Somewhere In Mexico
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halt in front of Saint Sebastian's Church in the square. The heat was
unbelievable today, and the flies were swarming like mad since their
window was down. "50 pesos", the hack turned to them and stated. Carlos
saw a ugly, gargantuan figure with black hair and dark eyes sodder out
of the archway of the church, and head over to open the cab door.
"Welcome senores",the figure smirked,"I am Enrico. We thank you for
coming. The bishop phoned me earlier to say that you were coming. I
told him that it was not necessary, but he insisted." Pedro caught
himself staring at the creased lines upon the man's face, like a
well-traveled map. Carlos grabbed his leather "doctor's"-bag and
followed them in. "What exactly is the problem in this village,anyway?"
A long, winded sigh escaped the giant's mouth, like wind through a
tunnel. "Our elders are disappearing,sir.", he stammered out, afraid to
actually state the truth. "The old people of this village are fewer in
number everyday. It is not death that takes them; they simply vanish."
Pedro curled his nose at the plethora of scents overtaking him. These
old churches frequently did so.. He had always had a sensitive nose.
The combination of cracked leather, dust, spoiled wine and the draft
wind from the local carneceria were making his sinuses run. "Well, what
leads does this give us?", Carlos queried. "I'm afraid almost
none,senor. The only place that I can recommend checking would be the
devil-shaman who makes his home 5 miles outside of the village. He is
an evil and godless man who takes the shape of any animal he comes
across. There are no brujah in the village that I know of." The cracks
upon the man's face raised up as he anunciated this. A crowd of
children ran past the archway, playing for awhile between their
lessons. "If this does not come to an end, their beautiful faces will
be the only prominent faces around...", the man trailed off. Outside, a
murder of crows flew overhead, cawing their disdain with the entire
proceedings. He thought for one moment he had heard a barely
discernable sigh, but dismissed it.
"Where shall we sleep for the night?", Pedro asked the man. It was
almost siesta, and there was little work that they would be able to get
done today. "We have secured space for you in our attic, and have
placed cots and bedrolls for you there. Breakfast will be at Seis in
the long-room." He pointed skyward towards a panel in the ceiling with
a strand of thread attached. Pedro pulled the panel down, and caught
the ladder before it made a run for the ground. The wind had picked up,
and the scent of fresh meat from the village's carneceria was
practically unbearable to Pedro Nachez. His senses must be acting up
because he had also heard an elderly whisper -"E-Ah-Y'Golonac..E-Ah..."
He had heard these sounds before on previous missions, and wondered if
perhaps he should not mention them to Carlos, but did not for fear of
what it meant - his own insanity. "I will show you gentlemen around
beforehand, and give you a chance to make any preparations to the
ground that you may require." He raised a black-cloth arm to beckon
them into an interior room. Carlos pulled vis vials of sea-salt and
unbleached & unprocessed flour out of his medical bag, and uncorked
them. He spread a small line across the threshold of the entrance the
archway they had entered and followed Pedro & the man.
The gentle giant showed them the long-room where both breakfast &
prayer would be served, and to several auxilliary rooms where the
children were taught and sins were forgiven. Carlos had no need for
simplistic faith such as this, but it was his bread & butter. He had
worked for The Vatican for years dispelling these things that faith
could not explain. He had been relieved when he had found out his
assistant was a Gnostic man, and not adamantly religious. Several black
flies did spirals around his head while the giant exclaimed the
importance of helping this village determine where it's wise-ones were
going to, and how to get them back. Carlos spread a line across each
window or threshold, as much for his own peace-of-mind as protection,
and traced a pentacle on the the stucco-wall. He had found this sigil
to be the most useful and multipurpose of any he had learned.
As they settled in for the siesta on the cots furnished for them, Pedro
onced again heard the murder of crows fly overhead cawing. Carlos had
told him this was not a good sign, perhaps even an omen of death and
decay. He was worried, but drifted off to a nap with the sweet smell of
pork cooking wafting through his nostrils and the quiet whisper of
"E-Ah, E-Ah.." drifting over him like a lullaby. Outside, right before
he fell asleep, he heard two small girls arguing, "Sonia-Maria, you old
fool..Do not run. These vessels will not last forever. Why look,
already your stich-work is coming apart. Enrico still has twelve more
to do, and only ten ninas to work with. Do you want to end up in a
ninos-suit? The two new ones are too old for the rite.. They will only
be food."