Time to Return Home

THUNK.

A black, ink-dark sword was buried deep within Lydia’s monstrous head.

Her mutated corpse lay dead on the park’s pavement, the grotesque mouth hanging open. Jagged teeth protruded from the unnatural may, stained with dark fluid.

Lucas stood over her.

His hand remained wrapped around the sword’s hilt.

He stared down at Lydia’s corpse.

“Sorry it had to end like this.”

He then slowly pulled the sword free.

The sword dissolved into black ink before reshaping itself into a fountain pen, which he tucked into his pocket.

Lucas knelt down and examined Lydia’s body.

“Corruption. And given her sudden appetite for happiness, this is likely the work of Ghar’Melocm, the Devourer of Joy.”

Lucas stood up, his eyes focused toward the skies above.

“If its influence has already spread to this extent…”

His expression became grim.

“This realm won’t last for much longer.”

Lucas frowned.

“But why this moment specifically?”

His thoughts turned to the date he had shared with Rachel.

He remembered the happiness in her eyes as they walked through the city together.

“Could that be it?”

He sighed.

“Well Rachel, unfortunately, it seems a rather dangerous eldritch entity has decided to make a meal out of you.”

***

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

My’s alarm clock rang.

“Ugh…”

Still half-asleep, I reached out with one hand.

I moved my arm around, trying to find that damn clock.

But instead, my hand brushed against a piece of paper.

“Huh?”

I slowly opened my eyes.

“A letter?”

I picked it up.

“This wasn’t here yesterday.”

I took a look at the letter.

A single message was written on it.

I am sorry, but time has run out.

Please, you must return home.

I blinked.

“Home? But… I ‘m already home.”

I turned the letter over.

No name.

No address.

Absolutely nothing.

And just then… the letter disappeared.

I stared at my empty hands where the letter had been.

“What is going on?”

I sat there, contemplating what the letter said.

And then, the manor from my dreams came to mind.

“The letter couldn’t have meant that manor… could it?”

I glanced at my phone.

“Oh crap!”

I rushed to get out of bed.

“I’m gonna be late for my shift!”

I decided to chalk the letter up to my imagination and hurried to get ready.

***

I walked down the usual street I took to work.

At first, everything seemed normal, then I realized something.

I looked around me.

…

No one… absolutely no one was around.

“Where is everyone?”

***

I pushed open the door to the library café.

“Lydia?”

I stepped inside.

“Something weird is happening outside.”

No response.

I looked around.

Just like the streets, the entire library was empty.

“Lydia? Where are you?”

I looked behind the counter.

“Did you go late night drinking again?”

I let out a small laugh.

“Come on Lydia, you know you can’t spend another one of your shifts being passed out drunk. Our boss is gonna yell at you again.”

Silence.

The smile I’d been wearing begin to fade.

“Welp, I am scared shitless.”

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Footsteps.

Someone was running towards the library.

I slowly turned toward the entrance.

The footsteps grew louder

“Rachel!”

My eyes widened.

That voice.

Lucas rushed through the door, looking around the library.

“Rachel, are you in here?”

I’ve never felt more relived in my entire life.

I ran toward him and grabbed his hand.

“Lucas!”

Lucas smiled

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Do you know what’s going on here, Lucas?” I asked with a concerned look.

Lucas’s expression became serious.

“Don’t have an answer for that unfortunately.”

Lucas glanced toward the library’s windows.

“But there is something I think you might want to check out.”

Lucas held out his hand to me.

“Come with me.”

I took his hand.

“Okay, lead the way.”

***

Lucas drove me on his motorcycle to a small observatory tower on a hill overlooking the town.

When we reached the tower, I looked down at the town below.

It was still empty.

Honestly speaking, this whole situation is beyond horrifying.

Still…

I couldn’t help but feel a little happy.

After all, I’m not alone.

Lucas is with me.

I glanced at Lucas.

I wonder if he feels the same way.

We stepped inside the observatory.

Lucas walked over to the telescope and began setting it up.

“Sorry. Rachel.”

“What for?”

Lucas adjusted the telescope.

“I wanted out second date to be under better circumstances.”

Upon hearing those words, I turned as red as a tomato.

I shook my head.

Focus Rachel, this is not the time.

***

After a while, Lucas finished setting up the telescope.

“Rachel, take a look.”

I looked through the lens.

“The sky looks normal.”

“Pay closer attention.”

I adjusted the focus.

Then… I noticed something.

“Wait…”

Thin cracks were starting to appear across the sky.

“I think the lens is broken.”

Lucas shook his head.

“I thought so too at first.”

He placed a hand to the telescope,

“So I checked the lens and there were no cracks.”

I pulled back from the telescope and looked at Lucas

“What does this mean exactly? Is the world ending?”

Lucas looked toward the cracked sky.

“Well, a cracking sky is certainly not a good omen, at the very least.”

I frowned.

“… Maybe it’ll fix itself?

Lucas looked at me judgmentally.

“It could happen…right?” I said with an awkward smile.

Just then…

RUMBLE!

The entire observatory shook.

“Whoa!”

I grabbed the telescope to keep myself steady.

