Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
The Adventures of Tobias and Mr. Freeman
Topic Started: Nov 12 2014, 04:01 PM (182 Views)
Kor
Member Avatar
The Thin White Duke
Mr. Freeman had served the Grant family for decades now. They were good and fair people, the North Carolina climate was eminently more agreeable, and compared to his lower-class upbringing back in the home country, it had honestly been a pleasure. That was until Tobias had been born. Even as a babe the boy had always seemed a little off, but everyone tried so hard to just dismiss it all as the quirks of childhood. After all, didn’t every boy have imaginary friends? Didn’t every boy get a little…rambunctious with the local wildlife? The fascinations with fire and funerals certainly gave everyone pause, but well-bred families were known to have a morbid seedling here and there.

But over time the incidents piled up and Tobias’s case only grew worse. Along with gawkiness and awkward first dates, puberty also meant terror for the rest of his family. The Boy just seemed to naturally know things. Things nobody else could have or should have known. Things that were meant to be dead and buried and lost to the world. He had a way with people that got him whatever he wanted. Not even strangers could resist the Boy, though later on they couldn't tell you why. Then there was the disappearance of the maid. It didn’t take long for Mrs. Grant to decide her son was at the center of that one. Not even the Boy’s own mother could love him anymore, but cutting him off or turning him in was too big of a risk.

Mr. Freeman’s services to the family began with Tobias’s grandfather. The two had met in the late 60’s, and while nobody was quite clear on what had transpired, family rumor had it that their friendship had been forged around events not unlike the ones which all seemed to converge around the Boy. So, the responsibility fell to reliable, stalwart Mr. Freeman. The Boy very quickly seemed to learn some kind of fear or respect for the family servant. For a time, he even thought that the Boy had finally been put in line. But then there was another incident. This time it had been a boyfriend. With another family involved, it hadn’t been so easy to keep things quiet, and Mrs. Grant couldn’t bear it any longer.

Freeman had found her in the kitchen one night, long after everyone else had gone to bed, crying and shaking with a knife gripped in hand. She told him she had been there for hours, trying to work up the nerve. The Boy was hers, after all. Monster or not, the Boy was hers. He calmed her down, and convinced her to instead let him take the Boy away. Where didn’t matter, just away. He didn’t see a reason to tell her that while she agonized downstairs, the Boy had been sitting up in his room, coiled and waiting.

Pleased simply to have the lion out of the den, no qualms were made about allowing Freeman and the Boy access to finances. They travelled the country, then to Europe and Asia, a stint with some insufferable surfers in Australia and Hawaii, then back again. The Boy’s incidents went from twisted and nefarious to tawdry and almost charming. The world had come to regard him as a wealthy young playboy, the tabloids and blogs none-the-wiser. This made Freeman happy. Perhaps the Boy would prove to be dynamite again, but for now, he could be handled.

Or so he thought. They’d only been in Keen Ridge, Utah for a few days, attending the festival. Parties, boys, books, and paintings were the agenda, and the agenda had been going swimmingly. But then last night there had been the art gallery. The second floor. The body. He should have known better, but there it all was. The Boy’s demons laid out again, in public, discovered by a group of hapless, over-curious revelers. He should have known better.

Freeman sighed as he laid fresh clothes out upon the hotel suite’s bed. He hoped dearly that their partners from the previous night wouldn’t have to be dealt with. They were young and ignorant. Perhaps they were even decent people. Adding more bodies to the pile would only attract more attention, after all. Regardless, if it had to be done, he would do it. If an army of reporters came snooping about murders, all that mattered is that the attention wasn’t on the Boy. Mr. Freeman could handle it.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lee
Member Avatar

"It wasn't me." Those were the first words from Tobias' mouth to Mr. Freeman when the revelers had found the body, and those were the words he was repeating now as the "help" was laying out fresh clothes onto the bed. "You could ask Benji, he'll tell you the same. I was busy downstairs, enjoying the art."

That wasn't entirely the truth, and there was probably some poor party goer that was crying at home now after a traumatic hour spent with the psychotic psychic. But was it Tobias' fault that the man had convinced himself that his late mother actually did love him when she so obviously did not? No, no it wasn't, and surely the man was able to hear her refute that belief himself. She was right there next to him, making pithy comments and glaring daggers the entire time, and she had immediately starting ranting to Tobias when she realized he could see and hear her.

Anyways, the point was that one could call that an art and that Tobias was enjoying it, and so he really was too busy with that body.

"Plus, Ben himself said that it was some guy in a mask that killed him. A fucking mask, Freeman. Like it was Halloween or something," Tobias sneered. "How tacky and cliche is that?"
Edited by Lee, Nov 12 2014, 08:03 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kor
Member Avatar
The Thin White Duke
“Tacky and cliché? You mean like ‘psychotic twat who talks to the dead’?” Freeman rolled his eyes, his voice going low. “Now I know I’ve told you this before, but you do realize nobody else can hear those voices you say you hear, yeah? They still have the death penalty in Utah, not that that bothers you, and being a bit special in the head isn’t going to dissuade these religious cunts. Especially not if they find out about your preference for dangly bits.”

