Post by Eli Buchanan on Oct 1, 2023 22:53:03 GMT -5
“In the mid twelfth century Saint Bernard of Clairvaux wrote ‘L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés et désire’; hell is full of good wishes and desires. Over six hundreds later, writer Samuel Johnson was reported to have said, ‘Sir, hell is paved with good intentions,’ in response to ‘the unhappy failure of pious resolves’. Both men understood the same thing; even the most righteous man can find himself the slippery slope to eternal damnation by starting down the wrong path for even the most noble of reasons.”
Eli Buchanan paused mid lecture and stared out his window at the view outside. It was going to be a cold and stormy fall evening here at the compound. He couldn’t help smiling as he watched the clouds starting to wander in and saw as the wind began to blow harder. Something told him he was going to fall asleep tonight to the sound of rain beating against the walls and the wind whistling through the air.
Behind him, his guest coughed, shaking him from his day dreaming. Eli turned back around to face Harry, the bellhop, sitting in a large overstuffed chair inside his room. He stared at Ei with large, awestruck eyes. Eli realized he had been talking to the bell hop for quite a while now, and had gone from one subject to the other for nearly an hour.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr Buchanan, but I’m really confused. All I wanted to know is how you managed to remodel your living quarters like this.”
Eli laughed, his train of thought gone. He waved his hand, dismissively, and turned back towards the window.
“Everyone needs a hobby, my dear boy,” he replied. Acting as if that was enough explanation.
“But the walls have been painted and the carpet’s been changed…”
“I have a lot of downtime and sometimes I don’t sleep at night.”
“But the furniture! How?”
“I had it brought up at night. I know a company that makes deliveries at night.”
Clearly Harry wasn’t buying any of this. He shook his head and continued to protest.
“That’s impossible. Someone would have seen all this stuff being brought in. There’s security guards working around the clock, someone would have seen all this stuff being brought in. Everyone working here would have heard about it. Plus you would have had to sign a bunch of paperwork with Luke, he’s really anal about that sort of thing.”
Harry didn’t notice, but as he spoke arms began growing out of the sides of the chair and to slowly surround him from behind just outside his line of sight. Eli noticed them just as they were about to grab him and as calmly as possible waved them off. Instantly the arms all disappeared back into the chair, leaving Harry completely oblivious to the whole thing.
“Well then, old boy, why don’t you go check with Luke at the front desk then. I am certain he can show you all the paperwork you want. Sounds like to me that he is a far better chap at keeping secrets than you give him credit for. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Eli quickly walked over to the chair and pulled Harry to his feet. He began leading the bell hop to the door, but the young man clearly had so many more questions.
“Wait. What did you mean by all that talk about the path to hell.”
Eli spun the bell hop around and grabbed him by the collar. He slammed him up against the wall and stared at him. Eli’s eyes glowed red and he stared right into Harry’s. When he spoke his voice had a hypnotic tone to it.
“You will forget everything you’ve seen and heard here today. When you leave here, you will remember this room exactly as it was when you first brought me here. Do you understand?”
Harry stared at him, through glazed eyes. He nodded slowly before answering.
“Yes, sir. Your quarters look exactly like they have always been. I don’t remember anything you’ve said to me today.”
Eli released his grip on Harry’s collar and took a step back. His eyes returned to normal and his previous, laid back demeanor returned. He gave the bellhop a playful smack on the shoulder and laughed.
“That’s a good fellow.”
Eli led Harry the rest of the way to the door and gently pushed him out into the hall. The moment he stepped out of the room, Harry’s eyes cleared and he turned back to Eli, looking somewhat confused.
“Was there anything else I could do for you, Mr. Buchanan?”
“Why, yes there is.”
Eli reached into his lounge coat and pulled out a sealed letter.
“Please make sure this gets to Penelope right away, and offer her my most sincere apologies for not getting back to her about her recent requests to meet. I’ve had a lot on my mind as of late, and I feel terrible for neglecting one of my most dear of friends. Please ask her to contact me at her earliest convenience and the two of us will have to sit down for some coffee. That’s a good chap.”
Before Harry could answer, he once more felt the door slam in his face. Still rather confused, he took a moment to pull out his phone and check the time.
“3:30 PM? How can it be that late already? Luke’s going to chew me out for this for sure.”
