I guess I've been gone a long time. (understatement of the year) Its not really my fault, I swear. As Pocketwatch told y'all, I was in a coma with a hole in reality shaped like a knife jammed into my chest.
Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure how it happened. I ward my room at home, and ever since this business with the Evil started up, my house too. I was pretty secure in my, well, security when I went to bed that night. You see, I was visiting home for the weekend and had intended to return to school the following day.
But I wouldn't be back for some time.
The next morning, I awoke to myself with blue hair. I haven't had blue hair in 3 years. Upon opening my door to greet the day, my dog ran in followed by my Siamese cat, rascal. Who died in my freshman year. As accustomed as I am to the unusual, this threw me for a loop. Opening my laptop (which melted down for the last time January of 2010), I saw the date.
December 25, 2007.
Oh. Bloody. Hell.
The spirits had done it all in one night it would appear. Three and a half years ago, I was plucked from the world as I knew it and landed smack in the middle of another place. There, music was the basic building block of reality. I had a grand adventure with some amazing composers. At the end of it all, they worked with the fae of that world to try to send me home. Unfortunately, it sent me to this world.
Magic doesn't exist where I'm from. It's the stuff of tales and legends. Here, everything is pregnant with the stuff, if people know how to draw it out. Of course, I do have ideological concerns about using it. For the past three years, I've been trying to get home. I've made it to a few other places, each with their own stories, but my own home seems to be blocked off from the rest. Until now.
Considering the lack of evidence to the otherwise, it was actually pretty easy to dismiss the whole thing as a dream. I actually lived out my next semester at school as a normal 18 year old. (after a hell of a lot of making sure magic didn't work and I was actually home).
As wonderful as the magical side of the world can be, it was kind of nice not having to worry about wards or the disturbing array of demons that seems to afflict my life. I didn't need to worry that I might be breaking some ancient law which binds my kind. Heck, I didn't even need to worry about the metallic contents of my rings! It was nice to be "normal" again. I won't say I didn't miss the dream world alittle bit, but I'll admit I got really caught up in the joys of no cosmic responsibility.
And then Friday the 13th of May happened.
I was lying in bed in my dorm room when I felt a wrenching pain in my chest like someone had stabbed me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. And suddenly I was lying in my bed at home with Pocketwatch and my parents standing over me. A fourth creature, a delicate looking female faerie in iridescent surgical scrubs, held a black knife in forceps behind them.
Oddly enough, there wasn't any wound on me. No pain. I even felt like I had just gotten a good night's sleep! The sun was just going down outside. My parents and Pocketwatch spent into the wee hours of morning explaining what all I missed in my absence and listening to my tale of my return home.
The next day, they drove me back to my university to attend my graduation. The Faceless Lady also had some things to tell me. I'll get to that soon.
It's good to be back.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Where There's Smoke, There's... Dragons?!
Anyone who's been paying attention to this blog for the past year would know that the Traveler occasionally runs into dragons. As fae, we accept it as a fact of existence, but he feels the need to analyze it. Something about fog banks and "here there be dragons" and the emotional state of the surrounding area and whatever. Well, I for one would like to know what in bloody hell caused this one.
Yesterday, I was returning to his dorm (or "residence hall" as the resident assistants keep insisting I call it). There appeared to be some fog rolling in as the sun set on campus. It had a distinct boundary at the western end of the grounds, thickest on the road which runs around them. I like fog so I went to revel in it.
It wasn't fog. Not in the least.
Smoke. Not normally a big deal. There's normally the scent of smoke to accompany the woodland controlled burns which happen in Arkansas this time of year, but this was centered on the road. And it didn't smell like wood smoke.
I was immediately aware of strange air currents which flowed through the smoky area. Regular down-blowing gusts. Never strong, but certainly an unusual direction. Visibility was such that I could see the sky through the pall of smoke. Nothing unusual that I could see.
Then the ground shook and there was a wall of shadow immediately in front of me. The gusts stopped abruptly. I took a few steps forward to investigate, which was probably stupid given the circumstances. What I encountered was a mass which resembled a cross between an elephant leg and a sequoia's trunk. With scales. Enough investigation for one day. I did a heel face turn and ran like hell.
It noticed me I think, 'cause there was a cacophonous noise like an army of screaming crack babies on autotuner and it took a few steps toward my direction but it faded out with the boundary of the smoke cloud. Let me tell you it was massive to the point that the bank was filled with it and I think that's only what could manifest given the bank's size. I hope that was an isolated incident.
Somehow I don't think it was.
Yesterday, I was returning to his dorm (or "residence hall" as the resident assistants keep insisting I call it). There appeared to be some fog rolling in as the sun set on campus. It had a distinct boundary at the western end of the grounds, thickest on the road which runs around them. I like fog so I went to revel in it.
It wasn't fog. Not in the least.
Smoke. Not normally a big deal. There's normally the scent of smoke to accompany the woodland controlled burns which happen in Arkansas this time of year, but this was centered on the road. And it didn't smell like wood smoke.
I was immediately aware of strange air currents which flowed through the smoky area. Regular down-blowing gusts. Never strong, but certainly an unusual direction. Visibility was such that I could see the sky through the pall of smoke. Nothing unusual that I could see.
Then the ground shook and there was a wall of shadow immediately in front of me. The gusts stopped abruptly. I took a few steps forward to investigate, which was probably stupid given the circumstances. What I encountered was a mass which resembled a cross between an elephant leg and a sequoia's trunk. With scales. Enough investigation for one day. I did a heel face turn and ran like hell.
It noticed me I think, 'cause there was a cacophonous noise like an army of screaming crack babies on autotuner and it took a few steps toward my direction but it faded out with the boundary of the smoke cloud. Let me tell you it was massive to the point that the bank was filled with it and I think that's only what could manifest given the bank's size. I hope that was an isolated incident.
Somehow I don't think it was.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Comatose Daydream, the Traveler's Absence
The Traveler is comatose. He has been for some months, but it's taken some time to figure out his password. It started after New Year's. The Traveler disappeared some time ago in Mid-October. Shortly after the Solstice and what the humans call Christmas, there were rumors of his return. A post I found here seems to corroborate that. Two days after what was to be his return to school, the Voice which he has often referred to as a faceless lady crashed a very important masquerade ball. As you can imagine, having no face draws more attention in such a situation than the most garish mask. A la “Masque of the Red Death”, silence fell where she walked as she approached the Unseelie Queen and whispered something in her ear. The color drained from the ballroom and the music stopped. She hastily announced the ball was over and that there was to be court immediately.
Most of the fae disappeared into the shadows along with the ballroom and the Queen's throne materialized in the center. We all knelt as she set, but she uncharacteristically bade us all rise. This was serious. The Voice stepped onto the dais upon which the throne sat and addressed us.
“As you are all aware, the Traveler has not been seen for some time,” she began, “I know that many of you have no interest in the daydream, and even that some of you wish he had never been involved in the court to begin with.”
Silence greeted this, as though they were afraid to confirm or deny her statement.
“I am also aware that he has been invited to court on several occasions, some of which he has declined on account of obligations to the Boy Scouts and other human organizations.”
We didn't really know where she was going with this. The Voice turned to the Unseelie Queen.
“I trust that you are still indebted to the Traveler for the Creative Spark which he recovered for you.”
The Queen slowly nodded. In case you don't know, debts are serious business in the world of the fae. For the Voice to bring up her debt to another it had to be serious business. Any other circumstance would be so crass as to make it grounds for dueling. She turned back to us.
“Then, on the Daydream's behalf, I ask the repayment of this debt.”
There was a pregnant silence for a moment. Then, the Queen rose and said, “What must we do?”
“The Traveler lives with his family an hour away to the east when he isn't here,” the Voice replied, “He should have returned to school two days ago. I would know why he has not, but I am bound to this town until the longest night. I have his phone number, but his phone has been dead for nigh two weeks. My request is thus: that you send an agent to see to his well-being. That agent will then report to me and then in turn carry a message to the Traveler should I require it. Upon the completion of this task, your debt shall not be repaid, but the responsibility for it be transferred to me, leaving you without further obligation. Do you accept?”
“And what of our restrictions?” the Queen asked, “Our kind may not enter a dwelling without permission of one of the occupants.”
