It was a quiet, tragically casual day at the Royal Woods Historic Museum. So quiet and tragically quiet, that few entered the museum, and security was so minimum.
Grant Bowman had just started his "internship" at the museum under the impression he could finally ditch the Burp 'n Burger and find easy pay, for easy work. And this worked beyond his expectations.
Because of serious budget cuts, the museum had cut most of its staff, and Grant was the only night shift employee. Unfortunately, he had a habit of no call/no shows, and when he did arrive, it was primarily to watch VCR tapes he would sneak in and play on the security TV.
There were no alarms, no additional staff, just him, his $17 hourly salary, and all the old movies he could watch on the low quality television.
On this particular night, he was stoked to see the museum hadn't been touched by the hurricane, and was unshocked to hear of Flip's death, although he did consider the fact that Flip did rescue him from the Burp 'n Burger from a snowstorm once.
"Now, where did I put those wings?" he mumbled, as he searched the tables. Though in his eyes, while he considered the entire shift a break, he considered his 'lunch break' the most special part of the day.
He wouldn't have even bothered coming in today, since old Antonio couldn't easily fire him as he was the only night staff, and nobody else wanted to work here, and even though Grant could complain about 'low salary' he didn't even care; paid to relax? That's his treat.
And speaking of treats, he brought in spicy chicken wings, and searched for VCR films he had stashed behind the equipment safe, where he found his 'magazines' locked away.
"Sorry girls, but I'm taking a break. This old flick has all the imagination." he chuckled, happy as he placed the tape of Porky's into the television.
He then leaned back, and looked for his lotion. "This is gonna be a great night." the former fry cook sneered, as he made sure the door was closed.
Meanwhile, a masked figure in a bandana was sneaking underneath the windows, crawling through the bushes. To the advantage, the museum was so far from much of downtown Royal Woods, the figure was relieved there was little traffic, and possibilities of being spotted.
Instead of trying the door, the figure instead managed to crawl up to a window leading to a manager's office, and used a crowbar to try praying open the window.
Unsurprisingly, it was unlocked. The foolish security "expert" failed to make sure of it. With a simple shrug, said figure then slipped in, nearly toppling over ornaments and trophies on the shelf.
Keeping note of the noise, the figure then slipped off their shoes, before placing them in a small backpack, light and reliable, and slowly crawled to the door, gently cracking it, keeping note of the surroundings.
Nobody in sight.
This satisfaction instructed the figure to crawl out, making as little noise as possible. With the outdoors being full of crickets and other nightly sounds, the museum was too quiet, but also to the point where the figure could hear footsteps if needed for alert.
It was very, very dark inside, and the all black attire blended perfectly with the atmosphere. After some quick searching, the figure then spotted a specific exhibit they were looking for.
An exhibit based on the Bubonic Plague. And inside, was a vintage Plague Doctor Uniform, with the black robes, and most importantly the mask.
With a sadistic smirk, the figure, not worrying about drawing attention anymore, used their crowbar to smash open the glass, with full force.
They had been expecting a strong, bulletproof glass, and figured several significant swings would be all it took. But they couldn't be more wrong.
With a single swing, the glass shattered, and the sound echoed and filled the entire quiet museum. And the figure lost balance, and slipped onto the ground, before quickly getting back on their feet, but with no sense of urgency.
And with an unconcerned reaction, snatched the uniform, and casually walked out of the exhibit into the dark abyss of the museum.
Grant had just inconveniently ran out of lotion, having checked the safe, and was already at the shower scene in Porky's when he discovered this. And he was greatly aroused, to the point he became desperate.
"Shit!" he cursed. Forgetting he had just had Inferno Wings from Gus' Games 'n Grub, he made the mistake of spitting on his hand, and planned to rub it out.
He then began stroking himself to the scene, not wanting to miss his chance and not in the mood to get up and rewind, and was in the moment briefly.
However, things soon hit him, when he felt an extremely excruciating pain in his genitals, and then caught himself. "Holy f-" he moaned, before it hit him. "OH GODDAMN, FUCK FUCK!" he screamed in pure agony, jumping out his chair and stumbling, as he dashed for the door.
With his pants and boxers still down, he slipped and hit his head on the door, nearly losing consciousness but still keeping himself awake. As he struggled to get his pants back on, he finally flung open the door, rushing to the nearby bathroom.
He then stripped down, and begin flinging water from the faucet onto his burning rod, hoping to cool it, to no avail as the pain continued. Instead, he sat in there sulking, screaming and crying for minutes, until by a miracle, it slowly cooled and he couldn't feel anything.
With tears in his eyes, he finally exited the bathroom. "Oh God, oh God man..." he mumbled, wiping sweat from his head, slightly bruised from the fall.