On the other side of the door, Eli listened as Harry cursed himself and ran off. It was only when he was confident the bellhop was gone that he allowed himself a long sigh before spinning around to face the chair.
“What did I tell you? I told you he wasn’t yours, not yet anyway.”
For its part the chair didn’t say anything. It sat there unmoving, behaving exactly as a chair should, but Eli wasn’t fooled. He stood there, staring at it with contempt until Captain, his grotesque masked man servant appeared at his side with a bottle of Coca Cola on a silver platter and a Peanut Butter O’Henry.
“Arguing with the furniture again, Master?”
Eli took the bottle of pop from the tray and took a sip of it before replying.
“It’s the Door. I thought I had it under control, but clearly I don’t. Maybe it wasn’t a smart idea to bring a bit of Hotel California with me. Don’t let my wife know I said that though.”
“Perish the thought, Master. Mistress Charlotte would be quite cross if she found out you didn’t have everything in control. I do not wish to consider what she would do if she did.”
This made Eli pause mid sip of his drink. A smile slowly creeped across his face and his eyes lit up, excitedly. Captain noticed the look and sighed. He took the bottle from Eli’s hand and put it back on the tray.
“Perhaps we should discuss how your team is going so far, Master. You have been avoiding the topic for some time now. How are things going?”
Eli snorted and without thinking sat down in the overstuffed chair. He crossed his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes.
“How do you think it’s going? There is already discourse in my team, and I haven’t had anything to do with it. I don’t know, maybe I should have pushed to be put on Red Team instead of Brooke Blakely. I mean red IS my colour after all.”
Eli points to his hair and beard and chuckles a little. He waves at Captain to bring back his drink, and the masked man quickly complies.
“I doubt anyone would grant you this wish based on your preferred colour of choice, Master.”
Eli took another long sip of the cola and unwrapped his favourite chocolate bar.
“Oh I know, it’s just… How am I supposed to keep up this goofy act of mine when I have to deal with some of these people? I need to be able to maintain it long enough to make sure my team carries me forward ong enough so I can win this whole thing, but how can I do it with this lot? Jacoby Spence is an absolute tit. On some level I almost respect him for how gifted he is, but the way he acts like he’s the leader of our team… I really want to go oldschool on him and light his face on fire. Then there’s Candace Page, she’s literally my sister’s boss. Do you have any idea how much pressure there is on me not to try and murder her? I may be a sociopath with super natural tendencies, but I’m not about to ruin my sister’s livelihood, at least not until my plans come to fruition, and at that point my sister won’t have to worry about ever working again. And then there’s Penelope…”
His voice faded and he sat there for a few minutes, quietly munching his Peanut Butter O’Henry and staring out the window.
“She and I go way back. Pen is the only one of my former Immortal Atrocities cohorts who hasn’t either stabbed me in the back, or abandoned me, and when I lost my memory she was right there to help me get it back so I could stop being something I would never wish on even my worst enemy, normal. Despite all that though, I watched her sabotage her own run during the Last man Standing event. I can understand not wanting to be a team player, I commend her for that, but we are on the same team! It should be her and I against everyone else here! When she just jumped off like that and landed in the water, staring at us like that, I’m not going to lie, I took it pretty personally. It felt like she had finally betrayed me, Captain, and that hurt me more than I will ever care to admit to anyone.”
Eli finished his chocolate bar and placed the wrapper down on the table beside him. Captain was there instantly to pick it up and to take the empty Coca Cola bottle from him as well.
“All the more reason why you should stop ignoring her requests to speak, Master. I’m sure she has a good reason for her actions. Perhaps it’s like what you were telling that poor soul you were speaking to earlier, young Mister Harrison; the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
“Well, if she’s not careful I’ll send her to hell myself.”
Captain let out a gasp and took a step back.
“Surely you don’t mean that.”
“Of course I don’t, and don’t call me Shirley.”
Captain let out a loud groan, frustrated at himself for walking right into that joke. Both of them began to laugh and the masked man gave Eli a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“You might be a monster, Master, but you still have a caring heart. Perhaps you would find it easier to be on a team with people you don’t care for. Indeed, it would make it far easier when the time comes to stab one another in the back, but wouldn’t you rather have Miss Penelope at your side? True, eventually you’ll have to turn on one another so one of you can win, but wouldn’t you rather have her work with you than against you?”
“Perhaps.”
