My name and my life are of little importance to the content of the story. However, as this is my first fiction, I welcome anyone to comment on the material below.
*May not be suitable to those of a younger persuasion due to graphic depictions, mild language, and the corruption of the pokemon series.
Introduction:
Lord, in our darkest hour
Pray for those of us who have sinned
That in our dying breath we may
See the spires of Heaven awaiting us...
The prayer murmurs its way to the top of the chapel, but I can feel it being
repelled at the top, unanswered. The creature is in pursuit; I can feel that now, too.
There is nothing left to do except pray that the night will end, that it will return from
whence it came, but I know that's all a lie. I'll never live to see the sun rise.
... From the Night
-- Chapter One of In Our Darkest Hour
"Baron?"
I could hear him, but I chose not to listen.
"Baron Petrovich?"
I wondered when he'd go away...
"Can't you see I don't wish to be bothered?"
"Baron, this is important... it needs your attention."
It was not often that I left my chamber, in those days.
Now that I remember, I can picture the night clearly in my mind: the clouds, the dead air, and the creature.
It was a night where the air hung heavy and silent, anticipating the coming rainfall. And quickly, as I
turned away from the towering bedroom window and locked eyes with the butler, I wondered if there really was
something this time. It had been so long since... I had had a patient in my house.
"We found it -- found... something outside the front gate. Please, Baron, I implore-"
I had had no time to listen on as he blathered; for all I could care it was a deer, "Hmph. Very well then."
He led me down into the atrium, where the candles had long since gone out, leaving foreign shadows in their
place. The sounds of our hollow shoes echoed dully across the room: clack-clak clack-clak clack-clak. He
led me to the basement, down far below the gates and the storm window of my chamber; finally to the operating
room. That was the first look I got at the thing.
It was... a flower. And yet it was massive, unlike any flower that would grow on this Earth. They had lain
it out on the table I had used for patients so long ago. The plant was so large itself that it could barely
fit from end to end on the cramped stone. So, I came forward, for now I was quite pleased, "How did it come here?"
"We're... not entirely sure. I was the one on patrol, but it was already quite dead when I got to it. And the
smell; It emitted such a strange smell. Almost like honey, if that helps you."
I bent forward. There was a purple fluid welling up inside of the central cavity, but out of reach by a rather
sharp array of fangs. The smell, however, was pungent to my nose; noticeably so. "Are you sure it smelled of
honey?"
"I'm certain, sir. Why? Was I wrong?"
"..."
Perhaps the first part of post mortem decomposition for this beast was the stagnation of its fluids.
Looking down again, I could now see something quite clearly: eyes. The candles did not shine very brightly,
but it was enough for me to see them; glassy little things, set into a stone gaze from the ties of death.
They were hollow, for a green fluid, almost like blood or chlorophyll, had flooded into them. Obviously,
this creature never did have sight.
"D-Do you know what it is, sir?"
"I haven't the slightest. It is... unlike anything I've ever seen before. Therefore, I suggest you leave
me to my work. You and the other security are dismissed for the evening."
"Verily, sir."
Once I was sure he was gone, I took a small surgeon's knife from an aluminum plate I had nearby, and
proceeded to take a biopsy of the creature's skin. When I cut it open, its green "blood" substance flowed
out readily onto the floor. The stranbut merely seeped and gnawed into my clothing until I was eventually
forced to get a new set of clothes. As I held the skin sample in my hand, knowing not whether this was
true or a dream, I realized: this was no flower.
I sat there for the rest of the night, and as each candle went out as time progressed, I could feel the spirit
of this creature closing in on me. It's spirit! I was a man of science, a surgeon of my day, and yet here I was
reduced to superstitious nonsense by some foolish ghoul of the night! Yet still did I sit there, until the last
candle final sputtered to silence, and then it was just me, me and some... thing.
***
"Lucas, you know how much I love you, honey, and how I never want to see you get hurt..."
"Mom, I'll be fine. After all, I have my pokemon with me."
"That's... that's just the thing. What if it gets hurt? Then how will you keep safe?"
"Mom. Stop. I know what I'm doing out here. You just have to trust me. Maybe that's a new concept for you?"
"For me? Oh please. Whatever, just... go."
"C'mon I never meant to make you worry."
"No, no. It's alright, you just go off and have your little 'pokemon adventure.'"
I don't think I'll EVER understand her. Oh well, I have more important matters at the moment, so I just open
the screen door and leave, without saying a word. She'll worry about me, I know that much, but its the professor
his research that's at the top of my mind.
