Across Blac Seas of Infinity

Author's note: Please start with chapter 1. This tale of Lovecraftian cosmic horror has been dancing in my mind for quite a while, and I hope you enjoy it. Note that some parts of the story will contain dark elements and non-consent. I'm eager for feedback, so please leave a comment.

*****

After living through Punchau's horrific memory twice Abigail returned the revolting tome to Dr. Armitage at Orne Library. She offered him any memories he wanted in exchange for more information about the Knife, but he claimed to have nothing else. She spent the next week in a fog, barely engaged with her classes, focused on finding something, anything, new about the ancient relic. On top of her distracting obsession, her sex drive was surging and she spent hours each day furiously masturbating, fighting the desperate craving to impale herself on the handle of the Knife. Part of her mind recognized the increasingly dire nature of her condition, but her uneasiness fled when her pussy began to ache for release yet again. Her roommate Maria had even asked if Abigail was using drugs, and didn't seem to believe her when she denied it.

The orgasms were intense, but the highs faded quickly into depression and anxiety over the Knife. What was it doing to her? How could she control it? Or... could she somehow get rid of it? The mere thought of being parted from the Knife made Abigail shake violently. All her avenues for research had led to dead-ends. Google was useless. The libraries were useless. Miskatonic University's collections were useless. With a desultory effort she posted a picture of the Knife to /r/AskHistorians titled "what the hell is this?" and rolled onto her back to masturbate again.

Abigail's pussy was raw from all the rubbing and her muscles ached from the repeated orgasms, but her primal urges muffled the terror that permeated her conscious thought. Her fingers habitually fell into their rote patterns of motion, and she moaned loudly as the power swelled in her body. The pleasure was intense and joyous, and she longed to linger with it, but she couldn't hold off, couldn't refuse her need to climax immediately. She threw herself over the edge of orgasm and curled into a naked ball on her bed, burying her face in her pillow while she screamed in ecstasy and exhaustion, her cries of pleasure gradually descending into tearful sobs.

When she recovered her senses the sun was drifting downward from his apex and peeking through the top of her window. Maria would be returning soon. Abigail reluctantly pulled on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt and washed her face, hoping to avoid any concerned questioning. When she dropped back down in front of her computer she was surprised to see a private message waiting for her. The mods of /r/AskHistorians had already deleted her desperate post - of course - but someone named RaptorChick had responded almost immediately: "Call me", followed by a Skype contact.

Abigail leapt to her feet and spun around the room in a panic, her damaged psyche not quite knowing how to respond to the sudden development. She started up Skype and bounced back into her seat while she waited for it to connect. She had a few minutes until Maria came home from class. She typed in the Skype address and hit the call button, and decided at the last second to stick a piece of tape over her webcam.

"Hello?" she said as the call set up, surprised to hear her own voice come out as a squeak.

The video window spun for a few seconds and then stabilized to show a woman sitting at a desk in a large corporate office. She was young, maybe mid-twenties, and had long brown hair and sharp features that gave her a precise, symmetrical beauty. She smiled and spoke confidently. "Hello. You can call me Raptor for now; what is your name?"

Abigail was quiet for a moment, but the woman waited patiently. "You can call me... Punchau," she said, surprising herself with the moniker. Why should she use her real name when the woman hadn't?

Raptor lifted her eyebrows at the name and tilted her head, but she didn't drop her smile. "Fascinating. I can tell you a few things about the picture you posted, Punchau, but first - are you in possession of the athame?"

Abigail hesitated again and turned the Knife over in her hands. "Yes."

Raptor nodded. "Excellent. Can I please see it? I understand your desire for privacy, of course. There is no need to show me your face."

What choice did she have? Raptor was her first new lead in a week. Abigail laid the Knife on her desk and turned the webcam towards it, cutting out everything else from its field of view. When she pulled off the tape Raptor gasped. Abigail replaced the tape in a hurry and snatched the Knife back up.

"What can you tell me about it?" she asked.

Raptor was grinning and bubbling with excitement. "What a terrific relic you have there! How long have you had it?"

"A few weeks," Abigail said, then clamped her mouth shut. Don't say too much.

"Well, it's very valuable -" Raptor began, but Abigail cut her off.

"It's not for sale."

Raptor laughed. "Of course not. It belongs to you. With you. I was simply going to tell you that because it is so valuable, there will be people who want to take it from you."

"What people?"

Raptor shrugged. "Even people you trust might become jealous of the athame's... unusual nature."

Abigail growled. "No one can take it from me."

"Quite right. Just a warning. This kind of relic can have unpredictable effects on people around it, inciting strong emotions and awakening latent power." She paused, as if waiting for a reaction, but Abigail was silent. "Apparently you know what I'm speaking of. Not surprising, since you've had it for nearly a cycle."

A cycle of what? That wasn't important. "But how can I control it?" Abigail asked, a desperate edge on her voice.

Raptor grinned again. "By giving in to it. Submit to it. Follow your... urges. You won't be sorry."

