บท 18: I'm Coven A Good Time VII

Unlike the last time they raided a facility inhabited by a supernatural, Irwin opted to park a few blocks away in case the witch and the demon scout their car while they were gearing up, however useless it may be now that the demon knew of his imminent arrival.

"Shit." He cursed once more as he unlocked the trunk and lifted the false bottom. "Alright. We'll use two types of bullets. Take two mags of iron bullets and another two of Devil's trap bullets. It won't kill the demon, but it'll give us time to exorcise it."

"Gotcha."

After helping his partner equip his weapon and tucking in his Sony Walkman and its brand-new speakers inside of his high boots, Irwin refilled his components pouches with plastic bags and one small bottle filled with an ashy powder in an oily substance.

He unscrewed the small bottle and dipped two fingers into the combined liquid with a grimace. His eyes closed as his wet fingers touched his forehead, shuddering at the trace of coldness that permeated his fingertips. With full concentration, Irwin draw a Celtic sigil at his forehead as he muttered a chant, closed eyes slowly glowing with purple light.

"Glan agus ath-nuadhachadh... Glan agus ath-nuadhachadh..."

The sigil inscribed upon his forehead glowed alongside his eyes as the streetside lit with purplish light and indescribable tension.

"Done so Washington." He said as the light in his whole head subsided before cracking his neck and moaning in relief. "How 'bout you, Garth?"

"It's still weird. You look like a glowstick." He responded, with a laugh. "But, yeah, don't we need to drink the powder that makes us invisible?"

Irwin groaned for he had already checked and drank the powder beforehand and he had deemed it too much of a hate crime for a man to feed upon. Even now he could still taste the remnants of the tangy yet lime-like flavour of the powder-infused chocolate milk he had drank, but, as a professional, Irwin still agreed to drink it once more.

Irwin took out a can of Coca-Cola and poured a hint of the powder inside before praying to Chuck and downing the can in one shot. He gagged as the liquid entered his esophagus and his stomach, trying hard not to taste any residual liquid yet can still feel the effects of its horrid afterburn.

Status, he thought while preventing his gag reflex from throwing up the liquid.

■■

Physical Status: Healthy and Sprite

Mental Status: Dying tastebuds; Energized

---

Resistance/s: Werewolf Curse +50%; Poisoning +8%; Lesser Spell; Lesser Enchantment (Temporary); Lesser Illusion (Temporary); Slight Psionic (Temporary)

Weakness/es:

---

Blessing/s: Non-Scent (Temporary); Guarded Memories (Temporary)

Curse/s:

Mark/s: Touch of the Almighty

■■

Irwin will confess that the effects of the powder were, indeed, rather helpful, seeing it being identified as a blessing rather than a temporary resistance. The Mind Guardian charm, on the other hand, was a monster of a charm for a first-level spell. It gave him three temporary resistance to mind magics and even a blessing to keep his memories all to himself. He whistled low now that he remembered Anastasia mentioned the spell being a creation of hers, which just goes to show the depth of her powers and his lack thereof.

Ending his grim musings, Irwin turned towards his partner, expecting a cacophony of coughs and death murmurs, but was, instead, shown a view of Garth gently tasting the can as if an expert sommoulierre.

"Uh, how does it taste, dude?"

Garth hummed in appreciation, licking off his lips. "It's not bad. Kind of like expired unpasteurized milk. Like straight from the dairy farms without sweeteners."

He resisted the urge to balk at Garth, merely responding with: "Let's go and kill a witch and a demon."

●●●Sadie County Mental Hospital - Back Entrance●●●

Unlike the werewolf factory they had raided, the witch had barricaded the front entrance with wood and metal chains preventing the two hunters from entering without arousing suspicion. The windows, too, have some form of wooden board attached to them, at least those without broken metal bars protruding outwards.

They had no choice but to circle and find an entrance less dangerous. Which they did, a back exit where hospital patients are wheeled off in gurneys or wheelchairs to be admitted inside the facility. Although the chains that surrounded the rusty metal handles are still taut, a quick lockpicking from Garth solved their entry problem.

"Alrighty. Oh, yeah, do we, uh, have a battle plan?" He asked as he stood up.

