The middle finger on facebook

FingerOnTheApp

2020.06.23 17:39 Zayous FingerOnTheApp

Keep your finger on the app! https://beastgames.com/ Official Socials: Twitter: @Beastgames Instagram: @beastgameshq
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2021.03.22 03:05 twoterabytes FanFingerOnTheApp

A place to discuss the fan edition of Finger on the App!
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2019.02.16 12:45 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Welcome to the Second Age. The trusted source for news, discussions, and theories relating to Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. All travelers are welcome, from lifelong Tolkien readers to those discovering Middle-earth for the first time. Join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/rpgkYphpbR
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2024.05.21 20:14 Spicyjollof98 Just got called a stupid piece of shit black cunt for not giving some crackhead £2

Just went grocery shopping, couldn’t get everything I wanted cause didn’t have enough and had to get a few things that were reduced (about to go out of date) just to save some money, I’m getting in my car about to drive off and some bitch with 3 teeth in her mouth comes up to my window asking for £2 I said I ain’t got no change, she says can I just go to the atm and give her £5, I said I really don’t have much money, was about to tell her I couldn’t even afford everything in the shop I wanted today, she then interrupts me calls me a stupid black cunt piece of shit. I just laughed it off and drove off I had to do u turn at the end of the road and come back on my self to leave and I see her at the end of the road talking to someone so I horned at her and stuck my middle finger up at her, she turned her back to me as soon as she saw me coming. Shit pissed me off just tryna calm down right now. Wish I had an opened drink to throw at her lool.
submitted by Spicyjollof98 to blackmen [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 19:43 Walk_the_waves After 25 years I’m finally looking into this (Charizard misprint?)

After 25 years I’m finally looking into this (Charizard misprint?)
So looking back at the exact year I obtained this “phenomenon” is a little bit hazy and hard. I don’t have an exact point of reference other than I am currently 32 and I’m almost 97% sure I got this when I was 8? 🤔 This would mean the year was 1999. I remember I had been trying nearly all year to get just one freaking holo card. Seriously for some reason I was on this lack luster journey of pulling basic base pack cards day after day, week after week. My parents at this point had to have nearly bought around 70-80 ish(remember in almost a years time) o get f these base packs for me all in the hopes for at least a “holo card” but to be completely honest here what I really wanted more than anything else on gods green earth was a 1st Edition Holo Charizard. So weekend after weekend, pack after pack nothing. And nothing. And nothing. Until one Sunday morning right after freshly ripping this one pack ever so gently, could it be???? Was this the top of the 1st Edition Holo Charizard I had been patiently waiting for all year? Well it wasn’t 1st Edition. But you know what didn’t sting? The fact that not only did I have a holo Charizard, it was my very first, and I mean very first holo card I ever got. Very shortly after something incredibly odd about the card was catching my eye.. and my heart sank….. this almost pen ink like consistency in the form of a slash was going across the middle to right diagonal of my card…and then off to the bottom left diagonal corner an even smaller slash with the same ink like consistency. And when I say this please take it lightly. What I really mean to say when I’m talking about the consistency is really the appearance. It’s a lot like how you would imagine pen ink, looking in a way. “Looking”. Something very important to note is running my freshly washed and dried fingers over the markings, they weren’t wet or “freshly done. It did not smudge or smear them. Super odd. I just remember thinking how messed up the whole situation was. I waited all year To get a hollow card and I actually get one and it happens to be a Charizard OK so whatever it’s not a first edition but I have one and it’s my first one. What are the chances and then this shit!?!? I was pretty livid to say the least. I don’t know I had a lot of theories as did my peers and others. Never took it to a place to have it looked at, Because this wasn’t a thing back, then there weren’t places like that. It didn’t exist yet. But from what I can gather is back, then 25 years I’ve been till now I am still under the assumption that this would fall under the category of some thing called a misprint? Thoughts? Please?
submitted by Walk_the_waves to pokemon [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 19:31 Valha28 EWW: The Bros

EWW: The Bros
Hello and welcome to episode 98 in a series inspired by u/kamikazeb0y and CinemaSins, where I'll be sinning each and every episode of Gumball.
Quick Disclaimer: I know this is just a children's cartoon and isn't meant to be taken seriously. This, like the show itself, is not at all meant to be taken seriously or considered an actual critique of the show. It is all in good fun. With that out of the way I present you, Everything Wrong With: The Burden!
Gumball: Cossack dance, but there's a problem with it. Darwin: What? [Gumball gets off of his seat, and dances. He repeatedly kicks himself in the face as he does so] I'm...surprised Gumball actually knows the name of this dance. Seems unlike him to care enough to have actually researched the actual name of it. Would have been way more like him to just call it something like "the dance where you fold your arms and kick your legs" or something. But kudos to him for actually going out of his way to learn about something for once, I guess! -1
[Darwin makes an old man face. They laugh again. The bus stops, and Penny gets off] Penny: Thanks! [Gumball sees Penny, and they stare at each other affectionately] Darwin: [Off-screen] And what's your best party trick? [Gumball sticks his finger into a nostril and it comes out through his ear. He wiggles it around, flapping his ear in the process. Penny giggles and walks off] Awwwww, i love that they re-used a snippet of the soundtrack from the iconic scene in The Shell here. I guess that makes that track the official theme of Gumball and Penny's relationship? Hell yeah! -5
Gumball: So, who would you invite? Darwin: Never you mind! Gumball: Oh, come on! Tell me! Darwin: [Blushes] No, you first! Gumball: Oh, fine. [Sing-song voice] But you gotta say yours at the same time. On three. One. Two. Three. Gumball: Penny! Darwin: You! That...was nowhere near the same time +1
[They are both surprised. Darwin is angry and Gumball is shocked] Gumball and Darwin: What?! [The bus stops, and the brothers get off] Darwin: I AM NOT MAKING A SCENE! Gumball: Okay. Darwin: AND I'M NOT JEALOUS OF PENNY! Gumball: Dude, don't freak out. There's enough space in my life for the both of you. [Many Darwins appear around Gumball, crowding him] Darwin: She's crowding us! Darwin: She's suffocating us! Darwin: She's oppressing us! Darwin: She's smothering us! [They all speak at once, disappearing as Gumball interjects] Gumball: Okay, enough! I wanted your opinion on something important, but if it's gonna be like this, then just go home! I need to go to the store anyway. [Walks off] [Darwin's anger turns into sadness, and he begins to sob. Suddenly, he becomes angry again] Darwin: BACK OFF, PENNY FITZGERALD! HE'S MY BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER! Alright...firstly, was Darwin seriously expecting Gumball to say anyone else than Penny? I mean, he made it extremely obvious that he was imagining this as a romantic get-together, so of course he was gonna pick her +1
Also, what happened to Darwin talking to 'Chris Morris' and working out his issues with Gumball and Penny last episode? Like, he realized he was just overeacting and projecting his own insecurities onto Gumball and that he had nothing to be concerned about. Yet now he's discarded all of that and has gone back to being not only acting like he was before, but even worse. Which begs the question...why include that scene in the last ep if you were just gonna completely ignore it the very next episode? +10
[Darwin stretches his eyes and navigates them around Penny. They watch her from above. Penny soon notices them] Penny: Oh hi, Darwin. Hahahahaha, I love how totally unphased Penny is by this -1
[Later, Penny and Carmen enter the cheerleaders' dressing room, talking] Penny: ...made these funny faces at me through the window of the bus and— Oh, hi Darwin. [All the girls except Penny and Carmen gasp at Darwin, who is up in the ceiling, holding onto two beams. He falls down, runs to an open locker, and applies makeup on his face in an attempt to disguise himself as a girl. Certain that it is not working, he grabs a bottle of powder from Carrie and throws it to the ground, where it explodes into a cloud. As the girls cough, he escapes] Penny: [Coughing] Bye, Darwin. [Even later, Sussie and Penny are sitting on a bench in the schoolyard. From behind a dumpster, Darwin uses a listening device to eavesdrop on Penny] Penny: Here, Sussie. I know how much you love chicken skin, so I saved some from last night's dinner. Sussie: SUSSIE LOVES CHICKEN SKIN! [She grabs some and rubs it all over her head, screaming and laughing loudly. The noise makes Darwin shatter to pieces. Penny and Sussie notice him and walk over] Penny: Hi, Darwin. [The pieces of Darwin scream, sprout legs, and flee] Penny: Aaaand... bye, Darwin. Sussie: CHICKEN! [Penny yelps, startled] [The bell rings. In class, Penny writes on a piece of paper while humming. She grabs her bag to put a book in it. Opening it, she gets startled to find Darwin inside, reading her diary] Darwin: Hi, Penny. Nice, um... diary. Penny: Hey, how about you come to lunch with me and Gumball, seems like maybe you wanna talk, right? [Closes bag with him still inside] Right. [Walks off] Okay, trying to peak into her locker was one thing, but now Darwin is just outright stalking the poor guy. Even with abandonment issues, this is not a normal reaction or response. At all. Darwin needs professional help/therapy now, because he clearly has a lot of pent up emotions and fears he needs to talk to someone about. +20
[In the cafeteria, Gumball has arranged a table for Penny and himself. He takes out a small box, which inside holds a ring. He plans to propose to Penny, but is still deciding on how] How on earth did he affort this ring? It must have cost at least a hundred dollars or more! +1
Penny: So, uh, Darwin, I hope you don't feel... threatened by me, do you? Darwin: [Laughs loudly and sarcastically] No. Penny: Okay, good. Enjoy your food.[They all begin eating. Gumball and Penny share a plate of spaghetti and begin eating the same strand. Romantic music is playing, and a kiss is imminent. The moment is cut short when it is revealed Darwin has started eating the middle of the strand, preventing the couple from kissing. They tug on the spaghetti strand trying to shake Darwin off, but it only causes all three of them to headbutt eachother. They all fall to the floor] Gumball: [Shouting] Dude, what is wrong with you?! Darwin is clearly emotionally distressed at the moment, yet neither Gumball or Penny really do much about it except ask if he's okay or in Gumball's case yell at him. I get that Gumball is excited and happy with Penny at the moment and so his focus would be on her, but it feels out of character for him to disregard his brother so clearly having, essentially, a breakdown right in front of him +5
[In the gym, Coach tries and fails to whistle with her fingers] Coach Russo: Okay, now pick your teams! [Gumball and Tobias start picking, with Gumball choosing first] Wait, wait, wait...Gumball has a pair of gym shoes? He's had a pair of shoes that he could have worn this entire time, but he still chooses to go barefoot? Why!? +1
[Darwin tries to get Gumball to pick him by blowing a vuvuzela and waving around two lit flares, all while jumping up and down] How the fuck was Darwin allowed to bring lit flares into the gym!? Not only is that a safety hazard, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal for him to even be in possession of them. +1
Also, how did he even get the flares in the first place? Again, pretty sure it's illegal for him to buy or own them +1
Gumball: DARWIN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Darwin: [Throws the ball at Gumball] Playing ball!Gumball: She's on our team, man! You're out! Seriously, Gumball responding to Darwin's actions by shouting and berating him, and constantly taking Penny's side, is only pushing Darwin more and more. Whewre's the kind, caring, understanding Gumball we know and love? The one that would be worried and concerned seeing his brother act this way? +1
[In the library, Gumball once again tries to propose to Penny. He emerges from behind a bookcase and walks up to her] Gumball: Penny, there's something I need to ask you. Penny: Actually, there's something I wanted to say as well. Gumball: I know. I totally feel what you feel. Let's say it at the same time. One. Two- Penny: We need some space. [Gumball gasps and makes a shocked face] Penny: It's just... until you guys work it out, I kinda feel bad ruining your relationship. You two have something special, you know. The fact Penny is willing to do this really shows just how caring and understanding she really is. She finally has the one thing shw's wanted for who knows how longer, and couldn't bne happier, but upon seeing that it's damaging Gumball and Darwin's relationship is willing to put it on hold until they sort things out. She's willing to put her own happiness aside for her boyfriend and his brother, and that level of sacrifice just goes to show what a great friend and girlfriend she really is. No wonder Gumball loves her so much -10
Gumball: Ugh. What are you doing? Darwin: Whatever it takes for you to still love me. Is it working? Gumball: If by working, you mean making me nauseous then- [Gags, then cries] But it doesn't matter anyway. Penny's left me! She didn't want to come between us, and it's all your fault! [Faceplants and sobs] No, 'we need space' and 'we're over' and two very different things. She didn't leave you she's just...taking a short vacation from you whilst you sort things out with Darwin +1
Darwin: Uh...I didn't mean to come between you two. I-I-I just wanted to spend more time with you. I'm so sorry. Come here- I mean, you kindaaaaa did. Maybe not consciously, sure, but deep down this is exactly what you wanted and you know it +1
Gumball: Is it weird that I bought a ring and I want to ask her to marry me? Darwin: Well, yeah. That's-that's completely weird. ...no it isn't? It's just Gumball wanting to express his love and desire to be with Penny in the biggest way he can think of. If anything it's adorable +1
Darwin: No, it's not. What if I could give you the perfect setting, the perfect moment? Gumball: What do you mean? [Darwin begins dancing and imitating R&B music] Gumball: Stop it. That...that's weird. Darwin: Mm mm. Come on. Gumball: [Snickers] All right. [Joins in dancing with him] How are you gonna get a log cabin though? Or a lake? Or a chocolate fountain? And how are you gonna get her to come over? Aww, the fact Gumball forgives Darwin so easily for almost ending his and Penny's relationship really shows just how forgiving and caring he is. Like, the fact he isn't even remotely mad anymore in just beyond insane. I don't know anyone else in the world except maybe Alan who is this forgiving -5
[Penny leans down in front of a puddle of antifreeze in front of the shed, sniffing it] Penny: Are your parents aware there's a lake of antifreeze in their backyard? This stuff's really flammable, you know Obvious foreshadowing is obvious +1
Gumball: "Romantic deep male voice. [Speaks in the voice] Welcome to the best night of your life." [Squeaks] [Penny suppresses her laughter] Awwwwww -1
Gumball: [Whispering] Okay. [Inhales] Will you mmmmm... will you mmmm... [Punches himself in the face, frustrated] Urgh! Will you mmm... Darwin: [Outside] Come on man, just say it! Dude, he's nervous as fuck at the moment. You would be too if it were you asking this to Carrie. Give him a fucking chance +1
[Penny drinks her soda and chokes on the ring, changing forms as she coughs] Penny somehow didn't notice Gumball very obviously dropping the ring into her drink earlier +1
[Gumball now has his eyes closed, and so is unaware that she is choking.] I get that he can't see her choking, but how can her not hear it? She's right next to him and pretty loudly choking right. And he's a cat with super sensitive hearing. The only way he wouldn't be able to hear her at the moment is if he was completely deaf +1
[Darwin barges into the shed only to be greeted by Penny in her Gorgon form. He quickly closes the door] Dude, she's fucking choking why on earth would you just leave!? HELP HER. +1
Penny: [Coughing] What did you say back there? Gumball: [Picks up the ring and beams, with flowers surrounding his face] Marry me! And suddenly Gumball now has the confidence to ask her this despite being entirely unable to do so before +1
Gumball: [Teary-eyed] Age doesn't matter when it comes to love.
https://i.redd.it/epm6oyymet1d1.gif
+1
Penny: ...and Gumball. Do you, in the name of the bro-code, bromise to always love and take care of your bro in sickness and in health, brosperity and broverty? Gumball: I do. [Puts ring on Darwin's fin] Penny: You may now high-five the bro. Gumball and Darwin: [High five] Yeah! Okay, this is cute and all and definetely helps reassure and caslm down Darwin, but...your still gonna sit down and talk to him about his issues right? Maybe get him a therapist, that isn't Harold, to talk to about his issues? ...right?
...no? You're...just gonna never speak of this again and leave him to continue suffering silently with these severe abandonment issues all on his own? Okay then. +50
Total Sins: 79
Most Sinned Episode So Far: The Hero (1,490,894) Least Sinned Episode: The Shell (-999, 958)
Previous Episode: https://www.reddit.com/gumball/comments/1co8fu7/eww_the_burden/
submitted by Valha28 to gumball [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 19:25 burrito_BUSSIN Ball layout question.

For about a year now, I've been a full roller. All of my balls have either been drilled or redrilled to fit me being such, and I've always tracked exactly how a full roller would - right between the fingers and thumb holes. Recently though, I've been trying to improve all of the mechanical aspects of my game, and I now have about 10⁰ of axis tilt because of it. My track has begun to resemble how it was before I had my old balls redrilled. I'm tracking over the thumb hole a lot, and I'm sometimes clipping the middle finger hole too.
After all of that, I got my PAP remeasured and I'm at about 4½ over by ½ up (10⁰ of tilt and ~40⁰ of rotation depending on my release). What would be a good layout to try on one of my older balls to see how I track? Or would this still likely go over my fingethumb hole?
Sorry for the wordy post. Thank you to all who help.
submitted by burrito_BUSSIN to Bowling [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 19:21 MerkurSchroeder NDD: Target Exo 02 (22g, 90% Tungsten)

NDD: Target Exo 02 (22g, 90% Tungsten)
It was pretty clear from the start that the Exo 02 is the highlight of Target's new range, but it's also not as easy as I thought. On the setup picture with the Iron Maiden flights you actually see me using 30mm Storm Points, but whilst short stems and No.2 flights (or Velos) are currently a common theme on my front tapered darts, having kept points stock so far never raised the question if those are a length I prefer.
For the Exo 03 that was different. Despite ordering 30mm Firepoints because I couldn't find any longer ones, I've since then put on 35mm standard points anyway and searched the web up and down until I actually found a shop still offering two sets of 35mm Firepoints for almost the same price I had to pay for the single set of shorter ones before. I hope the shop is reliable, because my gut told me from the beginning I want the longer points and finger grip on the 03.
Gazing at more expensive front tapered darts like the Target 975 and what players made from it, it was of course imperative to create a smooth transition using Storm Points on the Exo 02. I like to look into the extremes, so putting on 35mm ones was the initial idea, but you might be able to tell from the two board pictures it didn't feel as perfect as it should. The third dart's points weren't always sneaking through the gap, but it wasn't easy to create the same snug groups like when the Harrows Shard90 slide and tilt for instance.
What I've noticed from the first moment though is the shark grip in the front makes more sense on the Target Exo 02 than I thought it would. Especially knowing a micro grip from the mentioned Shard90, which does help in its context, the Exo 02 do feel more like I've got more or less the same grip level all along the barrel inviting me to switch finger positions to whatever seems to create the perfect throw for the target. They probably might not have been able to achieve that with a ring grip on the taper.
Excited as I was, I've put on some 26mm Storm Points on the Exo 02 to find out it puts the dart right in line with my other front tapered darts and I can play them well, but it doesn't make it stand out either. Just that little extra going up to 30mm Storm Points makes a great change with the darts seeking for the treble on their own.
I could have stopped there, having created a nice setup for a brilliant entry level 90% tungsten Swiss Point dart whose only competitor at Target might be the Crux 02, which will cost a tenner more if not on sale. You'd have to tell me if that extra smooth section as a reference in the middle and shark grip in the rear make it worth it, but if you own it, you might not really require a rather similar barrel, even if it's weighted in even numbers this time.
What still keeps my mind busy is, if those 35mm points, as ridiculous as they make the dart look, might just require some more getting used to, as of course I've only played longer points on drop shaped or rather straight barrels so far. Especially as I've still got the Johnny Clayton 2.0 on my wishlist and as those come stock with long points, it might actually rule them out if that wouldn't work for me on a 22g Exo 02, wouldn't it? And who knows, maybe I'll soon have to repoint my existing darts instead? So I might be mounting the 35mm Storm Points again the minute after posting this. 😬
How do you like the Target Exo 02?
I know some of you love them - looking at you u/No_Seaweed7777 😁
Have a nice week and thank you for reading.
Happy darting! 🎯👍
submitted by MerkurSchroeder to Darts [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 19:20 Observing-oncemore {The wolves den}

{The wolves den}
((Last pic is just the list on the wall))
in a secluded cave far away from any civilization observio is in the middle of a facetime call.
Y̸o̷u̸ ̴g̷o̸t̴ ̵t̶h̷e̸ ̶d̵a̶m̴n̵ ̴g̸i̶r̵l̶ ̸y̸e̶t̸?̵
on the other side TOWPTS holds up a long forgotten face. Observrs ex wife minus the yiga uniform Bound and gagged with balls of string
T̶o̵o̷k̵ ̶y̴o̷u̴ ̸l̷o̸n̸g̵ ̷e̶n̷o̴u̷g̴h̸.̴ ̷J̵u̷s̸t̸ ̴h̶o̸l̷d̶ ̴o̴n̸t̸o̵ ̴h̷e̷r̷ ̴u̸n̴t̸i̴l̷ ̷w̶e̵ ̷c̴a̵n̴ ̶a̵c̵t̷u̷a̵l̸l̵y̵ ̸d̴o̵ ̴t̶h̴e̶ ̶t̸h̵i̴n̷g̶
TOWPTS holds up a middle finger before observio ends the call and heads deeper into the cave. Heading into a part that seems more man made and… cubic?
A̶l̸r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶p̶u̶p̸p̵e̴t̷ ̶f̵u̸c̸k̴e̵r̷ ̷g̷o̶t̶ ̵t̶h̶e̸ ̶g̸i̵r̶l̸.̵ ̶Y̵o̸u̷ ̸g̶o̶t̵ ̵a̸n̸y̶ ̵i̴d̸e̸a̴s̷ ̸o̴n̷ ̴w̸h̴a̶t̶ ̷a̴n̷d̸ ̸w̴h̸e̵r̸e̵ ̴t̴h̴e̵ ̴h̷e̴l̵l̴ ̸p̶a̸r̴a̸s̸i̷t̵e̸ ̵b̷l̸o̴o̵d̷ ̵i̶s̷ ̸d̸r̸y̷ ̷p̴r̴i̷c̵k̵?̴

An old face stands in the deepest part of the cave, one recently mentioned in the paper. Wilson
…I’d deeply appreciate it if you didn’t refer to me that way.
A̵n̵d̶ ̴i̶’̵d̶ ̵p̶r̶e̷f̴e̸r̶ ̵i̶t̷ ̸i̵f̷ ̴w̴e̴ ̸c̵o̷u̴l̸d̶ ̵h̵u̴r̶r̶y̸ ̵t̸h̸i̵s̶ ̶t̶h̸e̶ ̷h̶e̷l̷l̶ ̶u̶p̷.̴
Fair enough… the… robotic fellow. Drone if i remember correctly… they are the most likely one to have what we seek. But…
B̴u̵t̶?̶
We have no idea where this one has holed up after Observers passing.
1̸.̴ ̶I̸t̸’̷s̸ ̶o̸b̷s̵e̵r̸v̴r̶.̷ ̷2̷.̷ ̷T̵h̶i̸s̷ ̴w̷i̴l̴l̸ ̷b̸e̸ ̶e̸a̸s̶y̸.̸ ̶T̷h̸e̴ ̸p̵r̷i̸c̵k̶’̴s̶ ̶p̷r̴o̶b̸a̸b̸l̴y̸ ̶s̶t̴i̸l̵l̷ ̸h̵o̷l̴e̸d̵ ̷u̷p̴ ̷i̵n̷ ̶t̷h̴e̶ ̶c̸a̶s̷t̶l̷e̶
…well get a move on then.
Observio glares at wilson for a moment before leaving the cave.
submitted by Observing-oncemore to ChaoticYigaClan [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 19:11 Skittlesharts A kitten story with a happy ending! :-)

A kitten story with a happy ending! :-)
I found this little baby in the middle of the road yesterday very weak and very dehydrated. I stopped traffic to get her and she rode on my chest to the house. She's somewhere around 4-5 weeks old from what we can guess. Once I got her into some cooler air, she ate a little, drank a tiny bit, and then passed out. She played and chased my fingers around and is going to be a big lovey dovey girl one day by the way she is already rubbing her chin on my hand.
She has been delivered to a kitten rescue organization because they are so much better equipped than I am for taking care of the wee ones. They'll take her to their vet, make sure she's medically squared away, have her spayed when she's old enough, and then adopt her out to her forever home. If there was ever one that I wish I could've kept, it's definitely this one. At least she'll have a chance. 🥹
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2024.05.21 19:10 NoUnderstanding7116 My Very Honest Review For The Manga: Kaiju No. 8

