Dark Water

By Willow Taylor

"Alright, this is what I think I know: It's not a demon, she appears to be polluted water. But there's something holding her together." The pair helped Amy, still shivering, to her feet. They moved towards the hole, just in time to see it close.

"I'm betting that's not good, Vic," Shaper said, stamping his heel where the entrance had been a moment before.

"I'll back you on that." Victor's mind raced, and he looked around the cavern. It glowed with the same luminescence of Whitewater. "Okay, I have an idea."

"It better be good, Amy's freezing."

"Okay. Theory - This cave for some reason got supernatural pollution, don't know why, I could probably figure it out if I had more time top side, but since we're trapped here, that incidental doesn¹t matter."

"We better keep moving," Shaper said. Victor nodded.

"Now this cavern is under the lake." Shaper nodded. "But can be accessed by the river too, possibly near the bridge. I'm betting that at some point, a girl, judging by her psychosis ugly, or at least not attractive, either fell into the river, was pushed or drowned herself."

"Whooo... define theory."

"Shut up."

"Heh."

"Her body was carried into this cavern before her soul was entirely gone, and coagulated into the algae, creating the 'Whitewater' creature.'

"Okay, works in theory,"

"We'll do the back work later, to see if I'm right. But what we need to look for is the body or skeleton of a girl in this mess."

"Then what?"

"We destroy it. Preferably with fire."

Amy nodded and shivered again, Victor noticed his breath was now more than visible in the air. He blinked in surprise, and further surprise as ice crystals fell from his lashes. The cave was getting colder by the minute. Amy's blood would freeze soon, and most likely HIS as well if they all didn't get out of here. Shaper looked back to his friends worriedly. Victor was beginning to stumble and Amy was little better. They all needed to get out, or at least warm and dry as soon as they could. at least with his mask on and his reserve powers as it were, were up and working HE would be alright. But what could HE do against the beast called Whitewater? Victor shook out his hair, flinging the shards of ice that had made his scalp a frozen tuft of spikes. Then he brushed what he could with numbed fingers from Amy's hair and held her close. As if being drowned by an overblown tide-pool wasn't enough, Whitewater was trying to freeze them all to death. Victor looked ahead to Shaper, who was making better time in this sludge than they were, ice and murky water making him look like a frozen creature of hell. A skeleton loomed ahead among the rocks of a cave in.

"A cave in? This isn't right..."

Victor and Amy gasped in shock as Shaper uncovered the bones. They belonged to a child. A female child. Ceremonial robes clung to the remains like dewy spiderwebs. Of the entire cavern, it seemed warm and steamy here. Victor and Amy sighed in relief as they began to warm. Then Victor began to draw new conclusions.

Not just about Whitewater, but about the town as well.

"This is not good." Victor frowned. His eyes narrowed and something flared behind them. The flesh golem handed Amy bodily to Shaper.

"What?"

He reached into his pouch and pulled out a bit of black material, which he unfolded and unfolded, and unfolded till it became a large black silk bag. Gently, the dark haired man picked up the child's bones and placed them in the bag. Then he slung the bag over his shoulders, and tore at the cave in. Rocks splashed about in the water as a hole appeared, then grew. He clambered through it, and then stuck his head back into the cavern.

"Pass me Amy," he ordered Shaper.

"What's going on?" asked the rizen, as he passed the still shivering vampire to Victor.

"Just come on." Angel pulled her through the hole, and Shaper clambered after them.

The group found themselves in a dimly lit tunnel. There was a dampness that clung to the walls, and glimmered as Victor took his lighter out, lit it and held it aloft.

"Victor, will you tell me what's going on?"

"No," Victor said, lips pressed together in a thin line. "I won't." Amy looked up at him surprised at how hard the supernatural¹s voice sounded.

"We're going back to town," he said, several minutes walk down the tunnel. "We're going to dump this body at the head man's feet." He gestured to the bag he was carrying, which he had shifted around so he was carrying it like a small child. "I'm buying some cloves, and we're leaving."

"But what about Whitewater?"

