Truth or Consequences

Truth or Consequences (Essie, Peter, Jimmy)

Saturday, 22 Dec 1923: Peter invites the group to his grandmother’s house up in Bolton for Christmas dinner.

Peter locked his office safe and desk before calling the switchboard operator, “Wanda, forward all calls to Phillip’s house. I’m letting my secretary Marina work from home for the holidays.” As Essie locked her front door, she was startled by her neighbor (Mr. Bernard Corbitt), “Mrs. Vance, I couldn’t help but notice you leaving for the holidays. I thought you might like this basket of vegetables for your Christmas dinner. I’ll keep a watch on your house. If any of those wackoes from across the street (Arkham Sanitorium) escape, I’ll make sure they don’t break into your house.” Essie thanked the kindly man as she handed him her house-key, “Bernard, you’re always neighborly. Have a great holiday yourself.” She climbed into Peter’s car. Across town, Jimmy grabbed his overcoat before heading out of the Northside speakeasy, “OK Frankie (bouncer), I’m leaving you in charge for a few days. I don’t wanna hear about anything gone wrong while I’m gone. Have a nice Christmas.”

With Essie already riding shotgun, Peter had to snicker as he drove past Northside to pick up Jimmy… “What’s with the disguise? Halloween was months ago.” Jimmy climbed into the backseat before removing his wig and fake moustache, “What gave me away? With the flare-up conflict with the Portello gang, I thought a disguise would help me move about their area easier. So much for my ‘Lance Bass’ impersonation (the wallet ID he stole from the sleeping cultist at the Temple of Hope last month); I’ll keep working on it.” As Peter turned north out of town, “Too bad Richie is busy. But then he does have a relationship to work out with his long-lost sister Madeline.”

Blizzard conditions: It wasn’t till she looked into the almost whiteout conditions that Essie remembered a similar trip to visit grandma… 2 years and a month when just she and Peter drove to Bolton for grandma’s 90^th birthday. [https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2022/08/dead-lightp1.html] That month it was a torrential rainstorm. She pulled her coat tighter to fight off the chill (physical and mental) and hummed Christmas songs to settle her thoughts. She sat up straight when Peter gasp, “Ugh Oh.” She too noticed the car tracks ahead in the building snow on the road as they angled towards the shoulder. Already going slow per conditions, Peter pulled up and stopped behind the bumper of a car slid off the road. “Jimmy, grab the shovel and chains from the trunk while I go see if they’re OK.”

With the front bumper wrapped around a tree, the car wasn’t going anywhere. Peter had to pull back when he looked thru the drive window that was rolled down… the strong whiff of alcohol assaulted him. Drunks! As always, the drunks survive unscathed but not their car. Peter recognized the duo (from his police workdays), “Well, if it ain’t Toby Bentley and Carter Hannigan. Say boys, still delivering?” Toby raised his bottle, “Wanna snort?” Per Peter’s offer to take them to a motel in nearby Silver City, “Can we bring our hooch along? Don’t want thieves stealing our ware.”

Jimmy grumbled as he slid to the backseat window with elbows out to protect his personal space. But that didn’t stop Carter from leaning in, “Christmas spirits. Wanna swig?” Yeah, these bozos would never bootleg for his operations!

Silver City: Peter parked out front of the Police Station. Essie kept her distance from the drunks as she followed behind, besides Jimmy, as Peter (in friendly banter) looped his arm over Toby’s shoulder to lead him up the steps. None the wiser, Toby and Carter thought they were entering a motel lobby (Christmas music blaring from a radio) till they saw officers Ben Peters and Abby Longshadow. Ben stepped forward, “So, what have we here?! Where’d you find them? Wrapped around a tree? Why doesn’t that surprise me?” [They were regulars with their own jail cells waiting.] “Step on in boys and sleep it off.” Peter requested, “We didn’t want them freezing outside. With it almost Christmas, maybe you could let them out in the morning?” Toby slurred, “We know our rights! We demand Christmas dinner here. Ya gotta keep us for 2-3 days.” It wasn’t long before they both crashed on their cots and fell into a deep snoring.

