Tuesday 5 November 2024

#96 No Words + Some Ominous Orbs!

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today is a double threat! Not only do I have to talk about my writing for October (exciting I know) but we have a brand new anthology to celebrate!

Oh, and as always, a new Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz to kick things off!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


This one, may have become a new favourite. I wish I could say the no words thing happened by design, that I wished to push the boundaries of the visual medium that comics are, buuuut...I would be lying my bum off. Truth is that this comic kind of came out by complete accident. I had a different strip in mind at first but gave up on it when it became clear that it wasn't working. So about ten minutes before I was supposed to start drawing, I had to brainstorm a new idea and the image of Riz being stuck is pretty funny. 

Originally, Riz was supposed to be reflecting on the state of his life, ultimately building up to the reveal of his precarious position. Brennan was also supposed to appear, being amused and unhelpful. However before the pencils were done, before I had worked out the lettering, I looked at what I'd already done and realised that it worked far better without any text. So that's the way it stayed. Quite effective don't you think!

Only 3 to go now till the big 100!

October Review

So, this should be quick as I only worked on two stories in October, both of them for this blog!

Short Diversions: The Woods (part 1 and part 2)

Short Diversions: Little Girls and Dead Things (part 1 and part 2)

Both were a lot longer than anything I've written for this blog so far, and they could have been far longer. It might have been better if I just picked one and focused that in 4 parts over the month, instead of leaving that rushed feeling. Not much else to say about them that I didn't already say in their corresponding blogs! 

What I'm currently writing however is Daemon Soul Avalon, and I'm doing pretty okay at the moment, should be finished chapter 7 soon, and then only about 23 to go...probably not the best way to think about it! 

May have to share a preview at some point as the next few chapters are going to be interesting! Several familiar faces to readers of this blog have already appeared...in fact most of them!

Let's see how much I get done by months end shall we?

...on saying that though a new story idea has sadly forced its way into my head and is threatening to derail my writing plans, so, there is that.

Some Ominous Orbs!

That's right folks, another brand new Malarkey's Imaginomnibus has dropped, featuring a brand new Brennan and Riz short nestled in its pages. There's better writers and stories in there than that argumentative pair, of course, but nice all the same!

The theme is pretty much in the anthologies title, Ominous Orbs. Once I settled in on doing a Brennan and Riz story (why wouldn't I? The rights had landed back in my lap afterall) the subject was more or less obvious: Will'O the Wisp. These, if you're not familiar, are known as strange orbs of colourful and enticing light. They're known to lurk in woodlands or marshlands  wanting to lure the unsuspecting traveller to their doom. Their depictions in folklore all around the world are as varied as their names and most cultures seem to have something like them.

Now, the question came to how to approach the story, what part would the Wisps play, and how many times would Brennan and Riz argue? Turns out quite a lot!

For the story, I decided to cast the wisps as "good guys", so to speak. Treating them very similarly to how I did Brownies in the third Brennan and Riz short story. There the creature was something of value, wanted by the rich. The plot crystallised around this and I started writing, going with a in-action start to proceedings.

It wasn't long though before my feelings changed and I knew I needed more. In a marked change from how I normally handle things, I didn't just delete everything. Instead I only ditched the opening, starting with Brennan and Riz’s first encounter with the Wisp, except this time, I gave the Wisp a voice. Ro was a contradiction. He was both fun and hard to write for, and even now, I question my approach with him. His motivations though, came from the song that I decided to integrate more...that being Jerry Lewis's Great Balls of Fire. Leaning into the song more allowed me to give a reason to why Ro sought out these two and to set up the conflicts resolution.

Speaking of that, the bad guy, Reginald, was a hoot, he may be one note villain (to say nothing about his henchmen!) but he was so fun to write and honestly, sometimes  that's all a story like this needs, and it allowed Brennan to get a couple of funny lines in.

I was torn on what to do with them, as I didn't want to kill them (not sure Brennan would have allowed that) but at the same time, any other punishment would have felt hollow. So I let the Wisps deal with them! Not sure which punishment would be worse mind!

All in all, a fun little story and the first published Brennan and Riz story since last year. A return to form for the pair? I'll let you be the judge of that!

That's all for this week, till next time...

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Ominous Orbs


Wednesday 30 October 2024

#95 Better Next Time? + Short Diversions: Little Girls and Dead Things part 2

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Got the final part of the Short Diversions: Little Girls and Dead Things story for you all to enjoy today, but also some relatively sad news for Brennan and Riz fans (though I'm hopefully sorting it soon).

Before the doom and gloom of that news, and the just doom of the final part of the story, let's have a bit of fun...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz



The final issue of this spooky seasoned themed issues! Now that this is out of rhw way, we can start the countdown to issue #100!

About this issue though, I thought it was going too well when I started inking it as I made a bit of a mess in the last panel as the spirit of Halloween's arms should be on front of the spirits collar! C'est la vie I guess. Love the rest of it though, and probably the only time Riz might show some concern about anyone else! Feel bad for the spirit, you go out of your way to try and instill the fun in the frightening, and someone won't even give you the time of day! At least Riz is correct, there's always next year...

Brennan and Riz Update

I wish I had some positive news to put here (well I do, but let's get the bad out of the way first).

As of writing, no Brennan and Riz books are available to buy or read online, aside from one copy of A Boy and A Rat that is being sold by a 3rd party. It looks like the old publisher has delisted all the books under their name, without warning, thus wiping out the three books (and one Short story as the yeti one was never in print). 

I'll hopefully have them relisted under my account soon, as several people have stepped forward to help (you know who you are and you are lifesavers). Though the question of the covers has crept up as the publishers logo is all over them, and while I was given permission to use re-use them back in April, I'm not sure if that still stands. They all might need new ones doing, which will take time to sort out.

Still, I promised you some good news, and that is the immediate release (well, on Thursday!) of the fourth Malarkey's Imaginomnibus! This one is themed around Ominous Orbs and features stories from all sorts of fantastic authors, as expected of this anthology series. There's even a Brennan and Riz story in this one, which I'll talk about next week. Keep an eye on Medias of the Social kind in a day or so on where to get your hands on this book!

Short Diversions: Little Girls and Dead Things Part 2

Last time, Robyn and Cade had just found their way blocked by the Shadow Malakai and a host of Black Ooze creatures, let's see how they're going to get out of that! Will they also save anyone? Can they even save themselves? Or will Viola get some new experiments?

Read on to find out, and please enjoy.

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Little Girls and Dead Things

2.

     The black ooze monstrosities were the first to reach the Knights, showing surprising speed and agility for creatures made of mismatched cadavers. The six beings came thundering down the hallway, and while Cade steeled himself, Robyn started firing away. One of the first arrows that found its mark caused the monster's head to collapse in on itself, a second head appeared to replace it, bursting out of its rib cage with a lipless smile of sharpened and pointed teeth. An arrow between the eyes of this head put the whole thing down, the black ooze covering them dissolving away, leaving a mess of human remains. Robyn had to remind herself that these people were already dead, their lives beyond saving. It still stung to see what was left from her own actions. The demons however, shared no such thoughts for their fallen comrade, as they still came forward, and as fast as Robyn was with a bow, she still wasn’t fast enough to bring them all down.

     “It looks like as long as one head remains on them, they can still operate,” Cade cooly theorised . He stepped forward to meet the first black ooze monster that came close, the one with two other bodies attached to its lower half, each complete with arms and heads of their own. The monster rose up, to attack with it’s lower arms, but Cade didn’t give it a chance to connect with the would be strike, his blade leaving a glittering arc as it cleaved through them all like a warm knife through butter. Even the bones in the arms gave no resistance. As the creature fell, Cade performed another sweep, severing the two lower most heads, before swinging the sword around one last time to take the main head. Like the one before it, the creature clattering into a smoosh of flesh and bones, with no trace of the demonic substance that once gave it life. There were still four demons coming at them, a menagerie of twisted bodies, making a mockery of the human form.

     Robyn took another down, her arrows finding a home within their already rotting skulls, the enhanced saviour arrow heads crushing them utterly. The next one proved more difficult as it’s main head was hidden within the bloated body that had been clearly made by stitching multiple torsos together. The extra arms that had been grafted onto it caused it to scuttle around like a spider. She had to sink almost five arrows into it before it went down for good, the last shot luckily hitting the head.

     Cade had similar luck, his blade dancing through flesh and ooze. Knowing that the pitiful creatures were already dead made him seem a bit callous as he chopped up the corpses, but he summarised that it was the most efficient way of dealing with the problem than using the full extent of his abilities to take the creatures out. At the same time that Robyn had killed the last of the black ooze monsters coming after her, Cade’s last opponent fell into a disgusting heap, its remaining head rolling on the floor in two pieces.

     “How many died to make these…things?” Robyn asked sadly, salvaging what arrows she could. The fact that Malakai wasn’t advancing on them gave her time to take what she needed, while Cade quickly inspected the blade of his sword. The neon blue edge still glowed brightly, with no visible cracks of scruffs along its length.

     “I’d guess about fifthteen, it’s too hard to verify though as not every piece of them was used to make them. It is the clear work of a mad man.” 

     “Or an insane little girl.”

     “That too, now Knight Master Gouzen, we have to get through him,” Cade pointed towards Malakai who still stood waiting.

     “So you still wish to approach me? I suppose you still have your mission that you seek to achieve. However, it is my mission, given by my master himself, to stop you from getting to Viola.” 

     “And who is your master….This person who leads the ‘Shadows’?” Cade asked, seeing an opportunity to learn more.

     “A man of many talents, and of many faces. That is as much as I will say,” Malakai replied quickly, making it clear that the conversation was over before it started.

     While Cade mused on what he’d just been told, Robyn stood next to him, bow in hand.

