Cthulhu's Daughter and Other Horror Tales

by Rhiannon Frater

  Her last thought as a free-willed human was that she was dreaming.

  Then she was swallowed up in a black abyss of pain and when she emerged she wanted nothing more than to serve her mistress.

  Over the dunes of ash, the others came. Susan turned away from them and toward the portal that hovered in the air that led into her world. She had only to touch it and it would expand to allow the Devourers of Worlds in. The roaring wails of other creatures that had once been Keys into their own worlds filled the cold, dry air around her. They, too, were now slaves, chained to their masters. One of the slaves gave out a terrible cry as its huge form came into view, blocking out the sight of the calm, gray clouds above. Susan would have once been afraid, but now she understood that to fear the masters was foolishness. She was one of their beloved treasures now. She would not suffer the fate of her race.

  The many-armed creature with a gruesome visage howled again.

  It was time.

  Susan turned her gaze back to the portal and reached out her hand.

  ***

  Gavin could not comprehend what had just happened. He stared at his reflection in the mirror Susan had vanished into. His face was extremely pale and his eyes looked huge in their sockets. Slowly, he drew his hand up to press it against the surface of the mirror. It was cool to his touch and did not give way beneath the press of his fingers.

  It couldn’t be real, but he had seen that awful white hand reach out of the glass and grab Susan and drag her through. The mirror hadn’t broken. It had remained cold, hard silvered glass.

  His fingers trailed over his reflection.

  “Susan,” he whispered.

  There was no answer. All he could hear were the sounds of the city beyond his apartment windows and his own heartbeat thudding in his chest. His lungs began to burn and he realized he had been holding his breath.

  Drawing in a large, painful breath of air, he choked and coughed.

  “Susan,” he wheezed.

  There was no answer.

  He must be dreaming. This was a nightmare. All of it. He must have fallen asleep before going to the restaurant. That was it. This was a nightmare. He must have dozed on the sofa when he was waiting for Susan to be ready and his fears were manifesting in this awful dream.

  All he had to do was wake up.

  Drawing back from the mirror, he tried to think of a way to get his brain to switch off the nightmare and draw him back into the world of reality. He slapped his own cheek, but hardly felt the blow. He felt so numb.

  I’m in shock, he thought.

  No, no.

  I’m dreaming, he amended.

  That was why he couldn’t feel the blow.

  He tried pinching his arm as hard as he could and gasped at the pain. That hurt, but he remained trapped in the nightmare.

  “Susan, I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I won’t hurt you. When I wake up, I’ll be understanding. I promise.”

  He slammed his palm against his forehead a few times, but still remained encased in the dream.

  “Shit. I need to wake the hell up!”

  Gavin was beginning to feel desperate and looked around the bathroom. It was small and cramped. Maybe if he got in the shower and turned the cold water on that would do the trick.

  A sharp, high note sang through the bathroom and Gavin twisted around on his feet trying to figure out where it was coming from.

  The mirror was vibrating.

  He staggered back against the wall, a towel rack catching him hard in the ribs. Wincing, he gripped his side.

  “Susan! I’m sorry! I want to wake up!”

  The mirror began to tear apart like paper. Long strips of his terrified reflection peeled away from the frame and fell to the ground, shattering. The frame came apart, splintering. A freezing gust of stale air whistled out of the black hole and seared his flesh.

  Then the entire wall collapsed.

  What lay beyond the ruined masonry was too terrible for Gavin’s mind to comprehend. A multi-armed creature, glistening white and enormous, finished pulling away the pipes of the plumbing, then drew back to allow a pale, black-garbed woman through the torn hole. She was tall, thin and beautiful to behold in a flowing black gown of supple leather. Her coal black eyes regarded him for a second, then she stepped firmly into the destroyed bathroom. The building moaned and creaked around them. Water spurted out of broken water pipes, but she did not seem to notice.

  A long black chain was attached to the woman’s throat. It led back into the cold, terrible world where howling creatures clawed at ash dunes.

  Gavin felt tears flowing down his face and piss and shit filling his pants.

  The woman was Susan.

  Slowly, Susan turned and summoned another creature.

  This one was so great in height, she had to stoop over as she entered the bathroom. Her long gown swirled into the small room, filling it. The fleshy folds slid over Gavin’s legs and he cried out in terror.

