After leaving the two troublemakers behind, I used side roads to stay off the radar and only stopped to refuel my beautiful car.
The problem is that it took me over ten hours this way to arrive in Toledo, and I'm pretty sure Cthylla will be really pissed because of that...
A few miles before Toledo, I needed to stop again to refuel, and so I use the opportunity to call Bobby.
"What took you so long? Did you manage to find them?" Bobby asks after picking up his phone.
"Hi, Bobby. It's also nice to hear from you... yes, I found them and could also locate their father."
I can hear him sigh, probably out of relief, and then he asks, "That's good. And how are they?"
"If I say that they are difficult, it would be an understatement. I was with them for a few hours and I got nearly beat up, shot, and stabbed, and 90% of that was nearly caused by them... but otherwise, they are fine. Well, at least one of them is."
"Wait! Only one of them is fine? What happened?"
This young geezer simply ignores all my complaints...
"If you want to know more about it, you need to call Dean yourself. Also, I decided that you need to pay me for that job. I will take one grenade launcher, thank you."
"Yes, I will call him. I owe you one." says Bobby and hangs up.
No hello, no goodbye, and no grenade launcher. I feel so dirty and used.... that I have to take a bath with Cthylla later to clean myself.
After the phone call, I pay for my fuel, get some snacks, and buy a regional map. Then continue my journey towards Toledo.
I drive through the whole city and finally arrive at a small beige house at 1721 Parkdale Avenue near the University of Toledo.
It is in a good and very silent neighborhood even though it is the end of the work day and the street should be full of people who are coming back from work...
The other thing is that as soon as I entered Toledo, I absolutely lost her trace. But Cthylla was always like that. If she doesn't want you to spot her, you won't.
To be sure that nothing will surprise me, I take two extra magazines with me of my special-made bullets. Then, I walk to the front door of the house and ring the doorbell.
*Ding-dong*
I sensed a single presence inside the house that moved towards the door as soon as I rang the doorbell.
After a few seconds, the door opens and a middle-aged blonde woman opens the door.
"Oh my god, it's you!" she screams and jumps forward to hug me.
"Yes, it's me," I say, playing along and letting her hug me. "And you must be Mrs. Milton."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to jump at you so suddenly. But Anna told us so much about you that it's like you're already part of the family." she says a bit embarrassed.
I smile at this and say, "Don't worry about it. Fortunately, she told only good things about me, it seems."
"Haha, yes she did! Come inside, Anna should be home soon too."
I nod and let her lead me inside the house, glancing one last time through the neighborhood that seems to have suddenly awakened.
Because I can see many people watching me enter the house through their windows and half-opened doors.
---
I sit down on the couch. Mrs. Milton brings me a coffee and pours herself a tea.
After taking a sip, I say, "Thank you, Mrs. Milton. This is excellent coffee."
"You can call me Amy. Anna told me you like it like this: not too hot, with one sugar, and no milk."
"That's correct," I say and take another big sip.
Then my curiosity gets the better of me, I ask, "Did she also tell you how we met?"
Meanwhile, I sense a crowd gathering outside...
"Yes, she said it was during her trip to New York. You were a student at NYU at the time. Wait, I think she even drew it."
She stands up and walks to a shelf, taking out a sketchbook and showing it to me. "Look, she drew you so perfectly that I instantly recognized you."
I take the sketchbook and see the scene from Cthylla's perspective. It's drawn like a photograph, showing me on the street in New York while looking at her.
Afterwards, I started flipping through the book. She drew mostly the places we visited together, but also some unfamiliar Enochian symbols.
The last drawing in the sketchbook was the scene from the dreamworld where I held her in my arms next to the river....
"She's always had a vivid imagination, and you probably shouldn't have seen the last drawing," says Amy with a mischievous giggle.
Still smiling, I close the book and say, "I already imprinted it in my mind, so it's already too late. But do you have any more information I can use against her? She never really talks about herself."
"Perhaps? That depends on whether you accept the invitation to a family dinner this evening."
"Deal!" I say without hesitation.
Food is always worth it... that is, if the house is still standing after whatever the people outside are planning.
"Good! So where to start... maybe her childhood?" Amy asks me, placing a finger on her chin. I nod, and she continues.
"You see, our little miracle was a very sickly child until her puberty. Because of that, she stayed at home a lot and didn't have many friends. So she became somewhat of a loner because of it.
Even when she suddenly became completely healthy, she still stayed home studying and always watched out the window like she was waiting for something.
It was a wonder when she signed up for an excursion to New York when she turned 18. But who knows, maybe it was fate because she met you there?"
"Yeah, maybe it was..." I say nostalgically. She probably wanted to see the place again where we met in her past life.
Amy smiles as she looks at me. "This face, she also does it every time she talks about y---"
*Ding-dong* The doorbell interrupts her.
