I don't actually think Clova can cook, so I offer her a chance. [Halloween Special 2021]

“I’m going, to be honest. I don’t think you can cook.”

Clova scoffs and pushes you aside. “I’m about to make you eat those words.”

After saying that, Clova goes to the small kitchenette and grabs her bag. She gets things figured out on the counter and grabs something from the pack.

It’s a small canvas pouch that says “fish.”

It becomes apparent that she was gambling on cooking tonight anyway because she pulls out two relatively large fish from the pouch. Clova also seems comfortable in the kitchenette. She plucks items from the cabinets and starts cooking almost immediately after obtaining her fish. “That’s cheating,” you mumble, finding a chair.

“I don’t gamble unless I know I can win,” Clova says, smirking to herself as she starts filleting fish.

“I thought you said you didn’t gamble.”

“Not much of a gamble if you know you’re going to win now, is it?” Her smirk becomes a smile.

There’s oil and gallons of water all stowed here. It’s obvious this place was used as a rendezvous with Clova’s old team.

The stove doesn’t work, but there are alternative sources of heat that she uses. Portable ovens that were tucked away and wrapped in sacks. Propane canisters hiss and produce the proper fuel for flames to heat the pots and pans being used. While everything fires and boils, she turns down the heat and lets the fish shimmer to join you where you are sitting.

You both look at each other without saying anything. At that point, you were kind of hoping she was just going to talk simply, but instead, she reaches the map and unfolds it, moving things aside as she puts it into view. You see the circle that was there before and then some notes in the corner. Mostly numbers about bandits seen in the area, as well as a list of anomalies. Clova takes out a marker and dots a location on the map and tells you where you are currently. You’re only about 2 hours away from where you need to go, she promises it won’t be terrible, but she hasn’t been in the area since early Summer - the last time she was here, her team was wiped out by bandits.

Clova lets you study the map a little more, giving you tidbits of information every couple of seconds. Then, when there’s a pause, she tells you it was time to eat.

…

…

There was general silence over the table as you ate. There were many things to process from the day and what could happen in the next 24 hours. Then, halfway through the meal, you meet eyes, and she smiles.

Clova leans back swallows. “I’ve seen some weird things in these woods.”

You proceed to do the same things she just did and blink. “You don’t work in the woods and not see anything wood. I’ve had a couple of run-ins with bigfoot. The last time he almost killed me.”

Clova purses her lips together, almost as if she expected you to take a much more serious approach to her new choice of subject. “No, seriously. Where’s your Halloween spirit?”

A couple of events come back to mind, as well as some of the things Delilah had once shared with you. “Do you want to continue your story, or did you want to hear some of the things I’ve seen?”

“Depends whether or not you’re going to share true stories,” Clova now looks bored as she crosses her arms. You might even go as far as to say unimpressed.

“Dealers choice,” you reply. “You already seem pretty invested, so why don’t you just pick up where you left off?”

She snorts and leans into the table, pushing her plate away from her. “You’ve heard of, like the native American legend of the skinwalker, haven’t you?”

You nod. “Skinwalker, the Rake, uhm, Wendigos?”

“Wendigos are different, jackass.”

A smirk fights itself to your lips. “Whatever. What's with the skin kid, Clova?”

Now she’s smiling. “You can’t just call it the skin kid and expect it to scare people.”

“You don’t think that skin kid sounds spooky?”

She shakes her in response. “Of course not. Now, are you going to let me finish?”

You roll your wrist, gesturing for her to continue. She thanks and takes a deep inhale in, recalling the events she’s about to tell you.

“Obviously, this was a while ago, but I was sent out with a small team to take up a contract for a ranch about two days from here. The payment for the contract described was oddly high, so our officers had suspicions, so they geared a little better than usual and gave us two more bodies for protection.”

Somewhat intrigued, you asked what the contract was. She makes a face as she contains a burp.

“The contract was that some dude was losing his cows and chickens. The contract from the farmer promised it wasn’t a regular animal, um, or like an NSH,” her eyes drifted to the door you used to come in and sighed. “First couple of days, we came up empty-handed, and we were debating whether or not to leave without finishing the task since it was a waste of time, but then he offered to pay us extra if we stayed the rest of the weeks.”

“So, what changed?” You inquire.

“One of us went missing one night. She just…vanished,” Clova cleared her throat. “She was an asshole, so it wasn’t much of a loss.”

You smile, and so does Clova. “But, you know…Of course, we had to go looking. The rancher was alone, and the others needed to go out into the woods to conduct a search attempt. They left me with the rancher and the family.”

“That’s how the rest of your guys die?” You cut in. Clova shakes her head.

“No, they all come back. Have been empty-handed, but they were all different after it happened. They found something horrifying. They forced rules and made sure we all followed them.” Clova lets out a sigh, giving the door a good stare before continuing. “One of those rules was that we couldn’t go out when the sun was down. I didn’t follow that rule the night before we were done with the protection contract.”

Clova looks at you; her complexion has turned into a shade of less than usual pale. You waited for her to continue, but she started to look like she wished she hadn’t brought it up.

“What happened?” You egged.

“I… I was visited by the person that went missing.” Clova exhaled, not meeting your gaze. “I was just right outside the porch, thinking about where I was, and she just simply walked right up to me.”

You waited, now wondering if she was telling some kind of weird dream. Clova still didn’t meet your gaze, but she spoke usually. “My lamp lighted her up, and I saw that her skin was all waxy and torn as if it were twisted. She had bad teeth before, but when she smiled, they were all uniform and perfect. Her eyes were gone, but she spoke to me like nothing was wrong.”

For a few seconds, you wait for a punch line or for her to start laughing, saying something like “did ya get scared!?” or maybe a “just kidding!!”

You got neither one of those follow-ups, however. Clova just stopped talking, staring distantly into her empty plate. “It didn’t even register that she was all fucked up to me at first. We just stood there talking nonsense. She tried to get me to go into the woods with her towards the end, and that’s when it finally clicked. Whoever I was talking to was just using the skin of someone I knew.”

“Her demeanor changed when I stepped back, and she seemed to get very angry that I wasn’t going to follow her. Even when I was finally inside, I swore I could hear someone pacing on the porch and around the house.”

Clova ended her story by saying that nothing else happened, and they all got paid there and got a little bonus after returning to Deadwood. Next, she explained to tell you she never learned what others saw and that the subject was taboo for anyone involved. Finally, she asks if you believe her or not.

You aren’t sure what to say. Finally, she gets tired of waiting and tells you goodnight.