Realistic or Modern 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐖 — 𝐈𝐂

[erzulie]

[ ACT I — THE ARRIVAL. ]

There had been curious stares when they’d entered the town. It was obvious that the citizens weren’t visited by outsiders too often. The children were particularly curious, adorable little things ran beside the car for a while. They were all big smiles and carnation adornments. In such a small town, it seemed as though a fear of strangers wasn’t present. Their attention had soon turned to another child, plainly dressed. They surrounded them in what appeared to be some sort of game.

It wasn’t long before they reached their temporary home. A small cottage stood proudly in front of a vast forest. The sun shone on the building and flowers decorated the front lawn. It was exactly what people tended to associate with small towns. There were neighbors but a field separated them by a good distance. There was little concern for anyone disturbing them. The car parked and the doors opened, the occupants stepped out and took it all in.

 

[demonology]

birdie gish-sato

tee, shorts, shoes

♡coded by uxie♡

With her mind on the matter beneath her, her first order of business was to sink her toes into the earth. She swung her legs out of the car and took to kicking off her boots, which jingled with endless charms, and her too-thick tube socks. The dull prick of grass ate her soles, but she stood all the same. Chucking the rudy-reds in the trunk, NY’s Dorothy, far from home, grabbed her Birkenstocks, slung her backpack over one shoulder, and swung the poor truck’s back-end down with a thwack.

Birdie hummed, as any bird would whilst content and feeling at home. “Don’t mind those stares,” she reminded the group, even as she threw her fire engine hair into a knot.

Akin to a father admiring the game, she stood with her posture squatted and feet jutted out. The view drew the whistle from her, ironically a poor call despite her name. The past months had only provided her a daydream of what their summer home could be. Reality of it stood before her, plastered in authentic stone and trimmed gardens.

“We should run around like those kids,” she joked, referencing the children at play they passed on their way in. “Got more than enough space,” and she gestured in a small twirl the greenery that protected them.


She tossed a gleam towards Lucas, who hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words to her in almost twelve hours. Sleep took up most of it, though memories of this morning’s witching hour called home. For a blip, Birdie glanced towards his bow-shaped lips, mirrored by recollections of the brownish-black of the sun’s first breaths. Just like the rays of its body, hiding just beyond the horizon, her own had ghosted and tempted the landscape.

Birdie opted to smile at Zo, instead, nudging her shoulder with her own. They made a jig, glittering with perspiration already. Playfully, she poked at the other girl. “Tag.” Her expression spoke of blandness, tone dry.

“Or should we play hide-and-go-seek?” she offered, tempting another glance at Luc. “Or,” she offered, this time not missing the mirror’s image of their gazes.

There’s no need for that, though truthfully, he gave little away to the untrained eye. “We could smoke,” she offered, almost solely to him though a standing invite to everyone, including and especially Jasper, allowed her voice to boom out enough for the whole group to hear.

“I, for one,” she gestured to herself with a limp wrist. “Could use a break before unpacking.”

Her eyes remained trained on Luc. Then, they jumped to Jasper, to Zo, and finally to Val. All but the latest were notorious for participating in turtle-shell activities, something which Birdie disdained ever so slightly even as her truck served as a hermit crab’s oasis. As did the headphones laced around her neck.

Admittedly, though, this was supposed to be a break from all preconceived notions about oneself. Why else head into the middle of nowhere, where anonymity sets you free? The same idea applied to Birdie, even as hypocrisy stared at her in the form of a bushy-haired boy.

Nevermind.

“Or, we could just do our own things for a few. I’m flexible.”

Yet, her eyes on Luc remained unrelenting, and their presence felt long after she dismissed the thought of convincing him to return to their comfortable, if overcrowded with a plethora of abstract concepts, home base. She studied the flowers adorning the home instead, waiting patiently to hear everyone’s thoughts on how to spend their first few hours on ‘vacation.’

 

[livingdead]

exhausted.

LUCAS CHAMBERS

♡coded by uxie♡

Admiration, maybe, or a dull, underwhelming sign of welcoming, brought upon by hours upon hours of passing fields and rural scenery, just as the cottage before him. He shoved that thought away, kept it tucked away, and instead reminisced on the brief pros of their arrival. Peace, that’s what he had hoped for, and his first ordeal had been to hop onto the ground—an uncanny feeling after so long that he almost instantly forgot about.

Lucas folded his arms behind his head, stretched, wandering along the vicinity thoughtlessly. Curious stares on their way there, like a spectacle, was as unfamiliar to him as dirt roads and ruthless gnats, a sun-kissed horizon dressed in oranges, a bright head of hair. Moments of thought lead up to the now, moments that still weren’t enough, tuned in and out through headphones, head against the seatbelt, sometimes dozed off until the slideshow in the windows ceased.

Luc spared Birdie a gaze, averted, yet his lips detailed a hint of amusement. He tugged his jacket off, tossed it over his shoulder, then back into the truck. The door glided shut on its own with the exception of a light push, as though there were any neighbors to disturb.

His back to the car, Luc stayed no more than a passive observer while the rest of the group settled. Birdie eager to spend time at their newfound destination, Zo and Jasper he hoped would follow suit with him, maybe watch a gentle river or clear his mind in an exceptionally green patch of grass littered with dandelions, take muse from someplace that wasn’t the city—loud and bustling. The cottage was teeming with life in its own, entirely opposing way that Lucas hadn’t seemed to decide anything other than he was neutral to it.

“I vote for the latter.” A box and a light in his pocket, always at the ready, he placed the cigarette between his lips, met by a flame. Relief in billows of smoke, clogging the rural air, just as their car had on its stroll into town.

A little too preoccupied to focus on Birdie’s stare (though he kept sights of her in his peripherals), he lifted a second cigarette from the stash, and held it up in full view.

“If you want,” it ended up in Birdie’s direction, but he kept it an offer for anyone.

“Otherwise I’m gonna go.” He glared down at his torn shoes. Well-loved. That was one way to put it. Duct tape held one of them together. Reluctant, a new pair waited in the trunk of the car should he ever walk further than a few feet. “And check things out,” he went on after a brief pause, pointed toward the cottage and its surrounding greenery, and stepped away.

“You guys can come along. I don’t mind.”

It stood by, and oddly enough, Lucas was willing enough to explore. He could take in the idea of vacation, make himself at home, make sense of their new home. That’s just what he convinced himself this should be—undisturbed serenity, crickets chirping and bundles of stars above that he rarely got the chance to see, flowers in their own assorted palettes.

 

[alchemic]

curious & apprehensive

JASPER KATSAROS.

reveriee ©

Jasper’s position in the car looked hellishly uncomfortable. Legs crossed, one knee bent up to the sky, elbows folded to push the side of their head against the rumbling glass—but their gaze was distracted by the scene outside. What kind of kids ran alongside a beat-up truck they’d never seen a day in their life? And that one without the flowers, surrounded by the others in a way that would be unnerving on anyone but soft-faced, grinning children.

Nevermind. She clicked the truck door open. Through her squint into the sunshine, the cottage was bright and old, flowers spread across the lawn in a way that makes her wonder who was taking care of it before they arrived. This place was just so… remote. Or maybe she was being a typical city brat. Probably both.

Birdie and Lucas’s voices filtered in, and they turned back, pale arms crossed beneath their typical dark jacket. It seemed Jas had forgone more comfortable for the long car ride, some mix of forgetfulness and conscious decision.

“Let’s christen it,” They drawled. “Make it feel a bit more like home.” A pretty place was well enough on its own, but their little vacation group wasn’t made of star students, to say the least. In a moment, Jasper had the lighter rolling between calloused fingertips, but they didn’t move to grab the cigarette from Lucas. That could wait, actually. Their dark eyes held a rare gleam as they looked off, seemingly into nothing, before tucking the lighter back into their jeans.

Jasper's no athlete. They’re lanky and short and (sometimes) high whenever someone tried to rope them into running or hiking, or whatever else. But here’s another fact: at five, they were the reason their elementary school had to remove all the lower branches from the trees in the yard.

Quickly, and without much sound, Jas was climbing the nearest live oak, low-heeled boots bracing its thick trunk to pull their body weight over a low-hanging branch. They briefly entertained going as high as they could manage without hurting the poor tree, but soon decided that the nearest 911 operator was a bit too far for that. Five feet or so off the ground is good enough. They looked back down on the others curiously, giving a lazy wave to anyone that looked their way.

 

[ravensunset]

curious, mildly tired, thinking

Zoey Calvert

“

her soul, too, ached quiet and still, the reflection of it sharply uncomfortable.

”

Talon’s Cross would be quiet, peaceful, lovely, and welcoming. It was a wonderful vacation destination. There would be no bugs and the cabin they rented would be well insulated. She was going to have a wonderful time. Zoey repeated the phrases in her head, over and over, a silent mantra, doing her best to will them into existence as the car neared their destination. The confinement of the car had started to wear on her, the latter part of the ride she’d spent simply staring out a window.

Were the townspeople staring at them? Zoey pulled at her curls, giving the others a nervous glance. They’re just curious, they’re not looking at specifically you she told herself, yet still ducked her head down, doing her best to not be one of the ones most seen. The car, much to her thanks, soon stopped near a small cottage.

Zoey took in a deep breath of air as she stepped out of the truck, sneakers colliding with the ground. It was cold, fresh, and looking in front of her, she could almost believe her little mantra. It was beautiful, brick red against dark forest green, the field left them a good distance away from any stares. Words swirled through Zoey as she tried to figure out how she’d describe the feeling in a poem, a book. Would she focus on the strain in her legs from sitting down so long, relieved by the grass poking at her shoes, or on the way the sunlight reflecting off the brick was the same orange as the flowers outside, nature and buildings swiveling into one, threatened to be consumed by the forest outside? Would she say, cliche as it was, that she understood what drove one to live in a quiet, rural town like this? That her soul, too, ached quiet and still, the reflection of it sharply uncomfortable, barring true why she lived surrounding herself with noise?

Birdie’s words had blown past her while lost in thought, and the nudge against her shoulder made Zoey jolt and unwillingly inhale a sharp gasp, shoulders tensing up as she snapped back into the group she was in. Tag? She tried to think of a response, but Birdie had already moved on, looking to Luc, then Jasper.

“Yeah, maybe some group activity to start off the trip, although,” Zoey started, quick to support Birdie’s suggestion, even one that was only a joke. Zoey was pretty good at tag, but before she could quite finish, Lucas was speaking, then holding out a cigarette, and Jasper a lighter. The way Jas looked at the cabin momentarily made Zoey’s nerves spike, but they were joking, and tucked the lighter away. She glanced at Birdie, then Val, wondering whether splitting off was the appropriate first activity of the vacation.

It hardly mattered. Luc and Jasper had already split off, and much as Zoey needed to look at others for direction, the rest of the group were not constrained by that particular quality.

Luc’s open invitation to explore hung in the air, pros: lots to explore, lovely view, potential group activity, do it at once together than plan multiple walks, cons: unlikely everyone joins in, Lucas likes being alone, lots of time to explore preferable to right now, and Jasper was an impressive amount up into a tree, waving down at them. At least she didn’t have to consider following that, as she much doubted she could, besides, what if she fell? Zoey tugged at her curls, at the sleeve of her flannel.

”Although we should probably unpack now. Before we get too tired, have it done with.” She finished her train of thought, much too late. She could still go, be the first to enter the cabin, pull out all her belongings, one by one. But she didn’t want to alone, head off on her own third path. She just lacked the confidence for it. Her eyes drifted back to the cottage, oblivious to the discussions of the five recent graduates that would soon occupy it. Zoey’s eyes turned back to Birdie. Would deciding to follow her lead constitute an active decision, or just another avoidance of having to make her own choice? Did it matter, had Zoey ever done anything but?

