03.2023 | WELCOME BACK! Hello friends old and new! I'm so excited to welcome you all back to SITW! I've made some changes to the plot and added the ability to play supernatural charcaters! So come and check it out! I can't wait to jump back into this little town with all of you!
A strange history surrounds the town, it is a place where mysterious and supernatural things have been known to happen. The reputation of the town reguarly draws in visitors and newcomers alike. While some residents avidly believe in the supernatural, others are far more skeptical. What do you believe?
It was a long bus ride and Kenna felt on edge for nearly all of it. She was afraid that the authorities would chase after her and force her into a foster home. She was afraid her father, who still didn't know she even existed, would either turn her away or that he wouldn't but then would turn out to be a terrible situation and she would have wished she had never tried to meet him. She was exhausted when the bus stopped in Sweetwater and though it had driven through the night, she had barely got any sleep at all.
When she got off the buss she realized was starving but her funds were limited so she debated on exactly how hungry she really was and opted to just deal with it for the time being in hopes food would be presented to her sooner rather than later. She wasn't entirely sure how to even find her father. She knew he lived in this town but didn't know where. She started to chew on her fingernails, the black polish on them was already very chipped and flaking. She really should paint them again but she had other priorities.
She thought it might be helpful to go to the sheriff station to ask about Harland but, again, she wasn't eager to approach the authorities at the moment. Maybe the courthouse? But at one 16 years old that made her anxious. Finally she just started to ask around, hoping the town was small enough that people would know her father. She had only had to ask about 3 people when she was able to find out that he owned a bar and grill. She wasn't sure if it was the type of place she couldn't go into at all without being 21 or if she just needed to be that old to drink but she had very little options so she headed over in that direction.
All she had on her was a backpack and a small dufflebag when she stepped into the bar around 4 pm. She looked around, seeing a few customers, though most seemed to be kinda older. She remember that old people liked to eat dinner earlier than most others. There was a hostess at the door who looked at the Kenna curiously, mostly because of the random luggage she was carrying. "For one?" the hostess asked. Kenna's cheeks colored and she looked from the hostess and back around the bar again, wondering who of these people might be her father. "Actually I'm just looking for Harland Shaw. Is he here?" she asked.
Post by Harland Shaw on Sept 25, 2023 21:31:57 GMT
It felt like Harland never left work and when he wasn't at the bar he was working with the pack paying dues. Of course the bar had cameras so while he wasn't out on the front lines during the day he watched cameras so when he saw the girl enter with bags he got up from his chair. Kids had a penchant for running away and stopping at the bar to eat, as he walked out of his office he caught the tail end of her asking for...him specifically.
"That'd be me miss," Harland leaned against the door frame to keep the door open, "what can I do for you?"
Kenna looked over as a man spoke from the doorway of what looked like some kind of office. A rather large man actually and she suddenly felt quite intimidated. She swallowed and adjusted her backpack in her shoulders. She wasn’t totally sure how to say this and all the rehearsing she’d done over the last few days hadn’t left her with much.
She gave a shy smile of thanks to the hostess and moved slightly closer towards the man. The man who was apparently her father. “Um, hi. Sorry to bother you. I was, um, I was just wondering if maybe you remembered a girl named Sookie Herveaux?” It stung to say her mother’s name out loud. The loss still fresh.
Post by Harland Shaw on Sept 25, 2023 22:48:56 GMT
"Sookie...," Harland repeated not because he didn't know but because the name unlocked a memory of a quick young and dumb relationship from the past, "sorry, yeah I use to date Sookie, God sixteen...seventeen years ago?"
Harland scratched the back of his head, "you hungry kid?"
Well at least he remembered her mom, that was a good start at least. She tucked her hair behind her ear with a little nod and was trying to figure out where to go from there because he definitely wasn't getting where she was going. She supposed she would have been surprised if he had.
But at the mention of food her stomach actually grumbled as if on cue. "Starving actually," she admitted, looking up at him with big doe eyes.
