“Yes,” he answered, gently pushing her away as he drew the pouch from around his neck. It throbbed in his fingers like a beating heart.
“What are you going to do?”
“Just stand back; I’ve got an idea. It may not work, but something tells me it will.”
She glanced at him with an arched eyebrow but made no reply as she moved back out of the way.
Opening the pouch, he reached in and drew forth the Elder Sign. Its pale form shone in the dimness like a lighthouse beacon, its shimmering whiteness almost blinding them as Terry gasped in surprise.
Holding it out before him, its radiance eclipsing all other illumination, he strode to the door and pressed the talisman firmly against it. With a violent explosion, the mighty rune-inscribed portal imploded, sending chunks of debris flying inward and covering them in a cloud of dust that swirled around them like an opalescent snowstorm.
Williams coughed, then helped Terry up from where she’d fallen as the door disintegrated. In wide-eyed confusion, she stared around, so intent on the bizarre spectacle that she didn’t even notice him putting the Elder Sign back in its pouch. She took it all in stride, though, and shook her head to clear it of dust before following him into the shadowy opening.
As she moved through the broken doorway, the shotgun boomed out in the hollow darkness, reverberating off the walls. Her own gun held ready, she rushed through the settling dust and into the chamber beyond.
Williams stood on the shore of a subterranean lake, staring at two more of the disgusting creatures laying in a heap by the stagnant waters. The cavern around them was huge, extending so far back that its dimensions were lost in shadows. There was a small ledge just above and to the left of them that led to the mouth of another tunnel, but it was the lake itself that captured their attention. It was an incredible sight, with iridescent mist playing out across its surface in spiraling patterns that shimmered off the luminescent plant life. Nearby, something blue and yellow floated in the murky liquid. When Williams first spotted the creatures, they’d been using a stick to try and drag the object closer to shore. Viewing it all from the sheltered distance of the archway, he’d fired almost without thinking. The beasts weren’t the first creatures that he’d slain this night, and they wouldn’t be the last.
Terry crouched next to him, eyeing the corpses with some distaste. “What happened?” she shouted over the vile chanting.
“There were more of those creatures down by the shore. I fired on instinct; I guess I’m getting good at killing...”
“Don’t say that! Don’t you ever say that!” she cried, clutching his arm. “These things are abominations; we’ve got to destroy the whole nest of them if we can. You weren’t killing, you were exterminating! These things, they aren’t human! Lord knows what they are, maybe some kind of mutation or something, but they aren’t human and they are evil. You saw what they did to that poor girl!”
He nodded, still gazing at the object floating in the brackish water. His detachment no longer allowed for such strong emotions; he’d merely been stating a fact. Shaking loose of her grasp, he stepped forward, hoping to get a better look at what was bobbing on the surface. There was something strange about this body of liquid, something... unclean. The Elder Sign pulsed with increasing urgency from around his neck as he considered the lake with growing unease.
Meanwhile, Terry had scooted forward and was reaching out toward the object. Without thinking, he grabbed her arm, dragging her back.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “I wanted to get a closer look –”
“When I first saw them,” he cut in, pointing to the corpses. “They were trying to pull that thing in with a stick. Let’s not be too hasty; it could be dangerous. Besides, I don’t trust what I’m seeing. There’s something... wrong here, something that just doesn’t sit well with me. Let’s get that stick and try to see if we can drag it closer first.”
Soon enough they discovered what had attracted the two beasts; it was another body. This time, the young woman was wearing a blue and gold cheerleading outfit. She floated face down, her blond ponytail trailing out behind her in the murky depths.
As they pulled her closer to shore, he could tell right away that something just wasn’t right. She was unexpectedly buoyant, her arms and well-toned legs bobbing on the surface in a highly improbable fashion. Either the lake was a lot shallower than it appeared, or there was something keeping her from sinking down into it.
