Okay everyone, to help Shelia get into the Halloween spirit, I propose we all participate in a writing her a story. Everyone is more than welcome to add a chapter or just a paragraph. I figure we can all add a few entries until we wind it up by Halloween. You can all pick up the story more than once as well. Here's the beginning:
It was a beautiful Autumn day as I walked to school. The leaves crunched under my feet. A breeze ruffled my hair and I pushed it back with my mitten. Chris joined me at the corner. "What are you going to be for Halloween?" she asked. "I'm not sure. I was thinking about being a vampire. I have these great fangs I bought that drip fake blood when you mash them together." I answered. "That's so cool! I'm going to be.." Chris' voice trailed off and I looked at her quizzically. Her face was white and I slowly turned around to see what had caught her attention..
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LittleDollClaudia
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A Halloween Story For Sheila-For everyone on the board
Last edited by LittleDollClaudia on Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I dress this way just to keep them at bay 'cause Halloween is every day."-Ministry
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MHooch
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Over my shoulder I saw a young girl wearing a long white dress walking down the street toward us. She appeared to be about 6 years old, with a sweet little button nose and beautiful long pale hair. Her eyes were large and blue, and her complexion was as smooth and white as alabaster. As she came closer, I noticed that she had a rag doll trailing from her right hand, dragging along the ground...
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uncletor
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Chris whsipered to me:"I thought she was DEAD..."
I leaned into her."She is..I was there at her funeral. Or was. I don't know which to tell you..but you and I were there, beside each other, and we saw the box go into the ground.."
She didn't seem to be noticing us. Just kept walking at a slow clip. Freaky.
"Okay.." Chris said to no one in particular."Let's get real. Rational. Either she was NOT DEAD, or she is. We BOTH know she is dead. That's either a relative or..."
"Like half the rest of this town, she is too stupid to lay down when she should know she is dead." I chimed in.
Chris made a 'screw you face' at my joke..only at this point I didn't laugh either because I didn't know how true it was now.
I leaned into her."She is..I was there at her funeral. Or was. I don't know which to tell you..but you and I were there, beside each other, and we saw the box go into the ground.."
She didn't seem to be noticing us. Just kept walking at a slow clip. Freaky.
"Okay.." Chris said to no one in particular."Let's get real. Rational. Either she was NOT DEAD, or she is. We BOTH know she is dead. That's either a relative or..."
"Like half the rest of this town, she is too stupid to lay down when she should know she is dead." I chimed in.
Chris made a 'screw you face' at my joke..only at this point I didn't laugh either because I didn't know how true it was now.
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uncletor
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Chris told me later she never saw where Larry Tate came from. But she sure as shooting saw that whip.
Larry Tate was the boss on BEWITCHED, right? Well, that's what this Pastor Hornbeck looked like. Only bigger and totally totally fanatic. He also had one of those whip things. The ones with iron right in the leather strips they used to nail Jesus with in THE GREATEST STORY EVERY TOLD. Like that.
He was on top of that kid in the white dress and just FLOGS her on the back and screams she's the daughter of darkness or something. I can't remember for sure. It was the first time we saw her and him, but it would have been something like that.
Now, what the heck do you do? Here's this big guy, dressed like your high school science teacher, looks like Darren Stevens' boss. And he does a brutal thing like that. Are you gonna rush him and risk getting pasted yourself?
We tried that.
And were glued to the spot.
Seriously. It was like we didn't even WANT to move. Like we were in some sort of movie line up and had no MOTIVATION to walk. But that was from the waist down. Our MINDS were still really angry at this geek.
We stared at him....and saw his hand, palm extended to us.
"Unbelievers will be held back by the Force of the Phadra.." he screamed.
And we were. Just like that. What's a phadra? We both wondered.
Chris gave me that look of hers when we both just KNOW things aren't going to be normal for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, the little girl, if that was what she was, hadn't been wasting time. She was spewing fire from her mouth, and her eyes were the color of Draino. She called Larry Tate some names that would have gotten me taken to detention right then and there, and I was begining to think maybe the guy had a point with that whip, bits of metal in it and all.
That was when he pulled out the cross and stuck it on her forehead.
You know what? It made a deep tread mark like tires in fresh snow..just like in the old Hammer horror films.. with the smell of burning flesh. Just like the time my uncle stuck his arm on the muffler while under the car. Both smells made my stomach just want to check out.
"You are the spawn of Satan. You will come with me..DO AS I COMMAND."
It was the kind of voice Moses used in the Ten Commandments to shut down the Red Sea..complete with echo.
"You'll have to sleep SOMETIME Pastor.." the little girl said back to him. Only her voice was an old old man's..an evil old man..an evil old man that had done everything in this life, and most of it bad. "Where is the rabbi when you need him?? Want to talk to you WIFE???"
And Pastor Hornbeck or Larry Tate shut down for a second and just stared at her with this HATE.
Sure enough. This females voice came ripping out of her throat.'Oh CARLTON! It BURNS so much here in Hell!!"
The old guy got red and smacked her across the face. Just his hand though. When she went down he stuffed her into a cage on wheels like they used to use in circus trains..only it was just a bit bigger then file cabinet size, and had crosses coming out of the top of it.
"The rabbi fell asleep. I got his spleen."Screamed the girl in white, now grabbing the bars from the inside of the cage."The Phillipino priest lost his eyes, and they NEVER made the bleeding quit. He DIED that way, Hornbeck..and I will GET YOU..."
But Pastor Hornbeck just pulled her away. He wasn't listening at all. But oh, he seemed weighed down. Like those parents of kids in wheel chairs you sometimes see outside of the hospitals. Or wives of drunks at parties when the husband is 'just being social'. There was a lot of suffering in that walk. The kid in the cage was just sitting there. Sulking.
She also did not take her eyes of Carlton Hornbeck
Ten minutes later, we were able to walk again.
All traces of the two were gone by then. But I could still smell that burnt flesh.
Larry Tate was the boss on BEWITCHED, right? Well, that's what this Pastor Hornbeck looked like. Only bigger and totally totally fanatic. He also had one of those whip things. The ones with iron right in the leather strips they used to nail Jesus with in THE GREATEST STORY EVERY TOLD. Like that.
He was on top of that kid in the white dress and just FLOGS her on the back and screams she's the daughter of darkness or something. I can't remember for sure. It was the first time we saw her and him, but it would have been something like that.
Now, what the heck do you do? Here's this big guy, dressed like your high school science teacher, looks like Darren Stevens' boss. And he does a brutal thing like that. Are you gonna rush him and risk getting pasted yourself?
We tried that.
And were glued to the spot.
Seriously. It was like we didn't even WANT to move. Like we were in some sort of movie line up and had no MOTIVATION to walk. But that was from the waist down. Our MINDS were still really angry at this geek.
We stared at him....and saw his hand, palm extended to us.
"Unbelievers will be held back by the Force of the Phadra.." he screamed.
And we were. Just like that. What's a phadra? We both wondered.
Chris gave me that look of hers when we both just KNOW things aren't going to be normal for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, the little girl, if that was what she was, hadn't been wasting time. She was spewing fire from her mouth, and her eyes were the color of Draino. She called Larry Tate some names that would have gotten me taken to detention right then and there, and I was begining to think maybe the guy had a point with that whip, bits of metal in it and all.
That was when he pulled out the cross and stuck it on her forehead.
You know what? It made a deep tread mark like tires in fresh snow..just like in the old Hammer horror films.. with the smell of burning flesh. Just like the time my uncle stuck his arm on the muffler while under the car. Both smells made my stomach just want to check out.
"You are the spawn of Satan. You will come with me..DO AS I COMMAND."
It was the kind of voice Moses used in the Ten Commandments to shut down the Red Sea..complete with echo.
"You'll have to sleep SOMETIME Pastor.." the little girl said back to him. Only her voice was an old old man's..an evil old man..an evil old man that had done everything in this life, and most of it bad. "Where is the rabbi when you need him?? Want to talk to you WIFE???"
And Pastor Hornbeck or Larry Tate shut down for a second and just stared at her with this HATE.
Sure enough. This females voice came ripping out of her throat.'Oh CARLTON! It BURNS so much here in Hell!!"
The old guy got red and smacked her across the face. Just his hand though. When she went down he stuffed her into a cage on wheels like they used to use in circus trains..only it was just a bit bigger then file cabinet size, and had crosses coming out of the top of it.
"The rabbi fell asleep. I got his spleen."Screamed the girl in white, now grabbing the bars from the inside of the cage."The Phillipino priest lost his eyes, and they NEVER made the bleeding quit. He DIED that way, Hornbeck..and I will GET YOU..."
But Pastor Hornbeck just pulled her away. He wasn't listening at all. But oh, he seemed weighed down. Like those parents of kids in wheel chairs you sometimes see outside of the hospitals. Or wives of drunks at parties when the husband is 'just being social'. There was a lot of suffering in that walk. The kid in the cage was just sitting there. Sulking.
She also did not take her eyes of Carlton Hornbeck
Ten minutes later, we were able to walk again.
All traces of the two were gone by then. But I could still smell that burnt flesh.
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uncletor
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FROM THE PRIVATE MEMOIR OF A.K. OSWALD
You're out there, Hornbeck. I can sense you. And I think you are in this town. This time, I shall not miss you.
This is a strange, messy country, this America. But it will not matter. I am closing in. I missed you in Tampa by a year. Dallas, only seven months. And I was almost on top of you in New York City. A different turn, a different hotel. I would have had you, Hornbeck.
And when I find you, you will give me what is mine. What is my people's. And I can die. Maybe even you can die. I'm generous.
I'm also what you would call a vampire.
I wish that man who wrote Dracula got it right. We don't suck blood FROM THE NECK. No. We drain it. Into the special copper plates by the moon. The victims hung upside down. Cut with the knives.
