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Book 1: Chapter Four - An Old Friend

By: Thelonious on May 27th, 2012  |  syntax: None  |  size: 8.88 KB  |  hits: 177  |  expires: Never
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  1. >You pay little attention to the guards as you walk out.
  2. >You're in a bit of  a daze.
  3. >They offer some sort of respectful salute.
  4. >You ignore it.
  5. >You need to time to think.
  6. >You need to be alone.
  7. >You don't even know where your... his room is.
  8. >You don't even know where here is.
  9. >Talking horses aren't a normal happening on Earth.
  10. >Torture and maiming was more commonplace then you'd like to think.
  11. >But you wouldn't ever do such a thing...
  12. >Would you?
  13. >You feel sick.
  14. >Throwing up in the halls isn't a good idea.
  15. >You wander aimlessly, eventually stumbling upon a washroom of sorts.
  16. >You go inside, checking to see if anyone else is present.
  17. >Nope.
  18. >You immediately hurl in the nearest toilet-like structure.
  19. >You feel slightly less nauseous.
  20. >That doesn't stop the headache, or the visions.
  21. >you go to a sink and splash some cold water in your face.
  22. >You look at yourself in a mirror for the first time today.
  23. >Same clothes, same face, same eyes.
  24. >The eyes of a monster, perhaps.
  25. >You stare at yourself, wondering where the hell you are.
  26. >Wondering what the hell this is.
  27. >Maybe you could ask a guard?
  28. >”Hi, my name's Anonymous the butcher.  I'm twelve years old, and what is this?”
  29. >You don't imagine that going well.
  30. >Maybe a more subtle approach would be necessary.
  31. >Skirt around the questions.
  32. >Put them on edge.
  33. >You've got some sort of status around here, and the guards seem to fear you.
  34. >Those two, at least.
  35. >Maybe they would have some answers for you.
  36. ><”Yeah, because subtle has always been your forte, hasn't it?”
  37. >>”Fuck off, brain.”
  38. ><”I'm a little bit more than that, Anonymous.  Don't you remember?”
  39. >>”Yes.  Now go away. I am trying to think.”
  40. ><”Anon, you're in a strange world of talking horses, unicorns, pegasi, and gun toting humans.  You  
  41. >< look just like some sort of sadist, and you're on the verge of a breakdown. Don't you think a familiar >< voice would be nice right about now?”
  42. >>”Not after what you said.”
  43. ><”Look, I'm just a glorified representation of your subconscious that YOU created when you were  
  44. >< lonely.”
  45. >>”I know what you are.  I made you.  Go away.”
  46. ><”You haven't talked to me in a long time, Anon.”
  47. >>”I haven't needed to.  I've outgrown you.”
  48. >< But you have wanted to. And you did talk to me in that room.”
  49. >>”One time deal.”
  50. ><”You're still upset over what I said all those years ago?”
  51. >>”You said it right after she died, you insensitive prick!”
  52. ><”And when would have been the right time to bring it up? One year? Five?  Never?  You need to-”
  53. >>”I don't need to do jack shit!  It's not my fucking fault!”
  54. ><”I didn't say it was, An-”
  55. >>”Shut up! Just fucking shut up about it you fuck! Leave me alone!”
  56. >As you scream at him in your mind, you start to tear up.
  57. >You're still staring at yourself in the mirror.
  58. >In a strange world with strange beings.
  59. >And you are screaming at a mental construct who is only trying to look out or you.
  60. >And, like it or not, it did feel good to hear his voice again.
  61. >You sigh.
  62. >>”Look, I'm sorry that I put this on you, alright? I just don't want to talk about that.  Not now.”
  63. >Silence.
  64. >>”And I do want a friendly voice.  Please, let's talk. I shouldn't have taken out my frustration on
  65. >>you.”
  66. ><”Apology accepted. You're lucky that I've survived this long without your contact, you know.”
  67. >>”I know.”
  68. ><”And I will bring this up again, Anon.”
  69. >>”Right now, we have some more pressing shit going on.”
  70. ><”Agreed. We need information.”
  71. >>”Right.  I'm going to go talk to the guards.”
  72. ><”Negatory, ghost rider. Bad idea.”
  73. >>”Why? It's not like they suspect anything. What, are they gonna think that I'm some inter-
  74. >> dimensional traveler just because I ask a few weird questions?”
  75. ><”Maybe. You did travel here in your sleep. Oh, you'd better start moving around.  Walking or
  76. >< something.  It's going to look odd just being in the bathroom like this.”
  77. >You wonder how many other people already came in here looking at you as you just stared into the mirror.
  78. >Oops.
  79. >You start wandering down the halls.
  80. ><”All I'm saying is that it might draw some attention to yourself.  If they ask you questions about your
  81. >< work, and you can't answer them, it's going to look suspicious.”
  82. >>”Do you have a better idea?”
