1454/Hexed

Hexed
Date of Scene:	01 July 2017
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	4 gruesome deaths connected to Ravenna Levesque's Aunt prompt a shared investigation between Hunter and mage.
Cast of Characters:	Sam Winchester, Ravenna Levesque

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Sam Winchester has posed:
Ravenna's aunt's neighborhood is usually pretty quiet on the supernatural front. Most people know not to bother a powerful old-world mage and her niece. But things have been happening.

Every member of Aunt Len's Bridge Club is dead. One by one they choked to death, or had other strange digestive problems and complaints. The official diagnoses seemed...off...but one would literally have to go to the morgue to get the truth of the matter.

Of course, the man who currently stands in the morgue in a suit and tie, already talking to the coroner, doesn't know Aunt Len from Adam. He looks young to be wearing the FBI badge that he's wearing (the badge reads 'Steve Perry') but he carries himself with authority nevertheless, only somewhat belied by his earnest, empathetic face as he stares down at Betsy Balor, the former president of the club. He flips up a sheet on the clipboard and arches an eyebrow. "She died because she vomited up broken glass?"

"That's right."

"It says here you found no evidence that she'd ever swallowed any in the first place."

"Also correct."

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
Ravenna is a very busy woman, and while she is part of the magical community, lately her focus has been on her career. Still she couldn't ignore her aunt's plea to help her investigate what's gone on, and Felix wasn't helping with his passive agressive cat guilt trips. So here she is at the morgue with her familiar nestled deep into an oversized satchel, like he was some fru fru dog on a rich womans arm. He's at least hidden his cat face from view.

Walking in, she peers into the window that seperates the waiting area and the actual morgue. She pauses for a moment, looking at the rather young FBI agent who is being asked a lot of questions about this dead woman. She realizes that she needs a plan, because she can't just walk in like she owns the place. Reaching into the oversized purse, and around the cat, she pulls out some eye drops, and puts them in her eyes, causing her mascara to run and look as if she is morning the loss of someone on those slabs.

Slipping through the door, she peeks in meekly. "Excuse me? I was told to come down and... oh... I'm sorry you're very busy, I can come back later." Her voice sound strained and raw as if she has been crying all day, trying to protray someone who is coming to identify a body.

Sam Winchester has posed:
The coroner is really kind of done with life. "Excuse me, Agent Perry," he says, and he slips out, leaving Sam to deal with the distraght woman.

Fortunately, Sam excells at this sort of thing. And in his experience, a crying woman at a morgue might well Mean Something. So he comes forward, eyes portraying nothing but deepest empathy. "It's alright, ma'am. I'm Agent Perry. Were you sent down here to identify a body?" Normally the coroner should oversee these things, but he apparently feels the Agent can handle it. A real one would know how. Fortunately, Sam, the fake one, also knows how.

//I really just ought to start showing up as a member of WAND,// he admits to himself. //Except I'm not sure how the consultant part of it plays out when I just go do things on my own. I should ask May.//

Despite the fact that he's a big faking faker, he seems more than happy to let Ravenna come in. A bonus for her.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"Yes.. oh. He left." Ravenna says as the corner exits and leaves her with the FBI agent. She keeps her act up and awkwardly looks at the floor, trying to avoid the body that's on the slab. "Yes, my aunt was... Oh... is that her?" She walks past Agent Perry and pauses at Besty. "Oh Auntie..." She whispers, reaching down to lightly touch the corpses arm. There is genuine sorrow in her voice, this is a woman she knew and she does morn her passing.

"Have they figured out how she passed? I was told natural causes but she was as fit as a fiddle." She does give the woman a quick once over, trying to see any weird oddities on the body, but sadly she only has her mortal sight to see.

Sam Winchester has posed:
Sam clears his throat.

"She choked," he says, keeping a tight hold on the clipboard. "It could um. Happen to anyone."

Though there's an awful lot of tearing around the woman's mouth, cuts and brusing that just aren't all that consistent with choking. Sam glances down at those, painfully aware of them, and looks like he might be inclined to flip the sheet back up over the woman's head. Only...there's Ravenna, mourning for this woman, which makes the whole thing a bit awkward.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," he adds, with a hint of awkardness.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"That looks a little violent for choking." Ravenna says in a shakey voice, as she looks at her mouth, and all of the cuts near by. She can tell that the man is feeling a bit awkward, and that definaly plays to her advantage. She shifts her purse on her arm, letting it lean close to the body so Felix can get a sniff. He has better senses than she does, perhaps he could smell if there was some sort of curse or magic used on him.

