Re: Chapter 17.4 And The Crows Will Dig Your Grave
"
N͞ot̛ ţhe̢ ͝s̴l͏i͜g͟h̸test͞ ̧harm ̨to͝ co̢ḿe͜ ̴to them ̶b̡y my ̕aǵe̴nc̷y͠,̀" the thing agrees meekly. Carefully, it dips its great head and licks from Sarah's palm to her elbow. Its saliva burns like scarce-diluted vitriol, raising a long welt in its wake. It shifts, coiling tighter and rearing back so that Sarah is forced to step up on its flank or lose her footing, but it is already altering its form.
A brief series of nasty muted crunching sounds later, muscle and bone writhing about the spirit's flesh-cloaked core, a more human head and torso crown the snake coils, offering the sister a gentlemanly hand up.
"Beh̀o͠ld͠," he says, gesturing out into the foyer. The cows visible have come to an eerie halt, their eyes glowing flat green.
Upstairs, the cows abruptly stop panicking and stand as though stunned, eyes glowing blankly green. Aside from the creaking of the floor under tiny shifts of weight, the distant drum of hail and the huff of bovine breath, there is a sudden silence. Percy's hands tighten on the rail: unnerved, he makes to cough and then collapses.
"Percy!" Al barely catches him.
"It's...I can breathe again! Al! Mama! I can breathe! Get me up, I need to get down there..."
Gangatsu avoids the youth as he flails to a standing position and walks up alongside Adrian with a light. "Fucken witchcraft," she mutters, staring at the cattle, then starts when they start moving in a quiet, orderly fashion towards the stairs. "I don' like dis. None of it."
The cows start filing down. Percy pushes himself to join them, shaking and kitten-weak but with healthy colour in his cheeks.
"Įt ̢i̡s̴ don̶e...͏án͘d ̀w͞itn͠essed̶."
Out in the foyer, the cows turn and start wandering in strange unison out of the door, leaving only the dead. The clank notices, straightens with weird grace and turns, suddenly coming for the great snake-beast at a dead run.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-!"
The serpent lazily slams the door on it with his tail. There's a violent <*crunch*> from outside, the pannelling of a sudden punctured in a double pattern as though pierced by the tips of huge talons.
"Ha." The snake says, then chuckles properly, drawing Sarah closer as his coils shift, looping his long body more comfortably about the kitchen. (He still watches the door, though: for all his amusement, he still seems wary of that.)
"A̢h, ̷b̶u҉t ͠Li̧t͠tl͝e ̶Pl̢u̕mp O͢n̵e,͟ y̛o̢u ͠ha͡ve ͡b͠een͡ g̀ener͟ou̵s̢...I͘ a͢sk͝e͏d f͏o̡r҉ bu͜t̵ on̢e ̀p͘èr̶s̷on͡ in ret̴ur̴n̶ ̡t͘o̡ ̶ser̴ve҉ m͘e,̴ ̶y͡ȩt ̷y̶o҉ų ̷wo̷u̷ld ́not̶ al̨low mę ͟t͘o̷ také f̸rom yo̧ur fl͝o̡c͡k̨," he muses, coils still in easy, sinuous motion, all muscle and power.
"F͘e͝ar not̶,͡ fo̸r ̢I͠ ̸shal͢l ͏n̵o͘t evęń to̷u͟ch̡ ҉t͟he̡m͝,͘ my҉ ̕be͘au̴ty͜. ̨I k͏no͞w ͞en̨o͢ugh͡ o̷f̷ ̢th͢e ҉whit͞e҉ m̴eń'̸s͠ ͜w̴a̶y̡s, ho̶weve͝r.͏.҉.̡e̸nơưgh̀ ̢t͝o know ͘t͏hat i̵s̸ ͡a She̴ph͝er̛ḑ, an͞d̵ n͘ơt̸ of ̕yo̢ur̨ ̨f͜l҉oc̛k̛..̷.and,͢ ͘t͠h̕oug̕h I͟ ҉ne͝ve͏r̀ d̢a͏re͘d t̸o҉ h͡o̴pe, O, ͝Lit͏t̀l̛e̕ ̷Plum͢p ͡O͝ne̸, ̀a͟nd ͞w͠oùld̶ név̨er͘ u̕s͏e҉ you in͞ ̶ways...u͜nbe̷f́i̛tt̵in̢g.̛..̷yo̕u ͠sa̛i̴d̷ no͏t͞hińg͡ ͠óf y̴oưrself." He grins, a wild and delighted grin, and with a quick movement has her off-balance and into his arms, staring deep into her eyes.
"́You'͞r̀e.
͜M̕y.̶
͜
Wife.͞
́
̴N̛ow͡.͘"
"No! This isn-" the priest starts, but gets no further as the scaled manitou catches the man up in his rattled tail and slings him off his feet and into the air. A brief catch, savage laughter joyful as the storm wind, then the creature throws itself at the wall above Evans' head, gripping both captives tightly.
Bradshaw screams again as the huge snake-man's coils flash overhead in a mad rush, pinballing off the walls of the little corridor and laundry room to crash through the carriage house door and - by the sound of it - the carriage doors at the end of that construction.
Outside, Jake hears the cowboy's curses change with surprise as the entire herd stops dead, turns to face outward and starts walking away with a slow sleepwalking gait.
Then something like an express train bursts from the carriage house, at once screaming and laughing ferociously. Too fast to focus on, the rapid blur of dark and light swings a wide arc out and heads for the wilderness, swift as a snake despite its cyclopean proportions. Whatever that was, it wasn't human.
Cows amble mechanically away into the darkness, leaving Jake and a bewildered vampire cowboy standing lonesome in the mud.
[[OUT OF COMBAT, folks. Unless Jake wants to carry on fighting rather than nip in/run off whilst he has a chance. Sarah, I'll get you a squeaky-clean brand new temporarily-cloaked thread up in a wee bit.]]
