The streets of Washington DC were rampant with panic and mass hysteria after Natalia's ominous words had reached the entire public. People who weren't rioting and surrounding the White House were rushing to get aboard buses leading to the bunker underneath the Washington Monument. Sirens wailed as police cars sped by Adrian and Victoria on their way to the White House. She was doing her best to swerve and avoid hitting random pedestrians running wild across the streets. In the distance they could see not only their destination but also saw the same helicopter from earlier landing behind the building. As they approached closer ahead of them were blockades comprised of armored hummers and a couple tanks parked behind the barricades blocking off the roads leading to the entrance. Victoria stopped the car and pulled off to the side of the road. Adrian grabbed her shoulder and pointed out the blockades.
"Look! H-how the hell are we supposed to get past those?! They've got the place protected hardcore!" He exclaimed. Victoria thought for a moment but felt stumped now. The sun had already set by this point and the darkness of the night was creeping in. She opened the door and stepped out to look up in the sky. Just slightly hiding behind the clouds she could see the moon. Except, the moon was slowly shifting from it's usual bright white to a deep, oppressive black. She knew time was running out.
"Shit... What do we do?? Any ideas here?" Victoria asked herself but also spoke to the entity inside of her.
Adrian stepped out of the car and looked up to the sky, seeing the moon rising. Clutching his phone he walked around the car over to Victoria and showed her what he was watching on his phone.
"Um babe... You might want to see this." He said with an ominous tone.
Victoria looked at the phone. Playing on the screen was a news report broadcasting live showing a monstrous, towering creature lurching towards the shore from out in the ocean off the coast. Her eyes went wide and she felt her heart sinking. She started to tremble in her boots. Adrian and her exchanged nervous glances.
"What is this? How did she rise before the black moon hath fully risen? Child of the bloodline... We are in great danger. Thou must hurry and confront the Harbinger. If thou wishes... Thou may draw from thine own power to... Summon thy servants to assist in clearing a path to the Harbinger. For if we do not hurry... All will be lost as soon as the moon finishes rising. But we warned... For this will expunge a great deal of what limited power thy contains in thy current form. Thou cannot fully awaken until the moon rises."
The voice of Hastur spoke to Victoria. She was trying to contain herself and not freak out. She pressed her hands to her head.
"How? How do I..I do that??" Victoria asked. Adrian looked confused as it didn't seem directed at himself.
"Thou must concentrate all of thine mental focus. Simply demand that they... The Byakhee... Arise from where they reside in the depths of the cosmos. Call them forth in thy name and they shall answer. Thy does not wish for you to put thou's own life into danger by trying to proceed forward when the danger is present."
Victoria looked over at the armed soldiers guarding the nearest entrance, their guns aimed up at the mobs of people shouting and chanting. She sighed and looked to Adrian.
"I... Very well. Byahkee, huh? Okay. We have no choice. Adrian... Please stand back."
"Huh? O-okay." Adrian proceeded to step away from her a few feet.
Victoria closed her eyes and took a deep breath, kneeling down on one knee and cupping her hands together. She phased out the chaotic sounds echoing all around her so she would not lose concentration. Inside her subconscious she could see a vision of a black and yellow gate within an eternal void of space.
"By the... Power of that whom resides inside of me as his vessel... In the name of the king of yellow... Hastur... I call upon the Byakhee to aid us in this dire crisis. Heed our demand and awaken from the cosmos. Come forth at my beck and call!"
As Victoria spoke, inside her subconscious she could see the gate opening up and dissolve. From the distance several sets of red eyes suddenly appeared. An intense, burning pain started to course through her body forcing her to cry out in anguish. Her hands, as if they had minds of their own, separated and spread out. Now surrounded by black masses of pulsating yellow energy, her palms opened up. Adrian could only watch then immediately looked up in the sky. Above where Victoria stood he could see several void ruptures opening up. Suddenly, masses of creatures were swarming out of the tears. One flew down and hovered over Victoria and Adrian. The bug-like creature was mainly yellow with a set of small red eyes alongside it's long visor-like eyes, green angular antennae, black arched neck, black fangs on it's large head, black rectangular appendages surrounding a purple black-dotted sack on it's thorax, tendril-like fingers, and hooves. The hands, thorax, and hooves were all a shade of black. The knees, shoulders and hooves all had a purple tinge to them, while just the knees and hooves also had a matching set of three red scars.
