’Given the fact that the kills have increased and all share the same style symbol, that weird smiley face, I can be certain that one of, if not both of the Demi’s are returners, and if that’s the case, they should have gone back in time to the full extent, and been preparing.’
’Still, that doesn’t answer the WHY part; I doubt that entities old enough to have had entire religions dedicated to them will go on killing sprees for no reason at all, which can only mean they are part of some type of ritual or spell.’
’The effects of which illude me since they could be literally anything. I don’t want to fall too much on theory here, but I need more information.’ Feeling the aching pain in my head subsiding, I slowly got to my feet and looked around the room.
’Sigh, I don’t particularly care about the furniture or state of the room; however, both Xilia and I have shed blood all over the place, and that is something I can’t leave lying around, not because it can be linked back to either of us, but instead because it would be entered into a database, in which case if I ever fuck up and leave trace evidence behind, it could be used to link me to numerous….activities,’ with that thought, I began siphoning every spec of dust, every drop of blood, hell even the carpet and curtains, nothing was safe from entering my inventory and by the time I finished, apart from myself and the still unconscious Xilia, the motel room was empty and stripped down to the concrete slab foundation and studs…yep, I even took the drywall.
From an outside perspective, the room now looked as if it were in the middle of renovations, which was fine and would probably confuse the hell out of the staff, but hey, that’s not my problem.
With all the trace evidence gone and my having given the Motel staff a fake ID and paid in cash, what was left was to hit the road.
Walking over and reaching down, I picked up the unconscious, nearly naked Xilia and tossed her over my shoulder before dawning my cloak and activating its stealth skill.
---
Fifteen minutes and 10 miles later, I stopped on an abandoned stretch of road, and once I was sure the two of us were completely alone, I went ahead and withdrew Baby from my inventory and gently set her down on a patch of grass.
Yes…the car was in my inventory; as for why, well…come on, y’all know how paranoid I am, and let’s be honest, it’s way easier for me to escape a situation on foot than having to worry about getting to the car, starting it and driving off.
Regardless, it was a safety measure since none of the Motel staff or people in that small town saw Baby…well, apart from the Detectives and Cops, but they had bigger issues on hand.
BUT AGAIN, not my problem; no, my problem was getting ready for what was to come.
The first thing I needed to do was gather as much information on Slavic Gods as I possibly could, and for that…I needed to do some…light…reading.
’She’s going to be thrilled about another 13-hour car ride,’ glancing at the unconscious Xilia, who I had tossed into the backseat and been decent enough to place a blanket over, I got us on the road, our destination, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be more specific, the Harvard Library.
---
Eight hours into the drive, Xilia finally woke up and in a not-so-pleasant way.
"TAYLOR WHAT’S HAPPENING!" Sitting up violently and screaming at the top of her lungs, Xilia appeared to be reliving the last seconds before being knocked out, and of course, her little outburst had to come RIGHT as I was changing lanes.
Well, even I can be startled when it goes from dead silent, with only the sound of the engine rumbling and wheels on asphalt being broken by piercing screams from behind me.
Needless to say, I was able to recover control of Baby with ease….as for the three drivers behind me who I accidentally ran off the road just now…meh.
"That was my eardrums, Xil…" Speaking with a slight annoyance in my voice, I picked at my right ear with my pinky and glared at her in the rearview mirror.
"Huh….we’re in the Impala…*groannn* not another road trip…." Sitting up and allowing the blanket to expose her alluring body, Xilia climbed over the center console and joined me in the front of the vehicle.
"Yeah, well, shit happens, and right now, we are better off driving rather than exposing our base and whatnot to the entities I faced back there." Rolling my eyes and reaching over to flick her in the nipple, I got the moan I wanted to hear before focusing back on the road again.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.
"So, care to explain what that weird voice and you using Psy-Shock was all about?"
"Uh….well, the smiley faces this time around form two distinct Symbols, both of which are indicative of a couple of old ass fogies who thousands of years ago claimed to be Gods."
"Gods…."
"Yep…Dievas…er…Slavic Gods, to be more exact."
"Uh…huh. And one of them somehow spoke to us? How’s that work?"
"Eh…juries still out on that one; pretty sure it has something to do with linking up the smileys into the proper symbols, and since only one was finished, I assume the voice we heard should belong to the one named Radegast, a Dievas associated with Hospitality, Food, Drink, sun, fire, crops, and harvest, war, and Abundance." Sniffling slightly, I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel while rattling off all the different attributes Radegast had attached to him.
"Ok, woah woah, slow down a second; how is one even worshiped for Hospitality, like food, sun, fire, drinking, crops, harvest? Sure, even War makes sense, and a case can be made for Abundance, but Hospitality?"
"Uh, I assume it is all linked together, so like, if you’re a hospitable person to people, you will be blessed with a good harvest or something along the lines; people in the dark ages and beyond were always looking for a reason to worship something for personal gain."