Shoggoth Apocalypse & More Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos Read online

  SHOGGOTH APOCALYPSE

  & More Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos

  by Mark McLaughlin & Michael Sheehan, Jr.

  Table Of Contents

  The Curse Of The Tillinghasts

  In The Chapel Of Ghattambah

  This Pulsing Mass That Serves As My Heart

  The Colossus In The Catacombs

  Shoggoth Apocalypse

  About The Authors

  The Curse Of The Tillinghasts

  by Mark McLaughlin & Michael Sheehan, Jr.

  “Hey, you look like you need somebody to talk to! What’s your name?”

  “Persephone,” she said, speaking loudly over the roar of the party. She glanced toward a nearby mirror on the wall, to check her look. Her pale-blonde hair looked frizzy and there were shadows around her deep-set blue eyes. People told her she was pretty, but she always thought she looked tired and gaunt.

  “Persephone,” the teenage boy echoed, his head tilted slightly to one side. He was red-haired and thin, with a pleasant, freckled face. She was relieved when he’d walked up to her and started talking. She liked talking to boys, but hated to be the one to break the ice. “That’s a pretty name,” he added. “Is it French?”

  “No, but thank you,” she said. “French stuff is pretty cool. It’s a name out of Greek mythology. A goddess. What’s your name?”

  “Nothing special – not Thor or Zeus,” he said. “Zeus is Greek, right? Did Persephone go out with him?”

  “I hope not! I think Zeus was her dad.” She said with a laugh. “Maybe they went to some father/daughter dances, I don’t know.”

  He smiled. “My name’s–”

  He stopped when a long, pale face popped up to his immediate left.

  “His name’s Shitface,” the newcomer said.

  “Hello, Justin,” Persephone said coldly. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

  Justin winked. “I’m on leave, Snoops.”

  “I hate it when you call me that. If you don’t mind, I’m trying to talk to–” She suddenly realized that she still didn’t know the red-haired boy’s name.

  “I’m Gordon,” he said, much to her relief. He held out his hand to Justin, who ignored the gesture.

  “Justin’s in the army,” she stated. “We went out a couple times before that.”

  “A couple times? We went out for six months!”

  Persephone sighed. “Justin, this is not….” Suddenly she had an idea. “Isn’t it about time for us to get going, Gordon?”

  “Going?” Justin said. “A minute ago he was telling you his name.”

  Gordon gave Persephone a wink, then turned to Justin. “It’s a blind date. Some friends from our church set us up. They said, ‘Look for the girl in the blue sweater. Her last boyfriend was a real asshole, she needs to meet someone new.’” So saying, he took Persephone’s hand. “Excuse us. We’ve got to go.”

  They left the house and walked out into the yard. “Thank you so much,” she said.

  “Well, you obviously wanted to get away from that guy,” Gordon said. “An ex-boyfriend who just wants to bother you, right?”

  Persephone nodded. “Yeah. He wanted me to do things I didn’t want to do, and… Well, I suppose I hurt his pride. He’s not a bad person.” She glanced toward the house and noticed that Justin was watching them through the window. “Oh crap. He’s looking at us. Could we go somewhere? I’m a little hungry, maybe we can get a sandwich.”

  Together they decided on a coffee shop a couple blocks away. It was really more like a cross between a coffee shop and a restaurant, since they seated their patrons and offered meals. As they walked, Justin said, “So why did your folks name you after that Greek … goddess? Was that what she did?”

  “‘Did’? Like it was her job? That would be a sweet gig!” Persephone laughed. “Yeah, she was a goddess. She was married to Hades, the ruler of the land of the dead. Her husband is also Zeus’ brother – her uncle, which is pretty gross. My mom loves Greek mythology and she says Persephone is the prettiest goddess name of them all.”

  Gordon pointed down the street to a sign that read ARKHAM BREW. “There’s the coffee shop.” Persephone noticed that he wore a wristwatch, with the face over the underside of the wrist. “So are you in college?” he asked.

  “Not yet,” she said. “I’ll be starting at the university next year. I still live with my parents. They want me to live with them while I’m going to school. I don’t think so! I’ll be living on campus.”

  “I live on campus,” Gordon said. “It’s fun but super-expensive. My folks are making me work while I’m taking classes. I’m majoring in Speech and Theatre.”

  They entered the coffee shop and the hostess, a heavyset woman with dyed bright-orange hair, led them to a booth. The wall next to booth had a faux window in it, opening to a mirror. “Here ya go, kids,” she said with a big grin. Her large teeth were smeared with orange lipstick. “Can I bring you anything?”

  Persephone took a moment to look over the one-page menu. “I’ll have a coffee and a toasted cheese sandwich.” Gordon ordered a ham sandwich.

  “Why do you wear your watch that way, with the clock part over your wrist?” she said.

  “You’re pretty observant.” Gordon smiled nervously. “No special reason.”

  “I’m surprised you wear a watch at all. You have a cellphone, right? That has the time. Watches are pretty redundant these days.”

  He shrugged. “I like to know what time it is. That’s all.”

  “Yeah, but why do you wear your watch that way? Over your wrist?”

  “No reason. Really.”

