Happy Blog Day Everyone!
So you might have noticed that title, what that means is not only have I decided to give you the rest of Orphan's War (I'll apologise here for the state of it, an unfiltered look into my mind), but also the first part of A Riz Christmas Carol.
No time for Haiku's and poetry this week I'm afraid but I think we've got more than enough on our plates already!
So let's dive in share we!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
This was a fun idea, and in case you're wondering, yes, I have thought about what some of these sound like, and others that aren't listed here, like the 12 days of Riz-mas:
'On da first day of Riz-mas, ma true fans gave ta me!
A golden statue of me!
On da second day of Riz-mas, ma true fans gave ta me!
Two Dimond Gloves
And a Golden Statue of me!'
You get the idea with that that, oh and the fifth day was 5,000,000 pound. It had a nice ring to it.
Last Riz-mas would go something like this:
'Last Riz-mas, ya gave me yer card, but da very next day, you took it away!
Next year, ta save me from tears, I'll clone der details instead!'
Riveting, I'm sure you'll agree.
Who could forget the next hit:
'It’s Riz-mas time, dere's no need ta be afraid.
Ar Riz-mas time, just give me wat I crave!
In ya world of plenty,
Ya can spread it all ta me
Throw ya arms in da air,
It's Riz-mas time!'
Inspirational. Yes, you can see I'm having way too much fun with these. Maybe next year I'll remembering to give more thought to that rat-blessed time of year...then again, there is a comic needed for next week..
Short Diversions Galore
So kicking off this mini festival of writing is the concluding part of Orphan's War...which is a lie as it concludes nothing! I think it is at the halfway point of the novella I was aiming for...I think. My enthusiasm waned and I believe a certain boy and a rat took my attention with rewrites aplenty (I could go back and check as it was mentioned a few times on the blog in the early days).
Links to the other chapters:
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Chapter 6: First Flight
It had been a month since Drakes induction, and what followed was a blitz of lessons and drills, of long days that started at five in the morning and ended abruptly at ten on the night. He was placed in a small group of others, which he assumed was more like himself. Five other people, a mix of late teenagers and early adults, two boys and three girls a perfect mix of gender. Unlike before, all of them shared his eye colour. It took a week for chatter amongst the group to become normalised. He’d learned that there names were Gene, Tanis, Lora, Sheena and Fern. As before, no last names were given, and this time he didn’t give his own out. He and his fellow trainees had even been given a team name by one of the instructors, though Drake didn’t think it was meant to be a compliment. The Silver Six, it brought up imagery of a covert unit or some kind of specialist squad but the truth was that they were expendable, and the events that followed proved it.
Tanis was the first to die, during a basic training exercise that was anything but. Drake remembered the look on his exhausted face, and the desperate look he made when he was ordered to climb the fifty meter high wall, with no harness. To disobey meant death anyway, and like Drake, Tanis had people depending on him doing as he was told. Though who was never brought up, and their fate Drake would never be told. In this case, climbing was the only course of action.
He made it half way up before his hand slipped, he recovered it quickly but it was the last time as another ten meters saw him lose his grip on both hands. His fall was in slow motion his head smacking off the pointed rocks below even more so. The instructor in charge didn’t bother sending for a medic, instead getting a couple of morticians to take the body away, to dispose of with no ceremony. The rest of the trainee squad got little time to mourn, getting only the hour it took to get rid of the body. This was only a fortnight in. A week later, Fern died. She was unceremoniously killed as she tried to escape, the training, the drugs and callous treatment, breaking her down. It was the middle of the night that she ran, the alarms blaring loud enough to wake the dead. Drake and all the others in the block went outside just in time to see Fern halfway across the testing range. It was a fool hardy attempt and maybe she knew it but just didn’t care anymore.
