marengo ♔ but you gave away the things you loved & one of them was me

[starfucker]

♬ you're so vain - carly simon ft. mick jagger

WHO || Des, Finnick, Myri, Karen Taylor, Laura Jones.
WHAT || The Knights travel to the hometown of the Becksworth Brothers, to try to learn more about Chad and what may have happened to him.
WHERE || Marengo, IL
WHEN || July 16th, backdated
HOW || Actionspam

[ The mystery surrounding cult leader Chad Becksworth has only deepened with the discovery of a lockbox in his office containing surveillance of his own life along with a detailed history. While the Knights theorize about whether this means he's been replaced by the villain's resident doppelganger, or something else entirely, Burt makes good on his word to contact his first wife, Laura Jones, to find out whether Chad's ex-wife still lives in their small town of Marengo, Illinois.

He calls Finnick a few days after the lockbox is discovered to say that, yes, Karen's still living there, and that Laura's told them they can come to Marengo and swing by her place so she can direct them where to go. The possibility of gaining some insight into the background of the Becksworths is too good to pass up, so Myri, Finnick, and Des drove out there to the small-town America midwestern city, where they now coast down the tiny Main Street, a few blocks from Laura's home. It's about as far a cry from the big city ostentatious lifestyle Burt leads now as one can imagine. ]

Comments

[witchwoman]

No one's asking you to care about him. [Myri certainly doesn't trust the man. And sympathy was not the route to take here, that was obvious.] But you have to think of yourself- and of your daughter. You were part of his life once, which means that the trouble he's in could spill into your life. If we were able to find you, so could others. And they won't bother to ask how much you care about the man.

[Myri isn't really sure what exactly it is they want to stop at this point. The idea that the man they had all met might not be the real Chad was still a little confusing to her. But she had dealt with people who hurt others just for the sake of causing the most pain, who acted to express their power just because they could.]

We need your help to try to stop it before it has to come to that, though. We only need a little of your time. Please.

[65]

Do you really think we — that I — would have come all the way to the middle of nowhere to chat with you about Chad if it weren't pertinent? [diplomacy 24. HE'S BACK IN IT Y'ALL.] She's right, you know. [he nods toward Myri.] It's only a matter of time before aspects of his life come creeping back into yours, and I doubt that whatever seeps through will be nearly as nice as us.

[behindcloseddoors]

I don't even know why you of all people would care. I'm just trying to protect my little girl from their world - from your world. I don't know what else I can do. What do you want from us?

[nothingsodivine]

The thing is Chad's mixed up in some bad stuff. We need to get to the heart of things- find out if he's been compromised or if he's always been as rotten as they come. If it's the former, then he's in trouble. If it's the latter, you might be. All we want is some information on him. [He grins. (Charm 31)] You can be brutal as you want.

[behindcloseddoors]

[

her eyes look red-rimmed as she fights back tears, but she fixes her gaze on des for a long moment and takes a staggered breath ]

I'm not sure rotten's the word for it. Fine. Just-- hold on a minute. [ she slips back inside, and they can hear her urging sarah upstairs, which is met with protests, and then annoyed resignation. finally, she opens the door wide and gestures for them to come in, albeit grudgingly.

the home features a lot of polished marble and wood floors, and speaks of a lot of money at one time, although the upkeep leaves a lot to be desired. the little poodle jumps up onto a chair where a cushion seems situated just for it. karen folds her arms across her chest and stands on one side of the room. ] What kind of trouble has he gotten himself into, exactly?

[witchwoman]

[Myri is thankful to have these charming gentlemen with her, because without them, she is pretty sure they'd be screwed.]

The company he keeps is... questionable. [She isn't really sure how far deep they should dive into all this.] Was Chad very... religious when you were with him?

[behindcloseddoors]

Religious? [ she lets out a scoff, looking at them incredulously. ] Chad's an atheist. Celia was the religious one in the family, and when she was also the one to die young, that really only cemented both brothers' disbelief in any ... phenomenal cosmic power out there.

[65]

Not anymore, as it seems like he's been pouring large amounts of money into a certain church and possibly heading a cult.

[nothingsodivine]

Sound like something he'd do? [Des quirks an eyebrow.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ she shakes her head ] The only kind of cult Chad's ever cared about is the cult of personality. I mean, maybe if there were a ton of money in it, but he already rakes in a ton of money, scamming people the way he knows best.

[witchwoman]

When's the last time you talked to him? [If this was something out of character for Chad, maybe they could create a timeline to find out when the shift happened.]

[behindcloseddoors]

2010? Finalizing some of the divorce finances.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des looks between Finnick and Myri. That's awhile ago. Plenty of time for Chad to have a change of heart and find religion.

Here's the real question then.] Did Chad ever have a lot of... strong Anti-Shadowkind opinions? Nothing like protest marches or anything extreme. Occasional racist remarks or discrimination- anything.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ she looks entirely surprised by the question. ] Against Shadowkind? I guess a little, but to be fair, everyone who leaves a small town like this where you rarely see so much as an elf carries a little bit of that around when you hit the big city. He mostly bitched about the monsters - you know, the subway's closed because there's a dragon on the tracks, or whatever.

[witchwoman]

Did he have any friends that had any stronger opinions about it? Back then?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ karen shakes her head ] Those weren't really the circles he ran in. I find it hard to imagine that changing. I wouldn't call him a spiteful person, except where people personally offended him. It wasn't really his way to target a bunch of strangers for no good reason.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des nods and leans forward.] That's all we needed to hear. If things start looking bad, we'll call you. And I'm just saying, you and your kid might wanna take a vacation and not tell anyone after we do, all right?

[behindcloseddoors]

Then I hope you won't be offended when I say I hope I never hear from any of you again.

[witchwoman]

Of course not. We wouldn't be here if we didn't think it might help. The last thing we want is to see you or your daughter in harm's way.

[behindcloseddoors]

If that's all then, I'd like to get back to my life.