Episode 90: When the Darkness Comes

Well, hey there, family. If you love old gods of Appalachia, I want to help us keep the home fires burning, but maybe aren't comfortable with the monthly commitment, well, you can still support us. Be it the ACAST supporter feature. No gift to large, no gift to small. Just click on the link in the show description and you too can toss your tie in the collection plate. Feel free to go ahead and do that. Not about now. Daniel, out of all your decisions lately, choosing a Vanty West Coast first class is by far your best. Peace and space to work. Oh, and that service. You don't have to find the coffee. The coffee finds you. Oh, what's that? The smell of bacon and success, Daniel. Success. Arrived ready with the Vanty West Coast first class. Enjoy delicious, freshly prepared food and drink and service to your seat. Some journeys belong in first class. Book direct with the Vanty West Coast. Exclusion's limitation. SuppLY. This is your business. This is your business. 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Inside a darkened music hall in Knoxville, Tennessee, bass throbbed and bodies swayed as a band from about an hour and a half east of the city poured their hearts into a set that they knew could lend them bigger and better shows outside their small town home. If they played their best, if the right people just happened to be in the crowd then. Who knew what could happen? The night was young and the crowd was hot and anything seemed possible to vote the talent on stage and the young folks dancing to their tune. Down in the pit, Denise Ramey closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift, lost in the music, and the sweaty press of bodies against her own. The lingering scent of clothes cigarettes woven into lace and velvet and denim, her constant nagging anxieties about the looming spectra of an unknowable future receded to the back of her mind, carried away on a tide of something like bliss. Or as near to that feeling as a teenage girl from rural Appalachia had ever known at any rate. Pressed against her shoulder, her cousin Micah's body nearly vibrated as the energy of the show washed over him. The shared breath of what seemed like a thundering horde of kids just like him swept all his worries and troubles away like a dark and glorious river. The band Foxhole Atheist was not his favorite. He'd heard a couple of their songs on a mixtape one of Denise's friends and paradise had mailed her a couple of months back. The parcel wrapped in plain brown paper had included several zines from the tricities and noxful and two clear cassette tapes that were packed with songs from both local and nationally known underground artists. The guys in Foxhole were old and represented a grimey or glammyer era of the scene that seemed to be on its way out as the 90s rolled in. Their frontman Kurt never wore a shirt on stage and slung his long thinning perpetually wet hair around like a windmill between bursts of vocals that sounded like a cross between Iggy Pop and Glendanzi. As far as loud garage rock went they were fine but they were also three dudes who had obviously started a band for the oldest and most stereotypical reasons. To get laid. The crowd at the mercury were eating them up. Micah held onto the edge of the stage as the pit surged around them a dozen or so punks with varying degrees of body odor had spun up a whirling derfish of a circle pit. A big boy with a towering Elmer's glue mohawk stumbled backwards into the rainy cousins and together they pushed him back into the action laughing as he vanished into the maelstrom. Micah caught Denise's eye and she grinned back at him and he saw the fierce joy in his heart reflecting her shine and eye. In that moment Micah had never felt more grateful for his cousin. Dee Dee had never failed to accept him for who he was. When his mom didn't understand him and his dad called him every slur you can call a boy who isn't into girls Denise had offered him a place to sleep a place to be safe and most importantly a place to belong. Here in this city little box of a club he could see his people all around and for once the skin he was born in actually felt like his own. There were other kids like him dressed in tight black final paints mesh and fishnets and lace boys and eyeliner and black lipstick. Among this crowd it didn't seem to matter that much whether you were straight or gay or something in between. Over by the bar a girl in a joy division T with a massive dyed black hair teased into a stunning deathhawk was holding hands with a pixie-like blonde and a long velvet dress. The air between the two girls all but crackling with the electricity of their flirtation. Just past them two of the prettiest men Micah had ever seen lounge casually against the bar both shirtless and black leather pants and heavy boots. The taller one and studded wristbands stood behind the shorter man. His arms wrapped around his partner's waist. The two of them swayed into the music like they were slow dancing at prom. Micah blushed and tore his gaze away. His mama's voice in his head had monishing him that it was rude to stare. He just never seen people so open about who they were and who they loved before. He knew who he was and if you listen to his daddy how he was and that flew in the face ever bit a raisin that had been drilled into him at church and at home. Micah had tried to be who his parents wanted him to be. He'd gone to church, said his prayers and hoped one day he'd wake up as somebody different. Somebody easier to be. Somebody's parents would actually respect and love. The older he got though the more he realized he was who he was and that was that. His parents would never accept it. His aunt Debbie might be able to stomach it if she didn't have to see it or think about it. Denise and her older brother Bradley though they had always loved him just as he was. Had Laurie and Brendan to the mix and he had a whole family of people who were willing to stay between him and the judgmental hypocrites of the world until he was able to stay in on his own and speaking of Laurie and Brendan. Micah was beginning to wonder where they'd gotten off to. Just as he cramed his neck, appearing to the crowd, the kid with the Mohawk cycle through to collide with them again. This time he and Denise saw it coming and the two of them stepped aside allowing the Liberty Spot comment to spin off into the crowd. Micah glanced at Denise and wide-eyed surprise at their unplanned cooperation and the two of them burst out laughing. Before she could stop him, Micah hugged Denise hard and yelled into her ear over the thrumming baseline. Thank you! Denise was taking it back for a second. He knew she wasn't the hugging type. She opened her mouth to tell him to get off her but then thought better of it and hugged a little goof fall back. This was going to be a knot to remember. She just knew it. When the walls close in and the light gets swallowed in there ain't no place that feels like home. The ones you love concern and the strangers and you cast your eyes through the winding road. Keep your foot on the gas your eyes straight forward clear your heart and mind. Best leave them goes behind. When the hearth rose cold, no visno wear, then your mind is will. When dung's cold, run like a girl. d d On the opposite side of the crowd from her new friend, Miranda coffee felt more alive than she had since she was turned. In the outside world, even when they were dancing their bloody way across the city like spilled wine on a linen tablecloth, her daily existence was an exercise in remaining unseen by the living world. The parties, the ritualized feeding, the hunting, and procuring a fresh prey, all of it had to be carried out cautiously, hidden in the shadow. It was exhausted. Here at the murk, the room was alive with vibrant pulsing darkness, and no one would notice another girl who looked a little too pale. Her teeth a little too sharp. They would all assume it was just fashion, and for a few hours, she could relax. In front