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 While the Knights theorize about whether this means he's been replaced by the villain's resident doppelganger, or something else entirely, Burt makes good on his word to contact his first wife, Laura Jones, to find out whether Chad's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

[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.