Riding Red Hood

V.V

Phobia Short Story #1 - Two detectives track a lead to an abandoned house in the “BeyondGround” section of the Dome City.

-

“This looks like the place.” The older detective said.

“Runner plays left field?” The young apprentice asked.

“Yes, even though I still don’t quite understand the slang.”

“You have to be able to adept and change to the times Gordo…sir…sir Gordo, sir!” Declan quickly brought his left hand up to his temple for a quirky salute. Gordo looked at the young cop for a time, until he barked out “Just go do yer job!” Declan hunched low and crept behind the house, while Gordo approached the front door, scanned his warrant card and opened it.

The room was dark and it smelled of wet fur. Light from the opened door stretched out into the room, looking for objects to illuminate. A run down oven, one window and a bed, with clothes scattered around it everywhere. Gordo took one step inside, a creaking sound from the ply boards meet him and erased any hope for stealth.

“Who’s…there?” A weak voice asked in the dark.

“Hello mame?” He took one step closer. “My name is Jonathon Gordo, I’m with DCPD.”

“I know who you are…” answered the shrill voice.

“You are the nice men who bring me my supper, and stop the loud voices at night.”

Gordo still could not see the person talking, so he risked another step. “We have been getting reports of a beast running around this area night.” Another step. “I apologize for coming in unannounced but I was issued a search warrant from the City and I was wondering if I could have a few moments of your time.”

“No room for privacy….wh, when it comes to matters of power in the city, eh?” The voice heckled.

“10 people died mame.” Gordo started as he pulled up a chair to sit across from the frail women lying in the bed…it was a women right?

“Bah!” She spit. “10 whores, 10 rapists, 10 crooks! 10 charlatans, 10 mooks! 10 more dead people in the sea, who will it come for next? Will it be you, me, you, me or WEE!” She laughed. Odd, that rhyme is from the outskirt tribes. It is taboo to speak of anything involving the outskirts. Inside the Cities you focus on the now and don’t think of the past or what dances outside the walls.

“I have little time for children nursery rhymes or stories.” Gordo stated.

“Ohh but there is truth in stories do you not know detective? Do you not know of the apostles? Do you not know of their great plan for us, for all of us?!” the figure began to rave, move and shift slowly in bed and outstretching their hands.

“Do you not know; of the Sea God who swims the Still Seas? With his many tentacles and ever seeing eyes; of the Death God who will reap, skin and wrap us all onto her violet wings, soaring into the sky; of the Wind God whose fangs will devour all and whose appetite for isolation will leave our world cold, broken and ripe to start anew!!”

The figure was ranting now and Gordo saw a brief glimpse of it’s fingers.

“My, what large fingers you have.”

The figure quickly pulled their hands back into the shadow of their body.

“Erm…to better prickle at the overcoats of such dashing gentlemen…” the figure slowly outstretched their finger towards Gordo, towards the light and the light held the figure’s fingers in frame, Gordo finally saw it’s fingers. It was twice the size of a human women’s finger, with twice as many bones. It was bent sharply forward, twitching slightly, with the skin was stretched over it. It had a dull grey color to it. Gordo looked beyond the claw finger into the blackness emitting from the bed and saw what he thought was the smallest bright flash, of a white teeth grin.

“My, what sharp teeth you have.” Gordo shifted in his chair.

“Dentures my boy…” said the figure, it too shifting slowly under the covers, before suddenly throwing them at Gordo “the better…” the figure said slowly as it rose from the bed.

Gordo spun and placed the chair between the rising figure and him. Gordo finally saw the creature, the light from the door hitting it at all the wrong angles. A fucked up puzzle piece, was the first thought that came to mind. An art project, where somebody started off strong but lost the inspiration halfway through, then deiced to finish the canvas with rage and blood. Her head was stuck sideways, as though it got stopped in the middle of twisting off. Her arms looked like two pieces of human limbs stuffed into one, with too many bones and not enough skin to hold it all together. Her legs were twisted back, like a horse, with her toes all broken and painted with black blood. Her stomach was more like an empty sack, making all of her insides visible. She kept growing; her skin kept stretching, until finally breaking away at parts. Her color began to change from a sickly grey to a jet black oil fur, constantly dripping ooze. The skin off her fingers broke and claws came forth, black claws that were the length of Gordas face. The stomach sack began to form, twist and absorb into one; becoming one long slender body. The face changed last.