The breeze pulled at her, yet she stayed in place. Maybe she should have just a moment outside, nothing but taking in the expanse. That’s why they were here, weren’t they? Calm and quiet and rusting flowers. Zoey looked down at the ground, how her sneakers sank through the grass, but her lips poked upwards as she thought of her friends filling the yard and cottage, here with her, so far away from the bustle of school. There was nothing but time for everything else.

 

[demonology]

birdie gish-sato

tee, shorts, shoes

♡coded by uxie♡

A pin pricked into her heart, and it occurred to her how much she took for granted that Lucas never punished her soul with his own wills. Well, perhaps never, she thought, looking over his small smirk. A curt brow raised, but she took the cigarette he held out, plucking it with the same motion she often tugged at his curls.

“I’ll come with,” she offered, already noting Jasper’s fading figure in the bushels of leaves. “Or else the kid will leave us in the dirt.”

Birdie smiled at Jasper via forming false binoculars as a way to shield from the tremble-breathing sun. “I rolled one last night,” she offered in response to her suggestion of ‘christening’ the place.

Another glance at Luc. The papers and plant shreds heated her back pocket, where the plastic clementine of a makeshift smell-proof container held said joint. “Haven’t smoked surrounded by nature in a while,” Birdie commented as she pushed the cigarette filter between her lips. Instinctually, she held her hand out for Luc to hand her the lighter. Words muddied by collecting saliva and tobacco, she noted, “Might be fun.”

Then, Zo made an astute observation. It would be better to unpack and settle in. In the same breath, Birdie’s heart ached, desperate to set the trip off on the right footing, and furthermore, she had just driven a handful of hours that weren’t too pleasant. The last of which involved the sullen understanding she had somehow disappointed her roommate, the desperate need for a cigarette, and mild fretting that this vacation would work out terribly. After all, they were willingly sticking themselves together with the sap of authentic maple leaves and pollen of wildflowers. The question that remained looped in Birdie’s mind was whether or not the bees would sleep in their pools of petals or sting the thorns.

“That can wait,” she decided. “Maybe just clear out the van of our luggage, first, and then we all head out?”

Even then, she watched as Jasper tended to his tree and Luc looked wantonly at the mystic paths. Greenery sang its praises to her too, but she still looked to the poof of Zoe’s hair. Her gaze softened, impulse, and she changed her mind once more. So business-like, pragmatic in her suggestion. She, out of them all, needed the trip the most, even if it tested her limits. Birdie smiled wide, open.

A directorial tone to her voice, “Actually, Zo,” she took hold of her hand. “Let’s just have fun.” Her diction was softened, especially once she grabbed onto her friend.

Tugging Zo along, she quickly caught up to Luc. Looking back towards Val, she called for her to catch up and made brief eye contact with Jasper. “Come on, tree monster!”

She held Zo’s hand still, as though she knew the girl might transform into a butterfly and flit away. Still, she pulled on Lucas’s own curls before removing the pill bottle from her pocket, ashing her cigarette into it. She opted to save the rest for later, stubbing it out on the plastic. A small tinge of fumes bristled her nostrils, but she quickly removed the treasures inside and sealed the small chest back up.

The Zippo lighter was purchased at a bodega during her first year at NYU, with all of the same friends she walked with now in tow. Crinkles of foil-lined bags, chips crunching, and spurt of a can cracking open. Hunger gnawed at her stomach’s innards. Instead of allowing the more to linger, Birdie began this new one with the flick of her lighter and the inhale.

She held out the joint to Luc, not quite bothering to ask because truthfully, she already knew.

 

[livingdead]

exhausted.

LUCAS CHAMBERS

♡coded by uxie♡

A cigarette situated between his lips—in the same manner he would treat a pen should he overwhelm himself with the task of planning—another, unlit, sat loosely between his middle fingers, waiting to be snatched up like it were a stick of gum instead. Jasper, deciding to take on his offer perhaps a different time than now, scrambled up into the nearest tree above them. Lucas followed them with his gaze, staring above into the scraps of leaves with one hand extended and the other plucking the cigarette from his mouth, blowing smoke back out into the wild. Wherever it went, it didn’t care much for reason.

