Living in Twilight

By MarqueeMoonGirl

part ONE:

———

A wild deer ambled silently across the quiet country road, dimly aware of the faint roar of an engine in the distance. It wasn't right there, the deer reasoned, so it had nothing to worry about. Besides, most of those stupid humans were more worried about damaging their precious cars and would stop to let the deer cross. At most, they would impatiently honk the horn to make it hurry. Not that it would, of course.

The deer had never met the likes of Murdoc Niccals before.

The Geep exploded from the crest of a small incline in the road, becoming airborne for a few seconds before dropping like a stone. The deer darted off to safety a nanosecond before the vehicle would've collided with it.

From the Geep, Murdoc looked in the rear-view mirror and frowned. "Fuck. Almost got that one too."

In the passenger seat, 2D tilted his head quizzically at the driver. "You almost hit Bambi's mum back there, Murdoc."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, brainache."

"I would also prefer to not have to see a defenseless animal be slaughtered, Murdoc-san." Noodle piped up from the back seat. "We should cherish and preserve nature, and not kill it carelessly."

Murdoc silently rolled his eyes. If 2D or Russel lectured him, he would shoot back a profanity-laced retort on why he didn't give a fuck to what either of them thought. Noodle was different. Even if he didn't like what she said, he would usually let it go with a minimum of complaint. Didn't mean he had to do what she asked, although she had an uncanny way of knowing what to say to get all of them to seriously listen to her.

Russel, who had spent the most of the trip from the New York City airport terminal to the Adirondack Mountains asleep, stirred slightly. "What'd he do now?"

"He almost hit a deer. On purpose." 2D volunteered, earning himself a slap across the head from Murdoc. 2D rubbed the spot tenderly. "Oooww. That smarts, Murdoc!" He whined.

"And you think I care?" The bassist snapped.

"You have a twisted little mind, Muds." Russel sighed, still too sleeply to object to Murdoc's abuse of the lead singer. "Just try to keep your bloodlust down until we get to the cabin, a'wight?"

"Yes, this is what will hopefully be a relaxing sabbatical for the group. It would be bad to start it out by squishing small animals for amusement." Noodle said, then slipped her earbuds back on and watched the mountain trees flash past as Coldplay assured her that she lived in a beautiful world. Yeah, she did, yeah she did.

Murdoc grumbled something that sounded like 'Fine'. "No animals and small children."

"Or cyclists."

"Man, you take all the fun out of living, Russ. All right. None of them either."

———

They missed the cabin that they were staying at the first time they zoomed past it at a thousand miles per hour. Driving the Geep backwards, Murdoc stopped in front of a small hill. The butt of a smoldering cigarette fell out of his mouth, creating another small burn on the driver's seat.

"This someone's idea of a sick joke?" Russel growled from the rumble seat.

On top of the hill was a structure that could be called a 'cabin' in only the loosest sense of the word. The small building was covered in wood siding with peeling brown paint. A stone chimney on one side of the cabin was tilting in a way chimneys should never go. Nature had outdone itself in reclaiming the land: the weeds on the hill easily came up to Noodle's calves. A small dirt driveway had been cut into the hill, although it had also become overgrown with weeds. A small dirty white shed was at the end of the driveway.

Through a bit of tricky maneuvering, Murdoc pulled the Geep into the driveway. The passengers bounced up and down over the uneven earth until Murdoc killed the engine.

There was a moment of silence as the four looked at the dilapidated cabin. 2D was the first to speak. "It looks like where they filmed those 'Evil Dead' movies."

Russel looked like he could kill their travel agent. "This...this is disappointing." He barely manged to choke out, a vein in his forehead twitching violently.

"How much did you pay for a two weeks stay? Three thousand American dollars, wasn't it? And no refunds?"

"Shut up, Muds." Russel said, barely above a tense growl. He roughly grabbed his suitcase and headed for the top of the small hill.

The three in the Geep looked at each other. He was actually going in there? "Russel-san? We are staying here?" Noodle asked warily.

The large man twisted the key into the lock, almost snapping the cheap metal in two. "YES."

———

If it was possible, the interior of the cabin looked worse then the outside. The walls were bare studs; a plank across the ceiling with three bare lightbulbs hanging from it were the main source of light. Thick films of dust and mouse dropping covered most surfaces. A vintage 1950s fridge rumbled noisily in one corner next to a dirty stove and oven, presumably in what was the kitchen. A few feet away were the four bunk beds, a small table and an old, slightly chewed sofa covered with an old bedsheet. An old iron stove and a small bundle of firewood stood close to the door.

Murdoc stood in the doorway a moment to survey his surroundings, his travel bag in one hand and his instrument case in the other. "My Winnie is in better shape then this place.." He grumbled. "Doesn't even have a damn toilet."

2D, who was checking out a shelf full of old medications in the kitchen area, happened to look out a small window next to the shelf. "Ah, I think I found it, Murdoc."

Murdoc joined him in the kitchenette. "That's not..." He trailed off, realization striking him. "Sweet Satan, it is."

"What?" Russel asked, easing himself into the small kitchen area.

"It's a disconnected telephone box."

"With cardboard taped over the glass." 2D added.

Russel leaned towards the window, his lips curling back. "And why is there a disconnected phone booth out there?"

"I suppose it's where you answer the call of nature." 2D said, quite proud of himself for thinking up something so witty. The disgusted looks he recieved from Murdoc and Russel flew right over his head.

———

After brief encounters with the phone booth out back, a cold mountain night was starting fall upon the cabin. Noodle, the last one to use the makeshift outhouse, came in carrying her bedrool and two large suitcases, stuffed to bust with clothes and cosmetics. While the fridge was old and loud, it seemed to work all right, and Russel had already started moving some of the food they had brought inside it. 2D had taken the sheets covering the bunk bed's mattress and the sofa outside and shook the mouse droppings out. A small hand-vac had been unearthed from underneath one of the bunks, and Murdoc was grudgingly using it to get rid of the dust and turds on the floor and furniture. Noodle climbed onto one the top bunks and unrolled her sleeping bag after stowed her three suitcases in the rafters above her.

"This one is mine." She called over the noise of the hand-vac, pointing to her bunk.

2D, who had moved on to cleaning the oven, glanced at Murdoc, who shut off the hand-vac. Before Russel or Noodle could react, both of them darted to the remaining top bunk.

The blue-haired singer had almost reached the bunks when Murdoc stomped down on his instep. With a high-pitched yelp, 2D lost his balance and went sprawling into the lower bunk, raising a tremendous cloud of dust. Smiling triumphantly, Murdoc pulled himself onto the upper bunk. "Nice try, dullard."

2D pulled himself into a sitting position and rubbed his sore foot, saying nothing.

Her face softening, Noodle sat down on 2D's bunk. "Where does it hurt, 2D-san?" She reached out to rub his injured foot.

2D wouldn't look at the young girl. "It's all right. I've got some pills on me somewhere."

Noodle shook her head. "No, you don't. You said on the plane you'd left them at Kong, remember?"

At this, 2D burst into tears and collapsed into Noodle's arms. It was too much for him to bear. She gave him a hug and patted him on the back.

As Russel placed the last carton of milk into the fridge, he glared at Murdoc.

The bassist only gave Russel a toothy grin.

———

After Noodle cheered 2D up with a package of cookies she'd bought at the airport, the singer had curled up on his mattress, exhausted. Russel started to prepare dinner as Noodle and Murdoc carried the last pieces of luggage in from the Geep. The night air was chilly, and Murdoc started a small fire in the iron stove to warm up the cabin.

With the fire going and the place relatively cleaned up, it was almost cozy, Noodle thought.

"Dammit 2D, there's a dead rat in the oven!" Russel yelled.

Or not.

"And whose fault is that, exactly?" Murdoc called over from the iron stove. "You're the one who insisted we stay in 'la cabina de la mierda del roedor'."

"The what!"

"Roughly translated, 'The Cabin of Rodent Shit'." He threw another log into the stove and latched the door shut.

"Look, we paid for this cabin. We paid a lot for this cabin, and we're going to use it."

"We got burned, Russ. We got burned real bad. Any fool can see that our agent took advantage of us and is off in some fantastically tropical locale right now, just burning through the pile of money we paid him for this place. "

Noodle had been looking through a small bureau while Russel and Murdoc had been arguing, and now she waved a small sheet of paper between them. "I've found something!"

"What, love?" 2D said.

"It appears to be instructions on taking care of the cabin. Things we should know and what we should and should not do." She looked closely at it. "It is dated 'March 29th, 1973.'"

"Heh. Well, this should be good for a laugh." Murdoc grinned, and sat on the small, uncomfortable sofa covered by a chewed bedsheet.

"What does it say?" Russel asked.

"That we should leave the cabin the same way we found it..."

Murdoc laughed wickedly. "You hear that, Russ? We have to smear this place with eighteen tons of rat crap before we leave. It's a rule."

"Shut it, man."

"...that they, the people who are renting this place I assume, will replace the phone booth with an actual outhouse soon..."

The bassist snorted while Russel just shook his head.

"That we shouldn't smoke inside the cabin..."

Murdoc was about to make another wry comment when 2D sat bolt upright in his bunk, suddenly very much awake. "What'd it say about not smoking!"

"That is what it says..." Noodle said.

"But I need my cigarettes!" The singer cried.

"If it bothers you that much, smoke outside moron." Murdoc said. "It's just tobacco."

"But it's cold out there..."

Russel looked at Murdoc and lifted an eyebrow. "What are you talkin' about? You were practically shaking from nicotine withdrawal when we got off the plane."

"Because I'd been stuck on a small aircraft with you and numb-nuts over there for half a day!" Murdoc yelled. "I needed that smoke!"

Russel bit back a nasty retort. "What else does it say, Noodle?"

"Ah? Oh, um, it says there's a trail to a small creek behind the cabin; and that we can get wash-water there. It suggests getting our drinking water from somewhere else. It also says to not go outside after dark...?" Noodle looked this last guideline confused. "Nani?"

Murdoc snorted again. "Not bloody likely." He muttered.

"These people...have seen where the bathroom is, haven't they? Do we piss into a pop bottle during the night?" 2D said.

Murdoc gave a hollow laugh. "Hell no. I didn't even have to resort to that in jail. In fact, I actually had a honest-to-Satan urinal in Tijuana. Flushed and everything."

Noodle looked on the back of the paper. "How strange. That is all they wrote."

"Oh! Maybe there are zombies around!" 2D said, snapping his fingers. He looked almost excited at the thought of facing off against an army of the undead.

Russel shrugged, then shook his head. "Nah, I don't think the US has a lot of zombies anymore. The ones that are around usually stick closer to cities anyway---y'know, densely populated area equals more food."

"Oh." 2D said, deflating. "Nevermind then."

———

The spirits pressed as far as they could. The lighted windows of the abandoned cabin attracted them to it like moths to a bare lightbulb. Inside the cabin, they could feel humans. Actual humans! They had almost forgotten what a human felt like. And this time, not just one, but four! One spirit noticed that one of the souls inside the small building burned brighter then the rest. The spirit practically buzzed with excitement. None of the others had noticed the bright soul, and it wanted to keep it that way for now.

That bright soul would belong to it soon enough.

END: part ONE