#otherwise most women sound like they are being choked by patriarchy while they are trying to devote to patriarchy

[jack-hopkins]

where: jack hopkin’s shed when: night time, the 11th of May who: @rolandbb​ // @cole-campbell​ tw: blood, violence, torture

As the festival comes to a close on Sunday evening, Jack Hopkins approaches a slightly inebriated Cole.  He offers an apology for previous behavior along with a powdered drug as a gesture of good faith.  Once alone, he knocks the girl unconscious as information from Roland has led him to believe Cole is one of the suspected witches. The following day, he calls Roland to share the news.

// jack 05/16/2020

The hunter is waiting in his back yard, feeling his entire body tuned into the universe.  He's sent the text to Roland and is only now waiting by the fire, a bottle of booze ready in 'celebration'.  Jack hasn't touched the bottle, he's kept himself sober.  Call it intuition, but he expects he'll need his wits about him once Ro arrives.  Indeed, when he sees his friend coming around the dilapidated gate, he smirks. "Boy, have I got a surprise for you my brother. Is that dressing down?"  He'd been sure to ask his friend to wear work clothes, promising him a dirty task.

// roland 05/16/2020

It was a little hard to guess what Jack had for him waiting, but Roland hadn't expected a half-drugged girl waiting for him; and especially not Cole. He kept his face blank, eyes leaving her after a long moment to look at his friend, his fellow hunter, teeth clamped together hard. This was bad... or was it? "You know damn well I don't got a job, so yeah, this is my work clothes. What are we doin' with her?"

// cole 05/16/2020

Of course, she'd known it was a bad idea to accept drugs from Jack. It had been a bad idea to get involved the last time they'd spent quality time together - but well, bad ideas and Cole were intimately acquainted. What had happened next was foggy, but when Cole came to, it was accompanied by the gut feeling this time she'd really fucked up. Her head was pounding and she moaned weakly, freezing at the sound of a very familiar voice.

// jack 05/16/2020

He looked at Roland like he was cray to even ask. "What do you mean? Yous was the one who told me what the little lady was, Ro. What do you think we oughtta do with her?" He pulls the groggy girl up by a fistful of thick afro. "Doesn't feel like one we needa test. "

// roland 05/16/2020

Fuck, fuck fuck... Ro was careful to keep his icy gaze on Jack, refusing to send a closer look to the witch under his iron grip. "This is-" He swallowed, trying to remain calm, collected, in control, strong, hide the way his heart was racing, the sick feeling- the words of his dad- everything- "This wasn't the fuckin' plan, man. What if she had- had someone watchin' her?" Excuses. Ro could tell they were coming out weak, so he jutted his chin out, eyes hard on Jack. "So, what, you gonna kill her?" Still wouldn't look at her face. Still wouldn't move his eyes from the other hunter's own. "Shouldn't we get what she knows outta her first??"

// cole 05/16/2020

It was taking a hot minute, but Cole was beginning to clue in on what was happening. It helped that they were being pretty fucking explicit (she had a feeling kill her was meant in the most literal sense) and now she opened her eyes, her scalp burning from the force. There was a makeshift gag shoved in her mouth that reeked and Cole began to choke on it, hoping one of them would pull it out of her goddamn throat.

// jack 05/16/2020

"If she was being watched they'd have stopped me knocking her out, I'd think. Probably woulda interfered."  There is a brightness in Jack's eyes that is betrayed by the hard line of his mouth. He looked down at the choking witch and let her go, but only after ripping the gag out of her mouth. When he shoves her its hard enough to send her to the floor. Then he's by Ro, looking quite casual. "What do you wanna know? Ask away."

// roland 05/16/2020

He was going to make Roland do this - that much, the hunter was sure of. The expression was all too familiar, and Ro finally looked down... at her, at what he had been presented with. His humanity told him one thing; she was just a girl, lost like him, no home, no one to call her own. Yet, part of him couldn't help but see the obvious. This was their chance. Their time. And Cole was the best shot they had, especially due to her wandering. Ro knew too much about her. She knew too much about him, and now she knew who they were, and what they were doing.

A line had been crossed, and though Ro's heart ached and his stomach turned, the last shred of morals begging him to turn back now, he knew better. "How many?" He finally asked, his voice mechanical, lacking all the soft tones that had been painfully present the last time they had talked. For a moment, maybe the alcohol or the drugs were to blame, Ro had felt some sort of flicker, deep within. Now, it was cold embers, and Jack's presence forced him to shut down any humanity. "How fuckin' many of you is there in Salem?"

