511
Got an email from Virginia this morning, telling me she thought she’d found something related to Grendel’s revolution in a part of the Dreamlands called “Kadath.” Went to her house to meet her, but when I arrived the windows had been smashed and the door was thrown open. Well that’s not good.
Drew a gun, and went inside, eyes open for trouble. Whoever had been there had made a mess of the place. Couldn’t see any method to the destruction. I mean, I suppose you could flip over a couch, tear out the stuffing, and then throw it into the kitchen, but the question is why the hell you would want to do that?
At first, the home seemed abandoned. But when I got to the second floor, I found Virginia’s dad, with his torso split open and organs minced into a meaty pulp.
Had to find Virginia fast, and make sure she was okay. Ran straight to her room and kicked open the door. It was oddly untouched. Everything was in the exact place I remembered it being from my last visit. Except no Virginia. Searched through the room, but didn’t find any sign of her. Head something behind me, and spun around. For a moment, I saw the face of the Smiling Man. Then its eyes filled my mind, and I blacked out.
When I regained consciousness, I was in a pitch black room, with my face in some kind of puddle. My hands and feet had been bound by something that felt like ribbon. Tried to get a sense of where I was. The smell was horrible, enough to make me gag. The walls and floor felt like stone. While feeling around, my hands touched something squishy and wet. And… was that a human ribcage? Yeah, that felt like a ribcage. Still with pieces of rotting meat on it. Euuuugh.
I heard a door opening, and saw a light at the top of a now illuminated staircase. The Smiling Man was silhouetted in the light, its bright white smile standing out against the shadows.
Seemed a good time to get the hell out of there. Tried to break out of the bonds, but they were too tight. The Smiling Man started slowly walking down the stairs, each footstep creaking on the steps. I started to stab the ribbons on the ribcage. One of the ribs broke off, so I quickly switched to another. Finally cut a large enough hole in them to pull my hands apart. Looked at the stairs, and saw that the Smiling Man had reached the bottom. In the darkness, I couldn’t see much of it, except for its approaching smile.
With my hands free, I untied my feet and got up. That smile had nearly reached me. Didn’t have anything to defend myself, and it was too dark to find something in the room. So I swung a punch at it.
The smile vanished just before my fist connected, and dozens of slashes appeared along my arm. Hurt like a bitch, but there didn’t seem to be anything between me and that door now. Ran up the stairs, into the light.
Found myself in an old house, thick with dust. The tinted windows gave the sunlight that came through a faded look, and everything smelled of roses. There was a table near where I’d come out, with a floral pattern cloth over it, and an empty picture case set in the center. Threw all of that off, flipped the table upside down, and snapped off a leg. Finally had something to defend myself with.
Kept that makeshift club ready as I walked through the house. The building seemed to creak at the slightest breeze, and I kept hearing footsteps coming from around me. Saw movement in the corner of my eye, and swung. All I hit was a mirror.
Heard what sounded like footsteps, and ran toward them. Didn’t find anyone in the room, but what I found was even better: my guns. Come back to mama, babies. I missed you. Picked up a rifle. This situation was definitely calling for something larger caliber than a pistol.
As if on cue, as I got my new weapon, I saw the Smiling Man coming down the hallway. How very kind of it to wait until I was properly armed. Took aim, and kept firing until its torso was filled with holes, and it fell to the ground. Ha! Take that, you bastard.
As I gloated over the Smiling Man’s body, a hand came from behind and grabbed my throat. I felt a thin cut growing across my throat, not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to threaten. Turned my head as much as I could, and saw the Smiling Man’s face leaning over my shoulder, it’s teeth inches away from my eyes. Fuck.
Before it could do anything, a wave of water smashed through the windows, and slammed into us, knocking us apart. Dozens of people stormed in through the opening, running toward the Smiling Man with singular determination. It cut down the people who got close, and water sprayed out of their wounds, but their numbers overwhelmed it. They began to surgically tear its body to pieces strewing black blood and flowers over the floor.
While most of the people focused on the Smiling Man, one approached me, and spoke to me in EAT’s voice. “You appear to be lacking in the skills necessary to determine whether or not an invitation is a trap.”
Another possessed person came over and began to bandage the wounds on my arm. “Hey, I could have taken care of this on my own!” I said.
“Yes. You could have. However, we have need to speak with you.”
Another body approached carrying a long case. “We have developed a countermeasure to Grendel’s weaponry. You will use it against him during the revolution.”
I opened the case, and inside was a sword, made of dancing blue fire. I grabbed the handle, expecting either heat or cold, but felt… nothing. It was almost as if the sword wasn’t even there.
“What is this?” I said.
“A concept, given physical form. Just as Grendel’s sword is, albeit a different concept. I believe in the simplistic dualistic view which Grendel has defined reality, there are two forces: entropy and energy. He uses a sword crafted from energy. Therefore, we deemed it appropriate to create one from entropy.”
I picked up the sword, and swung it a few times. It made no sound as it passed through the air.
“I would recommend against frivolously swinging that.” EAT said. “What you are holding is the physical embodiment of the Heat Death of the universe. Theoretically, it could be capable of reducing the sun to nothing but scattered subatomic particles.”
Suddenly holding onto that sword didn’t seem as good an idea. Held it out at arm length, trying to keep it as far away from me as I could. “And you just want me to go out and stab Grendel with this? I’ve never used a sword before!”
“You will manage. The concept is simple enough. Insert the sharp end into Grendel. Avoid accidentally destroying the universe.”
“I honestly can’t tell if you’re joking, or you’re just being a prick.”
The ones who had been attacking the Smiling Man finished their job, and stood silently against the walls. All that remained of the body was its smile, which turned into lily petals and drifted out the window. “What happened to Virginia? Is she alright?”
“The human Virginia S. Carter is currently being held hostage by Grendel within the Dreamlands, at Kadath.”
“What does he want with her?”
“He wants to draw you to him. We believe it is his intent that you bear witness to the beginning of his revolution.”
“Wait… that’s happening now?”
“Tomorrow.”
“You could have given me more of a heads up about this!”
“That was not needed. We merely require that you enter the Dreamlands and fight him. We can direct you to a portal in the physical world which will take you directly to Kadath.”
“What about my arm? It’s gonna be hard to fight with it all cut up like this.”
“The injuries to your left arm will be irrelevant in the fight.”
“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence there. Can I at least have some time to get ready?”
“This is acceptable. You have until midnight. Then we will take you to the portal.”
Alright then. This is it. The big event. The thing we’ve all been waiting for. Time to get out there and kick Grendel’s ass.
Wish me luck.
I-330
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