Title: Horrors! 10 - Being of One Mind Author: Mr_Sympathy Pastebin link: http://pastebin.com/aq6BgNwz First Edit: Wednesday 18th of February 2015 12:10:10 AM CDT Last Edit: Wednesday 18th of February 2015 12:10:10 AM CDT Being of One Mind by Benjamin Adams   Emperor Claudius nosed hungrily at the potato salad on the edge of the red-and-white checkered pinic spread. "Get outta here, you sonovabitch!" Frank snarled at the cat; it was Gladys's and he had no use for it at all. When it made no effort to leave the potato salad alone, he swatted it away. The golden Persian lifted it's regal head and sauntered away toward a nearby drift of red and yellow leaves. Frank relaxed. Maybe now he could dwell on the matter on hand with no distractions. This was going to be hard enough as things stood. He'd bought Gladys out here to the Dunwich forest to preserve on this last gorgeous day of fall for the worst reason in the world: to ask for a divorce. Their differences had grown too great recently. But today she'd insisted on bringing Emperor Claudius, who wasn't the most peaceful passenger in a car. The cat's yowling had irritated Frank during the whole drive out. And Glady's own mood had been fairly ragged - almost as if she'd known what lay ahead. The crunching of dry leaves underfoot signaled her return from the forest preserve's public restroom. "I really don't like using that thing," she complained," I think 'rustic' is too kind a word." "Well, there are worse things", Frank mused. "I don't suppose you've seen Claudie - I think he's wandered away." "No I haven't seen your stupid cat." Instantly he regretted his choice of words. Gladys leaned over and whacked his shoulder, hard. "Frank, you bastard! You probably spook him!" "He was getting into the food-" She hit him again, "If anything happens to him, it's your fault!" He winced - that was definitely true. "Look" he said in what he hoped what was a reasonable tone, "I just want to finish the potato salad, and then I'll help you look for the cat. I promise. You're right, it's my fault." "You mean it?" Her voice was small, confused. "Yeah", he said, " Yeah, I mean it." After all, it was the least he could do before he dropped the bomb. Before he finally told her he wanted the divorce. He finished his last couple bites of potato salad and got to his feet. Now, where had he last seen the cat? *Just past that large drift of fallen leaves*, he decided, and walked in that direction. "Here, Claudie!", he called, keeping his voice soft. "C'mere kitty!" About fifteen feet from the picnic site, the ground suddenly feel into a dry ravine. There seemed to be no disturbance in the leaves littering the center of the ravine, but that didn't mean Emporer Claudius couldn't have wandered down there, the stupid beast- A piercing scream from the picnic site. "Gladys!" Frank yelled, and dashed back to her. Suddenly the divorce was the furthest thing from his mind. *My god*, he thought, *what is that thing?" And then: *It's huge!* The strange thing had burst out of the drift of leaves. A black, slimy mass of writhing tentacles and feelers. Roiling to it's soft, glossy surface bits and pieces of the animals it had eaten during it's hidden tenacity. A beak. Bits of chitin. A patch of golden fur, and a slitted, unblinking cats eye- Gladys screamed again. "Claudie!" "Hold still!" Frank shouted. "It's touching me!", she wailed, "Get it off!" Two of the things tentacles had reached out and grabbed Glady's ankles. They tensed- And then the thing pulled itself to her, knocking her to the yellow and red leaf-strewn ground. It swarmed over her within seconds, covering her body. Her screams stopped as it embraced her head. Frank ran to the mass covering Gladys and began to rip at it, trying to pull it away. Instead it covered his hands and began to flow up his arms, his chest, over his head. He couldn't see. Reflex took over and he tried breathing, screaming. It flowed into his open mouth and down his throat.   Everything was darkness. Dimly, he became aware of other, smaller thoughts. -*flying, eating, hunting, sleeping*- *Is this death?* wondered Frank *all these other thoughts intruding on mine?* -*hunger, prey, shelter*- But then he knew. He was inside the thing, and he was still alive. He was part of it now. Somehow it was telling him this, feeding the thoughts directly into his mind. Strangely, he felt no fear, only a deep, burning curiousity. The other minds touching his were unintelligent, thinking only of survival imperatives. Animals. But beyond that, at the periphery of his awareness, was another new mind, like his. -*Frank? Is that you I feel?* He felt a sweeping wave of calmness and happiness at knowing Gladys was there with him. He touched his mind to hers- Only to recoil in shock and revulsion at the contact. -*Frank! You bastard! I'm stuck in here with you now! This is all your fault-! I always knew you were out to get me*- Together with Gladys. Always. He supposed it was too late for a divorce.