Chapter 11
History
The door creaked open after what felt like hours of waiting. Clyde looked over to Aeron and gestured for him to come in. Aeron and Jericho made their way back into the medical office with Clyde, who sat them down. He sighed and turned away from the two, looking into the room where Dash was laying.
"Is she going to be alright?" Aeron asked.
"Of course. Minor infection was coming on, some internal damage done, but I fixed that. She’s lucky the bullet didn't shred through her lung. Could you imagine trying to get a spare pony lung in the Wasteland?" Clyde said softly.
"No I couldn’t... But, I’m glad she’s okay..." Aeron sighed with relief, "I assume she's asleep?"
"I administered morphine to relieve the pain and knock her out for a bit. She needs the rest." Clyde turned to face Aeron and Jericho, a blank expression on his face, "I assume you want to know about Dunwich now."
"Considering she's going to be out for a bit, I think I'd like some insight. Anything to try and get Dash out of this hellhole, anyways," Aeron said, leaning back in his chair.
Clyde nodded and walked behind his desk, opening the drawer and pulling out a bottle of scotch and a dingy cup. He popped the cap off the scotch and quietly poured it into the glass. After he filled the cup, he took a swig from the bottle itself, letting the silence linger.
He set the bottle down before taking in a raspy breath, "Aaah... Would you like some?"
Aeron shook his head, "No thanks. Jericho?"
"Yeah, sure, pass the bottle," Jericho said as Clyde slid the bottle of scotch to him.
"Didn't think you were much of a drinker, Doc," Aeron mused.
"I have the occasional drink. No harm done," Clyde took a quick sip of scotch from his glass before changing the subject, "So, Dunwich. Where do you want me to start?"
"Whatever you feel is relevant. I just need to hear your story and hope to set off and find the Krivbeknih," Aeron answered.
"I see..." Clyde leaned back in his chair for a brief moment, articulating what he would say. He stared at the ceiling for a minute before returning to Aeron, "Do you know what Dunwich did?"
"Before the war? Or to you?" Aeron responded, “I’ve only ever heard it as being some Pre-war company. That’s about it. As for what it did to you, I have no clue."
"Mmm, I see. Well, can't blame you for not knowing," Clyde sighed, "Well, Dunwich was a company, yes, but they specialized in heavy machinery.”
Clyde stopped for a moment, taking another drink, and then started again. "At the time, when I was working there, they were working on a drill. The Dunwich brothers just unveiled it and told the public it was being shipped out to Canada..."
***
Clyde honked the horn of his car wildly, the blaring of the car echoing into the night air as he yelled out to the driver in front of him, “Move it, asshole! The light is green!”
A moment passed and the driver in front of him finally moved forward, letting Clyde drive behind him, “The people around this place. Swear to God...”
Clyde drove his car around the one ahead of him and down the dimly lit roads. He kept his eyes on the road in front of him, and softly cursed under his breath. Roughly twenty minutes ago, he was called in for a midnight shift. Something Clyde disliked heavily.
“Uhg, Jesus. Pager just had to go off at 11 so I could rush into work...” Clyde wiped his eyes quickly as he yawned, “Only one on shift tonight, too, so I get to deal with every floor.”
“Would be nice if they organized the job list properly this time, too,” He yawned again, stopping his car at a yield sign, “Because fuck if that’s ever filled out by the other new kids.”
Clyde held his foot on the brake as he began patting down his jumpsuit, “I brought my ID, didn’t I?”
Slightly panicking, he reached over to his glove box and opened it, finding a white card with his picture on it. A horn honked behind him, making Clyde jump and hit his head. “Fuck!”
He quickly sat up, rubbing the back of his head, and continued down the road. “Should’ve pulled to the side of the road to check. Uhg.”
Clyde slipped the card into his jump suit pocket, and proceeded to tap his thumbs against the steering wheel. I could really go for a cup of coffee right now, too. He looked down at an empty mug and shook his head. Need something to stay awake. Don’t want to crash at this time of night.
Looking around his car with quick glances, Clyde attempted to find anything to keep awake. Candy, mostly. After a moment, he gave up and flicked on the radio. Blaring loud music will keep me awake.
The radio hummed silently as he tuned it to a random station, which caused a distortion of voices to come through. Stopping on no station in particular, Clyde turned the volume up and continued to focus on the road.
“... And welcome back to Galaxy News Radio! Letting news reach the stars and beyond!” The man on the radio stated in an overly happy tone, as if he had too much coffee to try and stay awake and cheery for midnight listeners.
Clyde smiled as he heard his favourite DJ announce their slogan.
“... One Richard Dunwich, CEO of Dunwich Borers has announced their new rock drill for the Cigar Lake Mine in northern Saskatchewan...”
Uhg, fuck, no. Not that drill again.. Clyde groaned, All day at work I have to listen to the employees talk about it. I get it’s a big deal, with petroleum basically gone... But, Jesus Christ. Shut up.
“... Big up-and-comer replacement for the old drill models they’ve been using. With this rig having been set up last year, the last bit of petroleum belongs to good ol’ US of A!”
