Is it alright for you to be so nonchalant about this? Eleen asked after Drim had plopped down into one of the beds in the basement. No one else seemed particularly thrilled about the idea of going down there, so he volunteered. After a good look around, he decided to stay in the servant’s quarters and possibly catch up on some sleep.
The best way to lure out an enemy is to look vulnerable, wouldn’t you agree? Drim yawned and then shifted into a more comfortable position. Plus, you may not have noticed, but one of the beds is disturbed. Someone else has been sleeping down here. How kindly will they take to their territory being invaded?
Well no I didn’t notice, Eleen admitted. But in case you’ve forgotten, my view is pretty limited. Right now I can see either the ceiling or the blackness beneath your back. So I’ll be sure to let you know if someone drills a hole above us. Wait, actually aren’t I supposed to be the one attacking you? Shouldn’t you be worried about me?
Don’t you fret, I’m worried about you every single day of my life. Even internally, Drim really didn’t sound particularly perturbed. Hell, I’d even welcome you being out of my body for once. Maybe you’ll even be in a form I can finally get rid of for good. So no, I’m not too worried about you trying to kill me, since that’s just a regular day in our relationship. But you go right ahead and let me know if you suddenly feel like stabbing me.
Hmph, now you’re not the one who has to be worried about that, Eleen started to pout. Whatever happened to my sweet little boy. The arrogant man you’ve become is so disrespectful towards his parents!
I’ll start when you do something worth respecting. Now be quiet please. I might as well actually try to get some rest. Drim even almost got to the point of nodding off, but he suddenly lurched upwards when it felt like part of his very being was ripped out of his body. It should have felt like a weight being lifted, but he only had more of a headache when he opened his eyes.
“Well this is new,” the ghost of Eleen Drazah floated in the air, wiggling her fingers and arms. She then did a big stretch and frowned. “That wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be. Can’t relieve muscle tension if you don’t have muscles, I suppose.”
Eleen wasn’t the only one annoyed. Drim didn’t know what was worse, that he had to see his mother in person again, or that she looked exactly the same as the day that he killed her. “Wake me when this nightmare is over,” he closed his eyes again.
But he didn’t get to rest for long and found him sitting up in annoyance a few minutes later. There was just too much noise. He found his mother hoisting an entire dresser over her head and then slamming it back down. “Look, I’m so strong in this form!” She then went over to one of the beds and flipped it with a smile on her face.
“Though, I don’t really think it’s my strength. The Fiend that manifested me is causing it, like I’m leeching their strength.”
“So it is a Fiend then?” Drim swiveled his feet to the edge and stood up now that they were making some form of progress.
“Hmm… yeah, a weird one too,” Eleen let their head drift as if she was looking for them. “Since they’re trying to control me, we’ve made some kind of connection. I can feel their presence, and a bit into their psyche. I’d have to say they’re about my age, well my age before I died, possibly a bit older. They’re not too scared, more annoyed and upset. They really want me to make you go away.”
“A mutual feeling then,” Drim couldn’t help himself. “Anything more you can tell me about them? I honestly can’t sense their morality at all. No feeling of evil, and no weak sense of any other kind. It’s like they don’t exist.”
“I’m not sure they do…” his mother drifted away in thought. She went over to the fireplace meant for the servants and grabbed the shovel that was propped next to it. Eleen then whirled around and pelted it right at her son. Well, it missed by quite a wide margin, but the intent was certainly there. “It seems the pleasantries have come to an end. Now I have no choice but to try and kill you.” She then reached over and picked up the fireplace’s poker.
Drim merely shrugged. “Go ahead and do what you have to do. I’m sure you’re aware that I can take care of myself. If it leads us to the source, you don’t have to hold back.”
“Good, because I don’t think I could if I wanted to!” Eleen’s arm lunged forward, trying to skewer her son.
Drim dodged easily, and didn’t find any of her following attacks pretty threatening. She always took a long time to line up the shot. He wasn’t quite sure if she was actually aiming, or trying to resist as much as possible to give Drim more of a window to prepare himself. But with each subsequent attack, where she was attacking seemed more and more purposeful.
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Eleen was trying to guide him somewhere, he figured out that much, but still wasn’t sure of the reason why. But he’d play along for now. Since she wasn’t really a threat, he hoped she’d eventually lead him to something useful.
Only when he had his back pressed up against a specific part of the wall did she actually try to hit him. Her speed and accuracy were incomparable to every attempt before. Drim just barely managed to scramble away, the point of the poker slicing through his sleeve and scratching his arm.