of the stage, a small sea of black leather, velvet denim, and latex whirled in the frenzy ritual of the Mosh band. As she watched a kid they all called Moondog whirled into Denise and Micah with a student near the stage, and Miranda Grinde as the two teenagers shoved the Mohawk menace back into the frame. They looked like they were having the time of their lives. On stage, the singer held his guts out while his bandmates on twice's size laid down a nasty groove. She'd never seen Foxholaethious lie before, but Micah had loved them. They had that leather pants, hips shaking swagger that was alluring when they performed, but downright gross when they tried to get your number after the show. She'd bet the singer smelled like skull and beer sweat. In the pit, Moondog made another pass at her new friends, and Miranda cackled with the light as they dodged out of the way, sending the bigger boys sprawling into a gap in the crowd where he collided with a man who was clearly not looking to join in the fun. Chris Mildfated as he tossed a young crusty aside with an ease that most folks would probably attribute to the skilled use of momentum. Miranda knew better though. The subtle flick of the wrist that set Moondog tumbling to the floor wasn't the result of training in martial arts or even the military. It was the preternaturally fast reflexes of one of her kind. The vampire stepped forward with a scall, skin in the room. In the strobing, multi-colored stage-locks Denise saw his face sh-t. She didn't know him personally, but she'd seen him around. Most recently, when he'd been working the door at the boiler room, the night she went to the underground to confront Cyrus. He was tall and lean with ratty shoulder-length blonde hair. And though she couldn't see from this vantage point, she knew he would be wearing the widest acid-wash jeans money could buy, blindingly white. And so tight, they looked like they were painted on. She and Mikey had always giggled about them wondering how he even moved in him, and had privately nicknamed him Bridges. Miranda pulled up her hood and moved deeper into the shadows on the other side of the P.A. willing herself to stillness. When Bridges looked in the other direction, she sped past the bouncer watching the door that led backstage, little more than a flicker and shadow in its peripheral vision. The second the door closed behind her, the stench of blood and death slammed into her like heat from a freshly-fed furnace. She froze, taking a moment to listen and assess the situation. Here and nothing, she carefully made her way up the stairwell, nostrils flaring at the coppery aroma that both roused her hunger and alerted her to danger, searching for the source. She didn't have to go far. The door to the smaller dressing room at the top of the stairs stood slightly ajar, and the smell of wet pennies wafted from it like an apple pie left unattended on a windowsill. Miranda knew what she'd find on the other side of that door, but she wasn't prepared for who she'd find. The sweet girl who'd first spoken to her at the gas station, Laurie, that was her name. Lake Crumpled on the dressing room floor. Her throat was a butchered landscape painted in shades of scarlet and gray. Chunks of her soft neck were just gone, as if ravaged by a wild animal. If a bear had suddenly found its way into the nightclub and started mowing people though, there would be more blood. Laurie had been torn apart and drunk dry. The overwhelming smell came from the blood that had sprayed across the carpet and soaked into the love seat behind her. Whoever had done this had been sloppy. Her skin was the shade of icy blue grey that Miranda knew all too well from her short time living on this side of sunset. This teenage girl who had been so excited to get to go backstage so proud to see her cousin's van play in the big city who was so unfailingly con to a stranger she found crying at the amaco was now nothing more than another husk that her kind left behind after sating their hunger. She hadn't been dead long. Her body was still warm. The sudden urge to bury her face in the wound to see if she could lick up any scraps left Miranda feeling sick towards the mack. The shame, guilt and fear she felt earlier crash back over her in a tidal wave that threatened to send her spiraling into despair but there was an undercurrent of anger pulsing in the undertow that helped her keep her head above water. Her eyes stung but no tears came. Her mind raced as she tried to piece together what was going on she should not have come back here. Someone had seen her or a guess she'd turn up here. Britches was in the crowd, no doubt looking for her and if he was here other members of Cyrus's crew couldn't be far behind. One of them must have done this but why? Had they seen her talking to the kids from over the mountain outside the club and decided they might know too much? But then why wouldn't they clean up after themselves? Cyrus had always insisted on discretion among his crew. There was no time to ponder that. Somebody had to do something and Miranda didn't know what that something was but she was pretty sure that somebody was her and she had no idea what she could do against an elder like Cyrus Robertson but enough was enough. She ducked out of the dressing room closing the door behind her and peering down the hall then back down the stairwell. She was debating whether she should try to slip back through the crowd on the main venue floor or to go down the fire escape zigzagged on the back of the building from the green room window when a familiar voice interrupted her thought. Miranda turned, recognizing the voice as she did. Jess? What are you? No, came out of nowhere and Miranda coffee's world went dark. If she wasn't boots as child, the energy at the murk would have been damn near unnerving. Despite the sensory overwhelmed bird continued playing the part of Stoic staff member, patrolling the edges of the room and scaring the crowd like a bouncer allowed her to both blend in and keep an eye on her target. The baby vamp moved as unnaturally as the rest of her kind here. Had bird blinked a second sooner she would have missed her slip toward the stairs. Before she could follow, a new hum searched. But this time the intuition came with a wave of disgust. The last time she felt revulsion, this intense and unsettling, she'd walked upon a decomposing body left to bloat and swell in the sun for a week. Her narrowed it down to a vampire sporting some interesting pains. He looked like he wanted some attention and she couldn't deny herself the opportunity to warm up. She moved through the crowd, keeping her focus trained on him as he made his way toward the back of the venue. He turned the left down the narrow aisle of restrooms and bird caught the bathroom door behind him. Hey, can I get a light? Fuck off. Bird shoved the butt of her palm upward into the vampire's nose. He stumbled back as she pulled a blade into each hand. The vampire's first mistake was his mouth. No need to be rude when a simple yes or no would have suffice. And his second mistake was overconfidence. The ones who think they're untouchable tend to move just a little bit slower. This gave Bird time to enjoy herself and keep count. She took a few steps to close the distance and dip toward the floor. It was her that she disappeared from his line of sight. She'd taken a blade to each of his Achilles' tendons, sinking into his knees. She plunged a knife into each of his upper traps, snatching them out as she kicked his body forward. By the time she reached for her stake, she counted to 20. About five whole seconds passed her usual threshold. Before she delivered the final blow, the sound of flesh minting. Still her arm had swayed. Vassal's muscles and tendons squelched. This blood and some darker liquid began to string the vampire's neck and ankles back together. Bird let back. Beast twice her size and touched by the dark had fallen under her blade, but none of them could heal themselves. All her years of training failed to cover