HA!

You stupid, pathetic, gullible, sophomoric, idiots! Did you honestly think that when my ritual said “the suited demon” it meant the Slender Man?

It’s so good of you to finally decide to join us here, sweetheart.

I look forward to seeing you at R’lyeh.

Sincerely,

Grendel

The Summoning

Let’s take this from the beginning.

I’d learned two things from the Library: that Lupine’s ritual was taking place just outside Chicago, and that the Timberwolves were going to be nearby.

And if I was willing to accept help from Grendel, than asking support from an evil biker gang cult wasn’t too big a jump.

It wasn’t too hard to find them; just had to look for the loudest part of the biker rally, and that’s where they were. Makhno jumped at the opportunity when I told him what I intended to do. “We’ll show that thin bastard that he ain’t got nothing on the Boss!” were his words, I believe.

I was on Makhno’s bike in front, and behind us, the entirety of the Midwestern Timberwolves, roaring down the road to Chicago. Didn’t count, but there may have been dozens of bikes on that road. Cars pulled off the road rather than try to get in the way of our stampede; police took one glance at us and decided they had more pressing matters to take care of.

Then I heard the roar of an engine gaining on us. Looked over my shoulder, and saw a pure white motorcycle speeding ahead. The Timberwolves all moved aside to let it pass, until it was riding next to Makhno and I. Makhno took one look at its rider, and laughed. On top of that white bike was the figure of a man wearing a hoodie, its face completely obscured by a gas mask. The Archangel had chosen to join its servants on this ride. Makhno pumped a fist in the air and shouted a wordless battle cry, which was taken up by the rest of the Timberwolves, until it drowned out the sound of the engines.

When the shout died down, Makhno chuckled and said, “Looks like the Boss decided to bring a friend along as well.”

Didn’t understand what he meant until he pointed at the sky behind us. It looked as though we were being followed by black storm clouds, but as I kept watching, I realized it wasn’t a cloud. It was a massive horde of birds, so thick they blotted out the sky, and flying impossibly fast to keep pace with us. The Archangel riding with us on the ground, and the Convocation following us from the sky. I started to think that, for all of Lupine’s talk about the unassailability of his plan, you have to have made some really stupid decisions if you’ve got two Fears trying to stop you.

The Archangel took the lead, driving us toward the outskirts of Chicago. Lupine had purchased several acres of land out here, which he’d filled with means to keep other people out. Against humans, those defenses would have been formidable. Shame he wasn’t just facing humans.

At the speeds we were traveling, by the time we saw the barbed wire fence, there was no way we could stop. The Archangel went ahead, as if to ram the fence. Just moments before the motorcycle hit, the fence was torn out of the ground by an invisible force, and thrown hundreds of feet into the air. The Timberwolves shot through the opening, towards the domed building ahead of us. Soldiers swarmed out to meet us, but the Convocation dived out of the sky, swarming around them. Some were pecked clean of flesh, others carried into the sky and then dropped.

It seemed like nothing could stop our charge. Then there was a flash of light, and standing in our way was a man in black, wielding a flaming sword.

“Archie!” Grendel shouted at the Archangel. “I’ve been WAITING for you!”

Then, Grendel appeared everywhere. Dozens of him, one for every Timberwolf, appearing right in front of each of us. When he appeared in front of Makhno and I, Makhno barely had time to swerve away before the sword came down. The blade missed both of us, but hit the bike, cleaving off part of it. I was thrown off, landing hard on the ground. Still dazed, I tried to see what was happening to everyone else. Most of them… had been killed in that instant. A few, including Makhno, were alive, albeit injured. But our hope to storm the place with speed had been ended.

Grendel appeared to have lost interest in us following the sudden massacre, and began squaring off to fight the Archangel and the Convocation. The dome wasn’t too far away from where I’d landed; I could still make it there on foot. The pain from my crash was immense, but I kept screaming at myself to get moving. Who cares if you’ve got a bone or two broken, the world needs saving. Ran as fast as my body would allow, until I reached the door. All the guards outside had already been carried away by the Convocation, so I let myself in. The layout was exactly the same as the last facility. Went up the stairs to the top, and burst through the door, ready to stop Lupine.

