Critter Volume 3 Chapter 11 : Any Last Words?

Any Last Words? 

Logan popped open the trunk of his car, inside was a dusty old box. “This is what I really wanted to show you” said Logan as he pulled it out and shut the trunk. He placed the box on the car, on the side, written in black marker was ‘Mitchell’ “I think this is for you” Logan added.

Later that night, Mitchell had closed the bar and sat with Logan and a couple beers as they began going through the box. Inside were dozens of scattered photographs of his father holding them as babies as well as scattered papers such as birth records and family archives. “I honestly never thought I’d see his face again, this is probably the weirdest thing that could have possibly happened” Mitchell said as he held onto a photo. Logan reached his hands into the box “what’s this” he pulled out a small velvet pouch. He handed it to Mitchell, he opened it up and dumped it’s contents into his palm. A ring fell out, a diamond wedding ring “do you think this was my moms?” Logan looked closely at the ring “there’s an engraving” he said. Mitchell looked into the ring “well, what does it say?” asked an impatient Logan “nothing, it doesn’t make sense” Mitchell said as he tucked the ring into his pocket. He clearly had read something that didn’t sit right, he kept it to himself.

Lena put Athena to sleep in the living room and then joined Lauren in the kitchen for a drink. Lauren was pouring gin into two glasses full of ice “it’s been a while since I’ve had a drink” said Lena “is this okay?” asked Lauren “of course” she replied. The two of them clinked their cups and took a sip, their faces cringed. “I really thought you were dead Lauren. I lost everyone; all I had left was Athena. Leaving didn’t feel right but I had to protect her” she said “it’s okay Lena” Lauren replied as she hugged her best friend “we’ve been through a lot, things will start looking up, I promise” Lauren explained “this world is full of so much evil, I’m scared Lauren” she said as she took another sip “I’m scared too”.

Lena wondered into the living room where Athena was sound asleep. Lena stood over Athena’s crib and smiled, her life has changed so much since she had her; everything she has done was for her. Lena thought that maybe Athena wasn’t a Mer Maid, she knew that it was possible and she would love her no matter what, but maybe she was plain old human, like her mom. This would ease some of the fear; Lena wanted a normal life for her daughter. Just then, as Lena was gazing into her daughter’s eyes she thought she saw something, she leaned in closer. It happened again, something was wrong. Athena flickered, her body glitched. It was there, then not, then back again. It was as if she was fading away. Lena reached into the crib to wake her and she immediately started crying. Lena picked her up and held her tightly as she whispered, “no one can have you”.

Clayton sat outside Kyle’s meat shop. He began honking the horn repeatedly until he saw Kyle come out from the front door. Kyle shot him a smile and a middle finger as he locked up his store. He ran and hopped into the front seat of the truck, Kyle looked into the back seat and there it sat. The chest, and inside was the black book and the locket. These items have caused Kyle so much pain and suffering, together they would get rid of them. “I was hoping the old man at that book store could give us some answers about why Tyson even had these in his attic, but of course he died” said Kyle.

~Flashback~

1981 – Bon Temps

Today was the day, Tyson was marrying Ellesiette and the whole town was attending. Tyson had been dressed for hours, waiting with his best friends in his house. The farm was beautifully decorated, the ceremony would be held outside under a big white tent. He was looking out his window while he bit his nails, something he did when he was nervous. He looked over at the barn where the gift table was located. He saw a man standing at the table holding a box. “Hey guys do you recognize that man?” Tyson said, his friends all nodded. He wondered who he was, so he walked out to greet the stranger. He was all dressed up in a suit, so Tyson assumed he was part of the wedding, maybe on Elle’s side.

