Letter to Abelard

A letter discovered by police investigation.

The Letter
Dear Abelard,

I write to you now as an attempt to insure my story against my demise.

I am not well at present, not sick in body, but in mind and heart. The train I will be on by the time this letter reaches you will be advancing towards our home city. I will be returning by the route I left home with Beatrice, you know the one. Should you hear of any accidents on the rails, follow the instructions I have left on a separate paper concerning the addresses I am sending with you. I dare not do it myself for fear of tracking, which may put you in danger.

As you may shake your head at my precautions, know that the story I am about to relate to you requires nothing less. If you were in my place, I assure you that you would say I am not doing enough.

As you and our common peers know; I volunteered with Beatrice to bring aid to the displaced refugees from the Utan Migration and subsequent wars. We were given to the care of one Mr. Bartlett Horbet. He was a doctor specializing in non-human physiology. He said he came from Heatherguard, which I know not. As Heatherguard was famously sacked during the First Faceless War, I assumed for a time that he meant another city by the same name.

Our host, the good doctor Horbet, was not much like other men. He was sociable during work hours to be sure. When that brief eight hours ended, however, he was the most anti-social of men. He became angry if we attempted to disturb his private studies and would only ever leave his room for supplies or food, which the preparation was part of our renting agreement. We did not think much of it. He was a skilled doctor, and as everyone knows, the highly skilled are wont to be unusual.

I later came to conclusion that he was in the middle of a series of long term experiments. We have both often heard of the herbal remedies of Cameo and Jaedinar. It seemed logical to me that he was searching for some balm or tonic that had hitherto been undiscovered to medical science, and thus make his mark on the world.

Indeed, his room suggested no other explanation. There were test tubes and beakers. I know I could occasionally smell a gas burner, as well as the occasional whirring of some centrifuge of unknown make. What was I to complain if he kept to himself?

My suspicion against him was first aroused roughly two weeks ago. On that day, I and Beatrice happened to have a day off. Three days before, our next door neighbors, Bunny Utan Kalterras, had been blessed by seven newborns (something I am told is not unheard of among them). This was important to them as they had lost, as I understand it, twelve of their children to slavers. Their eldest had been maimed by their leader, but escaped. So you can imagine the care they put into their newborns.

Mr. Kalterra was much to proud to ask for any kind of help. But his wife was able to communicate to Beatrice, and so we decided to create a great pot of potato soup. While Beatrice assisted Mrs. Kalterra, I set to work cooking. I had finished when I heard a crash in the front door's porch.

It was our host. He had tripped over the step in the door. I rushed to his assistance, but he warned me off, mentioning some chemicals I do not wish to remember. I returned to the kitchen, where I remembered my hazardous materials training and created masks for myself and Dr. Horbet. It was merely wet rags and rubber bands, but it was something. I returned before he could warn me again and opened the door.

He sighed. He said not to directly touch the material or eat it. I returned with a pot and we swept up the heavy and fine dust. It was a strange metallic dust that seemed to congregate together, but did not stick in the proper sense of the term. It was also a dim gold color. It was certainly not gold, but a chemical cousin of it, I have since surmised from research. It never became a cloud when disturbed, as most other dusts are wont to do.

When I asked him about the dust, he mentioned something that I did not comprehend about the immune system. He also told me that its true properties could only be brought out through liquidation. There was a great sack of the stuff, understand. He refused to answer any more questions. Later, I discovered the pot that we had used to store the dust returned, clean. I mention this because of an acrid smell that was too organic.

The second event is much more sinister in nature. I mentioned the Kalterra's? A child was kidnapped, right from their very home. It was discovered by Beatrice. We were returning to our home from the clinic when we decided to visit their home and provide assistance. The third eldest child was lying across the door unconscious. Both Beatrice and I heard the wailing of the children then, and we rushed to their bedroom. Mrs. Kalterra herself had been knocked out from behind.

We contacted the construction agency that had hired Mr. Kalterra and his two eldest immediately. I was disturbed by the mention of other kidnappings. I asked for more information, with a growing sense of dread. The operator had been morbidly fascinated by the case, and knew the ins and outs of it. Bunny Utan completed a grim collection of non-human kidnappings!

We were unable to find our host and this angered me. I knew he was in the house, but he refused to answer. I banged on his door, but received no reply. I returned to the Kalterra house quickly, where I cared for the third eldest Kalterra. Mr. Kalterra was in such a state of wrath that it took his eldest, Tern, Beatrice and I to hold him back. We feared that he would injure himself or one of the babies while he could not think.

That night I could not sleep. Mr. Kalterra finally succumbed to sorrow and it was heartbreaking to watch. Beatrice had not fallen asleep either, and was reading. I went outside for the cool air. I had a favorite spot, a stone covered most thickly with mosses. It was there I made the first step towards the realizations that have now panicked me. I could smell the acrid, organic odor that had been on the pot Dr. Horbet and I used to gather up his dust!

I explored a little, and discovered a vent mostly hidden by the rock. It was ancient, and I knew that this house was far too new for such a rusty thing. Then I heard something. I bent down to listen and my horror grew. I am familiar with the cry of babes, Abelard, and that was the lusty cry of a newborn Rabbit Utan!

I rushed to the door of Dr. Horbet's room, but I did not dare knock or make any noise. I slowly opened it. I found it empty, Dr. Horbet nowhere in sight. I searched around and discovered out of place books. Everywhere else books were put away neatly by the Doctor, yet not here. I decided I needed to get Mr. Kalterra and his eldest boy to help me. I roused them and we searched the area together. We discovered a small button, which revealed a door way.

Mr. Kalterra and Tern had a club and I a small pistol. So armed, Kalterra and I descended the now revealed stairs. We had no need of flashlights, as they were lighted. They were ancient things. Each one was a slightly different angle and worn smooth. They ended in an entry way blocked by a door.

This door was terrible to behold! I nearly fainted, and had not Mr. Kalterra steeled himself against fear, I would have surely run once my senses returned. It was not the doors that scared me, but the carvings around it. What was so otherworldly about them was their crudeness! The redness of the doors gave them a blood hue, and shadows made them seem jagged. It was like rats had been set to gnaw at the door until the overseer, being of an ogreish persuasion, was satisfied and whipped them until they quit.

I will not mention the first room. It isn't necessary to tell of such abhorrent and unnatural things. Only know that they were dead and the world is better for it.

In the second room, we found Kalterra's scion. It had been strapped to a table, cruelly allowed to live. Whatever Dr. Horbet, the monster, had been doing, he had kept the child alive by sewing up the blood vessels and leaving the head, heart and lungs intact! Mr. Kalterra was senseless to my pleas, and soon I began to feel true dread. I feared we were going to die here and now.

There, in the back of the room, was a giant claw! It was fleshy, like skin had not been decided on. It could only be described as eldritch and hideous and vile! Then it moved and I screamed and ran. I heard a scraping sound as I ran away, leaving the two Kalterra's to their fates. I did not look where I was going and rammed into Doctor Horbet who had just opened the granite doors!

His face was no longer humans, in truthfulness, I'd say he had NO FACE AT ALL! It was all tentacles, and I could only cry "FACELESS!" before charging back up the stairs. I ran past the strangled form of Tern Kalterra and rushed to Beatrice's room. She had been stabbed through the heart by a dagger. I rushed back out to the waiting arms of a police man. Mrs. Kalterra had heard what I told her husband and had summoned help.

I hurriedly explained to the policeman everything. In my frenzy, I referred to Dr. Horbet as a madman scientist. I mentioned the monster and became insensible for five minutes. When I came to my senses, the house was burning. I was told eight policemen went in there and were lost. They assured me that they were going to get the doctor. It was then that a great pillar of fire rose from behind the house. They say a pillar of fire. I say the burning claw that inhabited the back room!

I ran then, and I am sure that they follow me everywhere. I know it must be a they. It must be some organization that supplied the evil Doctor. I look over my shoulder constantly, and I don't think I shall ever feel safe again. I am sure that Dr. Horbet survived as well and that he has a special place in his heart for me. I cannot sleep, or even close my eyes.

When this letter gets to you follow the instructions! We cannot let them get away with this. We cannot let this knowledge die with me!

Pluto Berren

P.S. Do not allow Beatrice or I into your house.