54.
Clarissa awoke in what seemed like a bedroom or a dungeon. There was a bed, chairs and skeletons, clothes still hung on the bones of the dead. Clarissa still had her bow and what little kit she had brought with her. Whoever had taken her hadn't bothered to disarm her which either showed over confidence or truth, she was afraid it was the latter and not the former.
"You're awake." It was a small black child, he was dressed in rags that looked straight out out of a historical textbook on slavery.
"You are not a little boy monster." She knew it, she knew among other things whatever this was, it was trying to deceive her. The boy transformed into a man, still black, but now well dressed and imposing.
"Was trying to take on a form that would feel less threatening." It changed again, this time a woman, white, her outfit torn in the places that spoke to bad things happening to her. "So many people have come down here, and died you see, I can look like any of them." It then turned into her, as if to mock her fate.
"You can't scare me with being me." Not Clarissa smiled.
"No you are already frightened, terrified of what's to come, you see what happened to others and wonder your own fate."
"What do you want from me?" Not Clarissa smiled again.
"Finally being reasonable, I want you to listen, that's it, your employer has something wrong with him, a darkness growing inside, you've probably noticed it, he picked it up from his forest visits even if he wants to pretend he did not." Clarissa felt her nagging fear exploding in her head, but she was afraid if the creature could read her thoughts, could it have read her doubts about Gilbert?
"Even if that's true, what do you suggest I do about it?"
"There are people who can help him though I doubt he'll go there willingly, but they exist, that's what I'll say, my kindness given, I arrive at the bargain for my removal." Clarissa felt the hairs on the back of her neck prick up at the word of "bargain".
"I never agreed to a bargain."
"See you're new and that's why you should be careful conversing with things like me, if your mentor was more connected he'd have warned you about speaking in the first place, alas the pact is sealed and now we come to my payment, I want my freedom."
"I"m not helping you monster." Clarissa felt trapped, she knew whatever it was, was far too powerful for her, but without Gilbert or his guidance she had nothing but the bow and some arrows to fight back and she knew that would be woefully under performing.
"If it makes you feel any better, and it won't, but I'm not an evil thing, I don't create misery, I'm just born in it, and I'm done with this feeling, I want to be free I want to see nice places, feel nice things and so I will." Clarissa didn't even get to say anything, one moment not her was in front of her and the next she could feel it inside her, discussion over, she was now the carrier for whatever it was for as long as it felt it should be inside her.
****
"Still surprised as hell you killed a Tarmuche, good kill Clarissa I'm sorry I yelled at you." Gilbert had found her an hour later, with the Creature inside of her the True Black had faded, one last "gift" the thing inside her had given was a cover story, the corpse of a creature that apparently also spewed blackness.
"Sometimes you get lucky." She had been vomiting since they'd gotten outside of the tunnels, it was how she was expelling the thing inside, the Tarmuche was a good excuse for the vomiting apparently the smell got to some people.
"You almost finished?"
"Pretty sure I'm throwing up things I was going to eat in the future." With one final puke she saw a piece of rock come out of her and she knew the creature was gone.
"Thanks for the ride, I'll be seeing you around." The voices rang in her head before the stone disappeared. Clarissa felt a shiver go up her back at the idea of it seeing her around.
"You want to swing by a gas station? I hear they are making people pump their own gas and watching people in Oregon struggle with that has got to be amusing." Gilbert offered it like a parent offers you a pizza after they yelled at you.
"Sure, just not one with a restaurant nearby, pretty sure if I smell food I'll throw up again."
"Deal."
Friday, January 26, 2018
Friday, January 19, 2018
Into The Depths of Oregon
53.
"Shine your light down that way." Clarissa flashed her flash light into the darkness in front of them and it was like it hit a wall. The light ended in the black, but there was clearly something else beyond it.
"I'm terrified and I can't even say why." Gilbert snorted a little bit of a laugh.
"First time you come across true black is always terrifying, I remember my first time, West Virginia coal mine, which is kind of funny considering underground exterminators came from West Virginia, anyway I'm getting lost in this story." Gilbert reached into his bag and tossed a flare into the darkness that pushed it back, Clarissa could hear a hissing, "Anyway, was deep in an abandoned mine a family had gone missing near when I found it, I'd heard of it, but never heard the noises it makes, this one made a slightly wimpering like from a child, it was trying to trick me to push me in, but all the same I worried, worried someone from that family was alive in that dark, even when I knew they couldn't be." Clarissa shivered at that thought.