Hesitating, Williams cursed to himself as he made a snap decision. He had to know what was going on, so he had to take the risk. Leaning forward, he thrust out his hand, grabbing the girl’s shoulder, and then flipping her over onto the uneven bank.
“Holy shit!” Terry cried out.
The reasons for the young girl’s unaccountable buoyancy were immediately apparent. About two dozen large insectoids had fastened themselves along the front of her torso, their chitinous heads burrowing into her flesh as their segmented, tube-like bodies ran back out under the foul, mist-shrouded water. The things, which were almost as big around as his arm and blue-black in color, clung to the girl’s well-tanned flesh with spidery, ill-formed legs. As Williams took in the unpleasant sight, the creatures continued to feed, and he could see the thick, red plasma running sluggishly down the centers of their long, semi-transparent abdomens. It was being taken in slow increments and, as his eyes shot up to the girl’s face, he found that one of them was also greedily invading her mouth and burrowing deep into her throat.
They were keeping her alive.
As he came to this startling conclusion, one of the girl’s eyes rolled up to stare at him, its deep brown color obscured by a milky sheen. The creature penetrating her mouth was undoubtedly sending oxygen to her lungs and keeping her heart rate steady, but where was all the blood going? He peered out over the body of water with a feeling of bristling fear creeping across his flesh. Then, a movement from beside him caught his attention, and he turned in time to see Terry poking at one of the things with Jarrod’s wand. It shuddered as it dug itself in deeper, eliciting a spasm from the helpless girl and a shriek from Terry as its multifaceted eyes clicked open to stare at her with a deep red malevolence.
“Terry, no!” Williams cried, but he was too late – she’d already brought her arm up and then slammed the heavy flashlight down upon the tube-like portion of the creature, severing it from the thorax and spraying them both with hot, sticky ichor.
The reaction from the lake was instantaneous.
The girl was drawn back across the surface as a low, keening moan erupted from the midpoint of the cavern. Then, the very liquid essence of the lake itself began to retract inward, pulling up from the surrounding bedrock and collecting itself in a mountainous expanse near the center. Thousands of eyes began to flicker to life within that gelatinous mound, and at the very apex arose something so heinous that Williams scrambled backward in an unconscious effort to distance himself. All the walls that had kept him aloof were suddenly crumbling, and the voices in his mind cried out in triumph. Or perhaps it was in fear – either way, he knew that they had to get the hell out of there, and fast. Springing to his feet, he grabbed the stunned Terry by the wrist and pulled her toward the edge of the cave.
As they ran for the rocky, lichen-covered wall, the chanting faded under the moaning cry of the entity behind them. The tunnel he’d seen earlier was there, just above them, and he somehow managed to grab Terry around the waist and heave her up onto the small ledge. Risking a glance back, he saw a mountain of roiling tentacles, each tipped by a chittering, multilegged horror, rushing toward him. It was as if the smaller insects were a part of a greater whole, maybe even younger versions of the central being itself, still attached to the parent organism by sickening umbilicals. Or perhaps the limbs were independent entities in-and-of themselves. It made little difference to him now as he frantically battered at the menacing things with the butt end of the rifle. Managing to clear a small space around him, he threw the shotgun
up into the tunnel mouth, then scrambled toward the ledge, cutting his hands and knees in his rush to climb to safety.
As he sought purchase on the rocky wall, the teeming arachnids swarmed across his exposed back, their ravenous mouth-parts making gnashing sounds that were far more horrifying than the keening moans arising from the larger beast. His arms and legs were sent into a renewed frenzy of motion and, as he finally reached the top of the ledge, he tried shaking them off, but was quickly engulfed by their droning multitudes.
Gunshots rang out in the darkness, and he was suddenly being hauled from beneath their seething masses. Terry had a hold of his pack and was dragging him into the tunnel, expending rounds while screaming out in fierce defiance. Yet for every multilegged parasite she ruptured, another dozen or so took their place. The mouth of the tunnel was soon choked with a wall of the chittering creatures and Terry’s gun was clicking on empty.
Wobbling to his feet, Williams shoved her farther into the corridor, moving them away from an entrance now packed with writhing monstrosities. Wailing and cursing, she continued to pull the trigger on the now useless gun as he tried to shield her from the grasping insectoids as best he could. The echoing chant was all around them now, shuddering throughout the burrow and adding an urgency to the striving bug-like creatures. As he stared into the hundreds of multifaceted eyes, he began to regret having ever touched the floating body.
Curiosity, after all, had killed the cat...
He chuckled at the unexpected thought. This was no time for levity, but there it was. He was suddenly overcome by fits of uncontrollable laughter. Oh, this was a real knee-slapper, one for the record books, all right! Caught in the throes of an all-consuming hysteria, he was only partially aware when Terry opened his pack and dug around in it. Whatever she was doing, he decided it couldn’t possibly be more ridiculous than the scene playing out in front of him. Swaying unevenly, he took a step forward, howling out in insane mirth as he reached toward the pretty glowing lights, the burning, crimson-colored eyes that were now an almost solid wall of rhythmic movement before him.
Grabbing his shoulder, Terry thrust her other arm past him, spraying the chitinous bodies with something from a squeeze can. The sudden smell of kerosene made his eyes water. Then, setting fire to a crumpled bit of rag, she tossed it into the front ranks of the writhing insects. Within seconds, the entire mass of them was engulfed in flames. With an enraged wail from the outer chamber, the burning tentacles were ripped back out of the opening, leaving the air reeking of charred, oily flesh.
“Are you... alright?” she asked, collapsing to the floor.
He knew what she was really asking; had he completely lost his mind? He had, temporarily, and it had almost gotten them both killed! But just hearing her question his sanity was like a cold slap in the face. Pulling together the pieces of his fractured mentality, he slumped down next to her and then gave her a brave, half-apologetic smile.
“Yeah, I guess so. Sorry I flaked out on you there. I’m not sure what came over me – I don’t even like spiders...”
Laughing in unabashed relief, she embraced him. Relaxing into the circle of her arms, he found a strange sort of peace. Even though they were fighting their way through this horrific experience, he was happy with the way they’d come to rely on one another. Not only for support, but for strength in the face of such overwhelming odds. He realized that he’d come to love this brave young woman, and he promised himself right then that he’d tell her of his feelings.
But at that moment the wall suddenly crumbled away, causing tons of soil and rock to rumble outward in a deafening roar that momentarily overpowered the hideous chanting.
Dragging their few possessions along with them, they scrambled back as their refuge deteriorated. There was still enough light from the eerie glow of the phosphorescent vegetation for them to glimpse the cause of the unexpected destruction through a cloud of billowing dust.
Terry whimpered low in her throat, letting the gun slide through her numb fingers as a deep, keening moan washed over them. It was louder, by far, than the chanting, and far more menacing. With hands that seemed to no longer work correctly, Williams fumbled for the shotgun, dragging it along with him as they backed away.
Staring in through the widening gap was a monstrous entity of unimaginable proportions. Its immense, triangular-shaped head filled the opening as its large, multifaceted eyes lit up the darkness like a cluster of gigantic, red-hot coals. Before they could even react, obscene pink tendrils shot out from between its mandibles, hissing along the floor and uncoiling like a mound of writhing snakes. The sight of it sent them into a flurry of renewed motion as they scrambled to their feet and then ran screaming into the recesses of the pitch-black tunnel.
The nebulous, power-infected chamber resonated with the hellish chant, moving in and out of the earthly dimension in a constant state of flux. Just beneath the churning gate, Ezra stood staring up through the vortex and out across the spaces beyond. As the power warped through him, his vision grew more acute, and he was able to discern his faceless god with greater clarity.
Beholding such a creature was an ecstasy never yet felt by him, or his daughter for that matter, and it tore through their shared intellect like a raging storm. Unnoticed, blood began to ooze from his eyes and nose as he stood mesmerized, his stolen body shuddering with internal hemorrhaging as the deity flowed closer through the mists of time and space.
