Chapter 3
Salvation Bar and Grill
Sarah studied her reflection in the rearview mirror not exactly pleased or impressed by the stranger staring back at her. She looked like hell, but felt even worse. Some small part of her hoped that it might draw some sympathy in the form of tips, but those thoughts were quickly buried.
She'd be without her oversoul today, meaning the subtle allure that followed her and garnered attention wouldn't be making its presence known. Instead, she'd have to rely on her looks and natural charm to get what she wanted. Normally she wouldn't have found this even the slightest problem, but the face staring back at her was having to wear more makeup than she was used to, and her body was uncomfortable and itchy from her many cuts and bruises rubbing against her form fitting clothes.
Not for the first time she wished she was more like the woman that raised her so very long ago. Sarah had never known a more beautiful woman that could be more oblivious or unconcerned about her looks, except perhaps Annie, who she was resembling more by the day. As long as she had lived she'd never had a thing to be modest of, and while Sarah didn't dare put herself on that same pedestal as them, she knew well enough she had little to be modest of herself. Under normal circumstances that is.
Her usual motto of 'If you've got it, flaunt it' obviously wouldn't fly today, and once she was done taking inventory of her appearance, Sarah pulled the hood of her black leather jacket down over her face and popped the trunk. She had to roll the window down and open the door from the outside as the handle hadn't worked since the day the junkyard owner from the neighboring town gave it to her as payment for a job, and despite his many promises that he'd get around to get around to fixing it one of these days, it was just another project her father had left for her.
Her boots splashed in a puddle and she shivered as the light mist and wind cut through her. She'd seen wisps of her breath the entire car ride as the heater was something else that didn't work, which was unfortunate seeing how winter was stubborn about letting go of its firm grasp and summer seemed in no hurry. For the past several months it seemed every day had been dreary, a reflection of her mood the past year she supposed.
In the very back she found the black handled rapier with a gold nightingale pommel, and studied the blade carefully for a moment. The dried blood had a strange, unnatural glow that would soon enough be evidence of a job well-done. She was glad the blood was simply reacting to her oversoul since otherwise that'd mean getting the stains out of her clothes even more difficult for her sister, and with a sigh she hooked the rapier to her belt with a fastener and strode through the gravel parking lot that was empty save for a familiar white pickup truck.
The sign atop the tiny brick building was crumbling apart and had faded long before she'd been born. Most of the people in town simply called the place 'Sal's' despite there never having been an owner named Sal. It was the only legible part of the sign that she'd been told once read 'Salvation Bar and Grill', but she suspected that hadn't been the case for a very long time.
Opening the front door she was greeted by the ringing of a bell and the aroma of a grill that'd been used every day for almost a century. Country music played in the background as she surveyed a dozen empty tables off to the side and a bar directly ahead. Due to its small size they'd had to make use of every inch of the place, giving it a cramped yet quaint setting. And although the place had made its reputation as being the oldest bar in town, which wasn't saying much, it was first and foremost a family burger joint.
The lunch rush hadn't arrived yet meaning the morning drunks had already left and the afternoon drunks hadn't quite wandered in yet, thankfully. She had business to attend to, and most people didn't appreciate her bringing in bloodstained rapiers or openly getting paid for a job they thought was best kept out of sight.
The middle-aged bartender with thinning brown hair had his back to her as he diligently cleaned a glass with what was most likely a dirty rag, and continued cleaning even after her boots came to a stop on the other side of the counter.
"Mix me a drink would ya, Junior." She removed the hood and brushed her hair back.
"Sure," replied a gruff voice with a thick accent. "What'll it be, sweetheart?"
"Whiskey," she purred.
The burly man turned, his sea-green eyes lighting up with what may have been relief to see her, before quickly being hidden behind indifference.
"No can do, kiddo. You've still got another week 'til you're eighteen."
"Since when has that mattered?"
"Since you've taken up calling me Junior. Your parents were the only ones that could get away with it, and only because Ellie was cute when she did it."
"Yeah well, they're not around anymore so someone's got to keep you in line." She frowned as something occurred to her. "Are you saying that I'm not cute?"
