Grim Investigations: Arkham Horror: The Collected Novellas, Vol. 2 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Arkham Horror
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2022-02-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Dex wanted to believe what Yaztaroth had said was impossible, but he had a terrible feeling that it wasn’t. Not if time had come unstuck, and bad luck or, as he suspected, the spirit’s malice had made the ritual last much longer than he’d realized.

He had to get to the train station! It took an effort of will to put that urgency aside and recite the dismissal with the proper focus and cadence.

“Savant, return to thine own realm, doing no harm as thou go and abiding there until I summon thee again. By the Blind One, by the Haunter of the Dark, by the Womb and Seed of Filth, by the Feaster from Afar, be gone, be gone, be gone!”

For a dreadful moment, nothing changed, but then the bubble of darkness frayed apart, the glow in the symbols and writing at Dex and Molly’s feet faded, and so, too, did the hovering faces, laughing as they withered. The distortions in space and time disappeared, and Black Cave reverted to normal.

Dex felt a visceral relief as the assault on his reason ended, but he was also frantic with the need to catch the train. And check on Molly! As best he could tell in the gloom, she was physically her normal self again, but she was staring at nothing. Had she come through without her mind disintegrating?

He put himself in front of her, took her by the shoulders, and gave her a gentle shake. “Molly! Molly! Are you all right?”

She drew a ragged breath. “That was all kinds of fun. But my brain didn’t go blooey. So come on, we’ve got to go!”

As they scrambled back up the riverbank, Dex had the terrible thought that Tom might not have waited all this time. But the taxi was where he and Molly had seen it last, only now with the lights and motor off.

Tom himself was wide awake and had already been peering in their direction. As they reached the taxi, he said, “I was wondering if I should come looking for you. Or get a cop.”

Dex yanked open the door, and he and Molly piled inside. “We need to get to the train station, fast!”

Tom put the Chevy in gear. “Why?’ He coughed several times and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “What happened down there?”

“It’s too hard to explain,” said Dex. “Just please, fast!”

“OK,” the driver said. The bemused undertone in his voice was that of someone humoring an eccentric or a drunk. “You paid for it.”

“What time is it?” Molly asked.

Dex checked his watch. “About five.” Assuming he could still trust the timepiece after what he and it had been through.

“And what time does the train pull out?”

“I don’t remember exactly, just that a southbound one leaves Arkham around now.” He tried to summon up an air of confidence. “But don’t worry. We’ll make it.”

“I know we will,” she replied. “We didn’t come this far, didn’t face down Yaztaroth, just to fail at the end.”

Desperate as the situation was, her words brought something home to him.

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