Richard
||

Watching others come into the library for the same reason he was here made Ike nervous. That letter in the middle of town had riddled his heart with nerves, and now was the moment when he started to notice movement in the one place he had been watching for god-only-knows-how-long.

Ike watched as two folk entered the library, not intentionally together, and went straight to the encyclopaedia section. Ike took this as his chance, his one and only chance to be a part of something that he was not yet sure he had the courage to be a part of.

But... There was no time quite like the present, right?

If Ike thought about the consequences of doing nothing for too long, he'd get sick. That latter had made him sick with worry. It had made him realise just how dire the situation in Briar Ridge was turning out to be. Oh boy, why did he have to move to this town of all towns? There had been plenty of other shortlisted possible towns to set up the business in.

If only he could have predicted the future. The horrible, gruesome, terrifying future. Ike pushed his glasses further up on his nose, then rose from his chair. It was now or never. He had to join the others. He just had to.

Not only was this his civic duty as a member of society, but Ike felt as if he had tried to logic his way into a far easier solution but... There was no logic that involved staying hidden. There was no logic that dictated that Ike ought to stay in the shadowy basement of the mortuary after hours, and restrain himself up as much as humanly possible the **Beast** Got out.

The **Beast**.

That was what drove Ike to stand up. The thing that was in his blood, in his brain, in his very essence! Ike walked to the section that he had been watching like a hawk. He cleared his throat so both of the letter-answering folk noticed him.

No time like the present.

"Hello." Ike said. He looked from one person to the other, and swallowed hard. Ike's bottom lip trembled, so he sucked it into his mouth and held it betwixt his teeth. Eyes blinking hard to combat the rush of emotions (*Fear fear fear fear fear fear fear*).

Ike had a whole speech planned, of course. He always had speeches planned for big events... But in that precious moment all poor Ike could manage was a shaky breath out. A glance at the books.

A few choice words.

"There's nothing in the books, I'm afraid."
Carl
It wasn't her that read the letter, it was her father. Akira was barely seen in plain sight, she was seen in the speakeasy, at the family farm, but this was one of the occasions she set foot on the town proper. It was probably the first time some people had seen her in week.

 She looked pale, her lips were chipped from the cold, her cheeks were sunken, as if she hadn't had proper rest ages, a victim of a hangover as she could still feel the moonshine burn her throat. To hide said features, she wore an old, navy blue scarf that was said to have belonged to her mother, like a warm hug from a distant past to give her strength. 

As her heart raised the closer she got to the library, Aki felt the need to run away. Yet, she was compelled to keep going by sheer stubbornness trying to shut down her anxious side. She knew a cure was within the reach.

Before she could realize it, she was already inside, her legs kept moving mechanically as she approached a certain... Familiar face. Her eyes managed to meet with Ike's, perhaps expecting to feel that sense of familiarity, to let him know he wasn't alone. 

"Good morning." Akira simply said, hiding her hands in the pockets of her jacket, hiding her scarred face within the warmth of the scarf even though she didn't need it. 

"No books in _the_ library?" She laughed. Yes, she managed to muster a smile despite her pathetic looks. "That 's fine. I'm just here to meet with someone." 
 
||
Florence
In the early, early days of Rafael's sheriffdom, there was some hesitance around his position - about what he might do in the wake of his predecessor's death, about what he might fail to become. And now, with the Mayor dead, political unrest, and the ghosts of his eyes so tired - all of the things he knew now, all of the things he had been forced to learn... He understands now why there is never any hero who was happy. This feels like coming home from the war, at leaving a boy and returning a man. Had his mother even recognized him when they met at the train station, after the war had been won? Had his siblings? Did the younger ones even realize that the man who had come home (broad, tattered, scarred, broken) was the same man who had left (determined, subservient, devoted, obedient)? All the same - it doesn't change that fact that not only had Rafael begun the investigation on his own end, but he ripped down the note following so that no one else would get lost in this nonsense.

