- September 25th, 2008, 10:58 pm#69315
Author's note: this is a GB fanfic that is about me and my roommate Brady.
I took some liberties with the Indian story near the end. Si-Te-Cah wasn't a giant. The si-Te-Cah were a people who warred with the Paiute many years. The Paiute drove their remaining few into a cave near Lovelock Nevada, sealed the entrance with dry brush, and set it ablaze. The people inside were killed, most likeley from smoke inhalation, and their remains mummified in the heat. Legends say that they were red headed giants. The remains were all regular sized people. the giant was a publicity stunt, though there are several Mammoth and Mastadon fossils around that area, so one could think that giants did roam the area. As for red hair, this is due to the hair that remains today. The Paiute fashioned ceremonial dresses out of the hair of fallen enemies. As time goes on, exposure to light and dry air makes dead hair turn a rustic, reddish orange.
I also refere to the Shoshone as a tribe. this is inaccurate. they were a nation. the actual tribe is Te-Moak in this area. However, most people don't know that, so I refere to the tribe as "Shoshone." It's just for ease of reference.
The "Commercial" is a casino here in Elko, and yes, it is supposedly haunted.
Hope you all enjoy
Ghostbusters: Elko
Ghost Problem? Pray these guys aren’t your last hope.
“…eight five seven two… zero zero eight one. Expiration date ten thirteen. Yes.. Uh-huh. Yeah. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Thanks, you too.”
The portly man on the phone hung up and put his credit card back into his wallet.
“Who was that?” asked the other man in the chair, not looking up from the video game he had been playing for nearly three hours.
“You won’t believe me if I told you.”
“Who?”
“Ghostbusters.”
“The Ghostbusters?”
“Well… their franchise headquarters.”
“What did you buy?”
“I bought some equipment… and a franchise.”
“You bought a Ghostbusters franchise?” The second man finally looked up from his game.
“Yeah, well, I thought it’d be cool.”
“It would be very cool. But there’s one problem; there’s no ghosts in Elko.”
“Well, they think there are, and when they come for the annual inspections, they’ll see no ghosts and think we did a good job.”
“I think you’re out of a lot of money. How much did you spend?”
“Well, the basic package… proton packs, traps, containment… was about ninety-five hundred…”
“You spent Ninety-five hundred dollars?!”
“I spent a little more. The platinum package was only eleven thousand.”
“Eleven thousand dollars?!”
“Yes… eleven thousand… plus the ninety five hundred… plus a four thousand dollar deposit.”
“You spent over twenty thousand on equipment that we can’t even use?!… You know what? I don’t even care. It’s your credit card, and you can be broke.”
“Actually… I used your credit card.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brady returned to the apartment he shared with Geoff. He had been at work all day and was dead tired. Yet, somehow, he knew he wouldn’t be getting any rest.
He opened the door to find their small, two-bedroom apartment filled with crates and straw, strewn about. In the center of the room sat a large man with a pair of strange goggles on his head, intently reading in a booklet.
“Your stuff finally arrive?” Brady asked.
Geoff looked up, his excitement evident in the massive, toothy grin on his face. “YES!”
“So, what all’d we get?”
“I got some proton packs… some of that mood slime… a PKE thingie… these wicked ghost goggles… there are some traps over there,” he pointed to the corner. “And, the containment unit.”
Brady sighed. “Okay… I’m going to bed. Have fun.”
Geoff barely noticed Brady say anything. He was too intent on reading the booklet.
A moment later Brady came storming into the living room. “What the hell is that in my room?!”
Geoff looked up, confused. “Huh?… Oh… That. It’s the containment unit. “
“It’s taking up my bedroom!”
“We couldn’t keep it in here, Brady. We do need an office.”
“Well, what about your room?”
“What about my room? I don’t want it in my room.”
“You son of a…”
Suddenly, Brady was cut off from his agitated rant. A loud hiss emitted from Geoff’s direction and soon Brady was covered in a layer of dripping pink sludge.
“Oh. What is this wonderful stuff?” he asked, his bad mood seemingly gone.
