//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Silence // Story: The Birth of Grenth: Where we went wrong... // by Nightshade shadow kitty //------------------------------// Grenth waited for the inn keeper in the cellar. He had hidden himself in the shadows to be safe. Never knew who would suddenly decide to snoop around. He still wasn’t sure why Phil wanted to talk HERE, but he decided it would be better not to press the issue. After what felt like hours Grenth finally heard the sound of hooves on wood as the inn keeper descended the stairs to the cellar. When he reached the bottom Grenth emerged from his hiding place. “Well, I’m ready when you are. What’s this ‘favor’ you wanted doing?” Before answering Phil cautiously glanced around the room. He then lowered himself to Grenth’s level and began speaking in a hushed tone. “Alright, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to use those special sneaking skills of yours to solve an issue I’ve been having with one of my tenants.” Grenth raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You want me to spy on one of your customers?” Phil narrowed his eyes. “If you think it’s too much trouble you can always find ANOTHER inn for your friends to live in...” Grenth sighed. “No, no trouble, just unexpected.” He put on a more serious look. “So who do you want me to spy on?” Phil began to pace back and forth in front of Grenth. “I wouldn’t really call it ‘spying’... more like investigating. See there’s this mare that’s started staying here recently. Now she pays her bills frequently enough, but every so often some of the other tenants have been talking about strange noises coming from her room at night. Others say that she’s been seen sneaking off at night and the next day some poor pony is found dead and mutilated not far away from the inn.” He stopped and looked Grenth in the eye. “I want you to find out the truth. Find out everything you can about her, if you can prove that she’s up to no good then bring any evidence to me and I’ll make sure the authorities deal with her. If it turns out that she’s innocent then, well...” He hesitated for a moment. “Then I want you to find the real killer.” Grenth put a hoof to his chin thoughtfully. “So in other words... you want me to break into one of your tenants rooms, search for evidence that may-or-may not be there, and identify the culprit behind a string of murders that have occurred near your inn. Anything else you want me to do while I’m at it?” The inn keeper shook his head. Grenth cracked his limbs in mock preparation. “Then I guess I better get started.” “She’s staying in room 6. Just make sure nopony sees you! This could very well run me out of business!” Grenth smirked. “Trust me, when I want to remain unseen even the best trackers can’t find me.” And with that he disappeared and silently made his way upstairs. Phil silently shuddered to himself. “Why do I feel like I just made a deal with the devil?” *** Grenth silently made his way through the inn. The sun had set about an hour ago so the inn was fairly dark which made his job that much easier. The only light came from the occasional lantern but there wasn’t really anypony up to see him anyway. Finally, he arrived at a door marked with an engraved ‘6’ on it. He smirked to himself, this had been WAY too easy so far. While still a shadow, he slipped under the door. When he emerged on the other side he was surprised to find the room empty with the exception of a bed and a dresser. After emerging from the shadows he poked his head under the bed but found nothing but dust bunnies. Slightly disappointed he made his way over to the dresser and opened each drawer and was once again disappointed to find that they were all empty. He climbed onto the top of the dresser and was surprised to find a folded piece of paper. Using a tendril, he unfolded it. Look behind you. “What the...” Before he could react somepony jumped him and pinned him to the ground with their hooves. He looked up to see a jet young black coated mare with red eyes glaring down at him. “What are you doing in my room!?” He raised an eyebrow. “How did you know I was going to be IN your room?” “I already know that the inn keeper’s on my case because of all the rumors the other tenants keep spreading about me! Everypony is ALWAYS on my case because of my appearance! It’s not MY fault I look the way I do! Yet all anypony ever thinks of when they see me is ‘Oh look at her, she looks evil. She must be up to something!” Grenth closed his eyes and shook his head sympathetically. “Believe me, I know exactly what it’s like to be judged solely on your appearance.” The mare looked him over then got off of him. Grenth slowly rose to his hooves. “I’ve been scorned all my life because everypony thinks I’m some sort of monster... unfortunately... they’re right to some degree...” He sighed sadly. “I was bred and altered to be part of the ‘ultimate species’ but all my father ended up making was a living shadow that took a pony’s form...” The mare’s eyes went wide. “Wow... and I thought I had reasons to be miserable...” She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. “Sorry I jumped you... I thought you were like the others...” Grenth shook his head. “I’m only doing this as a favor for the inn keeper. I’m supposed to find evidence about the recent murders and he suggested I start here but...” He glanced around. “It looks like you’re off the hook.” She smiled softly and cocked her head to one side. “What’s your name kid?” “Grenth.” “I’m Silence.” He smiled back. “Nice to meet you Silence.” “So... since you’re done breaking into my room, what are you going to do now?” Grenth tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Well... if it turned out that there wasn’t any evidence pointing towards you then I was supposed to find the REAL killer...” “This seems to be an awfully complicated favor...” Grenth’s ears folded against his head. “I’m... only doing this so my friends don’t get thrown out... I don’t think the inn keeper really trusts me that much.” Silence narrowed her eyes. “Can’t they afford the rent?” Grenth shook his head. “No, they can afford it no problem. It’s just that... he wasn’t supposed to know I was here but I sort of slipped up... so if my friends want to keep staying here I have to do him some favors.” Silence shook her head. “I don’t think he’s allowed to do that... you are just a foal after all. He can’t honestly expect someone your age to be able to succeed where the authorities have failed, even WITH your special skills.” Grenth’s head drooped sadly. Silence placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “Not alone anyways.” Grenth perked up. “Wait... what?” She smiled. “Why do you think I came here in the first place? This isn’t exactly the most wondrous of inns... The only ponies that really come here are those who are down on their luck.” Grenth frowned slightly. “Yeah... that sounds like us... But wait a second, why are you tracking the killer? I mean, I know it’s in everypony’s best interest to catch them, but why you specifically?” She lowered her head sadly. “It’s... personal...” “Did they kill someone close to you?” “You could say that...” Grenth nodded. “Fair enough...” He headed for the door. “Come on. We won’t catch that killer sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves all night...” Silence nodded and hurried past him. She looked back towards him. “I’ll lead, I’m more familiar with the area than you are.” Grenth nodded and the pair headed out the door. *** “One, Two...I’m coming for you...” Chanted a filly’s voice in the darkness. The mare ran through the alleyway. Her lungs were on fire, her legs burned, but she had to keep running, she didn’t dare stop. “Three, Four...Death knocks on your door...” She could hear her pursuer behind her, slowly gaining on her. “Five, Six... Your bones break like sticks...” She quickly rounded the nearest corner and stopped dead. It was a dead end. She turned slowly to face her pursuer, her eyes filled with fear. “Seven, Eight... You’re far too late...” The figure had stopped running and was now standing still, blocking her escape. Its body resembled that of a pony. Its skin was jet black but it didn’t appear to have a mane. It was slightly taller than the average stallion. Its legs were long and thin. Its neck was also slightly longer than average. Its face was more or less flat and an ominous red light shone from behind its eyeless sockets and from within its mouth. It smiled darkly, revealing a mouthful of black needle like teeth. “Awww... a dead end... *giggle*... see what I did there?” It laughed mockingly. It slowly began walking towards her. “Oh well... I guess when I’m done with you I’ll just have to find a new toy. Be sure to scream nice and loud okay? That’ll make it that much more fun!” She couldn’t move, she couldn’t think. The closer it got the more terrified she became. Her vision became hazy as it stopped, its face inches away from hers. Its smile widened, its murderous intent practically oozed from its body. “Nine... Ten... This is the end...”