It's the End of the World as we Know It (And I Feel Fine)...

[KonThaak]

I know, it's almost a year late to be posting this. At the very least, it's way more than half a year late...but, what the hell.

I, like many others, had been eagerly awaiting what the Mayan calendar called the end of one era and the start of a new one...or, as many people had mistakenly come to think of it, "the end of the world". Unlike others, I was looking forward to it because I just kinda figured nothing was going to happen, and I could get my giggles on everyone who was eagerly awaiting the end of the world.

So, I may have told a few of you that I didn't get involved with the paranormal...and depending on your viewpoint, you may say I didn't 'get involved' in this incident, so that may be technically true, in some viewpoints...even if a bit of a stretch.

In the weeks leading up to December 21, 2012, I was pretty damned certain it was going to be business as usual. A hellish, cold, miserable day at work, followed by going home to an empty house. At the time, I was back to doing deliveries in Crystal Lake--remember that place? Anyway.

I was getting really weird vibes from this one house, every time I drove past it. And the further into the season it got, the more weird vibes I got... I wound up making several deliveries in the days leading up to it--books, mostly, but some BudK packages, too. It was a really nice house (Crystal Lake is one of the richer communities in IL; one of those areas that I sometimes deliver to, but will never be able to afford), but it had a really old (1990's-ish) beat up red Mazda out front, license plate "MAGICK". Which I hadn't noticed the first few times I went past the house and felt that weird vibe.

Usually, by the time I got home, I'd forgotten about it. Didn't seem like all that big of a deal.

On the day in question, the car was gone, but the feeling was stronger than ever. I got a call from my sponsor, asking me if everything was okay. Apparently, /he/'d been getting weird vibes since the morning, and they'd only been getting worse throughout the day.

Of course, they kept me at work until well after dark, so by the time I drove down to his place in Melrose Park, it was getting pretty late.

But as I pulled up alongside his apartment building, I saw it... The beat-up MAGICK Mazda, parked just up the street, next to the forest preserve...

Now I was panicking. I ran upstairs to Nick's apartment to get changed... I hadn't brought weapons. I hadn't brought anything magical with me. I hadn't even brought a crystal with me, which was something I almost always did.

Part of me was worried this was some kind of cult activity, as pervasive as the feeling in the area was getting. There were others, here, besides the driver of that Mazda...

...and bleh, out of time. Need to go run to work. I'll post more about this later.

[Razor]

Must... know... moar...

[KonThaak]

And it's lovely to hear back from you again as well, Razor. It's starting to feel like old times... Well, old times with a new twist.

At any rate...

I hate the cold. And I mean, I /HATE/ the cold. It's probably just the Texas in me, but when I told Nick I needed to go for a walk to get some feeling back into my feet (a total lie, and I think he figured it out), I walked out wearing a heavy sweatshirt and jeans, over the thermal outfit, the sweatpants, and the two pairs of cotton socks I was wearing...and I had my black leather trench coat over the top of all of that. Yeah. Not a fan of the cold. Or the snow. DEFINITELY not a fan of snow. This druid is a spring druid through and through; winter can just butt right out, far as I'm concerned. (Sorry, Hannah, and everyone else who feels differently... I think mostly it's because I have to work outside all day in those conditions.)

Grateful for the fact that my boots were water-proof (and equally as agitated that they were steel-toed), I headed from Nick's apartment towards the woods, while every instinct in me screamed to turn the other way and run. But I had to know what was going on.

The one /NICE/ thing about snow is footprints... I spotted a pair of footprints leading from the Mazda, with a very distinctive tread to the sole. I think they were Nike's, but it's hard to remember...and since it was dark, I was using the flashlight LED built into my cell phone. Funny, and sad--I always carry that thing around, but I've stopped carrying the instruments of my beliefs...

Anyway, so I followed these footprints into the woods, using the flashlight until I could see light and hear voices ahead, then shut down the flashlight and silenced my phone. I'd told Nick I'd probably only be about 10-15 minutes, and I didn't particularly want him texting me right then. Or worse yet, calling me.

