Chapter 5 Part 1

Sorry for the delay!! Part 1 of Chapter 5 is finally here! You're probably wondering (I hope anyways) what the hold up was with this chapter! It's really quite simple: Ever since the anniversary of Howards death, I have witnessed an outpouring of love and devotion to his work. After attending a tribute service in Providence, I realized that people do take him very seriously, and I really admire that! In an effort to appease the super fans, i'm trying to take as much time with the rest of the story as I can. I will work hard to create a piece that is worthy of the Cthulhu Mythos! So without further ado, here is the continuation of The Lovecraft Paradox!

                                                                            5.

            “Excuse me?” Al said raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of his drink. He thought maybe he had misheard him, or maybe he was too tired to comprehend what Sylvanus just said. He also started to notice a strange odor overtaking the room. He couldn’t quite place what it smelled like or where it was coming from, but it was starting to mess with his senses. This trip to Salem was getting more bizarre by the minute! “Esoteric Order…of  what now?” he asked trying to politely cover his nose.   

            "Oh, I forgot about the smell up here! This building is so old and musty that some people just can’t handle it. I guess I’ve grown rather accustomed to it over the years.” Sylvanus replied pulling an incense burner out of his desk drawer and lighting a stick. “Now back to business, Mr. Cunningham. Our name isn't important as such, however our work is and it is in that arena that we require someone of your talents."

            “What talents do you think I have, Mr. Wade? I’m just an office drone, and a sub-par writer on the side.”

            “But you’re far more than you realize, Aloysius! You’re a budding Lovecraft historian, which is what we need for this organization.”

            “What exactly do you need me for?”

            “We here at the Order are part of an ongoing project to preserve what Lovecraft gave us, and protect the world from the nightmares of his stories.” Al sighed and buried his head in his hands. There was an entire group of people who believed that Cthulhu and the Elder Gods were real.

            “What exactly is there to preserve? How do you know it’s all real?”

            “Each member of the Order came to the conclusion in their own way. I believe you’ve had your own experiences that would alter how you feel, am I right?” Sylvanus inquired while raising an eyebrow. Aloysius got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He knew what Sylvanus was talking about. The past few nights of horrible sleep had been plagued by some nightmarish monster that he would almost swear was real. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead just thinking about it. 

             “I’m not expecting you to believe any of what I’m about to tell you, Aloysius. I simply need a fresh mind and sharp eye to help our cause.”

            “Keep talking, I’m listening.”

            “The many works of Lovecraft have been interpreted and misinterpreted over the years since his death. Most feel that the monsters and the horrific environment he created are mere reflections of how he felt about the world he lived in. For example, it is believed that ‘The Horror At Red Hook” is a reflection of Howard’s feelings of prejudice and racism towards the large wave of immigrants coming to the United States at the time. The literary scholars and critics of the world call him the greatest horror writer of the last 100 years. However, recent discoveries made by the Order have led us to believe that the stories and ‘weird tales’, so to speak, are not as far-fetched as they would seem. His nightmares that some believe “inspired” his stories, weren’t nightmares at all. They were visions, Mr. Cunningham.” Aloysius listened and simply sipped on his drink. It was the only thing he could do to keep from laughing.

            “Go on.”

            “By now you’ve heard the phrase ‘When the stars are right’ I assume?”

            “Yes sir, I have.”

            “Mr. Cunningham, I’m afraid that day is rapidly approaching. The Ancient Mayans predicted a galactic alignment will occur on Dec 21st , 2012. Many believe there will be a magnetic pole shift that will bring about the apocalypse causing widespread destruction and chaos. We at the Order have discovered there will be something far more sinister at work.” Aloysius raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

            “What could possibly be worse than the apocalypse?”

            “The return of the Old Ones! The rising of Rl’ yeh from the depths!  Yog-Sothoth opening the gate!!! Azathoth…”

            “And that would be my cue to leave.” Al interrupted him before he could go any further. “I’m sorry Mr. Wade, I don’t think I can help you with this .” He stood and headed towards the office door. As he opened the door to leave, Charlotte practically fell into him. He helped her back to her feet and turned back to Sylvanus. “Does she ever go away?” he said.

            “Not this time I’m afraid. She’s very excited to be a part of this project.”

            “Are you going to help us, Aloysius? Oh please, say you will! We really need all the help we can get with this! I think you’d be perfect! ” She said enthusiastically.

