2019-07-22 - The Hunt For The Ring
Byron had told Alexander that he'd meet him at Lilith's pawnshop and instead Byron's searching for signs of her within Hank's trailer at the trailer park.
IC Date: 2019-07-22
OOC Date: 2019-05-19
Location: Hank's Trailer
Related Scenes: 2019-07-21 - What About Byron? 2019-07-22 - A Crime of Passion 2019-07-22 - Showdown: The Hanging Bridge
Plot: None
Scene Number: 804
There were no more masks, disguises or anything of that sort. Byron shows up at the trailer park in his suit and tie with his Rolls parked in a designated area. Obviously, the alarm was on. Huckleberry was on Elm Street after all. He might seem dressed to impressed, despite his usually slick back hair being unstyled, yet not unkempt. He scans the area for any signs of Lilith, though for some reason, he doesn't expect her to be out in the open. At this point, he expects her to be in hiding. But was she really hiding from him?
It was evening and he'd sent Vivian on ahead to relieve Alexander of his duties of watching over Isabella. Thorne had lied of his whereabouts. In fact, in recent days, he'd lied of many, many things. Now he was approaching Hank's trailer. Lilith used to live here once. He could use his powers to check and see whether anyone was home, but instead, he knocks; a light rapping at the door.
The trailer is in a moderate level of shabbiness as it always has been. Lilith is the one that keeps it in shape in her spare time. It was looking pretty bad the years she was gone, but she's clearly seen to that since she's been back. It has one of those metal doors like old banger trailers tend to have instead of a real or nice wooden door with a peephole attached. It's got some old dents in it, clearly it's not a hoss piece of barricade, but it's trickier than anything with wood or glass to force into. But there's no telling trying to brute force the actual lock will do at the frame, this isn't the pawn shop or Lilith's place. It's probably the same door and locks that have been there for ages.
There is no answer. There's some random junk lying around on the wooden step up porch that leads to the door, assorted pots, a broken lawnmower motor that literally has sprouts growing out of the holes somehow it's been there so long, and some other assorted items. It's all very Hank. Just because no one answers doesn't mean Hank isn't inside, though, he's a known door dodger and a cripple lately. Lilith might be avoidant too if she's in there.
The same door that's been there for ages. Does he want in quietly or loudly?
(Lilith was a latchkey kid. She had to be. Everything looks the same...)
<FS3> Byron rolls Wits: Success (7 5 4 1)
<FS3> Byron rolls Alertness: Good Success (8 8 6 5 4 4 3 3 1)
It's been a while since he'd even thought of Hank. Byron wasn't even sure the man was out of the hospital yet and if not, those would be some jacked up hospital bills. But none of that comes to mind. He'll bang against the door once more, before taking visual and audio cues from the shabby trailer-- looking to the windows for guidance and listening for any shuffling inside.
Byron spent a lot of time here as a child, though he wasn't a trailer kid himself. He remembers he and Lilith running around like little maniacs and climbing up onto random trailers, ones not even belonging to Hank! With no fear of needing a tetanus shot whenever they got scraped from all the trash and rusty nails that are often found around these parts.
He also remembered that there used to be hidden keys found in all the garbage, one's that unlock doors very much like this trailer. While he may be a man in an expensive suit and tie, Byron was still a Gray Harbor kid, born and bred. A little garbage didn't scare him, so he goes sifting through sections of piled up junk around the Winslow trailer, starting from anything stacked up near the door.
It's pretty dark inside. It's not completely pitch black, though, there's been a lamp left on like people do sometimes when they don't want to stumble into the place in the dark or to give the impression of someone being there and home. However, there's no television noise or creaks of foot steps inside. Sometimes movement from inside is audible depending on how hard someone is walking just because it's basically a long tin can with raised flooring.
Byron can't remember the exact key placements entirely, but it's possible it's been moved around anyway, they rotated. But he has the right idea and he's keen on finding a key. And he does. It's under a broken ashtray, which is under an upside down pot with no plant in it.
If Hank were in the trailer, Byron is sure he could make up any random excuse and the older gent probably wouldn't give too much of a shit about it. So that's not his concern at all. Finding the key is what he's after. If Lilith weren't in here and after some thought, he realizes she probably isn't, there may be some clues to be found. There was hardly anything that he could use at the pawn shop and he's not even certain that she'd return to this crapshoot of a home. But it was something to go on and he was not leaving this stone unturned.