No one was chasing her, which led Drake to believe that they knew what was about to happen, as the distant sound of an engine roared. Drake called out wanting to call her back but it was too late. The night was filled with one sound, that of a blast from a Vector Unit’s rifle weapon. Fern’s body was blown into the air like a rag doll, coming apart like one as well. If they had been inhumane in the wake of Tanis’s death, they were downright sub-human in the wake of Fern’s, the language painting her as a traitor and a coward. Why he didn’t run away from this haunted Drake, just as much as he knew the others were thinking about it. He then wondered if Gwen, Cen, Sara and Ash had been through any of this, well more so Gwen, he assumed that having different eyes would have spared them. He couldn’t leave, Ava was in their care, and he’d hate to think what the Empire would do to her if something happened to him, but at the same time, all this was taking a toll on him, even though it had only been a few weeks in.
The last week in comparison had gone a lot smoother but no one dared act out of turn, and took what was thrown at them. This was perhaps the idea all along. Throughout all this, he had barely spoken a word to his sister, having being amazed at the video to video communication system, having seen nothing like it before. They were monitored and the early stages of the treatment had reduced Ava to a shell of herself, which was worrying in the extreme, and again, it felt like someone was pulling the strings to prove a point, one which Drake got loud and clear. Do as we say as your sister’s life is in our hands. What was better for him was that he had been promised time to visit it her, but only once the first month had been passed. This is what kept him going.
The end of the month came, but with it, an important milestone for the trainees. With some trepidation, the four Silvers were led to a hangar, one they had been to before multiple times, learning about the equipment. Today though, would mark the first time they would piloting the Vector Units, having only previous spent some time in the simulators.
Standing in before the giant metal incarnations of men, Drake saw fear. He hadn’t forgotten that it was one of these machines that had cruelly blown Fern a week or so earlier. Then there was the terror that they induced naturally, that they were instruments of death and destruction, mimicking humanities appetite for it. Each trainee had been put in front of the machine they were to be expected to use. What made things worse was the instructor they had been given, Cody. Each of them had heard stories of this man, who by all rights should have been killed a hundred times over if they were true. He was supposedly more machine then man one tale went, while another tells of him destroying three air ships in a barely functioning Vector Unit, by plowing through them. The only story that seemed the absolute truth was the one that he liked to make his students wait.
“I heard the probation guards talking outside my room today” Lora said softly, welcomingly breaking the silence. “They were putting bets on who was going to die next.”
“Bastards, the lot of them. Bet they won’t say half of this to our faces once we’ve moved up to their ranks” Sheena said clenching her fists. She had become the little groups defacto leader, having emerged from her quiet shell in the wake of the deaths. On most occasions she would emit an aura of calm but somethings, you just had to get riled up about..
“All that talk of special treatment we were supposed to get...Remind me why we all wanted to be in this place again?” Gene asked, he was the oldest at twenty five, having come here to try and ensure a better life for his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child. Apparently, she was holed up in the same hospital as Ava. Each of them had someone they were willing to throw their lives away for, after all the Empire was using them as leverage holding their wellbeing to ransom.
“What choice did we have?” Sheena said shaking her head. Drake was going to chip in but the voice of their instructor called out, bringing their attention back to their imminent task.
“What choice did you have?” Cody said quizzically “That’s the thinking that’s holding you back and setting you firmly in the place of second hand citizen. Instead of that, you need to see this as an advantage. You’ve all been given a chance to prove that you’re more then just your eye colour.” The instructor came into the light from behind, a normal, yet imposing looking man. One of his eyes had been replaced with an eye patch with a camera lens built into it, and it looked like his arm was artificial from the elbow down. He spotted the trainee’s gazes and then welcomed them. “Take a good look at what my time fighting brought me.” He pulled his sleeve up, showing the metal hand that was like the gauntleted fist of a knight.
“The stories were true?” Gene said with some shock.
“Not all of them, I’m still more human then machine, more flesh then steel...But what I got means I can still fight all those pricks against us.” Cody strode forward, marching in front of the little group so he could better address them all.
“Today you’ll undertake your first steps in these Vector Units, these personal machines of yours are now under your protection, and as such, all care of them falls on your shoulders. Fail to keep up their repairs and you’ll pay for it in battle. Now unlike some other instructors who would spend a few days just getting you inside, we’re going to fast track things.” What this had meant was they were only given a short time in the cock pit, they weren’t even told at first how to get into the cockpit. Sheena was the first to figure it out, a hidden button in the foot that called down a rope with a foot rest in it. She grabbed hold tightly and was quickly taken up, up to the chest of the Vector Unit which waited till she put a keycard in to open the hatch. Once she had done it, the rest followed suite, and Drake climbed into the dark chamber. The hatch shut behind him with a heavy clang and lights started to flicker on.