     “What’s the plan then? If I offer long range support for you to get close, we may be able to charge past him, or at least, you can. If he chases after me, I can lead him back to these corridors and hope to slip past. I’m guessing they can’t sense too much of a wider area otherwise they would have been attacking us as soon as we stepped foot in that security room,” she said, offering up a suggestion.

     “We don’t know what he’s capable of. Every encounter with these ‘Shadows’ in the past has proven that each is unique in what they can do while sharing some similarities, such as their regenerative capabilities. That girl, Viola, her danger level comes from what she can create rather than fighting skills, for example. The fact that he’s stood there, waiting, tells me he is confident in his own ability and that he can handle whatever we have.”

     “Do you have a better plan then?”

     “I’ll engage him in hand to hand combat, you will get past and continue on. You need to make it to the control room to activate the immolation procedure, and to rescue the survivors before Viola makes another monster. With any luck, we can reunite on the way back to the exit point,” Cade started walking forward, sword by his side.

     “You can’t take him on alone!” Robyn shouted. “Like you said, we don’t know what he’s capable of! You’re going to need my help!” 

     “I may do, but we also have a mission to accomplish. That takes precedence. Get ready to run when you see an opening. It looks like he wants a fair fight, so that is what I’ll give him.”

     “...You idiot,” Robyn muttered under her breath, but all the same, she acknowledged what he was trying to do, and for his part, Malakai wasn’t acting like the other ‘Shadows’ that they had met till this point.

     “I am Master Inquisitor Cade Anderson, a Knight of Avalon. You gave me your name, and now I have given you mine. I’ll be your challenger,” Cade announced as he advanced on Malakai. Though he wasn’t in his combat stance yet, he was already looking for any signs that an attack was imminent.

     “I applaud your bravery, and your honesty. It is rare that I encounter someone who seeks a honourable fight. I must point out though, that I can not let your ally past all the same,” Malakai replied sternly, his tone almost matching Cade’s.

     Robyn was so intently focused on what was about to happen that she didn’t see one of the human remains stirring, or see the human head that forced its way out. The head seemed to ride a wave of black ooze that seeped out of it’s eye sockets. Quietly, bits of the black ooze darted off like sinew and connected to other remains, using them to knit itself a horrifying mass of flesh to call a body. With a form somewhat restored, it saw that its foe had her back turned. Not seeing a more perfect opportunity to strike, it coiled itself, but before it could do anything, Malakai saw it.


     Interrupting his moment with Cade, Malakai unleashed a wave of energy shaped like a crescent moon from his halberd, the attacking soaring past both Cade and Robyn, bisecting the revived Black Ooze monster, destroying it utterly.

     Cade and Robyn couldn’t help but feel a bit of shock as they both looked over their shoulders. 

     “Now, we may truly begin,” the Shadow said, resuming his stance. The tension in the air as both sides waited to see who would react first. All sound seemed to cease, and time crawled to a stop. Robyn, already on edge after the little display of Malakai’s power, was now also weary about the black ooze; her nerves were taut, but she kept it together. One didn’t get to her position in Avalon without learning how to deal with stressful situations. That being said though, it was little comfort.

     The break in the tension came when there was a far off noise, a clang of metal, the sound of something falling over. Malakai made the first move, he swung his halberd round, taking care not to catch it on the sides of the corridor, his weapon leaving him almost no room to manoeuvre. The speed of his swing was inhuman, but Cade reacted well within time, performing a defensive move, making sure the blade of Malakai’s weapon only met the sacred metal of the True Saviour Blade. Cade tried to push it aside, wanting an opening to take advantage of, but the Shadow stepped back, before attacking again, coming at an opposite angle. Cade rolled to the side and launched himself from a kneeling position, wanting to get within Malakai’s attack range, pitting his sword against the restricted reach of Malakai’s. The same dance repeated itself several times, with neither side being able to land so much as a glancing blow.

     Everytime that Malakai got within perfect striking distance, Cade either deflected it or moved back, and it was the same from the Shadow’s point of view. Sparks flew whenever the weapons met together for their brief clashes.


     Robyn was dumbstruck by the intensity of the fight, noting to herself that the only reason a normal human like Cade was able to keep up with the Shadow was all the Saviour gear he’d ended up with. He’d been given his True Saviour Blade years ago, on account of his excellent service. It was a relic of the times the so-called Saviours walked the earth, was his biggest asset, as without that, he could never have hoped to harm the more deadlier demons. Then there was his armour, a patented creation of her sister’s, taken from ancient documents that were uncovered. This armour was hidden under Cade’s more formal clothes, but allowed him to go toe to toe with the worst of threats, offering enhanced speed, strength and some durability. She imagined that a fight like this though would push him to the limit, as it certainly didn’t look like Malakai was breaking a sweat, as even though Cade was countering his moves, he just launched into another barrage. 

     She still felt bad for not helping him, thinking that the pair of them working together might have been enough to see him off, even if flat out defeating him was a fairytale. It led her to wonder what Isabelle would do if she was there. Would she have stepped in, forcing Malakai to take on the two of them? Or would she place her full trust in Cade like she always did, and head on to accomplish the rest of the mission. Knowing that was exactly what Isabelle would have done, Robyn chose to do the latter. She didn’t think that Cade would forgive her otherwise, and she certainly didn’t want that hanging over her head. Sighing, she watched their fight, needing only a single opportunity to sneak by. 


     Her chance came quicker than she anticipated, as while Malakai started firing more of those crescent energy blasts out, the sound of metal breaking happened again, much louder this time, and much closer. Even Malakai paused for a brief second, listening in.

     “That brat,” he muttered under his breath. Before Cade could even question it, the wall behind them buckled and burst apart, as a hulking form appeared, with more of the Black Ooze monsters dragging themselves behind it.

     “I am taking care of this, ‘Sam’, go back to your sister!” Malakai ordered, but Sam didn’t say anything, he couldn’t, his mouth was stitched shut. The beast saw Cade and Robyn and threw its head back, making a sound that could only be described as nightmarish. The Black Ooze creatures rushed forward, wanting their prey. 

     “NO!” Malakai yelled, demanding obedience, and when the monsters didn’t respond, he swept his weapon around, and killed them all with a similar attack as the one he did before. Sam was unfazed by this and moved forward with relentless purpose.

     Robyn didn’t know what was going on, but saw an opening all the same, but it meant getting in between the Shadow, and whatever Sam was. She ran full pelt.

     “Robyn!” Cade shouted out, afraid of her chances. Malakai saw her, but instead, his gazes shifted to Sam, as he lifted his massive fists, intent on striking Robyn down as soon as she was in range. As the distance got smaller, and smaller, her stress level increased, as she needed the timing to be perfect. There was another chance she was taking here, one that Isabelle would have chastised her for if she knew. Now she was within a metre and Sam duly went to bring his fist down on her, the speed of the blow betraying the speed he’d been moving so far. Robyn jumped forward into a roll, passing just under the incoming fist as it drove into the ground. Malakai never acted once, instead watching as Sam became stuck briefly, trying with all his might to free himself. He slowly turned his head to watch as Robyn recovered herself, and kept on running, disappearing down the corridor.

     “Hadn’t you better go after her then?” Malakai sneered, as Sam turned around, and this time, he fell on all fours, using his forearms to drag himself forward and then leaping along, crashing into the ceiling every time.

     “You’re not going after her yourself?” Cade asked, eyebrow raised.

     “I will take care of you, and Sam will take care of your friend, instead of interfering with our fight.

     “Given that I think you are the biggest threat here, by a large margin. That is something I’m glad of,” Cade pointed his word at his opponent as he spoke. Malakai didn’t reply with anything, but instead resumed their fight, coming at Cade with renewed vigour.


     Robyn thought she heard their fight resume, but given her circumstances, she couldn’t confirm anything. What she could confirm was that ‘Sam’ was chasing her. The sound of his landings were thankfully not getting closer, so she was still ahead, but she wasn’t going to be able to rescue anyone like this, not with a threat following so closely behind her. She needed a plan, and she needed it now. She thought back to the layout of the research centre, thinking of what rooms were ahead and where she needed to be. This gave her an idea, and she eagerly led Sam onwards. From previous reports, Sam could take a lot of punishment, more than she could dish out on her own. It wouldn’t have been a problem if she had Isabelle’s demon sword, but she didn’t, and her arrows wouldn’t slow him down. She knew something that would slow him down, however, and so engineered a way to lead him to somewhere where there was a way to slow him down. She did her best to lead him on, she wanted him to know where she was going, but still be a couple of steps ahead, afterall, she needed to find what she was looking for without being attacked first.

     A sign up ahead caught her attention, the laboratory she’d been waiting for, however, Sam had gotten a little bit faster, either through speed, or efficiency in crashing less. He was almost upon her, causing her to throw herself backwards through the open door, bow at the ready, with an arrow aimed at his head. All she needed was a slight distraction, and the manoeuvre gave her that . The arrow struck Sam point blank in his head, and the little motor in the arrow head started off, and the projectile started whirring as a little motor sprang into life. It started to spin, like a drill, going in as deep as it could, till the monster ripped it free of his brain, but it had given Robyn all the time she required. She darted into the lab, and quickly scanned the surroundings. She knew what she was looking for, and was glad that she found it. Three barrels were stacked in the corner, each bearing red warning labels, describing the contents. She stood In front of them and faced the door, working on the next stage of her plan. Taking what looked like a compact motor from her pocket, she hastily fitted it to her bow, and then took another arrow and tied rope to it. 

     With her prep work set up, she now waited for Sam to reappear, and that didn't take long as his hulking form forced its way through the door frame. A moment more, and he was already halfway across the room, taking no care about any of the equipment or furniture in the way. It fell to the last moment before Robyn acted. Getting as low to the ground as possible, she fired an arrow straight between the gap between Sam's legs as he went to smash a massive fist down on her. The arrow flew straight and stuck in a bit of the wall above the ruined door. Then, as Sam began the downward arc of his attack, Robyn hit the motor on the bow, which rapidly began to wind the rope in, dragging her under Sam and past him, well out of his attack range. 

