[ hey guys! Sorry this one is shorter. I also added a little thing with another creepypasta who’s really under the radar. I promise other entries will have a lot less obscure references, and more time with the other creepies since I’m clearly focused on a few favourites. Also, I’m hoping to make Alice into less of a blank slate as these entries go on so wish me luck! other than that I hope you enjoy! ]
I crumpled instantly- curled up into a ball.
This horrible distorted sound rings through my ears and causes my limbs to lash and twitch uncontrollably. I've never felt this kind of pain before. The fridge body flashed through my head- memories that aren't mine- pictures of pine trees and my mother. Torment that goes on forever. I wasn't in my own body, but I understood the message.
When I finally came to my senses again, Jane was holding me up. I was puking out onto the snow. The snow? It was not snowing at home. I stabilize myself onto my feet.
“Why are we in the snow, where am I? What the fuck was that???”
Jane hands me a napkin and steps back. She's in winter clothes now. How much time has passed? What the fuck?
“It's ok now hon- we're out on a little expedition. Remember the tunnel? The tree thing? I'm sure Nina showed you. We're out in Alaska now. We need to collect some tapes and you'll be ok.”
Jane and Tim kept a brisk pace ahead through the tall snowy forest. Tim was essentially in the same clothes as before, but Jane had on a long black trench coat with a fluffy trim. I keeled over again and leaned on a pine.
“We got some pills in you, so the side effects of the Operator shouldn't be terribly bad. As far as first tasks go, a fetch quest is the most forgiving, and Echo makes it easy for us.”
“Pills?” I sounded a lot more like a pussy than I intended. I hate pills. I don't know why.
“Don't fight the pills, they help handle the symptoms. You don't want to end up like Jeff or Toby.”
I wanted to ask more questions but my head hurt really bad and I kept tripping on my own feet.
“Where's Nina?”
“Oh she's back at the hotel. She's waiting for another murder mission. She's really sweet but I don't think she'll ever understand life.” Jane responded. Her Cali accent started to bleed through.
There's a long pause before I speak again.
“Where are we going?”
“We're going to collect some tapes for the archive. We have connections with someone called Echo who does most of the work here, but we still have to hike up for it.”
“Archive?”
“Theres a lot of people and things connected to supernatural activity in the world. The operator likes keeping track of everything and controlling what actually gets out. Sometimes we have to go and get tapes or CDs. Ben and Smiley check the internet, and Jeff and Nina go and kill people that cause problems. The best job is just filing all our data.” Tim stops and lights another cigarette.
“What about EJ?”
“There's a lot more people than just the ones we mentioned. It's really rare that we're all at the hotel together. We all technically do whatever the operator asks, we just prefer certain ones. EJ is fucked up so he's better at killing and eating people” Jane responds for Tim.
I pause. Watching up ahead as I see the tall metal structure. It's a radio tower so tall that it blends into the dark sky above us. I feel extremely uneasy-I wonder if the snow will make it fall.
“Fuck do we have to go up there?” Tim scoffs from the side of his mouth.
“Hellooooooo” A mechanical voice answers from the impossibly dark terrain.
Jane and Tim stop, and I bump directly into the fancy fleece coat before correcting my posture half assedly.
Echo steps out from behind a tree with a giddy expression on her face- it's kind of like Nina's but more predatory and observant, like a carnivorous rodent.
She's got scruffy hair, a striped sweater that's clearly too thin for the weather, and a big duffel bag with her. The most striking part of her appearance is embedded directly into her throat, where the mechanical whirr originates from: an audio player.
“You've got mail” the tape scratches- she bares her teeth. Creepy.
“Hey Echo, mind if we take the tapes and run? We’re in a bit of a hurry today.” Tim takes a big huff of the cigarette.
Echo backs away and puts the bag behind her, pointing to her neck machine and then outstretching her hand. Tim then turns to face Jane.
“Yeah, yeah.” Jane reaches into her pocket and pulls out a singular tape, it's simply labelled ‘retail’.
Echo hastily grabs it and replaces her old tape.
“Hello– one more please— can I please have –this— how much??-” It was Jane’s voice, but it was scratchy like a recording. Finally pleased with the transaction, Echo tossed the bag towards our feet and then backed away to watch us leave. Tim immediately hoists the bag over his shoulders, and Jane blows a kiss as we turn around.
