The Visitor From Curtisville--Ch. 8-Series of Stra

                                                           Chapter 8--A Series of Strange Occurrences


Terrapin Junction, Zelmak District of Hogan's Gap (1)

It was ten o' ten and Grandma Esme' was feeding her cats.  There were twenty of them, but only Cinder and Felina had the run of the house.  The rest of them stayed in a large playroom with access to an outdoor pen,the only time they were let out was to be fed or for monthly veterinarian visits.

It was always pandemonium at mealtime.  All of the cats were dancing impatiently around the kitchen as Grandma Esme' started taking the cat food cans out of the cupboard.  They all started yowling and rubbing against her legs as she spooned out portions into their separate plates.

"Now settle down, everybody!" Grandma Esme' hollered.  She was always hollering during feeding time, even though it didn't accomplish much. "Fiona, you'll get your share in a minute. Felina!  Quit stealing Fauna's dinner!  Ouch!  Felicia, cut that out!" The Siamese had jumped onto Grandma Esme' 's head and was bopping her ears and nose with her paw.

It was quite a scene.  Meanwhile, Kiki, her nine-year old granddaughter, was in the guest bedroom seated on the lower bunk, an opened parchment book sat in front of her on a small coffee table.  Her large almond eyes stared at it for a few minutes, then carefully set a cylindrical mirror down on the center of one of the distorted pictures.

Then she waited, pursing her small mouth and scratching her long beaky nose.

Within minutes, an image gradually formed inside the mirror-an impassable wall of dense foliage.  Suddenly color began seeping into the scene, illuminating her walnut-brown skin and high cheekbones.  She saw a perpetually green expanse, where aerial plants perched by the thousands on a latticework of branches.  This was a tropical rainforest.

Just then Kiki's sister Tullugaq comes in from brushing her teeth.  The sixteen-year old Churcka teenage misfit wore her bunny slippers and her flashy checkered pajamas that matched her red-streaked, spiky black hairdo.

Stopping dead in her tracks, she gaped in utter amazement.

"I don't believe it!" she exclaimed. "I don't freaking believe it! That blasted thing's magical after all!"

"Of course," muttered Kiki grimly, "and I finally got it to work...after four hours!"

She looked up, frowning.

"Four hours," grumbled Kiki. "Enough time to finish a large picture puzzle nonstop."

Tullugaq gawked at her in surprise. "You mean you've been trying to decipher that book for four hours straight?"

Kiki sighed wearily and rolled her eyes.

"No, I had to take a few breaks, of course," she grumped. "My eyes felt like they were about ready to pop." She then grinned triumphantly. "But I stuck to it, I didn't give up.  I finally broke the code.  Grandma was wrong when she said this was nothing but a hoax to lead you on a wild-squeeple chase.  This puzzle's for real, and I just found the solution!"

"Well, good for you, Miss Science," Tullugaq chuckled. "So, enlighten me with your fabulous solution?  How did you finally get that book to work?  Did you burn some magical incense, and say things like 'Open, Sesame,' or 'hocus-pocus,' or was it just plain ole willpower?"

Kiki laughed scornfully. "Ha!  I didn't use any magic to get this book working.  Now, watch carefully."

She then moved the mirror over the next page.  The lush jungle scene was soon replaced by a stark landscape of dunes and rocky outcrops.

"Presto!" exclaimed Kiki. "Anamorphosis at work!"

Tullugaq looked puzzled. "Ana-what?"

Kiki explained patiently as if to a slow-witted child. "It's an image that's distorted so that it can only be viewed from a certain angle or, in this case, by a chimney-shaped mirror," she glanced down at the book, and muttered. "All this time, the answer was right under my nose.  I can't believe I didn't spot it earlier."

"Oh, now I see," muttered Tullugaq, feeling rather like a moron. "So the pictures take form inside the mirror and come to life.  Well, what does the wretched thing do to the text then?"

"I was just coming to that," said Kiki eagerly. "It translates the cipher writing into our language."

"Well, I'll be zarked," said Tullugaq, amazed. "I guess we can try out some new incantation then."

Kiki's feathery hair stood straight up.

"Twhistle, are you out of your mind?" she squeaked. "This happens to be an ancient book of unsavory magic!  Read some spell out loud, and you might get turned into a jar of creamed spinach!"

"Gee, I was just making a joke," said Tullugaq, grinning mischievously. "Kiki, has it ever occurred to you that maybe you take things a little too seriously?"

"Strange things should be taken seriously," said Kiki sourly, "especially if they're downright dangerous.  That's why I'm only doing the illustrations, no monsters going to pop out of those.  Unless they're really tiny, of course."

