The Mind’s Eye.P2

“With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundless complex cosmos, yet other beings with a wider,

stronger or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study

whole worlds of matter, energy and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have.”

                                                                                                                                                                              — H.P. Lovecraft

Jack (Ray), Carson (Leslie), Carmen (Andrew)

4pm Monday, April 24^th: While they had coordinated a 5pm reunion at Helen Stanley’s house, Jack finished early from his attempt to contact the City Engineer Endicott mentioned in the Arkham Herald newspaper article. He sat in his car parked at the curb not wanting to intrude on Helen. Thus, he watched as Carmen walked her bike up the street and climbed into his car shaken. Tears streaked her eye makeup as she explained, “I didn’t find that reporter Carlton, but I did see…Oh God, what did I see? Remember Farr’s blood-stained note about jelly thingies? I think I’m going crazy.” Jack offered a compassionate hug and shoulder, “Did it hurt you?” Carmen tried to compose herself as she used the car’s rearview mirror to fix her makeup, “Dozens of them just floated around the policeman I was talking with. As I ran away, I did notice a man staring out his big bay window from the house across the street. I wonder if he saw them too?”

Carson arrived, parking behind them to then climb into Jack’s car, “Saw what?” Carson relayed the Medical Examiner’s report and added, “I called my office to get my aid to research any articles about the Pineal Gland or reports of recent weird sightings besides just on Walnut Street.” Jack tried to be polite as he reasoned Carmen’s visions, “Maybe your hallucinations were brought on by leaking gas in the neighborhood. There has been numerous newspaper articles about an increasing number of headaches in the area.” Carson added his own theory, “From what little I learned about the Pineal Gland, sounds like a dormant echo location function of our brain. Maybe something has stimulated the gland of Walnut residents that allows them to see into another spectrum?” Carmen agreed, “It could be something physically different. Headaches brought on by slight growth of my pineal gland.”

What Next: Carson wanted to confront the lone councilman Ash Southcott who voted against the lighting, “Maybe he knows something.” Jack wanted to follow up on the Professor Duncan lead, but Carson pointed out the hour, “Classes are usually over by now; I doubt we’d find him on campus. We could swing by Walnut first then go to the campus.” Carmen was content to stay with Helen, “I’m not ready to go back there. Be careful.”

Walnut Street: Jack had to break up kids fighting in the street. “He started it!” “Because you’re a cheat!” The beat-cop (Ernie Santos) arrived to confront them, “If you’re not from around here, I’ll have to ask you to leave. But show some ID first so I can enter your names in my log.” Carson flashed his press ID while Jack showed his driver’s license. And that’s when they heard the horrific scream from another alley. Officer Ernie ran towards the sound as he loudly blew his police whistle and drew his revolver, with Carson and Jack close behind. They heard him fire 3 shots into the alley before he stumbled backwards and ran off. They had to look for themselves:

[Sanity check] Carson recognized the terrified face of Jack Carlton (his rival reporter) as his body was constricted by… a tentacle?! Both saw Carlton’s face disappear into a void as the rest of his body squirmed in resistance to the tentacle wrapped around his chest. Carson stepped closer hoping to free the poor man from the grasp of whatever the thing was. [DEX-hard] Carson managed to dodge another tentacle that suddenly appeared and swiped at him! He clicked his camera as an auto response. [More Sanity check] The sudden flash revealed the full terrifying horror: a blob larger than the milk-truck filled the back of the alley and flailed multiple tentacles! Carlton’s body going limp along with the full sighting convinced Jack to take off running after the wiser cop. He only heard Carson’s gunshot, followed by instructions, “Get the car started!”

Jack stood near Ernie already speaking into the police phone attached to the far lamp post. When Ernie dropped the phone and took off running again, Jack grabbed the phone to finish the report as he looked back from where he came. And saw the monster rolling out of the alley into full view as it pursued Carson. “Send every damn cop you got to Walnut Street!” [Intimidate-95] “You’re not Ernie. Listen fella, get off the phone and put officer Santos back on.” Jack only had seconds to speak, “I’m gonna break into every house and apartment. I’ve got a gun and going to use it!”

5:45pm: Carson caught up with Jack at the corner of College Street and Peabody Avenue. Although they no longer saw their pursuer, this was no time to relax as Jack realized, “You saw it appear out of thin air. It’s incorporeal and able to reveal itself when it desires. It could still be behind us but invisible!” They soon arrived at Helen’s house out of breath as they pulled Carmen aside to report, “Your idea to avoid Walnut was right. You DON’T want to know what we saw!” They reconsidered their options, “The MU library stays open till 9:30 at night. We could try to find this Professor Duncan.” Carmen asked Jack, “What about your car you left behind?”

