Take Care of the Dead (1006 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 1.61 on 37 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Flash Harry (View user info) at 2008-07-03 10:28:31 EDT
Fifty thousand corpses lie beneath the great mound that is the Glasgow Necropolis. It emerges from the landscape of the city in a morbid swell of earth and grass and granite, marking Victorian merchants beneath stately mausolea and tombs. Piety and reverence are married here to mischief and macabre; monuments are scrawled with graffiti, or crumbling with age and negligence. At the foot of the hill, the well that once watered an impoverished race has been condemned. Poisoned, so it was said, by the taste of death seeping from the bloated cemetery.
Busts and monuments peer out over the vibrant lights beneath the hill, while crypts are barred shut with rusting gates. By day, it is a sombre and belittling place. When night falls, it takes on a sinister and ghostly hue.
There was no time for Elsie to reflect on this, however, as she scrambled hysterically up the wet slope towards the summit of the Necropolis. Raindrops the size of fists fell from the sky, battering the ground without mercy. Water poured down the meandering path like a river, and her clothes were soon clinging to her body in a cold heavy sheath.
She could hear her heartbeat in her temples. Thoughts betrayed her in this most crucial of moments, and she could not clear the awful rhyme from her head...
The wicked O'Neil was a fiend with no lips,
His name caused a shudder, like the crack of a whip.
She daren't look back to see if she was still being chased, but she knew that she would be. They wouldn't just let her run off into the night. Elsie had wriggled free from their strong grip down by the road, with a vicious clenching of teeth and breaking of skin. She hadn't had time to look up, never mind plot her escape, so her legs had pounded the path as fast as they could and she'd ran, with her head down. She'd been vaguely aware that she tore past the Cathedral, screaming for help like a wounded animal, turned through a gate and thrashed her limbs until they ached; but she could not stop. For every yard she covered, heavy, determined footsteps followed, gaining on her. Husky, laboured breathing haunted her every move. As she threw herself against the hill, scrabbling with her fingernails, the determined outline of the gravestones dominated the skyline before her. Still, she could not shake off the cursed words...
With a manner so callous, and no feelings of sorrow,
Wicked O'Neil vows to blacken tomorrow.
A crack of lightning pierced the sky, illuminating the staring faces and pale crucifixes that adorn the monuments. Blind panic overcame Elsie, she stumbled on a jutting step and crashed into a dark, overgrown hedge.
She quivered for a moment and tried to resume her flight, but fatigue won over. Her limbs refused to carry on, and she withdrew her head into the shadows of the bush, peering out across the darkness of the cemetery.
She had found cover not a moment too soon. Following her helter-skelter route up the treacherous slope, and yards from her heels, the outline of her assailants appeared against the dark sky. She glared at the two men from the safety of her hedge. Hulking, dark-browed brutes they were, dressed in black overcoats. They each wore their hair shorn into the scalp, and wild, demonic faces shone with rain and perspiration.
"Where the fuck did she go?" said one of them quietly. "Did you see where she went?"
"No," replied the other. "She went over the hill just before us. She won't be far away. The little bitch must be hiding. You hear that, bitch?!" he yelled out. "We know you're hiding up here!"
Just at that moment, another splinter of light sparked out from the storm clouds, lighting up the stone in an eerie pale. The concrete took on a cold, skeletal quality as the rain lashed its surface.
"Fuck it," said the first man after a moment of silence. "We'll get fucking electrocuted up here. I'm calling O'Neil."
Elsie had to strain her ears to hear their conversation, but she recoiled at the mention of the name. O'Neil. She'd never seen the man, but childhood terror gripped her as she thought of him. The rhyme, that blasted rhyme, danced through her head in a sing-song, over and over again...
How he came to be lipless nobody can guess;
Don't ever dare ask, for fear of distress.
Under his nose gleams a smile, so disgusting,
His dribbling is constant; his neck-chain is rusting.
No, she'd never met him. But she knew him. He was the shadow that hung over her family, and for some God-forsaken reason he wanted her. And when Lipless O'Neil wants something, it happens.
The man stood on the phone, muttering quietly, whilst the other wandered around the cemetery, glancing behind gravestones and wiping the eternal rainfall from his stubbly head. The phone call was brief. The men held a whispered conference, which Elsie strained to hear...but it was no use. The words were drained out by the pounding rain and the whistling wind.
