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....

Chapter 3

Hello guys!!! My sincere apologies for the long delay between chapters! I thought Chapter 2 was a little stale, so I wanted to really work on this one before I published it!  The plot is really beginning to take form in this chapter  and I'm proud of how it turned out!  I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

                                                                              3

            Aloysius froze. What on earth was going on? He stood with his mouth agape as the young lady with her gigantic red hoop skirt slowly sauntered over to where he was standing with Hannah. “Al, may I present Duchess Charlotte Glann Magpie.” she said. It took him a minute to catch his breath before extending his hand to her. “How do you do, Miss…Magpie, is it?”

            “Just call me Charlotte, Mr. Cunningham.” She replied tipping her mini hat at him and shaking his outstretched hand.

            “How was the course, Charlotte? Do you think you can maneuver around in it in that skirt?” Hannah asked her.

            “Oh yes, it should be quite alright. Thank you for letting me have an advanced peek! I promise I won’t tell anyone the secrets lying around each corner.” Charlotte said with a wink.

            “Ok, well I’ll leave you two to get acquainted! We’ll be starting momentarily.” Hannah said before she went to join the rest of her party guests. Aloysius was almost terrified of the beautiful woman he was just paired with and he really wasn’t looking forward to being alone with her. The man in him was very disappointed in himself. Thinking quickly, he pulled his goggles down onto his eyes to hopefully shield himself from her mesmerizing gaze. “So! Charlotte, is it? Funny that we should be paired together today!” he said taking a practice swing of his croquet mallet.

            “Indeed. It really is a pleasure to meet you.” She said.

            “If it is such a pleasure, then you should’ve introduced yourself at the café.”

            “How was I supposed to know you’d be here this evening?”

            “If you didn’t know I was going to be here tonight, then all the more reason to have introduced yourself at the café, which means you DID know I was going to be here.”

            “Is that such a bad thing?”

            “Did you really ask if that was such a bad thing?? You’re a complete stranger to me! This is what is commonly known as stalking and is generally frowned upon in our society!”

“Will you give me a chance to explain at least?”

“What is there to explain??” Aloysius tried to keep his cool as to not alert the other partygoers of his situation. He looked over and it seemed like the other teams were getting started. “We better get a move on if we’re going to be a part of the game. But don’t think for a minute you’re off the hook!”

            “Understood, Mr. Cunningham.” Charlotte said curtsying and tipping her tiny hat one more time. They walked over and lined up behind the two teams in front of them. Very soon balls were clacking against each and people were accidentally getting whacked with mallets. Maneuvering around the fog was even harder than it looked. Aloysius focused on the game and only spoke to his partner when necessary. He got a few elbow nudges from the other men in the game and comments about how he was so lucky to be paired with such a beautiful lady. He just shrugged and smiled at them while on the inside his stomach was turning. They were just about at the last wicket when all of a sudden they heard the basement door slam open! “WE’VE DONE IT!!!!!” The loud booming voice of drunken Xander filled the tiny space. Slowly he made his way down the stairs gripping the handrail like it was the only thing holding him up.  Hannah rushed over to him. “What is it, Xan?? What’s happening?” she asked.

            ‘The killer!! We’ve figured out who the vandal is for this wretched murder plot!”    

            “Oh, really? Do tell…” Hannah replied with a hint of sarcasm.

            “It’s the most….unexpected person! It’s always the quiet ones…and it’s a woman!! HA! She….planted the body of Edith Darney behind Professor Clibborn’s lab because she was JEALOUS! Jealous, I tell you! He broke her heart and she wanted him to suffer! Fairly harsh punishment, I dare say!” Xander swayed more and more as he spoke. Aloysius wondered if he really did know who the killer was or if he was just letting the booze get the best of him. “The killer…..is someone in this room! Everyone watch your backs!!”

            “Just spill it already, Xan, enough with the song and dance already!” Al chimed in.