First it was the console lights and then a main light came on. The controls looked a lot more basic then he was expecting for such a machine. The chair was laid back and floating monitors attached to a metal arm floated just over ahead. The console was just at the side of the chair with different switches on it. To control the Vector Unit, all Drake could see were two foot pedals, and two levers where the hands would be. One of the monitors flickered on as Cody’s face filled the small screen.
“Get used to this place, as you’ll be spending a lot of time in these. I think everything should be self explanatory, the monitors will be your eyes, the levers your hands, and the pedals your feet. You should find a head set resting on the monitors, put them on and sign in. You’ll get proper callsigns later so just call in using your names for now. Once that’s done, we can get these moving.” That was a daunting prospect for the trainees, but they followed the orders, with Drake finding his to be a snug fit.
“This is Drake.” He said tapping the microphone, the headset wasn’t connected to anything, but he had seen portable radios before, that being the only form of long distance communication they used on the outside. One by one, his team mates called out, till Gene was the last one. As soon as he spoke, Cody piped up with the next command.
“Alright, I want you to lay back in those chairs and strap yourselves in. Then position the monitors so they are in front of your face, don’t worry about them looking so complicated for now.” This seemed a suspiciously easy step, and it was. Now Drake had five or six screens hovering in front of him, he couldn’t be sure of how many they were, as they all blurred into one. Aside from Cody’s face, the rest showed the view from the main Vector Unit camera, which was the head of the machine.
“So how do we move these things then?” Sheena asked, giving a voice to the other’s scepticism about the endeavour.
“Place both your feet on the pedals, and your hands around the two levers....” Cody instructed. When Drake did, he felt a shock and the feeling that something was moving in his body, his grip tightened without his control and he felt strange and detached, though most of all, he felt cold suddenly. Like he had left a warm room and jumped into a river in the middle of winter, his arms and legs lost all feeling.
“I can now tell you what some of those injections you’ve been getting, are. You’ve been injected with special nanobots that those clever gits in the Research and Development lab, Black Flare, have come up with. The moment you completed a circuit by grabbing those levers and putting your feet down, you activated those bots which turned you into a man-machine interface. Congrats you now know what it’s like to be me.” Cody said with some glee. “With them activated, you can move around, sort of like you can in your own body. The connection might be sluggish though and it will take getting used to the finer movements but, I don’t give a shit about them today.” Drake flexed his arm and saw through the camera that the Vector Unit moved, mimicking his movement. The others were doing this as well, experimenting on their own, taking the odd step here and there.
“If you’ll follow me, there’s still more to learn today, and the dangerous stuff starts in a moment.” Cody had already boarded his private use machine, one that looked similar in structure to the others, but diverged in actual design.
With grace and efficiency, he walked out of the hangar doors, leading the team onto the next phase of their training.
Moving in the Vector Unit was a strange experience, the dissonance between what he felt and what he knew was going on, was causing Drake to have a headache. He fought through it though and made the behemoth walk with thunderous footsteps out of the hangar.
“This feels...wrong” Lora admitted, her balance was off slightly so her attempt to walk was more of a swagger.
“Lora, you need to adjust your balance. Use a mental command to free one of your hands and then access the controls next to the seat. One of them is a weight diagnostic. It will relay where the problem is and how to sort it.” Cody said. So far, his reputation didn’t seem earned, he was actually being helpful, but that didn’t mean much, there was still time to be a bastard. Gene and Sheena didn’t have any of the trouble and stood in the wind, that whipped helplessly at the machines. Cody was ahead of them and waited for Lora to sort out her issues before moving on to what he thought was the important thing to learn.
“One of the many things humanity has longed to do, when first waking in this hellhole, is to take what so many other creatures take for granted. We see those endless skies and long to fly through them. While nature provided for the birds and all the rest, we’ll make do with our own wings, namely these Vector Units. These models are equipped with Asx Aerial Engines, and while they aren’t the best we have, they’ll do for our purpose.” There was a level of tension rising within the group. Walking was one thing, it was easy to do and if they fell, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Flying was going to be trickier, and the speeds involved could be fatal if they lost control.
