Robb's Chapter, Page Nine

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That night, Robb found a rusted monkey wrench in his garage, one that was as long as his arm and likely three or four times as heavy.

He swung it a few times, liked the weight. The last object he’d used for violence was a half empty glass of beer, and the wrench felt much more lethal than that had. He set up a bottle on top of a barrel in his backyard, and destroyed it with a one handed swing.

When his phone rang, he almost didn’t answer it.

“Hello?” He said. He walked back into the kitchen and left the wrench on the table.

“This Phlogiston?”

“You got me,” Robb said.

“This is the guy from the mall,” the punk said, “I talked to my Elder about what we talked about yesterday. He said you should come in tomorrow for a consultation. To see if you’re pure or impure.”

“To see if I’m a failure?”

“Yeah,” the punk said, “That’s one way to think about it.”

“Alright,” Robb said, his tone; deflated.

“If you don’t wanna come, I can give you one last chance to return the talisman you wrongfully possess, before I come to your house with a few of my best friends and wreck your shit entirely.”

“Entirely?” Robb asked.

“Yeah, what the fuck do you think I said?” He asked.

“Nothing,” Robb said, “Where do I go to get… tested?”

“Come to the mall, tomorrow, around five. Near the fountain. Think you can manage that?”

“I can manage that,” Robb said, “I’m getting tested at the mall?”

“We’ll take you someplace else for that. Don’t get scared. We’ll just be taking you to our home, the one all of us Greys share. Could be everyone will take one look at you and say that, hey, don’t matter if he’s flawed or not, he can’t join us.”

“Ok then,” Robb said, “What would happen then?”

“We’d kill you, freeze you in a block, whatever we felt like,” he said, “Does it really matter? My Elder said the son of the great Glacier’s Eye was welcome. Said he could come whenever he fucking wanted to, but since I insisted on a test, he said you’d take the goddamn test.”

“What would it mean, if I was flawed?” Robb asked.

The kid laughed.

“Ok,” Robb said, “Be like that. I’m starting to think that if I show up I’m going to get screwed over anyway. Like this is just a lure into a trap. I’m starting to think that maybe I should just sell the stupid pendant and let you harass them.”

“You could do that,” the kid said, “I’d still come and kill you though, for disrespecting us. Turning down an invitation is almost as bad as stealing a talisman.”

Robb said something that sounded like “augh” and “argh”… Something like, “aurgh”.

“I’m not fucking with you,” the kid said, “Just come tomorrow, and we’ll get you all sorted out.”

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