Prophet of the Deep

I've been dreaming of water as of late. Rivers, oceans, and lakes of all shapes and sizes. That wouldn't be a problem except that in every dream something lives in the lake. Sometimes while horrifying to look at, the thing isn't that bad. Most of the time though they're both ugly and evil. I always wake up drenched in a cold sweat remembering names of the places I've been in the dreams. After the fourth dream I had gotten a journal and written a brief description of each creature and the name of each lake in it.

I contacted a psychiatrist to see if maybe there was a mental reason for these dreams. I told him all of my dreams. He of course asked if I had any past traumas involving water. I never had anything of the sort. Eventually he seemed to just give up and set me up with some meds that would make me sleep so deep that I wouldn't remember the dreams. That didn't work though. I still dreamed every night about water but now I'm just extra tired when I wake up from these dreams.

I got desperate and decided to contact a spiritualist. Wasn't something I had ever done before so I had no real idea what to expect. He worked out of his house which was an unassuming small shack on the outskirts of town. When I arrived at seven that evening he was already outside smoking a cigarette. Long unkempt hair and baggy clothes gave him an almost homeless look. His eyes even from fifteen feet looked rather bloodshot. He gave me no greeting nor really acknowledged me in any real way. I stood by my car unsure of what to do with myself. He finished his cigarette flicking the butt into a can by his front door. He looked over at me, "My name's Jonathon. I'm assuming you're my seven o'clock. Come on in and we'll see what we can do for you. Also be aware now depending on how tough a customer you are I may smoke in the house. If that bothers you then go ahead and leave."

I shrugged, "Honestly I don't think it will be a big issue. I'm probably just crazy anyways but I figured since I'm going down that road I might as well try everything first." I walked with Jonathon into his home. Looking around it was obvious he took his craft seriously. There were a number of odd looking charms hanging on the walls. A variety of bottles labeled with names like 'Dragon Essence' sat all over the house. We walked straight through everything into what looked like a dining room. There was a table with a number of tarot decks and rune dice scattered all over it. He put an arm on the table and swept it all off onto the floor then pointed at a chair "Sit."

I sat down while Jonathon took a moment to organize the mess he had created. He now took his own seat and looked at me, his eyes boring into me, "Alright so why are you here? Girlfriend put a curse on you? Spooky things in the basement?"

I sighed pulling out two journals, "For six months every night I've been having dreams about water and creatures living in the water. I've already been to a psychiatrist and I was blown off and put on meds. All the meds did was make me extra tired but didn't stop the dreams. Maybe there is a curse I don't know. Honestly I've just assumed I'm going crazy but I thought I would try one last thing before checking myself in."

Jonathon took the journals and flipped one open. As he flipped through pages he reached into his pocket pulling out his smokes. Lighting one up with his eyes never once leaving the page. He finished the first journal and started flipping through the second one. He tapped his ashes off on to the floor with his eyes flitting from page to page. He finished the second one as he finished his cigarette. Dropping the butt to the ground I look under the table just in time to see a small hand reach through the floor cracks and grab it.

Jonathon sighed, "Alright so you might have a legitimate problem. One so serious I'm going to need you to spring for a carton of smokes." He reopened the first journal flipping about halfway through and then slid it over to me, "This place is fairly close by. Only about a two hours drive. Maybe we should go check it out."

I looked at the page he had pointed to. It was one of the creatures that had turned out to be nice. I looked back at Jonathon who had already lit another smoke, "So why would you want us to go there? To meet this thing? Which means you're trying to tell me that this thing is real. But you know what, why not? So when do you want to go?"

Jonathon got up and started walking around his home grabbing various items, "Well now obviously. I mean things like that don't come out during the day. I would hope you could figure that much out. But first we stop for cigarettes and some snacks. Also we're taking your car. Consider all this your fee because honestly for the trouble you're about to cause me I could charge you so much more."

I sat there with my mouth slightly agape before finally getting myself together, "Um sure I guess. Yeah, let's go." With that Jonathon waltzed out to my car with his arms overflowing with various charms and two bottles. I get in the car and look at him, "So do you intend to explain anything or what?'

Jonathon groaned, closing his eyes, "Let's go get supplies first then I'll tell you how much trouble you're in." We rode out from his place up to the closest gas station where we picked up his cigarettes and sugar snacks.

We took off into the night, it now being around eight thirty. I snuck a quick glance over at Jonathon who is devouring his snacks, "So how much trouble am I in? You seem to know something that is bothering you."

Jonathon finished the snack in his hand. He then rolled down the window and lit another cigarette, "Jesus you're an impatient one. Alright so obviously I'm not one hundred percent certain about any of this. But I've got a feeling you might be something called 'A prophet of the deep'. Basically you're seeing something of a world that is coming and that's just no good. It would be a time where beasts that have slumbered for millennia in this world will finally be waking up. Them waking up is a beginning of change for this world that will not be a pleasant one. We're going to the lake to see if I'm right. Because if I am, you're about to meet someone from your dreams."

We drove in silence for about an hour the whole time Jonathon is chain smoking his cigarettes before I finally spoke, "And if you're wrong? I guess that's good for humanity but bad for my mental state. And if you're right? Do I have to deal with these things? Or am I just supposed to spread the good word that creatures of the deep are coming?"

Jonathon cackled which then turned into a vicious cough, "To your first question you're absolutely right. Very bad for your mental state. As for your second question I don't quite know what you're supposed to do. Believe it or not I'm winging all of this too." He cackled again, "Alright. I'm going to catch a nap. This is all about to be a pain in the ass." With that he closed his eyes and within two minutes wye snoring.

I shook my head trying to decide how crazy I really was for following along with this. The rest of the trip was uneventful and soon we pulled up on Lake Exite. As I parked the car Jonathon snapped to and then yawned, "Oh man that was a good nap. Alright let's do this." We piled out of the car with Jonathan once again holding his various trinkets and one more snack.

We made our way down to the lakeshore. Jonathon handed me about half of his charms, "For safety." He then put the rest down on top of his feet and unwrapped his snack scarfing it down in one bite. He then lit up another cigarette making sure to take a long drag on it to get a brilliant red cherry at the tip. As he releases the smoke from his first drag he starts moving the cigarette through the smoke. With each movement I can see the smoke forming into symbols. He took another drag and on the exhale did it all over again. Soon there were eight glowing smoke symbols.

Jonathon then began to chant in a foreign language. As he did the symbols began to glow brighter and brighter. Soon they were bright enough I had to avert my eyes from them and then in a puff they were gone. The water began to churn in a straight line from the middle of the lake all the way to where we were. Jonathon looked at me, "Hold those charms tight. I know your little book said it was friendly but you never know."

Five feet off the shore line something burst out of the water. When all the water cleared from our vision there was a small frog-like creature standing in front of us. It's body was a deep blue color standing at maybe four and a half feet tall. It's hands and feet were webbed but it had eight fingers on each appendage. It croaked at Jonathon, its eyes darting in every direction never really stopping. Jonathon slowly leaned down to look in at it, "Are you all starting to wake up little one? That one over there has been dreaming about all of you." He hooks a thumb in my direction. "Has the time of the deep finally come?"

The creature listened and started nodding furiously while staring at me. Once Jonathon finished it croaked loudly in response. Its whole body moving during its croak, the skin on its body rippling and changing colors. As soon as it finished a large fleshy tongue flew out from the water grabbing the creature dragging it back into the water. The whole time it's screaming loudly in protest and what seems like fear. As soon as it disappears under the water the top half of a significantly larger frog head slowly breaks the surface, its eyes staring at us.

Jonathon went wide eyed, "Drop the charms! Run back to the car!" With that he does just that. I look back at him in confusion, "Wait wha—" Suddenly I'm being yanked into the lake and then into the mouth of this creature. As saliva begins to flood in around me I hear a deep booming voice, "Welcome to the age of the deep dear prophet."

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