Collaborative Fiction:24 hours in Swayspeak.

This is a new Collaborative fiction project.Any who wish to contribute may do so.All they must do is contact me via u2u and I will change their status to writer.

Each addition to this story must not exceed 500 words and each writer must post only once a day.

The genre allows for a certain amount of gore but otherwise good taste must be observed.

Remember that this is a public forum and minors have access.


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The small rural town of Swayspeak lay on the East coast.It was one of America's oldest towns.Indeed a surprisingly large proportion of Swayspeak's population could trace their ancestors back to some of the earliest settlers on the continent.
Most people may never have heard of Swayspeak.It is a quiet and isolated town with a very insular population.During the late 80's families from outside did move to Swayspeak drawn by estate agent language such as "traditional,quaint,and close knit community"but the majority of the townsfolk still appeared to come from old families.
If you had heard of Swayspeak then the chances were that you had read of their unusual Halloween Celebrations.For the townsfolk of Swayspeak did not sleep on Halloween.From the strike of midnight heralding that day to the same toll twenty four hours later,marking it's end,no one slept.
The transition from a precaution ensuring survival,to superstion,to tradition,and then on to celebration is not uncommon.The story is one of the towns society itself.
The cause of the transition from precaution to superstition is not clear.It is likely just the consequence of time.
The transition from superstition to tradition had come just after the Second World War when the young men had returned from Europe.The horrors they had seen overshadowed the stories their parents had ever told them of.
The time when the town started to celebrate Halloween in this manner can be traced directly to the when the influx of families came to Swayspeak in the late 80's.The newcomers,feeling somewhat bemused by this denial of sleep but not wanting to appear unwilling to embrace community life,set about celebrating the day like other festival days they had known.The younger members of Swayspeak embraced this new interpretation of the day as an excuse to party.
It is fair to say that if one of the original townsfolk had been able to see the frivilous nature that the day was observed they would have been horrified but ironically it was this very evolution in line with the lifestyles of the people of Swayspeak that had ensured that the most important tennant of the day was still observed.As I mentioned above no one slept on Halloween.
A further irony would be that it was the election of Mayor Tarrow of the Rebublican Christian Right,who would make the stuff of nightmare a reality in Swayspeak.Acting,as he said,on behalf of the moral majority he legislated in accordance with scripture(or his interpretation of it).One of his first actions was to outlaw the celebration of the pagan festival of Halloween.With nothing to distinguish Halloween from any other day the people went to bed on the 30th of October as they would on any other day.

It was 6 AM and Pete was returning home from his nightshift as a security guard at the local bank.On his drive back home he stopped at the 24 hour Convenience store to pick up some beers.His day was back to front and he had no problem with drinking a four pack while watching morning television before going to bed.Walking in he saw a young lady behind the counter he had not seen before.
"Hi" said pete.He looked at the name tag.It read Ellen."Hi,Ellen."He smiled"You new here?Looks like my mornings are looking up."
Ellen looked up and Pete saw that she looked tired.
"I'm nightshift.My boss was supposed to be here an hour and a half ago.I don't get overtime you know."
"Hell"smiled Pete"Why don't you knock on his door?Joe only lives across the street."
"I would do but I don't want to leave the store."
Pete looked out of the door,there wasn't a soul out on the street.Pete chucked a twenty on the counter.
"Ring up four Buds and I'll do it for you."Pete left the store as he did so he thought how quiet it was.Then he thought that he might offer Ellen a lift home when Joe was ready.He was smiling to himself as he knocked on the door.
No reply.Pete knocked harder.He thought he may even wake the neighbours up.There was still no reply nor any sign of movement.Pete had gone to school with Joe,they had been good friends.He knew Joe left a spare key under a stone in the backyard.Walking around he found the key and opened the door.
"Joe!" he called."Hey Joe!"

[Edited on 12-10-2003 by John bull 1]

So there Pete was, standing in the middle of the Joe's kitchen, calling out for him.

"Joe?!...Hey Joey! quite foolin around man!" Pete called out.

Pete walked up toward Joe's room. The way his hous elooked, it was a wonder how anyone could live here, but hey, that's Joe for you. Pete came up and gently put his hand upon the doorknob, twisting slowly. He whispered in...

"Heya Joe, you up yet?"

No Reply. No Joe. No Nothing. Pete looked around, a bit worried now. He began to search the house, but alas, no Joe.

"Ok...not good...where is the holy hell is he?" Pete muttered to himself.

He began to make his way across the street, back to the 24 hr Quick Shop. Ellen saw the look on his face, and sighed lightly...

"Lemme guess...he's still sleeping, isn't he?"
"That's just it...he's not even home!"
"What? Not home?"
"This is not like Joe, not like him at all. Something is most definatly not right here."

Pete picked up the portable phone next to the register and called up Irene. Now, Irene is Joe's girl, and usually always knew where Joe was. It was their best bet. If she didn't know where the hell Joe was, no one would.

*Irene�s place*

With a light sigh, Irene groggily looked over at the caller I.D. on her phone. �Sallinta, Joe� came up. Store number. So, She picked it up and tried very hard not to sound mad that she was woke up after only 5 hours of sleep.

