This is a series of short stories, detailing the adventures of Chelsea Childling. You can start with her origin story or pick something from the index.
***
Ma's kitchen smelled of chicken and rice as Chelsea wandered in with the setting sun. "I'm back, and I brought our bait."
The old woman, grey braids swinging, gestured to the table. "Have a seat. Dinner's almost ready."
Chelsea smiled over her shoulder at Jackson, who looked around with curiosity. "Ma, this is Jackson. Jack, this is Ma."
Ma shot Jack a glance. "This is our bait for La Llorona?"
"Trust me, Ma. He's perfect."
Jack eyed her at that statement but said nothing as he joined her at the table, scratching at her dog's ears. The engine of Jim's ancient truck rumbled out back and Ma actually looked up with a smile. "Good timing. The kids are home."
Jim and Kristin came with a few six packs and all the latest gossip from town. They handed out beer and stories about the locals while Ma finished dinner. Once the five of them were mostly done eating, Ma leaned back, dark eyes studying Jackson Hawk. "You said you'd have some information for us."
Chelsea nodded and checked the time on the ancient clock that ticked above the sink. "It's barely nine on the East Coast. Andy is still probably setting his team up for the night. He'll call soon."
Jackson grinned at her as he took a drink. "You two hunted together for too long."
She smirked back at him. "Jealous that he likes me better?"
He was spared having to answer by Andy calling. "Hey Red, put me on speaker."
"I thought we'd discussed the banality of calling me "Red"."
"We did. And if you going to insist on fire engine red hair instead of your natural ginger, I get to make fun of it."
"Whatever." She hit the speaker button and placed the phone on the table. "Ma, Jim, Kristin, and Jack are here with me."
"And what about the best doggo ever?"
Bentley barked in answer.
"That's my boy." Andy's amusement faded. "You folks are in just a heap of trouble. La Llorona seems to be real, and some kind of teleporter or phantasm."
Jim shared a startled look with his sister, before he asked, "Teleporter?"
"Maybe." Andy sighed. "There are just too many stories of her hurting someone, physically, when she can't be touched. That would indicate that she's phasing out of our reality, just a little. She also has a tendency to appear and disappear in a small area, but I'd put my money on a phantasm over a teleporter. I think she phases out, moves around, and then comes back."
Chelsea licked her lips. "And this isn't a ghost?"
"Oh, who knows, really." Andy sighed. "I'm not a biologist or cryptozoologist, I just read the stuff they put out. And the team in West Virginia studying teleporters says that teleporters and phantasms are two different things, and neither are ghosts."
"So there are people studying monsters?"
"Red, I fail to see how that's important at the moment."
Chelsea opened her mouth in annoyance, but Ma cut her off. "Do these people know how to kill La Llorona. Because she ain't been killed yet."
"They have some ideas, but the one that matters you all is forcing her to turn corporal."
"And how do we do that?" Kristin hugged herself tight. "Our mother wasn't able to do it."
"Well for one, you have the lecherous leprechaun with you."
Jackson snorted. "I told you, Leprechauns are actually pretty tall."
"Even if you prove that to me, you'll still be short." Andy's eye roll somehow came out in his voice. "Anyway, she really dislikes men who sleep around, and short-stuff lives that life to the fullest. But she will have to be corporeal to hurt him."
"Yeah." Jim's normal good cheer had darkened into something hard, with a sharp edge. "That's how both our parents died."
"And I'm sorry for them. But were they hunting her or doing the hunting?"
The siblings said nothing, so Ma spoke for them. "Their pop was hunted, my niece tried to hunt her."
"Right. Well, their kids will have bait and a team. Jack, you hit on La Llorona. When she attacks, the rest of you jump her. You won't even have to hide too much. She doesn't seem to be entirely aware of our world. Another reason I think she's a phantasm over a teleporter. I don't think that all of her is here."
Stony anger had transformed Jim and Kristin into statues, so Chelsea took her phone from the table. "Text me the best hunting spots."
"I'm off speaker, right?"
"Yeah."
"They mad?"
"Yeah."
He sighed. "This is why you don't get involved in revenge hunts, Red. They don't want to hear the truth. They want to hear that I have easy answers and that their parents were expert hunters who had a bad break. I'm glad you brought Jackson into this, but watch his back."
Chelsea let her own anger into her voice as she stepped into the reddened evening light. "Of course, I'll be watching him. I brought him in as bait."
"Oh Lord, help us all." Andy sighed again. "La Llorona is dangerous."
"We're hunters. What isn't dangerous?"
"Red, people have been trying to kill this thing for centuries. Nobody has managed it yet."
A sliver of cold fear punctured her anger. "True."
"And Jackson can handle most monsters, but this is non-corporeal monster. He literally can't handle it."
"So how do we turn her corporeal? You didn't really answer that."
"Yes, I did. She has to turn corporeal to attack Jackson, even if it's just her hands."
"Right." For the first time since she decided to help, real doubt paused her. "Do you think we can do this?"
Andy laughed. "Red, you got Jackson to want to settle down. You even got the bitchiest, most feral hunter I know to crave domestication, even if Amber won't admit it yet. I think you just might be able to pull a third miracle and become an actual goddamned saint."
She laughed as they said their goodbyes and hung up. But her humor died in the stony faces of her hosts and partners. "He's texting us a few good spots to hunt."
Jim snorted and Kristin looked skeptical as Jack just laughed. "Andy can be a real asshole, but his info is always good and he only wants us all to live through this."
Kristin and Jim shared an eye roll, but they nodded.
That settled, Chelsea plopped down beside Jackson and her dog, relishing the feeling of safety that they brought. She knew it would be short-lived. La Llorona was waiting for them.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment