Scratch at the Door

Ah this has been a lovely day. You may recall that I had extended a formal invitation to Scratch to join us for dinner. Well, to my delight, he accepted and arrived as promised earlier today. I have a lot to cover so I will likely be posting this in parts as I type it up

Had just finished cooking when I heard a vehicle approaching the camp.

Upon venturing outside, I was met with the sight of a clown pulling up in a van. As it came to a stop, the side door opened, and out stepped Scratch. He was very well dressed, with his button up shirt, tie, vest, and dress pants. His signature fedora and trench coat completed the outfit.

After briefly pausing to admire his clothes, I called out a cheery greeting and waved to him and his driver (Gleeman, I assume). Gleeman did not respond except for a suspicious glance. Scratch simply smiled and pointed down the dirt road, signalling for him to leave. He followed the order, despite clearly not wanting to. Such a sweet display of concern       

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Scratch" I said as I approached. The scent of Ritter hung heavily- overwhelmingly- upon him. I offered a handshake, but he declined. He looked me over before glancing past me, likely searching for Fell and Hart.

"Hmmm. About what I expected.” He said. “Little shorter, I admit. Buuut monstrous looking enough..." As he spoke, I could not help but notice the inside of his mouth was quite black. "You'll forgive me, I hope, if I don't accept the handshake from someone who could probably kill me with a touch."

"Oh Scratch,” I responded with a laugh “I would not have to touch you to kill you, but very well." I gestured to the door of the main building. Fell had appeared in the doorway, holding it open while glaring at him. "Let's step inside, shall we?"

“Certainly.” Came his response.

As we approached the door, Fell suddenly began pointing at the ground. I looked back, only to discover that Scratch was leaving a trail of black residue. The residue appeared to be attempting to sneak off toward the other buildings.

"Cute" I muttered while directing that molten core of energy towards the trail. "There we go." I said as the residue bubbled and burned away. "Nice and tidy."

"OW. FUCK. SHIT." He cried while hopping on one foot. Quickly regaining his composure, he smiled "Ah... Well that answers that." He stretched as if he was trying to work out the pain, before looking at Fell. "Good Puppy. Heheheh." He laughed while he walked inside.

Stepping into the hall from the front room, a moaning drew my attention. One of the uninvited had wedged himself into the corner, cowering and moaning in misery. “Please… Please” he managed. I gently brushed his face with my hand before leading Scratch into the makeshift dining room where Hart was setting the table.

Upon seeing Hart, he took his hat off for a moment and gave a nod of greeting. "WELL hello deer boy. Looks like I finally made it up here, after all."

"Hey...” Came the flat reply “Yeah, I guess you did... Great"

The table was covered by the dishes I had prepared. These included two plates of roasted meat -sliced pork loin on one, slices of human on the other- roasted potatoes, fried asparagus drizzled with butter, similarly fried sliced mushrooms and a pitcher of iced tea.

"Please, take a seat and make yourself comfortable" I said

"Why thank you." He replied with mock politeness. Seating himself at the table, his eyes settled on the iced tea. "Now THERE is a bold choice. But I have yet to find any place north of Virginia that has any idea how to make proper Tea."

"Well I hope it meets your standards, dear." I laughed as I took a seat opposite him. Fell sat next to me while Hart took the seat next to Scratch

"You guys are out of the way, aren't you?” he said with a sigh. No wonder I couldn't find this place. Sorry about that. Truly." He winced as the words left him.

The sudden apology took us all by surprise. Fell shrugged in response while Hart replied "... It's cool, man... Thanks for trying to help".

We began passing plates back and forth, taking what food we wanted. With the sudden apology, I was reminded of his recent condition. "So how are you feeling, Scratch?" I started "Fully recovered from your... illness?"

He scowled at the question "Oh right. That. Yeah. Spinner ensured I am 100% free of Russian influence. A little advice, cause I know you and he are eventually going to go at it... He isn't the problem. HONESTLY, he is even more manageable than I thought he would be... His girlfriend though... She is a problem. You get a choice between the two, you kill her. You'll thank yourself later, IF you survive." He gave a brief chuckle to himself. He then proceeded to reach out his hand, sending out a thin tendril to spear pieces of the food which he then returned to his plate. 

"Thank you for the advice, dear, I will keep that in mind." I said

"And how has this adorable little kennel of puppies been doing?” He continued “Found any good long-term goals yet?" He stabbed some of the pork with his finger. The appendage blackened and began to pulsate as it consumed the meat. He raised a brow. "Not bad."

I smiled at the compliment as I watched him eat with fascination. "Long term goals? Oh Scratch, here I thought you were too intent on killing us to consider such a thing." I laughed before addressing the question "Exploration, dear... Once we do a few more... tests, anyway"

Since he had decided to make a display of eating his meal, I decided to respond in kind. Opened my coat to reveal my stomach mouth. A tendril emerged from within, snatching a piece of meat from my plate before pulling it back into the awaiting maw.