The officers exchanged short introductions with Peter signing the boys over. As Essie took off her coat to shake off the snow, Abby noticed, “Say, what are you doing with that bow and arrow? You don’t look like you have any native American blood. What tribe ancestry? I’m of the local Wampanoag (wahm-puh-NOH-uhg) tribe. What kinda wood are your bow and arrows made from?” Essie explained herself once an archaeologist working in Texas and thus the items gifted from the local Kiowa reservation Indians, “They are made from ash if I remember correctly.” Abby was delighted to show off her bow/arrow hanging on the back wall, “Mine too, white ash.”

And that’s when the music stopped, “We interrupt this program to bring you an update…”

CRASH: Officer Peters had gone to the bathroom while Abby stepped into the kitchen to make coffee. And as if on cue... a loud collision from outside. Peter instinctively yelled before running out the front door, “My car!” Jimmy strolled to the window to peer out (but the wet snow clung to the glass, blocking any view). Essie ducked behind the desk as if expecting an intruder any second.

Peter gasped at the scene before him: apparently, a Ford sedan had careened into one of the parked police cruisers. [Luck-failure] He rushed to the sedan that lay upside down, resting on the hood of his Bessie! He was momentarily torn between checking on Bessie first before checking on the driver. The adrenaline rush gave him the strength to yank open the sedan door where he found the driver dazed and bleeding from the nose (cracked on the steering wheel). And that’s when he noticed the backseat passenger staring at him as if nothing was wrong. Seconds before he realized there was a grate separating the front and back seats. And the man in handcuffs.

And that’s when the driver regained his senses, “My prisoner, leave him alone, he’s dangerous! I’m FBI agent Jack Paulson transporting this escaped convict from the prison riot out west. I was taking him to Arkham’s FBI station.” As Peter helped Jack out of the car, “But we just heard on the radio there weren’t any escapees.”

Meanwhile, Jimmy grew impatient and went out to check on Peter. Essie too as she realized Peter was outside alone. Jimmy rushed to aid the men extracting the prisoner from the backseat. Essie held the door open as they came inside. [Spot] As Jimmy brushed against the agent, he recognized the tell-tell feel of a tommy-gun under the man’s coat. [Psychology-extreme] Essie listened to Paulson introduce himself to the police officers and his story, “I’m taking… John Smith here, to the Arkham FBI station as one of the Aylesbury prison escapees.” She remembered the radio report of no escaped convicts. She leaned into Peter and whispered, “Is there an FBI station in Arkham?” Jimmy overheard her and remembered seeing a collar on the prisoner’s neck. Strange... he tuned towards the cells…

He didn’t comprehend at first: Jimmy saw Carter standing at the cell bars that separated him and John Smith. Wasn’t the drunk sleeping it off? Why did he have his hands at the man’s neck? Was he choking him?! Jimmy saw. The others heard the loud “Clank” of the collar hitting the floor! Jack Paulson turned in a fright, “NO!! Don’t let him free of the collar. Don’t let him trans…” All were fixated on the prisoner who was now pulling Carter THROUGH the bars! Carter’s screaming woke Toby who also began screaming at the sight. The radio began crackling with sporadic interruptions to the music. The overhead lights flickered… one even burst! [Sanity check]

Essie was already suspicious and pulled her gun on Paulson, “What did you bring here?!” Jimmy pulled his (only weapon) flare-gun on the prisoner. Agent Paulson ignored Essie and rushed toward the cell, “We need to get that collar back on him!” And that’s when “John Smith” tilted his head to bit Carter’s neck! Carter slumped silently to the floor, dead. Jimmy instinctively fired: the flare bounced off the man’s clothing but did leave residual compound that began to burn his skin. As “John” turned toward the threat, he/it kicked the collar towards the front of the cell. As if time slowed…

What Was that Thing: “John” began to ‘hulk’ out, as his body grew in height and width, tearing his clothing. Antler buds began to sprout on its forehead. [Sanity check] Peter raised his pistol as he yelled at Jack, “Can we kill this thing?!” 3 shots rang out; each slug hit yet appeared to have no effect in answer to his question. Jimmy backed up from the cell towards the police weapon rack. [Luck it unlocked] He grabbed a Browning rifle and turned towards the creature. Agent Paulson rushed towards the cell to grab the collar at the base of the bars. As he stooped to grab it, the creature suddenly (and rapidly) moved toward him as it easily snapped its handcuffs. Normal 3-foot-long arms could not have reached Paulson… its 5-6 ft arms grabbed the agent on the other side of the bars and slammed him against the bars.