“Sir, shouldn’t we wait till we’re more accustomed to these controls? I mean, I don’t even know how we would operate a jetpack in this configuration.” Sheena complained.
“Well, the people who created these were going to expect you to start flapping your arms. There’s a series of buttons on the lever your left hand should be holding. The top most button is the one that preps the jet engines. On the right lever, there’s a slider which controls how much thrust will be generated. To control your direction, you lean that way. The boosters on this model of Vector Unit are stuck at a forty five degree angle, so bare that in mind. Being trainees, we were going to give you the best toys yet.” As Cody was talking, Drake was absently following the commands, and felt the rumble as his engines kicked in. With little thought he put the slider to max and felt the g-forces push him further into the seat, threatening to knock him out.
Back on the ground Cody smiled, he knew there was always one who played with the controls, it didn’t matter if they were just clumsy or a daredevil. He set his engines to max as well and headed into the sky, adjusting his trajectory so he was flying parallel to Drake, then he continued his lesson for all to hear.
“Thank you, Drake? Thank you for volunteering. No doubt you’ve felt the g-forces, and maybe that’s why you’re flying like a cock eyed bird who can’t quite tell which way is the ground or the sky. Good news for you is that they aren’t as bad as they should be. There’s a special substance built into the cockpit that absorbs the g-forces through some process I don’t care to understand.” Drake managed to pull himself together and tried to steady himself, pulling the slider back a bit so he wasn’t going full out. “Also, some of those injections you’ve been having. At least one of them is a concoction that the guys in the white suits will hope to lessen g-forces further. Don’t know who’s been given what with that one mind.” Cody flew around Drake’s machine, showing off his expert control and started to lead him back down to the ground, closer to the other trainees who daren’t move.
“Good grief Drake! You’re making that look easy!” Gene cried out as he pushed the engines to max, flying straight into the sky. Sheena took off as well, leaving Lora behind, who was still apprehensive. Fighting her fear, she pulled the slider down and joined the others in the sky, she found that she could handle it a lot better in the air then on the ground.
None of them could handle it as well as Cody but slight rocking aside, they could go forward and that was all they needed to do. Just as their instructor had wanted, they all felt something, vindicative about this process, flying through the air, being as close to it as possible. Drake looked around and through the powerful cameras in the heads of the Vector Unit, he spotted a few soldiers on patrol around the base, and recognised them ones who had been giving him a hard time for being a Silver. With mischievous intent, he angled himself so that he aimed at them and powered to full speed, making them dive for cover before pulling up at the last instant. Seeing them cower made him smile, a kind that he hadn’t done in a very long time.
“Excellent manoeuvre Drake, you’re a natural in there.” Cody wasn’t bothered about him scaring the soldiers, it might have been different if he had crashed but as long as he showed some intuition when piloting, the pride of a few upstart airmen was a good price.
“A natural? I’m not doing anything that the others are.” Drake replied, levelling back with Cody’s Vector Unit.
“Most pilots wouldn’t dare play chicken with the ground like that.”
“Well I’m not most pilots, and those guys deserved it.”
“Hah, just keep crap like that to a minimum you’re expected to still work with them and they are your superiors.” Drake wanted to reply to that with a comment along the lines of ‘for now’ but decided against it. As for now he was at the bottom most rung of the ladder, and would be as long as they kept their end of the deal and treated Ava. Around him the other trainees were getting used to flying.
“Sir, where is the information on how much fuel we have remaining?” Sheena asked, having noticed that the monitors contained no stats whatsoever, meaning they had to go on visual information alone.
“You don’t need that stuff when you’re in my sessions. You’ll learn to pilot with your gut. That’s the difference between me and the other instructors. If you can fly these basic machines with ease then once you get into the pride of the Atlantis Empire, flying them will like breathing.”
Sheena was about to reply when Lora cried out.
“Something is wrong!”
