"Are you fucking for real right now?!" Sammy spoke in an offended tone, "Don't think I don't have time to pull you off that broom an-"
"Okay, enough, both of you!" Mason replied as he turned the key into the ignition, already getting annoyed by the bickering between the two
"She started it" Sammy pouted
"And I'm ending it!" Mason snapped back before his attention turned to Jackie, "Jackie, lead the way. Without anymore insults! Understand!?" Even Jackie could see the boiling frustration from the constant arguing in Mason, who was usually more calm and chill, but let his aggression out for only a moment as he put his seatbelt on and readied the van to get moving

"Oh so now you want to find a spine? Whatever. I'll stop when the complaining around every corner does. Which, unfortunately for the both of us, is when I can finally stop babysitting the both of you." Jackie tossed her hair over her shoulder and out of the way of her face, taking the extra time to stick her tongue out at Sammy childishly before her broom lifted off the ground a few feet. And with a gentle kick of her heel in the opposite direction, she started leading the van to where they needed to go next.

Sammy made sure to raise her middle finger up at Sammy as she glanced back at her for a short moment, not even bothering with the childish manner before Mason put her hand down, getting the van moving behind her
"I hate her so damn much" Sammy replied under her breath, Mason just shaking his head, not bothering to respond to her

"The nerve of that flat chested mongrel–" Jackie was muttering to herself while she was ahead of the van, going through the cycle of a mini rant. "She's lucky she's not walking back to Florida, let alone being put in a doggy bag and shipped back to wherever that atrocious sense of fashion came from." She took them around to the back of the house when there was a trail that was barely visible under what little light was provided by the sky through the trees.

"Fucking red headed snooty-" Sammy whispered to herself in a pouting manner, "Where does she get off with her fucking insults? Least I can walk outside with weird looks, that fucking freakazoid. Bet she couldn't do shit without her grandma's help. I bet it'll be us having to babysit her"
Despite her hushed tone, Mason shushed her again, still annoyed by her comments as he kept the van moving behind her, doing his best to try and keep moving the van through the snow and the darkness, trying his best not to hit a big pile of snow

Jackie continued to mutter to herself about how Sammy's hair was stale and still probably smelled like monster-pup drool. "No class at all. I highly doubt even a little home training was involved." She sat sideways on her broom, leaning out of the way of the thinner trees when she had to.

The old path winded wildly in some of the areas, and it would become necessary for sharper turns to be made when it came to vehicles using it. Luckily just ahead of them the trees parted wide enough for there to be a clearing, the the sound of running water present under the thin layer of ice that covered its surface.

Jackie took notice of the sound of water, a sign that they were close. It was odd to her how much longer the trail seemed as a child. How mysterious it used to be at night. She remembered the fireflies–larger than the average of course–that used to flutter about at night and light the way, and she was forced to notice the stark contrast of now.

"Always getting on everyone's case. I bet I know where her little wand is. Probably shoved in her a-AAAH!" Sammy was interrupted when Mason made a hard turn, trying to avoid the collection of trees and avoiding crashing into it, causing Sammy, who had forgotten her seatbelt, to smack against the car door with a groan before she had to lock her seatbelt into place, her arms crossed now as Mason kept following, the hum of the vans engine making it impossible to hear the running water up ahead from within the van

It didn't take long before Jackie came to the stop at the mouth of what in the middle of the night seemed like a cave. She dismounted her broom, leaving it to float there in midair while she walked to the driver's side window. "I'm going to need a few minutes to activate the rift. Once it's open you'll have a ten second window to get through–it's a straight drive. If you have any specific area back down south that you want to go to then now would be the time to let it be known."

Mason gave her a nod of understanding and replied, "Let's get this over with and be on our way"
Sammy didn't say anything at all to Jackie, if only because she would get immediately silenced by Mason otherwise. She just kept her eyes forward and let Mason finish talking

"Yes, lets," Jackie agreed. giving the side of the van a small pat as she turned and faced the cave. Cracking her fingers she lifted her hands out in front of her and started with focusing on the destination. She focused on Florida, first imagining the state on the map and using her mind like a magnifying glass to zoom into her options. The first mental image that came to mind was the house of her friend, Alexis. But she definitely wasn't sending them there. The parking lot that Mason had been in came to mind as well, but she didn't think it wise to take them to where they had initially been attacked. The second place that came to mind was the beach, and so that's where she settled her thoughts. "Between the places of two, erase the space between. I wield the key to your lock. Open!"

Magic swelled around her hands before a beam of light shot into the cave, disappearing into the dark. Seconds later an array of colors exploded to life, condensing into a spinning flat disk that then expanded wide across the mouth of the cave and becoming a blurry tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was the image of one of the Florida beaches, the location being a vacant area where the sun had barely started to rise at all.

"Lookslike that's our cue" Mason nodded back to Sammy for her response, who still had this pout on her face with her arms crossed
"Yeah, if she doesn't send us into the water, that is" She spoke in an annoyed tone
"Have some faith, will you, Sammy" Mason groaned, putting the van back into drive, getting the van slowly moving forward as he rolled down the window, poking his head out of the window and asking, "Okay, aside from any insult you have for Sammy, we don't need to hear it right now, what can we expect to see in Florida? I mean, it wasn't exactly in the best shape when we left it? Are you sure it'll be safe to go back?