She pouted with her hips to the side while he shook his head clearly not wanting anything to do with this particular conversation. "My son would have a thing or two to say about that, unless he choked on his tongue of course. And hell, I haven't been able to say no to you since you sitting in a highchair and playing outback with Cal."
He removed a shot glass from behind the counter and poured a dark liquid before passing it across. "Call it an early birthday present. I'm not gonna be seeing for it anyway."
Before the glass could touch her lips, Junior poured one for himself and raised it almost as a toast. The glasses clanged together but it was only with reluctance that she knocked her head back.
"And why's that?" she asked, the liquid warming her insides but otherwise not having much effect. "You got another job for me?"
"Depends. You finish up last night?"
With a crooked grin, Sarah freed the rapier from her belt and laid it atop the counter.
He let out a curse as he leaned back, instinctively grabbing another rag.
"One hundred percent werewolf blood," she announced. "It'll even glow in the dark for another night or two."
The bartender studied the blade with revulsion that bordered on outrage, and his expression only worsened when he looked up to see her looking bored. He briefly noted her uncharacteristic jeans and jacket in his establishment, before stopping on her face, probably noticing the makeup that she rarely wore, or needed, but without a doubt saw that her eyes had changed colors yet again.
"Did it ever occur to you to shoot the damn thing?" he snapped. "If you ran at it with nothing more than your good for nothing uncle's rapier, I swear-"
"-that you'll never give me another job again." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Been there done that, and I know you're bluffing."
She went to retrieve the blade but a large hand grabbed her by the arm.
"Sarah." He stared down at her looking more disappointed than he did angry. "You're all your sister's got. Maybe you should think about her the next time you try to get yourself killed."
Her jaw set and she roughly pulled away from his grasp, her sudden strength and flickering of her eyes to crimson not even surprising him.
"Annie is all I ever think about," she snapped. "And for your information, I shot the damn thing six times with silver buckshot, and all that did was piss it off. But like usual I had everything completely under control."
He huffed as though she had made a crude joke, but reaching under the counter, he retrieved a tan envelope that he waved in front of her before tossing over.
"Next time just pull out the left canine like everyone else."
Not listening, she peered inside and frowned. "I risked becoming puppy chow for this?"
He shrugged. "You knew how much the bounty paid when you took it."
Sarah quickly stuffed the envelope into her jacket without another word. She remembered how much it was supposed to pay, but like usual thought she saw a couple of extra bills in there.
"Thanks, Caleb..." she barely whispered.
The bartender pretended not to hear as he went back to meticulously wiping down an already spotless glass. "Do you know if it was once human or an alpha?
"I... I don't know."
"Sarah," he sighed. "You know better than that."
"Alright fine!" She violently stuck the rapier back to her belt. "Male. Caucasian. Six foot something inches. Dark hair. Early thirties."
"Which means he has a sire somewhere out there. Good work. I'll look into missing people's reports see if he turns up or where he may have gotten bit. I might even have another job for you next full moon."
"Don't thank me." Sarah lowered her head. "He started changing back before I could burn the body."
He set the glass and rag down. "Sorry. You alright, kiddo?"
She nodded absently. "Sure..."
"How's Annabeth doing since getting out of the hospital?" he asked softly.
Her lip twitched. "Annie's... better. The last of the burns healed a week or so ago, but she still gets out of breath and hasn't gotten over being sick. She's excited about going on her first hunt though. It's probably the only thing she had to look forward to the last couple of months to be honest, but she doesn't know what she's about to get into."
"And the old crow?"
"Still haven't heard from him." Sarah's eyes fell to the nightingale pommel which she brushed tenderly. "And that was a couple weeks before her accident..."
They were both silent afterward. Junior poured them both another drink, but Sarah knocked her's back before he could raise a toast.
"You're as good a huntress as I've seen and maybe even better than your parents when they were your age. That's why you should get out while you still can."
She pressed a hand to her chest crinkling the envelope. "If I could get something better than werewolves and lurkers then maybe I could take an early retirement."
The large man nodded. "Well, maybe I can help you with that."
He reached under the counter and retrieved a large three ringed binder stuffed with papers, but she refused to let herself feel the same excitement as she had as a naive child.
"Oh, something from the illustrious huntsmen themselves. What is it this time, glorified babysitting?"
"You're not far off actually," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
As she contemplated whether she should be worried or not, the bartender removed a handful of pristine papers that had obviously just been received as nothing had been spilled on them yet.
Sarah took a look at the various jobs, appreciating how official they all looked compared to the newspaper articles, help wanted ads, occasional internet forums, as well as the contracts she'd written up on yellow legal pads, but frowned when she saw the payments.
"You've gotta be kidding me." She glanced up. "I could make more money with actual babysitting and only have half the scars."
"It's not just about the payments. Look at the location."
She continued reading, flipping through several of the pages to see if they all matched. "Ashwood. Is that supposed to mean something?"
"They've had an outbreak in monsters, Echos, and you name it the past couple years, and it's about to get even worse. It's about a day's drive from here if you hurry. Thought you might be interested."
"It's a slap to the face is what it is." She waved the papers in front of him. "These are official jobs for registered hunters. Either the government or some freelancers already established there will pick them up, and anything left isn't going to be worth the gas money spent getting there." She decidedly left out her uncertainty in whether the car could make it there, much less make it back.
"Except..." he drawled. "All state huntsmen are being pulled out to make room for Rigel Academy students. A few are even coming from Orion across the pond from what I hear."
"Wait what!? They're leaving the city in the hands of a bunch of idiot kids?"
"Like yourself?"
"They wouldn't know a lesser werewolf from an alpha if it bit 'em in the ass. All for what, training?"
Junior swallowed before nodding. "As the schools and governments see it, they have to learn somehow."
"People. Will. Die," she hissed. "Innocent people, and those kids aren't much older than Annie."
"Or much younger than you, Sarah. Which is why it might be in your best interest to go. There aren't many legacies like you in Texas, or the country for that matter, and if there's about to be a shortage of huntsmen that means civilians are going to die. But more importantly for you, that means more jobs."
She licked her lips. "I can't. Not unless you've got something better." His eye twitched. "You do, don't you."
Letting out a deep breath, he pulled out dozens of papers from behind the counter and laid them atop her already considerable stack. "One of my contacts got these to me a little early. Most of them won't go into effect until tomorrow or the day after. There's over thirty monster bounties and a couple hundred low risk jobs you could even take Annie on. Cursed objects, unexplainable paranormal events in broad daylight, you name it."
Sarah was taken aback by the sheer scope of the city's situation, but mostly what she was seeing were dollar signs, and corpses...
"The highest paying jobs will be picked up by the academies of course, or any local huntsmen, but you wouldn't be able to handle them by yourself anyway. Or at least in a reasonable amount of time," he added, seeing the mutinous look on her face. "As long as the job gets done most people won't care that you don't have a license or the credentials, and you'd be cheaper too. And like usual, use me as a reference and I'll put in a good word for ya."
She continued glancing through jobs. They each seemed to be more varied than the one before, but in truth is was the payouts she was studying. If she could just knock out a couple a day for a week there'd be enough to put food on the table, pay for the roof repairs, and maybe even put a couple of medical bills to rest. Along with everything that was overdue.
"This many jobs." She shook her head. "I was in New Orleans when they had that outbreak of specters just in time for Mardi Gras, and San Antonio when everyone buried in an old cemetery popped out of the ground to say hi, but that's nothing compared to this."
"This is getting to be everywhere, kiddo. Those huntsmen got other places to be, and between you and me, Ashwood probably won't be around in another couple more years. To me it sounds like it's being used to train the next generation of huntsmen. The AWE even went and built a hotel there, and I heard through the grapevine that some of the board members' bratty kids, Orion students of course, will be staying there this week."
"Always Winter Enterprise?" She blinked. "Let me guess, they saw how many hunters were coming and going, and how many people were losing their homes and started construction that day."
"Bingo. That's one way to get your money back when you're the academies' biggest sponsor. And technically Orion's founder I guess. Wherever there are monsters, the real monsters in suits and ties aren't far behind. Uh, just don't let them know I said that. And hey, while you're there, it wouldn't hurt if you tried to rub shoulders with some of those students."
