|
|
Post by sparacus on Oct 15, 2023 15:41:27 GMT -5
Ok people: here is the 2023 Halloween special story. It will just be one story this Halloween:
"THE GHOULS": Part 1
Slowly, it crawled through the dank earth towards the surface, like a long forgotten memory rising through the misty recesses of a darkling mind. The park was empty, cold and a grim autumnal drizzle rained down on the leaf-strewn grass. Slowly it pushed itself up through the turf, casting off soil, worms and animal dung. It moved through the dark undergrowth within the patch of trees nearby, grabbing a rat that was scurrying along. It bit off the rat's head and drank the blood before casting it aside and moving onto the pavement. There it saw a young man sauntering along home after a night clubbing in Cambridge. It grabbed him by the shoulders, spun him round and sank its teeth into his face.....
Ben Chatham lay across his leather sofa in his £2000 silk dressing gown, sipping languidly on a cup of Colombian blue-ridge coffee and eating a croissant. Julian sat beside him, stroking Ben's foot:
"What's the matter Ben? You've been really quiet since I returned from seeing my folks. What's going on, is there someone else? "
Ben sighed:
"Of course not Julian. I'm just really depressed due to work pressures. My life seems like one long stressful case after another with all the responsibility falling on me. The man who cannot do everything is vilified, while the police who do nothing get praised. The government are threatening to reduce Operation Delta's funding".
Julian leaned over and began to massage Ben's shoulders tenderly:
"Just close your eyes and let me take away the stress Ben".
"That feels good Julian."
As Ben spoke, the door buzzer rang and Ben looked up angrily:
"Who the hell is that? It's thumbs down to Ben getting a moment's peace it seems."
Luigi came into the room and opened the door.
"Hello, is Mr Chatham in? It is urgent".
"Tell whoever that is to go away Luigi", Julian shouted. However the caller pushed past him and entered the apartment. Ben saw that it was Mehmet Achmad, manager of the Greyfriars Lane mosque. Ben sighed:
"Look Mr Achmad, if its about your roof again, just send your wretched bill to Operation Delta HQ and I'll tell them to pay you. I've had enough of all the hassle you are causing us."
"Hassle? What about the hassle you have caused us Mr Chatham. Your employee flies a drone into our mosque and a falling brick nearly hits our respected Imam and now that awful Katie woman verbally assaults me in the street."
Ben sat up and put down his coffee:
"Look I'm sorry if Katie has annoyed you. She was angry about your compensation claim. As I said, we will settle as I do not want any negative publicity when our funding is in jeopardy. Therefore you can leave happy."
"I am not here about that. I want to see you about another matter Mr Chatham. You investigate strange goings on. Well there are monsters lurking the streets Mr Chatham. They come up out of the ground in the park near our mosque. Horrible creatures they are. Our respected Imam saw one as he was trying to find somewhere to park his car. And that's another thing, why are there so few parking spaces in Cambridge now, its disgusting."
Ben sighed:
"Parking is definitely not an Operation Delta matter."
"Sounds like your Imam has been driving under the influence", Julian unwisely chipped in. Ben elbowed him sharply, shaking his head.
"How dare you young man. We do not drink alcohol", Mehmet angrily stated.
"Look Mr Achmad, I apologise for Julian's mistaken remark. Please don't take this the wrong way but we do not really have the time to investigate some far-fetched story that sounds ridiculous. Try the police, I know an Inspector Ashford who has nothing better to do with his time".
"The police are busy investigating the murder of that young man. Horrible it was, and our worshippers are very worried as it was only a few streets away. Look Mr Chatham, if you don't investigate these creatures then I'll report that Katie woman to your complaints department. I don't appreciate personal comments about my appearance."
Ben sank back into the sofa and closed his eyes:
"I really don't need this. Ok I can't face another row erupting between Katie and Corinne over Katie's choice of words. I thought I was actually going to get a restful day at last, but no. We will investigate."
Later that day, Ben had assembled a surveillance team to watch the park in Greyfriars Lane through the night. The Operation Delta van was parked in the bushes at the side of the park and Kyle, Julian, Keith Smith and Shaky Jake were looking at images of the park on a monitor screen.
