CHAPTER 3

 

            “I…I don’t understand…” I said.

            Christopher sat down in a chair by his desk and said, “I’ll tell you what I know, but it’s not much.  I haven’t any idea of their origins, nor of the full extent of their plans, but they do exist.  I’ve seen their ghastly minions in the flesh, and faced with the horror that is the truth, I have no choice but to believe it…”

            I lowered myself weakly into the only other chair in the office and stared at the statue he had uncovered.  “Who…are they?” I finally asked.

            “This,” he said, indicating the statue, “is the essence of Xel’lotath, one of the three, the ones that wish to bring the darkness to humanity.  In it is contained her malice and cruelty, and power unimaginable.  The one you possess belongs to one of the other three, Ulyaoth…”

            Recognizing the name instantly, I said, “That’s one of the words I heard from it!  Ulyaoth…”

            “What you heard, Utonium, was Ulyaoth trying to force its way into our world,” Christopher explained.  “But he can’t…he lacks the power, as do the others.  The ancient energies that keep the three of them sealed are unbreakable, even by them.  The irony is that they would be able to break their bonds, if only they would work together.”

            I shivered slightly upon hearing that…so it was still possible for them to break free.  I asked, “What do you mean, irony?  Aren’t we in danger, then?”

            He shook his head and said, “Not at the moment.  You see, the three of them are not allies in this fight.  They each seek power for themselves, and fear only that one of the other two will gain the power themselves, and abandon the others to their exile.  It is because of this feud that their powers were sealed away to begin with.  And now, their power is here on the Earth, outside of their reach…directly, anyway.”

            “But it can still be used to free them,” I guessed.  “Right?”

            Nodding, Christopher said, “They may despise each other, but properly wielded, anyone can command the power, and the influence of them are still strong, even in this form.  I’m only glad that you came into its possession under glass, as you have it now, instead of handling it directly; even the slightest touch can twist and corrupt one’s mind, driving them into the darkness.  How did you come into its possession, anyway?”

            “My collegue, Ruth Langston…” I said, dropping my eyes.  “She’s…dead…”

            Christopher stood up and walked over by my side, resting a hand on my shoulder, “I understand how you feel, my friend.  Both of my sons were killed in the expedition that led me to find the essence of Xel’lotath.  Killed by creatures so horrible, so unimaginable…I count myself lucky to have escaped with my own life, but I still grieve for them.”

            “I’m sorry,” I said softly, letting my eyes drift back to the artifacts on the table.  “So we have two of them…”

            “Yes,” Christopher nodded.  “The third belongs to Chattur’gha, but it is still unaccounted for.  And if even one of them falls into the hands of the agents of evil…”

            “I’ve seen it…” I interrupted, sitting up.  “It was on Dr. Langston’s desk, but…that was just before she was killed.  It was in the shape of a red clawed worm…”

            Christopher’s eyes widened, and he said, “Then they have taken it…”

            I was puzzled, and asked, “Who?”

            “I encountered them on my expedition,” he told me.  “A cultist group that call themselves simply ‘the Cabal’.  It took some extensive research to learn about them, but then, it was easier than obtaining information about the three old ones.  The Cabal learned of the existence of the essences hundreds of years ago, and want them for themselves, to give their cult unlimited power.  Since then, they have sought them relentlessly, but in vain.  It is of the utmost importance that we retrieve the essence of Chattur’gha; it must not remain in their hands.”

            “Agreed,” I replied, “but wouldn’t they need the other artifacts in order to achieve the power they’re looking for?”

            “You don’t understand,” Christopher said, shaking his head.  “They can’t use the power, not themselves.  Not directly.  If they try, Chattur’gha will exert his control over them, and will become even more dangerous than before.  With the newfound power, they will continue to pursue these artifacts, until they have them all, and their power will be unrivaled.  But Chattur’gha will simply use them to break his bonds and release himself upon our world.  The cultists don’t seem to realize this, or if they do, they don’t care…”

            “But as long as we have these two,” I said, motioning towards the artifacts, “they can’t.  Correct?”

            “They’ll find them,” he said sadly.  “And they aren’t the only ones; they’re seeking a fourth…”

            I stared at him, “…Fourth?”

            “Mantarok,” Christopher explained.  “The corpse god…he lives on our world already, secluded in his tomb far from the eyes of man.  His power is waning, and he possesses little influence or any true power anymore.  But his essence is still strong, and he still defends it, if only I knew where to find it.  He has kept it hidden for this long, though, so hopefully, we will not need to…”

            There was a knock at the door.  Christopher held his hand out to silence me before I said anything, and moved to check through the eyehole of the door.  As I watched, the color drained from his face, and he whispered, “Professor…head out the window, now.  Take the essences of Xel’lotath and Ulyaoth with you…”

            “What is it?” I whispered back, standing up cautiously.

            “Cabal members…” he replied.  “They found me…I don’t know how, but they found me.  They mustn’t find the artifacts…I will keep them distracted, and you just make a run for it, okay?”

            I nodded and headed for the window, sliding it up to open it.  The knocking came again, then was followed by a loud *thud* as something heavy struck the door.  They were trying to break in.  I climbed out of the window, and Christopher quickly threw a cloth over each of the cases containing the artifacts, and handed me both of them, which I tucked securely under each arm.  Looking back, I saw something in his eyes…he wasn’t expecting to come out of this encounter alive, and I knew that it was up to me to make sure they don’t find what they came for.

