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Post by Verity Colt on Apr 3, 2016 22:23:25 GMT
Eyes closed she skidded to a stop and leant against the bench, nibbling her bottom lip Verity inhaled deeply through her nose and took a long gulp of water. Smacking the lid down she gripped the bottle and wiped the sweat from her brow, it had been a long week – and amongst college work and sorting out the house Verity had barely had moment to herself. She hated feeling cooped up, trapped - unable to process the situation. Everybody asking if they could help, she didn’t need help. Verity and her siblings were working together just fine thank you. They did not need anybody sticking their nose into family business. Verity had everything under control. Despite the mountain of empty boxes and unsorted things. She was sure she had it under control, for Effie’s sake Verity would strive to find organization amongst the chaos.
There was no logic to it, every conclusion she drew left her with the same feeling of heart breaking emptiness. Every item she sorted through, every piece of clothing smelled just like their mothers perfume it was comforting, and a large part of Verity wasn’t ready to let go just yet.
A part of her still expected to walk through the door and see their mother in the kitchen singing along to the radio quizzing Verity on her day at college. She blinked back tears. No. No tears. That wasn’t her, she didn’t cry. She never cried.
She sighed as she stretched. They had to let go, for the sake of closure.
Breaking into a sudden run Verity took off, continuing her jog with her brown eyes narrowed with renewed determination.
If they didn’t, they would surely lose themselves to grief and Verity was not about to let that happen.
The uneven walkway caught her by surprise. Gracelessly and with a loud squeak Verity tripped and tumbled forward, limbs sprawling through the air as she landed on the muddy ground with an uneven thwack. Wincing she groaned and sat upwards. Surely the day couldn’t get anyway worse? The sky rumbled and the rain began to pour.
“Well this is just fantastic.”
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Post by Josh Dupré on Apr 4, 2016 12:27:07 GMT
These days a run around town didn’t have quite the same effect on him. Being on edge constantly left an itch between his shoulder blades, like a target had been painted there. As a kid the bayou had meant nothing but freedom to him. He’d explored every inch, had run riot amongst the tangled cypress trees and Spanish moss with Gabe and Alex, knowing that the worst that had happened in a hundred years was the fist fight between Ed Mailer and Colum Fraser over the stunning Meredith Travers. Now it seemed as though something had invaded it, leaving behind the sort of grim, greasy residue that only ever came with tragedy. Cloistere was supposed to be peaceful, somewhere that had avoided the violence that invaded other towns and cities. Under the watch of the Frasers and Duprés it had been that way for years, but now that had changed. Something he should’ve been able to prevent had happened in Cloistere and it was up to him and SJ now to see that justice was done.
This morning it had been a choice between remaining trapped in the little study he’d taken for himself at the house, stewing in his own frustration as he once again read through a case file that he knew cover to cover, or getting out and at least breathing in some air that didn’t stink of his own irritation. Knowing that Katie was likely to kick him out of the house before long Josh had taken the second option. Changing into shorts and strapping on his ipod Josh had headed out of the back door of the house and into the bayou. Heading along the streets and around the square would likely have been safer but he also knew that likely would’ve meant stopping every five minutes to assure somebody that what happened to Leila Beaumont wasn’t likely to become a spree of deaths. Out in the bayou things were quiet and his brain could work through things in a way it just couldn’t when he was trapped in town. At least that was the way it was supposed to have worked.
Of their own accord his traitorous feet had led him towards the spot where they’d found the witch. He and SJ had been the first ones out there, sent out by the dispatcher after an optimistic early morning fisherman had strolled down to try and catch something through the ice and had instead found a much larger catch. The ice was gone now, the blood that had spattered it too but Josh knew the spot and found himself standing in front of it now, trainers sinking into the muddy bank as he stared down into the water. There wasn’t anything more to be learnt from the scene, not when they’d already gone over it a million times, still, it was hard to tear himself away from it. Shaking his head, letting out a growl of frustration Josh turned and charged back up the bank, legs pumping with the effort of working against gravity and ground that remained soaked for much of the year. Just as he reached the top the skies finally opened and rain began to pound down.
Cursing Josh changed course, heading back towards the house rather than further into the bayou on the five mile long loop he’d intended on taking. The bayou grew more treacherous with wet weather, the already soggy ground becoming a giant slip and slide. Josh hurdled the scrubby growth at the edge of one of the paths people had worn through the trees, heading for a trail he knew would get him back to the house quickest and then had to skid to a stop as he nearly crashed headlong into somebody on the ground. For a split second his eyes widened as he caught his balance, his brain immediately heading to the dark spot where thoughts of a second body lay. Then he realised the girl was already sitting up and he found himself laughing with relief as he stopped, bent double, hands braced on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. ”Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack,” Josh managed as he finally straightened up and looked down at the dark haired girl properly. It’d been a long time since he’d seen Lexi’s sister Verity, almost as long as it had been since he’d seen Lexi herself. The death of their mom had brought all of the Colt kids back into town and one by one, they were dropping back into his life. ”Should’ve guessed I’d come across you eventually. Need a hand up?” Josh offered a hand, then paused, wondering whether it was the right thing to haul Verity up when she’d obviously come a cropper.
