As a private eye, you'd have to be prepared for anything these criminals throw at cha. All part of the job. Recently my nephew, or my temporary assistant for the past month, has been kinda fishy. Being in this trade has made you many rivals and enemies, especially when you've been in this trade for over a decade. The chances of my nephew being deceived by my rivals to give information? Likely, after all, he's just a young lad. I glanced at the virtual clock in my office, about time. I grunted as I got up, dusting my pants. The years had not been good on these legs of mine. I tugged on my trench coat as I limped out the front door, ready to meet my nephew for lunch.
The bells on the door chimed as I entered the diner. The diner was quite retro, coming from the 1920s, quite rare nowadays in the 23rd century. A young voice from my left cried out, interrupting my thoughts, "Mister Helix, over here!" I whipped my head towards it. Near the counter sat my nephew, he was a young and scrawny boy, dressed in casual clothes and a bowler hat. I took a seat next to him, as I peered over the holographic menu. "The house's special." I told the menu, as it flew back into the kitchen. My nephew picked at his food. "Uncle, remember when I told you about that party I was going to attend?" I shifted comfortably in my seat, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. What about it?"
My nephew looked at his thumbs and twiddled them, "The er, party is today so I was wondering if I could attend?" He looked at me with hope in his eyes. I stared at him for a bit, rubbed my chin, thinking. With a grin I said, "Well of course! You're still plenty young, just make sure you don't overdo it. You still are my assistant after all." He hopped up with excitement, paid for his meal and practically skipped out of the diner. A rustic robot appeared from the kitchen carrying a plate of meatballs covered generously in thick mushroom gravy. Quite unfortunate that I won't be able to enjoy this meal, I thought to myself as I scanned my cashcard into the bot. I looked around, there was no one in particular looking, I still left as inconspicuous as possible though, can't trust there to be none of them mugs keeping tabs.
I tailed my nephew around town, some 'party' he was going to. With practiced ease, I weaved around the crowds, dodging security drones, one has to have such skills to thrive in this trade nowadays. I eventually ended up following him into a secluded part of town. It was a quiet street, there weren't many people living here as compared to the lively area from which we had come from. With little people to conceal me, I had to be more careful. We ended up in front of a dodgy alleyway, after looking around for a while, my nephew wandered into the alley. Some party, I thought. Would my nephew, who I had raised like my own son, betray me? Shaking away that thought, I stalked him deeper and deeper into the alleyway.
As I traversed deeper into the alleyway, a sharp and toxic aroma tickled my nose. It smelt like burnt steak with a touch of ash, filthy. Soft raindrops trickled down the brick walls of the alleyway, bouncing across it. The small droplets landed on my coat, spreading across the coat with a circular pattern. Why am I paying attention to trivial matters like this, the foul smell must've been messing with my concentration.
As I arrived at the end of the alleyway, the faded colour of neon lights began to surround me, slowly engulfing the alleyway along with it. Silhouettes appeared on the walls, with one being quite the familiar one: My nephew. I watched as my nephew descended down a staircase, with a big smile on his face. Most likely high on jive or some other drug. As far as my eye could see, there were splatters of unknown substances around the entrance. A wisp of foul air caught my nose and I could smell it; a slight odour that reeked of blood. Whatever was happening, I had to stop my nephew before he had went further.
I took off my coat and hat, stuffing it into a ball and held it near my chest, covering it with my arms. The best tactic in this case would be to disguise myself and drag my nephew out of this house of lunatics. I made up my mind, I will save my nephew, he's my last remaining family after all. I shuffled towards the staircase, wearing a dumb wide smile. The people standing in front of the entrance didn't seem to care, I greeted them with a dumb gesture the others seemed to do and descended down the staircase.
Another foul smell hit my nose once again, but this time mixed with blood. The odour was extremely revolting, I covered my face with my fedora. I hope the Coin Wash down 5th avenue was still open. The spiral got more engulfed by the darkness as I went deeper and deeper. Wet floors and dark spiralling staircases weren't the best combination for walking.
And as if God had willed it to be, there was a sudden beam of light flashing towards me. It blinded me for a bit. I soon recovered to a horrifying sight: Neon green lights mixed with blood stains on the tiled floor, strange figurines lining the worn shelves; Were they elephants? A man? A whale? The shapes seemed to twist and turn on each side of the figurine. Mobs of people circled a statue, like the ones on the wall. In the midst of the chaos, I spotted a familiar silhouette: My nephew.
I looked around, everyone seemed to be distracted by the statue. I ran towards my nephew pushing tons of dazed people out of the way. "Snap out of it!" I yelled at him as I gripped his collar. The other people all gave me a sharp stare. It wasn't an actual glare, but it certainly gave me an uncertain feeling about this atmosphere.
He looked at me with blood-driven eyes, my nephew opened his mouth, and in my horror, his tongue was nowhere to be found. He smiled as blood drooped down from his eyes. As if everyone had gotten a signal, the room was filled with uncanny smiles, directed towards myself. In a panic, I took out an electro-magnetic taser grenade from my coat and flashed the room. The room shook violently. The big statue knocked over, bringing its followers with them.
