153.
Clarissa approached the DSA van cautiously. She had her bow strung up on her back with some arrows, and she had taken to using a modified revolver much like Gilbert used to, though she preferred a .357 over what Gilbert used it was easier to manage. She had the pistol out with a flash light in her off hand. The Van looked intact without obvious damage, the doors were locked and Clarissa didn't really feel like forcing them open. It was in front of the address that had in theory sent the help message. Clarissa had sent a message saying she was there, but no one had returned it.
Clarissa moved beyond the van, she didn't want to get arrested for messing with government property, and she knew whatever was the problem, wouldn't be there. The house's front door had been kicked in, there was light coming from the inside but it was flickering either through damage or by whatever the DSA was there to kill/remove. Clarissa was torn between announcing she was coming inside, or just entering and hoping that if someone from the DSA was alive they wouldn't fire on a human, it was a calculated risk.
The inside of the house was where the war was fought, bullets, magic residue, all kinds of things were scattered and splattered. Whatever got the DSA agents they had fought back with a variety of things at their disposal. Clarissa didn't see any bodies, though she saw a laptop still open to a messaging program with her information inside it.
"Shit." Trap was the most obvious conclusion, but who had laid it, and why or what? Clarissa didn't like the situation. She didn't know enough and she had blundered into it, hubris was the most dangerous of problems. Clarissa tried to slowly back out, to avoid the fate of whatever hit the DSA, but she sensed it was too late, the creature was already there.
"Foolish." One word foolish. The door slammed behind her, she could feel the sizzle from the magic that did it. Like passing too near a car. Clarissa had learned some new things post being Gilbert's assistant. She pulled a packet of fairy dust from a pouch on her belt and threw it up in the air, the dust smelled like a spring meadow, but more importantly it would coat anything magical that was hiding with an irritating burning powder. The creature was at her back and it howled as the dust coated it. Clarissa jumped back and fired a shot from the .357. The first round she packed was a hellfire bullet, it was normally able to at least stop most creatures if not outright kill them. This large mass seemed to not be affected by it too much.
It moved on her, one long arm smashed her backwards and into a wall. She fired three more times, each bullet a new secret sauce of monster killing, each one didn't seem to do shit to the powder covered creature. She was down to her last two bullets, the ones that she had loaded as a "just in case shit has gone wrong" way, and feared they too would do nothing. The dark shape was advancing on her, menacing in a way she hadn't felt in the new world. First of the last chance bullets hurt, but didn't stop it, with a prayer to whoever Clarissa fired her last bullet. The creature looked to keep advancing at first, and then it caught up to it, the being came more into view as some large imp looking thing and then crashed into the floor boards. Clarissa breathed a sigh of relief, and then she heard the sirens.
"Great just what I needed today."
Friday, December 27, 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019
What Can Be Broken, Can Be Fixed
152.
Things weren't ok immediately. Going to war against the supernatural and invading hell tends to fuck things up. Clarissa knew everyone would calm down. She and Demurra helped where they could, but for the most part the world did what it always does, it recovered. Cities got rebuilt, government recovered, and a year later even Clarissa was back to just working as an exterminator. She had more calls than before, but the work was pretty much as it was before minus Gilbert and Doris.
Clarissa was working solo now. Demurra broke up with her shortly after she got back from hell, something about how she couldn't deal with Clarissa and the work she did. It made sense at the time, but the wound was fresh everytime Clarissa felt herself alone and picking at old wounds. Just like she woke up in Gilbert's house and kept hoping to hear his voice. She lived with all the ghosts now. She did change the name of the business to CS Exterminators. She didn't have the tag line like Gilbert, but she couldn't bear to see his name as much anymore.
On the majority of days Clarissa was just in the office, cooling her heels waiting for the phone or email to show up. It had been busy post the world almost ending. Most of the time Clarissa was just cleaning up after the new "Department of Supernatural Affairs", who did the best they could with all the problems in the country, but Clarissa felt they focused a little too hard on what effected rich people, and not enough on the regular folks. It was a snowy wednesday morning when she got the email, it simply listed an address and "help" ordinarily this wouldn't have been enough for Clarissa, but the sadness at the office felt cloying and so she replied "on the way" without a second thought.
