"Doesn't anyone listen anymore?" Bones asked. He closed his eyes. "We need to go back to the house and have a talk with Harrison, but we're going to do this my way."
"Would you kill the man if you had to?" Father Rocco asked.
Bones hesitated with his answer. He didn't want to lie to a priest but his answer would stir up some real trouble, and he didn't want to discuss the options on the short walk to the ancient house. "Yes. I will kill him if I have to."
"So be it." Father Rocco glanced up to the sky. "Lead us, Oh Lord."
* * * * *
Dylan Murphy watched as the congregation left his bar. He stayed behind and straightened the tables and chairs, killing time before the important work began. Soon enough, someone would find the woman and bring her to him. He didn't need to scour Keyport for her. It was inevitable someone would find her.
Tonight was the night to let Him rise from the bay and take his rightful place, and Dylan knew it meant the end of his life. He was ready for it. He welcomed it.
He went behind the bar and poured himself a double shot of whiskey, sucking it down with a grimace. Dylan didn't want to get drunk but he wanted to take the edge off. While he could smile through the thought of dying and act casual in front of the Keyport branch of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, he was… scared.
"Dylan, what do you need me to do?"
Dylan turned to see the hulking man framed in the doorway. "I need you to go below and stay there."
The man's eyes went into slits and his gills flipped angrily on his neck. "I can help."
"You can help by taking care of those below. You've done more than enough. I thank you, and He will thank you when this is all done. Tonight."
"I can send the children into the shadows. They can see what others cannot see."
"No," Dylan said curtly. He was sick of arguing with the man. "You will do as you are told. We all have to do our part in this night. You've done yours, and now it is time to listen to me." Dylan shook his fist. "Now, go below with the rest of them and don't come up the steps until someone calls you."
The man turned and disappeared. Dylan didn't like him, or the others like him. Freaks and mutants, they served a purpose but Dylan still couldn't understand their overall importance.
They weren't from the real families of Keyport. They were outcasts from the north, the weak and disgusting those in New England had no use for. Several generations later, they were all the more grotesque. Dylan didn't even know how many were living below, under the streets and in basements, crawl spaces and under the docks. Maybe as many as a hundred. And they bred like rats but usually died out before reaching their twentieth year.
He disliked having them underneath his bar and having to deal with them, although, maybe tonight he'd need their help if anyone outside of Keyport tried to stick their nose in what was happening.
Dylan smiled and poured another drink, watching the liquid swirl in his glass. He glanced at the phone at the end of the bar. He really wanted to call former friends and family in Rhode Island and let them know he'd won. The Great One was coming to see him and not them. He was going to summon their Master and they'd all die because Dylan Murphy had been chosen. After all these generations, he would be the one to set this into motion and enter a new age.
* * * * *
They came at the house from the west, fighting step by step through stunted trees and thorny bushes. Bones led the way, trying to clear a path for the priest and the woman. This looked easier on paper, he thought. They'd wasted too much time already, and if he'd known it was going to be so slow and his arms and face would get so ripped up, he would have strode down the driveway to the house and called out for Harrison.
"Stop," Bones whispered and put up his hand. He turned with a smile and looked at the priest. "I'm going to go and check it out. You do not move from this spot no matter what. Don't worry about my hand being up or down, don't worry about anything. Concentrate on standing in this spot and not moving. Can you handle that, Rocco?"
The priest smiled. "I think I can handle it." He stopped smiling. "But can you handle them?"
Bones turned to see at least twenty townspeople coming up the long driveway, brandishing weapons and flashlights. He could sense many more just out of sight up the road, and knew they were probably surrounded. "If we have to fight our way out, stick close to me."
Tina whimpered and ducked behind a tree.
Bones didn't move. He watched as the group went past them, some only fifteen feet from their hiding spot at the edge of the tree line, and walked up to the house. A few men in the group split from the main and went around either side of the house, surrounding it.
"What are they doing?" Father Rocco whispered in Bone's ear.
"I don't know, but I'm thinking they don't know we're here, so we need to stay out of the way. For now, we watch and try to learn something." This night was getting worse and worse.
Someone rapped on the front door of the house and within seconds Harrison was on the porch. The house was too far for Bones to hear what was being said, but from the animated arm-waving from Harrison it was obvious he wasn't happy. When one of the men tried to push past him, Harrison knocked him back off the steps and went back inside, slamming the front door.
"Now what?" Rocco asked.
"Nothing. We wait. Maybe they'll leave."
But Bones could see they weren't going to simply walk away and leave Harrison and the house. Two younger men ran back down the driveway and soon another group of townspeople were going to the house, spreading out on all sides.
"Open this door or we will force it open," the leader of the group shouted at the house. "Harrison Marsh, you will let us enter."
"Uh oh," Father Rocco said. "They aren't leaving, and they might end up hurting Harrison."
"I won't lose sleep over any of it," Bones said. "But, if we can get Harrison out alive, it will be better. But I don't think we're going to, if you ask me." Bones didn't know what their next move was. "I'm going to get closer to the house, but I swear to God, if you so much as move an inch or put her in danger I'm going to slap you, old man. Do you understand?"
