Y'all... y'all. I can't believe anyone still follows this story, I am floored every time I get a notification saying someone's reviewed and is still interested! I am so excited and thrilled to keep this going. I hope no matter where you are in this crazy world right now that you are doing well as can be. The Preacher 2020 Apocalypse plan that the Grail had in the show doesn't seem like such a long shot these days... crazy times we're living in, anything's possible? Praise Humperdoo! Cheers :)
The morning sun struggled to pierce through the fog that surrounded Angelville, but somehow there'd been a few feeble rays that managed. Tulip's eyes stared at the beams of sun coming through the ratty old window. With one of her hands, she was drying her damp hair with a towel. She'd just gotten out of the shower, and she was feeling better than ever. There was no scarring from the bullet that had killed her, and finally she felt more like herself than maybe ever before. The sense of needing to be productive consumed her, she was eager to make up for the lost time - even if it was only a week.
With her mind as busy as it was, she'd subconsciously let her eyes wander around the room Jesse and her were staying in during their visit to room was full of different affects and personal belongings, until eventually her eyes followed the thin beam of daylight peering in towards a pile of stuffed animals in the far corner. The toys were all old, nearly falling apart, but one caught her eye better than the rest.
It was a dog.
Instantly, her mind flashed back to something that had consumed her thoughts off and on since she was revived from being dead.
She hadn't told anyone about the vision she'd had before she was brought back to life. To be honest, she hadn't really remembered it until recently. Now that her mind was more level and she had a better grip, more and more had been coming back to her.
There'd been a large man in a leather dalmation costume...
Maybe she should talk to Lily, she thought to herself. Lily had her fair share of experience with dreams and visions, sort of. On the other hand, Tulip could hardly remember what she saw herself, so it could be entirely pointless to bring it up.
But why had it been coming back to her so much...
The bedroom door opening yanked Tulip out from the internal turmoil. It was Jesse. "Hey." He smiled at her. "Hi." She sang back with a grin. Tulip was relieved to see Jesse making his way to her and kiss her. "I'm gonna go talk to Gran'ma." Jesse groaned with his arms around Tulip, "See if I can find an easy way to get us the Hell outta here."
Something in Tulip seriously doubted it, "Hmph." She raised her brows at him. He knew just the same as she did - it was unlikely. "Don't know until you ask." Jesse said softly, kissing her on the head as he got up and headed towards the door.
"I'll be outside." Tulip stated. With his hand still on the doorknob, he turned to her, examining her and noticing just how good she looked. His lips pressed into a smile and his eyes smiled back at her the same way. Nodding softly, he took a breath in, "I'll be out in a bit."
On her way down the hall, Tulip had grabbed Lily and Cassidy's attention, and they trailed after her right away. They'd all been looking forward to some fresh morning air - but it seemed like 'fresh air' wasn't a thing in Angelville. The air was thick and it tasted sour.
Wrapped up in several layers, Cassidy watched the two girls bantering back and forth from the shade of the overhang on a shed not far from them. He could hear their conversations perfectly fine but he didn't care to eavesdrop, he was just happy to see Tulip alive - the two of them comforting each other in a familiar way in a very unfamiliar place. Tulip cracked a beer, not caring the time of morning it was, urging Lily to do the same.
"It's warm, Tulip." Lily complained as she grabbed the can Tulip handed her.
Cassidy laughed to himself, not purposefully listening in, but enjoying the normalness between the girls. He adjusted his focus, his eyes wandering and soon Cassidy's mouth twisted in a sour way while his eyes began scouring the land around them behind the sunglasses on his face. Regardless of the muggy heat, somehow there was still a chill in Angelville. He couldn't wait to get them all as far from this place as possible.
The sound of a gunshot caused Cassidy's heart to skip, and he noticed himself push off the wall he'd been leaning on before it happened. It took a moment for him to realize it was Tulip who'd shot the gun.