He considered copying Jas, sitting high upon a branch if he was sure he could get there without tumbling down first, or just not being able to reach the next step. He added tree-climbing to his mental list of tonight’s vacation plans.

Zo had suggested unpacking before they took part in wandering off together or some similar activity. Her decision-making he admired, though if it were up to him, the majority of his belongings would stay in the trunk of their car the entire vacation. A tendency that was either unbothered or just plain lazy, he couldn’t say really. Not that he had packed much to begin with; he tossed a portion of his wardrobe into a bag within an hour’s notice, just as he had procrastinated his way through his major.

Lucas neglected to unpack first, even if Birdie hadn’t agreed to tag along. “Later, I guess,” he reciprocated the idea. The cigarette gone from his hand, it fell to his side. His attention flipped from Jasper to Birdie, Luc remaining unsurely at the center of it all—as it felt, anyway. Blank-faced accompanied by gentle, zoned-out blinks, thick curls above his eyes blurring some of his vision, looking through a sheet. He shoved them back, only to bounce back to wear they were before. He fished the lighter out of his pocket, handed it to Birdie, then chose his path, nonchalant, an open invitation to follow.

Dirt roads, pebbles under the soles of his shoe, lush and towering trees Jas would turn into a ladder. He looked back, their group gathering to catch up with him, Birdie by choice, Zo pulled alongside her. He figured Jas and Val might, too.

He traded the cigarette for Birdie’s joint, a draw of each, a cough, and handed it right back.

 

[ravensunset]

exploring!

Zoey Calvert

“

With Birdie’s hold forcing her to stay, she too was locked in a part of the group, of the world.

”

Birdie took the cigarette from Luc in a single, effortless motion, making Zoey wonder if it could have ever gone to anyone else.

Zoey had never smoked. She’d been offered one, a couple times, told it would help her loosen up once, but unlike many of the things she’d allowed herself to try out, just once, she just couldn’t get past the idea of filling her lungs with smoke. She understood the draw to it, in many ways especially somewhere like here, in the quiet and nature, the cigarette looking natural in Birdie’s lips, and grey smoke fitting into the dark green backdrop of the woods.

Luc and Birdie decided packing could wait. Zoey wasn’t one to argue. Their belongings weren’t going anywhere, anyways, why’d she even suggest something it was so clear the others wouldn’t want? She didn’t really, either, she wanted to explore and have fun, it had just made sense, and when had Zoey been that good at fun?

“Okay, yeah, then we can just—” Birdie took Zoey’s hand, and the sudden pressure of fingers– of Birdie– in her grasp causing the words to vanish, all at once. She felt the blood rush to her face, and had to remind herself to close her still open mid sentence mouth. Why had she ever wanted to unpack anyways? Birdie called the rest of their group and headed towards Lucas, having to pull on Zoey for a moment before she remembered to use her own legs and follow along.

Birdie and Lucas swapped a cigarette and joint, their communication seemingly wordless. Something about it, the bright, lively girl and quieter, thoughtful boy next to her made her chest ache with familiarity– it wasn’t the first time she’d considered how similar her friends now were to the ones she’d left back in her hometown. Still, with a glance between all four of those in the space with her, everything felt right. With Birdie’s hold forcing her to stay, she too was locked in a part of the group, of the world, of the stone, dirt, and grass under their feet and trees above their heads, increasing in density around them as Luc led them closer to the forest.

Somewhere between the summer air and sound of footsteps and company, Zoey’s tongue had untied herself, “I was reading, um, a bit about the nature here, the flowers planted are all local and we should be able to see more growing in the– the forest, too,” Was heading into the forest unprepared a good idea? It was where the path they were on was leading them, and, well, where most directions from their cottage lead, with its location between that and the field of the next dwelling. Zoey shook the question out of her head. They were so close to the cabin anyways, the trees just starting close to it, and was by far the most explorable area. Besides, she had her friends beside her. What else could be needed?

