Renaissance of Chaos

X

"I could have sworn I heard something." the guard whispered, as he turned around, the light from the flashlight illuminating his surroundings.

It was a dark knight, the moon hidden behind dark clouds, depriving the world of its soothing light. Without it, the library looked ominous, a peculiar cold dominating the area, so low the guard could see his own breath leave his mouth. The man looked around once more, eager to get out of there as soon as possible. Strange noises came from the walls, like scratches and tiny feet running up and down. Sweat was dripping down his spine and palms. Something wasn't right that night, but he wasn't brave enough to find out what. As soon as his inspection was over, he turned around and left, slamming the door behind him.

The teenager let out a relieved sigh as he removed the blanket from his head and turned the lantern back on, strong enough for him to see, but not to illuminate the entire room. He pulled the covers closer to his body, then continued with his lecture, ears strained to catch any noise coming from the door. The previous situation had been too close of a call, with him barely able to turn off the lamp when the guard came in and began searching the library. He had half a mind to go back to the dormitory and forget this whole thing, but this was too great a chance to pass up because of a little fright.

James could still hardly believe the fact that he was touching the Necronomicon, much less reading it. He knew the Miskatonic University had one of the few genuine copies, but the students were usually forbidden from borrowing it, or even looking at it. Not that they wanted to. The scribbles of the mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred, were famous for their ill effect on the minds of those unprepared for the horrors lying within, and that alone made everyone want to avoid it. Well, everyone except for James.

It was only by a miracle that he managed to sneak into the library very late at night and pick the lock to the display with the Necronomicon. He even made sure to put one of his textbooks in its place, with its cover replaced by a fake, made in the image of the wicked book. Whether he should be praising himself and thank Gertrude for teaching him these skills, or be concerned, he didn't know. Regardless, he was too preoccupied by the scribbles to pay it much attention at that moment.

He couldn't pry his eyes off the pages filled with ancient texts and insane imaginary depicting the terrors hiding in the lowest bowels of the world, in the shadows beyond space and time. They scared him to no end, frightened him so much he doubted he would have another good night's sleep ever again, but even so, he couldn't stop, a hunger inside him, yearning for more. He devoured the spells, studied the odd, alien runes, scribbling some of them on a piece of paper he had brought in just in case. As he continued his lecture, he came across a most curious, and rather alarming, thing.

In a section talking about mages whose name had been lost to the tides of time for one reason or another, he happened upon a symbol which was awfully familiar, for he had seen it many times, back at his childhood home. Under a name written in a language which he couldn't understand, he saw a diamond-like shape, resembling more the rune of dagaz from old Norse, within which there was another one, much stranger. It looked like a row of elongated beads, with a half a circle dripping what seemed to be blood intertwined between. It was disturbing to look at, but even more so when one knew where to find it, which plank in the attic to remove in order to get to it, for it was he who put it there, in an effort to hide it from his father who sought to destroy it.

James stared at it, unable to believe his eyes. His voice was stuck in his throat, his face growing pale as he read the text underneath. The writing was old and hardly legible, but some of it could still be made out.

"Defiled Legacy:

In the bowels of the earth, where ruins no being should ever set foot in, lay in dreadful slumber, a mad scholar found enlightenment at a great price. Still, he could not bear the burden, and ran away from his ancestral home, believing in his foolishness that this would be enough to stave off the awakening of greatness."