Dearest Penguin People.
Here is the latest chapter of Max and Sebastian. For the curious, this is about a young girl with dubious integrity faced with a difficult decision… pass through to The Gray after she dies or remain behind as a ghost.
In the last chapter Buttercup (a sociopathic Shih Tzu) released the demons inside of poor George who was only trying to enjoy a good snicker doodle.
If you are new to Max and Sebastian, please start here…
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16
And as always, a special thank you to P.Q. Rubin for little penguin guy up top.
from the previous chapter…
The George creature rose to his feet and threw his bed against the tempered glass wall.
A nurse ran into the room. He was flailing an IV pole at empty air and screaming obscenities. “George, what are you doing?”
He froze. Spiders swarmed across her blue scrubs. They nestled in her hair, tiny legs waving. But she couldn’t see his babies. He had to save her. He snapped the IV pole in half.
The nurse dropped her clipboard and ran screaming from the room.
From the shadows, Leonard reached out and pulled the fire alarm.
Part II - Chapter 17
Joe pried the fire doors apart as the alarm blared. Doctors and nurses were being flung out of George’s room like balls out of a batting cage. His shoulders slumped as he let the doors close. “Damn it. I never get to do anything fun.”
“Is everything okay?” Max had her hands over her ears.
Joe stomped back to his chair. “Yeah, nothing to worry about. A psyche patient went nuts. It happens.” He looked pointedly at Larry.
“That’s uncalled for. I’ve always been well behaved.”
Joe just snorted.
“But the alarm?” Max asked.
“If it’s real, they’ll let us know.”
Then blessed silence.
“See? It was nothing.” Joe went back to texting on his cell phone.
“Great.” Max slouched against her pillow, then sprung up again. “Larry, look.”
Larry followed her gaze. A tiny cloud of Sulphur flecked with shimmering silica drifted toward them. It grew legs and a ruff of hissing serpents.
Larry rubbed his eyes. “What’s up, Puppernut?”
Buttercup strode past him, nose in the air.
“Is it my imagination or are you more iridescent than usual?”
Buttercup smirked before hopping onto a gurney occupied by an elderly patient. The old man stared at the ceiling, a thin trail of saliva dribbling from the corner of his open mouth. She prodded him with a greasy paw.
But Larry, being Larry, didn’t give up. “Come on, Nutterbutt. What did you do?”
“I stirred the pot.”
“A pot named George?”
She paused. “You know George?”
“I know everyone.”
“Whatever.” Buttercup crouched on the old man’s chest and gave him a cursory sniff. A low, wet gurgle grew in the back of her throat. She threw her head back, eyes closed, and hawked an enormous wet loogie across his wrinkled face.
Larry fought back the bile as the slime burst into pustules on the man’s cheeks like curds of rotten cottage cheese. He looked for Sebastian but the grumpy lizard man had disappeared again. He would have to deal with this on his own.
He stood up. “Hey, Joe. A moment?”
“What now?”
“Something’s wrong with this gentleman.”
“Of course, there’s something wrong with him. He’s in a hospital.”
“It’ll just take a second.”
“He’s gorked.”
“Gorked?”
“You know, GORK. God only really knows. We get them all the time. I’m sure it’s shown up on your chart a few times.”
“Oh, that’s funny,” Larry said. “Maybe you should check him anyway, you know, just for giggles.”
“Fine.” Joe wandered over, his thumbs hooked in his scrub’s waistband. The old man lay with his head to the side, his mouth sunken in without his dentures. “Whatcha doing, Mr. Holly?”
The pustules erupted on Mr. Holly’s skin like popcorn. Tiny black feelers poked from each one, then latched onto the feelers next to them, creating a loose tapestry of pulsating legs across the old man’s cheeks.
“You see that?” Larry whispered.
“It’s just a little drool.”
“I think it’s more than that.”
“C’mon, Larry. You always see what’s not there. Like that imaginary mutt of yours.”
“Funny, you should mention that.”
Buttercup placed an oily paw on the old man’s forehead.
His eyes popped open.
“Mr. Holly?” Joe leaned in closer.
A gnarled hand shot up and grabbed Joe by the throat. Mr. Holly rose up from the gurney in his hospital gown, the back open, revealing the naked skeletal body beneath it. He pushed Joe against the supply closet door and started crawling up the wall, taking Joe with him.
Panicked, Joe reached for Larry, arms and legs flailing. Larry grabbed his hand only to be swatted away by Mr. Holly like a fly.
Buttercup remained on the bed, licking her paws and giggling.
By now, Joe was gurgling, Mr. Holly’s grip firmly around his windpipe. Larry shivered, then doused himself in disinfectant. He grabbed Mr. Holly’s cold, veiny feet and tried to pull him down without throwing up. The old man kicked Larry away like a tin can.
Sebastian materialized in a burst of icy ectoplasm. “Quick, get Max out of here.”
“Of course, now you show up.” Larry ran through him, scattering Sebastian into a thousand ice crystals.
Mr. Holly, his face no longer remotely human, was pulling Joe across the ceiling. Larry grabbed Joe’s sneakered feet but Mr. Holly kept going, dragging Larry with them.
Sebastian put himself back together. He followed Larry as he was being dragged across the floor. “Listen to me. Get her out of the hospital now. We might not get another chance.”
“I’m kind of busy right now.”
A young nurse appeared. She dropped her coffee and ran to help Larry. Mr. Holly was chewing the air, cursing and spitting. And all the while, Joe was turning an interesting shade of blue.
Larry fell, taking the nurse with him. More nurses rushed past.
He sat on the floor catching his breath. Sebastian loomed over him. “You’re wasting time.”
“Honestly, do I look like a kidnapper to you?”
