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Stories from the Verse
In Version
Chapter 144: Brown 281
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Slade 250
Derek arrived at night during a mild rain, lying awake in a cloverfield at the crossroads of two muddy tracks under a dark, clouded sky. He saw lights over a grass hill that the rutted wet path leading directly away from him crossed. A wrecked car, possibly a Model T, lay upside down, wheels spinning and creaking slightly in the inconstant gusts. It was black with rust on the side facing the crossroads. There was an odd looking crow hunched over on a rusty bit of chassis. He called to Vashti, asleep maybe thirty yards away, their possessions scattered in the field around them. The robot stood silently near where the door must have been a moment before.
“It won’t do any good.” He looked up; the rain had stopped. A very well dressed Black man, in suit, vest, and tie of antique style, with his legs crossed, holding a cane, was sitting where the malformed crow had been. No crow was in sight.
“Why’s that?”
“I’ve cast a spell on her,” the man sang as if it were a familiar song. Then his voice shifted again, and it was a pleasant voice. “It's the witching hour--”
“Uncast it.” Derek said tightly.
“Mmmm, dear boy, my dear boy, how these things happen in this little corner of the multiverse is that the opposing forces first have a chance to talk, a little tete-a-tete, you see? before we get to the Main Event. Oh, don’t worry. I’m forbidden from directly harming you or your--love. You can unclench your fists, and take your hand from your knife, or not. It matters not to me. It’s the Rules that guard her, and you, and--me. I always obey the Rules, to the letter. You can call me the Crooked Man, or Morningstar, or Mr. Scratch, as you like. I play a mean tune on the fiddle, drum, or trumpet.”
Derek sucked in a breath. No other verser had mentioned meeting the Devil. Sure Lauren had met an ancient vampire, Tubrok, and destroyed him. She had met Merlin who taught her magic--but not the Devil. He wondered what she would do right now. 'Help' was all he had in his prayer box at the moment, and he prayed it.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