  “But it looks so weird. And you have to turn your wrist to see the time.” Suddenly Persephone wished she could take the comment back. Justin used to criticize her for always asking snoopy questions. And here she was, being snoopy in an arbitrary way, because she couldn’t think of anything else to talk about.

  “If you really must know,” Gordon said with a shamed grimace, “I tried to kill myself about ten years ago, and it left scars. The watch face covers them up.” He got up and stood by the table. “This isn’t going very well. I’m just going to leave, okay?” With that, he turned and walked out of the shop.

  For a moment, Persephone wanted to follow him and apologize. But really, what could she possibly say to correct the situation?

  “Oh my. That was awkward,” said a beautiful voice nearby.

  Persephone looked around, and suddenly realized that the woman in the booth next to hers was looking at her. The woman’s face was absolutely perfect. The eyes were lustrous and green. Her skin was as pale as milk and her full lips were rose-red. Her long, auburn hair flowed over her slender shoulders.

  “Sorry you had to hear that,” Persephone said. “Do you want to join me? I’ve ordered already and I hate to eat alone. That guy ordered some food – if you haven’t ordered yet, maybe you’d like his. Are you a model?” Again, she found herself wishing she hadn’t asked such a snoopy question.

  The woman brought her coffee to Persephone’s booth and took Gordon’s seat. “Goodness, no. I’m far too old to be a model. And I enjoy eating too much. Models only eat about half an almond every other day.”

  The orange-haired hostess brought the coffee and sandwiches to the table. “I saw that young guy leave,” she said. “Is he coming back?”

  “No,” the beautiful woman said. “Not to worry. I’ll have his order and pay for it.”

  “That’s quite an exotic ring you’ve got there,” the hostess said, pointing to the beautiful woman’s hand. Pe
rsephone looked and saw a golden ring shaped like a bee, with green gems for eyes.

  “Thank you,” the auburn-haired woman said. “It’s been in the family forever.”

  “You’re lucky,” the hostess said. “The only thing my family’s had forever is diabetes!” With a short bark of a laugh, she returned to the kitchen.

  “That wasn’t very funny,” Persephone said. “How can anybody laugh about diabetes?”

  The beautiful woman thought for a moment. “Sometimes a person has to joke about the negative aspects of life,” she said. “There’s no premium in being sad all the time. It won’t make any disagreeable situation better. It’ll only make it worse. So, what’s your name, young lady?”

  “Persephone.”

  “Really? What a charming name.”

  At that moment, somewhere outside the building, a car horn blared. Then brakes screeched, followed by a crash mingled with screams. Persephone was baffled by the expression that crossed the face of the beautiful woman. She couldn’t tell if it was a look of horror or great amusement. The expression only lasted a moment, and then the woman turned her attention to her sandwich.

  Most of the other patrons rushed to the windows to see what had happened, but the beautiful woman stayed in her seat. So Persephone did, too.

  “I hope somebody didn’t get killed out there,” Persephone said. She took hold of the small gold crucifix she wore on a matching chain around her neck. Her grandfather had given these to her back when she was seven, and she never took them off. She considered herself mildly religious at best … but still, the crucifix comforted her.

  “Yes, that would be terrible,” the woman said. “My name’s Alice, by the way. Alice Tillinghast.”

  “Hello, Alice.” She took a bite from her sandwich. She wondered if it looked weird, her eating her food so soon after someone nearby had crashed their car. But she was hungry, so she decided she was being too self-conscious.

  “I’m glad our paths crossed tonight,” Alice said. “I hate eating alone in public, just like you. It makes me think that people will look down on me. Like eating alone is the worst thing a person can do.”

  “What do you suppose is the worst thing a person can do?” Persephone said. “The very worst?”

  “I’ll have to give that some thought,” Alice said. “In the meantime, what do you think that worst thing would be?”

  “Killing off millions of people, like Hitler,” Persephone said, matter-of-factly. “Or making innocent animals suffer, like the people who use them to test chemical products.”

  “That’s a kind, sweet response, considering you’re named after the queen of the dead,” Alice said. “Your namesake might answer differently. Now that I’ve had a moment to think about it, I’d say the worst, the very worst thing a person can do, is to waste their own life.”

  “You mean … suicide?”

  “No, that’s just ending one’s life. To waste one’s life would be to do nothing of worth. To fritter away the days and years with meaningless pursuits.” Alice punctuated the end of her statement by taking a huge bite from her sandwich. “Life is too precious for that.”

  “Actually, I think that’s what most people do.” Persephone frowned. “So what do you do for a living?”

  “You mean, for money? I’d have to say: nothing,” Alice said, “My great-uncle, Crawford Tillinghast, was an inventor, and some of his devices have made the family quite a lot of money over the years. I spend my time improving the technology used by Crawford’s inventions. I love my job, so I don’t really think of it as work. Not at all.”

  “Is your family based in Arkham? I’ve never met anyone named Tillinghast before. Where do you live?” As soon as she’d asked it, she wondered if that last question was taking her into snoopy territory. She didn’t want to destroy this new friendship by being too nosy.