Tullugaq was about to say otherwise, but she soon became distracted by the miniature picture.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "That's looks like the Snorak Desert!"

"Nope.  That's not the Snorak," said Kiki, peering closely. "That's gray, this desert's yellow."

"As they stared, the desert scene grew brighter and more sun-baked.  Wavering lines of heat shimmered over the forbidden wasteland.  Suddenly several columns of yellow dust swirled into view.

"Whoa!" Tullugaq whooped. "Check out those mammoth dust devils!"

"Well, it's hard to tell how big those things really are from over here," said Kiki thoughtfully.  As she spoke she began to look a little uncertain. "Uhh...are you sure those are dust devils?" she said, somewhat nervously. "They look vaguely like people."

Tullugaq snorted skeptically. "They're just plain, ordinary dust devils.  You've seen dust devils before, haven't you?  How they get all that dust and stuff whirling up inside them, sometimes they make funny shapes."

"Yeah, but skeletons?" said Kiki in a faltering voice.

"Huh?" said Tullugaq, utterly puzzled. "What do you mean 'skeletons?'"

She then looked at the mirror.  The dust devils were gone, where they once whirled stood a bunch of gleaming white skeletons.  As the sisters stared wide-eyes with jaws dropped; the sand surged over the bones, putting forth muscles, developing internal organs, wrapping them up with skin.  As the sisters retrieved their jaws, the skeletons had disappeared, replaced by several tall gaunt figures.  They were all dressed in old-time frontier-style outfits.  For a minute or two, the things stared back with strange silvery eyes.  Then they all smiled, showing their long teeth and really red gums.

"Trippy!  Ghosts!" exclaimed Tullugaq excitedly. "Didja see all their insides, Kiki?  These guys do better special effects than those ghostly Weiner Twins at the Dozois Mansion!"

Kiki snatched the mirror up.  Immediately the whole scene disappeared.

Tullugaq glanced irritably at her. "Hey, why'd you do that for?"

Kiki grimaced as she slammed the book shut.

"They're gross!" she snapped. "You saw how they transformed!" She scowled, shaking her head. "It's disgusting," she went on. "Their hearts and lungs throbbing and heaving in plain view! All that bloody, yucky tissue!"

"Well, it was still kinda cool," Tulllugaq muttered.

Kiki shuddered. "And their teeth!  Their teeth were nearly three inches long!"

Tullugaq looked doubtful.

"I think you're exaggerating," she said thoughtfully. "Their teeth look much shorter to me."

"And their gums!" groaned Kiki. "Their gums were like...raw meat!"

Tullugaq shrugged. "So they probably had gingivitis." She then climbed up into the upper bunk.

Kiki glanced uneasily at the mirror. "The mirror's like a key," she said quickly. "Each time I put it on a page, it activates a place or magic formula."

She look up at the upper bunk. "Are you listening to me?" she shrilled.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening!" replied an annoyed voice from above. "Look, you don't have to shout!"

"I can't help it, Twhistle," growled Kiki. "This book bothers me.  Remember what Grandma said.  She said that the words aren't arranged like that in a regular book.  They're all in a sort of code!"

Tullugaq sighed wearily. "So, what's your point?"

"Don't you get it?" exclaimed Kiki in exasperation. "You just bought a trap, only this thing doesn't use food for bait, it uses puzzles instead."

Tullugaq laughed. "You're getting the heebie-jeebies over a bunch of ghostly wizards who live in a desert far, far away.  Big Deal!  What are they going to do?  Come crawling out of the mirror to whisk you away on your mattress?"

"I don't think those creeps were wizard at all," said Kiki curtly. "They were probably demons, and they were probably waiting for us to unlock the doorway to their dimension."

"Uh-huh," said Tullugaq, yawning. "Look, if you don't like it, then quit fiddling with it." She peeked over the side at the fuming Kiki. "We can trade it off at the Festival of the Spells, Saturday,"she suggested. "We might even get a bargain for it."

She then drew back from sight. Kiki continued to stare up at the upper bunk, pouting.  After a few minutes, Tullugaq mumbled. "Hey Kiki, how 'bout putting out the light?"

Kiki growled.  She looked squeamishly at the objects on the table. "Uh...okay," she said. "I just need to...brush my teeth first."

"I thought you'd already brushed your teeth?" muttered Tullugaq.

"Did I say 'brush,'" said Kiki hastily, "I mean floss."

She waited several minutes, then cautiously picked up the book and mirror.  Holding them at arm's length as if they were something dead and rotten, she padded down the hall and stairs.  Passing the bathroom, she could hear the faucet running as Grandma brushed her dentures.  

