current page : concrete parking lot
kpwu
long
tale
A nervous Yedor and an unfeeling Devan reached stairs going down. A metallic staircase that sticked out like a sore thumb. It was painted in bright orange, and on the edge of each step, a striped yellow and black band acted as a warning for the stairs. They went down.
After a few minutes of going down in near darkness- and of Yedor almost falling a few times (despite having been told, dog), they reached floor.
It was a great parking lot. The cement floor reached far and lost itself in the darkness. Here and there, concrete pillars held up the grey, glasswool covered ceiling. The ceiling itself was irrigated by a network of metallic pipes and vents. Of course, there were no cars in sight. No functional car, at least.
A few meters away from the staircase, a circle (presumably in red paint) had been traced. It was a simple pentagram, with a few runes here and there. All around, a small forest of candles cast an irregular warm glow over red paint cans and the remains of sacrified cars.
What does a sacrified car looks like ? how do you sacrifice a car ? Well, imagine an animal. Sacrifice it, then turn it into a car. Basically it ends up as an overturned car, with the internal mechanic spilling out, and often it being stabbed with multiple implements.
And, on a pole in the middle of the circle, a cow skull.
Yedor almost rushed back up the stairs, but Devan grabbed her arm. In the candle light, Yedor could see the stressed and uncomfortable expression on Devan's face. It was the first expression she had ever seen on that face.
"All right. Together, we're not going to be scared of anything," Yedor reassured. Devan nodded. "Evidently, we're not going to get anywhere by randomly wandering in this parking lot. I can probably do something with this circle."
Devan looked at Yedor with a puzzled face. "Oh, I didn't tell you, right. I'm... somewhat well versed in circle programming." Devan nodded.
They began to examine the installation. "So," started Yedor, while looking over the car remains, "to complete that circle, I should find out what it was made for in the first place. There aren't many runes there, so..."
"... nope. Can't make sense of it yet."
While Yedor was looking away, Devan took the skull from the top of the pole using their psychic powers. As they guessed, a rune was written inside. They put the skull on the floor.
"Ah ! Found something." Yedor came back from the car, holding an exhaust pipe with a rune drawn on it. She noticed the skull. "Oh you took the skull uh... really silently. Congrats anyway."
"Ohh, I see what they wanted to do. Ok ok, so... hmm" she took out her phone and started typing on it. "Ok... and then like that..." A sound from the darkness. Devan stood up suddenly and started to look.
"and then like that... and..." Devan shushed Yedor. "Huh ? What's up ?"Devan watched from the darkness, ready to jump at any moment. A metallic sound rang from the veil. And then a mechanical, drill like sound. BzzzzzzzZZzzZzZzzz...
"You are not yet ready, but neither are we." A voice had come from nearby. Yedor turned, and a pair of crows were perched at the top of the car pile. "Huh ?? Did they speak ??
-We will give you something. Use it carefully."
At once, the crows took flight, and passed over Yedor. Then, one of them threw something at her.
The birds flew into the darkness and quickly disappeared. And, just as they did, a figure started to emerge from it.
It was a wolf. A completely black wolf, whose head was not that of a wolf, but instead a large drill. It started spinning, projecting the same sound as before.
The sound was loud enough to make Devan take a step backwards. "Oh. Oh god, oh god uhh, uhhm..."
Yedor tried to plug the projector, but fumbled. She'll probably have to take some time to set it up afterward.
While Yedor was busy fumbling the projector, Devan stepped forward to the wolf. Fear is a strength. Using my fear I will succeed. Before Devan's determined eyes, the wolf took a step back. And then, without warning, Devan lunged, their body shifting to a dark, beast-like form. They hacked at the drill wolf.
The two disappeared in the darkness. "Devan ?" called Yedor, in a squeal. "Heww... no matter. I have to do this." She managed to plug in the projector.
She quickly wrote a circle on the phone, then activated it. A strong light filled the area, killing the darkness. She saw two dark beasts circling each other, one tall, standing on two legs, and one on all fours with a conic head. She pressed enter on the phone, activating the secondary effect of the circle.
A beam of light, sharp as a knife, pierced the beast with the conic head. It flew backwards. "Devan, come back, I'll make an exit while its stunned !"
The tall beast reverted back to Devan as it came running back Yedor. The light in the area subsided. "Ok, I kind of know what circle to make. I think. Ill just turn the inside of the circle into a hole."
"Actually I can do better than that, I can do a staircase." She took a paintbrush and red paint, and started completing the circle on the ground. As she put the last rune, the area inside the circel receded, leaving only a spiral staircase.
Not waiting for the drill wolf to follow, they went down.