MIGHTY FRESH [eli]

[SHILOH SUMMERLAND]

GARRISON, MISSOURI

It's freaking cold.

Was exactly what Shiloh thought to herself as she sat on the plush carpeted floor of the Garrison public library. Even with her light hooded jacket zipped up all the way she could still feel the cold from the A/C from the building biting into her skin. If she could she probably would have put on gloves to also keep her hands warm. Why all libraries had to be near sub-arctic temperatures she had no idea, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Even if she asked about the temperature the employees there probably wouldn't do a thing about it. So she settled back down next to the small stack of books she had near her on the floor. She could have easily grabbed a table to work at but she didn't want to bother with getting up and walking the long distance each time to put a book away. Sitting in the middle of two bookshelves worked much better for her as she could have all the books she needed right at her fingertips without having to walk to far.

She also didn't worry to much about blocking anyone's way from where she sat as most people did not bother to visit the reference books. Especially the ones that about all types of old lore from various countries and times in history. Luckily for her the closest thing people came these says to reading about the supernatural was reading the Harry Potter books. But not Shiloh she was always finding herself knee deep in research about any and all creatures of old legends. In fact there really wasn't a day where she could remember when she wasn't consulting a book for facts about some monster she was tracking down.

Just like she was now not long after she had arrived in town that she had come across claims of odd things happening around the woods near the town. From the various stories that she had heard from a few people in town, it did sound like something unatural was happening in this town. She had a vague idea as to what it was as after hearing some of the few first hand accounts, but she had wanted to double check. As it was rare to hear of the creature in the united states, they mostly lived in the far east and a few places in Europe and Brazil.

If she was dealing with something as deadly as what she thought it was then there was a good reason why at the moment she was freezing her butt off. Though at the moment a part of her wanted to keep reading and absorbing as many useful facts as she could, but the other part of her told her it was time to take a break. Especially since her legs were getting past the pins and needles and starting to feel dead to her. Which wasn't a good sign at all so she closed the book in her hands with a thump and set it aside as she carefully got to her foot. Which was harder than she thought as her legs felt weak and caused her to wobble for a moment. She managed to keep herself upright by garbing onto the nearest shelf for support.

"That was close." she muttered to herself.

[ELI CROSS]

Eli entered the library, the chilly interior unpleasant when compared to the tepid temperature of outside. Braving the cold, the hunter strode through the numerous aisles, approaching the reference section where they set aside old tomes associated with ancient mythologies and folklore. The bookshelves were laden with leather bound hardbacks, their pages aged and yellowed, collecting dust, as they remained untouched. Very few people visited this particular portion of the library, though Eli was not surprised when she came across a familiar young woman—Shiloh, her closest confident and colleague.

Her gaze swept over the books the other had been reading and Eli wondered if Shiloh had unearthed more pieces to the puzzle. While the other hunter had been researching, she had taken the liberty to investigate further, acquiring information from the town’s residents. Though, it proved to be more of the same, and she hoped that Shiloh had been more fruitful in their search. Eli specialized in exorcising demons; however, she did pursue Pagan deities, creatures of lore, and the like. She was knowledgeable in the supernatural, considering she had been studying the subject for years, but she had yet to identify the monster they were currently hunting; which frustrated her.

Arching an inquiring brow, Eli observed her comrade through inquisitive green eyes. “Are you feeling well?” she asked out of habit, resting a supportive hand on Shiloh’s shoulder; Eli hoped that her companion was not suffering from fatigue—hunters had a tendency to deprive themselves of adequate sleep and nutrition. However, Shiloh rarely appeared to suffer either physically or mentally from their occupation; her strength of mind always amazed Eli.

[SHILOH SUMMERLAND]

Shiloh jumped in her skin slightly as she had heard the soft voice speak to her. Snapping her head upwards she looked to see who had spoken to her. For a moment she had been expecting a very stern looking library that was going to give her a stern lecture or pass a comment about sitting in the isle. But all she saw was her friend and fellow hunter Eli. Her shoulders sagged with relief as her heart race recovered from the brief scare and she let out a brief laugh.