My Very Honest Review For The Manga: Kaiju No. 8
Kaiju No. 8 Review:
With the Kaiju Genre being more relevant as days goes by, I would like to give my very honest opinion regarding the latest installment to this genre itself titled Kaiju No. 8. A story of a middle aged man named Kafka Hibino, wanting to be a part of a Kaiju hunting organization and fulfill his promise to a childhood friend who unfortunately for him, failed and found himself in a more suitable position as a kaiju cleaner instead due to the lack of talent needed to actually become a kaiju exterminator. But ofc, one day, it changed after Kafka swallowed what seemed to be a small parasitic Kaiju which granted him raw power in unimaginable proportions. Superhuman speed, strength, durability and other useful abilities that now gave him the possibility to reach his goal. With all said and done, let's begin.
First and foremost, I actually think that Kaiju No. 8 is very mediocre. To explain that, I believe there are three major reasons as to why I feel that way. Which is:
  1. The Lack of Identity
This anime honestly, lacks anything special to have it stand out compared to it's other competitors. What I'm saying is that Kaiju No.8 simply is just a combination of every generic tropes seen in other hunting anime or anime in general. Whether it'd be plot, setting, characters, tone or power system.. this anime doesn't have anything to make a name of itself. There's nothing this anime offers that feels special or memorable. For example, an underdog who ate something to gain a powerful ability which said ability harnessing the power of the antagonistic force, a badass tsundere loli so talented and motivated by daddy issues, the design of their uniforms, the demon slayer centric numbered techniques being spoken every single time during battle, the monsters roaming in their world, the deuteragonist with superior raw talent etc.
Even though having very common tropes is bad, the reason why other competitors such as Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen were successful is because they have something interesting offered only in their anime itself. Chainsaw Man has a very consistent uncanny tone present in their story. Such as their lose screws characters, tragic backstories that they presented very eerily instead of sympathetically, the design of their characters, it's protagonist, the tone, the setting and it's antagonist. Calling Chainsaw Man edgy is an understatement, what it offers visually and story wise is always engaging due to the present identity shown in the series. While JJK on the other hand, even though I find it to be extremely overrated, at least the series made name for it's complex and highly detailed power system and even the monsters roaming in their world are called Curses or Cursed Spirits which I find to be cool, because it uses better words unlike basic terms like "Demons" for Demon Slayer or "Devils" in Chainsaw Man. Fire Force, another decent anime, didn't fail in creating distinctive uniforms that are easily recognizable and cool at the same time.
  1. Weak Story & Plot
While being generic is one thing, being weak is another. Not to be confused with it. The story in my humble opinion is very weak. The protagonist lacks any strong motivations (unless you consider being a simp is), the plot is very predictable, the villains felt underdeveloped and their very generic designs isn't helping either (Kaiju No. 9 respectively). They lack depth and the power system is incredibly basic. Hell, even the way our protagonist Kafka got it's powers felt incredibly lazy it's actually CRAZY. At least Midoriya had some sort of story which prompted All Might to see him as his successor and gave his hair, while Yuji eating Sukuna's fingers was a good setup for the villain and continued to stay relevant moving forward but Kafka, he was laying on his bed until suddenly ate a parasitic looking kaiju and BOOM! got his powers. It was absolutely lazy. What was that insane power granting parasitic Kaiju doing there how did it even got there? We don't know. Did it stayed relevant or mentioned onwards? No, surprisingly. Did the characters tried to investigate for positive and better purposes? No. It was a one time thing and wasn't even explored at all. It just served to be the main characters turning point in anime itself.
This last one is more of a Kaiju fan problem, which I'll address below:
  1. A Misleading "Kaiju" Genre
Being a kaiju fan, a genre that's not very popular compared to others, including superheroes or anime shounen, I always get excited whenever this genre I believe we love so much got an announced project. Whether it be animation, comics or films.. Let's just say we all love it especially if it's outside Godzilla in general. So during the end 2022, I stumbled upon Kaiju No. 8. Found it watching on the GOAT himself Dangerville for posting about this anime being in production. After watching that video, I quickly indulge myself with it's manga. Hoping a great kaiju centered series only to be a bit disappointed, because it doesn't even remotely felt like a kaiju genre at all. Aside from the monster's forgettable designs and lack of kaiju classification (even if it does have that, I didn't actually remembered it), this series is more a shounen (despite the 30 year old protagonist) hunting anime no different than Demon Slayer, JJK, CSM, Fire Force, etc.
Regardless, despite kaijus being present in their world. The anime's term for "Kaiju" is not the same as our's. The biggest villain is dubbed Kaiju No. 9, is actually a human sized humanoid that can talk. Some of the kaijus shown are literally a carbon copy of one said character but with black eyes and dark colour scheme to give an antagonistic vibe. The most focused threats aren't even kaiju at all, Kaiju No. 10 is also another decently large kaiju only to become a weapon and help one the heroes combat the villains afterwards (reminiscent to that of Venom and Eddie Brock). Basically, despite the word kaiju in it's title, it simply is not a kaiju genre. The "kaijus" aren't really kaijus, they don't function or act like one, at least the bigger more focused existential threats that challenges our heroes aren't kaijus at all.
The Positives:
Despite my take for Kaiju No. 8 seems very harsh, there's still good things about it, and for me personally:
  1. No outright terrible Decisions
You must be thinking, what in the actual f*ck does that mean? I literally wrote a long essay complaining about it. Well, by this statement, I meant that this anime has no actual decisions that's outright ruining the series. The only bad thing about Kaiju No. 8 stems from only having no unique additions to the series itself, but they don't have actual bad decisive moments either. To better understand it, here's some example: Invincible ruining Amber's characterization by making her a toxic person in season 1 with that famous sentence, JJK having Gojo being very OP only to have him poorly handled later on, multiple attempts of Marvel being Woke in their recent projects and most famously known in this community, killing off Bryan Cranston's character in the 1st act of the movie Godzilla 2014. Kaiju No. 8 has none of that. No terrible decisions and even if it does, it's probably not that critical at all. The executions were just good and there was not a single moment that made you feel like there was a missed opportunity.
  1. Kaiju No. 8 Design
Despite my gripes with the design of their suites and kaijus or other things such as characters, weapons, etc.. I thought the Kaiju No. 8 design itself was really cool. The face is distinctive, I like how it's not just playing with colours and there were major changes in his body physically. The skin and the exposed kaiju like muscle anatomy were really cool (Up there with my favourite anime transformations including Gear 4th Snakeman and Cosmic Garou.)
Conclusion:
I believe Kaiju No. 8 is a pretty good series. It does all thing's right, just not spectacularly. Doesn't feel like a Kaiju genre personally but still somewhat enjoyable to watch. Do I recommend this? Personally no, but I can see most people besides me enjoy it so probably yeah. With this I score it: 7/10.
submitted by NoUnderstanding7116 to GODZILLA [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 18:37 WabbajackedWacko Adventures with an Interdimensional Psychopath 40

***Lily***
“Stupid gnome prejudice. I may not be the biggest fan of gnomes but, just because we are small doesn’t mean we can’t cause some damage.” Mogsten says as he walks over, kicks the fishman, and picks up the horn and dusts it off. “I’m hesitant to admit this since, when he regains consciousness, he will do what he could to ruin my business even more but, still, thank you Wabbajack.” He says.
“Don’t mention it Mogsten, this guy’s haggling game was all over the place.” Wabbajack responds.
“Indeed, he has no understanding of value.” Mogsten says with a smirk on his face.
“Well, unless he knew that you had about another sixty of those in the back that is.” Wabbajack says as he chuckles.
Mogsten quickly turns around as he says, “Shh. That’s a trade secret.” He then lets out an “oh ho ho” chuckle. He then looks down and yells, “Gourdsten! Clean up!”
Just like that, Gourdsten comes out from the back and drags the body off. Soon after the body disappears towards the back, Gourdsten reappears with a spray bottle, gloves, and a sponge.
“What happened to him?” I ask Mogsten.
“Don’t worry, I can’t afford a bloody reputation. He is just in stasis until the authorities get here.” Mogsten answers with.
“Stasis?” I ask.
“She really is new to all this huh? Stasis is basically freezing someone in a state of time. In this state however, while nothing can happen to them, they can’t function. Depending on the state they are in when they go under, they may be aware of the environment around them. Sometimes, certain criminals may undergo such punishment for their crimes.” Mogsten explains, looking at Wabbajack for some reason.
Mogsten then looks at me and asks, “So, did you find all the ingredients?”
I nod my head.
He then rubs his temple as he asks, “And you Really intend to go through with this?”
“There’s no other option!” I exclaim.
“Well, there are quite a few, just that they would take a LOT longer.” Wabbajack points out.
I look at him in annoyance and he responds with, “What? Just saying.”
I sigh and look at Mogsten and hand him the “ingredients”.
“Let’s see what we have. A fur scarf, a pistol, a lantern that looks like a child tried to make it, a… rubber duck. And what the world is this?” Mogsten asks pulling out the leg.
“It’s a prosthetic leg for a dragon-sized crocodile. Well, a smaller scale version at the very least.” I explain.
“Who would put a prosthetic leg on a Dragon-sized crocodile?” he asks.
“Right?” I ask in return.
He then looks back at the leg, strokes his fake beard, and says, “Well, when you put it like that, makes sense you would want to use it as an ingredient.” He then looks back at me and asks, “Are these the ingredients that you Really want to use?”
“They fit the descriptions that you gave me.” I point out.
He then looks at the ingredients again and says, “Yes… this may actually work then.”
“Come again?” I ask him.
“Well, one of the Biggest reasons, after that whole dark nature I mentioned, that this fails is that people try to influence their familiar by using ingredients that don’t inspire these feelings.” He explains.
“Because of this disconnection between the host and the familiar, that may also cause the familiar to go berserk as well.” Wabbajack then explains.
“Exactly!” Mogsten exclaims as he points towards to Wabbajack. He then looks back to me and asks, “With that in mind, are you one-Hundred percent sure that these ingredients are correct?”
I nod again and explain, “I can explain my reasons if you want.”
“No. As long as you are certain, then follow me to the back.” He says as he picks everything up again and starts waddling towards the back.
“Would you like some help?” I ask.
“No, I have to prepare everything anyways so it’s best I handle most things from here.” He explains.
Wabbajack walks past me but, I notice he is holding his banjo-thing upside-down. But, its neck is awfully long. Long enough to reach the ground and have the base be about level to his head. Which is pretty impressive since he is not that much taller than me. I want to ask about it but, I figured that is better left for later. Besides, I could probably guess that it can switch between a staff and an instrument. So, I shrug and follow them towards the back.
As I pass the flaps, I let out an audible, “Wow” because the room is massive! There is so much stock in here. I would have never guessed it from the gypsy-sized tent I see from the outside.
I guess Mogsten hears me as he says while putting the items in a pattern, “Spatial compression spell. It’s like that bag you are probably holding. It’s a pocket of space that you can mess with everything as long as it’s registered to you. Any merchant worth his salt at least attempts to lessen the target on his store to wannabe burglars. For example, there was a tannery that was completely torn apart for scrap. I hear the owner left it unattended And unlocked. I hope he can recover from that, it’s a pretty costly mistake.”
I look off towards the side and say, “Oh, I hear he is doing alright. Hehe.”
He pulls out a spray can and says while he shakes it, “That’s good.” He then starts spraying the ground.
I look over towards Wabbajack, who is standing sideways towards the thing Mogsten is working on. He has his free hand about chest level, fingers-spread, and it looks like he has a weird circle thing again like when I think I have seen him do before when he casted magic. Like when he summoned that ghost thing. I guess he is on guard duty.
I look back at Mogsten and see he is about halfway done at this point. He works fast since the design is very intricate. Now that I think about it, it looks like that circle Wabbajack has but… different. I think I remember reading about this. These must be magic circles. While they look similar, they must be different since each magic circle represents something different. Kinda like snowflakes. I can’t help but ask, “What’s that you are spraying to make that magic circle?”
“Ah, someone has been studying. It’s a mixture of compounds for creating the familiar summoning circle. I kept a few around just in case that someone managed to convince me to do this.” He explains. He then stands up and shakes it some more as he says, “I thought it was unlikely but, a smart businessman looks at every opportunity.” He then goes back to spraying and says, “Now, no offense, but mind letting me focus? I got to make sure I get this perfect. I want to lessen the margin of error as much as possible.”
“Oh! Sure. Sorry.” I say. Now that I think about it, I look towards my bag and think about what he said, “Like my bag.” I open it and it looks like a normal bag. Either it needs to be activated or it doesn’t have that spell yet. I’ll have to ask about that after we are done.
“Before I forget, leave your bandolier and bag over by Wabbajack there. We don’t want to add unnecessary items to the circle.” Mogsten says as he shakes the can again.
“Oh! Alright!” I respond. I take off my bandolier and put it down by Wabbajack.
“Don’t worry. If worse comes to worse, I’ll protect you. And come whatever may, we’ll figure out what to do next.” Wabbajack says.
I feel a little relief hearing him say that. Next thing I know, Gourdsten runs up to me with a simple white robe. “Oh, what’s this?” I ask.
“It’s a robe.” Wabbajack says.
As I look at him, annoyed, Gourdsten says, “Robe! Wear Robe!”
Mogsten then explains, “You’ll have to take off the rest of your gear as well and wear just that robe. Like I said, No unnecessary items. Only simple clothes.”
I look at the robe and say, “Oh… There is a changing room, right?”
“This way! Here, here!” Gourdsten says as he pulls my arm.
“Alright! Calm down.” I say.
I follow him to a wooden stall. “I guess I change in there, huh?” I ask.
“Yes! Correct!” Gourdsten says.
I sigh and open it up, step inside and change. Afterwards, after I step out in the robe, Gourdsten then says, “Shoes! Too!”
I look down and sigh. I then ask, “Can that wait till we get back?”
“Shoes! Shoes! He repeats.
I then puff my face in annoyance as I sit down and take off my shoes. “Happy?” I ask.
He just jumps up and down and starts walking back.
All I can think is that it’s a good thing that the floor is at least wooden. I then get up, grab my stuff, and chase after him.
As we get back, Mogsten appears out of nowhere and points behind him as he says, “Circle is done. All that is left is the blood of the subject.”
“You’re not going to slit my wrists, are you?” I ask with a meek chuckle.
“Heaven’s no!” He says as he pulls out a syringe. He then grabs my wrist under these large sleeves and asks, “On three. Ready?”
I nervously nod my head. Just as he opens his mouth, I quickly say, “Wait! Why do we need blood again?” Trying to delay the inevitable.
He looks at me and explains, “A familiar is an extension of yourself. Quite literally. In order to cement that bond, it needs the blood of the host. That bond will allow you and your familiar to share experiences but, still allow autonomy for individual thought. You can live without it but, for it to retain its presence, it needs you alive.”
“Fascinating. Mind going into more detail?” I say with a weak smile.
He then stabs the syringe into my wrist as he says, “No.”
“Ow!” I yelp.
Just like that, he pulls the syringe out and empties it out into a bowl. “Alright, here you go.” He says as he hands me the bowl.
As I stare into a small bowl of my own blood, I ask, “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Now, You stand at the center of the circle. As I activate the circle, the blood will start sloshing around in that bowl. Do NOT let a SINGLE drop fall out until the last item is floating. When the last item does start floating, pour the blood in the center and take four steps back. Got it?” he explains.
I look over back to the circle and then look back to Mogsten and repeat, “Don’t let it spill until the last object starts floating. When it does, pour it all out and take four steps back, right?”
He nods and says, “Correct.” I think I then hear him mumble, “I can’t believe I was convinced to do this.” As he walks away.
I then take my place at the center of the circle. I am somewhat trembling at this point.
“Are you sure, you want to do this?” Mogsten asks again.
“Just do it already!” I yell back.
He lets out a sigh and starts mouthing something as he levels out his arms towards me.
I could feel the energy around me shifting and moving. I start seeing the objects that were placed start floating one by one. Slowly but surely. I then look down at the bowl and it is sloshing around. So far, not too bad. Around the time the fourth object starts floating, the blood really starts flying around to the point I have to actually adjust to make sure it doesn’t go flying out.
After a few more minutes the last object starts flying up. As soon as it stops moving, I pour the blood and take four steps back. The blood stops midair and forms a bubbling ball. It then rises up about level to my face. It stops bubbling and then a flash of blinding light envelops the room and I try to shield my eyes.
After a minute, I slowly open my eyes and lower my arms. What I see before me is something pretty weird.
It’s in the shape of a sphere with a detached fox tail. The floating tail matches the fur of the body of the “familiar”, I guess. Its fur is a golden yellow with a white tip. The body looks like it has a line down the middle, with Very sharp fangs from the top row. It has fox ears and tiny fox paws and a fox nose. It’s got lines for eyes? Either that or they are just closed. Between its ears, it has a lantern dangling from a line, kinda like an angler fish. The other side of that line looks like white gator leather and it has two tiny gator feet. As it yawns, I guess, it opens its massive mouth, showing all its fangs, top and bottom rows, and stretches its fox paws, revealing some nasty looking barbed claws. It’s only as tall as, from the floor, up to my knee.
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submitted by WabbajackedWacko to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 18:25 seo-dan-brooks [Help Please] I'm starting a new passion project and would love your support!

Hello my green-fingered friends!
I'm making a start on a new passion project of mine - Turf Tribe UK. A new Facebook community that is open to all.
I want it to become a collaborative community group where we can all share ideas, ask advice, get product recommendations etc to help us with all our gardening needs!
If you'd like to be part of the new group, please come and join us here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/turftribe
submitted by seo-dan-brooks to GardeningUK [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 18:05 Brilliant_Shine2247 My Response to the Guy Telling You About Them Homeless Folks

This is for the guy trying to say not to give money to homeless people flying a sign. This my personal experience from being homeless in Wilmington. I can't say as I speak for everyone, just my experience. 
I'm still homeless, but I've moved out of Wilmington. I had to teach myself how to read and write all over again, and this is what I do now. I hope you enjoy.

 Six-thirty am, I woke up to my alarm. I had to be at work at nine, and I didn't want to be frazzled from being in panic mode on my first day, hurried, and hassled. No, sir. You don't get too many chances to make a first impression. 

 Rolled out of my sleeping bag with a smooth, well practiced motion, unzipped the flap, and made my way out into brisk spring morning air, taking a brief pause, taking in the natural beuaty of the forest. If it hadn't been for the sounds of the highway a few hundred yards away, this scene could have been from a camping trip or hike that I remembered from days gone by. I didn't pause to think about too long due to the urgency to find a suitable tree to relieve myself. Fifty feet, at least. Fifty feet. Otherwise, that smell could come back to haunt you. This wasn't a camping trip but rather where I lived. My homestead, abode, residence, shelter, and as far as I could tell, it would be for a long time to come. 

 I decided to drink my energy drink, which had come to replace my morning cup of brew, outside this fine morn, so I made my way back to the tent and pulled my Monster can and my half full box of handrolled cigarettes from their hiding places, turned around and walked the fifteen feet to my "visiting bench". Aptly named because that's where we all sat when someone came visiting, which wasn't very often, a few feet in front was the small firepit. A hundred or so yards beyond, down a respectable hill, sat Frankies tent, another fifty yards at the split in the trail was Chris's small pup tent, where a small pile of trash meant that Chris and I needed to talk. This was my site, and I had few rules, and trash was something I didn't want to see. 

 According to the rules out here, our social contract, the first person at a campsite was in charge and I had spent the last month of winter all alone here to earn the right to call the shots. After all, it was deemed The Allen Compound for the Criminally Insane by my friend who led a real boots on the ground street outreach in town, someone that I had insane respect for and not a small bit of love. We weren't. I won't speak to insane. 

 I took a seat on the bench, popped the top on the Monster, lit up a smoke, and took a big long pull of the drink. Spring was starting to show now, and the highway was slowly starting to hide behind the new growth of forest. My tent was already invisible from the road thanks to a large camouflaged tarp that I had strung to block the view once I recovered from the panic attack following the discovery of how visible it once was. That discovery came not long after I set up camp, as I was returning from town. Walking down the shoulder of the highway, I just happened to look up in the direction of my camp and saw that my tent sat in the middle of a big clearing of branches, making a perfect frame for my work of art. The realization that thousands of people could have seen that on a daily basis. I was live bait for any psychotic person or persons to visit on a full moon. Recalling the stories of people setting sleeping people on fire for the fun of watching a human cook, I instantly turned on my heels and headed back into town, a spy who just realized he'd been compromised. I didn't return until I had a tarp, but even then, it was some time before sleep came easy. 

 Seven am and the spring sun were now spreading its rays of love to its children in the forest undergrowth, letting everything know it was day shift now in the kingdom. Down below, I spied Frankie, who piled out of his tent and sprinted to a tree like his bladder had caught fire. At the sight of this, I barked three times in greeting. He threw his head back and made a rooster crow, knowing it would wake Chris up long enough to feel the urgency. And by the time I stood up finish the last bit of my morning nectar, sure enough, scrambled out of his tent and instantly let it go right beside where his head would lay when he slept. I shook my head and trudged to my place to change clothes. A light blue polo type short sleeve tucked neatly into my cleanest pair of jeans, then a long sleeve light flannel over that as a precaution, because a lesson learned early is that you dressed for all day. There was no going home to get a coat when the temps plummeted, so it was wise to have that coat ready at all times. I changed my socks, put on my shoes and out of the flap I went. I closed it up and placed a pine needle inside the zipper that would let me know when I got back if anyone had violated my space. 

Seven ten am, and I was on my way. I had fourty minutes to be at the bus stop a little over a mile from the camp and I didn't want to be late, so off I went down the trail, just past Frankies tent I took a left, pausing just long enough to notice that Chris had gone back to bed and left his flap door open, then another fifty yard and over the fence to what I referred to as the 'exposed zone'. There, I was out of the woods walking down a small trail hidden only from the waist down by overgrown weeds and grass. The exposed zone went about a hundred and fifty yards to the shoulder of the highway, where I would merge left, facing the oncoming traffic. At that point, it wouldn't be so obvious to passing cars that I had just emerged from the woods, and the exact spot would no doubt be a mystery. There, my pace stepped up to an average of four miles an hour, something that I had clocked many times, and these days, it was a knowledge that came in handy. I could deal with being homeless, but not tardy. Every minute I walked along the shoulder of the highway, I was fraught with danger, at least in my overactive brain. I could envision cars swerving to miss the car ahead and turning me into a hood ornament, or blowing a tire and taking me out when the driver loses control for that half a second. Maybe something would fall out of the many dump trucks that passed frequently at seventy miles an hour and cleanly decapitate me before I even saw it coming. Why not? It's not like I was having a good luck streak, let's be honest. 

Seven fifty am and I managed to make it to the bus stop with all my organs just where they should be and my head still attached to my body. I lit up a smoke and fished three quarters out of my pocket, ready to pay my way and go to work. The bus pulled up on time, and I climbed aboard, nodding to the driver in solidarity, one working man to the other, dropped my coins of passage into the box, turned and found an empty seat by the window. I watched as the scenery went from historical homes with their gates and carefully tended lawns to the brown crabgrass and dirt yards where the children played in poverty, then to the blocks of businesses where hopes and dreams were born and died, with their big banners proclaiming another last chance at big savings, or let you know that for the twentieth time this furniture store was going out of business and these prices wouldn't last. Nothing but a higher class of a carnival barker. Free financing, limited time only, no interest for ninety days, credit same as cash, act now, last chance to save, overstocked and marked down, employee pricing, never before savings, trade ins welcome, don't miss out, and my all time favorite, below wholesale. Imagine that a business surviving by losing money. The saddest part of it all is that these tactics worked on people. For the second time that morning, I shook my head. 

Eight thirty eight am and the doors open at my destination, my job site, half the bus stood up to depart. Standing up and slipping No. 7 onto my shoulders, I let the line shuffle past me with the knowledge that I had time to spare 

 Eight forty, I stepped off the bus, gravitating to have a smoke with a small group of like-minded people who nodded their approval as I approached. The signal that I was accepted in the circle of debauchery. I made it clear, though, that I had no time to make small talk because I had to go to work and I was a responsible person. On time, it was late, and ten minutes early was on time. That was my motto, starting now, at least. Eight fourty five am I started to the job site, feeling the anxiety butterflies come to life in the pit of my stomach. I had never done this sort of work before, and I hoped I would catch on quick. 

 Eight fifty am, and I was standing beside the exit lane of the Walmart Superstore on a patch of grass where the stopsign was planted, dropping No. 7 to the earth. I bent over and unzipped the section that contained the piece of cardboard. As I put my fingers on it, I felt emotions pour over me, a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and determination. This was my third try at this, but I was determined not to chicken out this time, so, choking everything back down I pulled the sign from my bag and turned to face the cars coming up to the stop sign so I could show them the story of my life, condensed down to some scribbles from a Sharpie which read, 'Traumatic Brain Injury' in large lettering, with a smaller, 'Please Help' below. I'd never felt so alone as I did in that spot light that day at Walmart, that my life had led me to this point, here with a sign begging for money from strangers to get things I needed. It seemed like I couldn't even breathe with my phone service cut off, as I still felt sure that my son would call me at any minute to see how I was, and knowing that life line was severed was unbearable. 

 A grey van with a logo pulled up to the stop sign and I heard one of the doors open, then close, so I turned around to see someone jogging up to me, holding out his hand with a twenty dollar bill pinched in his fingers, "Here you go, brother. Take care of yourself, my man, "then back to the van and was gone. 

