Season 3 Episode 9: Be Still the Mountain

Jade – Ashley McAnelly
Sam – Nichole Goodnight
Marcella – Natalie Hitzel
Efrain – Nelson Abrego
Marcus – Jeff Clement?
Gale – Jon Wellington

(concerned) “What do you mean Eric is gone?”

My hand shakes as I grip the phone, my heart pounding out of my chest and my nerves are shot. My whole body is tense and it’s hard to breathe.

“I mean, he came to help me like I had asked you to, and during the session the Buried Mother took him. She used the spirits to take control. I don’t know how he’s physically gone but–”

(pissed the fuck off) “You let my son call upon that monstrosity and then you let it take him? How could you not protect him?”

“I had multiple barriers up for protection and had two people standing guard–”

(pissed the fuck off) “And yet my son is still gone! You asked for his help, he trusted you to protect him, you know he would do anything at your request. He doesn’t know the dangers that we face but you did, and you let him reach out to her, and she took him!”

“He wasn’t reaching out to her only to the spirits–”

“He’s still gone Jade! Doesn’t fucking matter how! He’s gone because you asked for his help!”

“I will get him back, Silas.”

“No, I will get him back. You obviously can’t be trusted to protect my son, now.”

“Silas, you have no clue what you are up against. The Buried Bitch didn’t just get him because he’s new to his powers. She is a force that was worshipped as a goddess. It takes a circle of 10 very powerful practitioners just to seal her away. JUST to seal her away, Silas, because there was no destroying her. I know how bad I fucked up. You yell and berate me all you want, I deserve it. But you cannot get him back alone. If you go by yourself, you’ll both be killed or worse. I have a plan, just get your ass here to help me execute it.”

Maybe it’s my tone firming up to relay that terrible truth, or maybe he finally looks past his anger and starts to think about the reality of the situation. But he’s quiet on the other end, whatever he is thinking.

“I’m sixteen hours away, Jade. You better be ready to move when I get there.”

“I’ll be gathering everyone I need, just get here.”

I realize I’m talking to no one, he hung up on me. I deserve it. I deserve it and so much more. First I endangered Sam, and now Eric. I cannot be this weak anymore, I don’t care what it is I face. If it has a physical form on this Earth, then I can destroy it.

I will find the power to destroy it. And I am going to face the Buried Mother and the deal I made with her, and end this once and for all.

[Roll In Intro]

Marcus stays with me through the night, vigilant around the Arkansas River and checking up and down the strip for any other signs of her stain. We send Gale ahead to tell Maureen what has happened and watch over her and the rest of Mountainburg since he can hear everything all at once up there. I put up extra wards around the store and my apartment; I do not want that bitch getting into me. Though I know I’ve heard her in my head, I wonder if she’s just ignoring me since we made our deal, and focusing on those she hasn’t swayed yet. Doesn’t matter. After Efrain comes back from dinner, I wait for him to fall asleep to start working. I prep all night for the coming fight. I don’t know what all the sealing ceremony entails by means of protection, but I doubt they turn down the arsenal I’m bringing. Efrain wakes up and comes to see why I’m still up, but I give him a vague answer and he takes it. He’s getting better and better at giving me my space.

I hear Sam unlock the front door and start busying herself around the store. She’s used to me not greeting her, and we both just get to work. Good, I don’t want to explain to her right now what I’m doing. She’s going to be suspicious enough when I ask her to run the store for me today.

I dig through my closet in the reading room for the tote bag and start piling in all the protection crystals and crystals I’ve stored offensive energy in. I feel the bag’s weight as I pull it out and place it on the table. It just dawns on me that I never unpacked it after I had to save Sam at the Arlington. I never even used them, instead I broke the seal caging up my Satanic gifts and ended up murdering dozens of mob flunkies to save her. But that is something I will not do again. I’m going to rely on my own power this time, and the power of the sealing circle. Those assholes are going to do something if it takes me dragging their asses to the Tar Tree and stealing their energy myself to do it.

[SFX: front door opens and bell jingles]

“Oh my Goddess, you actually came!”

“Was I not supposed to?”

