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