"I know this site very well as our group did a major archaeological dig here when I was a student. It is the site of the old Greyfriars graveyard from the medieval period. We found some bones but not much else. Mundane dig really", Ben stated.
Keith Smith was looking out of the van window with binoculars:
"There is nothing happening out there. I can see the scaffolding has started going up around the mosque already. I am very happy that the matter has been sorted out, however I am thinking of submitting a formal complaint about Katie Ryan. She was rude about the mosque and continually refers to me as 'fatso' and 'lard-ass".
Ben shook his head:
"Keith I do not need any more trouble within the organisation. I will speak to Katie and insist that she does not keep commenting on your weight and huge posterior."
As Keith spoke, something moved in the distance. A pile of earth suddenly shot up from the ground and two creatures climbed out from within. Strange, skeletal forms with no eyes and grey flesh that glowed with a strange, sinister light. The creatures moved towards the van..............
.............to be continued.
|
|
|
|
Post by sparacus on Oct 29, 2023 7:50:05 GMT -5
Ok readers, here is part 2 of this seasonal Halloween adventure:
"THE GHOULS" Part 2
The creatures advanced towards the van and a putrid smell filled the air, like rotting fish. Ben saw that the things were almost skeletal with grey, putrid flesh hanging off in strips and browned rags for clothes.
"Those disgusting things are coming for us", Julian exclaimed, loudly. Ben pulled out a licenced Operation Delta gun and fired at one of the creatures but the bullets had no effect, its dead eyes staring ahead.
The creatures passed straight by the van and headed off in the direction of Land Lane, which led into central Cambridge.
"'Ere we have to stop them things before they kill people", Kyle shouted. Ben sighed:
"What with Kyle? The bullets had no effect". Nonetheless, Kyle drove the van down Greyfriars Lane and into Land Lane at speed, he looked ahead for the creatures but they had vanished into the night except for one that was walking in the middle of the road with a strange, jerking motion. Kyle drove the van at it at speed and hit it head on, the creature exploding into pieces of bone and decaying flesh, which flew off in multiple directions. However to their horror, the pieces reconstituted themselves immediately and the thing ran off at speed down Chugwell Alley towards the Arts Centre.
In the centre of Cambridge, a group of children were being picked up by their parents from a charity Halloween Party, sponsored by Trinity College. Daphne Pittershall, the organiser, was bustling the children out of the building:
"Hope you enjoyed yourself children, but please leave as we need to lock up and I want nice, hot bath." A group of children, in Halloween costumes, were protesting that their parents weren't here yet and fiddling with their phones, however Daphne was not to be messed with:
"That's because your parents don't love you. Phone them again, I want to get home", she said sternly. Suddenly the children started to scream as the creatures advanced towards them. Daphne was angry:
"Stop frightening the children, that is my job. You lot are ridiculous, dressing up like that at your age".
One of the creatures pushed her aside, knocking her over, while the others advanced upon the cowering children, saliva dripping from their putrefying mouths.
Meanwhile, outside Cambridge Arts Centre, the audience was leaving after an amateur student production of Strauss' 'The Rosenkavalier'. Sir Rodney Dear, a local veteran Conservative Councillor, was escorting his much younger girlfriend Precious Crimble, who was dressed in a new white fur coat, out towards the car park, followed by Crispin Kemble-Park, the arts reporter on the Cambridge Gazette.
"That was a splendid production, if occasionally it did veer a little towards ostentatious vulgarity, especially in the costuming", Sir Rodney was commenting. Precious screwed her face up:
"I couldn't understand a bleedin' word Rodney".
"There there dear, let us not be swearing in front of Mr Kemble-Park".
"I thought is ostentacious too Sir Rodney. Especially the soprano, who one can't help but think resembled a finely stuffed partridge", Kemble-Park commented, before they both burst out into laughter. Suddenly the creature was upon them, sinking its teeth into Kemble-Park's neck so that blood spurted out in a fountain over the others.
"Ere mind my new coat", Precious shrieked.
