Speaker 1: The human mind can't fully comprehend what lies in between
Speaker 1: the world of the living and the land of the dead.
Speaker 1: When you're in between, there's no such thing as space
Speaker 1: or dimensions. There is no up or down, width, length
Speaker 1: and height, or mostly a suggestion, never a rule. Likewise,
Speaker 1: time has no meaning at all, is only now and
Speaker 1: after that different now. You can also be in the
Speaker 1: now that just happened, now sometime in the future, and
Speaker 1: a now from the very different past. For those of
Speaker 1: us who normally exist in a linear timeline, it's nothing
Speaker 1: short of a nightmare. There's no place for the living
Speaker 1: or the dead. It's the realm of the immortals. We
Speaker 1: call them demons demigods. The immortals can enter our reality
Speaker 1: at will, at any point in time or space. The
Speaker 1: only mortal beings who can replicate this feat are the sprites.
Speaker 1: They hear the great Song of the universe, and they
Speaker 1: understand the meaning of its intricate melody. The Great Song
Speaker 1: is generated by the vibration of the thread. According to
Speaker 1: the Succubus, the thread was plucked by the finger of
Speaker 1: the Creator at the exact moment it came into being.
Speaker 1: First came the thread, and the song and then the Sprites,
Speaker 1: who were created the very next instant. All other events
Speaker 1: in our timeline began after the Sprites became aware, their
Speaker 1: collective consciousness will be the last thing to disappear at
Speaker 1: the end. The Sprites are the official rulers of all
Speaker 1: the fayfolk, and Murkis is their king. The Sprites have
Speaker 1: the ability to manipulate the thread of existence. They can
Speaker 1: alter the timeline by interfering with an event, or they
Speaker 1: can create a new reality by introducing an event that
Speaker 1: otherwise would have never occurred. They may not be gods,
Speaker 1: or even demigods for that matter, but they wield enormous power. However,
Speaker 1: for all their incredible might, the Sprites are still mortal.
Speaker 1: They'll exist until the end of days, but when the
Speaker 1: last gasp of energy flickers out in the void, they'll
Speaker 1: be gone. The place in between is the realm of
Speaker 1: entities that were never alive and therefore can never die.
Speaker 1: These creatures are familiar with mundane concepts such as time, space, mortality,
Speaker 1: and income taxes, but none of it affects them. The
Speaker 1: immortals either regard us as cattle to feed their various desires,
Speaker 1: or they don't regard us at all. Long story short,
Speaker 1: we don't have many friends over there. In conclusion, it's
Speaker 1: all way beyond the understanding of our primitive little brains. Nonetheless,
Speaker 1: if you can achieve a higher state of perception, perhaps
Speaker 1: with the help of a skin walker and his potent
Speaker 1: psychedelic tea, it may be possible to break through and
Speaker 1: enter the realm of demons. Oh, you won't like it,
Speaker 1: but you can go there. I wouldn't recommend this experience,
Speaker 1: but sometimes sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1: Of course, I already traveled through the space in between
Speaker 1: while shutting back and forth from the spirit world, but
Speaker 1: this time was different. I wasn't just passing through. I
Speaker 1: was officially a visitor in the kingdom of the immortals.
Speaker 1: The first thing I noticed was a brilliant, shimmering streak
Speaker 1: of light. The thread is the only visible object in
Speaker 1: every direction, and it stretches from the beginning to the
Speaker 1: very end every event in our timeline, at every location,
Speaker 1: I was looking at home from a vantage point that
Speaker 1: was never meant to be experienced by a human being.
Speaker 1: It made me feel very alone and very very small.
Speaker 1: I was in between the place of demons and DEMI gods,
Speaker 1: and I did not belong there. Some of these beings
Speaker 1: harbor a deep hatred for the living, and others are
Speaker 1: completely indifferent. A few of them desire our worship, and
Speaker 1: a handful of them would rather skip all that nonsense
Speaker 1: and just eat us alive. All in all, not a
Speaker 1: very safe neighborhood for a guy like me, and that
Speaker 1: is an understatement. Speaking of which, the next thing I
Speaker 1: saw I was a horrific monstrosity beyond my wildest imaginations.
Speaker 1: It materialized from the void out of nowhere, feeling my
Speaker 1: entire field of vision with its terrible form. Imagine an
Speaker 1: object the size of a planet, hovering in a fat
Speaker 1: them this void, and staring you down with one hundred
Speaker 1: billion eyes. It was so big I couldn't even understand
Speaker 1: what I was looking at. It was just a gigantuan
Speaker 1: blob of darkness and evil. I started to scream, and
Speaker 1: the cosmic gorgan was abruptly replaced by a gorgeous woman
Speaker 1: in a red dress. It was the actress Kelly Lebron,
Speaker 1: looking exactly as she had appeared in the mid eighties
Speaker 1: rom com movie The Woman in Red. I had a
Speaker 1: quick flashback of peeping around the corner at my parents
Speaker 1: watching their grown up movie on the VCR. The woman
Speaker 1: in the red dress made guest appearances in my dreams
Speaker 1: for months. She was eventually replaced by Samantha Fox after
Speaker 1: I saw one of her music videos on TV. Apparently
Speaker 1: the woman in the red dress was still lurking around
Speaker 1: in my subconscious because there she was in the flesh,
Speaker 1: I blubbered. She god to the soccubis, right, I mean
Speaker 1: the one from the zoo, She giggled. They are many demons,
Speaker 1: but there's only one succubus. Sorry I gave you a fright,
Speaker 1: but as I already told you, my true form is um.
Speaker 1: It's a bit overwhelming. Do you like this better? You
Speaker 1: used to dream about marrying the woman in red You
Speaker 1: remember that? And then Samantha Fox came and stole your
Speaker 1: heart away. Do you remember how you would kiss your
Speaker 1: pillow and pretend it was her? It made my face
Speaker 1: flush red with embarrassment, I'd mumbled some half asked Anisle,
Speaker 1: and she purred, you can't lie to me, dear, I
Speaker 1: already know the truth. Anyway, you really shouldn't be here,
Speaker 1: silly billy talk about a fish out of water. I grumbled, Well,
Speaker 1: this is the last ditch effort to save the day.
Speaker 1: Give me a break. I rubbed my temples and let
Speaker 1: out a soft groan. I wasn't a place that couldn't
Speaker 1: even be defined by the laws of the physical world,
Speaker 1: but I was still battling a headache. I explained to
Speaker 1: her that if I couldn't pin the Bookman with his
Speaker 1: true identity, three things would happen. One he would never
Speaker 1: face any kind of justice for his crimes. Two, poor
Speaker 1: little Catherine would remain trapped in the world of the living,
Speaker 1: doomed to suffer her agony forever. And three he'd probably
Speaker 1: kill me. The Bookman wasn't an ordinary spirit. He served
Speaker 1: an entity he referred to as a dark Lord, and
Speaker 1: he had the ability to transcend the bounds of reality.
Speaker 1: The succubist listened with a sympathetic expression. She patted me
Speaker 1: on the chest and said, well, it sounds like you're
Speaker 1: about to get murdered. I think you should just give
Speaker 1: up and let me eat you. I mean you're gonna
Speaker 1: die anyway, right, One last romp in the hay and
Speaker 1: then you're gone. What do you say, my love? I
Speaker 1: gently pushed her hand away inside. No thanks. If the
Speaker 1: bookman kills me. At least I can live on in
Speaker 1: the spirit world. If you kill me, I'm just gone,
Speaker 1: she exclaimed. Oh, come, come on, you can't be serious.
Speaker 1: Do you not understand just how long you'll exist in
Speaker 1: the spirit world. It's a virtual eternity of being a dumb,
Speaker 1: boring little ghosts, just another sad, lonely spirit lost in
Speaker 1: the sea of the dead. That's no way to spend
Speaker 1: that countless millennia, is it? Come the Keli, I'll make
Speaker 1: it all go away. I slapped her groping hands and
Speaker 1: yelled nope, stop it, frig it. No for crying out loud. No.
Speaker 1: Already a boring person in life, so what does it
Speaker 1: matter if I still suck after death. Look, either you're
Speaker 1: trying to help me or you won't. I'm willing to negotiate,
Speaker 1: but eating my body and soul is completely off the table.
Speaker 1: I like existing, even if it blows most of the time.
Speaker 1: The suck keepers smirked at me and tore my hair.
Speaker 1: She purred. Oh, you precious little chicken wing. Your blood
Speaker 1: is a tad sour and your sexual performance was ultimately forgettable.
Speaker 1: But that soul of yours, fresh and spicy. I can
Speaker 1: smell it. Okay, I'll help you again, and you'll owe
Speaker 1: me deeply for this help again. I'm a demon, billy,
Speaker 1: not a charity. I gave her a stressed out grin,
Speaker 1: and I clasped my hands together in a tight trembling
Speaker 1: knot this creaked thank you, Thank you so much. Miss.
Speaker 1: What should I call you anyway? I mean just referring
Speaker 1: to you as thus occubist. It seems kind of informal,
Speaker 1: after you know, the sex and the blood drinking. The
Speaker 1: demon gave me a withered look, she sneered, Oh please,
Speaker 1: that meant nothing. I was just having a sandwich, that's all,
Speaker 1: a bland, boring little sandwich. But it still hit the spot,
Speaker 1: of course, because I was hungry. Don't concern yourself with
Speaker 1: my true name. Long story sho it will far exceed
Speaker 1: your limited comprehension. You're adorable, but you're just a little guy, billy.
Speaker 1: You have adorable little arms and adorable little legs, and
Speaker 1: you have a stupid little brain. Just don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: I thought my face get hot from embarrassment, I muttered.
Speaker 1: I think that was maybe a little harsh, but okay, gotcha,
Speaker 1: So like I know you can't tell me the book
Speaker 1: Band's real name, but I might know a way around that.
Speaker 1: Stupid ass rule the dark Lord or whatever the fuck?