“The better…” it began again, huffing slowly as it took step by step onto the wood floor, making an indent trail behind it. The mouth of the women opened up, and kept opening and opening, like a snake about to feed. Until her lips reached her forehead, a snout of a beast with a jaw of too many black fangs ripped out from her throat. The beast had no eyes but two white eye holes, the only echo of color, as everything else was darker then the darkest recesses of your mind.

“TO EAT YOU WITH!!” The creature roared its last remaining visage of humanity at Gordo.

It lashed at Gordo with its right claw. He ducked away. The beast followed with a left lash. Gordo spun out of the way but not quick enough to avoid any injuries. Ignoring the cut on his shoulder he grabbed the chair he was sitting on with one hand and broke it upon the beasts head. Gordo followed up the attack with a two hit punch. One to the beasts chin and the other aimed at the left eye. Feeling pain the monster screamed and rolled with the blow to return the momentum at Gordo with a back sweeping kick to his chest. This sent Gordo flying out the only window in the room and he landed on the grass outside. He cursed upon landing, quickly refocusing himself he looked up at the broken window where he flew from. The creature was standing there in a gentle pose, looking at him and smiling. He could swear he could see something of a soul in the misty globes of white that were its eyes. He could swear he could hear it whisper, so faint that it sounded like it was talking inside his skull.

“I can’t wait to crawl into your skin next.” It said with a smile. The calm demeanor was no more as it let out a screech, jumped out of the window and it extended its limbs out on to him.

A large bang and a bright flash blinded Gordo for a second. The beast was on the floor twitching, bleeding black blood from the missing chuck of his face. Declan was standing across from Gordo with his extended Lumipistol. Gordo stood up, brushed off his overcoat and gave a thankful nod to Declan. Gordo examined the young cop again, the easy going attitude displayed before now hidden away beneath a mask of professionalism and affirmation. Declan let go of the pistol and let it snap back to his belt, recharging it for the next shot.

Gordo walked over to the bleeding beast, before he could think the beast lunged at him. Declan started to move but Gordo was focused now and he was quicker. His right hand grabbed for his own Lumipistol, extended the barrel and aimed it at the monster jaw. Gordo waited, until the maws of the monster were just around his triceps, just before the monster would bite down, he pressed the button and a ball of light expanded inside the beasts head.

In an instant before the jaws snapped down, the beats head exploded. Black blood sprayed and stained everything in a circle radius around them, the body twitched twice, trying to move its arms again but went limp and dropped to the floor. Gordo took deep breathes, refocusing himself and cataloging the events that just happened in his nanochromium, to study and report later. Declan came up behind him but none of them said anything for a moment.

“Serious shit.” Declan finally said.

“Indeed.” Gordo said grimly. After a few more moments Declan spoke again.

“I’ll…do a perimeter sweep; setup a crime scene, the usual you know.”

“No.” said Gordo. “This is not usual. Head back to the car, call command and tell them to send a Knight.”

“I don’t think….” Declan began.

“You’re not qualified to think yet Declan, your still a rookie; follow orders” Gordo said. He turned and looked him in the eyes “Go.”

Declan nodded diligently and headed towards the car. Gordo kneeled near the corpse and noticed the black goo that assembled the monster slowly drain from the corpse, and a human women’s body was underneath. It was the same woman, who was talking with Gordo before, but her real body wracked in scars, mutilation and somebody etched in runes into her skin. She did not die peacefully.  

“A poor attempt at a puppet form from the Black Beast” Gordo thought, “but the fact that they can start to hide within us now…” he lighted a cigarette as he stood up from his brief exanimation.

He took a long drag and exhaled the smoke at the corpse. “Serious shit indeed.”