She smiled not so innocently. "Are you suggesting that we rub more than just shoulders?"
"What I want is for you and your sister to be alright, so in a manner of speaking, yes. Do what you gotta do. If an overseer saw you in action they'd want you enrolled in their academy immediately, and those rich boys would want you there even quicker if you persuaded them with your oversoul like you do my customers. Then when you finally get yourself killed, at least your sister would be taken care of for the rest of her life. Or hell, if one of them wants to take you back to England and set y'all up all nice and comfy, even better."
Sarah glanced down at the papers again, a knot forming in her stomach. "Rubbing shoulders with a rich boy or two could make for a fun birthday. I'll take the job."
He nodded and pulled out a folder, adding more and more papers to her own. "I'll get you a dossier on the city, and everything else I've got. What's plan now?"
She let out a breath, trying to figure that out herself. "Right now, well, Annie's gonna be busy for the next couple hours getting everything ready to leave tonight. And I was kinda hoping that maybe I could-"
"Tell ya what", he interrupted her stammer. "The lunch rush will be starting soon. Go put an apron on and you can wait tables or work the bar if you'd like. Cal's in the back. Tell him to make you something to eat, and something for you and Annie when you leave."
"Thanks, Caleb..." she murmured, averting her eyes. "I... We owe-"
"Just call us even. It's the least I can do for you girls."
She wanted to argue, but nodded in thanks as settling a debt was much easier to swallow than accepting charity.
"I'll go see how Junior, Jr's. doing. And see if I can't make him choke on his tongue a bit."
He laughed as she went, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see a worried expression that she tried her best to ignore.
"Hey, Sarah," he called. "If you or your sister ever need anything, anything at all, all you have to do is ask."
Her throat closed up and she hastily pushed the door to the back open, shrugging off her jacket and rapier as she went, and throwing them as far as possible not looking to see where they'd land.
A girlish scream came from across the room, and she half turning to see a wiry boy about her age scurrying away from the blade that had landed on the counter beside him.
"Sorry, Cal. Didn't see you there." Sarah's back was turned so as not to show her grin as she imagined his wide sea-green eyes.
"Are you crazy!?"
"It's just dried werewolf blood," she said tying on an apron.
"I was more worried about getting skewered!
She let out a little laughed. "There's enough of my soul still resonating with the blade that it can't cut anything I don't want it to. Including the burger that you're about to make for me."
Finally facing him, the boy with messy brown hair looked down at the rapier, noticing how the blood glowed slightly. He reached down as if to touch it, but paused as something caused the hairs on his arm to stand up. Cal smiled fondly, an almost vacant expression on his face, and she could tell he was enjoying the odd sensation that no one without an oversoul quite understood or really got used to. She'd seen that effect on people all her life, though admittedly, they weren't normally aware how intimate the source was or the cause for the sensation they could never quite put their finger on, or why the girl with red highlights always seemed to draw some kind of emotion out of them just by being near.
He looked up and his smile disappeared, partially. "Werewolf?"
"Yep. Burger please. Preferably rare."
"Were you scared?"
"Of course not," she snorted. "Was I scared when I killed the last three by myself?"
He blinked, waiting for her to continue.
"Okay," she shrugged, looking as though she were pinching the air. "Maybe a little. Maybe a lot..."
"Who could blame y-"
"I shot the damn thing six times and it still ran me down!"
"Six?" he asked, unsure if he had heard correctly.
She held up that many fingers. "Then I dropped the keys and wound up having to backtrack through the woods. But I did find my shotgun that'd I'd thrown at its head so it wasn't a complete waste."
"I should've gone with you." He looked away, seemingly upset with himself.
Sarah gave him a dark look which he ignored. "You'd be dead, Cal."
"No I wouldn't." He glared at her, then noticed her attire. "If you had some help maybe you wouldn't have gotten scratched up, or worse..."
She glanced down at her jeans and long sleeve shirt that she'd left unbuttoned at the top. "It's chilly outside." Far too chilly for her favorite v-neck, which she hadn't been able to find regardless. Hopefully Annie had better luck.
