Hunt for Skin walkers: Part 6 - @Elle Joyner @KatSea @Mobley Eats
Mina relaxed as all the skinwalkers disappeared, a sense of relief washed over her. She let her body lay on the leaves further while staring at the clear blue sky. Yet another mission she would live to tell the tale of and to see her friends once again. As per usual, her mother was right. No help from the gods because they knew she'd live… probably why they never helped in general.
Mina suddenly popped up, despite the soreness she felt, remembering her two injured comrades. Her eyes landed on Kook first, the most easily reached as Gus was still surrounded by fire. His wounds were gently grasped as she closed her eyes and muttered. "Sana." A sigh escaped her as they seemingly disappeared into nothing. "There you go… that should stop any pain or scars… unless you wanted scars. I can also fix your hoodie later if you like."
Despite the fight they just went through the young indian woman went into full mother mode when it came to injuries or issues of any kind. No person was left uncared for in the process. Which meant, Gus was next. "Uh… Gus could you perhaps… rid yourself of the fire so I can heal you, then we can get back to the others." Her hand hovered over it and stared at it in awe. It was a weapon but beautiful all the same, she always found fire quite beautiful with its reds and oranges… Almost like Autumn. "I'm sure they're worried."
There was no response, however, from the young man inside the flaming sphere. As the creature fell still, Gus gave it one remaining glance before he allowed both the shield and minion to disperse, each in a sudden hiss of steam, and without a word, Gus leapt over the carcass of their enemy and raced, unrelenting, towards the direction they had come from - towards the farmhouse.
Nearing the steps, something in his peripherals caught his attention and his head swiveled towards it, but a moment later it was gone, out of sight. Swearing, he dashed up, jumping over the ruined door and nearly skidding across the visceral devastation splattered across the floor, "Luce!"
Spotting her in the living room, his heart gave a throb and willing himself forward, willing himself to slow the hell down, he knelt in front of the woman, gingerly reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder, "...Lucia… Querido Deus, por favor, abra seus olhos…"
"I will…" Charming sighed, both in response to cleaning himself up and notifying Lucia in case she was needed. He didn't like the idea of leaving her alone, especially with the wounds she was enduring, but she seemed set in her decision. It wasn't his place to argue further. With a groan, he stood and staggered first into the kitchen and, without grace or care, stuck his head under the faucet, letting blood run down his face and down the drain. It was an unsettling sight. There was far more red seeping into the water than he predicted and a small, childish part of himself mourned over the flaking scabs this could bring in the future. People would think he had dandruff… No, no. Reel the thought back in. There were healing spells for a reason.
Focus.
Charming dried himself off with whatever was left of his coat (the inside of it and whatever was untouched by blood), before draping it over his arm. A gentlemanly move… and completely unnecessary, but he needed to practice poise. Composure. He couldn't afford to face their clients any other way. Posture straightening, he made his way down the hall to the basement, though a gentle wrangling with the doorknob made him realize it was still locked.
Of course it was. Why wouldn't it be? And that was likely a dumb move on his part, considering his clients were expecting some horrendous monster to come busting down the door at any moment. Regardless, he cleared his throat and called out calmly, "Bartholomew? Sir? You and your daughter are safe now. The problem has been taken care of and I do not wish to make you stay cooped up in there for much longer… Are you alright?"
God. Dear God. No. No no no no no….Lucia's head drooped towards her chest as her breathing became rigid through the eyes of her silhouette. Christ...she didn't think she would see that again. Her shadow's fingers gingerly ran across the bark of the tree in question, its hands sharpening until it could begin to carve through the bark. Lucia swallowed as the particular treasure was collected, the final snap of the bark from its tree causing her to stiffen considerably. It was a good thing she found it when she did…
Lucia jolted slightly as a hand came to rest on her shoulder, eyes fluttering open as her body swung forward, only to catch herself mid awakening. She blinked a few times as Gustavo kneeled before her, concern suddenly flooding through her as she noted his arm and overall appearance. She hopped to her feet swiftly, although staggered and placed a hand to her stomach. "Dios mios Gustavo are you alright? What the hell were you thinking??"
