Delk – The Aftermath

I’m afraid this post may be a bit anti-climactic for some. After all, I myself did not realize the significance of these events until very recently.

I rushed back to our flat, knocking over fruit stands and passers-by. When I reached our apartment, only Nigel sat in our living room, flipping through a rather large novel.

“Oh hello, P. Don’t worry about not showing up. We went ahead without you, but the delk turned out to be a big dud. Neither Amy nor I felt any effects. Poor Ritchie felt a bit nauseous and Persephone became a bit … er, … amorous”, Nigel blushed. Regaining his composure, he continued, “I guess that rock star sold you bill of goods.” He chuckled heartily although there was nothing particularly funny about his remark.

And that was that. Or so we thought. However, over the course of the next year, the four of them went through a number of startling changes. I thought nothing of it at the time. After all, we were all in our late teens-early twenties. Who doesn’t go through drastic transformations at that age?

Amy began calling herself Anenome.* Passing through the hallway, one used to hear strains of Lorena McKennitt and Tori Amos, but now she only listened to the French Spectralists.** She stopped writing poetry*** and began her solitary research into the occult.

Persephone soon broke up with Nigel.**** She stopped being a sullen goth and became sickly-sweet mannered and obsequious. Her ‘little Bo Peep’ outfits gradually entered her wardrobe until she wore nothing else. Even though it was Persephone who broke up with Nigel, she became insanely jealous and became increasingly suspicious of all of Nigel’s aquaintences. If Nigel began seeing anyone, she would ‘befriend’ the young lady, serenading them with her trademark ballad “Have you seen but a whyte lilie grow?” on a nightly basis until they would become sufficiently creeped out to leave town.

Poor Ritchie Sauces suffered the most obvious transformation. He legally changed his name to ‘Rich Sauces’ and embarked on a quest for the utmost limits of depravity. He was soon arrested for what he did at the art museum. And the planetarium. And the musuem of natural history. His entire manner had changed and he began to exude an odor resembling that of dandruff shampoo.***** Then he sought to include others in his ‘art films’, with or without their knowledge.

And then there was Nigel. Nigel was always … eccentric, shall we say? I have to admit I never noticed any real change in his behaviour. Our friendship remind solid for several years until a certain incident caused us to go our seperate ways. No need to get into that now.

The next week, I did join Sol and Pepper for the university production of Hamlet where I first beheld the charming Harriet starring as Ophelia. This production was to lead to the formation of the wretched ‘Ghoul Squad’ by Nigel. But I get ahead of myself.

When Anenome & I met the other night, she informed me that in her research of the unusual and unsettling, she uncovered an old book called The Delk and its Effects on the Young by Nazzereno Pagliughi. After reading this lengthy tome, she believes that the personality changes they all experience are due to their experimentation. She feels that Nigel’s recent strange behavior is due to a recent 2nd encounter with delk. We need to investigate further.

* Again?
** Her poor roommate Göta could not stand any of Amy/Anenome’s musical tastes, pre- or post-delk.
*** Or perhaps she just stopped sharing it with others.
**** He claimed it was ‘mutual’.
***** It took me years to identify this scent.