Eye See You: Infection pt. 21

“He was my neighbor. I never really knew him all that well, but I saw him around the building a bit. He didn’t live right next to me. There was a unit between us. Amy... “ At the mention of her friend’s name, Dina paused.


I knew how she felt.



“Anyways, he kind of kept to himself. I’m not sure I even remember his name… May? I think that’s what was on his mailbox.” She sat back, the shock settling in. “He was right there. He was right down the hall the entire time.”

New Pom Pom Angel: First Dates pt. 2

“Missy?” Gus’s voice woke me from the nap I was taking on the couch.  I had somehow survived my first store inventory, and my head was killing me.  Not even my angelic powers could save me from that one.  

“What?” I moaned, my fingers rubbing my eyes. 

“You told Raven that I would go out with her again?” Gus was looking down at me, his eyes wide with panic. 

“She seemed nice.” I rolled over, shielding my face from the glare of the sun. 

“Nice? She brought a ball gag in her purse on our first date!” As he spoke, his voice went up three octaves. 

“I can understand why.” I covered my ears, trying to block out his continued complaints. 

I understand that Raven wasn’t his usual, and she was also one of Regina’s choices, but there was something about her that I liked.  Maybe it was because she was ready for any situation, because the more Gus bitched, the more I wish that I too had a ball gag in my purse. 

Finally, Gus’s panic attack in full swing, I sat up. 

“Listen,” I held up a hand, quieting him, “I get that she might be a little scary, but take it from an angel, she has a good heart.  Nipple clips does not a bad person make.”

He glared at me. 

“Stop being so judgmental.” I threw up my arms. “She also likes reading mysteries and trying out new teas from that small shop around the corner.  So she enjoys a little kink.  Have you talked to her about any of it?  Why she likes it? Did you even know about the books, or the tea? No!”

Now it was my turn to rant.  I was on my feet, walking towards him. 

“But… but…” He was stammering now. 

“Do you know she volunteers at a pet rescue at least two weekends out of the month? Or how about the fact that her day job is working with special needs kids?”

He shook his head. 

Gus has trust issues.  I mean, I can understand where they come from, considering he’s never had a steady girlfriend, and the few women that have given him the time of day usually ended up punting his heart into the next state.  Still, he needed to learn that people are complex creatures.  He was never going to find someone if he expected them to fit whatever stale stereotypes he had lodged in his brain. 

“You need to understand that I do my research Gus!” I patted him on the shoulder. “Now shut the hell up, because unlike you, I was at the store until four this morning taking inventory, and if I don’t get at least three hours of sleep right now, I will call Regina in here, and have her suck your soul out of your body through your asshole.  Got it?”

Gus just nodded.

“Good.” I turned and headed back towards the couch. “You’ll meet Raven, who actually is named Raven by the way, at Café Bubble at six.  They have a great selection of green and milk teas, both of which she has expressed interest in.  I also recommend the barley tea.  Highly refreshing” I collapsed onto the couch. “ If you have any questions, check the itinerary, and spread sheet I emailed you last night.”

Before he could even respond, I was asleep. 

Tentacle University pt. 26

She stopped at the edge of the stage, her body ready to spring forward.  The man was watching her, his skin pulling away at a rapid rate, showing the monster underneath. 

“The fact that you’re here means my little minion didn’t do his job.” He clicked his tongue in displeasure.  “Well, at least he took care of that bitch, Charlotte.  She was going to be a real problem.  You? I don’t think I have to worry.  Do I?”

Cherry wasn’t going to take the bate.  She couldn’t let that thing get to her.  She needed to stay focused.  She was out of practice, and this Mythos had been feeding at a pretty steady rate over the last couple of days.  The fact that it had hidden its aura from her was proof enough of its strength.

Without releasing any of the four men he held in his thrall, the Mythos leapt from the stage. The impact of his landing ripped the human flesh away from his legs, revealing thick, muscular thighs and calves.  He also seemed to grow two feet in the process.  He shook his head, and half of the human face slid off, revealing his true grinning, sharp toothed face, one glowing red eye focused on her.

She moved her body weight from her right foot to her left, the Mythos tracking her the entire time.  She had to make this first move count, because after that he would have the speed advantage, not to mention strength.

She faked to the right, then leapt to the left, using her hooked blade to slice at one of the tentacles.  She hit pay dirt, and the tentacle holding the fourth man, the one she didn’t recognize, fell to the stage.  He let out a groan as his body collided with the hard surface, then lay still.  He was breathing, and that was good enough for now.   

The Mythos, now completely free of his human shell, just laughed, and a new tentacle took its place.  Instead of going for the now freed man, the tentacle whipped at her, knocking Cherry square in the gut.  She went flying, her back smacking into one of the seats in the auditorium.  The blow knocked the air out of her, and she collapsed to the ground.

The Mythos stalked towards her, easily knocking away the seats around her.  She tried to catch her breath, regain her composure, but the pain rushing through her body was intense.  She had broken at least one rib, and it felt like her right shoulder had been knocked out of the socket. He was four feet away from her, easily within reach, when he stopped. 

The Mythos closed his eyes and leaned back his head.  “I think I need a little extra energy for this. One of those men up there is your boyfriend, right? Well, trust me when I say this.  I’m doing you a favor.  The bastard can’t keep his fly up.  When I came in here he was ready to mount your friend over there.  Some friend.” It snorted

“You’re lying.” Cherry felt her jaw clench.  She tried to stand, but the pain was too intense.

