Haunted
Dark Riders of Marblecliff02 Hauntedby Assilsasta
??????????? July 27, 2013 ??????????? ???????????
An Interesting Welcome ??????????? When Lilliana walked into the station house she
spotted the small kangaroo mouse right away. Cecily was seated in chair by a
desk next to a bobcat in uniform. Her eyes were closed as her head weaved and
bobbed to the inaudible tone that played directly into her ear from the small ear
buds attached to the portable MP3 player she had in her paw. The liger smiled
as she watched her adopted daughter move to the music, oblivious of the world
around her. As Lilliana watched the mouse, relieved that she was okay, the
young husky girl at the counter looked up at her and asked, "May I help you,
ma'am?" "Do I look like an...." Lilliana stopped herself
mid-old school military response, "I'm sorry, I'm here to pick up my daughter,
Cecily Fargo. That would be her over that by that desk." The liger pointed to
the small kangaroo mouse as she started to walk in that direction. The young husky stood up and stepped between the
liger and the squad room as she said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't let you go
back there, and I can't release her into your custody without verifying both
your and her identities." She reached for Liliana's arm to usher her back to
the front desk. The girl screamed as she suddenly felt herself lifted into and
flying through the air. Almost in time with landing flat on her back, she felt
the large feline woman drop onto her with one knee, knocking the remainder of
the air out of her lungs. She finally opened her eyes to see the woman pulled
from her by three of her fellow officers. The husky hurried to her feet as she heard one
officer shout, "GUN!" With the verbal alert the squad room burst into activity
as more officers ran to the entryway in order to clear out any bystanders and
assist in subduing the liger. In the frenzy of activity an almost inaudible squeak
rose just above the din that filled the entryway. The husky moved swiftly
toward the small mouse who had been inadvertently knocked out her her chair in
the commotion. To her surprise the mouse's shy, skittish manor changed as the
activity centered around this liger caught her attention with the earbuds no
longer obstructing the sound of the room. She watched slack-jawed as the mouse
launched across the space like a rocket into one of the three officers that had
the liger pinned to the ground. The husky girl took a step away from the commotion as
she heard the liger let out an almost feral sounding roar at the sight of the
mouse being pinned down by another officer. She heard one officer shout, "She
fuckin' bit me!" as she watched the liger woman grab ahold of the mouse's paw
and pull the small frame to her as she curled into a ball around the younger
girl. The commotion
and noise fell silent as a loud whistle rang through the station house followed
by the gruff voice of a warthog shouting, "What the hell is going on out here?"
As he spoke, the officers snapped to their feet and looked toward the squad
room. The warthog looked over the scene. Four officers surrounded a liger
curled into a ball on the floor, the long tail of the young kangaroo mouse that
had graced the squad room with her presence visibly flipping about from within
the large feline's protective embrace. Several feet from the the pair on the
floor was a discarded Colt .45, clearly kicked away from the encounter. The husky girl looked at him and shyly admitted, "It
may have been my fault, sir," as she cupped the back of her head. "I don't care who's fault it is, just get it cleaned
up," the warthog looked at the door as a grey squirrel walked through the door.
