Story Notes:
I had to re-write this thing. Wolfgang is hopefully more likable, and everyone will be able to experience what he feels during the course of the story. Italics omitted due to invalid formatting.
Archive: Norman Wellshire| Briar Bay Mini-Infirmary| Arc I
With Arlen dropped off, I figured I'd have some time to myself and visit Briar Bay.
The car slowed at a red light, and darkness had soon fallen over the streets. A light fog was clinging to the vehicle and Arlen and I sat in relative silence for a while. The car's radio was the only thing keeping the small talk coming, though since Pokemon were still getting used to technology, only two stations could be broadcasted; governmental and recreational. I had it set to the rec station and rather smooth jazz music was seeping out of the small speakers. It was quiet enough for me to think, but also quiet enough to stretch the awkwars silence. I know this was a rather bad idea, but I figured I'd give it a try.
"Arlen? How's your relationship with your father?" I was expecting him to get red or just stay quiet during this question due to my suspicions, but I got something surprising.
"What's it to you?" That shut me up right away. If Cassius was doing something, I would never know. And really, I didn't want to, because I'd have it on my mind for a while. The light was still red and I found myself tapping a digit on the steering wheel impatiently. I couldn't leave the conversation dead like this. Well... the conversation had been shot down many a time due to Arlen's quietness (or in this case, harshness) but we were still a little bit from the kid's house. I figured I'd try to keep the somewhat neutral spirits afloat.
"It's nothing," I replied after a long silence. "I-"
"What? You think I'm useless? That I can't defend myself? That I'm weak!?"
"No! Arlen, please!" I get scared easily, but Arlen was really starting to intimidate me.
"Shut up! He doesn't care! He thinks I can't take care of myself, but he's never around!" Arlen pointed a small paw up at me, hatred festering in his small black eyes. I didn't dare meet them. I just swallowed and kept my eyes trained on that red light. Now, I know that sounds lame, but had you been there, you'd have done the same thing. What do you say to a kid with emotional troubles? Well, I didn't know. This would lead to my inevitable downfall.
"So, he's doing something to you?" The question hung in the air as I nearly peeled off down the street. The streetlights glew orange and illuminated the street in the same color, but the light fog helped to restrict my vision and I instantly slowed the car down. Arlen put his paw down and just shut himself up. By the way his shoulders tensed, I could tell I had offended him.
"Mister Upton, let me out." I kept driving, making a right on Ryan street. Almost there. "Mister Upton." I ignored him, hoping he wouldn't yell or something. I'd drop him off when we reached his house. "Mister Upton! Let me out of this car or I'll call the police." The Bidoof had his paws around my ePhone and was one second away from dialing the 'Emergency' button. I narrowed my eyes at him; he wouldn't. He would. It was almost too late when I snapped.
"Fine!! You want to get out, then leave!" I skid the car to an immediate halt and the resulting inertia sent us both rocking forward. My eyes were trained on the road ahead as I waited for him to excuse himself. Granted, leaving a kid to walk home on a dark and foggy night was a bad idea, but the crime rate in Twilight Glen was so low it didn't really matter. He hopped out of the car and began walking away. "Brat," I hissed under my breath and took off, not looking behind me.
Since I was on Ryan street, I'd need to take the highway again to get to the Brair Bay infirmary, and so I did. I merged on slowly, seeing as there was still traffic coming, and slowly made my way north. It had been a long day for me, and I had a feeling it would be an even longer night. I was already starting to doze off as the streetlights perched on either side of the highway passed rythymically by. A yawn parted my lips, and I knew I couldn't hold on much longer, so I pulled over and turned the car off manually. I decided to get some sleep and head over to Briar Bay when I woke up. The police aren't strict about things like this, and if need be, I can always lie and say my car broke down.
The night passed slowly. I was very sleepy just then, but when I lay down in the backseat, I feel as awake as ever. My thoughts were mostly centered around Arlen, though. That little voice in my head came back, too, whispering something I ignored. How was he doing? It's your fault. Will Cassius blame him for being late? It's your fault. Should I go back and get him? It's your fault. Then I silenced myself and turned my brain off as much as possible. All I needed to do was sleep, and the voice was not helping. The inside of the car, which was leather, was terribly cold which I found strange considering it was spring. My paws were cold, my fur wasn't helping, my tail was curled over my body and I was hugging myself for warmth.