            “Professor Clibborn, sir, you are acquitted! The murderer is none other than…none other than….” Before Xander could spit the name out, he passed out and hit the floor with a loud thud! Hannah let out a scream and scrambled over to check on him. Aloysius sprang into action immediately, telling his fellow partygoers where to go and what to do to help his friend. He sent Charlotte upstairs to alert the rest of the party and wait for the ambulance he was about to call. Hannah was a blubbering mess, and understandably so. Aloysius put his arm around her and tried to console her. “Hannah, when the ambulance gets here, I just want you to go with them to the hospital. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll make sure everyone goes home and that the house is clean. Just try and relax and be there for Xander.”

            “OK.” She whimpered between sobs and nodded. Just as Al was turning around to call the ambulance, Charlotte was standing immediately behind him and he nearly knocked her over when he stood up.

            “Gah! What are you doing back down here so quick?? I told you to wait for the ambulance upstairs.” He snapped. He really didn’t want to deal with his stalker when he was trying to take care of his injured best friend.

            “I did! I told everyone else to wait for it! I came back down to see if you needed me.”

            “…..I told you to go upstairs, tell everyone else what happened and then wait for the ambulance. What part of that says come back downstairs?”

            “I…I…need to tell you something!” She said sheepishly. Aloysius looked at her puzzled after that statement.

            “How is that helping?? Now’s not the time!! Now excuse me, I have to go look for the ambulance. Stay down here with Hannah. STAY!” Annoyed, Aloysius flew up the stairs, calling the ambulance as he went. When he got off the phone, he was bombarded by what seemed like hundreds of questions he wasn’t in the mood to answer. He kindly asked the remaining guests to leave and many obliged. A few offered to stay behind and help clean up the party, but Al declined.

            After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance arrived and Al breathed a sigh of relief. He sent the EMT’s down to tend to the invalid in the basement while he started straightening things up.  He hoped keeping himself busy with tidying up would take his mind off worrying about his friend and about his stalker problem. His moment of peace was short-lived when the paramedics came back up with Charlotte, Hannah and Xander strapped to a board. Al walked outside with them while they loaded Xander onto the gurney. Al gave Hannah another quick hug before she hopped into the ambulance to go along for the ride. “Do you know where they’re taking him?” he asked.

            “Just over to Mass General to make sure he’s ok. I’ll call you when I know more. You really don’t have to stay and clean up, you know.”

            “Don’t worry about a thing! Just make sure he gets better!” He said with a wink. The EMT’s closed the back doors and drove off leaving Al, once again, all alone with Charlotte. He turned around fast without saying a word and walked back up to the house. “Aloysius, wait!!” she called after him.

            “I don’t have time right now, Charlotte. Is that even your real name?”

            “That doesn’t matter right now. Can’t you just listen to me for a minute?” She said running up behind him.

            “Why should I?” He turned around to face her. “Give me one good reason why.”

            “Because the fate of the world depends on what I have to tell you!”

            “What?”

            “It’s the truth!”

            “Goodbye, Charlotte.” He sighed and turned stomping up the front stairs.

            “Listen to me, Al! It’s about your Lovecraft!!” Aloysius stopped dead in his tracks when she dropped that magic word. He let out a few chuckles and an exhausted sigh. He really didn’t have the time or patience for this. He turned back towards her,                                                 

           “What?? You truly are out of your mind, aren’t you? What does H.P. Lovecraft have to do with the fate of the world?”

             “Everything! The world he created is very much connected to our own in the worst way possible!”

            “You mean the fictional monsters he wrote about? You honestly believe that?”

            “Yes I do! I can prove it! If you’ll just give me a chance, you’ll see!”  Aloysius turned back towards her just in time to see her pulling out a brown paper package from the satchel at her side.

            “What’s that you have there?” he asked. He watched as she unwrapped the package to reveal a rectangular object covered in a green fabric with foreign markings that he had never seen before. He found himself almost mesmerized by the package and eager to find out its contents. Before he knew it, he was back down the stairs standing in front of her. The mystery object appeared to be nothing more than a tattered old book.  The pages were yellowing and it looked like if you bent the cover too far back it would crack. In faded gold lettering on the front cover he noticed the word “Necronomicon” eloquently written across it in calligraphy and encased inside a pentagram. “Wait a second…are you really going to try and convince me to trust you with a copy of the Necronomicon just because it’s wrapped up fancy?”

