Blasphemous Bounding (Handabooo & Morris)

[Morris]

The world was blurred and spinning around the boy. He couldn't move his head. His legs, arms, fingers. Anything at all. His rigid, young muscles pushed themselves in vain against the straps which binded him to the wheeled hospital bed, which was pushed down the sickeningly clear white hallway, into the emergency unit of the psychiatric hospital where he was now confined. He tried to think, drugged as he was, recalling his memories - like shards of a broken stained glass window.


He lost track of time. How long had he been here? Mere hours, or weeks even? He didn't know. He felt as if he had been asleep for days at a time. But when he dreamt - was it indeed dreaming, or memories of something he had never done? Dreams, memories, he could barely tell the difference anymore. He heard conversations around himself, but the voices sounded distorted, meaningless. Something about being violently insane. About a policeman coming to interview. Or somesuch.


The boy's eyes, little by little, turned to his left side. And as he was carried away in that badly lit corridor, he saw a fleeting, mocking shadow that replaced his own, and it was not of a human at all. It all came rushing back.

--- 14 days ago, at 21.13 PM ---
​

"This is so stupid." - Lenny Quisling stated when faced with this newest challenge to his manlyness. - "And by extension, I'm likewise stupid for doing this."


Lenny was a teenage boy, years away from the threshold of adulthood, despite his best efforts. He was good with hand tools, knew his way around in a kitchen, and wasn't entirely hopeless with keeping his turf clean either. All at the ripe age of 16. That, however, did not make him mature, not by a longshot.


It is not all that hard to see why. Parents divorced, mom kept him, remarried to that strange weirdo Lenny never knew before, moved to an entirely different county, with none of Lenny's old friends and real daddy being anywhere near them. This just stank. In hindsight, Lenny's mom's actions were just asking for trouble, upsetting her child's life at such a hormonally turbulent period.


Cue the alienation... and hanging with the wrong crowd. There was this all-boy band Lenny started skipping classes with. They seemed cool to be around, having some dated motorcycles, and other students at school seemed to respect them, and no teacher was going to tell them what to do. They let Lenny come along for the rides after he helped them fix one of their motors. But they have never quite accepted him in. They made him do all sorts of "trials" - pranks on adults, vandalism, graffity. Sometimes they asked for loans they never paid back. And now... this.


To spend the night in this god-forsaken, abandoned, ill-reputed building: The Royal De Luxe Hotel. Suffice it to say, judging from size alone, the place must have had been pretty amazing. About 30 years ago. Maybe more. But gossips and urban legends still persisted about it to this very day. It was the site of multiple horrible murders back in the day - which didn't really help its reputation. The number of visitors fell drastically, the owner committed suicide, then his inheritor sold the building and assets to the municipality... and after a few measurements and talks of renovations, they abruptly decided not to bother to do anything about the place to this very day. Typical government investment from the simple folks' tax money.


But that was not one bit relevant in Lenny's case. The other kids told spooky tales of the place - and now, his supposed pals from the gang told him this would be his last trial. Because they don't need no chicken boys, here's what he had to do: spend the night in this creepy ass hotel.


There was no water, no electricity. Only dirt. Bugs. Withered tapestry. Cranking furniture. He could have sworn he had seen rats as well. To pass the time faster, he decided to explore a little. He went up to the higher levels using the fire safety stairways, led lamp in hand. Who knows? He might find some old radio or somesuch to fiddle around with. That will keep him occupied, take his mind off of the general disgust of the place. It wasn't relaxing by any means, but Lenny told himself that so far, all he has seen is natural. There's nothing to be afraid of.


Was there?


@Handabooo

 

[boo.]

How long has it been? Eve couldn't seem to concentrate. The shadow flitted from room to room, past memories being called to mind to escape the prison it was trapped inside. Regret was obviously a large emotion that the demon felt, but patience was absent from its being. After all, such a virtue was only for angels and creatures of light. Eve was no such thing. 


A groan was muttered throughout the old hotel, fluttering curtains and sendong the odd spider creeping back to its nook. Eve wanted desperately to be free, but every night, everything played out the same. The demon would wander through the halls, held back by an intangible leash, and moan to the atmosphere its complaints. Eve was suffering, and had no idea how to make it all stop. Any humans that entered here eventually fled, and never opened their souls to possession. 


Eve knew humans were fickle fickle creatures, which was why it was still trapped here. The last time it had come to earth, humans had been so much different. Now, they were so much more blatant and rough. What did they want most? Eve was confused, and subsequently, angry. 


But there was a sound. A creak. A quiet breath. A ripple of life could be felt by the demon, who instantly began to search. It wasn't long until it found him. A boy. He was young, no older than seventeen, and bore an expression of slight fear and curiosity. What an odd combo. Eve glared at the human, who was beginning to step throughout the hotel, looking for nothing in particular and yet paying attention to much. Obviously, he was not here of his own accord, by perhaps on a dare. What a foolish boy.


Eve shadowed the boy, noting his bight source of light. Was he here to spend the night? How delicious. Eve could feel a shiver of excitement run through it, because it had been given another chance. Could this be the one. But how to approach him? Subtlety would be essential, as well as a pleasing atmosphere. Eve glanced about itself, realizing that that was near-impossible, but it would make do.


