Doors to Darkness/Mr Corbitt
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Victoria calls the group to her ‘Little Italy’
house in New York to distribute the Carrington reward from their last
investigation up in Ipswitch. Eloise parks her car in the driveway as Dragon
and Max get out, drawing attention from the neighborhood watch, Ms Judith
Johnson.
Max notices the flutter of window curtains down the
street and decides to add a scandalous flair, draping his arms over the two
girls’ shoulders. Dragon brushes the arm away, “Not in a million years.” Eloise
uses her police training to do one better, grabbing Max’s pinky to then twist
his arm behind his back.
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As they climb the porch, they turn their heads to the
sound of another car puttering to a stop across the street. A middle-aged man
gets out, carrying 2 canvas-wrapped packages up his sidewalk. Victoria is
already at her door, “That’s Mr. Corbitt my English neighbor. Harmless widower.
Come on in.” As they wipe their feet on the welcome mat, “CRASH…” Max and
Eloise turn at the sound. Corbitt has dropped a metallic cylinder on the
sidewalk just before his porch. “Still skittish from the Byakhee?” But as Max
stares for a few more seconds, he puzzles at what looks like…a leg bone in the
package?! The group settles for snacks and drinks as Tori divides the reward.
“Ding, dong.” “Why hello Judith. Come to check up on my
visitors?” “Did you see him, did you see him? Back from another one of his
trips. Acting VERY strange.” Tori reluctantly introduces the others to her
60ish neighbor busy-body. Max tries to calm her with his charm and a wink to no
avail, “Nosy and safe I say, rather than let something slip under my nose.
Widower, puh I say. Killed his wife those 10 years ago. Just like he killed his
own father when they traveled to India a dozen years ago.” Tori trying so hard
to shoo the woman out, when Dragon perks up to the story, “I can check him out
if you’d like. I went to college and have plenty experience dealing with
creeps.” Appeased, Judith leaves.
Dragon and Max are now peering out the window at the house
across the street. Dark except for basement lights on. Tori tries to add
reason, “Don’t listen to that busy-body. Yes Corbitt traveled to India where
his father came down with an incurable disease. The will gave everything to
Corbitt and his young bride. Then a few years later he lost her in a still-born
delivery. The poor man has been grieving ever since. Judith is probably irate
when he shunned her advances. Now forget about it. It’s getting late. You’d
best stay the night as I do have extra rooms.”
It’s mid-morning when Max and Dragon come out to sit on
the front porch with their coffee. Eyes burning into them as Judith notices a
man stayed the night with 3 women! Max understanding her wide-eyed expression
as he winks at her again. And that’s when Corbitt comes out of his house
dressed in a suit too large for his frame. Dragon calls from the porch,
“Greetings” as she skips across the street to introduce herself.
Bernard Corbitt faints a weak smile as he makes small
talk before excusing himself, “Must get to the store for my garden fertilizer.”
Dragon says goodbye, “We’re going shopping too. Maybe I’ll see you later.” As
Bernard’s Model-T putters away, Eloise warns, “Are you crazy?! You act like
you’re hitting on him.” Dragon counters, “I know what I’m doing. It’s not like
I fall for the creepy ones. When has it ever ended badly?”
As much as Dragon wants to use the opportunity to
search Corbitt’s house, the others turn her aside. “We’ve got shopping to do.
And a whistle to try to sell (artifact recovered from Carrington affair).” It’s
well after lunch when they return. Dragon already walking across the street
since the model-T is back. “Knock, knock.” No answer. Persistence by Dragon as
she continues to knock before finally hearing the backdoor open and close, then
footsteps across the living-room floor. Dragon is pushy trying to get Bernard
to let her in but he resists, “What would Ms Johnson think and say? Your
reputation?! No, how about we just sit on the front porch. I’ll get us some tea
and some mellons.” He soon returns with a tray and slices of juicy cantaloupe.
“Grow them myself in my garden.” Dragon trying oh so desperately to win him
over, “You have such nice mellons. You MUST come over for dinner tonight and
bring these delicious mellons for my friends to enjoy.” [Tony, do you realize
what your daughter just said?!]
Eloise questions Dragon upon her return, “Cantaloupe?
This far north? What is he using for fertilizer?!” Both look back at the house,
noticing only basement lights once again. It’s evening before dusk when Dragon
drags a reluctant Eloise across the street. Victoria and Max staying behind,
I’ll give you an hour to act the fool.” Across the street, “Knock, knock.”
“Just a minute.” “Knock, knock.” “Just a minute.” “Knock, knock.” “I SAID JUST
A MINUTE!” Bernard cracks the front door, peeking out, “Sorry, I had things
come up.” Dragon persists till Bernard reluctantly lets them in, Eloise
regretting the intrusion once they get a whiff of his filthy cloths.
They stumble through the darkness, hearing Bernard
climb stairs, “Sorry I haven’t wired the living-room for lights. You’ll find
oil-lamps on the walls. I need to clean up.”
With lights finally flickering, Eloise scowls as Dragon
begins searching…under the couch, the desk, the bookcase (an odd collection of
the bible, the koran, kama-sutra, etc.). Eloise perks up when Dragon reads, “20
Experiments of the Occult by Dr. Arthur Tumbly, and Key and the Gate.”