Speaker 1: I think he might be a demon? Does that name
Speaker 1: ring a bell? The Succubist ruled arise, I think so. Yes,
Speaker 1: there's one demon in particular who comes to mind. He
Speaker 1: loves to be worshiped. He influences weak or unstable people
Speaker 1: to commit murder, maybe start a cult, all that sort
Speaker 1: of thing. If you ask me, it's much easier to
Speaker 1: just pluck an erotic image from their minds and use
Speaker 1: it against them. That worship stuff is really time consuming
Speaker 1: and just I don't know, I suppose it all seems
Speaker 1: rather inefficient, I muttered, Yeah, efficiency is everything. Do you
Speaker 1: think he can help me find this guy? He probably
Speaker 1: knows the book Man's real identity, right, and maybe he
Speaker 1: can give me a hint or something. I'm trying to
Speaker 1: desperate over here. She arched a well manicured eyebrow and snorted.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what good it would do, but yeah
Speaker 1: I could. Demons can see it all, hear it all,
Speaker 1: we know it all. However, we can't share that information
Speaker 1: with the mortals. I don't know what would happen, but
Speaker 1: most of us would rather play it safe. I've heard
Speaker 1: the Creator has something of a temper. I dropped to
Speaker 1: one knee in front of her and bagged, please just
Speaker 1: give me the chance to talk to him. I mean,
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen? You guys are mortal, like you're gonna
Speaker 1: be sentenced to the electric chair. There are things far
Speaker 1: worse than death, she answered in a somber tone. That's
Speaker 1: not a strong argument. I stepped my foot and groaned.
Speaker 1: Please look, if you help me find this dude, I'll
Speaker 1: agree to let you do your thing again. Bang me
Speaker 1: stupid and drink my blood. I'll let you have like
Speaker 1: an entire pint this time. No two pints. How much
Speaker 1: blood do I need to be alive anyway? Uh? Fuck it?
Speaker 1: Two pints if you want, Just please. A succubist brushed
Speaker 1: her lips against my ear as she breathed, Your blood
Speaker 1: isn't good enough. I want something better this time, something
Speaker 1: more substantial. I want your ear. I want to tear
Speaker 1: it off with my teeth. She giggled as I jerked
Speaker 1: away from her hot, panting breath. I caught my hands
Speaker 1: over my ear and gasped, Oh, hello, are you crazy.
Speaker 1: The soccubist crossed her arms and sniffed, are you sure.
Speaker 1: I will remind you there's another variable in this equation
Speaker 1: that you seem to have forgotten. Very shortly, you'll be
Speaker 1: face to face with Victor Bonicelli, and he is furious.
Speaker 1: He's driving to the zoo right now, and he's still
Speaker 1: wearing his pajamas. He didn't even get dressed before he left.
Speaker 1: You are in a lot of trouble. I felt my
Speaker 1: heart drop. In all the general weirdness that was happening,
Speaker 1: I forgot about Victor. I had broken all kinds of
Speaker 1: rules that night, and the boss was a stickler for
Speaker 1: the rules. He was also dangerously volatile. My throat suddenly
Speaker 1: felt tight, constricted, as if vic had already strangled me
Speaker 1: with his phantom hands. I croaked, can you stop him?
Speaker 1: The succubist rolled her eyes and groaned, nope, I'm afraid not.
Speaker 1: Victor has a part of me contained in the physical world,
Speaker 1: so he's protected from my charms. I wish I could
Speaker 1: tear him apart like a retisserie chicken, but still no
Speaker 1: such luck. Glenn's voice popped up in the back of
Speaker 1: my head and said, good going. Dumbo, you take an
Speaker 1: easy night's shift and get turn it into your own murder.
Speaker 1: He groans, Yeah, those figures. Oh fuck it, let's do it, Okay,
Speaker 1: I got nothing to lose to this point. Your ear, sweetheart,
Speaker 1: the demon corrected me, and she gave me that predatory smile.
Speaker 1: Remember you're going to lose your ear. I blinked back,
Speaker 1: a sudden film of wetness in my eyes. I quavered.
Speaker 1: Is it gonna hurt like a lot? The succubist grabbed
Speaker 1: me by the shoulder and gave me a brisk shake.
Speaker 1: She exclaimed, Oh, you poor, stupid little chickadee, what kind
Speaker 1: of question is that? Of course it will hurt, silly.
Speaker 1: Ears are very sensitive, but it'll be over quickly. And
Speaker 1: I promised to heal up the wound right after I'm done.
Speaker 1: You'll be all better. The demon released her iron grip
Speaker 1: on my and she sternly planted her hands on her hips.
Speaker 1: She demanded, So what is it? What do you want
Speaker 1: to do here? Billy? Make up your mind. Either you
Speaker 1: can be a big brave boy for Auntie's succubists, or
Speaker 1: you can be decapitated by the ghost of a serial killer.
Speaker 1: Make your choice. But look in her eyes scared the
Speaker 1: hell out of me. You'd expect a lion to stare
Speaker 1: at you like that, but when it's an actress from
Speaker 1: the eighties, it hits a lot differently. It was unnerving.
Speaker 1: That's a big understatement. I closed my eyes and said,
Speaker 1: do it. In a flash. I was naked and lying
Speaker 1: on my back. She pinned my arms down and panted,
Speaker 1: don't you dare finish too early this time? Think about
Speaker 1: baseball or something. When it was over, she collapsed on
Speaker 1: top of me. It was like being smothered by a
Speaker 1: lead blanket. Couldn't even draw enough breath to scream. Her
Speaker 1: pupils started to rotate, like a time lapse of distant
Speaker 1: Alexies against sparks of starlight. A part of me wanted
Speaker 1: to get lost in that gaze, but I fought against
Speaker 1: it with all of my will. She crooned, peace by piece,
Speaker 1: I will slowly consume you mine, body and soul. It'll
Speaker 1: be like nibbling my way to the center of a
Speaker 1: Tutsi pod. I managed to wheeze. Nope, won't eat me,
Speaker 1: she snickered. Is that so you should ask that little
Speaker 1: puddle fairy about the fate of her first true love.
Speaker 1: He thought he would resist me, but he was wrong,
Speaker 1: dead wrong. I can't believe she's still mad about that,
Speaker 1: almost three thousand years later. I swear the fa can
Speaker 1: really hold a grudge. I gurgled, no chance done, never again.
Speaker 1: She gave me annoying look. Is that so, won't we?
Speaker 1: There's no judgment here, mister Whitebrad. Desire is everything. The
Speaker 1: demon lowered her voice to a breath, you whisper, I
Speaker 1: can become anyone. I'll let you do anything you've ever desired.
Speaker 1: I can even become that slutty cartoon girl from the
Speaker 1: movie about the Rabbit. I know how she made you feel.
Speaker 1: Don't lie. I can see your most secret fantasies. I
Speaker 1: can see. I gasped, Okay, stop too far. The succubist
Speaker 1: patted my cheek. She purred, Oh, I'm just teasing. It's
Speaker 1: so easy to get you all riled up. I just
Speaker 1: can't resist anyway. Let's have that ear, shall we. She
Speaker 1: pushed my head to the side, and teeth like razors
Speaker 1: sank into my flesh. I couldn't draw enough breath to
Speaker 1: lead out a scream of agony. It came out as
Speaker 1: a faint whistle. Instead. I was then treated to the
Speaker 1: horrifying image of a naked Kelly LeBrock chewing on my ear,
Speaker 1: her lips and smeared with blood. I felt my heart
Speaker 1: seize up in my chest, and I promptly passed out
Speaker 1: from shock. The darkness was good, it was welcome. My
Speaker 1: last thought was I'm gonna wake up dead, and then
Speaker 1: I was gone for a while. When the darkness departed
Speaker 1: from my mind, I found myself lying at the feet
Speaker 1: of a giant. He looked like the member of a
Speaker 1: gothic rock band, but like really fucking tall. This dude
Speaker 1: was at least fifteen feet from head to toe. His
Speaker 1: hair was jet black, his skin deadly pale. The giant
Speaker 1: was wearing a pair of black vinyl pants, matching vest
Speaker 1: and a bullet belt. His feet were clad in leather
Speaker 1: boots that laced up to his knees. He was shirtless
Speaker 1: beneath the vest, revealing a muscular build and a bunch
Speaker 1: of tattoos. A human skull hung from his neck by
Speaker 1: a length of rusty chain. Much to my embarrassment, I
Speaker 1: was still naked. My clothes were lying in a messy
Speaker 1: pile nearby. I hurried to get dressed, the giant looking
Speaker 1: on with an expression of scornful amusement. He crossed his
Speaker 1: arms and spoke to me in a low, rumbling voice.
Speaker 1: I am known to you as the dark Lord, but
Speaker 1: I have many other names. I am the Thief of innocence,
Speaker 1: the Bishop of Madness, and the Stabber of hope. I
Speaker 1: have one billion names, yet they all fall short of
Speaker 1: describing the true depths of my evil. Fear me, you
Speaker 1: pathetic little bug, fall to your knees and cry for
Speaker 1: your mother. I gave him a dazed look and sputtered,
Speaker 1: Give me a second. Okay, I just woke up naked,
Speaker 1: my ears gone. This chill out man. He gave me
Speaker 1: a grump look and waited as I wriggled into my
Speaker 1: kevlar suit. When I was done, I looked him up
Speaker 1: and down and said, okay, so can I ask you
Speaker 1: a question? Like? Why do you look like that?
Speaker 2: Like what?
Speaker 1: He demanded? What are you trying to say? I shook
Speaker 1: my shoulders and waved a hand. That is outfit. I mean,
Speaker 1: you look like I don't know, Trent Reznor on steroids.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like, you know, it's weird. The dark
Speaker 1: Lord gave me a sullen look. He snorted. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: I don't look like this for you. I look like
Speaker 1: this for me because this is who I am. Is
Speaker 1: that okay with you? Dad? Am I grounded or something?
Speaker 1: Eat a dick, buddy. I held up my hand in
Speaker 1: the stammered, whoa, okay, sit me down. I'm just I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I opened my eyes there you were like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: all goffed out and shit. I wouldn't expecthim to see
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: That the dark.
Speaker 1: Lloyd pointed a finger at me and snapped, well, I
Speaker 1: don't need to measure up to your expectations, do I. Anyway,
Speaker 1: you'll hardly want to talk runged rock guy, You're all like, wow,
Speaker 1: look at me. My hair is hanging in my face
Speaker 1: because I'm such an introvert so lame. I gaped up
Speaker 1: at him with my mouth hanging open. He glared back
Speaker 1: at me and then pretended to answer a ringing phone. Hello,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, sure, I'll tell him right now. He cupped
Speaker 1: his hand over the pretend receiver and yelled, hey, dickhead
Speaker 1: two years ago called they want their goofy hairdew back.
