My Name is...

FERUM

|| So What Have We Here? ||

[Contemplation Contemplation]

I'm not exactly sure what kind of town I stumbled upon. But I stumbled upon it. I had received a letter a long time ago from an old friend of mine. Inferi was her name and its been a while-a few months really-that I had heard from her. We used to be best friends but due to circumstances we had drifted apart. After all we were growing up so I didnt mind it too much. I was a shop owner of a little antique shop, she was-at least what I remember from her last letter-working for a gallery space. Anyhow, I'm where I am now due to the last letter I had received. Something about it wasnt right and if she was the same Inferi that I knew of, she wasnt going to straight up tell me.

The words in her letter spoke of something horrid happening where she was living and that she had no way of escaping. I assumed that it was just a small town-after all I couldnt exactly find it on the map, I had to go by rumors on the internet-and that she was just getting fed up with the society. However when I arrived to this town named Catatonia, I was in for a rude awakening. But before that whole revelation, I had to figure out where my old friend Inferi was. After all, I hadnt heard from her.

I notice that letters are outdated, and honestly I suppose her and I could have communicated online.

But wheres the fun in that?

Catatonia was an interesting town from the get go. When I had arrived it was pouring down rain and it was in the middle of the night-I needed a dramatic entrance right?-and the only thing I could see was a sign for a bar. A bar named Dark Horse. I didnt care to much for appearances-it was actually really well kept-all I cared about was that it was a dry warm place that wasnt exposed to the rain that was happening. Running inside, I had stumbled through the door looking like a wrangled cat out of water and curled over to catch my breath. When I had gained it back, I stood to come face to face with a lizard. Gil was his name and he was apparently the bartender of the Dark Horse. And within his hands was a towel. With a point, he gestured for me to clean off my feet and to dry off before coming in any further into his bar.

He was an interesting character I'll admit that. Doesnt talk much though but for some reason hes a real easy guy to talk to. In all honesty, he and I are close friends now. I do most of the talking of course. Getting off track. I settled myself into the bar when I noticed that it was covered in fliers and newspaper clippings, like the wall of a conspiracy theorist or a mad made detective. Things crossed out due to expiration dates, layers upon layers of paper. And all of them were talking about the same thing. Elend. Elend Malade, the towns upkeeper. The wife to the mayor who went missing and due to situations she was the one who was running the town. She seemed like an interesting person. Of course Gil had just snapped his fingers to make me move my focus of the newspaper clippings as if saying, "Mind your own business." So instead I questioned about room and board. Turned out that the Dark Horse was also an inn. And So I had decided to stay there for the night-or was it for the morning since I came in so late? But before I settled in, I had wanted to see if there was a store nearby so that I could buy some pen and paper as my travelers journal had run out. I'm a diary keeper lo and behold.

Gil had handed me an umbrella and directed me to the nearest 24 hour open store. Thankfully the rain wasnt accompanied with a lightning storm but it was unfortunately dark and I had to rely on the flashlight of my phone. All you could hear was the pittar patter of rain. No sound of snoring from slumbering residents or even the splochy noises of my footsteps. It was almost like all sound was being engulfed. Which was why it was surprising to me that I had managed to find what I was looking for. And it wasnt the store.

I was walking when I noticed something on the ground. A tail. Tails. And following that lead me to the body of my best friend Inferi. Crouched beside the curb of the street near the outlet of this small little alleyway. On one hand, thank the gods that she wasnt laying dead in said alleyway. On the other hand, it was strange that she was outside...sitting in this downpour of rain. Regardless of how strong her immune system was, I wasnt about to blow past her. Bending down, I had laid a hand on her shoulder and she barely even twitched at the touch. That was a bit alarming at that time.