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

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

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

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

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