The Shoggoth Who Loved Me

by K X Douglas

  “Do you have any idea yet who killed that person you found in the bathroom?”

  “No, but I found more victims.”

  “Victoria told me. You going to keep looking into it until you find out who did it?”

  “I’m going to try.”

  Someone knocked on the bedroom door. Heidi quickly put a hand over Peter’s mouth.

  “Yes?” she asked.

  “It’s Victoria. I’m making food. You want any?”

  “Nah, I’m good,” she replied.

  Peter heard footsteps moving away from the bedroom door. Heidi removed her hand from his mouth.

  “So, uh, why don’t you want anyone knowing about this?” he asked.

  “I mostly just don’t want any awkward moments with my roommate; I don’t want her to see my fetish gear or anything like that. Not when we’ve just moved in together and starting school. I’ll let her know about us later in the semester.”

  Heidi got out of bed and started to extinguish the candles that had been set around the room. She then changed out of her outfit, put on a shirt and jeans, and stuffed all of her fetish gear into the closet.

  “Sorry, but you’re going to have to go out through the window. You can just go around back to your place.”

  Before Peter could grab his clothes, Heidi dashed up to him and kissed him on the lips. She wrapped her arms around him, and he reciprocated. Their lips broke apart, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

  “Again, I’m sorry for hurting you. If we do this again, I won’t use the brand. I’ll just stick to the restraints and the crop.”

  “It’s okay. You had no way of knowing.”

  She stepped back, looked him in the eyes and smiled.

  “It’s getting a little late. You should be heading home. We’ve got classes tomorrow.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, hold on, before you go!”

  Heidi opened the door and walked into the living room for a moment. She returned with a piece of paper and handed it to Peter. He looked at it and saw that a phone number was written on it.

  Peter dressed himself, climbed out of Heidi’s bedroom window and ran around the building back to his dorm room. He decided against finishing the book that night; he had classes tomorrow and he didn’t want to risk sleeping in.

  He tried to sleep out of habit, but found himself unable to.

  I suppose I haven’t read the book today. Hopefully, I can finish it this weekend and fill Professor Carter in on what I found, if anything.

  Peter spent much of the night reading about BDSM culture, trying to make sense of his night with Heidi. His search took him to a variety of porn sites dedicated to bizarre fetishes that he found nigh-incomprehensible. He watched dozens of videos of various scenes, including some dedicated to branding and fire play.

  Does this mean she likes me? I’m not sure how to handle this. Humans are weird.

  When morning came, Peter changed his clothes and headed to the main campus building.

  The lecture hall for his thrice-weekly English class was large enough for several hundred students. Tables were arranged in a half circle, steadily rising from front to back much like a classical amphitheatre. Peter sat in the second row at the side nearest to the door. Heidi, Victoria, Isabelle, Eric, and Serena had all sat near him. Out of all the students that he had met thus far, Lachlan seemed to be the only one who didn’t have to take the class.

  Ten minutes before the beginning of class, Solomon Carter walked in and sat at the desk on the far side of the room.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Professor Carter had bags under his eyes, and he looked disgruntled. He rose from his seat and wrote out the name of the class on the whiteboard before turning around to address everyone.

  “Good day, everyone. This class is An Introduction to English Literature. I hope everyone is in the right place. My name is Solomon Carter, and I will be your instructor for this class.”

  Peter tried his best to pay attention to the lecture, but his thoughts were preoccupied with recent events: the murders, the book, the dreams he had been having, and the previous night he had spent with Heidi.

  He got the distinct impression that he was being watched throughout the class. At one point, he looked around and met the gazes of several people. Some of them were people that he had already met, but many of them were people that he didn’t recognize at all.

  When class was finished, many of the students were eager to leave.

  “Hey, Peter?” Heidi asked. “Are you doing alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

  “What’s going on?” Victoria asked. “Did something happen?”

  “It’s nothing,” Peter said. “Nothing to be concerned about. I’m doing fine.”

  Victoria shot him a quizzical look, but said nothing.

  Peter made a quick trip back to his dorm to retrieve his copy of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten before heading to Professor Carter’s office, hoping to find him there. However, the office was empty. He sat on the floor of the hallway and waited outside for nearly an hour, passing time by reading further into the book, hoping that he might finish it by the time Solomon arrived.

  He didn’t, but he was close. Fatigue began to overtake him as he slumped against the wall, his eyelids seeming to gain weight by the second. Within minutes, he could almost hear the waves of slime crashing against a rocky shore.

  “Ah, Peter, you wanted to see me?” Solomon asked.

  Peter opened his eyes and saw the man standing in front of the door to his office.

  “Oh, yes. I’m almost finished with the book! I haven’t found any spell to summon a gnoph-kei yet, but something else happened.”

  “Come inside.”

  They both sat down, and Peter laid the book out on the desk between them.

