Shadow and Noir 9

A series played using Quill Noir and Quill Shadow and Ink. This post is published under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 licence.

Letter 9: Price to West

Casey,

I'm writing to let you know that I'm okay - things have gone sideways, but I'm okay. Even as I write this the sights I saw have started to swiftly dissipate. It was dark and I thought I saw things that I couldn't have seen.

I was checking in on Agnes Maxwell, an old friend and fellow reporter. When I arrived at the guesthouse she'd been staying at I thought as first they'd been burgled. Then I followed the blood stains and the trail leading out the back door.

I followed in into Sycamore Woods and that's where I found them. There were dozens of them, naked and scarred and chanting. It was a symphony of voices and I could have sworn there were fleshy, bulbous creatures feeding on them.

I must have been mistaken though, right? What I can say for certain is that there was another man there; tall, well-dressed, and smiling. I'm scared but I'm trying to be pragmatic - do you think he could be tied to Parminder somehow?

HE CAN'T BE, HE WAS TOO OTHERWORLDLY TO BE CONNECTED TO SUCH A MUNDANE CASE AS OURS. THE SCARRED CULTISTS TOLD ME I SHOULD REJOICE FOR THIS MAN - THEIR GOD - HAD BROUGHT THEM TO PARADISE. THEY DIED PRAISING HIM, THOSE SHAPELESS FLESHY THINGS FEASTING ON THEM. WHAT WHERE THEY!

Conclusion

Robert finishes the letter and seals it. He rises and moves from the desk to the window. He can't shift the feeling that he's being watched. He is sure he can see a tall man outside watching him.

He wakes up in his hotel bed. It's daylight now and there's no sign of any tall men outside. He gets dressed and considers the latter he wrote the night before. He almost can't believe what happened could be anything other than a horrid dream.

On his way to the station he picks up a copy of the local paper. The headline mentions bodies found in Sycamore Wood. he folds the paper uneasily and tucks it into his case before boarding the train back to Boston.