The Mystic West.

Gaia:

He took the coins, "You better find someplace to hide."

I saw that he took the money, so I decided that the shelve full of knives was mine, the knives ranged in sizes...from pocket knives to rows and rows of deadly knives.

I gathered them up, settling sum around my thing next to my old one and sum on the other, I strapped one small one to my ankle, and the rest I wrapped up and stuck in a leather bag that I took from his wall.

I had done this quickly, "you got your gold, I will be back for more."

I grabbed the fire stone and the sharpening tool.

Before I left the room "They are not vampires. " I said to the garlic he had apparently hung at the door, "Put up flowers, or sage...they do not like living things, make sure it is fresh."

I would have to begin my chants, for I didn't know what to do.

THe center of town was dead, people had fled to the outskirts and to the buildings, so did the undead.

So that is where I would build it.

***

Fifteen minutes later

A large fire was glowing in town, the rain making it sizzle.

I sat in front of it, eyes closed.

I began to chant.
 
Statler

I looked down at it, amazed at what had just happened. THe speech had been unbelievably awkward, confusing and not in the slightest bit sensible. But at least I had an autographed Fife to add to my collection...
I wondered, if I rolled it up, if I could smoke tobacco in this.
The girl was listening to Fife as I looked at this. SHe'd told me her name: Felicity. Why did I know that name? I could feel my face go slack as she said it, feeling as though I should know her.
I started toward the door as she muttered something that made little sense to the deputy, who apparently understood entirely, go figure!
I wandered out the door as he eyed her, holding the shiny deputy badges in his hands.
I had no intention of being deputized, not with my history. I also had no intentions of keeping the snake in the grass from biting before I planted my foot in the tulip bushes, whatever the hell that was.
When I got outside, I decided it best to avoid the men who'd gathered there until I knew who they were and what they wanted.
I moved carefully back toward the seamstresses shop, noticing then, for the first time, that the sheriff was gone. I walked carefully around the building, then inside, searching for the man and calling out for him here and there, but to no avail.
THe sheriff was missing. That wasn't good.
I walked back outside, noticing the door at the back of the shop but for some reason i couldn't explain, i didn't want to go in, and stopped out front when I saw the indian girl. She'd started a small fire that was quickly growing. Rain was falling from the sky by then, causing steam to rise from flame as the girl chanted.
A chill ran up my spine, and I thought, maybe I'd better check that door, just in case the sheriff wondered what was behind it as well. I went back inside, drawing my pistol and carefully opening the door. Cobwebs decorated a long, rickety wooden staircase. They appeared unbroken at first glance, but then, as I looked closer, they seemed to almost tear themselves apart and seperate before my eyes. Another chill, this one deeper beneath the surface.
Things like that don't happen, I told myself, they were always like that, you're imagining things...
I took a quick step down the staircase, calling out for the sheriff. Had I heard something in response? A muffled groan or grunt?
I took two more steps, these ones hurried and half-attentive ones, then a step broke beneath my feet, sending me tumbling down the staircase to the bottom, my pistol smacking one of the steps as I rolled and setting off a shot that peeled into the night, echoing around me even though the room at the bottom was a small one. As I came to rest, my head struck the bottom step.
The room swam around me for a second (did i hear another sound? A whimper? Crying?) then was gone.
 
The Posse

John turned to Tyler and said " A posse sounds good to me, theres enough people in this town to investigate that explosion, so lets head to the sheriffs office and see if that old man is still there. I guess he knows something about it, but i cant be sure." John rubbed his chin thingking of the old man and what he said when he first saw him. "I think we should start there." John said.
 
Statler

I dreamt I was in a large field, the sun shining brightly up above, and a light breeze blowing through, rattling the high, dry grass. I lay still at first, remembering the fall and taking the fresh air deep into my lungs. It smells of grass and, distantly, manure. I guessed there were farms nearby, but far enough away that the manure was an undercurrent on the breeze.
I sat up, thinking back to the botom of the stairwell and wondering how i got here. As I stand, she comes into view, dressed in a long white dress, a wedding dress, white ribbons in her hair, her lips moving. Although she is still about twenty yards away and not speaking very loudly, I still hear her words, as though the sound were coming from within me.

In the howling wind comes a stinging rain
See it driving nails into the souls of the tree of pain
From the firefly, a red orange glow
See the face of fear running scared in the valley below

In the locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome
Plant a demon seed, you raise a flower of fire
See the burning crosses, see the flames, higher and higher.


The words aren't chanted or sung, but merely spoken, softly, sounding poetic and matter-of-fact at once.
She comes closer, her eyes meeting mine and a smile playing on her lips that I can't refuse...
Felicity.
(Where did I know that name?)
Felicity.
Beautiful and merciless at once. Relentless, her smile unyielding, gently abusive, abusively gentle. I smile back, a feeling rising within me that is both familiar and completely foreign...
 
Felicity

Turning, Felicity ran back towards the town, the words of the chant running through her head and an ominous feeling in the air.

Rain beat the earth, soaking into it, causing the ruts from the wagons to fill and become muddy puddles.

Running, searching through the streets she saw mud-coated Zombies and townsfolk. It looked like a small war.

Felicity searched for the Sheriff.

Stopping at every open door she put her head in, calling out for him "Sheriff!" nothing... running to the next.. "Sheriff!!" nothing...
Suddenly a shot rang out from near her shop. Recalling that was where she last saw the Sheriff she raced over. Gasping as she saw the open door her hand flew up to her mouth.. Oh No she thoughtThis cant be happening...

In the deep black below she heard rustling and a low muffled groan..
 
Statler

I reached out and took her hand, whispering to her that I'd never seen someone so beautiful, never in all my life. Her skin was soft and smooth, her grip gentle. SHe leaned closer, tilting her head to me. I lowered my lips to hers, impatiently waiting for them to touch but seeming doomed to move in slow-motion.
The words came then, her voice but spoken from unmoving lips, and the sound came like an echoing whisper from the sky. I looked up, listening, seeing the blue sky rolling away above me, giving way to deep purple ones, laced with clouds so grey they were almost black...

Oh No...This can't be happening...

I looked back to her, confused. SHe stepped away, looking at the sky as if frightened by the sound of her own voice, pulling her hand briskly from mine.
"What...?" I reach out to her, but she steps away, eyes locked on the dark sky above, turning to survey the sky from every angle.
 
Statler

When I opened my eyes, I felt a cool breeze, making me shiver after feeling the warmth of the sun only moments ago. I wondered for a moment where I was, seeing darkness everywhere, except from somewhere above.
I glanced up to see her silhouette, a dark blotch with her perfect shape framed with bright light, that quickly dimmed as my eyes adjusted.
At first, it seemed i was still with her, but reality returned as my head ached suddenly. I groaned, then realized that my head lay on the wooden step it'd hit on when I fell.
I sat up, moving carefully, as I ached in a few places...
"Felicity..." I muttered, "Is that you?"
 
Felicity

"Statler? Statler, is that you? The stairs are broken, I cant get down there!"

Listening closely, Felicity heard the harsh breathing of a man in pain - and a stelthy movement further back in the gloom.
 
Statler

Felicity...I knew her by her voice...I rolled over onto my hands and knees, groaning as I did, trying to move quickly...The breeze was stronger than it had been, and struck my face, brisk and cool, damp.
I thought, I wonder if Felicity had spoken those words, said, "This can't be happening," and I'd heard it in my dream as I had in my waking state...I wonder if she...
What was that? Something moving, deeper in the darkness, toward the back of the cellar where the breeze was coming from. Not scampering feet, but a thicker sound, not broken at all but constant.
I was still, listening. I thought I heard it again, but the breeze picked up, sending a light whistling sound through the room. A second later, I heard it again, right next to me.
Slithering...
Shit I thought, then leapt to my feet, groaning loudly from the aches I felt everywhere, drawing my pistol and taking aim at the shadows next to me.
It moved, no doubt startled with my own movement, drawing back and hissing loudly.
Jesus, I thought, how big is it?
I fired, aiming at the hissing sound and hoping to hit the head...
 