He grunted and waved her to follow him leading her to the kitchen in the back, there was a employee table where they ate on breaks or when it was slow during the day. Harland moved and cleaned the table off for her before washing his hands.
As he gathered food items he eyed her bag,"you a runaway? Why do you wanna know about Sook?"
The big man grabbed a pack of thick cut steaks, eggs, bacon, some sausages, and salt and pepper. The thought struck him a little bit curiously about how she knew his name, "What's your name?"
Kenna followed him a bit nervously into the kitchen and she realized she'd never seen the kitchen of a restaurant before. She looked around at the big stoves, ovens, and stainless steel inside of it with mild curiosity but was far more focused on the man walking in front of her. She settled down at the table he'd cleared off and set both her duffle and the backpack from her shoulders down on the floor beside her before he asked about her bags.
She chewed her lip thoughtfully, trying to decide how to answer as he got out a variety of ingredients, arching her neck a little longer to get a good look at what it all was. A whole lot of protein. Her stomach grumbled again and she was suddenly sure she'd never been so hungry in her life. Hunger itself had been growing more and more demanding in recent weeks and she figured she was probably going through some sort of growth spurt.
He asked her name and she looked from the food and back to the man, her father. How strange to actually be in the same room with him, to be speaking to him. She dreamt of this moment countless times when she was little but she never really thought it would actually happen. "Kenna," she told him her name and then moved from the table and over to where he was starting to prepare the food, watching him work with interest.
"And I'm not a runaway. Well, not exactly a runaway I guess," she gave a little shrug but still seemed unsure how to actually start this conversation. She toyed with the ends of her hair as she watched him, chewing nervously on her lip again.
As he seasoned and began to cook he watched her out the corner of his eyes as she watched him cook, "Kenna, hmm, how do you like your steak?" his was going to be almost raw...a wolf thing.
That was his first question and he'd shut up to cook, it was an art that Harland took serious which left him time to ponder and think about Sookie. They hadn't spoken since the day they split when Sookie took off in a cloud of dust. He was young and dumb back then and Sookie had put up with a lot of pack shit to warrant her leaving. Harland wasn't a piece of shit by any means but pack life was life it had kept him busy back then and still does.
When the food was done Harland made her a plate and then himself, everything else but his steak was mixed and mashed together which he topped off with pepper and a few splashes of hot sauce. He then poured two glasses of milk.
Inviting her to sit with him at the break room table he had cleared he knew his next question, "so, Kenna whose not really a runaway, how did you know my name?
”Medium,” Kenna answered right away. She’d eaten her steak medium for years but as soon as she said it aloud she changed her mind. “Well, how about medium rare.” Ya that sounded better.
She watched in silence while he cooked, her heart racing as she practiced a variety of ways in her mind she could tell him the real reason she was here.
She sat down at the table with him and looked between their steaks. She had to admit that his looked even more appealing than she would have expected. She ate a small nibble from her plate and then just kind of pushed her food around her plate when he asked her the next question. She couldn’t put it off anymore.
“Sookie…is my mom. She told me your name last week-“ she swallowed. Part of her wanted him to the put the pieces together but maybe that wasn’t fair. “She said-“ she couldn’t look at him and just played with the food on her plate. “She said you’re my father…”
He ate while she kinda played with her food, but what she had eventually got around to saying had him choking on his steak. Dropping his knife and fork Harland pushed the half chewed piece of steak down, "What?"
Then Harland fell quiet resting one hand on the table and the other he ran through his hair, "sh-..I didn't....wh-what do you know about me? Why didn't she tell me and why now? Fu-this is kinda a lot to process Kenna so...so..bare with me," he looked her over for any resemblances, "why didnt Sookie come with you?"