regeneration. She theorized that immobilizing him would make decapitation a hell of a lot easier. She padded one of the garots tucked into the pocket of her cargo paints, grateful that she'd imbued them with a mineral mixture of crushed hydrogen root, brick dust, rosemary, and some soil from her mother's grave. In some circumstances, she trusted a root-worked weapon more than her own instinct. Guess I'm taking his, then. She pinned the vampire's thighs throat and pierced his navel with her stake, putting her full body weight into it to make sure it went all the way through. She wrenched and tucked up, and she closer to the vampire's ribcage. Between every rip she made her intentions plain. For the night ends, I will gut each and every one of you from asshole to appetite. She traded stake for wire saw and wrapped it around his neck twice, pulling back and forth, and as she worked her mind settled into a clear eye and calm. The energy's bird senses had registered earlier persisted. When she felt must be the presence of vampires like this one. Their power amplified somehow about the dark. There might be a dozen or two in the venue. She toyed with the severed head and pondered her next move. Come the fuck on, man. Just how many you leeches are there? Her saw cut through the last quarter inch of the spinal column and the head came free. Bird plopped it in the toilet, scribbled out of order on the back of an old flyer that she stuck on the door, then locked it and broke the handle on the way out. No one would walk in on that scene. At least not for a while. She took a moment to assess which direction the energy that had called her all this way was leading her, then made her way toward the door that led backstage. A narrow staircase led up to the second floor. Bird could smell blood, whopping from beneath a closed door at the end of the hall, an odor that strong could only mean a kill. She worked the lock and opened the door to a large one-seater bathroom. It's walls painted in blood. There remains of what might have been a body at one point sprawled across the floor. Up to this point, she'd only known parasites to kill with a purpose. The only credit she could give them was their efficiency and lack of waste. They killed because they had to eat. She killed because she had to pretend. And at least there was some measure of twisted sense to that system. This. This was careless and indulgent. Scriveless and spiteful, the act of an animal that slaughtered because it was bored and it could. Bird checked the remains. Carefully painted nails, both hand marked with X's by the bouncer's kid wasn't even old enough to drink. She took more of the scene in and recognized a piece of a 9-inch nails T-shirt, admits to crimson pulls. One of those nice kids from the Amico crew had been shredded. It set her jaw and made up her mind. Regardless of numbers or strengths, she'd face down the hoard. For time and come, she'd damn sure taken as many of these fuckers out with her as she could. Disgust filled every inch of her body and the hum pointed her toward a door tucked away in the right corner of the hallway. So small and nondescript, it could have been mistaken for a janitor's closet if not for the tiny placard reading manager, screwed into the scarred wood of its face. As if on cue, that door swung open and a dead eyed blood sucker and a winter coat strolled from the room flanked by two good old boys who weren't huge, but had that lean, stringy mama raised me outside, looked to him. Their leathery bockers, tans were evident even through the pallor of undead. One had a mullet and a bushy mustache while the other was balled with a go-team matted with clotting blood. He must have been the one that turned that poor boy into leftover, she thought. The one in the coat was giving orders and rapid low tones and when he caught sight of bird, he turned to her with a pleasantly surprised. Well, if it ain't Miss Bird, bonight come knocking on my door. What an unexpected pleasure. It's bird and keep my name out your mouth. You wearing a wool coat in the middle of July on purpose. A benefit of our condition, as it were. We need not look to mother nature to got a choice of fashion. You know the boys here have been telling me about you and your daddy. They say he was a fine hunter, a man to be feared. You though. You don't look like much. See y'all talk a good game, but boost never needed to whack his tongue. He spoke with his hands. But you heard about my daddy in a fraction of what you'll feel for me. Oh, so fierce. But while I'd love to stay here and entertain you, Miss Bonite, I'm afraid I have other matters to attend. Gentlemen, if you will, Miss Bird, it's been a real pleasure. Oh, don't worry, Peacote. You'll see me later. The two biker steps slowly apart, clearly trying to flank her. The one with the mullet came in hard with the haymaker, but Bird easily dodged and caught him with a kick to the kidneys as she passed. He grunted in pain, but spun around a switchblade, dropped it into his left hand from somewhere up the sleeve of his leather jacket. Oh, I actually felt that. She might be Boots' daughter after hauling Marco. Marco with the go-tid didn't respond. He rushed at Bird, attempting a double leg take down, but Bird jumped back, timing a kick to the top of the ball, bam, pirate skull, as he hit the ground. His head bounced off the wooden floor, breaking his nose. As he clutched his bloody face, Bird turned her attention back to Mullet and his switchblade. You should have stayed in the hall, our little girl. Ain't nothing for you in the big city. Your big city should have stayed out my hall if you didn't want his ass kicked. Mullet slashed at Bird's eyes, attempting to distract her while he went for her guts. Bird could tell he was just trying to play with her, but this one was probably better at dragging unsuspecting folks into alleyways or creeping through windows to feed on them while they slept than he was actually using that knife. Bird bent her knees and lowered into a king. The hilt of her knives in each fist. The charge first and asked question later, types where the easiest to kill. And Mullet boy had a death wish. Bird swung her lug back off the floor, torqued her hips, and landed a kick to the temple. She sank two knives into his spinal cord. And would put him down for a minute at least. Goathe followed with a hook that hissed past her ear. She crouched, spun behind him and climbed up his back with her garret. She squeezed her legs around his ribcage, wrapped his neck and wire and pulled the saw. Goathe but and then ran backwards into the closest wall. The first impact knocked the wind out of Bird. The second cracked her skull on the brick. Stars swam in her vision. But Bird only tightened her hold, allowing the barbs' grand of root worked metal to cut deeper into the vampire's spinal column. She kept twisting the grout until the things body went limp, and she seized the sigh of relief and exhaustion at the sound of his head hitting the ground. Bird rolled off the back of the bald vampire breathing hard. Her head felt like somebody had been keeping rhythm with the ball peeing at the base of her skull. Her vision swam and the room sounded like somebody was messing with her internal volume knob as her body toured with the idea of unconsciousness. She tried getting to her feet, but her legs refused to obey, and she stumbled, catching herself on the flats of her hands, the wood grain of the old buildings floors hovering in and out of focus. She spat and there was blood in it. The sound of heavy footfalls dared to raise her head to see what was coming next. Bird looked up and saw an enormous paired workboot standing inches from her face. Playing in her neck hurt like hell, but she managed it. And low in behold, the largest blood sucker she'd ever seen was staring down at her. He was thick in the way a mountain was thick. His chest was bare, a flimsy black shirt hanging open to reveal. Not the shredded physique of a bodybuilder, but the heavy belly and slab like muscle of a