// cole 05/17/2020

Of course, she recognized both of them, but it was Roland Cole's gaze lingered on long after he'd spoken. God, I'm a fucking idiot. This was karma catching up with her of course, but Cole's first concern was how the fuck she'd let him dupe her. Evidently staying in the same fucking town - this town - was making her lose her touch. As for the current situation at hand, well - using the patriarchy to her advantage had worked plenty of times before.

From where she stared at up them through a mess of curls, Cole smiled. "I know I'm not the one who's meant to call the shots in this whole scenario, but you gotta ask a girl her safe word before you pull this kinda stunt, boys." Her voice was easy, light. Blokes always fall for the dumb whore act. Her voice was raw from the gag. "How about we save the roleplay for another day and pop some molly together instead? I've got some, back at my place."

// jack 05/17/2020

There it was, clear as fucking day in the way Roland and the dark witch bitch were staring at each other. Something is not right. The woman looked small, hardly weight 100 pounds, but she had bewitched his friend in every sense of the word.  It would test his strength and, if Roland let, it would make them weak.  Jack would not allow their operation to be compromised because of it.

He doesn't wait for Roland, smacking the girl quickly across the face at her jokes.  It's easier than he imagines - she stopped being a woman the moment Ro identified her for what she was.   "You're absolutely right - you don't call the fucking shots. When my friend asks you a question, you answer." He hisses the end of it, before looking back to Roland with a nod.

// roland 05/17/2020

With Jack’s back turned, Ro’s eyes shut hard against the sickening sound of his hand connecting with Cole’s face, and once again, his stomach churned. He tried to picture Cole being someone else, anyone else, one of the other witches. He tried to picture Cole working magic, doing something terrible, but he could just remember how she sounded when she talked about it before. All too soon, Jack’s eyes were back on him, and Roland mimicked the nod. Confirming you did good. “Just answer the question,” He added gruffly, jaw set hard between gritted teeth, still keeping his blank face as mechanical and void of humanity as possible. “Sooner you do, the better for everyone. You’re not gonna like what happens unless you tell us... everything .” Roland wondered for who he was asking; his own sanity, or her safety. One glance at Jack, eyes eager and bright and hungry, and Ro had a feeling this would end in blood either way.

cole 05/17/2020

So yeah, Cole was more accustomed to getting smacked around than most of the other girls - but fuck, that didn't mean it hurt any less. When she looked up at them, his hand print was a scarlet brand across her cheek. It was there in the square of her shoulders, a quiet rage as her gaze darted from one face to the next. "How many what in Salem, Roland?" She spat his name out as if it were venomous, the only leak of anger in an otherwise placid tone. "Women who'd put up with this weirdo misogynistic kink shit? My guess would be slim to none."

// jack 05/17/2020

"Shut the fuck up, witch.  Don't play helpless and dumb - we know what you are. Tell her, Ro!" The witch thinks she has something using Rolands name.  Jack will not stand for it.  When he looks back at Roland it's slow-expectant.  "You gonna let her pull the wool over our eyes. Pretend the shit she said was a lie?"

// roland 05/17/2020

“You ain’t doin’ nothin’ to help yourself right now,” Roland explained, voice less harsh than it should be. He could tell Jack’s patience was running thin. Finally, he tears his gaze from Cole, and meets his friends gaze.  “No, the fuck I am not!” He spat out, feeling torn in two different directions, but a small peek at the witch they’d captured and Ro made up his mind. He pulled out his pocket knife, a fancier one, a gift from his dad, and flipped it open. Breathing in deep, Roland shut down the last of his humanity, and turned to Cole once more; but this time? The last bit of softness that he had held onto while looking at her was now hard and unfeeling. He got down on a knee so their eyes were level, and held the blade up under her chin. “You are a witch. Dunno how. Don’t care. You are here, and you will tell us everything.... or you won’t, and I’ll make you tell me.”

// cole 05/17/2020

It was the first time that Cole had feared the hunters - not for what the other girls thought they were, but that they'd fooled even her. After all, it was the same boy she'd slept beside not even 24 hours prior who held his blade to her throat. Cole's nostrils flared with controlled breaths. "I think you guys have taken the whole witchcraft festival too seriously. But go on," this time she stared directly at Roland, spoke in the same seductive tones she'd whispered to him in before. "Slit my throat. See how far that gets you."

// jack 05/17/2020

Finally, they were moving how Jack thought they always should.  He'd started approaching Ro from behind, back up in the most literal sense.  "You heard her, Ro," he claps his hand onto Roland's shoulder and smiles. "The lady would like a demonstration. Be a fucking gentleman."

