Gunnar Ross Chapter 4

Chapter
4

An
Unexpected Guest

 

Gunnar swung open the door.

“Old man, I need answers!” he
snapped. The old man pushed Gunnar back inside.

“And you’ll get them, but first you
need to help me again, I’m on the run from certain people and
you’re the only friendly face to me for miles.” the old man said,
looking both ways outside the door frame before slamming the door
behind him.

The old man wandered about Gunnars
apartment, turning off lights and unplugging anything producing
light.

“What are you doing, old man?”
Gunnar asked angrily.

“Will you stop calling me that?”
The old man asked, while unplugging the toaster, “The name’s
Wulfric, and you’re going to help me.”

“Okay, Wulfric, What are you doing?”
Gunnar asked exasperated and full of sarcasm.

“Bring your voice down!” Wulfric
said is a loud whisper, “I’ve been followed.”

“You brought bad people to my home?!”
Gunner exclaimed in the same loud whisper, “I help you once and
you’re bringing, what, the mafia to my door?”

“That’s about the lot of it,”
Wulfric said, rushing to unplug Gunnars PlayStation and tv, which
both gave off soft red lights.

“Okay, that seems to be about it,”
Wulfric said, making one more cursory glance. Gunnar almost couldn’t
see him anymore, besides the faint moon glow from the outside,
through the window with the bad mount.

Gunnar heard loud footsteps, and felt a
rumble through the building. Wulfric grabbed Gunnar by the arm and
pulled him behind the door to the bathroom. He put his finger to his
lips to keep Gunnar quiet. The silence was deafening between each
loud thump as it got louder and closer to Gunnars door.

“Shit, I forgot they can open doors,”
Wulfric said almost imperceptibly as Gunnar wondered what the old man
meant by ‘forgetting they can open doors’. He did not have to
wait long as the door knob turned very slowly until there was a loud
sound that Gunnar believed to be metal breaking under extreme
pressure.

The door swung open, and Gunnar rubbed
his eyes because he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, ducking
under the top of the door frame and into his apartment. An eight foot
tall statue was standing in his living room. It was hard to see the
full scope of it in the dim light, though to Gunnar, it seemed like a
stack of blocks made mobile. It had eyes that shone like red LEDs,
and it rotated its head like a sentry gun, seemingly scanning the
apartment.

“W-w-w-w-what the hell is that?”
Gunnar asked as quietly as he could muster, shaking and stammering.
He was scared witless, he was frozen in place, staring at the
monstrosity in his flat.

“A golem,” Wilhelm said calmly, “A
being made of clay powered by magic.”

It was finally said. Magic. Gunnar
couldn’t believe what he heard. He performed and was witnessing
magic.

“Why did you lead this thing into my
apartment?” Gunnar asked, hissing each word.

“Shut up or you’ll get us both
killed!” Wulfric spat, grabbing Gunnar by the shoulders, “Look,
I know you want answers, and I’ll give them to you, but for now,
help me stay alive long enough to tell you.”

Gunnar simply nodded.

“Good, now do what I say, and we may
both get out of here alive,” Wulfric said, “Golems always have a
blind spot, and its when they go into that survey mode. Their eyes
are essentially IR sensors and heat sensors, so if we can run by it
before its eyes can see us, we should be out of here.”

“Go where?” Gunnar asked, snapping
back to reality, “This is my home, will I come back?”

“Chances are, probably not. But its
not exactly a lavish mansion, so no harm done, you can stay with me,
but first we need to get out of here!”

The golem stopped spinning its head and
took a few more steps into the apartment. It came to the back half,
where the bathroom was, its right flank facing the entrance where the
duo crouched. At a closer look, Gunnar can see a little more, it
looks to be made of clay. With a smooth round head and an
expressionless face with three holes, two where the eyes should be,
which are filled with red light, and one for the mouth.

It began to do another sweep, turning
its head counter-clockwise, away from the bathroom.

“Come on, Gunnar, it’s now or
never,” Wulfric whispered, moving to make a move toward the front
door. Gunnar followed suit.

Gunnar followed Wulfric, the pair slowly
inched toward the open door, looking behind his shoulder at the
golem. He heard a sound like an old CRT TV playing an old video game,
“Target acquired,” Gunner fell to the ground, and heard the golem
take two large steps to his bed. Gunnar saw in frustration that his
phone was lit up on his bed after getting a notification. The golem
raised its large arms, and slammed them into the bed, destroying the
entire frame rendering it unusable.

“Well, time to run!” Wulfric said,
and started sprinting for the door. Gunnar followed suit. He picked
himself up and made for the door.

Gunnar heard the golem say “Target
acquired” again, and knew it was meant for him. He got to the
door, and rounded the corner before he realized he forgot something.

“Hold on!” Gunnar said, “There’s
something I need from inside!”

“Can it wait?” Wulfric asked,
halfway down the stairs.

“No! Its important,” Gunnar said.

“You’ll get yourself killed!”

Gunnar ignored the last bit. He was
already back in the apartment. The golem was still making its way to
the front door. It was directly in front of the false socket. He
quickly got behind the kitchen counter to draw its attention.

“Hey mudhead!” Gunnar yelled,
throwing a dirty pan at its head. He ducked behind the counter as the
golem moved toward him. With each step, the sounds and shaking got
louder. Gunnar wanted to distract it, so he took the egg timer
magnetized to his stove, set it for a few seconds, and threw it away
from him and the outlet.

A couple seconds went by without any
other sound than the stepping of the golem. It got to the counter
where Gunnar hid. He heard it say, “Target acquired”, and Gunnar
braced for impact.

RING-RING-RING.

The egg timer rang near the front door.
The golem stopped, and Gunnar heard its head swivel and began moving
in the direction of the sound.

Gunnar stayed behind the counter,
tinkering with his watches secret mechanism, and it popped open,
dropping the key on the floor. Gunnar heard the golem say “Target
acquired,” again, and after a moment, and smashed the door frame.

Gunnar dove toward the fake socket. His
sweat was dripping, his heart was pounding. Nothing else mattered
right now if he couldn’t get the box.

The golem saw him again. He saw the red
lights fixed on him. He got the cover off the outlet, grabbed the
box, and ran towards the fire exit. He stepped over the broken bed,
the carcass of his phone, and threw the curtains off its mount. He
tried to open the window, but it was stuck. The window seemed to have
never opened before. The golem is still slowly trudged toward him.
Gunnar worked at the window, he grabbed a piece of bed that looked
like it could get some purchase, and wedged it in the pane. He used
his entire body weight to pry the pane open. The pane unstuck with a
jolt, sending Gunnar into the wreckage of his bed. He felt sharp
pains in multiple places around his body.

Gunnar tried to stand up, his body
refused to listen. It hurt too much. He looked up and saw the golem
two steps away. He laid there, and came to the conclusion that this
was it. He was going to die in this hovel. He was going to die young.
He was going to die not knowing where the box came from. The
bracelet! Gunnar remembered.

The golem was one step away now, and
Gunnar used the key to open the box. The bracelet rolled out of the
handkerchief, as if saying “It is time.” Gunner slipped it on, as
easily as if it were made for him. The black gem shone in the
moonlight.

“Target acquired” The golem said.
Gunnar heard the sound of grinding stone as it lifted its large arms
to strike where Gunnar lain.

Protect me, protect me protect me.
Gunnar thought, tears in his
eyes. The golem slammed its arms down and Gunnar braced for the
impact. It never came. Instead, the bracelet grew warm and Gunnar
felt a strange sense of peace and calm. He opened his
eyes to see a translucent black orb around him. The golem struck this
bubble and was immobile. Gunnar laid dumbfounded as the golem started
to shake.

The shaking grew more and more intense
as the seconds went on, until the golem simply crumbled. Starting
with its arms, the clay began to flake and crack, the joints started
to jostle until they became detached, falling to the ground with a
loud crash. The face started cracking as the lights in its eyes
flickered on and off. Soon, the body was breaking off in chunks and
the golem fell. It fell into dust and shards, and finally, its lights
faded.

A few more moments pass as the dust
settled. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. Gunnar was alive,
Gunnar was safe.

He laid in the wreckage of his bed and
just breathed for a moment. He slowly got the strength to move. He
stood up, clutching at his left flank, which was warm and wet with
blood, sharp pains going through him. The bubble dissipated, and
Gunnar was standing, alone, in his small apartment. Multiple areas
were destroyed. He looked over his wrecked home, and slunk out the
fire escape. He could hear his neighbors scrambling to investigate
the destruction.

Gunnar slowly made his way down the fire
escape, blood dripping from his side. He felt woozy, his vision was
blurring, the pain was more than anything he ever felt before. There
was still another flight before he got to the ladder.

One more step, Gunnar could always go
one more step. It worked for him in the restaurant, it can work for
him here. Gunnar could hear sirens in the distance, he knew he had to
get out of there before they could ask questions.

One more step. Gunnar could hear people
talking through windows as he passed. Concern, fear, and morbid
curiosity filled the apartment building.

One more step. Gunnar made it to the
ladder. He pulled the lever to release it to fall to the ground. He
breathed heavy, each movement felt like it took a year off his life.
He was tired. He wanted to nap.

He prepared himself to begin going down
the ladder, as he heard screeching of the tires of the emergency
vehicles come to a halt. He heard the sounds of policemen and radios.
He bent over to take the first rung, then took the second.

As soon as he put all his weight on his
left side, he felt a shock of unfiltered pain, which caused him to
pass out, and he fell.

Time seemed to be nonexistent to Gunnar.
He faded in and out of consciousness many times. The first time, he
saw Wulfric, who said something, but Gunnar could barely hear what it
was before passing out again. Something like “Nice job, kid.”

The next time, he was being dragged
through an alley, his rear was sliding on the ground, he fainted.

The time after that, Gunnar heard
Wulfric and a second voice.

“Okay, on three, THREE!” Wulfrics
voice.

“Heave!” the second voice grunted.
Gunnar felt a thump onto a soft surface. It caused his side to flare
up in pain. He screamed, then fainted again.

“You sure know how to pick ‘em” a
gruff voice said, as Gunnar regained consciousness again.

“Fuck off, Griff, I need him, Can you
patch him up?” Wulfrics voice, “You still owe me for saving your
ass when you got stuck-”

“Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll do
what I can, but that golem fucked him up good.”

“I think hes waking up.”

“Bad time too. Sorry kid, this is
gonna suck.”

Gunnar began to protest, but he felt a
cold, wet cloth press against his side. It felt like fire was blowing
through his whole system. He passed out again.