man who swung a hammer or turned wrenches for a living. There was something wrong with his face. Bird wasn't sure if she had a concussion or if it was changing before her eyes, his mouth seemed wider than it should be, and while all of these walking corpses had fangs, this one had way too many of them. Bird struggled to her feet and eyed the monster with an exhausted determination. She was hurt. She was slow, but she was not going down without at least trying to take this fucker with her. Easy now, girl. This can go real quick. If you let it, do whatever you feel big enough to try. My shoulder's a bro. Bird's own voice sounded thin and weak to her ears. Her vision began to tunnel, the strain of the previous fights burning through her adrenaline. From somewhere in the distance came the roar of a motor, fire and a light. Then the pounding of footsteps on the stairs, a voice that seemed at once a million miles away and right in front of her called out, the blade of a chainsaw came slashing down on the undead giant's neck and shoulder, the screaming teeth of the blade ripped through the dead flesh as easily it would. Eastern Wildfire. Roach ares pulled it free with a wet tearing sound and then went after the other arm. The vampire fell to his knees, bellowing. Even partially dismembered, he lashed out at Roach, who plunged the blade through the vampire's chest, struggling to control the saw as the body fought to heal around the horrific damage being inflicted on it. His older brother, Bug, sprang into the fray with a machete and with a few quick chops, the dark touch tightens head and body parted way. The pile of shredded meat collapsed into the floor. It's bird. I mean bird. Are y'all right? Bird looked up in groggy fury at the aears brothers, who apparently had fought their way to her in this nest of oppers. It looked like he was having the time of his life grinning like an idiot as he shut down the chainsaw. Bug looked less so. He moved stiffly as he knelt on the floor. What did I say? What did I say if I needed help I would have called? What was he supposed to do? Just let you run in here by yourself and get killed? These ain't no normal vanks. If you'd listened to us for just a minute you might- I ain't starting you Roach. I'm sorry bird, this big dummy ain't right about much, but he is about this. These things got the dark in them. I can't hang something near dry gold, remember? We brought memo's good flatware with us, specially prepared for the occasion. Bug held up his gore stained machete and bird could see the sigils etched around the turn of the half to the long edge of the blade. The handle was wrapped in some sort of dark animal hide that had molded to his grip. Bug saw her looking at the weapon and held it up for her inspection. That bull leather grip puts a little extra hope in your swing and an angel cut through damn near anything. memo says the better the hunter the stronger the swing. Bird took the machete from Bug's hand and tested its balance and weight. Then walked over to the molded vampire she'd left pinned to the ground with her knives sunk into his spine like the fangs of an angry copperhead. She swung the blade down in a single hard stroke and she could feel the working etched into the blade amplifying her own considerable strength with the motion. The vicar boys head separated from his shoulders just as easy as she pleases. No bird did not usually care for working with witches. She had to admit that was a damn nice piece of spell war. She wiped the blade on the dead man's shirt and handed it back to Bug. Not bad, not bad. I might as well stick around. Hey, I do appreciate the company. The job's man might do her thing with that chainsaw too. The younger ayer's brother's spattered and gore grin. No, that's just good German engineer and courtesy of the good folks of steel. Mama got it for me for Christmas last year. Compact model. She's right handy for indoor work. I got me a hatchet does better than the Bug's Bushwacker there. Dark makes these fucker strong but it also makes them vulnerable and ways that sometimes ain't expecting. This whole city can be rotten with vamps on the weekend ain't no telling how many of them there are in this building. We gotta get people out of here. Bird thought for a second. Her eyes darting around the room until they landed on a beat up red and silver box mounted on the east wall. She stepped over and pulled the fire alarm. That should get things moving. Let's go. The throbbing bass and pounding drums of no more lined fell suddenly silent as the Mercury's fire alarm began to weigh him. For a heartbeat everybody in the crowd of venues simply froze. Then the singer thinking fast raised the mic and addressed the crowd. Fire alarm. Everybody out. Y'all be careful now. Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't run over each other. Let's get out quick though. Orderly, let's go y'all. Respect your local venue. Down in the pit. Micah Remy grabbed his cousin Denise's hand and started to head for the doors but she grabbed his arm. Wait, we gotta find Laurie and Brandon. If there's a fire, Denise shook her head. The used smell smoke. It's probably just some asshole pulling a prank. It happens all the time but we haven't seen them since we got here. I'm starting to worry. Micah followed as Denise began weaving her way through the crowd, making her way slowly upstream against the current of bodies exiting the club. The singer had been smart to give the fans instructions like that. Rock and roll history was chucked full of examples of what could happen when a fire alarm triggered a panic in the middle of the show. So far that wasn't happening here. Folks were just heading for the door in a reasonably orderly fashion. Denise kept her head on a swivel, scanning the crowd but she didn't see Laurie or Brandon anywhere. She hadn't seen him all night. Were they still backstage? Pulling her cousin along in her wake, she thought her way through the teaming thronged the door that led upstairs. When she reached for the handle though, she felt a hand on her arm. She raised her eyes to find two men blocking their path. Excuse me. I think our friends are still upstairs. We had backstage passes. Oh yeah. Aren't you Miranda's friends? Miranda? Oh, that girl from the gas station. I mean, I guess. But we're looking for... Sure, sure. You're friends. Come with us. We'll take you to them. Denise and Micah exchanged a nervous look and before they could make another move, the man grabbed Micah by the collar. The other put an arm around her shoulders and a gesture that probably looked friendly from the outside, but felt like a vice. He leaned in close to whisper in her ear. Hush now. And everything went dark. Bird and the ares boys were finishing off another wave of the tainted blood suckers, three female vamps with weird shapeshifting abilities who surprised them on their way back down the stairs. It was a vicious fight and all three had sustained injuries. Bird had fallen wrong, dodging some slimy, tentacle thing one of them in shot at her and pain jolted up her leg with every step. And he was going to take weeks if not months to heal. Bug had a wrist that might be broken, but his younger brother was worse. Roach had taken a couple of nasty shots to the head. A gash over his left eye was bleeding like a stuck pig, but that wasn't worth the worry. Head wounds were like that. No, the problem was his eyes, the way one people had narrowed to a pinpoint while the other swelled wide like it was swallow all the light in the world. Roach was concussed at the very least. Maybe worse. She couldn't be sure. She could tend her own wounds when it came to it, but she was no medic. Bug had carried Roach out through the back door and loaded him into the truck. Birds stood by the open passage, watching their backs and handing the tools they brought with them out to Bug. Finally, she handed over the witch-working machete he'd loaned her for the night's work. And Bug stuck at a hand. With grudging respect, she shook, and he stepped out into