Chapter Twelve: Compromise
"The monster has descended upon us. The time we live in is full of horrors; there is no one upon whose head its heavy fist has not fallen...Everything around us has been changed...The air around us is laden with tears suppressed, forgotten, and to come. The gravity of this hour cries aloud."
- Carl Jung
The next few months for Konrad became increasingly difficult as he attempted to find answers and salvation.
Acquiring the forbidden texts referenced by Coswell proved to be a serious undertaking in itself due to the amount of red tape he had to wade through, but with a little patience, his connections and careful payoffs, he was finally able to get his hands on the items.
The texts in question provided enormous insight into arcane worlds and dark hidden secrets.
He found illustrations and texts relating to all manner of horrors, including great Cthulhu and the door-faced monstrosity at the arena, but a lot of it was vague regarding this latter entity. Pages had been torn or wrecked beyond repair, making it near impossible to determine its exact nature and/or relation to Cthulhu. The few that remained, however, indicated that it was a living gateway of some sort, although its exact nature was frustratingly obscure. It was not even clear how the damned thing was summoned. As he read further, page by page, however, part of Konrad wondered if he had been better off not having acquired the books in the first place; every time he delved deeper into books such as the Necronomicon, he came away increasingly frightened. Every text and page was a horrible window that allowed him to peer into the void beyond, showing him things that made him shiver uneasily and stay up late at night, pondering some dreadful truth that he saw.
The more he read, the more threatened he felt until he finally had enough and got rid of the damn things. Despite having done so, however, the way in which the Baron looked at the world was forever changed.
"We can't go on like this."
Konrad tiredly poured himself a cup of coffee while seated on his bed as Jurgen angrily glared at him.
"Are you listening, Herr Baron?!" The butler asked.
"Ja, Jurgen. I am," Konrad replied.
"So what are you going to do?!" Jurgen demanded. "The number of incidents are continuing to increase and the servants are getting nervous."
"I know."
"Is that all you can say?!"
"Well what else can I do, Jurgen?!" Konrad snapped. "That little shit won't die! Christ how I tried, even to just get the goddamn thing to shut up!"
Every night, Spinal haunted the halls and tormented him, laughing all throughout the hours. After a week passed, Konrad snapped and took his frustration out on the skeleton, smashing it with his fists, beating it repeatedly with a wine bottle, yelling and screaming like a maniac for it to shut up but to no avail as it laughed in his face. Various attempts at destroying Spinal were a complete utter failure.
"Not even sulfuric acid can dissolve it," Konrad added bitterly.
"We also have to do something about Gupte's animal," the butler replied. "The last time it escaped it was a disaster."
The Baron winced at the mention of the most recent incident.
Two weeks ago, RIPTOR had somehow managed to escape from both its cell and his castle, thereby allowing it to roam free, resulting in a frantic five-hour pursuit across the countryside. Five personnel, six wolves and a slew of cattle and sheep had been killed before it was finally recaptured.
Taking a long drink from his cup, he wiped his mouth with the back of his clawed hand.
"I'll deal with it," Konrad said as he pushed his breakfast tray aside. "In fact, I'll do it right now."
"And how will you do that?" Jurgen asked. "We've already tried poisoning the animal."
"We did," the aristocrat nodded in acknowledgement as he got his cloak, scarf, gloves and hood on, "but I think it's time to fight fire with fire."
Konrad ran his thumb across the wheelchair's armrest in agitation as he sat before Ferris' cell. Dieter nervously glanced at him.
"I really don't like this, Baron," Dieter said quietly.
"Neither do I," Konrad replied before calling out. "Mr. Ferris! We need to talk!"
From the other side of the cell, he heard a hiss like steam being released from a valve.
"What do you want?" the molten voice dripped scornfully.
"I need your help," the Baron admitted.
Ferris laughed, a horridly warped sound.
"My help again?" he said. "You really must be desperate."
"You sound like you're enjoying it," Dieter said.
"Oh, I am!" Ferris sneered. "So what is it this time?"
"I have two problems that need sorting out," Konrad said. "If you help get rid of them, I'll be in your debt. I'll do whatever you want. I'll give you anything you wish."
