Chapter I

Bone Mother: She has been described with the following details. Seven foot tall with elongated limbs, long white hair, blackened fingertips, and wears a faded emerald dress with a flower print. The Bone Mother was last seen lurking around Blackburn Public School and has been known to kidnap children. It has been advised that while she is in the area, there should be no young children to be left outside.

As her nest has been found containing small bones and bits of clothing, Axl flipped through the pages of his great-grandfather’s journal, trying to find the way to beat this entity. Soren was currently looking through a weapons cabinet, trying to find anything that looked like it would help. "Any luck?" Axl called out, hearing something clatter to the floor. There was a loud groan of irritation. "No, but a lot of really cool-looking things I would like to use," Soren muttered.

"Of course you would." Axl sighed, finally finding a page that had a way to deal with the Bone Mother. There wasn't much to it, just how to seal her back inside her den, but the ingredients needed were things that they didn't have. "Just great," thought Axl to himself, and closed the journal. "What did you find out?" Soren asked, walking over to Axl as he dusted himself off from poking around in the weapons closet. "Just how to seal her back inside her den," replied Axl with a shrug of his shoulders.

Soren frowned, looking back over his shoulder longingly at the weapons cabinet. Axl chuckled, "We're out of a bunch of ingredients. So we'll have to go gather what we are missing." He said, motioning over to the apothecary section of their base. Soren chewed on his bottom lip with his hands on his hips. “Yeah, it does look... kinda bad." He mumbled. That's because you were supposed to restock it. Since you used it last, thought Axl to himself, letting out a sigh. "Something wrong?" Soren questioned, tilting his head to the side, and Axl shook his head.

"Nah, it's nothing... I'll go get the ingredients, and you should see what she's up to and if anyone has been taken." answered Axl, picking up his coat. It would be faster if he got the necessary items that they needed. Soren was better at scouting and tracking than he was anyway. Axl was the creature sealing guy who sent the bumps in the night back to where they belonged. “Yeah, I can do that. Are you sure that you don't need help?" said Soren.

Axl pulled on his coat, giving Soren a look which made him hold his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay, scouting and tracking it is," said Soren, couldn't help but smile as he watched his partner grab a messenger bag and head out the door. Soon as Axl was out of sight, Soren went back to the weapons cabinet and grabbed out a few things, shoving them into a duffle bag. Whenever he got serious, Soren took his tasks seriously. It's what made him and Axl such a great team after all.

Where one lacked, the other always made up for it. They were first introduced by their parents at a young age. They quickly took to each other like old souls. As if knowing they were destined to protect people from those entities like their parents had. Their parents had retired soon after they got their training completed.

Soren locked up the base, heading towards the area where the Bone Mother had last been spotted. She wouldn't go far from Blackburn Public School. She would lurk around the forest's edge, waiting for a chance. Any chance to lure children into her domain so that she could take them to her den. According to the journals, she was compared to being like La Llorona, minus the drowning children in water.

Axl turned down an alleyway to an apothecary tucked away from the eyes of the public. This old herbs and spices store has supplied their families with the stock they needed for sealing away entities. A lot of times these things didn't work, and they needed something a little stronger. Charms, talismans, and tonics were just a few even enchanted items or weapons. Standing in front of the door, he did a special knock to be let inside.

When let in, he greeted the elderly woman at the counter, her hair wild and sticking out in every direction. She wore bottle-lens glasses and was currently examining a very suspicious-looking concoction. "That boy forgot to come by again. I've had your order ready for weeks," she muttered, not looking away from the jar in her hands. “Yeah, I figured since I was out of a lot of things," said Axl with a sigh. He picked up the tightly wrapped bundle with his name on it and placed the envelope with the payment inside on the counter.

"It's never too late to set up a crow package delivery." She peered over the top of the jar before slowly setting it down. Axl looked at the crow next to her, perched on a levitating broom, who was currently asleep. "I think that Quill is currently at retirement age." said Axl, making the old woman cackle, shaking her head. "This old bird?! Quill is a spring chicken compared to me. Just keep it in mind, dear, considering how forgetful Soren is." The old woman protested. "Of course, Baba Yaga. I'll contact you if I need anything else." Axl smiled before exiting the store, shutting the door behind him.

Soren swore his ears were burning as he rubbed them with his palms. It was probably about the order he had forgotten to pick up for the past few weeks. They had just gotten back from celebrating the holidays out of town. Having done all of the planning himself this year since it was his turn, it had sort of slipped his mind. Which had Baba Yaga haunting his dreams these past few days about his late pick-up.

Soren was sure he would hear about it later from Axl. Right now, however, he only had one objective in mind, and that was to track the Bone Mother. Make sure she hadn't stolen any children away from Blackburn Public School. That's why he's currently undercover as a journalist to interview the principal. If he could somehow get information out of him, then Soren would know if this had also turned into a rescue mission.

While waiting to be seen, he listened to see if he could hear any gossip among the office staff. Soren had inhuman hearing and could pick up on anything if it was related to their case. Sometimes he heard things that one could not unhear. Right now, however, it only seemed to be things related to their work or life. Until he watched a woman seemingly a parent walk through the door.

She had a stack of missing posters in her hand and bags under her eyes. A receptionist greeted him, and they both spoke in a low voice. Soren made out a few things about what they were discussing. It made him think that they were trying to hide something or cover it up. As he was getting ready to walk up to them, a secretary came up to him.

Axl had gotten back to their base first and went to his station, starting to concoct the seal to put Bone Mother back into slumber. Or at least hopefully for quite a few years so that they won't have to seal her again so soon. Shoving a few talismans inside his bag along with a repair kit, Axl takes out his phone to contact Soren. They needed to get the entity sealed soon; if they didn’t, then they may miss their chance. If left out any longer, then there is no telling how many more children could be taken away.

"Axl! I knew you'd call me! I was able to find out from the principle that there has been missing kids recently but–"

"But what Soren?"

"It's been WEEKS and they've kept it out of the media."

Axl sighed, rubbing his temples. Of course they did… he thought to himself. "Okay, let’s go ahead and head over to the spot. You've tracked her, right?" said Axl, shouldering his backpack. "Uh... about that. It took so long to talk to the principal that I didn't get a chance to well track her.” Soren followed with a nervous laugh. "We'll figure it out as we go. It won't be the first time that we've improvised on a case before." Axl shook his head and headed back out the door. Soren apologized since he knew it was his job to track and gather information.

Soren met up with Axl inside the forest where the entity had been spotted. Her den couldn't be too far from the treeline of Blackburn Public School. Soren kneeled to the ground and began examining the area. He was able to discern four different sets of footprints. One unnaturally human, while the other two sets were smaller in comparison.

Unfortunately, they appeared to be at least a few weeks old at most. Soren shook his head and looked towards some bushes that had been flattened over. He looked over his shoulder at Axl and motioned with his chin towards the path. Axl nodded and proceeded to go first, leading the way, making sure not to step on any tracks. Soren picked up his pace and led the rest of the way, with Axl stepping in the tracks that his partner was creating.

Soren knew that they were close as he could sense the entity, not only that but the voices and cries of the children were echoing through the trees. Soren hoped that this was a sign that they were alive. Yet it could also be remnants of past children who had been taken by the Bone Mother. Axl stopped in his tracks, grabbing Soren by the forearm and motioned with a nod of his head. Ahead of them was the entity digging a hole in a hollow tree with two children close by.

They were holding each other’s hands, trying to give each other any form of comfort that they could. Axl locked eyes with Soren, both of them sharing a silent understanding. Soren advanced first, taking out a weapon from his bag that would help him distract the Bone Mother. Axl watched Soren advance, and he started towards the place where the entity had crawled out of. Examining the area, it looked to have been blown open as if someone wanted her out.

Setting out all he would need, he began to set up the seal. Soren would be his way soon, with the Bone Mother right on his heels. So he had to work fast but be sure not to make a mistake. If he did, it would be death for them both, and the entity would continue to steal children away. Hurried footsteps were heading his way, and Axl finished the seal by chanting a few words.

Jumping over the hole, Soren ran past Axl, who with glowing palms pushed the Bone Mother down into the hole. She screamed, her maw snapping at him, trying to take a bite as she was pulled down into the darkness below. Axl stood up and dusted off his hands, the ground mending itself back together. Soren walked up to him, catching his breath. "How are the kids?" Axl asked, looking at his partner. "Traumatized but alive." Soren replied with a cough, putting the weapon away into his bag.

They would get them home and avoid letting the school know they were back. With what the Principal and staff were holding information like they did. The parents deserved to have their children back with them. After taking the two kids home, Axl and Soren came back to the forest to comb through it properly. Including giving the ones under the hollow tree a proper burial since getting the FBI involved would mean them getting investigated as well.

Heading back to base, both of them crashed onto the couch, completely tired from the eventful day. "Could you set an alarm?" Axl mumbled, his head falling against Soren's shoulder, who fished his phone out of his back pocket. Bags and shoes were left at the front door, and the colors from the sunset peeked in through the windows. Setting an alarm, Soren leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Axl had already drifted off to sleep, exhausted from using so much spiritual energy.