“What’s wrong?” Drake spun the machine round and saw the problem as her Vector Unit’s propulsion system started firing out in uneven bursts, till one of the thrusters simply exploded, shaking the robot and causing Lora to scream as the cockpit was ruptured.
“Sir, do something!” Sheena shouted at Cody who just stopped in mid air and watched. Drake was now right next to the stricken Vector Unit, he had no idea of what to do but he couldn’t stand there and do nothing. He manoeuvred so he was guiding Lora’s machine but found controlling it hard as the remaining thruster was going into overdrive. All the time, he was talking to her.
“Hang in there! We’re going to get you down.”
“Please don’t let go! I can’t see anything...Smoke is...”
“Gene! Get over here and help me!” Drake shouted to Gene who was too dumbfounded to offer much help. Sheena flew by him and gave him a tap, focusing his attention on his friend. The three of them then tried to help stabilise Lora, attempting to bring her down as safely as they could. The engine on Lora’s Vector Unit blew out completely, and her radio link went dead. Being close to the blast, Gene lost most of the cameras on his machine’s head, so he had to disengage. This left Drake and Sheena to guide the stricken Vector Unit to the ground.
The three machines landed with a thud, kicking up earth, it was far from a graceful landing, but all Drake now cared about was getting Lora out of that steel coffin. He wasted no time and tore himself from his seat. He fumbled around the door to Lora’s cockpit, hoping to find some sort of emergency catch that would release it. Drake’s frustration grew with each passing second. He wanted to look over his shoulder and see Cody coming to their aid, but he didn’t have to check to know that it wasn’t happening. Sheena joined in, and the pair were able to pinpoint the switch they needed, and with a hiss, the cockpit door opened. Now with access, Drake could see how bad it was in there. Twisted metal torn like paper leaving a gaping hole where the engine had once been. Lora was a bloody mess, barely alive. There were metal fragments stuck in her skin, one even piercing her eye.
“Don’t you die on me!” Drake shouted as he tried to wake her. Sheena stood behind him and used the head set to plead for help from Cody.
“What are you doing! We need help here now! She’s going to die!”
“That’s life,” Cody sighed. “The first responders are already on their way. There is nothing you can do now.”
Cody kept his Vector Unit airborne, hovering over the trainees, with even Gene finding his way to the ground safely. The help that Cody had mentioned, was a couple of All Terrain Vehicles, that drove with force through the terrain, large tires making short work of stones in the way. The medics didn’t say a word as they got out, and efficiently transferred Lora from her broken mech, to the back of one of the ATVs. Sheena tried to get in the back with her, but she was denied with a cold hard stare, and the medics slammed the door, then drove away.
“Fun’s over, you’re all dismissed for now, get back to your barracks and await further orders,” Cody ordered, he remotely deactivated the trainee’s Vector Units, stopping any further use.
The way back to the barracks was a sombre affair. They didn’t even see Cody again, he was whisked away to give a report on the accident. Drake should have been happy as he was informed that he could speak to Ava, and he duly activated the connection. Even with her face on screen, he didn’t reply to her, just nodding. He let her speak for a full half an hour before he said anything.
“I’m sorry Ava, I really am. I’m going to have to go now, I’m just...tired. Bye...” It hurt him to just cut her off like that but he needed to rest, what happened with Lora...His lingering feelings about the deaths of Fern and Tanis. He threw himself on his bed and buried his head under his pillows, struggling to make sense of things. There was also something else, the way he felt in the Vector Unit, that sense of power he got, and that sweet revenge against those thugs. He was confused by it all. Sleep eventually came to him.
Melody Moon laid in her now empty bed and looked around her room, it was silent again, like it should be. She put her night clothes back on and went to the window. Down below, many storeys, she knew that Darren was getting back into his car and he was going to go back home and do whatever a monster does in his den. It hurt her resolve but she knew that she couldn’t do anything yet, but already she was making plans, learning things that would ultimately help her. She remembered that the last thing that prick had said to her, was reminding her of a special request she had to do, a meeting at a hospital with someone, a fan. She was told that the fan was a thirteen year old girl, and that the eyes of a governor was already on her. She shivered at the thought that new prey were already been picked out. Wanting to prevent any more girls like her being created and abused, Melody knew she would have to pick up the pace in her preparations.