Yeah, yeah. Annexation! War! Wooooo! Clyde rolled his eyes. Fuck if that was a good idea.
Clyde yawned as the radio continued to softly rant. Ah, shit... I think we ran out of Abraxo... I really hope Jane picked some more up. Wouldn’t want to clean the floors with bar soap and hot water.
Clyde took a turn and continued down a small road leading into a mass of hills.
“The drill is on its way to Canada currently, and will be revealed to our news teams by the end of the week.”
Still not done rambling about it? Clyde chuckled softly. God damn, play some music.
“With all this talk about resources, why don’t we get a little word from Frankie Laine about That Lucky Old Sun?
A smile formed on Clyde’s face as the tune softly bounced through his ears. He gently tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel and nodded his head as he focused on the road.
Clyde slowed his car as he neared a large building that sat against a mountainous background. The building was rectangular in shape, held up by large steel support columns and thick white concrete. Lights from the building caused it to illuminated a large portion of the terrain around it, revealing large outcrops of trees and a few small houses.
Clyde slowly pulled into the parking lot and parked next to a co-worker’s car. Getting out, he made his way to the single door on the building, all the while passing a sign labelled “Dunwich Borers LLC.”
As Clyde entered the building, he was presented with the same long hallway he walked down every day. Making his way down the hallway, he stopped at a desk. A large woman with curly blond hair sat there, staring intently at a computer screen and typing furiously.
“Hey, Beatrice, mind if I sign in?” Clyde asked.
“Dunno. I didn’t hear a ‘please,’ now did I?” Beatrice stopped typing and looked up at Clyde.
“Aw, don’t be like this,” Clyde chuckled.
“Well, looks like you ain’t gettin’ in, hun.” Beatrice smiled slyly.
“Haha, very funny.” Clyde deadpanned, “But, seriously, I need to sign in. Big kids upstairs need me to clean their asses with turtle wax.”
Beatrice didn’t answer him, but just stared at him with a deadpanned expression.
“May you sign me in, please?” Clyde rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, sec,” Beatrice giggled and quickly typed something into the computer and held out her hand, “ID, sweetie.”
Clyde reached a hand into his blue jumpsuit pocket and withdrew a white card, handing it to Beatrice. Beatrice quickly swiped the card through a slot on the side of her computer and then handed it back to him.
“Good to go, Clyde. Try not to get too dirty. Don’t want to give you a bath again,” Beatrice joked.
Clyde shook his head, “Yeah, yeah... Thanks, Beatrice.”
“No problem, sweetie.” Beatrice waved as he left.
Clyde proceeded down the hallway and to a set of stairs. He quickly went up one floor to be greeted by his utility closet. Clyde pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. Inside sat a large metallic closet labelled “cleaners,” and two metal racks at his side, which held various towels, a set of toolboxes and a few boxes of latex gloves. Next to the metal racks sat a large green bucket with a mop dunked inside. As he looked to his immediate left, a clipboard was hung on the wall labelled “job list,” which marked various areas of the building that needed to be cleaned during what shifts. Clyde looked down the list to find the midnight shift had to clean the current floor and the next two floors above.
Nodding at the clipboard, Clyde hung it back on the wall and walked to the metal cabinet. He opened it, grabbed a bottle of liquid cleaner and hooked it to the side of the mop bucket sitting next to him. He moved over to the metal rack and pulled out a set of gloves from the box, quickly sliding them on, stretching them and letting them go with a quick snap! Grabbing the mop and bucket, he pulled it out of the closet and into the small white hallway. Before he closed the utility closet door, Clyde quickly nabbed a towel off the rack and whistled softly as he proceeded into the offices in front of him.
It was a typical office, for most people. Various cubicles organized in a grid like structure across the office space. The walls were a soft gray and seemed to have splotches of dirt smeared across them. The same could be said for the marble white floors, as they’re covered with a streak of mud which led straight to a staircase at the far end of the office.
“What’d they do? Mud fight? Never seen this much dirt here in my life.” He quietly shook his and began swishing the mop inside the bucket, squeezing the excess water from its thick strands of yarn and slapping it onto the dirt floor, beginning his cleaning duties.
“Hopefully I can get this crap cleaned up and return home in under an hour...” He gently swiped a large bit of dirt off the floor and rinsed the mop clean before continuing. “God, this week’s been terrible. First, people coming to my door and telling me to buy a hundred thousand dollar ticket to get into some dumb vault, had to deal with incompetent newbies, constant drill tal .”
bumpbumpbump...
Clyde stopped cleaning for a second and raised a brow. “What the hell was that?”
He silenced himself as he tried to listen for the sound again. The gentle creaking of the floor beneath him and the work boots squeaking from the soapy water being spread across the floor were the only sounds that filled his ears. After a minute or two, Clyde shrugged and continued to clean the dirty floor.
He shrugged. Probably just someone upstairs dealing with a bad copier.
Roughly thirty minutes passed as he cleaned the floors completely and began to move onto the cubicles. He began wiping down keyboards and desks, cleaning gum that was left on the bottom of them and moving through various drawers to clean out bits of pencils or ruined paper.