            The sun had set, and it was dark on campus, perfect to cover my escape.  Moving quickly, I headed for the parking lot, opening the door to the rental car I obtained when I had arrived.  I placed the artifacts into the trunk, and then climbed into the driver’s seat.  When I started up the engine and switch the headlights on, the headlights illuminated something about fifty feet in front of the car, and I froze, my mouth dropping open at the sight of it.

            It was enormous, at least ten feet tall, if not bigger.  It was hunched over slightly, and its huge, muscular frame had a red, mottled appearance, like some twisted, flayed flesh.  It had two massive clawed hands, dripping with some liquid.  Three heads were set into its body…eyeless, but they still stared directly at me.  It was an impossible sight, a creature that should not exist, but it was there, in front of me…

            With a roar, it lumbered towards the car, and I froze…I didn’t know what to do.  Everything was telling me that I couldn’t possibly be seeing what I was seeing, but my survival instinct finally took over.  With a shout, I jammed my foot on the gas, shifting the car to reverse.  I pulled away from it, twisting the wheel to one side to spin the car so that it faced forward.  I threw the car into drive as soon as I was facing the right way.  It was almost upon me…as I pulled away from it, I felt the car shake from an impact…it had struck the rear end of it with its claw, a blow that glanced off the bumper.

            I didn’t even look back.  I hit the gas and sped out of the parking lot as fast as I possibly could.  I was shaking, and barely able to keep on the road.  I think I was speeding, but I didn’t care.  I just wanted to get away.  Eventually, I think I calmed back down, but I will never forget the image I saw back there.  It is something that would haunt my nightmares to this day.

            (The girls silently looked up from the book at each other.  It was difficult to imagine what the professor had encountered, and all three of them realized that it was probably worse than his description led to believe.  Wordlessly, they stared at each other, drawing comfort in each other’s presence, before they looked back down at the journal and resumed reading…)

            Christopher Benes was dead.  I found that out on my return home…he had been shot in the back of the skull.  The police had no suspects, and no witnesses.  Ruth, I had discovered, was still completely missing, and no one knew of her whereabouts, or that she was dead.  I felt alone at this point.  I knew a few sketchy details of what was going on, but it was hardly enough for my impossible task of keeping the artifacts hidden…and recovering the one that was already taken.

            Still, they didn’t know who I was.  If I could just remain unknown, they would never find me.  Or so I hoped…but as time passed, I realized that it was only inevitable.  I had to do something.  I began to formulate a plan to hide the artifacts in a place where no one would ever find them, but first, I began researching the Cabal, looking for any clues as to their whereabouts.

            It was almost three years later that I stumbled upon it…a receipt of sale for a building that was possibly a temporary base of operations.  Bought about forty years back, its location made sense, close to an airport for easy access to private planes, to take them wherever their search needed to go.  There had also been sign of minor cultist activity in the area, but nothing to which the authorities had been overly concerned about, especially since every attempt to prove its existence had been met with failure.

            I drove to the city—it wasn’t far—and located the building, scooping it out from a safe distance.  This is certainly something the police should handle, instead of one man, but I had no choice…they’d never believe me anyway.  Besides, a sneaky approach would give them less chance to cover up their operations.  I watched all day as people entered and left the building…through my binoculars, I could see each one of them wearing a pin containing a symbol that resembled a set of claws gripping a skull.  The symbol of the Cabal, I had learned.

            Once night fell, I approached the building silently, dressed in black to avoid being seen.  There were windows on the base of the building, leading to the basement, but they were securely barred.  I, however, had brought along tools to cut through them.  In only a few minutes, I had removed the bars and carefully climbed down into the basement.

            There wasn’t much, just a few stacks of boxes, but then I spotted a door.  Opening it cautiously, it led to a stairway…there was something else even further underground.  No doubt what I was looking for.  Listening carefully to make sure no one was around, I descended the steps, slowly and quietly.

            It went down for a long ways, and finally opened up to a new area…about a hundred feet on each side, and nearly as deep, the walls made of solid concrete.  I was on a ledge off to one side, overlooking the room, and when I spotted movement below, I ducked behind the wall that ran along the ledge so I wouldn’t be seen.  Poking my head up carefully, I looked down at the scene below.

            There was a pit below, filled with dead bodies…a lot of them.  Most of them were ripped to shreds, and blood covered the floor, everywhere.  Not all the corpses were completely dead, though…many of them were standing, lumbering around, while others were kneeling next to other bodies, feeding off their flesh.  Cabal members stood near the edge, leading people in from some side room, people that screamed in terror before being thrust into the pit, to the mercy of the zombies…

            (Bubbles looked up from the book…she was crying now, and sobbed, “I-I don’t…get it…wh-why is he…why is he t-telling us this?!”

            “I don’t know…” Blossom said, badly shaken as well.  “I don’t get it either…it’s s-so horrible…”

            Even Buttercup looked uneasy, “W-well, let’s…let’s keep reading…h-he’s gotta explain somewhere…right?”)

            There was something else.  On the far side of the pit, overlooking the whole thing, was a man about in his thirties, with a long streak of gray running across the side of his brown hair.  He was clad in robes colored in black and yellow, with a large brooch engraved with the symbol I had seen before.  The man was watching everything with a smile.  More importantly, though, was what he held in his hands out in front of him: the bell jar, containing the essence of Chattur’gha…

 

TO BE CONTINUED…