Abigail's fingers caressed the Knife in her lap; she knew what urges the woman meant. Take it inside her. She longed for it. Raptor stared at her through the screen, silent, as if sensing her indecision. But before Abigail could act a key turned in the door lock and she lurched forward to slam her laptop shut. She tried to stand, but suddenly her legs weakened and she fell out of the chair onto the floor. Maria stood outside the door in shock, key in hand, and Professor Ward rushed in and descended on Abigail as she collapsed. As her vision faded she heard him say something about "rehab" and saw him dangle a silvery medallion over her head.

*****

Abigail was groggy as she woke up, but her body surged with adrenaline when she realized her arms were bound behind her back and she was lying on the floor. Where was the Knife? She struggled in vain to pull her arms free, twisting and rolling across the floor until her spasms were interrupted by a woman clearing her throat.

"Abigail, calm down, everything is ok," came Victoria's voice.

Abigail took a deep breath and looked around. She was in Professor Ward's office, lying on the rug in the middle of the floor. The curtains were open and late afternoon sunlight poured through the large windows. Heavily laden shelves loomed over her, but the previously cluttered floor had been cleared - the anthropological curios had been plowed into drifts against the walls. Ward's massive desk towered over her, and she used it for leverage to push herself up onto her knees. Victoria sat in Ward's chair, her finger holding her place in the book she had been reading when Abigail woke up.

"Where's my Knife?" Abigail asked, breathless, scanning the room from her knees.

"Professor Ward has it," Victoria said flatly, setting her book down. "Against my advice, he's going to give it back to you."

Abigail wiggled to her feet and strained against the bindings on her arms. Her voice started out calm, but she was shocked as it escalated into a scream: "I want the Knife back right now, or you'll be sorry. No one can take it from me!" She sucked in deep breaths and settled back down on the floor.

Victoria peered at Abigail, as if studying a rare artifact. "I'm already sorry. After what happened to Emma we should have been much more careful with the Knife... but we thought she was a one-off. It didn't affect any other woman like it affected her. Until you."

Most of Abigail's mind was consumed with desperation to reclaim the Knife, but a small rational part whispered, "What happened to Emma?"

"She's dead."

Abigail began panting and squirming around the floor, searching for some way to release herself. They wanted to take the Knife from her, just like RaptorChick had warned. If only she could get her hands on it, she'd show them. It was hers. Part of her.

While she scrambled on the floor, frantic and powerless, the door opened to admit Professor Ward. Abigail lurched towards him and butted against his legs, but he calmly shut the door and locked it with a large brass key.

"Miss Carter," he said, looking down at her with a frown. He held a vial of golden liquid in one hand and carried a wooden box under his arm. The Knife was in the box, calling to Abigail. He looked at Victoria and asked, "How long has she been awake?"

"Just a few minutes, Professor."

Ward stepped over Abigail's heaving body and set his burdens down on the desk. "Has she been this... incoherent the whole time?"

"Give me my Knife you bastard!" Abigail yelled, surging to her feet and throwing herself towards the box on the desk. Unsurprised, Professor Ward grabbed her by the shoulders and swept her feet out from under her, sending her butt to the floor. Abigail panted and groaned.

Professor Ward cleaned his glasses and replaced them on his nose. "Interesting. She's much more lucid than Emma was... maybe that's a good sign."

Victoria stood and held the vial up to the sunlight, casting a swirling golden shadow across the far wall of the office. "You know my opinion. We should cut our losses. There's no way to know if this alchemy will work, and extending her exposure to the Knife's energy could be disastrous."

Professor Ward took the vial from Victoria and held it down in front of Abigail's face. "I'm responsible for the condition you're in, Miss Carter. I've been... keeping an eye on you for the past few weeks, and I viewed the memory that Professor Armitage lent you from the library. I believe that the eldritch power of the Knife has been dominating your mind and driving you progressively insane."

"Give me the Knife," Abigail snarled, barely able to fix on his words. "It's mine. It's mine."

Ward continued. "The Knife is extremely dangerous, as we've realized far too late. However... taking it from you could prove fatal, as it did for Emma. The one hope I have is here: this elixir - it should reduce the Knife's influence over you until we discover a way to break the bond. But, as with the binding ritual, the forces will only be effective if you receive them of your own free will. Do you want the elixir? Does any part of your rational humanity remain?"

Ward twirled the vial in front of Abigail's face like a fishing lure. The golden glow drew a measure of sanity to the forefront of her mind, but even so her thoughts were dominated by the Knife. "And then you'll return it?" she asked.

The Professor didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Abigail nodded. "Ok, I'll drink it."

Victoria laughed and Professor Ward cleared his throat. "Actually," he said, "I'm the one who has to drink it, Miss Carter. This is fertility arcana, as you know. After I drink the elixir, you will have to draw its essence from my body into yours."

"You mean...?" Abigail began, but couldn't finish.

Professor Ward nodded, obviously uncomfortable for the first time Abigail had ever seen. "My semen will transmit the elixir's essence to you."