The chamber was quiet as the fiery effigy considered his words.
"How about," Ferris said slowly, "your head on a stick?"
Konrad took a while answering.
Dieter opened his mouth to retort when the Baron raised up a hand to silence him.
"Is that what you want?" Konrad asked.
"More than anything," the infernal voice seethed.
"Then you'll have it."
"Baron, this is crazy-"
Konrad cut off Dieter with a glare.
"If you accomplish your task, then my life, company, home and fortune are yours."
Ferris seemed to hesitate for a moment.
"You're serious," he said.
The Baron sighed, closing his eyes.
"I am," he conceded.
From behind the door came a low chuckle.
"Ohh, I love this!" Ferris said.
Konrad could almost imagine him smiling, grinning from ear to ear with predatory anticipation based on his tone.
"Do we have a deal?" he asked.
After a few seconds of silence, Ferris spoke.
"Deal."
The aristocrat nodded.
"Then it's settled," he said. "I'll just fill you in on the details."
By the time Konrad left, he heard the infernal entity chuckling to himself behind him.
"OHH HELL YES!" Ferris laughed. "I AM SOOO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS!"
Dieter leaned into Konrad.
"This has to be the worst idea you've ever had, Baron!" He harshly whispered.
"I know, Dieter," he replied. "But tonight, it will all be over."
Molten laughter followed after the duo, echoing in the hallway behind them.
When night came, the sky was a dark putrid green with thick clouds overhead, the moon a crimson orb that cast its light down on the land below. On the flat brick roof of one of the castle towers, Konrad patiently waited in his wheelchair as Dieter set up the camera on the tripod while a pair of yellow, bipedal tractor-like loader android units carefully raised the massive eight by nine foot heavy duty steel shipping container up the stairs before carefully setting it down forty feet away from his position with their forklift-like arms. Another pair of loader units carried up a similar container, this one lead-lined with a label on its side that said "Hazardous Materials", setting it down with a heavy thud once they reached the top.
"Careful, you fools, careful!" Konrad berated before muttering under his breath, "Bloody machines."
The Baron checked his watch. It was 12:30 A.M. He had given some of his guards some time off and had shut down cameras watching this part of the house in order to make this happen. He had less than three hours until the cameras came back on again. It was risky, but the aristocrat was desperate.
Konrad gestured to the labeled container.
"Open it," he ordered.
He watched as the loader units opened it up and backed away.
Stepping out from his prison, his feet causing the ground to sizzle with each step, Ferris emerged, basking in his newfound freedom.
"Finally!" He said. "Thought I'd never leave that shithole!"
Looking up to the stars, the mercenary took in a deep breath, seemingly enjoying the openness.
Being locked up for so long must have weighed on him. Konrad himself knew that feeling all too well.
"You know what needs to be done," he spoke, stirring the fiery being from his own thoughts.
"I haven't forgotten," Ferris dripped scornfully.
Dieter looked worriedly over to him.
"Is the camera ready, Dieter?" The aristocrat asked.
"Ready, Baron."
Ferris stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles and neck.
Taking out the mask from his cloak's pocket, Konrad raised it up with one hand.
"So, are we doin' this, or what?" Ferris asked. "Where's this "Spinal" fella at?"
The Baron said nothing as he concentrated.
From the ground, green flames erupted as a bony hand emerged.
"What the fuck?" Ferris swore.
Konrad watched as Spinal configured himself before the startled mercenary, roaring challengingly in his direction upon its completion.
Concentrating, the aristocrat focused his will into the held artifact.
"Drop your weapons," he ordered.
Spinal stood there in noncompliance.
"I said drop your weapons!"
Giving a grunt, the skeleton reluctantly obeyed, setting shield and cutlass down by his feet.
"Now," Konrad said, "walk towards him."
Spinal turned to Dieter and started to step toward him.
"Not the cameraman," Konrad scolded. "Your opponent. Cinder."
The skeleton walked toward the fiery humanoid, each step marked by cracking knee joints.
"Stop."
Obeying, Spinal paused directly in front of Ferris, who then circled around it, studying it curiously.
