Chapter 4

Help and Horror

Life in Bright Harbor isn't quite as busy as one would expect, but it's a big step up from life in a sleepy, dying town like Possum Springs.

Trying to save up for a better home than their apartment, Bea clocks in at a library uptown and spends her day organizing books and occasionally peeking into them to find new additions to her own collection. When there's fewer visitors and no books to reshelve, she'll be typing away on her laptop, trying to work on either new song lyrics or her first novel.

She once thought that dream to be a distant memory, but somehow, her time with Mae has rekindled the passion she thought long gone, for many things. As it is, she already has six chapters written, which of course are meticulously checked over and already edited a dozen times each.

But today, she finds herself browsing the occult section, looking into anything she can find regarding The Forest God and surrounding legends. Sadly, there's little come by that she hasn't already seen, but it's at least occupying her time while the library's almost dead on a Monday morning.

But one text does grab her attention.

It's… old. Very, very old. There's no date on it, and the leather it's bound in is barely held together anymore. The pages are brittle and stiff, but it turns well enough to carefully skim through.

The contents, though, are… confusing. Countless recipes, brewing herbs and animal products she's never seen listed anywhere else before. Aged rat livers, powdered cicada molt, slowly and evenly infuse a 6-inch rope of hemp… ok, she can get behind that last ingredient.

Regardless, it's clear this book was left here under a shelf ages ago, and doesn't even have any labels. Someone planted this here, and it's not so dusty to have been abandoned completely.

After a few moments, she slowly sets it back, but takes a photo of it's exact position to check later.

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Mae huffs as she carries a rattling box up the stairs to a neighboring apartment. "Damn, Law, what the hell is in this thing?"

Law leans in to peek at the label. "Ok… that's all recording equipment. Yeah, it can get pretty heavy. Oh, and the hard drive with backups of all our original recordings and videos I made."

She grins. "Bitchin'. So, what, this the heaviest box, then?"

"Nah, that'd be all my horror novels. And my metal props. Both of those are a lot worse, but I think dad already got those." Law stumbles as his little sister races pats through the narrow hall. "Lucy, slow down! Ugh… well, I guess she's just as excited as I am to finally be out of Possum Springs."

"Welcome to the real world, Law. Where your town isn't collapsing around you and life can actually go somewhere."

Jason hums as he catches up with the last box. "Well, it's all thanks to you two and the rest of the band that we're even here. Honestly, I wanted a better job out this way for a while, but moving here to get it was the hard part…" He sets the box down in their new, largely bare livingroom. "But, thanks you all helping my insanely talented son get his career going early, we've finally got a chance."

Mae waves him off. "Eh, it's nothin. Honestly, the whole thing was a huge gamble, Law and Jackie are the ones who really made it work." She gently hip-checks him with a grin. "So, you guys need any help unpacking?"

"Nah, this should do for now, but thanks, Mae." He stumbles as Lucy goes running past again, the giggling mouse toddler proving too much to tame. "Lucy, settle down!"

Just as the girl runs outside, a familiar pierced cervine face steps around the corner and ushers her back in. "Hey, not so fast! Ya almost went right down the stairs." She chuckles and stands in the doorway. "So, you must be Law's father. I'm Sherry."

He sighs in relief and holds his hand out for a shake. "Jason. Thanks for helping my son get here in one piece last week."

She gladly shakes. "Oh, it's nothing. I know this city like the back of my hand, seeing a new kid panicking on the sidewalk isn't too uncommon of a sight. One I actually recognized though was a bit of a surprise." She shrugs. "I know this city can be a bit much for people at first."

Jason sighs in relief. "It's a miracle he found someone so welcoming and helpful so soon. I really can't thank you enough."

She rolls her eyes. "Believe me, I don't need anything for it. But, if ya ever need someone to watch the little one, or show you around a bit, just let me know. I've got a lot of experience with kids, she won't be a problem for me."

"Uh… yeah, I thought it'd be a lot harder to find a good babysitter." He chuckles. "Ok, let's trade numbers quick. I'll be starting my new job tomorrow, so…"

"Oh, consider it done. I've been retired for a while, I've got nothing but time."

Mae watches this all from the sidelines, nightmare eyes locked on graying fur that causes static in her head.

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Selma lounges in a hammock in Jackie's flat, with Jackie laying across her. She hums idly as the afternoon sun filters in and soaks into her fur. There's a comfortable silence, save for a gentle humming occasionally as she plans out new lyrics.