And then, he heard the glass shatter.
"Oh that's how it's gonna be, huh?" he grumbled, as he decided to pull out his "gun". In reality, it was just a BB he got from his dad when he was little, he wasn't old enough for an actual firearm. Come to think of it, he realised he was too young to even be working in security.
But the wannabe heroism took over. He did have a baton, a taser and pepperspray in the office. But now was his time to show whatever delinquent who tried to break into "his" museum he meant business.
As he brandished the BB, he grew a "bold" grin.
"Alright you little punks! Show yourself now, and I'll save you the embarrassment of being in a stretcher for when the police get here!" he called out, waving it around like he was in Call of Duty.
He then jogged over to where he heard the noise. After a small jog, or in his case unconcerned speedwalk, he finally arrived at the scene, and saw broken glass on the ground.
And an entire exhibit stripped.
"Aww man!" he grumbled. "This is gonna come out of my paycheck. Oh well, maybe they'll find them and I'll be off the hook. Or maybe I can say I was overwhelmed!" he cracked a smile, as he walked off, back to his office.
And then, a sudden, sharp blow to his head turned everything blurry.
Grant had thought he walked into something, but his sudden blow caused him to collapse onto the ground, nearly unconscious.
Groaning, he then managed to get back up to his feet, albeit with stumbling and nearly falling over onto his back. And as he got back up he turned to see what he hit, and then saw it.
The trespasser, now equipped with an entire plague doctor uniform. And it was holding a crowbar, watching as he had struggled back to his feet in amusement.
"Ugh... what the..." Grant stuttered, as it walked up to him, but suddenly stopping as he jumped back.
"Hey, you!" he screamed at the Plague. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
No response came from the Plague. Not even movement of any kind.
Unamused, Grant drew the "pistol" at it, also to no reaction. "Drop it, now! And come with me to the office bro!" he ordered.
And to a delayed, surprising reaction, the Plague did just that, and dropped the crowbar.
Grant now felt like he was in charge now, and the power trip soon kicked in.
"Now, come with me, we're gonna.. we're gonna fix this shit." Grant began to lose his voice, from both the pain and the anxiety, and took deep breaths after finishing the sentence.
The Plague, seemingly agreeing, then walked up to him, only to now quickly brandish a hidden knife and jam it into Grant's stomach, sending him stumbling backwards in screams.
"Jesus, FUCK MAN!" he cried out in absolute horror, as he held the wound with his spare hand. He then aimed the BB at the assailant, prepared to retaliate. The Plague remained stationary, tilting its head in curiosity.
And then Grant shot, striking it straight in the face, only to see the bullet bounce off from the mask. He aimed lower, and repeatedly mashed the trigger, firing a barrage of bullets at it, to no reaction.
Unamused, it then swung again, slicing Grant through the abdomen, rather than a direct puncture, and he fell to his knees in agony.
As he clenched his injuries, tears dropped from his eyes, and he began to plead for his life.
"It- it's okay... alright... You can just take it... Take it man, I won't say anything, I promise!"
Grant started bawling, as he rapidly lost blood and his consciousness was dropping, and he became lightheaded.
Once again, the Plague had no reaction, only to give him a simple shove after a small delay, knocking him onto his back.
With this, he scrambled back to his feet and began running back to the office, if one could even call it that. He remembered he left his phone in there, and there were also weapons to fight back with, or atleast he could hide out in there until the police and ambulance arrived.
Clenching his open flesh wounds and limping fast to the office, the Plague slowly began walking towards him, in no hurry.
And soon, in what felt forever in a situation where he was running for his life, he arrived. And then, found the door locked. He knew he never locked it, and that it was wide open earlier.
In a panic, he tried beating it open, and cried as he nearly collapsed on the door, but instead decided to just make a run for the exit.
And as he turned to get to the exit on the other side where he had just ran from, he was met by sharp pain in his chest, not realizing he just walked right into a knife.
As he felt the cold, sharp blade piercing through his lung, he began to choke on his own blood, before it was yanked out and he collapsed against the wall.
He made one final retaliation attempt, a weak swing at the Plague, only to fail as he was deprived of energy and movement, and then he saw the Plague lift the large, black hunting knife with both hands, and bring it down on him.
And as it penetrated his skull and into his brain, he lost all of his senses as he lost consciousness, dying before he could even react to the final attack.
And that was it for Grant Bowman, his entire life ended in the blink of an eye.
Maybe he should've stayed at the Burp 'n Burger. Maybe he wouldn't have buried his little sister's dollie when they were kids. Maybe he should've been nicer to his grandpa. He spent so many years being a lazy, inconsiderate jerk. But was this the karma he deserved? A life, wasted? And others to think so harshly of him when reminiscing? But now it's too late.
The Plague simply yanked the knife from his skull, blood spewing into the eye holes of its mask, and staining the all black cloak.
Savoring the money, it then slit his throat, before aggressively and repeatedly jabbing him in the heart, ensuring his mortality and getting thrills from the vicious attack.
After growing tired, the Plague took out a small tank attached to its back, and allowed blood to spill into and fill the canister, before finishing up, and then dragged the lifeless corpse into a nearby trashcan, unable to close it but taking advantage of the wheels. It took off Grant's shirt, and went to the bathroom.
Thankful the bathroom didn't insist on converting to hand dryers, it took multiple towels, soaked the shirt, and retraced steps, making sure to wipe down all of the blood, and drying the floors with the towels, and after cleaning up, made its way to the office, unlocking the door with the stolen keys.
The plague took Grant's phone and all of his trash and belongings, and made sure to check the security footage.
To no surprise, the Plague learned that instead of recording security footage onto a tape, instead the television was used to watch VHS films, and shrugged before cleaning the mess, and dumping everything into the trashcan, but not before taking Grant's keys out of his pocket.
Emotionlessly, it then grabbed the trashcan and rolled it out of the museum casually, before dumping the body and trash into the trunk, and then closing it, and managing to fit the trashcan in the backseat with some effort.
Then, it got into the driver seat, cranked the car and proceeded to drive off, burning rubber and making the tires squeal as it floored the gas.
The Plague made sure to avoid the city, not wanting to have the car identified or be seen driving it, and made its way to the Royal Woods' countryside, before making a turn offroad after spotting a small dirt trail leading to an old ranch.
It noticed that the ranch seemed very old, likely out of commission and mostly just a residence now, but took note on how secluded it was from civilization, and knew it was the perfect spot.
Not wanting to alert any residents or possible dogs, it parked the car halfway into the trail, close to the trees and got out, eyes peeled on a tool shed.
After taking a close look of the surroundings, the coast was clear, and it slowly walked up to an old wooden shed, rotting but still seemingly in use, and decided to pry open the door, which didn't take much as it completely broke free from whatever was "locking" it.
Then, just as luck would have it, there was a shovel, along with some old tools, nothing of use, but there was also some gas, which could be of use in the future.
Pleased, it then walked back to the car, slowly but unconcerned for anything, as it got back inside and casually drove off, before finding a secluded space deep in the woods, then parked on the side of the road, and after getting out, flipped open the hood of the car, so that any passers wouldn't think anything suspicious is up for the sudden stop.
Plague knew no Royal Woods citizen would offer to help work on the car at this hour in the secluded spot, so there was little concern of stoppers, as it took out the trash can, and approached the trunk and proceeded to dump everything in the bin, and close the trunk, rolling off with the bin and shovel.
After finding a spot about 10 minutes deep into the woods, the Plague began to dig, although while overheating even in cold October night temperatures, continued for about 15 minutes, before the hole was deep enough, and dumped everything inside, and in less than 5 minutes, the hole was covered back with dirt.
It didn't worry about there being anyone in this particular part of the woods, and considered that by the time anyone showed up, grass or something will have already grown.
Sure, there was the concern of tracking Grant's phone, but Plague already had plans, as it drove back into Royal Woods, now hoping nobody would recognize the car.
It then drove up to Grant's house, having mysteriously already discovered its location, and made sure to crawl in through the back window after parking the car, also having previously made sure the trunk was clean.
Thankfully, he didn't have a dog, and his parents were fast asleep, as the Plague lingered towards the upstairs bedrooms.
Though the house was surprisingly well kept for a perverted, lazy slob also residing, Plague kept quiet and made sure not to swipe anything, as it snuck upstairs and planted the phone and keys up there, so that whenever Grant is declared missing, the search shouldn't go too far and buy some time.
However, after leaving, it noticed a bedroom door open, and saw Grant's 15 year old sister sleeping, and was overwhelmed with urges to attack, but with great control, forced itself to leave the premises, and find its way into the forests until it made it to the next destination.
Flip's Food 'n Fuel.
Where this great power rush first began. Oh the sweet memories, but Plague knew it was a manner of time before someone came up to investigate it further, and knew nobody could get into the office room, unfortunately for them, the Plague already had the key.
And it was already stashed in a jug with Flip's blood, but Plague took out that old gas jug from its hiding spot in a nearby dumpster a block from the gas station, and decided to plant it inside the main floor, and now it was only a matter of time until someone stumbled up on it.
And then, the Plague would have its next prey.
Yes, I'm actually trying to remain constant with stories now. :)