9 Cthulhu

We started drinking in silence, and after nearly half of the bottle was empty, Bobby spoke up.

"So, I guess the information you wanted is about the tentacle monster? But let me warn you first, most people who start the hunt can never stop. And as you saw with Aiden at the end of the road, only death will be waiting for you."

Death never waited for me once... So I would be happy to meet him one day.

"Sadly, I have no choice here but to act, or it will get really ugly. And I don't really care about the tentacle monster itself; I want to know about its followers..." I said, taking a sip of the cheap whiskey.

Bobby raised an eyebrow and asked, "Real ugly, you say? About how much ugliness are you talking?"

"Well, probably the kind of ugliness where the world is ending," I replied.

"Yea, that sounds really ugly," said Bobby, placing his glass back on the table as he pondered something. Then he asked, "And what could be so powerful to destroy the world?"

I put my glass down as well and looked him in the eyes. "Do you know Cthulhu?"

"Like H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu?" Bobby asked, surprised.

"Exactly! Well, at least part of it is exact... It's like with the furless werewolves running around here. H.P. Lovecraft's stories are not really correct.

But his books were never meant to be accurate; they were meant to bring the mythos into this world and give Cthulhu some followers and form," I explained, recounting what Cthylla had told me before.

"So H.P. Lovecraft was evil?" Bobby asked, taken aback.

I shook my head and replied, "No, he was simply a tool, awakening a mythos that can only exist if someone brought it into this world. Unfortunately, that person happened to be a Lovecraft."

Well, in my world, not H.P. Lovecraft, but one of his ancestors during the early 1700s, wrote the stories... But Cthylla said it's always been one of the Lovecraft family and only the century differs.

In my world, H.P. Lovecraft was a writer who wrote crazy but interesting stories and died in poverty...

"I will regret asking this, but what is the truth about Cthulhu?" Bobby asked. His tone became tense.

"Well, first of all, Cthulhu is really sleeping, but not on Earth. He rests in his own dimension, which he normally cannot leave, at least not without help.

This help comes in the form of a writer who awakens the mythos, and his d... a woman who gives birth to him afterwards."

"A normal woman?" Bobby inquired.

"From the outside, yes. This woman is born some time after the awakening of the mythos. As she grows older, Cthulhu's essence wanders and empowers its followers, who then seek out the woman and protect her.

Until Cthulhu becomes strong enough and uses a follower to impregnate the woman, leading to his own birth and ultimately bringing about the end of the world."

I'm a bit hesitant to share Cthylla's origin with Bobby at this point. I'm uncertain how he would react, and I certainly don't want countless hunter's to be after us after I locate her.

Bobby took the bottle and drank all the whiskey, then said, "If this is true, then it's a whole new level of getting screwed..."

... That's true but I luckily could stop the impregnated and born part in my old world even though, it didn't help much in the end.

---

Bobby ponders for a while then asks wide-eyed, "Wait, you said that the ancient tentacle monster destroyed your home... What did you exactly mean by that?"

"This was only a... metaphor for his followers who destroyed my home after finding out that I knew so much," I said while smiling at him.

I was technically not lying here. I met them before and my 'home' got destroyed.

"Is that so... I will take your word on that then," said Bobby skeptically and then continued, "Are there any signs or phenomena that give a hint about the woman or the followers?" and took a notebook to write everything down.

"Yes, there kinda is. Can I have a paper?" He nodded and ripped one from his notebook, giving it to me.

I took out Elizabeth's pen and started to draw.

"The followers or the cult have this as their logo. They also leave it behind everywhere they go while searching for the woman." I handed him the paper with the symbol on it that looks like a horizontal line with three tentacles coming downwards from it.

Bobby looked at it, then shook his head and said, "Sadly, I've never seen that symbol before... And the woman?"

Too bad it could have been easy...

"Well, the woman is more difficult to find. She stays hidden most of the time. There are only a few things that are clear about her. She is a young American woman with red hair, with nothing much on the outside that can tell she is not human."

"Yeah, that makes it nearly impossible to find her..." said Bobby, while still writing down stuff.

"Yes, that's why it's easier to track down the follower, because they are drawn to her. If you find a follower, you also find the woman, most of the time."

Well, Not in my case, I kinda ran into her the last time...

"I understand... I can probably ask around a bit, maybe someone knows about the symbols or some missing redheads. But are you sure about the whole thing?"

"Yes, 100%," I said seriously.

They even appeared in my world where nothing supernatural existed except me... and Cthylla said as long as the mythos exists, Cthulhu will try to be born, like he did millions of times before...

Bobby sighed and said, "Okay, but it will probably take a while until something comes around."

Hearing this, I stood up and said, "I will do some research too. Here is my phone number. Call me whenever you find something."

I wrote down my number and prepared to leave.

"And where are you going?" asked Bobby.

I shrugged and said, "To buy a laptop and then to a motel, probably."

Bobby looked at me for a few seconds, then sighed again and said, "You can stay here for the night if you want. I have some spare rooms. Most of the hunters who come to visit see my house as their own home anyway, and I should have a spare laptop lying around somewhere too."

"Isn't that a bit too much? We know each other only for a bit," I asked him, surprised.

Bobby shrugged and said, "You avenged the kid and seem to tell the truth, so I don't really care."

---

Afterwards, Bobby showed me the room and gave me an ACER laptop, which looked old to me, but may not be old for this time. Then he started making phone calls while I sat down and began my research.

First, I gathered some information about H.P. Lovecraft and his first Cthulhu book. It was published in 1926 but wasn't initially successful, only gaining popularity in 1980. So it's possible that Cthylla was also born around that time.

Cthulhu becomes more powerful as more people learn about him, and at his peak, he releases his daughter's essence to get a body. At least that's what Cthylla told me.

It's also possible that she was born earlier and went into hiding afterwards. However, since there is no giant octopus running around it means I'm not too late to help her.

Afterwards, I started searching for missing persons, especially young women who suddenly disappeared. However, the internet in 2005 was quite basic, so there was no comprehensive search on social media or police websites possible.

"A young woman disappeared, and her parents were found dead with their heads exploded? Were there any symbols involved?" I overheard Bobby saying on the telephone.

"No, don't worry. We will investigate it ourselves. You need to find a safe place to hide until they stop pursuing you."

Wait, what did he mean by "we"?

Then he stood up and approached me with a paper in hand. "An old acquaintance of mine found something that might be related to your story."

"Intriguing," I replied, closing the laptop. "Tell me more."

"Well, 25-year-old Cassidy Jones who is fitting your description was kidnapped from her home. Her parents were found dead with exploded heads, and there were strange symbols at the crime scene."

Unfortunately, he couldn't provide any information about the symbols because the police discovered he was using a fake FBI ID, and he had to flee the scene... Could this be connected to what you're investigating?"

"It's hard to say without examining the symbols, and I've never heard of heads exploding, but these followers kill anyone who obstructs their path, so anything is possible. Give me the address, and I'll check it out. It's the best lead we have anyway."

"It happened in a city called Minot in North Dakota, nearly 500 miles from here. If we leave now, we'll arrive there in the morning," Bobby said, ready to embark on the journey.

"Wait... you said again 'we'? I'll handle this on my own. It's not related to you anyway," I told him, attempting to discourage him from joining me.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you told me the truth about the giant jellyfish that wants to destroy the Earth. And last time I sent a rookie to hunt something, an old lady killed him. So, I'm coming with you."

"It's an octopus, or at least I think it is... but are you sure? The followers won't play around and kill you immediately." I told him one last time.

"Yes, I've hunted supernatural things before you were even born, so I think I can take care of myself."

Had he already hunted supernatural things in 8000 B.C.?

"Fine, but don't come back as a ghost later and try to haunt me because I warned you! And we'll take my car," I said, placing my newly acquired laptop in my bag and walking towards my car.

"It's Aiden's car, Idjit..." I heard Bobby say, but I didn't pay attention to it and waited in the car for him to get ready.