Rafael knew how to read and write - his corpsmen taught him how, if only so he could read the Bible before and after missions with the rest of them, but he was not a skilled one. Rarely was it that he stepped into this damnable library, and even moreso did he dislike coming to see it when it meant that there was something to be uncovered here. Turning the corner, he makes his way into the area with the encyclopedias, hunkered down into his coat with a sigh slipping through his lips. The injuries he'd sustained months ago have all but healed, despite their aggravation, leaving Rafael with only a series of facial scars and more to be hidden underneath his shirt and coat. He chews his lip, looking at the two others who had joined him.

_ _




"There a private room in this joint we can get together in? *Without eavesdroppers?*"
Richard
Ike wasn't all that good with things like socialising, or understanding others real emotions when they spoke *Between the lines.* He wasn't good at that stuff, but even he could tell Akira was trying to make light of the situation.

What he also noticed was that she had the same horrid smell than Francis did. The smell that made his body desperate to call her family, even though he had never talked to her before this very moment. She hadn't proven herself family and yet here she was demanding it without uttering a single word.

Ike watched her until the Sheriff spoke up. Then his gaze flicked upward to Rafael, and Ike nodded. Privacy was the smart thing to ask for. Ike could sense no un deserved familiarity from within Rafael, so bias sunk into his bones and made him prefer to look at the other man. To look at *Kin* Would make him feel sick.

"There are reading rooms. Come with me." Ike said. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as he walked. Once they were inside a private room Ike closed the door but did not lock it for fear of scaring either of them. He turned to them.

With eyes closed, Ike set about saying the most unexpected and horrifying words he ever said.

"If you're not sure of my name, it's Isaac Horowitz. Ike." Ike looked down in shame. "I am one of the beasts. I wanted to get in touch with some people who wanted to *Finish this*, and though I meant medical professionals..." Ike looked at Rafael, "I suppose you also fit the bill."

Ike glanced at Akira, and steeled himself. "Though, forgive me for saying this; I've no idea why *You're* Here." Ike said. He wanted to oust her true identity to Rafael, but he refrained. Instead, Ike looked downward.

"The January full moon is in just over twenty-four hours, and so I wanted to at least establish connections... But if you had any questions, Sheriff, I will answer them honestly."
Carl
_tw for || suicide idealization|| _ 

Akira's scar on the bridge of her nose wrinkled as she sniffed. It sounded exactly the same way as if she had a cold, or dry sinuses, but the woman was fighting against the same signals, that same sickening feeling. She knew that Ike knew, that was the reason she remained so quiet. 

Akira was tired of it all. It showed on the bags under her eyes, the way her skin looked ghostlike, the way she moved like if she were in autopilot. 

 And yet, if she could only help to put a stop to everything, she needed to endure it. She was behind the two men as she followed them both. Even though she was looking at the floor, she felt a sense of relief. For the first time in months, she didn't feel afraid, she wasn't just fighting for her survival. 

"I'm here because like you, I also want to stop this madness." 

Akira had tried and failed, and again to cope with everything on her own. She tried to isolate herself, to find her own ways for a solution. Lately, however, it seemed like death was the only option left.

Perhaps in another life, Aki would have a new chance, even in that meant she had to prove herself and come out of the depths of hell. But alas, the were were two things that stopped her from taking a silver bullet to the heart. Or rather, two people.

Her father needed her. 

Mitica would go up and beyond to save her.

"If connections is what you seek, Ike. I may can help with that.."
Florence
*I am one of the beasts.*

There is something violent, something carnal, something primal that turns in Rafael's stomach beyond the normalcy of the content of the sentence. A werewolf - an admitted one - standing in front of him. His jaw sets, and he trembles all but briefly - easily passed off as a cold chill - as he looks Ike up and down. Lesser men have been killed for evidence of such a thing. But Rafael has already made one mistake in not following due process, so his shoulders drop. Instead, he leans against the door of the reading room, pinching his brow and rubbing his hand down his jaw. 

