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Zed, John, and Jeremy arrived on the scene, immediately falling into the chaos that surrounded the mine. Paramedics were already on the scene, rushing the miners towards the ambulances for medical attention. Dust was being kicked up into the air; people scattered, yelling at the top of their lungs. Still, it wasn't even close to being the messiest thing Jeremy had ever seen. He had faced plenty of homicidal demons, blood thirsty vampires, and that werewolf he'd roomed with in college. Then, of course, there was the obvious: that night in Newcastle... 

The trio scattered upon reaching the mine. Zed went to check on one man who looked like he'd been hit in the head with a large rock; Jeremy had taken to helping the EMTs get their patients to safety. Meanwhile, John was interrogating one of the less injured miners.

Jeremy didn't catch much of the conversation, but he did hear John ask about knocking and he did hear the miner respond with, "It's in there." John stalked off after that. Jeremy followed his path with his eyes, seeing that the brit was chasing after one of the other men. Was that Ike from the previous night at the widows? Or was it Mike? Maybe he was more of a Spike. Jeremy probably should have asked for the man's real name at some point, but he didn't particularly care in that moment. All he really thought was, John's going to be punched in the face again. Followed by, oh, wait I think I know what this thing is!

He remembered a story John had told him and Chas once, about the town he'd grown up in and the creatures that protected the miners. It could have been them here too, except those particular creatures didn't harm anyone -- perhaps it was just a creature similar to them, then? But Jeremy had never heard of anything else that had matched their description...

Zed was spinning in a circle around the mine, searching for John according to the short cry of, "John!"

Jeremy rolled his eyes. It really did not take long for her to get attached. He pointed in the direction the brit had gone, and Zed ran to catch up with him. After one last look around the mine, Jeremy decided the paramedics had things covered and went after the woman. It was probably a fortunate thing too, because as soon as the pair caught up with John they found trouble. Go figure. John was essentially a magnet for trouble.

John and Ike were locked inside Ike's car, the locks evidently refusing to work; muddy liquid was gradually rising higher and higher, spilling in from the vents on the dash. It wasn't long before the mud was up to their necks. They'd run out of air soon. Jeremy panicked for a split second as Zed tried frantically to yank the car door open, only to find it wouldn't budge. Heart racing, Jeremy found it impossible to move all of a sudden. Zed was shouting at him to do something useful, but he barely heard it. After a moment she let out a frustrated groan, running to a near by wheel barrel and grabbing a crow bar.

Zed began prying the car door open, struggling a bit. Jeremy should have helped her, he knew he should have, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the inside of the car. John and Ike were struggling for air as the muddy water rose higher and higher. Their heads went under. Jeremy was stuck. All he could think was, Shit. Chas wanted me to help the bastard and I just letting him die.
But it was impossible to move, and for some stupid reason Jeremy couldn't stop imagining that last moment with Astra right before that demon dragged her away forever.

They'd all been in a feud over those events for months now, and John was going to die before anyone even got to make amends. The thought closed his throat up, and Jeremy found all the air leaving his lungs, as if he were the one who were drowning instead of John.

Zed managed to get the door open after a few seconds of struggle. The muddy water came spilling out all at once, drenching Jeremy and Zed's shoes; John came tumbling out soon after, gasping for air, his clothes all muddy and wet. He was fine, at least he was alive and breathing again, but it wasn't any easier for Jeremy to breath.

Zed went to John's side, eyeing him worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah." John's voice was cool, trying to play it off like everything was fine. It wasn't. "I had it under control."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. His heart was beating too fast, and Astra's terrified face was still flashing in his mind's eye -- in fact it was nearly impossible to see anything but that -- but somehow Jeremy managed to remain perfectly still, perfectly silent. It was as if his feet had been super glued to the ground, his voice muted so that he couldn't make a sound even if he wanted to.

"You almost drowned in mud," Zed pointed out as if that wasn't obvious already.

"No, I was thinking up a spell in my head," John lied. "Go check on the driver."

Zed got up to do as instructed while John let out a round of raspy coughs, still trying to regain his bearings. All at once Jeremy's nerves returned; he was moving towards John before he even had time to process what he was doing. The flashes of Astra were replaced with red hot rage. He kicked John over again as he started to rise to his feet. "You fucking idiot!"

"Oi!" John protested, glaring back at Jeremy. He seemed annoyed but not necessarily surprised by the random outburst. (Probably because he knew he deserved it. He usually did.) John tried to get to his feet again. Jeremy let him this time, as they both bitterly turned towards the truck where Zed was stood, a horrified look on her face. The rage faded quickly, replaced, now, with remorse.

Ike was dead. Jeremy really wished he'd bothered to learn the guy's real name now. He'd seen plenty of corpses before so the sight didn't bother him all that much, but it still left this annoying sinking feeling in his gut. Maybe because somewhere out there he knew there must have been a father or at least a mother who'd just lost their son. Or maybe because he knew exactly what it felt like to lose a kid. He wasn't sure. Feelings were hard to decipher that way.

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"Don't torture yourself over it, luv." John, Zed, and Jeremy were slowly walking back to the hotel. Zed's head was down cast as she trudged along. She'd been in a daze since they'd left the mine field, and every now and again John would make another lame attempt at consoling her. "There was nothing we could do for the blighter, and the last thing we want to do is stick around and get drawn into a police investigation."

Jeremy grunted in agreement with that. He didn't mind working the rare murder case with them; and they did their best to uphold what little portions of justice they could. But the law enforcement was in no way equip to deal with something on this level.

"I don't understand," Zed mumbled, all but ignoring John's words. "What was in that car?"

John shrugged carelessly. As they walked across the street, his muddy attire caught the attention of a few passers-by, but John didn't seem to notice. Either that or he didn't care. Neither scenario was much of a stretch. "That's the price of doing business with yours truly." He glanced at Zed smugly, like he thought she'd run off and stop bugging him after everything that had happened at the mine. "I tried to warn you."

Much to her credit Zed kept a cool composure, eyes staying firmly forward. "I know. I'm still here." It seemed this woman was nearly as stubborn as John himself. Jeremy wasn't sure if he found that annoying or amusing.

John shrugged. He apparently decided he'd had enough of the spectators, though, because he glared at the next guy who stared at him like he was a zombie that had just crawled up from the ground -- a truly horrifying comparison, but an accurate one. Jeremy would know. He had taken on a horde of zombies once, after a witch conjured them up when she found out she didn't pass her psych exam... Yeah, college was a nightmare, Jeremy thought.

"Piss off. There's nothing to look at!" John snapped. The spectators ran off, pointedly ignoring him now.

Jeremy snorted and rolled his eyes at them. People were stranger than demonic creatures sometimes. Zed didn't seem to find it very amusing though. She turned to Jeremy and John, looking very confused and concerned for the people of the small town. "What's going on?"

Jeremy let John explain to her, considering his experience and knowledge was far more superior than his own; besides Jeremy had been out of the game for so long he might have forgotten a thing or two. (Plus, he just didn't feel like giving a lecture like this was some sort of class on demonology.)

"Back home, our miners called them Coblynau, but you see 'em in every culture," John said, recounting the familiar story for Zed. "They're the spirits of dead miners. They knock on walls to warn of danger."

Zed nodded slowly, like she was beginning to grasp the concept of what he was telling her. Basically it was like, 'oh by the way demons are a thing.' 'oh, cool, kay thanks!' Jeremy had never been so underwhelmed by someone's reaction before. Then again, the woman could, evidently, sense the future or something. So, maybe it wasn't all that surprising to her. "So," Zed said, "these Coblynau... They're protecting the miners? They warn them of danger instead of causing it?"

"That's right," John nodded. "Traditional Coblynau they never rise to the surface, and they certainly don't murder."

The trio stopped walking; Zed frowned at John's words. She was starting to realize what John and Jeremy already had: the Coblynau were acting strangely. "So, what's the explanation?" Zed asked.

"Could be the Rising Darkness," John commented.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow at him. "The what now?"

John stared back at him. "The Rising Darkness," he repeated. "Didn't Chas tell you about that? I thought we talked about that."

"Uh, no." Jeremy shook his head. But he wasn't all that surprised. Chas and John both had an annoying habit of keeping vitally important details to themselves. Communication. Not really their forte. "But since when do you two tell me anything?"

John rolled his eyes at the childish comment. He went on to explain this 'Rising Darkness.' "Something's forcing evil to the surface in waves." Jeremy squinted at that suspiciously. Was he saying the freaking apocalypse was coming? With the Four Horsemen and the Anti Christ? That was the last thing he needed. It was seriously not as cool as Supernatural had made it look on TV.  "It's changing the rules." John paused a moment. "And I'm sensing a little of the human touch."

