They were all sitting in the living room, passing around doobies, sipping alcoholic beverages, and pigging out on junk food in front of the TV. Louis, meanwhile, remained on the outside of the circle, sitting in the armchair with the book on his lap, reading glasses on his nose as he went over the contents inside it and writing down some notes and translations onto a notepad.
"So what have you learned, professor?" Ivan then asked.
"Like whose face they ripped off to make the cover?" Veronica herself asked, only half-joking.
"Apparently this book is called, 'Naturom Demonto', in English: 'The Book Of The Dead'. It's basically a kind of ancient spiritualism manual," answered Louis, "Like a field guide to the spirit world."
"Sounds wicked," said Veronica, "Let me see."
Louis passed the book on to Veronica, who proceeded to flip through the pages, looking over the eerie artworks inside while Ivan peered over her shoulder to get a look as well.
"And you found this thing buried in the woods?" asked Ivan.
"Yeah," Louis answered, "I can't believe somebody just trashed something so valuable."
"Can you blame them?" Erin muttered, her knees folded against her chest, eyeing the book warily from a distance.
As Veronica continued to flip through the pages, she suddenly uttered a sharp cry. "Yow! Damn, a paper cut!" A single drop of her blood fell into the book before she took her finger between her lips to suckle on the small, oddly deep, cut. When her eyes fell back on the book, a new light gleamed in them.
"Hey!" Veronica elated, "There's a part here in English!"
Louis jumped up from his seat to get a look for himself. Even after he saw it, he still couldn't believe it.
"That wasn't in there before," he said.
"Maybe you just need some new glasses," Ivan joked.
"What's this part say?" Veronica asked, pointing to the header at the top of the page, which was still in that ancient language.
"It says..." Louis answered, "something about resurrecting dormant spirits, kind of an invocation, or something. I'm not sure; the writing's faded."
"Sick! Hey, why don't you read some, Vee?" Ivan said, nudging Veronica's shoulder, "Invite some ghosts to come and party with us, hahaha!"
Before she could, Erin interjected, "Please, don't."
"Oh, come on, Erin," Veronica chuckled, "It's not like this stuff is for real or anything."
"You don't know that," Erin replied, "To the people who wrote it, it was."
"Well, they're all worm-feed now, aren't they?" Veronica retorted, rolling her eyes, holding the book up as she prepared to begin reading the passage.
Not wanting to be around to hear any of it, Erin retreated to the kitchen. But even from there, she could still hear Veronica reading aloud.
"Tantir, Ah'mis, Trobeen, A'zarta, Manov, Mansizo, Ha'zan, Sobar..."
Erin, still refusing to hear anymore of it, stormed out of the kitchen, down the hallway and out onto the terrace.
"What's her problem?" Veronica grumbled, pausing from her reading.
Louis then rose and walked out to follow after Erin.
"Keep reading, baby," Ivan goaded, nudging Veronica's shoulder again.
And so she did. "Montosse, Astratta, Nosf'ratos, Irn'rex, Nakta, Amantos, Can'da."
By the time she was finished, Louis was outside with Erin, who was standing leaned forward, resting both her elbows on the wooden railing. Her gaze remained fixed on the sunset, the orange sun lowering past the trees. So focused on it, was she, that she didn't even notice her boyfriend's presence. She didn't even jump when his arms wrapped around her stomach from behind.
"Did it bother you that much?" he asked her.
"I just don't think that kind of stuff should be taken lightly," said Erin.
"Hmm, you're so weird," Louis chuckled next to Erin's ear, trying to lighten the mood, "But that's what I love about you."
His charm succeeded in winning Erin over, as it always had, and her face broke into a smile.
"Let's go back inside," she finally said, and they both returned inside the cabin.
As they reentered, Veronica was in the middle of pouring another drink. When she saw Erin, she pulled her into a hug of inebriated friendliness.
"Hey, I'm sorry about pissing you off with that voodoo shit," she slurred.
"It's okay," said Erin, "But you can make it up to me by mixing me another drink."
"Coming right up."
Veronica went to fix Erin her promised drink, then paused.
"Did you guys hear that?" she asked to anyone who could answer 'yes'.
"Hear what?" asked Ivan.
Then, as if answering for itself, the noise returned, a low rustling, scratching noise.
"Where's it coming from?" Louis wondered.
The rustling returned, followed by a whoosh and crash as something plummeted down from inside the chimney and landed in the fireplace.
"What the hell?" Louis muttered as he stepped closer to investigate. "It's a crow," he proclaimed as he picked up the deceased bird by its wing. Everyone in the room moved in closer to get a look at it. Its neck was broken, its head lolled over to the side with its beak hanging open.
"Many cultures believe that crows deliver lost souls into the afterlife," Erin randomly stated, not wanting to get close to the carcass in Louis' hand.
"So what does it mean when a crow dies?" Veronica asked as she ran her fingers down the soft feathers of the crow's belly.
But before Erin could answer, the unthinkable happened. The crow they had thought was dead suddenly sprang to life. Its wings flapped wildly and it started screeching unlike any bird on Earth, forcing Louis to release his hold on it. When he did, the thing went straight at Veronica, its beak and talons clawing at her face, causing her to fall on her back to the floor. She tried to swat it away with one hand while she used her other arm to shield herself, but the thing persisted, slashing her hands and her arms.
Ivan moved in to try and grab at it. When he did, its beak stabbed into the flesh of his palm, and it continued its assault on Veronica. Leaping into action, Louis grabbed the small shovel by the fire hearth and used it to bat the bird away, sending it flying until it smacked against the wall and slid down to the floor. Its legs gave a few weak twitches, then went still.
"Oh my god, baby, are you okay?" said Ivan as he scooped up the hysterical Veronica in his arms. Her arms were cut up something fierce, same for her face. Her lips and right nostril were split and her right eyelid was sliced pretty bad.
"We got to get those cuts cleaned up," said Erin, and she and Ivan both began to lead her out of the living room. Just as they were about to exit, the crow suddenly came alive yet again. Its wings had been badly broken, so it could not rise off the floor, only flop around like a suffocating fish. Veronica whimpered and tried hiding behind Erin in panic.
Erin took Veronica out of the living room and walked her down the hall towards the bathroom, while Ivan stormed across the room towards the bird. As he stood over it, he could see how badly damaged the thing's body really was. Its beak was crushed, its right wing snapped while its other was completely dislocated, its left leg was broken, and its ribs were protruding from its skin. Not only that, but its eyes were somehow completely milked over, just solid white.
"Jesus," Louis gasped, "How the hell is that thing even still alive?"
"Not for long," Ivan grunted as he raised his foot above the crow and stomped down on its head, crushing it, then continued to trample the animal until it was nothing but a black-feathered pancake on the floor. "That's what you get for cutting up my girlfriend, you little shit!"
and so it begins, MUAHAHA! :D
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