Father Rocco smiled and nodded. "You want me to stay here, right?"
Bones gently lifted himself from the bushes, careful to not get anything caught on him and let it snap back. He stayed on the tree line to the west of the house, moving one slow step at a time. When Harrison opened the door again and Bones saw all eyes on him, he managed to run for thirty feet before dropping down near a severed tree stump, sliding behind it for coverage. He was only about fifty feet from the porch now, and, if he reached out, he might be able to touch one of the stragglers hanging near the back of the group. He knew if he was seen he'd be facing dozens of people hell bent on hurting him.
"What do you want? You're not coming inside. No way. This is my property and I own it," Harrison was shouting. "This damn town has destroyed my marriage, taken my hair and everything I had. It's destroying my family, and tonight it stops."
When the lead townsperson tried to grab Harrison, Bones could see the blade as it moved through the air. The man screamed as Harrison, using a long knife, sliced open the man's arm. The blood hadn't hit the porch floor by the time Harrison slammed the door yet again.
As they pulled the bleeding man off the porch, two men tried to shoulder their way through the front door. Bones could hear the wood splintering and knew it wouldn't be long before they gained entry.
He needed a diversion to get them away from the door, but didn't know what to do. He needed to think quickly, too. Bones decided to crawl around to the side or back of the house and see if he could sneak in a window. Maybe Harrison wasn't too far gone. He was obviously no longer working with Keyport.
Bones moved back to the tree line, squatting down and moving as slowly as he could. If he was spotted he'd be surrounded, and the mob was getting louder by the second. Between the attack and the closed door, they were riled up.
The front door shattered at th
e same time an old man turned and looked right at Bones.
"Hey, who in Hell is that guy?"
* * * * *
Father Rocco watched as Bones ran down the driveway, staying as far away from them as he could, while being chased by at least twenty people. Bones was fast but there were many of them, and they were spreading out as they moved.
Two women, holding golf clubs, ran by only a few feet from the bushes and Rocco had to duck. Tina made another noise but she wasn't loud enough for anyone to notice, especially with a few of the adults yelling for Bones to stop and others with crazy war cries. The crowd was in a frenzy and Father Rocco guessed the bloodlust would only grow in time.
"How many are left at the house?" Tina asked next to him, scaring Rocco. "We need to get inside before something worse happens."
"When did you suddenly wake up?" Father Rocco asked her but he smiled. He was relieved she was suddenly among the living. He didn't want to keep dragging her around with him, especially if he needed to spring into action. Ha, when's the last time you sprung for anything? He laughed at his own joke. "Are you ready to move?"
Tina nodded. She still had a vacant look in her eyes but Rocco could see she was cognizant of her surroundings for the first time in a long time. "If we stay here, eventually someone will spot us. If they get to Harrison and hurt or kill him, we've lost an ally. Not to mention his wife. She's seen things… maybe she can help us, too. And maybe they know where the holy relic is." Tina started crawling to the house, her dress getting dirty as she moved.
Father Rocco started to follow. Once again he was being led by someone but he didn't care. He was too old to fight or run, and, if anyone grabbed him hard enough, he was sure they'd break his brittle bones. It was all he could do to keep up with Tina.
They made their way to the back of the house. The back door was open and no one was around.
Tina stood and ran to the door. "We might be too late."
Before Father Rocco could reach the opening, Tina was already gone. He wanted to cry out for her but that would give away his position. Instead, he climbed the back steps one at a time, feeling his knees popping as he did.
He stepped into a disused foyer, rotting coats and old paint cans on hooks and shelves, the floor dusty save for a few footprints. Rocco followed; dread hammering him with every step.
When he got into the kitchen, he stopped to listen for noise but there wasn't any. It was eerily quiet, and he didn't like it. His mind was screaming to turn around and run out the back door and head for the hills, but he had to find Tina.
The kitchen led into a hallway which led into the living room and the front of the house. Father Rocco stopped when he saw the multitude of silent townsfolk jammed into the room, and a few of them turned to stare at him when he entered.
He looked up the stairs to see Tina, standing next to the covered monstrous painting, with a dozen townspeople blocking her exit up.
"Leave her alone," Father Rocco shouted. "Let her go."
"We can't do that. This is Cthulhu's will now. The girl will be the proper sacrifice. We've waited for so long." One of the men closest to Rocco was brandishing a long knife and now he waved it at the priest. "Go back to your ruined church, old man, and pray to your god who deserted you."
"Leave her alone," Father Rocco yelled and tried to charge through the crowd, pushing and fighting as he moved. But he was too old and fragile, and in no time someone had pulled him to the ground. The townsfolk began beating on his body, stomping him.
He could hear Tina crying out to him but then someone crushed the side of his head and everything went black.
* * * * *
Bones was out of breath, but he pushed himself to keep moving. He was getting ahead of the mob but they knew these streets better than he did, and he was sure some of them were flanking his sides. He needed to hide as soon as he could. He also knew he was running right back into the hornet's nest near the waterfront and Murphy's Pub.
