Eerie Chronicles of Nyxarath

The port town of Dartrath had always been shrouded in a sense of mystery. This could be attributed to its old history and the many folklore born from it. Or the harsh sea that harbors it, which remains rough for most part of the year. But even with this, it was a rather peaceful town. So when Detective Robert Dan was called in to work on a murder case, he was quite surprised and felt a weird sense of discomfort regarding the situation. And as he stood next to the dead body, he could finally understand why he felt so nervous. The body was of a male, almost 30 years of age. The strange part was the bizarre way in which he was killed. His throat was slit, and his stomach was cut open with the intestines falling out. By surveying the surroundings, it was clear that he was killed elsewhere and then dumped over here by the shore. On closer inspection, you could see peculiar symbols drawn on his body with blood, possibly his own. Seeing this, Robert had a thought that he tucked away in the back of his mind and started searching for any clue that he could find. After not finding anything, he barked some orders and drove away from the crime scene. In his car, he lit a cigarette and started thinking back to the crime scene. At the time of investigation, while looking at those symbols, he had immediately thought of religious fanatics or cults, which made him even more frustrated. Robert did not do well with cults.

A few days had gone by since the murder had occurred, but the investigation had yet to make much progress. About a week later, another dead body was reported. Robert arrived at the crime scene and met up with his partner Matt, who gave him the rundown of the situation. The victim this time was a female mid-20s. Cause of death was determined to be multiple stab wounds to the abdomen. Everything about this murder was different from the last one, so much so, that one could argue that it was a different case altogether. If only it wasn’t for those strange symbols appearing again, the only connecting link between the two murders. And this time, as well, there were no clues at the scene that could help to at least point in the general direction of the murderer. After determining that there was nothing else to see there, Robert decided to head back.

Back at the police station, he sat at his desk, reviewing the case files again to see, if maybe he missed something. At some point, Matt also joined in the brainstorming session. They went over all the statements taken from family members, co-workers, and other related parties. Matt, who was in charge of identifying the symbols, also came up empty-handed. This was probably as expected, considering he wasn’t knowledgeable in the field, and the amount of information he could get was surface-level. This meant that the current situation required the expertise of someone well-informed. As soon as he thought of an expert, he immediately recalled an old friend. As he slunk back in his chair, he thought that it was time to call in a favor.

After putting down his phone, Robert proceeded to email the pictures of the symbols to his friend. Ethan Jones, an old friend of Robert’s, was a historian as well as a leading specialist in the field of archaeology. He had also written books in which he had deciphered arcane symbols that were found in different ruins and the possible history behind them. So, he was, in all likelihood, the best person who could shed light on what those mysterious symbols were that appeared on the bodies.

After Robert had sent the email, he decided to sit back and wait for news from Ethan. As he closed his eyes, his thoughts became muddled. What if this wasn’t a cult activity and the symbols were just a psychotic serial killer leaving a calling card of some sort? Or if it’s just a way to distract them while the killer strikes again? While having such thoughts, his phone rang. Thinking that it was Ethan, he opened his eyes but saw that it wasn’t his cell phone that was ringing but his landline. Feeling a bad sense of premonition, he picked the phone. After listening for a few seconds, he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. Another murder had come to pass.

It had been a few weeks. Since the last one, two more homicides had been committed, bringing the total body count to 5. It was a grave situation that had caught the attention of the higher-ups. Robert, being the primary investigator and having no lead on the case, was taking the full brunt of that pressure. A specialized task force had been brought in to take over the investigation. This was now fully considered a serial killing investigation, and a curfew after sundown was to be observed with additional officers stationed across town. After the task force began working on the case, it only took them a few days, after which they had completely taken over the case. While this had irked Matt, Robert, on the other hand, felt like this was for the better. There had been five homicides with no clue as to who could’ve done it or why. Maybe some new perspective is what this case needed. So, he distanced himself from the investigation, and although he kept himself in the loop, his participation in the case was merely surface-level. But even though there were now many competent detectives working on the case, they hadn’t made much progress. Well, at least there weren’t any more murders happening. Which was a good thing, but it meant one of the two things: either the murderer had accomplished his objective and fled. Or he was waiting for the security to become lax before striking again. Unfortunately, the only thing they could do right now was wait and continue with the investigation. But they wouldn’t be waiting for long, as they would be facing a big breakthrough in the case soon after.