            “This isn’t a normal copy that you can purchase in a bookstore. This is the real thing. The incantations and passages contained within it are the absolute truth.”

            “And what do you expect me to do with it?”

            “Read it. Read it and come to your own conclusions about me. If you’re convinced that I’m telling you the truth, meet me this Saturday at 10 a.m. at North Station. I can take you somewhere to teach you all you need to know about Lovecraft and the dire situation facing humanity. If you don’t believe, however, I promise I’ll never bother you again. ” Aloysius pondered her proposition for a while. ‘What’s the worst that could come from reading a silly book?’  he thought.

            “If I take this book, do you promise to leave right now so I can clean up uninterrupted?”

            “Well I can’t do that. My coat is still inside.”

            “Fine. I’ll go get it for you. We’ll make it an exchange. That book for your coat. I’ll go get it for you and bring it out.”

            “That sounds fair. It’s a black…”

            “Black fitted pea coat? Yeah I saw you wearing it this afternoon. Remember? Wait here.” He stomped back into the house, plucked out the last remaining coat from the closet and brought it back out to her. She handed over the book wrapped up once again in all of its packaging. He gave her the coat and without saying a word turned his back on her. “Happy reading, Mr. Cunningham. See you on Saturday.” she yelled.                                                        

             “Goodbye Charlotte, and you probably won’t” he responded not even giving her a glance. He walked into the house and had to resist the urge to sit on the couch. After a work-day filled with Mary and evening taking care of his best friend and dealing with his stalker, he really just wanted to sleep. He built up his last ounce of will power and started cleaning. The sooner he got done, the sooner he could go home and rest. Little did he know, this would probably be his last night of peaceful sleep for a long time.


As you can see, some crazy things are in store for Mr. Cunningham! What will he find in the Necronomicon? Will he end up going to meet Charlotte? Keep your eyes peeled for Chapter 4!! Today I'll leave you with a fun pic of Cookie Monster I found looking like a familiar Lovecraft monster! To check out more from this fantastic artist, you can head on over to his Deviantart page!

Chapter 2

Good morning everyone!! Hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Chapter 2 was a ball to write! Researching the steampunk sub-culture for this part of the story was a blast! The costumes and the characters people come up with, along with the party atmosphere that goes with it are incredibly intricate and I'm amazed at the level of ingenuity that goes into every aspect of it. The idea for Indoor Fog Croquet really stuck in my brain. I also thought it would be a great way to re-introduce our mystery lady. The idea of the mysterious creature emerging from the mist sends a chill down my spine! I was going to go a bit longer with this chapter but once I wrote that last sentence I knew I had to stop there. Stay tuned for Chapter 3 to find out why Aloysius cant seem to get away from his new friend...

2.

             Exhausted after a too-long day of training Mary, Aloysius wanted nothing more than to kick back and have a good time with his friends. He loaded up his bright red Vespa with his party gear and zoomed off toward Xander’s house. Of course, since nothing was easy that day, he hit snarls of traffic on every route he tried. Normally, his little scooter enabled him to maneuver through the other cars on the road with ease, but it seemed at this particular hour everyone was headed in the same direction he was with no means of escaping it!  Aloysius only lived two towns over from Xander’s new condo in Cambridge, but at this rate he thought he wouldn’t make it there before midnight.

            By the time he arrived, he could tell the party was already in full swing. He pulled up in the driveway and hurriedly began gathering up his gear. He flipped up the seat of the scooter to reveal a compartment chock full of gears and goggles. He didn’t bother fixing the mess that was his hair after taking off his helmet. In fact he tousled it even more before strapping his clunky goggles to his head. He took off his riding jacket and pulled a white lab coat on over his work clothes and strapped two leather wristlets equipped with bronze “weaponry” on each arm. He tied on his belt decorated with plastic beakers and lenses of various shapes and sizes. Lastly, he pulled out a simple jar of soot. He poured the soot in his hand and smeared it all over the front of his jacket and even put a swipe or two on his cheeks. He put his riding accessories and helmet away and secured his scooter before heading up the few stone steps to Xander’s front door.

