Spirit Eaters 04, Old One

Filter led Rebecca up the stairs of an old Victorian house in Victorian Village. The house was painted maroon with gold trim, although, the paint was faded and peeling. The yard and porch had collected low drifts of red and brown leaves from a nearby oak. A few twigs and small branches poked upwards through the carpet of leaves.

Rebecca felt warmed by memories of playing in the leaves when she was a little girl. She felt sad when she realized that her previous life was gone. She was no longer a little girl. She looked up at Filter with the respect of a student to teacher, but Filter was definitely not a mother figure.

Filter stopped at the top of the steps and turned, smiling back at Rebecca. Rebecca could see echoes of bad memories haunt Filter's eyes. There was a lot Filter wasn't saying about this new life Rebecca had been dealt. Rebecca hoped that this visit to The Old Woman would help.

At the top of the steps, Filter hesitated long moments after Rebecca caught up with her, staring at the front door. Rebecca looked up at Filter, asking only with her eyes. Filter looked back at Rebecca and Rebecca saw a hint of fear in Filter's eyes.

"This is where it gets weird," said Rebecca, "Right?"

"This is where it gets dangerous," said Filter. "Just remember to be polite and calm."

Before Rebecca could ask anything, the front door unlatched and creaked open. Both women looked forward as The Old Woman stood in the shadows of the doorway. She was old, very old, but not in the frail, decaying way that most people age. Rebecca felt the warmth of energy, held in reserve, but very present. The Old Woman seemed bent, almost deformed, but there was a sense of physical power about her.

Then, Rebecca smelled her. She smelled of old wood and fresh moss, Autumn leaves, cool breezes, and bright mornings. Rebecca squinted, trying to catch The Old Woman's aura, but it was reigned in tight. There was no brightness to illuminate the Old Woman, nor was the shadows anything more than an absence of light.

"Diane," said the Old Woman with a gravelly, deep voice. There was a kindness in her voice, and a longing. "You have a new friend. Come in." The Old Woman faded into the shadows of her house. Filter and Rebecca followed.

Inside, the house was well kept. The old wood floors were clean and smooth. The sparse antique furniture and fixtures did not have the abandoned feel of museum pieces. The walls were covered in murals of forest and fields. There were no lights, but Rebecca's eyes adjusted well enough. Blinds and curtains covered most of the windows, but the house seemed to have an aura of its own. Rebecca stopped suddenly, realizing that the spirit of the house was sensing her. It was awake and alive and very aware.

The Old woman seemed to immediately sense Rebecca's unease, and she said, "Young woman, don't worry about the house. It is just as curious about visitors as I am."

Filter had disappeared with the Old Woman through a doorway into a sitting room. Rebecca followed, feeling the calming resonance of the room immediately upon entering. The deep brown wood floor was covered by a large area rug with Native American designs. It gave Rebecca the impression of an expanse of desert. The furniture was an odd mix of chairs, love seats and large padded footstools. Filter had taken the love seat across from the Old Woman's throne like padded chair. Rebecca sat down on a large red footstool with deep red upholstery.

When she got her first good look at her host, she froze. The Old Woman wasn't hunched over, she just had powerful shoulders. Her arms were thick and her bare forearms had enough hair to qualify for the circus. The Old Woman's face had full sideburns of straight hair, down to the edge of her jaw line. The angles of her face were extremely canine, though no one would mistake her for anything but human. Her eye were deep, penetrating, as if she could read Rebecca's mind.

"Girl," said the Old Woman, "you are an interesting one. You look at me, not out of revulsion for what I am, but fear for what you might become."

Rebecca nodded slowly.

"Good," said the Old Woman, "I would hate for that lesson to be lost on you.. You are very much like Diane, here, except you are not so full of yourself as she was."

Rebecca looked over at Filter, who just shrugged.

"But you came for answers," said the Old Woman. "Ask your questions."

Rebecca scooted back into the middle of the foot stool and pulled her legs up off the floor. She was careful not to get her shoes on the foot stool.

"What am I?" asked Rebecca. When the Old Woman nodded her head forward and narrowed her eyes, Rebecca continued. "What are we? How did we become this way? Why us?"

The Old Woman smiled, showing tapered white teeth. "Let me tell you a story about two packs of animals on a glacier. I don't know how factual this story is, but I believe it is more true than anything you will find in print. This story was handed down to me by my mentors, and they lived long enough to have heard it from some rather ancient members of our People."

The Old Woman paused, gathering her thoughts, looking at the backs of her hands on the arms of the chair. Rebecca looked over at Filter, but Filter was watching the Old Woman intently.