Jackie had just been about to say something that she had thought up to Sammy that was bound to be an insult until Mason had said "aside from any insult". Well that, and she doubted that there would be much time to and so she just refrained from doing. "It's Florida. You'll see whatever's normal there," she answered. "It won't be completely safe but safe enough. We'll meet again soon." She left it at that before her magic pushed Mason's foot further down on the gas to send the van flying forward through the rift and towards the other side.

Everything felt lighter inside the rift, and with colors flashing and swirling in random intervals around them, the only thing that became clear was the wavering image at the other end of the tunnel.

Mason could already feel his foot losing control. He turned to Jackie with this panicked expression on his face as he asked, "Why do you have to do th-" But that was all he could say before the van went flying down the cave and into the rift, Sammy thankful that she put her seat belt on beforehand as she felt herself sink into the seat of the van, watching as the image in front of them got closer and closer

Jackie gave Mason a small wave before the van had taken off. She watched as the swirl of colors wavered and was already starting to close on her end. "Be safe.." She found herself muttering, not knowing why she hadn't said that to them before they left. She waited a second or so before before assisting the rift in closing with a crackling snap.

As they approached the image of the beach, the van would feel like is was stretching as would Mason and Sammy. It would be a feeling that brought discomfort. But once they drove head first into the image the van would feel as if it were pushing into something, and the image would push with it until their surroundings warped heavily in the span of a few second. The vehicle's tires would be left to spin against the sand, the magic that had been pushing down the pedal no longer there.

Mason could only scream as he felt his body stretch in a way that he could not explain, but knew it was an experience he never wished to face again. But as soon as it happened, it ended, his eyes darting back and forth across the beach of Florida, the sun rising from where the beach. Sammy leaned back in her seat in discomfort before she spoke, "D-Did that feel.... stretchy to you?"
"Whatever that was, I never want to experience it again" Mason added, trying his best to get the van's tires out of the sand but to no avail. He gave a sigh before he turned to Sammy and asked, "Sammy, can you help me get the van out?"
Sammy, however, was already turned over in her seat in a fetal position, ready to sleep as she spoke, "I gotta meet Raven tonight. Can't we do it after I wake up."
Mason looked at Sammy with his mouth agape and his tired eyes wide as he spoke up, "Sammy, we almost got killed and had our entire perspectives on life changed forever, and you're still thinking about meeting her? I mean, even still, there was a mass murder in the city. Do you really think it would be safe to go with her right now?"
"Well I'd hope she wouldn't" Sammy answered, "But I'd still like to wait at the meeting place to see if she does show up. I'd like to have some normal encounters among all this madness."
Mason gave a groan as he answered, "Okay, we can go and try to meet her. But, van first!"
Sammy gave a groan as she unclicked the seatbelt and stepped out, ready to push the van out of the sand with a following reply, "And tell that Jackie she owes me a new uniform"

While Mason and Sammy were getting out to push the van, there was a quiet poof that was accompanied by a note that swayed back and forth before sticking itself to the radio. The note smelled of silk and lavender. On on the folded piece of paper it read:

Before it slips my mind, you'll be happy to know that I took care of those nasty quills. Wouldn't want them poking around. Unless it was the chimp of course–the note added unnecessarily before continuing. Another thing is that I'd advise you invest in some Himalayan sea salt as well. It'll work wonders. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call 000-944-000. Goodnight, and sleep well.

Jackie🤍

(Okay, I got nothing. I'm ready for a time skip if you are, unless you got something else planned for the two)

(A timeskip to later on that day? If so then timeskip away XD)

Later in the day, around 2PM, Sammy was barely able to get enough sleep. She had to wake up for a bit so that she could use the gym's shower, then switch out of her burnt, dirtied clothes into something else, a light blue jacket with a lotus flower design on the back over a cream colored sweater, with a pair of tight jeans and black boots on, wearing a different color sunglasses, this time dark blue. She was resting in the back of the van, letting her head hang upside down as the doors to the back were open. She and Mason had been waiting out in the gas station parking lot for the past two hours, waiting for the right time to go, Sammy wondering if Raven would even want to go with two people she only knew yesterday. "I mean... I'd like her to, but after all this, I just don't know"
"You're gonna make yourself sick if you keep your head like that "Mason said as he came back in from the gas station, handing Sammy a sugar free Red Bull while he drank a Pure Leaf unsweetened green tea, Sammy a bit disgusted that he could drink that unsweetened stuff, as she sat up to drink her Red Bull, looking over at Mason with a bit of concern as she asked, "So... how are you feeling?"
"Still questioning a lot of things" Mason said as he held let the contents of the drink swish around. He was wearing the same clothes from yesterday, only bothering to add a bit of cologne to it to smell less like a dead animal. Mason looked over at Sammy and asked, "How's your hair?"
"Finally smells nice. Had to wash it with shampoo like six times though" She answered, brushing her hair again, a bit relieved that it was back to it's softer texture. "You think now would be a good time?"
Mason gave a shrug, "Not super really, but I know you won't give up until we go see." With that, Mason closed the doors of the van, pushing his way to the front and getting into the drivers seat, turning the ignition on, "Should be a three minute drive"

“Oh, I see.” Kyung-ha listened closely as she was informed on how the monitoring would work. “If he or you need place to stay I have room in house. Small, but comfy. I make you all lunch and dinner!” She gave an effort of a smile. But then her eyes glanced to where her daughter last was, them widening when she found the 5’1 woman on top of the 8 feet vending machine. “Y-Yoonie!” Ms. Park rushed to her. “W-what are you doing?!”