"Summers, deal with this shit and get these two on their way." He looked to the
husky girl and added, "Freely, have a report on my desk by the end of the
shift." He turned and closed his office door as the activity seemed to return
to the state it was before the liger had made her uncalculated reflex reaction. Daniel Summers looked down at the liger curled into a
ball on the floor. Then over to the husky and asked, "What happened?" "Sir, I... I'm not really sure. It happened so fast,"
she said sheepishly as she looked over at the liger on the ground. From within the bundle of fur, leather and denim came
a small voice, "Lilly, I think it's safe now." "It is," the liger replied as she rolled out flat on
the floor. "So... how was your day, Squeaker?" Cecily stretched out on the floor beside her adoptive
mother, the odd pair stared at the ceiling for a moment before the mouse
answered, "Exciting, and yours?" "Interesting to say the least," Lilliana said as she
sat up. She looked up and the slightly confused squirrel that looked down at
them and said, "Officer Summers, what a surprise seeing you here." "Excuse me, ladies," Daniel said as he leaned over to
pick up the handgun that had been kicked across the floor, "I hate to
interrupt, but could you explain what's going on here? I walk into the station
and the newest residents of our city are huddled on the floor." "Wait," the husky looked at the squirrel, "You know
these two?" Without letting Daniel answer the question, Lilliana
sat up started to explain, "Wha-ha-happen-was..." as the words came out of the
liger's mouth Cecily started to giggle, "I came in to pick up Sisy here after
she got spooked by someone..." She paused for a moment as she looked over at the
small mouse and added, "While she was out alone." Meekly Cecily responded with, "I... I'm fifteen. I
had the striker with me, but..." she trailed off as her voice slowly faded with
each word. "Shit," Lilliana started, "the fact that you went out
wasn't the problem..." Daniel broke in, "Sorry to interrupt, but I do need
to get to the situation here." Sgt. Goodman walked over and joined the conversation.
"I think I can clear a few things up, if you don't mind, Lieutenant." Daniel sighed as he relented, "What do you have to
add, Goodman?" "Well, Sir, I picked up young Miss Fargo who had
gotten lost and brought her to the station. I have a report to file on that.
When Miss..." the bobcat trailed off as he glanced down at the liger. Lilliana stood up from the floor as she said, "Fargo.
Lilliana Fargo. I came in to get Sisy and Miss Freely did an excellent job of
stopping me from just walking in and taking her without properly identifying
myself. I had a slight... reaction... to her approach. And the situation
escalated rapidly from there." A strange look
crossed the squirrel's face as he asked, "What kind of reaction?" "Well, it kind of looked like a kung-fu movie for a
moment, Sir," the bobcat said with a little grin, "It was even all slow-motion
when I think back to it. All I heard was Private Freely scream, and when I
looked she was flying through the air and dropped to the floor before she got a
knee-drop to the chest. At which point the squad room took action to subdue the
attacker." "Where does the Colt come in to the picture?" Daniel
asked as he held up the pistol. "Oh, that's mine," Lilliana said as she reached for
the handgun only to have the squirrel pull it out of reach. "During the...
momentary conflict it must have fallen loose." "Okay, and the mouse?" Daniel asked as he tried to
finish piecing the events together. "How did she end up in the arms of... Miss Fargo
during the whole thing with a room full of officers trying to hold down one
perp?" "I... I saw them..." Cecily fidgeted with her tail as she
tried to speak, her voice barely loud enough to be heard, "They were... I don't
know I just..." "It's okay, Squeaker," Lilliana said, "You actually
surprised me with that." She looked at the squirrel and said, "She came to my
rescue until some jackass thought a three-foot mouse was enough of a threat to
need 'subdued', so I did what any mother would do..." The squirrel dropped into the bench that sat in the
entry hall by the wall and rubbed his temples as he said, "What I am hearing is
Goodman brought in a lost child. The family was contacted, and the mother then
came to pick said child up. Upon arrival, the scene turned into a bad karate
move when the mother attacked an officer with a body throw. At some point this
gun magically appeared, and pandemonium ensued. At which time the Chief steps
out of his office and I step in and shit magically stops." Lilliana dropped in the bench next to him tossing her
arms across the back as she said, "That sounds about right, Danno. Let me see
if I can sum it up better for a report. Mr. Whiskers over there brought
Squeaker in after being alerted to her state of being a missing child. I get
the call that she was here and come to get her. When I get here, Shags over
there does what she's supposed to," she looked over at the husky, "No offense,
but what I did was not your fault. She made a move that, I'm sorry to say,
triggered a trained response. I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?" Lilliana
asked her before she continued, "A few good men, and Goodman apparently,
stepped in to get me down. Possibly a good move, until they saw my gun. I have
an Oregon and DC carry permit for it, but we haven't been in town long enough
to get local documentation. If I don't say so myself, I think the situation was
handled rather well until Squeaker stepped in." She looked over at the kangaroo
mouse and said, "Next time you see the police holding me down, let them." Lt. Summers said as he stood up, "Pvt. Freely, book
Miss. Fargo on possession of a firearm in a restricted zone and assault on a
police officer. Sgt. Goodman, continue to keep an eye on the young Miss. Fargo.
