The Eldritch

As Danny pulled up, he saw them. Melissa, Tony, Karen and Jimmy. 

The Gang.

Ths had been their idea, to help Danny move on. Since Alex’s death he hadn’t been the same, but who could? Alex had just announced her pregnancy to The Gang, taking Danny by surprise too, yet by morning she was gone forever. The drunk driver had come out of nowhere, hurtling straight at Alex, who stood frozen, before being launched into the air and landing several feet away. There was nothing anyone could do, her head facing the opposite direction, her eyes lifeless.

Six months had passed and Danny wasn’t even close to beginning to mourn, through fear of forgetting his childhood sweetheart.They had all tried to help but nothing could replace the erudite Alex, who had stolen a piece of each of their hearts. Then one day Jimmy had sent them an email, enthusing passionately about the cottage he had rented in Ireland. They hadn’t taken a trip, just the five of them, since university, and now was a good as time as any.

It was Jimmy who greeted Danny first, with a huge grin and a hug. Danny had frozen at first but it was hard not to feel positive around the gangs joker.“Would you look at it!’, Jimmy said, a little too happily. “Yeah, fields and cow shit”, Danny replied with a half smile. “What else?”.The gang broke into laughter and went inside. September was drawing to a close, leaving a distinct chill in the air. The cottage looked quaint, yet inside it boasted the spoils of modern life. Melissa and Karen had stocked up on food, leaving the boys to stock up on booze and pharmaceuticals.

"It’s wonderful isn’t it?”, squealed Karen, the youngest of the gang. “Yeah…umm yeah…”, Danny began, before Tony handed him a beer. “Shut up and drink!”, Tony commanded. “That’s an order, sunshine!”.

After dinner they made their way outside to the bonfire that Jimmy was busy stoking. Melissa had prepared some joints, one of which was now lit. They talked for a few minutes before realising that Tony was missing.

With no small amount of cajoling Tony finally emerged from the cottage, holding what seemed to be an ancient encyclopedia. Dust seemed to pour out of the book, which made them all cough as Tony rubbed at the front until the title was clear.

The Eldritch.

In big yet severe Gothic letters.

'Is that gold?”, Melissa enquired, screwing her face up. “No, it’s a book, you prat!”, Jimmy chimed in before getting an elbow in the ribs. But Danny had taken the book and was staring intently at it.

" Anything good?”, asked Karen.

"What? Oh, the book….”, Danny mumbled distracted, then cleared his throat. “Yes, an Eldritch is an other worldly creature, like a ghost”, he brightened. “Unlike our Jimmy, they really are the stuff of legend. This brought a round of laughter. “They’re mostly myth but it’s said that if you summon an Eldritch they destroy all who invoked it. The kicker is that it does so in the most uncanny fashion. I wonder what’s inside?”.

Opening the book by the fire, Danny began to read. It was English, but it made no sense, just a seemingly random set of incoherent words jumbled together. He paused as a gust of strong wind blew across them.

"OK, who wants music?”, Jimmy pitched in.

The next morning Danny awoke with a start. His dream of Alex had been extremely realistic as she had borne down upon him. He rubbed his eyes and went to the bathroom.

He found everyone except Tony in the living room, looking downcast. “What’s up?”, he asked brightly.

"He’s gone!”, Karen said, quietly. “Gone? Why who’s Tony met this time?”.

" No, gone!”, Karen said, loudly. “And where the fuck were you earlier?”.

It transpired that Tony had been the last in the night before. Not that anyone would have noticed earlier except for the blood curdling scream the others heard at dawn. They’d run out front, in the direction of the scream, but found nothing apart from Tony’s shirt. The police had left about 15 minutes before Danny awoke.

Jimmy, as ever, had tried to keep spirits up, but even he was rather muted. After further discussion they decided to stay.

Heading into the village Danny asked Jimmy if Tony had any reason to up and leave. “No, and that’s the thing”, Jimmy replied, after a long pause. “He’s the most reliable out of us. You know you could set your watch by him”.

As they approached the cottage they heard screams. Melissa was out front, with the police, and screaming her lungs hoarse. 

They discovered that Karen had been taking a shower when Melissa heard a short, blood curdling scream, followed by silence. There was nobody in the bathroom, just one of Karen’s tops. Jimmy agreed to go to the hospital with Melissa, leaving Danny home alone. It was a little after ten in the morning, but he opened the bottle of whiskey and poured himself a large glass anyway. What was happening? It couldn’t be the book, that was ludicrous! 

Taking another large draw on his joint, Jimmy got comfortable in his chair as his mind returned to his dream of Alex.

That night, Jimmy awoke with a start. He hadn’t planned to sleep at all, yet the day was gone! 

Looking at the blinking light on his phone, he dialled voicemail. It was a frantic Jimmy, saying that Melissa had screamed from her cubicle before disappearing, her hospital gown the only proof she had been there. Jimmy had begun to say something else, before he screamed too and the line went dead.

The other three messages were increasingly annoyed calls from the local constabulary, demanding he call them. They also wanted to know why Jimmy’s Led Zep shirt had been found in a hospital corridor.Danny didn’t know but what he was sure of is that, at ten at night, he wasn’t going home until the morning. 

Returning to the living room with beer and whiskey, he mulled over the last twenty four hours.

What was the deal with everyone’s top? It was utterly random until a thought struck him. Hadn’t Alex bought everyone a top at some point? No, that was impossible, he thought with a look of distaste. It couldn’t be!

He looked across the room to the table where the book lay. He regretted ever seeing it, yet was oddly curious too. 

Settling at the table he began to read.An Eldritch can take on many forms, he read, yet its purpose was darkly misleading. Its aim was to create a sense of unease, which was what Danny now felt, as the ethereal music became louder. It was their song!

Running out of the cottage he looked around wildly. There was a a light coming from the nearby woods. He began to walk then stopped. Hadn’t this exact scenario happened in his dream earlier? Possibly but he started to walk again. He got the sense that the answer was the light in the wood.

Whatever had caused the unknown light had stopped by the time Danny reached the outskirts of the woods several minutes later. The whiskey bottle was emptier too, Danny having consumed a little too much of it by the time he got there. Yet their song was quite obviously coming from within.

Danny entered.