The Skittering Chaos Christmas Special, Clone Interlude
Thread Necromancer
Creator of "mean" and/or "excessive" things
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The Skittering Chaos Christmas Special, Clone Interlude
With university's test weeks done I finally have time to work on this story again. Sorry for the long wait there. Just something to get back into the swing of things as well as to expand on things going on in Hell a little.
Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated
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I walk briskly down the street, my head high and swivelling, watching for any kind of danger as I walk. The hood of my hoodie, something I had snagged from a clothesline a couple of days back, was down despite wishing that I could put it up. With my horns, however, that's an impossibility unless I get a hoodie with a much bigger hood.
With one of my hands, I stroke one of my horns. They're large things that spring from the sides of my head and go back, then forwards, like goat horns. The horns come forward just enough that the tips were in line with my chin. Not particularly useful for goring people unless I didn't mind possibly breaking my nose at the same time.
Even so, I continued to stroke my horn, passing by storefronts and even storefronts where the glass wasn't broken, displaying the fine merchandise inside. There were demonic cops and other things in uniforms on the various street corners while people wandered around gazing at the various merchandise that was spread around. Signs declared the various stores and the streets are bustling with various kinds of traffic, ranging from peddling bikers to regular cars. It reminds me of the boardwalk in Brockton, all nice looking while the rest of the city was shit, or at least, parts of it. There certainly were many more nice areas in Pentagram city than in Brockton Bay, especially when I left the world of the living.
As I am walking, I notice that people have begun putting up various wreaths, and other things that look rather Christmassy. Did demons even celebrate Christmas? Maybe the sinners but for demons, the holiday just meant that their hated enemy was born or something. Even so, I watch out of the corners of my eyes and around my hood as Imps, demons, and sinners alike all begin decorating the various storefronts, hanging up lights, and I even see a few places have begun to advertise candy cane hot chocolates and other festive things.
My answer however comes when I pass a shop window where the owner is putting up a sign announcing that there was going to be a "YULETIDE SALE!" So they weren't celebrating Christmas, but the pagan equivalent, Yule. That certainly made more sense than them celebrating the birth of Christ.
While I'm watching out I notice an owl looking demon across the street do a double-take as she looks my way. Shit. She'll likely call the enforcer equivalent here and get me kicked off the street. Rather than wait for her to call them, I turn into an alleyway. Not exactly the safest thing to do, but this was fairly close to the wealthy district so the place should be fine.
I casually continue down the alleyway, watching for anything that might pop out. People, animals, possibly even giant bugs, there were a lot of strange things in the alleyways of Pentagram city. As I walk through the alleyway, I come across a chain-link fence dividing the alleyway of the wealthy district from the other alleyways here in the city. I look back and my eyes widen as I see the owl woman turn into the alleyway. Oh shit.
Rather than wait, I latch onto the fence and begin climbing. I hear the owl demon call out to me but I ignore her, preferring to not take chances and just book it. I'm not ending up in some woman's basement for her to do whatever with!
Luckily the fence isn't too high and I bolt for it, not even looking back as I run down the alleyway. Reaching to the small of my back, I pull from my belt a revolver I had grabbed from the aftermath of some firefight that had gone on between a bunch of demons. I hear a sound like flapping wings and there is a rush of wind as I look back. The owl demon is running after me and just jumped the fence, her large eyes intense as she charges after me.
Not wanting to take a chance trying to shoot at her I duck around a corner and keep running, hoping to lose her in the maze of alleyways that ran between the various buildings in Pentagram city.
Left, right, and left again, I run halfway down an alley before taking another left before I look back. I hug the wall and raise my gun to watch the entrance of the alleyway, waiting to hear anything. I wait… one moment… two… I look up, expecting to see the owl demon overhead, wings flapping as she dives at me, yet, nothing.
Sighing, I step away from the wall and start making my way further into the alleyway. It seems I've lost my pursuer for the moment. The alleyway is littered with graffiti, showing the various gang signs like any other crime-filled city on Earth. I recognise a few of them from being in the area for a few weeks now. The one with the serpent and sword was some old gang sign that was from a gang that had long been beaten away from the area so I don't pay it much mind. Another was a gang sign I've heard was a warning about raiders. Looked like some wolf head spray-painted in red. Called themselves the Crimson gang and they made trips into the city every once and a while when things started getting crazy. Judging by the fact that it was half-covered by some graffiti artist's own stylised "Tyrone's a bitch!" sign, it wasn't very relevant.
