Oddity Specialist: World Of The Occult

by James Courneya

  “Useful? Let me think. Well, there is the parlor, the sunroom, the recreation room and…”

  “What is it?”

  “Everything seems so familiar, yet distinctly different. I wonder why that is?”

  “Hm.”

  Neri examines the girls clothing and thinks to herself. “She’s wearing clothes from that time period. Meaning, either she was put into these clothes for a reason and has amnesia, or.”

  “Hey, do you have any ideas, on how we might get out of here?”

  The girl shakes her head.

  “I had thought about it for a while, but it seems hopeless. There’s just no way out, there never was a way out.”

  The girl starts to emanate a sorrowful feeling.

  “Cheer up, we’ll get out of here, I can guarantee it.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I know so.”

  “I hope your right. How I wish I could go home and see my family, once again.”

  Quinn starts looking around, the upstairs area again. While doing so, he makes he’s way up the never-ending staircase, a couple times. “You know a small part of this seems fun. For a lack of a better word. Though, the circumstance could be better.”

  While examining the room Phoebe was in, the boy notices a crack in the wall. “That has an interesting formation.”

  Quinn pulls his phone out and takes a picture of the crack.

  “What are you doing, taking a picture like that?”

  Lucifer is looking over the boy’s shoulder.

  “Don’t you feel something, when you look at this crack in the wall?”

  “Feel something, looking at a crack? I’d think not. Well I suppose, if your life was mundane enough, a crack in the wall might be a way to break up the monotony.”

  “It’s more than that. It might give you the feeling of something being broken and lost, or perhaps a nostalgic feeling. A sense of dread, from what needs to be fixed in the future.”

  “Is that what you see?”

  “No. When I look at it, I get lost in the shadows of the crack, trying to see what they are covering.”

  Lucifer looks once more.

  “It’s just a crack in the wall. I can’t see a way to feel anything, from just looking at it.”

  “Really? Because I can’t figure out how someone could look at something, anything really and not feel at least something. Stimulus must have some response, right? Even if that response is underwhelming.”

  “Perhaps you’re right. Instead of saying I feel nothing, I’ll simply say that what I feel, isn’t worth anything.”

  “See, we are coming to a better understanding, every conversation.”

  Lucifer stands straight up, walking to the open closet.

  “You know sending that girl off on her own, might not have been the best idea.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just mean, that friend of yours could be in danger.”

  Quinn’s immediate reaction is to ask about Neri; but he controls himself, instead opting to ask something else.

  “You noticed something when we entered here, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “What was it?”

  “Hm. How to put it into words? A sense of dread, I suppose.”

  “You mean fear?”

  “What else?”

  “So, you can tell the oddity we are dealing with is dangerous.”

  “Listen closely, I don’t have some oddity sensing super power, nor do I have a breadth of knowledge to pull from, to make my deductions. I saw that there was an oddity and it seemed bad. Thus far, nothing too dangerous has happened though. Perhaps, I was being to bold in my acquisition.”

  “I don’t think that’s correct.”

  “Really? Know something I don’t?”

  “Not that, rather I think it’s something you know, that I don’t.”

  “Pray tell?”

  “Even when I went off to face an oddity, we knew was dangerous, you seemed fine with it.”

  “I wouldn’t describe my feelings as fine.”

  “Well, you were at least still monotone about it. This time however, you were more worried. There had to have been a reason?”

  “And you think that reason is, I sensed that this oddity was more dangerous than the shadow figure.”

  “No.”

  Lucifer looks back, with an unpleasant stare.

  “I think there is a different denominator, for why you had that reaction; especially with the timing of it.”

  Lucifer continues to be dour.

  “Generally, I would expect you to not care about if people were to live or die. However, you have reason to care about my life line; but yet, you still show some care about another person.”

  “What are you trying to say.”

  “There is something going on with Neri Minerva, I know it. The coincidences have piled a bit too far. What I want to know is, if you know what that thing is?”

  Lucifer stays quiet, walking past Quinn, continuing to examine the room.

  “Is it possible for oddities to be attracted to humans?”

  Lucifer stops in his tracks turning back, with a worried expression; but upon seeing Quinn’s face, he quickly calms back down.

  “You mean, like how they are attracted to me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who can say? Maybe, maybe not.”

  Quinn gives a confused look. “If that isn’t it, then what?”

  Lucifer deliberately contemplates something.

  “You know-”

  As he is beginning to talk, he is cut off. Both the men turn to the doorway, where a third party is standing. “What the heck is that?!”

  Standing there is the figure of a large man, his body has an ethereal static quality to it. With it continuously contorting, having pieces of himself flash in and out of existence, seemingly. The surface of his body being comprised of red light, overlapping white light. The only really discernible parts of him, are his trilby hat and the long, curved knife, with a circler off handle, in his right hand.

  “Get away from this thing, quickly.”

  Lucifer looks back to Quinn, panic in his eyes. Before the boy reacts, the static man begins quickly walking at him.

  “Gah!”