I'm going to need statements from everyone on this situation before the Chief
come out again to take a bite out of my ass." He started to walk toward a
vacant desk before he stopped and held the Colt out in his paw, "Oh, and take
this to the evidence lockup." ??????????? Unexpected Phone call ??????????? Juno ran to grab the phone as it rang from the
charging base in the kitchen. "I got it," she yelled into the living room as
she held the receiver up to her ear. "Hello?" (Hello, Is this Juno? Is your sister around?) The
voice on the other end of the line asked. "May I ask who is calling?" the young equine girl
asked as if reading from a well-practiced script. (This is Lilliana, Cecily's mother. We meet on the
cruise. Could you please let her know I called?) The memory of her new-found friend from the cruise
brought a bounce of joy to the young filly as she shouted through the house,
"Janine! It's Lilliana... From the cruise." "Hello?" a second voice came on the line, "I've got
it Juno, you can hang up now." (Hey there Jenie, It's Lilly. Thought I would let you
know made it to Marblecliff and maybe do dinner or something.) The voice of the
liger rang across the phone as if she was talking to an old friend. "Wow," Janine started, a little surprised, "you
really managed to move a family of six across the country in two weeks?" (We were all set to move, it was just a matter of
driving away from the cabin, and we somehow managed to add one to our ranks
after the last time we talked. Anyway, how does pizza sound? I'm sure Sisy
would have a blast seeing Juno again.) "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Juno would love
it," Janine said as she looked over at Scott sitting next to her on the couch.
"Did you want to meet somewhere, or come over here?" (Well, to tell
you the truth, I am in a little bind at the moment and can't get out of this
spot.) The liger's voice seemed no less chipper than a moment before as she
continued. (They have some rule about posting your own bail here, and they
don't accept it from minors, either.) "Wait, what? Bail?" the equine stammered as she tried
to figure out what to say. Her eyes meet Scott's as she spoke, the look of
surprise in his gradually fading as they both thought back to the woman's
spontaneity. "Never mind. Where are you?" (Municipal building downtown. No rush, though; the
beds are pretty nice for a holding cell.) Stunned for a moment by the liger's
nonchalant attitude about being in jail, she looked over at Scott uncertain of
what to say next. (When you get here, tell them to let you see me first and
I'll give you the cash. They just won't take it from me, or Sisy... They are
running me off the phone for the next guy. See you when you get here.) Janine sat the phone back on the cradle as she looked
at Scott. "That was Lilliana, the liger from the cruise. She just made it into
town... And asked if we can bail her out." He smiled back at her, "I'm sure there is a perfectly
reasonable explanation behind the whole thing. She seemed a little spontaneous
back on the cruise. She probably went out and did something without checking
the local ordinance and got picked up for it. It's probably something minor and
silly." He assured her that it was nothing to be worried about. "Besides, she
may have been a little wild but she seemed to have at least a bit of common
sense." ??????????? Caged Liger ??????????? Not wanting to expose Juno to the inside of a jail if
she didn't have to, Janine left her in the car with Scott. As they led her back
to the small row of holding cells, the sound of a harmonica filled the air. The
bobcat ushered her back past a drunk and a few small-time hoods that were
waiting for their own bail to a cell with the liger laid out in the bunk
blowing out a tune on the harmonica in her paws. At the foot of the bunk,
between Lilliana's paws sat the small kangaroo mouse diligently sketching in a
steno pad. "Miss Fargo, you have a visitor." The liger stopped blowing on the small wind
instrument as she tilted her head to look at the wall of bars. "Jenie, I knew I
could count on you." As Lilliana mentioned the acquaintance's name, Cecily's
head jerked up from her sketching. Before the small mouse or equine could say anything
in response to the liger a voice from a few cells down shouted, "It's about
time someone shut her up." Lillian stretched her arm out through the bars as she
yelled back, "Why don't you come down here and say that to my face, you little
pissant." "Miss Fargo, please stop antagonizing the other
detainees," the young bobcat said as he started to unlock the cell. "Come on, Dicky, it's all in fun. And how many times
am I going to have to tell you to call me Lilly?" Lilliana said as she patted
the bobcat on the back. Her comment was followed by a few hoots and a "Hey, let
me out too, Dicky," from down the way. "Miss Fargo, please call me Sgt. Goodman," the bobcat
said as he shook his head. The small mouse followed Lilliana out of the cell. As
she passed the bobcat, she said softly, "I liked Rich better personally." The
bobcat smiled at her as he closed the cell door. Lilliana tossed her arm over the equine's shoulder as
she walked up to her, "Well, Jenie, now that I have seen the gritty underbelly
of the city..." she glanced over at the bobcat as she whispered, "or at least
that of a few of the cops... what's next?" "You're going to have to tell me what happened some
time, Lilly. I'm sure its an interesting story, knowing you," Janine smiled
slightly as they walked to the counter to pick up Lilliana's effects. "Sgt. Goodman let me have a copy of the security
footage, if you want to see," the small mouse held up a DVD as she smiled at
the pair of adults. Janine looked down with concern in her eyes as she
asked, "Security footage?" only to look back at the counter when she heard a
heavy thud. Her eyes went wide as the shoulder holster and Colt lay heavy on
top of the rest of the liger's belongings. The officer behind the counter held his paw on the
pile as he said, "Now, Miss Fargo, please remember to leave this outside the
next time you visit the station." "Sure thing, officer," the liger said as she swung
the shoulder holster into place and pulled the handgun out to do a standard
check of functionality. As the slide pulled back she asked, "And the extra
chambered round?" "In the bag with the magazine," he said as the patted
the brown paper sack as he watched her holster the unloaded firearm and clipped
the the restraint strap into place. "Is that...?" The equine was interrupted before she
could finish her question. "A Colt .45 M1911, Special Government Combat edition.
Nine round capacity, ten with one in the chamber, slide action, closed bolt,
semi-automatic handgun, with a left side ejection port. Safety is a thumb
switch on the grip. It has a maximum effective range of ninety meters," Cecily
said as she noted the slightly surprised look on Janine's face as she rattled
off the details of the liger's sidearm. "Lilly insists that I know
specifications and operation of every firearm in the house." As Lilliana pulled the leather jacket on over the
firearm she asked, "And what did you miss?" The mouse fidgeted with her tail for a moment before
she answered, "Empty weight is 39.5 ounces." Noting the look of concern on her new friend's face,
Lilliana said, "I'm a firm believer that it is better to be knowledgeable on
firearm, and the proper use and safety, rather than ignorant. Ignorance and
improper safety is what causes most firearm mishaps in the home." "I guess I can agree with that," Janine replied as
she started to follow the liger out of the building, the grunge biker style she
was dressed in a stark contrast to what she had seen on the cruise. "Proper
training and safety is very important when it comes to weapons." ??????????? Dinner Guests ??????????? The moose herm
waited impatiently, tapping her hoof on the tile floor of the kitchen, the low
light from the generator barely bright enough to illuminate the room as she
fretted over the situation with her girlfriend. The small mouse's absence had
upset her once it was discovered, and the call from the police station once the
girl had been located worried her greatly. A thousand scenarios ran through her
mind as Hank continued to wire the larger power plant into the house's existing
wiring. Giving up on trying keeping herself calm as she worried about her
girlfriend, she paced the kitchen floor aimlessly. The sound of the front door opening and voices
suddenly echoing down the hallway snapped her from her pacing. She turned and
bolted from the kitchen, running at full speed to the foyer. Dropping to her
knees as she drew near, she scooped the small mouse up into her arms, hugging
the girl tightly to her chest. "Oh my God, Sisy... are you okay? Are you hurt
anywhere? Where were you? Why'd you take off like that without telling me? What
were you thinking?" She rattled off questions in rapid succession, not waiting
for an answer to a single one of them. "You scared the shit out of me, girl; I
was so worried when we couldn't find you..." she said, trailing off as she
hugged the small mouse tighter, her large arms engulfing the small form of her
girlfriend. "Daisy," came the small, muffled voice, "I'm fine.