Ben and the team were taking stock of recent events inside the mosque. Ben was questioning the manager Mehmet Achmad:
"Look Mr Achmad, when exactly were you first aware of these creatures appearing? How long has this been going on for?"
"For weeks now Mr Chatham, weeks. It started just after your man here flew a drone into our mosque. We are now repairing the damage and we are grateful that you have agreed to pay for the work".
Ben stared at Keith Smith:
"Exactly what were you doing with that drone Keith? Could their be a connection?"
"I am not fully aware of the test remit parameters. Katie Ryan and Adam Wooten enlisted my help as they wanted to see if my drones could be used to deliver certain equipment to a specific location. The aim was to land the drone safely in the park. I am unaware of what equipment they attached to the drone but it was cylindrical. . Following the crash, they both insisted on recovering the drone".
"What from the mosque here?"
"No. The drone crashed through the mosque roof, out again and then crashed into the park."
Mr Achmad frowned:
"And a brick fell down and nearly hit our beloved Imam". Ben was bemused:
"There are more important things at play here than your mosque roof. I need to contact Katie urgently and to find out exactly what she has been doing. This was an unauthorised test and she and Adam have gone off piste."
................to be continued
|
|
|
|
Post by sparacus on Oct 29, 2023 14:28:17 GMT -5
Here we are readers: part 3 of this adventure:
"THE GHOULS" : Part 3
Ben had phoned Katie and arranged an emergency meeting at Corinne Shaw's apartment to discuss the incident with the drone. He, Kyle and Julian drove up to the apartment and parked nearby.
"I really didn't want to involve Corinne, however she is our Monitoring Officer as well as her other roles and if Katie has been going off on a tangent then I want everything to be above board", Ben said, looking stressed. Julian gave him a hug:
"Its OK Ben, I know how difficult it must be running an organisation of such importance as Operation Delta and having to deal with diverse and sometimes banal personalities."
They got out of the car and saw some children walking along the pavement carrying lit sparklers.
"Hey kids be careful, those sparklers can be dangerous. Unless you jab one straight into another kid's eye", Julian said with a wicked grin. Ben turned to him:
"That was wicked Jules, wicked",
"Still got it Ben", Julian replied with cheeky grin.
As they walked up the steps to the doors to the apartments, they were met by Katie Ryan and Adam Wooten.
"Snitch!" Katie shouted, "Why have you involved that bitch Corinne. You know I can't stand her and I don't relish having to spend time in her cheap looking apartment."
Ben sighed:
"Katie can we discuss this inside please. You were not giving me straight answers on the phone and we need to get this sorted.
An awkward silence followed as they took the lift to Corinne's apartment. Inside Corinne had laid on a range of drinks plus a buffet of several types of hummus with celery, carrots and vegan crisps. Paul Farraday was relaxing on the sofa while Webern played on the hi fi.
"Would anyone like a Cappuccino instead of the drinks here?" Corinne asked.
"No. I want the most expensive booze you have here and lots of it", Katie snapped, making straight for the bottle of exclusive German brandy.
"Ere, what's this ¤¤¤¤e music?" Kyle asked.
"Its Webern. And it is far from '¤¤¤¤e', as you would know if you were a serious appreciator of modern music", Paul replied.
They poured themselves drinks as Corinne made herself a cappuccino and handed Kyle a can of lager. She sat down, adjusted her skirt and began.
"Katie, Ben has called this meeting because he needs to know exactly what you and Paul were experimenting with when you took over Keith Smith's drone testing. What equipment were you getting the drones to deliver?"
Katie sipped her brandy:
"Look, don't get on your high horse with me again. Someone has to do something, this organisation will collapse unless we start finding alternative funding streams. At the moment we are at the mercy of government funding and there is no magic money tree."
Ben sighed:
"Katie just tell us what you were testing, please", Ben wearily interjected.
"Ok it was a Zeroideran Revival Capsule. Adam told me about one still being in the Torchwood archive, so we borrowed it."
Corinne put down her coffee:
"That item is restricted. Only Keith and Jake have access to it for research purposes."
"Well tough. We borrowed it", Katie snapped back.
