This story was inspired by the story Welcome to Night Vale by cupidity11
This is Carlos/Cecil, rated M for possible adult themes and language (though I doubt I need it but it's better to be safe than sorry)
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The sudden cell phone call woke me up with a start. I glanced over at my phone. Samantha was calling me. I braced myself on my elbows and answered her call.
"Yes?" I asked, trying not to sound impatient but failing. I sat up, throwing the covers angrily off of myself. Gregory meowed deeply and angrily, since I disturbed him by getting up.
"At the PTA meeting I guess a portal opened up. You need to check it out." She said, "A lot of people died."
"Jesus…" I whispered, dressing quickly, "How many?"
"Well, your stalker says none so far." She remarked in an icy tone. This bothered me a little, which was very strange to me.
"Alright. I'll head down there and check things out. Where is it?" I said. Samantha began to talk, but I heard her say something to Amber. I muted my end.
"For the record, Samantha," Amber said loudly, probably so I could hear it, "You've actually stalked someone. The guy on the radio just swoons over Carlos. There is a difference."
"Oh shut up." Samantha said, "It's in the recreation center auditorium. Good luck."
"Who have you stalked?" I asked, and then unmuted the phone.
"Thanks!" I said, hanging up. I grabbed my lanyard with the "scientist pass" we'd been forced to get a few weeks ago. I slipped it over my head sighing and got in my car. I turned it on, and shut the radio off. I didn't need Cecil narrating my life right now. I got to the scene of the bizarre occurrence, and sighed. I shut off the engine and got out, nervous. I grabbed my camera as I made my way on scene. The members of Secret Police gave me a nod, and lifted the tape. An intern tried to squeeze in with me, but they beat her back. She frowned and took notes angrily. I walked inside and held my breath. The smell is what hit me first. Copper. Lots and lots of copper. I winced as I made my way through the bloody mess. I took pictures as I walked. I came across the portal. It was about my height. I couldn't look inside, but I was tempted to. I took a picture of the portal and grabbed a stick. I stuck it through. When I removed it, the part that I'd stuck into the portal was decayed. I saw a few kids laying around it, holding their heads and murmuring in a language either lost or not yet discovered. I took a picture of them, too. It killed me to stay on scene for this long, considering I was surrounded by a lot of dead bodies, but I needed a picture of one of those things. I walked farther along, and came across a couple more Secret Police members. He and I locked eyes, and he roughly pushed me.
"There's still one on the loose." He said sternly, "Get out of here now."
"I just—." I began.
"Now." He said. I sighed and nodded, trying not to let my sigh sound relieved. I headed out, considerably faster than I'd gone in, and began to smell the fresh air. Normally I hated the desert heat, but it beat smelling the blood and entrails of dead bodies. I walked back to my car and got into it, sighing deeply. I began to flip through the photos I took, wondering what I could see from them. One of the pictures scared the shit out of me. It was one of the photos of the portals. I saw someone staring back at the camera, screaming. It looked like one of the kids that stuck his head in, but what if the kid just walked into the portal? The kid's eyes were pure black, and it looked like he was trying to lunge for my throat. I shivered. I closed my eyes and sighed. My pulse was running ramped. I had no idea why I was so afraid. I started the car and flicked on the radio.
It's election season again, and you know what that means! Sheriff's Secret Police will be coming by to collect certain family members so that everyone votes for the correct council seats and there's no confusion. These family members will be held in a secure and undisclosed location, which everyone knows is the Abandoned Mine Shaft outside of town.
But, don't let the name fool you, listeners: it's been used for years for so many kidnappings and illegal detentions that the Abandoned Mine Shaft outside of town is actually a pretty nice location these days, featuring king-sized beds, free Wi-Fi, and HBO. Also torture cubicles, but I don't think anyone's going to make the Council use those.
Remember, this is America. Vote correctly, or never see your loved ones again.
This message brought to you by the City Council.
I relaxed, though the message was quite disturbing. How exactly does Cecil do that? How does he make the most terrifying things seem like almost nothing? I sighed. I pulled away from the parking spot I was in and began to make my way to the lab.
The Night Vale Daily Journal today announced that due to the recent economic downturn, they will start running ads on the front page. Any business interested in running one of these Platinum Premium ads should contact Editor Leanne Hart.
I sighed and shut the car off. I got out and grabbed my camera, not looking at the picture I'd left on the screen. I quietly made my way into the lab and placed the camera on my desk.
"How were things?" Amber asked me, coming to my side and sitting on my desk.
"Grotesque." I replied, sighing, "Look through the pictures if you want."
She grabbed my camera with a smile on her face. It vanished when she saw the picture I'd left it on. She looked at me and I raised my eyebrows. She scrolled back through my pictures and sighed.
"Cecil said there were none who died." She said, placing the camera back on the table.
"Huh. Odd. Maybe the council doesn't want anybody to panic?" I said. I shrugged when she gave me a look, raising my hands in surrender.
"There were members of the Secret Police there, so obviously something's going on here." I said, "They wouldn't just 'miss' all of those bodies."
"Yeah, you're right I just…I have a hard time believing that." She said. I nodded, understanding. It's a difficult thing to try to wrap your head around. I glanced over at Samantha and watched her carefully. She didn't seem to be crazed right now. The lab was quiet enough to finally hear the radio.
This just came across the wire:
The Secret Police have issued a new statement shedding more light onto last night's PTA meeting incident. The noisy portal and subsequent dinosaur attack that brutally interrupted discussion of swing set repairs on the elementary school playground stayed open long after Recreation Center employees thought they had rounded up all of the ancestral avian beasts, and authorities warn that there is still at least one more pteranodon on the loose.