If he'd been better listening to them he would've known Tulip had asked Lily for a gun to play with. "Oh, Lil!" Tulip laughed, "I can't tell you how good it feels to shoot a gun again." Cassidy sighed, shaking his head at the insanity of the two women a ways away from him. With a groan he wondered how after almost one hundred and twenty years on this planet how it was possible for him to suffer from PTSD like the average person. He'd gone through a lot of shit, but somehow when he'd heard Tulip's playful gunshot, his mind reverted to the gunshot that had killed Tulip. Their world had turned upside down in that split second. Cassidy felt a chill go through him while he examined the seemingly never ending property of Angelville, he didn't believe their lives had been flipped entirely upright again.
With a deep breath, he compiled himself. He needed a drink. However, he'd need more than the six pack of beer Tulip brought outside to suffice his need to drink. For the moment, he settled for a cigarette, sparking one up in his mouth and better listening to the two girls, sure that he would be aware of the next unpredictable and mildly-insane move they would likely make.
"Got anything bigger?" Tulip asked. Lily grabbed the duffle bag at her side, pulling out three pieces as she handed each one separately to Tulip to put together. There was no one Lily knew that was quicker to put together a gun than Tulip.
"How's things with Cass?" Tulip asked. Still leaning to the duffle bag for ammo, Lily glanced to Cassidy. She could barely make out his face from the distance he was, but she knew damn well he could hear them perfectly fine. Lily wondered if she should tell Tulip - who seemed to think they were out of earshot out of his capability of hearing - but she didn't have anything to hide so she didn't bother.
Tulip handed the small handgun she'd just used to Lily, who tucked it into her side, using her other hand to give Tulip some bullets for the larger gun, "Fine, I guess. About as good as can be in this Hell hole."
With one eye closed, Tulip held the gun she'd just put together up as if she was about to shoot, "Right." Tulip said, lowering the gun again as she placed the bullets inside, "I know you and Jess must be going through something so different than me and Cass." She sighed, "But I can't help but feel like Jesse's..." She stopped as Lily looked up at her.
Raising her brows, Lily wondered if Tulip was going to finish that thought. Tulip dipped her head down slightly and let her eyes peak at Lily - as if to read her thoughts.
"Jesse again?" Lily finally said. Tulip pressed her lips into a line, looking upwards again and clearing her throat, "Yea." She sighed. It was obvious that Jesse had gone through a real rough time with himself, but it was a relief to the both of them that he was back to the Jesse they knew and loved.
"I know." Lily reiterated. She stood up from the bag, crossing her arms and looking towards the beer cans Tulip had set up along a rickety old fence a ways away from them to shoot at. Tulip held the gun up to eye level again, closing one eye and taking aim. Lily waited for the shot, but it never came.
Finally, Tulip dropped the gun, "This one doesn't feel right." She stated, turning to Lily with the gun dropped to her side, "Got any others in there?"
Lily's brow dropped as she shifted her weight to the other leg, "What?" Lily asked, "You die and come back to life and now suddenly you're a gun snob?" She teased. With a soft laugh through her nose, Tulip smiled, "Hmph!"
Grabbing the duffle back, Lily dropped it at Tulip's feet, "Why don't you just take a look yourself then."
Tulip rifled around the bag, "Any rocket launchers or anythin' like that in here?" She asked jokingly.
Lily looked to the tiny beer cans lined up on the broken fence, imagining Tulip blasting a rocket through them and leaving a crater in the area, "Unfortunately not." Lily laughed. "Damn." Tulip swore, "Too bad."
Raising her brows and tilting her head, Lily nodded. Tulip grabbed another gun, her glance shifting to behind them - an old shack where Cassidy stood under, waiting patiently. Tulip smiled at him before turning back to the empty cans a ways in front of her. With a semi-automatic in her grasp, Tulip finally felt like she could shoot some shit, holding the gun up and pulling the trigger. It felt amazing blowing the cans to smithereens.
"Ow!" Lily grabbed her ear, ringing from the gunshot so close to her.
"What?" Tulip teased, yelling back at her.
"Some warning next time?" Lily shouted, "I've already had enough tinnitus for one lifetime." She stated.
Tulip was yelling in an over-dramatic manner, in means to make fun of Lily, "Is that what that is?" She shouted, "Been wonderin' why my ears ring so much while I'm trying to sleep." Tulip sang sarcastically. Lily stuck a hip out and rolled her eyes, "Gonna be deaf by the time we're 40." She groaned, rubbing at her ear again.
Tulip laughed, "C'mon!" Tulip said to Lily, throwing a gun right at her. Lily fumbled at the catch, barely grasping the gun before it hit the ground. With a playful shove, Tulip tried to rile Lily up, "Shoot somethin'! Feels good." She grinned.
Lily felt drained, and being around Tulip in her hyped up mood made Lily realize just how drained she really was. "Jesus." Lily swore, shaking her head and wiping her eyes with one hand, "You're really pumped up this morning, huh?" She noted, the beer can in her hand getting warmer than it was to start.
With a smirk, Tulip sauntered towards Lily, "Well excuse me for being so lively." She sang, finishing off another beer can to add to the fence. The smirk stayed on her face and there was a flicker in her eyes that Lily noticed - Tulip had more to say. Lily shook her head once and raised her brow, "What?" She asked cautiously, wondering what Tulip had to say about being so giddy.
Tulip's lips flattened a little, hesitant to say what was on her mind - which made Lily all the more curious. Lily dragged her feet to move closer to Tulip, moving her head in an impatient motion as she raised her brows, "Tulip, what?"
With Tulip's glance moving forward quick and her lips pressed tight, she finally swayed her eyes back to Lily, raising her brows and speaking quickly, "Sorry to say this but me and Jesse had amazing sex last night." Tulip stated.
"Ugh." Lily scoffed, finding herself taking a larger gulp of the warm beer than truly wanting to, "Great."
Tulip scooted towards Lily more, "I won't go into detail but it's like... the best in years, like since before shit really went down, ya know?" She said. Lily looked up from the gun at Tulip briefly, "That's great, Tulip." Lily stated flatly, trying not to imagine any unnecessary images in her head, "Really." She added to sound more genuine. Obviously that was a good thing, but it was hard to talk about things to do with sex life with Tulip when the other half of that topic was her brother. Lily aimed the gun towards a can and closed one of her eyes, and suddenly, it was as if a lightbulb went off in Lily's head, "Wait." She stood upright, lowering the gun and looking at Tulip, "What time?" Lily asked.
Tulip raised a brow, "What time... what?" She asked, "Did me and Jesse-" "Yea." Lily cut her off, "What time?"
"Uh..." Tulip pressed her lips together and frowned as she tried to think, "I dunno, like middle of the night, closer to mornin', I guess?" She stated, more confused than anything.
Lily's mind began racing. Cassidy had told her just the night before what Jesse had said about himself and Lily being connected much deeper than she had realized. From the shed a good distance away, Cassidy listened intently, following along to exactly what Lily was getting at, though Tulip really didn't understand either. Tulip was asking Lily what it had to do with anything, not noticing that Cassidy had found his way to their side with an umbrella popped up above him.
Did Jesse have something to do with Lily's dream twisting the way it had? It had to have. Cassidy's voice caught Tulip by surprise as she jumped to look at him behind her, "So you got 'im plastered the other night, n'he got ye horny last night." Cassidy stated.
"Jesus, Cass." Tulip said, "Scared the shit outta me, how long have you been standin' there?" He ignored Tulip, watching Lily's face. Immediately, her face had scrunched at Cassidy's statement, "That's one way to put it, I guess." Lily groaned, shimmying her body as she tried to shake out the disgusting feeling inside of her.
Tulip's brow narrowed, her eyes shifting from Cassidy to Lily before she shifted her weight towards her other hip and dropped her shoulders, "What the Hell are you two talkin' about?"
"Lily woke up all hot n'bothered, like." Cassidy explained without delay, "My guess is Jesse got heated, so Lily did too, with their fuckin'..." He threw an arm and pointed at Lily's hand with the unhealed scar, "Culty-voodoo-blood-bond-fuckin'... wotever it is." He groaned.
Tulip stared at Lily's hand, noticing the scar and her mind slowly piecing together what had happened, "Huh." She huffed simply, adjusting the gun in her hand, her lips forming a straight line as her brows were raised, shaking her head and letting out a sigh, "Guess that's just supposed to make sense now."
