September 25th

A man who believes he is going insane records his discoveries and discovers a world behind the madness

 

 

September 25^th, 2009

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            Hello saneys. I’m really sorry about last night. Really I am. You know how hard it is to remember a story. All I can say is I’m really sorry. You may notice that my writing is getting better, I’m noticing it too. I guess it’s part of what happened yesterday. And I am sorry about cutting off like that. I mean I was tired you know? Ah, maybe. Anyways, things, events, have happened. I promise from here on out to record, to the best of my knowledge, what happened, and what happens, you know? Anyways. So where was I last night, before I dropped off I mean? One sec saneys, I’ll check. Ok. I’m good. Not like I’m good, you know, but I know where I can continue. So this guy had come up to me from behind, after this one skinbone guy had asked me about that deal, remember? I do. Anyways, he came up from behind and said that stuff three times. I was stunned and was stunned and was beginning to think this skinbone guy had done it too. Anyways, after this guy had freed me I turned to look at him. He was wearing a striped suit leaning on a cane with two hands, had a mustach and was wearing a low hat. I think people call it a bowler. He kinda looked a little like Charlie Chaplin. You know, from those old movies? I mean the black and white ones. You know, not the grainy old color ones. Anyways, he tipped his hat at me and said, “Good day, good sir, my name is Richard.” My mouth had been freed but I didn’t have anything to say to that so I asked dumbly, “Richard?” He nodded at me then waved his hand out toward Skinbone. He continued, “And this nefarious being is the demon SolTarrius.” Skinbone raised his hand at this, grinning, and said, “Come now, dear Richard, those are harsh words, calling me a demon. It is true that my name is SolTarrius and for this I must apologize to you, Tommy boy, for I have not introduced myself properly.” He bowed to me. His bones cracked and I winced at the sound. He went on, talking, “Greetings, Thomas Stinnes, I am SolTarrius.” He stopped. Then he went on. “SolTarrius is too long. You may call me Tarrius, or simply Tar, if you wish.” He stopped, paused again and bowed slightly again. “Now let us return to the matter at hand. That is, the deal we were about to strike before Richard hear so rudely interrupted.” He said and then held out his hand. “So do we have a deal Tommy boy? Oh Tommy boy, this deal is looking gooood and easy, Tommy boy.  Oh Tommy boy, please say yees too meee. Go ahead Tommy.” He grinned at me. I starred at the Charlie Chaplin guy Richard. He had told me it wasn’t a good idea, but I didn’t know, I was lost in Tarrius’s words. Tarrius seemed to have me in some kind of sleep. I was about to reach forward and shake his hand when Richard’s words sort of flowed over me. Like a river, you know? But it was words so I don’t know. Anyways, here’s what I heard. He said, “As I have said before, Mr. Stinnes, I would not. To do so would be to give away your soul. Tarrius is a demon and would love nothing more than to feast upon a soul such as yours after so little a struggle. Do you honostly believe that a fiend such as Tarrius would uphold this so called ‘deal’? He lied to you Thomas, as all demons lie.” Tarrius lowered his one good eyelid a bit so that it looked like he was glaring. I guess he was, you know. I mean, he only had one eye. “Lies.” He said visciosly, “Don’t you trust him, Tommy boy, I am no more a demon then Sir Richard is an angel. You know as well as I do that such beings do not exist.” He had recovered his position by now and continued on looking cheerful, “The deal was the truth, Richard, the boss wants to talk to him. All I did was merly explain why the boss cannot speak to poor Tommy, here.” I glanced at Richard. He looked worried but was hiding it well. That’s one of my skills, you know, I can tell how people’re feeling. Anyways, at this point I was wondering if Richard really was an angel, Tarrius a demon, and just what the hell was going on.Anyways, I saw Richards grip on his cane tighten. “Dalanius has taken notice of Thomas?” Skinbone, Tarrius, grinned at him. Richard yelled at him, “Answer me, demon!” Tarrius grinned. I think he was taunting Richard with silence. Anyways, I think a full minute passed before Skinbone said anything. This minute passed and Tarrius said, “Or what, you’ll smite me? I hardly think that’s likely, dear Richard.” Richard said nothing, but I could see his eyes burning, that Chaplin mustache wiggling slightly. I was glad he wasn’t looking at me like that. I mean, I think I might just melt under that gaze, you know? Anyways, Tarrius spread out his arms, one handless still and said softly, so softly that I could barely hear it, “Yes, the boss has taken an interest in good Thomas. But what does that matter anyways? This is trivial information, all the boss wants is his soul, as you’ve indicated, Richard. But as I said, what does that matter? A person doesn’t need the soul to survive and the boss has already offered good Tommy a priceless deal! He’ll be set for a life in luxry! The soul is just useless baggage!  