Christmas…

...was nice and uneventful.

The Rake made itself scarce (probably because of this), and we were able to stop for a little Christmas dinner.

So yes...completely uneventful, though I did have an unnerving dream in which Sekhmet just stared at me in a really creepy way.

Valete

It’s cold.

And sleeting. I hate this state.

Luckily for me, we won’t be in this godforsaken state for much longer. Huzzah.

After that happened, we tried the map trick again. You may recall that the map trick requires a beetle. This was problematic, as one doesn’t see many beetles flying around in winter. Had to go into a few stores (and one hotel) to find some of those nasty little ladybug look-alikes and collect them in a jar. Got some really weird looks in the process, but the main thing is I found some beetles. The spell took three tries, but we have our destination. A city in Illinois called…I don’t know. I have no clue where we’re going. Eternity has the map and I don’t want to get too close to it lest I accidentally destroy it. My magic is still very much on the fritz.

Oh and also…I shot the Rake several days ago. Not in anger, but as an experiment. (Ok, I may have been a little angry.) Honestly, it sounded like a great idea at the time. Unfortunately, 20 gauge birdshot harmlessly bounces of the Rake’s hide, so I’m going to have to switch to a more lethal ammunition…

Anyways…birdshot only pisses the Clawed One off. SC, however, is still quite effective in deterring the Rake. And, thankfully, I had a Supersoker filled with the stuff with me as backup, so I got away from the encounter scot-free, though I did get scolded by Eternity.

Think I was going to mention something else… Ah well. Must not have been important.

Fuck Indiana

I hate this place.

It’s chilly, rainy, and full of places for the Rake to ambush us.

I also hate the (probably non-existent) shack.

Still have not found it. Map “trick” did not narrow down our search at all. This better be one impressive shack.

Spent two weeks running after some goddamned phone-stealing stick-carrying proxy. Who the fuck hides in a playground anyways? That bastard was just begging to be kicked in the head. I don’t care that he was lost and needed to contact his cohorts. You don’t force me to run around Indiana for weeks on end trying to get a phone back. He and his funny looking stick can go straight to Hell. In fact, I told him to go to hell, among other things. In Latin. I may have Cursed him, actually. Can’t bring myself to feel bad about it.

...

Eternity stole my shotgun.

That’s fine. I’m putting together an anti-Rake water gun anyways. Fucking herding us…

And I did not try to drive off without her as revenge. I was merely attempting to run over the Rake.

Town Trip

We drove into town yesterday. The Rake hissed at the car as we left, but didn’t make any move to stop us.

The place the map led us to is a house. While Eternity was deciding whether to break into the house or announce our presence, I decided to walk up to the front door and knock. I figured that if the owner of the house was hostile, I could just demand information at gunpoint. Or pretend to be a government official. I’m relatively certain I could get away with that…

Handgun hidden behind my back, I knocked. Guess who answered the door? A proxy. The proxy we held hostage in my basement. I smiled and said, “Hi! Do you mind if we come in and talk to you for a sec?”

And talk we did. I don’t feel like retelling the entire conversation right now….Eternity can if she feels like it…she did most of the talking anyway. But no blood was shed, so our chat was pleasant enough. I guess the reason for that is the proxy is grateful that we didn’t kill him while we were holding him hostage, even though he attacked us. Or something. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t paying attention to the whole conversation. Got distracted...

I did however pay attention when he mentioned that Hypnos had kept Hawk in his basement. I asked if he would let us look around his basement, and he was kind enough to oblige us. It was more of a bunker, really. Eternity snooped around while I made sure that the proxy wasn’t going to lock us in. He didn’t offer to, but I really don’t trust people.

He also told us about the next place they had taken Hawk. A shack in Indiana…the location of the shack was already marked on the map, but it’s nice to know exactly what we’re looking for. The place could’ve been a freaking cave for all I knew.

We left the proxy’s home, and I remembered that I needed to do some shopping.

I was about halfway done with my shopping. As we were walking to the next store....well….it went like this:

“Got the Super Soakers… Hey, let’s stop at this hardware store for a sec. I need some more PVC pipe and a few feet of hose. Oh, heheh, just had a idea. We need to get some balloons too. Or do I already have some? Better buy some just in case. Let’s go to Wal-Mart after this. That okay with you? …Eternity?”

All the blood had drained from her face. She was staring at something, openmouthed. I drew my handgun and looked around, but didn’t see anything. I cocked my head and stared at her, then waved my hand in front of her face. Nothing. Suddenly feeling cold despite my warm clothes, I gave her a shove, and she finally snapped out of it. She glared at Him (still didn’t see anything, but I figured it was Him), and chucked one of her knives at Him. Then we ran back to the car and went straight home.

So…...that was……..yeah.

I can’t see Him, I guess…

Is that a good thing?

Our little trip into the woods was nerve-racking, to say the least, but at least we found Hypnos’ former camp. The camp is well defended with tree stands, trenches, and wards...my wards. They copied my wards. As soon as I stepped into camp, it felt like my bones itched. I smiled when I realized what was causing the feeling... How ironic. Luckily, the sensation wasn’t strong. Eternity didn’t seem to notice it at all, actually.

I toyed with the notion of sabotaging the wards, but decided against it. It’s a nice camp. It’s a really nice camp. In fact, I hereby declare that camp as mine. I’ll re-ward it and put a semi-permanent deer blind there later.

After we found the area where they had been keeping Hawk, the Rake herded us back to the house.

Herded us.

And what the fuck is wrong with the Rake now? It’s lost Its mind. Ripping the woods apart, testing my wards constantly...and that fucking screeching. God, that screeching. Words cannot describe it. Oh yeah, and the staring. That’s fun too. As a general rule, I do not, under any circumstances, look the Rake in Its black, soulless eyes. Do you know how hard it is to avoid looking something in the eye when all it does for hours is stare directly at you? The Rake acts like It wants to kill Eternity too...but is it my imagination or does It look at me with slightly more loathing than It does her?

So what’s changed? I haven’t antagonized It any more than usual lately. Well, so long as the wards hold It off, there’s no cause for alarm. Creepy fucker. I never did figure out what It wanted.

Anyways, the second place the beetle stopped on the map was a nearby town, so we’re heading there sometime tomorrow.

Also, Eternity said something about a “destructive anti-Rake water gun apparatus.” Which reminds me. I need to buy a dozen Super Soakers while we’re in town tomorrow. And the materials to build a couple of those backpack water gun things.