"I suppose. We're all just the playthings of fates and must bend to their whims." She says in a sullen voice.

"Thank you, you are far too kind Agent..." She looks over at him squiting at his badge. "Steve Perry?" She questions. "Everyone must ask that silly question about being related to that Journey singer."

Sam Winchester has posed:
"Yep, get that all the time," Sam says, with a wry smile. "But hey, at least it wasn't Michael Bolton, right?"

The playthings of the fates line does give him a moment of pause. He checks the clipboard again, and pulls out a notebook. Ravenna might spot him lifting the fourth address. The other three on his little pad are the other three bridge players. He is definitely on the same investigation she is.

Felix sniffs a few times. He seems...confused. He dislikes something about Sam's smell, but doesn't seem to think it's entirely his fault. Images sift through the witch's mind. Not quite a word, but a concept. Demontouched, but not by choice or pact. Other smells. Salt and silver. Herbs and chalk. Holy water. Weapon.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"Oh yes that would be a far worse name." Ravenna says as she looks back over to the body. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots him jotting down addresses and her lips twitch in a frown. When Felix begins giving his report, she takes a kleenex out of her purse and pretends to dab her eyes, just to keep her face hidden from betraying emotion.

Demontouched? It's not that she doesn't deal with demons on the regular while working at Lux, it's just rare one would be out, pretending to be an FBI agent and looking into the death of a sweet little old lady. It's an reading she gets form the cat but she clears her throat.

"It's just so strange. Aunt Besty had a bridge club, and recently her frirends have been dropping off. I worried that her heart gave out, there is only so much greif a woman can take, but... choking? That's really out of character. Are you sure that was the cause?"

Sam Winchester has posed:
Sam puts on his Agent Face. It's compassionate, yet professional. He draws himself to his full height and closes his notebook. "Rest assured, ma'am, the FBI is doing all it can do to bring these victims the jus..."

He trails off. "Is that a cat?"

For now he has noticed Felix poking his little face out of the bag. His brows draw down in a frown. Then he shakes his head. "Justice they deserve," he continues. Of course, he rather fails to answer why the FBI would be investigating a choking victim in the first place. There's just an awful lot wrong with his story, and even he seems to know it. He clears his throat again. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Miss...?"

He pauses to get her name, even as he carefully replaces the clipboard and edges towards the door.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
Ravenna shoots a pang of annoyance to the cat who cuoldn't be boethered to stay in the purse. With a frown she pushes his head down and clears her throat. "He's my emotional support animal, I have the paperwork if you'd like to see it." No one ever really does. Well unless she's in a restaurant, but she knows better than to bring a cat in there.

"Justice? You gave me the impression that this could happen to anyone, and yet you're acting like someone deliberately did this to my Aunt? You should really get your story straight Agent." She seems a little less sad, a little more composed, but shifts the heavy weight of her purse on her arm. "Levesque." She says by way of introducting herself.

Sam Winchester has posed:
It's right around then that Sam Winchester stops.

"Yeah. Having an off day. Come on. Let's get out of here, and we'll talk. Maybe on the way to Betsy's house."

It's her name that has produced this change in him. The young man's jaw firms; his mien is serious, and actually a lot easier to /take seriously/ than it was when he was trying to field Ravenna's questions. Sometimes the Agent schtick works for him. Sometimes it really kind of doesn't. Dean being here to shut people down in the gruff, brusque way that a real Agent might is really helpful. He feels compelled to answer and explain, especially when there are tears. Pretexting is one thing, but he usually prefers to question the relatives in their homes, when they have answers to spill and don't have a ton of questions of their own. And of course, he knows now that Ravenna isn't a relative...but he also knows a few more things about her besides. Things that will make this entire conversation perhaps a lot less frustrating on both their parts.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"But of course." Ravenna says as she sees that phsycial change in Sam's face. She does give one last wistful look to Betsy, this was her Aunt's friend after all and she does mourn her passing. She grabs another kleenex from her purse to wipe away some of the smeared make up, and quickly follows the taller man out of the morgue.

"She doesn't live all that far from here. Although I don't know what you're hoping to find there." She asks once they are out of the room filled with dead bodies.