Eli wouldn’t say anymore, and stared off out to the storm outside. Memories came flooding back about his part in turning Penelope into the woman she is now. His intentions, while perverted, had been pure in his mind. He had meant will.
And now he was wondering if he was going to pay for it in the end.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions indeed…”
Eli Buchanan paused mid lecture and stared out his window at the view outside. It was going to be a cold and stormy fall evening here at the compound. He couldn’t help smiling as he watched the clouds starting to wander in and saw as the wind began to blow harder. Something told him he was going to fall asleep tonight to the sound of rain beating against the walls and the wind whistling through the air.
Behind him, his guest coughed, shaking him from his day dreaming. Eli turned back around to face Harry, the bellhop, sitting in a large overstuffed chair inside his room. He stared at Ei with large, awestruck eyes. Eli realized he had been talking to the bell hop for quite a while now, and had gone from one subject to the other for nearly an hour.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr Buchanan, but I’m really confused. All I wanted to know is how you managed to remodel your living quarters like this.”
Eli laughed, his train of thought gone. He waved his hand, dismissively, and turned back towards the window.
“Everyone needs a hobby, my dear boy,” he replied. Acting as if that was enough explanation.
“But the walls have been painted and the carpet’s been changed…”
“I have a lot of downtime and sometimes I don’t sleep at night.”
“But the furniture! How?”
“I had it brought up at night. I know a company that makes deliveries at night.”
Clearly Harry wasn’t buying any of this. He shook his head and continued to protest.
“That’s impossible. Someone would have seen all this stuff being brought in. There’s security guards working around the clock, someone would have seen all this stuff being brought in. Everyone working here would have heard about it. Plus you would have had to sign a bunch of paperwork with Luke, he’s really anal about that sort of thing.”
Harry didn’t notice, but as he spoke arms began growing out of the sides of the chair and to slowly surround him from behind just outside his line of sight. Eli noticed them just as they were about to grab him and as calmly as possible waved them off. Instantly the arms all disappeared back into the chair, leaving Harry completely oblivious to the whole thing.
“Well then, old boy, why don’t you go check with Luke at the front desk then. I am certain he can show you all the paperwork you want. Sounds like to me that he is a far better chap at keeping secrets than you give him credit for. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Eli quickly walked over to the chair and pulled Harry to his feet. He began leading the bell hop to the door, but the young man clearly had so many more questions.
“Wait. What did you mean by all that talk about the path to hell.”
Eli spun the bell hop around and grabbed him by the collar. He slammed him up against the wall and stared at him. Eli’s eyes glowed red and he stared right into Harry’s. When he spoke his voice had a hypnotic tone to it.
“You will forget everything you’ve seen and heard here today. When you leave here, you will remember this room exactly as it was when you first brought me here. Do you understand?”
Harry stared at him, through glazed eyes. He nodded slowly before answering.
“Yes, sir. Your quarters look exactly like they have always been. I don’t remember anything you’ve said to me today.”
Eli released his grip on Harry’s collar and took a step back. His eyes returned to normal and his previous, laid back demeanor returned. He gave the bellhop a playful smack on the shoulder and laughed.
“That’s a good fellow.”
Eli led Harry the rest of the way to the door and gently pushed him out into the hall. The moment he stepped out of the room, Harry’s eyes cleared and he turned back to Eli, looking somewhat confused.
“Was there anything else I could do for you, Mr. Buchanan?”
“Why, yes there is.”
Eli reached into his lounge coat and pulled out a sealed letter.
“Please make sure this gets to Penelope right away, and offer her my most sincere apologies for not getting back to her about her recent requests to meet. I’ve had a lot on my mind as of late, and I feel terrible for neglecting one of my most dear of friends. Please ask her to contact me at her earliest convenience and the two of us will have to sit down for some coffee. That’s a good chap.”
Before Harry could answer, he once more felt the door slam in his face. Still rather confused, he took a moment to pull out his phone and check the time.
“3:30 PM? How can it be that late already? Luke’s going to chew me out for this for sure.”
On the other side of the door, Eli listened as Harry cursed himself and ran off. It was only when he was confident the bellhop was gone that he allowed himself a long sigh before spinning around to face the chair.
“What did I tell you? I told you he wasn’t yours, not yet anyway.”