Suddenly, and without warning, a high-pitched, blood-curdling sound cut through the weather.
DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEEEEE DE-DE-DE!
DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEEEEE DE-DE-DE!
Elsie froze for a vital second, before her hand shot to her pocket to answer the phone. The brutes were bound to have heard the noise, and the safety of her hiding place and been given away, surely - but perhaps she could quickly ask for help.
She turned away from the men, shielding the phone from the wind and screamed a plea for help down the phone.
She heard only silence. And then, a whispered voice that contained an unmistakable trace of menace.
"El-thie," lisped the caller. "Do me a favour, huh? Get in the car with the boy-th. Th-top th-quandering preciouth time."
The line buzzed dead, and she looked at the screen with horror. "O'Neil..." she gasped, her throat dry.
A strong hand grabbed her around the neck and she was thrown to the wet ground, curled up, sobbing, as they kicked lumps out of her for daring to flee.
As always with brutes, his reign is gory,
He makes the rain pour, a despicable story.
His foul temper ensures that innocents die,
Families destroyed, and the orphaned will cry.
User Reviews
Submitted by woolfe (user info) at 2008-07-08 05:05:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Mr_Trollope (user info) at 2008-07-07 05:31:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
fat fuck
Submitted by czwij (user info) at 2008-07-07 02:54:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this was awful!
more silly ass horror, doom and gloom.
how bout something happy like sunshine, teletubbies, lemonade and a small furry?
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2008-07-04 12:15:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It's absolutely retarded in every sense of the word.
The message is basically as follows, "Plants hate all humans except for Mark Wahlberg, or however you spell his name, plants don't know how to do that"
Anyways, it would be wonderful if the Earth targeted the harmful folk, but if that really happened, it would be far more drastic than the...fuck it, you know what I mean.
Oh, and you shouldn't hate *all* homeless people. Some people have simply given up, on everything. Life has become an inconvenience, yet at the same time it's more convenient not to die. Some of these assholes are the type who will stand on a corner, wave a "I was in this war" sign, get money, get in their CAR that they own, which is crazy, and drive to the liquor store. But a decent amount of them just do not wish to participate in "society", yet are willing to take our change and buy liquor, for reasons that shouldn't have to be explained.
Really, I'm just drunk in the morning and typing.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-07-04 11:51:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I fucking LOVE the Beatles. (Related linkwhore: http://www.ubersite.com/m/116818)
I haven't seen the Happening, is that Shyamalanalan's new movie. I imagine it's got more twists than a Democratic candidate election.
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2008-07-04 11:46:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
But I'll forgive you, for great writer things but also for Beatles appreciation, I think I read that once.
They are quite good.
It really is very dumb, though. How are a bunch of poor negroes bad for the Earth? There are far more harmful people living in America that do not get hurricanes in their faceplates. I wish very much so that they would. Put very simply, natural disasters are going to happen. If we as humans are going to try to live on every square inch of land possible, we are going to be affected by them. That's all, that's it.
Did you actually like The Happening? That movie is equally stupid.
So dumb.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-07-04 11:45:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-07-04 14:38:18 BST (#)
Ranking: -2
I totally forgot to mention this was an expansion on a poem I posted ages ago: http://www.ubersite.com/m/115640
Don't think anybody picked up on that...
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Like anyone cares about that, you hack!
:)
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-07-04 11:42:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
That was really, really fucking stupid though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Agreed.
I was making it up as I went along.
Submitted by haikumikoo (user info) at 2008-07-04 11:40:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-07-04 02:37:40 PDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh I know its easy, I just wonder what the motivations are for the guys that actually clean the windows. Like, what came first? The love of extreme sports or the appreciation for a well-wiped pane?
Anyway. Regarding civilisation, I think the Earth decides which people it wants on it and which it doesn't. Witness the earthquakes in China, devastation of New Orleans and flooding of Sheffield as examples.
=======
You're a great writer.
That was really, really fucking stupid though.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-07-04 11:33:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-07-03 16:47:59 BST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very good read. Like the style. With no lips, the caller wouldn't lisp, though. Minor point, it's true, but perfection belongs to the gods.
Orphelia - Take a deep, cleansing breath in, filling your lungs. Slowly release half the air and feel your heart beating. In the calm stillness between the heartbeats, align your will and your vision on your target and then, moving only the one required muscle, squeeeeeeze the trigger. With a good rifle and enough practice you can do this in just a few seconds, and by that time you won't have any obese smelly little shit neighbor kids to deal with.
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haha
'tis the psrents who need shooting, skrappy.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-07-04 09:38:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I totally forgot to mention this was an expansion on a poem I posted ages ago: http://www.ubersite.com/m/115640
Don't think anybody picked up on that...
Submitted by Banjo (user info) at 2008-07-04 09:31:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
loved it
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2008-07-04 09:12:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
for using the word Necropolis.
Submitted by KirillovianShitStain (user info) at 2008-07-04 03:51:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2008-07-04 01:48:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
you dropped your shoe horn
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2008-07-03 23:16:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
This plays as a bit too straight-faced and solemn.
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2008-07-03 21:55:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
O'Neil is a metaphor for bart, and Elsie is a metaphor for Ubersite, no?
Submitted by no1hasdis (user info) at 2008-07-03 16:47:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good, but needed a little more.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2008-07-03 15:07:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by JoeyG (user info) at 2008-07-03 14:34:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I highly approve of your posts, keepy uppa da good work young man.
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2008-07-03 14:06:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
sgthartman has no comment (and stole this from Yozz)
Submitted by EmissionImpossible (user info) at 2008-07-03 13:30:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I liked this :)
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2008-07-03 13:27:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by experima (user info) at 2008-07-03 12:41:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
no la commenta
Submitted by Lib (user info) at 2008-07-03 12:35:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Your stuff is always great.
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2008-07-03 12:35:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice. I especially liked the opening description of the Glasgow Necropolis and the poisoned well. O'Neil calling her on the phone was a nice twist. And the description of her escape: "with a vicious clenching of teeth and breaking of skin." Great stuff!
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2008-07-03 11:47:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Very good read. Like the style. With no lips, the caller wouldn't lisp, though. Minor point, it's true, but perfection belongs to the gods.
Orphelia - Take a deep, cleansing breath in, filling your lungs. Slowly release half the air and feel your heart beating. In the calm stillness between the heartbeats, align your will and your vision on your target and then, moving only the one required muscle, squeeeeeeze the trigger. With a good rifle and enough practice you can do this in just a few seconds, and by that time you won't have any obese smelly little shit neighbor kids to deal with.
Submitted by shadow (user info) at 2008-07-03 11:38:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I understand, I'm the same way. Great failing on my part. I'm also at a point where I realize that some of my ideas are greater than the scope of my talent, and I need to make serious improvements to my writing before I can present them.
My reach exceeds my grasp, for the moment.
I regularly enjoy your writing, I do hope you'll keep coming back.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-07-03 11:28:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by shadow (user info) at 2008-07-03 15:44:45 BST (#)
Ranking: 2
Need more please.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I happen to agree, but I am utterly useless at finishing things. I must have about half a dozen segments of stories on uber that I have totally lost interest in.
Submitted by CarterPFly (user info) at 2008-07-03 11:27:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
fuck me that was good
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2008-07-03 11:26:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
very nice.
never piss off a pregnant woman.
they will crumple you.
Submitted by Cyrus (user info) at 2008-07-03 11:20:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by shadow (user info) at 2008-07-03 10:44:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
pleasantly creepy.
Need more please.
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just right
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2008-07-03 10:58:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-07-03 10:53:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Some parents have no fucking shame at all.
If your kid ain't invited to the birthday party don't fucking send them anyway.
Gatecrashes at my 8 year olds bash and why? Fucking bouncy castle envy.
I can't help it if once I invite the neighbours kids off our cul de sac, and my sons best mate, that I have reached the maximum capacity the castle holds.
hey, fuck health and safety anyway, you know Ophelia can't say no (I am pregnant third time runnung) send your kid over anyway, make them fucking cry on the doorstep and then start a fucking lawsuit when Ophelia sends your child back with broken limbs due to castle overcrowding.
Fucking pricks, you have no shame. If your kid wasn't invited it is because they are obese/smell/are little fucking shits anyway.
GET FUCKED.
Ah, and breath out.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2008-07-03 10:50:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by shadow (user info) at 2008-07-03 10:44:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
pleasantly creepy.
Need more please.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2008-07-03 10:34:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment