Not Exactly a Search Party

58.

"Bad things are coming Clarissa, lot of evil men been out and about, I believe the devil needs some payment." Clarence Timms had been busy. He'd been in places he'd rather not think about, even as someone who thinks he could not die he was worried where he'd been death would have been a blessing.

"Like the actual devil? Is that a thing?" Clarissa was still trying to get a handle on being back in civilization. Izu herself looked awkward as well, though it could have just been sitting in a hearse with Reverend Timms driving.

"I haven't personally run across him personally, but I have been visited by his associates, so I assume the man himself is out there somewhere. But this was more of an expression of mine." Izu held her hand up like she was in class.

"This is all real interesting and I'm sure you folks have things to work out, but I've been gone a real long time from the world and I'd rather not be involved in whatever this all is." Timms looked at Izu for a second and then pulled over to the side of the road.

"You want out here or when we're back in town? Its cold out girl."

"Town is actually a scarier place for me Reverend." Izu got out and took a deep breath of the air. Clarissa got out with her and gave her a big hug.

"Thank you for everything." Izu reached into the small bag she'd been carrying and gave Clarissa a pair of short blades she'd made from a couple creatures in the wilds.

"Remember everything I showed you, that bow is deadly, but not everything stays at a distance, and take care of yourself, this is good bye but its not gone for good. I'll see you again." Izu waved at Reverend Timms and started making her way towards the frozen field away from the highway.

"She wasn't human was she?" Clarissa put her hands in front of the heater, just being outside for a bit made her feel so cold.

"Nope, that doesn't bother you does it?"

"Honey I'm an undead preacher who was born back before there were fifty states, if that kind of thing bothered me its been years now." Timms smiled and Clarissa felt a little better even if her world kept feeling like less reality and more insanity. Silence fell over both of them and the rest of the drive to GD Exterminators was in silence.

****

The lights were out at the office. The clock on Reverend Timms car read five pm, which would be a little early for Gilbert to close the office, but Clarissa felt something was off. Timms did too, he got out of his car and took his revolver out.

"Stay in the car."

"Screw that, I know this office better than you do Timms." Clarissa got out and took out the two blades Izu had given her. Inside was dark, it felt a little cold, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It looked just like Clarissa had left it when she'd gone. Timms too didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and put his pistol away.

"Maybe they just went home for the day." Clarissa was about to agree with Timms, and then she saw it, a little sapling sitting on the desk. It was in a pot, like someone would have picked it up at a local home depot, but she felt the hairs rise up on the back of her neck and then she heard it, carnival music, lightly drifting on the wind.

"The forest got him."

"The what?" Reverend Timms was confused what woods had anything to do with it.

"Long story, you up to help?"

"If one of my flock is in trouble, I'm always willing to help."

"Good, though I hope you're as unable to die as you say, because I'm sure this thing is willing to kill us all."

Rank Betrayal

57.

Ms. Parker smiled as she saw Clarissa. Clarissa looked haggard. Her clothing was partially replaced with jungle parts and her face was covered in Mud. She had her bow, but the arrows looked to be also replaced.

"You left me here for three fucking months you awful person."

"I'm not a person, I'm a dragon, and I came to get you, you should be thankful I could have left you here indefinitely."

"You also lied to me. She was a person, a lizard person, but a person." Parker snarled.

"Low born swine lizard people are, and she's an attempted assassin darling, never forget these creatures are deadly even if they can in theory speak though I doubt such a gutteral being ever learned speech." Clarissa was angry about how Parker spoke about Izu, the level of disdain in her voice was palpable.

"Well she's dead now so can I go now?"

"Not yet darling stop being in such a rush, show me her body I want to see the corpse of the thing that attacked me." Clarissa sighed and lead Parker through the jungle. It took an hour to reach the site of a waterfall, there was green blood leading up to a cliff.

"Well that's where she went down, she and I had been waging a war here, but I got her here, and over the side she went." Parker frowned, looking to the cliff she could see no body.

"I said a body my dear, not where you think you killed her." She turned to face Clarissa and took three arrows to the face.

"I'm not climbing down there to find her body, if you want it you do it, but for me I just want to go home." Parker sighed and waved her hand, a portal emerged in ether.

"Fine my darling fine, you can go I'll send a servant to..." Clarissa fired three arrows into Parker before she could finish admonishing the girl, Izu emerged from the river where she'd been hiding and lopped her head off and kicked her body off the cliff and into the underbrush below.