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Where was this going to go? Well, I think the plan was to push Drake further into hell, while Ava started taking what steps she could to stand on her own and procure her own freedom. It would then be this freedom that brings her into conflict with Drake who isn't told that his target, is in fact his sister. Thus setting up the showdown. Though, I'll be honest and admit that this is a change from my original plan for Drakes back story which would have seen him kill his sister (instead of escaping, she was placed at the target by the empire that wanted rid of her...yes, it was a stupid idea and I'm glad I'm not doing that now).
Let me know if you'd ever like to see this story revisited. I know some edits I'd like to see already.
Now, let's move on to the brand new stuff!
Riz's Christmas Carol
I've been wanting to do something like this for a long while, and with it not looking like I'd ever get to do it, I decided to do it here. I'd use this version as the base if I got the chance to do a 'proper' novella on it. I've had to split it into two parts (at least I hope it's only two, can't let this one drag!) because it's been rough for me to find time this week to write.
Part 1 begins now!
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Riz's Christmas Carol
Chapter 1: A Perfect Job?
“Well?” I asked impatiently, as Riz pulled himself out of my pocket. He gave his head a little shake and quickly groomed himself with his paw.
“Well wat?” Riz asked in return, apparently not understanding my frustration at all, he sat up with his tail wrapped around his body, looking at me in confusion..
“Aren’t you going to apologise for all this?”
“And why do bloody hell wud I do dat fer den?”
I tried to clench my fists, but the rope binding them made it next to impossible, so I just clenched my teeth instead.
“For starting all this?” I said after a moment, my teeth had started hurting, so I mentally added that to the list as well.
“Starting wat? I don’t know wat ya on about,” Riz crossed his little arm with a disgruntled noise. He was giving me attitude despite me giving him a place to hide! I struggled to get my head up as far as I could.
“Listen to me you little twat! You’re going to start chewing through these ropes! Do that and I may rethink my decision to throw you out of the next window I see!” I yelled at him.
“Oh, yeh, dat’s really an incentive, isn't it. Maybe I shud jus hop off and leave ya fukin down ‘ere!” Riz argued back.
“And then what you going to do when those three spirits come back and find you? Remember, they only put me down here because I wanted to help you!”
“I didn’t need ya stinkin help! I only couldn’t before because they caught me off guard!”
“Well, they’re coming back this way now…” I said, fully knowing that they weren’t.
“Shit!”
“Better bite through these ropes quickly then!” I watched him as he quickly got to work, quietly seething.
Why was I seething you might ask? Well, let’s think back together shall we?
I had agreed to take Riz for a little dre. It was Christmas Eve and, since Riz was restless at this time of year, my choice was either to agree to this request, or have to deal with him completely drunk. I wasn’t washing rat vomit from my shoes again. Not after last time. No.
“So, we’re just going to drive around for a bit right?” I asked him.
“Actually, yeh…Dere’s a place we need ta go to,” he replied hesitantly.
“What place?”
“A client’s house ta do a very well paid job.”
“What kind of job? I also asked you earlier if we had any jobs booked so why didn’t you tell me then?”
“Cuz I knew ya wud say no if I told ya wat it was we were supposed ta be doin?”
“And what is that?” I could already feel my blood pressure starting to rise.
“Ta deal with three ghosts, dat want ta brainwash our client.”
“It’s christmas eve, and you want us to deal with three ghosts? Pray tell what kind of person is the client?”
“Da sort dat is payin well enuff fer us not ta ask questions, and make sure dat he doesn’t get bothered? Not dat difficult really.”
“Riz, I could quickly stop this car and cause you to be smashed into the windscreen. It might even break it. Not only would we be unable to do your beloved job, but you’d also be in a lot of pain. Now, tell me what kind of person he is.”
“I don’t feel like tellin ya.”
“By answering like that I think I can guess that he doesn’t regularly top the ‘giving to charity’ charts.”
“No, he is not.”
I started tapping the wheel, trying to keep my eyes on the road and glare at the rat at the same time.
“So why would I want to waste my Christmas, helping someone like that whose outlook probably could be improved on? I mean, really he’s running away from his own conscience. That’s nothing to do with us. I’m going to turn the car around.”