The feeling was... orgasmic.
Wavering and groping, the massive, conical-shaped being approached, its magnificent throat tentacle slithering in-and-out of the aperture at its neck. It had no eyes to speak of, nor ears or mouth, but its many-fingered claws reached out from either side of its shifting, irregular body as it lumbered forward on three gargantuan legs. Here was divine retribution incarnate, and pure madness radiated out from it as it made its way inexorably toward the summoning chamber.
Ezra completed the last section of the chant and then the room fell into a silence punctuated only by the entity’s flowing discords and the thin whimpering of the unwilling sacrifice. At last the legacy of his forefathers was at hand! This was the moment that he’d been waiting for his entire life.
Raising the shimmering dagger, he plunged it straight into the heaving chest of the struggling captive. With a fountain of blood and a tortured scream, Kelly Miller became one with the void forever.
In adulation, Ezra gazed up at the terror that he’d unleashed, falling to his knees in front of the blood-stained altar. Then, as the monstrous being moved closer across the astral planes, he raised his hands in supplication, blood-red tears draining down his face. But, just as the creature was preparing to come forth from the swirling gateway, the muffled sounds of screaming shattered the silence. Turning, Ezra searched for the source of the disturbance, and was just in time to see the back wall crumbling inward as it deposited two dirt-encrusted people onto the floor.
It was the meddlesome doctor and his assistant.
Thrumming with the changes brought about by the power of his god, an ecstatic grin blossomed across his features. It would be an exquisite pleasure to have a captive audience witnessing his transformation into the most powerful being ever known to man. His rule over the planet would start with these two pitiful souls, and he was not blind to the irony of it all. They had tried to stop him, yet now they would be the first to submit to his will.
Peering back through the hole that they’d managed to dig themselves out of, he could just make out the multi-tendrilled form of the lake denizen groping blindly after them. It could not claim them now in its mindless hunger, for they were under his control and subject to the whims of his newly summoned lord – Nathrotep, the Soul and Messenger of the Outer Gods.
21
Terry had lost complete control as they’d thrown themselves against the earthen wall blocking the end of the tunnel. With maddened shrieks, she’d gouged at the obstruction, tearing through it with a ferocity born of terrified desperation. But when the
wall had finally given way, they’d fallen head first into the depths of a living nightmare.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God...” Williams mumbled over and over, the shotgun tumbling from his grasp as he curled into a fetal position.
As she gazed at the crowd of subhuman creatures now surrounding them, Terry moaned in terror, but her eyes were quickly drawn to the flickering radiance coming from the opposite end of the room. There, a great swarm of flying serpents circled a phosphorescent cloud, their elongated snouts giving forth a high-pitched warbling that intermingled with the chilling sounds emanating from the vapor-swirled rent in the air. Something was inside that rotating mist, something that went far beyond what her mind was capable of comprehending. Convulsing into fits of uncontrollable trembling, she stared at the massive arms ending in seven-fingered claws and the obscene throat tentacle slithering from the top of the being’s fluctuating, cone-shaped body. Whatever the thing was, it was coming through the vortex, reaching out as its titanic proportions began to fill the room.
With a sudden burst of willpower, she tore her eyes away from it and grabbed Williams by the shirt collar, shaking him like a rag doll. “Barnaby!” she wailed. “Barnaby, God dammit! Get up!”
“I don’t think he can hear you anymore, Miss Bradford.”
Her head snapped around, eyes searching, and she was shocked when she found the source of that child-like voice.
It was Robin.
But the girl’s face was now a horrid mask of bulging veins covering stark white features, the paleness only accentuated by the rivulets of gore streaming from her orifices. The unsettling contrast of the blood against her colorless skin added more depth to the lines of her face than the candle-lit shadows could ever account for. This was the thing from the hypnosis session, the one that Williams had so reluctantly described.
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