"You don't know what you are dealing with, Mister Marsh. You cannot win," someone yelled.
"We’ll see." Harrison ran to the bedroom and opened the door. The room was barren and Nichole was in the fetal position under the window, rocking herself.
"Where is the woman?"
"Who?" his wife said distantly. "I'm all alone. All alone."
"Shit." He went back into the hallway and saw the bedroom door at the other end of the hallway wide open.
The doorway to the room his grandfather lived in… his dead grandfather.
* * * * *
Bones threw up. The smell of rotting fish and dirty bodies mixed with the blood was too much for him. He didn't want to see the broken bodies of the children and he felt horrible, but it was either them or him. They would have ripped him apart, as evidenced by the poor sap lying in the corner.
He didn't know how many there were and he wasn't going to count them. They'd come at him like a wave, the personification of evil in their inbred forms. He'd been around some bad people in his lifetime but his radar was off the charts in this place.
The board was cracked and splintered. Besides hitting these demon children, it had slammed against the thick walls a few times and he'd managed to knock one of the posts down. Bones needed to get out of this dank cellar before the ceiling came crashing down on him.
He got to the other side and started ascending steps slowly, but they were old and wet and making far too much noise. He knew if anyone above was listening they'd know he was coming up. All the noise from the battle below had definitely alarmed them as well.
And he heard someone moving above him now.
He finished breaking the wood in half. It would be easier to use it anyway. Bones stopped trying to be quiet and walked right up the stairs, putting his hand on the knob. He was amazed when he turned it and the door opened. He swung it and put his back to the wall, expecting an attack.
Instead, all he saw was an upper stockroom with two overhead lights and the biggest, craziest looking fucker he'd ever seen. And the monster was smiling at him.
* * * * *
"Holy shit," Harrison said and went back to the steps, suddenly appearing and holding out the painting. More people disappeared. "Go back down the steps or I will come down there and force you to look at this atrocity. Now, I mean it."
They backed slowly down the stairs. Once he was confident they weren't an immediate threat, Harrison went to the doorway at the other end of the hall, afraid to see what he'd find.
First Nichole and now this woman, he thought. When will this end? How many innocent people will have to be destroyed before this madness is either stopped or their dark god is set free?
Harrison would have to do what he should have done when he'd first gotten to the house: end his grandfather's unholy life.
The room was dark. Harrison reached in slowly and flicked the light switch, but it didn't work. He knew it wouldn't. The old man only came out at night.
"Grandfather? We need to talk," Harrison said. He slid the painting behind him, careful not to look at it. "I realize now what it means to be a Marsh, and I want to join in the fight and release our Master. I want us to succeed and thrive in this new world we'll be creating."
He didn't hear anything. He took a tentative step inside.
"Hello?" he finally said, taking another step, expecting an attack at any moment.
The blinds were drawn and he went to them in the dark, banging against a table or chair. He pulled the rotting blind, moonlight exposing the empty room.
"How is this possible?" He pushed over the table in frustration. The woman must have come in here. All the other rooms were locked.
He glanced out the window and saw the shadowy form of his bleached grandfather as he was exiting the house from the root cellar door, the woman unconscious in his arms.
"No," Harrison yelled. How had he gotten out and past him? Harrison stomped across the room to the exit and noticed the hole in the floor for the first time. His grandfather had slid down between the walls and, obviously, into the cellar. He was free.
By the time Harrison got down the stairs, the townsfolk had cleared out and he could see them as they made their way across his dead lawn to the bay and the rowboats.
* * * * *
The man (if you could still call it that) was a giant, menacing and with such a bad aura Bones almost couldn't see past it.
"Goddamn are you an ugly sucker," Bones said, more to keep his nerves calm than to really expect an answer or a retort.
"That's not what your mom said," the giant said through his cracked lips. He smiled again. "I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart, little man."
Bones was a big dude but compared to this guy he was small.
"Bring it. I don't suppose you'll take a bath before we begin, though? You stink."
"I'll bathe in your blood," the giant said and moved forward, hands moving and ready to pounce.
"Not very original," Bones said as he gripped the board with both hands. He'd aim for the eye and hope he could shove it into the thing's brain before sheer weight crushed him. "I'm going to ask you nicely to let me pass. I have no problem with you. I'm also in a hurry."
The man smiled and swept a hand to his side. "Since you asked me so nicely I'll let you go."
"Huh?" Bones took two steps to his side and away from the monster, still holding the board. "I just want to leave."
"It won't matter, you know."
"What do you mean?"
The deformed man pointed at the wall. "He's out there and He is going to awaken. Tonight. Right before us witnesses. You don't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, and neither do I. I could let you walk out the door and you wouldn't be able to stop it."
"Then let me pass," Bones said.
The giant smiled. "Ripping your arm off and beating you with it will just be a bonus for me on such a great night."