Kenna winced at the sound of the silverware clattering on the plate and didn't look up at him, keeping her gaze firmly on her own plate and the table just beneath it. She could only imagine what was going through his head. It was weird enough for her to be sitting across from a stranger who she'd been wondering about for her whole life but he hadn't even known she existed.
Her shoulders hunched and she pulled her jacket more tightly around her. She shrugged at his question about what she knew about him but let him get out all of his questions before she tried to respond. She sighed and finally looked up at him again from under her lashes, her body language still slumped as if protecting herself from an icy chill.
"I don't really know much about you at all. I know your name and that you lived here in Sweetwater. I just- When I got off the bus I just asked a few people where I might be able to find you and they told me you owned the bar here," she began to explain. "She said she didn't tell you about me because she just felt it would be easier or better that way." Kenna shrugged again and looked away briefly so she wouldn't have to see whatever reaction he might have about that in his eyes. After a moment she went on.
"I know it's a lot and I probably shouldn't have come at all but I- I didn't know what else to do. Mom- Mom got cancer," she swallowed, trying to fight back the emotion of it. Her throat felt sore and tight from the effort. She was only a 16 year old girl after all. The tears welled up against her will and she angrily wiped them away with the sleeves of her jacket, curling further into herself. She made a frustrated sound, frustrated at herself. She wanted to tell him that her mom hadn't survived the cancer but she couldn't get the words out. Maybe it would be better if he didn't know. For all he knew she could just go back home.
"I should just go. I'm sorry," she said, pushing back away from the table and pulling the hood of her jacket over her head as she reached down to grab her backpack, tossing it back over her shoulders as she started to walk towards the door to exit the kitchen.
She was talking and then she was standing up grabbing her things, "wait..what," he stood and followed her but she had already cleared the door to outside the bar. He grabbed his own coat telling his staff he'd be back before hitting the door himself. Harland had so much suddenly coming at him and he wasn't the best at quick processing but he quickly found Kenna yelling out to her, "Kenna wait, hey," he would rush in front of her to cut her off, "You can't just dump that on me and walk away, you came here for a reason even if it was to resolve some curiosity," he looked her up and down, "I don't get your Mother's reasons for not telling me and I hope she'll explain but...but you got to know about me and about you, because," it was fair she know what she might be and what her Father was, would it be a warning and she leaves for good or it could be a solid connection for them...
"Can you take a ride with me? It's just better if I show you," he waited with his breath held.
Kenna looked down at her feet as Harland stepped in front of her to stop her, looking ashamed. "I shouldn't have put this on you. That's not fair to you either," she said dismissively. Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't come. But...where else would she go? Her mom had been really private and she didn't have any other family to turn to. It was this, foster care, or...homelessness?
She looked up when Harland continued to talk though, looking more and more confused. What the heck was he talking about and why was he acting so...weird about it? "Take a ride with you?" she asked, looking unnerved. "What, are you gonna off me out in the woods or something?" she technically didn't know this man and maybe it would be easier for him to just get rid of her. Or maybe he was some disturbed psycho and she was risking her safety by being along with him.
Harland flinched at her wild accusation, "What?! Christ no, shit," he rubbed a hand through his hair and down his face as he went through about a dozen reactions at once realizing he might have sounded creepier than he meant, "No kid, Kenna, I'm not going to bump you off like we live in some mafia movie but everything about me can be better shown than explained...just trust me. Please."
Harland offered to open her door on the truck, "Plus I have a bar full of people who saw you come in and me chasing after you, I don't think I'm stupid and neither should you..."
HIs reaction to her question made her feel kinda bad for asking and she mumbled a little 'sorry' as he went on to explain further. He had good points. Everyone had seen them together. Yet no one knew who she was and she didn't belong to the town so if she went missing all he would have to do would be to say she went home and that would be the end of it.
Still, she didn't really think she had to worry about that even if the idea had crossed her mind. So she hesitated for only another second before she nodded her head and climbed into the open door of his truck, pulling her backpack onto her lap and looking around the cab as he walked to the other side.