Author's Note: I just wanted to say for this chapter there is a character here that is based on from a Lovecraftian graphic novel series by Michael Alan Nelson called 'The Fall of Cthulhu' is a great comic series so I highly recommend it. In his story is a character who lives in the dreamlands known as 'The Harlot' she is not a creation of Lovecraft but a creation of Nelson's and she is a brilliant character, she's complex in that she doesn't have a goal for either the humans or the old ones, the goal must suit her and will help people out in need but it always comes with some sort of price something either physical or emotional. With loving this character so much I wanted to put the Harlot in my story but obviously without infringing on copy right the character that I have put in this chapter is a homage to Nelson's but with some changes of my own, I just felt that this character in what ever form needed to be recognised especially from this fan.
Dylath-Leen
The Western Region
The sounds of the sea filled the air as the waves crashed onto the shore, Kara’s head was still hurting her eyes slowly opened the vision fuzzy but she knew that she was lying on a beach with water lapping around her. Groggily Kara put her hands onto the wet sand and pushed herself onto her knees, she realised that she was near what appeared to be some kind of dockyard, passed that was a massive city “What the…?” she was definitely not on Theta anymore, she got up onto her feet and walked along the shore heading for the nearest ladder to climb up onto the dock. Clambering up a wooden ladder Kara stood upon a jetty and stared out to several large tall ships that were docked “Where the hell am I?” she walked down the jetty heading towards the city, Kara looked up to the ships as she passed them they were made of a very dark wood with blackened sails and a flag of some country that Kara didn’t recognise, looking back to the city the waterfront looked almost Victorian but beyond that she could see multiple high rise tower blocks like eerie sentinels standing over the city, she wandered into the network of streets.
It was quiet in the city no one seemed to be around, Kara felt uneasy the buildings seemed misshapen and wrong as if she was looking at something repulsive like this place shouldn’t exist, she carried on when she heard a noise coming from up ahead it was a strange gurgling sound and croaking sound but Kara knew that it didn’t sound like any animal or human she knew, looking around she saw a small alley and she rushed toward it and hid in the darkness. As the sounds got nearer Kara saw the source of the noise, there was several of them hunched toad like creatures with a pale greenish grey colour, the head had no eyes and where the mouth was there was a vertical slit going all the way up and pink tentacles hung down from the opening. The creatures croaked and gurgled as they moved passing the opening of the alley, Kara crouched down to avoid being seen but she had to hold her breath for the smell they produced was noxious she held up the back of a hand to her nose and mouth to try and help stop the smell, the strange creatures had passed by and gone before Kara emerged back out into the street she checked that it was safe.
Further into the city Kara looked at the architecture it look modern but ancient at the same time, some of the masonry had carvings and symbols that Kara recognised from the scrawling all across Fort Haven “Think it’s safe to say that this isn’t Earth, this can’t be real” she walked down the middle of the street, even though she couldn’t see anybody walking about the streets Kara had the unnerving sense that she was being watched from the windows above her “I wonder if Paulson and Kay are here as well” she carried on hoping to find someone or a city hall something to explain where she is and how to get out of here. Kara reached what looked like an empty square, in the centre was a fountain with a statue of some grotesque fish-like creature which was wrapping around an obelisk, the water gushed from the mouth into the pool below it. The pain in Kara’s headache was still pounding in her temples but looking at the statue made it feel worse, a shrill high pitched sound began ringing in her ears along with indistinguishable voices repeat themselves over and over, it began too much as Kara passed out and fell to the ground, a voice spoke to hear through the pain “My poor dear” Kara fell into blackness again.
Kara woke feeling like her heard was splitting she noticed that she wasn’t in the area where that fountain had been but was sitting on the bench along a new street the voice she heard spoke again “Oh good you’re awake, I thought I was going to have to carry you through the city” Kara turned to her left to see a woman standing next to the bench. The woman was older in appearance late 50s her silver hair was long and elegantly styled, she wore a black corset tied with red threading and a long black skirt which almost reached the ground, what was most striking was the red lips she had. Kara felt an unusual feeling to the woman like a sense of comfort but to be also fearful of her, Kara tried to speak “Where…” the woman raised a hand “Don’t speak we must get off the streets the moon-beasts will be returned, vile things they infest the city from time to time” she reached out a hand and Kara took it rising to her feet, the woman placed a caring arm around her and carried on moving down the street the woman smiled “Come now there is somewhere for you to rest” she led Kara onward.