�Yeah?�
�Irene? This is Pete.�
�Pete�what are you doing calling me from the store so early?�
�Joe didn�t come in yet�I just went over to his place to see where he was.�
�And?�
�He isn�t home, Irene. I thought you might know where he is�
�Well, he said he was going home last night after he dropped me off.�
�He ford isn�t in the driveway either�I thought maybe you gave him a ride home from the bar last night.�

Irene contemplated for a moment�this was so unlike her Joe.

�Pete? Listen, I�ll be over at Joes in about 15 minutes, ok? We will take a look down the main roads he takes, see if we can find his truck anywhere.�

�Sure thing, Irene.�

*Joe�s place, 20 minutes later.*

Irene pulled up in her old 85 Camaro. Now, Irene was only 35, and had had the car since it was new. She loved that thing�almost as much as Joe. She motioned for Pete to hop in.

�Well, Ellen said she doesn�t mind watching the store for a few more hours, so we have some time to look for Joe.� said Pete.

�I�m thinking�you think that perhaps this might have to do with the fact that it�s Halloween.� Irene shakily got out.

�Well�could be, but lets try to stay with facts and not go all hokus pokus, ok?�

So, Pete and Irene headed down to the bar, looking for their missing friend Joe.

As Pete and Irene pulled up next to the bar, they found that two police cars were parked next to it as well. Sensing that trouble was brewing, the two hopped out and headed in.

Contrasting with his vertically challenged partner, a well-built, tall, muscular man in a tight fitting navy blue police uniform leaned on the bar counter, drilling the bartender, Max, with questions. Similarly, two other policemen were interrogating the other patrons.

Peter asked a short, stubby man who sat next to the counter, �What�s going on?� The man replied in a slurred accent, �There was some sort of fight last night. This guy walked up to this other guy who was sitting in that corner over there and knocked him out. He started dragging him away, when these other guys sitting nearby jumped on him, but it looks like he managed to get away somehow.� as he motioned to various parts of the room. �Who was the person that got hit?� asked Irene. �Well, I heard that his name was Joseph or something, but I�m not sure. After the guy ran away, Joe suddenly vanished�.

A twinge of fear shot through Peter, it wasn�t like that of Joe to just go off like that. He knew that something must be up for Joe to act like that.

�By the way, I�m Barney. Barney Jagoras.� introduced the man. �I work at the auto shop just a few blocks away. If you need anything just look me up there.�

Peter and Irene paced silently around the room for a while, looking of any trace of evidence that might of shown what happened the night before.

Irene was walking towards the old broken down pinball machine in the corner, when a glint of metal caught her eye. It was a chain, tossed behind a chair. As she picked it up, she instantly knew what it was.

"Pete..Come here!" said Irene in a shaky voice. "Look at this.. You know what this is don't you?!" She asked as she let the small, silver chain necklace dangle in front of Petes face. Pete looked confused, and it was obvious that he was not only concerned about his friend Joe, but he was also beginning to worry about Irene as well.

"Irene.. are you okay? It looks like a chain necklace to me.." he said, still unsure of what Irene was getting so hyped up about. "Do you know something that I don't?"
Irene continued to let the necklace dangle directly in front of her face and kept silent. The stout police officer made his way over to the corner, and without asking if he could just see the chain,he quickly snatched the chain from out of her hands.

"Give me that young lady!" He shouted quickly.His words were muffled due to the fact that he had just shoved half of a donut down his throat without chewing. Irene gasped, and reflexively grabbed for the chain, but the officer already had it in his pocket. "You cant have this necklace, its evidence, woman.. and its MINE!" said the officer in a rude tone. He quickly turned his back and stormed off without any explanation for his rude behavior.

[Edited on 18-10-2003 by mirrorsparadise]

*At the police station*

Chief inspector Stephen Lincoln sat at his desk, mindlessly twirling a pen in his hand, waiting for some sort of response from the patrol car that had been sent out earlier. Although it was the afternoon, he was already tired from last night, watching his late night dramas and helping the kids with their homework. He had better things to do, he thought, than sitting in this dilapidated office waiting for a call from some rookie on duty. He left his wife Patricia at home with the kids, only getting to see them in the morning because of his late hours at work. He missed the kids. They missed him too. They were already in junior high: going through new experiences, meeting new friends, becoming more and more likely to be exposed to drugs, sex, violence�

First officer Eisler stepped through the door. �Uh, sir?� he muttered.

Lincoln shifted back to reality. �Yes?�

Eisler answered, �We just came back from the bar. We couldn�t find anything really of interest there. Most of the witnesses weren�t there, but we questioned everyone we could. Apparently, no one bothered to report the incident until this morning.�

�So what did you find?�

�Well, it seems that no one really got a good look at the assailant. We did get a rough description of him being really tall, but thin. The witness said that his body was almost, well, disproportional, like someone walking on stilts.�

Lincoln arched an eyebrow, �Stilts?�

�Yes sir, but highly unlikely.�

Lincoln sighed. His men were getting more and more useless everyday. Swayspeak had a fine police force, almost oppressive in fact. They were almost up to national standards, not quite, but almost. The �almost� drove Lincoln nuts.

