Well that Sunday had started.. bizarrely, as I will try to explain. That day when Doc was reading that play she was given by that gentleman at the opening of the school, suddenly had made her shriek and disappeared, leaving a black hole where she was seen last. Following Doc down into this portal, it was like I closed my eyes and there I was in a cobbled street, deserted building countryside setting with a fountain making a sprinkling sound, it was like I just went down Alice's rabbit hole. Pumped forth from the fountain was a deep red liquid, I was tempted for a closer look when I heard a familiar voice scream with delight “Oh isn't it wonderful” “It is Bella?” two familiar voices to me, dashed off away from the fountain after these voices. Round the corner I could see Doc and Garvin looking at a deserted street, where there as at some point a market place with many stores, except now, all of these stores were completely black, brown and surround by flies, most signs were pointing to a ghost town, only rotten food was left. I see Doc, her back to me, bend over a table and made a nasal sound “This is wonderful produce,” my face squirmed at the thought of her smelling that table, which I wasn't sure or not if I could smell from the distance I was at. It wasn't pleasant even if I think back now. Doc seemed to talk to another person, but Garvin gave me a puzzled look, she wasn't talking to him either it seemed. In our clueless moment, Doc has started skipping with both arms held out as if holding onto something.
I run after her, cautiously strafing on the left side of her while Garvin jumped a table to be on her other side, but as we got closer nothing became clearer, there still was no clue why she was acting this way. We follow a bobbled street, to its end, where there was a dirt track leading to a castle on top of a hill. At the top of this hill, two feint brown blurs shimmer towards us. The closer they got, we could see they were people shaped, but that's all I could make out at first, they had these big brown cloaks that over-shrouded them.
Dance Macabre[]
The more Doc, skipped up the hill, the closer these two begins came towards us. When they were in arm's reach I said sarcastically “Are you Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum?” Laughing at my own joke, the nearest one to me made a sudden movement, a vise like grip tightened on my arm, then it felt as if the very bones were about to be pulled out of my skin. To avoid this pain, I moved with them, the pain lessened the closer I got to the Castle. I could see Garvin was also having trouble with his being as well, but his one had him in a dancing posture, with the thing's arm around him. I could see on his big coat the pressure his “dance partner” was doing to him when I had the wind knocked out of me by my dance partner. Belladonna joined our charade and frolicked in in between us.
Dancing our way up the hill, me and Garvin groaned in discomfort every step. Our partners tightening there grip on us so we were under their control. Garvin twists away from his partner escapes, but takes the cloak with him. A skeleton still with some flesh attached in chunks, some still falling off the bone, onto Garvin. Undressed the skeleton took a step back, only to duck under his arms so as to grab him again with both arms, Garvin faced a mask, his chest absorbing the bloody remains of its chest and arms. Doc shrieks “I didn't realise it was that sort of party” I sighed at the thought that our most intelligent individual was now completely more likely to wear the jacket rather than tie it up. What's more is that I'm saying this! We were close to the hill now, Doc still prancing around, she looked happy in her delusion, while me and Garvin were trying endlessly to get out of our detainees. I got my arms free a few times to smack the skeleton a few in the face, but alas, the head would just flip back after each hit. I as well later tried to run away from the skeleton in disguise, getting free I pull the cloak off my partner and also got a shock at the sight of the innards of my partner, it was like carting the fish at the docks, just this time I was dancing with one.
Whenever I had a chance, I would see Garvin coiling and swinging on his partner. Then all of a sudden:
The being did an eerie breath, eerie because we never heard it breath. The bones buckled under the weight of itself. The jaw bone departed while the flesh liquified and was absorbed into the earth. The mask flopped to the floor, then imploded upon itself, a featureless skull rolled on the floor. Slowly they made a strange spiral pattern that seemed unnatural to how the bones had fell.
“What did you do Garv?” I implored to know, so as to free myself from this stomach turning guest “Take its mask off” he replies. Belladonna then gets out her scalpel and puts it to her left ear “Right you are Mr Garvin, I'm having trouble with it though” she started cutting her own face off! Garv starts shouting “No, no it's alright Bella, you can keep yours on.” Placing her hands back to the dancing position and talking the scalpel off her hands.
At the time, I am already restrained in the bones of my undead partner, my hand being forced inside its chest, my hands red and black with its bile. Garvin has a sudden plan come to him, you could see in his whiskers that he had caught wind of a smell, like the idea was inhaled into his nostrils “Doc may I?” he offers his arm for a dance “Why most certainly Mr. Garvin” and they do a circle around me struggling with my partner. On there next revaluation Garvin suggests “May I cut in?” Doc gracefully lets go of his hands, simultaneously my skeleton partner let goes of my arms, looks and Garvin and pounces on him wrapping its boney arms around him and sent Garvin rigid like some scapula statue.
Dancing with Doc, I reached the top of the hill, racking my brain for dance moves, I shout “oh look an arch to go through Bella” she seeing my imaginary formation of people, we strut our stuff down the hill, Doc was giggling like a school girl all the way “I'm having a ball.” What followed was more dance moves that I was making up on the spot, leaning Bella backwards, spinning
her on the spot, throwing her so we stretched far apart then coiled back together “Well really Mr. Jensen,I commend your dancing.” I didn't want to do the dancing, I wanted to pulverise the skeleton creature. More to the point, while Garvin was obviously working hard to release the mask from the being, how were we going to get Doc out of her fantasy land. Anyway after Garvin had trifled with the last one Belladonna begins to come round, slowly her smiling face melts and changes to pain as she starts to dab her forehead “ having I being bleeding?” “Just a bit” Garvin replies, I'm dumbfounded he doesn't tell her of our worry for her “You tried to cut your face off!” The words seemed so cause a secondary scar across her face, it was as if a child had recognised they were causing death to ants.