The Van was gone now, Clarissa drove a pick up truck, something she'd been gifted by the government. She liked how it was less bulky than the van, and it was a reward for something she'd done and not something Gilbert had used, so it felt more hers. The truck also had better gas mileage and since Clarissa was doing the books now that was important to her as well.
Roads were taking longer to repair than a lot of other things. The drive out anywhere often needed more off roading than Clarissa liked, but she accepted road construction in the rural areas she worked were lagged behind repairing cities and power infrastructure. It did make travel estimates a pain to manage. She assumed it would take a few hours to make her way near Vancouver, but it took the better part of a day, by the time she arrived at the address it was already night.
It was a residential neighborhood, rows and rows of similar looking houses lined the streets. Clarissa took a bit to even find the specific address she was looking for. Once there she could see a DSA van out front, blaring from its speakers was a warning for others to stay in doors. Clarissa was confused, usually she didn't overlap with the DSA, they had their methods and she had hers and never the two met. When she got out of her truck one of the neighbors ran up to meet her.
"Should we remain inside?"
"You don't know?"
"I don't, that van showed up here like five hours ago, I haven't seen shit." Clarissa cursed under her breath.
"Yeah stay inside then."
"Are you going to do something?"
"Oh yeah I'll do something." The man walked away and Clarissa muttered under her breath "Don't know what I'll fucking do, but it'll be something."
Things weren't ok immediately. Going to war against the supernatural and invading hell tends to fuck things up. Clarissa knew everyone would calm down. She and Demurra helped where they could, but for the most part the world did what it always does, it recovered. Cities got rebuilt, government recovered, and a year later even Clarissa was back to just working as an exterminator. She had more calls than before, but the work was pretty much as it was before minus Gilbert and Doris.
Clarissa was working solo now. Demurra broke up with her shortly after she got back from hell, something about how she couldn't deal with Clarissa and the work she did. It made sense at the time, but the wound was fresh everytime Clarissa felt herself alone and picking at old wounds. Just like she woke up in Gilbert's house and kept hoping to hear his voice. She lived with all the ghosts now. She did change the name of the business to CS Exterminators. She didn't have the tag line like Gilbert, but she couldn't bear to see his name as much anymore.
On the majority of days Clarissa was just in the office, cooling her heels waiting for the phone or email to show up. It had been busy post the world almost ending. Most of the time Clarissa was just cleaning up after the new "Department of Supernatural Affairs", who did the best they could with all the problems in the country, but Clarissa felt they focused a little too hard on what effected rich people, and not enough on the regular folks. It was a snowy wednesday morning when she got the email, it simply listed an address and "help" ordinarily this wouldn't have been enough for Clarissa, but the sadness at the office felt cloying and so she replied "on the way" without a second thought.
The Van was gone now, Clarissa drove a pick up truck, something she'd been gifted by the government. She liked how it was less bulky than the van, and it was a reward for something she'd done and not something Gilbert had used, so it felt more hers. The truck also had better gas mileage and since Clarissa was doing the books now that was important to her as well.
Roads were taking longer to repair than a lot of other things. The drive out anywhere often needed more off roading than Clarissa liked, but she accepted road construction in the rural areas she worked were lagged behind repairing cities and power infrastructure. It did make travel estimates a pain to manage. She assumed it would take a few hours to make her way near Vancouver, but it took the better part of a day, by the time she arrived at the address it was already night.
It was a residential neighborhood, rows and rows of similar looking houses lined the streets. Clarissa took a bit to even find the specific address she was looking for. Once there she could see a DSA van out front, blaring from its speakers was a warning for others to stay in doors. Clarissa was confused, usually she didn't overlap with the DSA, they had their methods and she had hers and never the two met. When she got out of her truck one of the neighbors ran up to meet her.
"Should we remain inside?"
"You don't know?"
"I don't, that van showed up here like five hours ago, I haven't seen shit." Clarissa cursed under her breath.
"Yeah stay inside then."
"Are you going to do something?"
"Oh yeah I'll do something." The man walked away and Clarissa muttered under her breath "Don't know what I'll fucking do, but it'll be something."
Friday, December 13, 2019
Let Me Toss a Coin
151.
"It'll probably work."