I keep walking along the alleyway, looking at the various graffiti art as I do so, seeing older gang signs. Then I notice a newer looking one. There was writing underneath it, but it was in a language I didn't know, what I did know, was the image of a fanged mouth looking like it was about to bite. I cock the hammer of my revolver and look down the alley I'm in. The sign was known to nearly anyone who wandered the alleyways and survived for more than a few weeks. Biters. A designation given to any kind of demon munching creature that decided to turn the alleys into their home. They could range from Demonic Hellhounds that had gotten a taste of demon flesh, to giant insects. Sometimes they were even designated for feral demons that stayed in an area long term. So long as they tried to eat Demons and were unable to be reasoned with they were called biters by the alley going homeless of Pentagram city.
Cautiously, I start to walk back towards the alley I had just come from. Hopefully, the owl lady wasn't there to greet me, and even if she was, I hadn't seen her armed, so hopefully whatever magic she had could be interrupted by my bullets.
No luck however as I pass a trash can, and it bursts open. Without even looking, I fire a shot into the can, hitting something and knocking the can over. I spare the thing a glance. The thing was red-skinned, scythes for arms, and almost looked raptor-like. I hear a couple more trash bins topple over, revealing the scythe raptors popping out of them, and even a dumpster deeper in flipped its lid to reveal a trio of the creatures.
Without hesitation, I try to sight the closest one as quickly as possible and fire off a shot. It goes wide and I fire again. I miss once more as the kick of the weapon throws my aim off. Rather than try for a third shot, I turn and run. I hear loud screeching behind me but I don't look back, not yet. There are two more garbage cans down the alleyway which topple over, revealing their inhabitants. Gritting my teeth, I continue my charge down the alleyway.
The first of the creatures from the front gets close but I practically shove my revolver in its face before squeezing the trigger, sending a jolt of pain through my wrist as the power of the revolver forces it upwards from the recoil. No matter, not pain, no getting out of here in one piece. The thing's face is blown off as I keep running. The other creature I barely have time to readjust my aim before it's nearly on me.
The biter lunges at me and I try to dodge to the side, only to take a sideswipe from the scythe arm. Without my bugs to use to express my pain, I just settle for shouting "Fuck!" as loud as I can before I fire my last round into the creature as I pass it. It hits the biter in the arm, and I can see the others are gaining on me, nearly at my heels. Fuck!
I drop my heavy gun, I try to sprint harder, I try to swing my arms, anything to get me away from those things. Then, ahead, I see the owl lady standing in front of the alleyway, levelling some kind of gun at me. I see her mouth moving but the blood in my ears is pumping too loudly and I can't hear her. However, I see her take aim and I dive, just trying to last even a second more. God, I wish I hadn't dropped my revolver now!
Suddenly my world is the sound of thunder as I hear bullets whizz past overhead, slamming into some of the biters that were behind me, making meaty whacks and pained groans as they fall over. I hear panicked yips from behind me that are already starting to get farther away.
I lay there a second, then, as I hear the sound of shoes on concrete getting closer, I look up. There, the owl lady is walking towards me, her big expressive owl eyes looking at me concerned. I don't know why she decided to save me, but then, when she speaks I realise.
"Taylor?"
"M-mom?" I say before I can stop myself. How is she here? How? Mom was the greatest, kindest person I've ever known, she, how, no she can't have, she can't have gone to Hell. Yet… here she is… Mom… Annette drops her gun as she runs forward towards me. I… I shouldn't have said that. I start to get up but Annette wraps me in a hug, and I feel tears on my cheek. I want to hit myself. No… no… this… this was wrong. I…
I'm not Taylor…
Even so, Annette embraces me like my false memories of being Taylor informed me she would. It… it felt good. It… fuck… it… Rather than fight it, I just hug her back, burying my face in her shoulder. I… damn it.
"It's okay little owl, it's okay little owl, mommy's here," as she mentioned "mommy," it felt like a dagger in me. Despite my memories, despite this emotion, intellectually, I knew that my mother wasn't this wonderful woman, it wasn't Annette. Not really. The closest I could stretch it was that she was my grandmother, but even that didn't feel right.
No, my mother was that bitch Noelle, who didn't care for me, who wanted me to kill Dad… no, Danny. I clench my fist behind Mom… Annette's back, and grind my teeth once more.
"Shhh, there there… I'm here now… you don't have to worry anymore," Mom… Annette rubs my back just like she used… no… like… as she did to Taylor. She… she never did it to me. I… this… this is wrong, I… I should just…
Yet… despite knowing what I should do, despite knowing the right thing, I can't bring myself to even let go of Mo… Annette. When I try to get the words out, to say that I'm not her little owl, I'm a fake, a fraud, an evil clone, the words get choked up in my throat, and I can't say anything. Mom holds me tighter, a happy hum worming its way into my ear. I feel more tears begin to fall down my cheeks. I silently mouth "sorry."