At which point I promptly had about a dozen rifles leveled at my face.

I recognized the scene: the strange star/branch symbol drawn in the floor, with a glowing orb in the center and five statues at the points, while a man in a lab coat chanted a ritual over it. The difference this time was the much greater security: the room was filled with heavily armed guards.

“Ah, I was wondering who was causing all the noise.” Lupine said, smiling at me from across the ritual. “You’re that tag-along I-330 brought along with her, aren’t you?”

I tried to shoot him, but was thrown to the ground by the guards before I could aim. Two of them held me, one by each arm. “It’s rather good you came.” Lupine said. “You get to witness firsthand our victory over Fear today! Gentlemen, please, continue the ritual.”

The chant continued, rising in volume as the orb glowed brighter. I struggled as hard as I could, but the guards kept me in their grip. Had to stop them, I kept shouting at myself. Had to stop this from happening. Had too-

A chill settled over the room. It wasn’t a cold chill, but something unnatural, as if your life and warmth were being drained out of you. The chanter stuttered to a stop, no longer paying attention to his tome. Silence fell over everyone as we looked to see what had caught his attention.

Standing at the edge of the room was the Slender Man.

It pointed an arm towards the chanter, and a tentacle extended from it. Slowly, that tentacle inched across the room, more resembling a tree branch growing than an appendage. We all stood frozen as we watched it stretch out to the chanter’s face. Then in a flash of motion, the tentacle slice his head apart.

Hundreds of tentacles exploded from the Slender Man, and the entire room dissolved into violence. Men were impaled, torn apart, slammed against the ground…. Soon even those not attacked by tentacles began to die: the guard who had been holding my left arm screamed, and beat his head against the wall until his skull cracked. The one on my right shot his neck and bled out on the ground.

Lupine stood by the sigil, looking around him in complete confusion. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen!” He yelled. “You told us the ritual would work! You told us he would be under our control! Grendel-” He was cut off when more tentacles grabbed him by each limb, and tore him to pieces.

Within a few minutes, the only ones standing in that room was me and the Slender Man. The floor had been turned red with the mutilated bodies and organs spread across it. Then the Slender Man attacked the sigil, smashing the orb with tentacle and throwing the statues across the room.

It turned to face me. Running was impossible; my legs felt like weights holding me in place. All its tentacles save two had retracted back into its body; the two remaining reached for me, and wrapped around my neck. The place where they touched my skin burnt, and I could smell the flash charring. Those tentacles squeezed, crushing the breath out of me, while lifting me into the air. Even struggling was impossible, and all I could do was stare at its blank face as it squeezed my life away.

The room was suddenly filled with light, and the tentacles released my neck. The fragments of the orb were still glowing, and even when the Slender Man smashed the pieces over and over into smaller fragments, they still continued to glow. A crack started growing in the air over the remains of the sigil. The Slender Man focused its attention on the crack, grabbing the edges with its tentacles. For a moment, that seemed to halt its growth, but when that moment passed, the crack began expanding even faster. Slender Man made one last attempt to destroy the orb’s fragments, but when that failed to have any effect, it gave one last glance toward me, and then vanished from the room.

The crack kept growing, until it seemed as large as I am. Then, a final flash of light, filling my sight with nothing but white. When it faded, the crack was gone.

And in the center of the room, lying unconscious underneath where the crack had been, was I-330.

-Lisa

Had you told the me from a year ago that one day I’d be throwing open the doors to a bar filled with bikers and shouting, “Who wants to go kill the CIA?” I’d have… probably looked at the ground to avoid eye contact and mumbled an unnecessary apology. But I’d have thought you were crazy.

No time to type, getting ready to ride out with the Timberwolves. We’re coming for you, Lupine.

-Lisa

The Library

You know you’ve hit rock bottom when the only person who seems able and willing to offer any kind of assistance to you is a psycho like Grendel.

“A Door should be opening near your current hiding place soon. All you need do is seek it out.”

Decided to put that to the test. The night I read that post, I went out wandering through Fairfax. Didn’t have any idea where I was supposed to be going, so I took turns at random, until I ended up in the loading area behind a strip mall. There didn’t appear to be anything unusual there, so I was about to leave and resume my random journey. But just as I was turning to leave, I blinked once, and where there had previously been the blank wall a store’s back, there now was a wooden door.

My attempts so stare down the door didn’t result in anything happening. It started to sink in that I was seriously considering doing this. 330 had told me about the Library, and I’d read the post she’d made about it way back, but this…. I, ordinary Lisa Wells, on the advice of a murderous time traveler, was planning to go through that door into another dimension so I could find something which would tell me where Lupine was hiding at. Thoughts of leaving were entertained. I was getting in way over my head; I should let people more qualified handle this. But that’s not what 330 would have wanted me to do.

Took several deep breaths, then pushed the door open. The other side looked completely black. Nothing else to do now… I stepped through into that blackness.

Reading the description 330 wrote of this place couldn’t come near to actually preparing me for what I saw. The Library was immense. The shelves dwarfed skyscrapers, and extended past where the horizon should have been. And so many books…. More than I could imagine. Some with familiar titles, others with titles I didn’t recognize, some written in languages I didn’t know, some without any title at all. Curiosity outfought fear, and I walked forward, keeping my eyes on all the rows of books going past me.

Lost track of time in there. But eventually, the rows of books was broken by the seeming out of place appearance of a manila envelope, tucked between two tomes. I felt drawn to that envelope, and pulled it out. Inside it had… everything. All of Lupine’s records regarding the summoning ritual he was planning were recorded there.

Chicago. It’s taking place just outside Chicago. Explains why they were so hell bent on kicking everyone else out of the city.

Remembering what 330 had said about the Library’s opinion on those who tried to steal from it, after writing down the address, I put the manila envelope back in its place on the shelf. Even as I did, I heard rumbling emanating from the darkness of the Library. Quickly turned around and started jogging back to the entrance.

Even though I wasn’t taking anything, I was terrified getting out of the place. Every time I heard a distant sound I jumped, thinking something was going to come and kill me. Kept looking back over my shoulder, expecting something to be following me.

Focusing so much attention on imagined pursuers backfired when it led to me tripping and falling right into a shelf. Books tumbled off, and for a moment I thought I was going to be covered in books. Somehow, they all fell around me, creating a perfect circle of clear space. All save a single pamphlet, which drifted slowly toward me, until I caught it in the air. It was an ad for a biker rally in Savannah, Illinois, happening over the next few days. There were pictures on the pamphlet from last year’s event, showing some of the participants. Flipping through it, I stopped when I saw a familiar double triangle symbol.

What was it Grendel had said? “The Library will give you what you seek; but it will also give you what you need.”

I think I’ve got a new plan.

-Lisa

Well now that your little game with the FBI has failed, perhaps you’ll be more willing to listen to my advice?

It was clever, trying to use the government to defeat Lupine. But one cannot stop Entropy using its own systems. Yet there are still other means available to you, and other allies who too desire to thwart Lupine’s desires.

But you’ll need to hurry, for the date of the summoning is rapidly approaching, and you lack the time needed to perform a mundane investigation. I could simply tell you everything you need to know, but where would the fun be in that? No, you’ll need to discover for yourself where and when Lupine intends to perform his ritual.

As for how you should make this discovery…. Well, Lupine’s group is still a government agency. And if there is one thing the government can do, it is keep records of everything. Written records.

A Door should be opening near your current hiding place soon. All you need do is seek it out. And remember, the Library will give you what you seek; but it will also give you what you need.

Time to fly or fall, little bird.

Sincerely,

Grendel

1237

The cracks are spreading.

It'll be starting soon.

I-330

… It’s gone. My home. It’s… gone.

