Call of Cthulhu: The Black Elixir

As he hit the wall his mind tried to register what happened. The gruesome body on the bed, the fresh blood on his face and Kate on top of him was almost too much for him to handle. His stomach wrenched at the vivid images in his mind of the body on the bed. Quickly, but gently, he moved Kate off him and laid her on the floor next to him, "Oh Jesus. For the love of God. What the fuck!" Adrenaline was flowing through his body as he felt on the urge of panic. His body wanted to just run and keep running. Get as far as way as possible from the carnage in the room behind him and the bleeding woman in front of him. Despite that urge he managed to pull of his shirt and press it against the open gash on Kate's body. He pushed down trying to stop the blood flow, "Somebody get some help!" He screamed in a panic stricken voice. As he continued to just hold his shirt to the wound he gently spoke to Kate, "You're going to be okay. You're going to be just fine. Just hold in there." He wasn't very sure of that and it came through in his voice.
 
The rain pounded the windscreen of the Model T as it fought it's way up the road. Wooden side doors a godsend to the driver in the current weather. His headlights cut though the night and reflected on the raindrops but did little to light the road ahead as he directed his vehicle towards the only source of light in the town other than the church and the manor on the cliffs. It was too late to decently call on the priest and so h pulled up in front of the Inn the scream unheard over the sound of the storm. He cut the engine and Gathered his coat around himself and opened the door his shoes sinking into the med before he closed the door and applied the padlock. Cursing under his breath as his hat was almost ripped from his head he barreled for the door and the shelter it offered.
 
James ran to the door as soon as he heard Kate scream. Reaching the door and looking in, he was immediately hit by a wave of nausea. Recoiling from the scene in the room, James proceeded to vomit right outside. His mind was swimming from the what he saw.

Rox's yell snapped James back. Pushing himself up he stumbled down the stairs and started looking frantically for George. Seeing him James wobbled over.

"You're from around here right?" He asked George, "Go find a doctor, quickly, bring one quick. Miss Kate is hurt." James then promptly lost his balance, tipping backward as a fresh wave of nausea hit him.
 
James had barely made it downstairs when a surge of people rushed past him. Four of the Portugeuese sailors had heard the scream and with singular purpose snapped into action. None of them stopped to help James, simply charged up the stairs in determined silence. This left only two at the table, sitting uneasily and clutching their drinks.

Meanwhile, George came out from behind the bar and leaned over James, who had fallen by the counter next to Ariadne. "What th' bleedin' 'ell's going on? You alright there, my 'andsome?" He put his hand on the man's shoulder, squinting as if to decipher the terror etched on his face.

Upstairs, shadows fell over Rox. He was moved aside, a little rougher than was courteous, and one the sailors kept a hand on Rox's chest. It was unclear if the gesture was sympathetic or hostile, but Rox could see in the sailor's eyes that he was in no mood to be argued with. One of his shipmates took up Rox's job of pressing the shirt over the wound, while a third ventured into Mrs Jones's room. The fourth, having assessed the situation, made a gesture to his shipmates, a silent wave of the hand, before turning and continuing down the corridor. Rox saw him unlock one of the rooms and slip inside.

He was thus left in the corridor with only two of them, one tending to Kate while the other, in unnerving silence, kept a watch on Rox. Through the doorway the third man had checked the body of Mrs Jones, his blank expression showing no sign of nausea, and then moved to the window. He took up position to the side of it then glanced out into the night. After a second he leaned back and promptly closed and locked the window.

Then the fourth man returned from the room further down, holding a canvas rollsack. He knelt over Kate and began unfurling it. It was a medical kit, but one that Rox had never seen before. Selecting a dressing and a bottle of antiseptic, the man stipped away a part of Kate's blouse and began methodically cleaning the wound.

Kate's teeth were clenched, her every effort fighting the pain. The wound was deep, straight and thin, and was already showing signs of infection.
 
As Rox was pushed away from Kate his first response was to struggle. But as locked eyes with the sailor holding him back he stopped. Seeing that the other man was taking his place in applying the pressure on the shirt made him relax even more. He took a step back, not wanting to just stand there doing nothing, and entered room number three. He stood at the foot of the bed and stared blankly at the body on the bed. It was possibly Mrs. Jones but he had no way to know for sure. His mind was searching for reasons that could justify the mutilation he saw before but came up with nothing. From the looks of it whoever performed the act was clearly mentally unstable. His stomach couldn't take looking at the corpse any longer so he moved back into the hallway.

By now the other sailor had come out with the medical kit and was dressing the wound properly. As he watched the procedure he couldn't help but notice the extreme amount of pain that Kate was in. As he mentally wished there was something he could do to help the realization that he had morphine kicked in, "I can help her with the pain." He told the sailor staring at him. Quickly he made his way back to his room. He threw his suit case onto the bed, undid the clasps and starting to throw clothing out of the suitcase onto the bed. Grabbing the bottle marked, 'St Johns Miracle Cure', he made his way back to the sailors. Though it was marked, 'Miracle Cure', it was basically pure morphine. He held it out to the sailor, "It's morphine, for the pain. Here take it."
 
"I don't know what happened," James finally said, "but there was blood, lots of it. I think Miss Kate was attacked."

James managed to finally push himself off the floor without falling over. Grabbing George's shirt he repeated what he said, "Go get the doctor, Miss Kate might need the help." letting go of George he slumped into a seat at the bar covering his mouth.
 
"I don't know what happened," James finally said, "but there was blood, lots of it. I think Miss Kate was attacked."

James managed to finally push himself off the floor without falling over. Grabbing George's shirt he repeated what he said, "Go get the doctor, Miss Kate might need the help." letting go of George he slumped into a seat at the bar covering his mouth.
 
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