I broke. Just like that. I broke.
submitted by Brilliant_Shine2247 to Wilmington [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 17:59 CIAHerpes In the caverns under Frost Hollow, I found the madness of the ancient gods

I sit alone in my room on the seventh floor, writing what will surely be my last will and testament. The heroin which allowed me to forget and to sleep for the last couple of years has lost its power to keep the screaming terrors away. The drug destroyed my body and mind, gradually eating away at them like a corrosive acid. Now I have become a slave to it. And yet, without it, I do not sleep for weeks, but instead continuously see the scenes from that terrible night running through my head on repeat as worsening waves of madness crash on the shores of my consciousness.
In the caverns under the town of Frost Hollow, I found the meaning of true madness. Ever since I escaped that den of horrors, it is difficult to tell what is real and what is only the feverish delirium of an unhinged mind.
Even now, they wait behind the door to this cheap, bare rented room. They drag their claws over the wood. I hear them hissing in that strange, ancient tongue, the one I first heard in the tombs of rock that had been undisturbed for countless millennia.
***
I had first heard rumors of an unexplored cavern from my friend, an experienced caver named Sonia who had explored caverns all over the world. I had been looking for some excitement in my life, some break from the constant monotony and boredom of simply working and sleeping. I had gone caving quite a few times over the year leading up to the trip, but I was not nearly as experienced and had never explored a supposedly virgin passageway of cavern before.
“How do you know no one’s gone down there?” I asked, curious. We sat across from each other at a local diner, getting some early breakfast before our planned descent. The sunrise was still another half-hour away, the sky flat and dark. We would be joined by Sonia’s husband, Phil, who would meet us there shortly after sunrise. I repressed an urge to yawn, chugging half of the steaming hot coffee in one long swallow. Sonia leaned close to me, her nearly colorless blue eyes reminding me of chunks of ice floating down a muddy stream.
“Phil’s friend just found it randomly,” she whispered before glancing around conspiratorially, as if she feared someone would care enough to eavesdrop on a conversation about a cave. “Well, it’s in the middle of a farm, and Phil’s friend, Jack Graysole, owns the entire property and surrounding woods. Jack says he noticed the cows kept going over to a certain spot in the field when it got really hot during the summertime. They would all gather around this little indentation in the grass. After seeing it a few times, Jack got curious and went to investigate what the cows were doing.
“He found a small hole in the ground, almost entirely covered by weeds and grass. He said he felt a cool breeze constantly blowing out of the hole, a breeze that smelled like burning matches and charred metal. After bringing out some shovels and digging down a couple feet, Jack realized that the hole wasn’t a hole at all, but the beginning of a steep passageway leading deep into the bowels of the earth.”
***
The owner of the land decided to unofficially call the newly-discovered cavern Graysole Caverns. Out of respect for him, this is also the name we all used. This is the story of how I found myself in the bowels of a strange subterranean tunnel, a tunnel where creatures beyond my comprehension slunk and hunted, skittering monstrosities who would be more at home in a nightmare.
After grabbing a couple coffees to take with us, Sonia drove over to Graysole Farms. Cows stood out in the grassy fields, huddled in tight circles as they repetitively chewed. The thin silhouette of Jack Graysole waited for us next to the herd. He had a face like a raisin, I thought to myself. I watched his thin, shaking body standing in the middle of an overgrown grassy field. Jack stared down blankly at something only he could see. Sonia and I started unloading some equipment from the car while we waited for Phil.
Once we had the backpacks loaded with some simple supplies, such as water, food, headlamps, rope, a couple extra batteries, some buck knives, and radios, we headed over to accompany Jack. We weren’t taking much, as we didn’t really expect to be down there for more than six or seven hours at the most.
Jack Graysole’s withered old face was as slack and expressionless as that of a corpse. He stared down at the ground as if he were in a trance, waving back and forth slowly on his feet like a plant in a light breeze.
“Jack?” Sonia called out as we approached. I could hear the man’s teeth chattering as we got nearer.
“Hey, what are you doing over here this early? You interested in accompanying us down there?” Sonia joked. But Jack might as well have been totally deaf for all the reaction he gave. Sonia glanced over at me with an anxious expression. I wondered if the old man was having a stroke.
I quickly walked over to where he stood, staring down at a black circular hole about three feet across directly in front of his feet. The entrance to Graysole Caverns stared up at us like a sightless pupil. As I drew within a few feet of Jack and looked straight into his blank eyes, I noticed something alarming.
His pupils were quickly dilating and constricting before my eyes. They would shrink to tiny pinpoints, then, a couple seconds later, rapidly expand until they became dark and serious. I could see his thready, rapid heartbeat pulsating in a vein on the side of his temple. Alarmed, I reached forward and put my hand on his shoulder.
Instantly, he came to life, like a man waking up from a nightmare. Shrieking, he looked at me with fully dilated pupils, reminding me of a panicked deer surrounded by wolves. His quavering old man’s voice shook with ineffable existential horror and mortal fear.
He took a step back away from us, seeming to realize where he was and what he was doing. He looked around, confused, then straight at me and Sonia. His eyes focused with anger and fear, as if we were demons here to drag him down to Hell. His eyes flicked back and forth between us constantly. Jack raised a trembling hand and pointed it straight at my heart.
“It’s you,” he said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. His teeth chattered despite the warm spring air. His skin looked deathly pale. “You’re the one who will bring an end to humanity, who will release the ruler of nightmares upon us.” He continued to point accusingly for a long moment at me, his face turning chalk-white. Then his eyes rolled up in his head. Slowly, he stumbled and fell backwards onto the soft grass of the field.
“Jack!” Sonia cried, running over to the old man. Jack’s breaths had started to come in slow, drawn-out gurgles, like a man with a slit throat trying to breathe. Frothy blood bubbled from his lips as they turned blue. Staring up at the endless expanse of cloudless sky, he exhaled one last shuddering breath and died.
***
Phil showed up only a couple minutes later. He found me and Sonia in a state of utter panic, both of us bent double over the still body of Jack. Sonia was on the phone with 911, and I was trying to give Jack chest compressions. The way his fingernails and lips shone with that cyanotic blue cast made me feel sick and weak. I knew it was futile, that I was simply playing with a corpse at this point, but I didn’t know what else to do. I felt if I didn’t do something, I might explode.
I heard the faint wailing of sirens approaching as Sonia’s panicked voice continued babbling to the 911 operator. Phil stood by her side, his tall, dark features searching and lost.
“Oh God, I think he’s dead!” Sonia cried over and over to the operator, as if she thought the operator could do anything about it. I didn’t hear what the operator said in response. As the ambulance pulled in, I gave up on chest compressions. I stood up and took a step back, looking sadly down on the kindly old man’s dead body.
The paramedics ran over. Phil, Sonia and I stood back while they worked on the corpse, trying to shock the heart back into life. But Jack’s open eyes stayed glazed as they stared sightlessly up into eternity.
***
The paramedics left. A couple police officers stayed behind to ask us a few routine questions. Eventually, after an hour or so, they left, too.
“What a fucked-up day,” Phil said, shaking his head grimly. “Do you guys still want to do this? Maybe it’s an omen from God telling us to go home.” Sonia and I exchanged a glance, then we both nodded at the same time.
“Definitely,” she said. “It’s sad what happened to Jack, but realistically, we don’t know what’s going to happen to this property now that he’s passed away. It might get sold or taken by the bank for all we know. This could be our one and only chance to explore this cave.”
“I don’t believe in omens. I’m still down,” I said, feeling slightly sick from the experience. I still remembered how Jack’s body had cracked under the weight of my chest compressions, how his ribs had snapped like bones shattering in greedy hands. “We’ll do it in memory of Jack. I plan to put this up on YouTube.” I pulled my GoPro out of my bag, turning it on. Phil groaned at that.
“Do we have any idea how far down this cave goes?” Phil asked. I felt a sense of relief now that the topic had changed from the death of the old man.
“I sent a little camera down on a rope, but it only went about a hundred feet,” Sonia responded. “It’s pretty steep at first, then it levels out. I couldn’t really see much after it leveled out, but it looks like it should be easy to climb down. There’s plenty of handholds, lots of jutting rocks.”
Phil put on his headlamp and small pack. As he crawled down into the hole, his tanned face looked up at us and gave us one last devilish grin. Once he had gone down a few dozen feet, Sonia started descending. She looked excited and happy. I noticed how she couldn’t stop smiling as she disappeared from view.
I watched their lights grow smaller and dimmer in the circular tunnel. I marveled at how perfectly circular the entrance was. It almost didn’t even look natural.
Taking a deep breath in, I followed my friends down into the dark.
***
“This isn’t too bad,” I said as I climbed down. The jutting rocks gave plenty of handholds and footholds for us. It wasn’t so tight that it felt like a coffin, either.
“It only gets easier from here!” Sonia called up.
“How do you know?” I asked. “You said you’ve never been here before.” She laughed.
“I know. Probably just wishful thinking,” she said. Far below us, Jack’s voice drifted up, faint and weak. He had already reached the bottom.
“The tunnel really opens up down here, guys,” he called. “It’s somewhat… bizarre, though.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sonia asked. I looked down, seeing Sonia and I would reach the bottom in seconds. “Forget it, I’ll let it be a surprise.” I heard her drop down. Slowly and carefully, I lowered myself down the last few feet. There was a short fall onto a smooth granite floor. I looked up, seeing what Phil and Sonia were so mesmerized by.
“Oh, wow,” I said, speechless. I blinked rapidly, wondering if the image would clear like a mirage. The tunnel was cut into a perfectly triangular shape, each side about seven feet long. The ceiling met in a point above our heads.
All along the smooth walls of gray rock, I saw thousands of black orbs peeking out. They looked similar to obsidian, but they were perfectly smooth and circular, each about the size of an orange. They were formed into interlocking diagonal patterns and followed the tunnel straight down as far as the eye could see.
“What is this place?” Sonia asked, taking a tentative step forward. I looked up, seeing the distant pinpoint of sunlight far above our heads. Our voices continued to echo off down the massive tunnels, disappearing in eerie waves into the thick curtain of shadows.
“Are you recording all this?” Phil asked me. I laughed, giddy.
“Of course! This is internet gold right here,” I said. “No one’s going to believe that this isn’t man-made, however. I can’t even believe it. Do you think Jack was playing a joke on us or something?”
“Jack had the sense of humor of a wet paper towel,” Phil whispered, shaking his head. “No, he wouldn’t do something like this.”
“Well, let’s go check it out,” Sonia said, taking a step forward. Her headlamp bobbed up and down rapidly, throwing dancing shadows through the triangular tunnel. It continued straight ahead, without the slightest deviation or curve, disappearing off into a dark point in the distance.
***
We walked as fast as we could, excited to see where, if anywhere, the strange tunnel led. Phil, always the conspiracy theorist, babbled excitedly.
“This has to be aliens, man,” he said, running his fingers through his dark hair. “I bet that scientists will find out this shit is millions of years old when we get back up and tell everyone. Maybe aliens came to earth in ancient times and made a bunch of stuff underground.” Gradually, as we walked, I noticed the tunnel opening up. The pointed triangular ceiling rose up higher above our heads and the walls moved outwards, as we were walking up a triangular funnel. At first, it was so subtle that I didn’t believe it when Sonia pointed it out.
“No, look,” she said, raising her hand above her head. “When we first started down this weird tunnel, my fingers were only maybe a foot away from the top. Now it’s a couple feet.” I was about to respond when our headlamps illuminated something standing in the middle of the tunnel.
“What the fuck is that?” I whispered, stopping cold in my tracks. Phil and Sonia looked up at the abomination at the same time. Its back was to us. It stood nearly as tall as the tunnel, which was now about twenty feet high.
The bottom half looked black and spidery with dozens of long, jointed legs. A bloody, white spine rose out of the mass of legs. Inhumanly long, skeletal arms stretched out in front of it. Its face was pointed away from us, but the back of its head resembled an enormous pointed skull with deep fissures like the cracks of an earthquake running through the bone. The abomination stayed as still as a statue, and for a long moment, I wondered if we were looking at some macabre work of art.
Then, suddenly, one of its insectile legs twitched. A moment later, the other legs started jerking and twisting. There was a sound like bones shattering as it rose up to its full height, turning around to face us.
Its face was like something from a nightmare, melting and reforming constantly like dripping candle wax. I would see a black eye appear on its forehead, then a grinning mouth on its chin, then the features would get sucked back into the folds of melting flesh. After a few moments, two enormous eyes appeared on its face, dark and cold like craters on the surface of the Moon. The mouths and noses disappeared back into the dripping skin, and only the two lidless eyes remained, emanating a cold, reptilian consciousness beyond the ability of my mind to comprehend. I felt terror radiating from its body like freezing waves.
“Free me,” it cried in a gurgling voice that seethed with insanity. It had a shrieking, metallic ringing behind every word that gave it an alien quality. “Free me, and I will give you the waters of eternal life. Within me, I contain the seeds of immortality. Within the nightmares, we live forever, always together, never alone.”
“Who are you?” I asked, terrified. The black reptilian skin of the enormous beast glistened as it knelt down, its massive face drawing near to mine. A sideways mouth burst out of the liquified flesh, showing hundreds of fangs growing like tumors from its white, bloodless gums. The fangs varied in size from only a couple inches to long, sword-like projections that stabbed into the creature’s flesh, causing white blood glittering with rainbows to fall like raindrops all around me.
“I have many names,” it hissed, its thousand voices rising and falling in crashing waves of sound. “I was present at the beginning, when this planet was no more than dead cliffs and endless freezing oceans. Those holy ones who search for us, the ancient ones, call me Niralahoth.”
“How do we free you?” Phil asked, looking terrified. He held Sonia’s hand tightly.
“By letting me into your mind and body,” Niralahoth cried, shaking the cavern. “I was thrown down here, cursed and forgotten. I cannot leave this place of shadows within this body. But in the body of another, my consciousness can be free, and the seeds of new life can spread beyond this prison.”
“There’s no way anyone’s going to do that,” I said, my eyes widening as Niralahoth’s reptilian skull turned towards me in fury. “I mean, you’re asking one of us to give up our individuality, our lives, right?”
“I am asking you to become one with me and gain power undreamt of by mortals,” it cried. “I have within me the fountain of life, the waters that send death away screaming.” I glanced anxiously at Phil and Sonia, wondering if we would have to run.
“The answer is no,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, we can’t do that,” Phil said, backing me up. “But, anyways, I think our trip has ended. It’s time to turn around…”
“You will never return,” Niralahoth cried, skittering away from us. “If you will not accept salvation, then you must accept death.” Within seconds, it slunk away from us, backpedaling on its many skittering legs into the shadows.
***
All around us, a rumbling started.
There was a pounding that crashed through the rock tunnel, as if an insane blacksmith were hammering on a massive anvil. The ringing of crashing rock started off slowly, with a few stones smashing down around us with heavy blasts of sound. Within seconds, the cacophony sped up, rising into a constant stream of destruction. The black orbs were spinning in place all up and down the tunnel, their glossy obsidian surfaces flashing with sparks of blue light.
“It’s collapsing!” Phil cried, running back in the direction we came, holding Sonia’s hand as she tried to keep up with him. I could only stare for a long moment, not sure what to do. It seemed that the direction Phil was heading stood closer to total collapse.
“Wait!” I cried, but my voice was drowned out in the destruction all around us. I felt a rock smash into my shoulder, sending me down to my feet. I heard Phil give a scream of pain, then another stone came down and smashed into my forehead. I remember seeing everything spinning around me as the world went black.
***
I awoke to find my headlamp still shining straight up in the dusty tunnel. Large chunks of the tunnel had slid out of place and crashed to the stone floor. The granite chunks that had fallen looked unnaturally smooth, most of them in the shapes of cylinders or cubes and varying in size from that of an egg to that of a small car.
My head throbbed. It felt as if a tight belt of fire were wrapped around my temples. Groaning, I put my fingers up to my forehead. They came away slick with blood.
Slowly, I started pushing myself up on my feet. I was relieved that nothing seemed broken. I had a deep gash running from the center of my scalp down to my left temple and some shallower cuts on my shoulders and back, but I knew none of that was life-threatening.
“Sonia?” I whispered, my voice coming out weak and strained. I reached into my pack and found a bottle of water. I chugged it quickly in one long swallow.
“Phil?” I cried again, this time stronger. I heard a soft weeping nearby. Staggering, I followed the sound.
Sonia was bloody and covered in cuts and scrapes, sitting next to Phil’s prone form. I saw Phil’s right arm pinned under a massive slab of granite. His arm disappeared from the elbow down in a spreading puddle of thick, dark blood.
“Oh God, Max, I think he’s hurt really bad,” she wept. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly in his head, his face pale and bloodless. I looked down the way we had come, seeing the entire tunnel blocked by large slabs of stone, many with strange, black orbs peeking out like the lenses of cameras.
***
I don’t know how much time passed. My phone died after a day, and then we were counting the endless darkness in breaths and tears.
Phil swam in and out of consciousness as his arm putrefied and blackened around the crush site. After a couple days, Sonia and I agreed that something had to be done. We told Phil we would need to amputate his arm. He was half-delirious, but he came back long enough to understand us and nod weakly.
We made a fire with Phil’s pack, trying to find fuel to throw in it to get it roaring. As it grew, I saw one of the black orbs near the flames abruptly ignite, as if it had been covered in gasoline. Blue, almost colorless flames rose from its surface. We started throwing the small black orbs on the fire until it rose high in the air. I sanitized the buck knife with the flames and pulled a rope tourniquet tight around Phil’s arm. He was conscious but seemingly insane, talking to himself more than anyone else.
“How are we going to get the car started without a key?” he gurgled to someone only he could see. “We need to look around. It has to be here somewhere.”
“Phil, can you hear me, bud? We need to fix your arm. We need to get you out of this mess. OK?” I said as comfortingly as I could. Phil’s eyes rolled wildly, but they didn’t meet my own. I sighed and looked over at Sonia.
“Let’s do it,” I said, giving a grim nod.
I pulled the buck knife out, slicing quickly down through the flesh next to the tourniquet. His veins throbbed like fat worms as the blackened, necrotic skin split easily under the blade, releasing a rancid-smelling gas that hissed out of the wound.
I couldn’t believe how hard it was to slice all the way through the arm. It felt like I was stuck in that hellish task forever. Phil’s eyes rolled in his head as his skin turned the color of clotted milk.
“God, Jesus, make it stop,” Phil whispered over and over, exhaling ragged, pain-filled breaths. The blood spurted from the blackened, dying tissue all over the dust-covered cavern floor, covering my hands in its warm, slick embrace.
After what was probably only three or four minutes, but felt like hours, I had sliced all the way down to the bone. The infected tissue of his arm spurted great gouts of orange pus mixed with rivulets of blood. The hard part was over.
Standing up, I took my steel-toe sneaker and stomped down on his arm as hard as I could. Phil cried out in a powerful voice, as if all the agony and suffering in the world was contained in that one shriek. The bone snapped under my weight with a sound like a tree branch cracking. A moment later, Phil rolled away from the rock that had pinned me in place for so long. Something alien and spongy was shoved into my face, a mass of destroyed red tissue pulsating in time with a runaway heartbeat. At first, shell-shocked and revolted, my mind couldn’t comprehend that I was looking at the stump of Phil’s mutilated arm. I hardened my heart and forced the giddiness and madness to the back of my mind. The time had come to cauterize the wound.
“Sonia, give it to me,” I said with a tremor in my voice. I reached out a hand towards her, a hand stained with Phil’s blood. It looked as if I were wearing a wet, crimson glove. Sonia only stared blankly at me for a long moment, however. A surge of anger ran up my chest.
“Sonia, toughen the fuck up! He’s going to die if you just sit there!” I swore at her, hearing my deep, angry voice bounce around the caverns. Sonia pulled back, as if she were struck. Inwardly, I cursed having a woman as my only able-bodied companion in this situation. She was a competent enough caver, but what would happen if violence and blood came over us? What would happen if, or more realistically when, we needed to fight?
Grimly, Sonia leaned forward and yanked the burning black orb out of the roaring fire, handing it to me on the end of a buck knife that had just barely pierced its hard, strange exterior. The handle of the knife felt coarse and splintery under my filthy skin. I put it to the spongy stump of Phil’s arm. The stump twitched violently. Phil tried to pull away as black smoke rose from the burning flesh.
There was a smell like bacon sizzling. The searing meat of Phil’s arm blackened and crisped under the heat of the orb, which had become no more than a cylinder of glowing blue embers by this point. I felt simultaneously sick and giddy. I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or vomit. I felt like I was on the verge of some kind of madness, that the stress and insanity of the experience had started to shatter my mind.
His eyes rolled back in his head and he appeared to go into a seizure for a few seconds. With a long exhalation of breath, he finally, mercifully, lost consciousness. It’s hard to admit it, even this close to the end, but a small, sick piece of me was jealous of Phil. Most likely, he would be dead soon, maybe within hours, while Sonia and I would slowly starve and dehydrate like animals over a period of weeks. I looked at her lithe body and soft skin, seeing the feminine curves of her hips and chest. She was a beautiful woman. I knew Phil to be a lucky man. At least, before this trip, he was.
I watched her body, wondering if I had what it took to eat her or Phil if I had to. Did I have an iron heart that would allow me to slice into my friends and consume their raw, cold flesh? Perhaps, by that point, it would be hunger and madness driving me forward, and I wouldn’t even hesitate. I shuddered at the very thought.
***
I fell asleep that night, having strange dreams of massive gods with melting faces sitting in judgment in a circle around me. We had very little food or water left. No one knew we were down here. Rescue was not coming.
When I awoke, I found myself alone. Phil had died from his injuries while I slept, the black streaks of septic shock spreading up his arm towards his heart. His eyes stared sightlessly up at the rock ceiling.
“Sonia?” I called out, my heart racing as I sat up. “Where are you?” My headlamp was growing dim. I looked in my pack, realizing I was on the last of my batteries. I saw a silhouette walking out of the darkness, the thin, pale form of Sonia. She was trembling badly.
“I saw them,” she said. “Niralahoth and its priests. The priests aren’t human. They look reptilian with sideways mouths and too many eyes.” She shuddered.
“Why would you do that?” I asked. Her eyes grew distant.
“You know we’re not getting out of here alive,” she said. “Not on our own. I wanted to see what it offered. It says that if we take a piece of its nightmare into us, we will gain the power to leave this place, that it simply wants to see the surface and spread its nightmares there.” I shook my head.
“Insanity,” I muttered. “We’d be better off dead.” Sonia nodded.
“My thoughts exactly,” she responded grimly. I didn’t realize what she meant until the next day, when I woke up and found her hanging next to Phil’s body, her tongue swollen and blue as it poked out of her cyanotic lips. And then I was truly alone.
***
Soon after Sonia committed suicide, the last of the batteries for the headlamp died. I had run out of food and had only a small sip of water left. I don’t know how much time passed in the darkness, starving and raving, following the tunnel by running my hands over the walls. I heard many things skittering in the darkness, and a few times, I heard the demonic voice of Niralahoth as it split and distorted.
“You are on death’s door,” it hissed. “Will you not drink from the fountain of life?” I couldn’t tell where the voice came from in the maddening blackness. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. I had lost nearly all of my sanity in that pit of shadows by this point. I tried laughing constantly to keep my spirits up, and when that failed, I simply cried.
“I’ll do it,” I wailed. “I’ll do it. Just let me see the sky again. Get me out of here, Niralahoth.” Everything went deathly silent all around me, then a laugh rang out like the grinding of glass.
In front of me, I saw a tornado of fire descending from the ceiling, surrounding the massive, spidery form of Niralahoth. It rose its skeletal arms upwards, as if it were Zeus calling down lightning. In the sudden brightness, I saw the fiery form of snakes slithering and centipedes skittering forwards in that tornado, each massive creature sculpted from flames in the spinning cyclone of energy. Niralahoth reached into the tornado of fire with its sharp points of fingers and plucked something small from it. The fire instantly dissipated. In its hand, I saw a tiny, swirling orb that looked like it contained a firestorm within it.
“The nightmare seed,” Niralahoth gurgled as it skittered forward towards me. I could only stare, open-mouthed and starving. I hadn’t slept for days, it felt like, and everything seemed slow and unreal.
In a blur, its skeletal arm shot out and forced the orb into my mouth. Despite the fire raging within it, it felt freezing cold. As it touched my tongue, it gave off a sensation like frostbite all throughout my mouth. I screamed and tried spitting it out, but it seemed to have a mind of its own. It started liquifying, dripping down my throat.
I felt something cancerous and sick spreading throughout my body, radiating out from my heart and stomach to every inch of it. I tried to scream, but it caught behind my teeth. I fell to my knees, clawing at my face as that insane, alien laugh continued resounding all down the tunnel. I fell unconscious and woke up under a beautiful sky in the fields of Graysole Farms.
***
Soon after, I realized that my life would never be the same. Everywhere I went, I could hear the wailing voice of Niralahoth. Behind the trees, I always saw skittering shadows, creatures with long, spidery legs that stalked me every day and night. I slept with every light in the house turned on, yet when I woke up, they would all be shut off, and I would find myself in darkness, next to something in the bed with far too many legs and a face that dripped like burning wax.
I sold everything I owned and tried to move far away, to give as much distance between myself and those cursed caverns as I could, but the nightmares followed me like a shadow. I realize what a fool I was in those ephemeral moments of madness. Sonia was much wiser than myself; I should have killed myself or died rather than allowing that thing inside of me.
Even now, I can feel it creeping through my heart, spreading through my blood. I feel it trying to crawl its way out of my throat, the thin, black legs peeking out at the back of my esophagus.
I only hope that, when I finally jump and feel my bones shatter against the concrete far below, I will kill whatever is inside of me. For I fear the consequences for the world if it were to escape.
submitted by CIAHerpes to nosleep [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 17:55 calvin324hk [H] 1000+ Games / DLCs / VR Games [W] Paypal / Wishlist / Offers

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  • Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards] *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.1 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.2 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.3 DLC
  • Konung 2
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  • Learn Japanese To Survive! Katakana War
  • Learn Japanese to Survive! Trilogy
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  • LEGION TD 2 - MULTIPLAYER TOWER DEFENSE.
  • Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
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  • Marvel's Avengers - The Definitive Edition
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  • Observer: System Redux
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  • One Step From Eden
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  • Orwell: Ignorance is strength
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  • Overcooked! 2 + Too Many Cooks + Surf 'n' Turf pack
  • Overlord: Ultimate Evil Collection
  • Overpass
  • Overruled
  • OZYMANDIAS: BRONZE AGE EMPIRE SIM
  • Pac-Man Museum +
  • Pan'Orama
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  • Panzer Corps 2
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  • PARTISANS 1941
  • Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist
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  • Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
  • Patron
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  • Paw Paw Paw
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  • PER ASPERA
  • Perfect
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  • Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
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  • Pretty Girls Panic!
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  • Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior
  • Pro Cycling Manager 2020
  • Prodeus
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  • Railroad Tycoon 3
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  • Re: Legend
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  • Recipe For Disaster
  • Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered
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  • Red Riding Hood - Star Crossed Lovers
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  • Redout Complete Bundle
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  • Redout: Enhanced Edition + DLC pack
  • Regular Human Basketball
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  • REMNANT: FROM THE ASHES - COMPLETE EDITION
  • Republique
  • Rescue Party: Live!
  • Resident Evil 0 HD REMASTER
  • Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
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  • Retimed
  • RETROWAVE
  • rFactor 2
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  • Rise of Industry + 2130 DLC
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  • Rising Storm 2: Vietnam + 2 DLCs
  • Riven: The Sequel to MYST
  • River City Girls
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  • Roarr! Jurassic Edition
  • Roboquest
  • Robot Squad Simulator 2017
  • Rogue : Genesia
  • ROGUE HEROES: RUINS OF TASOS
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  • ROTASTIC
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  • Saints Row IV
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  • SAMUDRA
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  • Saturday Morning RPG
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  • SEARCH PARTY: Director's Cut
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  • Serious Sam 3 Bonus Content DLC, Serious Sam 3: Jewel of the Nile, and Serious Sam 3: BFE
  • SEUM speedrunners from hell
  • SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
  • Severed Steel
  • Shadow Tactics: Aiko's Choice
  • Shadowgate
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  • SHADOWS: AWAKENING
  • Shape of the World
  • She Sees Red - Interactive Movie
  • Shenmue I & II
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  • Shoppe Keep 2 - Business and Agriculture RPG Simulation
  • Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate
  • Sid Meier's Civilization VI
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  • Sifu Deluxe Edition Upgrade Bundle (EPIC)
  • Silver Chains
  • SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
  • Sinking Island
  • SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption
  • Siralim Ultimate
  • Size Matters
  • Skautfold Chapters 1-4
  • Skullgirls 2nd Encore
  • Slain: Back from Hell
  • Slap City
  • Slash It
  • Slash It 2
  • Slash It Ultimate
  • Slay the Spire
  • Small World
  • Smart Factory Tycoon
  • Smile For Me
  • Smoke and Sacrifice
  • Smoke and Sacrifice
  • Smushi Come Home
  • Snail bob 2 tiny troubles
  • Sniper Elite 3
  • Sniper Elite 3 + Season Pass DLC
  • Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe Edition
  • Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 - Season Pass Edition
  • Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts
  • Snooker 19
  • SONG OF HORROR COMPLETE EDITION
  • Songs of Conquest
  • Sonic Adventure 2
  • Sonic Adventure DX
  • Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing
  • Sonic Generations Collection
  • Soulblight
  • Souldiers
  • SOULSTICE
  • Soundfall
  • Source of Madness
  • Spartan Fist
  • Spec Ops
  • Speed Limit
  • Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Seudo
  • Spidersaurs
  • Spin Rush
  • Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
  • Spirit of the Island
  • Spirit of the North
  • Spring Bonus
  • Spyro Reignited Trilogy
  • Stairs
  • STAR WARS - Knights of the Old Republic
  • STAR WARS - The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition
  • Star Wolves
  • Starbound
  • Starsand
  • STASIS: Bone Totem
  • State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
  • Steel Rats™
  • Stick Fight: The Game
  • Still Life
  • Still Life 2
  • Still There
  • Stirring Abyss
  • STONE
  • Strange Brigade
  • Strange Brigade Deluxe Edition
  • STRANGER
  • Strategic Command: World War I
  • Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg
  • Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom
  • Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism
  • Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty
  • Strategy & Tactics: Wargame Collection
  • Streamer Life Simulator
  • Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
  • Street Fighter V
  • Strider
  • Strikey Sisters
  • Struggling
  • Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse
  • Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
  • Styx: Master of Shadows
  • Styx: Shards of Darkness
  • SuchArt
  • Sudden Strike Gold
  • Suite 776
  • Sumoman
  • Sunblaze
  • SUNLESS BUNDLE
  • Sunset Overdrive
  • Super Buff HD
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  • Superbugs: Awaken
  • Superhot
  • Surgeon Simulator 2
  • Survive the Nights
  • Surviving Mars
  • Surviving Mars
  • Surviving The Aftermath
  • Swag and Sorcery
  • SWINE HD Remaster
  • Sword Legacy Omen
  • Sword of the Necromancer
  • Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
  • Syberia 3
  • Symphonic Rain
  • Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga
  • Synthwave Dream '85
  • Tacoma
  • Taiji
  • Take Off - The Flight Simulator
  • Tales
  • Tales from the Borderlands
  • Tales of Vesperia™: Definitive Edition
  • Talk to Strangers
  • Tallowmere
  • Talos Principle (Gold)
  • Tangledeep
  • Tank Mechanic Simulator
  • Tannenberg
  • Team Sonic Racing
  • TEKKEN 7
  • TEMTEM
  • Terminus: Zombie Survivors
  • TERRAFORMERS
  • Terratech Deluxe Edition
  • Terror of Hemasaurus
  • Textorcist
  • Tharsis
  • The Adventure Pals
  • The Amazing American Circus
  • The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines
  • The Anacrusis
  • The Ascent
  • The Battle of Polytopia
  • The Battle of Polytopia *DLC1. Cymanti Tribe *DLC2. ∑∫ỹriȱŋ Tribe *DLC3. Aquarion Tribe *DLC4. Polaris Tribe
  • The Beast inside
  • The Blackout Club
  • The Callisto Protocol™
  • The Chess Variants Club
  • The Citadel
  • The Colonists
  • The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
  • THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: LITTLE HOPE
  • The Darkest Tales
  • The Dungeon Beneath
  • The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
  • The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
  • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® Game of the Year Edition
  • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion® Game of the Year Edition
  • The Elder Scrolls Online
  • The Escapists 2
  • THE GAME OF LIFE 2
  • The Golf Club™ 2019 featuring PGA TOUR
  • The haunted island, A frog detective
  • The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
  • The Hong Kong Massacre
  • The Horror Of Salazar House
  • The Innsmouth Case
  • The Invisible Hours
  • The Jackbox Party Pack 9
  • The Knight Witch
  • The Last Campfire
  • The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame
  • The Letter - Horror Visual Novel
  • The Long Dark
  • The Manhole: Masterpiece Edition
  • The Mortuary Assistant
  • The Mummy Demastered
  • The Occupation
  • The Outer Worlds
  • THE OUTER WORLDS: SPACER'S CHOICE EDITION
  • THE PALE BEYOND
  • The Quarry
  • The Quarry deluxe
  • The Ramp
  • The Red Lantern
  • The Rewinder
  • The Sacred Tears TRUE
  • The Sexy Brutale
  • The Shapeshifting Detective
  • The Tarnishing of Juxtia
  • The Tenants
  • The Uncertain - The Last Quiet Day
  • The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day
  • The Uncertain: Light At The End
  • The USB Stick Found in the Grass
  • The Walking Dead
  • The Walking Dead - 400 Days
  • The Walking Dead Saints and Sinners
  • The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
  • The Walking Dead: Final Season
  • The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
  • The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
  • The Walking Dead: Season 1
  • The Walking Dead: Season Two
  • The Way
  • The Wild At Heart
  • The Wild Eight
  • The Witness
  • Them and Us
  • They Bleed Pixels
  • Thief of Thieves
  • This War of Mine
  • This Way Madness Lies
  • Three Kingdom: The Journey
  • Time on Frog Island
  • Tinkertown
  • Tiny Tina’s Wonderland(EU)
  • TINY TINA'S WONDERLANDS CHAOTIC GREAT EDITION
  • Tiny Troopers
  • Tinykin
  • Tinytopia
  • TIS-100
  • Titan Quest
  • Tokyo Xanadu eX+
  • Tom Clancy's The Division™
  • Tom Clancy's The Division™ - Survival!
  • Tools up
  • Tooth and Tail
  • Torchlight
  • Total Tank Simulator
  • Tour de France 2020
  • Tower Unite
  • Townsmen - A kingdom Rebuilt
  • Trail Out
  • Trailblazers
  • Trailmakers
  • Trailmakers Deluxe Edition
  • Train Sim World 3: Standard Edition
  • Train Simulator Classic
  • Train Valley 1
  • Transport INC
  • Treasure Hunter Simulator
  • TRIBES OF MIDGARD
  • Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
  • Trinity Fusion
  • Trombone Champ
  • Tropico 5 - Complete Collection
  • Trover Saves the Universe
  • Tunche
  • Turmoil
  • Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
  • Twin Mirror
  • Two Point Campus
  • Two Point Hospital
  • TYPECAST
  • Tyrant's Blessing
  • Ultimate Chicken Horse
  • Ultimate Zombie Defense
  • Ultra Space Battle Brawl
  • Unavowed
  • Undead Horde
  • Underhero
  • Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy
  • Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign
  • Universim
  • UNLOVED
  • Unpacking
  • Until I have you
  • Unto The End
  • Upside Down
  • URU: Complete Chronicles
  • Vagante
  • Valfaris
  • Valfaris: Mecha Therion
  • Valkryia Chronicles 4 Complete Edition
  • Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition
  • Valkyria Chronicles 4: Complete Edition
  • Vambrace: Cold Soul
  • Vampire - The Masquerade: Shadows of New York
  • Vampire Survivors
  • Vane
  • Vectronom
  • Velocity Noodle
  • Venba
  • Verne: The Shape of Fantasy
  • Victoria 3
  • Victoria II
  • Viking: Battle For Asgard
  • Virgo Versus The Zodiac
  • VirtuaVerse
  • Visage
  • Viscerafest
  • Void Bastards
  • VOIDIGO
  • Volcanoids
  • Voltage High Society
  • V-Rally 4
  • Wanderlust: Travel Stories (GOG)
  • Wanted: Dead
  • Wargroove
  • Warhammer 40,000 Sanctus Reach - Complete Edition
  • Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon - Imperium Complete
  • Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector
  • Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
  • Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Special Edition
  • WARHAMMER AGE OF SIGMAR: REALMS OF RUIN – ULTIMATE EDITION
  • Warhammer vermintide collector's edition
  • Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
  • Warhammer: Vermintide 2
  • Warman
  • Warstone TD
  • Wasteland 3
  • Wayward
  • WE NEED TO GO DEEPER
  • We should talk.
  • We Were Here Together
  • We Were Here Too
  • Webbed
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse Heart of the Forest
  • West of Dead
  • What Lies in the Multiverse
  • When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
  • while True: learn()
  • Whos Your daddy
  • Wick
  • Windward
  • Witch It
  • Witchy Life Story
  • wizard of legends
  • Wolfenstein 3D
  • Worms Rumble
  • Worms Rumble + Legends Pack
  • Wrath: Aeon of Ruin
  • WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship
  • WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship
  • WWE 2K Battlegrounds
  • WWE 2K23
  • WWZ Aftermath
  • Wytchwood
  • X-COM: COMPLETE PACK
  • XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION
  • XIII - Classic
  • X-Morph: Defense
  • X-Morph: Defense + European Assault, Survival of the Fittest, and Last Bastion DLC
  • X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack
  • Yakuza Kiwami
  • Yakuza: Like A Dragon
  • Yumeutsutsu Re:After
  • Yumeutsutsu Re:Master
  • Zen Chess: Mate in One, Mate in 2 , Mate in 3 , Mate in 4 , Champion's Moves (5 games)
  • Ziggurat
  • Zombie Army 4
  • Zombie Army Trilogy
  • Zool Redimensioned
  • Zwei: The Arges adventure
  • Zwei: The ilvard insurrection
DLCs and Softwares:
  • For The King: Lost Civilization Adventure Pack
  • Train Simulator: Isle of Wight Route Add-On
  • Train Simulator: Woodhead Electric Railway in Blue Route Add-On
  • Train Simulator: North Somerset Railway Route Add-On
  • Train Simulator: Union Pacific Heritage SD70ACes Loco Add-On
  • Train Simulator: London to Brighton Route Add-On
  • BR Class 170 'Turbostar' DMU Add-On
  • DB BR 648 Loco Add-On
  • Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
  • Expansion - Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
  • Expansion - Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
  • Grand Central Class 180 'Adelante' DMU Add-On
  • Peninsula Corridor: San Francisco - Gilroy Route Add-On
  • SONIC ADVENTURE 2: BATTLE
  • Small World - A Spider's Web
  • Small World - Cursed
  • Small World - Royal Bonus
  • The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos - Goodies Pack
  • The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos - OST
  • Thompson Class B1 Loco Add-On
  • Total War: Shogun 2 - Rise of the Samurai
  • Train Sim World® 3: Birmingham Cross-city line
  • Train Sim World®: BR Class 20 'Chopper' Loco
  • Train Sim World®: Brighton Main Line: London Victoria - Brighton
  • Train Sim World®: Caltrain MP36PH-3C 'Baby Bullet'
  • Train Sim World®: Cathcart Circle Line: Glasgow - Newton & Neilston
  • Train Sim World®: Clinchfield Railroad: Elkhorn - Dante
  • Train Sim World®: Great Western Express
  • Train Sim World®: Hauptstrecke Hamburg - Lubeck
  • Train Sim World®: LIRR M3 EMU
  • Train Sim World®: Long Island Rail Road: New York - Hicksville
  • Train Sim World®: Nahverkehr Dresden - Riesa
  • Train Sim World®: Northern Trans-Pennine: Manchester - Leeds
  • Train Sim World®: Peninsula Corridor: San Francisco - San Jose
  • Train Sim World®: Rhein-Ruhr Osten: Wuppertal - Hagen
  • Train Sim World®: Tees Valley Line: Darlington - Saltburn-by-the-sea
  • Worms Rumble - Armageddon Weapon Skin Pack
  • Worms Rumble - Captain & Shark Double Pack
  • Worms Rumble - Legends Pack
  • Worms Rumble - New Challengers Pack
  • Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 7
  • Dagon: by H. P. Lovecraft - The Eldritch Box DLC
  • Duke Nukem Forever Hail to the Icons
  • Duke Nukem Forever The Doctor Who Cloned Me
  • GRIP: Combat Racing - Cygon Garage Kit
  • GRIP: Combat Racing - Nyvoss Garage Kit
  • GRIP: Combat Racing - Terra Garage Kit
  • GRIP: Combat Racing - Vintek Garage Kit
  • GameGuru
  • GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
  • Intro to Game Development with Unity
  • Music Maker EDM Edition
  • Neverwinter Nights: Darkness Over Daggerford
  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Dark Dreams of Furiae
  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Tyrants of the Moonsea
  • Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
  • Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons
  • Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast
  • Neverwinter Nights: Wyvern Crown of Cormyr
  • PDF-Suite 1 Year License
  • Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
  • RPG Maker VX
  • WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS - Ultimate Brawlers Pass
  • We Are Alright
  • The Outer Worlds Expansion Pass
  • A Hat in Time - Seal the Deal DLC
  • City Skylines:mass transit
  • A Game Of Thrones - A Dance With Dragons
  • A Game Of Thrones - A Feast For Crows
  • Blood Rage: Digital Edition - Gods of Asgard
  • Blood Rage: Digital Edition - Mythical Monsters
  • Blood Rage: Digital Edition - Mystics of Midgard
  • Carcassonne - The Princess and The Dragon DLC
  • Carcassonne - Traders & Builders DLC
  • Carcassonne - Winter & Gingerbread Man DLC
  • Carcassonne - Inns & Cathedrals
  • Carcassonne - The River
  • Splendor: The Trading Posts DLC
  • Splendor: The Strongholds DLC
  • Splendor: The Cities DLC
  • Small World - Be Not Afraid... DLC
  • Small World - Grand Dames DLC
  • Small World - Cursed!
  • Sands of Salzaar - The Ember Saga
  • Sands of Salzaar - The Tournament
  • Monster Train: The Last Divinity DLC
  • WARSAW
submitted by calvin324hk to indiegameswap [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 17:55 calvin324hk [H] 1000+ Games / DLCs / VR Games [W] Paypal / Wishlist / Offers

https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/pikmri/calvin324hks_igs_rep_page/
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Wishlist
Region: NA (Canada)
Fees on buyer if any, currency is USD unless specified
CTRL + F to find your games in terms of name
  • 10 Second Ninja X
  • 11-11 Memories Retold
  • 112 Operator
  • 12 is Better Than 6
  • 198X
  • 1993 Space Machine
  • 60 Parsecs
  • 7 Billion Humans
  • 8 DOORS
  • 8-bit Adventure Anthology: Volume I
  • 9 Years of Shadows
  • 911 Operator
  • A Game of Thrones: The Board Game
  • A Hat in Time
  • A Hole New World
  • A JUGGLER'S TALE
  • A Long Way Down
  • A PLAGUE TALE: INNOCENCE
  • A Robot Named Fight!
  • A Tale for Anna
  • A.I.M.2 Clan Wars
  • Abalon (Summoners Fate)
  • Above Snakes
  • ABZU
  • Ace Combat Assault Horizon Enhanced Edition
  • ADOM
  • Adore
  • Aegis Defenders
  • Aeterna Noctis
  • AETHERIS
  • Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot The First Cases
  • AIdol
  • Airborne Kingdom
  • Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
  • Alder's Blood: Definitive Edition
  • Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo
  • Alien Breed Trilogy
  • Aliens vs. Predator™ Collection
  • All-Star Fruit Racing
  • Almost There: The Platformer
  • American Fugitive
  • American Truck Simulator
  • Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy
  • AMID EVIL
  • Amnesia rebirth
  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent + Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
  • Anomalous
  • Another World – 20th Anniversary Edition
  • Antigraviator
  • Anuchard
  • APICO
  • APICO
  • Aragami
  • Aragami 2
  • Arboria
  • Arcade Paradise
  • Arcade Paradise - Arcade Paradise EP
  • Arcade Spirits
  • Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace
  • Armada 2526 Gold Edition
  • Army Men RTS
  • army of ruin
  • Arto
  • Ary and the Secret of Seasons
  • As Far as the Eye
  • Ascension to the Throne
  • Assemble With Care
  • Assetto Corsa Competizione
  • Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition
  • Astebreed Definitive Edition
  • Astro Colony
  • Astronarch
  • Attack of the Earthlings
  • Automachef
  • Automobilista
  • Automobilista 2
  • AUTONAUTS
  • AUTONAUTS VS PIRATEBOTS
  • Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora™ - Ubisoft Connect
  • AVICII Invector: Encore Edition
  • Awesomenauts All Nauts pack
  • Axiom Verge
  • Axiom Verge 2
  • Baba is you
  • Back 4 Blood
  • Back 4 blood (EU)
  • Backbone
  • Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
  • Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
  • Banners of Ruin
  • Bartlow's Dread Machine
  • Basement
  • Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
  • Batman: Arkham Origins
  • Battle Royale Tycoon
  • Battlecruisers
  • Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
  • BATTLESTAR GALACTICA DEADLOCK SEASON ONE
  • Battlestar Galactica Deadlock: Complete
  • BATTLETECH MERCENARY COLLECTION
  • BATTLETECH Shadow Hawk Pack
  • BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION
  • Bee Simulator
  • BEFORE WE LEAVE
  • Beholder 2
  • Ben 10
  • Ben 10: Power Trip
  • Bendy and the Ink Machine™
  • Between the Stars
  • Beyond a Steel Sky
  • Beyond The Edge Of Owlsgard
  • BEYOND THE WIRE
  • Beyond: Two Souls
  • BIOMUTANT
  • Bionic Commando
  • Bionic Commando Rearmed
  • BioShock: The Collection
  • BLACK BOOK
  • Black Moon Chronicles
  • Black Paradox
  • BLACK SKYLANDS
  • BLACKHOLE: Complete Edition
  • Blacksad: Under the Skin
  • Blade of Darkness
  • Blasphemous
  • Blazing Chrome
  • Blightbound
  • Blood And Zombies
  • Blood Rage: Digital Edition
  • Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
  • Blue Fire
  • Bomber Crew
  • Boneless Zombie
  • Boomerang Fu
  • Borderlands 3
  • Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe
  • Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition
  • Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
  • Bot Vice
  • Bounty of One
  • Brawlout
  • Breakout: Recharged
  • Breathedge
  • bridge constructor
  • Bridge constructor medieval
  • bridge constructor stunts
  • Broken Lines
  • Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
  • Brutal Legend
  • Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
  • BUILDER SIMULATOR
  • calico
  • Call of Duty® Modern Warfare 3™ (2011)
  • Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
  • Capitalism 2
  • Car Mechanic 2018
  • Car Mechanic Simulator 2015
  • Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
  • Cardboard Town
  • Castle Morihisa
  • castle storm
  • CastleStorm
  • Cat Cafe Manager
  • Catherine Classic
  • Caveblazers
  • Celeste
  • Centipede: Recharged
  • Cepheus Protocol
  • CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience
  • Charlie's Adventure
  • Chenso Club
  • Chernobylite: Enhanced Edition
  • Chess Ultra
  • Chicago 1930 : The Prohibition
  • Chivalry 2
  • Chop Goblins
  • Chorus
  • Chorus
  • Circuit Superstars
  • Cities Skylines + After Dark
  • Cities: Skylines
  • City of Beats
  • CivCity: Rome
  • Click and Slay
  • Cloud Gardens
  • Cloudpunk
  • Code Vein
  • Coffee Talk
  • Comedy Night
  • Command & Conquer Remastered (Origin)
  • Complete Dread X Collection
  • Conarium
  • Construction Simulator (2015) Deluxe Edition
  • Constructor Plus
  • Control
  • Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3
  • Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
  • Cookie Cutter
  • cornucopia
  • Corridor Z
  • Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel
  • Cosmonautica
  • Crash Drive 2
  • Crash Drive 3
  • Creaks
  • Creepy Tale
  • Crookz the big heist
  • CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
  • Crush Your Enemies
  • Cube Runner
  • Cultist Simulator: Anthology Edition
  • Curse: The Eye of Isis
  • Cyber Ops
  • Cybercube
  • Danger Scavenger
  • Dark Deity
  • Dark Future
  • DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: HOUSE OF ASHES
  • Darkwood
  • DARQ: Complete Edition
  • Day of the Tentacle Remastered
  • days of war definitive edition
  • Dead by Daylight
  • Dead Estate
  • Dead Rising 2
  • Deadly Days
  • Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
  • DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT
  • Death's Gambit
  • Deceased
  • DECEIVE INC.
  • Degrees of Separation
  • Deleveled
  • Delicious! Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
  • Deliver Us The Moon
  • Demetrios - Deluxe Edition
  • Depraved
  • DESCENDERS
  • Desert Child
  • DESOLATE
  • Destiny 2: Beyond Light
  • DESTROYER: THE U-BOAT HUNTER
  • Detention
  • Devil May Cry HD Collection
  • Devilated
  • Dicey Dungeons
  • Dirt 5
  • dirt rally
  • Dirt Rally 2.0
  • Disaster Band
  • Disciples III: Reincarnation
  • Discolored
  • Disjunction (GOG)
  • DISTRAINT 2
  • Distrust
  • DmC: Devil May Cry
  • Do Not Feed the Monkeys
  • Don't Be Afraid
  • Doomed Lands
  • Door Kickers: Action Squad
  • Doorways: Prelude
  • Downfall
  • Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen
  • Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
  • Drake Hollow
  • Draugen
  • Draw Slasher
  • Drawful 2
  • Dreams in the Witch House
  • Dreamscaper
  • DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders
  • DRIFT21
  • Driftland: The Magic Revival
  • drive!drive!drive!
  • Drone Swarm
  • Due Process
  • Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
  • Duke of Alpha Centauri
  • Dungeon Rushers
  • Dungeons 2
  • Dungeons 3
  • DUSK
  • Dusk Diver
  • Dust to the End
  • Dynopunk
  • Earth Defense Force 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair
  • Eastern Exorcist
  • Eastward
  • Effie
  • Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
  • El Matador
  • Elderand
  • Elderborn
  • ELDEST SOULS
  • Electrician Simulator
  • Elemental Survivors
  • Elex
  • Elex II
  • Elite Dangerous
  • Embr
  • Empire: Total War - Definitive Edition
  • Empyrion - Galactic Survival
  • ENCASED: A SCI-FI POST-APOCALYPTIC RPG
  • Encodya (GOG)
  • Endless Space 2
  • Endless Space 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition
  • Endless Space® 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition
  • Endzone - A World Apart
  • Epistory - Typing Chronicles
  • Escape the backrooms
  • Eternal Threads
  • Etherborn
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • European Ship Simulator
  • Everdream Valley
  • Evil Genius 2: World Domination
  • Exorder
  • EXPEDITIONS: ROME
  • Explosionade
  • F1 2018
  • F1 2019 Anniversary Edition
  • F1 2020
  • F1 RACE STARS Complete Edition Include DLC
  • Fable Anniversary
  • Factory Town
  • Fallback uprising
  • FALLOUT 1
  • Family Man
  • Family Mysteries 3: Criminal Mindset
  • Fantasy Blacksmith
  • FARMER'S DYNASTY
  • Farming Simulator 17
  • Farming Simulator 19
  • Fictorum
  • Field of Glory II
  • Fights in Tight Spaces
  • Filthy Animals Heist Simulator
  • Firefighting Simulator - The Squad
  • Fishing Adventure
  • Flashback
  • FLATLAND Vol.2
  • FlatOut
  • FLING TO THE FINISH
  • Floppy Knights
  • Fluffy Horde
  • FOBIA - ST. DINFNA HOTEL
  • For the King
  • Forgive me Father
  • Forts
  • Framed Collection
  • Fred3ric
  • Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator
  • Friends vs Friends
  • Frog detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
  • Frogun
  • From Space
  • From the Depths
  • Frostpunk: Game of the Year Edition
  • Frozenheim
  • Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
  • Funtasia
  • Fury Unleashed
  • Gamedec
  • Gamedec - Definitive Edition
  • Gang Beasts
  • GARAGE bad trip
  • Garden Story
  • Garfield Kart
  • GAS STATION SIMULATOR
  • Gelly Break Deluxe
  • Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition
  • Gevaudan
  • Ghost Song
  • Ghostrunner
  • Giana Sisters 2D
  • GIGA WRECKER
  • Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart
  • Glitch Busters: Stuck On You
  • Gloria Victis
  • Go Home Dinosaurs
  • Goat of Duty
  • GOD EATER 3
  • Godlike Burger
  • Godstrike
  • Going Under
  • Golf Gang
  • Golf It!
  • Gone Home + Original Soundtrack
  • Good Knight
  • Gotham Knights
  • GREAK: MEMORIES OF AZUR
  • GREEDFALL
  • Gremlins, inc
  • grey goo
  • GRID - 2019
  • grid ultimate
  • GRIP: Combat Racing
  • Gungrave G.O.R.E
  • Guppy
  • Guts and glory
  • GYLT
  • Hacknet
  • Haegemonia: Legions of Iron
  • Hamilton's Great Adventure
  • Hammerting
  • Hammerwatch
  • Hands of Necromancy
  • Havsala: Into the Soul Palace
  • Headsnatchers
  • Heartwood Heroes
  • Heat Signature
  • Heaven's Vault
  • Helheim Hassle
  • Hell Let Loose
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
  • Hellbound
  • Hellpoint
  • Hellslave
  • Hellstuck: Rage With Your Friends
  • Hero of the Kingdom III
  • Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 2
  • Heroes of Hammerwatch
  • Heros hour
  • Hexologic
  • Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
  • Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
  • Hidden Deep
  • Hi-Fi Rush
  • High On Life
  • Hitman (2016) Game of the Year Edition
  • HITMAN 2 - Gold Edition
  • Hoa
  • Hob
  • Hollow Knight
  • Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?!
  • Home Sweet Home
  • Home Sweet Home EP2
  • Homestead Arcana
  • Hood: Outlaws & Legends
  • Hoplegs
  • Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora
  • HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED ™
  • Hotshot Racing
  • House Flipper
  • How to Survive 2
  • Hue
  • Human: Fall Flat
  • HUMANKIND DEFINITIVE EDITION
  • Hungry Flame
  • Hylics 2
  • Hyper Knights
  • I am Bread
  • I Am Fish
  • I am not a Monster: First Contact
  • I Hate Running Backwards
  • ibb & obb Double Pack
  • ICBM
  • Ice Age Scrat's Nutty Adventure
  • Ice Lakes
  • Impostor Factory
  • IN SOUND MIND
  • Indivisible
  • INDUSTRIA
  • Infectonator 3: Apocalypse
  • Infinite Beyond The Mind
  • Injustice 2 Legendary Edition
  • Insane 2
  • INSOMNIA: The Ark
  • Internet Cafe Simulator
  • Internet Cafe Simulator 2
  • Interstellar Space: Genesis
  • Iris and the Giant
  • Iron Fisticle
  • Iron Harvest
  • Ittle Dew
  • Ittle Dew 2+
  • Jack Move
  • Jackbox party pack 2
  • Jackbox party pack 5
  • JANITOR BLEEDS
  • Joint Task Force
  • Jotun: Valhalla Edition
  • Journey For Elysium
  • Journey to the Savage Planet
  • JUMANJI: The Video Game
  • JumpJet Rex
  • Jupiter Hell
  • Jurassic Park: The Game
  • Jurassic World Evolution
  • Jurassic World Evolution 2
  • JUST CAUSE 4: COMPLETE EDITION
  • Just Die Already
  • Kardboard Kings: Card Shop Simulator
  • Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
  • Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
  • Kentucky Route Zero - Season Pass Edition
  • Kerbal Space Program
  • Kill it with Fire
  • Killing Floor 2 Digital Deluxe Edition
  • Killing Room
  • Kingdom Two Crowns
  • Kingdom: New Lands
  • King's Bounty: Crossworlds
  • Knights of Pen & Paper 2
  • Knock-knock
  • Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards] *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.1 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.2 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.3 DLC
  • Konung 2
  • KungFu Kickball
  • Labyrinthine
  • Lair of the Clockwork God
  • Laserlife
  • LAST OASIS
  • Lawn Mowing Simulator
  • Layers of Fear: Masterpiece Edition
  • Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West
  • Learn Japanese To Survive! Hiragana Battle
  • Learn Japanese To Survive! Katakana War
  • Learn Japanese to Survive! Trilogy
  • Legend of Keepers
  • LEGION TD 2 - MULTIPLAYER TOWER DEFENSE
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submitted by calvin324hk to SteamGameSwap [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 17:54 Legitimate_Okra_8282 Finger injury

Was trying out a new boulder yesterday and fell off a crimp kinda funny. At the last few seconds it was only my middle finger and pointer finger holding most of my body weight. Immediately after and now the next day my middle finger has been feeling sore like maybe I strained a muscle or tendon in it. The soreness is toward the base of my finger and into my hand a little. Any advice on how/if I should tape it or just leave it alone and try to rest it a few days?
The pain isn’t crazy or anything so I don’t think its a serious injury worth seeing a doctor but I have been climbing for 2+ years now and have never experienced this so am not sure the best way to treat it. Any advice would be appreciated!
submitted by Legitimate_Okra_8282 to climbergirls [link] [comments]


2024.05.21 17:44 Abject_East_3462 AIO: for thinking about getting out because i think i like being single better

I WAS SINGLE FOR 6YRS N I LOVED IT
My fiancé and I have been together for a few months.we moved in together n got engaged fairly quick but he’s very obsessive and does not keep a very put together home. i have always kept a tidy organized house and i also love to be alone and not touched sometimes. also we both have kids n we moved into his home. long story short…. BUT NOT REALLY
Here’s what i feel: AIO part 1
One of his kids reacts very violently to their siblings (pulled knife out, punches very hard when playing, gets angry very fast, suffocates them, chokes them) also speaks of me dying in situations which is weird to me. he’s very manipulative and passive when addressed but he does creepy shit too like stare at u while smiling for long timeframes.
he also pretends to put up his middle finger to me and also back talks me n joins the convo when me n dad are having a talk.
he’s also calls himself defending his dad when we are speaking about stuff to eachother n i have to tell him to stay in a child’s place. dad doesn’t say anything.
he also will rub on his dad sometimes like the back of his neck, arm, stomach.. they randomly say i love u to eachother all day n he kiss dad frequently on his arm or head. especially doing this when me n dad are chilling together
i’ve never seen behavior like this. IT CREEPS ME OUT
AIO PART 2 The dad….constantly n randomly tells me n a particular child i love u but compulsively throughout the day like every appearance. he’s constantly obsessively saying sexual stuff to me at every instance, rubbing my butt or breast nonstop, moaning at every sight of me, wants sex daily n if we miss a day he acts as if it’s been months n say smart indirect stuff.
house is always a wreck, the kids never clean up behind themselves, use hella dishes, never pick up their clothes, never fold them, laundry room is a wreck, bathroom always pissy. Dad only says things when i’m correcting them..Dad is always chipper n the morning n i’m not. i clean a lot he doesn’t, they also eat inconsiderably. groceries are high n they eat like no one else is in the house. if he’s not in my face or touching the kids are. i don’t get a moment to breathe. He also was pressing me for a baby as soon as we started dating n getting serious. he doesn’t dress well or take my advice.
AIO.I FEEL LIKE IVE GOTTEN MYSELF IN SOME SHT N IM IN TOO DEEP NOW. Im NOT SURE ABOUT THIS. IM OVERWHELMED N FEEL LIKE I MESSED UP N NEED TO GO OR DO I STICK IT OUT. ITS NO BOUNDARIES N I FEEL LIKE EVERYTHING IS EXCESSIVE
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2024.05.21 17:22 Fun-Yogurtcloset521 The Locust Man

PART 1:
 Every town has their own version of “The Boogeyman”. A monster, cryptid, phantom, whatever you want to call it, it’s all essentially the same thing- just a scary story they tell kids in an attempt to get them to behave. An urban legend is just a life lesson disguised as a horror story after all. For us folk living up in the tiny and once prosperous gold-mining town of Trillium, ours was known simply as The Locust Man. Now, let me start by saying, I realize how ridiculous that name must sound to you. “The Locust Man”?? Pftt…What’s he do, besides get stuck in the grill of someone’s pick-up truck. Destroy some crops? Oooh, he sounds real scary... yeah, I know. But yet, as I sit here today 20 years after the fact - a grown woman who’s wiser, stronger, and even more grounded in reality than she was at 12, I still hesitate to even write down that name. 
As a young child I had always thought it to be a little weird that our town was called Trillium, considering I had never seen a single one growing there. If you don’t know, a trillium is a small flower, usually white but they come in other color varieties as well, with three pedals and a bright yellow center. They sort of look like if you took a lily and tore off every other pedal playing “He loves me, he loves me not”. In school, about 2nd grade or so, we were taught everything about this elusive flower I’d never seen in real life, and told how proud our town was to be named after it. Trillium, Colorado was established in 1922 - A new town born in the wake of a great tragedy which befell the town that had previously sat in the same location. For us, and those that came before us, the trillium was supposed to be a symbol of hope. Knowing all that I know now, that sentiment almost makes me want to laugh - in a morbid way.
 Growing up in a small, mostly isolated town, there really wasn’t much for a kid to do. You’d have to drive 45 minutes to get to the closest mall and movie theater. The high school kids would usually all hang out at the roller rink downtown or at the old run-down burger joint called Slim’s that sat across it. But at that age, I wasn’t allowed to go hang out there by myself yet and for me, going with my parents tagging along wasn’t an option I was open to. My neighborhood was on a long dead end road leading up to a large patch of woods that separated the main part of town from the abandoned mine. The old trail the miners used was still accessible up until a point, and so me and the other kids from my street would hang out in those woods all the time. We had a “secret spot” which was, what we thought at the time, about half way through the woods, 10 steps away from a small shallow creek that pretty much ran the length of the area. Rain Creek, we called it. There was a small clearing there, and we had created our own little clubhouse using old milk crates as supports, half- broken wooden pallets as walls, along with some old lawn chairs one of the neighbors was throwing out one day. I made my contribution by bringing a tarp we had in our basement that served as the roof of our establishment. Our parents didn’t love the idea of five 10 to 12 year olds running around in the woods by ourselves, but as long as we stayed within earshot and made it back before the streetlights came on, they probably figured it was safer than us being across town galavanting unsupervised. 
It was me, Lacey, Devin, Mikey and Michelle. We were all best friends - pretty much inseparable, except the boys weren’t invited to the girls’ sleepovers and vise versa. Everyday after school, we’d get dropped off by the bus at the very beginning of our road, and it was a running joke between the Rain Street Gang (as we liked to call ourselves) for all of us to try and run off the bus as quickly as possible, while me, Lacey and Devin would all yell in unison ‘Last two home are some rotten eggs!!’, as Mikey and Michelle tried to push past us to get a head start. The aforementioned two were siblings, and lived in the very last house on our row right next to the woods, so they’d always get home last, regardless of their efforts. Although, the year that Mikey got a pair of Heelys for Christmas he finally got his edge over the rest of us, leaving Michelle to be the lone “rotten egg” until the next summer when one of his wheels broke off. The whole point of it all was just to get home and get our chores and homework done as fast as possible, so we could meet up at Mikey and Michelle’s house with enough daylight left to make our trek into the woods and back - together as a group. All five of us had made a pact to never visit the clubhouse without all members present, although us girls always had a sneaking suspicion that the boys thought themselves exempt from that rule. They, after all, were the ones that had discovered the spot in the first place, and not to mention, did most of the physical labor of dragging our provisions out there. Me and Lacey initially only heard about the spot a day after the boys found it; Michelle had walked into Mikey’s room in the middle of him and Devin talking about it, and immediately relayed the message to us. Michelle wasn’t necessarily more loyal to the girls than the boys, she was just the youngest among us and honestly couldn’t resist blurting out any mildly relevant information she thought she might have, in an effort to be included. But in that regard, if the boys had ever gone out there on their own, they would’ve had to be extremely sneaky about it, because Michelle’s number one objective in life was to gather any piece of intel she could. It was a seemingly normal Saturday morning when we learned our suspicions about the boys may have been warranted.
I had slept over at Lacey’s house the night before. We had just woken up and were still sitting on her bed discussing our possible plans for the day, when Michelle busted through the door with a look on her face that immediately told us she had finally gotten a hold of some juicy information, before she could even open her mouth to stutter out, “You-you-you guyssss, guess w-w-what!?!” Lacey gestured the nail file that was in her hand toward her, raising her eyebrows bluntly as Michelle tried to catch her breath. “So… Devin came to sleep over last night, annnnnd I was pretending to go to the bathroom so I could spy on them. Seeeeee, I was supposed to be sleeping but I -“ “Ughh come on Michelle, get to it! What’d you hear?” Lacey snapped “Ughh okay okay. So, I heard the boys talking, anddddd…. they’re planning to go explore the old mine today!!” “Alright Michelle! Good spying!” I chuckled, trying to encourage her after Lacey’s impatience. Lacey rolls her eyes, then immediately stands up. She takes the scrunchie off her wrist, ties her long blonde hair into a messy bun, and simply said, “Let’s go.” “Lacey..” I said “What??” She responds as if she hadn’t registered the tone of my voice at all. As I opened my mouth to begin explaining all the logical and practical reasons why even if the boys were stupid enough to go play around somewhere dangerous, we shouldn’t be, Michelle exclaims, “That’s where the Locust Man lives!!” I close my mouth in defeat, as I know Lacey will take this nonsense as a challenge, and because of that, no amount of my warnings concerning actual dangers would have any effect on her decision. Lacey dismisses her comment as she attempts to shove her foot into one of her new pink sneakers that she refuses to admit are too small for her. “Pshhh, don’t be such a baby Michelle, he’s not real, you do know that right?” Michelle crinkled her face and yelled back, “Yes he is Lacey! He is!! And th-th- that’s where he lives, and he eats kids that go there!” Lacey laughs at her and says “Oh yeah? You still believe in Santa clause too? What about the tooth fairy?” Michelle looked down at her shoes, and although she could admittedly be annoying, I found myself feeling bad for her. “Come on Lacey, she’s just scared.” Lacey shot me a look like she was expecting me to burst into laughter, but I just gave her a smirk and a shrug, and she rolled her eyes and said “Get dressed.”
 We walked in silence toward the end of the road, though the reasons for all three differed drastically. Lacey’s was determination and resolve, mine was comtemptousness and defeat, and Michelle’s was just fear. I found myself half-way hoping the boys had left already, but as we approached the driveway we caught them just as they were about to step off the porch. 
“Hey!!” Lacey yelled, in her trademark cheerleader cadence. “Where do you boys think you’re going without us?”. Mikey let a groan and rolled his eyes, while Devin said through a coy smile, “Well, we were actually just heading out to go to find you girls.” “Liar.” Lacey snapped, quickly wiping the grin off Devin’s face. “Michelle already blabbed- we know where you two are going and we’re coming too.” The boys looked at each other, then Mikey shot Michelle an angry look as she tried to shrink herself behind me, and said, “Fine, whatever, but no cry baby snitches allowed!!” Michelle then proceeded to prove both of his accusations correct by yelling back, “I am not a cry baby!! I’m telling mom if you don’t let me come with you!!” At that point I finally spoke up. “Alright, listen.” I said sternly, then once I had their attention I lowered my voice a bit to say, “Just for the record, I think us going to that grody old mine is a dumb idea and a big waste of time, but if one of us goes, we all go. That’s the deal, so make your decisions.” Lacey folded her arms in solidarity beside me, and with that we all had an unspoken understanding. So, with the boys out ahead leading the way, we headed toward the tree line.
 As we entered the woods, I felt a sense of dread wash over me - but to be fair, as a preteen emo kid who had already reached an adult level of cynicism, I felt a certain level of dread towards almost everything in life. So take my premonition with a grain of salt, but for some reason, this felt… different. I remember the woods being abnormally quiet that day. It took some time for me to even notice, but as soon as I did, I interrupted the mindless chatter going on to say, 
“Where are all the freakin’ birds?” Everyone turned to look at me as if I’d completely lost my mind. “Uhhh… What are you talking about?” Devin asked me. I pointed up toward the treetops. “Listen…. ” They all looked up, then looked around at each other in confusion. “Every time we’ve ever been in these woods, there’s always birds chirping back and forth. We’ve been walking almost 5 minutes now and I haven’t heard a single bird, have you guys?” “Damn, yeah, that is weird.” Mikey agreed. “They probably all just migrated!!” Devin goofily offered. “That’s stupid Devin, it’s spring. If anything, there should be more birds here, not less you moron.” Lacie argued. Devin flipped Lacie off, which was the best rebuttal he could usually come up with, and then turned toward me and said, “Okay whatever, what’s your point exactly?” “Just that - “ I looked over to Mikey, then back at Devin. “It’s weird.” I didn’t want to say what I was actually thinking. That the woods being too quiet was never a good thing. That when birds aren’t chirping, it could mean there’s a predator nearby. Besides, I was pretty confident that the boys, having both been in the scouts, knew what I knew, so saying it out loud would only serve to annoy Lacie and further frighten Michelle. Mikey broke his gaze that had been fixed on me, and while scanning our surroundings he said, “Let’s stop by the clubhouse on the way.” With a nod from me, we continued. When we arrived at our pit stop, Lacey hobbled over to the closest lawn chair and plopped herself down in it. “Ughhh, my feet are killing me!!” “I wonder why.” I mutter under my breath. “Excuse me, what was that?” “Just saying. Those shoes are gonna be the death of you Lace, you can barely walk in them.” “Pshhh, shut up. They just need to be broken-in okay? You’re just jealous cuz you’re still wearing your dirty old Vans from last year.” “Oooh yeah, you got me there. I am so sad I don’t have a pair of ugly pink Sketchers that don’t fit me.” She stuck her tongue out at me and we both laughed. I was just about the only person who could go toe to toe with Lacey’s sass. It’s part of the reason we ended up being best friends, besides being neighbors. In regard to style, personality and interests, we were almost polar opposites. But when it came to humor we were equals. And more importantly, we both had a mutual understanding when it came to our differences- I was me and she was her, and neither of us felt the need to try and make the other one be more like us. Besides, I was the only person who had ever really stood up to Lacey and didn’t take any of her crap, so I think she respected that. While that exchange had been going on, Michelle had started picking tiny pink flowers, and the boys were rummaging in the clubhouse for something. I yelled in their direction, “Hey! Big Mike and Dirty D!!” Me and Lacey giggled and she mouthed the word “big” with air quotation marks. They didn’t respond, so I walked over to the entryway and looked in. They were standing with their backs to me while looking down at an open metal box, and Mikey was reaching to grab whatever was in it. As he stood back up, I could see what it was. “What the fuck Mikey, seriously?” Hearing me cuss, Lacey and Michelle crowded in behind me. “Chill, it’s just a BB gun.” “I know it’s a BB gun Michael, what are you doing with it, and why is it here?” I was livid at the thought that he might be coming out here and shooting at animals just to be a shithead. I expected something like that from a goober like Devin, but not Mikey. Michelle butted in, “I’m telling mom!!!” “Nice try, dad knows I have it.” He looked at me and softened his tone. “It’s for protection, just in case we come across a black bear, or some weirdo creep out here. Seriously… it’s just to scare off something, not hurt it.” He knew how I felt about killing animals, especially for no good reason. A lot of people out here are poor and hunt for food, which I could accept as a reality. But hurting animals just for fun is psycho behavior, so I was relieved to hear him dispel my fear; I really didn’t want to have to hate him. “Do you even know how to shoot that thing?” Lacey asked. “Yeah, my dad showed me.” Devin clapped his hands together, making us all jump and himself laugh. “Well alright then, let’s get going!” I turned to Michelle, still holding the flowers. “You okay?” She nodded. “If you want me to walk back with you, I can.” I was slightly hoping she’d say yes so I’d have an excuse to get out of this excursion, but she just shook her head and forced a smile. I knew she was scared, but she was just too curious. Maybe I was too.
 We walked for what felt like half an hour. The trees had gotten more dense and the path narrowed from the overgrowth. Still no birdsong. I kept scanning the area in search of any sign of life other than us. Looking for movement of creatures scurrying away, listening for the sound of rustling as we passed, hoping for a squirrel, a lizard, even a bug. Nothing. 
“How much further is this damn thing?” Lacey groaned. Mikey answered without even turning around. “We should be coming up on it any time now.” “You said that like 10 minutes ago.” “Yeah, and now we’re like 10 minutes closer to it. And hey guess what, you insisted on inviting yourself - so suck it up buttercup.” “Hahahaha!” Devin laughed like a maniac at Mikey’s quip, while Lacey folded her arms and for once in her life didn’t have a snappy comeback. This time however, I did. “Well we really only came along to make sure you idiots didn’t kill yourselves.” “Oh, so you girls came out here with us to be our protectors, huh?” Devin laughed. “Ehh, more like babysitters.” Needless to say, I was flipped off for that statement. We rounded the next bend and suddenly all came to an abrupt stop one after another, starting with Mikey. Devin positioned himself beside him and let out a disappointed groan. “Shit Mikey!” A huge tree had fallen and was blocking the trail completely. There was no way we could climb over it because of all the leaves and branches - we’d have to go around it, which meant leaving the safety of the trail and crossing Rain Creek twice to get back to it. “Seriously???” Lacey exclaimed. “Maybe it’s a sign that we shouldn’t be going.” I shrugged. Mikey didn’t seem fazed by the obstruction at all. In fact, he seemed more confident. More calm. More sure of his intended mission. “It’s fine, we’ll just go around.” Michelle, who had been mostly quiet this whole time, finally broke her fear induced silence. “We are NOT supposed to leave the tr-tr-trail Michael! We could get lost!” “We aren’t gonna get lost Michelle, I have a compass. Plus, it’s literally just a few paces that way, then we cross the creek and circle back once we pass the tree and we’re right back on the trail.” “Oh you have got to be kidding me” Lacey said, “I’m not treading through that nasty water!” “Yeah Mikey, what about Lacey’s brand new shoes??” I laughed, and she playfully slapped me in the arm. Mikey’s patience was wearing thin with us. “Look, we already walked this far - if we turn back now, we’ve wasted the whole day for nothing. If you girls wanna be lame and turn around, then go for it - but me and Dev are going.” That’s all Lacey needed. A challenge to accept; someone to prove wrong. “I’ll show you lame.” She pushed past the boys and lead the way into the thick brush towards Rain Creek. It wasn’t very wide across, and there were lots of fallen limbs and large rocks spread throughout it. The current was barely that of a trickle, and the depth was no more than knee deep for us. It was definitely doable - just an inconvenience. And of course, one more ominous obstacle lying directly in our path. Another hint from the universe telling us to turn around. We didn’t listen. Lacey placed one foot on the closest limb and pushed down a few times to test its sturdiness. “I got this.” She stepped out onto it with both feet, then shimmied sideways until she was close enough to the large exposed rock in the middle of the creek, and hopped onto it. She turned around with a full grin and said, “Coming?” Mikey made his way across the limb as Lacey hopped onto a different limb which led her to the other side of the creek. Devin followed, then me, and then it was Michelle’s turn. “I’m scared to fall in!” Of course she is, I should have made her go before me. “It’s okay Michelle, it’s easy!” I reassured her. She didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Come on Chelle, we’re leaving you!” Mikey yelled, already walking away. “Nooo!! I’m coming! Wait!” She made it across, but instead of just walking like everyone else did, she got down on her hands and knees and gripped the limb as if it were the only thing in between her and a 50 foot drop to the ground, which was funny to see but prolonged the whole process further. After all, we were about to have to do all of this again. Next go round went a lot smoother. The creek was more shallow here, and there were a whole lot more stepping rocks and debris built up. Having just crossed successfully a few minutes ago, we were all more confident in our abilities, including Michelle - who this time we made go first. “Just walk across like it’s a bridge! You got this!!”, we all cheered for her, and then clapped when she made it to the other side. Before we knew it we were back on the trail, and it wasn’t long after that we finally arrived at our intended destination.
 We all stopped and stared at it for a minute, carefully examining the dilapidated exterior of the place that had brought both prosperity and destruction upon our town. Mikey bent down, picked up a rock and threw it into the entrance. We heard it bounce a few times before it stopped. 
“Just to make sure nothing’s in there.” he turned around to clarify. “Did anyone think to bring a flashlight?” I asked. “It’s dark as hell in there.” I was hoping for just one more reason not to go. Devin reached into his cargo shorts pocket and pulled out a small keychain-sized flashlight, smiling with the satisfaction of finally being useful. “Okay, Mikey’ll hold the gun, I’ll shine the light and you girls follow behind us. Let’s go.” Mikey shifted the BB gun from its position of resting on his shoulder, to holding the barrel in his left hand and the butt in his right; trying his best to emulate a soldier’s stance. Something his dad had taught him I’m sure. We ducked down a bit to enter. “How far in we going?” Lacey asked. “Until we see something cool.” Mikey answered. I turned around to check on Michelle, still hovering in the doorway. “You coming?” I could see in her eyes that fear had finally gotten the better of her, and curiosity had taken a backseat. With wide eyes she shook her head. “The-the Locust Man lives in there.”, she tried to whisper. “I knew you were gonna be a baby about this!” Mikey yelled. I crouched down and put my hand on her shoulder. Against my better judgment, I say “How bout you just wait here for us and pick some more flowers. We won’t be long, there’s nothing in there, I promise. Just.. don’t move from this spot and we’ll be right back, okay?” I could feel her unease, but she seemed to accept my reassurance nonetheless. “Okay.” I smiled, then stood up and looked down at my watch to check the time. 12:46 PM. I turned and headed into the darkness, trying to catch up with everyone else. I didn’t feel good about leaving Michelle, but I didn’t feel good about letting the rest of them go in there alone either. And if I’m being honest, maybe a little part of me wanted to see what was in there too. When I caught up to Lacey she asked, “Where’s Michelle?” “Stayed behind at the entrance, she was too scared. I told her to pick flowers and wait there for us.” “Pshh, figures.” “Yeah. How’s your feet?” “At this point, numb actually.” It was so dark in there that even Devin’s rinky dink flashlight was illuminating the area enough for me to start taking a closer look at my surroundings. I looked around at the rock walls, they were covered in what looked like orange mold and green algae. There was a slight breeze coming in from the entrance, but the whole place just had a staleness to it. The boys stopped and turned around as we arrived at the first curve. “So ladies, what do you think? Cool huh?” Devin asked excitedly. “Smells like a fart in here.” I said.
 The most dangerous thing about exploring an old mine wasn’t getting lost in the maze of tunnels, or tripping on the rusted tracks and slamming your head against the wall - it was something simply referred to as bad air. Pockets of still air that have dangerously low levels of oxygen, the old men in town would call it “black damp”. There was also something produced from the old chemicals they once used called “stink damp”, which smelled like rotten eggs. Both were lethal. 
“I wonder if there’s dead bodies in here!” “Uh, Dev… we’re gonna be the dead bodies in here if we go in too far. I wasn’t just making a joke, you know that rotten egg smell can mean bad air.” Mikey interjected. “The entrance isn’t far behind us, there’s still enough fresh air coming in. We won’t go in too far, let’s just get to the end of this tunnel where it splits off and look around a bit, then we’ll turn around.” The fork in the tunnel really wasn’t that much further, and even though I knew once we rounded this curve I wouldn’t be able to see the entrance behind me anymore, I decided what the hell. Maybe a hundred more steps, then we can finally turn around and this whole dumb situation would be closer to being over with. When we got there, we looked down the length of the connecting tunnels each way. Everything looked unusually identical in its deterioration. I could see how someone could easily get disoriented and lost down here. “Hellooooo…” Mikey yelled to the left, his voice echoing through the corridor. Devin turned to the opposite direction and called out, “Hey yo, Locust Man!! You in here?” We all giggled, which made me think about Michelle, still waiting at the entrance for us, alone in the woods. I looked down at my watch. 12:46 PM. “Hey what the f-“ My cuss word was interrupted by a loud bang that came from the passageway Devin had just been hollering into. We all froze. I didn’t have time to process that my watch had stopped right as we entered the tunnel, or that Michelle had been left alone for who knows how long now, or that we had just heard what sounded like a support beam crashing to the ground, because next came a horrifying screeching buzzing sound. It sounded distant at first, but was quickly increasing in volume. We silently looked around at each other and backed away stunned at what we were hearing. Mikey never took his eyes off the tunnel though, and slowly he began to raise the BB gun to firing position. Without even thinking, I grabbed the barrel and pushed it downward. He quickly tore his eyes away from his target to look at me. I shook my head and managed to barely choke out the word, “Explosion.” He nodded and I let go. I looked down at the gun in his hands, and seeing his finger had already been on the trigger, I realized how lucky it was that I didn’t make him shoot himself in the foot. All of a sudden, the noise stopped. “What the hell was that?” Lacey asked. “I don’t know, nothing good.” I said. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here before this whole place caves in on us or something.” Another loud bang erupted from the right, extremely close to us. “Shit!!!” We all turned around and ran as fast as we could back toward the entrance. Devin tried to push past me, but as he did my elbow knocked the flashlight out of his hand. “My flashlight!!!” “Leave it!” Mikey shouted “The turn is right here, we won’t need it!” We rounded the corner, and using what little light there was illuminating from the entrance to guide us back, we ran like our lives depended on it. And they may have- none of us dared to look back, not like we would have been able to see anything anyway. When we finally made it out, we were all completely out of breath. I felt like I was going to throw up. I have to admit though, once we had made it back to safety I felt a rush of adrenaline like I had just had a near death experience. That feeling quickly faded into sheer panic when I looked around and realized Michelle was nowhere to be seen. “Uh, where’s Michelle?” Mikey asked me. “I told her to stay right here, she can’t be very far… Michelle!!!!” We all called her name, as loud as we could. No answer, no sign of her anywhere. “Alright look, she probably went off a little further looking for flowers to pick.” I tried to rationalize. “Let’s just split off in 4 directions and walk in a straight line while calling for her. She’s bound to hear one of us.” Everyone agreed, and even though I appeared outwardly as the level-headed calm person you need to take control in an emergency, inside I was petrified that something had happened to her, and that it would be my fault. I took the east, and headed out. It didn’t take too long before I passed a large tree and saw her sitting down behind it, looking at something on the ground. “Michelle! Oh thank god!! Didn’t you hear us calling for you??” She didn’t answer me, or even turn around. “Michelle, didn’t I tell you to stay by the entrance and not move?!?” My relief was quickly turning into annoyance as she continued to ignore me. I walked up closer to see what she was looking at, and my mouth dropped in awe of what she had found. It was a single white trillium.
 They say it takes 8 years for a trillium plant to produce a flower, and conditions have to be just right for it to bloom. That’s what makes them so special and rare. I stared down at it almost in a trance, like I was seeing a mythical creature. Michelle slowly reached out her hand towards it and I snapped out of it. 
“No!!” I grabbed her by the arm and she finally turned around to look at me. “If you pick the flower, the plant will die.” She ripped her arm away from my grasp and whined, “But I want to show my mom!” We heard Mikey calling from the north and I cupped my hands over my mouth to yell back, “I found her, she’s over here!!” I looked back at her. “No Michelle, come on, you can just tell her about it when we get back home.” I had enough, I was beyond ready to go and we still had at least another 45 minutes of walking to even get back to the clubhouse; an hour if Michelle kept up her crap. I grabbed her arm again and pulled her up to a standing position, looking back at the trillium as I walked her away. Mikey caught up to us, breathless but trying to hide his concern. “You little shit, we should have left you out here! What the hell were you doing?” I let go of her arm and she walked toward Mikey. “She was trying to pick a flower over there.” “It was a trillium!!” Michelle said, with the biggest smile on her face. “Wait, really?” He looked at me in disbelief. Before I could respond, a blood curdling scream echoed through the forest, coming from the west. It was Lacey. My heart dropped into my stomach and once again, every molecule in my body went into full blown panic mode. This time, I couldn’t contain my composure. “Laceyyyyyy!!!!!” A panicked shriek erupted from my lungs and I took off running. Mikey grabbed Michelle and sprinted after us. The trees became a blur; I didn’t even feel all the scratches and scrapes. Had she come across a coyote? A mountain lion? A bear? I didn’t even stop to think about the danger I might be about to come in contact with, I just ran. And then I found her. She was lying on the ground, holding her left foot. “Lacey!!” I said, trying to choke back the tears that were building up. “I think I twisted my ankle!!” “Oh god damn it, you bitch.” I struggled to catch my breath. “I thought you were dead.” “I might as well be, I have cheerleading practice on Monday!” Mikey and Michelle caught up to us. “What happened?” He asked “She’s being a drama queen, she just rolled her ankle.” I was angry. “Can you get up?” He asked her. She was able to stand, but as soon as she tried to put any pressure on her foot at all, she screamed in pain. We spotted Devin running over from the south as he was yelling out, “Hey yo, everyone alive and accounted for?” “Yeah, Lacey hurt her ankle.” Mikey yelled back. As he approached he looked concerned. “Can you walk on it?” He asked her. “No.” Without hesitation he replied, “Well alright then, looks like you’re gonna have to piggyback it all the way back home.” He lowered himself enough to where she could hop up onto his back, and we headed back toward the trail. Even though my nerves had begun to settle a bit, I knew we were still far from being out of the woods, in more ways than one.

