The Dark Rites of Cthulhu Read Online Free PDF Page B

down!"
    "Why would you do this?" Carter hissed, backing away from the bed. Warren's hand shot out and snapped closed on his wrist, trapping him. Carter tried to yank his arm free of Warren's grip, but to no avail. Warren was surprisingly strong when he put his mind to it.
    He dragged Carter close and snapped, "I said calm down." His eyes flashed weirdly, and he let Carter go. "This thing will be dangerous now that it's been woken up. Sorcerers always are, alive, dead or otherwise. The ritual, once started, must be finished, or the rolang could escape to cause harm to any who cross its path." Warren looked back at the thing on the bed. "Can't have some poor policeman or other getting throttled by our guest here, now can we?"
    "What--what are you going to do?"
    “Just stay back, Carter. And don’t hold that gun like it’s a damn snake. It’s just a pistol, for God’s sake,” Warren said.
    "What should I do if it gets up?" Carter asked hesitantly.
    "Well...shoot it, obviously," Warren said, as he got onto the bed and straddled the corpse. "And try to avoid hitting me, if you can possibly help it."
    "But you said that the gun wouldn't work," Carter said.
    "No, I said it probably wouldn't do any good. But it couldn't hurt. Not much on this earth can take a face full of sixteen gauge buckshot and keep smiling." Warren smiled crookedly. "At the very least, it'll give you time to get out the room."
    "Warren--Harley..." Carter began.
    But Warren wasn't listening. As he positioned himself over the corpse, it began to heave and twitch, its limbs flailing flaccidly beneath Warren’s own. Warren pinned the corpse to the bed with his weight and held on for dear life. Carter tensed, ready to lend his meagre weight to the fight, regardless of Warren’s warning to the contrary.
    The corpse heaved, and Warren was nearly thrown from it. It bucked and thrashed, and its spidery limbs uncoiled. Its jaws sagged open, and the air throbbed with a basso hum that made Carter's teeth itch. It sounded as if a hundred voices were speaking at once, and the things they were saying crawled on the air like flies on a screen. Strange shadows grew on the walls, cast by nothing visible to the human eye. The air felt damp and heavy, as if there were a thunderstorm brewing.
    Warren cursed as thin fingers stabbed into his arms. The corpse made a sound like a punctured tire, and Warren was shoved up and back as the rolang began to sit up. He grabbed at it, struggling with it. Its fleshless jaws champed mindlessly as its fingers sought his throat. Carter cried out and raised the pistol, but he couldn't get a clear shot. Warren tumbled backwards, the rolang atop him. It had him by the throat. He clawed at its head, fighting to keep its jaws from his face.
    "Warren, damn it, get away from it," Carter shouted.
    "No," Warren hissed, forcing the rolang's head back. His face was beginning to turn red as the thing's grip on his throat tightened. Carter hesitated, and then lunged forward. He hooked the rolang's neck with his arm and pulled it back, trying to force it to break its grip on Warren. He pounded on its skull with the butt of the LeMat. The dead thing twisted around bonelessly, and far faster than he was prepared for. It released Warren and grabbed for Carter, shoving him back. He staggered away from the bed, and the thing followed with rickety steps, jaws chattering.
    "Warren, help me!" Carter yelped.
    "I told you to stay back, Carter," Warren shouted, stumbling off of the bed. He wrapped his arm around the rolang's neck and tried to haul it away, to no avail. It forced Carter back against the wall. "Shoot the damn thing!"
    Carter twisted his head away and shoved the barrel of the revolver up against the creature's sunken belly. He pulled the trigger and the roar of the pistol was followed by the sound of splintering bone and tearing flesh. Warren gave a triumphant yell and drove his foot up into the thing's back. It bent backwards. Warren jerked his arms