The Devil went Down to... South Dakota?

[sawyer]

Sawyer pulled into the small poedunk town of... well she wasn't quite sure of the name, just knew that it was in South Dakota, so it was like any other rinky-dink place in Middle America that she had seen before.

She had been driving for three days and needed to rest, but that didn't seem to likely since she was on the trail of something. Demon signs, it seemed, were easy enough to track but it wasn't like they put a bright neon sign over the thing saying "I'm Evil, Kill me!" If it did it would be much easier, but then life was never that fair.

For now, Sawyer needed food, and these towns were always guaranteed to have a hole in the wall dinner with maybe one or two customers. They would stare at the stranger, before turning back to their cup of coffee. It was usually a seen straight out of a movie, but it was how things happened.

Pulling in to one of five parking spots, Sawyer looked over at her shoulder to her dogs and smiled at them. "K, Guys, I am gonna go grab some food then we'll get you some grab and find a place to crash," Turk thumped his tail twice and Perry just put her head down. Sawyer grabbed her satchel and headed into the restaurant where she chose a booth seat where she could watch all the doors. It was a force of habit anymore. A haggard waitress came over and set a glass of water on the table and asked her if she knew what she wanted. "Yeah, can I get a Cheeseburger and some fries please?" The woman jotted it down and walked off.

Pulling her coat off, Sawyer then opened her satchel and pulled out a leather volume and started to read it, while she waited. She honestly hated having to translate from Latin in her head but it seemed that all the best resources on demonology were in Latin.

[ashlingbenacourt]

Ashling’s head hung in her coffee, her shut eyes hid behind her bleach blonde bangs. The smell of the coffee wasn’t enough to wake her, checking her surroundings she took her flask out of her purse and poured a little pick-me-up into the plain white mug. Instantly the smell of whiskey filled her nostrils, her brain was suddenly awake. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a woman with quite a book in front of her. A large black leather binding certainly wasn’t the usual library check out.

Chugging what was left of her now lukewarm coffee Ashling grabbed her black bag and moved towards the back of the diner to get a better look. The floor was slick, catching herself a few times Ashling kept her eyes on the book. Passing the mysterious woman’s booth while moving towards the bathroom she glanced down, it was in Latin. Shocked, she stopped dead in her tracks, unable to remove her eyes from the woman. After a minute, shaking herself free of her shock, she moved into the bathroom.

“What the hell?!…”

Ash knew this was not a coincidence, this woman was a hunter, or someTHING. Glancing in the dirty, scratched up mirror she fixed her messy bed head and tried to gain some strength. Reaching for the crumpled piece of paper, the same piece from all those years ago, Ash placed her hand on the scummy door handle and took a deep breath. The paper was balled up in her free hand, she played with it and thought how to play this.

“Should I go tough or innocent?” The words came out as a whisper, and were followed by a sigh. “Who am I kidding?!”

Ashling swung the door open and charged out of the bathroom passing the woman and headed towards the front door. She had lost her nerve sometime, but wasn’t sure when. As she reached for the glass door that separated her and her precious pick up she realized the paper was gone. Her hand was empty and now her heart was in her throat.

Turning on a dime Ash retraced her steps staring intently at the ground look for the paper she thought she had been holding tight. She saw nothing, that is until her eyes moved slightly to the left. Her precious paper was under the booth of the mysterious Latin reading woman.

[justine]

The sunlight was sharp and her head ached. Hayley had been driving all night long to reach; she looked at the map once again, but she was too tired to make any sense of it. After blinking her eyes a couple of times, Hayley concluded that she was someplace in South Dakota. Hayley parked the car near a dinner of some sort. Her stomach growled furiously and the hunger she had suppressed the last four hours was now too strong to ignore.

As Hayley locked the door and went to the little place, she made sure that she had a little hip flask with holy water in her pocket, just in case.

It was one of those small and poor places, but Hayley didn’t care. She needed a cheeseburger with extra bacon and a cold coke before she could drive any further, and 6 hours of rest she reminded herself.

If the tiredness hadn’t made her mind so slow, Hayley would have noticed the women who didn’t seemed to be local. It was first when she noticed the big book, Hayley started to mumble the first exorcism verse that popped in to her head, hoping that this wasn’t some demon trap. Hayley looked at the woman with the book, waiting to see if anything happened.

[sawyer]

"Amon, or Aamon, is a great and mightie marques, and commeth abroad in the likenes of a woolfe, having a serpents taile, (spetting out and breathing) [vomiting] flames of fier; when he putteth on the shape of a man, he sheweth out dogs teeth, and a great head like to a mightie (raven) [night hawk]; he is the strongest prince of all other, and understandeth of all things past and to come, he procureth favor, and reconcileth both freends and foes, and ruleth fourtie legions of divels." Pseudomonarchia daemonum - Johann Wier (1583).

