Vlindrel:Safeguard the Hellmouth

Wednesday October 20th 1999, 8:30 AM
Wildomar, Lawless Ranch

**Tate rubs the side of his head a little as he walks from the bathroom and down the hall, having only woken up moments before. Since graduating highschool about four months ago he hasn't done much, just worked on the farm, hung out with the few of his friends that haven't moved on to college, and though he's more well-read on his sister's notes on witchcraft, he hasn't been able to actually accomplish any of the spells she seemed that seemed to come naturally to her. Outside of figuring out how to brew a few inconsistent potions with the little ingrediants available, he's made little supernatural progress, not that it matters since absolutely nothing has happened since the nights of the skinwalker a year ago.**

**As Tate makes his way to the stairway he can hear talking from downstairs, someone is speaking with his parents.**

Tate: **He pauses halfway down the steps, sitting down as he looks through the railing towards the kitchen table to see who his parents are talking to. Loki scampers up behind him and crawls up the back of his shirt, sitting on Tate's shoulder and looking in the same direction Tate, curious to see what he's looking at.**

Mr. Goldberg: **He's a balding man who looks to be in his late forties. He's wearing a business suit, and in front of him on the table is a black suitcase full of materials.** Well that's why I agreed to our meething this morning, to personally explain to you why your monthly house payment will continue to rise. **He looks to Mr. Lawless.** The Real Estate market has seen a resurgence in the passed year and continues to boom with no signs of slowing down. Furthermore, Riverside itself is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, which means that the property values sky rocket, meaning higher taxes and higher premiums.

Jude: **Tate's mother rubs her forehead.** So you're telling us that the country's economy is doing so well that we have to pay *more*?

Jason: **He's standing a few feet from the table. As always he has an unreadable expression, slightly stoic.** It's fine Jude. All of these rich yuppies moving in prefer local farm-to-fork "organic" poultry and beef. We have the money to pay for the rising taxes, it's understandable.

Mr. Goldberg: **He looks almost displeased by Jason brushing off the increasing costs of their land.** You may be able to afford the cost of living here for now, but the bank has the power to raise your monthly payment as the value of the property rises, in addition to taxes, as per your loan agreement. **He looks to Tate's dad.** We're concerned with our investment and your ability to continue payment.**He slides the paper across the table towards Tate's mom.** These are our projected property inflation values over the next three years. **He looks to Tate's father. The numbers on it are exorbiant.**

Jude: How the hell is this legal? **She looks at the paper.**

Mr.Goldberg: The loan you agreed to when purchasing the property clearly stated that under circumstances where the value of the land increased, the bank reserves the right to increase the monthly payment as well. Furthermore, the bank doesn't set the taxrate on real estate, Ms. Lawless, the state and county do... If you can't afforf the monthly payment we are prepared to buy this land from you for the initial price you were willing to pay, minus the remaining deficet on your loan of course.

Jude: The price of land is going up, but the bank is unwilling to buy it for more? That's nonsense. **She looks at him with an unamused stare.** I'm not an idiot Mr. Goldberg, I know that when the value of something increases that doesn't mean you sell it for the *same amount*.

Mr. Goldberg: **He cuts her off at the end.** There is a massive, *dangerous*, sinkhole at the edge of your property, and the possibility of more appearing makes this land undesireable to most repective buyers.

Jason: So if I'm to understand this right, the value of the property is skyrocketing because of the economy and surrounding real estate values going up, but actually plummeting because there's a hole in the ground on our lot. **He sounds almost sarcastic in the way he says it. Like an older version of Tate.**

Mr. Goldberg: You seem to be in quite the financial pickle, Mr. and Ms. Lawless...

Jason: Raise the payment, if we have to dig a little into our nest egg and buy up some more cattle to make more to pay it, then that's the way it's going to be. **He shrugs a little and takes another sip from his coffee.**

Mr. Goldberg: I hope you don't regret this, Mr. Lawless. Our offer to buy only lasts for the week. **He puts a paper with the amount of money the bank is willing to pay onto the table, then slams his suitcase shut and stands up. Tate can see that he's a rather short, hunched, little man.** After which the bank will raise your monthly payment. **He snaps the locks on his suitcase and pulls it off the table.**

Jason: Well, since I can still afford to live here, I'll escort you off of *my* property, Mr. Goldberg. **He pushes off the counter and walks the accountant out of the house.**

Tate: **He finally walks down stairs and looks to his mom.** I thought you and dad said you weren't having any problems paying for this place.

