Tall Tails

Chapter 8: A Different Type of Fox

Shade cautiously approached the front door of the house, stopping after a few steps to scan the surrounding area for danger. He turned back to Grey and Carlos "The front door is open, I can feel something from inside, whatever this thing is, it's strong." Grey nodded solemnly in response and began walking towards the house. While approaching the house, Grey steadied his breathing to allow chi to flow through his body more easily. He held out his hand and a substance which looked like mist or possibly smoke flowed out of it materializing into a sword. Grey's clothing also changed from the simple t-shirt and jeans he'd been wearing to those of a traditional priest, it was the same outfit he'd worn a day prior to fight the filth licker. This was his uniform, created from his own spiritual energy, it was a representation of who he was as a priest and was a manifestation of his soul itself.

Shade unsheathed his wakizashi, focusing chi into it to strengthen it, and then gently pushed open the door, heading inside the house with Grey following closely behind him. Carlos stood in the middle of the street trying to comprehend what he'd just seen. Two days ago, he would have thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. However meeting Fox, witnessing whatever this thing was, take possession of him, and now following an invisible thread to his own body had left him desensitized to the strange and unexplainable. Carlos snapped back to reality from his thoughts and seeing the door still ajar, he followed Grey and Shade inside the house.

Upon entering the house, Carlos felt an eerie pressure similar to the feeling before a storm lingering in the air. The feeling made the hair stand up on the back of Carlos' neck and as he looked around he was astonished to find he could actually tell what direction the pressure was coming from. Every nerve, every fiber of Carlos' being was telling him to run, and yet, he knew he couldn't, this was his body, he had to get it back, if what Grey had told him was true, he didn't have much time before he lost it for good. Carlos steeled his nerves the best he could and began walking towards the source of the pressure. Each step took every amount of willpower he had, but he managed to force himself along the narrow hallway ahead. Carlos turned a corner at the end of the hall and entered the House's living room. There he found Grey and Shade pointing their weapons at his body which was holding a sledgehammer and standing in front of a giant hole which had been knocked in one of the walls.

Carlos saw the spirit in his body glace past Grey and Shade at him before snarling and spitting. "So that's what this is about? You want his body back huh? What about me? What about my revenge? How is this fair? I finally get a second chance at vengeance only to find out the damn company responsible went belly up." The being swung the sledgehammer into the wall out of frustration over and over again. "It's...not...FAIR...I lost my best friend...I lost my home...they took our meeting place! I have nowhere to go back to, don't you understand!? How is it fair, I wasn't supposed to die, we were supposed to grow old together, and now I can't even have the one thing I've been waiting for?" Finally the spirit dropped the sledgehammer almost in hysterics and glared at Grey. "How am I supposed to just move on? Huh? You filthy humans ruined EVERYTHING" The spirit's shoulders slumped "This has got to be some kind of sick joke, where's the justice?"

"I didn't do any of that, and I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about." Grey answered calmly, holding a guarded stance with his sword still pointed at the spirit. The spirit looked up at him with a vile expression. "Do you really think I care?" The spirit was shaking with rage. "This world would be much better if humans weren't in it...and you..." The spirit turned his gaze to Shade giving him a look of pure hatred. "You're worst of all, you're nothing but a damn traitor, I'll purge both of you right here and now." With that final remark, the light from the sun outside flickered out and the darkness in the room seemed to grow thicker, taking on a life of its own. The darkness swirled and gathered around the spirit and clung to Carlos' body like fur. The darkness formed seven tails and a long snout and even a pair of pointed ears giving his body the visage of a kitsune, in the middle of it all were piercing red eyes and small motes of blue fire flickered in and out of existence around the spirit. Grey and Shade immediately stepped back. "Oh this is not good..." Grey mumbled. Carlos' legs were shaking and he was frozen in terror, this feeling was beyond anything he'd ever felt before, even the feeling the other night when the creature had chased him and Fox through the woods didn't compare. He couldn't breathe, the feeling of fear and absolute terror were so thick the air felt suffocating. "I thought you said you guys could handle it" he pleaded, gasping for breath . Grey stepped forward once again, his sword was still drawn and despite his initial worry, he was completely calm. "We can, but this is very problematic, kitsunes are incredibly strong entities, and this one has seven tails meaning it's an especially nasty one. I apologize Carlos, I misspoke earlier. I'll do my best, but I'm not sure we can get your body back undamaged."