"No," Irwin replied, gently lifting the unlocked chains and removing them from the handles. "But I guess we could do like the plan with the Ancestor. I'm the bait and you take potshots."

"Yeah, but that didn't work last time. Also, last time, we had a claymore and grenades. It sounds risky." Garth reasoned out as he gently opened the door and entered with Irwin following suit.

"Yeah, but we only need to capture the witch and no more spells will be coming out of them." He argued, peering down the dark hallways of the abandoned mental hospital.

The creepy hallways shuddered at the sight of the two hunters, its dirty white walls remained desolate and ridden with cobwebs and dust. The floorboard creaked with excitement as another person walked amidst them. Silvery light poured through the cracks and beams of the wooden barricade that surrounded the windows of the facility, yet none of the moonlit glow removed the eery ambience that permeated the dusty air of the mental hospital.

Irwin nodded at Garth, silently motioning for him to follow and watch his back as he sneaked inwards with his left hand clutching the gun over his bent right hand, enchanted iridium knife gripped tightly.

As the two hunters crept in, feet landing gently atop the rotting floorboards as they roamed the empty chambers filled with dust, cobwebs, and remnants of bygone patients that once traversed and inhabited the dilapidated facility.

The two hunter's nervous energy accompanied the gloomy ambience of the ground floor as they walk past bend after bend, room after room, to find the utter silence and emptiness of the facility's recreation room. It was filled with cushioned chairs, torn and dusty, a foosball table, broken in half, and a large metal bin, scorched on the inside with bits of charcoal residue around its brim. A desk lay on the side with a metal pole embedded diagonally embedded on its centre was a dirty pair of underwear placed on its jagged edge like a flag for perverts.

"Maybe we can find a map here," Garth whispered as he pointed towards a broken door on the other side of the room while he traversed the other side of the desk and scoured for papers.

Scouring for the map they needed, Irwin moved towards the brown door, broken in half with jagged pieces of wood protruding inwards. He stepped in closer and grabbed the handle, finding it unlocked and tried to open it to no avail.

He snorted, pulling harder and feeling the wood slowly crack under his might. "I think I found some--"

The broken wooden door exploded, interrupting his words as Irwin felt the splinters of wood scratch and embed deep into his skin. His body stumbled backwards as a hulking figure that towered over his lithe form rushed towards him, knocking him further down the room.

The force of the explosion startled Garth as he look towards his partner and saw the murderous eyes of a figure cloaked in the shadows of the room as it sauntered over his partner's fallen form, picking him up and throwing him across the room.

Garth cursed, hurriedly taking out his gun and u loading all its bullets. the gunshots echoed around the dusty and abandoned halls of the facility as the projectiles found their targets, forcefully drilling themselves into the giant figure's visible form and causing it to stagger forward. The crimson eyes of the hidden figure turned slowly towards Garth before striding towards Irwin, ignoring his shooter and completely shaking off the bullets deep inside of him.

Irwin coughed as he dizzily stood up. The subsequent attacks had knocked the wind out of his lungs but had quickly recovered as he peered towards his ambusher. The silvery moon glowed between the cracks of the window boards and lit the figure's form. A hulking beast of a man with red eyes and ashen hair, stitches are strewn across his face and visible skin as he wore a dirtied and bloodied nightgown. Blood and dirt covered his hands as he approached Irwin, crimson eyes trained solely upon the latter with murderous intent.

Even without aid nor prompt, Irwin knows of the beast's nature from the horrid smell alone. He knew he was in for a fight. "System. Hide all specific damage warnings from now on." He commanded, to which the system promptly replied with: [Command Confirmed]

"Garth, find the witch." He ordered once more as he cracked his neck and fist before rushing towards the beast. "Let's do this!"

A fist bore down upon the beast's face causing it to stagger backwards before retaliating with its own, only to be evaded by Irwin who had a mad grin on his face.

Irwin dodged two more hooks from the beast, utilizing his advantage of speed and agility. He pushed his foot forward and placed a quick jab at the beast's side causing the latter to grunt and stagger back.

The beast roared and suddenly forwent punching as his crimson eyes slowly churned on their own. Its hand clenched as it swung a wild haymaker to no avail before grabbing a broken chair and throwing it across the room, hitting nothing but the drywall.