There's no method to the madness of randomly lifting and moving various objects around, but for some reason he decides to tip over a plantless pot, his mind going back to Lilith's own dead plant. Was it still dead when he was there last? He can't remember. The hidden ashtray is then lifted and while he was ready to move on to another pile, that's when he finds a key.
Here's hoping that it was the correct key because it was near the correct trailer. With key in hand, he goes to try the door.
The phone in Byron's pocket vibrates, the ring volume set to mute. He's not bothering to check it right now.
<FS3> Byron rolls Alertness: Success (8 8 5 4 4 4 3 3 2)
It's the right key. The door swings inward with an annoyingly loud creak, but immediately he can see the kitchen and living room and there's no one in there. Just the living room lamp left on a dim setting to illuminate the space. The hallway to the two bedrooms and bathroom is to the right, through the living room.
Though the trailer's state of existence and general repair and neatness can vary into some hellish levels, it seems Lilith has gotten a hold of the place very recently. Maybe while Hank was in the hospital? Maybe he'll get a better idea of how recently she's been here if he goes deeper in. The hall is dark, it's hard to tell if the doors are opened or closed.
Byron is actually relieved that the first key that he finds actually worked. Otherwise, his patience has been low in the past day or two. Stepping inside, he decides to only partially close the creaky door, if only to not make things look suspicious from outside the way it might seem if the door was completely swung open. He was in. He knows which room belongs to Lilith, his chin lifted as he stares at that very door. Slowly, he creeps in, running fingertips along the surface of a table and some of the items upon in. He's making his way towards Lilith's room, all while scanning his surroundings as he goes along.
<FS3> Byron rolls Composure: Success (7 5 5 4 3 2 1)
Then Byron's steps are stilled, eyes flash open, almost in the same way that he goes into a trance, sometimes, when doing readings. There's frustration and anger and confusion on his face. How the fuck is he seeing ALEXANDER CLAYTON in his mind? He grips tightly at his head, trying his best to shake the image out. Clayton wants him to answer the phone and Byron isn't about to. If anyone could see him now, it would seem that Thorne had a very. bad. headache.
<FS3> Byron rolls Alertness: Great Success (8 7 7 7 7 5 5 3 3)
You know what ends up rousing Byron out of that distraction all of a sudden? The way the smell changes as he gets toward the hall. Though the trailer is currently picked up and fairly neat, everything is shabby, there's probably old water damage somewhere, Hank smokes too in the living room. None of that smoke is recent, but the trailer just has a particular smell that doesn't match what he picks up on suddenly.
He's close to the open, darkened bathroom and he smells Lilith's shampoo and a tinge of cleaning supplies. It's faint, but the contrast is there, as if she's been here to shower at some point probably within the past twenty-four hours and wanted to give things a due scrubbing before she stepped foot in there to actually do that. He's washed with it his damn self before, he knows what the top of her head and hair smells like. The bedroom doors are closed, but he knows which one he probably wants.
The distraction is a brief one as there's an ongoing struggle now to fight against the mental force flashing images within his mind. Stumbling around in the dark room, Byron is lucky to pick up anything in the state that he's in. The smell of the cigarettes, notes. That giant green button in his mind screaming at him to ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE. Noted. And then there's the smell of Lilith's shampoo. That means that Lilith must be... GOD DAMN IT.
There's no hesitation, no waiting as he tries Lilith's door to see if it's open, needing to push his way inside as his other hand reaches for his phone. He's not wearing his Bluetooth headset this time, but his voice comes out terse, "What? Did you find her?"
The door opens with swing easily into her dark old bedroom. When and if the light is switched on, it's like taking a trip down memory lane in truth, with some adjustments to account for the tumultuous years when Lilith aged the rest of the way into adulthood without Byron around. There's posters still up, but she wouldn't put boys or bands up, no. She has some indie art up with a dark, strange twisted theme that's... somewhere between cute, savvy, and creepy. Apparently she hasn't touched the place much since her teen years.
The daybed is still pushed against the wall. Her self-built makeup and dressing and trinket vanity still holds a lot of childhood trinkets and the bedding really hasn't changed much either from the brighter and lighter schemes it was when she was a child. She may have played goth at school, but she honestly hated the idea of sleeping on black sheets and stuff like that, she wasn't GINA or anything. Mostly, she was a moody poser that hid behind that facade, so really, a lot of the room has memorabilia and toys still out, things of that nature. On the mirror, there's a picture of her and Byron, a polaroid of them with their eyes crossed and their tongues out for the image. A selfie before selfies really hit. They're about twelve or thirteen. There's a box on the surface that's decorated with her own coloring and art and doodles, clearly something she stashes the adored old things in.