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2024.05.21 17:05 Citron92 Kill la kill: I spit on your grave (Part 44: Rat Bael and friends on the other side)

Kill la kill: I spit on your grave (Part 44: Rat Bael and friends on the other side)
https://preview.redd.it/2zqfpqde5s1d1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=29b1992562a1e153df13dac76160202827dd888d
New Orleans, USA, April 25th, 1926
So looks like the waitress in that cafe was lucky enough to get enough money from Charlotte LaBoeff to buy her restaurant. When we left the cafe, we followed her to the real estate office of the Fenner Bros. and we waited about an hour, sitting on a bench. Every second I spent on Isaac's shoulder as a frog was me sunbathing, contemplating life, and daydreaming about torturing and murdering Nonon. As Tiana ran out of the office, she beckoned us to follow us.
Tiana: Come along! I gotta show you guys!
We followed her down the street for a couple of blocks before we found the old dilapidated building she was planning to buy. Only seeing the outside of the building, the Fenner brothers came up to the realty sign and removed it.
Tiana: Everything looks peachy keen Mr. Fenner, and Mr. Fenner.
Fenner 1: We have the paperwork ready to sign first thing after Mardi Gras.
Tiana: I'll do you one better. I'll sign them tonight when I see you at the Labouff masquerade ball!
The two brothers ignored her, putting the wooden sign into their car and driving off with it. Suddenly, an older black woman appeared behind Tiana.
Tiana's mother: Table for one please!
She was holding a big sauce pot with a red ribbon on it.
Tiana: Mama!
Tiana's mother: Here's a little something to help you get started.
Tiana: Ah! Daddy's gumbo pot. Oh.
Tiana hugged her mother and she spoke again.
Tiana's mother: I know. I miss him too. Well now, hurry up and open the door.
Upon opening the door, Tiana shut the doors immediately and both her and her mother began to hyperventilate. Something was terribly wrong.
Isaac: T-Tiana is it? Is something wrong?
Suddenly, a hole was smashed through the door by a big furry arm as Tiana and her mother ran over to Isaac and his behind him, screaming!
Tiana: What the hell is that?
Isaac reached for his plasma saw and turned it on. It whirred loudly before both doors were slamme open and a dozen of those rat-humanoid monsters barged out!
Ryuko: Shit! Rat bastards! Come on Isaac, you can take them down! Tell Wiz and Boomstick who's boss!
Issac: Oh I will. I'm an exterminator too on top of being an engineer!
Nonon never seeing these monsters before put her hands on her ears and screamed "Oh my G-d" over and over again as Isaac ran into the fight with me and Buzz as frogs on his shoulder!
Isaac: Mourir monsteurs!
Isaac slashed through the horde, swinging quickly and broadly as he cut them down multiple at a time! He jumped high into the air and used his summoned swords magic to shoot two rat bastards, impaling them before clapping and blowing them along with any nearby rat bastards up!
Nonon: What are those things? Oh my G-d!
Gamagoori as a big bullfrog woke up and climbed out of Nonon's pocket.
Gamagoori: Rats! The monsters Wiz and Boomstick created to try and slow Ryuko down so she can't save Mako! Come on! We gotta fight them!
As Isaac cut them up, we saw two cheese pukers emerge from the open door, I called it out to him but saw a big mass of bricks on the roof.
Ryuko: Cheese pukers! Don't let them get close! I'm gonna take them down!
Isaac: Ryuko wait no!
I hopped off his shoulder with Buzz and we hopped onto the wall, climbed up before hopping over to the mass of bricks, me and buzz then began to push them off all at once slowly before they all fell onto the stationary cheese pukers, causing them to explode! Blood, guts, and rotten cheese slurry splattered all over the street, the sight and sent caused Tiana, Nonon and her mother to puke.
Gamagoori hopped out of Nonon's pocket and hopped over to the wall and climbed up with us.
Gamagoori: I'm gonna help! Isaac! More are coming!
More rat bastards charged at Isaac, but he began to cut them all down as they got close. The ones that tried to swipe and swing at him were easily dodge as Isaac was very fast. He dodged, dashed and even did backflips to avoid their attacks all while cutting them down with one swing of his powerful plasma blade! Emerging from the door once more was a big, muscular rat monster with crusty, disgusting fur with dead, diseased rat fetuses stuck to it. It ripped one out and threw it at Isaac, he dodged it quickly!
Isaac: Tiana duck!
Tiana, Nonon and her mother ducked as the diseased rat-humanoid corpse flew over their heads, mere inches from their scalps. Isaac then used his summoned swords magic again and threw two glowing blue swords into it before clapping and blowing it into bloody chunks! None of it's diseased biomass hit us or our human friends bellow.
Isaac: That's not all...
We heard a tapping sound, it became more rapid as Tiana, Nonon and her mother squeaked in fear and all three got rolled into a ball to protect themselves. Out of the doorway was the last rat bastard, but the most horrific looking one. It was as big as the doorway, it had six spider legs, it's body was a big mass of gray fur with two rat bastard heads and a human head wearing a crown in the middle. The human head was familiar however, with the burned scar over it's left eye and brown hair.
Ryuko: Santa told me... Those rat bastards are from a mix of rodent DNA and DNA from Z-Zuko! That's Zuko's head?
The Zuko head stared at Isaac for a moment before it's mouth opened up, revealing hideous, rotten needle-like teeth!
Zuko head: Rarrgggghhhhh!
It ran over to Isaac, trying to get one of it's disgusting heads to bite him, but he jumped around and avoided it! He whirred his plasma saw loudly before jumping behind it but before he could cut it's three heads off, the new rat bastard spun around and bit his plasma saw, holding it in place. One of it's spider legs swept Isaac's legs and he fell to the ground. It then slowly began using it's heads that bit onto the plasma saw while having it's mouths avoid the cutting blue blades press on further, as the plasma saw was pushed further to Isaac's neck, he sweated profusely!
Isaac: You! Mon-steur! Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Isaac struggled with it before Tiana ran up behind it with a random wooden plank she used as a club and hit it over the human head! It let go and pulled back and turned towards Tiana, hissing at her before Isaac began to slowly overpower the two rodent heads still pushing on! The two head's teeth accidentally slipped on the blade and Isaac soon cut through their heads, killing two of them. Tiana jammed the wooden plank down the human Zuko head's throat but it bit down and bit the plank in half! Isaac's plasma saw then cut the human head off after cutting through the two other rodent heads from behind! Isaac then kicked the newly killed monster off of him high into the air before Isaac dropped his plasma saw, grabbed it by the legs and swung around with it like a track and field throwing ball before releasing it and it flew high into the sky, so high as a matter of fact that we eventually lost visual contact with it as it travelled so high.
Isaac took some deep breaths before picking up his plasma saw, turning it off and holstering it on his side.
Tiana: Are they gone?
Nonon: What were those things?
Isaac: You didn't run into them? They're the race created by Wiz and Boomstick to kidnap Mako. They're monsteurs me and Ryuko fought. If you want to travel with us, you better not be dead weight. You did nothing to help. Ryuko, Buzz and Gamagoori can't fight at their best right now because of you. So you can do your part or get out.
Nonon: Yes sir. I'll-gulp try.
Tiana: T-thank you for saving me. You are very strong and handsome!
Isaac: Ma plaisir.
Tiana: Did you fight in the great war? You are French after all.
Isaac: Great war? World War o- oh... No I didn't. What year is it again?
Tiana: 1926!
Isaac: 1926! I'm only 26. I... I was 18 in-
Tiana: 1918. Did you fight?
Isaac: Errrr... That's not important. Anyway, I'm going inside your new restaurant. I'll check for any more of those rat bastards.
Tiana: Thank you. Can you tell me when it's clear?
Isaac: Oui.
Isaac proceeded into the ruins before me, Buzz and Gamagoori hopped down a hole from the ceiling, landing on his shoulder.
Isaac: I should of known we travelled back in time in this world. We're in 1926. I wouldn't be born until 1992.
Ryuko: Dang. We're 92 years in the past. Yet again we were in the 15th century months ago.
Gamagoori: What are you talking about?
Ryuko: Me and Isaac going through these worlds, some of them are in the past, one was in 1482! This is the second historical world we've been sent into to find the next dimensional stone.
Buzz: Interuniversal and time travel I see. Your civilization is more advanced then I thought.
Ryuko: Well, it's magic really.
Buzz: Magic! Interesting. I wonder if I can use any.
Ryuko: We'll find out.
Gamagoori: I hope you guys know what you're doing. Will the dimensional stones lead us to Mako?
Ryuko: Yep! Sure will. It will lead us to Mako, we'll save her from Death Battle and we'll kill Wiz, Boomstick and their raping ringmaster.
Gamagoori: I just hope we don't get stuck in the past. I hope you know what you're doing. Also I want to be human again.
Ryuko: We'll get there eventually.
Meanwhile, in the streets of New Orleans, Prince Naveen was joining a street band playing Jazz as everyone was surrounding him, the women were especially fawning over him. His fat servant ran over to him!
Lawrence: Prince!
Naveen: Dance with me, fat man!
The prince took his servant's hand and began to dance around with him for a minute before he announced a proposal to the crowd.
Naveen: Drinks are all on me!
Everyone was cheering, but the servant grabbed the prince and pulled him closer to question him.
Lawrence: How are we going to pay for all of that? You have no money! Either you go and slip out when nobody's looking, or get a job!
Lawrence pointed over to a man behind a horse shoveling it's poop into a bucket.
Naveen: Eugh, fine Lawrence. But first, we dance!
He pulled Lawrence even closer and began to dance with him. The prince let go of Lawrence and he stumbled into the band and his head ended up inside of a tuba!
Naveen: Ha ha! You're finally in the music! Get it? Because your head is inside of a tuba? Ha ha!
Lawrence: Get me out of here!
Naveen and a member of the band pulled at Lawrence before both the prince and his servant were flung out of a tuba and up against a wall!
Lawrence: Agh! How degrading! This is... Oh hello?
Looking up, a slender figure in a black suit and black top hat appeared, he had a top hat with a skull and crossbones on it. This man looked suspicious but he greeted both of them kindly.
Dr. Facilier: Gentlemen! Enchante?
He lowered his walking stick, allowing the prince to grab on so he can be lifted up.
Dr. Facilier: A tip of the hat from Dr. Facilier! How y'all doing?
He handed the prince a purple business card.
Naveen: Tarot readings? Charms? Potions? Dreams made real?
Naveen and Facilier began to walk around a corner into an alleyway.
Dr. Facilier: I'm in the business of visiting royalty. Lawrence followed him.
Naveen: Lawrence! Lawrence! This remarkable gentleman has just read my palm.
Lawrence: Over this morning's newspaper. Sire, sire, this chap is obviously a charlatan. I suggest we move on to a-
Dr. Facilier: Don't you disrespect me little man! Don't you derogate or deride! You're in my world now. Not your world. And I got friends on the other side!
An echo was heard, saying "Friends on the other side".
Dr. Facilier: That's an echo, gentlemen. Just a little something we have here in Louisiana, a little parlor trick. Don't worry.
Dr. Facilier led the two to a door under a sign saying "Dr. Facilier's voodoo emporium", and once leading them in, him and his shadow sat them down at a table as Dr. Facilier high-fived his shadow then took a seat and continued his singing.
Dr. Facilier: Sit down at my table, put your minds at ease, if you relax it will enable me to do anything I please. I can read your future, I can change it 'round some, too, I'll look deep into your heart and soul. You have a soul too, don't you Lawrence?
Lawrence: Yes?
Dr. Facilier: Make your wildest dreams come true! I got voodoo, I got hoodoo, I got things I ain't even tried! And I got friends on the other side.
Dr. Facilier pulled out a deck of tarot cards and shuffled them before the duo as he continued to sing at them.
Dr. Facilier: The cards, the cards, the cards will tell the past, the present, and the future as well! The cards, the cards, just take three, take a little trip into your future with me!
Naveen and Lawrence picked three cards before Dr. Facilier took them and told them to the duo. He started with the prince first and continued to sing about his tarot card readings.
Dr. Facilier: Now you, young man, are from across the sea. You come from two long lines of royalty. I'm a royal myself on my mother's side. Your lifestyle's high but your funds are low. You need to marry a lil' honey whose daddy got dough! Mom and dad cut you off, huh playboy?
Naveen: Eh, sad but true.
Dr. Facilier: Now y'all gotta get hitched, but hitching ties you down. You just wanna be free, hop from place to place But freedom takes green! It's the green, it's the green, it's the green you need. And when I looked into your future it's the green that I see!
He then turned to Lawrence and read his tarot card results to him in a musical fashion.
Dr. Facilier: On you little man, I don't wanna waste much time. You been pushed around all your life, you been pushed around by your mother and your sister and your brother, and if you was married, you'd be pushed around by your wife. But in your future, the you I see is exactly the man you always wanted to be!
Dr. Facilier crossed his arms and expected the duo to shake his hands.
Dr. Facilier: Shake my hand, come on boys. Won't you shake the poor sinner's hand?
Naveen shook reluctantly as Lawrence shook with a mischievous grin on his face. Once they did that, the curtains came down and an army of singing masks began to sing as Naveen and Lawrence were suddenly bound to their chairs!
Dr. Facilier: Yes! Are you ready?
Voodoo spirits: Are you ready?
Dr. Facilier: Are you ready? Transformation central!
Voodoo spirits: Transformation central!
Dr. Facilier: Reformation central
Voodoo spirits: Reformation central!
Dr. Facilier: Transmogofication central!
Dr. Facilier then pulled out a talisman and clipped Naveen's finger with it, getting blood into it and initiating a curse with it.
Can you feel it? You're changin', you're changin', you're changin', all right! I hope you're satisfied, but if you ain't, don't blame me! You can blame my friends on the other side!
The musical number ended as Dr. Facilier danced around with the voodoo spirits!
Voodoo spirits: You got what you wanted! But you lost what you had!
Dr. Facilier then dashed forward on his knees before blowing, and everything went dark.
Back at Tiana's new restaurant, Isaac emerged from the doors, me, Gamagoori and Buzz were in his pockets as he approached Tiana.
Isaac: Good news Tiana, it's all clear!
Tiana: Oh thank you! You're my hero Isaac! Now, I just need to make some changes around here, so I may turn this into my dream. It will have to wait. I have to eventually go to the masquerade ball tonight.
Isaac: Oui.
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2024.05.21 17:04 Vikerish Why switch which finger does what for E minor/major

Hey! I'm sorry if this is a common question but I'm genuinely curious. In many tutorials it shows that E minor should have the index and middle finger on the second fret. However E major uses the index finger on the first fret while the other two are still being held down in the same place by the middle and ring finger.
My question is will it fuck me up in the future if I just use the middle and ring finger for E minor anyways? It just seems more efficient since the fingers are already there, but i want to learn guitar right and don't want to screw my muscle memory up down the line.
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2024.05.21 16:59 karenvideoeditor The Zoo [Part 2]