Valete

We are preparing to go after Hawk.

Eternity was pretty adamant about going by herself. I weaseled my way into going with her by pointing out that I was the one who let the bitch-proxy in. Since, you know, this is mostly my fault, I feel like I should help get Hawk back.

I also consider Hawk a friend, and I want to help get him back.

Personally, I think the only reason she’s letting me come with is because the first few points on the map are in areas I’ve been to before.

Should’ve just left it there.

Let me start off by saying that this is all my fault. It really is. From what I figure, Curtis’ body was like a request to come across wards. And I, in my infinite wisdom, brought the body onto the property, thereby inviting the ‘sadistic little bitch’ onto our side of the wards. …or something to that affect. I’m not explaining it well, but I guess it doesn’t matter. The bitch got across, and it’s my fault.

Okay….. He was here, apparently. Eternity saw Him. But it’s all good. Things are…still fine…yeah……

My sneaking suspicion was right. Every spell I tried on my own failed, which is rather odd. Sometimes the spells just wouldn’t work, other times something would break or catch on fire.

So, after re-tracing Eternity’s dream and checking her head, I freaked out a little. Just a little. During my minor freak-out (which I quickly recovered from), I decided to spontaneously phone a friend for ideas on how to track Hawk, since everything I had tried so far…had not worked.

She had some good ideas that I wanted to try out. Then the weird things started happening. The floodlights turned on unexpectedly and blinded me when I tried to cast at night, it would start downpouring when I tried to cast outside during the day, a landmine would randomly go off and break my concentration...stuff like that. My favorite was the dead bird dropping from the sky into my lap mid-cast.

I was running out of ideas, but then Mystery told me a spell with Eternity as its focus. The spell identifies Hawk and Eternity with Isis and Horus, and Isis’s hunt for Osiris.

We sat under the nearest sycamore tree to try out the spell. I grabbed a map of the country, drew the hieroglyph for Horus, Isis, and Osiris on the back of it, and had Eternity write Hawk’s name and birthdate on the back of it as well.

Then Eternity brought me a tiny piece of what looked like Hawk’s clothing. I found a beetle (which represented a scarab), and attached the tiny bit of fabric to it. That was…really hard, but I got it attached to the beetle using a tiny piece of tape.

I had Eternity read parts of the story of Isis’s hunt for Osiris. Once she was done, she dropped the beetle onto the map. The beetle was supposed to wander around the map, and any place it paused or stopped was a place Hawk may have been. The was what the beetle was supposed to do. But, as soon as the beetle hit the map, it curled up and died.

We sat staring at the beetle for a moment.

“Hm. It’s not supposed to do that.”

“…”

I looked up and saw the look on Eternity’s face.

“Ah-hold on, I’ll find another one. That beetle must have been really old or something. Just give me…a second here…” I got up and hunted down another beetle.

We did the spell over, and thankfully it worked. And now we have a map. And since the map is in danger of spontaneously combusting if left in my presence for too long, I gave it to Eternity for safe keeping.

I need to look into the magic issue….

Valete

Absens

…

sigh

What a mess.

Just…everything.

I had to drug Eternity. I'm sure she'll be pissed, but, she wanted to go after Hawk. I would have let her…I would have gone with her, even…but the Rake was right there. Laughing. Apparently Eternity was too frantic to hear It. We would have been ripped apart.

I can’t believe we didn’t wake up…Alex didn’t even twitch….I felt no warning whatsoever… And now, I feel…unnaturally calm…sick…tired. Guilty? Rational...

That’s not right.

I need to think out my.…our..next move. I have several things in mind. But I need Eternity to be sane for that. And awake. She’ll be out for several more hours. While she’s out, I’m going to try some things to locate him. Divination…if you can even call it that, and a sort of tracking spell. If they don’t work, and I have a sneaking suspicion they won’t…I don’t know how I know that…I’ll try them again tonight, in the wetlands at the back of the property. It will be a good night for it, since…heh. Never mind.

Hm. I’ll post again later.

Well…I couldn’t just leave it there.

We left Curtis’ body nailed to the tree because it was outside the wards. As horrible as that is, Hawk and Eternity figured it was just too dangerous to step outside the wards because of the Rake. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what they thought. They didn’t say anything, but they made no move to fetch his body. Since the Rake is now killing anything that it can get its claws into, it would’ve been logical to just ignore the body.

But, ya know, I’m not logical. According to Eternity, I am insane. And she’d be right.

While Eternity finally got Hawk to sit down at the table and eat, I casually slipped outside and grabbed a hammer from the garage. I set everything that would slow me down besides the hammer (shotgun, two M-80s, machete, shoes, jacket, large red pipe wrench) in a pile, and slinked over to the property line. Curtis’ body was a ways outside the wards…don’t know how far exactly. I can’t judge distances.

I stared into the woods. The Rake hadn’t been sited for three hours, and I reeked of SC and rue, but that all meant nothing. I thought about asking the Fae to see if there was anything threatening nearby, but decided against it. Either the Fae are completely ignoring me now, or I just can’t sense them anymore. Either way, they are completely unhelpful.

Not seeing anything, and not hearing anything other than birds, I cautiously made my way to Curtis’ body. I got the body off the tree and slung it over my shoulder, surprised at how light it was. I started to stagger back to the house, no longer able to move quietly. I was halfway there when I heard something rustling behind me.

I froze, twitching slightly. When had the birds gone quiet?

I got the feeling that I was about to die horribly and I heard the Rake snarl. I quickly made my way back to the property line with the Rake in hot pursuit. I almost made it too, but the Rake swiped at me and caught me on the back of my left leg just as I stepped over the wards. Thrown off by the body’s weight, I did a (no doubt impressive) flying summersault type maneuver and landed in a heap in the landmine crater on the front lawn.

The Rake actually followed me across the wards a little, before hissing and shuffling backwards. Guess they still repel it…

The cut on my leg is shallow, but it really fucking hurts. I’ll be walking with a slight limp for a few days until it stops hurting, but it was worth it. Why’d I do it? Because I felt like it.

…

I regret nothing.

Not sure what we’re going to do with the body now that we have it. Cremation is definitely out; the smell of burning human flesh makes me nauseous (don’t ask how I know that), and it might attract predators (Possum).