Examining the package he had given me earlier in the day, I could already see that it was something important. A
computer? Pokeballs? I guess it was never for me to know. There was, however, one thing: the lone pokeball on my belt.
I could feel the little creature inside: my own pokemon. I know it seems strange, but for the first time, I felt
as though I had power. Almost as if this cute thing were my key to success.
I'm walking out of town now, and I can feel the autumn breeze tickle down my neck. The next moment, its completely
still. Everything seems so light, I can feel... rain. The mud builds up quickly along the routes shoddily-paved
path. It gets into everything; my shoes, my hair, my eyes. Heh. At least I have my--
"Lucas, are you going to wake up?"
Of all the rotten luck!
"It's time for your medicine, little guy."
"... You don't need to patronize me."
They give you medicine here. It makes you all better. Makes you have something to hold on to... in this god-forsaken
gray world. At least it doesn't work very well.
"Oh, don't be a poor sport, Lucas! It'll all be over in a second."
I have half a mind to stop her right now, before she pulls out the syringe. She'll fill me up with "happy juice" and
I'll be "all better"... I'm just lucky they haven't given me a lobotomy yet.
Shhhh-ick. She fills up the slender glass container with some strange blu-ish medicine. Jaws... my... my jaws.
"Alright, now hold still."
Yes, that would work splendidly.
The syringe comes forward in her hands, but I see it in slow motion. I wait for the right moment, and find it.
Teeth. The sink into the skin like a knife into butter.
"Goddammit, Lucas! We don't do that here, not at Saint Christopher's!"
Saint? Saint of what? Trapping children in this torturous gray world. Each day I break myself off from this place a
little more, and that's an acheivement for me. All they can say to my "parents" is that I'm "slipping away" and that
there's "nothing they can do about it".
"You're son is just going to have to be lobotomized. I'm afraid there's no other choice..."
The gray parents always say no. That's one thing I have to thank them for.
"Somody get down to Lucas' room. The prick bit me!"
"Eileen, are you alright?" Sounds like the secretary.
"Yeah, yeah. I think I'm bleeding some, though."
"Well, why don't you go down to the offices. If you report this to them, I think you can convince the superintendent
to move Lucas out of your care."
"Yeah, thanks Barb."
As long as I'm not here, I suppose.
*May not be suitable to those of a younger persuasion due to graphic depictions, mild language, and the corruption of the pokemon series.
Introduction:
Lord, in our darkest hour
Pray for those of us who have sinned
That in our dying breath we may
See the spires of Heaven awaiting us...
The prayer murmurs its way to the top of the chapel, but I can feel it being
repelled at the top, unanswered. The creature is in pursuit; I can feel that now, too.
There is nothing left to do except pray that the night will end, that it will return from
whence it came, but I know that's all a lie. I'll never live to see the sun rise.
... From the Night
-- Chapter One of In Our Darkest Hour
"Baron?"
I could hear him, but I chose not to listen.
"Baron Petrovich?"
I wondered when he'd go away...
"Can't you see I don't wish to be bothered?"
"Baron, this is important... it needs your attention."
It was not often that I left my chamber, in those days.
Now that I remember, I can picture the night clearly in my mind: the clouds, the dead air, and the creature.
It was a night where the air hung heavy and silent, anticipating the coming rainfall. And quickly, as I
turned away from the towering bedroom window and locked eyes with the butler, I wondered if there really was
something this time. It had been so long since... I had had a patient in my house.
"We found it -- found... something outside the front gate. Please, Baron, I implore-"
I had had no time to listen on as he blathered; for all I could care it was a deer, "Hmph. Very well then."
He led me down into the atrium, where the candles had long since gone out, leaving foreign shadows in their
place. The sounds of our hollow shoes echoed dully across the room: clack-clak clack-clak clack-clak. He
led me to the basement, down far below the gates and the storm window of my chamber; finally to the operating
room. That was the first look I got at the thing.
It was... a flower. And yet it was massive, unlike any flower that would grow on this Earth. They had lain
it out on the table I had used for patients so long ago. The plant was so large itself that it could barely
fit from end to end on the cramped stone. So, I came forward, for now I was quite pleased, "How did it come here?"
"We're... not entirely sure. I was the one on patrol, but it was already quite dead when I got to it. And the
smell; It emitted such a strange smell. Almost like honey, if that helps you."
I bent forward. There was a purple fluid welling up inside of the central cavity, but out of reach by a rather
sharp array of fangs. The smell, however, was pungent to my nose; noticeably so. "Are you sure it smelled of
honey?"
