Nell: [The phone’s barely begun to ring when Nell picks it up, living generally on edge these days. She doesn’t hesitate when she sees it’s Blanche’s name on her screen] Blanche? What’s up?
Blanche: [She’s in her car, a little too shaken to drive after seeing Bea like that] Hey. Is Luce with you? Or in the house? You should get her. [Blanche winces when she realizes how this sounds] I’m fine. This is fine. I’m just - You should get Luce.
Nell: Blanche? You’re okay, right? Is something wrong? [She doesn’t hesitate to yell her sister’s name through the cabin to try and find her sister.] Luce! Luce- Blanche is calling, she said she needed both of us. Blanche, do you want me to put you on speaker?
Luce: [From a distance] What? Blanche..? What’s wrong?
Blanche: No! Wait - yes, I’m okay! I meant nothing’s wrong. [Blanche lets out a low audible groan, pinching the bridge of her nose] I need you both to sit down, and I’m not bullshitting you because I have a lot to tell you. I tried to go home tonight to get some more clothes and - Well, Bea found me. Her soul. Spirit.
Nell: [A sharp intake of air as Nell lets out a little gasp, hardly willing to believe it] You found her? Or- she found you? Her ghost? Is she...okay?
Luce: [At the same time as Nell] Her soul? She’s still here? How did you-- is [Listening to Nell, she falls quiet before repeating] Is she okay?
Blanche: [wondering if she should have called sisters individually] One at a time. Yes, she found me. She’s - Yes. She’s gone off, for now. I don’t think she’s quite… rooted to this plane yet? I think she’s still figuring out how to be a ghost. But that’s okay. There’s more. I’d come tell you in person but I can’t - I’m not okay to drive right now. Okay?
Nell: She’s not rooted? Does that mean she might slip away? Is she going to be- to get- lost again? More? What’s more?
Luce: [Nodding, before remembering that Blanche can’t see that] What else is there? And like… [Letting out a loud sigh, she nods again] take care of yourself too.
Blanche: No. She shouldn’t. She has unfinished business to be taken care of. She’s just - Granny says that everyone is different, especially when someone dies violently, and there was the summoning too. She’ll be alright, she’s fine. I promise. And I’m okay, Luce, I just - uh - [Blanche winces, unwilling to mention the head bit.] Have a weak stomach. Truly. But Bea was a necromancer. And she wants to know if you two will help resurrect her.
Nell: [Confused into silence for a moment, she recovers a couple of moments later] A necromancer? But..how? I don’t understand. [it takes her a moment longer to process Blanche’s next words, and she’s tentative to believe that they might get Bea back] Resurrect her…. [another pause] Yes.
Luce: [Too startled to say anything, Luce stares at the phone for a long time.] She was… No. [Too overwhelmed, she keeps her mouth shut and just shakes her head.]
Blanche: [She knew they would be willing to do it. She had told Bea that. Still, she says the next bit anyway.] She wanted you guys to know that you both have a choice. And that it’s dangerous. If something’s off in the ritual, it - it could backfire on the caster or leave the - [Blanche swallows hard, pinching the bridge of her nose] Leave the body disfigured. And it requires a human sacrifice. [Blanche bites her lip, wondering if she should give them a moment to process that before she mentions August] So you don’t have to if you both don’t want too. She’d help, obviously. But… You don’t have to if you don’t want too.
Nell: [This time, there’s no hesitation in her voice. She’s all too ready to get her sister back, to make up for what happened] I’ll do it, I don’t care. If it’s what Bea wants, then I’ll do it. Even if it goes wrong- we have to try. It’s what I want, too. [She realizes Luce hasn’t yet agreed] I- that is- you don’t have to, Luce. Obviously. I want to help, though.
Luce: [After a long moment of grappling with the knowledge that her sister was a necromancer, wants her to resurrect her, and needs a human sacrifice, her mind is made up.] We need her back. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll do anything to bring her back.
Blanche: [She let’s out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and relaxes against the seat of her car] Alright. I’ll - I’ll let you know when she finds me again. [She pauses again] And she said she misses you. And that she would do it all over again if she could, Nell. [Was she doing this right? She didn’t know. She hoped so. But her tone takes a more serious tone at her next words] Does the name August Thompson mean anything to you?