Like the appendix, nobody needs it and nobody misses it when its gone. Besides, would you like to know how the boss even found out about good Tom? It was Tommy’s own fault. We didn’t ask him to develop The Sight. And Richard, we both know that people only develop The Sight to make deals with us. He’s the one who saught us out! Besides, it’s lucky that the boss found him first. Do you know how many others are out there that would be clamoring for his soul if they knew he were here? It was a good thing the boss found him.” He stopped, grinning. I stood there, stupidly. I had this feeling of sitting on the road waiting for a truck to hit me. I just didn’t know how to get out of the way. It was Richard that helped me out. He said, “I know of few more dangerous or crafty than Dalanius.” He turned to me, and held out his cane to Tarrius like he was holding him off. “It is unfortunate that you naturally developed The Sight, yes, but that is a fact of the past now. I am simply glad that I reached you in time. I was afraid, at the time I had received the order, that Tarrius here had already begiled you out of your soul. I was fortunate, and unfortunate, as are you. Fortunate that Tarrius has a master and so hesitated to take your soul for so long. Unfortunate that Dalanius wants it for himself. However, now I am here and am at your service.” This time he took off his bowler and had his cane in the other hand and bowed to me. Before I go on, what’s the deal with the bowing? I don’t understand it. Is it some kind of alien greeting? I don’t know. Anyways. In spite of myself I asked him, “Umm, how are you at my service?” He straightened himself and said thoughtfully, “I am a guardian, a guide and a friend. Exactly who I am and where I come from can wait till later. For now, a deal has been laid out on the board and must be rejected or accepted. You must answer Tarrius’s question though I suggest-“Here my memory gets a little weird. I suddenly felt very tired, I remember that. My mouth opened on what I think was my own, I mean I knew I thought about saying something but I just can’t remember what. The memories so fuzzy. Anyways, I was about to say something, which, come to think of it, I think had something to do with that heavy, sleepy feeling I was getting. I actually think that Tarrius had something to do with it. I mean it would make sense if he was a demon. He could persuade people, you know? Anyways, Richard saved me by saying, and pointing the tip of his cane toward Tarrius, “-his will! I demand you cease all actions at once, demon!” His eyes were flaring again and I saw Tarrius cringe. I suddenly felt a lot more awake. Richard turned to me again, I could see anger in his eyes.   “Forgive me for that interruption, Mr. Stinnes, if I may continue?” I nodded. He continued, “Before you answer at least let me produce an argument to Tarrius’s statements. Yes, it is likely that the body could survive without the soul. However, there would be no point. The soul is your consciousness. While your body could produce the necessary brainpower to maintain life, there would be no thought. You, yourself, would cease to exist. In a sense you would be a mindless slave. Tarrius did not lie, could not lie, at this question.  However, do you not see his true goal? He thirsts after your soul for himself. He would spin whatever web of lies he could to obtain your soul.” Here, Tarrius broke in. “Now, Richard, why would I do that? The boss wants his soul, not I. And even if I did I would not take it for myself because the boss would punish me horribly if I did. If I follow your line of thought than it makes it look as if I would eat his soul. What would I do then? Go into hiding? Against the boss I think not. He could easily destroy me, as you well know. Richard held out his cane to Tarrius again. “Why demon? Lust, greed, envy need I go on? I can see the emotions rolling across your face. Pure souls do not often develop The Sight and now that you’ve seen one and seen the purity of such you wish to have it for yourself regardless of the consequinces. Regardless of the fear you feel from Dalanius.” “Lies.” Tarrius said but I could see that Richard was right. He looked almost like a wild dog, you know? I mean, that spell or whatever it was he had me under must’ve made me not see it. And of course I could tell about his feelings now, aside from his gross facial skin stuff because of my talent of seeing people’s emotions. Anyways, Richard turned to me again, “Mr. Stinnes here are the options and possible consequences. You say yes to Tarrius and he will devour your soul possibly utilizing your body as a slave. However, if you deny him, Tarrius, Dalanius and all of his minions will hunt you down and try to forcibly extract your soul.” My eyes widened at this, “Then why would I possibly say no??” He smiled understandably, “You will then have me by your side, and maybe, though the possibility is low, just maybe, we will weather the onslaught and you will remain safe, and whole. This is no light business deal we are talking about, this is your soul and damnation stands to be the way on either choice, however, if you choose to put your faith in me, there is a chance, albite small, that you will survive. But there is a chance. The only way to preserve your soul is to say no, that is the only way. Now I understand this is no easy decision, take your time. Do not worry, there will be no interference.” At this he held out his cane to Tarrius, who rolled his eye. I thought about it. This had to be a dream, or I had to have finally gone over the deep end. But what if, just what if, it were real? I was facing death, or whatever losing your soul was! So yeah, I thought about it. I mean, what would you do? Anyways, I sat down, held my head in my hands and thought it over. I can’t remember all I thought about. I mean I thought about everything. I thought about my family, my poor mother, my dead father, Richard, demons, angels, heaven, hell, church, dogs, bicyclers, the bible, a dozen sci-fi shows I’d seen about this stuff, and finally Susan. I mean, how did she wrap up in all of this? Why was that part of the deal? Was something going to happen to her? I didn’t know but I wanted her to be safe. I mean, I guess if I sided with Richard, whether he was an angel or not I don’t know but I mean he seemed to have some control over Tarrius, he could help. So I guess with these thoughts I swallowed hard, stood up and looked at Tarrius. He grinned at me. “Sorry Tarrius, Tar, whatever, no thanks to the deal man. I believe Richard.” Hey this is getting kind of jumbled I’m going to break it up a bit, sound good saneys?

