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Apr. 23rd, 2004
The Reviewer
Apr. 23rd, 2004 11:47 am"Did I ever tell you about the time I met The Reviewer?"
The old man stares at me over his glass, grinning with a mouth full of crooked teeth. I shake my head - I've heard stories, but never more than third-hand. He gestures at me to move closer as his voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper. While he speaks, he glances over my shoulder like he expects the Reviewer to come jumping out of a dark corner at any moment.
"It was many years ago, when the lads and I were poking around in a deserted house up Carlton way. The place was a mess - big piles of leaves blown in through the front doorway, and piles of old magazines scattered across the couch. The others dared me to go up the stairs. Young fool that I was, I agreed.
There were five more rooms at the top of the twisted staircase, lit by a skylight high in the ceiling. After a quick glance into what must have been a bathroom of some sort, I picked a door at random. If I'd thought the rest was pretty cluttered, this place left it for dead.
Piles of junk littered the floor - books, mainly, and boxes. The shelves had so much weight on them it looked like a strain to stay upright, and an old desk was hemmed in by discarded papers. Then I saw it, sitting in the chair.
Looked like a person, or what was left of them. Could have been the owner of the place, but they didn't seem to be doing much now. A thick layer of dust covered the body, slumped in front of a computer screen. I swear, it must have been there for years. The screen was dead, but as I stood there I recognised the hum of a cooling fan from under the desk.
And that's when it happened. Walking over to the bookcase, I crumpled a printout under my feet. As I glanced back at the desk, the figure moved. Sat up, and cracked its bony neck. As it turned its gaze on me, standing in the doorway, I turned and ran straight out of the house. The other guys say they never saw anything after I left, but I swear I'll never set foot in that place as long as I live."
Update: Got the bloody review handed in, at 4:55pm. Now to try out Psychonaut after a week of 21-22 hour days, and then off to Covenant the following night :)
The old man stares at me over his glass, grinning with a mouth full of crooked teeth. I shake my head - I've heard stories, but never more than third-hand. He gestures at me to move closer as his voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper. While he speaks, he glances over my shoulder like he expects the Reviewer to come jumping out of a dark corner at any moment.
"It was many years ago, when the lads and I were poking around in a deserted house up Carlton way. The place was a mess - big piles of leaves blown in through the front doorway, and piles of old magazines scattered across the couch. The others dared me to go up the stairs. Young fool that I was, I agreed.
There were five more rooms at the top of the twisted staircase, lit by a skylight high in the ceiling. After a quick glance into what must have been a bathroom of some sort, I picked a door at random. If I'd thought the rest was pretty cluttered, this place left it for dead.
Piles of junk littered the floor - books, mainly, and boxes. The shelves had so much weight on them it looked like a strain to stay upright, and an old desk was hemmed in by discarded papers. Then I saw it, sitting in the chair.
Looked like a person, or what was left of them. Could have been the owner of the place, but they didn't seem to be doing much now. A thick layer of dust covered the body, slumped in front of a computer screen. I swear, it must have been there for years. The screen was dead, but as I stood there I recognised the hum of a cooling fan from under the desk.
And that's when it happened. Walking over to the bookcase, I crumpled a printout under my feet. As I glanced back at the desk, the figure moved. Sat up, and cracked its bony neck. As it turned its gaze on me, standing in the doorway, I turned and ran straight out of the house. The other guys say they never saw anything after I left, but I swear I'll never set foot in that place as long as I live."
Update: Got the bloody review handed in, at 4:55pm. Now to try out Psychonaut after a week of 21-22 hour days, and then off to Covenant the following night :)