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This is an original story. I havnt written the whole thing yet and will be updating it a chapter at a time.
Please do not repost this story in full or in part anywhere without my express permission. If you do and I find out, I will not hesitate to eat you.
Although at the moment this is mostly raw and unedited, constructive criticism as always, is appreciated. Please dont hesitate to tell me what you think and if you have any suggestions for a title, post them below.
Happy Reading! c:
CHAPTER 1
How a summer shouldn't begin.Looking up at the dilapidated brick house, Mark couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been thinking when he agreed to come here. It was beyond his normal level of stupidity really, he thought mentally chastising himself as he heard the screech of tyres as the taxi pulled out of the driveway, taking with it his last chance at getting home. “Well”, he muttered to himself, lifting his suitcase with a huff, “This is it.” Walking slowly forward till he reached the tall looming door, Mark ran his mind over what was his only comforting thought, Its only for a month. Just a month. Chanting this at himself however dint prove to be much help, Mark was as sweaty and bleary eyed as ever looking increasingly like a deer caught in the headlights. Indeed one month hadn’t seemed like much when his mother had first told him, but now standing in front of the large carved bronze knocker Mark realized apparently for the first time just how many days there were in a month, how many hours in a day, how many minutes in an hour..
Before Mark had the chance to freak himself out further however, fate took matters out of his hand. Creeeeaak. As though confirming Mark’s suspicions that the door to the house hadn’t been used in centuries, it swung open with a resounding creak that made Mark jump backwards, landing rather ungracefully on his backside, his suitcase held over his head like a shield for good measure. Ahem. Lowering the suitcase from above his head, Mark looked around for the source of the sound, a little bewildered because the heavy set door seemed, for all intents and purposes, to have swung open of its own accord. Ahem. There it was again! That sound! Scrambling to his feet, Mark made to walk inside the house, swallowing a nervous lump in his throat.
“And what exactly do you think you are doing?” said the disgruntled old man whom Mark had just walked into. His mouth fell open, “But you- I dint..There was no one here!” he said party embarrassed at having nearly knocked over a stranger but mostly astonished as he jumped backward, causing the contents of his suitcase to rattle again.
“Hmpf”, sniffled the man completely ignoring Mark’s last statement, as he turned away from the door, “I do hope this is not how you always greet new people. You may find that knocking people over doesn’t make them take too kindly to you.”
Motioning to Mark to follow, the man walked toward a door in the far corner of the room. Still a little startled, Mark followed wordlessly, the man on closer inspection was a man unlike any Mark had ever seen before. Debilitatingly aged, the man was shrunken and withered so much so that his face greatly resembled a prune that had been left out in the Sun. He walked with a hunch so severe it looked as though his back would split in two and seemed so frail, so wispy that if he dint know better Mark would’ve said that the man was composed entirely of smoke. Mark snapped out of his confused reverie by a loud sharp knock on the door, three hard raps like he and his friends used to to do as children, when they pretended to be dacoits and tried to communicate in code. Smiling a little at the memory, Mark felt a little calmer than usual when a deep voice called from inside the room, “Enter!”
Stepping across the threshold a lot more bravely than he normally would’ve, Mark raised his eyes to meet those of- what was unquestionably- the largest and fiercest looking man he had ever seen. Easily over 6 feet tall, the man had a hulking figure and the kind of face who’s default expression seems to be “displeased”. Mark, with his own not-insignificant height of 5.10ft stood level with the man’s thick neck, his well muscled chest seemed to be straining against the fabric of tight black tshirt that he wore and his large bald head shone in the dim light of the single yellow bulb above them. Presently the man seemed to be leaning against a desk of some sort, Mark noticed out of the corner of his eye, not daring to take his face off the giant. Most disconcerting of all however, was the large jagged scar that the man had across his face, starting at the corner of his left eye and ending near his right ear.
“So! This is the boy then heh?”, he boomed, presumably at the withered old man who responded with a small nod. Alarmingly, the large man walked toward Mark and began inching in a small circle around him as though determined to observe him from every angle. After two circles, Mark decided he’d had about enough, gripping the handle of his suitcase so hard that his knuckles turned white, Mark began “Please sir-“
“And he talks too!” interrupted the man, his extraordinarily loud guffaw echoed by a half-hearted chuckle that sounded more like a cough from the vague direction of the old man. “Do you have any more tricks boy?” the giant asked, leering at him from an uncomfortably close distance now, his circles seemed to get smaller and smaller. Mark was beginning to get more than a bit annoyed now, he hadn’t endured a horribly long journey on an extremely bumpy road to arrive and be insulted by a thick-necked giant. Why I have half a mind to leave right now! he thought disgruntled, when he opened his mouth to speak however, the man chose that very moment to flex his considerable muscles. On second thought, maybe all that’s needed is speaking politely.
