horrors2

Peas_and_Rice.The_King.tex

  1\chapauth{Peas and Rice}
  2\chapter{The King}
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  8It was a slow week. Sometimes life is like that for a private eye.
  9I sat at my desk drinking whisky from a bottle, taking big gulps.
 10The Yankees were on TV. I love the Yankees. It was already dark
 11outside.
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 15A noise at the door distracted me. A letter fell noisily through
 16the letter slot. Intrigued I stood up. It was addressed to me: Luke
 17Bavarious, Private Detective. But no return address.
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 21I opened the envelope and read the typed note inside. ``Mr.
 22Bavarious, I need your help. My daughter was kidnapped and taken to
 23the Service Room at Times Square Subway Station. I need her back. I
 24can't tell you any more than this. Please help.''
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 28An assignment. I picked up my new Colt .45 although I liked my
 29trusty Baretta too. I made sure all eleven bullets were in the
 30clip. I might need them. Then I finished the bottle of whisky and
 31walked out into the New York night, lighting a cigarette.
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 35I walked to Times Square Station. It was mostly empty. Piles of
 36garbage sat waiting to be collected. The whole place stank like
 37rancid meat and decaying flesh.
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 41I drew my Colt .45 and opened the door to the Service Room. It was
 42dark inside but I heard a strange high-pitched sound. It sounded
 43like a rat. I fumbled for the light switch and a single dull
 4440-watt bulb lit the room with a sickly yellow color.
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 48It wasn't just one rat, it was a hundred rats! They looked at me
 49with vacant, black rat eyes. ``Where's the girl?!'' I demanded but
 50they didn't answer. Then the rats moved aside and a giant rat
 51waddled into the room. It was the biggest rat I've ever seen, the
 52size of a Labrador Retriever. It looked at me and then it
 53spoke!
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 57``You'll never see the girl again. Don't you know she ran away from
 58home? If only her mother had listened to her! You have only come
 59for your doom!'' And then it laughed a high pitched ratty
 60laugh.
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 64``I know who you are!'' I said, and I did. It was the King Rat of New
 65York! I'd heard stories but never seen it until now. I drew my Colt
 66.45 and aimed it at the King Rat's head. ``I'll take you down
 67fast!''
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 71I fired one bullet, then another, then all of them into the King
 72Rat. The first one pierced his flesh and tore a jagged wound, and
 73blood pumped out onto the floor making it slick with red paste.
 74Then the others hit him and his body started exploding from the
 75force of the bullets. He was like a fountain in Las Vegas spewing
 76blood instead of water. Finally he fell down, dying. ``Now where's
 77the girl!'' I demanded.
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 81``Get him{\ldots} my minions{\ldots}'' the dying King Rat said. I turned around
 82just in time to see the army of rodents descending on me. Their
 83tiny teeth bit into me, giving me diseases as I tried to fight them
 84off. I used all my bullets on the King Rat so my Colt .45 was
 85useless. I hit one but another jumped on my head and tore my scalp
 86with its claws. I blacked out from the pain as I crumpled to the
 87floor, covered in rats as they slowly but surely tore my flesh from
 88my body. I screamed and a rat crawled in my mouth, and I finally
 89succumbed to the horror of the King Rat.
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 97Edited slightly to better match theme. 
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