"You say probably in a way my parents used to say we'll see, in that it doesn't make me think this is a good outcome." Trezlan had laid out a blood ritual in a language that Clarissa couldn't even begin to understand.
"You just need to trust the madness Clarissa."
"I think that's what got me stuck in hell in the first place Trezlan, I'd rather the madness stop personally." Trezlan sliced open his hand and threw some blood onto his ritual.
"If only we had a coin, then we can see which odd is more likely."
"What does that mean..." The world became a blur for Clarissa afterword. One minute she was next to Trezlan in a formless hell, the next she was in a horrific warzone. Military bodies lay strewn everywhere, creatures of a more traditional "hell" nature lay next to them, Clarissa could hear gun fire and screams all around her.
"Well this worked out better than I expected." Trezlan was there, because Clarissa figured Hell wouldn't accept him anywhere else.
"I don't want to know what you expected."
"We have to hurry now, Gilbert is close, and I fear he's about to get what none of us want."
"How do you?" But there wasn't any time to question Trezlan, or his knowledge. Clarissa could hear the battle getting more pitched, and she needed to be there for the conclusion. Something had driven her here, and she wanted to see it through to its horrible conclusion. Trezlan and her made their way past the carnage to its zenith. Clarissa could see Gilbert among a bunch of fighting and dying soldiers, he was approaching some glowing object she couldn't discern but she figured was the source of this conflict.
"GILBERT!"She called out to him and he spotted her, his look was that of pain and disappointment especially with Trezlan standing next to her. Trezlan didn't wait or hesitate, he threw his sword at the object Gilbert was trying to acquire, but he was too slow, Gilbert effortlessly batted away the blade and grabbed the object. The fighting stopped, everything seemed far too slow for Clarissa, Gilbert turned toward Trezlan and just made him disappear. He then turned towards Clarissa.
"Don't follow his path Clarissa."
"Gilbert this is wrong!"
"You don't even know what this is." He was glowing now, he descended from the place he was in, walking towards Clarissa glowing with power. "You don't know what this object does, you are pushed forward by forces you don't understand to do their bidding, but you won't Clarissa because you know I'm right."
"I don't even know what that is." Gilbert was closer to her, he was radiating heat, Clarissa felt uncomfortable being near him.
"With this we can be gods, no longer content to let indifferent to our existence dominate the world, with this power I CAN FIX EVERYTHING!" Clarissa heard Gilbert's words but saw the death and destruction around her, and knew what he was thinking was not what would become.
"All you've done is destroy everything Gilbert." He was close now, within grabbing range. He was reaching out to her, a mentor, a father in the absence of hers giving a shit, a friend, and she killed him. She didn't know it would work, feared the power he had now made him invulnerable, but the blade she drew struck true in his neck and with a look of shock and sadness Gilbert died at her feet. The object fell to the ground. Clarissa found a dead man near her with a belt of grenades, she wrapped the object in them and pulled the pin sprinting away with tears in her eyes. She didn't know if the explosion would destroy the object, but it seemed to do the job, when she turned around it was no more.
"Time to go." Satan threw her out of hell, literally, he hurled her through the door she'd come through and she slammed into the ground near Clyde's feet.
"It's done then?" Clarissa could do nothing else, but cry, the finality of the door closing behind her felt more than just one door was shut forever.
****
Trezlan felt the shoe hitting him several times. He remembered seeing the man Gilbert point in his direction and then nothing. He was surprised to be awakened, and surprised still it was Nidget doing it.
"Get up you sad sack."
"Nidget you won't believe where I've been!"
"Asleep? Yeah and we're in real trouble, get your shit." Trezlan sighed, he was back in his own world again and already in demand, such was the life of someone such as himself. He wondered for a moment what happened to Clarissa and Gilbert, but knew that his part in their story however limited it had been was over, and it was time to resume his own life once again.
"First why? Second why and third WHY??!??!" Things were going to be back to the way they were, Trezlan knew it, for ill or for good, mostly for Ill.
"It'll probably work."
"You say probably in a way my parents used to say we'll see, in that it doesn't make me think this is a good outcome." Trezlan had laid out a blood ritual in a language that Clarissa couldn't even begin to understand.
"You just need to trust the madness Clarissa."
"I think that's what got me stuck in hell in the first place Trezlan, I'd rather the madness stop personally." Trezlan sliced open his hand and threw some blood onto his ritual.