Citizens should cover themselves with a low-SPF sunscreen and hide in a tiled bathroom.
I glanced over at Amber, who was watching the radio in fear. She looked at me and mouthed 'what do we do'. I shrugged in response.
Several curious handball players in the court next to the auditorium actually popped their heads into the portal — just to see what was on the other side of the vortex — and came back dramatically changed. The players aged several thousand years in what bystanders experienced as only a few seconds. Those handball players now straddle the unenviable border of millennially wizened and cripplingly insane.
Since psychological and emotional damages are no longer considered valid claims by the greater medical insurance community, we are still reporting zero injuries.
We'll update you as further details surface in our special ongoing and very special coverage of Pteranodon Attack-Gate.
I sighed and shook my head. Just then, I got a phone call from someone. I glanced at my phone, but the caller ID was blank. I answered the phone.
"Hello?" I asked, "Who is this?"
"It doesn't matter who I am." The person over the phone said, "Just get down to City Council this instant."
"Who…?" I asked again, checking for my keys.
"There's no time to explain." The man said, and hung up. I blinked, and closed my phone.
"What's up Carlos?" Amber asked.
"I'll… I have to go…" I said, my confusion preventing me from making a real sentence. I walked out to my car and drove down to city council. I parked and got out, heading in.
"…Someone's gonna get some kind of lead poisoning!" Old Woman Josie said. I knew immediately what they were talking about.
"That door is there for a specific purpose. Led poisoning can only happen if you come into contact with the door." I suddenly said. Everyone turned to look at me, except one man. He was turned away from me. They all turned back towards city council after giving me small waves or smiles.
"If we get rid of that door, the Plutonium that door is preventing from leaking into the city will, in fact, leak into the city. This will cause more problems and probably thousands of deaths! If you all take the door down, you're going to kill yourselves!" I cried out, hoping they would hear reason.
Nobody was listening to me, and I could tell. I felt panic shoot through me. I glanced around, and began to mutter incoherently to myself.
"There's no time…No more time…" I muttered to the tape recorder I'd bring to Council meetings. I charged out of city council, and smelled lavender. That goddamn lavender smell is going to drive me up a wall. I got into my car and began to drive.
…Old Woman Josie agreed with the measure, adding that led is a health hazard, and that the old door was nothing but a ticking time bomb. According to the meeting minutes, Josie said "That old door. Oooh, that door! Someone's gonna get some kind of lead poisoning!"
"Stop it. Shut your mouth, Cecil." I muttered, feeling panic taking over. I pulled over in order to not kill anyone with my out-of-control mind.
Carlos, beautiful Carlos, tragically shorn of his locks, reportedly was the only dissenting voice. But it is not clear he actually opposed the measure, as the minutes only reported him stating, "There is no time. No more time," into a black rectangle in his hand, and then running, winded, from the Community Hall.
I opened my eyes, coming back to reality. Cecil didn't know everything; otherwise he would have said so. Looking back, he could have been hiding something, but I didn't bother myself with that at the moment. I sighed and leaned back in the seat, closing my eyes.
According to Old Woman Josie, he was still absolutely perfect, and smelled of lavender chewing gum.
More breaking news on the pteranodons. We humbly offer the following retractions from our previous reports:
Secret Police are now reporting that the offending beasts were not pteranodons after all, but pterodactyls.
I began to drive again, much more of a clear head. I found myself heading to the lead door. I might as well go and see if they're going to remove it, and see if it would pose any health risk.
Also pteranodons aren't even dinosaurs as the station previously stated—just winged reptiles that lived about 70 million years after pterodactyls.
I got to the door and almost shut the car off. I wanted to hear what else Cecil would say.
Finally, earlier we reported a death toll of zero when, in fact, the number is closer to 38. We regret these errors.
I shut off the car, sighing. I got out and went to the trunk, pulling out some of the radiation equipment I had. I dropped them to the ground and grabbed the one that read Plutonium levels. I walked carefully up to the door, regretting not grabbing any form of protective equipment, but there was no plutonium in there. The reading said "0". I scratched my head. I carefully walked to the door and listened to it without touching it. I heard nothing coming from the door. I then heard a faint whisper.
"Let me out." It whispered.
"What?" I asked, to see if I could communicate with it.
"I said let me out." It said in response.
"Why do you want to be let out?" I asked. There was a long pause before it responded again.
"I want to kill you." It said. I shivered. I stepped back a little from the door.
"Kill me specifically?" I asked, audible nerves in my voice.
"Yes." It replied, "You."
"Why?" I asked again.
"You are the one who wanted to keep me locked in, no?" It asked, its voice becoming more real. It sounded like a little girl. I shivered.
"Yes, but I thought you were plutonium. That's why I came; they ignored me and are going to remove the door anyway. I came to see if there was plutonium—." I began.
"Enough lies." The girl said. She then fell silent. I clenched my jaw.
"When this door is opened, I shall come and kill you." She said. I kept my jaw clenched. I sighed and walked back to my car, getting in and closing the door. I turned it on.
If you can hear my voice speaking live, then you know; we are not history yet. We are happening now. How miraculous is that?
Goodnight listeners, Goodnight.
I'm sorry for the long pause between this update and the last, I was in a slum of ideas/too lazy to go to my main Night Vale source. Don't worry though! School will prevent me from updating more frequently, but just know that I love you all!