The First of Many

Never had Dr. Rebecca Werthing thought her life would take this turn. Not in med school or in any of the years at her job. She was now a passenger, forced to watch as some alien thing used her as a meat puppet. Her short cropped black hair framed her face. A face the color of pale desert sand. Which was unlike the rich ochre of her parents, or the pristine ivory of her wife. She never knew a mental projection of herself could become so tired. But she was, after hours of screaming and trying to fight her way out of this mind prison, she was utterly exhausted. After taking a few moments to collect herself she began her analysis of the situation.

“When Did this thing fully take over my body?”

The last thing she can remember was being sent home to get some rest. She remembers taking the sleeping aids she was given, a relaxing hot shower and climbing drowsily into bed wishing her wife were home from work. When she “awoke,” it was like this.

“That thing out there must have taken control while I slept.”

Alas, she could only watch in horror as her body moved on its own. It no longer obeyed her mental commands, she was not in control . This all began when she first touched that locket. The other presence took hold over the course of days. It had started as a scratching feeling inside her head. It then gave way to nightmares, hallucinations, and finally, she lost control of her body.

“ That thing clearly doesn't need to keep my consciousness around,” she thinks to herself, “but why am I still here?”

There, of course, came no answer to her question. She can see, hear and feel everything the presence is making her body do.

“How long has she been tucked away like this in some corner of her mind?”

Her jail does have a warden, she can see it in her mind's eye. The being is a faceless, feminine humanoid with enormous wings and a tail twice as long as its body. The head had four large horns and a ring of small ones at the base of the others. With skin a pale gray color on the head and transitioned through pale blue to midnight purple at the wrists and ankles. Its hands and feet looked like blackened rotting flesh that has, through some means, been affixed to the end of its limbs as if they were horribly frostbitten. Its whole body was dotted with large black pustules that quivered, seeping a disgusting and abhorrent fluid. This being is what now controls her body. She remembers it whispering inside her mind after she touched that platinum necklace with the filigree snowflake. It calls itself Xorlich. It is beyond old and alien in every sense of the word. It constantly shows her flashes of what she thinks are its memories. The images flicker by so fast they are wholly incomprehensible especially through the lens of the alien being forcing her to view them. There is one scene that sticks out, a blasted frozen hellscape with that creature standing in the middle of it. The only thing she knows for sure is that it's not of this world or even the one it left not too long ago.

“How many people have become its pawns? How many worlds has it laid waste to?”

Her contemplation came to an abrupt end as Rebecca heard her own voice giving the interns instructions.

“ Bring all the items into this chamber! Hurry! There is no time to waste!”

The interns scrambled to gather all of what that odd notebook called, The Hoarfrost Regalia.

“Good, Intern Number 253 put on the items.” Rebecca heard the monster say with her voice.

“Why are you making her put on the items? what will happen to her?” She pleaded to the creature controlling her body. It paid no attention to this vessel's former master and continued.

“ Together at last! Together at last! Finally, together at last!”

Rebecca watched as the intern put all the items on and placed the crown atop their head. The moment they did, a blinding flash of frigid blue light washed over everything, and Rebecca lost consciousness to a resonating, cracking, roaring, impact, like the sound of a calving glacier.

When she awoke, the creature was no longer in her mind; she was looking at it through her own eyes. She glanced around the room, and everyone else was frozen solid. Only Rebecca and the being known as Xorlich stood unaffected. In her mind, Rebecca heard its voice again. Gone were the whispers and scratching, its voice was polite and cordial..

“My dear Rebecca, please forgive my previous intrusion. I assure you it was necessary.” The creature held out its arms, inviting a tender embrace. Doctor Werthing couldn’t look away; she felt drawn to this being. Before she knew it, she was crossing the room, its lithe but powerful arms were wrapped around her. It was cold, unbearably so, but she felt nothing besides adoration for the creature holding her close.

“Will you accept my eternal love as reward for allowing me to come to your world?” It said inside her mind; the voice was absolutely intoxicating, heavy, and intensely arousing. Rebecca had already committed to the words she was about to speak before they ever left her lips, as if she had any choice.

“Yes, I will,” She said drunkenly with half lidded eyes.

Xorlich released her from its embrace and delicately placed a single taloned finger under her chin. Rebecca hadn’t noticed how beautiful Xorlich was nor how imposing it was in stature. It leaned down as it lifted her head, their faces drawing closer. Rebecca smiled, closing her deep brown eyes. Then she heard the sound of flesh stretching and tearing as a wave of hot damp putrid breath washed over her face. She felt something plunge into her forehead and immense pressure followed. Her body began to contort and twist, her eyes shot open, witnessing the gaping tooth-filled maw inches from her face as warm blood and a frigid black slime ran in rivulets down her body. She felt her bones cracking and splitting before reknitting in new strange arrangements. She didn't know when she started screaming. Her vision went dark as the cold black fluid filled her body. The feeling of drowning, gasping for her last breath of air the frigid substance only flooded in faster; her throat stung as if she had drank liquid nitrogen. It was the last thing Doctor Rebecca Werthing would ever feel again.

The screams stopped as the first of Xorlichs new Ichorborne rose to its feet; its mind is an empty void, a perfect conduit for Xorlich will.