Edward and the Eldritch Horrors

“Thank you everybody for coming out tonight!”

The crowd cheered as we prepared for our final song of the night. I looked over at our lead singer, Isaac; there was a massive grin on his face. We had so many fans packed in one area that could barely fit inside the bar we were playing in. It was just like what Isaac would tell me back when we were in sixth, maybe seventh grade.

“Edward, just you wait, we’re going to have so many fans screaming at us! And lots of girls too! And lotsa’ monayyyyy!” He would proudly say. After we had our little motivational talk, we would down an orange cream soda like it was a shot of whisky and then play a bunch of random notes and chords on our guitars. Isaac’s girlfriend at the time, Ali who is now our drummer, would smack the drums as if she were hammering nails into wood. We thought it was awesome, although to the outside observer we looked like fucking losers.

Well, we aren’t fucking losers anymore, and I couldn’t be happier. It was clear Isaac felt the same, at least I thought he did. I peeked back over just to take in that look of excitement and accomplishment that he had on his face one more time, but it was totally gone. He had a cold stare, almost as if something was spooking him out. I finished tuning my bass and quickly made my way to his side.

“Dude, are you alright?” I asked, I was honestly quite concerned. I hoped he wasn’t OD-ing right at the end of our show. Ever since we hit it big - well, big for us - he started doing heavy drugs and drinking a lot. There would be times during our recording sessions when he would talk about seeing stuff on the walls coming towards him. He talked of eyes and arms and legs in an amalgamation of something only God could love. He was always tripping, and Ali and I were sure he would kick the bucket sooner rather than later.

“Focus up guys, we can’t keep the crowd waiting!” Ali barked at us. I looked over at her and nodded my head. When I looked back at Isaac it was clear he hadn’t snapped out of his trance. I looked in the direction he was staring. I gazed upon a disgusting sight. It looked like a man in Klansman’s robes. I scoffed and looked him up and down, sizing up the racist fucker. Something caught my eye, something that wasn’t typical for most Klansman robes. A black eye was printed onto the belly of the robe.

“Odd, must be a new fashion trend for those douchebags,” I mumbled and then flipped my gaze back to Isaac. I gave him a firm bitch slap and his eyes immediately locked onto mine.

“Someone like that isn’t even worth looking at, don’t worry about it,” I told Isaac. He nodded to show he understood me and then his cheery showman attitude came right back.

“Alright! We are Edward and the Eldritch Horrors! This is gonna be our last song of the night, once again I just want to thank you all for coming out!” His voice boomed into the microphone, projecting it across every inch of the bar. Once again, the crowd cheered. Some girls threw her underwear up at us on stage, kinda gross if you ask me, but Isaac seemed to be eating up the love. It was also keeping him distracted from the man outside, so I wasn’t judging.

We finished our song and wrapped up everything, putting all of our equipment on our tour bus. Isaac got plenty of ladies in his face after, as to be expected. He was always a lady’s man. Ali and I just grabbed a drink at the bar. While Isaac was off fucking God knows who and God knows where, we downed a couple of Cokes and nasty Bud Lites.

“What got into you two earlier?” Ali asked.

“What are you talking about?” I questioned. It was a broad statement, ‘earlier’ could mean anything. Throughout the day we had a few hiccups in our relationship. This was becoming commonplace, I didn’t like the road he was traveling down. The rockstar persona he was trying to take up didn’t suit us at all, especially not him. I took a large swig of beer and then followed suit with a swig of coke to wash out the piss taste from the Bud Lite.

“During our last song, it’s like something entranced you and Isaac. Well you seemed more angry and Isaac, Isaac was struck with fear. I could see him shaking,” Ali said, concerned.

“We saw some dude outside wearing Klansman’s robes. He had this eye painted on the front of his robes. Looked a bit ominous, but in the end it really just rubbed me the wrong way. For Isaac, though, it seemed to set him off. I bet tripping on acid didn’t help.”