Tyler approached the sheriff's office with his associate, John, looking to form a posse. He heard a commotion from inside and carefully walked into the station. Not really caring, he interuppted the group of people in there, "Hey all, we're forming a posse, who's in?"
 
Felicity

A shot rang out below, echoing around the chamber below. Jumping back Felicity moaned low.

It's starting she thought. Oh God, No..

Racing into her shop she searched for a length of rope. Finding a lassoo rope Grant had left hanging on a hook by the door, Felicity took it up and tied it to a hitching rail near the door. Tossing the remainder of the rope down into the dark abyss she called out again.

"Statler!"
 
Statler

I must have hit it, almost couldn't have missed, but the shot hadn't killed it. Perhaps had barely hurt the things. It hissed angrily, recoiling, its form slithering back as the shot echoed through the small room and...further? The sound echoed away, then came back to me again, as if the room I was in were incredibly long, as long as the street had been through the center of town above or longer.
It's starting, Oh God, No...
Who'd said that?
No time to worry about that. I stepped back, finding the wall less than a foot behind me. It looked like it was one on one with whatever this thing was.
As it hissed again, I realized that it must be humongous, the sound seeming far too loud to come from the mouth of a normal sized snake, if it were in fact a snake...In this town, who knew?
I inched my way toward the stairs, knowing I could only go so far up but hoping that adding a little distance between me and it would calm it a little, maybe get it off of the defensive.
Two steps up, something long and narrow struck my shoulder, causing me to gasp and hop back down the steps. it hissed once more, stilling me against the wall again.
"Statler!" Felicity called.
It hissed again, turning its attention toward the sound of her voice, recoiling again.
"Quiet, Felicity," I returned, trying not to speak loudly. "It's afraid, I think...and that makes it very dangerous..."
It hissed again, this time drawing the sound out.
I carefully glanced to my left, seeing the mising stairs and the rope, and thinking, I can't get up the steps in time to escape it. The question is, can I kill it?
The answer was: Not without being able to see it.
"Felicity," I began. "I need a candle or a lantern, something for light, to help me see. Can you...?"
It hissed again. I grew rigid against the wall, as if were trying to become a part of it.
 
Felicity

A low came out of the darkness "Quiet, Felicity, it's afraid, I think...and that makes it very dangerous..."
Felicity heard the drawn out hiss and held her breath.
Quietly Statlers voice came again "Felicity," he began, "I need a candle or a lantern, something for light, to help me see. Can you...?"
before he even finished the sentence Felicity was up and running back into her store. With a clatter she almost knocked over her lantern. with shaking hands she set it still and checked the lantern oil, and trimmed the wick. There would be enough for an hour or two, but not much more. Sparking her flint beside the wick, the flame took hold and burned brightly. Putting the glass chimney back in place, she hurried back outside. Tugging the rope back up, she tied the lantern on and began to lower it down.
 