“No, of course you were. I mean, I hoped you would. I just didn’t think you would be able to get here so soon.”

I tuck the bag of crystals under the reading table and walk out into the main room to see who Sam is so excited about. I expected a relative, or maybe a guy from school that she has a crush on, but instead I’m met with a middle-aged cowboy, complete with weathered hat. A shirt stating “I Met the Fouke Monster and All I Got Was This Lousy Shirt” strains over his belly as he turns towards me.

I need to focus on the plan with the buried mother, but if I completely ignore a customer, Sam is really going to know something’s up.

“Sam, did you lie to someone to get them into the store?”

She shoots me a dirty look, but the man speaks before she can respond.

“Howdy, ma’am. I’m Mitch Camden, from Mysterious Monsters of the Ozarks. Have you heard of it?”

“Can’t say that I have. What brings you in, other than my assistant here?”

“Well, she’s the main reason I’m here, actually. We met over at the Arkansas Paranormal Expo in Little Rock last weekend, and she told me you might be interested in some of the things I’ve seen.”

My mind immediately goes to Mr. Giggles, most likely lazing in the basement to stay out of the sunlight. But no, that doesn’t make sense; Mr. Giggles doesn’t like to travel far from me. How would he be in Little Rock?

“Oh would I? And what kind of things have you seen?”

He leans toward me, a glint in his eye like he knows he’s got something good and can’t wait for me to realize it too.

(low voiced) “Have you ever heard of the Fouke Monster?”

“Of course I have. I’ve lived here all my life. What about it?”

He seems a little taken aback, but he goes on.

“Do you believe?”

I gesture around the store, a little irritated. What is this guy getting at?

“Take a look around, man. I believe in a lot of things, seen and unseen.”

“Jade.”

Sam’s tone stops me, and I take a calming breath.

“Yes, I believe in all sorts of supernatural creatures and phenomena. Do you have something to tell me, or would you like a reading?”

He looks back and forth between me and Sam before cocking a thumb at her.

“This one said you wanted to hear my story, so I drove out here to tell it. Mostly because I love telling my stories, but also because… well, it seemed important to her, like it was part of something big that I didn’t know about yet. And I love hearing about big things most people don’t know about, so I thought we could trade stories.”

I glance at Sam, and she gives me a small smile. Ugh,this better not be one of her ‘we have to help people’ things. I don’t have time for that.

“You want to hear this story, Jade. I promise.”

(sighing) “All right, come on back. We might as well get comfortable if we’re going to be telling stories.”

I gesture towards the reading room, and this man honest-to-god saunters through the doorway, vervain drifting over his shoulders as he passes. It stays green, so I follow him in. Sam drifts to my side, settling in the spare chair in the corner to listen.

“Okay, so what do you have to tell me about the Fouke Monster? Did you two have some sort of fight?”

“Oh there was a fight, but I wasn’t a part of it.”

He lays his palms flat on the table and leans forward.

“Now what do you know about the Fouke Monster?”

“I know the basics – It’s kind of a Southern Yeti, hairy and red-eyed, likes to rip people out of their homes and eat them. Hard to find, even harder to photograph. Typical cryptid stuff.”

He nods along like a teacher approving of a student’s presentation.

“That’s all true. I’ve gone on my share of Fouke Monster hunts, hoping to find a footprint or catch a video of one of them moving around the forest. I hit the jackpot last year when I discovered a nest, complete with younglings.”

I try to wrap my head around what he’s saying.

“Wait, there are multiple Fouke Monsters?”

“Yup, I’ve seen them with my own two eyes. Even got a video of the nest. Wish I had saved a backup of it before the file got corrupted.”

“Where? How?”

“He’s getting there, if you would stop interrupting. (to Mitch) I’m sorry, she’s not used to hearing stories and not interrupting. I can duct tape her mouth, if you would like.”

“Try it and I’ll give you the Cassandra curse. No one will believe a thing you say ever again.”

“Now now, it’s fine, we don’t have to resort to violence or curses. Some interruptions may help me not sound quite so rehearsed. (to Jade) I’ve told this story a lot lately. The fine folks that came to the Expo all wanted to hear about my firsthand account of the Fouke Monster.”