I grabbed my nephew by his arms and ran for the exit. As I reached the staircase, my feet slipped and I crashed onto the hard and slippery floors of the room, knocking over an entire shelf with me. Sounds of terracotta figurines shattering filled the chamber.
Raindrops dripped down on the exit of the staircase, thunderous footsteps slowly faded within earshot, followed by dozens of police officers. Countless eyes gawked upon me and my nephew, whose face was now completely smeared in blood. As the cops towered over us, my nephew uttered a word under his breath, then abruptly dropped his head onto the cold asphalt floor.
As the police rushed in, screams of pain echoed in the alleyway as bright flashes illuminated every minute. Within 5 or so minutes, the entrance was completely sealed shut. Coffins, each holding their respectful victim inside, floated up into the sky. "Sir, you'll have to step back." Said one officer, "We're formatting the basement up." He didn't seem to notice nor care about my now deceased nephew.
Neon lights to poured out from the now empty staircase, and soon enough, men walked out of it, carefully hoisting out the statue in their arms. I must have been crazy, the statue, or what was left of it, seemed to glare at me while it passed me, as if it was made I had ruined it's party.
The city was noisier than ever. But I couldn't hear a single thing. As I walked out of the alleyway, a huge hill appeared, holding up massive skyscrapers from the early 20th century. Their colourful lights seemed to laugh and taunt me at my pathetic existence as an uncle, a protector, and a guardian.
As I walked back to my apartment building in the pouring rain, a hover-car sped up in the sky above me, making a shadow of what appeared to be the statue I've seen. Ever since the cult-party, that 'thing' has haunted me for the entirety of the trip, appearing everywhere I step and see. I got into my apartment and took a seat on the couch. I sighed as I ordered a cup of jasmine tea from my Intelligent Teapot. The hot tea began to soothe my troubled mind. I decided to take my mind of things, I questioned the quietness. This apartment was a small building with no less than 10 people in it. The silence was eerie, perhaps everyone else was asleep. It wasn't common, but it could be why.
I looked around, there seemed no appearances of that thing- no, I should keep my mind of things for now, try to stop thinking about that, thing. Wait. Why was my apartment door unlocked when I came in? My mind must've been too distracted earlier this morning. I placed down my tea and got up, lumbering towards the door. I felt my pockets for my keys, but there was something else. It felt hard with all sorts of shapes, like an action figure. I pulled out the figure to see the figurine now in my hands. My mind went blank. I clenched my hands. Cold sweat ran down my neck. Why? How? When?
"What's the meaning of this!" I blurted out, I spun my head, looking for something, anything. Nothing came out. I felt like was standing in the void. Nothing was heard except for the silent humming of my heater and the squeaking tea pot. The rain tapped gently on my windowpanes, I could heard my heart beat, louder. Louder. Louder. Louder. Louder. Louder. My ears rang. Raindrops. Teardrops. My humming heater. The squeaking coffee pot. Louder. Louder. Louder. A whale in the sky, an elephant filled my eyes, and a man, it was my nephew, standing. Staring. Smiling.
Gasping, I looked straight up, and saw a faint silhouette, hovering over me. What was, it? A man, a whale, an elephant? WHAT WAS IT, TELL ME, SHOW ME YOURSELF, WHAT ARE YOU, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME! EXPOSE YOURSELF. Everything went silent. I shivered, staring into the white cube that had descended into the middle of the room.
The white cube taunted me. Or was I, just mad? No, everything was taunting me. It gave me a feeling of fear, no, horror. Pure horror. Nothing more, nothing less. It scared me. I ran, as fast as I could. I couldn't. I tried to escape it. I fell down, my hand were drenched in blood. I was back in my unit, it didn't matter. I fled outside, out of the building, the building was morphing into something. I had no time to be discombobulated. The hill's blinding lights morphed itself into a man- no a whale- no an el- whatever. I ran. I kept running. People transformed into the thing. Buildings turned into it. The sky itself was a purple-ish colour. No. No. Nonono. This was not happening. This couldn't be happening
I woke up to a foul smell in the alleyway. I saw something in the corner of my eye. It was the shattered statue I had broken earlier. I desperately tried to build it back upagain, I cupped my bloody hands together and started scooping the broken pieces up. The sharp pieces dug into my palms deeper and deeper. The dust got in my wound, they seemed to light my wounds on fire, burning it. The pain didn't stop my desperate attempts. The wounds dug deeper, the debris twisted and churned the insides of my hand, making it impossible to move it any further.
The world melted away, and I cried. There was nothing more I could do. The only thing keeping me awake was sharp pain in my palms. I reached in, shoving my blood drenched fingers to dig out the debris once more. It dazed me. My own skin felt acidic, digging and poisoning me. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dumba-dumba-dumbad-umba-dumb-adbumabadumbadumbaddumbadum-
A tiny shadow, smaller than an ant appeared on the grey floor. I tried to cover it with my blood, but it didn't work. The shadow seemed to grow bigger and bigger as my blood touched it. Soon, it was a mountain, a whale, an elephant, a man. A man, with one eye in his forehead, with a trunk on his neck, with a mouth as big as a whale. My neck turned on its own. My eyes were forced to process information I shouldn't be processing. My mind. Blank. I. Can't.
It smiled.
And it spoke up for the first time, with a large smile on its face.
god?