Sam Winchester has posed:
"My guess? Hex bags," Sam says bluntly. "Usually that's what I find, when people start vomiting up weird and deadly stuff."

Once outside, he turns to her, removing the badge. "Sam Winchester," he says. "My father knows your Aunt. She offered him healing once. Saved his life. I'm hunting whomever killed her friends. I saw the connection, though the manner of their death would have drawn my attention anyway. I imagine you're doing the same thing. Or just looking for answers."

He pauses, mostly to let her get a word in. His eyes have gone all earnest again.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"Great." Ravenna says when he mentions Hex bags. It's not something she dabbles in, but she knows about them all too well. "Honestly they're a bunch of lovely old ladies I don't see why they're being murdered." Once they're outside and he properly introduces himself she nods. "The name sounds familair, I think she's mentioned your father before and said something about him be stubborn."

She sighs and nods her head. "I'm worried about my aunt as well." Reaching into her purse, she pulls the cat out, who gives an annoyed meow but is keen to follow in Ravenna's footsteps. "Besty's was the first body I got to see, although I fear the rest are out of my reach. I'm sure they all died in a simlair matter."

Sam Winchester has posed:
"It's likely someone trying to strike out at your Aunt," Sam says. He motions towards his Dodge Charger. "Wanna drive over and have a look? If we're right, then the next thing I'll want to do is try to track down the person planting them. Can you think of anyone who would have a vendetta against your Aunt? Someone who would be willing to resort to the darker arts to get his or her way?"

He'll even open the door for Ravenna in a detached, gentlemanly sort of a way. His hazel eyes are focused, distracted, a bit, as he tries to think of what will need to be done to bring today's Hunt to a successful conclusion.

"Are you--?" He pauses, not sure how to ask the question, his gaze falling to the bag where he spotted the cat once more. He raises his gaze to her, and clears his throat. "Equipped for magical trouble?" That's what he settles on.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"No not off the top of my head. She's pretty neutral when it comes to her dealings, but than again she keeps me in the dark about her personal life. It could be something related to that." Ravenna frowns as she looks into the car. Sure it's gentlemanly, even Felix thinks so as he hops up into the passenger seat before Ravenna even moves for the door. "Move you lump of fur." She says, and the cat crals up onto the arm rest between the two front seats and parks himself as if he owns the whole place.

At his question, she laughs and nods her ehad. "Yes. The gifts run in my family, so you can rest assured that I am able to protect myself." The question has amused her as she settles into the seat and buckles in.

Sam Winchester has posed:
Sam is briefly tempted to pet the cat, but thinks better of it. He programs his GPS instead, then starts the car, sending them around to Betsy's house. Of course, he has big elbows; the cat might find that he has to adjust periodically to not get accidentally moosed in the head, simply by virtue of Sam's needing to move a bit as he drives. "Personal's the worst," he agrees, grimly. "Personal's where it gets nasty."

The house is, of course, one Ravenna knows well, and she can sense the stench of dark magic from somewhere inside easily enough. It's a pretty little Colonial with a perfectly mundane rose garden; something Betsy rather took a lot of pride in. Sam brings the car to a stop, exhaling, anticipating what would normally be a pretty long search, given the size of the place. Still, he makes no complaint other than that, unbuckling his seatbelt and moving round to the trunk, where he pops a false bottom and starts loading up on a variety of weapons and hedge magic acoutrements.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
Despite being elbowed, the cat remains in his perch. Perhaps it's because he isn't fond of the demontouched hunter and he's acting as a very fierce meat shield to his mistress. Or he's just a cat exercising his cat rights. "You know, the group had some disagreements with a former member. She had a chip on her shoulder, and was upset when she was not chosen to be the president. Though I wasn't sure if she was magically inclined, but that doesn't mean she can't find someone else to do the dirty work.

When they pull up to the house Ravenna frows as she feels that dark magic in the air. She snatches felix out of the car and puts him on her shoulder before joining him at the back of the car.

"You look like you're armed for yeti." She says at his spread in the trunk. She doesn't grab anything of his, since she has her own, but she is still impressed with what he has. "I'll send Felix ahead, he has a great nose and can probably find it quicker than we can." Or at least she hopes, she' still learning how to work this animall.

