Chapter 2-60: An Undesired Visitor Arrives (1/2)
Two years pass...
Sama saw the Park Rover coming up the drive, and narrowed her eyes. She automatically removed herself from line of sight of it, working inside the barn as she was, stepping to the window to get a better look at who was inside.
Department of Fish and Game? All the alarm bells were going off here.
“Chomps!” The dog bounced to attention. “Run out there, bark like a fool, and see if there’s a werewolf or something strange inside that damn car.”
Happy to be a nuisance, the Alsatian-mix raced out of the barn, tail up, wagging, and barking like a chihuahua to beat the band.
Her father was working on a tractor in the shed, and hearing the dog, came out quickly to see what was happening. He shot a glance towards the barn as he wiped off his hands, and came out to see the visitors... who obligingly shifted course from the house when they saw him.
The brown and green vehicle dusted to a halt, and a man and a woman got out carefully, glancing at the bouncing Chomps, who had picked up a ball on the way and was prancing about as if he’d found a new person to play with. He was obviously not a threat, especially with the yellow bandana tied around his neck.
“Chomps, leave these people alone,” Darren Piotrowski snapped casually, clapping his hands. Tail drooping, Chomps ran back off, dropping the old baseball on the way. Darren swept his eyes over the lean woman driver and male rider in the forestry garb of Idaho Fish and Game curiously, making mental notes on whether he had any licenses that were out of date. “Wardens,” he greeted them casually. “What brings you out to my farm on such a nice day?”
“Hello there.” The woman took the lead, offering him a firm handshake, which he accepted cordially. “Warden Michelle Elgerton, this is Travis Zemenov.” He shook the man’s hand, too. “We’re doing some drive-by surveying. We’ve had some reports of wolves getting into the herds, and were wondering if you’ve heard or seen anything.”
“Wolves?” Darren frowned, and looked up at the treeline behind the property. “We run four dogs to mind the cows, and don’t run sheep, which really seem to draw them in. Haven’t had any problems with wolves, although I’ve heard ’em howling in the distance. I heard the Salasters got hit a week or so ago, but they don’t run dogs.”
He was actually fairly sure that Sama had gone out there and warned any wolves that if they got anywhere near her territory she was going to Kill Them All, and so they kept a fairly healthy and respectful distance away from the family property.
“Really?” The warden appeared impressed. “No tracks along the edge of the property or anything?”
“Well, I do a sweep of the property once a week or so, and haven’t seen any tracks or spoor come down past the ridge-line. There aren’t many deer in the area here, probably because of the dogs, who sometimes go running at night and like to chase them around.” He regarded them sternly. “Are there new packs coming in? The area probably can’t support so many. I try not to hunt the deer, knowing they need ‘em, and truth be told I haven’t had much problem with the deer coming down into the corn the last couple of years. I think the wolves have been taking them at the edge of the fields and dragging them off.” Again, he was pretty sure that Sama had given them carte blanche to take out deer in the corn fields, given he’d discovered a dozen or more carcasses at the periphery of them.
“You seem to be pretty luckkkk...”
The flash of golden light, wound about with liquid purple, went through her neck in midsentence. It flashed sideways, and buried itself into the side of the skull of the man with a sparking discharge of energy. He was just starting to sprout lengths of fur across his face as he jumped back, just not quickly enough.
Darren blinked in shock, gawking as the corpses of both of the wardens dropped in place. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen his daughter kill someone, but it was the first time she had just popped out of being invisible and executed someone so ruthlessly!
He noticed the unnaturally dark color jetting out of the woman’s neck instantly as he got out of the way of the spray coming out the stump. He wanted to say something, and then saw the look on Samantha’s face as she stared at the woman.
“Papa, get your phone,” she said, as her golden Sword snapped off, revealing the long Dagger beneath it.
There was a note of hate and disgust in her voice he had never heard before, and then he noticed something.
Dark misty flames were starting to rise from the woman, and her skin was darkening to an unnatural green, while bones were starting to shift and creak and extend as she put on a lot of weight out of nowhere...
“Shit,” he muttered, and raced back to the shed to get his phone, tearing his eyes from the Hag that was returning to her natural form before his eyes.
“Samantha!” her mother Karen called out, coming down the steps. Chomps had come running back out, his formerly cheerful demeanor nowhere in evidence, growling faintly at the dead, especially the now seven-foot tall monstrosity that had burst out of a forest warden’s clothing.
“Mama,” Sama replied, as the black smoke wound around her, caressing her skin... and blue-black lines began to erupt at the contact, dark and foul.
She didn’t try to run away, because it would be useless to do so. Karen gasped as she saw what was happening, but her attention was on the severed, distorted head of the Hag, which had a nose nearly six inches long, teeth like misaligned iron needles, hair like a spiky thatch of nettles, and yellow eyes, even dead and confused, that were brimming with wicked intent. “What... this is a greenhag...” she identified it after a moment.
Sama had been certain to show both of her parents pictures of dead Hags, letting them know what the danger might be. “Yes, and killing her has triggered my Curse. It’ll start after dusk tonight. I should have had another six months...” She spat on the Hag’s carcass, as Darren came running back with his cellphone in hand.
“Do we have to go?” Karen asked, making an effort to stay calm at the sight of the horrible creature in front of her.
“I don’t think so. Papa, dial this number.” He had instinctively held out the phone to her, belatedly realized that was a bad idea, and as she rattled off the numbers, punched them in.
It rang on the other end three times, and then a reluctant, dangerous voice answered on the other end, “Who is this?”