>>5903589To you it's obvious, from the color alone. It'd been coated in paint mixed with wraith blood.
Something that you've determined is a semi-effective barrier against wraiths themselves, as they can't simply phase through it.
But even for a person who knows nothing of wraiths, the crate is still somewhat foreboding.
It's covered in all sorts of warnings, up to an including a Psychohazard label, which you feel is probably pretty uncommon.
There's a heavy-looking mechanical combination lock on the outside, keeping the lid firmly shut. You set it to the correct number, and it pops open.
"666? Really?" Sam scoffs, rolling her eyes.
"You have no sense of humor at all, huh sis?"
Not that it's all that funny to you. You know too much to just laugh at these things anymore.
Although, as soon as that lid opens, Sam's demeanor changes, too.
She looks unsettled all of a sudden as you pull most of an undamaged wraith hide out of the box.
It looks an awful lot like a big section of human skin, if it were grey and rubbery.
"Hey kid, wanna see a dead body?!"
You flop it out onto the floor in front of her, causing her to jump back with a yelp.
While she's freaking out over that, you dig down underneath the pile of skins and pull out a wraith-blade.
You stab it into the metal floor tiles next to the hide without issue. Those things are razor sharp, and pretty tough at that.
"So, that's what cut my face open and nearly spilled my guts out." You explain.
"W-What is this?!" Sam asks, sounding genuinely upset.
"That's a wraith's hide, after it's been chemically treated and rehydrated a bit. And that sickle-looking blade there is what a lot of them have in place of fingers, for some reason."
Reaching back down into the box, you push aside some skins to find what you're looking for. That blood-red gemstone you found inside that big demon. The one you killed with a grenade launcher.
"This is one of their cores. Not from a wraith, but something way bigger. I'll tell you about that some other time... but these cores right here, are usually what you need to destroy to kill them.
That's easier said than done, though. For one, they're intangible. Or more specifically, they can shift between dimensions, or so we suspect. There are ways to hit them, though."
Sam stares into the fat, blood-colored stone in your hand with a growing fear in her eyes.
"David, what the fuck..." She utters, sounding like she's about to throw up.
You can see her visibly shaking.
Yeah, you remember that feeling. The indescribable fear that cuts right through you whenever a wraith is around.
Something that gets to you, no matter how mentally tough or prepared you are. Something you suspect is actually a mental attack of sorts, thus the Psychohazard warning.
You aren't sure exactly when, but at some point it stopped working on you, which suits you just fine.
However, this is your sister's first time seeing this kind of stuff, and you know how much it sucks.