Sawyer rolled her eyes as she turned the page. These people from back in the day, sure had some ideas. everything was more evil than the last thing.

Sawyer saw a woman stand and stumble her way to the bathroom before the door to the diner opened and let another woman in.

This woman looked about as tired as Sawyer felt, but it was the motion of grabbing her flask and mutter of something that made Sawyer want to chuckle. She was pretty sure this lady thought she was a demon. Looking down at her book, Sawyer smiled and closed it just before the first woman ran out of the bathroom dropping a piece of paper in front of her booth.

She made it to the door before pausing to realize that she had dropped her paper. Sawyer leaned down to pick it up and stood to walk it over to the woman. Glancing down at the paper, it was in Latin, and it wasn't good. Well hell, Sawyer thought before extending her hand to the woman who had dropped it.

"Here ya go," she said with a smile before she turned to the other woman with the flask. "Uh, go ahead and flick that on me and lets get this over with," It wasn't subtle but at this point she didn't really think that was a problem.

Putting her hands on her hips, she waited to see what would happen.

[ashlingbenacourt]

Ashling looked at the eyes of the woman handing her the tasseled piece of paper, they looked normal enough. Taking it from her she smiled back and glanced quickly at the book that lay open on the table. It was interesting, to say the least.

"Uh, go ahead and flick that on me and lets get this over with," Ash stifled a laugh, this girl was just putting it out there. It was clear there that the three females were 'in the know' and wary of each other. Taking a step closer to the women Ash put her hands up in surrender. "I'm Ashling, and it's just me in here so don't worry. Maybe we should move this conversation else where, were attracting some attention." A whisper was all she needed, they were in close enough proximity she could almost hear their hearts beating.

Looking around the few other customers that lined the counter had their eyes glued to the women. Granted, they were drunk towns people she knew wouldn't remember a word, she couldn't take that chance. Turning on her heel away from the confrontation infront of her. She moved towards the door, again, half of her waited to be jumped from behind the other half knew too many witnesses were here and she was safe...for now at least. Those thoughts took her back to those months she spent as some demon's unwilling co-pilot. Her fingers wrapped around the paper until her knuckles were white. Opening the door Ashling looked back to check they were following her then took a few more steps towards her dusty black pickup truck.

She was shocked this meeting had occurred, people like these women were few and far between. Some how though, suddenly, three strangers, who happened to belong to the same 'club', run into each other at some hole-in-the-wall diner in the middle of no where? There had to be some sort of force at work here, this didn't just happen.

Kicking up dirt with her boots Ashling refused to look at the faces of these women, she had wanted to wait for one of them to start. She wasn't giving up any information that she didn't have to but her curiosity got the best of her.

"So, what brings us here girls?"

[justine]

"Uh, go ahead and flick that on me and let’s get this over with," the female said with a smile. “Great” Hayley mumbled to herself, realizing that she had made a fool out of herself in front of the whole dinner. Her tired brain had become paranoid which wasn't a good sign; it was not only dangerous for a hunter not being awakened and alert, but it could also be dangerous to be too paranoid and suspect demon activity around every corner.
But wasn’t this different? Hayley knew that something evil had visited this town – and the thing was probably still here, and that was the reason to why she needed to be careful.

The dark-haired woman handed a piece of paper to the blond woman and the blond took a step closer to Hayley “I'm Ashling, and it's just me in here so don't worry. Maybe we should move this conversation elsewhere, we’re attracting some attention” the blond called Ashling said.

Hayley felt stupid, she had been staring like a moron and now Ashling was leaving the dinner. It took a minute before Hayley followed out to the parking lot where her little smart car was holding.

"So, what brings us here girls?" Ashling asked and Hayley was glad that she was not the one breaking the silence. Could it be that the two strangers were on to the same thing as her? Maybe she was not the only one chasing the beast or whatever it was… Maybe the women could help her in some way. Maybe this time she would actually get some answers from the monster that haunted this town.
Hayley realized that her mind-babbling had stopped her from answering Ashling’s question and she looked up and met the blond woman’s eyes. “I’m afraid it’s the same thing that brought us here” Hayley said in a lowered voice. Not liking how dramatic she sounded she continued in a more normal tone “My name is Hayley by the way”.

[sawyer]

Sawyer watched as her words registered with these two women. The blond looked like she was trying not to laugh, and the one with the flask looked a bit flustered.

“I'm Ashling, and it's just me in here so don't worry. Maybe we should move this conversation elsewhere, we’re attracting some attention” The blonde said before heading out the door. Awesome, Sawyer thought, it looked as though she wasn't the only thing on the hunt in Dodge. This was either going to be awesome or she was going to have to kick these chicks' asses.