// roland 05/17/2020

It was the most fatherly thing that Jack could’ve done, and it made Roland feel like a kid again; his first successful hunt, shooting the buck... his first badge in Boy Scouts... everything he would do well, a clap on the shoulder. Roland nodded slowly, realizing at once Cole wasn’t going to cooperate and that they’d gone too far to give it up now. Roland reaches out, fingers brushing along her collarbone and across her chest, pushing her hair out of the way when he reached her other shoulder. “We already got to your friends. Marina, and Belen...” They’d be sending their warning shots too, their threats. “You told me yourself. I found your book. You’re one of THEM,” he finally spat out, moving the blade lower so it pressed into her collarbone. “Witch.” He said, officially, looking back at Jack once more for a final encouraging note of approval, and pressed the knife in to make the first letter; “W”.

// cole  05/18/2020

They weren't her friends - they were women she'd spent a handful of times in the same room with at best and yet, Cole froze at the mention of their names. They'd underestimated them, hadn't thought to recognize boys with easy smiles and drinking habits to be wolves in sheep's clothing. Now she snarled.

"You and your mommy issues can go. Fuck. Yourself." She punctuated the sentiment by spitting straight into Roland's face and braced herself for the pain. Despite everything, she knew he wouldn't kill her - but she hadn't expected torture either. The knife ripped through her skin and a pained noise, much like a wounded animal, left her lips. Cole struggled before he could strike again; the wound was deep and blood pooled along her skin, quickly staining her white shirt as she tried to jerk away.

// jack 05/18/2020

Jack's mouth thinned with aggression, letting loose a snarled and angry sound.  "You're playing *real* fucking rich for someone in a piss poor situation.  Thought I made it clear not to **talk to him like that**." He yelled the last of his words, coming behind Roland as he spoke to throw another splitting blow against the side of Cole's face.  He's used his fist this time and his own knuckles were left hurting from the force.  This would bruise her eye. Jack was sure.

"This can stop, girl. Whenever you wanna shut the hell up and tell us what we want." *Stop*, as Jack and Roland both knew, did not mean *release*, but it didn't take a genius to know being that obvious with murder wouldn't get you any answers. "Give us some names or Ro'll give you a nice pretty tattoo."

// roland 05/18/2020

She knew way too much, and Roland bristled at her comment - the less she had got to speak, the better, especially with Jack hovering right there. He backed up after she spat on him, taking his shirt off and wiping his face, figuring it was best to keep it off to avoid getting blood stains. Jack wasn’t kidding about work clothes. “What is Genevieve Ceoi’s connection to this?” Ro asked, coming closer again, trying a new approach. Once he got close, he paused to look at her, in worse a shape than he’d ever expected to find Cole. “Tell me who the others are you,” he said it quietly, as if a private conversation was taking place. “Remember what you said? Fuck everyone. Just tell me, now.”

// cole 05/18/2020

The blow was hard enough to make her see stars; Cole's head reared back from the force of it and when it lolled forward again, her face was bloody. She was dazed, the meaning of Roland's words delayed; it was the urgency in his tone that she latched onto. "Remember last time you looked like that?" In my bed. Cole turned her head away from him and wiped her mouth clean, smearing blood across her shoulder. She had no loyalty to Genevieve - it was her fault they were all in this fucking mess. "She's our ringleader. Coven Supreme, you could say." She could tell from the sudden stillness in the room that she'd won over their attention. "She's the one who - who orders us to collect Salem's babies so she can make potions from their bones."

// jack 05/18/2020

The hunter was sure to keep his eyes trained on the witch, smirking when she finally righted herself.  "See, Ro.  You're being too nice to the bitch," He'd moved back to admire his work, giving Roland room to do the same.  Now he stepped closer, not wanting to give the two and their strange connection any room.  If Roland was hexed, as Jack suspected, the witch could call him at any time. "What's she really want you all to do?  What's the fucking goal?"

// roland 05/18/2020

It felt like ice that suddenly ran through Roland's veins when she confirmed the suspicions the hunters had about the historian. Mason had been right, it seemed. Ro clenched a fist, for a moment forgetting that the women they held captive was human at all; simply an enemy, and the angry glint of his eyes and his snarled lip, pulled back from perfect teeth, showed that disconnection between Cole, the girl... and Cole, the sorcerer. "She's bullshittin'," Ro stated with a pissed off tone, wiping the knife's blade on his jeans as he stepped in close to Cole once more, preparing the blade to make another cut if needed. The tip just slightly pressed in, enough to puncture, and he held it still under her collarbone beside the wobbly W he'd already given her. "No... more... lies," Roland instructed her, voice calm but pure chaos in his expression. His words were unciated with the blade being pulled downwards, lighter this time, but still leaving a line, taking the shape of an "I" for witch. "Tell me how you got magic, how Genevieve got magic, and what the fuck it is y'all are plannin'. Trust me, Cole -" Ro winced when he said her name, thankful his back was to Jack. He leaned in, whsipering low. "You don't want me to let him take over. You do not."