"If only we had a coin, then we can see which odd is more likely."
"What does that mean..." The world became a blur for Clarissa afterword. One minute she was next to Trezlan in a formless hell, the next she was in a horrific warzone. Military bodies lay strewn everywhere, creatures of a more traditional "hell" nature lay next to them, Clarissa could hear gun fire and screams all around her.
"Well this worked out better than I expected." Trezlan was there, because Clarissa figured Hell wouldn't accept him anywhere else.
"I don't want to know what you expected."
"We have to hurry now, Gilbert is close, and I fear he's about to get what none of us want."
"How do you?" But there wasn't any time to question Trezlan, or his knowledge. Clarissa could hear the battle getting more pitched, and she needed to be there for the conclusion. Something had driven her here, and she wanted to see it through to its horrible conclusion. Trezlan and her made their way past the carnage to its zenith. Clarissa could see Gilbert among a bunch of fighting and dying soldiers, he was approaching some glowing object she couldn't discern but she figured was the source of this conflict.
"GILBERT!"She called out to him and he spotted her, his look was that of pain and disappointment especially with Trezlan standing next to her. Trezlan didn't wait or hesitate, he threw his sword at the object Gilbert was trying to acquire, but he was too slow, Gilbert effortlessly batted away the blade and grabbed the object. The fighting stopped, everything seemed far too slow for Clarissa, Gilbert turned toward Trezlan and just made him disappear. He then turned towards Clarissa.
"Don't follow his path Clarissa."
"Gilbert this is wrong!"
"You don't even know what this is." He was glowing now, he descended from the place he was in, walking towards Clarissa glowing with power. "You don't know what this object does, you are pushed forward by forces you don't understand to do their bidding, but you won't Clarissa because you know I'm right."
"I don't even know what that is." Gilbert was closer to her, he was radiating heat, Clarissa felt uncomfortable being near him.
"With this we can be gods, no longer content to let indifferent to our existence dominate the world, with this power I CAN FIX EVERYTHING!" Clarissa heard Gilbert's words but saw the death and destruction around her, and knew what he was thinking was not what would become.
"All you've done is destroy everything Gilbert." He was close now, within grabbing range. He was reaching out to her, a mentor, a father in the absence of hers giving a shit, a friend, and she killed him. She didn't know it would work, feared the power he had now made him invulnerable, but the blade she drew struck true in his neck and with a look of shock and sadness Gilbert died at her feet. The object fell to the ground. Clarissa found a dead man near her with a belt of grenades, she wrapped the object in them and pulled the pin sprinting away with tears in her eyes. She didn't know if the explosion would destroy the object, but it seemed to do the job, when she turned around it was no more.
"Time to go." Satan threw her out of hell, literally, he hurled her through the door she'd come through and she slammed into the ground near Clyde's feet.
"It's done then?" Clarissa could do nothing else, but cry, the finality of the door closing behind her felt more than just one door was shut forever.
****
Trezlan felt the shoe hitting him several times. He remembered seeing the man Gilbert point in his direction and then nothing. He was surprised to be awakened, and surprised still it was Nidget doing it.
"Get up you sad sack."
"Nidget you won't believe where I've been!"
"Asleep? Yeah and we're in real trouble, get your shit." Trezlan sighed, he was back in his own world again and already in demand, such was the life of someone such as himself. He wondered for a moment what happened to Clarissa and Gilbert, but knew that his part in their story however limited it had been was over, and it was time to resume his own life once again.
"First why? Second why and third WHY??!??!" Things were going to be back to the way they were, Trezlan knew it, for ill or for good, mostly for Ill.
Friday, December 6, 2019
Good Intentions, Bad Follow Through
150.
The smell was the first thing that got to her, or rather the absence of one. Hell smelled like nothing, she couldn't really hear anything either. The landscape itself was a dull boring grey, beyond the door it was just a featureless, smellless, soundless nightmare of nothing. Hell was the absence of everything it appeared. At first it felt like utter madness to Clarissa, that she had simply just lost her mind and now was stuck in this weird cell of insanity, but she could definitely tell she was in a physical place, she could tell she was actually moving, even if it felt like she hadn't been.