     Unable to stop himself, Sam's fist collided with the first barrel and it exploded, covering him in a thick green sludge, which hardened fast. Robyn wasn't finished here though, back on her feet, she loaded an explosive arrow, and settled her aim on the remaining barrels, and let the arrow do the final part of her plans. The barrels exploded with the impact of the explosive arrow head, covering Sam in more gunk. Like before, it hardened fast, glueing him to the spot almost instantly, he tried to turn to face her, but couldn’t make it.

     Robyn left him in there, knowing any further attacks might just disrupt the gunk, allowing him his freedom a lot sooner than she would like. She ran through the corridors once more, only hearing the distant sounds of Cade’s battle against Malakai. This brought her some relief as pure silence may have meant that the worst could have happened. There was a sound ahead of her, footsteps, and an agitated sighing. While Robyn would have loved it to have been the survivor coming to her, she knew it could only be one person, and she quickly hid behind some equipment, keeping her head down as low as she could. The figure came into view, as Viola angrily walked down the corridor, her pace unnaturally fast.

     “You ask for one little job to be done, and no one does it! I really have to do everything around here!” she cussed. “Sam’s going to get punished for this!

     Robyn did think it was amusing at first that the child was talking to herself, but it quickly passed when she remembered what exactly Viola was now, and the power she wielded, and what she had done to all the employees of the research centre. If she was certain it would kill her, she would have attempted an attack, pushing back every ounce of distaste she had at doing such a deed. That’s how much a threat she knew the child was, if she could be called a child. Instead, no such action was undertaken, and Robyn watched as Viola strode out of sight, and that she would come across Sam’s trapped body, which gave some time. Not wanting to waste it, Robyn scrambled to the direction that the child had come from.

     The room Viola had come from no longer resembled a laboratory, it was more an abattoir with dried blood stains everywhere and human remains slowly rotting away. There was an array of tools lying around, some of them were still smeared with gore. Robyn spared a thought for the lives lost in this room, but she pushed on. There was an open door, which must have been a storeroom when the lab was being used for it’s proper purpose, and it was here that Robyn found what she was hoping to see. Inside a makeshift cage, a young woman sat, wearing the tattered remains of her lab coat. She sat with her knees up, head against them tight.

     “My name is Robyn Gouzen, and I’m here to get you to safety,” Robyn announced, the girl looked up but didn’t say anything, the pain was too much in her eyes. Robyn understood and left her alone for a moment, she had one other task to complete after all. She was able to coax the young woman out and led her back into the lab, where she accessed the computer and started typing.

     “What’s your name?” Robyn asked the young woman, she didn’t think that there was that much of a gap between them. The woman didn’t answer, but after a moment, she started staring at the door, and pointed a shaking finger at it.

     “Well, well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in! Looks like I didn’t need to send you in afterall!” Viola cackled, she was holding Sam’s severed head, the expressionless eyes simply looked on.

     “I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Robyn replied. She tried to keep an eye on the child and on the computer screen.

     “No, you Avalon idiots never do. All my test subjects here tried not to say anything, but you know, screaming does count.

      Robyn didn’t give her a response, knowing that was what she was wanting. However, there was one response she wanted to give her.

     “When I say run, we’re running. Stay close to me, okay?” Robyn whispered into the other woman’s ear.

     “Whispering sweet nothings in her ear eh? Want to tell everyone?” Viola taunted.

     “Oh, I don’t have anything to say, the computer on the other hand? That’s got something to say!”

     “What?” Viola asked, suddenly feeling a little nervous.

     “Immolation Protocol has been activated,” a voice rang out across every room and every corridor.

     “Imm-immolation? Oh…OH! Shit!” Viola cursed. “Goddammit it! I had a good thing going on here!” Viola turned and ran, only pausing to give Robyn an angry glare. “This isn’t over!” the child ran off, the sound of her footsteps quickly disappearing.

     “Now, it’s our turn to move!” Robyn grabbed the young woman’s hand and led her out of the room, and down the corridor, finding Cade waiting for her. He was battered, and bruised but seemed no worse for wear than when they separated.

     “You were able to complete the mission I see,” he stated. 

     “And you were able to defeat that Malakai guy?” Robyn asked in return.

     “No, the fight was called off due to the impending destruction of the building, but it doesn’t matter now. We must hurry to our entry point. Otherwise we’ll get caught up in the blast.” He led the way, all the way back to the security office that had greeted them on their arrival.

     “Knight Master Gouzen, you head up first, then our guest can go in the middle, and I can bring up the rear, in case of any trouble,” Cade said pointing to the shaft they had climbed down.

     “What trouble are you expecting?” Robyn questioned. “We’re the only living things here aren’t we?”  

     With a squelch, and a sickening scream, Robyn instantly regretted asking that question as the last Black Ooze monster crawled down the shaft, cutting off their escape route, and leaving very little time for survival. Cade and Robyn both put themselves in the way of the monster’s attack, but every second they took to defeat and kill the creature would be a second wasted. What happened next, seemed to have neem a hazy dream, as Robyn remembered going to fire an arrow at the monster, with Cade getting ready to charge in, till movement by the door to the corridor, catching them by surprise. There, Malakai stood, his arm outstretched and with a flick of his wrist, Robyn, Cade and the surviving young woman were consumed by darkness.They felt like they’d fallen for what seemed like a long time, till all the three found themselves staring up at the stars, while just ahead, the Dark Oak Hall, burned away.

     “How...How did we end up out here?” Robyn asked, but Cade didn’t have an answer for her. He looked around, but found no trace of the Shadow that had just saved their lives.

     “I think…” Cade started to say, but found the rest of the sentence too incredible to believe. “I think Malakai saved us.”

     “But…Why? We’re his enemies are we? Why would he want us alive?”

     “I don’t know,” Cade admitted. “There is no reason why he should have spared us.” The young woman next to them found herself staring at the stars, crying as she did. The fact that she was alive felt like a miracle. None of them could explain what had happened, let along the why….

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Hope everyone enjoyed the story, back to a more enjoyable schedule next month, will allow me to dive back into Daemon Soul: Avalon, as I've got a lot of writing to do there!

That's is for this week.

Till next time...

...Keep writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Wednesday 23 October 2024

#94 A Hundred For Me, One For You + Short Diversions: Dead Things and Little Girls

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Continuing my October madness here, today is the start of the last short story of the month, though like the one before it, it may be short but it's definitely a lot longer than most others on this blog!

Before we get to that, a slight apology as last week I mistakenly thought my original calculations were wrong and that I would in fact miss the last Wednesday of the spooky season, as that would be the first of November. Looking at a calendar will tell you that it isn't the case, so as to why I believed the contrary is a mystery. Rest assured that next Wednesday will see the concluding part of the new short story and it'll happen before Halloween!

With that out of the way, let's see what's happening in the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


I wonder if Riz has enough sweets there? We're getting close to the end of spooky season festivities here with this pair, next week's conclusion should be a lively ender! I think Brennan will be happy to see the back of this season...just in time for the season Riz hates!

Short Diversions: Dead Things and Little Girls

Below you'll find the first part of the 2nd expanded short story of the month. Unlike last week's which dealt with mostly new characters, the main character here has already graced two short stories (here and here). Her partner, he's been mentioned but this is the first short story he's in. Though to be fair, I've wrote a little bit of him in both Avalon Tales, and Daemon Soul: Avalon (naturally!). As to who they're up against...well, we'll talk more about that after you've read part 1!

Please enjoy.

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Dead Things and Little Girls

1.


     “Smile for me, asshole!” Robyn said as she pulled back an arrow, before letting it fly straight through the head of the demon that was running for her.

     “Hey, leave some for the rest of us!” Rick yelled out, as he lined up another demon in his sight.

     “You better get quicker then, Avalon has no place for slow poke’s who struggle to hit a demon at a hundred paces!” Robyn pulled another arrow from her quiver, taking less than a second to set the shot, aiming the glowing neon blue arrow head at her next target, killing it within a heartbeat. There was five of them in that patrol, and while their speciality was long range combat, Robyn thought the situation called for a closer approach. Whilst her comrades had stuck to their firearms, switching to their modified handguns for point blank shooting, Robyn kept on using her composite bow, living up to her namesake and proving she was the best marksman that Avalon had.

     As the last demon fell, its body already dissolving into nothingness, Robyn started to pick up the arrowheads that could be reused, the Saviour Technology that powered them was too valuable to leave embedded in the walls.

     “Great job team,” Robyn said, examining the arrow for any flaws.

     “Is it punching out time yet?” One of them said, eliciting a laugh from the others. They had to laugh, with Avalon and its mission to defend the British Isle against all threats demonic and supernatural, any battle could be their last. Robyn knew this keenly after attending many funerals for her teammates. Still, she had a job to do, and it was her pride to follow it through.

     “Knight Master Gouzen, Do you copy? Over,” a voice called out from her radio. Robyn took it from her belt and replied calmly.

     “This is Knight Master Gouzen. Situation is contained. You can send in the clean up team, now Jesse. Over.”

     “Cleaning team has been dispatched but the Lord Knight Commander has requested that you handle a different task. Over.”

     “Oh does she now? Any reason she couldn’t have told me herself? Over.” Robyn asked in a teasing voice. Jesse made a short breath as if she was going to respond when there was a sound of the radio changing hands.

      “The reason I didn’t say so myself was because I’m extremely busy at the moment, and you know this…Over,” this voice sounded colder, but Robyn knew better.

     “Izzy, I know, I know, I’m just joking. What do you need me to do, must be something big if you’re sending me in alone. Since it’s just us, can we drop the whole ‘over’ thing? Especially since Cade isn’t here to correct me.”

     “Funny you should mention him, he’s waiting for you with the car. The pair of you are going in for the mission.”

