Post by Dr. Kyle Peterson on Oct 9, 2005 23:04:24 GMT -4
This is the 'uber-project' I've had on my plate of late. The idea has lived in my head a while, but getting it in print has not been as easy as I'd hoped. (FYI, for those with 'cameos,' this part is just me...I'll still give you 'private screenings' before any publication if you wanted them) 
And I got happy with the spellchecker that didn't care fir my (over)use of the ellipse (I think that's the term for this thing ... ) - so if I accidentally let it replace something that I can't find, let me know so I can fix it!
Any feedback would be appreciated before I finish and polish off part 2 for eventual submission of the whole shebang for the Omnibus.
Without further ado, the world premiere of:
The Western N.C. Ghostbusters-
RISE OF THE SOUL-EATER
part one
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA GHOSTBUSTERS HQ - 5:45 AM
The high-pitched ring of the phone roused Dr. Kyle Peterson out of a very deep sleep. At first he didn't know where he was, but the stench of ectoplasm from his uniform in the corner reminded him...the late night call after a 12-hour pharmacy shift, a Class-III full roaming vapor, and being too sleepy to make the short drive back home and needing to sleep in the little one-story firehouse. He almost dozed off in between two rings of the phone, but was jolted back to reality with the next one. He considered silencing it with the nearest thing at hand - his Neutrona Wand from his Pack next to the bed. But he finally made his legs work and he went over to the phone...
"Ghostbusters...this better be GOOD."
"Dr. Peterson. This is Sheriff Fox. We've got a hostage situation here in Spruce Pine. Now I know what you're thinking...but this freak looks like something out of 'Nosferatu!' Every time we try an entry, some kind of...energy shield comes up over the place. We can't even crack it. When we ask what it wants, all it says is 'For him to come.'"
"Zzzz...gah! Right, where at?"
"Blue Moon Bookstore. I think the owner was coming in early to clean or..."
"I'm there!" Kyle hung up the phone and ran to get a clean flightsuit. He knew the owner of the store. Suiting up, he only stopped to kill a can of Pitch Black Mountain Dew in two swallows before he was in his heavily-modified Subaru Impreza - the ECTO-WNC - breaking every traffic law in the book to make the best time to Spruce Pine.
BLUE MOON BOOKSTORE - SPRUCE PINE, NC
Fox was right...this freak DID look like Nosferatu. Real tall, long pale face, pointy ears...it was just standing there by the door, staring at them. Seemingly unprotected, but Kyle had seen the force field in action as he drove up, when the cops had tried once again to enter. And he didn't just LOOK like he'd fallen out of the Ugly Tree and hit every branch on the way down (and Kyle would go one step further and say that when he hit the ground, the Ugly Tree had fallen on him) - but Kyle's old-style P.K.E. meter confirmed that he was a bona-fide supernatural entity. The readings wanted to confirm 'vampire,' but there was something strange about them.
"You see anything like that before?" Fox asked the Ghostbuster.
Kyle handed the sheriff his binoculars back. They were just across the street, but the binocs helped them get a good close look at their enemy. "Yeah." He thought of his fight with Allistare...aka Jean-Paul-Dupree...a couple of weeks ago. Allistare looked very similar when he showed what he claimed to be his true face. Could this guy be that...'soul-eater' that he mentioned before staking himself? At any rate...a HECK of a time for Deven to take a family vacation to Australia. He should call for help, but there was no time left for Bev, or whoever the freak had as a hostage in there. "I'm going in..."
There was a cheer from the small crowd that had gathered on Upper Street to see the 'action.' Kyle gave them a small wave as some of the deputies ushered them back away. Then he unhooked his particle thrower and set it for 'full neutrona.' He carefully approached the store, waiting for the energy field to come up. Instead, the door swung open, the same blue energy around it that Allistare had used against Kyle and his occasional coworker before!
