The Closet - 1760, NOV 5th
Ocean waves crashed against the lighthouse as it kept spinning its yellow beacon. On the beach were an ancient pile of boats, some with decrepit fishing rods, others had molded nets. They laid on the beach, broken and forgotten, yet safe from the island's burning inferno. Barely out of the fire, next to a red brick house, was a unique blackened dead tree with willowy branches that curled into spirals. On these branches were a hanged body, and under these branches were a pile of freshly burnt eviscerated corpses.
In the dark of the child’s bedroom, there was a low sounding “creeeeeeeekk" as the closet door opened. In hesitation, the kid came out of her hiding spot and called for her mother. At first, she was unable to find anything, other than some droplets of red water and 3 crow feathers on the ground. Then a draft of wind shifted the crow feathers. This caught the eye of the little girl and she turned around to see her mother lying limply in a pool of blood. A bullet hole in the center of her forehead.
"Mommy"
The child yelled ecstatically. She darted over to her mom and paused.
"Mommy wake up."
Her attempts to push her mom up failed, the body too heavy for her little arms. It fell back on top of her and knocked her over. As she landed on the ground, she saw the anglerfish soldier looming over her. She screamed for her mother as it picked her up. Hoisting her up by the neck, it held her in its right hand; which was freshly coated in blood. As it raised its left, a swirl of prismatic energy appeared and began to silently take form. Mass accumulated and soon a gun was formed. The barrel of the newly created gun was firmly pressed into the temple of the little girl.
"Well. Hiding in the light diiiiiiiidn't really seem to help ya out. Did it now, Professor Grim?"
Professor Grim - 1760, NOV 5th
Two new people entered the room. Another soldier, this one a bit shorter and much lankier that the anglerfish one. As well as an old man, who was wrapped in the arm of the lanky soldier.
“You should be proud! Ol’ Ang here is the very first of his kind. The only prototype to survive. A new generation of Death Tech soldiers, fused with Vulture’s DNA.” The lanky soldier said, “Think of it… Not very talkative, not very bright or good with Create, but nigh unstoppable at their jobs. Too bad they’re impossible to mass produce without some form of super healing during gestation. If only we had some of that secretive Grim Gel medicine you’ve been working on.”
The old man looked away from the thin soldier and focused on the little girl. He wore a green sweater with tan leather elbow pads, had a letter in his chest pocket, and aged brown ironed pants held up with a large orange belt. Liver spots were on his nose, he had ghostly white hair, and his eyebrows extended off his face. His hair pronged into three long bull horn shapes that were as far as his shoulder to the left, right, and behind his head. His skin sagged and wrinkled, plus his eyes showed many years without sleep.
“I’m not interested in your mutated abominations or that old nursery rhyme.” He said.
“Gee grim, maybe if you were, you would have noticed all the crows Edward had flocking about recently. I’m still surprised a smart man like yourself didn’t surrender immediately. Shame. If you weren’t so bull-headed,” He jokingly jabbed his elbow into the old man, “Then maybe your daughter would still be alive.”
The lanky soldier took a few steps forward.
“Well on the bright side, besides it costing ya a village and a daughter, ya still got your granddaughter.” He gave Grim a thumbs up, “Hooray for good choices!"
“Of course, children do have a habit of getting hurt. Who knows what could happen on the way back."
He nodded towards the window. Professor Grim turned to see the dead tree. Underneath its black willowy branches were a pile of bodies being stacked high. On top was the little girl’s disemboweled father. His guts strewn about like spilled hempen rope.
"We would very much like your co-operation."
"I... I understand... I’ll do as you ask."
“GREAT! Call me Eddy.” The lanky soldier said, “Now come on Grim, cheer up, I'm sure we’ll have a pile of fun."
He pointed finger guns at Grim.
“No sense of humor, huh?” Eddy said, “Right... well, best be on our way.”
Eddy began to walk back out the door. Professor Grim stood still. His fists shaking, he refused to take a step. Suddenly, there was a loud bang. A massive fountain of blood sprayed out of the center of the little girl’s left hand.
Gun smoke drifted around the room, the silence broken only by the screams of the kid.
“My bad Grim, you didn’t move when I said move. With old people’s hearing being so bad and all, I figured I’d make sure yours still worked.” Eddy said, “AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! Seems you can hear your granddaughter screaming! It’s a miracle.”
Eddy aimed his gun at the little girl again; the anglerfish soldier was unfazed.
“Now let’s see if you can hear this… Move.”
Grim shook.
“I understand… Please… Give me a moment with her.” He said, “I promise, I won’t try anything.”
Eddy used his thumb to pull back the hammer on his pistol.
“You bested me… I am your slave.”
There was a pause, then Eddy uncocked the gun and lowered it.
“Well now… I do like the sound of that.” He said, “Fine…You got one minute.”
“ONE MINUTE?!” Grim panicked, “WAIT, WILL I EVER SEE HER AGAI-”
The old man’s face hit the floor from the punch. He coughed up blood as he rolled onto his back.
“FUCK YOU GRIM! AFTER ALL THE SHIT YOU PUT ME THROUGH TODAY!” Eddy said, “I HOPE YOU NEVER SEE HER AGAIN!”
Eddy wiped his knuckles and took a deep breath.
“I am a generous man. One minute… Make it last.”
The anglerfish soldier dropped the screaming girl. She fell a few feet and hit the ground with an impactful thud. Walking up to Eddy, both soldiers went past Grim as he stared silently at the floor.
“Ang, you got to see this shitty painting I picked up. Got a little blood on it from when I splattered this painter’s brains out, but its-”
Eddy’s voice faded from Grim’s earshot.
Alone with Granddaughter - 1760, NOV 5th
Grim was alone with his grandchild; both shook with pain. He stood up and reached into his shirt pocket. Taking out the letter, he inspected it.
“For when she's older. Nov 5th, 1760. Love, her mom and dad.”
Lowering the letter, he saw the fairytale book on the floor. Its pages were still parted to where the mom was reading earlier; the lighthouse bookmark still left in the middle.
"Galloway the Grim Reaper" was written on the left.
"Creeps the Monster” on the right.
Professor grim placed the letter back in his pocket and took out a small vial of glowing blue liquid. On its label GRIM GEL PROTOTYPE 0.42 was written. Gently applying some of the fish-scented liquid onto his granddaughter’s wound, her injury began to noticeably heal at a slow pace.
"This is all my fault… I am so sorry." He picked up his granddaughter. "I'll make it up to you. This DeathTech can't hold onto you forever. I promise, one day you'll escape… My little Noche".
Under the moonlight that beamed in from the window, the old man hugged his granddaughter Noche. Zooming out from the hole in the wall, where the lighthouse painting once stood, the entire island could be seen engulfed in flames. Wind blew across the remaining unscathed cattails, a lightning bug landed on a nearby leaf, and inside the kitchen the cookie dough had dried onto the walls. Back on the beach, the lighthouse continued spinning its golden light. Then the storm came, darkening the ocean, and everything faded to black.
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