“Good afternoon Sir. My name is Mark-“ “I know who you are boy!”, the man said, cocking his head slightly to one side as though appraising Mark. He took a few step backwards and then turned around before walking to sit behind his desk. “I know who you are”, he repeated, a little gruffly, “Agreed to keep yeh dint I?” “K-Keep me?”stammered Mark. The man chuckled at this and he brought a hand up to rest on his bald plate, “No need to look so worried boy. I’m only keeping you for the summer.” Mark smiled a little hesitantly, relived at both the confirmation of the duration of his stay as well as the man’s smile.
“I expect you know who I am as well.” The man said, sounding upset again.
“Uh. Yes, you’re Uncle Murdoch.” Mark responded, a little hesitantly. After all, he hadn’t known of the man’s existence until a few weeks previous. The man however was nodding somberly, “It’s Sir to you and don’t you forget that” he snapped, suddenly incensed the man stood and apparently grabbing from a drawer on random, tossed something at Mark who caught it reflexively.
“Lets get this straight, no leaving your room after 6pm, no disturbing me while I’m working, no touching anything outside of your room that’s not something to sit on or something to eat. And above all, you are not to go past the garden wall.” He said all this very quickly and without pausing to take a breath, adding “Will there be a problem with that?” Mark gulped taken aback at the sudden yelling, he tried to wipe the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead off inconspicuously with the back of his wrist, “No Sir, no problem Sir.” As he turned to leave, he saw that the old man wasn’t there anymore and yet the heavy door was still shut and he definitely hadn’t heard it open.
“How does he do that?” Mark muttered to himself, under his breath as he stepped toward the door, gripping it with one hand to pull it open. The man stood up with a grunt and in a flash, he had a door open for Mark, as he stepped over the threshold and made to walk across the hall again he heard the man said, “You’ll want the first floor.”, there was a long pause as Mark covered the considerable distance across the hall while lugging a heavy suitcase.
Just as he reached the first step however, he heard the man’s voice from behind him again but it sounded a little different now, hesitant even, “A word of advice boy, the less questions you have, the better off you’ll be.” And before Mark could turn around the man was gone, having slammed the door shut behind him.
This is an original story. I havnt written the whole thing yet and will be updating it a chapter at a time.
Please do not repost this story in full or in part anywhere without my express permission. If you do and I find out, I will not hesitate to eat you.
Although at the moment this is mostly raw and unedited, constructive criticism as always, is appreciated. Please dont hesitate to tell me what you think and if you have any suggestions for a title, post them below.
Happy Reading! c:
CHAPTER 1
How a summer shouldn't begin.
Before Mark had the chance to freak himself out further however, fate took matters out of his hand. Creeeeaak. As though confirming Mark’s suspicions that the door to the house hadn’t been used in centuries, it swung open with a resounding creak that made Mark jump backwards, landing rather ungracefully on his backside, his suitcase held over his head like a shield for good measure. Ahem. Lowering the suitcase from above his head, Mark looked around for the source of the sound, a little bewildered because the heavy set door seemed, for all intents and purposes, to have swung open of its own accord. Ahem. There it was again! That sound! Scrambling to his feet, Mark made to walk inside the house, swallowing a nervous lump in his throat.
“And what exactly do you think you are doing?” said the disgruntled old man whom Mark had just walked into. His mouth fell open, “But you- I dint..There was no one here!” he said party embarrassed at having nearly knocked over a stranger but mostly astonished as he jumped backward, causing the contents of his suitcase to rattle again.
“Hmpf”, sniffled the man completely ignoring Mark’s last statement, as he turned away from the door, “I do hope this is not how you always greet new people. You may find that knocking people over doesn’t make them take too kindly to you.”
Motioning to Mark to follow, the man walked toward a door in the far corner of the room. Still a little startled, Mark followed wordlessly, the man on closer inspection was a man unlike any Mark had ever seen before. Debilitatingly aged, the man was shrunken and withered so much so that his face greatly resembled a prune that had been left out in the Sun. He walked with a hunch so severe it looked as though his back would split in two and seemed so frail, so wispy that if he dint know better Mark would’ve said that the man was composed entirely of smoke. Mark snapped out of his confused reverie by a loud sharp knock on the door, three hard raps like he and his friends used to to do as children, when they pretended to be dacoits and tried to communicate in code. Smiling a little at the memory, Mark felt a little calmer than usual when a deep voice called from inside the room, “Enter!”
Stepping across the threshold a lot more bravely than he normally would’ve, Mark raised his eyes to meet those of- what was unquestionably- the largest and fiercest looking man he had ever seen. Easily over 6 feet tall, the man had a hulking figure and the kind of face who’s default expression seems to be “displeased”. Mark, with his own not-insignificant height of 5.10ft stood level with the man’s thick neck, his well muscled chest seemed to be straining against the fabric of tight black tshirt that he wore and his large bald head shone in the dim light of the single yellow bulb above them. Presently the man seemed to be leaning against a desk of some sort, Mark noticed out of the corner of his eye, not daring to take his face off the giant. Most disconcerting of all however, was the large jagged scar that the man had across his face, starting at the corner of his left eye and ending near his right ear.
“So! This is the boy then heh?”, he boomed, presumably at the withered old man who responded with a small nod. Alarmingly, the large man walked toward Mark and began inching in a small circle around him as though determined to observe him from every angle. After two circles, Mark decided he’d had about enough, gripping the handle of his suitcase so hard that his knuckles turned white, Mark began “Please sir-“
“And he talks too!” interrupted the man, his extraordinarily loud guffaw echoed by a half-hearted chuckle that sounded more like a cough from the vague direction of the old man. “Do you have any more tricks boy?” the giant asked, leering at him from an uncomfortably close distance now, his circles seemed to get smaller and smaller. Mark was beginning to get more than a bit annoyed now, he hadn’t endured a horribly long journey on an extremely bumpy road to arrive and be insulted by a thick-necked giant. Why I have half a mind to leave right now! he thought disgruntled, when he opened his mouth to speak however, the man chose that very moment to flex his considerable muscles. On second thought, maybe all that’s needed is speaking politely.
“Good afternoon Sir. My name is Mark-“ “I know who you are boy!”, the man said, cocking his head slightly to one side as though appraising Mark. He took a few step backwards and then turned around before walking to sit behind his desk. “I know who you are”, he repeated, a little gruffly, “Agreed to keep yeh dint I?” “K-Keep me?”stammered Mark. The man chuckled at this and he brought a hand up to rest on his bald plate, “No need to look so worried boy. I’m only keeping you for the summer.” Mark smiled a little hesitantly, relived at both the confirmation of the duration of his stay as well as the man’s smile.
“I expect you know who I am as well.” The man said, sounding upset again.
“Uh. Yes, you’re Uncle Murdoch.” Mark responded, a little hesitantly. After all, he hadn’t known of the man’s existence until a few weeks previous. The man however was nodding somberly, “It’s Sir to you and don’t you forget that” he snapped, suddenly incensed the man stood and apparently grabbing from a drawer on random, tossed something at Mark who caught it reflexively.
“Lets get this straight, no leaving your room after 6pm, no disturbing me while I’m working, no touching anything outside of your room that’s not something to sit on or something to eat. And above all, you are not to go past the garden wall.” He said all this very quickly and without pausing to take a breath, adding “Will there be a problem with that?” Mark gulped taken aback at the sudden yelling, he tried to wipe the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead off inconspicuously with the back of his wrist, “No Sir, no problem Sir.” As he turned to leave, he saw that the old man wasn’t there anymore and yet the heavy door was still shut and he definitely hadn’t heard it open.
“How does he do that?” Mark muttered to himself, under his breath as he stepped toward the door, gripping it with one hand to pull it open. The man stood up with a grunt and in a flash, he had a door open for Mark, as he stepped over the threshold and made to walk across the hall again he heard the man said, “You’ll want the first floor.”, there was a long pause as Mark covered the considerable distance across the hall while lugging a heavy suitcase.
Just as he reached the first step however, he heard the man’s voice from behind him again but it sounded a little different now, hesitant even, “A word of advice boy, the less questions you have, the better off you’ll be.” And before Mark could turn around the man was gone, having slammed the door shut behind him.
