"It's Dru.  I'm not here right now.  Leave a message at the beep."

Dru had thought arriving at the Schola would mean she'd finally get some answers to all the questions she'd been asking since Sergej had killed her father.

Unfortunately she wasn't that lucky. Christophe was still missing, searching for information on the traitor hiding in the Order's ranks. And despite his best efforts, Dru couldn't bring herself to trust Dylan, the head of the Schola. He'd done his best to help her settle in, but he didn't have the answers Dru needed.

Frustrated by yet another day of killing time, Dru picked up her phone and tried to send another text to Kennedy. She'd gotten the other girl's message two days earlier and between that and the sketch she'd drawn, she was definitely worried, a mood that was not being helped by the bouncing text messages.

[Note: Time is now moving much much slower for Dru relative to Fandom.]

There were still a few things scattered about the room that still needed to be packed but Dru was taking her time doing it. There was time until she had to meet her ride from The Order, and if she made them wait for a few minutes, well too bad. She'd been waiting for this for over a year.

[Open door, open post. If you think she would have told you she's leaving, she did. Dru's heading off to alumni land for canon catch-up. Heading out shortly for dinner home, around 8ish EST.]

There was a certain irony to Parents' Weekend happening just after the first anniversary of her father's death.

No one was coming for her, that was certain. She hadn't heard from Christophe or Augie in months, both of them gone to ground in the search for answers about who'd told set Sergej on her trail. It was just going to be another day of waiting and wondering.

[Door closed, post open. SP possible]

Dru's phone had been quiet during the day, although she'd picked up a voicemail at some point. Since it obviously wasn't meant for her, she returned the call and left a message of her own. Finally she left a message for Kennedy since they really did need to get together for some training soon.

But for the moment, Dru was going to hang out and read the book she'd picked up in the common room.

Dru was staring at the pages of her book and doing her best not to think about the fact that she no longer had a family to celebrate the holidays with. It wasn't as if her dad had ever made a big deal over Christmas after her grandmother had died, but at least they'd been together. Now, well, January couldn't come soon enough.

Still, Dru had made a tiny effort towards holiday cheer, at least if you counted the string of lights and the small stack of gifts she had for a few people.

[Door & post open]

Dru had been all set to help get her friends back.

Fandom obviously had other plans.

Where there had once been a Dru shaped person, now a small cat paced about the room.

[Establishy since RL is going to devour me for the weekend.]

After making sure Karla and Scully had gotten safely back to the library after the fiasco at the Magic Box Dru had gone straight up to the safe room and locked herself inside. While the hunger was no longer so uncontrollable and overwhelming, she could still feel it, deep in the back of her throat.

She'd paced and worried for half the night before finally falling into a very restless sleep that featured nightmares where the scene in the Magic Box ended in a very bad way.

Now it was morning and Dru was back to pacing and wondering what to do next.

Dru has spent part of the afternoon trying to pin down the cause of her bad feeling. After seeing several of the voids where businesses had been and then crossing paths with some of the nasty creatures that had apparently appeared on the island, she'd gone to the gun range and gotten her gun.

Her trip back to the cabins had been mostly uneventful, as long as you didn't count narrowly avoiding falling into one of the weird rifts.

Once at the cabin Dru renewed the wards on the doors and windows, then brewed a pot of coffee before taking up a position on the front steps of the cabin, her gun at her side, discreetly hidden under a crumpled sweatshirt.

Tonight, she was going to keep watch.

Now that she was no longer a cat Dru set about doing what she always did to protect where she was living.

Her grandmother's rowan wand in her hand, she went from window to window, warding the cabin.

Having her grandmother visit had brought Dru a peace she hadn't realized she was missing. The old woman didn't have many answers to the questions Dru had, but her quiet wisdom was enough to make Dru relax and accept the current situation for a while longer. And like Gran had said, at least now Dru had friends to help her.

Dru wasn't looking forward to the move back to the cabins, but she figured she might as well get it over with. Too many years of traveling meant it only took her a little while to pack.

Bag over her shoulder, Dru had just opened the door to leave her room when suddenly there was a small, brown cat where Dru had been standing.

After taking a moment to assess exactly what had happened, Dru the Cat scampered out the door.

[Establishy. Heading out for three days of extremely limited internet. showmetheproof has main modding rights but other cabinmates are free to see a cat hanging out around the cabin.]

Dru was in her room, trying to focus on her sketchpad. It wasn't working out so well.

The door was open and she was open to distraction.

As she sprawled on the floor of the common room, Dru occasionally glanced towards her grandmother as she slowly fed tufts of roving into her spinning wheel. Frowning at her sketch pad, Dru erased a line or two and redrew them, smiling at the result.

"I miss you sometimes," Dru admitted.

The old woman smiled. "If you dream me, I will come."

The dream faded as dreams do.

Dru's sleep was unsettled the rest of the night.

The first thing Dru unpacked from her duffel bag was her Grandmother's rowan wand. Given the weirdness she'd already experienced in Fandom, she wasn't going to spend the night in the cabins before warding the windows and doors.

Anyone coming into the cabin would find her tracing the wand over the windows and muttering quietly.

[For cabin mates or other visitors.]

I'm covering all bases, and confirming it's all journals.

A comment please?

Dru was having second thoughts about the Schola, but she'd realized if they had any chance of surviving till the portal the next day, they needed back-up. Christophe's back-up up would help in the event of any attack. And if they could get them out of town today, that would be even better.

As she followed the directions she was given, Dru couldn't help thinking over what had happened at the house. The Dreamstealer babies had wanted to kill them. But the werewolves hadn't. They'd leapt past them, focusing their attack on Christophe. She didn't understand why.

