Chapter IV - Grace

The jar sat in the middle of the table, the dishes scattered and in various stages of breaking or having been broken around them all. After the coverlet had been pulled away, each of the three interviewees had frozen, then reacted differently. The man with the shotgun was aiming it between the table where he had swung the gun wildly (which scattered the meals dishes), and the two hosting this bizarre interview.

The other male and Grace had gotten up and backed away at his sudden action, but both had otherwise been frozen with indecision. Weapons, spiders, weird foods, angry old men... This interview luncheon had gotten out of hand in to short of a time! Those creatures in the jar... They made her uneasy. Being spiders wasn't the issue. It was their form, that almost shadowy ink-like appearance. Snakes would have been an absolute nightmare. Still, the unknown reformulating shadows in the jar made her unsure if she was actually seeing spiders, or if it was something even more sinister.

Grace looked at the other male, then shifted her gaze towards where everything had been scattered by the nervous unkempt males' firearm. As the frozen male began to move, she spotted what she was looking for. The largest gun out of the lot. She didn't know how to use it, but she was sure of two things. The first was if she could swing it, it would hurt. The second one was even better. If she could figure out how to handle it, she'd have a hell of an instrument to use here. She spotted one of the coverlets from their meal platters earlier and snatched it up as well, almost as an afterthought. Maybe it would make a momentary shield!

Then the man hosting this mess moved. He leaned forward, resting his hand on the jar lid. "You might want to back up and get ready... This is test number three. Good luck, kittens." The smile on his face wasn't malicious, hateful, or even mean looking. He seemed to be genuinely interested in seeing how they fared. What sort of game was being played behind that man's eyes?!

His sister held up her whistle, rubbing the button on it gently. She nodded that she was ready, and pieces began to fall into place for Grace. These things were weak to sound of higher frequencies, perhaps simply to the vibrations of such, based on Caleb's gloves. Noise was the weapon they were using... Not bullets! She spit out a sailor's curse, then looked at the tools in her hands. One would only work noise wise once. The meal coverlet on the other hand... She had to find a spoon, fork, the Scimitar or anything like that. If it came down to it, she could improvise, but...

Time was up. Tears sprang to her eyes as she heard the steel lid scraping against the glass jars' rim. The creatures inside curled up for just a second... Then chaos erupted. Limbs slithered and extended up and up, the main bodies of the creatures following quickly. After they had gotten free of the jar, a few leapt at Grace and the two men nearby. So she did what her body was automatically going to do. She panicked and swung the meal coverlet up, connecting softly with one and sending it across the dining patio area. The resulting clang caused the two others approaching her to freeze, limbs spasming sporadically as their bodies trembled violently for a moment.

That was it. She had been right in her assessment. These shadowy creatures were terribly weak to sound. She grinned excitedly then leapt for a discarded fork from the earlier meal, discarding the ungainly weapon immediately in her haste. She swung the fork hard and fast, the resulting clang echoing through the area. Just after that, the echoing clap came from Caleb and a strange vibration rolled over her sensitive skin as Lenore blew on the whistle which captured the force and repeated it on a loop. The creatures were curled up into miserable little ink smudges that thrashed around on the ground. A single shot rang out and one completely dissipated in front of the mussed up militant looking male, his eyes uncertain and definitely unhappy.

The awkward looking other male sailing a little wildly with the saber, splitting another shadow spider in two and all three of them watched as it began to dissipate. As the noises died down and Caleb and Lenore began to remove their 'weapons' as they were, she breathed out a slow sigh of relief at the feeling that the ominous little things gave to her. She straightened up and started to move towards the other four, before she felt something brush against the edge of her earlobe.

A hand snapped out next to her and gripped the last creature in it's palm. Caleb studied it with cold emotionless eyes, his gaze almost analytical in its' distance from everyone and everything around them all. He sighed, then applied pressure with a frown. "...Test number three is over. We almost all failed, but you three succeeded for seperated reasons. If any or all of you would like the job, meet me out front at my vehicle. We'll discuss the details on the way to your new place of employment." He smirked thinly with a humourless mirth, then waves for his sister to follow him. As he left, he handed the bartender a couple of hundred dollar bills for the mess and meal, humming thoughtfully as he left them behind.

She hesitated, then shrugged as she looked at the two others. None of them had each other's names yet, though they were all now on the brink of accepting work together at a new place. She nibbled on her lip, then waves a little with embarrassment as she half smiles. "So...hi? I'm Grace, and I guess we'll be working together? I hope we can get along." Only the militant man answered, stating his name was Jareth, but everyone called him JEX. He indicated his friend, who looked lost in his own world at the moment. When Jareth rolled his eyes, he pouted and looked at the ground while quietly murmuring something as a name. She thought she heard "Duke", but couldn't be sure.

A honk warned them that Caleb and Lenore were waiting for their response, and all three of them hurried to head towards the front. JEX was the only one to bring a weapon with him, holstering the .45 and flat out carrying the sawed-off semi-automatic shotgun in his left hand. He smirked as he left, ignoring the stares of the customers and workers as they gave the three of them plenty of room to leave. 'What a way to start a new job' Grace thought, sighing with resignation at the odd situation she now found herself in as she climbed into the large black limo Caleb was waiting at.