Allure of the Unknown (Horror)

Part 2

Robert Lash was sitting at his desk, brooding over his next piece for his uncle's newspaper when the letter containing this ghastly narrative reached him. All of the mundane activities that had oppressed him just moments before ceased to have the slightest significance. The letter had come from an old childhood friend who had known of Robert's work published in The Illustrated London News.

The last year and a half of Robert's life was devoted to the expansion of his collection of horrific short stories he had written for the Paper's "Strange and Unsettling" column. Having taken note of Robert's affiliation with the dark and unexplained, his friend sent this wrinkled and yellowed scrap of paper found within his new dwelling along with an earnest request that Robert come and reside with him until one of them made sense of this oddity.

Robert's first inclination had been that of skepticism. Only the sheer sense of sincerity within Philip's letter kept him from tossing it out along with any thought of entertaining its otherworldly suggestions. Stowing it away in his coat pocket for a time in which he may contemplate his situation, Robert walked out the door of his cramped office and into the busy street. The short venture home provided a moment to reflect on the day's happenings. His uncle, John Lash, had been right. The allure of Robert's early works seemed to be fading out now as he was well into his 12th piece. If nothing else, the trip to see Philip in his seemingly phantasmal home would prove to rekindle the luster in his writing.

He hated to see his uncle disappointed in him. The Illustrated London News was created by John and his colleagues in 1859 as the first illustrated newspaper. Now, a mere five years later, they were struggling to make ends meet. This factor, accompanying personal curiosity, fueled Robert's decision to make the journey out to see his friend.