Speaker 1: I do up my hands, then yelled okay, okay, I'm sorry, geez, Okay,
Speaker 1: I just want to be over this. Give me the
Speaker 1: book man's real name, and I'm gone. The Demon gave
Speaker 1: me a cold stare. He sneered, I wouldn't usually sacrifice
Speaker 1: a loyal servant, but the succubus is persuasive politics. You know,
Speaker 1: she can be a powerful ally someday. Just my opinion here,
Speaker 1: but she's wasting her potential by being obsessed with matters
Speaker 1: of the flesh. I'd much prefer corruption over consumption, if
Speaker 1: you get what I mean. Killing is so messy, undignified.
Speaker 1: I'd rather deceive the mortals into causing each other harm
Speaker 1: instead of going in there and doing it myself. I
Speaker 1: like keeping my own hands clean. He gave me a
Speaker 1: smug grin, and I answered it with a look of distaste.
Speaker 1: I said, I don't know, man, I feel like that's
Speaker 1: actually like a lot worse. To be honest, I mean,
Speaker 1: this book guy, right, he fucking sucks. You might think
Speaker 1: the shit he's done is pretty awesome or whatever, but
Speaker 1: you're wrong. Okay, just give me his name. I'll be gone.
Speaker 1: It demon gave me a sad look and replied, what's
Speaker 1: the hurry, grunge boy? I don't get a chance to
Speaker 1: step out of character very often. I'm always playing a role.
Speaker 1: I have to pretend to be a monster from a
Speaker 1: horror movie, or an avenging angel, a malevolent space alien,
Speaker 1: all kinds of weird shit. He grinned and added, that's
Speaker 1: a popular one, by the way. The space alien have
Speaker 1: always been a talking dog, a telepathic cloud, just you know,
Speaker 1: all kinds of weird shit. But I never get to
Speaker 1: be myself, just like hang out, have a conversation with someone.
Speaker 1: It never happens. It's a shame because I'm a really
Speaker 1: interesting demon. Do you think I wrung my hands together
Speaker 1: and plead it. Come on, man, let's get real here. Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't want to hang out with you, not ever.
Speaker 1: You're well, you're evil. Can you give me his name? Please? Seriously,
Speaker 1: I gotta go. He crossed his arms and growled like
Speaker 1: that is it? Okay? Sure, that's fine by me, because
Speaker 1: you're a little dork and I'm really fucking cool. But
Speaker 1: I can't just directly tell you his name. It's against
Speaker 1: the rules, and I don't want to piss off the creator.
Speaker 1: I've heard he he has a really bad temper. But
Speaker 1: I suppose I can give you a hint. His last
Speaker 1: name rhymes with it rhymes with bren Bra. That's all
Speaker 1: I can say. They rubbed my temples again, desperately, trying
Speaker 1: to massage my aching brain. Okay, slowly, I murmured, bren Bra,
Speaker 1: dren draw Crenshaw. Is that it? That's It's Crenshaw, right,
Speaker 1: isn't it? The demon dropped an exaggerated wink and then
Speaker 1: held up his hand and said, oh, I can't confer
Speaker 1: or deny it. It seems likely, though. He's a truly
Speaker 1: evil man with a nasty little black heart rotten to
Speaker 1: the core, just like I like him. You know, it's funny.
Speaker 1: For some reason, he thinks of me as a dog
Speaker 1: skull with a body of a serpent. I also have
Speaker 1: chunks of quartz in my eye sockets. Always something really
Speaker 1: fricking weird like that. You know, it gets so tedious sometimes.
Speaker 1: The demon's voice was fading away. I was already melting
Speaker 1: back into a land of reality. The Bookman's name was
Speaker 1: burning on my lips. I heard the dark Lord call
Speaker 1: after me. Fine, get lost. I wasn't going to tell
Speaker 1: him about this, but now I change my mind. Brace yourself,
Speaker 1: because he's coming for your head. I re entered the
Speaker 1: land of the limbing, just in time to see the
Speaker 1: door fly open with a tremendous bang. It was Vic,
Speaker 1: surrounded by a small mob of his henchmen. The succubus
Speaker 1: wasn't kidding. Vic had left the house in his pajamas.
Speaker 1: He threw on a bathrobe against the slight chill of
Speaker 1: the night air, and then he rushed out the door.
Speaker 1: Vic's hair was sticking up, and random clumps in his
Speaker 1: bare feet were slammed into a pair of fuzzy slippers.
Speaker 1: It would have almost been comical looks that his eyes
Speaker 1: were burning with rage. His face was red as a brick.
Speaker 1: Keep in mind, I was still high as a kite
Speaker 1: in this reality. Falling Sky's Tea was doing his thing,
Speaker 1: and I was completely blasted. To my perspective, my boss
Speaker 1: was yet another demon from the nowhere zone. He was
Speaker 1: the lord of silf pajamas, surrounded by his cult of
Speaker 1: heavily armored fanatics. It was screamingly absurd in completely horrifying.
Speaker 1: At the same time I thought my head was going
Speaker 1: to explode. Vic pulled a pistol from a pocket and
Speaker 1: his bathrobe and bellowed drop the rifle. Your rushing piece
Speaker 1: of shit. Put it on the fucking floor. Kaz silently
Speaker 1: laid the rifle down, and he slid it across the
Speaker 1: floor to Vic with a nudge from the toe of
Speaker 1: his boot. Vic snatched it up and ejected the magazine.
Speaker 1: He shook it in the air and yelled, So this
Speaker 1: is what happens when I'm not around, This is what
Speaker 1: happens when my back is turned. Vic hurled the rifle
Speaker 1: across the room. It whirled through the air and over
Speaker 1: and and it bounced off the wall. He ended the
Speaker 1: pistol at Kaz and snarled, don't get no funny ideas.
Speaker 1: Over there, have a seat on the edge of the pool.
Speaker 1: He glared over at Miss Dahlia, who was kneeling on
Speaker 1: the floor beside Falling Sky. Vic motioned at them with
Speaker 1: his free hands sneered, Oh, look here, it's lady in
Speaker 1: the tramp. Why aren't you cooling your heels back in
Speaker 1: your own habitat chief, what you're done to say? Come on, witch, doctor?
Speaker 1: Why aren't you watching TV and smoking your beece pipe?
Speaker 1: Falling Sky looked startled when Vic mentioned his illicit television,
Speaker 1: but he remained silent. Vic glanced back at his guard
Speaker 1: and sputtered. He won't talk, so I guess I'll have
Speaker 1: to say it instead. It's because they weren't minding their
Speaker 1: own frigging business. See what happens snowballs, doesn't it? Then
Speaker 1: get out of hand? A lie becomes two lies and
Speaker 1: four lies of snowballs for you know what. Vic standon
Speaker 1: here in his fucking pajamas, and he's pissed. Vic pointed
Speaker 1: at the water and infant boomed, speaking a lion pieces
Speaker 1: as shit. You ain't been exactly truthful lately, have you.
Speaker 1: You've been deleting all the security footage. I fucking knew
Speaker 1: it now. I don't play dumb with me. I notice you?
Speaker 1: And who else could it be? Huh? Those are those
Speaker 1: critters out there. They're old jack shit about video cameras,
Speaker 1: let alone how to erase the recording? And you did
Speaker 1: it again tonight, didn't you? Audio? Video all gone? I
Speaker 1: already checked. And then we got this fucking guy over here,
Speaker 1: this ungrateful little brick that can't keep himself out of trouble.
Speaker 1: Vic pinned me with his glare, and my legs started
Speaker 1: to tremble. He pointed the gun at me and demanded
Speaker 1: What in the almighty fuck did you think you're doing? Kid,
Speaker 1: You're trying to release my poltergeis in the spirit world,
Speaker 1: my freaking polter diece mine. Vic took a deep breath
Speaker 1: and he slowly exhaled. In a softer voice of his
Speaker 1: he said, let me ask you something, goofball, you have
Speaker 1: any idea how much money she brings in? H do you?
Speaker 1: Vic lumbered closer, his upper lip wrinkling back in a snarl.
Speaker 1: He prodded me with the barrel of the gun. Ghosts
Speaker 1: are freaking rare, little douchebag. You know stories of hauntings.
Speaker 1: People talk about the ones you see the National Inquirer
Speaker 1: Unsolved Mysteries. They're all complete both shit. There's a scam
Speaker 1: for the rooms, real ghosts. Freaking hell. That's a one
Speaker 1: million you hear me, one in a million. And not
Speaker 1: only do I have a ghost on display, I have
Speaker 1: an honest to god poltergeist. The rarest the rare people
Speaker 1: will offer me thousands of dollars on top of their
Speaker 1: emission fee just so they can stay and watch her
Speaker 1: for a little longer right there on the spot in cash.
Speaker 1: Talk about thousands here, Billy, tens of thousands, she bags
Speaker 1: me in extra seventy grand just last week tax free,
Speaker 1: chad her boom in my fucking pocket. Vic leaned itfveen closer,
Speaker 1: he murmured, So I'll ask you again, Billy, what the
Speaker 1: fuck do you you're doing? I tried my best to
Speaker 1: meet his ferocious gaze, but that was impossible. His crimson
Speaker 1: demon face made me want to start hyperventilating. I stammered,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Vic, it's just Catherine said, she's in pain.
Speaker 1: I mean all the time, day and night, for over
Speaker 1: a century. It never stops. Vic snorden, and so what,
Speaker 1: she's a freaking psycho? Are you for real? You seriously
Speaker 1: feel bad for this thing? She'll beat your head in
Speaker 1: with a hair brushing. Am I losing my mind over here?
Speaker 1: Who the hell cares if she's in pain? I hesitated
Speaker 1: in the face of Vic's bewildered wrath, But in my
Speaker 1: heart I knew it had to be said. I quickly
Speaker 1: blurted out, you should release her. I mean, yeah, she's dangerous,
Speaker 1: but she's just a little girl. You know, she didn't
Speaker 1: she didn't deserve a fate like that. We can make
Speaker 1: it right. Just let her, let her go. My words
Speaker 1: dried up beneath the red hot fury that blazed in
Speaker 1: Vic's eyes. He screamed into my face for the last time,
Speaker 1: that ain't no little girl. It's a ghost. It's not
Speaker 1: a live jackass. What the hell are you talking about?
