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."