Yoon blinked, peeking from the top of the vending machine to see the horror in her mother’s eyes. However, she didn’t find it scary at all and continued banging the machine until finally her snickers bar rolled out. “Finally!”

Kyung-ha watched her daughter in awe, tilting her head at the long height Yoon must’ve had to climb to get where she was now. “Yoonie, how you get up there?” There was no chair nearby she saw she could’ve used.

The young woman thought about her question quietly. “Uhhhh... I dunno... I just sort of... you know, got up here.” She said before she jumped off the top to land back on the ground surprisingly on both feet. Kyung-ha took a step back some in amazement and thought, tapping at her chin in interest while Yoon tore open her snickers bar and happily ate it. “What?” She asked.

“Nothing, nothing.” Kyung-ha shook her hand dismissively. That was an impressive move indeed, however she got up there that is. It would certainly be useful in the future. After all, when she was younger Ms. Park was known for her acrobats during combat since she was more of a sword girl than a gun owner.

(Idk where to timeskip xD lunch? Dinner? Did they go to her house? XD)

"While the offer is as generous as ever, and I do appreciate it being so, I believe that a hotel will suffice. I'm sure your children wouldn't take much of a liking to a stranger occupying their living space. The boy on the other hand will be taken care of by the organization and will probably remain here until tomorrow at best." Abel assured her. "With the unfolded events at hand and the long flight here, I think it's time I find myself a place close in proximity." Upon witnessing Yoon on top of the vending machine now, he only shook his head. "I'll be taking my leave now, Kyung. I trust that you are well aware of how to contact me if need be. I bid you both a goodnight."

~

[12:56 pm]

"Hey! Still waiting on the DJ with those pleasant drinks!"

Raven looked behind her to where Sammy, who had a British accent for some odd reason, was on one the couches, a grin coming to her face. "I'm comin', I'm comin, god!" She laughed some, taking the drinks being handed to her carefully. "Thanks Jeffy!" She said to the waiter while she was on her way off. "I kinda forgot what you wanted, so I just sorta–" Her sentence cut short, her eyes widening.

"What? Something the matter? Somethin' on my face mate?"

Raven's terrified gaze met the twins's that stood behind the couch that Sammy sat on and slowly began to rise when they started changing.

"Hey? You good bruv?"

She wanted to say something, but her voice only got stuck in her throat. "S-Sam–S-SAMMY! LOOK OUT!" But it was too late. She watched the creature crush the blonde flat in a rather unnatural way. Yet she kept talking.

"See? See what you did? All you had to do is be normal! And now we're dead! All of us are dead!"

Raven stumbled back and fell onto the floor, watching as Sammy's body twisted and contorted. Watching as her knees snapped in places they shouldn't have to lift the blonde's smashed body to its feet.

Tar colored ooze slid from the pores on Sammy's body. From her mouth and eyes. From her ears and nose. The body, decaying and falling apart, approached her. And when it reached her, it grabbed her face. "C'mere and give me a kiss!"

"No! NO!! PLEASE–I'M SORRY I–" Raven choked as the blonde began to vomit the tar down her throat after forcing her jaws open, leaving her gagging with flailing arms that tried to push her away.

The shadow of the creature loomed over them, its arms reaching and its teeth chattering–
-
Raven woke battling a thin white blanket, gagging and coughing as she kicked and screamed. She finally tore the blanket away from her and threw it violently, panting in a cold sweat as she looked around fearfully. Her exhausted gaze searched for the creature–searched for the rotting Sammy, finding herself backed against the wall. Her eyes went to the lamp on the nightstand by her empty bed, which was still on from last night along with flatscreen tv–both being on because she couldn't stand being in the dark or being in silence after what had happened. And that's when she realized that she wasn't pressed against the wall, and that she had cried herself to sleep against the door.
Her stomach lurched not a moment too soon, and she stumbled over her clothes from last night trying to get to the bathroom. The back of the toilet seats slammed against the back of toilet when they were moved out the way for her to start vomiting. After she thought that she was finished, she fell back into a sit against the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest. But eventually, with great hesitation, she went back to the toilet bowl and looked down into it to see that there was no tarry ooze down within the contents that her stomach had given up. It brought relief, but not much.

It took her a few minutes to work up the courage to pull herself to her feet with the use of the bathroom counter, her hands trembling. The person who peered back her from the mirror was just as frightened as she was, light bags under her eyes, face pale with fear and still blue hair in a tangles mess. She turned the water on, not caring that it was cold while splashing it onto her face repeatedly in an antsy manner. And in an attempt to distract and delude herself from the events of last night she spent the next forty or so minutes in the bathroom. She felt like she could still smell that putrid smell, and so she showered and scrubbed herself until the skin on her arms and legs and neck became red with agitation. She washed the dye from her hair as well. She showered herself over and over again until the water ran cold.