�Sir?�

Lincoln mumbled, �Umm, yes officer, right. Fine work today. Oh, and did you get any thing about the missing person?�

Eisler shifted uneasily. �Well, the witnesses apparently never saw what happened to the person. We couldn�t even get a identity on him. I think this may be another John Doe.�

�Goddamn.�

Eisler slowly slipped his hand in his pocket. �Oh, right. We also found this at the scene. I think this may be of interest to you sir.�
His hands unfolded, revealing a bundled up handkerchief. A small, silver chain necklace slipped out onto Lincoln�s desk.

Lincoln�s eyes widened.

Lincoln grabbed the chain and began to stare at it in his upturned hand. There was something unsettling about the piece of silver that was now in his possesion and he began to frown.

"What is it sir?," officer Eisler asked.

Lincoln hesitated, then began to speek slowly, "I'm not sure...I...can't help but feel like I have held this chain before. It's the strangest thing, guess it's just deja-vu huh?"

"I guess so," replied Eisler, somewhat confused, " I'll go take it up to the evidence room now if you're finished sir."

" Don't worry, leave it with me, I'll do it later,"blurted Lincoln.

" Whatever you say sir," Eisler replied.

Lincoln sat back in his chair as Eisler left his office and continued to stare at the chain as if hyptonised. Carefully he undid the hook on the necklace and slowly put it on. Suddenly he knew exactely what to do, his life had a purpose. Calmly he began removing his jacket and shirt and gun belt, placing them all on his desk neatly, and in one swift motion plunged his hand inside his chest. His bloody hand reapeared clutching onto a large, rusted key which he placed inside his pocket. Grabbing only his pistol, he clambered out of the open window in his office and headed out into the street.

"Officer Lincoln?," Eisler called as he knocked on Lincoln's office door, but there was no answer. Silently opening the door, he peared inside,

"Sweet Jesus, what the hell?"

Eisler ran over to the desk and examined the clothes that lay there, they were all bloodsoaked.

[Edited on 013131p://444 by earthtone]

Stephen Lincoln seemed like a completly different man. He was not acting like the policeman people know him as. Lincoln drove his police car home with the sirens on so he would be able to run red lights. While on the way home he saw a family of ducks in the road. Lincoln would have normaly avoided hitting the ducks, but the new Lincoln just ran over the ducks. Lincoln did not feel bad for what he did. He thought the ducks were idiotic for standing in the road. When Lincoln got home he went to the refrigorator and took out a six pack of budwiser. He sat in his relaxing chair. The chair was old and the color was faded but Lincoln did not care. He was about to turn on the T.V. when he heard in an annoying voice "I am hungry, thirsty, and need to take a piss real bad. Are you going to let me die?" Lincoln went down to the basement. He told Joe to stop complaning. Lincoln threw Joe a beer and said drink it then piss in the bottle.

Lincoln went back up to his old chair and turned the T.V. on. There was nothing on he licked so he decided to watch some of his old porno movies. Lincoln bought these in college and did not watch them any more, but with his new personality Lincoln would do anything. After twenty minutes he was satisfied and went up stairs to go to bed. He was dirty and decided to take a shower. He went to open the shower door and someone he had never seen before took a knife and stabed him in the heart 10 times. Lincoln fell to the floor dead and covered in blood.

Stephen's body starts to writher in pain upon the bathroom's floor, twitching, spit and blood hanging from his lower lip, he pushes himself up.
"The pain!!!", he screams.
"It will subside", a voice comes from out from the darkness in a rasp.
"We must act quickly, Joe.", Mayor Tarrow says emerging as if from nowhere.
Stephen stands upright, running his hand over the multiple stab wounds upon his chest, looking around in a gaze. Stephen then looks around and recognizes the forms of Joe and Mayor Tarrow which were standing in his bathroom. "Why...?"...Lincoln starts to mutter.

"Inspector?!!"
It was Officer Eisler from the station.
"We must go...NOW!!", Tarrow reiterates.
"Daddy?", the voice of his ten year old boy, William, comes from down the hall in an echo.
Joe's form turns into a glimpse of a shadow, dashing off into the darkness. Mayor Tarrow's eyes widen, with flames within the depths of the dark glassy orbs.
"Too late", Tarrow mumbles to himself.
"Inspector?!!", Eisler's voice now getting nearer.
"Give me the necklace, and we will spare your family, for now.", in a grave serious tone the mayor makes his demands.

"Dad.....", William's voice seemed to be cut off at the last moment, and the sound of the safety of a gun being turned off.
The bathroom door bursts open and Officer Eisler barges in, looking left, right, up, checking behind the bathroom door, then down to the floor he discovers a pool of blood.
"Billy, go wake up your Mom, while I call for backup, please hurry...and don't forget your sister also.", Eisler says in one breath. Then Eisler thinks he is hallucinating when a form comes out from shadows, eyes blazing with fire within. He opens fire with his .45 Magnum as the shadowed figure envelopes him.
"What the f......."

