Brian Keene: Deluge: The Conqueror Worms II

Sarah shut the hatch behind them and latched it. She wiped rain from her eyes. “The White Fuzz?”

“Indeed,” Simon said. “All matter on this planet is being turned into water. The planet still has a core, and is still rotating on its axis, so gravity still exists. Sooner or later though, even the planet’s core will begin to liquefy. As all this occurs, the Earth is being absorbed into another dimension called the Great Deep. I’ll explain in detail while we eat.”

Sarah wasn’t sure what to think as Simon led them into the galley. She glanced at Henry. The boy’s expression seemed to mirror her own confusion.

Caterina and Mylon, who were just coming off watch, were also eating in the galley. Gail was present, as well. Sarah, Henry and Simon took seats next to them. Sarah thanked Gail again for rescuing them. The ship rolled slowly back and forth beneath their feet.

“I trust the night passed uneventfully?” Simon asked Mylon.

“Heard some big splashes out there in the dark,” Mylon said. “And at one point, Caterina thought she heard singing. But other than that, no.”

Sarah had been eating a dry Saltine cracker. When Mylon mentioned the singing, she choked on it, startled and remembering what had happened in Baltimore. It seemed so long ago, now, but the fear was still very real. Henry clapped her on the back and handed her a small juice box. Sarah sipped from the straw and then gasped.

“You okay?” Henry asked.

She nodded, but before she could reply, Caterina spoke up.

“It sounded like a woman. I’m sure I must have imagined it, though.”

Simon frowned. “I’ll have to ask Mr. Novak to go faster. And we need to start doubling the watches.”

“Why’s that?” Mylon asked.

“Because we are being followed.”

“By who?”

“An entity known as Leviathan.”

Sarah choked on her juice.

CHAPTER 78

Henry pounded Sarah on the back, and the others looked at her in concern, except for Simon, who merely arched an eyebrow and stared at her intently. She bent over and coughed some more, before sitting up straight again.

“Are you okay?” Henry asked.

Sarah nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I just choked on my drink.”

“You know the name Leviathan.” Simon’s tone indicated a statement rather than a question.

“I do.”

“May I ask how?”

Sarah closed her eyes and shuddered. Suddenly, she was back in Baltimore again, fleeing through the hallways as the giant, squid-headed monstrosity demolished the hotel, their last safe place of refuge and one of only two buildings not submerged. She could smell the mold and the mildew, hear the sound the creature’s massive tentacles and smaller tendrils made as they lashed through the air, see those huge, baleful eyes looming out of the rain and staring down at them, and hear the sounds her friends made as they died. Only she, Kevin, and Salty had escaped alive.

Now she was the only one left. The weight of it suddenly seemed to press down on her, and Sarah’s thoughts turned once again to Kevin.

“I’ll tell you,” she whispered, opening her eyes again, “but I only want to talk about it once. So how about you get Novak and everyone else down here?”

Simon reached out and gently patted her hand. His palm was warm and dry—a sensation she hadn’t believed could actually exist anymore in this world.

“Of course,” Simon said. “Mylon, would you be so kind as to summon the others? We’ll hear Sarah’s encounter with our foe, and then we’ll talk about what we can do when we face him.”

“Do you really think he’s coming?” Sarah asked.

“Oh, yes. I feel him, even now, getting closer. I am aware of him as he is of us. You see, I’m the one he wants.”

CHAPTER 79

Once they were all gathered together in the galley, Simon thanked the group for their attention.

“We have to make this quick,” Novak warned him. “I dropped anchor because I don’t trust letting us drift. Not with all the debris out there. But we don’t have a guard posted on the decks, and I like that even less.”

“I’ll try to be as succinct as I can,” Simon promised. “Although Sarah has some things to share, as well. ”

She nodded.

“I suppose we’ll start at the beginning,” Simon continued. “In the beginning, God created—”

“I don’t believe in God,” Caterina interrupted.

“Yeah,” Novak said. “I’ve got to be honest, Simon. If this is going to be nothing more than a Sunday School meeting, then I think we should get back to work right now. While we’re down here talking, there’s not telling what could be creeping up on us out there.”

“You may call it God,” Simon said, ignoring them. “Others know it as Yahweh, Allah, etcetera. All the name refers to is the power behind the creation of the universe. Regardless of your individual beliefs, there are certain universal truths, and one of them is that the Creator, whose true name is known only to a handful of people, created the heavens and the Earth. In order to create this new universe, the Creator needed a lot of energy. So the Creator destroyed the universe that existed before ours, down to the very last atom, and utilized the harvested energies as building blocks. The old universe ceased to exist.”

Gail frowned. “So God is Galactus?”

“Pardon?”

She grinned. “Never mind. I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“Thirteen denizens of that previous universe escaped the destruction. These beings are collectively known to my organization and other occultists as the Thirteen. They are not gods or demons, and are not susceptible to the same magic and supernatural laws that govern, banish or bind demons, angels, and other entities. Very specific methods must be used when confronting them. They are one of the reasons Black Lodge was created. The Thirteen have one single-minded goal—the total obliteration of everything the Creator has made, meaning our Earth and all of the other Earths, as well as the rest of our universe.”

“Other Earths?” Henry asked.

“Yes. The universe is composed of alternate realities. In my organization, we referred to these alternate planes of existence as levels. Just as there are different planets in the sky, there are also different versions of those planets, existing simultaneously on a different level of the universe. The Thirteen wish to destroy them all.”

“And Leviathan is one of the Thirteen?” Gail asked.

“Exactly. Our Earth recently came under attack by both Leviathan and Behemoth—two members of the Thirteen. I no longer sense Behemoth’s presence, which means his physical form may have been destroyed.”

“Is Behemoth a giant worm?” Sarah asked. “I mean, bigger than the rest of them?”

“Yes. Don’t tell me you’ve encountered him, as well?”

“I think maybe I have.”

“Then you do indeed have a story to tell. Nevertheless, Leviathan is still present. He is aware of me just as I am aware of him. Black Lodge operatives have stopped him on other levels. As the last of my kind on this Earth, he will seek me out and destroy me. That’s what he is doing right now.”

“But what is he?” Henry asked.

“I had a friend that called him Cthulhu,” Sarah said.

Simon nodded. “That is one name for him, yes. As is Kraken, Tlaloc, Dagon, He of One Thousand Tentacles, and the Lord of the Great Deep. His true size and measurements are unknown. Suffice to say, he is massive. He has a squid-like head, a beard of tentacles, webbed hands and feet, a long tail, and wings.”

“Sounds like Godzilla,” Mylon mumbled.

“That’s a remarkably apt comparison,” Simon said.

Novak groaned. “And now he’s coming for us?”