I crept as quietly as I could through the trees, holding my trench coat around me as tightly as I could, getting closer, but staying to the shadows. There were 7 teenagers all out in the woods, and like geniuses, they were burning some kind of bonfire, all of them chanting. I could, in the light of the fire, see a cat they'd already killed...and arcane symbols and circles drawn into the snow. The biggest question on my mind--why someone from Crystal Lake would be down here in Melrose Park--was quickly answered. I'd always felt a great sense of peace about these woods... I'd never realized that was because there was a Convergence Point right there. At least three small Dragon Lines crossed paths right in those woods, and somehow, I'd failed to notice them...

I didn't recognize the symbols, precisely, but there was enough there for me to recognize a summoning ritual when I saw one. I had no idea what they were summoning, but I couldn't let them summon it so near to Nick's apartment. Really, bottom line was, I couldn't let them summon anything at all. They were clearly inexperienced and young...

In martial arts, there is a saying. "Experienced and knowledgeable enough to get oneself into trouble." One of my co-workers recently called that "just sharp enough to cut yourself".

I stepped into the clearing. "What do you idiots think you're doing?"

...Remember those boxes I mentioned from BudK? Well, I didn't. But, suddenly, there were knives drawn on me. And while they looked like they were primarily meant for display, I imagined a display knife could cut me just fine. One of the punks even had a gun. Double yay.

I held my hands up. "Alright, calm down. I didn't come here to start trouble..."

"Well, you got trouble, asshole!" one of the shouted at me.

"What do we do with him?" another asked. "Fuck if I know," came the answer. Someone else said, "Hey, we could use him as the first sacrifice!" This seemed to meet with agreement from the others, and it wasn't long before they had me tied up next to the dead cat.

At least the cold kept it from smelling like rot...

[Phoenix]

Ever since the cataclysm of the ancient world, the lines have been steadily fading until we get the situation we have today. There are times they fade in and out of perception. They're still there but it can take powerful magic to reactivate them and it's not usually worth it. Though sometimes they will fade into existence at regular or semi-regular intervals.

It can make navigating this plane tiresome and dangerous.

So I wouldn't feel bad about not noticing.

[KonThaak]

Sorry for the brief delay. Just got my ears pierced on Friday. One of the piercings was through cartilage, and while this morning I was finally able to clean them without feeling I needed painkillers immediately, I haven't felt up to doing much of anything until now.

So there I was, lying on the snow. I would've probably panicked, if it were warmer, but right then, I was focusing very hard on keeping enough energy flowing through my body to generate heat, I was far too preoccupied to worry that much.

I did notice, despite my preoccupation, that one of the teenagers didn't seem to be involved in the ritual itself. He paced nervously, and his nervous pacing wasn't helping my mood. Suddenly, I realized that feeling that others get when I pace around endlessly.

The others didn't seem to be paying me any attention, so I gestured him over with my head. He glanced to the others, and seemed to weigh his options, going back and forth between talking to me, and not. He must've finally decided he was in a talkative mood, so he came over and crouched next to me. We conversed quietly, and the others didn't seem to care.

What I learned from him was that they were attempting to summon a demon to protect them from the impending apocalypse. Trying to reason with him that if the apocalypse was to happen, it would've happened HOURS ago did no good. He was convinced it would happen before midnight, and apparently, so were the others. They were all fearful of dying at some cataclysm, and they believed the answer was to summon a being powerful enough to protect them.

Gods save us from amateurs and idiots...

When he got too cold to squat any longer, the boy--whose name was Rob--went back to his nervous pacing. I looked at the cat, and considered. If the spirit wasn't too angry at its untimely demise, and I could wiggle over to it, I could transform into a cat and slip my bonds. And my clothes, Gabriel reminded me, which might lead to me catching terrible hypothermia. Talk about a dilemma...

I thought of all of you, in that moment, and wished I'd had the presence of mind to message someone and let them know where I was. I wished I hadn't told Nick not to follow me. I wished there hadn't been a gun on the scene, or if it had been there, it had been in my hands, instead.