[Sanity loss 6, extreme INT = Bout-Of-Madness] Essie went insane with rage, grabbing the stapler off the desk behind her while aiming her pistol. She threw the stapler that harmlessly ricocheted off Carter’s cell bars. “Blam, blam, blam.” Only one of her shots hit the creature without real effect. Jack screamed. Peter yelled, “Guns are useless. I’ll try to lure it away. Get the collar!” Intimidate… yeah, right! Jimmy squeezed the rifle trigger. [Luck- failure] “Click.” Not loaded.

By now the creature was pulling… itself thru the bars! Its fat head mushed as it squeezed thru, leaving its human ears and skin on the bars as it twisted Paulson’s head to bite his throat. The lifeless form of Jack still clutched the collar as he crumpled to the floor. With its right clawed hand, the creature easily bent a bar wider to begin fitting its torso thru. Essie dropped her pistol and reached for her bow and quiver left on the table (Abby had been inspecting). “Twang.” The arrow sank into the creature’s right bicep, drawing a “Roar!” In a single bound, the creature pulled itself thru the bars and leapt out the nearness window. Glass shattered outward, replaced by the raging snowstorm winds howled in, muffling the howls of the 8-ft tall creature now sprouting antlers upon its head as it looped away. The wind also muffled Peter’s calls, “We can’t let this thing get away!”

Essie already had another arrow notched and was ready to pursue. Jimmy took the opportunity to search Paulson and retrieved his tommy-gun while rifling thru his pockets. Peter took inventory of the living as he checked on Abby cowering in the corner clutching her own bow/arrows, giving cryptic police instructions, “Wind… go.” 

Peter was already moving the table under the window so he too could exit to track the thing, when Jimmy spoke up, “Hold on. Here’s a book titled “Legends of the North” I found on Paulson. If I’m reading this correctly, that thing was a Wendigo!” 

Peter turned back to Abby, “She was saying Wendigo! Abby, what about this creature?” Her answer was hard to hear over the howling wind entering the station, but Peter could just make out “white ash and silver can harm it.”

Jimmy began to realize, “That means Paulson KNEW what he caught!” He removed the clip from the tommy-gun and smiled at the twenty-six 45 caliber silver bullets still left. Peter pulled two 1911 pistols from the police weapon rack and asked for 8 of the rounds. Essie counted her 9 remaining ash arrows. As they looked around at the carnage of the police station, it dawned on them the threat they faced, “It one-handedly bent the cell bar! And its claws… we need to armor ourselves.” Thankfully, over the last year, Essie and Peter had taught their allies the spells they’d learned from Dr. Armitage. 

They took a minute to cast Flesh Ward on themselves. [Essie- 6 armor, Peter- 7 armor, Jimmy- 5 armor]

Tracking: The thought of following the creature by car was quickly moot when Peter saw the 2^nd police cruiser smashed. The Wendigo must have jumped on it when exiting the window and then flipped it on its side as it bound away. Even though snow was still falling, the deep rutted path of the Wendigo was easy to follow north. [Sanity check] Peter quickened his pace when he realized, “North? Toward Bolton and grandmother!” Hard to see, harder to hear, they stayed at the ready not knowing how cunning the creature was… would it circle back on them? Once they reached the tree line, it became easier to hear as they plodded onward.

Almost an hour till they stopped in their tracks, “Did you hear that?” Heavy breathing just ahead, behind a tree trunk. Peter pulled his 38 revolver (to not waste precious silver) and fired into the tree. 

It worked: the Wendigo stepped into view. [Sanity check- the most they could lose was the balance of 6 less what they already suffered.] Essie was already insane and thus didn’t react to the creature so close. Peter and Jimmy flinched at the thought of those claws!