Nothing happened." She pushed away from the moose and looked up at her as she
continued, "I overreacted and panicked. That's all." "I should have been paying more attention... I
shouldn't have... but then you... if I was..." Daisy started rambling before
Cecily put her paw over the moose's mouth. "You won't always be there, Daisy. No one can always
be there," the mouse looked the moose in the eyes as she spoke. "I... I'm sorry I
didn't tell you I was going, but I... I need to be able to do some things alone,
too." "I know that, you silly mouse, and I know I have to
let you. But damn it... that's not gonna keep me from worrying about you,
girlfriend. And with these panic attacks... this phone in the backpack thing
isn't gonna work anymore. Damn it," the moose herm said as she turned to the
liger walking through the door with a serious expression on her face. "We got
lucky this time, but the tracker app and panic button... they're useless if she
doesn't have the phone with her and she left it behind so easily when she
panicked." Turning back to look her girlfriend in the eyes she added, "No more
taking off without telling someone, okay? I don't know what I would do if
anything happened to you, Sisy." Lilliana looked down at the moose and mouse couple
and said, "That's all great and shit. We'll have to cover the new ground rules
tomorrow before everyone gets any ideas to go exploring." As she talked, an
equine woman walked through the door behind her followed by a young filly.
Daisy's eyes went wide as she recognized the smaller girl from the cruise. "In the
mean time, Mouse Bait, go out and help Scott bring in the pizzas." "Yes, Lilly," the moose herm replied, eyeing the
filly as she walked out the door, trying to hide the blush that tinged her
cheeks a pale pink. Before she reached the bottom of the steps a muscular
horse man walked up with an armload of pizza boxes pinned between his hands and
chin. "Just get the door before I drop it," he said as she moved swiftly for
the entrance. The moose herm swiftly moved back up the few steps and held open
the door for the man as he walked through and froze. "Um... which way?" "Straight through that door," the moose said,
pointing in the direction of the kitchen. As the moose herm gave the simple directions,
Lilliana said, "Yeah, it's a bit of a fixer-upper," while the small group of
newcomers stood in slight disbelief in the foyer. The liger yelled into the
open, empty house, her voice echoing from every direction. "Everyone better be
presentable for company when we get in there." Almost instantly the sound of claws
clicking against the tiles echoed back. "Okay, I think it should be close to a
family-friendly scene now." Janine looked at Scott for a moment before he started
his way to the kitchen. "So, um... how many people are in your family again? Six
if I remember right." Lilliana looked into the air a bit as she led the way
to the room where they had decided to congregate for the beginning of the
renovations. "Let's see. We have the old man, Boomer, Susan, Hank... Squeaker,
and now Mouse Bait. If I count myself, that is seven and we seem to be growing
at an exceptional rate. I am hoping to have a full baseball team by the opening
of the season." "I kind of thought you were exaggerating when you
said six back on the cruise," Janine said as she and Juno followed the liger
into the great room. Lilliana looked over her shoulder with a smile as she
said, "I don't exaggerate. People tend not to believe the truth, so why add to
it?" The room was vacant except for seven canvas camp
chairs, four of which were occupied by an odd collection of furs. Lilliana
started pointing and introducing the group that was present. "You've meet Sisy.
The tall brown moose that followers her around is Daisy, her souvenir from the
cruise. The ugly old badger is Detlev, retired Army asshole. Then you have
Hank, the river rat, and Susan, our public affairs liaison and nurse." As she
spoke, a loud thud came from the foyer behind them. "And that would be Alex,
hopefully clothed." Soon after Alex, walked in from the foyer dressed in
jeans and a t-shirt. She took a deep breath and let it out, reached her wing
out to Janine and said, "Alexis Hawkins, pleased to meet you." Shaking the eagle's hand, the equine returned the
introduction, "Janine Hutcheson, and this is my sister, Juno..." Before Janine could get out another word, the eagle
released her hand and dropped to her knees before the filly, "Oh my gawd che's
so cute. Whaya cen I ge' one?" her refined accent all but lost. "Behave, Alex," Lilliana said with a little smile,
"You kids can go out back and play after dinner." "I ain't no kid," the eagle said, standing up and
swiftly looking slightly up at the liger. As the two locked eyes, a voice came from the kitchen
area, "Pizza's ready," gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "And that's Scott somethingorother," Lilliana belted
out a moment before grabbing the eagle who started to move away to the kitchen,
"Jenie's man, so off limits." "I wadn't gonna do nottin," Alex said defensively,
"'e said dere was food ova dere." Looking Alex in the eyes for a moment, Lilliana said,
"Keep it that way. These are our friends and she's the one that put me in for
the job out here." Releasing Alex from her grip the liger belted out, "CHOW
TIME!" With her words the remainder of the group nearly leapt from their places
and swarmed the bar that separated the kitchen from the great room; the older
badger being the only one moving at a moderate pace. Juno held close to her sister, a little apprehensive
about the strange group of adults. Cecily moved a little closer and said,
"We'll sit at the bar with Daisy once they are out of the way. I know they are
a little frightening at first, but you'll get to like them, I'm sure." The
small mouse smiled at her recently reunited friend. "And Daisy is really nice."
Taking the filly by the hand, she led her to the far end of the bar before
climbing up on one of the stools that stood just shorter than she was. As the adults began to clear out of the kitchen,
Daisy walked around the bar and grabbed the three girls paper plates and sodas,
placing them on the bar as she walked back around to find the young filly
seated between the mouse and herself. Cecily looked
up at her girlfriend and introduced her to the filly. "This is Juno, we met on
the cruise, also. She's into photography. She was with me when I got that
picture of you talking to Debbie. Juno, this is my girlfriend, Daisy." "Ummm, nice to meet you, Juno," the moose herm said,
offering her paw to the younger girl though not turning in her seat as she
tried to ignore the stirring in her shorts, the memory of her fantasy involving
the filly flashing across her mind suddenly. The young filly smiled at the apparently shy moose as
she said, "It's nice to meet you," the way any well-mannered child does when
introduced to an older person. She swiftly turned back to look at Cecily and
energetically belted out, "You said you got some good pictures on your trip
out; I got some good ones the other day, too, but I forgot to bring my camera.
