Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 37 – Floor 4: Part 5

Mathew and the Sheriff stood outside the pawn shop while they waited for his deputies to come and secure the location.

The creature appeared to be dead, and the threat here was contained, but they weren’t taking any chances. Mathew would watch while they removed whatever monster had taken the form of that lamp and scoured the shop for any other traces of more of them.

“I don’t believe that’s the only one, Larson. Sure, it could have eaten Alan and Elizebeth while they were in the shop and the Alfredsons when Shaun carried it there from TJ’s place. And poor Tim when they bought it from the Flea Market, but what about the rest? We’ve still got three other people unaccounted for, and they never stepped foot in that shop.”

Albert took a long drag of his cigarette. His hand was shaking now that the danger had passed and the adrenaline wore off. The Sheriff had seen a lot of things in his life and had been in a few tight spots over the years, but nothing like he had witnessed inside.

To the Sheriff’s surprise, Mathew was calm. Leaning against the hood of the squad car with his arms crossed, he looked like what he experienced was an everyday occurrence.

Perhaps it was for a Champion.

The thought made Albert shudder. What had the young man beside him been through within the Tower to desensitize him to nearly being killed?

“I’ve been thinking about that. We’ve followed the trail of this creature from Tim’s place all the way to here without a step missing in between. The most logical answer is that there are more than one of these things.” Mathew explained, and the Sheriff nodded.

“We could check the sales records to see what was purchased over the past week and see if any of the other victims bought anything.” Mathew finished.

“We could if you hadn’t burned the ledger to ash. We’ll need to go about this a slower way. Once the others arrive, we’ll go to the other victim’s places and see if that ‘Buzz’ of yours activates. While we’re doing that, I’ll have my deputies search the shop for any other records to see if Alan kept another set of books that we can trace.” The sheriff replied, tossing his cigarette onto the ground.

“There could be others out there, waiting for new victims. And they could be taking the shape of anything.” Mathew stated grimly.

“Then we’ll need to be thorough. Even if it means I have to bring you door to door all over Arlen.” The Sheriff replied, and Mathew let out a bark of a laugh.

The deputies arrived only a few minutes later, their police cruiser pulled into the parking lot, and the two men that Mathew had seen at the Sheriff’s office approached them. After a few minutes of explaining what happened and that they were not to touch the remains of the creature, Albert ordered the men to search the premises for any other records of purchases that may have escaped the fire.

If they couldn’t turn anything up, they could search for copies the feds may have given them during their initial investigation earlier in the week. Albert was sure there was a copy buried somewhere in that pile of documents.

With that done, Mathew and the Sheriff continued on to the site of the next disappearance. This one was a lot stranger. Rita Miller had nothing to do with Tim or the Pawn Shop. There were no connections between them, and the Sheriff wasn’t sure how her abduction was linked to the others.

She lived on a farm about twenty minutes outside of town and had vanished on Wednesday. Her husband had said he came home from out in the field, and there wasn’t a trace of her. After calling all of their relatives to see if they had spotted her, Eric Miller called the Sheriff to report her missing.

“No contact with the others, and she hadn’t been into town since the weekend. Did she have any visitors?” Mathew asked as they drove out of town toward the victim’s house. The paved road ended, and they were soon driving on gravel. The car sent up a plume of dust behind them, and Mathew rolled up the window.

“No, but there’s something we didn’t think about when we first investigated. Rita Miller brings items to the Farmer’s Market on Sundays. What are the chances she brought something home as well?” Albert inquired, and Mathew understood.

The farmhouse was a small, one-story structure at the end of a long, dirt road driveway surrounded by a circle of trees protecting it from the wind. There were fields of wheat and barley, as well as other crops that Mathew couldn’t recognize.

The meeting with Eric Miller was short and to the point. While the Sheriff spoke with him, Mathew began walking through the house. Despite searching the entire property, there was no ‘Buzz’ or any indication that anything was wrong.

They did find a single significant piece of information. Rita Miller did bring something home from the farmer’s market that day.

“A basket of fruit?” Albert asked.

“That’s all.” Eric Miller replied with a shrug of his shoulders at the question, not seeing the importance. They hadn’t told him about anything that happened at the Pawn Shop or the creature that had posed as a lamp.

“Where’s the basket now?” Mathew asked.

“I’m not sure. I think Rita must have tossed it. I wasn’t home all day, and it wasn’t in the house when I got here. Look, Sheriff, care to tell me what all this has to do with my missing wife? For heaven’s sake, she’s been gone for days, and you’re here asking me about fruit?!” Eric Miller shouted, turning red as he finally lost patience.

After speaking to him for a few more minutes, Mathew and Albert returned to the car. Out of leads, and with only the knowledge that Rita may have brought one of the creatures back from the Farmer’s Market, they went to visit the homes of the last two victims.

Like the Millers, Mathew couldn’t find a single trace of anything there. If there was a creature hiding in their homes and feeding on people, it was gone now.

“Let’s check out the Farmer’s Market.” Mathew said, and Albert shook his head negatively.

“There’s nothing to see at this time of day. It's just a parking lot when it’s not open. Everyone comes and sets up their booths on the weekend. Sunday is the busiest, but there will be people there tomorrow starting around noon.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Mathew asked.

“We know that whatever is behind all this is sending out those things from the market. If more of those creatures were in any of the other victim's homes, we would have heard about more disappearances by now. Chances are, they returned to wherever they came from, or they're lying low for a while.” While Albert was driving, he let out a sigh.

“Look, it’s getting late. We’ll head back to the office and get some rest. We’ll hit the market first thing tomorrow and see if we can catch these bastards.” The sun had set while they were talking to Eric Miller, and the car’s headlights were shining brightly on the dirt road as they sped back toward town.

They were quiet for a while as they traveled. After a few minutes, the dirt road turned to pavement, and Mathew looked out the window.

“Those people are dead, you know.” Mathew spoke quietly, giving voice to an idea that neither of them wanted to admit for a while. Ever since he was attacked, he knew exactly what happened to everyone that was missing.

“I know. The best we can do now is make sure no one else is in danger.” Albert replied, lighting another cigarette and rolling down the window a bit. As he drew in a deep breath of smoke, the glow lit his face in the night.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” Mathew apologized.

“You did all you could. They were already dead before you got here. That thing would have taken another victim if it weren't for you.”

The car pulled into the Sheriff’s office. The Deputies had returned a while ago with the information the Sheriff had requested. According to the Pawn Shop records, there hadn’t been any transactions from the shop to any of the victims. None of the other items ‘Uncle Jimmy’ had pawned had been a creature or left the shop.

Mathew was tired. It had been a long day, and even the level up from the previous floor couldn’t keep him going any longer. It was made worse by his ‘Coward’ Discipline pressuring his instinct to flee. He had to fight it every step of the way while searching those houses, and now that he was safe, the weariness crashed down on him.

After eating a quick meal of fast food that Mathew wished he could enjoy in better circumstances, he collapsed onto a cot the Sheriff had set up in an empty office.

His dreams were filled with nightmares of objects coming to life and attacking him, and more than once over the night, he woke up in terror.