DISCLAIMER: The characters of Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster are the property of Spelling Productions and were created by Constance M. Burge. The characters of Randolph Carter and all Cthulhu Mythos characters are the property of the estate of H.P. Lovecraft.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story makes references to events in the H.P. Lovecraft story The Colour Out Of Space.
THE PLACE: ARKHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
THE TIME: JANUARY 26, 2015
"More coffee, Hannah?" Staci Clarke asked Hannah Webster. The young server was holding a pot of coffee, waiting for Hannah's answer.
"I'd love some, thank you, Staci," Hannah replied. Hannah was at the Burger Bar, sitting in the booth that she and her husband, Rex Buckland, usually sat in. Hannah was waiting for Rex to join her, then they would have lunch together. Rex was currently at work, at nearby Miskatonic University, but his lunch hour would be staring before long. To pass the time until Rex arrived, Hannah was working on her laptop.
"If you don't mind me asking, Hannah, what are you working on?" Staci asked as she poured Hannah's coffee. "Another article?"
"Of course I don't mind you asking, Staci," Hannah said. Staci had become one of the friends the two former Warlocks had made since they'd moved to Arkham early last year. Staci had, in fact, attended Rex and Hannah's Halloween wedding the previous October and had even made the wedding cake for them. "These are notes that I'm using for an outline of a book I'm thinking of writing." Hannah said.
"A book? What's it about?" Staci asked.
"It's about the strange history of Arkham," Hannah said. "That article I wrote last summer really whetted my appetite about the history of your little town." The previous summer, Hannah had submitted an article, which she had called Arkham Oddities, to the Arkham Gazette. The article had been well received by the younger generation, curious to learn about the odd history of their town. Since then, Hannah's journalistic interest had been peeked and she was now planning on taking some courses on journalism at Miskatonic University, come the fall.
"Sounds interesting, I..." Staci suddenly stopped talking and began to sway back and forth, her face going pale.
"Staci? What is it? What's wrong?" Hannah asked with concern.
"I don't know, I just feel..." Staci got no farther as she fainted, crashing to the floor.
"STACI!" Hannah yelled as she jumped to her feet, pulled out her cell phone, and quickly dialed 9-1-1.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Half-an-hour later, Hannah was sitting in the waiting room of Arkham Community Hospital, when Rex arrived. "I got your message, Hannah, what happened?" Rex asked.
"Well," Hannah replied and brought Rex up to speed on what had happened to Staci. "She just collapsed, Rex. I was the one that called it in and rode here in the ambulance with Staci. I don't know any more than that."
"That is strange," Rex said. Before he could say another word, they were joined in the waiting room by a middle aged couple and a young woman, who looked a few years older than Staci. Both women had the same dark hair and brown eyes that Staci had.
"Are you Staci's family?" Hannah asked the newcomers.
"Yes, we are," the man replied. "I'm Staci's father, Thomas Clarke," he gestured to the two women with him. "This is my wife, Elizabeth, and this is our other daughter, Sarah."
"I'm Hannah Webster, and this is my husband, Rex Buckland," Hannah replied and introductions were quickly made.
"You're the one who borrowed my wedding dress," Sarah said.
"Yeah, that was me," Hannah replied. "Thank you very much."
"You're welcome," Sarah replied. "My husband, George, is in Boston on business right now, but I have sent him a text message, telling him what's happened."
"What did happened to Staci?" Elizabeth asked.
Hannah quickly told the Clarke family her account of Staci's collapse at the Burger Bar. "That's all I know right now, I'm afraid."
"I just got here myself," Rex added. "Staci has become a friend to Hannah and myself. We always sit in her section of the Burger Bar, and she's in one of my classes at Miskatonic University."
"We know. Staci hast told us all about you two," Thomas said.
"Thank you for being here for her," Elizabeth said.
"That goes for me too," Sarah added.
At that point, the door to the waiting room opened and a female doctor entered. "I'm Dr. Melanie Scott," the doctor said. "Are you the Clarke family?"
"We are," Thomas said and introduced both Elizabeth and Sarah.
"I'm Rex Buckland and this is my wife, Hannah Webster," Rex said. "We're both friends of Staci."
"It's okay. They have our permission to hear whatever news you have about Staci," Sarah said.
"Well, that's just it, I don't have much news yet," Dr. Scott said. "Staci seems to have some kind of viral infection, but I haven't been able to positively identify it yet. We're still running tests."
"Will she pull through?" Elizabeth asked.
"Right now, Mrs. Clarke, it's too soon to tell," Dr. Scott said and then turned to Rex and Hannah. "Did you say your names were Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster?"
"Yes, that's right. Why?" Rex asked.
"Because the Administrator of this hospital, Dr. Alan Hawkins, wants to see you?"
"He does?" Hannah asked as she exchanged glances with Rex. "Why? We've never met him, not even when I was here before." Hannah recalled her long stay at Arkham Community Hospital, the previous summer. A rogue member of the Inner Circle, opposed to having a women join the all male group, had tried to run her down with his car. Both of Hannah's legs had been broken in several places. A couple of her ribs had also been broken, and she had suffered a severe concussion. Her spleen had been badly ruptured and was a total loss. The only option had been to surgically remove it. The person who had tried to kill Hannah, Joseph Philip, was now in prison, awaiting trial for attempted murder.
"He didn't say," Dr. Scott replied.
"When does he want to see us?" Rex asked.
"As soon as possible," Dr. Scott said.
"Well, I suppose we shouldn't keep him waiting. Let's go, Hannah."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dr. Alan Hawkins was waiting in his office, when Rex and Hannah arrived. "Thanks for coming," Hawkins said, once the two former Warlocks had introduced themselves and had taken two seats in front of Hawkins's desk.
"I must admit, Dr. Hawkins, I'm curious about this," Rex said.
"As am I," Hannah added. "How did you even know about us?"
"We have a mutual friend. Randolph Carter," Hawkins replied. "No, I'm not a member of the Inner Circle per se, but I am a close ally. I keep the Circle informed on critical medical matters."
"I see. What does this have to do with us?" Rex asked.
"Is this something to do with what's happened to Staci?" Hannah asked.
"In a way, yes," Hawkins said. "Miss Clarke is only the latest victim of this outbreak. Several more residents of Arkham have also come down with this same virus. In fact, the Center For Disease Control wants to send in a team, but I've been holding them off."
"Why?" Hannah asked. "Surely, they could help get to the bottom of this."
"They could, if this disease originated on Earth."
"You think it doesn't?" Rex asked.
"No, I don't," Hawkins said as he opened his desk drawer, pulled out a file, and passed it to Rex. "These are the test results of several of the patients with the disease. We've found samples of a substance in their blood. A substance that does not match anything found on this Earth."
"And you think it came from..." Hannah broke off and pointed upwards.
"That's my theory, yes," Hawkins replied. "And the Inner Circle concurs with it. That's why they asked me to contact you two, once they got wind of your friend being admitted here. They're hoping you two can get to the bottom of this, before anyone dies."
"Well, we'll give it our best shot," Rex promised.
"That's all I can ask of you, Mr. Buckland," Hawkins said.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
As soon as Rex and Hannah got home, they headed into Rex's study, where they were soon speaking to Randolph Carter via Skype. "So, Mr. Carter, you knew about this outbreak?" Rex asked.
"Yes, we did," Randolph said. "Although we weren't sure until Dr. Hawkins showed us the test results. We're convinced that this virus is not of Earthly origin."
"Dr. Hawkins reached the same conclusion," Rex said. He held up the file that Hawkins had given him. "He said that you want us to look into it."
"Yeah, that's right," Randolph said. "I hope neither of you mind."
"Of course we don't mind. Staci is our friend, as you well know," Rex said.
"Do you think that this is somehow connected to the Old Ones?" Hannah asked.
"In this town, one can never be sure," Randolph said. "As you yourself have found out, Hannah, there has been a lot of stuff around these parts connected to the Old Ones. We can't afford to take any chances."
"I agree. If the Old Ones are involved, we'll have to cover all the bases," Rex said.
"With your background in magic, we thought that you two were the best qualified for this," Randolph said.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Mr. Carter," Rex said. "We'll look into this and get back to you."
"Right. Over and out," Randolph said and cut the connection.
"Right, let's have a look at this file," Rex said and opened the file in question. Most of it was full of medical data, which was out of Rex's field. However, one item did catch his eye. "Hannah, according to this file, all the patients had a strange gray matter in their bloodstream. It was unlike anything the doctors had seen before. They..." Rex broke off as he saw the look of concern on Hannah's face. "Hannah? What is it?"
"It's what you said about that gray matter. I wonder... The Blasted Heath!"
"What? Sorry, Hannah, you've lost me," Rex said.
"Come with me, I think I may have an answer for you," Hannah said as she got up out of her chair and left the study, with Rex following close behind.
