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rosesart11 · 3 months ago

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Me and The Devil

Gordon, one of the oldest ghosts in the House on Phantom Drive, while on a calm fishing trip alongside his exceptionally large companion Nessie; has a strange visitor arrive at his door.

This is one of the first short stories I’ve written for Phantom Drive! inspired by unsurprisingly Me and the Devil by Soap&Skin. Gordon and Natalie’s dynamic is one of my top favorites of all of the characters that I also sadly don't think I’ll be able to highlight as prominently as much as I do here in the main story. Old man and his petty little shit nemesis is so funny to me.

Hope y’all enjoy!

Waves crashed against the shore, and grey clouds gently floated through the skies above the water. A gentle wave hit the side of the small boat, rocking it tediously.

“Nessie, you can’t be doing that… well, unless you want me to get hypothermia, I suppose,” Gordon commented as large ripples flowed near the boat. “I’m fishing girl. Do you need a treat, or are you just annoying me for the fun of it?” Another bump hit the side of the boat. This time, it was accompanied by a deep growl below the water. Gordon turned to face the source of the ripples. Out of the water emerged a beast coated with deep greyish-blue scales with large ears obscuring her eyes, again, she headbutted the boat (as gently as she could, of course).

Gordon squinted his eyes, “Okay girl, calm down are you bored? What is going on?” he asked reaching his hand into the water. Nessie let him pat her head as she emerged further from the water, towering over the boat.

“Mrrrrr”

“Nessie, you need to be more clear than that, I don’t speak fish monster,”

“Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”

“Alright, time for charades, I suppose,” Gordon thought. “Okay, Nessie again, do you want something to eat?”

Nessie stared dead into Gordons' eyes clearly, deep in thought. Eventually, Nessie very gently shook her head. “Okay, I will get you a snack later, but I’m assuming that's irrelevant,” Nessie’s eyes lit up with joy.

“Alright, back to the original topic, I suppose the one thing I haven’t asked is… Is someone here? I can’t imagine that being true though-” Gordon began before being interrupted quickly as Nessie vigorously nodded. Gordon felt his heart drop, “What??? Are they here??? Did they just show up?? You have to explain-” Gordon began again until he stopped himself. “God, im talking to a fish… Okay okay, just show me where they are, Nessie.”

Nessie nodded as Gordon tied a rope to the end of a boat and passed the other end to Nessie. She held the rope firmly in her large jaws and glided through the water towards the beach. “Alright… okay, stay calm last visitor here wasn’t even threatening… just wanted to share some tea. Just be calm and don’t overreact, and it’ll all be fine…”

As they reached the dock, Nessie let go of the rope and tossed it to the boat. Gordon tossed up to the dock and tied it to the docks. Nessie placed her head gently on the dock. Gordon sighed and patted her head. “I’ll be right back, listen for a whistle. Y’know the drill.” Gordon reassured Nessie nodded as Gordon headed out to the beach.

A door laid patiently for him when he headed into shore. The wind started to pick up as he saw it. Built of dark wood its patterns were detailed and neat. Gently crafted spider webs engraved in its wood as if weaved by a spider. Gordon’s eyebrow raised as he stared at the door. The silence broken by a knocking at the door.

“Hello? Anybody there?” yelled from the other side.

“Who are you? What are you here for?” Gordon shouted back, tensing up at the sound of the voice.

And without a moment's notice, the door opened. A woman stepped through the door, long dark hair swooped to the side shaven on the other. She wore a long coat with a fluffy rim and a shirt with a strange skull, vines, and flowers growing from its eye socket. Her blue eyes caught his attention, a piercing icy blue that stared straight through him. Strange fashion in his eyes for an appropriately strange visitor.

“Sorry for the lack of a warning, I’m new to the neighborhood you can say,” she said with an awkward smile. “I will say, I wasn’t completely expecting a whole beach to be here but honestly, great work here.”

“I have had a long time to work on it… now back to the question, what is your name?” Gordon asked again.

The woman looked embarrassed, at least Gordon thinks she is. Her expression felt too exaggerated to be real, not his mind anyway. “Oh dear! Apologies for the lack of an introduction, I'm Natalie, it is a pleasure to meet you, sir.” She extended her hand towards Gordon.