Jude: **She sighs and leans back.** We weren't... **She picks up the paper the accountant left and looks at the amount the bank is willing to pay.** But last month the payment doubled and the taxes went way up.

Tate: Well we can't sell it. This is our home. **He looks outside in the direction of the sinkhole. He's getting a nagging feeling that this is somehow about that supernatural pit.**

Jude: We might not have a choice. **She reads the paper up and down.** Your dad and I moved out here to get away from rising costs of living, but they've followed us here. **She takes a sip of her tea as she reads the page over.**

Jason: **He walks back into the kitchen after a moment.** How much are they offering?

Jude: Not enough that we could move and buy a new farm. If we did move it'd have to be out of state, far from here.

Tate: That's *not* happening. **He looks at his dad.**

Jason: We still have time to think about it Tate. We agreed that you could take a year off, but you're still going to college next year, you won't even be living here. If we sell the place it wouldn't have an impact on you, son.

Tate: *Of course* it'd have an impact on me, I grew up here.

Jude: You've changed your tune this passed year, you know that? **She leans back, putting the paper down.** You used to hate living on a farm.

Tate: **He looks to his mom, then looks down, thinking about his sister, the sinkhole, and hanging around on the farm with friends during his high school years.** Well... I... A lot's happened since then.

Jason: We have time to think about it. **He picks up his coffee and takes another drink.** Now go get dressed, you were supposed to be up two hours ago to help me fix the barn doors.

**Later that afternoon...**

**Tate, Ahiga, and Hunter are at the local Arcade, the "Trevi Zone". With the boom to the local economy it's recieved a number of addons, like game shops, hobby shops, more food venues, a large bowling alley and is now directly connected to the theater next door, which itself has been rebuilt into a multiplex.**

Ahiga: Yeah that guy's been by my house too. **He's stitting there with a large soda. There's a large pizza that's half-finished at the center of the table.** My dad blew a gasket and ran him out of the house. **He smirks a little.** I'm getting a bad feeling about it, ya'know? Like someone whats to buy up our land to use the sinkhole.

Tate: Yeah I had that same feeling. **He holds a pepperoni up to his shoulder and Loki crawls out of his hoodie and grabs it nibbling it down almost like a squirrel.** That rat's just there at someone else's behest, and that someone wants the sinkhole. I can practically feel it.

Hunter: **He's not eating the pizza, rather, he's eating from a large box of salted raw beef. There's a new resturant here called "RAW" that specializes in preparing raw meats and other foods as part of a new wave "organic" food craze. He grabs a plastic fork and stabs it into the raw beef like a knife, making it obvious that he rarely uses a fork to eat.** Father tells me that Hellmouths are priceless. **He shoves a large amount of the food into his mouth, a bit of red juice running down the corner of his mouth as he chews. He suddenly speaks while chewing his food.** Tho thelling it woulf be Thtupid.

Ahiga: **A slight look of disgust passes over his face as he sees the way he eats and he looks away from Hunter.** Well my dad doesn't plan on selling. My grandpa bought that land when he was barely older than me. The only reason we owe anything on it is because that fucking skinwalker that killed all our cattle. We had to take out a new mortgage to pay off the fees for the sinkhole and buy enough livestock to get the farm going again.

Tate: That happened almost exactly a year ago today. **He picks at his pizza, feeding another pepperoni to Loki.**

Ahiga: Yeah, I was thinking about it this morning.

Tate: I think the thing that annoys me is all that weird shit happened and then we got nothing for like a year... I thought more weird shit would pop up like that with the sinkhole being there.

Ahiga: Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm kind of glad that has happened though. I don't need another skinwalker attack in my life... Ever again. **He looks away, putting his hand to his mouth as he remembers those nights.**

Kira: Well that's what happens when you're made into off-screen supporting characters that don't even have a speaking role. **She's walking up to their table with Odie.** It happens the best of us. Mainly me.

Odie: **He looks at what Hunter is eating.** How's the grub?

Hunter: Too salty. **He scoops more into his mouth and chomps down on it greedily.**

Odie: **He looks to Tate and Ahiga.** You guys ready to go?

Ahiga: Yeah... Hey you think Murdoc could look into something for us? **He looks to Odie.**

Odie: Like what? *Nothing* is happening here, this town's basically a dead zone these days. Murdoc's planning on retiring and moving to Vegas or something.