Can I see the ones you got?" The small mouse stopped for a moment with a sudden
sad look on her face. "I... I lost my backpack with my camera. I... I kind of had a
little panic attack and left it in the park. It's probably long gone by now. I
got lost and didn't realize I left it until Officer Goodman got me to the
station." A look of sudden realization coming to her features,
Daisy spoke without turning towards the younger girls. "Ah, crap, I'm sorry,
Sisy. In all the uproar after you and Lilly got back I forgot to tell you: your
backpack is here. Alex brought it back and I didn't let it out of my paws until
I heard you come in the door." As her girlfriend spoke, Cecily's eyes lit up as if
the world had just brightened up and everything that had happened earlier that
day just melted away. She spun in the chair and looked into the group of adults
as she asked, "Where did you find it, Boomer?" "Sum giraffy gial brough' it heya say'n ya lef' it at
da park," Alex said as she dropped into one of the camp chairs to eat. '"I
almos' snappet 'er neck til she tol' me wha' 'appen'." "I'll show you all of the stuff I got after the
waterfall," Cecily said to Juno with a wide smile on her muzzle, "after we
finish eating." "That'll be neat. I'll have to get mine and show them
to you some time." The young filly and mouse sat talking and eating as the
moose watched from the side. The two smaller girls sat rambling on about
lighting and settings as they tried to verbally describe the pictures they had
taken since they had last seen each other. ??????????? Horrid History ??????????? As the group settled in to eat, Janine and Scott sat
on the one couch that was brought in. Cecily, Juno and Daisy sat on the
built-in bar stools by the breakfast counter that separated the kitchen from
the great room, and the others in the camp chairs arranged in a circle as they
ate the pizza that had been bought. Cecily turned to look into the great room as the
lights flickered. "Sgt. Goodman told me a story about this place," she said as
the room gave her their attention, "and why the other owners wanted to sell it
so badly." The small kangaroo mouse looked around at the questioning looks on
the faces of the group. "The people we bought it from were not the original
owners, they got it off an estate auction a while back, and they didn't know
the history of the place, either." Lilliana leaned back in the camp chair, laying her
head back to look at the mouse girl from an upside down angle. "Really, now?
Just what did happen?" With the sudden attention of the room with the help
of the liger, Cecily continued. "Well, the first owner, the one that built the
place, was a little eccentric, or that's what others thought at first. He and
his family spent most of their time secluded in the house after it was built.
They say that late at night strange sounds came from the house, unnatural
noises." She paused for a moment to look around the room. Everyone's eyes were
on her. Susan and Alex glanced at each other and exchanged smiles as Daisy sat
motionless with a slice of pizza still suspended between her mouth and paw.
"One day, the kids stopped going to school. In fact, they stopped leaving the
house entirely. The whole family did, except for the father. He was seen often
in the middle of the night, leaving the drive in an old pickup truck, only to
return hours later with a load of something in the back." Janine looked at the small mouse and said, "I've
never heard that story. It sounds a little made up to me. I think he was just
trying to scare you." "Oh, that was just the beginning," Cecily said as she
looked at the older equine. "One dark night, in the midst of a snowstorm, the
man went out in the truck and never came back. It wasn't until Spring that they
found him, frozen to death in a grave that he was apparently robbing." As she paused again, eyes jumped to the otter as he
mumbled something that sounded as strange and incomprehensible as listening to
Alex talk when excited. Susan looked at him and asked, "What was that, Hank? I
didn't catch it." In an odd, thick Cajun accent that seemed wildly out
of place coming from the otter who had earlier been speaking clear English, he
said, "Dare ain't gonna no guud coom o' dis. Dare sum bad juju in da wurk
'ere." "Wait, what?" Susan looked at him as if he just fell
out of the sky, "You...um... when?" He stood quickly as he grabbed the chair he was
sitting in and proceeded to walk briskly out of the room as he started to
ramble in undecipherable dirty French in the new accent never before heard by
anyone in the room. The four Unit members looked at one another with quizzical
expressions as Lilliana said, "Don't ask me. I knew he grew up in Louisiana,
but I've never seen him get like this. You're the one that was dating him, and
taking care of his drunk ass for years." She looked over at the chinchilla
somewhat accusingly. With the same shocked expression, she looked back and
replied, "Not even at his drunkest that I can remember." Then a wicked smile
crossed the woman's face as she looked to the eagle, who returned the smile as
much as she could with her beak. Then they both looked to the toward the moose
who had not moved from the time the mouse's story started to get strange. Susan
watched the herm as she said, "Well, that's interesting, but what does that have
to do with the house? Finish your story, Squeaker." The lights flickered with the fluctuation in the
generator that powered them as Cecily calmly took a bit of pizza before
continuing. "Well, after they found the body they came to the house to let his family
know what had happened. It was strange that no one had filed a report that he
was missing, but informing the family was standard practice. After several
attempts and no response to the door, the officers on scene entered the house
with just cause to check on the welfare of the family." Cecily paused again as
she looked at Daisy. The moose's ears were flat against her head, eyes as wide
as dinner plates while the slice of pizza in her mouth finally broke free from
the section still in her paw. "Are you okay, Daisy?" she asked as her
girlfriend slowly began to chew the food in her mouth. "YEA," the moose herm said a little too energetically
to support her words. "Sorry, I guess I just got so caught up in the story... and
then that outburst from Hank was a bit weird. I didn't think I'd ever hear
anyone harder to understand than Alex. I mean, I know French, though not as
well as my brothers do, but that accent... I couldn't make out a damn thing he
said." "I know," Lilliana said with a smile, "We'll have to
figure out how to fuck with him about that." "Anyway," Cecily interrupted, "when they finally got
into the house, what they found was frightening." As she spoke the final word,
the lights flickered out for a moment as if on cue. When they returned, the mouse
leaned forward towards the group of adults as she went on. "The walls were
covered in hand-written papers with strange symbols on them and the floor was
littered with melted candle wax and other odd things. They think he was
practicing some strange cult stuff. But that was only the start. As they looked
through the house they found the bodies of his family. Each of them in their
rooms, in their beds. They were all mummified, their skin all dried out and
preserved. It looked like they had been there for months, maybe years. His wife
was even in their wedding bed, and it looked as if he was still using the bed
like nothing had changed while he was still alive. But what the real shocker
was what they found in this very room." The light flickered again as she talked
and the generator in the distance sputtered. "On the floor was a pentagram,
painted in dried blood, surrounded by the bones and bodies of many different
furs, presumably stolen from the cemetery where his body was found. What he was
doing is still unknown to this day, but they say that on some nights the sounds
of screams can still be heard coming from this house, and the halls are roamed
by the souls of his dead family and the bodies he brought from their graves."
With her final word, a loud groan echoed through the house, seemingly from
everywhere, followed by sudden darkness as the generator failed. The darkness was cut by a sudden scream as three
lighters flickered to life in the great room. "Okay, now that was just awesome
timing," Lilliana stood up from her chair and looked at the moose who was
clutching the small filly that sat between her and Cecily. Janine looked at the fear in her sister's eyes as the
young filly returned the grasp on the moose then turned to Scott. "I think it's
about time to get Juno home and try and get her to sleep." She walked over to
Juno and put a paw on her shoulder, "Come on, Sweety. None of that is real;
it's just a ghost story. " "I know," Juno said a little shakily, "it's just when
the lights went out..." "It's okay, I think I screamed too," Janine replied
with a smile. "I think I might even have broken Scot's paw when I grabbed it." "I'd have Hank show you out, or even fix the
generator," Lilliana stated, "but he had to run off and hide under his bed or
something. Anyway, It was nice to see you guys again. I'll let you out while
Boomer and Fluffy go to find Hank to fix the lights." As the room slowly cleared, leaving Daisy and Cecily
alone in the dark, the mouse looked over at her girlfriend and asked, "Are you
sure you're okay? You look a little jumpy... even more then when you first saw
Juno." "Y-yea, I'm fine... totally fine," the moose herm said
unconvincingly, "nothing to worry about right? Not like some crazed axe murder
is going to come in this place with Lilly here..." she said trailing off for a
moment as her eyes searched the darkened room. "But, ummm maybe I should go
make sure my car windows are up. It kind of looked like it might rain earlier."