Wishes aren't going to do you any good, Gabriel reminded me, mentally. I sighed. He was right. I can't exactly let them die for the crime of being idiots, and I can't stay tied up. What should I do?

Prayers have gotten you pretty far, came the answer. I sighed, starting to shiver in spite of all my attempts at pumping heat through my body, and closed my eyes, starting to pray to the universe for guidance and help...

[Hannah]

The universe rarely gives us what we want. It will frequently give us what we need and leave the rest up to us though.

Hannah

[Kolya]

In my experience not even that much. It doesn't seem to care if I live or die.

[Hannah]

Of course it doesn't care Kolya.

That doesn't mean that it won't give you what you need.

Hannah

[KonThaak]

If the universe didn't care, we wouldn't be here. That's not to say we aren't a credit to that, as well, because we most certainly are. But I know we've all been in really tight spots before, and we've always had just exactly what we needed. Maybe not one iota more, and maybe it hasn't been what we wanted at all, but we had what we needed.

That night, I was sure I needed a miracle. The idiots knew just enough to pull the spell off. They thought they were going to be protected from whatever they summoned, but even in my shivering state, I could tell they were wrong. But try telling an amateur they're doing it wrong. It doesn't tend to work too well...

As the feeling left my arms and feet, I got a rather dubious one. I felt Gabriel put his arm around me, mentally. The ritual's almost over. You're cold and tired. Take a rest... Let me take over. Up to that point in time, I hadn't allowed Gabriel to do that, and I was extremely leery about letting him do so, now. But I had lost feeling in my arms, I couldn't feel my feet, and I was losing a grip on what the amateurs were doing. I couldn't tell if I was still shivering or not. In response to him, I actually nodded my head and said 'Okay' aloud. Not very loudly, but I was that out of it.

I slowly felt myself recede into my mind, and take a position where I was watching myself, rather than controlling myself...

[Gabriel]

The situation was ugly. The teenagers were literally minutes away from completing the ritual. Even Rob had stopped paying attention to us, and had joined in on the main casting, just to speed things along.

I focused on a new surge of fresh adrenaline, getting my heart to pump faster, bring just a bit of warmth back into my extremities. It didn't need to be a lot. Just enough to get a bit of feeling. I waited for the pins and needles, and the moment I felt them, I faked a sneeze, violently jerking one hand out of the ropes. It ripped the glove from my hand, and tore the flesh a bit. With my hands free, I freed my legs--too much movement. One of the kids saw me getting out.

It didn't matter. The ritual was complete. As I staggered to my feet, preparing to defend myself from the teenagers' weapons, the cat's mangled corpse twisted and began smoking. The spine grew, the head twisted and reshaped itself, the eyes smoldered like embers in a fireplace.

I stumbled back, away from the thing, as the teens all took to the circle they believed would save them. "Run! Get out!" I shouted at them, but they just smirked, watching, sure they were witnessing what would be some kind of salvation for them. In the Druid's words, gods save us from idiots and amateurs.

I had only a few moments, and they were dwindling fast. I cast an armor spell and moved myself between the creature and the teenagers. That was about all I had time for. The demon, now a twisted, seven-foot-tall monstrosity, manifested fully in our plane. It was covered from neck to foot in black fur, which seemed to be clumping and preparing to fall off as the flesh under it rotted.

The teens actually tried to command it to kill me. Not in so many words; they told it I was its 'first meal'. It looked at me. Then it looked past me, at the teenagers, and its skeletal face twisted into a sick grin. It tried to lurch past me, and I hit it with a blast of energy.

It met my argument with a very reasonable and convincing argument. It backhanded me hard enough to knock me into a tree. If I hadn't had the armor, either its clawed backhand or the tree would've been enough to break bones.

I was weakened from the cold, and running low on energy, and was watching as 7 kids were about to be killed... I started running through every trick and spell I could think of, mentally, as fast as I could.

I didn't even get a chance.

[Kolya]

It seems to me that if you need something and I give it you that I care about you. Otherwise I wouldn't give it to you.

We are still here and that entirely credit to us.

