Spook Out! investigation One- File Two
Investigation One – File Two
March 15th. 20XX
Rita looked around the wooded area, ready to tease.
"What kind of a park is this? Where’s all the playground stuff?"
Ruben rolled his eyes as he moved towards the office building nearby, an old wooden cabin.
The team had just driven for close to an hour to the park where Tristan worked. Moe was fussing over Peadar, who was bent over and groaning. Unused to the speed of the vehicles, car rides made him sick.
"I'll be fine, Moe- I just hate cars." Peadar murmured and stood straight with puffed cheeks. Moe frowned, hands raised and ready to heal. Silas passed the pair, chuckling.
"C'mon, the other two are gonna leave us behind.”
Moe looked between Rita and Ruben, and Peadar. He still looked a little green, but he wandered after the other two, as if to make a point that he didn't need help. With a sigh, Moe caught up to Ruben as he entered the log building. Inside was as typical for a park, with the office decorated like an old wooden cabin. There was a taxidermy bear in the corner, other smaller stuffed animals scattered around. An old saw hung on the wall, and all fabric surfaces available were plaid.
Moe approached the desk, where a young woman was sitting. She looked up and at Moe and then Ruben, who had followed.
"Hello! What can I do yous for?" she asked. Moe froze; her words were stuck in her throat.
"Uh- We're, um- I mean-" she stuttered, looking around anxiously.
"We're from Rott's investigations, and Tristan asked for us to help out. Is he around?" Ruben saved Moe from her stumbling and calmly addressed the woman. She paled, but nodded, smile slipping as she reached for the phone on the desk.
"I'll get him out here for you." she murmured. Moe muttered a thanks, retreated away from the desk and stood a bit from where Rita, Silas and Peadar made jokes about the taxidermy bear.
“He looks like he’s had better years.” Peadar chuckled. Ruben stayed with Moe, his lips downturned.
"You okay? You don't usually freeze up like that." He asked, and watched Moe's freckled face as she cleaned her glasses.
"I'm fine. Just got nervous." She muttered, replaced her glasses on her face and saw Tristan enter the room, ready to bring the team deeper into the forest.
There was a shallow river in front of them, a path going over a bridge to the right. Ruben, Silas and Peadar were checking out the surrounding spaces, leaving Tristan with the women.
"This is barely a stream." Rita muttered, looking around. Moe frowned, looking at the water flow by.
"It doesn't seem like a likely place for someone to drown..." She agreed, slowly.
"Sometimes the river is deeper, depending on the season. It’ll get bigger soon, when the snow melts." Tristan explained. "But I do see your point."
"With the recent rains, it's hard to track anything that’s been through." Peadar said as he returned to the other three.
"I call for a good old-fashioned Stake out!" Ruben shouted excitedly, still a ways into the woods with Silas further past him. Moe frowned harder, chewing on her knuckle.
"We can split up into two groups." Rita announced, glancing at Tristan. "Ruben and Silas can watch until dark, then Moe, Peadar and I will take over after dark."
"That sounds like a good plan. Or at least the best plan we have, currently." Peadar mumbled, adjusting his sword belt on his hip. Moe eyed his sword, tilting her head.
"Is that silver?" She asked, pointing to the weapon. Peadar nodded proudly, unsheathing it a bit.
"I figured silver would be a good way to go." He said, turning to give a curious Ruben a better look.
"Where do you get all the swords, man?” he asked, and Peadar shrugged, putting it away.
"Flea markets, mostly, and I had one when I left the faewilds, too." He said. Silas hummed, still staring at the trees as he walked closer to the group. They all turned to watch him, the only one still on the lookout. Silas turned to the others finally, a smirk upon his lips.
"So, Ruben and I are first watch?"
Moe sat between Rita and Peadar, adjusting her glasses as she stared into the darkness.
"... I can't see anything. Should we light a fire?" She asked Peadar in a hushed tone. Rita was leaning against the redhead, dozing.
"A fire would ruin your night vision even more." Peadar murmured back, smiling apologetically. "And there’s not a whole lot of suitable wood to do so, anyways."
"Right, right. It's all wet cause of the rain and snow." Moe mumbled, turning back to watch over the stream. Nothing of interest to see. Rita groaned a bit, turning to lay the other way as Peadar stood up.
