In my small town in the middle of West Virginia, I discovered a cult that is abducting people… My name is Kevin and I am a private investigator by trade and I was paid to investigate a disappearance in my home town. Oddly enough, the town did an investigation, but the parents of the missing child believe they didn’t try hard enough. To understand the full context I will need to go back to when I first accepted the case.
About a week ago, I arrived at Shannon and Tom’s farm. They have been distraught ever since their daughter first went missing. This was almost a month ago.
Shannon opened the door with a smile but I can tell it was a front since her makeup was running down and her mascara flowed down her cheeks. “You must be Kevin Kohner the private investigator? Come in please sit down and I’ll get you some tea.” Her house was immaculate and smelled of old leather and warm amber. I walked into her living room and sat on her couch which was draped with a thin quilt. She had small porcelain bugs lining the room on dark walnut wooden shelves. It seemed she had an obsession with moths and butterflies. “Oh do you like my collection? I was an entomologist before I retired to be a full-time mother. In fact in the local native American culture, they worship a deity who they call “Moth Man” but that’s all hocus pocus from Point Pleasant.” She said while lifting one of the moth sculptures after setting the cups of tea on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Well, Ma’am I knew about moth man before I met you but you know so much more than I. How about we sit down and talk about it after I get some information on your daughter’s disappearance.” I said in a kind-hearted manner. She shook her head and carefully placed the porcelain moth down. “Right, I am sorry. I’ve been by myself since Tom passed and my daughter went missing. What do you need to know Mr. Kohner?” She asked while gripping a tissue tightly. I placed my hand over hers and said “I will find her Ma’am. I won’t stop until I know what happened. Now, I just need to know when are the last time you heard from her and the last time you or someone else saw her.”
Shannon took a deep breath while holding back tears. “I… Uh… saw her at school after I dropped her off that morning. When she was on her way home she called and told me a friend of hers was going to the ice cream shop to get some classic banana boats. I told her to be back before sundown. She said “Of course mom. I love you!” that was the last time I’ve seen and heard from her… If she’s is d… gone I don’t know what I’d do..”
Shannon started to cry after speaking. I held her hand gently while looking into her eyes “Ma’am do you know who the friend was? I will check the shop first but I need her friend’s name for a follow-up.” Shannon wiped away her tears and said in a trembling voice “Her friend was Hannah and my daughter’s name is Christy. They were best friends and did everything together.” I wrote this down in my little notebook and asked her if she knew where Hannah lived. “Y…yes she lives just down the road” She gave me the exact address and it was less than five miles away. I closed my notebook and stood up. “ok Ma’am I will go to the shop first. I will keep in touch in case I find something.
Shannon stood up and rushed toward to hug me. Her arms wrapped around me while she was sobbing and thanking me. I hugged her back and left the house. It was n overcast and cloudy day. When I got to my car a sudden urge to look over my shoulder struck me. I was nearly frozen in fear but I mustered the energy to look and beyond a tree line, I saw what to be a giant moth however when I try to focus I must have lost track of it because it wasn’t there. “Damn shadows making me scared for nothing.” I shrugged it off and got into my car.
I sat in my car working on possible leads such as the shop owner and the local law enforcement. However, I was reluctant as Shannon said they almost immediately dropped the case before we met. I scratched them off the list and drove straight to Hannah’s home. The front yard was decorated with tombstones and plastic skeletons that looked incredibly realistic. I got to the door and knocked. After a few seconds, I was greeted by Hannah’s father. His name was Freddy. Freddy was a tall, muscular man with a long peppered beard and an equally as impressive handlebar mustache. He didn’t have any ill intentions by my original guess. He greeted me with a handshake “Hello Sir! How can I help you?” He answered in a deep but gentle voice. “Oh yes my name Is Kevin and I am a private investigator and wanted to know if I may ask your daughter a few questions about the missing person named Christy?”
He looked confused at first and then exclaimed “Oh right Hannah’s friend Chrissy. Let me get Hannah down here. Do come in and sit. Make yourself comfortable.” He turns around and starts to walk upstairs and I walk in. Before I can make it past the door I saw a large moth-like creature staring at me via the reflection of the window on the front door. I quickly turned to see it but it was gone. “I must be hallucinating the shadows again” Is that I told myself. I sat down in the kitchen at the large wooden table which also had a granite surface. Around the kitchen were different pictures of owls and even an owl stature as the table centerpiece. It had long pointy feathers above its eyes. The centerpiece was almost all black with light grey contrasted feathers. It had an eerie familiarity to it but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
A moment later Hannah and her father Freddy came walking in and sat down across the table. Hannah was very nervous and was fidgeting with her fingers. I decided to start asking the questions but being friendly. “So, Hannah. My name is Kevin and I am a private investigator and just want to find her and bring her home safely” She looked at me and I can see the pain she was in. She looked embarrassed and wanted to speak up but all she could muster was “I don’t know what happened to her after we left the ice cream shop. She said she was going home and I went home by myself” Her father stood up and exclaimed “Well we gotta get going honey1000000. We have the church meeting in an half hour. It was nice speaking to you Mr. Kevin and I’ll personally let you know if we hear anything else”
He seemed to be in a hurry as he opened the door for me. I just went to my car and noted how strange and pressuring the father was acting. The stern looks he gave her made me think there was more to this than what meets the eye. So I parked down the road about a mile down and watched them leave. I slowly followed them about five car lengths behind. At first, they went to the ice cream shop and I parked at the clothing store down the road and stayed in my car watching. They were in there for about half an hour before getting in their SUV again and driving off. I needed to know where they were going so I continued to tail them.
