Prelude: Piazza di San Pietro

(Page 20 of 20)

Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli; Naples, Italy
Sunday, February 20
9:02 AM

Cheval de Loa awoke, the plastic seat below him hard and cold. He found himself uncomfortable in the stained suit he was wearing, but no less so than by the fact that he was in the Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli. His arms were folded around the ticket, holding it close to his chest. His eyes darted from person to person as they passed, unsure of how he’d gotten here and terrified by the prospect of going back.

They would make him read the signs again; make him speak with the spirits. He would be punished for running from his responsibilities, but he didn’t remember leaving. He didn’t remember anything that occurred over the past four days.

Abandoned Hospital; Naples/Pozzuli, Italy
Sunday, February 20
9:02 AM

Samantha punched the red sigil-engraved button next to the oven’s doorway. Blue flame lit inside the machine, roaring as it dined on the flesh of the final body—that of Demetrius. Inside the Stygian stove, Demetrius felt the blaze split his skin and sear little hairs. Death, his old friend, had at last returned. As his spirit filled the rising smoke, the incense of his earthly form, he willed a final mantra to his god—Iä! Shub-Niggurath! Iä! Shub-Niggurath!

Turn to the Aria

Turn to the beginning

Author's Notes: Mapping the Beast