Look who’s there, a wandering adventurer looking for the Bananafish treasure! This episode is part of the interactive story/treasure hunt called “Quest In The Realms”. If you landed on this page because you’re trying to solve the mystery, don’t hesitate and keep delving in the story. If you came here through random loitering, what are you waiting for!?
10
“Well. You still have your dad’s credit cards? I may have broke that SG tonight when we performed on stage,” you say.
Vickie’s dead face contorts in rage. You shrink from her, preparing for the worst. Then suddenly, she laughs.
“Mendo, you beast. You always were a monster performing. That’s why I want back in the band.” She giggles, and the pressure sends her left eyeball popping out. You gag as she pushes it back into place. The suction sound echoes in the dead store.
“How are you alive? I mean…how did you die?” you ask.
There’s a burning desire in your heart, and you know it will only be satiated by knowing the nature of this woman’s undeath.
Vickie senses this. She smiles. It’s wry, and foreboding.
“Do you know where my father gained his wealth? Or who he even is?”
“No idea,” Mendo says, lighting a cigarette.
“My father, and his father, and his before him were purveyors of…forbidden arts. Things like alchemy, divination, conjuring.”
“Your dad is a psychic? Like, a charlatan?”
Vickie ignores the slight.
“I came across a book hidden away in my father’s forbidden library. The cover was yellow, and the moment my eyes saw the glyph, I was captivated…enraptured by its impossible design. I needed to know what was inside.”
She throws her head back as if the memory brought her ecstacy.
“But I dabbled in mysteries beyond me, in my foolish youth. And I wanted to become the greatest singer our world has ever seen. I wanted to show you, the world, that I was great. I wanted to see your face, Mendo, when I could sustain a high C then drop it to a low E with ease.”
“That didn’t work out,” you say, “did it?”
You stand up, ready to escape from the guitar shop. She turns her back as she continues her tale.
You gently turn the knob of the old door, praying it doesn’t creak.
“In my madness, I performed unholy rituals to the old ones. I submerged myself in the lake outside my father’s manse. I died there, and yet, I lived. I was born again, in this corpse, but no longer bound by this world’s laws. I rose from the black waters of lake Hali, Mendo, onto the shores of Carcosa, bearing witness to the night where black stars rise.”
You open the door, ready to escape, and your heart sinks. There are no city streets outside, no alleys or full moon. In front of you is a wall of darkness. You turn and behind you too, the haunted guitar shop is swallowed by nothingness.
Vickie’s voice is all around you now. Her corpse floats in front of you. There is nothing in reality left but the two of you and the darkness.
“I hope you’re ready,” she says, “to meet our king.”
With a faint touch of her deathly cold finger on your forehead, you pass out.