But, then again, it took searching eyes from me. You cannot be suspect what you do not know about. IF people believed in vampires, they would expect them to act and look like that Hungarian who made DRACULA his meal ticket. Lugosi. Very likely even in an expensive tuxedo.
They would not expect me, an overweight negro. If they thought about it, that would make sense of course. You have to have a very slow metabolism to live forever. Everything you can think of puts on weight. But then, you don't need to EAT too much. Just that one meal. Once and a while.
No. They are not called 'negros' any more. Blacks. Yes. Times change. Always keep up. Always try and stay in time..one might not stick out as a vampire. But one would stick out listening to Bing Crosby or Jelly Roll Morton..Yes, one would.
I am, of course, not even a negro. I am from Egypt..a prince of that country...and the woman I loved, burned for, turned to me one night and whispered as I held her;"How would you like to live FOREVER??"
Why didn't I just walk away?
Instead, I got into the expedition with Hornbeck. Looking for BIBLICAL TREASURES. Sure.
What we were REALLY looking for was the urn of an obscure god and cult that even The Bible didn't want to mention. The source of all the vampire legends. Follow the directions. Ancient Egyptian figures show you how.
So we took Hornbeck out to the desert, and of course, he finds things. Beginners luck does not even cover it. He blundered into more then he could have hoped for.
What does The Bible say? He shall have his reward.
He sure did.
And we found that urn.
What we didn't count on was his greed. We woke up one morning. He was gone. With all the supplies.
He left us out there to die while he took the treasure back.
My love died in that trackless sand. I buried her. But I kept the urn and performed the first of the ceremonies for myself..before it was too late for me..I became one of THE UNDEAD that night.
I followed his career when he came back. The scandal. The 'behavoir problems'. The death of the wife. The explusion from every church with any trace of sanity. The disappearing act.
I thought him dead for so long. But he lives.
Now so do I.
You're out there, Hornbeck. I can sense you. And I think you are in this town. This time, I shall not miss you.
This is a strange, messy country, this America. But it will not matter. I am closing in. I missed you in Tampa by a year. Dallas, only seven months. And I was almost on top of you in New York City. A different turn, a different hotel. I would have had you, Hornbeck.
And when I find you, you will give me what is mine. What is my people's. And I can die. Maybe even you can die. I'm generous.
I'm also what you would call a vampire.
I wish that man who wrote Dracula got it right. We don't suck blood FROM THE NECK. No. We drain it. Into the special copper plates by the moon. The victims hung upside down. Cut with the knives.
But, then again, it took searching eyes from me. You cannot be suspect what you do not know about. IF people believed in vampires, they would expect them to act and look like that Hungarian who made DRACULA his meal ticket. Lugosi. Very likely even in an expensive tuxedo.
They would not expect me, an overweight negro. If they thought about it, that would make sense of course. You have to have a very slow metabolism to live forever. Everything you can think of puts on weight. But then, you don't need to EAT too much. Just that one meal. Once and a while.
No. They are not called 'negros' any more. Blacks. Yes. Times change. Always keep up. Always try and stay in time..one might not stick out as a vampire. But one would stick out listening to Bing Crosby or Jelly Roll Morton..Yes, one would.
I am, of course, not even a negro. I am from Egypt..a prince of that country...and the woman I loved, burned for, turned to me one night and whispered as I held her;"How would you like to live FOREVER??"
Why didn't I just walk away?
Instead, I got into the expedition with Hornbeck. Looking for BIBLICAL TREASURES. Sure.
What we were REALLY looking for was the urn of an obscure god and cult that even The Bible didn't want to mention. The source of all the vampire legends. Follow the directions. Ancient Egyptian figures show you how.
So we took Hornbeck out to the desert, and of course, he finds things. Beginners luck does not even cover it. He blundered into more then he could have hoped for.
What does The Bible say? He shall have his reward.
He sure did.
And we found that urn.
What we didn't count on was his greed. We woke up one morning. He was gone. With all the supplies.
He left us out there to die while he took the treasure back.
My love died in that trackless sand. I buried her. But I kept the urn and performed the first of the ceremonies for myself..before it was too late for me..I became one of THE UNDEAD that night.
I followed his career when he came back. The scandal. The 'behavoir problems'. The death of the wife. The explusion from every church with any trace of sanity. The disappearing act.
I thought him dead for so long. But he lives.
Now so do I.
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uncletor
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Chris and I held each other. Just held each other.
We both wanted to cry. But neither could. We just hugged and shivered and were shaking all over.
We could move around after that Hornbeck guy had left. Nothing was wrong, nothing hurt.
Somehow, that made it worse. It would have felt RIGHT to have some sort of stiffness after a spell or whatever that was had been put on you. But nothing.
We both had to use the bathroom really bad, but that was a pretty minor point.
But after that, we were left with a bigger problem.
WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON, AND WHAT THE HECK DO WE DO???
Chris was beside me in the john mirror as we both combed our hair after splashig cold water on our faces."Okay..I think we would BOTH agree that the little girl WE knew IS GONE..that was a demon. IT said so itself. So who do we go to, who do we get help from??? Some nutcase is loose in this town with a demon in a cage that has taken over the body of a little dead girl.."
I was crying then. Couldn't help it. The thought of HOW the demon had gotten that body was getting to me."Okay. There's a nurse in town. Drives a orange VW bug. Only, she's JUST not a nurse, okay? Remember that
story a few years ago, about a cow mulitation cult that was outside of town?? It was FOR REAL. I know FOR A FACT she was in on the busting up of that. She's like the local version of Solomon Kane."
Chris just stared. Then I remembered not everybody read Robert Howard, the guy who wrote Conan..back in the 30's. Howard had also written about Solomon Kane, this guy who broke up cults and took out witches.
"She's a ghost buster, hon..an honest to mike Ghostbuster..demons, witches, creatures from another world.."
Chris was lightening up by now;"Creature from the Black Lagoon.."
I looked at her with a tired expression;"This is NO time for a WORD variation of our Halloween game hon..c'mon..we can see if she's on duty right now.."
We both wanted to cry. But neither could. We just hugged and shivered and were shaking all over.
We could move around after that Hornbeck guy had left. Nothing was wrong, nothing hurt.
Somehow, that made it worse. It would have felt RIGHT to have some sort of stiffness after a spell or whatever that was had been put on you. But nothing.
We both had to use the bathroom really bad, but that was a pretty minor point.
But after that, we were left with a bigger problem.
WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON, AND WHAT THE HECK DO WE DO???
Chris was beside me in the john mirror as we both combed our hair after splashig cold water on our faces."Okay..I think we would BOTH agree that the little girl WE knew IS GONE..that was a demon. IT said so itself. So who do we go to, who do we get help from??? Some nutcase is loose in this town with a demon in a cage that has taken over the body of a little dead girl.."
I was crying then. Couldn't help it. The thought of HOW the demon had gotten that body was getting to me."Okay. There's a nurse in town. Drives a orange VW bug. Only, she's JUST not a nurse, okay? Remember that
story a few years ago, about a cow mulitation cult that was outside of town?? It was FOR REAL. I know FOR A FACT she was in on the busting up of that. She's like the local version of Solomon Kane."
Chris just stared. Then I remembered not everybody read Robert Howard, the guy who wrote Conan..back in the 30's. Howard had also written about Solomon Kane, this guy who broke up cults and took out witches.
"She's a ghost buster, hon..an honest to mike Ghostbuster..demons, witches, creatures from another world.."
Chris was lightening up by now;"Creature from the Black Lagoon.."
I looked at her with a tired expression;"This is NO time for a WORD variation of our Halloween game hon..c'mon..we can see if she's on duty right now.."
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uncletor
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When you're a nurse, work is like jumping from stepping stone to stepping stone. One darn thing right after another. The trick is to do each thing and not get all fired up over what you have done and what you're going to do. Somewhere between sqaure dancing and surfing, I guess.
Not a bad morning. Not too many emergencies. You always have time for emergencies. It's the regular stuff you have to fight to get done. I was into my second bale of paperwork when the War Babies came in.
Okay, not kids from a REAL war. Two girls; Chris and Claudia. I call them War Babies when they have a look in their eyes, a look you know shouldn't be there from having seen or done too much.
That look always gets me. I'm a sucker for it.
For a second, I flashed back to the REAL War Babies, and The Big Guy. Those kids were the last damn thing I saw before The Big Guy grabbed me by the neck and tossed me on that chopper and we left the war, just like that. I was a field nurse, Army Corps. The war was closing up shop, and he KNEW those kids would keep my attention too long. He was right. He had to take me away to get me out.
But he got me out. And married me. Still has the same hard chest and arms that he used to yank me out of that last waiting room. If I get home before tonight, maybe I'll let the good times roll. What a guy. Married all these years and we're still up to more monkey business then the Boston Zoo.
So I heard the kids out over hot chocolate. I knew it was coming, it was just a question of when. My side kick had given me the heads up a few days before.
Everybody has a side kick. Lone Ranger had Tonto. Green Hornet had Kato. Batman had Robin. Mine is named Fred "Leghorn" Marx.
Marx works over in psych across town and clued me into a morgue attendent that went strange.
"It might be a real breakdown," he said softly to me on the phone."But I keep getting the vibe that this is a guy who saw stuff that just doesn't connect. I hope I can convince him that he was just seeing things. It might be better that way.."
"What did he see?" I asked back.
'Says a little girl in a white dress had been hit by a car. Buried her and everything. But the insurance company didn't have an autopsy so they insisted on a dig up. Were trying to get out of paying, said it might have been the kids heart condition. He says she got right up from the table and walked out.