Nell: [She swallows roughly, feeling her throat tighten.] I- tell her- [She goes silent, unable to process the information of Bea speaking to her through Blanche. So she focuses on August instead] August? What does he have to do with this? Piece of fucking shit.
Luce: [Staring at the phone, Luce looks over at Nell.] August? That shitlord I threatened at the ritual?
Blanche: Threatened at what ritual? What?? Wait - okay, it doesn’t matter. He hired that man to go after Nell. He’s responsible for what happened to Bea.
Nell: [Remains silent for a long while, realizing perhaps she’s owed even more guilt than she initially thought] Then we’ll just kill them both.
Luce: [Startled by Nell’s quick jump to murder, she swallows and pauses.] If they’re the ones responsible, they’re going to die. Plain and simple. No one fucks with my family and lives to get away with it.
Blanche: [silent for a moment, before she sucks in a breath as she looks at the bracelet around her wrist. Nell had given it to her - it used to be Bea’s.] I wouldn’t expect anything less. I’ll see you two later, alright? I’m picking up food, and you can ask me more questions. [she hands up]
All jobs have benefits. Most people when picking a career look at things like health and dental insurance, salary, and job security. While important, Anita needed something that allowed her a certain level of freedom. One of the main benefits to being a professor of entomology, even in an adjunct capacity, was the ability to go on “research expeditions” and “conduct experiments.” Largely what that really entailed was Anita going off into the woods for a few days, not to be disturbed. While her diet mainly consisted of bugs which she mostly could eat alone in her home, every so often she’d experience a pang of hunger for something a bit more … fleshy. It was just lamia nature. Since she was on a strict no-human or even non-animal diet, she usually timed these research trips around her hunger. It allowed her to go into the woods and hunt with some level of privacy.
Anita was out on one of those trips that morning. The night before she had found a few bunnies, but she was hoping to come across something a bit more filling before the trip was over. That’s when she spotted it, or what she thought was “it” anyway. A wee baby moose. She quickly scanned the area and didn’t rightly see a mama moose anywhere, or anything else around for the moment either. She crouched down to the ground, placed her hands on the dirt and slowly closed her eyes, trying to see if she could feel any vibrations of movement coming from anything other than the moose. So far so good.
Slow, careful, and intentional steps are what she made as she approached the animal. She could chase something down with the best of them, but she really preferred not to. She didn’t really enjoy the hunt anymore, or at least she tried to convince herself that she didn’t. So she kept things simple. Track, paralyze, eat, leave.
As she approached the baby she crouched down, got ready, then lunged at the animal. Anita bit down on the back leg of the moose, letting just enough venom out of her body to paralyze it. She didn’t want to waste all of her venom, there might be other animals out today to eat. But when she stood up she quickly realized that this wasn’t a moose at all. For starters, it had three eyes, way too many horns, and the bite that should have paralyzed it … didn’t. This was something supernatural. It looked pissed.
The animal started taking off in the forest, no doubt to a mama or papa monster out there. Anita knew she needed to get to this thing before it got to its parents. So she took off after it. As she’s running, she suddenly feels something, or someone else approaching. Quickly she stops running and tries to make herself look remotely presentable. Thankfully for her, the little moose monster had also heard the noise and slowed down.
Anita turned towards the direction of the approaching noise, thankful it was just a person and not some mama moose monster coming to rip her to shreds. They kinda looked familiar, but not in the ‘I think I’ve seen her naked way’, more just in the ‘I think I’ve seen her around way’. She couldn’t place it at the moment, and it wasn’t really the most pressing issue either. “Uh, hey. Out for a morning hike too?” She asked, hoping to just make some brief small talk then get back to her pursuit of this creature.
Rian wandered down the halls searching for Luce's office. She always seemed to get lost on her way to the therapists wing, despite how frequently she went there. She turned a corner and saw Anne, the woman who found her when she had a nightmare. She headed down that hallway figuring she was in the right place when she saw a familiar door. "Dr. Luce Adams," it read. Rian knocked, but the door was cracked. She peeked in and saw Luce sitting at her desk. "Someone said you needed to see me?" Rian asked, concern in her voice.