"Then it's going to suck for you that you'll miss all the fun," Bones said and moved suddenly, getting inside the man's range and jamming the ragged end of the board into his face, the piece splintering into his mouth and into the back of the throat. Blood and spit poured forth from the gurgling mouth of the monster, and Bones used the man's own weight against him, driving him back against the wall, where the monster closed his evil eyes forever.
* * * * *
Tina went with the old man willingly because God told her to. Despite his pale washed out skin and sunken red eyes, she was no longer scared. He was just an old man caught up in something bigger than the both of them.
When the townsfolk gathered behind them and followed through the dead grass and onto the small patch of beach, Tina began to pray quietly. She was calm. "I am the Lord's vessel," she whispered between prayers.
Dylan Murphy was standing with his hand on one of the rowboats, wearing a smile and holding the holy relic in his other hand. "Welcome. You should be very proud of what you are about to do."
Tina ignored him and went to step into the boat.
"Not yet, my dear," Dylan said and held up his hand. "There is a ritual tonight. We have a way of doing things. Events set into motion before any of us were born are now at their zenith." He looked out to the bay. "Tonight He comes."
Torches were passed around throughout the crowd, some stuck into the sand while others were held. Tina thought it was a bit dramatic to be doing this, even at night, but she kept her mouth shut. She was reminded of the old classic horror movies her parents had watched when she was a kid. She was never allowed to watch them, having to hide behind the house or under an end table while her dad complained about how violent and bad the movie was and her mom ignored him.
"We need to pray," Dylan said and held out his hands, motioning for Tina to take his in hers. She did.
The entire group joined hands in a circle on the beach, bowing their heads.
Tina didn't understand the words they began to chant but she shivered and knew their meaning on a primal level.
&n
bsp; When she heard the words Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn, Tina nearly fainted.
* * * * *
The Broad Street Pub was empty and so were the streets as Bones stepped outside. He knew blindly walking to Locust Street and the ancient house wasn't an option. An entire town filled with cultists was going to be between Bones and the priest and woman, and he didn't have the strength to fight everyone. There would be guards posted around the property.
If he took the time to crawl in, it would take over an hour and he might miss all the excitement. If he even got close enough. Before they went out into the bay…
Bones smiled and began walking to the dock at the end of the road.
* * * * *
Father Rocco wiped the blood from his face and winced when he touched his right eye. His body was one massive bruise, and at least three fingers on his left hand were broken and twisted. His sides hurt from all the kicks, and he guessed he had broken ribs. He heard himself wheezing and his left ear was ringing. He wouldn't be long for this world.
He dragged his body to the front door, crying with every inch. It was closed and he didn't have the strength to reach up and open it. Father Rocco tried to get to one knee but it buckled under him. He slammed headfirst against the door, adding a new pain.
"Jesus, help me in my time of need," he whispered. "Give me the strength to open this door and get to the bay before she is sacrificed to this evil entity. Give me the will to rise and open this door. Lift me up on high, Lord…"
Father Rocco, straining, could see the doorknob turning. A miracle, he thought, just before the door swung open and banged him in the head.
* * * * *
Harrison stared down at the priest and had to laugh. He'd heard him scratching at the door and thought a hellhound was trying to get out so he'd bashed it in the head. Only, he'd knocked out a beaten old man. The priest looked like shit. If it weren't for his frail chest rising and falling so fast, he'd be mistaken for dead. "I guess you are anyway," Harrison said. "We all are." He glanced back up the stairs where he knew his wife was still balled up and sobbing like a baby. She was gone to him now… she was dead like everyone else would be soon enough.
Harrison stepped over the unconscious priest and left the door open a crack. If the old man woke, maybe he'd crawl outside and find a nice quiet patch of dead grass to watch Cthulhu rise and die on. It didn't matter anymore.
"Honey?" he called up the stairs. Harrison was going to see his wife and spend their last remaining hours or days together. He didn't expect her to respond.
Nicole was still hunched in the corner and Harrison went to the window to open it but it was not only painted shut but nailed, too. He tried unsuccessfully to loosen it, finally pulling his sleeve down and smashing the glass out, letting the cool night air in.
When he was finished breaking the glass out and making sure nothing jagged remained, he bent down and pulled his wife up to her feet, leaning her against the wall.
There was a chair in one of the other rooms and Harrison carried it in and set it right in front of the now-open window.
"Come on, baby. Sit with me awhile and let's watch the end of the world together," Harrison said. "We'll have the best seat in the house."
* * * * *
Tina woke when they lifted her and put her into the bow of the rowboat. There were four men with her, all carrying torches and watching her intently.
Dylan Murphy was sitting beside her. "How are you feeling? We had quite a scare there for a few minutes," he said. "You banged your head."
Tina reached back and felt the lump on the back of her head, pulling her hand away and seeing the drying blood. "What have you done to me?"
"Nothing. You actually just fainted and hit your head on the boat. I'm glad you're alright." Dylan grinned, his face like a maniacal pumpkin in the torchlight. "We don't want you damaged for the sacrifice you will become soon enough."
