The Rabbit Hole {Book 2, What Should Have Been and Never Was}

Saturday, February 10, 2018

The Culling/251 Acknowledgement

A day later, I called him back to iron out what I wanted in exchange for becoming the proper proxy that the higher ups had wanted since day one.

Just one sentence this time.

"We need to meet, Tag."

-Transcription Start-

Tag: "So, you're back on the payroll. Enjoying your time as a lacky of the hire ups again. But you know they're keeping tabs on you, right?"

Me:"I figured. I know how this goes. Constantly stalking me."

Tag: "Left and right, so like I said. Keep your nose clean.But fuck all, find out what's going on. Even I don't know why they're watching you."

Me: "So basically always act as though I'm being recorded. If it wound up on the news, would she have to move Sanctuary or want to?"

Tag: "Well, no. The Board has already staked too much into it to move it. They'll make that part disappear."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Tag: "Oh they'd make it look like Sanctuary is a burned out patch of land with no strategic value.Mental trickery, bunch of bribes. Like it never existed."

Me: "Kind of like Hogwarts."

Tag:"Yeah, kind of like Hogwarts. Except there's no anti muggle spells. Just armed personnel with an axe to grind."

Me: ".....who will be guarding Rabbit Hole?"

And I need to hire mercenaries. To kill those narcs for you. May I use the slush fund?"

Tag: "Your choice of our finest mercenaries, all expenses paid. And yes, you may use the slush fund."

Me: "Is this a permanent bonus or a temporary one?"

Tag: "Kill those three middle management pukes, and then I'll tell you."

Me: "Fuck. Can I at least get a promotion? Because K8s make shit pay."

Tag:"How about K6 pay with benefits?"

"And you'll owe me one."

Me:"And I will need permanent access to the slush fund. Especially to pay off Sanctuary's mortgage."

Tag:"You're killing me Red. But fine. Deal."

Me:"Fine. One favor that follows the Code."

Tag:"You're no fun, you know that?"

Me:"I will file a formal request each time. I won't ditch the paperwork if I get the promotion.?"

Tag:"And you'll say you're sorry to the Tax Adjuntant for flipping her off. Lady holds a grudge like nothing I've ever seen."

Me: "As long as she frees to help me file my axes."

Me: "I'll finally be getting paid fairly. Thus, I can actually travel to do my job."

"I will ask each time, report each assignment. You can even publish the tame incident reports if you think it will help PR."

Tag:"Make them as gory as you like, you know the higher ups love a good orgy of violence and suffering. Just keep up with your paperwork, and next bonus is sure to be properly handled."

Me: "May I ask if I may make special requests from R & D?"

Tag: "Within reason."

Me: "Or bribing the necromancer to help him fix the broken magic on my healing ability?"

Tag: "You can use the slush fund for that."

Me:"I also need a hush favor, valid for up to one year, in each timeline."

I switch timelines middiscussion. Freya starts actively speaking. "So.. 20 hush favors for 18 deaths and two active timelines?"

Tag:"Fine. Put that in the contract. I'll make it legal."

Me:"We need to put everything in clear writing. Dobyoi formally requests that Sanctuary be on protected status in every timeline."

Tag:"You actually got Dobyoi in on this? Come on, Red. You know even I can't say no to a big (Redacted).?"

Me: "We need additional training classes, both for me as middle management and for the Rabbits."

Tag:"Slush fund."

Me: "I need R&D to create a better version of my Sanctuary slips. Nonfading magic."

Tag:"That can be arranged."

Dubyoi switches forward, her old reptilian eyes littering at Tag in amusement:"

I need special detailed pocketwatches. I will send the specs to you later."

Tag:"Sounds like you're starting some kind of cult. Or underground society."

Lilith comes forward. Her copper red hair growing to the small of her back:

"We need a communication source that will work in every timeline."

Tag:"R&D has a rotary phone for that."

Me:"This will take contacting the Alexandrian library. No. My Rabbits, my land, my rules."

"We have to keep them safe. It's already a stipulation of the top brass that I do this. To pull it off, I need tech and magic. You know how to make this happen. I know you do."

Tag:"I do, but it's going to cost extra to get everything into place."

"But yeah, you're one of my best. I'll expedite the process."

'You'd better deliver, Red."

Me: "You're the one with his neck in a noose. You want this to be a rush order. Make it happen."

Tag: "Fine. But whatever it is they're trying to get from you. Don't let it happen."

"Good hunting. For both our sakes."

Amanda switches forward, a curtain of bruise colored hair slipping over her shoulder as she does so:

"I won't. I will swear in blood not to directly attack the other Fears. I can keep the Rabbits alive in No Man's Land and Underland. I decided we're going with literary quotes for my land since Dobyoi has agreed to help."

Tag: "Fine. That's going to be in writing. No one can break it."

Me:"They can't attack either. Every time you call me Red, my base personality becomes stronger. But in contrast, so does Dobyoi. It's a trade off."

Tag:"Well, you're lucky I enjoy your original nickname,"

Me:"We can write up my formal Code of Conduct, add a few concessions as a good faith move, and put it in the Charter for Sanctuary. Contract must be signed in freshly spilled, nonbespelled blood. If we have to use temporary fizzle magic to make this happen, we need to."

"Proxies and Runners and neutral parties get access to training classes. And They swear They will not cause the Rabbits permanent death. We must be able to retrieve them after their trial in Underland us over."

Tag: "Right."

Tag : "Just do me a favor. Stay alive this time, will you?"

"Hell of a lot of paperwork to bury you again."

Me: "I will swear not to attempt suicide again. Accidental deaths shall have no repercussions."

"You mean those Proxy bodies after Bleeding Tree got done devouring their soul as a power source?"

Tag:"Good. Can't have the last few times put more people in that pretty little head of yours again."

"Well, yeah. You think we just kept leaving you in the ground to rot?"

"But the BT needs fresh meat."

Red: "I get protection for the Red Road."

"All it took was one time of being buried while I was sleeping, and wake to have my pulse start from nothing to heart attack range staring down the inside of a casket lid, to crawling my way through the grave and pulling a Kill Bill on my knuckles to get out, for me to never want to be buried again."

