Part 2 - Nameless Horrors/Bleak Prospect: "I say get rid his torso and head."

As the group climbs the stairs, Dr Coombes is already complaining, “Man, it’s hot…someone left the boiler on!” Indeed, except there is no power in the house that is near 100 degrees [think body temperature 98.6 degrees]. “ESTHER, ESTHER!” At the landing, they hear sobbing from the darkened far corner. Maureen rushes forward, pulling up short once she realizes it’s not her daughter, “Billy? Where’s my daughter!” Agatha tries to pull the mother off, “Stop threatening the poor boy. Can’t you see he’s in pain and suffering?!” Maureen shrugs off the interruption till Karl limps up the stairs and injects reason, “You catch more flies with honey. Not the vinegar you're spewing.” As Karl slides past M to comfort the boy…

“She didn’t run. She’s still trapped. PLEASE, help me find Esther.” Maureen is already stepping forward, till Karl’s glare informs her she’s done enough scaring…not helping. 

Then the other voice, sounding more solid and assured, “Karl? Where are you? Feed me, I’m hungry.” Karl soothes the boy who finds his voice, “She’s trapped somewhere downstairs.” Which has Maureen off and running. Billy up and following now that he has help to find his friend. Meanwhile, the others are paused in front of the double-doors to the master bedroom, source of the voice.

------------------------------------- They cautiously enter, finding the walls dripping with a red-purplish slime that covers the floor and furniture. Daylight peeks through open curtains casting shadows and revealing a pulsing blob in the ceiling corner. Karl quizzes, “Aston?” A tear forms along the wall, growing ever longer, then widens to reveal ‘chicklets’. Agatha revolts, “Are those teeth?!” Confirmation the source of the voice, “Bring me the girl!” Realization the house itself seems to be the missing professor Hawkes! “OH HELL NO…” as the group turns to run. Karl having wandered too close, as a tongue lashes out at him…just missing…leaving a slimy print on his departing rump.

 

His memory slowly returning, Billy gives directions for Maureen, “This way” as they descend the stairs and turn right toward the kitchen. An olfactory assault…the bile and excrement stench overwhelming. Billy points to the open basement door. M peers into the darkness, then searches the kitchen. Found it: a candle and matches. The basement stairs are covered in slime; Maureen grips the railing tight as she descends, the candle held high in her other hand. 

The faint flickering light dances across the still surface of the flooded basement floor. An opaque oily texture that sends a slow ripple outward as Maureen steps into it, almost 4 ft deep as estimated from the exposed remaining walls. “Esther!” M pulls out her revolver to raise it above the fluid.

Billy follows, “This wasn’t here when I ran.” And Billy slips on the wet stairs, landing with a thump, head momentarily beneath the surface. Maureen too focused ahead to even notice (or care). He wipes his face clear. “Are those ripples coming toward us?” Both pause, before Billy swats at his leg, “Something bit me.” [little does he know the parasite has already burrowed into his leg]. “Shush, I can hear whimpering ahead.” It’s a faint but identifiable voice that has M trudging faster. She pays little heed to something brushing her leg (misses) as she soon comes upon a locked door. “BLAM!” The lock blown away as M pushes through. Finding Esther huddled atop a twin-bed turned up on its edge.

The gunshot gives direction to the other hobos tracking their companions. They reach the stairs; Hiram descending with flashlight in hand. Which explains his slip and fall. Shock when something strikes his calf (another burrowing parasite); anger he’s lost his flashlight sunk in the fluid. Karl too tests the waters, earning a bruised tailbone when he falls. They all stand at the top of the stairs as they hear Billy and Maureen returning. With Esther carried on her shoulders, Maureen is helpless to fight-off two parasites that attack and burrow. Once out of the gunk, M asks the others for something to clean off her daughter; Thomas reluctantly offers the shirt off his back. And it’s Esther’s back where Maureen spies the telltale sign of parasite infestation.