     “Fantastic…” Robyn sighed, rolling her eyes. “What is the mission exactly?”

     “The Raven Institute at Dark Oak Hall. They were investigating a black liquid we obtained from a raid last month, but as of two days ago, we lost all contact.”

     “No offence, but if a research facility went down, shouldn’t we be sending in more Knights?”

     “Going in guns blazing might not be the best approach here. Before they stopped all transmissions, the last communication spoke of seeing a little girl wandering the grounds. At three in the morning. Get in, discover what happened, and get out. If we need to take the place by force, then we can sort that out together.” 

     “I’ll do my best, afterall, I get to return to you anyway.”

     “Maybe I’ll even cook for you as a reward.”

     “Just don’t burn it this time, okay? Where am I meeting Cade?”

     “Donington Street. He has an equipment restock for you as well. Good luck, I love you.”

     “Love you too Izzy,” as Robyn responded, the radio went off, and she sighed. The job sounded serious, especially the reports of the little girl. There had been several as of late, and there was cryptic hints that she belonged to a group known as the 'Shadows'. This group was one of the highest threat levels ever identified by Avalon. It perfectly explained why Isabelle was reluctant to send any more personnel in, operations against these so called 'Shadows' never fared well, and Robyn had been stood by her lover’s side when she wrote every letter, apologising for a death in service caused by the demonic threat. Cade and herself were the most capable of getting in and out, but fighting was still not recommended.

     “Hey, Knight Master! You coming back with us?” One of her team asked, but Robyn shook her head.

     “Sorry, I just got another job through the radio. You all get back and enjoy some peace, you’ve earned it after killing all of them.”

     The other knights of Avalon saluted, and she returned it, before heading off to the rendezvous point.


     It was a brisk twenty minute walk before she saw Cade waiting by a car that was running, her colleague eager to get the mission underway.

     “Knight Master Gouzen, were you taking a leisurely stroll here? Despite your promotion I see you’re still lax with rules,” Cade said, ending it with a sigh.

     “And you’ve still got that stick up your ass, Master Inquisitor Anderson,” Robyn replied mockingly. Despite all it sounded, she did respect Cade, he was a capable officer and warrior, his True Saviour Blade sending many demons to their deaths. Isabelle trusted him completely, and Robyn never saw any reason not to.

     “If you’re ready, we may leave and begin the mission. I’ve prepared a dossier on the location we’re heading to, including staffing rotas, a list of active experiments, and any and all communications that have been made within the last month.”

     “You really leave no stone unturned do you?”

     “If a job is worth doing it, it’s worth doing well.” 

     Robyn picked up the hefty dossier, and sat in the passenger seat.

     “Let’s go then, I know Izzy will be wanting to know what’s gone on there.”

     “We should be there within an hour.” 

     “Great, another late night for me then.” 


      The drive was nothing special. Robyn passed the time looking through the dossier, while Cade focused on driving as efficiently as he could, hardly a word was said between them.

     “A lot of top secret stuff here, surprised my sister wasn’t involved with any of it,” Robyn stated.

     “Because of her talents, your sister always got to choose where she did any of her projects, and she always tended to do them at the North East branch or main headquarters, especially when Isabelle became the Lord Knight Commander.” 

     “I don’t know why you felt the need to explain that to me, I am her sister after all. Whatever, if I was a betting woman, I’d say that our current issue is caused by that black liquid we recovered and handed over. The notes all point out that it looks and smells like concentrated evil. We should probably have a new rule where we just dispose of anything like that the instant we find it.” 

     “We can never pass up an opportunity to use the tools of the enemy against themselves. There should have been safeguards in place to stop contamination.”

     “I don’t think contamination was the issue.”

     “The little girl? Sadly, you’re probably right. I pointed out to the Lord Commander-” 

     “You can just call her Isabelle you know, there’s no need to be formal when there’s just us two in the car.” Robyn watched as Cade’s eyes rolled back, a sign of frustration. He lived and would probably die for his code of conduct, and that was professionalism at all costs.

      “Fine, Isabelle,” Cade stressed her name, making it clear that he didn’t like what he was saying. “I told her that I knew instantly who that little girl was.”

      “Says here there should be thirty staff on site at this point.”

      “If suspicions are proved correct, I informed-” Cade looked at Robyn before he continued, noting the way she was staring at him, challenging him to finish the sentence. Which he did with a sigh: “...I informed Isabelle, that the likelihood of survivors would be sadly minimal.”

     “But she told you to save who you could? Right? I know Izzy, even if there’s a chance to bring at least one of them home, then that would be enough.”

     “Correct. If worst comes to worst, we’re to enact inferno protocols. We may lose the building to its ravages, but everything contained within should perish.”

     “Purging things with fire, a classic.” 

     “We should be there soon. Now is the time to go over your equipment. I will not allow any time to do so once we’re on site, as every second will matter at the beginning. It will be likely that the lockdown procedures will be in place, so we’ll have to secure entry through unorthodox means. Your sister has provided a…” Cade trailed off as he tried to think of a suitable word. “...a ‘key’ that we can use to get access.”

     “I don’t like the way you said ‘key’ there.”

     “This is your sister we’re talking about here, you should be. It is a far messier approach then I would have preferred. If there’s any enemies lingering, it’ll ruin any chance of surprise we might have gained.”

     “Sounds like Rei all right.”

     “There is the Dark Oak Hall up ahead. Make yourself ready,” Cade announced bluntly.


     Dark Oak Hall got its name from the forest of oak trees that surrounded it. Robyn vaguely remembered coming here as part of a school trip as a child, and the forest certainly got dark with how dense the trees were, making the name very appropriate. The truth behind the property wasn’t as grand as other places Avalon laid claim to. The building was actually less than half a century old, being built in the late 1950s/ early 1960s. The designer and original owner wanted something that looked like it could have been there as early as the 18th century, so styled it appropriately, even sourcing original materials where possible. Sadly for him, he died before it was ever finished. This led to Avalon stepping in at the last minute, finishing the building off and putting a hi-tech, for the time, research centre underneath. The construction of the main building hiding the construction of the new addition quite well. The research centre was one of the finest in the post-war period of Avalon, having lost many resources in the fierce non publicly known supernatural encounters of the second world war. 


     As Robyn and Cade exited the car, they both noted the stillness of the area, with even the bats giving it a wide berth as they flew through the sky.

     “That’s never a good sign is it,” Robyn said with a sigh.

     “Only serves to reinforce what we suspect. Our entry point will be over there,” Cade pointed to a small group of smaller trees near the house, beautifully positioned if you were after a reading nook of sorts, but hid it’s real, if mundane, secret underneath. The pair carefully approached it, while keeping an eye open in case there were unwanted surprises before they even gained access to the research centre. The stillness persisted. At first glance at this little group of trees, no one would be any the wiser, even Robyn was hard pushed to see anything out of place, and she knew what she was looking for. Cade however, went straight to the base of the tree, and pushed had on the bark, operating a decades old mechanism now, that sounded like it was in need of a good service. The bit of bark retreated, giving access to a ventilation shaft.

     “There’s the easy part out of the way,” Robyn mused to herself as she watched Cade lower himself, and all his gear into the shaft.

     “Follow me,” Cade said with no irony as to the fact that the shaft only continued in one direction, down. Robyn duly followed, noting the cramped confines of the vent. The gentle upflow of air was nice though.

     “We’re at the first gate now. Wait there while I use one of your sister’s keys.” Cade announced, shuffling down the ladder a bit further.

     “If that key is what I think it is, are you sure this is safe?”

     “No, but we do what we must.”

     Robyn braced herself for what she knew was going to come next. She felt the ladder move as Cade clambered back up as far as he could. A few moments later, she heard a beeping that quicked with each passing second, till the ‘key’ exploded, the ventilation shaft shuddering. The next sound was of gears moving as the doors that comprised the gate slid open, their locking mechanism obliterated.

     “How many more of these gates are there?” Robyn asked, thinking of how they were probably going to end up surrounded by whatever demons were lurking in the centre.

     “Two more, in quick succession. This shaft opens up directly next to the Security Room,” Cade replied.

     “Great…Great…” Robyn trailed off. “Well, they know we’re coming now don’t they.” 

     “If you knew of a better and faster way in, the perfect time to share it would have been half an hour ago.”

     Cade had Robyn on that one.

     “Fair point, let’s just get this done.”

     The pair carried on, repeating the process two more times as Cade had said. Robyn was a little relieved when she heard her partner put his feet on the ground, Then she heard the jingle of a set of keys as he unlocked the service door that gave them full access to the Security Room.

     “I see you at least brought a normal key then,” Robyn noted.

     “It’s the skeleton key that’s standard issue for Knight Inquisitors and above. We can’t carry out proper inspections if there’s locked doors in the way.” 

      “I did not know that, wait, any locked door?”

     “Yes, I know when to, and when not to use it.”

     “That’s a relief then…” Robyn stepped off the ladder, and was pleasantly surprised to see there weren't any demons waiting in the room for them. There was a lot of blood though, and one of the security guards was slumped in the chair by the cameras, his face completely missing, and, possibly smeared on some of the screens. Robyn had seen too much death to be fazed by it, but at the same time, she went and grabbed the security badge that lay limpy around his neck.

     “Robert Jonas, you won’t be forgotten, Izzy won’t let it,” she let go of it, but pulled out a small notebook from one of the many pockets on her armoured jacket, and quickly jotted down the name. It was standard practice for her, as Isabelle had hoped it would be for any of the Knights of Avalon. These were all men and women who put themselves in harm's way to protect the country. Any time one of them fell, their loss should always be remembered. Isabelle had to hold the contradictory views that they were all expendable, but at the same time, they really weren’t, each person was an individual with their own hopes and dreams. Dreams that could be as easily taken along with their lives, which had happened to Robert here.