"The Red Road will be repaved and fairy lights put up to illuminate the road. No more Silent Hill darkness."

Tag: "Not sure that's my department, and armed guards can be acquired."

Red: "Freya wishes herself to have access to her occult books and supplies. She wants to apply for shaman training formally with the Cherokee Nation."

Tag:"Would you like nice hopping streetlamps to follow you through checkpoints there, Chihiro?"

"Access to the Cherokee Shaman Tribe? Doable."

Red:"I actually want fairy lights. And sign posts warning visitors of the risks of breaking the Code and leaving the Red Road."

Tag: "Fine, fair lights and warning signs."

Red:"I want jasmine and Japanese cherry trees planted in the areas next to the Red Road to deter
Codebreakers."

" Liliana misses home."

Tag:"Fine. Call Terry in landscaping. He loves decorative trees and shrubbery"

Red:"Cypress trees and mangroves for Amanda. Pictures of her children and proper Wiccan burial for them with trees planted as headstones. She wants her ashes moved to the New Orleans graveyard. Not Marie's graveyard. Don't you dare."

"Proxy protection in all timelines against the other magic factions. Even in the event of war."

"Freya wants permission to kill Tia Dalma."

Tag: "Yes, yes, yes, yes, Don't worry, we aren't that big of assholes, sure, that one is complicated, and absolutely not. In that order."

Red:"She committed a blood offense. I demand retribution."

"She broke the Treaty. You know the price for that."

Me:"You know I can't authorize that."

"You can maim, not kill. Take a finger off or something."

Red: "Dubyoi says off with her fucking head. We keep the head of hers and the narcs on pikes by Rabbit Hole. I want white roses planted around Sanctuary and Rabbit Hole."

"She tried to hex me out of my body. It almost worked. If I weren't dead already, it would have."

"This is nonnegotionable. Contact Higher Management. I'll wait for their answer."

Tag:"Ladies, we've talked about this, you want Dal Matia dead, you go to the Higher ups directly."

"I can send in the form."

"That's about it."

Red:"She broke Their rules. You know the penalty of killing one of my bodies. Of breaking the Rules. She broke every truce that mattered. I get to cut their heads off myself."

Tag:"I know, it's in the treaty. But trust me, all 18 of you don't want to do this."

Me:"No. Call BT. I want to formally call in my token for the hiding from IA for The rape and torture of a K8 by the K-3 agent, David."

Tag:"You're calling in that favor with the BT?"

Red:"You owe me, Tagalong."

Tag: ."..fucking no strings attached policy."

Fine, I'll get you your violent date with Dal Matia. Don't ever say I didn't do anything nice for you."

Red:"Yes. Nonnegotionable, being called in as of now."

Tag:"Fine, but you're personally feeding her body to the Tree."

Red:"I don't want the payoff money. The 5 years lump sum will go straight into investing into businesses we will control and own as our own. Even split of resources we get as profits, distributed to all Rabbits."

Tag:"You want to take your personally earned salary and dump it into your rabbit cage?"

"Fine by me."

Red:"We formally request David himself to make amends, create a truce, and lend his fizzle magic to my personal resource pool. One week notice prior. Regular maintenance. Terms negotiable. I still need to show him what it's like when Catherine rapes HIM."

Tag:"Doable. Might as well fuck up the day of one of the original 12 for some well deserved payback."

Red:"Of course we'll enjoy it. But the point remains. He owes sexual healing and he knows it. It's very little to ask of him, all things considered."

Tag:"Whatever he does to any of you in his spare time is your business. I'll just get the paperwork done."Spare me the details."

Red:"I don't need revenge. All of us together, we will be five hundred and twenty this July. I'm too old to care about old wounds. I just want to be acknowledged as more than a rape doll for Wooden Girl, or a torture pet for David."

Tag:"I always forget that, Red. Fine. All requests and demands accepted, pending approval by Higher Management. Doth I please the queen, this insipid bumpkin for sooth?"

Red:"Dobyoi requests official recognition of the Red Road, Sanctuary, and No Man's Land. She gets formal goddaughter status with the Fears. So all of us do by technicality as hers."

"We need protection, I need protection from Them. All deals are held to the intent of the letter and upheld til the day after eternity ends."

"So no direct intervention, attacks and or psychological damage to the 18 personalities inhabiting the one living vessel."

Tag:"Eternity is a long time."

"Better make it worth their while."

Red: "You people made me into this eldritch mindfuck. Time to claim ownership and make it formal."

Tag:"Don't say I didn't warn you. But fine, I'll put the paperwork through."

Red:"Paid vacation. Travel expenses, food costs, per diem, mileage. I want the Blood Red credit card in my real name. No limit. Only to be used with written permission from higher ups."

Tag:"... Slush funds at your disposal, Red."

Red:"In my real name. So it's legal in all timelines."

"Protection from Proxy assignments on all of my lovers and informants. No more watching as Berserker kill my lovers. Too many of us lost our timeline's future husbands to the Quiet. They get the choice of which timeline to live in."

Tag:"You know you're asking me to bend time and space on a head for you, right?"

"You want the moon and stars while I'm at it?"

Red: "In return, I will be the field agent they always dreamed of."

Tag:"Hefty boast. But fine."

Red:"No more fuck ups. No more suicides. No more Running. No more setting house fires or averting prophecies that are neutral in nature."

Tag:"As long as you deliver and give us what we want in return, you'll get everything you're asking for, Miss Renalda."

Red: "I will write incident reports. I want the cities of Nola and all of Mobile counties as my district and formal territory in Overland."

Tag:"That's for the zoning board to decide, but the chairman owes me a favor."

"Businesses, populations and subsidiaries as well?"

Red:"Complete with recognition as middle management and your equal in status if not rank or salary. I have access and leadership of the Proxy squads in those areas."

Tag: "You know that's going to basically make you just like me, right?"

Red:"Yes. We are reclaiming Nola and the home of Mardi Gras."

"I will still be operating in collusion with you. Out of respect. You are still my ranked superior by experience if not status."

Tag:“Aww. Well that’s nice.”

“But you know that if you or I screw up, we’re both going down for it. Right?”