Ahiga: We think someone's trying to strongarm our parents into getting them to sell our farms, probably because they want the sinkhole.

Kira: Well it's obvious who the hell that would be. **She leans on Odie.** That rich family that's buying up *everything*. **She looks to Odie.** You don't need a detective to figure that out, genius. **She looks back to Ahiga and shakes her head.**

Odie: **He looks at her for a moment.** She's right, Natalya wants all of the hellmouths in the area. It was only a matter of time until she found out about the sinkhole.

Ahiga: Maybe I can talk to Chris about it...

Odie: I trust Chris about as far as I can throw him.

Hunter: **He looks to Odie and then shoves a big chunk of beef into his mouth.** Whith ithn't very far...

Odie: I'm doing that workout routine Coty set up for me. **He flexes his arms.** I'll be as buff as Chris in no time.

Ahiga: **He looks at Odie's bicep.** Maybe you should quit while you're ahead, Chris is like double your weight in muscle alone dude. Your superpower is freezing stuff and being a weeb, not super-strength.

Odie: **He rolls his eyes and drops his arm to his side.**

Kira: Yeah well, he beats Chris is *other* departments. **She raises an eyebrow at Ahiga.** By a country mile I might mention.

Ahiga: **He looks a little paler, knowing what she's probably implying.** Well... Umm... Anyway it couldn't hurt... To, you know, ask him. I'm still his friend from when we played football together.

Odie: How about I talk to some people I know, see if we can't figure out who is behind all this, sound good to you?

Ahiga: ...Uhh, yeah, alright... Thanks man.

Tate: **He suddenly stands up.** Let's just get outta here, this is boring.

Later, after midnight...

**It's around one in the morning and a dense, chilling, autum fog has descended upon the two farms. Without warning, the silence of the night is broken as a blood-curdling scream rips across the fields and resonates through the fog. The sound is unforgettable to Tate. It's the same sound he heard nearly a year ago.**

Tate: **He immediately sits up in bed, a chill running down his spine. He knows that sound. Loki is already at the window, looking outside. Tate immediately leaps out of bed, opens the door in his dresser and pulls a small wooden wand, then pulls his jeans he had on earlier that day, grabs his hoodie and he and Loki are quickly moving down the hall.**

Jason: **His voice comes from his parent's room.** You hear that Tate? Was that the cows?

Tate: It didn't sound like the cows. **He pauses, thinking of a quick lie.** It sounded more like one of those stray cats, I'm gonna check just in case. **He pulls his hoodie up as Loki runs passed him down the hallway.**

Jason: You want me to come with you?

Tate: I'll be ok.

Jason: You sure?

Tate: I'm an adult now dad, I can handle walking out to the barn! **He runs down the hallway and doesn't say another word, not waiting for his dad to respond. In moments he's running across the field, point his wand out in front of him, the end of it shining like a flashlight.**

**Ahead of Tate, Dzeh's ethereal form is barely discernable from the darkness and fog, leaping across the fieldings towards the barn. Ahiga is sprinting at full speed as he trails behind the spirit-stag, a pair of large antlers on his head.**

Tate: **Seeing the stag and Ahiga, Tatebreaks into a sprint as his confidence grows, knowing that he's not out here alone. In minutes he reaches the barn as Ahiga does.**

**The door to the barn has been ripped open, with the lock broken off.**

Ahiga: **He whispers.** I'll go first. **He walks into the bark slowly as Dzeh disperses into the fog. He turns on a flashlight and shines it around for a moment. The cows are all pressed up against their stalls and are making obvious sounds of distress, but the floor isn't covered with blood and guts like he expected.**

Tate: **He follows behind Ahiga, shining his wand up at the barn's rafters, not wanting to be ambushed from above ever again.**

Ahiga: **As he reaches one of the last stalls he stops. A large hulking figure is bent over a single cow, a pool of blood spread out around it. The figure stands up and sighs heavily, a human-like sigh, not the animalistic growl he espected.**

**A voice, deep but human, comes from the large scaled creature.** Didn't expect cows to be so loud.

Ahiga: **He stands ready, unsure of what's happening, or what this thing is. He tilts his head, the accent giving away who it is.** ...Chris?

Chris: Shows how much a rich kid like me knows about farmlife. **His hands are drenched in the cow's blood, the large translucent claws dripping thick drops of blood.** You got here really fuck'n fast Ahiga. **He turns around an his eyes shift to serpent-like vertical slits cutting through a lime-green glow that reflects the light of Ahiga's flashlight.** Who else is here? **He tips his head.** Tate? That you?

Tate: **He steps into view, wand still raised.**

Chris: How 'bout we keep this between us, that way I don't have to get violent. **He starts walking towards them slowly.**

Tate: I *knew* you and your family was behind this shit. You're here to... To... **He starts taking a few steps back.** To kill our cattle so we don't have the money to keep the farm!

Chris: Didn't work out as well as I planned it. **He begins to bulk up even larger, his already muscular frame expanding as he gains height and his muscles ripple beneath his hide of green scales covering his body. His face protrudes and distorts until it looks like something halfway between a python and a crocodile. His deep voice rumbles up from his overly muscular chest, his mouth moving only slightly, almost like he's forming the words somewhere inside of him and projecting them outwards through his mouth, rather than using his tongue and lips like a human would.** Don't you two go and make me make this thing get all messy now. You two keep your mouth shut, sell the farm, and nothing bad has to happen to either of you.

Tate: **He narrows his eyes and furrows his brow to obvious anger. The fog around them pulses with a dim light as it's pulled into the tip of his wand, in an instant a blast of water launches from the end of it and slams into Chris's chest, the shot is immediately followed by a volley of four more, each Water Blast slamming directly into Chris.**

Chris: **As each blast hits him it barely makes him flinch. The the fifth water blast strikes the side of his head, causing it to jerk to the side slightly.** Now why'd you have to go and do that...

Ahiga: **Dzeh immediately materiallizes from the moisture in the barn, leaps from the next stall over, and rams headfirst into Chris. The spirit's antlers do little, not even piercing Chris's scaled hide.**

Chris: **He stubles slightly from the impact and grabs at the Stag, but it safely disperses into mist before he can get a hold of the thing. The stag reappears and a serpentine tail whips out, almost faster than the eye can see, and snaps at the Stag's head, blasting it apart with a shattering sound, accompanied by a shockwave of mist.**

Ahiga: **He grabs Tate and runs out of the barn, seeing Dzeh's form get blasted apart in a single strike. The two of them are out of the barn in seconds, but the door blasts open as Chris's broad shoulders slam through the front doors of the barn, knocking on of them off its hinges.**

Chris: **He quickly gains on them. Without Dzeh, Ahiga doesn't run much faster than the average teenager would, and he doesn't have the strength to pull Tate along with him. The two boys are much too slow for Chris.**

**A shrieking sound tears through the fog, accompanied by beams of gilded light that slash a path between Chris and the two boys.**

Chris: **He slides to a stop, his inhuman reflexes allowing him to spot the beams from the corner of his eye and then leap back from their path.**

**A pinpoint of blue light and the smell of bitter cigarettes fills the air. As Chris, Ahiga, and Tate look to it, a young man stands, pulling a cigarette from his mouth. The beams seeming to have divided the fog itself to reveal him.** I stood here in the dark, thinking to myself, "Chris isn't so stupid that he'll actually show up himself, Ahiga and Tate can probably deal with whatever lackey he sent." But here you are, big hulking idiot, trying to sabotage the farm in person. **Tate shines his wand in the young man's direction.**

Nemo: **He stands about twenty yards away, weaing a leather jacket, simple jeans, and a big book under his right arm, with the cigarette in his left hand.** You know I'm still pissed at you for what you did to me about a year from now.

Chris: **He stands up straight, looking at Nemo as his head tilts slightly.** I... What? **Despite his monstrous appearance, he actually sounds confused.**

Nemo: **He clears his throat.** Leave the boys alone and I won't send you back to mommy as a pair of snakeskin boots. **He puts the cigarette to his mouth and pulls open the book.**

Chris: Big talk for a guy whose guts I spread all over the pavement last time we fought. **He turns and faces Nemo, bulking up slightly more as he flexes his muscles.**

Nemo: I might be mistaken, but didn't mommy help you out there?

Chris: I'm ten times stronger than I was then.

Nemo: Well I hope you're smarter too -Because I brought an old friend that's just been dying to see you again... **A pair of rotten bird wings expand from behind Nemo. After a moment the upper torso of a large demonic bird rises up from behind him, its glowing golden eyes burning bright in the darkness. Nemo points at Chris.** ...Avarada. *Akresh*.