     While Robyn was taking his name, and musing on his life, Cade was busy checking the security equipment. Of about twenty screens, only a handful were still working, and even they were creaking under the conditions as screens would sporadically burst into static. Then, he motioned for Robyn to come over to where he was, pointing at the screen.

     “Found something?”

     “Sadly yes.”

     On the screen where he was pointing, a black shape lumbered around aimlessly. It was humanoid, but with a human sticking out of it in a decayed state. Following it was another, and another. One of the bodies looked like a pair of people had been crudely fused together, staring at their heads, a pair of disjointed drooling mouths, caught in an expression of agony for all time.

     “So that’s what we’re dealing with then, black goo zombies,” Robyn said sadly. “Any chance of survivors?” 

     “Unknown currently. I’d say slim to none. I’m sorry,” Cade replied, trying to console her, but it was the one part of the job that he wasn’t very good at.

     “It is what it is…At least we have a list of who was on staff at the time. But, we need to deal with these threats.”

     “Agreed, I can cycle through the remaining security cameras to find them. I suspect those ‘black goo zombies’ are acting as guards. They probably have their little route to patrol as I can’t see them being intelligent enough for anything else.” Cade started typing away at the keyboard, and the feeds of the working cameras started changing. The first few screens showed just desolate hallways, some of which were smeared in blood. The next screen however, showed a room, where a medical table and an array of tools were scattered around. Just to the right of the bed, stood a girl in a dirty lab coat, gleefully ticking things off a list on a clipboard. She was chatting away to someone off screen.

     “Can we get audio?” Robyn asked. Cade nodded, already in the process of enabling it.

     “...Swell. Can you believe how easy this is going? We’ve been here two days and I’ve still got a lot of experimentation ideas!” the little girl said excitedly.

     “I’ve only allowed this to continue as long as it has because our master told me that you have to test the fluid. I feel like you’ve already achieved this. Especially since we know that Avalon's retrieval team is here.” 

     “You are such a kill joy. Do you want to try the next experiment? It might bring a smile to your dull face.” 

     “Viola, I have no desire to kill the way you, and the others do.

     “Suit yourself. SAM!” Viola yelled. From the other side of the screen, a hulking figure emerged, with the head of a little boy. There were scars and stitches all over his body, making more of a monster than a child.

     “Be a dear and go and drag me one of our specimens please?” Viola asked. ‘Sam’ just stood there, unmoving.

     “What do you mean there’s only one left! I can’t have killed everyone else!

     Again, there was no reply from ‘Sam’ just a pained silence.

     “Fine! I’ll do it myself! Then, I guess we’ve got no choice but to leave this place empty handed!” Viola moaned, till she looked straight at the camera, it’s little movements capturing her attention. “Well, well, well! Looks like they finally found us! Sam, new orders, bring whoever our guests are to me! Take the other experiments with you! Also, you! Don’t just stand there, trying to look cool! You’re supposed to be my bodyguard! Find them and do the bodyguard thing!” Viola yelled at the other off camera person, as ‘Sam’ reached for the camera, a crunch later, and the camera went dead.

     “Looks like we have a survivor after all!” Robyn said, her hopes raised.

     “Yes, but getting to them won’t be easy. We also don’t know the identity of the other individual along with Viola and her flesh golem, ‘Sam’. That could be troublesome for us. It would be safe to say that the facility and all its secrets have been compromised by Viola. We’ll have to commence Immolation Protocols once we have secured the survivor.” Cade said, straightening his glasses.

     “Now, you’re talking my language,” Robyn pulled her bow off her back, setting it up with an arrow. Cade stood and opened his coat, revealing the majestic form of his True Saviour Blade standing proudly within it’s magnetic sheath. He withdrew it, and held the lightly glowing blue blade to his face, saying a prayer to himself.

     “Are you ready? Knight Master Gouzen?”

     “Back to ranks already?”

     “We are in a combat situation, rules must be followed.”

     “Of course…” Robyn rolled her eyes again, but with a smile this time. Cade gave a little hint of a smile, showing he wasn’t beyond the act. He opened the door to the hallway and the pair exited the safety of the room. 


     Through the corridors they walked calmly, their weapons at the ready. Cade was always just in front of Robyn, his sword drawn, while she had eyes scanning every far away corridor, her hand on an arrow, the string of the bow taut. Aside from their own careful footsteps, they heard movement far off, a stampede of feet. It was getting closer, whatever crude senses these monsters had, they’d found them, and were closing in. All the better for the pair, especially as it saved them a job of tracking them down. The complex it self wasn’t that twisting With a few central corridors that connected everything together, it was in one of these wide spaces that they would see the monsters in the flesh, like shambling zombies, covered in black ooze that seemed slightly corrosive to the touch. Ahead of Robyn and Cade was at least six, if not seven of these things, and the way the bodies were contorted, and grasping for any sort of life, they may have been twelve people originally. One of them, instead of having a normal arm, had the torso of another person, almost skeletal now, as though something had been eating away at them from the middle outward. Another crawled around on four sets of arms, as it headed towards the Knights of Avalon.

     Cade was keen to give these foul creatures the mercy that only death could bring, while Robyn, ostensibly doing the same, felt some sympathy for their plight. They had been humans once after all, and still should have been humans if not for someone’s sick games. There was someone else with these zombies though, and a lone figure at the far end of the corridor that was unmoving from the spot as the other creatures surged past him. He cut a lean figure and stood in stoic silence, a stark contrast compared to the others. Short spiky black hair, one eye staring forward with cold resolve, the other covered machinery looking like a series of lenses. The uniform was dark looking, a cross between decorated armour and an officers uniform. In his hands was a large halberd with a wicked looking blade at one end that twisted into a curved edge. He had it resting at his side. The difference between him and the pitiful zombies were clear. Seeing the Knights of Avalon coming towards him, he spoke a few words.

     “Hear me, I am sworn to do my duty, and that duty is to protect my charge. You will enter this area behind me. Stay where you are, we will not have to exchange blows. My name is Malakai, and I have no desire to shed unnecessary blood. I wish I could say the same as my erstwhile allies.” his words made his distaste for the situation clear.

     “Do we know anything on this one?” Robyn asked, turning to Cade, who was as much in the dark with it as her.

     “No, but regardless, he is in our way. We have but one choice. We have to kill these demons in front of us, and go through him…” Cade replied, gripping the handle of his sword.

     “This isn’t going to be easy, is it?” Robyn said, taking aim.

     “It never is.” 

     With that, the pair braced for combat…

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So those villains, neither are new here! Viola was the subject of her own Malarkey's Imaginomnibus story in Hubble Bubble (check quick links below for how to read that one, and I talk about writing the story here) and Malakai, he got his own short story on this here blog, dealing with Void, the star of the last story! (Check that here, you'd almost think I planned this!) 

We'll wrap up this little tale next week.

Till then,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Tuesday 15 October 2024

#93 You Think You're Funny + Short Diversions: The Woods Part 2

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

This week is part 2 of "The Woods", and there's going to be blood (as if that wasn't evident from the conclusion of part 1 last time!). Who will make it out of the Woods alive? Who won't? You'll have to read on to find out!

Before that though, let's see what Brennan and Riz are up to, maybe the rat has found a way to cheer his friend up... Or not!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


I think Riz can pull off a convincing Brennan, don't know about you. Sadly, I may have miscalculated things so last week will be the last 'spooky season' themed strip (for this year at least!) As the blog after next week will go out on 1st November. Got a good one planned though, let's hole I pull it off!

Daemon Soul Update

Been quiet on this but I'm pleased to say we're over a third in now! The edits are sublime and I think the editor has done a fantastic job of getting something good from my slop! The next few chapters will be very interesting!

I still have a big edit to do involving a sheath, but I've got time right?

Short Diversions: The Woods Part 2

Here's the concluding part to last week's story (if you haven't read part 1, click here!).

Let's dive straight in with the concluding tale:

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The Woods 
2.