Red:"I will finally cooperate and become a Proxy. I will be considered a District Manager."

Tag:“Is that how far you’re willing to go?”

Red:"I will make weekly instead of monthly sacrifices to Bleeding Tree."

Tag:“Where are you going to find the bodies?”

Red:"I want my old mask back. When dealing with Rabbits and on assignments."

"Be the management they truly want. It will be a bloody district."

Tag:“You are about this?”

Red:"I'm not done."

Me:“You’re losing a lot of Autonomy.”

Red:"I will publicly declare myself as Keeper and create an Archive within the Alexandrian library."

Tag:“You’re doing what now?”

Red:"I will donate all but my trophies from my souvenirs and storage. At my discretion what is exempt. No matter what I found."

"Kids will stop being killed in my district. 12 and under are off limits in No Man's Land and my district."

"As well as individuals over the age of 80. They earned a peaceful death. They should get it, even if I can't."

Tag: "Lot of specifics here, Red. You sure about this?"

Red:"Whatever happens outside my district is free game until the unlikely event I get promoted again."

"I will not punish those that break my Code outside of my district."

"I will be culling the rapists, murderers, and pedophiles from my district beginning at 12:01am Saturday morning. Retroactive. The witching hour of February 14th will be the go time. This timeline, 3AM Feb 10th is."

"Bleeding Tree will get fat off the sacrifices I am about to give it. I am about to soak the ground red with blood enough that Rabbit Hole's grass will grow red for eternity."

Tag:"Well, as long as you get them in on time, I don't think the higher ups will be all too disappointed in your incredible work ethic. "

Red:"I get to kill Omega as many times as I want for funsies. Any and all means allowed. No permanent deaths."

Tag:"Omega? Fine. He can't die anyway."

Red: "Give Them some amusement."

Tag:"You're a real people pleaser, you know that?"

Red:"I get acknowledgement for my true kill count."

Tag:"That's going to take a while."

Red:"Updated daily. Publically posted."

"I received my old notebook and can count through my scrapbook."

"I know The number anyway."

"Once a month for 4 years."

"Once a year from 16-22."

"You do the math."

"54 known kills."

"From here on out, kill count updated to once weekly."

"Wooden Girl makes Dobyoi an enchanted Noh mask. Same design as before."

Tag:“Same sort of glass?”

Red:"Must inspire Fear and loyalty somehow."

"Looking Glass. Ability to see through the timelines without jumping."

Tag:“We’ll make it extra scary for you then.”

Red:"Reinstatement of my ability to heal and travel the path. Removal of health consequences for doing so. I need to find Justice. He has a prophecy I need to hear for myself, but he lives in the Path now."

Tag:“You know that one is dependent on the higher ups performance reviews. If they are happy, you’ll get that one on your own.

"Anything else on your to do list?”

Red: "What do the eldritch Old Ones want from me that I haven't already promised?"

"We must follow the Code. Here, now."

Tag:“If that’s what they already told you, I guess nothing.”

Red:"One last thing."

Tag:“What is it?”

Red:"I have a catch of my own this time."

"My legal persona, Shady, and the Board all get 33%"

"Ownership of everything involved."

Tag: “You want to split this land and all of its assets into 1/3rds?

Red: "This District will be formally recognized as a melting pot. No killing in Nola or 251 or the surrounding areas. I have family in both."

"Yes. Legally recognize it as a neutral zone. Until the day every timeline is eaten by the Quiet or humanity wins the Great Game. Not a moment before."

Tag: "That's asking for a whole section of non sacrifices. well, if you want it, you have it."

Red: "I will more than make up for it with Codebreakers."

Tag: "Don't make promises, you can't keep, Red."

Red: "There will be a culling. As of Mobile time, 12:01 AM Saturday."

"It's going to be the Purge, Underland style."

"Better warn your people to run. My Rabbits are already stationed outside every oathbreaker's house. You have 5 minutes to finalize this deal before they begin."

"And of course, rending metal to flesh, feeding the hallowed ground with the blood of the unclean."

Tag:"You're threatening me, Red?"

"That hurts my feelings."

Red:"No. Promising you an District level Apocalypse. Straight out of Their sickest desires."

Tag:"Fine, I accept the terms in full."

Red:"The streets will run red with blood in 4 minutes."

Tag:"3 more than I'll need. Men, let's move out. Get out of their line of fire."

"I'll be in touch, Red. Don't you disappoint me now."

Red: "Add in my Code. Just use negotiable terms."

Tag:"All terms adhere to the code."

Samantha came forward, soft spoken and resigned to what she was signing away:

"We can fix it later. Now which blade am I using to get the blood?"

Tag:"Polished steel, black handle pen knife."

"Make it deep."

"I'll be doing the same."

Sam:"Wait."

Tag: "What is it now?"

Lilith blinks forward:"Protection for Gallows. Should he want it. Priority level."

"3 minutes."

Lilith:"Fine."

"Twisting my arm here, Red. You know that?"

Red:"And Shady."

Tag:"And I 'm already late.. Shady?"

Red:"She's part owner, after all."

Tag:"Fine, suit yourself,"

"They get full protection."

-pen scratches as she signs the contract-

-pen scratches as he signs the contract and dates-

-it vanishes by magical fax-

Tag: "Now that is what you call blood binding and quick sending.:"

"So, I need to go before I get a ceremonial dagger to the face."

"Always a pleasure, Red."

Red:"2 minutes. Any last warnings for the Code Breakers?"

Me: "Try not to get my good side."

Comments

A day later, she called me back to iron out what she wanted in exchange for becoming the proper proxy that the higher ups had wanted since day one.

Just one sentence this time.

"We need to meet, Tag."

Guess I have to pack my bags.

-Transcription Start-

Me: "So, you're back on the payroll. Enjoying your time as a lacky of the hire ups again. But you know they're keeping tabs on you, right?"

Red:"I figured. I know how this goes. Constantly stalking me."

Me: "Left and right, so like I said. Keep your nose clean.But fuck all, find out what's going on. Even I don't know why they're watching you."

Red: "So basically always act as though I'm being recorded. If it wound up on the news, would she have to move Sanctuary or want to?"

Me: "Well, no. The Board has already staked too much into it to move it. They'll make that part disappear."

Red: "What do you mean?"

Me: "Oh they'd make it look like Sanctuary is a burned out patch of land with no strategic value.Mental trickery, bunch of bribes. Like it never existed."

Red: "Kind of like Hogwarts."

Me:"Yeah, kind of like hogwarts. Except there's no anti muggle spells. Just armed personnel with an axe to grind."

Red: ".....who will be guarding Rabbit Hole?"

And I need to hire mercenaries. To kill those narcs for you. May I use the slush fund?"

Me: "Your choice of our finest mercenaries, all expenses paid."

"Yes, you may use the slush fund."

Red: "Is this a permanent bonus or a temporary one?"

Me: "Kill those three middle management pukes, and then I'll tell you."

Red: "Fuck."

"Can I at least get a promotion ?"

"Because K8s make shit pay."

Me:"How about K6 pay with benefits?"

"And you'll owe me one."

Red:"And I will need permanent access to the slush fund. Especially to pay off Sanctuary's mortgage."

Me:"You're killing me Red. But fine. Deal."

Red:"Fine. One favor that follows the Code."

Me:"You're no fun, you know that?"

Red:"I will file a formal request each time. I won't ditch the paperwork if I get the promotion?"

Me:"And you'll say you're sorry to the Tax Adjuntant for flipping her off."

"Lady holds a grudge like nothing I've ever seen."

Red:"I'll finally be getting paid fairly. Thus, I can actually travel to do my job."

"I will ask each time, report each assignment. You can even publish the tame incident reports if you think it will help PR."

Me:"Make them as gory as you like, you know the higher ups love a good orgy of violence and suffering. Just keep up with your paperwork, and next bonus is sure to be properly handled."

Red: "May I ask if I may make special requests from R & D?"

Me:"Within reason."

Red: "Or bribing the necromancer to help him fix the broken magic on my healing ability?"

Me: "You can use the slush fund for that."

Red:"I also need a hush favor, valid for up to one year, in each timeline."

"So.. 20 hush favors for 18 deaths and two active timelines?"

Me:"Fine. Put that in the contract. I'll make it legal."

Red:"We need to put everything in clear writing. Dobyoi formally requests that Sanctuary be on protected status in every timeline."

Me:"You actually got Dobyoi in on this? Come on, Red. You know even I can't say no to a big (Redacted).?"

Red: "We need additional training classes, both for me as middle management and for the Rabbits."

Me:"Slush fund."

Red: "I need R&D to create a better version of my Sanctuary slips. Nonfading magic."

Me:"That can be arranged."

Red:"I need special detailed pocketwatches. I will send the specs to you later."

Me:"Sounds like you're starting some kind of cult. Or underground society."

Red: "We need a communication source that will work in every timeline."

Me:"R&D has a rotary phone for that."

Red:"This will take contacting the Alexandrian library."

"No. My Rabbits, my land, my rules."

"We have to keep them safe. It's already a stipulation of the top brass that I do this. To pull it off, I need tech and magic. You know how to make this happen. I know you do."

Me:"I do, but it's going to cost extra to get everything into place."

"But yeah, you're one of my best. I'll expedite the process."

'You'd better deliver, Red."

Red:"You're the one with his neck in a noose. You want this to be a rush order. Make it happen."

Me:"Fine. But whatever it is they're trying to get from you. Don't let it happen."

"Good hunting. For both our sakes."

Red: "I won't. I will swear in blood not to directly attack the other Fears. I can keep the Rabbits alive in No Man's Land and Underland. I decided we're going with literary quotes for my land since Dobyoi has agreed to help."

Me: "Fine. That's going to be in writing. No one can break it."

Red:"They can't attack either. Every time you call me Red, my base personality becomes stronger. But in contrast, so does Dobyoi. It's a trade off."

Me:"Well, you're lucky I enjoy your original nickname,"

Red:"We can write up my formal Code of Conduct, add a few concessions as a good faith move, and put it in the Charter for Sanctuary. Contract must be signed in freshly spilled, nonbespelled blood. If we have to use temporary fizzle magic to make this happen, we need to."

"Proxies and Runners and neutral parties get access to training classes. And They swear They will not cause the Rabbits permanent death. We must be able to retrieve them after their trial in Underland us over."

Me: "Right."

Me: "Just do me a favor. Stay alive this time, will you?"

"Hell of a lot of paperwork to bury you again."

Red: "I will swear not to attempt suicide again. Accidental deaths shall have no repercussions."

"You mean those Proxy bodies after Bleeding Tree got done devouring their soul as a power source?"

Me:"Good. Can't have the last few times put more people in that pretty little head of yours again."

"Well, yeah. You think we just kept leaving you in the ground to rot?"

"But the BT needs fresh meat."

Red: "I get protection for the Red Road."

"All it takes is one time of being buried while I was sleeping, and wake to have my pulse start from nothing to heart attack range staring down the inside of a casket lid, to crawling my way through the grave and pulling a Kill Bill on my knuckles to get out, for me to never want to be buried again."

"The Red Road will be repaved and fairy lights put up to illuminate the road. No more Silent Hill darkness."

Me:Not sure that's my department, and armed guards can be acquired."

Red: "Freya wishes herself to have access to her occult books and supplies. She wants to apply for shaman training formally with the Cherokee Nation."

Me:"Would you like nice hopping streetlamps to follow you through checkpoints there, Chihiro?"

"Access to the Cherokee Shaman Tribe? Doable"

Red:"I actually want fairy lights. And sign posts warning visitors of the risks of breaking the Code and leaving the Red Road."

Me: "Fine, fair lights and warning signs."

Red:"I want jasmine and Japanese cherry trees planted in the areas next to the Red Road to deter
Codebreakers. Liliana misses home."

Me:"Fine. Call Terry in landscaping. He loves decorative trees and shrubbery"

Red:"Cypress trees and mangroves for Amanda. Pictures of her children and proper Wiccan burial for them with trees planted as headstones. She wants her ashes moved to the New Orleans graveyard. Not Marie's graveyard. Don't you dare."

"Proxy protection in all timelines against the other magic factions. Even in the event of war."

"Freya wants permission to kill Dal Matia."

