I Just Want To Be Normal

The unfortunate thing about life after Fandom was that it required a job that didn't give you time off for weirdness or the potential apocalypse. Isabel had managed to get through her shift on Saturday although she'd grown progressively more on edge as the evening wore on and she realized the number of staff people that weren't around when they were supposed to be.

With Wyatt in San Francisco checking the Book of Shadows, sleep wasn't really an option once Isabel got home. Instead she spent most of the night texting Wyatt and Parker like some sort of crazed stalker just to be sure they were still around. Isabel was definitely not thinking about what she would do if one of them stopped responding.

At some point she did finally doze off for a few hours of restless sleep, only to be woken by her alarm reminding her that crisis or not, there was a job to go to.

Cranky and clutching her coffee, Isabel left her car at the parking lot she used and walked towards the Vegas Strip, only to stop dead at the sight before her. Instead of several acres of buildings housing a casio, shopping and hotel towers, there was only blackness. A blackness it seemed only she could see judging by the tourists that brushed past her without a care in the world.

Things were getting serious. Pulling out her phone, Isabel left a few messages for some people. After another incredulous look at where the casino used to be, she headed home to wait.

[For phone calls, visits, etc...]

Ronan's birthday party - Ronan, Wyatt, Anders, Parker

Text with Savannah

Black Rock - Parker, Wyatt, Anders, Zero

Letter to Alanna

Phone call with Peter

Xander & Bridge's Wedding

It hadn't been a bad last week in Fandom. Between being social, seals, presents, and reality TV, it was certainly memorable. Even if the good-byes weren't so much fun.

There wasn't much left to pack. But Isabel was taking her time doing it.

The door was open.

Pixie Dust - Romeo

Wyatt's Room

Wyatt's Room again

Prom - Wyatt, Johnny, Ronan, Belthazor

Wyatt's room - Victoria

The Park with the kids - Anders, Wyatt

Michael's room

Victoria calls Piper

Chilly Boulder with Meg

After finally finding handwavily talking to Chris late yesterday, Isabel had finally gone back to her room.

Sleep wasn't an option for a lot of reasons.

Instead she grabbed her laptop and started to google.

It was amazing what you could find in some of the more obscure corners of the internet. Hours later she had pages of notes and print-outs. Of course since Isabel had pretty much no experience with magic, most of it was so much gibberish.

It was time to call in people who had a clue.

Saturday had been busy, but today had been even busier. Isabel had had a very busy day. In fact it had been so busy that Wyatt didn't catch up with her until he handwavily found her in the common room with the polar bear. They went back to her room where Isabel managed to get herself cleaned up (although there might have still been some blue eye shadow smeared in the corners of her eyes) and dressed in her penguin pajamas. That was when she got the bright idea to make a phone call.

Once Wyatt hung up the phone, Isabel yawned once more. "I'm tired."

Wyatt had left early yesterday morning, promising to return soon. Isabel had tried not to panic as her increasingly frantic calls went unanswered. She'd tried to convince herself that his phone was dead, that they were just engrossed in whatever project they were working on but talking to Johnny made it obvious that wasn't the case.

Then the letters came. One from Wyatt, one from Andrew.

A visit to Chris confirmed he'd gotten that same news. And that there didn't seem to be any magical way to get them back.

She made a few more calls to check up on people, wondering who else wasn't going to to answer.

Frustrated and angry, Isabel decided the best way to not think was to clean.

Loud music was blaring and the air smelled of pine cleaner.

The door, despite what she promised Chris, was open.