I recently moved into a new community. I’d been down on my luck when I found a flier off the side of the street advertising various homes, apartments, and neighborhoods.
So imagine my confusion when at the very corner of the flier told me a house could be rented on the cheap- in this economy.
I laughed as I read in, wondering if it was true. Figuring my luck, I thought it was a prank, but seeing that I’d just been given notice I could no longer stay at my apartment, I decided to give it a shot.
“Hi,” I began, calling the number listed. “I, um, I saw your ad?”
“Wonderful!” a monotonous but cheery voice replied. Some bot. I was starting to think this was a prank. “Please hold as I connect you to a human being.”
I waited, listening to jazzy tunes. I was about to hang up when the phone clicked, and someone picked up.
“Hey,” a woman’s voice manifested, “heard you want to settle into the beautiful First Kasden Neighborhood?”
I looked at the ad. “Yeah? No way you have-”
“The rent so cheap?” the woman finished, laughing as she did. “It’s no lie- we have so cheap because not many want to settle down in our truly glorious neighborhood.”
This was getting weirder. “Why not?”
She laughed again, almost in a mocking tone- yet there was a teaspoon of- what was it- sadness? “Here in First Kasden we’re a gated community, and see- we’ve got some rules here. Some people don’t seem to like em and only the open minded live here.”
“Okay?” I continued. “I think I can deal with some rules?” “We operate under a social credit system,” she explained. “We all help each other in our little community. If you don’t help out- well, your credit goes down and if it gets too low-”
“You get kicked out.”
“Something to that effect,” she laughed once more. “And if you attend gatherings, help out with our small little school and stores. Well, then you’re all set for fine days living in the First Kasden Community.”
I thought I would settle for attending a few gatherings for a nice place to live. It sounded like a good offer, given my circumstances. Plus, I’m a very sociable person, I’d manage. Social Credit or not, this sounded go, so far.
I smiled and said: “I’m in.”
I never knew how wrong I would be.
Jeremy Pritchard was friendly. Exceedingly so. He was so friendly it seemed fake. And yet, somehow, he seemed genuine, and was a good man.
He was old, constantly wore plaid shirts, and was balding. He seemed like the personification of every single old guy made into one.
I first met him as I was moving in. A taxi ride brought me to the gates of the community, and there he was. Old Man Pritchard right at the gates, smiling and waving. He had this aura of calm and peace to him.
“You must be Ash!” he greeted with a smile and a wave. “On behalf of the community, welcome to First Kasden!”
I smiled back, instantly taking a liking to the man. “That’s me alright. Looking forward to living life here.”
For a second, his face changed, almost as if he was disappointed. Behind him, something caught my eye- a mural of a clown dancing, a microphone in one hand and a gavel in the other.
As Jeremy led me into the neighborhood I began to see more images of the creepy clown. More pressingly, as we entered were the troves of people lining the streets to say hello, and honestly, I kinda felt like a celebrity.
“So what’s the clown guy about?” I asked, right as we entered my house.
Jeremy sighed heartily as he moved two of my larger bags into the house. “It’s our mascot. Pious Pierre.”
“He’s a bit creepy, isn’t he?” I joked.
“Yeah, but creepy or not, he’s ours,” Jeremy answered. “Anyway, there are some rules you gotta follow- or else- well, you won’t like what Pious Pierre’ll do to you if you don’t.”
“Ominous,” I laughed. His face was stern, as if- as if he wasn’t joking. He must have sensed I was confused because a second later, he smiled and laughed.
“Welp, the important thing is you gotta go to some of these events,” he handed me a calendar. Events, like he said, were dotted on it, plus numbers. “Those numbers are the points you get for going. Go- and you gain them. Don’t go- well, then your score goes down.”
“Fair.”
“You start here with a score of fifty,” Jeremy continued. “Scores are displayed on the community board, so you can check. Doing good, helping others rewards you, and not being a productive member makes you lose out. Oh- and Pierre’s always watching.”
“What does that mean?” I inquired.
“Just do good,” Jeremy repeated. “Someone’s always gonna be watching you.”
“Alright,” I shrugged. Old Man Pritchard held out a hand, and I shook it. I liked the old man. He was nice, and though my time in the community, he was the only one who seemed to show any genuine decent towards people. Or maybe it was because his credit score was low.
Real low.
The first time I checked he was sitting at a twenty, right where the community called the orange zone. After poking around, I found out a dispute between him and a neighbor was the cause.
I also found myself losing points shortly after asking around- apparently it wasn’t polite to do so.
The months after that went well. I was majoring in education in college and found myself volunteering as a substitute teacher for the community school. Meanwhile, I made some friends at a Pen & Paper club, though none seemed to show any true genuine friendship.
People were much too focused on getting their credit score back up. Pious Pierre the clown watched us all intently, and I wondered who exactly was keeping tabs on us.
I hadn’t noticed any cameras, so I wondered if it was all just word of mouth- and yet something about it all just struck me as odd.
It didn’t matter to me. I was just happy for a place to live.
The only true friend I made was with the old man. Jeremy was old, and as the weeks passed he got more brazen. He got drunk. He began to tell stories, rumours, and lies. It all fun and games, but still, his credit score began to lower.
He was a good man, but unfortunately, Pious Pierre did not approve of his credit score.
And finally, while drunk, he practically burst into my house to critique all the small little things he hated about the community. Everything from Mathilda Stewart’s terrible brownies to Pious Pierre and the point system.