Irwin looked bewildered by its moves, gazing towards the embedded chair in the wall before feeling a familiar sickness beset his body. A slow churn entered his stomach as it slowed down his response and allowed the beast to grab him by the shoulder and launch him towards the chair in the wall.

A deafening bang echoed across the room as the chair broke under Irwin's heavy frame. The latter coughed once more before spluttering his breakfast upon the tarnished brown carpet of the room. Sweat drenched his face as he looked up and saw the clenched fist of the beast barreling towards him, evading narrowly by leaping to the side.

Another boom echoed in his ears, but this time far away. Garth's scrawny figure curved the rancid air before plummeting atop the desk, breaking it in half and causing bits of wood to scatter across the floor.

Irwin grinned as he stood hazily, gazing at the hulking beast before him. A sigh escaped him as his full concentration trained on the beast. He pounced.

Ducking under the beast's haymaker, Irwin pounded the beast's thighs causing it to bend and stumble forward, nearly falling to the ground from the force of the hit. But before it could, Irwin had latched unto its waist, uncaring of the beast's hits towards his back as the former bent his body and fell backwards.

The floor caved in as a loud crack followed the beast's stitched-up head as it broke through the floor and inches deep into the ground until it could no longer move, hindered by the cement that lay as the building's foundation.

Tired and bedraggled, bent yet unbroken, Irwin changed his grip with a mighty bellow. He faced the upside-down monster as his left hand went over his pelvis and grabbed the scruff of the beast's torn shirt while his right hand snaked its way under its left shoulder. Another forceful bellow erupted out of Irwin as he hefted with his full might and pulled the beast over his head, leaving the floor that once inhabited its head barren.

"I AM VENGEANCE!" His bellow resounded across the battlefield, arms taut and quivering from the heavy frame of the beast above him. Irwin jumped as high as he could, his knee bending in mid-air before landing in a kneeling position. His arm fell whilst holding the beast as the stitched-up monster's back connected with Irwin's knees.

A boney crack filled the musty air of the recreational room as the beast lie broken, bent, and groaning at the bent and swollen knees of Irwin.

He laughed uproariously, letting the carcass of the beast fall below his feet as he stood up with trembling feet. His gaze never left the beast as it tried to move from its position, even trying to grab at Irwin's foot, but not before the latter lifted his foot and smashed his heel into the beast's neck. He did so twice before he heard the ever-satisfying crunch buzzing around his ear.

"Noo!" An ear-piercing shriek filled his ears as soon as the foot connected, startling Irwin as he trained his gaze on a bawdily dressed young woman with glossy red lips and full hips wearing a red long sequin dress with frills on its elbow-length sleeves. She then stomped her foot repeatedly, her long silky raven black hair swinging from side to side as she continued her child-like tantrum. "Look what you've done! You killed my zombie." She claimed, face full of anger.

"What? It's not- Ok, lady. Are you a witch?" Irwin was bewildered by the tantrum, so he asked before the young woman's eyes glowed like a bright lamp, answering his question. "Ok, she's a witch. Garth!"

"I know." Garth, who had now just recovered from his fall into the desk, grunted in response as he stood up groggily and shook his head free of wood debris before grabbing the Witchcatcher from his back. He breathed out the rest of his dizziness and the bile that formed under the lump of his throat; the surprise attack from the witch and subsequent curving aloft through the rancid air had strained his stomach linings and made it weaker than before. He then ran forward.

The young witch smiled through her glowing eyes as the windows around the room shuddered greatly before breaking into small finer yet still visible pieces. The glass began to fall to the floor until a strange gravitational tug enveloped them and they whizzed past their former position. The glass shard began to surround and cocoon the young witch under the approaching gaze of the two hunters.

Irwin, who had a head start, immediately halted his approach, hands reaching towards his nearing partner. "She's finishing her spell. Take cover!" He shouted in haste, diving towards the nearby strewn chairs before an explosion of dust and glass filled the room. The shards ensorceled the surrounding area as they traversed freely and embedded themselves amongst the walls and whatever surface they could find. The tears and scratches alongside its ear-defeating screeches it made as it shimmered in darkness remained Irwin of the damage it would have done to flesh and blood.