            “Well I don’t think so……”

            “Mr. Cunningham before you decide, I feel the need to tell you once again that I don’t expect you to believe this. I just need your expertise. All you would have to do is find a few artifacts for me, nothing more, nothing less. ” Sylvanus pleaded with him. “I can pay you handsomely, and in any currency you like. How does $5000 to start sound?” Aloysius paused and thought it over. What’s the worst that could come from helping these people? A few more nightmares, maybe? Being forced to hang out with Charlotte? $5000 would be enough for him to take a leave of absence from work to focus on his “mission”. That alone should’ve been enough to convince him to do it, but there were still a few things he was unclear of.

            “Well Mr. Wade, you almost had me with the $5000. But I do have one question for you: Why me? You keep saying you need my ‘expertise’, but I don’t understand why you don’t just use one of the members of the Order? Since they will obviously know what to look for.”

            “That’s exactly part of the problem. To put it simply; the best way to describe the members of this Order is to compare them to somewhat overzealous Christians. As a Christian would see Jesus appear on a piece of toast, a dedicated Miskatonic will see Yog-Sothoth in the bubbles on a tube of toothpaste. They will have difficulty deciphering a Night Gaunt from a gargoyle atop a church. We need you to give us a fresh perspective. Actually, not believing will probably make it easier for you to finish this task. Keeping an open mind about it will be in your favor.”                                                                                                      “What are you looking for?”

            ‘I’m afraid I can only tell you if you accept the job, Mr. Cunningham. I know I’ve already come off as somewhat of a lunatic to you, so I would rather keep the details to a minimum until I know you will take this seriously.” The old man sat back in his chair and folded his hands, Aloysius weighed his options. He could walk away right now, go back to his ho-hum life at C.D Ward and never be bothered by any of this again or accept the job Sylvanus was offering to him now. As much as he wanted to refuse, something inside of him wanted to know the truth. It was as if something had latched on to his mind and soul and wouldn’t let up until he knew what the Miskatonics were after.

            “Make it $10,000 and we have a deal. ”Aloysius stood and offered his hand to Sylvanus.

            “Done. 10,000 it is. ” Sylvanus shook his outstretched hand. The deal was done.

I usually have something fun or witty to add to the end of these posts, but I think I will just let the post and this photo do the talking. The stars are right, folks.

In Memoriam: "I Am Providence"

75 years ago today, the city of Providence, Rhode Island bid farewell to one it's native sons, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, one of the greatest literary minds of the last century. Although it would take a few years before the world knew his name.


To be honest, it was only very recently that I myself discovered the genius that was H.P. Lovecraft. I had always heard his name mentioned and would hear little bits about "Cthulhu" here and there, but never really paid it any mind until recently. In my mind, Edgar Allen Poe was the end all when it came to strange fiction! It wasn't until a very good friend lent me a copy of  "Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft" that I actually delved into the strange world created by Mr. Lovecraft. I remember reading "The Statement Of Randolph Carter" and being hooked almost immediately. I came away with a sense of fear I had never felt before merely from a story. I wanted to know what happened to Harley Warren! What did he see? Why did he go down there in the first place? From there I went on to discover "The Outsider", "The Silver Key", "The Dunwich Horror", and his most well-known piece "The Call of Cthulhu", amongst many others. The mind that created those stories had become my new favorite thing in the world, and still is to this day! His old world style of writing and his choice of words (for example: gibbous, eldritch, and cyclopean to name a few) truly encapsulates the genius shining through in his work. 


As with any new thing I discover, I found myself beginning to do research on the Old Gent himself and what I learned fascinated me more than any of his stories ever could. It was no secret how Howard felt about the changing world around him. His stories certainly reflected the time period in which he was living. Although he was never commercially successful in his time, he wrote tirelessly. His extensive collection of work consisted of short stories, journalistic essays, poetry (when he was just a child!) and a vast network of correspondence with fellow writers who would later come to be know as "The Lovecraft Circle".  He literally wrote about 20,000 letters in his lifetime!  I think my absolute favorite piece by Lovecraft is his essay entitled "Supernatural Horror In Literature". When I printed it out to read it, it was a total of 32-pages! 32 pages just about writing supernatural horror! He even kept a journal during his battle with cancer at the end of his life. He wrote until he could no longer hold a pencil. As I'm sitting here struggling to write this post and trying to make it worthy of Howard, I can only hope that one day I can reach that same level of passion with my writing that he had for his. 


Howard understood that "the oldest and strongest emotion of humankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest fear is fear of the unknown". That, coupled with his famous line, "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents" proves that he truly understood not only his craft but he also knew that the world and the universe were full of mysteries and horrors that were yet to be discovered. He created an entire mythos to fill that void.  

