Hellblazer: Lost Innocence

Hellblazer: Lost Innocence

Chapter 3

Discovering what was going on in Cayuga Springs had been far easier than getting online. The hotel didn’t offer wifi, Chas smartphone didn’t get reception out here, and a quick look around the place revealed that even the local library had limited internet. The restaurants didn’t offer wifi for their paying customers, none of the stores offered it as well. It was as if this entire place really was stuck in the past. The Loa that had taken over here had went through some great lengths to ensure that whoever stumbled into its territory had no way of either reaching out for help, or researching anything that could be a danger to it.

The Voodoo doll that they had found, someone had the right idea, but had gone about it wrong. The doll would work, but at best it would slow the Loa down. It wasn’t in the true form that the Loa had taken. And that was important. The doll itself was well made, and it had been made exactly in the style of Voodoo that was documented by the French when they had observed the rituals. That it was so well made only spoke of the talent of the craftor, but at the same time the person who created it had obviously been a novice.

The work was exact, made in the exact form, made exactly how it would have been described in an old dusty book from the nineteenth century, but they didn’t probe and dig to find out what if that was the right form. They had made the mistake of creating the doll in the form that was presented to them. If the Loa took its other form then the doll would be practically worthless.

It also confirmed what he was sure of. It confirmed that the manager of this hotel was the one in charge. That meant that he had a direction. How to go about it was the real question. The Loa changed when they took on a new form. Often if they became something someone believed in they completely became that being. Voodoo chants and spells might slow that thing down, and if he could ever find the Loa’s original name it could potentially force it out of its current form. The problem was that he was likely never going to find its name. The Loa didn’t have a habit of allowing others to find out who they actually were.

What that meant was that he was going to have to attack it through its new form. So he had to find information on the changeling Queen. No internet meant that he couldn’t search for her that way. He could check the library again, but somehow he doubted that if there had been books, or DVDs, that featured the changeling Queen that they most likely went missing. Luckily it didn’t cut off magic. He looked at Chas.

“We’ve got to go shopping again old son.”

He nodded, “I take it that you’ve got a plan?”

John nodded, “That I do. I’m fairly sure that the Loa controlling everything has decided to cut off most media about itself from the area. For example, I’m sure that if we turned on the telly that we would most likely either just get the basic over the air channels, or we’d everything except the channels we need.”

“That makes sense,” Chas said as he nodded, “So, what’s the idea?”

John looked at him, “We’re gonna call up a muse. They’re still busy giving mankind the ideas to run with. I’m sure there’s one that gave someone the idea for My Little Pony, and I’m sure that they know about this changeling Queen, and know her weaknesses.”

Chas studied him for a moment, “John, not that I don’t have faith in you, but the muses are ancient. If you piss one off it’s likely going to turn bad.”

John nodded, “I know, that’s why we’re going to be smart about it. The last thing we need is piss off something that could decide that its next grand idea it gives to someone is how kill the two of us in the most barbaric way possible.”

With that John grabbed a small notebook from the table and began writing.

“Okay we’re gonna need honey, something local would be best, milk and we best choose whole milk,” he looked at Chas, “We’re also gonna need a symbol of creativity, pencils work in a pinch, but we want to make a good impression,” he said as he rubbed his chin, and then he looked at the book Chas had, “Boyo, that right there might be the best option.”

Chas looked at him, “John, it’s a gift.”

John nodded, “I know, and I hate to ask, but right now it looks like the purest form of creativity that we can get our hands on.”

Chas nodded, “Fine, but you’re going to replace it.”

John smiled, “Sure mate,” he said as Chas put the book on the table.

“Okay that leaves a body for the muse to inhabit. We need something that could be considered life like,” he laughed, “Now we could use a realistic sex doll.”

Chas shook his head, “I’m sure a Muse would love to inhabit something that you’re meant to stick a dick inside of.”

John laughed, “You wouldn’t be wrong mate. The Muses are Ancient Greek, and sex to the Ancient Greeks was as natural as breathing. Likely, they’d feel we were trying to honor them more by using one.”

Chas sighed, “I’m going to looking for a sex shop, aren’t I?”

John nodded, “You are mate.”

He watched as Chas shook his head, rubbed his hand across his hair, and then finally nodded, “Fine, I’ll find one.”