I woke. The haze of dawn as it was called seemed to cloak the entire outside world in a dense, mysterious veil. I couldn't see my paw in front of my face as I stepped out, and surveying my surroundings was all but impossible. However, I could somehow make out the infirmary complex just ahead of me, standing tall and flat, beckoning me to enter. I was headed this way anyway, but something seemed sinister about the way it seemed to peer at me. I closed the car door behind me, and checked my white jacket pockets for anything I'd need; twenty dollars of cash and my Pass. My car keys... That was about all I was carrying at the moment.
I walked along the bare concrete of the highway, noticing that it seemed to be... rotting. There were slabs of stone everywhere and the concrete was showing the steel frame beneath it. This was strange, seeing as I was driving on it just last night. Also, there were no cars coming. It was completely empty space, aside from the car I left behind and myself.
Eventually, I came to the merging section of the highway that led down to Taylormount Terrace. Even for a car, the road was huge, but if I remembered correctly, I had three options. The first was keep going straight up Taylormount and head to the Conference Suite, ask around for the directions to the medical service thingy, get my medicine and be on my way. The second was to head to the Maternity section via Johnfield Road past Lavender Crescent. Or, I could take Lavender up and get to the Well Woman's Clinic. I decided to try the suite.
My paws were light on the ground as I walked as bravely as I could. Have you ever walked in deep fog? Where your body is layered in white and your original colors seem to fade away? When you accidentally bump into poles and things because you can't see? I was paranoid. I tried to keep my shoulders tense and manly, and keep my eyes ahead of me, but I couldn't help looking all around me every ten seconds. My checks would light up at every sound and my tail was constantly lashing. The street was terribly long, too, which made the expericne a tedious torment.
I was nearing the building when I saw it; a shadow. It's head moved over to my direction and I froze, wishing I had something to defend myself with. It didn't seem to be hostile at all, though, as it began backing away into the fog. I wanted to follow it, actually, since it could mean contact with someone, and this meant I could have someone direct me to the place I wanted to be. So, I decided to get on the person's good side. "Er, hey you! Wait there!" From the size of the shadow, I saw that it was a stocky... something, with what seemed like a suit glued to it's husky form.
"I've gotta get back!" A reply! However, after the 'mon said this, it backed away and was gone. The sound of leather shoes against concrete echoed around the dense mist and I put a foot forward, stopping myself. Get back? What did they mean by that? I turned and walked forward a bit, noticing the front door. It was loomed over by a miniature roof and said roof acted as a small passageway to the door. I could not really tell the color of the building since everything appeared gray to me right now, but I didn't care at the moment. If I needed to locate the area by sight, I'd need to take in details more specific than color. I tugged on the door, but to my dismay, it appeared to be locked. No! There was no sign that told others it was closed, but the door was just locked.
I narrowed my eyes; break in or go around? Well, geeze, I already pretty much had a heart attack getting here, why would I want to go around? I pressed my body into the door, but since I barely was taller than the pushbar, this didn't work. I gazed around at my feet for anything to use, but there was no conveniently placed weapon there, like a sledgehammer or anything. I looked the door over; sleek, glass, and very modernist looking. Nothing I had in my inventory would account for this. Then, I remembered the highway; perhaps this place was decayed, too?
I was persistant and kicked the door many a time. Seeing as I was so small, one kick barely rattled the thing, but eventually I was able to bludgeon it open. The door swung open and I walked gently inside. I was certainly inside of the Conference Suite, alright. The pale white light from the door spilled into the room, and I could see around me much better. There were abandoned coffee tables with coffee mugs tipped over, broken tiles, decripit shelves, moldy walls and broken lockers. The staff must have come here to relax during the day, but I'm left to wonder, where did they all go? Everything was in working order yesterday (well, I wasn't here, but since the highway was fine this place was bound to be, too) and it didn't make sense that in just one day everything had gone to heck. There was a small bar at my right, and I travelled over to it.
I almost cut my pads on the glass scattered about the floor carelessly. It didn't seem like there was fight, but rather as though the glass had been broken and had been placed there. The hardwood floor sank under my weight and it threatened to break, though I had put on a bit of weight, so decay may or may not be the case... but I wasn't that fat. A flashlight was propped on the counter upright, and I snatched it, feeding electricity into it. As I clicked it on, I saw just how bad the place was. Dried blood and unidentifiable green liquid collected in green pools at the corners of the walls, and it really did reek.
I walked down the hallway ahead of me, and noticed it was really long. In the middle of it, however, a large hole in the hardwood prevented any progress further down the dark hall. As I made my way before it, I saw two doors. One was steel and rusty and looked about ready to fall off, and the other was wooden and rather new looking. I decided to try the rusty one, just in case I'd need to come back this way. The knob didn't turn; there was keyhole under it and a small coat of arms was etched into the knob. I huffed and turned around, surprised to see that the wooden door opened as smoothly as it did.