  The hunched creature took note of him for a second, then reached out her hands to grip the doorway leading into the hallway. She pulled her body through the narrow passage, her grotesquely beautiful face disappearing from sight. The long, black train of the dress began to be drawn through the doorway, the folds rippling over Gavin’s body.

  Susan, remotely beautiful and terrifying, watched him. There was no expression in her face. No life in her eyes.

  “Please, don’t kill the world,” Gavin whispered. “Close the doorway.”

  “I am the Key. Not the Lock,” Susan answered in a voice devoid of emotion.

  The wall behind him was ripped away. Plaster, bits of mortar, and bricks pummeled him. Gavin fell to his side, terrified.

  The terrible, beautiful creature Susan had let into the world looked down at him. Its black lips turned up slightly. The cold, fleshy folds of her dress suddenly stiffened and slashed out at him.

  Gavin gasped as his body was sliced in two. His hands fluttered over his stomach as his intestines spilled out onto the cold floor beneath him.

  The hem of the dress slashed out at him again and again, cutting through skin, muscle, bone, and organs. Blood splashed the room red and decorated Susan’s visage in ruby drops.

  Gavin’s last thought was a silent plea.

  Susan, don’t destroy the world.

  ***

  Susan watched as Gavin’s life drained way and the creature above him shuddered with pleasure.

  “Life,” it said in English. “Life is ours.” The words were twisted and foreign on its tongue.

  “There’s more,” Susan answered. “So much more.”

  Her new mistress smiled. Flinging up her hands, she tore through the ceiling above. Screams filled the air as the upstairs tenants tumbled down through the ruin. The creature shredded them into fleshy ribbons and feasted on their life essence. Moving through the apartment, she ripped down the walls and ceiling, the building moaning as it was destroyed. Pipes burst and electrical fires exploded into raging infernos.

  Susan followed, her mistress’ protecting her from all harm.

  And behind her, the others began to move through the open doorway into the new world, full of life, waiting to be devoured.

  ***

  The building collapsed as the others came through. Creatures larger than prehistoric dinosaurs ripped through the open doorway. The apartment building moaned as it listed to one side, its inhabitants trying to escape death only to be devoured by the creatures pushing their way into the world.

  The Demi-Goddess of Death rode the crumbling side of the building down to the street, watching with amusement as the falling debris slammed into cars, people, and other buildings. She began to kill immediately, plucking the screaming humans off the street and ripping them to shreds. Their deaths fed her and she was renewed.

  Her true name was long lost. The only one she remembered now was given to her by the last world she had consumed. They had worshipped her until the last of their kind had died. That world had kept her kind
trapped for a millennium. Many of her people had died of starvation, as had their slaves. The survivors had feasted on their deaths, sustaining themselves a little longer, but they had faced their own extinction.

  Then she had seen the burning light, the key of another world, winking at her through a portal in the far distance. It had taken some time to finally find her way to the new portal and reshape herself into a new image to be adored, worshipped, and feared by the new world. She liked her new aspect. It was foreign and strange, grotesque, yet beautiful.

  The Demi-Goddess crushed a fleeing woman with one hand and laughed as her blood sprayed over her.

  Life.

  To feed again was bliss.

  Her slave rode on her great dress, holding tight to the leash. The Demi-Goddess was pleased with her new acquisition and protected it from the explosions rocking the foreign world’s city. The others were through now, tearing down buildings, scavenging for the terrified inhabitants.

  So much life.

  It was exquisite.

  She threw back her head and roared.

  About the Author

  Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of over a dozen books, including the As the World Dies zombie trilogy (Tor), as well as independent works such as The Last Bastion of the Living (declared the #1 Zombie Release of 2012 by Explorations Fantasy Blog and the #1 Zombie Novel of the Decade by B&N Book Blog), and other horror novels. In 2014, her newest horror novel, The Mesmerized, will be released by Permuted Press. Dead Spots will be published in 2015 by Tor. She was born and raised a Texan and presently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets). She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.

  Visit her online at rhiannonfrater.com

  Subscribe to her mailing list at tinyletter.com/RhiannonFrater

  To find out more about Rhiannon’s other books, please continue to the next page.