She still didn't have an answer when they pulled past the open gate and up the driveway of what could only be described as an overdone McMansion.

Motion in the sideview mirror caught Dru's attention and she watched as the gate closed behind them.

( That's either very good. Or very bad. )

[OOC: As always, preplayed and much love to the usual suspects. NFB, NFI, OOC is OK. Whole parts either lifted directly, or adapted from the Lili St. Crow novel Strange Angels. And now I'm done spamming.]

After their late night talk with Christophe, Dru had spent a lot of time thinking. If what he said about Sergej wanting to kill her was true, and so far she had no reason not to believe him, then going back to school – even one filled with superhero and Real World types – might not be the best thing. If what he said about the Order was true, maybe they were the best answer to all of her problems.

Once she heard Dinah and Kennedy up and about, she went upstairs for a quick conversation. Once she’d explained what she needed, they were both willing to keep Christophe occupied while she checked in with August on Kennedy’s phone.

( Dru waited until she heard the murmur of conversation down in the kitchen before dialing one of the few numbers she knew by heart. )

[OOC: As always, preplayed and much love to the usual suspects. NFB, NFI, OOC is OK. Whole parts either lifted directly, or adapted from the Lili St. Crow novel Strange Angels]

Dinah and Kennedy were upstairs, hopefully sleeping. Christophe was back in the living room keeping watch, and Dru sat alone at the kitchen table, thinking.

( Here be exposition )

[blondecanary and brat_inslayage modded with permission.]

Dru woke up from a sound, dead sleep, a dream she couldn't quite remember about a dark hole in the closet receding as soon as she opened her eyes. The window was full of the weird directionless nighttime shine of streetlamps reflecting off fresh snow, as her Gran's white owl fluffed its feathers and stared in at her.

Dru slipped from the bed and pulled on her sweatshirt. She slipped past a sleeping Dinah, out into the hall and past a sleeping Kennedy. Down the stairs and past the living room where Christophe sat, shotgun across his knees watching the TV. The sound was turned way down low as a black and white movie unrolled across the screen between bursts of static.

( A strange trip through the snow )

[Dream/journey taken from Lili St. Crow's novel Strange Angels]

After their late night visitor, no one had managed to get back to sleep. Dru finally gave up on even attempting sleep a little while after dawn and went into the garage to work over the heavy bag for a while.

She had too many questions, nowhere near enough answers and she was running out of time. Kennedy and Dinah both wanted to go back to school where it was safe and they didn't have to worry about werewolves or vampires that knew her name. Dru couldn't blame them. Still, she'd managed to convince them to give her one more day.

( Even if she didn't have a clue about what to do next. )

[OOC: Preplayed with blondecanary and brat_inslayage. Much love to brat_inslayage for coding. No teal deer were injured during this pre-play. NFB, NFI, OOC A-OK.]

After they'd returned with the truck, Dru had spent the rest of the day and evening going through her father's books for whatever she could find about djamphirs. Finally, long after Kennedy and Dinah had gone to sleep, she went to bed herself.

( And she dreamed about her mother )

For obvious reasons, Dru hadn’t slept well. Up before dawn, she made her way to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. Kennedy and Dinah had helped her board up the back door, but the kitchen was still drafty. Dru poured herself a cup and pulled her mother’s quilt tighter around her shoulders.



Last night, after they’d cleaned up the dust that was all that remained of her father’s body, they’d discussed the best way to find her father’s truck. The only clue they had was the drawing Kennedy had found when she idly flipped through Dru’s sketchbook. ( The pencil had dug into the paper, shading great blocks in shadow. It was the back of a warehouse, butted up against another large building, broken windows hinted at by pencil shading. There was a busted chain-link fence, and in front of the fence was the familiar shape of her father’s truck. )



( It probably was a trap... )

[OOC: Preplayed with blondecanary and brat_inslayage. Much love to brat_inslayage for coding. No teal deer were injured during this pre-play. NFB, NFI, OOC A-OK.]

The portal dropped them in front of the house where her father was supposed to be staying. Dru took a moment to look around to see if anyone had noticed their arrival and was relived to see that the heavy snow that was falling had kept everyone in doors.

Her father's truck wasn't in the driveway, which meant he wasn't home. But getting in wouldn't be a problem. Her dad had long ago taught her how to pick most locks.

"Come on," Dru said to the two girls accompanying her. "We'd better get inside."

( And maybe, once they were inside, she could find some clue about what her father was hunting and where he might be. )

[OOC: Preplayed with brat_inslayage and blondecanary. Eternal gratitude to brat_inslayage for coding this novella. NFB, NFI, OOC A-OK]

Still disturbed the visit from her grandmother's owl, and worried that she hadn't managed to get in touch with her dad, Dru had stayed up late sketching.

At some point after midnight, she finally fell asleep.

( And then she dreamed )

She came awake with a start, snapping the pencil she still clutched in her hand in two. Her head felt like a bowling ball being cracked by a giant's fingers and her body ached. Ignoring the pain, she got up and started to get dressed.

She needed to find a phone and call her dad. Warn him...if there was still time.

[The dream was taken from canon, the novel Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow]

It was late when Dru finally made it back from the common room, and Dru had no trouble quickly falling asleep.

The room was still dark when she woke up, sensing someone, or some thing, watching her. The owl was on the ledge outside the window, its feathers lit by the dim light of the crescent moon. Dru waited for the familiar comfort that meant her grandmother was thinking about her but it never came. Instead she felt a sharp annoyance, like a splinter of glass under the surface of her brain.

Oh crap...

She only ever got that feeling when something really interesting, or really bad was about to happen.

Dru watched the owl for a long time, waiting for some sense of just what to expect. It never came and finally she fell back into a restless sleep.


[The owl is NFB please.]