Scalping tickets

I tipped back my drink and let the blissful fire run down my throat. I took a puff of the cigarette I had nicked from Amberly yesterday and just let the smoke lazily flow up above into the rafters of this old shit pub.

   I hated being back in the old country. Alone and exposed. I barely made it out with all my fingers and toes the last time. Enemies abound all that bullocks. Still there was a job to do and this time I was the one who had to do it. 

      I didn't need Cleo to tell me that things were picking up. I could feel it in my veins. The thrum, thrum, thrumming of the seed planted in my chest growing bigger and stronger as it amped up and pushed my little twig of a branch to its limits.

     I saw it in Essie's eyes when she woke us up with banshee screaming. It is like watching a deer staring at an oncoming car. Always one eye in the future. Always seeing a dead world. Even that worthless spaz, Amberley seemed to know something was coming. A waste of space for three years, but suddenly she knows all about the end of the world. Ah well, at least she had a knack for finding good smokes.

       "You want another drink mate?" The bartender was a pleasant fellow. Old, bald, fairly plum. He filled his plaid shirt and suspenders more than the original designer intended but that's none of my business.

        "Yeah why not?" I muttered as I produced another note and put it on the table.  "One more for the road eh?"

        "You got business in town eh?" The guy wobbled a bit before grabbing the whiskey and sloshing it into my glass. He didn't mind the smoke I puffed into his face. 

        "More or less, mostly just going to get my *** handed to me before getting insides dumped into a wheel barrel." I muttered. I closed my eyes.  One of those things was nearby, a strong one.

        The man chuckled. "Old lady busting your balls?"

       I choked a bit on my whiskey. "Not in the way you are saying.  I don't have an Old lady but I have a boss. She said to me, Gerald, we need to go to this concert. It is important, it is the entire reason the company was founded."

      "That must be some rock show." The bartender said. He grunted and eyed the food menu. I ignored him, finished my drink and motioned for another.

     "Yeah big show. " I grunted as my glass was filled.  "Only problem is we don't know shit about it.  We don't know when, or how, or where. We don't even have tickets and as far as we know the fucking thing is sold out!" 

       I was getting worked up. The roots inside were pushing into my veins and feeding me power I didn't need...yet. Just like I could feel that thing crawling around the edges of senses, it could now feel me too. It wouldn't be long now. Once it figured that I couldn't stand up to it in raw power it would come for me. 

      "Tough break mate." My new friend said as he gave me another drink. "What are you going to do? "

      I slammed the drink and stood up. Wobbled a bit, I should have stopped two drinks ago.        "Scalping." I muttered. I fished a few more notes from my pocket and set them down. They should keep my friend stocked in jelly for a while. I adjusted my coat and headed for the door. 

      It was a cool night. I let the air sober me up. I took a moment to take in the scene, small town, old shops. Trees with golden and red leaves. It was almost picturesque. You wouldn't think it was home to a fucking monster.

     A rat scurried by my foot. It found me. I didn't have much time and I couldn't afford to pay to rebuild another bub. I kicked the rat and stumbled across the street towards a park. Bunch of trees, old playground. People may not notice the blood for a bit. 

     Flies were buzzing now, rats scurrying, the sound of locusts filled the air. A gestalt. One upon a time they were small little scavengers. A part of the natural world.  Now with all the trash, all the meat and forsaken souls… They were kings of the castle.

       The pests circled me for a bit.  Filling the sky and carpeting the ground. Cock roaches chittered and joined the rats. My entire world became a gestalt. My bat grew from my hand and I gripped the handle. I had to wait. 

       The insects and rodents collalessed, impossibly shifting and forming together until all of those things became the size of a man. Scratch that, a woman.  I sighed, of course it had to be someone I knew.

        "Sylvia, it has been a long time." I said pulling out a couple of cigarettes. I offered one to her.  Might as well try to be civil.

        "Gerald? I haven't seen you around here since I almost ate you." The demon cackled. She took the smoke and let me light it. 

        "Yeah well, I paused and watched her smoke.  "It is what you do. I can't blame you for that."

        "So you're not back for revenge?" She stepped away. 

        "We both know that would be pointless." I said.  "You're even bigger than before. Where are you getting all that human blood?"

       "I see you still have my jacket." In a flash she was behind me. Gorgeous red head pressed against me. I had to remind myself what was under the hood. Her hands traced the reds and yellows.

       I felt my body shudder despite trying to remain cool. She could reduce me to nothing but teeth and nails in a heartbeat. 

       "We had some good times, right?" I moved away from her.  She knew she was getting under my skin. I had to stay cool.  "I fought the local beats, you would give me info...add other things."

     "And then I got a better offer." She shook her head.  "I don't go back, only forward. Your yesterday's meal that got away Gerald. You should have never come back."

     "Couldn't stay away." I said, cracking a smile.  "New job is treating you right, but maybe I can make a better offer."

      "Doubtful my love, very doubtful. I know you are working for that remnant. I doubt you have much to offer."

      "I am sorry to hear that." I took a step away. "Best be going then."

      "Gerald, you know I can't let you leave." She licked her lips.  "Not after you killed that harvester three years ago.  That was a rare product."

      "Honestly she's not. You can have her." I could feel the thorns grow in my bat. 

      "Why wait?  I can have your delicious self now. The hand on my shoulder turned into creepy crawlies.

       I turned and swung. Her hand caught my bat with little effort.  The thorns released their seeds. Roots exploded as the tree formed around her containing her. The bark cracked just as quickly as it was formed. The explosion sent me flying back. Shrapnel of wood dug into my skin. I merged into a tree as the force pushed me all the way through. I bounced off the ground a few times. 

