The Midnight Hour & Other Scary Stories

Look Within Yourself

There once was a man who sought enlightenment. He set about, traveling the world over to find true understanding. This journey led him to many places where he found much wisdom. His young pupil accompanied him on these travels and hoped to learn all that his master had come to know.

But it was near the end of their time together that the Master found a book of wisdom far older and far more knowledgeable than any other text before it. The volume, a dark thing bound by metal clasps, had been left to lie, forgotten, in a temple of stone. There were no other books in that aged library, as though the looters had thought the rest of its collection was more appealing. The pupil thought little of this at the time, but the book's true nature would not go unnoticed forever.

As the seasons passed, the Master devoted himself to studying those elder pages. At first, the pupil shared in his master's excitement, but this enjoyment was soured by wicked dreams. Strange tidings and omens--a dead animal here or there with no discernible reason for its passing--became the norm. On one occasion, the pupil swore that he heard grave whispers coming from the aged text. Of course, his Master seemed unfazed by these odd stirrings. In truth, the old man's mind was so wholly spent on understanding the depths of that book that he paid little heed to the world around him.

Yet, one dark night, the Master showed his first sign of frustration. He could not wrap his mind around the words he had poured over and, thinking it useless to proceed further into the wee hours of the morning, he stood and bid his pupil good night.

Never before had the pupil been left alone with that tome and its open, yellowed pages seemed to beckon him, almost pleadingly, to read the contents so jealously guarded.

The pupil was afraid, however, but his curiosity drove him forward, to the point that whatever power animated the ancient work stirred the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. His eyes drifted over the pages, gaze catching on a striking symbol or word.

Then, he felt as though someone was standing behind him.

The pupil turned to see that their tent was empty. Yet, despite what his eyes reported, the feeling remained. Thinking this to be a cautionary sign, he left the tome and retreated to bed.

The pupil's sleep lasted for only a short while. In the dark of the night, where no moonlight found its way inside, a voice woke him.

"Harrla rask erith va." It whispered.

The pupil began to shake. He stared into the wall of black, listening as the strange words twisted, slowly into a language he could fathom. The voice, deep and dark and ancient, then said, "I have seen the farthest edge, a place where light has died and the stars weep for worlds long dead. The universe will be hollowed out to be devoured like a rotten apple for worms."

"Wh-who are you?" The pupil asked, his voice barely audible.

There was then a shifting as the voice drew near. Despite its proximity, the words felt as though they were being spoken across a great expanse, older than the oldest canyon.

"I am he who stares into the abyss. I am he who grants men their every wish. On a whim, I may darken the sky and drain the life from your very veins. Gods have worshipped me. Souls have fed me. What is it you desire, child of dust?"

But he could not answer the voice. The pupil had lost the words in his throat.

"I will grant you the knowledge of the ages." The voice said with an inviting tone. It circled him, drawing raspy breath from right next to his ear. "But my gifts come at a small price. Give in to my whims and I shall make you a god. Look within yourself."

But the pupil still said nothing. The voice moved away from him, drifting back towards the book. It said, "You shall hunger and thirst and never be satisfied. We shall see each other again at the abyss. Harrla rask erith va."

Then, all was quiet. The pupil realized that his candle had been burning next to him as the voice spoke, yet it had offered no light until now. A great evil had visited him that night. With weak resolve, he swore that the book would be removed from the earth come morning. Yet, as morn broke, the pupil woke to find his master pouring over the pages with a renewed fervor.

His master said that he had been visited in a dream and was given the knowledge that he sought. All he had to do was 'look within himself'. The pupil remained silent about his particular encounter, though he again swore to dispose of the book the moment his opportunity presented itself.

The moment never came.

From that day forth, his Master kept to the pages as ink to paper. He poured over them, hardly sleeping or even eating. Some nights, the pupil would hear his master speaking to the dark, saying, 'look within myself'. The pupil began to find more dead animals around their tent. These, however, had been cut open, as though they had been turned inside out.

Finally, the poor boy decided to abandon his master and seek guidance from another willing soul. Only, on the night of his departure, he chose to go to his master's portion of the great tent to bid him goodbye.

It was terribly dark in there, and while the pupil held a lantern that had burned brightly, it's light was weak in the face of that darkness.

"M-master?" The pupil spoke to the gloom. He dared not venture farther than his little light allowed. "I am to be going now. I wish you the best on this journey of enlightenment. May you find all wisdom."

He bowed and was about to turn to face the tent's exit when his master's voice came from the abyss.

"But I have, my dear pupil. I have found it. All the wisdom of this world and many more. All I had to do was look within myself."

At this, the old man began to laugh. It was a horrible laugh, and the pupil thought that, for a moment, it wasn't his own. Trembling, he brought the lantern up to see his master's face for the last time, but what he saw was not the face of a man. Like the animals that had been scattered around their tent, his master had been turned inside out.

As the pupil dropped the lantern in terror, the light fizzled out. He was left in the darkness.

"Harrla rask erith va." The old man said with a laugh. "Harrla rask erith va."