The woman helped Kara through the streets until they reached a large building that looked like a hotel of some kind, the frosted glass doors opened and the woman brought Kara inside to the foyer and sat her down on a red cushioned couch she smiled “There we go my dear, shall I fetch you something to drink?” Kara felt the headache beginning to subside a bit “No thank you, just can’t seem to shake this headache” the woman stood by the reception desk “That does happen here sometimes especially for first timers” Kara looked around at the foyer taking note of the red painted walls “What is this place?” the woman glanced around at the rusty décor “This is my establishment a place for weary travellers to rest and forget about their worries” Kara wasn’t asking about the building “No not this, where are we at all, is this real or some sort of dream?” the woman straightened herself upright “To answer your question…yes, this place is the Dreamlands a place outside the realms of reality its not usually a place that is easy to get to, but I’m guessing that had something to do with our dear Nyarla didn’t it?” Kara remembered the fight with Blackman after what he had turned in to she looked to the old woman “What the hell was he?” she still felt the pain from fighting him, the woman just waved fleetingly at his mention “He’s one of the Outer Gods so nowhere near the high ranks of the Great Old Ones, but since he is neither exiled or stuck in a eons long slumber he is free to wander Earth and spread the gospel of their might, he’s reluctant at times he likes to think the world is his despite the claim already being taken by the big boy Cthulhu but yet a servant till the end…you have to adore a well trained dog they may nip your fingers when annoyed but at least they won’t piss on the carpet” Kara remembered impaling Nyarlathotep with the loader. Kara asked the woman “Is he dead?” she gave a nod but replied “For now, my dear it’s incredibly difficult to kill an Outer God but beating them is possible, that form you faced will wither to dust and he will be reborn at some point, it takes time to recover their strength” Kara then asked “And what are you? You’re not human are you?” the woman laughed and took a seat next to her “Dear I have many names too many to tell, just consider me…a friend whilst you’re here, but yes I am certainly not human but many humans do visit my establishment”. Kara looked around again “It looks like a hotel, a very old hotel never seen one quick like it” the woman chuckled again “Well I am a woman of vintage and this look is a few centuries old but it’s something I’m quite accustomed to” Kara turned to the woman puzzled “Wait did you say centuries? That can’t be possible” the woman played with a few strands of Kara’s hair “My dear I said I wasn’t human, you’re battling gods and monsters of unimaginable horror, I’m sure this is quite norm by now”. Kara questioned further “So who stays here?” the woman got up from the couch and back over to the reception desk “I provide services for all kinds wayward souls, those looking to escape in a spiral of pleasurable desires and those who a running away from something terrible in their past and they can find refuge here” that last part struck a chord with Kara but before she could anything the woman replied “Yes dear Kara, like yourself” Kara stood up quickly “How did you know my name?!” the woman smirked holding out her arms “Sweet child you’re in the Dreamlands and I know everything” she gave a slight chuckle.
The woman approached Kara “Let me show you the rooms” Kara without thinking agreed and followed the woman up a set of steps which led to an elevator, the brass and wood panelled car rattled as it made its way up to one of the floors, it stopped with a metallic ping and the woman pulled the door open with the handle then stepped out into an art deco styled hallway she waved a hand for Kara to follow her. They walked passed door after door each one had a golden number screwed onto the front Kara wondered “How many rooms are there?” the woman spoke without looking back “As long as someone requires a room there will be one available” Kara tilted her head slightly that wasn’t the answer she was expecting was it the crazy implication that there were infinite rooms in this hotel, she could hear a multitude of sounds coming from behind the doors noises of music, shouting, crying even the sounds of a couple making love…rather violently. The woman stopped by one of doors the room number was 2187 Kara looked to the door then to the woman “Who’s is this room?” the woman replied “My dear…it’s yours” Kara stepped away from the room and also the woman “What the fuck do you mean by my room?!” the woman’s attitude didn’t change “Please stay calm, although your room I can only give it to you with your permission” Kara eased slightly but after dealing with Nyarlathotep his final words ‘Perhaps she will’ popped into her head “He mentioned you Nyarlathotep, are you working with him?” the woman maintained her infectious smile “I work for myself but he must think I can finish what he started but I have no intention of killing you” her hands moved coming together putting fingertips to fingertips “It is my intention to give you a choice” Kara became more curious “What do you mean a choice?” the woman waved a hand over the door as if feel some unseen force “You have a choice to remain here or to go back to stop Cthulhu’s rising”. Kara couldn’t believe what the woman was asking “And why would I want to go inside the room what desire could you get me to go in?” the woman paused as if to build the suspense then she spoke “Because your husband and daughter will be inside waiting for you” Kara’s heart jumped and there was a twist in her stomach “What do you mean by that?” the woman stepped closer to Kara “Should you choose to stay here in my hotel you can spend eternity with your family.
