[MISC] An Abecedary of Villainy #5

[Jamie Rosen]

aBcDeFgHiJkLmNoPqRsTuVwXyZAbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYzaBcDeFgH­iJkLmNo
PqR          An
sTu           Abecedary
VwX                   of
yZA                    Villainy
bCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYzaBcDeFgHiJkLmNoPqRsTuVwXyZ vol 1, #­5
"Encyclopedia Grey"

Everyone has a favourite uncle, a best friend, or a sorely missed pet.
The Encyclopedia Grey is their antithesis.

The Encyclopedia Grey hates you. He hates your friends. She hates your
family. It hates your pets. The Encyclopedia Grey does nothing but
fester. It catalogues your every offense, your every trespass, your
every misdeed. And it never, ever forgets.

****

"Quick," Dennis Dougherty said, rummaging through the library. "I need
one last reference for my paper."

Janet shrugged. She couldn't understand why her boyfriend would leave
this sort of thing to the last minute, no matter how good he was at it.
"How about this one?" she asked, plucking a hefty grey tome from the
shelf.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure..." she said. She opened it up. "Some sort of
encyclopedia, I think." She handed it to him.

He took the book from her and looked at it. "Well, it's big enough...
it should have something..."

She shook her head. This really was no way to get through college.

They went over to one of the empty tables, where he sat down and
commenced skimming the book. As he continued, though, he slowed down
and began reading more intently, and she noticed a curious shift in his
demeanour. He drew closer to the book, and his shoulders tensed and
hunched up as he read.

Finally, he slammed the cover shut and stood up. Without a word, he
grabbed his bag and strode off, forcing Janet to hurry after him.

"Dennis," she called as they left the library. "Wait! Where are you
going?"

He stopped and looked back at her. "Don't talk to me," he spat. "I know
what you did."

He turned on his heel and stalked away from her.

"Wait -- what -- what?"

She tried to follow him, but he wouldn't listen, wouldn't stop. He just
kept on walking, and never looked back.

FIN

Author's Note:

Originally I was going to write a story about someone called the
Eldritch Elder. But I couldn't get a handle on what, exactly, that
story would be. Not that I ever have that great a handle, I guess some
might argue. So I went with this instead. Wrote it in between phone
calls here at work.

(c) Copyright 2005 Jamie Rosen, for what it's worth