Dan was admitted to the ER immediately and rushed into emergency surgery. It was likely what was left of his arm would have to be amputated. His girlfriend Ashley, meanwhile, sat in the waiting room in a near comatose state. Alysa sat next to her and attempted to console her by holding her hand and talking her through the ordeal. Creed, meanwhile, paced around the otherwise empty waiting room. “Didn’t I try to warn you?,” he muttered, “You could’ve gone anywhere else in town and I could’ve given you a tour, maybe even shared a beer with ya’ll. You went after something that I told you was best left alone. You don’t talk about those things. You don’t say their names. And you sure as shit don’t go looking for them,” he turned abruptly, “BUT DID YOU LISTEN!”.

Alysa shot to her feet and raised herself on the balls of her feet to come as close to eye level with Creed as she could, “No, Creed! We don’t do that!”

“As for you, you weren’t supposed to follow me,” he continued, “You got any idea what you put on yourself?”

“Right now, I’m just trying to keep you from making this poor girl feel worse,”

Ashley didn’t respond to any of it but continued to stare at the floor. The receptionist and several other people were all looking at them, however.

“Shit,” Alysa pointed to the front door, “We gonna talk out there.”

They stepped out of the waiting room and into a parking lot. For the most part, they were alone save for a few people coming and going out of the hospital.

“I know I wasn’t supposed to get involved but I wasn’t gonna let you do this alone,” Alysa told him, “Look at yourself. You ain’t the nicest guy but I never seen you yell at a traumatized girl before. What’s wrong with you?”

“A lot, okay?,” Creed paced around, “There’s a lot that’s wrong with me right now.”

“Yeah, no cap.”

Just then, Chief of Police Meyer walked up to them along with two more officers. “Not surprised to see you here, Creed,” Meyer scoffed. Creed shook his head and turned away silently. Meyer seemed to take some pleasure in frustrating Creed, then turned his attention toward Alysa, “I am a little surprised to see you, though. Thought I told you Farrell Creed was bad news.”

“Chief, we just saved two folks from being eaten by…,” she trailed off and caught a stern look from Creed, “… We don’t know what. There’s one guy in surgery right now and a girl that’s traumatized in the waiting room.”

Meyer motioned for the officers to go inside and stepped into Creed’s line of sight, “What is it this time, Creed? Crazy cult members? A vampire? What?”

“You never believe me anyway, so why should I tell you?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s that every time a fly lands on shit in this town, you’re somehow in the middle of it.”

“Guess I was born lucky.”

“Look, you can have your little PI business but you keep young girls out of it,” Meyer pointed to Alysa.

“I made the decision to come out here tonight,” Alysa spoke up, “He even told me not to come.”

“And where did that get ya? Some people just got attacked by God-knows-what and you’re stuck having arguments with this guy in a hospital parking lot.”

“I was just leaving anyway,” Creed thumbed toward the door, “I’m sure your boys in there can handle the situation.”

“Right, cause a mess and then just leave the rest of us to clean it up,” Meyer sneered.

“I didn’t ask for this!,” Creed growled and stormed away.

Meyer turned to Alysa and whispered, “Just like his dad. I told ya.” Alysa cringed and hoped Creed didn’t hear it but the way Creed spun back around, her fears were realized.

“What was that, Meyer?,” Creed roared.

“Just go home, Creed,” Alysa quickly placed herself between the men.

“Who was my dad?,” he continued.

Meyer placed his hand on his sidearm, “I don’t like the way you’re coming at me right now, Creed.”

“Say the name, Meyer,” Creed roared again, “Who was my dad?”

“Creed, stop!,” Alysa slapped her hands against his chest, which caught his attention, “Just go home! Okay? You know if Cassandra was here right now she’d agree. Go home!”

Creed glared at Meyer, then turned and walked back to his truck. Meyer calmly let go of his sidearm and looked into Alysa’s eyes, “That’s the kind of temper guys like that have. I’ll tell you one more time and never again, he’s not safe to be around. You shouldn’t be protecting him.”

“He wasn’t the only person I was protecting,” Alysa quickly walked away.

