Rooftops

Not long after I made that last post, I-330 came back. She’d left to find materials to stitch her Doctor Who outfit back together after it got a bit torn up during the night’s events. Which forces me to conclude that she has some odd priorities. At least she wasn’t bleeding everywhere, so I’m guessing she also got that cut patched up.

I’m a bit proud of myself; for once, when the time came to ask her about all the crazy things that have happened to me, I actually was able to get words out. Maybe there was still some adrenaline from the night before pushing me on.

She agreed to tell me what happened at the library… if I helped her out with something else another night. Curiosity won out against common sense, and I agreed.

According to her, that thing we saw last night is called the “Black Dog”. It’s some kind of monster that hunts people with deep/dark secrets. That’s about as far as she got with an understandable explanation; after that, she was obviously grasping for words. “It’s kinda like an embodiment of the fear of being discovered…. Only not really, more like a creature which existed prior to the fear but grew as that fear gathered around it…. But it also didn’t really exist, more like it potentially existed…. But looking at it from a nonlinear perspective, it still had physical presence in the multiverse all along the various spacetime lines…. Ah, screw it. It’s all eldritch shit and nonsense.”

Ignoring the parts of that which didn’t make sense, it sounded simple enough. Like a monster out of a horror novel; something I’d have thought was fantasy if I hadn’t seen it myself. Still having a hard time accepting it, but with this on top of the Grendel thing, plus Elizabeth’s diary, plus I-330’s earlier posts…. I’m starting to reach the point where if I keep saying, “No, not possible” much longer, I’m going to be sounding like those annoying skeptics you see in stories. You know, like the parents who keep claiming Little Tommy’s talk about werewolves trying to eat them all are just his imagination for half the book. Just once I want to see someone actually believe the kid when he warns them. “What Tommy? Werewolves? Holy shit, everyone in the car right now, we’re getting out of here!” Which I guess is why I’m letting myself be convinced by her, odd as it all sounds.

Since I-330 had done her part of the deal, I had to do mine. She brought the manila envelope she’d gotten from the library, and spread several sheets of paper from inside onto the table. They were covered in locations from all over the country, as well as times and dates. One had been circled in red: the address was less than ten minutes away, and the date was that night. I-330 pointed at it, and said that’s where we’d be going next.

Which is how I ended up freezing to death on top of a roof at two in the morning.

I-330 said we were doing a stakeout, which as it turns out, are much less exciting than detective fiction would lead you to believe. The address which had been circled was near the local American Legion building; I-330 decided that to be a perfect observation spot, so she led us to the roof and told me to keep watch. I was given a walkie talkie, a pair of binoculars, and the instructions to tell I-330 if anything happened while she was “taking care of business” on the ground level.

It must have been hours before anything happened. Or maybe it just felt that long; either way, it was long enough for me to really start regretting my decision. I didn’t even know where I-330 had run off to; soon as she’d told me what to do, she’d climbed down and run into the night.

Finally saw someone down at the street corner I was watching. Two men, each coming from different streets; greeted each other and had a huddled discussion. No clue what it was about; binoculars aren’t exactly well known for their sound transmitting capabilities. Both men were dressed casually, and weren’t doing anything which looked out of the ordinary.

Then I-330 stepped out of the shadows. I guess she said something, because both turned to her. And I’m going to continue my assumptions by guessing that they didn’t like what she said, because both pulled out pocket knives and ran at her.

That… was a pretty tense moment for me. I looked away, keeping my eyes off the binoculars until I heard someone screaming loudly enough for me to hear. Looked back, expecting to see I-330 lying on the ground covered with stab wounds. Instead, she was standing perfectly upright; one of the men at her feet, his arm bent at a weird angle (got a little nauseas when I looked at it…), and the other was still standing. Barely. He took a few staggered steps towards I-330, tried to swing a fist at her, and collapsed (unconscious, I’m presuming) in front of her. With both men down, she started to search through their pockets.

That was when I thought I saw someone else walking down the street towards her. Too far away for me to make out any details, but he was definitely heading in her direction. I got on the walkie talkie to warn her, but soon as I pressed the call button, static screeched out of it in a deafening roar. Even after I took my finger off the button, the noise continued. Felt like a dentist’s drill going through my ears into my brain….

Eventually it stopped, leaving me feeling partially deaf. When I looked back through the binoculars, the man was gone, and I-330 had gotten whatever she was looking for out of the men’s pockets. She called me over the walkie talkie, telling me to meet her on the ground.

What she got out of their pockets was a pamphlet, advertising a meeting at some nearby church Wednesdays at 3:30 AM. Nothing else to say who’s meeting there or why, but I-330 says that church is going to be our next destination.

This is starting to feel like a scavenger hunt…. A really weird, messed up scavenger hunt.

-Lisa

P.S. Felt I should mention, we called an ambulance for the men who’d attacked I-330. She says they’ll be alright, “just a few minor injuries, nothing that won’t heal.” I’m not sure if I should feel bad for them…. She did beat them pretty thoroughly, but they were attacking her....