Westland, NY, Friday, July 19, 1929
At the Exotic Tea and Spice Shop
Sam asked if Xu Wu had anything that could calm their nerves and keep them focused for their coming ordeal. She asked how he felt about facing the unknown. Sam replied that he was confident, but that not all his friends were necessarily up to the task.
Xu Wu suggested ginseng. He asked if she had something stronger. Xu Wu suggested the Juice of the Poppy. Sam agreed, but had to give all of his remaining cash to get enough for one dose per person. She warned against anyone taking more than one dose as it was concentrated. She then wished Sam good luck and asked him to return and tell her how the compounds worked. Sam said that they would, if they survived.
At the Kovacs House
Eric looked under the desk where had had left his note and discovered that it had been replaced by another.
“Better hurry up. Time is short. Don’t you think you should check out the scene of the crime?”
Otis explored the house but found nothing new. Sam went to check the basement and found the man they had been seeing lying on the bed they found there. He introduced himself as Arthur Coffin. He asked about their preparations, having known that they had already acquired the Ben Ghazee Powder and the Torturous Ruse powder.
He told them that whatever shows up as a result of the summoning would not be friendly, and that they should be prepared to hurt it using the Torturous Ruse powder and hand weapons made of silver. They conjectured on where to get silver weapons. Coffin said it was the contact with the silver and not the weapon itself that caused the damage.
Eric realized that his family pawned its silver a few years ago, and that they could likely acquire silver implements at the pawn shop in town. As it was late already, they decided to pursue the pawn shop in the morning.
Sam suggested that they all go to eat at the China Palace.
At the China Palace
They arrived at the China Palace, and the waitress seated them at a table. She asked what they wanted to eat, and Sam asked for whatever she recommended. The waitress brought hot tea. Sam was leery of Arthur Coffin. Otis said that he thought Dr. Feldman was on their side because he volunteered the translation book that they did not know to ask for. Coffin said Feldman was “in the know” and had helped him in the past.
Otis asked, if Coffin was aware of the situation, why had he not seen to it himself. Coffin replied that the ritual required five people. Otis then asked why, if he knew that Longborough had recruited them, had he not offered to assist them sooner. Coffin replied that he had needed to see how far they would go. If they chose not to see it through, that was one thing. If they gave up, that would be the end of it. But they had chosen to pursue it, did research, so far as to look at the restricted books. He said that most people who looked at those books were not the same afterward. And the investigators had invested their blood into the powders. That was what had convinced him to reveal himself.
Eric asked Coffin what the entities he had fought before wanted. Coffin replied that their motives were unknown, as was where they came from. He explained that the materials that they had acquired would expose the thing, hurt it, and then they could banish it.
Sam asked if Longborough being alive was what had contained whatever they had summoned in the farmhouse. Coffin said that he did not think so. Longborough had enlisted them because he and his friends were all dying, and only people who clued in would be able to fight the thing.
The waitress returned with a whole duck, feet and all, a whole fish, and rice. The investigators ate the food with abandon.
Eric asked how many time Coffin had performed the ritual. He replied that this would be the first time performing this one, but he had done similar ones before. He mentioned that, since they would be in a circle during the ritual, it was probably that some of them would be inadvertently hit by the others.
Sam asked if there was anything else they could do to protect themselves. Coffin said that he did not know of any. The things were all different and probably had different vulnerabilities.
Coffin told them that they needed to be mentally and physically prepared. Once the ritual was started, they could not waver. They had to be committed. If anyone failed, they were all in jeopardy. It was likely that some of them would not survive.
With that sobering information, they finished their meal in silence.