Scratch at the Door Part 3

The stench of blood and rot greeted us. Across the dimly lit room, the noisy uninvited whimpered from the chair to which I had bound her. To her left was the circle; the place of my rebirth. The force emanating from its center sent thrills through me. The threshold beckoned.

Glancing back at Scratch, I watched him slowly removing his fingers from his eyes, "Hmmm. No Tear? That's somewhat disappointing." He stepped forward into the room and began to examine the circle. His eyes were like two yellow lights in the shadows. "Oh, birdbrain what the hell did you do..." He muttered, before bending down on one knee to take a closer look at the faded symbols

"Please... please help" Came the inevitable plea from the uninvited.

Scratch glanced at her for a moment before returning to his study. Growling in frustration he finally spoke "Shit is mostly too faded for me to get anything useful..." He pointed to one of the remaining symbols. "That. Looks familiar somehow, but I am not sure how. Osprey had no fucking idea what he was doing, did he?"

"I think the fact he is currently trapped in agony within me, speaks to that." I said with a smile

He then focused his attention on the center of the circle "Oh Fido, can I make a suggestion?"

I drew nearer to him; to the threshold, while considering what lay beyond "Go ahead, dear"

He suddenly grabbed me; pulling me down to look him in the eyes. "If you value your puppies’ lives. Do not let our bandaged, fellow undead, anywhere near this place. Under any circumstances. AND IF YOU CAN'T DO THAT. At least. DON'T LET HIM NEAR THE CENTER OF THIS CIRCLE."

I was shocked at the sudden warning but swiftly raised a hand to stop my family from attacking him. Smiling, I calmly removed his hand from my collar. "I know, Scratch. I have no intention of letting him in here."

He glanced back at Hart and Fell. "You hear me Pups? He gets near this" He pointed towards the center of the circle. "And it is game FUCKING over. You lose, I lose. We all lose."

They were clearly confused but they nodded "Yeah... we get it" Fell said, giving me a look of concern

At their response, Scratch stood up and dusted off his coat "Honestly, if it were up to me, I would fill this entire building up with concrete. But I'd also recommend not keeping your art projects near here" He gestured towards the bound woman "You don't know what exposure to this shit might do to them. Or make them become."

"Heh... her?" I said with a glance at the uninvited. "Oh no, Scratch, she is not an art project, but a guinea pig." I stepped closer to the trembling woman, causing her to shrink away as much as her bonds would allow. "She is the surviving former proxy who came with that foolish little group, looking for my protection." I gently brushed her hair aside, savoring her fear at my presence.

Scratch gave a loud sigh "Traitors. Traitors everywhere I fucking go." He walked over, standing slightly behind me "So what exactly is she a guinea pig for? The effects of this... Place? Bad idea."

"Oh? And what makes you say that dear?" I said while watching the woman's eyes dart back and forth, desperately searching for any hint of mercy from Star or myself.

"Shit like this has a habit of changing people. Nasty shit, nastier than me, tends to get locked up..." He waved his hand towards the center of the circle. "... Out there. You know why? Because out there is worse than anything that has been locked there..." He gave a shrug as he moved closer to her. Grabbing her face, he turned it from side to side as if he was looking for something. "And maybe nothing will happen. But there is also a good chance that something will. And that something might be beyond your power to protect your family from. I burn, sure... But the shit from out there doesn't."

The uninvited gave a yelp at being grabbed. "I-It's horrible. It burned. I-I was suffocating" She stammered, stupidly. 

"What are you looking for, Scratch?" I asked

Ignoring my question, he paused his examination of her face "... Suffocated by what? Not smoke is it? Or what you might describe as smoke?"

"No... no smoke.” Came her response “It felt like there was no air, just pressure- like my lungs were being squeezed but I couldn't die..." Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "And then I started throwing up. It hurt and my stomach had nothing left, but it kept going until-" She broke off as she took in a breath and looked at me. The terror in her eyes was delicious

Scratch let out a breath and took a step back "WOOO. Thank CHRIST. That would have been bad. REAL bad. This? This is manageable. Probably." He smirked at me "Easy fix. Just have to put all the pieces back where they belong."

"Oh, you are certainly welcome to try it, dear." I said with a smirk of my own

He glanced back at Hart and Fell with a grin, before turning back to me. "Oh Muttley. There is a time and place for that. And this is certainly not the time. I mean, unless you want to agree to not incinerate me, and I agree to make myself technically killable. But EVEN then, you have a whole pack, and I'm just one guy. Nothing fair or interesting about that, wouldn't you say?"

I laughed, doing my best impression of Muttley's famous snicker "Very well Scratch, we'll save that kind of fun for another time."

"Please.." The bound woman interrupted "just kill me and get it over with"

Scratch appeared to consider her request. "Well... You HAVE been very helpful." He took a step towards her.