With a disgruntled sigh, Lily adjusted her sunglasses on her, feeling all sorts of confusion. "So," Tulip continued, "How long's that gonna be a thing for you guys?" With her head already shaking, Lily huffed again, "I don't know. I don't understand what it even is, Tulip." She hadn't meant to come across as short, but her frustration showed unwillingly.
Lily shook her head, scooting her feet against the dirt underneath her shoes as she looked down, "I don't know anything about anything these days." She said glumly, her mind in a crazy knot of confusion and lack of understanding. Tulip could see that asking questions about the new shared bond of Lily and Jesse wasn't helping, but something else flashed in her mind - the vision of the man dressed as a dalmation sparked in her mind. She had wanted to ask Lily what she thought of it, but it was clear Lily was worn out and not in the right mood to be asked any more questions.
Tulip cocked the gun in her hand, "Watch this." She stated, shifting the focus entirely as she aimed for another can lined up on the fence. Before she could shoot, another gunshot came from behind the three of them first, and the can had disappeared.
Cassidy, Tulip and Lily turned quickly all at once, seeing Jody standing from a ways back. He'd shot in a line between Tulip and Lily - a reckless move, but it was obvious he didn't care. Cassidy felt his blood boil as he stared at the large excuse of a man.
"What the Hell's your problem." Tulip dragged, turning entirely towards him.
Jody raised his chin slightly, his eyes narrow, "Where'd you get them guns?" He bellowed from his distance, not moving from his spot. The gun he held in his chest was large, but on scale to him it looked like he was cradling an infant.
Lily shifted her weight so she stood facing him, "They're mine." She stated.
With a smirk on his face, Jody chuckled softly, "Hmph." With the gun still grasped into his chest, he began dragging his feet and moving towards them until he was towering over them at their sides. He examined the gun in Tulip's hand first, then the gun in Lily's hand. Cassidy noticed the girls had locked eyes on the massive gun in Jody's arms, and it was as if the three of them were having a silent discussion.
Jody's eye moved to Cassidy, standing under the umbrella. With his frow crinkled, Jody raised his chin again, "Why the Hell you got an umbrella over ya?" Jody asked, "There ain't a rain cloud in sight." Cassidy nodded, "Yea, I got this skin condition, very serious stuff, it is. Gotta watch it-"
In an effort to change the focus off of Cassidy, Lily raised her small hand gun and pointed at the fence where more empty beer cans and pulled the trigger. Jody's voice, though she should've heard from behind her, sounded like it was coming from above since he was so much taller than all of them, "I bet your brother showed you how to handle a gun, huh?" He asked.
Lily turned back around, feeling her neck crank up to him as she talked, "A little. Tulip, mostly." She stated simply. Jody shifted weight, his tongue in his cheek curiously as his brownish yellow teeth showed while he grinned just a bit, "That so?" He asked, looking at Tulip, who pressed her lips together and waved her head one way, "What can I say?" She sang softly, shrugging and holding her arms open, "I love guns."
"Huh." Jody huffed, "Well, guess it makes sense why Jesse's got such a thing for you."
A thing. Tulip thought. Go fuck yourself.
It was clear neither Tulip, Lily or Cassidy wanted Jody in their presence, but there was nothing they could do about it. It was like walking on glass when Jody was around - they all knew he was the one who killed Jesse and Lily's father, who knows what else he did or was capable of doing. On top of that he was an absolute unit. In all of Cassidy's time, he'd never seen a human man the shape or size of one that Jody was.
Not that Cassidy didn't think he couldn't kill him one on one - but it was different when there were things in the way (like the chance of Lily or Tulip being hurt or killed in the heat of it or, say, a blood bond that allowed the Custer's grandma to kill them at will). Cassidy's stomach turned, a knot forming as he realized how helpless he felt in the situation. A lot of what was going on was new to him, and he didn't have a solution to fix anything.
The best he could do was be there for them and wait until they had a plan. Jesse had said they would have a plan. He told Cassidy that. Cassidy hoped that's what Jesse was getting up to at this moment.
Cassidy's mind was finally pulled out of the small spiral when Jody whipped out a gun seemingly from nowhere - another larger one. The look on Lily and Tulip's eyes said it all. With her mouth open, Lily examined the gun in Jody's hands, and Tulip couldn't help but scooch closer to it, "Wow-" Tulip exhaled, her breath taken away, "The DDM4ISR..."