"I'm certain, sir. Why? Was I wrong?"
"..."
Perhaps the first part of post mortem decomposition for this beast was the stagnation of its fluids.
Looking down again, I could now see something quite clearly: eyes. The candles did not shine very brightly,
but it was enough for me to see them; glassy little things, set into a stone gaze from the ties of death.
They were hollow, for a green fluid, almost like blood or chlorophyll, had flooded into them. Obviously,
this creature never did have sight.
"D-Do you know what it is, sir?"
"I haven't the slightest. It is... unlike anything I've ever seen before. Therefore, I suggest you leave
me to my work. You and the other security are dismissed for the evening."
"Verily, sir."
Once I was sure he was gone, I took a small surgeon's knife from an aluminum plate I had nearby, and
proceeded to take a biopsy of the creature's skin. When I cut it open, its green "blood" substance flowed
out readily onto the floor. The stranbut merely seeped and gnawed into my clothing until I was eventually
forced to get a new set of clothes. As I held the skin sample in my hand, knowing not whether this was
true or a dream, I realized: this was no flower.
I sat there for the rest of the night, and as each candle went out as time progressed, I could feel the spirit
of this creature closing in on me. It's spirit! I was a man of science, a surgeon of my day, and yet here I was
reduced to superstitious nonsense by some foolish ghoul of the night! Yet still did I sit there, until the last
candle final sputtered to silence, and then it was just me, me and some... thing.
***
"Lucas, you know how much I love you, honey, and how I never want to see you get hurt..."
"Mom, I'll be fine. After all, I have my pokemon with me."
"That's... that's just the thing. What if it gets hurt? Then how will you keep safe?"
"Mom. Stop. I know what I'm doing out here. You just have to trust me. Maybe that's a new concept for you?"
"For me? Oh please. Whatever, just... go."
"C'mon I never meant to make you worry."
"No, no. It's alright, you just go off and have your little 'pokemon adventure.'"
I don't think I'll EVER understand her. Oh well, I have more important matters at the moment, so I just open
the screen door and leave, without saying a word. She'll worry about me, I know that much, but its the professor
his research that's at the top of my mind.
Examining the package he had given me earlier in the day, I could already see that it was something important. A
computer? Pokeballs? I guess it was never for me to know. There was, however, one thing: the lone pokeball on my belt.
I could feel the little creature inside: my own pokemon. I know it seems strange, but for the first time, I felt
as though I had power. Almost as if this cute thing were my key to success.
I'm walking out of town now, and I can feel the autumn breeze tickle down my neck. The next moment, its completely
still. Everything seems so light, I can feel... rain. The mud builds up quickly along the routes shoddily-paved
path. It gets into everything; my shoes, my hair, my eyes. Heh. At least I have my--
"Lucas, are you going to wake up?"
Of all the rotten luck!
"It's time for your medicine, little guy."
"... You don't need to patronize me."
They give you medicine here. It makes you all better. Makes you have something to hold on to... in this god-forsaken
gray world. At least it doesn't work very well.
"Oh, don't be a poor sport, Lucas! It'll all be over in a second."
I have half a mind to stop her right now, before she pulls out the syringe. She'll fill me up with "happy juice" and
I'll be "all better"... I'm just lucky they haven't given me a lobotomy yet.
Shhhh-ick. She fills up the slender glass container with some strange blu-ish medicine. Jaws... my... my jaws.
"Alright, now hold still."
Yes, that would work splendidly.
The syringe comes forward in her hands, but I see it in slow motion. I wait for the right moment, and find it.
Teeth. The sink into the skin like a knife into butter.
"Goddammit, Lucas! We don't do that here, not at Saint Christopher's!"
Saint? Saint of what? Trapping children in this torturous gray world. Each day I break myself off from this place a
little more, and that's an acheivement for me. All they can say to my "parents" is that I'm "slipping away" and that
there's "nothing they can do about it".
"You're son is just going to have to be lobotomized. I'm afraid there's no other choice..."
The gray parents always say no. That's one thing I have to thank them for.
"Somody get down to Lucas' room. The prick bit me!"
"Eileen, are you alright?" Sounds like the secretary.
"Yeah, yeah. I think I'm bleeding some, though."
"Well, why don't you go down to the offices. If you report this to them, I think you can convince the superintendent
to move Lucas out of your care."
"Yeah, thanks Barb."
As long as I'm not here, I suppose.
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