Bartholomew had kept Louise and the dog safely within the toy room they kept in the basement for Louise and the expectant baby. It wasn't too hard to keep the child distracted as he draped her in her favorite blanket and gave her one of the Harry Potter books to skim over. As he heard Charmings voice, however, he stiffened, unaware as to whether or not this was a good to go time for he and his daughter. Informing her he would be back quickly, he slowly tracked back upstairs and opened the door a sliver. "Everything is alright now, sir?"
Everything was alright now. The game was over, as far as Kook could tell, and he was kinda hungry. Very hungry. Was his dirt friend hungry too? Probably. It didn't need to consume anything for energy, so he needed to feed it soon. Maybe. But why?
He forgot. Nothing new.
Kook was so swamped by the thought that he failed to notice Mina approaching, let along talking. The moment she drew close to his injured arm, healing it in an instant, he jolted and scrambled back. "Geh!! Nu!" The masked man clamped onto the tear in his sleeve tightly, crouching like a cornered animal… Then he was cackling again. All intensity banished from his form.
Regardless, he made sure to keep plenty of distance away from Mina. Oh, and there went Gus. "Guhahhh! (Buh-byyyye!)" He waved energetically at the man's retreating form, before locking onto the little shadow. It just popped up. Probably Lucy's. Where was Lucy? Not there. Question answered! With a cackle, he made his way over to the same tree and plopped down next to the dark creature, then let his head meet the trunk with a gentle bonk. He was tired.
Mina got no answer, not that she expected a coherent one, to her statements but instead his reaction was to jump back. Without reason, she felt some sorrow in the action but didn't voice it as Kook just… tended to be a little stranger than the rest. They all tended to be like that. Mina thought she was pretty weird too, really weird. Weird enough not to have many friends, kind of weird.
A sigh flew into the hot air as Mina took a breath due to Kook behavior, now he was bashing his head repeatedly into a tree. The poor thing, he'd probably have a headache later. For a moment her mind wondered how on earth Kook would even manage to get back, she was ready to go back too but knowing him he wasn't. Apparently, she had no faith in his sense of direction either but it was probably the tired ache of her muscles and the exhaustion messing with her. Instead of just leaving him there to murder his poor head she managed to double knot a string to his arm then began treading back to the house. Occasionally the rustle of the trees or crunch of leaves or snap of a twig startled her, sending a flinch through her body only for soft breaths to refocus the calm feeling. This was pretty normal after a fight, feeling a bit… jumpy.
The broken fence soon came into view, making her speed up a bit in relief. It felt like forever before the fence actually approached her, letting her tie to end of the string to it tightly.
"There… in case he gets lost… Especially after hitting his head so many times." A smile graced her features as she glanced back, following the string into the distance then turning back and scampering over to the house, meeting everyone. "Kook is occupied right now." She explained before plopping down on the stairs with a loud sigh and maybe she could have stayed there a bit longer had she not caught sight of Gus' arm again, that was the main reason she came back… That and she was tired.
"Sana." With that one word his wounds and pain seemed to disappear except a scar stayed behind. She was definitely tiring as her healing usually left it scar-free but despite this fact her eyes landed on Lucia. "I can heal you if you like?" She offered and gave Lucia a very exhausted smile.
As Lucia's eyes fluttered open, and the exclamation escaped, he pushed from a crouch to loop arms around the smaller woman, holding her for a moment… just a moment before he released her, "Thank God… Everyone here is alright? The… the blood." Frowning, he shook his head, "I was trying to keep the team together… These monsters, they are better to fight when you can surround… Contain… but it came too soon and we had to fight. You… you are hu--"
With the sound of footfall on the wood floor, Gus glanced up to see Mina entering, breathing out as the warmth washed along his arm. He could see pocks of scarring still… rivulets running elbow to wrist. Damn beast.