By the tunnel, I've basically pulled my hat over my entire face to escape the cold, and I'm wishing that I was flirtatious enough to share a thicker jacket with one of my “guides”.
We decide that I should get home ASAP and Jane agrees to take the new tapes back to the mansion so that Tim can walk me back to my house. My legs hurt a lot and the woods are especially creepy this time of night, but he seems to know his way around with just his little yellow flashlight, and it’s no longer snowy here.
Finally, the orange lights of my home glow ominously through the pine trees.
Tim slowly follows beside me, up towards my porch. The sky is entirely dark with clouds and I wonder what the time could possibly be. Probably well after midnight.
Tim pats my shoulder-
“Hey, I have an idea to get you out of trouble with your dad. Where's your toolbox?”
“It's over on the back porch”
Tim gestures for me to get it quietly, and then upon receiving it gets some of the excess grease on his hands and shirt.
“I like the flannel, why are you getting it dirty?”
“I'm making it look believable- where's your pepper spray”
“I don't have pepper spray”
“You didn't take pepper spray to a house full of dangerous strangers???”
“I didn't know they were dangerous and I don't own any- I have bear spray though”
“We're not bears but I guess it'll work”
“You're a bear” I giggle under my breath. The can is lodged in the wooden chair by the front porch, so I shove it awkwardly in my back pocket before letting myself into the house with the gentle creak of a door.
“Alison! Where the hell were you?” My dad immediately stands up from the couch. His face is worn with worry and he nearly falls on his crutch.
“I'm sorry dad- I”
“Alice this place is dangerous-” he paused, noticing Tim next to me with a flash of fear- then anger. “Who are you?” He hissed.
“Hello sir, I’m uh, Tim. I'm really sorry, my car’s battery shut down and this was the closest place I could find so I was borrowing jumper cables- it took a while for another car to get here though, I'm really sorry.” His demeanor had entirely shifted into something a lot more awkward.
“What are you even doing this far out in the woods for??” I had never seen my dad so livid before.
“I'm a film student- I came from rosswood and I wanted to shoot some pine trees”
My father's face darkened.
“Leave.”
I wanted to ask if Tim could stay- I mean, the clock on the wall indicated that it was two in the morning- as Tim was shuffling out the door I whispered to my dad, that it might be safer to let the stranger stay over. Even though I knew Tim was probably more of a threat than anything outside.
“Hey Tim, if you need somewhere to stay till the morning our couch is free”
He hesitated, and reluctantly eyed out couch. “Are you- I mean I don't want to bother”
“Give us a moment” my father huffed as he took me into his bedroom. His face looked so entirely sullen. The door slammed- shutting Tim into the living room.
“Alice, you could've been killed- I have no way of knowing- that’s a stranger!” he nearly yelled.
“Dad you're gonna have to let me talk to people, I know it's not the best situation but I don't know what the hell I'm doing when I talk to people- I don't want to be a hermit forever, I want to at least try and make friends."
“Is this not enough for you??? Do you already want to leave?” He gestures to the house. I know Tim’s hearing this through the thin wood walls.
“Dad, I'll be 18 in a month. I love you but I've been alone long enough.” I plead
He stays quiet for a long time, before turning out the door with a last mutter that I can't catch.
I'm feeling uneasy again but I get Tim some extra blankets and tea. Tim’s super grateful, asking me if I'm ok, and giving so many thanks for the sofa bed.
Apparently he hates the hotel and usually sleeps in his car. I thank him for the lie and he wishes me good dreams.
I give him some privacy and escape to my room, but I keep waking up.
I notice my dad is awake through the lack of snoring sounds.
I watch the living room through the crack in my door.
Tim has his belongings laid out on the coffee table and is already passed out. I feel awkward watching but at the same time I'm so intrigued. Is the little camcorder on? Who are these people I've met? Is it good that I met them?
I stay awake in bed.
I fear that though I've finally stepped out of my cage, and entered a new one.
FIREWATCH (my slendermansion take? Idk I did my research and I love the creepies)
Part two: a lot of death threats
(warning: gore/dead body and also my writing is shit)
It was a very sharp knife- and Very polished.
I could see the reflection of my eye in it, even though it was still mostly dark.
The threat?
Surprisingly not Jeff actually.
She was absolutely gorgeous- big fluffy hair with pink stripey streaks. Head to toe was stripes and fishnets, pink, purple, red. Everything that anyone wanted to be if they liked MCR. She also had a big smile shaped scratch in her face, but unlike Jeff, hers was healing.
“Teach me how to cook.” she demanded
“What?”
“Yesterday Jeff came home and I've never seen him like that before- he said you cooked for him.”
I kept staring at her, my eyes focused on the knife. I held my breath. What the fuck???
“HE CAME HOME AND HE ACTUALLY SLEPT! I mean- I've known Jeff for YEARS and I've never seen him try to sleep on his own? Usually he passes out from exhaustion! He kept blabbering about you putting bandaids on smile dog like an idiot-” She started waving the knife around as she talked. She giggled every now and then despite her concerned look. After she unpins me I climbed as far back as my bed would let me.
“Who are you???”
“Oh I'm Nina- I'm Jeff's, well his situmacationship. You have no idea how much I try to take care of that guy- really, he doesn't even shower unless EJ helps me.”
“Who's EJ?”
“Oh he's just one of our friends”
“There's more of you???”
“Oh there's so many of us!” she giggles.
I sit, shocked for a moment. What does that mean. Did Jeff lie? Who are these other people?
“I'll take you there if you want” Nina offers. “If you teach me that is”. Teach her to cook… well that's interesting. She didn't even let me get out of pijamas before I was dragged to the kitchen.
“Ok so what do you want to know how to make?”
“What did you make for Jeff?”
“I honestly just threw together some leftovers.”
Nina looks around the kitchen in disbelief. She looks out of place in the quaint little kitchen.
“Can you teach me anything please? Like pasta or jello?”
“Jello?”
“You get my point.” She giggled again. I decided to show her pasta. I got out dry noodles and cut onions and leftover zucchini, added some sauce and ground beef. She was much more precise with the knife and even though she tried taking the noodles out of boiling water with her hands, she was a quick after quickly trying the pasta, we decided to box it up in one of my numerous tupperwares.
Nina led me outside skipping.
“So where is it? The place where you all live?” I asked.
“Oh oh let me show you!” Nina grabbed me by the hand and began running. She weaved between trees for at least a mile. The clouds started rumbling overhead and a thick coat of fog started to wrap around us. Finally, we found a tunnel. It was massive and looked like some kind of waterway. It had a bright light on the other side and it hurt my head. I'd never seen that tunnel before, even though I've walked all over this woodland. She pulled me through, her footsteps and numerous accessory attachments loudly echo through the tunnel, until I feel the drops of rain on my head on the other side.
Immediately I'm thrown to the ground. The shrubs are spikey and cut into my neck, the dude on top of me wears a blue mask, and he was strangling the air from me, I kicked and squirmed and threw my hands out in front of me- Nina kicked the blue guy square in the head like a soccer ball and he grabbed his face in pain.
“EJ I TOLD YOU TO GET OFF!” Nina stomped like this was a normal frustrating occurance.
EJ scampers off into the bushes like a fucking animal.
Ok I guess.
Nina helps me up from the ground, where I nearly trip on my boots.
“Ok so this place is an old hotel- that's where we live. A lot of us are out on expaditions right now but Jeff is here and that's what's important.” It was clear what she's referring to. In front of us is a huge roadside motel that's missing a road. The windows have burn marks, and the place looks worn down as shit. Big red letters spell [La Bella Muerte] overhead.
One side has a ton of satellite disks and antennas, and the other has a dilapidated wooden shed.
“That one's my room” She points to one of the many windows. I pause.
“You guys live here? Are there any… you know… adults?”
“Most of us are older. I'm 19 now, Jeff is 21, EJ is 24 I think. There's a few of us who've been here since we were younger, but we take care of ourselves.” She stares at the Tupperware in her hands for a long time before making way to the entrance.
She lets us in without a key and the hotel hits me with the smell of nostalgia and rot.
That damp wood smell that I remember from when dad and I stayed in motels across the states. He used to be a warden, but he got injured, and then mom started yelling, and eventually I saw the life drain from his eyes and we started the moves.