Speaker 1: I attempted to speak, but Vic shushed me with the
Speaker 1: barrel of his pistol. He rasped, listen to me, kid,
Speaker 1: here's where I'm coming from. Okay. One, she's freaking dead, deceased,
Speaker 1: not living, gone. That thing ain't human anymore. And two,
Speaker 1: this place ain't supposed to be the gardener eating genius.
Speaker 2: It's a zoo.
Speaker 1: We showed the monsters in a natural state, just like
Speaker 1: we found them. He grabbed me by the chin and
Speaker 1: forced me to look in the eyes. See the guests.
Speaker 1: They come in, right, they come in, They look around
Speaker 1: and they say, wow, this one's a leprechaun, and this
Speaker 1: one's a zombie, and that one's a fucking dragon, and
Speaker 1: that one over there, she's a ghost. When they're friggin
Speaker 1: head cut off to get it. I'm just displaying them
Speaker 1: in their natural state, exactly as I found them. Vic
Speaker 1: looked profoundly disappointed in me. His favorite little caretaker's assistant.
Speaker 1: He also looked very tired. He stifled a yawn and said,
Speaker 1: I'm those saints. That much is true, but to my
Speaker 1: way of thinking, I'm also doing nothing wrong over here, kid.
Speaker 1: And to be very honest, this place is just another enterprise.
Speaker 1: It's my passion, but it's also a business. It was
Speaker 1: created to make money for me, Victor Bonachelli, and I
Speaker 1: fucking love money. Don't you understand who I am yet?
Speaker 1: Your fucking ding dong. I'm a bad guy. I do
Speaker 1: bad guy shit and it makes me money. Believe me,
Speaker 1: whatever happens in this zoo, it's the least of my sins.
Speaker 1: I felt my heart sink into the pits of my stomach.
Speaker 1: I understood my boss was a villain, but it was
Speaker 1: still disheartening to hear him say it out loud. Despite
Speaker 1: his many serious flaws, A part of me really liked
Speaker 1: Victor Bonicelli. Every now and then I'd see a brief
Speaker 1: flash of a man he should have become if his
Speaker 1: circumstances have been different. I think that made it a
Speaker 1: lot worse. I murmured, ghosts or not. She can think
Speaker 1: and she can feel. They all think and feel Vic
Speaker 1: and they suffer. Vic patted me roughly on the cheek
Speaker 1: and retorted, don't worry about none of that, kid, worry
Speaker 1: about me instead, because I'm trying to keep you alive
Speaker 1: right now, trying my very best to not fucking kill you.
Speaker 1: But you're making me second guess my decision here, Kape,
Speaker 1: So let's be done with this, okay, and the discussion
Speaker 1: more of the story is don't ever fuck with Victor's money.
Speaker 1: It's the number one commandment in the book of Vic.
Speaker 1: Don't even think about it. I'm in a cracked, colorless whisper,
Speaker 1: I said, But I don't reveal the book of man's identity,
Speaker 1: he'll come after me, he'll kill me. Vic flapped a
Speaker 1: hand at me into dismissive gesture. He asked, well, you
Speaker 1: know for sure, and maybe he won't bother and if
Speaker 1: he does, well it sounds like a you problem. Gave
Speaker 1: you a gun, didn't I use it? And if that
Speaker 1: don't work, maybe Kas will be getting a new partner.
Speaker 1: All I know for sure is you ain't revealing the
Speaker 1: guy's identity to fucking nobody, because if Catherine disappears, so
Speaker 1: do you. Vic patted me on the cheek again. The
Speaker 1: impact was a bit softer this time. He sighed dramatically
Speaker 1: and said he had good intentions. Kid. I understand your
Speaker 1: point of view, but doing the right thing, you know
Speaker 1: it ain't always in your best interests. Sometimes you gotta
Speaker 1: say nah, fuck those guys and do what's best for you.
Speaker 1: Who's the whole world could join hands and sing just
Speaker 1: like you, But that ain't gonna happen. You gotta stop
Speaker 1: following your heart, start using your brain instead. I could
Speaker 1: see Kaz sitting against the edge of the pond in
Speaker 1: the background. His expression was blank and neutral. Looking at him,
Speaker 1: I had a sudden thought, how did Vic know so
Speaker 1: much about what happened tonight? All the surveillance footage had
Speaker 1: been deleted. There was no video, no audio, nothing. The
Speaker 1: only witness to our shenanigans was the security goon who
Speaker 1: got ruffed up by Kaz, and I doubt he knew
Speaker 1: much about the situation with Catherine. So how did Vic
Speaker 1: know exactly what was going on? Who told him? And
Speaker 1: when Vic snapped his fingers in my face he barked,
Speaker 1: don't look over there. He ain't gonna help you. Believe me,
Speaker 1: you're all in deep shit right now, and they'll be drinking.
Speaker 1: No more of that tea with that skin walker. She's
Speaker 1: lo whiz. Your eyes ain't even looking in the same direction.
Speaker 1: That shit scrambles your brain absolutely off limits from now on.
Speaker 1: Billy gabbed a finger into my chest and added, don't
Speaker 1: be smoking, no grass, running and neither. I know you
Speaker 1: kids are all smoking a reef for these days. Keep
Speaker 1: your doobies at home. He turned to the others and commanded,
Speaker 1: now get back to whatever you're supposed to be doing.
Speaker 1: All you. I deal with this bullshit tomorrow, going back
Speaker 1: to bed now. One of the burly security guards pushed
Speaker 1: his way to the front. It was the goon from
Speaker 1: earlier that night. His nose was a slanting, swollen mess.
Speaker 1: In a nasal tone, he added, Hey, hold up a second,
Speaker 1: what about me, Victor Hookho The rest of you guy
Speaker 1: did to my face and you gotta let me return
Speaker 1: the favor. Victor fixed him with a cold stare. He
Speaker 1: didn't respond for an uncomfortable length of time. He just
Speaker 1: stood there and glared at his wayward minion, breathing heavily.
Speaker 1: The silence piled up in layers around them, and finally
Speaker 1: he said, that ain't gonna happen. I understand your anger, Tony,
Speaker 1: but you're speaking out of turn. I don't know you
Speaker 1: nothing like that. I deal with it myself in my
Speaker 1: own way. Tony the security goon was much displeased with
Speaker 1: his denial. He smacked his fist into his palm in
Speaker 1: a show of impotent rage, and yelled, I'm your second
Speaker 1: cousin's godson, Victor, don't that mean something wrong here? You're
Speaker 1: gonna let me settle up with this guy. Victor gave
Speaker 1: him a serene look and replied, you're my second cousin's
Speaker 1: god son, is true, the only.
Speaker 2: Reason he got this job.
Speaker 1: But that don't make your families see not in any
Speaker 1: sense of the word. I don't speak. Just listen and write.
Speaker 1: This rough looking bastard over there he could have ended
Speaker 1: you tonight. Kid. This guy was stacking bodies when you
Speaker 1: were still in diapers. But here's a good news. He
Speaker 1: didn't end you. That's a gift, he renewed, Lisa on life,
Speaker 1: if you will take it humbly and learn from it.
Speaker 1: Vic pointed at him, his expression still calm and collected.
Speaker 1: He said, but most importantly, you need to learn how
Speaker 1: to shut the fuck up right speak unless I tell
Speaker 1: you to speak. Just give me a quick yes, sir,
Speaker 1: mister Bone and Shelley, do as you're told. See right now,
Speaker 1: you ain't doing your job. You're supposed to be protecting
Speaker 1: this building and everything inside of it. And that didn't happen,
Speaker 1: did it. You ain't doing your fucking job, Tony. Now
Speaker 1: you think you can just start making demands over here?
Speaker 1: You got some real nerve, kid. I don't think I
Speaker 1: want you around anymore. Tony was finally starting to understand
Speaker 1: what was about to happen. His rage evaporated into a
Speaker 1: midst of watering eyes and quivering lips. He held up
Speaker 1: his hand and quavered, I'm sorry they I didn't mean
Speaker 1: to speak. How to turn ever again? Uh, I'll do better, okay, please,
Speaker 1: I'm your second cousin's god son. Vic muttered, you ain't
Speaker 1: nobody to me and shot Tony in the mouth. The
Speaker 1: young Herdlum stumbled backwards and gurgling scream bubbling through his
Speaker 1: shattered teeth. Vic shot him again in the leg and
Speaker 1: toppled to the floor. The boss casually strolled over, his
Speaker 1: free hand tucked into his bathrobe pocket. He said, I
Speaker 1: don't even like that cousin. You fucking dipshit, and he
Speaker 1: shot the man twice more, aiming for the back of
Speaker 1: his head. The gunfire was almost deafeningly loud in the
Speaker 1: enclosed space with that reception area. The rest of Vic's
Speaker 1: security goons barely even flinched. They had all seen it coming.
Speaker 1: Vic wordlessly pointed at the body, and his men sprang
Speaker 1: into action as they dragged away the corpse. Vick looked
Speaker 1: over at us and barked, I can't freaking believe you people,
Speaker 1: chass falling Sky, Miss Dahlia. No, Billy, you're a different story,
Speaker 1: and you're still young. You to have all those morals
Speaker 1: and beliefs, all that stupid shit with the rest of you,
Speaker 1: I thought you were smart. Vic pulled his bathrobe shut,
Speaker 1: crossed his arms tightly over his chest. He groaned, I
Speaker 1: don't know what to say to these guys. You know,
Speaker 1: disappointed me tonight, and look what happened. I almost lost
Speaker 1: my skin walker and my poulticgeist and only got to
Speaker 1: make up some bushous stories for my cousin too, a
Speaker 1: second cousin, and I don't like him much. Fucking guy's
Speaker 1: a humorous prick anyway. It's neither here nor there I
Speaker 1: still got to make up a story, and I'll be
Speaker 1: expected to hand the kid's parents of fat envelope at
Speaker 1: his funeral, which will be paid at my expense. By
Speaker 1: the way, you know how much funerals cost these days?
Speaker 1: Holy shit, just an arm and a leg. They want
Speaker 1: to lung the kidney eat A bunch of fucking ghouls,
Speaker 1: These funeral home people. I swear they belonged to Zoo.
