Chereads / What Lies Beneath... / Chapter 3 - The Innkeeper

Chapter 3 - The Innkeeper

Two girls were driving a car, going in the direction of the mysterious lake of Xvi.

It was a relatively unknown lake until a man almost drowned to death which propelled into some local attention. This piqued the two girls' interest and they've decided to visit this unknown lake.

Rustle~

"Do you think it was a good idea for us to travel that far to visit an unknown lake?" said the younger of the two.

"Thinking twice about it, it does seem stupid. But whatever, we're past halfway now. Can't go back." The carefree girl responded. Indeed, they already drove for three hours, they can't simply go back like that.

The drive took another three hours and it was already night when they've arrived within the periphery of the forest the lake was in.

"It seems promising. It seems promising. Too bad it's already night. Let's go to the inn here." The carefree girl looked at the vast untouched virgin forest and nodded repeatedly. However, since it was night, it wouldn't be prudent to continue traveling so when she found an inn at the side of the road.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

After a while, the door finally opened and revealed a handsome man in a black robe.

"Welcome, fair ladies. It's a pleasure to meet you." The man said with a smile.

Seeing the handsome smile that seemed so inviting, the two girls had an instant good impression of the innkeeper.

"Innkeeper, what're your rates for two separate rooms?"

"Well, it's 10 bucks a night for a single room."

The girls nodded and paid for the night.

The innkeeper nodded and happily led them to their rooms.

"This is yours." He pointed to a room whose door sign is inscribed Last Night in a cursive fashion. The carefree girl smiled and nodded, carrying her baggage in it. Turning around, she said to the shy girl: "Wake up early tomorrow! We need to go appreciate the natural lake!"

The shy girl nodded and followed the man, passing corridors after corridors.

Corridors, after corridors...

"Um, mister. Why is my room so separated from my friend? I also don't recall the inn being so big..." Mustering all her courage, the shy girl finally asked the man. She had been feeling uneasy across all her path here.

"Miss, don't you think that you're asking too much?" The man returned his body and the appearance of a charming young man was replaced by a body of mangled flesh.

"AHHHH!!!!" The shy girl shrieked in shock and terror. The handsome young man reappeared behind, his smile stretched to the point of madness.

"What is beauty, what is ugliness? The standards of H̷̺͗u̵̡̇m̷͍̀a̴̟̿n̵̝̊ḭ̶͌ṱ̷̆y̴̠͘ cannot express how beautiful this thing is. Can't you see? It is Ḻ̴̓i̶̳͠f̸͚̮͂̿͜͠e̵̢̲͈̔̒͝. The most primitive form of flesh..."

"Ah... Don't come close..." The girl broke down mentally and fell to the floor. "Please... I beg of you..."

Angelo roared, "Can't you understand the beauty of L̸̢̙̘̏͗̕i̶̞͚̙͌f̸̩̘̀͂͝e̵̩̗͍͊̂͆?!! W̴��̨͉͓H̸̞̝̰͂̊Y̷̟̆̅ ̴̳̝̀́ͅT̴̠̦̃͛H̴̡͇̥̿É̸̝͐̈ ̷̡̛̻̦͌̊Ḫ̷̄͗Ỵ̴̛̻̟̿͐P̸̤̠̭͗̆̊Ȏ̴̟͝C̶̹̊R̶̹̉̓̄Ì̵͙ͅͅȘ̵̍̾͝Y̴͇̙̽̏?̸̱̰̔!̵̺̋ ̵̮̪͊̀͊A̷̗̅͘͘R̶̢̖̝̂E̶̺̞̖̿̎N̸̮̋̊̍'̶͚͈̀T̷̢̮͇͆̓ ̴̭̎̀Y̶͔͒Ô̸̱̈́U̵͇͉͛̎ ̴̨̖̲̐̿͝T̷͈̃̍̋O̸̬͌̅O̷̡̢͙̿ ̵̟̬͋Á̶̱̝ ̵̥̫̱̈̕S̸̝̈͛Ą̵̓C̷̢͍̘͝Ǩ̶̥͗͝ ̵̼͈̒O̸̢̙͂̆̽F̷̞̏̈͜ ̴̼̍̇͝F̴̧̿L̸̦̺̇̚͝E̸̝̋̄͆S̸̢͝H̵̲̰̾͛͝?̶̡̽͆̚!̵̡͌̚̕"

Bump. The shy girl's eyes rolled and blanked.

"Oh my, I may have overreacted. I really need to control myself, if not, I won't be able to complete my mission."

Chaos is the nature of the universe and thus His Master is too. However, in this world, he would need to maintain the pretense of [Rationality] that is until Its objective is achieved.

"Oh, well. Ungrateful ḧ̴̯̐u̵͈̼̼͑m̴̖̺̔͑ä̷͓͖̾ń̴̪͔̖͋͊, you are lucky to receive the special 're-education' course. Be happy, you shall become Its first worshipper."

The cold wind rustled.

***

The carefree girl was getting restless on the bed. She could not sleep.

The cold wind seeping from the wall chilled her heart even.

"My god. Even 10 bucks are too much for this..." She sighed and got out of bed. Since she couldn't sleep here, the owner shouldn't blame her if she slept in the hallway, right?

Taking the blanket with her, she pushed the door open and heard strange whispers amidst the sounds of the winds.

"Sulya... furya..."

"Co' yesth Orn ot Strac'pa Kt."

"What? What is this?" The woman was shocked. Her mind buzzed with alerts and cautioned her to not go but her curiosity was too strong. What could possibly be here? What is the source of these strange whispers?

She looked around and found out that it came from the door leading underground. Opening the door, each step made ravings across her ears became more and more frequent and powerful.

"Original Life!"

"Original Life!"

"Original Life!"

Her head nearly split from hearing the chaotic ravings but she could not stop herself anymore. Even when her mind told her not to approach the book, to touch it, to read... Her body could not resist and after one step and another, she saw the book's cover.

It was made of ordinary leather inscribed in silver blood: The Prophet's Command.

BOOM!

Later, when dawn broke the sky, Angelo returned with the converted girl as his apprentice.

"There are footsteps, did she come out of her room?" He frowned and saw that the footsteps led to the basement. "Did she...?"

Beckoning the shy girl to follow him, Angelo went to the basement and found a woman kneeling as she hugged a book.

"Oh, Lord Angelo. Welcome!" Her head twisted, revealing a cracked face as though it was by porcelain.

Angelo had no other doubts. She had been converted and he did not even need to ask her name. Just like how she knew his name, he too knew her names through the particles emitted from her body.

Arianne the Broken Doomsayer.