"He saw her get up as smoothly as if she was at the beach and was finished sunbathing and decided to get a Hires."
I heard a long high laugh in the back ground. Then screaming.
"Uh..gotta go..that's him.."
That had been Tuesday. Since then, nothing.
I took first lunch and loaded the kids into my orange VW bug. Couldn't resist. The worse things get, the more you like to cut loose when you can. I put on the theme from Beetlejuice and let it blare as we headed over to the pysch hospital. The kids were laughing and hooting as folks did double takes watching the wheels fly over holes Dukes of Hazard style. I think Claudia even yelled out;"It's show time!"
Not a bad morning. Not too many emergencies. You always have time for emergencies. It's the regular stuff you have to fight to get done. I was into my second bale of paperwork when the War Babies came in.
Okay, not kids from a REAL war. Two girls; Chris and Claudia. I call them War Babies when they have a look in their eyes, a look you know shouldn't be there from having seen or done too much.
That look always gets me. I'm a sucker for it.
For a second, I flashed back to the REAL War Babies, and The Big Guy. Those kids were the last damn thing I saw before The Big Guy grabbed me by the neck and tossed me on that chopper and we left the war, just like that. I was a field nurse, Army Corps. The war was closing up shop, and he KNEW those kids would keep my attention too long. He was right. He had to take me away to get me out.
But he got me out. And married me. Still has the same hard chest and arms that he used to yank me out of that last waiting room. If I get home before tonight, maybe I'll let the good times roll. What a guy. Married all these years and we're still up to more monkey business then the Boston Zoo.
So I heard the kids out over hot chocolate. I knew it was coming, it was just a question of when. My side kick had given me the heads up a few days before.
Everybody has a side kick. Lone Ranger had Tonto. Green Hornet had Kato. Batman had Robin. Mine is named Fred "Leghorn" Marx.
Marx works over in psych across town and clued me into a morgue attendent that went strange.
"It might be a real breakdown," he said softly to me on the phone."But I keep getting the vibe that this is a guy who saw stuff that just doesn't connect. I hope I can convince him that he was just seeing things. It might be better that way.."
"What did he see?" I asked back.
'Says a little girl in a white dress had been hit by a car. Buried her and everything. But the insurance company didn't have an autopsy so they insisted on a dig up. Were trying to get out of paying, said it might have been the kids heart condition. He says she got right up from the table and walked out.
"He saw her get up as smoothly as if she was at the beach and was finished sunbathing and decided to get a Hires."
I heard a long high laugh in the back ground. Then screaming.
"Uh..gotta go..that's him.."
That had been Tuesday. Since then, nothing.
I took first lunch and loaded the kids into my orange VW bug. Couldn't resist. The worse things get, the more you like to cut loose when you can. I put on the theme from Beetlejuice and let it blare as we headed over to the pysch hospital. The kids were laughing and hooting as folks did double takes watching the wheels fly over holes Dukes of Hazard style. I think Claudia even yelled out;"It's show time!"
Last edited by uncletor on Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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uncletor
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So the other kid, Chris, asked how long I had been doing this.
I figured we'd start out slow. "Ive been a nurse all my life. Cool job."
No sale."No, the other stuff."
One final dodge:"Halloween? You saw the hospital uniform with the pumpkins on it, right? The hair that makes me look like the teacher in Harry Potter? It helps quiet down the kids sometimes. Their eyes get big and they think I'm a movie star.
"I've dug Halloween since I was..well..your age."
"No...Claudia says you're a Ghostbuster and stuff."
I sighed. "Yeah. Started about a decade ago. Sort of wandered into it. I was the local person who MIGHT know, wanted to help. Next thing you know, I'm the expert."
I would NOT tell them about the witch. At least that's what she called herself. I fast forwarded past the whole scene. The pale old grey wooden house with the diffused light coming in, cutting the dust, making the blood stand out more vivd. The one kid who got away out front on the lawn, sitting inside a circle of chairs, forks, lamps and other stuff surrounding him, singing:"Go tell Aunt Rhodie, Go tell aunt Rhodie.."
Going up stairs to the second floor and looking at the walls. Finding the rest. Finding her. I met Fred there, actually.
"Where did you met your side kick?"Claudia asked."I never saw HIM before."
I really didn't lie. Just screwed up the time table a bit." He used to sell me Springsteen and Grateful Dead bootlegs."
The girls didn't know what a bootleg was. So I explained that counterfeits were like counterfeit money. Estimated half the soundtracks to The Sound of Music sold on the east coat were countefeits. Pirates were copies that were just MADE, no attempt to look like the real thing. Like a burned CD. Bootlegs, or boots were unauthorized recordings of live concert or studio outtakes that were sold to collectors who wanted it ALL. Or a very good concert. Dylan and his Royal Albert Hall concert, where he first went electric and fought and won over the audience is a great example.
It worked. It got them off the scent for a few minutes. The less said about backgrounds, the better. I hoped Chris could keep her mouth shut like Claudia had before. Good kid. Doesn't spook easy, and knows just when to walk away and let it be.
I thought about Hornbeck as I told them about famous bootlegs, like The Rolling Stones 'LiveR Then You'll Ever Be" which was a better concert from Oakland during the same tour as the N.Y.C. concert that was released commercially. Hornbeck would be a problem. But was his shadow also in town? We had never had the TWO of them before..not at the same time..and Hornbecks' shadow had always missed us...
I guess our luck had to run out sooner or later.
I figured we'd start out slow. "Ive been a nurse all my life. Cool job."
No sale."No, the other stuff."
One final dodge:"Halloween? You saw the hospital uniform with the pumpkins on it, right? The hair that makes me look like the teacher in Harry Potter? It helps quiet down the kids sometimes. Their eyes get big and they think I'm a movie star.
"I've dug Halloween since I was..well..your age."
"No...Claudia says you're a Ghostbuster and stuff."
I sighed. "Yeah. Started about a decade ago. Sort of wandered into it. I was the local person who MIGHT know, wanted to help. Next thing you know, I'm the expert."
I would NOT tell them about the witch. At least that's what she called herself. I fast forwarded past the whole scene. The pale old grey wooden house with the diffused light coming in, cutting the dust, making the blood stand out more vivd. The one kid who got away out front on the lawn, sitting inside a circle of chairs, forks, lamps and other stuff surrounding him, singing:"Go tell Aunt Rhodie, Go tell aunt Rhodie.."
Going up stairs to the second floor and looking at the walls. Finding the rest. Finding her. I met Fred there, actually.
"Where did you met your side kick?"Claudia asked."I never saw HIM before."
I really didn't lie. Just screwed up the time table a bit." He used to sell me Springsteen and Grateful Dead bootlegs."
The girls didn't know what a bootleg was. So I explained that counterfeits were like counterfeit money. Estimated half the soundtracks to The Sound of Music sold on the east coat were countefeits. Pirates were copies that were just MADE, no attempt to look like the real thing. Like a burned CD. Bootlegs, or boots were unauthorized recordings of live concert or studio outtakes that were sold to collectors who wanted it ALL. Or a very good concert. Dylan and his Royal Albert Hall concert, where he first went electric and fought and won over the audience is a great example.
It worked. It got them off the scent for a few minutes. The less said about backgrounds, the better. I hoped Chris could keep her mouth shut like Claudia had before. Good kid. Doesn't spook easy, and knows just when to walk away and let it be.
I thought about Hornbeck as I told them about famous bootlegs, like The Rolling Stones 'LiveR Then You'll Ever Be" which was a better concert from Oakland during the same tour as the N.Y.C. concert that was released commercially. Hornbeck would be a problem. But was his shadow also in town? We had never had the TWO of them before..not at the same time..and Hornbecks' shadow had always missed us...
I guess our luck had to run out sooner or later.
Future events such as these will effect you in the future
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uncletor
- Halloween Master
- Posts: 560
- Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:21 pm
- What is the highest number?: 9
- Location: London Ontario Canada
The girls couldn't get over the fact the local insane ayslum looks something like a university or research site. Not scary at all.
Of course, the closer you got to the PATIENTS the less there was of the warm nice feeling of the front door. We finally wound up in a small room with a formica table and four plastic chairs. A two way mirror shined blackly at us. The girls were sophisticated enough not to stare.
Fred came in talking a mile a minute, like he always does, and plopped two big boxes on the table. "Okay. We don't have much time. This is the chart for Hornbeck. We've HAD him a time or two, meaning, we've admitted him. Now. Some stuff to know. First off, he is a product of his environment.
"Yeah. I know. Aren't we all. Okay, this is what it means; he was out front of his house one day. His son was acting up and he was laying a beating on the boy. With a stick, okay? Neighbour walks by. Says he will wind up killing the kid if he doesn't watch out. Hornbeck says back;"If the boy won't listen to me,he might as well be dead."
Fred let that hang there for a minute. Went and turned on the light in the the room with the two way mirror so the two could see no one was there, and came back. The girls turned an appropriate shade of red and white.
He rubbed the back of his neck slowly overtop of his greens and went on;"I didn't tell you that to freak you. But you need to understand his stern way of looking at life. It's all black and white, yes or no. And it's always HIS way. Always."
Claudia recovered first:"So what does this guy DO? IS he REALLY insane or just mean and cranky? And if he's capturing demons, doesn't that put him on YOUR side?"
"Fred thinks he's crazy." I replied." I reserve judgement. But he was raised in place and time where men ran their households as absolute lords, the white guy was the undisputed king of everything he saw, and going hell bent for leather made SENSE. Remember the American Civil War? Same attitude. Half a million Americans died. Try and think how crazy, how CRIMINAL it would be TODAY if you went into town and shot up the place like they do every weekend on Bonanza.
"What he DOES is do a cross country/tag team search and destroy misison of demons."
