The Shoggoth Who Loved Me
Page 1
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
THE SHOGGOTH WHO LOVED ME
K. X. Douglas
Trigger warning: alcohol and drug use, violence, sexual content including BDSM, suicide.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 K. X. Douglas
Editing by Janet Kawchuk
Cover image by Goran Markovic
All rights reserved.
This book is dedicated to my family, and to the people of the Reddit Serials community.
CHAPTER ONE
Peter looked at his dorm. It was a bachelor suite, one of the few that was available. His parents had insisted that he not have a roommate in college, lest they accidentally get a glimpse of him whenever he transformed.
His luggage had just been unpacked, and his parents were getting ready to leave.
“Alright, Peter, good luck! Have fun!” his mother, Vanessa, said, waving to him.
“Try to stay out of trouble, alright?” his father, Hugh, said.
“I’ll try,” he said with a weak smile.
Vanessa shut the door, leaving Peter alone. He sat on the bed and began to shift into his true form. His flesh began to bubble and warp, turning to an iridescent black colour. First, eyes formed all across his body, then mouths, then tentacles, all of which broke down and reformed at will. His body collapsed into a protoplasmic shape and slithered out of his clothes.
Ahh, it feels good to stretch after all that!
Peter was a shoggoth; a creature bio-engineered by humanity’s predecessors for some unknown purpose. He was much smaller than other specimens, being about the size of a human.
For a few minutes, Peter sat there, his flesh undulating and shimmering, until someone knocked on his door.
He shifted back into his human form as quickly as he could; his favourite appearance was that of a young adult male of five feet and ten inches in height and sporting a slight build, with pallid skin, short dark brown hair and brown eyes. He donned his clothing - a hoodie, tank top and loose jeans - as quickly as he could and ran to the door.
Opening the door, Peter saw a pair of women waiting on the other side. They looked to be the same age as his human form. The woman on the left was a head shorter than he was; she had curly red hair that was full of ornamental hairpins and bright pink eyes which were magnified by her glasses. She was dressed in casual clothes.
The woman on the right was a little taller; she had long straight black hair and dark red eyes. Her outfit was the antithesis of ‘casual’, being composed of a frilly black dress and thigh-high pumps that looked more at home at a regency ball than a college campus.
“Hey, there,” the woman on the left said. “Are you alright?”
“Y-yes,” he stammered. It was then that Peter looked down at himself and noticed that he appeared more than a little bit dishevelled. “Just a little anxious, is all. You know, starting college and all that. I don’t think I know anyone that’s attending Summerfield.”
“My name’s Heidi,” she said. “That’s Victoria. Now you know two people. We just moved in next door to you.” She jerked her head to one side.
“I’m Peter,” he muttered, struggling to make eye contact and smiling sheepishly.
“Nice to meet you, Peter,” Victoria said, flashing a smile. “What kind of degree are you taking?”
“I’m majoring in psychology,” he said.
“Oh, cool. I’m majoring in theatre,” Heidi said.
“Poli sci,” Victoria added. “Hey, are we all in the same English class?”
“One on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?” Peter asked.
“Yup!” Heidi said. “Does everyone have to take it or something?”
Peter smiled. “I think so,”
“I hope it’s easy. I was never very good at English in high school.”
What grade did I get in high school English again? All I remember is I passed.
“So, you got one of the bachelor suites, huh? No roommates?” Heidi asked.
“Nope, no roommates.”
“I suppose that has its perks,” Heidi said. “You don’t have to worry about cleaning up somebody else’s mess.” She shot a glance at Victoria.
“What?” Victoria asked.
“Nothing,” Heidi replied.
Peter chuckled.
“Hey, are you going to go to orientation later today?” Victoria asked. “They’re gonna do a tour of campus.”
“I don’t think so,” Peter replied. “I’ll find my way around campus on my own.”
“You should at least come to the party tonight. At our place. That way you can meet more people,” Heidi said.
“Alright,” Peter muttered. “What time?”
“Seven,” Heidi said. “See you then?”
“Yeah,” Peter said. “I’ll be there.”
The two women walked back towards their dormitory, and Peter shut the door. He shuffled over to his bed and lay down on it.
They seem nice. I hope I can make more friends than I did in high school.
He shook the thoughts from his head and dozed off.
***
When the appointed hour came, Peter rose from his bed and made for his new friends’ dorm room. He had no biological need to sleep, but he liked to pretend that he did in order to get some much-needed quiet time and recharge emotionally.
Upon arriving, he noticed that there were already several people packed into the relatively small space of the dorm room. Music was playing, and drinks were being poured.
“Hey, Peter, you made it,” Heidi called from across the room.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Do you drink?”
