[CENTER][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjEyOC5mODU4MDIuVkc5a1pBLjE/comicoon.regular.webp[/img][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjU0LjAyZjhhNi5KZy4w/vine-mandala-monogram.regular.webp[/img][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjgwLmVkOGFmZi5RMkZsYkhWei4w/silent-night-demo.regular.webp[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/nj8slVU.png[/img]
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[h3][right][color=02F8A6]-part 1[/color][/right][/h3]
[center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center]
[center][color=F85802][b]Location:[/b][/color] Gutter’s End - Todd’s Apartment • [color=F85802][b]Time:[/b][/color] 6 pm[/center]
[center][color=F85802][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] None • [color=F85802][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] None
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKfGKLui5HM[/youtube][/center]
[center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center]

[center][i][h3][color=F85802]“What is happening, Halcyon?”[/color][/h3][/i][/center]

[color=afafaf]Nothing but pure enthusiasm coated each word. Todd's recording studio was just a crumbling apartment deep in Gutter's End, but on recording or editing nights, it transformed into something special. With just the right amount of dim lighting, that yellowing, peeling paint seemed to fade away. The rattling pipes, distant sirens, and what he could only assume was his upstairs neighbor’s daily tap dance practice, all became unnoticed background noise. He was zoned in, living for nothing more than making sure the truth got out and found its way to any ears willing to listen. [/color]

[center][i][color=F85802]"I’m the Guy with the latest in strangeness 
Right here in the Halcyon Hellscape. 
And this is: What the Hell, Halcyon?

Tonight we have a special episode
I'd say close to my heart, 
but really, it’s closer to my stomach.
Episode 42; Taco Bellezza, What the Hellza?
And I am joined tonight by an anonymous expert
Who I can personally vouch for..."[/color]

“We worked at Taco Bellezza together…until Todd got fired.”[/i][/center]

[right][color=F85802]“Derek, I told you not to use my real name.”[/color]
“My bad.”
[color=F85802]“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just bleep it out.”[/color][/right]

[center][i][color=F85802]“That is correct. Lesson learned, and lovely folks at home,
if you’re going to film tiktoks at work, don’t tag your manager.”[/color] 

“I thought you got fired for telling customers the Bigfoot story?”

[color=F85802]“Well…yeah that was the first time.
And people need to know what’s out in those woods…”[/color]

“How many times have you been fired from Taco Bellezza?”

[color=F85802]“…Four….
Anyway, Derek, let’s jump right into all things
Weird, paranormal, and unsettling
What is your strangest sighting 
Deep into the late night hours
At Taco Bellezza?”[/color]

“Demons. Hands down.”[/i][/center]

[right][color=F85802]“You said you were going to take this seriously.”[/color]
“I am. I’m telling you I’ve seen demons.”
[color=F85802]“Derek, be so for real.”[/color]
“Todd. I’ve seen them. 
There was blood all over the car, and I’m like 78% sure I saw a dead body in the backseat. 
[i]They were licking blood off their fingers when I handed them their tacos.[/i]”[/right]

[color=afafaf]Todd paused the recording and set to work on editing out the half hour he and Derek argued over whether or not accepting aliens as a potential reality was any dumber than demonic entities. Derek had won. Mostly because he wasn’t doing the show if he didn’t get to tell his demon story. In the end Todd managed to get his podcast back on track. Once they got through the nonsense they covered the real meat, or in Taco Bellezza’s case real meat-like substance, of the episode. Alien abductions in the drive-thru line. Cultists who ordered only in riddle and rhyme. Men in Black on a crunchwrap run. The time a weird government experiment got into the trash – it looked like some kind of man-bear-wolf gone wrong. 

Todd had just finished editing everything when his phone alarm went off. 

[b]Job Thing[/b]

[color=F85802][i]What [i]fucking[/i] job thing?[/i][/color]

The only answer he got, a half finished note in the alarm that said ‘be there 6 pm,’ and an address right in the middle of who the fuck knows where Thornmere Hollow is?

It was currently 6 pm. 

[color=F85802]“Well fuck me.”[/color] This was neither the first nor the last time Todd had set his alarm for the time he should be somewhere instead of the time he needed to leave to be somewhere. 

And he had not the slightest clue where or why he was supposed to be somewhere but rent would be due soon and he’d just been fired from Halcyon Pizza. 

But goddamn drunk Todd and his unfinished notes to sober Todd. He left his apartment in a hurry, probably locked that door when he left, and headed for the subway. 

[hr]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/0wX4O35.png[/img]
[color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center]
[center][color=F85802][b]Location:[/b][/color] Thornmere Hollow • [color=F85802][b]Time:[/b][/color] Dusk[/center]
[center][color=F85802][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] None • [color=F85802][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] None[/center]
[center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center]

Todd wondered how he’d managed to live his whole life in Halcyon and not know this place even existed. For one, it was weird. Weirder than the Ashwell’s Grill got when the late night began to stretch into the early morning hours. 