“Don’t! Do ya ‘ave any idea how much money I’m talkin about here?”
“I don’t care, I’ve got my morals!”
“And dat’s why I asked ya ta do dis favour fer me da way I did,” Riz said with a little sigh.
“What?”
“We shook on it, remember?”
As Riz said that, I started to get a really bad feeling. I looked down at my hand, the one I used to shake his paw. I was only wanting to humour him.
“Don’t tell me…”
“It was an Oathbreaker Rune.”
“I told you not to tell me.”
“Yeh. Well, dis favour I want ya do, is da frickin job. Now, I’m gunna tell you da address and ya gunna take us dere. Wit no complainin rite?”
“I can’t believe you used an Oathbreaker on me…Again!” I shouted. I was furious with the little git. If I’d been able, I would have tossed him out of the car.
“Sounds like complainin ta me. Look, I’m sorry it ‘ad ta come ta dis, but I needed da money okay?”
“We’re going to have serious words when this is all over.”
“Ya shud blame yourself. Dis was exactly how I got you last time as well.”
He was right, but it didn’t make me feel any better about it.
With very little choice, I duly took him to the destination he wanted, and had to listen to the client moaning about his predicament. He was exactly like I thought, a massive twat who only thought about himself and his money. I’m surprised his ego could fit into his mansion. Speaking of his mansion though, he had insisted on talking to us outside that massive building, despite Riz begging for a tour. Apart from that however, the conversation went like I had expected. This included things like how he was owed everything, with no apparent guilt about his life. I thought I detected an odd tone at times as he was speaking, but before I could focus on it, the conversation had moved on. Riz was happily chatting away to him, sucking up to him, probably in the hopes of a good tip. Hearing them talk, it was clear why they were friends.
After ten minutes of this, suffering under the oppressive yoke of boredom, I was ready to let the Oathbreaker do its worst to me. Luckily, whichever god had taken an interest in me and was tormenting me, decided to give me a reprieve, as the client revealed he was tired, and wanted to retire to his bed. Riz waited for him to fully disappear before turning to me. He was on the floor now, looking up at me, tapping his little foot.
“Well, dat was jus rude wasn’t it?” he said to me, and from his tone, he was being heavily sarcastic.
“Rude? How. Oh, you mean because I didn’t say anything?”
“Ya supposed ta be doin your job! Do I really ave ta do everything!” He shouted, though being a rat, every shout was also a squeak.
“Can we just get this done…Wait, what are we actually supposed to be doing?”
“Duh, stoppin da spirits from messin wit ‘im.”
“And how are we going to do that? The ghosts will go for him when he’s asleep, and we’re outside! I noticed we weren’t invited in. Is he too rich for us poor folk to even step in there?” I cast my eyes back over to the mansion again, noticing that there was only a couple of lights on. This led me to believe he was that cheap that he tried to avoid paying out as much money on bills as possible. I saw the client’s shadow move against the curtains, along with three others. Riz hadn’t noticed this bit yet.
“All we gotta do den, is patrol around da house nd make sure dat everythin is okay. First sign dat we see ‘im floatin out da window, we blast them. It’ll serve those twats right for forcin dere will down our throats!” Riz spat on the ground.
“Yes, they are absolute monsters for wanting to make sure that people behave themselves and treat others kindly,” I rolled my eyes but I didn’t see Riz picking up on my sarcasm.
“Ya rite, dey are absolute monsters!”
“Only if you're a rich jackass.”
“Look, wen ya got da money ya shudnt ave ta worry about a troop of stuck up, poncy arsed ghosts! We should be blastin dem on sight!”
“You sound like you've had experience with them before.”
“I've been runnin from dese twats since da day dey started hauntin. Dey pretty much formed ta take me down!”
“How did Charles Dickens fit into this then?”
“It was bloody well his fault!” Riz shouted at me as he clambered up my body, grabbing at my collar. “Dey sprang from his supa fertile imagination! He thought dem up for his frickin story and dat waz dat!”
“Wait, if they've been after you that long, how come they've never caught you?” I asked as Riz seemed to calm down.