// cole 05/18/2020 

From her fleeting interaction with Jack, it was clear to see the man had anger issues and was desperate for an outlet. It was Roland's face that terrified her, devoid of the emotion she'd been privy to before, replaced by a glittering madness that burned behind his eyes. She grit her teeth as he tore through her skin again. It was difficult glaring at him through her one good eye, but Cole managed. "Trust you? You're fucking psycho." She pulled at the rope restraining her wrists behind her back but the knots were tight. "Fuck it - you really wanna know? Then I can't tell you. I need to show you." It was adrenaline coursing through her veins, helping her to think more clearly despite the splitting pain blossoming from where her head had cracked against the wall. "I'll show you what she made us do." 

// jack 05/18/2020

That surprised him, sure that Roland was unable to see past the witch.  A new anger started burning at the thought he'd been duped by this girl, even for a second.  "I knew you had a fucking death wish," Jack's voice was low, a threat merely in the tone.  "Didn't think you were this stupid." He'd walked to the other side of Cole, prepared to hold her still as Ro continued his carving.  "You think he's carving you for dramatics?" Now behind her, Jack's taunts grow hard, gripping her with tight calloused fingers.  "We don't need a demonstration, bitch.  Whole world's gonna know who you are."  He nods Roland to continue, smirking.

// roland 05/18/2020

I’ll show you. It gave Ro pause, frozen in place, losing some of the wild look in his icy blue eyes. His whole life, the focus had been on being a Bishop; strong and proud, unstoppable. But... there was Bancroft in him, too, sorely unnoticed. Suddenly he was hit with curiosity, and he reached out a hand to stop Jack from getting too rough just yet. “Hold- hold on...” he muttered, glaring hard at Cole as he tried to figure out her angle. Was there a way to control her AS she did magic? And... why hadn’t she done any yet? Now, he glanced around the room, as if just now realizing she could be just holding back. They had no idea what these witches were capable of... and as curious as Roland was, his fear only took seconds to win over the hunger for more knowledge. By now, his heart was racing, a massive pull within him causing pure chaos in his mind. Her promise of a demonstration, her pained expression, blood soaked t-shirt, and Roland felt like he was losing his grip on reality. “Bitch!” He finally cursed, shaking his head, hair falling directly into his eyes as he all but lunged at her- Jack’s grip on her keeping her still enough so he could quickly- messy, far less calculated and perfect as earlier - add the rest of the word. witch. “If you had anythin’ WORTH showin’, you’d ‘a done it by now, wouldn’t you?” He hissed out, air coming out in a gush as he backed up, exhausted from his own overwhelming burst of emotion. The results were written across her chest in haphazard, uneven letter strokes.

// cole 05/18/2020

It had almost worked. Cole had seen the humanity flicker back into Roland's eyes, but it vanished just as swiftly as it had appeared. Then the knife was back in his hand and - searing pain, gouging deeper in his haste, her sobs curdled as she struggled and begged for him to stop. Cole felt the blade curve just above her breast to form the letter 'C' and, retching, she promptly emptied the contents of her stomach by their feet. Even once he was finished the trembling didn't stop; if anything it grew wilder, her slight frame vibrating in Jack's hands. 

Then, complete stillness. 

 "Rooooo - land." Despite her bent head, the voice that called to him was strident, sing-songy and buoyant. Most crucially, it did not belong to Cole. "Where are you hiding?" The voice chuckled and in Jack's palms, Cole's shoulders shook along with the sound. "Are you being good?" Only then did the girl look up. White light poured out from her eyes and focused on his face.

// jack 05/18/2020

In the same moment that Cole went still, a shiver ran up Jack's spine.  It's distinct, the way the hairs on his arm stood to attention.  He felt the room grow colder- the moment truly turning his bloody fantasies to a reality he'd always anticipated but never known. Magic was real. Instincts wanted him to let go of the girl but Jack held firm, tighter even, his fingertips dug into her shoulder in ways that would surely leave marks.

"Ro..." The word was as much a warning as a question and Jack looked at his friend for answers he was unsure he'd receive.

