Free The Adventures of Gravedigger by Barry Reese Page B

I’m not a
rookie at this.”
    “Sorry – I’m used to working alone.”
    Gravedigger glanced over at him. “Well, this time
you’re working as a sidekick.”
    The Peregrine started to argue that point, not
liking the slight she was giving him. Then he realized that she was tweaking
him and he offered a salute instead. “Whatever you say, mon capitan.”

Chapter VIII: Thanatos Ascendant!
     
     
    Arthur Meeks worked quickly. Mr. Black was not
present but he couldn’t wait any longer. The little chink had seen him clearly
enough and she’d probably gone to the police by now. Given his druthers, Meeks
would have fled this location but it would have been too difficult under the
current conditions. Better to just press on and hope for the best, he mused.
    A large pentagram covered the floor of his
apartment, drawn in equal parts chalk and salt. In the very center of the
occult symbol lay Goldstein’s ring, the ancient urn and a slaughtered cat. The
feline’s entrails had been pulled from its gut and spread out in a carefully
arranged display.
    Meeks wore a finely tailored black suit and a
small porcelain mask. He didn’t want to greet his new masters as a mere human –
he wanted to be Thanatos, bringer of death!
    With an almost sexual excitement coursing through
him, Thanatos retrieved the cracked leather-bound Necronomicon. He had marked
the pages that he needed and had virtually memorized the dead language that he
was about to speak. He set the book open on a pedestal near the slaughtered cat
and stood next to it, taking several deep breaths to steady his nerves.
    This was it, he realized. The moment that he’d
dreamed of for so very long. Even as a child, he’d craved the ability to
dominate those around him. At first, he used his money and personality to do so
but eventually it wasn’t enough… he’d turned to black magic, hoping to find the
key that would turn things from mere games to deadly seriousness. He didn’t
just want to order people around… he wanted to control them body and soul.
    Mr. Black had offered him the keys to the world…
and all it would take was unleashing demonic forces upon the rest of humanity.
It was a fair price, in Arthur’s eyes.
    Thanatos closed his eyes, his fingers running
across the pages. He began reciting the words, looking at them only when he
encountered a particularly difficult passage. With his other hand, he
rhythmically knocked against his stomach.
    “Enoch illesium C’thulhu! Enoch illesium
Shub-Niggurath! Planititan onseetus k’rash!”
    The words spilled from his mouth like blood oozing
from a wound. Each of them was accompanied by a hard punch of his fist. The
blows were strong enough that they would leave terrible bruising… but he felt
no pain. His mind was alive with the promised power of the ancients.
    He was nearing the end of the ceremony when he
heard the whining of space ripping in half. Just in front of him, a hole was
forming, small in diameter but growing with each passing second. Energy flooded
from this portal, passing through his skin and charging him. A tentacle,
dripping with black slime, appeared, touching the edges of the portal. The
unholy beasts within the other dimension were aching to be free and Thanatos
heard their whisperings melding with his own. He was chanting with the denizens
of another realm and the spell gained power with their aid.
    His skin darkened and became harder than normal.
His lungs burned as his nostrils flared, inhaling the scent of the damned. His
tongue swelled to the point of nearly bursting and his penis was so hard that
it ached.
    On and on his words flew. He was moments away from
amazing power… moments away from condemning the world to a living hell.
     
    ***
     
    Gravedigger ran up the steps to Meeks’ apartment.
Her ears were ringing with the horrible, inhuman chanting that was beginning to
echo off the walls. She and The Peregrine had scarcely vacated Mitchell’s car
when strange lights had begun to