Jeff was intrigued by what his mother and sisters had told him about what they'd run into. Much of it was only theory, but it did at least partially explain some of the oddities of what had happened. Why the two Slug Women, Megan and Jenny had had such interest in them after moving into the house across the street. Particularly with regard to turning them into Slug People and likely enslaving them to the lustful mindset that Megan and Jenny had come in with. The world knew that Slug People were more open about sex than Humans, but it was also generally accepted that they didn't normally use that as a means to go after people. This often raised the suspicion of outside actors, or witches and warlocks, depending on the era, influencing the Slug People that did. The debate that then followed was whether or not it was "magic" or something else that caused the abnormal behavior.
As it stood for the Chapmans, it would be hard to not prove magic given some of the things that had happened. First with the fact that Whitney's transformation was with hardly any notice that she was transforming into a Slug Woman and then that they couldn't get out through the master bedroom windows to escape Megan and Jenny, despite the fact that windows had no locks and while the paint was old, it wasn't so old that the window was closed when the frame was painted. There was just too much in that alone that gave an indication that magic was real, perhaps not as it was in stories or movies, but real nonetheless. The addition that Edward Cupple supposedly was able to assault the minds of his mother and sisters in their engagement added to the suspicion of magic, as Humans were not telepathic by nature. This made finding a way to counter the warlock important, as he was likely the one that had gotten control over Megan and Jenny and caused the present problems.
"There might be a problem with that though," Jeff spoke up, "the main Slug Person colony and the churches that might have some knowledge on how to counter Cupple are outside the house and we're stuck in it."
"Not anymore," Zoe answered, "we could obviously go out through the windows and I'd bet that whatever spell Ed cast to help Megan and Jenny keep us trapped in here either wore off when they tried to come in here. In this, we could go out now and one or two of us could carry you down the side of the house."
"Yes, that is how we came in, since you got yourself trapped in the closet," Lucy commented to you, "our natural abilities now as Slug Women may change that..."
"And in some ways, you're already changing if you could feel us coming," Grace added.
"The big question would be who to go to help to," Whitney said with a sigh as she moved one eye to look to the window and then to her transformed daughters and then finally to her Human son, "I mean... I wanted to throttle Cupple when he confronted us... but the shock he gave me... it stunned me easily. So do we go to who might know how to counter him in the Church or other Slug People who may believe us more readily?"
"Couldn't we find another witch or warlock?" Grace wondered, "maybe someone that isn't in league with Mr. Cupple?"
"That'd probably depend on knowing who is and who isn't a witch or a warlock and that would be before figuring out if that person would be a good witch or a bad witch," Jeff warned, "I mean... we've largely lived thinking that magic was fake and that there had to be some scientific explanation for the things Slug People do or can do. Thus the wake up call to that has only just occurred."
Grace sighed and looked down for a moment. She seemed to feel rather sad and depressed, and it made Jeff want to do something to help her, give her some confidence or something like that, but at the same time he wasn't all that sure he had that much confidence to share. Things had moved quickly and the people that had supposedly come for a friendly visit had them effectively trapped in the master bedroom of the house and had managed to invade it once. There was then the further complication that Edward Cupple himself posed, and getting help was good. However, it'd likely take some time to get there.
"I'd think we contact the Slug People," Zoe commented as she drifted over to the window and looked out to the north, "all the stories have seemed to tie witches and warlocks to them... they'd probably know more about Mr. Cupple and what his exact goals are as he likely contacted them."
"Wouldn't that put them in league with him?" Lucy countered.
"If they were in league, the whole colony would have come with Megan and Jenny and we'd be feeling pressure from the hive mind to turn Jeff," Zoe pointed out, "My guess is, Cupple went there and offered a deal, found that the colony didn't support it and that there were two many linked minds for him to enslave and thus left before they either ganged up on him or called for law enforcement."
"That'd make sense given that you were able to resist him together," Jeff pointed out.
"But it was tough," Grace said weakly, "it was like a constant assault and his voice sounded hypnotic. I think all of us were really depending on Lucy's independence there to resist him."
"You're stronger than you think, Grace," Whitney said to Grace while hugging her shoulder and rubbing the dorsal side of Grace's tail with her own.
"It might also teach us about how Cupple might have enslaved them," Zoe added.
"Assuming that he did," Lucy countered, "they could have been Humans like we were and then turned into Slug Women as part of his plan. If that's the case the other Slug People won't know a thing about them... and wouldn't necessarily guarantee getting rid of Cupple... or at least getting him to admit to what he's done. I'd say we go to the churches in town here... They'd at least have some belief in "magic" and can believe what happened and have some means of countering what Cupple may do."
"Not all ministers will "believe" in magic, though," Jeff warned, "they might just see God as God and think that magic was just things made up to take away from him."
"They'd still have some measure of spirituality that would go beyond what could be scientifically explained," Lucy countered with some determination, "especially when so many of them campaign politically to have public schools drop things from their science courses or have "intelligent design" put in as part of the science lesson. They'd then have to accept that there are forces in this world that don't easily line up with what science tells us."
"But that doesn't mean that all of them would understand how to fight someone using magic," Grace commented, "our church was a Protestant church. The church that likely had the most knowledge and actively fought with witches and warlocks would have been the Catholic Church and we don't know how much they would actually know today."
"Yes... but they'd all still give us a chance to look into the possibilities of what to do and get some advice on other things to do," Lucy answered, "we might also get some clues on who might be able to help us beyond sympathy and without the limitations that Slug People have. For remember, all the reports of "magic" that they have are rather limited and low level. They aren't active magic users. In this, going to the Slug People colony might protect us from attack... but we'd still leave other people vulnerable to Cupple and his slaves. Thus the world could fall to a wicked wizard and we'd be isolated and thus not truly free."
That got Jeff to think back for a moment, as Lucy made some sense there. There were some small things that he disagreed with, but much of that was small and the parts of what Lucy had pointed to that he did agree with made some sense. A lot of it also related to Lucy's own character, and thus why Lucy would make that argument. It was something that gave Jeff some private assurance that when his time to transform fully came, he'd at least still remain who he was. The big question know was coming to an agreement on what to do, though from Zoe's crossed arms and frown, Jeff guessed that Zoe didn't agree with Lucy.
"Can we agree to go with a vote?" Jeff offered before the argument became heated, "we go with what wins the vote."
The others nodded.
"All for making their way to the Slug People colony?" Zoe raised her hand up, which Grace did.
"All for contacting the churches and finding some way to counter Cupple?" Lucy asked, which you hesitantly voted for.
The only one who didn't vote was Whitney who then cleared her throat, "I don't think this is an either or situation. I think we can do both. We contact the churches, explain what happened... particularly as our forms will be proof. We can get more information, if not something that would counter Cupple's magic, and we can then move to the Slug People colony. For given things... once we leave here... Cupple may well take it over and use it for something. Coming back here might well mean a battle on the front lawn or the living room... after breaking into the house. We'd then get everything needed to counter him and a safe place to stay while planning our next move."
"So you'd vote for both?" Zoe asked.
"In a sense," Whitney nodded, "though the big question will then be if Jeff can climb out the window now that the window's been opened by Megan and Jenny..."
"Only one way to test that," Jeff said slowly as he stood up.