His mother had been using her full force, and the poker plowed through the wall until it was almost fully embedded. But when she pulled back, it didn’t cleanly return like Drim thought it would. The poker was clearly stuck on something, and the wall started to break apart as the ghost pulled back with all her might.
Eventually, a giant hole was ripped when Eleen did one final tug. Out of the wall came a… a person? Drim was quite hard pressed to call them that. They didn’t look alive. In fact, they looked rather undead. It was like a real life zombie or ghoul. Their skin was wrinkled, leathery, and unnaturally colored to the point it looked decayed.
This had to be the Fiend his mother had been talking about. There were a few long strands of Khaki colored hair still sticking out of their scalp. As for the color of their eyes… well… they didn’t have any, just empty voids where their eyes should be. However, the color of their blood answered the question.
Eleen had stabbed them with the poker and pulled them back with the hooked edge. They were impaled just below their neck, a trail of black blood now dribbling down their front. Even though they were naked, Drim couldn’t discern a gender. Whatever had been down there was long since rotten away and been sealed over with more leathery flesh.
This poor being, they were also just a child. Their age couldn’t have been more than six or seven just going off their height and build. Of course the condition their body was in made them look ancient. So why had his mother told him that they were an adult? But Drim would get his answer. The only downside was that he actually had to rely on his mother to solve the problem.
After Eleen twisted the poker a bit to make the undead child squirm, she pulled it out but then shoved it right back in. This time, she plunged it right through the navel, right where their Curse Mark depicting a swaddled baby had been.
What happened next even threw Drim from a loop. The poker pierced out of the other side of the child’s body, but so did a woman—the ghost of one. “How the hell did you do that?!” Drim had to ask.
“Dunno, just knew I could,” Eleen stared down the woman who was just as shocked as anyone. “Must be some facet of the child’s Curse, well, her Curse. Like when she tried to control me, my will was just stronger, and she didn’t stand a chance. I hope you’re not mad at me for attacking since I was just faking it the whole time.”
“And don’t be fooled, Drim, and don’t feel pity. This child is already dead. In fact, they were never born. Through the shared connection, I could see their circumstances.”
“This woman, this monster, was ironically a child trafficker who was pregnant herself. She died from pregnancy complications all alone in the middle of nowhere. The fetus was made into a Fiend, but of course didn’t survive. Through the power of their Curse, however, the mother was able to manifest and take control of the corpse, using it as a vessel to keep living all this time. Seems she’s been hiding out here for a few years.”
“Now I may not have room to talk, but it’s time for you to let go, so that your child can live in peace!” Drim really didn’t understand it—must have had something to do with the Curse or ghosts in general—but Eleen was able to decapitate the ghost of the woman using the poker. The moment she did, the poker slipped from her hands and clattered to the ground.
◆◆◆
“So… who’s up for never speaking about today ever again?!” Kada asked the group once her hands left the dirt, resealing the ground. After they’d regrouped and Drim informed them of the fate of the Fiend, they took the long dead body to the local graveyard so that they could finally get a proper burial.
They found a nice tree away from the main grave site and Kada had liquified the ground to put them in. This way, no one would ever know they were buried there, except for the ground now being ever so slightly raised to account for the displacement. Maybe now they’d be absorbed by the tree's roots and could become something new in life.
“I’d be down for that,” Xard all but raised his hand.
“Well, I actually enjoyed meeting my mother,” Rusa argued. “Even if she did try to take over my body and purge my soul…”
“Unlike you lazy asses, I actually used my haunting to get some valuable information,” Phon lauded over them.
“Was just more of the same for me,” Drim sighed. “Welcome to my everyday life. Now you all go ahead. I’ll catch up. I just want to leave some flowers.” He bent down and placed a proper living bouquet at the foot of the tree—the child’s unmarked headstone—making sure to include one of his signature green roses.
Fiends For Hire Internal External Dialogue 9
After Drim stood up and turned to walk away, he felt arms wrap around his neck from behind. Well, he couldn’t feel their physical touch or their weight, but there was no mistaking their icy presence. He also felt anti-body heat from the woman leaning into him, clinging to him like only a mother would.
Eleen: So why didn’t you tell them that I’m still here?
Drim: Well, it seems like they can’t see or hear you. They already know you exist, so why bother worrying them even more?
Eleen: I guess that kind of makes me like your imaginary friend. Probably for the best not to tell anyone. They might think you’re going crazy…er
Drim: If only I was seeing a friend. Or even better, if only you were imaginary.
Eleen: Oh shouldn’t we try to get along already? Since now I really will be by your side forever.