Me:'Yes, yes, yes, yes, Don't worry, we aren't that big of assholes, sure, that one is complicated, and absolutely not. In that order."

Red:"She committed a blood offense. I demand retribution."

"She broke the Treaty. You know the price for that."

Me:"You know I can't authorize that."

"You can maim, not kill. Take a finger off or something."

Red: "Dubyoi says off with her fucking head. We keep the head of hers and the narcs on pikes by Rabbit Hole. I want white roses planted around Sanctuary and Rabbit Hole."

"She tried to hex me out of my body. It almost worked. If I weren't dead already, it would have."

"This is nonnegotionable. Contact Higher Management. I'll wait for their answer."

Tag:"Ladies, we've talked about this, you want Dal Matia dead, you go to the Higher ups directly."

"I can send in the form."

"That's about it."

Red:"She broke Their rules. You know the penalty of killing one of my bodies. Of breaking the Rules. She broke every truce that mattered. I get to cut their heads off myself."

Tag:"I know, it's in the treaty.

"But trust me, all 18 of you don't want to do this."

Red:"No. Call BT. I want to formally call in my token for the hiding from IA for The rape and torture of a K8 by the K-3 agent, David."

Tag:"You're calling in that favor with the BT?"

Red:"You owe me, Tagalong."

Tag: ."..fucking no strings attached policy."

Fine, I'll get you your violent date with Dal Matia."

"Don't ever say I didn't do anything nice for you."

Red:"Yes. Nonnegotionable, being called in as of now."

Tag:"Fine, but you're personally feeding her body to the Tree."

Red:"I don't want the payoff money. The 5 years lump sum will go straight into investing into businesses we will control and own as our own. Even split of resources we get as profits, distributed to all Rabbits."

Me:"You want to take your personally earned salary and dump it into your rabbit cage?"

"Fine by me."

Red:"We formally request David himself to make amends, create a truce, and lend his fizzle magic to my personal resource pool. One week notice prior. Regular maintenance. Terms negotiable. I still need to show him what it's like when Catherine rapes HIM."

Me:"Doable. Might as well fuck up the day of one of the original 12 for some well deserved payback."

Red:"Of course we'll enjoy it. But the point remains. He owes sexual healing and he knows it. It's very little to ask of him, all things considered."

Me:"Whatever he does to any of you in his spare time is your business. I'll just get the paperwork done."Spare me the details."

Red:"I don't need revenge. I'm five hundred and twenty this July. I'm too old to care about old wounds. I just want to be acknowledged as more than a rape doll for Wooden Girl, or a torture pet for David."

Me:"I always forget that, Red. Fine. All requests and demands accepted, pending approval by Higher Management. Doth I please the queen, this insipid bumpkin for sooth?"

Red:"Dobyoi requests official recognition of the Red Road, Sanctuary, and No Man's Land. She gets formal goddaughter status with the Fears. So all of us do by technicality as hers."

"We need protection, I need protection from Them. All deals are held to the intent of the letter and upheld til the day after eternity ends."

"So no direct intervention, attacks and or psychological damage to the 18 personalities inhabiting the one living vessel."

Me:"Eternity is a long time."

"Better make it worth their while."

Red: "You people made me into this eldritch mindfuck. Time to claim ownership and make it formal."

Me:"Don't say I didn't warn you. But fine, I'll put the paperwork through."

Red:"Paid vacation. Travel expenses, food costs, per diem, mileage. I want the Blood Red credit card in my real name. No limit. Only to be used with written permission from higher ups."

Me:"... Slush funds at your disposal, Red."

Red:"In my real name. So it's legal in all timelines."

"Protection from Proxy assignments on all of my lovers and informants. No more watching a

Berserker kill my lovers. Too many of us lost our timeline's future husbands to the Quiet. They get the choice of which timeline to live in."

Me:"You know you're asking me to bend time and space on a head for you, right?"

"You want the moon and stars while I'm at it?"

Red: "In return, I will be the field agent they always dreamed of."

Me:"Hefty boast. But fine."

Red:"No more fuck ups. No more suicides. No more Running. No more setting house fires or averting prophecies that are neutral in nature."

Me:"As long as your deliver and give us what we want in return, you'll get everything you're asking for, Miss Renalda."

Red: "I will write incident reports. I want the cities of Nola and all of Mobile counties as my district and formal territory in Overland."

Me:"That's for the zoning board to decide, but the chairman owes me a favor.)

"Businesses, populations and subsidiaries as well?"

Red:"Complete with recognition as middle management and your equal in status if not rank or salary. I have access and leadership of the Proxy squads in those areas."

Me:"You know that's going to basically make you just like me, right?"

Red:"Yes. We are reclaiming Nola and the home of Mardi Gras."

"I will still be operating in collusion with you. Out of respect. You are still my ranked superior by experience if not status."

Me:“Aww. Well that’s nice.”

“But you know that if you or I screw up, we’re both going down for it. Right?”

Red:"I will finally cooperate and become a Proxy. I will be considered a District Manager."

Me:“Is that how far you’re willing to go?”

Red:"I will make weekly instead of monthly sacrifices to Bleeding Tree."

Me:“Where are you going to find the bodies?”

Red:"I want my old mask back. When dealing with Rabbits and on assignments."

"Be the management they truly want. It will be a bloody district."

Me:“You are about this?”

Red:"I'm not done."

Me:“You’re losing a lot of Autonomy.”

Red:"I will publicly declare myself as Keeper and create an Archive within the Alexandrian library."

Me:“You’re doing what now?”

Red:"I will donate all but my trophies from my souvenirs and storage. At my discretion what is exempt. No matter what I found."

"Kids will stop being killed in my district. 12 and under are off limits in No Man's Land and my district."

"As well as individuals over the age of 80. They earned a peaceful death. They should get it, even if I
can't."

Me: "Lot of specifics here, Red. You sure about this?"

Red:"Whatever happens outside my district is free game until the unlikely event I get promoted again."

"I will not punish those that break my Code outside of my district."

"I will be culling the rapists, murderers, and pedophiles from my district beginning at 12:01am Saturday morning. Retroactive. The witching hour of February 14th will be the go time."

