A
StoryChapter 1 - First Clue
by Saless
Special Agent Marvin Garner was frustrated. After the fruitless search of that strange site just out of town he'd been stuck with the job of figuring out what happened there. Nobody really expected anything to come of it, but it was too strange to ignore. Especially after the press managed to get there before they could lock down the site. So far he had no clue what had happened. He was trying to figure out how to tie up this investigation and move on to something worthwhile when his old friend called him out of the blue with something he wanted to show him.
Now he was following that friend through the bowels of the local hospital where he worked. "Mark, would you tell me what we're doing here?" Marvin growled.
"You've got to see this! It's got to have something to do with what you're working on. It just has to!" Mark replied excitedly. That was as much of an answer as Marvin had been able to get over the phone, too. He still wasn't sure if he wanted Mark to have actually found something or not.
"Alright, alright, show me already!" he groaned. Mark had always been a real geek. Give him something new and interesting and he'd be dissecting it in a heartbeat and blabbing a mile a minute at the same time.
"It's right in here!" Mark said, throwing a door open and leading Marvin over to a bed with a sheet thrown over it. "Let me just get this sheet off." He carefully gathered up the sheet and removed it, revealing a roughly human shaped pile of coal black ash.
Marvin looked at the odd pile of ash and back at his old friend. "This is it? What's this supposed to be?!" he asked.
"This," Mark said with an extravagant gesture towards the bed, "is the late John Green!"
Marvin slapped his hand over his face and groaned, "And why did you pour his ashes out on this bed?"
Mark shook his head in exasperation. "I didn't! That's the bed he was in when he died. After his death I noticed his skin was turning black, radiating out from the wound that killed him. Within hours his entire body had turned that same black color, even his hair, eyes, teeth, and nails. Then he just…disintegrated! Nobody has ever seen anything like this before!" Mark explained.
Marvin frowned at his friend and growled, "Do you really expect me to buy this?! If you're going to play a joke on me, the least you could do is make it halfway believable!"
"Ah!" Mark countered, "but I have proof!" He stepped over to a table next to the bed and picked up a camcorder. "When I saw what was happening I thought it would be a good idea to have a recording. I have the entire process on here!" he said triumphantly.
Marvin took the camcorder doubtfully and played back the recording. It was a few hours of recording, so he skipped a lot, but it showed exactly what his friend said it would. "How did you do this?" he asked, assuming it was a fake.
Mark shook his head impatiently, "I didn't! That's a real recording! I didn't alter it in any way. You know me, I'm lousy with computers!"
Marvin mulled that over and had to admit that kind of tampering was well beyond his friend's ability. "I'm going to have to have this looked at." he said thoughtfully.
Mark nodded excitedly, "So you believe me now?"
Marvin held his hand up, "Maybe, okay? If our techs tell me this hasn't been tampered with, then I'll believe you. But let's assume I do believe you for the moment. What could cause this to happen?"
"Not a single clue! That's why I called you. From what I've heard, that deal outside of town has everyone stumped. Nobody knows how all that damage was done without making more noise, right? I figured two unexplainable events so close together in time and space had to be related in some way." Mark explained.
Marvin nodded absently as he looked at the human shaped pile of ash. "You might be right. If they are related, my job just got a lot more interesting."
To Be Continued…
Comments
Sarah and Tiffy
Your future is iffy. :grin:
Apparently, John is gone. Good riddance, I say. However, it presents problems. It should be obvious that Sarah is related to the second incident, and the second incident is related to the first. Due to situation when John was stabbed it is very much possible to consider someone as Sarah's protector.
Faraway
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Ah, nobody misses poor John?
Ah, nobody misses poor John? ;)
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Hey, Saless,
Hey, Saless, I miss "poor John"...like a perpetual migrane that is finally cured!
Jenny
Jenny
Parallel Storyline
So, we've had Tiffany's parallel storyline (Sarah's Shadow) for a while, and now, when it looks as though there's a chance of that resolving itself by integrating into the main storyline, we get another parallel storyline to keep us on our toes (well, now John's gone, we need another villain!)