Victoria's hands returned to normal and she opened her eyes, standing up to glare at the creature hovering above them. Adrian was in pure shock unable to speak a single words.
"B..Byakhee?" Victoria spoke. The creature just nodded. "Do not kill anyone okay? Just... Fly around and distract those people over there!" She pointed over to the now panicking soldiers. The creature turned to face them and nodded again, belting out a horrendous screech before flying off. She turned back to Adrian. He was taking deep breaths to calm himself down as his heart was pounding. "Hey? You good?" She went and put a hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat.
"I..I'm okay. I'm okay. Just uh... Processing all of this. Bah! W-we need to go now! While those things are helping us?" Adrian stuttered. Victoria nodded.
"Yes they are. And you're right. Now's our opening. Let's go!"
Victoria and Adrian started bolting towards the blockade. The soldiers had their guns aimed up into the sky, in utter panic at the sight of dozens of Byakhee swarming the skies. The captain reached for his radio and spoke into it;
"This is an emergency! We have flying creatures all over in the skies! Requesting air support at once! Protect the White House at all costs! All units engage! Open fire!" The soldier shouted and started firing into the sky with his assault rifle. The others nearby fired off shots as well. One of the Byakhee flew down and kicked the captain onto the pavement. They evaded the shots, distracting them enough for Victoria and Adrian to run up to the blockade and quickly sprint by. One of the soldiers spotted them and called out for them to stop before being picked up by a Byakhee and tossed out onto the street. The two of them just kept running, dashing by the tanks as they rotated their turrets and fired off shots into the sky. Up ahead more Byakhee were swooping down and attacking the soldiers defending the White House entrance from in front of the doors and the balcony above.
"Just..keep..going..!" Victoria huffed.
Up above in the sky a military chopper approached and began firing into the sky at the Byakhee swarms. While some were taken down, others began swarming the chopper, pounding the glass on the cockpit and shattering it. The pilots were yanked out by their tendril-like hands and taken downwards to be tossed onto the ground with brute force. The chopper lost control, descending down and crashing into the front lawn, exploding into a giant fireball. Adrian pulled the handgun he stole from a fallen agent and clutched it tightly as he and Victoria ran for the front doors while the soldiers were knocked unconscious.
Inside the oval office the tensions were high. Natalia quietly stared out the window to observe the chaos happening outside. Madison paced the floor with anxiety flooding her mind while looking at her phone. The door to the office burst open. An agent rushed in and approached Natalia. She slowly turned to face him, her piercing scarlet eyes gazing into his.
"Ma'am things are looking bad out there! We have more soldiers on their way to help but those we have are beyond overwhelmed! You should get somewhere safe at once!" He stated. Natalia simply shook her head.
"I'll be fine here. Back to your post at once. Make sure they don't get in." She replied coldly. The agent nodded and left. Madison stopped pacing and she gasped loud enough for Natalia to hear. "What's wrong dear?" Madison looked up and walked over to her, showing her the news broadcast on her phone. Natalia's eyes went wide.
"T-this is happening right now..." Madison stammered. Natalia was speechless. From inside, she could hear the unusually silent voice speak to her out of nowhere. The tone of his voice even made him seem concerned and surprised;
"Impossible! The moon has not even fully risen yet! How has she risen from her slumber?!" The voice of Nyarlathotep hissed. Natalia's eyes then narrowed, gritting her teeth.
"Vincent..." She muttered. Madison looked confused. "Remember that Vincent fellow I have spoken of? How he's the leader of a secretive cult that worshiped some otherworldly goddess? I think... That's her. So, he did go through with that ritual after all... The crazy bastard. What was her name again...?"
"Cthylla... Daughter of the Great Old One. She would have awakened once the black moon had risen. But to be called upon early... She has already began her rampage it seems. How despicable, yet surprising."
"Cthylla huh? That's right... He did mention her name a few times here and there. This changes everything. As for those things outside flying around... Where did they come from?"
"The Byakhee? Only the King in Yellow can call them forth from their home world. Which means... He is here. I knew I sensed another strong presence lurking on your world. He is close. Harbinger... Something is not right here."