     Clive raced through the trees, not caring when the twigs snagged and ripped at his clothes and skin. He heard the voices of his friends on the wind that had crept in along with the clouded sky. By the time he got there everyone was gathered and doing their best to comfort Beth, only Sid was looking up at the corpse, spitting at it with disdain.
     “Is everyone okay?” Clive asked, but he knew the answer, he just thought that was the expected thing to say in a time like this. Beth threw up, to prove what a bad question it was. Plucking up his own courage, Clive approached Paul’s body as it swayed, the pained expression hinting at the terror that he must have felt at the moment of death.
     “It’s what he fucking deserved,” Sid said with no remorse. Clive shot him a concerned look, but it was ignored. 
     “I’m just saying what everything was thinking, I’m just sad it wasn’t me who did it!” Sid continued.
     “This isn’t the time,” Clive peeled his eyes away and took a deep breath, putting his back to the body of his rival. “What we need to do now is ring the police, then wait for them to find us.”  
     “What kind of braindead idea is that!” Sid angrily shouted, forcibly making his friend face him. “Who do you think the police will suspect with this eh? Look around, we’re the only sodding people here!”
     “We’ve got the phone footage to prove we didn’t do it, unless you’ve got a guilty conscience,” Sanda piped up, putting her into the conversation as she still tended to Beth, who was sitting on the ground, looking despondent.
     “Yes…the phone footage. Where did you go Sandra?” Clive asked, allowing some bitterness to seep in.
     “Where did I go? You think I did this!”
     “You did say you wanted to hit him,” Sid added unhelpfully, which allowed Sandra a chance to strike back at him.
     “You were the one who said you wanted to kill him!” 
     “I wouldn’t waste my strength on him! Besides, you think I could do all that! Without anyone knowing! I may be strong, but that…” Sid took another look at the bloody mess that had once been a person. “That’s beyond anything a human can do. We need to get out of these woods, and we need to do it now. Call the police, yeah, do that, but do it from the safety of a pay phone somewhere else!” 
     “I’d hate to be the one who agrees with Sid on something,” Fern admittedly. “But I think he’s right. I think staying here, and waiting, is just going to get us all killed!” 
     “Why would I need to ring from a payphone?” Clive asked, not understanding the real point Sid was trying to get at. “We all have mobile phones with GPS trackers in them as standard. The police won’t be searching for us, they’ll come and find us. It’s the safest thing to do, especially if we stay as a group. We stick together, we survive. That’s how it’s always been for us hasn’t it?” 
     “You’re really comparing us being outcasts at school because we wanted to do Drama to an actual bloody murder?” Sandra asked in disbelief.
     “My point, if you’d been paying attention, was the sticking together part. Now if someone can please ring the police for me, we can deal with the situation at hand,” Clive stated again.
     “Uhh, I’ve got no signal?” Ted spoke up, holding his phone so that everyone else could see that he wasn’t choosing that moment to make a bad joke.
     “You and your crappy phone!” Fern said, showing a bit of stressful frustration. She pulled hers out and stared in horror as the same message showed up on hers as his. No signal. “I’ve got no signal either?”
     “Me too,” Sandra chimed in, shaking her head.
     “What the hell is going on here!” Sid shouted at his phone, shaking it as though that was what was causing the issue the whole time.
     “What about yours Beth?” Sandra crouched down near her own friend who was staring at the little screen, where the exact same message was displayed. “Now what do we do?” Sandra asked everyone else.
     “Maybe one of us could try and get to the cars? We might be able to get a signal in the car park?” Ted suggested.
     “Okay, off you go then,” Sid gestured towards the woods, in the general direction he thought they’d parked up.
     “Don’t be stupid Ted! You go off in those woods alone you’ll get yourself lost or worse! Have we forgotten there is clearly a killer lurking out there!” Fern shouted, glaring at Sid.
     “Maybe we should all go then? We shouldn’t be too far away from the car park, and it should be easy to direct a team back here,” Sandra suggested.
     Clive mulled it over, though there was a voice in the back of his head that told him that it was the most obvious thing to do at that point. He gave a final look at Paul, before nodding to Sanda:
     “Fine, we’ll do that then. Help Beth up please. No one gets left behind, and we only move once everyone is ready.”
     “Yes, director,” Sid said sarcastically.
     “Don’t be a dick at a time like this,” Sandra said sternly. “No one is in the mood.”
     “Whatever, let’s just get on with it.”
With that, the group slowly set off. Beth walked unaided, but her pace was meandering, with Sandra having to prod her into keeping up.
     “Odd though, isn’t it?” Ted spoke up, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen upon them all.
     “What is?” Fern said, humouring him.
     “That the phones all lost signal at the same time? They worked before when Clive was looking through the streams we were doing. Plus there’s something else that’s been bothering me…” Ted trailed off as he looked around.
     “Bothering you? You have a brain to bother?” Sid muttered.
     “No, just, where did the stars and moon go?” 
     As soon as he said this, everyone looked up, even Beth who seemed in her own world.
All that was above them was an inky blackness, the kind that you imagined you’d see if you looked into an never ending abyss.
     “I can’t look anymore…” Beth spluttered, as she started to cough, falling to her knees. Clive was about to turn away as well when he felt something moving around in his head, a pain stuck him and he too fell. The others seemed to be affected as well, and only Sid remained standing, though his nose had started bleeding as he was grinding his teeth.
     “We’ve got to get out of here!” Ted frantically shouted, as he struggled to get to his feet. He lent down to help Fern when, before everyone’s eyes, he was pulled away, leg first. He was dragged through the undergrowth, and out of sight of everyone else.
     Clive’s perception was altered, as all the events that were playing out in front of him made it seem distant, like he was watching something that had already been settled years ago. The voices of all his friends were muted as they cried out in horror, Fern racing into the darkness after Ted, but the sound of wood shattering and a ghastly scream and the sound of meat being pulled apart, spoke of Ted’s final moments.
     “Clive!” Sandra pulled on his shirt, dragging him near her. “We’ve got to get out of here!” She hauled him to his fee, along with Beth.
     “Fern?” Clive asked. Before Sandra could answer that, Fern’s scream was cut short as it sounded like she was choking on her own blood.
     “It’s too late,” Sandra whimpered, she was trying to hold back tears.
     “Why are you talking? RUN!” Sid shouted at them, he’d taken pole position of the group, leading them further into the woods. There was no planning here, no method. All that remained was their instinct to survive.
They kept on running, as time lost all meaning. Five minutes turned into twenty, twenty turned into an hour. No matter how far they ran, the trees bore the same shadows, and the same silence surrounded them.
     “Enough! This is useless!” Sid threw his hands up, signalling the end of their flight. “How long have we been doing this for! And it’s still not even eleven o’clock! Whatever is chasing us…It’s won!” Sid started laughing hysterically. He sat against a tree, an unhinged smile plastered over his face. “All I wanted was to finally score some girls. Prove that I was a man.”
     “You didn’t have to do that to prove you were a man,” Sandra wheezed, but she too, had given up on running. She helped Beth to sit first, as Clive unceremoniously slumped on a tree. “In fact, those things to me say you’re just a child pretending to be a man.” 
     “Shut up with the sanctimonious crap. You’ve been trying to get with Beth this whole fricking time! Don’t think I’ve never noticed the way you look with her, flirting with her just as much as I tried!” Sid used exaggerated hand movements with what he was saying.
     “There’s a big difference between me and you! I’m not an arsehole for one thing! Second, you don’t want a relationship, you just want sex and nothing else.”
     “Oh, know you’re saying everything that you’ve wanted to say, aren’t you?”
     “Two of our friends have been murdered by some…thing. Might as well hold nothing back!”
     “...And Paul,” Clive interrupted.
     “Well..Yeah, but he most assuredly wasn’t our friend,” Sandra clarified.
     “He was at one point, before my parents split up,” Clive explained somberly. “We used to have great fun, making movies in the garage, challenging each other to do better. Why did things have to change?” The admission had done nothing to alter the mood.
     “I’m glad he’s dead,” Beth admitted coldly. “What he did to me, his hands…reaching.” She grabbed herself and rolled onto her side.
     “It’s okay, Beth. He’s gone now, he can’t hurt you anymore,” Sandra said, trying to be as soothing as possible considering what was happening.
     Clive didn’t know how ro reconcile those versions of the person he had once known, He never had been able to. His thoughts drifted to Ted and Fern. He tried not to think of their final moments, what they would have been. Instead he thought of the pair’s usual antics, the way they injected fun into proceedings. He had gotten cross with them before, for not taking things too seriously, but he was still grateful that they were there. He wished he’d told them that when he had the chance.
     “You can tell them soon enough.” A disembodied voice said, causing Clive to sit up straight, his face frozen in fear. To him, the voice sounded like everything terrifying in the world had meshed together, and decided to hang on the breeze. He didn’t dare look behind him or at any other angle, not wanting to see who the voice belonged to. That it was the voice of the killer was obvious, but that didn’t mean he wanted to prod the wasp’s nest. Judging from the looks on his remaining friend’s faces, they hadn’t heard anything, or they’d also look like Death had slid his skeletal palm across their necks, getting ready to snap them whenever he fancied.
     “Who should I kill next, Mr director? You ought to be filming this! All those people who laugh at your silly show won’t be laughing once they see this footage.” The voice was almost whispering into his ear, Clive’s hair began to stand on end, as the presence lingered.
     “I’m not choosing anyone!” To his horror, even his outburst, which surely wouldn’t have gone unnoticed to those sitting right next to him, was ignored.
     “Who will it be then? One of the girls? The one you had playing the victim in your little movie certainly wasn’t very good was she. Her friend? It would be fun to completely break that spine of hers. I could kill the guy, shall I? One of those three who will it be?
Clive tried not to think of an answer. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew that the voice was in his head, feeding him lines only he could hear. The director had been reduced to a staring actor, one with only a few scenes left in him. A multitude of thoughts was pressing against his skull, as he desperately thought of a memory that wasn’t linked to any of his remaining friends. He put his ramshackle memory to the test, bringing any mundane thought or incident to bear. If this act of rebellion meant that a death was averted, then he would gladly do it till he breathed his last.
     “How noble, protecting your friends, or just protecting your tools. How many times now have you viewed them as little more than the dolls you were moving around your stage? Surely, there must be one of them you value less, or they value less. If I was to ask them the same question, what would they tell me? Who would they say to save themselves?” 
     With that question, Clive couldn’t help himself, he thought about it logically, there could only be one solution. Both Beth and Sandra would name Sid because of all the times he’d gone on with them. Too late, did Clive realise that settling on one of them, gave the entity exactly what it wanted.
     “Cheers for that, Sid it is! He wants to be touched so badly, let me do the touching!”  
     “Sid! Move now!” Clive yelled, wasting no time. He wished he could freeze the moment, explain to them what he’d been experiencing in the last few minutes, but he hoped that they trusted him enough to listen.
     “What are you talking about?” Sid rolled his eyes in response. “We’re all going to fucking die out here, so the least you could do is give the orders a rest!”
     “Sid!” Clive put his all into his last shout, but it fell on deaf ears. He, Sandra and Beth could only watch as Sid jerked forward as though something had struck him from behind, he jerked violently, blood spewing from his mouth in bursts timed as whatever it was forcibly entering his body. He lurched forward, arm outstretched, moving towards Beth.
     “H-Help…H-h-help…M-me!” his cry was broken, the pitch all over the place. In one last moment, a black tendril erupted from his mouth, wrenching his head in half, and with that, Sid was dead. The tendril retreated quickly, letting’s Sid’s standing cadaver fall to the ground in a heap, the pieces of his head hanging loosely. 
     “N-n-n,” Beth started stammering, unable to take her eyes off the fresh corpse. Clive was the same. He wanted to confront who was playing with them, taking their lives with ease, but he couldn’t muster up the strength to speak, let alone act with such courage. Sandra had hauled Beth up to her feet, and forced her to face the other way, she looked over her shoulder, and motioned for Clive to move as well. Seeing Sid die like that had reignited a last reserve of energy, a desire to escape this hell hole they had wandered into.
     “Go, run. It’ll only make things more entertaining,” the voice added its seal of approval to the plan. “Maybe you just need motivation. How’s this?” As if on cue, a multitude of black tendrils shot out from the forest, making it look like the trees themselves had come alive. Each one drove themselves into the ground near the survivors. Forcing them back lest they met a bloody demise. The three ran into the darkness, aiming themselves at any spark of light they could see, but no matter where they went, that damned voice was there to taunt them, wearing away any sanity they had left.
     “Ohhh, you almost got away that time! A moment more and you might have lived…
     The three looked at each other, wanting to see any indication that they might make it out alive. Beth was despondent, now relying on Sandra to carry her. Clive was running on fumes, every breath feeling like it could have been his last.
     “Are you really done? All the others ran for much longer. Guess it’s a sign of the times.” The voice echoed around them, but to Clive, it felt like it was coming from behind him. He turned and with everything he had, he shouted:
     “Show yourself! If you’re going to kill me, at least let me see you!”
     “You want to see me? Fine. I do love having my fun up close and personal.” 
     The darkness by the southernmost trees, the point where Clive was standing, started to shift and swirl, and from that space, a white pearlescent mask appeared, with two gleaming red eyes, a mass of hatred. A body emerged along with it, swathed in shadows, the black tendrils coming from its base. The head behind the mask looked like a young man with brown hair, but age was next to impossible to determine.
     “Am I not what you were expecting?” the masked figure said. “I have other forms I can take if you prefer. The results will be the same no matter what.” The figure slid forward, using the tendrils to glide across the floor.
     “W-What are you?” 
     “Bored. Killing you will put a smile back on my face. If you want a name, call me Void.” 
     “V-Void?”
      Despite the mask, Void grinned, the fear that Clive and the others were radiating was almost subsistence enough to be a three course meal with all the trimmings. Void turned his head to look at Beth and Sandra, the former having almost retreated into the blissful release of a coma, The latter stared in horror at the being before them, having no words to fire back.
     “Guess it’s time for all of you to die. You’re all broken beyond belief now,” Void laughed. His tendrils reared up to strike once more when the whole place started vibrating rhythmically, as though a pulse was being sent out from somewhere.
     “Interference? Just when we were getting to the good bit as well!” 
     Way behind them all, an opening appeared, like a crack of light in the darkness, glinting just enough to offer a tantalising hope of escape.
     Clive was the first to see it, and he swiftly realised he was the one standing in between the girls and the monster that had called itself Void.
     He plucked up his courage. They were all there because of him. None of them had really wanted to be filming that night, having their own things to do. It had been him who pushed them to come to these woods, to make this video. This video was another in a long line of prospects that could have made his online venture work. It had been his selfish desire that cursed him, so now he had to set things right.
     “What are you waiting for? You stupid monster! You picked on the easiest targets all night, is that because you couldn’t do anything else? You that weak!” He hurled as much abuse as he could think of, wanting to make sure that Void’s focus was nowhere else but on him. “And you two…Why are you still there? Run along. There’s nothing to see here.” Those words came out softer, the gentlest he’d had spoken to them in a long while. Sandra couldn’t understand what he was doing, why he would want to provoke such a creature with a barrage of cheap insults.
     Clive motioned with his hand, a signal that he had often used when directing, indicating that she should look behind, so she did and saw the crack. Then it all became clear.
     “Weak? You think I’m weak? I constructed the very world you’re walking on! I ripped that first friend of yours apart so easily! Who are you to call me, Void, first of the Shadows weak!” Void howled as the Tendrils reached out for Clive, surrounding him and offering him no chance to head for the crack with his friends. This is what he knew would happen though, Sandra had quickly made it to the shining light, and glanced back at her friend, as Void lifted him off the ground.
     “Thank you,” she whispered. She threw herself and Beth through the crack and into the world beyond it.
     “Well, aren’t you a hero,” Void said sarcastically. “I knew you were offering yourself up as a diversion to let them escape.
     “Then why didn’t you stop them?”
     “Because my time is up, but at least I get to take away my new toy…” A portal resembling a black abyss opened up behind Void as the strange space they were in started to fall apart, the trees sinking into the ground.      “Come along boy, I’ve such sights to show you!” With that, Void pulled Clive screaming through the portal, never to be seen again.