One night, when Robert and Matt were out on patrol, a call was radioed in about a suspicious person who was apprehended by the docks, who could be a suspect regarding the recent strings of murder. Hearing this, Robert quickly sped up the car and made his way towards the docks. Upon reaching there, he saw that apart from themselves, there were two uniformed officers, probably the ones who called it in, and two other figures. One was a female who was lying on her side, presumably dead. The last one was a male on his knees with his hands cuffed behind his back. He had an empty expression on his face. It didn’t even feel like he acknowledged them as they arrived on the scene. Matt started asking the officers questions regarding what had transpired. They officers to him that they had been stationed to patrol the docks and its surrounding areas. They had finished their shift about half an hour ago and were on their way back when they noticed an odd figure. Upon following it, they came across the man as he stood in front of the corpse of the woman. They had instantly moved towards detaining him and calling it in. The story continued on till Robert and Co’s arrival. Soon, the forensic department came onto the crime scene and started isolating it according to protocol. The man was sent ahead with some of the detectives from the task force to the station where he was to be identified and questioned. Robert decided to stay behind and take a look at the body. He started examining the woman. The usual symbols were still there, and she had been stabbed through her right eye with a dagger, which seemed like the primary cause of death. The dagger had a strange shape with a weird, swirly blade. From the state of the blood and the body, it looked like she had died not too long ago. After inspecting the body, he left Matt to deal with everything there and headed to the police station. While on the way there, he kept thinking back on the suspect’s gaze that he saw back there. It remained the same throughout the whole time he was there. Even while he was being arrested and escorted out of there, it remained the same blank stare. And for some reason, Robert felt creeped out as he recalled it. Trying to get that thought out of his mind, he started pondering over all the questions that might be answered now that the prime suspect had been caught. It had been a rough month or so for him, and realizing the fact that this could be the end of this case made him a little excited.

When he reached the station, he wasn’t surprised to hear that he hadn’t talked about the murders yet. But to not have said a single word in almost an hour was quite weird. He made his way to the investigation room to get an update on the case. The whole office was in an uproar upon hearing the news that, finally, someone of relevance to the case was brought in, and they were trying to find out about him as much as they could. As he asked around the room, he found out that they had identified the man to be Andrew Smith. He worked as an accountant in a small firm. Two officers had gone to check out his place of residence, while another one went to gather information about him at his place of employment. Since he wasn’t willing to speak, this made the whole inquiry process very annoying. Robert approached the head of the task force, Chief Jackson, and requested authorization to let him interrogate Andrew once. Since not just anybody could talk to a suspect of a high-profile case, it was difficult for Robert to talk to him. But the Chief had gotten to know Robert over the past few weeks and knew that he was a good person and an even better detective, so they had developed a mutual sense of trust between them. And since he was leading the case in the beginning and was chasing the culprit for a longer time, he decided to authorize it for one time only. Robert showed his appreciation for this show of respect and made his way to the interrogation room where Andrew was being held. He stood outside the room, trying to compose himself, organizing all the questions that he wanted to ask in his head. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and came face to face with the potential originator of all this chaos.