A week per town for three months. Musty hotels with secrets under those carpet floors. Residents consisting of truckers and people you hope stay strangers. Then he got a job in Washington- it was really rough on dad- he was never meant for a big town. He's a lot less social than me.
That's when he got approved for Firewatch- of course he'd take the job. It's hard to get approved, since there's only a few hundred left in the country.
It was our gift from God. The one that confirmed our right to keep living.
There's no one at the reception desk, but there's a small lounge with a corkboard wall. Hundreds of creepy notes are attached. The sofas all look incredibly vintage and there's a pile of plastic bags on one of the coffee tables.
“What In the hell do you think you're doing Nina?” A voice rings out.
It's this boy- a really short blonde one, and he's got on what looks like a Link Halloween costume. He's sitting upside down in one of the chairs and playing an old console game. He appears to be glowing.
“You know this isn't your sorority” Nina doesn't speak, but reacts swiftly, throwing a knife to land barely an inch away from his face. The boy rolled his eyes and continued playing his game. I can't even process what happened when Nina takes my hand again.
She weaves through the chairs and into another lounge room, this time equipped with a pool table and a very vandalized looking dart board with photos of clearly disliked people and a lot more knives sticking out.
Before we can get to the staircase, I spot two people on plush chairs. Nina stops in front of them.
To say that these two were Divine was an understatement.
The lady has thick black hair and accessories galore, she's dressed entirely in black with lace, chains, and barbed wire- topped with a very pretty painted white face. Her eyes are deep black and pay no attention to me, but rather to the queen of spades in her hand.
The guy? He looks huge and bulky in that lumberjack sort of way- big leather boots, and a yellow corduroy jacket over plaid. I've never even seen someone pull off sideburns until this. A cigarette hangs loosely from his mouth and his eyes drift from his cards to the table, studying the situation carefully.
Nina pesters the girl.
“Jane, Jane, Jane, this girl I found taught me to cook”
“Did she teach you a recipe or the entirety of cooking?” Says Jane, unfazed by our presence. Nina stares at the box in her hands, then at me. It's an uncomfortably long time before Nina turns and marches up the stairs. Despite my intrigue, I leave the two gorgeous people behind. I remind myself that I have a habit of falling for the first people I see.
After the staircase is a long hallway, but our destination is the first room, which Nina barges into without knocking.
“Jeffery, we have brought you spaghetti!”
“Who's we? Your cooking is shit” Jeff doesn't look up. He's reading a porno on his bed. What's with all the pornos like seriously??? Get a hobby.
His room is disgusting. The walls are beat up and have paper ripped off in certain places, his bed isn't made, he's laundry on the floor, and cups of instant ramen literally everywhere.
“Me and- what's her name…Alice!” I kind of ignore the conversation, and try to study the writing scratched into the wall instead. His handwriting sucks. While I'm in my thoughts, it seems Jeff has taken the noodles and shut us out of his room- I don't know what we were expecting.
Nina motions for me to follow her down the hallway, where a sticker-ified door marks her room. The inside is filled with posters, plushies, and anything fashion related I can think of. Her room is far nicer than Jeff's, be it cluttered- but she's got a vanity and a cheetah print rug, and adorable invader Zim plushies. We sit on her floor and she paints my nails while we blast paramour- which is apparently her favorite band.
“So paramour is my favorite but what's yours?”
“Uh, I like My Chem I guess”
“OMG SHUT UP I LOVE MY CHEM- WAIT WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SONG- and you CAN’T say you can't decide”
I think for a long moment, before picking Cemetery Drive, which sends her into another fit of joy. Her laughter is contagious and she ends up giving me a lot of fashion advice, including some nice hair clips that she says she doesn't need anymore.
It's the most happy I've felt in a long time- when I think of it, I realize I can't actually remember when I was this happy before. I can't help but wonder when this feeling will be taken from me again, and when I'll be alone again. When will I be empty like I always am?
Nina gives me a copy of Fangoria to take home, which she says I'll enjoy since I like horror movies so much, and then takes me downstairs again to resume her training.
Her cooking training.
The training for her to learn cooking.
This time she says she wants to make dinner for everyone- which is a lot of fucking people.
She says that if she wants to let me go, then I have to prove useful, and most of these guys haven't eaten real food in a hot minute. I know I'm needing to get back home soon, but I'm sure I can finish up quickly.