With a shrug, she went and grabbed her stuff from her seat and followed the women out the door.

"So, what brings us here girls?" Ashling said rather abruptly once they were all outside.

“I’m afraid it’s the same thing that brought us here”the other woman answered, sounding awfully dramatic in her low voice.
“My name is Hayley by the way,”

"Oh, my gosh, you guys are also here for the UFO gathering? That is so awesome!" Sawyer said in an all too perky voice. Both women looked at her with blank expressions. "Uh, ha. Right... just kidding. Demons... heh," Shifting her satchel on her shoulder, Sawyer stuck out her hand. "I am James, Sawyer James," she said with a smile.

[ashlingbenacourt]

“I’m afraid it’s the same thing that brought us here My name is Hayley by the way.”

Ashling nodded, those two were probably on the same trail, but as for herself she just happened to be here. The breeze chilled her as it blew in bringing dark storm clouds with it. Well, that was ominous now wasn’t it?

"Oh, my gosh, you guys are also here for the UFO gathering? That is so awesome!" Eyes wide for a moment Ash was confused, realizing quickly that it was all in jest she laughed. "Uh, ha. Right... just kidding. Demons... heh, I am James, Sawyer James,"

Ashling smiled and took Sawyer’s hand, trying to assert herself the handshake was firm. Still unsure of exactly why these women were here she took a huge gulp of her flask before sliding it and her paper in the front pocket of her dark blue jeans. Nothing, as far as she knew, had really been going on here in Spearfish. Unless of course she had missed something huge and now there was a hunter convention in her town which she just happened to stumble onto it.

“I really need to quit drinking” she mumbled to herself, she was too drunk too often, and had probably slept through the end of the world.

“Well Hayley, Sawyer, I don’t understand why you are here. As far as I know nothings been going on. That paper,” she pointed to her pocket, “is old. I haven’t gotten a whiff of that demon in years. Then again, I‘m no hunter so…”

Ashling shuffled her feet and waited for someone to explain to her just what was going on in her seemingly harmless town. She hadn’t seen any big signs of anything but then again they are so well hidden she would really have had to look to notice anything. Not being a hunter while trying to track a demon certainly did prove to be confusing, and much harder than she imagined. She lacked the resources and the know-how and her skills were rusty at best. Ashling mentally berated herself for ever giving it up in the first place.

[sawyer]

“I really need to quit drinking” Sawyer heard Ashling mumble under her breath, and she bit back a chuckle. Clearly something was going on with chick, but hell, Sawyer knew she was no one to judge how people dealt with things; she was after all killing things for funzies not exactly a picture of healthy copping.

“Well Hayley, Sawyer, I don’t understand why you are here. As far as I know nothings been going on. That paper,” she pointed to her pocket, “is old. I haven’t gotten a whiff of that demon in years. Then again, I‘m no hunter so…”

"Well," Sawyer shifted her bag and opened it, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Ashling. "From what I can tell, there has been some weird deaths in the next town over, and lightning storms in over three counties," Those things were easy enough to track as long as you knew what you were looking for, only part that was hard was pin pointing it.

"Now, I can't tell for sure the point of origin, but this place seems like a safe enough distance from where all the action is really going down," Looking between the two women Sawyer realized that she was giving a lot away. With a grin she straightened up.

[ashlingbenacourt]

Ashling studied the paper intently as Sawyer spoke. "From what I can tell, there has been some weird deaths in the next town over, and lightning storms in over three counties," This information had completely flew over her blonde head, she wasn't a hunter but these deaths this hunter spoke of should have caught her attention. What was her problem? Where had she been looking?

"Now, I can't tell for sure the point of origin, but this place seems like a safe enough distance from where all the action is really going down," The woman was right, Spearfish was the safest bet in the state. Since she'd been here nothing had even remotely endangered her, well nothing supernatural that is. Collecting everything Sawyer said Ashling made note to remember it, she was being much more helpful than she realized. Still, she was skeptical, especially of the silent third woman hanging in their circle.

Ashling pulled the crumbled paper from her pocket and handed to back to Sawyer, urging her to read it. "Does this look familiar?" Her mind was torn, revenge was what she craved but she wasn't sure she had the strength to serve it properly. Once this demon was caught and disposed of properly what would consume Ashling's thoughts in the middle of the night? Could she only focus on school? Could she live a normal life with out the literal and figurative demons following her in the shadows.

The wind whipped up, hitting Ashling in the face. Spitting dirt from her mouth she broke the silence. "If it does, if this is what you're after you have to let me help. I've been obsessed with this for years, please." Desperate, her emerald green eyes were wide and boring holes in Sawyer waiting for an answer.