"O arenulas et ignem, projice liberos tuos imperio meo!"

The eery chants of the young witch forcefully brought Irwin out of his musings, head swivelling towards his partner and mind swirling in thoughts and possible plans.

"Stick to the plan!" He yelled as he evaded yet another bout of soaring glass shards by jumping towards another row of chairs. He groaned, pulling his suit jacket closer to his head and exposed arm as the wooden chair shuddered amidst the hail of glimmering shards with some penetrating his uncovered sides.

Garth, hidden behind the broken desk, safe from the onslaught of window fragments, panted in pain and exhaustion before crawling towards the exit of the room, body as close to the ground as possible.

"Infantes fractos, et adhuc tempus adest, servate meum imperium. hasta." She continued, much to Irwin's chagrin.

Being left alone was not to fight off an angry witch and to act as bait was not without its advantages, or so Irwin thought to console his bleeding shoulder as he unloaded a hail of iron bullets. The witch snorted in contempt, the glass shards shuddered once more before they warp towards her and formed a circular crystalline shield that blocked and diverted the incoming bullets with ease.

'For instance' He continued his musings whilst weaving around the chambers as half of the visible glass shards suddenly swirled up in the air and began to solidify, forming three long spear-like weapons with curved edges on both sides. 'If you die, you take no one with you.'

The spears spun rapidly in a horizontal circle until they formed three saw-like weapons. Miniscule shards ground against each other and made a horrendous ear-piercing noise before the witch uttered another chant. There was a flash of light, purple and mystical, that pass through each spear before crystalline weapons flung towards Irwin.

The speed of the weapons left Irwin bereft of a reaction, merely choosing to dive and dodged against the first two saws that cut through the wooden chairs and the floors before they stopped halfway through the cement foundation. The last one, a faint ethereal tether connecting its centre pole to the witch, followed the hunter through his escape, weaving past its kin and slicing through the chairs until it was merely a few feet away from him.

Irwin in a fit of panic and exhaustion, drew his gun and threw it at the saw-like weapon with as much force as his sore arms could make. The spinning spear hit the arching gun, and sparks flew as metal and glass screeched against each other. The gun whizzed past Irwin and crashed behind the broken door, hidden from the sight of its owner. The spinning spear, on the other hand, diverted its trajectory by the sheer force of the previous projectile and merely slashed against Irwin's shoulder blades before lunging itself out of the window, breaking a few wooden planks in the way.

Given a few breaths of air, Irwin decided to fight fire with fire and brought out a plastic bag before chanting his spell, eyes glowing in iridescent purple light. "Flagello execrabilem cauda flammarum!" He spoke, the components bag combusting with orange-red light before its fires dripped longer and longer. With new-found power, Irwin lashed his whip across the witch who used her other half of the glass shards to form a circular shield-like formation that barely protected her from the force and heat of the whip.

The witch snarled as the veins under her eyes grew larger and began pulsing with passing strength. She waved her hands- fingers tracing the arcane energy that swirled around the atmosphere- as stuck glass spears disassembled into their finer forms and started swarming towards her.

Irwin, under the euphoric effects of magic, grinned viscously, whipping his arm again and again, trying to find an undefended spot to strike the flesh of the witch, but found none.

Flame and glass screeched against each other as both witches took turns attacking one another. Irwin moved around the room like a lithe monkey as he slashed his flaming whip across the witch only to hit the glass and burn the remaining furniture; the witch, on the other hand, used the intervals between Irwin's slash, movement, and rest to fire and retake her glass spears, but only hitting the latter's limbs and slicing shallow wounds.

Frustration and exhaustion beset Irwin's body as their battle dance neared its end. He lept away from another glass spear, now stained with his blood and dust from the walls, before yelping as another one came out of nowhere and pierced the skin of his side. Although he managed to dodge slightly, the curved blade of the spear still engraved a shallow wound to his side and managed to pin his suit to the nearby wall, essentially preventing him from moving within the next few moments.

[Warning!]

Another heavy thump filled his ears as the glass spear thrown out of the window emerged within and started to form into a weapon poised to kill him. His mind wavered for but a moment, focusing solely on his senses before a flickering light bloomed within his mind as traces of purple arcane energy sweltered within the veins underneath his eyes and pushed towards his arm and into the Flame Whip. The magical weapon was now being submerged in purple motes of cosmic energy that meshed with its natural fiery red flares. The whip began to blaze with newfound power as Irwin felt his fingers to singed off from the sheer intensity of the fire. In a state of magical trance, Irwin, without moving his hands or body, wielded the whip to grab around the spear that kept him pinned. The whip snaked its elongated form around the glass spear as it began to glow hot orange before sloughing off its molten parts.

"Son of a bitch..." He muttered, giving a forceful pull and tearing off the molting spear out of his person. "Was that impressive?" He asked the witch with a smile before dodging out of the way as the last glass spear whizzed past him and e, the bed itself into the wall.

Irwin looked forward and scoured his enemy for his weapons as he ran around the room. With an enhanced flaming whip in hand, he weaved through the swarm of sharpened glass that tore its way around the room, not even forming into a spear and merely relying on its natural jaggedness.

"Oh, this is so fun!" He exclaimed, jumping back in time to see a hail of shards bore down upon the nearby chair and destroy it into pieces before he swiped his whip at the swarm. The flames erupted with orange and purple energy as they tore through the shards and melted half of it before the swarm returned to its defenceless owner.

Renewed excitement and strength uplifted Irwin's zeal as he lashed his emotions out with the Flaming Whip, destroying and melting the now-smaller-scaled spears and jagged blades formed out of the glass shards sent his way by the damnable witch.

The two witches played a more dangerous version of hide-and-seek as Irwin, intent on diminishing her reserves of glass shards, jumped table after table, and weaved past shard after shard before no more came after him.

Irwin looked back and saw the utter carnage their battle had left behind. The chairs that were left alone by the glass spears had all but burned down with the floor glowing with orange-red hue as bits of molten glass sank deeper into its embrace. The waft of air hit his face, hot and humid. He chuckled for a short while as he turned towards the witch.

"Is that all you got?" He mocked her and saw the irritant expression on her face as her hands travelled the air in search of another swarm of glass projectiles.

"How dare you? I am Charlotte of the Broken Weave!" She bellowed, eyes sinking deeper into her skull as the purple glow of magic nearly replaced her optical lenses before a heavy clang rang around her. Her neck grew heavier and felt constricted as the magic surging within her immediately dissipated, leaving her empty and morose. She staggered forward as the after-effects of her continuous magic use nearly drained her of her vitality, combined with the heavy weight of the metallic object clasped around her neck. "What? What is this? Why can't I feel my magic? Help-"

Before she could shout for help, a voice from behind her issued an order. "Shut up." It said as Garth's figure stepped beside her. "Don't cast any spells and don't move from your spot."

The witch tried to fight back, willing forth her magic, but immediately sensed the emptiness welling inside of her very essence. A helpless cry came out of her trembling lips yet only a silent plea escaped her now weakened visage.

"We did good, huh?" Garth stated hands held Akimbo with a proud expression.

A snort of exasperation came as a reply from his partner before Irwin set his sights towards the witch. now that he had more time to see her full figure, he was surprised to see her youthful vigour and a rather immature appearance, but when he thought of their encounter, it would track that with her child-like tantrums.

"Tell me your name, witch." He ordered. "And that of your pact demon."

There was a beat of tense silence before the witch's mouth forcefully opened and a terse and reluctant voice came out. "I am Charlotte. I have no pact demon."

Both hunters were confused by the forced confession, looking at each other before Irwin stepped forward with heavy footfalls. "Explain. How many witches are there in your coven? In this facility? Who made a pact with the demon?"

"My mother! She made a pact... w-we're the only witches here!" She replied, gasping for breath as she tried to hold off her breath for as long as she could.

"Fuck." Garth cursed.

"It doesn't matter," Irwin said hastily, holding off a hand towards his disturbed partner. "Were you the one who revived that zombie? Clearly cut above the rest seeing it took a beating from me and still alive."

"I-I did." She replied in a strangely proud voice before snorting in disdain and speaking some more. "Mother gave me the spell for it for protection and improved upon it. Hendricks became more malleable as well as good at taking orders. Not some third-rate Ash and the evil dead zombie!"

A noise similar to approval and astonishment involuntarily came out of Irwin when he heard her confession. He had seen the druid texts regarding necromancy and all of it stated the creation of a subservient sapient undead entity, if it truly was sapient as Charlotte had described, was by far and wide the most challenging aspect of necromantic revivification.

"Good. That means you are talented, smart, and a heck of a witch. Which makes us even better hunters." He exclaimed with a knowing smile to his partner as he hoped it would at the very least sound out Garth's mental state.

"Y-yeah. I mean, we rock right now." Garth replied, sounding a bit too strained.

"Now tell me where your mother is and why the fuck are you killing people for the demon."

Tears threatened to fall out of Charlotte's bloodshot eyes as words forcefully escaped her mouth. "M-Mother is upstairs. S-She prepared the cursed objects we gave to the Grimsby woman. The demon is there too. It's the mastermind behind the whole operation. It said it needed more souls to fuel their war engine." Hitched and forceful breath erupted out of her as soon as her words finished, anger and frustration evident on her reddened face.

"Good. very obedient." Irwin mocked, much to the utter anger of Charlotte. "Now, tell me about your deal with the Grimsby. And whatever this war engine of the demons are."

"Hah! You can't make- No! We, ugh, were forced to create cursed objects and were instructed to give them to Grimsby to be sold through their daily auction. The items would slowly kill their owners whilst planting seeds of evil in their life, thus, damning them to hell. It started a few months ago, but the demon was getting irrational and angry so we were forced to cut down on all the subtlety and resorted to killing the owners through forced and brutal means.

"Well, fuck." Garth cursed before noticing his partner's wounds and producing a first aid kit to give to him. "We didn't prepare for another witch, man. A stronger one at that."

"It doesn't matter," Irwin replied, bandaging every wound no matter how shallow. he needed to be in good shape, or, rather, the best shape he could have before delving deeper into the monster's den. "I have a plan. You take the daughter witch and get the fuck out of here. I'll handle both of them alone."

Garth scoffed, hands up in the air in bewilderment. "No, I won't. We're a team and teams don't split up when we're outmatched."

A snort escaped Irwin as he looked back at his resisting employee and thought of his nature back in the television show. Given that he was able to fit into the role of Bobby, so quickly after his death proved his loyalty and dedication to the craft to be more than enough. But, still, he didn't agree with Garth's assessment. He needed to remove his mindset away from the show itself for those scenes would not come to pass in the near future. he was working with a less experienced Garth and risking him would immediately put all his plans in jeopardy.

"I order you to grab the witch and drive away from here. As your employer and contractor." He reiterated as a stern glare deflated another cry of resistance from Garth. "I'll handle this. I'll meet with you soon."

Garth reluctantly acquiesced, but not before storming towards his partner and hugging him. "You're sacrifice will never not be forgotten. I'll take care of your family for you!" He exclaimed, an oath bubbling in his throat.

"Jesus, get the fuck off me!" Irwin snorted, pushing off Garth. "I'm not going to die, man. And why do you have to take care of my family?"

"Well, you know, just thought it'd help pass on to the afterlife." He reasoned out, much to Irwin's chagrin.

"Jesus fuck. Just go! And I'm not going to die for fuck's sake." Irwin ordered, pointing towards the back entrance.

Under the annoyed gaze of Irwin, Garth dragged the bedraggled captured witch and left towards the back entrance.

With a resigned sigh, knees aching and back swelling, Irwin trudged towards the now deactivated zombie and sat on a nearby chair, content and relaxed, as he summoned the Trade Shop.

■■

[Trade Shop]

[Please Select And Specify The Item You Wish To Trade]

■■

"Zombie."

■■

[Trade Accepted]

[Trade List Incoming...]

■■

Before the window could fully release the list of items, Irwin added a filter. "Sancus' Corpus Protectoris, Volume I." He ordered, feeling the sudden weight that tugged at his essence, signifying the completed trade. The zombie then began disintegrating, leaving with it its rotten smell and uneasy feeling.

Reloading his gun and checking for his other weapons, Irwin cracked his aching neck with a relieved sigh before trudging upwards. "Let's go kill that fucking demon."