The Bella Muerte kitchen is not as bad as I feared. Not great, but it's got a working stove and doesn't have bloodstains like the rest of the house. The problem is when I open the fridge.
“What the fuck!!??” I fall backwards, and I scream again.
“What's wrong???” Nina rushes to help me up.
“There's a fucking- a fucking body-”
Nina pauses and loses her concern.
“Oh yeah EJ puts them there, they're really gross if they get warm”
I stare in horror. The pale, naked body. Its legs and arms are missing. The white bone sticks out where the shoulders would have been. Its hair is cut off. His head lolls to the side, and a plastic bag is tightly wrapped around the body, suffocating it like a vacuum seal, letting blood pool in the folds and crevices of the bag. I've seen hunters before, skinning deer, but I don't think anything could ever prepare me for it.
For him.
It's slumped at the lowest level of the fridge, where little plastic produce boxes usually go. The wire racks an obstacle that the body has to bend to allow. If they get warm? Ej? What the fuck.
“You actually kill people?”
“Not usually. Our normal missions are pretty boring and stuff but sometimes if people mess with the archive we gotta do it- oh, fuck” Nina turns to the doorway, to meet the dude from before with the plaid and coorderoy. He's focused on me. His eye contact feels targeted.
“I’m sorry, but you're going to be stuck with us now.”
“What???” I ask, getting up from the floor.
“The Operator doesn't like people knowing about the Archive, or really any of this place. If you're here, you have to prove useful, or you're never going home.”
I took a few moments to assess what was said. Then slowly I walk up to the fridge and assess ingredients. Barely anything.
I hear my heart in my chest, and Nina's bored look makes me feel nauseous. The guy in the doorway genuinely looks apologetic which makes me feel a little better.
“Come on, I'll take you to the store” he sighs.
Nina and I follow the guy, who introduces himself as Tim. He's relatively quiet, but lights a cigarette again the moment we're outside, occasionally watching the smoke drift upwards. We pass through the tunnel again, but this time the path looks different, and we're in a new town that I don't recognize. Nina is wearing a cloth face mask, and pulls her hoodie over her hair. Even though she still acts giddy, I see an anxiousness in the way her eyes dart back and forth.
We find ourselves by an old brick supermarket. The building itself is well upkept but it’s so small it might compare to my house. The doors chime open and the grandma looking cashier smiles warmly at us.
“So what are we cooking?” Nina whispers under her hood once we enter the produce aisle.
“I don't know,” I hissed back. I didn't mean to sound aggressive, but I believe I have the right to be.
“Do you know how to make chilli?”
“Of course I know how to make chilli- I'm a proper American”
“Then let's make chilli”
“We don't have time for chilli, it's getting dark- I should make something nice and fancy”
“what about spaghetti”
“We had that for lunch???”
“Oh what about tacos!? GIR likes tacos” Nina hits a silly pose.
“Ok we can make tacos.”
I pick out some small corn tortillas, lettuce, radishes, meat, cheese, tomatoes, spices, refried beans, an avocado, and because this store is blessed; pickled onions. I bring up the items to register before patting my back pocket and realizing:
I have no money.
I have never had money.
The only money I've ever had is what my dad's given me.
My dad didn't give me money today, because I wasn't supposed to go to the store.
Nina shrugs and stares back at me. I begin hearing my heartbeat again and I consider grabbing everything and running, so that I don't end up like the fridge body. Tim taps my shoulder from behind and puts a 50 on the counter, with a dissatisfied expression on his face.
We carry back the grocery bags through the woods, it's starting to get dark already and I can feel the dread all over. My mind pans back to the fridge body. I wonder what his name was. Will I be missed when I'm stuffed in a fridge? Will I even be tasty?
Tim sighs. He ended up carrying Nina's bag since she's skipping off again, her hoodie down now.
“I'm sorry she roped you into this, and I wish I could help you, but I can't fund this place’s food budget. I already have a lot of trouble keeping a job so if I want any money I can't give it away.”
I nod my head apologetically, but my mind is still focused on the fridge body.
“You're probably going to come back here. If you get the chance, don't. But for now just stick with me and Jane, ok? The others can be unpredictable- even Nina.”