Now I’m going to go curl up on the couch with my cat. No more shenanigans for tonight, I promise.

Valete

Was going to post this earlier-

-but I was too busy I was going around painting large ‘Xs’ all over the outside of the house, the attic, the basement, and the crawlspace. Carved them into a few trees as well. Besides, most of what happened has already been told by Eternity and Hawk.

They got across the wards… I have no idea what Hypnos did to his minions, but it allowed them to cross the wards. Sure, the wards keep the hell-beast out (I hope...), but some mind-fuckery from Hypnos renders them useless. Shit. (Yes, I made them correctly, so shut up.)

And they only stepped on ONE mine. What a rip off. At least the landmine detonated like it was supposed to. (I made more landmines…a lot more landmines. And two gallons of rue oil. I also put some rue into pouches. Everyone is now required to have these pouches with them at all times. No exceptions. This includes the cat and Alex.) But anyways-

I flinched as I heard the window in the next room shatter. Son of a- Hawk darted into the other room, leaving me with the bastard who just broke my door. The proxy lunged at me with what looked like a pipe, and swung it at my head. Instead of shooting him point-blank in the chest, I remembered the kill-shot policy and ducked. He nailed me in the arm and made me drop my shotgun, then swung the pipe at my head again. I dodged it and pulled the machete I had hanging from my belt out of its sheath. We traded blows for a while, but our skirmish came to an abrupt end when I retrieved my shotgun and smashed the butt of it into the side of his head. He went down, got back up, and proceeded to stagger back outside. Then Hawk ran back into the room.

The warded rocks were a last ditch effort that worked wonderfully (thank you Mystery). If they hadn’t worked, I would have completely disregarded the no-kill policy. Yes, yes, I know. Killing is bad. I know this. I agree with this. Really, I do. Just let it be known that I will kill anything that comes after my adopted family…unless the adopted family says otherwise.

And now we have a screaming minion tied up in a spare room. Alex is really happy about that… he’s been growling at the door for two hours. (Hypnos…you offer is being carefully considered...we’ll let you know shortly…)

The yard is a complete disaster. I feel my eye twitch every time I look at the charred grass and large crater left from the explosives. But all in all, I think we fared pretty well. The bullet graze on Eternity’s arm and the cut on Hawk’s face are the worst of our injuries. Most of the damage to the house has been repaired, except for the window. I ended up duct taping a large piece of cardboard (lightly sprayed SC and with an ‘X’ drawn on it) over its remains. I’ll fix it eventually.

Hypnos has a lot of underlings. I wonder how many the Rake brought down? Maybe Possum got a few; he’s usually out at night. Though…he isn’t all that aggressive. At least I’ve never seen him be aggressive.

(I’ve also started a mini rue garden)

Valete

Friday

It’s officially Friday.

Let’s dance, Hypnos.

Vale

Wednesday, Thursday…

Hypnos is keeping his word, apparently. No surprise attacks so far…

Had a dream about Sekhmet that I can barely remember. I remember her staring down at me from the top of a cliff or something. She bared her teeth in what I think was a grin, and then vanished. Hell’s bells, Sekhmet is frightening.

The Rake’s been agitated as of late. Maybe he’ll be in a better mood after he eats a few proxies.

Valete

And Now We Wait

Hypnos has thrown down the gauntlet, and shall be attacking Friday. Fine with me. Got some things I want to try out. Hehehehehe.

It’s really quiet around here.

And it’s slowly driving me insane. Besides the incident with the arm, nothing of interest has happened here. Eternity is getting a little paranoid, not that I blame her. At least she isn’t pacing around the house with a shotgun…that would be me. Hawk and Alex keep giving me concerned looks…

We haven’t seen anyone or anything. No proxies, no Rake. Faustus hasn’t seen the Rake either, actually. I’ve seen Possum around, but he stays at the back of the property for the most part.

If Hypnos is nearby and plotting something, then I really want to make a preemptive strike, but I can’t think of way to do that without starting a large forest fire. And the weather has screwed up my plans…stupid rain. I hope Hypnos got struck my lightning.

So, plan #1. I’m going to make a ward that I can tie around an arrow. Then I’ll shoot the arrow into a tree on the other side of the main wards. Simple. Easy to remember. The trees won’t like it, but I doubt it’s any worse than carving symbols into them. I have a few flawed arrows that I’ll use, ‘cause I don’t like losing the good ones. Going outside of the main wards will still be unsafe, as the new wards won’t be as strong. Still, it’s a deterrent. And I need to do something productive before I snap.

Uh oh. Bad thought. Could they be..? Nah. Last time I checked, the Rake and Slendy weren’t on friendly terms……right? …I’m just gonna go make some of that rue oil now.

Oh yeah, I wanted to make some land mines as well, but I decided against it….or did I? I forget. Hehehehehe.

One Down

Still half asleep, I stumbled down the stairs around 8am this morning and made my way to the kitchen. I mumbled a “g’morning” to Hawk and Eternity who were sitting at the table, eating breakfast. Walking to the door, I grabbed the shotgun that was leaning against the doorframe and went out to get the mail I had left in the box yesterday. Almost to the mailbox, I tripped over an arm.

Huh.

I stared at it for a while, blinking in confusion. Why..? Why was there an arm in the driveway? I looked around for the rest of the body, but found nothing. No blood. No ripped up clothing. Just…a sleeveless human arm. Did Eternity and Hawk have both their arms? I thought they did. Surely I would have noticed if they didn’t, right? Probably. Losing interest, I kicked the arm across the wards and continued on to the mailbox.

Of course, once I read Hawk’s post, it made sense. Apparently the Rake had retrieved his victim’s arm and tossed it into the driveway. What the hell was that proxy thinking? Was he suicidal? Was he coming to talk to us?

You know what? I can’t bring myself to care.

Valete

That was relaxing.

After sitting up in a tree for four hours, I’m feeling better. That may have something to do with the fact that I took a pot shot at one of Hypnos’ lackeys with a handgun and miraculously hit him in the arm, but whatever. I’m fine now. And I’m starting to get better at “going invisible.” And Shady is back. Now I feel great.

And…I should probably apologize for scaring the hell out of Eternity. I walked into the house while still “invisible” and “appeared” right next to her while she looked out the window, trying to figure out where that gunshot had come from. Sorry Eternity. My bad…eheh.

Fuck. You. Hypnos.

