The house of Dar-Sek

the house of dar-sek by Kristoff N. Chester

When I first started my project researching magnetic fields I never considered the revelations that would be shown to me. I dare say that not since Moses atop mount Cyanide has any mortal ever had such an experience. Such disturbing and relieving truths. Even now I am unsure if I am damned or should rejoice.

I remember the beginning, when I started moving all my equipment into the old run down building just beyond the limits of Peeksport. I felt rather uncomfortable being so far out and alone. The inhabitants of the closest form of civilization were off putting at best and some made me fear for my life, the way they looked at me. The house was much the same, the paint on it’s wood peeled and cracked, the wood itself was bent and wrapped. It was a humble building with one floor and was surrounded on all sides by trees most looked gnarl like hands which at any moment could snare the building and drag it into the earth.

Inside was little improvement the signs of vermin were everywhere, webbing and rat droppings the air stunk with dust and age. The bare empty rooms seemed miserable and made me feel almost pity, if I were to see a creature with such an aura I would put it down out of mercy. The inhabitants were also trapped in sorrow, the mice and rats didn’t even try to run from me, they simply slumped and crawled along the floor. The spiders were far worse, much larger than any I had seen before they did not hurry around but rather crept feeling no need to hide in their domain.

I was all too glad to start working on my research. The house in question was said to have strange anomalies occur due to a effect by the earth’s magnetic fields. True enough I noticed a feeling of displacement and nervousness within the walls. Objects seemed to lean and tilt on their own. Even I felt like I would be pushed over at any moment. My equipment did show signs of magnetic influence, but even still something seemed wrong. My readings often would contrast in slight ways like there were two different fields in the same space.

My charts and graphs didn’t show any indication that such an event should happen. I ran the tests over and over every time it would do the same thing giving the two different readings. Growing frustrated with this odd result I tried restarting my equipment, yet still the results came unchanged. I decided to check the generators I had brought to power my devices, perhaps they were somehow to blame.

I went outside and turned them off then restarted them as I did there was a sudden buzz sound and a flash of light as an arch of electricity rose from the generators, in it’s wake the air seemed to cut like all I saw was a painting being ripped, leaving a gap in which I saw a creature, a large powerful bodied feline, in spite of it’s muscles it’s ribs were exposed and protruding tendrils. The beast gazed at me with bright eyes and in that moment I felt my heart stop I knew it had seen me. Suddenly the image was gone the generators hummed like normal and nothing was out of place.

I slumped against a tree wondering so many things. What was that? Had that really happened? It seemed like I had looked into the opening forever and at the same time it was instant. I trembled, I couldn’t get that image from my mind, the way it locked eyes on me, the way the tendrils writhed as if looking for something to coil around. I noticed that the sun was setting and rather than camp out in that house I would brave the unpleasant people of the nearby town. I took a room in the little motel and crawled into my bed wishing that the image would not haunt my dreams.

sleep was black and quick, I was woken by my clock at 7 AM. It seemed like I had just closed my eyes. reluctantly I returned to the house still weary and tired. I felt as if I had not slept at all. I forced myself to try and work testing how the field, or rather fields reacted to objects and how they changed over the time of day, everything seemed to drag there were times I would swear my clock stopped. I passed it off as an effect of the odd magnetic fields.

I felt a great reluctance with testing electrical objects. I did not want to risk another strange image. Every moment seemed to tug at me. More than once I felt myself nodding, my eyelids closing to snap open again suddenly. I gasped and felt the chill and trembling again as if I had seen that image again, I wondered if I had and it was just too fast to recall. Things only grew worse as the day progressed. I found myself as if suddenly waking up drawing in my notebook, that evil image with it’s glaring eyes, but as I looked at it I started to wonder if it looked like it was glaring or if perhaps it was in shock.

I destroyed the picture I found it hard enough to forget what i saw without having to look at a scribbled version. I ripped it and cast the bits of paper outside cursing whatever took hold of me to draw it in the first place. Even with it gone I couldn’t forget it. I decided that I needed a rest so I left the house and returned to the town, I went to the town hall and asked for information about the house I was studying, the archivist’s records yielded very little, only that it’s last owner was in 1937. The owner shot himself and was discovered weeks later, strangely there was a newspaper article claiming the man’s body had not rotted at all as if he has only suddenly died.

