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scissorkitty
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 Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:26 pm Post subject: EF: Chapter Nine |
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The Story So Far...
What happens when a womanizing jerk ticks off the local tavern owner in olden times? Why, a mysterious lingering curse, that's what! The jerk just happened to be Rolph.. but the curse he carried just keeps spreading!
“May you and your bastards live the life of the damned forever!” the barkeep had cried, and so Rolph did just that... but not ONLY Rolph! Every child he produced throughout the centuries lives on at the physical age at which they died: a set of septuagenarian triplets born in 1772, a nefarious forty-something born in 1890 and a financially astute nine-year-old born in 1892 .. and that's just the older kids!
Europa Fielder, one of his more recent accursed offspring, is twenty-two years old, still alive and therefore not yet immortal. She discovers that somehow her estranged father has broken free of the curse, having died instantly as the centuries of immortality caught up with him. Europa is determined to find out how.
Euro teams up with her immortal brother Davis, a quasi-skater stuck at fourteen, and Bernice, killed a century ago at the age of nine, and the little trio set out in search of the origins of the curse. All the while, the threat of Harrold, a malingering older brother who is intent on injuring Euro to the point of vegetation, lingers over the group.
Armed only with a letter embossed with the symbol of the ‘eyebrow tree’, the same symbol on the cover of a mysterious book left by their deceased father, their investigations took them to an upscale bar and grill called the ‘Incarna’. The history of the establishment seemed to fit the very place where Rolph was cursed. After tricking information out of the proprietor, their suspicions were confirmed and they headed off to the County Records office for more clues.
Bernice and Davis search the building, while Euro wanders the cavernous back hallways, looking for purchasing records for the Tavern. She realises she is lost, and a mysterious breeze is coming from inside the library. Following the trail our heroine finds herself in the back hallways of the Happy Endings Funeral Parlour and Mortuary, and barely escapes being caught by Lurch the mortician. At present, she is hiding behind a photo copier while our nefarious, corpse-like fiend locks the passage door...
Chapter Nine:
I watched the door lock with slow motion fascination, at at the same time curled my body a little tighter into itself. There was NO way I wanted Lurch to catch me hiding in his CopyMax.. the scent of the toner was enough of a challenge to my assaulted nostrils as it was. After several minutes, and perhaps the most over-zealous door locking charade ever performed as a solo act- to his knowledge anyway- Lurch wander away down yet another back hallway, and I was left to my own devices.
First, I endeavored to remove myself from HIS device, my generous benefactor, the photocopier. It was more of a challenge than I had initially expected. Why is it that when entering a hiding place, one can slip in so elegantly and easily.. but when exiting, one has to hop around like a vertigo-challenged hippo? In any case, I extracted myself with most of my skin intact, and looked around carefully. The back hallway was dimly lit, out of date florescent tube lights cast a yellowy glow on the faded wallpaper, and nursing home-grade berber carpeting. The trail of marmalade crumbs had vanished at the doorway, but I now noticed a continuing pattern of carpet wear leading from the library passage door, past me, and down the hallway to the left. A series of random doors spotted the scene.
I wondered what Bernice and Davis were doing- I certainly hoped they were able to avoid "Happy" the librarian. The creepy Librarianatrix and her looming co-patriot were probably prom King and Queen at Unpopular-At-Parties Highschool.
I sniffed the air gingerly, the scent of baconized person still strong in the air, and decided to systematically work my way through the available doors towards the fading carpet trail- and towards to source of the smell. It's not that I was afraid, exactly.. but I sure wasn't in a hurry to get a tan anytime soon. The first door squealed alarmingly as I opened it, the doorknob cold and forgotten in my clammy fist. Darkness resolved itself into a collection of odd shapes which, once brightened by the ancient, buzzing lightfixture, proved to be a collection of yet more ancient photocopiers. Ho, hum. Nothing to see here, I supposed. I shut off the lights and moved to the next door. This portal lead me to a room lined with surprisingly neat accordion files. Shelves and shelves of files. Picking a folder at random, I plunged my hand in and came out with a document. "Happy Time Burger Clown Restaurant zoning and licensing permit". Seems like I had found the Registrars office at last!
The walls of files loomed before me, promising to capture my attention for hours and hours of papery fun. Ghostly paper cuts taunted my brain, and finally drove me towards a decision. Now, deep in the lair of a possible enemy.. this was not the time to start playing Sally Secretary. I marked the room in my mind, and quietly returned to the hallway. The third door lead me into a small waiting room. Aged copies of Readers Digest littered the chipboard end tables, and a carafe of stale coffee silently congealed on a sideboard. A fourth door opened onto a small washroom. The end of the hallways was within sniffing distance, much to my dismay, and I unwillingly crept towards it. My toes inched forward, unwillingly taking me around the bend towards my uncertain doom when, suddenly, my pocket started vibrating!