Chas left the hotel and considered the options. He could look in this town, and hope that it had what he needed, or the more likely option would be to take the rental car and head out of town to find what they were needing. He began to walk to the rental when he noticed several different individuals watching him. It was normal human behavior for someone to watch a stranger, or what they might consider a strange event. Still, even with normal human behavior typically most people only watched for a few seconds. He noticed that their eyes were on him as he got into the car, and he could practically feel them watching him as he shut the door and locked it.

The car itself wasn’t what he normally felt comfortable in. He was used to his cab, and he was used to having room. The car he was driving was less open and designed more for economy than being enjoyed. It was cramped, even in the driver’s seat, but at that moment it felt like a moving shield. He backed out, and began to drive when he noticed cars attempting to back out as he moved past them. It was as if they were trying to block him in. He saw a side street, took it, and heard a car behind him.

The side street itself wasn’t overly impressive, but he noticed that there were a couple of places that looked boarded up. He saw a darkened alleyway, turned down it, and then shut off the car. The car that was behind him drove past, and he got out. He walked toward the edge of the alley, watched as the car stopped, and then two individuals got out of it. They weren’t walking toward him, but he could hear them. Faint words said between them, although the voices didn’t really seem to match the bodies.

The woman sounded like a man, and the man sounded like a young girl.

“Where did he go?” the woman asked.

“I...I don’t know. The Queen, she’s going to destroy us for this!”

The woman stepped around, “No, she won’t. She wanted us to observe them, make sure that they weren’t trying to leave, and figure out what they were doing. We know that he came down this street, and we know that he most likely turned off into an alley. We will post lookouts at both ends of the street. That way we can tell what he had been up to.”

With that they both climbed back into their car, and he watched as they drove off. There was no getting around it at this point, and Chas knew it. Those things had taken over what seemed like the whole town, and they were watching him and John. He’d heard one of John’s friends say that it wasn’t paranoia if there really was someone out there to get you. At this point he believed that. He started to climb back into the car when he noticed the door in the alleyway. He walked closer to it, wiped some of the dirt off, and smiled.

“Ms Angelia’s Adult Novelty, and sexuality, shop,” he read.

He tried the door, found it open, and stepped inside. The entire store was dark. He stepped in a little more and suddenly the lights flickered on. He looked around, but he didn’t see anyone. Looking around he noticed that most of the merchandise had been sitting long enough to gain cobwebs and become covered with a layer of dust. He walked toward the counter and found it in a similar shape. There were no signs of anyone having stepped foot in the store for quite some time. He looked behind the counter and saw a large green gel filled sack. It looked organic, and inside of it he saw the shape of a person.

His eyes widened as he studied the shape, and then he looked up above him. There were another two, both supported from the ceiling, and both had what looked like the shapes of people. He noticed right away that even they looked as if they hadn’t been disturbed for a while. He took out his phone, even though there was no signal, and he quickly snapped a few pictures of the three sacks. When he was done he looked around the shop. He found a few low cost dolls, all of which had to be aired up, but then there was a large box that was easily the size of a short person. He opened it to see a silicon doll dressed up in a school girl’s outfit.

This was most likely the best option, so he closed the box again, lifted on it, finding that it was heavy, but doable, and he began dragging the box out before he realized that he really didn’t need it. So he reopened the box, removed the red headed doll, and carried it out like a person. He placed it into the front passenger seat of the car, and then climbed into the car himself. He started it, and drove forward down the alley. It came out on a different street, and he started back toward the motor lodge.

Unknown to him there were two sets of eyes watching him from on top of the buildings. One of the people that watched him looked toward the other. A moment later a shimmer of green magic covered her and she transformed into a bipedal insectoid. It’s black exoskeleton looked shiny in the daylight, and its wings buzzed quickly as it took the air. It flew, over other houses, toward the heart of its hive. It landed outside of the door, green magic covering it again as it transformed back into the shape it had taken.

“My Queen, we have news of the trespassers,” she said in a deep baritone.

The manager of the motorlodge looked at her and nodded, “What news do you have?”

“The trespassers have entered the recreation shop, and they left with a body. It didn’t feel alive, so I do not think that it was one of the captured ones.”

The manager watched her for a moment before green magic surrounded her and she took her royal form. The African American woman that addressed her went to her knees in respect, and she nodded toward her. She then stepped forward, “It appears to me then they had need of an empty shell,” she looked toward the stairwell where her charge was at, “We need to speed up our schedule. Tonight we take the trespassers, and then we send out more of the hive in their place. We will begin converting all that would be a potential danger, and we will have a world full of changelings when we are done.”

The woman nodded, “Of course, my Queen.”