Supernatural: Legacy - Push

Unusual? That was an understatement.

In the current year, Wendy had attended almost none of her physical education classes, each absence listed as "illness." Of course, someone was bound to notice this.

Heather's words in his first class came back, and Jordan had to wonder. Had the coach been having an affair with Wendy? They had certainly kept it hush hush, if that was the case, though they had also gotten rid of him quite quickly.

"Hmm, maybe I'd better get in touch with him," he thought. But he knew Mati was waiting to hear a response from him.

"Yeah, I think it's worth checking out," he said after a pause. "I'll fill you in on the details later. Go ahead and check out the pool like you wanted though. Let me know if you find any hex bags or anything."

Hanging up his phone, Jordan headed out toward the main office, looking for a directory. If he could find one with the former coach in it, he'd be on his way.

--------------------

They wouldn't stop. They would never stop.

That idea had become fixed in her mind, sending icy terror through every fiber of her being. The idea of living with that every day for the rest of her life was madness. Maybe she was already mad.

So this was the only way. The only escape.

The water hit her face, comforting and cool as it always was. But she did not put power into her legs and arms, instead allowing her body to sink steadily toward the bottom off the pool. As she did so, the tormenting ringing sound flooding her ears and mind seemed to dull until, at last, she could no longer hold her breath. The water flooded in, and within it terrible, burning pain. But it was only for an instant. And then...

Blissful silence.

[OOC: Yes... when you go to the pool, you're going to find a body.]

Before the body sank, Mati quickly tossed his phone and jumped into the pool; bringing up the dead body, he called the number everyone calls. "I need an ambulance now!"

Mati's hands were in the position for CPR, but his hands were telling him already... it was too late to save her.

Before the crowd stormed in Mati quickly jumped back into the pool; trying to find the hex bag. If it was a success, and he found it in the pool... that would sums it up nicely. It was witch's doing. Even he could not find it, he has a feeling hex bag isn't far off.

Mati check on the dead body itself, if there was anything that could be disguised as hex bag; necklace or such. If there wasn't any, then he really had to search in the pool's locker room.

But leaving the dead body in right there and going somewhere else might get him unwanted attention. So he stayed put, where the dead body was.

Unsurprisingly, the school was in something of an uproar that afternoon. The headmistress had, at first, refused to cancel classes. But as the majority of students and even some of the faculty had abandoned their classes to watch the commotion, there didn't seem much point to it.

Becky had broken down in tears at the sight of the stretcher being pulled down the hallway and run off. Jordan watched her go, thinking it would be best to talk to her. Two of her friends had died now. He would be lying if he said she might not be on the hit list as well. But if nothing else, she was a kid in distress, and she needed reassurance.

Business came first, however, and he made his way to Mati, who had finished speaking with the paramedics and police. They gave him a nod to let him know it was okay to leave, then proceeded to back the crowd away.

"No hex bags, huh?" Jordan murmured, brows furrowed. "If it is a witch, she's quite a slippery one."

He motioned to Mati to follow, and hurried after Becky to try to speak with her.

They found her outside on the steps of the back entrance to the school, still crying steadily.

"Becky?" Jordan said quietly, causing her to look up. She shook her head frantically, as though refusing to believe what had happened.

"They're going to make it an accident," she said in a cracked voice. "A cramp or something. It's... it's crap! Heather was an amazing swimmer. There's no way she would have drowned accidentally."

"You don't think..."

Jordan hesitated to reference the suicide of her first friend, but it seemed too coincidental. Becky's tears seemed to subside. Her grief seemed momentarily eclipsed by something else. Fear?

"They wouldn't have killed themselves. Aubrey, Heather... they liked school. They liked life. Aubrey talked about being a lawyer and having a family. Heather wanted to be an Olympic athlete. There's no reason, no sense to it!"

Jordan wanted to press further, his natural aggressiveness superseding his compassion at the moment, but just then the door opened and the headmistress stepped out.

"Ah, Becky dear," she said sweetly, holding out a hand. "I've been looking for you."

Becky hastily wiped her face and stood up, her previous fight fading away rapidly.

"Yes, Miss Masters," she said, bowing her head.

"Come to my office, and let's have tea. It'll be all right dear."

She patted Becky on the shoulder and ushered her inside before looking at the two men.

"Thank you, gentlemen, but the school is now returning to its regular schedule. I suggest you go back to your duties."

Jordan nodded, watching them disappear inside, before turning to Mati.

"I'm beginning to form a working theory," he said, looking grim. "But I guess it'll have to wait till tonight. Class awaits."

[OOC: Nex, you can get us back to the motel room that night, where they'll review what they know.]

"Yeah, see you later." Mati responded calmly, as they part ways, Mati went to the swimming pool locker room. He checked everywhere, trying to find the hex bag. 'If mom was here...' thought Mati, remembering how his mother, Hecate, dealt with the witch who came after her.

Mati sighed, then he saw the locker that was Heather's; Mati opened them, with the skill he had acquired when he was running away from angels and demons, it was too easy for him.

He thoroughly checked the items of the dead girl; her belongings were exposed to him and he checked every possibility where hex bag could planted.

If Mati found the hex bag, he would be quite satisfied. If not, he would return to the motel with disappointment. Then again, if there was no hex bag, that means she was using another method to kill them... like an altar?... Could it be another magical objects?

Mati would be the first one to be in the motel room; Mati would ask Jordan when he comes back.

"What did you find? and what's your theory?"

Jordan returned to the motel room that night. They had no hex bags and no proof, but he did, at least, have a theory.

"An altar is definitely possible," he said, nodding at Mati's suggestions. "Would explain the lack of hex bags then."

And if it was an altar, he had an idea of where to start looking.

"Well, I could be wrong," he said, pulling out his phone to show the images Mati had sent him earlier. "But I have a hunch things are connected to this scandal."

Wendy's attendance record to gym class was utterly abysmal. No teacher would have let her skip that often, but the former gym teacher had. This led to allegations against him that he was having an affair with a student. Nothing could be proved, but the headmistress felt it best to have him removed.

"But get this," he said, indicating the file image. "The one who brought forth the allegations was Aubrey. And when I heard my first class, Heather voiced the opinion again. I think they're being silenced to keep things under wrap, and I think the headmistress seems very determined to keep things quiet and the school running neatly and efficiently as ever."

This theory seemed workable, and it gave them some direction to work off of.

"If it's true, then the next target would either be Becky, as one of the friends of the other two and a possible liability, or Wendy, who is part of the whole scandal."

"Did you check what happened to the ex-gym teacher?" Mati asked, "Well, I think we have two possible targets, it's either headmistress, or Wendy... One of them could be the witch from my perspective."

Mati shrugged, "Well, if the ex-gym teacher is dead, oddly, then it could be headmistress..." He carefully added. "So where do we start our search? Their place?"

The teacher was a dead-end lead. When you get accused of statutory rape, whether guilty or not, you tend to bury the past, and he had done just that.

"Left town fast," Jordan said, shrugging. "Didn't leave a return address, unsurprisingly."

It would have been helpful to get his perspective, but it probably didn't matter much, in the end. He would have been too far out of reach, both for the witch to target or for him to do much harm to the school. Aubrey and Heather, however, had been far more immediate concerns.

"We're going to have to split up and find Becky and Wendy. We'll each guard one," he said. "I think it's safe to let Becky in on things - she's already suspicious enough, and it is her friends. She deserves to know. I want to avoid dragging Wendy into it if it can be helped though."

If they were stuck on protection duty, however, they would miss any opportunities to search for the witch's altar.

"You take Becky, and search the school after dark tomorrow. See if you can turn up anything," Jordan decided. "I'll stick with Wendy."

Jordan would have far preferred to get in on the action, but as Becky knew both of them and Wendy only knew him, it would have to be this way.

"You sure about this? There are not many leads that say it's actually headmistress' doing..."

Mati gave his partner a concerned look; Mati couldn't be so sure its really the headmistress' doing with the lack of evidence they have. Then again, he also understands that they have to go with the gut feeling, their hunter instincts, to get this case solved.

"Well, be careful, Jordan. This witch is very slippery; I will try to find the altar as soon as I can."

He nodded at the partner, he agreeing that he would do what he just asked.

Jordan sighed and nodded. Mati was right, of course, but it couldn't be helped.

"There's no evidence of anything, so far," Jordan said, and it was obvious from his tone that this irritated him greatly. "Other than the unusual nature and time frame of their deaths, there's absolutely nothing to go off of. That means, we're just going to have to go for it and see what happens."

Because he wasn't about to let innocent people die because he was too afraid to act. Better to screw up trying.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that though," he thought, grimacing.

Their meeting concluded, Jordan took to the bathroom to shower off. The warm water had a calming effect, and by the time he returned, his bearing was far more mellow.

"So," he said casually, toweling off his hair. "Have you ever managed to find any leads on your family?"

[OOC: You can ask him about his family if you want to.]

Mati nodded at his partner's response; Jordan was right, so far they had no proof who was witch nor did they have any evidence who wasn't.