That was a low blow, Hypnos. Though I suppose my dream gave you the perfect opportunity...  It was rather brilliant of you to pick this particular dream to enter, actually. I was so focused on beating the living hell out of my arch nemesis (let’s call him Z, mmk?), that I didn’t even notice you sneak into my head.

Of course I threw you out in less than thirty seconds, but really, what did you expect? I mean, why would you take that motherfucker’s form?

So, yeah. Hypnos snuck into my head while I was dreaming of a showdown between myself and Z. This dream is more or less a lucid dream, and I’ve had it before.

So the dream was in full swing. As per usual, Z and I were jumping around and trying to rip each other’s heads off in creative ways. Swords, shape shifting, lightning bolts, ect. Suddenly, and completely out of nowhere, Z falters. This had never happened before. And, really, shame on me for not noticing that Z was actually Hypnos at this point.

I shifted into a lioness and went after “Z,” happy to have finally caught him. Then I noticed how cold it had gotten. Feeling that something was wrong, I skidded to a halt, slipping and sliding and wondering where the fuck all this ice had come from.

When he turned to face me, I immediately knew that this man was an unwelcome presence in my mind. No longer caught up in the dream, I stared at “Z,” not even bothering to shift back into a human.

“What’s the matter, little trickster?” he mocked, using Z’s nickname for me. He had Z’s voice, Z’s condescending way of talking, and, hell, he even stood like Z. If it wasn’t for his eyes and the fact that he had changed things in the dream without my consent, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.

The new landscape was unstable and dark. Everything was shifting. It was just so…wrong. And I was…not happy. I lunged at Hypnos, and at the same time I-I don’t even know. Mentally lashed out, I guess? It’s hard to describe, but Hypnos flinched like I’d punched him, and disappeared before I could sink my claws into him. I managed to wake myself up, and immediately wished I hadn’t.

It felt like there was an angry horse in my skull, kicking the hell out of my brain. Hello migraine. I curled up into a ball under the covers, and noticed the nosebleed. I really didn’t think about it much, but now I’m pretty sure I kneed myself in the face while I was asleep. Thus the nosebleed…and the mild bruising.

Proxies: You should all play Eternity’s game. It would solve a lot of your problems. Plus it’ll be fun.

So yes. I’m fine. Perfectly fine. Perfectly calm. Never felt more levelheaded in all my life. So. Damn. Calm. Have I mentioned that I do not like dreamwalkers? I think I have, somewhere along the line.

Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to go sit in a tree.

You bastard son of a bitch.

So here’s what I’m going to do.

I’m going to stop my nosebleed, and I’m going to take some aspirin. Once I’m done with that, I’m going to laugh at you for at least five minutes, and then I’m taking a nap. Feel free to interrupt this one as well. After all, it worked out so well the last time, novice. And yes, you are a novice, aren’t you? I can tell. You were there, but you had no power whatsoever, much like a hologram. Course, I couldn’t touch you either…but still-

-I guarantee you won’t be able to do that again. You’ve got my full attention now, dreamwalker.

Anyways… Once I wake up, I’m going to write up a post on our little encounter.

Hawk, Eternity, don’t expect me to be awake before noon. I’m fine, just sleeping. Could you feed Alex and the cat for me?

I wander off to stalk someone with a strange symbol on their jacket for a day (turned out to be nothing), and come back to find a headless deer near my lawn and several blog posts saying that someone else has gone missing? Well shit. Like Hawk said, people need to stop disappearing.

On a lighter note, I made some ‘dream pillows’ for Hawk and Eternity. Without going into detail, the dream pillows are pillows stuffed with some herbs and ect that will help prevent psychic attacks and promote a peaceful sleep. Will they keep Hypnos away completely? No. Will they make things a little more difficult for Hypnos? Most definitely. Well…hopefully. They’re better than nothing.

According to Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, blueberries are supposed to give you some protection while you’re under psychic attack. Hope they like blueberries.

Think I’ll make some dream catchers as well. Not sure what I’m going to make them with yet.

And I don’t care what this says about me, but I want to eat that deer. I love venison.

Valete

Home

Been home for a while, actually. Got home, gave Hawk and Eternity some mobile wards, showed them around a little, showed them their rooms, advised them not to go outside at night (because of Possum), and then I curled up in bed. I think my energy is on the fritz again…soon as I stepped in the door, a light flickered and went out. Then I fell asleep for…I don’t know how long. Eheh, I’m not being a very good host.

I didn’t bother taking the ‘copter back to it’s owner yet, I just landed it in the field on my property. Have to do that tomorrow, since my car is still in the airport parking lot. Need to pick up the pets as well.

Looks like everyone’s asleep. Since I’m awake, I think I’ll make two slightly modified dream pillows.

Valete

Homeward Bound

Either my math was off, or the guy who owns the ‘copter didn’t actually know how fast it went. It's not a thirteen hour flight like I originally thought, it's a ten hour flight. (I left at six and got there at ten instead of one…Slight miscalculation.) The ‘copter is a Bell 407, one of the faster models available for the public, and I’m horrible at math, so it could have been both. Better three hours shorter than three hours longer, I guess. I’m just glad to be heading back to my own time zone.

I ended up waiting a few hours for Eternity and Hawk, which I certainly didn’t mind. I found an extra granola bar in my pack, and after I had eaten it I fell asleep. It was nice. No dreams of any kind.

I was awoken by one of my “feelings,” the kind that I get right before something bad happens. Luckily, this “feeling” wasn’t the “OMG something’s coming to kill me RIGHT NOW” feeling, it was just a strong sense of unease. So I spent the next five minutes looking around in groggy suspicion. I didn’t see anything, but I happened to look at my watch (that I had set to the correct time) and was startled to realize it was 7:06pm. I grabbed my laptop and spent the next few minutes watching for a comment from Hawk or Eternity. I eventually got the .30-06 out of it’s box and set it on the seat beside me, just in case. It’s loaded with 220 grain bullets. People use that grain for hunting bear and moose. Overkill? Nah. Though the recoil might break your shoulder.

Once they scurried onto the ‘copter, I tossed them two headsets (complete with microphones….fancy) and took off at top speed. Not gonna lie…they look like hell. And they’re skinny. No worries, I have tons of food at home.

Speaking of food, that’s why I’ve stopped now. I’m really freaking hungry. I thought about stopping hours ago, but my sense of unease hadn’t faded, and my passengers were falling asleep. When my sense of unease faded completely, I started looking for a small airport, since they usually have a stash of food for the pilots and lax/no security. Found one. They had food. No security. Goody.

Just about ready to leave…we haven’t been on the ground more than five minutes but I want to get moving again. Hawk seems to agree. He’s almost as twitchy as I am…

And they keep thanking me. That’s something I’m certainly not used to… You’re welcome guys. Seriously, I don’t mind. I enjoy flying; this is like a vacation for me.

Hypnos. Since you had the courtesy to warn Hawk and Eternity, I’ll do the same for you: Do not come after us. It will not end well for you.

Just realized that I got here a lot sooner than expected. I was looking at my watch, which is three hours faster than the current time zone. Sorry about that guys, told you the wrong time.

I made great time getting here. Hopefully I make good time on the way back as well.

Arrived at the airport

Waiting for Hawk and Eternity.

And posting real quick here before we take off. I have a formulated a plan. I think I’ll fly to that place I saw three hours back and get something to eat. I’m bloody starving, but there’s no way I’m staying around here. Though I am very much tempted to land this ‘copter in a Wendy’s parking lot…

After that, I’ll fly for four more hours and stop at that place I slept at last night. Then I’ll fly the remaining six hours home…I’m sure I’ll be able to sneak a nap sometime. (Am mainly posting the ‘plan’ so I don’t forget it.)

So glad they didn’t have me land in any “main” areas…security might have discovered the rifle I have in a box under the backseats. I’m currently breaking at least four laws, but it’s comforting to have.

I’ll post again when I have time.

And I’m off…again

Glad I put those mobile wards in the ‘copter, even though I haven’t seen the Rake or anything. They made me sleep easier. Alright, I’m taking off. See you two in seven hours.

Six Hours Later

I’ve stopped for the night. Glad I brought my laptop, even though it’s a piece of crap.

Had a pleasant flight. I forgot about the time difference….oh well. It’s not going to change anything. I just get some extra hours of sleep. Sleeping in the helicopter tonight. The seats are really comfy, so that’s nice.

I’m going to bed in an hour or so. Seven hour flight in the morning… Leaving at 6am, Pacific Time.

And I'm Off

Funding acquired! I’m leaving in ten minutes. I’ll be there around 1pm on the 5^th.

I’ll be the girl with sort blonde hair, a camouflage jacket, gloves, and combat boots. No doubt I’ll be wandering around and eating candy of some sort. If you don’t see me, you might see the helicopter. It's red and back paint job is hard to miss.

I’ll start looking for you as soon as I arrive.

My soon-to-be houseguests have fallen suspiciously silent. If I have to go search for them with the Clawed One nipping at my heels, I’m going to be pissed. Not at them, of course. Though I will get to use the helicopter I borrow from a guy at a nearby airport…been looking for a good excuse to use it.

Hypnos…wonder why someone would name themselves ‘Hypnos.’ Perhaps ‘Thanatos’ was already taken?

*yawns* was going to add more to this post, but I’m off to bed. Meh, I’ll post again later.

Free at Last…

I was finally able to leave today, thanks to Faustus’s Spicy Concoction (thank you Faustus). Picked up some more supplies as well as an invisible fence thing for the dog, who I’ve named Alex.

Ah, the Spicy Concoction, also know as SC. It’s supposed to consist of hot peppers, red pepper powder, hot sauce, and wasabi. I had everything except for wasabi, so I decided to substitute it with some homemade pepper spray. The resulting SC was…potent. It made my eyes water and sent me into a coughing fit.

After I had put on goggles and a respirator, I doused my car with the SC. Pretty sure the car melted a little.

As soon as I drove to the end of the driveway, the Rake popped it’s head out of the brush a few yards away. It squinted at the car in disgust, and then slunk away. Hah!

I’ve seen Possum scurrying about in the woods a few times, but other than that he’s been making himself scarce.

Almost forgot. Faustus said I should I put an X on my door, so I did. I’m thinking about carving it onto some trees outside the wards as well, just to expand the perimeter. I’ll have to wear a shirt that’s been washed in SC to do that. Not looking forward to it.

Valete

Slight Overreaction

So here is my current thought processes. I have done nothing to the Rake out of fear of provoking it. I have come to the conclusion that the Rake is (er…was) after Possum, not me. However, now that Possum has figured out that the Rake cannot get past my wards, Possum has taken up residence in the patch of woods that is inside my wards. Now the Rake wants past the wards, and I’m still a prisoner on my own property. And I hate it. I hate it so much.

Now I ask myself: why? Why am I being so passive? It is not in my nature to let some horrid creature trap me like this. This is bullshit. Most of my skills are offensive, not defensive.

I woke up this morning pissed off. Don’t know why. Pets were smart enough to stay out of my way. I eventually went out to shoot my bow and arrow, hoping to relieve some stress. It didn’t help, which is unusual as it usually does.

After I was done, I started to walk back to the house. And there that bastard was, standing near the property line. The Rake stood hunched over slightly on it’s hind legs, growling and baring it’s teeth (which look very sharp) at me. If I had not been in such a foul mood, I would have turned and ran away. But since I was in a foul mood, I did not…react well to the thing’s threat.

All I can say is the Rake caught me at a bad time. I knocked an arrow and shot it into it’s chest. I think I shocked it. The Rake made this strange sound and fell over before getting onto all-fours and scurrying away. I felt a small amount of satisfaction…and then I realized that I wasn’t getting my arrow back. Damnit.

Now I am intrigued. And feeling creatively destructive. I wonder what effect fire would have on the Rake? Or hydrochloric acid? What if I coated the tip of an arrow in some sort of toxin and shot him? And I’ve yet to test the effectiveness of bullets…

Valete

New Friend

I had a little ‘incident’ yesterday. I decided to go double-check the wards, just in case I missed one. It was 94 degrees outside and I had a headache, but that wasn’t going to stop me. *sigh*

I placed a few of my wards in a location that is very hard to get too. To get to them, you must go through a patch of woods, swim across a creek, stumble down a steep hill, and then wade through a sea of stinging nettles and brambles. I call it the Gauntlet.

I decided to bring a shovel with me, just incase a Witches Bottle had become partially unburied or something. I also brought my trusty shogun. Just in case. It’s not fun when you run the Gauntlet while trying to carry a shovel and a shotgun. They get tangled up in everything and you end up nearly shooting yourself.

