March

The days of freezing temperatures and snowfall was long gone. Spring was in the air but the atmosphere all around remained bleak and cold. Rain showered the lively streets of downtown Manhattan during the evening. A young man with a chiseled face and stocky figure wearing a black coat with a company logo on the left side featuring a speeding white cargo van with words underneath in bold red lettering: Dynamo Delivery. On the left was a name tag: Ezekiel. He had light stubble on his freshly-shaven face and wore a black baseball cap brandishing the same company logo. He approached Adrian, also in uniform, smoking a joint while leaning against the white delivery van also brandishing the same logo as their uniforms.

"Yo! Mind if I take a hit of that?" Ezekiel asked. Adrian finished taking a puff then passed it to him.

"Oh hey Ezekiel. Go ahead. Shift doesn't start for another fifteen minutes anyway." Adrian replied. With a happy expression, Ezekiel took a few puffs off of the joint then passed it back.

"New strain? I dig it dude."

"Yup. Danny's shop always stocks the best shit and he gives me discounts since we're buddies. Why don't you ever buy any of your own? You're always wanting me to share."

"I would but uh, yeah the roommate is super stingy about this shit."

"Fuck him. You make enough money here so you should just find somewhere else to live."

"I'd feel guilty just leaving him alone since I bring in more income. Plus he's been my best friend since middle school. We're tighter then sealed lips on a government watchdog."

"Fair enough."

Adrian and Ezekiel stocked the van with their supply of packages to deliver and hopped in. Ezekiel being passenger, hooked his phone up to the radio and put on some hip hop music to listen to as Adrian pulled out of the lot and headed into the streets. The first five deliveries went smoothly as usual, burning several miles along the way as their route for the night was long and filled with several twists and turns through alleys and narrow one lane roads. Adrian pulled into the alley for the sixth spot on their route; A dingy old antique store with two separate apartments on the third floor. Ezekiel hopped out to grab the small package and made his way through the back door and up the stairs into a narrow hallway with two doors on both ends. He walked to the left door and knocked on the door. No response. So he tried again. No response. He shrugged his shoulders and set the package down in front of the door. As he reached the stairs he raised an eyebrow. The stairs seemed much longer then before as if he was several floors up. He scratched his head.

"The fuck? I was sure this apartment was only two stories up." Ezekiel spoke to himself. "That shit Adrian had must've been stronger then I thought." He started to descend the exceedingly long staircase. As he continued the pattern on the aging white walls began to shift and contort. The stairs seemed as if they were continuous. The door at the bottom didn't appear to be any closer then it was at the top of the stairs. Ezekiel was starting to panic and he hurriedly descended further at a faster pace. His breathing grew more intense, slowly running out of breath and stopping to take a rest. As he looked up the door appeared to be closer now but also quite far away. He catches his breath and continues to descend. The patterns on the walls were distorted far beyond their original form. Heart racing, sweat beading his forehead, Ezekiel was pushing his limits descending the stairs. He took a moment to look behind him and saw at the top of the staircase, a silhouette of a figure with their head cocked to the side looking down at him. Now he was beginning to have a panic attack. He turned back and immediately hit the door with his face, knocking him back onto the steps. Reeling in for a moment to catch his bearings, rubbing his slightly swollen bruised nose, Ezekiel glanced back up at the top of the staircase. It looked like it did when he first entered the building, three stories high. He was confused. Standing back up Ezekiel opened the door and walked to the van. Adrian had the seat reclined back and was relaxing until Ezekiel jumped into the van. His expression a mixture of shock, confusion and fear.

"About time. What took you so damn long?" Adrian asked while he adjusted the seat back to it's original position.

"I uh...I don't fucking know man! The staircase going down was like eighty stories high, the walls were all warped and weird, it felt like an hour just going down the steps then I see some figure staring at me and next thing I know I turn back around and smacked my face into the door! I don't fucking know what happened! It was like a hallucination!" Ezekiel exclaimed. Adrian seemed genuinely perplexed.