  “You see, Professor, I’ve been having some strange dreams ever since I started reading the book.”

  “What have you been dreaming about?”

  “I’m in a different world. Maybe it’s a faraway planet. It’s barren and lifeless. The sky’s green. The oceans are filled with slime instead of water. But there’s a city in the distance, one that wasn’t built by humans. There are these creatures…there’s an illustration of them in the book. Let me show you.”

  Peter flipped through the book until he came upon the illustration of the mi-go.

  “These things, they fly over from the city to me and they begin prodding me with their claws. That’s when I woke up the first time.”

  Solomon shuddered. Peter swore he could feel a coldness in the air from the chill that ran down the man’s spine.

  “Have you encountered a mi-go before, Professor?”

  “Yes, I have, but only once. Out of all the creatures in the universe, save for the Old Ones themselves, they are among the most terrifying, because they are inscrutable and evil. I would never wish an encounter with one of them upon anyone, even my worst enemies.”

  “Did you have to kill it?”

  “We did, but not before it killed someone else. A student of the college, in fact. I had to help cover up his death and make it look like he was killed by a serial killer who doesn’t really exist. But I digress. You said you had other dreams?”

  “Yes. The second dream, the one I had the night before last, took place in the same world, except this time I was completely lucid. I encountered someone else, whom I believe to be human, and we spoke to one another. They asked me where I obtained the book, and then they said that I didn’t know what I was getting into. I remember trying to change into my true form, but I couldn’t. I wanted to, so badly, just so I could eat this person alive.”

  “Fascinating. It sounds like you actually projected your consciousness to this faraway world, as did this other person. If only there was a way to find out who this was. Did you see their face?”

  “No, they were wearing robes with a hood and a mask.”

  “Unfortunate. I’ll have to keep looking into the leads I a
lready have. Have you heard at all from the other person who was reading the book with you?”

  Peter shook his head.

  “As far as I know she’s doing fine.”

  “Well, let me know if anything happens.”

  “Yeah. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish the book tonight. Is it okay if I send updates to your college email? The one in the syllabus?”

  “I’d prefer if you sent anything related to the book or the murders to my personal email. Just a moment,” he said as he grabbed a pen and wrote it down on a post-it.

  Peter took the note and stuffed it into his pant pocket.

  “Are you worried about the college getting wind of this?”

  “It’s more that I don’t want to risk the college’s IT staff learning anything about it. You’ve seen what Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten can do to humans who haven’t been exposed to the supernatural. All it takes is one curious, unfortunate soul for another incident to happen.”

  “Right.”

  Peter left the office and attended his next class, not bothering to lock up the book in his dorm but rather keeping it in his backpack. It was An Introduction To Psychology, a class he shared with Eric. The instructor went through the same routine that Peter had already seen in his previous classes: introduce themselves to the class, hand out the syllabus, explain course material, reiterate which textbooks would be needed, et cetera.

  After class was over, they headed back to the dorms.

  “So, what do you have planned for the weekend?” Eric asked.

  “I’ve got this book I need to finish reading,” Peter replied. “I’m just about done.”

  “Is it for class or is it just a book you’re reading?”

  “The latter.”

  “Any good?”

  “It’s…exhausting to read? Does that make sense?”

  “Uh…yeah? Like in the way it’s exhausting to read, say, Proust?”

  “It’s worse.”

  “Dear god, what book is it?”

  “I’ll show you when we get to my dorm. It’s really sketchy-looking. You already know my secret, so this shouldn’t be much of a shock to you.”

  “Is it…related to that?”

  “In a way? Sort of?”

  When they arrived at Peter’s dorm, he unlocked the door and ushered Eric inside. He closed the door, locked it, and triple-checked to make sure that it was locked.

  Eric watched as Peter pulled the book out of his backpack and unlocked it.

  “Dude, how old is this book?” he asked.

  “Dunno, there’s no publication date on it,” Peter replied. “I’d say it’s at least a century old. Anyways, I’ve been reading this for Professor Carter as part of an investigation into some murders that happened downtown recently.”

  “Why’s he got you reading it?”

  “Because when a human reads it for any length of time, it has the same effect on them as seeing my true form does. Probably worse.”

  “But it doesn’t affect you, I’m guessing?”

  “Oh no, it’s been affecting me. I’ve been having weird dreams ever since reading it; normally I don’t require sleep, but after I spend time reading this book I’m absolutely exhausted.”

  “So what exactly are you looking for in this book that’ll help you find out who murdered those people?”

  “Well, I already sort of know the suspect. The problem is that the suspect was a monstrous creature from another world and someone summoned it to Earth. I’m looking to see if the spell that person used is in this book; if it is, that narrows our search a great deal.”

  “Right, because of course magic is real. Why not, I’m already talking to a shapeshifting…alien? A shapeshifting alien posing as a college student. Where did you find this book, anyways?”