After she was finished, she didn't even dare look at the clothes that she had worn before and instead bagged them up to be thrown out altogether without second thought.

By the time two o'clock came around she was pacing about and forth with her phone, which had been within the blanket when she threw it and now had a cracked screen, to her ear. Having forgotten that she was supposed to be meeting with Mason and Sammy, who she doubted was still even in town at this point, she was making attempts to first call her therapist. And when he didn't pick up, she tried to call someone she knew from the club. Again, no answer. She felt like throwing the phone again, but this time out of frustration.

As Raven was pacing back in forth in a fit of frustration, there was a faint knocking coming from outside of her apartment. It was faint, and not from her door, but there was a conversation between someone with Raven's neighbor. After a brief moment of silence, there was once again a knock on Raven's door, a hard knock followed immediately by, "Raven! We know you're in there! Come out right now and face us!" Even with all that had happened, even with the stress she was under, it was clear that it was just Sammy doing a really bad impression, knocking on the door. After a moment of waiting, Sammy just shrugged and responded, "Raven, it's Sammy. You know, from yesterday. We've been searching this street for like thirty minutes looking for your house. Mason's on like the other side of the street."

Kyung-ha gave a nod of understanding to him. “Oke, Oke. But inspect for bedbugs!” She reminded him for when he arrived at the hotel. “And Abel-pie, you no stranger. You family, Oke?” She smiled. “I make korean chicken tonight.” At this, Yoon’s attention was caught. “You and if Nicholas wants come as guests. I make extra. No disappoint.” She patted his shoulder. “5:30.” The mother gave him a time and a wave. “And drink more water, no dehydrated look.” She additionally commented. “Yoonie say bye to good man.”

Yoon rolled her eyes. “Bye.” She huffed, finishing her chocolate bar.

"Are you serious? You gotta to be kidding me!" Raven growled when the last person she could think to call didn't pick up either. In a way, she was sort of glad that they didn't. What was she even hoping to tell them? What would she have been able to say that wouldn't have sounded completely off the wall? She was pretty sure that she no longer had a solidified job anymore after what had happened at the club, which freaked her out once she thought about it. Not only that, but she came to realize that she didn't have her laptop either, which had everything important on it. Her music. Her sketches for outfits. She covered her face and was going to scream into her hands only to nearly jump out of her skin when there was a knock on her door.

"We know you're in there! Come out right now and face us!"

Raven went stiff, not recognizing the voice at first and only paying attention to the words that it spoke. It didn't take her long to realize who it was, though it didn't make her anymore eager to open the door. And when she also remembered that they had sort of made plans for today, it nearly blew her mind that Sammy had even come after last night. But at the same time she couldn't help but to be relieved that she was hopefully alright, especially after running off on her the way she did. Which brought another case of guilt if it hadn't been there as it was.

And so Raven stood there conflicted, debating whether or not it was a good idea to follow through with going out today for more reasons than just one.

~

"I'll keep that and mind and perhaps ask the boy if he'd like to join as well then." Abel replied, making a mental note of the time that Kyung-ha told him of. However he only scoffed at Yoon, and giving Kyung a small bow, he turned around and made his leave to book himself a hotel.

Sammy stood outside the door a moment more, her foot tapping in both anticipation to see her and a bit of impatience. When there was no sound to follow, Sammy knocked lightly this time and added, "Come on, Raven, don't tell me you aren't home right now. We've been searching up and down the street hoping you'd be psyched for today, and let me tell you, I could use some stress relief right now. Also, Mason says, "Wassup"". Sammy looked back from where the apartment door was, able to see Mason just a bit down the street, stuck now in a conversation with an old woman talking about the economy and politics, something Mason had no knowledge or interest in, and Sammy just turned back to the door, telling herself she would wait twenty more seconds and then she'd leave for now

Yoon’s eyes widened at his scoff, which made her scoff back in anger. She expected her mother to scold him for not saying bye back, however, she gasped when all she did was wave goodbye. She rolled her eyes again and mumbled to herself “...mean douchebag...”

“Come come Yoonie, time to go back home.” Kyung-ha announced. She didn’t have a car and she figured something bad happened to the other one.

“How did you—“

“Taxi.” Ms. Park answered before she even finished the question. But then she corrected herself. “Eeeh, uber. Need to pick up Sangeon from school and buy ingredients for dinner. “You ummm...” She paused. “Rest and clean house for guests, Oke? And shower, you stink like skunk.”

Yoon sighed, watching her mother pull out her phone to order her ride.

I can tell her I'm sick. Which would have been somewhat true.
I mean she's a stranger. I met her YESTERDAY. But that same stranger had saved her life. She kissed that stranger whether it was all in good fun or not. She felt some type of way about this person.
Maybe if I just don' say anything she'll just...leave. Leave this whole loony fucking place like she should have. She was paranoid that even stepping outside was going to bring something about. That see'd see that man again, who she was now sure had been the one who sent that thing somehow. That she'd see those twins again. Her apartment was her comfort zone. Then again...that nightclub had been as well.
What am I doing? She saved my life! She owed her this, no matter how she looked at it. And she couldn't deny that she was stressing hard herself. What was more was that she figured that her therapist would have told her to go for some stupid walk and get fresh air.