Sam Winchester has posed:
"I am armed for Yeti," Sam agrees, giving Ravenna a quick, rueful smile. He grimaces at the explanation. Some people will go off the deep end for the goofiest of reasons, and he can't think of anything much goofier than wanting to be president of a Bridge Club. Then again, it probably wasn't just that. Probably, she had jealousy issues for a long time...and the Bridge Club was just the tip of the iceberg. "She could have made a deal with a demon and gotten the power to do what she wanted, without having to go through the years of training and study you and your Aunt went through."

His weapons selection complete, he closes the trunk. He looks down at Felix, then back at Ravenna, then nods. Faster is good by him. "If we find the Hex bag could you use it in a tracking spell to take us straight to the witch who set it?" He doesn't mind a wise shortcut or two, particularly if it keeps the witch from striking again. He's never met a dark practitioner who didn't eventually see that sort of thing as the easy way out of almost every kind of problem. At least. Until someone like him or Dean shows up.

Either way, he pauses to pick the lock, then opens the door for the cat just as if he were opening the door for a human. Sam appears to think the cat is just being a cat, being unaware, for the most part, that there's really anything about him that might require anyone who isn't some sort of supernatural nasty to protect themselves from him.

Once the cat heads inside, Felix will easily find the little black hedge bag tucked away in a popourri bowl in the parlor, where it could have easily gone completely unnoticed for as long as was necessary.

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
"I believe it." Ravenna says with a hint of a smirk before she looks back at the now empty house. She's been to several parties here and the thought that it will not happen again is sad, but they must press on. "I hear deals with demons rarely end well, perhaps karma will get her in the end. If it is her that's done it, I suppose it's too early to jump to conclusions."

She watches Sam pick the lock and when Felix is allowed in, he dashes through the house. He smells that dark magic and once he gets to it, he lets out a trilling meow. "Don't eat it!" She hisses out in a whisper to the cat, since he seems almost keen to do so. Spotting it, she looks it over before she touches it, concerned that it might still be active and not wanting the hex back on her. "You're right, this is a rather silly thing to kill people over. I mean if you wanted to be the president, why kill all the members?"

Sam Winchester has posed:
There's something both charming and amusing about watching Ravenna chastize her cat (familiar?) over his desire to chomp down on the hex bag. Like a cat trying to sneak some chocolate. Only in this case, the results would be so much worse than chocolate. The bag is still active, needing to be destroyed properly before it will avoid being a danger to others. It hasn't fixed on a new target yet, but replanting it could certainly allow the witch who made it to target someone with her ire.

Now that Ravenna is holding the little hex bag in her hand, however, she recognizes the taste of the magic flowing from it. Celeste du Avrigny's magic, to be precise, though she wasn't practicing the dark arts when she and Ravenna shared their apprenticeship.

She was, however, impatient. Eager for power. Ready to take shortcuts. And irrationally angry at the Levesque magical legacy. She had none...just a fierce desire to learn. Unfortunately, the fierce desire, and even the work ethic, didn't shield her from the magical pitfalls.

And given the particular components Rav can smell coming off this bag? She gets the very real feeling that these weren't kills made out of spite, but deliberate sacrifices, chosen for their proximity to Len. A prelude to attempting to steal Levesque power for herself. This is family business.

Sam's phone rings. He turns, taking the phone call. "Yeah, Dean? Damnit. Okay. I'll be right there..."

Sam hangs up. "I'll be back later tonight," he promises Ravenna. "Something's come up. You want me to destroy that?"

Ravenna Levesque has posed:
Ravenna is relieved when the cat quickly loses interested in the hex bag and goes to sniff out something else he could eat while he waits. She picks up the bag carefully, feeling the magic pour off of it. It's then that she realizes the familiar feel of it, she grew up with this magic, she knows it all too well. "*That no talent bitch.*" She spits out in French, letting a few more curses leave her lips before she nods her head. "It's best that you do. I don't want this to come anyhwere near my aunt."

When his cellphone rings she'll let Sam have his conversation while she snoops around the place. Though nothing else really stands out as something she should pay attention to. When Sam announces he'll be leaving she reaches into her purse and quickly scribbles her number on the back of a card. This one is for the Magic shop as opposed to Lux. "Keep in touch, and let me know if you find anymore bags, I have some phone calls to make." With that Felix jumps back up on her shoulder and she starts walking toward the door they came in.