“It’s positively charged ectoplasm. It’s basically ‘good mood slime.’”
“And you hosed me down with it? I should be infuriated. I should be really pissed. But I’m not. I feel really good. Have I ever told you how great I think you are?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two pudgy men walked down main street of downtown Elko. Both men carried a large, metallic pack with blinking lights on his back, and both huffed and puffed due to being sorely out of shape.
“Where is it?” asked the shorter of the two.
“Ummm… I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?!”
“Well, this PKE thing is going nuts… but I have no idea how to read it”
“You don’t know how to read it?! That should’ve been something you learned before we came out here!”
“Yeah… I threw the instructions away. They were way too technical and hard to read.”
“I hate you so much right now.”
“Oh. Well, I’m hungry. Let’s hit the Commercial. Get a burger. Plus, the old part of the hotel is supposed to be haunted. Maybe we can convince the manager to let us snoop around up there.”
The two marched, weary from the city block they just traveled.
“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” said Geoff, “Why are you wearing a fuzzy uniform?”
“Oh this? This is my old Bugs Bunny costume. The Buster uniform made me itch something fierce.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On moonless autumn nights like this, the shadows seem darker. One could almost believe them to be alive; creatures of some dark, horrible realm. In the black nothingness, the life pulses through the darkness. Here is where Nightmares are born. On this night, there is more truth to that than on any other night.
In ancient times, before the white man set foot on the soil that is now Nevada, the Noble Shoshone roamed the lands. But the histories do not make mention of the Lost Ones. A tribe that was vanquished, and it’s memory stricken from The People.
For this was no ordinary tribe. They were plagued, driven mad by some unknown entity, and forever bloodthirsty in their quest to destroy. The wars were fought for decades. The People convinced they had rid themselves of The Enemy, only to have the dark ones rise again and slaughter the innocents.
One day, a wandering, tribeless Medicine Man came to The Land. He was ancient; quite possibly the oldest man alive. He told the story of the Si-Te-Cah, a people who warred with the Paiute. The Si-Te-Cah were cannibals and had been driven to live on rafts on a lake by the Paiute. At the end of their war, the Si-Te-Cah numbered in the tens. They hid in a cave, where the Paiutes covered the entrance with bushes and set them aflame. The Si-Te-Cah, in their anguish and hatred, called to their dark gods. The gods responded, making their spirits one and this giant spirit stalked the land, corrupting and destroying all in it’s path.
The Si-Te-Cah possessed The People and turned them into savages. Only those of weak mind or spirit succumb to the temptation of the Si-Te-Cah.
The wise chief of the Shonone asked how to destroy such a spirit.
“It cannot be destroyed. But, like any beast, it can be trapped,” the old man said, with a wry twinkle in his eye.
Days later, the ceremony commenced. First, they would draw Si-Te-Cah out from hiding, and then bind him in the shadows, where the darkness would confuse him and keep him from harming The People anymore.
The ceremony itself was taxing, both physically and spiritually. Only the strongest of the tribe could sustain the arcane rituals. It commenced for nine straight days, none of the participants receiving food or water. A handful of people died, but in the end Si-Te-Cah came from his hiding place.and the earth trembled beneath his footsteps. In the light of the great bonfire, Si-Te-Cah’s red hair glowed with a fierce, ruby light. His black eyes did not reflect the light.
“Why have you summoned me, Medicine Man?”
“I have summoned you to destroy you and let this land live in peace.”
“You are very foolish, Little One. Do you not see my great size and strength? I will crush you and devour your remains.”
“Ah, but Si-Te-Cah, you are forever angry. And in your rage you have failed to notice where you are standing.”
Suddenly, around the Giant, several bonfires were lit, and in the light, Si-Te-Cah saw the arcane markings painted on the ground. He saw the fires, arranged around him, and soon he heard the chanting of The People, led by the old Medicine Man. Si-Te-Cah felt the weight bear down on him, as if their words were a fisherman’s net. The Shadows began to rise and envelope the monster. He resisted, squirming and thrashing about, but the chants only became louder, the net stronger.. Si-Te-Cah soon sunk into the black abyss of shadows and vanished.