Statler

She was gone immediately, clanging things around upstairs, making the snake hiss more with each sound. Bad news. It was already frightened enough, and so was I. If it was poisonous, I might be in big trouble, especially considering the possibility that the shopkeeper, or whoever sold medicine in this town, might have been killed by the zombies, if they could get down here to treat me anyway.
A few seconds later, Felicity was back, tying the lantern, now lit, to the end of the rope and lowering it down.
She stopped when it was at about my shoulder height, hanging to my right where there should have been stairs. The snake's eye, seeming giant in the darkness, sparkled in the dim light. I held my breath, hoping the light wouldnt frighten it more and fearing that it was more dangerous knowing where I stood.
WHen the light had spread far enough for me to see it, my eyes widened and my heart stopped in my chest, no one part of me believing what I saw.
It was humongous, its head alone must have been almost a foot in length, large and think, but rounded in a way that told me it wasn't poisonous. Not much of a relief considering I might be eaten alive to be slowly digested instead of dying to the fast action of a strong poison.
"Oh, shit," I muttered, my voice not quite a whisper.
"Uh, Felicity, can you see this thing?" I stuttered nervously.
Before she could answer, it hissed again, causing me to tensen up against the wall again. Its body was slowly coming into view, my eyes adjusting to the dim light thrown by the lantern. I couldn't see the end of its tail yet, but some of its body lay coiled beneath it, thick, possibly two feet or more in diameter, and coiled in preparation to strike. I could see the place just below its neck where the bullet I'd fired had struck, blood pouring out of it with each beat of its heart, forming a puddle on the damp earthen floor.
Even in the cool air, sweat was trickling down my temple, chilling my body, which already seemed clammy in every place imaginable.
I decided there was no way to escape this without killing it, if I could manage that and it appeared unlikely. I also decided that, if I intended to attack it, I needed to do it soon, before I saw the rest of it and lost my nerve entirely. I stood there, wondering if I was to late on the former account.
I hated snakes, was scared to death of them, had been since I was a child and was bit by one while tilling the fields at my uncle's farm in Oklahoma. I'd barely survive that. They'd gotten me to the doctor's in time to stop the poison, then had taken me to an old Indian for some "further treatment," the details of which I'm still unaware (and possibly better off without). A deathly fear of snakes had resulted (and I never till the field again, either), and a deathly fear of giant snakes, so giant that it couldn't have been real, most certainly was included in that.
Fortunately for me, that situation left me afraid of something far greater than the snake. Death.
I've already injured it, I thought, only makes sense it can be killed.
I remembered the pistol in my right hand then, hooked my thumb around the hammer and cocked it with a click that I would have sworn echoed as my voice had.
The snake lunged at the sound.
My heart suddenly jumpstarting, I dove to my right, leaving the snake's head crashing into the stone wall I'd pressed myself so tightly against. I was acting without thinking now, moving and doing instead of evaluating how I worked best. I raised the weapon and fired once into the snake's head, striking it just above the nearest eye. It recoiled toward the stairwell, then lunged again. I dove once more, this time rolling back toward the shadows behind it, seeing its body stretching off into the distance, possibly twenty feet of it coiled then stretching off, no part of it getting more narrow.
How big is this fucking thing? I wondered.
No time for debate. It lunged again, sending me rolling again, this time stopping when I struck its coiled body a split second later. Then its head towered over me, looking down at me with eyes that seemed to burn red in the brightening light of the lantern.
Well, I thought, nowhere left to go. At least Felicity was all right.
Where had that come from? Felicity is all right?
It hissed down at me, its mouth stretching to its full width, showing the large dark tunnel to its stomach. One shot to the head hadn't kiled it, hadn't even impaired its movement, but it hadn't been a brainshot, I could now see. I was certain I could hit its brain from here, but still, I doubted one gun even if I unloaded it entirely, would kill the monster.
It would attack as soon as I moved, I knew that just by its stance.
Make the first move, I told myself, don't give it the advantage. And don't fuckin' think about anything.
I was perfectly still for a moment, surveying it, then i dropped my left hnd to the gun on that side and drew. The snake lunged downward, its mouth gaping, aiming for my chest.
I pointed both guns upward and fired repeatedly, watching the head descend...
 
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Felicity

The lantern lighting up the dark below showed Statler pressed against the wall, and a large red glint beyond him.. an eye?
A heartfelt murmer Oh shit
A stuttered query Can you see this?
A hiss, loud as a steam train.
Movement
The stench of blood
The smell of fear
Poised for action, a frozen tableau
A click
Gunshot, movement to fast to follow, my heart in my throat as Statler dodged, the snake hitting the wall below and the tremble of the earth as it strikes.
Hands slipping from the grip on the door, loosing balance
The Snake recoiling from the shot to the head, pushing her back onto solid ground before disappearing back down to attack Statler again.
The thought thrumming through her mind as she crawled back to watch helplessly the battle I'm all right, I'm all right
A sudden barrage of shots, a high noise and Felicity is thrown from her perch with a cry. Sudden fire blooms on her upper arm, plunging down, past the lantern, landing hard on the scaled serpent. Riccochet.
 