“So you saw them? Multiple Fouke Monsters, just hanging out in the woods?”

“Not the woods. I was at the Fouke Monster Festival in Boggy Creek – I go every year, part of the job, you know? – and I met a colleague in person for the first time. A Dr. Blake Greenfield.”

The name sounds familiar, but I don’t know where I’ve heard it before.

“They reached out to me because I had some footage of a Fouke Monster nest that they were interested in examining. I even pulled it from the competition so I could contribute to their research. Lot of good that did me. Don’t even think they’re doing research on the Fouke Monster now that I know what I didn’t know then.

“I gave them and their team of interns the footage and a map to the nest, thinking they just wanted to observe. I thought that was that; maybe they would come back in a few days to thank me for the tip, or to include my name in their research. But I saw them all again, that night.

“The festival was winding down, most folks going back to their hotel rooms to catch some sleep before the next day. I had stuck around to talk to some of the presenters after we loaded up our trucks – a few of them didn’t believe my footage was real, so I was explaining my process and where I found the nest – when we started to hear this high pitched, keening sound.”

Sam: “Like something crying?”

Jade: “Now look who’s interrupting.”

Sam opens her mouth to volley an insult back, but Mitch halts her with one raised hand.

“Like a couple of somethings crying. I recognized the sound from my footage: it was the younglings of the Fouke Monster, crying for mama.

“Before I could figure out why the audio of my footage was playing so loudly, people started screaming and running around. I searched for whatever was scaring people, thinking maybe someone made a realistic Fouke Monster suit and decided to cause a scene. But lady, if this was a suit, it was a damn good one. There were mouths full of sharp, yellow teeth, foaming from anger or rabies. And there wasn’t just one.

“This looked like a mama and a papa, both pissed out of their gourd at what was happening. I couldn’t just stand there, and I didn’t want to run away like a coward, so I ran against the crowd, trying to get to the monsters.”

“No offense, but that was incredibly stupid.”

“You’re right. In hindsight, it wasn’t the smartest move I’ve ever made. But if I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have seen the most amazing sight of my life.

“Right there, at the edge of the woods, was Dr. Blake Greenfield, holding a baby Fouke Monster. That was why mama and papa were so mad – their baby was being held by a stranger. The doctor was arguing with their colleagues, something about not wanting to give the child back, and then they attacked.”

“Sounds like the monsters just wanted their baby back.”

“Right they did, and they let everyone nearby know it. They were flinging men around left and right, trying to get at that little one still clutched in the doctor’s arms. Light was flashing from somewhere, looking like a taser but stronger, and one guy pulled out a sword. Eventually, that sword got stuck in one of the Fouke Monsters’ necks, and it went down.”

Sam: “Did they get their baby back?”

“I didn’t see it around, after everything settled, so I think the remaining parent got to them and took off. But that’s not the weirdest part.”

Here he looks me right in the eyes.

“One of the men with the doctor, he pulled out a card. I thought at first it was a playing card, but it was a little bit bigger than that, more like one of your tarot cards. He put it to the head of the Fouke Monster at his feet, and the thing disappeared.”

My stomach drops at his words. So, this is why Sam made him come here. She thinks this guy is tied to the deck that ate the man in my store. The Deck of Eternals, the tarot deck created by two demons as a gift to humanity, for all the knowledge and power if they could conquer the monsters the deck require as a sacrifice. Sam doesn’t know all of that; she just knows it’s an evil deck. And I’m sure she wants me to help stop it from eating more people. But if Charles and Blake and the rest of the team have lasted this long, they may be close to doing what no one else has done in the known history.

That means he’s close to coming back to me for the last card, the card I kept from him when he stole the rest of the deck. Or if one of the other cards leads him to the howlers, or Mr. Giggles. God, please do not let him come now, not when I’ve got the Buried Bitch to contend with.

But what to do with Mitch here. He seems genuine in his story, so he won’t take me calling him a liar. Not after Sam got him here for me to listen.

I lean back in my chair, unimpressed.

“I see. That is quite the story.”