Speaker 1: Of course. The scream suddenly came echoing from across the
Speaker 1: dimly lit expanse of the lobby. There was a frantic
Speaker 1: burst of gunfire, followed by another wave of screaming, and
Speaker 1: then there was silence falling. Sky pushed himself up into
Speaker 1: a sitting position. He grimaced in pain as he lifted
Speaker 1: a paw at the open door. Someone should close that,
Speaker 1: he panted, he's here. Vic squinted into the darkness. He growled,
Speaker 1: Who is he is? That friggin book guy? The hell's
Speaker 1: going on? Something came rolling out of a gloom. It
Speaker 1: wobbled to a halt in front of Vic's slippers. It
Speaker 1: was a severed head, freshly sliced from the shoulders of
Speaker 1: a security guard. An expression of Agonke's terror was frozen
Speaker 1: on his face. One eye glared sightlessly at his feet.
Speaker 1: The other it was missing. It had been replaced with
Speaker 1: a chunk of quartz. Vic yelled something in Sicilian as
Speaker 1: he kicked the severed head across the room. He slammed
Speaker 1: the door shut and announced, all right, guess I ain't
Speaker 1: going back to bed just yet. Miss Dahlia looked stunned.
Speaker 1: In a small voice, she asked, how many men did
Speaker 1: he just kill? Nine? Ten? That's she trailed off. Vic
Speaker 1: nodded and said, yeah, it ain't good. He killed them
Speaker 1: all in about eight seconds. Tops. They're not good at all.
Speaker 1: Maybe your geniuses shouldn't fuck with the undead. What do
Speaker 1: you think, huh? I tell you sometimes I wish I
Speaker 1: could sell this place and concentrate on a dealership. Ain't
Speaker 1: no bullshit over there, just quality vehicles that infordable price.
Speaker 1: I was freaking the fuck out. The walls were breathing,
Speaker 1: the ceiling was closing in. Everything was wavering around like
Speaker 1: a heat mirage, and now I was about to get killed.
Speaker 1: Vic saw the look in my face and pointed his
Speaker 1: gun at me. Don't say it, don't even fucking think
Speaker 1: about it. He kills you, I kill you gun matter.
Speaker 1: It's all the saying, but none of it has to happen. Kid,
Speaker 1: You know why, because Vic just got himself a plan.
Speaker 1: He ran into his office and came back with something
Speaker 1: that looked like a bazookah. He said, it's a net
Speaker 1: gun got him made special just for times like this.
Speaker 1: We gotta nab this cocksucker while we got a chance.
Speaker 1: He's a ghost, things go wrong, he just disappears. Nah,
Speaker 1: we get to lower him in right now. I already
Speaker 1: knew where this was going. I said, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: like this plan pretty much, am I? Who fucking cares?
Speaker 2: Would you like?
Speaker 1: Vic's not back. He wants you, not us. You gone
Speaker 1: his identity safe, So we're gonna stick you out there
Speaker 1: and use you as bait. Okay, when he comes and
Speaker 1: get you, I'll hit him with the net. Gun net
Speaker 1: was treaty with a coating of pure silver. When a
Speaker 1: lands on him, that's it. We got him and he
Speaker 1: won't be a problem no more. A horrible idea came
Speaker 1: burbling to the surface of my mind. Slowly, I asked,
Speaker 1: are you are you planning on displaying him? Oh? Hell yeah,
Speaker 1: Vick boom cheerfully. You better believe it real, Go Serrea,
Speaker 1: and a poltergeist is a needle in a haystack, but
Speaker 1: it's sunny day. A serial killing demon worshiping motherfucker like him.
Speaker 1: Forget about it, mine a bank. He wrapped his beefy
Speaker 1: armor on my shoulders and said, picture it, Billy, the
Speaker 1: demonic serial killer and his victim, both of them right here,
Speaker 1: side by side. That dynamic would be worth a fortune, kid,
Speaker 1: I tell you, will you pull us off. Don't make
Speaker 1: me forget all about your little transgressions here tonight, not
Speaker 1: to mention all those guys who got freaking killed right
Speaker 1: the pauses back in New York. If they're giving me
Speaker 1: hell about that on Monday, you better believe it. Vic
Speaker 1: shushed me at the barrel of his pistol and said,
Speaker 1: don't even try it. I ain't asking over you, okay.
Speaker 1: I'm telling standing there in the lobby, maybe fifteen feet
Speaker 1: or so from the door, that's it.
Speaker 2: I'll do the rest.
Speaker 1: He looked back at the others and shook his finger
Speaker 1: at him. Everyone else keep their opinions to themselves, saying
Speaker 1: the democracy. Vic unlocked the door and eased it open.
Speaker 1: He cupped his hand to his mouth and yelled into
Speaker 1: the darkness. Hey, book man, how about you and I
Speaker 1: make a deal. I give you Billy and return you
Speaker 1: leave the rest of us alone. No one else knows
Speaker 1: your identity. Just a kid. What do you say? Eh?
Speaker 1: You would take him and go. I don't get a shit, No,
Speaker 1: I'd feelings out of nowhere. I was abruptly seized by
Speaker 1: a fit of giggling. The tea washed over me in
Speaker 1: a thick, slutgy wave, and now the room was absolutely
Speaker 1: humming with transcendent energy. I suddenly understood I could be
Speaker 1: in love with miss Dahlia and it would be okay.
Speaker 1: Nothing matters but light and love. That gawkeed at me
Speaker 1: in disbelief. He sputtered, what are you laughing for? Get
Speaker 1: it together, you frigging space, get it be ready to
Speaker 1: move when I tell you to move, because I only
Speaker 1: got one shot of this prick, So if you both
Speaker 1: wind up in the net together, that's not my problem. Gone,
Speaker 1: got it. He shoved me into the lobby, and the
Speaker 1: uncontrollable gigglings started to a halt. The bubble of euphoria
Speaker 1: abruptly popped, and I was filled with dread. The shadows
Speaker 1: danced and whirled and sinister patterns, and the floor rolled
Speaker 1: beneath my feet. I was certain I was about to die.
Speaker 1: I urgently whispered Sheriff Blotto uneaed your protection, like right now, please, please, please,
Speaker 1: don't let me get murdered. It was dead silent in
Speaker 1: the lobby. I could hear a clock on the wall
Speaker 1: steadily whirring the seconds away. I was almost vibrating with adrenaline.
Speaker 1: Behind me, Vic quietly growled, what the hell's he waiting for? Christmas?
Speaker 1: Come on, you fucking blow John kids right there, come
Speaker 1: get him. Seconds stretched into minutes. My legs are trembling
Speaker 1: so badly I thought I was going to fall over.
Speaker 1: I was a brief moment away from saying fuck this
Speaker 1: shit and begging Vic to let me back in. But
Speaker 1: then I heard a familiar sound out in the thick
Speaker 1: of the gloom. It was the muffled scrape of a
Speaker 1: shoe against the floor. Steps were approaching. I shot a
Speaker 1: quick look back at Vic, blinking against the sweat that
Speaker 1: was suddenly pouring down my forehead. Then that gun was
Speaker 1: propped up against his shoulder and his finger was on
Speaker 1: the trigger. The footsteps were drawing closer, but I couldn't
Speaker 1: see anyone approaching. Weakly, I called out, hey, is that you? Hey?
Speaker 1: Show yourself, you fucking weirdo. From somewhere down by my knees.
Speaker 1: A gruff voice answered, watch who you're calling weirdo, young fella.
Speaker 1: I'll go save someone else's life. How did that sound?
Speaker 1: I looked down and saw Blotto's weathered face scowling up
Speaker 1: at me. I started babbling a frantic apology, but he
Speaker 1: waved it off and said, it's fine, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: I've heard worse. Have you ever tried to sort out
Speaker 1: a domestic dispute between an ogre and his wife? This
Speaker 1: one time? The wife had her husband and a chokehold
Speaker 1: when I got there, so I took her down and
Speaker 1: chained her arms, and as soon as he caught his breath,
Speaker 1: the husband jumped up and started throwing haymakers at me
Speaker 1: with those ham sized fists. While I was struggling to
Speaker 1: get his arms behind his back, the wife snuck up
Speaker 1: behind me and kicked me in the groin. She kicked
Speaker 1: me so hard I was launching in the air like
Speaker 1: a rocket, smashed through the ceiling, landed in the attic.
Speaker 1: My poor lacorn swelled up to the size of tennis balls.
Speaker 1: Vick called out who you're talking to over there? And
Speaker 1: he came storming into the lobby like a thundercloud. He
Speaker 1: pointed a Sheriff b Lotto and man, who hell is this?
Speaker 1: What you no? What the fuck is there a gnome
Speaker 1: out here? Billy Blotto gave my boss a look of
Speaker 1: weathered contempt. He said, my name is Sheriff Blotto. I'm
Speaker 1: an agent of law enforcement in the service of Murcus,
Speaker 1: King of the Sprites. Vick rumbled, you're pig, ain't you?
Speaker 1: Why are you here, baby Bacon? You know a warrant
Speaker 1: from the Sprite King. Huh, You're not gonna fuck yourself here?
Speaker 1: Welcome in. Oh. It was horrified. I asked Dick, you
Speaker 1: can't talk to him like that. Vick's naier, Sure I can.
Speaker 1: Why not? I got no respect for cops. The whole
Speaker 1: reason for this existence is to be a huge pain
Speaker 1: in my ass. Fuck them all. Blotto jabbed his finger
Speaker 1: in the air between them and retorted, if you weren't
Speaker 1: such a low life, you wouldn't have had to worry
Speaker 1: about the law. You're an infamous scoundrel. Victor Obama Celli
Speaker 1: the spirit world will not be kind to you. Vick
Speaker 1: grinned at me and said, yeah, you see that Billy.
Speaker 1: He had a sprites know about victim on the chillie look,
Speaker 1: flat foot. I don't know why you're here, but I
Speaker 1: got the situation on the controls, so don't let the
Speaker 1: door hit your ass on the way out. Blotto gave
Speaker 1: him a serene look and replied, Billy was about to
Speaker 1: be murdered by the order of King Murcus. I can't
Speaker 1: allow that to happen. Billy is one of his royal subjects.
Speaker 1: Nick gaped at him for a second, his lips twitching
Speaker 1: as he tried to make sense of the information. He wheezed,
Speaker 1: fucking what what what you're talking about? Blippo? This guy,
Speaker 1: this fucking guy right here, What the hell did that happen?
