As the intrepid investigators retired on the evening of Thursday, October 12, some of them faced a difficult night with insomnia, acute hay fever and a really bothersome rash. Meanwhile, Jules Pollack slept like a baby. Next morning, Mackie may not have slept well, but she looked absolutely stunning, and combined her superb good looks with being particularly charming and gregarious - as well as having a ravenous appetite! Moira Baker and Henry Chester were rather more miserable, with Moira having a weird rash that looked like a particularly troublesome case of shingles. Henry was reduced to a fairly passive onlooker, being a mass of mucus and phlegm.
Much to Mackie's chagrin, the food that Jules had acquired for the reception later that Friday had unexpectedly gone bad, with a layer of peach fuzz and dark spots mysteriously covering most of the foodstuffs as well as much of the cupboard. Being on the verge of gnawing off one of her very own limbs, Mackie slammed the door, and demanded to leave for the Essex Diner. However, Jules was happy to remain in Hampton Hill House to clean out the cupboard and finally get some peace and quiet.
Moira, Mackie and Chester descended upon the Essex Diner, with Mackie assaulting a stack of flapjacks with sausage links, bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash Browns. Chester just wanted chicken soup, while Moira sipped a cup of coffee. They asked Elly, the waitress, for a doctor, and were told that a retired Julius Blume, MD, lived just off Main Street on Union and Hicks. The trio proceeded to see the doctor, who turned out to be retired, stern, but helpful. Henry was not diagnosed with any illness except severe hay fever, but Moira's sores had sprouted some decidedly unhealthy looking coarse dark hairs. They were just a fraction of an inch in length, but the putrid sores and scabs accentuated by the strangely curled filaments created a slightly inhuman impression, like a half-nude belly of an emerging beast or some other form of horror. The pungent odor almost made Mackie to retch, while Henry realized what a mistake it was to steal a glance of Moira's condition. The sores were also quite painful, so Dr. Blume ordered pain killers and a mustard plaster and told Moira to come back on Tuesday, October 17.
The investigators just made it back to Hampton Hill House before the reception started at 4 PM. Jules had ordered delivery of all kinds of dishes from the Essex Diner, and an embarrasing situation had been averted. Most notables in Essex Falls came to the reception, and the investigators were particularly attentive to Pastor and Mrs. Moore of the St. Agnes Episcopalian Church, who were found in conversation with Jules and Henry, while Moira chatted to Mrs. Abernathy of the Essex Falls Historical Association. The radiant Mackie was fully occupied by sweeping Egon Wierzbowski off his feet while gorging herself at the buffet. Several snippets of information did surface: Wierzbowski claimed that he had met Aunt Matilda Berkeley in Warsaw just after the Great War after fleeing from the Red Army. Mrs. Abernathy hinted at some form of "special relationship" between Auntie Tilda and Wierzbowski, and that is why Wierzbowski ended up in Essex Falls. Pastor Moore revealed that the strange Bishop Innocentius of the Unitarian Church was actually a certain Bill O'Riley of New York. O'Riley had various esoteric interests, and establishing a small church seems to have been a great solution for his mystical needs. Mrs. Abernathy and Pastor Moore discussed the origins of Hampthon Hill House once again, telling the investigators about how the plot of land was purchased by Bartholomew Pickman of Arkham back in 1850, and how he almost single-handedly built the house, only to sell it a mere ten years later to Mrs. Abigail Cooper. Mrs. Cooper was shunned for the six decades she lived in the house, having an almost witch-like reputation, and losing several of her servants to various odd ailments. It was also mentioned that Bishop Innocentius had shown great interest in local history, including Mrs. Cooper and Hampton Hill House.
The reception ended at 6PM, and it was decided that Moira, Henry and Mackie were going to drive back to Arkham that Saturday morning, since Mrs. Abernathy had indicated that there might be more information about Essex Falls in the library of Miskatonic University. Jules was more than happy to remain at Hampton Hill House, as he was planning on excavating the basement and enjoying some well-deserved peace and quiet.
Fortunately, both Mackie and Moira were well acquainted with the library, and they had quite a few privileges to the stacks. Both Saturday and Sunday were spent at Miskatonic U., and several things were unearthed, metaphorically speaking:
- a book from the mid-eighteenth century penned by Zebulon May himself in Latin with a foreword in Old English:
After the tumult in Ipswich I decided to leave that primitive country full of fools. The New World beckons, and I have already devised the initial mathematical formulae to seek the elusive intersections that are full of promises and new, startling perceptions that go far beyond this planet. I am eager to delve further into these unknown and fantastic areas of science, and perchance eventually go beyond the Walls of Sleep, into the Loam of Creation and the Throbbing Genitalia that will make us perceive what we really are. The Hill upon the Hampton common grounds will be my first objective, and I feel that the power of fortitude is with me.
The latin text may take another three months to fully comprehend.
- The Wierzbowski family was iindeed petty nobility from Ruthenia, However, no Egon could be found in the records of the library.
- The Unitarian Church of Eastern Slavonic Orthodox Catholicism is mainly bogus. There are no historical records of such a strange church.
- According to the archives, "Bartholomew Pickman regained his health after moving from Essex Falls to Arkham. He passed away in 1885 after having spent 25 years as a painter and a very appreciated professional juggler".
The weekend in Arkham seemed to improve the condition of Henry and Moira as well, while Mackie retained her upbeat charm, as well as her radiant skin tone. The indomitable trio drove back to Hampton Hill House in good spirits after having checked out Zebulon May's book from the rare books section. As they entered the house, Moira noticed a distinctly disturbing musky odor as well as what seemed to be pollen floating around in the hallway. As they entered the living room, they heard a faint gurgling sound followed by belabored wheezing. It was relatively dark in the living room, and the investigators could only see the outline of Jules Pollack leaning back in the chaise lounge, not unlike they left him. Henry reached for the light switch, and the sudden orange-yellow glow revealed a gruesome sight: Jules Pollack, shirt unbuttoned, and in a most unkempt state. One of his shoes were missing, his trousers were half opened and covered with what seemed to be soil, even with a maggot crawling through Jules' belt loop. His torso was covered with a a web of mycelium-like strands, and his hands were clenched into fists. Jules opened his eyes, revealing bright red bloodshot orbs under puffy eyelids. He smiled at Moira, Mackie and Henry, and as a steady dribble of ichor left the left corner of his mouth, he whispered "are you already back?". Then the lightbulb shattered.
(Sanity check)
No comments:
Post a Comment