I don't care for nature much but if I have to deal with it, I will without complaint.
Occasionally if I'm in a adventurous mood I'll go for walks through the woods.
Its a quiet place in those woods.
There is a occasional scream and howl but nothing that ever sent me running for cover.
I never shake in my boots, yes I wear boots but I never shake in them if I can help it
I don't know why but I keep going back to those woods.
I walk alongside that private school and I walk right by that bathroom.
This is the 10th time this week I've come to look at this bathroom.
Somehow I'm always drawn to that spot even if I don't have any intention of going there my long walks always seem to bring me back here again.
The yellow substance is still on the floor is gathering flies now but the flies hold fast to it and can't seem to escape the sticky goo.
Their fragile wings were stuck to the yellow ooze like cobwebs and you can hear them buzz Furiously in frustration.
I crouch down and smile, realizing I know exactly how they feel. I'm stuck, stuck with this same case. The only lead I have is this Tall Man who seems not to actually exist except in a mirror.
Then I thought about that Funeral Home the one
that has white lattice and victorian I inspired accents.
There's a sign up front that reads Morningside Mortuary.
People will babble to me how it had been there for centuries. This was impossible.
One woman that I met at the grocery store bragged about how it had been established in the 1923. That's not centuries but close enough I suppose.
Anyway it hadn't been there for that long, it had been there for only 6 months.
That's when the murders started.
So I was going to get to the bottom of this.
Who owned Morningside Mortuary?
Something told me this was the least of my problems. My problem was finding this Tall Man and this was the last place he had spotted.
It might not be pretty but I'm not a monster that stares at girls and respectable Janitors from a bathroom mirrors so I wouldn't know what his reason for being here wound be but I could always ask.
You might think it rather stupid and reckless to march up to a monster and question them but I've come in contact with many supernatural creatures and I'm still standing.
There are a few who threatened to kill me but I'm not exactly a threatening person, I don't have that kind of toxic energy.
Everybody knows I'm a detective. I'm not police and I'm not a demon hunter or a Vampire Slayer.
I've always made it very clear that I come purely for the purpose of finding answers.
I don't come to make drama, I don't turn anybody in and I don't stir up trouble and better yet I don't send in mobs to hunt any of these creatures down.
That is
exactly what I was doing. All I wanted was a few questions. I'd questioned all sorts of people, not just people but monsters too.
So marched right into that bathroom and I avoided the yellow goo on the floor and I made myself known.
This was making myself a easy target but then I hadn't been killed yet so most likely death would be evaded yet again.
"Okay Tall Man, I'm going to give it to you straight I am not afraid of you so if you're here then show yourself.
I assure you that you're not in any trouble all I want is to ask you a few questions and that's it.
I just came here for answers and that's all.
So what do you say?"
I tried to sound cheerful but it sounded highly doubtful and unsure.
I stared into the mirror intensely waiting apprehensively for some activity to appear in the mirror.
The mirror rattled and shuddered slightly and the glass crunched and crunched sharply until the damage on the surface of the glass was gone.
A long arm leapt out of the mirror to grab onto my throat but I resisted and backed up just in time to avoid being choked
"Come here Girl".
The voice was resonant, sinister and grim, harsh and gravelly like stone being dragged across concrete.
"No I don't think so. Where were you all this time? Were you watching me?
I've been here nearly every day. I mean surely you've seen me, walking by day after day, looking in, looking around. So the question is why now? Why choose to make yourself known now?"
"I've been waiting for you. Waiting for just the right moment...to destroy you".
"Oh I'm flattered but what could you possibly gain from that?"
"Your mind, I could use it.Your brain could prove useful to me in the future".
"Oh you know that is so sweet but what about the rest of me?"
"The rest of you will be dead so you won't have to worry about it. Death is my domain exclusively and so does the dead that come with it. They belong to me and so will you".
"Oh come on Death threats again. You're this great formidable thing and death threats are the best you can come up with?
Look I've seen worse monsters than you and if you think death is going scare me, life is far more frightening. No disrespect but seriously I think you can do better. Oh by the way living is a blast if you give it a chance."
"I live far better than any of you weak humans do thank you. You're just as weak as the rest of them. Weak in flesh and weak in mind".
"Wait if I'm so weak of mind why do you want my brain?"
"You are wasting my time Girl. Death is waiting for you".
"Yet again death doesn't worry me. However what you are doing to the people around you, more specifically the people in this town, that concerns me. What do you know about the disappearance of the body of John Brody."
John Brody was the man who had died here at least they believe it was but then his corpse never made it to the examination table.
"Brody was expendable. He is safe and well cared for don't you worry."
"What of his family and his friends that wanted to say one last goodbye? Did you think maybe they wanted to be able to see him buried in peace?"
"What do you know of Peace? You are nothing but a child. I can give him so much more than peace. I can give him purpose and power. I'll have you know child he was a orphan by birth and he was the scum of the earth. He was aimless drifter without a friend in the world. Sort of like you except at least you have a home."
I wanted to be peaceable but he had crossed the line.
I had been an orphan once though I have very little memory of it but it was said that I had been roaming these woods at night.
I was far too young to remember if this was true.
It was something I kept a secret and very few people knew about it.
The people that knew the story never brought it up possibly because they were far too polite and proper.
"Look Mister Long Legs the guy that died he might be scum to you. The rest of humanity might be scum to you but I am not scum. I am not the scum under boot and I am no child, I'm no girl, I happen to be a woman, a very strong, mentally capable and self sufficient woman who doesn't appreciate being threatened by anybody. I have a will of iron and I am absolutely fearless. So you think you scare me?
Let me tell you, you don't scare me one bit.
I've met boogyman who far meaner and uglier than you are. I've dealt with criminals with far more tact than you.
I've seen monsters with better resumes than yours.
I watch monster movies late at night that are far more frightening than you are.
You think you're something special, you're nothing compared to the atrocities that I see committed every single day.
Look around long legs. Do know how many murderers have made a big bloody mess on the front page of the morning paper?
You're just small fry. So don't try to impress me"
I crossed my arms I'm defiance.
There was a shade of surprise that shadowed his face. I could see his mind processing that information, gathering his thoughts, reflecting on my words and carefully selecting his next words.
I had meant this as a insult. One long string of insults to be precise and he knew it too. He knew all too well.
"You know nothing of me. You have no idea what I'm capable of. You foolish...creature, you have no clue what you're dealing with.
I will return and if you do not stay out of my way you will be wiped from all existence.
I'm warning you orphan if you cross me I will cross you out from the time line of the universe. Yes I will return and when I do, I'll expect you to either make yourself scarce or not make a nuisance of yourself. If you however refuse to do either consider your tomb sealed".
At that he slid back into the mirror and disappeared.
"Good talk, good talk. Thank you so much for your time. Have a great day. Stay out of your way, not a chance. So you want me to lay low Mister long legs, nope definitely not going to happen. I am going to track you down even if it kills me and if you have to kill me yourself because I am such a nuisance to you than so be it. I am determined to unmask you. You know I have my heart set on this mission and I know I'm not going fail.
This case is going to be cracked and I'm just the woman to crack it. Stand aside old man cause you're going to see what I'm capable of. You think I'm weak just you wait.
You may find that you're the one who doesn't know who you're dealing with. I'm tough nut to crush sweetheart so killing may be harder than you might think.
Watch out Tall Man. Watch your cause I'm coming up behind you and I'll be right on you trail. Just you wait. Boy this going to be fun".