He sat down in front of Andrew. Andrew, who had been just staring ahead, didn’t even glance in his direction. Robert saw the same emptiness in his eyes that he saw back then. He started asking him questions regarding the murders one by one: Why did he do it? What was his connection with the victims? And for all of them, he received no response. Lastly, he asked about something that he was particularly curious about: the symbols and what was the link between them and the murders. As soon as he finished his question, he noticed the slight change of expressions on Andrew's face as he met his eyes for the first time and broke out in a smile. So, seeing that that was what sparked an interest in him, he decided to further probe on the subject. He asked about the origin of those symbols and whether this killing spree was fueled by some religious intent behind it or if it was some kind of cultist agenda? Robert’s aim was to let Andrew slip up some facts regarding the murders because a verbal confession was the best way to tie him to all the homicides. He hadn’t left much physical evidence behind at the crime scenes, and there would be a good chance that he might only be convicted for the most recent murder. So, the best way to go about this would be to hear it from his own mouth. But as he was asking the questions, he only looked back at him with an eerie smile. He couldn’t quite put a finger on why it was weird, but it made him feel creeped out. And after he was done asking the questions, he waited for him to answer. But the answer didn’t come. And a minute later, Andrew started cackling with laughter. Suddenly, he jumped up from his seat, brought his face as close to Robert’s as he could, and started shouting, “All for the savior, Nyxarath.” For a person, who wasn’t even willing to talk a couple of minutes ago, to abruptly exhibit such behavior was strange, and he was taken a back by it. He waited for the laughter to die down, but seeing that it wouldn’t be stopping anytime, he got up and left the room. He wanted to get more information out of him, but that would prove to be difficult. And he was really hoping that they would get some evidence from his home or place of work or might find someone who would testify against him. After reporting to the Chief of what had occurred during the investigation, he set off to his place of residence. On the way there, he kept recalling what Andrew had said to him. He had spoken of a savior, and although Robert had no idea what he was talking about, this had further solidified his suspicion that this was some form of cult-related activity. The only way to confirm it, was to find some type of evidence, and his home was probably the one place where he could get it.

Upon arriving at the address, he met up with Matt, who had arrived there earlier. Together, they entered the house. It was a small single-storey dwelling with only a couple of rooms, so there wasn’t much ground to cover. They began going through the rooms, searching for any clues that the search team might’ve missed. Turning up empty-handed, they regrouped in the living room. Robert knew that anything incriminating would have been hidden away in a secret place. Feeling discouraged from the failed search, he was about to leave when he was stopped by Matt, who had noted something strange about the living room table. At first glance, it seemed like a normal table, but upon closer inspection, you could see that the table top wasn’t in line with the bottom. He tried twisting it a little to the other side, and a hidden compartment was revealed with a few articles placed in it. They started scanning the whole compartment and found a few papers and pictures in it. But the thing that caught Robert’s eye was a book that was placed in the center. It was a big book with a black leather cover. The book had an ominous feeling to it. He took it out and flipped through it. It was full of bizarre pictures and symbols, similar to the ones he had seen on the corpses. There were some pictures of an island that looked vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t figure out where he had seen it. They carefully secured the items and made their way back to the station. When they returned, they were met with a state of panic in the station. After inquiring with a nearby officer about it, they came to know that the most unexpected situation had occurred. Andrew had committed suicide while being held in lock-up. The news of his death shocked a lot of people, including Robert. Apparently, he had hidden a small piece of razor-blade on his person. And while he was locked up, with no one looking, he secretly slit his carotid and bled to death. Initially, he had thought that if confronted with the new evidence found in his home, Andrew might’ve become more cooperative with the investigation. But this new turn of events had left him feeling lost as to where this case would go. Despite the fact that most of his workmates and acquaintances had mostly good things to say about him, Andrew was still considered the primary suspect in this case, considering his presence near the recent victim’s body as well as his uncooperative attitude. And sure enough, a little more than a week later, a statement was released regarding the death of the suspected serial murderer, and the case was officially closed. As for the stuff that was found at his home, Robert first showed it to two people from the task force, who were interested at first but later dismissed it as the possessions of a crazy person who didn’t have any substantial relevance to it. Then, it caught the intrigue of Matt, who took the book and kept it for the purpose of researching it. A few days went by, and things were finally starting to settle down. The task force was disbanded, and all the officers who were brought in from police headquarters to be a part of the team went back to resume their respective jobs. The fear that had settled in among the people due to the serial killer, had started to dissipate, and it felt like peace was slowly returning to Darthrath once more. As Robert recommenced his duties that he had put on halt during the case, he slowly began to put this incident behind him and was finally able to get a good night’s sleep after almost two months. But he was completely unaware of the horrors that lurked in the darkness.

One day, while finishing up his paperwork, he received a call from Chief Jackson, who informed him that Detective James and Emily had passed away. This news came as a shock to him, but what surprised him even more was the fact that they had both committed suicide. Robert had gotten to know them while they were a part of the task force. He was quite impressed by their work ethic and problem-solving abilities and actually enjoyed working with them. So the fact that they had died by suicide, was unsettling for him because he had seen them about a week ago. He asked the Chief some questions, like had they left a suicide note or if it really was a suicide. The Chief replied to him that the investigation was done and both had shot themselves to death. After ending the call, he took a minute to process this news. After a while, he picked up the phone and called Matt. He knew James from his days in the police academy and had also gotten acquainted with Emily while working on the case. So he wanted to inform him of their passing. But he didn’t pick up. Strangely enough, he hadn’t seen or heard from him in a couple of days, so he asked a few officers if they had seen him. Only one person recalled seeing him, saying that the last time he saw, was a few days ago, when he was coming out of the evidence locker. Robert tried calling him again, but once again, there was no answer. Concerned, he decided to pay him a visit at his house. When he arrived there, he saw that his car was parked in the driveway. He rang the bell. No answer. After waiting for a minute, he went around the house and tried to look in through a window, but the curtains were drawn. He tried his phone again, and he could hear his phone ringing from inside the house. He saw his neighbors and inquired if they knew where they had gone. No one had seen them for the past few days. Fearing the worst, he borrowed some tools from the neighbor and tried to break in. As he opened the door, he saw a sight that shocked him to his core. Matt, his wife, and his daughter lay dead on the ground.

As he slowly walked into the house, he had a difficult time believing what he saw. He saw Matt lying in a pool of his own blood, with a knife sticking out of his chest. Taking a closer look, the knife looked similar to the dagger that was used in the previous murders. Snapping out of his thought process, he quickly called for support. After calling it in, he carefully stepped out of the house lest he contaminate the crime scene. He took a look around the house and saw that there were two security cameras at the front and back door. He got in touch with his subordinate and told him to get the footage from the cameras for the past few days. Meanwhile, the forensic team showed up at the house. For those who had worked with Matt before, the situation before them was shocking. While they worked on the crime scene, in the meantime, Robert decided to take a look around the room. He had been in this house a few times before to have dinner with his partner’s family, but he never thought he would ever see a scene like this. As he glanced through the room, his eyes became fixated on one particular object that was placed on the table: the black book.

Robert sat in his room, still trying to process the events of the past few days. The murder of Matt and his family was declared Murder-Suicide because all the evidence pointed to it. The security footage revealed that nobody other than Matt, had entered or left the house. There were no signs of anyone else being in there. And yet, the whole scenario seemed unreal to him. He knew Matt for more than a few years now, and for him, his family was his everything. Committing suicide was one thing, but killing his wife and daughter as well just didn’t sit right. Then, there was the case of the two detectives killing themselves. And then his mind went back to the book and the dagger. He felt like both of those had a mysterious connection to it all. So he decided to talk to the one person who might be able to tell him what was going on. He quickly made a call and left for the police station to collect the book and dagger from the evidence locker before hurriedly making his way to his destination.

On the way, he started thinking back on his first cult-like experience, long before this. He once had an uncle, Albert, who was an archaeological researcher. He was his father’s younger brother. He was incredibly knowledgeable in his field of study. Robert was close with his uncle, and every time he visited, he would tell Robert about a lot of things. Although Robert couldn’t understand most of the things he said, he still enjoyed his company. But when he was 11 years old, his uncle started to change. His visits shifted from once every month to once a year, and then he stopped visiting altogether. His father would sometimes go to check up on him, but he would usually return in a bad mood. The one time he got to meet him was when he tagged along with his father. His uncle had changed a lot. He was quieter and had become aloof. A few years went by like this, and then, when he was 17, he decided to visit his uncle with his father. While his father was talking with him, Robert was told to wait in the car. Some time passed, and curious about what was taking them so long, he went inside to find them. When he opened the door to the study, he was met with a scene that left him absolutely stunned in place: his father lying face down on the ground, blood gushing out his body. His uncle stood over him with a bloodied knife in his hands. He then locked his eyes with Robert and gave a slight smile before slitting his own neck. They both were unable to survive. Later, it was found that he had gotten involved in some satanic cult practices and had killed a lot of small animals and birds as a sacrifice. His reasons for killing his brother and himself remained unknown. Nonetheless, this incident left Robert with a huge trauma. That was the reason why he didn’t want to involve himself much with the serial murder investigation. But with the situation he was in right now, it was high time he faced his trauma and figured out what was going on before other people got involved in these bizarre circumstances.