The People celebrated, finally, the Lost Ones were gone. It wasn’t very long before the People noticed that the old Medicine Man no longer lived; he had died saving them.
Days later, the Lost Ones returned to their homes, the darkness having fled from their eyes, resuming a normal life with their families.
So, it’s little wonder why, when one peers into the blackness of night, he can almost see something, just beyond his vision. And it’s little wonder why that “something beyond vision” is never anything pleasant.
For whatever reason, Si-Te-Cah was no longer confused by the darkness on this night. The shadows had become his home, and the power of the Medicine Man had dwindled. The Giant smiled behind the black. His power was shallow, having become old and rusty in the millennia of his capture. He must work slowly, subtly, and not try to expend himself all at once. Son, though. Soon his madness would reign The Land once more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the fire in the burn barrel crackled, Terry reflected on the last few days. He had watched his best friend die at the hands of a bunch of kids. They weren’t hurting anybody. Terry and George were simply passing through. They took refuge on the playground equipment; shelter for a few hours while they slept before heading out the next day. George had word of work in Utah. It may not be permanent, but it’d be money. One less meal from a garbage can. That’s when they were attacked. “Bum Bashers.” Sure, it was illegal to beat anyone, even the homeless. But society turned a blind eye towards it. The cops were less motivated to search out these “bum bashers.” They were doing society a favor by eliminating the blight.
And George, the kindest man to have ever lived, was savagely beaten to death by a band of adolescent miscreants. Terry was beaten as well, but he managed to escape. Poor George. That was 5 days ago and a state away.
Terry made it to Elko almost unscathed since then. He went to their spot, under the bridge that crossed the Mighty Humboldt… which was little more than a trickle in a muddy river bed by this time of year. And as Terry stared into the darkness a new thought crossed his mind. Why did he just leave without any payback? Why let a good man die and the criminals who did it get away scott free? This new seed of anger, whispered to him from the night, began as a match light, but soon roared fierce in his mind. And as he stared into the darkness of the night he suddenly realized the darkness was staring back.
I took some liberties with the Indian story near the end. Si-Te-Cah wasn't a giant. The si-Te-Cah were a people who warred with the Paiute many years. The Paiute drove their remaining few into a cave near Lovelock Nevada, sealed the entrance with dry brush, and set it ablaze. The people inside were killed, most likeley from smoke inhalation, and their remains mummified in the heat. Legends say that they were red headed giants. The remains were all regular sized people. the giant was a publicity stunt, though there are several Mammoth and Mastadon fossils around that area, so one could think that giants did roam the area. As for red hair, this is due to the hair that remains today. The Paiute fashioned ceremonial dresses out of the hair of fallen enemies. As time goes on, exposure to light and dry air makes dead hair turn a rustic, reddish orange.
I also refere to the Shoshone as a tribe. this is inaccurate. they were a nation. the actual tribe is Te-Moak in this area. However, most people don't know that, so I refere to the tribe as "Shoshone." It's just for ease of reference.
The "Commercial" is a casino here in Elko, and yes, it is supposedly haunted.
Hope you all enjoy
Ghostbusters: Elko
Ghost Problem? Pray these guys aren’t your last hope.
“…eight five seven two… zero zero eight one. Expiration date ten thirteen. Yes.. Uh-huh. Yeah. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Thanks, you too.”
The portly man on the phone hung up and put his credit card back into his wallet.
“Who was that?” asked the other man in the chair, not looking up from the video game he had been playing for nearly three hours.
“You won’t believe me if I told you.”
“Who?”
“Ghostbusters.”
“The Ghostbusters?”
“Well… their franchise headquarters.”
“What did you buy?”
“I bought some equipment… and a franchise.”
“You bought a Ghostbusters franchise?” The second man finally looked up from his game.
“Yeah, well, I thought it’d be cool.”
“It would be very cool. But there’s one problem; there’s no ghosts in Elko.”
“Well, they think there are, and when they come for the annual inspections, they’ll see no ghosts and think we did a good job.”
