outfit
~*~

Jack was out with the pack, or with the council or whatever and her parents had agreed to watch Kailah, so she was free to go out. They had agreed to let her spend some time with a witchy friend. Jack couldn't really expect her to be home always, just because he was suddenly busy. Besides, she actually liked to spend time with Mason as he wasn't afraid to be honest with her.

She'd asked him to meet her at the grill for drinks and generally just hang out. It might be easier for her to keep her nice face on in a crowd. So far, she hadn't really been annoyed with the fire witch, so she'd managed to keep her new skill-sets from him and not scared him off. He also seemed to understand that she needed to blow off some steam from time to time and managed to not get mad at her for every little thing she did that wasn't absolutely perfect.

Dropping Kailah off at her parents', the witch returned home to get her hair and make-up sorted out as well as put together an outfit that wasn't too outrageous as she wasn't exactly going out on a date or anything. Dark, smokey eyes and a relatively nude lip gloss was all she put on before she left the apartment. The whole concept of going out actually made her want to bring another vampire home just to piss Jack of, but she probably should stop trying to make his life miserable just for the kicks of it.

When she arrived at the grill, she walked up to the bar and smiled slightly at the barmaid, ordering a simple glass of wine as she really wasn't out of the alcohol. While waiting for her drink, she was unfortunate enough to offer a slight smile to another customer that just seemed to get the wrong idea so she was quick to grab her glass and find a table for when Mason got there. After all, she couldn't exactly go ahead and warn the creep off when he hadn't even done anything yet.

Unzipping her jacket, she placed it neatly over the back of her chair. Now all she could do was wait and hope Mason wasn't in a mood as she really just wanted to have a nice time and not worry too much about anything. Nice and carefree, leaving all things really amusing and fun behind as she had no reason to be mean towards her friend. Heck, he'd actually helped her a lot through everything, so she was too fond of the other witch to want to hurt him.

~:OUTFIT:~

~*~

Mason had been working flat out at The Grill for the past three weeks and it had really started to take its toll on him. He’d been there from pretty much daybreak until the early hours of the morning, six days a week due to two of the bar staff being away. One had taken a holiday due to doctors’ orders or whatever and the other had decided it was a great time to break her ankle leaving Mason doing double shifts and working himself to the bone.
Saturday night, and he was finally relieved to know his well over due holiday was finally here. They had tried to talk him in to working another week, just until the bar manager returned but for once, he had point blank refused.

Unlike his last day off, there was no Jack for him to wake up too so he had spent most of the morning curled up under his blanket and resisting the need to eat for as long as he possibly could. By the time he finally poked his head out from his blanket, the sky had already started to darken. He reached sleepily for the phone by the side of his bed and looked at the time, his eyes rolling as the bright letters lit up his room; it was already evening and he still couldn’t find the motivation to drag his butt out of bed. Still, his stomach gave a little dance as he remembered he was meeting Amanda soon so that gave him something to look forward too.

He literally had to drag himself from the comfort and warmth of his bed and through to the bathroom where he stumbled about trying to work the shower in the desperate hope that it would wake him up. It did, only not how he had planned or hoped. Halfway through washing and singing his favourite song in an awful high pitched voice, the water turned from warm, to cold, and then freezing very, very quickly.
He let out a strange yelp as he dove back out and tripped up over the towel he had left in the middle of the floor. Hitting the bathroom door, he cursed loudly and turned to glare at the towel angrily before snatching it up and wrapping it around him where he stood and clung to it for a few moments to shelter himself from the cold. Finally, he turned the shower off, grumbling under his breath at its uselessness before he dragged his feet back to his room and picked out some clothes for the night.

It took him about half an hour to get ready, most of that time being spent drying and straightening out his hair. Once he was finally done and satisfied that he didn’t look like a tramp anymore, he rushed of downstairs to put the rest of the macaroni cheese he had made the night before into the microwave. He wasn’t actually hungry as he had not long been up but he knew that if he was going to be drinking, he’d need to have something in his stomach first.
Chowing down on the pasta meal, he kept glancing at his phone to check on the time. He had never been a great time keeper and had to force the rest of his breakfast/dinner/ tea down as he realised he was already five minutes late.

