I won my argument with a creditor yesterday, but I'll tell it you about it over the weekend when I have more time :)
Diabolical Four hours later and Collins was sat back in the locker room at the police station changing his shoes again and shaking sand out on to the floor. “Sweep that up when you’re done,” said an oddly familiar voice. “No-one else wants to get it on their socks for the rest of the day.” Collins looked around but the speaker was nowhere he could see. “Behind you,” said the voice, which made no sense as Collins was sitting with his back to the lockers. He looked left and right, and then jumped, his hand clutching at his chest, as the middle-aged-looking athletically-built ghost from that morning walked through the lockers again. “You’re a green one, aren’t you lad? Didn’t they have ghosts where you grew up?” “Not many,” said Collins, pulling his hand back down. “I’m from Wentford.” “Ah,” said the ghost. “One of the blasted towns. Yeah, you probably had a couple of ghost dogs but you wouldn’t have many. Just got taught about them in school, right?” Collins shook his head. “There was mention of them,” he said. “I mean, they’re on the news every night, and I know now that they’re a part of society-“ “—out of necessity—” “—but school didn’t say a whole lot more than ‘there are ghosts, they are diabolical but don’t scream when you meet one, and Ghostbusters is run by the ghosts so don’t even bother.’” “Sounds interesting,” said the ghost, and his tone of voice changed slightly. Collins looked up, his shoes now back on and saw the ghost looking at him carefully. “Wentford? Hmm.” “What’s a blasted town? Is it anything to do with the Radiance?” Collins was aware he was supposed to be rejoining Adams and the Inspectral, but this was the first person he’d met all day who seemed like they had time for him. The ghost nodded. “You could say that. After the Radiance started there were a whole bunch of cults sprang up. People are… let’s say easily scared as it’s nicer, and there was a lot of confusion, a lot of mystery, and, if we’re honest, the rate people were dying was absolutely terrifying. Some of the cults thought the Radiance could be controlled by prayer, or Jedi mind tricks or something, and they were ok. The cultists are a bit weird, but at least you can see how their thoughts must have gone. Then there’s the bad ones, the ones who thought the Radiance was the Abramic god returned and wanting sacrifice. Like there weren’t enough people dying already, those idiots wanted to kill a few more. Then there were the scientists, trying to figure out what the Radiance was and where it came from, and a few fringe groups of nutters who thought the scientists had either done it, or were trying to make it bigger. It seemed like 90% of every report we got then was Radiance-related. But, and I know you’ve got to get back to work lad, but there was a cult that called themselves the Radiant Dawn. Imaginative bloody name, right? They were somewhere between worshipping it and trying to make it bigger. They claimed that the whole world needed to be Radiant to be saved, though how people get saved by dying is something I never figured out. They built some kind of device, six of them in six towns, that were supposed to enhance the Radiance somehow. No idea how, none of them survived turning the devices on. But whatever they were supposed to do, they somehow drove the Radiance out completely; destroyed ghosts, deadened the area psychically, burned up the Radiance-burned land and left it clean, if mostly sterile. Almost didn’t kill people, but it did kill all of them. Those are the blasted towns: Wentford, Oxcross, Butterhill, Shadlea and Frome.”
Collins counted the town names in his head, slightly surprised that he knew Oxcross and Butterhill from his childhood. “That’s five,” he said. “Yes,” said the ghost, and tilted his head to the side slightly like a dog. “Wondered if you’d count. The sixth device never went off, and no-one’s found enough time and resource to go and see if it’s safe or not. So we don’t talk about it any more, and if you do your homework you’ll find there’s only five blasted towns written about. Officially, anyway.” “The Radian Dawn—” The ghost straighted his head up. “The Inspectral is starting to wonder where you are,” he said. “Tell him you were sweeping the sand up. He’ll like that.” Collins looked at the sand on the floor and started for the second time as it pulled itself together and drifted lazily across the floor to the outside door. The ghost smiled. “Helping hand,” he said.
I spent the next few hours answering questions from Stefan and Nick, as they entered data into computers. Finally, Stefan looked up. “Nick, the epicentre of the snow monster attacks is right here. This glacier. How can that be?”
Nick smiled, and suddenly I didn't recognize my husband. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Stefan. “The epicentre is right here because I am responsible for them. You will die, and I will take over the world with my creations.” I must have made a sound, because he swung the gun over and pointed it at me. “I'm sorry, Judy. I never meant for you to be involved. You're quite clever, you know. That's why I married you. So we could have clever children. I'm glad you had the sense to make sure they were safe before you came up here.”
I stared at him. He married me so we could have clever children? And now he was pointing a gun at me. I needed to keep him talking. Maybe he wouldn't shoot me then. “What made you create the snow monsters, Nick?”
He opened his mouth. “Well, I just couldn’t,” he began, but he was cut off by his own scream, as Stefan stabbed him in the throat with a small knife. He fell over, blood spurting over Stefan and me. We watched him die, gasping for breath. Stefan turned to me. “I'm sorry, Judy. He was your husband. But there was something very wrong with him, and he was going to kill us all.”
I nodded. “I don't blame you. I didn't recognize him there at the end.”
Stefan lifted me up. “The police will need to be called. I expect I am going to jail, so this is goodbye.” He inclined his head formally. “It was a pleasure knowing you. I hope we meet again someday.”
6 comments:
I won my argument with a creditor yesterday, but I'll tell it you about it over the weekend when I have more time :)
Diabolical
Four hours later and Collins was sat back in the locker room at the police station changing his shoes again and shaking sand out on to the floor.
“Sweep that up when you’re done,” said an oddly familiar voice. “No-one else wants to get it on their socks for the rest of the day.” Collins looked around but the speaker was nowhere he could see.
“Behind you,” said the voice, which made no sense as Collins was sitting with his back to the lockers. He looked left and right, and then jumped, his hand clutching at his chest, as the middle-aged-looking athletically-built ghost from that morning walked through the lockers again. “You’re a green one, aren’t you lad? Didn’t they have ghosts where you grew up?”
“Not many,” said Collins, pulling his hand back down. “I’m from Wentford.”
“Ah,” said the ghost. “One of the blasted towns. Yeah, you probably had a couple of ghost dogs but you wouldn’t have many. Just got taught about them in school, right?”
Collins shook his head. “There was mention of them,” he said. “I mean, they’re on the news every night, and I know now that they’re a part of society-“
“—out of necessity—”
“—but school didn’t say a whole lot more than ‘there are ghosts, they are diabolical but don’t scream when you meet one, and Ghostbusters is run by the ghosts so don’t even bother.’”
“Sounds interesting,” said the ghost, and his tone of voice changed slightly. Collins looked up, his shoes now back on and saw the ghost looking at him carefully. “Wentford? Hmm.”
“What’s a blasted town? Is it anything to do with the Radiance?” Collins was aware he was supposed to be rejoining Adams and the Inspectral, but this was the first person he’d met all day who seemed like they had time for him.
The ghost nodded. “You could say that. After the Radiance started there were a whole bunch of cults sprang up. People are… let’s say easily scared as it’s nicer, and there was a lot of confusion, a lot of mystery, and, if we’re honest, the rate people were dying was absolutely terrifying. Some of the cults thought the Radiance could be controlled by prayer, or Jedi mind tricks or something, and they were ok. The cultists are a bit weird, but at least you can see how their thoughts must have gone. Then there’s the bad ones, the ones who thought the Radiance was the Abramic god returned and wanting sacrifice. Like there weren’t enough people dying already, those idiots wanted to kill a few more.
Then there were the scientists, trying to figure out what the Radiance was and where it came from, and a few fringe groups of nutters who thought the scientists had either done it, or were trying to make it bigger. It seemed like 90% of every report we got then was Radiance-related.
But, and I know you’ve got to get back to work lad, but there was a cult that called themselves the Radiant Dawn. Imaginative bloody name, right? They were somewhere between worshipping it and trying to make it bigger. They claimed that the whole world needed to be Radiant to be saved, though how people get saved by dying is something I never figured out. They built some kind of device, six of them in six towns, that were supposed to enhance the Radiance somehow. No idea how, none of them survived turning the devices on. But whatever they were supposed to do, they somehow drove the Radiance out completely; destroyed ghosts, deadened the area psychically, burned up the Radiance-burned land and left it clean, if mostly sterile. Almost didn’t kill people, but it did kill all of them. Those are the blasted towns: Wentford, Oxcross, Butterhill, Shadlea and Frome.”
Collins counted the town names in his head, slightly surprised that he knew Oxcross and Butterhill from his childhood. “That’s five,” he said.
“Yes,” said the ghost, and tilted his head to the side slightly like a dog. “Wondered if you’d count. The sixth device never went off, and no-one’s found enough time and resource to go and see if it’s safe or not. So we don’t talk about it any more, and if you do your homework you’ll find there’s only five blasted towns written about. Officially, anyway.”
“The Radian Dawn—”
The ghost straighted his head up. “The Inspectral is starting to wonder where you are,” he said. “Tell him you were sweeping the sand up. He’ll like that.”
Collins looked at the sand on the floor and started for the second time as it pulled itself together and drifted lazily across the floor to the outside door. The ghost smiled. “Helping hand,” he said.
three comments today, but I figured you'd really like this :)
I spent the next few hours answering questions from Stefan and Nick, as they entered data into computers. Finally, Stefan looked up. “Nick, the epicentre of the snow monster attacks is right here. This glacier. How can that be?”
Nick smiled, and suddenly I didn't recognize my husband. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Stefan. “The epicentre is right here because I am responsible for them. You will die, and I will take over the world with my creations.” I must have made a sound, because he swung the gun over and pointed it at me. “I'm sorry, Judy. I never meant for you to be involved. You're quite clever, you know. That's why I married you. So we could have clever children. I'm glad you had the sense to make sure they were safe before you came up here.”
I stared at him. He married me so we could have clever children? And now he was pointing a gun at me. I needed to keep him talking. Maybe he wouldn't shoot me then. “What made you create the snow monsters, Nick?”
He opened his mouth. “Well, I just couldn’t,” he began, but he was cut off by his own scream, as Stefan stabbed him in the throat with a small knife. He fell over, blood spurting over Stefan and me. We watched him die, gasping for breath. Stefan turned to me. “I'm sorry, Judy. He was your husband. But there was something very wrong with him, and he was going to kill us all.”
I nodded. “I don't blame you. I didn't recognize him there at the end.”
Stefan lifted me up. “The police will need to be called. I expect I am going to jail, so this is goodbye.” He inclined his head formally. “It was a pleasure knowing you. I hope we meet again someday.”
The End
Well, I just wrote a bit more and we might see Stefan and Judy again, but this is the end of the snow monsters.
Greg - I look forward to hearing about that :)
Thank you for this insight into Collins past, it's very helpful... and interesting to boot! I continue to be fascinated by this world you've created.
Oh my god, those pictures are glorious. Thank you.
Morganna - things definitely took a grim turn at the end there! Thank you for sharing this tale with us :)
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