Chapter Seventeen

  The chapter begins with the thunderous fall of Gabriel Sunderland. The young New Zealander continues to plummet into the black abyss, a hell of loneliness, as he is seized by those terrifying creatures with a false hope of not falling. He asks himself, "What is worse? Death by these entities or dying alone? Is there any meaning to his attempt to survive and return to his hellish life, or is the whole thing pure nihilism? Why does instinct force you to resist death, even when your life is a thousand times worse than death? Even when the flame you burn from while alive is stronger than the flames of hell you've spent your entire life trying to escape? But no, my friend, no one escapes their inevitable fate."

  The black hole beneath him began to change. Its shape transformed into a demonic skeleton. The king of the dead, Zolisch, the Lich, had taken form. His head replaced the black hole, and he opened his mouth, filled with sharp teeth covered in blood. From his mouth emerged ghosts—humans, aliens, and animals—terrifying green specters rising toward Gabriel. But they did not attack him. Instead, they targeted the nightmare creatures that had been chasing him, entering their bodies and turning them to ash with ease. Gabriel continued to fall until he plunged into Zolisch's mouth and was swallowed whole.

  After this, Gabriel woke up to find himself near the lake. He spat out a lot of water, drenched and cold. He found Zolisch sitting on a small wooden plank, fishing with a wooden rod. Zolisch said to him:

  "Finally, you're awake, mortal."

  Gabriel: "What happened? Why am I still trapped here?"

  Zolisch: "What happened is that your human friends won their battle, thanks to me. Then you passed out, and I brought you here through instant teleportation. You should be grateful, hahaha!"

  Gabriel, screaming and hitting the ground in frustration: "Why this cursed island, of all places?"

  Zolisch, turning his head to give him a cold look: "I don't know, but all cosmic entities love this island. The atmosphere here is great, bloody, and terrifying for creatures."

  Gabriel: "Ugh!"

  Zolisch: "Anyway, your friend, the leader of the fools, Simon or whatever his name is... he's using alien magic."

  Gabriel: "How do you know? Where did he learn this kind of magic? Not that I'd ask if magic is real, since I've seen crazier things."

  Zolisch: "I don't know where he learned it, but he wields the power of Xenath. It's an ability that comes from the eye, granting powers like mind control and others. I don't know if he can only use mind control or more, but beware of that boy."

  Gabriel: "I never trusted him from the start. He's suspicious."

  Zolisch: "You asked me to teach you magic before. Well, mortal, I will grant your wish. I can train you in the Witches' Forest. It's more powerful than here."

  Gabriel, overjoyed and in disbelief: "Are we finally leaving this island?"

  Zolisch: "No. The Witches' Forest lies deep within this island..."

  Gabriel, shocked and hysterically laughing: "Isn't this a frozen island?"

  Zolisch: "This island has a glacial climate in this part. In the far north, there are the Witches' Forests, and in the south, there's a desert climate."

  Gabriel: "How can this be real? How big is this cursed island?"

  Zolisch: "Bigger than you can imagine, mortal. Now, will you come with me to the forest?"

  Gabriel: "No, you're a liar, and you're hiding too many secrets from me. I'm going to find the truth."

  Gabriel runs away from Zolisch at full speed, terrified. Zolisch releases spectral snakes and spiders from his mouth, commanding them to hunt Gabriel.

  The darkness grows thicker as the hours pass. Time feels like an endless nightmare for Gabriel. His constant escape from Zolisch feels like a pursuit into a dark future with no hope of survival. He runs through the desolate wilderness, chased by death in the form of spectral snakes emerging from Zolisch's cursed mouth. These creatures, which only see light in the spirit world, attack Gabriel mercilessly, writhing and changing as if they were fragments of hell itself.