Gaia

(OOC. To those of you who are wondering, I am extremely sorry for my absence. My friend and I were in an accident, a drunk driver took her life. So I have been a bit away, both mentally and physically. I apologize, maybe things will get back to normal. Merry Christmas.)


IC:

I had continued to chant, the zombies were growing stronger. The rain was letting up. I had no control over it, I never seemed to be able to make things do what I needed them to. I pleaded with the ancients.

That is when it got horrible. I winced as another vision plagued me, just as the one with the undead had plagued me to come here.

>>>Darkness. The Forest. Running through the forest. The town had always brewed evil. More Undead. Creatures, no vision for them, only blank space. The ancients chanted. I saw them, chanting around a fire, Screaming...fear...their bodies laid splayed around the fire. Dead. The last of their kind. Villages before mine, trying to go on through life, not practicing the ways fo the ancients. They had no magic. More death. The same fire with the bodies of the ancients. I was dancing around it. The same creatures came. Evil. I lay before the fire, dead.<<<

I cried out as I opened my eyes. Zombies surrounded me. They wouldn't come near the fire. But some were becoming bold.

There was nothing I could do to fend off all of them. I went to my thigh to take a long dagger. Slicing the arm off of one of them, and throwing the knife into the skull of another, I reached for another knife.

It was too late. I scrambled, chanting....Using as many of the knives as I could...they wouldn't die.

I screamed.
 
Felicity

OOC: Lava Goddesss, my thoughts with you.

IC:
As I fell I heard a strange echo of my own scream. Flickering images, bodies surrounding me, attacking me. It felt like someone elses vision. A glimpse of a bloodied knife held in my hand. my hand? I realised as I hit the serpents body that the knife was not in my hand. As I passed out from the pain in my shot arm, I whispered the name "Gaia"
 
Statler

The snake's head falls flat on my chest, blood covering my chest and tomach and splattering my face. It lay still, heavy. I don't move at first, as though I think the thing is sleeping and will wake if I disturb it. Then, Realizing that the shots had actually killed it, I press the head aside, straining to get from beneath it and stand, the cool air striking the warm blood on my chest and sending shivers through me.
I look around, seeing my guns, which I dropped in attempt to brace myself from the snake's giant head, laying on the earthen floor. I grab them and reholster them, thinking, I'll have to reload them as soon as possible. I look up toward the doorway above, expecting to see Felicity there, but see no one.
"Felic--"
I catch sight of her then, laying partially on the snake and partially on the ground, her arm bleeding.
"Shit!" I spat, running over to her and checking her vital signs. Alive, just unconscious. I slide my arms beneath her and lift her up, thinking, how can I get her out of here?
I set her on the bottom of the staircase, tearing off the sleeves of her injured arm and uninjured arm alike, using the latter to bandage the former (my own clothes were too blood-saturated to be of any use) and hoping to at least slow the bleeding. It didn't look too severe, but some were and didn't.
I looked around again, knowing there was no way to get upstairs again. THe breeze hit me again, nd I shivered, then it hit me. Where was it coming from? I grabbed the lantern from the rope and walked toward the back of the cellar, seeing the rickety wooden boards covering the mine entrance. I should have known. Lots of old houses were built like this, over abandoned mines. Part of the bottom boards were broken where the snake had entered, its body only there starting to taper off to a tail.
I quickly reloaded my pistols from the bullets on my belt, then holstered them again and hurried back to Felicity. I wanted to carry her the way a gentleman should, hugging her to my chest and keeping both arms beneath her, but I needed my hands free for my pistols and to pull the boards free, not to mention the lantern, so I tossed her over one shoulder, and went back to the mine's entrance. Carefully, I tore away the boards, thinking, I hope this snake was a loner...
 