Henry, Grandma's lab-mix, was flat on her back sound asleep, twitching her paws in the air. Probably dreaming about chasing rabbits, Kiki thought as she walked quietly into the kitchen.  Next to the pantry sat several recycling bins, Kiki opened the one labeled "food scraps."  It was empty except for a pile of dirt and wriggling mass of slimy, blue omniverms.

"Hey, guys," Kiki whispered as the worm-things gleeped in great excitement. "I got something for you."

She quickly dropped the book in. "Eat up quick, before my sister finds out."

Shutting the lid, Kiki then dropped the mirror in the glass bin. "There, that takes care of the bad magic."  Somewhat relieved, she hurried back and crawled into bed, by now Tullugaq was snoring like a lummox in a mud pool.


Moon Agate Beach, 10:13 P.M. (2)

Megaera added some more kindling to the fire.  She glanced over at Kes who was shaking her head, trying to clear it of sleep.  Nictitating membranes flickered briefly over her grave, luminous eyes.  Unbeknownst to the Gerdin visitor, she was being watched.  Lurking just behind her right shoulder, was a rather diminutive gentleman almost hidden under a long black cloak.  In the dim moonlight, she could make out a pale triangular face and long ringlets of silvery hair half-hidden under a gold-trimmed tricorne.

When she saw his yellow-green eyes shining in the foggy dimness like lighted crystals, she knew what he was.

Her purple locks immediately began to ripple and squirm, writhing thick and worm-round.  Then the mass lengthen, twisting into a thick and heavy coil.  With blinding speed, the tentacle streaked over Kes's shoulder.  A gaping mouth lined with needle-like teeth appeared at the end.

With a terrified squeak, the dandy reeled back, covering his face with his gloved hands.  Trembling, he rapidly dissolved into vapor.  Ribbon of this iridescent mist streamed upward to merge with the foggy night air.

"Hey, why'd you do that for?" Kes exclaimed, now fully awake and annoyed. "You nearly took my ear off!"

"Sorry," said Megaera as she retracted her hair. "Had to deal with a little pest problem there."

"All that just over a mosquito?" said Kes indignantly.  Obviously, she didn't see the "pest" in the question stalking from behind.

Megaera grinned sheepishly. "It was bloody huge, whatever it was." She turned toward Ellery who was staring at her in baffled silence. "Sorry for the interruption, but you said something about being visited by a zombie?"

"Ghost actually," the girl answered.  She was holding a glass of lemonade that someone had handed to her. "I was also visited by something far worse than any mere ghost or demon."

Ellery dipped her drink slowly while the audience around her waited impatiently.

"I'll skip ahead to the part where I'm lying in my bed, listening to the storm noises outside.  Today had been a most peculiar day, and I couldn't help but think about the strange events that had happened.  I even jotted down the events, describing the facts in perfect order.

"So what facts did I have?  A seventh-grader named Via Nakada disappeared in the early 70's, right in the middle of the crowded hallway.  People claimed they heard muffled screams coming from Locker 490--that was one.  Forty years later, some Scene Kids spotted a huge Slugzilla thing crawling out of the same locker.  That was another.

"Then later at lunch, nine people who were using the same row of lockers that included Locker 490, suddenly came down with acute appendicitis.  Everybody in that group, except for that weeaboo, was afflicted.  Why was she spared?  All these proven facts led straight into that gaping maw of darkness known Locker no. 490.

"And I was the only investigator."


Beyond the Void(3)

"I don't remember falling asleep, but the next thing I know I was walking down long, winding road.  It was smack dab in the middle of nowhere, in an endless ocean of wheat.  There was no one else around, but me.  Even though I walked, I didn't feel tired.  I walked for what seemed like miles, and even though menacing clouds loomed large in the darkening sky, and there was no sound other than the wind swaying and rustling the stalks, I wasn't afraid.

"Then eventually, I came to a crossroad where a huge oak stood in the middle of it.  A girl about my age stood on one of the topmost branches, shoving something into one of the large tree-holes.

"She then turned and smiled. 'About time you showed up,' she said.  Then she vaulted effortlessly off the branch, landing gracefully in front of me.  I soon recognized her as Lyra Bisbee, a freckled-faced blonde girl that often hung out with Hoturu's bunch.  She was something of an artist herself, though unlike me, she was mostly into doing fan art and portraiture of various wildlife.  Despite her rather plain Jane looks, she was one of the popular kids.

"I guess it was because she was always cheerful and had a great sense of humor.  It could also be that she had developed early and her family was very wealthy, the result of having constructed much of the architecture around the Murrelet area.