  Gabriel doesn't know how much time has passed. Time has blurred in his mind between nightmares and reality. He runs with difficulty, his bones aching as if they are melting from the torment. Suddenly, he feels something strange. The spectral snakes are chasing him, trying to seize him fiercely, consuming the air around him as if Zolisch has sent a curse to control the very fabric of his existence. He can hear their voices screaming behind him: "You can't escape... There's nowhere to hide... We are here!"

  Gabriel reaches a high cliff overlooking a ruined, dark landscape. His eyes are filled with tears, but there's something else in the sky above him. Strange lights, as if burning at the edges of the universe. An ancient castle, a massive leather fortress. He doesn't know how he got there, but something in his heart tells him this is the last refuge.

  Then, he enters the castle.

  Cautiously, he steps inside. Everything is dark, and the heavy air seeps into his lungs as if every breath he takes transports him to another world. The castle is filled with silence as if time has stopped somewhere far from human eyes. He wanders through narrow corridors, his fingers touching the ancient walls damp with old blood.

  He reaches an ancient tower where cursed books are scattered on the floor. His eyes race to search for anything that might indicate salvation. But when his gaze falls on a massive book placed on a wooden table near an inverted golden cross, he feels something strange entering his depths. The title of the book is written in blood on the first page: **Arcanum Cosmicum**. Gabriel opens the book. Its pages are slightly torn, but there's something on the cover that sparks curiosity—strange images carved into it. But what catches his attention the most is the strange language written on it.

  At first, there's a simple note:

  *"This is me, Edward, known as Allen X. I tried to write everything I learned in this book before this island completely consumed my mind. I didn't know all the entities, but I'll write about those I knew and saw."*

  Gabriel begins to examine the book slowly. Images of cosmic entities flash before his eyes rapidly. The book is filled with terrifying images and horrifying rituals, and each picture makes him feel as if he's entering another world from which there's no escape.

  The first image is of a whale—a black orca with stars on its skin, sharp teeth, and hollow eyes. It leaps from a black sea, screaming, with many witches standing on a hill, pleading beneath it. Below the image is carved the name **Cthulhu**. The summoning method: *"Slaughter 700,000 children aged 14."*

  Gabriel stands, his eyes fixed on the image, feeling his body grow colder. He can't understand how these entities could exist in this world.

  Then he moves to the second image:

  A giant spider, its body resembling plants and tree branches as if trees grow from it. It has a terrifying face and a scorpion's tail, and it laughs. Below it are many people dead from poison, one of them bowing to it. Carved below is the name **Spider Dreadful**.

  It laughs as if mocking the souls of the victims who died from its poison. Below the image is the horrific method of summoning: *"Slaughter 80,000 pregnant women and eat the fetus."* Gabriel feels the bitterness of torment and wonders what consequences await this world if these creatures come to life. The book doesn't just show drawings—it shows portals to another world.

  The third image is of a skeleton wearing a black cloak and a crown—**Zolisch, the Lich Wizard**. Behind him is the explosion of a red bomb, with ghostly faces screaming. Red flames erupt from his hands, and before him are demons and humans kneeling. He is called Zolisch, the King of the Living Dead. The method of summoning is even more horrifying: *"Kill the inhabitants of an entire planet."* As Gabriel stares at the image, he feels his breath quicken. It's as if this book is slowly trying to destroy his mind.

  The next image is of a ghoul—a giant with bat wings and demonic horns, a face more terrifying than anything else. Below its mouth are many black octopus tentacles, and on its belly is a pentagram. Below it are many dead children, one of them bowing. The name: **The Whisper in the Darkness**. The summoning method: *"Destroy religions that call for the worship of God on an entire planet."*

  The next image is even more eerie and terrifying:

  A black wolf, larger than any earthly creature, with red eyes and a black tail resembling a horse's tail. Its fur is like black flames rippling, and it has massive fangs resembling those of a saber-toothed cat. Its mouth is filled with blood, and it tries to eat the red, bloody moon. Below it are many witches cheering and praising it. The summoning method: *"Destroy the sun and plunge the Earth into darkness."*