Then his partner, Jordan, surprised him, asking about Mati's family. Mati rubbed his neck, "Nope, I was too busy with the case..." Then he sighed, "Well, to be honest? I don't think it is good idea to find them. I feel like I might lead their predators to their house." Mati gave another sigh, then he looked at his partner. "How about your family? Are they hunters?"

Jordan stopped drying his hair and set the towel aside, glancing at Mati as he did so. He had to admit, he was curious as to what the circumstances were surrounding the disappearance of the other's family, but Mati only seemed willing to give it pieces at a time.

He was going to ask if Mati at least knew who, or what, was pursuing them, but Mati switched topics to Jordan's own family, and he figured that was the signal to leave it for another time.

"Hah, no," he said, shaking his head as he found a fresh t-shirt and pulled it over his head. "They don't know anything about it. I haven't really seen them since I came back from service..."

He'd been too worried about his strange power, of what it was and what it might do to them.

"My dad died in service," he explained, zipping up his travel bag, setting it aside, and neatly folding back the sheets of his bed. "Marine. My mom and younger sister are back home west coast. My was never in the best of health, so my sis had to stay home to take care of her."

He trailed off a bit, feeling guilty. It wasn't fair to leave Mindy behind, without reason, to take care of their mother, forfeiting any attempts at a family of her own or some life outside of their hometown.

"I keep thinking maybe I should visit, but..." he said, shrugging. "Just keep putting it off for one reason or another, you know?"

He laid back in bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering if and when that day would come that he would get control over his ability and be able to return safely to them.

Mati looked at Jordan, with concerns, "Sorry, I did not mean to make you feel down..." Mati smiled weakly at his partner; "Well, you and I got many things in common." He commented, "Well, the only difference is that you know where to find yours while I don't."

Mati's eyes trailed off to the ceiling. then he asked his partner in gentler tone; "Why did you not visit them?.", Mati looked at his partner then he shifted his gaze to ceiling again. "You should pay them a visit while you can; trust me, you do not want to be in my shoes."

(OOC: Illya, you could move it to the next day if you wish too)

Jordan gave a rumbling sigh and rested his hands behind his head.

"Yeah... maybe," he said noncommittally. After a few moments, he reached over for the light and nodded to Mati.

"Better get your rest. We might be in for a long night tomorrow."

With that, he laid back on the bed and drifted quickly off to sleep, breathing deeply and steadily.

--------------------

Next Day

When gym class had rolled around the next day, Becky was far more present in body than mind, and she went through the various warm-ups and exercises mechanically.

Wendy was quick to excuse herself, and Jordan dismissed her without thinking much about it. As the girls finished up their laps, he spotted Mati cleaning up in the hall and moved over to him.

"Becky had a free period after phys ed," Jordan told him, keeping an eye out on his students. "You'll have a chance to get hold of her and give her what she needs to know. Let me know how it goes, all right? I'll try to catch Wendy when she leaves, find some excuse to walk her or something."

Becky seemed strained this morning; he hoped it was just the stress of dealing with the loss of her friends, and not another case of mental assault. Wendy wasn't well either, it seemed. At this point, it was anyone's guess what the next move would be.

Mati nodded at his partner's suggestion.

After the class, Mati finally caught up to Becky, and fortunately she was alone. "Becky, I need to tell you something." Mati said to her with concerned look. "I think I know what killed your friends." He looked around, making sure there was no one listening to their conversation. "I don't think this is a good place to talk about it. You got to trust me on this." Then Mati realized Becky wasn't looking well, "What's wrong with you? You feeling alright?" He asked, trying his best not to irritate her.

Becky was surprised by the sudden arrival of the janitor, who seemed to keep popping up around her. After what had happened the day before, she thought it was just to offer some condolences, but to her surprise, he seemed to know, or think he knew, what had happened to Aubrey and Heather.

"You..." she said breathlessly, staring at him. "I don't-"

Was he saying what she thought? That they had been murdered?

It was too shocking to even cry about. She merely leaned back against the wall, shaking her head.

"I'm- I'm fine," she said, shaking her head at his concern. "Just dealing with them being gone, and talking to their families..."

Becky seemed to draw some strength and resolve from this, and she looked up into Mati's face.

"Okay. Let's go," she said, standing up straight. "Whatever you have to say, I want to hear it."

[OOC: Take them wherever you want to go and start explaining.]

Mati brought Becky to one of the classroom; it was fairly standard classroom, the only difference was that it had no camera to spot them.

"Alright, I think this place is good enough," He said, looking around and making sure there was no one. Mati sighed and looked at Becky as they went in the room. "Well, Becky, you have to listen to me carefully." Then he looked around once more; he had to be sure. "You are right, your friends, I think they are being killed by someone." He made a gesture to Becky to calm down a bit, "And this might sound crazy, but I think your friends are killed by a witch; her next targets, it would probably be you and Wendy." Mati paused, letting that information sunk in Becky's head. "Now, did headmistress give you something? like a bag? or charm?"

A witch?

Becky looked stunned, but surprisingly, she did not argue. Instead, she gave a small shake of her head, as she stared off into space.

"I thought something was odd..." she said quietly. "Heather was behaving so oddly, and Aubrey..."

She swallowed down the tears that threatened to surface and looked at Mati, trying to process his question.

"You think... the headmistress?" Becky asked, surprised. "No... she didn't give me anything. Not that I know of..."

She had been in the headmistress' office the previous day though. Would she have been able to slip something to her unnoticed?

"So, what's your plan then?" she said, looking determined. "Raid her office? I'm in."

They made plans to meet after dark, and Becky went on her way, feeling that the least she could do was to bring justice for her friends.

--------------------

That Night

Jordan knocked at the door to Wendy's room, feeling very self-conscious about entering the room of a minor in plain sight. But it couldn't be helped.

Wendy opened the door, looking quite surprised to see him there.

"Mr. Blake..." she said hesitantly, peering up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk with you for a minute. Is that all right?" he asked, casting an eye inside the room. Wendy shifted uncomfortably, then stepped aside to allow him in.

--------------------

Becky wrung her hands nervously as she hid in the bushes behind the class building, waiting for Mati. Even though she was determined to get to the bottom of this, she couldn't help but feel apprehension at the idea of breaking into the school and the headmistress' office, to say nothing of the possibility of dealing with an actual witch.

"How do you stop a witch anyway?" she wondered aloud.

"Well, there are several ways." Said Mati, "But what actual human could do is using this." Mati brought up a bottle; due to his mother being Hecate, the queen of witches, as well as the demon who knew their weakness too well, he learned well how to deal with them. "It's a witch bomb; it's a witch killing spell." Said Mati confidently. Yes, his mother thought him well; not all witch was friendly to their queen's child...

"Well let me just check on my partner though." said Mati and he called Jordan.

Becky jumped at the sound of Mati's voice from suddenly behind her. When she had finally caught her breath, she stared at the bottle in both fascination and alarm at it.

"Wow. That'll work?" she asked, looking at it as Mati dialed Jordan.

--------------------

"Do you... want something to drink?" Wendy offered, indicating the mini-fridge. Jordan felt his phone vibrated and accepted, if only to give him a chance to talk.

[With Wendy] he texted Mati. [All fine so far. You guys all right?]

"Here," Wendy said, returning with a can of soda. "I hope you like Coke."

Jordan accepted it graciously and opened the cap with a pop, taking a long sip to formulate his approach.

[OOC: Go ahead and take them in.]

Mati replied it back to his partner, [everything is set, going to check out the office throughly]

Mati nodded, "Yup, it will work. Learned it from a pro." Then Mati looked at Becky with concerns, "Come on, let's check out that office."

Mati skillfully unlocked the door for the Headmistress' office. It always made him wonder why this office did not have any security camera unlike other offices.

Well, Mati was hoping he would find the alter here, if not..... It is an indication that the job became complicated.

Becky and Mati crept into the office, looking about curiously. Mati described what they were looking for - an altar of some sort - before they set to work. Becky peeked apprehensively into the drawers at the desk, but founding nothing to raise any concern.

None of the shelves revealed anything either. Becky was beginning to feel frustrated as she looked about.

"Maybe there's a secret compartment?" she suggested, wondering if there was a switch somewhere.

--------------------

Jordan looked about the apartment as Wendy waited for him to speak. Her room was small and modestly furnished, but clean and tidy. The bedspread and curtains were a pleasant, snowy white that gave the otherwise nondescript room some brightness.

"I've been a little concerned about you, Wendy," Jordan began, rubbing his thumb gently up and down the surface of the aluminum can. "You've been absent so much from gym class that I wondered if something was wrong."

Wendy say on the edge of her bed, looking self-conscious. She rubbed at her arm, which was pale and too thin for a girl her age, as she spoke.

"I don't like gym. The other girls make fun of me. I'm just... not very athletic."

Jordan frowned and set the soda can aside, leaning forward as he did so.

"Wendy, you can change if you want to. It just takes some effort and determination. I wanted to be strong and capable like my father, and I worked hard to transform my body," he told her. She nodded, giving it an appreciative glance, her cheeks dusting pink.

