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6/28/2018

Episode 10: Something Wicked... - Part 5

September 19th 1995
              So here we are, after the longest night of our lives, we are still here. Well, all but one of us. Trying to explain the events of the last several hours is what I need right now. I need time to be alone, to process. After Blue, Meryle, and I made it on to the roof of the house, we saw a red colored light emitting from inside the tower. Shortly afterwards, the entire tower began to collapse and I felt my heart sink down into my gut. Seeing that strange red light immediately made me feel sick, and yet, it also felt nostalgic, as if I had see it before. Blue had changed back into human form and watched the tower crumble as well. He pointed out that the walking corpses were falling apart and stopping their advance, as well as Meryle's complete recovery. It was then that I knew that Ghast was gone, but I worried at what cost.
               We continued to watch the tower fall to pieces and sink back into the earth, leaving nothing in its place but a mound of dirt and old bones. The creatures that Ghast had summoned seemingly just disappeared completely into the ground as well. Within minutes of the dust finally settling, we had our first sign of what had happened. Monster was flying towards us holding an unconscious Ani. He landed at the base of the house and we went down to find out what was going on. Of course I could have been more concerned for Monster, but truthfully I didn't give a rat's ass about him. I was “direct” of course and asked what happened to Ani. With his typical arrogance, he quickly shrugged it off and explained that Ghast was gone for good, but for a terrible price. Wraith gave his life to kill Ghast.
                Monster went on to explain that both he and Animal fought hard to help Wraith, but in the end, Wraith was forced to transform into a something called a “poltergeist” a creature that was all but immune to Ghast powers. The battle was apparently brutal, but according to Monster, Wraith had to destroy himself to finally defeat Ghast, the massive red light we saw. I asked why Animal was unconscious, and Monster replied that Ani attempted to shield him from the blast that was created when Wraith destroyed his own body. Ani was apparently knocked unconscious by the debris. The moment Ghast was no longer alive, the tower began to fall apart and both Monster and Animal fell towards the ground below. Monster continued to explain that he used what little strength he had left to forcefully heal his wounds and fly away, but not before rescuing Animal from falling.


           At the time, I simply excepted Monster's story, but now, I think he's full of shit. He's hiding something, but what I can't say. Monster said that the red light was a result of Wraith basically suicide bombing Ghast into pieces, but that light, it didn't feel like it came from Wraith. Reading this aloud makes that last line sound incredibly stupid, but I have no other way of explaining it. I'm not saying that Wraith isn't gone, even Animal confirmed it. When Ani did wake up, the first thing he asked about was if Wraith was okay... But we had to tell him. He didn't believe it at first, the poor thing wailed and sobbed for hours, saying that we were lying. It was Monster that snapped him out of it by explaining that his tears were insulting to what Wraith did for them. Monster told Ani that everything Wraith did would be for nothing if he continued to wallow in, as he put it, “...a pathetic way to remember a warrior...” Even though I hate to admit it, Monster was right. But I still believe that he's a lying sack of crap.
              As I said before, the red light didn't make me think of Wraith when I saw it, it felt foreboding, kind of like when I knew I did something bad as a kid, and that if my father found out he would beat the white clean off my ass. It felt like something was coming for you, something that you feared so much that your world was going to end if it caught hold of you. In the following days I tried to talk to Masters and Meryle about it but each of them gave me two very different responses. Masters claimed that he felt nothing when the red light occurred, but I've decided that after whatever Cain had did to him that he was lucky to feel anything anymore. As for Meryle, when I asked her about it, she said that it she doesn't remember how she felt, just that it was “bad.”
              On a different note, I'm sure Masters would like me to forget about what Meryle said last night. But I'm not going to. Meryle claims that my father's cat, Pumpkin, saved her after I was knocked unconscious when boarding up the back doors. When I woke up and Blue was helping me to my feet, I saw that pink flame for the second time. I haven't forgotten what happened that day when Cain's monsters abducted me and brought me to the Dynatech lab. I still remember when I was trapped in Cain's office, and that right before I blacked out, I saw that damn cat peering at me on the window sill, that was hundred feet off the ground, and when I woke up, pink flames, everywhere. I can't talk to anyone about this, they would think I've snapped. But after dealing with an army of mutants, a wolf man, a dragon, a ghost, a man who can turn into a metal bug, and a skeleton that can control the dead, I suppose a cat who can fly and breath pink fire is well in the realm of plausibility. But what it wants I'm not sure. I'll be keeping an eye on her regardless. But for now, it's Ani that I'm afraid needs the most attention. He's shut off and won't talk to anyone, not even me. The clothes my dad gave him got trashed in the fight with Ghast, so I decided to make him some new ones with what little my old man and taught me about sewing. I found some old patterns in the attic and Meryle said she would like to help too, more bonding time I suppose.
              Monster hasn't been seen in days and I assume he's lurking in the woods. Though I still hate his guts, I don't believe he means us any harm, after all, Ghast is gone, and as far as I know, the only thing between us and some sense of a “normal” life is the Grim Virus. We have only a few months left now... Christ, when does it end?

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