Friday, February 22, 2019

Thomp Thomp Gillawomp

109.

"At least its warm here." They had found a ring of cabins nearby. They were in poor shape having been an attempt at some kind of vacationing spot before they were abandoned however long ago. But they kept the cold out a little bit and within a short period of time Gilbert had a fire going in the fireplace, though he warned Clarissa about carbon monoxide because he didn't know if the chimney was still functioning properly.

"Something isn't right."

"Well we just got here and the building is falling apart, I'm pretty sure it's all not right."

"Not that, why didn't those other people come here? We found this place pretty easily and they would have as well, where are the bodies, I keep feeling I'm missing something here." Clarissa heard it just as Gilbert finished talking. A thump, it reminded her of how a trex was supposed to sound when it walked near you. Gilbert seemed to take no notice of it, he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That loud thump just now?"

"Clarissa now is not the time for your Gillawomp madness." Another thump, this one was closer. Clarissa was looking outside and even with the fire messing with her eyes she swore she saw snow move with the thump.

"You're telling me you haven't heard two loud thumps?"

"No I didn't hear anything." Clarissa was staring hard out the window. Her eyes locked on what looked like an indent in the snow with nothing causing the indent. Clarissa wasn't even breathing, fear had gotten into her as she watched, her hands trembled a bit. There was no noise or movement, Gilbert was about to just call her snow crazy when Clarissa screamed.

"IT BLINKED!" She was staring hard at the indent in the snow and didn't even notice the huge eye staring at her until it blinked. Gilbert froze in place.

"Don't move."

"What you think its like a t-rex?"

"I don't know, but obviously it isn't attacking us yet, so don't move just stand there." Clarissa felt she was too close to the window for her liking but Gilbert was right in that it hadn't reacted to them yet.

"So what is that thing?"

"A Gillawomp clearly." Clarissa would have hit Gilbert if she wasn't worried about moving causing the creature to attack.

Friday, February 15, 2019

Snowlusions

108.

"Alaska sucks." Clarissa was colder than she'd ever felt before. Colder than she felt she could ever feel. Even wearing full winter clothing there was a lingering cold that soaked down to her bones. Her recently broken arm ached.

"Tried to warn you its not a fun time in the bush."

"Is that what they call this snow capped hellscape?"

"Among other things." Clarissa didn't see any bush's, nor did she want to see what kind of plant could live in this frigid wasteland. It was high noon and yet felt colder than it had been earlier in the morning.

"Well lets find these people and get out of here."

"I thought you wanted to find a Gillawomp?" Gilbert was cold too, but tormenting Clarissa about her belief in the Gillawomp kept him warm.

"Too cold for your bullshit old man, lets find these people or what's left of them." The one positive about the cold and snow was it had been fairly easy to follow the foot prints of the missing people, even with the wind. Nothing looked untoward about the foot prints to Gilbert, they didn't look hurried or pursued by anything, but they hadn't gotten to the cabin the people were supposed to be staying at yet, he worried what or who he'd find there.

It took three hours of hard trudging to finally come across the ruins of the cabin. Clarissa's heart fell. The cabin had been torn apart, and at some point a fire had burned the remains. She had hoped when they got there they could stay a while and warm up, but seeing the wind blown ruin just killed any hope of being warm.

"Wolves?"

"Possibly." Gilbert didn't think it was wolves at this point, but he'd seen crazier things, it could have been wolves, but they hadn't seen tracks leading up to the cabin that were the signs of wolves. So if it was wolves they were pretty stealthy, but he also didn't see any Gillawomp tracks whatever that would look like.

"Possibly? So now you believe in the Gillawomp theory."

"No, its probably someone started a fire and then burned the cabin down." Clarissa looked over the remains of the cabin in the waning afternoon light and doubted Gilbert's theory.

"Where are the foot prints of the cabin occupants, or the bodies?" Gilbert cursed under his breath. He had trained Clarissa too well.

"Ok you got me it's still not a Gillawomp, probably something else horrible up here, like a wendigo."