When I finally reached the creek I left my shotgun leaning against a tree. Not the best idea, but I didn’t want to get it wet. Plus it would throw me off balance since I planned on jumping from stone to stone to get across.

I crossed the creek without getting wet and made it down the hill without breaking my neck. Weaving my way through the brambles and nettles was hard, but I managed to avoid most of the demon plants. I had finally checked the last ward when I heard something large running towards me from the left. I didn’t even look to see what it was; I threw the shovel in its general direction and took off running back to my gun. I heard it falter, but I was too busy being stung by nettles and having my pant legs shredded to turn and see what it was.

As I ran up the hill, I heard it chasing me. I dove into the creek and swam across, nearly braining myself on a rock in the process. I heard the creature splashing behind me, but I had already made it back to my gun. Clicking the safety off, I spun around and aimed at the creature. Said creature barked and wagged its furry tail happily.

…

There I stood; heart racing, bleeding, itchy, soaked and not amused…staring at a German Shepherd. The dog just stood there, wagging it’s tail and staring back at me.

And now I have a German Shepherd sleeping on my couch. A very lucky German Shepherd. Stupid dog…

At least he’s fairly well behaved. And housebroken. He’s collarless and very skinny, so he’s most likely a stray. Need to think of a name for him…

Valete

An Update

Gonna post this now and then go take a nap. Long day. Began writing this last night and finished it this morning. Was planning on posting this later but I changed my mind.

Haven’t posted in a while. Been busy with the garden and…other things.

So…yeah. Still haven’t seen the Rake, but I’m no longer leaving my property. At all. There a huge freaking claw marks on about a dozen trees just outside the wards. I’m taking that as a warning.

I feel bad for the mailman. Every time he delivers my mail it puts me on edge. I’ve figured out exactly what time he comes by so I can hide in the bushes and shoot the Rake if it tries to attack him. Good thing he never sees me. The last thing I need is for him to call the cops because some crazy lady is hiding in the bushes with a shotgun, staring at him.

Two nights ago Possum ran right across the wards without stopping. As soon as it got light out I went and made sure nothing had dug my Witches Bottles up. Everything was still in place, to my vast relief. Maybe I succeeded in befriending him?

Freaking nature spirits (or Fae or whatever you want to call them) will not. Shut. Up. Yes, I know something came through the wards. IT HAPPENED TWO DAYS AGO! SHUT UP!

God…

I’m starting to regret talking to them in the first place. I’m really not good at talking to ‘nature spirits’ or whatever. I can sense their presence only if I’m looking for them, and when I try to communicate with them I’m usually ignored. Snooty bastards. But since I wanted a little extra security so I could nap during the day (as I sleep little during the night), I sought them out (and was ignored 98% of the time).

The two that actually acknowledged me are a little…questionable, at best. Unreliable. Better than nothing, I suppose.

No more weird cat dreams. Yay?

Forgot to mention that ShadieyGray’s suggestion worked. Thanks, ShadieyGray. I really appreciate it.

Valete

PS: I’m debating whether or not to post what happened today. Maybe I will. I’m sure some of you could use a laugh. Even if it is at my expense…

Next post: A Prime Example Of Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Paranoia Get The Best Of You

Acknowledged

Understood. I shall begin hunting immediately.

It seems I have a side errand, which means I’ll be busy. But don’t fret Dodgy; I’ll be sure to make time for you.

At least the Rake has made itself scarce.

Valete

Of Fireworks and Were-Hyenas

I decided to call the electrician yesterday. Good thing I did, there was a good chance my house was going to burn down. I split a wire in the wall. Cool, but I won’t be doing that again.

I got to shoot off fireworks, which was fun. I just went to the back of my property, far away from where I’ve seen the Rake and Possum. No incidents to report.

I think Possum is living in the wooded area around my house. I suppose that’s all right since he hasn’t tried to kill me yet... I still don’t know what he is. He looks vaguely hyena-like. Mystery says he might be a were-hyena, and I agree. If that’s the case, why is he hanging out around my home?

Valete

Energy Overload and A Road Trip

My psychic abilities are trying to kill me. With a flip of a switch I knocked out power to a third of my house. Then I spent three hours twitching and pacing around my room while mumbling to myself. The muscles in my right arm spasm every once in a while. It’s a little hard to type.  I don’t know what drinking eighty-seven energy drinks feels like, but I imagine what I felt today is pretty close. I’m fine though. *twitch*

I don’t know whether or not to call an electrician in the morning. I think I split a wire in the wall. If I don’t call one, I have enough knowledge of electrical to know that there is a good chance my house will burn down. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the electrician will get mauled by the Rake. Or Possum. Still haven’t seen him in daylight though.

Went on a four hour road trip yesterday. I really didn’t want to, but I had to. So, fully expecting the Rake to jump onto the hood of my car, I sped out of the driveway at about fifty miles per hour. Nothing happened, which may have been due to the various protective runes and a few charms in the car….

No sign of any otherworldly creatures on my drive, but I felt extremely uncomfortable all day. Not like I was being watched, just… uncomfortable. The feeling went away as soon as I got home. While I was out, I stocked up on food, water, and ect. I should be set for a couple of years, provided my psychic abilities don’t give me a heart attack.

I put more hotdogs out for Possum. He seems to like them. The first night he wolfed them down and pranced off, looking smug. The second night I didn’t see him, but in the morning they were gone. Haven’t seen the Rake in a while…

And I keep having that weird cat dream.

Valete

Too tired to think of a title

The Rake and Possum are still not acting aggressive towards me, which is great. But if they do, I have a few plans, and one backup plan, so I should be okay. Probably. Hopefully. I think I’m handling this pretty well. That’s mostly due to the fact that they haven’t come after me yet. If they were trying to get me I would be a lot less calm…I’d probably move to a different country…

I’ve been thinking about the last entry. Specifically, about the Rake and light. When I turned on the lights, it may have startled him, and when he noticed Possum got away he screeched in rage. Or the lights were painful to him and he was screaming in pain. Either way, the Rake didn’t hang out around my property last night. I saw him, but he was a long ways off.