the muggy alleyway behind the mercury. As you're working with your bird, what in mind to do it again sometime? Bug glanced past her into the dark, now silent, didn't you? I don't sit right with me just leaving you here. Are you sure you won't come to the door, slammed in Bird's face with a clang? She pushed against the bar that should have opened it, really put her shoulder into it, but it didn't budge. Someone or something had just sealed the exits. Behind her, she heard quiet voices coming from the venue proper. Quiet as a cat, she slipped into the shadows and edged her way into the wide room, crouching down behind the bar to observe. O'Peak Oats stood on stage, flanked by two other vampires. A fuzzy looking dude, impressed jeans and a button up who still wore a pair of little rounds vecticals perched on his nose, an effectation left over from his mortal life, she assumed, and a lanky blonde man in a jean jacket. A curvy, petite young woman in a scimpy black dress and heels that must have cost more than Bird's rent, frog marched the baby vamp up onto the stage. Her dyed black hair and heavy eye liners suggesting she was a type of girl who would have welcomed becoming a blood sucker like it was her dream come true. A sour taste filled Bird's mouth and she spat. On stage Miranda trembled as she stood before the vampire, Mr. Shelby had introduced to her as Troy. His mouth widened into a grin. Miss Miranda, well, you sure have caused us a heap of trouble ain't she boys. Me and Franklin and Mowbley here to drive all the way from that little trailer park up in the hills to find you. You're a naughty girl aren't you. Troy snapped his fingers and the two vampires Miranda vaguely recognized from Windsor Court dragged a pair of bodies onto the stage. Their heads draped in paper bags, arms and legs bound with gaff tape. As she washed in horror the taller the two men pulled off the hoods and the wide terrified eyes of Denise and Michael Ramey stared back at her. But we like naughty girls. We like folks who think for themselves instead of doing just what they're told. And seeing as how you brought us a couple of new recruits, I think all can be forgiven. Let them go. But please, I'll go back with you and I swear I won't make no more trouble just. Let them go, Mr. Troy, please. You misunderstand me Miranda, darling. I don't want to make you go back to that shitty little shack in the woods. I want to sit you free girl. What do you mean? You're not here to take me back? Take you back. We're here to take over. These so-called elders who are they to tell you where you can and can't go. What you can and can't do. They hang your mommy and daddy hell. They ain't even your maker. The way Glenn tells it, they killed your maker. What was his name? Miranda's gaze dropped to her feet, stung by the sudden reminder. The last time she'd come to the murk they'd been together. Markey. His name was Markey. He was... Your boyfriend. Is that right? His voice was strangely gentle. Miranda swallowed hard and shook her head. Yes. Yes, they had taken Markey away from her. For no reason she could see. And then packed her off to bump-butt like she was some little kid they could send off to Juvie. They wasn't fair. It never had been fair. The way I see it, Miss Miranda, they done you wrong. They took your people. So why should you do what they say? You don't know them nothing. I... Well, it's just that they're stronger than me. They just grabbed me and I couldn't fight back. I can show you how to fight back, Miranda. But they're older. They've got so much more power that has always been the problem. But not anymore. I can show you real power, Miss Miranda. Even better, I can give it to you. And you won't ever have to be scared of them again. Why should I believe you? You said yourself you come all the way from Baker's Gap, track me down here, cause all this trouble, kill my friends. And now it's supposed to believe you want to help me? You can make me strong. That was an unfortunate misunderstanding and I apologize for it. I can help you. It's like I've helped these fun folks. Mr. Willett? If you don't mind, show Miss Miranda what true power looks like. Moby Willett bowed his head in concentration. His shoulders heaving, tinnitus of shadows rose from the floor, wrapping around the vampire as his left eye began to burn with a sickly orange light. Soon, nothing of the man who had occupied the same trailer park as Miranda a mere day before remained visible. There was a deep pulse of violent light from within the cocoon of shadows and the barrier dissipated in a gauze in black haze. Where Moby Willett had stood, they're now perched and enormous raven. The bird flapped its wings and flew a circuit of the room, landing gracefully at Troy's feet. There was another flash of purple and the vampire stood before them once again. He gave it the atrical little bow and the assembled undead applauded politely. And you can teach me that. That and so much more. We have such sights to show you Miss Miranda. All you have to do is take my hand. Before Miranda could respond, she caught sight of a shimmer of movement on the stage behind Troy. Something so subtle that a mortal eye could not have perceived it. The famous breath of a whisper followed on its heels. And then chaos erupted all around them. Availed woman in a white dress carrying what appeared to be an ancient umbrella materialized behind Moby Willett seized him by the scruff of the neck and tossed him into the nearest wall with the force of a meteorite. His body all but exploded against the brick. The blonde boy who had first questioned Troy at the warehouse was born to the ground by a moustache-y old man and a finely tailored suit who appeared to step from a shadow with the force of a crashing wave. The sound of breaking bones and squelching flesh rang across like gunshots to the near-empty venue. Franklin Rutledge turned as someone tapped him politely on the shoulder. He found himself face to face with the most striking person he'd ever laid eyes on. A being the color of tumbled onyx with cheekbones sharpened up to cut and eyes that glowed like fireflies. He was struck dumb by the sheer magnitude of their soul-silencing beauty until they seized him by the throat and drank him down. One moment an apex predator stood on the stage and the next there was a flash of bioluminescent light and a desiccated husk that might have been buried a hundred years before crumpled to the floor where Franklin once stood. Jessaman Rogers face with a mask of terror as she recognized these new arrivals. She clandest around desperately for a means of escape reaching into the well of darkness her new master had imbued her with the chain's shape and then screamed as a hand closed in her hair. The voice that had not so long ago welcomed her to the path of endless night hissed in her ear. While hello my traitorous little Cyrus Robertson never got the chance to finish what he'd planned to say to her. As Jessaman's body seemed to dissolve into shadow, his hands closing on air. The shadows writhed, piroued in the air and a heartbeat later she was back, solid as a bullet. Her mouth that astended horror filled with rows of daggers sharp fangs. Faster than the human eyes present could follow, she tore out his throat down to the bone and rinsed his head from his shoulders. Jessaman fell to her knees, seized with a sudden searing pain of the ties she'd just severed with her maker. Whether she'd forgotten the cost of what she'd done or simply assumed that her new found powers would protect her from it, the distraction spilled her doom. A black female vampire carrying a bulging green leather satchel almost as big as she was stepped from the shadows. Bird recognized her from boots as lessons as Annabelle Moss. She was a hair under five feet but moved with a grace and confidence to belive her stature and wielded the bone saw she pulled from the bag with a strength and speed that were terrifying. In moments Jessaman Rogers head rolled to the ground to rest alongside her makers. Between