Shaking off the remnants of our last dance (plus the thought of Doc cutting a new smile) we entered the doorway of the castle. Doc dabbing her face, we advanced slowly, each footstep making an unusual sound in the stone hallway that expands before us. Rows of pillars yawn as we get closer to a new opening shrouded with an eerie green light, that seemed to spiral away then vanish.
At last a room was visible at the end of the pillars, in front of us was a person sat on a throne, enveloped in a yellow cloth, before him was a small knee high table. As we got closer, we could see three bowls on the table, a deep rich liquid was still in it, not even when we stepped would it shudder. It was then that something caught my eye in the distance. It was as if the cloth this person as wearing breathed. It would be yellow in the light, then it would shimmer from my right to left, each time it would tinge a green color and then revert back to dark yellow that would lighten. This cloth would go against the folds of the cloth again in a spiral pattern much like the flames, as the person would sip from a goblet with his left hand, while tapping his fingers impatiently with his right.
“Join me” he bellowed.
“Join me and cast off the mask of mortality, to reveal the Immortal within. Sup of the nectar of the Gods themselves and take all that could be yours. If but one of you should remove their mask, the others are free to go.” Speechless, me and Doc see Garvin step forward at a brisk pace. I open my mouth in shock, that he might sacrifice himself, but Garv lifts his leg and kicks the table forward, spilling the liquid forward, not so it poured out of the bowl, but dived unnaturally, as if it was done with the bowl, and wished to rejoin the floor, which did have a red tinge along the mortar line, the bricks were arranged in circle that became smaller at several ends.
“So be it” the voice bellowed after the noise of the bowls clattering had stopped, “You shall all perish in my kingdom.” He rose from his throne, however, the perspective of the being was some what, wrong. He amassed in size to tower over us when he was half way to us. I noticed as well, a horrific site. He was a statue. A monstrous statue. The nerve behind my ear, starts to twitch and pain me, like I had a bender after a fight. My only action for safety was to step behind a near by pillar and listen to Garvin puffing sound as he was thrown and landed near a pillar with a pat sound. The sound of something metal being dragged lessened, I daren't peer round. I opened my eyes to see Doc had also moved. A yell from Garvin shortly followed and again another thud. Looking round, they both were trying to fight him and they left me! With as much courage as I could, I sprinted closer to his throne, and kneeled down behind the left arm rest, watching the statue move towards Doc, while Garvin recovered. I could see Doc was on the floor, looking quite helpless. The metal object being dragged, was a huge silver scythe, which he raised above his head. I couldn't let Doc go, who then would fix me up?
“Here Garv, chuck us one of those knives so I can carve me name into this throne, will ya?” A granite milestone grind, rumbled the floor, the head of the men twisted with the body, a male statue's face (expressionless) looked in my direction. Doc was safe now, the thing was coming after me, but better me than the Doc, because she can't take his like I can. Seeing if the Doc was hurt, I was puzzled, she was taking off her stocking for Christ sake. This was not the time to be getting undressed woman. Garvin had used this time to recover, shake off the last hit and ran back into the action, he started dodging and strafing the oncoming blows from the statue. I fouind my bravery returning, the burning in my lungs began to flicker, aswell as my stomach began to ache, I had a few too many pints before this little adventure, lookign around, i spot the little urn under his thrown, "Is this a urinal" I say, no answer, so what the hell, I'm going to get hurt, might as well have an empty bladder. Unzipping my fly, I relieve myself in the urn, whsitling one of my harmonica tunes "Disgrace before the King" bellows the towering majesty.
Meanwhile Doc, was encircling the statue's leg with her stocking. She then shouted “Now!” Garvin on instruction shoulder barged the statue and Bella pulled her stocking. Losing a slight balance, the creature in yellow swayed a little, there was a patter of dust, as if a land slide had occurred, then the being steadied itself. There wasn't enough power to send it toppling.
Taking a deep breath, to get a good run up, I ran in, climbed Garvin's back, took a leap turned in mid air, landed my back against the nearest pillar and winded myself. There was no time to recover, I heaved with all my strength, my legs out stretched at the King's chest, I felt the pillar move slightly. I jeered my head to the side to see if it had moved, when out of the corner of my eye, I could see the King slowly topple, his face unchanged glaring at me. Fixed on his eyes, I could see the sheer chasm behind him, a complete drop, int a red bubbling pool just like the liquid that was in the cups. I was so focused on this background that I didn't see the king, grab my foot and pull me with him. My head and chest hit the floor of the room, and I slowly slid from the weight, off the edge into the drop. This I thought was my end. Dazed I thought about my time here, a relaxed breath escaped my wounded chest. Interrupting my morbid thoughts, a stocking dangled in front my face, I grabbed it and was flung straight into the earthen wall of the cliff, where I got a proper hand hold and felt rigid against the pull of the fall.
“Did he make it” I hear. Garvin peering over the edge, spotting me he gave his infamous cheeky smile, the sort of one he does when he knows he's won by luck. “Give us a hand will ya!” I yelled in panic, my life hanging by a stocking. He throws his hand down, after grabbing it, he puffs and pants to bring me back to their level. Looking over the edge, as a trio, I say “You had to read that damn play didn't you” Garv and me smile, while Doc looks quite hurt. Shortly afterwards we were all hurt. We were all under the table of the lodge, all we could see was Sir Bobby and the Reverend. Bobby's head popped under the table, with shock he asked “What are you playing at?”
It didn't matter, we were all warn out from our mystery destination.