Chapter XI: The Quintulpa
The pitiful screams of the upside down, suspended man echoed sharply through the cavernous expanse of the dungeon like setting. Calvin Jeffries found himself hanging and literally crucified on a wooden and inverted cross, his wrists and ankles nailed securely in place. A few feet away in the center of the stone catacombs lay a large stone basin filled with a black liquid. Floating face down in the strange fluid was a vaguely humanoid form, lifeless and sickly pale in color. Only the topside of it's back was visible as it gently bobs up and down inside the basin.
"Somebody, you can't leave me here! Don't leave me like this!" Jeffries yells, the sounds of his voice stammering in exhaustion.
As his consciousness faded in and out, he picks up the sound of footsteps entering the chamber. In walks Father Emmett, Dr. Lundy and Benito Garcia. The trio slowly make their way in front of the stone basin containing the body.
"I hope it works this time around, Cthulhu knows how many attempts we've made at this and failed." says Garcia as he casually dips the tips of his fingers in the black liquid, splashing it around a bit.
"It'll work." says Lundy as she holds up a small vile of blood.
"All has been confirmed I assume?" asks Emmett.
"If it weren't, we wouldn't be down here. We've run every test and there can be no doubt. Morales' blood contains the Hyksos Uranum. He is the current Eldritch Prophet." says Lundy as she hands Emmett the vile.
The priest holds the vile up to his line of sight and smiles "The last living male descendent of the lineage of Alhazred, and we got to him just in time."
"Please Father, let me go. I've confessed my Penance." stammers Jeffries, his voice pleading mournfully.
"Unfortunately, Brother Jeffries, your actions have gone far beyond any Penance you could offer and I think you know that." says Emmett as he walks across the chamber until he is directly in front of Jeffries "But do not fear my son, in your death you will still serve a great purpose in great Cthulhu's grand plan. In order to shape this Quintulpa, your spilled blood will act as a proper sacrifice to The Old Ones." he says, rubbing the side of the crucified man's face in an almost mocking way.
At that moment, Emmett gets a call on his cell phone, which he retrieves from inside his smock "Emmett…yes of course, I'll bring it up on monitor." he says, pulling the phone away but not hanging up "Shouldn't be long now." he says, walking back across the chamber.
On a ceremonial table, adjacent to the stone basin containing the humanoid Quintulpa, a black leather bound book sits propped up by a vertical stand. Emmett slides back a small trap door on the table's surface which reveals a hidden compartment. A large digital monitor pops out of the opening and the screen blinks to life showing a computer desktop like background. An email notification is visible and Emmett uses the touch screen to access it. A pop up video module begins to play. She scene is of a live feed from what seems to be a large upper watch deck of an aircraft carrier. Large pyramidal structures can be seen in the distance protruding out if the water.
Emmett puts the phone back to his ear "I have you on live feed Admiral Walsh." says the Father, putting the phone on speaker and laying it on the table.
"I tried to get the best resolution I could Father, but I have to be discreet about it. I hope your getting good visuals." says Walsh over the speaker phone.
"What exactly is the situation Admiral?" asks Garcia.
"The Bilderberg meeting ended about twelve hours ago. The call went out to the northern fleet. We have an entire naval armada comprised of over thirty sanctioned nations. We've set up a perimeter of about eighty nautical miles around the structure. Those are definitely pyramids rising out of the ocean! It's just as foretold, praise be to the Old Ones!" says Walsh.
"We see them Admiral, it's absolutely magnificent! Behold, for Ryleh rises before our very eyes!" says Emmett.
"So far there are only tops of buildings, maybe temples of some kind, but all pretty water logged. No solid surface to speak of just yet."
"It's all coming Admiral, in the mean time do all you can to mitigate things. We should have the Eldritch Prophet in our hands within the next twenty four hours. The next step is to get him out to the site before the city rises in full, just before great Cthulhu makes his grand entrance." says Emmett.
"It's all so exciting Father!" exclaims Walsh.
"Indeed, keep the Church apprised on any updates from the front. We'll be in touch Admiral." says Emmett as he hangs up.
"It's a day we've all lived to see, Cthulhu will once again reign over the Earth." says Garcia, barely able to mask his glee.
"Exactly, so let us not delay any further. Doctor, if you'd do the honors and usher Brother Jeffries into the realm of the Star Spawn." says Emmett.
"Gladly…" says Lundy as she addresses Garcia, holding out her hand "May I?"
Garcia reaches into his suit jacket, retrieves his pistol and hands it to Lundy. She smiles as she grabs the weapon "Thank you."
She walks over to Jeffries who now has tears flowing backwards down his face. Emmett opens the black leather bound book and reads from it's pages. His voice echoing the strange unknown language Jeffries was chanting on the boat. As he chants, his eyes go completely black as if his being were possessed by some demonic force.
"Please, don't." cries Jeffries in a desperate bid for sympathy.
Lundy crouches down and whispers into his ear "The Feaster feels nothing for you or them. This is all part of his plan." she says as she backs away and aims the gun at the man's torso.
"Now…" says Emmett after a few more seconds of chanting, his eyes oozing the same black liquid that fills the stone basin.
Lundy pulls the trigger and fires three times in rapid succession. Each shot tears a large gaping hole in different places surrounding Jeffries heart as he screams in agony. Blood spatters across the nearby walls as the professor's mouth hangs open, his eyes frozen in a painful and wretched death mask.
Emmett looks over to Garcia "Brother, the vile."
Garcia immediately snaps open the small vile of blood Lundy had brought in and pours it's contents into the stone basin directly on top of the Quintulpa. Emmett continues to chant and the body within the basin starts to undulate under it's own power. The black liquid within the basin begins to boil, as Emmett's voice grows ever louder. After a few moments, the body suddenly bursts from out of the black liquid in a large splash, screaming in an other worldy moan. Both Garcia and Lundy look on in both shock and awe as Emmett cackles in an insane like euphoria. The creature that emerges from the basin is still sickly pale and bald. It's skin taking on a glossy and putrid texture. But disturbingly enough, it has the vague looking face of Marcos Morales.
"Holy shit." Garcia whispers to himself.
"Absolutely incredible! Through the auspices of the Necronomicon, we have created a near perfect genetic replica of our dear Colonel. In all but outward appearance, right down to the cellular level, this is Marcos Miguel Morales. It's blood, chromosomes, even his fingerprints are a perfect replication, aren't you my darling?" Emmett says, his eyes returning to normal as he takes a hold of the Quintulpa's chin as he would a newborn.
"You call that a perfect replica? No one is ever going to believe that thing is Morales." says Lundy is disgust.
"This creature's only purpose is to serve us in it's death. Once we've gotten a hold of the Colonel, we must ensure that no one else will be looking for him. What better way to do than by providing his already dead body? Only it won't be him, will it?" Emmett says as he stares into the creature's eyes "Speaking of which, Brother Garcia, if you would."
Garcia nods as he violently grabs the Quintupla from behind and forcefully holds it's head under the black liquid. The creature thrashes about, it's pitiful screams echoing through the fluid in muffled bursts. After about a minute, it's body goes limp, Garcia having successfully drowned it.
"Sixty seconds of life, only to have it taken away in an instant. As revolting as this thing was, it still seems like a waste." says Lundy.
"How long is man's life compared to the chasm of eons that the universe has existed? Being snuffed out for the purpose of the greater whole isn't the exception doctor, it's the rule. You would do well to keep that in mind." says Emmett.
"We'd better get going, Morales is do to be transferred in just a few hours." says Garcia.
"Yes, bring him if you would." says Emmett with a nod as he walks out of the entrance to the catacombs.
"Do me a favor and grab the other side." asks Garcia as he motions towards the dead Quintulpa.
Both Lundy and Garcia, flip the creature out of the basin as it smacks the cold stone floor with an audible thud. The F.B.I. agent crouches down to gaze at the monstrous corpse "Can't deny that there's a certain kind of beauty in death."
Lundy turns around to look at Jeffries crucified body as it continues to bleed out "Yes, there is."