Speaker 1: Blotto gave him a cold stare. He said, King Murkus,
Speaker 1: he's value in his existence. I'm sworn to protect his life.
Speaker 1: Nick suddenly looked a bit uneasy. He put on a
Speaker 1: greasy smile and boom, No, hell, I wasn't gonna hurt him.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty steamed at the goofy little fuck right now,
Speaker 1: but I wasn't gonna hurt the guy. I was just
Speaker 1: trying to use him lure of dohose to know trap
Speaker 1: this ghost I'm talking about now? He who He's a
Speaker 1: real scoundrel, right, I was gonna, you know, contain him,
Speaker 1: make sure he couldn't hurt nobody else. What are you
Speaker 1: gonna do, Johnny Lawman, You're gonna call something, the gnome
Speaker 1: replied crisply, No, I can't do that. He's already dead.
Speaker 1: My presence was all that was needed here tonight. The
Speaker 1: fiend is already gone. Vic looked deeply disappointed, with his
Speaker 1: nutgun dangling at his side. In a dejected manner, he asked, Zo,
Speaker 1: is that it Guy's gone forever? Blotto snorted, He's a ghost.
Speaker 1: He can disappear and come back at will when he
Speaker 1: does if it's necessary. Of course, I prevent him from
Speaker 1: taking Billy's life. That's about all I can do. Spirits
Speaker 1: can't be punished by the laws of the living. The
Speaker 1: dead rule their own house. Blotto turned to me with
Speaker 1: a solemn expression. He said, take care, Billy. Continue to
Speaker 1: be good in heart and good in deeds. Never be
Speaker 1: afraid to do what's right. He shot a disgruntled glance
Speaker 1: at Vic. Before turning his back on him. He said,
Speaker 1: Victor Bonicelli was not a pleasure to meet. You. Change
Speaker 1: your way, sir, and make a ends to those you've wronged.
Speaker 1: Vic snarle get fucked him the finger as he walked
Speaker 1: off into the darkness. Before he disappeared, Blotto called out,
Speaker 1: there's a mess of severed heads and body parts out here,
Speaker 1: your man. I presume that's what you refer to as
Speaker 1: having the situation under control, but a shameful display. You're
Speaker 1: not a leader, Victor, you're a dictator. Vic yelled some
Speaker 1: colorful insults back at him, but Blotto was already gone.
Speaker 1: Vic whirled around and glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
Speaker 1: He snapped, get back out there, Billy. We ain't done yet.
Speaker 1: So those guys, they were connected to the family, and
Speaker 1: that's going to be at least three more funerals. They
Speaker 1: had to cover, coughin, burial, couse, flowers, catering for the
Speaker 1: reception after it, more envelopes, all that shit you cost
Speaker 1: me a fortune at night. I'm getting it back one
Speaker 1: way or another. Quietly, I said, no, I'm done here.
Speaker 1: I don't belong I'm just I can't keep doing this shit.
Speaker 1: You know. I'm sorry, man, I'm fucking Doneah. I'll stay
Speaker 1: until the end of my shift and I'm gone. My
Speaker 1: life is completely fucked. It's all because of the zoo
Speaker 1: on my old life back things to be normal again,
Speaker 1: VIC grunted, Nope, No, can't do kiddo. You know too much.
Speaker 1: You know about me, that's bad enough. You also know
Speaker 1: about the monsters, and that's even worse. You know too
Speaker 1: fucking much in general. That can't happen. Who's sticking to
Speaker 1: the original plan, kid, And you better pray to that ghost
Speaker 1: comes back to finish the job because I need him.
Speaker 1: My resolve was already crumbling. I could see Kaz lurking
Speaker 1: in the doorway from the corner of my eye, silently watching,
Speaker 1: judging me no doubt. In a wavering voice, I squeaked,
Speaker 1: you can't hurt me, Vic, I have the protection of
Speaker 1: the Sprite King. There's nothing stopping I'm I trailed off
Speaker 1: as a huge, enormous realization surfaced in my mind. I
Speaker 1: was virtual death proof. Nothing could kill me. My guardian
Speaker 1: Gnome would put a stop to it by any means.
Speaker 1: That chemical euphorious surged in my veins and I cackled.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm invulnerable, now, asked, Oh, watch this. I spread
Speaker 1: it directly at the wall, much to my dismay, I
Speaker 1: slammed into the concrete and hurt myself quite terribly. My
Speaker 1: face hit the wall with a horrible smack, and I
Speaker 1: saw a flash of light behind my eyes. I tumbled
Speaker 1: to the floor, my nose spewing a violent gush of blood,
Speaker 1: and I clapped my hands over my face. VIC looked
Speaker 1: down at me, his expression somewhat between startled and amused.
Speaker 1: He poked me with the net gun and chuckled. He
Speaker 1: never said you couldn't get hurt, you fucking fry head,
Speaker 1: especially if you're the one doing the hurt. But your
Speaker 1: tiny gnome cop did say you couldn't get killed. A
Speaker 1: big difference. Vic called me to my feet. He pulled
Speaker 1: a wad of tissues from his robe and stuffed them
Speaker 1: into my hands. And clean yourself up. I got allergies,
Speaker 1: so always carry a bunch of tissues around. Hey, they
Speaker 1: ain't been used, all right, They're all mashed up in
Speaker 1: my pocket. That's all. Not like I was jerking into
Speaker 1: him or something. What do you take me for? Come on,
Speaker 1: wipe your face. Vic leaned closer and squinted at me
Speaker 1: in the dim light. He remembered, all right, let's see. Nah,
Speaker 1: your knows ain't broken. I told you them. Drugs mess
Speaker 1: up your brain. Just look at the skin walking. That
Speaker 1: guy's a burnout, spend most of his time staring at
Speaker 1: lava am blowing smoke. Ring. You don't want to end
Speaker 1: up like that. The gush of blood from my nose
Speaker 1: was violent, but it was brief. I shoved the bloody
Speaker 1: water tissues into a pouch in my utility belt and said,
Speaker 1: I don't want to end up like that, because I'm leaving.
Speaker 1: I started to walk away, and Vic called after me,
Speaker 1: and then didn't say nothing about other people? Did he?
Speaker 1: My froze in my tracks. I then stomped over to
Speaker 1: face him. My hands were clenched in the fists. I demanded,
Speaker 1: what do you mean by that? Vic gave me an
Speaker 1: exaggerated shrug. What do you think I mean? I'm just
Speaker 1: saying he never mentioned nothing about protecting anyone by you,
Speaker 1: So I guess I could turn my attention to someone else, right,
Speaker 1: something important to you. I felt the blood drained from
Speaker 1: my face. I sputtered, you do that, vict ol, Vic Rod,
Speaker 1: you'll do what, tough guy. Huh when you go to
Speaker 1: the public about the zoo, you mean idea what happened
Speaker 1: to the cryptids? If you blew the whistle? No, no
Speaker 1: need to do eye, but I bet you wouldn't be good.
Speaker 1: What else you got? Huh? You're wret me for being
Speaker 1: a gangster. Huh you think the cops already know about that?
Speaker 1: Of course they do this gotta be able to prove
Speaker 1: it in the court of law, and they can't do that.
Speaker 1: They tried. Believe me, I snarled, I'd kill you if
Speaker 1: that's what I had to do. I'd find a way,
Speaker 1: vick sneering. Oh, speaking of laws, you're a royal subject,
Speaker 1: so you gotta follow the rules of your kingdom. You know.
Speaker 1: I know the laws of the Fay almost as good
Speaker 1: as our own, kid. I know for a fact, you
Speaker 1: ain't allowed to commit no murder. Killing for revenge is
Speaker 1: also strictly forbidden. If you managed to take me out somehow,
Speaker 1: or you'd find yourself sitting for Jerry or peers. The
Speaker 1: only thing is those soul called peers would all be
Speaker 1: gnomes and fairies and shit like that. The faithfolk don't
Speaker 1: like us very much. Most of them think we're all
Speaker 1: pieces of shit. Da'd pronounce you guilty and you'd be
Speaker 1: dangling by the neck for sunrise. That little tidbit shuting
Speaker 1: me you up right smartly. I hadn't given much thought
Speaker 1: about what it meant to be a royal subject. Of course,
Speaker 1: it would be my civic duty to uphold and obey
Speaker 1: their laws. Vic saw the blood drained from my face
Speaker 1: and he gave me an unpleasant smile. He said, you know,
Speaker 1: there's a place I know, a farm ound in the
Speaker 1: millan Noha and two hundred acres corn fields woods. They
Speaker 1: do whatever I want to out there. No one will
Speaker 1: hears see a thing anything you could imagine. You'd never
Speaker 1: know what happened to him, and it would eat you alive.
Speaker 1: A sludgy wave of despair rolled over my soul has
Speaker 1: predicted I fucked it all up. I didn't save Catherine hell,
Speaker 1: I didn't even save myself. Instead, my scatterbrain bullshit got
Speaker 1: a bunch of people killed. Didn't matter if they're good
Speaker 1: people or bad people, by the way their blood was
Speaker 1: on my hands. My friends were all in hot water
Speaker 1: for helping me out, and now my parents were in
Speaker 1: danger too. On top of all, of that a random
Speaker 1: necromancer from Damascus wanted me dead, and the spirit of
Speaker 1: a perverted serial killer also wanted to kill me. The
Speaker 1: fact that they would be unable to accomplish this goal
Speaker 1: was somewhat comforting, but still, no one likes it when
Speaker 1: other people want them to die. It's a huge bummer.
Speaker 1: Despite my best efforts, I somehow kept making things worse
Speaker 1: at every turn. It is simply no way out from
Speaker 1: beneath Victor Bunchelli's looming thumb. Mach I was stuck. Vic
Speaker 1: patted me on the shoulder. He said, I ain't mad
Speaker 1: at you, kid. I mean I'm mad, sure, but not
Speaker 1: like mad mad. You know I'm a bad guy. Don't
Speaker 1: mean I'm stupid. I can see you trying to do
Speaker 1: the right thing, you know. Just forget about all that
Speaker 1: cramp Okay, forget about right and wrong. Come in, do
Speaker 1: your shift, make your money, enjoy your life. That's all
Speaker 1: you gotta do. Let's catch this frigging ghost. You will
Speaker 1: forget any of this ever happened. Eh. Our conversation was
Speaker 1: interrupted by a scream from inside the reception area. Kats
Speaker 1: pulled out a squirt gun and yelled over his shoulder. Victor,
Speaker 1: come quickly. Vick and I both hustled into the room.
