House of 1000 Weirdos
Chaptire I
"I've got the understanding of a four year old
I've got the piece of mind of a killer's soul
I've got the rationale of a New York cop
I've got the patience of a chopping block
Can't you trip like I do?"
- Filter & The Crystal Method, 'Trip Like I Do'
Ben was starting to stare a hole into the ceiling of the RV. The group was stopped at a gas station for a break, but Ben hadn't needed anything. Well, that's what Gwen and Max assumed since he hadn't spoke up.
In fact, he hadn't spoke since they left the burning warehouse two days ago.
Max felt horrible about this entire situation. First, a child that he never knew about comes in and tries to kill him and his grandchildren, and second, his own grandson now avoided him like the plague. Max knew what was bothering Ben, but he also knew that to bring it up would make matters worse. What would his grandchildren think of him? Would they be disgusted? What if their parents found out?
Max threw up a little, the taste was rank and horrid. He left the station restroom in a hurry, paying for the gas and sodas before loading up in the RV. Gwen took her place at shotgun, and off they went. The mood in the vehicle was tense, almost palpable. Their next destination was going to be the Route #66 Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so Max figured he had better get their as fast as they could.
Gwen leaned into the window, sighing in mock-boredom. She knew there was something grandpa wasn't telling them. Though that wasn't unusual anymore, this was very different. That Eloi girl said she was Max's daughter. But if that were true, then grandpa...
Gwen didn't even want to think about it. She knew all about sex, even at age 10. The thought of grandpa doing that was gross. She sighed again, trying to get some stress off her. After a little while, she dozed off peacefully. Max check the rear view, seeing that Ben was still lying in his bunk, staring upwards.
'Why is it that the towns in southern states seem spread so ridiculously far appart?' Max thought as the time passed without excitement. Ben had dozed off, so at least Max could relax without feeling like death was over his shoulder. After what seemed like forever and a day, they made it to the town of Burketsville. They passed through without incident.
Ten minutes later, Max reached over to Gwens seat and took the map into his hands.According to the map, they were about to hit Tinsel Town. Max shook his head and drove on, not really caring about what there was to see along the way.
His interest was piked when he hit a road block that was surrounded by police.
"Pardon me, sir," said one of the cops when Max rolled the window down. "but your gonna have to take a detour. This road is section off for the Main Street Block Party." The word 'party' seemed to lift Max's spirit some.
"Party, ya say?"
"Yeah, the folks in town do this every 4th of July weekend. Go on and have some fun, sir. They love tourists in this town." Max thanked the police, rolled up his window and made his way into town.
The whole place was more a circus than a town. People were crowding each other as they danced, shopped, ate, and did your average frivolous activities. Max reached over and shook Gwen awake.
"Go wake up Ben. I think I found just the place to relax." Gwen yawned, stretch her legs and went to the back. Ben gurgled some spit and grunted as Gwen poked him.
"Wake up Ben. Were about to stop for the night." But Ben was in no mood to be ordered around. He turned over and ignored Gwen. She gave up and went back to her seat.
"Bens' being a jerk, as usual." she lamented to Max. Max sighed and nodded.
"I'll have a talk with him later. Right now, lets just try and find a place to rest."
One hour and 10 hotels and 5 campsites later, absolutely no one had a vacant spot open! The entire town was packed to the teeth with out of towners. Max cursed under his breath as he fumbled with his wallet, getting money out to pay for some soda's and chips. The man at the register was a scary looking individual, what with the mow hawk and facial scars. Gwen walked out of the ladies restroom, still drying her hands on her shirt.
"Any thoughts on where we could stay, grandpa?" Max shook his head.
"No clue. I guess we could just park it in some vacant lot. I'll get some bottled water if we have to." Suddenly, Mr. Scarface spoke up.
"'Scuse me, sir. You guys looking for a place to stay?" he asked. His odd accent belied his fearsome exterior. "If you can't go anywhere else, you could always try the boarding house on Lotus Hill."
"Boarding house?" Max asked.