“There is one among you,” the Voice said, “Which has standing permission to come to the Traveler wherever he may be.”
They both turned their gazes (figuratively for the Voice) to me. Dammit if I didn't know this was coming from the moment she opened her... started speaking.
“I am willing, Your Majesty,” I sighed, “if that is your wish.”
“It is,” she replied turning back to the Voice, “Then I believe our business is settled?”
“Yes it is,” came the Voice's response, “I can see myself out.”
And she did just that. I met the gaze of the Queen.
“I suppose I'll see to her task, then, Your Majesty.”
“See that you do, Pocketwatch.”
I returned to the Traveler's dorm room to gather what few things I kept there as well as the materials for a flight glamor. (He keeps his stores of magical reagents well-stocked for someone who distrusts magic.) For the past five or so months, I have been living as him. Initially we used a fetch to mask his sudden disappearance, but fetches are strictly short-term. Replace the person, get sick, die, leave no trace. That wouldn't do for him if he was coming back. Using one was actually part of the repayment of that debt as he had asked that we mask any extended absences. The Traveler was gone so long, I (being the closest thing he has in the Unseelie Court to a friend, and he being the only living thing I actually trust) volunteered to wrap myself in a glamor of him and live as a changeling until hopefully his return.
The next evening, I wrapped myself in the form of an owl and flew the distance to his home. The front door opened for me in spite of being locked, which because of his request indicated that he was indeed there. I checked the rooms one by one. Living room, small kitchen, some kind of office, a bathroom, another kind of office, linen closet, some other kind of closet. A ha! Bedroom.
The first thing I saw was the Traveler on a bed by a window. He was on his back, asleep. Around the bed was a circle of white material. Knowing him, salt. I stepped forward to inspect the circle for breaks. And then I couldn't move my arms. With my higher eyes, I was suddenly aware of the flare of an aura. It was a strange gunmetal streaked with glowing oranges, luminous yellows, and the occasional verdant green. The air took on the scent of burning oil. A short (for a human) mostly bald man holding a book and an equally short red-headed woman stepped out of nothing, both staring at me intently.
“What are you doing here?” the man asked, “What do you want with our son?”
The kid has parents. Magical ones. Who knew?
“Just checking up on him,” I say casually, “It's a favor for a woman with no face.”
They shared a glance, then the woman, his mother, looked me in the eyes. Her expression was one of mixed motherly concern and nigh-excited curiosity.
"Has one of the Voices has taken an interest in him?” she inquired, “We weren't aware there were any about in Arkansas."
“As far as I know, yes. Now since you see I mean no harm, do you mind undoing the binding? My arms are getting sore.”
Her eyes flashed pink and I smelled a sweet, milky scent and my arms fell to my sides.
“What happened to him?”
“He was stabbed with a cursed blade,” his father replied, “He isn't dead, but neither of us know what the enchantment is or how to break it. Not yet, anyway”
I stepped around them over to the edge of the salt circle. From this close, I could see the guard of a small pocketknife protruding from his chest.. It was a matte black like it was sucking the light out of the air around it. I would assume the blade was the same. My higher eyes saw it as a knife-shaped hole in the air.
“You haven't even pulled it out?”
“Basic first aid,” his mother responded, “Never take something out if you don't know how to treat the wound. It might make it worse. He's still alive, and that's the most important thing for the moment.”
I couldn't argue with that logic.
The Traveler's parents bade me stay for supper before I departed and we took the opportunity to swap stories. Apparently his father has some kind of “mortal peril sensor” which allows him to scry on his kid when he's in the aforementioned mortal peril. The Traveler doesn't seem to have any idea what they are. His dad's descended of wizards. It's been dormant for a while, but the talent manifested in him. His mom's what my people call the “Victoriana”, commonly called flower faeries. The bane of our existence. They were born from the dreams of little girls in Victorian England and have persisted since. She seems pretty cool in spite of that. This explains the daydream thing. And the power.
Afterward, I left to report to rhe Voice. Her usual haunt is beneath the sign of a little taco joint just off the University's campus. Lo and behold, there she was, smoking her usual unusual turquoise-flame cigarettes.
“All right,” she said after I informed her of the Traveler's fate, “I'll need to speak with the other voices, but this has the Evil written all over it. I will have a message for his parents, but for the moment you're free. Thanks very much, Mr. Pocketwatch.”
And then she disappeared in that infuriatingly comedic way that Voices can do when they're feeling mischievous (which is pretty much all the time for some of them). She slowly faded out, leaving behind a grin which hadn't been there before, and eventually that too faded. And all that was left was me, having nothing left to do but wonder what the hell she meant and keep living my semi-stolen life.
Until she called me back, that was.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Snatchers, The Shadow City of Lacuna, Sympathy on the Highways, 12 Very Tiny Reindeer, the Jolly Old Immigrant, and a Fetch (Work In Progress
I daresay it's been awhile. But I've got a good excuse, I swear!
It started Mid-October back in my little college town. It was Friday and I had just gotten out of my last class of the day. The day was warm and sunny, and as averse as I usually am to sunlight, even I was enjoying it. I headed back to my dorm to unwind. I opened the door, surveyed the mess, made a mental note to do my laundry, dropped my bag, and checked my wards.
I probably should have done that first.
Staring me right in the face, at the base of my door, the salt line was broken. No sooner did I make note of this than I was aware of a humanoid form across the threshold. It (he?) was dressed in black boots, jeans, a black leather jacket, and a ski mask. What skin that showed from behind the mask was pale and its eyes were milky while bloodshot.
A snatcher. Joy.
Snatchers are born of parents' fears of someone taking their precious babies. They're actually a kind of Nervosa (referenced here.) They grab kids, walk purposefully away and once they're out of sight, they just disappear to Xenu knows where. Anywhat, the kids aren't seen again. Nobody (that I know) is really sure what becomes of them.
Anyw-word, the snatcher stepped on through my door reaching out for me. Naturally, I backed away and tried to think of something that would get me out of this mess. Except then another one came out from under my bed and joined the first one. They backed me into a corner (which wasn't much of a feat, considering how small my dorm room is). Normally, I'm good under pressure, but I was at a loss for what to do. Long story short: they each grabbed an arm, I thrashed (it didn't help), nobody else was around, so they did their thing and we disappeared.
But wait! There's more! Post-In-Progress.
It started Mid-October back in my little college town. It was Friday and I had just gotten out of my last class of the day. The day was warm and sunny, and as averse as I usually am to sunlight, even I was enjoying it. I headed back to my dorm to unwind. I opened the door, surveyed the mess, made a mental note to do my laundry, dropped my bag, and checked my wards.
I probably should have done that first.
Staring me right in the face, at the base of my door, the salt line was broken. No sooner did I make note of this than I was aware of a humanoid form across the threshold. It (he?) was dressed in black boots, jeans, a black leather jacket, and a ski mask. What skin that showed from behind the mask was pale and its eyes were milky while bloodshot.
A snatcher. Joy.
Snatchers are born of parents' fears of someone taking their precious babies. They're actually a kind of Nervosa (referenced here.) They grab kids, walk purposefully away and once they're out of sight, they just disappear to Xenu knows where. Anywhat, the kids aren't seen again. Nobody (that I know) is really sure what becomes of them.
Anyw-word, the snatcher stepped on through my door reaching out for me. Naturally, I backed away and tried to think of something that would get me out of this mess. Except then another one came out from under my bed and joined the first one. They backed me into a corner (which wasn't much of a feat, considering how small my dorm room is). Normally, I'm good under pressure, but I was at a loss for what to do. Long story short: they each grabbed an arm, I thrashed (it didn't help), nobody else was around, so they did their thing and we disappeared.
But wait! There's more! Post-In-Progress.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The Evil that Followed Me Home
Normally I try to ignore C's ramblings, but it's hard to do so when they suddenly become relevant. (And by C, I mean the other author, not the completely awesome follower.) Late July, he mentioned Phantom Cars. Personally, I'd never encountered one. I don't really get angry that often. But tonight, one almost ran me over.