“I do.”
“What can I get you?” she asked as she slid next to the man who was in the middle of pouring a screwdriver.
“I’ll just have a beer for now. Whatever you have on hand is fine.”
“Alright,” she said as she opened the fridge and pulled out a six pack of lager. She pried one free of the plastic and handed it over to him, taking care not to agitate it too much.
He cracked the can open and downed half of it in a single gulp.
Soon enough, one beer became six, and Peter was trying to decide if he should start pretending to be drunk yet. He decided against it and continued to drink, eventually offering up money so that some
one could run to the liquor store and get more alcohol.
“My dude, you drink like a champ. How have you not thrown up yet?”
Peter looked over at the man who had just spoken to him. It was the person who had been pouring a screwdriver earlier. Peter found himself craning his neck; the man was almost a head taller than he was. His blonde hair was styled in the quintessential man-bun and he wore a Garibaldi beard with a handlebar moustache. He was wearing a low-cut V-neck and skinny jeans.
“I dunno. Just practice, I guess,” he lied. “Lots of it.”
“Damn. Looks like I need a lot more practice. Name’s Lachlan, by the way,” he said, offering a hand. Peter took it.
“I’m Peter.”
“Nice to meet you, dude.”
“So, what are you taking?” Peter asked.
“I’m majoring in music.”
Peter froze; he knew precious little about music beyond what played on the radio while he was in a vehicle. He cracked another beer and downed it while he wracked his brain for something relevant to say.
“What instrument do you play?” he asked.
Lachlan sighed.
“Guitar. Don’t worry, I promise I’m not ‘that douchebag with an acoustic guitar’; I never bothered to learn Wonderwall or Smoke on the Water. My tastes are a little more obscure.”
“I’ve never heard either of those songs.”
“Wait, really? Are you sure you haven’t heard ‘Wonderwall’? It was kinda everywhere for a while, mostly because it’s really easy to play.”
“I’m ashamed to say that I don’t follow music all that much.”
Just then, someone else joined the conversation.
“Oh, hey, man. Eric, this is Peter. Peter, this is my roommate, Eric.”
Eric and Lachlan couldn’t look more different; the former was dressed in slightly looser clothing which covered more of his body; he was clean-shaven, he had short red hair, and his height was comparable to Peter’s. Like many of the other party guests, he was holding an open can of beer in one hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Eric said with a nod. “I apologize on Lachlan’s behalf; he can get to be a little much when you get him talking about music.”
“Oh, you entered the conversation right before that was about to happen, I think,” Peter said. “Have you two known each other for a while?”
“Yeah, since the beginning of high school,” Eric replied. “What are you majoring in, Peter?”
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot to ask!” Lachlan said. “Sorry about that, dude.”
“Psychology,” Peter said.
“Same here,” Eric replied. “We’re probably going to be sharing a lot of classes.”
“Hey,” Heidi called from across the room to them. “We’re gonna get beer pong set up. You guys wanna join?”
“Yeah,” Peter and Eric said simultaneously.
“I’ll just watch,” Lachlan said. “I can’t stomach beer.”
“Yeah, Lachlan’s more of a microbrew type, he doesn’t like that mass-produced shit,” Eric said sarcastically.
“All beer is the same to me, dude,” Lachlan said. “Lager, ale, stout, all the same.”
They helped push furniture out of the way so that a sprawling plastic table could be set up with enough room for people to stand at all sides. Plastic cups were arranged at each end and filled with cheap beer. For the first game, Peter and Eric took to one side, and Heidi and Victoria took to the other.
Peter was terrible at it, not having much hand-eye coordination in his human form, and Eric wasn’t quite good enough to compensate for the shortcoming. As a result, the two of them drank all of their side’s beer between them.
Between that and the beer that Eric had drunk beforehand, he was well on his way to being plastered. Peter took to supporting him with one arm to make sure that he didn’t crash into anything.
The group moved to the couch in one corner of the room, letting other people make use of the beer pong table.
“Peter, you were supposed to make up for me being terrible at beer pong!” Eric said, his words slurring together slightly.
“Nononono, that was your job!” he retorted, doing his best to pretend to be drunk.
“Looks like you two need a lot more practice if you want to compete with us,” Heidi said.
“Hey, this is my first time playing beer pong…first time drinking beer at all, actually,” Peter said.
“Bullshit!” Eric shouted, slamming his beer on the table for effect. “How many beers have I watched you drink, and you aren’t even tipsy yet! You clearly know how to handle your alcohol.”
“No, seriously, I swear I’ve never drunk a single drop of alcohol before tonight!”