     I tried to recover but she was faster.  She was already standing over me the moment I looked up.  Her body separated and engulfed me. I used the bits of tree stuck in my skin to grow a tree around me. Just like before the tree began cracking instantly.

      "You always were a one trick pony!" Her laughter was now the sound of ten thousand pests and rodents.

      As the tree was ripped away I extended my roots to touch the roots of another tree. I traveled through one tree to the next just as my oak shield was torn apart. She reformed together to look for her kill.  Perfect.

     A spray of sap left my left hand striking her in the face but quickly spreading to cover her. "Then you should know how I like to finish." I said breathlessly. No expanding, no getting out. It was a trick and it just bought me time. It wouldn't hold her forever. It was already cracking in places. 

     I focused my energies and channeled them into some of the deepest magic of the seed that was buried into my chest. Five vines burst from my arms. The arms snapped out like serpents wrapping around Sylvia's body.

     The amber around her face crumbled away as she screamed in frustration and rage.  "You disgusting pig!" She screamed she spat a few roaches my way. I ground them into the dirt.

     "So this is easy, I have five questions. Tell me honest answers and a vine breaks, if you lie they will tighten. Lie enough and I just might squish you. "

        "Or I break free, I eat you and your clothing, tacky jacket and all." 

       "Don't say that. This jacket was a gift. I am willing to play those odds if you are." I said. I flexed my arm causing the vines to stretch and dig in just a bit. She winced, and then growled. The earth shook as tens of thousands of tiny insects and rats all at once. It was the sound of the fucking devil.

       "Let's not make this harder than it has to be love." I said as casually as I could. I spoke as I looked for an escape route. If she got loose now, I was a dead man. "Who are you working for?"

        "**** you!" The voices hissed.  The vines tightened.

        "Either amber breaks or you do." I replied. "Could I leave by the root systems?  No, they did not give me enough distance.

        "There is no escape." Sylvia said. Her eyes were hungry.

      Shit, she figured it out. "Who do you work for?"

       "An arch Cultist. A powerful one. An ancient one."

       A vine snapped. Shit, I need details! Cracks were forming in the amber. I was running out of time. "You are gathering components for him. What kind of spell is he casting?" 

       "It is an awakening spell." She said, Another vine snapped. Bits of amber were dropping to the ground next to her. 

      This wasn't getting me anywhere. She was smart enough and strong enough that her half truths were enough for my spell.  "Who are you trying to awaken?" Was the ground shifting under my feet? No, that was the whiskey.

       She smiled. "I don't know, and I do not care."

       Shit! Another vine snapped. I had only two questions left.  I wiped sweat from my face. She was only going to give vague answers. I had to use that to get something useful.   "This creature, does it reside in another realm?" I was grasping at straws. 

       "Clever, yes, the awakening is for a being not of this realm. That might have helped you.  It is a shame you are out of time."

       "What are you…." The ground shifted violently. I lost my balance and fell to my knees as the fourth vine snapped.  That was not the whiskey. "How long ago did you escape from my trap?" I smiled grimly.

        "I was free of your little trap since question one."  The amber cracked and fell just as the last. "But I needed time to prepare a trap of my own."

         "What are you…"

         The world exploded into bark, sawdust and splinters. I dived to the ground and covered my face. I tumbled and rolled as the ground twisted and rolled around underneath me. Pieces of wood bit into my arms and legs. The shrapnel would have ripped me apart if I didn't use the last of my energy to form another layer of iron bark skin. Even that was punctured

 Dead wood ripping through my armor and flesh leaving cut and bleeding, but alive

       The saw dust and cloud of dirt settled. Every single tree was gone. The force of Sylvia's attack left the area decimated. The ground once smooth and flat now jagged claws of dead roots and creators. The playground, a slide, a swing set, and a merry go round were left mangled and torn into aluminum ribbons. Then there was Sylvia, as fancy as could be, not a scratch on her.

        I think she was trying to talk to me. Something about no escape, luck running out, outsmarting me. Bla bla bla. I mean she was right, but the was no reason to rub it in.

         Somehow I stood up.y bat covered blood, most likely my blood pulsed with anger. I let out a guttural scream and charged. 

         Don't try attacking a swarm of rats and insects with a baseball bat. My last stand was over in a second. My bat passed through her body, maybe hitting a rat or two. What hit me was a freight train of a fist. I coughed blood.

         "Well that was fun Ger

 You really know how to help a girl burn a few extra calories."

     Great, I could hear her again. In the distance I heard sirens.  There was no way the area around the park was left unscathed. I thought of the bloke and his pub.  Poor guy, hope he made it. "We made quite the mess. Let's call it a draw." I said. I tried to stand but only managed to sit up.

         "Not this time" Sylvia opened her maw to reveal the swarm.  "I need my post work out snack"

          I am not sure why I saw it.  Maybe it was the fact that thousands of little pests were going to rip me apart and eat me. But just as she went to strike the finishing blow a red fly flew into her body.

        Sylvia paused and stiffened. Her eyes widened. A smile crept over her face. 

        "You luck out after all." Sylvia stated. God, her smirk was annoying. "Work calls, I just don't have the time to digest you."  Her smile faded. "Stay out of my home! We are not doing this a third time."

      The world became a swarm of rats and insects again. It flew around me and then it was gone. Thank goodness a Gestalt has the metabolism of a lazy snake. I looked for my smokes. One left, hopefully Amberley picked up more. My cell on the other hand was not lucky. It was less a phone and more a jigsaw puzzle now.

      I waited a moment to see if Sylvia was coming back. When I didn't die horribly I forced myself to stand

       I grit my teeth and pulled a giant splinter from my arm and started walking. I didn't get the tickets, but I might have narrowed down the venue. I needed a phone to call Cleo, I needed to get out of town, most of all I needed another drink.

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