  83. ><”Talk to the horses-beings.”
  84. >>”Right, because they really want to talk to the guy that tortured them.  Great idea.”
  85. ><”Help them.  Give them some relief.”
  86. >>”You saw those looks in their eyes.  They wanted to flay me alive! Why would they think anything I
  87. >> did was genuine?”
  88. ><”You really think that the previous Anonymous ever tried to give them something nice? Did you see
  89. ><that room?”
  90. >You stop in front of a window and watch the sunrise.
  91. >>”Well, I suppose not, but-”
  92. >You look at the sunrise again.
  93. >Something's off.
  94. >Didn't the sun already rise this morning?
  95. >>”It hasn't been a full day, has it?”
  96. ><”I don't think so.  Why?”
  97. >>”I thought it was morning when I got up.”
  98. >You see the sun rise up until half of it is showing, then sink below the horizon again.
  99. >It does this repeatedly as you stare for about thirty minutes.
  100. >”What the sam hell is going on here?”
  101. ><”I was thinking the same thing.”
  102. >>”Information time?”
  103. >>”Planning time. We need to come bearing gifts.”
  104. >>”Right, we'll just waltz right in with a fruit basket and everything will be kosher. I can see it now.
  105. >> 'Gee, Anonymous, we thought you were a bad guy for cutting us up and stuff, but these mangoes
  106. >> made us believe that you are a different man!' Fucking genius.”
  107. ><”Not like that, you idiot.  We need to come bearing some form of relief for each of them.  Since we
  108. >< cannot free the horses without raising alarms, we'll need to improvise.”
  109. >>”And what do you suggest we do?”
  110. ><”Think about what each horse was going through. What did the cages look like.”
  111. >>”You should know, you were there too.”
  112. ><”Not the point of this exercise, Anon.”
  113. >>”Alright, fine.  The yellow one was surrounded by raw meat.  Dead animals of various sorts. That means she doesn't like meat, probably.”
  114. ><”No shit. They're horses.  They don't eat meat.”
  115. >>”Well, then why not surround each cage with meat? Why not place every horse in filth?”
  116. ><”Because... maybe each cage is tailored to the individual?”
  117. >>”Makes sense. So the yellow one is probably dome animal lover. Doesn't like to see dead things.”
  118. ><”So take down the meat and help her out. Alright, next up is the filthy cage.”
  119. >>”That's easy.  The horse inside is some sort of neat freak."
  120. ><”A clean horse?”
  121. >>”A talking, clean horse. Get it right.”
  122. ><”Right.  So get some soap and water... a LOT of soap and water. And a couple... dozen... brushes.
  123. >< What about the orange one?”
  124. >>”Wedges in the pulley system should give her some slack.  Let her move around a bit.  I'll bet she's
  125. >> hurting something fierce from those chains pulling on her constantly.”
  126. ><”Alright.  What about the purple one?  What's her problem?”
  127. >>”She probably just snapped after seeing the others in such pain and suffering. Especially the middle >>two. Help them all out and she might come back to the land of the sane eyes.”
  128. ><”The pink one...”
  129. >A shudder runs down your spine.
  130. >>”Those eyes were worse than the purple one's.
  131. ><”That was not a broken horse.  She had hatred toward you.
  132. >>”The guards mentioned something about an incident... I wonder if she had anything to do with it.”
  133. ><”She's fucking scary, but you saw how she was chained up. How could she have done anything?”
  134. >>”They moved the prisoners, remember?  She got that many chains AFTER the move, and none of the
  135. >> other six have them. Why just her?”
  136. ><”So... what did she do?”
  137. >>”I don't know.  But she seemed willing to talk about that box cage.  Maybe she'll be willing to talk
  138. >> about what she did?”
  139. ><”Worth a shot. We're just spitballing at this point anyway.”
  140. >>”We can cut the wire on the black one's mouth and let it speak again, just like Ms. White.  It'll hurt, but-”
  141. ><”You skipped the rainbow maned one.”
  142. >You stop walking.
  143. >>”Well, she was easy.  Claustrophobic. Just don't put her back in the box.”
  144. ><”She reminds you of her, doesn't she?”
  145. >”P-Please don't...”
  146. >The screams.
  147. >The whip coming down.
  148. >Again.
  149. >And again.
  150. >And-
  151. >>”Yeah. Yeah she does.”
  152. ><”That wasn't your fault. I never said-"
  153. >>”I know. Let's... let's get back to the task at hand.”
  154. ><”You sure you don't wanna talk-”
  155. >>”I'm sure.”
  156. ><”Alright. Let's get some supplies.”
  157. >>”From where?”
  158. >It occurs to you that you have no idea where the fuck you are.
  159. >Or how long you have been walking.
  160. >Or where to get any of the things you need.
  161. >You sigh.
  162. >It's going to be a long day..night...period of whatever time it currently is.
  163. >>”Let's get to it.”