Writing this post over the past few days has made me stop and think about Howard's final days. He died alone in a hospital and most likely in pain. The Howard we know today should have been surrounded by friends and loved ones. If you're not a fan of his work, at least remember him for that reason alone. Continue to rest in peace, Mr. Lovecraft. You're name will live on forever. We will make sure of it. 

Chapter 4 part 2

Well, I must say: Chapter 4 has been a grueling process, but not in a bad way! I just wanted to make sure it was picture perfect for my readers! This is where the story is really going to get down to the nitty gritty, so every detail counts to make it flow the way I want to. So without further ado, here is the conclusion of Chapter 4:

Several cups of coffee later, Aloysius got ready and left the house to go meet Charlotte at the train station. Now that he was a little more awake, he couldn’t believe that his stalker was actually about to prove him wrong. He wasn’t even sure where they were going but he knew that it was going to be an uncomfortable trip.

            By the time he got to North Station, it was 9:55. He hoped their train wasn’t leaving at 10 because he didn’t have the strength to run for it. He walked through the gigantic lobby and kept his eyes open for Charlotte, who was sure to stick out like a sore thumb. He meandered through the crowd and couldn’t find any sign of her. After a few frustrating minutes of searching, he paused and sighed. He decided that if she could find him once to follow him around, she could find him again with no problem! He gave up the search and got in line to buy a ticket for the train so at least he would be prepared for when they did finally meet up. He got nearly to the ticket window when he realized he couldn’t actually buy a ticket yet since he had no idea where they were going. “Dammit!” he muttered to himself. He turned around sharply and nearly knocked over his stalker who was standing only a few inches behind him. “YIKES, woman, you need to wear a bell or something so you don’t sneak up on me anymore!” he said. Charlotte merely chuckled and started digging into her pockets. “So, where are we going? I need to buy a ticket.”

            “No need.” Charlotte said. “I’ve already gotten one for you.” She handed him the ticket and they began to walk towards the boarding area.

            “Where are we going anyway?”

            “To Arkham.” She replied cheerily.  Aloysius stared at her blankly. He blinked a few times. She really just said they were going to Arkham, a fictional town that Lovecraft created and based off of Salem.

            “So you mean we’re going to Salem?”

            “No. We’re going to what people believe is Salem. It’s actually Arkham.”

Aloysius let out a quiet laugh, which then escalated into full blown hysterics.

            “Oh my God, what?? Do you honestly believe that Salem is Arkham?” He said in between guffaws. Charlotte looked at him and sniffled.

            “It is Arkham! I can show you when we get there! I can at least start on the train ride if you’ll let me!” Her face turned bright red and tears began to roll down her cheeks. When Al finally regained his composure, he realized that maybe he could’ve been a little nicer. He really was too tired to deal with crying Charlotte.

            “OK! OK! I’m sorry! Please stop crying! I didn’t mean to make you upset. Look, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. That book did cause me to have some messed up dreams and that’s why I’m here, for answers.  But let’s get one thing clear. That is the ONLY reason I’m here. Understood?” He asked handing over his handkerchief to her. She sniffled and nodded silently, while wiping the tears from her eyes. It was about then that a voice came over the loudspeaker and announced the track for the next train to Salem. “Oh look! We can be on our way to Ark…I mean…Salem now!” Al said trying to lighten the mood. They made sure they had all their belongings and made their way to the train for what was sure to be an uncomfortably strange train ride.

            After 10 excruciating minutes of waiting for the train to move away from the platform, the conductor finally shut the doors and they began to chug on their way. Al decided to break the tension and ask Charlotte about ‘Arkham’. “So…..what makes you think Salem is the real deal?” he said trying to keep a straight face.

            “It’s hard to explain until you see it. But I’ll show you the maps if you want.”

            “By all means.” He tried to sound enthusiastic. From her messenger bag, she pulled a folded white sheet of paper and a tattered older piece of paper that had been rolled up and tied with a piece of twine.  She untied the twine and unfolded the younger looking sheet of paper and handed both pieces to Al.

            “The plain paper is a current street map of what you call Salem.” She explained. “The older paper is a map of Arkham as it was envisioned by Lovecraft himself. Do you see anything similar between them?” Aloysius examined both maps carefully. He could see the train tracks running along the Miskatonic River were almost in line with the tracks on the Salem map running to Newburyport. He noticed the location of “Hangman’s Hill Burying Ground” linked up almost perfectly with the supposed location of Gallows’ Hill. He looked at these and brushed them off as merely coincidence. He handed both papers back to Charlotte with a shrug. “They’re not too far off from each other, I’ll give you that. It’s clear Lovecraft used one of these maps to model the other. I wouldn’t necessarily say that means Salem is actually Arkham, though.”

            “Those were just our tip-off’s” she said.

            “Tip-offs?” he asked.

            “Yes. You’ll see the biggest piece of evidence when we get there! Oh, they’ll be so excited that I was able to bring you!”

            “They? Our? Who are you talking about?”

            “I will explain when we get there! You have to see it to believe it!” Charlotte said carefully returning the papers to her bag. Aloysius had never considered himself a crazy man but at that exact moment he was just about ready to jump out of the moving train! What was Charlotte getting him into? Who was she talking about? Was there actually a group of people she was taking him to meet? Was she just luring him into a trap filled her stuffed animal “friends” that she talks to? He racked his brain trying to figure out who they might be! The creature in his dream mentioned “them” as well! Maybe there was some significance to it and he was just too tired to realize. His head was starting to hurt so he shut his eyes and rested his head against the window while his mind raced. Before he knew it the conductor was announcing their stop! They gathered up their things and shuffled off the train. They walked across the seemingly endless parking lot to the staircase that led to the main street level.

            Despite living fairly close his entire life, Aloysius had only visited Salem a handful of times on class trips as a child and on drunken Halloween excursions as an adult. He was relying fully on Charlotte to show him around. For all he knew she could know where she was going. Or she could be luring him into her torture chamber. Who could say? They crossed the busy intersection they had come to and before Al could even get the question he was going to ask out, Charlotte chimed in with an answer. “We’re not going too far off the beaten path to get to Church Street. It’s just the next street down. But there’s a certain way you have to go to get the full effect when I show you the map again.”           

            “I have no doubts you know where you’re going.” Al replied with slight sarcasm.  She turned and giggled excitedly at him. ‘There’s still time to run, Al. The train station is still close enough….” He thought to himself before Charlotte spoke again. “Now, I don’t think you want to go running off, Mr. Cunningham. We have work to do.” With that he decided that he really DID want to run, but he was afraid of what would happen to him if he even attempted it. Did she read his mind? Was she even human at all? He could feel himself starting to sweat.

            “Why would I run?” he asked nervously. “I’ve already come this far, haven’t I?”                                                                                                                               

            “True. Just wanted to make sure, that’s all. ” She replied           .  He followed along quietly as Charlotte led him down a small side street. ‘This is it. We’re walking down a shady street. I’m done for! I never even got a chance to say goodbye to my family…” Al thought bracing for an attack. They walked by a place called Lyceum, which Al assumed was a restaurant and then in between two red brick buildings, and eventually they came up to a rather large parking lot where Charlotte stopped and began rustling through her bag again.                                               

            “So where do we go from here?” Al asked, trying to hide the terror in his voice.      

            “OK, now before we go any further, take a look at the maps again. Now you’ll see they have a common denominator in the middle of the map.”

            “They do?”

            “Yes they do. Right now we’re on Church Street. Can you find Church on both maps?” Al took the maps and looked at them again, while still trying to stay on guard. He couldn’t believe it. It was on both maps! And almost in the exact location where they were standing! “Well, well, well…” he said. “That’s pretty impressive.” He was about to hand the maps back and Charlotte stopped him.       

            “Wait, you’re not done with those yet! Do you see what else they have in common?” She squealed. Al compared both maps yet again. He really didn’t notice anything else. It wasn’t until he looked back at the Arkham map that he noticed the “Miskatonic University Quadrangle” was almost identical in size and shape to the parking lot they were standing in front of. He looked back and forth between the map and the lot several times and was stunned beyond words. It still didn’t prove that Salem was ACTUALLY Arkham by any means, but he could certainly see how a loony toon like Charlotte would believe it. “Do you see it??” She said grabbing the maps out of his hands.

            “Oh I see it, alright…” he replied.

            “That’s how I found them! Come on! They’re looking forward to meeting you!” She grabbed his hand and rushed down passed a small office building until they came to a wooden door, which seemed to be heading down a small alley. Al took a deep breath and gulped.  He looked up at the imposing two-story turret that seemed to cast a darker shadow then the rest of the buildings surrounding it. Charlotte giggled and ran ahead to open the door. She unlatched the lock and pulled the door out and gust of cold air rushed out towards Aloysius.  It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It reminded him of how he felt in his dream with the creature. “Well, come on silly! You’ve come this far, right? She smiled eerily and Al nodded and slowly walked forward. Through the door, he followed her down a few small cement steps. On the left was another door with a faded sign hanging above it that looked to be about extremely ancient. Al could barely make it out but from what he could tell it seemed to say “Miska Tonic Soda Co. Est: 1920”. Charlotte rang the door bell and opened the door when it buzzed. Al reluctantly followed her in. The entryway was nothing more than stark office. The blonde, bespectacled secretary, who Al thought was paler than Charlotte, typed away on her computer and only looked away from her monitor when Charlotte addressed her. “Hello Lavinia!” she said. The distracted girl slowly turned her gaze towards them and responded slow and monotonously, almost like she was in a daze.