 

[alchemic]

here we go

JASPER KATSAROS.

reveriee ©

“You’re damn right I will.” Jasper’s voice carried down to the rest of the group, though he was looking up towards the top of the oak. Light filtered through the leaves, scattering onto its heavy branches and, rarely, hitting the grass below. The trees were still not yet so dense that you couldn’t see the sky—that would be saved for further away from their cottage, into the woods proper. Whether or not that was an adventure for today, he wasn’t sure.

Zo and Birdie were talking, something about unpacking, and then all of them were moving away from the house and towards the forest. Jas guessed they wanted to explore. They understood that want: being intoxicated, almost, by the fresh wind and the knowledge that there were no streets to force your footsteps into.

The branch they’d climbed onto dangled far away from the trunk, nearly reaching the ground, so Jasper tightrope-walked their way to meet with the rest of the group.

“Are we heading in?” Jasper said, rubbing at a smudge of dirt on their knuckles. Lucas was dull-eyed, doing some swap of joint, cigarette, and lighter with Birdie. The way those two moved like they could read each others’ thoughts would never stop confusing them.

Then Zoey spoke up, a pleasant surprise, and Jas’s attention turned to the girl with a small, crooked smile on their face. “That’ll be cool. We don’t get much plant action back home.” To say the least, they thought, the juxtaposition of their concrete jungle apartment in Brooklyn to these open fields and woods never escaped them. “If I’m about to touch a poisonous bush or something, Zo, let me know.” It was said light-heartedly, though Jas really wasn’t the most cautious person around.

Jasper fell in step with the others, hands tucked into her jean pockets. In a few hours, she might regret wearing boots, but it wasn’t like the others were particularly athletic—the woods were enticing, but so were four walls and a roof over your head. She’d give it thirty minutes before someone started complaining. Maybe forty-five before they actually turned back. Birdie could be convincing when she wanted to be, and if it started getting dark, at least two or three of their little posse would start getting nervous.

“Into the woods we go,” They mumbled, some mockery of a fairy tale, and pulled out the lighter—for a purpose, this time. In quick consequence, Jas had a cigarette out, lit, and pressed to their lips.

 

[erzulie]

[ ACT I — THE ARRIVAL. ]

Yes, step into the forest dear travels. Listen as it serenades you with sounds deep within, isn’t it kind? Birds chirp to one another, as though they are excited about the new beings stepping foot into their domain. Oh how welcoming the land is. The trees are polite in the way some of them bend, bowing their leaves in what could be compared to a curtsey. And how dressed up they are, the light grey of the Spanish moss drapes over their limbs and gently sway in the breeze.

You walk deeper, deeper into the lush green. The trees are larger now, entwined in an almost loving embrace. Thick roots lay partially exposed for all to see. The jagged gouges in the wood all come in three. Is that sap, black and gooey, attached to some of these trees? There is no time to question it, a snap can be heard behind, in front, on either side. The corner of the eye is a playful thing, they make the shadows seem as though they’re moving. But of course, it’s all just a trick of the light.

There is something thick in the air, tense yet hazy. How long have you been walking for? Nevermind that, a grove has appeared in front of you. The ground is a vibrant shade of red. The carnations are plentiful here. Not a single shade of green can be seen, they cover the forest floor completely.

“We’ve never seen you all around here before….” A childish voice suddenly says from behind. When had the children gotten here? You recognize some of them as the children you had greeted you during your ride into town. They are far lovelier up close, with sparkling eyes and wide smiles. They wear the same carnations on the ground, in their hair, on their clothes, they’re all wearing them in some form.

A child steps up, he could be no older than 9 and he had skin like the forest floor after rain. His eyes are light brown. He is all chubby cheeks and silken, black curls. He wears a carnation in the pocket of his overalls. “It’s nice to meet you! Do you wanna play hide and seek with us?” The children watch with smiles. For a moment their eyes speak of something…not quite right but it’s gone as soon as it comes.

Make your choice.

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