Sebastian gritted his teeth. “I know you see it. Evil is afoot.”
“Evil is afoot, you say? Well, if you put it that way, Your Sir Slithy Toveness.”
A flicker of ghost fire illuminated Sebastian’s face. His cheeks, a tapestry of finely woven scales, glistened under unearthly tears. He put a tentative claw on Larry’s shoulder only to have it pass through in defeat. “Please, we’re running out of time.”
Ghost tears. Now that just wasn’t fair. “Look, I’m not taking a sick child out of the hospital. I might be crazy but I’m not a monster.” Larry looked to Max for support.
She was standing next to her bed, a small bag of possessions in her arms, her IV and monitor leads abandoned on the bed rails. She removed the flimsy oxygen tube from her nose and dropped it on the bed. “I’m going to die anyway.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
Max pointed at Buttercup, floating above the growing fray. The demon dog’s aura buzzed like a swarm of angry mosquitos, infecting everyone below. Buttercup looked over at them and winked.
Max scowled, then touched Larry’s arm. “We’re all monsters, but I choose you.”
Larry’s left eye began to twitch.
Max’s head snapped up. She pointed down the hall.
Leonard was pushing his way toward them through the crowd. He gave her a ghastly smile. “You shouldn’t be out of bed, little missy.” Sweaty hands reached out.
Larry’s eye stopped twitching. “Don’t touch her.”
“Beat it, freak.” Leonard shoved Larry aside.
Like a whack-a-mole, Larry popped back into place.
Leonard pulled back his fist. Time to flatten this nutcase.
Larry’s expression crumpled. “Forgive me,” he said as he hoisted Leonard by his saggy scrubs and tossed him into the gathering throng of nurses and techs.
George chose that moment to burst through the fire doors, dragging a tech on each arm. They couldn’t see the ghostly spiders that covered George from head to toe. Nor could they see the cobwebs that filled his eyes or the wave of hairy tarantulas following in their wake. Knee deep, the spiders filled the hallway while oblivious hospital staff charged through them, intent on bringing George down.
He flung the techs into a wall, trying to get his bearings. There had to be a way out. Then, in the sea of angry faces, a familiar glow beckoned. It was his friend Larry, whose eyes were better than most, standing next to a little girl, her aura the color of starry midnight. Glimmers, the both of them. He couldn’t look away.
The voices in his head came back.
There’s a girl.
“Yes,” his children cooed. “A sweet, delectable girl.”
When Larry saw George his knees buckled. He doused Max with a quick spray of disinfectant.
“Hey!” she sputtered and wiped the spearmint scent from her face.
“What are you waiting for?” Sebastian hissed. “Let’s go.”
“Okay, short stuff.” Larry scooped her up and ran for the doors, Sebastian swirling beside him in a cloud of fog and scales.
George watched them flee. So rude. He had only just arrived.
A blast of putrescence filled the air. He wrinkled his nose, recognizing the funk of that little demon Buttercup. A poser, that’s what she was. She wanted the child, but maybe he would keep her for himself.
Spider legs sprouted from his spine and spread out like an obsidian fan in a series of clicks and snaps. He dove into the chaos on all eight legs, sweeping everyone from his path. Later, those who bothered to think about it, wondered how George had flown across the hall, his feet never touching the floor.
Max watched as George barreled toward them; her doll-like visage peeking over Larry’s shoulder. Her eyes narrowed briefly, then both hands shot up and yanked Larry’s ears. He yelped and dropped her to the linoleum. She darted forward and jumped into George’s arms. Stunned, he fell to his knees as Max clasped his face gently in her hands, the spiders melting beneath her touch. The webs fell away, revealing warm hazel eyes. She whispered in his ear, “All in good time.”
Larry, his ears better than most turned to Sebastian. “What did she mean by that?”
Sebastian averted his eyes. “I heard nothing.”
“Liar.”
Behind them the hospital staff walked around in a daze. Joe sat on the floor, absently staring at the ceiling. Sebastian scowled at Max who only smiled.
Meanwhile, George got on his feet, his face lighting up when he looked at Larry. “Hey Bud, how’s it hanging?”
Larry bounced on his toes. “Can’t complain, you?”
“Damn shadow creatures won’t leave me alone. They’ll be the death of me.”
“I certainly hope not.”
Then George frowned. He clutched his face.
“You okay, George?”
The hands came down. Spiders spilled from his eyes as their bodies once again melded into his skin. The voice that came out was deep, as if coming from the bottom of a well. “You should leave.”
“You heard him,” Sebastian said.
“But, what about George? We can’t leave him like this.”
“Go!” roared Sebastian. “We can’t help him. He knows that.”
Larry gave George a tentative pat on the shoulder. “It’ll be better someday, I promise.” Then he grabbed Max and fled into the ER, past security guards carrying restraints, who gave no heed to a man dressed in nurse’s scrubs taking a young patient out of harm’s way.
Then he came to an abrupt halt.
“What’s wrong?” Max asked.
“Look.”
She turned her head and saw Buttercup floating in the center of the emergency room above the unsuspecting ER staff and patients.
The snakes around Buttercup’s face shimmered and grew. They slithered down the walls, snapping up spiders as they went, leaving a deathly pall on everything they touched. Oblivious ER staff continued to do their jobs, seeing only what they wanted to see.
A chill fell on the room. Sweaters, lab coats and sheets were collectively pulled closer with little thought as to why.
Buttercup looked down upon them from her ghostly perch and uttered one succinct “Woof.”
As a side note…none of this was written with AI and I kindly ask that no one use it for training purposes. Thank you :)
The spiders are creepy! Nicely described. I felt it.
I like Buttercup...woof...gave him a cursory sniff and hankered an enormous wet loogie across his wrinkled chest...
GORK