"'Hey, Lyra,' I said, somewhat surprised. 'It's good to see you.'

"'It's good to see you too,' she replied, 'just wish it was under different circumstances.'

"'Huh?' I said, utterly mystified. 'What are you talking about?  What is this place?'

"'One of the in-between places, places between Urth and the Otherworld.'

"'You mean like Faerie?' I asked.

"Lyra shrugged. 'Or Hades.  Who knows for sure,' a worried look crossed her freckled face. 'Anyway I got something to tell you.  Something very important.'

"'What?'

"'You know that Mcclaren kid?'

"'I nodded, recalling that buggy-eyed, baby-faced brat who thought she was a Nipponese elf goddess forced into permanent exile.

"'She's in your house right now,' Lyra replied in a low voice.

"'But that's impossible!  I was just there,' I insisted, though I felt cold chills race up and down my back. 'It's a pretty small house, not a lot of hiding places, and anyway, my parents would have spotted her.'

"'It's her spirit I'm talking about,' Lyra whispered hoarsely. 'The thing that she could send out of herself...that part of her that isn't human anymore.'

"'Well, what is she then?' I asked her, absolutely baffled. 'A demon?  A witch?  A tentacled-monster, space alien?'

"Lyra frowned. 'I think she's a damned fool,' she said finally, 'but she's a clever fool and that's what makes her even more dangerous.  She's probably made a deal with somebody...or something, and this person/whatever only gave her a small amount of magic in exchange for a big chunk of her soul.  That's why she acts like a total moron at times.  Of course, it could also be due to hormones...'

"'But what's she doing in my house?' I interrupted. "Is she robbing the place?'

"My friend shook her head. 'No, she's planting something.'

"'What?  A listening device?  A hidden camera?' I was getting more paranoid by the minute.  What did I do to deserve all the weird smerge?'

"'A ouija board.'

"'What for,' I wondered, utterly baffled.  'I'm not even into that kind of spirit woohoo stuff.'

"Lyra looked back over her shoulder.  Following her gaze, I noticed off in the distance a tall, skinny figure coming toward us.  It looked like a guy in a top hat wearing a dark business suit.

"'Crap!' muttered Lyra, turning back to me. 'Look, I'm don't have enough time left.  But you got to find that ouija board and get rid of it.'

"'Not enough time left?' I stammered in bewilderment. 'What are talking about?'

"'Look, you don't understand,' Lyra replied urgently. 'That board's cursed, really cursed.  I'm not telling you a load of garbage here.  This thing's the real deal.  It was built in Faerie, used by actual wizards in their ritual.'

"'So what's it doing over here then?' I exclaimed. 'And why is Lolly hiding that thing in my house.'

"Lyra shrugged. 'I don't know.  Maybe it got stolen and was smuggled here.  Lolly could have gotten it from the Black Market.'

"'There's a Black Market for Faerie Stuff?'

"'Sure,' she was watching the approaching top hat guy worriedly. 'If you ask the right people and got enough cash.  But that's not important right now.  What's important is you find that thing before it activates and invite Him in.'

"'Who's Him?' I asked anxiously. 'The Gray Man.'

"'Worse,' Lyra turned back with a grim face. 'You can deal with the Gray Man, maybe buy some more time.  But not his son, the Rose Prince.  There're supposed to be nine sons, all princes and demons.  But He's the youngest and most dangerous of the bunch.  He makes the Marquis de Sade look like a wussy Ken doll.'

"'Oh,' I said as I absorbed this worrisome bit of information.  I pointed toward the mysterious man in black. 'Well, is that Him there coming?'

"'No, that's a shinigami,' my friend replied. 'Don't worry.  They're friendly.'

"I had no idea what a shinigami was, but 'friendly' certainly doesn't cover this guy.  He reminded me of a super creepy Victorian undertaker I saw in a recent horror movie.  Nevertheless, I stood my ground.  I wasn't going to get intimidated by some damned dream monster, especially when I'm getting an important message from one of my friends.

"'Uh, Lyra,' I said, keeping one eye on the slowly approaching menace.  'You still haven't told the reason why Lolly's hiding that ouija thing in my house.'

"'She's jealous,' she explained, cause unlike you or me, without her precious Microsoft Paint and tracing paper to help her, she can't draw worth smerge.' She glanced up nervously as the  shinigami shuffled to a halt just a few paces from us.

"I swear to gods it was that very same guy from that movie.  He even had those same bright red tattoos on the back of his bony hands.  They kind of reminded me of compass designs, only with wavy lines, like sun rays or maybe like octopus tentacles.