"Good lord that darling crap is annoying." Clarissa doubted the dragon killing plan Izu had would work, she couldn't doubt the result.

"Quick before the portal closes." Izu and Clarissa leapt through the portal and found themselves along side the highway outside of Ellensburgh, it was freezing as both women were dressed for the jungle, and it was very much winter.

"I don't get it we've been in there months, how is it still winter?"

"Maybe its a late winter?" Clarissa was about to respond when a hearse pulled up to them.

"It's a bit cold to be dressed for an anime convention girls." Clarence Timms was a surprise for Clarissa to see, but she was happy of all people to run across Izu and herself it was someone at least associated with Gordon.

"Long story Revered can we get a ride?"

"Yes you can, in fact I was going to see your boss, come on in."

****

"I'm still confused by this Miss Parker." Parker sat in the back of her limo smiling. Her associate Richards some kind of troll kin that Parker never understood or cared to ask about sat nervously across from her.

"The exterminator knew what I was, it was worth it to throw her off that I'm still around."

"You think she'll tell Dunkley?"

"Probably, not that it matters, what he's got will kill him soon enough, there's a reason I never go into those forests."

"And then?"

"And then we kill his assistant and assume no one will get in the way of our plan Darling, inform the rest of the council to proceed as planned." Richards left and Parker smiled to herself, briefly touching the place where the lizard creature had beheaded her. She could imagine all kinds of awful things to do to the creature and Clarissa, and couldn't wait to show them.

Early Retirement

56.

Clarissa could not tell if she was hunting her prey or it was hunting her. She had awoken in a jungle with a note telling her to aim for the head and water. To say she was angry as Ms Parker was an understatement. The jungle was hot, she'd had to ditch her work jump suit and was contemplating taking her pants off. She hadn't run across any animals or even insects, but she could feel the eyes of whatever she was intended on killing upon her. It was how trees and plants would be moving before she got there. Every clump of trees felt like an ambush, she wished Gilbert was there, she figured he had experience killing whatever Ms Parker had intended on her to kill. Clarissa heard a branch snap behind her and turned with her bow and arrow drawn, she felt the blade press against her neck but the strike didn't come.

"So my retirement has finally come." The creature appeared female based on hair and chest, but she wore clothes made of several types of creatures it was hard to distinguish features. The blade she had at Clarissa's neck also looked to have been made from a creature.

"I'm surprised you speak." Clarissa didn't know if she should fire, her instincts told her not to.

"It's been a while, but I remember words, that's a nice bow, shame your shot is off." Clarissa went to look at her bow and quickly found herself on the ground with the sword pressed against her throat.

"I guess you're going to kill me now." There was a moment, and then the creature sheathed her blade and held her hand out.

"No, I hunt monsters, but you are not one, though I suspect one sent you here." Clarissa accepted the hand and got to her feet.

"Where is here anyway?"

"I was hoping you'd know." The creature laughed, which prompted Clarissa to laugh.

****

"So Ms Parker sent you here to?" Izu, the creature who was like some kind of lizard person with her armor off gave Clarissa a side ways glance.

"Parker? No don't know a Parker, I know a big red dragon I was after who opened a portal and chucked my ass inside, that I do know."

"I'm just surprised you speak English."

"I'm from Michigan if you can believe it, now admittedly I'm not human like you are, but not all things inhuman are horrible killers." Izu had taken Clarissa to her camp, a small space carved in the jungle with a fire and some basic food, Clarissa turned down the food it looked not appetizing.

"You're wearing the skins of several creatures, some I recognize some I've never seen." Izu chuckled.

"I guess you're correct, though seeing as you came here with an elven bow that smells of death well I guess we're both a like in that regard, well except I've got experience, you, you were easily fooled by me telling you you're aim was off."

"I'm just an assistant."

"Where's you're boss? Lining up a shot on me?"

"No, he's back in Ellensburgh." Izu looked up for a moment as if trying to remember something.

"Dunkley, he was out of that town, I remember, ran into him in Ohio once, tried to kill me too, GD Exterminators, I guess I should be flattered."

"So are you one of us or something?"

"Somewhat, I was an artist once, painted things, lived in tunnels, its where Dunkley found me, there were bodies all over Ohio, some creature deep underground killing them, Dunkley like you didn't pull the trigger, too human looking I guess, helped him find the real creature deeper underground, helped him end it, got a taste at the time, felt I could do some good looking for things in the dark. My mistake of course was going after that damn dragon."

