They took me slumming, where gaunt walls of brick
Bulge outward with a viscous stored-up evil
H.P. Lovecraft, Fungi from Yuggoth
****
Carrie eyed Glen’s proposal with wariness. Spencer’s broad, eager smile told her he was fully committed to a tour of the decaying corpse of a town. Cardigan man wore a bemused grin as if he was certain Glen was full of shit but he would play along with the charade because he had nothing better to do. Carrie pulled away from Spencer and closer to the warmth and safety of the fire and expressed her apprehension about Glen’s tour.
“I don’t like this. Three guys leading one girl through a creepy ass town? No, thank you. C’mon, Spence. I wanna go home.”
“Aw, babe.” Spencer’s use of that phrase did nothing to put Carrie at ease. “I’ll protect you.” That phrase did even less. It’s not that she didn’t trust Spencer. She didn’t trust the two strangers. Her pensive glances toward them reflected her disdain for this entire endeavor.
“I respect that,” Glen said. “You don’t know me. Everything about me could be a lie.”
Carrie nodded at this observance of the obvious while Glen provided a counter offer like a car salesman asking what he needed to do to get her in a new Buick today.
“Tell you what. Give me a minute and I’ll gather a few other people. I promise I’ve given this tour before and folks love it. Sound good?”
Still wary, Carrie nodded.
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