By the title of this one "First Clue", it suggests our intrepid gang will be making more magical mistakes in this world in future - so with Marvin on their heels, this could turn out to be a real cat-and-mouse affair. Of course, if Marvin gets too close, there's a chance Vash can tap into his thoughts and ensure our gang stay one step ahead - unless Saless decides to play mean and make him a null...
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Ooh, a Null, now why didn't
Ooh, a Null, now why didn't I think of that... ;)
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Well someone
Cavrider----Just another " Grunt."
was sure to show up snooping around . Could this be an introduction to a love interest for Tiffany ?
Cavrider----Just another " Grunt."
Neat
I really like these parallel stories. Keep it up.
Hilltopper
Thanks Hilltopper!
Thanks Hilltopper! :)
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
So, Now We Know That
John MIGHT have been killrd by Tiffany's dagger, but it could be by the Watcher, unless the Watcher is March is it. But some other magic user could have zapped John
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Not another...
As someone who sometimes goes back to read old stories in the archives, I'd encourage you to merge these side stories into the main Venus Cursed series. It's easy to see where they fall as we read them when they're posted, but it would be much harder for someone to come upon Venus Cursed, well, even now, and decided to start from the beginning. If they even notice the Sarah's Shadow stories, they'll have a hard time fitting them in where they belong as they're reading. It's good that you're exploring side characters and situations, but where it's so integral to your main storyline, I think it should all be one story.
Mir
There are links at the
There are links at the bottom of the page to Sarah's Shadow and The Watcher (And Dreamwalker, for that matter) in the main story line where they intersect. But one of the reasons these stories are separate is that they're not necessary for understanding the main story line. They help, by bringing in information earlier than the main characters would otherwise be aware of it, but they're not essential. So someone can go back and read Venus Cursed! and still understand what's going on. At least, that's the idea.
If I were ever to publish this in book form I would probably merge them together, but the internet makes it possible to do it this way. I realize it won't work for some people, and others will love it. Most probably won't care much either way. If I didn't have links at the appropriate places, though, it would definitely be less useful. Hopefully people reading VC in the future will make good use of them. Maybe I should put a note about it on the title page...
Anyway, thanks for the input Miranda!
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Hmmm, You Know...
Hmmm, you know Saless...I certainly hope Marvin is smarter than Mark seems to be and doesn't just walk off with important evidence in a homicide investigation. Very shortly people will be asking Mark a lot of question as to what happened to a certain body in his care. There will be need for several copies of that tape to be sent to Hospital Administration, the Coroner's Office, Homicide and the D.A.'s Office. Samples of those ashes will be needed for testing as well by several people and the evidence won't be protected if people at the hospital don't get to see that tape.
Mark's excitement is making him act stupidly. He has to know the importance of evidence in homicide investigations as well as maintaining the chain of evidence which he is blissfully ignoring. I certainly hope Marvin is a lot more professional than his friend Mark. ;)
^_^
This certainly looks like an interesting development for our traveleers, Saless. Can't wait to see what's next! Great story!! :)
(Even if a certain hospital worker is an idiot. :) )
KenJ
Thanks Ken!
Thanks Ken! :)
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
I have a possible solution.
Add a word at the bottom of the page. Like this:
Author's Note: Events and characters of this chapter are further developed in another story. Link to that story is available at the bottom of the page.
Faraway
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
You are...
...actually living up to the ideal put forth by the people ([link][link][link] for some of the key individuals) who originally conceived the idea of hypertext, that of non-linear presentation of information via technological (eventually read as "computer") transmission. I'm not concerned about the use of these side-stories to tell Venus Cursed at all. In fact, I think it's rather interesting, and it certainly seems to have helped focus your creative process. Thank you!
-Liz
-Liz
Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"
Well so much
for my comment on Venus Cursed about a stitch-up...Even the police would have problems when faced with a pile of ashes to make any charge stick!!! No the problem now is Marvin....Should Sarah and the gang be worried yet?...Maybe not at the moment,After all there's not much in the way of hard concrete evidence (pun intended!)to go on...But having said that, You do not become a special agent without good reason...So the message to Sarah and her friends is simple Be very careful!!!...And don't go around blowing up any more hills!!!
Kirri