Natalia grabbed Madison by the shoulders and met her eyes. She could see the fear dwelling in her pupils. Her body was trembling. Natalia sighed and clenched her shoulders tightly.
"Dear, I need you to listen to me. You are in danger being around me. You should... You should go down to the bunker. It will be safer there."
Madison shook her head and grabbed Natalia's arms.
"I-I can't. I won't leave your side. I already know what's going to happen... You'll protect me, remember? You promised me we'd be okay."
"I... I did. But-"
The sound of glass shattering could be heard coming from below the oval office. Screams and gunshots echoed from out in the hallways along with several footsteps rushing by. Natalia gently pushed Madison away from her and stepped towards the door to face it. She tightened her fists and stood firmly in place. Nothing happened for but a brief period of time before the office door creaked open. Stepping into the room was a young woman and man. The piercing blue eyes on the young woman were glowing brightly. She glared over to Natalia and pointed a finger at her, narrowing her eyes.
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"So you're the Harbinger... Madame President." Victoria spoke.
Vincent and his followers all had taken a knee while remaining on the docks. The towering creature that was Cthylla, had grown closer before ceasing moving forward. Vincent looked up into the sky and met her many striking red eyes. He stood up and opened his arms up wide. The behemoth didn't move. Her arms were lowered to her side. The tendrils protruding from the lower half of her mouth wriggled around slowly while remaining dangling down below her eyes.
"We, the Cult of Asthatathu welcome you to our mortal realm! We are so blessed to be in the presence of you, oh mighty goddess of the land of Yhe! We had called your forth and here you stand! Towering over all of us insignificant humans! All of you, stand up and join me in welcoming our goddess!" Vincent shouted. The followers all stood up and copied his stance, raising their arms up. Cthylla remained still but started to bend down, lowering one of her monstrous hands downwards, causing waves in the sea from the sheer mass of her hand descending. Her hand opened up, the claws on the tips of her fingers acting as a bridge. Each finger was about the size of a jumbo jet. Vincent's eyes had widened up. "Are you... Are you offering us to... To come with you?? Everyone! Follow me! Our beautiful goddess wishes for our company!"
Vincent and the followers all carefully jumped onto the claws and walked across her fingers into the palm of her hand. They all grabbed onto the fingers to maintain balance as her hand curled up slightly while she stood back up. Cthylla then continued her march towards dry land. Emerging from the ocean Vincent looked down and could see her beastly three-toed clawed feet demolishing the dock they once stood on. She had finally reached the sands of the shore. Now Vincent and his followers were all several thousand feet up in the air. He peered out into the distance and could barely see the White House in the distance along with what appeared to be tons of flying creatures swarming the skies. He wasn't sure what was going on but strangely felt safe where he was at.
Down the road up ahead a set of tanks had gathered and were encroaching upon the great deity. A fleet of military choppers hovered above them flying closer and began firing missiles towards her. The missiles made impact on her torso and exploded. Cthylla's eyes lit up and she released a shrill, high-pitched screech that echoed dozens of miles in all directions. The soldiers inside the choppers grabbed their heads and screamed in pain, their eyes rolling back and ears bleeding profusely. The choppers lost altitude and crashed down into the ground. The wings on Cthylla's back spread out and began to flap as she ascended up off of the ground into the sky, flying forwards over the immobile tanks and landing down in a neighborhood. Her gargantuan feet crushing the streets and houses below her. A feeble hum came from her as she pressed onward towards the White House. Still in her hand were the followers and Vincent holding on for dear life, all unaffected by her ear-piercing cries.
Inside the bunker, Joseph watched in horror at the television screens playing simultaneous news broadcasts covering both the aerial Byakhee invasion over the White House and the monstrous Cthylla having breached the shores and was already heading towards the city. Fear flooded his mind as Peter had never arrived. His wife, Margaret, approached and leaned herself up against him.
"Hey you. Where are the kids?" Joseph asked.
"Lucy and Austin are over playing with some other kids. They're trying not to think about what's happening up there. Distracting themselves is... Well, I guess their way of coping right now." Margaret replied. "Honey, I'm scared. It really feels like the world is ending... There's creatures flying everywhere. Some terrifying giant emerged from the ocean. Reality is I'm losing my mind..."