“Sheesh, how bored are these guys? Maybe give them something to do rather than shove paper in their desk, and start putting it in the recycle bin I gave them all.” Clyde complained as he tossed a wad of gum into a small bag.
bumpbumpbump
The sound echoed from below the floor. The floor beneath Clyde seemed to vibrate softly, making him nearly slip on the soapy floor. After a minute, it passed and Clyde stood properly on his feet. Looking down at the ground, Clyde slowly knelt down, to listen to anything unusual.
pop... pop... sssss... pop... pop
Clyde shook his head as he wiped his jumpsuit’s sleeve across the soapy floor, clearing it of the various bubbles. Clyde put his ear to the floor once more to listen for sounds. Something softly hummed from below, the floor vibrating again, and the resounding bumps filled the man’s ear.
Pulling away, Clyde stood up and shook his head. “What the heck? Okay, maybe it isn’t a guy upstairs...? Well, wha ”
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH
Startled, Clyde slipped on the soapy floor, falling onto his back and slowly rolling in pain. The loud screech continued to bounce throughout the room. The building seemed to literally shake. Cups, pencils, and sharpeners began to fall onto the floor. Desks started to rumble open and bouncing their contents out to join in the fray. Nothing seemed to take too much damage until the building let off one final jerk, causing three computers to slip off the desks and smash onto the floor.
When it finally stopped, Clyde slowly sat up, looking around at the damage. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just the various openings of desks, but computers few thousand dollar computers had fallen onto the floor during Clyde’s shift.
Clyde shook his head wildly. “No. No! I’m not going to be blamed for this!” He yelled, still attempting to figure out what just happened.
Clyde raced over to the computers and began lifting them back onto their desks. He found most of them, surprisingly, were intact with the monitors just having a couple scratches on them.
He let out a sigh of relief when he started finding that more and more of the computers were fine. As he came to another computer, he hoisted it onto the desk and saw that a large crack was across the screen.
Clyde pounded one of his hands into the desk and let out an exasperated sigh. “Fuck!”
He turned on the computer to see if it was still running. It buzzed to life as the green monitor shined brightly, displaying in the top left corner “Dunwich Employee Access Terminal.” Pressing the enter key resulted in the computer’s monitor to flicker wildly, the green dimming to a black and then shut off. He clicked the power button over and over, but, it gave no response.
“Motherfucking titty Christ!” Clyde yelled violently as he kicked the metal desk, causing him to revolt in pain.
Clyde sighed again, putting a hand through his thick hair before looking at the ceiling. “Oh, fuck, what if it happened upstairs, too?! Who knows how many computers broke up there!”
Clyde stamped his foot furiously, cursing violently in the office before finally sitting down on the chair. Clyde looked at the computer for a moment and shook his head. The blame was going to be pinned on him for sure. But, if it was, he was going to find out why the entire building was shaking.
Clyde stood up from the chair and began pacing the room. He listened intently to the sounds as they continued to violently bash from below. Upon listening, Clyde found himself at the top of a staircase leading into the basement. He turned into the basement stairwell, but stopped short when he noticed the big red “4” shining on the utility door at the bottom.
“Level four access? CEO? This is normally marked level 2 for maintenance.” Clyde shook his head. Why would they label a normally level 2 security access door to level 4?
Whatever it was, the rumbling and sounds seemed to come from below. For Clyde, this was going to cost him his job if he didn’t do something about it. Wanting to have proof, Clyde quickly rushed off out of the office, down the stairs, and back to Beatrice’s workspace.
As he arrived at her station, she was gone, a small sign on the desk saying “receptionist out.” Clyde shook his head and sighed.
“Shit. Wanted to ask if she knew anything about this... Fucking, whatever it is that is going on.” Clyde put his hands on his hips, pacing around in a small circle.
“Maybe I can break into the CEOs office. Go up there, clean floor, slide in...” Clyde bit his lower lips and nodded slowly. “Might find some information on this shit. I don’t know.”
Quickly returning to his mop and bucket, he rolled it out of the office and into the hallway. To his right was another corridor leading to a set of double doors. He dragged the mop and bucket down the corridor, pushing through the set of wooden doors and entering a small furnished room. Immediately to Clyde’s left was the elevator door, which he swiftly approached.
Clyde pressed a yellow “call” button on a pad adjacent to the steel elevator doors. Behind the doors emanated a soft humming as the steel cables inside slowly brought the elevator down. After waiting patiently for a minute, the elevator dinged softly as the doors opened and revealed the stale interior. The walls were giant mirror plates which prominently displayed Clyde’s figure while the floor was a simple black and white checkered design. A light above gently buzzed as it illuminated the interior.
Clyde stepped inside the elevator and pressed a button labelled “4,” which slowly closed the doors and caused the elevator to shift upwards. A soft tune left Clyde’s lips as he whistled nervously, idly tapping his thumb against the mop’s handle and watched as the dial overhead the door changed from “2” to “3,” and finally rested on “4.” The elevator dinged and its doors opened.
A long and illuminated hallway greeted Clyde as he stepped out of the elevator. It was much like the floor he was on mixture of gray walls and white marble floors with the only difference being that there was a set of dark oak doors at the end of the hallway.