"So what causes true black?"
"Lots of things, lots of evil things." Gilbert cracked another flare and kept it next to himself and attached it to his jump suit, he motioned Clarissa forward. "It's what I brought the rest of my kit for, we have to get through its usual bullshit first though." Clarissa smiled though she didn't feel it.
"Well it is what they pay us for right?"
"When we don't kill the people paying us, yes, this is the job they pay us for."
****
"I'm starting to suspect you don't know where you are going." It had been hours and with darkness all over Clarissa couldn't even tell if they'd moved anywhere but her legs hurt from the walking so she figured they had to have gone somewhere.
"I know where I'm going, have you ever explored a tunnel in true black? No, so let me do my thing, we have plenty of flares don't worry." Clarissa wasn't worried about the flares, but now that he mentioned it, she started to feel maybe she should have been.
"I just was saying..."
"You were just complaining, like you've been doing this whole trip, god damn its like being on a job with my nephew, be quiet and let me think." Clarissa felt like she'd just been scolded by a parent. She hoped it was just the current situation, but had felt Gilbert had been more of a jerk as of late and she couldn't figure out why or what she'd done. She decided to just follow Gilbert in the True Black and hope whatever they were there to kill would show up before she became too tired to keep walking.
Hours had gone by, the True Black and Gilbert had not relented. Clarissa felt her legs becoming leaden with each step, but didn't want to risk Gilbert's wrath should she mention it. Clarissa could feel sleep coming, but she knew she didn't want to sleep there, couldn't sleep there, but she couldn't help it, she closed her eyes once and Gilbert was gone and the black was all that remained. She was alone in it now, without a flare as Gilbert was the one who had those in his bag. And all Clarissa could feel was tired, it pulled at her and eventually she couldn't fight it any longer and she went to sleep.
"Shine your light down that way." Clarissa flashed her flash light into the darkness in front of them and it was like it hit a wall. The light ended in the black, but there was clearly something else beyond it.
"I'm terrified and I can't even say why." Gilbert snorted a little bit of a laugh.
"First time you come across true black is always terrifying, I remember my first time, West Virginia coal mine, which is kind of funny considering underground exterminators came from West Virginia, anyway I'm getting lost in this story." Gilbert reached into his bag and tossed a flare into the darkness that pushed it back, Clarissa could hear a hissing, "Anyway, was deep in an abandoned mine a family had gone missing near when I found it, I'd heard of it, but never heard the noises it makes, this one made a slightly wimpering like from a child, it was trying to trick me to push me in, but all the same I worried, worried someone from that family was alive in that dark, even when I knew they couldn't be." Clarissa shivered at that thought.
"So what causes true black?"
"Lots of things, lots of evil things." Gilbert cracked another flare and kept it next to himself and attached it to his jump suit, he motioned Clarissa forward. "It's what I brought the rest of my kit for, we have to get through its usual bullshit first though." Clarissa smiled though she didn't feel it.
"Well it is what they pay us for right?"
"When we don't kill the people paying us, yes, this is the job they pay us for."
****
"I'm starting to suspect you don't know where you are going." It had been hours and with darkness all over Clarissa couldn't even tell if they'd moved anywhere but her legs hurt from the walking so she figured they had to have gone somewhere.
"I know where I'm going, have you ever explored a tunnel in true black? No, so let me do my thing, we have plenty of flares don't worry." Clarissa wasn't worried about the flares, but now that he mentioned it, she started to feel maybe she should have been.
"I just was saying..."
"You were just complaining, like you've been doing this whole trip, god damn its like being on a job with my nephew, be quiet and let me think." Clarissa felt like she'd just been scolded by a parent. She hoped it was just the current situation, but had felt Gilbert had been more of a jerk as of late and she couldn't figure out why or what she'd done. She decided to just follow Gilbert in the True Black and hope whatever they were there to kill would show up before she became too tired to keep walking.
Hours had gone by, the True Black and Gilbert had not relented. Clarissa felt her legs becoming leaden with each step, but didn't want to risk Gilbert's wrath should she mention it. Clarissa could feel sleep coming, but she knew she didn't want to sleep there, couldn't sleep there, but she couldn't help it, she closed her eyes once and Gilbert was gone and the black was all that remained. She was alone in it now, without a flare as Gilbert was the one who had those in his bag. And all Clarissa could feel was tired, it pulled at her and eventually she couldn't fight it any longer and she went to sleep.
