The Supermarket Out of Space Pt.2

Read part one HERE

The festering bank of shops loomed ahead of me out of the mist like a row of ghoulish grinning faces beckoning me to my doom. This vista accompanied me as I began my search for a grocery in order to restock my now slender larder. The initial search concluded that this town appeared to consist only of money lenders and second hand stores. A sure indication that times were hard for the population, if indeed, they had ever been good. This conclusion was also easily reachable by examining the state of the crumbling and fading façades of the residencies here abouts. Once proud had this town been, but now left to ruination by some untold and ancient occurrence. Presently my searching carried me to the forecourt of a large and brooding building with what appeared to be heady, heathenish activity therein. Above the rusticated and putrefying frontage it bore a faded and peeling sign. Once bright green letters spelt out the word MORRISONS over a putrid and foetid yellow background. I fear that I have seen that particular rank shade of effervescent green before, although at the time I failed to make the connection. Yes, my now clear recollection is of the Satanic paintings of the mad Erich Zahn and the viscous green he used in his depictions of that accursed ancient Demon-God Cthulhu! Had I made that cerebral connection as I stood before that ingress I would never have stepped over that hexed threshold and I would not be in my present miserable state of mind.

But, step over it I did and it took no small amount of time to navigate unto the interior of that rotten edifice, that unscrupulous temple of depravity. The doorway, if indeed it may be called a doorway, was such that every angle looked wrong, as though a fourth, fifth and even sixth dimension were at play there. It was as though I was trying to step foot over a gate out of space, a portal beyond time. How I wish now that I had the wherewithal to stop myself from entering, before the malodorous events that took place inside had over come my weak and frail human mind. Man is always wise after the event and in this situation I am no different, but I know now what I didn't then and fate bore me away to my present state in this cold and dark asylum. Oh! You accursed Elder Beings! You Star-Spawn of Yuggoth! How I loathe Thee!

Inside the sepulchral edifice the light was low but I could make out shapes which I took to be human despite their appearance to the contrary, to have supposed otherwise would have only served to invite madness. Feeling along the edge of the graven wall I came upon a stack of metal baskets, the top one of which I grasped firmly with the aim of using it to load with groceries. Pulling it away from the tangle of similar objects I realised I was not the only one intending this basket for my own use. A second 'hand' pulled the basket stiffly away from me and I reached my other hand out to double my strength in this test of will-power and brute force. It is with retrospect that I wish I never had now, for my hand landed squarely upon the thing already gripping the handle of the basket. This episode replays in my mind during my sleep and I awake with screaming fits that are only calmed with a heavy dose of Laudanum. It was not a human hand that I felt but a slimy and glutinous tentacle like protuberance, dripping and oozing as only a cyclopean monstrosity could. I am ashamed to say I screamed and loosened my grip on the handle for which I had fought, this abhorrence had made me temporarily forget my normally placid state. In abject horror I shrank back against the wall and felt it better to let the repugnant nameless creature take its reward for whichever grim and festering end.

Calming myself somewhat, if one can truly be calm in such an alien and oppressive atmosphere, I regained a modicum of composure and recommenced my exploration of the cavernous edifice. The lack of light and dank conditions ensured that it was difficult to assess correctly but I thought it reasonable to suggest that this ancient carven structure extended several fathoms beyond the edge of my sight and I silently cursed myself for not having the forethought to bring a torch. With the fullness of time I am able to see that it would have been folly to have brought a flash-light to that encounter and I would have readily sunk into madness far quicker and deeper than I actually did had I the ability to see what awaited me in those pitiful depths.

A nauseating breeze blew through the place which carried with it the smell of a dank and dead sea and the faint sound of the lapping of waves from some unnameable and abominable ocean was to be heard. From deep within the bowels of the building I could hear faint and sinister music. Reedy and otherworldly it was similar to that same dread music which I had heard played on the Polynesian Island upon which I had been stationed back in '23. It was the same music in those foreboding months preceding the sea borne catastrophe when that elegant island sunk beneath the waves never to be seen again. Unknown star-borne forces were to be blamed for that engulfing and this ominous familiarity with such a heinous music made my entire body tremble uncontrollably from a nameless and dread fear.

To be continued...