[25 Aug] Ross's Corners Redux

Arthur cleans up the store, taking care of his mess from last night. He packs himself a bag ... his ritual bag, together with ammunition, rope, torches, second gun, some anti nausea tablets, and a good first aid kit, and drives to Matilda's.

He rings the doorbell, then knocks.

"Just me, love." He calls out.

Arthur wraps one arm around her waist, and pulls her in for a long kiss. It'd been a while. He wondered if the thing in the fedora was watching. He wondered if he cared, but he had to admit even to himself that he hadn't enjoyed the warning.

"Good to see you, love. We've a lot to discuss. And you might not like all of it."

He hugged her close as they walked to his car.

He doesn't say anything else until they're in the car, and on the road.

"I had a visitor last night, just before closing. It was wearing a black fedora." He says. He deliberately uses the pronoun 'it', almost spitting out the word. He doesn't seem happy. "It was rummaging through the front counter, probably looking for your journal, when I challenged it."

He pauses,not sure how to tell her what had happened.

"Not a him, love ... an it. Whatever it was, want human. At least, not anymore," he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cigarettes one handed, and managed to light one without veering off the road. He took a long drag, the nicotine calming him a little.

"It was deathly pale, and this black ichor poured forth from its mouth and eyes and everywhere and slammed me back against the wall. I shot it, and it made no difference. The black stuff poured into my mouth and nose and eyes and ears .. blinding and deafening me, I couldn't breath, then it released me, and I fell, vomiting it all up again ... and it told me to leave it's priestess alone, and it was gone."

He finishes the cigarette in one more drag, and tosses the butt out the window before exhaling, and lighting another,

He glances over at a Matilda, and there's actual fear in his eyes. Fear for himself, and it coming back. Fear for her, and what it might want with her. Fear for them, and what this means to their relationship.

"Yeah, well, I kinda figured it meant you. It's not like I've been around any other women much lately, unless it meant Teagsn, which I seriously doubt." He smokes. "I spent the night throwing up, and drinking, just to get the feeling of that stuff out of me."

He's silent for a bit longer.

"When we were there, just before the ritual when we was both praying ... the King answered me ... told me to kill the man in the fedora." He dragged on the cigarette again, slowly letting the smoke trail out his nose. "I'm feeling that maybe our gods aren't as happy with our relationship as we are."

He shakes his head, looks at her quickly as he's driving. He looks just as conflicted.

"I don't know either. We need more information. Never good make a good decision with half the facts. It's part of the reason I wanted to go back."

He takes another cigarette, lights it with the one he's about done smoking, then offers it to her.

He nods, "Rifht, so let's meet Billly, and go from there. Because no supernatural weirdo is going to keep me from my girl." He reaches over and takes her hand, squeezing it tightly as he drives.

(Fast forward to RC diner)

Arthur pulls up outside the diner. "Five minutes early." He smiles.

"Lets go in, in case Billy is already here. He's a punctual sort." He says, leaning over for a kiss from his love, before getting out of the car. "Also, I could murder a coffee about now."

He stood there a moment, looking around, checking who's watching, who might be looking. He patted the roof of the car with a grin. He liked being a ar owner again. Liked this particular car. It was him to a tee, and he enjoyed driving it, and being seen in it.

He stepped around to help Matilda out, putting an arm protectively around her. He hoped the thing was watching. Hoped it saw. He kissed her cheek, locked the car, then escorted his love inside. They took a seat, ordered coffee, looked around ...

A few moments later an old beat up Cadillac screeches into the parking lot of the dinner. When the dust settles everyone that as looking see a disheveled man getting out of the car slamming the door shut behind him, Arthur and Matilda would instantly know this man as Billy. It didnt seem to want to stay shut, so he kicked it hard several times until it dilly stayed closed.

With his left hand he brushes his hair back and takes the half smoked cigarette from his mouth. He scanned the dinner and smiled. He had a fresh plaster across the bridge of his nose and under his eyes were badly bruised.

He walked with a slight limp as he made his way into the dinner. As he sat across from Arthur and Matilda he aged the waitress over and ordered coffee.

'Hey guys, your both looking great.'he grins, 'Sorry I'm late,had a little altercation on the way here.'

Matilda shows concern at seeing Billy. She was pleased to see him again but not in the state he was in. Something obviously happened to him on the way back here

"What happened Billy. The way you look means that maybe more than a slight altercation happened" she said to him as she drinks some more of her coffee. Her mind drifting off thinking of Black Fedora.

"Damn, man, that's rough. I had the one in the black fedora come calling. Went all weird on me, told me to keep away from my lady. We really need to end this before it gets out of hand."

Arthur sips his coffee, offers Billy a cigarette, then lights one for himself.

Arthur looks at matilda, then back to Billy.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan. Maybe we missed something there."

He really wasn't sure they had, but maybe their presence would bring out the other trouble sources for them to deal with,

Matilda is still looking out of the window not really listening to Arthur and Billy talking about what has happened to them both. She still keeps thinking about The Black Fedora and how she needs to meet him alone.

She is distributed in her thoughts by Billy talking to her "Oh yeah sure"

"She wants to meet it still ... but having met it, I won't call it 'him' ... it wasn't human, Billy. Same shape, but no human is that pale and gaunt, and no human vomits black goo out of all it's orifices that hits you like a freight train and fills your insides like expanding polyfiller. It wanted me to leave its priestess alone. F*** that for a joke." He drinks his coffee, flagging down a server for a refill.