If I've ever gotten out of a tight spot it certainly wasn't thanks to anything the universe gave me. And I know of a few folks who never got what they needed from the universe, unless you think they needed their heads eaten by monsters. If you think that, let me know where we can be meet and I'll give you what you need.

[Gotham Witch]

This whole thing reminds me why I really don't like to teach magic. As much as I do believe in the potential for humans to do amazing and wonderful things, there is always the few who are misguided or abuse the craft, with fatal consequences.

What happened next?

[Hannah]

Yes, please, tell us more.

Hannah

PS: Kolya, you'd be surprised what the universe has given you. Though ultimately it is up to you to take those gifts and make them work for you.

[KonThaak]

Kolya: Please relax, old friend. I intended no disrespect to the dead. I more intended it as Hannah stated...

Apologies for the delays. There's been a LOT that's been going on...

So, there Gabriel was, trying to figure out what he could do to save the idiots that had called this thing into our world. It was pretty much ignoring him, and all but one of the kids was starting to figure out that something was horribly, horribly wrong. Most of them were starting to back away.

The one that hadn't figured it out stood there shouting at the demon angrily. He told the others to 'stay inside the circle', because it was 'safe'. One of the kids panicked and bolted--and the demon leapt after him with a sickening speed.

...that is, until golden chains lashed up from the ground and caught it around the ankles, bringing it face-first to the ground. A familiar voice spoke into the clearing, "That's enough, Friend. You're going home, now."

Gabriel shook his head, trying to clear it, and stumbled forward, getting himself between the demon and the rest of the kids as fast as possible. "Run!" he shouted at them. They complied.

The demon fixed Gabriel with a hateful stare as Nick stepped into the clearing, holding his wrist...the wrist that I remembered had a tattoo of a broken chain on it. He had his attention focused almost entirely on the demon, though he glanced to me out of the corner of his eye. "You alright, sweetie?"

"Peachy, creampuff," came Gabriel's sarcastic remark, drawing a smirk from Nick.

"So what are we going to do about this?" he asked. The demon seemed more or less completely incapacitated by the mystic chains, but it was clear it wouldn't last long...

"You have to ask?" Gabriel tried to summon the energy for a fire spell...but it fizzled in his hands before he could hit anything with it.

Nick shook his head. "Relax. I'll take care of it." Still holding his wrist, he unzipped his coat, and reached under it, murmuring a prayer...and then he let go of his wrist, and the chains binding the creature vanished.

It lunged for him, fast and hard. It was the last thing that creature did, at least in that body. The skull was neatly severed by the glowing sword that Nick held in his hand. He knelt quickly by the fallen corpse, and prayed over it in Hebrew. Gabriel and I couldn't understand, but we were both numb from the cold and incredibly tired...

Nick finally stood, murmuring, "Rest in peace, Friend." The corpse began to dissolve into nothing, and he nodded in satisfaction. "Good. I bound it before the spirit could get out." He looked to us, and blinked. "Let's get you inside and warmed up, honey..."

We didn't exactly fight that. And we were grateful that his wife let us stay the night there, borrowing the shower and some spare clothes...and we were grateful that it was a Friday night.

It was the first time we slept in on a Saturday in a long...long time.

[Ron Caliburn]

Sounds like this Nick fellow is a handy guy to have around.

[KonThaak]

That was the first time I knew he knew anything about the supernatural...

[Gotham Witch]

Clearly a serendipitous time to find out.

What happened to the foolish children?

[Ron Caliburn]

Yeah, I really wish we could advertise our knowledge and abilities a bit better. Last time I went on the record about them I got thrown in an asylum.

[KonThaak]

The teenagers were not Nick's or my immediate concern, at that point in time. All we cared about was getting me recovered from the cold. I didn't see them again, and the following week, I didn't drive by that house in Crystal Lake.

I do, however, get the feeling that things aren't over with them... Maybe it's a paranoid suspicion, but...perhaps not.

[Ron Caliburn]

Stupid kids, meddling with what's beyond them.

[Gotham Witch]

Trust me KT, when it comes to kids it's never paranoia. You manage to bring one thing in past the veil, and it's often childs play to do it again.