Playing Hardball...Part 1

After an impromptu and emotional celebration, we returned to the house to find the phone ringing.

The Frau picked up the cordless phone while simultaneously offering instructions. “Naomi, you’re closest to Ravyn’s size, can you get some clothes for poor Ravyn? Rusty can you take care of this table? Cerry, would you be a dear and start some breakfast going?” After about the tenth ring, she fumbled with the buttons on the phone and answered that. “Hello?”

Her face lit up as she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

“Oh, Herne, I’m so glad you called. Ravyn’s back with us now!”

There was a pause as she listened to him respond. His voice was almost audible over the handset, but I couldn’t quite make out the words.

“What? Oh dear! Yes, by all means, activate the Railroad. I’ll let everyone here know about your concerns and start the ball rolling on our end.”

Jim’s face tightened considerably at the mention of ‘railroad’, he stood still as he tred to catch whatever was being said by Herne.

She paused again as he spoke for quite some time.

“Yes, we’ll turn it on now. Yes, we’ll notify the families. You guys take care. Let us know when everyone is safe!”

Frau’s demeanor had changed considerably by the time she punched the button to hang up the phone. She looked she wanted to slam the phone down, but thought better of it at the last moment. Instead, she turned to me. “Rusty, will you turn the television on to the Wolf Network News channel please.” Her teeth visibly grated as she spat those words out.

I nodded and went looking for the remote control. The WNN was not the first choice of anyone here, as it clearly had a hard line conservative bent to its coverage. By the time I found the remote, everyone had come back into the main room, gathering about the TV.

Ravyn was now wearing a pair of loose grey sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt that was clearly two sizes too large for her as she carried the bubbly Alexa in her arms. Naomi followed right behind.

The TV flickered on and we could immediately see why the Frau wanted to watch this channel. The screen was split into two main images and scrolling news banner beneath. The words ‘Breaking News’ were emblazoned across the top of both images. The screen on the right must showing earlier footage of the Coop lit up at night by the blazing fire that we had just barely escaped from. The left side of the screen was of a reporter talking with the smoldering ruins of the Coop as the backdrop.

The scrolling ‘news’ that rolled beneath the footage was supposedly encapsulating the highlights of the coverage to date. Just the first few snippets of it were enough to get Ravyn to gasp and Jim to clench his hands in anger.

“BIZZARE FIRE AT COLLEGE TOWN OCCULT HOUSE IN CHICAGO SUBURBS.”

“POLICE SUSPECT POSSIBLE SUICIDE PACT AMONG STRANGE CULT MEMBERS.”

“20 BODIES DISCOVERED IN OCCULT HOUSE FIRE NEAR CHICAGO.”

“NEIGHBORS CLAIM RESIDENTS OF OCCULT HOUSE WERE SATAN WORSHIPPERS AND THAT HOUSE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHUT DOWN YEARS AGO.”

The reporter’s voice came across in response to a question from the studio. “Yes, Bill, I just finished speaking with a spokesperson for the East Napierville Fire Department and he has confirmed that fire appears to be very suspicious in nature and that they believe that accelerants were used, leading them to believe that the occupants of the house set it on fire themselves.”

The screen flashed over to a studio where a heavy set, balding man sat at an anchor desk and asked another question of the reporter. “Sam, I’ve seen some reports here that this house may have been used by a Satanic cult of some sort, can you give us any more information on that?”

The screen flipped back to the reporter, who listened to the question in his earpiece, nodding eagerly as the question ended. “Indeed, I can Bill. According to several neighbors that I spoke with, including one that we’ll roll the tape on here in a moment, this house was run by a wild woman known only as Ravyn Fyre. All of the witnesses agreed that this Ravyn Fyre was a well known witch and coven leader for a bizarre group that called themselves Trolls or Goblins, or some other name like that. She apparently used this house as a recruiting center and for strange night time rituals that often involved large fires and animal sacrifices. Let’s roll the tape of this interview.”

The screen flickered to show an older woman who looked an awful lot like Evelyn Olsen, a kindly neighbor that Ravyn had shared many a meal with over the years, but her mannerisms were not quite right. “Oh yes, I’ve always known that the people in this house weren’t to be trusted. When I tried to report on them though, they threatened me to keep me quiet. Ravyn Fyre even threatened to make my precious kitties disappear if I reported her to the authorities.”

The mike in front of the woman moved as the reporter asked another question. “Mrs. Olsen, do you think that the folks in this house were involved with occult activity in any way?”

She nodded vigorously. “Oh yes. I can’t remember all of the times I saw those young people dressed in strange robes-or even in nothing at all-dancing around fires at night.” She visibly shuddered. “I pray for the souls of those poor folk in the fire, I’m afraid that they will be heading in the wrong direction, if you know what I mean.”

The Frau snorted at that last statement before she spoke. “Rusty, turn that off. I’ve seen enough.”

(To be continued…)