VVitch

"Let's check for any signs of the missing girl and the symbols that were left behind," says Bobby, and he starts to look around and I follow suit.

The living room and kitchen appear to be totally normal with no signs of anything strange happening until we reach the exit door.

There is dried blood everywhere, as if someone had exploded there.

Bobby looks around and then says, "This seems to be the place where the two bodies were found."

"Yes, but what could have caused something like this?"

Bobby walks to the door and crouches down to inspect something, then says, "No idea, but there is no ectoplasm or sulfur anywhere, and there is also no sulfuric smell. So it wasn't a ghost or demon, that's for sure."

As I walk closer to the door too, I notice a strange aura coming from upstairs. It doesn't feel like something a soul would produce and it was something I've never felt before.

So I pull out my gun and proceed to walk upstairs. When Bobby sees this, he says nothing but also takes out his sawed-off shotgun and follows me.

We arrive at a bedroom door where the presence seems to be coming from, and there was something written on it with blood.

"What is this Latin?" asked Bobby

"Yes, Meum verbum lex est. My word is law, in old Latin. So the strange symbols your college talked about were simply Latin words..."

"Yes, it seems like it, he probably didn't even see them and only heard what the police said… so should we go inside?"

I sigh and nod to Bobby, and we slowly open the door before entering. However, to our surprise, there is nothing but a room in disarray.

"There's nothing here. Did you hear something before?" asks Bobby, a bit tense.

I put the pistol back in its holster and say, "No, it was more like a feeling, but there's nothing here... at least on the surface. Let's search the room."

Bobby nods and starts rummaging through the chaos. Upon looking at the pictures and personal items, it becomes clear this room belongs to Cassidy.

But apart from the strange presence, I can't sense anything that would resemble the aura of Cthylla or Cthulhu themselves.

"It's the room of the missing girl, but I don't see any signs of something strange," says Bobby while searching through the drawers, as I pick up Cassidy's backpack.

"Yeah, except for this," I say, tossing an old and strange-looking leather pouch towards Bobby. That emitted the strange aura.

He catches it but then instantly lets go of it, shocked. It falls to the ground, and he screams, "This is a Hex Bag! Don't throw something like that around. It can be dangerous!"

Oops... I walk closer to it and pick it up again, much to Bobby's shock and ask him, "Could this have caused all of this?"

He collect himself and answers, "Maybe, but since Hex Bags can be used for almost anything, it's hard to tell what it was specifically used for. Most of the time, witches use them to cast spells and curses from afar."

"That sounds really convenient." I open it, only to find animal bones and other strange items like herbs inside. "But it smells and looks gross," I say, handing it back to Bobby.

---

He takes it at first but then immediately drops it again on the ground, while looking angry at me.

Then takes out his flask of scotch and pours it over the bag, then sets it on fire with his lighter... inside the house.

"The only way to truly get rid of it is to burn it," says Bobby after the bag starts burning strangely and then disappears into ashes a few seconds later.

It looks kind of amazing and proves that it wasn't a normal bag. "So this was the work of a witch? But why?" I asked Bobby afterwards.

"No idea. Witches are often crazy and intoxicated by the magic they use. And If a witch was after this family, then you can see the results."

"Yeah, their methods seem pretty effective. The question is, what happened to Cassidy and why?"

"Are you really interested? I thought if it had nothing to do with Cthulhu, you would want to leave immediately."

"I never said that... and we're talking about witchcraft here. Who wouldn't be curious about—"

Before I can finish my sentence, I sense something strange outside staring at me and grab my gun, pointing it at the window.

"What... What are you doing?" Bobby asked, grabbing his shotgun as well.

Looking outside, I saw a normal... raven? No, not quite, as it possessed both a raven and a human aura. A wereraven, perhaps?

Sensing no aggression, I holstered my gun and replied, "Nothing. It appears that all this witchcraft business has made me a bit paranoid. So, once you discover that a witch is involved, how do you track her or him down?"

"You can't just do something like this and then casually change the subject! But there's no straightforward way to track them down. Most of the time, it involves a lot of detective work to find them," said Bobby, while glaring at me and also putting away his weapon.

"Well, in that case, let's go and investigate her workplace," I suggested, retrieving some waitress clothes from the bag, which had an imprint from a bar called The Crazy Lady.

"Since we don't have any other clues, it seems to be our only course of action. So let's check it out," Bobby agreed, examining the clothes.

So we left the house through the same window we came in through. As we went into the car, I noticed the raven was still observing us.

---

We arrived at the bar, which was nearly on the other side of town, but it was closed and would only reopen in the evening.

So we decided to stay in a motel until evening and look for local stories about supernatural phenomena since Bobby said that a lot of witches sometimes stay in the same place for centuries.

After arriving at the motel, we settled into a room with two beds, and Bobby started the research while I grabbed some paracord and began untwining it to make a net.

"Well, no real phenomena so far, only some crazy woman who was put in a psychiatric facility after scaring her family and claiming that someday black mucus would cover the whole earth.

But since she is already dead, she can't be our case," said Bobby after reading the article about the woman.

I kinda have a bad feeling hearing this…

"Well back to square one," said Bobby, and then looked at me curiously.

"What the hell are you doing there?" he asked when he noticed my nearly finished net.

"I'm planning to go on a hunt... later," I replied, making the last knot to finish the net.

"You want to hunt the witches with a net? Most of the time we don't catch them and simply shoot them in the head since they are too dangerous to keep alive," Bobby remarked.

"No, this is not for witches. You will see when I catch it..." I told him and then grabbed his notebook, opening the page about witches, while Bobby looked at me confused.

~~~

Witches:

Weaknesses: Mouth gags, distraction and everything else that stops them from casting spells.

How to destroy: They are mortal and can be killed like normal humans

~~~

"You mentioned that they sometimes stay in one place for centuries, but in your notebook, you say they are mortal? How does that work?" I asked him after reading it.

"Strong witches use witchcraft to stay young and alive, even for centuries, but this doesn't make them immortal. It simply allows them to live longer," Bobby explained, then glanced at his clock and stood up.

Then grabbed his laptop and said, "It's time. The bar will open in a few minutes. Let's go."

I nodded at him, and we left the motel, driving back to the bar.

Upon arriving, we noticed a bouncer stationed outside, responsible for checking people. Consequently, we decided to leave our weapons in the car before proceeding inside.

---

Inside we went to the front bar, and to Bobby's surprise, I took out a hundred dollars and gave it to the bartender, saying,

"We'll take a bottle of whiskey, and the change is for you if you can tell me something about Cassidy Jones, who works here."

He looked at me strangely at first but then grabbed a bottle and two glasses for us and said, "Here you go, and I don't know anything about her. She worked a few nights and then left. But you can ask her best friend Kelly. She's the waitress over there."

I turned around and saw a pretty blonde waitress, around 24 or 25, happily taking photos with another waitress on her Nokia phone.

"Thank you." I gave the bartender another twenty dollars, took the bottle, and we walked over to the table next to the waitress.

We sat down, and Bobby asked me, "Didn't you say you lost everything? Where did you get all the money from?"

"Oh, that. Remember when I mentioned nearly breaking my silver knife on an adventure?"

"Yes."

"Well, it got damaged because I hunted down some werewolves. Afterward, I received payment for killing them and saving some people."

"You got paid for killing werewolves?" asked Bobby, bewildered.

"Yes, being a hunter seems to be very profitable." I replied, pouring some whiskey.

"...sure it is," said Bobby, emptying his first glass.

Why does he suddenly look so down?

"Hey, do you guys want to order some shots, or is the whiskey enough?" asked the Kelly, after finishing her photoshoot.

"No, thanks. We have enough, but if you answer a few questions, it'll be profitable for you." I laid down another hundred dollars, and she looked unsure at first but then sat down and grabbed the bill.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" she asked cheerfully.

"Well, it's about your missing friend, Cassidy. Do you know if she had any problems or something like that?" I asked, and her face momentarily turned ugly before returning to normal.

"Cassidy was... I mean, is a bit strange. She always had issues with her jobs, and even after I got her this job, she started having problems with our boss. She would say he would hurt her in the future and other things." said Kelly with a strange look on her face.

"Is that so? That's quite a strange statement, don't you think? Is your boss that kind of guy?"

"No, he was always good to us. I don't know what she was talking about."

This leads us nowhere. Let's see if I can track Cassidy down.

"Do you have a photo of you and Cassidy? Maybe one where you're together or where you share a happy memory?" I asked her, and she began looking around strangely.

"Ah, yes, but I left my phone at home, so I can't show them to you. Now, excuse me, I need to get back to work," she said hurriedly and left the table.

"What the hell was that?" asked Bobby.

"I have no idea. But if the bartender hadn't mentioned that they were best friends, I would have thought they were strangers or something. I mean, who talks like that about a best friend who's missing?"

"Yeah, she's definitely hiding something," said Bobby. But as he was about to stand up and call her, he stopped and said, "We have company. It seems she didn't appreciate our questions."

Turning around, I saw Kelly approaching us with a fat guy in a suit and the bouncer from outside.

---

They stop at our table and the overweight man says, "Are you the guys who asked about that bitch?"

"That's right. Do you also have information for us?" I ask him with a smile while sipping my whiskey.

"Information? Yes, sure, I have some. That bitch was crazy. She told the others never to leave me alone with her... And two days ago, she abruptly ran away from the bar. If you ask me, I hope she's rotting in a hole.

So now that you have the information, leave my worker alone and get out of here, or you will be dragged out," said the manager. Behind him, Kelly maintained a smile throughout his entire speech.

"Yeah, we've heard enough. Aiden, let's go," Bobby says, standing up.

"Sure, but first, I have another question for the manager here," I stand up and face him.

He turns to his bouncer and says, "Can you believe this guy? Fine, go ahead."

"How many waitresses have you abused here that even the new waitress knows about it?" I ask him with a smile, and his face starts to turn red.

"Get him!!!" screams the excuse of a man, and the bouncer steps forward.

Bobby is initially shocked by my words but gets ready to help me. However, I signal him to stay back.

The bouncer approaches me and throws a right punch, but I catch it with my left hand and twist it aside.

Then I deliver a right hook to his face, causing him to stagger back. So I release his right hand, grab his head and forcefully slam his face against the table, breaking it in the process.

The bar suddenly falls silent, and everyone stares at us, while the manager trembles.

"Thanks for the answers. I'm pretty sure we'll meet again," I say with a smile towards the bewildered waitress behind him, and then we leave the bar and get into the car.

"What was that all about?" Bobby asks, looking annoyed at me.

I start the engine while glancing at the raven, which was on a nearby streetlamp, and say, "Nothing much, just blowing off some steam."

Afterwards we arrive back at the motel, and I tell Bobby, "You can go inside. I'm going for a walk first."

He nodded before entering our room.

I go to the trunk, grab the net, tuck it into my hoodie, and head towards an alley, with the raven following me not far behind.

After hiding behind a dumpster, I prepare the net, and wait until the raven flies by.

When it's right above me, I throw the net, trapping the strange creature inside, rendering its wings immobile, and it falls to the ground.

"Got you!" I create a makeshift bag out of the net and start walking back to our room, while the raven thrashes around.

When I open the door, I see Bobby waiting with his silver knife for me already.