“Let's get ready,” Sunny said. “Hide your weapon.” So saying the woman dismissed her own weapons. Examining her mentor Victoria thought she looked like a woman that had just lost a fight with a lawnmower. Her clothing was ripped and cut with signs of blood, the teenager had no doubt that she fared little better.

With a heavy sigh, she dismissed her own weapons but before she did she made sure the revolver had been reloaded. “Here she comes,” Victoria said as the little ball of light that was the pixie came back. “…e thing has definitely happened. I found a blood trail out the back of the home.” The tiny pixie said gesticulating behind her.

“How large was it?” Victoria asked her heart beating heavily. “And could you tell how old it was?”

“I don’t know how old it is,” She replied. “But its old enough for the flies to have found it but not old enough for the crows.”

Sunny took on a thoughtful look. “Within the last day to a few hours.” The older woman started to speak as she eyed the home of their quarry. “Have you ever thought you might be prescient?”

Victoria shook her head negative. “I guess that's like being psychic?” Her mentor nodded then looked back at the house and started to trudge up the drive. “Granny Gertie always said I had the knowing—”

“The knowing?” both Sunny and Lacie asked together.

“Yeah, it was stupid I thought. But I always seemed to know things I shouldn’t. When I was younger my mom could always ask me where something was and I could always tell her. Keys, wallet, or some lost family treasure.” She said with a thoughtful look. “But I stopped doing that when I was eleven or so—”

“Later,” Sunny sighed. “We need to take care of business.” She said as she stepped onto the covered porch. The woman's eyes were drawn to a bag of groceries scattered on the tile leading to a partially opened door. “I guess we don’t need an invite after all,” Sunny said as she called her sword into her hand. Victoria's dagger appeared in her hand as she got in a stance. “You almost look like you know how to use that,”

“I’ve got a hell of a teacher.” She replied with a wink. “He’d be very disappointed if I didn’t.” Victoria stepped to the side of the doorway then peered into the gloom as her mentor pushed the door, as the door slowly swung open a fetid copper laden scent wafted out from the homes dim interior.

“That's never a welcome smell,” Lacie said. Sunny stepped in and turned to the right her back to a wall, Victoria slipped in and to the left side, knife to the ready. The foyers had a dark unglazed tile floor. The entry led into a small family room,, it had a doorway out off of it, and then straight ahead into the back of the home. The family room showed signs of violence, chairs overturned, and nicknack's scattered across the floor. “Over there.” The pixie said as she flew down and hovered over the end of a chair. Victoria saw the heel of a shoe that stuck out at an angle.

She advanced into the room and turned when she got a glimpse of a desiccated form that lay crumpled on the floor. “What…” She said working her mouth to keep herself from vomiting.

“She’s turned already,” Sunny said angrily as she looked down at the body. “This is a few days old.”

“We failed her,” Victoria said in horror as she realized they had lost one of the girls they had been meant to save. “If we had come right here she said—”

“We can’t think about that now. If it’s alive we have to stop it.” Lacie said flying over to the distraught teenager and trying to pat her in a comforting gesture. Unshed tears welled up in the teen's eyes but she nodded and transferred the knife into her left hand and with a force of will readied her magic.

Victoria looked at Sunny and Lacie, then hissed quietly. “Let's do this.” They each nodded back in return. Sunny led them through the hall in the foyer, Once more she went through the door first and Victoria behind her covering the opposite side of the room. They found themselves in the living room, it opened up to the kitchen and then had a hall that led back to the living spaces. They found groceries scattered across the floor, canned goods mixed with packages of rotting meat.

“Whatever happened here happened days ago.” Sunny whispered trying to assuage her mentee's guilt.

“How can you tell?” The despondent teen asked.

“The meat, that smell—” the teen nodded indicating she understood the pervasive odor. “It takes two hours for it to rot.” The older woman pointed at the bloated packages on the ground. “That's at least a day's worth.”

At her words, the teen looked stricken. “If you’re right, there was nothing we could do.” Victoria looked around. “This was a waste then?”

“No, we still have to hunt down the new queen and kill it,” Lacie replied softly. She pointed down at a dark smear of fluids on the kitchen tile that went in the direction of the living spaces. “The bedrooms are that way.” Victoria cast a spell and a globe of illumination came up lighting the darkened room then she gestured and the light sailed through the hall entrance toward the bedrooms. It illuminated the gore streaked floor.

The short hall held a gruesome scene, at the door to the master bedroom another crumpled for lay. This time the viscera had dried to a sticky mess in the carpet. “What is that?” Victoria said in shock at the mangled body.

Sunny bent down cautiously and checked. The dried skin flaked and broke away as the older woman tried to roll it over. “The new insec queen.” She sighed. “Dead.” She said pointing out multiple wounds.

“Shouldn’t the body have disappeared?” Victoria asked looking at the remains of the once cheerleader is disgust.

“No, the insec and a few other species have transferred over to this world. They have corporeal bodies.” Lacie said. “Its what makes them so pernicious.” She spoke at a normal volume since the beast was already dead. “The question is wh—” as she spoke there came a soft, plaintive wail muted through the closed door.

Sunny acted quickly and tried the door. She found it locked.”Move.” Victoria commanded the older woman. Sunny stepped back at the word of command int he girl's voice, she was shocked when charged energy darts hammered into the side of the door frame knocking the door back but something blocked it preventing it from opening fully. The soft crying grew louder. The women rushed in, forcing the door back. As she cleared the door Victoria looked and found the slumped form of a man. His face ruined by a terrible wound, his other wounds had caused him to bleed out. A small child was sitting clutching the dead form of the man who must have been her father, “Jesus wept.” Victoria exclaimed bending down to pick up the small sobbing girl, her outfit drenched in the dried blood of her parent. “It’s okay honey. We’re here for you.” The teen said as she looked up at Sunny, tears leaking down her face.

“Now we call in the police.: Sunny sighed as she stepped up and lay a hand on the child’s brow. “Sleep honey.” The child's cries stilled into the soft snores of sleep. ”God somedays I hate this.”

As Victoria rocked the sleeping she noticed a flashing prompt. Acknowledging it she read the prompt.

Congratulations; You have saved the cheerleader;

Rewards 1000 XP

Bonus 1 charisma Attribute point

Startled the teen regarded the sleeping child. She couldn’t have been more than three or four years old. She was decked out in a now ruined cheerleading outfit. Victoria felt like her heart would break as she realized she was never meant to save her school mate, that in all likelihood the girl had been long dead. She looked up at Sunny and sighed. “Sunny—” She started as, the older woman said her own name. “You first. The teen said to her mentor.”

“I just wanted to say I was wrong.” The older woman sighed.

“I was too,” Victoria replied as she hugged the small frame tight to her. “I don’t guess we can always know where the quests will lead.”

“NO,” Lacie said in the silence. “All you can do is play your game.”