There was a few seconds of silence, almost twenty. But before window of time unknown to Raven was up completely, the locks on door tediously unlocked. Raven cracked the door just enough to look out, leaving the chain lock as the only thing left between them. Her hair was still damp and unkempt, which only brought out more of the exhaustion in her face. She still looked as if she had seen a ghost. "Um..h-hey, Sam–" she stopped completely at the sight of her. HoLY shit! There was nothing now from stopping her from believing that Sammy was nothing short of a model of some sort–and a damn good one.
"You look...whoa..." Her hands fiddled with one another from the other side of the door. "So uh...wh-what's the occasion?" She asked in an awkward joking manner, a small sniffle adding itself in.

~

((You're doing the timeskip Jade XD))

Yoon exhaled softly, watching her breath join the steam from the shower she was currently taking. She faced the shower head, her eyes following the droplets of water rolling down her arms that were once filled with blisters and boils now back to normal with just a little redness instead. Usually she would be playing her loud music, but now she feared she would suffer another attack if she couldn't hear her surroundings in order to escape again. The young woman rinsed off the conditioner from her sleek bob cut, brushing through her strands with her fingers. She turned off the shower, closing her eyes momentarily to absorb the last of the surrounding warmth before she opened the floral plastic curtains. She wrapped the white towel around herself after lazily patting at her head.

Around 10 minutes or so later, Yoon had changed into some grey sweatpants and an oversized black hoodie despite the Florida weather. She brushed her hair, walking around the empty house before returning to her room when she was done. Her mother said she would return in a few hours with her brother and tonight's ingredients. She sat at the edge of her bed, scrolling through her phone which thankfully Sangeon had kept. No messages. No calls. Not a surprise. Yoon thought to herself with another sigh, reflecting on the past few hours. Her eyes couldn't help but tear up at certain flashbacks. And as she looked around her room in attempt to distract herself, her eyes caught sight of something on top of her shelves. It was one of the wrapped presents Yasha had given a weeks ago. She never opened it, planning to do so when she got Yasha a gift so they could open the presents together. However, now it was too late. Yoon felt a chill run down her spine as she gulped. She used one of her sleeves to wipe at her eyes, standing up from the bed and standing on the tips of her toes so she could reach the wrapped present. And once she did, she held it closely to herself, cherishing the item even with not knowing what it was. The woman sniffled, glancing down at it before neatly unwrapping it.

"Occasion?" Sammy repeated, looking over her clothes, giving a bit of a smile to her, Oh, this is just my usual clothes. But I'm glad you like it. I don't think anyone has ever said I look woah" She chuckled, but she stopped when she saw Raven's expression, leaning down a little so that their faces were elevated at the same height, the only thing separating them was the door and the chain as Sammy asked, "What about you, Raven? I'd like to compliment you back, but.... I dunno. You just seem tired. You sick or anything? Because Mason and I can come back later if need be"

As the gift was being so neatly unwrapped almost as neatly as it had been wrapped, the first thing that stuck out were the small packages of pocky sticks that were kept together in their own little section neatly. Along with them were coupons that would gave Yoon a 90% discount on most junkfood related things that could be found at any gas station. However, this was only a layer of the box, for all of these items had been place on a thin section of cardboard that separated it from the rest. And despite the size of the gift, its box was somehow deeper than it was supposed to be.

Under the snackfoods and coupons were a collection of DVD cases, all of them being seasons to anime that Yasha witnessed Yoon watching during her visits and managed to keep track of. These were paired with a hat that resembled a blue anime cat. And then there was the final layer of the box, placed underneath it all. Oddly there were a pair of white socks–socks that were so clean that they nearly gleamed while in the light. They were extremely soft and had a warmth that seemed to stick to them. And as odd as it would seem for socks to be one of Yasha's gifts, Yoon would soon come to find why exactly they were there.

At the bottom of the box was a hoodie. But not just any hoodie. It was the one that Yoon had on the first day Yasha had come to her–one that had been left at Lauren's house along with what were once the enlarged bloodstained socks. Laying on top of the hoodie was a short letter that read: Our companionship will keep you warm, always. The hoodie, much like the socks, had a almost gleaming texture to it fabric as well as one small addition of what looked to be a cat's paw print on the chest of the hoodie's left side.

~

"No–I'm not sick or anything," Raven answered quickly. "Just a..really rough night is all." This was a severe understatement by all means of the definition. "And I sorta...forgot that you guys were coming–not that I did it on purpose on anything becauseIdefinitelydidn't and I totally would have been ready." She was nervous. She was very nervous. But then she asked. "What about you? Did you make it home safe yesterday–after you left, I mean," She made sure to add. But then she realized just how dumb of a question that was since they lived in a van. And she had been dropped off in that van. And so she smacked her palm against her forehead. Stupid!

