Never doubt the word of a child.
It’s a simple statement and one that has saved me a great deal of trouble in my time. Children know a great many things. Doubting them is often done at your own peril.
I suppose that had I arrived sooner or been informed sooner, I might have been able to save Mr. and Mrs. Francis Porte from their untimely demise.
That is a grand supposition, however, and I’m not sure I would have been exactly interested in saving either one of them. They were not anything I considered worth saving. Right up to the moment of their deaths, I often contemplated putting a knife into their ribs and ridding the world of them.
They committed no great crime, mind you. They were merely annoying.
Evidently, the boy felt the same.
I was in town picking up a few essentials for Adelaide and myself when I was asked to step over to the Sentinel’s offices. I agreed, but only for a minute, as I did not wish to leave my new bride alone in the house for long. Some of the dead were still getting to know her, a few of the darker creatures were prowling the halls, and my mother’s spirit was screaming obscenities from the upper sewing room.
In the offices of the Sentinel, I was introduced to Leonidas, King of the Eastern Watch. As he stated his name and title, he was methodically washing blood off his small hands. He was dressed in rich attire, and his posture and demeanor demanded respect. He spoke excellent German, and he explained to me the idiocy of the Portes.
They had found him walking along Northfield Road. He explained to them, in German, that he was enjoying the fine air of our world. They hadn’t understood him, and when they attempted to take hold of his hand to bring him into town, he had killed them.
It was here that there were some concerned questions from the staff. They needed the particulars, it appeared, in order to craft their story for the following day’s paper. The Portes were in less than recognizable condition.
I asked the King how he had killed them.
He smiled shyly and then straightened up as he stated in a proud tone, “I turned them inside out.”
#horror #fear #art