"Or a Gillawomp."

"Clarissa if I wasn't worried about freezing to death I'd so continue to argue this point, come on." Gilbert had a map of other buildings in the area, he hoped at least a few of them were still standing, or things were about to get real bad, and not just Clarissa mentioning the damn Gillawomp.

Friday, February 8, 2019

The Alaskan Gillawomp

107.

"I'm excited this is my first time in alaska." Things had been slow post the navy rescuing Gilbert and crew six hours after they had emerged on the sound. Gilbert had jumped at the chance when a local trapper mentioned something weird going on in rural Alaska, anything to take him away from the office which still smelled of seaweed.

"Its cold, damn cold, especially where we're going."

"So you've been there before?"

"Yeah couple of times, they are always worried about people who went missing, or people who shouldn't be in the snow, but both times I've been up there its been wolves, nasty wolves, but regular old wolves, pay is good though." Clarissa frowned.

"I thought wolves were an endangered species."

"In some parts of the US, not rural Alaska, and don't think of these like big dogs, they are nasty vicious things that would rip you up."

"Well that's if they are wolves, it could be the Gillawomp." Gilbert sighed.

"Oh god Doris told you about the Gillawomp, she watches too much dumb shit I swear to god."

"She said it blends with the snow, and that its like a spider, or some kind of big lizard."

"Or some Drunk alaskans big fish story that a dumb tv show made a special about. Every time I've been up in Alaska Doris asked me to look for that stupid thing and I have humored her every time, I'm going to tell you it doesn't exist Clarissa trust me, it's not a real thing, the name alone is stupid."

****

"Its a Gillawomp." The fisherman was an old grizzled sort that Gilbert normally trusted, but now he had his doubts. He glared at Clarissa who was all to happy to hear Gillawomp.

"What's a Gillawomp?" Clarissa annoyed Gilbert further asking about it like an eager child.

"No one knows exactly young lady, just rumors."

"And bullshit."

"You don't believe in it? Why are you up here Mr. Dunkley?"

"Because I'm being paid by fish and wildlife to find a fly fishing group that went missing up there, it'll be wolves like the last two times I've been up here."

"It ain't no wolves Mr. Dunkley."

"We'll see, can you just point me to a map where they were going?" The old fisherman grunted and pulled up some maps, eventually setting on a creek deep in country.

"There, you'll want to pack warm clothing and food, its deep in." Gilbert looked at the map and nodded.

"Yeah I've been up there before." He didn't say good bye, he left the old man's shack.

"Gillawomps are real right?" Clarissa had lingered.

"Very real, watch yourself girl, if you hear rustling but don't see anything, its coming for you."

"Thank you sir, sorry about my boss, he's just grumpy." Old man nodded.

"I hope he's right and its just wolves, otherwise, well like I said watch yourself."

Friday, February 1, 2019

A Way Home Would Have Been Nicer

106.

*CLANG*

Gilbert and Clarissa were caught off guard by the noise. They had been in the engine room trying to see if they could get this ship moving when something collided with the ship.

"You think we hit land?"

"No ship this big you'd hear a lot worse of a noise more of metal on metal tearing, someone hit us."

"Oh god someone else trapped in this hell?"

"Or a rescue party." Gilbert and Clarissa left the generator area and got up to the deck. Once up there they could see Doris and Demurra standing apart from the carnival barker. Clarissa wanted to run to them, but Gilbert held her back.

"Could be a trap."

"Or they could use our help Gilbert."

"What help we can offer the real people is minimal, what danger that creature can inflict on us with a false image can not be understated." Clarissa understood, but didn't like it. So they waited to see what would happen, hoping that Doris and Demurra were the real deal.

****

"You're not welcome here." The carnival barker in front of them didn't look very scary to either person, but both could feel its power to know looks were deceiving.

"Wrong chuckles we're here for our friends." Demurra's fist glowed with a blue flame, her anger barely kept in check.

"Demon you have no power here, why even come if only to die?"

"Oh I was merely the driver, its the elf you should be worried about." The barker turned to look at Doris with a bemused face.

"An elf? I think this is a first for me."

"Hopefully be the last for you too asshole." Doris opened up a satchel she'd been carrying. At first it was just a beam of sunlight, the barker got a bemused look on his face, but the light grew stronger and stronger, burning away the creatures face and then the rest of him. The Fog that had been surrounding them burned away with it too leaving just the naval ship with two other ships smashed into it.

"How did you know I could do that demon?"

"I told you I literally can read your mind." Doris looked away feeling stupid for asking. Clarissa and Gilbert came running up. Clarissa and Demurra embraced while Gilbert looked away.

"So you're ship looks pretty banged up down there." Doris thankful to have some other conversation to be a part of agreed.

"Yeah the ship and fog just appeared out of no where on us."

"Well I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure when this ship just emerged on radar in the sound someone in Bremerton shit themselves and we'll have a naval destroyer out here soon enough."

"There's a government shut down going on right now Gilbert."

"Fuck."

Friday, January 25, 2019

The Danger of Loneliness

105.

"Well I have no idea how to operate a boat." Demurra and Doris were confused by the boat Demurra had sweet talked the dock worker into giving them. It looked like a pretty good boat, but neither one even knew what to do with it.

"Don't look at me I'm a summer Elf we don't hang with water." Demurra sighed, she didn't to have to convince an unwitting party again to help them, but she also didn't want to be sitting there on the docks while Clarissa was in danger.

"God this is the stupidest shit I've ever been involved with." Demurra got out of the boat and stomped back to the dock...

****

"Madness is here." The sailor's clothes were half torn off his body, cut marks adorned his arms from where he'd tried unsuccessfully to kill himself with a plastic butter knife.

"Are you the only one left?" Gilbert felt sorry for the kid, he looked like he was barely over twenty.

"Left? No, trapped, no way out, it wants me here, torments me, won't let me leave." The smell coming from him was overpowering, it was how Clarissa and Gilbert caught him in the first place.

"What does it want?" Clarissa didn't like the sailor, something about him felt off, like he wasn't real and this was another trick by the forest.

"Nothing," He laughed, all off kilter and crazy "But I can be free now." Gilbert didn't notice he'd slipped one of the ropes they put on him. In a quick motion he grabbed Gilbert's revolver and killed himself. The loud bang reverberated in the ship leaving Gilbert and Clarissa partially deaf. They stood there over the dead body for a bit while their ears cleared.

"So we're fucked right?"

"Mega fucked, I do have five more bullets though." Gilbert smiled, and Clarissa mustered up one herself.

"Well at least I'm stuck on a ship in the middle of hell fog with you Gilbert."

"I'd rather not be as well, but if I had to be you're a good companion for this too." They hugged each other, just clinging on to the fact there was hope for a little while.

****

"You're the worst." Doris had been insulting Demurra for the past twenty minutes ever since she'd taken the ability to drive a boat from the young man near the dock.

"Look what I did to him is not permanent and he got something out of it, win win."

"Says the demon."

"Former demon, and judge not lest ye be judged elf, you're thoughts are not so guarded."

"I hate this so much I don't know why I agreed to help you." Demurra didn't comment, she just kept following where she could feel Clarissa was, though she was getting worried how instead of getting a stronger feeling for her, it was getting weaker by the minute.

Friday, January 18, 2019

An Alliance of Interest

104.

"So just so you know I don't trust you." Demurra looked at Doris with a bemused glance. The office still was wrapped in sea weed and smelled terrible, but it wasn't the sea weed that made Demurra uncomfortable in it, it was the lingering essence.

"I'm aware elf you're thoughts are blaring through your head." Doris didn't like the demon, but she didn't have any one else she could rely on.

"You'll have to turn that shit off if we're going to work together." Demurra laughed.

"One I can't, and Two we're not working together, I'm going to go get my girlfriend back and you'll stay here and clean up sea weed."