"Thank you, Mina. Please… help her. And… Where is our fifth member? The family?" He asked, looking back to Lucy with concern.
Lucia blinked in confusion as Gustavo's arms came about her, her eyes remaining wide as her bloodstained gauze came to rest against his torso. Her gaze remained distant, her hands only briefly coming to his sides to reassure him. Only a moment. When he released her, cheeks burning with the remaining blood in her system as it sloshed in sheepishness and indescribable emotion. She took three sharp breaths through her nose, two out her mouth, the last one hitching in her throat as she placed her hand over her collar to readjust the gauze. "I am just happy you are all safe, Gustavo. I was...I found something and I need to go…" She swallowed hard, eyes flickering over to Mina as she offered to handle her wounds. And told her what had occurred to Kook.
Her eyes hooded. Any color drained from her skin. A pleasant smile consumed her features. "You two, check on the family, yes? I have business to attend to, si? Try to stay with our clients."
Inspecting both of them with a frown, she slowly excused herself from the home, hand against the gauze as she approached Kook along the fence, teeth gritted. "Dios, dame fuerzas para no pecar más de lo que ya tengo." Sliding the remainder of Kooks shadow from its place, she simply cut the string with a bland demeanor. "You are okay si? Head into the home, I will be with you shortly." She felt a cold hand slip into hers, a loving arm soon resting along her shoulders. A prickly parchment was soon placed in her hand and she bit her lip. She had a bad feeling this ranch was far more evil than she had expected.
"Shit." Bartholomew swore under his breath, hastily pushing his bangs past his forehead. "I should have figured something like this was bound to happen eventually. We've been having weird things happen for almost a month now and...I've heard rumors." His brow pinched and he glanced back down the stair well for a moment. "You are those hunter folks the native talk about aren't ya?" He huffed a quick sigh. "I knew I should have called the goddamn shaman when the first calf went missing...what the hell happened?" Bartholomew massaged his brow, as if preparing to hear a story he had already conjured in his head. Yeah. At this point, nothing surprised him. He shouldn't even get started on the goddamn portal that opened in his living room…
It was a rough month for the man.
Charming arrived back in the living room shortly after Gus and Mina appeared, along with Lucy's sudden departure. A question of concern teetered on the man's tongue, especially after recalling the woman's wounds, but he held fast as last second. Besides, Bart had questions and was clearly far more aware of the supernatural happenings going on around the farmhouse than he initially let on. Heaving a sigh while pushing back his curls, he turned to the man and said, "You're… correct. Hunter folks is a way to put it, sir." So much memory erasing was in store; that much he knew. "I don't know how eloquently to put this, aside from the fact that your residence holds some… dangerous presences. My colleague and I just disposed of one."
He then glanced at Gus, taking in the man's arm. "...And that the others have as well. We'll need to do a thorough sweep of your property while also finding a safe
temporary place for you. Ah… Also, if I may?" He gingerly reached out to Bert, hoping to receive his pendant once more.
Kook didn't like being tied up.
But it happened, so that was life. And he followed after Mina like a cackling puppy, just humming along as he kicked up dirt and grass and wondering if Sel could give him a Burning Hands run for his palm. Yis. He would ask her soon. Later. Yesterday at some point.
And now he was at a fence. Mmkayyy--
No. No. He was
next to a fence and no longer tied up, because Lucy showed up and freed him. "Geheheh!" Kook clapped and laughed joyously, only to fall silent with confusion. Rage. Anger. Annoyance. All radiating from Lucy. And pain. Lots of that too. Wow! What happened?! And he missed it too!
That was no fun.
"Guh?" Kook tilted his head, just skimming Lucy up and down. Then landing on her hand. "Geh!" He took her hand, stopping the woman in her tracks, eyed the tough stretch of skin between her thumb and index finger, then applied firm pressure to it. What was he doing? He didn't know, but his body did and he never not listened to his body. Sometimes. Always. Just not right now. Something told him this would help, so he did it.