"Well...okay then." But before he entered, Kyle adjusted his proton gun to a much different setting...one that imitated sunlight close enough to reduce a vampire to dust! Stepping inside, he saw the 'perp' and a young blonde woman. Not Bev, but still in danger. "Let her go, gruesome, or I'll....give you a sunburn that not even SPF 1000 could ward off!" Okay, he needed to start getting more sleep or working harder on his snappy banter....
"As you wish. My business in here is concluded." The voice was from someone who could have just finished gargling shattered glass and vinegar. The girl ran past Kyle full-tilt, out to the officers and deputies. The voice was bad enough, but even Kyle gave a shudder as the ghoul turned his glowing red eyes on the young man.
"A..allright, that's good. But, well, I didn't say I wasn't going to blast you ANYWAY, did I?" With a trembling hand, Kyle unloaded the modified particle stream on the thing. There was a brilliant radiance as it hit, so that Kyle had to look away. But when he turned, the thing was still standing...even his neck-to-toe black leathers were barely singed.
"Thank you, human. I'm far too strong to be affected by regular sunlight, as you can see. But these little toys your kind is so famous for, I wasn't totally sure about. But if that's the best you have, I have nothing to fear now..."
There was a deep bass rumble as Kyle finished the adjustments to his thrower to return it back to the full power setting. "We'll see about that, you son of a..."
"STOP."
Kyle found himself frozen in place, and looked down expecting to see the same blue telekinetic signature as before. But there was nothing physically binding him. He stared at the creature in confusion, and found himself captivated by the glow of his eyes. Confusion gave way to...weariness, and Kyle dropped his weapon and had to lean against the checkout counter to keep from collapsing as his opponent chuckled...
"You feel that? You should, I've been doing the same thing to you for over a YEAR now! It's not as pronounced from a great distance though, and done far more slowly than that." He approached Kyle and lifted Kyle's chin roughly up to stare right into his eyes. "Ironic, isn't it that YOU will be the catalyst that dooms the home you love so much. My name is Mathayus. I have been called many things, but the one that I think is the most appropriate is...'the soul-eater.' You have heard this title before." A statement, not a question. "A pity about my poor minion Allistare. We have been careful, but the interference of your friend Mr. Grecko was...unanticipated. No matter though, I'll have another second, soon enough."
Kyle didn't like where this was going. "Sorry, already got a long-term Ghostbusters International contract already. And trust me, you DON'T wanna mess with our union!"
Mathayus only shook his head, like a schoolteacher about to correct a slow student. "Always cracking jokes," he muttered. "Hiding what's REALLY inside of you. How many people know the real you, I wonder." Finished with his musings, he spoke now in a normal voice. "Anyway, it is not YOUR place to be the one I next sire...you have a different role to play for me, one actually far more important. You know then...or you will know...that I am a 'psychic vampire.' I know not what created me, only that our kind is few and far between. We are also superior to our more 'common,' blood-sucking kindred. In fact, we can exercise a fair amount of control over them if we so desire. And, I DO desire. They will help feed me as I grow ever stronger, gorging myself on the pain, misery, and suffering of EVERY man, woman, and child in this county. Rather than a few strays here and there - as well one special meal." He turned to Kyle and grinned.
"You...you've been, what? Feeding on my emotions? Ask me, I think you've been feeding on too many 'spiked' brownies, freakshow..."
Mathayus did not get angry. Naturally, it was hard for the boy to comprehend. He just needed another demonstration, a more direct one. He didn't even have to think about his next words to employ to get the desired reaction.
"It's true, boy, every word. You are a perfect 'host' in effect for me. Finding you via Allistare last fall was the best thing that's happened to me! Keeping a lot of your emotions under the surface where they grow stronger the harder you deny them. Letting them out at select times. I know each and every one of those times. Like at that graveyard you visit every so often for instance....."
Kyle's head had been spinning, trying to make sense of it all. But with those words he cast a murderous glance at Mathayus even as he jerked his particle thrower into the air by it's connecting hose. Blood pounding in his veins, he caught and leveled the weapon at this monster and prepared to throw the switch...