Robert sat across from Ethan in his study, waiting patiently while he examined the book and dagger. After fifteen minutes of examination, he broke the silence. He told him that he hadn’t come across the language written in this book before. Robert told him about all the things that had happened leading up to this point. This puzzled Ethan as well. A book that causes people to kill themselves or others was something unheard of. While they were contemplating, he suddenly recalled something and decided to consult with him regarding it. He filled him in on what had happened while interrogating Andrew and about “Nyxarath.” Hearing this, Ethan paused for a second and then quickly started searching for something on his computer. After finishing his search, he explained to him about the accounts of mythical creatures that were said to have existed at the beginning of time, that he had seen in old scriptures and ruins. One such creature was Nyxarath. He also told him about a magical book called the ElderTome that contained knowledge of the universe and could be used to communicate with all these beings. He always thought that these were just myths, but seeing the book in front of him, he started thinking that this might be the fabled ElderTome. Ethan asked him if he could keep book with him and let him do some research and see what turns up. So, with no results, he decided to head back.

In his deep slumber, Robert kept seeing strange visions. He lay submerged in absolute darkness, feeling completely numb. Then, images of the symbols, the book, and the dagger started floating in his head. One by one , he started seeing the faces of all the murder victims, moments before they died. And when they took the dagger to their bodies, he could see the bliss in their eyes. And as they breathed their last, they thanked their savior, Nyxarath, for the chance to be offered as a sacrifice for it. And then Andrew appeared with that chilling smile on his face, devoid of any emotion. Suddenly, he started hearing a faint voice, almost hypnotic, that kept on telling him that in order to end it, he must go to where it began. And then the image of the island that he saw in Andrew’s house slowly came into view. With a startle, he woke up, drenched in sweat. Having a moment of clarity, he quickly got up, grabbed his coat, and left his house.

By the time he reached the shore, it had started pouring heavily. The thunderstorm made for low visibility, but after peering into the distance, he was able to spot the island that was in the pictures. It wasn’t very far away, but the tumultuous waves would make it difficult to reach there. Usually, Robert would wait for the waves to settle down before departing, but something kept compelling him to leave now. So he got a small boat from nearby and set off for the island. He was expecting a rather arduous journey crossing those monstrous waves. But to his surprise, he felt like he was being led to the island by the forces of nature themselves. After a short journey, he finally managed to land on the island. When he started moving, he felt like a mysterious force was guiding him to someplace. After some time had elapsed, he came across a mysterious cave. Traversing through the cave, he soon arrived at a peculiar-looking stone wall. It had strange engravings on it, resembling the symbols in the book. It had a small cavity in it; instinctively, he took out the dagger and pushed it through. Nothing happened. Suddenly, cracks started forming in the wall, and light began seeping through them. Then, there was an ear-deafening shrill, after which he passed out. When he woke up, he was outside the cave. Taking his bearings, he looked around and saw that the skies had cleared up. Though uncertain of what had happened there, he had this ominous foreboding that something was wrong. He quickly made his way back to town.

By the time he got back, it was 7 o’clock, but, weirdly, it was still completely dark out. Slowly, the area became enveloped in a foggy haze. Simultaneously, a high-pitched wail was heard. Distressed, people started pouring out of their houses. Suddenly, the stars began flickering out of existence one by one until there was absolute darkness. And then they appeared: two massive eyes in the sky. After seeing it, people dropped to their knees. Some laughed in hysteria, while some cried in despair. Others prayed to their God, while some bowed to the entity in the sky. The being spoke directly into their minds, and as it said its name, the sky began splitting, and the earth cracked. As he watched the world crumble and burn to the ground, Robert came to terms with his inevitable demise. He closed his eyes and whispered the name of this harbinger of destruction: Nyxarath.