Grimwood Adventure: Arise, Ghouls, Arise! (Part One)

OCTOBER 2, 1989

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The time is 12:57. The sky is dark, but the lair is darker. The silence in the chambers was occasionally broken by the flutter of small wings belonging to the unseen entity. The ambient chill in the corridor seeped into the chambers and ran up Anon’s neck as he stood agape at Elsa who was held in place on her frame, the bolts on her neck completing a circuit. She looked almost emaciated; drained. ‘I sure hope this energy source is renewable,’ Anon thought mournfully. Just then, something broke the mind-numbing continuous hum of the electric current: a hollow rattle. Scanning around with his light, Anon figured the sound came from the only other noteworthy item in the room, which was the old trunk. He trained his light onto it. It moved.

Anon jumped back. The trunk kept jostling against the wall, shaking the old padlock that secured it, as well as the cable attached to it. Against better judgement, Anon cautiously approached the shuddering object. The closer he got, the more clear the sound of muffled whimpers became. Anon knelt down in front of the trunk, observing the lock; it looked as though it had been forged, and it was unlike any he had seen--there was no indication of a keyhole. However, the lockplate of the trunk’s latch were screwed in place, and Anon had just the thing to get it undone. He set the flashlight on the floor, its beam trained on the trunk, and he retrieved his pocketknife. Using the blades’ edge, he slowly and carefully unscrewed each of the eight screws securing the plate. It was very meticulous, but he finally got them all undone and the lock fell away free to the floor, taking the plate with it. Without any second thoughts, Anon lifted the lid. The hinges squeaked and the lid bumped against the wall. Peering inside, Anon didn’t notice the bizarre markings scrawled on the interior walls of the trunk, for all he saw was a pale blue mass--a mass with a sad, but recognizable face. It was Phantasma.

Anon breathed a sigh of relief; he found at least one mostly lively ghoul. “Man, I’m glad to see you, Phanty,” Anon said softly, attempting a reassuring smile. Phantasma gazed up at him with her frown. “Wok...muuuhhhn” she muttered weakly.
Anon’s face fell. “Pardon?”
“Waaaalk... maaaaan” she said again.
“Oh!” Anon unslung his bag from his shoulder and he fished out his Walkman and headphones. “Plaaaaaay...” Phantasma murmured. Anon thumbed the volume knob to max, and he pushed the play button. Immediately the horns blared and the drums thundered through the headphones from where he had last stopped. “...YOU CAN HAVE AN AEROPLANE FLYIN’--IF YOU BRING YOUR BLUE SKY BACK--” the lyrics sang. As the song progressed, the liquid-like substance that made up Phantasma began to swell and bubble, and as this happened the batteries in Anon’s Walkman began draining rapidly. The song began to slow in tempo: “...OWWW! LET ME BE... YOUR... SLEDGE--HAMMER,” it droned.
The liquid in the trunk began do bubble vigorously as if boiling over a fire. After more slurred lyrics, the music finally died. As soon as it did, the undulating liquid shot into the air.
Anon fell backward and watched as the liquid became a gaseous cloud, and then a loose outline of a body, and then the full, normal form of Phantasma, white boots and all. Immediately she whizzed around the room, flying at dizzying speeds, and then bolted towards Anon. “Hurray for music!” she squealed as she plucked Anon off the floor--off his feet--and spun him around in the air in a tight hug (this time he actually felt it). “Shhhh!” Anon whispered sharply, “I’m happy to see you too, but we can’t make any noise!”  Phanty promptly set him back down to earth, still holding him tightly. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It’s fine,” Anon said with a grin, “now, I think we should help Elsa.” Phanty released him and turned they both turned to the spread-eagled Elsa, still faintly spasming on the frame.

“What d’ya think we should do?” Phanty asked. Anon thought for a moment; this whole arrangement was electrified, and any half-cocked attempts at freeing his friend would surely get him toasted. “Those cables seem to have something to do with it,” he observed, “but I’m not sure how... wait, let’s try...” His voice trailed off as he shimmied off his jacket. He turned it around and put it on again as if to wear it backwards, but his hands stopped short at the elbows; this makeshift protective gear certainly wasn’t standard regulation, but it would hopefully do the job. As he approached the humming contraption, he asked: “So, what exactly is going on here?”
“I... can’t remember much,” she said reluctantly, “all I remember is this great loud noise back at the school, and the next thing I know I’m in that trunk. I tried getting out but I couldn’t.” Anon reached up and gingerly grabbed the clamps securing the cables to Elsa’s neck bolts, “Maybe those markings on the inside of the trunk had something to do with that. Mystical runes, or something.” Phanty pondered this for a moment. “Tanis might know something about it, but your guess is good,” she said finally.
“Oh, and Calloway and the cadets are backing us up,” Anon said as he squeezed the clamps open.
“Oh,” Phanty said in an unsure tone, “well, that’s nice of them!”
“Something wrong with that?” Anon asked as he slowly disconnected the first cable. It crackled against the bare head of the bolt. “No, no!” Phanty said brightening up, They're good at what they do, they’ll be great help!” ‘I sure hope so,’ Anon thought to himself. Slowly, he squeezed open the clamp securing the second bolt and pulled it away sharply. Big mistake. *Z-Z-Z--KRAKK!*

The arc, though a small one, was loud and powerful enough to throw Anon down to the floor. Phanty just watched as he picked himself up off the floor; his hair stood a little on end, but was otherwise uninjured. “Well,” he said, putting his jacket back on and straightening out his hair, “that worked!”

The electric humming had stopped, leaving them in total silence. The next step Anon figured was releasing Elsa from the frame. Peering at the arrangement, he saw that the manacles were secured by simple pins. “One of the cadets gave me a rundown on what’s-her-face--”Repugna”, or something.” Anon said as he removed the pins from the manacle securing Elsa’s torso. “Revolta,” Phanty said with a giggle, “but that’s kinda funny!”
“Yeah,” Anon said sheepishly, “any idea what she would want with you all?” By this time he was working on the ankle cuffs.
“Well, I do remember that one time she tried to enslave us and make us her evil followers, or something like that. I remember hearing her say she’d take the world for herself with us on her side.”
“Wow, those are some big goals,” Anon chuckled, “sounds like something a Bond villain would do.” He had now pulled free the pin on the manacle securing Elsa’s right wrist. Her long slender arm swung and cut through the air as it dropped down. It clunked dully against the metal framework. “That’s one,” Anon mumbled, and he pulled the final pin. “That’s two-o-o-OOOO!” Anon tried to dodge the now free-falling Elsa, but he was too slow--Anon collapsed under Elsa's weight, and he was now pinned to the ground under all of it. Phantasma tried to choke down a manic laugh. “Nee--heh--need a little help there?”
“PHAT MUOOD MEE MUPH APHREPHIAPHED.*” Anon said, his speech muffled under Elsa’s chest.

*”That would be much appreciated!”

Phantasma, who was not inept at manipulating material objects, attempted to lift Elsa’s right arm; Anon squirmed and shimmied out from underneath, gasping for air. “Uh.. he-help me turn her over,” he breathed. Together they pushed and shoved until finally Elsa was on her back. She was unresponsive. “Well, now what?”
Anon thought for a moment: her power comes from electricity, and those cables (whatever they connected to) must have drained most of whatever energy she had. “Let me try something,” Anon said. He pulled the radio off his belt and searched around for the battery compartment. Thumbing it open, he found exactly what he’d hoped: a nine-volt battery. He yanked it out and held it at the ready with the terminals facing out. When Phanty looked confused, he explained “This is one way to test the foltage in these things.” Anon held his breath, reached his right thumb and index finger into Elsa’s mouth, and with a grimace pulled out her dampened tongue. “Yech!” Phanty remarked, “What are you doing?”
“My friends made me do this to myself in middle school,” Anon said, “I'm hoping it'll work like I think it will.” With that, he placed the battery terminals against Elsa’s tongue. With an ambient crackle, her body jumped and her eyes shot open. With a gasping breath, she tightly gripped Anon by his lapels and sharply yanked him close to her. With eyes wide, she stared at Anon and uttered, “Es war alles dunkel! I couldn’t see anything!” She pulled Anon closer and encased him an another crushing hug, “it vas an abyss! A great expanse of nothingness!”
“Elsa!” Phanty said sharply, “let him breathe!” Elsa looked down and saw Anon tapping frantically at her shoulders, his face once again buried in her chest.
“Oh.” She loosened her grip, and Anon pulled away wheezing frantically. “I’m sorry, mein schatz.”

---

After explaining the situation at hand to Elsa, the trio ventured out into the vast corridor once more. “Where are ze others?” Elsa wondered quietly. “I haven’t a GHOST of an idea!” Phanty said, attempting to lighten the mood; Elsa simply glowered at her. “Well,” Anon said, holding his flashlight between his shoulder and head as he squeezed the battery back into the radio, “I found just you two in that one room. Maybe they’re in other rooms.”
“If that’s the case,” Phanty said, pointing out the abundant doors and passages, “we’ve got a whole lot to choose from.”
Just then, a noise sounded off from behind them; a small noise, but it was enough to make them freeze: the skittering of tiny legs across stone. Turning his light to the source of the noise, Anon caught under its beam a cat-sized spidery creature with... a bat’s head and wings?
Before Anon had time to put the scene together, the creature splayed its jaws wide and lunged towards the trio. With a beat of its leathery wings, the creature rushed at Anon, knocking him to the floor. The legs gripped firmly around his torso, the mandibles snapped furiously and flung saliva left and right. Anon thought fast and gripped the creature around its neck to avoid having his face gnawed off.
They kept wrestling about on the floor before the legs suddenly loosened their grip and pulled away. Anon looked up and saw Elsa holding the wretched creature in her right fist by the scruff of its neck, her face carrying a look of pure rage. With lightning-fast movements she hurled the creature against the wall to Anon’s right, and it hit with an awful crunch. It fell to the floor in a heap, emitting a final pitiful screech. Anon and Phantasma turned to Elsa in awe.
“Are... you okay there?” asked Phanty. After catching her breath and calming down, Elsa replied “I was getting ze feeling back for mein fast arm.”

A draft passed through the corridor as Anon dusted himself off. He checked the face of his watch: 1:15. ‘I’m up far past my bedtime,” he thought peevishly. “Well then, should we keep going?” he said to his comrades. “I’m game,” Phanty said with a confident smile, “how about you, Elsa?” Elsa rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “Well, I might need your assistance,” She replied.
“With what?”
“I am going to build something.”
Phanty’s face fell. “Now?”
“Ja. It’ll help us greatly.” She then explained, “Those Spiderbats are likely to be a nuisance. It would be unwise to keep going without... protection. Und your help would be much appreciated.”
Phanty turned to Anon, “Can you go it alone for a while?”
“Sure, I can,” Anon said with some renewed confidence, “just as long as I’m given a fighting chance by whatever tries to jump out at me.” Phanty smiled and, without warning, planted a tingly kiss on Anon’s cheek. “Good luck, Anon.” she said with 
 a grin. “Please be careful, Anon.” Elsa added. Anon simply nodded, and the three parted ways.

After a short walk to the corridor’s midpoint, Anon selected a new passage to his right; one sealed by double doors. Just before he entered, he heard Elsa speaking behind him: “Phanty, help me with zis Tesla coil--it’s just ze right size.”

TO BE CONTINUED