He leaned against a building on Front Street, in view of the bar. He didn't know how many people were still inside and didn't know if it was wise to walk in there. He'd be trapped. But he could hear his pursuers and they were closing on him. Bones also knew they were going to surround him soon, too.
The little girl was in the shadows and smiling at him.
Bones gave her a small wave. He didn't want to move for fear she'd call out and give away his position.
She motioned with her hand to come to her. When he didn't move, she frowned.
"Do you want them to find you? They'll hurt you, mister."
Bones could see her aura and it wasn't pleasant. In fact, there was something really off with the child. But right now he needed to hide.
"What do you suggest?" he asked her.
She pushed at the shadows behind her and he could see a faint light through the now-open door. "Follow me. I'll make sure they don't get you."
Bones decided the little girl was the lesser of two evils right now… but not by much. He ran across the street and joined her. She flew down old wooden steps and he followed, keeping his eyes and ears open for trouble, which he knew was coming.
He could smell unwashed bodies and blood before he got to the bottom of the steps and slowed down. The little girl disappeared around a corner and now he could hear giggling children.
"Come on, mister, follow me," she yelled and laughed. He could hear snickering.
Bones walked down the rest of the steps as quietly as he could. He still had the charred piece of wood in his hand but it would be useless in close quarters if he had to fight.
When he came around the corner, he wasn't surprised to see the children but he was caught off guard by how many were there and their various birth defects. Most striking, however, was the veritable pulsating evil they were surrounded by.
Bones knew his mother would not be proud of what he was about to do.
As the first little boy, smiling with dagger-like teeth, ran up to him with arms held wide as if he wanted a simple hug, Bones turned the two-by-four in his hands and used it as a battering ram against the boy's head.
* * * * *
Harrison watched, from behind the men at the top of the stairs, in frustration. The old priest wasn't a bad man, and he deserved much better than being beaten to death by this rabble. This was all going very badly and he saw no way to do anything about it.
One of the men on the stairs turned toward him while the others went after the woman. Harrison supposed this was the female they were looking for, and she's walked right into their waiting arms. All was lost.
"You're coming with us," the man on the steps in front of him said.
"I don't think so." Harrison went to take a step back down the hallway to his wife but decided not to give up the prime spot at the top of the stairs. When the man came up another step, Harrison punched him in the face and smiled when he toppled backward, taking another man with him.
The woman was being dragged down the steps by two men but she was a fighter, kicking and punching and using her body as dead weight, trying to dig her heels into the banister.
Harrison charged them, tossing one man over the rail, where he fell a few feet and toppled a group below. "Run up the stairs and to the left," he yelled to her. "I'll hold them as long as I can."
She ran past him with a few people in pursuit, coming up the steps. "This is too easy," Harrison said loudly and began laughing. He didn't know if it was the frustration of being trapped in Keyport, losing his wife or the insanity he knew was taking him over, but he felt a great relief as he kicked the first man in the face as he came running up the stairs. "Bring it on, you sick bastards."
Harrison held onto the rail and steadied himself against the covered painting on the wall and used his feet to keep them at a distance. "I can kick the shit out of you cultists all day."
"Give up the woman and we'll let you live," one of them said.
"You don't get it, do you? I don't think I want to live anymore. Not after wh
at I've seen. Not after the things I've done, and for what? To keep my cursed family name and help a bunch of lunatics raise a giant beast from the bay and destroy the world. Even saying that aloud makes me laugh. Doesn't it sound ridiculous to you idiots?"
"It is the way of the world. We need the girl in order to make it happen. Step aside."
"Nope." Harrison took a step up to get a better angle at kicking some teeth in and his hand slipped, pulling the covering off the painting on the wall. He instinctively looked away, closing his eyes.
He felt movement on the steps and opened his eyes to see two people, hands covering their sight from the painting, coming at him. It seemed like there were less people on the stairs, and the three previously in the lead were now gone.
The painting has claimed them, Harrison thought. He knew, if he was mad enough to look at the swirling mass of hideous colors, he would see the taken on the picture, writhing in horror.
"What are you doing?" someone from below yelled. "Don't do it!"
Harrison had yanked the painting from the wall and turned it to face the masses. He blinked and several people were simply gone. Everyone smart enough turned their gaze. Harrison kicked the closest person to him in the shoulder and toppled him and anyone underneath him.
As they fell, one of them men glanced at the painting and was gone. Harrison began taking slow steps up the stairs, angling the painting so no one would come back up the steps. "I will kill every last one of you if I have to and burn this city to the ground. Do you understand me?"
No one said a word and no one tried to go back up the stairs. He knew it wouldn't last long, but, if he could get inside the bedroom with Nicole and the woman, he'd be safe. For now. He needed to devise a new plan, and the painting was his best bet right now.
At the top of the landing, he stopped. "Do not think I'm bluffing. You are not my people and I'm ashamed to be called a Marsh. When I get out of this filthy place, I'm going to destroy every last remnant of the Marsh name and every last cultist I can find. Mark my words."
Keyport Cthulhu Page 10