I was going to start writing this right after posting five, but I kid you not as soon as I opened the document I was roped into like 3 different things. But this party's still going!
Be kind and stay spooky, everyone.
-Inky
"Okay, I need to make sure I heard that right. A puzzle box that leads to another dimension?"
"Yes."
"And you were there twice?"
"It's where I met Tiffany?"
"And it's filled with these things called Cenobites?" Terri's face was wrinkled in confusion. "Listen, I believe you, or I think I do, but..."
"I know, I know," Kirsty said, pushing her hair from her face. She'd gotten another cup of coffee on request and was holding onto it like a lifeline. "It's... a lot. But yes, according to the notes I read in Dr. Channard's office..."
"I'm calling him Dr. Dick from now on, by the way." Kirsty smiled at that, and even laughed, just the tiniest bit. She didn't see Joey behind her, smiling as well and giving Terri an approving nod.
"That is pretty fitting. Good God, he was awful..." Kirsty shook her head, before collecting herself again. "They were members of some... religion, I think? Or school of thought... but they believed in the exploration of sensation to unimaginable extremes."
"That would sound so hot if you hadn't told me they were all gored up." Joey swatted Terri's arm and Kirsty laughed, half in shock and half because, well, Terri wasn't entirely wrong. All three were laughing now, quietly, and for a moment Kirsty wanted to take it as a sign that everything really was fine. When she glanced at Terri, though, she saw a thoughtful expression that put worry in her bones. It looked like she was trying to remember something. "Hey, I don't want to upset you," she started, "I know that kind of flashback can seriously suck..."
"Yes?" Kirsty leaned forward a bit, gripping her coffee again and trying to still her trembling hand.
"But did one of them have, like..." she hesitated, before holding her hand up and drawing lines across and down her face with her fingers, "lines, kind of, like he shoved his face in a grip paper printer?" Kirsty stared at her, just for a moment. Joey put a hand on Kirsty's shoulder, which was enough to make her nod in response.
"With... pins..."
"Yes! Oh my god, okay, the pins were so weird, that makes so much sense now!" Terri quickly realized her mistake, because she immediately went on, "J.P. bought this crazy sculpture with that kind of a face on it, with all these writhing bodies and bones and crap. I thought it was some kind of weird religious thing..." She trailed off as Kirsty looked at her with wide, shocked eyes.
"...Where is it now?" She whispered, "can you show me?"
"I sold it. This woman gave me over a thousand for it, no questions, just a note with the bills." She pulled it out of her pocket and showed it to Kirsty, who went paper-white. "Just an address. She was gone with the thing before I could ask, but I'm pretty sure it's..."
"The museum," Kirsty finished. She swallowed and looked at her sister. "We... Joey, I think we need to go back."
"We do anyway," Joey said, holding up her phone. "Tiffany wants us for something urgent - she says it has to be in person, and she's in a hurry. Kirsty, are you going to be okay...?"
"I can manage." Kirsty looked back to Terri. "I'll pay for gas if you can bring us back."
"Don't need to, I've got it covered. There's a gas station that way, I can get you there in maybe ten minutes?"
"I'll tell Tiffany," Joey said with a nod. "Thank you so much for your help, Terri."
"Seriously, thank you," Kirsty added, and despite herself she set her coffee down to give Terri a short hug. She seemed surprised, but after a moment her arms wrapped around Kirsty, awkward but gentle.
"Girls look out for each other," she said, and Kirsty smiled. She was scared - of course she was scared - but with Joey, Tiffany, and now Terri on the team, maybe she could believe things would work out okay.
It was all too easy sometimes, Angelique mused to herself. All she'd had to do was call for help before two guards came calling, one already ready to fire his adorable little gun. They flocked to her like flies, and with a bat of her lashes and a small pout she had them wrapped around her finger.
Not quite as much as she would have liked, though. instead of following her as she'd hoped, the senior officer assured her the basement she thought she'd heard something from was off limits and they'd know if somebody was down there. She wanted to protest that they clearly hadn't noticed her twice before, but then that would give up the whole game.
So here she was, being escorted to safety and away from her fellow conspirator, masking her fury with a troubled look and a grip on the younger officer's arm that he was clearly having trouble ignoring. She could take a small comfort in that bit of amusement, at least, even if she would have preferred to rip them apart there and then.
A man was approaching them from across the dark hallway. For a second her irritation threatened to shatter what patience she had left - after such a day of inconveniences all she wanted was to sink her claws into ripe flesh - but a small whiff of him was all it took to lift her anger from her shoulders and for her smile to turn genuine. She did not need to see his face to know the scent of his blood.
