What remains - A collection of Duskwood Oneshots

Trickster

A.N.: I've written this story as somewhat of a follow up on my previous Oneshot The Plan.

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The group had surprised MC and Jake with an impromtu house party to make up for the fact that the two had opted out of any sort of bachelor or bachelorette party. The kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it. Bottles, glasses and the remainders of finger food and other snacks are scattered over every available surface. Dan, Phil and Lilly are the last ones awake, while everyone else had already toodled off to bed hours ago. They are sitting around the dining table. The two men are playing a card game one they know the rules to. Lillys face rests on her hand, her heavy lids slowly losing the fight against gravity. MCs cat Kiki strolls in from the living room, tail up, and hops on Lillys lap.

"HA! I win again" Dan calls out while smashing his last card on the pile. The sudden outburst startles Lilly awake. Dizzily, she checks her watch. It is 2 a.m. Phil gathers the cards from the table. "Ah, Lilly is with us again. Care to join us for a game? How about strip poker?" he asks with a grin, while Dan snorts into the glass he was just taking a sip from.

"In your dreams, Phil. I'll be actually heading to bed now as well." Lilly briefly strokes Kikis black fur and then gets off her chair. She walks towards the door leading to the living room. "But you two go ahead. Try not to drink yourselves into a coma." And with that she is gone.

Phil and Dan had just settled back into their game, when a bloodcurdling scream comes from the living room. Both jump up and take off towards the other room, sending the last, half-empth whiskey bottle and several glasses flying. Kiki hisses at the suffen commotion. Before they can reach the door, Lilly comes back inside, shaking and her hands pressed to her mouth. "What is it, Lilly?" Dan asks. "Th.. I think there is a dead body in the living room" Lilly stutters. "What are you talking about? That is impossible" Dan walks over to her and puts a hand on her shoulder. The mortified look on her face convinces him that she is not making anything up. Something terrible must have happened in the room next door.

"Wait here. We will get to the bottom of this." He signals to Phil to follow him and walks into the dimly lit living room. The state of this room is only marginally better than the kitchen. At first, they are not sure what they are looking for, until Lillys shaky voice sounds from the kitchen: "I saw it on the floor, behind the couch." Carefully and only slightly swaying Dan walks around to peek behind the sofa. And indeed, he can see a figure laing on the floor, face down. There is a reddish substance pooling around them and chunks are stuck in the unruly black hair.

"Fuck, who is that?" Phil whispers next to him. "Dunno. But.. they are probably just sleeping. Lilly, did you check their pulse?" She is still standing in the doorway, arms wrapped around herself. "No, Dan. Because they might be dead. I don't want to touch a dead body."

Suddenly the ceiling lamps flicker to life. Squinting, the three look around and see MC standing on the top of the stairs, a baseball bat in hand. "What's up with all the noise down here? Haven't you had enough?" she asks in a scolding whisper. Dan points at the body. "There may or may not be a dead body in your living room." MC walks a few steps down the stairs to be able to see. The she immediately starts to giggle which quickly escalates into laughter so hard she has to hold on to the handrail. The others can just stare at her in puzzlement. "Take a closer look." she says once she can breathe again.

Dan bends down and grabs the shoulder of the lifeless figure to turn it around. Then it dawns on the two men. "It is Erica!" the blowup doll they had hidden in MCs bed, mainly to mess with Jake. One of them must have thrown her over the banister into the livingroom. While Dan and Phil join in on MCs laughter, Lilly is still confused. "Who is Erica? And what is up with the mess around her head? It looks like blood and god knows what."

Dan bends down to scoop up some of it, sniffs and then puts it in his mouth. "Dan! Eww!" "It must be Jessys weird hot dog salad." He concludes on his analysis. "That stuff which basically just consisted of ketchup."

Now, they are looking in unison at the side table where a bowl full of the so-called salad had been standing the entire evening, untouched. But in its place, Kiki is sitting now, upright with her tail neatly draped around her feet. She is lazily cleaning one of her front paws.

"Kikimora, you little devil!" MC adesses her cat. "Did you knock over that bowl to scare our friends?"

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Kikimora is a Udmurt word meaning scarecrow. In Russian folklore, Kikimora grew up with a magician. When she was old enough, she spent the day spinning evil intentions for the world from flax.