"Huh," Ferris grunted. "Not what I've been expecting. I thought you'd be bigger."
"Would you hurry up already?!" Konrad demanded. "I want you to destroy it, not make friendly conversation with it!"
Cinder gave him a withering glare.
Looking back to the skeleton, he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.
"Well," Cinder said, "a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do." He cracked his knuckles. "Don't take this personally, fella. It's just business."
The air around Cinder started to shimmer as his body's temperature rose to scorching levels, embers dancing off of his flaking body. Dieter nervously backed away with camera in hand while Spinal impassively watched, the light illuminating its ivory bones and its horrific smile, making the latter appear more sinister.
"INFERNO!"
In that moment, a huge column of flame erupted from Cinder's hands, completely engulfing the skeleton as it gave a loud shriek. The column continued to move forward and grew, heading directly toward the Baron. Leaping away, Konrad barely had time to escape as he crashed to the floor, ducking down as it all washed over his wheelchair, the air around him oppressively hot. Once it died down, he glanced back to the spot where his wheelchair had been and saw nothing but the crumpled up, blackened remains and liquid metal. Following the fiery trail back to its source, Konrad narrowed his eyes angrily as Dieter hurriedly extinguished the flames.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" he bellowed.
Cinder tossed his head back and laughed, his arms crossed. "That was too much fun!" He said. "You should have seen yourself fly out from your chair like that!"
"You could have killed me!"
The fiery being gave a mock pause and gasp. "You're right, whatever was I thinking?" he said sarcastically. "Wouldn't that have been a tragedy?"
Despite the fiery covering on his face, Konrad could still sense a wicked gleam and smirk in the way Cinder looked at him.
"Still," he continued, "I got the job done. See for yourself."
Pushing himself up to his feet and looking back to the spot where Spinal stood, Konrad saw nothing but a pile of ashes.
He waited for some indication that it was still "alive", something to suggest movement or possible recovery.
Nothing.
"I think he actually got it!" Dieter said excitedly.
Cinder scoffed. "Of course I did!" He retorted. "Was there any doubt?"
Glancing dubiously to the artifact in hand, Konrad studied it. Nothing indicated any sort of change, nor did he feel anything to suggest such phenomena.
"Given the tremendous difficulty in killing it, we had been inclined to think that it wouldn't have been possible," he said. "I suppose the rumors of it having survived Mount Vesuvius were untrue after all."
Casting his eyes over to Spinal's shield, the corners of Konrad's lip curled in disgust as the tentacles continued to squirm and writhe, the beady yellow eyes blinking.
"That said, however, why is that disgusting thing still alive?"
Dieter shrugged. "Don't know, don't care," he replied. "As long as we don't touch it, there should be no problems."
Konrad grunted in acknowledgement before looking to the other shipping container.
"We just have one more beast to get rid of," he said before turning his attention to one of the loader androids. "Loader Two, open that container."
The machine obediently followed his voice commands as it waddled over.
"Is it a good idea, Baron?" Dieter asked nervously. "Why not just melt the container with it still inside?"
"I need to be certain, Dieter," the aristocrat replied. "Besides which, I don't want to lose a container. I still have use for it."
From inside the container came a growling hiss, drawing the attention of both men. The loader wasn't even within a foot of the thing.
'Damn it, I thought the tranquilizer would have lasted longer!' Konrad thought worriedly.
The container door flew open as RIPTOR smashed through and pounced on top of the loader, knocking it off its feet as it began to furiously bite and claw away at the machine. Snarling, the animal tore away vast chunks of metal, hoses and wires, spilling oil and coolant out onto the roof as it tried finding something edible. Gnawing on the forklift-like arm, RIPTOR pulled away, sniffed, flickered its tongue, snorted, then lifted up its leg and urinated all over it.
"Well," Cinder said, "there's something you don't see every day."
Hearing his voice, RIPTOR turned its snake-like head in his direction, staring directly at him, flickering its tongue.
"Mr. Ferris, if you please!" Konrad said as he slowly backed away.
Cinder hesitated. "Do what?"
The Baron gave an exasperated sigh.
"Kill it!" He demanded.
