Nightmares in the Northwest

Pest Control

Emily was sitting in her wooden chair in the motorcycle bar where she stayed, because she was homeless due to her loft in the auto repair shop being burned down. Gloria came in, looking rather extravagant in her orchid fur coat and purple aviators on her eyes. She came to Emily to talk to her.

"Emily, my dear niece!" Gloria said when she hugged Emily.

"Gloria, now that Uncle Phil is dead, that act that got you in jail is water under the bridge, am I correct?" Emily said to her dear auntie. Gloria began to tear up a bit. She reached for a tissue from her pocket. She wiped away the tear from her eye, because she was feeling sad that her husband had died.

"I may have been angry with him frequently, but he was still my husband." Gloria walked away.

"Wait, Gloria!" Emily cried. Emily came with her.

"Where are you going?" Emily was wondering where Gloria was going while she was walking to her car.

"I am going to get this car repainted black and I am going to throw out all my purple clothes and buy black and white ones." Gloria told Emily when she got in the car. Emily got in the car with her. Gloria started the engine and drove to Mistdale Customs.

"What can I do for you?" The attendant asked.

"I want this whole car repainted black!" Gloria asked.

"Sure thing!" A robotic arm resprayed the car black in less than 30 seconds.

"That will be four hundred dollars." The attendant told Gloria. She went and handed the attendant four 100-dollar bills.

"Take care!" The attendant waved good-bye while Emily and Gloria drove to Gloria's old house. Sadly, there was a Foreclosed Sign on the door. The windows were boarded up and the doors were locked and bolted. There were graffiti tags on the walls, one of which was an old Bison tag. The shackles in the roof were falling off, while a raven made a nest on the roof. Emily and Gloria tried to open the door, but it would not open. Emily pushed open the door with her telekinesis and it worked. The only problem was there were spiders and rats that lived in the house.

"Looks like we got to deal with the squatters." Gloria advised. She went to the closet to get her husband's 12-gauge shotgun and pulled back the barrel.

"It's about time we take the house back!" Gloria said to herself, feeling confident to let the pests know that she meant business.

"You're using a shotgun against rats and spiders?" Emily questioned, thinking that may be overkill.

"And?" Gloria replied.

"I love it!" A huge rat the size of a small stool scurried around the house, going into the pantry to eat the food there. Gloria shot and killed the rat.

"See, that's why I needed the shotgun, because pests tend to be oversized in Mistdale." Gloria explained.

"Given the spiders in the law firm office, I guess that is the case." Emily recalled the giant yellow and black spiders she and Katie fought in the underground office park when trying to reclaim it. More giant yellow and black spiders arrived, as well as purple and green striped spiders with red skull-and bones symbols on their abdomens arrived. One of these spiders spit green venom at Emily. She dodged the venom and used her telekinesis to separate the legs from the body. Gloria just shot the legless spider in the head, when it exploded. Emily separated the legs from the bodies of the other spiders and rammed the legs into the bodies, killing them. Some yellow and black spiders arrived. Gloria shot her gun, while Emily used telekinesis at the same time, creating a ricocheting bullet that bounced through all the spiders, killing them. Some giant rats the size of bears arrived, eating the food in the refrigerator.

"Wanna eat something, how about you eat my bullet, you giant rats!" Gloria shot three of them at a time, killing them. The last rat was a big black rat with glowing green eyes. It shot green fire from its mouth, roaring and growling for human flesh. It shot a fireball at Emily. She caught the fireball with her telekinesis and threw it back. It ripped out one of its fangs and threw it at Emily. She caught the fang with her telekinesis and threw it back, putting out the rat's left eye. With one eye, the rat shot another fireball directed at Gloria. Emily jumped to save Gloria, throwing the fireball back with her powers, and redirecting it at the rat's chest. Gloria went for the kitchen knife and threw it, taking out the rat's other eye. The rat could still hear Emily, since it still had its ears. She ran from the rat and went into Phil's study. There was a birthday present still in its original wrapping that said To Emily with lots of love, from Uncle Phil. Happy 18th Birthday!" It was a long present wrapped in purple and white striped wrapping paper. Emily opened it, and it came with a note attached.

Dear Emily Sanchez

I intended to give this to you on your eighteenth birthday, but since you were off to college, I had no way to give it to you, so I left it here whenever you visit me. Hope that clears everything up.

Sincerely,

Phil Sanchez

Emily opened the box, and it was a genuine rapier sword, and it was not for fencing, it was the real deal. It came with a sheath that clipped onto the belt for safekeeping. Emily drew her sword and charged at the rat. She swung the sword horizontally, beheading the rat, leaving green Mountain Dew-like blood spewing on the floor. The rat disintegrated into black dust after its head was separated from its body.

"Well, now that the pests are gone, it's time I go to my room and get rid of all my purple clothes." Gloria went to her and Phil's bedroom and went to her closet. She found a whole selection of coats, hats, pants, socks, shoes, shirts, and even vests that were different shades of purple. She gathered up all of them and placed them in a basket. She took the basket outside to the firepit. Emily saw her throwing all those purple clothes into the firepit. Gloria took out the lighter and lit the fire, burning all her purple clothes and fashion accessories.

"I know why you did this." Emily told Gloria sadly while they sat down in the black lawn chairs next to the fire pit. "The purple color represented your happiness, and it's just hard to have that when you lost your beloved husband."

"Exactly." Gloria replied. "Now all I have is depression, having to carry the weight of losing my beloved husband, no matter how annoying he got."

"He was a good man." Emily wrapped her arm around Gloria's shoulder. "At least we can still appreciate the people who are still here, like Sara, Al, and Katie, who are my friends."

"I wonder what Sara is doing." Gloria asked. An arrow had struck the ground of the backyard, killing an Olympic Chipmunk that was nearby. Emily went to open it and began to read it.

I am being held captive against my own will by vampires in a camp somewhere in the deep woods that separates Mistdale from the wealthy port town of Rockhopper.

Please, my sister, save me from these horrible monsters!

Sincerely,

Sara Sanchez

"I always hated Rockhopper!" Emily groaned. "The people there think they are so entitled." Emily began to give an impression of a Rockhopper citizen, or many of them.

"Hey John, check out the new car I got from the Bentley store, and it isn't even a car dealership!" Emily went on to the second character's dialogue. "Oh yea, and I bundled my home and auto with Bling Bling Insurance, an insurance company that only rich people get to use!"

"Well, I don't know if these vampires are from Rockhopper or not, but what's important is they kidnapped your sister." Gloria replied. "We're getting in the car and saving Sara!"

"Wait!" Emily halted Gloria before she could leave. "I am taking my own car."

"That's good." Gloria replied. "Let's go!" Gloria and Emily went to their respective vehicles, ready to drive off to rescue Sara.