He turned from the bed and went over to the window, pulling back the curtains. It was mid-afternoon on the cusp of winter, and the sun already drooped towards the horizon. The room was not so much illuminated as it was cast in a dim, infernal pall.

“As for your new friend, it’s not like you can call ghosts to the witness stand, now can you? You still have that much of a grasp on reality, don't you? And you can tell him that I’m absolutely positive it was just a mask. That definitely explains everything that happened with the room. I’m sure being killed by a John Carpenter reject just magically creates ghost towns and causes bodies to turn into ash. Just makes bloody sense, don’t it? No, spookiness like that, that’s your M.O. and you know it. I told you not to lie to me, boy. Those were the only two stipulations: one, that you didn’t lie to me, and two, that you didn’t just leave the fucking bodies for people to find. And you agreed to them, god damn you.”

He stomped from the window over to the dresser, picking up a newspaper and throwing that upon the bed as well. “Thankfully when all you’ve got is ash that means the police only have a missing person’s case. Right, did Ben tell you he was the mayor’s son? Tell me he told you that much. The mayor’s son. You killed the mayor’s son in the middle of fucking tourist season, and then let a bunch of drunk partiers find the body. Whatever else you’ve got going on, I thought you were at least smarter than that. Why even kill him? Like you need a reason, right, silly question. Was he a closet case? Had a wife? Bad blowjob? Article doesn’t mention a wife, but I figure I’d ask. What inane fucking thing did he do to make you so god damned stupid about this one?”

Freeman took a moment to catch his breath. All this time he did his best. He did right by the Boy, as right as could be done by him. And this is how repaid it all. One night, and he risked everything.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lee
Member Avatar

"But I am telling the truth!" Tobias protested, crossing his arms and almost pouting. "I am telling the god's honest truth: It wasn't me this time!"

He huffed, stomped his foot, and then took in a long, deep breath to calm himself down. Getting upset with Freeman never got him anywhere. Well, anywhere good. Of all the people he had come into contact with, living or dead or whatever, he was the only one that truly frighted him. Only a little though, and he would never admit to it. It probably had something to do with the fact that he older man wasn't as easily swayed by Tobias' charms as everyone else.

"You had your eyes on me the entire time we were at the party. Don't deny it, I know you did. I never even went near those stairs, much less go up to that floor." He sniffed. "And yes, of course I knew he was the mayor's son. He came up and introduced himself to us shortly after we arrived. You remember that, don't you? Or has your old age finally caught up with you?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kor
Member Avatar
The Thin White Duke
“Like you would even need to be in the same room to get the job done. Everyone else might underestimate you, but not me. I know, not everything, but I know damn well enough to not underestimate what you’re capable of if you really want to. Now get dressed, and tell me what it is we’re doing tonight. It won’t do to have you holed up, looks too much like you’re hiding. And remember, it’s not just your little twink ass that’s on the line if you get caught in something.”

Freeman stomped out of the suite’s bedroom into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of sparkling water, topping up the last fifth with a bit of gin. He needed something, but Freeman could never allow himself to be drunk around the Boy. They had a rapport, for the most part, and for the most part the Boy could be trusted not to turn whatever it was he had against Freeman. But it was that last little bit of the unknown that always kept him on edge.

Still, Toby had stuck to his story. Normally he would crack when Freeman went off on him, spill whatever it was he was hiding. Not this time. So the Boy probably hadn’t murdered the mayor’s son. Probably. Probably hadn’t created a group delusion or a rift in space-time or whatever that was. Probably. Probably didn’t juju up whatever it was that caused the body to disintegrate. Probably. Which just troubled Freeman even more.

Speaking from experience, things like this never ended well.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lee
Member Avatar

Tobias huffed and rolled his eyes, but he still did as he was told. He undid his pajama pants, letting them fall to the floor without any care about flashing Freeman. The clothes on the bed were simple but expensive, trousers with suspenders and a long sleeved button up, both of them old looking in their fashion. As he dressed, he debated where he wanted to drag his babysitter around to.

On the one hand, Keen Ridge was a small town tourist trap that didn't exactly have much to offer to him. On the other hand, that just meant he had an excuse to create his own entertainment. The trick was to do it in such a way that Freeman couldn't pin it on him. He'd blame him regardless, but it would drive him insane to not be able to prove it.

But the cemetery in the town was old, relatively speaking, and that old lady at the party had mentioned something about it...

"How about the cemetery?"
Edited by Lee, Nov 12 2014, 09:29 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kor
Member Avatar
The Thin White Duke
Freeman couldn’t do anything except stare at his glass and blink. The cemetery, of course. Naturally the morbid little shit, after being faced with a corpse, would love to go and be surrounded by even more. So he downed what was left, grabbed his keys, gave the Boy a look, and was out the door. Their car of choice was an understated if expensive black four-door sedan with tinted windows, the kind that one always sees starlets getting out of in paparazzi photos, and which the town was now swarming with.

The drive to the cemetery took about twenty minutes, which largely comprised of getting through congested traffic and cross-walks. The town had done a lot in recent years to provide public transit for the tourist season, including regular buses and even a new tram, but the rich were used to chauffeurs and private cars and it did little to aid things. By the time they got there, twilight had set in.

The cemetery was large and, despite being situated next to and managed by the local LDS church, served the majority of the community regardless of faith. It had been there since the town’s founding, but had been renovated sometime in the fifties. They parked the car in front of the large, cast iron gates. Above them was some insipid quote from Joseph Smith that Freeman had no inclination to read or give the privilege of serious thought. Freeman got out of the car and opened the door for the Boy.

The front end of the cemetery immediately facing the street was obviously reserved for the town’s well-to-do, full of large, glossy marble affairs, garish statues, and a combination of equally grandiose monuments going back decades. To anyone who knew or cared about such things, the names were a who’s who of old Mormon clans. To anyone else, like Mr. Freeman, the only thing of the interest was to piss on each and every grave which bore the name Romney. Further back were the graves of the less financially or socially important, plain and simple headstones and markers as far as the eye could see. The dividing line between the two sections was a row of trees and the centerpiece of the lot, a large crypt with the name “HOLDAWAY” engraved above the doors.

“Well, here we are then. All the cadavers and corpses your black little heart could desire. You know, when I said it wouldn’t be good to hide away, I did really mean a place where people would see you. Living, breathing people. An inconspicuous place that made you seem like something approaching a normal human being."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lee
Member Avatar

"See, I debated going to the ski lodge, but I figured that would have too many people for your comfort," Tobias said, stepping out of the sedan and heading into the cemetery. "And then my next thought was the lake, but then the temptation to drown you would have been too great."

The old woman had said to go to the Holdaway crypt, but hell if he knew why. He figured he should do it anyway. When he was told something by those type of people, those that felt just slightly different from those around them (like a song played with all the notes moved up on the scale by a single step), it was usually at least a good idea to listen to them. So he made is way through the cemetery paths to the old crypt, stepping around the people that were mulling around the place.

(All of them felt different from Freeman.)

"By the way, do you know anyone by the name of Nora?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kor
Member Avatar
The Thin White Duke
“Too many people? The ski lodge isn’t even…” Freeman stopped bothering to argue as the Boy made his way into the cemetery. He was unperturbed by the threat of murder. So far the Boy had been all words where Freeman was concerned, to the point that the chain of lectures and threats had more or less become their form of banter. One day that might change, but for now, Freeman did his job.

A cutting breeze was picking up, and Freeman pulled his black wool coat tighter around himself, breath fogging in the air. Why anyone would hold a festival in Utah at this time of the year was anybody’s guess, but Freeman would have liked to have five minutes alone with the person who concocted the scheme.

The Boy meandered along the cemetery grounds, shuffling as though there were a throng to squeeze through. It was a weird and vaguely wicked dance. Like most of the other Boy’s tics, Freeman tried his best to ignore it. He’d long since stopped doubting the boy’s abilities, whether he actually saw the dead or not, but thought it best not to gratify the Indigo Child’s behavior any more than it already had been.

“Nora?” Freeman hesitated on the question for a moment. “Had a schoolmate named Nora. Her sister and I were sweethearts for a summer, never saw her again after I left home. If you’re trying to get at something, I'm certainly not acquainted with any of the bastards buried here. But what do I know, do ghosts make trans-Atlantic travels? I doubt she’s even dead.”

That was all the truth. But there had been another Nora. Nora Fisher. She was a mutual friend of Freeman and the Boy’s grandfather, to put it one way. She was the one who had introduced the two and cemented their relationship, and it was her death that caused the Boy’s grandfather to move back to America with Freeman in tow. He wasn’t about to tell that story to the Boy at just the drop of a name.
Edited by Kor, Nov 13 2014, 05:44 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lee
Member Avatar

"He's not telling the whole truth," Benji said as Tobias joined him at the crypt. It was a fancy looking crypt, the family named carved above the entrance way in fancy script, but it was still a crypt. There were a couple sitting inside talking, man and woman, but they didn't look up at the psychotic psychic as he approached.

"Of course he's not," he replied, flippantly. "Now, why did that old lady say to come here?"

"Something about one of the people here, or about the house, or both," Benji told him.

"But I don't want to go to some stuffy old mansion. If I wanted to go to a mansion, I'd go back home." He paused, frowned. "Of course, then mother would try to kill me and then I'd have to kill her, but that's neither here nor there."

Coming here was just a waste of time in his mind. He should have gone with his first instinct and just cause trouble somewhere. Actually, speaking of trouble...

He grinned, turned to Freeman, and said, "Benji says you're not telling the whole truth, and to ask you about Nora Fisher."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Join the millions that use us for their forum communities. Create your own forum today.
« Previous Topic · Fantasy · Next Topic »
Add Reply