As I consumed the meat, I noticed Scratch’s eyes shifted colour to a sickly shade of yellow. He stopped absorbing his meal to stare at my stomach. "My, my. Dying really DID do a number on you, didn't it?" He looked to Hart and Fell with a grin. "This shit normalized to you two, yet?"

"Dude," Hart responded after swallowing a mouthful of food "with the shit I've seen, I've learned to roll with it at this point"

"OH, right. Sorry." Scratch smirked while leaning over to be in line with Fell’s intact eye "Is. This. Shit. Normal. Ized. To. You. Two. Yet?"  

At this, Fell broke her silence “I don't need to see your piss-eyes to hear the fucking question!” she snapped. Her damaged tongue caused the words to slur together, much to Scratch’s apparent delight.

He leaned back and resumed his absorption of the food. "Oh! Right. The tongue. Forgot about that.” He grinned. Fell mumbled a slurred curse while scowling at her plate. Unaffected, he continued “And it does remind me. I know I can be a bit... Unpleasant, over the internet. Who isn't, right?" He looked around to all of us with a mocking smile. "But I really want you to know, I appreciate you all going to this effort. As a show of that appreciation, I'd like to offer up a gift. Interested?" His eyes shifted back to their original blue.

Suspicion was clear in Fell and Hart’s expressions, as I assume it was in mine. "Well..." my eyes locked on Scratch as I braced myself, "This is a switch... What did you have in mind, dear?"

He responded with a wide grin. "I figure... It's better to give a demonstration, rather than an explanation. A trial run, if you ultimately decide to keep it. Just let it happen."

Suddenly two blobs of Azoth sprung up from beneath the table and attached themselves to Hart’s hand and Fell’s face. We were on our feet in an instant, sending our chairs crashing to the ground. While they attempted to struggle free of the Azoth, I focused that burning energy on Scratch. Furious, I commanded him to stop before I incinerated him. Fortunately for him, he heeded my warning. Sitting up straight with his hands in the air as if held at gunpoint, he called back some of the Azoth on Fell. 

"WHAT THE FUCK" She exclaimed. Her words were perfectly clear. I looked at her in shock as she stuck out her tongue. It looked completely repaired. She grasped her regenerated tongue before letting go "what the fuck" she repeated. I looked over at Hart who was staring at his hand, dumbfounded. His finger had been similarly repaired.

"Are you alright?! Does it hurt?" I blurted

"No." Hart said quietly; mystified. "It feels… normal"

"I'm okay" Fell reassured me.

Seeing that they were unharmed, I gave Scratch another suspicious glance before picking my chair back up and sitting down. Despite my concerns over what he might be plotting, I drew back the energy. Fell and Hart took their seats again, with confusion, disbelief and suspicion still in their expressions.

Scratch lowered his hands and relaxed in his chair, smiling. "There it is.” He said, pointing at me “That's the look I was expecting. Heheheheh. Marvelous." Ignoring, my confusion at this statement, he glanced back at Fell. "How's the eye, Kristy? Don't think I quite had enough time to finish that. You probably see... Shapes? Maybe some colors? Eyes are tricky. Trickier than fingers, or tongues. Always have to... Draw it back a bit. Don't want you seeing shit your little brain couldn't handle."

"Oh well thanks for the fucking concern, Luke" Fell responded sharply "And yeah, I can see fucking shapes now"

Hart, meanwhile, was still silently studying his repaired hand.

"So, can I like. Finish repairing that eye, without getting roasted? I HATE leaving a job half-done." Scratch frowned before taking a tentative sip of the tea

"It is not my eye, dear." I replied after some consideration. I turned to Fell. "What do you think, love?" I was concerned for her but, ultimately, it was her decision to make.

She glanced back and forth between Scratch and myself before finally giving him her answer "No." she said "I don't fucking trust you. Take this shit back"

He gave Fell a mildly confused look, before settling on a frown. "Sure, sure. But when I'm about to leave, and not before. Hearing you talk like that is annoying, so I'm gonna leave it in for now. As for the eye... You sure you don't want me to get it working just for a bit? So you can take a nice long look at your Master, with both eyes, one last time?"

"I don't have a fucking master anymore!" Fell snapped "And yeah, I'm sure. Fucking thanks, but no thanks"

Scratch took another sip of tea, squinting suspiciously. "... Hmmm. A better effort than I expected. Not quite right, but better than that Lipton shit they like to pass off as Tea up in these parts."

“Ah good,” I said with a small smile “I am glad you are enjoying it. Don't like the Lipton stuff, myself"

He looked to Fell, and then to me with a giggle before finally acknowledging what she had said. "No Master? Heheheh. That's good. Did you program that response, I wonder? Good work, very good." He smirks once more. "Fine, fine. You are REALLY being far too suspicious though. If I was going to try to pull something, I would have done it then and there. And given that I wasn't roasted within the first three seconds... Well. Half-Measures never work out, do they? But really, hospitality isn't something you squander like that. There are lines, my dear den of doggies, that I simply do not cross."

"Fuck you! She didn't fucking tell me to say that and she isn't my master!" Fell snarled. I took her hand in mine and gave it a little squeeze to calm her.