And I embrace her.
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Edit: I realised I forgot the disbelief I meant to put in there.
With university's test weeks done I finally have time to work on this story again. Sorry for the long wait there. Just something to get back into the swing of things as well as to expand on things going on in Hell a little.
Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
I walk briskly down the street, my head high and swivelling, watching for any kind of danger as I walk. The hood of my hoodie, something I had snagged from a clothesline a couple of days back, was down despite wishing that I could put it up. With my horns, however, that's an impossibility unless I get a hoodie with a much bigger hood.
With one of my hands, I stroke one of my horns. They're large things that spring from the sides of my head and go back, then forwards, like goat horns. The horns come forward just enough that the tips were in line with my chin. Not particularly useful for goring people unless I didn't mind possibly breaking my nose at the same time.
Even so, I continued to stroke my horn, passing by storefronts and even storefronts where the glass wasn't broken, displaying the fine merchandise inside. There were demonic cops and other things in uniforms on the various street corners while people wandered around gazing at the various merchandise that was spread around. Signs declared the various stores and the streets are bustling with various kinds of traffic, ranging from peddling bikers to regular cars. It reminds me of the boardwalk in Brockton, all nice looking while the rest of the city was shit, or at least, parts of it. There certainly were many more nice areas in Pentagram city than in Brockton Bay, especially when I left the world of the living.
As I am walking, I notice that people have begun putting up various wreaths, and other things that look rather Christmassy. Did demons even celebrate Christmas? Maybe the sinners but for demons, the holiday just meant that their hated enemy was born or something. Even so, I watch out of the corners of my eyes and around my hood as Imps, demons, and sinners alike all begin decorating the various storefronts, hanging up lights, and I even see a few places have begun to advertise candy cane hot chocolates and other festive things.
My answer however comes when I pass a shop window where the owner is putting up a sign announcing that there was going to be a "YULETIDE SALE!" So they weren't celebrating Christmas, but the pagan equivalent, Yule. That certainly made more sense than them celebrating the birth of Christ.
While I'm watching out I notice an owl looking demon across the street do a double-take as she looks my way. Shit. She'll likely call the enforcer equivalent here and get me kicked off the street. Rather than wait for her to call them, I turn into an alleyway. Not exactly the safest thing to do, but this was fairly close to the wealthy district so the place should be fine.
I casually continue down the alleyway, watching for anything that might pop out. People, animals, possibly even giant bugs, there were a lot of strange things in the alleyways of Pentagram city. As I walk through the alleyway, I come across a chain-link fence dividing the alleyway of the wealthy district from the other alleyways here in the city. I look back and my eyes widen as I see the owl woman turn into the alleyway. Oh shit.
Rather than wait, I latch onto the fence and begin climbing. I hear the owl demon call out to me but I ignore her, preferring to not take chances and just book it. I'm not ending up in some woman's basement for her to do whatever with!
Luckily the fence isn't too high and I bolt for it, not even looking back as I run down the alleyway. Reaching to the small of my back, I pull from my belt a revolver I had grabbed from the aftermath of some firefight that had gone on between a bunch of demons. I hear a sound like flapping wings and there is a rush of wind as I look back. The owl demon is running after me and just jumped the fence, her large eyes intense as she charges after me.
Not wanting to take a chance trying to shoot at her I duck around a corner and keep running, hoping to lose her in the maze of alleyways that ran between the various buildings in Pentagram city.
Left, right, and left again, I run halfway down an alley before taking another left before I look back. I hug the wall and raise my gun to watch the entrance of the alleyway, waiting to hear anything. I wait… one moment… two… I look up, expecting to see the owl demon overhead, wings flapping as she dives at me, yet, nothing.
Sighing, I step away from the wall and start making my way further into the alleyway. It seems I've lost my pursuer for the moment. The alleyway is littered with graffiti, showing the various gang signs like any other crime-filled city on Earth. I recognise a few of them from being in the area for a few weeks now. The one with the serpent and sword was some old gang sign that was from a gang that had long been beaten away from the area so I don't pay it much mind. Another was a gang sign I've heard was a warning about raiders. Looked like some wolf head spray-painted in red. Called themselves the Crimson gang and they made trips into the city every once and a while when things started getting crazy. Judging by the fact that it was half-covered by some graffiti artist's own stylised "Tyrone's a bitch!" sign, it wasn't very relevant.
