I turned to leave when a breeze blew away my hat, which thankfully landed in some bushes next to the house.

I picked up my hat and was dusting it off when I heard voices in Marsh’s yard.

They were soft hums.

What the hell is Marsh up to?

I crept onto the premises quietly to get a good look at what was going on.

The yard was massive and barren, scarcely decorated by more strange figures.

In the middle, there were five others, cloaked just like Marsh, surrounding a large green flame.

I can’t recognize anyone with their hoods up like this.

They’re chanting in a strange language, just like Castus did when I spoke to him.

They look like cultists, but who are they worshipping?

Marsh had just exited the house and joined them.

At the edge, near the cliff, there was an altar, with unlit candles on each side.

He uttered a few words to his comrades before he made his way to the back of the yard, standing behind the altar, facing them.

Then, he grabbed a book on top of the altar, but I couldn’t see what the title was.

So, I inched closer.

Wait, is that—

Crack.

The cultists’ chanting stopped.

My heart stopped.

Did they just hear me?

I must go.

This isn’t worth it.

I must leave.

An intense feeling of fear overcame me, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Move damn it, move!

What is happening?

Paralyzed, I stood there, watching them come towards me and dragging me towards the altar.

Marsh seemed different when our eyes met again.

Just like Castus, Marsh’s eyes lacked life and emotion.

He held onto a green tome as he looked down at me.

Please don’t tell me that’s Brooks’ tome…

Shifting my gaze to the others, I noticed they looked strangely absent as well.

Holy shit.

They all look possessed.

What have I gotten myself into?

The worshipper who held me in a kneeling position in front of the altar spoke in that foreign tongue again. Marsh nodded, and then opened the tome.

The cultists began chanting again.

I could only recognize Castus’ haunting words as the cultists repeated their chant in the disturbing glottal tongue.

“Cthulhu fhtagn!”

As they chanted, Marsh held up the tome as green flames began to escape from it.

Seemingly shocked, he dropped it, but it was engulfed by green flames upon reaching the ground.