[justine]

The mind babbling had taken over again and Haley had convinced herself to trust the two strangers.

Sawyer James had started to talk about the murders and omens that had been around the area and Hayley could nothing but nod in agreement to what the dark haired female said. It seemed like the blond wasn’t a hunter, so was it just going to be Sawyer and herself to bring this thing down? Hayley ignored the hunger as her stomach growled again. She didn't like that thought...

“If it does, if this is what you're after you have to let me help. I've been obsessed with this for years, please” Ashling said, and Hayley decided that now she had to say what she knew.
“Well it is defiantly demon activity; I found sulfur in the house of one of the victims. All I know is that my uncle asked me to check it out as soon as possible” Hayley said.
She mentally slapped her self because she had sounded like a little child; my uncle said I should… “He calls me sometimes to let me know if something is in my area” she continued in a nonchalant tone, trying to cover the slip of the tongue about her uncle.

Hayley shifted her look from the strangers to her little black smart car. “I have my research in my car” She nodded in the direction of her car. “There isn’t much, but it’s a start” she sighted and looked at the strangers again. “But I would like to have something to eat before we take a look at it”. Just to underline her need for food, her stomach growled again, this time loud.

[sawyer]

"Does this look familiar?" Sawyer took the paper from Ashling and looked at it a little more closely "If it does, if this is what you're after you have to let me help. I've been obsessed with this for years, please." the girl seemed almost frantic.

“Well it is defiantly demon activity; I found sulfur in the house of one of the victims. All I know is that my uncle asked me to check it out as soon as possible” Hayley added. She paused for a moment seeming to collect her thoughts “He calls me sometimes to let me know if something is in my area.I have my research in my car.” She nodded in the direction of her car. “There isn’t much, but it’s a start.But I would like to have something to eat before we take a look at it”.

"Uh well," Sawyer looked back to Ashling nodded. "This is some serious stuff you got here in your posession, but I don't know for sure if this is who/what I am looking for, we will have to do a little more reserach," She then looked back to Hayley. "Yeah, I need to get some grub too. And I have two dogs I need to take care of as well. Lets get some food and meet up at the motel I saw about three miles south of town."

Turning on her heel, Sawyer walked back into the dinner and ordered six burgers to-go before loading up her jeep and heading to the motel she had just talked about.

It was weird being in a position of leadership with these two other women that she had met, but it was clear that if they were going to work together they were going to need some focus, and Sawyer was nothing if not oraganized and prepared with focus coming out the wazu. Not knowing what you were going up against was the surest way to get yourself hurt or killed, and that was one of the first lessons she had learned when she started hunting.

Thinking back to the paper that Ashling had, she wondered if whatever had wrote that could be the thing that was running amuck in South Dakota. But then I could be a number of any other demons, seeing as those dudes were coming out of the wood work lately.

Whatever it was, it was going down.

Pulling into the Motel, Sawyer went and checked in. Grabbing her key with a smile to the old man that was running the joint, she went back to her jeep and opened the back to unload her gear. Perry and Turk hoped down from where they had been resting and followed her into the small room. It wasn't fancy, but it was relatively clean and that was all she could really ask for.

[justine]

"Uh well," Hayley looked at the two females who were talking about something she didn’t understand, some sort of paper... "This is some serious stuff you got here in your possession, but I don't know for sure if this is who/what I am looking for, we will have to do a little more research," Sawyer said and then looked at Hayley. "Yeah, I need to get some grub too. And I have two dogs I need to take care of as well. Let’s get some food and meet up at the motel I saw about three miles south of town.". Hayley didn’t know the motel but she nodded in agreement, glad that she didn’t needed to face the demon alone.

Sawyer turned on her heel and walked back to the dinner. Hayley decided to try another place in town where the food was a little healthier, something she should have thought about before she had given in to her craving for cholesterol filled food. Hayley smiled at herself as she went in to a tiny café, she needed to control her expensive habits; she was on the road and couldn’t really afford having an expensive lifestyle.

On the way to the motel, Hayley turned on the car radio to avoid her own thoughts, sadly it didn't work. The last time she had worked with anyone on a case, it had been her and her brother. They were the perfect team in Hayley’s world, nothing or no one could replace her brother, and as she had done so many times before, she once again promised herself that she would find a way to exorzise the Thing from his body and get her brother back. And if this thing could give Hayley some sort of clue, it would be a win:win situation for her to bring it down.

When Hayley finally arrived at the motel, she saw Sawyer James unpacking her gear and go in to a room. Hayley waited in her car some minutes before taking the box where she kept everything she had with the case. As she walked to the door to Sawyer’s motel room, she considered how she could interrogate the demon and asking her own questions without anyone finding out. Hayley knocked at the door.