Proper Research

6.

"Get my laptop in the back, need to do some research." Gilbert was stopped at a light just shy of midnight. Clarissa thought it was stupid to stop at a light with no one around in the middle of nowhere, but Gilbert was the type that obeyed rules when no one was watching and she felt it was a waste of an argument.

"You're driving?"

"Yes which is why I told you to get my laptop so that you can do the research." Clarissa felt kind of dumb, but blamed it on how long they'd been up. The laptop was sitting on top of a green box that had one hand written sign on it "Do Not Open", it was a fairly large box that Clarissa had missed when she'd previously looked in the back of the van.

"What's in the box back there?"

"Don't you worry about it, now look up Geode Creek, something isn't sitting right with me here." Clarissa didn't like how he dismissed her question about the green box, but figured like everything else, she'd get to it in time.

"This is a real nice laptop." Clarissa had opened it up and was amazed at how modern and expensive it was.

"Don't say it like that, that's the way the salesman said it when I picked it out, you're implying its too nice for a dumb old man like me to have or want. I'll have you know I choose my tools carefully Clarissa, and that laptop like any other item in my kit has saved me, and just like those items I take care of it."

"I'm sorry Gil I didn't mean to imply you're old or out of touch."

"Well I'm both of those things, but I can at least figure out technology." Gilbert smiled to release the tension and Clarissa went to work on researching Geode Creek. Her initial search turned up basic information about the recent slayings. No real information on who the killer was or where they found the victims. Clarissa thought it a bit odd that information was missing, especially from the media which always tended to make killings front page stuff.

"Gilbert I'm confused."

"The media is in on it, no I'm not a psychic, you're wondering why nine people getting killed wasn't a story you heard about, why its not a bigger story in general, because what killed those people wasn't a person, or wasn't a person any longer, you'll have to go beyond the press here, crank websites and the like, I know it sounds stupid, but its how we do this job, relying on hearsay as truth and ignoring truths because those are just clever lies."

"Prior to killing some goblins with you Gil, I'd have thought you were pretty crazy with that."

"Prior to me killing monsters of my own, I'd be right along with you."

"Ok ignoring real media, there is this guy 'The real Truth of Geode Creek', he says that the nine deaths are just more in a pattern of death up there dating back to 1959. He said it started with the death of some maintenance worker in a prank gone wrong, all told forty eight people have been supposedly killed by a creature named 'Paul'."

"Paul doesn't sound threatening at all, I knew a Paul once nice guy bit of a drinker though."

"Focus Gil, reading here it sounds like Paul is."

"Some kind of resurrected vengeful corpse monster out to overly punish people who didn't actually wrong him, yeah that's a thing. I have a bone of a repentant sinner and some semen from a virgin in the truck, pierce his heart and that's all she wrote most of the time, starting to worry about where they are getting the semen though, I mean you kids these days so sexually liberated, virgins are harde"

"Gil."

"I don't think its like sexual assault, I just think it has to be some kind of false pretenses"

"Gil!"

"What? Sorry got lost in my thoughts again."

"What was the name of that guy you were looking for? Your exterminator friend?"

"Frank Murphy."

"Because it says that the guy who runs the real truth hired a supposed monster exterminator to show him the real story on Geode Creek, and he's got a picture here of a guy in workman stuff with a 'Frank' name tag." Gilbert put his foot on the gas, he didn't have to see the picture to know it was Frank.

"Aren't you worried about the speed limit?"

"Not anymore, got a creature to kill and a friend to save."