Welcome to
Carnage House

– this is your trigger warning

Crossing Boundaries

by Chris McAuley

THE KNIFE SLICED EASILY into the oiled and prepared skin. Daniel watched, transfixed as his scarification ritual began. This was the culmination of decades of research and the eschewing of whatever passed for normality from his contemporaries.

A student of theology, Daniel had quickly found his studies subverted from sacred texts to the unholy relics, which some more open-minded professors had whispered about. He was, at that stage, a precocious man in his 20’s. Daniel reasoned his newly found interest would help him understand the more arcane nature of the upcoming archeological digs which were part of his practical assessments. He attempted to suppress the growing hunger in his soul, beginning with curiosity and spreading to become a throbbing base need.

What was truly out there?

After 25 years and a physical process of aging poorly due to his commitment to his obsession, he finally received the proper instruction on how to meet the true Gods of this world. The text spoke warnings that these beings were dreadful and terrible. This did not chasten Daniel, it accelerated his desire for Gnosis. He had always known that the tales of the Shephard man-deity of his childhood had been untrue. In a world so full of atrocity, why would a deity ever give up power to die on a tree with a heart full of sadness?

No.

The true Gods would be full of strength and could inspire those who gazed upon them into fits of madness. Daniel needed to experience this to validate his existence. He needed to see it.

He continued to carve his flesh, carefully as to not nick an artery or accidentally sever a nerve and render his inscriptions useless. Hours passed and more of the text appeared on his body, he was exhausted by the effort and blood loss. His aging frame was hindering the speed of coagulation.

Upon digging into his genitals and inscribing the final symbol. He rolled his eyes around the room. Exhausted, the small apartment, which had been his home for 10 years spun around him. He tried to support himself by bracing his hunched body with both his arms. It was useless.

Vomiting, he slid to the floor, he had the fleeting feeling of his hair and long beard being coated with the ejected fluids as he sank into the velvet darkness.

Daniel fell.

Rather, he had the feeling of falling. In the deep unconscious of his mind, he plummeted from darkness to a green hued light.

Slimy tentacles enveloped his naked frame and suspended him in front of a black triangle. An ancient near-eastern symbol of divinity. The tentacles drew him closer to the image and in the dark something terrible stirred.

A gigantic head containing multiple eye sockets, some filled with piercing eyes and others weeping a pus like substance rose from the depths. The head reminded Daniel of an Octopus but was slightly misshapen. Its maw opened and a worm like tongue rolled toward him. It slathered him with a sticky fluid. He gagged.

In that darkness, Daniel achieved his greatest wish. He had been touched by a God. Not only that, it spoke to him, it showed him things and sights which came from beyond. In moments of clarity, Daniel perceived an even worse place, an interdimensional rift which contained sights of pleasure and pain. In the crack which was afforded to him, he could see a slim pale shape with nails protruding from his face. Almost like a biblical crown of thorns taken to extremes.

When Daniel returned to consciousness. He spent exactly thirty seconds thinking about the visions he’d experienced. He then spent another 30 seconds screaming as he popped his eyes from their sockets with his knife.


About the Story:
I know a thing or two about obsession. About the search for answers that may never come. And even if you get them, they’re not always the ones you expect or might want. Chris McAuley knows all about this too, as you’re about to find out in this deliciously evil little tale… – Paul Kane