"And THAT is where he came onto OUR radar." injected Fred."This guy goes and KILLS people HE says are demons. There is NO independent proof other then the signs HE says are proof. And for what it's worth, we're pretty sure a couple of people have been stuck into mayo jars who didn't DESERVE IT..if anybody does.."
Chris' Burger King Whooper eating suddenly came back to haunt her."MAYO jars??"
"Yeah. Right here in the chart. Usually uses mayonaise jars after he burns them, to keep the ashes air tight. We found four or five shelves worth the last time we brought him in. Could be anything, but he likes the nice round lip on those jars. Easy to funnel."
Fred couldn't help but smirk. He liked showing off for the tourist trade. The girls were also digging the behind the scenes look.
"Welcome to the world of mental health.." Fred chimmed in with his best t.v. announcer voice.
Chris fought hard for control and stayed on topic:"But WHY???"
"He says he unleashed a series of demons on an Egyptian dig. Dedicated his life to destroying them. Every few years, he sells off a few things he got on the dig to keep his show on the road. But he's running by his own game plan, he's a loose cannon, and doesn't play well with the other children. He's getting rid of demons, alright, but he is also taking out innocent by standers and anything else that gets in his way.
Claudia finally brought up what I was waiting for them to see."These photos. They're Hornbeck, but they're old. Little House on the Prairie old. WHEN did all this go DOWN?"
I took a deep breath while Fred winced."There's documentation that the Hornbecks, wife and husband, went over with a crew just after the Civil War. I didn't bring that up causally. Hornbeck says he's over 150 years old. That's the other thing that got him onto Fred's attention."
"So, he's like, a vampire?"
"No...that's the scary guy after him...Pastor Hornbeck's a soul eater..."
Claudia was really white now."What's that..?"
"Customs from old England..really really old.." I said, softly."Druid old or there abouts. The lord would bring a peasant to the castle when he was dying and the peasant would be allowed to eat a feast and pray to the gods that the lord's sins would pass to the peasants' body. That's a rough sketch, but it will serve. Hornbeck's schtick is older, goes back maybe to the rights of Mithras, a Persian mystery cult..we don't know, maybe Egyptian..he assumes the power of the spirits and their life force. It keeps him going."
Chris had her hand over her mouth;"What about the vampire?? The scary guy you say is after him?"
"He IS a scary guy." Fred answered back." He is patient. And deadly. The opposite of Hornbeck. He's Egyptian, dark. USUALLY only kills people who have bought or sold old Egyptian relics. Very quiet. Still waters run deep. Here's HIS chart."
Fred put a single, smaller pile of paper beside Hornbecks two boxes. "We only had him a time or two. And EVERY time, somebody from State, or the Embassy, or the Museum comes. Transfers him. Takes custody. Whatever..and then..on the way to WHERE EVER they are going..he just walks.."
"But where the one goes, the other follows. Always." I continued."And we don't THINK Hornbeck knows about this other guy. But after awhile, you can set your watch to it. A demon comes and manifests itself. Hornbeck comes to catch it. The Big Black Guy comes to get Hornbeck. And the lag time between the two is getting smaller and smaller. It's gonna be a show down in Dodge City soon."
Claudia, I think, already knew the answer to the question she asked next;"Why are you telling us all of this?"
And Fred leaned over, smiled, and said, in his best game show announcer style:'Well, if you would like, and there is no obligation,of course, if you WANT, you can always refuse, mind you..but if you wouldn't MIND..we were..the two of us, that is..we were thinking of using you two as..BAIT."
Claudia and Chris both cursed in living stereo, saying the same word.
Of course, the closer you got to the PATIENTS the less there was of the warm nice feeling of the front door. We finally wound up in a small room with a formica table and four plastic chairs. A two way mirror shined blackly at us. The girls were sophisticated enough not to stare.
Fred came in talking a mile a minute, like he always does, and plopped two big boxes on the table. "Okay. We don't have much time. This is the chart for Hornbeck. We've HAD him a time or two, meaning, we've admitted him. Now. Some stuff to know. First off, he is a product of his environment.
"Yeah. I know. Aren't we all. Okay, this is what it means; he was out front of his house one day. His son was acting up and he was laying a beating on the boy. With a stick, okay? Neighbour walks by. Says he will wind up killing the kid if he doesn't watch out. Hornbeck says back;"If the boy won't listen to me,he might as well be dead."
Fred let that hang there for a minute. Went and turned on the light in the the room with the two way mirror so the two could see no one was there, and came back. The girls turned an appropriate shade of red and white.
He rubbed the back of his neck slowly overtop of his greens and went on;"I didn't tell you that to freak you. But you need to understand his stern way of looking at life. It's all black and white, yes or no. And it's always HIS way. Always."
Claudia recovered first:"So what does this guy DO? IS he REALLY insane or just mean and cranky? And if he's capturing demons, doesn't that put him on YOUR side?"
"Fred thinks he's crazy." I replied." I reserve judgement. But he was raised in place and time where men ran their households as absolute lords, the white guy was the undisputed king of everything he saw, and going hell bent for leather made SENSE. Remember the American Civil War? Same attitude. Half a million Americans died. Try and think how crazy, how CRIMINAL it would be TODAY if you went into town and shot up the place like they do every weekend on Bonanza.
"What he DOES is do a cross country/tag team search and destroy misison of demons."
"And THAT is where he came onto OUR radar." injected Fred."This guy goes and KILLS people HE says are demons. There is NO independent proof other then the signs HE says are proof. And for what it's worth, we're pretty sure a couple of people have been stuck into mayo jars who didn't DESERVE IT..if anybody does.."
Chris' Burger King Whooper eating suddenly came back to haunt her."MAYO jars??"
"Yeah. Right here in the chart. Usually uses mayonaise jars after he burns them, to keep the ashes air tight. We found four or five shelves worth the last time we brought him in. Could be anything, but he likes the nice round lip on those jars. Easy to funnel."
Fred couldn't help but smirk. He liked showing off for the tourist trade. The girls were also digging the behind the scenes look.
"Welcome to the world of mental health.." Fred chimmed in with his best t.v. announcer voice.
Chris fought hard for control and stayed on topic:"But WHY???"
"He says he unleashed a series of demons on an Egyptian dig. Dedicated his life to destroying them. Every few years, he sells off a few things he got on the dig to keep his show on the road. But he's running by his own game plan, he's a loose cannon, and doesn't play well with the other children. He's getting rid of demons, alright, but he is also taking out innocent by standers and anything else that gets in his way.
Claudia finally brought up what I was waiting for them to see."These photos. They're Hornbeck, but they're old. Little House on the Prairie old. WHEN did all this go DOWN?"
I took a deep breath while Fred winced."There's documentation that the Hornbecks, wife and husband, went over with a crew just after the Civil War. I didn't bring that up causally. Hornbeck says he's over 150 years old. That's the other thing that got him onto Fred's attention."
"So, he's like, a vampire?"
"No...that's the scary guy after him...Pastor Hornbeck's a soul eater..."
Claudia was really white now."What's that..?"
"Customs from old England..really really old.." I said, softly."Druid old or there abouts. The lord would bring a peasant to the castle when he was dying and the peasant would be allowed to eat a feast and pray to the gods that the lord's sins would pass to the peasants' body. That's a rough sketch, but it will serve. Hornbeck's schtick is older, goes back maybe to the rights of Mithras, a Persian mystery cult..we don't know, maybe Egyptian..he assumes the power of the spirits and their life force. It keeps him going."
Chris had her hand over her mouth;"What about the vampire?? The scary guy you say is after him?"
"He IS a scary guy." Fred answered back." He is patient. And deadly. The opposite of Hornbeck. He's Egyptian, dark. USUALLY only kills people who have bought or sold old Egyptian relics. Very quiet. Still waters run deep. Here's HIS chart."
Fred put a single, smaller pile of paper beside Hornbecks two boxes. "We only had him a time or two. And EVERY time, somebody from State, or the Embassy, or the Museum comes. Transfers him. Takes custody. Whatever..and then..on the way to WHERE EVER they are going..he just walks.."
"But where the one goes, the other follows. Always." I continued."And we don't THINK Hornbeck knows about this other guy. But after awhile, you can set your watch to it. A demon comes and manifests itself. Hornbeck comes to catch it. The Big Black Guy comes to get Hornbeck. And the lag time between the two is getting smaller and smaller. It's gonna be a show down in Dodge City soon."
Claudia, I think, already knew the answer to the question she asked next;"Why are you telling us all of this?"
And Fred leaned over, smiled, and said, in his best game show announcer style:'Well, if you would like, and there is no obligation,of course, if you WANT, you can always refuse, mind you..but if you wouldn't MIND..we were..the two of us, that is..we were thinking of using you two as..BAIT."
Claudia and Chris both cursed in living stereo, saying the same word.
Future events such as these will effect you in the future
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uncletor
- Halloween Master
- Posts: 560
- Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:21 pm
- What is the highest number?: 9
- Location: London Ontario Canada
FROM THE JOURNAL OF A.K. OSWALD:
The first cut is all important. It must be perfect or everything that comes after will be ruined. I had planned for this cut for many days.
First, his wife and son could not be around. It was between the two of us. Boone, the collector and I. No one else. I do not brutalize innocent people whenever I can help not to.
Second, I had to watch him to make sure there were no new alarms or sensors or guards. That took another week.
There were none.
It was easy, then, to cross the grass in the soft fall rain. The drops sliding down the sides of pumpkins..weighing down his HAPPY HALLOWEEN banners.
He even had his back to me. Too perfect.
Too perfect he was also watching one of his favorite old time horror movies. BLACK DRAGONS. Bela Lugosi. It was just at the point where the Japanese spy, posing as an AMERICAN says that Americans are like children and quickly forget the fire that burnt their fingers.