Felicity

Dreams flicker, screams, the stench of decay. A barrage of emotions and pain rolling through her, tearing at her mind, destroying her.

Felicity the name drifted to her

Felicity

Come back to me Felicity

Insistently, the voice pulled her, putting her unravelled self back together.

"Felicity" she whispered "My name is Felicity"

Eyelids flickering as she struggled to awaken, Felicity murmered a final time before rousing fully Gaia
 
Mac - a stray dog

Snuffing about, Mac was disturbed by the rotting man-smells. Things seemed to have altered, and what should be lying down dead and still was up and walking around, spilling fresh man-blood.

The loud booms of the metal sticks the mans use had all but stopped, only the occasional startling boom rang out through the town.

A quick barrage of booms and a scream to one side, an answering scream from the other, a sudden insistent tugging on his mind..

Mac was pulled along, towards the screams and the smell of smoke. Peering from around the corner of a stable Mac saw a She in trouble, the dead men-things were attacking her. The urge to make the dead men-things lie down and stay dead was strong upon him. With a fury he'd never felt before he attacked, teeth rending the dead flesh, hamstringing them, ripping out throats, tearing them apart, keeping them from the She. Almost all done, dead men-things running away, but one of the dead men-things had a sharp-metal in his hand, pain filled him as the sharp-metal sunk into his flesh.
 
Statler

As I pull the boards away, I feel her lay limply there, swaying as I do, showing no resistance. I have to keep moving, but I can't help but double check her signs. I kneel down and lower her onto my lap, not letting her touch the cold floor, and lower my head to listen for breathing.
Yes, she's breathing, and quite strong, though I'm well aware that that may change.
Hold on, I think, hold on or come out of it.
I look into the darkness of the mine, wondering what lies there, then look back to her, the familiarity I felt before suddenly coming back to me.
Felicity I thought, feeling as though I should know her by name alone.
I had been worried to begin with, but ow it seems to drive right through me, as if searching for my soul. I would have been surprised if it found one.
Felicity, I thought, Come back to me Felicity.
I watch her for a moment, as if I'd spoken out loud and expected a response, then shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts, and start to lift her again.
"Felicity," she whispered, her lips barely moving. "My name is Felicity."
I lowered her again, without thinking, and pressed my lips to her forehead.
"Okay girl" I begin, "Come out the rest of the way..."
 
Felicity

The tender touch of lips on her forehead stirred long forgotten memory. With a small sigh, Felicity lifted a trembling hand to Statlers cheek before jerking it back at the stabbing pain in her arm.
 
Statler

SHe was awake,though she hardly seemed alert.
I reached down and ran my hand over her cheek, hping for a response, an eye fluttering or opening, something. I'd heard something though, just as she spoken, when she'd said her nam, and only then did it sink in.
Gaia.
What did that mean?
I looked into the mine again, wondering if we could make it to the other side safely.
No choice but to try.
"Okay, Felicity," I said, reaching beneath her again and lifting her back onto my shoulder, "We've got to go."
Once on my feet, I raised the lantern in front of me and crept around the snake's massive body into the mine, letting the light spread out before me. The air was cool, actually growing cold when the breeze picked up. A night breeze in the desert, and it would only get worse as the night went on.
 
Felicity

Rousing, Felicity dangled from Statlers shoulder. The jolting from his steps sending daggers of pain through her.

"Let me up, I can walk" she called softly to him
 
Statler

Wearily, I set her down, careful to stay close to her, shoulder she find she'd misjudged how capable she was.
"Okay," I said, "But carefully. i don't want..."
I trailed off, not wanting to finish.
She'll be fine, I thought, but still...
I held the lanern out in front of us, trying to see ahead into the gloom and shadow.
THe snake's body was behind us now (it'd been almost twenty feet in length!) but what might be ahead worried me more. Worse still, I thought I'd heard something rustling ahead, though it sounded like a rodent.
"Stay close by," i said, trying not to sound concerned. "We're better off if we stay near one another."
I stepped slowly forward toward the darkness.
 
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