Tina noticed the holy relic in Dylan's hand and knew she had to get her hands on it. Before it was too late. She looked back to see the lights of Keyport in the distance and knew she was far into the bay right now. They were the only rowboat out here and the water was calm. "What now?"
Dylan sat down in the rowboat. "We wait for Cthulhu to give us the first sign."
"Which is?"
"He begins to rise and we toss you into his waiting maw. It's pretty simple. Brilliant in its simplicity. We've already done the chants and the rituals and now it is up to him. You will give us what we need… what the others have failed to do whenever it is time."
"How many times?" Tina asked, genuinely interested. She was under the impression this was almost a given, that she'd be killed and then the monster would awaken. Now, she wasn't so sure.
"Over the years… whenever someone in the Order of Dagon thought He was ready, but I always knew they were wrong. It took me years to rise in the ranks and know where He really slumbered. Not to the north, but right here, secreted under the bay, and waiting for this dark night."
Tina closed her eyes. "My God - the one True God - won't let this happen, you know. He won't allow me to be a sacrifice to some dark power."
"You are about to be disappointed."
Tina opened her eyes just as Dylan began to chant softly and raise the holy relic over his head.
That was when the powerboat came out of the darkness and straight at them.
* * * * *
Father Rocco got as far as the porch and was able to pull himself up into one of the wooden chairs. Every inch of his body screamed in pain and he passed out once or twice from a jolt of pain. He was wheezing and he thought his lung was about to collapse, his throat gurgling with what he hoped wasn't blood. He was too old for internal injuries and knew there was no hospital run in his future. What little future he had left.
The townsfolk were mobbed on the shore, their torches and flashlights giving off weird glows. His old eyes couldn't see too far past them into the bay but he caught a glimpse of light out there and figured they were drowning the innocent girl and trying, once again, to summon their Master.
Father Rocco had nothing left to live for, but, despite this sobering fact, he was still trying to get every last breath he could find. He wanted to do whatever it is he could to help, even if it was only prayer at this point.
With slow, deliberate moves, he extracted his rosary beads from his pocket using broken fingers and wrapped them around the bloody digits. Father Rocco Ignatius bowed his head, tears streaming from his eyes, and in a hoarse raspy blood-filled voice began to pray for all their souls.
* * * * *
Bones killed the engine of the boat and let it drift right to the rowboat. He wasn't worried about stealth but apparently the four men with Tina were too focused on their unholy business or so arrogant they didn't think anyone would go against them.
He watched them watching him and they all looked unconcerned. Bones grabbed the rowboat with his hand, expecting them to attack him at any moment. No one moved but Tina smiled at him.
"What are you doing? It's too late. Join us. You have blood on your hands," Dylan Murphy said.
Bones gave him the finger and stepped onto the rowboat, being as careful as he could as it began to rock. One of the men reached out to grab Bones with the hand not holding his torch. Bones didn't know if he was trying not to fall or attacking, but he was taking no chances.
One elbow and the man pitched into the bay, his torch snuffed out as it hit the water. The boat rocked fiercely as the two other men tried to scramble away from Bones but Dylan just smiled.
"You're wasting your time. I can sense Him below," Dylan said and grabbed Tina by her arm, pulling her to him and threatening her with the holy relic. "Get back onto your own boat and go away. I'd run if I were you, because once she's killed and tossed into the bay, He'll rise and claim this world as his own."
"How about this," Bones said and took a step closer. The two men were between him and the girl. Bones cocked a fist and made to swi
ng at one of the men, who jumped overboard. The other man followed suit, leaving Bones with Tina and Dylan. "I'll take the girl and then you join your buddies in the bay. We sail away and the sun comes up soon enough and we all live happily ever after."
"It doesn't work that way," Dylan said. "I kill her by drowning her. By this sacrifice, The Great Cthulhu awakens."
"What if I kill you first?"
Dylan smiled. "If you take another step closer, I'll drive this into her throat and choke her to death."
"You've never killed anyone, have you?"
Dylan's smile dropped.
Bones took a step forward. "Because if you had, you'd know it takes more than an idle threat to actually snuff the life from another human being. You may think you're stronger than her, but her will to live is much greater than you think. Also, her neck muscles are more powerful than your hands and she'll fight. She's not tied up and her nails are pretty long, so you'll need to watch your eyes. Women love going for the eyes, you know. If she's smart, she'll kick you in the balls."
Tina suddenly relaxed and kicked back as hard as she cold, connecting with Dylan's crotch. As Dylan released her and doubled over, Bones yelled for her to drop to her knees and grabbed Dylan by his hair, lifting his face and punching him in the nose.
As Dylan's nose exploded and blood coated Bones, the bar owner fell back and out of the boat.
"Help," Dylan screamed. "Don't let me die."
Bones reached out a hand. "Give me the relic."
"No."
"Then you'll drown."
Dylan, treading water, went under and drank water, coughing when he managed to come back up. "No," he repeated weakly.
Bones held onto the side and grabbed the relic as Dylan, busy trying to climb back into the boat, came closer.
"No! You have no idea what you're doing," Dylan said.
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