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."
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