Odd as it may sound, I haven’t really wondered why the Rake is here. Probably because I’ve been too busy putting up and burying wards and watching to see if he would try to cross them. If he is working with Slendy, then that gives him a reason to be here…I didn’t think I was that much of a threat to Slendy…

And where the hell did Possum come from? I put out some hotdogs for him. Instead of waiting to see what his intentions are, I’m going to try and make friends with him. The Rake may have scared him off though.

I had that same weird cat dream last night. Weird.

I’m watching for Possum and the Rake right now. I haven’t seen them yet.

Valete

Possum vs. Rake

As it turns out, Possum isn’t the Rake.

I have no idea what Possum is. He’s greyish-white with small curved claws, a short snout, large crocodile-like teeth, and yellow eyes. Kind of has a canine-like appearance, with an arched spine. He makes a chirping noise, like a cheetah or a serval. The Rake hates him.

Last night…

I finally used some binoculars to get a good look at Possum. Possum was acting adorable; batting around a can and making chirping sounds. He acted completely different from the last time I saw him. The last two times he was sitting silently or lurking about. This puzzled me, but I didn’t think much of it. Now I think it was the Rake I saw those first two nights, and Possum appeared on the third night.

He stayed there for an hour (maybe? I lost track of time. It was more than 30 minutes). I chatted on Twitter and looked at him every once in a while. Every time I looked he was still there, transfixed by that can.

After a while, I saw movement behind Possum. I was something white hiding in the in the trees, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Suddenly the Rake threw itself at Possum, snarling and hell bent on ripping his head off.

(I must have been a serial killer in a past life, because the Rake appearing practically on my doorstep can only be punishment for some horrible thing I’ve done. If there’s anything I hate as much as that [censoredcensoredcensored] Executor, it’s the Rake. Don’t ask me for a description of the thing, I didn’t take the time to look at it. All I was it’s general shape, it’s color, and it’s huge claws.)

 And of course I had to interfere. Why? Maybe just to spite the Rake. I’ll get back to you on that. I didn’t see much of their fight, but they were making one heck of a ruckus. I went to a window and saw that the Rake was pinning Possum down and ripping at him with his claws. Deciding to test a theory, I reached over and snapped on the (extremely bright) outside lights. Not my best move. Things worked out for Possum though.

As soon as the light hit him the Rake reared back on his hind legs. Possum took the opportunity to make his escape. Then the Rake screeched. It was the most horrible sound I have ever heard. Words cannot describe it. I staggered and fell to my knees. It was like he was screeching right inside my head. I don’t know how long he screeched, I lost my hearing fairly quickly. I sat there for a few minutes with my head on my knees, feeling a little nauseous from the headache. When I managed to get up I look out the window, the Rake was gone. I still haven’t got my hearing back completely, and my ears are ringing.

Why do weird things find me? I suppose it doesn’t help that I live in the middle of nowhere. I’ve seen Bastet, one of the Convocation’s nests, a Shadow Person, Sekhmet, Possum and now the damn Rake. Well, Bastet and Sekhmet are okay. Before seeing them I never believed in them and they just showed up, which is strange, but whatever. They’re not trying to kill me in my sleep, so I like them.

At least my brush with the Convocation wasn’t that bad. I was fourteen, and I was walking in the woods when I saw what I’m reasonably certain was a woman. I admired her lovely cloak that was made of black feathers from afar, and then as soon as she started to turn towards me, I instinctively threw myself into some nearby bushes. I didn’t even know who she was; she just gave me as really bad feeling.

I also had a strange dream last night. I usually don’t remember my dreams, but I remember this one vividly. It was one of those false awaking dreams. I “woke up” and found this strange looking cat sitting on my stomach.  It looked like a cross between an Egyptian Mau and a Savannah, with copper colored eyes. It was staring at me intently, looking curious. Then it blinked and I woke up for real. Maybe it was Bastet, I don’t know.

I glimpsed the Rake crawling around an hour ago, but it didn’t stick around. No sign of Possum. I’m going to keep staring out the window for a few hours, see if anything comes back.

Valete

Lurking

Saw Possum again last night. It just sat outside of my property. I don’t know where it went. I still haven’t seen Possum in the daytime.

I fully intend to shoot Possum if it starts to act hostile. But for now, I’m just going to observe it from a safe distance. Since there’s a good possibility that Possum is the Rake, I don’t want to piss it off unless it comes after me. So far it’s hung outside the wards.

I got a new pair of binoculars today…I’ll use them tonight.

Valete

Him and…Sekhmet?

Finally got around to posting my dream…
Everything around me was black, empty space. I walked around a little before noticing someone and going over to them. I’m guessing it was Sekhmet, since she was dressed in red. She was…intimidating, to say the least. She’s also difficult to describe accurately. Words don’t really do her justice. She has the head of a lioness, of course. She was about seven feet tall with a red aura, and her jaws were covered in blood. She was facing to the left of me, staring fixedly at something and clutching a spear in her hand. She glanced at me for a second, and then looked back. I turned to see what she was looking at and froze. There was Slendy, standing a little ways away. I hadn’t noticed Him at all.

As soon as I saw him, I tried to wake myself up. I couldn’t do it. I tried to take control of my dream and throw up a brick wall between myself and Him. Nothing happened. I mentally called my totem animals. They didn’t come. He didn’t move at all. As I stared at Him, I noticed that He looked a little blurry, like He wasn’t fully there. Before I could dwell on that fact, He extended His arm at me, almost in an inviting fashion. My eyes widened even further and I ducked behind Sekhmet.

Was that cowardly of me? Perhaps a bit. But have you seen Sekhmet? She could bite your head clean off of your shoulders without even trying. And she was covered in blood. Plus, I had no idea why she was there, as I had never had any contact with her before. Being so close to her was frightening, and I figured she was probably going to eat me. It was still better than having Him abduct me or kill me or whatever He planned on doing.

Instead of eating me, Sekhmet looked at me over her shoulder, and then turned and roared at Him. I felt the sound in my chest, and it echoed in my skull. I flinched and woke up.

I don’t think that was actually Him in my dream. I wasn’t completely paralyzed by fear, and I didn’t go insane when I looked at His (nonexistent) face. Not sure if He was a product of my subconscious, or if He was an illusion produced by Sekhmet (who was definitely real).

Pretty sure the whispering I now hear is Sekhmet and Bastet. I’ve seen Bastet in my dreams twice now. Once when I was ten, and two days after I saw Sekhmet. She seems nice, all smiles and purrs. She’s less likely to kill me than the ‘Lady of Slaughter,’ anyway.