“Story? Jade, don’t you think it’s–”

“What I think is that you convinced Mitch here that I would have answers for him if he came and told me his story. But I’m afraid I have nothing to offer, except praise for a story well told. .”

“But Jade–”

“Sam. Stop. (to Mitch) I’m sorry she dragged you all the way here, sir. It was a great story, but I don’t have any explanation as to what that man did or why other than it must be magic, but I’m sure you knew that.”

He studies my face for a few seconds, and I try to keep the fear out of my eyes. He must come to some kind of conclusion, because he drops a curt nod and heaves himself out of the chair.

“Well, I always enjoy sharing my stories. I’m sorry you didn’t seem to get anything from it.”

By his tone, he doesn’t believe his own words. He knows I’m hiding something, and based on what I’ve seen of him so far he doesn’t seem the type to let things go. But he’s letting this go for now. That’ll have to be good enough.

“Thank you for coming, Mitch. Have a nice day.”

Sam and I walk him to the door. She waits until he’s down the street and out of view before blowing up at me.

“What the hell, Jade? That man came all the way here to tell you a story, a story, by the way, that I thought you would find very interesting, and you just shove him out of here without anything to show for it?”

“What would you have me do, Sam? Tell another innocent soul about the Deck of Eternals, that it eats its owner if they don’t kill for it? Is that what you wanted for that man? A man that makes a living by unsurfacing supernatural truths? I’m sure half his audience thinks it’s all horseshit but that the other half believes. We can’t afford to have that knowledge out in the world. Too many idiots would go after it. ”

Huh, maybe that’s exactly what I need right now, to slow down Charles’s progress on the Deck. But I shake that thought away. I’m not willing to risk other people’s lives, even strangers, just to save myself a headache. But then is it really just a headache? If Charles succeeds…okay one apocalypse at a time.

I grab my bag from under the reading room table. When I stand back up I see plain on her face that she didn’t really think through the full consequences. Why would she? She’s still young and excited about all of this.

I pat her on the shoulder.

“I’m glad you did it. It was a story I needed to hear, but he didn’t need to know that. Next time give me a heads up on what’s coming, or a potential lead in anything first, and I can help you think it through. You’re getting there, just not quite yet.”

“Everytime I think I’m doing it right, you knock me back down.”

“That’s because you are reaching for the universe, and you’re not even aware of the world around you. But you’ll get there, I have no doubt. Speaking of, I need you to run the store today.”

“Wha- all day?”

“Starting right now. If you close up early, I want you to house sit for me, take care of Fern. You can invite Justice and Hanna over if you want.”

She narrows her eyes. I may have overplayed my hand.

“What are you going to be doing?”

“Taking an out of town trip, last minute. But it’s just overnight. Don’t get carried away up there, and you know to stay out of Mom’s bedroom. I’m trusting you here, don’t poke the bear.”

She nods her head, though I know she’s still suspicious of what I’m doing. But anytime I pull the “I’m trusting you card” she goes along with it. At least for now. I’m sure the day will come when that won’t be enough, but thankfully today is not that day.

“Text me if you need anything and I’ll respond when I can.”

“Stay out of trouble, old lady.”

“You know I am the trouble.”

And I’m sure Maureen is about to say the same thing, once I get there and tell her what happened last night with Eric.

—-

(Maureen) “What on Earth were you thinking, Jade?”

“I told you I was not going to sit by and wait on your precious sealing circle to make a move–”

“Instead you endanger yet another life for an answer you already know.”

“I didn’t know she was capable–”

“That’s right, you don’t know. None of us truly know the reach of her power because our ancestors made it to where we wouldn’t have to. As long as we played the one part they needed us to play–”

“And look where that has brought us. Having to sacrifice our loved ones to quell her wrath. Is that really worth the price?”

Roz “Enough, you two. What’s done is done, and we need to face the current situation.”

“You know it’s bad when your daughter has to be the voice of reason for you. Alright, then, Roz. What’s our current situation?”

“Hikers have turned up dead, a few teenagers didn’t come home last night, and now your necromancer is gone. This is more than enough to call the sealing circle and petition for action. But first we called Laura and asked her to call an emergency Coven meeting this afternoon. We are going to enlist Their help to try to keep people out of the woods.”