the constant surging hum, her injuries and adrenaline, Bird's body had gone numb, but she knew she had to act now. Sheer pickheaded Will propelled her forward, bursting her from her hiding place behind the bar, just sprint across the link to the room and leap up onto the stage. She couldn't let them take anything else from her, couldn't let them destroy the tiny shred of humanity that babyface vamp still had left in her if she killed the kid now. She'd be doing her a favor. At least that's what she told herself as she ran a stake clean through Miranda's sternum, stunning her long enough to take her head. A scared bugot expression met Bird's as she tightened the grot and pull. She was surprised to find her own vision blurred with tears and flashback to one of the first lessons her old man taught her and thus repeated his words. A young and blood stains forever. The chaos around her faded and she sat back on her heels staring down at the girl. She wasn't looking at the body of a blood-sucking parasite, but the sad result of a life-cut short when some selfish prick had turned a young woman into a monster. She'd robbed the kid just as much as her maker. In the center of the stage, a group of vampires Bird's demise must be the elders of Knoxville had surrounded Peacote. She recognized some of them, either from her father's descriptions or by reputation. She'd already clocked Annabelle Moss who descended from a long line of undertakers and put those skills to good use, cleaned up any unfortunate messes that might result from a feeding gone wrong. The others included an undruggenous beauty that had to be cosmoda, which was a terrifying thought. And the white dude who looked like a banker must be Moses Harp. As for the woman with the umbrella, who had since vanished, Bird had a few guesses, but couldn't be sure. The man that followed her from Baker's gap struggled against whatever invisible hold the other vampires seemed to have over him. His arms pressed to his side, feet dangling an inch off the floor. He was all but slobbering as he cursed at him, bloody drool flying. Moses harped side and shook his head. Stand down, son. Have a good sense of no one you're beaten. Oh, you think I'm beaten old man? You have no idea what you're dealing with. The power I found that you fools just gave away. I have new masters now. There's not one of y'all that has authority over. The door leading from the back of the venue to the club proper hit the wall with a bang. And Troy choked, his voice strangled by some new binding. Be silent, boy. A short, pudgy man and a wrinkled blue plaid button up and khakis shuffled into the room. And the shadow of a woman in a long old-fashioned white dress made of layers of some gauzy material. Her bare feet were silent on wood floors that had creaked with every step the rest of them had made. Her long white hair hung loose down her back, and her skin was bloodless, white and white, she has a magnolia in the moonlight. Her mere presence seemed to suck air from the room. His eyes bulged in shock at the side of her. The older vampires of Knoxville dipped their heads to the blonde woman in greeting, and she returned the gesture. Then she turned to the bound vampire and made a subtle swipe with her hand. He sucked in air and started babbling. Rose, I thought you were a mad old woman? An invalid senile perhaps? Or just stupid Troy? No, Rose, I love, I did this for us, so I could help you. Help all of us. With the power I found under the mountain, there's no need for us to cower in the cities to get permission from some hillbilly munder any time we want to go from one place to another. We can do whatever we want, we can go where we want. My dear sweet child, your greatest fault was always that you thought yourself above everyone else. Brave, smarter, cleverer, we know very well what lies under the mountain, what it can do for us and what it does to us. The poor corrupts, and that power must be kept well away from places where it would have so many hosts it could take. But why? Why not master it? Learn to use it. It spreads too easily through our bloodlines and from us to the cattle. So the green stands against it in the wild country and the night defends the settled places. It is our part. It is our duty to uphold it and to punish those who violate it. I'm so sorry, I never explained this to you. We were separated and you thought me dead. You were my responsibility and I failed you. Oh Rosie, no. I'm sorry. Rosalie leaned in close. Her forehead pressed to his and Troy closed his eyes. Her delicate pale hand rose to stroke his cheek. It was as close as they'd been since the night of the fire. How did he miss this? Missed her. When he'd found her, she'd seen little more than a shell and abandoned house with broken windows through which he'd caught only an occasional glance of the ghost of the vibrant woman who'd once lived there. But now she seemed revived. And perhaps with time she would come to see he was right. They had time after all, all the time in the world, Rosalie kissed his cheek. And then his lips. Troy gazed into her bright blue eyes. She favored him with a small, sad smile. My poor Troy, you always were my favorite. And with that, Rosalie gripped Troy's chin in one hand and the back of his head and the other. And in a motion too fast for the naked eye to follow, she wrenched it from his shoulders. Blood sprayed across her elegant white dress and seeped across the polished stage from the hollow stump of his neck with his body slumped to the floor. His head thunked down beside it and the room fell silent. Miss Rosalie closed her eyes and stood still for a long moment. Then she turned to the elders of Knoxville. You have my sincere apologies for the behavior of my child and the trouble he and the young one you entrusted to my care have caused here. As they both received justice, accepted Moses' harp said. There is the question of the weird guild. Both your people and I have lost progeny today. The blonde woman turned her gaze on the ramey cousins who still lay bound on the edge of the stage huddled together in terror, realizing what they intended from her place on the floor where she had not quite been able to lead Miranda's body, birds surged to her feet. Look around, there are dozens of dead people attached to every single vampire lying here. Hundreds of lives grishatted on top of that. We ain't done enough. Let them be. The vampire with the fire of lie eyes whipped its head around to face bird. Humming bird bonnet. Kill your tongue or swallow it. What do you know of humanity with hands sort in a child's blood? Boots taught you balance, yes? You'd be wise to recall his lessons. Annabelle mustep forward when she spoke her voice fairly rang with authority. I see your mind turning bird and no we did not work a root on you. Your guilt has cemented you to that spot. How some tells me they once found your kin the same way. Hunched over a kill, he could not name as good or evil. I watched Boots gather on the flora he could to give his quarry a proper funeral. Monde and the sun eyes took the body. There's an order to be kept to a child. A push and pull greater than right or wrong. Duality does not need your understanding to exist. He'd stilled at the mention of her father and gave their logic some consideration. A treat he was in place. Rules are rules, but all of that, paled in comparison to the captive human shivering and terror. Being a bystander in the face of a wrong was never in her skill set. She'd rather die with her morals intact than step aside and bear witness and she turned to sprint towards the kids but her bodies tuttered and seized as if every cell had been called to attention. Oh, she'd been mistaken in assuming the elders the men's were optional. Birds' bodies slowly spun to face the council, one of whom's eyes blazed a seething green. Birds' world filled dark and silent around those eyes and then finally blacked out entirely. Annabelle Moss turned back to Miss Rosalie. I would consider it a favor if you would be so kind as to see