"Honestly Scratch, while I will end you if you force me to -if you hurt my family- I would very much prefer it didn't come to that" I said with a sigh.

With a wave of Scratch’s hand, the Azoth began to leak from Fell’s eye. She shuddered as it left her, dripping onto the floor before crawling back to him. "I guarantee, Kristy, at least two other people at this table disagree with you there, even if they won't say, or admit it” He glanced at me with a smile. "Can't say I blame them. Afraid to say, you won't be ending ANYTHING, though. Not today, anyway, no matter how this goes, or what your paranoia might make you do here. Heheheh."

"Dude, what is your problem?” Hart said, breaking from the silent consideration of his new finger “Wolf was her master in the beginning, sure, but that was years ago. She isn't anymore. Not everyone has to have a master because your stuck with, what, two? More? Why are you so set on acting like a piece of shit when Wolf is trying to be nice to you?"

"It's alright, dear" I reassured Hart. "The poor boy is just acting out because he is afraid." I looked at Star with a smile "Paranoia hm? Heh that is amusing coming from you"

He rolled his eyes. "Afraid of what, exactly? You? Them?" He asked, gesturing to Hart. "Not much to be afraid of, if you ask me."

"Afraid of kindness, dear." I replied. "For one so deprived of it, so punished for it, it must be quite shocking"

He rolled his eyes again and turned his attentions back to Hart with a frown. "Well, I thought I was being rather nice. Repairing damage. Though I guess the damage only happened because I couldn't fucking find this place..." He groaned. "Fine, fine. Fixing the damage is a responsibility or some shit. Sure, whatever. But the truth here is that Kristy over there does have a master. Controlling her every thought and every feeling. That's what happens when you do to someone what was done to Kristy. A little dolly, hand crafted to be loyal to its owner.” Looking back to me, he snickered “Heh. I doubt you even really understood what you did, when you first created her. But this... She has really developed the only way she possibly could. Really think about it. They tell me people have the capacity to do anything, be anything... But Kristy? She had all that taken from her and replaced with one thing, and one path."

"I know what I did...” I said, finally. “I can't take it back. But what I can do, is everything in my power to protect her, to make her happy. I am not her master anymore. I ask her for her opinions, rather than simply commanding. She has lived and led without me-"

"Why don't you take some of that Azoth, make a nice fat cock and go fuck yourself, Luke?” Fell interrupted “I remember my life before. I remember what she did but it's my own fucking choice to be here with her right now!”

"You remember, sure.” Said Scratch “But you were broken apart about as badly as anyone could be. And put back together a very specific way. Heh. You have no idea what it's like to really have freedom of choice. Isn't your fault, of course... But it doesn't change facts. Nothing and no one could tear you away from the person who destroyed your life, not even the big bad Wolf herself."

"Shut the fuck up!" Fell leapt to her feet, taking the carving knife in her hand

"Fell! Stop!" I cried "Don't give him what he wants!" She glared at me, but I continued "Please..." She finally dropped the knife before storming out of the room. I pinched the bridge of my nose in exasperation as I heard her punching a wall.

Scratch cackled "What do you think her limit is? You know, before she just straight up attacks me. Heheheh."

"You don't give her enough credit, dear.” I said, sternly “Very few do."

He smirked and leaned forward in his chair. "I think... You give her too much credit. You have to. Makes you feel better doesn't it? Heheheh. Because you broke a very important rule, when it comes to doing what you did to her. Can you guess what that is? Knowing all that you know now about torture?" He suddenly glanced over at Hart. "How's the finger treating you, deer boy?"

"It, uh... It's good. Normal... Thanks..." Said Hart, pensively wiggling the new finger

“No, why don't you tell me?" I muttered flatly, as I pulled another piece of meat into the maw. I took in a breath, bringing myself back under control before smiling again. "Fell has proven herself by being able to carry on after my death... Indeed, even Ritter seemed to give her some credit. He chose her, after all... Funny isn't it?" My eyes locked on his "He chose her, but not you. You had to go begging to be let in. When you died, it wasn't him that resurrected you was it? How sad. Trying so hard to be part of a family after yours would not have you. Oh! I wonder if that's why you ran off with Elaine. Were you hoping that she would be the family you wanted so desperately? You poor thing."

Scratch glared at me, his eyes briefly flashing that sickly yellow again. But after a moment, he began to smile again. "I believe Carmine, Tom the Rapist, and David fucking Banks were all chosen as well. I don't think Father is really picky when it comes to his chosen, or at least He doesn't seem to be by any standards I can tell. Maybe He saw something in Fell that reminded him of them... Of course, it isn't much of a stretch for any person to start acting like them. Just human nature I suppose."

Fell returned to her seat. Her hand was wrapped in a bandage. I gave her a concerned glance before considering his list, "Indeed, it would appear that Ritter sets the bar rather low" I began to laugh "and you still could not meet it!" At this, a smirk appeared on Hart’s face and Fell began to snicker. I waved my hand in apology and reigned myself back in. "Ahaha... ah, yes, yes, human nature. Elaine showed us that didn't she? Ah the things people will do to ensure their own survival."