Silence.
Silence was all that awaited me. There was nothing but dead silence, until I heard the groaning. I began jogging down the new hallway now, my paws making deep creases and creaking in the hardwood flooring. I passed a broken door and a closet, and made a mental note of them for later. If I wanted to have a chance at finding my way around, I'd need to take more... 'tools' to open the doors easier. The closet could spare a few broomsticks at the least, right? Finally I came to the end of the hallway. There were two doors, but only one held the groaning person. The one behind me was barred off by cast-iron bars and that was probably not going to open. Ever.
As I gently opened the door, I heard a gasp escape the 'mon inside. The room looked rather cozy, with a recliner situated in the middle, a steel worktable at the far corner, a televison boosted upon a crate in the far left. The walls were decorated light brown with green flowers in vertical rows, and this seemed to be one of the only places without mold. "Hello?," I called in softly, hoping I hadn't caught the poor guy at an inappropriate moment.
"Yeah, what?" Well, then. I pursed my lips and was about to leave when I recognized the voice. Apparently the big fella' didn't remember my own.
"Cassius?" He jumped and turned to the door, a scalpel in his chubby hand. His eyes wide in terror, he called for me to fully expose myself. I did, swinging the door open and shining the flashlight on him, cutting through the grimy darkness. He sighed in relief, the sweat on his brow highlighted by the faint glow of the televison. "What are you doing here? And what's behind you?"
"I don't know! I've gotta get back!" He tossed the scalpel away, and I watched it fly across the room out of sight. So, that was him, huh? No wonder. He was actually wearing a suit, a blue one, though it had small splatters of blood on it. But from what?
"Whoa, calm down, okay?," I requested gently, keeping my tone as soothing as possible. "What's that behind you?"
He gulped and his entire body began shaking. He blinked down at me, a scowl forming on his face. Then, he turned his head away. "Upton, let me go, please."
"Wait! How can you sit here and ask to leave? We should go together! I need to get my medicine, and I could drive you to whereever it is you need to be!" I hoped this made sense, since I was just trying to talk as rationally as possible. I didn't really need him, but I figured I'd take him with me so that he won't be stranded here.
"You don't get it! I'm a monster..." Cassius stormed past me, walking out into the hallway and vanishing into the darkness beyond. Well, at least he could find the exit that way, and he'd be back on the highway. I decided to linger a bit, though, as I-
Arlen.
The thought hit me as soon as I saw it, and I tentatively walked over to it. I say it because it was a long-dead corpse of a Bidoof. It stank, but it was strange because I hadn't even smelled it before. There was a puddle of blood around the small body and it dripped silently onto the floor; it was recently killed, perhaps? But how come it had just starting stinking now? I put a hand gently over it, and shook my head. The mouth of the body was forced open, which led me to think Cassius had a bit of... personal time with it. Was he really that sick? I had my reasons. However, these reasons were outlawed as I saw the sticky note posted on the far side of the worktable.
Was what it read, and I turned to the corpse. What? What's inside of what? I had an idea... whomever wrote this note was possibly trying to tell me something was inside of the corpse. I wanted to believe it, but my common sense got the best of me. Why would anyone hide something important in a body? But... was Cassius trying to disect it? Maybe the guy wasn't as dirty as I thought. Perhaps it was his hand that went inside of the mouth? There were also deeps cuts along the body, but no deep damage was dealt to it. I tried looking around for the scalpel, but wherever the Bibarel tossed it, it was gone now.
Frowning, I bent over the corpse and gingerly stuck a paw inside. I could feel my paw descending into the throat, and that's when it hit something. Amidst all the slime, I felt a solid object, and I ended up pulling out a key. I looked down at the Bidoof, at... his eyes. They were cold and distant, staring right ahead hollowly. It didn't seem like he had choked on the key, but... Nevermind. I wiped it off on my shirt, and pocketed it, grabbing the flashlight and walking out. The creasing of the hardwood let me know I was in the depressing Conference Suite once more as I closed the door behind me. My thoughts were taken back to Cassius. How had he felt? I certainly didn't see any blood on either of his suit's sleeves, so he didn't stick his hand down the corpse's throat. There were cuts, though... what did he do? Where was he? And what was he thinking? Seeing as how this place was almost done at the moment, I knew I'd need to explore the five or six other buildings around the complex before being able to safely return home.
This was going to be a long day. Again.