            After he rang the door bell, he stood on the tiny porch and stared at the driveway for a few minutes. He was in such a rush that he hardly noticed the line of scooters he inadvertently parked next to. Almost every party attendee drove the same scooter as he did, just in a different color. He wondered why he had never noticed it before. The quick opening of the door snapped him out of his trance and he was greeted by a gentleman smoking a pipe and wearing a top hat, tuxedo, and monocle. “Oh! Aloysius, old boy! Come in, come in!” Xander said as he cleared the doorway for his guest.

            “Xander, no one I know get’s into character better than you do.” He walked in and shook the white-gloved hand of his host.

            “My Good Sir, since you’ve just arrived, allow me to inform you what has transpired, unbeknownst to you a murder most foul!” Xander nearly knocked his top hat off with excitement.

            “Ah, so we’re going with a murder mystery theme tonight? Are you sure it wasn’t you with this…laser thing you have here?” He said examining the ornate gauntlet on Xander’s arm.

            “This is no laser! This is merely a sophisticated watch, sir!”

            “Can you just tell me what’s going on out of character so I can play too?”

            “No time! We must figure out who did the nefarious deed before he or she strikes again! To the parlor!” Just like that, Aloysius was left standing alone in the alcove of the condo. As he walked further inside, he was greeted by his fellow party guests who were playing parlor games. The lights in the condo were turned down low and little tea light candle’s were lit everywhere creating a romantic and almost old-world atmosphere. He said his hello’s and was almost immediately bowled over by a small pixie-haired woman wearing a tiny top hat. “Yay!! You finally made it!” she said sweetly.

            “Hello Hannah!” he said hugging her back “You look fabulous. And then I got soot all over you. Sorry about that.” He brushed some of the soot off her bare shoulder. Hannah, who was Xander’s wife, wore a brown leather corset over a heavy corduroy skirt and petticoat with big clunky brown leather boots to match. “The place looks great, by the way.”

            “Thanks! You’ve seen Xan already, obviously.” They moved from the parlor into the dining room where a selection of various tiny sandwiches, pastries and different teas and drinks lined the main table. Al was famished and grabbed a few treats.

            “Oh, I have. He seems to have been hitting the libations fairly early. Mind telling me what’s going on so I can play in the game?”

            “There’s not much to tell really. You are the Professor Lawrence Hobart Clibborn. “

            “Y’know my character doesn’t have to have three names just because I do.”

            “I know, but Xander does it on purpose to watch you squirm.”

            “Damn him to hell, then. So who’s our murder victim?”

            “Edith Darney. She was found in the alley behind your laboratory.”

            “God, I hate when that happens.”

            “I know, isn’t that horrible? How do these things keep happening to you? Anyway, you’ve been cleared as a suspect.”

            “How, I haven’t been here to deliver my alibi?”

            “You were seen leaving your lab long before the body was discovered. We think she was planted there by a doctor trying to steal your secrets.”

            “Oh, well that makes total sense.”

            “Doesn’t it? I thought so. OK, now that you’re caught up, grab something to eat and come down to the basement. We have a new game to play…and a new girl for you to meet.” Hannah said with a wink and quickly turned and headed off towards the basement.

            “I will be down there once I re-fuel!” Al picked at a few more sandwiches and pastries and grabbed a drink before he headed downstairs. When he opened the basement door, he noticed a bit of fog hanging out at the bottom of the staircase. He made his way down slowly and his jaw dropped. Not only was the basement filled with artificial fog but it was set up like a maze separated by pieces of cardboard spray-painted grey. He joined his friends on the stoop and waited for Hannah to explain the rules of the new game. “OK! Professor Lawrence has arrived, we can start!  Now, this game is something I came across on the internet trying to come up with fun new party ideas.  I couldn’t find any set rules of course, but I figure it shouldn’t be any harder than the original game.”