     Sandra and Beth fell back into the woods, not far from where they had parked up. There was a mass of people around them, shining torches into their faces. After a call for medics had gone out, a lone woman approached them, informing them that everything would be okay from that point forward. Beth was pried from Sandra’s hands and placed on a stretcher so she could be fully examined. The only question that Sandra could bring herself to ask at that time was a simple one:
     “W-Who are you?”
     “We are Majestic,” came the reply, with no other accompanying detail. Not that Sandra cared too much, as she collapsed in the relief of her nightmare being over.
     The woods had claimed more lives, adding to its curse.  

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Hope you enjoyed that! The ending changed a bit during writing though Void was always a constant. I have to let him have some fun every once in a while!

Next week I'll begin a new tale...though I'm going to have break tradition a wee bit and have the second part drop the same time ad my usual writing report (which to be fair, will be short and sweet, as I've only had chance to write these blog stories this month! I'll dedicate November to Daemon Soul 2, hopefully get more chapters cranked out!)

Till next time,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

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Wednesday 9 October 2024

#92 Decisions, Decisions...+ Short Diversions: The Woods

Happy Blog Day Everyone!


As said last week, this is the month of Short Diversions, so further down you'll find the first part (of two!) of a brand new short story. Both stories that get featured this month will share a spooky/horror theme, as per the season. Want to know what else shares in the fun of Halloween though? Who else but...


The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Told you that these next few issues were going to be spooky adjacent. Riz looks quite fetching as Dracula I reckon. Poor Brennan though, he's going to need that pillow fort, but I worry it's not going to be enough...


Short Diversions: The Wood Part 1

Here's the first short story of the season, and if I done it right, it should be quite fun, but this is me we're talking about here so execution may vary!

As the title suggests, this is part 1, so remember to come back next week for the concluding part!

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The Woods


1.


     Beth knew she was lost, trembling with every step she took through the forest. She looked nervously for any sign of her friends, but all that greeted her was the snapping of twigs. She’d ventured into the Longhorn Woods with her friends, wanting to hit the secret party spot. They had all heard the stories of missing hikers, unearthly howls and of things that should not be, but they also thought that’s just what they were: stories.

     “Hello?” she called out as there was movement behind her. “Is that you Ted?” she prayed for a positive response, for Ted to step out into her torchlight. There was only silence however. She kept the torch focused on the same spot for a few minutes, before quickly turning away to face the direction of another sound, one that haunted her more, as it seemed to be the giggling of a group of little girls.

     “This isn’t funny!” she shouted out, slowly, she took a few steps backwards, frantically scanning for any threats that may be approaching. The giggling stopped as soon as it started, returning the forest to an unnerving quiet. Beth put her back against a tree, edging around it, tears forming in her eyes when there came a sudden movement, and something came fluttering from on high, heading straight for her. She threw her hands up to protect her face, dropping her only source of light. From what she could tell, it was an owl that was attacking her, and she managed to swat it away, sending it back to where it had come from, and the giggling started over, this time seemingly coming from two different directions. She groped in the darkness, wanting to get away from the cursed woods as fast as she could possibly manage. Her nerves frayed beyond belief, she started mindlessly praying to whoever above was listening. A crooked branch sent her tumbling to the floor, where she started crawling, reaching out for a way to pull herself up. She wanted to call out for help once more, but she hadn’t the courage to do more than utter a mewling curse upon herself.

     Then she reached out, and grabbed someone’s boot. Beth started sobbing uncontrollably as her eyes glanced upwards, being greeted by a faceless figure in a hood. He raised his hand, and Beth screamed as best she could, knowing that this was the end….

     “CUT!” a male voice shouted out. “I do believe that’s a wrap!”

     “Thank god,” Beth sighed as she stood up, dusting herself down. Her would-be ‘attacker’ pulled back his hood.

     “Did you have to scream like that Beth?” he complained.

     “Sid, it’s the only screaming you’ll get to hear with that attitude,” Beth retorted as she took a swig from her water bottle.

     “Clive! Can you hear what she’s saying here? I’m your main star! You can’t let her speak to me like that!” 

     Clive was the aspiring director, and he wasn’t paying attention to what his actors were saying, instead, he was focusing on what footage he’d captured on his phone, his recorder of choice.

      “This is perfect,” he said loudly, pretending he was only talking to himself.

     “This weeks show is going to be our best yet, I know I say it a lot, but this is going to take us viral for sure,” he announced to everyone else. Sandra appeared from behind a tree, winding the wire up that was used for the ‘owl attack’.

     “You say that every week, for the past year in fact!” she said without looking at the director, gritting her teeth. “I swear…” 

     “You swear what?” Clive asked absentmindedly, only just realising she was speaking.

     “Nevermind…” Sandra hefted the bundle of wire up to her shoulder then stood next to Beth, the two exchanging glances before turning back to the others as Clive looked around confused.

     “Right, where’s Ted and Fern?” Clive asked. The childish giggling from before started up, getting ominous closer and closer, but no one was fazed.

     “Ted! Fern! You two idiots!” Sandra shouted.

     “We’re not them!” a male voice replied, quickly followed by the sound of someone getting punched.