We quickly got out of the observatory.

Then we heard something.

A voice speaking directly into our thoughts.

“FINALLY…”

We both looked up.

The cracks in the sky began to spread.

“FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY!”

My expression turned grim.

The voice grew louder and louder

“THIS ACCURSED BARRIER IS FINALLY BREAKING!”

The cracks in the sky spread even further.

“AFTER ALL THESE YEARS OF WAITING.”

“I CAN FINALLY CONSUME THE VESSEL’S SOUL.”

“AND ATTAIN YTH’SARA’S POWER!”

The voice fell silent.

Then…

Something began leaking from the cracks.

Black liquid.

It poured out from the broken sky and fell toward the ground.

SPLAT.

Droplets of that black liquid hit the streets.

Lucas stared at the sky.

His expression turned serious.

“It’s summoning its spawn.”

I moved beside him.

“Spawn?”

Lucas took out a binocular and handed it to me.

“Basically, it’s minions. See for yourself”

I raised the binocular to my eyes.

The black liquid that fell into the ground began rising into the air.

Its mass twisted and changed shaped.

Limbs began to form.

Then heads.

Then entire bodies.

Monstrous creatures emerged from the black liquid one after the other.

Until eventually, there was a whole army of them.

Deep roars shook the area.

The creatures began charging toward us.

Lucas stared at the incoming mutants.

“Those things are coming for us.”

Lucas turned to me.

He froze.

Reasonable response, to be honest.

I was lying, face first of course, on the ground.

He just stared at me with bewilderment.

“Rachel? What are you doing?”

“I’m giving up,” I said with no hesitation.

Lucas blinked.

“You… seriously aren’t even going to try to stay alive?”

“Lucas, please.”

I lifted my head off the ground.

“Let’s look at the facts here.”

I pointed toward the sky.

“Some alien monster that is so far beyond my understanding that just looking at it makes me question whether the reality as I know it is even real has decided that I’m its next meal.”

“An entire army of eldritch monsters is coming here to tear me apart.”

“And the closest thing I have to combat experience is kicking some rude customer’s ass.”

He stared at me with a mildly shocked expression.

“You did that? I’ve never seen it.”

I nodded proudly.

“You bet I did…”

I paused.

“…in my head.”

Lucas stared at me with a look that basically screams ‘disappointed’.

I dropped my head back onto the ground.

“So yeah, at this point, I feel that giving up is the only move left for me.”

Lucas stayed quiet for a moment.

Then he smiled at me.

“Well...”

He walked over and sat down beside me.

“If this is really the end…”

He patted my head.

“I’m glad that I got to spend it with you, Rachel.”

My face turned red.

How the hell does he still manage to make my heart race when everything around us is falling apart.

He gave me a gentle smile.

“So… seeing that we haven’t been monster food yet, do you have any place in mind that you want to visit?”

He shrugged.

“Personally, I don’t really mind where I die. But maybe you have a particular place in mind where you’d want your story to end.”

I thought about his question.

Images of my memories within the manor from my dreams flashed through my mind.

The black markings.

The magic circle.

The old man apologizing to me.

I’ve made up my mind.

I looked at Lucas.

“Remember those dreams I told you about?”

Lucas nodded.

“Dreams of your childhood?”

“Yeah. Those dreams all took place in a manor.”

I turned over and looked up at the sky.

“So… if my end is near. It’d be nice if I could go to that manor and put the mystery behind these dreams to rest before I die.”

Lucas thought about my words for a while.

He then stood up.

“All right then, manor it is.”

I blinked.

“…You agreed way too quickly.”

He shrugged.

“What can I say? Dying somewhere fancy doesn’t sound half bad.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Thanks for the enthusiasm, but…”

I sighed.

“There isn’t a manor in this town.”

Lucas’s eyes widened.

“Oh really?”

He looked around the town.

Then he pointed toward the outskirts.

“Oh hey, there’s a manor.”

What?

I followed his finger.

My eyes widened with shock.

There it was.

A large manor stood on the outskirts of town.

I’ve lived here my whole life.

And I have never seen that manor.

How is that possible?

Lucas reached out his hand toward me.

“Wanna go there?”

I looked at his hand.

Then I smiled.

“Sure. Why not?”

I took his hand and let him pull me up.

But just as I stood up…

“Help…”

I froze.

A voice came from down the hill.

“Please…”

We both looked down.

5 people were crawling up the hill towards us.

They were townspeople.

“Oh my god…”

I put both hands to my mouth,

They were covered in blood. Their lower halves brutally damaged or entirely missing.

One of them reached toward me.

“Please… help us…”

I immediately ran toward them.

“Rachel, wait!” Lucas yelled out.

But I didn’t stop,

I reached the first injured person and knelt beside them.

“Are you okay?”

I looked at their grievous injuries.

“Did those monsters do this to you?”

Just then…

I noticed something odd.

Black markings.

They covered the injured people’s bodies.

I froze.

“Those markings…”

They felt familiar.

Then…

A memory flashed through my mind.

A man, wearing a suit.

His entire body was covered in black markings.

He was chained to a wall.

Little Rachel was hiding in her room, curled up and trembling.

The man struggled with al his might against his chains.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you all!”

Rachel covered her ears.

“Bring me Yth’Sara’s Vessel!!!”

The memory vanished.

I looked back at the townspeople.

They were smiling.

But those weren’t normal smiles.

Their mouths stretched far too wide.

I slowly backed away.

“No…”

Their bodies began to twitch,

Their heads started to change.

Skin split apart.

Bones cracking.

Their faces stretched until their entire heads became huge mouths filled with rows of jagged teeth.

I stared at them in horror.

I try to move.

But my body refused to obey.

“Stay back…”

The creatures lunged at me.

“RAAAH!”

SHINK!

A black sword pierced through one of the creature’s head.

My eyes widened.

I looked to my side.

Lucas stood there, his hand wielding the very blade that just saved my life.

“Lucas!”

“Pardon me.”

He pulled the sword free and pushed me back.

“I’ll handle this.”

Lucas turned toward the remaining creatures, sword at the ready.

They lunged at him.

The first one attacked with its huge jaws.

Lucas stepped to the side and swung his sword in a downward slash.

SLASH!

The creatures head was cut clean off.

The second and third creature rushed toward him

Lucas swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc.

SLASH!

The blade cut through both creatures in a single strike.

Both bodies collapsed to the ground.

I could only stare in awe at him.

He’s… really good at this.

Then the last creature attacked him from behind.

Lucas quickly turned and blocked the attack with his sword.

SLAM!

The creature slammed into him and knocked him to the ground.

“Lucas!”

It turned its attention towards me.

“Of fuck.”

It charged at me.

Lucas pushed himself up.

“Tch.”

The black sword in his hand began to dissolve.

It turned to black ink and then reshaped itself into a gun.

Lucas raised his gun.

BANG!

The bullet struck the creature’s head.

It stumbled and fell to the ground.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

He fired several more shots as he walked toward it.

When Lucas got close, the gun in his hand dissolved into ink again.

The ink then reshaped itself into a sword.

SHINK!

He drove the sword into the creature.

The creature stopped moving.

He pulled the sword out of the creature.

The blade dissolved into ink.

The ink then reshaped itself into a fountain pen, which he then tucked into his pocket.

He looked at me.

“You alright?”

I stared at him.

“You just used a sword that turns into a gun.”

Lucas nodded

“That is correct.”

I pointed at the bodies on the ground.

“And you just killed civilians!”

Lucas gestured at the dead creatures.

“Did you happen to miss the part where they turned into monsters and tried to eat you.”

I looked at the bodies scattered across the ground.

“So… what happened to them exactly?”

Before Lucas could answer…

THUD. THUD. THUD.

We both froze.

We both looked down the hill.

We saw an army of mutants headed straight for us.

Lucas turned to me.

“We don’t have time for this.”

“But-“

“While playing twenty questions could be a fun couple game.”

He reached out his hand.

“We have a manor to get to.”

I stared at Lucas’s outstretched hand.

I took a deep breath.

“All right, let’s go.”

I took his hand.

He pulled me along toward his motorcycle.

***

VROOM!

We took off toward the manor.

Behind us, the sound of the mutants grew louder.

I looked over my shoulder.

“They’re still coming!”

Lucas kept his eyes on the road.

“I know.”

He sped up his motorcycle.

“Hey, Lucas?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s the deal with that pen?”

Lucas smiled.

“Isn’t it awesome?”

He reached into his pocket and briefly pulled out the pen before putting it back.

“It can turn into whatever I need.”

“Sounds really useful.”

“You bet, it got me out of some pretty messy situations.”

“Really, like what?”

“Dealing with robbers, for one.”

“Robbers? What kind of robbers?”

“The eldritch kinds.”

“What did they want?”

“My soul.”

I blinked.

“Aah, of course.”

I looked at the cracked sky.

“So…eldritch gods are real huh?”

“We literally just saw one cracked the sky open and send an army of mutants after us. So… what do you think?”

“Right.”

I turn back to Lucas.

“I guess I just wanted to make sure this wasn’t another one of my daydreams.

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

“You often had daydreams of the apocalypse?”

“More than I’d like to admit.”

Lucas chuckled.

“Did it involve riding toward the unknown with your boyfriend?”

I looked away, my face turned red.

“… Maybe.”

I then sighed.

“But seriously, why would an eldritch god even want me?”

Lucas thought about it.

Then he pointed to the mutant army chasing us.

“Do you want to turn around and ask the mutant army.”

I looked at him dumbfounded.

“They might know the answer,” he said with a calm smile.

“They’re only a few minutes away, conveniently enough,” he said with a big grin.

I stared at him.

“No.”

Lucas nodded.

“Fair enough.”

***

The two of us had finally reached the manor.

Lucas stopped the motorcycle.

“Here we are.”

I slowly looked up.

The manor stood before us.

I stared at the building.

My heart began to race.

It felt familiar, way too familiar.

I stepped off the motorcycle.

“No way…”

I took a few steps forward.

“This… this is it.”

I stared at the manor in disbelief.

“The manor from my dreams.”