Clarissa didn't even know what she was doing there really. She was to save the world, but against what? With what? She had some arrows and some other random things she thought to salvage from the office, but against Gilbert and the Army? She didn't have anything they wouldn't have and then some. She felt the doubt creeping up in her as she went in the blank nothingness of hell, and then it hit her. This was her own personal hell.
It should have been obvious at first, the absence of things, the self doubt, the absence of everything, her fear of being alone. All things that kept her up late at night, now made manifest all around her. At this revelation she heard clapping. A man in a red suit done up like an conductor was there from no where.
"Bravo, most people always assume hell is a specific thing, but you, you understand its catered to you, we aim to please."
"Are you a demon?"
"Pah a demon? Nothing so low I am satan himself, or I should say one of them as you have met clyde the former satan." Clarissa was already lost.
"There are mutliple satans?"
"Yes, Lucifer was the first but not the only, you humans assuming management wouldn't change hands is hilarious, we have a culture down here too you know."
"So you're here to torture me too for what Gilbert did to you?"
"Hardly, no I'm returning this to you, seems he's more out of place than you are." Clarissa was startled when Trezlan Lorention appeared out of thin air. Literally he hung in the air for a minute and the collided with the ground. Satan disappeared himself, leaving Clarissa with Trezlan and even more questions.
"How did you wind up in hell?"
"Oh is that where this is? Gods damned translocation spells. That's the last time I trust a wood spirit." Trezlan straightened himself out, looked around for a moment and laughed. "Well this is certainly better than all the fire and misery I was just in."
"Trezlan I don't have time for your bullshit, I have to save the world."
"My bullshit? Save the world? Well then you certainly need my help, I've saved the world several times over, well my world, I think its mine you know its one of those..."
"Trezlan!"
"What? Oh right we're in your hell and you need to save the world, so how are we going to do that?"
"I have no idea."
"Something else I have excellent expertise in!"
The smell was the first thing that got to her, or rather the absence of one. Hell smelled like nothing, she couldn't really hear anything either. The landscape itself was a dull boring grey, beyond the door it was just a featureless, smellless, soundless nightmare of nothing. Hell was the absence of everything it appeared. At first it felt like utter madness to Clarissa, that she had simply just lost her mind and now was stuck in this weird cell of insanity, but she could definitely tell she was in a physical place, she could tell she was actually moving, even if it felt like she hadn't been.
Clarissa didn't even know what she was doing there really. She was to save the world, but against what? With what? She had some arrows and some other random things she thought to salvage from the office, but against Gilbert and the Army? She didn't have anything they wouldn't have and then some. She felt the doubt creeping up in her as she went in the blank nothingness of hell, and then it hit her. This was her own personal hell.
It should have been obvious at first, the absence of things, the self doubt, the absence of everything, her fear of being alone. All things that kept her up late at night, now made manifest all around her. At this revelation she heard clapping. A man in a red suit done up like an conductor was there from no where.
"Bravo, most people always assume hell is a specific thing, but you, you understand its catered to you, we aim to please."
"Are you a demon?"
"Pah a demon? Nothing so low I am satan himself, or I should say one of them as you have met clyde the former satan." Clarissa was already lost.
"There are mutliple satans?"
"Yes, Lucifer was the first but not the only, you humans assuming management wouldn't change hands is hilarious, we have a culture down here too you know."
"So you're here to torture me too for what Gilbert did to you?"
"Hardly, no I'm returning this to you, seems he's more out of place than you are." Clarissa was startled when Trezlan Lorention appeared out of thin air. Literally he hung in the air for a minute and the collided with the ground. Satan disappeared himself, leaving Clarissa with Trezlan and even more questions.
"How did you wind up in hell?"
"Oh is that where this is? Gods damned translocation spells. That's the last time I trust a wood spirit." Trezlan straightened himself out, looked around for a moment and laughed. "Well this is certainly better than all the fire and misery I was just in."
"Trezlan I don't have time for your bullshit, I have to save the world."
"My bullshit? Save the world? Well then you certainly need my help, I've saved the world several times over, well my world, I think its mine you know its one of those..."
"Trezlan!"
"What? Oh right we're in your hell and you need to save the world, so how are we going to do that?"
"I have no idea."
"Something else I have excellent expertise in!"
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