Silence is all there is now at Stephen Lincoln's house at 2332 Stratford Way in Swayspeak, and the silence is almost deafening.









[Edited on 28-10-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 28-10-2003 by xenongod]

After hunting around town for Joe, Peter decides to call it a day and go home. Irene drops him off at his apartment and drives off.

Peter walks in the building and steps in the elevator. He presses the button to the 3rd floor and the doors close. Exhausted from searching all day, he leans on the wall and sighs. Since the police are after him now, Joe�s in good hands, he thought.

The elevator door opens, and Peter walks down the hall and into his room. The window was open, letting a stream of cool air through the room. I thought I closed the window last night, Peter thought. He never opened it at this time of year, when it was starting to get chilly. He walked across the room and pushed it close, but it wouldn�t budge. He shoved harder and harder, but it was still stuck. He sighed, time to call the landlord again.

Peter took a shower and turned on the TV. The news was depressing, more bombings in the Middle East again. He jumped on the bed and lay down. He felt a small piece of paper under him. Sliding his hand under his back, he grabbed it. It was a note, written in razor sharp black red ink. Attached was a small wax envelope of black, greasy powder.

HE IS WITH US.
WE NOW YOU�RE IDENTY.
YOU STAY OUT OF AFFAIRS.
WE STAY AWAY FROM YOU.
OTHERWISE, TROUBBLE WILL COME.

Despite the grammatical and spelling errors, the message left Peter stunned. Joe�s kidnapping was organized. He didn�t go away on his own.

Peter rolled off the bed and grabbed the phone off the bed stand, pressing the speed dial button for the police. There was no ring tone. He hung up, and picked up the phone again. Still no sound. He looked down at the telephone cable, it wasn�t there. The cable was gone, and the socket had been filled with rubber cement.

A strong gust of wind blew through the open window. The packet of black powder spilled into the floor. A thread of smoke rose where it landed. A small spark appeared, and a tiny flame ignited. Astonished, Peter stood where he was and stared. The flame crept across the carpet as if it were alive, igniting everything in its path. The floor was beginning to burn. Another spark caused a flame to jump on the bed, where it crawled onto the sheets and began devouring the pillows. Soon, the apartment was starting to burn.

Panicking, Peter ran outside his room, and shouted, �FIRE!!!�. There was no response from the other rooms. He shouted again, �FIRE!!!� He ran down the hall, and reached for the stairwell, it was locked. He then raced back to the elevator and stabbed at the button.

After what seemed like minutes, the elevator door opened, and Peter leaped inside. He could see heavy smoke coming from his apartment. The elevator doors closed, and the lights went out.

"Need a light?"

Pete whirled round in the absolute darkness just in time to see the sulfur flash of a struck match. He had not noticed any one in the elevator as he hurriedly entered, but now he watched as the orange flame danced against two dark green eyes. Two eyes that were locked unwaveringly on him. The tip of a cigarette glowed to life and the slender features of the woman's face became illuminated.

"Are you okay?" she asked with little concern, but more as a confirmation; as if she were checking off a to do list. She slowly exhaled her first puff as she fanned out the match.

Darkness again; broken only by the red tip of a Marlboro.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I wish I could say the same for everything I own, but..."

"Good!" The red tip excited again as she took another draw. "I can't see how you would be of much assistance otherwise."

Patricia was sobbing and screaming as she paced across the driveway. �NO!!!� she cried out. �Why Stephen? How?? Who??? Oh my God�� William didn�t seem to be affected like his mother. He sat on the lawn with a blank stare, unaware of what was happening. What happened to daddy?

Several patrol cars and emergency vehicles were parked on the street. The area had been sealed off as a crime scene. Homicide detectives were busily investigating what had happened in the washroom. Two paramedics carried a stretcher carrying the covered body of Stephen Lincoln. An officer tried to comfort Patricia as she ranted about the miseries of her life.

Eisler didn�t know how to react. He was only put to fill his position because it was vacant. He had no idea what to do since he was in charge now. This was one of the worst case scenarios he had never been taught in school.

One of the detectives stepped up to Eisler. �We�ve found evidence that someone was living in the basement.� he blurted, �It looks like he was being held against his will. It looked like hell in there and we had to break down the door to get in.�

�Who was living inside there?� Eisler asked.

�That�s the problem, we don�t know. There was a fresh stain of beer on the carpet, which means that some one was in there. We�ve found no means of him getting out of there except for the door.�

�And you had to break the door down to get in?�

�Correct.�

�So how the hell did he just disappear off the face of the earth???�

�That�s another issue. No one in the house saw the man that shot Stephen enter. The windows were closed, and we�ve dusted them for prints and found nothing. The only other way of entering upstairs is climbing up the balcony, which lead to the master bedroom, where Patricia was resting at the time. The balcony door has a alarm on it, so if it was opened, it would have sounded. we�ve dusted it for prints too, also nothing. If the man had entered from downstairs, William would have noticed, because he was downstairs at the time.�

�What the hell is going on here?�

Pete started to cough, the Marlboro smoke was choking him in the confined space of the elevator.

"Look Lady I don't need these mind games," Pete started angrily, "This has been one messed up day. Just what exactely is going on here? Are you responsible for the fire huh? Just what. ."