When they finally got to a new location it was an old rundown gas station that seemed to still be in business but only had one pump that had to be from the early 80s. When they went in they were greeted by a man in an owl mask who ushered them to the back. I waited for a little before driving up to the pump. I was about to get out when I saw the large moth sitting in Freddy’s car through my rearview mirror. It had to be about seven feet tall with bright red eyes. I was so terrified that I closed my eyes. But it called me… It kept saying my name. Not with its voice…. no… it was with my own. As if it was yelling in my head to look at it. I couldn’t resist and turned around but it wasn’t there. I shook it off and assumed it was a side hallucination from the anti-anxiety medicine I have been taking.
When I entered the store there was a strange air about it. It felt familiar but strange at the same time. The clerk greeted me and asked how can he help. “Well, I need gas, and do you have a bathroom? I’ve been traveling and really can’t hold it any longer.” The worker pointed to the back and tossed me a key. I went to the bathroom and looked around to see if there was something different there. But I couldn’t find anything after about thirty minutes. Before I left I could hear whispers and I looked around and found a grate on the floor near the sewer drain. I could hear chanting… I couldn’t make it out but I decided to leave anyways and come back later.
When I left I saw three men with owl masks waiting outside the bathroom and staring at me. “Hey, guys. Nice masks. I love owls.” One walked closer to me and I grabbed the pistol on my hip firmly. “You need to leave and never come back. We will not warn again… The Disciples of the Great Dreamer find you to be a problem. Drop the investigation for the Great Dreamer demands it.” I looked at them and laughed. I don’t know what came over me but I didn’t feel threatened or scared despite the obvious cult-like shit this was. I pulled my gun out of my holster but before I could I was jumped and knocked out. Hours later I awoke in a makeshift cage. It was made of bones and mud. It looked to be human bones.
Looking around I found a large circle with about twenty people chanting in front of a large stone slab. I was sitting there half naked and cold. I checked my body for any cuts but it seemed the only that was damaged was a large lump on the back of my head. It was bleeding but seemed to be ok. I sat there for hours while these guys chanted in a language I couldn’t understand. As I sat there I heard screaming and crying and that’s when I saw Hannah being dragged in and dressed up in a mouse costume. She was gagged and placed on the stone slab and strapped down. The owl people stopped chanting as one person wearing a formal suit and a cardigan vest and a soft white jabot.
The head guy wearing the owl mask spoke. “Disciples we have here today the perfect sacrifice. The child of a follower who has strayed away from the order. As we all know the penalty for disobeying the Great Dreamer is sacrifice.” The rest of the people watched as he approached Hannah with a large silver knife. He held a large grimoire made of a strange material… Something spoke to me as sat there. The whispering became yelling and was so loud it felt as if I was being split apart. “Free him… Destroy The Nox Enchiridion. Spill the blood of the pure on the tome and free him.”
With that, I saw the large moth creature standing in front of my makeshift prison. “You are the key open the door.” The moth spoke to me more. The moth opened the cage and it set me free. The next bit was hazy but I remember grabbing the knife and plunging it into Hannah and then into the book. I could hear her gurgling on the blood in her throat. The smell of Iron was in the air and the ground was shaking. The cultists rushed me but they seemed to be all knocked down as a massive wing blew them down and blew out all the candles lighting the area plunging me and the cultists into the dark. I sat there not knowing what was happening but I could hear them praising the creature as it ripped them to shreds. The cracking of bones and ripping of flesh was branded into my head. I heard the visceral sounds of the men being disemboweled and the snapping of muscles as it was being ripped off of bones and consumed by the large creature.
When the sounds settle and the lights flicker back on I found myself covered in blood and the large being standing there looking magnificent… I am beautiful and ineffable. I am perfect, aren’t I? I have to thank Kevin for releasing me and allowing me to become whole again. Who am I, dear reader? I was Kevin I am now something perfect… I am The elder god before the concept of time and space existed. I will forever be known as Moros. I am perfect.
I am the end of all things living. I am death I am darkness. Your god is dead and I will assault the heavens to finish the false gods that hide there… Pray for I succeed for I have witnessed the gilded chair God has claimed and IT WAS EMPTY. So what was all this about? This was to lure you in dear reader. To spread my influence like a plague.
However, even some things are new even to me… When I left that hole in the ground I looked to the sky and felt a familiar presence yet I cannot figure out what it could be… Reader think of me as you sleep. Spread my story to your friends. Help me grow in strength and I promise your death will be swift and painless… Dream of me reader for I am coming… I’ll See you soon.