The Thing That Should Not Be

The Thing That Should Not Be

By Scott Wilson

Word Count: 454

On the cool, white sands of the Krandrenkal Beach, the hybrid children of the beast sit patiently. The Messenger of Fear is in sight, zigzagging across the motionless, orange water without leaving a ripple or any sign of breaking the surface. This does not bother the chaos crawling creatures of the dark light: they have prayed for Father, summoned him to save them from the fearless wretch.

The children know that he watches over them, lurking beneath the sea, carefully guarding his precious family from the alien intruders. These aliens know the Great Old One, as the Hunter of the Shadows. They believe he is immortal and in madness. He destroyed their ship when they landed on this alien planet a few months back, back when there was a full crew of six hundred. Now there are but seven survivors, with very little provisions or weapons.

Before the single alien reaches the shore, the Hunter of the Shadows erupts from the still, orange waters and engulfs her, dragging her back down into the cloudy depths of the strangely void sea. She finds that she can breathe under the water. The Great Old One is breathing for her through a fleshy appendage, tightly wrapped around her neck. Sinking down, the alien grows accustomed to the bleary vision and sees a majestic, glowing gold city on the sea floor. She feels at peace, not at all afraid of drowning or the creature holding her in its toothless, mouth firmly eating her alive.

Time has no meaning under the strange alien sea, yet she thinks it took hours to reach the city. A thick yellow membrane that they seep through to enter surrounds the city. Inside, she felt warm air brush her face dry in a soft caress.

She finds her fellow crew aimlessly wandering the streets, their faces blank and uncaring of their surrounding. The Great Old One speaks to her.

“You dwell in the fallen city of Crawling Chaos now. In time, you will accept your fate and hear the summons of the underground cult. The twisted sound from the very buildings will become a sweet sound to your ears. Out from ruins, living death will embrace you and eternal life will no longer be a stranger.”

The Great Old One releases her from his tender embrace and she feels a chill run down her exoskeleton. She feels a thick slime drizzle down her neck, slowly covering her scaled body. Looking down, she sees her torso and legs are now smooth and amber in colour.

“Come, join your companions. You will have eons to serve me. There will be no death to drain you of your insanity. Come; join the Thing That Should Not Be.”