            “What are we playing? ‘Escape the Minotaur’?” A bespectacled fellow partygoer asked. The group let out a collective chuckle.

            “Haha. No Caleb, I’m afraid not.  What we are playing, though, is called Indoor Fog Croquet.” Hannah said swinging her mahogany croquet mallet in the air and resting it on her shoulder. “As you can see we’ve set up our own little obstacle course here plus you have to play through the fog. Now everyone grab a mallet, and we’ll get started.” Aloysius smiled and picked up his own mallet from the stand. He was completely shocked by Hannah and Xander’s creativity when it came to throwing parties like these. “Hey Hannah, are we playing as teams or individually?” he asked.

            “We will be playing in teams, my good sir. Actually your teammate is floating around here somewhere. I think she was checking out the course.”

            “Oh, so your mystery lady is my teammate? You know I need to approve these things in advance.”

            “I don’t think you’ll object at all, dear. Here she is now, actually!” Hannah and Aloysius turned and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Coming around the corner and veiled in fog was none other than his table thief from earlier that day. 


Even though the story is still lacking in it's Lovecrafty-ness, don't worry it's getting there! Chapter 3 has a lot of strange surprises in store. I can only hope the man would approve!

Chapter 1

Hello all!!


I'm very proud to finally share chapter 1 of 'The Lovecraft Paradox". Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! 

1.

            “Bagawk!” the little bird on Aloysius’s screen squawked as he launched it at the pig in the tower. The bird failed to knock over the tower at all, and Aloysius angrily hit the “replay” button again.  He didn’t know why he played Angry Birds so much. It was a stupid game with a stupid storyline and he didn’t understand why people were so obsessed with it. Yet here he was, once again, trying tirelessly to knock down the tower and pop the pig.

It was an abysmally slow day at C.D. Ward, Incorporated. But then again, every day was abysmally slow for Aloysius Baxter Cunningham. Day after day, hour after hour, he would sit in his little “cubical”, as they called it, and tirelessly enter names and numbers into his computer. Aloysius grew more and more bored with his job. Today, in particular, seemed worse than usual. Even though the monotony of his day ate away at his soul, he still did his job. He worked quickly and effortlessly just so he could get all his work out of the way and then slack off. He was so good at his job in fact that his boss made him a trainer and today he was expecting a new hire any time now.

He gave the “Birds” a rest for a while and leaned back in his uncomfortable desk chair. He ran his hands threw his short dark brown hair, twirled his handlebar mustache and snapped his suspenders against his powder grey dress shirt. The dress code in the office was business casual and most just wore khakis and polo shirts, but Aloysius always tried to put effort into his appearance. It was one of the only things he could control about his day. It was plain to see from his wardrobe choices that he was very involved in the Boston steampunk scene. He always wore deep maroons, chocolate browns and dark blues accompanied by brass and copper accoutrements. He despised the “C.D. Ward, Inc” lanyard he had to wear that held his ID badge.  It was neon green and clashed with every article of clothing in his closet. He looked at his beautifully detailed wristwatch. It was just about 10 o’clock. His trainee would be arriving soon. Before he could put his arm down, his boss was standing in front of him with a jolly looking older woman by his side. ‘Yikes’ , he though to himself.

“Ahhh, Good Morning Cunningham! Looking sharp as always, I see! Now you see, Mary, Cunningham is always in good spirits when it comes  to work! He puts effort into how he looks and works hard. He’s a fine example of a C.D. Ward employee!” Mr. Warren was convinced that Aloysius adored his job. He was ok with that because that meant he left him alone most of the time.

“Oh Mr. Warren, you’re far too kind.” He said standing and offering to shake his boss’s pudgy hand. Mr. Warren was in his 50’s, balding with a horrible comb over and insisted on wearing sweater-vests over short-sleeved button-down shirts every single day.  Aloysius smiled thinking about how many hyphens were involved trying to describe Warren’s wardrobe. Mary was no prize either.