"There there. We're safe where we're at. As long as we're all alive... Not all hope is lost."
As Joseph embraced his wife in his arms, Laurie then approached him, phone in hand. Joseph looked up at her. Her expression showed worry.
"Nothing... Peter's phone has kept going straight to voicemail. Goddamn it." Laurie cursed gritting her teeth. Joseph shook his head and sighed.
"That's... Not good news to hear."
"His phone is never dead or shut off. I'm fearing something happened and it broke. That idiot! I told him he should've put whatever he was doing aside and fly here ahead of time! Now everything is going to hell and he's not here! I'm going to try calling a few other people he knows. I'll be back..."
Laurie stormed off towards the direction where her room was. Joseph's heart sank thinking that Peter may never make it and that he got caught up in something. There was nothing he could do at this point so he would continue to stay with his wife for comfort as the news played on to thousands of scared viewers.
Natalia and Madison stood in complete silence at the sight of the young lady calling her out. Adrian drew the gun he stole and aimed it at her with trembling hands. Her eyes darted towards him, scowling and clenching her fists. Madison ducked behind her to peer over her shoulder. Before Natalia could say anything she felt a sharp pain run up her spine. A mass of shadows began to form around her and trail off towards her left side and rose up into a tall- lurking form. The shadows then morphed into a manlike figure cloaked in black robes with black skin and piercing white eyes. Natalia and the others slowly looked over to this mysterious entity with a wicked smile bearing striking white teeth. It snickered.
"So... This is who I was sensing. Seems your identity has been confirmed, Harbinger. This one also harbors an entity deep inside. Do not even try anything." Natalia looked back to Victoria and Adrian. She raised her hand and with the movement of a single finger, the gun Adrian held was yanked out of his grip and flew out a window. Her expression was cold, gaze intimidating.
"What form is this...? When I first gazed upon you, Nyarlathotep... You appeared much more sinister and alien." Natalia asked.
"I can take many forms Harbinger. With the black moon nearly upon us, my power is growing immensely. While I am still attached to you and your subconscious, it seems I can manifest here in your realm with enough concentration. As for you, child..." Victoria's eyes widened as he raised a crooked finger and pointed it directly at her. "...You too are a vessel. I can see it in your eyes and sense it inside of you. Harbinger... This one and her companion are a threat. I sense... Hostility. Is that...? No it can't be..."
Victoria stepped closer then felt herself stop forcefully out of her control.
"He knows of thy presence inside of thou, child of the bloodline. He is the one who must be put to an end. The real harbinger is him... A deity similar to thyself. The one called Nyarlathotep..."
"N-Nyarlathotep??" Victoria choked.
Nyarlathotep just began cackling and slithered close to Natalia's side. He reached up to her face and gently stroked her chin with a single finger. She crossed her arms and stood her ground, meeting Victoria's eyes with her own.
"So you want to end all of this? You wish to stop the fall, child? Pathetic. You cannot stop it. This is what fate had decreed to us. I've come to accept this, as much pain as it bears me. I was chosen as the Harbinger for the fall by... By him. This is the harsh, cold truth. My advice... Just turn around and leave. I do not care what deity you may possess. But you cannot change fate no matter how determined you are. So take your, boyfriend I'm guessing? Take him and go. I do not want to have to harm a young lady like yourself. Accept fate like I have." Natalia murmured. Victoria shook her head.
"N-no. No I can't. I didn't go through a long journey and the mental turmoil that came with it just to watch the world I know perish." She hissed. "To think our own president would become this..."
"Enough of this petty dribble. Let us leave them and get a better view of what is happening outside. I think... The roof of this fine establishment sounds lovely. Do not bother to come after us child-"
As Nyarlathotep spoke, Victoria shuttered and extended her arm out, palm wide open. The flooring underneath began to crackle and break as a rift tore itself open and a black tendril reached out and wrapped itself around him. He croaked and struggled for but a moment then broke free, snapping his fingers and dissolving away back into Natalia before her and Madison were devoured by a dark void and vanished from the room. Adrian ran up and grabbed Victoria's other arm.
"H-hey! Careful! Whatever it is you're doing... It seems to be taking a lot out of you. H-he said something about the roof, right? We should go up there! Time is running out..." Adrian exclaimed. Victoria nodded and faced him.
"I..I know. Sorry. I'm fine I promise you. Let's find our way to the roof then..."
Outside of the Earth's atmosphere currently in orbit resides the International Space Station. Two astronauts are hard at work repairing a damaged solar array hit by space debris earlier while one is on break keeping watch for any extra debris. He's humming a tune to himself when he starts to notice something off in the distance towards Mars. He pushes himself off of the hull he was leaning against and floats outwards to try and get a better view. What he sees appears to be a dimensional rift growing in size and seeping out from inside was a mass of black.
"Hey major? Over towards Mars. Spotted something unknown. You seeing this, over?" He speaks into his built-in radio.
"Copy that. Uh... What am I looking at? That doesn't look like a mass of debris or an asteroid. Going to scope in on that for more clarity."
The other two astronauts stopped what they were doing to get a glance at what was being reported. The mass had already grown to a substantially large size before starting to shift and morph into something much more defining. The major onboard headed for the main telescope to adjust it towards the direction of Mars. He stopped once he could see what the astronaut was talking about. Manifesting were multiple glowing purple orbs intertwined into masses of pulsating tendrils, reptilian-like gray eyes with black pupils and mouths filled with sharp teeth, all interconnected with one massive body of black flesh. It appeared to be shaping itself into a specific form, with six appendages bearing clawed fingers arranging into the same position, all surrounding one large glowing orb that began to illuminate brightly enough that the astronauts could start to see it more clearly even against the bright backdrop of Mars behind it.
"What the hell is that?? Major what are you seeing??" Another astronaut asked. The line of communication was silent for but a moment.
"You three need to get back inside now. That is an order. I repeat, get back inside the station."
All of the orbs inside the mass were now glowing brighter then before. From within the center of the mass where the largest orb was, another rift was opening up and emerging from within the void was what looked like a massive, bi-valvular shelled being of flesh with a wide gaping mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, dozens of black eyes around the mouth and several fat, wriggling cylinders tipped with tendril-like appendages. The astronauts began to make their way back to the nearest door in a panicked frenzy. When they had finally reached a door off in the distance they could see several eerie black starry voids tearing themselves into the fabric of space. They hurried inside and shut the door behind them.
The crew onboard all had gathered into a large open lounge area with windows peering out all sides of the space station. They all looked in both awe and horror at the gigantic, terrifying alien-like creature slowly heading towards Earth. The station then began to shake violently. From beneath where the space station was orbiting, a mass of tendrils had slithered out from the nearest void tear and began wrapping themselves around some of the lower solar arrays. Sirens started to blare throughout the facility. Red lights flashed in every room and corridor.
"This is an emergency! We are under attack! All crew members head for the emergency evacuation shuttle! I repeat, we are under atta-"
The announcement had cut short as communication was severed from the rest of the station. Everybody panicked and evacuated the lounge to head for the shuttle attached to the sole docking tunnel aboard the station. The corridors were trembling from the weight of the solar panels as they were being torn off. A man standing by the docking tunnel waved to lead everybody inside and towards the shuttle. Once every crew member had made it inside the man floated ahead and up to the cabin of the shuttle to immediately detach and start firing off the thrusters. The shuttle departed towards the planet, everybody aboard quivering with fear watching on as horrific creatures of many forms had begun emerging from the black void tears in space now surrounding Earth.
Police sirens wailed off and occasional gunshots rang in the distant streets of Los Angeles. A single military chopper flew by overhead with a spotlight shining down below keeping watch for anything unusual. Pure chaos had erupted in this single residential area earlier in the day. A state of emergency was declared because of this and one other outbreak of rampaging beasts in a neighborhood over near the Sunset Strip sometime after this area was attacked. It seems that all had calmed down by now with law enforcement and the National Guard picking off any remaining beasts.
The roads leading directly to the Los Angeles International Airport were in ruins. Cars, trucks and vans were strewn about the roads all empty and abandoned. Bloodied bodies laid on sidewalks and even in the streets. One single black coupe sat with it's front end dented having crashed right into a streetlamp. Laying against the side of the car with a broken black smartphone next to him, was the now lifeless and disemboweled corpse of Peter Masterson.