I was on foot. It was about midnight and I was walking home from Taco Bell. The street between the Hearth and campus was empty. I walked. I was to the third lane over from the school when something bowled me over from behind. I flew forward to the sound of a revving engine and the noxious scent of exhaust permeated the air. I was still in the road and clearly there were cars, so I scrambled to my feet. I was suddenly yanked backward by my collar to land on my butt. A car rushed past right in front of me, where I had only moments ago stood.
As it passed, I became aware of the Faceless Lady standing on the curb. It was the first one with the coat but sans the cigarette. She immediately rushed forward, grabbed my arm and hauled me forward and off the road as another car rushed through the lane in which I had been sitting. Once I was up on the curb, I turned to see what had almost hit me. It was a shiny black car, which quickly faded from sight (and I mean "shimmer, shimmer, not there anymore"). Immediately, it reappeared in the lane closest to me and sped through before fading out for the last time. It had but one yellow headlight, no driver, and left muddy hoofprints on the road as it passed.
C was telling the truth, it seems. But I wasn't angry, so why attack me?
"The Evil sent it after you," came a voice from behind me. It sounded like Bernardette Peters if she were a chain smoker and was accompanied by glossolalic whispers.
The Faceless Lady spoke.
I was incredulous. I stared at her blank face.
"It followed you home," her disembodied voice added, "You did not go to it across the River, so it crossed for you. Didn't Squeak warn you?"
And then she turned and walked away, leaving me to figure out just what was going on.
Side Note: The hitchhiker-type is still out by the entrance of my dorm when viewed through the Brittney Glasses. People walk right through him, but I'm still worried about going anywhere near him. Last time I made contact with anything like him, I was given visions and had nightmares for a week. Still don't know what that's about..
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Shadow Offramps, The Town of Lacrima
Quite a fun little weekend. I came home to see my family and pick up a few things. I spent most of that time quite ill. There was also an ill-fated episode in which the 'rents tried to give me a haircut but the clippers weren't cooperating. It all works out. I had hoped to be back at school by 4 PM at the latest, but I didn't even get on the road before 6. That was all well and good except that it meant I would still be on the highway after nightfall on the way back to school. I hate driving at night...
The shadow highways are still there, crossing and looping and whatnot alongside the normal interstate highway, but I don't worry about it much during the day. I try to stay off of it at night. Especially after what happened last time. But alas, as I was getting off at my exit, the lights in the distance went out and the name on the offramp changed to "Lacrima, Population: Unknown".
Not again.
Like it or not, I had wandered onto the shadow highways. Or rather, wandered off. I switched on my high beams and followed the road as it went on for a ways into empty plains (which if you know anything about Arkansas is totally uncharacteristic). Finally, I came across Lacrima proper. "Population: Unknown" my foot, the town was completely empty. What's more the buildings were mostly Hollywood facades. Sure they were shades of grays and blacks and the door frames looked like the maw of some horrific beast (which in spite of my flippant tone is sure to give me nightmares for a while), but their not-really-a-building-ness just seemed to rob them of the scary. I would have turned around right then, but the road was only wide enough to travel one way.
There was one building that was more substantial, however. A large manor house which might have served as a town welcome center or something similar where I come from. A bit creepy, but not the least bit scary, I got out of my car and walked up to the door. It too was sculpted to look like a hungry nightmare. Being an actual building, the manor was gaining fear-reaction points by the moment. I knocked. Nothing. I waited for a moment, suppressing rising discomfort. I knocked again. Still nothing.
I turned to go back to my car. There was a swish behind me. I turned around. A letter had been pushed under the door. There was no light inside and the door was windowless. I picked it up. The letter had my name on the outside. I opened it.
It read;
"I dreamed a dream of a land not far away,
Where no birds sang,
No steeples rang,
And teardrops fell like rain."
I was suddenly acutely aware that there was no sound in Lacrima. Unsettlingly so. And then I could feel something like bending, creaking, cracking wood where the door was behind me, but I couldn't hear it. Panic rose. I ran back to my car without looking back. As soon as the engine was started, I found in the rear view mirror that the road was suddenly two-laned. I didn't need a second hint. I was out of there and headed back toward the highway. As soon as I entered the onramp, I was suddenly back on the offramp to my little college town. It's probably better for my sanity that I never saw what it was that came from the door.
A few things once I got back to my dorm. First, I did a search on the lines from the letter (which seems to have disappeared when I left Lacrima). It's from a choral piece called "The Awakening". No idea what that was about. The other thing was that the hitchhiker type was still outside my dorm. He hadn't moved at all from last week. That probably isn't good. Anywhat...
No more interstate night driving. Never again.
The shadow highways are still there, crossing and looping and whatnot alongside the normal interstate highway, but I don't worry about it much during the day. I try to stay off of it at night. Especially after what happened last time. But alas, as I was getting off at my exit, the lights in the distance went out and the name on the offramp changed to "Lacrima, Population: Unknown".
Not again.
Like it or not, I had wandered onto the shadow highways. Or rather, wandered off. I switched on my high beams and followed the road as it went on for a ways into empty plains (which if you know anything about Arkansas is totally uncharacteristic). Finally, I came across Lacrima proper. "Population: Unknown" my foot, the town was completely empty. What's more the buildings were mostly Hollywood facades. Sure they were shades of grays and blacks and the door frames looked like the maw of some horrific beast (which in spite of my flippant tone is sure to give me nightmares for a while), but their not-really-a-building-ness just seemed to rob them of the scary. I would have turned around right then, but the road was only wide enough to travel one way.
There was one building that was more substantial, however. A large manor house which might have served as a town welcome center or something similar where I come from. A bit creepy, but not the least bit scary, I got out of my car and walked up to the door. It too was sculpted to look like a hungry nightmare. Being an actual building, the manor was gaining fear-reaction points by the moment. I knocked. Nothing. I waited for a moment, suppressing rising discomfort. I knocked again. Still nothing.
I turned to go back to my car. There was a swish behind me. I turned around. A letter had been pushed under the door. There was no light inside and the door was windowless. I picked it up. The letter had my name on the outside. I opened it.
It read;
"I dreamed a dream of a land not far away,
Where no birds sang,
No steeples rang,
And teardrops fell like rain."
I was suddenly acutely aware that there was no sound in Lacrima. Unsettlingly so. And then I could feel something like bending, creaking, cracking wood where the door was behind me, but I couldn't hear it. Panic rose. I ran back to my car without looking back. As soon as the engine was started, I found in the rear view mirror that the road was suddenly two-laned. I didn't need a second hint. I was out of there and headed back toward the highway. As soon as I entered the onramp, I was suddenly back on the offramp to my little college town. It's probably better for my sanity that I never saw what it was that came from the door.
A few things once I got back to my dorm. First, I did a search on the lines from the letter (which seems to have disappeared when I left Lacrima). It's from a choral piece called "The Awakening". No idea what that was about. The other thing was that the hitchhiker type was still outside my dorm. He hadn't moved at all from last week. That probably isn't good. Anywhat...
No more interstate night driving. Never again.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Things Happen in Threes
Some time ago, I mentioned a bracelet I had made which carried a curse or somesuch. Blah blah blah it concentrates negativity in people blah blah blah. I have now come to find myself in possession of two other objects which are likewise bedeviled.
The first, or rather second of the three, is my high school class ring. It seems to be given to roam. Two years ago, at the end of my freshman year of college, I put it in my jewelry box with my scouting medals and hadn't seen it since. Until two weeks ago. I bought my new (relatively speaking) backpack shortly before I returned to school last year. Two weeks ago, I found my class ring in one of its pockets. A bag which I had only had for one year and which had never been anywhere near my jewelry box (rather it was always at school or in my car's trunk for the Summer) suddenly contained a ring I hadn't seen much less touched in a little over two years.
Then it gets weirder.
I put it in my dorm room with the other unusual trinkets on my bookshelf. But then four days ago, it was there in the same pocket. Back to the bookshelf. Today, after my swimming class, the lifeguard approached me and asked if a certain class ring they had found the previous day by the pool was mine. And bloody hell if it wasn't. I wouldn't call it a true curse per se, but my class ring seems to have a very "One Ring" personality about it.
