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Depths of the Vortex-8

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Literature Text

Depths of the Vortex

Author: Aurorita248
Rated: T
Warnings: Slash, and LOTS of paranoia about spirals
Summary: John, Paul, George and Ringo plan to leave their sleepy village to become a great band in the city. Unfortunately, Torikakomu is not known to be very wild about letting the villagers go. It gets worse when mysterious incidents involving spiral patterns begin to take over several citizens of the town. It's up to the Fab Four—or the Beatles as they call themselves—to harness the powers they have inside to not only solve this mystery, but escape the winding fate that is left out for them.
Note: This story was inspired by a drawing created by deviantartist VictorianFox and Junji Ito's manga series "Uzumaki". The town Torikakomu is based on a Japanese word for "encircle". All rights to things that aren't mine belong to said company alone and I just voice out a story based out of these ideas.
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Chapter 8-Jack in the Box

The evil John and Paul were right. Patti was dead before midnight.

Apparently the hair drained all the life out of her, to the point where she had to lean against a large telephone pole to support herself. Her hair wound round around the pole and displayed itself until Patti died. Then the spirals fell and nothing was left of them.

The Beatles were quite all the way home. They didn't bother to use George's teleportation skills; they were still in too much shock. The fact that they let themselves be hypnotized and had sex with each other while under the iron grip of the spiral made their stomachs flip. How could they let themselves become victims to the spiral? They were the ones who had its unholy power...they should've been immune to it.

When they got home, Aunt Mimi was on the phone. She heard the boys enter and turned to them.

"Oh, you're back!" said Aunt Mimi. "I thought you were at that parade."

"We wouldn't be caught dead with those fools." said John.

"I got a call from your mother, George." said Aunt Mimi, handing the phone to the guitarist. "Here."

George picked the phone up and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" He asked. "Oh hi, Mom!"

As George was getting busy, Paul pulled out his notebook and flipped it to a blank page. He was immediately writing down the observations with frustration in his heart. These spirals were hurting, and they were stuck. Did they want to leave or should they want to leave? It was getting frustrating.

"Oh, you're doing well." said George, hearing his mother's voice. "Will you be back soon? Oh...you'll return by the Koiru festival?! Awesome! I can't wait to show you what Paul and I and Ringo and John are doing! So see you then! Bye!"

George hung up as Aunt Mimi helped prepare dinner with John. He soon began to explain what his mother had been doing while she was away.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Dinner was a simple donburi for everyone. It was either topped with barbequed eel, chicken, tonkotsu or other savory meats for them to enjoy. Vegetables were sprinkled on the side, but it was all met in silence.

After homework and some song writing, the four Beatles were doing laundry. As they were separating whites from colors, they didn't speak. They didn't want to talk about the horrid sex they did or did not do...but Ringo eventually did it.

"So...what do we do now?" He asked.

"I dunno..." John explained. "We just let the spiral take over us...we have to get out of here. We need to escape..."

"When do we escape?" asked Paul.

"We escaoe after we perform at the Koiru festival." George answered. "We perform some songs, and then we get the hell out. They'll never see us coming."

"That way we can still help our friends, and it give us some time to stop the Spirals from destroying this town." said John. "I hope it goes away...."

"We all do, John." said Paul, piling his clothes into the washing machine. "We all do."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

One whole week.

It was one whole week of nothing but regular school, band practice and other little stuff. It was around this time, that the Beatles decided to sign up for summer jobs. Aunt Mimi wasn't going to be their financial helper forever; the sooner they could get jobs to help them out, the better.

It was on June 17th that the next Spiral disaster would strike. John was at the lockers when he saw Cynthia come up to him.

"Cyn, how you doing?" He asked. "What's wrong?"

"This guy keeps following me everywhere." Cynthia explained. "He pops out from all sorts of places screaming in my face. He wants me to become his girlfriend...and it's getting annoying.

"So...would you walk home with me? I would ask Maureen, but she has student council duties."