“Oh, I could be, but deep down you know I’m telling you the truth.” He smiled, his eyes still closed.

She couldn’t let him get to her.  She just repeated that over and over in her head.  She needed to try and keep herself together.  Even if what the Mythos was saying was true, it didn’t matter.  Peter didn’t deserve to die just because…

“Bottoms up!” The Mythos gasped in delight.   

Cherry quickly looked past him, back at the stage.  Peter suddenly went rigid, his body giving two hard jerks, and then suddenly it appeared as if he was just drying up. His skin turned to a withered, wrinkled husk.  Even his eyes shriveled up, becoming nothing more than dust falling to the stage.

“No!” She stumbled to her feet. 

The Mythos started to laugh, but a loud bang suddenly cut him short.  A bullet ripped through the creature’s head, causing its right eye to suddenly sag, and spraying the ground in front of it with green, smoking blood.  It turned violently, shrieking in agony. 

Standing on the stage was the man she had freed.  Cherry recognized him now.  He was the cop she had seen around campus.  He was standing, his legs still wobbly, and clutched in his right hand was a gun. Somehow, while the Mythos had been taunting Cherry he had managed to regain enough strength to get to his weapon. 

Me met Cherry’s eyes. He fired again, and a bullet ripped into the Mythos’s shoulder. 

He had given Cherry her opening.

Moving as fast as she could, she leapt forward, slicing her hooked blade across the Mythos’s neck, and jamming her long, straight blade through his back, and into his heart. 

There was a sudden burst of bright, white energy, and then Cherry was dropped to the ground.  The Mythos was gone.  The remaining three men lay on the stage, naked and covered in thick slime, but still very much alive. 

It was over. 

Eye See You: Infection pt. 20

Messages from Janelle:
It is getting stronger.
Don’t have much time.
The Unknown Sender is vulnerable.
Virus is out of control.
Take him out, weaken the link to the Digital Void.
Hurry.


Dina was reading the messages aloud as they came in.


“How are we supposed to take him out if we can’t even find him?” I was pacing, my blood pumping so fast I could hear the rush in my ears.


“Give her time.” Dina was grasping the still vibrating phone.


Messages from Janelle:
I can see his face now.
I know him. I know who he is.
I know where he is.
So do you, Dina.


“Did she send an address?” asked my mom.


Dina shot to her feet. “I know where he is!” She was shaking. “I… I know him.”



The phone went dead.

Rituals pt. 5

I heard her before I saw her.  She let out a loud grunt as she slipped out of the shadows, two glimmering blades in each hand.  Her movements were quick and smooth, almost rhythmic.  She raised the blades, and in a flash she buried them in one of the creature’s temples. 

It hissed at her, struggling to get free, to get at her. 

She gave the blades a hard twist.

The creature went limp. 

Doug was at the other window, using his machete to hack into the malformed head of the other creature. 

When he was done, when it was dead, he pulled it through the window frame.  Its slick, naked body churned through the broken shards of glass still sticking up from the bottom of the frame. 

With a heavy thump it landed on the wood floor of the church. 

“What the fuck is that?” I stepped towards it. 

Eye See You: Infection pt. 19

The next day we didn’t leave the house. I had managed to find an old AM/FM radio in the basement, and we had that playing in the kitchen, but otherwise the three of us had decided to cut ourselves off from the rest of the world.


For now.


Dina kept her cellphone on the kitchen table, all three of us watching it, waiting for instructions, for something from Janelle.


“Violence and mass death in Times Square today,” the radio buzzed.


We froze.


The report continued. “Fifty people were killed in what many believe to be a flash bomb attack in one of the most visited areas in America. While details are scarce, authorities are not ruling out a terrorist attack.”


My mother fell into a chair at the table. “Fifty people? All at once?”


“We can’t be sure that it was…” My mother held up a hand, cutting me off.


“We all saw the diner yesterday.” She shook her head. “I’m sure that in a few minutes that they’ll report on the strange nature of the injuries.” She glanced at Dina. “Your friend should be telling us something, right? Giving us some kind of idea on how to stop this?”


“I…” Dina stuttered, “I don’t know.”



As if in response, her phone lit up and began vibrating furiously.

New Pom Pom Angel: First Dates pt. 1

I, Missy, am a guardian angel.  Now normally I would do my work from the afterlife, but the Council of Angels decided I could do more good here on earth.  So I currently find myself living in a small, two-bedroom apartment in Downtown Chicago with Gus, my charge, and Nando, his fabulously awesome gay roommate.

Sure, my first weeks helping Gus didn’t go all that well.  Regina, a she demon from the pits of hell, decided to butt in and try and screw everything up for me.  There were words, someone got their soul sucked out, and the two of us came to an agreement.  Regina would avoid killing Gus, as that would probably not work out too well for her either, and we would both work on finding him a perfect mate.   

Her idea of a perfect mate usually involves whips, chains and the occasional foreign object getting jammed up someone’s butt.  Mine usually involved nice, normal women that I met at work.  Gus usually preferred my dates.  Although there was that one dominatrix… She was nice.  I think her name was Raven. 

Most of my day is actually spent match making.  I mentioned meeting nice girls for Gus at work.  Yeah, about that… I actually got a job.  Sure, I work at the same bookstore that Gus does, but I have to be honest, I enjoy it.  Soul, our boss, is really sweet, and she kind of helps me figure out how to be “normal”.  Apparently spontaneously sprouting angel wings and transforming into a Heavenly Cheerleader isn’t normal.  Who knew?!?

Anywho, that should bring everyone up to speed on my life so far.