"I know that's not the weed talking. I...should believe you?"

"L-let's just fucking go dude I need some time to chill out and catch my breath after the hell I just went through leaving that damned place."

The mood was strange between the two as Adrian pulled out of the alley and carried on with the shift, choosing to deliver the last few packages of the night after clearly seeing how stressed out Ezekiel was despite not fully understanding his situation. Once their route was complete and the two had returned to the warehouse, Adrian led Ezekiel inside and the two clocked out for their shift. Ezekiel didn't say anything else instead just gave a little wave and left scratching his head. Adrian was still puzzled by what he was told and kept it in the back of his mind thinking about calling Victoria the following day to explain what he was told.

A cold wind blew throughout the streets of Chicago on this brisk morning. Standing around a barrel filled with trash lit ablaze were two grizzled older men in tattered, dirty clothes and sullen eyes rubbing their hands to stay warm near the fire. Everything was relatively quiet where they were. The usual sirens were blaring off in the distance which was nothing new to these men. Another typical day living without a home or job. The men's ears perked up as they heard a sound coming from the down the street. Across from the alley was a large, abandoned multistory factory with a parking lot just out front. A few individuals in different colored jackets stood outside the front doors chatting.

"What's that sound? It almost sounds like a big vehicle. Two in fact." The younger of the old men said.

Just seconds later two gray SWAT armored personnel carriers pulled up from the street into the parking lot of the factory. The individuals standing outside suddenly rushed inside the factory. The doors all opened up as groups of armed officers decked with body armor, helmets, plenty of tactical gear and automatic rifles stepped out. This caught both of the men's attention.

"Wake Dave up will ya'? Things are lookin' quite interesting." The younger man said. The older one walked over to the nearby dumpster and kicked the foot of the man sleeping behind it.

"Dave wake the hell up. Shit's going down across the street!" He shouted. The man shook his head, opening his eyes and standing up. He was the oldest of the three with a musty gray beard and wrinkly pale skin. The three men were now observing what was happening.

The SWAT officers had stacked up against both of the front doors to the factory. One gave hand signs before the doors were kicked open, the officers storming into the building. All was quiet for a few minutes before the sounds of gunshots were heard going off from within the factory walls. The men's eyes all went wide with shock. The gunshots continued going off. A firefight had erupted inside the factory yet not a single police car was in sight. The sound of a helicopter could be heard closing in to the location and started hovering above the factory. Ropes were drooped down onto the roof as several more officers slid down and landed on the rooftop. Now the men were at a loss for words. Shots continued to ring out for a few more minutes until it was dead silent.

Several more minutes passed and the doors to the factory opened. A group of men with their hands behind their backs were being escorted out by the armed officers. The sergeant split off from the others and got on his radio to report in:

"Mission execution was a success. No casualties on our end, only a few were wounded. We cleaned house and captured any remaining criminals who willfully surrendered. Report this to miss Emerson at once. And call for a cleanup crew. Got a lot of hostile casualties." The sergeant reported before rejoining his fellow officers.

Victoria started to feel drowsy while she was working on her latest project. She yawned and laid her head down on the desk. She's been feeling mentally exhausted lately and was starting to slack on her tasks at work. Someone was walking by when they noticed her snoozing and gently pushed on her shoulder.

"Hey sleepyhead. Wake up." They spoke in a gentle tone. Victoria recognized that flamboyant voice anywhere and lifted her head up and saw towering over her was one of her co-workers, Ben. He had dark skin, teal eyes, short blonde hair that had one half shaved off, with long bangs that draped over his right eye and a single silver piercing on his left ear. He wore a plaid long-sleeved shirt with a yellow-green pattern and purple jeans. He was the tallest amongst everyone and a fit, toned figure.

"O-oh shit did I doze off again? Why does this keep happening?" Victoria shook her head.