****

Alysa lived in a small home that used to belong to her mother. It was left to her in her will so rent was not a problem and her temple continued to pay her utilities. It was a small, two bedroom house with a large pantry containing herbs and other items used in rituals and spells, although the kitchen was not as well-stocked as she wanted. Alysa was collecting jars of tobacco and magnesium when she heard the doorbell ring.

Papa Abadie and Mama Johnson were at the door with some flowers. “Hi, Alysa,” Mama Johnson said, “We haven’t formally greeted you,” she handed the flowers to her.

“Thanks,” she took them and motioned inside, “Can I get you anything?”

“No thanks,” Papa Abadie told her, “How was school today?”

Alysa read between the lines. The last they spoke to one another, Alysa had cut class. These people were not her parents and shouldn’t be that concerned, especially since she was so close to graduating high school but she answered all the same, “School was great. I just got home from final period and was hoping to make dinner.” She hoped they didn’t know she stayed up late to hunt a Skinwalker and had a run in with the Chief of Police.

“We heard you had a run in with the Chief of Police,” Mama Johnson stated bluntly, “He called my office this morning.”

She sighed, “You know how our people struggle with the police.”

“Absolutely,” Mama Johnson gave her a reassuring nod, “But we are still concerned to hear about you going after strange creatures with a private investigator who apparently isn’t… quite stable.”

“My mom-,” Alysa began but was cut off.

“Miss Gerring told us that your mother would work with Mr. Creed and that he was an ally. We respect her decision but we want to take our community in a different direction.”

“A priestess protects her village,” Alysa recited an old Iseda proverb.

“That can carry multiple interpretations,” Abadie corrected her.

“We just want you to be safe,” Mama Johnson explained.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Once they left, Alysa finished gathering the items she needed and headed to Creed’s apartment. There was a flight of stairs at the back of his office building that led to his front door. She hoped he would be home and would be in a talking mood when she knocked on his door.

“Hey,” as expected, Creed still looked tired.

“You still mad at me?,” she asked.

He shook his head shamefully, “I wasn’t mad at you. I was mad at myself but took it out on you and everyone else so sorry ‘bout that,” he motioned for her to enter, “Come on in.”

His apartment was messy with a single TV, chair, a bed against the wall and a little kitchenette. Alysa came in and showed the jar of white ash she had concocted at home, “I made this.”

“Guess there’s no sense of you shying away from this no more,” he scratched his beard, “You’ve probably done enough to draw attention from those things. But you do need to know the next time they show up, you’re gonna be look’n like me and Pete Bone Splitter. All you need is to face one and it’ll affect you for the rest of your life.”

“I know,” she set the jar down, “I’m willing to do this.”

“Why? Not long ago, you didn’t wanna be in the same room as me. Now, you’re tagging along on cases.”

She shook her head, “People at school are talk’n shit and at my temple, they got a new priestess to replace my mom and didn’t even tell me and I don’t even know when they’ll finish my training. Meanwhile, I got the cops not mind’n their business. The only person in the whole damn town that shows me any kind of respect is you. I gotta check in on you because you’re kinda all I got now.”

“Damn,” Creed scratched his beard again and a slight smile spread across his face, “Now I just feel sorry for ya.”

Alysa snickered, “Stop, I’m serious.”

“You’ll graduate soon and you’ll become a priestess and make plenty of new friends,” Creed waved her off, “You can do a helluva lot better than me, kid.”

She became serious, “Maybe but… there’s something else. Remember when I saw a vision of my mother during the peyote ritual? She told me that when she was alive, she linked our fates through a spell. Said she trusted you and knew you would lead me to her and unlock my full potential. Y’know, if… anything happened to her.”

Creed was dumbfounded, “I had no idea.”

“She said she didn’t ask first ‘cuz you would’ve said no.”

He laughed, “Yeah, sounds about right.”

“She also thought we needed each other to protect this town. So I guess we’re kinda in this together. I mean… if you want,” she stared at her shoes, waiting quietly for a polite rejection. Or even an impolite rejection.

“Wanna know what I think?” Creed hefted the jar of white ash into his hand, “I think we have a Skinwalker to finish off.”