Page 164 of Chaos has a Name
“And?” she asked, putting the mansion on the back burner. They were almost to the scene, and out of sight was out of mind—or something like that.
“We can investigate the supposed homicide slash missing person case. That we have approval on from the council.”
Uh, well, yeah.
That she knew.
“It’s our jurisdiction. The Native police don’t have the resources to investigate something like this. That means the US government steps in to do the deed.”
Yeah, so they kept telling the council, but it hadn’t mattered to them.
Well, here went the rest.
“Apparently, what we’ve heard is right. There is a Native legend on the reservation. It goes back a long way. It’s aboutThe Hollow. That’s the name it goes by, and the elders wereALLaware of it too.”
She was confused.
Even Rayna had her brow all scrunched up. That told Elizabeth she wasn’t sure what the hell was going on here.
Not.
At.
All.
“And they are okay with it happening and no one thought to call that shit in years ago?” she asked.
He told her.
“Apparently, not. What we were told is, and I know you know some of this, but for many, many years, there is someone who picks a victim every Summer Solstice and makes a human sacrifice to the Wendigo that watches over this rez.”
She listened.
“This entity is given the sacrifice so the Natives on the reservation get a year of prosperity and protection. The elders feel this is vital for their survival. That’s why no one stops this from going down.”
She.
Stopped.
Dead.
For a full three seconds, she stood there in silence as her brain attempted to rationalize what he’d just said. To her, that sounded like a bunch of Natives were condoning killing people just to make a sacrifice. Oh, and as long as it wasn’t them, they didn’t give a shit, but to her, Elizabeth’s brain said one thing.
They’d care when it became them.
What in the dark, Voo-doo-worshipping, black-magick-practicing Paganism bullshit was this?
Clearly, sane minds were not at play here.
“I can’t wrap my head around this,” she admitted. “How do people turn a blind eye to this? How did they not try to stop this?”
Yeah, the only thing she hated more than bullshit was compliance when bullshit was going down.
“I don’t know, Baby. What I do know is they confirmed we’re likely dealing with the same thing. The victim disappears, their clothing folded neatly on the outskirts of the location, and they are never seen or heard from again. Then, life moves on for another blissful year until it’s the Summer Solstice all over again. What Timothy did to protect us all of those years ago seems to be a normal thing here.”
Oh, Lordy.
This was anything but‘normal’.