The bed is unmade. And it smells a lot like old Lilith and grown Lilith in here. The closet door is closed.
If the person at the other of the line sounds irritated, Byron /looks/ irritated, even if he tries to hide it from his voice. "Magnolia's having a difficult time. She's throwing up, so I'm here trying to find a babysitter for her daughter, while keeping the kid out of trouble. I would've sent Vivian, but... I'd already assigned her a post." The only good thing about answering the call is that his mind was no longer being invaded by an annoying intruder. It gives him more of an ability to focus now rather than continuously have images of a phone flashing obnoxiously in his head.
Once he's inside, it's like stepping back into time. Some of it is good, but the unfamiliar, the Lilith who abandoned him, those items are foreign. Or they would be, if he hadn't followed her around without her knowing, watching and observing. He'd seen the change in her over time and part of this room looks exactly like that. Into the phone he murmurs, distractedly, "I understand. I wasn't going to be here all night. " And then a pause as he makes his way towards the closet, "Lilith tends to hide a key somewhere in the vicinity. Look for that. Turn over anything and everything. I'll be right over. "
<FS3> Byron rolls Alertness: Good Success (8 7 7 5 4 3 3 3 1)
<FS3> Byron rolls Wits: Failure (4 3 2 1)
The closet seems organized, it even has her old clothing in it with a whole mess of black included. It's a little stuffed full, but there's space on the very top shelf in a large gap, oddly, as if something was there and then pulled out to leave that hole in the middle of some pretty cramped storage. This is a trailer, after all. Byron can't remember what she used to keep up there, though. Hmm.
There's something kind of hanging out from under the bed where she alternatively stored things because she didn't have a lot of space in the cramped bedroom, nor did she ever have the luxury of having, y'know, a dresser or anything.
With the closet opened, he sifts through the clothing inside, though it's what he hears oh the phone that stops him dead in his tracks. Could he actually do it? Could Alexander track Lilith down? His mind is racing. What would he try to use? And why was Byron wasting his time right now doing all of this. "Shit." His hand squeezes at the edges of his phone and he looks as if he's about to hang out. Frantically, his eyes take note of the empty section in the closet, but he has no idea what would've been there.
He then practically seethes into the phone, "I'll be right there." But is almost afraid to hang it up. What if Alexander could get a read on Lilith first. All he needed was one of her items and there's many of them in this room. In fact, he's making his way over to the bed. A pillow would work. A blanket. That's when he notices something askew from under the bed and out of this building anxiety and frenetic need to beat the other mentalist, he reaches for it as he crouches down.
<FS3> Byron rolls Wits: Success (8 8 2 1)
It's a little plastic long tube. Considering the rest of her room is pretty neat or cramped into storage, having this sticking out might be odd. What the hell is it? It's about eight inches long, black and hollow and flexible hard plastic. There's another one of those gaps too, under the bed, between an assortment of storage and things which might be coincidence, but...
You know. He may not remember what went in those gaps, but this piece of plastic really kind of seems like a tent or tarp support of some kind just laying out rogue.
It's not Byron who hangs up, it's Alexander, leaving him with those taunting words. "That bastard wants the ring." That's all that he could surmise from that conversation alone... Out of heated anger, he throws his phone down and it's a good thing that he's crouching, so it doesn't have too far to drop when it hits the floor. The impact, however, is another thing. He's openly seething, his breathing quickening, pulse racing. It's odd when his first instinct now is to pat at the firearm in holstered beneath the suit jacket. If he had to stop Alexander Clayton, he would.
Nevermind that he has NO IDEA how Clayton got into his head in that manner. Clayton wasn't anywhere ne-- Oh right, he was at the pawn shop. But... Just the fact that he had access to Thorne's mind would've told Alexander that Byron was near.
It takes some time to cool off, if one can call it that. All the while he's holding this plastic thing in his hand. In truth, he doesn't even really notice at first, his mind still on the conversation. But then there's something familiar about it. They used to go camping a lot as children, so he remembers that clearly enough. Those were some of the best times of his young life. He had no other leads, in truth, except for Tobin's place. And to be honest, this wasn't at all far fetched.
With the rod still in hand, he reaches to scoop up his phone. It's well protected, so not even the screen is shattered. "Next stop. The woods."