“You could call upon all the Witches in Northwest Arkansas, it’s not going to be enough. People are too stupid for their own good.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”

“Well you can confine the symptoms, but I’m preparing to hit it at the source. After the coven meeting, I’m going to the Tar Tree and putting up as much protection as I can.”

(Maureen) “We don’t need you at the coven circle, but we do need you to go to your Aunt.”

That stops me.

“Aunt Beattie will not be able to stand and lend energy for this fight.”

“No, but she told me to make sure you go to her before you go to that circle.”

“How long ago did she give you that directive?”

“Long enough. Go to her. We will take care of the coven and Mountainburg.”

(Roz) “Gale is also helping keep people out of the woods. High winds through a creepy forest help.”

“I’m sure soon those high winds won’t be coming from him if we don’t hurry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

As I turn to leave, Maureen grabs my arm.

“Jade, make sure you are truly ready to do whatever it takes before you enter that circle.”

“You know I am.”

“I know you want to be. I know you’ve grown for the better over the last few years, but I still see that sixteen year old girl who lost her mother to this thing.”

“We all have an inner child. Some days we just have to strap her to our backs and tell her to close her eyes as we wade through the darkness. Let me get to her.”

Maureen gives a loving squeeze before letting me go. I so don’t need her sympathy right now. It will only distract me from what must be done. And right now, I have to go to Beattie. There’s only a handful of reasons she would make this request to Maureen, and none of the bode well. Time to see which one it is.

—-

[Enter Beattie humming “Be Still the Mountain”]

Beattie sits in the deep shade of her porch, her rocking chair swaying a steady beat. I’ve called her Hospice Nurse every day to check on her, and spoken to Beattie once a week, but I’ve been a coward. I didn’t want to face…what she’s become. She’s even more of a shell of herself than when we came and laid hands the last time. It’s just too progressive for us to make a dent, but Maureen has been coming to drive back the pain.

[Aunt Beattie starts singing the words, if she needs to start singing sooner that’s fine but it sound time to where Beattie says “unleash the mountain” as Jade steps up on her porch]

And now I have more to face than my cowardice. I’ve got to face whatever task she’s going to give me. I just hope I have the strength to do it for her.

I step up on her porch but say nothing. She’s still looking off into the woods, singing her song.

[Aunt Beattie’s Unleash the mountain line]

Wait, what did she just say? I stand there and listen as she continues singing. She’s talking about the mountain.

“Aunt Beattie, Beattie what is that song you were singing?”

She turns to me as if I’ve just appeared.

“Jade! It’s good to see you. What took you so long?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve just been so busy with the store and the coven, but I’ve been calling every day.”

“I hear Shirley on the phone with you. She tells me you’re afraid to disturb my rest, but I’m doing okay.”

I squat down in front of her, so I am looking up, not down, at the woman who raised me for half of my life. Her hair is so thin, her skin so pale and patched with sickness.

“Aunt Beattie, what was that song you were singing?”

“Hmm? (muttering) I was singing? Oh–oh yes. I was singing. It’s Be Still the Mountain, dear, don’t you remember?”

Be Still the Mountain. I had completely forgotten about it. She and Mom used to sing it to me when I was little, but I never really paid attention to the words. Not until I just heard Aunt Beattie say unleash the mountain.

I lean against the corner column of her porch and let myself slide to sit in front of her.

“I don’t remember it all, Aunt Beattie, will you sing it for me?”

[Aunt Beattie singing the full song]

“So that song, that song is about the Buried Mother. But what’s it trying to tell us?”

[Aunt Beattie doesn’t hear her, keeps singing]

I’ve lost her to the song. She keeps singing it, but I let her. I listen to the lyrics again. Keep our hearts secure…this we must endure. I wonder if there is more to it than just a warning about the buried bitch. What if she gets in by giving us what we want? She came to me, knowing exactly what my deepest desire is and dangled it in my face. But I haven’t let her in yet, or maybe just the foothold is enough for her to slam down on me and enthrall me once she’s free. But if I try to shut that door on her, she may see it as me renegging on our deal. I don’t want to do that. I need that option still open to me. I need my mother back.