“Listen to me now kid,” he eventually began, taking a swig of rum before speaking. “You should leave the community while you still can.”
“What?” I blurted. “I love it here!”
“Kid, they’ve made it so I can’t go anywhere else,” he continued. “The rest of my money can’t support me out back in the real world, no, not in this economical crisis. And I got no family but you kid- you hear that- you’re about as close to family I got.”
“Okay?”
A pause. “Look, nobody else is gonna tell you this but we live in fear. In fear of him. Of that monster of a thing. Pious Pierre. Who do you think runs this place? Him.“
That’s when I realized I never thought about that. Who ran the place, that is. All throughout the months I assumed there was a board of directors or a council- and yet I hadn’t heard of anything.
“Right,” I replied.
“My credit scores’ going down and I’ll be gone soon,” Jeremy confessed. That was true- he was at a low ten. The red zone. “You need to know that he’s watching, always watching. I don’t know how he does it- but that thing can see and hear everything.”
“Maybe we should take you to a hospital-”
“Kid, you gotta leave before you end up cursed like me,” he pressed on. “Before I met you I lived with my wife. She didn’t bother with the social credit. She just laughed it off as a trivial thing. A month later she was gone.”
“Gone?”
“Yup,” he confirmed. “Gone. It was night, two men broke in and took her away in a car. I ran after her- they were taking her to the school. I went after silent, trying to get her back- but before I knew it, they threw her into some closet. That was the last time I saw her.”
“What?”
“I tried to get her out- believe me, but it was solid metal and locked. I could only hear her screams. I’ve only seen the thing that lives in there once. Pious Pierre is a monster. A demon. Something not of our world.” “I-”
“I cried for an hour, just across that dungeon. Eventually, the two men came back, ignored me and opened it up. That’s when I saw it. Monstrous thing, covered in blood.”
“Are-”
“So I warn you one last time, kid,” he sighed. “Get out before it’s too late.” That was the last time I saw Jeremy. He went home after that, and checking the credit system, I found that he had zero credits. It was over for him- if his story was true. But he had told bizarre stories countless times over and yet- for this one I knew it was true.
I went to sleep that night afraid and confused. And I also woke up around two in the morning to the sound of screams.
It was Jeremy, outside, resisting against two people with masks on- the masks of a clown. They were dragging him- or at least trying to.
Old Man Pritchard, however weak he looked, was still putting up a hell of a decent fight. He had a gun too- but his shots missed and though I swear at least two hit the men in masks- they did no effect.
I had to stop this- I just had to. Whatever was going on here wasn’t right. I burst out of my house, trying to stop the two, but by then they were in a car, swiftly driving away- I remembered what Jeremy had told me- the school!
I opened the garage, seated myself in my own car- I had finally earned enough money to buy one and sped off to the school.
I followed them, finally arriving. I stalked behind them, quietly sneaking inside. Weirder though, was the fact that all around me- the murals of Pious Pierre had changed- no, WERE changing.
The clown was moving, laughing silently. They pointed at the school- at the closet that led to darkness and death. The two men in masks opened the closet and for a brief second- right before they shoved Jeremy inside- I saw it.
A thing with too many limbs and a neck impossibly long; a far cry from human kind. It was large, gluttonous from human flesh and its clownlike face smiled, and an impossibly long tongue licked itself- all over its face.
The Clown-Thing burst into monotonic laughter that didn’t seem quite human nor beast as Jeremy was shoved inside. It licked its lips once more and- the door shut with a bang, and I could only hear the screams of the old man that had been my friend.
I raced to the door, pounding on it, ignoring the two men- who ignored me.
Still, there was nothing I could do. His fate was sealed. I checked my phone, hoping to call the police- but stumbled and instead opened the community board app by accident.
Jeremy was already gone- removed from society. He wasn’t on the app anymore. As if he had never existed.
But worse, was my score- going down by the second. It had been an eighty-four the last I checked but now- it was at a forty, and going down- fast.
“Get out before it’s too late.” I remembered Jeremy’s words.
And I intended to follow them. I practically leaped into my car, drove home- making sure to gather all my essentials, and left, driving out.
As I began to leave I saw two men in clown masks head towards me, but I swerved past them. Around the neighborhood the murals of Pious Pierre laughed again, pointing at me.
I looked at the side mirrors- the two men had appeared inside my car in the backseat.
One of them tried to reach for me but a swift turn knocked him out of balance. The exit was near now- I could see the gate. It wasn’t opening, and one of the two men behind me had an arm around my throat.
To hell with it.
I drove up the speed and crashed right into the gate, slicing through it like butter- and the second I was out the two clown-faced men were gone. I looked back one final time. The two men were there right behind the broken gate.
The mural of Pious Pierre was crying now, though he seemed angry- instead now pointing at the two men. And the two men in masks looked scared.
Checking the community board once more, two people’s scores were going down- going down to zero.
It’s been a while now, and I’ve been doing much better. I got a job as a teacher, and I live in a quiet part of the city in a pretty cozy apartment.
It’s not the awesome lifestyle living in the gated community was, but it’s better than under the threat of that- that thing.
Sometimes I wonder what it was. Other times, I wish I could forget it all happened. Either way- if you see an ad for a house that just seems too cheap- don’t trust it. It might just be the First Kasden Community.
And if you do find yourself living there- watch out. Pious Pierre might not approve of your social credit score.