"Good evening." A whisper left the pool of mist that was beginning to congregate in the corner of the hallway. Eve spoke softly and as tenderly as possible, but that was difficult. What was tenderness, anyways? "You're braver than those other boys, Lenny, and yet you strive to prove yourself?" Flattery was a sure way into the heart.


@Morris

 

[Morris]

Lenny was strolling through the wide hallway, decorated with greek-style pillars on the sides, such as it was. Were he asked, he would have wagered this might had been a VIP section - it was flatulant in a way, even as it was mangled by the iron teeth of time. Gilded surfaces trimmed so many things, buried under dust, dirt-stains from leaking pipes through the suspended ceiling, spider webs, and metal fatigue. Classical reliefs were lining the walls between the rooms, now reduced to grotesque parodies of the human beauty they once represented. Elegant armchairs and sofas scattered about, long feasted away by moths, some even by moss and fungi. Wall plaster and tapestry were shedding all over the place, revealing the underlying decay. The rooms within were bare; only some bent and rusted metallic frames were left of beds and shelves. No sight of anything even remotely technical, save for the powerless electric lines dangling down in some places, like vines in a jungle of concrete and mortar.


Altogether it sent a powerful impression. Truly, were someone to behold it, the lesson would be clear - one of human vanity against the rush of time. Nature triumphs and reclaims its own; mortal generations are of no concern for timeless obscurity.


But Lenny was neither mature nor philosophical enough to give a damn. This place was sickening. It offered him nothing of interest, only discomfort and untidyness. Sighing in disappointment, he was about to continue further up to the next stairway once he checked the rooms for loot, finding none.


It was then the voice reached into his ears. Good evening. It said so. Upjumped, Lenny spun around with his lamp, looking for the source. He saw nothing; was it the wind, playing tricks on him? In some places on the lower levels, the air currents whistled rarther scarily. But this was different.


A few moments passed. Just as about Lenny was to dismiss it as a hallucination, the voice crept into his eardrums again, invoking a none too pleasant sensation; like he was about to be coated in nectar, and then tossed near a bee nest. Lenny shivered, clutching his flashlight tightly, backing towards the way he came up. His eyes darted around. - "W- who said that?!" - he asked, scared. - "I- is someone there? How do you k- know me?!" - his intonation became erratic. Were the urban legends true? Was this place haunted... and if so, where are the ghost busters when you really need them?!


"C- come on out! Show yourself!" - Lenny said. Deep down, he really wanted it to be just some weird person, or hell, even an extraterrestrial. Just not a ghost, please. He was recalling that movie he saw last week on tv - Predator, was it? - the appropriate sentiment being: if it bleeds, we can kill it.


Or hope to outpace it, at the very least.


@Handabooo

 

[boo.]

Eve reveled in the fear that plainly radiated from the boy. Had it wanted to mess with the boy, it would have then proceeded to do so. But no, it needed the boy. This Lenny was the key to its escape, if it could only convince him that they needed each other. It seemed that they boy was frightened indeed, but also curious. One, more than the other, but curiosity did exist. 


So Eve decided it would exploit the one. Lenny, despite his initial reactions to the supernatural, was a smart kid. At least, more so than any other foolish human that had ventured here. It he had had a real choice, he would not have come here. But it seemed he had something to prove, if only to escape from his family life for a bit. 


It was then that Eve emerged. It morphed from a puddle to a simple shadow upon the wall, appearing merely as an ambiguous silhouette. Its height mirrored that of Lenny's, perhaps a bit shorter, giving a non-threatening impression. There were two small pinpoints of cold white light that shone from its head, mirroring the location of eyes. Eve stared at Lenny, silent for a moment. 


"I was merely curious. It has been some time since a soul of any caliber has visited my home." Eve's voice grew softer, a bit more feminine, which prolonged the impression of innocence. "Call me Eve, if you like. I am but a simple spirit, which means you no harm."

 

[Morris]

Lenny was paralyzed and dumbstruck as that amalgation of blackness emerged and cast itself as if a shadow stretching upon the barely-lit walls, every gesture and move defying the laws of physics, converging into a singular mockery of the human form, with those terrible, shining holes it had for eyes...


It was pretty frightening to behold, and even after the creature settled down and adressed him, he needed a minute to steady himself and process what the heck just happened. His daddy always told him ghost stories were a load of rubbish, and now, he was presented with truth that they weren't. He was gazing about, as if looking for mirrors or projectors, expecting this to turn out to be a crude set-up from the gang.


"Umm... hi, I guess?" - he said as he grew pale with uncertainty, though the spirit (or ghost, or whatever it was) being smaller than him and sounding like one of those high-pitched voiced girls from her school did mitigate the impression somewhat. He considered whether he should offer to shake hands, but resigned from the idea. - "Say, um... Eve, right?" - he began - "If you are a spirit, why are you black?"


A moment of silence passed as Lenny contemplated the rationalization of his half-assed query. In any media his young mind witnessed, spirits and ghosts always had this eerie whiteness about them, or were transparent. Blobs of pitch black darkness were kind of new to him. Come now, there had to be a simple reason behind this. His eyes lighted up as he corrected himself: - "Oh w- wait, forget I asked! Of course, how silly of me. You must have had been of african descent while you lived!" - he pointed out with his childisly insensitive logic. - "I'm so sorry I'm so ignorant." - he added sheepishly before continuing: - "S- so... Eve, can you tell me what you're doing here? Do you live here?"


@Handabooo