"I'm not doctor, *Senor* Horowitz," He says earnestly, "But I do consider myself the lead investigator when it comes to—" He stops himself, here, taking a breath. The last thing any of them needed was a fucking angry mob in the library. "—*Otherwise notable* Activity in the town. After all, a beast is what earned me this Sheriff badge, and I intend to keep it upright."

He crosses his arms, looking from Akira to Ike back to Akira back to Ike. If he could separate his eyes and have one focus on each of them at a time, he would have by now. He looks for any slight mannerisms - *Did they know each other? Surely they did; Briar Ridge isn't very big* - that would give away anything relevant to the case - *Look at Akira's eyes, how dark they are; that kind of fatigue doesn't come from a bad night's sleep.*

_ _
"Hang on a fuckin' minute, I have questions," He says when Akira begins to take a step in the right direction. *No.* Rafael needed answers, if only for the scars on his chest and stomach; if only for the betrayal he has now known twice over at the hands of William Cooper and Noah Rowe. He takes his notepad out, setting it on the table. "Your name, Mr. Horowitz, and any names of any other *Beasts* You may know of. If the answer is none, so be it, but my evidence needs updating. And you're the only chance I have to do that."

"And *Then,*" He adds with a point of his finger, "I want to know *Exactly* What you want out of this. Do you think there's a damn cure? Do you think there's something that can be done about this? And *Connections?*" He turns now to Akira - ironically, a wolfish snarl on his face for someone who was not like the others. "—*Th'fuck you mean, connections?* What do *You* Know?"
Richard
"Do you want *Me* To write your name?" Ike remembered that perhaps not everyone knew how to properly read and write. Ike glanced over to the Sheriff, and pointed to his first dot-point. "Sheriff, this was the single most intense feeling I have had in my life. When the person who informed me of my condition came into the room, I... It was as if I was looking at my own father. It was as if I had always known him, though in the back of my mind I knew they he and I were *Not* Friends in the traditional sense."

Ike scoffed to himself. Muttered a *'far from it'* That tasted sweet. Was the Beast making him more vindictive and unkind, or was the man using an excuse offered? Ike swallowed. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Another thing, Sheriff... I suspect my eyes might be something you'd want o look at when the next full moon comes." Ike tapped the rim of his glasses. "Horrible eyesight, I'm afraid. I need these just to walk a straight line. If the beast is the same, well... That might narrow your containment efforts. I do think containment is the best way to go, if my opinion matters. The beasts are vicious, but the people are still... In there."

Ike swallowed. He looked to Akira, and tilted his head to one side.

"Name? First and last."

He hoped she would not offer up others names. As much as Ike wanted to trust the Sheriff, he couldn't bring himself to count on a man *Not* To seek revenge. Such was the way of man, after all.

||
 ||I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT Y'ALL WAHHH||
Florence
Finally. *Finally.* All of his work has come to a head in this moment. All of his work, finally, has *Born fruit.* There is something to be said about all of this - he is a religious man, but he will not drop to his knees and thank God for this moment. Instead, he watches as the two of them write, as the two of them go back and forth. *Names.* And *Information.* He could take this to the town, he could do *Good* With this.

There is a cure, they say, and Rafael is met with the sound of his commander in his ear, reminding him that no man gets left behind. Not a single one. 

Half of him wants to put a bullet between their eyes right now, to save the rest of Briar Ridge. But everyone is deserving of a fair trial. No — he will be the one to lock up Ike Horowitz during the next full moon, and he will be the one to ensure that these people can be detained. (He thinks of the Cage that has been built, and shakes his head; there's no way in hell those things are going to be anywhere near strong enough.) 

*Witches.* Werewolves. Someone who is immune? This *Beaux* Person needed to be protected... But wasn't this the same person who was egging on the wolves? He'd heard the report from the Barca Estate, heard of the details from the doctor... Rafael takes in a deep breath, lets it push out through his nose.

"I have... One question," He says, "To start, anyways. I'm sure there will be more. If you can sense these other werewolves, why don't you turn them in? Why don't you write down their names, too?" He taps the paper. "You could stop all of this right now. Why don't you?"