Decided not to stop him as I was interested in seeing what he would do "Going to put her out of her misery, are you? How sweet. You can, if you wish. I figure she's reached the limits of her usefulness."

A glimmer of hope dared to show itself in the eyes of the uninvited. Sctatch leaned down to her, placing a finger on her forehead. He trailed his finger down to her nose, before giving it a tap "Boop." He said before a tendril of Azoth shot from his finger, through her nose and into her brain.

"Excellent, Scratch!" I exclaimed in amusement at his playful approach to the kill. I did not let that distract me from taking precautions, however. "How kind of you, to grant her wish!" I said while directing the molten energy into her corpse. Wanted to be sure he had not left any surprises within. "Ah, I am so happy that you actually came here today!"

His eyes suddenly went wide for a moment, telling me that my suspicions were correct. He looked towards the ritual circle's center. "Yeah, yeah sure, whatever. Something's tingling in the air. I don't know what."

"Everything alright?" I asked in poorly feigned innocence "Tingling…. Is it, now?" I said softly with a small giggle at his assertion. I wondered at how much he knew; how much he could feel.

Finally, I gestured to the door "Hm... heh shall we, then?"

He gave a shrug and walked to the door, taking one last glance around the room before stepping out. We followed close behind.

Once outside in the cold night air, Scratch looked back at us. He adjusted his hat with a smile. "Well. This was pleasant, wasn't it?"

I returned the smile and nodded "It was lovely. Thank you for accepting my invitation" Hart and Fell looked like they did not quite agree.

Fell opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, then said "Don't forget to take this back..." She stuck out her tongue and pointed to the repaired portion.

Scratch tilted his head. "Already? Sure you don't want to say anything while you still have the ability? This may be your last chance for ever and ever and eternity."

She again hesitated for a moment before turning to me with wide eyes. "I love you, Wolf.”

I felt a lump in my throat. "I love you too"

Turning back to Scratch, she said "okay...fucking... take it back now"

Scratch cackled. Fell shuddered as the black fluid squirmed out of her mouth and onto the ground before slithering back to him. "Ah... Hold on to that sound Wolf. You'll never hear it again. This was a one time offer."

I could only nod in acknowledgement as I put my arms around Fell to comfort her.

He turned his attention to Hart. "And how about you? Want to keep the finger? I don't mind."

Hart looked down at his hand, curling it into a fist and spreading his fingers back out. Frowning, he took a breath and said. "Thanks, man, but no. Take it back"

Scratch tilted his head with a smirk. "You know, I hear the words, but I don't think you are fully convinced of the decision. Let’s give you some time to second guess yourself." The finger began to slowly disintegrate into dust, falling onto the ground.

Hart's expression darkened as he watched the pieces fall. At this, Fell pulled free of my embrace and put her hand on his shoulder. I moved closer to him and placed my hand on his other shoulder, giving it a pat before looking proudly at the two of them.

Scratch gagged "Oh Hart, we're so proud of you for choosing NOT to have a finger anymore. Your debilitation brings us the greatest joy and knowing that your ability to count to ten is forever diminished SWELLS us with pride. UCK."

Hart gave him a cold look, before his eyes fell back down to his hand "You know, I may have lost that finger..." He said, starting to smile "but I still have this one" Hart looked back up at Scratch, grinning as he flipped him off. Fell laughed at this while a grin spread across my face.

Scratch smirked "You know... A few years ago. A reaction like that would have PISSED ME OFF... And I probably would have done something that would get my ass fried. You would probably survive, though I guarantee you would be down at least a few more fingers... But the thing is, I know better now. I'm gonna leave here, and all you are gonna think about in your quiet moments, is that finger. Until that phantom feeling goes away. Heheheh." He took a step forward, then began circling us. I turned, following his movements as he spoke again. "It's been fun kiddies. An education, even. I do wish this little meet and greet could have been under better circumstances. Really, I do. But as it stands... The next time we see each other, things won't be so polite."

"Indeed." I replied, still smiling "I would expect no less from you, my little lost sibling"

He suddenly jerked forward, stopping a few inches from my face. "Oh you are gonna get a LOT more than you expect."

Unfazed, I grinned at the threat; the challenge "We shall see, dear."

He stepped back, suddenly looking sullen. "Shame your little power is gonna keep this from being fun. Oh well. The boring ways have their uses, right?"

"Heh... Boring ways? Hmm" I laughed as I considered what that might entail

He backed away, into the snowy night "I'm sure you can use your imagination. Ta-ta for now..."

I waved goodbye to him as he left. At his departure, Hart and Fell went back inside. Following his footprints in the snow, I swept the area with that burning energy, before heading in for the night