“What do you mean you had an affair with an eldritch horror?”
She wouldn’t look up at me, her brown eyes trained on her hands clasped in her lap. Her brown hair fell over her shoulder, partially obscuring her face. This is definitely not how I imagined this night going.
I stood up and started to pace. We were in my bedroom. I’d even cleaned it today, looking forward to tonight. Taylor and I had been dating for a couple of month now, and we had never been alone and in my bedroom before.
‘It wasn’t an affair.’ She whispered. ‘We weren’t really dating at that point.’
‘I just don’t get it, Tay. What the hell even is an eldritch horror?’
I wished we would rewind to about ten minutes ago. Things were going well at that point. Tay and I had been making out, and I was getting pretty pumped up. The next minute, she wanted to talk. Fine by me, I thought. We could easily pick up where we’d left off. No way was I prepared for such a strange confession.
‘It’s an Ancient mythical beast. And they’re evil.’
I almost laughed. It sounded ridiculous. Maybe this is just a test. Girls do that sometimes, say weird things to see how you would react. I decided I’d go along with it.
‘Why on earth did you get… involved with one?’
‘I didn’t know what he was. I swear.’ She looked up into my eyes. The look in her eyes frightened me. She seemed so vulnerable and scared.
I sat back down and put my arm around her.
‘It’s ok Tay. I’ve had some weird girlfriends before.’ I grimaced as I remembered Julia. She kissed like an octopus trying to take down a ship.
‘Matt, it’s more complicated than you think. I didn’t want to drag you into this. I knew dating you was a bad idea knowing that it’s still after me. But I really like you. I may even love you.’ The ‘L’ word smacked me right between the eyes. I felt dazed.
‘Tay, I-’ the words stopped in my throat.
Taylor let out a high-pitched scream. Underneath the door, many large grey tentacles had appeared, and were coming towards us. Then the door broke, and I saw that the whole doorway was filled with the wriggling things. I couldn’t see what they were coming from, but whatever it was, it was ginormous.
‘We can get out the window. Come on!’ I said, grabbing Taylor’s hand.
We jumped out into the cold night air and ran for our lives.
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