"Parker."

"Yeah you said that's her name, yeah it was like my second thing I was sent to do, little midget bastard turned me on to her, said she killed his whole family. I even had the jump on her if you can believe that, but she got me in her jaws and I thought I was done, and then I woke up here."

"Did you kill everything here or something?"

"Nothing is here normally, Parker I guess sends stuff to me, at first I figured it was to kill me, over the years I've come to think of it more as a clean up and amusement, but I guess I've out lived my usefulness, or you have."

"Probably a bit of both."

"Dragon's are probably assholes like that."

"Seems that way, so are you going to kill me?"

"Nah you wouldn't make a very good arm band, and I need a new one." Izu smiled, "Though I will do one thing for you, and that's teach you how to use a blade, I could have killed you a couple times and that's being generous, you need to be smarter if you're going to kill your dragon." Izu rummaged through her camp and pulled out another creature sword and handed it over to Clarissa.

"What do you want me to do first?" Izu took up her own blade and held it up to Clarissa.

"Well to start out, try and kill me, and we'll work our way from there."

Fire Red And Ready To Go

55.

Clarissa was minding the office by herself. She hadn't felt confident enough to confront Gilbert about what the creature had told her. To be fair to her she hadn't felt good ever since she'd vomitted the creature back out. So when Gilbert and Doris said they were going to pick up some supplies and she could stay behind at the office she took the opportunity to not be out. It had been a fairly slow cold day and she figured no one would be coming in, not with crappy snow drift laden Ellensburg in February.

"Turn that frown upside down." Ms. Parker showing up was a surprise, that she was dressed like she'd just come from a cocktail party in a place a lot warmer than Ellensburg was even more of a surprise. She appeared even younger than she had before, which made sense since Gilbert had said she can look like however she feels.

"Miss Parker?" Clarissa suddenly felt very unprepared.

"You say that like I'm your teacher dear, I'm not your teacher, I'm your client, and I need your help."

"Gilbert isn't here."

"Of course he isn't my dear, but that's ok, you're developing quite the reputation yourself killer of dark forests, I see the news, so you're just perfect, I'll even pay double for the trouble." She smiled and her teeth were gold, not golden capped, but gold, with the rest of her appearance Clarissa couldn't figure if she just didn't care, or she wanted people to stop and stare.

"I'm not sure..." Ms. Parker grabbed Clarissa's hand and she could feel a heat there that was bordering on the unpleasant.

"Not exactly asking sweety, gather your things and leave a note." Her tone had changed from playful to commanding and Clarissa knew she couldn't fight back against a dragon. Clarissa wrote a hastily worded note about doing a quick job and she'd be back later, she didn't mention it was for Ms. Parker not wanting to hear Gilbert's anger when she got back. Once outside she saw Ms. Parker's car which was a large red limousine.

"Standing out a little bit?"

"I like to travel in style." Clarissa noted there was no driver, but it wouldn't have surprised her if there wasn't actually a car either.

****

"You didn't tell me what I need to kill for you." They had left town speeding beyond the limit, Ms. Parker did not seem concerned. Clarissa had to look away.

"Right, not so much a what, more a who."

"I'm not a murderer Ms. Parker."

"Of course you are dear, you tend to think of things like me as 'people' but you kill them all the same, make of that what you will, but worry not I don't need you to kill a person, well not a human person, but don't worry my dear we have a while to go, maybe you should rest until we get there." Clarissa was about to say she didn't feel tired, but before she could say it she was overcome with sleep.

****

"So he left the lights and the heat on after she left, that girl has a lot to answer for when she gets back." Gilbert was very upset Clarissa wasn't there, even more so when her note just said she'd taken a job and she'd be back shortly. The office was still lit up, the heat was on, and she hadn't even bothered to flip the sign from open to close.

"She's young Gilbert."

"Doris I don't need you standing up for her, and I swear to god if you're smoking in here again I'm going to dock your pay."

"Wasn't me, maybe it was Clarissa, but maybe you should calm down Gilbert? You've been really agitated."

"I already get that crap from her I don't need it from you, I'm going in my office, tell me when she bothers to come back again." Gilbert stomped off and Doris found herself wondering what was wrong with the man. She was also worrying about Clarissa, the note felt too rushed, but she knew shouldn't talk to Gilbert about it, not when he was in the mood he was in. So she sat at the desk and hoped things would work out.

Hello Darkness My New Friend

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."

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.

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."