I carefully scanned the area ahead, making sure to keep the ntal image of Isaac in my mind so that I could see which way he was being taken.
A flood of self-doubt and sha moved over as I began contemplating how my plan had failed that badly. Was it Cassies Foreboding Signs trope that did it? Perhaps her vision predicted my demise, but then when Oblivious Bystander countered it, Carousel was robbed of its victim.
Was that it? Had Carousel attacked Isaac because I had avoided my fate in a way that wasnt satisfying to the audience?
It felt possible, but this was too soon. There were better ways for Carousel to send that ssage, ways that didnt take so much guesswork.
As I stumbled blindly through the darkness, I couldnt quite put my finger on what had gone wrong. I walked faster. I needed to keep Isaac in range on the red wallpaper.
Hello? Officer Willis? I cried out. I had to keep up the appearance that I was just lost, that I had no idea what had just happened. In the darkness, the audience wouldnt know that I was wandering around with a purpose.
Then, I saw sothing that gave pause.
Ahead of in the darkness in the sa direction that Isaac was moving in, I could see sothing else.
There was sothing else on the red wallpaper that I could only get a glimpse of for a split second at a ti.
It was too dark for to see with my eyes, but still, I saw so other being on the red wallpaper. That didnt make sense. I had to have a visual on enemies to read the red wallpaper most of the ti.
As best as I could figure, Isaac was being carried, but soone else was in front of him that I could not see clearly.
I stared intently ahead as I moved through the dark tunnel. I listened, but the sound of the water was too loud to hear anything.
The whole ti, I was still being followed.
Whatever was about to go down, I wasnt going to have many options. I powered on.
Soon, I figured out what I was getting glimpses of on the red wallpaper. I knew deep inside the mont I saw it, I just didnt want to believe it.
It was Bobby.
It took a mont for to get a good look.
Bobby was moving ahead of Isaac. Was he a prisoner or No. His Captured status wasnt lit.
I checked his other stats. He was Mutilated, as Cassie had said. I had no idea what injuries he had, but I knew his Infected status also was not lit. That ant he wasnt being controlled. Whatever he was doing, it was of his own volition.
I hurried ahead, running through the checklist of what I had to do.
I needed to get a look at whatever enemies we were dealing with. I needed to sohow resolve Cassies vision of my demise. I had to figure it all out.
There was light up ahead.
On-Screen.
I exited the dark corridor I had followed them down and found myself in a larger room where many tunnels converged, their overflowing streams all t and fell down a deep shaft. Right there, in the middle of it all, was what I assud to be a water treatnt station that had been abandoned so ti ago, looking beaten up and taken over by nature. The walls were crumbling and covered in moss, and the pipes were rusty and twisted everywhere. The windows, however, were clean. The walkways were swept clear.
Isaac, Bobby, and whoever had been carrying Isaac were already in the building sowhere before I got a good look.
Was Bobby helping the enemies?
The lights on inside allowed to see that there was a bunch of weird lab equipnt with bubbling vials and beeping machines. It was clear Halle turned this place into his secret lab, but there wasn't a soul around, just the thunder of water dropping downward and a faint sound above.
Calliope music.
We were near the Centennial Celebration.
I had to get to Isaac, but first, I needed to deal with whatever was following .
One more step into the light.
Hello? I cried out.
No answer.
Ti to investigate the creepy abandoned building all alone.
Another step out of the darkness. Whatever was behind would soon be visible, if only faintly.
My character would be none-the-wiser about what was about to happen. I tried to convey my nervousness, the fear of a man who wandered too far into the dark.
I turned around.
A figure moved out of the shadows behind , seemingly gliding over the concrete walkway. I hadnt been able to hear him before. He wasnt walking, he was scooting along behind .
He was a small man, or at least he had once been. His skin was pale and moist. His mouth was wide, his black hair greasy.
His arms were longer than they should have been. He lay atop a small wooden platformjust a few planks of wood nailed together with so shopping cart wheels bolted underneath. A blanket was his only cushion from the rotten wood.
He couldnt walk because his legs were a deford ss, but the look in his eye told he was angry at my presence. Angry I was there; angry I could see him. His legs were long and thin, their deformity so gangly. I hadnt heard his movent because the wheels on the concrete blended so well with the rushing water.
He pushed himself toward on his little cart. He was much faster than he looked like he could be.
Malford Hybrid (G. McBride)
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Plot Armor: 15
__________
Tropes
An Affront to Nature
This villain is revolting to see for the first ti. One glance will leave the viewer Incapacitated with revulsion.
Ho Lair Advantage
The villain can travel freely, unnoticed due to their knowledge of the setting and its passages - both public and secret.
Theyll Never Believe You
When tangling with this villain, the authorities will not believe or take seriously anything the players tell them.
Unwarranted Aggression
This villain will attack when and if the plot calls for it without logical motivation.
Animals Are Psychic
The villain demonstrates knowledge that it has no logical ans to acquire, an instinct to kill or survive.
Far Gone
This villain has lost their humanity, but not all at once: Sothing remains.
I found myself unable to move in any direction except to back away haphazardly, my eyes fixed on the malford person before .
My wits didnt return until I took a step and almost missed the floorthe shaft where the water emptied into was behind . I had almost fallen off the edge.
I reached out for sothing to help balance myself, but there wasnt anything. The rail in this area had been broken or rusted out decades ago so when I put weight on it, it gave in imdiately.
I tried to use it to pull myself back up, but I could feel the rail bending, ready to break.
Thinking quickly, I solved my falling problem and Cassies vision problem all in one swift movent.
I held out my right hand toward the hybrid as he approached . Even as I started to fall, he took the bait. He lunged forward, leaving his cart behind. His wide mouth opened up wide and revealed a row of jagged little baby teeth.
