There were a lot of questions whizzing through Whitney's mind as she looked across Simon's living room to find that the man who was the pastor at the church the Chapmans attended was the "friend" of the Slug Person colony that might be able to help them deal with Edward Cupple and restore safe control of their own home. A lot of it seemed like a coincidence or something else that was rather strange, though she also noted a somewhat guilty look on Reverand Jack's face as he looked down toward the floor. Simon stood on the other side of Reverand Jack and was looking to the reverend with one eye and to Whitney, Zoe, and Grace with the other. It was probable that he was surprised by Whitney's outburst just as much as they were surprised to see Reverand Jack.
"Is there..." Simon said slowly, and with his voice trailing off at the end.
"This is Reverand Jack," Grace spoke, "he's been the paster at the church we've gone to since moving to town... and was there all through high school for all of us."
"Polite and kind... helpful... and always involved with things in town," Zoe added, "he made for a great paster, and his sermons reflected that sort of thing."
"Sounds something quite like the man who's been a good friend to the colony and has kept tabs on some of the more... supernatural things that have gone on here," Simon commented.
"More just a lazy wizard looking to abuse abilities that God gave him," Reverand Jack corrected and then focused to Whitney and her daughters, "but what is all this... how is all this, Mrs. Chapman. You seemed devastated when your husband died... like you wouldn't be interested in marrying again..."
"And I wasn't," Whitney answered, "as Simon said..." she paused to gesture to herself and to her daughters, "this was the result of a wizard's dark plan and started with a pair of Slug Women coming to our home."
"Were they from the colony?" Reverand Jack asked and glanced to Simon.
"Personally... I don't know, they said their names were Megan and Jenny," Whitney answered, "and they just showed up at our home two nights ago and invited themselves in to dinner."
"If they were part of the colony," Grace offered, sensing some unease within Simon through the hivemind, "they had wandered beyond the range that the collective hivemind of the colony could protect them and were bewitched... and it's quite possible that they were both human before they became Slug Women."
"And they came to dinner?" Reverand Jack asked.
"Yes... likely playing to some of the defensive magics that Slug People have and that we couldn't reject them outright, and might have even been channeling the same spell that enslaved them onto us," Whitney answered, "the end result is that all of us... Jeff and Lucy too... got coated in enough slime that we were all set to become Slug People... even though NONE of us asked for it. Megan and Jenny were just talking about a new hive..."
"It's not completely unusual for new colonies to form where there are existing colonies," Reverand Jack commented and glanced to Simon, "did this Megan and Jenny announce themselves to you first?"
"I only found out about this yesterday evening," Simon answered, "Whitney and her children have apparently been on quite a journey trying to get help..."
"And the most help we got before arriving here was from the guy running the Catholic Church in town," Zoe added, "and even he said he'd have to get in touch with his superiors to get the information we need..."
Reverand Jack nodded and gave a weak grin that seemed to indicate that he knew something, "Yes... the Catholics. They're more familiar with the academic side of countering black magic, but with their decline over the years... they've lost practice at actually DOING so. But you were saying about what happened to you?"
Whitney nodded and felt guilty as she continued to rely what had happened to them. As she was building up to the point of her own transformation and how, at least for a time, that she'd seemed to fall under the pure lust driven influence that Megan and Jenny had seemed to be under at the time. It still was not a proud moment for her, though Zoe placing one hand on her shoulder and Grace setting the tip of her tail over the tip of Whitney's tail was enough to keep her going.
"Well... yes, we all ended up transforming," Whitney spoke, "and none of us asked Megan or Jenny to turn us... but we were coated in slime and the transformation spell... and at the time I was unaware on how much it was affecting me. And that in turn meant that I transformed first... and I... well... I was more forward with my own children than I'd feel comfortable with repeating. It was like my own mind was lost in a haze."
"That then snapped the influence Megan and Jenny had over us and Jeff and Lucy got us up into the master bedroom where we could lock the door," Grace spoke, "mom either didn't have key to that door or couldn't think to get it and was left outside to guard the door in the hopes that we'd stumble out. But we didn't... and under all the influence of that slime and the magic carried in it, I transformed next. From there, we worked out a way to get mom to break free of the influence Megan and Jenny had over her..."
"And it worked," Whitney managed a small smile.
Reverand Jack stood by quietly.
"But doing that took a bit of a wrestling match and Lucy and I ended up getting coated in more slime and were wrestling with rising lusts as well... all likely part of the transformation process," Zoe spoke, "and that's where we then transformed the next morning after freeing mom. We then tried to get food and that's when we found out WHO was controlling Megan and Jenny."
"Edward Cupple," Whitney spoke, gritting her teeth as she spoke the name, "the realtor who's office caught fire and killed my husband... my children's father... my John..."
Reverand Jack's eyes narrowed, though to Grace, it looked like a mix of rage and guilt at the same time. Though, she didn't think to say anything at the moment.
"He'd gotten into the house... or just appeared in it while we tried to get food and pretty much admitted to have had hand in John's death," Whitney continued, "and his voice was almost hypnotizing... but with myself, Grace, Zoe, and Lucy together... our hivemind was strong enough to resist being enslaved to him and that enabled us to get food and keep Jeff safe... though it also presented the need to get help."
"Which we went in search for after Jeff's transformation finished," Zoe spoke, "though... we didn't get any immediate progress until we got here."
"We even came by the church to find you leaving," Grace added, and noting another depressed frown from Reverand Jack. It left her mind only pondering with more puzzled questions that for the moment she couldn't articulate.
"And Jeff and Lucy?" Reverand Jack wondered.
"They're presently with Melody and should be safe from anything that Cupple might try," Simon spoke, only to have the phone ring.