“The name’s Gordon… hopefully, I will be able to say the same about you.” He replied, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake. She smiled brightly at him, “I guarantee it.”

It was warm inside the lighthouse, gently lit by the lanterns and fireplace; a table with a few chairs sat in the center of the room. A gentle breeze flew in through the open window. Natalie sat politely in her chair, tapping her feet as she glared around the living room as Gordon poured a kettle of hot water into a few cups.

“Do you have any tea preferences? I think I pretty much have anything and everything you could want for tea,” he asked.

“What a wonderful use for the infinite powers of the afterlife! Infinite tea flavors,” Natalie replied. “Black tea is a favorite of mine, well when I drink tea anyway”

Gordon nodded curtly, before pouring the leaves into the water. “I personally prefer green… I used to like black tea but its bitter taste just started to make me feel ill.” He passed the cup to Natalie.

“Ah! A coward’s taste I’d say” Natalie snickered.

Gordon sighed, “Black tea is the opposite of an obtained taste for me is the more accurate descriptor”

Natalie nodded, “I get that… I used to love coffee filled with sugar and milk. Can’t stand it anymore, black coffee is really the best option now I’d say.”

Gordon nodded, “couldn’t get behind it honestly, my wife loved the stuff and tried to get me to try it. Tried it once, far too bitter”

“Even with milk and sugar?”

“Even with milk and sugar,”

“As I said, cowards taste,”

A silence fell over the room as they drank their tea. Natalie never looked towards him constantly looking around the room. “Is she still looking at me? She can’t be… what is this feeling though?” he thought. Eyes glaring directly at him despite there being none at all. Gordon sighed, “Calm down, you know nothing is watching… except probably for Nessie.”

Abruptly Natalie’s chair scraped across the wooden floor as she stood up. “Mind if I look around, this little lighthouse is fascinating!” She asked.

“... sure, just don’t touch anything alright?”

“Oh, of course, privacy and all that, we’re chill,” Natalie assured.

Natalie stood up and looked around at old pictures, little trinkets from the past, some of Nessie’s scales lying around, and his old shotgun hanging on the wall. Gordon stood up and walked towards the window, leaving Natalie to peek around the living room.

He looked out to the beach and, staring out from the shore patiently sat Nessie from the water staring right back. Gordon smiled a little bit at the sight of the beast and whistled. Nessie immediately sprung into action and jumped to the shore, reaching the window to peer down at him more closely (albeit waddling on the land like a silly seal).

“Hey Nessie, everything’s good so far… Keepin' an eye out?”

Nessie nodded, looking past him. Gordon looked where she was looking. Natalie was looking at some old cups of his in a cupboard.

“The girl’s name is Natalie if you’re asking”

Nessie looked at him and let out a gentle growl deep from within her. Gordon's eyes raised, “not a good feeling?” he asked.

Natalie turned around to face them with a loud gasp. “WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?” She shouted in surprise.

“Calm down, this is just a friend of mine”

“A friend??? That's a giant fish monster”

“A very friendly fish monster, give her a fish or two and you’ve got a friend for life,” Gordon replied, he turned to face Nessie directly and reached to give her chin a few scratches. “And I have given her many a fish in my time here haven’t I?”

Nessie let him scratch her chin with clear joy in her eyes. Still, though she had her eyes locked onto Natalie.

“So… I’m curious, who is this in the pictures?” she asked cautiously, quickly swiping up one of the pictures. A portrait of a woman with shoulder-length hair and streaks of white hair. She had a very gentle smile on her face.

Gordon froze at the sight of the portrait, “I will be rather honest and say I was hoping you wouldn’t ask me about her”

Natalie’s eyes raised, her eyes glimmered with intrigue like a cat who saw a mouse skittering through a hallway. “Are you sure? I mean, I won’t pry but I won’t judge at all,” she replied.

He sighed, “alright… fine,” Nessie turned to him in confusion and growled again. “Shhh Nessie it's fine, you can head outside.” Nessie slammed her head into him, staring dead into Natalie growling loudly.

“Are you sure she's friendly???” Natalie asked, taking a few steps back.

“Yes yes I wouldn’t lie about something like that, Nessie please back off” Gordon requested. “I will deal with her if your predictions are right, I’ll be okay” he whispered quickly.