"Mr. Merchant," the older officer said, "this young miss was lost in one of the back rooms. She said she heard something in the basement. We already have Renard down there, should we send backup?"
The LeMerchand, a man with dark circles under his eyes and coffee on his breath, shook his head. "We'll wait for him to get back to us before sending anyone down. The backup generator should be ready in about fifteen minutes." He turned to Angelique, his eyes moving down for just a moment before coming back up. "In the meantime, miss, would you please stay with me? We're trying to get everything back on track for the opening, and I'm afraid I can't just let people wander around."
"Of course, Mr. Merchant, please forgive me." She smiled her ruby smile at him and let go of the officer's arm, taking his hand instead. Her red nails traced over his skin, and she felt the tiniest of shudders from him. Perfect. "I am such an admirer of your work, I just couldn't wait any longer to see the exhibit..."
"That's quite flattering, miss," he said as he sent the two officers off, and the younger one walked away with a grumble, "but I'm afraid with the chaos now I can't just let you wander around the building. We've already had enough problems today."
"I understand completely," she said, smiling, "but could you entertain an admirer of your work while you prepare?" He smiled at her, charmed by her innocent face.
"I don't see why not. What do you want to know?"
"You see, I've done quite a bit of research into your family's work..."
Tiffany found the car Joey had told her to parked about a block from the museum, and Elliot had told her how to get there. A girl with black hair opened it for her when Joey said something, and Tiffany immediately took a seat and opened her laptop. Joey started to ask her what was wrong, but the incoming call came on immediately, in open defiance of there being no signal. She hit answer, and Elliot Spencer came into view.
"Tiffany, did you find everyone?" She nodded, even as Joey and Terri looked at each other in disbelief, and Elliot seemed satisfied. "Good. I'm sorry for reaching out to you with so little explanation, but I did not know how else to do it."
"Wait, who are you?" Terri asked, but Joey's eyes were wide with shock.
"Wait... you're the man from the picture, the one who..."
"Yes," he said, "I am Elliot Spencer, the man Kirsty told you about. Although I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that."
"Wait, aren't you supposed to have, like, pins and leather all over you?" Terri looked at Joey, who looked at Tiffany, who did not look away from the screen.
"That's the complication, actually," Elliot said, looking grim. "The doctor did something to him - to me - when he killed me. Something severed us in half, and for some reason I was unable to return to my Cenobitic half before the restoration process could begin. He's loose inside the museum, and I'm afraid he's not himself without me."
"Wait, so are you his humanity, then?" Tiffany signed it first, but Joey translated. Elliot shook his head.
"Yes and no. It's not such a clean cut as that; I have pieces of him and he has parts of me, but what I'm missing from him is much less dangerous than what he lacks without me. I embody his inhibitions, his code of honor, but also his past, while he embodies my desires, my passions, and my future. Without me he is quite capable of human emotion, but there is nothing to keep his ambition in check."
"Great, so we have a freaky pin guy with no conscience and a bunch of freaky magic buildings in that museum that can probably do all kinds of weird crap." Terri was eating a lollipop, and bit into it with a crunch. "So what do we do?"
"The good news is he's much, much weaker than he expected. He's missing something - that's why I reached out to you specifically." He turned his attention to Tiffany. "Do you remember the night of the attack?" She nodded slowly. "One of his pins was lost in the incident. I'm afraid I can't remember how, but I believe it can be found. If he regains it on his own, then he'll be unstoppable, but if one of you can get close enough to return it yourself, I can channel through it to return to our body, and hopefully reclaim control of his impulses."
"I'll do it, then," Joey said, "I'm not risking any of you getting hurt." Tiffany started to protest, her hands poised to say that it should be her, that she wasn't one of his intended targets the first time, but Elliot shook his head.
"I'm afraid that won't work. There's only one person I can imagine getting that close to him. I am a man who cares very deeply and swiftly, I can admit that. But Kirsty's the one who has the best chance of knowing where the pin is."
Joey took in a breath. She didn't like it, but if Kirsty was the one who had the pin, then it looked like they didn't have a choice but to ask her; even if it meant stirring up old demons. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Tiffany tugging on her shoulder.
"Joey," Tiffany signed, "Where is Kirsty?"
I accidentally included a line I intended for a later chapter. It's been fixed, sorry for the confusion.
- Inky