Mathayus' response was swift and efficient. As he held up one hand, Kyle felt his fury evaporate, and he was on the floor before he realized it. Looking up, he could see Mathayus levitating in a blue swirl of energy that vanished into his chest. He tried to pick himself up, but found himself instead in the air a moment later, held up with the telekinetic power of the psionic demon, who's voice now filled the room:
Know this, boy...while you may depart your so-called 'mortal coils,' you will live on through me! Every negative emotion you possess will give me enough power to take over this area and turn it into a 'emotion farm,' to sustain me as I continue my conquest and re-make this whole wretched PLANET in my image! For what you have given me...I thank you!
Mathayus held out his left hand, and the energy formed around it in the shape of claws. Kyle could feel his terror feeding the beast, he had to stop...had to resist...
Then, the soul-eater plunged his energy-claws right into Kyle's chest. Kyle's mouth twisted in a wordless scream and his body convulsed. And from the day he was born, up to this very moment, Kyle lived and re-lived every single negative emotion he had ever felt at speeds almost too fast to comprehend...
Outside, the local law enforcement was unsure what to do, as they couldn't get a good look at what was happening. Things didn't LOOK good, with that strange blue glow coming from inside, but they didn't want to get in Kyle's way. But then there came a blood-curdling scream from inside the bookstore. And before the sheriff could stop him, one of his deputies, Jimmy, was running at the building with a shotgun in his hand.
Jimmy had served in Desert Storm. Jimmy knew what the scream of a man dying in agony sounded like...
As he was rushing the door, a bolt of blue energy shot from the roof, towards the sky. He paused long enough to stare at it, then continued for the door. As such, he would not notice the blood-red fog descending from the sky in the wake of the glow, at least not until later. He jumped inside the bookstore and covered the area with the shotgun, but it became apparent soon enough that the freak had left.
Then he saw Kyle, on his back on the floor. His proton pack lying neatly on a table, the shoulder straps ripped apart by something. Jimmy swallowed hard as he saw the body...he didn't think he even needed to check for vitals, the poor kid's eyes were rolled back in his head just like a dead man's...
Wait...the deputy got a closer look at Kyle's head. And shuddered, as he started backing out to get...someone, anyone!
His eyes were wet, and the moisture was working it's way down his face. But it was not tears...it was blood...
TO BE CONTINUED
And I got happy with the spellchecker that didn't care fir my (over)use of the ellipse (I think that's the term for this thing ... ) - so if I accidentally let it replace something that I can't find, let me know so I can fix it!
Any feedback would be appreciated before I finish and polish off part 2 for eventual submission of the whole shebang for the Omnibus.
Without further ado, the world premiere of:
The Western N.C. Ghostbusters-
RISE OF THE SOUL-EATER
part one
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA GHOSTBUSTERS HQ - 5:45 AM
The high-pitched ring of the phone roused Dr. Kyle Peterson out of a very deep sleep. At first he didn't know where he was, but the stench of ectoplasm from his uniform in the corner reminded him...the late night call after a 12-hour pharmacy shift, a Class-III full roaming vapor, and being too sleepy to make the short drive back home and needing to sleep in the little one-story firehouse. He almost dozed off in between two rings of the phone, but was jolted back to reality with the next one. He considered silencing it with the nearest thing at hand - his Neutrona Wand from his Pack next to the bed. But he finally made his legs work and he went over to the phone...
"Ghostbusters...this better be GOOD."
"Dr. Peterson. This is Sheriff Fox. We've got a hostage situation here in Spruce Pine. Now I know what you're thinking...but this freak looks like something out of 'Nosferatu!' Every time we try an entry, some kind of...energy shield comes up over the place. We can't even crack it. When we ask what it wants, all it says is 'For him to come.'"
"Zzzz...gah! Right, where at?"
"Blue Moon Bookstore. I think the owner was coming in early to clean or..."
"I'm there!" Kyle hung up the phone and ran to get a clean flightsuit. He knew the owner of the store. Suiting up, he only stopped to kill a can of Pitch Black Mountain Dew in two swallows before he was in his heavily-modified Subaru Impreza - the ECTO-WNC - breaking every traffic law in the book to make the best time to Spruce Pine.
