"I didn't kill him," I said my voice almost cracking.
"Yes you did my dear boy," she purred with a noticeable erotic quality to her voice now. "Don't you remember... you told him to go to hell? The monolith answered your command and took him away."
I felt the icy chill in my bowels. She was right. I had cursed him at the end. The shadowy tentacles snatched him up and drug him down. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Could I have saved the others? I sat down and put my head in my hands. Julia sat on the arm of the chair and ran her fingers through my hair. She told me they were already gone. There was nothing I could do. I looked up and wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Thank you," I said and she kissed me.
Her tongue invaded my mouth and I found myself kissing her back. She broke the kiss and we were both panting. I thought Felicia and I had chemistry between us but it paled in comparison to that single kiss. I hardly knew her but there was something between us. Julia bit her lower lip and growled.
"I promised to show you something no man has ever seen," she whispered in my ear. "Are you ready?"
"Oh yeah," I growled thinking this was about to go to the next level, it didn't.
"Follow me," she said as she walked over to one of the bookshelves and it opened to reveal hidden stairs beyond. "This room has been forgotten by the male Chancellor's over the last century or so. The Daughters of Dagon, my sorority, we remember and we maintain it."
The stairs led up to what may have been an attic at one point in the building's history. The artifacts housed here were at once both disturbing and beautiful. Some of them I recognized while quite a few came from cultures I had never heard of. I couldn't deny the skill present to create these artifacts. I knew why they weren't in the university's museum. There would be far too many questions about where they came from and who had made them. Julia told me the history of her favorite pieces. The last piece she talked about she actually picked up and held up for a better look. It was hideous and depending on how the light hit it I would almost say that it changed shape in very subtle ways. I suspected that was just a trick of the poor lighting in the room.
"This is an idol of a being known only as the Formless. Here, take it, hold it and tell me what you think." Julia said handing me the horrible thing. It was cold to the touch and seemed to squirm in my hand as I held it, she continued. "The passages that I have read about them say they were masters of shape shifting and possessed no hint of morals or emotions that we could possibly understand. I am showing you this because the board has agreed with my suggestion to send you to Egypt. I left the details out since they don't really care about that sort of thing. You have two months to plan your dig, pick your crew and get your affairs into order."
"I don't know how to thank you," I said trying to hand the small idol back to her.
"No, you keep it," she said and I frowned. "That particular idol is known as the Keeper of Secrets or in the oldest texts the Key. I suspect you might need it on your travels. It seems to like you."
I glanced down at my hand and the thing had not only changed shape but color as well. It had been a dark black stone when she picked it up but now it was the color of newly spilt blood. Its shape was also more dramatic than when I first laid eyes on it. The tentacles were now splayed out in a kind of fan formation instead of the long straight pose it had first adopted. I dropped the thing into my jacket pocket and I swear it let out a squee of delight. Julia giggled and I knew that arguing with her was useless. We returned to her office and she pointed at a box of books. My name was written in black sharpie on the side of the box.
"Those are for you. Since my predecessor had no family to inherit his belongings I decided you were the best person for that particular collection. You might look upon them as research material. They might serve you well in the end, who knows. The last act of the former Chancellor was to sign off on your degree for your hard work in decoding the markings on the monolith. I agree with him completely and will issue you your diploma in a few weeks. I hope you will stay on in a consultant capacity. I am sure we can agree upon an acceptable salary."
"I am honored," I told her and she smiled. "Oh, one last thing, there is an empty house on the edge of the campus..."
"The old party house, ah what great memories," she practically purred. "You want to rent it?" She asked and I nodded. Julia took out her phone and dialed a number. "Barbara DAHLING... do you still own that quaint little house on the edge of the campus? You don't... what do you mean you sold it to the university. I see. I see. Hold on just a moment sweetie..." She said and walked over to the desk. She opened the belly drawer and took out a set of keys. "Got it... dinner tonight, oh I don't know. Remember what happened the last time we went out... mmmmm when you put it that way... seven o'clock... I'll be there."
She hung up and set the key ring on her desk. She exchanged a few text messages with someone and told me that I could move in tomorrow. I thanked her again and picked up the box with my name on it. I left her office in a bit of a haze of confusion. Why was she being so damn nice? Did she know what we would find at the dig site? I had become a lot more paranoid since I found the scroll. If Julia had an agenda I would just have to be patient as well as careful. I didn't want this to go sideways on me. I took the box directly to my car and locked it in my trunk. My classes had been taken over since the disappearance of the former Chancellor and I had officially graduated. What the hell was I going to do now?
I guess I should start boxing up my things and tell everyone that I am moving. I sent out an email to all of my friends and waited on the responses. I decided to drive over and inform my landlord that I would be moving out. On the way over my phone went crazy as the responses came in. I waited until I was parked to read them. I had only sent out the email to twenty or so people but I had over sixty replies. As I read through them I realized someone had forwarded my email to some of my former students. I walked up and knocked on my landlord's door. He came down wearing jeans and a Logan's Run t-shirt. When I asked him about the shirt he said it was vintage. He had gotten in when the movie came out all those years ago. He didn't wear it much but to celebrate his weight loss he began wearing it again.
"I just wanted you to know that I've decided to move out," I said as nicely as I could and I saw the look of relief on his face.
"You've been a great tenant and all but things have been a little too exciting around here as of late. I hope your new landlord takes great care of you. What the hell?"
I looked over my shoulder and saw the line of cars coming up the street. They were all sizes and shapes including a few pickup trucks and even a full sized van. The lead vehicle parked while the others stopped in the street and put on their hazard lights. I walked over to see Ivan and Carol stepping out of the car. Ivan shook my hand and with a grand sweeping gesture informed me that the students of Miskatonic University were here to help. When I asked how the hell they had organized so damn fast he told me the new Chancellor had let it be known on Twitter that I needed help packing and moving my belongings to my new digs just off campus.
I didn't know how to react so Carol took charge and began directing traffic. As the other vehicles parked Ivan and I went into my apartment and I began writing out a list of food and beverages. Once I had a body count I could figure out how much to order. My mother arrived and took over. She began to conduct her organizational symphony and had people assembling boxes in my front room and on the porch outside. I pulled Carol aside and told her where the house was that I was moving into. I asked her to drive over and check on how the sorority was doing on the cleanup side of things. Happy to be of help she grabbed Ivan and they left freeing up another parking spot. I did a quick count of bodies and told my mother that I was heading out to the store to buy refreshments. She shook her head and took the list. I was about to object when I saw the stern look on her face. I acquiesced and went upstairs to grab any unmentionables mainly the large plastic bag of the Egyptian aphrodisiac. I placed that in my briefcase and locked it up tight. I decided to wash any dirty laundry because I really didn't want people handling my dirty clothes. That would have been too damn weird. Soon music was playing and the boxing up of each room was handled with care and efficiency. These were college kids and they knew the importance of not breaking another person's belongings.
I spent most of my time on my phone directing traffic. I sent people over to the house near the university to help clean up. I texted Carol and told them to keep the cleaning to the first, second and third floor. I didn't want anyone in the basement. The gang of students soon finished the living room and moved on to the kitchen. Mom arrived with snacks and drinks a little while later. We were microwaving bite size pizza treats and placing a ton of soda into the fridge to cool. She was also smart enough to buy paper plates, plastic utensils and disposable cups. There was a freakish amount of energy in the air. A smaller group of female students attacked my bedroom and packed its contents. Mom kept an eye on them and reported back the topics from the fact that I wore boxer briefs to how comfy my bed was.
