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Niam Writes Horror

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SomeApe:
I find it a bit hard to believe that Patrick's mother hasn't found out about his "collection".

niam2023:
Chapter 3

The town library and her job there during the day was not exactly the place Linda Delauney expected to see her young son Patrick - least of all with that skinny little Bill Aynsley kid. Billy struck her as the opposite of her son - skinny and somewhat short, blond haired instead of dark haired, and slate blue eyes covered by blocky glasses. While Patrick liked his dark clothes, Bill mostly seemed to wear polos and cargo shorts.

He was definitely not in the clique Patrick usually ran with.

For the stressed single mom, the job at the library was her second out of three jobs, the exhausting shifts usually meant she would go home, ask if her son did his homework, and then collapse either into bed or on the couch.

She tried her best to provide for him even as evidence mounted he was becoming psychologically...different. One day she simply went into his room and saw something that she could not fathom. She did not want to believe what she saw, so she drank herself into a stupor that night and convinced herself it was all a terrible dream.

And all the while, she knew she was probably a terrible mother, but she tried her best to provide her son with what he needed.

Billy approached her and asked, "Excuse me, Miss Delauney..." This jolted her from contemplation, "...are there any books on local urban legends or something like that?"

She shook her head - most of the library's books were fiction, or accounts of historical subjects. "Sorry kid, this is a pretty quiet town...no real urban legends here in Avenberry."

Patrick was waiting off by a desk, looking rather impatient.

Billy then asked, "Do you know about anything that's happened around here? Like...anything bad or weird?"

Something did occur to Linda Delauney then - something she and the other parents had consciously decided amongst themselves not to discuss. Something that happened years ago, which they all just decided would be better off relegated to bad history - not discussed, not acknowledged, simply shunted off so that no remnant of it could resurge back and bring with it disorder. And she was definitely not going to ruin a child's young mind by going in depth on that dark history. He did not need to know what adults did and how reactionary they could be.

"Bill...why are you asking about this? There's nothing you need to know about it - just be a good boy and go to school."

Bill shook his head, but then sighed, "Thanks, Miss Delauney. W-We're going now."

As Bill left, Miss Delauney thought she smelled something like tar on the air - wicked, heavy, choking for the brief moment the smell was present. And then it was gone as soon as it had arrived, and Linda clutched her arms.

...By the pricking of my thumbs...

SomeApe:
I see...
Well done.

niam2023:
(sincerest apologies for the gap between chapters, I've been trying to brainstorm how to undertake the events in this chapter.)

Chapter 4

Patrick and I left the library in short order, Patrick seeming more than a bit on edge. And I really got why he would be on edge - I could smell the tar scent for a moment. It - that horrible dog-thing - was watching us, observing our fruitless attempt to find anything that might lead to a discovery of some sinister information.

I gathered that based on what Pat's mom said that something had indeed happened, but "nothing we needed to know about" lent an air that said whatever this was, was something too gruesome to tell a kid, or too scandalous.

On our way out, we ran into a pair of kids from our school, who, going by some of their scars and the presence of a cast on the taller of the two's arm, had their own adventures with this horrifying phenomena. They were apprehensive due to the presence of Patrick, but after seeing nothing happen immediately, they were more keen to introduce themselves.

The taller of the two and the evident leader was a frizzy red haired, green eyed boy named Finn whose family apparently moved here from Ireland. He explained shortly after his introduction, "So...we got attacked, me and Davey here, by this horrible dog creature. Had all kinds of maggots on it, squirming animal bits...horrible, man...horrible."

Davey was evidently hyperventilating remembering it, and I helped calm him down, putting a hand on his shoulder. Davey was a dark haired, pale skinned sixth grader with an extraordinary number of honors classes at school, but held back only due to his anxiety. I'd seen him at school having his panic attacks, and it seemed really bad...this was definitely not something he needed in his life right now. Davey's slate blue eyes were always looking around, as if searching for that horrid creature.

Finn explained further on their encounter, "We were just walking home when the thing attacked us. Said our families had transgressed and we needed to die to appease "the blood debt"."

This was news to me.

It seemed to say stuff about sins and such when it attacked me.

Patrick stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "...it also mentioned sins when it attacked us. Said I had sins on my head and hands. Seems we got a judgmental monster."

Davey sighed, and replied, "...well, there is one thing I've noticed. Finn...?" He looked at Finn as if asking permission to say something, to which he got an affirmative nod, "Finn and I...our parents both previously aborted before having us..."

Patrick seemed to realize something and his eyes visibly widened, "I-I uh, I do remember seeing something on my mom's desk. Same story - my mom aborted before having me. She never told me the whole story, just that she and my dad weren't ready to have a kid yet and so it just happened." He did know however that was far from the whole story, and there were quite a few holes.

Patrick also only just managed to stop himself from commenting that he kinda wished he could've seen "what came out".

I was absolutely astounded - all of them had stories related to abortion in their families, and the monster seemed to be going after everyone that was involved in what was deemed a sinful act, even though we were just kids who happened to be born after the act.

Slowly, I started to wonder - my mom and dad were very keen on not telling me much family history, and if the monster really, really wanted to go after me - scratching at my door, ordering Patrick after me - did it know...about how I was?

I'd long suspected it, but I was afraid of being treated like a freak for it. Not only was this monster a horrifying abomination, it seemed to have in its head it was some scourge of a higher power based on what we knew.

I said, "...well, I'll ask mom and dad about my family, look around a bit. We need to find out what this thing is, and how we could fight it."

Davey looked a bit scared by the very idea, "D-Dude! Fight it? How do we do that? We're kids!"

Patrick replied, "...and we're the only ones in a position to DO shit. Nobody else seems to notice it, all our parents are constantly going to and from work, and we don't even know if they can see the monster. Like it or not, Dave, it falls to us."

I was a bit impressed by Patrick's attitude, and suppressed a blush.

Finn stated, "...alright, I'm in. Lets meet up at the baseball court outside the school tomorrow. Figure out a plan and how to fight this thing. Stay safe and don't go running off..." He then also took out some paper and we shared phone numbers, just to make sure we could get in touch in case of emergency.

Could this be some sort of fellowship? A gathering, to defeat an enemy?

I wanted to believe in that.

As Davey and Finn went off to go home for the day, Patrick put a hand on my shoulder, "Before we go back to your place, Billy, there's...something I wanted to say."

I looked back at him and said, "Yeah? What is it?"

Patrick really seemed to struggle with what he basically whispered to me, "...I really think I may be into you."

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