I smiled despite myself. And despite the sharp knife I had in my hand. It is a very old, very thin knife, sharper then any razor.
I brought the edge down to cut into his shoulder muscle. The one that connects the neck past the collar bone. Trapezius, they call it here. If the knife is sharp enough, and mine is, the victim will not even FEEL it go in.
Rather he will shiver and squirm and tremble when he feels the blood flow like milk down his back and collect at the upper crack of his buttocks.
He shuddered as he felt that. A small small twist of my finger pad, and the bleeding stopped.
"I can keep the bleeding stopped." I said." Or we can begin a night of slow terrible pain. The choice is yours."
"Oswald..." he gasped. "...what???..."
"...do I want?? The Pig Stone. You have it. He sold it to you. For longer then I remember, you have always told me when he sold you things. This time, you have kept it. I want it back. You can't use it. Let Memphis have it..the REAL Memphis..in Egypt."
"I don't have it..he sold me..a fake.." Boone was gasping in shock. Maybe.
"I'm not one of your stupid port authorities, where IS it???" I said. The knife did some talking and a trickle rain down his back. His face also squished like a jelly fish from the pain.
"No. No. Really. It's a fake. See for yourself. Over on the mantle. A good fake. But still a fake."
"Boone, I want to make something clear. In horror stories and spy novels, the hero always threatens the man he has under his thumb. And he tells this man that he will KILL him if he misbehaves. And the man he has power over pleads for his life and the hero lets him live, and then this same man does a stupid thing. Then that man dies after pleading for his life. Always.
"I like you. Until now, things have been honest. Don't do a stupid thing. Your son is young and smart and will continue on in your work. Your wife is remarkably well preserved and you two still love each other. Besides, if you behave, I have a reward. Also. Look into my eyes. Remove any doubt that I would kill you. Let's do this the nice way."
I totally slacked off the knife. He asked what the reward was.
'You have enough money. I will still pay you for whatever you give me or know, but I will also throw in a bonus. Something to satisfy your sense of humor. Remember the Elvis impersonator in the Phillipines?? The one past the beach from the airport?"
And Boone smiled."Yes. So totally lame he would get overcome with his own act and sit on the stage and cry. Perfect."
"I have him on DVD for you. Play ball, as you used to say, in the 50's."
And Boone did.
I went over to the mantle and got a look at the fake Pig Stone. It was good. I couldn't tell..unless I tested it for composition or got it under an electron micro...and then I remembered the OTHER way to test it.
"Boone...who FOUND OUT it wouldn't work??"
"Hornbeck did. He tried it out."
"Boone, the Pig Stone is to bring back the old evil gods. To help open the gateway. To let them come back. By itself, it calls out the hairless white figure, the mad staring demon who glows in the dark, and guards the passage. With the other two, it makes the portal open. Hornbeck is old tyme relgion. Why would he do that? Why would he believe?"
"I found Rebecca..she is still alive. She wants to see you. She told me he has been talking to the white figure. He has become convinced he can rule them. He wants the old gods to do his bidding. He wants to try and open the gate. He wants to bring them back."
For the first time in many years, my skin went into goosepimples. I knew real fear."Nonsense. He is ...a fundamentalist.."
And Boone, even with the pain, laughed."You said he was old time religion, right??? Maybe he went for the old old old time religion. And WHAT could be more FUNDAMENTAL then demons, or aliens or WHATEVER they are, returning to this world and torturing us on a planet wide scale like a evil child would do with a stray cat..and making the whole solar system their one big mudpie.."
My mouth hung open. It's strange how you idolize your enemies. I never thought Hornbeck could be seduced by power..
"Rebecca says he used it first to figure out how to destroy the demons better." Boone replied, as if reading my mind."Then the white figure started to talk, and talk. Turned him on to the power. The rest was easy."
My mind went back to an important point." You said Rebecca wants to see me."
"She always liked you. She wants out. Figures you could help."
I had known fear for the first time in many years that night. Now I also knew sorrow. I always liked Rebbeca too. And I knew of only one way for her to 'get out'.
The first cut is all important. It must be perfect or everything that comes after will be ruined. I had planned for this cut for many days.
First, his wife and son could not be around. It was between the two of us. Boone, the collector and I. No one else. I do not brutalize innocent people whenever I can help not to.
Second, I had to watch him to make sure there were no new alarms or sensors or guards. That took another week.
There were none.
It was easy, then, to cross the grass in the soft fall rain. The drops sliding down the sides of pumpkins..weighing down his HAPPY HALLOWEEN banners.
He even had his back to me. Too perfect.
Too perfect he was also watching one of his favorite old time horror movies. BLACK DRAGONS. Bela Lugosi. It was just at the point where the Japanese spy, posing as an AMERICAN says that Americans are like children and quickly forget the fire that burnt their fingers.
I smiled despite myself. And despite the sharp knife I had in my hand. It is a very old, very thin knife, sharper then any razor.
I brought the edge down to cut into his shoulder muscle. The one that connects the neck past the collar bone. Trapezius, they call it here. If the knife is sharp enough, and mine is, the victim will not even FEEL it go in.
Rather he will shiver and squirm and tremble when he feels the blood flow like milk down his back and collect at the upper crack of his buttocks.
He shuddered as he felt that. A small small twist of my finger pad, and the bleeding stopped.
"I can keep the bleeding stopped." I said." Or we can begin a night of slow terrible pain. The choice is yours."
"Oswald..." he gasped. "...what???..."
"...do I want?? The Pig Stone. You have it. He sold it to you. For longer then I remember, you have always told me when he sold you things. This time, you have kept it. I want it back. You can't use it. Let Memphis have it..the REAL Memphis..in Egypt."
"I don't have it..he sold me..a fake.." Boone was gasping in shock. Maybe.
"I'm not one of your stupid port authorities, where IS it???" I said. The knife did some talking and a trickle rain down his back. His face also squished like a jelly fish from the pain.
"No. No. Really. It's a fake. See for yourself. Over on the mantle. A good fake. But still a fake."
"Boone, I want to make something clear. In horror stories and spy novels, the hero always threatens the man he has under his thumb. And he tells this man that he will KILL him if he misbehaves. And the man he has power over pleads for his life and the hero lets him live, and then this same man does a stupid thing. Then that man dies after pleading for his life. Always.
"I like you. Until now, things have been honest. Don't do a stupid thing. Your son is young and smart and will continue on in your work. Your wife is remarkably well preserved and you two still love each other. Besides, if you behave, I have a reward. Also. Look into my eyes. Remove any doubt that I would kill you. Let's do this the nice way."
I totally slacked off the knife. He asked what the reward was.
'You have enough money. I will still pay you for whatever you give me or know, but I will also throw in a bonus. Something to satisfy your sense of humor. Remember the Elvis impersonator in the Phillipines?? The one past the beach from the airport?"
And Boone smiled."Yes. So totally lame he would get overcome with his own act and sit on the stage and cry. Perfect."
"I have him on DVD for you. Play ball, as you used to say, in the 50's."
And Boone did.
I went over to the mantle and got a look at the fake Pig Stone. It was good. I couldn't tell..unless I tested it for composition or got it under an electron micro...and then I remembered the OTHER way to test it.
"Boone...who FOUND OUT it wouldn't work??"
"Hornbeck did. He tried it out."
"Boone, the Pig Stone is to bring back the old evil gods. To help open the gateway. To let them come back. By itself, it calls out the hairless white figure, the mad staring demon who glows in the dark, and guards the passage. With the other two, it makes the portal open. Hornbeck is old tyme relgion. Why would he do that? Why would he believe?"
"I found Rebecca..she is still alive. She wants to see you. She told me he has been talking to the white figure. He has become convinced he can rule them. He wants the old gods to do his bidding. He wants to try and open the gate. He wants to bring them back."
For the first time in many years, my skin went into goosepimples. I knew real fear."Nonsense. He is ...a fundamentalist.."
And Boone, even with the pain, laughed."You said he was old time religion, right??? Maybe he went for the old old old time religion. And WHAT could be more FUNDAMENTAL then demons, or aliens or WHATEVER they are, returning to this world and torturing us on a planet wide scale like a evil child would do with a stray cat..and making the whole solar system their one big mudpie.."
My mouth hung open. It's strange how you idolize your enemies. I never thought Hornbeck could be seduced by power..
"Rebecca says he used it first to figure out how to destroy the demons better." Boone replied, as if reading my mind."Then the white figure started to talk, and talk. Turned him on to the power. The rest was easy."
My mind went back to an important point." You said Rebecca wants to see me."
"She always liked you. She wants out. Figures you could help."
I had known fear for the first time in many years that night. Now I also knew sorrow. I always liked Rebbeca too. And I knew of only one way for her to 'get out'.
Future events such as these will effect you in the future
-
uncletor
- Halloween Master
- Posts: 560
- Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:21 pm
- What is the highest number?: 9
- Location: London Ontario Canada
I took the girls out for Italian after we left Fred. Moe's Place. Not the best restaurant name, but family and good pasta sauce.
"So WHERE did you FIND Fred??" asked Claudia, still a little spun from his routine.
"Okay, first off. His REAL name is not Fred. That's fake. Fred for Fred Sanford. You cannot beleive the junk he has. Marx for Groucho Marx with the one liners. I nicknamed him Foghorn, because he's the missing link between humans and Foghorn Leghorn. You got the calm restrained version.
"I don't KNOW his real name. Or where he is FROM. Know that song? "Got my hands on the wheel and my foot to the pedal'? The one where the lady singing wants to go someplace where no one knows her?
Well, Fred did it. He is either from a rich family that is ashamed of him, Or a southern family as crazy as snakes. All I know is, he has EDUCATION, don't know from WHERE. And EVERY time I want something, he HAS IT.