I jumped in the air with a semi-silent shriek, and patted myself down quickly with all the aplomb of a strip-searching FBI agent. My phone! I pulled the mangled piece of technology from my jeans in surprised, and looked at the cracked screen. Wow! Obviously this phone contract was worth all the blood, sweat, and soul crushing bill payments! I snuck back into the washroom, and closed the door behind me. Holding the phone to my ear, i gingerly whispered hello.
"---Euro?--"
"Hello? Yes?"
"--Where are you?!! We've been looking for you for ages!--"
"Davis! I.."
"--that creepy Librarian keeps following us around.. Bernice and I are hiding out in the Children's Reading Room..--"
"Okay, but.."
"-- and I think we may have lost her. We couldn't find anything interesting about the logo. I think we should try looking into Voodoo or Roswell, or parapsychology, but SmartyPants here doesn't think that's worth anything so.. HEY!..--"
"Hello? Hello? Davis?"
"--shut up! Sorry, Euro. Bernice here. Never let a boy take over on the phone. Where are you?--"
"Finally! Okay, so I followed a back hallway, and now i'm hiding out in the bathroom of the Happy Endings Mortuary."
"--What? That doesn't make any sense. These two buildings are connected?--"
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, there's a room full of files here, you'd just love it I'm sure, and it seems like these are the files missing from the Library Registrar's room.. but I don't want to look through them now, because I think I may be locked in here.. and... I'm scared, Bernice!"
"----"
"Bernice?"
"---- the number you have called is not in service. If you would like to try again, please dial 1 and --"
I hung up, panic welling inside me. Alone, in a bathroom, in a locked hallway, in a stinky, creepy Mortuary... fantastic! To make matters even more exciting, a soft knocking sound began somewhere above me, and the smell of marmalade began to intertwine with the scent of baking person.
((DP: Uh oh! What happed with the phone- how did it work anyway? What's going on with the smell, what's that sound... and how about that room full of files? Should Euro travel onwards down the hallway, stay put, check out the files, or try and find another way back to the Library? OR something else?))
_________________
......back and forth.....
Last edited by scissorkitty on Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:09 am; edited 3 times in total
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Crunchyfrog
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:40 am Post subject: |
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Well, the phone conv could have been cut off for any reason. Could be that Bernice and Davis finally found something, could be something finally found them. But she's locked in, she can't go back, so I'd say go on and find out the source of the smell.
Good chapter, I enjoyed it.
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The Meaning Of Fear
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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Well, it took me a while, but I finally managed to plow my way through this.
Very well done, Kitty. Everything is put together really well, and your descriptions are just great. The plot is easy to follow, and the action blends in nicely with the not-so-actiony bits.
That said, I noticed a few titbits in your earlier chapters. Only a few minor things, although I did find a missing full stop somewhere that might be slightly confusing to readers.
The two most recent chapters were a tad bit short, but filling* nonetheless...
Now, for a question:
Is it wrong that I find myself feeling hungry whenever I read about the cremated people smell? 
As for the DP, she should go onwards. After getting hunted down by an immortal brother for most of her life, I'd say she was prepared to take on an insane librarian and Lurch.
Unless, of course, they have/are something special! MWUAHAHAAAAA 
*Hmmm... New SG chapter! Yummy!
_________________
Cherish all your memories, even the bad ones, for they are what makes you who you are.
Doors to the truth, an SG where a boy is propelled into worlds he is unfamiliar with. He crosses many worlds, and sees many things that force him to throw away his innocence, once, and for all. Fourth Chapter, out for viewing!
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scissorkitty
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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Ooo! Time for a POLL!
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scissorkitty
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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| The Meaning Of Fear wrote: |
That said, I noticed a few titbits in your earlier chapters. Only a few minor things, although I did find a missing full stop somewhere that might be slightly confusing to readers. |
Thanks for the crit, Meany! (by the way, your new avatar photo is disgustingly, hilariously cute!  ) Can you PM me those errors, and I'll get on them?
edit to add.. Holy cow!! The word is TIDbits, Meany. I think. I nearly peed myself laughing! Especially considering your craving for cooked person here.... mwaa haa! 
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The Meaning Of Fear
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| Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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I swear, that one wasn't intentional. It's how I've always spelled it. I find it really funny now that I realize how weird that sounds, though.
Anyways... voted for the burning yum... *coughs* burning people smell.
_________________
Cherish all your memories, even the bad ones, for they are what makes you who you are.
Doors to the truth, an SG where a boy is propelled into worlds he is unfamiliar with. He crosses many worlds, and sees many things that force him to throw away his innocence, once, and for all. Fourth Chapter, out for viewing!
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