the hunter safely home when our business is done. Rosalie nodded her assent. With the matter of hummingbird bonheight settled, the elders continued their negotiation without further interruption. Under most circumstances the reamy cousins would simply be glamored and returned home with only rosy but vague memories of a fun-filled evening at a concert. The holes in their recollections easy enough to chalk up to a free-handed bartender willing to ignore their age and too much to drink. The problem was the cousins were only half of a group of four who had traveled together. Their friends would be missed and there would be no easy way to explain their disappearances. No. Better for all four to simply vanish, their families would hang up flyers, perhaps there would be a segment on the news in the local paper but all too quickly the fates of four kids from out of town would be forgotten. At least here in Knoxville. Do we really want to take on more children? Yes we need to replenish the ranks of our progeny but as this situation amplifies young folks lack the discipline required for our world in this modern era. Children can be educated. Have we not seen enough senseless death this night? If you are unwilling to take them on, I'm happy to welcome them. I have, after all, lost both my soul remaining child and my ward tonight and we have lost a dozen at your child's hands. Your house best at blame for this and you expect to be rewarded? The bickering went back and forth amongst the elders for some time while in the background their various underlings went to work setting things to write or as write as things could be made under the circumstances. In the end it was decided that Rosalie would be granted one new child and the elders of Knoxville would decide amongst themselves who would turn the other. At a gesture from Annabelle Moss, one of her progeny bent untied in the Sennmikah Ramy where they are huddled on the floor. What the fuck? You all think you can just decide our futures and we have no say in it? Who the hell are you people? And what did you do with our friends? Did he hush? I don't think they can. No. I want answers, Maka. They're going to kill us anyway or turn us into whatever they are, whatever Miranda was, I guess. The elders paused in their negotiation and Kosoom Oda stepped toward the humans, crouching down to address them at eye level. Fair enough. Kosoom gestured to the others. We as a elder council of vampires of Knoxville and she is Miss Rosalie who governs a wastation of sorts for our kind in Johnson County. As for your friends, I assume you mean that two young people who found upstairs, a young man and woman. Unfortunately, they did not make it. Victims of the malcontents before forced to deal with tonight. Beside her, Denise heard Maka let out a sob. Her head swam and there was ringing in her ears, the elder kept talking and she forced herself to pay attention. This too is the question of your future. Well, you have ears girl. You've heard our discussions here tonight. If you'd like to weigh in, your options are limited. If you can bring you into our fold, you'll be expected to follow certain rules in a better laws that govern our kind and our interactions with both the living world and other factions. So life you know will be no more. You will not be allowed to contact with your family or anyone else you knew before. So it will be as if you disappeared. Or you can die. Make your friends. If they make it look like an accident. Four teenagers on the highway late at night assads statistic for that happens every day and your families will at least have that closure. The choice is yours. The blood drain from Denise's face and recoil from the older's words. Maka gripped her hand. Deity. Denise turned to her cousin. His eyes were wide and scared. His hands were shaking. Deity, I don't want to die. I'm not ready. And just as she'd always done. Denise Ramey stepped in to take care of her cousin to do the hard work their family had so often failed to do. She pulled her cousin into another uncharacteristic hug and nodded to the elders of Knoxville over his head as she sued them. Shh. It's going to be okay, Maka. Nobody else that's dying today. When Bird came to, she found herself parked in her front yard, strapped into the front seat of her truck. Her head throbbed and her mouth was dry as cotton. She ate all over. But it appeared her wounds had been bandaged and she still had all her fingers and toes. Dredging her stiff limbs, she stepped out into the front yard. The sky was going gray and she could just make out a pink globe beginning to trace its way across the mountain tops in the distance. She cast her gaze around the yard, under the porch, into the shadows behind the shed and between the trees. But near as she could tell, she was alone. No sign of any disturbance. More importantly, the hung had gone quiet. Today, she was going to suck, she thought. Today, she was going to hurt. Couldn't be helped though. With a sigh, she hefted her gobag from the back of the truck and limped inside to make breakfast for boots. Well, hey there, family. How'd you like that? Was that a long enough ride for you for a finale? Checking in and well over an hour, we bring the final arc of season five of old gods, papillacia, run like hell to a close. And if you've been with us on other finales and at the end of other long roads, you know that I am seldom alone in the darkness when we come to the end of the long lonely path. And joining me here is my favorite witch in the whole wide world. Cam Collins, how are you? I'm doing good. How are you doing, family? Oh, I'm exhausted. This was a monster in an episode to put together. And we appreciate Charles Patience. We have wanted to cover the grounds of the satanic panic and the late 80s, early 90s in our papillacia for a long time. We know we dipped out to the 40s with that Barrow family storyline that we just had a lot of fun with. But mainly this season was meant to be set in a more modern setting. And we knew that meant leaving the comfort of old Tommy Apillacia, the front porch of the Walker Sisters house. And you saw county as you knew it, but had to be done, eh? Which? It had to be done. And for the... We've seen it said that it's not apillacian enough. Well, the season that most closely reflects the actual lived experiences of its apillacian creators, I assure you, is as apillacian as it gets, fam. Yep, yep, yep, yep. A lot of life experience in this one for us, because we grew up as weird, freaky, goth punk, D&D, plan weirdos, one of a very small friend groups in the middle of nowhere. And I know we got listeners back home, and I know we got people we went to school with, who maybe we weren't that tight with. Thank y'all for enjoying the show, not throwing rocks at our head anymore. But we know this change. Some of you JinXers out there have let us know that we have touched your filthy black hearts with our lost boys' references and call outs to all our favorite Goth bands that we shared. So, so those are y'all, thank you so much for your support. And we really thank you for identifying and seeing us as we see you. Um, for other folks. And for those of you who hate it, better still here with us. Thank you for sticking around. We appreciate you. And who knows what season six will hold. Um, we can assure you it's probably not going to be people sitting around on their cell phones. Yeah, now it's going to be the beautiful thing about old gods is that we can go in any direction in time we want to go. And we're not going to say anything about season six just yet, but just promise, promise you. If you love us and you like what we do. I mean, we can't say one thing about, we will, we will tell you one thing about season six because we get this question every time and we know some of y'all panic. We will return in January. That's January 2026. So you know, that's when we'll be back from our highatus and we'll take a little time to play in and reflect and get started right and see. Work on other projects. So yeah. Yep. There