After sending a quick message to Jack to tell him to take care whilst he was out with the pack, he grabbed his hoody and ran out of the door.
It didn’t take him long to reach his work place, a grin spreading across his face at the thought of being a customer for the night instead of a slave. He had driven his car down to save time and planned on leaving it overnight in the staff car park. Once he was sure the old two seater was locked and as safe as could be, he stuffed his keys in his pocket and rushed around the corner to the front door. It felt weird being on the other side of the bar once he had stepped inside, making his way straight to the bar to order his first drink with a cheerful smile across his face. He didn’t plan on taking it slow tonight, not when he deserved to have a bit of fun now that he didn’t have to be up early in the morning. As he ordered himself a double whisky and coke, he glanced around the already busy room and spotted a few people he knew plus Amanda against the far wall. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who noticed her either. As Mason looked back at the bar to see how his drink was going, he had to do a double take at a guy sat on the other end of the bar who reminded him a lot of his pervy Uncle Tom at Christmas who grinned in the most unnecessary way at every girl that passed. Mason felt his smile drop and a small frown crease his face as he thanked the bar girl for his drink and made his way over to his friend, his glancing between the creep and Amanda.

He hadn’t known Amanda that long; in fact, they hadn’t even liked each other for that long. Now though, as he tapped her gently on the shoulder before sliding in to the seat next to her, he felt there was no one else he would rather be letting off some steam with other than her. Sure, Jack was loving and cared a lot and would always be there when Mason needed him but it just wasn’t the same as spending time with friends. Grinning from ear to ear, his cheeks brightened slightly as he stuttered a quick apology for his awful time keeping, brushing the creepy guy to the back of his mind for now.
“I am so so sorry I am late! I have absolutely no excuse apart from my laziness. You weren’t waiting long were you? If it was over ten minutes then I accept any punishment you feel necessary to give me… just don’t hurt the face… or the hair.”

Amanda found that she wasn't really that sad to not be working at the Grill anymore when she noticed how busy the night was. After all, she couldn't think about filling all their orders right now, she might just have cause a huge scene if she had. Her patience wasn't what it used to be.

She kept glancing at her watch, she'd been early to begin with and Mason was late. So she'd managed to get a refill for her glass while waiting. It didn't really matter that Mason was a few minutes late, it wasn't anything she could hold against him when she was just genuinely looking forward to spending some time with him.

Just when she was almost starting to wonder if Mason stood her up, she looked up to see him by the bar. She couldn't help but grin slightly when she saw him as she'd longed for some adult company that didn't run around screaming when they learned the truth. After all, he should be able to handle the truth if she was unfortunate enough to reveal it to him, right?

"When have you ever been on time?" she chuckled. "I could never punish you for being late, Mason. I can't afford buying you new stuff because I ruin something and you're just too adorable when you're all blushing like that to be mad at." She was grinning back at him though. It seemed there were too people that tended to bring out the best of her without her having to make much of an effort, Mason and Kailah. Everyone else made it seem like a chore to be nice to them.

"I'd almost forgotten how full of creeps this place can get, I'm just really glad you made it," she hugged her friend briefly and tucked her hair behind her ears. Words couldn't even begin to describe how nice it felt to not worry about her daughter for once, or worry about getting home at a decent hour to take over.

Sipping the straw that stood out of his drink, Mason had to choke back the laugh that threatened to escape his lips to stop himself spitting his drink all over the table and Amanda. So his time keeping had never been on cue but he always made up for it by being a good friend and trying extra hard to keep a smile one everyone’s face. It was also a relief to hear the witch couldn’t afford to buy him new clothes after every time they had a disagreement and she decided to burn them. He was thankful on that night in particular, he was wearing his favourite hoody and would have been far from impressed if she left a scorch mark anywhere on it. He felt his cheeks only burn brighter when she said he was too adorable which didn’t help the case what so ever. To him, puppies and other fluffy small animals were adorable, not him. It even annoyed him ever so slightly when Jack called him adorable because no matter how angry he got or worked up or how often he tried to prove he wasn’t ‘adorable’, it just never seemed to work.

His thoughts were brushed aside briefly as she spoke again, this time Mason shifting his eyes over to the man who still couldn’t take his eyes of the red head. Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, he shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“Of course I made it! I wouldn’t stand you up to be left alone in this place surrounded by freaks like… well… like him.” –He nodded his head in the pervy guy’s direction and shuddered in a mocking way.- “Besides, it’s been too long since I last saw you. You’re always too busy with boring life and forgetting about me.”

For a moment, he looked at her with his signature puppy dog expression before he giggled. He knew how bust her life was now Kailah was on the scene and how her new shop took up a lot of her time too. In all fairness, it was also his fault for not getting in touch often enough. Taking another sip of his drink, he shot her another look only this time his eyebrows were furrowed at her and his nose wrinkled up in disgust as he pulled at the bobbles on his beanie in embarrassment.
“Oh... And I am not adorable! Why do people keep saying that? I swear down, the next person to say that is going to burst in to flames. Accidentally, of course. And he’ll be on the bonfire too if he doesn’t stop staring…”

Mason wasn’t one to get over protective about anyone other than Jack but Amanda was one of those friends that he hated seeing being uncomfortable. He also hated guy’s that didn’t seem to realise that if the girl doesn’t stare back at you then she clearly isn’t interested. Raising an eyebrow at her, he quickly grinned as he leant forward and whispered even though he knew no one else could hear him.
“Then again, I’m pretty sure you could hand him his ass on a plate any day without my help. He clearly doesn’t know who you are or how much you like to burn clothes...”

It really didn't matter much to her whether or not Mason was on time as long as he showed. Amanda knew very few people she'd grown more comfortable with than him, heck she was more comfortable with the witch than with Jack. He let her be herself and have a good time and didn't nag her too much about her choices. In a way, he'd become quite irreplaceable even if she didn't see him as much as she'd like to.

When Mason made the comment about the creep like that, she really couldn't help but chuckle slightly. She hated how busy her life had become, she hardly even had time to hunt down books anymore, let alone have a night out. "I couldn't forget about you even if I tried. If you and Jack stopped sneaking of into the cabin, we might actually run into each other more often." She was all smiles as far as Mason was concerned though; she knew he couldn't handle her if she derailed as well so she wasn't really afraid of him.

The redhead grinned slightly at the statement of not being adorable. He was adorable, but she made a mental note not to mention it again. Only reason she took him seriously when he was in a mood was because of his magic, otherwise she'd have a really hard time.

"You know, we could always invite him over and teach him a lesson," she suggested with a smile. Honestly, she'd love nothing more than to scare him straight with magic; show him he couldn't always get away with ogling girls like he was. If he didn't stop anytime soon, with any of the girls really, she'd do something about it. So she started to tell Mason about her shop when a waiter brought a drink to her table that she hadn't ordered.

Looking up she caught a cheesy smile before she excused herself for a moment and headed for the restroom, keeping her eyes on the creep once her back was to Mason. Once she was sure he'd follow her, she got him up against the wall in a corner and people seemed to pay no mind or give them their privacy as they didn't understand her purpose with this at all.

"Quite the busy little man, aren't we?" she said coldly and used magic to push him back when he tried to kiss her. She wasn't actually touching him, but she had him pressed against the wall with her magic, keeping him in place and unable to move. She'd even made sure he couldn't speak. "You should've kept your eyes to yourself," she hissed and started to slowly siphon the air out of his lungs to make him breathe frantically, trying to get oxygen.

Mason grinned from ear to ear on hearing Amanda say she could never forget about him. He didn’t have many friends so hearing that cheered him up immensely, even if he did find his cheeks burning at her next comment. He decided to stay quiet about that knowing that it was true. Every spare minute he had he would spend with Jack and hadn’t really thought about any of the few friends he had.

Glancing back over to the guy, Mason saw him in conversation with the bar tender and shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t think he means any harm. Besides, like you said, you can’t afford to buy new clothes for everybody that irks you. That and I really didn’t come out to spend my evening talking to a freak.” He paused to grin at her again and pulled his beanie off to run his hand through the curls that had formed in his fringe. “He looks like the type that can’t take a hint so no. Just ignore him, it’ll be fine. If needs be, I’ll go say something.”