Pain burst through my hand, but it helped balance just enough to force myself forward and away from a watery grave. I could feel him gnawing. His teeth were sharp and his jaw powerful. It was more than I was expecting. I could hear the bones in my hand cracking from the power of his jaw.
Blood started to pour out of his mouth. He didnt let go.
At that point, I would have preferred falling.
I shook him to the best of my ability, but he held tight, hissing the whole ti. I started to grow cold as I heard a growl to my left. Bobby was standing next to the door holding a large syringe. He walked toward ; there was sothing wrong with his face.
His nose was weird as if he had a bad reaction to plastic surgery, his jaw jutted out irregularly.
There was a long red piece of flesh hanging out of his mouth that took a mont to recognize as a tongue.
A dogs tongue.
He limped toward , his right leg stiff and injured.
He stuck the needle into my neck.
Why? I asked as my vision dimd and I drifted off to sleep.
I woke up in a hospital bed. A glance up at the roof told I was inside the rusted old water treatnt facility. The ceiling was corroded, the lights though, were bright.
My hand hurt, but the pain was distant, so wonderfully distant. I felt a calmness washing over , a warmth.
I was smiling stupidly.
I didnt care what had happened to . I didnt care that all of my fingers other than my thumb on my right hand were gone, replaced by gauze and tape. Everything was good for the first ti in a very long ti. Since before Carousel. Since before my grandparents died. Since before
The painful mories were distant just like the pain on my hand.
I wasnt alone in the room. There was another bed to my right. My vision of my stump blurred, and I could see Isaac clearly. He was in terrible shape. The foot of his bed faced and he was sat up enough that I could see his face straight on.
Half his face was missing. The left half. He didnt seem to mind and neither did I. I didnt even think to try to talk to him. It never even crossed my mind.
There were people around . People, but not humans. Not exactly. Not for many years.
I couldnt tell what they were. A patch of fur on a short man. Scales on a mans face. Stitches everywhere. Feathers poking out of the skin of a tall woman. It all swirled around and it all made perfect sense sohow. I wasnt surprised. Whatever sedative I had been given, I couldnt have been surprised by anything.
They had the sa tropes as the little guy on a skateboard, except their Far Gone tropes listed their status as Mostly intact instead of Sothing remains.
They ca and stared in a swirl. Ti passed without noticing. I didnt think or care about anything.
Then a man stood over Isaac. It was Dr. Halle. I fought off the urge to wave.
Halle put sothing black and small into the end of a thin tube with a handle at the end. He took the end of the tube, eased it down Isaacs throat, and pulled a lever on the end of the tube.
Isaac was relaxed and carefree, but monts after the tube went down his throat, he started to shake, to convulse. It was temporary.
A voice in the back of my head told , I need to leave.
But the voice was so quiet and my limbs were so heavy. Even my arm with all its missing fingers weighed a million pounds. I would just stay there and everything would be okay.
Then it was my turn.
Only then did I realize I was On-Screen.
The realization that I was being watched shot a burst of anxiety through that was stronger than the sedative, if only for a mont.
I was being watched. That ant sothing bad was about to happen. I had to pull myself together.
Before I could make myself do anything, the wave of peace took back over. No more worry or anxiety. Thank goodness.
Halle brought his apparatus over to .
Looks like the sedative is wearing off, he said.
Soone behind moved. Maybe the spoke, I couldnt tell.
No more, Halle said. That wont be necessary. I want to speak with this one.
He looked at intently. Then he reached into the pocket of his white doctors coat and retrieved a device shaped like a gun, but instead of a barrel, it had a short needle. At the bottom of the handle was a small vial of yellow liquid.
He pressed the needle into my arm, pulled the trigger, and suddenly, everything good faded away.
The sedative leeched out of my system so fast it was like waking up. I hated it. I missed the feeling imdiately.
Then the pain in my hand returned.
What are you doing? I asked in a panic.
Halle didnt answer at first. He rolled his tray of tools over to neatly and thodically, making sure that each of them was just so.
Whats going on? I scread.
The digits of your right hand have undergone traumatic amputation, involving the complete loss of the distal, middle, and proximal phalanges, he said. His charm from before was all gone. There was only the Doctor left. There's substantial associated soft tissue trauma, and the exposure of the tacarpal heads is evident. My imdiate focus is on controlling hemorrhage, preventing infection, and assessing the viability of the remaining tissue for certain radical reconstructive options.
The coldness of his delivery and the matter-of-fact manner of his speaking sent a shiver up my spine.
Why am I not in the hospital? I asked, trying to drag out the conversation.
These radical reconstructive options are not yet approved by the short-sighted dical community that governs Hallowed Heart, but they do show much promise, he said. What I learn from you may go on to perfect the procedures and help others regain mobility, normalcy, and perhaps even beauty.
Experintation? I asked.
Radical discovery requires radical experintation, he said, taking a deep breath. You are in luck. I have developed the zenith of this line of dical science, the breakthrough that I believe signals the end of my search. I am almost there, and you will help cross the sanative finish line. Thank you. Now, if you struggle, I will use the bolus gun.
He grabbed the tube with a lever that he had fed down Isaacs throat, an object I had only seen before being used to give dicine to cattle.
No, I said faintly.
Good, Halle said. Bobby, he held out his gloved hand. Bobby, who was the person behind my bed, reached over and plopped a small wiggling black object into the doctors hand.
Wait, I said. In a panic, I almost cried out Bobbys na.
Dr. Halle ignored .
This should go without saying, Halle said. But if you chew, I will be most displeased.
He lowered the object in his hands toward .
Only then did I get a good look at what the object was, slimy and wriggling.
Oozing a green liquid, the object slled horrible.
It was a tadpole.
User Comments
0 comments from readers