"Bleeding Tree will get fat off the sacrifices I am about to give it. I am about to soak the ground red with blood enough that Rabbit Hole's grass will grow red for eternity."

Me:"Well, as long as you get them in on time, I don't think the higher ups will be all too disappointed in your incredible work ethic. "

Red:"I get to kill Omega as many times as I want for funsies. Any and all means allowed. No permanent deaths."

Me:"Omega? Fine. He can't die anyway."

Red: "Give Them some amusement."

Me:"You're a real people pleaser, you know that?"

Red""I get acknowledgement for my true kill count."

Me:"That's going to take a while."

Red:"Updated daily. Publically posted."

"I received my old notebook and can count through my scrapbook."

"I know The number anyway."

"Once a month for 4 years. Once a year from 16-22."

"You do the math."

"From here on out, kill count Updated to once weekly."

"Wooden Girl makes Dobyoi an enchanted Noh mask. Same design as before."

Me:“Same sort of glass?”

Red:"Must inspire Fear and loyalty somehow."

"Looking Glass. Ability to see through the timelines without jumping."

Me:“We’ll make it extra scary for you then.”

Red:"Reinstatement of my ability to heal and travel the path. Removal of health consequences for doing so. I need to find Justice. He has a prophecy I need to hear for myself, but he lives in the Path now."

Me:“You know that one is dependent on the higher ups performance reviews. If they are happy, you’ll get that one on your own.

"Anything else on your to do list?”

Red: "What do the eldritch Old Ones want from me that I haven't already promised?"

"We must follow the Code. Here, now."

Me:“If that’s what they already told you, I guess nothing.”

Red:"One last thing."

Me:“What is it?”

Red:"I have a catch of my own this time."

"My legal persona, Shady, and the Board all get 33%"

"Ownership of everything involved."

Me:“You want to split this land and all of its assets into 1/3rds?

Red: "This District will be formally recognized as a melting pot. No killing in Nola or 251 or the surrounding areas. I have family in both."

"Yes. Legally recognize it as a neutral zone. Until the day every timeline is eaten by the Quiet or humanity wins the Great Game. Not a moment before."

Me: "That's asking for a whole section of non sacrifices. well, if you want it, you have it."

Red: "I will more than make up for it with Codebreakers."

Me: "Don't make promises, you can't keep, Red."

Red: "There will be a culling. As of Mobile time, 12:01 AM Saturday."

"It's going to be the Purge, Underland style."

"Better warn your people to run. My Rabbits are already stationed outside every oathbreaker's house. You have 5 minutes to finalize this deal before they begin."

"And of course, rending metal to flesh, feeding the hallowed ground with the blood of the unclean."

Me:"You're threatening me, Red?"

"That hurts my feelings."

Red:"No. Promising you an District level Apocalypse. Straight out of Their sickest desires."

Me:"Fine, I accept the terms in full."

Red:"The streets will run red with blood in 4 minutes."

Me:"3 more than I'll need. Men, let's move out. Get out of their line of fire."

"I'll be in touch, Red. Don't you disappoint me now."

Red: "Add in my Code. Just use negotiable terms."

Me:"All terms adhere to the code."

Red:"We can fix it later. Now which blade am I using to get the blood?"

Me:"Polished steel, black handle pen knife."

"Make it deep."

"I'll be doing the same."

Red:"Wait."

Me: "What is it now?"

Red:"Protection for Gallows. Should he want it. Priority level."

"3 minutes."

Me:"Fine."

"Twisting my arm here, Red. You know that?"

Red:"And Shady."

Me:"And I 'm already late.. Shady?"

Red:"She's part owner, after all."

Me:"Fine, suit yourself,"

"They get full protection."

-pen scratches as she signs the contract-

-pen scratches as he signs the contract and dates-

-it vanishes by magical fax-

Me: "Now that is what you call blood binding and quick sending.:"

"So, I need to go before I get a ceremonial dagger to the face."

"Always a pleasure, Red."

Red:"2 minutes. Any last warnings for the Code Breakers?"

Me: "Try not to get my good side."

-Transcription End-

Friday, February 9, 2018

Tequila makes her..

...clothes fall off.

Sitting cross legged, naked, in an informant's house.

Posting some updates while he showers.

The voodoo bitch arrived at my home, finally. She literally looks like she is cosplaying Tia Dalma. And just as fucked up and weird.

Dreaded out hair, coffee colored skin, gorgeous eyes, and the attitude of a rattle snake. We've already come to blows once. Pretty sure one of her he's a landed its mark, as I'm bleeding.

I don't frankly care. Too pissed drunk and angry right now to care.

My housekeeper began fucking with me every five minutes, as soon as voodoo bitch arrived. 'Why's it taking so long?' 'S by is she still here?' 'M one appreciates me.' 'You're a selfish bitch by bringing her here.'

Nevermind I keep us all alive. Nevermind my money keeps this place afloat. Nevermind I have nearly died protecting her from her drug habit and atrocious spending habits.

I'm worthless. Despite keeping us alive. Despite pouring my whole soul into this place. Despite everything I do

Informant playing with my pussy as I write this. This will be interesting.

Quote from him: "Who wants to be normal? I don't care what you do, as long as I get to touch you."

The years are kinda blending together atn.. Sirry

In the kindest way, fuck anyone not allied with my Rabbits

Din't care who you serce

Nor who you used to vd...

Just 'follow yoit nosue, silly rabbit. .'

Drklpped my phone. Bit too drybk

Hon a go sleep

Fycj toyrMMMM?MMMTE GUY7

Ca)l or email me if you beed to

Yeah. Call me or email when-

Dia can't come to the phone right now, I think she had a bit too much fun with me and passed out. Before she did, she very charmingly asked me if I could post this no matter what condition the editing was in before I passed out myself.

Then she bent over at the waist and puked all over my shoes, the splash damage getting all over my work clothes.

Needless to say, I wasn't pleased.

Her, slurring but sad: "Oh god, I can't believe I just pulled a '10 Things I Hate About You' on you. I'm so sorry."

" I haven't puked while drinking since... Shit. Can't remember. In at least three years."