He walked by the entrance to the park three times before he finally saw it. How he’d missed a park that seemed to have it’s own built in and constantly running fog machines was absolutely fucking baffling. Mist billowed out to the edges of the park and just disappeared into the air in a way that didn’t feel like it was natural. A flock of seven large crows watched him, looking a little too interested, as he lingered by the entrance to the park. Todd was almost certain there was a word for a group of crows but he couldn’t quite remember it. 

Then there was all the signage. Private Property. No Trespassers. Keep Out. Strange for a park, but he mostly ignored those signs. Todd had an address on his phone that told him he was meant to be here and so he pushed open the gate to the apparently private park. It gave that sigh that old, heavy, metal things do when they don’t exactly want to cooperate. 

Once he passed the gate, Todd realized how strange the trees looked, how they almost shimmered with a silver sheen as they twisted and gnarled about the crooked pathway through Thornmere Hollow. He’d never seen trees like that, not anywhere in Halcyon, not even in a movie. They must be some sort of rare, imported tree that made rich people happy because no one else had it. It was the most logical explanation. 

As his feet followed a path that was slowly being reclaimed by nature, his fingers dug through his pockets for a pack of smokes and a lighter. Mixed in with his cigarettes were a few joints pretending they had nothing more to offer than a nicotine buzz, but Todd knew better. He plucked out a joint and returned the pack to his pocket. The key to success in any job that was absolute bullshit; always show up high. Then they wouldn’t recognize high Todd, they’d just assume that was normal Todd and then normal Todd became productive Todd. 

Todd had it all figured out. With his plan he never even had figure out where the fuck productive Todd, who was almost never around, had gone. 

He passed a crumbling stone monument as smoke mixed in with the hazy mist that only got thicker the deeper he wandered into the park. Tree branches rustled without a breeze, sunlight danced off them crafting glittery prisms around him, and his shadow constantly shifted in eerie ways. He had definitely rolled it with that primo stuff he’d had in abundance last week, no other explanation for it. 

After quite a long walk, one that put him well beyond late for this ‘job thing,’ he saw the silhouette of large houses peeking up through the mist. He flicked the roach of the now finished joint into a small pond. 

Another weird feature; that pond water was pitch black. Todd wondered why rich folks would have their own private park with rare fancy trees and let a pond get so filthy, it looked like sewer runoff from the shit-end of the gutter. 

The walking continued, the path twisted and curved towards a collection of houses that looked like what the uncanny valley of homes might look like to a sentient house. The proportions were all skewed just slightly, angles that weren’t right, lines that didn’t match up, and looking at it for too long reminded Todd of a less than stellar acid trip he’d had two months ago. The one where the chipped paint in his apartment made him feel crazy so he’d picked at it until his fingers bled but then the walls only looked worse.  

[color=F85802][i]Mushrooms are so much kinder to me.[/i][/color] He thought as he tried to find address numbers on the houses. They were not in any sort of order that made sense, and, despite that being a little frustrating when it came to trying to find the right house, that chaotic whimsy was a little charming. 

It was much less charming twenty minutes later when he finally found the right house. A large Victorian manor that looked freshly painted in a deep purple, although how it was freshly painted, given that the entire house had been overtaken by ivy, baffled him. Sunlight glinted off the stained glass windows and the garden surrounding the house was as untamed as the ivy that blanketed the home. Todd made his way up to a light green door and knocked without a hint of concern. 

From inside the home he could’ve sworn he heard the sound of clomping hooves. 

[color=00c2ba]“You are late.”[/color] A deeply disappointed bow-legged butler answered the door. Todd checked, the man did not have hooves. It was good to know he hadn’t stumbled upon Satan’s doorstep. 

[color=F85802]“Traffic?”[/color] Todd shrugged and offered a single word excuse with the hope it would suffice. 

The bow-legged butler scratched at his long coarse beard, one of his gray eyes twitched slightly as he sized Todd up. [color=00c2ba]“Are you high?”[/color]

[color=F85802][i]Play it cool Todd and he won’t suspect a thing. Act normal. You got this. Hi, I’m Todd. Hi, I’m Todd. Hi, I’m Todd.[/i][/color] 

Todd looked that bearded butler right in the eye and grinned. [color=F85802]“Todd. I’m high.”[/color]

[color=F85802][i]Fuck.[/i][/color] He definitely messed that one up. Todd and the butler stared at one another for a moment before the butler let out a snort. 

[color=00c2ba]“Ha. The Lord’ll love you.”[/color] He opened the door wider and stepped out of the way. 

[color=F85802]“The Lord? [i]Is this a cult?[/i]”[/color] Todd asked as he entered the home without hesitation. He let out a long whistle. If it was a cult it had one hell of a budget.

[color=00c2ba]“Lord Caelus. Our employer. Follow along, Todd. Try and keep up.”[/color] The butler  closed the door behind Todd and led the way through the house. His footsteps still sounded like hooves and Todd wondered what sort of shoes the guy had…and where he might snag a pair. [/color]