And then there's my "Brittney Glasses". They're a pair of rose-tinted frameless sunglasses which started at camp as a sort of in-joke (which I might share if I get around to it) with other staffers. I still wear them at school if I need a distinctive look or to get my creative juices flowing with an unusual view of the world. Today they started showing me things. In mirrored surfaces, I would get a reflection of creatures which were not there. Tonight, I've seen silhouettes of small animals move across campus only to take off my glasses and see nothing. I have excellent night vision and should have seen whatever they were without trouble with the glasses off. Just before I returned to my room, I saw a strange gentleman who reminded me of the Hitchiker I saw back in the early Spring standing outside my dorm. But only with the Brittney Glasses on. And THAT can't be a good omen. The problem is, I don't know if my glasses are showing me things that are there or are cursed to show things that aren't. I've had "the eyes to see" for a while and I don't really get why I wouldn't notice these things before, but there you have it.
Good Strange things happen in threes.
The first, or rather second of the three, is my high school class ring. It seems to be given to roam. Two years ago, at the end of my freshman year of college, I put it in my jewelry box with my scouting medals and hadn't seen it since. Until two weeks ago. I bought my new (relatively speaking) backpack shortly before I returned to school last year. Two weeks ago, I found my class ring in one of its pockets. A bag which I had only had for one year and which had never been anywhere near my jewelry box (rather it was always at school or in my car's trunk for the Summer) suddenly contained a ring I hadn't seen much less touched in a little over two years.
Then it gets weirder.
I put it in my dorm room with the other unusual trinkets on my bookshelf. But then four days ago, it was there in the same pocket. Back to the bookshelf. Today, after my swimming class, the lifeguard approached me and asked if a certain class ring they had found the previous day by the pool was mine. And bloody hell if it wasn't. I wouldn't call it a true curse per se, but my class ring seems to have a very "One Ring" personality about it.
And then there's my "Brittney Glasses". They're a pair of rose-tinted frameless sunglasses which started at camp as a sort of in-joke (which I might share if I get around to it) with other staffers. I still wear them at school if I need a distinctive look or to get my creative juices flowing with an unusual view of the world. Today they started showing me things. In mirrored surfaces, I would get a reflection of creatures which were not there. Tonight, I've seen silhouettes of small animals move across campus only to take off my glasses and see nothing. I have excellent night vision and should have seen whatever they were without trouble with the glasses off. Just before I returned to my room, I saw a strange gentleman who reminded me of the Hitchiker I saw back in the early Spring standing outside my dorm. But only with the Brittney Glasses on. And THAT can't be a good omen. The problem is, I don't know if my glasses are showing me things that are there or are cursed to show things that aren't. I've had "the eyes to see" for a while and I don't really get why I wouldn't notice these things before, but there you have it.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
I'm Back and Something's Broken
Good morning, boys and girls and culturally-specific third genders. It's been a while indeed, but I'm back. There's a lot to tell, but that, as Scheherezade would have said, is another story. I have been to four states, worked two jobs (one of which was almost literally the job from Hell), and seen things even I once though were impossible. I've taught turtles to fly, walked on water, and witnessed forgotten Native American battles. And I will tell those stories. Tonight, however, I have something different to say.
Of late, I feel like the world is changing around me. And not in that cosmic sense that the elderly and increasingly the middle-aged are portrayed to feel in movies and TV shows. More of a literal "something happened which did not actually happen at the moment it should have happened" thing.
It started small. People saying they had said things to me which I had not witnessed only moments before. It's easy enough to dismiss something like that. Maybe I wasn't paying attention. Maybe they thought they had said it. Maybe a third thing which fits in this line of reasoning.
Then bigger things started changing. The colors of friends' cars. Which key opened what door. And then tonight.
Tonight I was playing in a poker tournament my RA organized. It was a whole lot of fun and I was winning until the cards changed. I had a nine and a seven in my hand, on suit. The flop was laid out as such that there were two nines and a seven. I went all in. A full house; there was no way I could lose! But then the cards went fuzzy. I blinked a few times. Then we showed our hands. I should have had a full house, but where the nines once stood, there lay a king and a jack! (off suit) I lost the hand and the game. It was just a dorm activity so nothing was lost, but still. The scale and frequency of these reality changes are increasing. And I'm sort of worried.
Either that or I'm going crazy.
Of late, I feel like the world is changing around me. And not in that cosmic sense that the elderly and increasingly the middle-aged are portrayed to feel in movies and TV shows. More of a literal "something happened which did not actually happen at the moment it should have happened" thing.
It started small. People saying they had said things to me which I had not witnessed only moments before. It's easy enough to dismiss something like that. Maybe I wasn't paying attention. Maybe they thought they had said it. Maybe a third thing which fits in this line of reasoning.
Then bigger things started changing. The colors of friends' cars. Which key opened what door. And then tonight.
Tonight I was playing in a poker tournament my RA organized. It was a whole lot of fun and I was winning until the cards changed. I had a nine and a seven in my hand, on suit. The flop was laid out as such that there were two nines and a seven. I went all in. A full house; there was no way I could lose! But then the cards went fuzzy. I blinked a few times. Then we showed our hands. I should have had a full house, but where the nines once stood, there lay a king and a jack! (off suit) I lost the hand and the game. It was just a dorm activity so nothing was lost, but still. The scale and frequency of these reality changes are increasing. And I'm sort of worried.
Either that or I'm going crazy.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Phantom Cars and Drivers...
I regret not being able to post more, but this is the leprechaun's last tale. The fairy will be back soon, so here is my last tale...
Today's subject is phantom cars. I was driving down a main highway the other day when I saw one. Now I'd heard of these before, but I'd never actually seen one with my own eyes. That's why, when I saw someone drive through this car like it wasn't there I was sure of what it was.
A phantom car is really two spirits in one. A long time ago the horse use to be the main method of transportation if you wanted to get somewhere fast. When machines came along and automobiles were there to replace horses as the main transportation, some of them were angered by their lack of use. Nowadays horses exist for show or leisure and some of them don't appreciate this. When a horse dies without getting proper use they feel like their life was wasted. These feelings are sometimes so powerful that they hang on in this world. So when the spirit manifests outside of the body aftering dieing, the spirit takes on the form of what it hates most, the automobile.
Now for the second spirit, the spirit of a human that has a massive case of what other humans call "road rage." If someone gets easily angered while driving, this anger grows and grows until they become hateful drivers. This puts off a negative aura that the phantom horse cars love to feed off of. The phantom horse cars will usually try to get these road rage drivers into a car accident to kill them. The moment that human that suffered from road rage dies, the phantom horse car sucks their soul into the car and buckles it in with a seatbelt the driver can't escape from. At that point, the driver is doomed to drive the streets angrily inside this phantom horse car until that spirit is sucked dry of its energy, at which point it fades into nothing.
Phantom cars and their drivers usually don't come out into direct sunlight as it offers the least chance for a car accident, but on a dark night, or if its storming bad, you may see one. They usually ignore people who are peaceful while driving and prefer to seek out angry drivers to kill.
I experienced this the other day as I said I saw one, but I didn't pay any attention to the danger it presented. I'm not angry all the time, just at times when I'm driving. This almost cost me my life and very soul. You see, an angry soul from a mythical being such as myself provides even more energy and is more tasty than a normal human soul. That is why this phantom car and driver sought me out. I was frustrated with a semi driver in front of me that was driving side by side with another slow car and getting more angry by the second. I was already yelling angrily and flashing my brights motioning for one of them to pass the other, but they ignored me. This created a deeper and deeper anger until I felt my car being rammed from the left. The phantom car was trying to force me off the road!
Knowing exactly how much trouble I was in, I knew that I only had one chance to get rid of this rider. I reached into my CD rack and searched for the one CD that could change the outcome of this situation. I found my smooth jazz CD and popped it in just as the phantom car rammed me and put me into a tail spin. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply and exhaled as the jazz music worked its magic. I went off into a ditch, but when the phantom driver found me, I was in a state of calm and it couldn't sense any more anger to feed off of. Judging me as a worthless target, he sped off in a hurry. I got out of the ditch and headed for my destination as the jazz music continued to play. I had just narrowly avoided having my soul sucked into a driver's seat and spending the rest of my afterlife as an angry driver...
Let that be a lesson to you, don't fall into the temptation of road rage, the phantom horse car and driver will kill you for your anger.
Well that's all for the leprechaun, I'll see you around and be an inspiration to the fairy boy occasionally...