MU Campus: Carson parked in front of the Science Hall. They entered and read the board to find Duncan listed as room 125. Knocks at the door only drew forth Dr. Eckermann from the neighboring office, “Sorry, but Prof Duncan is on a sabbatical.” When they mentioned the streetlights, the German laughed, “Why am I not surprised.” [Persuade] Carson promised anything said was off the records, “We’re all MU graduates and wouldn’t want to tarnish its fine reputation.” Jack added, “Go, Fighting Cephalopods.” Eckermann revealed, “That old geezer rushed his invention without testing. I mean, concept to fabrication within a year?! Even Dean Hayes of the Electrical Engineering Department admitted the lazy fool was only kept around because of his tenured status. Then his accusations of me wanting to steal his ideas, his lashing out at others… the Dean suggested he take a leave of absence to calm down. As for where he is now, you could ask his grad student assistant, Miss Christine Langford. She might still be in the school cafeteria.” Eckermann rethought the idea, “On second thought, I wouldn’t want you talking to students. They don’t know how to keep their mouths shut. I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

The trio left as instructed… well, trying to leave that impression even though they fully intended to find Christine. Jack and Carmen HAD to look back to see if Eckermann was watching. Carmen panicked when she saw him watching their exit, “He’s on to us!” Jack stifled a smirk, “Yeah, he’s not watching US. The lecher is checking out your ass.”

6pm: [Charm-91] Carmen hoped she’d recognize one of her old art instructors, but the crowded cafeteria blocked her view. [Luck] At least Carson recognized the cashier, “Betty! So glad to see you after all these years. Say, would you happen to know Christine?” Thousands of kids passed through the cafeteria over the years and this man expected her to recognize a Christine? Betty didn’t even remember Carson, “Christine who? And why?” She cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled, “Is Christine Langford still here? You left your meal card at the register.”

A petite young lady approached, with bobbie-pins holding her hair in place. When pulled to the side and asked about Prof Duncan, Christine repeated the coached words, “I’m not at liberty to say. He’s on sabbatical.” [Psych-Hard] Carson leaned in to whisper, “Please, it’s important.” [Charm] Jack tried to sway her, “The professor’s lights are causing strange side-effects. Surely you are interested in protecting his good name and reputation.” Christine nervously slipped them a key, “I’ll meet you in his office in a few minutes. I don’t want any staff to see me talking with you.” Carmen had already picked up a woman’s vibe how Christine looked at her as a threat and decided to go to the library to give the men a chance to talk alone to the grad student.

Duncan’s Office: Jack and Carson walked as if they belonged and entered Duncan’s office. “Quiet, Dr Eckermann may still be in his office.” Soon Christine entered to whisper, “I kept telling the professor we needed to test his invention, but he kept saying the man at the bazaar did enough testing. Duncan only let me take notes as he handled everything, especially the strange powder he applied to the inside of the light bulbs. Dean Hayes encouraged a vacation. But the professor was too worried about other staff trying to steal his work, so he had me help clear out his files from this office. And had me enlist two male students to help clear out his lab in basement of the Charles Tyner Science Annex across the street. It was late at night and the professor drove a large truck to hold everything. I don’t know where he went but I haven’t seen him in days.” Carson was skeptical, “Why didn’t the bazaar man patent the light for himself?! Something’s not right.” At least Jack got Duncan’s address from Christine.

Orne Library: Carmen felt at ease in one of her favorite spots on campus. She was surprised her library card was still valid as she asked the desk clerk, “Can you show me where published staff papers are kept?” Within 30 minutes she found Duncan’s article published in the Science Journal: not impressive. A lot of rambling engineering terms of the light’s capabilities but no diagrams or detailed explanations of how the lights were constructed. She could only puzzle, “And he got a contract with the city based on this flimsy document?” When Carson and Jack arrived, Carmen had already sketched her vision of the jellyfish and the man perched at the large bay window on Walnut Street. Carson had her own theories related to a new movement within the states, “Have you heard of Helen Blavatsky who advocates a new religious order based on occultism? Not so much religion as the pursuit of truth. And I want to get to the truth of the matter as I think everything we’re being told is a complete fraud.”

7:15pm: Before leaving the library, Carson called his office to get an update from his aids. 

“Sorry boss, but we were called away to check into another murder on Walnut Street. We told the editor you were on it but he’s kinda pissed you haven’t filed a report. Murder? Well, there was an older blind man killed across the street from where that reporter Carlton’s body was found.” Carson hung up with the realization, “Things seem to be accelerating. We need to find the truth.” Jack thought about tracking down Ash Southcott who opposed the lights, but Carson reasoned another city council meeting wasn’t on the books for another month. So, they settled for Duncan’s house.

Looking thru a phonebook, Jack called and listened to it ring almost a dozen times before concluding no one home. Jack offered, “Swing by to see if any lights on, then drop me off. I know a thing or two about entering a house whether welcomed or not.” Carson reminisced, “You mean like the time you stole the Boston University school mascot?” Carmen insisted they let her off at Helen’s but the others prodded, “If you’re really a student of William Blake, don’t you need to experience the darker side on your own?” Carmen admitted, “I’ve only kissed a boy once.” She steeled herself to the fright that tried to overwhelm her and offered to be a lookout only.

Carson grumbled as he drove, “My father owns the business! Who does Edwin think he is? All he wants is flashy news versus the truth that my father always insisted on. Edwin wants an editorial, does he? How about I write a scathing report putting the mayor at the center of this. He’s the one who authorized the lights, probably to support his re-election campaign.” Jack was shocked, “It almost sounds like blackmail and tossing your job out the window!”