Speaker 1: I felt his malignant presence before I saw it. He
Speaker 1: was the Bookman. He had missed. Elilah clutched in front
Speaker 1: of him, and he was holding his knife against her throat.
Speaker 1: The skin Walker was hunched against the side of the pool,
Speaker 1: bearing his fangs in a wide snarl. He was too
Speaker 1: injured to do anything else. The Bookman showed his rotting
Speaker 1: teeth in a leering grin.
Speaker 2: He said, I shack be withered away behind the walls
Speaker 2: of your prison, Mister Bonachelli, at the end of days,
Speaker 2: I will rule the chaos at my master's side. Drop
Speaker 2: the infernal contraption in your hands, or the nymph will
Speaker 2: lose her head.
Speaker 1: I screamed, Let her go and try to rush him.
Speaker 1: Caz grab me and drag me back, he whispered into
Speaker 1: my ear. Think before you act, you need a plan.
Speaker 1: The Bookman smirked at me and said, your life is
Speaker 1: safe from all but the immortals. This is true, but
Speaker 1: as mister Bonachelli shrewdly pointed out, this protection does not
Speaker 1: extend to someone you love. There is only one thing
Speaker 1: you can do to save her, Billy, you must forever
Speaker 1: silence your own tongue, take your own life, and I
Speaker 1: will allow her to live. You can't speak my name faster,
Speaker 1: then I can cut her throat. Dick shouted, ya, go
Speaker 1: fuck yourself, douchea. We don't negotiate with no terrorists. Miss
Speaker 1: Dahlia was frozen with fear. I could see a thin
Speaker 1: trickle of red oozing from the spot where the knife
Speaker 1: had pressed into her neck. She was strong, but the
Speaker 1: Bookman was much stronger. She whimpered, don't do it, Billy.
Speaker 1: My life isn't worth more than yours. VIC, call it
Speaker 1: what you better believe your life is worth more than
Speaker 1: this idiot. Hell, you cost me almost a million bucks, lady.
Speaker 1: The Bookman's eyes blazed in their cavernous sockets. He said,
Speaker 1: the Faye do not have a place in a spirit world.
Speaker 1: You will never see her again. VIC was beside himself
Speaker 1: with rage. He dropped the net gun and scream, let
Speaker 1: her go, dickhead. I fight her right now, man, man,
Speaker 1: fucking come get some pussy. I felt like I was
Speaker 1: gonna throw up a plan. I needed my dumb fucking
Speaker 1: brain to spin up a plan. What what could I do?
Speaker 1: What I looked over where Falling said. I was crouched
Speaker 1: against Miss Delilah's pool and I suddenly it suddenly clicked.
Speaker 1: I turned to Vick and mumbled, he'll be right back.
Speaker 1: I walked over to stand next to Fallings. I announced, well,
Speaker 1: this is it you want, mister bookman, I'll see you
Speaker 1: on the other side. Falling guy gave me a questioning look.
Speaker 1: I patted his furry head and told him, don't worry, man,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna visit your ancestres real quick. I shot a
Speaker 1: meaningful glance at Miss Delilah and then flipped over the
Speaker 1: side and fell into the pool. My heavy boots and
Speaker 1: kevlarsuit dragged me to the bottom. I thought, here goes nothing,
Speaker 1: and I let the hazy water rush into my lungs.
Speaker 1: It was a horrible feeling. I thrashed around at the
Speaker 1: bottom for a while, and I felt myself fading away,
Speaker 1: and then.
Speaker 2: I was gone.
Speaker 1: I was in the spirit world as usual. I was
Speaker 1: greeted by a dense, lifeless fog in every direction. This
Speaker 1: was the veil of my own ignorance, obscuring the truth
Speaker 1: and clouding my sight. In a spirit world, you don't
Speaker 1: perceive your surroundings of your eyes. You see them through
Speaker 1: your mind. So I imagine a time long before my own
Speaker 1: progenators ever set foot in the New World. There was
Speaker 1: no roads, no cities, no pizza parlors or movie theaters.
Speaker 1: The entire continent was an unspoiled landscape of arid plains
Speaker 1: and deep forests, tall mountains, flowing rivers. This was the
Speaker 1: world that belonged to the ancestors. A falling sky. I
Speaker 1: hollered into the burning sun, Ancestors, a falling sky, can
Speaker 1: you hear me? The whispering wind broke my ear. The
Speaker 1: voice sounded suspiciously like a bunch of Navajo warriors who
Speaker 1: were barely able to contain their laughter. It said, Billy Whitebread,
Speaker 1: the demon slayer. You speared the succubists, and you live
Speaker 1: to tell the tale. A small crowd of falling skies
Speaker 1: ancestors gathered around me, all them grinning from ear to ear.
Speaker 1: One of them explained, here he is, boys, the man,
Speaker 1: the myth, the legend. They all started laughing and elbowing
Speaker 1: each other. I waved my hands frantically to shush them
Speaker 1: and said, look, look, I don't have much time. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm dead right now. Hopefully that changes in a minute
Speaker 1: or two, but I need a favor from you, guys.
Speaker 1: I was approached by the tall, somber looking warrior I
Speaker 1: had spoken to last time. He gripped my hand and said,
Speaker 1: anything for the Demon's layer. Teach us your way is,
Speaker 1: oh great, mighty hunter. Teach us how to pull some
Speaker 1: of that demon booty that got them all cracking up again.
Speaker 1: Someone called out from the back of the crowd, that
Speaker 1: must have been crazy right, give us the details. I
Speaker 1: shushed them again, and I spoke urgently about a wolf
Speaker 1: who disguised himself as a shepherd. They explained what I
Speaker 1: would do if I was allowed to return to the living.
Speaker 1: Their rowdy good cheers soured as I spoke to them,
Speaker 1: and it morphed into smoldering rage. The tall warrior gave
Speaker 1: me a grave nod and said it would be our pleasure.
Speaker 1: We'll be waiting. I gave him my sincerest thanks, and
Speaker 1: I was suddenly coughing up a lung full of water.
Speaker 1: I was lying on the floor in our reception area,
Speaker 1: and Miss Dahlier was looking down at me with tears
Speaker 1: in her eyes. She gasped, I did it. He's breathing.
Speaker 1: Vic's broad's sweaty face loomed into view. He asked, you
Speaker 1: crazy son of a bitch. That was pretty smart, you
Speaker 1: know that? And I was really freaking clever. I drew
Speaker 1: in a painful lung of air and I was racked
Speaker 1: by another coughing fit. When it was over, I croaked.
Speaker 1: Where is the VIC motion to the ceiling with a
Speaker 1: sad look in his eyes. He's gone back to the
Speaker 1: spirit world. I guess burns my ass. I didn't get
Speaker 1: him for the zoo and over yet. If you ain't dead,
Speaker 1: I'm sure I'll be back. Here's what I'm thinking. Okay,
Speaker 1: we'll put you in a big cage made with silver.
Speaker 1: You know, I rig up a bunch of those net
Speaker 1: guns motion sensors. When he comes in to get you, boom,
Speaker 1: he's mine. No worry. I'll put a cotton age you
Speaker 1: can sleep, chemical toilet, yeah, curtain, comfy chair, maybe TV.
Speaker 1: It don't sound terrible, but it won't be so bad.
Speaker 1: Do you like those video games? Yeah? Your young people,
Speaker 1: they love the video games. Am I right? I've got
Speaker 1: you one of those game consoles I see in a commercial. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do that sound. I dragged in another tortured breath,
Speaker 1: and I choked. The book man is William Finley Crenshaw.
Speaker 1: He murders women and children. He murdered Catherine. A demented
Speaker 1: howl of rage emanated from the thin air around us,
Speaker 1: and it was silent again. Vic's eyes widened and shock
Speaker 1: He dropped to his knees and grabbed me by the arms.
Speaker 1: He spotted you a little piece of shit. What'd you
Speaker 1: do that for? After everything I told you in the lobby? Why?
Speaker 1: Because Catherine doesn't deserve any more pain? I weas I
Speaker 1: started coughing again. Victor jumped up and roared, Nah fucking hell, Peltergeist.
Speaker 1: He scrambled out the door and broke into a heavy
Speaker 1: set jog. He was heading for the employee entrance to
Speaker 1: the service tunnels. After he was gone, everyone stared at
Speaker 1: me with a kind of morbid fascination. I pulled myself
Speaker 1: to my feet by the edge of the pool, and
Speaker 1: I demanded, what what are you people looking at? Kaz
Speaker 1: murmured that was very brave, billy Whitebread, but your bravery
Speaker 1: will cost you dearly. I chuckled a bit to myself,
Speaker 1: still clinging to the retaining wall of the pool, without
Speaker 1: looking at him. I asked, is it Ukaz? Are you
Speaker 1: the snitch? Tell me the truth? Man? Kaz silently awighed
Speaker 1: his answer. Quietly, he said, sometimes things are not as
Speaker 1: they first appear. Remember that. That weakly replied, Oh, I
Speaker 1: really hope it's not Ukaz, because I'll tell you something. Man.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I believe that. There was another
Speaker 1: uncomfortable silence. Kaz was looking at me with that stoic
Speaker 1: non expression, unreadable and unknowable. The tenser was broken by
Speaker 1: the sound of vic slippers clapping rapidly across the marble floor. Falling.
Speaker 1: Sky backed away into a corner. His first standing on end,
Speaker 1: he said, the time of reckoning has come. Billy white Bread,
Speaker 1: be brave, pray for the best. Vic burst into the
Speaker 1: room and hollowed, you, dirty, cocksucking mother fucker. She's gone,
Speaker 1: you little prick. I can't find you. She got released
Speaker 1: into the spear world. Now she's gone. I closed my
Speaker 1: eyes and breathed, She's free, Rest in peace with angel.
Speaker 1: Vic almost purple with rage. He hauled out his pistol
Speaker 1: and started aiming it at me, and then he let
Speaker 1: loose a scream of rage and threw it instead, and
Speaker 1: the gun sailed over my head and clattered across the floor.