Monday, May 31, 2010
Movie Dust Bunnies~ The first Narrative from the Leprechaun Substitute
So, I'm the replacement for the usual blogger here. He asked me to fill in, because I'm one of his few supernatural friends in this universe. Allow me to introduce myself. I am "C" and I am a leprechaun. I know that might seem hard to believe, but knowing what all gets posted in this blog, I'm sure it isn't too big of a stretch for y'all to understand. Now due to some blood contamination I don't carry all the characteristics of a regular leprechaun that the legends have told over the years.
My ears are only pointy during the full moon. I'm actually rather tall at all times, and I'm not really a trickster by any means. Finally, I bear the appearance of a normal southerner and even use words like "y'all," truly a curse indeed....
I have some pretty big shoes to fill with the fairy gone to a summer camp (I mean really, he's risking his life by going out in the middle of nature... he knows what happens when a supernatural being leaves human population). Nonetheless, I'll try my best to tell you of my supernatural tales.
Now I'm sure you've all heard of the fabled "dust bunny". These creatures are in fact real. They live in the illusion of "dust" which humans just perceive as something that needs to be cleaned. Normal folklore has dust bunnies being tiny creatures, but this is false. The average dust bunny is actually the size of the couch. They just do a good job at dispersing themselves all over the building they inhabit to stay hidden.
Dust bunnies are actually the cause of much of the sickness in the world believe it or not. Think about all the bacteria they carry around with them in their dust piles, and if any of this dust gets inside of us, we're likely to become sick. Well unfortunately for mythical creatures, the dust from a dust bunny can be as lethal as a ring of salt, and last night, I almost bit the dust... literally.
Now with all the technology that humans have invented over the years, us mythological creatures have had to adapt. Dust bunnies are no different. With the invention of the moving pictures we like to call movies, they have found a new way to hide. The dust particles mix with the light particles as they are projected onto the movie screen. Then, they wait to jump out at unsuspecting mythological beings like myself.
Last night I was at the movies watching "The Prince of Persia" and already weakened from the extra salt the Burger King employee unwittingly put on my french fries, I was an easy target for these dust bunnies. It was dark, and I was too focused on the movie to put up any sort of defense against the dust bunnies that made their way inside my body.
I was sick the remainder of the night and nearly bit the dust until I found my bottle of purified spring water from the pools of Ireland. I slowly sipped this the rest of the night until I slowly cleansed the dust bunnies from my system. I was lucky, and that was all that saved my life... luck. Luck enough to have had the right cure for the right disease.
So let this be a lesson to you mythical beings and regular humans when you go to the movie theater. Watch out for dust bunnies.
Heck, you don't even have to be at the movies, next time you see dust hovering in the light from a nearby window, surround yourself with a ring of salt until the dust disperses and leaves to find a new victim. Until next time my readers, stay safe. The universe has plenty of beauties, each more deadly than the last.
As for myself, it's time to hit the old dusty trail until I can find a new story to share with y'all.
My ears are only pointy during the full moon. I'm actually rather tall at all times, and I'm not really a trickster by any means. Finally, I bear the appearance of a normal southerner and even use words like "y'all," truly a curse indeed....
I have some pretty big shoes to fill with the fairy gone to a summer camp (I mean really, he's risking his life by going out in the middle of nature... he knows what happens when a supernatural being leaves human population). Nonetheless, I'll try my best to tell you of my supernatural tales.
Now I'm sure you've all heard of the fabled "dust bunny". These creatures are in fact real. They live in the illusion of "dust" which humans just perceive as something that needs to be cleaned. Normal folklore has dust bunnies being tiny creatures, but this is false. The average dust bunny is actually the size of the couch. They just do a good job at dispersing themselves all over the building they inhabit to stay hidden.
Dust bunnies are actually the cause of much of the sickness in the world believe it or not. Think about all the bacteria they carry around with them in their dust piles, and if any of this dust gets inside of us, we're likely to become sick. Well unfortunately for mythical creatures, the dust from a dust bunny can be as lethal as a ring of salt, and last night, I almost bit the dust... literally.
Now with all the technology that humans have invented over the years, us mythological creatures have had to adapt. Dust bunnies are no different. With the invention of the moving pictures we like to call movies, they have found a new way to hide. The dust particles mix with the light particles as they are projected onto the movie screen. Then, they wait to jump out at unsuspecting mythological beings like myself.
Last night I was at the movies watching "The Prince of Persia" and already weakened from the extra salt the Burger King employee unwittingly put on my french fries, I was an easy target for these dust bunnies. It was dark, and I was too focused on the movie to put up any sort of defense against the dust bunnies that made their way inside my body.
I was sick the remainder of the night and nearly bit the dust until I found my bottle of purified spring water from the pools of Ireland. I slowly sipped this the rest of the night until I slowly cleansed the dust bunnies from my system. I was lucky, and that was all that saved my life... luck. Luck enough to have had the right cure for the right disease.
So let this be a lesson to you mythical beings and regular humans when you go to the movie theater. Watch out for dust bunnies.
Heck, you don't even have to be at the movies, next time you see dust hovering in the light from a nearby window, surround yourself with a ring of salt until the dust disperses and leaves to find a new victim. Until next time my readers, stay safe. The universe has plenty of beauties, each more deadly than the last.
As for myself, it's time to hit the old dusty trail until I can find a new story to share with y'all.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Medical Stealth
I know I said I wasn't posting any more until after I got back, but I don't leave 'til tomorrow and this was worth note.
I got my camp physical today. It's always fun going to the doctor. They always ask if you have any allergies when you check in and I always think: "Hmm... Iron burns, salt repels me, I'm compelled to count fallen rice grains, sunlight sensitive is an understatement, and ringing bells cause me a lot of pain.."
And then I respond: "Nickel gives me a rash on contact."
These aren't normal human allergies. I mean, they're certainly signs of synesthesia, contact allergies, obsessive-compulsion, and light sensitivity, but this particular combination? I'd sound like a hypochondriac!
On a related note, something occurred to me when I listed those banes in my head. Only certain things display such weaknesses.
This narrows the field considerably.
I got my camp physical today. It's always fun going to the doctor. They always ask if you have any allergies when you check in and I always think: "Hmm... Iron burns, salt repels me, I'm compelled to count fallen rice grains, sunlight sensitive is an understatement, and ringing bells cause me a lot of pain.."
And then I respond: "Nickel gives me a rash on contact."
These aren't normal human allergies. I mean, they're certainly signs of synesthesia, contact allergies, obsessive-compulsion, and light sensitivity, but this particular combination? I'd sound like a hypochondriac!
On a related note, something occurred to me when I listed those banes in my head. Only certain things display such weaknesses.
This narrows the field considerably.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
It's Been a While. And It Will Be Yet.
Things have been pretty quiet in my little college town for the past little while. The Seelie Court took over in full at Beltaine (about May 1). They don't like to deal with outsiders as much as the Unseelie so I imagine it will be a while yet before I get invited to meet with them. (And the next transitional period doesn't start until Lughnasadh (sometime thereabout August 1)). A pity, really. I had been hoping to get to know them more than my one weeklong dancing spree.
The end of the school year sort of snuck up on me. Thankfully, nothing decided to rear its ugly head in that time. Still, I had four monologues to learn, countless sculptures to make, and three legitimate written finals to study for. It wasn't difficult, but things were complicated somewhat when I got sick and missed one, the merciful rescheduling of which extended my tests another day and a half. And in this time, I got subpoena'd to testify against my old kiddie-perving demon roommate. No sooner did I get served, than the prosecutor's office called to tell me it's been rescheduled to July. So at least that didn't mess with my tests, like it originally would have (take place on the last day of them). On the bright side, I got 5 A's and 1 B. My cumulative GPA is now exceptionally high (over 3.7).
