Chapter 4 Part 1

Whew! When I was contemplating splitting this chapter into two parts, I kept referring to it as Chapter 3. It totally slipped my mind that we are already on Chapter 4! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! I think you will all really enjoy this part! I was almost driving myself crazy in the process of writing it. As I said to a friend of mine "I think I'm trying too hard to emulate Lovecraft rather than create my own Lovecraftian story". Once I stopped overthinking it though, the words began to flow and this is the end result! I think I will let you, the readers, be the judge though! Let me know what you think about the on going adventures of Aloysius!

4.

            Aloysius hated going to see his shrink, but he knew it was necessary because he could easily find himself losing his mind if he didn’t. So once a week, he would go, sit in a stuffy office and lie to his psychiatrist about he was “feeling much better this week!” This particular appointment, however, was with a different doctor. His normal quack was starting his month-long vacation to the Cape, and today Al was going to meet with his replacement.

            It was a rather foggy afternoon and Aloysius could scarcely see a few feet in front of him. He walked slowly and still bumped into several strangers walking down the street in the opposite direction. The upside of going to this particular shrink’s office was it was only a few blocks away from his job. After a few minutes of maneuvering through the choking fog, he came across the old brownstone office building he was looking for. He walked up a few steps leading to the door and read the sign:

Dr. K. Farro, MD 2^nd Floor. Ring Bell For Access

            He rang the bell and waited several minutes for the buzzer. After a few minutes, he went to ring the door bell one more time when the door began to slowly open on its own and a cold breeze overtook him. It sent a chill down his spine, but he went in reluctantly. The building reeked of mold and the steps in front of him looked like they would give way as soon as he put any weight on them. He slowly started up the steps which creaked more and more as he advanced up them. At the top of the stairs he came to a heavy dark wood door covered in strange carvings and symbols mirroring the ones that were in the book Charlotte had given him. ‘Wow, I can’t even get rid of this girl at my doctor’s office’. He thought to himself. He examined the door more closely when the door swung open and tall, thin, gaunt-looking gentlemen slowly walked out. The dark circles around his eyes gave the impression that he hadn’t slept in days. He stared blankly and paid no mind to Aloysius standing right there. “Excuse me, sir. Sir! Sir?” he asked, as the man glided by. “Sir, is this Dr. Farro’s office?” The man still seemed to completely ignore him and silently made his way down the stairs.

            “Yes, Mr. Cunningham.” He heard a deep voice call from within the room. Startled that the doctor knew who he was before even introducing himself, he walked into the tiny office. There was no desk in the office, just two chairs facing each other separated by a several feet. A few bookshelves lined the walls and the only light entering the room were from the two windows on the far wall beyond the psychiatrist’s chair. Aloysius squinted but could hardly make out the face of his new doctor. All he could see were his legs and the general outline of a man sitting in the high-backed chair. “Have a seat, Mr. Cunningham.” the shadowy figure said.

            “Yes, thank you. Dr. Farro, I presume?” Al said with a chuckle. He had to chuckle to himself to keep from shaking. He was a little afraid of this new doctor already and had to resist the urge to run screaming back down the stairs. He sat down slowly and gulped.

            “That is correct.” The doctor said.

            “I’m from Dr. Stone’s office. He went on an extended vac..” Dr. Farro interrupted him.

            “I know why you’re here…Aloysius is it?”

            “Oh ok, and yes. ” Al was nervous. “So, Farro is an odd name. It sounds Arabic. Am I right?”

            “I’m from Egypt, originally. But we’re not here to talk about me. How are you doing? Dr. Stone sent a note along saying you’ve been doing better at your recent appointments.”

            “Oh yeah, indeed! Y’know, I’ve been writing a lot and, uh, that helps me from thinking too much. I’m actually feeling quite chipper these days. Work is going well, and uhh…”

            “You don’t have to lie to me, Aloysius. I know what’s really in your head.”

            “Huh?” Aloysius wasn’t sure if Dr. Farro was kidding or not. “But that’s really what’s going on. It’s the truth.” The doctor let out a sinister sounding laugh.          

            “Aloysius, you underestimate the powers of a doctor to detect a problem with their patient.”

            “But you’ve only known me for a grand total of five minutes…”

            “I know more than you think.  I know that when you were just a boy you chased your neighbor’s puppy out into the street where it was subsequently hit by a car. Everyone thought the poor thing was chasing a ball.”

            “I never told anyone that.” Aloysius said clutching his tie and beginning to sweat.

            “I know that when you were a teenager you saw a man standing on a bridge about to jump…and you did nothing to stop him. He didn’t survive the fall” Aloysius heart began to pound. He stood up and paced. How could this stranger possibly know those things? The images of the man that day on the bridge haunted him and he often wondered what became of that poor soul. He stopped and stared at the figure still shrouded in darkness. ‘What is this? Who are you?”

He asked frantically.

            “Who I am is unimportant. Why you are here, is the focus of today. “

            “Are you even a doctor?”

            “I hold the key to all knowledge, tangible and forbidden. I know that right now you’re searching for more in your life. Your dull and thankless job eats away at your soul everyday.  You long for more. I can help you achieve that.” It was then that Aloysius noticed the form where he suspected Dr. Farro’s head to be began to change. Slowly it lost its round shape and began to stretch upwards towards the ceiling. The figure slowly pushed itself out of the chair and Al bolted towards the door. He slowly backed through the door frame watching the figure advance in horror. “You needn’t be afraid, Aloysius. I’m offering you the chance to learn now what you inevitably will in the future. Don’t you want to know what happens to your friends when They return?”

            “Wh…what are you talking about?” He backed up even further still as the figure slinked toward him. The creature no longer had human legs, but tentacles that emitted oozing slime as he slithered across the floor. It laughed as Aloysius tried to escape. He was so mesmerized and terrified by the monster in front of him that he forgot all about the steps. He stepped back, let out a cry and fell for what seemed like forever until he landed with a hard thud. When he opened his eyes, he was relieved to see his bedroom floor.

            It had only been a few days since he received the mysterious book from Charlotte. Ever since he started reading it, he began experiencing nightmares that grew worse and worse. Normally He picked himself up off the floor, wiped the cold sweat from his brow and sat on the edge of his bed and let out a few deep breaths. He picked up his cell phone off the nightstand to check the time. 3:15 a.m. He hardly slept past 4 anymore.

            Luckily for him, it was already Saturday. He was actually looking for ward to seeing Charlotte and giving her back the blasphemous book. He had only read about the Necronomicon in Lovecraft’s stories and knew it wasn’t real. Any published copy was ultimately a fabrication. This particular volume, however, was very different. The incantations, ceremonious texts and otherworldly markings haunted him. He wanted answers. He wanted to know who Charlotte was working for, he wanted to know why the book was causing him such trouble, and he especially wanted to know who the creature in his nightmare was talking about when he said “they”. It couldn’t have meant the Elder Gods. He shook his head to try and clear his mind a bit and stood up. ‘First things first’ he thought to himself. He shuffled off to the kitchen and turned on his coffee maker. It was going to be a long day.

If anyone is curious why I broke Chapter 4 into two parts, its for two reasons. The first being I thought this was a good place for a break but not necessarily a way to end the chapter. The second is because it's been too long since i've updated you all! I really felt bad that I had left you all hanging like that. But worry not! I won't let that happen again! Stay tuned for Part 2!!

And just in case you all couldn't figure out who that Elder God was....