Pushing the mop bucket forward, Clyde felt his hands tremble as nervousness spread throughout his body. Since the guard robot had nearly zapped him last time he was on this floor, Clyde could feel his confidence dipping. For the most part, he was hoping that the security would be informed that a janitor was coming through to make sure the CEO’s office was clean.
Clyde was closer to the door now, only a few meters away, and the loud metallic sounds of footsteps echoed loudly into the hallway. Clyde slowly looked to his left to see what was coming at him. It was roughly Clyde’s height its lower half being very round in shape while it slowly thinned out to the glass dome at the tip, which looked like its head. A large vent took up most of its chest area, where the words “Dunwich Security” were printed on it. Its bulb-like armed lifted up slightly while its metallic hands softly spun as it approached Clyde.
“All access to CEO: Dunwich, Richard is denied without proper authorization,” The robot spoke.
Thinking fast, Clyde pulled out his ID card. “Uh, I was told to clean this floor tonight.”
The robot stopped and lowered its arms. “Scanning employee ID...”
Clyde moved the ID closer to the robot as it softly hummed and buzzed. After a few seconds, it spoke up again. “ID accepted. Janitor: Theodore, Clyde has access to floor levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and is permitted to access Dunwich, Richard’s office. Have a nice day.”
The robot slowly turned itself around and began tromping in another direction. Clyde sighed heavily with relief as he opened the large oak door and went inside.
The interior of the room felt more comforting to Clyde compared to the rest of the building. Its back walls had a set of large windows overlooking the mountainous landscape. In the center of the room was a large mahogany desk. On it was a giant gold nameplate belonging to “Richard Dunwich,” the CEO.
On the left side of the room were a few billboards depicting some sort of yellow, black, and orange logo of Dunwich’s name against a rocky background. The right side of the room, however, was a bit more peculiar. A set of bookcases seemed to be filled with various paraphernalia that didn’t seem right for a CEO. Clyde approached the bookshelf to examine the oddities. On a small wooden rack lay a thick black dagger, its surface glossed over with a dry and crusty substance. Clyde slightly revolted, presuming the substance was blood from an unsuspecting victim.
Joined with the dagger were decks of cards, ouija boards, glass phials of various sizes filled with a strange black liquid, and several pentagram pendants. On the far left of the shelf was a stack of books that appeared to be covered in fur-like material. Clyde glanced over their various title names quickly: Occult America, Blood Sorcery Bible, The Book of Baphomet, and a blank book that was bound in a leathery material.
Moving away, Clyde went to Richard’s desk and began to scan the few documents before him. Most of them were filled with jargon about the company, or charts about current profits and the like. But, Clyde’s eyes settled on a few letters that laid neatly to the side. Picking one of them up, Clyde began to read through one of them.
Thursday, September 23rd, 2077.
Dear Brother,
It’s been a long time since I contacted you. I haven’t been able to just call you up due to some issues regarding the book over here, but I still plan to visit within two weeks' time. The book will stay back, sadly, as the rest of our Family is intent on keeping it here as long as possible. They’re worried something might happen to it, and my attempts to reassure them that it will be safe with me are futile.
Based on your previous letter, you said that you’ve found pieces to his home? With the prospect of finding what we need coming to fruition, this will hopefully secure the book for us after my arrival. But, I must ask, how have you been lately? As much as I enjoy talking about our business, I do still care for you. From what I’ve heard, you’ve been working on that drill for Canada? That’s very promising for the company, and I must congratulate you on that.
I myself am doing well in my own endeavours. I have been able to secure a few key sites around Point Lookout for our use, and any friends we wish to bring along. But, I must end this letter here. By the time you receive it, I should be halfway across the state and doing business. Send me one in return, and I will delay any more letters after that.
Sincerely,
Constance Blackhall.
PS: Do be safe, Brother. I worry for your health. He won’t be pleased if you’re weak and broken.
Clyde set the letter down, sighing softly. He lightly bit his lower lip as he shook his head. “There’s gotta be something more than this...”
Looking at the desk, he began opening drawers and sifting through them. Various binders and files cluttered the insides of each drawer, along with more decks of cards or necklaces crumpled up and piled on the bottom of the drawers.
Eventually, Clyde stumbled across a small, metallic, box. He hauled the slightly heavy box from the desk to find it was bound by a set of combination locks. Looking around for some tool to use to just pry the lid open, his eyes fell on the dagger that was on the bookshelf. Grabbing the dagger, he pushed the slender tip into one of the small cracks and began to push down on the side of the hilt; treating the dagger like a crowbar.
The lid began to bend as he levered the dagger down on the box, pressing his weight into it. It took some effort to keep the box sturdy, but it eventually paid off. With a surprisingly un-metallic pop, a corner gave way to his ministrations. With nothing to hold it back anymore, the dagger's pommel clacked against the tile floor. Clyde quickly withdrew the dagger, and set it aside to inspect his prize. He slipped his fingers inside the box and tipped it onto its side, shaking any items in the box to the corner. He felt two things hit his fingers. The first was the keycard he was looking for. He clamped his fingers down on it and withdrew it from the box.
