March 12, 2017

Pure Human - To the Gas Station

[Posted by Ted H]

Finding time to finish....go figure...

[Pure Human - To the Gas Station]

            The rain continued to fall hard as the storms wind only intensified. Blake marveled at it as he stepped out the car while under the relative protection offered at the gas station pump overhead. John didn't need the gas, but he had mentioned to Blake that this would be where everyone from earlier would meet up. Blake spied a familiar face looking out at him from the station doors; One of the clerks who rudely denied him cigarettes before. Blake held up a pack and stuck his tongue out at them.
            "Mature," John said as he and Blake watched through the rain as two more cars drove in towards them. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the women in their cars; Kimberly, who was afraid of the sudden lightning, and Whitey, who wore a stern expression as she drove by.
            "How nice of you to wake up and join us," Whitey mocked as she stepped out.
            "Don't you have someone else to annoy at this point?" Blake spat back.
            "What happened to you?" Kimberly asked as she ran over.
            "Our big bad is scared," Blake said "We need to figure out why and stop whatever he's trying."
            "Didn't you just get done earlier saying how we were in an optimistic situation?" John questioned. Blake sighed before continuing. "That was before he made a play at me," he responded "Apparently he has a different way to win that we weren't anticipating."
            "Seriously?" John asked.
            "Yeah," Blake said "He told me pretty much that my usefulness had ended, or something like that."
            "So you were assisting the enemy!" Whitey screamed loud enough to be heard by the gas station attendant through the storm. "Simmer down!" John yelled. "No, it makes sense," Whitey said "That's how you've been one step ahead of me this entire time!"
            "Then why did the ghost man attack him?" Kimberly asked. "Betrayed by your master," Whitey scoffed "Cry me a river."
            "Are you done?" Blake asked "Because I've been one step ahead because unlike you, I'm no amateur. This is my job." John stepped between them. "Calm down, both of you," he said "Blake, what usefulness were we providing him?"
            "Beats me," Blake said as he shrugged "All we've done since arriving is find his pets' crime scenes and kill one of them off."
            "Maybe they get stronger when there's fewer?" John asked "Like they all share the same power supply. One less using the power means more for everyone else?"
            "Nah," Blake said "Then why bother creating seven? One or two would suffice."
            "Maybe ghost guy knows how to be stronger to give his creations more juice!" Brittany said excitedly.
            "No. Guys," Blake started "He wants to amplify his influence, not strengthen its impact."
            "Amplify the what?" Kimberly asked.
            "Make it easier to...do his thing," John said.
            "He needs a better connection," Blake said "Right now he's stuck influencing people under a very specific situation. I guess he's trying to find an easier way to interact with people."
            "He would need a physical body for that," Whitey said.
            "Then why not just possess you instead of try to get you killed?" John asked.
            "And how would you be useful for a physical body?" Kimberly asked.
            Blake thought about it for a moment while a flash of lightning lit everything up nearby. His eyes then went wide as he looked to John. "We need to get to Anin, now!" he shouted. "What?" John asked. "Who?" Kimberly said. "They weren't trying to kill her last night," Blake said "They were going to abduct her!"
            "Holy shit," John said as he sprinted around to the drivers side. "What's going on?" Whitey yelled. "Just follow us, no time!" Blake yelled as he climbed into the car as John started the engine and peeled out back into the storm. "Ok, I know we just did a thing back there," John said as he drove "But I'm a little fuzzy on the details. What's going on with Anin?"
            "Why didn't those things do anything to her back at the house?" Blake asked.
            "Because they're insane?"
            "Vitaearnus needs to strengthen his influence. His goal is to corrupt more people into his monsters with less effort."
            "And how do we and Anin factor into that?"
            "We brought Anin here...and Anin has already exhibited an ability to delve into another person's mind."
            "I thought Anin can only passively observe or some shit, not actually do anything inside someone's brain?"
            "She can open the door, so to speak, which is the hard part."
            "Aw man," John said "This is our fault."
            "Nah," Blake said as he contemplated his shortening cigarette "He's been reaching out to her in her dreams for a while before she came to us. One way or another she'd have ended up here. At least this way we're in a position to help her."
            "But can we actually do anything?"
            "Just drive. Fast."