  Quinn tries to run around him. When he does, the man takes his knife, slashing at Quinn. Who side steps and raises his arm, to avoid the knife. The man’s long reach however, allows him to slice Quinn’s side.

  “Ah!”

  Quinn trips up for a second, from the pain. This gives the static man an opportunity, which he uses to shove Quinn into the wall. Taking his knife up, he stabs at Quinn’s head. Seeing death in front of him, he moves; getting his cheek sliced, instead of his head. “That seemed closer, than it was.”

  Quinn tries tackling the man; but is unable to push him back. The man stabs down into Quinn’s shoulder, the knife then slides off the boy’s shoulder onto his shoulder blade, leaving a longer gash.

  “AHH!”

  Quinn takes this built up adrenaline and punches the apparition in the jaw, staggering it for a moment. Taking this time, Quinn darts out the door, slamming it behind him. He rushes downstairs, making it to the bottom he looks up. Seeing the static man standing at the top of the stairs, unmoving, simply watching the boy. After a moment, the apparition walks back upstairs, leaving Quinn’s sight. Quinn still panicked, walks over to the front door. Leaning against it once more, he slides to the ground, keeping an eye on the stairs.

  “What was that?”

  “That seems to be the oddity. Though, it would appear that this whole situation, is the work of an oddity. So thusly, that is just a piece of the oddity, I should say.”

  “A dangerous piece.”

  “Seems that way.”

  “Did you see it’s knife, when it cut me?”

  “I had my eyes glued onto the action. After all, it did decide my fate.”

  “The knife, when it got me, it didn’t go as deep as t
he blade looked. I think the actual cutting part, is more in line with a small shiv.”

  ‘Uh-huh. That doesn’t necessarily help, if we have no way of fighting it.”

  “Why was the knife smaller than it looked?”

  “Why does it look the way it does? Oddities often aren’t the most grounded beings.”

  Quinn catches his breath at a more stable pace.

  “I can’t let it get to the others.”

  “You don’t need to worry about that, if the two of you get out of here.”

  Quinn looks at Lucifer.

  “What do you mean two? We aren’t leaving without everyone, no one going to be left behind.”

  “Yes, that is why I said, two of you.”

  Quinn slowly comes to realize something. “An oddity has to come from a person. She couldn’t remember things to well, spirits don’t remember their pasts well. She felt like she couldn’t leave. Someone was killed here. If you died somewhere, you would feel like you can’t leave.”

  “Is Phoebe already dead?”

  “Hm, you didn’t know?”

  “Not until a moment ago.”

  “Really? I found it quite obvious. Although, I can tell the difference between the living and the dead, by looking at them.”

  “Yeah, that might help.”

  “Quinn!”

  Neri and Phoebe, exit from one of the left, side rooms. After which, Neri sees Quinn, in his current condition. Rushing over, she examines his wounds.

  “What happened?!”

  Quinn glances behind Neri, at the shaken girl.

  “Someone else is in this house. For now, it seems like they aren’t coming downstairs.”

  Neri opens her bag, pulling out some bandages and rubbing alcohol.

  “How can that be? We checked every room.”

  “It seems they are as odd, as this house is.”

  Neri seems to be slightly taken aback, by this information, before getting a gloomy look.

  “I’m sorry you got dragged into something like this.”

  Neri finish applying the band-aid to the boy’s face. “What do you mean by that, exactly?”

  “It’s alright. I knew going into the old run-down house, might be dangerous.”

  “Alright, take your shirt off.”

  Quinn, taken out of the moment completely, begrudgingly complies.

  “Huh?”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, it’s just this cut on your side, did you get this before we came in here?”

  “What?”

  Quinn looks down to the cut on his torso, it’s stopped bleeding and has begun to heal.

  “Ah, I just don’t bleed very much.”

  Quinn looks to the side. “Anymore that is.”

  “Alright.”

  Finishing the wrapping, Neri slams her palm with her fist.

  “Next time, whoever did this to you shows up, I’ll take them down.”

  “Please don’t do anything dangerous.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s only going to be dangerous for them!”

  The two-stand ready, to think about their next move.

  “Did you two discuss ways to get out of here?”

  “Yeah, but we didn’t come up with much.”

  “Hm.”

  Quinn looks up at the stairs. “If she is the one causing the oddity, that means she must have some strong feelings, tied to what’s happening. A killer, a house you can’t escape and…”

  “Hey Phoebe, the door that was open, how long do you feel it was open for?”

  She takes time to think.

  “It seemed like it had been open for an eternity.”

  “I see.”

  Quinn visualizes the room. “If she is the cause of the oddity, then her feelings about the door might be what kept it open. Thinking logically, what could have been the series of events that lead to this specific point. Feeling trapped, an Image of a killer. What caused the staircase? A failed attempt at something, or perhaps some confusion?”

  Phoebe seems to be put on edge, from finding out someone else is here and Neri is trying to keep her calm. Quinn looks up the stairs. “We’re sectioned off from going up there, for now. Plus, there’s no telling if there’s a reason the oddity hasn’t come down stairs, or if it actually is capable of getting down here.”