  Gabriel stops at the last image, which is of a queen—a witch. Her beauty is unbelievable, but beneath this beauty lies supreme evil. Her face is dark as if from another world. She is called **Ercantha, the Queen of Witches**. The method of summoning is deadly: *"Kill all the women of the galaxy and turn the males into slaves."*

  Then, when he reaches the last torn page of the book, darkness consumes the place. The words are written on the intact part: *"The Overlord of the Universe, the Shadow Demon, the Nominal Ruler."*

  Suddenly, all the lights disappear. Gabriel hears a terrifying echo throughout the castle. The candles that lit the place begin to extinguish rapidly, and the book in his hand begins to fade as if it were just a mirage. Suddenly, the book disappears entirely, leaving Gabriel in the dark, surrounded by the sound of mysterious whispers echoing through the castle.

  The book is now more than just a memory. The hands of death have reached into the world... and now, there is no place to hide.

  The book suddenly disappears, and then

  The ghost of Edward, with blood and toys dripping from his mouth, then pushed him, causing the floor of the castle to collapse around him, and he fell into the void.

  Gabriel falls endlessly, the void swallowing him, pulling him toward eternal solitude until he suddenly stops before a scene that the human mind cannot easily comprehend. Before him stands a massive throne made of black bones and twisted metal, upon which sits a majestic female entity, a witch with deadly beauty and eyes glowing like hellfire. Her body is clad in black leather armor adorned with demonic details, and her limbs are decorated with sharp metal spikes. In her hand is a massive sword, its blade reflecting glimpses of other worlds, as if forged from embodied darkness.

  Behind her stands a shadowy figure, a faceless being, a mere dark presence that fills the place with an aura of absolute terror. His hand, covered in metal gloves, grips the hilt of a dagger carved from the bone of a non-human creature, as if ready to slaughter any intruder.

  The hall surrounding them is impossibly vast, its columns twisted as if pulsating with life, and the walls are covered with carvings of creatures bowing in absolute worship. Blood-red lights burn in the corners of the room, but they emit no warmth—on the contrary, everything here is cold and deadly as if the air itself is poisoned by the spirit of this place.

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  Then, without warning, the woman raises her eyes and looks directly at Gabriel. At that moment, he feels as if his soul is being pulled from his body as if he were nothing but a puppet in the hands of a greater power. He hears a voice echoing inside his skull, not a whisper but a command, a voice that plants terror in every part of his being:

  "You are too late, Gabriel."

  The woman waves her sword near him, causing him to fall back into the void. The void swallows him, as solitude swallows its companion, and as excessive awareness swallows the truth he was never meant to know. Is it the truth of the existence of these terrifying entities, or the truth that he has become utterly alone, or perhaps the truth that everything in this universe is absurd, meaningless, and devoid of any purpose? Falling into the deepest point of the void might give him the answer, or perhaps he will never find the answer, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he thinks, no matter how much his intelligence increases. He will never grasp the truth and never transcend the limits of human understanding. Perhaps this is part of the plan of the God who makes us understand the meaning of everything, for when we do, we will see the true hell. But will the hell of awareness be hotter than the hell of ignorance? This is a question Gabriel will answer for himself, at least before he dies...

  Now, Gabriel stops falling, for a moment, but the void shows no mercy. He is suspended between existence and nothingness, between dream and nightmare, until suddenly another vision opens before him... a vision no human mind should ever perceive.

  Before him stretches a scene overflowing with sacred surrealism and cursed damnation. In the sky, a triple face gazes at him, three faces intertwined as if a distorted divine reflection, their light burning his eyes, but Gabriel sees clearly—it is not light, but a spectrum of doom.

  Beneath this celestial entity, intertwined creatures with merged bodies, wings fused with flesh, legs that are mere extensions of their twisted torsos, hands raised to the sky as if in supplication or command, their eyes empty yet filled with awareness... the awareness that existence itself is nothing but sacred chaos.

  Then he sees Adam and Eve, but not as in the myths. Eve rises from Adam's body lying on the ground, but she is not innocent—she is the first to understand the secret of the curse, the first to see the truth, and never lives the same again.

  She sees Gabriel, her glowing eyes meeting his, and she smiles.

  Before he can scream, ominous beams shoot from the triple faces above, piercing his body as they pierce all who came before him, beams not of light but of fate, wrapping around him like the limbs of an entity that seeks to consume him, to turn him into something else, something that is no longer Gabriel, no longer even human.

  He knows now... this is not just a vision.

  It is a summoning.

  ---

  Then, Zolish pulls him from this place with his hand and says to him:

  Zolish: "Have you rested now? You have gotten what you wanted. Come, let us go to the Witches' Forest."

  Gabriel: "Whatever it is, you psychopathic pile of bones."

  They exit the castle, and the icy storm rages as they walk through the snow and fog, in the darkness of the night, with the howling of wolves and the bloody red moon above. A flock of black ravens flies around them as they walk until the scene fades as the raven feathers fall.

  ---

  Not far from the horror and madness Gabriel is facing, in a camp on one of the hills of the Mountains of Madness, a group of special police officers, Marcus and Karl, were camping. They were grilling some fish they had caught. One of their comrades had a severed hand, and some officers were treating him. He had been attacked by a polar bear, according to what his comrades saw, even though this is a remote, deserted island where no animals exist except for the fish in the sea, the deer that Gabriel hunts, and the wolves that howl at night—creatures whose origins are also unknown. There are no bears, deer, wolves, or any form of life here. Nothing exists on this island except cold, horror, solitude, sorrow, and certainly fear.

  Marcus sat, frightened and tense, while Karl was very angry. He said to him:

  Karl: "Damn it, we were so close to catching him, and then he slipped away. We’ll freeze here without a purpose."

  Marcus: "I don’t know anymore. It seems we made a big mistake coming to this island, Karl."

  Karl: "Yes, it’s cold and full of bears. It’s a frozen hell."

  Marcus: "Not just that, believe me. This island is cursed. It has a terrifying aura."

  Karl: "I feel uneasy and a bit worried that you might lose your mind."

  Marcus: "All this time, you haven’t contacted your family at all. Are there problems with your new wife?"

  Karl: "Just marital issues, don’t worry."

  Marcus: "Oh, good."

  While Karl was walking away, Officer Barin approached and asked Karl:

  Barin: "Why did you ask him such a personal question at this critical time? Hahaha."

  Karl: "A tragic incident happened to Detective Karl with his ex-wife, so I’m just worried about him..."

  When darkness fell, they lit the campfire, which was illuminated by the aurora borealis. Everyone was asleep, and in a slightly distant spot, Barin was on guard duty. During his watch, he saw the black shadow of a person walking near them. Barin shouted: "Hey, you! Stop!"

  Barin wasn’t sure if what he saw was real or not, but he decided to take the risk and headed toward the shadow, which might lead to his doom and that of his comrades.

  Elsewhere, Karl was sleeping on the camping bed while the others were inside the tent. He was lying on his back, watching the aurora borealis, which he had always loved since he was a child. He dreamed of it, then began to remember his daughter, Angela. Tears welled up in his eyes from the beauty of the scene, and sleep overtook him in his nightmares. He dreamed of that catastrophic day when he returned from work to see fire trucks and ambulances surrounding his rural house. His house had burned to the ground. He walked, his eyes filled with shock, among the police and paramedics, and saw his wife, Tracy, crying. He asked her, "Why all this crying? It’s just a country house, my dear."

  Tracy: "Angela, our little girl, Karl... she was inside, but they couldn’t find her. She disappeared during the fire."

  Karl screams, and from the intensity of his scream, he wakes up from the dream, panting heavily and sweating despite the cold place he is in.

  ---

  Then, the old witch **Kazia Mason** appeared before him with her terrifying and suspicious face. She grabbed him by the shoulder and turned her hideous, horrifying face toward him.

  **Kazia:** "But you know very well that this is not what happened, Karl! Hahahahahahahahaha! Aaaaaah!"

  **Karl:** "Aaaaaah! Who are you, you eerie, ghostly old woman?"

  **Kazia:** "That's not important. What matters is who you really are, Karl. Can you handle the truth?"

  Kazia took him and plunged him into the icy void. They fell together into the void, then stopped at the scene after the nightmare. Karl was hugging his wife, patting her back, and speaking to her, trying to calm her down. Before he could move his mouth and utter a word, Karl, who was in the dream...

  Kazia, standing beside him, poked Karl and pointed at the Karl in the dream, saying as she pointed at him with her finger:

  **Kazia:** "Watch it, watch it, watch it close... because he's coming for the Lie...

  Watch it, watch it, watch it... he's got a Forty... Fifty... nine..."

  Then they fell again, witnessing the truth of that day.

  At 8 PM, Karl had returned home after a long day spent with his old friends. He had smoked a large amount of cannabis and was shaking and staggering. He went up to his room and found his daughter crying and deeply sad. He told her to leave the room because he wanted to sleep, but she refused and said:

  **Angela:** "Dad, you always come home at night, and you're never in your right mind. You don't care about me, and Mom is always fighting with you and leaving. I have no friends at school, and I feel like loneliness is eating me alive. Loneliness hurts, Dad. I’ve started to feel like it’s my demon, hunting me forever. Do you know a cure for how I feel?"

  **Karl:** "Actually, I have a cure for your sadness. Here’s this gift."

  **Angela:** "What is this, Dad? It looks so beautiful. The wrapping is amazing!"

  **Karl:** "It’s the toy gun that looks like a real one, the one you’ve always wanted. Didn’t you always want to be a police officer or a detective like your dad, carrying an old Magnum and fighting crime? Well, this toy gun looks a lot like Sherlock Holmes’."

  **Angela:** "Thank you, Dad. You’re the best dad in the world!"

  Karl hugged his daughter and told her that girls don’t understand him, that she’s a genius, and that there’s no need to like pink, trivial things, and dolls like other girls. Being different is what makes you special.

  **Karl:** "Now, Angela, put your toy in the drawer. Your dad is going downstairs for a bit to get something from the car and will be back. Sleep well, and good luck at school tomorrow."

  He turned off the light after tucking the girl into bed and went downstairs to his car. He was searching for some files. After a few minutes of searching, Karl realized that his personal gun was not in his pocket. He began to sober up and realized what had happened. He hadn’t bought the gift for his daughter today.    Instead, he had placed his real gun in an imaginary box, thinking he had bought it. He ran back to the house in a panic, screaming, "Angela! Angela!" As he climbed the stairs, he heard a gunshot. He ran faster, terrified. When he finally reached the room, he saw the painful and harsh scene. His 8-year-old daughter, Angela, had shot herself in the head, the bullet entering through her ear. Karl was shocked by the scene. He fell to the ground, crying like a madman, hugging her and kissing her head as blood flowed from her ear. His eyes seemed to pop out of his head from the shock, as if they were in the painting **"Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581"** by the Russian artist **Ilya Repin**.

  After this, the shock didn’t stop. He didn’t know what to do. He ran out of the house, screaming, his eyes tearing up as he went downstairs. He knocked over the lamp on the stairs, and it fell onto the carpet, starting a fire. The house began to burn.

  The chapter ends with Karl in the flashback, running out of the house, looking back at the hellish fire behind him. Meanwhile, the real Karl took this moment as a crushing blow, sinking him deep, deep down into the dark, hellish void, accompanied by Kazia’s terrifying laughter that filled the horizons.

  **End of Chapter**

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