Well, it seems the peaceful time is over because there's a Follower at the door...
~~~ University Shopping Center, Toledo ~~~
A happy young woman with red hair can be seen walking through the shopping center, carrying several bags in her hands. Little does she know that a few people follow her...
She has always been cautious. However, this time, the Followers employed a tactic she hadn't anticipated.
Her life has been somewhat bleak so far. Her essence was already damaged when she entered this world, and she expended a lot of energy laying false trails before finding a suitable vessel for herself.
Fortunately, she found a newly pregnant woman in time, or else this world would have been doomed... She merged with the fetus, which possessed an incredibly unique soul even Cthylla had never encountered before.
Afterwards, she fell into a deep slumber to recover, allowing her body to function on autopilot. She remained in this state until she reached puberty, at which point she awoke completely healed, thanks to the soul she shared her body and mind with.
Not knowing when the Follower might appear, she distanced herself from other people and formed no real connections apart from her new parents: Amy, a loving housewife, and Richard, a deacon at a local church.
When she wasn't studying at home or sitting by the window, she spent her time at the church, feeling inexplicably safe there for a reason only the soul she merged with could explain.
Until the age of twenty, she continued to lead a solitary life, focusing on studying, drawing, and gazing out the window, patiently waiting for her stupid immortal boyfriend to appear.
Even when she knew that her beloved immortal was no more, as his world had already been destroyed, essentially by her actions...
But one day she felt a tingle she had often experienced when her father attempted to find her, only this time, it was different.
It wasn't her father; it was Rasiel...
She immediately established a deep connection with him and patiently waited for his arrival.
Eventually, she encountered him during a moment when he was in a deep trance, allowing her to break through his defenses and enter his dream.
Feeling his presence drawing closer, she decided to go on a shopping spree, buying clothes she knew he would enjoy seeing her in.
Just as she thinks she can finally leave, she feels that familiar tingle once more. This time, it's not Rasiel or a single Follower; instead, there are at least four of them, and they are close.
She can't utilize her powers in this vessel to tear them apart, as it would create a direct connection to her father and result in her losing everything once more.
However, even without her eldritch powers, she should not be underestimated. During her countless rebirths in different universes, she learned a language feared even by her kind.
Strangely, her understanding of it improved further after merging with the soul.
Setting the bags down, she walks toward the nearest fire alarm switch to create chaos, potentially disappearing within the crowd and also ensuring the safety of the humans in the shopping center.
If this plan fails, she would resort to the seals she had prepared in advance.
*WEEE-OOO, WEEE-OOO*
Since the shopping center has four exits, she blends in with a group of people, intending to walk out of one of them. However, she spots a Follower standing with a group of humans, halting everyone to check them at the exit.
So she leaves that group and tries another, but Followers are stationed at every exit. Soon, there is no one left except the Followers, their human underlings, and her in the center, as they begin to encircle her.
So she has no choice but to take out a folded paper from her bag and place it on the ground, whie waiting for her stalkers to approach.
As the first group, led by a high-ranking Follower, appears with about ten people, she uses a folding knife to cut her hand.
She presses her bleeding hand onto the Enochian seal, sending out an impulse that affects both the Follower and the humans.
They all begin shaking uncontrollably before collapsing to the ground, paralyzed. She immediately starts running in the direction they came from.
However, when she reaches the exit, a massive metal gate descends and halts her escape.
"Cthylla, my dear, why are you fleeing? Don't you want to reunite with your father?" says one of the three Followers who appeared behind her.
Meanwhile, the humans positioned themselves along the walls, forming a crowd, as if they had come to witness a spectacle.
"No, I'll pass," Cthylla replies, reaching into her bag to retrieve more seals.
"Don't you remember the consequences of disobeying me? Perhaps I need to remind you, just as I did last time."
Remaining calm, Cthylla says, "You wouldn't dare. Even you need this world to heal yourself."
"Ha! Who said I would destroy it? I simply kill those you care about. Perhaps your parents or the abomination that follows you around," said the Follower, as Cthulhu's symbol manifested on his head, gradually spreading down his body, leaving only his left hand untouched.
In the next moment, his body, except for the hand, starts to deform and writhe. The only discernible feature is a pair of green glowing eyes, presumably where his head should be, within the shapeless mass.
{Give up, daughter. Daddy is here!} the transformed Follower uttered in a grotesque voice.
Suddenly, the bloody head of the paralyzed Follower lands between Cthylla and the other Followers.
"Well, that sounded disturbing."
"Rasiel!" Cthylla exclaims upon seeing her lover. He waves at her happily before taking off his leather jacket and throwing it to the ground.
"So, gentlemen and ugly tentacle monsters, shall we begin? No offense, love," says Rasiel with a wink at Cthylla, opening his arms as an invitation to anyone who dares to stand in their way.