Jody smiled with his lips closed, "That's right." He claimed, "Why don't ya take it for a ride." Tulip didn't hesitate to grab it. It felt amazing. Lily found herself moving her sight from Tulip to Jody, wondering what his motive was and more importantly why was he being so pleasant? Well, he was still miserable to be around, of course, but for him, he was being pleasant. Lily noticed the concern in Cassidy too, but she did her best to conceal it and just watch Tulip as she took aim.
"Now-" Jody announced, "Blow those cans the fuck outta here!"
When Tulip raised the gun to her eyesight, she took a deep breath in and exhaled, ensuring he could hold steady aim. It was just a few empty cans, but with this gun in her hand she felt as if it was an assasination mission that her life depended on. For the first time in a long time - even since before she died - she felt like herself.
As she stared through the scope at the first can, she placed her finger on the trigger, ready to pull. Pressing down slowly, she was ready to feel the amazing burst from the gun, but in an instant, the euphoric feeling that consumed her was shattered. Something else in the line of sight had caught her eye - and it was moving.
Quickly, she dropped the gun from her sight, and the feeling of excitement of shooting an empty can turned into the thrill of hunting something unknown.
"What?" Lily asked immediately, noticing the shift in her energy.
Tulip stared forward towards where she had seen the movement, "Change of plans." She had already begun moving forward in a brisk march with the gun Jody had given her still in hand, "We're going hunting."
Inside the house, Jesse had approached his grandmother, hoping to find an easy way out of Angelville, no matter how much his heart doubted that would be the case. But he had to try.
"Jesse, darling." Marie L'Angelle sang in a tone that permanently sounded off-key it was so forced, "Would you get your dear gran'ma her blanket. I'm offly chilly this mornin'." She let out a pathetic hack, and Jesse reached for an old knitted blanket covered in holes as he wrapped it around her and tucked it into the sides of the wheelchair she sat in permanently.
"Oh," His granmother cooed, placing a hand on him as he leaned over her still, "Just ought to mention, it's best the Boy'd don't know you're home yet." Jesse felt his stomach turn, there was nothing home about Angelville, but he kept his mouth shut.
The Boyd's were essentially the rivals of the L'Angelles, similar business models, but very different views and opinions on nearly everything. "Mhm." Jesse hummed simply. He stood upright, having tucked his grandmother in as requested as he stood in front of her, dragging his feet back a couple steps while he looked down to her.
Raising a handkerchief to her lips, she wiped away some excess spit, talking into it as it muffled her falsely, sweet tone of voice, "I was thinkin'-" She coughed, clearly trying to depict an image of the helpless, sweet old grandmother, when Jesse knew that wasn't the case, "Would be nice if we could get the Tombs up and runnin' again."
Feeling a chill run through him, Jesse made sure to take a moment to think about how to approach the topic of the Tombs. The Tombs had been a horrible memory that Jesse had to live with. When he was merely a young man - teenager even - he'd helped his grandmother, Jody and TC run the Tombs. It was practically a fight club that people would place bets on with a sick, ugly Angelville twist - the loser wouldn't walk away with just a sore ego or an empty pocket, in fact the loser wouldn't walk away at all.
The loser didn't die, no, well.. not all of them. But they'd lose their soul. Not even lose their soul, have the soul sucked out of them with the most God awful machine created. They'd be left a lifeless shell, withering away at an alarmingly slow rate. Gran'ma needed souls to stay alive, to stay as young as possible and above that - for power. She had been in her prime when the Tombs were up and running, and the stronger she was, the crazier and more dangerous Angelville was.
Jesse stared at his grandmother in front of him, all around her skeleton-like body veins popped out and looked like a road map all over her. Her skin was transparent, covered with age spots and deep wrinkles. It was clear, of course, why she wanted the Tombs open. Tombs meant souls, and souls meant power.
Worse than the thought of gran'ma gaining more power, was the fact that the Tombs had brought out the worst in Jesse, proving to himself how much darkness had really gotten into him - he sure as Hell wasn't going to let that happen again.
