PROJECT MORTUUS : The Creature

Chapter 16: Orphic Home

Mortuus could smell blood as he neared the door of a sizeable boarded-up house. From how the boards were rotting, he could tell the house had been abandoned for quite some time. Possibly longer than he was alive before awakening as Mortuus. 

Seven-sixteen Heaven's Gate Rd, Crater Hollow, was a lovely little house long ago, but now it stood desolate and decaying. Wood rot set in years ago, and rust made the mailbox look like a monster with a gaping jaw. The paint on its outside was flaky and cracking, and most of the windows were either boarded or shattered. 

Mortuus studied the mailbox, "Morris" read a sign on it, the letters barely visible from years of rain and other weathering. He walked up the creaky porch stairs and opened the door. It creaked open with a howling hinge. 

The only thing in the house was old furniture with white fabric draped over it and The Stitcher standing motionless in the center. Mortuus walked up to it cautiously, placing a hand on its lean shoulder. 

Darkness. Everything around him was gone, and Mortuus woke in a dimly lit hall. He walked down the aisle, a silent little boy hiding just out of view ahead of him. 

"HELLO?? YOU THERE!! WHERE AM I??" Mortuus shouted out to the kid, who watched him in utter silence. The kid ran down the hall and into a room, vanishing from sight. 

As Mortuus turned the corner, chasing after him, he was met with a beautiful, tall girl. 

"Hello again, Peter." She said, with a giggle in her sweet voice. 

"Me?" Mortuus asked her, confused by her words. "I'm Mortuus."

"Yes, you, silly. You're Peter." She giggled, leading Mortuus along by his wrist. Her hands were so soft. 

Mortuus followed her along, her form fading more and more as they walked. As if she was nothing more than a phantom of a person.

"She's gone. Has been for a while." A man stood up, his face obscured by the darkness around him. "She was my daughter. Taken from me by such cruel men."

"Who are you?" Mortuus shouted toward the man. 

The man spoke in a hushed whisper. "I'm just a man consumed by the grief of his daughter. I've lost my way, consumed by the war inside. I'm sorry I've hurt so many but I can't stop-"

Mortuus walked toward the man, a memory in the back of his mind shouting Micheal Morris. "Micheal?" Mortuus called to the man. "Micheal Morris?"

The man looked up at him and stepped into the light, his face no longer obscured and now clearly scarred. "You're the last person I wanna talk to, Peter Morgan."

Mortuus stared, confused, "Who the fuck is Peter Morgan?"

Micheal walked over. "You are. You're the reason she's gone." Micheal tore the bandages from Mortuus's face. "Serves you right, bastard."

Micheal touched his hand gently to the large scar that covered his right eye. "You were meant to stay dead for what you did, Peter."

Mortuus stared, confused, "I'M MORTUUS SURVIVOR, WHATEVER THE FUCK MY LAST NAME IS!!"

Micheal sat on a ledge, tears soaking his pale face. "Maybe now you are."

Mortuus walked over, sitting next to Micheal and handing him a handkerchief. "I may not be the man you once knew, but you at least know him."

Micheal picked up a small flower from off the ground next to him. Its leaves were black and wilted with weathered petals. A thick cough escaped his lips as he stared at the flower. 

"I'm dying, Mortuus." Micheal crushed the flower in his clasped hand, the dust of it blowing away. "Every day that... Monster... takes over more. I just wanted my daughter back."

Mortuus watched as the last of the flower dust vanished, "You're trapped?"

Micheal nodded in agreement, motioning to the dozens of withering flowers around them. Mortuus now noticed the vines creeping up Micheal's legs. 

"Get out of here while you can, Peter. And do me a favor... Kill me." Micheal said, noticing that Mortuus was staring at his vine-covered legs. 

Vines began shooting up, grabbing onto Micheal's wrists and snaking up his arms. The vines tugged at him, digging into his skin with such strength he was bleeding. A single tear fell as he mouthed for Mortuus to leave. 

Mortuus stumbled back, tripping on a vine- everything was going black.