[Aunt Beattie’s voice picks up in the song and she starts clapping along]

Aunt Beattie starts clapping along with her song, emphasizing that last line. Does she somehow know what I’m contemplating doing? Doesn’t matter. I’ve got to break her out of this fog and figure out why she wanted me.

I get up on my knees and scoot closer to her, grabbing both of her clapping hands and push my energy into her. I don’t try to lay hands — I know I can’t heal her — but I take in some of her pain, and I give her a clear mind. Oh, god, the pain. I barely keep myself upright with it. This is what’s she’s been feeling? And I left her alone in this.

“(firmer as she’s coming out of the fog) Oh, Jade. Jade, get up.”

She pulls me up to my feet and to the chair beside hers. She rubs the side of my face.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Jade. You need to be at your full strength for what’s coming.”

“How much have they told you?”

“Maureen? She’s told me nothing, but she knows she doesn’t have to. I see it. I’ve seen it coming for a long time. I’m sure you see it now, too, which means it’s almost too late. We’ve got to do something.”

“You’re not doing anything, you’re too sick–”

“You will not presume to know how sick I am–”

“I just took some of your pain in, Aunt Beattie, I can presume exactly that. And there is no way I am taking you to that circle.”

“Yes, there is. I am tired of sitting cooped up in this house, not leaving my front porch, stuck only looking at my garden slowly wilt and die and the woods I loved to roam too far away. I am not going to live like this anymore. (pause, knowing the weight of the coming words) And I must ask you, too much. But it must be done.”

“What exactly are you asking?”

“You’re going to take me with you tonight, Jade. This will be the last time I lend my energy to this endeavor.”

“You asked me over a year ago to do this for you. Why are you insisting on doing it yourself now?”

“Because you and I both know the full truth now, and we both know just recharging the seal won’t work. You’re going to need what I have left to give in order to destroy her.”

“(Pause) And what if we can’t? What if we put everything we’ve got into destroying her, and it’s still not enough?”

“The light will never die in the darkness. It may become dim, and it may be far away, but there are no shadows without the light. You can never give up.”

“What if I don’t want to fight this fight?”

“That’s a child’s question. No one wants to fight this fight, but we are called anyways. Even Jesus begged the Father not to crucify Him. But like the obedient, faithful son, His Father commanded, and he obeyed.”

“There is one truth I don’t know, but I think you do. I think you and Maureen have known this whole time. If I’m going to do this for you, then you have to tell me. Is my mother still alive, down there in that hole with her?”

Aunt Beattie looks me dead in the eye, and a small smile slips to her lips.

“The Buried Mother needs a living body to tie her to this plane with her full power. In a dead body she just animates it. But similar to a demon, she must be invited by one she has no sway over.”

“Is she alive or not?”

“We think so.”

“Then let’s go get your sister back.”

“You are not going there to undo the good that she did!”

“I’m not leaving her to rot in that hole a minute longer. You and that goddess-forsaken coven have left her down there for over a decade, let her pay the price for our safety because you were all too cowardice to lift a finger to fight. You say there will always be light, but you left the light in that dark hole a flicker of its former self, so you can pretend to have the light with us and the rest of the world. She was my light!”

The world around me fades into darkness. Shit, so she has enough energy left to put me in one of her illusions. She casts a darkness over me so deep and complete that I hear nothing, see nothing, feel nothing, not even my own body to try to move. I’m adrift in a vast sea of nothingness. I attempt to call to her, but I can’t hear my own voice. I am whittled down to nothing but consciousness. I exist, and I am alone. Nothingness is all there is and all there ever will be.

And then finally, a tiny speck of something brings my vision back. The whisper of many voices comes closer as that tiny speck turns into a ray of light. I still feel nothing but I tell my body, if I still have it, to move, to go to that speck of light. As the ray grows brighter, I see and hear Rachel, Sam, Roz, Silas, Eric, Maureen.

“Life is ahead of you Jade. But if you cling to what’s behind you, you can never move forward. Your mother is behind you.”