That seemed to calm down the beast, as she stopped burrowing her head into his side like an attention-seeking cat. Her head slipped out of the window, Natalie and Gordon watched as she slithered back into the dark waters. It grew darker, and the rain started to pour outside the window.

“Now that thing is gone, would you answer my question if you’d be so kind?” Natalie asked.

Gordon sighed, “Yes yes… That’s just a picture of my wife, Delilah”

Natalie nodded, “Lovely name for a lovely-looking woman… I do have to ask though, why isn’t she here? Can’t she visit her husband once in a while?”

“I don’t need to answer that, that's not any of your business”

A silence fell over the room, Gordon couldn't make eye contact with Natalie. Taking note of the shotgun on the wall instead, “You can never be too sure can’t you”. He flipped his attention back to her when she put the photo back.

“Y’know I get it Gordon, I don’t know what happened with Delilah but I had someone of my own too, she left me too.”

“... First off Delilah never left me, she was at peace when she died… I wasn’t, I will never blame her for being at peace-” “Oh! You misunderstand me, I would never blame her for being at peace… Delilah and Piper,” Natalie clarified.

“Second off- wait, what was her name?” Gordon asked “Piper… Piper was her name,” Natalie replied. She reached into her pockets and pulled out 2 golden yellow buttons. “I keep these on me to remind me of her, I never really got to get any photos with her in all honesty…”

“How disappointing, I’d hate to not be able to remember Delilah’s face…”

“Oh I’d never forget Piper’s face, I don’t think I would be able to…”

Natalie started to trail off, staring at the buttons in her hands. “She was one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met… one of the kindest too. I hope she moved on peacefully when she died”

Gordon’s eyes narrowed, “she sounds like a wonderful woman, did she die as well-”

“I don’t think she moved on in all honestly, she seemed troubled when she died… It gives me hope y’know? That I’ll see her again, I never got to say goodbye to her… not like how I wanted to” Natalie said, seemingly to herself at that point rather than to anyone in particular. Gordon shifted towards the shotgun on the wall, the way she looked at the buttons rang the warning bells in his mind, the way she looked at those buttons reminded him less of a woman in love, a woman grieving and hoping; but more like a predator waiting, hoping, and hungering for its prey. He reached for the shotgun and picked it up.

Natalie sighed, “I really need to stop being so uncertain, I know she’ll come back to me… she always has, she always has… She has to”

“Natalie?” “Where did she go? I don’t understand” “Natalie??” “I swear where did you go-” “NATALIE” Gordon shouted.

Natalie shook her head and shoved the buttons in her pocket, flipping around to face Gordon. “Oh dear! Im sorry about that, just got lost in my own little world-”

Gordon reached to load the gun in his hand. “I feel bad for her”

“For who?? What are you doing-”

“Piper, I don’t know her of course… but based on everything you’ve said she sounds like a wonderful woman”

“Yes of course she is, but what are you doing with that?” Natalie asked, her eyes widened.

“I want to hope she moved on peacefully, I can’t imagine what pain it must’ve been to be stuck with someone like you�� However, I suspect that can’t be the case. Either way, I do request that you leave my home and domain,” He lifted the gun and snapped his fingers, and the door to the exit shifted turning into the dark intricate door Natalie had entered through.

“What an overreaction! Just tell me to leave and I’ll leave besides I know you won’t take a shot,” Natalie raised her hands in the air. “In fact, I dare you, take a shot out of that little shotgun of yours and show me that you really can-”

The shot echoed throughout the beach.

Gordon looked at the holes in the wall and back at the wide-eyed Natalie, her hands shaking. “Take the warning, I won’t give you a second chance”

She nodded slowly, stepping carefully towards the door facing him. “I hope-” “Not another word, leave and don’t come back”

She nodded again, opening the door and shutting it behind her.

Gordon took a deep breath and sighed. Putting the shotgun back on the wall Nessie slithered her head back through the window, her eyes wide with worry.

“It’s alright girl, just taking care of our guest… she won’t be coming back for a long... long time”

#oc #oc writing #original story #gun violence #Gordon Wilkes #Natalie Hart #Jessie the Nessie #Piper Hart (mentioned)#Phantom Drive

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