He leant back in his chair, straw in mouth and listened as Amanda started telling him about the new shop she had opened. He hadn’t really caught up with her since she had left the bar and was glad to hear she was enjoying her new environment. She had never seemed the type to follow other people’s orders anyway so mason guessed she was better off with her own place where she could do the ordering about.
Before she had chance to finish or Mason had chance to question her, the waiter brought over a drink and placed it on the table in front of Amada. Mason stopped chewing on the straw in his mouth and looked at Amanda with wide eyes, trying not to smirk or laugh. The guy really wasn’t getting the message and he actually found it hilarious. Of course, if it did carry on he would eventually have to say something to him before Amanda got freaked out.

He nodded at Amanda as she got up and excused herself, thinking she was going over to either tell him herself to stop with the gestures and creepy stares or to say thank you. He would have put any money on the first one though. Watching as she walked past him, he narrowed his eyes before guessing she was probably going to the girl’s room instead. Shrugging his shoulders once more, he turned back to look around the bar, smiling as he sipped the last of his drink and placed the empty glass down on the wooden table. For a few minutes he fidgeted about and watched as more people entered the bar, smiling at them with a cheery wave as they recognised the young barman.

Finally, he climbed to his feet and headed over to the bar to order another drink, deciding to order one for Amanda too that wasn’t laced with rohypnol like the creeps probably was. As he leant over, kicking his toes against the solid wood, he noticed the man wasn’t where he was before. Looking around, he realised he couldn’t see him anywhere. Suddenly worried, he marched around the bar to where the man had been sat and glanced over to the restrooms. To his surprise, there was Amanda with the creepy man. He felt a small grin cross his lips as he shook his head, not fully understanding why Amanda had changed her mind all of a sudden. The guy was uglier than a camels arse and the redhead could get anyone she wanted. Maybe she had just had more to drink than he had initially thought. Nobody else paid them any notice. After a few moments however, Mason started to have second thoughts about what Amanda was doing with him as he noticed the man’s rapid breathing and the look of terror in his eyes.

Without a second thought, Mason pushed his way through the small crowd and rushed over to Amanda. He placed both his around her arm and tried to pull her away, his eyes filling with horror as her intentions towards the man sunk in.
“Amanda! Wait! What are you doing?” He exclaimed as quietly as he could, the panic in his voice building up and making it hard for him not to draw too much attention to them. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You can’t do this! Amanda! Please…”

He tugged on her arm desperately, not wanting to be rough and hurt her in any way or resolve to using magic. She was stronger than him and he wasn’t afraid to admit she scared him but there was no way he could let her carry on. She would surely kill him.
“Amanda… please… I don’t want to hurt you. Just let him go.”

Mason's words on the guy meaning no harm really didn't register with her as she'd already decided that his intentions didn't matter. He'd annoyed her for too long already and she was sick of it, besides, what Mason didn't know, couldn't hurt him. So she'd decided to hurt the man. It was so much more satisfying to bring him pain than to just ignore him.

With a smirk on her face, Amanda actually enjoyed watching the man suffer and panic. Besides, it was almost effortless to do something about his obsessive behavior. It wasn't until Mason tried to pry her away that she even remembered where they were. She managed to ignore Mason for a little longer until he started begging her to let the guy go. Sighing softly, she let the man breathe again and glared at Mason. "I'd honestly like to see you try, Mason. Would be... entertaining to say the least," she chuckled slightly and turned to fully face the witch.

"He asked for it," she muttered, clearly indicating the guy now sitting on the floor gasping for air as he finally managed to breathe properly. Stepping closer to Mason, she pulled her arm free again. "Don't try that again," she said simply and turned her attention back to the creep. The high she'd gotten from it all was slowly wearing off and she wanted more, craved more. Jack didn't really know how bad it got when she didn't find an outlet.

"Did you learn your lesson today?" she said quietly to the man and forced him to his feet by grabbing his arm. When she didn't get an answer right away, she let go and watched him sink to the floor again before she turned to Mason, still frustrated that he'd stopped her. "What do you want Mason? What did you really expect?" Had Jack really not told the witch anything at all about her change in behavior since Kailah was born?