He's got a surprisingly soft voice despite being so gruff looking. He's also not as tall as I thought, only being an inch or so taller. He makes up for it by being built larger, but his normalcy comforts me anyways.
When we get back to the hotel, I cook up the meal quickly. Nina says she wants to help but ends up getting distracted anyways. The guy who ends up helping for a little bit is unsurprisingly Tim, and he scares off the blue guy from earlier, who I now know is the owner of the fridge-body.
I finish up the plates before coming into the lounge. Nina calls down a few more people, and there's even more scary faces that show up. I (now entirely regretting coming here) find a corner of the room where I can people-watch, and let Nina take the credit for the tacos. I hope they're ok. .. ..Most of the oddly dressed people have shuffled out of the room- undeniably happy- but leaving a large amount of dirty dishes.
Jeff and the Legend of Zelda kid are trying to steal leftovers- the Jane lady is talking to Tim, and Nina is nowhere to be seen.
The sun has already set by now, and the fluorescent lights above flicker hazardously, before engulfing the place in complete darkness.
[You will not insult my hospitality- you're making a fool of yourself]
My eyes focus in the dark to see the silver outline of The Operator.
Please go easy on me this is my first fanfic. I probably won't do anything sexual but I'll include a ton of characters later on- even some new ones I've written, but I'm hoping to put a new spin on the classic trope. Enjoy chapter One! Lmk if you guys like it!
Entry one
I had been living with my dad in the fire watch station for two years now, so most of my high school. Sometimes it was really frustrating to be so alone, but I love my dad and I didn't want to live with a stranger.
My dad always loved forests and stuff, so it's nice to see him so happy again. The fire watch station is essentially cut off from the rest of the world. Yeah, it has electricity, but it's limited, and there's no wifi, which really sucks, so I have to wait for the end of the week when we drive all the way into town just to mail my old friends things. After a while they stopped mailing back. It's ok, I understand it's hard to keep in contact. That's why most of my entertainment belongs to shitty console games on an old computer and CDs I can play on the walkman.
I'll take long walks in the middle of the forest, listening to MyChemicalRomance or Green Day or anything I can find that lets me scream out to the world. It's not a nice world and for the last two years it's been so incredibly lonely. My dad's nice and he talks to me a lot, we play board games, and he'll buy me essentially any CD I want, but he hasn't been the same since mom left. She broke him.
He's quietly driving our old GMC pickup, every bump in the road shakes the whole vehicle. I'd like to lean my head on the window and watch the rain, but I'm sure I'd hit my head on the glass. My toes are cold, the car smells like wood chips. The drive is three hours-which is actually pretty short for a fire watch, I heard sometimes you have to fly in.
Today I'm accompanying my dad into town because I want to get more CDs. There's a little shop in town with cheap ones- pure luck considering the town barely even has a grocery store. Dad hands me 30$ worth of crumpled up 5s. “make sure to get us a new movie, pumpkin” I nod my head before walking alone to the video store.
We have a tradition of buying slasher movies every other month, my favorite is Friday the 13th, and I love watching the movies together. I shove my hands into my hoodie pockets, staring at the various flyers hung up around the town. One is plastered on the video store door; it's a missing dog poster, but it lacks any image nor phone number, just a crude sketch, probably made by a young kid.
“LOST DOG- Siberian husky, please help me find him” I feel kind of bad for the kid, so I decide I'll look out on the ride home, but the forest is big, and I have no clue how to contact them again anyways.
The bell of the store rings, and inside the cozy smell of dust and old magazines is overwhelming. The Cashier nods at me, which is the most interaction I'll get out of him. I've tried talking with him before but I usually just end up feeling like a bother. He's probably mid twenties and usually reads a perverted looking magazine, but his face seems so unfazed that he might not even realize it. I remember how I used to have a crush on him when I moved here- that's something I've realized loneliness does. You get desperate for literally the only people you know- even if they don't talk to you.
I found an album by The Used with a creepy looking guy on the cover, and a movie called Black Christmas.
After walking around the desolate town and wandering through the aisles of the unbranded gas station and staring at the little rolly hot dogs, I glumly found my dad's car. He got groceries for the week, plus some new batteries and whatever. I notice he's bought my favorite chilli peppers, which makes me smile. He starts up the car before we begin our long way back.
