BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//InvisionCommunity Events 5.0.18//EN METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN REFRESH-INTERVAL:PT15M X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT15M X-WR-CALNAME:RMWorkCalendar NAME:RMWorkCalendar BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London TZURL:https://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20260329T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20261025T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Calling In A Debt 08/28/2026 DTSTAMP:20260829T025935Z SEQUENCE:0 UID:801-5-c3fe8195a3dde498d013e477e2142422@aalbc.com ORGANIZER;CN="richardmurray":noreply@aalbc.com DESCRIPTION:URLhttps://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Calling-In-A-Deb t-1374169364CONTENTTITLE: Calling In A DebtSUBTITLE: A Marcus Preacher tal eAUTHOR: Richard Murray @HDdeviantSTORYAll things that were born owe a deb t. A building owes its financier plus architect. A human owes its biologic al parents. A computer program owes its programmer. Some debts are called in\; some are not. Some parents call in their debt by pushing their childr en into what said parents wish they were. Some parents feel the debt is pa id by the child's first breath and they joy of watching them grow\, no mat ter the fate. A building or computer program's life equals their function or the payment they are due. Investigative reporters... owe many\; our onl y payment is a story but our need is the infinite number of truths held by humans in themselves or various devices. Truths of such value or quantity \, we can never have enough money to pay for our power to protect from the unknown negatives in the future of the truthteller\, consequence. But wha t happens when you owe someone a debt you can't pay?I didn't know the answ er to said question driving to a reading of Rex Pietra\, internationally k nown poet\; his birth name is Rinaldo\; he had no criminal record\, not ev en a parking ticket\; he wasn't married but all his girlfriends\, in the v arious regions where humans lived\, vouched for his character\; yet\, none of that explained why one person attending each of his poetry readings\, in the current tour\, has gone missing. The internet hash tagged it #RPPS K\, some pronounce it \"rip piss\"\, but it stands for Rex Pietra Poetry S erial Killer. Some have tried to record the readings or follow the attende es\, or follow themselves after being at the reading. But none of the miss ing were recorded at the time they were last seen.I drove five blocks from Imperium Tavern and walked to the mad scene. International news networks\ , online influencers\, betting app pundits\, and other media folk\, were a ll settled\, their cars on the Tavern's block\, their bodies plus teams ta king up the outdoor sitting area for the Tavern. Inside was a packed house \, so that the barmaid couldn't bring the beer\, so that only those at the bar could get drinks. The police had a barricade for viewers outside\, re peatedly telling them to go home\, for their own safety. I got by the poli ce with my freedom of the press badge and overhear media folk talk about t he witnesses to the reading\, while none of them enter the Tavern to hear. The last two murders were not listeners\, who are all recording themselve s but media folk who didn't record themselves\, and went missing. I realiz ed this was my chance.At the door I mentioned I am a friend of K. The door man asked me for a password. I replied: \"Amen for three.\" I was let in\, and the luck of having my old school mate Kirby Hooper as the bartender t oday is a debt I probably will not be able to repay. After I squeezed thro ugh folk\, I went to the bar and sat down. I waited till K noticed me\, an d we each gave the gesture only we would comprehend. I listened to Pietra while I waited.\"Next\, I will read the sonnet\, The Stone In Me...When di d my blood cure my soulWhen a child\, maldict uponWhen a teen\, wish for n o tollWhen a man\, want to be doneWhen can my curse change its goalWhen fa te rupt through as swift bonWhen merit fill my ow'd roleWhen time exhaust all eonWhen will you know\, why you soonWhen you face an equus ruleWhen on e witness is the moonWhen no recite from a toolWhen you heard this private boonWhen your stone side nature duel \"And people clapped\, and Pietra sp oke more and more people clapped. Finally\, the reading was done. All the attendees inside left while streaming. One of the media people wanted to i nterview me. She asked if I will keep some sort of recording device on me\ , as I am the only person who witnessed the reading that didn't have a liv estream feed. I told them I wanted to find the killer for Renaissance News . And\, I left to speak to K.I noticed K had cameras about the bar\, and I thanked him for helping me get in\; he warned me not to go find the kidna pper\; I told him someone has to. Everyone knew one viewer disappears off camera after hearing a reading. Pietra had already given interviews statin g he didn't know what happened. But luckily for me\, another person I owe\ , Doctor Williams\, was asked to look at the forensic evidence by the Fede ral Bureau of Investigation [ F.B.I.]