"I've seen you and your sister go swimming in winter."
"That was little miss sunshine. I never actually got in the water."
"Your oversoul's down, Sarah. And your eyes changed again..."
"Alright." She shrugged, playing it off as no big deal. "So I might've gotten a scratch or two, and maybe a couple of love bites. But I promise that's all. You just wanted to see me in shorts today didn't you?"
He swallowed, his normally kind face fiery. "And let me guess. My dad's got another crazy job for you?"
Sarah nodded, it seemed he wasn't in a teasing mood. "Pays good too."
"Let me come with you."
"Cal," she exasperated, "Annie would be a bigger help than you. No offense, but you'd just be in the way."
"What about the time I helped you get rid of that poltergeist last year?"
"That was just a specter. If it had been a poltergeist, we'd both be dead and some licensed hunter would've fattened his wallet with twice as much as I would've gotten. The only reason I asked you to come along was because I needed someone to carry my gear up three flights of stairs, hold the flashlight, try not to stare at my backside while I poked around the scary haunted house, and not wet themself when things start getting weird. Which you only did three out of the four."
"I told you it was just holy water, which I spilled trying to save your life."
"So you admit you were checking me out when you thought I wasn't looking." She smiled as his face brightened a little. "And holy water doesn't work on Echos. Every hunter knows that."
"I'm not a huntsmen. As you and my parents like to keep reminding me, I'm a 'huntsman coordinator' like dad," he said in a mocking tone. "Or will be anyway, so you could've said something at the time."
"Couldn't. I was too busy laugh at you being all brave and macho for me. But of course then you had to ruin my triumphant moment of getting rid of it by dousing me too, which wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't wasted most of my oversoul saving your ass and it hadn't been November and freezing. But then again, we also wouldn't have had to cuddle next to the fire to stay warm, and you would've have gotten up close and personal with what was left of my oversoul. If I didn't know better, Cal, I would've thought you did it on purpose..."
The scarlet faced boy tried to speak but his tongue got in the way, causing her to chuckle for something was lifted off her shoulders.
"Look, I ought to start looking busy. Your dad's probably worried that I'm taking advantage of his son back here." She glanced at the grill. "Food please."
He turned but looked back at her with a more serious expression. "I think he's more worried about the other way around..."
Sarah frowned as she knew why he'd think that, but did her best to smile for him. She had jokingly said as much several months ago when they began noticing his dad keeping a close eye on them, not long after her life had gone to hell. She still didn't really know how she should feel about that, and wished she had just kept her mouth shut for his Cal's sake. She liked it better when she could believe it was just her reputation with guys that made his parents concerned.
She hopped up on the counter and flared her oversoul as much as she could afford. Cal naturally drew closer as though his body moved on its own, and she kept him away with a boot pressed against his chest.
"You're a really great guy, Cal," Sarah said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You really are. And after I lost Dad..." She paused to fight the stinging sensation in her eyes. "You helped me when I really needed someone, like that night when I needed someone with me on a hunt, but you deserve someone a lot better than me. And just so you know-"
She hopped down and moved so their lips were almost touching, him having to tilt his head ever so slightly to look her in her mismatched eyes. "You couldn't take advantage of me if you tried..."
Faster than he could blink, the rapier was in her hands with the blade at his throat. He hardly seemed surprised, but the boy still marveled at how fast she could move, and finally grinned as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and the odd sensation returned stronger than it had before. He could almost hear her voice before she even spoke.
"Now are you going to cook me breakfast or not?"
(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I hope Sarah's character as well as her story is coming alive for you, and I hope you enjoyed Junior and Junior, Jr. I've had those characters in my mind for such a LONG time and it's nice to finally share them with you. I do want to say though, Junior/Caleb's name didn't actually come from RWBY. More or less it was just a happy coincidence. Cal has been a lot of fun to create, and how serious his relationship with Sarah is kinda your's to decide, at least for the moment. I hope their interaction was fun at least, and helped flesh out Sarah's character. Thank you for reading and supporting this story as I can't tell you how much that means to me. As always, all credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story as well as wonderful readers like yourselves. God bless)