Pure Human - Dr Watterson

[Posted by Ted H]

Happy Father's day.....or whatever...

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[Pure Human - Dr Watterson]

            They waited for about an hour, during which time they found some sheets and wrapped up the creature's body and brought it out to John's car. John complained about the cleanup he'd have to do with his back seat while Blake kept looking about in case any neighbors were up and happen to notice them smuggling a dead body into a car. Blake attempted to collect the head, but most of it was an indistinguishable pile. He took it anyway and wrapped it in a towel to toss with the rest of the body. They didn't even know where to begin cleaning the blood, so they didn't bother.
            Later they were able to arouse Anin from her shocked state. She was groggy and didn't talk much, she also indicated that the time she was out was anything but restful, but for once she did not return to the dream park and the fading man. They waited for Joey to return, mostly because they didn't want to leave Anin alone, but also to try and explain the state of his house. He was livid, but also thankful Anin was mostly alright.
            Blake offered to show him the creature in the car, but he refused and instead urged the men to leave. Blake wasn't sure if it were because Joey wanted them to get some answers with the corpse in their car or because he just wanted them out of sight because of the chaos they always seem to bring into his life. John also offered to help pay for some of the damages, a prospect Blake wasn't too thrilled about.
            By 3am they were on the road with their body in tow. "We have no idea what that address Bryant gave us even is," John said "Are you sure rolling in there with a corpse is a good idea?" Blake shook his head as he sucked at a cigarette. "No," he said "But we don't know of any discrete areas, we're going there eventually anyway and I'm not gonna sleep anyway."
            "Who did you call, anyway?"
            "Kimberly."
            "Wow, finally broke down?"
            "Meh...Dealing with her was inevitable. Might as well have the buffer of something that'll pique her interest."
            "You know, I still don't get why you avoid her, even if it's over a missing corpse."
            "You'll see. She's a little...odd."
            John made the drive to the address unhindered. They arrived to a parking lot outside of an out of the way three story office building. The near end of the lot had several parked cars, some with out of state license plates. The building had been long abandoned and many windows were blown out. "Well if I were a monster straight out of a nightmare, this is where I'd come from," John said as he and Blake approached the building. The front door was locked but the door was glass and didn't take much effort to break through.
            John led the way inside with his gun and flashlight drawn. The front lobby was in disarray with a thick scent of mold hanging heavy in the air. "This building doesn't look like it's been inhabited in decades," John said "Are you sure we have the right place?" Blake shrugged. "One way to be sure," he said as he ran his finger along the thick layer of dust and grime on the front desk. "Up or down?" John asked as he shone his light at the stairwell door. "Down," Blake said "Always down."
            They walked to the stairwell and found the staircase in good repair compared to the rest of the building. There were a row of flashlights and battery powered lanterns affixed to the wall to choose from that Blake and John neglected as they made their way down the dark stairs. The stairs led to a locked door. Blake searched for a keyhole and found a card swipe panel instead. "I think we got the right address," Blake said. "Door is solid," John said as he knocked on it a few times in different places "What do we do now? Wait for Bryant?"
            "Pretty much," Blake said as he started back up the stairs "Until then, let's get something else off our checklist." They returned to the car and retrieved the creature's corpse and brought it inside. They stayed on the first floor and found a room with a large table inside to lay the body out on. They then retrieved all the battery lanterns from the stairwell and used them to illuminate the room as best they could. Afterwards, they hung out by the car and waited while Blake smoked another cigarette.
            It was just before 6am when they noticed the lights of an approaching car. The sky was lightening up in preparation of the approaching dawn and the office building behind them became a little less foreboding. A small white sedan drove up and parked right next to John's car, pop music blasting on the speakers as the occupant sang along until the end of the song, then killed the engine.
            A long haired brunette girl stepped out with a beaming smile on her face. She wore black pants and a ragged pair of sneakers. She had a stripped button down blouse that strained to hold together over her large chest which Blake later informed John was an intentional choice for her. To top it all off, she sported a white lab coat that was wrinkled and unwashed in some time. "Good morning, gentlemen!" she shouted as she practically bounced over and hugged John. "Do I know you?" John asked as he waited for the hug to end. She then looked to hug Blake, who instead blew smoke from another cigarette. She plugged her nose and greeted Blake from afar.
            "That's John," Blake said, motioning with his cigarette. The girl turned and waved. "I'm Dr. Kimberly Watterson!" she said. "Not a doctor anymore," Blake corrected her. "Hush," Kimberly said as she went to her trunk and retrieved her purse "So where is my surprise?" Blake grinned and invited Kimberly to follow him into the office. "We have no idea what this thing is," he said as they entered the building and made for the corpse room "We were hoping you could look into it and maybe figure where it might have come from or what could have made it."
            "You made it sound like an alien or something on the phone," Kimberly said. "Not alien," Blake said "Pretty sure about that." They reached the room and Blake allowed Kimberly to enter first. Upon seeing the creature, she clasped her hands to her mouth and stood amazed. "What the fuck is that thing?" she whispered before turning back to Blake. "This is awesome!" she shouted as she quickly made for a nearby chair and placed her purse down on it.
            "How did it die?" she asked as she pulled out gloves, a surgeons mask, scalpels and other such tools. "Well, technically it died twice," Blake said "All by gunshot. So ignore the bullets in the chest." Kimberly nodded as she tied her hair into a ponytail and put her mask on. "Where's the head?" she asked. "What's left of it is wrapped in that towel by the window," Blake said as he pointed "And some on the brain matter might still be on my coat."
            "No one else has seen this yet?" she asked as she finished laying out her tools and walked back to Blake. "I'd figure you'd want to be the first," he said. She pulled her mask aside, leaned in and kissed Blake on the cheek. "Thank you, James," she said as he fixed her mask and headed for the table. "We'll leave you to it," Blake said as he headed back into the hall where John waited "Let us know when you got something."
            They walked down the hall in silence for a moment before John asked something that was bothering him. "She called you James," he said.
            "Because that's my name," Blake said.
            "No one calls you James."
            "Pretty sure you did a couple times."
            "Blake, who is she?"
            "I knew her from way back. We met downstate."
            "I thought I knew every shady fucker you knew from downstate and from Sallome's organization."
            "She ain't one of those people. I know her from way back. When I was little."
            "Is she, like, a long lost girlfriend? You never mentioned her before."
            "Because she never came up. And she isn't a girlfriend."
            "She seems hot. What gives?"
            "She's crazy as all hell."
            "I kind of got that vibe, not going to lie."
            "She was smart, smarter than most people, and she wanted to be a doctor. She just has this weird fascination with dead things; why they died, how they died. Rumor was she intentionally let a patient die just so she could bring them down to the morgue to perform an autopsy."
            "Wow."
            "Yeah. Ultimately lost her medical license. Still clings to her fascination though."
            "Damn. I bet sex with her is amazing though with her level of crazy."
            "Eh, seven out of ten."
            "Seriously? I thought you two were just friends?"
            "We are. I just remember one memorable night with her where I told the story of our Cazenovia murder investigation. She found the part where I killed the murderer quite arousing."
            "That's so fucking weird."
            "Tell me about it."