are other projects in the kettle that we have, uh, we have yet to poke at in a while. So we got to make sure they're still floating. Uh, we really appreciate everybody, uh, who's helped us make this season a reality because this season featured more actors and additional voices on this show than ever before. I think it's a record. I'm not sure it is. It is. Yeah. Let's do these five at a time, Cam. I want to thank Kelsen Stallard, Brandon Bentley, Cecil Baldwin, Tracy Johnson Crumb and Dr. Ray Christian, Betsy Puckett, Andy Marie Tillman, Adam Kimporis, Autumn Bogman and Aaron Bentley, Craig Rice, Alison Mellon, Stephanie Hickman, Beckman, DJ Rogers, Karen Stoby and a whole bunch of extras, including Jared Leonard, Jay Cass, Jack Flannery, Chad Rogers and Lily Annabacon. And of course, collaborating not only as a voice actor, but as part of our Rodding team for the final arc of the season, Nita Jade was an absolutely thrilling experience. And maybe you guys over on the hauler will get to hear a conversation with Nita Jade in the near future. If we can make those schedules alive, no promise is just yet, but I know they are anxious to meet y'all as much as y'all are anxious to meet them. And they have been just such a delight to work with and just a brilliant light in bringing the character of Bird to life, not only as a voice actor, but as the driving force behind create character creation and writing for her. Yeah, they've been so amazing. If it is touching Bird, is Bird is a roundbird, you're listening to the work of Nita Jade. And we are thrilled to have completed that with them and welcome them to our creative family just in general. All this season has been a labor of love. It has been a labor of labor. It's been, it's been a lot of work. Also the music this season, talk about labor intensive and labor of love. I have missed being in a band so much, so much so that I made up a few and got to bring it and got to bring in some of our best friends to do it. Can't move we had. Well as always, the genius behind our themes is Brother Landon Blatt, Sean Charles Dwyer yanking your fucking heartstrings right out of your chests as always, Jacob Danielson Moore. Oh my gosh, like neon fucking Dracula. Jacob Danielson Moore came out with neon Dracula when I told him we were doing this season in this setting. And then when I heard it, it was just, it was exactly what I wanted. It was perfect. It was absolutely perfect. And then to get to collaborate with one of my best friends Matt Evans, we were in hardcore bands together for the better part of a decade and a half to create no more light with him and our tour manager slash audio engineer Chris Hayes was absolutely a joy. And yeah, I would do that again in a heartbeat. And then Jason Sturgel is an old friend of ours from Eastern Kentucky. He played in bands back in the early 2000s when Cam and I used to go to shows at the Apple shop in white's Burk and Tucky. He was in Rapture of the meek. He was in Pete X Rose or I guess just Pete Rose, you don't say the X. It was in a lot of great bands. One of my favorite collaborators, we'd not work together in a decade when I called him up and asked if I could use this old song, which you heard in this episode tonight, it was playing when Denise and Micah were down in the pit. And then we created a whole new song. You heard that at the end of the last episode. And Jason is just a great guy. And I have to give one second to shout out Brad Centres who was a member of Pete Rose with Jason who passed away this weekend after a long battle with cancer. And Jason donated all of his compensation for the music he did with us to hospice care for our friend Brad. And any more key does what's in the future will go to Eastern Kentucky Mutual Aid and other causes because that's kind of who Jason is. Absolute rock solid dude. I wanted to shout him out and memorialize Brad. Hail the traveler. And then always at the end of the road there, Tour Daddy. Chris Hayes. The man who keeps us alive on tour and whenever an audio problem comes up that this monkey turn in knobs can't figure out he's happy to come in and do work for us and make sure the show sounds as good as it possibly can. Alrighty. We also would like to thank everybody who came out to see us for our makeup tour dates back in June of 2025. We had a fantastic time on the road. It was awesome to meet y'all. Once again, the Midwest showing up treating us so well as well as here back home in Mary and Boone. Thank y'all so much. And we'll let you know whenever we decide to head back out on the road might be a minute. But we have some other ideas cooking. Yep. We'll let you know as soon as those are ready to come off the stove and on to the table. Let's see what else is on the list here. Which. Oh, flash. Oh, flash sale. Oh, yeah. Flash sale this weekend in our classic merch shop that's running today through Sunday. So if you haven't got your hands on our new line of season five merch, there's no better time than this weekend. Just visit our website or check out the show notes for the link to the classic merch shop. Now we know when we go away for a series of months y'all get lonely. New material will be posted monthly over in the holler. If you haven't joined us in the holler now is the time there are hours upon hours upon hours. Build Mama, coffin door under the floor, familiar and beloved black mouth dog. The story's involving the stranger Steve reads, Cam reads just just just tons upon tons of great stories. There are many, many standalone stories. Yep. Waiting for you over there. And there will be in the months that we're gone. There will be regular holler postings of stories and features that will continue while we're gone. So at least once a month, if you're getting that Jones for your old God's fix, you can head on over. You can be a member of the holler and at least pick up that one little taste until we come back in January of 2026. Can I do it today? Can I do it today? The witch has been wanting to do this for a long time. So go ahead. And this is your It's the end of the season, not the end of the show Calm Down. Reminder that old Gods of Appalachia is a production of deep nerd media and is distributed by Rusty Quill. Today's story was written by Steve Shell, Cam Collins and special guest writer Nita Jade. The voice of Hummingbird Bonite was Nita Jade. The voice of Troy was Adam Kimporis. The voice of Miranda Coffee was Andy Murray Tillman. The voice of Denise Rainey was Autumn Bogman and the voice of Micah Rainey was Aaron Bentley. The voice of Jesseman Rogers was Cam Collins. The voice of Miss Rosalie was Karen Stoby. The voice of Annabelle Moss was Stephanie Hickling Beckman and the voice of Kossam Odeh was DJ Rogers. Our intro music was the land unknown, the Homies Nowhere Verses written and performed by Landon Blood and our outro music was neon Dracula by Violet Fear, aka Jacob Danielson Moore. You can download that one now from Jake's bandcamp which is linked in the show notes. We'll see you soon family. Maybe not quite as soon as y'all used to but real soon. Talk to you soon family. Talk to you real soon. This is your business. This is your business superchild for the help of Zero Accounting Software. This is managing cash flow. This is managing your cash flow with the help of Zero Accounting Software. These are your customers paying you. These are your customers having more ways to pay you with the help of Zero Accounting Software. This is your business superchild with the help of Zero. How can you show your cash flow by giving your customers more ways to pay so that you can focus on making up business food? Superchild, your business today with the help of Zero. 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Two votes for Barcelona. Me and Sove had a great time in Parma last year and I remember thinking it would be great with a couple of beers and the boys. Barcelona! Three, one, mate, we're on our way. But now and choose from over 75 destinations. Nothing beats jet to subject to availability in editions.