“I could get being mad at the sight of it. Something like that sticks out like a sore thumb in such a liberal town as this. I don’t get being scared of it though. Are you sure Isaac did only acid? He could have taken a million other things. You know how he is,” Ali said, worried. I looked down at my can of beer. I thought about the situation. Ali made a good point, he could have popped a lot of different things at once, it isn’t unlikely from him at all. On top of that, I felt a bit responsible for his decline in health, so hearing such words from Ali didn’t make the problem any better.

Isaac came into the bar and up to our table.

“Come on you guys! We gotta get to our next gig!”

He was super jittery and his eyes were shooting all over the place. He definitely was tripping balls. On top of that he looked and smelled of sex.

“Dude, it isn’t for another two days, the trip to Elk Lick will take only twelve out of those forty eight hours. We are fine. How much shit did you take?” I interrogated Isaac.

“Nothing man, I’m just excited for the next show, come on let's get a move on!”

The ride on our tour bus was quiet. It was clear there was tension between the three of us. Ali and I spent the time playing a few different card games and talking. Isaac stared intently out of the window. It was clear he felt bad about his drug usage. This was always the case. He would do it and then the next day he would mope about it. It wasn’t truly him and he knew it, I think he just felt he had to fit into some sort of persona, and being a crazy partier was part of that persona. Anxiety and stress were most likely the cause of that whole situation. I can somewhat understand: I mean pleasing thousands of people with your art is far from easy.

Isaac kept looking over his shoulder at us. We would glance at him when he would look over and he would quickly spin his head away. Eventually he just started staring at us; when we looked over he would open his mouth and then close it. He was trying to say something but just couldn’t. He was definitely trying to muster up some courage.

Soon, he spat it out.

“I’m sorry, you know I’m trying really hard to be a great friend and I know right now I’m not doing well at that,” Isaac sighed.

“Dude I understand why you do it, you have your struggles. But it gets frustrating when you do it during a gig. You lose track of the fact we are even playing a song! I mean do you remember last night? That Klansman walked by and peered in and you couldn’t take your eyes off him. You were clearly tripping hard, dude,” I lectured, “I mean I know you think it's a part of the whole rockstar package. Drugs, girls, money, beer. But dude, that shit was only cool during the peak of rock and punk rock. People aren’t going to expect you to be something or someone anymore,”

“I know, I know. I didn’t take any drugs during that show though! Only after. I guess that isn’t good anyway but it’s an improvement, right?” Isaac said.

“What do you mean you didn’t take drugs during the show? Are you serious! You were clearly tweaking!” Ali barked.

“What? You’re telling me you didn’t see that shit going on around the dude in the robes? The eyes and flesh and shit?” Isaac started to panic.

“No, that was without a doubt a part of your trip my man,” I looked down and laughed in disbelief. I looked back up at Isaac, “Man, after we finish this tour I’m putting you in rehab. You are fucked dude. What the hell did you take last night?”

“Right I must have been tripping,” Isaac scoffed, mocking me. “Are you serious, I keep telling you about this shit, and you never believe me! Just ‘cause I sometimes do drugs with some chicks after a bangin’ show doesn’t mean I’m doing it 24/7! There's been something wrong ever since we started this tour, and even the last tour, and the one before that! Why can’t-“

Ali cut Isaac off, “Would you shut up! It’s clear you were on drugs then and you might as well be now because what I’m hearing sounds like some fucking bullshit! You are an addict and you know it, it’s not just ‘sometimes’, it’s all the time! Edward and I literally watch you pop them in the bus on our way to shows!”

Tears were forming in her eyes and she began to choke as she spoke, understandably so. They had been sweethearts since they were kids, and then one day Isaac changed. Tension rose between us all and, more so, between Ali and Isaac. Then it was over. Nineteen years gone, yet it was clear they still loved each other; but Ali didn’t want to be with someone who was fake. Hits upon hits, and the crowd wanted someone who matched the music, so Isaac became that person. He became a delinquent that not even a mother could love.

After our little argument ended the whole bus went silent. Not a single word was uttered between any of us. I continued my card games with Ali. The only noise on the entire bus was the movement of cards. I had never seen Isaac so still in his entire life. Soon, we all passed out.