Suddenly Abigail's mind turned from the Knife to Professor Ward. Her pussy was raw from the week of masturbation, but the thought of his cock exploding inside her got her instantly wet and made her legs shake. "Yes, do it," she said, panting. Her bound hands fumbled to the waistband of her sweatpants behind her back and began pushing them down. She wanted Ward inside her right now, wanted to feel his seed spill into her, fill her with life...

Ward grabbed her hands and stopped her. "Not that way, Miss Carter," he said. "Your fertility is heightened right now, and I think it would be extremely... unwise... to risk pregnancy. You haven't taken your birth control in weeks." With a grimace he swallowed the golden liquid and set the vial down. Abigail could sense the elixir diffusing through his body and then concentrating near his crotch. Her eyes widened as his pants bulged. "Oral transmission will be ideal, given the circumstances."

Without a word, Abigail's primal instincts took over and she lunged face-first towards Ward's cock before he could even unclasp his pants. Her rational mind winced - this wasn't like her at all - but she was starving for his seed, an unnamable hunger she had never felt before. Her teeth tore at his pants while he struggled to remove them, and she fought to stay upright without her hands to balance her.

Victoria inched towards the door with a look of dismay and jealousy, but Ward held out a hand to stop her. "Victoria, stay. This is an important part of our research. I need your observations," he said, stumbling back into his chair and wrestling with Abigail's long blonde curls as she burrowed into his lap.

Abigail lost track of Victoria when her mouth finally found Professor Ward's flesh. She levered her body up with her legs to push her mouth down far onto his cock, causing her to choke and gasp. She floundered back off him and sucked in air, his hard meat filling her sight and pushing every other thought from her mind. "I don't know how..." she wheezed.

Ward grabbed her head with both hands to steady her and turned her eyes up to his. "Slow down, Miss Carter; relax." Behind his outward concern Abigail sensed a burning desire. "Take a little in at a time and don't choke yourself. Use your tongue on the bottom. Suck it like a blow pop."

His firm hands in her hair reassured Abigail as she leaned forward again, struggling to balance, forcing herself to take it slow. His flesh was hot and salty in her mouth and she savored it's taste, running her tongue over and around his head. Her lips slid down his shaft until he bumped against the back of her throat again, but this time she was prepared and held him there without gagging. She rose up and then licked all the way down his shaft, finally pushing her head between his thighs to caress his balls with her tongue. She could feel the elixir's power gathering there, and she was hungry for it. Her enslavement to the Knife was obvious to her now - how had she missed it? Her pussy throbbed with desire, driven by the Knife, but she pushed it away.

Abigail slid her mouth back up to the Professor's head, taking it in, and he groaned softly. "Up and down, slowly Miss Carter. That's it," he said, guiding her with his hands. As she moved, she felt a warm liquid pool in her mouth and she sucked it to the back of her throat and coughed. He let her catch her breath and then pushed her head back down. Up and down, over and over, it was easy to lose herself in the rhythm. "Get ready. Make sure you get it all..." he trailed off, and then groaned deeply as he sprayed into her mouth. His sticky semen coated her tongue and throat, and as his cock pulsed she slurped noisily, desperate to swallow it all. As he slowed, she suckled on his softening cock to draw out every last drop of the precious fluid, and finally she fell to the floor in exhaustion.

As Abigail gasped for breath, Professor Ward redid his pants and bent down to help her. With a small pocket knife he cut through her bindings and began to rub circulation back into her arms. "How do you feel?" he asked.

Abigail rubbed her head and flexed her hands, taking stock of her body. Her jaw hurt, and her pussy was still raw, but overall she felt pretty good. "Humiliated. Sore. Tire." she said. "Did it work?" she asked, as much to herself as to Professor Ward.

Victoria was pointing her phone at Abigail and tapped the screen a few times. "Well, your arms are free and you haven't lunged for the Knife yet, so I'd say that's a success." She put the phone in her pocket. "Now I just need to figure out how to write this up in my dissertation."

Abigail blushed furiously and stared at the floor. "Can I take the Knife back, now?"

Ward nodded. "Go ahead. The elixir will convey temporary protection, probably fading over the course of a few days. We'll have to renew it periodically until we find a permanent solution."

Abigail opened the wooden box and looked at the Knife for several seconds before picking it up. "You mean I have to suck your dick every few days or I'll turn into Gollum?"

Victoria scowled and dead-panned: "Look on the bright side: the elixir could be administered by an even more... challenging route, while still avoiding pregnancy."

Ward nodded seriously but had the grace to be embarrassed. "I strongly recommend that you resume taking birth control, Miss Carter. I apologize for my part in creating this situation, and I won't rest until it's resolved. You have my word."

Abigail clutched the Knife to her breast and nodded. At least the cloud had lifted from her mind, and she had a lead to pursue. "It's not your fault, Professor. The power of the Knife is... inhuman. Alien. I feel it inside me still, weaker, but growing already. I'll do whatever is necessary, but I don't think we have a lot of time."

*****

Author's note: Ok, so now we've pretty much set the scene and given our heroine a lead to pursue. Now she'll have a bit more agency and hopefully begin to unravel the mystery she has fallen into.