"I used to think it was creepy. Now I just run with it."
"What do you mean?"asked Chris.
"On our first job, he drove up ten mintues behind us. With about 15 State troopers. Slammed his hand on the roof when he realized he was too late. Then he tossed a black doctors bag at me and told me it was 'just what I needed'. I went back in the house, and he was right..."
The two just stared. It was too late to go back now.
"The bag had Peruvian mummy dust. The real thing. It takes out witches. Fred had jars of it, with labels in Spanish. Now think for a moment WHERE do you get that?? And while we're at it, think about what we just went through. Hospital charts are guarded like your sisters diary. Nobody sees them. But HE sashays in with two charts, one going back for years, WITH photos, and in a Del Monte pineapple box. And you didn't even think twice until I just told you now. That's talent. He can get people to do things for him... "
Claudia asked first."So the lady in the house was a witch?"
"Must have been. The mummy dust worked."
"What does it do?"
"Remember pop rocks? In your mouth? Think about the same reaction on human skin..only the skin, not the pop rocks goes up. Much worse then the melting in THE WIZARD OF OZ, but the same result. You have a puddle with bubbles at the end..Lots of gunk and bubbles.
"Yeah, I guess she was a witch."
"So WHERE did you FIND Fred??" asked Claudia, still a little spun from his routine.
"Okay, first off. His REAL name is not Fred. That's fake. Fred for Fred Sanford. You cannot beleive the junk he has. Marx for Groucho Marx with the one liners. I nicknamed him Foghorn, because he's the missing link between humans and Foghorn Leghorn. You got the calm restrained version.
"I don't KNOW his real name. Or where he is FROM. Know that song? "Got my hands on the wheel and my foot to the pedal'? The one where the lady singing wants to go someplace where no one knows her?
Well, Fred did it. He is either from a rich family that is ashamed of him, Or a southern family as crazy as snakes. All I know is, he has EDUCATION, don't know from WHERE. And EVERY time I want something, he HAS IT.
"I used to think it was creepy. Now I just run with it."
"What do you mean?"asked Chris.
"On our first job, he drove up ten mintues behind us. With about 15 State troopers. Slammed his hand on the roof when he realized he was too late. Then he tossed a black doctors bag at me and told me it was 'just what I needed'. I went back in the house, and he was right..."
The two just stared. It was too late to go back now.
"The bag had Peruvian mummy dust. The real thing. It takes out witches. Fred had jars of it, with labels in Spanish. Now think for a moment WHERE do you get that?? And while we're at it, think about what we just went through. Hospital charts are guarded like your sisters diary. Nobody sees them. But HE sashays in with two charts, one going back for years, WITH photos, and in a Del Monte pineapple box. And you didn't even think twice until I just told you now. That's talent. He can get people to do things for him... "
Claudia asked first."So the lady in the house was a witch?"
"Must have been. The mummy dust worked."
"What does it do?"
"Remember pop rocks? In your mouth? Think about the same reaction on human skin..only the skin, not the pop rocks goes up. Much worse then the melting in THE WIZARD OF OZ, but the same result. You have a puddle with bubbles at the end..Lots of gunk and bubbles.
"Yeah, I guess she was a witch."
Future events such as these will effect you in the future
-
uncletor
- Halloween Master
- Posts: 560
- Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:21 pm
- What is the highest number?: 9
- Location: London Ontario Canada
Nurse Hooch got Chris and I back to school just after lunch, school time. Even had matching notes to explain where we were. I don't know about Fred, but she seemed to have enough persuasive power of her own. The principal and the secretary, who would just as soon as snarl as look at us most days, couldn't do ENOUGH for us.
Even complimented us on our CITZENSHIP.
Yeah, Nurse Hooch. Seems when she was still Army the kids called her something like "Pu Chi", she didn't say what it meant or what it was supposed to mean. Before long, it was "Poochie" and then got shortened forever down to 'HOOCH' when some dumb G.I. , his gut full of Chinese grog, came roaring into the place one night, only able to say that one word;"Hooch"
She came at him with a hypo and he asked;"Hooch??"
"Hooch..." she replied. Gave him the shot. Hooch says it was what she calls her World Series injection. When you get it, you wake up after the World Series and wonder who was the winner.
We got, home, had supper, and thought about text message, but decided to stick to the phone. Talked over the plan as decoys.
Hooch said she wanted us BOTH to pretend to be this girl, Rebecca, who had disappeared.
Disappeared decades ago.
We didn't get it and said so.
Hooch told us that the Egyptian dig had done weird weird things to everyones' age...the old minister was eating souls to stay young. The guide had become a vampire, but this girl, Rebecca, she had really hit pay dirt.
They had found this underground temple UNDER a cave, maybe a mile long..high, high, high..pillars, altars, total Indiana Jones stuff. And this Rebecca kid has run up to the top platform or alter or whatever and touched this Dog God or statue of Dog man or SOMETHING.
Big Blue Light. Kid gets knocked down sideways. Burnt hand, but that was it.
Then as time goes on, it seems she is also ageless. But then it looks like she is just aging slower..
Then she had this big big break with Hornbeck, walked out. Hadn't been seen since, oh, years and years. She'd been like the secretary, and knew all the juicy stuff. But that wasn't the only reason he wanted her back. Everybody loved her. She was just one of those people that everybody gets along with and wants for a friend. Hornbeck missed her like crazy.
The plan was to give us these amulets that would bring Hornbeck to us like bug lights attract the mosquitos. Hooch COUNTED on the idea that Hornbeck would not know WHAT was going on, and suspect a trap, but the idea that there were TWO alarms going off would bring him running..
He would want to know WHY the amulets were going off. He would want to know HOW we got them. And he would be bugged by TWO of them at once. One he would stay away from, suspecting a trap. TWO would be anarchy, and he HATED that..it would MAKE him come in a try and make sense of it..he might take one of us hostage, but we would be able to be tracked. And Hooch was positive we wouldn't be hurt.
"That girl was the last thing on earth he loved.." she told us."She could just melt his heart. I met her years later, New England. She was an adult then, and still made you want her as a friend for life.
"No..he won't lay a finger on you..but we'll be behind, because we won't have much time to get him when he comes above ground."
I left my drapes open that night and thought about that. About Egypt, and far away times, and how the stars hadn't changed. And what was beyond them light years away. Maybe something cold and mean that just wanted to eat us like a dorrito chip.
And then the little girl/demon we saw that morning was at my window. She had attitude and an evil glint in her eye as this green gas came out her mouth and it started to melt the window glass.
From deep in her throat I heard this chuckle. Behind her, Chris was standing in the yard, not moving, just staring at me. As if she was trying to pass a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD audition.
Even complimented us on our CITZENSHIP.
Yeah, Nurse Hooch. Seems when she was still Army the kids called her something like "Pu Chi", she didn't say what it meant or what it was supposed to mean. Before long, it was "Poochie" and then got shortened forever down to 'HOOCH' when some dumb G.I. , his gut full of Chinese grog, came roaring into the place one night, only able to say that one word;"Hooch"
She came at him with a hypo and he asked;"Hooch??"
"Hooch..." she replied. Gave him the shot. Hooch says it was what she calls her World Series injection. When you get it, you wake up after the World Series and wonder who was the winner.
We got, home, had supper, and thought about text message, but decided to stick to the phone. Talked over the plan as decoys.
Hooch said she wanted us BOTH to pretend to be this girl, Rebecca, who had disappeared.
Disappeared decades ago.
We didn't get it and said so.
Hooch told us that the Egyptian dig had done weird weird things to everyones' age...the old minister was eating souls to stay young. The guide had become a vampire, but this girl, Rebecca, she had really hit pay dirt.
They had found this underground temple UNDER a cave, maybe a mile long..high, high, high..pillars, altars, total Indiana Jones stuff. And this Rebecca kid has run up to the top platform or alter or whatever and touched this Dog God or statue of Dog man or SOMETHING.
Big Blue Light. Kid gets knocked down sideways. Burnt hand, but that was it.
Then as time goes on, it seems she is also ageless. But then it looks like she is just aging slower..
Then she had this big big break with Hornbeck, walked out. Hadn't been seen since, oh, years and years. She'd been like the secretary, and knew all the juicy stuff. But that wasn't the only reason he wanted her back. Everybody loved her. She was just one of those people that everybody gets along with and wants for a friend. Hornbeck missed her like crazy.
The plan was to give us these amulets that would bring Hornbeck to us like bug lights attract the mosquitos. Hooch COUNTED on the idea that Hornbeck would not know WHAT was going on, and suspect a trap, but the idea that there were TWO alarms going off would bring him running..
He would want to know WHY the amulets were going off. He would want to know HOW we got them. And he would be bugged by TWO of them at once. One he would stay away from, suspecting a trap. TWO would be anarchy, and he HATED that..it would MAKE him come in a try and make sense of it..he might take one of us hostage, but we would be able to be tracked. And Hooch was positive we wouldn't be hurt.
"That girl was the last thing on earth he loved.." she told us."She could just melt his heart. I met her years later, New England. She was an adult then, and still made you want her as a friend for life.
"No..he won't lay a finger on you..but we'll be behind, because we won't have much time to get him when he comes above ground."
I left my drapes open that night and thought about that. About Egypt, and far away times, and how the stars hadn't changed. And what was beyond them light years away. Maybe something cold and mean that just wanted to eat us like a dorrito chip.
And then the little girl/demon we saw that morning was at my window. She had attitude and an evil glint in her eye as this green gas came out her mouth and it started to melt the window glass.
From deep in her throat I heard this chuckle. Behind her, Chris was standing in the yard, not moving, just staring at me. As if she was trying to pass a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD audition.