Kara looked at the door but she remembered what was unfolding at Fort Haven, what would happen to Kay and Paulson if she left them there what if that thing would rise up “What will happen if I stay?” the woman gestured with a hand towards the door that stood before the two of them, her red lips peeled back into a grin as she spoke “You could always go inside the room my dear, I will take the pain and the sorrow, you will feel nothing but diseased ecstasy forever” Kara stared at the door of the room she stepped forward but stopped a few feet away enough to reach for the handle, however she wanted nothing more than to just open it and see what the woman was offering. A tear ran down Kara’s face “I can’t stop now, if he rises then it’s all over everyone who has died here…it’ll all be for nothing” the woman glided around her crouching low to place her hands on Kara’s shoulder “Yes it will, but it is completely your choice Kara” she stood up her hands still on Kara’s shoulders “You give in, Cthulhu rises and the entirety of Earth is either enslaved or consumed in a reign of madness and suffering but inside this room you won’t feel any sorrow, any guilt, there will be no blame on you for wanting this way, to be with your husband and daughter again. Or the other option I can bestow power upon you to be able to gaze upon the Old One and maintain your life and your sanity, then take the anger you feel for all that has happened since you arrived at R’lyeh, take that drive and determination and stop the Great Dreamer before he destroys everything” Kara nodded she glanced at the woman’s twisted hands “Why are you doing this? Why help me?” the woman replied “I have many in my rooms to keep my strength for eternity should the universe slipped into the cold grasp of the void but should they remain in their slumber and exiles then I would still receive new patrons and I’m always pleased to see new faces and hear some new stories either way I have nothing to lose in all this, so why not give you a choice to make” Kara was hesitant “I have to stop him” the woman moved around her causing Kara to look at her “But you must know something my Dear. This power comes at a cost, I must take something from you as payment to put in your, something most precious to you…your memory of them” Kara blinked in confusion and spoke “What do you mean?!” the woman came in close to be face to face “I can take you memory of them away, in exchange for the power to help defeat Cthulhu” Kara looked away thinking what the woman had proposed was insane, but this whole thing was insane she paused for a moment “So I wouldn’t remember them?” the woman shook her head “No” Kara spoke again “It would be like they never existed?” the woman nodded this time in reply “Yes my dear, every happy memory would be gone but also all the hurt, the pain, the guilt and sorrow they too will also be gone” Kara felt the struggle in her mind how could see give up the memory of the two people who mattered in her life but there was the other option she could forget the lives of two people in order to save the lives of billions. Kara’s eyes were filled with tears as she looked to the woman gritting her teeth to hold back from breaking down into sobs “Do it…take them” the woman smiled and began to move closer “Before I take them first see them a last time” she placed a thumb onto Kara’s forehead and it a flash and a blink Kara was no longer in the hotel.
The sun was bright and the sky was the brightest blue with a only a small wisp of cloud, Kara felt the sand in between in toes she looked down to see herself standing on a sand dune, brown grass wafting in the gentle summer breeze, Kara remembered this place it was the beach that wasn’t far from where they lived. Out on the beach near the water Kara saw Emmett and Dani chasing each other in the sand, Kara’s eyes welled up with tears as she smiled then a hand rested on her shoulder, Kara turned her head to see the woman standing next to her the woman spoke “Go, be with them this will be ending soon” Kara looked out to them “Why do this? If you are taking them from me why let me see them?” the woman wasn’t smiling but she spoke with a sense of sincerity “You parted in a moment of misery and pain, even though it will be heart-breaking there is love and happiness in this moment, which is why although I’m taking the memories I am leaving the feeling of this moment, you will feel it now and again that warmth and happiness but you won’t know why” Kara quickly looked back to the woman “What? Why would you do that?” the woman smiled again “I may be a selfish creature only out for personal gain…it doesn’t make me a complete monster, it was that love that was your driving force for it was them then it was the friends you met to survive the horrors lurking on the black planet R’lyeh, it will be that force you will need to stop Cthulhu” The woman looked at Emmett and Dani “Now go be with them we are wasting time” Kara didn’t need to be told again and rushed down the dune onto the beach, she began walking towards hey family.
As she walked towards them she couldn’t help but smile, Dani saw her mother approaching and called out happily “Mummy!” Kara ran towards her daughter then swept her up and spun her around hugging her tightly the two of them laughing. Kara placed Dani back on the sand and brushed the hair out of Dani’s eyes “Have you been having fun with Dad today?” Dani nodded “We splashed in the sea and built sandcastles” Kara gazed into her daughters beautiful eyes gasping with motherly excitement “Building sandcastles?” Emmett wandered over “Been waiting for you to join us” he held out a hand, Kara smiled and took it she missed seeing his face no matter what happened he always had a everything is going to be ok expression. They played on the beach splashing in the water as the waves rolled in and running around on the sand laughter and shrieking with joy, Dani appeared to be getting tired Kara picked her up “You ready to go home” Dani nodded rubbing her eyes, Emmett spoke “I’ll take her to the car if you grab the buckets?” Kara nodded but before she passed Dani to her husband Dani hugged Kara “I love you mummy” Kara tried to hold back the tears but she replied “I love you too sweetheart and I always will” Emmett took Dani and they both headed away from the beach. Kara watched them disappear over the sand dunes leaving her and the sound of the crashing waves, the woman emerged from behind her “It’s time Kara” Kara couldn’t stop the tears as she turned to face the woman “So what happens now? How do we do this?” the woman placed a hand on Kara’s face pulling herself in closer “Now, to gain the power to gaze upon the Great Old Ones, we seal this transaction with a kiss” the red lips gently touched Kara’s as the woman gave her a kiss, suddenly everything turned black once more.
TO BE CONCLUDED...
Comments
Post a Comment