In no time, the two former Warlocks were in Hannah's home office. As Rex watched, Hannah booted up her computer and soon clicked on a file she had labeled The Blasted Heath. "Here it is, Rex." Hannah said. "In the late Nineteenth Century, a meteor fell out of the sky and landed on the farm of a family named Gardner, who were a family of a husband, a wife, and three sons. Scientists from Miskatonic University soon went out to investigate the meteor, but they couldn't make heads nor tails of it. The meteor soon dissolved into nothing and that was the end of it, or so it seemed at the time."
"I'm guessing it wasn't," Rex said.
"You would be right," Hannah replied. "Over the following year, strange events began to happen on the Gardner farm. The fruit went bad almost overnight, the animals began to die off, and the trees and bushes in the whole area withered away. It became a desolate and dead area, which the locals at the time called the Blasted Heath. As for the Gardner family themselves, they just vanished, all five of them. Some say that something that came from that meteor consumed them. And here's the clincher, Rex. The whole area glowed with a strange, gray glow, or so the locals said at the time."
"That is interesting," Rex said. "Whatever became of the Blasted Heath?"
"That the whole area is now under water because of the town reservoir that was put there in the early 1930's," Hannah replied. "That's pretty much it. Rex, you don't think..."
"That whatever came to Earth with that meteor has now infected the town's water supply? Yes, Hannah, it's possible that is exactly what happened."
"I wonder why more people aren't sick."
"It's possible that whatever this gray matter is, if affects some people faster than it does others. Hannah, we may be onto something here. We need to check this out, fast."
"I agree. Where do we start?" Hannah asked.
"At the town reservoir of course," Rex replied.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
An hour later, Rex and Hannah met Randolph Carter at the town reservoir. "Are you two sure about this?" Randolph asked.
"Well, not 100% sure, but right now it's our only lead." Rex replied.
"If what happened to the Gardner family is happening again now, we have to find a way to stop it," Hannah added.
"I see," Randolph said. "How are you going to check it out. Rent some SCUBA gear and dive down?"
"Not necessary, Mr. Carter, I'll just astral project myself to the bottom of the reservoir and have a look for myself," With that, Rex closed his eyes and went into astral mode.
"Now what?" Randolph asked.
"Now we wait," Hannah said.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Astral-Rex slowly descended down into the depths of the reservoir, his senses on full alert. Soon he spotted a pulsing and glowing gray light beneath him. That looks promising, he thought as he descended closer. In no time, he saw it. The whole bottom of the reservoir was cover in the strange gray matter which glowed eerily. Rex also noticed that the vegetation in the area had mutated into strange shapes, shapes he and Hannah had seen before. I think this confirms it, Rex thought grimly. The Blasted Heath is responsible for what happened to Staci and those others. I just hope we can find an answer in time to save them.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Soon after, Rex and Hannah were in Rex's study (Randolph had gone to tell the other members of the Inner Circle about what Rex had discovered). "Well, I think it's certain that the Blasted Heath is responsible for this outbreak," Rex said. "Whatever happened to the Gardner family is happening again, only more slowly. That gives us some time, at least."
"Yes, but why is it happening now?" Hannah asked. "The Blasted Heath has been covered over by the reservoir for almost ninety years."
"Well, this is conjecture on my part, but I think that, even through it was underwater, the Blasted Heath continued to expand," Rex said. "For a long time, the water filtration systems were able to cope with whatever strange elements that came from that meteor. However, that no longer seems to be the case. Some elements are getting through, hence the reason that only some people are becoming ill. However, the longer those elements are left to spread, the worse it will get. In time, the whole town may become infected. Yet, there may be a solution."
"Which is?" Hannah asked.
"When I was down there, I saw that the vegetation had also mutated," Rex said. "The mutated form looked familiar. Then it came to me where we'd seen that kind of vegetation before. We saw it on Yuggoth." Rex fell silent as he and Hannah remembered their visit to the dark planet, more then four years earlier. Yuggoth had been the base from which the Old Ones had planned to launch their invasion of Earth, thousands of years before, only to be stopped by the combined forces of Good and Evil.
"How did that happen?" Hannah asked. "I mean how did the vegetation mutate into forms like that found on Yuggoth?"
"Remember, Hannah, those volcanoes we saw on Yuggoth?"
"Yeah, you said that they warmed the planet," Hannah replied. "We never did determine whether those volcanoes were natural, or whether it had been something that the Old Ones had done, when they colonized the planet. How does this fit into the Blasted Heath, Rex? What's the connection?"