Pure Human - Impure

[Posted by Ted H]

Pretty sure I've never unintentionally missed back to back weeks before.....don't worry-I'll make up for it with a cool extra long section of action and exposition!

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[Pure Human - Impure]

            It was dark and already getting late when John drove into the driveway at Joey's house. Joey's care was gone but the lights on inside suggested Anin was still awake and about. "I don't know," John said as Blake got out and smoked a cigarette "It would be different if Joey were here for us to talk to first. But if he isn't home yet and we go in..."
            "I'm tired and I don't feel like waiting," Blake said "If you're up for it, we can always go to the murder house we found last night if the cops haven't been tipped off yet. Plenty of beds to choose from if you don't mind sharing it with a corpse." John shrugged and they made their way to the front door and knocked.
            Anin opened the door a crack and peeked through before she threw it open with a smile. "Hey guys!" she said "Want some coffee?" Blake happily walked in, going directly for the kitchen. John stayed behind with Anin. "Sorry about earlier," she said as she closed the door. "You're sorry?" John asked "You went and ended up a wreck on the floor, screaming your head off. We thought you went insane? What do you have to be sorry about?" Anin shrugged. "It was weird," she said "And I know the trouble it caused you guys with Joey."
            "About that," John said "I was hoping we could catch him either before he left or, more obviously now, when he gets home."
            "Don't worry," Anin said "We talked a long time earlier. He's sorry for a bunch of things."
            "Is he sorry for trying to hit me?" Blake asked from the kitchen.
            "He tried to hit you?" Anin asked.
            "He shouldn't be sorry for that," John said "A lot of people want a crack at Blake. But we're sorry for how things have gone so far. This isn't turning out to be what any of us expected."
            "It's okay," Anin assured "You don't have to wait for Joey. He said it might be a long night and he said it was okay if you guys needed to crash here again."
            Anin and John made their way to the kitchen where Blake had already poured three cups of coffee. "Maybe I didn't want coffee," John said as he sat down. "You act as if I won't just drink it then," Blake responded.
            "So what happened today?" Anin asked, eager to learn what Blake and John accomplished after the hospital. "Well, we followed up on a lead," Blake said "But then they died." Anin froze and tilted her head. "They...they died?" she asked.
            "It happens," Blake said.
            "What did you do?"
            "I didn't do anything. He offed himself before we could ask any questions."
            "Wait, he was dead when you got there?"
            "Uh...sure, yeah. By the time we got *in* the house, he was dead."
            "How's his head though?"
            Blake paused at the question before answering "Dead too, I'm afraid."
            "No. Okay, how did he kill himself?"
            "Tried to eat a gun. Pulled the trigger before he could swallow."
            "And the brain?"
            "All over the ceiling."
            "Damn."
            "There a morbid reason why you cared about that specifics?"
            "Well if the brain was intact, maybe I could tap into it."
            John cocked an eyebrow while Blake leaned in, interested in what Anin said. "You can read minds?" he asked "Even dead ones?"