Friday, January 12, 2018
The Smell of High Society
52.
"Nothing Gilbert there is nothing on the Thornbys, no facebook, no social media presence." Clarissa was being more and more alarmed as they drove to Portland. She had been trying for an hour to find anything on the client and had come up with zero information, which seemed weird for a family supposedly rich and famous.
"They are the elite of the elite probably, you have to accept that not everyone does facebook." Gilbert had dealt with people like this in the past, he found it was best not to bite the hand that feeds.
"I just don't think we should..." Clarissa was interrupted by Gilbert's phone ringing.
"Dunkley."
"Brother Gilbert I do hope this call finds you safe and sane." Gilbert frowned at the sound of Clarence's voice. He still hadn't forgotten the chicken soup.
"Clarence I'm driving so make this quick."
"Driving? Brother you must return to your home, you asked me to look into who wanted you dead, and while I'm still sorting it out, there are some disturbing things I've heard, your life is in danger."
"My life is always in danger Clarence."
"Be that as it may, Gilbert you'd be best advised..."
"On the Job Clarence I'll call you back." Gilbert hung up and then set his phone to silent.
"What did Clarence want?"
"Nothing just to bug me, so you were saying about the Thornbys?"
"Nothing, just keep driving." Clarissa closed the laptop and looked out the window at the scenery, she felt a coldness from Gilbert she hadn't before and didn't necessarily like it.
****
When Gilbert arrived at the mansion he saw an Orkin truck and he suppressed a snort. Generally they didn't involve themselves in his business and he in theirs, but there had been dust ups in the past and he kept the grudge. He made note to himself to question Melissa Thornby why she had in theory two exterminators on the job. The door inside the mansion was slightly open, something was off and Gilbert and Clarissa felt it immediately. Clarissa especially because she could smell something foul on the air again, this time more ripe than ever.
"You can't tell me you don't smell that?" Inside the mansion was all dark and things looked run down in a way that said people hadn't been there in a while.
"I think you need to get your nose fixed if you keep smelling things that aren't there." Gilbert stepped on to the carpet in the opening and fell through, he tried to grab Clarissa to steady himself and only ended up taking her with him into the darkness. They tumbled a couple stories onto a mattress in what looked like a stone basement. They were trapped without a way back up.
"I would have thought the great Gilbe..." Gilbert fired his revolver up into Melissa Thornby's head, her body landed next to Clarissa and Gilbert. Gilbert could smell the rotten corpse smell now. He felt stupider than he had in a while.
"What is she?"
"A ghoul, kind of a zombie vampire, its why I couldn't smell her, but for some reason you could, I must be getting old if a god damned ghoul gets the jump on me." Gilbert reloaded the one bullet he fired and holstered his pistol. He couldn't make out what was in the tunnel, but he figured if the ghoul was going to gloat it must be bad.
"Can we just climb out?"
"No, we're going to have to go through." Gilbert patted the bag he brought with him from the van, "Don't worry I prepared to kill what was probably in the tunnels anyway, maybe we'll get lucky and its just more ghouls." Clarissa looked up at the hole and back at the body of Melissa Thornby.
"Right lucky."
"Nothing Gilbert there is nothing on the Thornbys, no facebook, no social media presence." Clarissa was being more and more alarmed as they drove to Portland. She had been trying for an hour to find anything on the client and had come up with zero information, which seemed weird for a family supposedly rich and famous.
"They are the elite of the elite probably, you have to accept that not everyone does facebook." Gilbert had dealt with people like this in the past, he found it was best not to bite the hand that feeds.
"I just don't think we should..." Clarissa was interrupted by Gilbert's phone ringing.
"Dunkley."
"Brother Gilbert I do hope this call finds you safe and sane." Gilbert frowned at the sound of Clarence's voice. He still hadn't forgotten the chicken soup.
"Clarence I'm driving so make this quick."
"Driving? Brother you must return to your home, you asked me to look into who wanted you dead, and while I'm still sorting it out, there are some disturbing things I've heard, your life is in danger."
"My life is always in danger Clarence."
"Be that as it may, Gilbert you'd be best advised..."
"On the Job Clarence I'll call you back." Gilbert hung up and then set his phone to silent.
"What did Clarence want?"
"Nothing just to bug me, so you were saying about the Thornbys?"
"Nothing, just keep driving." Clarissa closed the laptop and looked out the window at the scenery, she felt a coldness from Gilbert she hadn't before and didn't necessarily like it.