Moving out wasn't too easy. I got everything out all right, but my RA took forever to check me out and he always found more dirt where there wasn't any (which he attested to himself) before. I'm not gonna call that supernatural, but it was certainly annoying. Then I had to wait almost an hour outside the building where the Theatrical Art classroom is located to collect my supplies. It didn't take long to get them, but the waiting and having to inconvenience my professor didn't help my mood. Plus I had to transport the cursed bracelet which probably didn't help my day. Incidentally, I found a way to uncurse it and will do so by running it under moving springwater this summer, but I'll get to that in a minute. Then I had to go and sell my books back. For wholesale. But seeing how they're the only game in town, I was railroaded. I went back to my car to get a form to turn into the registrar and a seat full of stuff fell out. A lot of things broke and/or spilled. By this point, I was very, very annoyed and started throwing things in. Then something awesome happened. Objects started flinging themselves back into the car! Apparently I have telekinetic tendencies (but I haven't tried again since I calmed down, so maybe it's an emotional thing). It didn't improve my mood then (especially with all the other bad things that crossed my path shortly after), but it was pretty darn cool.
On a completely unrelated note to anything, one of my bestest friends in the Universe saw the first Faceless Lady. She was walking away from my friend and she heard glossolalic whispers coming from behind her. So now others have seen her and maybe we can get to know more about her.
I'm home now and like I said before, I'm not too involved in local fortean happenings. So things have been pretty quiet thus far. Next week on Friday, I'm going to BSA National Camping School and then on to work at Camp Orr until July 3. There's a lot of weird stuff out there and I hope to tell all about it on this blog when I get back. Until then, I've got a friend who's going to hijack this thing and tell a bit of his own goings on. You'll love it. I swear.
See you in July!
The end of the school year sort of snuck up on me. Thankfully, nothing decided to rear its ugly head in that time. Still, I had four monologues to learn, countless sculptures to make, and three legitimate written finals to study for. It wasn't difficult, but things were complicated somewhat when I got sick and missed one, the merciful rescheduling of which extended my tests another day and a half. And in this time, I got subpoena'd to testify against my old kiddie-perving demon roommate. No sooner did I get served, than the prosecutor's office called to tell me it's been rescheduled to July. So at least that didn't mess with my tests, like it originally would have (take place on the last day of them). On the bright side, I got 5 A's and 1 B. My cumulative GPA is now exceptionally high (over 3.7).
Moving out wasn't too easy. I got everything out all right, but my RA took forever to check me out and he always found more dirt where there wasn't any (which he attested to himself) before. I'm not gonna call that supernatural, but it was certainly annoying. Then I had to wait almost an hour outside the building where the Theatrical Art classroom is located to collect my supplies. It didn't take long to get them, but the waiting and having to inconvenience my professor didn't help my mood. Plus I had to transport the cursed bracelet which probably didn't help my day. Incidentally, I found a way to uncurse it and will do so by running it under moving springwater this summer, but I'll get to that in a minute. Then I had to go and sell my books back. For wholesale. But seeing how they're the only game in town, I was railroaded. I went back to my car to get a form to turn into the registrar and a seat full of stuff fell out. A lot of things broke and/or spilled. By this point, I was very, very annoyed and started throwing things in. Then something awesome happened. Objects started flinging themselves back into the car! Apparently I have telekinetic tendencies (but I haven't tried again since I calmed down, so maybe it's an emotional thing). It didn't improve my mood then (especially with all the other bad things that crossed my path shortly after), but it was pretty darn cool.
On a completely unrelated note to anything, one of my bestest friends in the Universe saw the first Faceless Lady. She was walking away from my friend and she heard glossolalic whispers coming from behind her. So now others have seen her and maybe we can get to know more about her.
I'm home now and like I said before, I'm not too involved in local fortean happenings. So things have been pretty quiet thus far. Next week on Friday, I'm going to BSA National Camping School and then on to work at Camp Orr until July 3. There's a lot of weird stuff out there and I hope to tell all about it on this blog when I get back. Until then, I've got a friend who's going to hijack this thing and tell a bit of his own goings on. You'll love it. I swear.
See you in July!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Faceless Humor
4/20 today. That means two things: 1) Marijuana smokers around the world have yet another reason to get baked. 2) It's Adolf Hitler's birthday. (or as I prefer to call it, "Holy Crap! It's Hitler! Day".) Neither are really any cause for celebration for me, but as anyone who knows be can tell you, all I need is an excuse to paint my face. And I must say that I make the "Egyptian Death Mask" look look good. There was something else that simultaneously tickled my funny bone and made me gasp in surprise.
It was the first Faceless Lady, the one who's always smoking the strange cigarettes. I saw her while coming back from a late-night jaunt to the store to get windshield wiper blades. She was under the taco joint's sign like normal. She wasn't smoking anything this time. In fact, I think she was just looking at me as I passed. It didn't register at first but then it occurred to me: She was wearing a Hitler mustache! No lie. It was on her not-a-face just below where her nose should have been. And, of all the things she could have done, she waved as I passed.
I do believe she's got a hilariously twisted sense of humor.
It was the first Faceless Lady, the one who's always smoking the strange cigarettes. I saw her while coming back from a late-night jaunt to the store to get windshield wiper blades. She was under the taco joint's sign like normal. She wasn't smoking anything this time. In fact, I think she was just looking at me as I passed. It didn't register at first but then it occurred to me: She was wearing a Hitler mustache! No lie. It was on her not-a-face just below where her nose should have been. And, of all the things she could have done, she waved as I passed.
I do believe she's got a hilariously twisted sense of humor.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I Made a Cursed Bracelet (On Accident)
Magic is everywhere in our world. It exists in almost-nauseating amounts. It bleeds from everything humans have made contact with. Doubly so for things we consider important. One might consider it the inherent potential of anything once so imbued by the human spirit. For better or worse.
During the episode with my last roommate, I almost mechanically churned out little polymer clay charms. Mostly for practice. Sort of to while away the time until the police took action. Anything to stay out of my room when the cops showed. The waiting was killing me. A few of them were of my signature piece: a strawberry. I finally made something of a color-inverted strawberry charm on a chain bracelet last week. And it has been nothing but trouble.
As with anyone else, my negative feelings tainted my work.
Lo and behold! The bracelet is cursed.
Since I made it, myself and two others have worn it. Our moods have been endlessly dragged down and nothing but bad luck has followed the wearer. It's currently warded away in a jar of dried rosemary but I don't know how I'm going to get rid of it, or at least divest it of its curse. Or for that matter, what I should do with the other charms I made around then.
So much wasted clay.
During the episode with my last roommate, I almost mechanically churned out little polymer clay charms. Mostly for practice. Sort of to while away the time until the police took action. Anything to stay out of my room when the cops showed. The waiting was killing me. A few of them were of my signature piece: a strawberry. I finally made something of a color-inverted strawberry charm on a chain bracelet last week. And it has been nothing but trouble.
As with anyone else, my negative feelings tainted my work.
Lo and behold! The bracelet is cursed.
Since I made it, myself and two others have worn it. Our moods have been endlessly dragged down and nothing but bad luck has followed the wearer. It's currently warded away in a jar of dried rosemary but I don't know how I'm going to get rid of it, or at least divest it of its curse. Or for that matter, what I should do with the other charms I made around then.
So much wasted clay.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
A Disconcerting Procession of Demons
I mentioned some time ago, that I knew someone I thought might be an incubus. He's no worry now since he's now in Turkey to study bears. I also mentioned near the middle of last December that I literally had a roommate from Hell. It turns out that demonic roommates have been somewhat of a trend since I got to college.
My first roommate was human. A bit of a redneck, but not an idiot (which is nothing to bemoan, speaking as an Arkansas native). About two weeks in to the first semester of freshman year, he made a friend and wanted to switch rooms. The Housing office at our school screwed me over and, despite my protests, I was stuck with the other guy's roommate.
He was a nice guy. He was also one of those people who seems to smell funny (and sort of unpleasant to me) all the time. Which doesn't make sense since he was an almost painfully clean individual. Now I'm not going to call him a demon, per se, but he struck me like a river spirit with junk in the trunk (if you'll pardon the Miyazaki pun). He displayed a metanormal nature in that he seems to amplify the tendency of things to equalize. Things neither failed nor resoundingly succeeded in his presence. We got on amicably for a the rest of the year.
I didn't have such luck after that.
The next year, I ended up with a self-avowed bipolar redneck who liked to show me his "skinnin' knives". Not a bad guy, but something struck me as wrong about him. A little testing and research and I found out what it was. It seems that my third roommate was a lower-level demonic entity attached to the slaughter of animals. I doesn't do to ward against your roommate, so I changed rooms at semester.