CLIMAX

Jimmy used the opportunity to fire 2 volleys (3 bullets each) from his ‘Chicago typewriter’ at point-blank range. “Rat-tat-tat.” 2 of the 6 bullets found their mark and drew putrid blood (14 damage). Also point-blank, Essie twanged an arrow that sank into its chest (4 damage). Three targets to choose from, the Wendigo launched itself at Peter. [Hard versus hard result- tie goes to the dodger.] Peter ducked the first claw but the 2^nd claw struck his left arm, drawing blood (8 damage penetrated his 7 armor). With his armor gone, Peter knew a similar hit meant death!

But Peter stoically stood his ground to fire a single round while in melee. [Tie during fight-back: tied result goes to the attacker.] Although his pistol was knocked aside, the bullet grazed the creature (3 damage). Jimmy didn’t even think twice about firing into melee… the chance of hitting Peter. A single burst: 2 of the 3 bullets hit their mark (16 damage). The Wendigo collapsed to the forest floor. Essie fired another arrow to make sure it was dead. Peter stepped forward to prod it with his pistol barrel and then knelt to check its pulse, “Is it dead dead?” His allies tried to caution, “Are you crazy?!”

The book didn’t give much detail on how to ride oneself of a Wendigo corpse. A corpse that was turning back into a naked human form… one minus ears and facial skin left back on the police station cell bars. They opted to burn the body.

Oops: It was a satisfying walk back to the station. Till they got close enough to hear Abby’s screams from inside. “Shit! I forgot Abby mentioned it spreads via contact and thus creates more kin.” With weapons readied (Jimmy down to 9 rounds left, Peter with 5, and Essie with 8 arrows), they entered the station to confront…

Backed against the wall, Abby fired another arrow at Paulson who crawled towards her, after having killed officer Ben Peters. They could see Paulson already beginning to transform. Toby exhausted himself screaming in fear as he cowered against the back of his cell at the sight of Carter also stirring in his own cell.

Peter unloaded the last 3 rounds (of one of his 1911 pistols) into Jack before dropping the pistol to pull out the other. Essie moved closer to the cell to fire point-blank at Carter’s head [called shot- 01 critical] The white-ash arrow penetrated his eye and exited the back of the skull. As Carter collapsed in his cell, his fall broke off the protruding end of the arrow. Jimmy fired another burst at the soon-to-be-Wendigo Jack, ending his corrupted life. Both Jack’s and Carter’s bodies began to return to human form.

EPILOGUE

They fired another 3 silver rounds into Ben, knowing he too would transform within the hour.

“How are we going to explain this? I say we just burn the station down.”

“How about we get our story straight… the prisoner broke free and went on a killing spree.”

They settled on Jimmy’s plan, “Both Toby and Carter were bootleggers. We’ll say it was their gang come to set them free when all hell broke loose.” Yeah, blame them too for wrecking the police cruisers.

Essie grimaced at the scrapping noise when she lifted Bessie’s hood. [Mech Repair] She had to dig tools out of the trunk to repair a few broken wires and bent fan blade. But Bessie soon came to life. “It ain’t pretty, but she’ll still get us to Bolton.” Yeah, with the front wheel tie-rods slightly bent, it was a slow/wobbly trip.

At least they used the police phone to call Richie, “Can you send Claude and your limo to Bolton in a few days to pick us up? Let’s just say we had a little accident.” Peter caressed Bessie’s hood as he left her at the Bolton auto-shop. The repairman walked around her as he rubbed his chin, “Even if I worked thru Christmas, it’s gonna take at least 8 weeks to repair.” Peter answered, “No need to work during Christmas. But as a gift, could you also paint her a dark blue?” Peter thought about their last episode in the southside of Arkham and how Bessie would be recognized by the Portello gang.

Jimmy was the last to leave the shop, after slipping the mechanic three fins (total $15). He smirked at the surprise Peter would have when he first sounded Bessie’s new “Aaa-Woo-Gaa” horn.

It was after the New Year when Essie gained an audience with Dr. Armitage to retell their encounter. “What do you make of agent Paulson lying about an FBI office in Arkham?” Henry had her sit down as he briefly explained, “What do you know about a program called Delta Green?”

[Delta Green combines the classic 1920s Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft with modern conspiracy fiction. It revolves around a secretive organization tasked with protecting the United States from paranormal and alien threats. The agents KNOW about the threats and actively engage them to capture or eliminate.]