“Cunningham, this is Mary. Our newest addition to the C.D. Ward family!”  Mr. Warren said enthusiastically. Mary was short, chubby, and had chin length blonde hair with gray streaks. She wore a red skirt with a hem that hit just at her knee and a waistline that began underneath her boobs. She paired it with a red and white striped candy-cane looking shirt and a leaf brooch straight out of “Lord Of The Rings”. Aloysius pursed his lips and tried not to snicker. He offered her his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mary. Your brooch is lovely. ‘The leaves of Lorien do not idly fall’ as they say.” Mary smiled slightly and tilted her head confused. She had no idea what he was talking about.

“Oh, thank you, but this is from ‘Lord Of  The Rings’.” She said.

“Oh…riiiiiight. That’s what that is. Silly me.” Aloysius used every bit of strength he could muster to not laugh right in her face. ‘Oh Lordie, she has no idea what I’m talking about. Great.’ he thought to himself.

“Now, Cunningham, I expect you to show Mary the ropes. Teach her everything you know about the business.”

“You can count on me, Mr. Warren.” He said with a firm nod.

“I’ll leave you two to it then! Good Luck, Mary!” Mr. Warren let out a quick laugh and waddled away. Now it was just Aloysius and Mary. Mary and Aloysius. Aloysius and his trainee. Anyway he looked at it, he already wasn’t a fan of being alone with Mary. He could tell this would be an unpleasant experience and an extremely long day.

*                      *                      *                      *                      *

They were only about an hour or two into the training process before it happened. It was so close to lunchtime and Aloysius thought he was safe. Every time he trained someone new, they always noticed his ID badge.  It got so bad that he had his security department make him a brand new badge that simply read A.B. CUNNINGHAM to avoid the inevitable questions of “WOW that’s so obscure, is it a family name?” or “How did you make it through grade school?”. Just like the others, Mary brought it up just to make small talk. “Oh! I see Cunningham is your last name! I’m sorry, I’ve been calling you that all morning!”

“That’s alright. I actually prefer it. I go by Cunningham around here, or by Al everywhere else.” He tried to be friendly and hoped that would end the conversation, to no avail. Growing up with a name like Aloysius Baxter Cunningham wasn’t easy at all. In grade school, the other children would taunt him with the rhyme:

“Aloysius' mother does the dishes,
Because her son stinks like fishes!
Get something strong to spray,
He smells just like Innsmouth Bay!”

By the time he got to high school, he was smart enough to just tell everyone his name was Al, and by adulthood he realized that people who weren’t already friends should just call him “Cunningham”.

“Oh haha!” Mary let out a guffaw! Aloysius knew what was coming next. “It’s like that Paul Simon song! So you’re saying I can call you Al? Well then you can call me Benny! Haha!” He was not, however, expecting that.

“Ahhh, that’s right. Paul Simon is pretty awesome.” He said trying to hide his sarcasm. Aloysius was really trying hard with this lady, but their personalities just kept clashing. He looked at the clock again. One more minute until the lunch bell. Then he’d be free from Mary’s horrible jokes and eerily pleasant demeanor for at least an hour. But it wasn’t before she threw one last zinger at him.

“OOOH and you’re initials!! How charming!  ABC!  Your parents must have done that on purpose!” It took all of Aloysius’s will power to keep his jaw from dropping. It wasn’t the worst he heard about his name, but it certainly did catch him off guard!  “So, would you say this job is…..as easy as ABC?” she joked again. She laughed and laughed and Aloysius let out a small chuckle followed by a sigh. Finally the lunch bell rang.

“Alright Mary, you’re free for lunch!” he said with a clap of his hands. Mary composed herself and wiped a tear from her eye from laughing so hard. Aloysius threw on his scally cap and gathered up his messenger bag while he waited for Mary to gather her things as well. He never ate in the lunch room with his coworkers, but he always liked to escort his new trainees there and introduce them to like-minded individuals. He was usually a pretty good judge of character and could pick where certain people would fit in. As for himself, he didn’t fit in with any of them. That’s why he preferred to go to the little café up the street from the office for his lunch hour.