"Not getting enough sleep?"

"I get good sleep. I just, I don't know."

"This is the fifth time this week you've been dozing on and off at work. Maybe you should go see a doctor?"

"I'll hold out today. But I feel like when I get home there's something I need to do..."

"Tell you what. Why don't you just go home early and I'll cover the rest of your task for the day? I'm all caught up for the day anyway so I could use some more work to do. I think the boss gave me a little too light of a workload today." Ben snickered offering his hand to her. She grabbed it and stood up.

"Really? Thanks Ben. This is getting seriously aggravating so I'm going to get it figured it. The application is minimized right now and I have a document open with my tasks. Just so you're aware."

"You're welcome. Leave it to me. Be careful on your drive home okay?"

"Yeah."

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Victoria got approval from her boss, Peter, to take an early leave for the day. She made it back to her apartment and headed straight into her room and stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes focused deeply on her reflections and took a deep breath. Since the month began she has been feeling constantly sleep-deprived despite being dedicated to a strict sleeping schedule and it's hastening her performance at work. She had a gut feeling it had something to do with the voice inside of her.

"Alright you...what is going on with me? It's been some time since we last spoke in that rest stop bathroom. You've been awfully quiet since then. Reveal yourself." Victoria demanded as she closed her eyes and cupped her hands together, hoping for a miracle.

A sharp pain hit Victoria's head forcing her down onto her knees and grabbing her mind. The reflection of her in the mirror remained still standing, it's eyes soulless black voids. It began to approach the mirror and stepped out, shattering the mirror and dissolving into a black mass that started to shroud the bedroom in a sea of blackness. Victoria cried out in pain then bit her tongue and stood back up, opening her eyes despite the heaviness her entire body felt. The mirror she noticed was broken and that the room was much darker then before. She felt as if she was being watched from behind her back. Anxious she slowly turned around and her jaw dropped. An entity almost as tall as the ceiling towered over her, hovering in the air. The entity bore a horrific blackened form composed of a diamond-shaped head with a flat top and wide neck, a stocky upper torso, slender waistline and long legs. Four sets of tendrils protruded from all sides of it's head, feet and body with the bases bearing round, glowing yellow patterns and orange tips on the tendril's ends. The initial shock sent Victoria onto the floor, staring up at the mysterious creature that appeared before her. When it spoke, the yellow patterns all shone brightly with it's words;

"Thou seeks an audience with thy presence... So here thy stands before you, child of the bloodline. Thou hath sensed an ominous presence within thou's own plane of reality that grows stronger. Thy deemed it appropriate to finally reveal thy true form upon thou's mere mortal eyes. Thou seems to remember the warning given to thee many weeks before. Am thou correct?"

Victoria had to gather herself both mentally and physically. She stood back up and faced down the creature.

"I...I do remember. S-so this is what you really are... Just what the hell did Edward and Mary awaken inside that cave...?" She stammered.

"Allow thyself to introduce thy own true name to you, child...Standing before thou is Hastur."

"Hastur...? This can't be happening. I know who you are...the king in yellow. The unspeakable. A powerful god both who is both benevolent and malevolent. I..I have so many questions."

"So thou knows of who thy is. How...interesting. Now that thy has revealed thyself upon you... Speak, child of the bloodline. As thy vessel, thy will answer what knowledge thou seeks."

Victoria's heart was racing. Her mind felt at ease however.

"How are you even here? Why were you, awakened, inside a cave?"

"Thy originally resided on thou's own planet of Earth. Once a mighty ruler feared by all during a time many millennia ago. Thy laid dormant in deep sleep until being awakened by the ones known as Edward and Mary, who hath disturbed thy resting place, where thou hath also ventured. Now here thy am. But a prisoner within the confines of thou's own subconscious. Thou decided to be kind upon my reveal to thou's mortal eyes and mind."