After Lucy’s death, I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, my plans had been ruined, my friends were dead… I tried running home. Like a rabbit scurrying back to the burrow to avoid hunters. Wasn’t thinking clearly, just wanted to get away.

When I arrived at the house, the fire had already reached the second floor. By the time the fire crews arrived, most of it was gone. Police suspect the cause to be arson, but they’ve got no leads that I know of.

I probably should have felt sad or something, but I didn’t. I felt… free. For years, that house was a prison for me. After my parents died, I was thrown into it by my relatives, who made it clear they didn’t want me getting into any more trouble. Now it’s gone. There’s no more physical chains holding me to my old life.

Course only now as I write this do I realize that all my books were destroyed in the fire and that’s terrible, but I’m trying to enjoy this happy moment while I can.

-Lisa

GOD. FUCKING. DAMMIT. Why is everyone dying around me?

We didn’t have a destination in mind when we fled from that grave in the forest. “Away” was as far as our planning got.

Ended up going in a vaguely easterly direction, until we crossed from West Virginia into regular Virginia. There hadn’t been any trouble the entire way, so I’d started to hope we had gotten away.

Well, actually, we had gotten away. From the CIA. Unfortunately, there were other things chasing us.

I was driving along the interstate when it happened. Lucy was in the passenger seat, staring out the window. We hadn’t spoken much since seeing the gravesite. There wasn’t a single car on the road, which was making me nervous. Bad things always seem to happen when there’s a suspicious lack of people around.

Sure enough, the car was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown several feet. Before we could figure out what was happening, it was thrown again, and then a third time. I was still trying to recover when the figure of a woman appeared on the car’s hood, and a painted face looked through the window.

“Hiiiiiiii!” The Wooden Girl said.

I still had enough sense to try to slam on the accelerator, but I wasn’t fast enough. It flicked its wrists, and strings shattered the window and grabbed Lucy and I. The strings pulled us out, throwing us onto the street.

“Ever since she ruined my party, I’ve been looking for your girlfriend.” The Wooden Girl said. “But she’s just too hard to find, so I’ve decided I’ll start with the two of you! I was thinking, maybe if I just make you scream loud enough, she’ll come running to try to save you.”

Before I could stand up, I felt something grab my feet and pull me into the air. Strings held me by my feet, suspending me upside down with my face at the level of the Girl’s. Lucy tried to run back to the car, but stopped just as she made it to the door. Mechanically, she walked back, picking up a large shard of glass on the way. When she reached me, she pulled back the shard, preparing to strike. I raised my hands to cover myself, but strings rose from the ground and locked my arms behind my back.

The Wooden Girl held my face with its cold hand so it could whisper in my ear. “Now where should I have her cut you first? Your pretty face would be the obvious choice, but…” It moved a finger from my chest to my stomach, “there’s just so many other places where I could hurt you, it makes choosing soooo difficult.”

My lips moved on their own, forming words no matter how hard I tried to stay silent. “You should start with the stomach, Mistress. Cut it open, and then let gravity do all the work.”

It clapped its hands together. “What a delightful idea! Lulu, do as she says!”

In desperation, I swung my head to hit the Wooden Girl. Not… the best idea, what with it being made of wood and all. All hitting it did was make it laugh.

Just before Lucy could hit me, a large bird flew into her face. A raven flew at her next, then what I think was a pigeon, and then the air was filled with birds flying all around us. The air was so thick with birds of every kind that I could barely see what was in front of me.

This was another one I’d heard of. The Fear of heights, birds, being carried away by forces beyond your control, represented in the form of a swarm of birds: The Convocation.

The birds swarmed around the Wooden Girl; as they pecked at it, the strings which had been holding me vanished. I landed on my face, but got to my feet as fast as I could. Lucy was covered in birds, pecking at her, ripping her skin off. I tried to get them off her, but there were too many of them. When they flew away, all that was left was a mutilated body.

The Wooden Girl was still fighting, tearing dozens of birds apart with its strings. Still they flew at her, no matter how many were killed. With the Fears distracting each other, I ran back to the car. A stray string from the Girl tore off the roof of the car, but I ignored the damage and sped out of there.

And now I’m alone again. 330 died, Lucy died, because of these things. Because of these monsters….

-Lisa

… Fuck. There. That best describes my feelings on the situation as it. Were it not for the fact that I’ll need to be driving once we’re done resting here, I’d be drinking every drop of alcohol in the state of Virginia right now.

It began yesterday morning, when we got word that three agents had been killed during the night in drive by shootings. It was clear that we were under attack, being chipped away at by an opponent we couldn’t find. The decision was made to move the entire branch to a new, secret location where we could counter Lupine without fear of reprisal.

I think the threat on their lives caused the agency to move faster, as it only took a day for all necessary material to be prepared to transfer. We began during the night. The leadership and classified materials were moved first, in armored trucks. Lucy and I, lacking much importance by this point, were in one of the last groups sent out. No fancy security for us: just a black car with a single man who doubled as both guard and driver. Originally we left as part of a group consisting of five other cars but… well, something decided it wanted us separate. While crossing a bridge over the Potomac, the river suddenly swelled up and threw our car onto the riverbank. We were still reeling from the impact a single column of water rose up from the river, like a tentacle made of water.

“Oh, shit, it’s EAT!” Was our driver’s commentary on the situation. He radioed for the other cars to keep on going without us, while we tried to think of a way out.

I expect I wasn’t alone in waiting for the tentacle to attack us. It looked poised to slam into the car, but… it didn’t. For an hour we sat there, watching it. None of us tried leaving the car; I think we were afraid that if we did, that would set it off and it would kill us all. When that tense period of silence ended, the tentacle withdrew back into the river. We breathed a sigh of relief, pushed the car back onto the road, and resumed our drive.

That hour delay may have been what saved our lives. The destination turned out to be in an unmapped part of the West Virginian forests. We stopped before reaching it when the driver saw smoke coming up ahead. He pulled the car to the side and told us to wait while he went ahead and investigated. With that, he drew his gun and walked into the woods.

Lucy and I stood by the car for a while, waiting for him to come back. When we heard gunshots, neither of us hesitated before running after him.

We saw our driver cornered by three men in camouflage with rifles. Don’t know what happened to the driver’s gun, but he had both his hands in the air and his back against a tree. The soldiers opened fire, killing him.

Wanted to scream, but had to hold it in. The soldiers took his body and started carrying it away. Lucy said we could use that as a chance to sneak away. That would have been the smart choice. That’s definitely the sort of thing we should have done. But I guess spending so much time with 330 has made me forget how to do the smart thing.

We followed the soldiers to see where they were taking the body. It… was a mass grave. They’d dug a ditch, and filled it with bodies of all the agents who’d arrived before us. Our driver was thrown on top of the pile, adding another body to the dozens.

Neither of us could look away from the ditch. That ended up being our undoing, because when the soldiers turned around they saw us watching.

I can’t blame my reaction on training this time. When I drew my pistol and fired, it wasn’t a reaction. It was a consciously made decision to kill these people. After what they’d done… playing a part in this slaughter… they can’t be called humans anymore. They’re monsters. And they should be treated like monsters.

Didn’t wait to see if those three had any friends with them. We ran as soon as their bodies hit the ground, back to the car, and then we drove as fast as we could away. Don’t know what we’re going to do now. With the entire paranormal branch dead, there’s no way we can stop Lupine. Just us two, against him? We were resting all our hopes on having the resources of an entire organization to back us up, and now….

Have to think of something. Can’t let it end like this.

-Lisa

Getting Worse

The building was weirdly empty today. Only saw half the people I usually do in the halls. Lucy didn’t know the reason, so the two of us had to ask around until we found someone willing to tell us what had happened.

Last night, the police raided the homes of several paranormal FBI agents. No one knows what they’re being charged with, or even if they were actually charged for a crime. When we tried pulling strings to get them released, the police denied any knowledge of the arrests.