"Not an option, I'm coming with you, Gilbert and Clarissa mean something to me too demon, more than they mean to you by far."

"Fair enough elf, but if you slow me down or show any kind of weakness I don't have an issue leaving you to what we are after."

"As do I to you." They shook on it to make it "official" and then set about to get to the coast, hopefully before Gilbert and Clarissa were gone forever.

****

"This is ghastly."

"Horrid."

"Hard to imagine a worse fate."

"Who knew twinkies could betray us like this." All of the rest of the food on the ship had been spoiled, rotted, or looked like something had infected it. Gilbert and Clarissa had found the junkfood section and had hoped for the best, but now they knew the truth even the twinkies had succumbed to the evil on the ship. So far the music wasn't there, the fog had surrounded their damaged ship and the naval ship, but it hadn't actually taken over the ships. It was waiting. For what Gilbert and Clarissa did not know and that was the scary thing.

"So we're stuck here then?"

"I fear this is its end game. Not to torment beyond trapping us. Like from seeing the ship that's what happened to the sailors, they got stuck in the fog, couldn't go anywhere and then one by one probably just killed themselves to end it."

"We haven't found the bodies."

"That's another thing I'm not super fond of so far." Gilbert looked at Clarissa and she shrugged.

"Maybe Doris will come to rescue us."

"If she knows we're missing."

"You're just a font of happy thoughts Gilbert."

"Well someone has to put a little rain cloud on your sunshine Clarissa." They both laughed at that, the sound echoed in the empty ship and sounded like something else was laughing back at them. Well that and something was.

Friday, January 11, 2019

You Can Never Be Free

103.

The ship was gone, the fog was gone, there was only the carnival. Clarissa knew it wasn't real, that she had been thrown into whatever nightmare zone of the mind the forest can do to people, but it was still horrifying. The music was back, lilting and off key, augmented by the sound of children laughing/crying, but other than the noise Clarissa was alone in the park and had been ever since Gilbert vanished in front of her. She had wandered the entire carnival and seen nothing but the rusted and broken down rides and attractions. Whatever the fog/forest wanted it kept that to itself.

****

Clarissa was gone, Gilbert was just warning her to stay close to the flare and then she was gone. This was all his fault, he knew it deep down he should have not been so gung ho here. He knew he should be more cautious but he'd thrown it to the wind to chase a white whale and now he was there, a flare dying next to him as he tried to figure out how to fix a boat engine.

"She's mine now." The horror amusement person was there just out of the flares range, like a haunting imagine.

"No she's not, you have power this is true, but you don't control the seas, soon as I get this shit moving we'll be free of you."

"You'll never be free of me you know that don't you? You may escape today, but I'll always have a part of you, until you die from this world, and then in the next I'll have you."

"Keep talking, the more time you're here bothering me, the less you're doing anything to Clarissa." Gilbert's hand's hurt. The generator was full of sharp parts and metal snags, he'd cut himself several times already, but he knew he had to keep at it, he had to free Clarissa and himself from the Fog if only to have more time to deal with the fog.

"I can do multiple things at once."

"I don't think you can honestly, I think you are more limited than you claim, such as it always is with creatures like yourselves." Gilbert found something stuck in a gear and removed it. He sighed to himself and pressed the ignition button and the ship came to life. The carnival barker faded as well, in his place was Clarissa.

"Oh god Gilbert it was so terrifying."

"Later we have to get up to the top and get this damn thing out of here."

****

"It felt like I was in there for days." The ship was underway, the fog was trailing them uncomfortably always behind, but Gilbert felt they were going to make it out.

"You were gone like five minutes, what did you see?"

"A carnival but like it was empty, just the remains of a broken down one." Gilbert felt a chill go down his back.

"Surprising, when I've visited that place, it wasn't empty, it makes me wonder SHIIIIIII." Gilbert's thought was interrupted by the large ship in front of them. He knew it wasn't there a second before the crash, that the forest/fog had put it there, but he still felt stupid for hitting it dead on. Somewhere behind them as the fog remained nearby he heard laughter.