Dr C takes the time to treat group wounds. Peeling Billy’s shirt back to examine, the doctor’s hands disappear into his chest. “What the…OWE” then quickly withdraws them when bitten by something. Everyone is startled and freaked. SAN loss. Karl suffers momentary psycho-somatic trauma…hearing loss as his body tries to isolate itself from sensory overload. Thomas takes advantage of the situation, “At least now we can talk trash about him.” Billy remembers a few more details, “We were outside in a stone building with someone named Casper…and Molly. They put something in Esther, pulled it out then put it in a guy named Segway. He seemed to glow stronger. Then they pulled it out and put it in me before they took us to the basement.”

Karl didn’t hear a thing; so, he leads the group back to the front door. Thus only Maureen, Esther, and Billy exit the kitchen side door to the outside. Billy points out the stone building. But they loop toward the front, joining the rest of the group. Hiram offers, “I think it’s time we confront my friend Mr. Brincks.” Maureen wants to see the doctor, but settles for Betsy at the bakery. They are ushered in to the empty shop; the “Closed” sign placed in the window. Planning…where does Sedgwick live? “I want to take him down.” “I say get rid of his torso and head.” “Hell, feed him to his house that eats people!”

It’s hours before their appointed rendezvous with Dr. Cavendish at his house. So Agatha offers, “Harold was investigating Sedgwick. Maybe his notes are still at his old desk at the ‘Crawley Examiner’.” [Maureen, Esther, and Billy stay behind.] Agatha enters her old workplace only to draw the ire of the remaining employees. They’ve taken offense to the grime she’s dripping on the stone floor THEY’LL have to clean. But Agatha’s mention of a “prime story” has them all-forgiving and leading her to Norman Brinkman, manager -editor. He already feels bad about having to let her and her husband go. At the news of Harold’s death, he gives her full access to Harold’s notes, “I was looking forward to his story regarding Sedgwick. Don’t like the guy; think he’s a shyster. Don't have a good picture of him.” 

 

An hour later she’s revealing her discoveries to the rest of the group. “1928 Midas Circle formed with Theodore the CEO. Rich enough to buy the High-Tower apartments, living in it alone. No other occupants. Business partners Casper B and a Roscoe M.” Hiram perks up, “Casper Brinck’s was the guy we confronted at the bakery.” Thomas Dolan offers, “Roscoe Molloy was my business rival. While I faltered, he bought up all my textile factories.” Karl wink’s at Hiram, “I think it’s time to visit Casper…again.”

As they walk back to the bakery, they pass the courthouse confirming Casper’s car is still there; the lawyer still at work (he should be off in a couple hours). When they reach the bakery, Maureen has her own story. How Billy passed out. Seems to be getting weaker. “He’s got more than a parasite. The rest of us aren’t getting weaker [yet].”

It’s time to visit Dr Cavendish where they find the medical bag as promised. The doctor home, let’s them in. Maureen’s motherly concerns front-and-center, “Check Esther first. See if she’s infested too with these parasites.” That’s news to Esther who losses it in a screaming-fit. She slumps asleep after a tranquilizer shot. “I can treat your wounds now but will need to take Esther and Billy to the hospital if I’m to fully examine them and find a cure or care.” Maureen stays behind as the others walk to Greenley acres to confront their mark. But before they go, they stock up on supplies: flashlight+batteries, blackjack, knives, a 45 cal pistol, and a single-barrel 16-gauge shotgun.

Hiram makes an elaborate plan to break-in a 2^nd floor window to then sneak around. Karl is more direct, “I’ll knock at the front door while you break-in the back and come thru the house to confront him.” Simple and effective. Casper standing behind his locked front door, waving his revolver at the peaceful looking Karl, (He remembers the bakery confrontation with Karl). “I’m calling the police. Get off my lawn!” A crash from the kitchen has him turning to face a lowered shotgun; Casper drops his revolver, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Sedgwick is running the operation. Picked up where professor Hawkes left off. Has some kind of device out back of the Prospect house that opens a portal to another world. Found a creature that siphons life essence from one host and secrets it in another willing host. That’s how the Midas Circle has been able to prosper: sucking the luck and skills from their prey. “He recently hired a thug to do his heavy work; Alex Rossetti.”

Casper is more than willing to drive the group to the High-Tower apartments. “I’ve never been to his apartment; always worked over the phone or at the Prospect Estate.”

Link to Conclusion: https://rigglew4.blogspot.com/2017/06/bleak-prospect-conclusion.html