Then, he released her.
And flopped back first into the dirt, his Earth Elemental friend just hovering off to the side. Bored. Boring, boring, boring. This was a lot of fun.
Mina plopped down on the floor in front of the couch with a soft groan and huff of exhaustion. Her eyesight blurred a bit as she fell into the side of Gus' leg making it apparent that she was probably going to leave the land of the living soon, not literally. Though she was tired her eyes still caught sight of something under the couch which made her rather curious causing her to pop back up and circle the couch before she reached behind it. The adrenaline from the fight, still making her nervous, helped push not only the couch but Gus, one of the largest guys in the guild, out of her way. Which was surprising coming from someone of Mina's size, she was rather small. She wasn't the smallest but she was pretty small all in all.
After pushing it using her whole body, she slipped and landed flat on her back with a groan. Nothing was there… Whatever she had seen just didn't exist. Maybe she was going insane. The ceiling looked rather interesting as she laid there, still a bit shaky from all the excitement.
"Nothing here." She muttered before standing up and quite literally throwing herself over the back of the couch to land next to Gus rather… not so gracefully. She nearly hit him while going over and she probably seemed insane as she curled into a ball next to him and let her eyes close a bit but not fully shut. The poor thing was tired as all get out but she didn't want to sleep until she knew she was allowed to.
Gus opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything, Lucia had vanished from the room and Charming and the homeowner had returned. They were still in communication, but Gus was tempted to interrupt. He had questions.
Lots of questions…
And then he was being shuffled, the couch jerkily creaking beneath him. Grimacing, he stared at Mina, and as she flopped down beside him, he frowned, "Get some rest. We aren't finished here."
Pushing himself upright, he moved past Charming and Bart, to stand sentry by the door, ignoring the mess disturbingly left behind from the fight there as he crossed his arms and braced against the doorframe. His eyes remained glued to the ground, even as he spoke.
"Who owned this farm before you,
Senhor?"
Hearing Kook laugh as usual melted a small amount of frustration from the young woman's shoulder, the molten emotion beginning to solidify against her back. Could one describe emotion as sticky and raw? She was not sure. Perhaps blood from her collar had seeped down to her back. That seemed far more likely. "Let's home soon Kook. I'm gonna need to, as the Americans say, go into a coma soon yes?" Her eyes flickered to the grip against her hand, his fingers gingerly yet firmly pressing between her thumb and forefinger. A moment of relief passed through her, a brief one, but appreciated, even as pulsing pain returned from her stomach. She grimaced and curled her fingers briefly around Kooks for a thank you before releasing.
"Gracias, friend. Let us head back yet?" She stared down at the bark in her hand, biting her lip. She had no idea what the inscription below meant, or whether or not if it was...She was going to need a ritual caster to look through this. Tenderly keeping it safe between her fingers, Lucia bit down sharply and made sure Kook followed safely behind. Peeking her head through the doorframe, eyes drooped and tired, she quickly piped up. "A ritual caster please?"
Bartholomew easily slipped the pendant from over his hand and handed it back to Charming, eyes threatening to close with exhaustion as he groaned and rubbed his temple with his palm. "I had a feeling there was something here. The people before us said there was nothing wrong. But the moment that woman came here offering her blessing for the land. Things started going horribly wrong. Louise began seeing the wolf in the yard, the calves were going missing, weird lights, groceries going missing moments after I put them on the counter, the portals leading to nowhere, weird crafts in the sky...I originally thought it could be aliens but uh, that makes me sound like a crackpot. I went to one of the local shamans and he told me that apparently skinwalkers were...existent. I didn't believe him, I told him my land was blessed regardless and uh, apparently, this place is haunted." He brushed back his hair tiredly and let his cheeks puff out. "In all honesty. I'm not surprised by any of this happening today. All I can do is thank you for finally getting rid of the damn menaces."