“I think you’re out of a lot of money. How much did you spend?”
“Well, the basic package… proton packs, traps, containment… was about ninety-five hundred…”
“You spent Ninety-five hundred dollars?!”
“I spent a little more. The platinum package was only eleven thousand.”
“Eleven thousand dollars?!”
“Yes… eleven thousand… plus the ninety five hundred… plus a four thousand dollar deposit.”
“You spent over twenty thousand on equipment that we can’t even use?!… You know what? I don’t even care. It’s your credit card, and you can be broke.”
“Actually… I used your credit card.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brady returned to the apartment he shared with Geoff. He had been at work all day and was dead tired. Yet, somehow, he knew he wouldn’t be getting any rest.
He opened the door to find their small, two-bedroom apartment filled with crates and straw, strewn about. In the center of the room sat a large man with a pair of strange goggles on his head, intently reading in a booklet.
“Your stuff finally arrive?” Brady asked.
Geoff looked up, his excitement evident in the massive, toothy grin on his face. “YES!”
“So, what all’d we get?”
“I got some proton packs… some of that mood slime… a PKE thingie… these wicked ghost goggles… there are some traps over there,” he pointed to the corner. “And, the containment unit.”
Brady sighed. “Okay… I’m going to bed. Have fun.”
Geoff barely noticed Brady say anything. He was too intent on reading the booklet.
A moment later Brady came storming into the living room. “What the hell is that in my room?!”
Geoff looked up, confused. “Huh?… Oh… That. It’s the containment unit. “
“It’s taking up my bedroom!”
“We couldn’t keep it in here, Brady. We do need an office.”
“Well, what about your room?”
“What about my room? I don’t want it in my room.”
“You son of a…”
Suddenly, Brady was cut off from his agitated rant. A loud hiss emitted from Geoff’s direction and soon Brady was covered in a layer of dripping pink sludge.
“Oh. What is this wonderful stuff?” he asked, his bad mood seemingly gone.
“It’s positively charged ectoplasm. It’s basically ‘good mood slime.’”
“And you hosed me down with it? I should be infuriated. I should be really pissed. But I’m not. I feel really good. Have I ever told you how great I think you are?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two pudgy men walked down main street of downtown Elko. Both men carried a large, metallic pack with blinking lights on his back, and both huffed and puffed due to being sorely out of shape.
“Where is it?” asked the shorter of the two.
“Ummm… I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?!”
“Well, this PKE thing is going nuts… but I have no idea how to read it”
“You don’t know how to read it?! That should’ve been something you learned before we came out here!”
“Yeah… I threw the instructions away. They were way too technical and hard to read.”
“I hate you so much right now.”
“Oh. Well, I’m hungry. Let’s hit the Commercial. Get a burger. Plus, the old part of the hotel is supposed to be haunted. Maybe we can convince the manager to let us snoop around up there.”
The two marched, weary from the city block they just traveled.
“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” said Geoff, “Why are you wearing a fuzzy uniform?”
“Oh this? This is my old Bugs Bunny costume. The Buster uniform made me itch something fierce.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On moonless autumn nights like this, the shadows seem darker. One could almost believe them to be alive; creatures of some dark, horrible realm. In the black nothingness, the life pulses through the darkness. Here is where Nightmares are born. On this night, there is more truth to that than on any other night.
In ancient times, before the white man set foot on the soil that is now Nevada, the Noble Shoshone roamed the lands. But the histories do not make mention of the Lost Ones. A tribe that was vanquished, and it’s memory stricken from The People.
For this was no ordinary tribe. They were plagued, driven mad by some unknown entity, and forever bloodthirsty in their quest to destroy. The wars were fought for decades. The People convinced they had rid themselves of The Enemy, only to have the dark ones rise again and slaughter the innocents.
One day, a wandering, tribeless Medicine Man came to The Land. He was ancient; quite possibly the oldest man alive. He told the story of the Si-Te-Cah, a people who warred with the Paiute. The Si-Te-Cah were cannibals and had been driven to live on rafts on a lake by the Paiute. At the end of their war, the Si-Te-Cah numbered in the tens. They hid in a cave, where the Paiutes covered the entrance with bushes and set them aflame. The Si-Te-Cah, in their anguish and hatred, called to their dark gods. The gods responded, making their spirits one and this giant spirit stalked the land, corrupting and destroying all in it’s path.