"Well..." John began, but he hesitated. That Spiral version of him warned him about his friends possibly dying from the spiral...he couldn't let that happen.

"I'll take you home." said John. "Paul and Ringo are off doing who knows what with the Music Club and George is cooking as usual. We'll have to cut through the cemetery right?"

"Yeah." Cynthia replied with a nod of her head. "I heard your band at the Art Festival; you were amazing."

"It was only four songs."

"But they were four great songs! I wish you good luck when you leave the village and head off to your dream. Me...I don't know what I'll do yet."

"You have plenty of time, Cyn. Just focus on what you like to do, and it'll all come into place."

Cynthia just smiled and grasped onto John's hand, not knowing of the pair of eyes that were following her.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The two walked down the road from the cemetery. Ever since the whole cremating spirals appeared, the town was burying their dead. It was not a good sign.

"Have you been hearing the rumors?" asked Cynthia. "You know about the spirals from the cremations right?

"Well, whenever someone from here has to be cremated somewhere else...the smoke turns to a black spiral. It's only from people living in Torikakomu..."

"That's...freaky." John commented. "Especially if there are people buried underneath these...gravestones."

"I should've never mentioned that...let's get out of here!"

Cynthia dragged John across the rows of headstones. Just as they were about to clear it…

"BOO!"

Cynthia screamed and hugged John, surprised from the intruder who came to see them. It was a young kid with shaggy black hair and glasses. He was wearing a school uniform, and had a raccoon key chain dangling from a belt loop.

"Rocky Raccoon...." Cynthia panted. "What the hell?! Will you leave me alone?!"

"Wait, he's the guy following you?!" John exclaimed, pointing to Rocky. "That kid?!"

"Did I surprise you?" asked Rocky. "I didn't mean to make you mad, please forgive me. It's just a habit of mine to surprise people!"

"You're very mature, son." John said with sarcasm. "You won't win a girl's heart by popping in places that are meant to scare you in the first place. Besides, she has me to make sure I beat the crap out of you!"

"She can forget about you, you're just a drag." Rocky said with a smile. "You've got some of the lowest test scores in your class!"

"How did you--"

"I hacked into the school's mainframe."

"Grrr....."

"And besides, Cynthia," Rocky continued, turning to the young girl. "I want to have a pretty girl to be my girlfriend and surprise everyone! Imagine this, Rocky Raccoon at age 14, gets the prettiest Junior girl!"

SLAP!

Cynthia slapped him across the face and took a step toward him. Hidden in her eyes were sparks of anger and fury.

"I don't want anything to do with you, your habits of surprising people, and your damn thoughts of you being better than anyone else!" She snarled. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Remind me to get her something good for her birthday...and Christmas...and White Day... John thought to herself. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of her anger tirades...

"Let's go John," said Cynthia, grasping onto John's hand. "I'll take you to my house and give you some onigiri for the road."

"Actually, I have a job as a journalist for the Whirlpool Wonder." John explained. "I'm supposed to gather information about these recent burials, and you gave me some great news for it."

"That's so cool! I'm glad I could help."

The two walked hand in hand as Rocky looked on. Still, his feelings for Cynthia did not deter.

"I won't give up!" He cried. "You'll turn to me eventually!"

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"I love you, Cynthia! Please come out! I just want to wrap my arms around you!"

The next two days were plain torture for Cynthia. She would hear Rocky Raccoon just scream about his love for her. It got to the point where she wouldn't leave school or do work without someone helping her out. It was so frightening; he was two years younger than her, and he was already acting like a complete stalker.

That was when she decided to run to John's job at the Whirlpool Wonder newspaper building, on Saturday June 20th. John was handing out coffee and drawing some small stuff for comics when she entered. She had a package in her hand and asked the woman in the front office to let her see John.

John went to the front of the building and sat down near the steps. Clutching onto a piece of curry bread for lunch, he began to hear what Cynthia had to say.

"I got this from the mail," She explained. "It's from him. I don't want it..."

"I can understand your desire to have a stalker just leave you alone." said John. "Now we just have to..."

