Tenth Hour of Investigation

Horrified at the revelations before him, he turned the pages. Something nagged in the back of his mind.

First the cultists had just worshiped the vile instrument of destruction, but then they got some bright ideas.

They decided to use its powers to gain more influence in the world. Starting their experiments with normal everyday people, it quickly became apparent how easily a mind could be bent into shape.

A former atheist could be turned into a cult worshiping mad man in a matter of days. But of course they didn’t stop there. After they had worked out the kinks of their “god given gift” they started using it on higher profile targets. Policemen, lawyers, judges. And then they threw caution to the wind.

Politicians, mayors. But they had their sights set on a bigger goal. The cult planned on turning the president.

Terrified Ethan put down the book. Was the president one of them? Had the country already fallen to these idol worshiping madmen?

But how did he end up with the artifact? It didn’t add up. He continued to read, even though he really didn’t want to. The whole story shook him to the core. He wished he could forget all about it. Sadly he needed answers and pressed on.

The notes detailed how he found out about the artifact. He had been a policeman a long time ago, and he had always kept a close friendship with the Captain, even after he had left the force.

One fateful night he met with the Captain for dinner and quickly realized that he had changed. After almost getting stabbed with a steak knife, the detective pressed all the information he could out of his former friend.

The “Captain” has held a high position in the Order of Azatoth, and so he knew where the cult was hiding the artifact. They wouldn’t keep it there for long though, because they were planning on turning the president in the coming week.

Burke had no choice. He snuck into the place and stole the artifact away. Sadly he got caught and had to shoot his way out of there. Two cultists died. Their death wouldn’t be seen as a loss by most people, for they were vile scum.

But Burke had never enjoyed killing and so these deaths had weighed heavily on his conscience.

He hid the idol in his floor safe and tried to find out what to do with it. Meanwhile, the cult had gotten wind of the theft and tried to recover the artifact with all their resources.

The notebook ended there. Ethan was exhausted. He desperately wanted to stop reading. But he couldn’t. His hunger for knowledge was too big. So he grabbed the second book and continued to read.