Cthulhu Lives!: An Eldritch Tribute to H. P. Lovecraft by Greg Stolze, Tim Dedopulos, John Reppion, Lynne Hardy, Gabor Csigas, Gethin A. Lynes Read Free Book Online

7th

    Philip came to see me this evening. He had some extremely disturbing news. I’ll record the salient points of our conversation to the best of my memory:
    “People are vanishing from Elmwood, Robert.” He’d barely finished shaking my hand.
    I arched an eyebrow. “Suspiciously, you mean? It’s a depressed area. Transient population. Are you sure they’re not just trying to dodge debt collectors, or being swallowed up in some sort of turf war?”
    He shook his head. “I’m not talking about criminal types. These are good, hard-working people. Settled people. Not the sort to get drawn into gang crime, or to just up stakes in the night and vanish.”
    “How many?” I took his coat from him, and hung it beside the door.
    Philip followed me into the study. “A dozen in the last six weeks. I’ve been down there digging around, and yeah, it really does look suspicious. They all left possessions behind, most abandoned good friends or loved ones without a word, and no bodies have turned up. The police aren’t interested – they’re too busy to spend time on some missing low-income Hispanics. Too many cases with real corpses to deal with. It’s a perfect hunting ground.”
    I nodded, reluctantly. “It doesn’t sound good. Do you think it might be the cult?”
    Philip sighed. “Possibly. Something about this is shrieking at my intuition. Elmwood isn’t far from Federal Hill.”
    “That church is long-gone, Philip. So is the stone it held.” I sat down, starting to feel some of his sense of alarm. “You of all people know that.”
    He pulled out a chair and sat across from me. “The church, yes. The trapezohedron... I’ve read my grandfather’s notes. It should be buried in the mud of Narragansett Bay – but who knows what allies that thing might have called for aid. It’s had sixty years.”
    “I don’t even want to think about it, but I suppose there is a possibility that you could be right. If you are, we’ll have to be especially careful. I think the cult are onto me, and this certainly might explain a few things. Be vigilant, Philip. Trust no one.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ll be cautious.” Some of the tension drained away, leaving him looking tired and unhappy. “This whole thing is hideous. I wish I’d never started poking into my grandfather’s work.”
    “We’ve done some good, my friend. That must count for something.” I turned to the cabinet, and poured us both a small Scotch.
    “I suppose so.” He had a sip of his drink and visibly pulled himself together. “What should we do next?”
    “We need more information. You’ve done really well in Elmwood. Why not concentrate there, see if you can find any patterns. I’ll look for any hint of unusual activity in the bay and Federal Hill, and check the usual sources for anything else that might shed light on these vanishings.”
    The discussion continued on for several hours, but at the end of it, we still didn’t have a clear theory or any stronger plan. We decided not to bring anyone else into it. Extra manpower wouldn’t have helped much, and you can never be too cautious. Loose lips sink ships!

    Sunday 9th

    There’s something happening off the Mexican coast. Unusual naval exercises, friendly fire accidents, rumors of some contagious agent. The situation is still unresolved. I fear the Mexicans may have bitten off more than they expected to have to chew. I’ll drop Etta an email, make sure she knows about it, see if she can do anything. Let’s hope it’s nothing like that thing under the Irish Sea last year.

    Tuesday 11th

    Philip believes he has struck gold. He pulled some strings in the police department that I didn’t know he had, and got a list of the missing people. Their last known locations form a shaky rectangular outline on the far side of Elmwood, and he believes that they have been taken to some place inside that area. He brought his notes over – impressively extensive – and we spent the evening going over