"CYNTHIA!"

Cynthia screamed and turned around, seeing Rocky appear from beneath the bushes. She growled.

"Will you stop doing that?!" She asked him.

"I'll stop only if you'll be my girlfriend." Rocky answered back.

"I don't. Also, take your gift back and stop sending me things."

"You didn't open it though, and I worked so hard to deliver it to you." Rocky whined. "At least do that."

"...Fine, but only because I'm nice."

John watched as Cynthia pulled the twine and unwrapped the parcel. It was a box with a crank. Cynthia gulped and began to wind the box. A small tune was played and then...

A creepy laugh was heard as a black and grey jester emerged from the box. Rocky laughed with glee.

"I worked hard in making this!" He said. "I know you love it!"

Cynthia was livid; she was at her boiling point.

"I'm irritated and pissed off!" She screeched. "I HATE YOU!"

John was pretty sure that everyone in the front office heard Cynthia's screech. Rocky did, and he just shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess I need a better approach...but what?" He murmured. Then an idea struck. "Wait, I saw something on TV that was like this!"

He rushed toward the streets and the oncoming traffic.

"What the hell?!" John screamed. "What are you doing?!"

"Cynthia!" Rocky screamed. "My love for you will stop this car!"

John immediately went to Cynthia and shielded her gaze from the car ramming into Rocky's body. The car swerved and crashed into a brick wall, and the airbags were deployed. John watched in horror as he saw Rocky Raccoon's body...it was crushed into the front wheel, melded to the automobile.

"What happened?" asked Cynthia. "I heard a crash..."

John held Cynthia in a tight embrace.

"Someone died in a car crash." He answered simply. "That's all."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The Whirlpool World spread word about Rocky Raccoon's death. A blowtorch was needed to separate the body from the wheel. The funeral would be close casket on June 21st, Sunday...it was for the best.

Cynthia wasn't faring well. When the parents went to her, she explained her side of the story. They got angry, calling her a slut and a whore for what she did to their 'sweet Rocky'. John defended her, but the parents didn't listen.

The next morning, the two were dead. The autopsy read they were heart attacks. They were buried on Tuesday, June 23rd and laid to rest between their son.

John took Cynthia's jack-in-the-box present and kept it on his nightstand. At night, he'd wind the toy up and try to figure out why Rocky became so similar to jack. He was in his room, not wanting to help cook dinner as usual.

"Come on, John." said Paul, with a ladle in hand. "It's kitsune-udon and kitsune-oden tonight. You love those two..."

"I'm not in the mood." John answered, poking the jack. "Just give me a bowl, some rice and those pickled vegetables..."

"Which vegetables?"

"The cucumbers pickled in balsamic vinegar and honey."

"Oh yeah...you're the only one who eats that type of stuff."

Paul walked off and John traced the jack's creepy smile. He then heard the phone rang and picked it up.

"Hello?" He asked.

"John, it's Cynthia."

"Cynthia?" asked John. "Cyn, what's wrong?"

"I-I hear voices....It's Rocky's parents...they keep telling me that I was mean and that I should pay....they keep telling me that Rocky died for me....I'm scared John...please...I...I wanna apologize."

"I have a better idea." said John. "Get a sharp stick and meet me at the cemetery. I have an idea..."{

After carefully explaining the plan, John hung up. He stared at the jack-in-the-box and placed jack back inside the box. His hands began to close the lid.

"So, how are you going to do your plan if you can't escape the house?"

John nearly jumped and turned around. Sitting on his bed was an older George Harrison! The George on his bed was sipping tea, and dressed in a red and white military outfit with a large feathered cap perched on his head. He was smiling.

"I'll teleport you there." said the older George. "You'll also need these..."

With a snap of his fingers, a small portal appeared by the bed. The portal spat out two shovels, a flashlight and a crowbar.

"Who are you?" asked John.

"I'm called Spiral George. Now, are you going to leave a lady waiting?"

"You're not supposed to be here." John snapped. "Leave!"

