Manfred and Moonbright watched Edward Benevento’s ford fishtail its way out of their dungeon.
« Um, Moonbright did that seem as strange to you as to me? »
« Madmen are usually strange Manfred. And he is dangerous. I don’t think that was the first time he’s killed. »
* * *
Teejay head jerked up as he heard the sound of gunfire. He looked across at his wife Sue who had been examining the library’s science fiction collection. She met his eyes looking worried.
Teejay stood and headed for the door, Sue joined him and the mismatched couple left the library shrugging on their coats. They hurried to the main village road even as they heard another furious fusillade of shots. Teejay’s lips thinned as he recognised that these latest shots came from a different firearm.
They arrived at the junction in time to see a dark blue Ford Taurus spinning its wheels in front of the church while a bloodied and bleeding ghoul staggered towards it. Then the ford managed to gain traction and it staggered away slowly gaining speed, wheels still spinning. They trotted towards the church and saw the car reach the main road and skidding wildly turn towards Blodgett Landing and disappear from sight.
“Hey! Are you all right? Sorry of course you aren’t, let me call an ambulance.”
The ghoul looked at them, shook its head and collapsed in the snow. Sue brushed her long platinum coloured hair out of her face and dialled the game centre’s emergency number while Teejay being careful not to disturb the tracks made his way to the church. On seeing two dead ghouls by the door he dug out his phone. Then he saw the body of father James Cooke. Careful not to step in blood he verified that the man was really dead.
Stepping back Teejay called emergency services and asked to speak to the police.
“I have to report a murder...”
* * *
Manfred and Moonbright shared a few minutes of confusion as they tried to figure out what would be the best thing to do. They had not anticipated that their current customers would get involved in the current fiasco. They responded to Sue’s call by alerting Gordon, their current assistant game master. Then Teejay phoned the police.
After a stunned moment Manfred reacted.
« Gordon, we have problems, Teejay has just contacted the police and reported a murder. Any ideas how we can explain the ghouls. Just a sec I have to warn Alice. »
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« Alice we have a little problem at the dungeon. First we had a guy stay at the motel who proved a bit unbalanced. He was a bad shot but he killed the priest and two ghouls. He wounded a third, before taking off like a bat out of hell. Then Teejay, you know the cop who likes to LARP with his wife? Well he heard the shooting and has reported the erm, murder to the local police. »
« What about selling the ghouls as some kind of golem. You know, things that can be fixed? » asked Moonbright of Gordon and Manfred.
« Good idea Moonbright, that should work, what do you think Gordon. »
« Better than dungeon monster. I’ll describe them as that. How about the wounded one Manfred? »
« I’ve shut him down, put him in suspended animation. I’ll send a few of the deep ones with a stretcher to collect him. »
« Damn it Manfred, how do plan to explain the deep ones? And I have to let my superiors in the FBI know about this ASAP. »
« Err, well some could be passed off as golems. Most of them don’t really do much. As for the rest... »
Moonbright interjected, « Actors. We use actors disguised with specialised cosmetic spells. The spells exist too though as far as I know nobody has used them to make themselves uglier. »
« So are you going with that explanation? Golems and actors working in a gaming zone for live action role-play and other related games. » Asked Alice with some exasperation.
« Add in some volunteers from the enthusiasts. I know I can find some if those spells really work, » added Gordon.
« Yes Alice I can work with that. Go ahead and report away before the police arrive, » confirmed Manfred.
* * *
Alice looked out of the window at the Washington skyline and sighed. This was not something she had expected. She was at a loss as to how the authorities had expected a dungeon New Hampshire to remain undiscovered. This kludge should put off the day of discovery for a bit longer. Thankfully Manfred was happy to fly under the radar. She picked up the phone on her desk.
“Marcus? I, WE have a problem at the dungeon. Some random passer by stopped at the motel yesterday due to the snowstorm. Today he seems to have gone mad and killed several dungeon denizens including the priest. One of the customers, a policeman who is on his holiday reported the murder to the local police.”
Marcus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you saying that news of the dungeon is going to come out?”
“Not necessarily, Marcus and Moonbright seem to have it mostly covered but if we decide to go down this route I suspect they will need some help.”
* * *
Sue Esperanza watched as Gordon came hurrying up along the sidewalk, looking back towards the library she saw three locals hurrying to meet her carrying a stretcher.
“Afternoon Gordon, can you do anything for this poor guy? Oh and Teejay says this is a crime scene and that no one should go into the graveyard and church. Father James has been killed.”
Gordon looked down and examined the fallen ghoul, then he looked at the tiny energetic woman and swallowed. “The ghoul can be fixed but we have to get it out of the cold. It’s an advanced type of golem that has a chance of becoming aware the longer it is active so we’ll be taking it to the house after the diner. James...” Gordon sighed, “well poor James wasn’t a priest, he was an actor using an other-world cosmetic spell to look like a deep one.”
Sue blinked and brushed away a tear. “Are all the deep ones actors?”
“No, only a few. Many of them are golems like the ghouls. You must have noticed some are far more limited than the rest.”
They watched the deep one stretcher bearers carry the wounded ghoul away then turned towards the sounds of approaching sirens.