Mason hadn’t expected the reaction he got of Amanda. It was safe to say it hurt him to see her look at him like that for only trying to help. Her tone didn’t settle well either, at least not when paired with what she said. He knew he was the weaker of the two but never expected her to challenge him like that. His gaze dropped to the floor, clearly upset by the whole situation. He found himself questioning his ability to actually hurt a friend on purpose. Sure, he said things and did selfish things from time to time but to physically hurt someone? That wasn’t in his nature. Still, he’d have had to do something, anything to stop her taking this man’s life. He was a creep, a scary creep but completely harmless and hadn’t deserved that.

He felt Amanda snatch her arm away again and didn’t try to stop her. He wasn’t sure how to anyway. He barely looked at her when she warned him not to try it again, only to the man who was cowering in the corner. He looked at him through sorry eyes, sorry for not being able to help more. He wished Jack was there, he’d know what to do, though he didn’t want Jack getting angry with Amanda either, not when it meant he could stop her seeing Kailah. He’d heard how Amanda was walking on a thin wire already; sleeping with vampires, pushing Jack as far as she could and he’d tried to take her side on it. He’d tried to explain that Amanda was a grown up girl who could take care of herself and Kailah and that Jack had no need to worry. Now though, it seemed that jack had seen the other side to Amanda that Mason hadn’t and he was beginning to understand why Jack worried so much.

He flinched as Amanda grabbed the man and dragged him back to his feet, almost reaching out for her again before he thought better of it. There were enough people around to make a commotion, to draw attention to them but the last thing Mason wanted was to see Amanda in trouble with so many people. He didn’t want to risk their lives too. Luckily, the man slumped back to the floor and Amanda turned her attention back to Mason. He took a step back and reached in his pocket for his lighter on instinct, his other hand held up as if surrendering.
“I don’t know… Not this though! This is wrong Amanda. You can’t hurt people just because they do something you don’t like. There are other ways… you could have asked him to stop, not attempt to kill him. What’s happened to you?”

Why was Mason so intent on pushing her to her limits? She wasn't very far from hurting Mason if he didn't stop. Maybe it was for the best that he knew what she'd truly turned into? That he knew exactly what she was capable of as it was so much more fun than boring all good little girl. Besides she was trying to make the world a better place for her daughter and that sometimes included getting rid of some trash. What was the problem?

In many ways it was Jack's fault she'd developed a taste for the dark magic. She'd been introduced to it when she had to kill that hunter in self defense and had really developed a taste for it now. It wasn't that the magic itself was what drew her to it, rather the power she gained from it, the highs that left her doing things for herself rather than pleasing Jack. He was like an overbearing father with her as well, and now Mason was on her back? She'd thought he'd at least understand, maybe even want to join.

She knew she was being unfair towards Mason by challenging him like that, but she wanted to push back rather than to just be yelled at for letting go of the control she'd always exercised when dealing with magic. The redhead grinned when Mason held his hand up as if surrendering when she knew he was just looking for his safety-net. "Wouldn't it be great to be able to make your own flames? No need for trinkets to help you out?" she murmured and stepped closer to him again, showing him exactly what he was missing by creating a small flame in the palm of her hand before quickly putting it out again.

"You don't know what you're missing Mason, let me give you just a small taste and you'll understand exactly what happened to me. I learned to have fun," a chuckle escaped her as she blew a slightly playful wind at him, playing with the bobbles on his beanie for a moment before it died down. "I do what I have to do to keep Kailah safe, even if that occasionally means scaring people or hurting them."

Even with such a serious thing to be talking about, amusement was clear on her features as she decided against showing Mason all the harmless stuff she could do in addition to hurting people. If he tried running, she wouldn't hesitate to give him a dose to show him how good it truly felt. "Let me show you how to make Jack take you seriously," she urged.

The small flame Amanda produced reflected in Mason’s wide eyes as he watched it flicker for a few seconds before it disappeared in a tiny wisp of smoke. Hastily, he took another step back, almost walking in to the wall which caused him to jump slightly. He glanced around in horror at the oblivious faces of the people stood by the bar, totally unaware of what was going on a few feet away from them. Over the music and the intoxicated chatter, no one would be able to hear the redhead’s words.

He felt a shudder crawl up his spine as he listened to the other witch speak, barely able to get his head around what she was saying let alone argue with her. He stayed perfectly still, his back pressed against the wall like a timid little boy trapped by his most terrifying nightmare. Ten minutes ago, he wouldn’t for a second have though Amanda would ever harm him, not after they had built up a strong friendship. Now, as he stared at her, he couldn’t doubt the fact that she was capable of anything, not in this crazed sense of mind. Her threats echoed in his ears as he glanced to the other side of him, seeing the back door that was only meant for staff.

His attention was brought back to her as he felt a small gust of wind ruffle at his hair and play with the bobbles on his beanie. His eyes darted around to find the reason behind it but as far as he could see, all doors were shut and windows locked. As he looked back at the redhead, it dawned on him that she was the only reasonable explanation for the breeze.
“B-But… what? H-How?” He said quietly, his words stumbling over themselves as he started to wonder what else the redhead had learnt since they had last spoke. Had she had them then too and not told anybody? In ways, he felt betrayed. Not just for him but also for Jack. She was doing this all under the werewolf’s nose, had he not known either? And if he had, why hadn’t he said anything.

He questions that were rushing through his mind stopped abruptly when he heard Kailah’s name mentioned, suddenly realising now that Jack had had a reason to worry all along. She was mad, totally psychotic. Mason shook his head, only now putting his friendship with the redhead aside and thinking about what he thought was best for both Kailah and Jack. He had to tell him. Jack had to know. Kailah meant so much to him that Mason couldn’t bear to risk letting Jack trust the young girl with such a monster. Monster being the only word he could describe his once good friend as.
“No. You’re not thinking about Kailah at all, you’re only thinking about yourself. Those people have done nothing wrong… you’re a murderer… you kill innocent people and you expect to be able to look after a child? You’re sick... deranged... and you need help. I need to tell Jack… I’m sorry… But he needs to know.”

Without waiting for a response from the crazed witch, he bolted towards the door. He felt sick from all he had just heard. She had it wrong, she had it all wrong. His body practically slammed into the door as he burst through it, swinging it as hard as he could back again to delay her. The cold night wind whipped against his face but he kept running, hoping deep down he could lose her and reach the safety of Jacks arms soon.

Amanda knew she was scaring Mason right now, or at the very least freaking him out and she'd really hoped he of all people would understand what it was she was offering him. It wasn't like she offered everyone to have their magic boosted like that, heck she hadn't expected he'd be afraid of her just because she'd changed slightly. Not even Jack knew how much, and that was probably for the best.

At his bewilderment, Amanda couldn't help but chuckle. "I've been collecting bits and pieces here and there," she said, knowing full well that he might take it literally, which would be the case. She'd enjoyed hunting down the witches though and she'd never intended to steal their magic, but they'd gone back on their parts of the bargain. The first few she'd left without a scratch, then she'd lost it with that witch the night Maxxie started working for her and it just got easier and easier.

It didn't even occur to her that Mason would run until he started babbling on about her being selfish and that he would tell Jack. Oh, and she couldn't forget how he said she needed help. "Are you going to help me?" she called after him when he ran off like that before she set off after him, leaving her jacket behind to collect later.

Pushing through the door, she realized exactly what would happen if he told Jack the truth and was running as if her life depended on it to stop Mason. "Mason please!" she called after him, sounding almost desperate as she tried to catch up with him. When she realized she could only keep up, she raised a wall in front of him to stop him. Or at the very least slow him down. "Please don't tell him," she begged him, knowing full well that her daughter was the only reason she was able to be nice to people these days.

There was no way around it, trapping Mason was one thing, it wouldn't make him understand. Catching up to him, she pressed her hand against his back and sent as much magic as she thought he could handle through his system, giving him a small taste of his potential. "Mason..." she said quietly and decided to stop running. He could run and tell Jack all he wanted, but he wouldn't understand what was happening to him. "Jack can't help you now," she said with a smirk.