  Quinn watches, as Neri interacts with Phoebe. “A way to save them, both of them. There is one person I know, who might be able to fit the pieces together.”

  “Neri can I talk to you?”

  She looks back and forth between Quinn and Phoebe.

  “Alright then.”

  The two take some space.

  “What’s up?”

  “I have a theoretical question for you.”

  “It doesn’t seem like the time and place, but alright.”

  “Let’s say, we were to relive the events of the night, that the murder happened here. Could you walk me through, how you think it played out?”

  “I can try. Let’s see. The killer entered into the building.”

  She begins guiding Quinn’s eyeline, with her hand movements, pointing out events as they happen.

  “They ended up killing the family living here, the parents and their teenage daughter. They likely killed the parents with relatively little problem; but given how things escalated, I think they must have had trouble, with the daughter.”

  “Escalated?”

  “The fire, it started on the night of the killings.”

  “Oh…”

  Quinn thinks back, to before he arrived here. “I really should have looked this place up, before coming.”

  “The report figured, that the fire was caused in a struggle.”

  “Hm.”

  She swiftly takes her finger and presses it against her temple.

  “But I think that’s just one way of looking at it, one option if you will.”

  “Another being?”

  “The fire was caused by the killer on purpose, to force the hiding daughter out and doing so, ended up having them both burned alive.”

  “I see. Thanks.”

  “No problem!”

  Quinn, as he is about to head off into thought, notices something over his shoulder. Looking back, he doesn’t see anything. “Strange, I could have sworn he was watching from behind me. Anyways, if the cause of this is her, the daughter and victim of a murder, then some pieces are falling into place. If she was hiding for a prolonged period of time, perhaps she felt like she was trapped in this house. She recognizes the killers shape, through the darkness. Is the reason the knife doesn’t hurt as much, potentially tied to the fire? Weaker by comparison, or perhaps she was slashed, but it didn’t cut as deep as it seemed? Thusly, making the afterimage weaker. If we want to overcome the oddity, we have either destroy it, or reconcile with the maker. We don’t have the capacity to beat it. Then how do we reconcile with Phoebe? If the core problem is feeling trapped and fearing the killer, then we have to disarm at least one of those. Taking care of the killer’s afterimage, would buy us time perhaps. Even potentially get rid of the feeling of being trapped entirely; but doing that…”

  Quinn thinks back to his encounter and shakes his head. “Then, we have to make her feel like she can leave. If she manages to get out, then everything should be solved. How can I do it, though?”

  “Neri, it’s best if we make sure, that Phoebe feels like everything is going to be okay. It’s especially important, to make sure that she feels like she can leave this place.”

  The girl gives a big smile and clenches her fist.

  “Don’t worry, there’s no way I’d let someone lose hope. I know we are getting out of here.”

  Quinn looks relived. “It seems her personality, is going to really come through for us here.”

  The two work Phoebe back into the conversation.

  “Alright, let’s keep working at it. I’m sure we’ll be out, in no time at all.”

  “You think so?”

  �
�Yep! Compared to the time that you’ve already been here, it’ll be almost instant. So, let’s keep working on getting out.”

  “Alright.”

  Neri heads over to the door, giving the handle a twist.

  “Hey, I think the door is looser than before.”

  “Really?!”

  Phoebe looks out amazed. “For the first time since meeting her, seems to have a spark of hope. Good, let’s keep it up.”

  “Hey let me see.”

  Quinn gives it a twist.

  “Yeah, this seems way looser than before. Maybe even like, we might be able to force it open.”

  Neri gives Quinn a sly look and a mischievously grin.

  “Ho? Yeah it seems like it.”

  Phoebe, excitedly asks.

  “Then should we try to force it open?”

  Quinn raises his hand.

  “Not so fast, there are plenty of ways to get a door like this, to open. I can probably figure out dozens of ways, to loosen the door even more.”

  Neri leans over.

  “Really now?”

  “Yeah, each one should bring us one step closer to opening it.”

  “Then let’s get to work!”

  Neri flexes her bicep, while grabbing it. Quinn then proceeds to look up ways to loosen the door. Doing one technique after another, each way playing into the idea, that the door is closer to opening. “It really seems like; the door is actually getting closer to opening. We just got to keep working at it.”

  Suddenly, a feeling spreads over the building, as if gravity had just increased.

  “It’s gotten mad now.”

  Lucifer is staring up the steps. “How’s Phoebe… She seems a bit shaken.”

  Neri pops up from the door.

  “Woo, it sure did just get more humid in here. Good thing we’re almost out.”

  Quinn looks at the girls smile. “That certainly is good enough to give Phoebe some confidence; but I can tell she’s gotten a bit nervous. We need to pick up the pace.”

  “It’s back.”

  Lucifer points to the top of the stair case, where the static man is standing. Holding a match in his other hand, when he lifts the match up, its arm is engulfed with flame. The static man then slices it’s arm off, throwing it down the steps, setting the left section of the house on fire. Shocking the observers, the static man then, begins to have light extend out and around where its arm was, reforming it. It then proceeds to pull out another match, with sleight of hand. Quinn turns to the two girls.