Descent into infinity

Release and discuss things you've made, including mods.
Post Reply
User avatar
kharnov
Granger
Posts: 1851
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:54 pm UTC
Clan: GT
Location: New York City

Descent into infinity

Post by kharnov »

It was a brisk evening in late spring, the old chill of winter having given way to the eruption of greenery in the New England forests, the bare branches of stately trees once more transitioning to the life-giving greenery. The woodlands were awash with life, arboreal mammals and birds alike engaging in the ambient chatter of a new season. Yet, it was not the awe-inspiring nature that drew me to these sparsely inhabited forests, but rather the investigation of a series of bizarre events.

I still had with me the clippings of old newspaper articles, the macabre descriptions of the scenes found by other investigators, spottings of the freshly deceased. As if the groupings of corpses were not enough to arouse suspicion, the details of the arrangements were strikingly bizarre. No signs of foul play, each victim appearing entirely intact, even with their eyes open, as if they had just been resting there. The reality, of course, was that they were all conclusively dead. At each crime scene, the corpses were all found to be staring at a single point in unison, as if they had been observing something prior to death. It was this alone that drew me to these untouched woods, for my background in the occult immediately suggested that this must have been some sort of ritual. There was a cult in these forests, and I was determined to find it. If anything, it would be a welcome diversion from the monotony of big city detective work. It was something new, something different from the mundane series of burglaries and murders.

Having arrived in Providence by train, I was escorted to a small town a few hours north of it, the site of the most recent discovery of bodies. There were a dozen of them, all of them appearing to have died in unison, gathered in a semi-circle around a single patch of trampled grass. Not a single piece of evidence had been left behind, and the victims came from all walks of life, all ages, men and women. There was nothing to establish a motive, or even a connection between the deceased. They had simply arrived in a clearing in the nearby forest, sat down on their knees together, and died with their eyes wide open. That part alone was the worst for me, the photographs of the victims providing an ample source of nightmares to myself and others in the department. Some of the corpses seemed to be grinning, their facial expressions forced into unnatural configurations, frozen in place for all eternity.

At the town, I encountered the others that would join me in this investigation. In addition to a few locals that knew the surrounding forests well, there was an officer from the nearby police department, a rather weary one that had encountered the crime scene himself and nervously clutched at his holstered pistol at the mere glimpse of those horrifying mental images. There was also a professor from a nearby university, a genial older gentleman that had studied the natural sciences and could provide some additional insight on the mysterious occurrences. With our crew assembled, we dressed ourselves in the appropriate outerwear for the weather, keeping an awkward silence throughout, for the circumstances were not particularly cheerful. I chose to go with a classic detective ensemble, right down to the hat and a lengthy coat. When I saw myself in the mirror, I nearly expected a traditional magnifying glass to be in one of my pockets. For personal safety reasons, I chose to go with my trusted revolver. Who knew what lurked in those dark woods? Whatever was causing these strange gatherings of silently staring corpses, I didn't want to find myself unprepared when meeting it.

We were taken down an old road, riding together in a van driven by a middle-aged carpenter. Once we reached the closest point to the crime scene, we disembarked, but he chose to stay behind, citing that he didn't want to leave his vehicle unattended. I saw the fear in his eyes, and despite the obvious nature of his excuse decided to let him stay, for he would have been a liability otherwise. As the rest of us found ourselves transitioning from the old pavement to the crinkling foliage beneath our feet, the eerie silence of the forest permeated our very being. There was nothing out here, nothing that could have possibly driven a sizable group of people to die in unison. Fortunately for the more squeamish members of our party, the victims had been removed to a local morgue, with chalk outlines of the bodies left on the grass in the clearing, the silhouettes possessing a certain disturbing quality of their own.

As we surveyed the site, we each had our own way of looking for clues. As the jittery policeman stood watch, we picked through the grass, turned up small rocks, and even dug through the dirt in an attempt to determine what was so compelling about the focal point of the group. After an hour of fruitless searching, the old professor decided to go into the woods, accompanied by the townsfolk. They would try to find abnormalities in the surrounding forests, something I hadn't even considered. Thus, while they went off, I remained at the scene with the policeman. We exchanged glances in the moonlight, but not a single word was said. He couldn't even bring his eyes to the point a few yards to my side, where that group had all been staring.

While the hours passed, we began to grow concerned about just what had happened to the professor and the townsfolk. It was already midnight, and the moon had set early tonight, leaving the clearing pitch black. Ultimately, we decided to go off and search for them, something that the policeman was all too happy about, as he couldn't stand being at the crime scene anymore. As we stumbled through the patches of thorny brush, we remained silent, listening attentively for any sounds made by the group. After nearly a half hour of searching, we at last heard voices. Distorted, ecstatic voices.