"Yeah. It's owned by Moonie Okashii. She's a lot nicer than she seems. If you tell her you've got nowhere else to go, I'm sure she'll put you up for as long as you need." Max thought for a moment. A boarding house sounded a lot better than camping in some empty parking lot for a night.
"You sure she'd be okay with this?" Max asked. Scarface nodded.
"Yeah. It's where I live. She takes in all kinds. Just explain things to her and it'll be alright." Max looked to Gwen who was nodding her head fervently.
"Alright, we'll try it. Thanks Mr...?"
"Frank. Frank Molay. Your welcome, all the same."
The road up Lotus Hill was twisty. Hazardously twisty. Max couldn't believe anyone was really living up here. Ben had finally drug himself out of bed, though he wasn't exactly the bright ray of sunshine he would be. He sat at the table, his head in his hands, looking for all intents and purposes like a surly dog who never gets let inside the house.
Max found the turn off, though it was hard to see through the willow trees and bushes. Maneuvering the mammoth RV, he squeezed into the driveway. Up atop the hill, he could see a large, three story building looming over the pinkish-orange tinted horizon. It made Max think of all those black and white Bela Lugosi horror films he used to watch as a kid. Heck, he half expected to hear wolves howling and see bats flying around the place.
Either he was psychic or had a good sense of timing, because he then heard the howl of a wolf in the distance, and a swarm of bats fly past the windshield. He had half a mind to turn around and take his chances in town. But he knew Ben and Gwen were exhausted from their last alien encounter, and they needed a real bed to sleep in. For them, he would take this chance. He parked the RV, and turned to the cousins.
"Okay, I'll go see if she'll take us in. Just stay here, I'll be back in a moment." Gwen agreed while Ben just mumbled. Max made his way across the yard. The place looked as if it were well kept. The lawn was neatly trimmed, he could smell the sweet sent of fresh cut grass. He could see some rose bushes to one side of the house. The path way was made from cobblestones, and the porch looked comfortable and inviting. Perhaps this place wasn't so spooky after all.
He thought that un till he rang the doorbell, and was promptly greeted by an un-godly shriek.
"FOR THE LAST F TIME, BAUER. I AM NOT HARBORING TERRORISTS!" a loud stomping sound came from inside the house. Max was about to mess his pants when the door was flung open, only to reveal that a young woman was the source of the inhuman cacophony.
"YOU'D BETTER...ugh? Wha?" That was all she could utter after almost screaming into Max's face. "Are you with CTU?" she asked.
"No." Max looked at the girl. She had black hair with purple bangs. Her face was pale, only to be contrasted by her bright pink eye shadow. She wore cat-eye framed glasses, and her clothing was nothing more than a tye-dye tee and a black skirt. Max shook himself.
"Can I help you, sir?" she asked
"Yes. You see, all the hotels and camps in town are full. We'd just like some real beds to sleep in for a while. May we stay here, please?" the girl looked at Max hard, then up at the engraving above the door. It read:
WELCOME LOST SOULS. ALL ARE WELCOME.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"All right. C'mon in, sir. I'll fix ya'll up." Max smiled. He went back to get Ben and Gwen. But Ben had already snuck off into the woods near the house. Max cursed, he was really going to run that boy through the ground when he came back. Inside, the house had a more homey look to it. The carpet was a deep, burgundy. The walls were painted in light grey, and the furniture seemed like that of an average house hold.
"And I half expected cob webs and coffins." Max joked. He then heard their hostess giggle slightly, as if she heard his in joke. Max took up their suitcases and bags, but the woman stopped him.
"Nuh, uh sir. Ya'll are guests here, and what kinda hostess would I be if I didn't try to make you guys' stay as cozy as possible?" she took his suitcase in her hand, and slung Ben and Gwens' bags over her shoulder. She then lead them to their room.
"Okay, this is your room. There's a bathroom, two full size beds, a TV and a mini-fridge. We serve breakfast at 8, and supper at 7. Lunch is up to you. Any questions?" Max looked again at the young woman. She seemed to be nothing like what her outer appearance would indicate. He then remembered what he was about to say.
"My grandson ran off into woods. Will he be al right?"
"Sure. As long as he stays away from the Old City, he'll be fine." Max's eyes widened. Gwen thought fast.
"I'll go find him, grandpa. May I borrow a flashlight or something?" The woman agreed, and led Gwen down stairs to the kitchen.
"Now, be careful. It'll be dark in a while and it's damn hard to see the path when it's dark. Just keep the light in front of you and you'll be fine." Gwen thanked her, and was on her way. Max stood at the doorway, watching Gwen disappear off into the dark thirty.
"Don't worry. She's a smart kid, I can tell. Now, I'm gonna be off for a while, so you guys will have the house for a few hours. So I have to set some rules for the non-initiated." Max turned to her.
"Since this place is your temporary home, the only parts that you will not enter will be the basement, and the other tenants rooms. Savy?"
"Yes, I understand." she smiled and went back inside. Suddenly, she shouted from the staircase.
"By the way, the names Okashii. Kanmuri Okashii, but call me Moonie!"
Ben kicked at the ground like a mule. He was angry, very angry. He wanted to hurt something, and make it hurt bad. He felt betrayed. His own grandfather, the man he had come to love like a father, had lied to them about this...
Okay, Max had lied about being an average plumber, about being ignorant about aliens, about having never heard of the Omnitrix... those lies Ben was cool with. But lying about another family, another child...
Ben kicked a rock as hard as he could. It flew through the air and landed behind a bush. The resounding clang sound caught Ben's attention. He pushed the bushes aside, to revial something straight out of an old Doc Savage story. It was an ancient city, complete with ruined temples, and a town square.
Ben was awe struck. He stepped into the nercopolis, feeling oddly peaceful, his rage mildly quelled. He walked further, coming to a temple looking structure. It looked Greek, but had a splash of Oriental to it. He looked down onto the floor, seeing that something had been painted onto it. He stepped back and examined it. They looked like the symbols used by Vikings or something. Ben couldn't tell what they were painted with, but it was something dark and reddish...
"BEN!" Gwen called from the other side of the temple. Ben grimaced. Gwen came running up to her cousin, panting for exhaustion. "You shouldn't be here. The bording house lady said it was dangerous."
"Why should I care?" Gwen was taken aback by Ben's harshness.
"Because your in big trouble, dork bag! Grandpa's gonna ground you for the rest of the trip if you don't shape up." But Ben didn't care. Maxs' opinion or authority meant little to nothing to him right now. Gwen grabbed at him, ready to drag him kicking and screaming back to the house if she had to. But Bens' had slammed down on the Omnitrix, changing him into Fourarms in a heart beat.
"Leave me alone, freak!" Ben growled at Gwen. Seeing as how Ben was now 8ft tall, Gwen was forced to oblige. "He dosent order me around anymore. He dosent have the right to, anymore." Ben's rage built up, forcing him to turn away from Gwen and vent it on the next best thing, the ruins. Ben beat down on the painted floor, screaming as he pounded his four fists raw and bloody. His rage turned to tears. He stopped smashing the ground and started to cry into his hands. Gwen put a hand and Ben's massive shoulder. She knew what he was so upset about, and she wanted so badly to comfort him...
And she would have had it not been for the floor collapsing underneath them. Ben grabbed Gwen and took off running. When they finally cleared the area, Ben sat Gwen down and tried to catch his second wind. Since he'd gone alien, he was gonna have to wait before he could go back to the house. It was past nightfall, and he was in no mood to sit through Max chewing his ear.
"Gwen, just go back. I'll chill here until I'm back to normal." Gwen couldn't argue this time, so she got up and made her way back.
In the ruble of the Old City, what was left of the rune painted floor was slowly drifting down into the underground chamber that it had played roof to for years. A black sarcophagus lay in a shattered mess across the chamber floor. Something stirred in the debris, and then a tar covered arm shot up into the air. It's long, claw like nails twisted as the hand began to swipe through the air...