BLUE MOON BOOKSTORE - SPRUCE PINE, NC
Fox was right...this freak DID look like Nosferatu. Real tall, long pale face, pointy ears...it was just standing there by the door, staring at them. Seemingly unprotected, but Kyle had seen the force field in action as he drove up, when the cops had tried once again to enter. And he didn't just LOOK like he'd fallen out of the Ugly Tree and hit every branch on the way down (and Kyle would go one step further and say that when he hit the ground, the Ugly Tree had fallen on him) - but Kyle's old-style P.K.E. meter confirmed that he was a bona-fide supernatural entity. The readings wanted to confirm 'vampire,' but there was something strange about them.
"You see anything like that before?" Fox asked the Ghostbuster.
Kyle handed the sheriff his binoculars back. They were just across the street, but the binocs helped them get a good close look at their enemy. "Yeah." He thought of his fight with Allistare...aka Jean-Paul-Dupree...a couple of weeks ago. Allistare looked very similar when he showed what he claimed to be his true face. Could this guy be that...'soul-eater' that he mentioned before staking himself? At any rate...a HECK of a time for Deven to take a family vacation to Australia. He should call for help, but there was no time left for Bev, or whoever the freak had as a hostage in there. "I'm going in..."
There was a cheer from the small crowd that had gathered on Upper Street to see the 'action.' Kyle gave them a small wave as some of the deputies ushered them back away. Then he unhooked his particle thrower and set it for 'full neutrona.' He carefully approached the store, waiting for the energy field to come up. Instead, the door swung open, the same blue energy around it that Allistare had used against Kyle and his occasional coworker before!
"Well...okay then." But before he entered, Kyle adjusted his proton gun to a much different setting...one that imitated sunlight close enough to reduce a vampire to dust! Stepping inside, he saw the 'perp' and a young blonde woman. Not Bev, but still in danger. "Let her go, gruesome, or I'll....give you a sunburn that not even SPF 1000 could ward off!" Okay, he needed to start getting more sleep or working harder on his snappy banter....
"As you wish. My business in here is concluded." The voice was from someone who could have just finished gargling shattered glass and vinegar. The girl ran past Kyle full-tilt, out to the officers and deputies. The voice was bad enough, but even Kyle gave a shudder as the ghoul turned his glowing red eyes on the young man.
"A..allright, that's good. But, well, I didn't say I wasn't going to blast you ANYWAY, did I?" With a trembling hand, Kyle unloaded the modified particle stream on the thing. There was a brilliant radiance as it hit, so that Kyle had to look away. But when he turned, the thing was still standing...even his neck-to-toe black leathers were barely singed.
"Thank you, human. I'm far too strong to be affected by regular sunlight, as you can see. But these little toys your kind is so famous for, I wasn't totally sure about. But if that's the best you have, I have nothing to fear now..."
There was a deep bass rumble as Kyle finished the adjustments to his thrower to return it back to the full power setting. "We'll see about that, you son of a..."
"STOP."
Kyle found himself frozen in place, and looked down expecting to see the same blue telekinetic signature as before. But there was nothing physically binding him. He stared at the creature in confusion, and found himself captivated by the glow of his eyes. Confusion gave way to...weariness, and Kyle dropped his weapon and had to lean against the checkout counter to keep from collapsing as his opponent chuckled...
"You feel that? You should, I've been doing the same thing to you for over a YEAR now! It's not as pronounced from a great distance though, and done far more slowly than that." He approached Kyle and lifted Kyle's chin roughly up to stare right into his eyes. "Ironic, isn't it that YOU will be the catalyst that dooms the home you love so much. My name is Mathayus. I have been called many things, but the one that I think is the most appropriate is...'the soul-eater.' You have heard this title before." A statement, not a question. "A pity about my poor minion Allistare. We have been careful, but the interference of your friend Mr. Grecko was...unanticipated. No matter though, I'll have another second, soon enough."
Kyle didn't like where this was going. "Sorry, already got a long-term Ghostbusters International contract already. And trust me, you DON'T wanna mess with our union!"