"… You alright, babe? You seem to be having a lot more trouble with this one."

She sighs and shrugs it off. "Tryin' to adapt an old poem into the perfect 'fuck you' song for Dennis. Every band needs one, and I'm the only one us that had an actually big breakup. Mae's was just kinda funny."

She snorts. "Yeah, a bit. The next album could probably use that. You sure you wanna lock yourself in that headspace to write it, though?"

"Eh, I got no problem with it. I have you here to keep me grounded, and it's a good way of putting the last of that pain behind me and turning it into something productive. Besides, I already made one of our artsiest songs, now I gotta make one that shows I'm diverse."

Jackie rolls her eyes. "Ok, excellent points. But I get the feeling there's a lot more to it than that. Worried about Mae's visions?"

"… Maybe a little. Still pretty new to all this supernatural shit, not that I had any trouble believing it. What's got me more worried is what I heard last week at my club meet, what it could mean…" She shudders. "… A soul ripped to shreds… it feels like... a complete perversion of the supernatural. Souls are… essential, sacred, and something is out there just… shredding them? It sounds like we're in over our heads and would have been better off staying back in Possum Springs."

Jackie sits up, then leans down to gently kiss her. "If it is too much, I'm sure you can all back out of dealing with it at any time. Just make sure you come home to me, alright?"

Selma hums into that kiss with a grin, nuzzling her beloved goat. "Yeah… I don't think there's any threat of that. Besides, I know my slashers. If we have to fight anything, I know how to live."

Jackie chuckles and lays back down. "Alright, alright… So, need any help with those lyrics?"

"Hmmm… nah, I think ya just did. I think I can finish this now."

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Mea lays across Angus' couch, staring at the ceiling with a pencil in her mouth and random sketchbooks scattered around her. "How about… A rat king boss… that's got a few dozen minions' tails stuck to his huge one, like a big leash? They're all rabid and half-rotted, and he commands them with some royal scepter that casts spells that make them focus on the player."

Angus sits up a bit straighter in his desk chair. "… Put it in a pit in a sewer level, with him on a pillar and throne in the middle. His tail hangs into the bottom, and you gotta get his tail tied up to make his minions drag him down."

Mae snaps and grins. "And the pillars break under stress, but he raises spiked ones as attacks later that you can use when too many break!"

"Perfect. How soon can you sketch that?"

"Gimme a week, and I'll even have the sewer assets and arena done."

Angus nods and returns to typing. "We may actually be able to make this thing… especially with the hand-drawn aesthetic with your style, it should be pretty awesome."

"Maybe I should get a tablet."

"You need a PC first."

"Damnit. Ok, maybe in a few months."

"I'll help you build it, it'll be cheaper and sooner. And stronger."

Mae rolls over to face him. "So, how'll this rat king fit into the lore you've written?"

"The destruction of The Forest God led to the collapse of a kingdom and it's people demanding help from the Huncher to overthrow their king, at the same time as the king begging the Huncher for help subjugating his people. She bound them together, with them fully dependent on each other to survive."

"Oooohoho, hell yeah. Ok, what about the corrupted church level?"

"I was thinking of making the boss there an old priest who people are still actively following, but he's kinda brainwashed them into his personal cult. Uses a bunch of light spells and looks mostly normal, but gross in phase one, then mutates into some unholy abomination in phase two."

"If this game were set in modern day or at least the fifties, I'd love to give him a tommy gun."

He pauses for a moment to consider it. "… Idea for a sequel, then. Jump a couple hundred years, see how messed up the future is."

"Hell yeah!" Mae flops off the couch and hits the floor. "Ugh!" She lays there for a moment, but slowly pushed herself up. "Ok, I'm good. Still workin on the final boss, though. Making a satisfying design for her is tough."

"Well, main antagonist and final boss, she should be. And still three phases, right?"

"Maybe a secret fourth for a true ending?"

"Hmmm… yeah, I can see that. I'll think on it."

"Well, you do that, I gotta go catch up with Gregg for that meet with the coven downtown." She hops up from the floor and stretches. "Sure you don't wanna join us?"

He saves his file and scoots back. "Ya know, I think I will join you for it. Might make for good research, and hey, you'll just be retelling me whatever ya learn there anyway."

"Bitchin', let's move."