"What?!" Cinder said.
"I said kill it!"
"No."
Konrad blinked in incredulity. "Excuse me?" he gaped.
"You didn't say anything about killing animals," Cinder said pointedly.
"For fuck's sake, man, now is hardly the time to discuss this!" Konrad said.
"I don't kill animals."
"We have an agreement."
"Yeah? Well, fuck you."
Konrad's jaw dropped. "Wha...You rob and kill people for a living! What difference does it make?!"
"Everything!" Cinder retorted. "Yeah, I've done some bad things. But I NEVER hurt animals."
Konrad stared at him with disbelief.
"Of all the times to have a crisis of conscience," he muttered.
The animal glanced over at him, then looked back at the flaming mercenary, as if pondering which would be the more convenient and appetizing meal.
The Baron privately hoped that its reptilian brain was stupid enough to be drawn to Ferris' increased body temperature as opposed to his own.
RIPTOR glanced back to him, then opened its jaws hungrily.
Shit.
'So much for it being stupid,' he bitterly thought.
Konrad bolted towards Ferris without a second thought as the animal gave a terrifying roar, running toward him as fast as possible, startling the flaming entity. If Ferris wasn't going fight it, then Konrad will force him to retaliate.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ferris yelled.
Behind him, the Baron could hear RIPTOR in hot pursuit, closing in behind him very quickly.
"RUN, BARON! RUN!" Dieter yelled from the side.
Konrad briefly paused as a fireball struck the ground ahead of him.
"I don't want to do this!"
Looking over his shoulder, Konrad saw the animal catching up, then dashed forward.
"Please!" Cinder pled. "Don't make me do this."
Konrad was now only a few feet away.
Casting his head down regretfully, the fiery entity unleashed another massive column toward him.
"INFERNO!"
Ducking away at the very last minute, Konrad's fur and cloak were nearly singed right off as it passed by. Konrad felt a tiny bit of satisfaction as he heard his pursuer shrieked in pain. Looking over his shoulder, he watched as the flame died down. Stumbling back, RIPTOR faltered and collapsed onto its side, trembling and whimpering. Ferris said nothing, his eyes cast down with his hands clenched into fists.
"Was that so hard?" The Baron muttered as he pushed himself off the ground. "Now, finish it."
Cinder narrowed his eyes angrily at him, then shook his head in refusal.
"Go to hell," he retorted.
Konrad's lip curled angrily.
"You agreed to the terms, Ferris," he said. "If you refuse-"
"What are you gonna do, lock me up? Tell the lab geeks to not stabilize my condition?" Ferris then paused as he narrowed his eyes. "Kill me?"
"We had an agreement. You help get rid of my problems, and in return you get my head and my fortune along with further treatment."
Cinder stepped threateningly forward.
"I could have taken that from you anytime I wanted," he said lowly. "Ever since you brought me here, all I thought about was killing you. Every night, every waking hour. Even now, I still want to."
Konrad could feel his fury building, and tensed up as the temperature around him increased. He waited for the coming blow or outburst.
Nothing came.
"But," Cinder said, "if I were to do that, I'd just be helping you anyway. Every time I help you, Baron, I lose something. I think I'll just play my selfish bastard card and give your offer the middle finger, that way I can save what little self-respect I have left."
To his shock, the infernal creature started to walk back to his container.
"Lock it up and take me back to my cell, D."
The bodyguard ordered one of the loaders to close it. As the container door was closing, Ferris gave Konrad one last look.
"See you around, butt-fucker."
Before he disappeared in the container, the mercenary flipped him the bird with both hands.
Konrad growled as the loader carried the container away. "Fine!" He snapped. "Dieter-"
"Leave me out of this."
Reeling around in surprise, Konrad saw the bodyguard giving him a cold disapproving glance. Looking back to the fallen animal, he gave a small growl of displeasure.
"Alright," he said, "I'll do it myself. Dieter, hand me your weapon!"
Taking his Beretta out from his coat, the bodyguard tossed it over to him. Konrad deftly caught it with one hand, then checked to make sure the safety was off and that there was ammunition. Once he was satisfied, the aristocrat slowly approached the wounded animal as it lay there on its side, wheezing painfully. Stopping just by its chest, Konrad carefully aimed the Beretta directly at its head, his finger on the trigger.