“I’m ok my leg just fell asleep from sitting on the floor to long.” She explained and slowly began to tag her leg to try and help the circulation move along faster so that her leg would wake up. “But I might have found a few possible leads as to what’s going on around here.” She told her in a much quieter voice. It was crucial that they kept their job very hush-hush. Since what there were dealing with did not actually exist at least to other people. But they two of them knew better. “I’ve also made a list of a few possible creatures from the details we’ve been able to pick up about the case, but with the vague clues we have it’s a pretty long list.” She said as she reached down and picked up the notebook she had been jotting notes down while she had been reading. She looked through the pages and at her hand writing scribbled all over the pages. She didn’t have much to go one the missing person’s file they had picked up.

“So did you manage to dig up anything?” she ask hoping her colleague had better luck than she did.

[ELI CROSS]

Listening intently to Shiloh, Eli folded her arms across her chest, resting against a bookcase for support. Her own search had not been fruitful; though she was pleased, her colleague had been more successful. “I investigated further, however I found nothing of significance,” she responded sincerely, recalling her thorough inspection of the crime scene, police reports, and the interviews she conducted with the victims’ relatives as well as witnesses. The information she acquired that day was simply more of the same and the hunter hoped the research Shiloh carried out at the library helped to expand on the case—if only a little. A list comprised of possible entities was definitely beneficial to their mission; Eli prayed the information would assist them in their quest, providing an answer to their question.

“And you?” she inquired, gazing at the notebook in Shiloh’s hands. “Anything remotely worthwhile?” Eli trusted the young woman, knowing—without a doubt—she had unearthed one more piece to the puzzle they were currently struggling to complete. In spite of their age, they were seasoned hunters, both efficient even when exposed to intense periods of pressure; especially considering the situation in Garrison was not improving, and recent deaths caused them to hasten their studies. She may have been eight years older than her associate, but Shiloh was definitely well trained, and often times quick thinking. Eli was grateful that she had a liable co-worker she could rely on without hesitation. However, a part of her felt guilty for keeping a secret from her closest confident; it was not everyday your best friend sold their soul to a demon.

Pushing the thought of Crowley far from her mind, she waited patiently for Shiloh to respond. Eli simply wanted to locate the being responsible for the murders within the town, and bring the bloodshed to an end. She had ten years to live and she was going to track down as many demons, malevolent spirits, and paranormal phenomena threatening human lives as possible before she was forced to spend an eternity in Hell.

[SHILOH SUMMERLAND]

Hearing that Eli had not had much luck with her side of the investigation brought her spirits down just slightly, but at least they were not entirely hopeless. Shiloh carefully knelt down and picked up her notebook and quickly flipped it open to the page where she had been taking notes on. She held up the open notebook and handed it to her partner so that she could easily read what was written in the lined page.

"Well like I said I was able to narrow down the list to a few possible creatures that it could be. There's the Crocotta from Ethiopia which according to lore is suppose to be able to lure people by imitating a human voice to lure it into the deeps woods before devouring it. Then there's the Philippine's Tikabalang which is said to be a humanoid and horse-like creature that can transform into a human form of itself or someone the human may know. When it does it lures the victim into the dense woods so that they get lost and can never find their way home again."

Bending over Shiloh carefully picked up a book that was laying open on the ground and carefully held it so that it stayed open to a specific page. On the old and yellowing page was a large hand painted picture of an odd creature that seem to have a human head, it's body looked like it belonged to some species of the big cat family, and the end of its tail was covered in barbs.

"But what I think we might be dealing is this," she said to Eli tapping the picture in the book. "a Manticore, it fits since the Crocotta is much to small to inflict as much damage that was on the victims. The Tikabalang isn't vicious at all it's more of the trickster sort of creature it gets people lost for shits and giggles. Plus both of them are from countries over seas. The Manticore is said to reside in parts of the rainforests in Central and south America, so there's a slight chance it might have migrated up this way over the years."