Few minutes passed by, then few more during which, Her Ausperg commented on the already sold pieces, to finally send the second helper to investigate.
Suddenly, a terrifying scream crushed the quiet atmosphere of the pleasant evening.
For a split second which seemed like an hour, second during which everything seemed to move in slow motion, none reacted.
Then, while most invites were still paralyzed, Ausperg, Kenneth & Murphy rushed towards the door, while Felix rushed towards the table.
In the confusion, Felix will manage to knocked few items of the table down, and steal few others, while, Ausperg and Co reached the door, opened it and witnessed a man, the second helper, laying on the floor, inanimate.
The door leading to the prep room where the items were stored, in front of him, was open, and a dancing light was coming out of it.
While Ausperg kneeled in front of the second helper to confirm if he was dead or alive, Murphy and Ken ran to the door, and saw the horror in the room that once had been a prep room...
The first helper is spread, literally, across the entire room.
He has been decapitated, crushed against the wall, widely cut in pieces, clawed and gnawed, in short, brutally murdered by something that could not possibly exist!
How could all of this happened so fast, with all the invites right in the next room?
Murphy felt sick and weak, he simply couldn't hold it in. And still, he had seen some horror during his days, but this, mixed with a strange smell of... A sickly sweet smell...
Ken almost immediately noticed a trail of blood leading to the dumbwaiter that was there.
With Murphy, he climbed into it, and headed for the basement, used to store precious items in protected air controlled rooms.
As soon as they reach the bottom, the same sickly sweet smell caught them to the heart.
Also, it was peach black.
Courageous and young, Ken walked around the room, which seemed filled with rocks on the floor, until he reached the switch, and turned the light on.
The room was now empty, and has been damaged.
On one of the wall, it was easy to notice that a passage had recently been digged, probably leading to the sewage, and even more recently blocked, by a wall of heavy rocks and pieces of the wall.
The traces of blood lead to the tunnel, except for that and the sweet sickly smell, the room was empty.
Upstairs, except for the life of one man, nothing was missing but the Brazen Head Riveted...
At about twelve noon, our acolytes got together in the luxurious living room of their hotel, and had the most amazing brunch, during which, they came to the conclusion that, to be able to organize such an "organized" operation, such as stealing the head, you had to have some inside informations.
You needed to have a map of the hotel, know the process of the ceremony, and possibly, who was going to be there.
How could one possibly get these kind of help?
It got decided to get back to the Hotel Ausperg, and talk with Her Ausperg himself, as, the solution had to be lying there...
Ausperg welcomed the investigators and apologized again for the event that had occurred the night before.
He was adamant that none of his employees could be involved in such a crime, such an atrocity!
Still, the investigators convinced him to let them interviewed the helpers.
One after the others, the four helpers were interrogated.
Nothing special got revealed, however, one of them seemed more suspicious, his attitude was similar to the one of someone trying to hide something maybe, or particularly nervous.
In a separate room of the Hotel, Murphy and Jacob started to interrogate, for the second time, the nervous employee. His name was Karl Proust.
 |
| Karl Proust |
Almost immediately, Murphy, with his prompt to violence Irish spirit, started to ruff up Mr. Proust.
This one, resisted, and protested the aggression.
Murphy asked his question again:
- "Are you hiding anything from us?"
The helper, mainly ignoring Murphy's request, shocked his head and looked away.
In a moment who could only be described as lighting speed, Murphy hit the poor Austrian in the thorax with such a strength that this last one found himself flying backward to go crush on the floor and hit his head on a piece of furniture that had once been the property of Napoleon The Third.
Karl Proust couldn't breathe.
His eyes were coming out of his sockets, while Murphy came slowly towards him, took him by the collar,and again, asked him quietly:
- "Are you hiding anything from us boy?"
This time, taking finally another breath, Proust admitted having sold a map of the hotel, as well as a list of the invites to Klaus Hunderprest.
Jacob looked at Murphy with a mix of surprise, amazement and disgust.
Nevertheless, they finally had a valid clue, and with a common ground, decided to go, this evening, to Klaus Hunderprest's apartment, as, this could be the place where he had hidden the famous and precious Head.
The investigators spent the rest of the day resting and getting ready for their night escapade.
PART 5: Klaus Hunderprest Apartment & What Happened After.
By now, it was 10.00 pm, the night was dark, and the investigators were convinced that Hunderprest was their man!
They had discovered few hours ago that Hunderprest lived close to the Das Tor cemetery.
That was more than they needed.
Felix got a gun and a knife, so did Ken, but he also carried, as always, his suitcase, where a shotgun was hidden, ready to be used if the occasion was to present itself. Murphy liked his knife as well, but he preferred his own fists, as for Jacob, he had been an army officer, and his taste was lying with a nice gun.
Armed and ready, they all left the hotel, heading towards Hunderprest's apartment.
They took their favourite taxi, owned by Helmut, an austrian they had befriended, and parked at the corner of the streets close enough to see Hunderprest's house, far enough to not be easily noticed.
And they waited for a little while.
The street was very quiet, and nothing was moving.
Once in a while, a taxi would pass by, or a horse and his carriage.
Finally, just as the investigators were getting ready to go explore his living quarters, Hunderprest opened a small side door and came out of the house.
He turned around, looked at the street, and started walking on the opposite direction.
The investigators all waited for few minutes, then all left, telling Helmut to honk if Hunderprest was to come back.
The group arrived to the side, goofed for a while before realizing that the door was opened, then, got into the side walk that went around the house to the back door of what seemed to be a complete basement.
Still, it had a small plate with written on it those words:
- Apt 4
This, was indeed, Klaus Hunderprest address.
Felix and Ken, armed with fancy locksmith tools, managed to open the door in no time.
As soon as the door is opened, a sickly sweet smell surround the investigators.
Someone turned the switch on, and a small entrance, quite cosy, appeared.
All came in, and closed the door.
They opened the facing door, and it lead them to a corridor, with few doors on the left and few more on the right.
One by one, they explored the rooms.
The library, with nothing noticeable.
A living room, nice and pretty.
A bathroom with a full tub and coper arrangements.
An empty dining room, with only one chair and a small table.
A dirty kitchen, with piles of gross dishes, and dirt all over the floor.
And finally, at last, at the end of the corridor on the left, Hunderprest bedroom.
There, the smell is even stronger and obnoxious.
The room is a mess, the bed is dirty, clothes and food are covering the floor, and, for Murphy who paid more attention to details this time, on the floor, close to one side of the bed, under a pile of filthy clothes, a gorgeous ring with a massive diamond, with the cut finger of his previous owner still attached to it.
This, is enough to disturbed the most courageous adventurer.
What is that all about?
The group, then noticed a closet in the wall.
It is almost empty, but they soon noticed a secret door in the floor.
It is solidly locked.
But again, the investigators have resources, and Ken and Felix, in no time, managed to open the small, but previously hidden door.
There is a hole in the floor, going down. There is also a ladder going down in the hole. There is a switch that seemed to possibly be lighting the hole. And, at last, there is a strong sickly sweet smell, strong enough to make anyone gag.
Ken turned the switch on, the light appeared, and the hole became a vertical corridor, about 15 meters (50 feet) down, which ended with a floor that seemed made of dirt.
Ken went first, followed by the others, and in a minute or so, they all ended up on the floor of what looked like a mausoleum, with marble slabs, tapestries made of shrouds, interwoven with the filthy bones of their previous owners.
The light is white and poor, there is a series of three marble coffins in the facing wall, two doors, one on the left, one on the right side, and a thick marble table in the middle of the room, with a book covered with what seem to be dried blood, and, at last, The Brazen Head Riveted.
Here, the smell sweet and sour is so strong, that everyone is gaging from time to time.
The gang takes the Head, Felix takes the book.
Only Murphy noticed, but did not intervened.
Not only Murphy... But that, is another story.
The group wants to leave now, but Ken wants to see what's in the other rooms.
NDLR: This is a classic! They have what they need, they are on top of things, it is not time to goof around. Still, in these situation, there is always someone who wants to stay just a little longer, just a little longer... It usually brings some pretty cool action scenes...
Ken and Felix went to the right door, and opened it.
Inside, a smaller room, made of rocks and dirt, with a faint white light and another thick table in the middle. On the table, the rotten body of a human being, who ceased to breathe few years ago, as per the state it's in.
Ken and Felix, rapidly closed the door and went back to the main room.
Jacob insisted that they should go now!
But again, Ken, very convincing now, decided to open the left door.
It is very dark inside.
Nothing can be seen, but that is where that the smell is the strongest.
A faint noise first, then, Ken could see shades rushing towards him at great speed.
Within a breath, he walked backward towards the main room, firing to everything that moved towards him.
Bang, something got hit, and, in the pale white light of the main room, as the investigators have spread themselves across the room, four horrifying creatures rushed in.
They could only be described as a mix of human and monsters, with a hint of monkey maybe, a touch of zombies, teeth big like small knifes, and giant disgusting eyes.
In the future, the investigators will come to call those creatures
"Ghouls".
 |
| A Ghoul |
Ken had already hit one of the monsters, and pretty bad, but this seemed to make it even more aggressive and with anger, the creature threw himself towards Ken.
This one, with a lasting self defence reflex, fire one last shot, marvellously tiring apart the ghoul's carotid, who felt at Ken's feet, like a bag of large potatoes.
Meanwhile, one is running towards Jacob, who is firing, but missing, another one is already on Felix who had fired too, but missed as well, and the last one on Murphy, who has dropped his knife and his getting ready to face the creatures in a mad fist fight.
NDLR: The fist fight, that's a first! Seriously, you gotta be Irish to fight one of these creatures with your bare hands! Murphy's absolutely awesome!
After a second or so of amazement, Ken looked around and saw Felix in grave danger. Because, if Jacob had finally managed to fire at his ghoul and inflected some serious damages, leaving the creature unable to fight back, Felix had missed again, but his own ghoul had hit him with a powerful anger, and he had seen his entire short life passed in front of his eyes...