Previous
So, if you’re just joining us, I work at a haunted zoo now. Since I’ve gotten some rest, it feels like I’ve got my head on straight, at least, so I’d like to continue where I left off.
I sat on the floor in the office after meeting the ghost until I’d settled my rattled mind (and realized I’d forgotten to ask her name, how rude is that?). I took a deep breath and got up off the floor. Walking over and falling into the rolling chair in front of the large screen of camera views, when I brought up the camera that covered the area in which I’d spotted her, she was still there, and it seemed she hadn’t moved an inch.
Sitting there, at a loss, I continued to watch her. The ghost hung around for another five minutes or so, appearing to look at a few things off-screen, though I’m not sure what. Then she walked off into the forest and left the view of the cameras. I wasn’t sure if she vanished into the ether or if she’d gone looking into the trees to look for something.
But that wasn’t the end of the job interview, so let me jump back there. It continued into what kind of animals the zoo had, with Andrew asking me how much experience I had with dangerous animals.
I took a moment to consider the question. “So, ah…I’ve been going hunting and fishing with a neighbor since I was sixteen,” I told him. “We always have to keep an eye out for gators, bears, and hogs. Then there’s snakes, of course…snapping turtles… Since I’ve lived here my whole life and been aiming for a job with wildlife for a long time, I know a lot about the animals in Arkansas in general. But good advice for all of the above is avoid them, so I’ve had encounters, but I don’t know if you’d say I have experience with them.”
“That’s fine,” Andrew said, nodding. “That’s an answer I’m satisfied with. Now, the ghost was the appetizer, Ripley; here’s the main course. To start with, the pay isn’t twenty-five an hour. It’s fifty.”
Staring in shock for a moment, I asked, “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. But that’d be weird to post online considering what applicants think we need, so I halved it.”
“That’s… Okay, why?”
“The animals are already here. You just can’t see them.”
I stared at him for a long moment, some disbelief worming its way into my expression, before saying, “Sorry, what?”
“There’s a chance you’d naturally never see them, or at least some of them,” he continued casually. “It depends on both your genetics and how long you stay on the job. I can naturally see six of them, but that’s it. Suzanne can see all of them, and more. Some are what people would label demons or ghosts. Or magic. Mostly you’d call them cryptids. The ghost was just a warm-up; I mentioned her first because it never takes more than a week to see her if you work the night shift. If you manage to handle her okay, soon you’ll be able to see the animals too. The more time you spend on the grounds, for weird reasons,” he said, wiggling his fingers in the direction of the back door, “the more you’ll be able to see.”
“So, this…this is a zoo for cryptids,” I echoed slowly. He nodded once, waiting to find out what kind of reaction I would have. I gestured vaguely around the room. “If this is a hidden camera show, will you cut me a check for showing up and participating?”
Andrew coughed out a chuckle and shook his head. “No joke. There are a ton of stories out there that have been written to death, pulverized until they’re not the Grimm stories of old and instead they’re Disney films. A lot of those stories come from what some humans have seen. There are dozens of other worlds pressed up against ours, and occasionally things come through by accident. If they’re smart, they’ll lay low and then make their way back when they can. If not, they become local folklore until someone helps them back. I’m just from London, but Suzanne is from somewhere else. She hires people like us for this zoo. Humans.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “That makes no sense. Why would she hire a muggle for a magic zoo?”
Andrew burst out laughing at that, and then waited to gather himself before he continued. “Fair point, but this is less about magic and more about animals, and you’re missing some information that will explain it. First of all, if I misjudge an employee, and they think they can make bank by outing the endangered and valuable animals we have, it’s easy to relocate the zoo.”
“Because magic?” I asked.
“Exactly,” he replied, ignoring the thread of skepticism in my tone. “That means it isn’t the end of the world if that happened, though it is a pain in the arse. But second…let me ask you a question. Speaking of reality shows, say the Discovery Channel put out a call to replace Steve Irwin when he passed. Imagine they had a line out the door,” he said with a gesture, “of people who thought they had the skill and natural talent to replace him, to take on everything he’d been doing his whole life. How many do you reckon would lose an arm, a leg, or their life, by the end of the day?”
My lips parted in surprise and I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re saying people from…wherever…they’re just as dumb as humans, but they’re worse, because they actually think they can handle these things.”
Andrew pointed the pen at me. “Things. Exactly. You called them things. Suzanne and her friends grew up with them and would call them animals. These animals have dispositions and temperaments that we’ve studied for as long as there have been scientists. Where Suzanne’s from, they know the weaknesses of these animals, and also they’re in enclosures here, even if you and I can’t see the walls because they’re invisible things called ‘wards’. If I hire someone who’s got magic on top of all that, they’ll have almost no instinctive fear.
“Everything here is nocturnal, and every one of them is a hunter. Some of these things? Humans see them and they pass out. Not that I want you passing out, but I need someone who is scared of these things, who knows to stay out of the enclosures no matter what. Not someone who thinks they can train them to do tricks, who gets close enough for them to grab a mouthful of hair and drown them. Once, we had a night shift manager injured, and once killed, because they didn’t take these animals seriously enough.”
Thinking back to the Sea World orca incident I knew he’d been referencing, I remembered wondering how someone at that level of her profession could be so careless as I watched the video on YouTube. It made sense when he explained it like that. I hesitated before mentally throwing my hands up and going all in. “So, why put this place here, then? If they’re endangered and also dangerous, why have a zoo at all instead of just a small reserve?”
He pursed his lips, looking disappointed in me. “Ripley. You know that already. You already said as much.”
Thinking back through our conversation, I said, “The rich humans who pay top dollar to see supernatural animals.”
“Not humans,” he told me. “But people, yes, and they are rich, and they’re making donations and spending their money on a ticket here because everything we have is endangered.”
“So…”
I just let my voice trail off and my mind started to drift. Andrew remained silent, letting me do so. There’s that thing people say, ‘I believe that you believe it,’ which is just a kinder way of saying, ‘Bullshit.’ Parents say it about closet monsters. Psychologists say it to people who say they’ve been abducted and probed by aliens. I wanted to say it to Andrew.
But I also wanted a job. If it meant working overnight at an empty zoo, that was fine. When it came down to it, especially when I took the tone of our conversation into account, this was a zoo specifically focused on preserving endangered ‘animals’, and it was allegedly doing important work. Also, if this turned out to be the real deal and I started seeing the animals, I would deal with it, just like I would deal with an enclosure that had a lion or tiger or gorilla. If it came with a ghost and invisible creatures, I really didn’t see what the difference was, if I couldn’t go in the enclosures either way.
On that note, I’d like you to imagine a kid who looks at a roller coaster, watching everyone screaming and grinning as they go up and down and all around and they’re like, ‘Heck, I could do that! That looks like a blast!’
Then they get on, the first drop hits, and they realize they’ve made a terrible mistake.
“All right,” I sighed. “I can’t say I’m going to turn down a job just because it’s going to be scary. Especially not one with this paycheck.”
Andrew smiled. “Awesome. There’s an adjustment process for anyone working here, similar to a dog that gets adopted, actually. I know the general guidelines of, ‘three days, three weeks, three months’ in terms of milestones, until they finally feel they’re where they’re supposed to be,” he told me, “and you can think of your time here along those lines. I really think you’re a great fit, and once you reach the milestone of working here for three months, I’ll officially consider you our new night shift guard. And I hope you’ll stay with us for many years.”
I nodded and smiled at the flattery of an employer wanting me to work a great job for them for a long time. I’d never had a dog, but those milestones were well-known among anyone who knew animals, especially dogs. The first three days, the dog is getting to know its new digs, exploring, and decompressing. At three weeks, they’ve gotten used to their environment and are starting to get comfortable with their surroundings and the routines of the humans they live with. By three months, they know the rules and follow them, they trust you, and they feel they are where they’re meant to be. I could only hope to be so lucky.
I saw the ghost two days ago and she has yet to make another appearance (for those who are curious, I asked, and her name is Leila), and I still hadn’t seen any animals. I did hear one, though, I feel compelled to note. A growling roar sounded from the lake on occasion, echoing across the vast zoo, sending a shiver down my spine. Whatever that animal was, it sounded gigantic.
Andrew said there was apparently a group that wanted to visit for a birthday and they were offering a huge donation, so he let me know they were making an exception and that this group would be walking through the park that night. That meant I’d be watching people watching animals that, as far as I could tell, weren’t there.
It was anticlimactic. Even the three people who came for the tour just looked like people, not like aliens or something eldritch from another dimension, and I stayed in the security office the whole time. Andrew was the one giving the tour. I watched them spend about five minutes at each enclosure, the hour or so that they were there passing without incident. It was clear that they were able to see all the animals, though, since they motioned excitedly at each enclosure and spoke to Andrew, who presumably answered any questions they had.
If they could see the animals, that was that. There was still that niggle in the back of my head, from my twenty-three years of life never encountering anything like ghosts or cryptids, telling me that this was ridiculous. Waiting for someone to knock on the door, a camera mounted on their shoulder, to tell me that it was a big joke and they wanted to see how long I’d play along. But from all I saw, this was a real place with real, invisible animals.
I do carry a taser and pepper spray in my capacity as a security guard. Though it isn’t for the animals, since they’re in the enclosures; they’re actually for the rare instance of a break-in. Andrew mentioned that it had happened several times it the past, someone trying to steal an animal in the hopes of selling it on the black market. They’d been successful before, but apparently my predecessor Roger was good at his job, and mostly they left in handcuffs.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of confrontation, but my job was to call Andrew and then confront the person, not kick their ass. That’s what the police were for, or rather, the people Andrew would call in lieu of police in certain situations.
Fifty bucks an hour. That’s the key here.
Andrew hadn’t set up direct deposit, since he was sticking with a strategy of waiting to see if I’d continue to work there once I found out myself dealing with the animals (I’ve decided I am going to just call them animals). Instead, I got an old-fashioned check after my shift every Friday. The number on the first check was delightful. I went out that evening and had a big dinner at the local diner, order my most expensive favorites on the menu and a big slice of pie for dessert.
When it came to the paychecks in general, though, I had this weird feeling of not wanting to tell my dad and brother about the fact that it was actually $50/hr. I previously mentioned that my dad, his name’s Nathan if you’re curious, works at a local grocery store. Our town has a couple food franchises, but I think its size is just short of whatever threshold Walmart uses to decide where to open. He earns $14/hr. and that’s after the tiny raises he’s gotten over the past thirteen years.
That’s not to say he’d feel bad about not making as much as me. On the contrary, he would be ecstatic for me and really proud. But, like me, he’d be suspicious. That hourly rate was the biggest hint that this was more than just a private zoo for cryptids. And as soon as that fat check cleared without problems, my dad wouldn’t be satisfied with reassurances; he’d want to come visit the zoo and look around.
I’d told him it’s a private preservation with scheduled (expensive) visits only and that it had only eleven animals, so he’d been appeased by me brushing off the idea of a visit. Also, I took a few photos of my workplace; one of the security room, one of me sitting in my chair, one photo of the many screens I watched, and a selfie where I was feigning sleep out of boredom, slouched in my chair with my mouth open in a faux snore. That let him feel like he knew where I was and what I was doing, and that I was safe.
But if I told him I was making double what he thought, my father would practically order me to quit. No job was worth my safety, he’d tell me. I was quite of the opposite opinion, however, considering how crucial any and all conservation efforts were these days. Especially with the steep extinction levels due to humans competing with other animals for space, not to mention climate change. Working in any job that helped preserve species and keep ecosystems in balance, or put them back in balance, was so important.
Then again, my father would also point out something I had realized right away: the fact was that I was working with endangered species that were not from Earth. I wasn’t helping my planet. To be honest, though…that didn’t matter to me. Especially after that talk with Andrew about why he hired a human for this job, I figured whichever dimension these animals came from had the equivalent of us, razing forests to the ground, clouding the planet with pollution, and leaving the animals with no avenue of recourse when yet more land was taken from them.
I really do hope to keep working here for a long time, though, and not just because of the money. I can’t help it; I want to know what these things were, and I want to work with them, to do the job of a zookeeper. The same way you go up to the chain-link fence to get close to a carnivore on the other side who thinks you’d make a nice afternoon snack. You just want to be closer to them, to experience that incredible, daunting feeling of being in their presence.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before I got what I wanted.
The day after we had the tour go through, I was doing my sweep when I saw the ghost again. She was sitting on a small boulder in the same area I’d seen her the first time, looking identical, blood covering the front of her slashed shirt, the wounds visible underneath. I stopped and stood there for a moment before I decided to raise my hand in a small wave.
The young woman cocked her head at me and raised a hand in the air in an imitation of my gesture, her expression showing a bit of curiosity.
She was low-key, seemingly not concerned with my presence, looking at me as a novel phenomenon in her world. I wondered what that world consisted of. Was she always here, sometimes visible and sometimes not? Or did she have another world next to ours, in the ether, where she left everything in this world behind and floated in her disembodied form? Did she still feel emotions? Was that really curiosity on her face, or was I projecting? Did she feel happiness? Fear? Did she have the option of moving on, or was she stuck here?
Many questions that I might never get the answers to. And that was assuming Andrew knew the answers, since I’d never met Suzanne Cooper and he hadn’t even mentioned that possibility. This place was clearly her baby, but I’m sure running it was a lot of work. Plus, if she was rich enough to own it, she was rich enough to have other businesses and charities to run.
When it comes to the enclosures, they’re all wrapped by a barrier of some kind, though never one that seems adequate. There was not a single place with the ugly metal weavings of a chain-link fence, and no stretches of circular razor wire. Instead, there are nice fences. Black iron, or wrought steel fencing in a similar style to the one circling the perimeter of the zoo, just shorter and with different patterns. Or a spaced picket fence, the wood stained in some tone of brown, or a split two-rail fence. As if to say, ‘This is the border of your enclosure, but we’re just letting you know out of courtesy.’
When I started to pass enclosure number seven last night, a young woman’s voice spoke, “Hello.”
I startled, unaware that I hadn’t been alone. “Oh. Hi,” I said, staring at her standing a few yards in.
She had been next to a large tree and I hadn’t seen her. This enclosure was behind a picket fence, and she walked through the large area of wild grasses and flowers that stretched across the other side of the fence. There were fewer tall grasses closer to the fence, which I guessed was because it had been tromped down by her regular pacing along it when there were visitors, or if she wanted to see the various enclosures of the zoo. Her sudden appearance was a bit weird, considering I had been expecting to see a cryptid and instead I was looking at, it seemed, an attractive Asian woman.
She wore a black kimono, the soft silk robe draped gently over her body, with beautiful patterns of cherry blossoms, more so over her left side, and red and blue birds with their wings spread. A sash wrapped around her abdomen, she wore socks and sandals on her feet, and her hair was up in those rolls that gave volume to the style.
I was no expert on any fashion, much less that of another country, so I just assumed it was all traditional Japanese clothing. Most likely, the visitors who came liked to see a certain time-honored style and that’s what she stuck with. Or maybe she played on stereotypes. That would be amusing.
“I’m Yui. It’s nice to meet you,” she spoke, arriving at the border of the fence and holding out a hand for me to shake.
I’d been standing about three yards away from her, and I’ll be honest, muscle memory tried to kick in. But I only made it two steps, my hand starting to rise, before I froze, the hand falling limply at my side. “Nice to meet you, too,” I answered, my voice quiet.
Damn. I wonder how many times that honey trap works back where she comes from.
The pleasant look on her face faded, and she lowered her hand. “You won’t shake hands with me? Isn’t that rude?”
“I mean, I kind of like my hand where it is. You know, attached to me.”
Her demure smile widened into something more amused. “I would never do something so revolting.”
Looking her up and down, as if more visual information would give me more knowledge of what she was, I asked her, “What would you do?”
“I would be less wasteful,” she said softly.
A finger of ice trailed down my spine, and I had the sudden image in my head of her grabbing my outstretched hand in an iron grip and yanking me over the fence, leaving me to sprawl on the ground. Then killing and consuming me efficiently, without a single careless step, the same way humans slaughtered pigs, using everything from the hog but the squeal. I was struck with a shiver at the idea of her consuming everything from me but my screams.
Slowly, I took one step further down the path, then another. Just as I got to a walking pace, though, I realized the woman had started walking too, in the same direction. I’d have eventually gotten to the end of her enclosure and keep going, leaving her behind, but she spoke up. “Are you leaving?”
I came to a stop, meeting her gaze again. “My job is to walk the zoo every hour. Then I’ll get back to the security room and stay there until my next walk.”
“Have you met the others yet?”
I hesitated before saying, “Just Leila.”
She blinked languidly. “That means nobody welcomed you here.”
“Andrew did.”
She didn’t reply to that. Instead, she slowly started to lean forward, and I flinched backward a few steps further as I saw insect legs start curling out from her back.
No. Not insect. Arachnid.
The eight legs ended in small ‘paws’ with tiny claws, a layer of hairs covering the leg from top to bottom, like any typical tarantula. I took two more slow steps back and my mouth went dry as the jointed legs just kept lengthening, until they were large enough to lever her off the ground.
My gaze had been on the spider legs, but my heart skipped a beat as I realized her human legs had melded together and turned into a bulging abdomen. Her skin was shifting to a carapace, eventually all the way up to her shoulders and down her arms, her fingers elongating and her nails stretching to claws. From there down, her body was that of a pale tarantula with pedipalps the size of my arms and piercing fangs in her jaws that looked like they could take my head off.
There was a moment, my vision blurring, where I was worried that I might piss myself. The part of my brain that still had its humor intact in that moment told me that I should keep an emergency set of clothes in my car, or at the very least, start wearing Depends to work.
“I show you my true form,” she said softly, her voice now raspy like an eighty-year-old after a lifelong smoking habit. “Welcome to Suzanne Cooper’s zoo. The night shift guard for many years was Roger, before he retired and the zoo moved, and I miss him dearly. What should I call you?”
I choked on my words. There was no way my throat was going to cooperate enough for me to clearly get a sentence out. Instead, I realized my legs had taken control of the situation themselves, unsatisfied with my conscious brain’s decision to stand and stare, taking steps backward. I backed up a yard, then five yards, then ten.
My mind focused on the fact that spiders don’t waste anything, and pictured my demise. I’d be wrapped in a cocoon, killed, and made nice and mushy before she had me for dinner.
The whole time, my brain was a frenzied mess, my pupils were probably the size of dimes, and I was staring at that tiny, pathetic fence between her and me. There was so much adrenaline pumping through my body that I felt like my bones were vibrating. The fence was, to my eyes, the only thing between us. The only thing keeping her from tackling and killing me. My only hope was that she’d do it quickly.
But she didn’t move. As I absorbed her innocent, polite words, the look on her face was calm, and I wondered if this was typically the way a conversation went before she devoured her prey. I wondered how many people she’d eaten. Not humans, not people from Earth, but the ones from where she came from. The fact that she doesn’t scare the shit out of those people means they’re staggeringly dumber than humans.
Finally, I rounded a corner, both relieved at having her out of my sight and worried that she would take that moment to come find me. When she’d been within eyeshot, I had at least known where she was and could run in the other direction. But I didn’t hear the sound of faint footsteps moving rapidly toward me. All was quiet, in that deep, smothering way that only an empty business in the middle of the night in small town America could be.
My hands trembling, I barely paid attention to anything but the confirmation that my surroundings were free of the colossal spider as I finally got back to the door. Grabbing the handle and letting my eyes dart around for about ten seconds and my ears prick for the slightest sound, I finally swiped my key card across the pad and went inside, shutting the door behind me and engaging the backup deadbolt.
Maybe that was why they had decided on keycards. If I was running from something and panicking, using an actual key or inserting the card like at a hotel would keep me from getting to safety considering my hands were shaking enough to mix a margarita.
Walking over to my chair, I fell into it, letting my body flush itself of terror as I looked up at the cameras. There she was, still in arachnid form, exactly where I’d left her behind that rinky-dink fence, casually looking around and slowly pacing back and forth. I stared at her as my racing heart gradually slowed, and a minute or so later she turned on her eight legs and walked back into the trees.
Whatever invisible fences the enclosures have apparently work, which is nice, because I wasn’t keen on getting killed by one of the creatures here. And that’s what brings me here, spilling out everything that’s happened so far. Because nearly passing out from terror isn’t something I wanted to deal with at work, obviously, but I keep going over what she did in my head again and again, and I feel like I reacted like a child who spotted a wolf spider on their bed. I started to worry for my overactive sense of self-preservation, at least in my capacity as an employee here.
The spider didn’t even try to hurt me, and so I was feeling a bit foolish. Even annoyed, actually, at the fact that I’d freaked out so hard and took off instead of trying to engage in at least basic conversation. I got the sense that she wasn’t at human-level intelligence, but I was never going to be able to hold any level of conversation with an alligator.
Sure, she did mention that she wouldn’t be so crass as to yank off my hand because she’d rather just have my entire corpse, but wouldn’t a wolf do the same if it was hungry? Wouldn’t any carnivore? Actually, they probably would’ve been satisfied with one of my hands. The fear here was from the fact that she turned into a giant spider. If she’d turned into Clifford, I would’ve reacted the same way, if not better than, meeting Leila.
With that, I decided I’m staying on the job. Considering how frustrated I can get with foolish people, it’s a bit hypocritical, and I’m being a bit of an idiot. But…there are definitely wards keeping them in their enclosures. Also, I signed up for creatures for another dimension, whether or not I believed in them at the time, and I will not let encountering my first one in an objectively boring way be the reason I quit.
The money is a factor, I’ll grant you. Of course it is. And I can’t spend it if I’m dead, but all signs point to surviving as long as I don’t do anything dumb. Also, yes, I’ll admit there’s a not-so-little voice in the back of my head that’s desperate to know what else is here. I never thought I’d do something like this, but finding out these things are real, I honestly do want to learn more about them.
Still, though, I decided to call Andrew at the end of my shift to ask if the pepper spray and taser I carried worked on a certain spider, as well as the other animals I’d yet to meet.
Previous
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2024.05.21 16:57 CDown01 Eagles Peak Pt.9

Previous Part
The next day went by in a blur. Rocco was walking the perimeter of the camp, keeping an eye out for Brooke when I woke up. I didn’t really think he’d leave, but it seemed to give Rocco something to do other than being a general menace to society. All of us ate breakfast as normal but no one really said much. I’m not sure if they were still reeling from things they saw yesterday or if they just weren’t in a talking mood. The thought occurred to me that Shaoni may have payed a visit to each of them as well. Prying into what they saw and answering questions they might have. Honestly the whole thing felt like we were guinea pigs. Shaoni didn’t really seem to have a great handle on the trials so far. It was… mildly concerning that the ringmaster of all this didn’t seem 100% in control anymore.
Actually, I’d thought about that a lot last night. Shaoni just sort of left us to our own devices when we went through those “visions” yesterday. It’s not like she backed up her claim that she’d know what we’d seen either. If anything the fact that she came to ask me about it made me even more suspicious that she wasn’t really sure what she was doing. It was the first time I’d ever thought of Shaoni as anything other than in complete control. Slowly but surely it was becoming glaringly obvious that wasn’t the case.
If I was remembering correctly today’s trial was the trial of strength. I sincerely hoped that was a metaphor for something. You’ve got to understand, I’m not a very strong person, not physically anyways. I hoped Shaoni wanted to test mental strength or strength of will something like that. My hopes shattered as we arrived at the coliseum and saw an arena set up. There were several dummies in a corner, the kind you would see used in martial arts or HEMA or something to that effect. At the foot of the dummies were several wooden clubs. I couldn’t see them to clearly but they almost looked clawed from a distance. The real centerpiece was the platform in the middle of the coliseum. It looked like a stage and I’m sure that’s exactly how we were going to use it. The raised wooden platform had been constructed with boards placed across the top. It looked like those boards could be removed and under that was simply the cold hard ground about two feet below.
Katrina’s eyes lit up as she looked over the room.
“Now this is what I’m talking about, a real trial!”
She just about shrieked in excitement, throwing one fist in the air and startling the rest of us to attention. Katrina was the only one that really seemed excited about this. John and Robert just looked accepting and I’m not sure Brooke had put two and two together yet. I’d seen the clubs laid out by the dummies and already figured we’d be sparing with each other.
“Good morning everyone, I hope your ready for today.”
Called Shaoni, emerging unseen from behind us. Anyone who wasn’t fully awake at that point sure was then. There’s just something about Shaoni that makes you really really not want her to show up behind you unannounced. Probably why she kept doing it to us.
“Today I will test your strength, while I’d rather avoid conflict it’s sometimes unavoidable. My ideal candidate not only knows themselves but can handle themselves as well. We will allow you some time to familiarize yourself with the war clubs you’ll be using. Then you will compete against each other to find the strongest, most skilled warrior among you.”
Shaoni explained, Katrina’ excitement growing with every word.
I wasn’t to keen to participate in any of this but, like usual, I didn’t really have much of a choice at this point.
“So will you be sticking around this time then?”
I asked, wondering if Shaoni was going to cut and run again.
“I have other matters to attend to today. While I would like to stay and observe the whole day I need to prepare things for the final trial tomorrow. I’ll be back in time to see you test each other though.”
She replied dismissively, already on her way out. Shaoni seemed almost uninterested in us now. For someone evaluating us she seemed awful happy to pass off the evaluation to her followers. I didn’t say anything else as she walked out of the coliseum and towards the exit.
As I walked over to the little training area I saw the clubs were actually ornate masterpieces. They were carved from a hard dark wood. The handles resembled an eagles talon, curving near the end to grip a wooden orb. Whoever made these was beyond skilled, these things were works of art. I didn’t have much time to admire them before Katrina interrupted me.
“Hey, Keith was it? Want me to show you how to use these things?”
She called over to me, it was more of a command than a question but that’s pretty par for the course with her.
“If you want, sure. I’m uh… I’m kinda a fish out of water with this find of thing.”
I told her, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand in embarrassment. I wasn’t sure why she was singling me out for that but she answered that question for me.
“Good, Those two creep me out and that one has been drooling over me since we got here.”
She said, pointing over at Robert and John who had already started practicing, then at Brooke. Katrina showed absolutely no subtly in any of this, earning us looks from all three of the others.
I was a little afraid of Katrina teaching me anything, if someone was gonna kill me by accident it would be her. That and she still had that gun on her. Despite my misgivings she was actually a pretty good teacher. She was a bit like a drill instructor but I learned a thing or two. By the time we were done I felt like I might stand half a chance in this trial.
“Just remember your footwork, keep your balance and the rest should come natural. Oh, and if we get paired up, take a dive, it’ll be less painful.”
Katrina added with a smirk, walking over towards the group by the stage in the center of the room. Shaoni had just come back in and was up on the balcony. A few of her followers had collected us and informed us we were about to start the, ”practical part”, as they put it.
“There’s five of you so for the first matchup one of my own will serve as the opponent. Anyone what to go first?”
Shaoni asked us, looking down with a raised eyebrow and waiting for a response. Before I realized what I’d done my hand was in the air, my body subconsciously wanting to get this over with as fast as possible. Shaoni actually looked surprised as she gestured for me to take my place on the stage. Two of the boards had been removed on either side leaving us something like six feet of space to work with before falling off the platform. But I was far less concerned about that after I saw the guy walking over. It was the driver from a few days ago when Shaoni had me brought out to the camp. The guy that had his friend stabbed by Bianca, he didn’t look like he’d forgotten about that as they gave him his club.
As I took my place on the stage the only thing I was thinking was exactly how bad it hurt when you got hit with one of these things.
“Begin when you are ready.”
Called Shaoni from her place on the balcony. The guy across from me took absolutely no time to think, charging at me wildly right away. I tried to brace myself and remember Katrina’s training, taking an even stance and angling my club for the coming blow. I did manage to block his strike but the force of it threw me to the ground. My mind went into full survival mode as he swung down at me. He was way less fluid than Katrina had been when she was showing me the ropes. He just seemed like he wanted to hurt me by any means necessary. As I rolled from side to side avoiding his blows I waited for an opening. He took a particularly hard swing at my head and I rolled at the last possible second. He lost his balance, giving me a chance to slip between his legs and get back to my feet. I stood back up narrowly avoiding a swing for my head as my opponent regained his balance and swung back at me. His wide hate fueled swing carried his whole body around with it and gave me another opening. I planted my feet and took one hard swing at the man’s turned shoulder hitting him right on the bone with a sickening crack. He stumbled around towards the edge, turning his back to me. I took one final swing, hoisting the club above my head and bringing it down in between his shoulder blades with a hollow thud. The blow sent him tumbling forward over the edge and off the stage, falling to the floor below.
Katrina shot me a quick thumbs up as I walked off the stage while Shaoni looked down at me and gave me an approving nod. No one else seemed to pay me any mind as I rejoined the group. I felt empowered, I hadn’t expected to get even that far, maybe there was a chance for me in this trial after all. Robert and John fought next and despite their age they each held their own. In the end John forced Robert off the edge, his age and weight throwing off his balance. I was still impressed either of them could move like they had, I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Then Katrina fought Brooke in the last… round I guess I’d call it. The smile on her face was unsettling from the moment she realized she’d be paired up with him, like a shark smelling blood in the water. You could just tell that she was going to take pleasure in what happened next.
That smile was still on her face as she walked up onto the stage and took her place across from Brooke.
“I hope you like it rough baby, cause I’m not going easy on you!”
Brooke called to her from the other side of the stage making a point to puff out his chest and flex his muscles. That set her off like a bomb, the smile disappeared and she exploded towards Brooke. I saw the exact moment that false confidence left his eyes and he actually turned to run, he was far to late and way to slow. Her first strike went low, shooting out in front of Brooke and coming back to catch his knee sending him tripping forward. He tried to regain his balance but she had no intention of letting him. Katrina swung out in front of him again, this time catching his neck with the club on its way back. That sent him flat onto his back, the club falling form his hand and rolling off the edge of the stage was the only sound in the whole coliseum. All eyes focused on Katrina as she took a breath then delivered a kick to Brooke’s ribs so hard that he went rolling off the edge, following his club. I returned her thumbs up she had given me as she rejoined the group.
Next, those of us who remained got matched up with each other. Shaoni wanted to use another one of her followers to stand in but Katrina insisted on just going twice. That meant I’d fight her and then the winner would fight John to see who the victor of the day was. As I stood across from Katrina I considered taking her advice from before, “…Just take a dive…” she had said. I thought about it, I really did, but I’d done so well earlier right? Why stop now? While I’d been thinking Katrina had walked up to me and started to swing. I had just enough time to realize my mistake before she cracked me across the head so hard she knocked me out.
I came to an hour later, alone on an animal skin cot. I was still in the coliseum but everyone else had left apparently. The only thing I saw when I got up from the ground was the torchlight illuminating the passage that lead back outside. That and the note scribbled on a scrap of a sticky note taped to my fore head.
“I told you to take a dive.”
Well at least she might feel bad about knocking me out. I figured we must be done for the day given how dead the camp seemed when I emerged back into the light. With nothing better to do, I walked off towards the forest to clear my head. I wondered what Bianca had been up to since I’d been gone as I aimlessly wandered around the forest’s edge.
“No that wouldn’t work! We don’t know what’s up there and we are not just waltzing in through the front gates!”
Stein yelled at me as I went over my most recent idea for breaking Keith out of whatever trials were going on out by the old mine. It had been two days since I watched him get kidnapped in front of me and I was getting drastic, aaaannd maybe a little dramatic.
“But I could do it guys! Remember back at the reservation? Those guys were willing to do anything for me and there can’t be that many guards in one place. Maybe I just convince a small group to lead us in and make an excuse for us.”
“For the last time Bianca, They’re just about cultists far as I can tell. You ain’t gonna be able to fight the kinda conviction they have to that bird, even if ya could its to much of a risk.”
Tuck protested from his seat at the kitchen table.
The kitchen table had become our war room over the past few days. A map of Eagles Peak Frank had made lay across it with dozens of pins stuck in around where the old mine would be.
“I don’t think an approach from the front is a good idea at all. You and Keith got to the mine through the forest once. Could we follow that path, approach without anyone knowing we were there?”
Stein theorized as he paced back and forth at the head of the table.
“Well, we really just wandered around for a bit and ended up there. We didn’t find the mine either, it was a hole that lead down to an old cavern near the mine. They turned out to be connected but that was just dumb luck.”
I explained to the group. Tuck looked like that had given him an idea.
“So you two got some backdoor entrance figured out that you’re only just tellin’ me about? That could be perfect! The four of us could make our way out and drop through that hole, take em all by surprise!”
Tuck exclaimed, leaping to his feet. His enthusiasm was nice but it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“We… kinda made a bit of a scene when we were there, they might be watching for something like that to happen again.”
“True, but it’s the best entrance strategy I’ve heard so far, I think following up on it is worth a try.”
Frank added with a nod. Stein then started pacing up and down the length of the table for a bit. He was coming up with something, that much was obvious.
“So we’ll enter through this hole leading into a cave connected to the old mine. From what you told us about your time there its some sort of staging area for these trials, at least that’s my best guess. Odds are there won’t be many people there overnight so we make our way out there during the night. From there we move through the cave and into the mine but after that we know nothing about what we’re running into.”
Stein lectured to his audience.
“But I think we have a solution for that. Frank do we still have that drone?”
An hour later the four of us were gathered at the edge of town on that path Keith and I had taken into the forest. The trees growing together forming a sort of arch over our head’s were unsettling but I couldn’t decide why. It just didn’t sit well with me, it looked unnatural I guess and that just gave me the creeps. I get that’s rich coming from a literal succubus but its how I felt.
“Alright, just watch the trees as you take it up, I don’t want a repeat of Missouri.”
Stein instructed Frank as he got the drone in the air.
“You’re never going to let me live that down are you?”
Frank chuckled, shaking his head.
“It was the first time we used this thing, there was bound to be a few unexpected variables.”
“If you call “unexpected variables” an itchy finger on the throttle. We had to have Rocco untangle it from the branches.”
Stein joked as he checked to make sure the drones camera was feeding back into the app on his phone.
I hadn’t seen them like this, being friendly with each other. There was never a time where they hated each other or anything like that but they’d been so… business like with for a long time now. It was nice to see them act like real people again. Leaning over Stein’s shoulder I got a birds eye view from the drone.
“ Just go East, its what we did. Just walked East till we stumbled into everything.”
Frank followed my advice and flew the drone due East. Eventually a campsite came into view, there were a bunch of tepees and a bunch of people just walking around.
“What, they just look normal?!”
I blurted out, a little louder and a bit more distressed than I meant to.
“How’re they supposed ta look then?”
Tuck asked
“They’re just people like you n’ me. Nothin to special about em other than the fact they worship some big ass bird.”
He continued with mild annoyance.
“I don’t know, I guess I expected these creepy guys in tarps, like from Keith’s story. These are just… well they’re just people!”
I responded, Throwing my arms out to my sides in exasperation. Tuck was right, I shouldn’t have expected everything to be just as Keith had said. Still, something just didn’t fit together for me about that whole thing. What had the deal been with those people in Imalone then? I shook my head, clearing the question from my mind, it wasn’t important now.
“There! That’s the entrance to the old mine.”
Tuck told Stein as he looked at screen. I looked over myself and felt my entire being freeze. It was Brooke, walking out from the entrance with some bitchy looking girl and two older guys that I’d seen around town before. How could he be here? After all this time why, why was he anywhere near me?
My vision swam, when it came back Frank was standing in front of me. His mouth was moving but I couldn’t hear anything.
“…anca! Are you ok, what’s going on? Bianca!”
I finally heard over the sudden ringing in my ears.
“Him.”
Was the only thing the escaped my lips as I pointed one finger at the screen. I felt warmth coming back into my limbs as that frozen feeling slowly left me.
“He’s here…. Shouldn’t be here… why.”
I mumbled to myself as Frank helped me into the back of the SUV twenty minutes later. I was still nearly catatonic as we headed back into town.
“So… that was him, the one you were running from when we found you.”
Stein said, breaking the silence that had fallen. I could talk normally again but I still only managed a quick “yes”.
“You know you don’t have to come with us, I’d understand.”
Frank said, snapping me to attention again.
“NO! I’ve got to help Keith, I don’t care if… if Brooke’s up there too.”
I tripped over my words just mentioning his name.
“I can do it, I can do this Frank, please.”
I begged, taking deep breaths to try and calm myself down. We pulled into the driveway before Frank said anything back. As we were all getting out he muttered something under his breath. He didn’t mean for me to hear him but I did.
“I’m not sure you can girl.”
I went straight up to my room after that, I didn’t want to be around anyone. All I caught before I left Frank, Stein, and Tuck before running up the stairs was the hard look Stein shot both of them. A look that said “We need to talk” and told me that he finally had a real plan. I spent the rest of that night thinking about the past and what I’d been through. Could I go out to that mine and rescue Keith if I had to face Brooke again? The last time I’d seen him had been as I leapt out of a moving car as my eyes turned to meet his one last time, rolling down that hill to freedom. I’d never seen him since and it was rare for him to even cross my mind. I wanted to go with the rest of them but despite what I said I really wasn’t sure I could do this anymore. Eventually I just decided only time would tell, hopefully Stein’s plan was a good one and we could put this whole thing behind us.
“Ey! Ey Keith!”
Someone yelled out as I came back from my little hike around the edge of the forest. My eyes darted around behind me before they finally focused on a rustling bush. Rocco jumped out of it holding a cigar in his mouth.
“That Brooke asshole hasn’t gone anywhere, I found him out by that trail the trucks drove in on with this.”
He said, tossing the cigar up in the air where it twirled around before he caught it in his mouth again.
“I figured I should frisk him just in case. I took a bite of his pants and stole this little number out of his coat pocket.”
He continued, shaking a silver lighter with a gold inlayed image of a lion in his paw.
“Oh and the cigar, I took that too. Cuban so the guy’s got taste, still a prick. Anyways, it looked like someone got to him before me. The guy was pretty beaten up, had some nasty bruises.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was just trying to picture Brooke getting mugged by a raccoon In my head and I burst out laughing. Rocco walked back to the camp in toe with me, only stopping to look up at some weird buzzing sound we both heard above us. Probably some rickety old plane or something way up there. I think I was finally starting to get why Frank and Stein had kept Rocco around. He may be a furry criminal mastermind but when he was motivated he could actually be really helpful. I never would’ve been able to keep any sort of tabs on Brooke without his help.
We made our way back to the long tent that still had remnants of lunch sitting on the table. Usually I would’ve tried to hide Rocco but at this point I figured he deserved the free food. Plus I just didn’t want to argue with him after getting my shit rocked most of the morning. Someone walked up behind me and I heard Shaoni’s voice, of course she was creeping up behind me again.
“Your feeling alright after today I hope?”
She asked me, taking a seat next to me.
“I’ll be alright, I’m sure I’ll have a killer headache in the morning but I’ll manage.”
“Good, good. We’ll be gathering in a few hours so I can announce the final trial. I expect you out by the entrance to the mine by 6.”
“What’s the matter? No cryptic questions this time Shaoni?”
I asked, paying no mind to what was sitting next to me.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you always stop by to check in after these trials. You don’t have any questions this time?”
“No, Katrina was the victor today, there is no question about that, the woman is… brutal. I just wanted to make sure she didn’t hit you to hard, you were unconscious for some time.”
She answered, some genuine concern slipping into her voice again.
“Heh careful, I might start to think you actually care.”
I joked, less nervous than I should’ve been.
“I’ll see you tonight with the rest for the announcement.”
She said with a deep sigh, standing up and walking off toward where ever she came from.
I took a nap and just barely managed to wake up in time for this “meeting” Shaoni had planned. I couldn’t find Rocco before I left but I wasn’t all that concerned about that anymore. When I got to the entrance a massive bonfire was lit and Shaoni stood alone in front of it. Robert and John were already there and Katrina showed up a little after me. Brooke hadn’t arrived before Shaoni started her speech.
“I thank all of you for coming here tonight. Regrettably one of you is missing but I won’t be waylaid by his absence.”
She spoke with clear annoyance in her voice.
“Tomorrow marks your final trial, the most important of the three. The trial of justice. Tomorrow there will be a murder in Eagles Peak. I want you all to work together to stop it. Then, succeed or fail, pass judgment on those involved in the murder. Afterwards I will select which among you will receive my gift. But for tonight, talk amongst yourselves, plan, and rest. Prepare yourselves for tomorrow, I will have my eye on each of you.”
With that Shaoni stepped away from the fire and into the night. Not accepting any questions about anything she had said.
“What do you think she has planned?”
Robert asked me as I took a seat by the bonfire to think over everything Shaoni had said.
“I don’t know, a murder apparently. Shouldn’t you know more about it? You’re one of her followers after all.”
I said as I turned my head to see John walking off into the night. That man was weird, really weird. I knew next to nothing about him and he seemed to never speak.
“Usually sure, but she hasn’t said anything to us about this. It’s why she hasn’t directly overseen all the trials, she’s set this last one up all on her own. I guess there’s nothing to do but wait, we’re all in this together for the first part of the trial I guess.”
Robert explained, leaning back and sprawling out on the ground. He was right, there wasn’t much we could do until we were in the middle of it.
I looked around, searching for Katrina in the firelight. I found her leaning against the rocky wall that made up the entrance of the mine. I stood up, leaving Robert to relax and made my way over.
“How’s the head?”
She asked, feigning taking a swing at me again with an evil grin on her face.
“I told you to take a dive.”
“Yeah, I should’ve listened.”
I admitted, rubbing the goose egg that had formed on my head over the course of my nap.
“So what do you thin about this last trial?”
“Well, I can say that If that Brooke guy tries flirting with me one more time the murder won’t be that hard to solve. Seriously though, I think she’s gone off the deep end. How does she know there’s going to be a murder?”
Katrina made a really good point, how was Shaoni so sure?
“That’s… hmmmm, you’re right.”
“Well I’m gonna head to bed then. Something tells me tomorrow is gonna be a headache. Just try to stay out of my way when we’re all forced to work together and you should be fine. All goes well and maybe we’ll be out of here tomorrow, I know I will.”
Katrina said as she pushed herself off the rock wall she’d been leaning against. Something about the way she said that last part, it made me think she was up to something. Like she was leaving no matter what or she had some sort of exit strategy.
As I left Robert relaxing by the fire and hiked back to my own tepee for the night I spied Katrina. She had climbed up a tree and had her legs wrapped around the trunk and one of her arms gripped a branch above her. There was some kind of box in her other hand, a radio maybe. I had no idea what she was saying, she was too far off, but it had to mean something. As far as I knew none of us had any contact with the outside world since we got here. My gut feeling was that she wasn’t meant to be doing that. I wasn’t going to bother her at this point though so I went my own way and settled down for the night.
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2024.05.21 16:56 CDown01 Eagles Peak pt.8