     “What did I tell you not to do!” a female voice took over. “Now you’ve ruined the joke.” Fern stepped out from trees, holding a little bluetooth speaker. Ted appeared next to her, a speaker in his hand as well. The six friends had started out as their high school's Drama Society, but that didn;t last long as Clive wanted to take them online, and thus the Fear Chasers was born. In truth, they had only been operating less than a year, and the results had been abysmal, but this was where the night’s activities would come into play. Clive had hoped that their ‘investigation’ would raise interest in the channel, and send him on the way to success. If he could prove himself, awards would surely follow. The dreams of the rest of the group though, were more varied and more grounded. Beth didn’t want to be in front of a camera, she wanted to be on a stage, performing live to as many people that could be jammed into a theatre. Sandra shared that vision, but wanted to be behind the stage rather than be on it. She agreed to do the videos as long as got away without being on them. This ‘investigation’ would be a rare avoidance of that rule. Sid’s ambitions were more of the amorous side of things. Clive had recruited him because of his good looks, and that went straight to Sid’s head. Through Clive’s silly videos, Sid thought he could extend his popularity with the fairer sex, if they wanted it or not. Ted and Fern, on the other hand, were in it for the simple reason to have fun. Every action that Clive asked them to undertake, they saw as a challenge to find the best way to entertain themselves with it. Clive worked hard to bring everyone together, but only to meet his desire.

     “Look, if you two could stop messing around for a minute,” Sandra said.

     “Well, that’s it isn’t it? Sid killed Beth, that’s a wrap, and we get to go home where it’s warm,” Ted said, with Fern nodding along with him.

     “No, that was just the opening skit. Within a week, it’ll be uploaded to other social media sites on its own as advertisement,” Clive explained, despite no one asking. “The rest of tonight, you will each take a camera, and conduct your own investigation.”

     “How long do we have to be out here? I was hoping to go out tonight, maybe with some friends,” Sid said, winking at Beth.

     “At least an hour. We have to take this seriously if we want people to take us seriously.” 

     “Bullshit,” Sandra said, spitting on the ground. “You expect us to go out alone and get lost in the woods? And if we don’t get any interesting footage? What would be the point then!”

     “Then you fake it like you always do!” A new voice interrupted the proceedings, and Clive’s expression changed from calm to outraged in a moment, as he turned with a hateful gaze. He knew full well who the voice belonged to.

     “Paul ‘Fright’ Wright. What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.

     “How cute, you even referred to me by my username! I must live in your head rent free!” Paul gloated, he was dressed in hiking gear, with a head mounted light, a series of cameras strapped to other parts of his body, and a large rucksack fixed on his back. While Clive and his friends were dressed casually, Paul was decked out to survive in the forest.

     “You didn’t answer my question.”

     “What do you think I’m here to do? Film another awesome episode of my successful, and sponsored, online show, FrightWright! Going where you daren’t. I mean, isn’t that why you and the rest of the amdram squad are out here?” Paul shot a cheeky grin at the rest of the group, treating all of them with disdain.

     “Are you filming right now?” Sandra asked.

     “No? I don’t think my viewers want to see you guys!”

     “That’s a shame, I thought they might get a kick out of seeing me kicking your ass!” 

     Beth giggled at her friend's outburst, and even Clive let out a smile, almost wishing that Sandra would do the deed.

     “Why the hostilities!” Paul threw his hands up in the air, almost mockingly. “Oh, is it because I’ve got the more successful show while you’re just wasting time?” 

     “Sod Sandra hitting him, I’m going to beat the crap out of him!” Sid walked up to him and went to throw a punch, but Paul dodged backwards, almost falling over as he scrambled to put more ground between them.

     “Violence? Really? Maybe I should turn the camera’s on! Bet the police would love to see that footage, especially considering what a few of you have done before!” Even when on the backfoot, Paul couldn’t help but provoke them. Beth took a step back herself, almost hiding behind Sandra, wanting to get away from any camera.

     “Go away! Tonight is the night we prove that we’re the better show! Everyone will see you for the charlatan you are!” Clive announced, raising his voice to the loudest he could get it. “No one wants you here! Go and…”

     “Go and die!” Beth completed his sentence.

     “You want me to go and die? After everything we’ve been through Beth. That hurts me, that really hurts me. Still, I can see your tense, so I’ll head off and continue my epic show. Already been out here for 24 hours! Doubt you lot would even last an hour, before your back at home, adding spooky audio in through the editor. I only use real footage for my show!” With his rant over, Paul turned and left before anyone could say anything else.

     “Next time I see that prick, I’m going to fucking murder him,” Sid said angrily. “Your taste in men is absolutely shit,” he added, turning to Beth. “That’s why you’d be better off with me.”

     Beth didn’t give a response to that, she was shaking too much. Sandra watched her carefully, and steadied her own breathing.

     “Right, Clive, you can’t expect us to go out into that forest alone knowing he’s out there.”

     “Fine,” Clive admitted. “We’ll do it in pairs. Ted, Fern. You both were being oddly quiet back there. You could have said something you know.”

     “We were too busy,” Fern admitted.

     “Too busy?” Sid spluttered. “Too busy doing what?”

     “Too busy filming!” Ted smiled with a cheesy grin. He held up his phone. “As soon as I get somewhere with a decent signal, everyone will see that ass as he is!” 

     “You two actually did something helpful and decent for once. Now that is surprising,” Sandra smiled approvingly.

     “Make sure you upload it once we’re done here. Paul can have an hour’s peace before we reveal him for what he is. Choose your partner, and get filming,” Clive demanded.


     The pairs were easy to guess, Ted and Fern stuck together, making Clive wince at the thought of the footage they were going to collect. Sid had manoeuvred himself to try and get with Beth, but Sandra got in his way, and then her and Beth went off together.

     “Guess it’s just you and me,” Sid sighed.

     “You can go alone if you want. I’m going to stay here and watch the feeds,” Clive got comfy at the base of a tree, setting himself up for an hour’s stay.

     “Sure you can survive out here by yourself?” Sid asked, mockingly.

     “I’m a director, my place is behind the camera and to make sure that everyone is doing their job. You want everyone to see your face, then it would make sense for you to get on camera,”

     “If you want to be alone, then just say it. I'd rather be in the company of a beautiful woman anyway than hang with you.” Sid turned and left after that. Each group had gone in a different direction, and all Clive could hope for, was that each encountered something to report back on. Knowing Paul was out there, he felt a new urgency to make this episode better, more important than that of his rival. Ted’s video would sink him, but that wasn’t enough. What mattered was a higher number of views.

     For the first thirty minutes or so, each camera showed the team doing their walk, either chatting with themselves, or trying to taunt whatever entity might have been lurking nearby. Clive did hear a few comments about how odd things had become, as any ambient sounds had died off, and that, considering it was a beautiful moonlit night, the darkness was almost oppressive. Having done a few events like this, Clive thought he was used to the settings but the silence was starting to get to him as well. He couldn’t figure it out though, he did his best editing work in complete silence at home. Outside though, even at this time of night, there should have been some ambient noise. It took him a few minutes to even realise that his friends had all gone quiet, till he heard Beth call out for Sandra, the two having been separated at some point, before Clive could get concerned at her absence, the two were reunited, with Sandra being a bit evasive as to what happened to her. Not caring about their personal drama, Clive tried to relax, but found he couldn’t, if anything, he got more tense, wishing for a mouse scurrying through the undergrowth, or a bird flying through the trees. A sensation of being watched crept over him, as though whatever eyes were fixated on him, were standing too close for comfort. The snapping of a twig next to him caught his attention and his eyes darted to what he perceived to be the source. Someone was there, he was sure of it. He glanced at the screen of his laptop, at where everyone else was, and none of them showed any surroundings like where he was. Fear turned to confidence, as he calmed himself and worked through all the facts. After all, hadn’t there already been an areshole in the forest, wanting to scare them senseless? With conviction welling within him, Clive stood, adjusted his jacket so as to not appear blustered, and then called out.

     “I know you’re there, Paul! I’m not afraid of your tricks!” 

     A moment passed, and there was nothing.

     “I’m not falling for it!” Clive continued, allowing his voice to get louder. “I know you’re there, and you’re trying to make me look like a wimp! You’ll wait till I’m shaking with fright and then you’ll jump out, and laugh at me, you always try to take away everything I have! My dreams, my friends! Well, you’re not getting me now! This time, I’ve won! And you can be the one who goes home crying!” 

     Still nothing. Clive’s confidence was starting to shake, splinters of it falling away with each second that the accusation fell on deaf ears.

     “You don’t get it do you! We have everything recorded, the truth behind your actions! The truth behind how little your followers actually mean to you!” If Clive had been paying attention to the screens, he would have realised that his voice had gotten so loud, that the others were starting to hear it, their muffled conversations murmuring about what was going on. Getting no reply still, and his anger surmounting, Clive clenched his fists and then took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he stepped round the tree, expecting to see Paul’s smirking face, but there was no one there, just the looming shadows of branches that seemed grasping for him under the pale moonlight. He thought back to the recent experiences, and he was positive that there had to have been someone there, and whoever it was, had to be standing at that point. He surely would have heard them if they tried to head a different direction when they were found out.

     Still pondering what was happening, he went back to the laptop that had been merrilly playing to itself, and saw that several of the streams had started glitching, artefacts appearing on the screen while others were tearing.

     “What’s going on?” Clive said to himself, his voice having plummeted in volume, and then he heard something, something unmistakable.

     It was Beth’s screaming, not in pain, but anguish, as Sandra tried desperately to calm her down. Her screen wasn’t providing much help in identifying the problem, till all the errors vanished, leaving the streams as perfect as they were when the investigation started. It was then that Clive got to share in what Beth was staring at, what made her scream.

     Framed perfect in the little window was Paul. Hanging upside down, his face twisted in agony, each limb had been removed and impaled on separate branches, with a large one erupting through his rib cage. His blood blanketed all the leaves, giving them an eerie glow under the torch light.

     No one dared say anything, as a wind started to make the corpse sway…

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Hope you all enjoyed that, but I'm going to leave it there for now. Part 2 drops next week!

Till next time....

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

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