Just to tell all you who have never heard of Lincolnshire's Barkstone. It is a real place where it is said to have a haunted farm. The Darkened fairy though, isn't real as fare as I know. I chose Barkstone because my mum was brought up near there and she told me about all this paranormal stuff that goes on there like ghosts, witches and stuff like that. Well that's all, happy reading!
Date:- present day.
Time:- 9.30, morning.
Whereabouts:- Barkstone, Lincolnshire, England.
In a small village, heavy rain pored down, drenching everything. No one was out as the rough wind tried to blow down the trees and buildings. A large, black flame suddenly appeared in an ally. It soon grew large then imploded quietly, leaving Raven stood with her bag. She quickly looked around, making sure no one saw what just happened, then raised her hood to prevent the rain soaking her face. She ran out of the ally and turned round to see a Free house pub. Looking at the large sign at the front of the pub, it read out 'The Darkened Fairy' and had a painting of a black pixie looking creature with wings and two glowing white eyes. She entered quickly and looked round to see that there was only five people in there, drinking and two bar staff. The staff looked not much older than herself and somewhat board. The oldest one who had strawberry gold hair and a little extra weight to herself, was cleaning glasses and chatting to one of the customers while the other more slim and taller female was lazily leaning against the bar staring out of the window. She was in a slightly different uniform though and looked to be maybe the cook. Raven walked over and sat at the bar, removing her now drenched hood. The bar maid looked over before calling.
"Hey! What can I get you?" she asked as she put the glass back on the shelf. "Kitchens open."
She was dressed as you would exspect bar staff to be dressed. Her clothes consisted of a black shirt with short sleeves and a name tag reading out 'Tammy.' Her smile felt warm though.
"Just a tea please," Raven said as Tammy gave a nod before setting to work on the order.
She poured hot water in a tea pot and passed a cup and sorcer over to Raven which had both white and brown sugar on the side and a small tea biscuit. Then returned with the tea pot. Raven began to pour the tea, enjoying the more homely feel the place had. Once her tea was finished, she took a few sips before speaking again.
"Excuse me," Raven said as Tammy looked at her. "Do you know where I can find Last-Dance?"
The maid looked at her a little puzzled before replying. "Last-Dance? You a fan or something?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I wouldn't say that," Raven said taking another sip. "But I've read this place several times when researching him and I need to find him."
The bar maid watched Raven drink for a moment before glancing over at the cook who was in a black beanie. Raven was too far away to see her name tag, but Tammy turned back to Raven before she could really think about it.
"Last-Dance isn't really someone you can just meet as you want," Tammy started. "It's not like he lives in a giant tower or you can call him with a light or smoke signals. He's kind of a bit of a loner and just appears when he's needed." Tammy said as Raven looked down at her cup in thought. "Hey Ely!" Tammy shouted out at the second bar maid.
"Yeah?" Ely asked not even looking over.
"This lady say's she's looking for Last-Dance," Tammy said as Ely pushed herself off the bar and walked over with a lazy smile on her face.
"Last-Dance hey…?" Ely started before stopping as she saw Raven. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she looked confused to see Raven. " I mean, why are you looking for Last-Dance?"
"Work related," Raven said unsure how much she needed to tell a cook at a pub about her mission. "I've travelled all the way from America and I need to talk to him…" Raven started.
"No, you don't," Ely stopped her.
"Excuse me?" Raven asked looking taken back while Tammy looked surprised.
"Just forget about Last-Dance and go back to America," Ely said sternly although she seemed a bit panicked. "You don't belong here," Ely finished and then walked past Tammy and through the staff only door leading to her kitchen.
Raven and Tammy both stared at the door in shock before turning to face each other. "She's not usually like that," Tammy said, looking shocked still. "What did you say you wanted with Last-Dance again?"
"I'm part of the Teen Titans, a superhero group from America," Raven said still looking at the staff only doors before returning her gaze to Tammy. "I'm kind of hoping to get some hero to hero advice on a cult group that we took down a few days ago. Some people who Last-Dance had also arrested the previous year," Raven said as simply as she could.
"Teen Titans hey?" Tammy said thinking. "Well, who were these bad guys? Or is it all top secret?"
"The Devils Hand cult," Raven said as Tammy looked at her.
"The Devils Hand?" She repeated.
"You've heard of them?" Raven asked looking curious.
"Well, Yeah," Tammy nodded. "They've become a big thing this last decade or so. They kidnap kids and people then cut them and put them through God knows what kind of awful things before just leaving them for dead," Tammy said looking disgusted. "And you said they've been spotted in America? What were they doing there?" Tammy asked looking towards the Staff only door.
"I don't know, but that's what I'm here to find out and to do that, I need to talk to Last-Dance," Raven said as Tammy looked back at Raven once more.
"Where are you staying?" Tammy asked as Raven raised a brow at the question. "You know, so if I find anything out? Being a bar maid I can usally get a bit of gossip at times so if I do then I can give you a call."
"I haven't really got anywhere in mind," Raven said truthfully. She'd not long arrived. "I suppose I'll stay at a bed and breakfast for a night or so," Raven said as Tammy looked at her.
"Kim's inn is a nice place," She said thinking aloud. "I can give her a ring for you if you like?" Tammy asked as Raven gave a nod.
Tammy picked up the pubs private phone and tapped in a few keys before listening. She suddenly spoke as the owner of Kim's Inn picked up.
"Hey Kim," Tammy said with a smile. "I have a super hero from America here looking for Last-Dance... Yeah... Well she needs a place to stay, have you got any rooms free?...You have? Great! She's in a purple cloak and some kind of swimsuit," Tammy said as Raven looked up to her. "Okay then. See you around," Tammy said then put down the phone and looked over at Raven. "You're in luck, she has only one room left."
"Thanks," Raven said with a small smile. "And it's a leotard."
"That's okay," Tammy said smiling back. "I'm just going to go into the back room and yell at Ely for being so rude to you earlier. Won't be a sec," she said then walked in through the staff only door as Raven sat in silent with her tea.
There was quiet at first and then the faint sound of shouting before all went quiet again. Raven watched the door, intrigued. It was several miniuts later though when Tammy and Ely finally walked out, Ely not making much eye contacted with Raven as Tammy walked back to Raven.
"How long did you say you we're staying here?" Tammy asked.
"I didn't," Raven said. "But around three days I'm going to guess."
Tammy looked over to Ely for a second before facing Raven again. "Well, I think I know where you might be able to see Last-Dance. When I was yelling at Ely, I saw a poster for a on coming ball. Last-Dance loves those things. I mean, look at him, he constantly in a tux so makes sence I guess. Anyway, I would say it's your best bet."
"When is it?" Raven asked after thinking.
"Tonight," Tammy said. "I was going to go but had no one to go with since this one can't be arsed," she said guestering to Ely who was eying her from the other side of the bar. "If you like, you can come with me and I can help you find Last-Dance," Tammy said as Ely shot her a look to say what-are-you-doing?
"Thanks?" Raven said sounding unsure. "But I don't really have anything to wear and I didn't bring enough money to get something good enough. I'll just have to…"
"Kim can lend you something," Tammy added quickly. "She looks your size," Tammy said looking at Raven. "It'll be okay, I can show you round, introduce you to some of the villagers and then help you find Last-Dance before I get lost and go find Henry."
"Henry?" Raven asked unsure.
"He's my boyfriend… well he will be as soon as I show him my moves," Tammy said with a small jiggle of her hips. "So what you say?"
Raven looked at Tammy for a while then shrugged. This would most probably be the only chance to see him so why not? "Okay," Raven agreed.
"Great!" Tammy said with a smile. "I'll be seeing you tonight then," she said before someone entered so she moved on to serve them.
Raven went back to drinking her tea. She had almost finished it when she turned to have a better look at the pub. There was a large amount of drink, covering the racks and shelf's behind the bar. There was also crisps and nuts in small bowls on the counter. Raven preferred not to have any, thinking of who might have already put there hands in them. She then looked further down the bar and noticed that Ely was watching her but seemed to be deep in thought. Ely then seemed to notice Raven looking at her and quickly turned to pretend to sort out some coasters. Raven thought on it for a moment before finishing her tea, saying her thanks to Tammy and making her way out of the pub and over the road to Kim's inn.