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Post by Verity Colt on Apr 9, 2016 23:32:30 GMT
Verity shuddered as rain drops trickled down her shirt, soaking her skin leaving it cold and clammy. Frowning she glared at the sky crossly, she would hold it personally responsible if she caught a cold. She couldn’t afford to take any time away from her law school. She already had three written assignments as well as two tests to prepare for next month. That was hardly anytime at all! On top of that was the internship she’d managed to wrangle – there was no way she was losing that because of some silly cold. Of course she was already over thinking everything, and even though the anxiety which niggled away at her was completely irrational she couldn’t help but give into it.
“Thanks,” she raised an eyebrow as she accepted the help he offered. Slowly Verity stood, trying her up to be careful not to trip on the even more slippery ground.
“I’m surprised we didn’t bump into each other sooner, but I haven’t really been out much other than school.” Said Verity, taking another sip from her water bottle, “The whole families back together, sort of…” she said with a small smile that did nothing to mask the distant look in her eyes. They’d never be back together, or whole. They were an unfinished jigsaw puzzle with the most important piece missing. Verity was trying to keep everything together but it was hard. The grief was crippling her but it was surely nothing compared to what the rest of her family were feeling. She had Effie and Gabriel to look out for as well as Lexi now her sister was back in town. She had to keep her own feelings under wrap for their sake. She had to be stronger. Running helped, clearing her head, it kept her sane.
“So what brings you out here today?” she asked, “Enjoying this fine weather too?”
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Apr 11, 2016 16:28:03 GMT
Post by Josh Dupré on Apr 11, 2016 16:28:03 GMT
As kids he and Gabe had been pretty inseparable, in fact that two families had been that way, three if you included the Frasers. All three of them had children of the same age and in the town of Cloistere practically everybody knew each other. Josh had always treated Gabe’s little sisters like his own, probably, on most occasions, better than his own. Lexi’d been the one he was closest to, even before he’d gone and slept with her. She’d been the one he’d taken doughnuts to when he’d known she was feeling down, the one he’d talked to the most. The fact that she’d high tailed it out of town right after things had happened between them had only made that feeling of separation feel greater. The Colts had had all left town then, following their parents until things had inevitably broken down and they’d ended up back here, with their mom sick. Since then it’d moved beyond that, their mom had passed and again Cloistere was looking like home for them. Josh’d heard about most of it from Gabe when he’d moved back and Lexi had sauntered into his office not too long after that, heels impatiently tapping against the office floor, that quick mouth of hers chiding him into giving an interview he’d hated. The only one he’d not caught up with had been Verity.
Last thing Josh had expected, though, was to find her in the middle of the woods. The muddy ground around Cloistere had a tendency to turn into a quagmire when they started getting a real storm up, the rain adding to the levels of water already in the bayou. He’d been taking it relatively easy heading but Verity, it seemed, had come a cropper. Trying to keep his amusement under control, Josh offered his friend’s little sister a hand up. ”Wasn’t exactly the reunion I had in mind,” Josh admitted with a grin as Verity sipped at her water bottle. ”I thought I’d end catching you at the house or around town somewhere.” Josh had doubted Verity would come looking for him the way Gabe and Lexi had. Unless she needed a cop there hadn’t been much reason for her reaching out that way. ”How is school?” Josh asked, raising a brow. Just like about everybody but him and Alex, Verity had headed off to college. He knew that if she was anything like Lexi she’d end up coming out of it with honours. The Colts had never been slackers in that regard, they all had sharp minds and the willingness and determination to use them.
Josh’s half smile disappeared entirely as Verity let her voice trail off. He knew what it felt like to suddenly have one of the most important people in your life gone. Losing his dad, even when he’d been too small to really understand the more complex repercussions of it, had been the hardest thing in his life. Lexi’s leaving him hadn’t been a patch on that, although it was definitely in second place in the heartache stakes. Feeling a little awkward, not quite knowing what to say, Josh shifted on his feet, glancing around them at the trees with their dripping boughs. ”I was sorry to hear about your mom,” Josh managed softly. ”She was an amazing lady.” She’d been like a second mom to him growing up, Alex’s mom running as a third for him. Clearing his throat as Verity thankfully steered the topic of conversation away from the painful, Josh managed a rueful grin. ”Oh yeah, I always like getting the roasting from Katie about tracking water into the house, totally makes my day.” Laughing briefly, Josh shook his head and gestured back the way he’d come. ”Was clearing my head really. It’s been a tough couple of weeks and running always seems to get everything settled up here. Guessing you were doing the same.” Raising a hand, Josh tapped a finger against the side of his head. With all that was going on the run would only be the tip of the iceberg with what was needed to get his life settled again.
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