"They brought her on themselves." He frowned deeply. "There are some things men are not meant to mess with."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shaper grumbled to himself. Angel said something softly after that, that Shaper didn't catch. It went on for a while. After a few moments, he decided Victor was praying.

Dimly, in the cavern behind them, they heard bubbling, then raucous laughter. Amy glanced back nervously, then looked up at Victor, who was still whispering to himself. Something a barrier of sorts was growing about Victor, and Amy had to back away. Shaper observed it, and decided Victor was indeed praying to himself. Whitewater flowed into the tunnel behind them and smiled almost kindly for once at them. Victor, still whispering, turned to face her. Whitewater shrank in on herself, and glowed brighter. Soon a small rosy-cheeked little girl clothed in sun-drenched ripples and algae stood before them.

"You aren't from the town, are you?" Whitewater said. Victor nodded.

"No. They hired me to get rid of you. But I see now, that it's their fault you're here. I understand now."

Shaper looked puzzled. 'well at least SOMEBODY understood what was going on here...' he thought.

Victor continued softly. "I'm taking your body back to town, then we're all leaving. They were wrong to do what they did to you. I see nothing wrong in your continued justice on a town that murders its own children for magick's sake."

Whitewater flowed forward and hugged Victor about the waist. She was as warm as tropical seas this time.

"Thank you," she whispered, then flowed back into the cavern, resuming the adult shape of before with a peal of childish laughter. Amy lightly placed her hand on Victor's arm, not understanding what was going on, but knowing Victor needed that touch, that gentle contact just then. Shaper just looked lost as ever.

"What was all that about? What do you mean the town's killing children? What the bloody hell is going on in this place?" he wailed, the mask removed for the nonce.

"Not now, Shaper." Victor said, "Let's just keep going."

The small group continued down the tunnel with their strange and grisly bundle. The other end of the tunnel began to lighten, and Victor turned off his lighter. And in a few moments, stepped into dim daylight. Amy hissed softly and drew back into the darkness, looking at Victor with a sad, pouty expression that said ~It's daylight. I can't come see what you're going to do.~ The dark haired supernatural investigator smiled at her gently.

"Look, you stay here till dark, and we'll see you at the next town, 'kay kiddo?" Amy grabbed the soaked front of his shirt and kissed him. Then she obediently nodded, and passed him back his coat. In return, Victor handed her a strangely dry plush wool blanket that he pulled from his pouch. "Come on, Shaper, time's a-wasting...."

Victor walked quickly out into the sunlight and out of the tunnel. Shaper looked at Amy, and shrugged, then followed Victor.

"Sorry Amy, but I just gotta see what he's got planned."

Midmorning, they reached the town. Victor was still in a good mood, but grumbling himself. "And these boots were nearly new! Now look at 'em. I'm gonna squish for days. If this was a tropical area, my feet would rot off."

"Will you tell me what's going on?" demanded Shaper.

"Nope." Victor grinned, and turned into the tobacconist. Shaper waited, and watched a crowd gather around him, peering into the windows of the shop. Shaper shook his head in surprise.

"Is it true?" someone asked him. "Did Angel come back?"

Shaper grinned, and crossed his arms across his chest. "Yes he did."

Trying to call Victor "Angel" was like calling a horse a cat. The title just didn't fit somehow. Maybe it was the hair. The frizzy haired investigator came out of the shop, whistling to himself, and followed by the tobacconist. Leading a parade of townsfolk, and ignore the questions that were flung at him by the crowd, Victor proceeded to the center of town.

"Does this happen to you a lot?" Shaper hissed.

"Not recently."

The headsman came out of the town hall and stood on the steps, watching Victor's approach. "So, Angel, did you stop the creature." Victor smiled, and set the bag down at the ground and unfolded the bag one more time. There were gasps of shock and dismay from the crowd.

"The creature was a child?" asked the head man.

"Uh... no," said Victor, and reached into his pouch. He sprinkled the nearly skeletal corpse with water from a canteen, then hopped on one foot and pulled off his boot. "Whitewater..." he whispered. "Come forth." And he poured water out of his boot. Slowly, the creature known as Whitewater formed swirling about over the skeleton. Victor hopped about again putting his boot back on as there were screams and shouts.

"NOBODY LEAVES!" screamed Shaper, brandishing a clawed hand. If Victor wanted everyone here for this, everybody was going to be here.

"I hate to do this," Victor said, addressing the monster like a small child. "But who killed you?"

"He killed us," The creature spoke in chorus, looking towards the head man. There were gasps and wails from the crowd.

'Oh Drama,' thought Shaper.

"Who else?"

"Dead dead dead dead!" giggled Whitewater with unholy glee. The creature swirled about and the well overflowed.

"Alright - " Victor turned towards the headman, with a small smile on his face. "Why did you do it man? Why did you start?"

The headman's face was blank, and Victor flung a handful of water into his face.

"Face your own deeds, man."

The Headman clasped his hands to his face. And screamed, and screamed and screamed as the algae and spirits that made up most of Whitewater's body ate away at his face as the water-creature twirled and laughed like a demented child. Shaper was watching with the rest of the town, dumbstruck and shocked. After the headman was brought to his knees, blood and algae slime falling through his fingers to wash the street in revenge, Whitewater spilt into twelve small children, who ran off in two groups, in two directions. One group ran for the sheriff¹s office, the second, to the inn Victor and company was staying at. Victor watched, seemingly impassive and uncaring of the whole incident.

Soon the inn-faring children returned, odd items in their hands, wands, ceremonial knifes, and jewelry which they dropped at the matronly woman who ran the inn's feet. One child stood more dominant in this group. He laughed and leered at her, pressing close enough to stain her dress with algae and the smell of dead fish and rotting flesh. She screamed and drew back away from the boy. He laughed more, and spoke accusingly.

"Why mother? Why all the children here? Why did you do it? How could you do this to us?" At the last sentence, the other children there took up the wail. It was about this time Victor recalled he'd neither heard, nor seen any children at all in this town. The headman, the innkeeper, the innkeeper's wife, and sheriff had killed them all. The second group, with the Whitewater child dominant appeared, and dropped adult-sized robes, and a few boxes full of paper-wrapped objects at Victor's feet. Whitewater pointed to the sheriff.

"Yes father... why? How? What were you to gain?" she wailed, as the children all swirled together to become the creature again. The innkeeper and sheriff began to back away from the crowd, trying to find a way to run and escape the fate the headman suffered. But Shaper, in all his disturbing and clawed glory, stood in their way. He shook a long-nailed finger at them accusingly.

"Uh-uh-uh... you can't go yet... show's not over!" And he smiled - and smiled and smiled until it looked as if he could swallow the sheriff¹s face in one bite and crunch it up with those terrible sharp teeth and smile and giggle the whole time. The matron wisely backed off into the circle of townsfolk again. The sheriff on the other hand, swung at Shaper with a fist. Shaper caught it, and the crowd was silent. Silent enough they all heard the sheriff¹s hand turn to powder. Shaper laughed, as madly as Whitewater who joined him, in his cruel mirth. Fully unnerved the innkeeper's wife and sheriff into falling at Victor's feet and gibbering madly about demons and books and spells and how what they summoned asked for the children's lives and how they gave them, and how the sheriff had cut them up and hidden them in boxes in his cellar so well not even his poor wife knew. all the bodies that was, except Whitewater's, or rather, Lilly-Belle Smith, whose body had been lost with one of the circle mages when a cave-in collapsed their working area.

Victor scowled at them, and was not about to give them any more mercy than Whitewater had. Whitewater flowed over them both, and Victor watched grimly as her algae and fish ate them to the bones inside her watery body, then spit them out onto the village green. A tendril reached out and took up the headman and he screamed with what little remained of his mouth as Whitewater ate him too. Shaper looked greenish as he watched, the mask gone again, and hanging from his hip. He finally retched off to one side as Whitewater expelled the headman's still fleshed bones onto the pile the other killers had made. Whitewater turned to Victor.

"Open the boxes and bury us and set us free," they whispered, hoping the one who had given them the means of vengeance would also give them all peace. Victor looked to the crowd, and saw no sorrow for the lost children, and no remorse for the killers. He only saw anger and fear and hate. Perhaps the whole of this town was guilty, then. But it was not his place to judge.