\; she told me\, the only thing the f ederal investigation had for a clue was a particular dust appeared at each site\; she thought from the photos it must be stone\, crushed into a dust \; but on observation in a lab\, she realized the dust came from petrifica tion\; her evidence was a lack thereof. The dust had the composition of pe trified remains through the process of replacement alone\, which unlike wh en permineralization is more present\, has little to none of the original specimen. Without any biological proof in the dust or the ability to recr eate the petrified structure\, the case was cold. Williams told me her the ory is that whatever is acting petrifies the individuals in a process usin g only replacement that completes in at most a minute\, based on the time individuals have gone missing coupled with the time needed to completely c rush the petrified into dust\; I asked her\, does she have any ideas of wh at could cause this to happen\; she replied\, Medusa's head atop a road ro ller. I knew the legend of Medusa\, the guardian\, and I knew\, in reactio n\, what I had to do.I thanked K and left him in Imperium Tavern\, while I had a live stream of me on myself. The one viewer\, whomever they were\, kept me safe. I prepared my mirror and drove to an empty lot. I exited the car with my camera and prepared to end the livestream. I had no idea what to expect\, but figured to not look through anything but the mirror. I cu t off the live stream.Instantly\, I heard hoofs on concrete. I turned to g et my mirror reflecting the direction the hoof sounds came from. The sound s got louder and louder\, too quick for me to position the camera or think of a question to ask. It was right on me\, and I jumped hard wide\, with my eyes closed. I knew I needed to get a live feed or a phone call. But ev en before that\, I needed to stay clear of the horseman. I dodged it and i t turned to run at me again\, and again.I saw in the mirror fragments of a single form. I realized later is a female centaur with long hair the text ure of a horse mane\, bare breasted\, a long apron tied at the waist of he r human torso. I started to fatigue\, and fell down on a side\, with not e nough speed to evade. And the phone rang\; I was too busy trying to hear h oof steps and let it ring a number of times. Eventually I picked up the ph one and it was Santos\; she told me I had asked her to call at ten forty-s even p.m. In my fear of fatigue\, I forgot\; I owe her\; I thanked her and asked her to stay on the phone till I start another live stream\; she did and i told her I owed her another\; she said she will collect but she nee ded sleep for Miguel Flanagan is returning to the show \"Alto Savana\" and she has an early morning interview. We bid each other well and I went to my hotel.No photo\, no video\, no security camera recording. My memory rec all a medusa\, a guardian\, whose mirror image I only saw\, while I dodged her houses. The next day\, I listened for the news\, none of the viewers died. I called Williams and she told me\, the F.B.I. have not contacted h er about any new occurrences of dust\; I told her what only my memory reco rded\; she said it explains the dusty remains of the petrification explain ing: after the individuals saw the creature\, it trampled on them\; I comp rehended her logic but I didn't comprehend what was being guarded. The Doc tor had no idea of what could be guarded but only Pietra would know. I sta yed in the hotel for five days and twelve hours and fifteen minutes with t he live stream on\, when news media reported Katy Morcegos\, who viewed th e Pietra reading I did\, had gone missing. I had my mirror ready and cut o ff my live stream. And nothing\, no hooves or sounds. I wasn't fully conv inced and went into the garage\, and I recognized the camera. Then I drove aside the highway\, on the way home. I stayed till the dark\, when no car s were about. The trees echoed sounds of life amidst them. I finally accep ted I owed another\, Katy Morcegos\, and like so many debts I wouldn't be able to repay.A month passed and others went missing who saw Pietra read. I published my story and my suspicions that a gorgon was behind it all\; I can't say how many read it\, but no emails or letters came in about it.Si x months after Pietra had his last reading of the deadly tour\, he said he was going away.I don't know what happened\, but a month after\, Pietra we nt missing. I asked the doctor if she found any dust and she said no. But if the legends are true and gorgons are immortal. Then whatever Pietra owe d them would have to be collected someday.CHARACTER LISTMarcus Preacher- n arrator\, investigative reporter for Renaissance NewsRex Pietra- authorKir by “K” Hooper | Barkeep [ Tumblr is @homesickhalfling]Doctor Williams- friend of Marcus PreacherSantos- female reporter for entertainment news\, Renaissance NewsInspired bySonnets of Pridefrom @DrThomasStockmann in @CR Literaturehttps://www.deviantart.com/drthomasstockmann/journal/June-Badge- Challenge-Sonnets-of-Pride-1337292701June Badge Challenge: Sonnets of Prid eJun 1\, 2026Happy Pride Month\, people of CRLiterature! PrideFilm Noir Pi geon members in the storyK is @homesickhalfling Kirby “K” Hooper | Bar keep in @filmnoirpigeons[ film noir pigeons tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/ communities/filmnoirpigeons][user tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/homesickh alfling ]partially inspired bySonnets of Pridefrom @DrThomasStockmann in @ CRLiteraturehttps://www.deviantart.com/drthomasstockmann/journal/June-Badg e-Challenge-Sonnets-of-Pride-1337292701Gallery of Literaturehttps://www.de viantart.com/hddeviant/gallery/81311721/my-tales-or-poetryIf you are a fan of crime fiction or film noir consider joining the following grouphttps:/ /www.tumblr.com/communities/filmnoirpigeonsTip me if you like my storiesht tps://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/tier/Tip-Jar-to-HDdeviant-902770076Marc us Preacher Storieshttps://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/gallery/103257473/ marcus-preacherNotes:Delirium Cafe\, in brussels\, has largest beer select ion in the worldMedusa- earliest visual eference [ https://www.guinnesswor ldrecords.com/world-records/780321-earliest-depiction-of-a-gorgon ] in the louvre [ https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010263963 ] is a h alf human half horse creature\, who has the eyes that can turn to stone\, but no snakes for hair or snake body.Road Roller - places aggregate for co ncreteword listmaldict- bad wordcurse- a prayer\, a course of pathdon - me an leaderrupt- breakowed- ow'dexhaust- draw outequus- horsewitness- being of wit\, knowledgerecite- say againboon- prayer#black337 #detective #repor ter #hddeviant #richardmurray #richardmurrayhumblr #filmnoir #filmnoirpige ons #crimedrama #crliterature#sonnet #medusa #gorgon #media #debt DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260828 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR