Fears In The Water

There would be a time, when dogs could not save this doomed place.

Not dogs, nor dog fox hybrids. Not money loving farmers, nor kind farmer's wives.

Not ducks, regular or from space. Not chickens either.

And especially not a computer.

The Computer thought softly to himself, up in the attic.

This place of twisted chaos and death was likely created by a demon. But it's downfall would be from man. The Computer's screen faced outside the window, seeking something, anything.

Perhaps, he reflected later, it was his morbid hope that brought the landseekers crashing down on them. Who knew anything, anymore?

He watched the men get out of the limosine, watched the royally dressed one walk up and knock on the door of the farmhouse, and wondered if it would just be easier to turn himself off.

After all the time and energy spent in fierce determination to save the farm, nothing but greed would be it's ruin. And soon. It seemed so pointless, really.

-

Courage had been staring up at the staircase, wondering why he had a sense of unease and loneliness when the knock at the door sounded. The next few moments were a painful, uncontrollable blur. Professional talks were made, money was handed over, and Muriel was sitting in her favorite rocking chair, looking quite upset. Courage, resuming his role as loyal dog, jumped up on her lap. She patted his head while glaring at Eustace.

The farmer was gleefully counting money.

"Eustace, this house has been in my family for generations! I aint goin ta get rid of it just because you're as stubborn as a mule when it comes down to money!"
He glanced up at the admonishment. "Eh? We're lucky we got this! You know there aint nothing we can do about it."

To Courage's horror, he felt Muriel's resolve dying. "Oh, if only there was something."

He was confused and worried. And there was only one place to go to when things like this happened.

-

"It's hopeless." The Computer stated.

Courage whined. "Can't you be a bit more optimistic?"

"Don't you understand who those men were, you twit?"
"No, I don't understand anything, except that we have to move. I don't like that."

The Computer sighed. "Alright, those men were from the government. There's a law that states they can give a proper amount of money and take any land for public purposes."
"What if he didn't accept the money?"
"What if hell froze over?"
Courage was silent, mortified.

"Anyway, if he had miraculously refused, they still would have bought the farm, he just wouldn't have gotten any profit at all."
"That's terrible!"
"But true." The Computer's screen flickered. "It says that they plan to use the area for a shopping mall. That's public interest."
"In the middle of nowhere?"
"They have that covered too. Apparently it's to 'unite all the outlying people in convenience and friendship'."

"How can something that sounds so good be so bad?"
"I'm afraid there's simply nothing you can do this time, Courage."

Courage's eyes widened. "Did you just say-"
"Ssh."

Courage frowned. "You're trying to change the subject."
"I meant it when I said shush! Look, down there."

A green arrow appeared on the screen, pointing out the window.

Now more confused than ever, Courage obeyed, and looked outside.

The government men were wandering around, measuring distances and creating markers. One of them was holding a hose, watering the ground.

"So?" Courage turned back, accusing. "What's wrong with watering the dirt?"

The Computer didn't respond for a moment. Finally, almost too quietly, he replied. "The undine..."

Courage looked outside again, and screamed. The puddle was turning black.

And from it, a familiar purple haired figure was rising.

The Queen of the Black Puddle hummed to herself, and immediately turned her eyes to the attic window. She smiled.

Courage screamed louder, and jumped onto The Computer's monitor.

The water demoness seemed amused by his display. She turned back to stare at the man who was watering the ground, his back to her.

She opened her mouth, and incredibly, Courage and The Computer heard her sing, all the way up in the attic. The man's comrades in back stayed with their previous duties, unhearing.

If you are lost in your way, deep in an awesome story, don't be in doubt and stray, cling to your lonesome body

The man turned, amazed, and immediately attracted. The Computer would have shuddered, if he could have. How could this man believe her to be normal? Her hair the purple of corpse bruises, her pale drowned skin, fathomless black pools of eyes. No normal woman moved so smoothly, as if constantly swimming in the air. And that mouth, those fangs...

It was clear her show was as much for them as it was for her intended victim.

The man still stood dumbly, enamored. All had been lost for him since the very first sight he had of her.

Now, you're too close to the pain, let all the rain go further, come back and kiss me again,

The man moved forward, groping in the air as if he were blind.

The Computer missed some of her song, hoping, hoping so deeply she would drag him under to finish him, away from Courage's eyes and his screen.

In the chorus of pain, taking you back to proper ways, it's so easy to find, if you could remind me...

She began subtly changing, her grin grew more predatory, her fingers tightened into grasping claws. The foolish man never noticed. Not even when she grabbed him, turned him around, appraising her meal, did he flinch.

Now, you are lost in your way, deep in an awesome story, so, I will find you again, kiss your lonesome body...

The Computer couldn't turn away. Neither, it seemed, could Courage. They were forced to watch as she bit between the man's neck and shoulder, tearing sinew and skin. The skin she simply pushed out of her mouth with her teeth, and returned for a second bite, going in even deeper.

The man's eyes rolled into his head, his arm twitched as she chewed a muscle, and blood trickled to the ground. Grasping him lightly, confident her prey would not ever be getting away, she led him back to the puddle, pausing to smile at the attic window, where she knew her audience was paralyzed with fear. She licked some blood off her lips, and sunk into the portal.

If you are lost in your way, deep in an awesome story, don't be in doubt and stray, cling to your lonesome body...

The puddle sank into the ground. And with it, slowly, as if unwilling to further taint the ground, the blood disappeared.

The Computer and Courage stared for a long time, long after the men had come looking for their missing companion, long after they had decided he had left and gone themselves.

The ground was bare, but now that it had been seen, there was no hiding the corruption underneath any longer. The undine's music whispered around their heads still, bodiless and malignant, sounding an unneeded warning for the horrors to follow.

-