He quickly stuffed the security card into his pocket, satisfied that he found it. Being curious, however, Clyde reached into the corner of the box again and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it to reveal it was another letter, only to Constance.
Friday, October 1st, 2077
Dear Sister,
It’s good to hear from you again. Sorry for such a delay in giving you this letter, but things have been picking up in regards to our business. Thank you, again, for your constant support.
However, it is a shame that the family is being paranoid. There’s nothing to worry about, the book will be fine. Just reassure them that it will be. There’s also a few new issues popping up. Workers are beginning to... Quit. It’s very troublesome when we’re trying to excavate, but with how his home operates... I am not surprised.
Because of my constant workings here, the home itself has not done much to me. But, I fear you’ll quit as well, which is why I want you to wear that necklace I bought you. I have two, in case you lost the original. If you did, it’s where you always put it. If you forgot, I’ll leave the usual note. Until then, I hope your own endeavours go well. I cannot wait to see you.
PS: When you come to grab the necklace, leave the letter on my desk. If you don’t need it, just give me the letter back. I want to shred it later so no one gets wind of what we’ve discussed. I hope you did the same with my previous letters.
Sincerely,
Richard Dunwich.
Clyde found, attached to the bottom of the letter, a small yellow note. He plucked it off and saw the words “Et In Libro De Morte”
Clyde scratched his head, unsure what the note was talking about. It definitely wasn’t a language he could understand and he was unsure if he even cared about grabbing this necklace or not. One thing that was on Clyde’s mind is why Richard had a ton of occult gear in his office, and what exactly he needed it for. The letter mentions a third party by the name of “him,” along with a book that Richard and Constance are seemingly interested in, but it doesn’t explain why this guy was so... obsessed.
Clyde’s gut began to churn as a feeling of uncertainty loomed over him. If he left the necklace, he might just regret it. If he brought it, then who knows what might happen. He sighed heavily and nodded, deciding that he’d do what the letter says and take the necklace. Setting the letter aside, he began rummaging through Richard’s desk again, in search for some sort of necklace. Besides finding the various pentagram necklaces and pieces of scrap paper, he found nothing.
He frowned slightly and sat on the floor, looking intently at the note as if it were going to fill his mind with answers, or teach him this unknown language. He continued to look through the drawers and pull out the large binders or folders hoping to find some necklace that was different than the rest. After cleaning out the drawers, Clyde found nothing of value.
He put everything back where it was and stood up. He set the yellow note with the letter and looked over to the bookshelf. His eyes fell on the books he had looked over previous. Not wanting to leave anything unsearched, Clyde walked up to the bookshelf and flipped through the pages of the books. Most of them were riddled with symbols in place of words, or pictures of large goat-like beings.
Clyde felt like giving up at this point. When he reached the last book the unnamed one bound tightly in leather he flipped it open. Inside, the pages had a large square cut dead center. Within the center was a small wooden box, which Clyde opened. He withdrew a star shaped brass pendant. In the center of the pendant was a large ruby. Clyde curiously glanced it over before placing it in his pocket and closing the book.
Not wanting to spend more time in Richard’s office, he left the room with the mop and bucket in tow. He quickly paced down the hallway and to the elevator, getting inside and returning to the first floor. He retraced his steps to the utility door in the office ditching his mop and bucket along the way and sighed heavily.
Pulling out the card, he swiped it through the scanner at the side of the door. The door’s pistons slowly began shifting while a dial-like knob in the center of the door spun around quickly. Giant clamps holding the door in place hissed open, allowed the door to slide downwards and reveal a metallic looking room.
The room was illuminated by a bright orange lights lining the walls. Dust slowly floated across the room, and colliding with many of the metallic surfaces. Small metal boxes with various wirings were neatly stacked on the right side of the room. The left side hosted a large metallic board filled with various blinking lights and buttons. What caught Clyde’s eye, however, was the elevator doors right next to the machine.
ssssCREEEEEEEEEEch
“Floor or two down, maybe?” Clyde said softly as he approached the door. Another card swipe was required. He quickly ran up to it and swiped the card in. He entered and clicked a button labelled “B2,” causing the doors to close and the elevator to move.
“Hopefully nothing bad happened down there... Jesus, these executives are going to have an ear full tomorrow if I find they screwed up anything.” Ding The elevator opened up, revealing a large metallic room with various pipes and generators lining the walls, as well as a few tool boxes scattered across the floor.
A loud clicking noise stopped Clyde in his tracks. He raised a brow as he looked to his right. Attached to the ceiling was a security turret and it beamed a small red laser onto Clyde’s chest, aiming its gun at him.
Clyde didn’t get to say anything before the loud squeaking of wheels began to echo throughout the room. Clyde looked away from the ceiling mounted device and notice a large mass coming towards him. A soft whirring filled Clyde’s ears as the robot raised a gatling gun, pointing it directly at Clyde’s chest. It stood seven feet tall a foot taller than Clyde and was cone-like in shape. For what would classify as a head, it had a small streak of red across its face, protected by a steel grating. The robot softly stopped, pistons slowly lowering the robot down to Clyde’s eye level.
“What. In the fuck. Is that...?” Clyde slowly stepped back from the large robot, a feeling of uneasiness washing over him.
“Security sensors: yellow. Minor threat detected.” The heavy robotic voice called out, causing Clyde to stop.
“Whoa, whoa, easy there! I-I’m supposed to be here! I’m not a threat!” Clyde held up his hands, showing they were empty.
“Scanning request...” A light clicked resounded in the room as the robot continued. “Request denied without proper identification. If proper identification is not presented, threat will be removed by force.”
Clyde fumbled as he quickly reached into his pocket, attempting to pull out the security card. Struggling to pull out the rectangular card, he furiously began tugging in a fit of panic. The robot’s gun slowly started to spin, taking this as a sign of aggression.
“Subject must control themselves. If you do not comply, force will be taken,” The robot threatened.
“S-sorry, sorry! I’m just trying to get the card out of my pocket!” Clyde let out a long sigh as he slowed himself down, finally pulling the card out. “Here it is!”
Clyde held the card up, moving closer to the robot. The spinning of its gatling gun stopped as the red streak across its face changed to blue. A resounding click left the robot before the streak changed back to red.
“Access level: four. Request accepted. Security sensors: green.” The robot lowered its weapon, as well as the ceiling mounted device retracted its barrel, and turned its robotic gaze away from Clyde.
The large robot slowly turned its mass and raised itself from Clyde’s level. It softly began rolling away before Clyde spoke up.
“H-hey, I gotta ask something!” Clyde stopped the robot. “I need to know where those noises are coming from. I was sent down here to make sure nothing bad is going on.”
The robot slowly turned to face Clyde again. It sat silent aside from the cranking of its gears and electronics buzzing as if waiting for further instruction.
“Could you show me where that bumping sound is coming from?” Clyde asked, trying to be more specific.
“Scanning request... Request accepted. Please be silent as audio from this building will be scanned.”
Clyde did as he was asked as the robot’s red light turned yellow. It sat there for a good minute or two, slowly turning a full 360 to scan its environments. Once it turned a second time, its light changed back to red.
“Scan complete. Analysis of audio request commencing...”
The robot was incredibly slow at processing his request. Most likely built to target and fire at potential threats rather than scan audio in some building. But, it bothered Clyde with why this piece of military grade hardware was down here in maintenance. Was it protecting some secret nuclear warhead, or something? With most companies worried about corporate espionage, they usually deploy security units like the one Clyde saw upstairs. However, he’s never seen companies rely on military units to protect anything other than military assets.
Whatever was going, Clyde needed to figure it out and high tail it out of here. He knew he was going to lose his job by now, but, at least he’d be satisfying knowing what exactly was going on.
“Analysis complete. Location detected to be on the floor below. There is a utility ladder at the end of the hallway that will lead you to the location,” The robot finally answered.
“Alright, thanks... Uh, return to regular patrol,” Clyde said simply.
“Request denied. Security request: escort has overridden. Please follow me to your destination.” The robot slowly began making its way down the hallway.
Clyde slowly walked alongside it. He felt uneasy as the robot had ignored his request. As if someone was watching him, or knowing he was here, or maybe he was being paranoid and this is normal. Regardless, this was fairly unusual to him, even for security bots.
Once they reached the end of the hall, Clyde looked to see the ladder leading down.
“Security request: escort complete. Returning to regular patrol patterns. Security...”
Clyde zoned out at that point, as the robot began wheeling away. He began to climb down the ladder. As he slowly descended, the idea of finding answers to what was going on burst into his head. Too much security for this stuff. Level 4 access cards, turrets, robots with guns... It’s all not making sense. I really hope it’s just my paranoia getting at me again, but something is way too suspicious.
He reached the bottom of the ladder and found himself in a room filled with hard hats and orange vests hanging on the walls, as well as an open utility door. He walked over to the hard hats and vests and began putting one of them on. “Better wear these, in case someone gets suspicious.”
As Clyde made his way through the utility door, the pungent smells of gasoline, charcoal, and burning steel rushed into his nostrils. He quickly covered his nose and began coughing violently, nearly tripping down the stairs in front of him.
“Jesus... Christ... That smells awful.”
Plugging his nose, Clyde regained some stability, holding onto a railing as he began to look walk forward. Surrounding Clyde, unbeknownst to him, was the rocky formation of a cave, and a few metal paths leading deeper into it. Most of it was dimly lit by a few dying floodlights, making it somewhat easier for him to see, but still having trouble navigating.
Clyde held onto the railing, though, and managed to follow the path deeper into the cave and into a much more open space. The space was dominated by large pipes lined on the walls, leading further down the rocky cave and into a glowing area. Around him were a few men chatting and working away at the pipes.
One of the men waved to Clyde and he waved back silently. He continued to silently walk into the large tunnel and looked at his surroundings. A vast amount of metal support beams seemed to run through the entire tunnel, and alongside it was a metal platform upon which two individuals were talking.
Squinting, Clyde noticed that one of the individuals was familiar. Slowly walking closer, Clyde saw the facial features of the CEO: Richard Dunwich. Unsure what to think, but still wanting answers, Clyde walked underneath the platform and attempted to eavesdrop their conversation.