User avatar
kharnov
Granger
Posts: 1851
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:54 pm UTC
Clan: GT
Location: New York City

Re: Descent into infinity

Post by kharnov »

From our vantage point between the trees and shrubs, we could spot the townsfolk, all of whom were seated in a semi-circle, with their backs turned to us. The old professor stood in front of them, and with a lighter, set a pile of fallen, dried branches on fire, flooding the group with a flickering orange glow. We could see now that the townsfolk were all trembling violently, as if experiencing a massive mutual seizure, with their hands locked together like a human chain. The professor stood there with a mad gleam in his eyes, now holding something in the open palms of his hands. It was some sort of strange creature, green in color, with a plump, rounded body. Whatever it was, the townsfolk were all staring directly at its head, which was hidden from our view. The creature kept perfectly still, save for its slow breathing, and those watching it were nearly its opposite. Each one of them took in loud, labored breaths, only to exhale forcefully in a sort of hissed 'h' sound. Their bodies struggled with the force of the euphoria they felt, and even the old man in front of them was weeping profusely, tears of utmost joy streaming down his wrinkled face. He could not keep up with the physical demands of what the townsfolk were going through, but at the very least, seemed overjoyed that he could invoke such a profoundly religious experience in them.

As I gazed on at the group, I took little note of the policeman by my side. By chance, I glanced over my shoulder, only to spot the pale whiteness of his face, his facial features frozen in fear. His jaw was shaking, teeth alternating between forcefully grinding against each other and chattering audibly. His eyes were fixated on the group, who at this point were growing increasingly loud with their hissing sounds, staying in perfect, unnatural unison. In his eyes, I could see that he was experiencing the focal point of his nightmares, now brought to painful reality. He glanced at me for a single moment, but his eyes were glazed over, and he was on the verge of complete breakdown. Unable to control himself in his state of psychosis, he reached for the only relief he had, his hand traveling down to his pistol. Unholstering it, he placed the muzzle against his forehead, stared at me once last time in utmost horror, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger. Blood spattered onto my longcoat, warm droplets of red even reaching the exposed portions of my neck.

Before I could even react to the sudden suicide of the policeman, my attention was drawn back to the group, as they reached new heights of ecstasy. The fat, green creature in the professor's hands still remained perfectly still, and yet the townsfolk were reaching violent fits of euphoria. Some of them could no longer hiss, their bodies starting to reach the biological limits of forceful respiration. As each one fell silent, their posture remained upright for a few moments more, until a violent series of spasms indicated cardiac arrest. Even as they died, their eyes were all focused on the green mass held by the old man, regardless of the position their lifeless corpses fell into. By the time the last one collapsed into a crumpled heap, I promptly shielded by eyes, knowing better than to gaze at whatever the professor was holding. Yet, I could still see him over the upper edge of my splayed hand, and now, he was staring at me. His mouth did not move, and yet I could hear the distinct sound of gurgling. Loud, forceful gurgling, the likes of which I had never heard before. It couldn't have been the old man, no human being was capable of those noises. The creature. It must have been the creature.

Promptly rising to my feet, I knew better than to stick around, and as I turned my back to the professor, I began to run. Already, I could hear movement behind me, and as a result, I bolted. My legs strained under the constriction of my dress pants, while my leather shoes proved to be rather limited for this sort of physical activity. As soreness worked its way up from my feet and into my legs, I at last reached the van, with the driver having apparently fallen asleep. Pounding on the passenger door to awaken him, I screamed for him to start the engine, and yet he could not comprehend just what had happened, why I was so urgent to leave. His wife had been in that group, and he didn't want to leave without her. As I desperately tried to pull the door open, I could already hear that movement behind me, the gurgling just as loud as it was before. Thus, I ran to the back of the van, feeling deeply relieved that the rear entrance was still unlocked.

Yet, the driver would not budge, no matter how much I screamed at him in panic to drive off. Moments later, there was a figure standing in front of the van. It was the professor, holding that green, gurgling creature. Once more, the creature's head was hidden by the back of the carpenter's head, but yet I could see the professor, his facial features frozen in unnatural ways, head tilted upwards as if locked in a permanent religious experience. He was no longer breathing, or at least seemed not to. Then, the driver began to hiss, but unlike the others, he did not go through the waves of intense breathing. No, he instead kept his body perfectly still, while his head turned around by itself, the bones in his neck cracking as he turned his face all the way around to look directly back at me. He was bruising from the burst arteries and veins underneath the skin, and his body was frozen by the incuded paralysis of his neck snapping. His eyes were wide open, and his lips were curled up into a freakishly wide grin. Saliva drooled down his chin, and in my fit of utmost terror, I failed to notice that the professor was no longer standing in front of the van.

