to see how she was, but it was always the same look of being deep in thought.

The sign for Breckinridge was soon in view and he took the exit into the small town against the mountains. Winston guided them through the main downtown area that was quaint and seemed to have all the locals out and about because of the snowfall. Dominic parked the car in the lot of the small library and they made their way through the entrance. He walked over to the librarian who was an older woman that was filing catalog cards in a drawer. "Excuse me, we're looking for the public records? Old newspapers and the like." She turned around and pointed them in the right direction along with the computers that might help things move along faster. He nodded to the large folders of newspapers that were categorized by year. "I'll look through those. Me and technology don't get along."

InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on August 24, 2018 at 23:21

She had never felt this must pressure on her before. But it felt more like anticipation. A waiting so long to know the truth. How could her parents have kept this? This heavyweight on her heart felt like too much. They eventually got into town and she wondered how deep in thought she had been to miss all this. But as the buildings started coming into view, her thoughts drifted once more. The buildings passing in a blur. 

When they finally arrived, she noticed one of the first things to catch her eye, the snow was falling once more. When the car stopped and she got out, it was the cold that pulled her thoughts in. She was distracted by this, all of it was weighing heavy. Her boots crunched on the fresh placed snow, leaving new footprints, most likely going to be covered up soon. The snow fell gently, just little snowflakes. that melted as soon as it hit her skin. 

Clara followed the others into the librarian. But she hadn't been listening or paying attention to what the librarian was saying. Her senses were hit with the familiar scent of books. Older antique books, ones that wore the scent well. She had remembered the candle she had seen shopping with her mother, one year, it was a candle based on the scent of books. Her mother had told her to buy the candle. And she did, but she had given in a way to her father, besides his fishing he had loved books as much as Clara. The thought warmed her heart, that her father enjoyed the candle so much. Too bad he was gone now, they were both gone, if only they were here to answer her questions. All she had was Winston (to her knowledge) and she still wasn't sure if she trusted him.

She followed Dominic as he guided them to the right. Books lined the rows, tall rectangle windows lined the walls, but you couldn't really see through them, just a white blur, Must be frosted glass. She thought. Turning her attention to Dominic who was saying something about not being good at technology she gave him a slight nod, she understood. She hadn't been great at it at first either. "What do you think I should search up?" she asked him, doubt filled her, what exactly were they searching for? Her mind had gone blank. 

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Dominic Howlett ~Mod~ on October 11, 2018 at 17:26

Dominic grabbed the first large volume with old newspapers from decades past. He placed it on one of the few wooden tables provided in the remote section they were in towards the back of the library with a dull thud. The collection was rather dusty and he carefully opened the cover to peer at the aged papers inside that had begun to color slightly from the long years that had passed since they were printed. The first article was about the annual food festival the town seemed to have every year where the fresh food markets would be having the best sales of the year. The therian sighed. This could take a while.

At Clara's question, he turned his head towards her while she sat at the computer. Her expression was that of lost hope. Dom wished he could say something to give her that back again. "Try searching up the address we found on the picture. Any stories that might seem supernatural. Last names. Marriage and birth certificates.." he answered, trailing off slightly before finishing his thought, knowing the next part could be hard. "Death certificates as well."

Winston grabbed another volume of newspaper clippings and sat across from him. "Any weird occurrences too. We'll make a stop at the town hall if we can't find their info here, but usually things like that are recorded in the papers in a small town like this too. Everyone knows everything about everyone else." Dominic saw the older man look at the Initia with sincerity in his eyes. "We'll go to your old house too. It hasn't been occupied in a few years since the last family moved out. It's supposed to be up for foreclosure so we shouldn't get interrupted if we do a bit of looking around. Maybe we'll find some clues in there."

"Good idea," Dominic replied as he nodded quickly to the man opposite him. More and more it seemed he was telling the truth about who he really was. Winston seemed a little taken aback by his compliment and gave him a knowing smirk which made Dom roll his eyes before going back to flip through the newspapers.

InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on November 1, 2018 at 19:02

Clara sat down behind the screen, an old computer, one they usually have in old time libraries that can't afford new ones. She opened up the browser. Something that loaded so slow she could feel her eyes grow tired. She listened to Dominic's suggestions. She had decided to start where the pain hurt the most, an area she was sure to get answers. The death certificates. But she couldn't start with something so depressing one she was sure that would lead her in a downward spiral quicker then one could say, principals. So on a happier note, she started with the marriage and birth certificates.

She typed on the keyboard, listening to the background suggestion of Winston. Weird Occurrences were something that happened for anybody she knew in the supernatural world. Things even they couldn't explain. Bad luck followed them, and right now she could feel the bad luck all around here.  But before she could even process that he had mentioned something about going to her old house. Something that should probably have meaning to her. But it didn't, that made her feel worse. Her parents had locked her out of this whole world, this secretive past that they shared. As there daughter it made her feel like they should have told her, or at least left something more than what they did.  She typed up the marriage certificates of the year she knew as her parents' wedding date but came out empty handed. Moving on the birth records she could only find her mother's, of course, she was human, her's would be easier to find, her father's might be impossible. "I found my mother's birth certificate, says she was born in Chicago," she announced to the group, she never knew her mother was born in Chicago, Add it to the list, she thought. 

Looking over the other suggestions, she realized her father was a man she would never really find. But then an idea popped into her head. "Dominic," she beckoned for him to come over. "I can't find any of my father's records but what if we found his tribe. Go straight to the source, Winston what do you think?" she said in a hushed tone, adding the last part to the eavesdropper.  

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