"Calm down Peter. There is no point in getting angry,"

The smoking woman replied. Pete sighed and fell back against the elevator wall. The mysterious woman continued to talk, he face hidden by shadows and smoke,

"A war is raging Pete and the dissapearance of your friend is only a small part of it."

"You know where Joe is? DO YOU KNOW?" Pete began to shout. The elevator doors pinged opened: ground floor. The woman stubbed out her ciggerette on the wall and tossed it aside as she left the elevator. She started walking away from Pete.

"Answer me!" Joe screamed, grabbing the womans shoulder adn spinning her round, " Tell me what you know about Joe!"

She began chuckling, " But I don't have to tell you anything Peter." Peter began screaming and holding his head. The most incredible pain had filled his brain, pushing him to the ground.

"ARRgggaaaaagghgh, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? ARRGGGHAAA." Pete hit the floor clutching his head. The woman lit another ciggerette and exhaled as she spoke, "Just a precaution Peter, just a precaution." Pete continued to writher around on the floor in pain, his face twisted in painfull expression. The woman threw a black envelope at him and began to walk off, "You better get up soon Pete, you going to be no use to me if you've been burnt alive."

Pete could smell smoke. Just as the mysterious woman left the fire alarms in the building began to scream. His head felt like it was about to burst with pain. He grabbed the black envelope and staggered to his feet. He could hear sirens in the distance.

It's 8:00 A.M. in Swayspeak, and the residents are waking to the most terrifying day of their lives, and it's Halloween.

Todd, the ambulance driver, reaches down to turn off the emergency lights and siren when he notices something moving from the rear of the vehicle.
"Rich?....How's our stiff?", he yells out.

The ambulance veers hard off of the street, riding only on two wheels it smashes into the Peter's burning apartment complex. In a stupor, Peter exits the charred remains of his domicile and a vacuos voice rhetorically says,
"Look Peter, it's your friend, Stephen, and oh boy, is he smokin'"
"You think this is funny?", Peter yelps out.
"But of course", Jezebel, the sorceress replies, "the war has only just begun....and only he possesses the device to stop the grand design.", as she tosses her cigarette onto the ground and snubs out the cherry with the heel of her boot.

The blistering heat rages,and Stephen's body emerges from the inferno, unscathed.
"Pete?"
"Steve?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so", Steve replies, "that was on hell of a ride.".

"Jezebel!!....the time is now...take the talisman...open the gates to Hell!!", Mayor Tarrow outcries from a distance. Jezebel steps towards Stephen, and then retreats for a moment and blares, "his powers are too strong!".
"We must first drink the wine", as Tarrow flies in close to her face as if walking on air, and holding out a grail filled with blood.
"To summon the dead, is to call forth LIFE!", Jezebel
bellows as she takes hold of the chalice.

In total horror, Peter and Stephen look at one another, and then their focus goes to the talisman which has started to glow upon Stephen's bloody and mangled chest.
"Daddy?", William's voice comes from nowhere.
Stephen's wife, Patricia, emanates from nothingness, "Take hold of the flame", she says and then disappears.
Peter stumbles back, and grabs Steve's hand, "Whatever you do, don't let them have it", he utters. Then both their eyes turn towards the east.

The morning sun arises on the horizon of Swayspeak, and the bodies of the long time dead have begun to wake, and are springing up from the cold hard ground in which they were deposited.

"Without the talisman, we will not walk upon this earth for another day", Mayor Tarrow divulges with a mouth full of blood.
"Curses", Jezebel sputters out then disappears.

"The pain!!", Stephen yells out while clinching the talisman.
Peter reaches out to Steve, "It will all be over soon...just don't give them the necklace....give it to ME!!", eyes aglow with fire as he grasps for the talisman but then draws back for moment as flames envelop his hand. He suddenly draws out from his pocket a black envelope and opens it.
"Until the spell breaks, the dead will walk upon this earth", Peter proclaims and falls to the ground, as a black powder spills from the envelope, silver sparks flying into the air.

"I will not go with you!!", Stephen yells as he tears at his own chest and grabs the talisman, "my body is dead, and my soul must pass on.", then his body falls lifelessly to the ground, the talisman laying near his hand.

"That was almost too easy", Tarrow says as he picks up the glowing necklace, "they will wake soon enough".



[Edited on 29-10-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 29-10-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 29-10-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 29-10-2003 by xenongod]

The sparks from the spilled black powder come alive, forming a tornado of fire that dances around on the ground, leaving in it's trail the form of a pentagram burnt into the pavement, and then the flames subside.
The pentagram still aglow with small flames forms a dark, deep hole, like a portal into another dimension. Joe rises up from the portal, wearing a purple cloak, and a gold pointed hat. His face covered in a putrid smelling black flungus, his hair and ears are missing, and he looks as if he is twelve feet tall, as if standing on stilts. He floats towards the Mayor as if walking on air, and waves his arms towards the sun rising in the east and mutters in deep dark voice, "Puzuzu, spirit of the abyss, here my call, cast your darkness upon this earth!!" The sun vanishes as a deafening roar ensues the town.