"I'm guessing that, a long time ago, one of those volcanoes had a violent eruption," Rex said. "An eruption that actually hurled volcanic debris into space. One piece of said debris made its way to Earth and..."
"Became meteor that landed on the Gardner farm," Hannah said, finishing Rex's sentence.
"Exactly. Of course, whatever elements that are normal to Yuggoth would be incompatible with Earth and human life. That may explain the sad fate of the Gardner family."
"And what's happening now, to Staci and those others."
"Yes, and I get the feeling that we're running out of time," Rex said.
"Why do I get the feeling that you're about to say that we have to go back to Yuggoth, Rex?" Hannah said.
"Because we have to, Hannah," Rex said. "If this outbreak did indeed originate from a meteor that came from Yuggoth, then the answer lies there as well."
"Yeah, but what about those Guardians that we ran into? They consumed those Demons pretty fast," Hannah was referring to the Demons that the two former Warlocks had confronted on Yuggoth, during their previous visit to that planet. Said Demons had gone there to try and uncover any secrets that the Old Ones may have left behind, in order to help restore the Underworld. However, what the Demons had not realized that the Guardians, beings created by the Old Ones to protect Yuggoth and its secrets, would be there to stop them. As Rex and Hannah had watched, the Guardians had quickly devoured all the Demons.
"Yes, but the Guardians left us alone when they realized that we weren't there to plunder Yuggoth," Rex said. "I don't think we have to worry about them. However, those Mi-go we sent back there, in 2014, might be a problem." The two former Warlocks recalled the event in question. In October of 2014, Rex and Hannah had been invited to Vermont by Bill Kline, a colleague of Rex's at Stanford (this was not long before Rex had accepted his current job at Miskatonic University). Kline had found a mysterious black and wanted Rex to translate the writing, which were on said stone, for him. Through that writing, Rex had discovered the connection to the Old Ones and the Mi-go. It had turned out that the hills of Vermont had been one of several outposts that the Mi-go had established on Earth, upon their arrival from Yuggoth. This was in preparation for the invasion of Earth by the Old Ones, which Good and Evil had stopped. While the invasion never happened, the Mi-go had remained on Earth. They were content to let things be, provided that humans did not get too close to them. Once Rex had realized all this, what the stone truly represented, he had tried to warn Kline to leave it alone, that these were matters that he was not prepared to deal with. However, Kline had mistaken Rex's concerns for professional jealousy. Kline believed Rex wanted to claim the stone for himself, and had thus refused to cooperate any longer. That night, Kline was attacked by the Mi-go, who had awakened to protect their stone, and he went insane at the sight of them. Over the next several days, Rex and Hannah, with the help of Randolph Carter, (this had been their first encounter with him) pieced together the story of the Mi-go. Using his copy of the Necronomicon, Rex had opened a portal to Yuggoth, in which the Vermont Mi-go had used to return to the dark planet.
"Yeah, I'm concerned about the Mi-go too," Hannah said. "Considering that the very sight of them is enough to drive a person insane."
"I know, Hannah, but we're going to have to risk it," Rex replied. "As I said, the answers to this outbreak lie on Yuggoth. If we have any chance of stopping it, we have to go back there."
"I can hardly wait," Hannah said grimly.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
YUGGOTH, THE DARK PLANET
JANUARY 27th
Well, this place hasn't changed, Hannah thought as she looked around the dark landscape. She and Rex had arrived in an area close to some of the volcanoes. These volcanoes were well away from R'lyeh, and the other cities that the Old Ones had established on Yuggoth when they had colonized the planet. Rex and Hannah hoped that this would prevent them from running into any of the locals. Hannah glanced up at the sky, at the bright star that was the Sun. Yuggoth was the farthest planet out from the Sun in the Solar System and, as yet, undiscovered by human science. Let's hope it stays that way.
"Ah, here we are," Rex said as the two former Warlocks arrived at the base of one of the volcanoes. "The vegetation here is identical to what I saw at the bottom of the reservoir. I think we're on the right track here, Hannah."
"I hope so," Hannah said. "I don't want to spent any more time here than necessary. However, if it helps Staci and those others..."
"I know. Let's start looking, Hannah. Let's see if we can find anything that will give us a clue as to stop the outbreak." The two of them began their search. They became so engrossed in the search that they failed to notice the shapes that had appeared out of the darkness and seemed to be watching them. Finally, Rex looked up and saw that he and Hannah were no longer alone. "Hannah, we've got company."