Speaker 1: He roared, I'll kill your mom and dad, I'll kill
Speaker 1: your aunts and uncle. I'll kill you freaking kindergarten teach you, you
Speaker 1: sack a dog?
Speaker 2: Shit.
Speaker 1: Oh fuck you, Comly, I replied, I don't think you will. Vic.
Speaker 1: Vic charged across the room, the loom ahl for me,
Speaker 1: breathing in hoffs and snorts like a bull. He barked,
Speaker 1: Oh he's that, So why the fuck not? Tough guy?
Speaker 2: Huh?
Speaker 1: Who's gonna stop me? I answered gently, Oh, and just
Speaker 1: to you, because you know what was wrong. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're a bad guy, but you're still a human being.
Speaker 1: You have a heart in there somewhere. You have a conscience.
Speaker 1: She's free now, Vic, Let her go. Let her be free.
Speaker 1: Vic stared down at me, his eye twitching. Slowly, the
Speaker 1: crimson flush of red drained from his face, and his
Speaker 1: breathing returned to normal. He murmured, he ballsy, little bastard.
Speaker 1: I can't. Oh, I can't fucking believe you.
Speaker 2: I can't.
Speaker 1: Now fuck it? Okay, yeah, sure, I guess I made
Speaker 1: my investment back.
Speaker 2: Over the years. I can't deny it.
Speaker 1: Made it back in spades, and that's the only thing
Speaker 1: that's gonna save you here. You get it doing what's right.
Speaker 1: That don't mean shit to me, Billy. It's dollars and
Speaker 1: cents first, then pride, and that's it. Everything else is bullshit.
Speaker 1: His mouth silently moved as he tried to work out
Speaker 1: what he wanted to say next, but Vic wasn't the
Speaker 1: kind of guy who could easily convey his emotions with words. Finally,
Speaker 1: he threw up his hands and exclaimed, that fucked me.
Speaker 1: There's something else. I can't fucking believe you, kid, You
Speaker 1: actually fucking died for miss DOLLI over there? What am
Speaker 1: I supposed to say that? Huh? I mean shit? What
Speaker 1: am I? Hey? The fuck happening? I shifted uncomfortably under
Speaker 1: his searching eyes. I shrugged and said lost it. On
Speaker 1: the other side, it's dangerous over there. Vic made a
Speaker 1: disgusted noise in his throat. You know what, whatever, I
Speaker 1: don't even care what happened. Just leave, okay, go home
Speaker 1: for the rest of the week. I don't want to
Speaker 1: see your stupid face. Get until next Monday. He turned
Speaker 1: to the others and said, the rest of youse, guys,
Speaker 1: and go back to wherever you're supposed to be fucking
Speaker 1: stay there. This ain't over, by the way, I don't
Speaker 1: know how I'm gonna handle this both shit just yet.
Speaker 1: This ain't over, Miss Dahlia. Get your lying ass back
Speaker 1: into the water, Kaz, take the skin walker to his habitat.
Speaker 1: Go back to the front entrance when you're done, and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna call in some people clean up this mess
Speaker 1: and the lobby. You're gonna help him pick up the pieces.
Speaker 1: Vic looked back at me and growled, yeah, what you're
Speaker 1: standing there for? You? Oh your change, Get the fuck out.
Speaker 1: As I was walking to the door, Miss Dallia suddenly
Speaker 1: came running after me. She gave me a brief, tight
Speaker 1: little hug and whispered into my mutilated ear. You're a hero, Billy.
Speaker 1: Go home and get some rest. You deserve it. Vic shouted,
Speaker 1: that's enough of all that must stuff already. I told
Speaker 1: you I don't approve. Get out of my sight, Billy.
Speaker 1: I walked across the lobby with the sensation of Miss
Speaker 1: Dahlia's sweet breath still tingling in my brain. I had
Speaker 1: already fallen deeply and desperately in love with her. I
Speaker 1: had never been in love before felt amazing, felt like
Speaker 1: fizzy bubbles in the pit of my stomach. The glow
Speaker 1: in my chest couldn't erase the trauma from the unspeakable
Speaker 1: horrors I'd faced that night. But I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1: Came pretty damn close. Love is light, drives the shadows
Speaker 1: back to the corners of your soul, and love is life,
Speaker 1: Love is everything. I was still too fucked up to drive,
Speaker 1: so I left my car in the parking lot and
Speaker 1: started walking. Vic remotely buzzed the gate open from his office.
Speaker 1: He flicked on the intercom and his voice crackled, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell you a piece of shit car to the dealership.
Speaker 1: You can come get it after work on Monday, and
Speaker 1: I hit the road. The walk home was long and strange.
Speaker 1: I traversed a twisting landscape of shimmering street lights and
Speaker 1: dangling stars. By the time I got there, I was
Speaker 1: starting to come down from the tea. It was an
Speaker 1: immense relief to be almost sober again. I was incredibly tired,
Speaker 1: and I felt worn out right down to my skeleton.
Speaker 1: I was ready to sleep for a thousand years. To
Speaker 1: my surprise, I found Len waiting for me outside my
Speaker 1: apartment building. They hadn't seen or spoken to him in weeks.
Speaker 1: Attentatively said, hey, man, how are you. I haven't seen
Speaker 1: you in a while, not since then. I let the
Speaker 1: rest of it hang in the air between us. He
Speaker 1: pitched his cigarette into the street and rumbled long time. No, see,
Speaker 1: he really fucked me over that day, Billy me. I'm
Speaker 1: not the kind of guy who that's that sort of shit.
Speaker 1: Slot Now there's Victor. The grimaced and said, yeah, I
Speaker 1: get that. I'm sorry about what happened, man like for real,
Speaker 1: but I had to see Kaz, you know. I had
Speaker 1: to make sure he was gonna be okay. Fucking guy
Speaker 1: was playing Russian roulette for crying out loud. Len gave
Speaker 1: me a sour smile. He let out of deep breath
Speaker 1: and said, yeah, I get it. You're a decent kid.
Speaker 1: You ain't no little bitch. Never would have thought and
Speaker 1: be looking at you know what they say about books
Speaker 1: in their covers. He put a heavy hand on my
Speaker 1: shoulder and cleared his throat. Anyway, I'm not here to
Speaker 1: make small talk. I just had a conversation with your guardian,
Speaker 1: you know, a little home with the badge. I explained
Speaker 1: the whole situation to him further detailed long story shortly
Speaker 1: worked something out. I gave him a weary look and asked,
Speaker 1: what do you mean? What did you? Len suddenly yanked
Speaker 1: me closer and he drove his knee square into my balls.
Speaker 1: The impact it almost lifted me off the sidewalk. The
Speaker 1: pain was a jolt of electricity to every fiber of
Speaker 1: my being. I dropped like a stone. Len said, that
Speaker 1: was for the shit you pulled the night at the Zoom,
Speaker 1: dumb fucking move.
Speaker 2: Kid reeled dumb.
Speaker 1: Len reached down and delivered a resounding slap across the
Speaker 1: top of my head. Stars exploded behind my eyes. And
Speaker 1: that's for screwing me over. You don't fuck with Len
Speaker 1: and expect to get away with it. You're lucky. I
Speaker 1: can't kill you, dipshit, because I would strangle you with
Speaker 1: my bare hands. Won't you have a fuck with me again?
Speaker 1: Len walked away without uttering another word, leaving me to
Speaker 1: writhe around in agony on the sidewalk. When I could
Speaker 1: finally stand again, I lurched into the building and hauled
Speaker 1: myself up the stairs to my apartment. I tried a
Speaker 1: bag of frozen peas out of the iceberg and my freezer.
Speaker 1: I rested it against my crotch in bed. All the
Speaker 1: good feelings were gone. I plunked a pillow over my
Speaker 1: face to help block out the rising sun, and I
Speaker 1: cried myself to sleep. So what became of the book man,
Speaker 1: you ask, Well, I'm pretty sure I witnessed his fate
Speaker 1: in my dreams. The ancestors were waiting for him, just
Speaker 1: as they had promised. They surrounded him in a circle.
Speaker 1: As he cowered, begging for mercy, they pulled out their daggers.
Speaker 1: One by one. The ghostly warriors took turns carving out
Speaker 1: a piece of flesh, and iye his nose, a couple
Speaker 1: of fingers his cock. After everyone had their turn, the shrieking,
Speaker 1: butchered mess of a man became whole once more, because
Speaker 1: no one can die in the spirit world. When he
Speaker 1: was fully healed, they did it again.
Speaker 2: And again.
Speaker 1: I also saw Catherine in my dreams. She was running
Speaker 1: through a sunlit meadow with childish delight, and her head
Speaker 1: was still on top of her neck where it belonged.
Speaker 1: She was accompanied by a whirling entourage of songbirds butterflies.
Speaker 1: She waved to me, and then she was gone, skipping
Speaker 1: through the long grass into the horizon. She wasn't in
Speaker 1: pain anymore. She was at peace. I had fallen asleep
Speaker 1: crying in wretched misery, but I woke up with tears
Speaker 1: of joy streaming down my face. Was it all worth it? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I'll do it again in a heartbeat. I might have
Speaker 1: been a hero that night. But a hero's story doesn't
Speaker 1: always have a dignified ending. Reality is sloppy and painful.
Speaker 1: Sometimes heroes fuck up and get kneading the balls. All
Speaker 1: you can do is drag yourself off the sidewalk with
Speaker 1: a bag of frozen veggies on your swollen nuts, and
Speaker 1: try yourself to sleep. Because a hero isn't someone who
Speaker 1: always wins Steer eader. A hero is someone who tries
Speaker 1: to do what's right a matter of the cost, and
Speaker 1: if you're lucky, the universe will allow you to wake
Speaker 1: up to a better tomorrow. Have you enjoyed hearing the
Speaker 1: Book Man or any other tales from bonesaw Vic's Cryptozoological Garden.
Speaker 1: Please check out the link in the description down below.
Speaker 1: Two T W. Grimm's Patreon. Supporting him on Patreon allows
Speaker 1: him to be able to write more parts like this
Speaker 1: as little side stories for bonesaw Vic and also allows
Speaker 1: him to write bon saw Vic So thank you all
Speaker 1: so much for listening and sweet dreams. Thank you guys
Speaker 1: so much for being supporters. That goes for everybody who
Speaker 1: is down in the description as well as Ascid System,
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