Me, already laughing my ass off and walking away to grab her a water bottle and a towel: "It's okay. Just means I and everyone else has something to jank you about for the next forever."

She's currently sleeping it off in my guest bedroom. Let's have some fun with this, while I still have her phone.

What are the most embarrassing stories you can remember about dealing with Dia? Most fucked up story gets a reward from me, a sponsored stay for a week at Sanctuary. Bonus points if it involves sex.

Y'all have 12 hours.. starting now.

-Moses

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Dead Men Need to Learn to Hush

I was planning on waiting a few days for my next post. I already have about four drafts saved, to update you guys on that voodoo female's arrival and other visitors tromping around the grounds of Sanctuary, but I wanted to hold off. Someone I care about very much got nasty with me for posting too often, told me that I was posting "to get attention..." that one stung a bit. But.. certain events have disallowed my waiting.

For those that aren't aware, in the supernatural community, certain people are bestowed Titles to indicate what they do in the world. Proxies are the meat puppets of the Fears, Runners try to avoid death, Survivors are those that remain, Gatherers manipulate and gather information to feed to the Fears, so on and so forth.

I've already mentioned that I started Running as a child, the day I left my childhood home because my family believed the word of my rapist over mine. I started seeing the Wretched Man's shadows that day, though didn't understand what they were. I was too deeply in shock as a kid to mind that the shadows moved.

I became a Gatherer when I was in my late teens, which is basically the Fears' version of a mole. I went through extensive training on psychology, verbal and written communication skills, sociological problems in society, even typing and computer classes to ensure that I would know what I was doing online.

I met some exceedingly fucked up people, made contacts, and began to masquerade as the Runner I once was. It was easy, to be honest with you guys. All I had to do was channel the pain and desperation I felt every time we ran out of food, got kicked out of yet another home, or had to panhandle on the street in order to make enough money to afford a hot shower at one of the myriad rest stops in my home town.

I began writing in order to entice Runners to trust me. Things were going swimmingly when I began my Gatherer blog, Be Wary of These, at least at first. I networked with the best of them, gained their trust, and fed what information I could to my bosses. Said bosses were very pleased.

I got attached. How could I not? Men and women from all over the world, suffering the same trials I went through as a child and a teenager. People trying to find hope in the darkest of nights, trying to create a community of like minded people in order to survive. I made friends, some of them closer than others. I began to care what happened to these people once I fed information to my superiors.

I didn't want these people to die. I didn't want Shady, Lis, Ell, Konaa, and countless others to suffer for what I chose to do in order to ensure my own survival. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged, like I had found my tribe. I started to deliberately withhold information from the Fears, or delay my delivery report in order to give the Runners a head start. I started to dispense advice on who to avoid in our world, who to befriend, and how to stay alive. With every post, Dia became more invested in the community.

This displeased my bosses... to the tune of waterboarding, bamboo shoots shoved into my nail beds, hunting knives taken to my skin. I underwent an excessive amount of brainwashing in Their attempt to rehabilitate me. Their efforts failed spectacularly, though they couldn't understand why. I could. I went through enough abuse, torture, neglect, and overall trauma as a child and teen that the things they did registered as physically painful but not really that terrible. Once you've been padlocked into chains forcing you to sit in a rickety old chair in the dark confines of a closet at two and three years old, locked in for hours on end to "prevent your evil from escaping," such things as a spot of torture or mental manipulations stop having the same effects.

After I recovered from the physical effects of what the Bureaucracy attempted, I was given a choice:

Either I was to suffer what was essentially a department change, become a field Proxy expected of running missions with specially selected teams of other murders, or take an extended leave.At the time, I wasn't capable of murderer, still believed in the inherent goodness of humanity, still believed that innocents should be protected. Oddly enough, my bosses seemed to understand and gave me a clunky broken pocket-watch with a memory wiping spell bound to it. The moment I opened it, I was told I would be able to start over.

I was able to live the life of a Runner again... what I didn't anticipate was that They never let you go.

The pocket-watch was designed to have a time limit, triggered at the exact moment I felt the most pain. If I learned my lesson from what the Bureaucracy, I would have been able to continue living as a Runner for the rest of my days. This performed as basically the opposite of Angelus's curse; you all must forgive me for my minor sentimentality. My being a fan of various geekdoms gives me an escape when I need it most, and as such, I'm a veritable walking encyclopedia of useless knowledge from many media series. I quote constantly.

As you saw with 'Storytime,' I came very close to achieving my ends. I moved, settled down, got a job, and did what any semi-normal person would do in their daily lives. You must understand, up until that point in my life, I had never really settled in one place. I was always moving even as a kid, drifting across social groups as I grew old, bitter and introverted from the things I had endured growing up. Up until the Fears' training, I didn't really know how to connect properly with other people. I had never actually been.. "normal."

As for how I feel now, I'll quote the infamous turncoat Harley Quinn: "Normal's just a setting on the dryer."

But I digress... the pocket-watch was given to me as a long running trap, meant to teach me to listen to what my superiors attempted to teach me. Even in their cruelty, they had been attempting to impart survival lessons upon me so that I too could survive, and I was too hardheaded to listen. This 'leave' was their punishment.

Despite everything I endured, I still miss those old days in Sacramento. Life was simpler then.

I lost yet another lover to the savagery of our community, and shattered emotionally. Ladybug's death caused me a moment of pain great enough to trigger the retraction of the memory spell, with dire consequences. I was a Gatherer once more, this time vicious, insane from grief, and capable of great destruction and malice. Thus the burning down of my lover's home with his body still inside. Thus my waiting for the firefighters to arrive on the scene, waiting in the side alley for one to stray from the others, and knocking him out to steal his uniform. Thus my playing a horrible prank on my old friend Shady, disguising my voice and calling her to inform her of Dia's demise. Thus my waiting at the scene of the fire in the firefighter gear, face disguised by the gas mask, only to watch as she looked around for Dia's body and found nothing.

Watched her pain and suffering, and somewhere deep inside took satisfaction in it. I knew I couldn't come back to the fold, knew I was unwelcome in the safehouses of the Runners. I was a woman without a country, without a home, desperately heartbroken and craving some kind of contact with the people that I loved, even if I had to hide my face at the time to achieve that end. I wanted to know that, somewhere in the world, someone cared enough if I died to mourn me. Because, essentially, my old life was over in that moment.