I awoke to the sounds of the bus stopping. Outside the window adjacent to me was a massive lake. There were a few people setting up a stage on a dock. I was looking forward to this venue, it would be an interesting place to play and the environment would be a good change of pace from the bars and auditoriums that our tour usually consisted of. Nearby there was a small bed and breakfast in which the three of us were going to set up shop.

When we got inside there wasn’t a single soul to greet us. A bit odd as we were told this was a friendly place full of life, yet the whole town had seemingly disappeared. So, although I was disappointed in not having the small town vibe that I was expecting, It was still nice. I had a major headache, anyway, from the night before. I was a bit dehydrated, and I also think I picked up some sickness or something at the bar. No big deal though, I was definitely capable of playing some bangers.

The day played out pretty slow. The three of us just practiced separately. Tensions were rising higher and higher. I wouldn’t be so surprised if we ended up splitting apart shortly after our tour. Ali and I were not able to handle Isaac anymore, and I didn’t think Isaac could handle himself.

The next day was a blur. I can only remember bits and pieces. We didn’t say a single word about anything, not even a good morning to each other or a helpful hand while tuning and setting up our stuff. The crowd showed up slowly. Maybe every thirty seconds, a cloaked person would walk out of seemingly nowhere. The robes the people were wearing were just like the one we saw at that bar gig, except that each robe had a different print on the chest. Some were eyes, like the one we already saw, noses, lips, teeth, legs. Each decal was a part of the body, inside and out. There were even some… Well, let’s just say rated R prints on the already offensive robes.

During our show, everything was off. None of us could play right at all. We couldn’t focus on anything. The crowd had no reaction to the atrocity that was our show. They just stood in silence. When we got to our closing song, the same thing happened. Isaac became entranced with one of the people in the crowd. This time, I did as well, and so did Ali. In the middle of the crowd walked a man in a black robe with a red print on the chest. It was a womb. I wanted to puke but all I could do was stare.

As the strange man walked down the middle of the crowd the people parted as if the man were Moses and the others were the Red Sea. The next thing I knew he took a step in front of Ali. He grabbed her stomach and shoved his hand through her skin, deep into her guts. Isaac and I watched, horrified on the inside, but still stuck in the trance. It was like we were only observers on the other side of a TV screen. He removed his hand slowly. Our instruments started to hum, and the drum started to pound a war-like rhythm. They were playing by themselves.

My trance slipped as Ali was shoved off the dock and into the lake. I screamed her name as I threw my instrument down and ran to her, jumping into the lake after her. I watched her sink into the murky abyss. My breath started to run short and I had no choice but to resurface.

My hand breached the water and I grabbed onto the dock. I pulled myself up and rolled onto the edge, coughing and flopping around like a fish out of water. I slowly regained my energy, and once I felt I could, I shakily stood up. Each time I tried to stand back on my feet I would fall to my knees. Sitting up on my knees was the best I could do. My vision was a bit blurred, I could barely tell what was going on.

There were groups of people walking onto the dock. They might have been naked? I couldn’t tell. Behind me, I heard loud splashing as if people were jumping into the lake. “What is happening?” I thought to myself. I was scared for my life, yet nobody came near me, until the man in the black robe approached me. Scared he would do to me what he did to Ali, I covered my stomach, protecting it with all the will I had.

“Don’t fucking come near me!” I shouted at the man. He did not respond. I continued to shout at the man, but his only response was a “Shush” as he adorned me with the same robes he wore. I heard one last splash and then my world went black.

I don’t know how long I was out, but when I woke up, it was snowing. I turned around to face the lake. It was drained. Not a single drop of water lay within it. I looked down to the bottom and saw a skin colored amalgamation. It pulsated as if it were breathing. This massive thing lay at the bottom, curled up, like a fetus yearning for a mother. The hat was a bit too big on my head and it slipped off. I watched it fall and land onto the thing at the bottom of the lake.

I watched as a massive slit in the skin opened up, and the thing stared right back at me.