The fourth guy was a ghost. Figuratively. I never met him, so I can't vouch for his nature. The fifth I have already detailed in a previous post and have no desire to relive that experience now. That brings me to the latest and (not-so-)greatest.
He claimed to be 34, living in the dorms. It didn't take long for me to have suspicions, but longer for me to act on them. It turns out he, like the one I met last semester, is an incubus. And he liked little girls. I finally acted on it when I walked in on him accessing certain content on the Glorious Series of Tubes. The Police were notified and they got working pretty quickly on the matter. Still, there was the matter that he was a demon to deal with. It took some work, but some silver chains (silver screws with just about everything but the Fae (which begs the question of what I am again)) and a strange Hebrew incantation later, he was arrestable (and will continue to be so until the designated authorities (in this case, the Police) release him from custody). I hate working proper magic, but a seal-and-binding was necessary to prevent loss of human life.
Back to topic (or tl;dr, as it were): all my roommates are demons!
I'm SO getting single next year.
My first roommate was human. A bit of a redneck, but not an idiot (which is nothing to bemoan, speaking as an Arkansas native). About two weeks in to the first semester of freshman year, he made a friend and wanted to switch rooms. The Housing office at our school screwed me over and, despite my protests, I was stuck with the other guy's roommate.
He was a nice guy. He was also one of those people who seems to smell funny (and sort of unpleasant to me) all the time. Which doesn't make sense since he was an almost painfully clean individual. Now I'm not going to call him a demon, per se, but he struck me like a river spirit with junk in the trunk (if you'll pardon the Miyazaki pun). He displayed a metanormal nature in that he seems to amplify the tendency of things to equalize. Things neither failed nor resoundingly succeeded in his presence. We got on amicably for a the rest of the year.
I didn't have such luck after that.
The next year, I ended up with a self-avowed bipolar redneck who liked to show me his "skinnin' knives". Not a bad guy, but something struck me as wrong about him. A little testing and research and I found out what it was. It seems that my third roommate was a lower-level demonic entity attached to the slaughter of animals. I doesn't do to ward against your roommate, so I changed rooms at semester.
The fourth guy was a ghost. Figuratively. I never met him, so I can't vouch for his nature. The fifth I have already detailed in a previous post and have no desire to relive that experience now. That brings me to the latest and (not-so-)greatest.
He claimed to be 34, living in the dorms. It didn't take long for me to have suspicions, but longer for me to act on them. It turns out he, like the one I met last semester, is an incubus. And he liked little girls. I finally acted on it when I walked in on him accessing certain content on the Glorious Series of Tubes. The Police were notified and they got working pretty quickly on the matter. Still, there was the matter that he was a demon to deal with. It took some work, but some silver chains (silver screws with just about everything but the Fae (which begs the question of what I am again)) and a strange Hebrew incantation later, he was arrestable (and will continue to be so until the designated authorities (in this case, the Police) release him from custody). I hate working proper magic, but a seal-and-binding was necessary to prevent loss of human life.
Back to topic (or tl;dr, as it were): all my roommates are demons!
I'm SO getting single next year.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
An Analysis of the Visions
I've done some thinking about the visions the hitchhiker forced on me yesterday.
The starry sky. Night obviously. No clouds. The stars were bright against the black sky. The Milky Way was clearly visible so the view was a way from bright lights, probably away from the city.
The room full of sleeping people. They were dressed as normal people. Just adults. There were aisles of things so I assume it was a market of some kind.
The first Faceless Lady atop a car. She's standing up and it looked like she was looking around for something (or so I assume being unable to follow her lack of eyes). She was dressed as she always is, a windbreaker with its hood up and jeans. Something about her suggests she's expecting something to happen. Uncharacteristically, she isn't smoking. Against her stood a backdrop of a few indistinguishable trees and the same starry sky. The car was white but otherwise nondescript. I don't know (or care) anything about car models so I don't really know anything else about it.
The image of a gentleman and then myself, arms raised, against a storm. That's a curious one, indeed. I once knew a guy (who sort of reminded me of my brother) who could direct the weather by singing or playing a bass guitar, but that was about a year before I arrived here. And he was very much from another Place. (That story will have to be told eventually) The storm was, well, stormy and dark (sans the lightning) so I assume that it, too, was at night. As for the bit about myself against the storm, no idea.
A pack of small dogs surrounding a skeletal figure. The dogs were mostly chihuahuas, but all pretty much all toy breeds. Their hackles were raised and it looked as though they were planning to pounce en masse. As to the figure itself, it was humanoid and genuinely looked like a charred skeleton cowering against them all. It had no face that I could see so much as a skull-like visage which bore the traditional rictus grin. They were on pavement which looked somewhat damp. A pool of light surrounded the figure and the dog, but outside it was dark. Another night scene.
The hitchhiker's words. "You are armed for the night ahead." No idea what that means, but all of the visions were of apparent night scenes (excepting the sleeping people). So I have no real idea what connects all these scenes, except perhaps the referenced night itself. And I don't even know if it means a literal or metaphorical night at that. Strange things, though. Sleepers out of place. A man, myself, and a storm (and I don't really get along with those). The first Faceless Lady out and about. Dogs and a skeleton.
Something is on its way. And I think I'm scared.
The starry sky. Night obviously. No clouds. The stars were bright against the black sky. The Milky Way was clearly visible so the view was a way from bright lights, probably away from the city.
The room full of sleeping people. They were dressed as normal people. Just adults. There were aisles of things so I assume it was a market of some kind.
The first Faceless Lady atop a car. She's standing up and it looked like she was looking around for something (or so I assume being unable to follow her lack of eyes). She was dressed as she always is, a windbreaker with its hood up and jeans. Something about her suggests she's expecting something to happen. Uncharacteristically, she isn't smoking. Against her stood a backdrop of a few indistinguishable trees and the same starry sky. The car was white but otherwise nondescript. I don't know (or care) anything about car models so I don't really know anything else about it.
The image of a gentleman and then myself, arms raised, against a storm. That's a curious one, indeed. I once knew a guy (who sort of reminded me of my brother) who could direct the weather by singing or playing a bass guitar, but that was about a year before I arrived here. And he was very much from another Place. (That story will have to be told eventually) The storm was, well, stormy and dark (sans the lightning) so I assume that it, too, was at night. As for the bit about myself against the storm, no idea.
A pack of small dogs surrounding a skeletal figure. The dogs were mostly chihuahuas, but all pretty much all toy breeds. Their hackles were raised and it looked as though they were planning to pounce en masse. As to the figure itself, it was humanoid and genuinely looked like a charred skeleton cowering against them all. It had no face that I could see so much as a skull-like visage which bore the traditional rictus grin. They were on pavement which looked somewhat damp. A pool of light surrounded the figure and the dog, but outside it was dark. Another night scene.
The hitchhiker's words. "You are armed for the night ahead." No idea what that means, but all of the visions were of apparent night scenes (excepting the sleeping people). So I have no real idea what connects all these scenes, except perhaps the referenced night itself. And I don't even know if it means a literal or metaphorical night at that. Strange things, though. Sleepers out of place. A man, myself, and a storm (and I don't really get along with those). The first Faceless Lady out and about. Dogs and a skeleton.
Something is on its way. And I think I'm scared.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Time Dilation, a Shadow Hitchhiker, and Vagrant Prophecy (I think...)
Strange happenings today.
First, I lost an hour in a 3 minute walk. I had woken up about 8 and my first class was at 9. Slow going, but I was out of bed by 8:20 and ready with about 7 minutes to spare. No worries. Just a quick jaunt across campus. So I gathered my books and set off. And three minutes later, I strolled a bit late into my class.
Except it wasn't my class. I came in to unfamiliar students and an unfamiliar instructor. Awkward silence followed as all eyes turned to me. A hasty apology later, I was out in the hall checking my watch.
10:06 A.M.
I left my room about 9, so that meant I had lost about an hour in the three minutes the walk took. And I have no idea how.
The second strange phenomenon I witnessed was on the Interstate. I was on my way home for Easter. I was going a bit slower that perhaps necessary, but the clouds (and the forecast) just screamed rain and before today, I hadn't ever driven on the Interstate in the rain. Paranoia guided my hands. It seemed like there was a hitchhiker standing at each exit I passed. At first it struck me as odd since I hadn't seen a hitchhiker ever before in my life before March this year. It took a while before I realized what was really so unusual about it: they were all the same person!