The Si-Te-Cah possessed The People and turned them into savages. Only those of weak mind or spirit succumb to the temptation of the Si-Te-Cah.
The wise chief of the Shonone asked how to destroy such a spirit.
“It cannot be destroyed. But, like any beast, it can be trapped,” the old man said, with a wry twinkle in his eye.
Days later, the ceremony commenced. First, they would draw Si-Te-Cah out from hiding, and then bind him in the shadows, where the darkness would confuse him and keep him from harming The People anymore.
The ceremony itself was taxing, both physically and spiritually. Only the strongest of the tribe could sustain the arcane rituals. It commenced for nine straight days, none of the participants receiving food or water. A handful of people died, but in the end Si-Te-Cah came from his hiding place.and the earth trembled beneath his footsteps. In the light of the great bonfire, Si-Te-Cah’s red hair glowed with a fierce, ruby light. His black eyes did not reflect the light.
“Why have you summoned me, Medicine Man?”
“I have summoned you to destroy you and let this land live in peace.”
“You are very foolish, Little One. Do you not see my great size and strength? I will crush you and devour your remains.”
“Ah, but Si-Te-Cah, you are forever angry. And in your rage you have failed to notice where you are standing.”
Suddenly, around the Giant, several bonfires were lit, and in the light, Si-Te-Cah saw the arcane markings painted on the ground. He saw the fires, arranged around him, and soon he heard the chanting of The People, led by the old Medicine Man. Si-Te-Cah felt the weight bear down on him, as if their words were a fisherman’s net. The Shadows began to rise and envelope the monster. He resisted, squirming and thrashing about, but the chants only became louder, the net stronger.. Si-Te-Cah soon sunk into the black abyss of shadows and vanished.
The People celebrated, finally, the Lost Ones were gone. It wasn’t very long before the People noticed that the old Medicine Man no longer lived; he had died saving them.
Days later, the Lost Ones returned to their homes, the darkness having fled from their eyes, resuming a normal life with their families.
So, it’s little wonder why, when one peers into the blackness of night, he can almost see something, just beyond his vision. And it’s little wonder why that “something beyond vision” is never anything pleasant.
For whatever reason, Si-Te-Cah was no longer confused by the darkness on this night. The shadows had become his home, and the power of the Medicine Man had dwindled. The Giant smiled behind the black. His power was shallow, having become old and rusty in the millennia of his capture. He must work slowly, subtly, and not try to expend himself all at once. Son, though. Soon his madness would reign The Land once more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the fire in the burn barrel crackled, Terry reflected on the last few days. He had watched his best friend die at the hands of a bunch of kids. They weren’t hurting anybody. Terry and George were simply passing through. They took refuge on the playground equipment; shelter for a few hours while they slept before heading out the next day. George had word of work in Utah. It may not be permanent, but it’d be money. One less meal from a garbage can. That’s when they were attacked. “Bum Bashers.” Sure, it was illegal to beat anyone, even the homeless. But society turned a blind eye towards it. The cops were less motivated to search out these “bum bashers.” They were doing society a favor by eliminating the blight.
And George, the kindest man to have ever lived, was savagely beaten to death by a band of adolescent miscreants. Terry was beaten as well, but he managed to escape. Poor George. That was 5 days ago and a state away.
Terry made it to Elko almost unscathed since then. He went to their spot, under the bridge that crossed the Mighty Humboldt… which was little more than a trickle in a muddy river bed by this time of year. And as Terry stared into the darkness a new thought crossed his mind. Why did he just leave without any payback? Why let a good man die and the criminals who did it get away scott free? This new seed of anger, whispered to him from the night, began as a match light, but soon roared fierce in his mind. And as he stared into the darkness of the night he suddenly realized the darkness was staring back.
- By Abby Shan-anigans
- By mrmichaelt