 

Tarrius grinned at me but I could see the rage on his face. His body shook and his joints cracked. “How DARE YOU!” I was scared because at this moment his body envoloped in fire. Richard ran forward in between me and Tarrius. He had a sword in his hand. The top of it looked like the cane, I guess it came from there. The sword had these scratches on it. They made shapes and they were all over it. Anyways, Tarrius, this firy, skeleton, was floating a few feet above the ground, his one eye lit up from the flames. “HOW DARE YOU DEFY THE MIGHT OF DALANIUS! BE WARNED MORTAL YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLLENCE! SINCE YOU HAVE DENIED US OF OUR AGREEMENT WE WILL FORCE YOUR SOUL FROM YOU!”

 

He looked like he was about to swing forward and hit me. All I know is that if he did I couldn’t have stopped him, I was scared, well, out of my mind. Again it was Richard that saved me, he ran forward and lashed out against Skinbone with it. It kind of flashed and Tarrius fell back with a yell. Richard yelled over the flames, “In the name of the light, be gone demon!” And with that, Tarrius was gone.

 

 

 

Richard was breathing heavily. He put his sword back into the cane and came back to me. He looked tired, thousands of years old. I can’t explain it, but I knew it was true. This guy was old!

 

Anyways, he said to me, “Thank you Mr. Stinnes. You have made the right choice. Now we must weather this storm.” I nodded, I couldn’t think of anything to say.

 

He said, “Take me to your home and we will rest. Tomorrow we will visit Susan, for it seems she has developed The Sight as well. When we are all together I will explain to the best of my ability. Dalanius will not attack for a few days.”

 

He steadied himself and looked at me smiling, not grinning, like Skinbone, but smiling like a genuine human being. “Because of your faith and diligence I shall give you two gifts before we go.” I looked at him oddly. Gifts? That was fine but I was pretty overwhelmed and lost and wanted to go home.

 

Anyways, he touched me on the forehead, “The first gift I give you is the Galania. It has been known by many other names, the gift of tongues is most likely what you are most familiar with. I am adding no more knowledge to yourself simply unlocking your abilities to write and speak with others more fluently.” I didn’t feel anything then but I’m starting to see it now so I guess he did it.

 

Anyways, the next one he made a couple of movements with his arms and suddenly to my surprise was this big, um, weapon. He was holding it with one hand. It was a big spear like thing attached to a pole. So a spear I guess, but it was shorter. “And for your defense against Dalanius’s minions I gift you the holy blade Lin, a partisan of light.” He handed it to me. It was heavy but not too heavy and I had experience around this kind of stuff dealing with construction from when I was younger.

 

Richard grasped my shoulder and squeezed it lightly, “Come friend lead us to your dwelling.” I did and we talked for a bit about my house and job and then he went to bed. I did too a little bit later.

 

Where am I writing from you might ask? Well, Sue’s house, because of the stuff that happened today, but I promised to tell what happened yesterday cause I cut off so suddenly. What happened today will have to wait till tomorrow.

 

Besides, Richard says its ok. We should have one more day anyways until Dalanius attacks but trust me, you don’t want to miss out about Susan. It’s a heavy business. Sorry, I’m leading you on a bit, but it’s to much to go into today. I’m plenty tired…so good night saneys!

Author's Note

ignore grammar and sentence issues, this is in Thomas's character.