// roland 05/18/2020

The heart that had once been racing now stopped entirely, skipping a beat, and every bit of color drained from Roland’s face the moment Cole made the first sound. He knew that voice; it was impossible not to know that voice. He was rooted to the spot, shocked and more terrified than he’d ever felt before, not even realizing when the knife fell and hit the ground with a metallic twang. “M-m.. mom,” Ro breathed out, voice pinched and scared and strange, the only word he could get out in response to Jack’s question. His heart kicked back into overdrive, and he began to shake, quivering hand going up to grab his hair as he took another step backwards from Cole. “Mom?!” Another step back, and he hit the wall, pressing into it with his back. “Stop that! Stop it! Stop!”

// cole 05/19/2020

The spirit inhabiting Cole's body - his mother or whatever it was - cocked the witch's head. She glanced down at the gaping wounds and clucked her tongue. "Oh Roly, what have you done?" There was a hitch in her breath; she curved her shoulders in towards her body and a fresh rivulet of blood spurted down her chest. "My sweet, sweet boy... this isn't you." The voice trembled and when the spirit lifted Cole's head, there were tears sliding down her bruised and battered cheeks. Even as the sobs grew more distraught, Cole's expression remained blank. "They've poisoned your mind. Stay kind, my love. Remember the stories I used to tell you."

// jack 05/19/2020

He'd never known Roland's mother but it didn't take much to understand what was happening .  The ghost that spoke through Cole's lips was obvious, so far from the woman he'd punched moments before.  As Roland scrambled away, Jack let go of the  girl and stepped backwards, his words almost a growl.  "Stop this now, witch."  It seemed the only one here. 

// cole 05/19/2020

Her head snapped towards the other hunter with unnatural speed, mouth curling into a sneer. "Speak up, boy, if you have something to say. I won't hold my breath." The wrongness was amplified when she spoke, the smoker's drawl of a man thrice her age. "You think this will make you any better than your lush of a father? He's a waste of space - and you?" She threw her head back with a hearty laugh. "Mark my words, he'll die an embarrassment and as will you,  boy. You've smeared our name into the dirt and the dirt is where you both belong." 

// roland 05/19/2020

Though relieved when the ghost inhabiting Cole's body switched attention from him, and changed it's voice, Roland still shake the horror. Logic spun rapidly in his mind, trying to explain it away, but there was no use; no one but his mom had ever called him Roly Poly, and there was no way Cole or Jack could've known that. The pain in Cole's voice when she spoke as his mother had broken Roland's heart, and before he realized it, tears clouded his vision and he was rolling his body to the side as he retched, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

// jack 05/19/ 2020

All too swiftly their plans were falling apart, he saw it in Roland as this phantom mother called to him. In truth, it was the voice of his Abuelo, mocking him, that turned the tides.  He felt his blood run hot and suddenly he was lunging across the room, nearly slipping in the accumulated excrement's as he did.

"I've had ENOUGH of you!"  It was deep and anguished and nearly inhuman. His fist was reared high, smashing Cole hard enough to pop a tooth from her lips.  It wasn't enough, not with that fuckers voice haunting his mind.  Jack was a mess of fists, pounding until he was ripped off the girl, his rage broken with bloody knuckles.

// roland 05/19/2020

Ro wasn't a stranger to blood; he was accident prone, and a hunter of wildlife, and a boy scout. But when his vision cleared of tears as he blinked hard, his mother's words still carving his heart into pieces, and Roland caught sight of Jack's unhinged attack on the witch... even he, in his madness, felt himself grow sick once more. Swallowing down his bile, Ro pushed off the wall shakily, grabbing Jack's arm as he rose and yanking him away, both hands now clapsing his shoulders. "Take a walk!" He growled, voice husky and raw from his shouts earlier. "Get yourself cleaned up. Take a shower, 'n fuckin'- just fuckin'-" Ro figured he should, too, his knees so weak and his stomach churning due to the metallic smell of blood in the air. "We got time. Take a break, man. Before she does somethin' else fucked up."

// cole 05/19/2020

Jack's savage attack had worked - their ghosts were gone, leaving no trace of their presence behind. Instead, all that remained was Cole's beaten and unconscious body, still bound to the chair which had tipped onto the floor from the blows. Her face was swollen and bruised beyond recognition. And the air was thick with blood, enough that there were footprints from where Jack had stepped away.

// jack 05/19/2020

He'd lost something in the midst of the swings - lost himself honestly.  When Ro pulled him away, when he looked at the beaten witch, even he was surprised.  It takes him a long while to respond.  Even then its only a grunted "Yeah."  He turns, halfway to leave.  "Don't let her go," he warns, then leaves to clear his head.

#disc group one: cole & roland #thread two: roland #thread two: cole #threads