“Hello sir” he shouted as he approached the man “do I know you?” Tyson asked as the man turned around “I love weddings” he said “I heard you were having a wedding here and I thought I’d drop off a gift, something that one day will come in handy” he said as he handed Tyson the gift “oh well thank you, and your name is?” Tyson asked, “You’ll find out, soon enough” he said as he walked away “Okay, well see you around!” Tyson yelled. He opened the gift and sifted through the box, in it was a black book. He pulled it out and flipped through the pages, he then pulled out the locket and held it in the air. Confused as to what this stuff was, he stuffed it all back in the box and headed in the house. When he entered the house he saw one of his cousins leaving the kitchen with a laundry basket full of odd’s and end’s “where are you going with that?” he asked “the attic” the boy said “here take this up there” he said as he through the box into the basket, and it disappeared up into the attic.

~ --------- ~

Clayton and Kyle sat above the bridge; underneath them was the Bon Temps River. It ran into a large lake. Deep enough for the chest to disappear forever. No one would ever find it. Clayton and Kyle had it tied together with chains and weights.  “Any last words?” Clayton said, as he looked at Kyle “fuck you Julia”. The box fell hundreds of feet into the deep waters. It sank to the bottom of the river, hopefully never to be seen again.

Traci stomped though the field, she knew exactly where they were. That’s the beauty of having a crystal ball. She came to a clearing “listen you fairy bitches show yourselves I know you’re here” she yelled. A few moments of silence passed before they finally showed themselves. “Hello Evelyn, Ericka” she yelled “how do you know our names” Evelyn yelled “I’ve been watching you” replied Traci “I came here to propose something to you all, I’ll help you find the ones you seek under one condition” Evelyn then came forward “what?” she asked “you leave Mitchell to me”.

The box was about empty, a 6 pack a beers in and a couple hours of digging. One of the last things he found was a piece of paper, folded at the bottom of the dirty box. There was a smear of blood on it “is that blood?” asked Logan as Mitchell unfolded the paper “what is it?” Mitchell gazed at the sheet for several moments until he looked up at Logan “It’s an address” he said “I know where that is, it’s near by” said Logan “let’s go!”

Several messages from Ashley were on Mitchell’s phone, he decided to focus on finding the address, if she knew where he was she would just come find him, it may not be safe. After about 25 minutes of back road driving the two of them pulled up to a long dirt road. “This is it” Logan said “this is the address, there must be a house back there” he added “what if it’s our father?” asked Mitch “let’s go find out” he sad as they drove down the road.

They pulled up to a run down cottage by a swamp. “This is creepy” added Logan. The two of them exited their car and walked towards the front door “hello” they yelled. No answer was given; Mitchell walked up to the front porch and knocked on the door. Instead of an answer, it swung open. It was dark inside, no one was home. The two of them walked in. There were dirty dishes in the old rust covered sink, the walls were molding and the wooden floors were cracking, it had holes in certain places.

“Oh my god, look at this” Logan said from another room. Mitchell followed him, when he entered the room, he was terrified. The walls were covered in pictures from wall to wall, newspaper articles and hand written notes. Pictures of Mitchell, Logan and their friends. Lena, Rachel, Kyle, Clayton, Kelly, Lauren, Ashley and everyone else. Whoever lived in this place had been following them for what looked like forever. “Look” said Logan as he pointed to a coat rack in the corner. On it were 5 or 6 black suits. Complete with a tie just hanging there perfectly. “What is this?” asked Mitch as he yanked a piece of paper off the wall. On it was a list of names, people that Mitchell knew. Natasha, Chris, Shaun, Tyson and even Kindred. All people that were dead, each name was crossed off. Except one, at the bottom of the list was Rachel’s name not yet crossed off  “what the fuck is this place?.”

Any Last Words?

What Happened To Us?

Critter Volume 3 Chapter 10 : The Parting Glass

The Parting Glass

Mitchell lay in the bed, knowing that what was about to happen would be amazing, but also wrong, but he didn’t care. He felt Laurens fingers running up his leg closer to his inner thigh. Shivers were sent up his body, the warm touch of Ashley’s skin soothed him. Ashley’s hair brushed against Mitchells chin as she leaned over his shirtless chest to meet Lauren with a kiss. Lauren softly graced Ashley’s cheek with her perfectly soft hand and began kissing intensely. Ashley’s body thrust closer to Mitchell as the kiss began getting more in depth. Mitchell had one hand running down Laurens spine approaching her underwear line, and the other hand was placed firmly inside Ashley’s bra.