For its part the chair didn’t say anything. It sat there unmoving, behaving exactly as a chair should, but Eli wasn’t fooled. He stood there, staring at it with contempt until Captain, his grotesque masked man servant appeared at his side with a bottle of Coca Cola on a silver platter and a Peanut Butter O’Henry.
“Arguing with the furniture again, Master?”
Eli took the bottle of pop from the tray and took a sip of it before replying.
“It’s the Door. I thought I had it under control, but clearly I don’t. Maybe it wasn’t a smart idea to bring a bit of Hotel California with me. Don’t let my wife know I said that though.”
“Perish the thought, Master. Mistress Charlotte would be quite cross if she found out you didn’t have everything in control. I do not wish to consider what she would do if she did.”
This made Eli pause mid sip of his drink. A smile slowly creeped across his face and his eyes lit up, excitedly. Captain noticed the look and sighed. He took the bottle from Eli’s hand and put it back on the tray.
“Perhaps we should discuss how your team is going so far, Master. You have been avoiding the topic for some time now. How are things going?”
Eli snorted and without thinking sat down in the overstuffed chair. He crossed his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes.
“How do you think it’s going? There is already discourse in my team, and I haven’t had anything to do with it. I don’t know, maybe I should have pushed to be put on Red Team instead of Brooke Blakely. I mean red IS my colour after all.”
Eli points to his hair and beard and chuckles a little. He waves at Captain to bring back his drink, and the masked man quickly complies.
“I doubt anyone would grant you this wish based on your preferred colour of choice, Master.”
Eli took another long sip of the cola and unwrapped his favourite chocolate bar.
“Oh I know, it’s just… How am I supposed to keep up this goofy act of mine when I have to deal with some of these people? I need to be able to maintain it long enough to make sure my team carries me forward ong enough so I can win this whole thing, but how can I do it with this lot? Jacoby Spence is an absolute tit. On some level I almost respect him for how gifted he is, but the way he acts like he’s the leader of our team… I really want to go oldschool on him and light his face on fire. Then there’s Candace Page, she’s literally my sister’s boss. Do you have any idea how much pressure there is on me not to try and murder her? I may be a sociopath with super natural tendencies, but I’m not about to ruin my sister’s livelihood, at least not until my plans come to fruition, and at that point my sister won’t have to worry about ever working again. And then there’s Penelope…”
His voice faded and he sat there for a few minutes, quietly munching his Peanut Butter O’Henry and staring out the window.
“She and I go way back. Pen is the only one of my former Immortal Atrocities cohorts who hasn’t either stabbed me in the back, or abandoned me, and when I lost my memory she was right there to help me get it back so I could stop being something I would never wish on even my worst enemy, normal. Despite all that though, I watched her sabotage her own run during the Last man Standing event. I can understand not wanting to be a team player, I commend her for that, but we are on the same team! It should be her and I against everyone else here! When she just jumped off like that and landed in the water, staring at us like that, I’m not going to lie, I took it pretty personally. It felt like she had finally betrayed me, Captain, and that hurt me more than I will ever care to admit to anyone.”
Eli finished his chocolate bar and placed the wrapper down on the table beside him. Captain was there instantly to pick it up and to take the empty Coca Cola bottle from him as well.
“All the more reason why you should stop ignoring her requests to speak, Master. I’m sure she has a good reason for her actions. Perhaps it’s like what you were telling that poor soul you were speaking to earlier, young Mister Harrison; the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
“Well, if she’s not careful I’ll send her to hell myself.”
Captain let out a gasp and took a step back.
“Surely you don’t mean that.”
“Of course I don’t, and don’t call me Shirley.”
Captain let out a loud groan, frustrated at himself for walking right into that joke. Both of them began to laugh and the masked man gave Eli a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“You might be a monster, Master, but you still have a caring heart. Perhaps you would find it easier to be on a team with people you don’t care for. Indeed, it would make it far easier when the time comes to stab one another in the back, but wouldn’t you rather have Miss Penelope at your side? True, eventually you’ll have to turn on one another so one of you can win, but wouldn’t you rather have her work with you than against you?”
“Perhaps.”
Eli wouldn’t say anymore, and stared off out to the storm outside. Memories came flooding back about his part in turning Penelope into the woman she is now. His intentions, while perverted, had been pure in his mind. He had meant will.
And now he was wondering if he was going to pay for it in the end.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions indeed…”