The rain finally hit and forced me off the road in a small town. While waiting for the rain to subside, I heard a tap on the passenger side window. I looked over from my book to find the hitchhiker standing outside the car. There wasn't any apparent menace (unlike that last Faceless Lady) so I rolled the window down just a crack.
"Can I help you?"
"There isn't time."
Then he reached through the solid safety glass as though it were water and touched a fingertip to my forehead.
A starry sky. A room full of sleeping people. The first faceless lady standing atop a car. A gentleman with arms raised against a backdrop of a raging storm. Myself in the same position. A pack of small dogs surrounding a skeletal figure, mostly chihuahuas. The hitchhiker's voice echoed "You are armed for the night ahead."
When I came to, the storm had subsided (for a while at least) and the hitchhiker was gone. I pondered (I love that word) the vision on the short drive home. I still don't know what they mean.
An analysis must follow.
First, I lost an hour in a 3 minute walk. I had woken up about 8 and my first class was at 9. Slow going, but I was out of bed by 8:20 and ready with about 7 minutes to spare. No worries. Just a quick jaunt across campus. So I gathered my books and set off. And three minutes later, I strolled a bit late into my class.
Except it wasn't my class. I came in to unfamiliar students and an unfamiliar instructor. Awkward silence followed as all eyes turned to me. A hasty apology later, I was out in the hall checking my watch.
10:06 A.M.
I left my room about 9, so that meant I had lost about an hour in the three minutes the walk took. And I have no idea how.
The second strange phenomenon I witnessed was on the Interstate. I was on my way home for Easter. I was going a bit slower that perhaps necessary, but the clouds (and the forecast) just screamed rain and before today, I hadn't ever driven on the Interstate in the rain. Paranoia guided my hands. It seemed like there was a hitchhiker standing at each exit I passed. At first it struck me as odd since I hadn't seen a hitchhiker ever before in my life before March this year. It took a while before I realized what was really so unusual about it: they were all the same person!
The rain finally hit and forced me off the road in a small town. While waiting for the rain to subside, I heard a tap on the passenger side window. I looked over from my book to find the hitchhiker standing outside the car. There wasn't any apparent menace (unlike that last Faceless Lady) so I rolled the window down just a crack.
"Can I help you?"
"There isn't time."
Then he reached through the solid safety glass as though it were water and touched a fingertip to my forehead.
A starry sky. A room full of sleeping people. The first faceless lady standing atop a car. A gentleman with arms raised against a backdrop of a raging storm. Myself in the same position. A pack of small dogs surrounding a skeletal figure, mostly chihuahuas. The hitchhiker's voice echoed "You are armed for the night ahead."
When I came to, the storm had subsided (for a while at least) and the hitchhiker was gone. I pondered (I love that word) the vision on the short drive home. I still don't know what they mean.
An analysis must follow.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly!
I did it! I managed to do it again! Four times, in fact. I just have to clear my mind and the wings fade into existence. It's awesome!
But I still don't know what I am.
Eh, it was appropriate.
But I still don't know what I am.
Eh, it was appropriate.
Monday, February 15, 2010
A Third Faceless Lady and the Secret of Flight
I still have no idea what happened this time. I was at a friend's apartment just off campus. It was our annual Valentine's "Make food and watch cult movies" night. I was walking through the parking lot when I saw her. She was standing there, wearing a parka and wind pants. The hood was up so I couldn't see her hair. And she didn't have a face.
It was another faceless lady, but this one was different from the other two. For the first time, her attention was focused on me. I couldn't tell by eye contact or anything like that for obvious reasons, but I could just tell her focus was on me. It was a little strange, but nothing felt like I was in danger.
Wrong.
Without warning, she darted behind one of the cars. I was a bit confused until she leaped out from behind another and straight at me. Her aura had become visible as a set of glowing purple claws at the end of each gloved finger. Don't ask me how I managed, but she sailed over my head just as I moved to duck. She hit the car to my left (and it wasn't pretty). Suffice it to say that I ran. I ran at speeds I didn't know were possible to my legs. I ran around buildings and through parking lots and across streets, the Faceless Lady closely pursuing me every step of the way. Finally, she had me cornered at a dropoff at the end of a gravel parking lot. About fifteen feet below was a small creek. A creek filled with very pointy rocks. Not pleasant. Still, the alternative was glowing purple evisceration at the hands of a Faceless Lady. So I closed my eyes and stepped off the edge...
And I didn't hit the ground.
It took a few seconds before I realized that fact. But I think I noticed when I heard a sigh behind me that Gravity had relinquished its grip. I looked over my shoulder. The Faceless Lady was staring(?) at me. Cue the iconic "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" staredown music. Then, out of nowhere, she blew away like dust in the wind. Think "staked Buffy vampire".
So there I was, hanging in midair. I looked down and caught my reflection in the low creekwater. Extending from my back was a pair of shining prismatic wings. They were pretty long and appeared to be made of disconnected tribal tattoo designs. Really quite breathtaking.
The point is, though, I was flying! Really flying! The feeling was indescribable! Utter and complete freedom. I just had to image where I wanted to go and I would fly in that direction. It was absolutely amazing. I flew about for the better part of the hour before I remembered I had class the next day. Quite a Mary Poppins moment: the thought literally dragged me down. So, I reluctantly flew back toward school and landed a little off campus. Can't afford to be seen by the normals and all. I hope I don't see that particular Lady again.
I wonder if I'll be able to fly again.
It was another faceless lady, but this one was different from the other two. For the first time, her attention was focused on me. I couldn't tell by eye contact or anything like that for obvious reasons, but I could just tell her focus was on me. It was a little strange, but nothing felt like I was in danger.
Wrong.
Without warning, she darted behind one of the cars. I was a bit confused until she leaped out from behind another and straight at me. Her aura had become visible as a set of glowing purple claws at the end of each gloved finger. Don't ask me how I managed, but she sailed over my head just as I moved to duck. She hit the car to my left (and it wasn't pretty). Suffice it to say that I ran. I ran at speeds I didn't know were possible to my legs. I ran around buildings and through parking lots and across streets, the Faceless Lady closely pursuing me every step of the way. Finally, she had me cornered at a dropoff at the end of a gravel parking lot. About fifteen feet below was a small creek. A creek filled with very pointy rocks. Not pleasant. Still, the alternative was glowing purple evisceration at the hands of a Faceless Lady. So I closed my eyes and stepped off the edge...
And I didn't hit the ground.
It took a few seconds before I realized that fact. But I think I noticed when I heard a sigh behind me that Gravity had relinquished its grip. I looked over my shoulder. The Faceless Lady was staring(?) at me. Cue the iconic "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" staredown music. Then, out of nowhere, she blew away like dust in the wind. Think "staked Buffy vampire".
So there I was, hanging in midair. I looked down and caught my reflection in the low creekwater. Extending from my back was a pair of shining prismatic wings. They were pretty long and appeared to be made of disconnected tribal tattoo designs. Really quite breathtaking.
The point is, though, I was flying! Really flying! The feeling was indescribable! Utter and complete freedom. I just had to image where I wanted to go and I would fly in that direction. It was absolutely amazing. I flew about for the better part of the hour before I remembered I had class the next day. Quite a Mary Poppins moment: the thought literally dragged me down. So, I reluctantly flew back toward school and landed a little off campus. Can't afford to be seen by the normals and all. I hope I don't see that particular Lady again.
I wonder if I'll be able to fly again.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Snow Tinks Strike Again
A bit of a short, un-eloquent update this time. The Snow Tinks struck again. Sunday night, we got more snow. It froze the roads and froze again a second time so we got two snow days total. All the while the Snow Tinks were out in force. Still nobody noticed them. Especially during the snowball fight we had last night at midnight. They were flitting about the warring masses, tossing snow this way and that. Everyone thought they were losing that fight. It was fun to watch, but I'm sure anyone watching me thought I was throwing snowballs at empty space.
But it's strange: why all the Snow Tinks all of a sudden?
But it's strange: why all the Snow Tinks all of a sudden?
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