"Fine, I will. Good luck getting out of the house when it's kitsune-udon and kitsune-oden in the kitchen."

"How did you--"

"I smelled it."

John snarled as he brought out a hand. He flicked his wrist, waiting to see the man have a heart attack. It never happened.

"Now come on," said Spiral George. "If you killed me, you'll leave poor Cynthia at the mercy of the jack-in-the-casket. We wouldn't want that would we?"

Spiral George finished his tea before snapping once more. A portal was on the floor, swirling red and black energy on the surface.

"Get going," said Spiral George. "And don't worry, no one would know you left."

"How would they?"

"That's because I'll be taking your place."

John whirled his head, seeing Spiral John appear through a wall. The Spiral John had a younger voice...it was if he was parroting a younger man.

"You see?" Spiral John said with a wink. "You don't have to worry...no one would know you left."

"Fine." said John, taking the tools with him. "But this is only a one-time deal...get the fuck out of my room when the deed is done."

"We shall," said Spiral George.

John nodded his head and jumped into the portal, waiting to find himself ending the stalker's life.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

John met up with Cynthia a while later. The two were quietly creeping through the cemetery, making sure they didn't make any noise. It was already bad superstition to whistle at night—lest you wanted to attract badgers—but the dread and disgust in unearthing the newly deceased made their skin crawl.

"Why did you tell me to bring a stake?" asked Cynthia.

"Because once we unearth him, we stab his heart." John answered back.

"John, he's not a vampire..."

"True, but you can never be careful."

The two waved the flashlight back and forth, shining light on the headstones. They eventually found Rocky Raccoon's headstone, marked with a framed portrait of the deceased resting against the stone. John handed Cynthia a shovel.

"Let's get digging." He stated.

Cynthia nodded her head as the two began digging and digging. John would toss dirt into the air like it was spilled salt to the devil. Cynthia took her time, hope she wasn't going to rush. They eventually unearthed the coffin.

John pulled out the crowbar and began to pull the nails off the lid of the coffin. Cynthia stepped back, her hand covering her nose and mouth.

"The stench is disgusting!" She exclaimed. "It stinks!"

"It'll be over soon." John whispered, lifting the nails. Five nails were removed before the casket window opened. Cynthia jumped back.

"The pressure released it...but now..."

Suddenly, Rocky's head popped out from the window. It was stitched together from the incident, but his dead and bulging eyes, foaming mouth and creepy appearance frightened the two teenagers. The zombie pushed the lid of the coffin aside, preparing himself into grabbing onto his love.

"Run!" John cried. Cynthia nodded, sustaining her scream until she was far away from the body. John stood back and saw as the dead carcass try to jump into the air.

"Cynthia…" Rocky moaned. "I love you!"

"You're not getting her!" John snarled, his eyes glowing green and orange. "DIE!"

Taking one of the shovels into his hands, John swung in an arc and slammed the shovel against his face. Rocky fell onto the ground, but otherwise didn't stir. John panted for breath.

"Just go back to your coffin, and leave us alone." He wheezed.

John turned and heard a creaking sound. He turned around, noting that the force of the blow split Rocky's body in half…or rather, the decomposition did that, and the shovel just knocked out any remaining tendons that kept his body together. Rocky's torso was crawling toward John, crawling in an attempt to murder him!

"DIE!" John screamed once more, swinging the shovel down into a powerful arc. It missed.

"Wha?!" John exclaimed. "He was right in front of me…he…"

John looked up, seeing the spine of Rocky's body curl and twist into a spring…now he was the eponymous jack in the box!

John turned and began to run; trying to make sure Cynthia didn't lose her way in the cemetery. His mind was focused on making sure Cynthia was safe. She was already having enough trouble as it was already…

Rocky's decaying torso began to bounce into the air. With each touch of ground, the spring pushed into the air, soaring higher and higher into the sky. John continued to run, only turning around when he saw the body fall closer and closer, with arms ready to grab him…

Then there was a snap of the fingers, and the body froze in mid-air. John stopped and turned around. The body was immobile, still in the state of arms about to grab onto him.