"Before I could study them further, my friend took me by the arm and led me around the oak.  As soon as we were out of sight, Lyra turned to me.

"'Once you touch that board with your bare hands, you can't resist toying with it.  Then He comes and pretends to be your friend, while slowly draining your soul, and in return grants the board's original owner good luck, magical knowledge, wishes and whatnot.  Once you die, the Rose Prince would drag you down to whatever hell He came from, and the cycle starts all over again.'

"'How do you know all this?'

  "Lyra shrugged. 'I read about it on Creepypasta and Scary For Kids.  It's a pretty popular urban legend.' Then abruptly, she changed the subject. 'Once you find this thing, you got three choices on how to get rid of it.'

"I nodded. 'I'm listening.'

"'Take it to a graveyard at midnight on a full moon, bury it and don't ever look back.'

"'Uhh...yeah,' I said doubtfully, 'that might present a problem since it was stormy outside and there are really big trees crashing down all over back at my place.'

"'Throw it into deep running water,' said Lyra, ignoring my remark. 'Make sure you weigh it something heavy like rocks or bricks.'

"Okay, that might work, I though. Now if I could only get out to the river without being zapped by lightening or hit by flying debris or getting creamed by a car.

"'Cover it with salt or sacred oil, wrap it up tight with silk.  Then bury it at a distant crossroad.'

"'Gotcha.' Now if I could only find a crossroad that isn't paved over concrete.'

"A sudden gust of wind swept across the field on our right, sending cloud of dust puffing over the road.  The air around us became filled with black birds, thousand of them, their beating wings sounding like rain coming down.

"Lyra's face suddenly paled 'Whatever you do,' she stammered. 'Never touch that board with your bare hands, and never ever let the Rose Prince in.'

"'But what if someone else finds it before me?' I had to raise my voice over the black bird noise. 'One of my parents or my kid brother or sister?'

"'He'll still come after you...' Then I lost sight of Lyra in the cloud of birds, although she seemed to have vanished, melting away into the tree behind her.  Her voice grew fainter and fainter, already it was far overhead with the wheeling birds and rushing wind.

"'Cause you're the one with great talent, and that's what  demons like best in their prey.'

"The voice along with wind died away.  Darkness rushed in and filled the entire scene, and I was suddenly whisked through the air.

"'When I came to, the first thing I noticed was that I was in bed fully dressed.  I could of swore when I went to bed, I was dressed only in pajamas.  My pants and shoes were caked with yellow dust, and my feet throbbed and ached.

"I sighed wearily as I whipped off the covers.

Great! I thought, stumbling out of bed.  Now my dreams are becoming real.  It's all going to be like those stupid Nightmare on Elm Street movies, except instead of Freddy Krugger, I'm going to be worrying about being whacked by that weeb Lolly Mcclaren!

"I shivered and stared around the pitch blackness. 'And what the hell was up with the freakin' temperature?'
      
"My room was ice cold and I could even see my breath streaming out.  As I fumbled around the side table, trying to locate the lamp, I soon realized that there was another person standing near me in the dark.  Of course, I couldn't see anything, but my fingers feeling the jumbled pile of books, sketch pads and drawing utensils with something soft that immediately withdrawn.  It was cold and slimy like a dead fish.  I could of sworn it was a hand.  My skin instantly began to crawl.
      
       "'Who's that?' I exclaimed.

"There was no answer, but at the same moment I heard someone moving away from me in the direction of the closet door.  The footsteps were rather heavy and lumbering-sounding, and there was also a rustling of fabric as it brushed against the floor.  In a split second my hand made contact with the lamp switch and I pushed it.  The glare of the lamp illuminated an empty room.
      
      My hair began to rise and I instinctively backed against the wall lest something should approach me from the rear.  However, I soon recovered enough to cross the room and throw open my closet door. What greeted me was the most horrible odor I had ever had the misfortune of smelling.  I had smelt the extreme BO before when that unwashed braggart Lolly was making a gawd-awful spectacle of herself in the school hallway, but that was only just a whiff.   This was ten times as worse, this was sheer horrible horribleness.  It reeked of rotten garbage, of mass death and wasting disease.  For a minute I wondered if someone had died in that very space in the past, and what I was experiencing was a psychic echo.  Just when I was thinking of running and rousing my parents, the smell faded as did the cold.

I spent the rest of a miserable night, seated in the middle of my room, clutching a hockey stick and flashlight, watching and listening for any other unpleasantness, but nothing else happened.
      
      
      
      
      
      


                                                           To be continued in The Visitor From Curtisville--Ch. 9--Seeing is Deceving