𝕰𝖈𝖙𝖔𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖍𝖆𝖚𝖓𝖙 2021_Day 19 [Trick]
~Original~
Category: Horror, Attempt at "Eldritch Portal AU", Angst.
Trigger Warning: Death, Violence, "Zombies", Mention of consumption of Ghosts.
𝕯𝖆𝖞 𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓: 𝕮𝖔𝖘𝖒𝖎𝖈𝕳𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗
Eric's new life started when his neck was snapped.
But, let's backtrack a bit: Eric was just a Wisconsin dude coming back from his night shift. His routine was so rooted in him that he didn't think twice about walking through the fast-food back alley to reach his car. This district of the city had a level of criminality so low that even kids could play outside without worries! What would ever happen to him, a man, if he was walking while smelling of grease? No one would have thought that he was worthy to rob!
…He had to re-think that statement because two sets of arms grabbed him from behind, the first to wrap around his biceps and slap a hand on his mouth and the second to hoist his legs up from the ground, in order to carry him away.
After the initial shock, Eric tried to wriggle out the prison, but the limbs were as strong as steel and equally cold as metal.
He could only tell that they were made, in fact, by flesh, only thanks to their skin texture, but given that that he was laying on the side with his back to the aggressors, he couldn't see them.
What did they want from him?!
The kidnappers hurried to a familiar newly built mansion and the fact alone that the people carrying him were doing so without a care in the world would have made him gape: had Masters finally decided to go full mafia and make him disappear? What for? He hadn't seen anything strange to compromise the man! Or maybe he did, but just didn't notice?
Before he could reach a conclusion, they were already inside: several doors had been kicked in and trails of dirt and mud painted the pavement towards the direction they were walking to. The criminals walked downstairs and passed through what had once looked like a stereotypical secret passage to a laboratory, where a glowing swirling thing lit the place from where it was embed in the wall.
Eric's eyes scanned the surroundings, to search for anything that could help him escape once the duo would release him…
With a sole gesture of the hand silencing him, his neck was snapped.
Pain flared worse than popping his vertebrae for barely an instant, before the swirling green engulfed everything he could see.
Disjointedly, Eric felt himself both drop to the ground and float up, so he shook his head and put a hand on his nape to try and massage away the sensation of wrongness inside of it.
Wait, I can move! I'm free! Eric whirled around, coming face to face with his kidnappers, but stepped back in terror: two half dried-up corpse-looking people were staring at him with the same toxic green in their eyes as the hole in the wall. And those were hungry eyes.
He had to get out of here!
Eric turned tails and run upstairs, to escape from that place, and once he reached the top he slammed against another group of rotting people with a captive. Fortunately, the impact seemed enough to dislodge the ill-fated figure from the captors' grasp and let them scream in fright.
Not thinking twice, Eric scooped up the kid and heaved him over his shoulder in a fireman carry, running for their his lives as far as he could.
Which was very far, because he couldn't see the residential area anymore since they were in the town center.
Eric stopped near a bench to let the boy down on it and he crouch down stood up before him, all the while looking around to see if the kidnappers had followed them. When no sign showed up, the man looked at the boy still in shock, who was staring at him with the same terror he had while in the mansion. Eric attempted to smile and reach a hand towards the kid, but that seemed the last straw, because the kid fled, shouting, towards the nearest building, probably to call for help.
Eric was about to follow him to explain he stared at the Portal to receive instructions, when a voice called for him. ‒ Don't bother boy, they won't be able to see you and they won't believe the kid either. It has already happened. ‒ The man who spoke was older than Eric and he was dressed like a homeless person. And that would have been "normal", if he hadn't been see-through and glowing with a pale white light.¹* Before Eric could scream, the other shook his head sadly and pointed at him. ‒ Take a look at yourself. You can't do much better, even if you're a bit stronger.
Eric paused it was time to hunt and looked at himself: he could see trough his hands that were greenish and glowing a bit brighter than the homeless man.
‒ What on Earth?! ‒ He screeched, panicking badly. ‒ What's happening?
‒ Congratulations, you're dead. I died a few weeks ago in an alley not far from here and woke up without a body. Apparently that useless carcass thought that it could fare better without me! I'm Harry, by the way. ‒ The man greeted normally as if he hadn't drooped one bombshell after another.
‒ Eric. What do you mean with "your body walking away"? ‒ He trembling asked he walked upstair.
‒ Exactly what I said. People who die here become zombies and sometimes drop a ghost, either like you or me. Usually no one can see us, but sometimes kids do. The adults never believe them, though, so ye' talking sense into them won't work. ‒ Harry dismissed.