It’s clear our plan to stop Lupine’s going to hell. I’ve been trying to reassure Lucy that everything will be fine, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. I just need to keep hoping someone will figure out how to fix this….

Committe Results

Just got word back from the Congressional Committee. They aren’t cutting Lupine’s funding.

How could they reach that conclusion? Didn’t we make it clear how dangerous he is? How could they hear our testimony and then decide to keep giving that man money?

No one here’s saying anything about the decision, but the atmosphere’s gotten a lot tenser. Something’s gone wrong.

The Raid

I’m writing this from a hospital. That should probably tell you everything you need to know about how well the raid went.

The whole thing started as planned. Several SWAT teams were to storm New Innsmouth, arrest the Innsmouth Reconstruction Foundation leaders, shut down the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and then bulldoze the entire place. With them gone, one of Lupine’s biggest sources of money would be cut off.

In practice, my support role meant there wasn’t much for me to do. I just had to stand around in a black van pretty far from the action, watching other people keeping track of the operation in progress. Followed it as best I could through the radio reports; at first, things sounded like they were working. The cultists had been caught by surprise, with most inside their homes at the time of the raid, and they were surrendering without resistance. Some tried to run, but they were caught by the men waiting around the perimeter.

Just as Jacob Olmstead was being subdued, the screams started to come over the radio. One by one, the reports from the SWAT teams were replaced by horrific screams of pain. When they finally stopped, there was a moment of silence across all channels. Then, a familiar voice spoke.

“Hello, Lisa.” Grendel appeared inside the van. “How’s life?”

One of the radio operators started to stand up; Grendel swung at him, crushing the man’s face in a single punch.

“Come on, let’s ditch these losers.” Grendel grabbed my arm, and the world spun around me. Next thing I knew I was on the ground somewhere. At first I couldn’t tell where, due to the immense pain coming from my gut. I’d never felt anything like it before, this spear of pain stabbing through me. Colors were flashing in my eyes, and I threw up a little blood.

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen. So part of a kidney didn’t complete the trip with you. It’s not as if you were going to be using it much longer, anyway.”

Tried to answer, but more blood came out of my mouth.

“And there might be some slight damage to the rest of your organs, but nothing a few stitches won’t fix. Come on, chin up girl. It’s not as if I’m planning to kill you here.”

Started getting a look at what “here” was. We seemed to be in an open field, from which New Innsmouth was visible. Based on our location relative to it, I realized we were on top of the place where the bay had been filled in.

“This is the third time your government’s tried destroying the Order of Dagon. First they blew up the reef, then they destroyed the bay, and now they’re just arresting everyone. All futile, of course. They can’t stop what’s sleeping here.” Grendel stroked the ground, and I heard a muffled roar from below us.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve brought you out there.” Well, yes, especially after he claimed he wasn’t going to kill me. I’d have asked earlier was I not busy being in horrible pain. “Simple. I’m here to warn you. Your plan isn’t going to work.”

Tried to say “What?” Pain caused the word to come out as a questioning grunt.

“Lupine isn’t going to stand by and let you defeat him like this. Oh no, that would be much too easy! We’re going to see a lot more bloodshed before his role is over.”

I finally managed to string together words into a sentence. “Why… are you telling… me this?”

Grendel shrugged. “Why? Because that’s how the script goes here, you see. I warn you. You don’t believe me, not until it’s too late. I get to laugh at you, and then you finally decide to follow my advice. That’s how the chain of events goes.”

“What?”

He flashed his sharp toothed smile. “Oh, you’ll see. Now, if you will be so kind as to excuse me, I believe there are still people back in town who I have yet to murder.” Then he was gone.

I was picked up an hour later by a rescue squad the FBI sent in when it became clear the mission had gone to hell. No one else made it out alive. All the cult members who were arrested have vanished, including Olmstead. And I’m stuck in a hospital as I recover from all the internal injuries I’m suffering.

All in all, I think that could have gone a little better.

-Lisa