OMG, I am sooo sorry! I've been busy lately, and … yeah. Well, this chapter's kind of short too, but I promise the next one will be longer!

POTIONS II: TIME CHASER

CHAPTER TWO

WELCOME TO ST. BURG

"Come, take a seat, boy," An elderly man said to Chris, gesturing to the extra seat next to him.

Chris hesitated a moment, and then shrugged, sitting in the chair.

"So where are you from?"

"San Francisco," Joe said for him. "Big city."

"A city boy can't survive out here," The old timer said. Others nodded or grunted an agreement. Chris looked them over.

"I think I can handle a small town," Chris said with some amusement.

"Not St. Burg. It ain't like other small towns round these parts," The old man said.

"Oh, stop it Red, you're scaring the boy," A middle age woman said, settling down beside him. "I'm Lillian Forrest. Don't listen to my husband here; he doesn't know what he's talking about half the time."

"Darn it, woman, there you go again, allowing that slit in your face to show your own intelligence," The man, Red, said. His wife simply started laughing.

"It's nice here," Chris acknowledged. "Everyone seems to get along."

"In a place like this, all you have is each other," Red told him. Chris took a slow sip of his beverage, allowing it to swish around in his mouth. It tasted pretty good, surprisingly. He gladly took another gulp before asking, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means nothing," Joe said quickly, eying Red warily. "Just old folk tales these civilians are bent on sticking by."

Chris thought for a minute. "If you tell me a tale, I'll tell you one," He said.

"Oh, a story?" a little girl of six asked. She had her long blond hair pulled back and was dressed in a traditional skirt and top. Her friend beside her, another girl of six with fiery red curls poking out from under a bonnet, looked up at Chris expectantly.

"I doubt you could have anything compared to the tales we've got around here," Lillian admitted. Chris shook his head.

"Oh, I've got some good stories," He said, thinking of one particular incident when he was twelve, and a certain shadow in the basement attacked.

"Tell the story of the Parkin's house!" The blond squeaked. Her silent friend nodded her head emphatically.

"Oh, that's a good one. Tell it, Red!" Lillian exclaimed.

"Alright, there's this old farm house just outside of town, where the old Parkin's lived," Red began.

"Oh, gather round, y'all! Red's gonna tell one of the stories!" Someone called. Everyone quickly drew in closer.

"Well I'll say it again, then. This is about the old Parkin's place." A murmur tore through the room. "Yes my friends, I said the old Parkin's place. Why, I knew the Parkin's myself."

"Oh Red, did you really?" A little boy asked.

"I think he's lying," another hissed.

"That I did. Not making a word of this up." It was true that everyone in the room aside from the clueless Chris actually knew the whole story – probably by heart – but there was very little entertainment in St. Burg, and when a story was told, everyone loved to hear it.

"Now Mr. Parkin was a 'to himself' sort of man. He and his wife would stay out on that old farm most of their time. Coming in to town only now and then to get their essentials. Well, I was a young boy back in those days."

"You, young!?" Someone called from the back. Everyone shared a laugh at this.

"Let me tell you this. This family was quite the unusual one. I remember they had a son and a daughter. The girl was pretty thing, but she never spoke. I swear on it! Never once did she open her mouth. And her brother – quickly agitated was he. Once, he and my oldest brother got in a fight about something – can't say I remember what, though."

"Get to the point, Red!"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, if that's the way you want it. Well I used to work in my Father's shop for him, and one day messenger comes, saying the family needed some things brought out to their little farm house. So I get on my old horse and take a ride over there with the small bundle attached to my saddle. It didn't take too long to get there, mind ya. It may have been a little ways off, but a horse can get there in less than fifteen minutes if ya had one like mine. But y'all knew that already, didn't ya? So I pull up in front of that old house, and I hear some mighty strange noises from inside. Now don't get me wrong, they could have just been moving things around, but next thing I know, that girl is being thrown out the window, and sprawled out on the grass at my feet."

"What happened?" Chris asked.

"Well I was getting there. Patience! So I marched up to that door – after checking to make sure the girl was alright, course. I opened that door to start yelling at that father of hers – I thought he had done it. But when I'd that door, I came face to face with a horrible monster." His old face scrunched up with disgust, and Chris shifted nervously in his chair.

"I swear, this creature was a creature from hell! He had such awful breath, I thought I was going to die, and its looks – I've seen ugly, but this thing was hideous! Well, I backed down those steps and started running back to my horse. Didn't get the chance to run, though, 'cause that thing grabbed me up, and hurled me against the wall. Had a headache for at least three weeks after that bump. Well, that wife runs up, and throws some sort of bottle at the thing. Next thing I know, she's being thrown back and that bottle's broken on the floor."

"A potion?" Chris asked.

Red turned to stare at Chris in surprise. "A what?" He asked. Now all eyes were on Chris.

Me and my big mouth, Chris thought with agitation. "Well, it sounds like a potion. I've heard, uh, talk about such things. They help to vanquish, uh, the devil's … hands?"

"Aiy, those are things of witches!" Someone spoke up.

"There ain't no such thing as witches," Another argued. Chris looked towards the voices, but his attention was quickly drawn to a hidden figure in the back of the crowd. Whoever it was had their cowboy hat pulled down so no one could see his face, and was off to the side, away from the conversation. The person noticed Chris's stare, and tucked their hat further down before creeping off towards the exit.

"Oh, these people were hands of the devil," Red said, trying to get attention back. "The husband somehow made the liquid jump off of that floor, and splatter all over the beast. It burst into flames – right in front of my own two eyes!"

Chris turned back to him. They were talking about a demon. They even had demons out here in the old west? There was something he hadn't known. Maybe he shouldn't stay much longer.

"How'd you get away from there, Red? Without that family killing ya?"

"Why, I stood up and told that husband that I knew of his devilry, and that soon the whole town would know."

"What'd they say?"

"Well -." He was cut off by a gun shot just off in the distance. Everyone turned to the door, horror and shock on their face. Sheriff Joe pushed them aside, and went to the door. Chris quickly followed him, and then the town. Outside it seemed as if there was nothing, but soon Chris heard the gun shot again.

"Get inside and stay out of the way!" Joe called. Chris took this chance to duck away so he could orb. Seconds later he was standing somewhere on the other side of the town. Before him was a demon, hissing at a young boy who was twirling a lasso. The demon's tongue snaked out, shaking furiously. Then another gun shot sounded off, and Chris looked to where it came from, to see a figure strolling forward holding two gun's in it's hands. It was the figure from the pub.

The stranger tilted their face up and allowed the light to catch their face. It was a young woman no older than seventeen. She smiled cruelly, and then twirled her guns.

"Now that I have your attention," She said. She stopped the twirling and pointed a gun at the demon. The creature simply snarled at her.

"What trap do you think you've set?" It snarled.

The woman shot it, the bullet passing right through it's arm. It let out a hideous sound, and then glared at her. Why hadn't it tried to escape?

The woman lowered her arm. "Now tell me where I can find my sister."

"You aren't getting anywhere near her."

"Wrong answer," The woman said. She looked to an empty water barrel, and then shot at it. Water came squirting out. A young boy with bright red hair jumped out of nowhere, scooped the water up and threw the container to the woman. She caught it and aimed the thing at the creature.

Chris blinked. Wait … was that a squirt gun?

"Last chance, Brebdin. Where … is … she?"

"Here!" another figure called. The woman's head looked at the second demon. This one held a teenager in it's grasp. Chris, not knowing what else to do, threw a horseshoe conveniently lying around at the back the demons head. It jerked back, dropping the teen in surprise. He spun around to glare at Chris, but the boy with the lasso quickly caught him and pulled him closer. The first demon burst into flame, and the second one – with a glare at Chris – shimmered out of it's captivity.

"Damn it," Another little boy exclaimed angrily. He and the boy with a lasso rushed to the girl who had been taken captive, while the original figure stared into space with an irritated look on her face. Finally, she turned to Chris, and smiled softly.

The girl tucked her guns into her belt, and then held out her hand to Chris. "Welcome to St. Burg," She said.