Zed frowned. "Like someone's calling these spirits on purpose?"

"Nothing says pay back better than death by demon," John said.

Jeremy nodded as they started walking again. "So, you agree after all?" Zed looked confused for a moment, but before she could ask what he was talking about John interjected with a scoff.

"It is not the widow!" The brit rolled his eyes.

Jeremy shrugged, letting the subject drop for a second. "Anyway, if you're right --"

"Someone's conjuring these bad boys from near by."

"...and it's probably the widow," Jeremy said.

John responded with the swift smack to the back of his friend's head. "We already checked the widow! She wasn't very helpful."

"Because you tried to sleep with her," Jeremy scoffed.

"She tried to sleep with me!" John protested.

Zed shook her head at them, rolling her eyes at the antics. She interjected quickly, getting them back on track. "What about a miner?" The boys turned towards her, and she continued. "I heard that they're all gathering at the pub for an emergency meeting."

"Think we need to change, luv. We'll meet you there."

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"Alright, look, if you're going to fly off the handle and turn this into some kind of spook show, then I have nothing to say to you right now."

"Crazy rumors aren't gonna help anyone." The miners were gathered around one man at one end of the bar. Jeremy guessed it must have been some sort of riot. It looked like they were all ganging up on the one man. Spike, Jeremy decided to call him.

"Curious. Skeptical, drunk's no where to be seen," John commented as they turned their backs to the arguing miners.

"You mean the ex-priest?" Zed asked.

"Come again?" John frowned. Jeremy found himself wondering the same thing. Ex-priest?

"Ellis," Zed explained, though Jeremy had no idea who that was. "He use to be a priest before his, uh, son died in the mines, which could be a good cause for payback." Jeremy had to agree, but he wasn't quite sure that was the case.

John looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding in agreement as well. "When I gave you the slip yesterday," he told Zed, "Jeremy and I found evidence of one of those slurry things being raised in an abandoned church outside of town." Jeremy recalled that weird ass painting he and John had found in the church.

"The church that Ellis turned his back on," Zed noted. "So, he could be the one that's conjuring the evil for revenge?" Jeremy shrugged. It was a possibility for sure. Any decent parent would want to avenge their dead child if it were at all possible, but something about that explanation didn't sit right with Jeremy. (Maybe he was just hung up on the idea that it was the wife.)

John glanced at a spot near the bar, then back at Zed. "Come with me. I'm taking you for a spin." He grabbed her arm and lead her over to the bar. Jeremy already knew what he was thinking and rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me, mate," John said to one of the men at the bar. "My lady, she's having a bit of a turn, you know? Do you mind if we commandeer your seat right here?"

The miner let them take it, stalking off to meet up with, who Jeremy guessed was, some of his buddies. Jeremy moved towards the back of the room, deciding to let the not-so-happy couple do whatever it was they were going to do. As he pushed his way passed a group of people, his eye caught sight of a brunette woman on the other side of the bar.

She was pretty, but it wasn't like she was doing anything to make herself stand out, just standing there with a martini glass in her hands. The woman was wearing a low cut, skin tight black dress, but so were most of the other women in the bar. So, Jeremy wasn't so sure what it was about this woman that was putting him off... That is until her eyes flashed -- turning a deep, coal black. Just for a split second.

Jeremy blinked. Was she a demon? He glanced back at John, but he was still busy with Zed. It could have been this woman was the one responsible for the Coblynau becoming so disorientated, but Jeremy figured she must have been another problem all together. At least, he hoped so. It was never a good thing when demonic creatures made evil plans with one another.
When Jeremy turned back to the woman, she was gone. Disappeared without a trace. Great, Jeremy grumbled inwardly, So, a couple of miner ghosts, a possible apocalypse, and a demon lady. What else could go wrong this week?

✧ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ's ɴᴏᴛᴇ✧

Annnd, we are back. I think. Hopefully. I'm planning to be back anyways. I just needed a hiatus cause mental health and stuff. But I'm, hopefully, going to be getting a job soon. (don't want to jinx it 🤞) So, maybe that will be good. We'll see.

So, uh, yeah. Sorry, if this isn't up to par with my normal writing. I'm getting back into the swing of things, I think.

Hope you enjoyed it!

✧ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ᴀʟʟ ғᴏʀ ɴᴏᴡ, ᴛᴏᴏᴅʟᴇs!✧

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