It was mid-December at the university library when Judith Myers finally got the keys to the section of the ancient text. Her studies on ancient myths and legends would hopefully progress much faster now that she could read the original texts instead of the modern translations, which were notoriously unreliable. The daylight fades fast at this time of year, and Judith had put on some of the lights inside the room she had been allowed to use for her research.

The room itself was in the oldest part of the library. The stone walls were very thick, and the wooden shelves of books meant that it was a tranquil room. It was decorated with old tables and chairs of solid oak. It made the room feel like it had been lost in time. As if the medieval monks and scribes from hundreds of years ago could walk in at any moment, sit down and resume their work with the library’s books.

Several books were laid out for her to examine. All were ancient. The first dealt with dragons and the myths and legends concerning them. The second book was about ancient Egyptian religions. The third book was more oversized and heavy. It was about ancient sea monsters and the tales of sailors and explorers stretching back to the earliest. Judith was interested in all three books. She read them one at a time and took some notes.

By the time she began to read the third book. The daylight was finally gone, and the winter darkness filled the sky. The air chilled, and the cold mist drifted across the university grounds. Judith turned the book’s pages and found one particular set of pages written in an ancient language with notations in English folded into the book. “What is this?” Judith said out loud. The ancient language looked familiar, but she could not fully comprehend it. Instead, she read the English notations. “The creatures of the waters would prey upon the men and women of the land,” Was the first line written in English. Judith was immediately fascinated by the way it sounded to her, and she read more.

Hours went by. The stories in the book enthralled Judith. She found one page where it talked about one particular creature that could be called up by chanting its name three times. “Three times, call the name with your lips...” Began the instructions. Judith was fascinated.

She read some more and found the name written backwards in the drawn box that looks like a cage with a door and a lock. There was gilding in gold and the name written in red ink. Judith wrote out the name letter by letter in her notebook. Then read what it spelt out. “Breedthren!” Judith mouthed out the letters aloud to herself. “So to call up the creature, all I have to do is chant the name three times,” Judith said. “Breedthren, Breedthren, Breedthren,” Judith said out loud and then looked around the room. Nothing changed. Nothing happened. “Ah well, perhaps ‘Breedthren’ is no longer around anymore,” She said.

She was about to close the book and leave the library when she noticed a swirl of blue and black smoke drifting around her feet. “What the...” She said out loud and stepped away from the table. The smoke followed her, swirled around her ankles, and climbed upward around her legs and body. “My God, What’s happening?” Judith cried out.

Then strange thin black writhing tentacles emerged from the bottom of the smoke and began to entwine themselves around Judith’s feet and legs. She tried to step away and get to the door. But she was gripped with fear and stood fixed to the spot. A rising fear in her now turned to terror, and more tentacles appeared and reached up towards her, moving under her clothes and pulling the cloth and material from her. The tentacles were stripping the fabric from her body and were intent on taking control of her. Her skirt was ripped apart and tossed to one side. Her blouse was torn to shreds, and Judith saw more tentacles rising from below. These were thicker and had rounded bulbous heads that oozed a creamy white sticky substance from the tips.