"Jobrill, Lord of the Dead, it is you!!", Mayor Tarrow extols and falls to his knees while he holds his hand up to his eyes as if blinded by a light.
The fire that was raging over the apartment building and crumpled ambulance suddenly extinguishes itself as if someone blew out a huge candle.
Peter, looks up in disbelief while still laying upon the ground, "Joe...Joe Brill?", he asks the twelve foot tall figure.
The necromancer swings around to face Peter and says to him, "NO...that was my mortal name...I am now Jobrill...the Plaguebringer...the foulest of the foul."

Stephen's leg starts to kick and thrust outwards as if trying to ward off an invisible attacker, and then unexpectedly his body rises up from the ground floating in mid-air, and then comes to rest standing on his feet. A streak of light shoots across the sky and lands in front of Stephen, and a black horse now presents itself. The great creature shakes itself and snorts, eyes glossy black, it rears up on it's hind legs and lets out a frightful, "Neigh!!", teeth bearing, and tougue hanging out.
"Pammus...Guardian of the Talisman...mount your steed from the Underworld", Jobrill commands Stephen.
Stephen, who's immortal name is Pammus, bolts into action and jumps upon the back of the horse.
Jobrill swings back around to accost Mayor Tarrow, "You have something that belongs to Pammus, and time is short, give the talisman back to him...NOW!!".
The Mayor holds the talisman out, still shading his eyes if blinded by a light, "You wish is my command, Jobrill,"as the talisman becomes a jumble of sparks and flames within it's silver form, it leaps from the Mayor's hands and imbeds itself into the chest of Pammus.
"Ride, Pammus, into the night, with speed of the Lord of Darkness take flight ", the necromancer exclaims. Pammus raises his eyes, fire within them, to the sky and lets out a battle cry and screams, "Bones of anger, bones to dust, full of fury, death to all mortals, scatter their bones, revenge is just!!" The horse rears, a streak of light, and they are both gone into the night.

The sound of sirens coming in from the distance, two forms emerge from the remains of the mangled and charred remains of the ambulance. Jobrill goes towards them, arms waving and says to them, "Knights of the Underworld, crush the bones of the mortals, bring me their souls, I command you." The two forms, Todd and Rich, leap into action, swords of fire forming in their scorched hands, flesh hanging off of their bones. "With these swords, we will seal the mortal's fates, O' foulest of the foul, as you wish" they both say in unison and dash off into the darkness.

"Come with me," Jobrill utters while ushering Mayor Tarrow and Peter into a portal which has opened in front of them, "I have more plans for you two, Jezebel awaits."



[Edited on 30-10-2003 by xenongod]

Barney Jagoras lets out a big yawn as he fumbles for his shop keys, thinking to himself that he might have had one too many beers last night at the bar down the street. "What happened to the damn sun," he mutters, "and that thunder, what the hell is goin' on?".

From the corner of his eye he sees a person approaching, and he turns to greet them, "It's goin' to be a couple minutes before I get the shop up and running; your welcome to come in and keep warm while the coffee brews." The person just stands there, wobbling to fro, moaning, takes a few steps towards Barney, then reaches out. "Just keep the keys for a little bit, I still have to change into my overalls and power up the air compressor." Barney hears the sound of screeching tires and a horn honking coming down the street. "Crazy kids," he mentions, when the car advances straight towards him, and he jumps out of the way as it smashes right into the person he was talking to. The body flies through the air, landing with a sound like a pumpkin being smashed with a sledgehammer.

Irene bails out of her '85 Chevy Camaro, wearing only a long t-shirt that reads: "G_ F_CK Y__RS_LF Care to buy a vowel?" and socks.
"Barney!!"
"Call 9...1...1!!"
"That thing is not going to need a doctor, it was dead before I hit it, and there a lot more of those where it came from," Irene shouts.
Barney gathers himself and brushes off his elbows and knees when he notices that Irene's car is rather bashed up. He takes a couple steps foward, almost falling down again, and with a closer inspection notices pieces of flesh and hair are hanging from the front grill and fenders. Irene catches him and says,"I think it's the end of the world, all the dead are back alive and the sun disappeared."
"Whoa...girl...we need to call the police first," he replies.
"No...no...you don't understand...I saw Officer Eisler...he...he...well...was dead, but he came back alive," she says as if running out of breath.
"Man, this ain't happening," Barney says in disbelief while rubbing his brow.
"Look!", pointing towards the dismembered remains of the body she just obliterated. Barney goes over to body, examining what looked like might be the head, and discovers that whatever or who it was, it was certainly dead to begin with, and still moving. Irene reaches into the back seat of her car and pulls out a gas can, and runs over to where Barney is standing. Opening the gas can, Irene pours gas over the pieces of writhering, mutilated flesh, and lights a match and tosses it at the body.
"Guess that takes care of that," Barney sarcastically asserts, "I need a beer."
"I need a new car, I loved that car."
"Come with me, I got the perfect thing," he says, looking around for the keys that he dropped when dodging out of the way of Irene's Camaro. Barney walks back towards the shop, finds the keys laying next to front door, singles out the deadbolt key and unlocks the front door, ushering Irene inside.
"You open the garage door, I'll fire up my baby."
"Do you have any gas or something to burn those monsters?", Irene asks.
"Oh boy, DO I!", he replies. Irene proceeds to the garage area and finds the door latch.
The garage door opens, and a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda's 500 horse power engine comes to life. Irene jumps into to passenger seat of the massive metal machine and turns toward Barney, "So, what did you plan on cooking them freaks with?"
"Look in the back," Barney replies while putting the car into drive.
Irene pulls herself up over the back of the seat and eyes four large containers which are labeled "METHANOL".
"Fasten you seatbelt, it's goin' to be one hell of a ride."
"I think Hell is already here in Swayspeak," Irene replies.



[Edited on 31-10-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 31-10-2003 by xenongod]

The Atlantic Ocean showed a restlesness, waves are hitting the shore in a violent barrage of breakers. It is the dawn of Halloween just on the outskirts of Swayspeak, and the sun is no where to be seen. Clouds are glowing an eerie crimson red, as if fluid, rolling and rippling, and there is great turmoil in the heavens. The moon is the only light in the sky, which looks like it was wounded and bleeding.

Pammus, Guardian of the Talisman, on the back of the pitch black horse from the Underworld, verges upon the ocean's threshold. The talisman glows, sparks and fire leap from Pammus's chest as he slides off the horse's back and lays his hands in the water. The ocean boils and turns to blood, while thousands and thousands of toads emerge from the water, scrambling towards the shore they advance. Pammus raises up and starts to sing, "Break him...scorn him in the night....from the mighty depths of hell....touch him from afar...revenge will now have it's day...for thine enemy starts to fray."

Pammus's mortal wife, Patricia, descends down from the sky, no longer a mortal, wearing a crown upon her head and dressed all in white. She glides down, arms outstretched, to where Pammus stands and embraces him, then kisses him upon the lips.
"Pammus, my love, our master now has a dwelling place, and you are now welcome," the angel, Cordelia, which is Patricia's immortal name, says to him. "You took hold of the flame, and protected the talisman, you have done well," she adds.

The toads make haste and continue on up the beach, croaking and hopping they flee into the distance. Flames consume Pammus and Cordelia, and then they are both gone.
The people of Swayspeak are battling for their mortal lives, and losing the fight, most of their bodies walking upon the earth without their souls, now empty shells. Some townsfolk are winning the fight though, but starting to tire and overwhelmed by what they are witnessing.






[Edited on 1-11-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 1-11-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 1-11-2003 by xenongod]

[Edited on 1-11-2003 by xenongod]

Irene and Barney are exhausted, standing next to pile of burning bodies, the stench overwhelming them. They both even recognize some of the burning corpses as friends and acquaintences from Swayspeak, but some had already been dead before the mayhem started and some not, they look at one another in disbelief.
"What do we do now?", Irene asks Barney, "we are out of fuel."
"Truthfully, I really don't know, I wonder if this is happening in other places?" he answers.

From around the corner of the local drug store appears Todd and Rich, the ambulance driver and paramedic, now Knights of the Underworld. Both figures with flaming swords in hand, raising their swords, they advance towards them.
"Crush their bones!!", they both yell, "crush their souls!!"

"I can't handle this!!", Irene says while running her fingers through her hair, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
"GO!!...RUN!!...I've got a plan," Barney replies while he tears the hem off of his shirt and opens the fuel door on his '70 Plymouth Barracuda, and shoves the piece into the inlet.
Irene darts off, and Barney lights the piece of cloth that tore from his shirt. Barney jumps into his car and puts it into drive, then shoving a tire iron between the driver's seat and gas pedal quickly exits the vehicle. The car's engine revs and launches straight towards the two knights, smoke billowing from the rear tires as it takes off. Todd and Rich raise their swords to the oncoming attacking machine, slashing and stabbing at it, the car explodes into a great ball of fire. Pieces of the car and the two Knights of the Underwold fly into the air, with the head of Todd, still on fire, landing at the feet of Barney. The head rolls to face Barney and says, "You cannot win." Barney kicks the head, sending it flying across the street, and responds, "We will see about that."

Irene emerges from her hiding place, witnessing the destruction of the two creatures of darkness, brushing herself off, she congratulates him, "You rock, man!". "Yeah, but, my baby is gone now, damn them all to Hell, " he reacts while pulling a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lighting it. She steps foward and reaches around Barney, and gives him a heart-filled embrace. "Let's go, maybe some other people are fairing as well as us," he says, pulling away from her, and starts walking down the middle of street, taking big drags off his cigarette and exhaling the smoke.
"You have another smoke?", Irene questions, holding out her hand. "Here you go," Barney hands her the cigarette, she puts it to her mouth, and he lights it for her, "you do know they are killer?", he jests. "Really?", she replies, "then I guess I have nothing to worry about then." They both take a hold of each others hands, strolling down Main Street in Swayspeak, puffing on their cigarettes, wondering if the battle is over, or only has just begun.

A large band of toads appear on the horizon, almost in perfect formation they continue on their journey from the Atlantic Ocean. Croaking and hopping down Main Street in Swayspeak they go, their mission not complete, they carry the plague which must be delivered to mankind.

Momentary calm.....music.....m a d n ess

Late afternoon was nearly passing. the sky began to grow orange and red as if it where stained blood and tears. The bleeding sky mixed with the looming black clouds and created a sickly backdrop for the hellish chaos that had unfolded this Halloween. It had been a nice Fall in Swayspeak. The leaves were golden, purple and red and crunched satisfyingly under foot. However, all the beauty in Swayspeak was now gone. Only bare, skelital trees remained and all the leaves on the ground where black. Such an evil had overtaken this place that the Earth was being blackened and decayed in this area.

All seemed calm, eery and dead. Many streams of black smoke swirled up into the dark sky. An electronices store window was smashed through and looted. However a stereo radio player still remained, lying in broken glass,

" *crackle*...ED IS DEAD, ED IS D-D-D-D-D-EAD YEH YEH YEH YAH. Ed IS DEAD EEEAAADEEEE EEEAAADDD NO NONONONOOO," An old pixies song rang out.

Barney and Irene walked side by side slowly and solemly.

"What are we gunna do barney? What in the holy heaven of Jesus Christ are we going to #ing do now goddamit?" Irene said softly.

"I guess we're goin' a have to think of somethin' ," Barney twitched.

"I'm real scared Barney"

"That makes two of us you multi funtional, bi-polarised # weapon."

"What the hell did you just say?"

"You nevermind what I just said, YOU HERE? You never mind."

Barney suddenly grabbed Irene's arm violently and began screaming the Dutch national anthem.

"GET OFF ME," Irene screamed,

"Alright, alright. Just easin' attention baby, just easin' attention," Barney yelped back.

"Your real sick Barney, real sick."

"SICK? YOU'RE CALLING ME SICK?" Barney began shouting incoherantly,
"I've seen Iron maiden five times woman. You can't tell me what to do. You can burn in hell. Or...jingle... maybe I should set you on fire like those zombies....are we burned huh? Barney what are you saying? Pull yourself together.....hold on to sweet life man....holy christ she's going to think your insane....am I speaking....can she hear me....?"
Barney stopped talking and pulled off his arm,
"Did you know I had a fake one?"

"Lets go you #ing creep."

Smoke and the smell of charred flesh filled the air. Barney and Irene marhced off into the distance. The plauge was coming, and for some reason these people had to save the world.



[Edited on 053030p://333 by earthtone]

There is dark figure sitting upon a large, black stone throne, inside of a mansion-like cavern, lanterns glow in the distance upon the walls, with a faint outline of buttresses holding up the interior. Painful screams can be heard in the distance, echoing off of the walls. The figure seems content, tapping his clawed finger on the arm of the throne as if trying to keep a beat with the outcries, shifting his dark eyes to and fro.

Jobrill, the Plaguebringer, slowly, respectfully approaches, trying not to disturb the figure. "Puzuzu, Lord of the Abyss, I beseech you," nearly in a whisper, Jobrill says while bowing down before the hellion. Shadows scuttle across the ceiling, as if awakened by the new company.

Puzuzu stops tapping his finger, and shifts his eyes towards him, "Come closer", in a dry, coarse tone he says. Jobrill slowly rises up from his knees, and begins to glide towards Puzuzu, when a large black mirror materializes in front of him. "Stay within this mirror, until dismissed," Puzuzu commands him. Jobrill moves closer to the mirror, hesitating for a moment, then the mirror absorbs him. Puzuzu stands up slowly, with every joint on his massive, black, leathery body, crackling and snapping while erecting himself.
"Puzuzu...Puzuzu....Puzuzu", can be heard all around, in whispers, moving amongst the shadows upon the chamber's walls.
"SILENCE!!", Puzuzu demands. The shadow voices, and the aweful screams stop. The ground trembles underneath him as he steps, smoke bellows from his nostrils, and great dragon-like wings become apparent upon his back. He reaches quickly into the mirror and pulls out an enormous sickle, and examines it with reverence, running his talons over the serrated blade's edge.
"It is time," he grunts out, spreading his wings and takes flight into the darkness. Only the sound of his wings batting at the air can be heard, while he embarks for the battle.

The screams resume their tormented cries, and Jobrill's eyes can be seen glimmering in the mirror. "My master, why did you forsake me?", Jobrill mutters.


[Edited on 5-11-2003 by xenongod]

High over the heads of Irene and Barney another event was taking place. In the sky, the sun and the moon were becoming onne. The moon began to turn revering its movement, exposing the dark side of the moon to earth for the first time. The sun began to spin, and the deep reddish gold color began to mix with other colors, red, black, green, a rainbow in a furnace. The moon came closer and closer to the sun, and then they merged.

And for a second, the world went blind. The merging of the sun and moon created a burning white ball of fire, a forge that released a searing white light that caused the pupils of everybody, dead and living, to snap shut. And then it happened.

The light focused into two pillars, both burning in their radiance, yet cold to feel. And these pillars focused and focused, until they focused only upon the forms of Irene and Barney.