"So you were asleep...and since a ritual wasn't performed you weren't released. Instead because of Edward and Mary making a pact with you and you accepting it...you instead chose to confine yourself within my family's lineage. Almost like a...guardian spirit of some sorts."

"I spoke to them after thy had awakened. Should they have performed the proper ritual, thy would have been unleashed upon this world. Having bore witness to seeing the lives of many humans within your bloodline, thy hath slowly changed thy perspective on the morality of your kind. Thou's family may have suffered from one tragedy after another, but stood on a morally righteous pedestal. That being said...thy brings up morality for a proper reason. Why thy form was revealed. Why thy demanded thou return home moons ago. Why choosing now to finally speak thy mind. Thou has sensed an unusual presence within the confines of this reality. This world. It started with the revelation of the false man thou had spoken to, and why another had been in his place upon returning to that particular location. Something...is not right."

"That has been bothering me ever since I found out. You told me to wait. To be patient. Are you finally going to tell me what is going on? What did you mean by 'unusual presence' within our reality?"

"Thy home is this planet. This plane of existence. Thy can sense anything and everything that reshapes the fabric of your mortal realm. A shifting in reality has been occurring. Thy has been sensing it for quite some time now. What thou does not know thou shall know here and now. Many millennia ago, fate decreed that one day the great Old One would awaken from his eternal slumber. Those of us who slumber here such as thyself, used to rule over thou's planet, thus we are connected to mother Earth herself. Time passed, and this planet has only seen the horrors that humans have unleashed upon her grounds. Your kind, who once loved this home, hath only corrupted and soiled her beauty. Fate hath thus decreed that punishment for thy sins must be enacted. Once the great Old One awakens...calamity and ruin will be bestowed upon all of you. Punishment for thy sins. On the day the black moon rises...we will all awaken and the fall will bring upon your end. Only then can this planet be reborn."

Victoria was shaking in her boots. Her heart sank. This was but an omen, words of warning being spoken directly to her.

"S-so you mean to tell me...we're all going to die?"

"The great Old One will bring about the fall. He cannot be stopped. The Outer Gods and the Old Ones will wipe the human race from this planet to save it. The cosmos will be ruled once again by our kind. Any and all life in the universe will slowly be cleansed from existence. Thou's time is running short..."

"No no no this cannot be real! This cannot be happening! You're on my side, right?! Is there no way to escape fate and stop this apocalypse from happening??"

Hastur remained silent. Victoria could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes. The thought of everyone she knew and loved, cared for, and herself being fated to perish had her on the verge of breaking down. One of the tendrils then raised up into the air.

"Do not cry, child. Perhaps...there may be but one way to stop the fall from eradicating your kind."

"H-huh?" Victoria wiped her eyes.

"Thy senses another residing within your realm. Somewhere...somehow...another like thy is here. How peculiar. Thy seems not to be the only one. Thy was waiting to tell thou this for this moment after thy had explained the coming calamity and the signs showing through the small tears in your reality as it slowly is beginning to collapse. Could it be...?"

"Be what??"

"...could it be another that hath awakened? Listen closely child... The fall is coming. There may be others that know of this. A harbinger of sorts...could be amongst us, who hath retained knowledge of the fall. Who though? Thou is not sure. The harbinger was fated to oversee the fall, and be the beacon that brings upon the wrath and judgement of the great Old One and those like him. If the harbinger reveals themself, or thou can uncover whom it may be...should we stop them, thy believes we can erase their calling to the great Old One and in turn...prevent the fall, saving your kind."

"Are...are you serious?? So there may be hope after all..."

"Heed thy words and suggestion with heavy caution, child. For if we are too late, the fall will come. Thy is certain they are hidden, inside of a vessel just like thou. We have no leads. Thy only possible clue, could be that the harbinger hath chosen one of great significance and importance amongst your kind. But thy is uncertain. Do not risk thou own life carelessly trying to uncover them. Keep thou eyes and mind open is all thy can say. Now...the time has come for thy to return to thou's subconscious. Thou hath spoken and said what needed to be heard. Be safe, child of the bloodline. Should thy want to save your kind, thou will not hesitate to aid thy cause."