"It doesn't matter what the other girls think. If you apply yourself, you can change."

"You're very kind," Wendy said quietly, "No one else around here is nice to me. They call me 'Wendy Dumb' and say awful things behind my back. But not you. Do you... think I'm pretty?"

"Possible." Said Mati, looking underneath the desk for button or some sort, after that he looked at the bookshelves trying to find any thing suspicious of the place.

Witches love classic, so there could be a book that might trigger secret door to be opened. Then again, he also looked at the bookshelves carefully, to see if its a spinning bookshelves, he also try to see if it was able to slide to the side.

He also flipped a carpet, may be she had stairs that led underground?

Mati searched hard for so-called secret passage.

If it wasn't here, that would start to make Mati concerned and he would ask Becky first. "Just curious, is headmistress married?"

Jordan stared at the pasty, frail-looking girl and felt completely cornered. How was he supposed to tell her the truth?

He couldn't lie though, no matter how much it might upset her. Jordan looked into her eyes and sighed.

"...yes," he said quietly. "You're... beautiful."

Wendy flushed, her mouth breaking into a shy smile. She leaned forward, her thin fingers brushing against his large bicep as her eyelids fluttered close.

But then, the bed creaked slightly as Jordan pulled back, staring at her. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as Jordan shook his head, trying to get his thoughts under control.

"Wendy..."

She looked away, seemingly distraught.

"I don't understand..."

--------------------

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Dead ends at every turn. Becky sighed in frustration and hugged her arms to her body, trying to make sense of all this.

"No. No, she doesn't wear a ring or anything," she said vaguely, shaking her head. She was silent a moment, then turned to look at Mati.

"Why did you think it was the headmistress?" Becky asked. "Honestly, I thought..."

She trailed off uncertainly, looking uncomfortable with voicing the suggestion.

"You thought...? You thought who?" Said Mati, encouraging her to finish her sentence. Then he some how knew what she was going to say... Well, if it wasn't the headmistress, then it was another person, who Mati suspected not too long ago. Then he asked carefully, "Why?"

Hecate, who was Mati's mother, once told him... The reason why witch hunt failed miserably was because men failed to trust women's instincts. Right now, Mati was not going to make the same mistake.

His partner might be in danger.

Becky looked a bit uncomfortable and shrugged.

"Well, I never really mentioned about the night it happened," she said quietly, looking away.

--------------------

Becky, Aubrey, Heather, and a few other friends were walking through the grounds after dark, having sneaked off school grounds to have a girl's night out. As they were walking over the bridge onto the school grounds, they caught sight of someone walking nearby, her stringy black hair covering most of her face. But they could tell from that gait and her sickly thin figure who it was.

"Hey, it's Wendy Dumb," Heather laughed, pointing her out. "Hey, Wendy, what are you doing out here? We know you don't have a life."

Wendy froze and looked back at them, clearly torn between wanting to run off and wanting to stand up for herself. Instead, she merely stayed rooted to the spot, silently watching them.

"Were you visiting your secret boyfriend?" Aubrey jeered, approaching her. "I don't think his wife would like that very much."

Wendy's face became a blotchy red, and she stared at Aubrey bitterly, her lip trembling. The other girls were too busy laughing, but Becky had stepped forward to try to say something. She always stayed quiet, always went along with it when the other girls picked on Wendy.

But it was too late. The damage had been done. Wendy turned away, muttering darkly to herself.

"Go jump off a bridge, Aubrey," she hissed, stalking off. Becky shifted uncomfortably, then made a few steps after her. But as she did, she suddenly heard the other girls tittering confusedly as Aubrey turned and headed back toward the bridge. Without saying a word, she walked up to the railing and climbed onto it, her hair blowing in the cool night breeze for a moment.

"Aubrey? Aubrey, what are you doing?" Becky called, running toward her. Then, quite suddenly, Aubrey pitched forward, plunging off the bridge out of sight. The girls descended into terrified shrieks and wails as Becky stared in horror at the place where her friend had been a moment ago. Alive one moment, dead the next.

--------------------

"Wendy, I'm sorry..." Jordan said uncomfortably, not sure how it had even come to this. But Wendy was only half-listening, shaking her head in confusion.

"I don't understand. Why didn't it work?" she said. Jordan felt himself tense and began to move slowly, but Wendy was already looking back at him pleadingly.

"You do want to kiss me, don't you?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I do," he said automatically, reversing his momentum toward her. She smiled shyly and leaned forward in anticipation as well, eyelids fluttering closed.