I take her at her word and quickly turn around. I see the face I’ve only seen in my memories and pictures for the past 18 years. Emma Allbright, my mother, standing and smiling at me. She pets my face, and I feel her soft hands. Her soft but strong hands. The hands that cradled me and shielded me throughout my childhood.

And then I feel that hand push me, and I look up at her as I fall away, and she’s no longer facing me. She has turned behind her to the darkness that I was stuck in, and pushed me away from it to fight it.

She disappears into that darkness, and I am back on Beattie’s porch.

“Your mother is behind you, because she pulled and pushed you forward. Because she fought tooth and nail to keep the darkness behind you for as long as she could. Now it is in front of you, but that’s not the only thing. Friends, sisters, loved ones. They are in front of you, too. It would be desecrating her memory for you not to move forward with them. It is a child’s need to see her mother. I want to see my mother. But it is a grown daughter’s wish to have a life to show her, when she sees her again.”

Oh, I have a life to show her. And I will show her every bit of it myself when I free her from that prison. But I don’t dare say it aloud.

“I’m going ahead to set up protection before night falls. I’ll come back for you.”

“You will do no such thing. You will take me with you. I’m not giving you the chance to change your mind.”

“You really want to sit out in the middle of the woods while I put up protection spells?”

“After sitting on this porch, it’s the thing I want the most right now.”

I swallow my rage down. I can’t let her see it anymore. I’ve got to let her think she’s made me see sense.

“Alright, old biddy. Get your boots on and let’s go. But if I’ve got to lug you around with me, we are going in style.”

As Aunt Beattie gets her shoes on, I grab a knife from her kitchen and walk to the edge of the woods. Aunt Beattie tells her nurse that she can leave early since I’m here. Shirley protests a little about Aunt Beattie leaving the house, but I think she knows what the plan is.

I give Aunt Beattie one of my energy crystals; she needs it just to make the walk to the edge of the woods. Even then, she’s still slow and focused on her steps. There’s no way she would make it all the way to the circle without help. So help we shall have.

Once we get to the treeline, I use the knife and slice my hand.

“By blood I call to thee.”

Domino bounds out of the treeline and lands in front of us, and immediately I know something is wrong. His stance is rigid, stiff in his movements, and tar stains his eyes and frames his muzzle, dripping onto the ground, spreading from where he walks.

[SFX: Domino growling]

“No. Domino, no! It’s me!”

Aunt Beattie can’t run, so I put myself between her and Domino and attempt to rebuild our connection.

“By blood I call to thee. By Blood I make you Mine. Friend of the night, come to me, help me break the line.”

I reach down that metaphysical line that ties me to him, and run into another wall. God Damn it! I turn the knife in my hand, bracing for the only thing I can do. He’s just too big, too fast, too powerful. If I can’t get through to him, I have to put him down.

“By blood I call to thee!”

Domino lunges and I strike out with my magic and the knife at the same time. But another blur of fur smashes into Domino and they both go tumbling away. It’s Sasha. She stands and positions herself in front of us. Domino recovers and lunges at Sasha. I hear motion in the woods. Oh, god, how much of the pack is under her power?

“Gale! Gale Windstorm, Keeper of the Straight Line Winds, Herder of Thunderclouds, hear me!”

“Wow, Jade, you actually used my full title without prompting. Are you–”

Get your ass to us and get us out of here now!”

Two more howlers, yearlings by the size of them, dart out of the woods and head straight for Sasha. I throw my power at them to try to stop them, or at least slow them down. But as I do, a strong wind bursts through the trees and lifts Aunt Beattie and I up into the air.

“Get us to the coven! They’re not safe. No one is safe in the woods. Wait, Sasha. We can’t leave her like that.”

“Sasha folded back into the veil and ran once I had you. She should be okay for now. Let’s get to the coven and tell them what we know.”

“What do we know, Gale?”

“That the Buried Mother is coming for us all, tonight.”

This episode was written by Ashley McAnelly and Morgan Valko

Featuring the voice talents of Ashley McAnelly, Nichole Goodnight, Erin Lillis, Jessica McEvoy, Waymond Alexander, Nikolle Doolin, and David Ault.

Theme music by ThaArsonist

Outro music by Athan