Beast of Hathtom

I am detective Mark Lumiere. This is my second entry in my journal.

It is now early 1921 and I have learned much, but as I learned more, the more complicated this case has become. Some nights I have to stop and try to relax my mind, but it’s nearly impossible. I feel like I posses knowledge most don’t, but at the same time I have barely scratched the surface. The things I’ve uncovered are indeed horrific and unsettling.

A friend of mine who attended a lighthouse has gone mad, but later when I found a letter of another drowned man I realized that my friend’s story mentioned a similar persona. Someone called Gaggonn. Then I ran into a man on the run, he told me an incredible story about the cultists I was searching for, and after more traveling and reading I found out that there lived a specialist on such matters in a half flooded city on an island of the coast called Hathtom.

It was not an easy place to get to, but with my connections I was able to find a good captain to take me there in his small ship.

My cabin was tiny and humble, there was a short old wooden table, a thin bed and a round cracked mirror on that table. On the wall there was a rusty and rather unimpressive anchor and several harpoons. Despite it being so humble I liked the atmosphere it provided and the smell of the wood. The rocking of the sea helped me fall asleep, that is when more trouble begun.

I had a brutal nightmare in which I saw that lost demon sailor, Gaggonn. He floated on his boat parallel to our ship. Sinisterly his eellike neck swung his degenerate head side to side, like a pendulum from hell. When I woke I was rather calm despite realizing that this monstrosity had finally taken notice of me, I was mentally prepared for this.

Shortly after the captain knocked on my door and let me know that we have arrived. First thing that struck me as I got of on the fishing pier was the stench of decaying fish and lack of people on the pier, the second thing that struck me was how grey and dark this place was despite it being late morning time.

I looked at the crumbled paper in my pocket on which I had the address and began to walk through the streets, trying to find someone to ask for directions. The city seemed completely devastated and depressed. Most of the buildings were falling apart, or were damaged in some way. In almost every alley lay a homeless, or there was a conflict situation. I sure hoped that my trip didn’t turn sour because of local gangs, the presence of which was obvious.

I saw a bar named “Mermaid’s Sacrifice.” The drawing on the wall wasn’t a friendly one. This “mermaid” had a large head and demented grey face with a giant mouth, in the hands she held a young woman, wrapping her up with her long dirty nails.

Alas, this was the only place I found so far, so I entered. The customers, as expected, weren’t the pleasant type, but I knew that my calmness and the gun on my hip seemed to always keep these types at bay. I asked the bar tender for directions and only after I bought a drink he agreed to tell me how to get there. Thankfully it was a straightforward route, right to the center of this dismal city.

I poured out the nasty drink and was on my way. It did not take long and I stood in front of a red door of a building that looked slightly less run down than the rest.

I knocked several times and after few minutes an older gentleman with short hair and trimmed grey beard opened up.

I asked if he was John Grimstone the archeologist and indeed it was him. He welcomed me to his home and said he was expecting me. At the table sat another man, introduced as Eggerton Jogton. He had a large head and was a man of large proportion and hideous features, how ever I knew this name, this was one of the richest men in the country.

As I sat down John told me that he was very familiar with what I was looking for, and that perhaps something was happening in this very city that was related to the horrors that I’ve uncovered so far. John told me of an ancient cult that has existed for centuries and worshipped two creatures, or as they called them, gods. He brought a small statue, it was of a creature with a long smooth body, powerful arms and legs, long claws and a face resembling a bat and a shark. He told me the name of this god was Khul Duhl Suhl. This was their main god. The secondary, according to his research was called Daggathossos, it was a giant two headed octopus. He showed me images that he had drawn during his years of travel and research and it was exactly the same image of the terrifying creature that I myself found. I asked him what he though of the story told to me by my friend in the asylum and by the criminal. He was not familiar with Gaggonn, but that made sense, because from what he understood from my findings this creature came to be recently. However, he said that old writings that he had translated by historians have pointed to a city called Xarmouth, but he wasn’t sure that indeed the sea creatures that dwelled on our planet came from this city and dimension.

Then Mr. Jogton and John had a request of me, one that I could not refuse. Jogton offered me a large sum of money to take on this case, one of his children was a victim. They said they spoke to detective Michael Smith and he had heard of me and was very glad to get my assistances on a case that John was convinced was connected to these creatures. In fact he said that the murders in this forsaken city were committed by another creature, for nature of these crimes was so horrific that he could not imagine a human doing this.

As I looked through the files of the victims I understood what John meant. The victims were all torn apart and most of their bones removed and missing.

After years of being a detective and facing many disheartening things and cases, it still did not make it easier for my mind and soul, I constantly had to fight to keep my sanity fully intact and to know that I am here to be a tool against evil.

I begun my investigation by visiting the locations of murders and abductions. All were in similar situation. Abducted at night on these grim streets and then taken apart inside of abandoned homes or apartments.

I walk the streets of this half flooded city thinking about what I could do against a monster or a creature. No ideas were coming to my mind as to how to find it either. For all I knew it could have been hiding inside the water in the flooded streets, which were plenty in this hell hole.

Then studying the city map I realized something simple. All abductions and murders happened around and in vicinity of something they called Sailor Plaza. Several homes stood there and I went to investigate.

Right away as I was sneaking around close to one of the homes I caught a ratchet smell of death that I knew all to well after all the trips to the morgue over the years.

With my revolver ready I entered the house. The stench intensified. First floor of the house was dark and worn out, the ceiling looked like it could collapse anytime. I heard noise coming from the basement and with my revolver up I slowly walked down the steps.

What I saw next would turn the stomach of most resistant of persons. There were human bones and blood all over the floor and in the back of the room a tall muscular man covered on blood was building some sort of altar all made out of human skulls and bones. He slowly turned around and saw me. His eyes narrowed, but they weren’t eyes of someone demented or mad, they were sinister eyes of an evildoer. He grabbed a knife of the floor and charged at me. I shot several times and it stopped him for a moment as he kneeled. but then this beast of a man charged at me again, I shot at his head and he fell back on top of all the bones, convulsing and then eventually dying.

I examined the altar, in the center of it surrounded by skulls and bones was an image of Khul Duhl Suhl.

I, detective Mark Lumiere, haven’t smoked in years, but as I sat outside of John’s house after telling him about the case, I had a cigarette in my teeth. It brought even a deeper sense of horror to know that I searched for a creature, but found a human. The fact that humans were capable of this evil and disrespect for life made me think deeply about the nature of sin.

Sin was an addiction, I concluded, and evil was an addiction. The more you fed this addiction, the more sinister your acts could become.

Perhaps these mysterious creatures knew how to feed this sinister addiction in humans.

So my in investigation continues, without end in sight.