The Enchanted Elm: Unjust Accusations and Haunted Hunts

Chapter 4

Two hours later, Ellie texts Thomas that she figured out how to kill what they're hunting. Thomas comes upstairs with food, as promised. "Hey," he says, "I brought you some mac n' cheese. What'd you find?"

"Well, it has to be decapitated with a copper coin in its mouth."

"Okay, why? Can't you just decapitate it?"

"No, if you decapitate it without a copper coin in its mouth its head will remain alive."

"Ew, that's gross."

"Tell me about it. Silver can slow it down, but it won't seriously harm it. We have to be careful its bite can infect people. Although, I'm not sure if that applies to us, since we're shifters, but..."

"Shit! Doesn't that mean River could have turned?"

"Damn it! You're right! We need to find this ghoul-pire as soon as we can. Once it's dead, River should return to being human."

"Alright, let's go."

She nods in agreement. "We need weapons." They walk down to their supply room and grab silver machetes. "Thomas, do you have..."

"Coins? Yeah, I do."

"Are they..."

"Copper? Yes, they are. Come on, let's go."

"Hey," Matt says as he enters the room. He notices their equipment. "Where are you going?"

"We're going to kill a ghoul-pire," Ellie answers, "before it can kill or turn anyone else."

"Ellie, maybe you should stay home. You could get hurt."

"I know, that's okay."

"But the baby..."

She smiles at him. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to stupid. Thomas will make sure of that. You know how I get when I'm on a hunt. I tend to act before I think."

Matt looks worriedly at her. "Don't worry, man," Thomas says, "I'll look after her. She won't be doing anything too stupid."

"Alright, you'll call if anything happens?"

"Of course, I always do."

They walk out of the building and out to the car. "Hey, Thomas?" Ellie asks.

"Yes?" he answers.

"Make sure I don't do anything stupid."

"Alright, I'll try. Where do you want to start?"

"Let's start where Raine was attacked."

"Alright." Thomas drives to the secluded area, where Rain had been attacked. On the drive there, Ellie recalls something else about ghoul-pires. "Um Thomas?" she mumbles.

"What?" he answers.

"I remembered something else about ghoul-pires..."

"Great, what is it?"

"Um, they may or may not be able to enchant objects."

"What do you mean by enchant?"

"Umm, like magic."

"Just great, sounds fun. Would've been helpful if you had mentioned that sooner.

"Erm, sorry."

"We're here." They get out of the car and start to inspect the ground for any clues. "Hey, Ellie? Come here for a second, will you?"

She runs over to him. What is it?" she asks.

"Look." He points to a trail of blood that leads into some nearby woods.

"Nice find. Let's follow it." They follow the blood trail into the woods until it suddenly stops underneath an odd looking tree. "Thomas...this tree looks weird."

"And?"

She leans against the tree.. "I don't know, I just...." The tree suddenly moves its branches and shoves her into its truck. She falls into a secret passageway without warning. "Ahhh!"

"Ellie!" Thomas yells. The tree knocks him in after her "Oof!" he grumbles,

"Ouch!" she mumbles, "Um, Thomas?"

"Yes?" he answers.

"Did the tree just knock us into its trunk?

"Yes, I believe so. He stands up. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, I don't think so." She slowly stands up. "Ouch!"

"What is it? What hurts?"

"It's my leg. It's not broken, I just landed really awkwardly on it."
(sigh) "Be careful, okay? If you need to, you can lean on me for support."

"Okay, thank you. I hope we don't run into..." She stops mid sentence. In front of them is the ghoul-pire that they're searching for. "Oh, hi," Ellie says waving at it, "I guess I spoke too soon. Um, sorry mister. Don't mind us. Uh, we accidently fell down here, that's all. We'll be going now." She turns around and starts to hobble away from the monster.

"Ellie, we need to kill this thing!" Thomas whispers, "It's here, so we need to kill it now!"

"I know that," she argues back, "I can't run on my leg. You go, I'll be there momentarily." He nods and takes off in the monster's direction.

"Hey!" he yells, "Mr. Monster! Over here! I bet you can't catch me!" The monster charges him. He takes off in a random direction. "Come on, Ellie," he thinks, "I could really use your help." As he's running, he hears Ellie's voice talking to the ghoul-pire again.

"Hi, again, Mr. Monster," Ellie says, "Sorry, I kind of hurt my leg, so it took me a few minutes to get out here. Where's Thomas? Oh, you didn't catch him, did you? No, you probably didn't. Oh, you're coming after me now, aren't you? Um, Thomas! I need help!"

He comes out of his hiding spot and creeps around until he spots Ellie up against a corner. He jumps out at it and stabs its back with a silver machete. "How does that feel?" he yells.

It cries out in pain and lashes out on Ellie. "Ow!" Ellie cries out, "Mr. Monster, why would you do that? That hurt! Your claws are sharp! Oh, you're going to bite me now? Okay, uh, hold on, just give me a minute...ouch! That hurt! Your teeth are sharp too!"

"Ellie, here!" Thomas throws some coins in her direction.

She catches a few and says, "Hey, Mr. Monster? Could you open your mouth, just a little bit? Oh, um, I guess you expected me to transform. Too bad, your venom doesn't have an effect on me. Don't worry, I'm not human, you see? My brother and I are shifters. We're kind of like werewolves, but better." It lunges at her with its mouth open. She shoves a few coins into its mouth. "Thomas, now!"

Thomas swiftly runs up to it and jumps, cleanly cutting its head off its body. Thuck! Its body hits the floor. He runs over to Ellie. "Hey, are you...you're bleeding!"

She looks down and gasps. "Oh, I guess I am. That's why I'm so lightheaded." She falls forward into a faint.

"Ellie!" He catches her and gently picks her up. "You're okay, kitten. Let's get out of this hole." Suddenly the tree begins to collapse on itself. "Damn it!" Thomas yells, "That ghoul-pire must've been keeping this tree from falling apart. Now that it's dead, the tree's collapsing! We need to leave now!"

He runs back to where they'd fallen in. "Ellie, will you hold onto me?" She weakly nods. "No matter what, don't let go of me, okay?" She nods again. He starts to shimmy his way up the entrance.

Once he reaches the top, he hoists himself up. "Thomas?" a voice says.

"Huh?" Thomas responds. He looks up and sees Kara. "Hi, Kara. We need to move. The tree is collapsing from the inside." They start to move away from the tree.
"Thomas, what happened to her?"
"Ellie? Oh, we found what attacked River and Rain. It's dead now, but it bit and clawed her. She should be fine. She needs to rest. I'm going to take her to the hospital."

"Good, I'm coming with you."

Ellie groans softly. "It's okay, kitten," Thomas says, "we're going to take you to the hospital. Julia will look at those wounds that you've got.