A Fear approached me, gave me the opportunity to make sure such things were prevented.

No one had to die ever again. I won't get into it now, but what I can say is that the deal came with a catch.

I was allowed to create Sanctuary, given the 'Do No Harm' spell attached to an item I wore for sentimental value, and set loose upon the world to do what harm or benefit I saw fit. I was simultaneously a Proxy and a Runner, from that moment on. I became the True Neutral party you all see before you today.

Shortly after that dreadful deal (no take-backsies! bastard Fears), I got word that a key blogger's body had been discovered in a cabin, basically in the middle of fucking nowhere. .

I packed my shit, let my Rabbits know I was taking a vacation and would be back soon, and began driving.

After driving a decent amount of time, and a multitude of pee breaks, I arrived at my destination.
The cabin itself was tiny, tucked behind a series of mangroves and cypress trees at the very end of a truly awful pothole ridden dirt road. When I got out of the truck, I was overcome with a sense of apprehension.

Shit was about to change, for better or worse.

Shrugging off what I chalked up to superstitiousness, I walked inside.

Very little awaited me inside. A rusted twin bed with naught but a bare top mattress, a battered old dresser, a scarred end table, a small desk, and various personal odds and ends. Essentially, a prison cell.

No body, which confused me greatly. The scavengers had already descended on the scene, it seemed.

On the desk, only three items were present: a bloodstained old laptop, a vial, and a map of some kind.

I, of course, began rummaging through the dresser and various bits strewn across the room. Nothing of interest beyond a Runner's notebook, which I tucked into my bug out bag to read in a minute.

Not trusting Runners as far as I could throw them at the time, I ran a neodymium magnet over the surface of the laptop, flipping it over and repeating the process on the underside, just to be sure everything would be erased. Satisfied, I threw the magnet back in my bag and set the bag on the bare mattress, turning back to the desk as I did so. This blogger, Jeff, was renowned for his paranoia and beliefs in the existence of a cure to Proxyism. I wasn't about to let whatever writings he had saved on his laptop see the light of day.

I picked up the vial, a sluggish tar like liquid sloshing against the sides as I did so. I held it up to the light to examine it, but no further clues revealed themselves to me, so I carefully pocketed it, taking care not to upend the damn thing in my jeans. I wasn't sure such a thing would affect my body chemistry, but with what I knew of Jeff the Keeper from his previous writings, I had no intention of finding out what would happen.

Last item on the list: a messily scrawled-upon map of Disney World, with nearly incomprehensible scribbles nearly blacking out the contents of it. All I could translate was 'Find them. Look here.' A giant red circle encompassing what I guessed to be Cinderella's castle, with a comically drawn arrow pointing into it.

I had heard rumors of a neutral zone existing within the confines of Disney World, where Proxies and Runners coexisted in order for both to influence the children that frequented the amusement park, but I had always dismissed them for delusions or flights of fancy made up by bored proxies round the water cooler.

Apparently, I was wrong.

I memorized the contents of the map, rolled it up, and stuck it in my back pocket; absentmindedly plotting travel details as I mused on the absurdity of my situation. A former proxy, looking for a cure? Laughable.

Finally, I returned to the bed, sitting on the mattress heavily. I pulled the notebook from my bag, wiped the dirt and crime from its cover, and began to read. What I found, I managed to obscure for 5 years.

My carelessness with the crime scene have come back to haunt me, in the form of an auto-post from none other than Jeff himself, designed to post upon the event of his death at a random point in the future.

-sigh-

Jeff the Keeper, the smug bastard, managed to fuck with me from beyond the grave.

I bet you wherever his soul resides, he is laughing at me, and waiting to see what comes next.

Jeff had named me his successor to the title of Keeper, only the 3rd in the line.

For newcomers, a Keeper is essentially a Ravenclaw pack rat version of a Gatherer. They obsessively collect the writings, records, personal keepsakes, and magical items that belong to those that have passed; in a fruitless attempt to preserve our History, in the off chance that humanity does survive the Great Game.

According to the instructions Jeff left me, "You gather information, you run, and whatever you do. Don't get involved unless you have to. Rinse, wash, and repeat. To do otherwise will get you killed."

You must understand, at the time I was still unaware of my inability to pass to the Other Side. I was responsible for a brand new group of Rabbits, coming and going as they are want to do, and I had no intention of following the intent of Jeff's instructions. All I ever did was get involved.

So I dismissed the contents of the notebook, content to be myself without the added pressure or responsibilities that a Title in our world tends to entail. I was always aware that what I was doing was already essentially the functions of a Keeper, but I was bound and determined to do it my way.

You see, every Keeper and intended Keeper up until that point had been Runners.

I was not only the first former Proxy to hold the title, but the first neutral party to do so.

I have a thing about rules that are seemingly written in stone. I rebel. I will deliberately do the opposite.

I read through the notebook, took notes, and... committed a crime, as far as the community is concerned..

I burned Jeff's notebook.

Sat and watched as it burned, just to be sure no one else ever saw the contents, all the way down to ash, and spread the ash at the base of the trees surrounding his cabin, in a sort of post-mortem ritual.

Don't ask about my random witchy shit, and I won't tell.

I made a rather terrible mistake after that, I admit. I was green, wet behind the ears, new to my job. I ventured on to Disney World without asking for help, or telling anyone where I was going. What followed has got to be the most embarrassing story of my entire life, no matter what part. Again, I won't get into it.

But Jeff, sweetheart? Thanks for the kind words. But fuck you.

.I should have been able to avoid the spotlight until the day I eventually found my way to the grave.

I hope you're resting in peace, wherever you are. I've been doing my best to live up to your expectations.

The Rabbit Hole {Book 2, What Should Have Been and Never Was}

Saturday, February 10, 2018

The Culling/251 Acknowledgement

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

You Know, I Thought I Liked Being a Junior Executive...

Deals, Steals, and Another Corporate Merger...

Friday, February 9, 2018

Tequila makes her..

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Dead Men Need to Learn to Hush

When Words Interchange

Blog Archive