The woods. Maybe. Maybe not. Can Byron remember exactly where they used to go? It's dark now. Can he go there in the dark? Did she go back home after playing camp for a night? Is Alexander finding her right now, hiding from what sounds like an intruder? Is she at Mike's instead, hiding behind him? Did she skip town? Would she go to the same place or a new place anywhere in those woods? It's all up in the air, really.
But there's one thread in all that to stick-- can he remember where they used to go?
<FS3> Byron rolls Wits: Failure (5 3 2 2)
Byron spends 1 luck. Reason: He really wants to find the girl.
<FS3> Byron rolls Mental+3: Success (7 7 5 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1)
Just the thought that Alexander might be headed out there right now begins to raise Byron's ire. He'd threatened to do so before he hung up the phone. Did he already the information that he needed? If the phone conversation itself wasn't a distraction, this growing, hate-fueled rage against the man was. It was a shot in the dark really on what he could pick up from this piece of plastic. Unfortunately, what he'd hoped for isn't so clear. It's not what he's expecting. While he may not know the full extent of what people like himself can do, he's done it before. It's a rarity to be able to find someone so easily.
He can't tell where Lilith is. He can't see any recent image of her losing it or fearfully packing. What Byron feels in a moment of flash is frustration that's years and years old because putting up a tent together was never an easy job. She's pissed at him, he's pissed at her, they both want to do it their own way and it was a janky thing with collected parts to make up for what was missing anyway.
It's useless. Or is it? It might be easier for Byron to have that child's mindset to remember exactly where they used to go, after that. If his composure can stand taking a moment to be still and do that after he no doubt doesn't get what he actually wants from the thing.
<FS3> Byron rolls Composure: Good Success (8 7 6 5 3 2 2)
<FS3> Byron rolls Remember That Place: Success (7 7 3 3)
<FS3> Byron rolls Grit-1: Success (6 3 2)
Byron's state of mind was frazzled. All he could think about was getting to Lilith and that ring. Then Alexander comes and fucks things up. He knows that he was in a race with the other man, Clayton said as much, so it's hard to focus on anything else at the moment. When he can't see her as clearly as he wants in his mind, finding no sense of her anywhere near this place, the image that is shown is one that brings back memories.
Putting himself into that youthful mindset was always a risk. Childhood came with both the good and the bad. It filled him as much fear as it did happiness. This moment in time, however, despite feeling the annoyance and agitation at being shit at setting up a tent, as if he were experiencing it again in the here and now, wasn't a terrible memory to have. Even with the bickering and slights, they did set up a tent that day, no matter how shabby it was.
For the briefest of moments, that intense desire to possess the ring is forgotten, replaced this peace of mind that comes with a childhood far from his parents' reach. Arguments aside, he still felt safe here. He knew that place. They'd gone up there a few times since then and the tents that were pitched turned out far better than the one they were working on right now, in his mind.
He then blinks, returning to the present and taking in a deep breath as he does so. He doesn't know if she's actually there. She could be anywhere and this could be a waste of his time. But as he had no idea where the cop resided, this would have to be his next step.
How much does Lilith trust Michael? How much does Byron know Lilith? Is she likely to go hiding behind the cop badge, to go hiding behind a man? Maybe. She's a crafty thing when she wants to be. He's also noticed that the way she trusts and treats he, himself, so openly isn't so much the way she is with everyone else until she's had the fight pushed out of her. She made it a little clear she has a general sense of stranger danger that's innate from the life she leads the day Isabella and Magnolia were there, so reserved and cautious, only talking to make certain disclaimers clear when it came time to operate and investigate.
It's kind of a tossup. But Byron knows one thing about Lily Rose Winslow. As a girl (and a woman) if he reached too soon to insist on help when she was trying to finangle something herself? Lord. He'd get the pissiest I-Can-Do-It-Myself known to man. He had to measure those step-ins to help carry her and help her along, in most anything.
And the very fact that she's been here to shower shows she's kind of living like she's on the run. It's the trailer, she hates this shitheap.
Alas, the time to reminisce begins to fade, as the ring wills him to find it. Calling him, beckoning him. The ring needed him. Byron's childhood was in the past and no matter how much he tried, he'd never be able to return. The ring tries to convince him that he doesn't need those memories to move forward, all that he needed was it. The piece of plastic still gripped within his hand, the other, slipping his phone back into the safety of his pocket, he starts on his way out from this place and to his car.
He'll make the drive there first and then trek on foot. While, he, himself, doesn't know whether she's there or not, the part of him that has this hungry need to get his hands on that ring, pushes it into his mind that she must be there. She had to. There weren't many places to run and hide.
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