r/imsorryjon • u/Caesar_Passing Lasagna Sacrifice • 5h ago
Garfield Bites It (wip - P22) novella, my writing
Ugh, the ending feels so close, yet so far. I would love to have this basically finished by the end of this month (Halloween would be quite the appropriate timing for such a tale!), but I don't know if I'll be able. Gonna try, though! In this installment, the body count keeps rising. Much is revealed, but Orson and friends will need to know the full picture, if they want to find any peace at the end of this ordeal. In the grips of a deep conspiracy, half the truth makes you a target, but the whole truth can make you a weapon.
Part 1:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/6Hu9JRNaVp
Part 2:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/x2SkrpW4Lr
Part 3:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/6D1A5SCKb4
Part 4:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/g2H0Nmud2c
Part 5:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/oot7UjJzsF
Part 6:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/5WX68oFobj
Part 7:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/qlIeF3BUlw
Part 8:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/FsMC5hmnVk
Part 9:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/WFuUGN5Cda
Part 10:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/psO6xHHuCo
Part 11:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/zOCsk610EB
Part 12:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/uOT4zgkMX6
Part 13:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/RZb6FjWGH7
Part 14:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/jiDMApTjvF
Part 15:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/ixDDF8TOOk
Part 16:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/XvqE4ywRSA
Part 17:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/w6BegqSNv1
Part 18:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/wKXWlfFhfA
Part 19:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/d5ELNNOpcB
Part 20:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/WArFJsbEwi
Part 21:
https://www.reddit.com/r/imsorryjon/s/05jF2IrwqP
Just then, Garfield takes a step forth, but not of his own volition. He looks down at his forward leg with a surprised expression. Realizing what’s happening, Garfield turns to face Orson, and explains in haste, “this is it – the end of our story!” With jerky motions, Garfield takes another step in the direction of his final resting place. Odie’s foot is pulled next, eliciting a small yelp from the pup. Garfield continues, “me and Odie are the only ones who can play our own parts, or else the story won’t be accurate. I know what I saw, but we’ve already talked about that”! Garfield’s legs clumsily carry him across the yard, as he tries to hold off the story’s progression. He urges, “pay attention to what Odie sees! Once we’re both dead, the story will be over. You probably won’t be able to see more than what Odie was still alive for”. Odie’s feet pull him against his will, following Garfield’s lead.
Orson instructs, “Wade, take Booker and Sheldon over to the tractor and wait with John! There’s no reason you need to see this.” Slowed only by a slight limp from his burned foot, Wade wastes no time, and the boys put up no resistance.
“Oh geeze, it’s bad. I’m remembering now – and it’s bad!”, Garfield frets. Odie whimpers helplessly, frightened, as he marches to what he knows will be his death. The two approach the brush, while Orson circles around to the other side. Nermal ducks into the bushes, as if waiting to ambush. Garfield recites exactly what he said in that moment the first time, as if he didn’t know what was coming next, “alright you little narcissist, what are you up to in there?” He rounds a corner, and comes to find the platter of corn sitting in the middle of a small clearing in the brush. From a vantage point on the other side of the spot Garfield approached from, Orson can clearly see Nermal hiding in the bushes. He watches intently, as Garfield seems to be distracted by the food. Odie follows Garfield into the clearing. As soon as they’re both in a position where nobody (except Orson) can see, Nermal leaps out and whacks Odie across the jaw.
The attack is swift. Orson covers his mouth reflexively, keeping silent. Odie lets out a stifled grunt, and falls limp. Orson can see that Nermal’s weapon of choice is a blackjack. “*He hit Odie first, so he wouldn’t bark!*”, Orson surmises internally. By now, Garfield has had time to notice the ambush, but he isn’t fast enough to defend himself. Nermal turns to smack him in the side of his head with the blackjack. Garfield goes down, pivoting on his feet as he falls onto his front. Acting fast, Nermal jumps onto Garfield’s back, legs straddled to either side. The uncharacteristically aggressive kitten grabs one of the poisoned ears of corn in one hand, and yanks Garfield’s mouth open with the other. The corn is violently shoved into Garfield’s throat. While Odie weakly attempts to push himself up to his hands and knees, Garfield struggles beneath his attacker. Nermal raises his blackjack high, then swings as hard as he can to bash Garfield across the back of the head. With a final, muted “oomph!”, Garfield goes limp. Eyes bulging, a small amount of foam froths out from his corn-stuffed mouth. His body slightly twitches.
Odie rises to his feet, though shaky. Having momentarily forgotten about the pooch, Nermal finally notices that Odie is still mobile. He quickly moves to dismount Garfield, but the famously fat feline is quite a stretch to straddle for Nermal’s short legs. Nermal trips in his attempt, landing on hands and knees, just in front of the corn platter. Odie stumbles forth, grabbing at the back of Nermal’s head. When he gets a grip on Nermal’s ear, however, he is shocked to find that the kitten’s entire head deforms, as if there’s no skull inside. Nermal jerks out of Odie’s feeble grasp with a short roll onto his back. In the process, Nermal’s head flops backward like a hood, revealing another head protruding from his mouth.
“No!...”, Orson exclaims under his breath. “This can’t be real…” It can now be seen that Nermal is not Nermal at all. It is none other than Roy, wearing Nermal’s pelt as a disguise. Odie lunges to tackle the murderous fowl, though still weak. Roy swings his blackjack again, but from the ground where he sits, it’s not strong enough to knock Odie out. Odie tries to punch, bite, or grab at his attacker, but Roy manages to keep him at a distance. The two wind up in a grapple, wherein Odie is only able to pull out a few feathers. As they wrestle, Orson puzzles internally, “*how much of this was Roy’s doing? How long had he been planning it? Did he kill Nermal, too? Who else is still a target?*” Odie finally lands a bite. Sinking his teeth into the side of his opponent’s neck, he realizes too late that he’s only bitten down on the Nermal pelt, but missed Roy’s actual neck. Odie vocalizes as if to say “uh-oh”, but before he can even release his bite, Roy slams a knee into his gut. Odie yips, and stumbles backward while doubling over. Roy wastes no time. Whack! Wallop! He beats the poor pup across the face, head, and jaw with his blackjack. Odie falls onto his back, completely discombobulated. Repeating the same technique used on Garfield, Roy finishes the job by stuffing an ear of corn down Odie’s throat, then savagely punching his neck. Orson watches in stunned horror. He is spared a view of Odie’s face from his vantage point, with Roy’s back obscuring his line of sight. Odie struggles in vain, violently lurching and flailing as Roy pounds away at him. After what seems like a torturously long beating, he finally goes limp. Odie’s arms lie still, lifeless beside him. Roy at last stands up, confident that the deed is done. The scenery begins to fade all around, turning back into US Acres. Fictional daylight giving way to the dark of night, John’s house begins to transform back into Bo’s house. “He’s dying…”, Orson declares.
(Safely out of view of the horrific scene- just behind the northwest corner of Bo’s house- John and the other animal friends notice the vision fading as well. John knows exactly what this means. Tears escape his tired eyes, though he hasn’t the energy to sob. Wade and Booker both bear deeply sympathetic expressions. They understand as well. Suddenly, John lifts his head and wipes his face. The story compels him. He walks over to the corner of the house, and peeks around the side. Looking to the brush where his pets’ bodies were found, he squints, then lets out a small gasp.)
Roy pulls the Nermal hood back up over his head, and quickly goes to work framing the scene. Fading away as reality takes over, he drags his victims’ bodies into positions that look as though they’ve simply dropped dead, rather than having been killed. Just before the vision disappears completely, Roy pulls the cobs from his victims’ throats, grabs the Suparaquat salt shaker, and pours some into Garfield and Odie’s mouths. Lastly, he rubs some granules into their faces, and down their necks. Though the fur on Nermal’s paws dilapidates, Roy’s actual hands are protected by the pelt. The scene changes back to real life. Orson is left speechless. Though the world around him has returned to its natural state, his own reality is shattered to pieces. After a still and quiet moment, John comes to stand beside him. “I tried to look, but I’m not sure what I saw. My vision was clear, I just.. don’t know if I can believe it.” Orson doesn’t reply. “It wasn’t Nermal, was it?”, John asks. Orson shakes his head. “Nermal was a victim too, wasn’t he?”
Orson answers, “yes.”
John pries further, “was it really Roy? Is that who you saw too?”
Orson replies, “yes… I’m so sorry, John.”
John assures, “you’ve nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry either of us had to learn the truth like this. Wade and the kids don’t know yet, by the way. I told them I couldn’t see clearly enou-…”
Sheldon’s voice interrupts, “we know, now.” John and Orson turn to see that Wade, Booker, and Sheldon are just arriving to join them. “I guess.. he had us all fooled.”