Previous Part
By the time I’d woke up bright and early at 4 A.M., Rocco had amassed an impressive pile of pilfered food in the corner of the tepee. He was just dragging in a turkey leg when I saw him, must’ve been at it all night form the looks of it.
“Rocco, what the hell!”
I shouted, waving my hands at the pile of food he’d brought in.
“I told you to stay out of trouble, lay low. This is… not that!”
I complained, trying to think of how I’d talk my way out of this if anyone asked about the missing food. Rocco simply responded by shrugging, turning around, and diving face first into the mountain of food. I was annoyed at the moment but then I got to thinking. If Rocco stole all that and no one saw him what else could he do without being noticed?
“Hey… hey Rocco no-one saw you stealing all this right?”
I asked, grabbing his tail and dragging him out of the food mountain.
“WHATS DA BIG IDEA!”
He protested, flailing around as I held him in the air by his tail before regaining his composure and adding.
“I’m a profesional, of course I didn’t get seen. Why?! Did someone say something!?
Rocco shot his head from side to side, like he would find someone listening or critiquing his heist. All the movement causing him to spin slowly, still dangling from his tail.
“No, I was just thinking, as long as your out here I could have a job for you.”
I said, setting him down as he answered,
“Whad’ya mean? Spit it out!”
with his classic charm.
“I mean, I want you to sneak into that blonde guy’s tepee. The one with the shitty attitude, Brooke I think his name was. Just see if you can find anything in there.”
I could see Rocco’s interest was peaked but he still had one last all to predictable question.
“What’s in it for me?”
“You keep whatever you find in there no questions asked.”
Before the words even left fully my lips Rocco cried, “DEAL” and sprinted out of the tepee on all fours, leaving me alone.
I wasn’t really sure what the process was now, was Shaoni going to come get us or did she expect us to meet her in the coliseum? I’d never been part of anything like this before, I had no idea what the attendance policy was like. So, lacking anything better to do, I walked down into the mines and waited in the coliseum. It was obvious they were’t really ready for us yet. A few of Shaoni’s people were down there placing cactus looking things into five carved wooden bowls on the floor. Five bowls, five people in these trials so those had to have something to do with us. I looked around the room, trying to find Shaoni. She wasn’t up on her perch like yesterday and she certainly wasn’t part of the small group setting up those bowls. I felt a little different about her now that we’d had a chance to talk. Before I’d been afraid of her, and for good reason, but she seemed to want the opposite of that. Maybe not from me specifically but in general. Although, how could you not be scared of someone who could turn into a giant bird and seemed to consistently be the cause of freak storms. There was a lot of power to her but she didn’t want people to be afraid of it, she wanted respect. I’m sure there was more to her that I hadn’t heard but I certainly was going to hear anything new here.
Seeing as I was still apparently early, I decided not to wear out my welcome in the coliseum. I made my way back out of the mines and settled down back at that canvas tent with the huge table. It was again filled with food that had come from nowhere in particular, probably set up by more of Shaoni’s people. As if to confirm my suspicion, the bandaged man Bianca had stabbed earlier emerged from the camp, walking towards me with a platter of bacon. He starred daggers at me as he placed the platter at the table but didn’t say anything. I was almost tempted to apologize on Bianca’s behalf but I got the sense that wouldn’t be a great idea. Not long after I saw two of the others approaching.
“… Sure, but for some glorified tent it’s still pretty comfortable.”
Brooke said to Katrina who looked thoroughly uninterested in what he had to say.
Brooke wore a… purple suit that made him look like some stereotypical version of a pimp. I couldn’t think of any reason he’d wear that out here, at least no-one would mistake him from anyone else, that ’s for sure. Katrina wore an equally confusing getup, a blue tank top and jeans that made her look kinda like the girl from those tomb raider games. It was about 50 degrees out and probably wasn’t going to get much warmer. If she wanted to freeze, so be it. I gave a slight nod to them as they sat down across from me. Katrina still eyeing Brooke with an expression that begged for him not to open his mouth again.
I couldn’t stop staring at her, no not like that, I was staring at her belt where a holster sat,
“You like it?”
She asked, noticing the staring that I should’ve been trying harder to hide, drawing the handgun from the holster on her hip.
“Beretta M9 semi-automatic pistol, my father’s service pistol actually. Always served me well, so I always keep it on me, well almost always.”
She said with a wink, checking the gun and pulling back its slide. I wasn’t all that familiar with guns but I distinctly saw her flip the safety off. Which had a profound effect on my nerves considering I was staring down its barrel.
“They let you keep that around here? I would’ve thought they take that from you.”
I asked incredulously, still eyeing the gun she had pointed at me.
“I hid it on me yesterday, if they have an issue with it they can try and take it from me. I’m not doing anything like this without some kind of insurance. They get me and Luke or nothing at all.”
She retorted, spinning the gun back into her holster and turning the safety back on with a practiced hand. “Oh that’s cute, she named it” I thought sarcastically as my nerves settled, a loaded gun no longer pointed directly at my face.
“I’m not sure Shaoni would let you leave, even if you wanted to.”
“Oh please! She wouldn’t dare lay a finger on me or she’d have bigger problems coming her way.”
Katrina laughed, throwing her hand back in seemingly genuine amusement. She really didn’t have a care about the Thunderbird? I found that hard to believe.
“So what do you do anyways then? If you’re so sure she wouldn’t touch you.”
I asked incredulously. This seemed to grab her attention as she immediately snapped her head down, locking eyes with me and barking,
“That’s a need to know thing and you don’t.”
Before returning her attention to the food on the table and ignoring me. She was military, that was probably a safe assumption.
Brooke had been listening in to our conversation as he ate. After Katrina snapped at me he finally spoke up.
“So hang on, you came all the way out here with no insurance, no protection? Does anyone even know you’re out here?”
I briefly thought about Rocco, he wasn’t great insurance but he sure came cheap. I hadn’t stopped to think about preparing anything to bring out here with me. I just stupidly assumed everyone was on the same page as me, an unprepared fish out of water.
“No, I guess not.”
I responded, a little shaken at the realization that everyone here was probably more prepared than me.
“You must be stupid or have balls of steel to do something like that.”
Brooke told me, reaching over the table to clap me on the shoulder. I didn’t know if this really was the Brooke Bianca told me about or not but I really did not like this guy. We ate the rest of our breakfast in silence. John and Robert never showed up but I guessed they were down in the mines helping set everything up. I guess being a participate in the trials didn’t exempt Shaoni's followers from having to help get ready for them.
Apparently my guess was right because Robert and John were both already in the coliseum when the three of us arrived. Shaoni was once again up on the balcony and all of the people that had been there earlier were gone. I could clearly see what was in the five bowls now. It was some kind of small cactus thing with a white-pink flower at the top. I’d never seen anything like it before but it did seem a little out of place.
“This is your first trial, the trial of morals. This trial is meant to show us where your morals lie through visions of the past and beyond. Sometimes the plant has a mind of its own though so I don’t expect anyone will have the same experience. Some may not even serve the purpose of the trial but the vision is more important than anything I hoped to learn.”
Shaoni spoke like an announcer from above us.
“There is a plant there for each of you, peyote plants that I had grow for just this occasion. Each of you will eat one of the plants and they will give you visions. You will walk among the spirits and they will show you what you need to see.”
Shaoni finished, like she hadn’t just asked us to take hallucinogenics in an unfamiliar environment surrounded by people we didn’t really trust. I wasn’t a huge fan of being here when I was in control of my faculties but while experiencing a vision, oh no, fat chance. Then again it wasn’t like I had all that much of a choice, I realized just before I opened my mouth to protest.
“Fine but what does that tell you about us? Sure we can go get high for you here but it doesn’t really help anyone.”
Brooke spoke up, taking his usual disrespectful tone with Shaoni.
“I have my ways of knowing, but this experiences is for you. It should tell you more about yourself than it will tell me but I assure you, I will learn something.”
An annoyed but composed Shaoni responded. With that she turned and left us to our task.
“So does anyone want to go first?”
Katrina asked, putting a finger to her nose, inviting anyone else to go first.
“Not so fast sweetcheeks, I don’t trust any of you so how about you take the first crack at it?”
Brooke pointedly suggested. I think Katrina wanted to throw a haymaker at his face right then but I stepped in first.
“What if we all did it at once? Then no one is waiting around and I highly doubt she would let anyone come down here and do anything to us if these trials are that important to her.”
I reasoned, pointing up at the balcony Shaoni had been standing on.
“I still don’t like it but I can live with that, I agree everyone at once like… what’s your name?”
“Keith”
“Everyone at once like Keith said.”
Commanded Katrina, looking everyone in the eye and daring them to challenge her. I didn’t know what she did before coming here but whatever it was gave her a glare even Shaoni would be proud of. No-one hesitated to walk up to their respective bowls and take a bite of the strange pinkish flower at the top of the cactus.
The effects weren’t immediate, John just ate his flower then knelt by his bowl, eyes closed waiting for the vision to come. Robert leaned against the wall looking at his watch, seemingly judging the time before it took effect.
“It’s not my first time with peyote, I’ll probably stay up a little longer than you guys.”
Brooke bragged to the room, taking a seat by his bowl as Katrina and I did the same.
Poetically, Brooke was actually the first of us to go down for the count. I had to resit the urge to stand up and kick the crumpled up purple ball that was formerly Brooke. I don’t think anyone would have stopped me, heck the way Katrina was glaring at him this morning she might’ve joined in. But given what came next it was probably a good idea I didn’t stand. All of a sudden the room began flashing different colors, orange then brown then blue. I felt like I was falling but I hadn’t moved. Eventually a sensation came over me, like I had stood up but I was acutely aware of the fact that my body was really lying on the floor of the coliseum. As my vision cleared I started to recognize things, sights and sounds of a hospital room. It would seem my vision had started by bringing me back to my father.
I inched through the hospital room, sure of what I’d see on the other side of the thin curtain. A heart monitor beeped, just the same as the first and last time I’d been in this room. I saw my father, splayed across the bed no different than the only time I’d been in this room. I’ve always maintained that my family life was generally normal, anything that lay outside of that box of normality could be attributed to my father. He was never what I’d call a good person. Sure, he was never aggressive towards me but it didn't really count for anything. You could tell he never really wanted me. What he did to my mother, that was another story. He came home drunk almost every night and she end up with a black eye or worse at least once a week. Unfortunately for us he had a good job, he paid the bills and my mother and I couldn’t really support ourselves on our own back then. Worse still my mother always told me she put up with it for my sake when I asked her about it. That meant I always felt partially responsible every time I heard a fist meet skin in the room below mine.
My father had ended up in this bed by way of a drunk driving incident. Funnily enough it wasn’t actually his fault. He just so happened to be in the wrong intersection at the wrong time when a box truck plowed right into him. The accident left him with severe brain and spinal damage. It was a sick joke he survived, not a miracle. He’d be on life support from now on. I could’ve made him pay for everything he did with the simple tug of a cable. The only reason I didn’t was that the owner of the company that employed the box truck driver offered to pay all his medical bills. He must not have looked to closely because my fathers insurance was covering all of it. But every week a hefty check came in the mail anyways. As long as he was alive and in that hospital bed, me and my mother could live comfortably. It wasn’t really the right thing to do but I figured it was what my mother deserved after years of putting up with his abuse.
The heart monitor’s shrill beeping focused me back to the situation. I stood over my father’s body, the old urge to just pull the plug washing over me again.
“It would be so easy. Mom’s fine now, you’re managing, why do you still need him?”
I thought to myself, toying with the idea as another voice spoke in my head, Shaoni’s voice.
“He’s earned it, he ruined years of your mother’s life, Its only fair he pay a price for what he did.”
I looked around for the source of her voice but I saw nothing, maybe I was just hearing things, it was just a vision after all right? I looked down to see I was now on the opposite side of the bed, hand reaching toward the cord that powered the life support. Time seemed to move at a crawl, was this really the best option? He was probably solely responsible for the distance between my mother and I, he beat her so many times. Some of the blame for it even sat on my shouldres, would killing him take that away? Could I live with myself if I did this? Knowing I took the easy way out at his expense. No… I couldn’t, it would make me just as bad as him. It just wasn’t right I shouldn’t be the one to decide if he dies. Besides, whatever sliver of sentience remained in him deserved to watch as he shriveled and died in his own way, in some ways that was far worse but he didn’t deserve an easy way out either. The room spun as I made my choice and pulled my hand back from the plug. Sending my vision spiraling as my body collapsed to the cold hospital floor. When I finally fought my way through my spinning vision and back to my feet I was somewhere else. I was in Imalone and if I had to guess it was the night I first saw Shaoni.
I was somewhere in the town square where I got chained into the wooden monstrosity the cultists had made. Shaoni was circling in the sky so I guess I was watching this memory from outside of myself. I was made absolutely sure of this when I saw myself being carried out of the old rotting bar. I watched as the situation played out exactly as I remembered it. Right up until Shaoni landed and came to speak with the one masked cultist. What had been gibberish to me before was suddenly crystal clear english.
“What IS this! You think this is right!? This is what you think I stand for, human sacrifice?!”
Shaoni shouted with such intensity and force I jumped back, looking for a place to take cover.
“Brother Aaron foretold your approach, this outsider wandered in so we thought he would make an excellent gift to you.”
The masked cultist answered, missing the point entirely as Shaoni’s eyes flashed with fury.
“There will be a sacrifice alright, a price must be paid for everything you’ve done here. You have no understanding of what I stand for, You’ve spit in the face of it in fact and for that, each and every one of you will make a sacrifice. Release that poor boy, NOW!”
Shaoni commanded the cultists with a voice so stern I almost ran to try and free the trapped version of myself. None of them budged, they didn’t even seem to realize what kind of danger they were in. Shaoni strode past them over to me where she offered me her all to familiar deal. I was stunned, I never stopped to think that she fully intended to let me go either way. Sure, now I knew that these guys weren’t her usual followers. I still never thought she came here intending to wipe them out. I didn’t really have a chance to dwell on it. Before I knew it Shaoni was transforming again causing a tornado to appear in the middle of town as lightning struck around the area like machine gun fire. As the wall of wind rain and lighting reached me I felt a familiar falling sensation and blacked out again.
When I came to I was back on the cave floor again. I wasn’t sure if I was still in a vision until I felt a sharp kick to my side.
“Oh… that felt… very real. Oh god why?”
I groaned as I looked up at the smirking Katrina.
“He’s awake, that’s everyone then.”
She called out to the rest of the group who were all standing around me. She and the others walked off in the direction of the exit, leaving me there on the floor. With nothing better to do I followed them out. Outside the full moon had shown itself, bathing the camp in shimmering moonlight. Shaoni walked up to greet all of us who’d just collectively decided to just go outside.
“You’ve all made it through it would seem, I hope your experiences weren’t to unpleasant.”
Brooke charged straight past her, I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. Obviously he’d seen something he didn’t like while he was under the influence of that plant. Katrina seemed completely unaffected, marching by Shaoni filled with the same confidence she had when I first saw her. Robert and John seemed completely unaffected by whatever they had seen but something told me they might be used to it. Me, I wasn’t doing so great. I wasn’t all that pleased about revisiting my father and all those old memories and whatever that flower was called had really done a number on me. I weakly waved to Shaoni as I walked by, just trying to focus on walking straight. She didn’t seem to surprised that none of us wanted to talk to her. She didn’t say anything to us as we all quietly sat and ate. I didn’t like the silence, it felt like everyone was just waiting for something to happen but no-one had any idea what. So I got up and headed back to my tepee, maybe Rocco had turned something up on Brooke.
Rocco was waiting for me atop his mountain of food when I got back.
“I found somethin yous might be interested in”
He said triumphantly, waving around a polaroid photo he had clutched in his paw.
“Give that to me!”
I snapped, ripping it right out of his paw.
“Well someones in a mood.”
“Getting drugged will do that to you.”
I snapped as Rocco stared at me, paws on his hips like he was about to give me attitude.
“I’m sorry My heads still just spinning from… well everything today.”
I sighed, holding my head in one hand as I shook it. Apologizing to a raccoon, my life really was something wasn’t it? I looked down to the picture enemy hand and immediately ice shot through my veins. It was a picture of Bianca taken not too long ago by the looks of it. She was walking back into her house in the photo and it looked like it was taken from a passing car. The photo itself isn’t what really concerned me though, the message written on the back did that. “What you seek can be found in the town of Eagles Peak”, the note read in a singsongy way. I’d never seen Shaoni’s handwriting but given the circumstances I was sure that’s what I was looking at.
I looked up at Rocco who looked more serious than I’d ever seen him.
“Now I don’t know what happened to that girl but somethin’ hurt her before we knew her. If that’s the somethin’ that did, and I’m guessin’ it is lookin’ atcha’. I say we should hurt em’ back.”
Rocco told me with cold steel in his voice. It was weird, hearing him speak without a hint of a joke or over exaggerated movement. We finally found something that the little menace to society could focus on, something… productive.
“My hands are tied, I don’t think anyone here would take kindly to me just attacking someone. Besides, look at him, he’s taller and obviously stringer than me. I’m just a scrawny guy who’s way out of his element, I don’t want a fight. Just… keep an eye on him, maybe we can find something to turn the others against him?”
It wasn’t the answer Rocco was looking for, that’s for sure. He deflated at my words, I’m sure he wanted to go in guns blazing and confront Brooke with what we thought we knew. That wasn’t really going to be an option here, even if it was I’d rather not do that.
“Oh, one more thing, Don’t let Brooke go back into town if he tries to leave, I don’t care how you do it just don’t let him leave.”
I added as an evil grin crossed Rocco’s face.
“Aye’ aye’ captain!”
He cried, raising a paw to his head and saluting me.
Just then I heard someone knocking, no rustling? Screwing around with the front flap to the tepee trying to get my attention. I opened it only to see, “Shaoni?”
“I wanted to ask about the visions today, I’ve talked to everyone else but I couldn’t find you so I guessed you’d be at… is that a raccoon?”
Shaoni stopped, seeing Rocco frozen mid step behind me as he tried and failed to run before she saw him. Realizing he’d been seen Rocco twirled around and in a way only he could announced,
“Whatcha’ think you were looking at Pocahontas?”
“Oh? It talks as well?”
Shaoni said, somewhere between bewildered and bemused as she looked between me and the mouthy Raccoon.
“Course I talk! I thought you woulda’ seen somethin’ like that when you were busy painting with all the colors of the wind!”
Rocco yelled back at her. I wasn’t sure if he was actually offended by Shaoni’s questions, or just deliberately trying to be a nuisance, probably the second thing. I whirled around and glared at Rocco, holding my finger to my mouth in an attempt to shut him up. For once he actually listened.
“I… sorry about him, he’s always like that, part of his charm you know.”
I said with a shrug and a nervous chuckle. Shaoni shook her head dismissively and continued.
“Did you see anything in the cave that you wanted to talk about?”
She asked me, now sounding a little annoyed. I thought back to my father and that hospital room, I wasn’t really ready to talk about that with anyone just yet. But I did have some new questions about how I got into this whole mess in the first place.
“You said back in Imalone you saved me because I realized there was a price for being saved. That wasn’t really it though was it? I saw it again, I could understand you this time. You were going to save me regardless. So why mark me Shaoni? Why did you really bring me here?!”
I said, my voice raising outside of my control as I spoke. I had to finally admit to myself that I was sick and tired of being dragged around in the dark. I was suddenly furious and I didn’t care who it was standing in front of me, I wanted an answer.
“Those men were ruining my name, they thought they were following the Thunderbird but it was just some idea of me they had come up with. They used me to justify their horrid actions and I came to put a stop to it. You were there and when I offered you a deal you didn’t fight it. That’s why I marked you.”
Shaoni spoke quickly, like she wanted to avoid the subject, all but turning around and leaving right then.
“Bullshit! I want an answer Shaoni, a real answer!”
I yelled at her, my fury taking full control of me. Shaoni was silent for a minute, when she finally spoke she looked down, never meeting my eyes as she softly said.
“You remind me of someone from a long time ago. They were blind to the way of things at first, an outsider even. In time though, he became what bound our people together as one family. I don’t have a better answer for you than that. I wasn’t sure I should’ve chosen you at first, I had a feeling that day and I followed it. What you’ve done since you’ve got here, how you’ve handled learning what little you know about the world of the supernatural. Those things are what tell me I made the right choice.”
As she walked away I thought I saw tears reflecting in the moonlight shown on her face. As I settled down I swore I heard soft sobs, echoing across the camp long into the night.
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