Mitchell then removed his hand from her bra and noticed it was dripping with blood. He flicked his wrist attempting to remove the blood, he then looked back up at Ashley who was now in a wedding gown “I was the one” she said as blood began pouring out of a gun shot in her chest, she then hit the ground, dead. Mitchell sat up in a panic and looked at Lauren. Dozens of tiny hands were pulling Lauren away screaming, “I don’t wanna go back!” she yelled. Lauren then disappeared into darkness, the darkness consumed the room. Our of the darkness emerged a man, wearing a suit. He laughed at Mitchell and then leaned in closer “wake up” he whispered, “I still need you”.

Mitchell then woke in a sweaty panic. He looked to his left and saw Ashley sleeping peacefully beside him. He wiped away the sweat when he looked down at his phone. The caller display read ‘Lena’ so he answered the call “Hey Mitch sorry for calling so early, I just wanted to make sure I had a job when I arrive today” she laughed “I’ll do you one better, you have a kid to raise, you are officially the head manager” he replied. After minutes of gratitude they ended their conversation. When he hung up the phone he wondered what the dream meant. He has had visions, but this was different. Things were different, but his biggest worry, would it come true?

Lauren and Mitchell’s grave stones were taken away, the restaurant was back under Mitchell’s control. Things began to seem normal again; a party was being thrown tonight to celebrate the return of Mitchell and Lauren. The restaurant was closed early to accommodate the party. Dayna and Jenna frantically served drinks to the town locals and friends. Kelly sat with Simone, Chandra and Tara. Lauren sat at one end of the bar with a beer, she watched as Mitchell and Ashley laughed and kissed each other at the bar. Clayton approached “hey there” he said “Hey Clay” replied Lauren “Ya know, you don’t need him, don’t waste your night thinking about someone who’s most likely not thinking about you” he said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. Just then Mitchell looked up from his beer and shot Lauren a smile, this killed her. How could he be so calm, and act like nothing was between them?

Alex then walked in threw the front doors, her hair to the left resting on her shoulder in a tight braid. She looked around the bar, all eyes were on her when she spoke “What reason do you all have to celebrate? People have died so that you could all have your precious town. The truth is, this place is hell. If you stay here you will die, leave while you still can” she said as she left out the front door.

Dayna then cleaned up a slight spill on the counter and walked into the back room to rinse out the dirty cloth. Jenna came back with a tray full of empty beer mugs “it would be nice if we could sit and have a beer” she groaned “I’m loving the tips though” she stated. She then noticed Dayna was staring into the sink with the water running. She was non-responsive “Dayna?” Jenna nudged her on the shoulder, just then her body flickered. One minute she was there, and then the next she was gone. She then returned and continued to rinse her cloth “oh hey Jenna” she said as she pranced past her and back into the restaurant. Jenna was shocked at what she saw, it was like she had some sort of glitch and disappeared for a brief moment.  Jenna rubbed her tired eyes and began washing her dishes.

Alex stormed out of the bar and ran towards the woods, she was walking alone through the bush to get to her house. She began crying. Now that Jordan was dead, what was she supposed to do with herself? She heard a crack coming from behind her. She swung around and Dalton was standing there “I followed you” he said “Dalton! I miss you!” she shouted “Don’t be afraid” she said as she moved closer, his body was sweating and shivering “why do you look so scared?” she asked. Just then Dalton pulled a steak that he had clearly carved himself from his back pocket “you can’t live like this” he whispered as he drove it into Alex’s heart. She burst into blood and Dalton was covered. Just like that, she was gone and Dalton felt no better. He whipped blood off his face and then ran through the forest. He came to a halt when he saw a man in a suit sanding by him. “Hello?” Dalton yelled at the man who was facing the opposite direction.  “Thank you Dalton” the man whispered as he turned around with a shotgun pointed at his head, and with one shot he was dead. The man then looked up at the sun and breathed deeply, he then disappeared.

