The Unseemly

Chapter 13 - The Arrangement

Chapter Thirteen - The Arrangement

Ripened Minds

Peter Jenkins and Nicholas Harrison followed the White Raven trail shortly after the funeral of the Stonebrooke's. It led them to an old shed that looked like it hadn't been vacant in decades.

"What exactly are we looking for again, Mr. Harrison," Peter asked.

"It's called a Kludde. A Kludde can change into a wide assortment of animals, such as ravens, bats, and even trees that grow high above the clouds, such as these." Harrison points up. "Other times they can show up looking like a human being, anything was possible, really; evolution. Others believed him to be a werewolf, a demon, or even the devil himself."

"Well, let's hope it's not Lucifer and hope it's some deranged drug addict on a bender. You get those around these parts, ya know." Peter says.

"I've been tracking a Kludde for years, and this one fits the description of him. The White Raven. In my research, I found that Kluddes usually stick with a familiar animal for a long time. I heard about the White Raven in stories growing up as a young boy." Nicholas almost sounded excited. "Check out the prints."

Harrison points down to reveal track marks of the raven then those of a human right in front. As if the raven altered into a man. The footprints went around the shed's back, which led to a broken door that swung open. Harrison called for Peter to meet him at the door and have his gun ready. Peter drew near the door with his gun and flashlight slowly. He kicked the door open violently, and yelled, "POLICE!" No one was on the other side, but what they did find shocked them both to their core.

"This must be where he lives," Harrison says, walking in the torn shed.

"You sound insane! I heard you were the best, but I didn't sign up for this voodoo bullshit." Peter Jenkins pronounced.

"What other evidence have you got so far, Sheriff? How I see it, I'm your last resort, so you kind of have to listen and shut the fuck up." Harrison says smoothly. "Now, let's look around and see what we can find. Any bug you see, kill it; it could be him."

Being a cop for years, Peter knew how to thoroughly search a scene, and with the help of this Nicholas Harrison character, he finally felt as if this case was going somewhere. He wasn't sure where, but anywhere was better than nowhere, he thought. The abandoned shed stands skeletal on a small hill, a decaying beauty of an era long past. Even her walls no longer keep her safe, no longer repel storms of rain or snow. Stripped of her splendor, she lumps under gravity, dying slowly, creaking in the gusting winds. The door creaks open, moving open a centimeter at a time. It could move faster, but the door's wood has grown moldy and soft with water and neglect, and if you pushed it more rigid, you'd probably make right through the door. Once inside, a thick layer of dust and mold coated almost everything. Several dark holes where floorboards have snapped, weak from decay and pressured downwards by the weight of the gigantic dust bunnies formed. Cobwebs covered every corner and bathed the house, including the furniture.

Sections of ceiling hang limp in the stagnant air. Fragments of plaster lie damp over a long untrodden floor, their only purpose of soaking in the seasonal rain. Coldwater seeps through window frames, rotten and blistered, to nurse the mildew and rise up wallpapers that peel. The cupboards are a time-warp of long-forgotten brands that barely live on, even in the memories of the elderly. All around are the artifacts of a life lived and hastily abandoned, mattresses, dolls, old tin containers with carvings written on them barely able to read.

"Check these tin containers; they have locks on them, so must be something of value inside," Peter instructs Harrison, who already has one of the containers open.