C.D. Ward had a bigger office in Downtown Boston, but they also had a little satellite office in the North End up the street from Old North Church and Copp’s Hill Cemetery. On sunny spring and summer days, Aloysius would take his laptop with his lunch up to the cemetery, or over to the courtyard in front of the church to eat and get some writing done. But on cooler days, he always ended up at Copp’s Hill Cafe. It wasn’t too big or too small, and even though it was right smack dab in front of a tourist attraction, it was limited to local foot traffic. He frequented the café so much that the staff knew him by name and always tried to have his favorite table open for him. Today they weren’t so successful.

He walked into the Café and tipped his hat to the jolly, olive-skinned cook behind the counter. “Ciao Tony” he said. He sauntered up closer to the counter.

“Ciao Al!”  the cook replied. ‘You expectin’ a guest, boss?”

“Nah, do I ever? Why do you ask?”

“Oh. That nice young lady came in and sat at your table before Maurizio could get a chance to save it for you. I thought she might be with you so I didn’t say anything. ‘Scusami!”. Aloysius looked where Tony was pointing with the loaf of Italian bread in his hand.  A pretty young lady sat reading a newspaper, although it looked peculiar and unlike any newspaper he’d ever seen. Her hair was shoulder length and almost jet black, if it wasn’t for the bright red highlights strewn throughout. She was almost as pale as the napkin sitting in front of her. She wore a perfectly fitted black coat over purple leggings and black clunky combat boots on her feet. Aloysius was sad that his seat was gone, but there was plenty more tables to work from. He shrugged and turned back to Tony.

“No worries, pal!” he said. “I’ll just have my usual panini.” This is what he got for showing Mary to the lunch room. Five minutes late to the café and his favorite big table was taken. He walked over to one of the open tables in the middle of the room and got settled in. His laptop took up half the space on the tiny table and he awkwardly tried to position it so there would be room for his computer AND his sandwich when it arrived. Eventually he just put the laptop on his lap, which he felt was appropriate. To make matters worse, just when he was about to start into his panini, his cell phone rang. Juggling the laptop on his lap, and trying not knock over the sandwich on the table WITH the laptop, he carefully leaned over and pulled the phone out from the his bag. “Hey-lo?” he said.

“Hey bud!” It was his friend Nate. “Whats goin’ on?”

“I don’t know man, you called me. What’s going on over there?”

“Not much. Just seeing if you’re going to the party tonight?”

“What party?”

“C’mon bro, you know what party I’m talking about. Xander’s  party?”

“OOH, right! I completely forgot, sorry. Work is slowly killing me more than usual today.

“Trainee?”

“How’d you guess?”

“When are you gonna get that story finished and make a million dollars off it? Then you’d never have to go back there again.” Aloysius chuckled after that comment.

“It’s not about the money, Xan. I’m taking my time with this one and making sure I get every detail right. So far I think the direction I’m taking it in works. Nowhere near as well as Lovecraft. I’m learning a lot of interesting things about him during this though!  Did you know that in 1997 someone tried to dig up his remains?”
            “Yikes, what happened?”

“Noone really knows. From what I’ve found they got pretty deep in before something spooked them and they ran.”

“Cops don’t know what happened?”

“Not a clue. It was probably crazy ‘Cthulhu Cultists’ or something.”

“People actually believe that stuff?”

“It’s not surprising to me actually. If they can believe in an invisible man judging them in the sky, then they can certainly believe in horrible beings living outside our realm of existence.”

“I guess. Alright man, I’ll leave you too it. See you tonight.”

“Yes sir. See you later.” He hung up the phone and refocused his attention to the computer screen. As he turned his gaze toward the monitor, he noticed the  curious young lady who had stolen his seat was now staring directly at him. Her piercing grey eyes, which he had never seen on a human being before, struck him in such a way that after a few moments had passed, he had to shake his head in order to break the hypnotic gaze. He spent the rest of his lunch break working as hard as he could on his story, eating, and trying really hard to avoid Grey Eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he could still see her turned in his general direction.

