Ted leaned the BMX bike against the wall of the shed, seeing JC's bike laying splayed on the ground a few feet away. He took a moment to root around in the undergrowth of the spindly pine near-by, getting himself a stout branch about a foot and a half in length. He gave it an experimental swing.
JC was too trusting with too much belief in a just universe that would preserve the well intentioned. Ted was under no such illusions. A hundred backyard brawls over the course of his six years of life had cured Ted of that dangerous optimism. He knew that behind every smiling child was a ravenous wolf looking for an excuse.
He walked around the corner of the shed, and saw JC kneeling on the ground, looking at a small construction of sticks and twine. At a quick glance it looked like an attempt at making a Tee-pee for action figures, but as Ted got closer he could start to make out the knots and lashes. There was a disturbing pattern woven into the twine, and the knots evoked a gut-churning sensation that belied their apparent simplicity.
"Is that what I think it is?" Ted asked, crouching next to JC.
"Yeah," JC said, wishing he'd brought the trapper-keeper he'd filled with notes and drawings of just such arcane sigils. "It's him. The King in Yellow."
JC was too trusting with too much belief in a just universe that would preserve the well intentioned. Ted was under no such illusions. A hundred backyard brawls over the course of his six years of life had cured Ted of that dangerous optimism. He knew that behind every smiling child was a ravenous wolf looking for an excuse.
He walked around the corner of the shed, and saw JC kneeling on the ground, looking at a small construction of sticks and twine. At a quick glance it looked like an attempt at making a Tee-pee for action figures, but as Ted got closer he could start to make out the knots and lashes. There was a disturbing pattern woven into the twine, and the knots evoked a gut-churning sensation that belied their apparent simplicity.
"Is that what I think it is?" Ted asked, crouching next to JC.
"Yeah," JC said, wishing he'd brought the trapper-keeper he'd filled with notes and drawings of just such arcane sigils. "It's him. The King in Yellow."
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