****
When Gilbert arrived at the mansion he saw an Orkin truck and he suppressed a snort. Generally they didn't involve themselves in his business and he in theirs, but there had been dust ups in the past and he kept the grudge. He made note to himself to question Melissa Thornby why she had in theory two exterminators on the job. The door inside the mansion was slightly open, something was off and Gilbert and Clarissa felt it immediately. Clarissa especially because she could smell something foul on the air again, this time more ripe than ever.
"You can't tell me you don't smell that?" Inside the mansion was all dark and things looked run down in a way that said people hadn't been there in a while.
"I think you need to get your nose fixed if you keep smelling things that aren't there." Gilbert stepped on to the carpet in the opening and fell through, he tried to grab Clarissa to steady himself and only ended up taking her with him into the darkness. They tumbled a couple stories onto a mattress in what looked like a stone basement. They were trapped without a way back up.
"I would have thought the great Gilbe..." Gilbert fired his revolver up into Melissa Thornby's head, her body landed next to Clarissa and Gilbert. Gilbert could smell the rotten corpse smell now. He felt stupider than he had in a while.
"What is she?"
"A ghoul, kind of a zombie vampire, its why I couldn't smell her, but for some reason you could, I must be getting old if a god damned ghoul gets the jump on me." Gilbert reloaded the one bullet he fired and holstered his pistol. He couldn't make out what was in the tunnel, but he figured if the ghoul was going to gloat it must be bad.
"Can we just climb out?"
"No, we're going to have to go through." Gilbert patted the bag he brought with him from the van, "Don't worry I prepared to kill what was probably in the tunnels anyway, maybe we'll get lucky and its just more ghouls." Clarissa looked up at the hole and back at the body of Melissa Thornby.
"Right lucky."
Friday, January 5, 2018
The Portland Thornbys
51.
"Doris the next time George Carmichel calls, tell him I'm unavailable." Gilbert came into the office angry. He and Clarissa had been up at the Carmichel farm for three hours looking for goblins, they hadn't found anything. They found field mice, little ones that didn't even deserve a regular exterminator.
"So no on the goblins?"
"No, no goblins, no werebadgers, no cockatrices or fucking anything, if there was a hypochondria for monsters, Carmichel has it." Gilbert hadn't even noticed the woman in the flowing white dress sitting patiently in the waiting room.
"Where's Clarissa?"
"Going to the Double O, I discovered I'm out of a couple of useful salves and ointments, in a way I'm glad Carmichel is crazy as shit otherwise I wouldn't have had anything to do anything for him." The woman coughed and Gilbert turned around. The woman in the dress stood up and offered her hand.
"Melissa Thornby of the Portland Thornbys." Gilbert shook her hand, but he was so confused.
"I'm sorry Ms. Thornby I've never heard of your family."
"Its ok, we've heard about you, good things, big things."
"You have? I don't have a lot of money so if this is some kind of investment thing." Gilbert had dealt with several people coming to him to ask for money, he didn't know why, its not like monster exterminators are known for their endless cash reserves. Melissa Thornby just started laughing, it was the laugh of someone with more money than sensibilities.
"Heavens Mr. Dunkley you are a man of great humors." Gilbert had never heard someone talk like that ever. He was even more suspicious of the woman than he had been previously.
"What do you want Ms Thornby?"
"I need you to clean out some tunnels of whatever disappeared my work force, I've been told that's what you do."
"In Portland?"
"Yes a new branch of I believe they call them 'shanghai' tunnels, was discovered on my estate, I'd like for you to clear them out." Gilbert had heard of the shanghai tunnels, usually just bullshit stories an exterminator knew an exterminator says someone got eaten by the darkness down there. Never any names though. That was the trouble with rumors, you never had an actual name to what was going on.
"How big is your house that you found tunnels on it?" She laughed again and Gilbert found himself uneasy in how it seemed without mirth.
"Very large as our what I'm willing to pay Mr. Dunkley, I can count on your services yes?"
"Sure, lets work out payment arrangements."
****
"You need to get better hand writing or there needs to be less things that could be something you wrote." Clarissa was frazzled, she'd spent the last two hours at the double O trying to discern Gilbert's list of things he needed and failing mightily. Gilbert and Doris were both in the office in a bit of a daze when she got there, the office also smelled like rotten meat. "My god what did you guys do in here it reeks something terrible?"
"Wha? What do you mean it smells in here?" Gilbert looked like he'd just been woken up from a nap.
"The smell? How can you both not smell that? It's terrible." Doris shrugged and looked at Gilbert who also shrugged.
"I guess I must left something open, I dunno I don't smell it."
"Well open a window or something gosh you two." Clarissa set down her bag of supplies and went to open a couple office windows despite it being in the twenties outside. The cold air flowing in woke both Gilbert and Doris up fully from whatever stupor they had been in.
"Good lord Clarissa its freezing outside, you want to give me pneumonia?" Clarissa closed the window, the smell had mostly gone, but she could still smell it lingering, like cigarette smoke clinging to a smokers outside jacket.
"Thank you, now come over here and help me find this Thornby Place on a map, I hate driving in Portland." Clarissa had no idea who the Thornbys were or what they were doing in Portland, she was more worried about the smell and why Gilbert and Doris did not smell it, it was an uneasy feeling, that continued throughout the morning as she helped Gilbert find the Thornby place.
"Doris the next time George Carmichel calls, tell him I'm unavailable." Gilbert came into the office angry. He and Clarissa had been up at the Carmichel farm for three hours looking for goblins, they hadn't found anything. They found field mice, little ones that didn't even deserve a regular exterminator.
"So no on the goblins?"
"No, no goblins, no werebadgers, no cockatrices or fucking anything, if there was a hypochondria for monsters, Carmichel has it." Gilbert hadn't even noticed the woman in the flowing white dress sitting patiently in the waiting room.
"Where's Clarissa?"
"Going to the Double O, I discovered I'm out of a couple of useful salves and ointments, in a way I'm glad Carmichel is crazy as shit otherwise I wouldn't have had anything to do anything for him." The woman coughed and Gilbert turned around. The woman in the dress stood up and offered her hand.
"Melissa Thornby of the Portland Thornbys." Gilbert shook her hand, but he was so confused.
"I'm sorry Ms. Thornby I've never heard of your family."
"Its ok, we've heard about you, good things, big things."
"You have? I don't have a lot of money so if this is some kind of investment thing." Gilbert had dealt with several people coming to him to ask for money, he didn't know why, its not like monster exterminators are known for their endless cash reserves. Melissa Thornby just started laughing, it was the laugh of someone with more money than sensibilities.
"Heavens Mr. Dunkley you are a man of great humors." Gilbert had never heard someone talk like that ever. He was even more suspicious of the woman than he had been previously.
"What do you want Ms Thornby?"
"I need you to clean out some tunnels of whatever disappeared my work force, I've been told that's what you do."
"In Portland?"
"Yes a new branch of I believe they call them 'shanghai' tunnels, was discovered on my estate, I'd like for you to clear them out." Gilbert had heard of the shanghai tunnels, usually just bullshit stories an exterminator knew an exterminator says someone got eaten by the darkness down there. Never any names though. That was the trouble with rumors, you never had an actual name to what was going on.
"How big is your house that you found tunnels on it?" She laughed again and Gilbert found himself uneasy in how it seemed without mirth.
"Very large as our what I'm willing to pay Mr. Dunkley, I can count on your services yes?"
"Sure, lets work out payment arrangements."
****
"You need to get better hand writing or there needs to be less things that could be something you wrote." Clarissa was frazzled, she'd spent the last two hours at the double O trying to discern Gilbert's list of things he needed and failing mightily. Gilbert and Doris were both in the office in a bit of a daze when she got there, the office also smelled like rotten meat. "My god what did you guys do in here it reeks something terrible?"
"Wha? What do you mean it smells in here?" Gilbert looked like he'd just been woken up from a nap.
"The smell? How can you both not smell that? It's terrible." Doris shrugged and looked at Gilbert who also shrugged.
"I guess I must left something open, I dunno I don't smell it."
"Well open a window or something gosh you two." Clarissa set down her bag of supplies and went to open a couple office windows despite it being in the twenties outside. The cold air flowing in woke both Gilbert and Doris up fully from whatever stupor they had been in.
"Good lord Clarissa its freezing outside, you want to give me pneumonia?" Clarissa closed the window, the smell had mostly gone, but she could still smell it lingering, like cigarette smoke clinging to a smokers outside jacket.
"Thank you, now come over here and help me find this Thornby Place on a map, I hate driving in Portland." Clarissa had no idea who the Thornbys were or what they were doing in Portland, she was more worried about the smell and why Gilbert and Doris did not smell it, it was an uneasy feeling, that continued throughout the morning as she helped Gilbert find the Thornby place.
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