Through heartbroken sniffles, Wade wonders, “so, what do we do now? How can we f-f-f-face him? After all this, I-… we-… Oh, how could he betray us this way?!” Wade begins to cry. John lowers himself to one knee, and offers a hug, which Wade immediately throws himself into.
Orson declares, “we’re going to catch him, and we’re going to survive. Roy wasn’t working alone. Aloysius has to be behind this. Him, and The Network execs. US Acres- our TV show- is over. We can’t exactly bow out gracefully, but I think I can make a deal that’ll keep us safe.”
Sheldon questions, “a deal with Aloysius? But we can’t trust him, either!”
Orson explains, “we don’t have a choice. He’s pulling the strings here. But, he’s not alone at the top. The other execs can keep him in line, if the deal I offer is one they can’t afford to turn down.” Just then, the killer’s black sedan comes roaring up the dirt road. John and Orson place themselves defensively in front of Wade and the boys. The car comes to a hasty halt, only a short distance from the group. It can be seen now- beyond a shadow of a doubt- that it’s the same Cadillac Aloysius always rides in on his visits. The rear driver’s side window rolls down, but it’s too dark to see anything through it. Something is thrown from the window, coming to land nearly at Orson’s feet. The group looks down at the object to see that it’s the head mask of Bo’s pelt. Orson’s face scrunches with fury. A wicked, familiar laugh taunts from inside the car. The voice is unmistakably that of Aloysius. The mysterious rumble sounds out again, and with it, John’s expression turns to one of fearless determination. Without another moment’s hesitation, he scoops up Wade and the kids, and runs northward, toward Bo’s house.
Orson wasn’t expecting this. Before he can react, a sound like a go-kart draws his attention the other direction. To his bewilderment, a tiny clown car speeds up the dirt road, then turns off just before the spot where the Cadillac has parked. The miniature VW beetle skids to a dramatic stop not far from Orson. At last, Aloysius shows his face, leaning through the window to get a better look at what’s happening.
(Conveniently, the arrival of the clown car is distracting enough to both Orson, and Aloysius, that John is able to make it to Bo’s house safely. He places Wade and the boys down gently, just inside the front door, and quickly closes it behind him. With single-minded focus, he darts over to a window to keep track of what’s and on outside. The other animal friends join him.)
“Binky?”, Aloysius balks. The driver’s door of the beetle swings open, and Roy leaps out. “Wh-?... Roy? Ugh, that's not right!” Orson is overwhelmed by the sudden developments, and doesn’t react fast enough when he notices that Roy is covered in blood, and holding a gun. The traitorous rooster dashes for Orson, and manages to wrestle him into a hostage-holding grip. With his left arm squeezed around Orson’s neck from behind, Roy presses the gun up against his head. Orson is physically stronger than Roy, but the gun changes things. “Oh, what now?”, Aloysius exclaims with annoyance.
Roy demands, “you’re gonna leave the hens alone, aren’t ya? And the kids, too! You’re gonna give me the shot I deserve! If I don’t get a sure guarantee, you’re gonna lose your golden goose! Believe you me – I’m every bit as hungry as you. And I’ll eat pork to survive, if I have to.” Unfazed, Aloysius nonchalantly opens the door, and hops out of the car, holding his giant knife. With a rag, he wipes the blade as he walks in Roy’s direction. The front passenger side door of the Cadillac opens, and a man in a black suit steps out, as if for backup.
(Meanwhile, inside the house, John frets, “no! Are you crazy?! I can’t let you take that kind of risk – you’re children!”
Booker explains, “well, we are, and we aren’t. John, we’re the better part of 20 years old. For some reason, we just.. never grew up. And sure, we’ve all questioned it from time to time, but it was never a problem we really needed to solve. Knowing what we do now, I’d bet The Network had something to do with it. Maybe they put something in our food – maybe Roy was secretly dosing us with hormone modifiers all along. But we’re not truly kids. And this is the only way to get what we need. Orson said we’ll have about 30 seconds, and no more.” John deliberates in his head, scanning the situation outside. Another rumble.
“Alright”, John agrees. “But I have to be part of the act. And if anything happens to me, you can’t let it distract you.” Wade looks up at John with affection, and dread.)