I just watched Scooby Doo and the Frankencreep. It literally left me speechless. I love it. Anyway, this is LoudLurkers Decemberween gift. I've found that most people know of Cthulhu and the other elder gods through reference alone. Most haven't actually read the original stories. So I read Call of the Cthulhu. The ending was pretty disappointing, but I'm glad I put in the effort to do it. I now have a much better understanding of the tones and themes brought to the table by these things.

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Lana kicked the dirt in frustration. She'd just wanted to spend some time with her twin. What was so bad about that? They didn't play together as much, since Lola got noticed. That stupid old dude who spent so much time around Lola these days. That wasn't nice. Mr. Thomson wasn't stupid. It was Lola who was acting like a jerk. She spent so much time alone with him these days, after he'd told her he'd show her how to win her competitions. She came back sweaty and red in the face, like they'd spent the whole time wrestling. Lana wanted to do that to! But did Lola let her? Noooooooo, Lola had to have her new friend all to herself. IT WASN'T FAIR! Lana stomped her foot on the ground.

Now she had to find something else to do. She had to find someone else to play with. She had all her pets, but they weren't the same. They were nice, but sometimes you needed another person. She ran a list of other people she could hang out with through her head. Instantly throwing out all people she wasn't related to. She didn't have that many friends outside her family. The other girls in elementary school were all into ponies, dresses, and tea-parties. Lola fit in perfectly. The boys thought she had cooties… Whatever those were. Whatever though. Who needed them? Who needed people to play with? Who needed friends?! Who needed LOLA!? She kicked a rock, beaming it off a tree.

She wanted someone to play with though. Going down the list of people who were in her family, she thought of Lori first… Than thought better. Lori wasn't a very nice person. She had her moments, but Lincoln once told her that someone who was only nice some of the time to some of the people, wasn't a nice person. He was talking about someone else at the time, but Lana thought it worked here too.

Leni was… Well, Lana wasn't very old and hadn't been alive for very long, but even she knew that Leni was a… She didn't know how to put it nicely.

Luna was cool, and Lana loved her music, but they didn't really like any of the same things.

Same with Luan.

Lynn though, Lynn was the closest to Lana in personality than any of her other siblings. They both likes playing outdoors. They both liked getting dirty. They both liked playing rough. Lynn was Lanas perfect older sister. They had their fights, but they made up faster than they made up with anyone else, except their roommates. The idea of playing with Lynn clicked in Lanas head. It was perfect.

She turned and rushed inside, the screen door clattering in the frame as she passed. Jogging through the empty kitchen, she made her way up the stairs. Holding onto the railing, like Lincoln always told her to so she didn't fall down and hurt herself. She skipped to Lynns door. Lynn would probably want to play some kind of sport, but Lana was cool with that. Sports weren't her favorite, but they were still fun, and after she might be able to convince her older sister to wrestle in the mud or something. She twisted the knob and dashed in, only to screech to a stop.

Lynn wasn't here, but Lucy was. She was breathing deeply, and sweating. She looked like she was sick, and Lana felt an immediate fear. Colds were always really bad in the Loud house, but Lucy wasn't snotty or pale. She wasn't calling out, or groaning in pain. The room was silent. Like someone had taken all that made noise in the world and erased it from existence. Lana couldn't even hear her own heartbeat or breathing. She cautiously moved closer, because as much as the idea of getting sick frightened her, Lana was still worried about her older sister.

Her black dress blended in with her black sheets, and Lana wasn't sure if she would have noticed Lucy, if Lucy wasn't also wearing her custom striped socks and sleeves. As she got closer she started… Hearing… Something. It, it didn't sound like… Sound… It felt like something was scratching in the inside of her skull, trying to get out. It felt like something was whispering words into her ear. Words that she didn't understand. Lucys eyes were open, twitching about, not focusing on anything.

Then she heaved. Sitting straight up, and staring at the wall. Her breathing calmed down and she blinked a few times.

...

She couldn't remember what she'd just been doing, not really. Only flashes of memory came through, but Lucy was grateful for that. More than anything else, she didn't want to remember more. She didn't want to know more. What she knew already was too much, and she didn't know if she'd be able to handle more.

"Lucy?" She snapped her head to the side, searching for the one who'd seen her in this, her most vulnerable of moments.

Lana was looking at her. Her eyes wide like a doe. Lucy could only hope she'd not been contaminated. She didn't know if the. A shudder ran through her body. She didn't know if they had the power to ensnare others through proximity, but Lucy couldn't assume weakness on their part. She refused to assume weakness.

"Are you okay?" Her younger, innocent, naive, littler sister asked her. More than anything, Lucy wished she could borrow some of Lanas ignorance.

"I'm fine." She got out.

She needed to do something. Her head was pounding and her tongue was numb. Her blood felt heavy in her body. It was. Her eyes fluttered as she fought their call. There were, there were rituals. Her stomach lurched as her resisted their pull. It was unbearable. A scrabbling, and clawing, and grinding of claws against bone. A fear, deep in her that refused to let her go. The rushing of blood over rocks, flooding through her veins, seeping between the floorboards. How a knife sung. A symphony. Luna would love it.

Lucy shook her head.

"What are you doing here?" She asked her sister.

"I… I was looking for Lynn" Lana hesitated to answer at first.

"She'd not here. Football practice." Lucy explained at length.

"Oh…" Lana trailed off, looking saddened by the news.

Lucy couldn't think about that now. An escape. There needed to be one, even if it took a while. She just needed distance for now. She needed to give them something else to play with.

"Well, do you want to play?" Her eyes tracked back over to Lana. She was about to say no, but… Something held her back.

Thinking about it. This… This could be it. Lucy wasn't in the right frame of mind to be trusted with the decision herself. She needed someone to make the choice. Someone untainted by what she knew, what she'd experienced. Lana could help her.

"Yes." She found herself answering, "I need something first though."

"What is it?" Lana stepped back apprehensively.

How to say this. How to phrase it. What words to use to get Lana to give her exactly what she wanted. Someone innocent. They would never be interested it someone tainted. Someone innocent, but deserving. Of course, Lana was six. Lucy doubted she yet knew anyone who'd been corrupted by the sick that seeped through the veils of reality and stained the thoughts of those open to the message.

"I need someone to punish." She settled on.

"What?" Lana asked, confusion coloring her features.

"I need someone to punish." She repeated.

Lana became contemplative. Thinking through her options. Deciding who she knew that deserved some retribution. A bitter smile broke over her face.

"Lola." She supplied.

Lucy blinked. She'd not trusted herself. She'd considered Lola. Could she not trust Lana either? No, she had to trust someone. Lana was untainted. Lucy was sure. If she said Lola deserved to be punished… It opened the way. Things she didn't trust herself to do. Cut out the fat. Sever the undesirable from the pack. That was how nature worked. She rose from her bed and gathered her things. That which she would need. Instructing Lana to take her to Lolas bed, she set everything out and began the ceremony. A flash here, a slice there. Life essence soaking into the sheets. She was done.

She brought everything back to her room and followed Lana outside. Indulging her sister in her play. They shared a love of animals in the past. Bats for her, Frogs and everything else for Lana. That was still true. She refused to let the mother take everything from her.

Lana laughed splashed mud on her. Lucy sat in a particularly deep puddle. She fell to her side, and she rolled over. The muck blocking out the sun, and the sky. Providing a tranquil relief and a curtain of safety. She wished that a fissure would open beneath her and swallow her whole. Protect her from the stars.

...

As Lola prepared for bed, she thought back on her day. Mr. Thompson. He was so nice. When he'd first shown interest in her, she wasn't sure what he wanted, but he'd shown her the best things. He took her aside and called her pretty where everyone else called her cute. He trusted her. He showed her the secret ways that adults played when kids weren't looking, and as long as she kept it a secret he would continue to show her.

A giggle bubbled from her. She dressed for bed and climbed in. Closing her eyes, she was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

She was standing in the forest. The trees were high. The branches swayed in the breeze. The night sky was pretty. The stars twinkled, saying hello to her, even as she explored her magical environment. Her feet padded against the grass, her arms held out like she was a plane, and she ran around the trees having the time of her life.

Something moved from the corner of her eye and giggling, she chased after it. She didn't know what it was. It stayed out of sight at every turn. Visible for only a moment. Only long enough to tell her where to go next. Laughter burst from her and she ran faster, hoping to catch up. Eventually she broke the tree line and found herself in a clearing. Whatever she'd been chasing wasn't anywhere in sight, and she wondered where it could have gone.

A breeze. A sudden chill shot through her body and she shivered. making her way to the center of the clearing, she looked around. Then came a sound that wasn't really a sound. Like a call for attention. She looked up. Above her, where there was empty sky before, a mass hung low. An upside down tree made of crystalline flesh. It's roots merging into the sky around it. Going in directions that didn't make sense and hurt to look at. Lolas brain churned. Branches hung down and swayed in an unfelt wind. Chasm like mouths opened and closed. Unsupported masses hung in the sky around it. Lola could feel her eyes vibrating in her sockets as she tried to look away, but her body didn't listen to her. She pulled with all her might to drag her gaze back to the ground, but she wasn't in control anymore.

With what she was still allowed to witness of the forest around her. Masses of flesh and malformed bodies dragged themselves from the trees. Surrounding the clearing. They got closer. gurgling wetly and groaning softly. Lola couldn't run, she couldn't hide, she couldn't scream, she couldn't even bring herself to close her eyes. When the hideous bodies closed in around her, all she could do was hope she woke up before it was over.

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Chapter notes:

Man this story is kind of depressing. Bet it's more depressing than you probably wanted it to be LoudLurker… So… Sorry about that. I couldn't help myself though.

I actually did some research specifically on Shub-Niggurath for this.

I did "…" as segment separators in this story instead of what I usually do, because I don't think me rambling about my day to day life would have fit the tone I was trying to achieve when writing this.

I hope you're happy with this LoudLurker. I think I did the best I could do with my understanding of the source material. If I plan on doing something similar in the future, I think I'll have to read more of the original stories. Hopefully the others have better endings than Call of the Cthulhu. Seriously, not spoiling anything. That story ends like a deflating balloon.

The first time I tried uploading this, it became a jumble of random garbage. It was totally unreadable. Hopefully that doesn't happen this time.