“Wow,” Victoria said. “I would’ve thought you’d be someone who went to a lot of parties in high school.”
“Nope,” Peter replied. “Didn’t go to parties.”
Suddenly, Eric jolted up and ran towards the bathroom. He didn’t bother to shut the door, and sounds of retching echoed throughout the dorm room.
Peter was the first to run over to the washroom. He saw Eric doubled over, clutching the toilet with both hands.
“Hey, you gonna be okay?”
“Think so. Just drunk too much,” Eric said before wiping his mouth and standing up.
Lachlan walked up behind Peter, looking over the top of his head at Eric.
“You wanna head home for the night, buddy?” he asked
“Yeah. I really don’t want to think about the hangover I’m gonna have tomorrow morning.”
“You gotta drink some water, dude,” Lachlan said. “It’ll make you feel better.”
Eric tried to hug Peter, but realized what he was about to do when the latter backed away from him.
“Right. Well, I’m sorry about fucking up beer pong for the both of us, dude.”
“No, don’t worry about it,” Peter replied. “I’m terrible at beer pong, too.”
“What the fuck? Are you still not drunk?!”
“I bet his liver’s made of fucking iron,” Lachlan said.
“No, I’m definitely drunk,” Peter lied. “I’m just good at hiding it.”
“Well, I had fun. It was nice meeting you, dude,” Eric said.
“Yeah, nice meeting you,” Peter replied.
Eric left the dorm and headed back to his own, with Lachlan following close behind. Peter returned to the couch, where Heidi and Victoria had been the whole time.
***
Eventually, the other guests left, leaving Peter alone with Heidi and Victoria. All three of them were still drinking.
“Hey, how about we make a game of this?” Heidi asked.
“Sure?” Peter said apprehensively.
“What did you have in mind?” Victoria asked.
“Never Have I Ever!”
CHAPTER TWO
“I don’t know how to play,” Peter said. “Never played it before.”
“It’s really straightforward,” Victoria said. “Someone says ‘never have I ever’ followed by something they have never done before. Like ‘never have I ever been arrested’. If anyone else in the game, for example, has been arrested, they have to take a drink.”
“You know, that’s a good question to start off with,” Heidi said. “Never have I ever been arrested.”
“So, I’ve never been arrested,” Peter said. “That means I don’t drink?”
“Right,” Heidi replied.
None of them drank.
“Okay, Victoria, your turn.”
“Never have I ever driven drunk,” she said
None of them drank.
“Your turn, Peter.”
“Okay, um, let me think. Never have I ever killed someone.” Peter said.
None of them drank.
“God, you’re picking stupid questions,” Heidi said. “The goal is to get people to drink. Nobody wants to admit to drunk driving, or killing someone. Never have I ever kissed a member of the same sex.”
&n
bsp; Victoria drank.
“See, there we go! Victoria, I never would have thought you were a lesbian,” Heidi said.
“Bisexual,” she replied.
They took a break to fetch more beer from the fridge, which after a night of drinking was close to being empty. Each of them cracked open a fresh can, and they resumed the game.
“Never have I ever been black-out drunk,” Victoria said.
Heidi drank.
“Never have I ever run out of a taxi without paying” Peter said.
Heidi and Victoria drank.
“That one’s a bit of a surprise,” Peter said. “For both of you to have done it.”
“It’s more common than you think,” Victoria replied.
“Never have I ever told a lie to a friend to avoid drama,” Heidi said.
Victoria and Peter drank.
“About fucking time, dude,” Victoria said. “Then again, we haven’t been asking very good questions for you, except for the black-out drunk one.”
“I’ve actually never been drunk before today,” Peter replied.
“You mentioned this being your first time drinking beer,” Heidi said. “First time drinking alcohol in general?”
Peter nodded.
“Anyways,” Victoria said. “Never have I ever worn handcuffs.”
Heidi drank.
“Wait, I thought you’ve never been arrested before?” Peter asked.
“I haven’t,” Heidi said with a smirk. “Doesn’t mean I’ve never worn handcuffs before.”
Peter gave her a blank stare.
“You don’t get it?” Heidi asked.
“No, I don’t,” he replied.
“It’s a sex thing. Some people are into being tied up and stuff during sex.”
“Oh,” Peter said. “Umm…never have I ever hurt myself while trying to do something cool.”
None of them drank.
“Never have I ever had to go to the emergency room,” Heidi said.
Peter and Victoria drank.
That wasn’t fun. I had to bleed manually for hours.
“This isn’t getting us nearly as drunk as it’s supposed to be. I think it’s time to break out the heavy stuff.”
“I think I’m going to head in for the night, actually,” Peter said as he got up from the couch.