Lena then came barging through the front doors with Athena, within minutes people were surrounding her “SO CUTE!” they were shouting. “Clear the way people!” yelled Mitch “say hello to the new manager of Mitchell’s Bar & Grill” he said as he shook her hand. “So good to be back” she said. Mitchell caught a glimpse of a familiar vehicle parked outside the bar. Logan was leaning up against the back of his little car, Mitchell then ran outside to greet him. “Logan, I have to be honest I never thought I would see you again, come in for a drink?” he asked “I came to show you something” he said “come here” Mitchell walked towards the car. Logan then pulled out a small box, he slid the top off and threw it on the front seat. Inside were hundreds of photographs, he handed the first one to Mitchell. “What is this?” he asked “read the back” replied Logan, Mitchell turned the photo around to read ‘Mitchell Age 4, Logan Age 2’ he looked up at Logan “I think we’re brothers mate”.

Jasmine was cleaning her kitchen when she heard a knock on the front door, she ran to answer it “hold on, hold on” she yelled. She swung open the door to silence the very impatient knocking, but there was nobody there. She stepped on the front porch to look around; she eventually gave up and headed back inside. When she went back to the kitchen she could feel a draft, she had shivers down her arms so she went to shut the window. She then saw a reflection in the window from behind her, the man in the suit. She turned to greet her death. A large knife was shoved into her heart. She fell to the ground. The man smiled and disappeared.

Kelly stepped outside to get some fresh air; she had a few drinks in her and was feeling a slight buzz. There was a ringing in her ear, more like a siren. She then realized that the sirens were coming from afar. Down the road came three fire trucks speeding towards town with the sirens blaring. Clayton and Lauren came running out of the bar to watch as they passed “let’s go see what’s up, you can never be too careful these days” said Lauren as the three of them hopped into her truck and followed the trucks. They eventually could start seeing smoke; black smoke was billowing from an area in town. They came to an opening where they could see that it was in fact the library, where Clayton got the exorcism advice from that old man who owns it. They parked the car and ran towards the caution line. They could hear people screaming “HE WAS STILL INSIDE!” just then the building collapsed.

Rachel ran through the woods, whipping past tree after tree until she got to a clearing. She was panting as she was out of breath from running so far from her house. She was clearly scared, she then pulled something out from her bag, it was the folder. Rachel threw it on the ground and then pulled out a flask from inside her leather jacket. She poured gasoline over the folder. She was trying to stop it from happening, Athena was gone from the book but yet another was added. The wind gusted through her feet as it flipped the pages to the most recent, as Rachel lit a match and dropped it on the folder she could see her face. She was in the folder.

Mitchell sat in his office, unpacking things that were placed in boxes after he disappeared. He placed the picture of him and his friends on opening day back on his desk. Ashley walked into the room slowly “I need to tell you something” she said as Mitch took a seat in his leather office chair. “I was with Traci, while you were gone. I know it sounds stupid but I needed to learn how to protect myself” “from what?” Mitchell asked, “If you only knew what it’s like being me, the only one that seems at all human. I’m haunted by images of what happened to me, I never sleep.” Mitch stood up and held her in his arms “I got you now” he said “there’s something else, your crystal ball. She has it” Mitchell had a blank stare “she can see everything now” he explained “It’s time for this parties parting glass” he said as he rushed by her to send everyone home.

The swamp was so peaceful. The sounds of frogs and crickets flooded the air, the moonshine down upon the murky waters leaving a glowing reflection. The air was still, that was until the portal opened. A burst of light appeared near the swamp. When the light disappeared, there was a group of men and woman who stood in battle suits. The woman who lead the group stood in front of them “Let’s bring her home, kill anyone that gets in your way but I need Lauren alive, she’s our princess” said Evelyn as she shot a look at Ericka who signaled the group to move in on Bon Temps. 

The Parting Glass