‒ But we have to do something! If the people can't see us, we can at least fight the zombies back! ‒ Eric snapped at that indifference he joined a partnerless underling.
‒ You're welcome to try. The last hero-wannabe got tore apart by one of the monsters. Every one of them have a thing for ghosts apart from their own. Some crap about not "being your type", I think. I honestly stay away from it. ‒ He shrugged.
‒ Then why are you still here? Wouldn't be better to get out of the city? ‒ Eric implored they walked into the night to hunt.
‒ Do you think that I wouldn't already have done that if I could?! ‒ Harry spat. ‒ No, I have to stay within a 17-miles-radius from that freakish demon mansion! I'll fade if I ever try to step out! I'm bounded here. Just my luck.
Unable to come back with a reply, the new-ghost tried to come back with a plan, but came up to nothing he saw a prey not further from them. Trying to dislodge those distorted alien images he shook his head, but the impression of a young woman waiting for a bus not far from "him" rested firm into his mind-eye.
‒ I have to go, thanks for the info Harry. ‒ Eric turned away, allowing himself to obey to the Pull. ‒ Try not to die.
‒ Too late for that. ‒ The old man sassed. ‒ Try not to get eaten, brat.
The younger specter nodded, before sprinting towards the origin of the images.
He had to do something they were upon her.
She had been hyperaware of her surroundings, so as soon as they reached her to capture her, she blew her whistle to set off the alarm. Windows lit up around the street and the revenants fled like cockroaches back in the shadows.
Eric paused at the last images, not really comprehending them, but then he kept following the Pull, experimenting with his new sense of gravity and floating over the lampposts he had to search for other preys. When he finally found his body stalking in the shadows, he snatched a plank from a garbage bin and used it to make noise whenever they would approach a solitary person in the streets to let them flee from the revenants.
The strategy worked until the first lights of dawn, when the moving corpses retreated back into the mansion back to the Master. Eric followed them and kept himself near the high ceiling to avoid being grabbed. He had to know why they were doing this since they didn't behave like the stereotypical zombies. They were more like the followers of a cult that forcibly recruited members by killings them! He had to see that green vortex again.
Eric phased through a wall and zoomed into the laboratory, before any zombie could notice him they always noticed the guests, and stared at the toxic swirls that seemed to call for him. What was it? WhAt DiD iT wAnT?
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Ǧ̶̡͕̩͇͇̝̦̥̻̹͋͋̊̊̀́͌͝i̴̢̛̗͖̰͖̗͛͒̽̎̐̀̓͝ͅv̵͉͔̱͕̭̠͒̀͗̈̽̑̆͝ĕ̷̡̝̜͈͓̺͉̬̓̓͂̋ ̶̢͍͔̩̲̮̰͗̓̔͝͠m̵̪̜̂̈͒̚è̴̤̫͗̏͗͆̀̌͛̓̚ͅ ̴̷̯͖̖͎̫̹̻̭͚̗͔̟̲̲̪̌͒̇̚͠y̵̛̯̝͉̦̌͑̾̉̆̀̌͜͝o̸̳̩̭̥̳̟̘̒ǘ̴̡͈̪̪̦̫͍͌̇̿̆̏̚r̵̠̻̻̳̫̱̙͓̓͛̃̓̏̑ ̵̦̲̪̟͙̝͇̗̘́̔̔̔̓̄̕L̵̪̼̼̥͑͆i̵̡͈̙̫͕͈̙̿̌̊̍͒f̷̡̲̞̱̮̥͔̀̈̾e̸̪͓̠̫̻̪̭͒̚, ̵̦̣̳̦̯̻̇̓̎͛͐͌̋͝G̴̢̡͍̗̪̼̼̠̰̀̏̑̀̔̕̚͝í̵̡͇̬̼͉̹̦̳̘̏̆̅̀̍͜͠v̷̢̢̙͖͓̼͈͕͋͌͌̿̂͛̑ͅͅë̸̢͇͖̙̫́͘͜ ̴̨̺̖͇̻̫̂̀̍̀͋̆̈́̔̍m̸̡̜̦̅ę̸͖̻̼̥̬͎͚̫̈̉̕͜ ̷̹̻̭͚̗͔̟̲̲̪̚͠y̵̛̯̝͉̦̌͑̾̉̆̀̌͜͝o̸̳̩̭̥̳̟̘̒ǘ̴̡͈̪̪̦̫͍͌̇̿̆̏̚r̵̠̻̻̳̫̱̙͓͔̓͛̃̓̏̑ ̸̘̝̋S̸̫̰̖͒̊̋̕͝ơ̶̯̪̏̄̓̿̒͝u̵̝̮̩͋̓̀̈́̈́̏͑͋͝l̴̨̢̩͚̞̘̺̗͇̈́̌̎, ̶̨̤͈̬̙̓̅s̴̯̝͆͝ō̸̬̭̼̣͈͍̝̪͇̫͌̚ ̵̡̛̦̯̙͓̲̱̭͗̒̀̊̋͑ͅȈ̴̢̡͈̜̳̟̗͔͕́̓͗ ̵̰̯̾̍̑̆͝ç̵̘̜̿͌̈́͠ơ̵͔̩̘̯̰͕̣͎̰ư̴̰͙̥͙͖͍̘ĺ̴͔̙͖̪̝͈͓͇́̒̌̃̾̇̈́̕d̶̛͔͉͑ ̴̥̼̝̘̝͐̀̐̃F̷̛̘̜͖̳̝͙̳̓Ȅ̶͉̖͕̗̻̣͚̈̊S̷͙̙̫̯̍̉T̷̡͇̦̻̩͉̔̔ ̵͉͉̮͍͎̈̿̿̔͂̋̏̆͠ư̵̙͇͚͖̖̹̋͋p̴̹̩̽͑͑̊͂͌͝o̴̯̟͙͂n̴̹͍͔͙͇͉̠̠̱͔̊̎̂̐̔̅̕̕͝ ̸͍̩͕̖͓͖͂t̸̡͇̮͉͚̜̏̄͠ͅh̶̦̰̠̽́̒͘̚͠͝e̸̢͒͆̈̐͗̐̏̚̕͜m̴̤̆̐̂͊͆͐̅͑.²*