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The front door of this coven head's home is bright and unassuming. Delicately arranged flower boxes are scattered across the narrow porch and in the windowsills, and a few intricately carved wooden talismans hang in the windows and on the door. None of these talismans are ostentatious enough to be off-putting or obvious from the street, appearing as simply tasteful decoration.

This doesn't stop Mae from feeling like these talismans hold some serious degree of power here.

When the door finally opens, after Gregg's rapid and overexcited knocking. They find themselves standing before a rat woman in a flowing, layered gown of lilac and gentle gold. Her peppered fur appears almost fluffy, but thinned with age. "Ah, Night in the Woods, it's lovely to have you here! I suppose two of your bandmates were a bit busy to come?"

Gregg shrugs. "Eh, Bea has a day job, and Selma's busy writing a new song for the next album and probably getting distracted by her girlfriend."

She laughs softly, yet earnestly. "Oh, young love, how I miss it. Can't blame her for that sort of distraction, it's only natural, and so very much worth it. Now, come in, I'm sure we have so much to discuss. Especially you and I, Mae!" She steps aside and waves them in.

"Oh, uh… I guess so? I am the most, uh… supernatural of us."

The inside of her home is just as green as her porch, with a wide variety of colorful flowers and herbs, and half the livingroom left in considerable darkness for more nocturnal plants to bloom. "Come right in, and do be careful on that side, some of my nightshades are blooming."

Angus takes a moment to inspect them more closely, particularly a violet flower with tightly-locked and long petals, shading and guarding the seeds. "Atropa belladonna… quite the dangerous plant you have here."

"Oh, yes, but only if you're dumb or crazy enough to eat it. But for some of my rituals and tinctures, it's a potent and crucial ingredient, though rarely used. It's meant to be reserved for only the most dire circumstances." The witch takes a seat on one of her large, ornate couches. "Please, sit. And call me Lilly. So, I hear you've been having some troubling prophecies as of late, Mae."

Mae nods shakily as she takes a seat across from her. "Not so much prophecies as… warnings, directly from the pieces of the Forest God. The cat's the only one that'll speak to me in my dreams, and the bird, James, he hasn't stopped in to see us in a while."

She rolls her eyes. "Ah, so he goes by James now. Well, I haven't seen him myself in a good thirty years, but I'm sure he's doing just fine."

Gregg chuckles. "Yeah, he's pretty cool. His whole family is. Actually, we're good friends with his great, great grandson."

"He mentioned a family once, I always wondered how they were doing. Good to hear his descendants are going strong. Now, what was the content of these warnings the demigods gave you, dear?"

Mae rubs the back of her neck. "Well, it was really vague, cuz… well, the cat always is. According to James, it's power is largely over time, so it tends to mix up tenses and see things as being 'soon' or even 'now' when it's really millions of years out. But this time, it seemed pretty clear that the threat it was talking about is here, in Bright Harbor, as we speak. Something that scares even the demigods, something unnatural. It's making their powers unstable."

Lilly's eyes narrow slowly, biting her lip as her eyes start to dart about. She soon gets up and starts to search her shelves and drawers. "Did you happen to see anything concrete in those visions? A glimpse at whatever it was that was threatening them?"

"Uh… yeah, I saw something, but I couldn't really tell what it was. It was big, taller than the forest, and it looked stitched together."

She sighs shakily and pauses for a moment before replacing a few ingredients and gathering a few from tightly-locked drawers. "An astral amalgamate of some kind, a homunculus of tortured souls. One of the darkest and most forbidden arts in all of witchcraft. Manipulating souls is horrific enough, but that?... I hadn't known any were daring to commit such atrocious acts on such a scale."

She starts to grind and mix ingredients in a hurry, liquefying some, powderizing others, and then rapidly boiling some of them to reduce them to a fine crystal. The smells were potent and confusing their senses rather quickly.

Angus clears his throat. "Is… that meant to be some form of… defensive potion?"

"Close, dear. Defending against such an abomination is very, very difficult, and we lack the time and conditions to prepare something like that. For now, what I'm making is detection vials. These will heat and glow in the presence of this creature, giving you an ample warning to get the hell out of dodge should it approach you." She peeks back in the middle of her work, eyes wild, but hyper-focused. "Once I've given you these, you are not to leave your homes at night without them. If you leave with the intent or even chance of not returning until after the sun has set, you bring them. I'll be making enough for your whole band. Are we clear?"

Mae nods sternly. "Crystal. And we'll tell you if we manage to spot it."

"If you do, I pray you survive long enough to inform me."