“... So it’s uncovered?” The woman asked.
“Yes it is, Constance. A few of the workers were immediately drawn into it and began worshipping. It’s all going to plan, dear sister.”
Why is the CEO is down here? Clyde bit his lower lip, but proceeded to remain quiet as the two continued talking.
“This is good, Richard. This is good. Once we get the Krivbeknih from Maryland, we’ll be able to re-incarnate Alhazred and be enlightened apostles in The New World,” Constance responded.
“I cannot wait. Hopefully we’ll be able to get it shipped soon. This drill needs to be packed up and shipped out by tomorrow. The maintenance lead should be there soon to fix some of the parts to drill further into the Sanctuary. That way, we can access Alhazred’s home.” Richard chuckled softly.
“It was all thanks to your brains, dear brother. If only we weren’t family... I would probably kiss you,” Constance giggled softly.
Clyde quickly walked away and drowned out the voices of Richard and Constance. I’ve heard enough... He told himself as he placed his hands in his pockets. As Clyde made his way to the end of the tunnel, he was greeted by something far greater than what he could imagine.
Below Clyde was a large crater with a mass amount of workers and vehicles. But, what stuck out the most was flood lights shining onto a large black mass in the center.
The mass seemed to be made out of stone, but carved in it were various body parts hands, heads, skulls and a large snake-like being constricting the mass in its stony grip. It seemed to hum with life as it drew a few of the men in the crater towards it. Eventually, they all fell to their knees and began bowing to it as if they were worshipping something.
“Alright, let’s pull back and unload the drill!” A man’s voice yelled from below, seemingly uncaring for the men who pulled themselves away from their duties.
A large excavator slowly pulled itself back to the edge of the giant crater from below. Replacing the excavator’s bucket was a large drifter which slowly angled itself to a table-top position, slowly lowering the drifter to the ground.
“Is that the...? No, that can’t be it...” Clyde squinted as he tried to look closer at the excavator’s drill.
As he did, a few men approached it and began unhooking the hoses from its body. The loud thuds of hoses being dropped to the ground emanated in the cave as more men began unlatching the drifter from the machine with the intentions of putting it in a nearby truck. When they did so, Clyde could faintly make out the words “Cigar Lake Mine” labelled in bright yellow colours on the side of the truck.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me...”
Wanting to get closer, Clyde began to walk along the side of the crater. A path was carved out leading downward, but, Clyde decided to stay at the edge and watch what was happening below.
“Attention workers!” A voice boomed from above Clyde. Looking up, he noticed that the CEO was speaking into a megaphone. “Please proceed to pack up the drill and remove it via Gateway C. Any other materials must be directed towards Gateway B, and Gateway A. Thank you for your cooperation. That is all.”
The megaphone buzzed out as the CEO began walking away. Looking down into the crater again, he noticed more of the workers being drawn to the large mass in the center.
Abdul...
Clyde raised a brow as a shiver was sent down his spine. Looking around slowly and seeing no one near him, he refocused on the mass again.
Feast of...
The silent whisper slithered into Clyde’s ear, ensnaring his eardrum in a deafening hiss. Putting a hand to his ear, Clyde cringed, hoping the sound would go away.
... Deep Temple... Feast for... The Deep Temple...
The hissing refused to stop, burning both of his ears as it slithered around in his head. Clyde put his hands to his ears and pushed his palms into them. His eardrums were pulsating, as if they wanted to burst, and a small trickle of blood began to slide down the side of his neck.
Born again, here... Alhazred... Flay and say my words...
“Stop! F-fucking! Stop!” Clyde hissed, falling to the rocky floor and curling into a ball.
The pain in his ears not only continued, but began to get worse. It slithered all through his head, as if a small worm was digging tunnels through the gray matter that was his brain, gnawing out new places to store its food.
Flay and say my words... Abdul comes again... on the feast of the weaker...
The hissing had ceased but was quickly replaced by the sound of loud screeching. It sounded like sharp claws grinding against a chalkboard, along with the small screams of antagonized beings joining in.
“Get... Out... Of my... Head!” Clyde slowly started to get up, each movement caused the sounds to become louder and louder, trying to discourage him from doing anything. Clyde tried his best to ignore it, continuing to push his palms against his ears while blood began to stain his jumpsuit.
Finally getting to his feet, Clyde began to slowly and quietly move to the tunnel he came from, each step being greeted with more painful sounds. Clyde’s vision began to blur intensely, making it hard for him to try and coordinate himself.
His rocky surroundings began to slowly swirl and morph. The shapes of rocks turning into the horrifying sights of human bodies entangled with each other. As Clyde moved forward, he could feel the awful crunch of bones underneath his feet. Looking down, Clyde saw his feet in a pile of burnt or bloodied skeletons. They all looked at him, jaws agape, and screamed loudly, begging for him to stop.
“No! N-no! Go away! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Clyde yelled as he tried to walk forward.
Something grabbed his ankles and stopped Clyde in his tracks. He looked at his feet to see skeletal remains tightly ensnaring his movements and eventually climbing up his body.