As soon as the clock on his computer screen struck 1, he quickly and clumsily packed up his laptop and hoofed it back to his office trying to avoid the pretty young lady’s magnetic stare. He almost forgot to pay and say goodbye to Tony before he left, He never thought he’d see the day he was excited to escape back to the confines of his cubicle. That was until he heard Mary’s overwhelmingly cheery tone call out “I’ll be right back with you in a minute, ABC!” He really couldn’t win today. Xander’s party couldn’t come soon enough.

I really hope you all enjoyed this little introduction into the world of Aloysius Baxter Cunningham! I'm really enjoying writing about him. His journey to write the perfect Lovecraft story isn't too far off from my own! The things I have learned about the man and his private life so far have been nothing short of astounding. A lot of what you'll read in this story in the coming installments is inspired by it all. 

Any feedback and criticism on this first chapter are encouraged, of course! Keep your eyes peeled for Chapter 2! Thanks for reading!

Greetings!!

 Why hello there!

It's been quite a while since i've blogged, hasn't it? It feels good to be back! What brought on this sudden return to the blogosphere, you ask? My newest project! Don't worry, I'm still working on my NaNoWriMo story but "Demonatrix" and my beloved Sadie are being put on a brief hold so I can breathe life into an idea thats been kicking around the ol' noggin recently. In order to clear some space for MORE Sadie ideas, I've gotta get this story out! Now, onto the new idea:

H.P. Lovecraft was, and still is, one the greatest horror writers of our time. The monsters and atmospheres he created are unmatched. To this day, writers are still creating pieces set in Lovecraft's universe that add another branch (or tentacle, I guess) to the "Cthulhu Mythos". It's truly a shame that when he was alive, he never reached the level of popularity he has today. He was loved by his contemporaries, and through them his work and legacy lived on. My new story "The Lovecraft Paradox" is my contribution (even if it's minuscule and nowhere near as phenomenal as the stories that have preceded it) to that ever growing world.

Lovecraft is, along with Edgar Allen Poe, responsible for my interest in writing supernatural fiction. The ability to surround the reader with a feeling of dread and impending doom just with a few choice words is a rare ability and one that Lovecraft himself perfected with ease. In his 32-page essay "Supernatural Horror In Literature", he writes:

"This type of fear-literature must not be confounded with a type externally similar but psychologically widely different; the literature of mere physical fear and the mundanely gruesome. Such writing, to be sure, has its place, as has the conventional or even whimsical or humorous ghost story where formalism or the author's knowing wink removes the true sense of the morbidly unnatural; but these things are not the literature of cosmic fear in its purest sense. The true weird tale has something more than secret murder, bloody bones, or a sheeted form clanking chains according to rule. A certain atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces must be present; and there must be a hint, expressed with a seriousness and portentousness becoming its subject, of that most terrible conception of the human brain -- a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space."

Nothing matches the feeling of dread the reader feels when the crew of the doomed schoonerEmma awakens the Great Old One, Cthulhu. The terrifying image Lovecraft conjures up of the invisible Dunwich horror stays with you long after you've finished the story. Lovecraft truly understood what it took to be a writer of the unusual and strange!

My newest tale "The Lovecraft Paradox" basically turns everything about the Cthulhu Mythos on it's ear. The main character is Aloysius Baxter Cunningham. He's a twenty-something Boston resident stuck at a dead end, boring job who fills up his free time writing stories and attending Steam punk conventions and parties with his friends. While doing research for a story based in the Lovecraft Universe, he encounters a mysterious young lady named Charlotte who leads him into a world of cults, paradoxes and an end-of-the-world scenario he thought only existed in the world of Lovecraft he loves so much. Will he succeed in helping the mysterious Miskatonics prevent the return of the Old Ones? Or will the heads of Arkham House succeed with their plot to destroy the works of the author they were once meant to protect? Is this all happening in Aloysius's head?

For the answers to these questions and more, stay tuned! Chapter 1 is coming soon!