"That was annoying, wasn't it?"

John turned around, seeing Spiral Paul approach him. In his hand was a giant spring that was caked with blood.

"What did you just do?" John asked with surprise.

"I froze time around this corpse and took something from him." Spiral Paul answered. "While my love can control and manipulate spirals in one's body, I can manipulate outer spirals."

"Huh?"

"I can partially control time with people that exhibit the Spiral curse."

"There's a…curse?" John whispered.

"I've said too much," Spiral Paul smiled. "Now, I'll snap my fingers and Rocky will be left to be buzzard food. You should also be getting a message from someone asking where you are. Don't worry about that little girl, she's back at her bed and she's forgotten about this whole incident. Oh, and don't try to explain us to your friends…it's gonna end up in danger."

"How do you…"

Spiral Paul snapped his fingers and Rocky's body fell with a thud. John turned around…Rocky was no longer moving. Turning back, Spiral Paul was gone. John got on his knees and took in a deep breath…something was just utterly wrong.

John! Paul's voice cried through his head. Where are you?! You're missing out on dinner!

John moaned as he fell to the ground; without Spiral George with him, he was going to have to walk all the way back home. He was going to get an earful for this decision.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

"Running off without supper and without telling me…how could you?"

"I didn't mean to Aunt Mimi, but it was for a good cause."

"A good cause?! Sneaking out into the dead of night without saying anything…especially when you didn't have dinner yet!"

"But…but…"

John moaned as he tried his hardest to explain the situation. He arrived around fifteen minutes later and at a bad time; Aunt Mimi was eating dinner at the table that evening. It was a rare event when the two would actually eat dinner together, so John would try his best to get them to be a family. He felt guilt…he didn't mean to leave his Aunt behind.

"I'm sorry Aunt Mimi," John began. "I was helping out a friend…she's been having trouble lately because of…the…"

"The what, John?" asked Aunt Mimi.

"The Spirals…."

Paul, George and Ringo—who were all eating their kitsune-oden and kitsune-udon—nearly spat out their food. Now Aunt Mimi was going to think they were crazy!"

"Spirals?" Aunt Mimi repeated. "Cynthia has been having trouble because of spirals?"

"Yeah…." John murmured. "That's what caused Rocky and his parents to die…"

Aunt Mimi stared at John for a minute or two. John was immediately eating his kitsune-oden, slurping the broth down and eating on spiral fish cakes. The other Beatles began to eat their soup, trying to appear calm. Aunt Mimi took a deep sigh and muttered something under her breath.

What is she saying? asked Paul to John.

How should I know? John answered back.

You're her nephew…

That doesn't automatically mean that I know what she says under her breath.


Thoughts passed John's head as he ate more of his oden. Eventually, Aunt Mimi turned to him with a sigh.

"I best give you the benefit of the doubt; you were only helping a friend, after all." She told him. "But please be careful at night; at night, the creepiest and darkest things can arrive to take you away."

Aunt Mimi sat herself down and began to eat her dinner. Still, the air of the situation was quiet…especially when John decided to go against Spiral Paul's words.

Guys…John told them. I had help in stopping Rocky…it was those Spiral freaks…
Chapter 8 is up and here's the only thing I have.

Paul talks about Kitsune udon and oden. Udon is a basic soup with thick udon noodles while oden is a soy-sauce baced soup with fish balls, fish cakes and other toppings that's mostly for winter. A Kitsune is a mystical fox spirit which is said to have a favorite food called Abuurage (thinly sliced tofu that's been deep fried). It's calld Kitsune udon and oden due to the tofu.

And yes, it is superstition that if you whistle at night, you attract badgers.

Next time. "The Snail". Don't miss it!
© 2011 - 2024 Aurorita248
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SomeoneWhoDoodles's avatar
Rocky is so annoying, and creepy as a "jack-in-the-box"... :zombie:
MOAR PLEASE!!