It was a cold summer night and the stars were shimmering.

Leah Hopkins would tell you it was the beyond (whatever that meant) followed by a few strange terms that would surely put an avid listener to sleep. But not Adam. He was more than just an avid listener. 

For the past summer, he had been tagging along with Leah wherever she went: to the park for some people-watching (she often thought the pigeon lady was a secret agent looking out for druggies here and there, which Adam found quite amusing), to the Lion’s Mouth over at Fifth Avenue where the poets there made Edgar Allen Poe seem like a saint, to even a hike in the Flatwoods, all because he liked the way her lips moved whenever she talked — and she didn’t seem to mind.

Call him crazy (which was what most of his friends did); the boy was lovestruck. And tonight he was finally going to let it all loose.

They sat by the pool in the back of her house, which was empty of life (save for her pet bird). It was just the two of them.

“You know constellations aren’t just random shapes?” Leah said.

“Yeah?”

“Yes, they’re outer gods! You see that one over there?” She pointed up at the night sky, and the stars were aligned just like she said. “They say it belongs to Thoth.”

But Adam wasn’t paying attention. He didn’t know why but he felt his temperature rise up the more he looked at Leah. She wasn’t a total knockout, as some others would say, but she was good enough for Adam. The way she had tied up her hair in a bun especially enticed him. Something was strange about her; hypnotic even.

“Now, Thoth,” Leah continued, “some say he was banished from the stars and that’s just his mirage. No one knows where he’s gone. But I heard that he’s hiding down here. On Earth. Looking for believers to muster back his strength. Of course, it’s a—”

“Hey,” Adam was done waiting around.

Leah looked at him, her eyes curious and her lips vulnerable.

“What do you say,” he inched closer, “you and I…” He touched her chin.

“Wait!” She gently pushed him away.

Adam expected this, “Leah, I…”

“Before we do this,” Leah whispered, “what do you think of the story I just told?”

“W-What?” Adam was bewildered. Now, this was unexpected.

“About Thoth. What do you think of him?” She smiled.

“Well, um… I don’t know. I mean it’s just a story.”

“So you don’t believe it…?”

“Leah, come on. These are just silly occult stories, right?”

Leah didn’t respond. Her smile faded.

It was then that a strange sound echoed in his ears, like bubbles gathering and popping from heat. The pool seemed to be boiling.

“H-Hey, is that normal?” Adam felt a shiver slither down his spine.

Before he knew it, the pool was shimmering and a horrid mass was rising from its depth. The wet mass was shapeless, swelling and quivering like slime. Deformed limbs swam across its body; arms, legs, skulls and what looked like the eye of a sea monster. It devoured everything in its path as it emerged from the pool: an alien mass of tentacles and malformed creatures. And Adam could do nothing but watch; frozen.

“L-Leah…” He tried calling out.

“I really liked you, Adam,” Leah was smiling, “really.”