Eloise joins the search finding a journal at the desk,
“10 September…Another embarrassing memory lapse today. This journal should help
me keep track of events. 13 September…I had mother sign the last of the legal
papers given me ownership of ‘Corbitt Importers of America’. If she only knew
my role in father’s death.” They scramble for the couch when they hear
footsteps descending from the staircase. Bernard turns for the kitchen to get a
tray of tea and cantaloupe. Bernard first acting withdrawn as the girls eat,
then getting bolder as the minutes pass, “So why are you trying so hard to get
into my home?” Only when Dragon’s eyes grow heavy does she realize Bernard has
not been eating, “Did yos druuug ush?!” Her words garbled as she starts to
hallucinate; Eloise already collapsed into her own dream-state nightmare of
bubbly creatures.
While Eloise is unconscious, Dragon tries to fight off
the effects as Bernard grabs her arm to drag her away asking, “Did you see the
gate? The key in the gate? Are you the one? Come, you must meet my son.”
Corbett pulls out a gun pushing her forward into the kitchen and down a flight
of stairs, pausing to flick on basement lights.
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Dragon gasps at the sight of a monstrous creation of a
head sewn on a pair of legs with short arms protruding from where ears should be, “Gaaa, Gaa.” “One of my
early creations that helped me perfect my son.” He forces Dragon to open the storage
closet before her, “Say hello to my son.” At first Dragon recoils when a hand
touches hers. But her sanity collapses when the lights come on revealing the
true nature of the beast (a fleshy blob with child legs and arms sewn
everywhere, and a large hole with gnashing teeth awaiting her). Her screams
muffled by the basement walls. [She didn’t even put up a fight!]
“What’s taking them so long?” Max and Victoria cross
the street to the dark house, perturbed by the girls’ paranoid actions. But
when the door creaks open at the first knock, “Dragon? Eloise?” Silence.
Search. Finding Eloise unconscious with flecks of cantaloupe on her lips. Tori
smells the mellon for any hint of drugs. Neck hairs raised. “Shit, what did
they get into? Let’s get her out of her and get our guns!” As they carry Eloise
across the street, Max pulls out Eloise’s badge and points to it as he looks to
the open window where Judith watches.
As they exit Tori’s house, lights come on in the
Corbitt house. Max and Tori sneak toward the backdoor. Weapons drawn as they
sneak through the kitchen. “CREAK.” Max peers thru the door seeing Corbett
moving toward the front door, “Freeze!” Bernard turns with his hand raised in
the now familiar act of casting a spell. “Bang!” Spell broken, Max charges
plowing into the man. “Master, help me!” Putting a gun to the back of his head,
Max instructs, “Shut up. What did you do with Dragon?!” First denial even
knowing who we speak of. Till Eloise stumbles into the house, “He drugged us.
Occult books. Something about a gate. He killed his own father.”
Bernard has changed. His face expressionless. “She met
my son. My adopted son. He’s more like his real father I called forth with
spells. His twin brother died at delivery. I toil feeding him. And adding to
his frame; he as born without appendages you know. Come, meet him.” Bernard leads the way to the kitchen stairs; the
gun at his head of little importance as he moves as if in a trance. Gasps as
the leggy-head skitters across the lab floor. “Dragon? Dragon? She better be
alive. Where’s Dragon you sick bastard?” Bernard mumbles [cast spell breaking
magical seal] before opening the storage door. Eloise so frightened by the sight
within she goes deaf. Max recoils at the sight before steeling himself in
disbelief. Tori is better prepared, reacting with the cock of her shotgun,
“BLAM!” An extreme hit considering the size of the blob before her. Arms blown
off, tar-like mucus oozing out. Yet the creature shuffles forward…grabbing
Bernard…stuffing him into its gapping maw. “Run. Get the hell out.”
Max is already at the stairs, Eloise close behind, as
Tori fires the 2nd barrel, “Blam.” What was a slow shamble forward
by the creature is now a rush. Whatever spells held it restrained now gone.
“Move it, move it.” Tori faster but slowed by Eloise still on the stairs.
Sickly arms grab Eloise’s leg tripping her. Tori dropping her shotgun to lend a
hand to her compatriot as they both scramble up the last steps. Max slamming
the door behind them, bracing it with the back of a chair. A brief pause to
catch their breath before the door creaks, bulging outwards. “RUN!” Max is
already dumping all available oil-lamps as they rush out the backdoor, closing
and locking it behind them. Smoke curls from the back windows as the door
buckles then explodes. The blob oozing out, before collapsing dead from the
fire. Max rushes forward to collect evidence as Tori and Eloise stare at the
garden and greenhouse behind them. Sirens break their pause as they realize
they need to come up with a believable story.
Epilogue:
“Ding dong.” Judith opens her door finding Max waiting with a smile. Pulling a bouquet
of flowers from his sleeve, the magician thanks her for her actions, “I’m glad
you understood my flash of the police badge. Your call to the police saved us
all from that serial killer.” As he turns to say goodbye, with a wink, “If you
ever need help with your neighborhood watch, don’t hesitate to ask Victoria. She
enjoys your company.”
Newspapers tell of the neighborhood grave robber and
killer. His latest victim one Diane Haven [known to others as Dragon]. Weeks pass before two trucks arrive in the
early morning hours. Lab-coated men pour out with shovels, bags, and wheelbarrows
they push to the back of the burnt foundation. Where they destroy the remains
of Mr. Corbitt’s garden and Greenhouse.
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