Despite these comments being made, Sammy couldn't help but make a snort and a snicker, followed by, "Raven, you're funny" She joked, calming her nerves down before adding, "Hey, don't worry about it. We all have nights that are a bit shittier than others. If you want, Mason and I can wait a bit for you to get ready. We hang out in our van all day anyway, so it's not like we have anything else planned aside from hanging out." Sammy gave Raven a smile to calm her nerves, putting her hands into her jacket pockets as he awaited an answer, still not able to get a good look at Raven from behind the door so she could compliment something about her exhausted look

Raven shifted a little behind the door, feeling a little embarrassed when Sammy had started to laugh. Out of habit, she laughed nervously along with her. But when she was called "funny", she didn't exactly know what to think about that. Her sense of humor was...different, to say the least. Sammy's reassurance was something that did help to level her out some however, and upon her offer to wait for her to tidy up, she replied with a sigh of relief. "Thanks." But it was her smile that made her feel like...she didn't even know what to call the feeling just yet. "I'll try to make it quick."

Yoon's eyes widened some when she witnessed one of her favorite sweet snacks at the very top of the box. She gave an effort of a smile through her sadness, and immediately opened one so she could snack on them at she continued with unwrapping the rest of the box. She shuffled through the coupons, assorting them neatly on her bed. Usually she would be very disorganized when it came to these things; however she had decided to take great care with this particular gift. She chuckled silently at the DVDs. Who even uses DVDs anymore? She thought to herself. However, it would be a nice collection to start with this one being the first among them. They would serve as a nice background for the anime funko pops she already unconsciously started collecting. When she reached the hoodie, hat, and socks, her smile quivered into a sorrowful frown. She took in a deep breath to avoid another shed of tears. After all, she wouldn't want her new clothing to be dirtied. Her eyes opened to reread the note again, attempting another smile when she decided to save the note. Her thumb grazed across the softness of the hoodie and socks. They were officially the cleanest pair of socks she owned. She would use them every night to sleep in. Yoon stood up, removing the current sweater she was wearing and replacing it with the paw-print hoodie. Never did she think that she would like cats over dogs. She stared at herself in the mirror, flattening any wrinkles now that the cloth was placed on her body. Yoon usually didn't wear any hoodies with graphic designs, but this was definitely already her favorite hoodie amongst the plethora she already had. She whispered a thank you, staring at the items longer than she needed to before neatly stacking the coupons and junk food back into the box. She decided she would keep the box itself as a memory as well. The young woman crunched on another pocky stick, the chocolatey snack seeping into her tastebuds and providing her a second of pure bliss in her state of sadness. There were a lot of people she blamed for not being able to prevent the last time she would see Yasha. The droven, Nicholas, and even her own mother. But most of all, she blamed herself for not being able to get out of that dimension knowing she had the potential to do so. She was scared to know if it was actually herself who sent them into that world unknowingly. Yoon swallowed another knot in her throat, having to look up to the ceiling to prevent tears from streaming. She carefully placed the box by her bed stand, a small smile conjuring while she stared at it. But her moment of peace was interrupted when her cellphone rang.


"...h-h-hello?" Yoon spoke softly, clearing her throat to prevent the other person hearing the squeakiness from crying.

"YOONIE DO WE HAVE RICE VINEGAR HOME?!" Kyung-ha screamed into the phone since she was in a very crowded and loud market.

Yoon cringed, jolting her face off the phone before sighing. She walked herself to the kitchen slowly, opening one of the cabinets and checking for her mother's question. "....y-yes, we have rice vinegar." Yoon answered sadly.

"HOW ABOUT HONEY?!"

Yoon's eyes glanced to her right to see the almost empty bottle of honey. "...n-no, n-no honey..." She mumbled.

"OOOIIII, YOU EAT ALL HONEY WITH WAFFLES!" Ms. Park accused her. However, she was glad it was honey and not syrup.

Yoon rolled her eyes. "Is t-that it?"

"YES YES, THANK YOU YOONIE-PIE." Kyung smooched into the phone. "Clean table, oke? Make sure hair smell like blossoms too, oke?"

Yoon sighed. "Y-yes mom." She said, hanging up before her mom would say anything else.

Sammy gave Raven another smile, hoping that she would find some means of joy in it. Sammy gave her a nod and responded, "Sure thing, Rave" As the door closed, Sammy went over to the steps leading up to the floor of the apartments and sat down, crossing her arms as she waited, Mason still stuck in a conversation with the old neighbor. Despite the current appearance that Raven was in, Sammy couldn't help but give a nod as she thought about it, "Well, a bit disheveled, but maybe I can whip her into the true dancing queen she has the potential to be". She chuckled to herself, just grateful she could find some form of normalcy among the chaos of last night

"Remarkable...how is it even possible? Are you sure this is the right patient?"

"Yes that's what I've been trying to explain! No scabbing tissue, no scratches, no mark–hell he had a fractured nose upon arrival and not even barely even any sign of that!"

"That's not possible. It can't be. There had to be a mistake somewhere in the system–"

Nicholas sat in the hospital bed nudging his food around on his plate with his fork as he listened to the doctors outside converse about how his miraculously swift recovery. He was just as stunned as they were, especially when he had waken up and found that the aching body that he had gone to sleep with was almost refreshed completely. But even with him feeling better physically, his head ached a little and he still felt like he hadn't gotten enough sleep. He wasn't very hungry either. His mind was elsewhere. We're the Constables, the man's words from the previous night circled in his thoughts.