            “Hello, Charlotte. I see you brought him. I’ll alert Mr. Wade. You can head upstairs now.”

            “Thanks a bunch, hun!” Charlotte replied merrily once again grabbing Al’s hand and leading him up the stairs next to the desk. Every so often they would pass a landing with a door and Al would hear various sounds from machinery running to indistinct chatter in some foreign language that he had never heard before. They seemed to walk up a dizzying amount of steps, when Al knew for sure it only looked to be about two stories from the outside. Eventually they reached the final landing and Aloysius couldn’t believe his eyes. It was the same door he had dreamt about the night before. He gulped as Charlotte knocked on the ornate door.  They heard a voice call from inside. “Come in.”

            “This is it”. He thought. “Too late to run now. This is how I’m going to die….” . Charlotte pulled open the heavy door and Al sheepishly stepped in and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the interior of the room looked completely different than he was expecting. The walls were lined with bookshelves that stretched all the way up to ceiling and the books that filled them looks like they would turn to dust if anyone even breathed wrong around them. There were two large, brown, leather chairs sitting in front of the desk and a few scattered around the room. The large mahogany desk was as ornately decorated as the door. Behind the desk sat a stately looking gentleman dressed in a suit that looked it came straight from the 1920’s. He stood up, smiled and outstretched his hand towards Aloysius. ‘Welcome, Mr. Cunningham. My name is Sylvanus Wade. Please have a seat” 

            “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Wade.” Al said shaking his hand and then settling into one of the leather chairs. “Do you oversee the operations here?” he asked.

            “I do! Would you like to try some of our Miska Tonic Soda? We largely specialize in ginger ale and birch beer.”

            “Yes sir, the ginger ale sounds fine.” Al said, fearing what might happen to him if he said no.       

            “Perfect! Charlotte, please fix our guest a drink.” Charlotte nodded and disappeared quicker than Al could comprehend. He decided he couldn’t wait any longer for answers.                                                      

            “So Mr. Wade, from your sign it looks like you’ve been in business a good amount of time. I’ve never seen your products though. What exactly is it you do?”

            “Ahh cutting right to the chase I see. You are a smart man, Mr. Cunningham. That’s exactly why I had Charlotte bring you here.” Before Al could respond, Charlotte had already returned with his drink. “You’ve done a fine job, Charlotte, thank you. Now I think Lavinia could use some help in the office. Go and help her, won’t you?”

            “Yes, Elder- I mean- Mr. Wade.” she said. With that, Charlotte turned and showed herself out of the office.  
             "Now, back to what I was saying, Mr. Cunningham..."                                                                                                                                            

            “Please, just Cunningham will do. No need for formalities with me.”

            “OK. Well Cunningham, I suppose since you’re a fan of Mr. Lovecraft you’ve heard the word Miskatonic thrown around more than once. But not many people know where that word comes from.”

            “I always figured that it was just a made up word.”

            “Cunningham, what I’m about to tell you is very different than what you’ve learned about the world of Lovecraft. Are you sure you’re prepared to hear it?”

            “I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t.”

            “Well then let me re-introduce myself. My name is Sylvanus Wade and I am the leader of the Esoteric Order Of The Miskatonics, protectors of the works of Howard Philips Lovecraft. Welcome to our headquarters.”


...AAAAAAAND i'm spent! I hope you all enjoyed that! It was on a recent trip to Salem myself when Fred and I realized just how closely Lovecraft modeled Arkham after Salem, which of course added fuel to the fire when I was "mapping" out the plot for this story. In case you ever want to take your own Lovecraftian adventure in Salem, this was the map we used.


Keep your eyes peeled for Chapter 5 coming soon!! Hopefully it won't take as long as Chapter 4! As always, please share this with you friends, family, any other Lovecraft fans you may know, etc. I'm always looking for feedback! 


P.S. Am I the only one pulling for this in December? Cthulhu/Dagon 2012: The Stars Are Right!! ;)

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!