We used to talk about our interactions with the townspeople but have since stopped after realizing they wanted nothing to do with us. The car bumps again in the road. It's dark by the time we get home, so I start cooking dinner while he proceeds to go back up to the firewatch. I make something that might have once been a Mexican recipe but no longer resembled anything of the sort. It's got tortillas and beans and also jalapeno poppers but other than that it's not really any identifiable food. That's not to say it isn't good, it's just unique. I've had time to experiment.
I end up going outside to eat and taking my sketchbook with me. I sit on an old camping chair and stare out into the woods. There's some old Robert Frost poem about how nice the woods are and how lovely and dark and whatever they are and I guess at night time that's when you really understand it.
The woods have this delicious damp smell of moss from the rain earlier, and thankfully it's getting to that point of coldness where the mosquitoes leave you alone. I start missing the company I used to have but I don't like to dwell on that. I've gotten distracted from my food after a little, I'm drawing characters from movies I like (mostly horror DUH) when I hear screams.
It's a violent wail that echoes through the woods, it's too high pitched to be my dad- too low for a mountain lion. I grab my flashlight and shove the little box of food into my pocket, taking off into the woods. I know running into the woods is dumb, especially in the dead of night, but I'm far more prepared than whomever is out there, I'm sure of it. I know this place.
“Hello? Who's out there?” I yell. There is silence, and then another set of screams. No one's there. Wherever I look, it's pure empty woodland, the mist is heavy and thick, condensation dragging on my clothing. Finally, I see what's making the noise, it's a dog. I remember the flyer from earlier, a Siberian husky.It's here.
“Here boy!” I pat my knees, trying to draw it to me. It goes silent, and begins to menacingly prowl towards me. The closer it gets, the more wrong it seems, maybe it's rabid? But it doesn't have that rabies gait. It's much bigger than I thought, and it's face is fucked up- like REALLY fucked up. It's red, and all its teeth and gums are exposed. A deep growl echoes within it, and I suddenly feel afraid.
I fumble around my pockets, dropping my flashlight, with a loud clatter, and I grab the box of food from my hoodie pocket, careful not to drop the Tupperware. When it finally opens, my hands are shaking, its face is horribly close to mine, huge eyes stare at me, a crude smile torn into its flesh. But it sniffs the container, and begins to eat cautiously.
I gently lead the beast towards my patio, it's a long walk, and I'm shaking the whole way, but it listens to me. I know my dad isn't going to be home till the morning, so I lead the horrible creature through the house, to the kitchen where I find sausages to feed it.
Our medicine cabinet is a little impressive, it's bulky, and has essentially anything you'd find in a small pharmacy- that last part’s a joke. I struggled to hold the dog still as I tried my best to treat its mangled face. Some alcahol to kill the bacteria, and a big bandage to keep it covered.
After making more terrible screaming noises, the dog finally calms down, and lays down in the corner by my computer. I try to stay up so that the nightmare creature doesn't hurt me, but after a few hours of Legend of Zelda, I fall asleep.
I awake with a mound of fur on me, the dog’s half bandaged face peacefully exhaling on my chest. The sound of rain is relaxing on the window panes. But then the air is pulled from my lungs- if the dog wasn't on me I would have jumped, but instead I try to pull myself up as best I can.
Across the bed, there's a teen boy, a huge bloody smile carved into his face.
“The dog wouldn't go back with me.” I took a second glance at him, he was dirty, bloody even, which showed on his white hoodie. He had messy black hair only a little shorter than mine.
“Why'd you bandage his face?”
“I- um” I sputtered. “I'm sorry, I'm just surprised. I just thought he was hurt. Is he your dog?”
“Yeah… that's Smiley… he's not hurt, that's just his face.”
I wanted to ask if it was like his own scarring, but I knew better. I instead climbed out of bed.
“You look a little beat up, could I, uhm, get you some food and stuff?”
He looks awkward and confused before nodding his head.
I walk to the kitchen, still in my pajamas, with both the stranger boy and the dog following me. I sit him on the couch overlooking the stove, it's a small cabin so our dining room, living room, and kitchen are all one room. My dad and I call it the “not bedroom room”.
“My name’s Alice, by the way.”
The guy studies me up and down nervously.
“I'm Jeff.”