Jesse matched his grandmother's desperately false sweet tone, "I think it's time we head out of here, gran'ma." He said softly, "We gotta go." He asserted in nearly a whisper.
When she pressed her lips into a smile, it was crooked, "Oh, Jesse. My sweet, sweet Jesse." Marie L'Angelle sighed, adjusting herself in her seat slightly, "That's not gonna happen." She sang. Raising his brow slowly he took a breath in, before he could say or ask anything, his grandmother was talking again, "You've been gone from home a long, long time, Jesse." She cooed, her sweetness tainted by the clear resentment and hatred that was inside of her, "That's a lot of souls you owe me." She smiled.
Once again, Jesse battled the urge not to speak his mind directly. The fact his grandmother believed Jesse owed her anything was the farthest thing from the truth. This wasn't home. It was Hell, and Jesse had a list of things his grandmother owed him for the shit he went through here. He kept his soft face and voice steady, "Or," Jesse started, his patient and kind front becoming harder to maintain, "You can say, 'hey, it's been nice to see you Jesse, spell's broken' and let us be on our way." He sang back, mocking her tone and contradicting smile with one of his own.
With her mouth closed, she giggled softly, taking a quick exhale as her mouth was still in a grin, "Now, why would I ever say that?"
It was obvious, there wasn't going to be an easy way out of Angelville- there never had been, but Jesse had to have at least tried. Now he knew deeper into his grandmother's intentions, and now he knew he'd have to get creative to devise a plan - if only he had Genesis...
Jolting on spot, Jesse felt his right hand cramp up and a dull pain. He looked down at it, shaking his hand and wondering what caused the spasm.
A loud scream bellowed through the rickety old house, "Woooo-EEE!" TC howled. Instantly, Jesse stood upright, turning towards the door of the room and opening it to see what the commotion was about, "What's going on?" Jesse asked. TC had a shotgun in his hands and a wide tooth-missing grin plastered on his face, "We got ourselves some trespassers, Little Jesse! Woooo-ee!" He yelled again, cocking the gun in his hands and pointing it upwards to the ceiling.
Jesse glanced briefly at his grandmother once more, the false grin still across her lips as she knew she had the upper hand - for now, Jesse thought. Suddenly, it was as if a rush of adrenaline took him over, his head went light and he felt his stomach flutter and anxiousness consume him - then anger. Had his grandmother just done something to him unknowingly?
Finally he realized, staring at the unique and foreign scar on his palm that he had connected with Lily to for their blood pact to their grandmother.
Lily. He thought.
"Where are they TC?" Jesse asked, pushing from the room as he followed TC in his giddy quick paced skip out the front door of the house a ways around the house, over the fence to where Jesse soon heard the spectacle before he saw anything, "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He heard Lily scream. Jesse began to run, the screeching tone of his sister completely foreign to him as he couldn't remember if he even ever heard his sister yell like the way she just did.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" Lily screamed, "YOU HEAR ME? YOU'RE DEAD!"
As Lily's screams echoed through the vast space they were surrounded in, Jesse felt his heart in his throat, the overflow of rage fueling into himself, "Lily!" Jesse yelled, seeing the blur of motion that was his sister on the ground, hardly noticing Cassidy, Tulip and Jody. TC's running pace came to a stop as he simply spectated like everyone else. Jesse bolted up to his sister, who straddled over someone or something, Jesse wasn't sure. He pulled her off as she huffed and puffed, like a feral animal.
He pulled her aside and put his hands on her shoulders, looking in her fiery eyes briefly before glancing at the rest of her. The first thing Jesse had noticed was the blood on her one arm, and her hand - Lily's fist was probably broken, judging by the looks of it, and it explained the spasm and pain Jesse had felt just moments ago - but she was alright for the most part. Things just needed to calm down or soon Jesse would be seeing red like she was.
With his grasp still tight on his sister, Jesse turned to see what Lily had been beating down. On the ground, with an arm broken clean and a nose so broken it already looked like she had two black eyes was the Grail agent Featherstone - and Jesse recognized her. His brow scrunched briefly before Lily's voice broke his train of thought, "That's her," Lily growled, still breathing heavy, "That's the fucking piece of shit that killed Tulip."