~

[Meanwhile]

Abel flattened the creases from the jacket of his suit, his eyes staring into the mirror of his room's bathroom. He straightened his tie which, based on Kyung's statement about "more color", was an eerily bold gray opposed to the usual solid black one that he would wear. To him that was enough of a difference. After all, the color gray was a lighter shade than black. And that was what concluded his decision. After rendering his appearance acceptable, he checked the time and found that he had more than enough time to make a trip to the hospital.

~

Raven tried her best to keep to the promise of a quick prep that she gave to Sammy. Shit, shit–, she cursed internally while rushing to the bathroom. One hand twisting the knob to the faucet and the other grabbing for a brush. But then she looked at the brush and immediately decided that it wouldn't be enough. She left the bathroom in a rush and went towards her bed, only to stub her toes against the nightstand.
"FUCK!" She yelped, hopping on one leg to comfort her foot only to fall over the bag of throwaway clothes that she had left on the floor, where she soon joined it seconds later.

Sammy was deep in the thought of all that had gone on. She hadn't really had much time to think about it, having been sleeping and getting ready for today. But as she sat on the steps of the apartment, her mind flooded with thoughts of it all, thinking of one thing in particular, "Why is it I'm so important to know about what will happen in the future and not Mason? I'm not a magic user. I'm just as normal as it gets. So why am I suddenly important to all this". But as she was thinking, she heard the bang come from Raven's apartment. In a bit of a worry, she walked over to the door and wrapped her knuckle on it, "Everything okay in there, Rave?"

Yoon sighed again and set her cellphone to the side. She had to asian squat to retrieve the cleaning supplies from the bottom cabinets before proceeding to clean the small table by the dining room. The woman saw her reflection from it as she scrubbed, deciding to look away since she was angry at herself.

Meanwhile, at a market a few miles away from the Park residence....

Kyung-ha pushed a cart filled with a month's worth of food for her family through the shiny aisles. She made a few stops by the refrigerated section, debating on a few treats she would let her kids indulge in. She knew Yoon enjoyed the jolly rancher popsicles; however, Sangeon had been doing well in school so she decided to treat him instead with his favorite firecracker popsicles. The mother placed the box within the cart, making sure not to squish the bread or eggs.

"엄마! 엄마!" Little Sangeon called after his mother as she rushed towards her. Of course he came bolting from the Toys section with a packaged nerf gun.

Ms. Park's eyes squinted as she felt the tug on her sleeves. "Sangypoo, you have like 10 narf weapons."

"Uuuuh, it's NERF." He corrected her first. "B-But this one has water dispenser too!"

"Nyaah," Kyung-ha shook her head. "I let you buy one toy but no nerf, oke?"

Sangeon sighed. He knew she was right about his mass collection, but he was excited to be able to shoot Yoon now with water too. "Okay.... H-How about car?"

"Hmmmm..." She thought about it. "Oke, but small car. No big and no electric."

At this, Sangeon frowned. But he wouldn't say no to a toy, so instead he nodded and rushed back to the toy aisle. Kyung-ha rolled her eyes, looking around the aisle she currently was in. "Hmmm... Where honey?" She asked herself.

"Yeeaaah," Raven answered with a groan as she sat up, rubbing her back. "Just took a trip...to the floor..." She said in an attempt of a joke. She took the opportunity of being on the floor to reach underneath her bed and pull her cosmetics kit to herself. "Okay," she breathed out, hurrying to her feet. She went over to where she left the grand majority of her clothes that weren't strewn across the floor, which, since her studio apartment lacked an actual closet, was a space to the right of the bathroom where her wardrobe instead hung neatly in a portable one. She grabbed one of the nicest shirts that she could see, a collared one that was a unique shade of pantone and pair of cream colored jeans that had aesthetic patches of faded denim sown into them in some places. And then it was back to the bathroom she went with a small limp in her pace.

~

It only took a couple of minutes for Abel to be out of his hotel and into the pitch black Crown Vic that was awaiting.

"Good afternoon Commander Nicholi sir," the driver greeted him. "Where to?"

Abel returned the greeting with a simple nod of validation. "The hospital. What's the status of the Reauthentication? Are we prepared to commence?"

"Almost. The process for preparations had began before your arrival. The RA Squad is currently stationing the beacons around the state. Initiation should be able to began as early as the day after tomorrow."

"Excellent. Continue to keep me updated. And if a lead is obtained on the target, notify me immediately." Abel instructed him.

"Pffff" Sammy made a faint noise of stifling her laughter at the joke that Raven made. She did her best to quiet it down before she responded, "Well, just don't hurt yourself too much, okay?" Sammy went back to waiting, this time sticking closer to the door as she leaned against the rails outside the door, looking out at the neighborhood, grinning as Sammy watched Mason attempt to walk away from the conversation with the old woman only for her to drag him back into the conversation with another question for him. "Just walk away, Mason. It's not that hard" Sammy thought with a chuckle coming from her

It took only about seven or eight more minutes for Raven to throw on her clothes and be packing away the few items that she had used which included putting some different piercings in that fit her current outfit. She stopped momentarily to look herself in the mirror, making sure she looked more decent than before. Though she didn't think that she looked as nice as Sammy, mostly due to her low self-esteem. And so in attempt to boost her confidence, she gave herself a thumbs up. It didn't work.
She sighed and turned off the bathroom light, closing the door behind her while hurrying out. Instead of slipping into a hoodie like she usually would have she slipped on a thin sweater, cuffing her sleeves on the outside of it before she headed to the door. On her way she scooped her phone from the bed. Finally at the door, she removed the chain lock and stood there with her hand on the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. "S-Sorry I took so long."

