Episode Four: “Metallic Vibe”
1.
Gene Ferris yawned as the day dawned once more. He looked over to the other side of his bed and blanched. That blasted witch was walking through his house again. The hag waved pleasantly as she picked her teeth with a long thumbnail. “Mornin’ boya,” she said, rummaging through his underwear drawer.
“Would you go away?!” said Gene, pointing at the door and giving the witch a stern look. “For the last time, I do not possess ‘items of empowerment’ in my frieakin’ boxers!” The witch blinked, looked at the door, then at Gene, then gave a grunt of a laugh. Gene sighed and got dressed, snatching his clothes off the floor. Ever since the witch hag had moved into the apartment next door, there was no getting rid of her. She could just walk through any door she chose and for whatever reason seemed intent on finding something of important value in Gene’s dresser drawers.
“Just make sure you lock the front door this time,” shouted Gene as he grabbed a banana before heading off the work.
“Yeah, yeah,” said the witch. Gene shook his head and strode out of the apartment complex. No one believed him when he said a witch lived next door. For some reason, no one else seemed to see her as she was. Everyone else just thought she was a slightly eccentric old lady. That she had glowing blue eyes, a silver claw on each thumb and hair that waved around like albino snakes didn’t seem to register. She had perhaps cast a spell to hide herself from everyone else. Gene wondered why he was the only one who could see past it.
Of course, he was also the only one who could see the gargoyle perched on the roof of the apartment building. Or the goblins that picked through the trash at night. Or the gremlin that had possessed his car. Or the zombie couple (yes, they were zombies, dammit, not drunks) that slowly circled the block over and over again. Gene opened the door of his Toyota Corolla, glaring at the gremlin perched on the roof. The gremlin, for whatever reason, chose to keep his car intact, rather than break it apart, but the damn thing just wouldn’t leave. Rather like the other weird things that had suddenly moved into the neighborhood two months ago.
As Gene drove to work, he made sure to take in every detail he could see. It had become a habit ever since he had started seeing these creatures. They were everywhere now. He couldn’t go three blocks without seeing come kind of monster or mishappened humanoid. They didn’t seem to be particularly interactive with their environment. Gene suspected most them weren’t truly there, just that there images somehow were.
Gene flinched as a giant bird flew right past his windshield. He managed to keep from swerving. Traffic was certainly getting to be a pain in the ass to navigate these days. He again debated quitting his day job and getting a night shift at the mall near his apartment. Then he could walk. Not that that was any safer, really…
Case in point, he rounded a corner just in time to see what looked like a pale, bat-like humanoid grab someone and haul them into an alley. The person may have just seemed like a normal mugger; no one who heard the person scream really acknowledged it.
Gene parked his car and dashed into the alley.
The bat thing was shrieking and the person was struggling against it. The bat thing clawed at the person, leaving deep gashes. Gene hesitated, not sure what to do. Why didn’t anyone else see this? Gene noticed, the person wasn’t moving. The bat-thing brought the person up to its mouth, hissing delightedly. Gene dashed at it, full on, shouting. The bat-thing shrieked and dropped the person as Gene body slammed it into the alley wall. The creature was surprisingly light, and Gene found himself plowing into the wall with the creature, having overestimated the force. The bat-creature broke his impact, and Gene heard several bones crunch. The creature shrieked so loud, Gene clutched his head in pain. In that moment of distraction, the creature leaped up the side of the building, and haphazardly flew away.
Gene watched it go, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears.
2.
“So, lets go over the description again: tall white man, pale, bloodshot eyes, and had a hook hand,” said the officer.
Gene shook his head. “Not bloodshot, red as in the iris was red. The guy was like an albino or something. And it wasn’t a “hook-hand”, he was caring a hook… like a bailing hook, you know, like they use on the docks.”
The officer adjusted his notes, a slightly skeptical look on his face. “He did a hell of a number on that poor guy with just a hook.”
Gene shrugged. He knew damn well enough no one would believe him if he said “it was a pale bat-thing”. He gave as accurate a discription as he could without making himself sound crazy. “Just telling you what I saw,” he said.
Another officer came by, and broke in. “No one else saw anything like that,” said the man. “Seems like a hell of a thing to miss.”
“Well, just to be sure, we’d like to take you to the station for fingerprints and fabric analysis,” said the first officer. “As you are the only witness, you are the primary suspect.”
Gene grimaced slightly, but nodded. “I understand,” he said. He glanced back at the victim’s body. He felt both reassured and helpless all at once. Reassured, because if other people could see the damage the creatures wrought, then it meant they were real. Helpless because, real or not, no one else could see, and hence no one would believe, that it was monsters causing the trouble.