Future events such as these will effect you in the future
-
uncletor
- Halloween Master
- Posts: 560
- Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:21 pm
- What is the highest number?: 9
- Location: London Ontario Canada
"Oh, this is going to be FUN.." the demons' voice said.
"I usually take me time. Not now. I'm gonna cook up a MESS with you two. Make Charles Manson look like a choir boy." The demon was finished melting the glass. His hands were coming in the sill.
"You two are going to do AMAZING things for me. And then, when you are shot, or get sick or a disease hits, I'll savor your pain like an old lady sucking on choclate covered almonds"
Then I heard a sort of crunching sound, and the demon in the little girls body wasn't there anymore. Nothing.
The sound reminded me of something, but it wouldn't connect. Then Hooch's face was in the window.
"We hit him with some holy water.." she explained. She handed something over her shoulder without looking behind, like a golfer handing off a club to his caddy.
And right on cue, I heard Fred, in his best golf commentator voice say:"It's a long par two for Tiger Woods this afternoon in Augusta, home of the Masters..the wind is slow and the course is excellent."
"Say it.." he ugred, dropping character.
"No. Shuddup."
"Say WHAT??" I asked. "And WHAT did you coldcock her with?"
"Fred wants me to say 'el cabong' like the old Quick Draw McGraw cartoon. If he thought I'd do it, he'd pack a black mask for me to wear."
Fred was at the window now, from the look on his face I knew he would have to lie to deny it." HE got nailed with holy water. Frozen into a five pound bag of ice. And properly speaking, it's a HE..that girl he's using is DEAD...he is a demon..wiped out a whole part of Austria during the Black Death. Then got the folks who survived that into an anti Jewish mood and created a mini pogram. Sat back and loved all the pain."
Then I remembered the sound. It was just like when Mom drops a bag of ice on the kitchen floor to break it up. From hip level. Only this time a bit more...squishy. Duller.
Hooch had turned her back on us and headed out to Chris.
She was walking around now, dazed. I was starting to pick up the rules. When the demon was out, it released his hold on anybody under his power.
We got her inside, she didn't even have socks on, and the weather was getting cold. She shivered and sobbed a lot, and we got some coffee on the road. I was worried sick what my folks would say..how do you explain a dead girl in the yard by the bedroom window?
Hooch was ready for that one;"We put your folks under. Both sets of parents. They're gonna wake up tomorrow morning, thinking they had the hottest, most romantic night of their lives in the past year..
"Now, let's get down to business. We followed you both. One each. Figured that the demon MIGHT come back. Doesn't LIKE witnesses. Right now, we want you to help us take her in for questioning. Fred's got these special gloves that prevent her from casting spells, and we'll gag him..Her..him...I'M doing it now..By tomorrow morning, we should have her cast out and the body nice and safe back at the morgue.
"You two might as well come..it's your only chance to see me do a casting out with Moses staff and a white lightening jar.."
How can you say no to that??
Chris came up beside me and started to say how AWFUL it was."He had IDEAS for the two of us.."
I told her I knew. But she went on. It was one thing to HEAR the ideas at your window. It was another to see them in technicolor in your head. I think it was as much for her as for anyone that the two of us were allowed in on the casting out.
If you get a chance to see one, don't go...
"I usually take me time. Not now. I'm gonna cook up a MESS with you two. Make Charles Manson look like a choir boy." The demon was finished melting the glass. His hands were coming in the sill.
"You two are going to do AMAZING things for me. And then, when you are shot, or get sick or a disease hits, I'll savor your pain like an old lady sucking on choclate covered almonds"
Then I heard a sort of crunching sound, and the demon in the little girls body wasn't there anymore. Nothing.
The sound reminded me of something, but it wouldn't connect. Then Hooch's face was in the window.
"We hit him with some holy water.." she explained. She handed something over her shoulder without looking behind, like a golfer handing off a club to his caddy.
And right on cue, I heard Fred, in his best golf commentator voice say:"It's a long par two for Tiger Woods this afternoon in Augusta, home of the Masters..the wind is slow and the course is excellent."
"Say it.." he ugred, dropping character.
"No. Shuddup."
"Say WHAT??" I asked. "And WHAT did you coldcock her with?"
"Fred wants me to say 'el cabong' like the old Quick Draw McGraw cartoon. If he thought I'd do it, he'd pack a black mask for me to wear."
Fred was at the window now, from the look on his face I knew he would have to lie to deny it." HE got nailed with holy water. Frozen into a five pound bag of ice. And properly speaking, it's a HE..that girl he's using is DEAD...he is a demon..wiped out a whole part of Austria during the Black Death. Then got the folks who survived that into an anti Jewish mood and created a mini pogram. Sat back and loved all the pain."
Then I remembered the sound. It was just like when Mom drops a bag of ice on the kitchen floor to break it up. From hip level. Only this time a bit more...squishy. Duller.
Hooch had turned her back on us and headed out to Chris.
She was walking around now, dazed. I was starting to pick up the rules. When the demon was out, it released his hold on anybody under his power.
We got her inside, she didn't even have socks on, and the weather was getting cold. She shivered and sobbed a lot, and we got some coffee on the road. I was worried sick what my folks would say..how do you explain a dead girl in the yard by the bedroom window?
Hooch was ready for that one;"We put your folks under. Both sets of parents. They're gonna wake up tomorrow morning, thinking they had the hottest, most romantic night of their lives in the past year..
"Now, let's get down to business. We followed you both. One each. Figured that the demon MIGHT come back. Doesn't LIKE witnesses. Right now, we want you to help us take her in for questioning. Fred's got these special gloves that prevent her from casting spells, and we'll gag him..Her..him...I'M doing it now..By tomorrow morning, we should have her cast out and the body nice and safe back at the morgue.
"You two might as well come..it's your only chance to see me do a casting out with Moses staff and a white lightening jar.."
How can you say no to that??
Chris came up beside me and started to say how AWFUL it was."He had IDEAS for the two of us.."
I told her I knew. But she went on. It was one thing to HEAR the ideas at your window. It was another to see them in technicolor in your head. I think it was as much for her as for anyone that the two of us were allowed in on the casting out.
If you get a chance to see one, don't go...
Future events such as these will effect you in the future
-
uncletor
- Halloween Master
- Posts: 560
- Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:21 pm
- What is the highest number?: 9
- Location: London Ontario Canada
A lot of the details I didn't get. Some I'm holding back. The stuff about Moses staff is in both the Jewish and Christian books..but didn't make it into THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, so everybody has forgotten about it.
Fred was driving us over in his Windstar with the demon stashed in the back, yapping at million miles an hour,and driving only slightly less fast.
Moses got this snake built to help out the children of Isreal one time when a plague went through town, and it had to be destroyed after they started to worship the snake on a stick rather then God. Something like that.
Now WHAT that had to do with the ropes and chains they used to tie down the demon to four stakes, I don't know.
They took us blindfolded into some sort of barn or shed..big thing. We two girls were off in a side shed. With this big old white plastic television. And that's where it started to get freaky.
Now, if you have a minute, go dig out your Mom's old lp collection. She might have one by The Doors in it. AMERICAN PRAYER. There's a pic in the book that came with the record..Jim Morisson was sitting behind the same damn t.v. that was hanging in the shed. I had seen the photo a LOT..I used to have a crush on Jim..and I kept telling myself that it was just co incidence..there couldn't be anything supernatural about a particular t.v. And most nights I believe that.
The other room between us and the Interrogation Room was full of stuff from attics and swap meets and lord knows where. A lof of it greasy and gritty to the touch at the same time. Most of it smelt like it had been in the room with your fat old relative when they died. Duct tape. Alligator clips..parts ripped out and joined to other parts...some washing machine valves.
Oh yeah, something else you should know. A guy named Strickfadden did all the electric effects for the FRANKENSTEIN movies, right? The big machines that made those cool noses and light up? Well, it looked like those same machines were here..only this was FOR REAL and they were old and taped together and smelt awful; mean and sinister and what a bad mood for machines should smell like.
We were to watch the screen of THE DOORS t.v. but only in a mirror. IF the demon changed we were to hit a buzzer fast. The two of them didn't know if there were more then one in the little girl.
We were all wearing these outfits that revolted me. They looked like Ku Klux Klan robes and came with hoods, only in blue. Hooch told us they were 15th century Spanish Inquisiton robes. Satin. Also used by Penetantes in the southwest when they would seek forgiveness by doing penance for their sins just before Easter some places they walked on broken glass or flogged themselves..I hated every moment of wearing them. Fred told me later he has the same feeling and also hates to see the swaztika on the old Hindu and Buddhist temples with THAT association..but tries his best to work through it.
Hooch and Fred argued a bit about how many switches, or generators to use. Fred have five, but the demon had busted out of two in the Phillipines. He told her this wasn't Manilla Power and Electric, and that he could hold the thing down with THREE but forget it, just hit with FIVE right off the bat..take no chances. Hooch won as usual. She wanted the stuff turned on gradually..and she wasn't worried about a brown out.
Now what was it like? It was like the time that small animal ran across the highway in front of our car and we ran over it and heard the crunch, and missed hitting a car that had tried to swerve to miss the critter by inches. Sudden complete fear.
It was like the time Dad had the broken leg on the ski trip and he got choppered out but we were driven out by Uncle Wally..and the roads were one inch ice. We had to go slow and it every now and then the car would go sideways and Wally would breathe through his mouth quickly and correct it.
Nerve racking and boring at the same time.
Remember that animal that gets killed in APOCALYPSE NOW when Sheen does in Brando?
Slow, numb and brutal and not quitting.
The demon was tied six inches above the ground and had this light on him. I don't know if it was the chains or the light that did the trick. But Hooch and Fred would ask quesitons and the demon would answer. It was totally in their power. Had to answer the truth. But like a teenager who wanted to avoid telling Dad about the beer in the trunk, he could talk a lot and still not tell the WHOLE truth.