"I..I don't understand. Do you not want to be freed? I'm not against you helping me but-"

"You doubt my alliance to you and your kind? This is a new age. Should thou want to release thy from within, thou will no longer have to suffer sharing thou's mind and body. Could thou truly trust thyself being free?"

"I'm not sure... If Earth is where you reside, shouldn't you maybe, protect it? You said yourself that living on through my lineage has changed your perspective of us?"

"Indeed. Thy would become a guardian in that regard. Should thou's kind slaughter themselves and perish along with the planet, that is out of thy control. So pray to whatever God you believe in that humans can salvage what damage they have done and save themselves. Hold out hope for a bright and foreseeable future free of turmoil and bloodshed. With that...thy hath spoken."

The darkness enveloping the room began to subside. Hastur's corporeal form then dissipated along with the darkness and the room returned to it's original state. Victoria was silent. She turned to take a look at the shattered mirror once again. With so much information dumped onto her, now she not only knew that time was ticking down and that strange occurrences are happening around her, but felt the burden of potentially being able to prevent a coming apocalypse. Adrian would have to be informed of these huge revelations later. Her mind needed some rest so she went over to the bed and decided to lay down for awhile.

Natalia stood inside of a surveillance room within the White House. She was focused on a set of two screens, each showcasing drone footage capturing her new plan of action into full effect, wearing an expression of satisfaction as she and others in suits all watched what was going on in Chicago with the SWAT teams continuing their mission of 'cleaning house' as initially planned by her and a team of confidants. She snickered while watching.

"Hope Congress is going to be pleased with the results. We're already making the streets safer. And this is just the start." Natalia murmured. "Once Chicago is taken care of, we'll move on to the next location. One-by-one we'll topple those underground, criminal drug empires. Only then can the reparations begin with no issues. Can't cure a patient without treating their symptoms."

Natalia would soon leave the surveillance room to continue her duties. The day went on and time flew by. It was getting late into the night. She was finishing up some paperwork before she could get ready to leave. Her phone began to buzz in her pocket. She saw the contact info and answered;

"Yeah? What is it? I'm a little occupied here." Her tone slightly annoyed.

"Sorry to bother you. But uh, you haven't noticed anything, unusual, going on have you?" Vincent's voice spoke.

"Huh? No not really. Why?"

"Well a couple colleagues of mine outside the cult who I was supposed to be meeting up with earlier today went missing for awhile. Just now, rather less then ten minutes ago, they arrived at my home. They looked lost, confused, and pale as ghosts. Said they went for a walk earlier in the park then somehow got lost. I guess they were seeing weird things like disembodied eyes and distant figures vanishing before their eyes. They panicked and tried to find a way back to the path they were on but couldn't. So they eventually found the bathrooms and went there to relieve themselves and collect their thoughts. Next thing they know they walked outside and were right there, back on the path and just a few miles away from the street. Very odd story."

"Uh...yeah. Sure they aren't on psychedelics?"

"No not at all. They're straightedge fellows. No liquor, no drugs, no smoking. Just, figured I'd ask. Apologies for bothering you ma'am. Have a nice night, okay? I need to tend to these exhausted men."

Just like that Vincent hung up the phone. Natalia had no idea what she just heard but had her feeling chills. She didn't let it distract her from finishing her work. She texted Madison on her way to the car just to see how she was doing and was relieved that she was fine and relaxing at home. Natalia got into her car and drove off to head home. As she was driving, an unexpected string of words followed with a sinister laugh echoed through her ears that sent chills down her spine;

"Yes. So it's finally happening. Reality is slowly beginning to crumble... Ahahahahahaha...!"