Mathayus only shook his head, like a schoolteacher about to correct a slow student. "Always cracking jokes," he muttered. "Hiding what's REALLY inside of you. How many people know the real you, I wonder." Finished with his musings, he spoke now in a normal voice. "Anyway, it is not YOUR place to be the one I next sire...you have a different role to play for me, one actually far more important. You know then...or you will know...that I am a 'psychic vampire.' I know not what created me, only that our kind is few and far between. We are also superior to our more 'common,' blood-sucking kindred. In fact, we can exercise a fair amount of control over them if we so desire. And, I DO desire. They will help feed me as I grow ever stronger, gorging myself on the pain, misery, and suffering of EVERY man, woman, and child in this county. Rather than a few strays here and there - as well one special meal." He turned to Kyle and grinned.
"You...you've been, what? Feeding on my emotions? Ask me, I think you've been feeding on too many 'spiked' brownies, freakshow..."
Mathayus did not get angry. Naturally, it was hard for the boy to comprehend. He just needed another demonstration, a more direct one. He didn't even have to think about his next words to employ to get the desired reaction.
"It's true, boy, every word. You are a perfect 'host' in effect for me. Finding you via Allistare last fall was the best thing that's happened to me! Keeping a lot of your emotions under the surface where they grow stronger the harder you deny them. Letting them out at select times. I know each and every one of those times. Like at that graveyard you visit every so often for instance....."
Kyle's head had been spinning, trying to make sense of it all. But with those words he cast a murderous glance at Mathayus even as he jerked his particle thrower into the air by it's connecting hose. Blood pounding in his veins, he caught and leveled the weapon at this monster and prepared to throw the switch...
Mathayus' response was swift and efficient. As he held up one hand, Kyle felt his fury evaporate, and he was on the floor before he realized it. Looking up, he could see Mathayus levitating in a blue swirl of energy that vanished into his chest. He tried to pick himself up, but found himself instead in the air a moment later, held up with the telekinetic power of the psionic demon, who's voice now filled the room:
Know this, boy...while you may depart your so-called 'mortal coils,' you will live on through me! Every negative emotion you possess will give me enough power to take over this area and turn it into a 'emotion farm,' to sustain me as I continue my conquest and re-make this whole wretched PLANET in my image! For what you have given me...I thank you!
Mathayus held out his left hand, and the energy formed around it in the shape of claws. Kyle could feel his terror feeding the beast, he had to stop...had to resist...
Then, the soul-eater plunged his energy-claws right into Kyle's chest. Kyle's mouth twisted in a wordless scream and his body convulsed. And from the day he was born, up to this very moment, Kyle lived and re-lived every single negative emotion he had ever felt at speeds almost too fast to comprehend...
Outside, the local law enforcement was unsure what to do, as they couldn't get a good look at what was happening. Things didn't LOOK good, with that strange blue glow coming from inside, but they didn't want to get in Kyle's way. But then there came a blood-curdling scream from inside the bookstore. And before the sheriff could stop him, one of his deputies, Jimmy, was running at the building with a shotgun in his hand.
Jimmy had served in Desert Storm. Jimmy knew what the scream of a man dying in agony sounded like...
As he was rushing the door, a bolt of blue energy shot from the roof, towards the sky. He paused long enough to stare at it, then continued for the door. As such, he would not notice the blood-red fog descending from the sky in the wake of the glow, at least not until later. He jumped inside the bookstore and covered the area with the shotgun, but it became apparent soon enough that the freak had left.
Then he saw Kyle, on his back on the floor. His proton pack lying neatly on a table, the shoulder straps ripped apart by something. Jimmy swallowed hard as he saw the body...he didn't think he even needed to check for vitals, the poor kid's eyes were rolled back in his head just like a dead man's...
Wait...the deputy got a closer look at Kyle's head. And shuddered, as he started backing out to get...someone, anyone!
His eyes were wet, and the moisture was working it's way down his face. But it was not tears...it was blood...
TO BE CONTINUED