“Because I'm smarter den dey are. I'm never in on Christmas Eve. Plus, dey didn't exactly ave a short list of people ta go for. But now…we've got a prime opportunity!” Riz slapped his paws together in glee. “We can blast da smeggers unaware as dey come for him. I can get dem off my back and make a hefty tip on top of the charge! It's so perfect I cud cry.”
“Hold up, aren't you getting ahead of yourself?” I glanced back at the window, now only seeing one shadow, standing oddly still. Intrigued, I went in for a closer look.
“Wat you think ya bloody doin? Dats…” I think Riz was going to complete that sentence with saying ‘cilent’ but the word that fell out instead was…
“A dummy?” Riz was at the perfect angle to see through the gap in the curtains.
While he seemed to lose his speech for a blessed few minutes, I bent down to take a peek. There was indeed a mannequin stood right next to the window, striking a fancy pose.
“Dis don't make any sense!” Riz said, taking another look. “Where's all da riches! Da fancy furniture, da expensive paintings on the wall!”
I tried looking at the surroundings, but everything seemed normal to me, which may have been the point as I decorated our office the best I could with what little money I had. He was right and the room certainly didn't look like a multimillionaire lived there. The thought about those other shadows drifted into my mind.
“Riz?” I started to say, I was fully intending to share what I noticed, but what happened a moment later meant I didn’ have to bother myself.
“Not now! I’m tryin ta figure out wat all dis means! Unless…It’s a decoy fer da ghosts! Yeh, dat must be it. He must be tryin ta trick da ghosts so we can get da jump on dem.”
“I think that’s a reach. It’s more that he was trying to trick us. Now, can I tell you something?” I asked, trying to get him to focus on me.
“Tryin ta trick us? Wateva for? Unless it’s fer wen we’ve dun da job and wants ta hide. I suppose dat’s possible. It’s wat I wud do,” Riz mused, rubbing his mouth with his paw.
“I really think you should hear what I have to say.”
Don’t matter unless ya ‘ave summit important ta add ta dis dilemma.”
I was starting to get frustrated with this. I did have something important to say, and I was sure that he would feel the same once I had managed to say it.
“You’re still causing headaches I see,” a jolly sounding voice called out. My first instinct was that the voice was coming from behind us, but when we turned to look, there was no one there.
“Oh, I’ve been looking forward to this,” a less than jolly sounding voice added. This one sounded a lot more aggressive and quite feminine.
“Patience, Past. He will receive our judgment all the same.” A third voice joined the little group. Now, I was able to put two and two together, figuring out who they were without much trouble, and to his benefit, Riz did too.
“Not you three!” He said with a whimper as he looked around. He curled up more, almost cowering. All that bravado from mere moments ago.
“It’s us three alright! The female voice reacted, sounding almost elated to be dealing with the rat.
“Bloody…Show yourselves you phantasmal bastards!” This sounded like a brave thing to demand, but Riz by now was almost trying to stick himself down my jumper.
“Fine, if that’s what you really, really want, rat,” the female voice said, as a small spirit, childlike in appearance, slowly materialised. She looked almost like a porcelain doll, but was wearing the meanest smile I’d seen in some time. She hovered there, staring daggers at Riz.
“Past, you’re being too frightening! Remember, we are only here for the rat, after all,” The jolly sounding spirit was next to appear, wearing a coat of green with a wreath circling his head.
“Shut up, Present!” the girl snapped.
“Pay heed! Riz, the hour of your judgment is here!” The final spirit appeared, frail looking and draped in a dark grey cloak, a long beard sticking out from his hood that obscured the rest of his face.
“The Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come?” I said, addressing each in turn.
“Indeed we are, but I am simply known as Future. It is easier to say after all,” Future said with an ache in his voice.
“Bren! Get me out of ‘ere!” Riz pleaded with me.
“No, rat. You have evaded us long enough, it is time…” Future announced as the others looked on.
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That's all for this week!
Join me next time for part 2 of Riz’s Christmas Carol and maybe a peek at Riz-mas. It'll probably go up on Christmas Eve, just to make life easier but tradition is a powerful thing!
Till next time....
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
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