It took hours before they were happy.
Mostly they asked questions about 'who was in and who was out'. On the side walls..that's another thing I should tell you. The side walls had dozens, maybe hundreds of little pictures. Fancy painted pictures of all sorts of religous stuff. Some scenes I think I remember from Sunday school the few times I went. Others were freaky deaky stuff, like some guy in a beard and a red robe taking a big axe to people. Big fish eatng people. Monkeys with Kenny Rogers beards. Shrunken heads. People with halos who were NOT Catholic..They also had black and white photos of just horrible stuff.. Skeltons from WWII decayed on a beach. Some guy tied to a chair who had been shot in a snow bank. The Lizzie Borden murder house. It went on.
What did we see in the televison?
It wasn't the girl. That's for sure. It looked like a very old man with big smooth black bug eyes,disgusting big ears, and no hair..and he was looking for us through the screen. Once or twice I would touch my mouth with my hand and HE WOULD DO THE SAME. I would just freeze, and cool it and realize he had done a head trip on me. That if he had gotten out, the whole place would have gone up..they had the joint rigged..he would still be tied down..he had done a head trip on me to make me THINK he had gotten his hand loose and was able to mimic me.
Chris told me under her breath she saw him lick his mouth right after she had done the same thing.
Then we BOTH saw those big eyes dart for a second, boy, his hearing was sharp. Then Hooch ended that by throwing another switch and putting another whammy on him.
I mentioned the FRANKENSTEIN equipment. But what I didn't tell you was that it was really usefull in REVERSE. It's made to KILL people. When they had the answers, Hooch placed this large glass THING on the demons chest. Like a test tube and an old time lampshade, and maybe a glass sculpture from H.P. Lovecrafts' Arkham University.
The demon strained with everything it had, and you could feel and hear the ropes tense and the chains make a grinding noise. But it all held.
Hooch had Fred threw the rest of the switches and this big white bolt of engery, not just electricity, but ENERGY came through the roof and did this microwave job on the body.
It was supposed to sizzle out the demon and leave the little girl untouched. And it did. But the sound...and that light..
To this day, walking into a dark room with a table cloth can sometimes bring it back. I'm not a fan of freshly painted white rooms, either.
It went on for a long time. Chris and I hid our eyes. We didn't want to see. We could hear. That was enough.
And then it was over, like that first good day of Spring when Mom does the Martha Stewart number with the lemon Pledge and the furniture looks new. And all we had in front of us was a little girls body.
Fred picked her up, and hugged her and took her out. Said she used to sit on the front porch and be dressed up just like the scarecrow on the haybale that every lame place in the suburbs has..and then she'd GRAB some kid..and just laugh...
Hooch liked that.
They got us home, and everything was fine in the morning, with Mom and Dad doing the bump and grind to K.C. and the Sunshine Band..and me pretending I didn't see..and Fred got the kid back, and the parents were paid out. Chris and I? We were wearing this necklace things that would bring Hornbeck to us now. The demon had said he was alive, but didn't look too pretty.
And the two of us remembered what Hooch had said about the amulets working like bug lights,but we didn't know who was going to be the bug.
Fred was driving us over in his Windstar with the demon stashed in the back, yapping at million miles an hour,and driving only slightly less fast.
Moses got this snake built to help out the children of Isreal one time when a plague went through town, and it had to be destroyed after they started to worship the snake on a stick rather then God. Something like that.
Now WHAT that had to do with the ropes and chains they used to tie down the demon to four stakes, I don't know.
They took us blindfolded into some sort of barn or shed..big thing. We two girls were off in a side shed. With this big old white plastic television. And that's where it started to get freaky.
Now, if you have a minute, go dig out your Mom's old lp collection. She might have one by The Doors in it. AMERICAN PRAYER. There's a pic in the book that came with the record..Jim Morisson was sitting behind the same damn t.v. that was hanging in the shed. I had seen the photo a LOT..I used to have a crush on Jim..and I kept telling myself that it was just co incidence..there couldn't be anything supernatural about a particular t.v. And most nights I believe that.
The other room between us and the Interrogation Room was full of stuff from attics and swap meets and lord knows where. A lof of it greasy and gritty to the touch at the same time. Most of it smelt like it had been in the room with your fat old relative when they died. Duct tape. Alligator clips..parts ripped out and joined to other parts...some washing machine valves.
Oh yeah, something else you should know. A guy named Strickfadden did all the electric effects for the FRANKENSTEIN movies, right? The big machines that made those cool noses and light up? Well, it looked like those same machines were here..only this was FOR REAL and they were old and taped together and smelt awful; mean and sinister and what a bad mood for machines should smell like.
We were to watch the screen of THE DOORS t.v. but only in a mirror. IF the demon changed we were to hit a buzzer fast. The two of them didn't know if there were more then one in the little girl.
We were all wearing these outfits that revolted me. They looked like Ku Klux Klan robes and came with hoods, only in blue. Hooch told us they were 15th century Spanish Inquisiton robes. Satin. Also used by Penetantes in the southwest when they would seek forgiveness by doing penance for their sins just before Easter some places they walked on broken glass or flogged themselves..I hated every moment of wearing them. Fred told me later he has the same feeling and also hates to see the swaztika on the old Hindu and Buddhist temples with THAT association..but tries his best to work through it.
Hooch and Fred argued a bit about how many switches, or generators to use. Fred have five, but the demon had busted out of two in the Phillipines. He told her this wasn't Manilla Power and Electric, and that he could hold the thing down with THREE but forget it, just hit with FIVE right off the bat..take no chances. Hooch won as usual. She wanted the stuff turned on gradually..and she wasn't worried about a brown out.
Now what was it like? It was like the time that small animal ran across the highway in front of our car and we ran over it and heard the crunch, and missed hitting a car that had tried to swerve to miss the critter by inches. Sudden complete fear.
It was like the time Dad had the broken leg on the ski trip and he got choppered out but we were driven out by Uncle Wally..and the roads were one inch ice. We had to go slow and it every now and then the car would go sideways and Wally would breathe through his mouth quickly and correct it.
Nerve racking and boring at the same time.
Remember that animal that gets killed in APOCALYPSE NOW when Sheen does in Brando?
Slow, numb and brutal and not quitting.
The demon was tied six inches above the ground and had this light on him. I don't know if it was the chains or the light that did the trick. But Hooch and Fred would ask quesitons and the demon would answer. It was totally in their power. Had to answer the truth. But like a teenager who wanted to avoid telling Dad about the beer in the trunk, he could talk a lot and still not tell the WHOLE truth.
It took hours before they were happy.
Mostly they asked questions about 'who was in and who was out'. On the side walls..that's another thing I should tell you. The side walls had dozens, maybe hundreds of little pictures. Fancy painted pictures of all sorts of religous stuff. Some scenes I think I remember from Sunday school the few times I went. Others were freaky deaky stuff, like some guy in a beard and a red robe taking a big axe to people. Big fish eatng people. Monkeys with Kenny Rogers beards. Shrunken heads. People with halos who were NOT Catholic..They also had black and white photos of just horrible stuff.. Skeltons from WWII decayed on a beach. Some guy tied to a chair who had been shot in a snow bank. The Lizzie Borden murder house. It went on.
What did we see in the televison?
It wasn't the girl. That's for sure. It looked like a very old man with big smooth black bug eyes,disgusting big ears, and no hair..and he was looking for us through the screen. Once or twice I would touch my mouth with my hand and HE WOULD DO THE SAME. I would just freeze, and cool it and realize he had done a head trip on me. That if he had gotten out, the whole place would have gone up..they had the joint rigged..he would still be tied down..he had done a head trip on me to make me THINK he had gotten his hand loose and was able to mimic me.
Chris told me under her breath she saw him lick his mouth right after she had done the same thing.
Then we BOTH saw those big eyes dart for a second, boy, his hearing was sharp. Then Hooch ended that by throwing another switch and putting another whammy on him.
I mentioned the FRANKENSTEIN equipment. But what I didn't tell you was that it was really usefull in REVERSE. It's made to KILL people. When they had the answers, Hooch placed this large glass THING on the demons chest. Like a test tube and an old time lampshade, and maybe a glass sculpture from H.P. Lovecrafts' Arkham University.
The demon strained with everything it had, and you could feel and hear the ropes tense and the chains make a grinding noise. But it all held.
Hooch had Fred threw the rest of the switches and this big white bolt of engery, not just electricity, but ENERGY came through the roof and did this microwave job on the body.
It was supposed to sizzle out the demon and leave the little girl untouched. And it did. But the sound...and that light..
To this day, walking into a dark room with a table cloth can sometimes bring it back. I'm not a fan of freshly painted white rooms, either.
It went on for a long time. Chris and I hid our eyes. We didn't want to see. We could hear. That was enough.
And then it was over, like that first good day of Spring when Mom does the Martha Stewart number with the lemon Pledge and the furniture looks new. And all we had in front of us was a little girls body.
Fred picked her up, and hugged her and took her out. Said she used to sit on the front porch and be dressed up just like the scarecrow on the haybale that every lame place in the suburbs has..and then she'd GRAB some kid..and just laugh...
Hooch liked that.
They got us home, and everything was fine in the morning, with Mom and Dad doing the bump and grind to K.C. and the Sunshine Band..and me pretending I didn't see..and Fred got the kid back, and the parents were paid out. Chris and I? We were wearing this necklace things that would bring Hornbeck to us now. The demon had said he was alive, but didn't look too pretty.
And the two of us remembered what Hooch had said about the amulets working like bug lights,but we didn't know who was going to be the bug.
Future events such as these will effect you in the future