  “My family isn’t involved with the community, so I‘m not surprised that you don’t know about us,” Alice said. “We live on the hill north of town.”

  “You mean … that huge building that overlooks everything?” Persephone was amazed. “The one with the black roof? I didn’t know anyone was living in there. There are never any lights in the windows.” I won’t ask, she thought. I won’t ask about the lights. That would be snoopy.

  “You should drop by sometime,” Alice said. “The family business is based out of our home. I’d certainly like for you to meet my brother Timothy. He’s about your age, I think.”

  “Is he as handsome as you are pretty?”

  “Aren’t you sweet!” Alice flashed an adorable smile. “I’m afraid my opinion would be biased. Doesn’t every sister think her brother is a heart-throb?”

  “What school does he go to?” That will be my last question, Persephone thought. I’ve got to stop being so snoopy.

  “My family has always home-schooled its young people,” Alice said. “Public schools leave so many gaps in one’s education. For example, they don’t cover world history with any degree of accuracy. They gloss over countries where the people don’t speak English, and virtually ignore ancient cultures.”

  “Is that so bad?” Persephone asked. “If a person wants to learn about that stuff, can’t they just take some classes once they get to college?”

  Alice shook her head sadly. “By then, it’s too late. A person needs to develop an intellectual awareness of the world’s richness and diversity at any early age. If that awareness isn’t cultivated, the student will cease to care. Their curiosity will fade away, rather than flourish.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Look at the time! I’d better get going.” She picked up the bills left by the waitress. “I’ll take care of these. Thanks so much for talking with me tonight. I hope we’ll chat again sometime.”

  - - -

  Persephone visited the Arkham Brew many times in the next few months, but never ran into Alice. She started attending the university, and eventually forgot about the woman with the long auburn hair.

  She entered an internship with a monthly community magazine, Arkham Family News, and soon was hired on as a part-time member of the staff. After graduation, she was given a full-time position as the office manager.

  Because the publication had a tight budget, she wore several hats with the company. She met with advertisers, wrote many of the articles, and arranged the magazine’s coverage of local events. The publisher, Chad O’Brien, was a popular area businessman, involved with many causes, and his status in the community helped to encourage business owners to advertise with the magazine.

  One morning, Chad came to her desk carrying a sky-blue business card. “What do you know about this company?” he said.

  Persephone took the card and gave it a look:

  Tillinghast Technology

  Alice Tillinghast, Research and Development

  Below that was contact information and a slogan: Bio-Logical Science For Tomorrow.

  “Oh, I know her!” Persephone said. “I once had dinner with her. Well, it was just sandwiches, but I had fun talking with her.”

  “I met her at a Chamber of Commerce event yesterday,” Chad said. “She’s not a member of the Chamber – she was there as somebody else’s guest. I talked to her for about ten minutes but I still have no idea what her company does.”

  “Neither do I. We didn’t talk for very long about work. The way she talked, it sounded like her job was some sort of wonderful passion that didn’t feel like work at all.”

  “She did seem to have a great attitude,” Chad said, nodding. “Do you think she’d want to advertise in the magazine? Or be a sponsor for that Fun Fair we have coming up?”

  “I don’t know…. I suppose I could give her a call and ask,” Persephone said. “Of course, calling her out of the blue to make a sales call may seem … weird. Like I’m trying to cash in on a conversation we had more than four years ago. She may not even recall who I am. Will she remember my voice after all this time?”

  Chad thought for a moment. “Well then, just st
op by. It’s a business, right? Say you were in the neighborhood and figured you’d pop your head in and say ‘Hi!’ – nothing wrong with that. Once you re-establish contact, you can talk business a week or two later.”

  “That sounds better.” She looked at the card again. “I wonder why ‘biological’ is hyphenated that way. Bio … logical. Does that mean anything to you?”

  Chad smiled. “Don’t ask me. Ask your friend when you stop by her office. If you can, stay there a while and see if there are any opportunities for us to interact with them. Take your time. Find out what they care about. Maybe we can feature them in the magazine sometime.”

  That afternoon, Persephone drove to the Tillinghast building on the hill north of town. It was a massive, three-story structure painted pewter gray, with a gambrel roof and black slate shingles. In front of the building was an illuminated sign featuring the name of the company in pale-green neon.

  As she walked up to the front door, she noticed that all the windows she could see had shutters – and the shutters were closed. No wonder she had never seen any lights in the windows of the building over the years.

  When she turned the knob of the front door, she was surprised to find it locked. Why would a business need to be looked up in the middle of a workday? She rang the doorbell a few times and waited.

  Soon she heard footsteps approaching. Then the door opened and she found herself facing the handsomest young man she had ever seen. He was almost impossibly handsome, with wavy brown hair, sky-blue eyes, and full lips curved into an inviting smile.

  “Hello,” he said. “Welcome to Tillinghast Technology. I’m Timothy – how can I help you?”

  “Timothy! I remember, your sister Alice mentioned you.” Persephone returned his smile. “I met her a few years ago. Is she here today?”

  “She sure is! Please come in.”

  Persephone stepped inside and Timothy closed and locked the door behind her.

  She found herself in a disturbingly dim hallway. “What’s wrong with the power?”