As the rear door opened behind me, I knew that this was it. I pulled out my revolver, but unlike the policeman, I could not bring myself to end my life. No, I was ready to fight back, despite the gun shaking violently in my trembling grip. Turning myself around, I was at last faced with the revelation of what had been chasing me this whole time. The professor's lifeless corpse leaned forwards to deposit the creature onto the floor of the van, and then promptly collapsed onto the ground, its mission completed. I at last looked downwards, at the face I had been avoiding. At once, I found myself gazing into all six beady, black eyes. The curved shape of that gentle head. The two large shielded arms, and the four rear legs, all of them pudgy stumps. How could I bring myself to hurt granger? I couldn't do it. Promptly dropping my revolver, the sound of metal hitting the van's upholstery was the penultimate thing I heard. Afterwards, it was nothing but endless gurgling. Even as I felt my body undergoing the waves of hissing and labored breathing, my ears, and then my mind were filled with nothing but that beautiful sound. In the throes of death, I reached out a hand, touching that shelled carapace. I could see it. I could see heaven. I was free.

I've been here for a while, now.

The others are here too. In fact, there are many like me.

It's warm in here. I've had a long time to contemplate the mysteries of granger.

Wouldn't you like to join me, too?

User avatar
ViruS
Granger
Posts: 1020
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:24 am UTC
Location: Antartica - West Australian Post shore
Contact:

Re: Descent into infinity

Post by ViruS »

Some of the corpses seemed to be grinning, their facial expressions forced into unnatural configurations, frozen in place for all eternity.

I wouldn't say so :P

The professor stood there with a mad gleam in his eyes, now holding something in the open palms of his hands. It was some sort of strange creature, green in color, with a plump, rounded body

O.O

only to exhale forcefully in a sort of hissed 'h' sound

Sarge? I'm not sure how 'h' and 'hissing' relate. It's like 'yelling out a tiny whisper'.
[spoiler]I don't really get why his partner suicided either.[/spoiler]

How could I bring myself to hurt granger?

You shouldn't say 'granger'. People outside this community won't understand.

But what a weird, interesting story. I was hoping for a continuing-type story :/

ImageImageYou[TubeImage

User avatar
DwarfVader
Mantis
Posts: 102
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:40 am UTC

Re: Descent into infinity

Post by DwarfVader »

+++literary Criticism start+++
rework the human weapons and 1st person views --- and stop using LSD!!!!!
+++literary Criticism end+++

User avatar
Kynes
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:05 pm UTC

10/10 A+++++++++ granger is safe AND effective!

Post by Kynes »

D E ar vader and virus do not try to H U M A N-rationalI Z E this account with Y O U R S E L F-projections of flesh-bag thoughts. the unenlightened A N D unwilling cannot F A C E the reality. T O understand you must see past your minute three-space and into the entirety of five dimensions of love and seven dimensions of bliss that make up our universe and thereby release your mind from the flesh and B L O O D to greater things. i S H E D tears for you and all the others who never have taken the opportunity to find paradise as i have.

User avatar
DwarfVader
Mantis
Posts: 102
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:40 am UTC

Re: Descent into infinity

Post by DwarfVader »

D E ar vader and virus do not try to H U M A N-rationalI Z E this account with Y O U R S E L F-projections of flesh-bag thoughts. the unenlightened A N D unwilling cannot F A C E the reality. T O understand you must see past your minute three-space and into the entirety of five dimensions of love and seven dimensions of bliss that make up our universe and thereby release your mind from the flesh and B L O O D to greater things. i S H E D tears for you and all the others who never have taken the opportunity to find paradise as i have.

jaja ....alles np ...blabla :P -- ah ...and don't forget to adress the lag issues within the resource system gameplay!
.................. peace! :-D

User avatar
rhez
Dretch
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:17 pm UTC

Re: Descent into infinity

Post by rhez »

what the actual fuck did I just read

Image
Image
_RRRR___H___H_EEEEE_ZZZZZ_
_R___R__H___H_E________Z__
_RRRR___HHHHH_EEEEE___Z___
_R___R__H___H_E______Z____
_R____R_H___H_EEEEE_ZZZZZ_
Now that's what I call a Rhez-olution.
Avatar image by Akele (CC BY-SA)

Post Reply