“Your dog really likes canadian sausage”
I giggle while opening up the kitchen drawers to make breakfast. I'm hoping dad won't mind if I make a little extra. Jeff gets up from the couch and leans on the counter next to me, despite seeming a bit uncomfortable.
“So why'd you live so far out here- are your parents cultists?”
“Dad works a firewatch- how did you even get here?”
“I live somewhere out here too.”
That's weird. I've walked out here for miles. Surely I'd see another house? Especially up from the Firewatch- I mean it's a huge fucking tower, that's the point? To see everything?
I finish up the breakfast, it's my fancy one, usually I'll skip breakfast, but today I'm gonna make eggs with veggies and meat cut up in it. I slice some salami and offer a taste to Jeff and then the dog. Jeff hesitates before taking a bite, then hesitates again before thanking me. I handed him some water.
“So…. Do you have any hobbies?”
“Not really,” he mumbles.
“Not any?”They both kept smiling silently, but his eyes were blank and stared through the window absently.
“I don't know what I'd call a hobby” He caught me watching him and turned his attention to my hands, where I'm cutting an onion for breakfast. I like onions a lot, and I don't think I'd manage a single meal without them.
“I have some movies. Mostly just horror ones though- I bought black Christmas last night”
He smiled genuinely now. Gesturing for the knife. I hesitated before handing it to him.
“not many people know black Christmas.” He said it less as a fact, and more with energy in his voice. His cuts were shitty. The onion was cut fast but it had very little consistency. He was just a show off. I started the stove and got out some leftovers. He tossed the onions in the pan, but I could see his eyes preoccupied on the flame burner.
“Have you seen Scream?” ….He took a few seconds before responding this time;
"Everyone's seen it. It's the best one”.
“We can watch that one then…” He finally made eye contact with me for the first time since our meeting, and suddenly I felt as if I were out and standing in the rain.
“At least until it stops raining?” I mumbled, trying to find an excuse.
“We can leave”
“Please don't”
“Ok."
And so then I handed him some breakfast. Smiledog awoke from his floor nap, eagerly eying the table food instead.
“Were you the one who made the drawings on smiledog’s poster”
“So what if I was?” he said between bites. He looked as if he'd never had food in his life.
“I thought they were nice”
"They're shit, don't lie."
I felt a taste of discomfort so I change subject:
“Do you have any freinds?”
“I wouldn't call them that”
“Oh… mine are back in washington”
“I've been there, I don't like it”
“Yeah…. It's a bit rainy, but I liked the company.”
Jeff had finished his plate. I wasn't close to done with mine but I put his plate in the sink and mine in the fridge.
“Let's go watch that movie” I gestured for him to follow. He awkwardly did, and flopped onto the old couch. The movie was great, although Jeff kept laughing at weird portions. He’s definitely mentally ill, but I'm not one to judge. Smiley eventually joined us in the living room, flopping over with a loud huff. Eventually towards the last third of the movie Smiley stood up and stared at the door- quietly but on alert for sure.
“I should leave.” Jeff said sighing.
“Are you sure? maybe you want to borrow our laundry machine? Your hoodie's really dirty”
“It's fine” he hissed.
“I'm sorry”
Jeff just got up, and left through the front door with the dog. Not even saying bye. I watched him leave out the window, until he dissapeared through the trees. That's it. He was gone.Probably forever. I layed on the couch for the rest of the day. Blasting the new music through my earbuds. I cried a lot. Why couldn't he stay? Did I do something? The first conversation with a kid my age in two years and I couldn't even keep him for a whole movie. I was planning to wait until I “graduated” to leave, so I could go to college, but now, what if I can't even talk to people? Am I destined to be a recluse forever? I barely talked to dad when he stopped by for lunch. It had to be fast, since he would be staying the night up there today. Again. I skipped dinner tonight. And I didn't go for a walk. Instead I went straight to bed. I went straight to bed for the next three days. I had weird dreams about cameras and video cassettes. It was when I woke up on that third day though, that I found what was really weird.
stupid crappy comic about a character's online relationship. She goes to a school for monsters but she's a human. So are Benji and Rocky, but the rest are monsters. I want to make more comics (one comic for each character/ character romance) if this is well received.
sorry for the crap quality- my pens are all dying at once.
vaporwave
origamiaround
izzy806
theartofmadeline
