An Aura of Bloodshed

Chapter 18: Meeting the Crowane Family

After quite the walk, Jesse and Kitsune had reached their destination. They had to leave their car even farther this time, and it took them hours to navigate through the damned trees. But of course, they finally made it to the village- a lovely little place called Vondovlin Village. It was near dusk by the time they arrived, but oh well. At least they made it.

"Aaaand here we are! We finally found it! I was beginning to think this place never existed." Jesse remarked, smiling a bit before huffing. "Though, we did have to navigate those paths for hours. I swear, the roads here are even worse than at Ishinakku Village." He sighed.

"Maybe so, but that doesn't really matter. We should get to the Crowane farm- and fast." Kitsune remarked, standing beside him with some suitcases.

Jesse nodded over at her, his own bags in his hands. "You're right. It is getting rather dark, and they'll be out before long." He agreed.

After navigating the empty -and strangely desolate- village, the two Chastisers went off the beaten path- quick finding the property they were intended to get to. The front yard was rather spacious, at least for an area in the Forest. The family in question even had some dogs, which Kitsune was more than thrilled about.

"Puppies!!" The redhead chirped, crouching down and petting the dogs. They seemed to have taken instantly to the affection, wagging their tails and nuzzling her. Jesse chuckled a bit, watching the display.

'Well, they're definitely not guard dogs.' He thought to himself. "Come on, Kitsune, we have to get inside." He reminded her.

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Kitsune apologized, giving the dogs kisses on the heads before following her taller friend into the house. Upon walking in, they were greeted by a family. The man of the house, a guy who looked in either his late 20s or early 30s walked up to them.

"Good evening." Jesse greeted with a small smile.

"Hi!" Kitsune chirped, waving a little.

"Goodness, you finally arrived!" The man exclaimed, turning back to his wife- a similarly aged woman with long wavy blonde hair and violet eyes. "Look, Martha! The Chastisers have arrived!" He said.

The woman gave a friendly smile, nodding at the two. "This here is my wife, Martha. She... can't speak anymore, but she's making the most of it." Mr. Crowane stated before patting his daughter on the head- who was a little girl with auburn hair and orange eyes. "And this here is my daughter, Fern."

"Nice to meetcha, doctor and pretty lady!" The child chirped, her eyes shimmering with happiness.

"Likewise." Kitsune smiled.

"Well, come in, come in! The soup's about ready. We can talk about this over dinner." Mr. Crowane gestured them over, prompting them to sit at the dinner table.

The situation was pretty much what Jesse described. The Crowane family had recently inherited the farm from a lost relative -a man named Joshua- but since his passing, both livestock and humans alike have been going missing- their corpses turning back up in the village. What was most worrying, however, was the fact that with each passing week, more people seemed to be disappearing at a time.

By the time they were done gathering information, they suddenly heard a loud noise. At this point, Martha and Fern had headed to bed. "What the hell was that?" Kitsune asked, feeling mildly startled.

"It probably came from the shed. You can investigate if you want, but please be careful." Mr. Crowane answered.

"Right then- in that case, that's where we're headed. Come on, Kitsune." Jesse stated, Kitsune nodding as she followed after him.

They rushed out of the house, heading for a bit behind to where the shed was. As they ran, Kitsune could swear she saw something hidden behind tree. It was tall, pale, and kind of human looking. Yet it disappeared within a blink of an eye...

....Concerning, but not much could be done.

As they stood outside the shed, the two Chastisers quickly looked around. "Where did it go?!" Jesse asked to no one. "If it's slinked back into that Forest, we'll never catch it!" He huffed, groaning as he smacked his palm against his forehead.

"It'll be alright, Jess. If it ever comes back here, we'll kill it before it even gets the chance." Kitsune assured.

Jesse sighed a bit, nodding. "You're right. In the meantime, we should make sure all the windows are closed so nothing can sneak on while we asleep." He stated, to which the redhead agreed.

After returning to the house -and closing the windows- Kitsune and Jesse headed upstairs. "Just so we're clear- you're not uncomfortable with sharing a room with me?" Jesse asked, as they walked to the guest room on the far left end of the hall.

"I don't see why I would be." Kitsune shrugged. "You're one of my best friends, and I don't think you'd be weird about it." She responded.

"I suppose you have a good point, yes." Jesse nodded, as him and his friend entered the guest room. It was immediately when they walked in, did they notice a... certain detail.

There was only one bed.

The two stared in silence for a moment, processing the situation. "....Uhhhh..." Kitsune vocalized. "So like... Are you comfortable enough to share a bed with me? Cuz like- if not I could sleep on the floor." She asked.

"Oh- no, no! There's no need for that- I wouldn't feel right if I made you do that." Jesse assured. "Besides, it's just... it's just a bed. Nothing particularly strange about that. We've fallen asleep together on the couch, so this isn't much different." He tried to sound confident, yet the way he ran his hand through his hair showed his slight anxiousness.

"We'll just, uhh... Not think about it too hard. For now we'll focus on the case." Kitsune stated, before yawning. "After... After we get some sleep. I'm tired." She said, kicking her shoes off and flopping into bed.

Jesse hummed, sliding his own shoes off before joining her. He couldn't decide if it was stranger to face towards or away from her, so he opted to just stare at the ceiling. "I can't bear to stay awake for another minute..." He yawned, before falling asleep. And, despite the awkward situation, Kitsune fell asleep pretty quickly herself.

Of course though, Jesse's subconscious had other plans than just letting him sleep soundly.