“No! Stop! Please!” He begged, only for more of the skeletal remains to slowly climb up his body.
The screaming and hallucinations filled Clyde with utter fear, confusion, and pain. He violently tried shaking the skeletons off, but was weakened in his current state. The skeletons began dragging Clyde further down into the pile of remains, causing him to scream loudly in vain hopes for it to stop.
Clyde felt his breath almost leave his body. His mind raced to try and find a solution as it deteriorated with the hallucination. Quickly remembering back to the letter he head, he slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew the necklace.
The large ruby on the necklace had a very vibrant glow to it. As Clyde gripped it, his hand illuminated like a torch and forced back the skeletal abominations. The pain in Clyde’s ears had started to silence, and the digging in his head had ceased. Clyde looked around to see the cave was returning to normal and he high tailed it out of there.
He immediately began running away from the crater and to the tunnel, running down the long corridor and back to the utility room, not taking a second to look back. He rushed back up the ladder and to the elevator, furiously cursing as he clicked the button to go back to the offices. The doors closed and he found himself back in the small room again. His feet began pushing his body forward as he began running back up the stairs, through the offices, and down the stairs to the receptionist’s hallway.
Clyde pushed himself out of the doors of the building and vomited the second he felt the cool breeze hit his face. He wheezed as he tried catching his breath, his heart racing and his head on pounding with pain. Clyde’s throat burned with the contents of his stomach having spilled out on the parking lot. Slowly, Clyde regained some stability to make his way to his car. He opened its door and quickly sat down on the leathery seat.
He put his head on the steering wheel as he tried to forget what he saw. Mass hallucinations that even an acid trip couldn’t give him. Clyde’s hand moved to the ignition and started the car. It rumbled to life as the radio play a staticy tune.
He slowly looked up at the building one last time. It just sat there, silently unaware of what it held within its bowels, illuminating the dark landscape around it. Clyde knew he wasn’t going to come back, and he knew Richard would most likely find out it was him who rummaged through his stuff. He quickly pulled out of his parking space and drove out of the parking lot, leaving the Dunwich building behind.
“Needless to say... I never came back the next day.” Clyde took a quick sip of scotch before continuing. “If you’re planning on finding this book and somehow doing some good with it, then I’ll direct you to Point Lookout.”
“Point Lookout?” Aeron asked.
“Yeah. The letter I read in Richard’s office mentioned Point Lookout, and how Constance was doing something there,” Clyde explained. “Her family was also there, holding onto the book. I have reason to believe that it never even left the place. You can thank the war for that one.”
“So, you’re saying it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go there?” Aeron asked.
“Would be a start. Probably a better lead than anything you’ll get. I heard the old state park they had down there recently opened for business to prospectors. A boat brings them in and out of the D.C. area,” Clyde said.
“I see... Should make it a bit easier and give us some time to formulate a plan on the boat, or something...” Aeron nodded as the promise of getting Dash back home was becoming easier to achieve.
“So, Point Lookout is where the book is, now,” Aeron repeated. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. A big thing, actually.” Clyde pointed to the other room where Rainbow Dash was sleeping. “Did you ever look at that black N on her neck?”
“Yes, actually. When we were captured, some ghoul named Jamie said that it marked her as ‘Hastur,’ and that she was to be killed,” Aeron answered. “He also said someone specifically wanted her dead. I forget... I was busy trying to keep her alive.”
“His name is Alhazred. And, yes, it marks her as the fallen angel. Alhazred’s enemy. That gir—err... ‘Mare’ is basically something he’ll be attempting to torment until she’s dead or insane. I’m positive, from all my years of learning about this book, that he wants to deter her from destroying the book itself.”
“I understand... But, how did you come across this mark during your studies?” Aeron raised a brow.
“Experience. I had that mark for a few days when I left that cave. I heard the voices and screams constantly lingering in my sleep, trying to convince me to go back. Constantly nagging me, hurting me...” Clyde sighed heavily. “Just... At the time, I nearly lost my mind. Right now, she’s probably losing hers, too. Be there for her and make sure she’s safe, alright? God knows what that... whatever-the-hell-this-occult-thing-is is doing to her. ”
Aeron nodded slowly. “Yeah... I’ll make sure she’s safe, Clyde.”
“Promise me, Aeron? I don’t want this to happen over and over. It really needs to stop,” Clyde said, frowning.
Aeron paused for a moment. Promises are a big thing to keep... His eyes wandered to Rainbow’s sleeping form. But...
“Yes, I promise to keep her safe. I’ll also make sure to get her home without harm,” Aeron said firmly.
“Thank you. She needs a bit more rest. You should get some too. I’ll call you back down when she’s awake and the morphine has worn off.” Clyde smiled softly.
Aeron and Jericho stood up and left the room.
“You okay, kid?” Jericho asked.
Aeron looked at him for a moment before nodding. “I should be fine. A lot on my mind, Jericho.”
“There’s too much on your mind, kid. Let’s just get something to eat and go to bed.” Jericho suggested.
“That sounds lovely.” Aeron gave a faint smile.