Raising an eyebrow at the man before him, he gave him a shrug. "Well. Um. We bought this place from two brothers who seemed more than happy to leave the place. They told us their father had passed away recently and they wanted a new start. Figured hell, it was a cheap price and a large plot of land. I didn't really believe in that whole haunting bull until uh, well,
this."
"Guh…" Kook spent another moment watching Lucy like a curious and deranged puppy, the cogs in his brain. Slowly, but always surely. He liked chaos. Chaos was the ultimate breed of fun and freedom and living without rules. They were just binding. And made people think. That was no fun. Never. Always.
But still, there was even predictability in Chaos Theory, and that was alright.
What was he doing?
Oh yeah, wondering about Lucy. And honey buns. Oh, she was leaving. But at least he wasn't on a leash again, so that was good. "Heheheh~" He cackled and followed behind without much protest, still willing his Earth Elemental to tag along. Eh, the spell lasted a while, and he liked dirt. Sentient dirt even more. They could do stuff. The farmhouse was a lot closer than he remembered. Remembered what? He forgot. "Guhah!!" Jovially, he slipped past Lucy and leaped into the living room, arms spread as if he presenting the grandest prize of them all.
Himself.
With jazz fingers. If only they were on fire too.
After accepting the charm back from Bart, Charming then busied himself with watching Mina's… odd antics from a polite distance away, eyebrow quirked and all, before deciding it was best not to let too many questions about it bubble to the surface. Bert's casualness about the entire thing was beyond unsettling. And saddening. No one deserved to face the horrors of the supernatural, especially when they didn't sign up for any of it. "I see," he sighed before making his way to the couch… No, that was still overturned. He just remained standing. "Do you happen to recall what this woman looked like? Anything about her that struck you as especially odd or out of place?"
And then Kook and Lucy returned, the former in loud fashion while the ladder had asked politely for a ritual caster. "That I cannot provide for you, unfortunately." His arms folded loosely, brow furrowed as he looked at the woman. Specifically her bandaged wounds. He really hoped she would have that properly looked at soon. Of course, he had witnessed Mina heal Gus a bit, but she seemed completely out of commission and living in an entirely different plane of existence at the moment…
This mission wasn't merciful to anyone, it seemed.
Mina laid on the couch for a moment once again letting her brown eyes drift closed and a yawn escape her. She was tired and exhausted and felt like she was dying slowly. Maybe she would have checked on that more if Lucia hadn't come bounding back in the house, still bleeding and asking for a ritual caster. That was what Mina was. She was good at it too and she'd brought some books on it just in case.
"Lucia…. Please don't run off like that when you're so injured, let me heal you first at least." A soft frown took over her features but not much scolding came after that as she healed Lucia's wounds completely, depleting even more of her energy. Her eyes caught the slab of bark in the girl's hand causing her hand to trace the rune just a bit. "Here… let me see that." Mina definitely recognized it but it wasn't ringing many specific bells as of yet.
The bark was set on the table as Mina opened her suitcase, revealing more books than actual clothing, and pulled out just about the thickest one. It slammed on the table as she plopped down on her knees. The room seemed to get quiet for a moment, the sound of pages flipping filled the air. This was what Mina was good at and did most of the time which was apparent as she arrived at the right page in a second. The rune was set next to the page as she flipped the book around the show everyone.
"It's a witch's rune. It's used very often by witches to break spells or attract entities…. Like skinwalkers." She stated while pointing the picture in the book out and looking at them. Eyes narrowed and ran her hand over the rune one more time noticing that there wasn't any scarring or healing the tree had done. "It's only a few weeks old… Didn't you mention someone wanted to bless the ranch a week after you moved here? Could they have possibly had any ill-intent toward you or your family or perhaps the people who lived here before?" Despite her exhaustion Mina addressed Bart and still had to smarts to put a lot of people to shame which is what she did… often.
As Lucia returned, Gus watched each step, diligently, concern wrinkling the corners of his eyes as her hand found her wounded stomach and she came to rest against the doorframe. Her mind was mission borne, but he could see the exhaustion… The weariness. And it wasn't, he was sure, all entirely to do with the vigorous battle…
He understood it well… That exhaustion. It never got easier, their job and never felt like it was over.