("Out of Costume" Raven #2)

"No worry about it" Sammy replied as she turned back around from the railing, greeting Raven with another smile of hers as her eyes moved up and down, looking at her attire before she responded, "Wow, I'm glad I didn't rush you. You look pretty good, Rave." Of course, Sammy thought that she would look much better if they had went shopping to get some clothes Sammy recommended, but she made sure to keep that to herself instead. She just kept her smile before turning toward the stairs with a nod, "Ready to go?"

"Th-thank you. You still look pretty "whoa" yourself." Raven couldn't stop the blush that came to her face when Sammy complimented her. It wasn't all too often that she got those unless it was on Soundcloud about her music. When Sammy asked if she was ready she nodded quickly, but peaked her head out of the door to look both ways out of paranoia. After she was sure that it was just Sammy, she took a second to lock and close her home's door behind her. Afterwards, she followed Sammy down the stairs, wiping her sweaty hands on her sweater.

Sammy smiled at Raven's compliment to her clothes before she snickered, "It's just some clothes I put on quickly. But I'm glad you like them." With a pep in her step, Sammy made her way down the stairs towards the van, pointing at it with a smile and stated, "Here's the van. Go ahead and wait inside. I'm gonna grab Mason." However, Raven would not get much time to wait, as Sammy rushed across the street, not bothering to look both ways since the street wasn't busy, grabbing Mason and pulling him away from the old woman, who looked at him with a look of not just frustration, but genuine seething anger as he was pulled out of the conversation and back across the street. Mason tried apologizing, but Sammy tugged on his arm a bit more when he attempted to, bringing him back to the van. Raven could hear her speak from across the street, "Jeez, Mason, have a conversation with the entire neighborhood, why don't you?"

And though Raven could hear Mason and Sammy already making their way back towards her, they escaped her attention. Her gaze were instead on the van where she found that puncture holes riddling the side of it. "What the hell..." She mumbled to herself with furrowing brows, trying to remember if they had been there yesterday. She decided seconds later that they probably had, and she had just been distracted by the weirdo that Mason ran off to notice.

As the two got back to the van, Mason and Sammy already took notice of the fact that Raven had taken notice of the holes in the van. Sammy and Mason looked at each other nervously before Mason said, "Oh, don't mind that. That's just a, um..."
"Bullet holes" Sammy replied quickly with her hands in her pocket, "We drove by a gang shoot out once and we were lucky not to get hit."
As Mason was getting into the drivers seat, he mouthed "bullet holes!?!?" to Sammy, who just responded with a shrug before turning back to Raven, "So, where to, cool kid?"

"Bullet holes?" Raven said, shocked. Her eyes looked back and forth between Sammy and Mason and the van, a little hesitant about getting in. But eventually she climbed into the van through the back closing the door behind her as Sammy was asking her where they would go. "We're going to the Pine Lake area. I can point out the streets if you guys don't have GPS," She said, rubbing her arm.

"Sounds good to me" Sammy said with a nod, turning her head to look at Mason as she spoke in a chipper accent, "Right, driver, to Pine Lake. Chop chop!"
Mason looked over at Sammy again, and still, he mouthed the same response, "Bullet holes?!" before shaking his head as he put the stick into drive and got the van moving down the road. Sammy crossed her arms as she spoke to Raven, "Don't worry about it, though. This van's pretty tough, and we've only had to deal with that one shoot out. Other than that, it's just casual driving. Nothing to fear"

Yeah...right, Raven wanted to say as her mind instantly went back to the night club. "Y-yeah, nothin' to worry about at all." She tried getting herself comfortable in the back of the van, shifting to where she could see out of the windshield. She breathed in through her nose quietly and exhaled in the same manner but slowly in attempt to calm the nervousness that wriggled around inside of her. "You can make the left that's up there at the stop sign," She said to Mason. "It's sorta a short cut through some of the traffic that's usually around."

"You heard the lady, driver. Left it is" Sammy said once again, this time giving off a fake British accent in an attempt to be fancy
"How about you drive this thing and I relax for once?" Mason spoke up as he turned his signal on, ready to make the turn. Sammy just looked over at him with an innocent grin before she snickered, then turning back to Raven, "So tell us about yourself, Rave. You heard tons about us yesterday. Only fair we get some facts about you, ya know?"

Kyung-ha finished retrieving the last of the needed groceries, making her way towards the lines now. She waited in check out line number 3, where Sangeon soon came rushing to her side with a miniature truck from the discount section. Ms. Park nodded in approval of his toy, grabbing it herself and gently placing it into the cart. But then her eyes widened in realization that she had forgotten something. "Sangpoo, stay here, oke? Let woman scan items, I be right back!" Kyung-ha promised and was off in a bolt to grab powdered sugar.

(timeskip after this xD)