STORY

[Abigail Ryan]

Abigail chose to take up residence away from the Jade compound so that she was closer to her work. It's a simple loft, and the only real luxury that she affords herself by way or decoration are a few select art pieces that she simply couldn't bring herself to part with once they crossed her path at the Bell and Brush. Regardless of that fact, she keeps her homestead in pristine condition, and there is a sense that she really only uses the place for eating and sleeping. It doesn't quite feel like it's lived it, though that no doubt has more to do with her always working...

[The Libertines]

A small paper bag filled with candy hearts arrives.

[Stella de Winter]

[The Libertines]

[Devi Jade]

[The Libertines]

[Daniel Baylor]

[The Libertines]

[Abigail Ryan]

Given the events that had Abigail had recently battled through, there was little wonder why she had opened the fortune cookie so eagerly when she found it along with her mail in the evening, after returning home from a late night at work. Her visit to Liam Mason's apartment had been the stuff of nightmares, and she had the bruises to show for it. They were hidden, of course...nothing to the face...nothing where anyone could see. Mason was smarter than to leave and signs where people could see. Her ribcage still ached...her shoulder was something else entirely. It had been the first time she'd ever felt truly, truly scared for her life in such a way, and she hadn't slept well ever since. She also hadn't told anyone, save those that took care of her then, and she wanted to keep it that way. So, Abby hadn't had much to brighten her days since. The arrival of the fortune cookie immediately made her think of, what else, the picnic she had shared with her sister, which had been enough to put a smile on her face. Abby had thought that the cookie had been a leftover from that day...a cute little token of affection from Dee, reminding her that she was thinking of her.

The message inside shattered that delusion immediately.

The enthusiastic smile on her face froze as her eyes scanned the paper, and though she was too distracted to note where the chills had originated, Abigail suddenly felt cold. She was trembling. That familiar terror that she felt the night she'd faced Mason...and that night on board the yacht...it washed over her again, though this time it made her feel infinitely more helpless...How she could feel even more helpless than she had in the middle of a rain of bullets or in the arms of a man fully capable of murder while she stood in the safety of her own kitchen was beyond her, but Abigail's vulnerability was printed clearly on her face.

Casualty? They were telling her she was going to die? Just...because? The Libertines had sent messages to her before, and they'd scared her, but not like this. She began linking together the messages she'd received over the past few months...just how loyal?...they won't always be your friends...that card and now...this...Whether they had ever meant to follow a chain or not, she'd never know, but it didn't matter. This was was a threat if ever she'd seen one...and there was nothing that she could do about it.

A casualty. A casualty of what? Nothing had happened yet...and that was the point. Something would happen, and she'd die, and the Libertines...those people that kept doing all these things in order to take a stand against the de Winters, Treymaines and Jades, didn't care one way or another. Weren't they claiming to be the good guys? Maybe she was just that insignificant...

She could tell Stella...Stella would have had her locked away in some literal fortress in response...but what good would it do? She wasn't going to just hide herself away. Abby moved numbly out of her kitchen, passing through the loft until she finally stumbled into her bedroom. She laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as the terror coiled around her and the room's darkness swallowed her up. She was. She was that insignificant to them...just a casualty. They were telling her that...why? to make themselves feel better? Abigail didn't want to die. Not yet. She didn't...

...She didn't want to die.

The clock on her bedside table told her that a good hour had passed from the time she'd gotten home til the time she'd arrived at this sudden stark clarity, but all at once Abigail sat up straight in one fierce, defiant move. Her torso ached, but she ignored it as she quickly climbed off the bed and all but flew back into the main floor of her loft. Her laptop rested on the glass coffee table, and Abigail practically leaped over the table before seating herself on the couch, lifting the cover and turning it on. Her hands were shaking still, but this was the result of resignation and anticipation. She didn't want to die...but if she was going to, because of some force that she couldn't control, then she sure as hell wasn't going to let it be for no damn good reason. She was sick of being an unwilling victim in her life...and she was sick of seeing no one do anything...

Once the computer had booted up, Abby opened her email agent and began a letter. She didn't stop typing, save for one time where she had gotten up to scan her fortune, and it was only until she hit SEND that she realized exactly what she had done. She didn't regret it. Abigail found herself to be exhausted after she received confirmation that the email had been sent, but she smiled. Slowly, the fury and passion that she'd put into the letter having drained from her already, she made her way back to the bed.

The people of Gaimen would see her letter soon enough. Tonight though, she just needed some sleep and, for the first time in a long time, Abigail slept soundly...

[Julian Luckdragon]

November 7:

A lovely spring bouquet is delivered to Abby's loft. The flowers are accompanied by box- relatively small, but heavy for its size. Inside the box, Abby will find a box of another kind: an antique music box. When opened, the ornately-detailed miniature carousel inside slowly turns, while the box plays one of six different tunes, all of which were unrecognizable to the anonymous sender but which are in fact, quite classic (including "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music). There is also a small unsigned note, which reads simply:

Quédate bonita.

[Stella de Winter]

Stella's gift is sent along ... in the car, to be hand-delivered. Such gifts do not take chances on the reliability of mail and are passed directly into the Birthday Girl's hands.

Stella is, as usual, hopeless at picking cards - no patience!







First, a shoebox wrapped in fine blue tissue. Jimmy Choos.




And next, nestled in a dark-blue silk bed in a little box swarthed in the same tissue: a fine tortoiseshell Japanese hairpin, circa 1927. The wood-sorrel motif is made on a white gold base and set with pearls.

[Samson Baylor]

Two gifts arrive in the mail, one large white box, the other in a small white box.

Inside the large white box:


Inside the small white box is a small antique-looking music box:


Both are accompanied by a card:

[Daniel Baylor]

A box arrives for Abby, birthday wrapped and all. There is a card that comes along with it.

OPEN BOX IN CASE OF EMERGENCY! D:

Inside is...



A chastity belt!

Inside the note:

Happy natal den! Thought thou might find-est this gift handy for whence that date with my brother comes.

Your goodly and humble friend,
Daniel the Most Awesome of the Baylors

[Devi Jade]

A large white package arrives. In large letters it says "FRAGILE".
There is a note pasted on the back.

"I hear it's your favourite.
Thank you for the great care for the Bell and Brush.

Happy Birthday
(yes, it's an original)

Gael and Devi Jade"

Inside the package is a painting, The Lady Of Shallot by John William Waterhouse.

[Sophia Valeriu]

A small package arrives, a postcard attached underneath the wrapping paper.


A message is written on the flip-side of the postcard.


The box underneath the postcard isn't very large, and contains three items, separated by tissue paper.

The first item is a small, delicate sterling silver dragonfly in a Celtic design.


The second is a CD, on which is a collection of the very best songs by Billie Holiday.


The final item is a Rubik's cube.