“Max!” yelled one of the officers. A officer with blond hair strode over. “Take Mr. Ferris here to the station. You know the drill.” The officer leaned in and whispered something to Max which Gene couldn’t catch. Still, from the glance Max shot him, Gene knew something was up.
“This way, sir,” said Max. Gene followed Max to his car, and Max let him in the back. As the drove off, Gene noticed Max glancing at him in the rearview mirror.
The two sat in awkward (for Gene at least) silence for most of the trip. Finally, as they neared the station, Max spoke up.
“That was no man with a hook, was it, Mr. Ferris?” said Max.
Gene looked up and frowned a bit. “Well… its what I saw… I could be wrong. The guy took off very quickly.”
“Several people saw a man get dragged into the alley, and then saw you park your car and dash in,” said Max. “No one saw what dragged the man in. Most said it was some guy with a grey longcoat. No one saw that person leave the alley though, and as you and I both know, that alley only has one way in or out. How did the man flee?”
Gene swallowed. “Went up to the roof,” he said. “Up the fire escape.”
“Any reason you did not mention this before?”said Max. “There is only one fire escape. The man could still be hiding up on the roof.”
“He’s not,” said Gene.
“And how do you know?” said Max.
“I just… I thought I saw him…” Gene faltered. He should have just kept his mouth shut.
Max was silent for a while. “I know you didn’t do it, Mr. Ferris,” said Max.
“Do you mean that, or are you trying to trick me?” said Gene. This guy was getting on his nerves, cop or not.
Max frowned. “I’ve seen wounds from many weapons,” said Max. “I’m no forensics expert, but I can tell a knife wound from a sword or spike or claw. I’ve seen several people who have been mauled or gored by animals. You say the attacker was holding a bailing hook, but the wounds are too shallow for such a weapon. A hook would stab inward, then rip down, and get caught on the boen structure, or pull out large chunks of flesh. These cuts were ragged, but did not catch on the skin or bone. It was as though the wounds were made by a jagged knife. Or a claw.”
Max stopped at a red light for a moment. He glanced outside, then glanced at Gene in the mirror. “Mr. Ferris, take a look out the window to your left.” Gene glanced outside. What looked like a three headed dog was panting in front of a bakery, just sitting there. People paid him no mind, or stopped to pet his middle head before walking on. On top of the store, two very large birds were perched. One had a woman’s head, the other seemed to be surrounded by a pale aura of falling snow. “Do you see anything unusal, Mr. Ferris. Any unusual animals, perhaps.”
Gene’s eyes snapped backed to Max. Max was looking steadily, but calmly at him in the mirror. Gene realized his jaw had dropped open, and clsoed it. Hesitantly, he said, “Which one? Which one are you talking about?”
“I see three unusual creatures,” said Max. “They aren’t causing any trouble, but I still can’t get over how hardly anyone seems to notice. But you… do you see what I see?”
“I see a three-headed dog, a harpy, and some kind of ice-bird,” said Gene.
Max nodded. “What killed that man, Mr. Ferris.”
Gene’s mouth twitched into a humorless, thin smile. “It was a bat-creature of some sort. Pale… like an albino. It was about as tall as you or me. I threw it into the wall, and it flew off. I guess I hurt it badly enough to scare it off. It seemed pretty delicate once I made contact.”
Max brought a hand to his chin. “Probably had hollow bones; was it pretty thin?”
Gene nodded. “Now that you mention it, yeah. I think it was going to eat the man.”
“I don’t know what kind of creature that was,” said Max. “But it’s not the first such beast to try and make a meal out of someone.”
Max turned to Gene, looking at him directly now. “So… are you a Key Bearer?”
Gene blinked. “A what?”
Max raised a hand, and held up to fingers in a “V”. An arch of electricity crackled up the length of his fingers. “THat I know of, there are only two others who can see them. The three of us have been given power to stop these creatures. Have you?”
Gene’s eyes had gone wide, and he gawked at Max. “What the hell?”
“I guess not,” said Max. Max turned forward again, and resumed driving. “Don’t worry, we’ll stick to your description. Evidence will clear you as a suspect. But if you’re not a Key Bearer, I would advise you not to get involved with these creatures, for you own sake.” Gene nodded silently, not knowing what to think.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: So, yeah, here’s where it stopped. Spoilers: Gene gets the “Metal” Key.
Now, for those interested, the next post following this will be an overview of the series concepts as a whole, both the Original and the Redux series.
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