I returned to the house and tried to think only of my work. My phone vibrated and when I picked it up again I heard the buzz and dropped my phone as a intense pain flashed through my hand and up my arm. I fell to the ground and looked up to see a tall tired man trembling as he clutched a gun tightly. He muttered as he looked at the gun, I shouted to him but he ignored me and put the nose to his head and fired.

The gunshot was still ringing in my ear even though the man was gone. Just as before nothing was out of place in fact it was oddly silent. I sat there pondered what I had seen, had I seen a moment in time? More so, was this new sight caused randomly or could I reproduce such a result?

I felt a rush at such a thought, to bend time... The possibilities were limitless. Suddenly I remembered the other sighting, the feline beast. No such creature has been on earth at any point, how could I have seen such a thing if this place allows one to look into glimpses of the past? I knew what I had to do, I had to intentionally try and make another electrical rip in time.

I started to fiddle with my devices however I could anything to make a sudden change in the electric flow around them. The house was aglow with everything I had on and just has I was going to give up I heard it again, the buzz and suddenly light flooded the house I covered my eyes and cried out in pain as I felt more shocking pain pulse through me. I could hear the sound of ripping and dared to open my eyes.

Before me was a massive hole in my sight filled with bare empty land. Unlike before the hole didn’t vanish, it remained, gaping like a open wound. Fearfully I reached out, I could feel the ground within it, covered in crisp dry and dead grass. I trembled as I slowly inched forward and entered the opening. I stood in what may have once been a field of grass now it was dead and bare. I looked behind me and could see the rip, and in it the room I had just been in. I wanted to flee but something told me this was too rare of an event. I had to bring something back with me for study.

The landscape was blank all around me, no trees no buildings, nothing. Just miles of dead grass. I looked up and saw the sun was hanging low in the sky, I decided to head for it, knowing I was at least ether heading east or west depending on if it was sunrise or sunset. Has I walked the sun went lower into the sky telling me I was headed west. If this was like the world I had just walked out from I would be heading toward the town, but it never came into view. I started to ponder if I should go back, wherever I was, it clearly had no life. I shivered thinking if I had stumbled into the past or into the future. As I was going back the way I
came I saw the first sign of life I had ever seen in this strange world.

It was a man, he wore nothing and was walking along seemingly oblivious to me. I was unsure if I should call out to him, I decided to follow him for a while, if I was right about the sun setting in the west, the man was heading generally to the north. He walked through the dead grass without stopping, he never stopped to notice anything which made me realize that there was nothing to notice. No animals making noise no trees nor clouds, even the air seemed still.

As it grew darker I decided to try and communicate with the man. I called out to him and he stopped instantly, he turned to me and rose his hand while slowly shuffling toward me. Standing before me I could clearly make out the details of his face. His skin was gray and his eyes were sunk in his head, he looked dead, his skin clung tightly to his bones and organs. He smiled to me and held out his arms.

“hello you.” he said in a dry voice. “You must be what I have been looking for. The spawn Skep said they saw you close by here.” I felt a chill remembering the beast, it had a name, and apparently spoke. “I do not know where you are from, you look human. You must be from the other earth.” I was speechless at all this with just a few words this man had made me question everything I ever knew, everything I ever thought. “Do not be so worried. You are very lucky to have come here. This place is like your world, but also not. I can explain if you wish.” I backed away, unsure if I wanted to hear more. I thought of the portal I had made and feared it would be closed now and yet I wanted to understand this world.

So I walked with this strange naked man, he told me that this earth had once been just like the one I came from, but an event happened here that changed the course of history for it. He told me of a being, a god from another earth, mine possibly called Dar-sek.

“ I was afraid like you, I remember it so well. I struggled I refused at first but slowly I started to understand. Dar-sek had given me the gift of irrelevance. Her spawn took my life and Dar-sek has taken the life from this world. We are as flies on cattle. This may sound bad and depressing but in truth it is liberation. Being significant is a burden. I only wish I had understood it sooner.” His words proved he was utterly mad I strongly considered fleeing but I realized I was hopelessly lost now there was nothing for me but to keep with this man and hear his ranting.