  “At the college library. Just sitting there on the shelf. No idea who put it there, because the library had no record of it.”

  “Okay, that’s fucking weird. And it has a lock on it?”

  “Yeah. Probably to prevent people from accidentally getting a glimpse of what’s inside.”

  “Well, you have fun with that. I’m going to a party tonight and getting absolutely shittered.”

  “I might show up later. Depends how I feel. I’d like to meet some new people.”

  Eric left Peter’s dorm, and the latter locked the door before sliding the book back under his mattress.

  He wasn’t sure if he would try finishing the rest of the book tonight, or the next day. In the meantime, he had a possible party to attend.

  A few hours later, it was obvious where said party was being held by the presence of loud music. Peter waded through the people into the kitchen and obtained a can of beer. The dorm was not one that he had been to before, but it was laid out exactly the same as the one where the previous party had been held.

  After a few minutes, he encountered Eric, who beckoned him over to a coffee table in the living room. Lachlan and he were seated on an old couch; Peter pulled up a lounge chair to the other side of the table and sat down.

  “You decided to come after all, huh?” Eric said.

  “Yeah,” Peter said. “I can finish that project tomorrow.”

  “While hungover?”

  “Probably.”

  “I refuse to believe that this man gets hungover,” Lachlan said. “You’ve seen how much he can drink.”

  “So, are we going to be playing a game to make this more interesting, or are just going to sit here and give ourselves alcohol poisoning?” Peter asked.

  “I’m trying to get people together here,” Eric said. “I’ve got a game in mind. I think you’re really going to enjoy it, my dude.”

  As Eric said the last part, Peter noticed a certain edge to the man’s voice. He wasn’t sure if there was some sort of hidden meaning that he was meant to pick up on.

  “Is it a game where we need a lot of people to play?” he asked, looking over to Lachlan.

  The taller man shrugged. He seemed oblivious to Eric’s plan.

  “That’s part of it. Specifically, we need some people of the fairer sex to join in.”

  They waited and watched as more people appeared, anticipating that someone else would choose to join them at the table. Another group of people gathered at the kitchen table and started playing cards.

  Peter felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket. He saw a text from Heidi on the screen.

 

  he replied.

 

 

 

 

 

  “Who’re you texting?” Lachlan asked.

  “Heidi. I’ve convinced her to join our game.”

  “Cool.”

  As they waited, Serena arrived and joined them. Isabelle did not accompany her.

  “Hey guys, what’s up?”

  “We’re trying to get enough people for a drinking game, apparently,” Lachlan said.

  “Not bringing the hookah this time?” Peter asked.

  “Nah” she replied. “Don’t have any weed left, don’t have the money to buy any more.”

  Serena took a brief detour to the kitchen to acquire beer before returning to the table and pulling up a chair.

  “What game are we playing?” she asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” Eric said. “I’ll tell everyone once we have enough people. Peter says someone else is coming to join us, so I’m waiting for her.”

  A few minutes later, Heidi and Victoria arrived. They sat on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, beer in hand.

  “Alright, I’m not sure if we’re going to get any more people to come here,” Lachlan said. “Eric, what was the game yo
u had in mind?”

  The man adopted a knowing smile and pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket.

  “So, there’s this game called ‘Strip, Fuck, or Die’…”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Oooh, interesting,” Serena said. “What are the rules?”

  “First,” Eric said. “I deal you all in. Each player gets two cards.”

  Eric began to slide cards across the table to each person, starting with Serena who was to his immediate left. Once he was finished, he drew five face-down cards and placed them in the middle of the table.

  “It’s sort of like Texas hold’em. Look at your hand now, and decide if you want to fold. If you fold now, before I flip any of the cards, you have to take a drink.”

  Peter looked at his hand. He held a king and ace of spades.

  How do you play poker again? I think I have the potential for a good hand, so I’ll keep them and hope for the best.

  Serena and Heidi both folded.

  “Okay, both of you have to take a drink,” Eric said.

  They both drank from their beers.

  Eric flipped the first three cards face-up. They were the three, five, and nine of hearts.

  “If you want to fold now, you must take a drink,” he said.

  Nobody folded. Eric flipped the next card, which was the three of diamonds.

  “Again, if you fold, you drink.”

  Peter and Eric both folded. The former drank a quarter of his beer.

  “Okay, flipping the next card.”

  Eric turned over the six of spades.

  Lachlan looked as though he was considering folding, but had decided against it at the last moment. Eric turned over the final card, which was the king of hearts. Peter sighed to himself.

  “Alright, moment of truth, people. Put your cards down.”

  Lachlan and Victoria placed their cards face-up on the table. The former held a three and eight of clubs, while the latter held a four and queen of hearts; a flush.

  “Okay, looks like Victoria wins with a flush! Lachlan, you have to take something off!”

  Lachlan removed one of his socks, eliciting mutters of disappointment from the women present.