'Funny, I've never killed anything before,' he thought to himself.
He used to go hunting as a child with Jurgen and his father growing up, but he was a notoriously terrible shot, much to their amusement.
Of course, that was only part of the reason; the truth, however, was that Konrad didn't want to take a life.
He loved animals, and he swore that he would never take a life.
Funny how things have changed.
As he noisily cocked the slide, RIPTOR raised its slit eye to meet his, its form seizing up and stiffening.
'Let's get this over with,' he thought to himself.
His index finger curled around the trigger, slowly applying pressure to it. He waited for the firearm to go off, for the muzzle flash to mercifully put an end to it, but as he continued making eye contact with the wounded beast before him, Konrad found himself unable to follow through.
'Come on, damn you!' Concentrate!' He berated himself mentally.
Konrad willed himself to perform the action, but his hand refused to obey.
What the hell was the matter with him?!
'It's a dangerous creature, a killer! A monster! It needs to be destroyed!' He reasoned.
He thought of the people that it had killed, how it destroyed the life and soul of his friend and bodyguard Roger. Roger, an inoffensive, if not slightly dull, man who had done nothing wrong to merit the wretched ending he ended up having. Memories flashed in Konrad's mind's eye of Roger's final moments with crystal clarity, how the bodyguard was locked up in a cell, his face a ruined and twisted serpentine travesty.
'Because of this creature, he died alone, with no friends, comfort or dignity. Roger needs to be avenged!'
And yet, despite this reasoning, Konrad still couldn't get himself to pull the trigger.
If only the creature stopped looking at him like that!
Why the hell should he feel sorry for it?!
Given time it would regenerate and would continue to be a nuisance, an incredibly dangerous one at that! One whose existence can spell trouble for humanity!
"Baron?" Dieter called.
Konrad growled. "What?!" He snapped.
"Why are you taking so long?"
"I'm going to do it, Dieter!" The aristocrat retorted. "Just give me a moment."
He aimed the weapon, pointing directly at its eye.
He tried to pull the trigger, but to his chagrin he still couldn't do it.
Damn it.
'If only it did something!' He thought.
If it had threateningly growled, snarled or tried to lash out at him, it would have been easy enough to pull the trigger. Hell, if it just bared its fangs at him, that could have been enough of a motivator and excuse.
But that wasn't how it was.
Lying on its side before him, the creature shivered, looking pitiably vulnerable and afraid. Its entire body was covered in third degree burns, its hide blackened and horrifically charred.
'It must be in agonizing pain,' he thought. Killing it would be an act of mercy.
'I'd be doing it a favor.'
So why was he hesitating?
He'd be sparing it from immense suffering at the hands of his company, from those that would force untold horrors onto it and its brood.
Why shouldn't he kill it?
As Konrad continued making eye contact, the more his stomach tied itself into knots.
Despite the trouble it caused, despite the damage and deaths it had wrought, RIPTOR was not a monster. It hadn't asked to be made the way it was, nor were its actions done out of malice.
It was an animal, doing what any animal would do under the circumstances.
An animal that in all likelihood was struggling with the changes to its body thanks to Konrad's monstrous genes.
An animal that probably didn't understand the changes to its body.
An animal that was just trying to survive, trying to get a good night's rest and make it to the next day without being afraid...
He couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. Lowering the weapon, Konrad uttered a slew of curses under his breath.
"So what do we do now?"
The aristocrat quietly thought about it for a moment, then sighed.
"Call Gupte," he said finally. "Tell her to get some personnel up here armed with tranquilizers and that the animal is in need of medical attention."
As Dieter took out his cellphone, Konrad looked back to the wounded animal.
Surely the damage done to it would be enough to kill the creature, wouldn't it? Even if he wasn't a killer, that doesn't mean Konrad couldn't make the animal comfortable in its final moments.
'I suppose one out of two is better than nothing,' he thought.
Once RIPTOR was removed from the roof, Konrad took in a deep breath and exhaled through his nostrils.
"Well, that was a waste of time," Dieter said in annoyance.
Konrad shook his head.
"I wouldn't say so," he replied. "With any luck, RIPTOR will succumb to its injuries and never bother anyone again. Plus, we did manage to finally get rid of Spinal."
Dieter opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and paled.
"Dieter?"
The bodyguard pointed to the spot behind him.
Turning around, Konrad's heart stopped as Spinal stood before him with shield and cutlass in hand, looking completely unscathed. Staring back at him, its eyes glowed a hellish shade of red, its perpetual grin painted orange by the moonlight as it lifted up its chin slightly, almost as if defiantly telling the aristocrat "You can't touch me."
"Impossible," Konrad breathed. "This-this is madness!"
Tossing its head back, Spinal laughed riotously, the sound drilling into Konrad's head.
"Shut up," he commanded.
The creature refused to obey, its maniacal cackling rising and falling in torturous cycles.
"SHUT UP!"
Spinal continued the obscene sound.
Running his hands along his scalp, Konrad approached the creature and started to bash it across the face with fists, unmindful of the artifact in his hand.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" He shrieked between strikes. "SHUT UP, DAMN YOU!"
Teeth flew from Spinal's bony jaw as he continued pummeling into it, but no matter how many blows were struck, the creature persisted, not even stopping for even a second, not even minding the damage being done to its face.
It just kept laughing at his expense.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" Konrad howled. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
He wanted it to stop, but no matter what he did, it would just go on, laughing at him.
As it became shriller, Konrad snapped and shoved the skeleton off the roof, watching as it disappeared over the edge, still laughing, not even caring about self-preservation as it crashed on some branches of a tree before splashing into the moat below.
Dieter shook his head. "Even after all that..." he said in awe.
"Let's get it back to the attic as soon as possible," Konrad said. "Our hour is almost up."
"I take it that you were unsuccessful," Jurgen said as they entered the dining room.
Konrad's only response was to grab a bottle of wine from the table and guzzle straight down.
"For God's sake, Herr Baron!" the butler admonished as he snatched it away. "Don't be such a pig!"
The aristocrat grunted. "Believe me, Jurgen, I needed it. Mein gott I needed it," he said as he wiped his mouth. "We're gonna need another replacement for the wheelchair. Ferris completely melted it."
"You should have listened to me."
"Ja, thank you, Jurgen!" Konrad said irritably as he turned toward the exit. "I don't need to be reminded how much of a complete fuckup I am! Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to be left alone for a while."
Konrad had just gotten out of the shower when his cellphone went off.
He stared witheringly at it.
'What now?' he thought irritably. If it was another goddamn creature or incident, he was going to call it quits.
Taking it out from his pant pocket, he raised it to his ear.
"Hallo?"
"Baron, it's Rogers!"
His ears perked up.
"What is it?" he asked. "Did Ferris escape again?"
"Not at all, Baron. I have some great news for you - I think we have found a way to access the cell membrane of Homo Glacies!" the researcher said excitedly on the other end.
Konrad lifted his head.
"Really?" he said interestedly. "Are you sure?"
"Ja," Rogers answered.
"But how?"
"It was purely by accident," Rogers explained. "One of my personnel had been studying venom taken from Gupte's animal when he accidentally spilled some on a sample for Homo Glacies. We scolded him and were going to get rid of it when Patterson decided to check under the microscope. You aren't go to believe this, Herr Baron, but it's strong enough to dissolve the cell wall!"
Konrad stood there, his phone limp in his hands.
At long last, the final piece of the puzzle had been solved!
'Finally, some good news for a change,' he thought before speaking, "This is wonderful news, Herr Doctor. Wonderful!"
"I thought you'd approve," Rogers chuckled.
"Oh I do, I do!" Konrad said. "Have you deciphered the rest of Homo Glacies' genetic code yet?"
"Not yet, Baron," he said.
"Keep me informed every step of the way," the aristocrat ordered. "I don't want to miss anything."
"Yes sir."
Hanging up the phone, Konrad heaved a heavy sigh.
Despite the setbacks and failures, at least there was a small silver lining.