135. Dreams of Madness and Death
Amy decides to investigate the book. After all, what harm could it do? She closes the book and finds that the binding is covered in ghastly faces, and the exterior has an almost… fleshy feeling. The title page reads “Necronomicon.” On opening it she finds many grotesque illustrations of demons and strange rituals. She runs her finger over the text and it comes off slightly damp. On tasting it, she realizes that this book isn’t written in ink; it’s written in human blood!
“Ewww!” Amy is taken aback by this, but it’s far too late to turn back now. Some strange compulsion causes her to continue reading. Soon all the world around her has disappeared as she is absorbed into the words she reads, strange tales of eldritch horrors, ready to destroy the Earth and all of its inhabitants with a mere snap of their fingers, all of them slumbering uneasily, ready to return at a moment’s notice and extinguish all life. Soon these abominations, these ancient monstrosities are all Amy can think about. She closes the book, but the images it inspired continue to burn through her brain. Unable to concentrate on anything, she finds herself running, screaming through the woods. She blacks out.
When some measure of lucidity returns, Amy finds that her arms are bound in a straitjacket and she is confined to a padded room. Amy begins screaming. An attendant stares through the window at her and Amy tries to explain what’s happening, but her conversation keeps turning to the elder gods that soon will engulf them all, and, try as she might, Amy finds she can only speak in an ancient, forgotten tongue. Amy spends the rest of her natural life confined to the asylum, driven stark, raving mad by what she has seen in that accursed book.
Amy is in no state to continue her adventure.