.
Eric didn't notice how near he had drifted towards the Vortex until the crowing of a Rooster broke the Hell Gate's siren call, making the man recoil back before a tendril could grab him.
A ghost-like black Rooster screeched again, appearing between them and flapping in the air to threaten the green Abyss that wailed, stirring the bodies in the upper levels.
Those revenants were about to come and tear into them!
Grabbing the bird, Eric escaped the literal death trap and flew as fast and up as he could until he could feel his energies drain. He stopped then and lowered himself until he felt more stabile.
The Rooster chirped in thanks and prodded him towards South, signaling to fly in that direction. Once the man expressed his doubts about the fading and the drainage, the Messenger of the Sun reassured him that he wasn't as weak as the other shade, so he would survive the journey.
To the only place where he could ask for help, otherwise the hunger of that wicked and corrupted Portal would extend to all North America. Amity Park…? What a nice Feast…
Thus Eric departed, hoping that the avian was right and that his death hadn't been in vain.
¹* He's in an intermediate state between Stage 1 and 2: he has a more or less definite shape, but he can't interact with objects and be seen by people.
²* Translated: "Give me your Life, Give me your Soul, so I could FEST upon them."
A/N. Sooooo… Hope I gave justice to the theme.
The headcanon behind this is that an Artificial Portal like the Fenton's and Vlad's needs a "human sacrifice" to be completely stable and not cause the above-mentioned side effects. Amity's one, due to Danny dying in it, has its conditions satisfied, but the manor's one was perfectly made and functional. Thus leading to its hunger for lives that can't be satisfied: you can't die to open it since the passage is already opened… it's a never ending paradox.
(The original idea had been that any Artificial Portal's influence would led to revenants, but in Amity Danny and the others noticed that things were going to shit, so developed the tactic "mandatory cremation of the deads and revenant purified from the ambient ectoplasm by an invention appositely made for the occasion". But then the idea of an Eldritch Portal caused by a lack of sacrifice felt more appealing to this situation, so I implemented that.)
Ironically enough, if the proto-portal hadn't exploded completely and Vlad had slowly died due to ecto-acne it wouldn't have had the Eldritch connotation, but well… Shit happens.
The black Rooster is above all a gorgeous beast and in several religions is considered as Messenger of the Sun, Guardian of the Spirits and the one who awakens the deads from their sleep to fight for Odin. So it seemed a fitting choice.
Now, I hope to have a bit more time to write next one shots, but I'm lagging behind, so I shall depart!
Hope you liked this, type ya tomorrow!
Will Day 20 be Full Moon or New Moon? Check in "Domestic Phantoms" and you'll find out!