I keep walking along the alleyway, looking at the various graffiti art as I do so, seeing older gang signs. Then I notice a newer looking one. There was writing underneath it, but it was in a language I didn't know, what I did know, was the image of a fanged mouth looking like it was about to bite. I cock the hammer of my revolver and look down the alley I'm in. The sign was known to nearly anyone who wandered the alleyways and survived for more than a few weeks. Biters. A designation given to any kind of demon munching creature that decided to turn the alleys into their home. They could range from Demonic Hellhounds that had gotten a taste of demon flesh, to giant insects. Sometimes they were even designated for feral demons that stayed in an area long term. So long as they tried to eat Demons and were unable to be reasoned with they were called biters by the alley going homeless of Pentagram city.
Cautiously, I start to walk back towards the alley I had just come from. Hopefully, the owl lady wasn't there to greet me, and even if she was, I hadn't seen her armed, so hopefully whatever magic she had could be interrupted by my bullets.
No luck however as I pass a trash can, and it bursts open. Without even looking, I fire a shot into the can, hitting something and knocking the can over. I spare the thing a glance. The thing was red-skinned, scythes for arms, and almost looked raptor-like. I hear a couple more trash bins topple over, revealing the scythe raptors popping out of them, and even a dumpster deeper in flipped its lid to reveal a trio of the creatures.
Without hesitation, I try to sight the closest one as quickly as possible and fire off a shot. It goes wide and I fire again. I miss once more as the kick of the weapon throws my aim off. Rather than try for a third shot, I turn and run. I hear loud screeching behind me but I don't look back, not yet. There are two more garbage cans down the alleyway which topple over, revealing their inhabitants. Gritting my teeth, I continue my charge down the alleyway.
The first of the creatures from the front gets close but I practically shove my revolver in its face before squeezing the trigger, sending a jolt of pain through my wrist as the power of the revolver forces it upwards from the recoil. No matter, not pain, no getting out of here in one piece. The thing's face is blown off as I keep running. The other creature I barely have time to readjust my aim before it's nearly on me.
The biter lunges at me and I try to dodge to the side, only to take a sideswipe from the scythe arm. Without my bugs to use to express my pain, I just settle for shouting "Fuck!" as loud as I can before I fire my last round into the creature as I pass it. It hits the biter in the arm, and I can see the others are gaining on me, nearly at my heels. Fuck!
I drop my heavy gun, I try to sprint harder, I try to swing my arms, anything to get me away from those things. Then, ahead, I see the owl lady standing in front of the alleyway, levelling some kind of gun at me. I see her mouth moving but the blood in my ears is pumping too loudly and I can't hear her. However, I see her take aim and I dive, just trying to last even a second more. God, I wish I hadn't dropped my revolver now!
Suddenly my world is the sound of thunder as I hear bullets whizz past overhead, slamming into some of the biters that were behind me, making meaty whacks and pained groans as they fall over. I hear panicked yips from behind me that are already starting to get farther away.
I lay there a second, then, as I hear the sound of shoes on concrete getting closer, I look up. There, the owl lady is walking towards me, her big expressive owl eyes looking at me concerned. I don't know why she decided to save me, but then, when she speaks I realise.
"Taylor?"
"M-mom?" I say before I can stop myself. How is she here? How? Mom was the greatest, kindest person I've ever known, she, how, no she can't have, she can't have gone to Hell. Yet… here she is… Mom… Annette drops her gun as she runs forward towards me. I… I shouldn't have said that. I start to get up but Annette wraps me in a hug, and I feel tears on my cheek. I want to hit myself. No… no… this… this was wrong. I…
I'm not Taylor…
Even so, Annette embraces me like my false memories of being Taylor informed me she would. It… it felt good. It… fuck… it… Rather than fight it, I just hug her back, burying my face in her shoulder. I… damn it.
"It's okay little owl, it's okay little owl, mommy's here," as she mentioned "mommy," it felt like a dagger in me. Despite my memories, despite this emotion, intellectually, I knew that my mother wasn't this wonderful woman, it wasn't Annette. Not really. The closest I could stretch it was that she was my grandmother, but even that didn't feel right.
No, my mother was that bitch Noelle, who didn't care for me, who wanted me to kill Dad… no, Danny. I clench my fist behind Mom… Annette's back, and grind my teeth once more.
"Shhh, there there… I'm here now… you don't have to worry anymore," Mom… Annette rubs my back just like she used… no… like… as she did to Taylor. She… she never did it to me. I… this… this is wrong, I… I should just…
Yet… despite knowing what I should do, despite knowing the right thing, I can't bring myself to even let go of Mo… Annette. When I try to get the words out, to say that I'm not her little owl, I'm a fake, a fraud, an evil clone, the words get choked up in my throat, and I can't say anything. Mom holds me tighter, a happy hum worming its way into my ear. I feel more tears begin to fall down my cheeks. I silently mouth "sorry."
And I embrace her.
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Edit: I realised I forgot the disbelief I meant to put in there.
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