I’ve seen Possum skirting the edge of my property. It’s too far away and moves too fast to get a good look, but it’s definitely Possum.

I can see Possum now. It's been there awhile, sitting near the edge of my property. The grid of Witches Bottles works. Possum isn’t even trying to come onto my property. So far I’ve only seen it at night. Maybe it’s nocturnal?

A Little Bored

I haven’t been feeling that great lately, which explains the lack of posts.

Something large and white scurried across my lawn two nights ago. It was human sized. I didn’t get a good look at it, since it was dark and the thing didn’t stick around. Not jumping to any conclusions here, but I just installed some Witches Bottles around the property. Just in case. It could have been the world’s largest possum. Or a dog. I’m calling it Possum.

I had an unnerving dream which involved two intimidating entities…one I half expected to be there, but the other really surprised me. I’ll eventually type it up. Words don’t really do it justice, but I’ll try.

Ever since that dream I’ve heard whispering. I think I know what’s causing it now, but at first it was pretty unpleasant.

I found out that I should avoid light bulbs when I’m really stressed. They tend to shatter.

Aside from a few exciting incidents, I’ve been a little bored. It’s rained every day here for the past week, and I haven’t had much to do. I suppose I should just shut up and enjoy the down time…

Plants. Everywhere.

This post is evidence of my current condition. If I was not sick, I would be out doing something productive, instead of sitting here writing about my day.

Every once in a while my mother does an odd job at a green house and gets paid in plants. Before going to the greenhouse today, she asked me what kind of plants I wanted. I asked for a flat of Snapdragons and two spearmint plants. She brought me two flats of Snapdragons and five spearmint plants. She also brought me more than nineteen flats of other plants. The owner of the greenhouse apparently had a lot of plants she needed to get rid of.

So now I have…19 times 23…more than 437 plants. I’d say roughly 500 plants, give or take. I lost count. Not quite sure what I’m going to do with them all. I have a big yard, but I already have things planted everywhere. It really doesn’t help that it’s hot and I’m sick.

I now have thirteen plants in my room. The rest can wait.

Sick

Not feeling so great. I caught something from an extremely inconsiderate and annoying visiting relative. If this cough gets any worse I’m going to toss said relative into a nearby lake.

Now I feel like I’m about to cough up a lung. Lovely.

Don’t feel like writing anymore. My increasingly short attention span is getting the better of me.

…the fish amuse me. I shall get rid of the fish when they no longer do so.

Watch Out For That First Step…

Yesterday was not a good day. My toaster exploded in my face, I lost my favorite pair of sunglasses, I couldn’t get on to the internet, and some jackass tried to murder me.

After my toaster malfunctioned and nearly blinded me with shrapnel, I decided to go for a walk. There’s a park within fifteen minutes of my house with trails around a lake that I really like, so I went there. Being a paranoid individual (its not paranoia if people are actually out to get you), I had my knife, phone, and can of police-strength pepper spray clipped on my jacket. I would have had my stungun too, but I’m afraid it’ll put me in a coma or stop my heart if I touch it. Dang, another missed opportunity to zap someone.

I was about halfway through the trail when I came to a bench overlooking the lake. I tossed my jacket on the bench (stupid stupid stupid), walked closer to the lake, and peered down the bank. I was about 20 feet or so above the lake, and there really isn’t a safe way down to the water from the top of the cliff. It’s a nice view.

Done staring at the lake, I went to retrieve my jacket. I had only taken a few steps when I got a horrible feeling. A second later I heard something crashing through the brush. I managed to get a little closer to my jacket and weapons before he burst onto the path. He was taller than me (everyone is taller than me), with dark hair and dark eyes. He didn’t look that old, early 20s at the most. I dropped into a fighting stance, and he grinned. He then did the worst possible thing he could do; he tackled me to the ground.

That poor bastard.

I have not taken a self-defense or hand-to-hand combat class in my life. But, when you spend the majority of your life surrounded by a bunch of college wrestlers-turned-bricklayers whose idea of fun is beating the living hell out of each other, you pick up a few things. Plus, I’ve always been a big fan of mixed martial arts. Especially Muay Thai, which didn’t really help me in this fight. But I digress.

I landed on my back with him on top of me. I’ll admit it was uncomfortable, but he was in my guard, so it was worth it. Since he was in my guard, he couldn’t do much except move his hands. I caught and trapped one of his hands, and he still tried to strangle me. I quickly dissuaded him of that notion by punching him in the head. Repeatedly. He seemed stunned, so I took my thumb and pressed it into the pressure point behind his ear (I believe it’s called the Dokko pressure point. I don’t recommend it unless you don’t care about what happens to your opponent). He went limp for five seconds, and then struggled to get off me. I happily let him up. He staggered to his feet and stared at me furiously. His forehead and nose were bleeding. He wiped at his nose and hunched over and acted like he wanted to attack me again. Noticing how low his head now was, I rocked backwards and brought both feet up and kicked him in the jaw. I heard a sharp crack followed by a startled yelp.

I scrambled to my feet, ready for round two, and he was…gone? I stared for a moment, and then looked over the edge of the cliff. There he was, clinging to the side of the impossible to climb bank. I stared at him in silence. He regained some of his senses and looked up at me. I grinned viciously and gave a little wave. He glared weakly at me. I snorted and kicked some sand down on him, then walked over to my jacket and called the police.

I don’t really have much faith in the police, as they have let me down so many times in the past, but I wasn’t going to leave him there. There was a chance that he would manage to swim to the other side of the small lake and recover. If he did, there was nothing to stop him from attempting to murder someone else. If it was a big lake, I’d leave his ass there to drown. I’m not a very forgiving person.

So the police showed up, and I told them that he attacked me. Apparently the guy had a warrant out for his arrest, so I didn’t really have to do anything. They got a boat and hauled him back to shore, and I stretched and continued on my walk.

This little fight would have been fun if he hadn’t been trying to kill me (or worse). I’m a little sore, and my back is bruised from when I hit the ground, but I’m otherwise unharmed. I’ll be more careful from now on. I would really like to get one of those butterfly knives. Or a switchblade. Perhaps I’ll carry one of my throwing knives and keep it strapped to my arm. I need to find out where I can take a Muay Thai class…

I’m not really shaken by the incident, just mad. I’m more worried about my missing sunglasses. Where the hell did they go?