“The spawn chased me, I fought, but still the gave me the gift. Most were not so lucky. many were food for Dar-sek, just like this world.” He frowned “That was a bit sad I guess. So many died but I suppose that isn’t so bad, death and undeath are a lot alike only in my state I can reflect and enjoy the fact I have nothing to care about.” he paused and looked ahead. “we’re here.” he gestured ahead and I could see something on the horizon I walked closer and instantly regretted it.
It rose from the ground going up into the heavens like the blasphemous tower of Babylon, a massive tower swaying side to side as I got closer I could see it was made of flesh covered in a fine black fur. I reached out but at my touch it swayed away from me.

“Once her hold was weak, the spawn and we who were given the gift protected her bond all the while the life of this world, every bit of it was siphoned out, then the people and animals, most fought, but it was a losing battle. Not much mortals can do against a god, is there?” The man shuffled forward and stood beside me. “personally I think this world is all dry, but she keeps it for some reason, maybe you?” I didn’t have time to ponder as suddenly the beast I had seen before prowled out from behind the massive tendril. It gave a low roar and stepped forward. “You remember Skep, don’t you?” The man chuckled as he stepped away. I turned and ran in panic, I could hear it behind me. The sound of it’s paws pounding on the dead grass it’s deep breaths. I screamed as I felt it’s weight on my back, I fell to the ground and started to struggle. I ended up on my back looking into it’s eyes.

It looked almost excited as it loomed over me. I could feel it’s tendrils slithering over my chest. I waited for it to bite, to kill me with the large fangs in it’s jaws, but it didn’t bite or claw. It almost seemed gentle than it started to heave and gag. It opened it’s mouth wide and a thick orange sludge gushed out onto my face. I spat and shook my head trying to get the vile substance off and keep it from my mouth.

the creature, Skep has the man had called it stepped away, it’s tail wagged and suddenly I felt as if my mind was being inflated like something was being forced in. I staggered away, no idea where I was going or anything else. My mind was bombarded with thoughts none of them my own. Thoughts of places I had never seen and beings. Such frightening beings I wanted to pull my skull apart.
I thought of Dar-sek, banished long ago from my earth by the spiteful Chibia and her feast on the planets of this other reality’s solar system. Or rather these thoughts were put into my mind, I felt weak my breath was shallow and raspy.
I finally saw it, the portal by which I had come here. I ran faster than I had ever ran before and flung myself though back into the room of that decaying old house. I looked back into it and grabbed the nearest device I could and turned it off. In the blink of an eye it was gone the portal vanished without a sound. I laid there for what seemed like hours, but given everything that had happen I had no idea how time should be measured anymore.

I sat up and took a deep breath, it was hard to do honestly. It was that deep struggled breath that made me realize everything that had happened. That monster, that vile slime that had covered my face. That was the “gift of irrelevance” the man had mentioned. Am I going to be like him? Will I become a walking corpse? More so, if I had gained insight from it, did that mean that the monster, or it’s birth-er Dar-sek had learned from me? did it know how and where to open a portal to my earth? Maybe that is why it let me go. So I could in time be turned, and in service to it I would open a portal big enough for a tendril to come through, and feed on my world.

I have pondered this for many days. What can I do? Should I destroy myself and stop myself from opening such a gate? Is there a point to that? how long before someone else mistakenly opens such a door and gets their so called “gift”? If I do open the door, maybe I will be given mercy and be allowed to die.

Or maybe my death will be the end of it all together. No of course someone else will find out and open it. Better to be the villain and get the reward of a traitor. Is that my own idea, or something put there by Dar-sek? I can’t deny there is a logic to it or can I, and I simply and being made to think I can not? My death would only prolong things… no I can stop it here and now I’ll burn this house down. So there is no reason for anyone to come. That will bring people they will need to investigate they will find my research, my equipment they will know and they will open the door. Then I’ll destroy my equipment and notes and everything. But so much discovering, surely it can still be put to good use somehow. NO only evil came come from it, only Dar-sek, But surely there is more out there, other worlds. Maybe things that could help us against it … no nothing could not something like that. Maybe... no... perhaps … impossible.... what if … it's feudal...