  Books by Rhiannon Frater

  As The World Dies Trilogy

  (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege)

  The morning that the world ends, Katie is getting ready for court and housewife Jenni is taking care of her family. Less than two hours later, they are fleeing for their lives from a zombie horde. Thrown together by circumstance, Jenni and Katie become a powerful zombie-killing partnership…

  For more information and a link to an excerpt, click here.

  As The World Dies Untold Tales

  (Vol 1-3)

  The As The World Dies Trilogy introduced Jenni and Katie and their harrowing journey to the makeshift fort in the Texas Hill Country. But theirs is not the only tale to be told. Read nine terrifying tales of those who are forced to face the unrelenting and hungry walking dead as the world dies.

  For more information and a link to an excerpt, click here.

  Pretty When She Dies Trilogy

  (Pretty When She Dies, Pretty When She Kills, Pretty When She Destroys)

  Amaliya Vezorak always believed she was destined to live a failed life in obscurity until she was brutally murdered by an ancient vampire named The Summoner and reborn as a powerful vampire necromancer. Now it is up to her to save the world…

  For more information and a link to an excerpt, click here.

  The Vampire Bride Series

  (The Tale of the Vampire Bride, The Vengeance of the Vampire Bride)

  All Lady Glynis Wright ever wanted was the freedom to live her life as she pleased. When her family becomes guests to one of Count Vlad Dracula, Glynis finds her fate is far more terrible than an arranged marriage. Trapped in the power of her new master, she fights for freedom, revenge against her creator, and the chance to be with the one she truly loves.

  For more information and a link to an excerpt, click here.

  The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Series

  Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her whole life within towering walls of steel. She yearns for a life away from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages, but there is no hope for anyone as long as the Inferi Scourge howl outside the high walls. When Maria is conscripted to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge, she realizes the rewards of success are great, but she will have to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life...

  For more information and a link to an excerpt, click here.

  Living Dead Boy

  Josh Rondell is twelve years old and known as the “living dead boy” due to his rampant love of all things zombie. When zombies invade Josh's school can the zombie-obsessed 12-year old and his friends survive?

  For more information and a link to an excerpt, click here.

  In Darkness We Must Abide

  Already living in the shadows due to her albinism, Vanora is just a little girl when her older brother inadvertently unleashes a terrible evil from the family crypt that changes their lives forever.

  As she grows up in a world where beautiful deadly beings hunt by night, one captures her eye and her heart. Yet, can she trust the mysterious Armando? For there is a powerful entity plotting to claim her when she reaches adulthood in order to fulfill an ancient prophecy, and her enemy has enveloped her in a web of deceit, casting doubt on all she believes to be true. Soon, she will have to fight not only to save those she loves, but also for her very soul.

  This serial is published in individual episodes and season compilations. For more information and a free copy of the first episode, click here.

  The Midnight Spell

  (by Rhiannon Frater and Kody Boye)

  Two lifelong best friends ostracized in their small town – he is gay, she is a witch – cast a midnight love spell. They and their new love interests will have to battle a force of darkness which has killed in their town before and will kill again.

  For more information and a link to an excerpt, click here.

  Cthulhu’s Daughter and Other Horror Tales

  From the depths of the darkest waters of the ocean to the eternal darkness of space, Rhiannon Frater crafts taunt tales of terror to enthrall avid readers of the genre. Each short story explores a different type of monster from the shambling undead to devourers of worlds.

  For more information and to read a free story, click here.

  Blood & Love and Other Vampire Tales

  Award-winning author Rhiannon Frater delves deep into the vampire mythos in her new short story collection featuring the beautiful, but deadly undead. Spanning a hundred years and a diverse cast of characters, Rhiannon explores the themes of loneliness, revenge, blood and love in seven tales. How far will the bloodthirsty vampires go to find love, revenge, and family?

  For more information and to read a free story, click here.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Introduction

  The Old Ones

  The Monster with the Human Face

  The Vampires

  The Werewolves

  The Mummy

  The Zombies

  The Monsters from Beyond

  About the Author

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Introduction

  The Old Ones

  The Monster with the Human Face

  The Vampires

  The Werewolves

  The Mummy

  The Zombies

  The Monsters from Beyond

  About the Author

 

 

 
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