As Mina spoke, Gus felt a weight plummet in his stomach. He wasn't a man generally given to deep feelings, and he did his best to resist the draw of anger… but something in what she said to Lucia struck him oddly, "...If you had gone to the house they would not
have injuries, Mina."
Frowning, he pushed off the frame, "My advice,
Senhor... Burn this damnable place to the ground and leave. There is no good here… only evil. And it is only a matter of time." Fingers raking through his hair, he stepped back, "I'm going to wait by the car… I need a moment."
Mina was surprised, she hadn't expected something so… hate filled to come from him. She felt hated while her heart ached greatly as her head went downcast. The palm of her hand turned lighter as she clenched it and grit her teeth to hold back tears.
"Oh-oh, I- Sorry."Her voice broke a bit and she refused to look at any of them as she closed to book and put it up. Healing… was that all she was good for? Had she spent years studying just to heal people or for her… friends to get mad at her for it. "It won't happen again." Instead of staying, Mina walked around to the back of the house, sitting against the wall and curling into a little ball.
"She...I thought she was one of the locals. She sorted of looked like the siblings…" He slowly gestured to Gustavo and Lucia with his thumb, frowning. "Told me her father was one of the shamans in her reserve and that she would handle the blessing because he was feeling ill. She seemed nice enough. She played with the dog and made friends with Louise while she was here so I figured...I figured she had the best of intentions. And well, I can't believe I'm saying this but...you said it was a witch rune?" Yep. Bartholomew was going insane. He was talking about witches and skinwalkers and cursed lands. And for the first time in a month. He felt utterly, perfectly, normal. His shoulders slumped in defeat. "The Navajo in the area referred to the skinwalkers as witches. It's possible one of them tried to break the blessing spell and attract another? I don't know, this feels all too crazy but after all the shit that's been happening the last month this is the only thing that makes sense…"
Bartholomew blinked at the interaction between the two hunters, leaving one of them fumbling further into his house. Opening his mouth at Gustavo's words, his face flushed."Believe me, I am not staying here much longer." he needed to move his cattle. Well the house. If anyone wanted to even buy the home. He had put life investments into this ranch and now that this place was beyond cursed...and for a moment, the man's heart fluttered. The skinwalkers were gone. For all he knew they were gone. He could sleep well that night. Just tell Louise that…the madness was over. And perhaps if Bartholomew could will it. He would be able to forget it.
Lucia's heart thudded painfully against her ribs as she entered into the home. Ah yes. She should not have left before healing. That's how it should have gone, Lucia knew, but in that moment molten frustration streamed through her veins. Job first, herself later. And the frustration streaming from her was not so much from her hunters, as it was simply the riskier failure to be organized. To construct a plan and execute it. To keep herself from almost being disemboweled. To keep Charming from crashing his skull open. Her teeth grit together. Anxiously, her nails began to scratch at the back of her neck, traveling down to hit her spine where she paused. Ah yes. A great disservice. A great disservice indeed.
Her eyes dulled considerably until Mina informed her of what the symbol was. She sat on the couch, tiredly, letting a wisp of air escape her. She should have figured. This was...not a good sign. Not a good sign. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip. "Before we leave we are going to set up a perimeter around the ranch. If there's another skinwalker or witch on the ranch we are going to handle it. If not, we are going to clean up and report back to the guild."
And then Gus' words hit her ears, a small color of surprise tinting her cheeks as her hand raked through her curls. No. No no .As much as she appreciated the release of stress that came from his words, she knew he needed to bite them back. To keep it back. Lucia did not wish to break the team now. If there was to be any scolding of anyone. If that were to be done, it would be with the report that would be returned to Bethany. But for right now, Lucia did not stop either Mina or Gustavo as they went there separate ways and merely stood. "My friends. I am afraid this day is about to get a little longer."