"The sound of running water is making me have to go. I'll be right back." He said with a smile to Moe. She smiled back, tight lipped and less carefree, but she didn't say anything as he walked away into the darkness.
Moe watched him go as long as possible, not wanting Peadar to be out of eyesight. When he stepped behind a tree, however, Moe sighed. She waited for a while, every sound deafening against the silence of the forest. Rita started to snore, so Moe covered her more with Peadar's coat.
After a while, Moe heard a twig snap in the opposite direction that Peadar had gone. Expecting Peadar, Moe's eyes widened as she saw a tall figure duck behind a tree.
"... Hello?" She called out, hesitantly standing up. There was more rustling that way, so Moe carefully followed it, eyes peeled and heart racing.
"... Silas?" Moe furrowed her brow after seeing what she thought was the lanky build of the other witch, but they continued to move further away. Moe ran to catch up, cursing herself for being so out of shape. With a quick word, Moe conjured a ball of light above the retreating figure, who certainly looked like Silas, with his hair and clothes. There was another river ahead, large and rushing. How had the team missed this one? Moe finally caught up to the other figure, gripping his wrist to get him to stay still.
"Silas- Why are you-" Moe cut herself off as the being looked at her and she realized too late, that wasn't Silas. Its eyes were too dark, teeth too sharp. She screamed and tried to let go of the thing's wrist, finding her hand stuck to the greying skin. The feeling was wretched, sticky in and almost painful way. The skin shifted and moved like putty under Moe’s hand as it sank into the bottom leg of the horse.
As she was tugged towards the river, Moe felt the mist of it on her face. her sneakers dug into the mud as she pulled desperately against being pulled down.
Moe suddenly fell backwards. The creature that now resembled a dark grey horse made a horrid noise, like a child screaming ferally as it reared back. It was missing the bottom part of its front leg, the hoof still in Moe’s grasp. Peadar stood between it and the fallen Moe. His sword was raised protectively in his hands. Moe left the quickly decomposing monster limb to the mud to scramble backwards. Stones and twigs along the ground pricked her skin with scratches and pain, but she needed to put distance between her and the fight.
The kelpie snarled at Peadar, lunging forwards. The swordsman, in response, spun to the side, and lured the monster further down the furious river. It’s severed stump had melted skin and blood pouring from it, mixing with the river water.
The kelpie stared Peadar down, hobbling after him. As it suddenly lurched for another attack, Peadar gracefully side stepped and with both hands around his sword’s handle, brought his weapon down in a wide arc to sever the head from the body. It let out one more roar, before slumping to the mud.
Moe, in the newfound quiet of the forest, turned to the side and retched, unloading her supper. Peadar was besides her in an instant, bundling her up in his arms.
"You're okay, you're fine." He whispered, brushing hair back from her face. Moe could see her vision blur, before she passed out.
Moe shot up, fully awake and alert. Looking around herself in a frenzy, she calmed when she saw the stuffed bear in the corner of the park's office. She had been laid on the couch.
"Mornin'! Feeling alright?" Silas asked, leaning against the back of the couch with a mug of coffee. Moe swallowed as she stared him down. Silas raised an eyebrow, sipping his drink.
"You okay?" He asked, softening his voice. Moe took a breath and nodded, rubbing at her face.
"Where are my glasses?" She asked and was handed the round spectacles by Silas. She cleaned them and put them on, staying quiet as he climbed over the back of the couch to sit beside her.
"What did you see out there?" He asked as he watched her face. "Cause I find it hard to believe your anxious ass went up to a random horse to pet."
"Especially with a Kelpie on the loose." Moe chuckled dully. She swayed where she sat, thinking through her words. "... It looked like you, at first. I thought it was you."
"Me? Have you heard of Kelpies shapeshifting like that?" Silas asked, surprised. Moe shrugged, puffing out her cheeks.
"I haven't seen anything like that in my reading, no, but not many folks get to live to tell the tale they saw a kelpie."
Silas nodded thoughtfully, taking another sip of his coffee.
"Well, it's dead now, and Peadar and Ruben are burning the body, as your books suggested." He announced. Moe nodded along, eyes on Silas's wrist. Hesitantly, she reached for it, running her fingers over his forearm, before pulling her hand back.
"Sorry." She mumbled, and Silas snickered.
"I'm not a kelpie, and you're not dreaming." He soothed. Moe pouted, huffing.
"I know that! I just... Wanted to make sure."