In the corner of the room, Murphy was fighting the "thing" with his bare hands.
He had learned in his mother land, for many years, how to defend himself, he had fought in many wars, and it was certainly not a "ghoul" who was going to win this fight.
The anger changed side, and, with a magnificent move, Murphy positioned himself perfectly to execute his famous, but overwhelming "
hit with the knuckles" move.
To say that it was unseen is an understatement. Murphy's fist went straight through the head of the ghoul. His arm covered with slimy yellow blood, the creature hanging like a costume on a coat hanger.
NDLR: This happens when a player does an amazing number on a dice. The actions are played with dices of different sides number, six sides, 8, 10, 12, 4 etc... Dices with 10 sides are used to determine percents. Anyhow, the number that Murphy/Aaron did was beautiful. This, was one of the most enjoyable scene of the entire game, call me whatever you want, action is always fun!
While Murphy removed the dead creature from his arm, Ken had fired few times in the back of the ghoul, missing Felix, but killing his second creature. As he looked to his right, he could see Jacob achieving the ghoul that had, few seconds ago, been a very potential threat.
Felix had been hit, but he was going to be alright.
Just a very deep cut on the torso, lots of blood but nothing major. He had been, somehow, lucky.
Murphy had gone back into the ghouls's room, but had heard some steps, and some noises of more creatures coming.
It was time to get out.
This time, they all agreed, and, one by one, started to climb up the ladder again.
Ken was first, and had to announced to the rest of the group that, the door from the trap was closed and that it might take a little while to open it.
After few frantic minutes, and with the help of Felix, the secret door was opened again.
Right on time to hear the honk of the car in the silence of the night, and a door opening, probably the corridor's door.
Unexpected situation, and forced to adapt very fast, the investigators all went back down to the mausoleum main room, and waited, against the wall, silent and armed.
Ken had opened his suitcase, and took a shot gun out of it.
For a brief moment, it became very silent...
Then, the secret door opened above their head, and a scream ran down the hole.
Not a scream of fear of terror, but a scream of anger, the scream of a beast from hell.
Hunderprest, alarmed by the light at the bottom of his mausoleum, had come down as fast as he could.
If only we could, one day, find out what he was really doing there, what were his plans, and why had he stolen the Head, maybe then, we would be able to understand why he turned mad when he saw the investigators and the missing head in the main room.
He yelled and threw himself at Ken who was the closest, with a rage who will aunt the young New Yorker for many years to come. Ken, instinctively, fired, once, then a second time, then, finally a third time. Hunderprest had avoided the first round, the second had hit him pretty bad in the chest, and most man would have fallen at this very point. But it took a third shot, from barely a feet and a half away, and partially in the neck, to bring him to his feet, his face covered with blood, and his wide yellow eyes still widely open.
It was almost like if, he was surprised at the moment of death...
Time had stopped, and, for a short moment, everything seemed peaceful.
Suddenly, Jacob reminded everyone they had to leave immediately, that they might be accused of killing Hunderprest, and that, if they ever tell the truth, they would most certainly, end up in some Austrian asylum, which, most definitely, was no one's plan.
As all agreed, they left the apartment, climbed in the taxi, paid Helmut well, wished him the best, packed everything from the hotel, paid again, thanked everyone, and went to the train station.
There, they took the first train to Germany, Hamburg, where they took a transatlantic boat, the
Crowning Transat, and spent the next 21 days thinking, writing and talking in their respective cabins.
All were shocked by what they lived. None of them could spend a restful night, nightmares and migraines, memories from the events were constantly haunting the investigators.
It will take many months to rebuilt a kind of sanity, but eventually they will all accept what had happened as facts.
Jacob was charged to take care of the head until they reached NY.
There, they were welcome by Mr. Truscott, were paid what they had been promised, and gratefully thanked.
Truscott also added that he will make certain that the investigators were not suspected in any way by the Austrian authorities, but still advised them to avoid this part of Europe for few years maybe.
At last, he asked them if it was acceptable to contact them again for this kind of "exercise" if the opportunity was to invite itself, which, they all agreed on.
One sunny morning, they all said good by to each other, the New-Yorkers will keep on doing what they're doing in New-York, even though, nothing will ever be the same for them, Jacob will keep on working with Truscott, and Truscott will make sure that the Head is in good hands, for whatever power it might have, and Murphy, Murphy will go back home, to Old Ireland, and take care of his farm again, go on his long walks again, appreciate his 16 years old scotch again, breathe the fresh and vigorous air of the early morning, and, once in a while, will feel that he is not alone, that something is observing him, that he has opened a door that cannot be closed, that there is no sane escape to this world.
And still, it's with excitement that he opened this letter, 8 months later, with an invitation from Truscott to join him again in NY, as there was some issues that needed to be addressed, in Dunwich Massachusetts, but that, is another story.
The End
 |
| Notes |
 |
| Notes |
 |
| Notes |
Voila, that's all folks.
Play games, make love, explore life, try your best, don't give up.
Sincerely,
Serge
7th of April 2012