8pm, Duncan’s House: Jack slipped out of the car after it circled the block. He walked back to the 2-story Victorian at 222 West Pickman Street while the others sat in the car blocks away. He slipped into the backyard and with a three-quarter moon had enough light to see the new expensive foreign lock on the door. “Click.” Jack put his lockpicks away and entered the dark house. There was enough curtained moonlight through the windows to guide his slow advance to the front door where he signaled the others to come. Carson put away the street map used to pretend they were lost and stepped towards the door with a reluctant artist in tow.

Carmen was about to bolt for the car when she heard the loud noise, only to realize it was her own fast heartbeat. Jack risked a flashlight to reveal a staircase: one set up and the other down, “Pop always said the good stuff is in the basement.” He clicked on the basement light: all gave a huge sigh of relief when it proved to be regular white versus the green hue. But as they descended the stairs, they found the floor littered with shards of broken glass that reflected a green hue. Carson stepped forward to scoop up some of the green powder putting it in an envelope, “We can test it later.” Carmen had a moment of clarify as she realized, “The professor must have gone crazy and smashed everything to destroy evidence!” The baseball bat in the corner with embedded shards of glass and coated in powder proved her theory. Carson gathered more evidence from the burnt burlap sack in the corner, “This must have been his supply of the coating powder. He must have tried to destroy it too. Look for his journal.”

They returned to the first floor where Carmen sifted through the mail dumped thru the door slot: days’ worth.   They took their time with a quick scan of the first floor (kitchen, pantry, dining room, Livingroom, study). The 2^nd floor was bedrooms with only the master bedroom showing any signs of use. Jack left the others upstairs as he returned to the study. 

It was Carmen who found the diary in the bedroom nightstand. Pages documenting Duncan’s encounter with the dark-skinned foreigner who demonstrated the new light and even led him to the cave where the powder was found in abundance. But the page that was supposed to have a crude map depicting the route to the cave was missing. 

Carson offered pencil shavings as Carmen used a lead pencil to lightly etch the next page: enough imprint to duplicate the missing map!

Meanwhile, Jack first closed the shades tighter before turning on the study lights. He saw the stack of books on the table under the window: all philosophical treatises on perception from the likes of Descartes, Boyle, Locke and Voltaire. He compared penned notes on the single paper to tabs in each book that referenced a 6^th sense. And that’s when Jack realized the books filling the bookcases that lined the other 3 walls from top to bottom dealt with electrical topics. He opened the books on the desk to the first page and realized each was checked out of the Orne library! Jack realized something was missing, “Where are your own notes you sly bastard?” He spotted the larger binders on the top shelf. Jack wheeled the rolling ladder over and climbed to reach them. [DEX-88 regular; yeah, Jack has a DEX90] Jack had to reach since he couldn’t get the ladder closer… at least Jack grabbed the top railing as some of the books fell to the floor.

Carson and Carmen heard a crash and rushed downstairs to investigate. They found Jack at the reading desk, flipping through a small book. They noticed the bigger book on the floor that had its guts cut out as a supposed hidey-hole for the smaller book. Jack summarized Duncan’s thesis, “He calls it The Mind’s Eye in reference to the Egyptians’ god Ra. He too has been seeing jellyfish and worse. He’s definitely being driven insane! I think it’s best we get out of here before any neighbors see lights and call the cops.”

As they walked to the car without any attempt to hide their movement, Carson plotted their next move, “I say we head out to this cave tomorrow. Woo, what’s this?” 

He uncrumpled the paper lying on his driver seat. He moved closer to a streetlamp to read, “It’s Duncan! The crazy bastard has been following us! Talks about being tricked into inflicting upon the innocents of Walnut. He’s asking for aid.” Carson slipped his camera out to discreetly take a picture of the letter without a flash. After showing the letter, he put a match to the paper explaining, “In case he’s watching now. His last words were to destroy this letter.” Carmen pointed out, “I'm not certain but I think it matches Duncan's handwriting in the later pages of his diary. The crazed tone sure sounds like his dwindling sanity. Once you develop that picture, we could compare handwriting to confirm.” Thinking he might still be around, Carmen called out, “Professor Duncan? Are you there? Professor Duncan? Yes, we would like to speak with you, please?” They waited long minutes with only neighbors stepping onto their porches to see the source of the noise.

[Occult] As they rode away, Carmen mused, “I know the Christians view Lucifer as the devil, but in some mythology, he’s known as the ‘Son of Dawn’. What does he mean by ‘the cult of one’? Is he calling himself the devil?” Carson’s mind raced with all the information gathered as he tried to mentally compose his next newspaper article, “There’s still a lot of work ahead to lineup supporting documentation for my article. I want to write the truth, but sadly need to leave some details out because it can’t sound TOO crazy. This whole thing starting with the mysterious inventor could be part of some elaborate experiment. And on top of that, we need to find out WHO is taking Pineal Glands!”

CONCLUSION: https://rigglew4.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-minds-eyep3-conclusion.html