"You have fundamentally broken protocol. This is a disciplinary matter", Corinne tersely stated. Ben sighed:
"Look lets not get into an argument. Adam can you explain what this equipment is and why you were using it. Adam sipped his wine and smiled:
"Look Ben, we have a neat idea for raising some income. The revival capsule can raise the dead back to life for short periods of time. Imagine if drones could deliver such capsules to a battlefield scenario. The dead soldiers could literally get up and carry on. Imagine how much the Russians or Ukrainians would pay for it, to name but two".
"Highest bidder", Katie interjected. Ben was bemused:
"What the hell? Look Adam, Katie you cannot go selling restricted alien technology to 'the highest bidder' as you put it. We are not some grubby profiteering outfit. Why on earth were you experimenting near the mosque?"
Katie downed her brandy and poured another:
"Oh get off your high horse Ben. We need to raise independent income and there are no ethics when it comes to finance. Let the market decide. We needed to see if the drone could land the capsule and then if it could raise the dead. We figured that if it could work in some old medieval graveyard then it could work in any theatre of war."
Ben virtually choked on his drink:
"*coughing* You mean you deliberately raised those zombie things as a test? Katie they have killed people!"
Katie frowned:
"Well how the hell were we to know that fatso Smith would crash the drone into the mosque roof. It damaged the capsule so that it was activated but the deactivation mechanism was destroyed. We assumed however that when we removed the capsule from the site and returned it to the lab then it would no longer be affecting the site."
Corinne slammed down her cappuccino again.
"This is gross professional misconduct. I ought to suspend you both immediately."
Paul sat up and shook his head:
"I concur with Corinne." Ben was shaking:
"Guys can we not make any hasty decisions please. We need to work together to put this right." Julian gave Ben a hug and then glared at Katie.
"Look how you've upset Ben. *To Corinne* And she's been making unprofessional remarks to that mosque manager. She called him a rag head."
Corinne suppressed a desire to express overt triumphalism:
"That is most concerning indeed. Thanks for that information Julian. A serious allegation that warrants suspension.". Ben stood up and walked out of the room, shaking, and sat in the hallway. Adam Wooten followed him outside and sat beside him:
"I'm sorry Ben. We really were trying just to help with the financial situation." Ben was emotional:
"Its all going to pot. Internal rows, Katie and you doing your own thing, Corinne trying to get rid of Katie and now Julian has just gone and given her more ammunition."
Adam put his strong arms around Ben:
"Its Ok Ben. Let me protect you."
Meanwhile, in Cambridge, the Driscoll family were having a Halloween party and their four children were playing Snapdragon in the back garden.
"Snip, snap dragon", the children shouted as they plucked raisins from a baking tray of lit brandy. The family dog, Rufus, barked playfully nearby and wagged his tail. All at once, the creature burst through the back garden gate, its grey, decaying flesh giving off the odour of death. It grabbed the dog and bit into its neck with a crunch before tossing the corpse into the Snapdragon tray.......
................. to be continued.
|
|
|
|
Post by sparacus on Nov 19, 2023 16:16:14 GMT -5
Ok folks, well on time here is the fourth and final part of this season's Halloween Special:
"THE GHOULS" Part 4
Ben, Kyle and Julian left with Katie and Adam and walked towards where the cars were parked.
"Who does that bitch think she is?" Katie grumbled. Ben turned to her:
"Katie for once please just listen and do what I say. I managed to persuade Corinne to hold off suspending you if you apologise to that mosque manager, which you will do. Also we will drive immediately to the Operation Delta lab and see if Jake and Keith can rescue this situation by fixing the deactivation mechanism on the Zeroideran Revival Capsule."
"I admit that I'm liking this dominant side to you Ben. However she's still a bitch", Katie said with a toss of her hair. Meanwhile Ben received a text on his phone:
"Oh no. This is from PC Charlie Jennings. One of those zombie creatures has just attacked a family, killing the dog and critically injuring the father."
"How come that police officer has your number?" Julian asked.
"Obviously I build up inside contacts within organisations like the police Jules. We need to gather advance intelligence."
Later they arrived at the lab and Keith Smith was busy working on the capsule while Jake was enjoying a crafty smoke while entering data on his ipad.
"Ere this place reeks of weed", Kyle exclaimed. Ben frowned:
"Jake, you really should not be smoking in here. We can't afford Keith making another complaint to Corinne."
"Hey man, don't get heavy with me. We think we've done it man. Keith is just adding the final circuit adjustments then we can like put this beauty into action and stop those ghoul things."
Keith looked around:
"This has been a most complex task, yet I have reworked the decombostulator circuit to a point where it intercedes in a manner that reanimates the triple circuit."
Katie nudged Ben, grinning:
"Or in other words, the fat nerd has got it working". Keith heard and looked up:
"Miss Ryan, I have asked you multiple times to refrain from body-shaming comments about my weight. I shall be escalating this." Ben intervened:
"Keith you have done a fantastic job here. You are one of our best operatives and Katie will be sending you a written apology."
Katie glared at Ben.
Later that evening, Jake drove the team through the damp streets of Cambridge towards Greyfriars Lane Park. They passed a group of children who were waving sparklers around and pulling a guy on a sled. Jake leaned out the window:
"Hey you cats, have a bag of Fox's glacier mints!" He tossed the bag of mints to the children who picked them up, laughing. They arrived at the park and drove the van into a secluded spot in the undergrowth at the side, near some trees.
"Now we wait", Ben stated in a serious tone. In the back of the van, Kyle had brought a Monopoly game for them to pass the time with:
"Me and me mum used to love playin' this when I were a kid."
Ben sighed:
"Kyle, Monopoly is an awfully unsophisticated game. A vulgarisation of the already vulgar, Americanised approach to business and property asset portfolio building."
"Yeah but its fun Ben."
They started playing the game and enjoying a bottle of finest French brandy. Katie was winning when Keith Smith looked up from the monitor screen:
"I have ascertained that the movement on the visual monitor is the creatures emerging from the earth." Jake grabbed the cylinder and he and Kyle strode out of the van towards the creatures. The ghouls turned towards them, their eye sockets black and grey flesh hanging down from their bones. Jake turned held up the cylinder:
"Hey dudes, like your time has come to return to the grave". He threw the cylinder at the creatures and it gave out a strange, unnatural hum. The creatures fell to the ground and became motionless piles of bones and rotting flesh. As the team grinned and hugged each other, the mosque manager, Mehmet Achmad, approached:
"Mr Chatham, I must congratulate you on this outcome. But I have two questions for you; when will these piles of bones be reburied and when will we receive the final installment of our mosque rebuild compensation?" Katie frowned:
"Can't you just celebrate the moment instead of moaning at us?"
"I am not moaning young woman. I just have some questions that I need answering. *To Ben* I am not happy with this woman's language towards me the other day." Ben sighed:
"Mr Achmad, I understand that you will be fully compensated by the end of the week. I'll text the police and get them to liase with the archaeologists at the university whom I will contact, due to me being a major archaeology graduate of the university. Meanwhile Katie has something to say. Ben nudged Katie who reluctantly gave a terse apology.
Later, the team were enjoying some late season fireworks in the garden area behind the Mermaid Wine Bar. Barry Tuck brought out a tray of drinks:
"What do you lot think of these fireworks?"
"They're a bit loud", Julian observed.
"Good. Me mate Spud sourced the ¤¤¤¤ers off Irish Pat on the market. They're all the loud and dangerous ones that are banned in this country, he gets 'em in from Eastern Europe on the cheap 'cause they ain't been safety checked or any of that old crap".
As he spoke, two young women approached him:
"Excuse me, but we were here before these people and haven't been served yet."
Barry grinned:
"Look love, this lot are regulars and you ain't. But how about you come round to mine later for a romp on me new mattress. Got it from the market as I were that pissed last Saturday that I ¤¤¤¤ the bed".
The women stormed off and Barry laughed:
"Birds these days. Never satisfied". He walked off and Ben turned to Julian:
"Its great to be watching the fireworks with you Jules. You know how much I appreciate you."
Julian gave Ben a hug as the fireworks screeched and exploded in the cold November air".
THE END
|
|