"I see," Hannah said. "It's the Mi-go, right?"
"Yes, I think so," Rex replied grimly as one of the shapes moved slightly closer. Thankfully, the Mi-go chose to remain in the darkness, so neither of the two former Warlocks were able to get a good look at them.
We should be thankful for small favours, Hannah thought.
"Humans..." a buzzing voice said from one of the dark forms. "Why...have...you...invaded...our...world?"
"We're not invading," Rex said. "We come seeking knowledge."
"You...are...known...to...us... You...are...the...ones...that...sent...us...back...here."
"We are," Rex said, hoping that the Mi-go knew the concept of a debt.
"What...is...the...knowledge...you...seek?" the Mi-go asked.
"Long ago, part of your world came to our world. It has made many of our people sick. We hope that you can help us," Rex said and explained the situation to the Mi-go.
I hope Rex is getting through to them, Hannah thought. The thought of actually seeing them up close, going insane... she shuddered at the thought.
"Yes...we...know...about...this," the Mi-go replied. Soon, what appeared to be a large blue tablet was hurled out of the darkness and landed in front of Rex and Hannah. "This...will...reverse...the...contamination." The Mi-go then explained what Rex and Hannah had to do.
"Thank you," Rex said as he picked up the tablet.
"Our...debt...to...you...is...now...paid...in...full...human," The Mi-go said ominously. "Leave...our...world...and... never...return." With those words, the Mi-go then faded back into the darkness.
"Well, Hannah, I think we've more than overstayed our welcome here," Rex said. "Want to go back to Earth now?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Hannah replied. "If I never see this place again, I'll be more than happy."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
ARKHAM
Once again, Rex and Hannah were standing at the reservoir. "Right, here goes," Rex said as he tossed the tablet into the water. "Now to see what happens." With that, Rex went into astral mode and followed the tablet down. Once the tablet had reached the gray bottom, the whole area lit up with a bright blue light. After a few moments, the blue light shot upwards. When it faded, there was no sight of the Blasted Heath. The bottom of the reservoir looked completely normal, vegetation and all. It worked just like the Mi-go said it would, Astral-Rex thought. All the contamination that the meteor caused should be neutralized.
Although unseen, the blue glow covered all of Arkham. It flowed through all those infected by the gray matter and cured them. As quick as the crisis had arisen, it had passed.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
JANUARY 30th
Rex and Hannah were having lunch in the Burger Bar, being served by Staci, as usual. "Good to have you back, Staci," Hannah said.
"It's good to be back," Staci replied. "Seems that whatever I came down with, I seem to have fought it off."
"I'm glad for that, Staci," Hannah said. Through their contact with the Inner Circle, Rex and Hannah knew that all the patients that had been affected by the gray matter had now fully recovered. Of course, the Circle had instructed them not to mention the cause and cure of the outbreak, it would forever remain a mystery to those outside the Inner Circle.
"I guess your family is happy to see you healthy again," Hannah said.
"They are, Hannah."
"Give them our regards, Staci," Rex said.
"I will. I see your cups are empty. I'll get you two some more coffee," Staci said as she headed off towards the counter.
"Why do you look so grim, Rex. We saved Arkham, after all," Hannah said. She had noticed that Rex had seemed troubled, ever since reading the latest news in the Arkham Gazette.
"Because of this," Rex said as he laid his copy of the Arkham Gazette down on the table. The article Rex then indicated discussed the possible discovery of an unknown planet in the outer Solar System.
"Rex, you don't think... I mean it's not Yuggoth, right? Please tell me they haven't found Yuggoth," Hannah said.
"That's it, Hannah, I'm not sure," Rex said. "However, it is possible that they have indeed found the dark planet. They're discussing the possibility of one day sending a probe out there to confirm the existence of this planet."
"Rex, even if they have found Yuggoth, we shouldn't worry. I mean it will be years, decades even, before they could get that probe out there," Hannah said.
"You're right, Hannah, it's not an immediate problem," Rex replied. "Just another challenge for the future. Perhaps not our future, but what of the future of our children, or grandchildren?"
"There is no way to know for sure, Rex," Hannah said.
"No, Hannah, they're isn't. All we can do is wait and hope for the best," Rex replied. Both the former Warlocks fell silent as they contemplated a future crisis that they both hoped would never come to pass.
REX AND HANNAH WILL RETURN!